I should think that the colour observed was not that of the ancient dye, but rather was caused by phosphate of iron, formed by the combination of iron contained in the soil or water, with phosphoric acid, arising from the decomposition of animal matter. It may often be observed in similar cases, as about animal remains found in bogs, and about ancient leather articles found in {439} excavations, especially when any iron is in contact with them, or in the soles of shoes or sandals studded with nails. W. C. TREVELYAN. Wallington. _First and Last._--There cannot be two words more different in meaning than these, and yet they are both used to express the same sense! Of two authors equally eminent, one shall write that a thing is of the _first_ and the other of the _last_ importance, though each means the _greatest_ or _utmost_. How is this? To me _first_ appears preferable, though _last_ may be justifiable. Being on the subject of words, I am reminded of _obnoxious_, which is applied in the strangest ways by different authors. It is true that the Roman writers used _obnoxius_ in various senses; but it does not seem so pliable or smooth in English. Generally it is held to indicate _disagreeable_ or _inimical_, though our dictionaries do not admit it to have either of those meanings! A. B. C. _Cucumber Time._--This term, which the working-tailors of England use to denote that which their masters call "the flat season," has been imported from a country which periodically sends many hundreds of its tailors to seek employment in our metropolis. The German phrase is "Die saure Gurken Zeit," or pickled gherkin time. A misunderstanding of the meaning of the phrase may have given rise to the vulgar witticism, that tailors are vegetarians, who "live on cucumber" while at play, and on "cabbage" while at work. N. W. S. _MS. Sermons of the Eighteenth Century._--Having lately become possessed, at the sale of an an old library, of some MS. Sermons by the Rev. J. Harris, Rector of Abbotsbury, Dorset, from the year 1741 to 1763, I shall be happy to place them in the hands of any descendant of that gentleman. W. EWART. Pimperne, Dorset. _Boswell's "Johnson."_--In vol. v. p. 272. of _my_ favourite edition, and p. 784. of the edition in one volume, Johnson, writing to Brocklesby, under date Sept. 2, 1784, calls Windham "inter stellas Luna minores." Boswell, in a note, says, "It is remarkable that so good a Latin scholar as Johnson should have been so inattentive to the metre, as by mistake to have written _stellas_ instead of _ignes_." Now, with all due deference, a Captain of Native Infantry ventures to suggest that both _stellas_ and _ignes_ are wrong, and that Johnson was thinking of the noble opening of Horace's 15th Epode: "Nox erat, et coelo fulgebat _Luna_ sereno, _Inter minora_ sidera." F. C. Bangalore.