ABRASAX, OR ABRAXAS. How is the word Abrasax or Abraxas explained as being a representation of 365 heavens? (N. AND Q., Vol. XII, p. 290; VIII, p. 416-417.)

ALEX.

The term Abrasax or Abraxas is said to be Coptic, and to signify. "the Adorable Name" or "Word." The letters composing it in Greek have the numerical value of 365. The same thing is true of the names Chreistos and Meithras. Omit thee or epsilon in each of these words and they would express 360 which was an archaic sacred number. Basilides, the eminent Egyptian Gnostic, appears to have first used the term Abrasax; and Jerome declares that he applied it to the Almighty God, whom the heathen call Mithras and the Iberians of Spain Balsamus and Barbelus (Lord of heaven, sire of Bel). He promulgated an elaborate doctrine of emanation in the following order ; 1. Abrasax; 2. Mind, or Nous, the Superior Intelligence; 3. The Word; 4. Providence ; 5. Energy and Wisdom; 6. Virtues, Principalities, and Powers; 7. The Angels.

By these angels 365 heavens were created. One of these was the God of the Jews, also called Idda-Baoth, the son of Chaotic Darkness, and ruler of Saturn, the outermost planet of the Cosmos."

Augustine says that "Basilides pretended that the number of the heavens is 365, the number of the days in the year." These æons or emanations are thus included in Abrasax or the Great First Cause, and thus he is the pleroma, the fullness and complete of All.

A. WILDER. JESUS THE CHRIST A SECRET. Why did Jesus charge his apostles to keep secret that he was Jesus the Christ, namely: Then charged he his disciples, that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ."-Matt. xvi, 20. Also, Mark vii, 36; Luke ix, 21. (N. AND SUNDAY SCHOLAR.

Q., Vol. XII, p. 290.)

If Jesus professed to be " the Christ," he would be exposed to the penalty of treason; if the designation is more correctly Christos, he would incur the double penalty of treason and sacrilege for making himself like Apollo, a demigod. A. WILDER.

SEA LAWYER. What is a sea lawyer? (Vol. XII. p. 21.5) J. F. E. He is a sailor who is too fond of arguing on practical matters with his superiors or among his mates. PRIGGLES.

SURNAME AND SIRNAME. Why do we spell our hereditary name surname, when we spell it sir when use in address as Dear Sir, or as Sir Isaac Newton? (N. AND Q., Vol. XII, p. 290.) LLEWEllyn.

surname.

Many of our modes of spellings are dictated by the attrition of usage. But sur in the word surname is not the same as sir. The latter is the contraction of senior, while surname is from the NormanFrench term surnom. A. WILDER. The French preposition sur (over, on) is made the first syllable of The surname is therefore the name added and upon, or over and above, the baptismal name. In olden times no such surname was used; but if John had a son Peter, he was called Peter, son of John, or John's son. When in the course of time this designation of sonship, or other distinguishing name of each person, became permanent, and all the posterity of Peter thus kept this name of Johnson; the name which thus became permanent was called the added name, or over-and-above name, in French the surnomme, and in English the PRIGGLES.

surname.

CHAP-BOOKS.

What are the books called chap-books? (Vol. XII,

pp. 214, 233.) M. Chap-books are not exactly "toy-books and the like," as stated by your correspondent (233). A better description is that they are cheap books"; that is, small books which used to be the popular reading, secular and religious, for country districts. They were carried along with merchandise, by pedlers. The story of Argalus and Parthenia was one, Russel's Seven Sermons was another. Such books were printed in many towns of New England and the Middle States, down to 1820 and 1830. I recall the names of Suffield, Conn., East Brookfield, Mass., Poughkeepsie, N. Y., as such towns. I used to have quite a collection of these American chap-books. It is possible some books for children may have been among the later ones, but only a few, if any. PRIGGLES.

SURNAME OF Justin Martyr. Was the surname of this churchfather given him because of his martyrdom? (Vol. XII, p. 215.) O. Some authorities state that hs was martyred by being beheaded under Marcus Aurelius, about A. D. 165, through the machinations of the heathen philosopher Crescens. PRIGGLES.

WALL PAPER CRACKING. When paper is pasted on the walls of an old house where the boards are perfectly seasoned, why does the paper burst wherever there is an opening between the boards, even if very slight? (N. AND Q., Vol. XII, p. 290.) S. V. M.

I suppose that wood though perfectly seasoned absorbs moisture on damp days and "swells." The paper pasted on it is contracted and ALEX. WILDER, M. D.

expanded, and not being elastic tears.

PROMETHEUS. (Vol. XII, p. 286.) The Greek interpretation of this word was ingenious and eloquent, but as the Greeks knew nothing of comparative philology and Sanscrit, the correct derivation of it was necessarily unknown to them. The word is a modified Sanscrit word, just as Zeus is a modification of the Sanscrit Dyaus, etc., and is simply a Greek alteration of the Sanscrit Pramanthas, which was the name of the simple apparatus of two pieces of wood, by which the Brahmins kindled the sacred fire. PRIGGLES.

EPIGRAM ON HOMER'S BIRTHPLACE. Can you give the epigram on Homer's birthplace by Antipater of Sidon, a line of which I recently saw quoted: "Homer, some say that Colophon thee bear." X.

The Greek text of the epigram, together with the following English translation, is given by William D. Geddes, in his work, "The Problem of the Homeric Poems" (p. 239), London, 1878:

Homer, some say that Colophon thee bear,
Some Chios and some Smyrna's city fair;
Some claim the blissful Salamis for thee,
Some Thessaly beyond the sounding sea;
Some Ios' isle; but what Apollo told
To me, to all I do declare I am bold;
Heaven is thy home, and in bright halls above,
The Muse thy mother and thy father Jove.

THE THREE BAD KAPPAS. (Vol. II, p. 639; III, p. 132; VI, 300.) Kappadocia, Kilicia, and Kreta were the three bad kappas of the ancients on account of the character of their inhabitants. Why was the first mentioned called Kappadocia ? ARIEL.

We will let some of our classical correspondents answer " ARIEL." The word Kappadocia suggests other familiar names like Habakkuk, Kealakeakua, Kankakee, Karakalpak, Kaskaskia, Keokuk, Kerkock, the etymology of which would be hard to discover, and yet they each ntains three k's.

Zoroaster. A Chapter From His Life.

First Marvel. The early life of the Iranian Prophet consists of a series of wonders. When Zoroaster was born, a time at which other children are wont to cry, he laughed, and by such extraordinary behavior drew at once upon him the attention of the whole district. Second Wonder. The demons, who naturally knew very well the object of the mission of Zoroaster, and who, in order to thwart it, endeavored to destroy the object of their fear, employed every means to annihilate him, and more than once opportunity seemed to favor them. The province, in which Zoroaster was born, belonged to a king Durānsarūn, of whom we know not whether he was identical with the Durāsrun mentioned in the table of the genealogy of Zoroaster. The king was an unbeliever and the chief of all vicious magicians ( yātu), for nearly every one dealt in magic according to the statement of the Zartusht name. The powers of darkness often carried on intercourse with men, and confirmed them in their wicked purposes; even the father of Zoroaster did not hold himself entirely aloof from such dealings. Now, when Dunānsarun heard of the birth of Zoroaster, and feared that the power of sorcery might come to an end if the child grew up to strength, he speedily hastened toward the dwelling of Pōurushaspa, where he found the child lying in its cradle. Fiercely he drew his poniard to murder the child, but before he could inflict the fatal blow his hand was paralyzed, and he was compelled to withdraw without having effected his object.

Third Wonder. The evil spirits, however, did not yet abandon their object so tamely; they yet hoped that their evil designs might prevail in the end. They soon formed a designed for stealing the child from his mother, and brought Zoroaster into the desert, where they piled up a heap of burning materials around him and set them on fire. Thus they confidently expected to annihilate him, but again they were deceived; the child slept calmly in the fire, and the mother hastening into the desert in search of her lost child found him again.

Fourth Wonder. Not long after this vain attempt, the sorcerers made a new effort. By the command of Durānsarun they took the child and laid it on a narrow path, over which had to pass a herd of oxen under whose feet they hoped it would be trampled to death; but, when the herd approached, the largest of the bulls took the child between his feet, and prevented any injury being done to it.

Fifth Wonder. This marvel is substantially a repetition of the preceding wonder.

Sixth Wonder. What the oxen had refused to do, was tried again with horses. The child was, therefore, again laid on a narrow path

and a herd of wild horses driven over it, but this time a horse protected the child from the hoofs of the others. Next, as domestic animals could not be made to do any harm to Zoroaster, Durānsarūn tried to do it by means of wild beasts. He ordered a den of wolves to be discovered, and the young ones thereof to be slain during the absence of the old ones, and Zoroaster was laid in their place in the hopes that the old wolves might in their first fury tear the child to pieces. These children of darkness did, indeed, show a great inclination to do so, but God closed their jaws, so that they could not hurt the child. On the contrary, there came two celestial cows which gave their udders to the child and suckled the child.

Seventh Wonder. After these fruitless endeavors all plans to destroy the life of the child had to be given up as hopeless. Zoroaster now gradually grew up in age, and his father found it necessary to have him educated. He selected as teacher a man who led a pious life in the midst of magicians and whose name was Barzinkarūs. When Zoroaster was seven years old, the sorcerers made another attempt on his life. They hoped he would not be insensible at least to fears and terrors; and, therefore, they, by sorcery and witchcraft, brought forth terrible apparitions, at which all were startled and took to flight, with the exception of Zoroaster, who remained perfectly calm in his firm confidence in the protecting power of God. Thus he passed through trial after trial.

Eighth Wonder. Not long after this Zoroaster fell sick, and now the magicians hoped to destroy him. Instead of medicine they brought him some drink prepared from poisonous drugs; but Zoroaster immediately detecting its dangerous nature rejected it, and was again preserved.

It may have been in the fifteenth year of Zoroaster's life, that his father gave a sumptuous banquet at his house to which king Durānsarūn and Burāntarūs, the most noted magicians of the time, were also invited. Here Zoroaster took the opportunity of openly expressing his hatred of magic, and of proclaiming war against it. Henceforth the magicians trembled in his presence, and watched him attentively. His further deeds are, however, not handed down to us; still it is self-evident that his life was entirely blameless, It is only said that the period of his trials lasted up to his thirtieth year, after which his piety began to bring forth fruit.-The Age of Zoroaster by Dr. Wilhelm Gieger and Dr. Fr. von Spigel. London, 1886.

SHORTHAND INSCRIPTION. In the church of St. Mary's, Sculcoates, Hull, England, is a tombstone with an inscription in shorthand. It is in memory of Mrs. Jane Delamoth, who died on January 19, 1761. The tablet is an object of curious interest to people who visit there.