The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical Part 29

_A Very Long Word._

The longest Nipmuck word in Eliot's Indian Bible is in St. Mark i. 40, _Wutteppesittukgussunnoowehtunkquoh_, and signifies "kneeling down to him."

_Cobblers' Stalls in Rome._

The streets of Rome in the time of Domitian were so blocked up with cobblers' stalls that he caused them to be removed.

_Luminous Human Bodies._

Bartholin, in his treatise "De Luce Hominumet Brutorum" (1647), gives an account of an Italian lady whom he designates as "mulier splendens,"

whose body shone with phosphoric radiations when gently rubbed with dry linen; and Dr. Kane, in his last voyage to the polar regions, witnessed almost as remarkable a case of phosph.o.r.escence. A few cases are recorded by Sir H. Marsh, Professor Donovan and other undoubted authorities, in which the human body, shortly before death, has presented a pale, luminous appearance.

_Sacred Anchors._

The ancient Greek vessels carried several anchors, one of which, called the "sacred anchor," was never let go until the s.h.i.+p was in dire distress.

_Anne Boleyn's Gloves._

Anne Boleyn was remarkably dainty about her gloves. She had a nail which turned up at the sides, and it was the delight of Queen Catherine to make her play at cards without her gloves, in order that the deformity might disgust King Hal.

_Adding Insult to Injury._

This expression has reached us from a fable by Phaedrus, a Roman author who lived in the reign of Augustus Caesar, and whose writings were first discovered to modern literature in 1596, at Rheims, in France. The fable is called "The Bald Man and the Fly," and reads as follows:-

"A fly bit the bare pate of a bald man, who, endeavoring to crush it, gave himself a heavy blow. Then said the fly, jeeringly, 'You wanted to avenge the sting of a tiny insect with death. What will you do to yourself, who have added insult to injury?'"

_St. Anthony's Fire._

St. Anthony's fire is an inflammatory disease which, in the eleventh century, raged violently in various parts. According to the legend, the intercession of St. Anthony was prayed for, when it miraculously ceased; and, therefore, from that time, the complaint has been called St.

Anthony's fire.

_Before Houses were Numbered._

Before houses were numbered it was a common practice with tradesmen not much known, when they advertised, to mention the color of their next neighbor's door, balcony or lamp, of which custom the following copy of a hand-bill presents a curious instance:-

"Next to the _Golden Door_, opposite Great Suffolk street, near Pall Mall, at the Barber's Pole, liveth a certain person, Robert Barker, who has found out an excellent method for sweating or fluxing of wiggs; his prices are 2_s._ 6_d._ for each bob, and 3_s._ for every tye wigg and pig-tail, ready money."

_Monkish Prayers._

The monks used to say their prayers no less than seven times in twenty-four hours-

1st. Nocturnal, at c.o.c.k-crowing (2 o'clock in the morning).

2d. Matins, at 6 o'clock in the morning.

3d. Tierce, at 9 o'clock in the morning.

4th. s.e.xt, at 12 o'clock noon.

5th. None, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

6th. Vespers, at 6 o'clock in the afternoon.

7th. Compline, soon after 7.

Quarles wrote a neat epigram on the subject-

"For all our prayers the Almighty does regard The judgment of the _balance_, not the _yard_; He loves not words, but matter; 't is His pleasure To buy His wares by _weight_, and not by _measure_."

_A Mammoth Feast._

Leland mentions a feast given by the Archbishop of York, at his installation, in the reign of Edward IV. There were disposed of-300 quarters of wheat, 300 tuns of ale, 100 tuns of wine, 1000 sheep, 104 oxen, 304 calves, 304 swine, 2000 geese, 1000 capons, 400 swans, 104 peac.o.c.ks, 1500 hot vension pasties, 4000 cold ones, 5000 custards, hot and cold.

_Gluttony of the Monks._

The monks of St. Swithin made formal complaint to Henry II. because the Abbot deprived them of three dishes out of thirteen at every meal. The monks of Canterbury had seventeen rich and savory dishes every day.

_Ancient Smokers._

When the ancient tower of Kukstatt Abbey fell, in 1779, Whitaker, a few days afterwards, discovered, embedded in the mortar of the fallen fragments, several little smoking pipes, such as were used in the reign of James I., for tobacco, a proof of the fact, which has not been generally recorded, that long prior to the introduction of that plant from America, the practice of inhaling the smoke of some indigenous vegetable prevailed in England.

_Gipsy Dance._

The gipsy women of Spain especially and exclusively dance the Romalis, imported from the Orient. It is said to be the voluptuous dance which the daughter of Herodias danced before Herod and his court.

_Chinese Medical Prescriptions._

The Chinese divide their prescriptions into seven cla.s.ses: 1. The great prescription; 2. The little prescription; 3. The slow prescription; 4.

The prompt prescription; 5. The odd prescription; 6. The even prescription; 7. The double prescription. Each of these recipes apply to particular cases, and the ingredients are weighed with scrupulous accuracy.

_Queer Evidence of Divinity._

Among the ancients the voluntary motion of inanimate objects was considered an evidence of their divinity. When Juno paid her celebrated visit to Vulcan, she found him engaged in the manufacture of tripods, which moved about and performed their office with a bustling air of zealous activity-

"Full twenty tripods for his hall be framed, That, placed on living wheels of ma.s.sive gold, Wondrous to tell, instinct with spirit, roll'd From place to place around the blest abodes, Self-moved, obedient to the beck of G.o.ds."

_Picnics Centuries Ago._

Mainwaring, in a letter to the Earl of Arundel, dated November 22d, 1618, says: "The prince his birthday has been solemnized here by the few marquises and lords which found themselves here; and (to supply the want of lords) knights and squires were added to a consultation, wherein it was resolved that such a number should meet at Gamiges, _and bring every man his dish of meat_. It was left to their own choice what to bring; some chose to be substantial, some curious, some extravagant. Sir George Young's invention bore away the bell, and that was four huge brawny pigs, piping hot, bitted and harnessed with ropes of sarsiges, all tied to a monstrous bag-pudding."