Notes and Queries, Number 48, September 28, 1850

V. "Giton præcipuè, _ex dolore in rabiem efferatus_, tollit clamorem, me, utrâque manu impulsum, præcipitat super lectum."--Petron. _Arb. Sat._ cap. 94.

The classical reader will at once recognise the force of the words "rabiem," "efferatus," "præcipitat," in this passage. The expression "utrâque manu" may not at first sight arrest his attention. It seems always used to express the most intense eagerness; see

"Ijecit utramque laciniæ manum."--Pet. _Arb. Sat._ 14.

"Utrâque 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 [à deux mains] on all occasions to contradict and oppose them, and the first excuse serves for a plenary justification