[The name of _Exempts_ or _Exons_ is manifestly borrowed from that of the officers in the old French _Garde du Corps_, who were styled in their commissions _Capitaines Exempts des Gardes du Corps_. Richelet describes the _Exempt_ as the officer who commanded in the absence of the Lieutenant or Ensign, and who had charge of the night watch. In both cases, the duties of the English and French officers are completely parallel.] _Curious Monumental Inscription: "Quos Anguis tristi."_--Have any of your readers seen Latin verses constructed in the following curious manner? I copied these many years ago from an old magazine:-- "Qu an tris di c vul stra os guis ti ro um nere vit, H san Chris mi t mu la Quos anguis tristi diro cum vulnere stravit, Hos sanguis Christi miro tum munere lavit." J. O. B. [The inscription quoted by our correspondent has been preserved by Stow, in his _Survey of London_, who, describing the monuments in the church of St. Anne in the Willows, says (p. 115. ed. 1842), "John Herenden, mercer, esquire, 1572; these verses on an old stone."] _Meaning of "Deal."_--I shall feel greatly obliged to any of the readers of your entertaining and instructive miscellany, if they can explain the meaning of the word _deal_, as used in Exod. xxix. 40. A tenth of flour is the verbal rendering of the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and the Vulgate. It was introduced by Coverdale and Tyndale, and is, I believe, in all our English translations except the Puritan or Genevan, which has "a tenth part;" and Mr John Ray of Glasgow, in his revised translation, who renders the word "the tenth of an ephah." Is this use of the word _deal_ noticed in any dictionary? GEORGE OFFOR. Hackney, July 13. 1851. [The word "_deal_" in the passage referred to by our correspondent clearly signifies "_part_," and corresponds with the German "_theil_." It is from the A-S.; and Chaucer uses the phrases "never a _del_" and "every _del_," for "never a bit" and "every bit." In the _Vision of Piers Ploughman_ we have a nearly parallel phrase to that used in our Bibles: "That hevedes of holy church ben That han hir wil here Withouten travaille _the tithe deel_ That trewe men biswynken." L. 10571. _et seq._, ed. Wright.] _La Mer des Histoires._--Who is the author of _La Mer des Histoires_? I have seen the first volume in large folio; the type and paper are beautiful, the capital letters very fine. It is stated in the preface to be a translation from the Latin of _Rudimentum Noviciorum_, with the addition of the French Chronicles, and made at the instance of André de la Haye, Seigneur de Chaumot, Paymaster of Sens. It is printed at Paris in the month of July, 1448, by Pierre le Rouge. In how many volumes is the work comprised? Is it very scarce? R. C. H. H.