_Swords used in Dress_ (Vol. i. 415.; vol. ii. 110. 213. 388.).--Might it not have happened that swords went out of fashion after the middle of the last century, and were revived towards its close? In old prints from 1700 to 1720, they appear to have been universally worn; later they are not so general. In 1776-90, they appear again. My grandmother (born in 1760) well remembers her brother, of nearly her own age, wearing a sword, say about 1780. Some of Fielding's heroes wore "hangers." A.A. _Clerical Costume_ (Vol. ii., pp. 22. 189.).--The use of scarlet cloth is popularly recommended in Berks and in Devon as a cure for the rheumatism. It should be wrapped round the "ailing" limb. H.G.T. _Tristan d'Acunha_ (Vol. ii., p. 358.).--The latest and best description of this isle is to be found in _A Narrative of a Nine Months' Residence in New Zealand, together with a Journal of a Residence in Tristan d'Acunha_. By A. Earle. Longmans, 1832. GOMER. _Swearing by Swans_ (Vol. ii., pp. 392. 451.).--Though I can give no reason why the birds of Juno should have been invoked as witnesses to an oath, the Query about them has suggested to me what may perhaps appear rather an irrelevant little note. Cooper, in his _Raven's Nest_, makes Mr. Aristobulus Brag use the provincialism "_I swanny_;" "by which," observes the author, "I suppose he meant--_I swear!_" Of course, this has nothing to do with swearing by swans, more than sounding like it; argument of sound being very different from sound argument. Mr. Cooper does not seem to have given a thought to the analysis of the phrase, which is no oath, merely an innocent asseveration. "I's-a-warrant-ye" (perhaps when resolved to its ungrammatical elements, "I is a warranty to ye") proceeds through "I's-a-warnd-ye," "I's-warn-ye" (all English provincialisms,) to its remote transatlantic ultimatum of debasement in "_I swanny_." G.J. CAYLEY. _Mildew in Books_ (Vol. ii., p. 103).--In reply to B., who inquires for a prevention for _mildew in books_, I send the following receipt, which I have copied from a book containing many others:--"Take a feather dipt in spirits of wine, and lightly wash over the backs and covers. To prevent mould, put a little into writing ink." Another to take _mildew out of linen_.--"Mix powdered starch and soft soap with half the quantity of bay salt; mix it with vinegar, and lay it on both sides with a painter's brush. Then let it lie in the open air till the spots are out." J.R. "_Swinging Tureen_," (Vol. i., pp. 246. 307. 406.).-- "Next crowne the bowle full With gentle lamb's-wooll Adde sugar, nutmeg, and ginger, With store of ale too; And thus must ye doe To make the wassaile a _swinger_." Herrick, cited in Ellis' _Brand_, ed. 1849, vol. i. p. 26.