W. S.
Denton.
Ink.
—Can any of your correspondents enlighten me as to the nature of the ink used in the ancient MSS.; its delightful blackness, even in examples of great antiquity, is most refreshing to the eye.
W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.
Mistletoe excluded from Churches.
—Is mistletoe excluded now from any church in the mistletoe-producing counties at Christmas? And was it ever admitted in Roman Catholic times?
T. GOLDSEER.
Blind taught to read.
—Burnet, in the postscript of his Letter from Milan, dated Oct. 1, 1685 (ed. Rotterdam, 1687, p. 114.), speaking of Mistress Walkier, who had been accidentally blinded in infancy, states, that her father "ordered letters to be carved in wood;" and that "she, by feeling the characters, formed such an idea of them, that she writes with a crayon so distinctly, that her writing can be well read." What is the earliest known instance of the blind being taught to read or write by the instrumentality of raised letters?