WHO WAS EUCLES? (p. 270.) 1. Eucles of Rhodes was the son of Calianax and Callipateira the daughter of Diagoras. He gained a victory at Olympia though it is not certain in what year. There was a statue of him at Olympia by Naucydes.

2. Eucles of Syracuse was the son of Hippon and was one of the three new commanders appointed B. C. 414. He was also one of the commanders of the fleet sent to Miletus by the Syracusans to assist Tisaphernes against the Athenians.

3. Eucles was archon at Athens in B. C. 427.

FRANCIS DANA.

Eucles was the 66 runner " from

WHO WAS EUCLES? (p. 270.) the plain of Marathon-to the anxious waiting Senate in Athens-who heralded the successful issue of that noted battle (490 B. C.) by the exclamation," Rejoice! For we rejoice!" falling dead as he uttered the "glad tidings." This personage is frequently confounded with Phidippides, who ran from Marathon, before the battle, to ask aid from Sparta, against the Persians. Some omen, however, delayed the Spartans for three days, and they arrived only after the victory was complete. We are thus explicit, because many of the text-books on ancient history wrongly contain statements contrary to this fact. The first feat of pedestrianism, by Euchides, has no connection with the query.

ALBERT P. SOUTHWICK.

BRITISH SPY. (p. 285.) The British Spy detected in carrying a message to General Burgoyne in a hollow silver bullet, was Major Daniel Taylor, of the British army. He had been sent by the British General Clinton. A detailed account of this interesting incident is given in Quizzisms and its Key," the facts being derived principally from Lossing's "Field-Book of the Revolution." ALBERT P. SOUTHWICK.

66

ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. (p. 270.) An eclipse of the sun never caused the defeat of an army. An eclipse of the moon caused Nicias, the Greek commander, to withdraw his army from before Syracuse, (B. C. 413) at the instigation of the soothsayers, and this led to the defeat of the Athenians. ALBERT P. SOUTHWICK.

VOWELS IN Regular Order IN WORDS. (p. 314.) There are three words containing all the vowels in their regular order, viz.: abstemious, arsenious, and facetious. ALBERT P. SOUTHWICK.

FIVE SUNDAYS IN FEBRUARY. (pp. 179, 314.) A curious problem appeared several years ago. (See "Geography of the Heavens," p. 205, by Elijah H. Burritt; New York, 1833.) It was gravely reported by an American ship that, in sailing over the ocean, it chanced to find six Sundays in February. The fact was insisted on and a solution demanded. There is nothing absurd in this, paradoxical as it may at first appear. The man who travels around the earth eastwardly, will see the sun go down a little earlier every succeeding day, than if he had remained at rest, or earlier than they do who live at the place from which he set out. The faster he travels towards the rising sun, the sooner it will appear above the horizon in the morning, and so much sooner will it set in the evening. What he gains in time will bear the same proportion to a solar day, as the distance traveled does to the circumference of the earth. For every degree traveled, he will gain 4 minutes in time; for every 15 degrees traveled he will gain 1 hour; for the 360 degrees traveled, the entire circumference, he will gain 24 hours or one whole day. He has seen the sun rise and set once more than those at the place he started from. Consequently the day he arrives home is one day in advance of the inhabitants, and he must needs live that day over again by calling the next day by the same name, in order to make his timekeeping harmonize with that of the inhabitants.

Now if a man started out on February 1, 1852, or February 1, 1880, or any bissextile year, when February 1 falls on Sunday, he would in traveling around the earth, as rated above, arrive home on February 29, and counted five Sundays. He would necessarilly have to live this last Sunday over again, and thus he would have "six Sundays in February." Now, again, the man who travels westwardly under similar conditions will have his day 4 minutes longer, and might on arriving home exclaim like "the prince who had been an emperor without his crown,' 1966 I've lost a day." Consequently the day he gets home will be one day after the time at that place. If he arrives home on Saturday, according to his time-keeping, he will have to call the next day Monday; Sunday having gone by before he arrived home. On whatever day of the week January should end, in common years, he would find the same day of the week repeated only three times in February. If January ended on Sunday, he would, under these circumstances, find only three Sundays in February. PRESTER JOHN.

H

THE "NEW SHAKSPERE SOCIETY" (p. 304) was founded at London, by F. J. Furnivall, in 1873. In 1874 the Society began issuing publications which are grouped in eight series as follows:

1. Transactions of the Society.

2. A Series of Shakspere's Plays, including: a. Reprints. b. Trialeditions in the spelling of the Quarto or Folio that is taken as the basis of the text.

3. Originals and Analogues of Shakspere's Plays.

4.

Shakspere Allusion-Books.

5. A Selection from the Contemporary Drama.

6.

Works on Shakspere's England.

7. A Chronological Series of English Mysteries, Miracle-Plays, In terludes, Masks, &c.

8. Miscellanies, including reprints of last-century criticisms on Shakspere.

A list of members of the Society issued in April, 1882, includes 380 names, 71 of them being in this country.

H. K. A.

(p. 152) I think the

"POURING OIL ON THE TROUBLED WATERS." following telegram, recently published in the New York Tribune, will be of interest to your correspondent, "B. H. F.," and perhaps to some others:

"BALTIMORE, February 28, 1884.

Captain M. Smith, of the steamship James Turpie,' who arrived at this port to-day from Algeria, with iron ore, states that on February 23d the steamer entered a hurricane that lasted twelve hours. The efficacy of throwing oil on troubled waters had been read of by the captaiu, and he concluded to try it He accordingly secured two canvas bags, and filling them with fish-oil, lowered them from the vessel's bow, so that the oil would ooze from the bags and mingle with the seas. A good result was perceptible almost immediately. It quieted the waters, and the captain says he believed it saved the ship from having her decks swept fore and aft." H. K. A.

The following appeared in the New York Sun of March 14, 1884: "The literal pouring of oil on troubled waters is sometimes a good thing. The steam whaler Jan Mayen, which left Dundee in February to proceed to the Newfoundland seal-fishing, has returned to Scotland, having been unable to proceed on her voyage, owing to stormy weather. On Monday, February 18, the vessel encountered a hurricane, in which she was thrown on her beam's end, and would, it is believed by the crew, have foundered, had not the use of oil been resorted to. Three bags filled with oakum saturated in oil were bung over the side of the vessel, and in a brief space the sea, which had been washing completely over the ship, ceased to break. The captain attributes the escape of the vessel to this experiment."

QUESTIONS.

"How oft we lay the volume down to ask."-Charles Sprague.

When was the first Pension Act passed by the U. S. Congress, and who originated and advocated the same? MARVIN.

Wanted, the author, birth-place, and age of the stanza commencing "Now I lay me down to sleep." BERTRAM, R. A.

Where can I find authentic rules for the true pronunciation of Greek and Latin names? What, when, and where was the last case of capital punishment for religious offenses, by a Christian government? What, when, and where was the latest case of burning alive, as a punishment inflicted by a Christian government? Did burning alive, or other death by torture, ever stand upon the statute books of a Christian nation?

ANON.

The Franklin Collection of Henry Stevens purchased by the U. S. Government is said to contain twenty-seven numbers of Poor Richard's Almanac. Is this a consecutive collection from its first issue? Who are the authors of the following works: Bible Myths, published in Boston; Diana, Burns & Co., New York; Elements of Social Science, E. Truelove, London; Truth About Love, D. Wesley & Co., New York.

B.

Why do the numbers, 4-11-44, raise a smile when allusion is made to this combination? What is the origin of the arrangeZ. M. A.

ment?

What were the seven greater arts-(three of them were banking, and the manufacture and the dyeing of cloth),-and what the fourteen lesser arts, as established at Florence during, or about, the 13th century? What was the color, size, and shape of the colored tablet of wool required to be worn on the breast, in the street, by all Jews, in England in the time of Edward I? Who was the "Great Jornada?" Who was Bestiarius? Who is the author of the following lines which I quote from memory and may not give them acurately, and where do they occur? H. K. A.

"O he was dull, yes, dreadful dull !
O dull, so very dull!"

In

Boston Harbor contains an island called Governor's Island; there is also a Governor's Island in New York Bay; why, when, and by whom was each named? What is the origin of the custom of wearing hats by male mourners at funerals, and when and where did it originate? how many of the states is it common at present? I occasionally see it in villages in Rhode Island. I never saw or heard of it in Connecticut. J. Q. A.

MISCELLANEOUS

NOTES AND QUERIES,

WITH ANSWERS.

"Truth is the body of God, as light is His shadow.

VOL. II.

66

APRIL, 1884.

No. 22.

Amazing Geographical Paradoxes.

The following paradoxes are here reprinted from an old work entitled "Geography Anatomis'd: or, the Geographical Grammar; being a Short and Exact Analysis of the whole Body of Modern Geography, after a New and Curious Method. Collected from the best authors, and illustrated with divers maps. By Pat. Gordon, M. A., F. R. S. London, 1735." Octavo, pp. 432.

We are aware of their republication but once in any serial, and doubt not these paradoxes will invite thought and investigation among our readers. The 45 paradoxes will be reproduced in two chapters.

1.

There are two remarkable places on the globe of the earth, in which there is only one day and one night throughout the whole year.

2. There are also some places on the earth, in which it is neither day nor night at a certain time of the year, for the space of twenty-four hours.

3. There is a certain place of the earth, at which if two men should chance to meet, one would stand upright upon the soles of the other's feet, and neither of them would feel the other's weight, and yet they both should retain their natural posture.

4. There is a certain place of the earth, where a fire being made, neither flame nor smoke would ascend, but move circularly about the fire. Moreover, if in that place one should fix a smooth or plain table, without any ledges whatsoever, and pour thereon a large quantity of water, not one drop thereof could run over the said table, but would raise itself up in a heap. There is a certain place on the globe, of a considerable southern latitude, that hath both the greatest and least degree of longitude.

5.

6. There are three remarkable places on the globe, that differ both in longitude and lati tude, and yet all lie under one and the same meridian.

7.

There are three remarkable places on the continent of Europe, that lie under three dif erent meridians, and yet all agree both in longitude and latitude.