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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
In the Sherlock HOlmes story, "The Man with the Twisted Lip"
at the scene of a crime, "wax vestas" are found.
Not long ago, I posted about "loco focos", strike anywhere matches. I suspected "wax vestas" were different brand of the same thing.See def. 3
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
Definition: \Ves"ta\, n. [L. Vesta, akin to Gr. ? Vesta, ? the hearth
of the house, and perhaps to Skr. ush to burn (see East), or
perhaps to Skr. vas to dwell, and E. was.]
1. (Rom. Myth.) One of the great divinities of the ancient
Romans, identical with the Greek Hestia. She was a virgin,
and the goddess of the hearth; hence, also, of the fire on
it, and the family round it.
2. (Astron.) An asteroid, or minor planet, discovered by
Olbers in 1807.
3. A wax friction match. --Simmonds.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Very clever name for a match--derived from the mythology.
Tangent: I saw a great hearth once at an estate house in which Vesta had been honored. There was a stylized serpent in the artwork and I wondered about the connection between this goddess of the hearth and the serpent. I don't suppose anyone here knows?
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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The genius paterfamilias (a sort of spirit double of the head of the family) was often portrayed as a snake.
Bingley
Bingley
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
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Ah! How very interesting, Bingley. Powerful symbol, the serpent, and moreso now considering that it had been associated with the head of the household.
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