Notes and Queries, Number 186, May 21, 1853 | Page 7

nec particeps, sine ullo magnatum
patrocinio, sine turpi Adulantium aucupio, ad summam tamen in Foro,
in Academia, in Senatu, tum gloriam, tum etiam authoritatem facilem
sibi et stabilem munivit viam, Fortunæ suæ si quis alius Deo Favente
vere Faber", &c.
The above is copied from the original diploma, which Mr. Randle
Wilbraham gave to his nephew, the late Dr. William Falconer of Bath.
On the death of Mr. R. Wilbraham, Chief Justice Wilmot wrote "I have
lost my old friend Mr. Wilbraham: he died in the seventy-seventh year
of his age, and has not left a better lawyer, or an honester man behind
him."
ANON.
Unpublished Epigram by Sir W. Scott.--
"Earth walks on Earth, Glittering in gold: Earth goes to Earth, Sooner
than it wold: Earth builds on Earth, Palaces and towers: Earth says to
Earth: Soon, all shall be ours."
The above, by Sir W. Scott, I believe, has never appeared in print to my
knowledge. It was recited to me by a friend of Sir W. Scott.
R. VINCENT.
Crassus' Saying.--I find in the Diary of the poet Moore (in Lord John
Russell's edition), vol. ii. p. 148., a conversation recorded with Dr. Parr,
in which the Doctor quotes "the witticism that made Crassus laugh (the
only time in his life): 'Similes habent labra lactucas.'"
It appears (see the quotations in Facciolati) that this sage and
laughter-moving remark of Crassus was made on seeing an ass eating a
thistle; whereon he exclaimed, "Similes habent labra lactucas."
In Bailey's edition of Facciolati it is said, "Proverbium habet locum ubi
similia similibus contingunt,... quo sensu Angli dicimus, 'Like lips like

lettuce: like priest like people.'"
Out of this explanation it is difficult to elicit any sense, much less any
"witticism."
I suggest that Crassus' saying meant, "His (the ass's) lips hold thistles
and lettuces to be both alike;" wanting the discrimination to distinguish
between them. Or, if I may put it into a doggerel rhyme:
"About a donkeys taste why need we fret us? To lips like his a thistle is
a lettuce."
WM. EWART.
University Club.
* * * * * {499}
Queries.
BEES AND THE SPHYNX ATROPOS.
Huber, in his Observations on the Natural History of Bees, avers that
the moth called the Sphynx atropos invades and plunders with impunity
a hive containing thousands of bees, notwithstanding the watchfulness,
pugnacity, and formidable weapons of those insects. To account for this
phenomenon, he states that the queen bee has the faculty of emitting a
certain sound which instantly strikes the bees motionless; and he
conjectures that this burglarious moth, being endowed with the same
property, uses it to produce a similar effect, first on the sentinels at the
entrance of the hive, and then on the bees within.
In another part of his book (2nd edit. 1808, p. 202.) he relates what he
himself witnessed on introducing a strange queen into a hive. The bees,
greatly irritated, pulled her, bit her, and chased her away; but on her
emitting the sound and assuming an extraordinary attitude, "the bees all
hung down their heads and remained motionless." On the following day
he repeated the experiment, and the intrusive queen was similarly

maltreated; but when she emitted her sound, and assumed the attitude,
from that moment the bees again became motionless.
Have more modern observers verified this curious fact? Is it not a case
of mesmerism?
SYDNEY SMIRKE.
* * * * *
"THE CRAFTSMAN'S APOLOGY."
When Bolingbroke published his Final Answer to the Remarks on the
Craftsman's Vindication, and to all the Libels which have come, or may
come from the same quarter against the Person last mentioned in the
Craftsman of the 22nd May, 1731, he was answered in five Poetical
Letters to the King, which in keenness of wit, polished satire, and
flowing ease of versification, have not been since surpassed. The title
of the tract in which they are contained is The Craftsman's Apology,
being a Vindication of his Conduct and Writings in several Letters to
the King, printed for T. Cooper, 1732, 8vo. pages 32. By whom were
these very clever and amusing letters written? Lord Hervey or Sir
Charles Hanbury Williams are the parties one would think most likely
to have written them; but they do not appear in the list of Lord Hervey's
works given by Walpole, or amongst those noticed by Mr. Croker, or in
Sir C. H. Williams's Collected Works, in three volumes. Independently
of which, I question whether the versification is not, in point of
harmony, too equal for either of them. If they be included in the
collected works of any other writer of the time, which I have no
immediate recollection of, some of your correspondents will no doubt
be able to point him out. Should it appear that they