Notes and Queries, Number 48, September 28, 1850
829.
V. "Giton pręcipuč, _ex dolore in rabiem efferatus_, tollit clamorem, me, utrāque manu impulsum, pręcipitat super lectum."--Petron. _Arb. Sat._ cap. 94.
The classical reader will at once recognise the force of the words "rabiem," "efferatus," "pręcipitat," in this passage. The expression "utrāque manu" may not at first sight arrest his attention. It seems always used to express the most intense eagerness; see
"Ijecit utramque lacinię manum."--Pet. _Arb. Sat._ 14.
"Utrāque manu Deorum beneficia tractat."--Ib. 140.
"Upon which Menedemus, incensed at his insolence, answered,--'Nothing is more necessary than the preservation of Lucullus;' and thrust him back with both hands."--Plutarch, Life of Lucullus.
"Women have a sort of natural tendency to cross their husbands: they lay hold with both hands [ą deux mains] on all occasions to contradict and oppose them, and the first excuse serves for a plenary justification