met with in Arabic books of great antiquity; but then it is held, that they had them from the more eastern nations: perhaps some of your foreign correspondents may be able to clear up this point. I shewed you and sir Hans Sloane a little MS. of recipes in physic, wherein there are abundance of numeral characters for expressing the subdivisions of weights, used about the time of Henry III. The marks are so odd and many, that I cannot represent them without a copper-plate, as we have no type or letter to exhibit them withal. One thing is very singular, that when their numbers went beyond ten, they were obliged to put the Roman numerals over them to shew their power or value, as 10.1, 10.9, 20, 100, 400, 1000, 6000, &c. Soon after, or about this time, they changed the Arabic five, 0, to ч or 4, or drew a stroke through it thus, o, or . The invention of printing finally settled their form as they have remained ever since. The earliest date in Arabic characters that I have met with here, was published in quarto, in the year 1734, by my late worthy friend Mr. David Casley, among 150 specimens of various manners of writing (some few of which are still to be disposed of by his widow) is 1797,* which some read one thousand two hundred ninety seven, from the similitude of the last figure to our present 7, though I think it like enough to the first figure, to stand for one thousand two hundred ninety two. Some will have it that the Moors brought the Arabic figures into Spain and Portugal, in the beginning of the eighth century, when they overrun those countries, from whence we learned them; this I think too far back, as we had then but little commerce; besides, had it been so, we should have met with them frequently in MSS. of ancienter times than we do; however, this I choose to submit to your judgment, and am, Sir, Yours, &c. * See the original in the Cottonian Library, VESPASIAN, A. II. 1. or a strict copy in plate XV. of Mr. Casley's Book. Dr. Bevis's Answer to the foregoing. DEAR SIR, I AM so little versed in matters of antiquity, that I do not know to whom you could have applied less qualified to give you satisfaction than myself. All I can say is, that it seems to me probable enough that King Richard's return from the east might bring us the first notice of the Indian or Arabic numerals. I always thought the proofs Dr. Wallis alleges for their much greater antiquity among us, too precarious to be relied upon; and I find that far better judges are of the same opinion. The oldest MS. I can remember to have seen, penned in England, where these characters are used, was in the library of the late William Jones, esq. F. R. S. and, I suppose, passed after his death, with his whole most valuable collection of mathematical books, into the hands of the present right honourable the earl of Macclesfield. It is a large folio, written by Richard Wallingford, monk, and afterwards abbot of St. Alban's, finished in 1326, and entitled Albion, consisting of astronomical canons or rules, and tables; the figures of four and five being very like those you have specified in your letter. After all, perhaps, the Arabians themselves were not perfectly acquainted with the use of the characters in question, above a century or two before Richard's return; in support of which conjecture of mine, I will offer one plain fact to your consideration. We have in the Bodleian Library an Arabic MS. of Ibn Younis, a famous astronomer, who flourished at the latter end of the tenth century, as we know from his observations of some eclipses near Cairo, recorded in another MS. of his, brought into Europe by Golius, and deposited in the public library at -Leyden. All the numerals employed in the Oxford book, as our learned friend the reverend Mr. Costard assures ine, who collated it at my request, are the Arabic figures; and, what is very remarkable, wherever any number is expressed by them, it is immediately after explained in words at length; thus, if 123 is set down, one hundred twenty and three immediately follows. I have no foreign correspondent to propose your query to, since the death of professor Schultens: I am told Dr. Sharpe of Oxford is an excellent orientalist, but I have not the honour of an acquaintance with him. 1758, Oct. Yours, &c. XXXV. On the Origin and Introduction of the Violin. MR. URBAN, I APPREHEND it must be a very difficult matter, to ascertain the exact time of the invention and introduction of any one particular kind of musical instrument, unless it could be assuredly known of what sort those instruments were, which were invented by Jubal, who was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ;' but this, I doubt, is not to be done. The original, as I take it, of the violin is involved in equal obscurity with the rest, concerning which I would put the question thus, at what time, and by whom was the violin invented? meaning by the violin every species of that genus, the violino, alto viola, violoncello, and violone, for since the transition from one to the other is so obvious, it matters not whether we speak of the bracchia, or the viola di gamba, they evidently springing from the same source. Taking therefore the violin or fiddle in this latitude, I would define it in this manner; a stringed instrument with a neck, a belly placed under or behind the strings, and played upon with a bow. This definition sufficiently distinguishes it from the ancient lyre, or the modern harp; as likewise from the lute, the guitar, or mandola, which are touched in a different manner. That an instrument of this kind was in use here in England, before the dissolution of monasteries, Temp. H. VIII. I can easily believe; for I have seen something like it, depicted in a glass window of the chancel of Dronfield church, in the county of Derby. The rectory of Dronfield, before the reformation, was appropriated to Beauchief Abbey, in the same county, and that fine and lofty building, the chancel, which is equalled by very few in our common parochial churches, was erected by the abbot and convent of that house, long before the year 1535, when that religious foundation was dissolved; but however not till after 13 R. II. or 1390, when this rectory was first appropriated to the Abbey. I remember also to have seen an instrument of the same sort in the painted glass of a window, in the church of Staple, in the county of Kent. But to confine myself to this uncouth thing, at Dronfield, you will please to observe, that it can be called no more than the rudiment of a violin; there is no neck, but it rests partly upon the performer's breast, and partly upon his knee, and moreover was steadied, as I conceive, by the left hand's passing through a strap at the back of it. As there is no finger board, it consequently could not be stopped, and then as there are only four strings, it could yield only four notes, which yet I suppose were sufficient at that time of day, for expressing a chant or a psalm tune. But the greatest difficulty is, the absence of the bridge, for it is not easy to conceive, how a performer with a bow, could do any thing without one, even though there were no more than four notes. All that can be said on this behalf, is, that perhaps the painter himself, had no just notion of a musical instrument at that time so uncommon, and that consequently we are not to examine it too strictly. It appears to me, upon a view of the windows in this chancel, that this rude figure did not always occupy that place, in which it now stands, but has been removed thither by a glazier; nothing being more common than to transfer painted glass from one situation to another: however, I make no question, but that it always belonged to this chancel, and is of the same age with it, whatever place it formerly stood in. But to go on; the word viola occurs more than once in the Decameron of Boccace, a work which was written A. D. 1348, so that in Italy this instrument seems to have been in vogue as early as then; and yet the name is thought to be not of Italian, but of Spanish extraction, see Menage Origines de Lang. Franc. from whence it may be inferred, that it must be a good deal older in Spain. At the court of honour of Tutbury in Staffordshire, a king of the fiddlers is chosen every year, in pursuance of an establishment of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, bearing date 4 R. II. or 1381, and in this charter a reference is made to the custom of more ancient times. This officer is called at this day King of the Fiddlers, but this I fear will not come up to the point, since according to Dr. Plot in his Natural History of Staffordshire, from whom I take this account, he was formerly termed King of the Minstrels, le Roy de Ministral.x, an expression of a lax signification, and which as appears from p. 438, of Dr. Plot's book, included both wind and string music. Nothing therefore that is precise and certain concerning the use of violins, in the time of Richard II. can be concluded from hence. The word Crowd is an ancient word for a fiddle, and Crowder is a player on that instrument, and it appears from Junius's Glossary in Voce, and from sir Henry Spelman v. Crotta, that it is a term of sufficient antiquity; nay it occurs even in Chaucer, who died A. D. 1402, or thereabouts; but then it may be justly doubted, whether at that time it meant exactly the same thing that is now meant by a fiddle or violin, for in the glossary to Chaucer, to crowde, is explained, to play on a crowde, or any musical instrument, also, to sing, or to make any melody,' which leaves the matter a great deal too much at large for us to learn any thing determinate concerning the form and figure of the crowde at its first invention. In short, it might mean originally a musical instrument, very different from the violin, and afterwards might be appropriated to this particular one, by analogy, as often happens. You see, Mr. Urban, that I for my part, can go but little into this subject, with any tolerable degree of certainty, no farther than the above notice can carry me. But these leave so much room, that they by no means give satisfaction, and therefore I should be glad of further assistance from some of your learned and musical correspondents; and in the mean time, 1757, Dec. I am, Sir, PAUL GEMSEGE. XXXVI. On the Country Dance. MR URBAN, TRUTH is a thing so sacred with me, and a right conception of things, so valuable in my eye, that I always think it worth while to correct a popular mistake, though it be of the most trivial kind. Now, sir, we have a species of dancing amongst us, which is commonly called country dancing, and so it is written; by which we are led to imagine, that it is a rustic way of dancing borrowed from the country people or peasants; and this I suppose is generally taken to be the meaning of it. But this, sir, is not the case, for as our dances in general come from France, so does the country dance, which is a manifest corruption of the French |