Notes and Queries, Number 171, February 5, 1853 / A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.

I send you a very eloquent tribute to the genius and power of the English language by Jacob Grimm, extracted from a paper entitled Ueber den Ursprung der Sprache, read before the Royal Academy of Berlin, January 9, 1851, and contained in the Transactions of that Society, Section of Philology and History for 1851, p. 135.: Berlin, 4to., 1852:—
I transmit the text, as many of your readers may prefer the extract—as most foreign extracts are preferred— neat as imported: although, owing to the kindness of a friend, it is fairly represented in the translation. It is however very difficult to find words which precisely express the meaning of German scientific terms.
S. H.
Mitteltöne are those sounds which stand between the three fundamental vowels, a , i , u , as pronounced by the continental nations.
Romanesque. Those languages which have descended from the Latin, as the Spanish, Frank, or French, &c.
The desiccative powers of lime are familiar to chemists, and, I believe, to many practical men; but I do not know of lime having been used for the above purpose.
A strong chest, in my possession, containing important papers (title-deeds, marriage certificates, &c.), gradually became damp, and subjected its contents to a slow process of decay. This arose, I found, from a defect in its construction, wood having been improperly introduced into the latter, and concealed; so that some singular chemical compounds would appear to have been formed. The papers were gradually injured to an extent enforcing attention; and the process continued in them after their removal into a well-constructed chest, giving me the impression of a process resembling the action of a ferment. Several attempts were made to dry them by fires, the rays of the sun, &c.; but the damp was always renewed.
They were thoroughly dried in a very few days, and permanently kept dry, by placing and keeping in the chest a box containing a little quicklime.
At a later period, a large closet, so damp as to render articles mouldy, was thoroughly dried, and kept dry, by a box containing lime.