[1] The same opinion has been confirmed by Mr. Buffon in his Hist.
Naturelle. tom. 1. art. xix. Vol. 2. p. 419 of the edit. in twelves. F.
[2] The name of Porpesse is certainly derived from the name Porcopesce,
given to this genus by the Italians; and it is remarkable that almost
all the European nations conspired in calling them Sea-hogs, their name
being in German Meer Schwein; the Danish, Swedish, and Norvegian,
Marsuin, from whence the French borrowed their Marsouin. The natives of
Iceland call them Suinhual, i.e. a Swine-whale, and so likewise the
Slavonian nations have their Swinia Morskaya. Whether this consent
arises from their rooting the sand at the bottom of the sea in quest of
Sand-eels and Sea-worms like swine, or from the vast quantity of lard
surrounding their bodies is uncertain. F.
[3] Mr. Kalm is certainly mistaken in reckoning the Bottle-nose amongst
the Dolphin kind; it has no teeth in its mouth as all the fish of that
class have, and therefore belongs to the first order of the Whales, or
those that are without teeth. See Mr. Pennant’s British Zoology, Vol.
3. p. 43. where it is called the beaked Whale, and very well described;
a drawing is seen in the explanatory table, n. I. Perhaps it would not
be improper to call it Balæna ampullata. F.
[4] In Mr. Pennant’s British Zoology vol. 3. p. 282. is the best
account of this fish to be met with; and in his British Zoology,
illustrated by Plates and brief explanations is plate xliv. a good and
exact drawing of the fish, the upper figure representing it in front,
the lower sideways. F.
[5] Head of the Moravian Brethren. F.
[6] Dr. Linnæus mentions only one species of Nyssa, namely Nyssa
aquatica; Mr. Kalm does not mention the name of the species; but if his
is not a different species, it must at least be a variety, since he
says it grows on hills, whereas the aquatica grows in the water. F.
[7] Quere. Is this the Juglans baccata of Linnæus? F.
[8] This species is not to be met with in Linn. spec. plant. F.
[9] In Miller’s Garden Dictionary, it is called Ketmia Indica folio
ficus, fructu pentagono, recurvo esculento, graciliori, et longiori.
[10] Nitrum Crystallus montana, Linn. Syst. nat. 3. p. 84. Crystallus
hexagona pellucida non Colorata. Wallerius’s Mineralogy, p. 100.
Crystallus montana, colourless crystal. Forster’s Introd. to
Mineralogy, p. 13.
[11] Pyrites crystallinus, Linn. Syst. nat. 3. p. 113. Marchasitæ
hexaëdricæ tesselares. Wallerius’s Mineralogy, p. 211. Marcasitæ, vel
crystalli pyritacei, Marcasites. Forster’s Introd. to Mineralogy, p.
39.
[12] Mica membranacea, Linn. Syst. nat. 3. p. 58.
Mica membranacea pellucidissima flexilis alba. Wallerius’s Min. p. 120.
Russian glass, Muscovy glass, Isinglass, Vitrum ruthenicum, Vitrum
Mariæ. Forster’s Introd. to Mineralogy, p. 18.
[13] Marmor rude, Linn. Syst. nat. 3. p. 41.
Calcareus particulis scintillantibus. Wall. Min. p. 39.
Calcareus scintillans, glittering limestone. Forster’s Introd. to
Mineral. p. 9.
[14] This has been confirmed, since Cape Breton is in the hands of the
English, and it is reported that the strata of coals run through the
whole isle, and some basset out to day near the sea-shore, so that this
isle will afford immense treasures of coals, when the government will
find it convenient, to have them dug for the benefit of the Nation. F.
[15] The English reader, who is perhaps not so well acquainted with the
weather of the Swedish autumn, may form an idea of it, by having
recourse to the Calendarium Floræ, or the botanical and œconomical
almanack of Sweden, in Dr. Linnæus’s Amœn. Academ. and in Mr.
Stillingfleet’s Swedish tracts, translated from the Amœn. Acad. 2d.
edition. F.
[16] Vide Hackluyt’s collect. voy. III. 246.
[17] Vide Medical, &c. cases and experiments, translated from the
Swedish, London 1758. p. 282. P.
[18] This has all the appearance of a vulgar error: neither does the
succeeding account of the American bears being carnivorous, agree with
the observations of the most judicious travellers, who deny the fact.
P.
But however it might be easible to reconcile both opinions. For Europe
has two or three kinds of bears, one species of which is carnivorous,
the other lives only on vegetables: the large brown species, with its
small variety, are reputed to be carnivorous, the black species is
merely phytivorous. In case therefore both species are found in North
America, it would be very easy to account for their being both
carnivorous and not. F.
[19] Quartzum hyalinum, Linn. Syst. nat. 3. p. 65. Quartzum solidum
pellucidum, Wallerii Miner. 91. The common Quartz, Forster’s
Mineralogy, p. 16. And Quartzum coloratum, Linn. Syst. nat. 3. p. 65.
Quartzum solidum opacum coloratum. Wall. Min. 99. The impure Quartz,
Forst. Min. p. 16.
[20] In Sweden, and in the north of Germany, the round holes in rivers,
with a stoney or rocky bed, which the whirling of the water has made,
are called giants pots; these holes are likewise mentioned in Mr.
Grosleys new observations on Italy, Vol. I. p. 8. F.
[21] How far this approbation of the Royal Society, ought to be
credited, is to be understood from the advertisements published at the
head of each new volume of the Philosophical Transactions. F.
[22] Thomas Herriot, servant to Sir Walter Raleigh, who was employed by
him to examine into the productions of North America, makes no mention
of the peach among the other fruits he describes, and M. du Pratz, who
has given a very good account of Louisiana and the Missisippi, says,
that the natives got their peaches from the English colony of Carolina,
before the French settled there. P.
[23] These worms are the Larva’s of the Oestrus or Gadfly, which
deposits its eggs on the back of cattle, and the Larva’s being hatched
from these eggs, cause great sores, wherein they live till they are
ready for their change. In the south of Russia they use for the same
purpose the decoction of Veratrum, or the white Hellebore. F.
[24] The bones and tusks of Elephants are not only found in Russia, but
also in the canton of Basel in Swisserland, in the dominions of the
Marquis of Bareith in Franconia, and more instances are found in the
Protogæa of the celebrated Leibnitz. Lately near the river Ohio have
been discovered, a great number of skeletons of Elephants with their
tusks, and very remarkable grinders still sticking in their jaw bones
were sent to the British Museum; the late Dr. Littleton Bishop of
Carlisle, also lodged some teeth sticking in their jawbones in the
Museum of the Royal Society, which were brought from Peru. The rivers
Chatunga and Indighirka in Siberia, are remarkable for affording on
their banks great quantities of bones and tusks of Elephants, which
being preserved there by the great frost, and in the short summer of a
few weeks, the rain being rare, these tusks are commonly so fresh that
they are employed in Russia, as common ivory, on account of the great
quantity brought from these places to Russia; some of them were eight
feet long, and of three hundred pounds weight. There have been found
grinders of nine inches diameter. But the American grinders of
Elephants from near the Ohio are yet more remarkable, on account of
their being provided with crowns on their tops, such as are only found
in the carnivorous animals, and such as feed on hard bones or nuts.
Whilst on the contrary, Elephants at present feeding on grasses and
soft vegetables have no such crowns at the tops of their grinders.
Livy, it is true, makes a distinction between the Asiatic or Indian
Elephants, and the African ones; and remarks the latter to be inferior
to the former in size and vigour; but whether the teeth in these
animals are so much different from those of the other variety, has
never been attended to. This circumstance of the difference in the
fossil grinders of Elephants, from those in the living ones, and the
place where these skeletons were found in, viz. Siberia, Germany and
America, where at present no Elephants are to be met with, opens a wide
field to conjectures in regard to the way, by which these animals were
carried to those spots. The flood in the deluge perhaps has carried
them thither; nor is it contrary to reason, history or revelation, to
believe, these skeletons to be the remainders of animals, which lived
on the surface of this globe, anterior to the Mosaic creation, which
may be considered only as a new modification of the creatures living on
this globe, adapted to its present state, under which it will remain
till circumstances will make a new change necessary, and then our globe
will by a new creation of revolution appear more adapted to its state,
and be stocked with a set of animals more suitable to that state. Every
man used to philosophy and reasoning will find, that this plan gives a
grand idea of the Creator, his œconomy and management of the universe:
and moreover, it is conformable to the meaning of the words of a sacred
writer, who says: Ps. civ. 29. 30. Thou bidest thy face and they (small
and great beasts) are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they
die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are
created; and thou renewest the fact of the earth. See Dr. Hunter’s
remarks on the above-mentioned teeth, in the Philosophical Trans. Vol.
lviii. F.
[25] In Mr. Osbeck’s Voyage to China, Vol I. p. 50. in a note, an
account is given of this kind of land, which the Swedes call
Swedieland, where it is observed, that the trees being burnt, their
ashes afford manure sufficient for three years, after which they are
left uncultivated again, till after twenty or more years, a new
generation of trees being produced on them, the country people burn
them, and cultivate the country for three years again. F.
[26] The learned Dr. Wallerius, in his Mineralogy, §. 8. in the note to
the article, Humus communis atra, mentions that some people were of
opinion, that the mould of our globe increased their parts, especially
in such places as had been uncultivated ever since the deluge, and that
thus in a hundred years, half an inch of mould was produced. But he
observes in the same time, that this observation was not at all exact;
for as the common mould seldom exceeds a soot, it must from thence
follow, that since the deluge no more than 2400 years were elapsed,
though the scripture chronology reckons upwards of 4000 years since
that event: besides this, he remarks, that mould always becomes more
dry and compressed, where it is out of the reach, of rain and snow; and
where it is exposed to rain, it is carried off to lower places, and
therefore increases and decreases according to the qualities of its
local situation. Moreover, vegetables it is known prosper the best
where mould is found. As the surface of our globe has been covered with
vegetables since the deluge, they must have had a mould to grow in ever
since that time; consequently it is highly probable, that there must
have been a mould covering the surface of our globe, ever since the
first origin. I should be led by some other confederations, to doubt of
the infallibility of this rule for the increase of mould. In Russia, on
this side the river Volga, are high and extensive plains, which have
been uncultivated ever since the deluge, for we know from history, that
the Scythians, Sarmatians, Huns, Chazars, and Mogols, were successively
the masters of these vast countries, and were altogether nomadic
nations, who lived without agriculture; the country has been without
wood since time immemorial, nor could there even spring up any wood
whatsoever, since its rambling possessors every spring set fire to the
old dry grass, in order to make room for the new grass, which in the
latter end of May, I found come up very near to my waist. And these
vast, desart plains, I saw every where covered with at lead two feet
mould; nay, in some places it amounted to four feet; this would give
according to the former rule of half an inch per Century, 4800 years,
in the first instance, and in the second, 9600 years, and therefore
shews that this rule for calculating the increase of mould, is very
precarious. The chemical analysis of plants, shews that they consist of
water, earth, acid, alkali, oil, and an inflammable principle,
independent of the last substance, and called by a late German chemist
the caustic: these substances must enter yearly the new plants, and
make their substance, and are as it were regenerated in these new
plants, after being set at liberty from the structure of the last
year’s plants by putrefaction, or by fire. Mould chemically examined,
has the same analogous parts. Acid and caustic are plentifully
contained in the common air, and may also easily be restored to the
mould, and thus circulate through a new system of plants. Water comes
likewise from rain and snow, out of our atmosphere: alkaline and oily
particles, or a kind of soap, are the only things wanting, which when
added with the former to any subtle earth, will make a good mould, and
these are produced by putrefaction or fire, from vegetable and animal
substances, and are the great promoters of vegetation.
But the great question is, from whence these various substances
necessary for vegetation originally came? To believe they are produced
from putrified vegetables is begging the question, and making a
circulus vitiosus in the argument. There is therefore no evasion; they
were certainly produced by the great Creator of the universe, and
endowed with such qualities, as make them capable of producing in
various mixtures new bodies; and when they are introduced by moisture,
into the first stamina of a plant, or a seed, they expand these
stamina, and constitute a new being, capable of affording food to the
animal creation. It is evident, Mr. Kalm hinted at the above-mentioned
opinion of the increase of mould, and this gave me an opportunity of
confirming his argument, and of stating fairly the great question oh
which agriculture, the most necessary branch of human arts depends. F.
[27] As the shells of oysters are a marine animal production, and their
cavities are full of particles of sea-water, the moisture of it flies
off, leaving behind its salt; when the shells are burnt, and the lime
is slacked, the salt mixes with the lime: and though the mortar of such
a lime grows ever so dry, the particles of salt immediately attract the
moisture of the air, and cause that dampness complained of here. F.
[28] Though Mr. Kalm has so carefully avoided peopling Europe with this
insect, yet Dr. Linnæus assures us in his Systema Naturæ, that the
southern countries of Europe are already infested with it; Scopoli
mentions it among his Insecta Carniolica p. 63. and Geoffroy among his
Parisian Insects, Vol. 1. p. 267. t. 4. f. 9. has given a fine figure
of it. F.
[29] Diss. de Noxa Insectorum, Amœn. Acad. Vol. 3. p. 347.
[30] In his Systema Naturæ, he calls it Bruchus Pisi, or the Pease
Beetle; and says that the Gracula Quiscula, or Purple daw of Catesby,
is the greatest destroyer of them, and though this bird has been
proscribed by the legislature of Pensylvania, New Jersey, and New
England as a maize-thief, they feel however the imprudence of
extirpating this bird; for a quantity of worms which formerly were
eaten by these birds destroy their meadows at present. F.
[31] If the pease were steeped before they are sown, in a lie of lime
water and some dissolved arsenic, the pupa or aurelia of the insect
would be killed. F.
[32] Mr. Miller describes this liquor in his Gardener’s Dictionary
under the article of Convolvulus, species the 17th. and 18th.
[33] This animal is probably the Sorex cristatus of Dr. Linnæus, who
says it is like the mole and lives in Pensylvania. F.
[34] The same is to be met with in Edwards’s Natural History of Birds,
page 38. tab. 38. F.
[35] There is a much lesser species of humming-bird, by Linnæus called
Trochilus minimus, being the least bird known; Sir Hans Sloane’s living
one, weighed only twenty grains, and Mr. Edwards’s dry one forty-five.
It is drawn in Edwards’s birds, t. 150, in its natural size, together
with its egg. F.
[36] The author seems to comprehend more by this word, than what it
commonly includes, for he describes it as a building, which contains
both a barn and stables. F.
[37] This kind of building is frequent in the north of Germany,
Holland, and Prussia, and therefore it is no wonder that it is employed
by people who, were used to them in their own country. F.
[38] Probably it is a stone marle; a blue and reddish species of this
kind is used with good success, in the county of Bamff in Scotland.
[39] Dr. Linnæus, in his Travels through Westrogothia, has given a
drawing of the machine by which woad is prepared, on the 128th. page.
[40] As there are no Jews in Sweden, Prof. Kalm was an utter stranger
to their manners and religious customs, and therefore relates them as a
kind of novelty. F.
[41] This has really happened by a greater union and exertion of power
from the colonies and the mother country; so that Canada has been
conquered and its possession has been confirmed to Great Britain in the
last peace. F.
[42] Of this animal and of the above-mentioned Racoon is a
representation given plate 2. both from original drawings; the German
and the Swedish edition of Prof. Kalm’s work being both without this
plate. F.
[43] Neither of these accounts appear to be satisfactory; and therefore
I am inclined to believe that these red foxes originally came over from
Asia, (most probably from Kamtchatka where this species is common, see
Miller’s Account of the Navigations of the Russians, &c.) though in
remote times, and thus spread over North America. It is perhaps true
that the Indians never took notice of them till the Europeans were
settled among them; this, however, was because they never had occasion
to use their skins: but when there was a demand for these they began to
hunt them, and, as they had not been much accustomed to them before,
they esteemed them as a novelty. What gives additional confirmation to
this is, that when the Russians under Commodore Bering landed on the
western coast of America, they saw five red foxes which were quite
tame, and seemed not to be in the least afraid of men: now this might
very well have been the case if we suppose them to have been for many
generations in a place where no body disturbed them; but we cannot
account for it, if we imagine that they had been used to a country
where there were many inhabitants, or where they had been much hunted.
F.
[44] When Captain Amadas, the first Englishman that ever landed in
North America, set foot on shore (to use his own words) such a flocke
of Cranes (the most part white) arose under us with such a cry,
redoubled by many ecchoes, as if an armie of men had showted
alltogether.
[45] Properly shining blackbirds.
[46] What gives still more weight, to Mr. Kalm’s opinion of the Elk
being the Moose-deer, is the name Musu which the Algonkins give to the
elk, as Mr. Kalm himself observes in the sequel of his work; and this
circumstance is the more remarkable, as the Algonkins before the
Irokeese or five nations got so great a power in America, were the most
powerful nation in the northern part of this continent; in so much,
that though they be now reduced to an inconsiderable number, their
language is however a kind of universal language in North America; so
that there is no doubt, that the elk is the famous Moose-deer. F.
[47] It seems to be either the substance commonly called French Chalk,
or perhaps the Soap-rock, which is common in Cornwall near the Lizard
point, and which consists besides of some particles of talc, chiefly of
an earth like magnesia, which latter with acid of vitriol, yields an
earthy vitriolic, salt, or Epsom salt. F.
[48] Amiantus (Asbestus) fibrosus, fibris separabilibus flexilibus
tenacibus, Linn. Syst. nat. p. 55.
Amiantus fibris mollibus parallelis facile separabilibus, Wall. Min.
140.
Mountain Flax, Linum montanum, Forster’s Mineralogy, p. 17. F.
[49] It has been observed, that only such squirrels and birds as have
their nests near the place where such snakes come to, make this pitiful
noise, and are so busy in running up and down the tree and the
neighbouring branches, in order to draw off the attention of the snake
from their brood, and often they come so very near in order to fly away
again, that being within reach of the snakes, they are at last bit,
poisoned and devoured; and this will, I believe, perfectly account for
the powers of fascinating birds and small creatures in the snakes. F.
[50] As Catesby and Edwards have both represented the flying Squirrel
in a sitting attitude, I have given here, plate I. a figure of one with
the expanded membrane, and joined to it on the same plate, a more
accurate figure of the ground Squirrel.
It is not yet made out with certainty, whether the American flying
squirrel, and that found in Finland and in the north of Europe and
Asia, be the same animal. The American kind has a flat pennated tail,
but the European kind a round one, which affords a very distinguishing
character. F.
[51] See for this opinion the scarce and curious work intitled, Torfæi
historia Vinlandiæ antiquæ seu partis Americæ septentrionalis. Hafniæ
1715. 4to. F.
[52] This experiment with the silver, supposes that the broth of the
fish would be so strong as to act as a solvent upon the silver; but
there may be poisons, which would not affect the silver, and however
prove fatal to men; the surest way therefore would be to suppress that
appetite, which may become fatal not only to a few men of the crew, but
also endanger the whole ship, by the loss of necessary hands. F.