CONJECTURAL EMENDATION.
[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR"], Sus,—May I add an interesting instance of a certain emendation. which only a specialist could make? In Sir John Reresby's Travels, he tells us that in August, 1657, he visited a synagogue in Frankfort where the worshippers "perform their devotions . . . sitting upon their tails," (both editions 1818 and 1904). What Reresby wrote undoulstedly was " their tolis."— i.e., the large, white, square, garment covering bask and shoulders which may still be seen worn To-3 men. at most. Hebrew public services. The word is still so pronounced mostly, but scholars would recognise it more readily as talit or With. The printer (who often makes a hash of other foreign words in this most entertaining book) did not know what tales meant (but was ready to believe that Jews had tails).- The rest of Reresby's description of his visit is quite accurate; if the garment was long enough, as it generally is, the wearer would sit down " upon " it.—I am,
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