Presented to the libraries of the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO by Betsy Taylor DITRIA ANTIQUIOR, OR ANCIENT DORSETSHIRE. CURIOSITIES OF NATURAL HISTORY. Stereoscopic Views. BY FRANCIS T. BUCKLAND, M.A. STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD ; ASSISTANT SURGEON 2d LIFE GUARDS, AUTHOR OF CURIOSITIES OF NATURAL HISTORY, FIRST SERIES, ETC. EDITOR OF THE LATE DR. BUCKLAND’S BRIDGEWATER TREATISE ON GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. FIFTH EDITION. LONDON : RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, £1.65. per post. 1865. LONDON : R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BREAD STREET HILL. A SLIGHT TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF After death, FOR WHOSE EARLY INSTRUCTION AND PARENTAL CARE I OWE A DEBT OF GRATITUDE I CAN NEVER REPAY. F. T. B. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from University of Toronto https://archive.org/details/curiositiesofnat00buck_0 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 book 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 shore of the ocean — without finding almost at every step something or other worthy of observa¬ tion ; may-be our 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 destruc¬ tive 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 plea¬ sure 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 Royal 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. PREFACE. The publication of my labours has 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. Francis T. Buckland, 2nd Life Guards Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE. 1. Ichthyosaurus Vulgaris. 2. Ichthyosaurus Tenuirostris 6. Pentacrinites Briasseus (or the Hundred-handed). (or the slender-jawed). 3. Plesiosaurus Dolichodeirus (or the Long-necked). 4. Pterodactyls. 5. Dapedius (or the fish with scales like a Paving-stone). 7. Cuttle Fish. 8. Ammonites. 9. Crocodile. 10. Zamia (or “Fossil Birds’ nest.”) The Frontispiece is a remarkable drawing by my Father’s friend, the late lamented Sir Henry Delabeche, which might well be called a Prae-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, I 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 sea-girt 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 and described by Palaeontologists, 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 Lizard Fish; in form and structure not unlike the marine mammals 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 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, etc. 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 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. 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. This 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 oar-weed 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 Coprolites. 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, and we know this because the ink of the cuttlefish is found staining the fossil Coprolites. 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 be 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. Their remains are seen at the bottom of the sea, where they would gradually become 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 pentagonal 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 starfish," 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 Zarina, 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 strewn the bones and carcasses of its inhabitants, both small and great. Saurians, fishes, mollusks, and shells, have all 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 theirs; but also endeavor 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!" Sale of Dr. Buckland’s Private Collection — The “Bucklandian Museum” bequeathed to the University of Oxford — Its valuable Contents — Visitors to the Auction Room — 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 — Modern 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 Pond-mud — Wound and Mole Tracks — Evidence from Dry Mud — Footprints of Ducks, Geese, Herons, Snipes, and Rats — Phenomena at “Compensation Pond” — Modern Illustrations of Fossil “Omithocrites” — Duck’s Footprint in Roman Cement — Cow’s Footprints in Otmoor, act as Duck Traps — Footprints from Storton Hill — The Botheration-therium — Cheirotherium — How to get out of Difficulty — Evidence from Fossil Castings, 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. APPENDIX. Page 54. 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. African Trophies — Oats’ Heads — Various Expressions of their Faces — The Head of a Poacher— Shot Dead — 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 — “Expediting” 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. Cases to prove this—Experiments—They will eat Flesh and Young Game—Cannibal Habits—Hibernation of Hedgehogs—John Hunter’s Experiments—His Letter to Mr. Jenner—Majendie’s Hogs—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. IN MEMORIAM. Vouches on the late Mr. Buckland—His Oxford Lectures—The Oxford Bust—The Westminster Abbey Bust—Its Inscription. A HUNT ON THE SEA-SHORE. The 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”. 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. 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 Color 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 Relic — 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. The Lobster’s “Looking-glass” 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 — Then Food and Colour — Their Marsupial Pouch — The Warts 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 — Snow-blind 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 — “Redding 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 Dyeing Nets — 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. slain, and boiled down for Oil — Dissection on a large Scale — 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 “Kangaroo,” or “Bunyip” — Stories of the Natives — The Skull discovered— Its real Nature — Disappointment for the Curious— Hints for Collectors — Mermaid and Mermen — The Spitalfields Mermaid — Its Exhibition — Examination and Report 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 Remark — Account in The Mirror — The Album — Bad Jokes — The Plymouth Whale exhibited at Oxford — Description and Advertisement — The 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 Oesophagus, or Gullet — Jonah 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 Rev. Dr. Buckland, Dean of Westminster. — 3rd January, 1857. It is about three years ago that a sale took place at Stevens' Auction Rooms, in King Street, Covent Garden, of the private collection of minerals, fossils and curiosities collected by my father, the late Rev. Dr. Buckland, D.D., Dean of Westminster, &c. This great Geologist had been from his earliest days an enthusiastic collector; endowed with a wonderful acuteness of observation, he picked up and put away many things which a superficial observer would think worthless, but which he, with his usual eloquence and tact, would turn to account in some future lecture, as illustrating the former condition of the planet on which we live; and set forth, as one of the many instances of the wisdom and the goodness of the great Creator towards the most humble of his creatures. THE BUCKLANDIAN MUSEUM. The greater part of the collection which he had made during his numerous geological trips both in England and Europe, he bequeathed by will to the University of Oxford, in the following words: — “I give and bequeath to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and his successors for the time being, for the use of my successors in the said University, as Readers in Geology for the time being, all my geological specimens, minerals, models, maps and geological charts, drawings, sections and engravings connected with geology, which shall be in the Clarendon at the time of my decease.” — Extract from Dr. Buckland’s Will. The University has but lately voted a sum of money to Dr. Buckland’s accomplished successor in the Professorial chair, Professor Phillips, for the purpose of arranging and labeling the specimens, previous to their removal from the Clarendon Buildings, to the new Museum recently erected near Wadham College. This collection, now called the “Bucklandian Museum,” is particularly rich in cave bones. The history of caves in which the bones of extinct animals have been found was the Doctor’s great forte, as has been well exemplified by his “Reliquiae Diluvianae,” and other publications; and accordingly, we find at Oxford, cabinets full of the most gigantic shells, and bones of monstrous Elephants, Rhinoceros, Bears, Hyenas, and Wolves, which formerly roamed unmolested by man, not only over the greater part of Europe, but even over the ground on which this great Metropolis is built. Ages have passed away, but in their gravel charnel-houses they have left their bones; incontrovertible evidence of their once having inhaled the same air we now breathe, and pressed with their feet the same ground we now walk upon. These dry bones, united into perfect forms by the acumen of Dr. Buckland, or touched by the magic wand of Professor Owen, again in these days start into life, grim ferocious monsters of the past: at our ease we study their forms and their anatomy; forms which, while evincing marvelous adaptation of means to ends, and Omniscient foresight, fill our minds with awe at the power of God, and the vastness of his creation. But besides the collection at Oxford, Dr. Buckland also formed a private museum, which, at his death, shared the usual fate of private collections. It was by the late Rev. J. MacEnery, F.G.S. (Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. 1859) — in which are sixteen beautiful lithographic drawings, intended by Dr. Buckland to illustrate a second volume of "Reliquiae Diluvianae," which, however, he never finished. By permission of Dr. Buckland’s Executors, they are now published in aid of the Torquay Natural History Society, for the further explorations of Kent’s Cavern, and Brixham Cavern. E. Yivian, Esq., is the able editor of this work. THE AUCTION ROOM. transferred, in company with his scientific books, from the library and drawing-room to the dismal, condemned cell of the Auctioneer. Specimens that had been gathered by the same hand, from the same place, hundreds of miles away from home, and which had lain side by side in the same drawer many a long year, and which had been lectured on, disputed about, and admired by crowds of the most learned of savants, including, in many instances, even the great Cuvier himself, were now to be ruthlessly torn one from the other, destined never again to meet in their snug beds of cotton wool, and bedsteads of cardboard, canopied over by a gorgeous mansion of mahogany. In the auction-room I found the usual representatives of the various classes of society, deputations from the British Museum, and many learned societies of the metropolis; from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; first-class dealers in minerals; and proprietors of stores in Wardour Street, and swarms of smaller “curiosity dealers,” whose dens are to be found in out-of-the-way corners, in out-of-the-way streets; and who came to buy anything that went cheap, either animal, vegetable, or mineral, out of that large class termed the “miscellaneous.” I found knowing old stagers in spectacles, who came to buy the pick of the auction, and who merely glanced at the trays as they were handed round; and green, young, ardent collectors, who seized hold of the trays as they were passed along, and retained them, examining specimen after specimen, to the annoyance of the tray-bearer, and the discomfort of others who also wished to examine. Lastly, I observed carpenters with paper caps and aprons, who came to buy the cabinets and the bookshelves, and a good sample of dirty Jews, for without their presence a London auction cannot possibly take place. The first lots consisted principally of minerals from many parts of the world; of Sulphurs and Celestines from Sicily, a very numerous collection, comprising beautiful and well-chosen specimens; most of them showing something different from their neighbours, and all of them in good condition — one specimen in particular was exceptionally beautiful; it was “A fine museum specimen of Sulphate of Strontium, on native Sulphur from Sicily.” It was a mass as large as, and about the shape of, a lady’s good-sized work-box; and exhibited a natural miniature grotto extending three or four inches into the specimen, from the sides of which projected most beautiful needle-shaped crystals, in some parts nearly meeting at the centre, and all glittering and resplendent. The specimens of Fluors and Spars from Durham, Cumberland, and Derbyshire, attracted much notice; as well as some good examples of crystallized sandstone from Fontainebleau, which are now becoming more and more rare. Most of the minerals, I understood, were bought by Mr. Tennant, of the Strand, to complete the Stowe Collection, which in the aggregate is the finest in England, and which I hear he intends to make quite complete. After the minerals came several trays of Coprolites. Dr. Buckland was one of the first who made out the history of these curious formations. Along the sea shores at Lyme Regis, in Dorsetshire, peculiar looking stones were many years ago found in great numbers, and they were called “Bezoar Stones," from their external resemblance to the concretions in the gall bladder of the Bezoar goat, once so celebrated in medicine; and they were imagined to be recent concretions of clay, such as are continually formed by the action of the waves, on clay-formed beaches. Not so, however; Dr. Buckland proved that they were the fossil excrement of the extinct monsters, the Ichthyosaurs and Plesiosaurs; whose fossil remains are found so plentifully in the same locality. The following are some lines relative to coprolites, written by a certain learned and witty Fellow of New College: Approach, approach, ingenuous youth, And learn this fundamental truth: The noble science of Geology Is founded firmly in Coprology. For ever be the Saurians blest, Who left us this diluvian test. I claim a grand coronam lauri, For these, Thesauri of the Sauri. abundantly at Lyme Regis and other places. In the Frontispiece will he seen the skeletons of these creatures gradually becoming covered with mud at the bottom of the water. Many of the specimens of coprolites at the auction were the very specimens used to illustrate the points insisted upon by Dr. Buckland, in his paper on this subject, published in the Geological Transactions, February, 1829, and also engraved in his Bridgewater Treatise. Several of them were highly polished, and exhibited well the scales, teeth, and bones of the fish which the Saurians had eaten and half digested, some also contained the bones of small Ichthyosauri, which had been devoured by their cannibal relatives (see Frontispiece, figs. 1 — 5). In most of them was manifest the peculiar jet black colour which is probably the remains of the ink-bags of Sepias or Cuttle-fish (see Frontispiece, fig. 7), proving that the ever hungry Ichthyosaurus sometimes made his dinner of such small fry as cuttle-fish. Many, again, of these coprolites were unpolished, but not the less valuable for that; for they showed on their surfaces peculiar spiral marks impressed on them when in a soft state in the body of the devouring animal. Others exhibited, on careful examination, minute marks derived from the vessels of the intestines in which they were formed; thus demonstrating the structure of the mucous lining of the intestines of these pre-Adamite monsters. In order to follow this subject up, the Doctor had obtained and injected with plaster of Paris the intestines of dog-fish, skates, and other recent fish, which have the same peculiar spiral form of intestine as the fossil creatures must have had. Many of these recent specimens, prepared by his own hand, were placed in the tray side by side with the fossil remains, to act as interpreters of their real nature. Some of these coprolites have been turned to purposes of art, under the name of “Beetle-stones.” Dr. Buckland had a table in his drawing-room that was made entirely with these coprolites, and which was often much admired by persons who had not the least idea of what they were looking at. I have seen in actual use ear-rings made of polished portions of coprolites (for they are as hard as marble); and while admiring the beauty of the wearer, have made out distinctly the scales and bones of the fish which once formed the dinner of a hideous lizard, but now hang pendulous from the ears of an unconscious belle, who had evidently never read or heard of such things as coprolites. Dr. Buckland was, I believe, one of the first, if not the first, who called attention to the application of these coprolites for purposes of manure. In a paper published in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, he recommends the use of coprolites as a fertilizer, stating that they are a natural source of nitrogen and can be effectively used in agriculture. He also notes that the use of coprolites in agriculture was already practiced in some parts of Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, where they were used as a fertilizer for potato crops. Dr. Buckland's paper marked a significant shift in the use of coprolites, from a subject of purely scientific interest to a practical application in agriculture. November, 1849, "On the causes of the General presence of Phosphates in the strata of the Earth and in all fertile soils; with observations on Pseudo-Coprolites, and on the possibility of converting the contents of Sewers and Cesspools into manure," he writes: "Professor Liebig five or six years ago invited the attention of agriculturists to the possibility of applying to the same use as bone-dust and guano, the fossil bones and coprolites which occur together in certain beds of the Lias formation. This invitation took place not many months after I had the honour of conducting him to the well-known bone-bed in the lower region of the Lias at the Aust Passage Cliffs, on the left bank of the Severn, near Bristol, where two beds of Lias (each from one to two feet thick) are densely loaded with dislocated bones, and teeth and scales of extinct reptiles and fishes, interspersed abundantly with coprolites derived from animals of many kinds which seem to have converted that region into the cloaca maxima of ancient Gloucestershire at the time of the commencement of the formation of the Lias." Ever ready to apply his knowledge to practical purposes, Dr. Buckland in the above paper, after analyzing the probable chemical causes of the present condition of these coprolites, gives some valuable hints as to the possibility of imitating the natural processes that co-operated in their production; and of converting the valuable phosphates of our sewers to the manufacture of a similar manure, by placing sewage water into conditions analogous to those which attended the formation of phosphates in the crag, and in other strata formed at the bottom of ancient seas and lakes. Next in order in the list came a quantity of shells, both recent and fossil, from Hordwell Cliff, Lyme Regis, Isle of Wight, &c., and among them several very good specimens of Ammonites (so called because they are coiled like the horn of Jupiter Ammon), which had been cut and polished showing their internal structure; the animal itself had died and rotted away ages ago at the bottom of chaotic seas (Frontispiece, fig. 8), and the shell, remaining empty, became converted into a fossil. Several sections, &c. of recent Nautilus shells were placed with them to illustrate the anatomy of the extinct shell by that of its still surviving relation. This tray brought to my mind the beautiful verses of the AMMONITE AND NAUTILUS. They sailed all day through creek and bay, And traversed the ocean deep; And at night they sank on a coral bed, In its fairy bowers to sleep. And the monsters vast of ages past They beheld in their ocean caves; They saw them ride in their power and pride, And sink in their deep sea graves. And they came at last to a sea long past, But as they reached its shore, The Almighty’s breath spoke out in death, And the Ammonite lived no more. We next observed a tray full of bones of the flying lizard, the Pterodactyl (Frontispiece, fig. 4), whose headquarters seem to have been situated at Stonesfield, near Oxford, for at this place their great long wing-bones are found pretty abundantly in the slate quarries. It was often a puzzle to those who attended Dr. Buckland's lectures on the understanding of how so many separate bones of these Pterodactyles are found. He illustrated this point by the dry body of a bird picked up on the sea-shore; as putrefaction advances, the bones become separated one from the other. The long wing-bones soon get loose, and, weighed down by the feathers attached to them (the pterodactyle had wings of a leather-like substance), sink to the bottom, the rest of the body floating away. Pterodactyle bones are also found frequently at Lyme Regis. Among my father’s MSS, I find the following letter from his friend, and, I am proud to say, my friend, My dear Buckland, What do you think of this for a motto? "Cesserunt nitidis habitandae piscibus undae, Terra feras cepit, volucres agitabilis aer. Sanctius his animal, mentisque capacius altae Deerat adhuc, et quod dominari in caetera posset." Ovid, Metam. lib. i. fab. i. THE STONESFIELD OPOSSUM. The late lamented Mr. Broderip. It is too clever to remain "buried in a scrap-hook. I trust the Mayor of Lyme will forgive Mr. Broderip’s classical joke. The "great gem" of the Stonesfield fossils, the jaw of the Phascolotherium, a small marsupial or pouched animal (hence such a big name for such a little creature), the first, and, at one time, the sole evidence of mammalian life having existed at the earlier period of the earth’s history, when this slate was deposited, was not at the auction; it has found a good, and, we trust, a lasting home. If you can construe fossils as “crocodiles,” and vertebrae as “pterodactyls” — and why not? — there is as pretty a motto running on all fours as you shall see; winding up, moreover, with an elegant compliment to the Mayor of Lyme (if there be one) as the “sanctius animal,” although he may resemble some of the animals represented in your drawing (see Frontispiece) in his dining propensities. If you want to make it fit the Mayor exactly, you must adopt the reading of the Codex Meimobianus — “Sanctius his animal ventrisque capacius alii Deerat ahuc, et quod dominari in cetera posset.” Yours ever, my dear B., Baymond’s Buildings. W. Broderip. There are many who are deterred from the study of Palaeontology, or the science of things which existed long ago (Paleontology, long ago), by the hard names applied to the animals submitted to their notice. Let them only understand the meaning of the Greek names given to these animals, which is easily done by the help of Liddell and Scott’s dictionary, and they will find that these hard words are full of meaning, and the very best that could be used. DR. BUCKLAND’S HAMMERS. 