Aristotle and Pythagoras.—What reason (if any) is there for supposing that Aristotle derived his philosophy from Pythagoras himself?
D. K.
When Deans first styled Very Reverend.—Can any of your correspondents state at what period Deans of Cathedrals were first designated as "Very Reverend?" Forty years ago they prayed at Christ Church, Oxford, for the Reverend the Deans, the Canons, &c. The inscription on the stone covering the remains of Sir Richard Kaye, Bart., Dean of Lincoln, who died in 1809, terms him "the Reverend."
X. X.
Form of Prayer at the Healing (Vol. iii., pp. 42. 93. 148.).—As my note on this subject has been misunderstood, I would prefer this Query. What is the earliest edition of the Prayer Book in which the Form for the Healing appears? Mr. Lathbury states 1709, which is I believe the generally received date; but it is found in one printed in London in 1707 immediately before the Articles. Its appearance in the Prayer Book is entirely unauthorised; and it would be curious to ascertain also, whether it found a place in the Prayer Books printed at Oxford or Cambridge.
N. E. R. (a Subscriber).
West Chester.—In maps of Cheshire, 1670, and perhaps later, the city of Chester is thus called. Why is it so designated? It does not appear to be so called now. Passing through a village only six miles from London last week, I heard a mother saying to a child, "If you are not a good girl I will send you to West Chester." "Go to Bath" is common enough; but why should either of these places be singled out? The Cheshire threat seems to have been in use for some time, unless that city is still called West Chester.
John Francis X.
The Milesians.—With respect to the origin of the Milesian race little seems to be known, even by antiquaries who have given their attention to the archæology of Ireland, the inhabitants of which country are reputed to have been of Milesian origin. The Milesian race, also, is thought to have come over from Spain, a conjecture which is rather confirmed by the etymology of the names of some Irish towns, where the letters gh, as in Drogheda and Aghada, if so convertible, have the same pronunciation as the Spanish j in Aranjuez and Badajoz, and also by the expression and cast of features marked in many of the peasants of the south-west of Ireland, which strikingly resemble those of the children of Spain.