Notes on Certain Fishes and Marine Animals Found in Norfolk

[Ms. Sloan. 1882. Fol. 145-146. Altered to 21 and 22, and 1830 Fol. 23-30 and 32-38.]

[The introductory remarks, paragraphs one to three, will be found in the volume of the Sloane MSS. numbered 1882 (labelled “Notes on Generation”), on pages 145 and 146, which are altered to 21 and 22. They were placed in their present position by Wilkin, but although appropriate, there is nothing to show that they belong to the set of notes here reproduced, and they may form memoranda for the beginning of some essay never completed. The contents of the volume in question are of a very miscellaneous character, and consist of fragmentary notes, which appear to be memoranda jotted down at random.]

[Fol. 21/145.] It may well seeme no easie matter to giue any considerable account of fishes and animals of the sea wherein tis sayd that there are things creeping innumerable both small and great beasts because they liue in an element wherein they are not so easely discouerable notwithstanding probable it is that after this long nauigation search of the ocean bayes creeks Estuaries and riuers that there is scarce any fish butt hath been seen by some man for the large & breathing sort thereof do sometimes discouer themselues aboue water and the other are in such numbers that some at one time or other they are discouered and taken euen the most barbarous nations being much addicted to fishing and in America and the new discouered world the people were well acquantd with fishes of sea and riuers, and the fishes thereof haue been since described by industrious writers.

Pliny seemes to short in the estimate of their number in the ocean, who recons up butt one hundred & seventie six species. butt the seas being now farther known & searched [21/145 verso] Bellonius much enlargeth.

and in his booke of Birds thus deliuereth himself allthough I think it impossible to reduce the same vnto a certain number yet I may freelie say that tis beyond the power of man to find out more than fiue hundred sorts [kinds written above] of fishes three hundred sorts of birds more than three hundred sorts of fourfoted animalls and fortie diversities of serpents.50

[SLOANE MSS. 1830, FOL. 23-38.]

[Fol. 23.] Of fishes sometimes the larger sort are taken or come ashoar. A spermaceti whale 51 of 62 foote long neere Welles. another of the same kind 20 yeares before at Hunstanton. & not farre of 8 or nine came ashoare & 2 had yong ones after they were forsaken by ye water.

A grampus aboue 16 foot long taken at yarmouth [3 or crossed out] 4 yeares agoe.

The Tursio or porpose is com̄on the Dolphin 52 more rare though sometimes taken wch many confound with the porpose. butt it hath a more waued line along the skinne sharper toward ye tayle the head longer and nose more extended wch maketh good the figure of Rondeletius. the flesh more red & [fa crossed out] well cooked of very good taste to most palates & exceedeth that of porpose.

The vitulus marinus 53 seacalf or seale wch is often taken sleeping on the shoare [4 crossed out] 5 [written above] yeares agoe one was shot in the riuer of norwich about surlingham [wh crossed out] ferry having continued in the riuer for diuers moneths before being an Amphibious animal it may bee caryed about aliue & kept long if it can bee brought to feed some haue been kept many moneths in ponds. the pizzell the bladder the cartilago ensiformis the figure of the Throttle the clusterd & racemous forme of the kidneys [Fol. 24] the flat & compressed heart are remarkable in it. in stomaks of all that I have opened I have found many [short crossed out] wormes.

I haue also obserued a scolopendra cetacea 54 of about ten foot long answering to the figure in Rondeletius wch the mariners told me was taken in these seas.

A pristes or serra [written above] saw fish 55 taken about Lynne com̄only mistaken for a [sha crossed out] sword fish & answers the figure in Rondeletius.

A sword fish or Xiphias or Gladius intangled in the Herring netts at yarmouth agreable unto the Icon in Johnstonus with a smooth sword not vnlike the Gladius of Rondeletius about a yard & half long, no teeth [n crossed out] eyes very remarkable enclosed in an hard cartilaginous couercle about ye bignesse of a good apple. ye vitreous humor plentifull the crystalline larger then a nutmegge [cleare crossed out] remaining cleare sweet & vntainted when the rest of the eye was vnder a deepe corruption wch wee kept clear & limpid many moneths vntill an hard frost split it & manifested the foliations thereof.

It is not vnusuall to take seuerall sorts of canis or doggefishes 56 great and small wch pursue the shoale of herrings and other fish butt this yeare 1662 one was taken intangled in the Herring netts about 9 foot in length, answering the last figure of Johnstonus lib 7 vnder the name of canis carcherias alter & was by the teeth & 5 gills one kind of shark particularly [Fol. 25] remarkable in the vastnesse of the optick nerves & 3 conicall hard pillars wch supported the extraordinarie elevated nose wch wee haue reserued with the scull the seamen calld this kind a scrape.

Sturio or Sturgeon 57 so com̄on on the other side of the sea about the mouth of the elbe come seldome into our creekes though some haue been taken at yarmouth & more in the great [owse crossed out] Owse by Lynne butt their heads not so sharpe as represented in the Icons of Rondeletius & Johnstonus.

Sometimes wee meet with a mola or moonefish 58 so called from some resemblance it hath [from crossed out] of a crescent in the extreme part of the body from one finne unto another one being taken neere the shoare at yarmouth before breake of day seemed to shiuer & grunt like an hogge as Authors deliuer of it the flesh being hard & neruous it is not like to afford a good dish butt from the Liuer wch is [white crossed out] large white & tender somewhat [wee crossed out] may bee expected [for crossed out] the gills of these fishes wee found thick beset with a kind of sealowse. [Added subsequently] in the yeare 1667 a mola was taken at monsley wch weighed 2 [p crossed out] hundred pound.

The Rana piscatrix or frogge fish 59 is sometimes found in a very large magnitude & wee haue taken the [paynes crossed out] care [written above] to haue them clend & stuffed. wherein wee obserued all the appendices whereby the[y] cach fishes butt much larger then are discribed in the Icons of Johnstonus tab xi fig 8.

[Fol. 26] The sea [wollf crossed out] wolf or Lupus nostras of Schoneueldus remarkable for its spotted skinne & notable teeth incisors Dogteeth & grinders the dogteeth [in the crossed out] both in the jawes & palate scarce answerable by any fish of that bulk for [strength crossed out] the like disposure strength & soliditie.

Mustela marina 60 called by some a wesell ling wch salted & dryed becomes a good Lenten dish.

A Lump or Lumpus Anglorum so named by Aldrouandus by some esteemed a festiuall dish though it affordeth butt a glutinous jellie & the skinne is beset with stony knobs after no certaine order ours most answereth the first figure in the xiii table of Johnstonus butt seemes more round & arcuated then that figure makes it.

Before the herrings there com̄only cometh a fish about a foot long by the fish man called an horse 61 resembling in all poynts the Trachurus of Rondeletius of a mixed shape between a mackerell & an herring. obseruable from [an oblique bo crossed out] its greene eyes rarely skye colored back after it is kept a day & an oblique bony line running on ye outside from the gills vnto ye tayle. a drye & hard dish butt makes an handsome picture.

The Rubelliones or Rochets 62 butt thinly met with on this coast. the gornart cuculus or Lyræ species more often wch they seldome eat butt bending the back & sprdding the finnes into a liuely posture do hang them up in their howses.

[Fol. 27.] Beside the com̄on mullus 63 or mullet there is another not vnfrequent wch some call a cunny fish butt rather a red muellett of a flosculous redde & somewhat rough on the scales answering the discription of [Rond crossed out] Icon of Rondeletius vnder the name of mullus ruber asper [no crossed out] butt not the tast of the vsually knowne mullet as [being butt crossed out] affording butt a drye & leane bitt.

Seuerall sorts of fishes 64 there are wch [bear crossed out] do [written above] or may beare the names of seawoodcocks as the Acus maior scolopax & saurus. the saurus wee sometimes meet with yonge. Rondeletius confesseth it a very rare fish somewhat resembling the Acus or needlefish before & a makerell behind. wee have kept one dryed many yeares agoe.

The Acus maior calld by some a garfish & greenback answering ye figure of Rondeletius under the name of Acus prima species remarkable for its quadrangular figure and verdigreece green back bone.

A scolopax 65 or sea woodcock of Rondeletius was giuen mee by a seaman of these seas. about 3 inches long & seemes to bee one kind of Acus or needlefish answering the discription of Rondeletius.

The Acus of Aristotle [see Note 64] lesser thinner corticated & sexangular by diuers calld an addercock & somewhat resembling a snake ours more plainly finned then Rondeletius discribeth it.

A little corticated fish 66 about [4 inches crossed out] 3 or 4 inches long [several words smeared out] ours answering that wch is named piscis octangularis by wormius, cataphractus by Schoneueldeus. octagonius versus caput, versus caudam hexagonius.

[Fol. 28.] The faber marinus 67 sometimes found very large answering ye figure of Rondeletius. which though hee mentioneth as a rare fish & to be found in the Atlantick & Gaditane ocean yet wee often meet with it in these seas com̄only calld a peterfish hauing [a crossed out] one [written above] black spot on ether side the body conceued the perpetuall signature from the impression of St Peters fingers or to resemble the 2 peeces of money wch St Peter tooke out of this fish remarkable also from its disproportionable mouth & many hard prickles about other parts.

A kind of scorpius marinus 68 a rough prickly & monstrous headed fish 6 8 or 12 inches long answerable vnto the figure of Schoneueldeus.

A sting fish 69 wiuer or kind of ophidion or Araneus slender, narrowe headed about 4 inches long wth a sharpe small prickly finne along the back which often venemously pricketh the hands of fishermen.

Aphia cobites marina 70 or sea Loche.

Blennus a sea millars thumb.

Funduli marini sea gogions.

Alosæ or chads to bee met with about Lynne.

Spinachus or smelt 71 in greatest plentie about Lynne butt [com̄on on yarmouth coast crossed out] where they haue also a small fish calld a primme answering in [all crossed out] tast & shape a smelt & perhaps are butt the yonger sort thereof.

[Fol 29.] Aselli or cods of seuerall sorts. Asellus albus or whitings in great plentie. Asellus niger carbonarius or [col crossed out] coale fish. Asellus minor Schoneueldei callarias pliny or Haydocks with many more also a weed fish somewhat like an haydock butt larger & dryer meat. A Basse also much resembling a flatter kind of Cod.72

Scombri are makerells 73 in greate plentie a dish much desired butt if as Rondeletius affirmeth they feed upon sea starres & squalders (see Note 90) there may bee some doubt whether their flesh bee without some ill qualitie sometimes they are of a very large size & one was taken this yeare 1668 wch was by measure an ell long and of ye length of a good salmon, at Lestoffe.

Herrings departed sprats or sardæ not long after succeed in great plentie wch are taken with smaller nets [& dryed crossed out] & smoakd & dryed like herrings become a [daint crossed out] sapid bitt & vendible abroad.

Among these are found Bleakes or bliccæ 74 a thinne herring like fishe wch some will also think to bee young herrings. And though the sea aboundeth not with pilchards, yet they are com̄only taken among herrings. butt few esteeme thereof or eat them.

Congers are not so com̄on on these coasts as on many seas about England, butt are often found upon the north coast of Norfolk, & in frostie wether left in pulks & plashes upon the ebbe of the sea.

[Fol. 30.] The sand eels Anglorum of Aldrouandus, or Tobianus of Schoneueldeus com̄only called smoulds taken out of the sea sands with forks & rakes about Blakeney and Burnham a small round slender fish about 3 or 4 inches long as bigge as a small Tobacco pipe a very dayntie dish.

Pungitius marinus 75 or sea bansticle hauing a prickle one each side the smallest fish of the sea about an inch long sometimes drawne ashoare with netts together with weeds & pargaments M of the sea.

Many sorts of flat fishes 76 The pastinaca oxyrinchus with a long & strong aculeus in the tayle conceuud of speciall venome & virtues.

Severall sorts of Raia’s skates & Thornebacks the Raia clauata oxyrinchus, raia oculata, aspera, spinosa fullonica.

The great Rhombus or Turbot aculeatus & leuis.

The passer or place.

Butts of various kinds.

The passer squamosus Bret Bretcock 77 & skulls comparable in taste and delicacy vnto the soale.

The Buglossus solea or soale 78 plana & oculata as also the Lingula or small soale all in very great plentie.

Sometimes a fish aboue half a yard long like a butt 79 or soale called asprage wch I haue known taken about Cromer.

[Fol. 31.] [See Roller ante p. 30.]

[Fol. 32.] Sepia or cuttle fish 80 [smear] & great plentie of the bone or shellie substance which sustaineth the whole bulk of that soft fishe found com̄only on the shoare.

The Loligo sleue or calamar found often upon the shoare from head to tayle [such crossed out] sometimes aboue an ell long, remarkable for its parretlike bill, the gladiolus or calamus along the back & the notable crystallyne of the eye wch equalleth if not exceedeth the lustre of orientall pearle.

A polypus another kind of the mollia N sometimes wee haue met with.

Lobsters in great number about sheringham and cromer from whence all the country is supplyed.

Astacus marinus pediculi [marini written above] facie 81 found also in that place. with the aduantage of ye long foreclawes about 4 inches long.

Crabs large & well tasted found also in the same coast.

Another kind of crab 82 taken for cancer fluuiatilis litle slender & of a very quick motion found in the Riuer running through yarmouth. [added subsequently] & in bliburgh riuer.

[Fol. 33.] Oysters exceeding large about Burnham and [Huns crossed out] Hunstanton like those of poole St Mallowes or ciuita [vech crossed out] vechia whereof [some crossed out] many are eaten rawe the shells being broakin with [cle crossed out] cleuers the greater part pickled & sent weekly to London & other parts.

Mituli or muscles in great quantitie as also chams or cochles about stiskay [sic] & ye northwest coast.

Pectines pectunculi varij or scallops of the lesser sort.

Turbines or smaller wilks, leues, striati. as also Trochi, Trochili, or scaloppes finely variegated & pearly. [as also crossed out.] Lewise [sic] purpuræ minores, nerites, cochleæ, Tellinæ.

Lepades, patellæ Limpets, of an vniualue shell wherein an animal like a snayle cleauing fast unto the rocks.

Solenes cappe lunge venetorum com̄only a razor fish the shell thereof dentalia

[The MS. breaks off here, and the next paragraph appears to be an interpolation.]

Dentalia by some called pinpaches because pinmeat thereof is taken out with a pinne or needle.83

Cancellus Turbinum et neritis 84 Barnard the Hermite of Rondeletius a kind of crab or astacus liuing in a forsaken wilk or nerites.

echinus echinometrites 85 sea hedghogge whose neat shells are com̄on on the shoare the fish aliue often taken [with crossed out] by the dragges among the oysters.

[This and the next paragraph on fol. 33 verso.]

Balani 86 a smaller sort of vniualue growing com̄only in clusters. the smaller kinds thereof to bee found oftimes upon oysters wilks & lobsters.

Concha anatifera or Ansifera or Barnicleshell whereof about 4 yeares past were found upon the shoare no small number by yarmouth hanging by slender strings of a kind of Alga vnto seuerall splinters or [clefts crossed out] cleauings of firre boards vnto wch they were seuerally fastned & hanged like ropes of onyons: their shell flat & of a peculiar forme differing from other shelles, this being of four diuisions. containing a small imperfect animal at the lower part diuided into many shootes or streames wch prepossed [imag crossed out] spectators fancy to bee the rudiment of the tayle of some goose or duck to bee [expute crossed out] produced from it. some whereof in ye shell & some taken out & spred upon paper wee shall [still?] keepe by us.

[Fol. 34.] Stellæ marinæ 87 or sea starres in great plentie especially about yarmouth. whether they bee bred out of the [vrticas crossed out] vrticæ squalders or sea gellies as many report wee cannot confirme butt the squalderes in the middle seeme to haue some lines or first draughts not unlike. our starres exceed not 5 poynts though I haue heard that some with more haue been found about Hunstanton and Burnham. where are also found stellæ marinæ testacæ or handsome crusted & brittle sea [stars crossed out] starres much lesse.

The pediculus 88 and culex marin us the sea lowse & flie are [are crossed out] also no strangeres.

Physsalus Rondeletij 89 or eruca marina physsaloides according to the icon of Rondeletius of very orient green & purple bristles.

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.

[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

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 com̄on 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.

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.

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 com̄only 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.

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.

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.

[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 com̄on 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.

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.

The Gryllotalpa or fencricket com̄on 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.

Notes

50 This estimate of the number of species of birds and fishes existing is amusing in the light of the present knowledge of the subject. Of course any such estimate can only be approximate, and open to constant emendation; but according to a statement in the “Zoological Record” of 1896, it was believed that there were something like 386,000 described species: 2,500 of which are mammals, 12,500 birds, 4,400 reptilia and batrachia, 12,000 fishes, 50,000 mollusca, 20,000 crustacea, and 250,000 insecta; the smaller divisions I have omitted. And whereas only about 10,000 species of plants were known to Linnæus, Professor Vines in his address to the Botanical section at the Bradford meeting of the British Association, 1900, states that the approximate number of recognised plants at present existing is 175,596; but this is far short of the total of existing species. Professor Saccardo states that there are 250,000 fungi alone, and that the number of existing species in other groups would bring the total up to over 400,000.

51 In the muniment room at Hunstanton Hall there exists a book of MSS. notes relating to their estates, kept by Sir Hamon and Sir Nicholas le Strange, between the years 1612 and 1723. From this book Mr. Hamon le Strange has been good enough to send me an extract containing the full particulars of the stranding and disposal of a Sperm Whale 57 feet long, which came ashore on their Manor of Holme, on the 6th December, 1626, the skull of which is still in the courtyard at Hunstanton Hall.
Browne had not come to reside in Norwich at that time, and the chapter on the Spermaceti Whale in his Pseudodoxia Epidemica, was inspired by a subsequent occurrence of the same kind, for, as appears from the above note, a larger individual, 62 feet long, came ashore at Wells 20 years later, which he says led him to further inquiry. This would indicate about the year 1646 as the date of the latter occurrence, whereas in his third letter to Merrett, written in 1668, he states that it happened “about 12 years ago,” or in 1656. There is probably an error in one of these dates.
Another example seems to have been found at Yarmouth about the year 1652, for we find Browne writing in that year for particulars of its “cutting up.” (See Appendix E.)
In the postscript to a letter also in the muniment room at Hunstanton, dated June 11th, 1653, written to Sir Hamon le Strange, who had been consulting him professionally, Browne says: “I pray you at your leisure doe mee the honor to informe mee how long agoe the Spermaceti Whale was cast upon your shoare & whether you had any spermm with in any other part butt the head.” It will be noticed that in both the letters referred to he is anxious to ascertain in what part of the body the “sperm” was situated, doubtless for the purpose of confuting the “vulgar conceit” as to the origin of the “sperm” referred to in the second paragraph of his treatise in the Pseudodoxia. His investigations also probably first led to a certain knowledge as to the nature of the food of this animal.
These, however, although the first to be recorded in this county, were not the first or only occurrences of the kind, for there is in the parish church of Great Yarmouth the base of the skull of a Sperm Whale, used as a chair, for the painting of which a charge of five shillings appears in the churchwardens’ accounts for the year 1606; many such events in European waters are to be found recorded.
But the most interesting circumstance with regard to these whales is the statement that “two had yong ones after they were forsaken by the water.” This event renders it highly improbable that they were Sperm Whales, for the stragglers of that species which have been met with in our waters, and indeed in the northern seas generally, have been almost invariably solitary males, or, in one or two instances “schools” of young males. In the only instance in which both sexes were found, the school was composed I believe of immature individuals. (Vide J. Anderson, “Nachrichten von Island, Grönland, und der Strasse Davis,” Frantfurt (1747), p. 248.) Moreover, this view is confirmed by a letter which will be found in Appendix B., where the following passage occurs:—“And not only whales, but grampusses have been taken in this Estuarie … and about twenty years ago four were run ashore near Hunstanton, and two had young ones after they had come to land.” A so-called Grampus which came ashore on the 21st July, 1700, was from a description and drawing in the le Strange MS. above quoted, a male Hyperoodon rostratus, apparently nearly adult.
The Grampus (Orca gladiator) (mentioned in the next paragraph) is frequently met with in the British seas, and has repeatedly occurred on the Norfolk coast. Some early occurrences are on record, for instance in Mackerell’s “History of Lynn,” twelve are said to have come ashore near that town in 1636, and another in 1680. Two very juvenile examples were taken off Yarmouth in November 1894.

52 There can be no doubt that the Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is here referred to, and indeed this species might reasonably be expected to be met with on our coast, as its range extends at least as far to the north as the Scandinavian waters, but so far as the writer is aware Browne’s is the only record of its having been met with in Norfolk. The White-beaked Dolphin (D. albirostris) is not unfrequent, but it is clear that Browne does not refer to that species.
In the “Vulgar Errors,” Browne devotes a whole chapter (chapter ii. of the fifth book) to a learned treatise on the “Picture of Dolphins,” and in one of the letters to his son Edward (Sloane MSS., 1847), dated June 14th [1676?], he writes feelingly as an anatomist, evidently fearing that a specimen then available might be wasted, instead of being reserved for scientific purposes; for, says he, “if the dolphin were to be showed for money in Norwich, little would bee got; if they showed it in London they are like to take out the viscera, and salt the fish, and then the dissection will be unconsiderable.” He then refers to the dolphin “opened when the King was here,” and describes its anatomical peculiarities, adding that Dame Browne cooked the flesh “so as to make an excellent savory dish of it,” and that “collars” thereof (steaks cut transversely) being sent to the King, who was then at Newmarket, for his table, they “were well liked of.” It is evident therefore that he was present at the dissection of two of these animals.

53 There is in the present day a considerable number of Common Seals inhabiting the sand-banks of the Wash between the Norfolk and Lincolnshire coasts, and they are frequently captured by the fishermen; nor has the habit of straying into fresh-water deserted them, for in recent years they have been taken in the River Ouse at Bluntisham, forty miles from the sea. Three other species of Seal have been taken on the Norfolk coast, viz., Phoca hispida, P. barbata, and Halichœrus gryphus.

54 A Scolopendra, ten feet long, is at first rather startling, but on referring to Rondeletius’s Libri de piscibus Marinis (lib. xvi. p. 488), I find that under the name “Scolopendra” he includes at least three distinct forms—i., S. terrestris, a centipede; ii., S. marina, certain species of Nereidiform polychaet worms; iii., Scolopendra cetacea, regarded as a Cetacean and figured with a Cetacean blow-hole. With regard to this remarkable figure my friend, Dr. S. F. Harmer, has favoured me with the following note:—“In the account given Rondeletius is evidently writing from report; the figure is also no doubt borrowed, and may have been ’improved’ when redrawn; it seems to me that it is based upon some kind of Tunny, although he figures a Tunny earlier in the book (lib. viii. p. 249). The idea of the lateral appendages might have been derived from the dorsal and ventral finlets of a Tunny; but the first four finlets on each side are imaginary structures, and in a wrong position. I can offer no opinion with regard to the nasal appendages.” Jonston (De piscibus, p. 156, Tab. xliv.) also gives a similar figure of Scolopendra Cetacea, which appears to be a further modification of Rondeletius’s figure; here it has teeth, shown like those of the Sperm Whale, and an extra dorsal-fin is added; the number of lateral appendages is the same, and a column of water proceeding from the blow-hole is falling gracefully forward. It is worthy of notice that Rondeletius also figures the Saw-fish [Pristis] with a blow-hole.

55 In the “Transactions of the Linnean Society,” ii., p. 273, is an essay by Latham “On the various species of Sawfish,” but he does not mention any British locality. So far as I am aware Browne’s is the only record of the occurrence of this southern species in British waters, with the exception of a note in Fleming’s “British Animals,” p. 164, where it is stated on the authority of the late Dr. Walker’s MS. “Adversaria” for 1769, that Pristis antiquorum is “found sometimes in Loch Long,” but Fleming adds that he has met with no other proof of its ever having visited the British shores. Browne mentions in his eighth letter to Merrett that he sends him a “figure in little” of a Pristis which he received of a Yarmouth seaman, and is so precise in his statement that his fish was Pristis serra (the Pristis antiquorum of Cuvier), that his record cannot be disregarded. He specially guards against its being mistaken for the Sword-fish (Xiphias gladius), which has been taken on several occasions in our waters, and of which he gives some interesting particulars.

56 Various species of Dog-fish are frequent off the Norfolk coast as elsewhere. The name “Sweet William” is applied to the larger fish of this kind, especially to the Tope; this appears also to have been the case in Pennant’s time, for alluding to this vernacular name he supposes it was applied in ironical allusion to the offensive smell of their flesh and skin. They are objects of great aversion among the fishermen, owing to the disturbance they create among the shoals of fish, and the damage they do to both nets and the enclosed fish. Scarcely a season passes but one or more specimens of Browne’s Canis carcharias, or, as modern Ichthyologists call it, Lamna cornubica, the Porbeagle, being entangled in the drift nets and landed with the herrings. One lies on the fish-wharf at Lowestoft as I write this note on the 19th of October, 1900, measuring 7 feet 10 inches in length. Jonston’s figure referred to by Browne is evidently intended for this species, but he makes a slight error in the reference to the Historia Naturalis (De Piscibus et Cetis); it occurs in book v., and the figure is fig. 6 on Tab. vi., and it is marked Canis carcharias alius (not alter).

57 So great is the variation in the snout of the Sturgeon, that Dr. Parnell in his excellent essay on “The Fishes of the District of the Forth,” describes the Sharp-nosed Sturgeon as a distinct species under the name of Acipenser sturio, and the broad-nosed form he calls A. latirostris. His views, however, have not been generally accepted, and only one British species is recognised. The Sharp-nosed variety has been taken here, but the normal form is much more frequent.

58 This fish (Orthagoriscus mola), which we know as the Sun-fish, has been repeatedly taken here. For an account of its parasites see Cobbold on the “Sun-fish as a host,” “Intellectual Observer,” ii., p. 82; also Day, “Brit. Fishes,” ii., p. 275. According to Dr. Spencer Cobbold the Sun-fish is infested by nine species of Helminths, three of which are mostly found attached to the gills, while a fourth adheres to the surface of the body.

59 Both this species and the Wolf-fish are well known upon our coast.

60 Some member of the family Gadidæ is here referred to, probably the five-bearded Rockling, Motella mustela, or Brown Whistle-fish of Pennant, which is occasionally taken by our fishermen, but is by no means common.

61 This is the Horse Mackerel, or Scad, Caranx trachurus; a handsome fish and common enough, especially off Sheringham, but not much esteemed for the table.

62 Fish of the Gurnard kind are here referred to. The Rochet of Pennant is the Red Gurnard, Trigla cuculus; he calls T. lyra the Piper. Large numbers of various species of Gurnard are brought in by our trawlers and sell readily, especially the Sapphirine Gurnard, or Tub-fish (T. hirundo), which is known as the “Lachet” on our coast; it reaches a large size, and seems to be much in demand for the table. In spring the colours are very brilliant, and they are frequently seen on the fish stalls with their pectoral fins extended as Browne describes.

63 The Common Mullet I take to be the Grey Mullet (Mugil capito), which is at times plentiful on our coast, coming into Breydon and the mouths of the rivers, but the Red Mullet (Mullus barbatus) is far less frequently met with. In his third letter to Merrett, Browne says, “There is of them maior and minor,” the latter probably being the variety known as the Surmullet, by far the most frequently met with here.

64 The Saurus of Rondeletius appears to be the Skipper or Saury-pike (Scombresox saurus) of modern authors. Acus major is the Gar-fish or Greenback (Belone vulgaris); this is the Acus primus of Rondeletius, Dr. Harmer has been good enough to send me the following note on Rondeletius’s figures:—“De Acus secunda specie” (lib. viii. p. 229). “Two species are figured; the upper figure appears to represent Siphonostoma typhle, and the lower one S. acus. Günther (‘Brit. Mus. Cat.,’ viii. p. 157) gives a reference to Rondeletius in his synonyms of S. acer without indicating that the latter figures two species. Under S. typhle (p. 154) he gives the synonym Syngnathus rondeletii, De la Roche. A reference to Delaroche (‘Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat., Paris,’ xiii, 1809 p. 324, Pl. xxi. fig. 5) shows that S. rondeletii is identified with the first figure on p. 229 of Rondeletius; and it may thus be concluded that Günther agrees with this conclusion. It seems therefore probable that Browne’s Acus of Aristotle refers to S. typhle.”

L A lesser sort of Acus [wee crossed out] maior or primæ specæei wee meet with [answering the saurus of Rondeletius crossed out] much shorter then the com̄on garfish & in taking out the spine wee found it not green as in the greater & much answering the saurus of Rondeletius.

L This and the next paragraph on the back of Fol. 26 are in different ink and smaller writing though in the same hand, and appear to have been added subsequently. The first paragraph is omitted by Wilkin.

65 The Scolopax, or Sea Woodcock, is clearly Centriscus scolopax, a very rare fish in the British seas, and it would have been well had Browne given a more precise account of the origin of his specimen.

66 Doubtless the Armed Bull-head, or Pogge, Agonus cataphractus. A MS. note in Berkenhout says it was called at Lowestoft a Beetle-head (1769).

67 Zeus faber, the Dory. Many, usually small ones, are brought in by our fishermen.

68 Cottus scorpius, Father Lasher, commonly taken by the shrimpers.

69 Probably from its size the Lesser Weever, Trachinus vipera, as also the Draco minor of Jonstoni. A common fish in our waters. Large numbers of the Greater Weever, T. draco, are brought in by the trawlers.

70 One of the Gobies. Day, “Brit. Fishes,” i., p. 169, supposes the Aphya cobites of Rondeletius (p. 20) to be the White Goby, A. pellucida; Pennant has A. cobites as a synonym for the Spotted Goby (G. minutus) and the Sea Gudgeons, Black Gobies (G. niger), but at that time there was no very nice distinction of the members of this genus. The Sea Miller’s Thumb is probably the Shanny (Blennius pholis). Alosa, is the Allis Shad (Culpea alosa, L.), not uncommon (see Note 74).

71 The Smelt, Osmerus eperlanus, is abundant in the shallow waters and estuaries on the Norfolk coast in spring, ascending the fresh-water rivers to spawn. The small fish called a Primme by Browne, may be the Atherine (Atherina presbyter), which is also found in our waters, where it is often mistaken for the Smelt, but I have not heard it called by the former name.

72 The first three fishes named in this paragraph need no comment; the Weed-fish is doubtless a local name, but for what species I cannot discover. The Bass, Labrax lupus (Cuv.), is, as might be expected from the nature of our coast, by no means common here.

73 The latter part of this paragraph, beginning, “Sometimes they are of a very large size,” is written on the left-hand side of the opening, and is evidently a subsequent addition. One would be inclined to think from the great size of the fish here recorded (3 ft. 9 in.), that it may have been a species of Tunny, or even a Bonito, both of which have been taken on the Norfolk coast. Seventeen inches is a large mackerel.

74 It is quite evident that the fish referred to here, and again in the sixth letter to Merrett, is not the true Bleak (Alburnus lucideus) of our freshwaters. It seems that the young of some species of Clupeoid was thus known, for I find it stated in a MS. note in a copy of Berkenhout’s “Outlines of the Natural History of Great Britain,” (1769), in the possession of Mr. T. E. Gunn, that the Bleak and the Sprat are often caught together in the sea at Aldeburgh (Suffolk) in November, and the writer of the note adds, “the Bleak is larger than the Sprat, its eyes are larger, and the upper part of its belly serrated.” I think from this description and from Browne’s remarks, that the young of a species of Shad must have been mistaken for the Bleak, which although found low down in our rivers almost to where the salt tide mingles with the fresh, does not I believe enter the salt water.

75 The smallest of the genus Gasterosteus, or Stanstickles, is G. pungitius, the ten-spined Stickleback, but this fish is two inches long when full grown. All the species seem to be more or less indifferent to the salinity of the water. The fifteen-spined Stickleback, G. spinachia, is also sometimes taken by the shrimpers, and is the most truly marine species, but is by no means “the smallest fish of the sea.”

M This word which Wilkin renders “fragments,” is doubtless from the Latin pergamentum, and it seems likely that Browne had in view certain sea-weeds, possibly Laminaria or Ulva which, especially when dry, present somewhat the appearance and texture of parchment.

76 Pastinaca oxyrinchus appears to be the Sting Ray (Trygon pastinaca); Raia clavata, the Thornback; R. oculata, the Spotted Ray (R. maculata); R. aspera; the Shagreen Ray? (R. fullonica).

77 The Brill, Rhombus lævis (Lin.), Passer asper squamosus, Rondl., formerly known as the Brett, Bretcock, Skull, or Pearl.

78 Solea vulgaris, the Common Sole. The “Lingula, or small Sole,” is probably the Solea variegata, Flem., the S. parva sive Lingula of Rond. Jonston figures “Solea lingulata,” Tab. xx., fig. 12, but I am uncertain what species is intended. It is possible that Browne may have Latinised the trade name by which small Soles are known in the market as “slips” and “tongues.” What other species he may have wished to indicate as “plana” and “oculata” it is difficult to determine.

79 The “asprage” (or it may be “a sprage”) may possibly be the Dab, Pleuranectes limanda, which Rondeletius calls Passer asper. I do not find that species mentioned otherwise, and a great many are taken by the Cromer and Sheringham fishermen.

80 Of the various species of the Cephalopoda, Sepia officinalis, is more often represented by its calcareous dorsal plate than by the entire animal, for large numbers of these “cuttle-bones” are sometimes strewed along the shore for miles. The Squid, Loligo vulgaris, is often met with, sometimes of considerable size. The horny “pen” resembles a short leaf-shaped Roman sword, and Browne’s term, “Gladiolus,” is quite as appropriate as that of “Calamus.” His Polypus is probably Octopus vulgaris, but it is rarely met with on the Norfolk coast.

N By mollia is meant all soft-bodied shell-less animals.

81 Probably Nephrops norvegicus, the Norway Lobster, called at Lowestoft a Crayfish or Prawn. They are sometimes brought in in large numbers by the steam trawlers, but the precise locality in which they are captured I am unable to say; the fishermen say the “North Sea,” which is rather a vague address, but others say between the Texel and Heligoland.

82 Carsinus mænas, the Shore-crab, a very common species on the Norfolk coast is here intended.

83 Mussels and Cockles are very abundant all along the shallow shores of North-west Norfolk, as well as Clams, Mya arenaria. “Scallops of the lesser sort” are probably Pecten opercularius and P. varius. The Whelk, Buccinum undatum, is also very numerous, and forms the staple of a considerable industry at Sheringham; the lesser, or Dog-Whelk, Nassa reticulata, as well as Purpura lapillus and several sorts of Trochus, are commonly met with. The genus Nerita was a very comprehensive one in Browne’s time, and included many species of Littorina, of which the well-known Periwinkle, L. littorea, is the most numerous here. No true Nerita is now recognised as British, although in the warmer seas the genus is a very numerous one. The most common Tellina here is T. tenuis, Lepades patellæ are of course the common Limpet (Patella vulgata), and of the Solen, or Razor Shell, which Gwyn Jeffreys says in the time of Aldrovandus was called by the Venetians “cappa longa,” we have two species found on the sandy portions of the coast. Here some confusion exists in the MS., after the words, “the shell thereof dentalia,” the note ends abruptly, and is followed by an interpolation which seems quite irrelevant, as Dentalia have surely never been called “Pin-patches” (the vernacular name for Littorina littorea), nor is it probable that, like that common univalve, they were ever taken out of their shells with a pin or needle. Dentalia are mentioned on two other occasions as of doubtful occurrence and Dentalium entalis has slight claim to be a native of Norfolk; the only recorded specimen I know of was picked up in 1890 by Mr. Mayfield, from the drift on the beach between Wells and Holkham.

84 Hermit Crabs are here referred to, the larger, Pagurus bernhardus, found very frequently inhabiting the shells of the Whelk, and a smaller species which takes up its abode in those of a Trochus.

85 Dead Echini are very common on the sea-shore, and many living ones are dredged by the shrimpers. Echinus sphæra is the most common on the Norfolk coast; E. miliaris, a small species, is also very abundant about Cromer.

86 The species of Cirripeds referred to are probably the common Acorn Barnacle (Balanus porcatus) and the Goose Barnacle (Lepas anatifera), the latter occasionally found on ships’ bottoms and drift-wood, probably carried by favourable currents from warmer seas than our own.

87 The Five-finger (Asterias rubens, L.) is a very numerous species on our coast and very destructive. Brittle Stars (Ophiocoma sp?) are as Browne states most frequent about Hunstanton, Burnham, and Cromer. Solaster papposa is also found in the same localities.

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.

89 The Sea Mouse, Aphrodite aculeata. This is referred to again in the Letters to Merrett.

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.

91 It is difficult to determine the species of marine Annelids referred to by Browne; the Sea Leech is probably Pontobdella lævis. 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.

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 Lernæa 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. Bécard Gallorum (not Beccard gallorus), i.e., the fish called “Bécard” 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. Günther tells me that Artedi, “Ichthyologia,” Pt. v., p. 23, quotes this name as a synonym of the Salmon.

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.

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.”

95 Both the Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and the Lampern (P. fluviatilis) are found in the Norfolk rivers.

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.”

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.

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 Limnæa. 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 (Historiæ Naturalis de Insectis Lib. iv., “De Insectis aquaticis” i., p. 189, Tab. xxvii.), I find that under the name of “Forficulæ aquat[icæ]. 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.

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