Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/476

390 NOTES AND QUERIES. [us.TOnaxi4.iML CRUCIFIXION OF DOGS. The following explanation of this custom is given by Pliny : We have already spoken of the honours earned by the geese when the Gauls were detected in their attempt to scale the Capitol. It is for a corresponding reason, also, that punishment is yearly inflicted upon the dogs, by crucifying them alive upon a gibbet of elders between the temple of Juventas and that of Summanus. Pliny's ' Natural History,' Bk. xxix., ch. xiv., in Bonn's ' Classical Library.' According to the ' Book of Rites,' the an- ; cient Chinese used to crucify the dogs inj the last month of spring at the southern, ! western, and northern gates of the Imperial Court the eastern one excepted, because of ! the east being the ward, as it were, of the ' growth of all living beings thus to expel the powers inimical to their development and to complete the vernal influence. Also it was their custom to crucify the dogs at the four gates of villages to defend them | from evil spirits and marauders, and to j inscribe with the white dogs' blood the gates : and doors of every house to repel the malevo- lent powers (Ying Chau, ' Fung-siih-tung,' second cent. A.D., tome viii. Similar i applications of the dogs in Scotland and the Western Himalayas and among the Iroquois : are described in Frazer's ' The Golden j Bough,' 1890, vol. ii., pp. 194-195. Taking! these into consideration, it would seem that the Roman usage had originated in regarding the dogs as scapegoats not as punishment for their neglectful silence on the occasion of the Gauls scaling the Capitol. KUMAGUSTJ MlNAKATA. Tanabe, Kii, Japan. DEATHS (12 S. viii. 266). In con- tinuation of my Note at this reference : At Traquair," Jan. 10th, 1789, Rev. Alex. Adams, minister of Traquair. At Liberton, Jan., 1789, Rev. Thos. Whyte, minister of Liberton. At London, Jan., 1789, at the house of General Conway, Miss Campbell, dau. of the late Lord William Campbell, brother of the Duke of Argyll. At Cumnock, Jan. 15th, 1789, Mrs. Miller, wife of Rev. Dr. Miller, minister of Cumnock. At Perth, Jan. 10th, 1789, Mrs. Wood, wife of Dr. Robert Wood. At Inverness, Jan. 9th, 1789, Mr. Kenneth Schevig, Merchant. At Lauriston, Jan. 20th, 1789, James Balmain, Esq., Commissioner of Excise. At Middleburgh, Dec. 19th, 1788, James Turing, Esq. At Edinburgh, Jan. 21st, 1789, Charlotte Carstairs, dau. of James Bruce Carstairs, of Kinross, Esquire. At Edinburgh, Jan. 12th, 1789, Mrs. Catherine Sinclair, relict of William Budge, of Postingal, Writer to the Signet. At Dundee, Jan., 1789, Henrv Crawford, Esq. At Edinburgh, Jan., 1789, Miss Mary Scott, of Jamaica. JAMES SETON- ANDERSON. 39, Carlisle Road, Hove, Sussex. WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries in order that answers may be sent to them direct. KING OF ENGLAND, LORD OF BAUX. Does our Sovereign, among his foreign titles, bear one from Baux, a small place in the south of France, not far from Orange, whence comes the Orange -Nassau title. I find that, many years ago, an antiquary told me when in that part of France that our Queen was Countess of Baux, and that there was an ancient prophecy that a countess of that place would become Empress of India ! J. H. RlVETT-CARNAC. Hotel Trois Couronnes, Vevey, Switzerland. LIVES OF VENETIAN PAINTERS. Where can I consult a copy of the following work : ' Compendio delle Vite de' Pittori Vene- ziani,' by Alessandro Longhi, published in Venice, 1762 ? It is not in the British Museum. There is a reference to it in ' Pietro Longhi,' by Aldo Rava (Collezione di Mono- grafie Illustrate), 1909 ; and it is mentioned in Lanzi's ' Storia pittorica della Italia,' 1809, Alessandro Longhi (1733-1813) was the son of Pietro Longhi, the well-known painter. (MRS.) HILDA F. FINBERG. 47, Holland Road, Kensington, W.14. MENZEL'S ' GERMAN* LITERATURE.' - This book was translated in 1840 by Thomas Gordon. Was he the Thomas Gordon of Cairness (1788-1841), who wrote the * History of the Greek Revolution ' (1832) ? J. M. BULLOCH. 37, Bedford Square, W.C.I.