—Why are the glass balls filled with floating bubbles called Rupert balls? Was the prince a glass-blower?
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[The earliest experiments upon glass tears were made in 1656, both in London and Paris; but it is not certain in what country they were invented. They were first brought to England by Prince Rupert, and experiments were made upon them by the Right Hon. Sir Robert Moray, in 1661, by the command of his Majesty. An account of these experiments is to be found in the Registers of the Royal Society, of which he was one of the founders. See Edinburgh Encyclopædia, vol. x. p. 319.]
Knock under.
—To knock under, in the sense of succumb, yield: unde derivatur?
NOCAB.
["From the submission expressed among good fellows by knocking under the table."—Johnson.]
Freemasons.
—Where can be found a good account of the origin of freemasons? And is there any truth in the story that Lord Doneraile made his daughter, the Honorable Miss E. St. Leger, a freemason?
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