"De la Schola de Sclavoni."—On a large marble slab at North Stoneham, near Southampton, is the following, inscription:

AÑo Dni MCCCCLXXXI Sepvltvra de la Schola de Sclavoni."

Is this the burial-place of the family of one of the foreign merchants settled in this country, and can any of the correspondents of "N. & Q." give any information about it?

John S. Burn.

Mineral Acids.—As it is generally supposed that these powerful solvents were not known anterior to circiter A.D. 1100, I should be glad to learn what opinion is entertained by the learned concerning the death of the prophet Haken al Mokannah. This person is said to have disappeared in 785, or 163 of the Hejrah, by casting himself into a barrel of corrosive fluids, which dissolved his body. Is it not the best supposition, that this story was supposed by Khondemir and others, in more advanced ages of science, to account for the fact of his having disappeared, and of his real fate having never been ascertained? I have never seen this apparent anticipation of chemical discoveries animadverted on.

A. N.

Richard Geering.—Wanted, arms, pedigree, and particulars of the family of Richard Geering, one of the six clerks in Chancery in Ireland from March 1700 to April 1735. One of his daughters, Prudence, married, in 1722, Charles Coote, Esq., M.P., and by him was mother of the last Earl of Bellamont. Another daughter, Susannah, was wife of Mr. Charles Wilson; who was, it is believed, a connexion of the family of Ward of Newport, in Shropshire. Any information about Mr. Wilson's ancestry would be very acceptable.

Y. S. M.

Stipendiary Curates.—What is the earliest mention of stipendiary curates in our ecclesiastical establishment? And what other national churches have priests placed in a corresponding position?

Berosus.

Our Lady of Rounceval.—Can you or any of your correspondents furnish me with particulars of our Lady of Rounceval?

A. J. Dunkin.

Roden's Colt.—A lady of a certain age is said in common parlance to be "Forty, save one, the age of Roden's colt." What can Nimrod tell us touching this proverbialised animal?

R. C. Warde.

Kidderminster.

Sir Christopher Wren and the Young Carver.—A reader has a floating notion in his head of having once read in the Literary Gazette a strange story of a country boy going to town to seek employment as a carver or sculptor; of his being accosted by Sir Christopher Wren, and offering to carve for him a sow and pigs, &c. Can any correspondent have pity on him, and tell him where to find the tale?

A. H.

Vellum Cleaning.—Are there not preparations in use for cleaning the backs of old vellum-bound books without destroying the polish? How made, or where procurable?

J. F. M.

Dionysia in Boeotia.—Can any of your readers refer me to a passage in any ancient author in which this supposed town is mentioned?

Dumersan refers to Diodorus Siculus as his authority for its existence, but my search in that author has been vain, and I am not alone in that respect.

Augustus Langdon.

Bloomsbury.

Poll Tax in 1641.—I find in Somers' Tracts, 2nd ed. vol. iv. p. 298.:

"The copy of an order agreed upon in the House of Commons upon Friday, 18th June, wherein every man is rated according to his estate, for the king's use."

Is there on record the return made to this order; and where may it be consulted?

Tewars.

Thomas Chester, Bishop of Elphin, 1580.—This prelate, who was the second son of Sir William Chester, Kt., Lord Mayor of London in 1560, by his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Lovett, Esq., of Astwell in Northamptonshire, is said by Anthony À Wood (AthenaÆ Oxon., ed. Bliss, vol. ii. p. 826.) to have "given way to fate at Killiathar in that city, in the month of June in 1584." The calendars of the Will Office of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury do not contain his name; can any of your Irish contributors inform me whether his will was proved in Ireland? I should be glad to know, too, what will offices exist in Ireland, and from what period they date their commencement. He is said to have married ——, daughter of Sir James Clavering, Kt., of Axwell Park in Northumberland: does any pedigree of the Claverings supply this lady's Christian name? His eldest brother, William Chester, Esq., married his cousin-german Judith, daughter and co-heiress of Anthony Cave, Esq., of Chichley Hall, Bucks, and was ancestor to the extinct family of the baronets of that name and place. Bishop Chester died s. p.

Tewars.

Rev. Urban Vigors.—Amongst the chaplains of King Charles I., was there one of the name of Vigors, the Rev. Urban Vigors of Taunton? Any particulars of him will be acceptable.

Y. S. M.

Early English MSS.—What is the earliest document, of any historical import to this country, now existing in MS.?

T. Hughes.

Curing of Henry IV.—The best account of the curing of Hen. IV. from the leprosy: vide Lambard's Dictionary, p. 306.

A. J. Dunkin.

Standard of Weights and Measures.—I would gladly learn something of the system of weights and measures in other countries, and particularly whether in England and America there exists for this object any government inspection; and if so, how this is executed? A list of works on this subject would be most welcome. I am acquainted only with the works of Ravon, Fabrication des Poids et Mesures, Paris, 1843, and of TarbÉ, Poids, Mesures et VÉrification, both found in the EncyclopÉdie Roret; and the VollstÄndige Darstellung des Masz- and Gewicht-Systems in Grossherzogthum Hessen, by F.W. Grimm, Darmstadt, 1840.—From the Navorscher.

F. F.

Parish Clerks' Company.—

"In making searches in registers of parishes within the bills of mortality, a facility is afforded by the company of parish clerks; by paying a fee of about two guineas, a circular is sent to all the parish clerks, with the particulars of information required: the registers are accordingly searched, and the result communicated to the clerk of the company."

The above I give from Burn's History of Parish Registers, p. 217. note, published in 1829. Is this the case at present and if so, what is the direction of the clerk of the Company? I wish this system existed in Oxford.

Y. S. M.

Orange Blossom.—Can any reader of "N. & Q." inform me why the flowers of the orange blossom are so universally used in the dress of a bride? and from what date they have been so used?

Augusta.

Mr. Pepys his Queries.—I cannot say that I met with Pepys as Fielding did Shakspeare, in a Journey from this World to the next; but I met with seven of his Queries among the Rawlinson MSS. in the Bodleian, addressed to Sir William Dugdale, a name dear to all orthodox antiquaries. It would appear the Secretary to the Admiralty felt the want of a "medium of inter-communication" in his day. Here are his Queries:

1. Whether any foreigners are to be found in our list of English admirals?

2. The reason or account to be given of the place assigned to our admirals in the Act of Precedence?

3. Whether any of the considerable families of our nobility or gentry have been raised by the sea?

4. Some instances of the greatest ransoms heretofore set upon prisoners of greatest quality.

5. The descent and posterity of Sir Francis Drake; and what estate is now in the possession of any of his family derived from him.

6. Who Sir Anthony Ashby was?

7. What are and have been generally the professions, trades, or qualifications, civil or military, that have and do generally raise families in England to wealth and honour in Church and State?

J. Yeowell.

50. Burton Street.

Foreign Medical Education.—Can any contributor direct me to any sources of information on the regulations concerning medical instruction and medical degrees in the principal universities on the Continent?

Medicus.