their wings in the face of the explorer, and whirl round his taper, fail not to impress him with a sensation of awe.

Francis Robert Davies.

Slow-worm Superstition (Vol. viii., pp. 33. 479.).—I believe that the superstition alluded to is

not confined to one country, nor to one species of reptile. I remember to have heard some countrymen in Cornwall, who had killed an adder, say that it would not cease to writhe until the sun had gone down. Like many other so-called superstitions, it is probably founded on a close observation of a natural phenomenon; and I feel quite sure that I have seen in print, although I cannot now call to mind where, that it is to be accounted for by the fact, that in these cold-blooded animals the nervous irritability does not cease until checked or destroyed by the chilling dews of evening.

Honoré de Mareville.

Guernsey.

THE VELLUM-BOUND JUNIUS.

(Vol. v., pp. 303. 333. 607.; Vol. viii., p. 8.)

I have no doubt that it will be satisfactory to some of your readers to know that I have in my possession a copy, "vellum bound in gilt," of Junius, printed for Henry Sampson Woodfall, 1772, 2 vols. This copy has been in the family library for about sixty years. There are no marks by which it can be traced to its original owner. I imagine it must have been purchased by my grandfather, Sir Thomas Metcalfe, after his arrival from India about 1788; this is, however, merely a conjecture, in default of any more probable theory. Of the authenticity of this copy I have no doubt; I mean that it is now in the same condition as when it was first issued by the bookseller. The binding is evidently of an old date, the gilding is peculiar, and the books correspond exactly with the orders of Junius as given to Woodfall in Note No. 47., Dec. 1771, and although neatly bound, are, as Woodfall mentions in No. 64., not highly finished. Are there many copies of this edition, or may I congratulate myself upon possessing the one ordered by Junius? It is quite possible that my grandfather possessed this copy some years before his return from India; and I may mention that I also have a great many political pamphlets and satires, chiefly in poetry, of different dates, from 1760 to 1780, such as Catiline's Conspiracy; The Diaboliad; Ditto, with additions, dedicated to the worst man in the kingdom (Rigby), and containing allusions to all the most celebrated characters of Junius; The Senators, La Fête Champêtre, and many miscellanies. These, however, are perhaps well known. I have also a pamphlet containing an alleged unpublished canto of the Faerie Queene of Spenser, and a great many religious tracts from 1580 to 1700. Some of the political poems are published by Almon. Among other curious stray sheets, is a list of all the gentlemen and officers who fell in the cause of Charles I., and Mr. Richard Brown appears amongst the number. I hope to communicate more fully upon some future occasion, and must conclude with an allusion to the claims of Francis as the author of Junius. Strong as the proofs may be in his favour in England, I believe that in India there is testimony no less important; and I have been informed, by one who spoke with some authority, that the letters of Francis upon record in this country bear no resemblance whatever to those of Junius. This assertion, however, is far too vague to satisfy any of your readers. I hope some day to be able to confirm it by examples. The India House might furnish the private correspondence between Francis and Hastings, which would be extremely interesting.

T. Metcalfe.

Delhi.

Minor Notes.

The Scotch Grievance.—Can the demand of Scotchmen, with respect to the usage of the royal arms, be justified by the laws of Heraldry? I think not. They require that when the royal arms are used in Scotland, the Scotch bearings should be placed in the first quarter. Surely it is against all rules that the armorial bearings, either of a person or of a nation, should be changeable according to the place where they are used. The arms of the United Kingdom and of the sovereign are, first and fourth, England; second, Scotland; third, Ireland. The Scotch have therefore the option of using these, or else the arms of Scotland singly; but to shift the quarterings according to locality, seems repugnant to the principles of the science. Queen Anne and George I. bore, in the first quarter, England impaling Scotland: is it to be supposed that, for Scotch purposes, they bore Scotland impaling England? Can any coin be produced, from the accession of James VI. to the English throne, on which the royal arms are found with Scotland in the first quarter and England in the second?

A Descendant from Scottish Kings.

Walpole and Macaulay.—That well-known and beautiful conception of the New Zealander in some future age sitting on the ruins of Westminster Bridge, and looking where London stood, may have been first suggested by a thought in one of Walpole's lively letters to Sir H. Mann:

"At last some curious native of Lima will visit London, and give a sketch of the ruins of Westminster and St. Paul's."

Anon.

Russian "Justice."—Euler, in his 102nd letter to a German princess, says:

"Formerly there was no word in the Russian language to express what we call justice. This was certainly a very great defect, as the idea of justice is of very great importance in a great number of our

judgments and reasonings, and as it is scarcely possible to think of the thing itself without a term expressive of it. They have, accordingly, supplied this defect by introducing into that language a word which conveys the notion of justice."

This letter is dated 14th February, 1761. Statne nominis umbra? An answer is not needed to this Query. But can nothing be done to rescue from destruction the precious analytical treasures of Euler, now entombed in the archives of St. Petersburgh?

T. J. Buckton.

Birmingham.

False Dates in Water-marks of Paper.—Your correspondent H. W. D. (Vol. ix., p. 32.) on the subject of the water-mark in paper, is, perhaps, not aware that, within the last few years, the will of a lady was set aside by the heir-at-law, her brother, on account of the water-mark, she having imprudently, as it was surmised, made a fairer copy of her will on paper of a later date. The case will be in the recollection of the parties employed in the neighbourhood of the Prerogative Court.

L.

Queries.

MR. P. CUNNINGHAME.

Can any of your correspondents communicate information respecting a Mr. P. Cunninghame, who was employed in the Heralds' Office in the years 1768-69, and who appears to have left his situation there in order to enter the church? Mr. Cunninghame, from a MS. volume of his letters now before me, had friends and correspondents of the names of Towne, Dehane, Welsh, Cockell, Bawdwen, Wainman, Haggard, Hammond, Neve, Gathorne, Innes, Connor, &c., and relations of his own name resided at Deal. One of his letters is addressed to his cousin, Captain George Cunninghame, General Majoribanks' regiment, in garrison at Tournay, Flanders.

Two gentlemen of the names of Bigland and