Notes and Letters on the Natural History of Norfolk Part 4

[The account of the Roller, which is written on smaller paper, will be found improperly inserted among the Fishes, between pp. 30 and 32 as follows:--]

[_Fol. 31._] On the xiiii of May 1664 a very rare bird was sent mee kild about crostwick wch seemed to bee some kind of Jay.[49] the bill was black strong and bigger then a Jayes somewhat yellowe clawes tippd black. 3 before and one clawe behind the whole bird not so bigge as a Jaye [the _crossed out_.]

[49] This note is interesting as the first record of the occurrence of the Roller in Britain, to which country it is a rare wanderer.

Although it had long been known on the Continent, its ident.i.ty seems to have puzzled Browne, and he imagines (as did others, both before and after him,) it to be some kind of Jay; later, in his second letter to Merrett (January, 1668), he says that it answers to the description of _Garrulus argentoratensis_ (the name given by Aldrovandus to whom it was known), and calls it "the Parrot-jay."

This is five years after the original note was made, and we find that the words _Garrulus argentoratensis_, written by the same hand but with a different pen and ink, have been added subsequently, doubtless as the result of further information. In another letter he mentions having sent the bird to Merrett, but adds, "If you have it before I should bee content to have it againe otherwise you may please keep it."

The head neck & throat of a violet colour the back upper parts of the wing of a russet yellowe the fore & part of the wing azure succeeded downward by a greenish blewe then on the flying feathers bright blewe the lower parts of the wing outwardly of a browne [the _crossed out_]

inwardly of a merry blewe the belly a light faynt blewe the back toward the tayle of a purple blewe the tayle eleuen fethers of a greenish coulour the extremities of the outward fethers thereof white wth an eye[K] of greene. Garrulus Argentoratensis [_the name added in a different ink and pen_].

[K] Tinge, shade, particularly a slight tint.--"Imp. Dict."

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 b.u.t.t 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 fis.h.i.+ng 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 b.u.t.t one hundred & seventie six species. b.u.t.t 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]

[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 Linnaeus, Professor Vines in his address to the Botanical section at the Bradford meeting of the British a.s.sociation, 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.

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

[_Fol. 23._] Of fishes sometimes the larger sort are taken or come ash.o.a.r. 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 ash.o.a.re & 2 had yong ones after they were forsaken by ye water.

[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 ash.o.r.e 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 ash.o.r.e 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 sh.o.a.re & whether you had any spermm with in any other part b.u.t.t 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 s.h.i.+llings appears in the churchwardens' accounts for the year 1606; many such events in European waters are to be found recorded.

But the most interesting circ.u.mstance 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 s.e.xes were found, the school was composed I believe of immature individuals. (_Vide_ J. Anderson, "Nachrichten von Island, Gronland, und der Stra.s.se Davis," Frantfurt (1747), p. 248.) Moreover, this view is confirmed by a letter which will be found in Appendix B., where the following pa.s.sage occurs:--"And not only whales, but gramp.u.s.s.es have been taken in this Estuarie ... and about twenty years ago four were run ash.o.r.e near Hunstanton, and two had young ones after they had come to land." A so-called Grampus which came ash.o.r.e 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 ash.o.r.e near that town in 1636, and another in 1680. Two very juvenile examples were taken off Yarmouth in November 1894.

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

The Tursio or porpose is co[=m]on the Dolphin[52] more rare though sometimes taken wch many confound with the porpose. b.u.t.t 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.

[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.

The vitulus marinus[53] seacalf or seale wch is often taken sleeping on the sh.o.a.re [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 cl.u.s.terd & 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.

[53] There is in the present day a considerable number of Common Seals inhabiting the sand-banks of the Wash between the Norfolk and Lincolns.h.i.+re 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 _Halich.o.e.rus gryphus_.

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.

[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.

A pristes or serra [_written above_] saw fish[55] taken about Lynne co[=m]only mistaken for a [sha _crossed out_] sword fish & answers the figure in Rondeletius.

[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 sh.o.r.es.

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.

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 b.u.t.t 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 sc.r.a.pe.

[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 pa.s.ses 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).

Sturio or Sturgeon[57] so co[=m]on 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 b.u.t.t their heads not so sharpe as represented in the Icons of Rondeletius & Johnstonus.

[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.

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 sh.o.a.re at yarmouth before breake of day seemed to s.h.i.+uer & grunt like an hogge as Authors deliuer of it the flesh being hard & neruous it is not like to afford a good dish b.u.t.t 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.

[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.

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 b.u.t.t much larger then are discribed in the Icons of Johnstonus tab xi fig 8.

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

[_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.