P.S.—Upon a second reference to the communication of W. S. W. I find that the above dates are not consistent with those quoted by him, but differ by exactly a hundred years: that this should be the exact difference is very singular, and would lead me to suspect that there might have been a mistake in transcription, were it not that in his smaller work Bede has this sentence:
"Hujus anno Dominus nascitur, completis ab Adam annis 3952.—Juxta alios, 5199."
Naturalis proles (Vol. iv., p. 161.).
—Undoubtedly in Latin naturalis is opposed to "adopted;" e.g. "P. Scipio ... naturalis consulis Paulli, adoptione Africani nepos." (Livy, xliv. 44.) I stumbled some time ago upon the following:
"The Act of Settlement by which Napoleon, Emperor of France, was declared King of Italy, with the right of succession to his sons natural or adopted, and male heirs.... He declared that he accepted, and would defend, the iron crown; and that even during his lifetime he would consent to separate the two crowns, and place one of his natural or adopted sons upon the throne."—Alison's History, chap. xxxix. §§ 38, 39.
I have no means of ascertaining whether this is a literal rendering from the French document. If I may trust my Dictionnaire de l'Académie, this sense of the word is unknown to the French language, as well as to ours.
CHARLES THIRIOLD.
Print cleaning (Vol. iv., p. 175.).
—The following method is given as infallible by Mr. Stannard in the Art-Union for 1847, pp. 179. 261.:
"Immerse the print for an hour or so in a lye made by adding to the strongest muriatic acid its own weight in water, and to three parts of this mixture adding one of red oxide of lead, or black oxide of manganese. A print, if not quickly cleaned, may remain in the liquid twenty-four hours without harm. Indian ink stains should in the first instance be assisted out with hot water. Pencil marks, if carefully done, should be partially rubbed out with India rubber or day-old bread; that is, if it can be safely done, as rubbing an engraving is always hazardous. If the print had been mounted, the paste on the back should be thoroughly removed with warm water. The saline crystals left by the solution may be removed by repeated rinsings with warm water."