the same derivation as "noxious" and "noisome;" but there is no process
known to the English language by which it could be manufactured without
making a plural noun of it. In short, the two words are identical;
"news" retaining its primitive, and "noise" adopting a consequential
meaning.

SAMUEL HICKSON.

* * * * *

FOLK LORE.

_Charm for the Toothache._--A reverend friend, very conversant in the
popular customs and superstitions of Ireland, and who has seen the charm
mentioned in pp. 293, 349, and 397, given by a Roman Catholic priest in
the north-west of Ireland, has kindly furnished me with the genuine
version, and the form in which it was written, which are as follows:--

"As Peter sat on a marble stone,
The Lord came to him all alone;
'Peter, what makes thee sit there?'
'My Lord, I am troubled with the toothache.'
'Peter arise, and go home;
And you, and whosoever for my sake
Shall keep these words in memory,
Shall never be troubled with the toothache.'"

T.J.