[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:—

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.

[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.

[99] It is evident that Merrett was collecting a considerable amount of materials for an enlarged edition of his Pinax Rerum Naturalium Britannicarum, on behalf of which Browne seems, by this introductory letter, to have tendered his assistance, but the contemplated edition, probably for reasons which I have mentioned elsewhere, never appeared; happily, these rough drafts have been preserved, although it seems not unlikely that the letters themselves, should they ever be found, would differ from them in some respects.

[100] Scarabæus capricornus odoratus. The Musk Beetle, Aromia moschata, L.

[101] Acorus calamus, the Sweet Flag, is still found in plenty in various localities in the county, but it does not appear to develop its curious "julus" every year. It was very abundant at Heigham, a suburb of Norwich, on the site now occupied by the goods yard of the Midland and Great Northern Railway, and it was probably from this spot that the supply was obtained for the purpose of littering the floor of the old parish church. Mr. Vaux, in his "Church Folk-Lore," p. 264, says that up to the passing of the Municipal Reform Bill the Town Clerk of Norwich was accustomed to pay the sub-sacrist of the cathedral an amount of one guinea for strewing the floor with rushes on the Mayor's Day. The custom is said to have been adopted "as well for coolness as for pleasant smell." The pleasant cinnamon-like scent of the rush, on being trodden on, is said to have perfumed the whole building. The root was also used as a remedy in cases of ague, and formed the base of tooth and hair powders.

[102] Towards the end of the Introductory Letter to Johnson's (1636) Edition of Gerard's "Herball," he acknowledges the assistance he received from Mr. John Goodyer, of Maple-Durham, in Hampshire. Sir J. E. Smith ("Eng. Flora," iv., p. 34) speaks of him as "one of the most deserving of our early English Botanists." Robert Brown named a genus of plants (Goodyera) after Goodyer.

[103] William How, 1620-1656, was the author of "Phytologia Britannica," Lond., 1650, "the earliest work on botany restricted to the plants of this island" ("Dic. of Nat. Biog."). He practised medicine in London.

[104] Sesamoides is stated in Ree's Encyclopædia and in Eng. Fl. to be a synonym of Reseda, therefore Sesamoides magnum would appear to be R. luteola and S. parvum, R. lutea.

[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.

[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.