use north of the Trent, and _Meeting-house_ in Nottingham and
southwards.

An eminent antiquary, the Rev. Joseph Hunter, F.S.A., could cast a full
light upon this subject.

J.P.S.
Homerton, April 15.


_Beaver_ (No. 21. p. 338.).--The earliest form of this word is _fiber_,
which is used to signify the animal, the _Castor_, by Varro and Pliny.
The fabulous story of the self-emasculation by which the beaver eludes
pursuit, is thus introduced by Silius, in illustrating the flight of
Hasdrubal:-- {418}

"Fluminei veluti deprensus gurgitis undis,
Avulsâ parte inguinibus caussaque pericli,
Enatat intento prædæ _fibor_ avius hoste."

_Punica_, IV. 485-8, where see Ruperti.

The scholiast on Juvenal, xii. 34., has the low Latin _vebrus_. (See
Forcellini, Lex. in _Fiber_ et _Castor_, Ducange in _Bever_, and Adelung
in _Biber_.) Derivations of the word _bebrus_ occur in all the languages
of Europe, both Romanic and Teutonic; and denote the Castor. _Beaver_,
in the sense of a _hat_ or _cap_, is a secondary application, derived
from the material of which the hat or cap was made.

W.