_crossed out_] also no strangeres.
[88] The Pediculus, or Sea Louse, is probably _Talitrus locusta_,
the Sand-hopper; what may be intended by _Culex marinus_ it is
difficult to say. A species of gnat is at times very numerous on
the wet sand just above the water-line. _See also_ Notes 110 and
115, on a kindred subject.
Physsalus Rondeletij[89] or eruca marina physsaloides according to the
icon of Rondeletius of very orient green & purple bristles.
[89] The Sea Mouse, _Aphrodite aculeata_. This is referred to again
in the Letters to Merrett.
Urtica marina[90] of diuers kinds some whereof called squalderes. of a
burning and stinging qualitie if rubbed in the hand. the water thereof
may afford a good cosmetick.
[90] Mr. E. T. Browne, of the Zoological Laboratory of University
College, London, has kindly furnished me with the following notes
on this subject: "Jonston (1657) gives figures of Anemones and
large _Medusae_ under the name of _Urtica_. On Tab. xviii. he
figures Anemones and other beasts, but not _medusae_. The _medusae_
are on the next Tab. (xix.). _Urtica marina_ includes both Anemones
and certain Scyphomedusae (not _Pulmo_). Under 'some ... called
Squalders of a burning and stinging quality,' I think Browne must
refer to our common stinging Scyphomedusae belonging to the genus
_Chrysaora_ or _Cyanaea_, of which there are three species.
"The vague description of what he calls 'sea buttons' [see below,
also second letter to Merrett] would suit either a Medusa or a
Ctenophore. The additional note, 'two small holes in the ends,'
rather upsets matters, but I think he must refer to some sort of
jelly-fish, probably damaged, which is usually the case when cast
up on the shore. If the buttons worn in those days were like
filbert-nuts or eggs, I am inclined to think that the reference
must be to a Ctenophore, genus _Pleurobrachia_, but if flat, then
to one of the _Hydromedusae_. It would be safe to say, 'probably a
kind of jelly-fish,' which is about as vague as the reference." See
also Dr. Reuben Robinson's description of "Squalders" in a letter
to Browne (Wilkin i., pp. 422-424). It seems probable that the
gelatinous masses referred to in the early part of this letter,
which Dr. Robinson says were ascribed by Dr. Charleton to "the
nocturnall pollution of some plethorick or wanton starr: or rather
excrement blowne from the nosthrills of a rheumatick planett," were
the remains of the undeveloped spawn of frogs, the bodies of which
had been eaten by rats, crows, or herons, and which had become
swollen by exposure to moisture.
[The next paragraph on folio 33 _verso_ is evidently added
subsequently.]
Another elegant sort that is often found cast up by shoare in great
numbers about ye bignesse of a button cleere & welted & may bee called
fibula marina crystallina.
hirudines marini or sea Leaches.[91]
[91] It is difficult to determine the species of marine Annelids
referred to by Browne; the Sea Leech is probably _Pontobdella
laevis_. The "large wormes" digged for bait, mentioned more than
once, are Lug-worms, _Arenicola piscatorum_; the _Vermes in tubulis
testacei_ may be tube-worms of the genus Terrebella, or a species
of Serpula. Tethya or "Sea dugge" (not "Sea dogs," as Wilkin has
it) might very well apply to _Ascidia_ or one of the allied genera.
Simple Ascidians, generally known as Sea-squirts, are common
littoral forms; the animals figured by Rondeletius under the
heading "De Tethyis" (p. 127) are simple Ascidians. The _vesicaria
marina_, or "fanago," might well refer to the egg capsules of the
common Whelk (_Buccinum undatum_), which are very commonly found in
masses on the shore. In his sixth letter to Merrett, Browne
mentions two kinds of "fanago," the first which I take to be the
egg capsules of the Whelk, resembling the "husk of peas;" the
smaller that of "barley when the flower [awn?] is mouldered away,"
may possibly be the egg capsules of _Purpura lapillus_, or of some
species of Natica, which bear a fanciful resemblance to grains of
barley. See also Merrett's second letter in Appendix A., in which
he describes the Vesicaria found on oyster-shells as resembling
flowers of _Hyacinthus botryoides_, which is not a bad description
of the form of the egg capsules of _P. lapillus_.
vermes marini very large wormes digged a yarde deepe out of the sands
at the ebbe for bayt. tis known where they are to bee found by a litle
flat ouer them on ye surface of ye sand. as also vermes in tubulis
testacei. Also Tethya or sea dugges some whereof resemble fritters [and
_crossed out_] the vesicaria marina also & [_see Note 91_] fanago
sometimes very large conceaued to proceed from some testaceous animals.
& particularly [_Fol. 35_] from the purpura butt [in _crossed out_] ours
more probably from other testaceous wee hauing not met with any large
purpura upon this coast.
[A blank space.]
Many riuer fishes also and animals. Salmon[92] no co[=m]on fish in our
riuers though many are taken in the owse. in the Bure or north riuer, in
ye waueney or south riuer, in ye [yare or _crossed out_] norwich riuer
butt seldome and in the winter butt 4 yeares ago 15 were taken at
Trowes mill [ab _crossed out_] in Xtmas. whose mouths were stuck with
small wormes or horsleaches no bigger than fine threads some of these I
kept in water 3 moneths if a few drops of blood were putt to the water
they would in a litle time looke red. they sensibly grewe bigger then I
first found them and were killed by an hard froast freezing the water.
most of our Salmons haue a recurued peece of flesh in ye end of the
lower iawe wch when they shutt there mouths deepely enters the upper. as
Scaliger hath noted in some.
[92] The Salmon (_Salmo salar_) is at the present day very rarely
found in our rivers, and those met with are, as a rule, male Kelts
which have strayed into unsuspected situations after floods; a
singular exception occurred on the 20th May, 1897, when one
weighing 6 lbs. was taken on a fly in the river above Stoke Holy
Cross Mill; this fish is preserved in the Norwich Museum. Another
curious capture of which I heard (but did not see the fish)
occurred on the 1st August, 1898, when a salmon, also of 6 lbs.
weight, jumped into a small boat towed behind a yacht which was
sailing across Breydon Water. That the salmon was at one time a
recognised visitor to our rivers is evident from the following
extract from the Norwich Court of Mayoralty Book under date 2 Novr.
1667: "It is ordered that the bell man give notice that if any
person shall take any Salmons from the Nativity of our Lady unto
St. Martin's day, or destroy any young Salmons by netts or other
ingens from the midst of April until the Nativity of St. John
Baptist shall be punished according to the law." The Salmon is the
host of several parasites both internal and external. Fresh run
Salmon are generally infested with a "Sea-louse," which quickly
perishes in freshwater; not so, however, with the troublesome
worm-like creature, the subject of Browne's experiments; it is
known as _Lernaea salmonis_, and is only found on the gill-covers of
spent Kelts; it is not got rid of till the fish returns to the salt
water. Browne may be excused being rather sceptical as to the
identity of the clean run Salmon and the spent Kelt, for no greater
contrast can be imagined than that which exists between the
two--the male in the "redding" season develops the unsightly hooked
mandible, which so puzzled the worthy doctor, and both in colour
and form is as hideous an object as can be imagined. Becard
Gallorum (not _Beccard gallorus_), _i.e._, the fish called "Becard"
by the French (see second letter to Merrett), refers to the use of
a name still applied in France to a large Cock Salmon, and
"Anchorago" is the name under which the fish was described by
Scaliger, whose book I have not seen. Dr. Guenther tells me that
Artedi, "Ichthyologia," Pt. v., p. 23, quotes this name as a
synonym of the Salmon.
The Riuers lakes & broads[93] abound in [the Lucius or _added above_]
pikes of very large size where also is found the Brama or [breme
_crossed out_] Breme large & well tasted the Tinca or Tench the Rubecula
Roach as also Rowds and Dare or Dace perca or pearch great & small.
whereof such [as] are are in Braden on this side yarmouth in the mixed
water [are gen _crossed out_] make a dish very dayntie & I think scarce
to bee bettered in England. butt the Blea[k] [_Fol. 36_] the chubbe the
barbell [I haue not obserued in these riuers _crossed out_] to bee found
in diues other Riuers in England I haue not obserued in these. As also
fewer mennowes then in many other riuers.
[93] The freshwater fishes named in the next three paragraphs are
so well known as to require few remarks. The Bream in our rivers
and broads are very numerous and reach a large size, but of their
esculent qualities I have had no personal experience; not so,
however, with the Perch, which quite deserve Browne's high
encomium. It is well known here that this fish shows no aversion of
a certain admixture of salt and fresh water, and Mr. Lubbock
("Fauna of Norfolk") says, "the point in Norfolk rivers where the
largest are taken with most certainty is where water begins to turn
brackish from the influence of the ocean;" in autumn the very
finest are taken by angling with a shrimp, a favourite bait in the
lower parts of the Yare and Waveney. In such localities a small
shrimp (_Hippolyte varians_, Leach) abounds, and it is to this
favourite food that Mr. Lubbock attributes the excellence of these
Perch. Roud is the local name of the Rudd (_Leuciscus
erythropthalmus_). The River Nar is still perhaps the best Trout
stream in the county, and the Crawfish is found in most of the
rivers but not abundantly.
The Trutta or trout the Gammarus or crawfish [no _crossed out_] butt
scarce in our riuers butt frequently taken in the Bure or north riuer &
in the seuerall branches therof. & very remarkable large crawfishes to
bee found in the riuer wch runnes by castleaker & nerford.
The Aspredo perca minor[94] and probably the cernua of Cardan co[=m]only
called a Ruffe in great plentie in norwich Riuers & euen in ye streame
of the citty. which though camden appropriates vnto this citty yet they
are also found in the riuers of oxforde [&] Cambridge.
[94] Merrett calls the Ruff _Cernua fluviatilis_, and mentions its
abundance in the River Yare at Norwich, which he (no doubt
inadvertently) assigns to the County of "Essex"; from this locality
Caius obtained the specimen, a drawing of which he sent to Gesner
under the name of _Aspredo_. Camden assigns this fish also to
Norwich, and Spencer, in his "Marriage of the Thames and Medway,"
writes of the Ruff:--
"Next cometh Yar, soft washing Norwich walls,
And with him bringeth to their festival
Fish whose like none else can show,
The which men Ruffins call."
This county seems to have been assigned an exclusive proprietorship
in the Ruff, to which, as Browne rightly points out, it had no just
claim.
Lampetra Lampries great & small[95] found plentifully in norwich riuer &
euen in the Citty about may [some _crossed out_] whereof some are very
large & well cooked are counted a dayntie bitt collard up butt
especially in pyes.
[95] Both the Sea Lamprey (_Petromyzon marinus_) and the Lampern
(_P. fluviatilis_) are found in the Norfolk rivers.
Mustela fluuiatilis or eele poult[96] to bee had in norwich riuer & [in
thalso _crossed out_] between it & yarmouth as also in the riuers of
marshland resembling an eele & a cod. a very good dish & the Liuer
thereof well answers the commendations of the Ancients.
[96] The Burbot, or Eel Pout (_Lola vulgaris_), called by Merrett a
Coney-fish, from its habit of concealing itself in holes in the
river banks. It is not sufficiently numerous now to form an article
of diet, and I imagine there are few living who could bear
testimony as to the esculent qualities of its "Liuer."
[_Fol 37._] Godgions or funduli fluuiatiles, many whereof may bee taken
within the [citty _crossed out_] Riuer in the citty:
Capitones fluuiatilis or millers thumbs, pungitius fluuiatilis or
stanticles. Aphia cobites fluuiatilis or Loches. in norwich riuers in
the runnes about Heueningham heath in the north riuer & streames
thereof.
Of eeles[97] the co[=m]on eele & the glot wch hath somewhat a different
shape in the bignesse of the head & is affirmed to have yong ones often
found within it. & wee haue found a vterus in the same somewhat
answering the icon thereof in Senesinus.
[97] The coarse variety of the Eel, known as the "Glout," or
Broad-nosed Eel, is believed to be the barren female; Browne's
informants were doubtless misled by the presence of certain
thread-worms (_Nematoxys_) in the abdomen of the eels, which they
mistook for young ones.
Carpiones carpes plentifull in ponds & sometimes large ones in broads
[_smear_] 2 the largest I euer beheld were [found _crossed out_] taken
[_added above_] in Norwich Riuer.
[A whole line is smeared out, and a break occurs in the MS. after the
observation on the Carp; it then proceeds to notice some other
inhabitants of the county which perhaps Browne had difficulty in
classifying.]
Though the woods and dryelands about [abound?] with adders and
vipers[98] yet are there few snakes about our riuers or meadowes more to
bee found in Marsh land butt ponds & plashes abound in Lizards or
swifts.
[98] Both Vipers (or Adders) and Snakes, the latter in particular,
are, I imagine, much less abundant than formerly, but the few
species of Lizards and Newts (Swifts) are still probably in
undiminished numbers; the Mole Cricket (_Gryllotalpa vulgaris_) is
rare with us; Horse-leeches (_Aulostoma gulo_) are frequent, and
also "Periwinkles," which I take to be various species of
freshwater Molluscs, possibly of _Limnaea_. The Hard-worm (or
Hair-worm), _Gordius aquaticus_, which refused to be generated from
"horsehayres," is still an object of wonder to the unlearned, and
the Great Black Water-Beetle (_Hydrophilus piceus_) is found; but
_forficula_ and _corculum_ were a puzzle, as it is evident from
their association they must be aquatic forms (and the Earwig
certainly does not take to the water voluntarily), till my friend,
Mr. C. G. Barrett, referred me to the following passage in
Swammerdam's "Book of Nature," p. 93: "This is most certain that
the _Forficula aquatica_ of Jonston is the true nymph of the
Mordella, or Dragon-fly,"[O] Dr. Charleton in his "Onomasticon," p.
57, has "Corculus, the Water-beetle, resembling an heart;" not very
definite, but probably the Whirligig Beetle, _Gyrinus natator_, is
intended; it is also an appellation given by some authors to "a
small species of cordiformis, or heart-shell, of a rose colour,"
doubtless a Cyclas or a Pisidium. Squilla is the Freshwater Shrimp
(_Gammarus pulex_), and _Notonecta glauca_, the Waterboatman "which
swimmeth on its back," is well known.
Otters are still numerous in the broads and reed-margined rivers,
and so long as these natural fastnesses endure in their present
condition they are likely to continue so.
[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._"