and that very uncertain. Another great advantage of the
zünd-nadel is, that rifles or light infantry can load with ease
without effort when lying flat on the ground. The opponents of
the zünd-nadel talk of over-rapid firing and the impossibility
of carrying sufficient ammunition to supply the demands. This is
certainly a drawback, but it is compensated by the immense
advantage of being able to pour in a deadly fire when you
yourself are out of range, or of continuing this fire so
speedily as to destroy half your opponents before they can
return a shot with a chance of taking effect."

This was the first intimation I ever had of the zünd-nadel guns. I
should like to know when and by whom they were invented, and their
mechanism.

JARLTZBERG.


_Bacon Family, Origin of the Name._--Among the able notes, or the
_not_-able Queries of a recent Number, (I regret that I have it not at
hand, for an exact quotation), a learned correspondent mentioned, _en
passant_, that the word _bacon_ had the obsolete signification of
"_dried wood_." As a patronymic, BACON has been not a little
illustrious, in literature, science, and art; and it would be
interesting to know whether the name has its origin in the crackling
fagot or in the cured flitch. Can any of your genealogical
correspondents help me to authority on the subject?

A modern motto of the Somersetshire Bacons has an ingenious rebus: