class="right">D.X.

Coke and Cowper, how pronounced.

—Upon what authority is Lord Coke's name pronounced as though it were spelt Cook, and why is Cowper, the poet, generally called Cooper? Is this a modern affectation, or were these names so rendered by their respective owners and their contemporaries? Such illustrious names should certainly be preserved in their integrity, and even pedanticism might blush at corrupting such "household words." There certainly should be no uncertainty on the subject.

C.A.

Orinoco or Orinooko.

—In the Illustrated News of May 26th is an account of the launch of the "Orinoco" steamer. Can any of your readers tell me if this is the correct mode of spelling the name of this river? I believe the natives spell it "Orinooko," the two oo's being pronounced u.

E.D.C.F.

Petty Cury.

—There is a street bearing this name in Cambridge, which was always a mystery to me in my undergraduate days; perhaps some correspondent can unravel it?

E.S.T.

Virgil.

—Æneid, viii. 96.:

"Viridesque secant placido æquore silvas."

Will any of your classical correspondents favour me with their opinion as to whether secant in the above passage is intended to convey, or is capable of conveying, the idea expressed in the following line of Tennyson (Recollections of the Arabian Nights):