[Reply to No. 8 of the above Series.]
[Fol. 1.] Worthy Sr,—my due thanks premised I at present acquaint yw yt yw have very well named ye Rutilus & expressed fully ye cours to bee taken in ye imposition of names viz ye most obvious & most peculiar difference to ye ey or any other sens. I am farther to say yt ye icon of ye weazeling came not to my hands, pray bee pleas'd to look amongst yr papers perhaps it might bee laid by through some accident or other [I have added above] ye figures of yr anas macrolophos, & of ye mergi cristati [[see Note 124]] & of ye pristis yt which came from Cornwall was of ye gladius, ye name of sword fish being applied to both of them by our nation. It seemeth by yw yt ye Norwich aspredo is not ye Ceruna fluviatilis contrary to what Camden affirms, for ye rutilus mentioned in mine to yw differs toto cœlo from ye ceruna—The difference of ye Elks bill by yw signified is remarkable to distinguish it from others of its own kind. [See [p. 83] supra.] The crackling teal seems [clearly crossed out] to bee ye same which Dr Charleton[130] mentions in his Onomasticon under ye name of ye cracker,& showing him yr description hee acknowledged to bee ye same, ye clangula I know noe more of than reading hath informed mee, a willock I have seen brought from Greenland where they are said exceedingly to abound, but never yt [thought?] either of them was found in England, & having [not added above] taken sufficient notice of it ye later, crave yr description off both.
[130] In Charleton's "Onomasticon," at p. 99, the Cracker is called by him, Anas caudacuta, and is said to be the "Gaddel" of the London dealers in fowl. [[See Note 125.]]
And now Sr since my last only 2 things remarkable haue come to my knowledge. The one was a cake off black amber 1/6 off an inch thick & neer a palm each way. Mr. Boyle brought it to ye R. society to whom it was sent from ye Sussex shore, hee had only tryed it to its electricity & found it answer his expectation, farther tryals will be made of it. The second is a small plant found on oyster shells which when fresh did perfectly represent ye flowers off Hyacinthus botryoides, [[see Note 91]] but yt was somewhat longer & not so much sweld out towards its pedunculus, some of them are here inclosed. Tis doubtless a sort off vesicaria, though much different from what yw sent mee. Most off them are now shrunk & ye sides constituting ye cavity come together & appear only a transparent husk. One thing more I had to add (but scarcely dare speak it out) yt is if it would please [you added above] to let it bee done without yr charge & 2ly if it might be done without yr trouble, then I would beg off yw to set some a work to procure mee some of those rare animals &c. yw have mentioned in your seueral Letters. My intention therein is double: first to take their descriptions & furnish our colledge with them as curiosities, all being lost by ye fire this is onely wished but must not bee proposed without ye former limitation by yr too much allready obliged friend & servant
Chr. Merrett.
8th May '69.
I met this week with some persons off quality high Germans who lately saw yr son & record all good things off him.
ffor Dr Browne off Norwich.
[The reply to this letter is No. IX of the above Series.]