Chapter V: Introduction (4)

[O] On reference to Jonston (_Historiae Naturalis de Insectis_ Lib. iv., "De Insectis aquaticis" i., p. 189, Tab. xxvii.), I find that under the name of "_Forficulae aquat[icae]_. M [oufet]," he has two figures, the first of which is possibly a Dytiscus larva, the second that of some form of Dragon-fly, which however is imperfect.

The Gryllotalpa or fencricket co[=m]on in fenny places butt wee haue met with them also in dry places dung-hills & church yards of this citty.

Beside horseleaches & periwinkles in plashes & standing waters we haue met with vermes setacei or hardwormes butt could neuer conuert horsehayres into them by laying them in water as also the [_Fol. 38_] the (_bis_) great Hydrocantharus or black shining water Beetle the forficula, sqilla, corculum and notonecton that swimmeth on its back.

Camden [_smear_] reports that in former time there haue been [otters _crossed out_] Beuers in the Riuer of Cardigan in wales. this wee are to sure of that the Riuers great Broads & carres afford great store of otters with us, a [des _crossed out_] great destroyer of fish as feeding butt from ye vent downewards. [a prey _crossed out_] not free from being a prey it self for their yong ones haue been found in Buzzards nests. they are accounted no bad dish by many are to bee made very tame and in some howses haue [semed _crossed out_] serued for turnespitts.

[Blank space.]

NOTE.--Although Browne's account of the Fishes is doubtless
derived from his personal observation, I have found it very
difficult in some families, such as the Cods, Rays, Gurnards,
Flat-fishes, and Gobies to identify them with the species as at
present known; in fact, they were at that time very imperfectly
differentiated, and the figures in the old authors are generally
so inexact as not to be recognisable. Ray, in 1674 ("English
Words not generally known," p. 101), thus writes of the sea
fishes, "several of them, we judge, not yet described by any
Author extant in print: indeed the writers of Natural History of
Animals living far from the Ocean, and so having never had
opportunity of seeing these kind of fishes ... write very
confusedly and obscurely concerning them," a remark which I have
found abundantly verified.

LETTERS TO MERRETT.

[MS. SLOANE. 1833. FOL. 14.]

No. 1.

"_My father to Dr. Meret July 13, 1668._"

Most honourd Sir,

[_Fol 14._] I take ye boldnesse to salute you as a person of singular worth & learning and whom I very much respect & honour. I presented my service to you by my sonne some months past, and had thought before this time to have done it by him again, but the time of his returne to London being yet uncertaine, I would not deferre these at present unto you. I should be very glad to serve you by any observations of mine against yr. second edition of your Pinax[99] which I cannot sufficiently commende. I have observed and taken notice of many animals in these parts whereof 3 years agoe a learned gentleman of this country desired me to give him some account, which while I was doing ye gentleman my good friend died. I shall only at this time present and name some few unto you which I found not in your catalogue. A Trachurus [_see Note 61_] which yearly cometh before or in ye head of ye herrings called therefore an horse. Stella marina testacea [_see Note 87_] which I have often found upon the sea-shoare, an Astacus marinus pediculi marini facie [_see Note 81_] which is sometimes taken with the lobsters at Cromer in Norfolck. a pungitius marinus [_see Note 75_] wereof I have known many taken among weeds by fishers who drag by ye Sea-shoare on this coast. A Scarabaeus capricornus odoratus[100] which I take to be mentioned by Moufetus fol. 150. I have taken some abroad one in my Seller which I now send he saith _nucem moschatam et cinamomum vere Spirat_ to me it smelt like roses santalum & Ambegris. I have thrice met with Mergus maximus Farensis Clusij, [_see Note 11_] and have a draught thereof. they were taken about the time of herring fishing at yarmouth one was taken upon the shoare not able to fly away about ten yeares agoe I sent one to Dr. Scarborough. Twice I have met with a Skua Hoyeri [_see Note 10_] the draught whereof I also have. one was shot in a marsh which I gave unto a gentleman which [_sic_] I can sende you another was killd feeding upon a dead horse neere a marsh ground. Perusing your catalogue of Plants. upon Acorus verus,[101] I find these wordes found by Dr. Browne neere Lin. wherein probably there may be some mistake, for I cannot affirme nor I doubt any other yt. is found thereabout. Some 25 yeares ago I gave an account of this plant unto [this _crossed out_] Mr. Goodyeere:[102] & more lately to Dr. How[103] unto whome I sent some notes and a box full of the fresh Juli. This elegant plant groweth very plentifully and beareth its Julus yearly by the bankes of Norwich river [fol. 13 _verso_] chiefly about Claxton and Surlingham. & also between norwich & Hellsden bridge so that I have known Heigham Church in the suburbes of Norwich strowed all over with it, it hath been transplanted and set on the sides of Marish pondes in severall places of the country where it thrives and beareth ye Julus yearly.

[99] It is evident that Merrett was collecting a considerable amount of materials for an enlarged edition of his _Pinax Rerum Naturalium Britannicarum_, on behalf of which Browne seems, by this introductory letter, to have tendered his assistance, but the contemplated edition, probably for reasons which I have mentioned elsewhere, never appeared; happily, these rough drafts have been preserved, although it seems not unlikely that the letters themselves, should they ever be found, would differ from them in some respects.

[100] _Scarabaeus capricornus odoratus._ The Musk Beetle, _Aromia moschata_, L.

[101] _Acorus calamus_, the Sweet Flag, is still found in plenty in various localities in the county, but it does not appear to develop its curious "julus" every year. It was very abundant at Heigham, a suburb of Norwich, on the site now occupied by the goods yard of the Midland and Great Northern Railway, and it was probably from this spot that the supply was obtained for the purpose of littering the floor of the old parish church. Mr. Vaux, in his "Church Folk-Lore," p. 264, says that up to the passing of the Municipal Reform Bill the Town Clerk of Norwich was accustomed to pay the sub-sacrist of the cathedral an amount of one guinea for strewing the floor with rushes on the Mayor's Day. The custom is said to have been adopted "as well for coolness as for pleasant smell." The pleasant cinnamon-like scent of the rush, on being trodden on, is said to have perfumed the whole building. The root was also used as a remedy in cases of ague, and formed the base of tooth and hair powders.

[102] Towards the end of the Introductory Letter to Johnson's (1636) Edition of Gerard's "Herball," he acknowledges the assistance he received from Mr. John Goodyer, of Maple-Durham, in Hampshire. Sir J. E. Smith ("Eng. Flora," iv., p. 34) speaks of him as "one of the most deserving of our early English Botanists." Robert Brown named a genus of plants (_Goodyera_) after Goodyer.

[103] William How, 1620-1656, was the author of "Phytologia Britannica," Lond., 1650, "the earliest work on botany restricted to the plants of this island" ("Dic. of Nat. Biog."). He practised medicine in London.

Sesamoides Salamanticum Magnum.[104] Why you omit Sesamoides Salamanticum parvum this groweth not far from Thetford and Brandon and plentifull in neighbour places where I found it and have it in my hortus hyemalis answering ye description in Gerard.

[104] _Sesamoides_ is stated in Ree's Encyclopaedia and in Eng. Fl. to be a synonym of _Reseda_, therefore _Sesamoides magnum_ would appear to be _R. luteola_ and _S. parvum_, _R. lutea_.

Urtica Romana[105] which groweth with button seede bags is not in yr. catalogue I have founde it to grow wild at [Golston _crossed out_] Golston by Yarmouth, & transplanted it to other places.[P]

[105] _Urtica Romana_, which is again referred to as _U. mas_ near the end of the third letter and as being found at Gorleston, is the Roman Nettle, _U. pilulifera_. In 1834 the Pagets ("Nat. Hist. of Great Yarmouth") reported it as still found under old walls at Gorleston, "but rarer than formerly," and it is only in recent years that it has been exterminated, owing to building operations in that locality.

[P] This letter, evidently a copy as shown by the heading "My father to Dr. Meret," is in the writing of Dr. Edwd. Browne.

[MS. SLOANE 1830. FOL. 39-40.]

No. II.

_Fol. 39._]

"_My second letter to Dr Meret Aug xiiii 1668._"

Honord Sr I receiued your courteous letter & am sorry some diuersions have so long delayed this my second vnto you. You are very exact in the account of the fungi. I have met with two,[106] which I have not found in any Author, of which I have sent you a rude draught inclosed. The first an elegant fungus Ligneus found in an hollow sallowe I haue one of them by mee butt without a very good opportunitie dare not send it fearing it should bee broken vnto some it seemed to resemble some noble or princely ornament of the head & so might bee called fungus Regius vnto others a turret, top of a cupola or Lanterne of a building & so might bee named fungus pterygoides, pinnacularis or Lanterniformis you may name it as you please. The second fungus Ligneus teres Antliarum or fungus ligularis longissimus consisting [of _crossed out_] or made of many wooddy strings about the bignesse of round poynts or Laces some about half a yard long shooting in a bushie forme from the trees wch serue vnderground for pumpes. I have obserued diuers especially in norwich where wells are sunck deep for pumpes.

[106] Dr. Plowright informs me that "it is impossible to say with certainty what the first named Fungus is; the description suggests some form of Polyporus perhaps, _P. varius,_ which is a ligneous species and occurs frequently on willows in Norfolk. The second is the abortive form of _Polyporus squamosus_, which is well figured by many of the older botanists, for instance under the name of _Boletus rangiferinus_, by Bolton, t. 138, and _Boletus squamosus_, var. _rangiferinus_, by Hooker, 'Flora Londinensis,' new series. In many cases no pileus at all is formed and it used then to be referred to Clavaria." The Phalloides is _Phallus impudicus_, L., a very common species in this county and even occurring in some of the city gardens where its exceedingly offensive odour renders it very undesirable. Fungus rotundus is the well-known _Lycoperdon giganteum_, Fr., which sometimes reaches a very large size.

The fungus phalloides found not farre from norwich large & very fetid answering the description of Hadrianus junius I have a part of one dryed by mee.

Fungus rotundus maior I haue found about x inches in Diameter & half [_sic_, have?] half a one dryed by mee.

Another small paper containes the rude draughts of fibulae marinae pellucidae, [_see Note 90_] or sea buttons a kind of squalder & referring to vrtica marina which I haue obserued in great numbers by yarmouth after a flood & easterly winds. They resemble pure crystall buttons chamfered or welted on the sides with 2 small holes at the ends. They cannot bee sent for the included water or thinne gelly soon runneth from them.

Vrtica marina minor jonstoni [_see Note 90_] I haue often found on this coast. [Continued on fol. 39 _verso_.]

Physsalus [_see Note 89_] I haue often found also I haue one dryed but it hath lost its shape & colour.

Galei & caniculae [_see Note 56_] are often found I haue a fish hanged up in my yard of 2 yards long taken among the Herrings at yarmouth which is the Canis carcharias alius Johnstoni. Tab. vi fig. 6.

Lupus marinus you mention upon an handsome experiment butt I find it not in the catalogue. This Lupus marinus or Lycostomus is often taken by our seamen wch fish for cods I haue had diuers brought mee. they hang up in many howses in Yarmouth.

Trutta marina is taken with us--a better dish than the Riuer trowt butt of the same bignesse.

Loligo sepia a cuttle page 191 of your Pinax [_see Note 80_] I conceiue worthy Sr it were best to putt them in 2 distinct lines as distinct species of the Molles. The loligo, calamare or sleue I haue often found cast up on the seashoare & some haue been brought mee by fishermen of aboue [20 _crossed out_] twentie pound wayet.

Among the fishes of our Norwich riuer wee scarce reckon salmons [_see Note 92_] yet some are yearly taken. butt all taken in the Riuer or coast haue the end of the lower jaw very much hooked which enters a great way into the upper jaw like a socket. you may find the same though not in figure if you please to read Johnstonus fol 101 I am not satisfied with the conceit of some authors there that is [it?] is a difference of male and female for all ours are thus formed. The fish is thicker than [oth _crossed out_] ordinarie salmons and very much & more largely spotted whether not rather Beccard gallorum or Anchorago Scaligeri I haue bothe draught & head of one dryed either of wch you may command.

Scyllarus or cancellus in turbine tis probable you have [_see Note 84_]. haue you cancellus in nerite a small testaceous found upon this coast.

[_Fol. 40._] Haue you mullus ruber asper [_see Note 63_].

Haue [you] piscis octangularis Bivormii?[Q] [_see Note 66_, also pp. 65 and 87 _infra_].

[Q] Thus in the MS., but Browne seems to have intended to write Bicornis Vormii, and accidentally to have run the two words together [_see_ p. 41 _supra_].

vermes marini larger than earthwormes [_see Note 91_] digged out of the sea sand about 2 foot deepe at an ebbe water for bayte they are discouered by a little hole or sinking of the sand at the top aboue them.

Haue you that handsome colourd [bird _crossed out_] jay [_see Note 49_] answering the description of Garrulus Argentoratensis & may be called the parret jay I haue one that was killed upon a tree about 5 yeares ago.

Haue you a may chitt a small dark gray bird [_see Note 29_] about the bignesse of a stint wch cometh about may & stayeth butt a moneth. a bird of exceeding fattnesse and accounted a daintie dish. they are plentifully taken in marshland and about wisbich.

Haue you a [caprimulgus or _written above_] dorhawke a bird as bigge as [a] pigeon [_see Note 42_] with a wide throat bill as little as a titmous & white fethers in the tayle & paned like an hawke.

Succinum raro occurrit[107] pag 291 of yours. [Should be p. 219] not so rarely on the coast of norfolk. tis usually found in small peeces [butt _crossed out_] sometimes in peeces of a pound wayght. I haue one by mee fat & fayre of x ounces wayght--jet more often found I haue an handsom peece of xii ounces in wayet.

[107] Amber, writes Mr. Clement Reid, in a paper contributed by him to the "Trans. Norf. and Nor. Nat. Soc." (iii., p. 601), "is found on the Norfolk coast, usually mixed with the seaweed thrown up by the Spring gales," but is very rarely found in place; as much as three or four pounds are annually gathered near Cromer. The quality, Mr. Rein says, is very good, but the dark transparent lumps are most generally found. In a subsequent paper (_op. cit._, iv., p. 248) he enumerates seven species of insects which have been found enclosed, and in a third communication mentions an eighth. Mr. A. S. Ford, as the result of an examination of a collection of East-coast Amber made at Yarmouth (_op. cit._, v., p. 92), adds one species of Hymenoptera, three of Coleoptera, two of Orthoptera, with some Araneida, and remains of vegetable substances which had not been identified.

The Jet found on the Norfolk coast differs considerably from the Whitby Jet, and Mr. Reid, "Geology of the Country Round Cromer" (p. 133), believes that in all probability it was originally derived from Lower Tertiary beds under the North Sea, a few miles from the present coast. Mr. Savin estimates the average annual find of Jet near Cromer at from ten to twenty pounds.

The doctor does not display his usual acumen when he rejects the "ancient" opinion as to the vegetable origin of Amber, see _Pseudodoxia_, book ii., chap. iv.; also letter from Earl of Yarmouth to T. B. (Wilkin Edit. i., p. 411).

No. III.

[FOL. 40 _verso_.]

"_My third letter Sept xiii._"

Sr I receaued your courteous Letter and with all respects I now agayne salute you.

The mola piscis is almost yearely taken on our coast [_see Note 58_] this [last _crossed out_] year one was taken of about 2 hundred pounds wayght diuers of them I haue opened & haue found many lyce sticking close vnto thier gills whereof I send you some.

In your pinax I find onocrotalus or pellican [_see Note 25_] whether you meane those at St. James or others brought ouer or such as haue been taken or killed heere I knowe not. I haue one hangd up in my howse wch was shott in a fenne ten miles of about 4 yeares ago and because it was so rare some conjectured it might bee one of those which belonged vnto the King & flewe away.

Ciconia raro hue aduolat. I haue seen two [_see Note 14_] one in a watery marsh 8 miles of, another shott whose case is yet to bee seen. [See Appendix D.]

Vitulus marinus. _In tractibus borealibus et Scotia_ [_see Note 53_]. no raritie upon the coast of Norfolk at a lowe water I haue knowne them taken asleep vnder the cliffes. diuers haue been brought vnto mee. our seale is different from the Mediterranean seale. as hauing a rounder head a shorter and stronger body.

Rana piscatrix I haue often known taken on our coast & some very large [_see Note 59_].

Xiphias or gladius piscis or sword fish wee haue in our seas [_see Note 55_]. I haue the head of one which was taken not long ago entangled in the Herring netts the sword aboue 2 foot in length.

Among the whales you may very well putt in the spermacetus [_see Note 51_] or that remarkably peculiar whale which so aboundeth in spermaceti. about twelve years ago wee had one cast up on our shoare neer welles wch I discribed in a peculiar chapter in the last edition of [_Fol. 41_] my pseudodoxia epidemica. another was diuers yeares before cast up at Hunstanton. both whose heads are yet to bee seen.

Ophidion or at least ophidion nostras [_see Note 69_] co[=m]only called a sting fish hauing a small prickley finne running all along the back, & another a good way on the belly, with little black spotts at the bottom of the back finne if the fishermens hands bee touched or scrached with this venemous fish they grow paynfull and swell the figure hereof I send you in colours they are co[=m]on about cromer see Schoneveldeus de Ophidiis.

Piscis octogonius or octangularis answering the discription of Cataphractus Schoneveldei [_see Note 66_] only his is discribed with the finnes spread & when it was fresh taken & a large one howeuer this may bee nostras I send you one butt I haue seen much larger which fishermen haue brought mee.

Physsalus [_see Note 89_]. I send one which hath been long opened & shrunck & lost the colour when I tooke it upon the sea shoare it was full & plump answering the figure & discription of Rondeletius. there is also a like figure at the end of [Rondeletius _crossed out_] muffetus I haue kept them aliue butt obserued no motion [butt _crossed out_] except of contraction and dilation when it is fresh the prickles or brisles are of a brisk green & Amethest colours--some call it a sea mous.

Our mullet is white & imberbis [_see Note 63_] butt wee haue also a mullis barbatus ruber miniaceus or cinnaberinus somewhat rough & butt drye meat. there is of them maior & minor resembling the figures in Johnstonus tab xvii Rotbart.

Of the Acus marinus or needle fishes [_see Note 64_] I haue obserued 3 sorts. The Acus Aristotelis called heere an Addercock Acus maior or Garfish with a green verdigris backbone the other saurus Acui similis Acus sauroides or sauriformis as it may be called much answering to the discription of saurus Rondeletij in the hinder part much resembling a makerell opening one I found not the backbone green Johnstonus writes nearest to it in his Acus minor. I send you the head of one dryed butt the bill is broken I haue the whole draught in picture. this kind is more rare then the other wch are co[=m]on & is a rounder fish.

[_Fol. 41 verso._] Vermes marini are large wormes [_see Note 91_] found 2 foot deep in the sea sands & are digged out at an ebbe for bayt.

The Avicula Maialis or may chitt [_see Note 29_] is a litle dark gray bird somewhat bigger then a stint which co[=m]eth in may or the later end of April & stayeth about a moneth. A marsh bird the legges & feet black without an heele the bill black about 3 quarters of an inch long they grow very fatt & are accounted a dayntie dish.

A Dorhawke a bird not full so bigge as a pigeon [_see Note 42_] somewhat of a woodcock colour & paned somewhat like an hawke with a bill not much bigger then that of a Titmouse [& very wide throat _added above_] known by the name of a dorhawke or prayer upon beetles, as though it were some kind of accipiter muscarius. in brief this accipiter cantharophagus or dorhawke [_a word smeared out_] is _Avis Rostratula gutturosa_, _quasi coaxans_, _scarabaeis vescens_, _sub vesperam volans_, _ouum speciosissim[=u]_ [_word smeared_] _excludens_. I haue had many of them & am sorry I have not one to send you I spoake to a friend to shoote one butt I doubt they are gone ouer.

of the vpupa [_see Note 35_] diuers have been brought mee & some I haue obserued in these parts as I trauuyled about.

The Aquila Gesneri I sent [aliue _added above_] to Dr. Scarburg [_see Note 3_] who told mee it was kept in the colledge it was brought mee out of Ireland. I kept it 2 yeares in my howse I am sorry I haue only one fether of it to send you.

A shooing horn or Barker from the figure of the bill & barking note [_see Note 38_] a long made bird of white & blakish colour finne footed, a marsh bird & not rare some times of the yeare in marshland. it may upon vewe bee called Recuruirostra nostras or Auoseta much resembling the Auosettae [species _crossed out_] species in Johnstonus tab (54). I send you the head in picture

[A _smeared out_] stone curliews I haue kept in large cages [_see Note 37_] the[y] haue a prettie shrill note, not hard to bee got in some parts of norfolk.

[_Fol. 42_] Haue you Scorpius marinus Schoneueldei [_see Note 68_]

haue you putt in the musca Tulipar[=u] muscata[108]

[108] It seems impossible to identify this insect; _Merodon narcissi_ has been suggested, but Mr. Verrall, whom I consulted says, "certainly not _Merodon_, which probably was not known in Britain until about 1870," and suggests the small fly _Nemopoda_. Mr. Bloomfield writes that the only fly of which he has seen any mention as having a musky or "excellent fragrant odour" is _Sepsis cynipsea_, which Kirby and Spence state on the authority of De Geer, "emits a fragrant odour of beaum" (balm); this species is very nearly allied to Nemopoda. Several Bees, for instance the Genus _Prosopis_, emit a strong scent of balm, and it is possible that Browne may have used the term "fly" in what is even now a popular sense, and that really some species of Bee may have called forth his remarks. It will be noticed that at p. 74 he speaks of it as a "small beelike flye."

That bird which I sayd much answered the discription of Garrulus Argentoratensis [_see Note 49_] I send you it was shott on a tree x miles of 4 yeares ago. it may well bee called the Parret Jay or Garrulus psittacoides speciosus. the colours are much faded. if you haue it before I should bee content to haue it agayne otherwise you may please to keep it.

Garrulus Bohemicus[109] probably you haue a prettie handsome bird with the fine cinnaberin tipps of the wings some wch I haue seen heere haue the tayle tipt with yellowe wch is not in the discription.

[109] Mr. Stevenson, whom very little relating to Norfolk Ornithology escaped, was well acquainted with Sir Thomas Browne's works, yet has in his "Birds of Norfolk" unaccountably overlooked this passage, and remarks that Browne does not appear to have noticed this species; he however not only refers to it as above, but evidently describes it from his personal observation. It is a very uncertain winter visitor to this county, but on rare occasions makes its appearance in considerable flocks. A remarkable instance of this occurred in the winter of 1866-7, when Mr. Stevenson, as the result of the examination of a very large series, contributed an exhaustive paper on the plumage of this handsome bird to the "Transactions of the Norf. and Nor. Nat. Soc.," iii., pp. 326-344.

I haue also sent you urtica mas [_see Note 105_] which I lately gathered at Golston by yarmouth where I found it to growe also 25 yeares ago. of the stella marina Testacea which I sent you [_see Note 87_] I do not find the figure in any booke.

I send you a few flies[110] which some unhealthful yeares about the first part of september I haue obserued so numerous upon plashes in the marshes & marish diches that in a small compasse it were no hard matter to gather a peck of them I brought some what my box would hold butt the greatest part are scatterd lost or giuen away for memorie sake I writ on my box muscae palustres Autumnales [See Appendix D.]

[110] Mr. Verrall assures me that even in the present day it is quite impossible to recognise the species of Diptera described by persons unacquainted with the particular group, and that Browne's remarks would apply to hundreds of species. It is possible that an _Ephydra_ may be meant. This genus of small flies, says Mr. Verrall, abounds in such places as Browne describes, but it is likely that other species were with them.

worthy Sr I shall be euer redie to serue you who am Sr your humble Seruant

THO BROWNE.

_Norwich, Sep 16. 1668._

No. IV.

"_The fourth Letter to Dr. Merrett Decemb xxix._" [1668]

[_Fol. 42 verso._] Sr I am very joyfull that you haue recouered your health whereof I heartily wish the continuation for your own and the publick good. And I humbly thank you for the courteous present of your booke.[111] with much delight and satisfaction I had read the same not once in English I must needs acknowledge your co[=m]ent more acceptable to me then the text which I am sure is an hard obscure peice without it. though I haue not been a stranger unto the vitriarie Art both in England and abroad.

[111] This evidently refers to the gift of a copy of Merrett's Latin translation of Antonio Neri's _L'Arte Vetraria_ (Firenze, 1612, 4to), published under the title of "The Art of Glass, translated into English with some observations on the Author," &c., in 1662, and a Latin edition in 1668.

I perceiue you haue proceeded farre in your Pinax. These few at present I am bold to propose & hint unto you intending God willing to salute you agayne.

A paragraph might probably be annexed unto Quercus. Though wee haue not all the exotick oakes, nor their excretions yet these and probably more supercrescences productions or excretions may bee obserued in England.

Viscum--polypodium--Juli pilulae--
Gemmae foraminatae [formicatae?] folior[=u]--
excrement[=u] fungosum verticibus scatens--
Excrementum Lanatum--
Capitula squamosa jacaeae aemula.
Nodi--melleus Liquor--Tubera radicum
vermibus scatentia--Muscus--Lichen--
Fungus--varae quercinae.[112]

[112] The Rev. E. N. Bloomfield has most kindly assisted me in attempting to identify the Parasitic products of the Oak mentioned above:

_Viscum_, is doubtless the Mistletoe.

_Polypodium_, the Common Polypody Fern.

_Juli pilulae_: "little balls on the flower catkins." The Currant Gall, _Neurosterus baccarum_, which is the spring form of _N. lenticularis_; Oliv.

_Gemmae foraminatae [formicatae?] foliorum_: "pimple-like buds on the leaves." Leaf-galls, such as the Silky Button, _N. numismatis_, Oliv., and the common Spangle, _N. lenticularus_, Oliv.

_Excrementum fungosum verticibus scatens_: "a spongy secretion bursting out from the ends of the shoots." The Oak Apple, _Biorhiza terminalis_, Fab.

_Excrementum lanatum_: the Woolly Gall, _Andricus ramuli_, L., a somewhat rare Gall, resembling a ball of cotton-wool.

_Capitula squamosa jacaeae aemula_: "little scaley (or imbricated) heads resembling the heads of Jacea" (Black Knapweed). The Artichoke Gall. _Andricus fecundatrix_; Htg.

_Nodi_: probably swellings of any sort, whether caused by insects or not.

_Melleus liquor_: Honey-dew, a secretion of Aphides.

_Tubera radicum vermibus scatentia_: "swollen tubers on the roots containing grubs;" without doubt the Root-Gall, _Andricus radicis_, Fab. Polythalamous Galls, often very large at the roots or on the trunk near the ground.

Mosses, Lichens, and Fungi, all "genuine products of the Oak," need no comment, but Mr. Bloomfield remarks, "How wonderfully observant Sir Thomas Browne must have been thus to distinguish the various galls, &c., and to point them out so distinctly."

Browne's contemporary, Dean Wren, seems sadly to have misunderstood the fructification of the Oak. In a note on Browne's remarks on the "Miseltoe" (_Pseudodoxia_, book ii., chap. vi.), he says, "Arboreous excrescences of the Oak are soe many as may raise the greatest wonder. Besides the gall, which is his proper fruite, hee shootes out oakerns, i.e., _ut nunc vocamus_ (acornes), and oakes apples, and polypodye, and moss; five several sorts of excrescences." See also letter to his son, Dr. Edward Browne, in which Sir Thomas Browne says that "wee haue little or none of _viscus quercinus_, or miselto of the oake, in this country; butt I beleeve they have in the woods and parks of Oxfordshyre."--Wilkin, i, p. 279.

[_Fol. 43._] Capillaris marina sparsa fucus capillaris marinus sparsus sive capillitius marinus or sea periwigge.[113] strings of this are often found on the sea shoare. but this is the full figure I haue seen 3 times as large.

[113] In Sir Thomas Browne's time the Hydrozoa were not distinguished from the Corallines, and both were regarded as vegetable growths. It is almost impossible to determine from his vague descriptions even to which section those mentioned belong, but although our exposed coast-line is not favourable to such growths, there are a few common species of Hydroid Zoophytes which abound here, and to these, fortunately, Browne's specimens appear to belong. What he calls the "Sea-perriwig" is doubtless _Sertularia operculata_, Lin., sometimes known as "Sea-hair," a very common and widely dispersed species.

I send you also [_several words smeared out_] a little elegant sea plant[114] which I pulled from a greater bush thereof which I haue resembling the back bone of a fish. Fucus marinus vertebratus pisciculi spinum referens Icthyorachius or what you thinck fitt.

[114] The little "Fucus," which he compares to the backbone of a fish, is probably _Halecium halecinum_, Lin., the "Herring-bone Coral" of Ellis, one of the most common Zoophytes on our coast. The "Abies," of which he suggests at p. 75 that this may be a "difference," is most likely _Sertularia abietina_, Lin., which this species resembles, but is less regularly pinnate; this may have led him to suppose that the "sprouts, wings, or leaves" may have fallen off. The _Fucus marinus_ is most likely _Fucus serratus_.

And though perhaps it bee not worth the taking notice of formicae arenariae marinae or at least muscus formicarius marinus[115] yet I obserue great numbers by the seashoare and at yarmouth an open sandy coast, in a sunny day many large and winged ones may bee obserued upon & rising out of the [shoare _crossed out_] wet sands when the tide falls away.

[115] Swarms of Ants and Flies are no uncommon sight along the seashore at certain seasons of the year, and under the conditions which Browne describes. The Pagets ("Nat. Hist. of Great Yarmouth") mention that the fly, _Actora aestuum_, is common on the beach at high-water mark; but Mr. Verrall writes me that there are many others likely to be thus met with, such as _Orygma luctuosa_ and _Limosina zosterae_, widely divergent species. In his "Journal of a Tour" into Derbyshire, Dr. Edward Browne, in crossing the sands of the Wash, mentions his satisfaction at the absence of the swarms of flies "with which all the fenne countrys are extremely pestered." _See also Note 110 supra._

Notonecton an insect that swimmeth on its back [_see Note 98_] & mentioned by Muffettus may be obserued with us.

I send you a white Reed chock[116] by name some kind of Junco or litle sort thereof I haue had another very white when fresh.

[116] It is impossible to form an idea as to what is here intended. I know of no _Juncus_ which would answer the description. Professor Newton reminds me__ that "Junco" was a common name for "a bird that inhabited reeds," and was loosely applied, some old authors taking it to be the Reed Thrush (_i.e._, the Great Reed-Warbler of these days), and others, the Reed-Sparrow or Bunting. But bearing in mind Browne's practice of referring to Jonston, it seems possible that the latter's _Junco_ may be here intended, and that, as the figure (pl. 53) shows, is a small Sandpiper, almost certainly the Dunlin. It is lettered "Junco Bellonii," but this he must have taken second-hand from Aldrovandus, since Belon never used the word "Junco" in this connexion, but called it "Schoeniclus" or "Alouette-de-mer"--terms rendered _Junco_ by Aldrovandus (iii. p. 487). Charleton took the same view in his "Onomasticon" (p. 108), published in 1668 (the year assigned as that of this letter), stating that it was so-called because "in juncis libenter degat," and identifying it with the _Alouette-de-mer_ of the French, and the English "Stint, or Sparr, or Perr." Gilbert White appears to have thus applied the term (_cf._ "Life" by Rashleigh Holt-White, i. pp. 186, 194, 250). In one place he says, "No. five is Ray's _Junco_ and the _Turdus arundinaceus_ of Linn." That "Junco" is the name of a bird is absolutely certain, but the context, "very white when fresh," does not seem to admit of explanation.

Also the draught of a sea fowle called a sherewater [_see Note 17_] billed like a cormorant, feirce & snapping like it upon any touch. I kept 2 of them aliue 5 weekes cramming them with fish refusing of themselues to feed on anything & wearied with cramming them they liued 17 dayes without food. They often fly about fishing [ves _crossed out_] shipps when they cleans their fish & throwe away the offell. so that it may bee referred to the Lari as Larus niger gutture albido rostro adunco.

Gossander videtur esse puphini species [_Pinax_, p. 184]. worthy Sr that wch we call a gossander [_see Note 19_] & is no rare fowle among us is a large well colourd & marked diuing fowle most answering the [mer _crossed out_] Merganser. it may bee like the puffin in fattnesse and [Ranknesse _crossed out_] Ranknesse butt no fowle is I think like the puffin differenced from all others by a peculiar kind of bill

[_Fol 43 verso._] Barganders [_see Note 18_] not so rare as Turn [Turner] makes them co[=m]on in Norfolk so abounding in vast & spatious warrens.

If you haue not yet putt in Larus minor or a sterne [_see Note 13_] it would not bee omitted, co[=m]on about broad waters and plashes not farre from the sea.

Haue you a Yarwhelp, Barker, or Latrator [_see Note 39_] a marsh bird about the bignesse of a Godwitt

Haue you Dentalia [_see Note 83_] which are small vniualue testacea whereof sometimes wee find some on the seashoare

Haue you putt in nerites another little Testaceum which wee haue [_see Note 83_].

Haue you an Apiaster a small bird calld a Beebird.[117]

[117] Probably the Spotted Flycatcher is here referred to, the prefix not being used in a technical sense; it is known here as the Beam-bird, either of which names may be a corruption of the other. Another Norfolk name for this bird is the Wall-bird.

Haue you morinellus marinus or the sea Dotterell better colourd then the other & somewhat lesse [_see Note 28_].

I send you a draught of 2 small birds the bigger called a Chipper or Betulae Carptor [_see Note 48_] cropping the first sproutings of the Birch trees & comes early in the spring. The other a very small bird lesse than the certhya or ox eyecreeper called a whinne bird

I send you the draught of a fish taken sometimes in our seas [_see Note 69_]. pray compare it with Draco minor Johnstoni. this draught was taken from the fish dried & so the prickly finnes less discernible.

There is a very small kind of smelt [_see Note 71_] butt in shape & smell like the other taken in good plenty about [wh _crossed out_] Lynne & called Primmes.

Though Scombri Or Makerells [_see Note 73_] bee a co[=m]on fish yet [in _crossed out_] our seas afford sometimes strange & large ones as I haue heard from fishermen & others. & this yeare 1668 one was taken at Lestoffe an ell long by measure & presented to a Gentleman a friend of myne.

Musca Tuliparum moschata is a small beelike flye [_see Note 108_] of an excellent fragrant odour which I haue often found at the bottom of the flowers of Tuleps.

[_Fol. 44._] In the little box I send a peece of vesicaria or seminaria marina [yo _crossed out_] cutt of from a good full one found on the sea shoare [_see Note 91_].

Wee haue [_two or three words smeared out here_] also an eiectment of the sea very co[=m]on which is fanago [_see Note 91_] whereof some very large.

I thank you for communicating the account of Thunder & lightening some strange effects thereof I haue found heere butt this last yeere wee had litle or no Thunder & lightening. [_No signature._]

No. V.

DR. BROWNE TO MERRETT.

[This letter which was originally printed in the "Posthumous
Works," will be found in MS. Sloane 1911-13, fol. 106, where it
is headed in pencil as addressed to Sir Wm. Dugdale, but it was
restored to its proper place by Wilkin in the 1836 Edition of
the Works, i., p. 404.]

Honoured Sir

[_Fol. 106._] I am sorry I have had [diuersions _above_] of such necessitie, as to hinder my more sudden salute since I receiued your last. I thank you for the sight of the _Sperma Ceti_, and such kind of effects from [Lightning & Thunder _written above_] I have known and about 4 yeares ago about this towne when I with many others saw fire-balls fly & go of when they met with resistance, and one carried away the tiles and boards of a leucomb Window of my owne howse, being higher then the neighbour howses & breaking agaynst it with a report like a good canon. I set downe that occurrence in this citty & country, & haue it somewhere [in _crossed out_] amongst my papers, and fragments of a woman's hat that was shiuered into pieces of the bignesse of a groat. I haue still by mee a little of the spermaceti of our whale, as also the oyle & balsome wch I made with the oyle & spermaceti. Our whale was worth 500 lib. my Apothecarie got about fiftie pounds in one sale of a quantitie of sperm [_see Note 51_].

I made enumeration of the excretions of the oake which might bee obserued in england [_see Note 112_], because I conceived they would bee most obseruable if you set them downe together, not minding whether there were any addition by excrementum fungosum vermiculis scatens I only meant an vsuall excretion, soft & fungous at first & pale & sometimes couered in part with a fresh red growing close vnto the sprouts. first full of maggots in little woodden cells which afterwards turne into little reddish browne or bay flies. of the tubera indica vermiculis scatentia I send you a peece, they are as bigg as good Tennis-balls & ligneous.

The little elegant fucus [_see Note 114_] may come in as a difference of the abies, being somewhat like it, as also unto the 4 corrallium in Gerard of the sprouts whereof I could never find any sprouts wings Or leaves as in the abies whether fallen of I knowe not, though I call'd it icthyorachius or pisciculi spinam referens yet pray do you call it how you please I send you now the figure of a quercus mar. [inus] or alga which I found by the seashoare differing from the co[=m]on [_see Note 114_] as being denticulated & in one place there seemes to bee the beginning of some flower pod or seedvessell.

[_Fol 106. verso._] A draught of the morinellus marinus or sea doterell I now send you. the bill should not have been so black & the leggs more red, [_see Note 28_] & [the _crossed out_] a greater eye of dark red in the feathers of wing and back: it is lesse & differently colourd from the co[=m]on dotterell, wch [wee haue _crossed out_] cometh to us about March & September. these sea-dotterells are often shot near the sea.

A yarewhelp or barker [_some words smeared out_] [_see Note 39_] a marsh-bird the bill 2 inches long the legges about that length the bird of a brown or russet colour.

That which is knowne by the name of a bee-bird [_see Note 117_] is a litle dark gray bird I hope to get one for you.

That whch I call'd a betulae carptor & should rather have calld it Alni carptor [_see Note 48_] whereof I sent a rude draught. it feeds upon alder [budds mucaments or _written above_] seeds which grow plentifully heere & they fly in little flocks.

That [calld by some a _written above_] whin-bird is a kind of ox eye butt the shining yellow spot on the back of the head [_see Note 48_] is scarce to bee well imitated by a pensill.

I confess for such litle birds I am much unsatisfied on the names giuen to many by countrymen, and vncertaine what to giue them myself, or to what classes of authors cleerly to reduce them. surely there are many found among us whch are not described; & therefore such whch you cannot well reduce may (if at all) bee set downe after the exacter nomination of small birds as yet of uncertain classe or knowledge.

I present you with a draught of a water-fowl not co[=m]on & none of our fowlers can name it [_see_ p. 79 _infra_] the bill could not bee exactly expressed by a coale or black chalk, whereby the litle incuruitie [at the end _written above_] of the upper bill & small recurvitie of the lower is not discerned. the wings are very short, & it is finne footed. the bill is strong & sharp, if you name it not I am uncertaine what to call it pray consider this Anatula or mergulus melanoleucus rostro acuto.

[_Fol. 107._] I send you also the heads of mustela or mergus mustelaris mas. et faemina [_see Note 21_] called a wesel from some resemblance in the head especially of the female wch is brown or russet not black & white like the male. & from their praying quality upon small fish. I have found small eeles small perches & small muscles in their stomacks. Have you a sea phaysant [_see Note 22_] so co[=m]only calld from resemblance of an hen phaisant in the head & eyes & spotted marks on the wings & back. & wth a small bluish flat bill, tayle longer than other ducks, long winges crossing over the tayle like those of a long winged hawke.

Have you taken notice of a breed of porci solidi pedes.[118] I first obserued them above xx yeares ago & they are still among us. [See also p. 80 _infra_.]

[118] Mr. Darwin writes ("Anim. and Plants under Domestication," i., p. 78), that from the time of Aristotle to the present day, Solid-hoofed Swine have been occasionally observed in various parts of the world. Dr. Coues also says that this variety seems to be persistent in a Texas breed. See also Professor Struthers in the "Edin. New Phil. Journal," April, 1863. The two distal phalanges of the two great toes, both front and back, in the examples described by Professor Struthers, were joined together, forming a single hoof-bearing bone. The next two phalanges were separate, and sometimes kept widely apart from each other by the introduction of a special ossicle. I have been told that about the year 1827, a breed of solid-footed swine existed at or near Upwell. By some it was thought that their flesh was not good for food because they were "uncloven." Dr. Wren, in a note to Browne's _Pseudodoxia_ (book vi., chap. x.), says, "About Aug., 1625, at a farm 4 miles from Winchester, I beheld with wonder a great heard of swine, whole-footed, and taller than any other that ever I sawe."

Our nerites or neritae are litle ones [_see Note 83_].

I queried whether you had dentalia [_see Note 83_] becaus probably you might haue met with them in england. I neuer found any on our shoare butt one brought mee a few small ones with smooth with [_sic_] small shells from the shoare. I shall inquire further after them.

Urtica marina minor Johnst. tab. xviii. [_see Note 90_] haue found more than once by the sea side.

The hobby and the merlin would not bee omitted among hawkes the first coming to us in the spring the other about the autumn. Beside the ospray wee have a larger kind of agle, calld an erne [_see Note 3_]. I haue had many of them.

Worthy deare Sr, if I can do anything farther wch may bee seruiceable unto you you shall ever readily co[=m]and my endeauours; who am, Sr, Your humble & very respectfull seruant,

THO. BROWNE.

_Febr 6 [1668-9.]_
_Norwich._

No. VI.

[MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. MS. SLOANE 1847, FOL. 198.]

[This volume contains a Miscellaneous collection, mostly letters
to his son Edward, and some to "Tom." The following (as all in
the volume) is on letter-sized paper, 7-1/2 x 6 in.]

Worthy Sr

[_Fol. 198._] Though I writ vnto you last monday. yet hauing omitted some few things wch I thought to have mentioned I am bold to giue you this trouble so soone agayne haue you putt in a sea fish calld a bleak [_see Note 74_] a fish like an herring often taken with us and eat butt a more lanck & thinne & drye fish.

The wild swanne or elk [_see Note 8_] would not bee omitted, [here _crossed out_] being co[=m]on in hard winters & differenced from [the _crossed out_] our River swanns by the Aspera Arteria. [See also pp. 80 and 83 _infra_.]

Fulica and cotta Anglorum [_see Note 23_] are different birds though good resemblance between them, so some doubt may bee made whether it bee to bee made a coote except you set it downe fulica nostras. & cotta Anglorum I pray consider whether that waterbird whose draught I sent in the last box & thought it might bee named Anatula or mergulus melanoleucos may not bee some gallinula. it hath some resemblance with gallina hypoleucos of Johnst Tab 32 [31] butt myne hath shorter wings by much & the bill not so long [_Fol. 198 verso_] & slender & shorter leggs & lesser & so may ether be calld gallina Aquatica hypoleucos nostras or hypoleucos or melanoleucos Anatula or mergulus nostras.[119]

[119] The "draught" of this bird sent to Merrett is not forthcoming. Professor Newton has been kind enough to send me the following note on this puzzling passage. "Jonston's figure (tab. 31) of _Gallina hypoleucos_, to which Browne says it bore some resemblance, undoubtedly represents what we know as the Common Sandpiper, _Totanus hypoleucus_ or _Actitis hypoleuca_, the _Fysterlin_ of the Germans of Jonston's time (p. 160), and _Fisterlein_ or _Pfisterlein_ of modern days. But there seems to be some strange confusion that cannot now be cleared, between this bird and Browne's _Anatula_ or _Mergulus melanoleucos_ [_see_ p. 76 _ante_], of which some years later, he sent a drawing, under the latter name, to Willughby, in whose work it is described and figured (Lat. Ed. p. 261, Engl. 343, tab. lix.), for this most certainly is the Rotche or Little Auk, _Mergulus alle_ of modern ornithology." In the next letter (p. 81), Browne mentions that he encloses the draft of "Ralla aquatica" here referred to.

Tis much there should be no Icon of Rallus or Ralla Aquatica I haue a draught of one & they are found among us

Feb xii 1668.

The vesicaria I sent is like that you mention [_see Note 91_] if not the same the co[=m]on fanago resembleth the husk of peas this of [Part _crossed out_] Barly when the flower is mouldred away. [See also p. 89 _infra_, where Merrett aptly compares the latter to the flowers of the Grape Hyacinth.]

No. VII.

[BIBLIOTHECA BODLEIANA. MS. RAWLINSON D. cviii. SR THO BROWN TO DR. MERRETT.]

[_Fol. 105._] Sr I craue your pardon for this delayed returne unto your last, whose courteus acceptance & worthy entertaynment [?] deserued [a speed _blotted out_] even a speedier reply. The small plant may fitly come in among the corallines upon the [diff _crossed out_] account of articulation Icthyorachius [_see Note 114_] I think will bee a good Diference [?]. whether you will subexpand [?] the word I referre it to yourself. certhia may best bee vertice aureo [_word blotted out_] or vertice aureo penicello vix imitando. morinellus marinus [_see Note 28_] I think rather then Aquaticus becuse it is seen most about the sea coast. Anas alis oculatis[120] rather then Anser for it is not altogether so longe as a wild duck. of porci solidipedes [_see Note 118_] there are still in this country in some places. and I am promised a pigge by a Gentleman that hath still a boar and sow of that kind. I tooke notice of them 26 years ago & having not lately [met with _crossed out_] met with any thought the race had been worne out butt I perceue it is not--they are whole footed in the forfeet & have [only _crossed out_] a seame only in the hinder. so they are animalia duplici nomine i[=m]unda. The wild swans or elk [_see Note 8_] in [very _crossed out_] lasting cold winters are most plentifull. It is larger then the River swan somewhat gray & of a lowder note & [differenced call _crossed out_] a recuruation of the Aspera arteria in the sternon as I noted in the margin long agoe in vulgar errors. the blicca marina [_see Note 74_] may well be named Harengiformis. [_several words smeared out_] I have the draught of that an Herring & a pilcher in one paper upon that account [Fol. 104 _verso_] I belieue [?] you were well informd of the cotta [_see_ p. 79] & fulica of our Ralla Aquatica I enclose a draught.

[120] Possibly the Pintail, _Dafila acuta_ (Linn.), _see_ p. 77.

Of porci solidipedes there are diuers still in the country in some places I am promised a pigge by a friend who cherisheth that [new _crossed out_] breed. I tooke notice of them 26 yeares ago, & hauing not lately minded them thought they had been worn out butt I perceiue they are not--some are more plainly wholefooted then others & especially in the fore feet & in the rest there is no thorough fissure butt at most a superficiall seame, so they are [No. 3 cap 27 _above_] Quadrupedia duplici nomine i[=m]unda.

[This last paragraph seems to have been written by way of emendation of what appears above on the same subject. A photograph of a portion of the above letter will, by the courtesy of the Bodleian Librarian, be found as a frontispiece to this volume. Mr. Jenkinson, the Librarian of the University of Cambridge, and through him, Mr. G. F. Warner and Mr. Kenyon, of the Department of Manuscripts of the British Museum, have kindly interested themselves in the transcript of this letter, which was very difficult to decipher.]

No. VIII.

BIBLIOTHECA BODLEIANA (MS. RAWL. D. cviii.)