The cabinet, which is under the care of Dr. Hooke, a man of genius, and of much esteem in experimental matters, was founded by Daniel Colwal, now Treasurer of the Academy, and is full of the greatest rarities, brought from the most distant parts; such as quadrupeds, birds, fishes, serpents, insects, shells, feathers, seeds, minerals, and many petrifactions, mummies, and gums; and every day, in order to enrich it still more, the Academicians contribute every thing of value which comes into their hands; so that in time it will be the most beautiful, the largest, and the most curious, in respect to natural productions, that is any where to be found. Amongst these curiosities, the most remarkable are: an ostrich, whose young were always born alive; an herb which grew in the stomach of a thrush; and the skin of a moor, tanned, with the beard and hair white: but more worthy of observation than all the rest, is a clock, whose movements are derived from the vicinity of a loadstone, and it is so adjusted as to discover the distance of countries at sea by the longitude." (Weld, I.219)