Sir Thomas Browne

“ On another occasion Merrett thus expresses his approval of Browne's efforts in this direction: "You have very well named the rutilus and expressed fully the cours to bee taken in the imposition of names, viz: the most obvious and most peculiar difference to the ey or any other sens." We can hardly conceive the difficulties these pioneers of Natural Science had to contend with; the works of their predecessors were so indefinite as to be of little value in determining species; they had to depend upon the vague descriptions of fowlers and others ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Browne seems to have had on the whole a fairly correct idea with regard to the migratory movements of the birds on the Norfolk coast where peculiar facilities exist for such observations, but of course he could have formed no notion of the extent to which they prevail, perhaps no species being altogether sedentary. The general line of the autumn migration for those which spend their summer in Northern Europe is south or south-west, returning in the spring by the reverse route ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Cormorant continued to nest in the trees on the shore of Fritton Lake for many years after Sir T. Browne's time. A manuscript note in a copy of Berkenhout's "Natural History of Great Britain and Ireland," published in 1769, is descriptive of a Cormorant killed at Belton Decoy (near the same lake) on the 11th September, 1775, and also states that "a vast number of these birds, even to some thousands, roost every night upon the trees," being in the neighbourhood of the decoy they are never shot, and "build their nests upon the top of these trees." ”

“ By Larus major he would probably mean the Black-backed and Herring Gulls which are found on the shore all the year round, most frequently in the immature plumage, but they most abound "in herring time." By far the commonest species at all times is Browne's Larus alba or Puet, the Black-headed Gull. Large flocks of this species and L. canus frequent Breydon and the tidal shores, especially the young birds of the year. There are now two large breeding-places of the Black-headed Gull in Norfolk, a very old-established one at Scoulton Mere, and a more recent colony at Hoveton Broad. ”

“ There is much that is interesting bearing upon Natural Science scattered throughout Browne's writings, especially in his Pseudodoxia Epidemica, or inquiries into Vulgar and Common Errors, first published in 1646, and the reader cannot fail to be impressed not only with the extent of his classical knowledge but also with the shrewdness with which he pursued his original investigations ”

“ 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. ”

“ He was one of the founders and the first librarian of the Norfolk and Norwich Literary Institution in 1822, also of the Norfolk and Norwich Museum in 1825, both of which institutions (the former reunited to its parent Library, founded in 1784) are still flourishing. Wilkin was a Fellow of the Linnean Society, also a Member of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh. In later years the loss of the bulk of his property by a commercial failure necessitated his turning his attention to some means of earning a livelihood, and he established himself in Norwich as a printer and publisher ”

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

“ For (as every capacity may observe) most men of ages present, so supersticiously do look upon ages past, that the authorities of one exceed the reason of the other." In another place he argues that the present should be the age of authority, seeing that we possess all the wisdom of the ancients which has come down to us, with that of our own times added. In fact, Browne's motto appears to have been "prove [Pg xii] all things and hold fast only to that which is good." ”

“ Browne in early life travelled much and was a voluminous writer; he made many friendships with men celebrated in his day, and his advice and assistance were sought and gratefully acknowledged by Dugdale, Evelyn, Ray and Willughby, Merrett, Sir Robert Paston (afterwards Earl of Yarmouth) , Ashmole, Aubrey, and others; but his general correspondence does not now concern us, my object being to supply in a convenient form what I believe will be acceptable to modern naturalists, namely, an accurate transcript of his notes and letters on the "Natural History of the County of Norfolk." ”

“ Mr. Stevenson, "Birds of Norfolk," ii., p. 233, gives his reasons for coming to the conclusion that the Sanderling (Calidris arenaria) is here referred to, which the absence of a hind toe (see third letter to Merrett) tends to confirm. The "Churre" is only a variant of the name "Purre," by which the next species, the Stint, is commonly known, and the Green Plover, now applied to the Lapwing, is an old name for the Golden Plover, which he rightly says [p. 20] does not breed in Norfolk. ”

“ 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 identity 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ The heading adopted by Wilkin, for which I cannot find that he had any authority, is certainly misleading, for the brief and fragmentary notes which follow, although of great interest, can hardly be called "An Account of the Birds (or Fishes) found in Norfolk," as there are many species of each inhabiting or visiting the county which must have been well-known to Browne, but of which we find no mention. ”

“ In northern nations where men live in houses of fishbones and in the land of the Icthiophagi near the Red sea where mortars were made of the backbones of whales, doors of their jaws, and arches of their ribs, when time hath covered them they might confound after discoverers.... ”

“ Willughby's first acquaintance with the adult Manx Shearwater ("Ornithology," p. 334) was from a drawing sent him by Sir T. Browne, who describes the bird, as above, under the accepted name of Shearwater, and Willughby's excellent figure on plate lxvii. (which plate I believe is not to be found in some copies of the "Ornithology," and to which there is no reference in the text) has all the appearance of having been drawn from life. ”

“ The bird here mentioned is doubtless the Great Northern Diver, Colymbus glacialis. In another place Browne again refers to it as Mergus maximus Farrensis, which Clusius ("Exotic.," p. 102) calls Mergus maximus Farrensis, a name used by Willughby as a synonym for his "Greatest Speckled Diver or Loon" (p. 341) . This bird is known to our fishermen as the Herring Loon, the Red-throated and perhaps also the Black-throated Divers being called Sprat Loons. It is a pity Browne's "draught" is not forthcoming. ”

“ The Crow (Corvus corone) is much less common in Norfolk than formerly, but it still nests here in a few scattered localities. C. cornix, the Hooded, Norway, Danish, or "Royston" Crow, is an autumn immigrant as of yore, but not especially from the Faröe Islands; both species (or forms as by some regarded) are immigrants from the east, but the latter, as a rule, occupies a more northern range than the former. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If inextricable confusion arose with regard to such a bird as the Osprey, well might Browne write with regard to those less readily characterized, "I confess for such little birds I am much unsatisfied on the names given to many by countrymen, and uncertaine what to give them myself, or to what [Pg xvi] classis of authors cleerly to reduce them. Surely there are many found among us which are not described ”

“ In Sir Thomas Browne's time the Hydrozoa were not distinguished from the Corallines, and both were regarded as vegetable growths. It is almost impossible to determine from his vague descriptions even to which section those mentioned belong, but although our exposed coast-line is not favourable to such growths, there are a few common species of Hydroid Zoophytes which abound here, and to these, fortunately, Browne's specimens appear to belong. What he calls the "Sea-perriwig" is doubtless Sertularia operculata, Lin., sometimes known as "Sea-hair," a very common and widely dispersed species. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As a rule the Gannet does not approach the shore, except to breed, but follows the shoals of fish far out at sea. The circumstance mentioned by Browne is by no means singular, and several such instances of storm-driven Gannets being captured far inland are recorded. The "Scotch Goose, Anser scoticus," mentioned further on (p. 13 infra) , is also in all probability intended for the Gannet; it is the Anser Bassanus sive Scoticus of Jonston. ”

“ Browne evidently was not very familiar with the Stork, which is not surprising, seeing that it is a very rare bird in Britain; it may be that he had only seen the bird in its immature stage, for the "red-lead" hue of the legs is very characteristic of the adult bird. ”

“ The following extract from one of Browne's letters to his son Edward, dated April 30th, and written probably in 1681, shows that he was on the verge of discovering an anatomical peculiarity in this family of birds, which in after years gave rise to much controversy. He says, "yesterday I had a cock Bustard sent me from beyond Thetford. I never did see such a vast thick neck: the crop was pulled out, butt as [a] turkey hath an odde large substance without, so hath this within the inside of the skinne, and the strongest and largest neckbone of any bird in England. ”