2 Perhaps it is the Gryllus campestris, or common black field cricket of Europe, of which Rocsel in his work on insects, vol. 2, Gryll. f. 13. has given a fine drawing. F. ↑
3 A still more infallible remedy, is to wash all the furniture, infected with that vermin, with a solution of arsenic. F. ↑
4 In Siberia, and in the province of Wiatka, in the government of Cazan, in Russia, the inhabitants make use of the knobs, which are pretty frequently found in birches, to make bowls and other domestic utensils thereof. They are turned, made pretty thin, and covered with a kind of varnish, which gives them a pretty appearance; for the utensil looks yellow, and is marbled quite in a picturesque manner, with brown veins. The best kind of these vessels are made so thin that they are semi-diaphanous, and when put into hot water they grow quite pliant, and may be formed by main force, quite flat, but when again left to themselves, and grown cold, they return to their original shape. This kind of wood is called, in Russia, Kap, and the vessels made of it, kappowie Tchashki, and are pretty high in price, when they are of the best kind, and well varnished. F. ↑
5 Though it is very desirable, that the members of the church of England may enjoy the same religious liberty in America as the rest of their fellow-subjects and have every part of their religious establishment among themselves, and that therefore bishops might be introduced in America, it is however to be feared this will prove one of the obstacles to the introducing of English bishops in that part of the world. ↑
7 This account sufficiently proves, that these hares are a species distinct from our European reddish grey kind, and also of that species or variety only, which in the northern parts of Europe and Asia is white in winter, with black tipped ears, and has a grey coat in summer. Upon a closer examination naturalists will perhaps find more characters to distinguish them more accurately. F. ↑
8 Desm signifies musk in the Swedish, and in some provincial dialects of the German language; consequently Désman rat is nothing but Musk-rat, and from hence Mr. de Buffon has formed his Desman or Russian Musk-rat. F. ↑
9 The Mink, or Minx, is a kind of small otter, which is called by Dr. Linnæus, Mustela lutreola, in his system. i. p. 66. F. ↑
14 See Catesby’s nat. hist. of Carolina, vol. i. tab. 12. The purple daw, and tab. 13. the red-winged starling: but as both these drawings are in a very expensive work, we have, from specimens lately brought over from America, made a new drawing, which represents them both, and it is engraved here, tab. I. F. ↑
16 Of this Pigeon of Passage we have given here a plate, tab. ii. taken from a parcel of birds, lately brought from America, of which we were favoured with a fine specimen. F. ↑
17 Of this bird we have given a figure in plate 3, where likewise the Mocking bird is represented; both drawn after specimens lately brought from America, and which we were favoured with. F. ↑
18 Professor Kalm wrote this, when the truly laudable method of treating the small-pox with a cold regimen, was not yet adopted; and he thought therefore, the way in which the Americans treated this disease, was the cause of its being so deleterious. But when the Khalmucks, in the Russian dominions, get the small-pox, it has been observed, that very few escape. Of this I believe no other reason can be alledged, than that the small-pox is always dangerous, either when the open pores of the human skin are too numerous, which is caused by opening them in a warm water bath; or when they are too much closed, which is the case with all the nations, that are dirty and greasy. All the American Indians rub their body with oils, the Khalmucks never wash themselves, and rub their bodies and their fur coats with grease; the Hottentots are I believe known to be patterns of filthiness, their bodies being richly anointed with their ornamental greasy sheep guts; this shuts up all the pores; hinders perspiration entirely, and makes the small-pox always lethal among these nations; to which we may yet add the too frequent use of spirituous inflammatory liquors, since their acquaintance with the Europeans. F. ↑
25 The beetle here described, seems to be the Scarabæus Carolinus, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 545, and of Drury Illustrations of Nat. Hist. tab. 35. f. 2. It is common in New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, Maryland, and Carolina. F. ↑
27 Allium arvense; odore gravi, capitulis bulbosis rubentibus. See Gronov. Flora Virginica, 37. This Leek seems to be Dr. Linnæus’s Allium Canadense, scapo nudo tereti, foliis linearibus, capitulo bulbifero. Spec. plant. I. p. 431. F. ↑
28 These three points are common to most insects, and ought therefore not to be made characteristics of any particular species. They are called Stemmata, and are a kind of eyes which serve the insects for looking at distant objects, as the compound eyes do for objects near at hand. F. ↑
29 It has been a subject of contest among naturalists, to determine the winter-retreat of Swallows. Some think, [141]they go to warmer climates when they disappear in the Northern countries: others say, they creep into hollow trees, and holes in clefts of rocks, and ly there all the winter in a torpid state: and others affirm, that they take their retreat into water, and revive again in spring. The two first opinions have been proved, and it seems have found credit; the last has been treated as ridiculous, and almost as an old woman’s tale. Natural history, as all the other histories, depends not always upon the intrinsic degree of probability, but upon facts founded on the testimony of people of noted veracity.—Swallows are seldom seen sinking down into the water, Swallows have not such organs as frogs or lizards, which are torpid during winter, ergo, Swallows live not, and cannot live, under water.—This way of arguing, I believe, would carry us, in a great many cases, too far; for tho’ it is not clear to every one, it may however be true: and lizards and frogs are animals of a class widely different from that of birds, and must therefore of course have a different structure; hence it is they are classed separately. The bear and the marmot are in winter in a torpid state, and have however not such organs as lizards and frogs; and no body doubts of their being, during some time, in the most rigid climates in a torpid state: for the Alpine Nations hunt the marmots frequently, by digging their holes up, and find them so torpid, that they cut their throats, without their reviving or giving the least sign of life during the operation; but when the torpid marmot is brought into a warm room and placed before the fire, it revives from its lethargy. The question must therefore be decided by fact; nor are they wanting here: Dr. Wallerius, the celebrated Swedish Chemist, wrote in 1748, September the 6th O. S. to the late Mr. Klein, Secretary of the City of Dantzick: “That he has seen more than once Swallows assembling on a reed, till they were all immersed and went to the bottom; this being preceded by a dirge of a quarter of an hour’s length. He attests likewise, that he had seen a Swallow caught during winter out of a lake with a net, [142]drawn, as is common in Northern countries, under the ice: this bird was brought into a warm room, revived, fluttered about, and soon after died.”
Mr. Klein applied to many Fermiers generaux of the King of Prussia’s domains, who had great lakes in their districts, the fishery in them being a part of the revenue; in winter the fishery thereon is the most considerable under the ice, with nets spreading more than 200 or 300 fathoms, and they are often wound by screws and engines, on account of their weight. All the people questioned made affidavits upon oath before the magistrates. First, The mother of the Countess Lehndorf said, that she had seen a bundle of Swallows brought from the Frish Haff (a lake communicating with the Baltic at Pillau) which when brought into a moderately warm room, revived and fluttered about. Secondly, Count Schlieben gave an instrument on stamped paper, importing, that by fishing on the lake belonging to his estate of Gerdauen in winter, he saw several Swallows caught in the net, one of which he took up with his hand, brought it into a warm room, where it lay about an hour, when it began to stir, and half an hour after it flew about in the room. Thirdly, Fermier general (Amtman) Witkowski made affidavit, that in the year 1740, three Swallows were brought up with the net in the great pond at Didlacken; in the year 1741, he got two Swallows from another part of the pond, and took them home, (they all being caught in his presence); after an hour’s space they revived all in a warm room, fluttered about, and died three hours after. 4thly, Amtman Bönke says, that having had the estate Kleskow in farm, he had seen nine Swallows brought up in the net from under the ice, all which he took into a warm room, where he distinctly observed how they gradually revived; but a few hours after they all died. Another time his people got likewise some Swallows in a net, but he ordered them again to be thrown into the water, 5thly, Andrew Rutta, a master fisherman, at Oletsko, made affidavit, 1747, that 22 years ago, two Swallows [143]were taken up, by him, in a net, under the ice, and being brought into a warm room, they flew about. 6thly, Jacob Kosiulo, a master fisherman, at Stradauen, made affidavit, that in 1736, he brought up in winter, in a net, from under the ice of the lake at Raski, a seemingly dead Swallow, which revived in half an hour’s time, in a warm room, and he saw, a quarter of an hour after, the bird grow weaker, and soon after dying. 7thly, I can reckon myself among the eye-witnesses of this paradoxon of natural history. In the year 1735, being a little boy, I saw several Swallows brought in winter by fishermen, from the river Vistula, to my father’s house, where two of them were brought into a warm room, revived, and flew about. I saw them several times settling on the warm stove, (which the Northern nations have in their rooms) and I recollect well that the same forenoon they died, and I had them, when dead, in my hand.
In the year 1754, after the death of my uncle Godefroy Wolf, captain in the Polish regiment of foot guards; being myself one of his heirs, I administered for my co-heirs, several estates called the Starosty, of Dirschau, in Polish Prussia, which my late uncle farmed under the king. In January the lake of Lybshau, belonging to these estates, being covered with ice, I ordered the fishermen to fish therein, and in my presence several Swallows were taken; which the fishermen threw in again; but one I took up myself, brought it home, which was five miles from thence, and it revived, but died about an hour after its reviving. These are facts, attested by people of the highest quality, by some in public offices, and by others, who, tho’ of a low rank, however made these affidavits upon oath. It is impossible to suppose indiscriminately that they were prompted by views of interest, to assert as a fact, a thing which had no truth in it. It is therefore highly probable, or rather incontestably true, that Swallows retire in the Northern countries during winter, into the water, and stay there in a torpid state, till the return of warmth revives [144]them again in spring. The question therefore I believe ought for the future to be thus stated: The swallows in Spain, Italy, France, and perhaps some from England, remove to warmer climates; some English ones, and some in Germany and other mild countries, retire into clefts and holes in rocks, and remain there in a torpid state. In the colder northern countries the Swallows immerse in the sea, in lakes, and rivers, and remain in a torpid state, under ice, during winter. There are still some objections to this latter assertion, which we must remove. It is said, Why do not rapacious fish, and aquatic quadrupeds and birds, devour these Swallows? The answer is obvious. Swallows chuse only such places in the water for their winter retreat, as are near reeds and rushes; so that sinking down there between them and their roots, they are by them secured against the rapaciousness of their enemies. But others object, Why are not these birds caught in such waters as are continually harrassed by nets? I believe the same answer which has been made to the first objection, will serve for this likewise. Fishermen take care to keep off with their nets from places filled with reeds and rushes, for fear of entangling and tearing their nets; and thus the situation of Swallows under water, is the reason that they are seldom disturbed in their silent winter-retreats. What confirms this opinion still more is, that Swallows were never caught in Prussia, according to the above-mentioned affidavits, [145]but with those parts of the net which passed near to the reeds and rushes; and sometimes the Swallows were yet fastened with their feet to a reed, when they were drawn up by the net. As to the argument taken from their being so long under water without corruption, I believe, there is a real difference between animals suffocated in water, and animals being torpid therein. We have examples of things being a long time under water; to which we may add the intense cold of these northern regions, which preserves them. Who would have thought it, that snails and polypes may be dissected, and could reproduce the parts severed from their body; if it was not a fact? Natural history ought to be studied as a collection of facts; not as the history of our guesses or opinions. Nature varies in an infinite manner; and Providence has diversified the instinct of animals, and their œconomy, and adapted it to the various seasons and climates. This long digression I thought necessary and excusable; and the more so, as the ingenious great friends to the cause of Natural History, the late Mr. Collinson, and Mr. Pennant, have both asserted the impossibility and improbability of this immersion. I revere the memory and the ashes of the one, and think the friendship of the other an honour to me: but am assured, that both prefer truth to their private opinion; and can bear a modest opposition, when it is proposed with candour, with a view to promote truth, and with sentiments of respect and gratitude, as it is done by me, in the present case. F. ↑
32 It must be carefully distinguished from what is called Currants, in England, which is the Ribes rubrum. F. ↑
35 Caprimulgus minor Americanus. Catesb. Nat. Hist. of Carolina, Vol. iii. t. 16. Edwards’s Nat. Hist. of Birds, t. 63. ↑
39 Pyrus coronaria. Linn. Sp. Plant, p. Malus sylvestris, floribus odoratis. Gronov. Fl. Virginica. 55. ↑
41 Azalea erecta, foliis ovatis, integris, alternis, flore luteo, piloso, præcoci. Cold. Ebor. 25. ↑
44 Cupressus thyoides. Linn. Spec. pl. p. 1422. Cypressus Americana, fructu minimo. Miller’s Gard. Dictionary. ↑
48 See vol. I. page 115. The lower part of the yachts, which is continually under water, is made of black oak; the upper part is built of red cedar, because it is sometimes above and sometimes in the water. ↑
51 Warglo; Felis Lynx. Linn. The Swedes mention two kinds of lynx, the one is called the Warglo, or wolf-lynx, and the other the Kattlo, or cat-lynx. The Germans make the same distinction, and call the former Wolf-luchs, and the latter Katz-luchs: the former is the biggest, of a brownish red, mixed with grey and white, on its back, and white towards the belly, with brownish spots; the latter is smaller, and has a coat which is more white, and with more spots. F. ↑
53 It has been found by repeated experience, that the specific character employed by Dr. Linnæus, for the distinction of the species of snakes, taken from their Scuta abdominalia & caudalia, or their Squamæ subcaudales, varies greatly in snakes of the same species, so that often the difference amounts to ten or more: the whole number of the scuta sometimes helps to find out the species; care ought however to be taken, that the snake may not by any accident have lost its tail, and that it be growing again; in which case, it is impossible to make use of this character. The character is not quite so good and decisive, as may be wished, but neither are the marks taken from colours, spots, stripes, &c. quite constant; and so it is better to make use of an imperfect character, than none at all. Time, and greater acquaintance with this class of animals, may perhaps clear up their natural characters. F. ↑
63 That rum is among the spirituous liquors less noxious than any one of the rest, is chiefly owing to the balsamic [226]quality it gets from the sugar, which corrects the styptic quality all kinds of brandy and spirituous liquors have. The older the rum is, and the longer it has been kept in a great cask, the more is its stypticity corrected. All which has been lately proved by the clearest experiments, explained and deducted from the most indisputable principles of chymistry, in a pamphlet written by that able chymist Mr. Dossie. F. ↑
64 The New-York Sturgeons which I saw this year brought over, had short blunt noses, in which particular they are different from the English ones, which have long noses. F. ↑
65 Mr. Kalm was certainly mistaken, by thinking the summits of these mountains without wood, on account of the great degree of heat: for it is a general notion, founded on experience, that the sun operates not so much on the tops of mountains, as in plains or vallies, and the cold often hinders the increase of wood on the summits of high mountains. F. ↑
69 Populus glandulis variis basi foliorum adnexis, foliis cordato-deltoidibus, acuminatis, serrato-angulosis, utrinque glabris.——An Populus heterophylla Linnæi? ↑
73 Mr. Kalm is, I believe, not right informed. The French ecclesiastics have allured some few wretched Indians to their religion and interest, and settled them in small villages; but by the accounts of their behaviour, in the several wars of the French and English, they were always guilty of the greatest cruelties and brutalities; and more so than their heathen countrymen; and therefore it seems that they have been rather perverted than converted. On the other hand, the English have translated the bible into the language of the Virginian Indians, and converted many of them to the true knowledge of God; and at this present time, the Indian charity schools, and missions, conducted by the Rev. Mr. Eleazar Wheelock, have brought numbers of the Indians to the knowledge of the true God. The society for propagating the gospel in foreign parts, sends every year many missionaries, at their own expence, among the Indians. And the Moravian Brethren are also very active in the conversion of Gentiles; so that if Mr. Kalm had considered all these circumstances, he would have judged otherwise of the zeal of the British nation, in propagating the gospel among the Indians. F. ↑
80 This appears to be a new observation, as Linnæus, De Buffon, and Sarrasin pretend, they only feed on the Acorus, or Reeds, and other roots. F. ↑
81 This is the literal meaning of the Swedish word jætte grytor. See the memoirs of the Swed. Acad. of Sciences for the year 1743, p. 122. and Kalm’s vol. 1. p. 121. ↑
83 In Sweden and in Russia it is usual for people of all ranks to bathe every week at least one time; this is done in a stove heated by an oven, to a surprising degree, and which is enough to stifle people who are not used to it: for commonly the heat is encreased by the hot steam, caused by throwing red hot stones into water. In these baths, in Russia, the lower sort of people, men and women, bathe promiscuously, as the Romans did, and from whom, as Plutarch observes, in his Life of Cato, the Greeks adopted this indelicate and indecent custom, and which spread so much, that the Emperor Adrian, and [307]Marcus Antoninus were obliged to make laws against it, but neither were they long observed, for we find soon the Council of Laodicea obliged to prescribe a canon against this brutal custom, and notwithstanding this we find soon after that not only persons of all ranks, but even clergymen and monks bathed promiscuously with women, in the same baths; and from thence, it is probable, this custom passed among the Russians, when christianity took place among them. Near the bath, in Russia, is commonly a pond, where the people plunge in, when quite hot, and in winter they welter in the snow; and Saturdays it is common to see before the bath naked men and women, each having a bundle of rods in their hand, with which they gently beat one another, when in the bath. F. ↑