_Meaning of "Ruell."_--In the "Rhime of Sir Thopas" Chaucer says:
"His sadell was of _ruell_ bone His bridle as the sun yshone," &c.
What kind of material this was, I profess myself quite ignorant.
"In the _Turnament of Tottenham_, ver. 75. (_Anc. Poet._, vol. ii. p. 18.), Tibbe is introduced with 'a garland on her head full of _ruell_ bones.' The derivation in Gloss. Urr. of this word from the French _riolé_, diversely coloured, has not the least probability. The other, which deduces it from the French _rouelle_, _rotula_, the whirl-bone or knee-pan, is more plausible; though, as the glossarist observes, that sense will hardly suit here."--Chaucer, by Thomas Tyrwhitt, Esq. Pickering: London, 1830.
"RUELL BONE, _f._ of the French word _riolé_, that is, diversely colored: an Antistæcon in many words derived from another language; as, in _Law_ from _Loy_, and _Roy_ from _Rex_."
So far the printed attempts at explaining this term _ruell_. May I submit for the consideration of your readers, that it is related to the French adjective _rouillé_, rusty; used by Molière in the form _enrouillé_. Evidently this has affinity to _ruber_, _rouge_, and _red_. So that Tibbe's garland would be of tortoise-shell combs: and the saddle would be of a similar nature.
_La Ryole_ is found as the name of the tenement occupied by Thomas le Bat (temp. Ed. III.?) Was this the sign of "The Comb," which is so often seen in the windows of our present shops?
_Curious Facts in Natural History_ (Vol. iii., pp. 166, 398.).--In St. Lucia a coleopterous insect is found with a small plant growing directly from the back. I have myself seen it; but the plant consisted merely of the first two leaflets.
A correspondent (S. P. H. T.) inquires, 1. Has there been any authorised collection of Papal Bulls, Breves, Encyclical Letters, &c., published since the beginning of the present century?
2. If not, has there been any authorised list of those addressed to the Roman Catholic Church in England or Ireland?
3. What bulls have, during the last century, been published against Bible Societies, &c., and where will I find _authorised_ copies of them, more particularly those of Pope Pius VII., bearing date 29th June, 1816, and directed to the Primate of Poland; that of 18th September, 1819, against the circulation of the Scriptures in the Irish Schools; that of Leo XII., dated 3rd May, 1824, directed to the Irish clergy, which last is the latest I am acquainted with?