Philadelphia.
A Cob-wall.—Why do the inhabitants of Devonshire call a wall made of tempered earth, straw, and small pebbles mixed together, a cob-wall? Walls so constructed require a foundation of stone or bricks, which is commonly continued to the height of about two feet from the surface of the ground. Has the term cob reference to the fact that such a wall is a superstructure on the foundation of stone or brick?
A. B. C.
Inscription near Chalcedon.—In 1675, when Sir Geo. Wheler and his travelling companion visited Chalcedon (as recorded in his Voyage from Venice to Constantinople, fol., Lond. 1682, p. 209.), it was famous only for the memory of the great council held there in A.D. 327, the twentieth of the reign of Constantine the Great:
"The first thing we did (he says) was to visit the metropolitan church, where they say it was kept; but M. Nanteuil assured us that it was a mile from thence, and that he had there read an inscription that mentioneth it. Besides, it is a small obscure building, incapable to contain such an assembly."
Has the inscription here spoken of been noticed by any traveller, and can any of your readers refer to a copy of it; and say whether it is cotemporary, and whether it has been more recently noticed?
W. S. G.
Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Domesday Book.—What does the abbreviation glđ, or gelđ, applied to terra, signify? Also, in the description of places, there is frequently a capital letter, B., or M., or S. before it, as in one case, e. g. "B. terr. glđ wasta." Can any one inform me what it signifies?
In the case of many parishes, it is stated that there was a church there: is it considered conclusive authority that there was not one, if it is not mentioned in Domesday Book?