_Flemish and Dutch Schools of Painting_ (Vol. vii., p. 65.).--Karelvan Glander, _Leven der beroemdste Schilders, Hollandsche en Vlaamsche_ (Lives of the most celebrated Dutch and Flemish Painters). This work is of the beginning of the seventeenth century. A better work is the _Levens der beroemdste Hollandsche en Vlaamsche Schilders_, by Immerzeel, published in 1836. H. v. L. _Furmety or Frumenty_ (Vol. vi., p. 604.).--ERICA asks if _furmety_ can claim descent from the once popular dish plum-porridge, mentioned in the _Tatler_ and _Spectator_. Though not a direct answer, the following quotation from Washington Irving's _Sketch Book_ will show that it was in request at the season when _plum-pudding_ abounds, notwithstanding the orthodoxy of its use on Mid-Lent Sunday. In his account of the Christmas festivities at Bracebridge Hall, speaking of the supper on Christmas Eve, he says: "The table was abundantly spread with substantial fare, but the Squire made his supper of _frumenty_, a dish made of wheat cakes boiled in milk, with rich spices, _being a standing dish in old times for Christmas Eve_." W. H. COTTON. _Etymology of Pearl_ (Vol. vi., p. 578.; Vol. vii., p. 18.).--SIR EMERSON TENNENT inquires as to the antiquity of the word _pearl_ in the English language. _Pærl_ occurs in Anglo-Saxon (Bosworth in v.), and corresponding forms are found in the Scandinavian languages, as well as in the Welsh and Irish. The old German form of the word is _berille_. Richardson in v. quotes an instance of the adjective _pearled_ from Gower, who belongs to the fourteenth century. The use of _union_ for _pearl_, cited by SIR E. TENNENT from Burton, is a learned application of the word, and never was popular in our language. I may add that Muratori inserts the word _perla_ in the _Italian Glossary_, in his 33rd Dissertation on Italian Mediæval Antiquities. He believes the origin of the word to be Teutonic, but throws no light on the subject. It appears from Halliwell's _Arch. and Prov. Dictionary_, that white spots in the eyes were anciently called _pearls_. McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_ in v., particularly speaks of the pear-shaped form of the pearl; and, on the whole, the supposition that _perula_ is equivalent to _pear-ling_, seems the most probable. L.