Curiosities of natural history

Front matter

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Preface

If we consider the numerous scientific and valuable works on Natural History which almost daily appear from the public press, it would seem almost superfluous to attempt to add another hook on this subject. I have, nevertheless, made bold to publish this little work, because, in the first place, I do not think too much can be written about the ever-various and beautiful works of the great Creator; and, secondly, because there are many common facts which in general are not thought worthy of being recorded, but which nevertheless have much interest to the true lover of Natural History.

In our leisure moments, when the business of the day is over, we can hardly walk along London streets — and certainly not along the hedge-rows and fields of the country, or the wave-washed nil

PREFACE.

shore of the ocean — without finding almost at every step something or other worthy of observation ; may-be onr specimen is, and probably will be, common enough, yet, if it be rightly examined, it will be found to possess great interest, and to have an unwritten history of its own, which it should be our pleasure to interpret.

There is nothing so wearisome, or so destructive to the human mind, as the disease called “ Nothing to do there is always and everywhere something to be done ; there are no two places in this world exactly alike in their products, animal, vegetable, or mineral, and the objects you do not find in one place you will find in another.

If the eyes be instructed and trained to observe what is brought before their gaze, the mind is employed, and the feeling of weariness passes off : one fact follows another ; a new observation may be tacked on to an old observation ; the result being not only pleasure in discovery, but pleasure in recollecting and recording.

In the following pages I do not pretend to great things, they are more a collection of occasional notes than a literary production.

PREFACE.

IX

The skeletons of the “ Gamekeeper’s Museum” and of the “ Hunt on the Sea-shore” have already . appeared in that rising little periodical the St. James’s Medley ; in the Naturalist’s columns of the Field newspaper ; as well as in Household Words/ and I here take this opportunity of thanking the editors of those publications for their kind permission to reproduce these articles in their present form. I have, however, added very much matter to them from subsequent notes and repeated observations.

To my friend Professor Quekett, Curator of the Museum of the Pmyal College of Surgeons, and other kind friends, I must return my sincere thanks for assistance during the progress of this little book.

Finally, the success of my First Series,* which is now in its fifth thousand, has emboldened me to write a companion volume to it, and I trust the reader will be pleased to approve of this my second humble attempt to instruct and at the same time, if possible, to amuse.

* I understand that this work has been reprinted without acknowledgment in the United States, and has reached a large sale.

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PREFACE.

The publication of my labours ha-s been greatly delayed by the illness and, I regret to say, the death (May 4, 1860) of my lamented friend, T. Tardrew, Esq., Surgeon of the Regiment to which I have the honour to belong. My professional duties have, from this cause, for the last ten months, been heavier than usual, and it is only my spare time that I can devote to literary labours.

Erancis T. Buckland,

2d Life Guardi.

ATHENiEUM Club, Pall Mall, June , I860.

EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE.

]. Ichthyosaurus Vulgaris.

2. Ichthyosaurus Tenuirostris

6. Pentacrinites Briaraeus (or the Hundred-handed).

the Long-necked).

4. Pterodactyles.

5. Dapedius (or the fish with

(or the slender-jawed).

3. Plesiosaurus Dolichodeirus (or

7. Cuttle Fish.

8. Ammonites.

9. Crocodile.

10. Zamia (or “ Fossil Birds’ nest. ”)

i scales like a Paving-stone).

The Frontispiece is a remarkable drawing by my Father’s friend, the late lamented Sir Henry Delabeche, which might be well called a Prse-Adamite Marine Vivarium. After lecturing from his Professorial chair in the University of Oxford, upon the numerous and valuable specimens of extinct animal life contained in his museum, Dr. Buckland frequently distributed copies of Sir Henry’s drawing, in order to bring to the minds of his audience the reality of the subjects on which he had been conversing. It is, 1 believe, one of the first attempts ever made to restore to their living forms these monster inhabitants of ancient seas, though this idea has been of late fully developed by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, in his admirable models at the Crystal Palace.

The drawing by Sir H. Delabeche was called “Duria Antiquior,” or Ancient Dorsetshire. For along the seagirt coast of this county is found a vast charnel-house of the fossil bones of the monsters that must at one time have lived, preyed upon each other, and ultimately died, at or near, this very spot, leaving their remains to be discovered

Xii EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE.

and described by Paleontologists, and their forms as in life, to be again restored by the talented pencil of the great geologist above mentioned.

In the centre of the plate, at fig. 1, is seen the mighty Ichthyosaurus * or the Lizard Fish ; in form and structure not unlike the marine mammalia of the present day. The Ichthyosaurus was an air breathing creature, and this is known, firstly, on account of there being an entire absence of that peculiar modification of the bones which support the gills in fish ; secondly, because there are found true bony nostrils, and not olfactory bags, placed in the skin unconnected with bone, as in fish ; thirdly, the articulation of the ribs to the spine, are similar to those in recent air-breathing animals. Ichthyosaurus had fins or paddles at its side, and a long tail, at the end of which, according to Professor Owen’s f recent discoveries, was a vertical fleshy fin. It could do what no whale or grampus of the present day is capable of accomplishing, viz. could crawl upon the shore, and that most likely at periodical times, as do the seal, walrus, &c. It had an enormous eyeball, which was larger in proportion to the skull than the eye in any other kind of animal ; and this eye, having no eyelids, contained delicate humours, which, being liable to injury in a chopping sea, was composed of numerous thin and (probably) flexible bones, which encased the pupil. Owl-like, it probably pursued its prey at dusk of evening, by moonlight, or at early morning. It had a formidable array of teeth, each of which was undermined by the germ of its successor, so that if a violent snap, or a too-vigorous-captured prey broke away the old

* The remains of this animal are so abundantly found, that its osseous and dental structure are as well known to anatomists as that of a crocodile or other creature of our own time.

f In the spring of this year, Professor Owen gave his course of Fullerian Lectures at the Royal Institution, Albemarle Street, in which he gave a full description of this and other animals. I have availed myself of my MS. notes, in the following descriptions.

EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE. xiii

tooth, the new one would come up in its place. In the engraving it is represented as making good use of these teeth, for it has caught and is about to devour Plesiosaurus, fig. 3.

This also was a curious Whale-like creature, which has aptly been likened to “ a turtle threaded through with the body of a snake.” This animal was marine-aquatic in its habits ; but unlike the Ichthyosaurus, which was a deep sea animal, it was a shore creature, and lived in the estuaries of brackish water ; and there, lurking under the oarweed and other marine vegetation, obtained its prey by darting out its long neck, and seizing its prey with its sharp and formidable teeth, as is seen at fig. 4 (and also in the distance), where an unfortunate Pterodactyle has not got out of the way quickly enough, and is suffering for his laziness ; while his frightened companions are wheeling about in the air overhead, like frightened sea-gulls when one of their comrades has been captured or shot.

This Pterodactyle, or winged-fingered Saurian (see p. 11), was a monstrous beast, a true Saurian, but yet with leather-like wings like a bat : the only living approach to them is the insignificant little Draco Volans of the Isles of the Indian Archipelago.

At fig. 5 is seen a fish whose name is Dapedius, so called on account of its “ pavement-like ” scales ; it has encountered in its peregrination an Ichthyosaurus who is making short work of him, and is about to gorge him down into his capacious stomach, in the same manner that a jack does a roach or dace. We know that Ichthyosaurus fed upon this fish, because its scales are found in the fossil Coprolithes. (See pp. 7 and 8.) In the Oxford Museum is the fossil stomach of an Ichthyosaurus that had died shortly after its dinner, as it had not had time to digest entirely the fish it had swallowed The Ichthyosaurus, (as seen in the engraving), did not refuse to eat cuttle fish,

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EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE.

and we know this because the ink of the cuttle-fish is found staining the fossil Coprolites (see p. 7).

Other fish whose remains are found fossil are seen swimming about in company with young Ichthyosaurus, all enjoying life, and following the laws of nature which ordained that they should both prey upon one another, and bt preyed upon themselves.

Sailing along the surface of this sea, upon which no human eye ever rested, may be noticed a fleet of the beautiful Ammonite shells (see p. 10). Their remains are seen at the bottom of the sea, where they would become gradually covered with mud, and converted into fossils, a theme for the geologists and for the adornment of our cabinets.

At fig. 6 we see growing in great luxuriance a remarkable form of life — the Pentacrinite, or Stone Lily, so called on account of the pentangular or five-sided shape of its supporting column. It consisted of innumerable calcareous joints, united by a fleshy material ; it was, in fact, a “stalked star-fish,” which is represented in existing seas by the Comatula, or Feather-stars of our own shores, and by the rare and all but extinct Pentacrinites of the West Indies.

For a full and beautifully illustrated description of the Pentacrinite, as well as of the Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, Pterodactyle, and other creatures represented in the drawing, I must refer my readers to Dr. Buckland’s “ Bridgewater Treatise ” (see p. 7).

At fig. 10 is represented the Zaraia, or “ Bird’s-nest,” of the Portland quarrymen, together with restorations of vegetation, which once flourished in luxuriance, but which is found now only in a fossil state.

At the bottom of this primaeval sea are strewed the bones and carcasses of its inhabitants, both small and great. Saurians, fishes, mollusks, and shells, have all

EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE.

XV yielded up their remains in obedience to the dictum which pronounces the sentence of death upon everything that has ever been, or ever will be, animated with the breath of life.

In their unknown graves for thousands of past centuries, converted into hard marble like rock, they have lain ; and hundreds of skeletons will lie, till time is no more ; leaving but a bare record of their former existence engraved in tablets of stone on the shores which once formed the bed of an ancient ocean now long passed away.

Meanwhile let it be our privilege to read and interpret the history of our Planet as it existed when yet young in the starry Firmament. Let us compare extinct forms of animal life with their modern living prototypes ; and from the habits and instincts of animals around us, learn, not only the laws which govern them, as well as ourselves ; the physiological causes which regulate our bodies as well as their bodies ; but also endeavour to learn pleasurable lessons from daily scenes, and to withdraw the veil which frequently obscures the most enchanting scenes of nature from ordinary observation.

Above all, let us join with the inspired writer when he admonishes us : “ But ask now the Beasts and they shall teach thee, and the Fowls of the air and they shall tell thee ; or speak to the Earth and it shall teach thee, and the Fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee ! ”

*

CHAPTER I. Page 1. & GEOLOGICAL AUCTION

Sale of Dr, Buckland’s Private Collection — The “ Bucklandian Museum’ bequeathed to the University of Oxford— Its valuable Contents— Visitors to the Auction Boom — The Minerals — Coprolites — Their Nature — Fine Specimens — Valuable Geological Evidence afforded by them — “ Beetle Stones” — Coprolites used for Ornamental Purposes — Their Application as Manure — Dr. Buckland’s Suggestions — Ammonites — The Nautilus and the Ammonite — Bones of Pterodactyles — Ovid and Pterodactyles — Broderip’s Letter — The Stonesfield Opossum — Competition for Dr. Buckland’s Geological Hammers — Hammers typical of the Geologist’s Profession — A Dish of Fossil-Fish — Bones of large Fossil Animals — Specimens of Shells, Corals, &c. — Zamias, or “ Birds’ Nests” from Portland — St. Paul’s Cathedral — The Brick from Babylon — Inscription on the Brick — Seal of King Darius — Footprint of Dog — Impressions on the Cement of the Brick used for Building — Nebuchadnezzar’s Dog — Figures of Nineveh Dogs — Modem China Dogs — Probable Breed of the Nineveh Dogs — Impressions on Modern Bricks — Footmark of Egyptian Cat, and of Jerboa, on ancient Bricks — Markings on Roman Bricks — Rain Marks in Pondmud — W orm and Mole Tracks — Evidence from Dry Mud — Footprints of Ducks, Geese, Herons, Snipes, and Rats — Phenomena at “Compensation Pond” — Modem Illustrations of Fossil “ Omithicnites ” — Duck’s Footprint in Roman Cement — Cow’s Footprints in Ottmoor, act as Duck Traps — Footprints from

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CONTENTS.

Storton Hill— The Botheratio-therium — Cheirotherium — How to get out of Difficulty — Evidence from Fossil Castings ol Marine Worms — Curious “ Spoor” in the London Streets — The Podo-therium ; who and what it was — The Waterloo Bridge Murder — Foot and Hand Tracks of a Half-murdered Woman — Foot Tracks of wooden-legged People — The Verger at Westminster Abbey — Natural Castings of Carbonate of Lime — “Fur” in Tea Kettles and Water Pipes — Curious Stone Pipe from Carfax, Oxford— Markings upon it — Elm and Oak Planks — Stone Pipe from High Littleton — Fonts, &c. in Cathedral of Lima — The Sunday Stone — Amphora from the Bed of the Tiber — Incrustations on a Human Skull, on Birds’ Eggs, Twigs, &c. — Curious Stone in Rock Work— A Pseudo- Fossil — Its Nucleus — The Miller’s Horse — The Hyaena “Billy” —His Life spared, and he goes to Exeter Change — He dies at a Patriarchal Age — His Services, both when Alive and Dead —Dr. Buckland’s Case— The Judge’s Verdict

The great Value of Labels on Specimens — Cases in Point — Arrow Head from Hoxne — Papers relating to Specimens in the Museum— Catalogues of the Royal College of Surgeons— John Hunter’s Regrets — Trouble to Learned Professors — Glass-capped Boxes — How to label Keys, Knives, &c. so as to recover them when Lost— Visitors to Museums, “Paws off” — An old Umbrella — How to handle Minerals — Receipts for Pastes and Cements — Broken Specimens mended.

CHAPTER II. Page 67. THE GAMEKEEPER’S MUSEUM

Local Museums — Bears in the Highlands — The last Wolves in England — The Gamekeeper a Collector — His Museum —Evidence of Diligence afforded to his Master by his Collection — False Specimens of so-called “Vermin” — Flesh-eating Insects — They can be set to useful work—

CONTENTS.

XIX

African Trophies — Oats’ Heads — Various Expressions of their Faces— The Head of a Poacher— Shot Head — Puss in Poetry — Cats v. the Game Preserver — Habits of Acute Observation required — House Cats kill Pheasants and Young Rabbits— Curious Arrangement of Bone in Cat’s Skull — Difference between the Skull of the Lion and of* the Tiger — Ear of the Cat — “ Doctored Cats” — Traps for Cats — How to “ Let the Cat out, of the Bag” — Wild Cats indigenous to England — Difference in Tail from Common Cat — Old Tradition of a Fight — Nuns in Cats’ skins Robes — Cunning of Irish Dogs— Where to strike a Savage Dog — The Chimney Sweep and Bull Dog — How to get near a Poaching Dog — The Farmer and the Gamekeeper — The New Forest — Rufus’s Hall — Stirrup of William Rufus — Used for measuring Dogs — “ Expeditating ” Mastiffs — Cutting Dogs’ Ears — Winged Poachers — Hawks — Punctuality in their Habits — Kites — Ravens — Magpies — Their Bills — A Retrieving Magpie — Superstitions about Magpies— Talking Magpies — Saddle Back, or Hooded Crows — They are great Poachers — Cunning of Magpies — Strychnine — An Eagle in Windsor Forest — The Pursuit and Capture — The Oxford Eagle — Its History — A Nocturnal Alarm — A Domestic Destroyer — The Eagle and the Ham — The Eagle escapes, and takes a “Bird’s Eye” View of London — An Omen for the Chartists— How to handle Savage Birds — Birds used for Augury — Roman Remains at Weymouth— Dr. Buckland’s Description — Deposit of Bones — Earthenware Tiles, &c. — Skeletons of Birds — Temple of Esculapius — Votive Offerings — Roman Cemetery — Human and other Remains — Ash-heap outside the Walls of Jerusalem — Funeral of Patroclus — Bones of Achilles — Trojan Trout — Sacred Birds — Their Classification — Silence of Classic Writers as to the Disposal of Birds used in Sacrifice — Modern Fighting-cocks— Bird’s Bones at Christchurch, Hants — Funeral Honours to Birds by the Romans — Modern Sacrifices of Birds by the Greeks— Stoats, Weasels, &c. — Their Habits — How to trap them — A Skunk run over — Stoat and Rabbit — Stoat and Cock Pheasant — Use of Fighting-cocks by Poachers — Good Way to mark Dead Game — Hedgehogs — Their Sense of Smell — They eat Eggs —

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CONTENTS.

Cases to prove this— Experiments — They will eat Flesh and Young Game— Cannibal Habits — Hybernation of Hedgehogs — John Hunter’s Experiments — His Letter to Hr. Jenner — Majendie’s Hcgs — Traps for Hedgehogs— Hedgehogs at Ringwood — “ Black Bob’s ” — Gipsy Mode of Cooking Hedgehogs — “Mutton and Beef Hedgehogs” — “Flitted” Hedgehogs — Snake and Hedgehog — A Race — An Experiment— Use of Hedgehog as a Scavenger— Baby Hedgehogs — Use of their Bristles— The Science of Gamekeeping— Quiet and Observation Necessary — On the Look-out — Race Glasses useful in Watching — Wide Awake— Half Asleep— The Squire and his Guest — “Smelling the Hounds” — A Laugh at the Careless Observer.

CHAPTER III. Page 143. IN MEMORIAM

Verses on the late Hr. Buckland — His Oxford Lectures — The Oxford Bust — The Westminster Abbey Bust — Its Inscription.

CHAPTER IV. Page 151. A HUNT ON THE SEA-SHORE

Tiie White Horse on London Bridge— Variety of Building Materials — Chalk — “ Flint-made ” Houses at Brighton — Composition of the Brighton Pavement — The Shop Windows — Bathing Machines — Brighton as it was One Hundred Years ago • — Origin of Sea Bathing— Histance of Brighton from London — Observations on the Sea-Shore — Flints thrown up and sorted by the Waves — Builders take advantage of this sorting — Hebris of Brighton — Ball of Human Hair— Evidence of a populous City — The Hebris of London — Old London Bridge — Holes bored in the Chalk by Pholades or “Pitticks” — His-

CONTENTS.

XXI pute as to how these Borings are made — File-like Exterior of the Shell — How the Animal uses its Filing Apparatus — Letter from Professor Forbes— Pholas seen at Work in an Aquarium — Arrangements for the Experiment — Conclusive Testimony — Pholades in Sandstone at Folkestone — Fossil Specimens of Teredo — They bore into Fossil Elephants’ Bones — A Natural Cast in Iron-sand of the Borings of Pholas — Other Specimens — Plymouth Breakwater — Weymouth Breakwater — Pholas and Portland Stone — Letters from Practical Men — Holes made by Land Shells — Dr. Buckland’s Paper on this Subject — Perforations by Land Shells at Tenby and Boulogne— How these Holes are made— “ Strombolo” Wood at Brighton — Where it is found— Origin of the Word “Strombolo” — Fossil Wood bored by Pholas — Submerged Forests at Liverpool and Hastings— Observations by Sir H. Delabeche— The Bridgewater Flats — Bones and Footprints of Animals discovered in Ancient Forests — Track-marks of Gigantic British Ox — The Brighton Pier — How the Pholas is kept out of it— A Biped Pholas— How to stop the Borings of a Burglar — Teredo Borings at Southend — Various Preservatives 'of Timber— Experiments— Iron Nails the best Preservative — Specimens of Wood bored by the “Worm” in the British Museum — No Boring Shells in Arctic Seas — Mr. Roberts on the Russian Men-of-War sunk before Sebastopol — The Diver anticipated — Curious Facts— Thames Tunnel — A Model of Teredo Borings — The “ Gribble Worm” — Operations of Teredo limited by Depth — Ship sunk at Torbay — Specimens of Wood-boring by the “Worm” in Royal United Service Institution — Anchor from Spanish Armada — What it teaches us — The Dining- Tables at Westminster School — The Baltic Wharf— Old Ships broken up — Curious Collection of Figure Heads — The Workman’s Description of the “Worm” — Ship-oak stained with naturally-formed Ink — Mussel Shells — Their Silk, or Byssus — Their Binding Powers practically applied — Notes at Folkestone— Origin of the Name — Military Camps — Fossil “Lugs” and Cannon Balls — Inhabitants of “The Horn” — “Monkey Peas “ Slutters,” or “Water Galls” — Stinging Properties of the “Blue Slutter” — Slutters eat “Skip-jacks” — Chinese xxii

CONTENTS.

Manures — Beauty of the “ Bladder- Wrack ” — Roots of Sea Plants — “ Pouters ”• — Their Food — Savage Nature of the “ Bull Rout” — Use of their Teeth — Barnacles on Drain-pipes at Brighton — Their Choice of Quarters — Iron polished by Rolling Stones — Footstep of Young Lady— Action of Rolling Stones upon Deal Boards — “ Sea Grapes,” or “ Tortoises’ Spawn” — Instinct of Young Cuttle — A Moral — Ink of Fossil Cuttle Fish — Drawings made with Fossil Ink by Sir Francis Chantrey — Dr. Buckland’s Conclusions as to the Instantaneous Death of Cuttle Fish found Fossil — Elegant Names — Cuttle Fish-bone — The “ Squib,” or “ Man-Sucker ” — Its Beak- -Its acute Vision — The “ Man-Sucker” caught— Its Colour when alive — Experiments with it — The Indian Cuttle Fish of monstrous Size — Attacks upon Men — The prevalent Belief— A Japanese Show— A Naturalist caught by a “ Man-Sucker ” — “Folkestone Beef ’’—Fishermen’s Nomenclature — Civility of the Fishermen — “ Long Lines” for “ Rigs” — Description of a Hawl — “ Rough Dogs ” and “ Smooth Dogs ” — Food of the “Rig” — How it hunts for Prey — Its Nose — Its Eye — Its Teeth — Teeth of Fossil Sharks — Skin of “Huss” used as a File— “ Fiddlers ” — A Wandering Showman — Yankee Story of an Alligator — Fate of a Noble Roman —The Rajah’s Menagerie—Sagacity of a Pig — “Learned Pigs” — The “Kettle-maw” — Its Natural Fishing-rod— Exhibition of the “ Tortoise Family” — Cod Fish — Welks— “ Skeleton Cods” — “Pouter” Fishing— Necessary Tackle — Use of the Fish’s Feelers — How to convert a Pouter into a Whiting — “ Uncle Owl ” transformed into a “ Sand-rate ” — A small Monkish Relic in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford — How discovered— Its Nature — Explanations — Monks great Fish-eaters — Earth removed at the Building of the Cathedral — The probable History of the Pvelic— An Old Man’s Lament— “ Stalkers” — A Wonderful Hat — Its Contents — Various kinds of Crabs — The “ Pung” — Pungs can Pinch— Dignities of the Pung — Crabs “ Shoot their Claws” — Boiling Crabs, Lobsters, and Winkles— Breathing Organs of Lobsters, &c. — Lobsters Outwitted — Curious Ball of Turtle-shell — Wholesale Slaughter of Small Fish — Importance of our Fisheries — The Nets should be looked to —

CONTENTS.

The Lobster’s “ Looking-glass— “ Lock Nets” for Prawns — The Prawn-fisher’s Anathema — The “ Robber Crab ” — How to catch him — “ Soft Lobsters ” — Different kinds of Lobsters — “ Pungs ” delicate Feeders — Hippocampi, or “ Sea Horses ” alive at the Regent’s Park Gardens — Description of their Appearance — Mode of Swimming— Use of the Tail — Their Food and Colour — Their Marsupial Pouch — The Warne and the Ridge Sands— The Ness— Shingle “ Bexters ” — Conger Eels — Sale of Congers — Conger Lines and Hooks— “Becketts” — Use of Congers— Hauling the Long Line — A monster Conger— French Fishermen at Dinner — A Hammer for a Bait for Fish— A Submarine Fight — Frost kills Congers— Snowblinded Fish — Eels in Salt Water — Hythe Canal — Dutch Eel “ Skoots ” at Billingsgate — How the Eels are carried from Holland — Thames Water fatal to Eels — Cargo of the Cornelia — Sanded Eels — Herring Hangs — “ Red-ding a Last of Herrings”— Wood used — Rows of Fish on the “Spits” — “Tie-tails ” and “ Scraps ” — Difficulty of Salting Herrings properly — They soon spoil — The Herring Harvest — The Herring Nets — Cotton and Hemp Nets — Catechu for DyeingNets — Its great Use to Fishermen — Ancient Egyptian Nets of Leather— Sir Eliab Harvey’s Tan-house — Remarkable Inscription to the Memory of the Mother of the immortal Harvey — Migration of Herrings — Theories as to where they come from— Their Line of March — “ Shotten Fish” — Observations on Herrings by Mr. Roberts — Yawling for Herrings — Herrings seen at B est — A Fisherman’s Observations — Curious Noises at Night — The “ Herring Piece,” or “ Herring Spear” — The “ Seven Whistlers”—The “Composant” — The “Water Burn” — Song of the Scotch Fisherman’s Wife — Whales in the British Channel — A curious Law— The Hythe Whale— The Weymouth Whale caught in a Net — The Result — How to mark a Whale— The Lawyer and the Coast-guard Man — How to swear to a Whale — The Yerdict— Whales’ Bones in odd Places— Practical Use of these Bones — Sperm Whale at Antwerp— A Feast — Parasols of the Jaw of the Sperm Whale — Whale aground at the Nore — He is tied by the Tail— The Frenchmen catch a Tartar — The Englishmen have better Luck — The Prrte is

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CONTENTS.

slain, and boiled down for Oil — Dissection on a large Beale — A curious Accident to an Anatomist— Official Personages appear — Various Claimants for the Carcass— A Law-suit of course — Father Neptune beats the Lawyers — The Apocryphal Animal of Australia — The “ Katenpai,” or “ Bunyip ” — Stories of the Natives — The Skull discovered— Its real Nature— Disappointment for the Curious— Hints for Collectors— Merman and Mermaids— The Spitalfields Merman — Its Exhibition— Examination and Deport upon its Composition — Its previous History — The Hungerford Market Mermaid — Her eventful History — Decline of the Mermaid Family — Ancient Legends — Origin of the Superstition — The Dugong and Manatee— Jack’s Orders to the Taxidermist — Barnum’s Fejee Mermaid — “ No Extra Charge” — A candid Confession — The Monster Whale at Ostend — Afterwards exhibited at Charing Cross — Description of the “Whale Pavilion ” — Dimensions and History of this Whale — A Professional Bemark — Account in The Mirror — The Album — Bad Jokes — The Plymouth Whale exhibited at Oxford — Description and Advertisement — Th6 Louisiana Whale’s Head exhibited in Regent Street — The Whale lately exhibited in Whitechapel — Poetry on the Whale — A Stuffed Whale — Description of its Appearance — Account of its Capture — Whales suffer from the Fashion of Crinoline — A good Specimen of Whalebone or Baleen — Its Structure and Growth— Its Appearance when seen in the Whale’s Mouth — John^ Hunter’s Remarks — Aristotle’s Description — The Nose-tuft of the Rorqual — Why the Whale is made a Sea Creature — Food of the Whalebone Whale — How it captures the “ Clio Borealis ” — Its (Esophagus, or Gullet — Jonae Piscis — A large Skull — A hard Bargain — Prices fall with the Weather — The Whale exhibited at Gravesend — A slippery Walk — Use of Whale’s Skin — Gloves of Musk Ox Hair — A Whale at London Bridge— Accident to a Philosopher— The More the Merrier.

A GEOLOGICAL AUCTION.

A Catalogue of the Collection of Minerals, Fossils from various localities , Casts and Medallions, together with a variety of Miscellanies , the property of the late Very Fey. Dr. Buckland, Dean of Westminster. — 30 th January , 185/.