Notes and Queries, Number 70, March 1, 1851 | Page 7

feeds on the seeds of the Japécarga,
and occasionally, under advantageous circumstances, some of the seeds
germinate, and cause the death of the insect, the tree shooting up
through the softest part, the back, and the rootlets making their way
down the only outlets, the legs. I wish to know whether any similar fact
in Natural History has been noticed, and if not, how is it accounted for,
since I can vouch for the skin of the insect having been found with the
tree growing out of its back, and the roots growing down through the
legs.
JOHN MANLEY.
Pernambuco.
Hudibras in 1710.--On the back of the oldest register of the parish of
Syston, Leicestershire, is the following memorandum:--
"July 19th, 1710. Borrow'd then of Mr. Hesketh Hudibrass in 3 parts,
w^{ch} I promise to return upon demand; witness my hand, JOHN
KILBY."
A pretty strong proof of the value and interest of this work about a
century and a half ago.
ARUN.
The Great Exhibition.--It is well known that the vineyards of
Switzerland have been long protected from hail by means of upright
poles having copper wire attached to them, termed "paragrêles," distant
from each other from 60 to 100 feet. The formation of hail is an effect
of which electricity is the cause, and the cloud being deprived of this
agent by the conductors, descends in the shape of rain. Mr. John
Murray, F.S.A., F.L.S., &c., in his work on Switzerland, speaks very
decidedly of their utility. Has then this ingenious contrivance been
considered with reference to the protection of the Great Exhibition and
its valuable, or rather invaluable, contents? or why is it deemed
inapplicable to the purpose?

C. T.
* * * * *
Queries.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
Everybody can see that the first commandment is directed against
polytheism, and the second against idolatry; and most people know that
the Church of Rome differs from the Church of England in joining
these two into one commandment, and dividing the tenth into two
commandments, so as to make up the full number, ten. This point of
difference betwixt the two churches must necessarily have been the
subject of much dispute. There must be plausible reasons on both sides
for every commandment in the Anglican ritual being different from its
correspondent on the Roman tables: and the settlement of this question
must properly belong to the theologian, since holy scripture only
mentions how many divine commandments there are (Exodus, xxxiv.
28.; Deuteronomy, iv. 13., x. 4.), without authoritatively separating
them.
Will any one kindly inform me where this question may be found fully
discussed; and where mention is made of the earliest known divisions
of the law? Also, I should be glad to know how the Jews at the present
day divide the commandments; and whether there is any record or
tradition of there ever having been discussions in their church upon this
very interesting and no less important matter?
ALFRED GATTY.
Ecclesfield.
* * * * *
Minor Queries.
Was Hugh Peters ever on the Stage?--In a pamphlet entitled Arbitrary

Government displayed to the Life, in the illegal Transactions of the late
Times under the tyrannick Usurpation of Oliver Cromwell, ed. 1690, p.
98., we are informed that Hugh Peters, after he had been expelled the
University of Cambridge, went to London, and enrolled himself as
player in Shakspeare's company, "in which he usually performed the
part of Clown." Is there any other authority for this statement?
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
English Synonymes.--What are the books of best authority for the
synonymes of the English language?
A FOREIGNER.
{167}
Christmas Day.--Which of the popes fixed dogmatically the 25th of
December as the birthday of our Saviour? Was it not either Julius I. or
II.? and what grounds had he for his decision?
J. C.
A Coggeshall Job.--"Saffron Walden, God help me."--Has the old
saying of "A Coggeshall Job" occupied the attention of your readers?
And why is it that many of the mendicants who ramble the county of
Suffolk in search of relief, when asked where they come from, reply in
a pitiful tone, "Saffron Walden, God help me."
J. C.
Easton.
T. Gilburt on Clandestine Marriages.--I have a MS. against the validity
of clandestine marriages, dated from Oxford, June 23rd, 1682, signed T.
Gilburt. It is a learned and argumentative treatise on this subject. It is
entitled:
"An Argument against the Validitie of Clandestine Marriages in the
Sight of God. Sent with a Letter to a person of Qualitie desiring my

Judgment in y^e case wherein he was too nearly concerned."
I am anxious to know who this T. Gilburt may have been.
W. F.
Father Hehl, and Cahagnet.--If any of your numerous readers can say
where any account of Father Hehl, who in 1774 discovered animal
magnetism, may be