The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
Jan Jonston (1603 - 1675)
Alias John Johnston
Alias Joannes Jonstonus (Alias)
Educated at University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews
Lived at or near Poland, Europe
Member of parliament for Scotland, Europe
Residence at Scotland, Europe
Linked print sources: as Author (in assoc. with a ms or print source) - Historiæ naturalis de exanguibus aquaticis libri IV. Cum figuris æneis. Joannes Jonstonus Med. D. concinnavit.
as Author (in assoc. with a ms or print source) - [Historiæ naturalis de quadrupetibus [sic] (... avibus, ... piscibus et cetis, exanguibus aquaticis, ... insectis, serpentibus ...) libri. MS. notes.].
as Author (in assoc. with a ms or print source) - Historiæ naturalis de quadrupetibus [sic] (... avibus, ... piscibus et cetis, exanguibus aquaticis, ... insectis, serpentibus ...) libri. MS. notes.
as Author (in assoc. with a ms or print source) - Historiae naturalis de avibus libri VI ....
as Author (in assoc. with a ms or print source) - Historiae naturalis de insectis. Libri. III.: de serpentibus et draconib[us] Libri II. Cum aeneis figuris .
as Author (in assoc. with a ms or print source) - Historiae naturalis de piscibus et cetis libri V cum aeneis figuris Iohannes Ionstonus Med. Doctor concin[n]auit .
as Author (in assoc. with a ms or print source) - Historiae naturalis de serpentibus libri II.
References in Documents:
Orecchia marinaof
[MS SLOAN. 1830]
Honored Sir,
I received your courteous letter, and am sorry some
diversions have so long delayed this my second unto you.
You are very exact in the account of the fungi.
with two, which I have not found in any author; of which I
have sent you a rude draught inclosed.
by me, but, without a very good opportunity, dare not send
it, fearing it should be broken.
semble
some noble or princely ornament of the head, and so
might be called
a cupola, or lantern of a building; and so might be named
may name it as you please.
antliarum
of many woody strings, about the bigness of round points or
laces
from the trees, which serve under ground for pumps. I have
observed divers, especially in
deep for pumps.
and very fetid, answering the description of
nius
diameter, and [have]
marinæ pellucidæ
ferring
to
numbers by
They resemble the pure crystal buttons, chamfered or wel
ted
on the sides, with two small holes at the ends. They
cannot be sent; for the included water, or thin jelly, soon run
neth
from them.
coast.
lost its shape and colour.
ing
up in my yard, of two yards long, taken among the
herrings at
but I find it not in the catalogue. This
I have had
houses in
river trout, but of the same bigness.
worthy sir, it were best to put them in two distinct lines, as
distinct species of the molles.loligo, calamare, or
sleve
the sea-shore; and
of about twenty pounds weight.
Among the fishes of our Norwich river, we scarce reckon
salmon, yet some are yearly taken; but all taken in the river
or on the coast have 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
the conceit of some authors, that there is a difference of male
and female; for all ours are thus formed. The fish is thicker
than ordinary salmon, and very much and more largely spotted.
Boccard gallorusAuchorago
Scaligeri
either of which you may command.
Have you
this coast? Have you
gularis
Bivormii
digged out of the sea-sand, about two feet deep, and at an
In June, 1827, I knew of two salmon-trout in our Overstrand mackarel nets.—G.
ebb water, for bait? They are discovered by a little hole or
sinking of the sand at the top about them.
scription
of
parrot-jay? I have
years ago.
bigness of a stint, which cometh about May, and stayeth but
a month; a bird of exceeding fatness, and accounted a dainty
dish? They are plentifully taken in Marshland, and about
with a wide throat bill, as little as a titmouse, white feathers
in the tail, and paned like a hawk?
the coast of
sometimes in pieces of a pound weight. I have
fat and tare, of ten ounces weight; yet more often I have
found it in handsome pieces of twelve ounces in weight.
ing up in my yard, of two yards long, taken among the
herrings at
I received your courteous letter; and with all re
spects
I now again salute you.
last year one was taken of about two hundred pounds weight.
sticking close unto their gills, whereof I send you
In your Pinax I find
mean those at St. James's, or others brought over, or such as
have been taken or killed here, I know not.
up in
7 Bait for codling.-G. 8 The Garrulous Roller.
9 Not uncommon; I had a young one brought me a few years ago.-G.
1 It is becoming scarce at G.
four years ago; and because it was so rare, some conjectured
it might be one of those which belonged unto the king, and
flew away.
marsh, eight miles off; another shot, whose case is yet to be
seen.
rarity upon the coast of
known them taken asleep under the cliffs.
brought to me.
seal; as having a rounder head, a shorter and stronger body.
and Xiphias, or
seas.
entangled in the herring-nets.
length.
Among the whales you may very well put in the
tus
in
on our shore, near
chapter in the last edition of my "Pseudodoxia Epidemica;"
and another was, divers years before, cast up at
both whose heads are yet to be seen.
Ophidion, or, at least,
sting-fish, having a small prickly fin running all along the back,
and another a good way on the belly, with little black spots at
the bottom ofthe back fin. If the fishermen's hands be touch
ed
or scratched with this venomous fish, they grow painful and
swell. The figure hereof I send you in colours. They are com
mon
about
of
the fins spread; and when it was fresh taken, and a large
one.
have seen much larger, which fishermen have brought me.
2 The Stork.
3 Very rarly seen at G 4 Frog-fish
shrunk and lost the colour. When I took it upon the seashore,
it was full and plump, answering the figure and description
of
end of
motion, except of contraction and dilatation. When it is fresh,
the prickles or bristles are of a brisk green and amethist co
lour.
Some call it a sea-mouse.
lus
barbatus ruber miniaceus
rough, and but dry meat. There is of them major and minor,
resembling the figures in
sorts.
major
as it may be called; much answering the description of
rus
erell.
stonus
the
whole draught in picture. This kind is much more near
than the other, which are common, and is a rounder fish.
sea-sands, and are digged out at the ebb for bait.
somewhat bigger than a stint, which cometh in May, or the
latter end of April, and stayeth about a month. A marsh
bird, the legs and feet black, without heel; the bill black,
about three quarters of an inch long. They grow very fat,
and are accounted a dainty dish.
a woodcock colour, and paned somewhat like a hawk, with a
bill not much bigger than that of a titmouse, and a very wide
throat; known by the name of a dorhawk, or preyer upon
beetles, as though it were some kind of
In brief, this
5 I have seen a sea-mouae taken out of a cod-fish, but thev are not common at
vesperam volans, ovum speciosissimum excludens
spoke to a friend to shoot one; but I doubt they are gone over.
have observed in these parts, as I travelled about.
me it was kept in
only one
barking note; a long made bird, of white and blackish colour;
fin-footed; a marsh-bird; and not rare some times of the year
in Marshland. It may upon view be called,
nostras
pretty shrill note; not hard to be got in some parts of
ten miles off, four years ago. It may well be called the par
rot jay, or
much faded. If you have it before, I should be content to
have it again; otherwise you may please to keep it.
some
which I have seen have the tail tipt with yellow, which is not
in their description.
five years ago.
you, I do not find the figure in any book.
about the first part of September. I have observed them so
numerous upon plashes in the marshes and marish ditches,
6 The Golden Eagle.
8 The Waxen Chatterer.
7 The Garrulous Roller.
9 Marshy.
that, in a small compass, it were no hard matter to gather a
peck of them.
but the greatest part are scattered, lost, or given away. For
memory's sake, I wrote on my box
nales
seas. Pray compare it with
draught was taken from the fish dried, and so the prickly fins
less discernible.
Capreolus Moschi. Gesner
reckoning up the Names, tells us, That the
him a Musk Cat. But is better at other Languages.
He breeds in Musæum.
faulty as to the Snout and Feet. That of
surd.
Almost every where worse describ'd. That he is
a two-horn'd Animal, says
all agree, except
who saith he hath but one. Neither of which
is true. The Description likewise given by
out of him
by Musæum
very defective.
The best I find is amongst the
Transactions
der, but that comparing it with That I had
drawn up before
I met with it, I see some differences.
; which theIndian Roe-Buck
people of
Cuguacu-apara. See the Description
of the Animal in
under the name of the
Capreolus Marinus.
inscribed, The hornes of
a Dog.
figure of the Animal, without any Description.
According
to that figure, he is headed like a Dog, and of the
bigness
of a Tumbler. But footed, and horned like a Goat. To
whose also the hornes here preserved are like in colour, and
somewhat near in shape: but nothing near so big; being not
much above two inches long. Not only the hornes them
selves, but also the bones whereon they stand, are
hollow to
the top. They were sent from a certain Kingdom near
scribed.
Although it is probable, that they are the hornes
of a small
kind of German Deer. Yet
are horned-Hares in
pair, once belonged to
the
no where with the
Description of the Animal, or these
Hornes. He seemeth to be
of kin to the Hircus Cotilardicus, which
and somewhat wrinkled. Consist of four Branches: The
two
greater whereof are a foot long, and as thick as an
ordinary
Rams, very strait, standing in the form of the
letter V, or
like the legs of a pair of Compasses, and a
little writhen.
The two lesser are seven inches long, not
so thick, winding
downward, and inward one towards
another, in the form of two
half Moons. The points of
all four very blunt.
Cornua Bisontis. This pair belongeth to that
Species, which
hath a great Maine. These, contrary to the former, stand
wide, and especial upwards, their Tips being ½ an Eln
distant. See the Description of the Animal in
dus
Bull, and untameable. He breeds in
hornes is joyn'd the fore-part of the skull, together with
the skin, which is very thick and tough. The skin of any
Bulls Forehead, either for its toughness, or other cause, is
the only part of the Hyde made use of by
Horners,
whereupon they shave their Hornes (which they take out
of a Tub of warm water by them) to fit them for
Lamp
horns.
horns
curious one in
his eyes are drawn somewhat too little. Of the skin it may
be noted, that 'tis every where rough, as it were, with little
round blisters or knobs; on his Head and Back, greater;
on his Legs, Sides and Belly, lesser; of the bigness of Silk
worms Eggs. As also, that his hinder Feet are thicker than
the fore-Feet: and the Heels or hinder Toes as long again,
as the other; whereas in the fore-Feet, they are all of a
length. The shape of his hinder Feet is therefore the better
fitted to assist him in the climbing of Trees; the Heels be
ing like strong Leavers to hoist him up. And the
makeof
his Skin, for the changeableness of his Colours; which
seems to depend on the falling or swelling of the said
Knobs; whereby the light, receiving different Reflections,
produceth different Colours. Of his Colours, saith
liger
b)
b)
196. Sect. 4
so properly said, that they are chang'd, but only the several
Specieshighten'd or deepen'd. He hath a long Tail, as a
Lizard, but slenderer: which, (
c)
c)
lus
he laps round about the Boughs, to keep himself from fall
ing. His Feet also are all made where with to take fast hold.
drovandus
Name of
Lacertus Indicus. He is distinguished from other
Lizards, chiefly, by the Scales on his Belly, which, like
those of a
Crocodile, are very great;
sc. five or six times
bigger than those on his back. It was brought from
This
Lizard, saith
Crocodile. Which, in what sense it is false and absurd, I have
above shew'd.
Pristis.Johnston
hath given a good
figure (
e)
e)
N. 1
And that of
out.
kind, but a
different Species from the former. Whether
it be any where describ'd, seems doubtful. The hinder
parts of the Head are here broken off. The Snout is not so
flat as in the Rapier-fish, but thicker and rounder, more like
a Tuck, from whence I take leave to name it.
'Tis half
a yard long; near the Head, two inches over; about
the
middle, one. Not with a flat point, but one perfectly
round. The upper part hereof is smooth, the nether
from the
Point to the Root. Both the Chaps are also
rough in the same
manner, in the place of the Teeth,
which this Fish hath not.
The nether Chap hath also a
different shape from that of the
Rapier-Fish: this being
not above four inches over, that half
a foot; yet both
are a foot long. It is composed of two Bones,
so joyned
together, for the space only of an inch and half, as
to make
a sharp point.
scribe an
to
this, the Head whereof is here describ'd. But cannot be
the
same, unless both the Pictures which they give, and
the Snout is sixteen inches long, the nether Chap,
ten) be
false. For in this Head, the nether Chap is broader,
and
comparatively not near so long.
Mustela marina vi
vipara. (the Male,
vipara
Lupus marinus Schonfeldii.) 'Tis
well pictur'd by
a)
a)
f. 2
Sea-Wolf(
Ein See-Wolf). As also by
described. But in
Paralypomena'tis both figur'd
and described by
Klipfisch
(
i. e. Rock-Fish,) so called by the people near the
(where he breeds.)
Teeth, and is also mistaken in some things. I shall there
fore add the Description I drew up before I met with his.
Squatina, sive Angelus
Marinus. The figure in
Marinus
scription very short and imperfect. That of
better, yet not full. And either the Fish he describes is a
different Species, or his Description of the Teeth is not
true.
Rana Piscatrix minor.
In
gives is tolerable; but his Description very defective. The
length of this is eight inches. His Mouth open makes a
Circle ¼ of an inch over. His Lips, in the usual place of
Teeth, are rough; as also is his Tongue. He hath a black
Horn on his Forehead, stooped forwards, round, an inch
and
½ long, one third over at the bottom, pointed, and
having little Spikes round about it. What
by the Cuteus Nervus, appears not. At the top of his
Head,
just under the Horn, stand his Eyes a ¼ of an
inch over, and
(here) no more distant. The Nostrils a little
before the
Horn.
Echeneis. Remora.
tolerable Description any where.
Histrix Piscis.
figur'd it (Tab. 45.
tolerable Description of it.
Orbis Batrachoides. Fi
gur'd by Gestachelt meer Taube, Tab. 24
pose.
Piscis triangularis
cornutus. a) a)
Description or
Name. It differs from the fish last described
chiefly by its
Horns, which he hath upon the top of his
Forehead, ½ an
inch long, near an inch about the bottom,
and pointed; almost
like an Horses Ears when he pricks them
forward. His Teeth are
also smaller, his Mouth lesser,
and more naked. His Belly
narrower, and so his sides
more compressed. The Tail-Fin
longer. And the Oval
Crust on the Tail, not above but beneath.
a) a)
I call it the File-Fish, from the likeness which the foremost
Bone
upon his Back hath to a file. There are three of them:
which,
yet so, as not one alone, but altogether. And
although
you press the foremost, and greatest never so hard,
it will
not stir: but if you depress the last and least of all
never
so softly, the other two immediately fall down with it:
just as when a Cross-Bow is let off by
pulling down the
Tricker. For which reason also the fish is
called, at
Rome, Pesce Balestra.
Another thing peculiar to this fish is, that his Scales (
Lattice-wise. I add, and that they are all incrustated, and
rough-cast with little round knobs. So that the cover of
this
fish, is near a kin to that of the Square-Fish; that be
ing only one entire Crust, this divided into many little ones.
It may be noted, That where
fish to be compressum & latum, atq; fere
orbicularem, he
hath not properly expressed his
shape. For he is not Broad,
but Tall; and much nearer to a Rhombus or Diamond
square.
This fish seems to be the same which the People of
sile
graviusb) b)
The Old
Wife. It hath some marks of kindred with the tall Acarauna, described and
pictur'd in
hath
also divers others of distinction from it; as the diffe
rent position of the Spurs,
the different shape both of Head,
Body and Tail, &c. as
may be observed by comparing the
Descriptions and Figures of
both together. The tall Acarauna is figured also by a) a)
but without any Inscription of Number or Title.
his Gill-Fins, which reach to the end of his Tail, like a
pair of very long Wings. By some, the
Flying-Herring,
from a likeness in the shape of their Body. Perhaps
. But by
Ronde
letius's
Mugilis
Alatus
letius's
Hirundo, by
whom it is well described. (
a)
a)
62
in other fishes goes either from the Head or
Branchiæby
the sides to the Tail; here runs from the Belly-Fins along
the Belly to the Tail.
the figure also which he gives, the Belly-Fins are wanting.
And the
Orbitsof the Eyes, which are extraordinary great,
he representeth little.
Species. Figur'd
by
Tab. 17. N.
9.
Cataphractus Schonveldii. It
was
brought from
of the
And by Tab. 46.Tab. 24
scurvily,
unless it be another Species. It is a small
fish about
five or six inches long, with a broad squat head,
and thence
taper'd to the end of the Tail. His Scales are as
it were
doubled, by which he becomes of an angular figure,
with
about eight Angles before, and six behind. His Nose-end
armed with two Prickles standing together in a semilunar
figure; supposed to be venemous.
. 15Johnston , Tab
Sun-Fish. 'Twas taken in the
British-Sea
Basisof
each Ray is much slenderer than by the figure in
is represented. Neither is it shag'd only on the edges, as in
the same figure, but all over.
Murex Coracoides. Described and
pictur'd by
those that follow, which are only named. It hath three
Appendices on each side, like fingers or feet, and one at the
end.
Navle,
stands a little above the convexity of the shell. The
Seat
of the Animal is shaped so, as in some sort to resemble the
Stag-Beetle. The edges thereof curiously angul'd, parti
colour'd white and bay. The edge of the shell is perfectly
Oval, and the inner Margin of a pale blew. Here are two
fair Ones of this sort, about three inches long.
of old Willows. Curious to observe. They first bore
a
Canale in the Stock, which, for more warmth,
they furnish
afterwards with Hangings, made of Rose-Leaves,
so rowled
up, as to be
contiguous round about to the sides of the
Canale. And to finish their Work, divide the
whole in to
several Rooms or Nests, with round pieces of the
same
leaves. Hereof see in the a)
a)
65
by Mr.
Some parts of the NEST of another WILD-BEE.
Not much unlike the
first of those not inelegant figures,
which WESPENSTOCK.
The under or hinder Wings of a Bee, are the
least; that
they may not incommode his flight. (a) a)
Insect. cap. 1
is the Stomach, which they always fill to satisfie,
and to
spare; vomiting up the greater part of the Honey, to be
kept against Winter. A curious
Description and Figure of the
Sting, see in Mr.
Bees often hold a little stone in their
hinder Feet; which
serves as a Ballast to make them sail
through the Air more
steadily. (b) b) Bees, the
best that
hath given us, (c) c)
lib.
9. c. 40.
Generation, Conservation, Diseases, and Use; see also
Moufet, Butler, and a late Treatise of Mr.
Authors
speak of the Spontaneous Generation of Bees,
is
fabulous. The ashes of Bees are put
into most Composi
tions for breeding of Hair.
Vespetum. Given by Sir
who received it from
one in
over. Composed of a great
number of little Cells, as in
the Wild-Bees Nest, and encompassed with a Cover of
the
same stuff. All wrought about the Branch of a
Tree.
Taurus volans maximus.
Species of Bull-Chafers, of which, as I take it, this is one.
I
meet also with the Picture of it in c) c)
Fig. 2
three Horns.
The first is only the Snout produced and
bended upward, and is
therefore moveable with the
Head. In length, according to the
figure in
it is here
broken off) about an inch and ½ forked at the end,
and
with one upper branch a little before the Eyes. The
Head very
little. Upon his Shoulders he hath two im
movable or
unjoynted Horns, about ¾ of an inch long, ¼
of
an inch over at the Base, directed forward,
and with
their points inward, like a Bulls-Horns. From the end of
his Snout or fore-Horn
to the end of his Tail he is about
five inches long, over his
Back above two and a ¼; the bigest
of Insects yet known. His fore-Feet are armed with
Spikes, as so many Claws; wherewith, 'tis likely he digs
himself Buries. Of his Wings it is Observable, That at
their
utmost Joynt, they are laped up, or doubled inward
towards the
Head, and so kept safe under the Wing-Covers;
being, when out
at their full length, almost twice as long
as the hinder Body
or Section of the Animal. The like is
observable of the Wings
of some other Beetles. His Horns,
Legs,
Back and Wing-Covers are all black; his Belly
brown.
3.
in the fish called
PiscibusHirudo or
caudâ utrinque pennatâ
flesh, and sucking the blood of the said Fish. He describes it to
be of about four inches long; the belly of it white, cartilagi
observe,) but in stead of a head, it hath a hollow snout encom
passed with a very hard membrane, differing in colour and
substance from the belly; which snout it thrusts whole into
the body of the fish, (as strongly as an auger is wound into a
piece of wood,) and fills it full of blood unto the very ori
fice. It hath a tail shaped like a feather, serving for its moti
on, and, under it, two filamenst or slender fibres, longer than
the whole Insect, whereby, it seems, it clings about stones or
herbs, and sticks the closer in the body of the Sword-fish; of
which it attacks those parts only, where the fins of the fish
cannot touch or trouble it; the Observer affirming, that he
hath often found it sticking in the back and in the belly, and
sometimes close to the head, sometimes close to the tail of that
fish, but always far enough from the fins. Within its belly he
noted some vessels, like small guts, reaching from one end of it
to the other, which by the pressure of his nail he made reach
to the orifice of the snout, whence they retired back of them
selves to their natural scituation; they seeming to be the in
struments for sucking the blood, because the snout is in it self
an empty part, destitute of fibres and valves to draw and suck
with; whereas these vessels have a motion resembling that of
a pump, in which the snout of this animal serves for a sucker,
drawing the blood from end to the other: And the belly
of this Insect being framed ring-wise, the structure serves to
thrust the said inner vessels unto the orifice of the trunk, and
to draw them back again. This creature as it torments the
Swordfish, so it is, by our bservers relation, vexed it self by
another Insect, which he calls a Lowse, of an ash colour, fastened
towards the tail of this Leech as fermly, as a sea-snail is to a
rock. 'Tis of the bigness of a pea, and hath an opening, whence
come out many small winding and hairy threds. It hath not
been observed, (as far as our Author could learn,)
to trouble, or to be upon, any other animal than this
Leech.
A Discourse concerning theLarge Horns
frequently found under Ground in
Concluding from them that the greatAme
rican Deer, call'd a Moose,
was formerly
common in that Island: With Remarks on
some other things Natural to that Country.
By
By
M. D. Fellow of
the King and QueensColledge of Physicians
in
and of the
in
utterly extinct, as to be lost entirely out of the
World, since it was first Created, is the Opinion of
many Naturalists; and ’tis grounded on so good a
Principle of Providence taking Care in general of all
its Animal Productions, that it deserves our Assent.
However great Vicissitudes may be observed to attend
the Works of Nature, as well as Humane Affairs;
so that some entire Species of Animals, which have
been formerly Common, nay even numerons in cer
tain Countries; have, in Process of time, been so
perfectly lost, as to become there utterly unknown;
tho’ at the same time it cannot be denyed, but the
kind has been carefully preserved in some other part
of the World.
Of this we have a remarkable Example in
land
ly has been frequent in this Kingdom, tho’ now clear
mains among us not the least Record in Writing, or
any manner of Tradition, that makes so much as men
tion of its Name; as that most Laborious Inquirer in
to the pretended Ancient, but certainly Fabulous History of this Country, Mr.
thor of
What Discoveries therefore we make of this Crea
ture, we can only have from those loose parts of it we
find dug out of the Earth by Accident, preserved there
so many Ages from Corruption, by lying deep and
close under Ground, whilst harder and of themselves
more durable Bodies, moulder away and perish, by
being exposed to the various Changes of the Air, and
repeated Injuries of the Weather.
Remains we have of this Animal, it appears
to have been of the Genus Cervinum or Deer Kind, and
of that sort that carries Broad or Palmed Hornes,
bearing a greater affinity with the Buck or Fallow Deer,
than with the Stag or Red Deer, that has Hornes
round and branched, without a Palme; This I lately
observed, having an opportunity of particularly Ex
amining a compleat
perfect, not long since dug up, given to my Brother
Henry Osborn
the Meath
heda
ner and place they were found in.
I have by the Bearer sent the Head and Horns I
promised you; this is the third Head I have found
by casual trenching in my Orchard; they were all dug up
within the Compass of an Acre of Land, and lay about
four or five Foot under Ground, in a sort of Boggy Soil.
The first Pitch was of Earth, the next two or three of
Turff, and then followed a sort of white Marle, where
they were found: They must have lain there several Ages,
to be so deep enterred. (Thus far Osborn
I took their Dimensions carefully as follows; from
the extreme tip of the right Horn, to the extreme tip
of the left, as exprest in the annext Table, Figure the
first. by the prick’t Line A. B. was ten Foot ten Inches,
from the tip of the right Horn, to the Root where it
was fastned to the Head, Exprest by the Line C. D. five
Foot two Inches from the Tip of the highest Branch
(measuring one of the Horns transverse, or directly
across the Palme) to the tip of the lowest Branch, ex
prest by the Line G. F. Three Foot Seven Inches and
a Half. The length of one of the Palms within the
Branches, exprest by the Line G. H. Two Foot Six
Inches: The breadth of the same Palm, still within
the Branches, exprest by the Line I. K. One Foot Ten
Inches and a half: The Branches that shot forth round
the edge of each Palm, were Nine in Number, besides
the Brow Antlers, of which the right Antler, exprest
by the Line D. L. was a Foot and Two Inches in length,
the other was much shorter: The Beam of each Horn at
some distance from the Head, where ’tis mark’d M.
was about Two Inches and Six tenths of an Inch, in
Diameter, or about Eight Inches in Circumference;
at the Root where it was fastned to the Head, about
Eleven Inches in Circumference. The length of the
Head, from the back of the Skull to the tip of the
Nose, or rather the extremity of the upper Jaw-bone,
exprest in the Figure by the Line N. O. Two Foot,
the Line P.Q. was a Foot.
The Two Holes near the Roots of the Horns, that
look like Eyes were not so, (for these were placed on
each side the Head in Two ample Cavities, that could
not be well exprest in the Figure) but were large
open Passages, near an Inch in Diameter in the
Forehead Bone, to give way to great Blood-vessels,
that here issue forth from the Head, and pass between
the Surface of the Horn, and the smooth Hairy Skin
that Covers them whilst they are growing, (which is
commonly call’d the Velvet) to supply the Horns
with sufficient Nourishment, while they are soft, and
till they arrive at their full Magnitude, so as to become
perfectly hard and solid. These Vessels, by reason of
their largeness and great turgency of the Humor in
them; whilst the Horn is sprouting and pliant, make
deep and conspicuous furrows all along the outside of
it where they pass; which may plainly be seen after the
Horn is bare and come to its full growth; at
which time all these Veins and Arteries, with the out
ward Velvet Skin, drying by the Course of Nature,
shrivel up and separate from the Horn, and the Beast
affects tearing them off in great stripes against the Bows
of Trees, exposing his Horns naked, when they are
throughly hardned, without any Covering at all.
This I gather, by what Remarks I have made on the Skulls
of other Deer, and what I have observed concerning
the growth of these sort of Horns in Animals of the
like kind, tho' not in this particular sort of Crea
ture.
The Figure I had exactly taken by a skilful Hand, to
shew truly the right shape and size of these kind of
of common Stags Horns, exprest Figure the 2d. and
another of a pair of common Bucks Horns, exprest
Figure the 3d. all done according to the same Scale;
that by this means, at one and the same time, may
appear the grand disproportion between these sorts of
Heads, and also the difference and agreement in their
Shape. (See the Table.)
Such then were the vast Dimensions, according to
which the lofty Fabrick of the Head and Horns of
this stately Creature was Built; and doubtless all the
rest of the parts of its Body answered these in a due
proportion. So that should we compare the fairest
Buck with the Symetry of this mighty Beast, it must
certainly fall as much short of its Proportions as
the smallest young Fawn, compared to the largest
over-grown Buck.
And yet ’tis not to be question’d, but these spacious
Horns, as large as they were, like others of the Deer
Kind, were naturally cast every Year, and grew again
to their full Size in about the Space of Four Months:
For all Species of Deer, yet known, certainly drop
their Horns yearly, and with us ’tis about March, and
about July following they are full summ'd again. Of
which strange Appearance in Nature, the learned
dus Johannes Vossius
Book De Idololatriâ, Lib. 3. Cap. 57. has these Words:
a).
(a) That is, I shall reckon it among the most wonderful Works of
Nature, that Horns so hard and solid, and of so great a Bulk, should grow
up in so short a time.
in his &c. on the same
Occasion expresses himself thus:
miratione dignum est tantam Molem Cornuum & Ramorum
tam brevi tempore quotannis renasci & crescere(b).
And if these judicious Persons were moved thus with
Admiration by considering only the yearly Falling and
sudden Growth of these smaller Horns of Bucks and
Stags, with which alone they were acquainted, what
would they have thought, had they known of these
vast and stupendious Productions of Nature in the same
Kind.
As there seems to me no small Affinity or Agreement
in the Sprouting forth, and Branching of Deers Horns,
with the way of Growth in Vegetables; so I conceive
likewise the constant yearly dropping of them, to pro
ceed much from the same Cause, that Trees annually
cast their ripe Fruit, or let fall their withering Leaves
in Autumn: that is, because the nourishing Juice, say it
is Sap or Blood, is stopt and flows no longer; either
on the account ’tis now deficient, being all spent, or that
the cavous Passages which conveigh it, dry up and cools;
so as the Part having no longer any Communication
with, must of necessity by degrees sever from the Whole;
but with this Difference, that Horns by reason of their
hard Material and strong Composition, stick fast to the
Head by their Root, Seven or Eight Months after all
their Nourishment perfectly retires; whereas Leaves and
Fruit, consisting of a much more tender Substance and
a finer Texture of Parts, drop sooner from their native
(b) That is, Truly it deserves our greatest Wonder that so large a
Body of Horns and Branches should sprout up in so short a time, and be
renewed every Year.
Nourishment is stopt; this Analogy that Nature ob
serves in casting the Horns of Beasts and dropping the
Fruit of Trees, will appear much more evident to any
one that will observe the end of a Stalk, from which
a ripe Orange or any such large Fruit has been lately se
ver’d, and the Butt end of a cast Horn where it fasten'd
to the
shall find so great a Congruity in the shape of both,
that ’twill be apparent Nature works according to the
same Mechanism in one as in t’other.
Discoursing one Day with Excellency the Lord
CapellLord Justices of
perienc’d and accurate Observer of the Works of Nature,
I chanced to mention these Large Horns: He was very
earnest to see them, and so mightily surpris’d at the
sight of their extraordinary Bulk, that my Brother
thought fit to make a Present of them to his Lordship,
which he obligingly accepted; resolving to send them
over, as he said, to William
found some Years since by one Van DelureClare
sort of Marle, and were presented by him to the late
Ormond
valued them so highly for their prodigious largeness,
that he thought them not an unfit Present for the King,
and sent them for Charles the Second
who ordered them to be set up in the Horn-Gallery at
the rest of the large Heads both of Stags and Bucks
that adorn that Place, but this so vastly exceeds the lar
gest of them, that the rest appear to lose much of their
am lately informed, these with the other Heads are
since removed to the Guard-Room out of the Horn-
Gallery.
Folliot
ging for Marle near the Ballymackward
he lives, not far from Fermanagh
Ground, a Pair of these sort of
still in his Possession.
dug up near Barnevall
most compleat of the Two was fixt over the Chimney
in the
and lasting Curiosity to future Ages.
was found near Clanricard, seated on the Shannon
of Gallway
mired by all that view it.
Beams of
these Kind of Horns, may be now seen fastened against one
side of the Common Hall of his Grace Michael Lord
Archbishop of Ardmagh
are both imperfect and want their Palmes, yet by the
vast thickness and length of the Beams, I judge when
entire they much exceeded the Size of those I have gi
ven the Dimensions of above. The Primate told me,
they were found somewhere in the Province of EssexGrace.
To these I should add many more Instances of the
like, as Mountjoy
his House at Meath
ledge within less than Twenty Years, above Twenty,
I might safely say, Thirty Pair of these sort of Horns
have been dug up in several places of this Country, all
found by Accident; and we may well suppose vast
Numbers still remain undiscovered, but to mention any
more of them particularly would be tedious, and to lit
tle purpose, since these may suffice plainly to shew,
this Creature was formerly Common with us in
and an Indigenous Animal, not peculiar to any Territory
or Province, but universally met with in all parts of
the Kingdom.
For if we draw a Line through the several Places of
this Island where these Heads have been found, viz.
the ClareDublinFarmanagh
have mentioned, we shall make a Triangle whose
shortest Side will be in length above an Hundred English
Miles, which is near as large a Figure of this Sort, as
we can well describe in the Map of
And besides, we may reasonably, I think, gather;
That they were not only common in this Country, but
by what Osborn
ther, That they were a Gregarious Animal, as the Na
turalists call them, or such a sort of Creature as affect
naturally keeping together in Herds; as we see the Fallow Deer with us, and as 'tis reported of the Elches in
Rain Deer in the Northern Countries
of
should happen; that Three of their Heads should be all
found within the narrow Compass of one Acre of Ground.
That these and several others, and indeed I think I
may say, all that I have been particularly informed of,
though dug up in far distant Places of
be constantly found buried in a Sort of Marle, seems to
me to intimate, as if Marle was only a Soil that had
been formerly the Outward Surface of the Earth, but
in process of Time, being covered by degrees with ma
ny Layers of Adventitious Earth, has by lying under
Ground a certain Number of Ages, acquired a peculiar
Texture, Consistence, Richness, or Maturity that gives it
the Name of Marle. For of necessity we must allow
the Place where these Heads are now found, was cer
tainly once the external Superfice of the Ground;
otherwise ’tis hardly possible to suppose how they
should come there.
And that they should be so deep buried as we at pre
sent find them, appears to have happen’d, by their ac
cidentally falling where it was soft low Ground; so that
the Horns by their own considerable Gravity might
easily make a Bed where they setled in the yielding
Earth; and in a very long Course of Time, the higher
Lands being by degrees dissolved by repeated Rains, and
washt and brought down by Floods, covered those Pla
ces that were scituated lower with many Layers of
Earth: For all high Grounds and Hills, unless they
consist of Rock, by this means naturally lose a little
every Year of their Height; and sometimes sensibly
become lower even in one Age; of which we may see
several satisfactory Instances related by PlottNatural History of Staffordshire
as for all such Heads that might chance to fall on high
or hard Grounds, where they could not possibly be co
vered or defended, these must of necessity rot, perish,
and be destroyed by the Weather: And for this Reason
it is, that never any of these Horns are discovered in
such sort of Ground, but always in a light Soil, and
in some low Part of the Country.
By what means this Kind of Animal, formerly so
common and numerous in this Country, should now
become utterly lost and extinct, deserves our Conside
ration: and seeing it is so many Ages past, that we
have no manner of Account left to help us in our En
quiry, the most we can do in this Matter is to make
some probable Conjectures about it; I know some
have been apt to imagine this like all other Animals
might have beeen destroyed from off the Face of this
Country by that Flood recorded in the Holy Scripture
to have happened in the the time of
confess is a ready and short way to solve this Difficul
ty, but does not at all satisfy me: For (besides that
that there want not Arguments, and some of them not
easily answer’d, against the Deluge being Universal)
if we consider what a fragil, slight and porous Sub
stance these and the Horns of all Deer are, we can't
well suppose they could by any means be preserv’d en
tire and uncorrupt from the Flood, now above Four
Thousand Years since; and I have by me some of the
Teeth, and one of the lower Jaw-bones of this Crea
ture so perfect, solid, ponderous and fresh, that no one
that sees them can possibly suspect they could have been
in nature so many Ages past: And therefore it seems
more likely to me, this kind of Animal might become
extinct here from a certain ill Constitution of Air in
might occasion an Epidemick Distemper, if we may so
call it, or Pestilential Murren, peculiarly to affect this
sort of Creature, so as to destroy at once great Num
bers of 'em, if not quite ruine the Species.
And this is not so groundless an Assertion as at first
it may appear, if we consider this Island may very well
be thought neither a Country nor Climate so truly
proper and natural to this Animal, as to be perfectly
agreeable to its temper; since for ought I can yet learn
it neither is, nor ever has been an Inhabitant of any of the
adjacent Kingdoms round about us. And besides, the
Three Heads above mentioned, found so close to one
another in the Meath
as if these Animals dyed together in Numbers, as they
had lived together in Herds.
To this purpose I have met with a remarkable Pas
sage in Description of Lapland
speaking of the Cervus Rangifer, an Animal that agrees
in Kind with ours, though it be a quite different Sort
of Deer, he says that whole Herds of them are often
destroy’d by a Raging Distemper common among them;
these are his Words:
noxium qui si ingruant Gregem totum solent pervagare &
ad necem dare; qua de re Johannes Bureus ita habet in
Schedis suis, solet interdum Rangiferos morbus quidam
velut Pestis invadere sic ut moriantur omnes Lappoq;
compellatur novos sibi comparare Rangiferos(c). By
(c) That is, this Kind of Creature is likewise subject to its Diseases
which if they seize a Flock, goes through them all; concerning which
ter the manner of a Plague, affects the Rain Deer, so as they all dye, and
the Laplander is forced to supply himself with new Rain Deer.
which we may see what we conjecture in our Case, is
not meer Supposition, but certainly happens elsewhere
to Animals of the like Kind.
But since we have an Instance of so destructive a
Mortality among Beasts as quite to extinguish a whole
Species at once, we may think some might have esca
ped the Common Calamity; but these being so few in
Number, I imagine as the Country became peopled,
and thickly inhabited; they were soon destroy'd, and
kill'd like other Venison as well for the sake of Food as
Mastery and Diversion. And indeed none of these Ani
mals by reason of their Stupendious Bulk and Wide
Spreading Horns could possibly lye sheltered long in any
Place, but must be soon discovered, and being so con
spicuous and heavy were the more easily pursued and
taken by their numerous Hunters, in a Country all en
vironed by the Sea: For had they been on the wide
Continent they might have fared better, and secured
themselves and their Race till this time, as well as others
of the same Kind have done elsewhere. Of which
more hereafter.
Or had those Barbarous Times been capable of taking
Care for the Preservation of this stately Creature, our
Country would not have entirely lost so singular and
beautiful an Ornament: But this could not be expected
from those savage Ages of the World, which certainly
would not have spared the rest of the Deer Kind, Stags
and Hinds, Bucks and Does, which we still have; but
that these being of much smaller Size, could shelter
and conceal themselves easier under the Covert of
Woods and Mountains, so as to escape utter Destruction.
And here I cannot but observe, that the Red Deer
in these our Days, is much more rare with us in
land
ry of Man: And tho’ I take it to be a Creature, na
turally more peculiar to this Country then to
yet unless there be some care taken to preserve it, I be
lieve in process of time this Kind may be lost also,
like the other sort we were now speaking of.
It remains we should say something concerning the
Proper Name of this Animal, and what Species of
Creature it was to which these stately Horns formerly
belonged. And I must here needs own, that I have
not met to this Day with any Person, that has spent
the least serious thought concerning this matter. So
destitute have we been in this Place of that inquisitive
Genius, that in these later Ages has so much every
where prevailed, in setting the Minds of Men upon a
diligent search after, and making curious and useful
Remarks, on all things that are truly the admirable
Workmanship of Nature.
I know they are vulgarly call'd by ignorant Peo
ple, nay, and some of the learned Vulgus in this Coun
try, Elches Hornes; and that they are so, is an Opini
on generally received, and satisfies such as talk of
them Superficially, without further Enquiry; and be
cause this is an Error that has so Universally prevailed,
I shall take the more pains particularly to Confute it,
and I hope clear this point so from all manner of doubt,
that for the future there shall be no further questions
made of it again; the mistake, I am satisfied, has on
ly proceeded from hence, that we are in these parts
as great Strangers to that sort of Animal call'd the Alche Elche, or Elende, as we are to this of our own
Beast with big Horns; but unless we shall give the
same Name to Two Animals vastly different, which is
Preposterous and breeds Confusion, we must not al
low these Horns should any longer pass under the Name
of Elches Horns.
I have seen a Pair of genuine Elches Horns brought
out of Figure and Size, from these we have now described:
they were abundantly smaller, quite of another shape
and make, not Palmed or broad at the end farthest from
the Head as Ours; but on the contrary, broader to
wards the Head, and growing still narrower towards
the Tips end, the smaller Branches not issuing forth
from both Edges of the Horns as in Ours, but growing
along the upper Edge only, whilst the other Verge of
the Horn was wholly plain without any Branches at all.
And accordingly the faithful
ter of his Book
right Description of them, where he expresses the Fi
gure of the Elche and its Horns apart; and speaking of
the Size of them, he says,
ter Duodecem appendunt, longitudine fere duorum pe
dum(d). Whereas the Horns we find here in
are near thrice that Length, and above double that
Weight; though dry'd and much lighter from their be
ing so long kept: But I confess, I say, this only by esti
mate, not having an opportunity to weigh exactly a sin
gle Horn by itself, though I'm sure I can't be much out.
(d)That is, each Horn weighs about Twelve Pounds, and was in length
almost Two Foot.
Moreover the Elche, as described by
nabenus
a midling Horse: these
ted by Habet hoc Animal crassitiem &
proceritatem mediocris & pinguis Equi(e). And agree
able to this is the Relation given in the Memoirs of the
Parisian Anatomists, who dissected one of them: And I
remember Duncombe
ces of
he had seen there above a Hundred Elches together in
a Herd, and none of them above Five Foot high; and
if so, we cannot imagine a Creature of that small Size,
could possibly support so large and heavy a Head, with
so wide and spreading a Pair of Horns as these we are
speaking of; considering that exact Symetry, and due
Proportion of Parts, Nature observes in the Formation
of all the larger and perfecter sort of Animals.
We must then look out, and try if we can discover
among the various Species of Quadrupeds, some other,
whose Size and Description will better agree with this
our Irish Animal than that of the Elche does: And after
all our Inquiry, we certainly shan't discover any one
that in all respects exactly answers it, save only that
Lofty Horned Beast in the Moose.
This Animal I find described by John Josselyn
among his The
Moose Deer, common in these Parts, is a very goodly
Creature, some of them Twelve Foot high (in height, says
another Author more particularly, From the Toe of the
Fore foot to the Pitch of the Shoulder, Twelve Foot; in
(e) That is, this Animal is about the Height and Thickness of a mid
ling Horse.its full growth much bigger than an Ox) with exceeding
fair Horns with broad Palms, some of them Two Fathom
or Twelve foot from the Tip of one Horn to the other.
That is, Fourteen Inches wider than Ours was.
Another thus describes the Manner of the Indians
Hunting this Creature: They commonly hunt the Moose,
. Thus far what these Authors say of the
which is a kind of Deer, in the Winter, and run him down
sometimes in half, otherwhile a whole Day, when the
Ground is cover'd with Snow, which usually lyes here Four
Foot deep; the Beast, very heavy, sinks every Step as he
runs, breaking down Trees as big as a Man's Thigh with
his Horns, at length they get up with't, and
darting their Lances, wound it so, that the Creature
walks heavily on, till tired and spent with loss of Blood,
it sinks and falls like a ruin'd Building, making the Earth
shake under itMoose.
I do not know any one that has yet obliged the Pub
lick by giving an exact Figure of this stately Creature,
which would be acceptable to the Curious, and very
well worth the while of some of those ingenious Inqui
rers that go into those Parts for the improvement of
Natural History: for I take it next the Elephant, to be
the most remarkable Quadruped for its largeness in the
World. However, in the mean time, by the help of
the foregoing Accounts, we may easily form to our
selves a lively and just Idea of its Figure and Size;
and if we compare the several Parts of those Discripti
ons, with the Beasts whose heads are found here in
land
but these vastly large Irish Deer and the American Moose,
were certainly one and the same sort of Animal, being
all of the Deer Kind, carrying the same sort of Palmed
Horns, which are of the same Size and Largeness as well
Figure; and Bulk of their Bodies corresponding
exactly in Proportion to the wide spreading of their
Horns; So that we may securely assert, that Mooses
formerly were as frequent in this Country, as they have
them still in the Northern Parts of the New England, Virginia, Maryland, Canada or
And least we may think this Animal peculiar to the
Continent, and not to be found in Islands; I lately met
with a remarkable Passage in French Description of the
trary; which, because it likewise illustrates and con
firms what was said before, I'll set down in his own
Words. Speaking of I'l y a
. That is,
une certaine sorte de Beste frequente en ces Pais que les
sauvages noment Mose, de la grandur d'un Taureau, ayant
la Teste d'un Dain, avec les cornes larges que muent tous
les anns, le Col comme une cerf: il se trouve une grande
quantite de ces animaux en une Isle pres de la Terre Fer
me appelle des Anglois Mount ManselThere is
a certain sort of Beast common in this Country, which the
savage Indians call a Moose, as big as a Bull (he had not
seen I suppose those of the largest Size) having the
Head of a Buck, with broad Horns, which they cast every Year, and the Neck of a Deer: there are found also
great Numbers of these Animals in an Island near the Continent call'd by the English,
This may give us reasonable grounds to believe, that
as this Island of
Communication with the Main Land of
have been thus plentifully stockt with this sort of Beast;
so
Ages, long before the late Discovery of that New World,
had some sort of Intercourse with it likewise, (though
'tis not easy, I acknowledge, for us at present to explain
how) for otherwise I do not see, how we can conceive
this Country should be supply'd with this Creature, that
for ought I can yet hear, is not to be found in all our
Neighbourhood round about us, nay, perhaps in any
other Part of
as Old
World; so 'tis nearest of any Country to the most Eastern
Parts of the New-Canada, New-England, Virginia, &c.
the great Tract of Land, and the only one I yet know,
remarkable for plenty of the Moose-Deer.
And we may observe yet farther, That a sort of Alli
ance between these Countries of
dies
partake both in common. Bermudas
ble Quantities of Amber-greese; so on the Western Coast
of
and the Arran
parcels of that precious Substance, so highly valued for
its Perfume. In the Year Constantine
Apothecary of Amber
-greese found near
ces; he bought it for Twenty Pound, and sold it in
don
'twas of a close compact Substance, Blackish and shining
like Pitch; but when it was cut the inside was more
porous, and something of a Yellowish Colour, not so
Grey, close and smooth as the cleanest and best sort of
Amber; but like it, speckled with whitish Grains, and
of a most fragrant Sent; I have still a
that weighs above Six Drams
Three or Four other sorts of Amber, all found on that
Coast of
of a perfect White Substance, exactly answering the De
scrption of that sort of Amber,
ons in his
bræ Grifeæ nondum maturæ
Nor is the kind of Whale-Fish that's often taken in
ger to the Coast of
we may properly, I think, with CharletonTeeth, fixt
only in the lower Jaw; to distinguish it from that Species that gives the Whale Bone, most naturally named
by
its bearded, horny
of which kind likewise there have been Three or Four
stranded in my time; but on the Eastern Coast of this
Country that regards
This
ClusiusExotics
under the Name of
figured by
the 42d. and by
the 1st. but by both under the too general Name of the
my Knowledge, in the Space of Six Years, all on the
Western Coast of this Country; one near
the AntrimShip-harbour, in
the DonnegallAugust,
Seventy one Foot long, exceeding that described by
And then it was, I had an Opportunity of truly in
forming my self what sort of Substance
and in what Part of the Whale 'tis found: concerning
which Matter, Physicians and Naturalists have given the
World such various and false accounts; and 'tis truly
nothing else, but part of the Oyl or liquid Fat of this
particular sort of Whale; which Oyl, at first when
confused and mixt, shews it self like a Whitish Liquour,
of the Consistence and Colour of Whey; but lay'd by in
Vessels to settle; its parts by degrees separate, that
which is lighter and swims a top, becomes a clear Oyl
pellucid like Water, serviceable for all the uses of com
mon Train-Oyl, got out of the Blubber of other Whales,
and that which subsides, because 'tis heavier and of a
closer Consistence, candies together at the Bottom, and
is what is sold for
Pound; when 'tis throughly blanched and refined from
all its filth and the remaining parts of the Oyl, that
otherwise discolours it, and gives it a rancid offensive
Sent. Of this Substance several Hundred Pound
Weight may be gotten out of one Whale, but the clean
sing and curing of it is troublesom, and requires no small
Art, Time and Charge; which occasions the value of
that which is througly refined: The Fat of the whole
Body affords it, but that of the Head gives the great
est Quantity and purest
I have some reason to believe to these Instances of the
Moose Deer, Amber-greese and
rope
we may likewise add some of our more rare Spontaneous
Plants, because they are found growing only in those
Western Parts of
Country, or any of the Neighbouring Kingdoms about us.
I shall mention but Two or Three of many which I
have been told are peculiar to those parts, because I am
not yet well assur'd of the certainty of the others being
so: and those are the Strawberry Tree; not to be found any where of Spontaneous Growth nearer than the most Southern Parts of
France, Italy and
but as a Shrub: whereas in the Rocky Parts of
the Kerry
of the same Lough, where the People of the Country
call it the Cane Apple, it flourishes naturally to that De
gree, as to become a large tall Tree.
in his Observations
takes notice, it does so in Athos
and
thing extraordinary, for saying the
high Tree in
are frequently Four Foot and a half in Circumference,
or Eighteen Inches in Diameter, and the Trees grows
to about Nine or Ten Yards in Height; and in such
plenty that they now cut them down, as the chief Few
el to melt and refine the Ore of the Silver and Lead
Mine, lately discovered near the RossKerry
The other Plant I shall take Notice of is
sive Sedum serratum Latifolium Montanum guttato flore
Parkinsoni & RaiiLondon Pride: I suppose because of its pretty elegant
Flower; that viewed near at hand and examined close
ly, appears very beautiful, consisting of great Variety
of Parts: The whole Plant is most accurately described
by that profound Naturalist
PlantarumPlanta in Hortis
nostris frequentissima est, ubi tamen Sponte oritur nobis
Nondum constat, est autem proculdubio Montium incola(f).
Though he knew no certain place where it grew Spontaneous, not having met with it in all his Travels; nor
any Author mentioning its native Country, yet he
rightly conjectures 'tis a Mountainous Plant, for it grows
plentifully here with us in
the
reputed the highest in KillarnyRoss
great part of the Mountain, and for as much as I un
derstand, like the
alone.
Whether both the foregoing Plants are truly American, I cannot at present determine, but this I know,
that Common Savin is mentioned
by Josselyn
common on the Hills of
assured by an Apothecary of this Town, that he has ga
thered Savin growing wild as a native Shrub in one of
the Islands of County of Kerry
if so, I have reason to believe, that hereafter farther In
quiry may add to these I have given, several other Ex
amples of Things Natural and Common to that and
this Country.
But to leave these Digressions and return to our
Large Irish Deer, which well deserves we should affix
to it some Characteristick Note or Proper Name,
(f) That is, 'tis a Plant common in our Gardens; but where it grows
naturally is not as yet known to us, but certainly 'tis an Inhabitant of the
Mountains.
whereby it may stand ranged hereafter in its right Place
in the History of Animals: since Nature her self seems
by the Vast Magnitude and Stately Horns, she has gi
ven this Creature, to have singled it out as it were, and
shewed it such regard, with a design to distinguish it
remarkably from the common Herd of all other smaller
Quadrupeds. Naturalists have rais'd much Dispute,
what Beast it truly is, that has had the Name given it
by some of them, of
nabenusElche;
would have it the Bisons of
t'other, or neither, I shan't determine; nor do I the
least suspect that this our Animal was meant by it;
however, for its goodly Size and lofty Stature, and to
retain something of an Old Appellation, I think it may
very well lay claim to it, and not improperly be call'd,
nibus Palmatis, incolis Novæ Anglæ & Virginiæ, ubi
frequens, Moose dictum