_A Bull_ (Vol. ii., p. 441.).--I have heard it argued that the word _bull_, meaning an incoherent blunder, was derived from the Pope's Bulls, the tyrannical contents and imperious tone of which often made so odd a contrast with the humility of the subscription, "Servus servorum Dei," that the name _bull_ was applied to anything that seemed absurdly inconsistent or self-contradictory. W. FRASER. _Remains of Horses and Sheep in Churches_ (Vol. v., p. 274.).--We have good evidence that the Saxons used the places of sepulture which they found in England; and it is well known that Anglo-Saxon remains have often been discovered in the vicinity of churches, a fact which leads to the supposition that churches occupied the sites of Pagan temples. The bones of animals have often been found on and near the sites of our London churches. J. Y. A. _Fern Seed_ (Vol. v., pp. 172. 356.).--I am led to think there is an error in the notice of your correspondent R. S. F. on the above subject. The seed of St. John's Fearn cannot be gathered on Midsummer Eve, inasmuch as at that time it is in a merely embryotic state. The seed attains perfection late in autumn, and it remains attached to the dry brown stem until shaken off by the autumnal and winter blasts. The taking of it, therefore, is not, according to those versed in such mysteries, the easy task of a Midsummer twilight, but must be performed amid the darkness of a winter's night. On the midnight of Saint John the Evangelist, to whom the seed and plant are dedicated, must it be shaken, not pulled, from its stem. Very probably mystic virtues were imputed to the seed before the introduction of Christianity. And it were not perhaps hazarding too much to suppose that the old superstitious monks assigned it to Saint John from an idea that the potency of the seed might have influenced the wondrous revelations with which he, more than any other of the disciples, or all the disciples, was favoured. B. Miscellaneous. NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.