Notes and Letters on the Natural History of Norfolk Part 8

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-sh.o.a.re, 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-sh.o.a.re 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 fis.h.i.+ng at yarmouth one was taken upon the sh.o.a.re 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 & h.e.l.lsden 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 a.s.sistance, 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 pa.s.sing of the Munic.i.p.al 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 a.s.sistance he received from Mr. John Goodyer, of Maple-Durham, in Hamps.h.i.+re. 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 Salamantic.u.m Magnum.[104] Why you omit Sesamoides Salamantic.u.m 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 b.u.t.ton seede bags is not in yr.

catalogue I have founde it to grow wild at [Golston _crossed out_]

Golston by Yarmouth, & transplanted it to other places.[P]

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

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

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

No. II.

_Fol. 39._]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scyllarus or cancellus in turbine tis probable you have [_see Note 84_].

haue you cancellus in nerite a small testaceous found upon this coast.

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

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

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

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

Haue you that handsome colourd [bird _crossed out_] jay [_see Note 49_]

answering the description of Garrulus Argentoratensis & may be called the parret jay I haue one that was killed upon a tree about 5 yeares ago.

Haue you a may chitt a small dark gray bird [_see Note 29_] about the bignesse of a stint wch cometh about may & stayeth b.u.t.t a moneth. a bird of exceeding fattnesse and accounted a daintie dish. they are plentifully taken in marshland and about wisb.i.+.c.h.

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

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

[107] Amber, writes Mr. Clement Reid, in a paper contributed by him to the "Trans. Norf. and Nor. Nat. Soc." (iii., p. 601), "is found on the Norfolk coast, usually mixed with the seaweed thrown up by the Spring gales," but is very rarely found in place; as much as three or four pounds are annually gathered near Cromer. The quality, Mr. Rein says, is very good, but the dark transparent lumps are most generally found. In a subsequent paper (_op. cit._, iv., p. 248) he enumerates seven species of insects which have been found enclosed, and in a third communication mentions an eighth.

Mr. A. S. Ford, as the result of an examination of a collection of East-coast Amber made at Yarmouth (_op. cit._, v., p. 92), adds one species of Hymenoptera, three of Coleoptera, two of Orthoptera, with some Araneida, and remains of vegetable substances which had not been identified.

The Jet found on the Norfolk coast differs considerably from the Whitby Jet, and Mr. Reid, "Geology of the Country Round Cromer" (p.

133), believes that in all probability it was originally derived from Lower Tertiary beds under the North Sea, a few miles from the present coast. Mr. Savin estimates the average annual find of Jet near Cromer at from ten to twenty pounds.

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

No. III.

[FOL. 40 _verso_.]