280
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. XL A*ML 4, wra.
the painter styled by Mr. Bernhard Berenson
Alunno di Domenico, of the grim story of Guido de
eli Anastagi, constituting the eighth novel ot the
fifth day of the ' Decameron.' Other works of the
same master which follow are ' The Massacre of
the Innocents,' ' The Reconciliation of Romans and
Sabines,' 'The Triumph of Venus,' 'Pieta,' and
' St. Jerome.' Following these come charming illus-
trations of French furniture of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries to accompany an article of
M Molinier. Mr. Weale sends a first contribution
on the 'Early Netherland Painters.' Numerous
articles of no less interest follow, all being
finely illustrated. A paper (the first) by Mr. Miller
Christy 'Concerning Tinder Boxes' strikes those
who, like ourselves, have enforcedly used them.
There are designs of Vincenzo Foppa the elder
from pictures in London and Milan. The first
number of the Burlington is a treasure-house. It
is to be hoped that it will be continued as it is
begun. It is a vindication of English enterprise
in art. We would suggest with regard to the
printing that some paragraphs be made. " Hunks "
of text extending over pages are tedious to read.
Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall.
Vol. XV. Part I. (Truro, Lake & Lake.) THE Royal Institution of Cornwall was founded upwards of eighty years ago, and is therefore one of the oldest of our provincial learned societies. The long series of its publications is seldom met with complete outside the county or in our great libraries. This is unfortunate, for it contains a mass of material relating to the physical and historical sciences not to be found elsewhere. Though much modified since 1818, when the Institution was founded, it is safe to say that there is not a single volume in the series which does not contain matter of permanent value. The part which we have just read is remark- ably interesting from many points of view. It is, indeed, by no means easy to make a selection. We have found the Rev. D. Gath Whitley's paper on the Harlyn burials, in which these ancient reposi- tories of the dead are compared with parallel dis- coveries on the Continent, most instructive. Some persons have fancied that these ancient interments might be of palaeolithic age, but Mr. Whitley shows that they are not so. They, however, probably belong to an early period of the neolithic time. This is interesting, for the contracted position in which the bodies were buried seems to indicate an over- lapping or survival from the palaeolithic era. Dr. John Beddoe, F.R.S., has contributed a companion paper, in which the bones found at Harlyn are con- sidered from the point of view of the anatomist. The work is done in a most exhaustive manner. The time spent in the compilation of the table of measurements of the more important bones by which the essay is enriched must have been great, and very wearisome to any one but an enthusiastic anthropologist. Dr. Beddoe gives an account of the opinions of various experts as to the method of esti- mating the human stature from the length of the femur. No two of the authorities are in perfect agreement, but the variations are less than was to be expected.
The report on the wall paintings which are or have been in Cornish churches is excellently illus- trated. There are three copies of pictures of St. Christopher bearing the Divine Infant on his shoulder across the river. In two of these a mer- maid is shown among the fishes in the water. In
both cases she has, according to custom, her mirror
in her hand. Representations of St. Christopher
were very common in late mediaeval times. This
may have been on account of the popular belief that
whoever looked on a portrait of St. Christopher
would not die the day he saw it. Whether there
was a nucleus of fact in the wild legends concerning
him who shall say ? His cultus was widely spread
East and West. In France and Germany these
figures seem to have been more gigantic than in this
country. There was in the Cathedral of Auxerre
an image of St. Christopher twenty-nine feet high,
but it was removed by the chapter in 1768. Some
of the French ecclesiastics of the eighteenth century
seem to have been as anxious to destroy objects of
archaeological interest as the revolutionists who
succeeded them.
Mr. Otho B. Peter contributes an essay on village sites in the county, accompanied by plans ; and Mr. F. H. Davey on new plants discovered in Cornwall, as well as of those which are thought to have become extinct in recent times. Mr. James Clark discourses effectively on Cornish birds, rare visitants as well as natives. The meteorology of the county, by Mr. George Penrose, contains tabulated results of weather observations made between 1850 and 1900. The Rev. S. Baring-Gould continues his cata- logue of saints connected with Cornwall, as well as a list of churches and chapels which were under their patronage.
la
We must call special attention to the following notices :
ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately.
COL. MALET. For cradle commissions in the army see 8 th S. viii. 421, 498; ix. 70, 198, 355, 450; 9 th S. vii. 251. For military punishments see ' The Picket,' 9 th S. iv. 471, 539; 'The Wooden Horse,' v. 82, 253; 'The Gantelope,' v. 204; 'The Strap- pado, and Neck and Heels,' v. 369, 504; vi. 73; ' The Log,' v. 511 ; vi. 94 ; ' The Halberts,' vi. 181 ; vii. 473; 'The Banished Regiment, Booting, Cob- bing, and Scabbarding,' vi. 421.
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