Robert Rawlinson.
Barnacles in the River Thames.—In Porta's Natural Magic, Eng. trans., Lond. 1658, occurs the following curious passage:
"Late writers report that not only in Scotland, but also in the river of Thames by London, there is a kind of shell-fish in a two-leaved shell, that hath a foot full of plaits and wrinkles: these fish are little, round, and outwardly white, smooth and beetle-shelled like an almond shell; inwardly they are great bellied, bred as it were of moss and mud; they commonly stick in the keel of some old ship. Some say they come of worms, some of the boughs of trees which fall into the sea; if any of them be cast upon shore they die, but they which are swallowed still into the sea, live and get out of their shells, and grow to be ducks or such like birds(!)."
It would be curious to know what could give rise to such an absurd belief.
Speriend.
Note for London Topographers.—
| "The account of Mr. Mathias Fletcher, of Greenwich,for carving the Anchor Shield and King's Armsfor the Admiralty Office in York Buildings, deliveredNov. 2, 1668, and undertaken by His Majesty's commandsignified to me by the Hon. Samuel Pepys, Esq.,Secretary for the Affairs of the Admiralty: | |||
| £ | s. | d. | |
| "For a Shield for the middle of thefront of the said office towards the Thames,containing the Anchor of Lord High Admiralof England with the Imperial Crownover it, and cyphers, being 8 foot deep and6 foot broad, I having found the timber,&c. | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| "For the King's Arms at large, withornaments thereto, designed for the pedimentof the said front, the same being inthe whole 15 foot long and 9 foot high, Ifinding timber, &c. | 73 | 15 | 0 |
| ———— | |||
| £103 | 15 | 0" | |
Extracted from Rawlinson MS. A. 170, fol. 132.
J. Yeowell.
The Aliases and Initials of Authors.—It has often occurred to me that it would save much useless inquiry and research, if a tolerable list could be collected of the principal authors who have published their works under assumed names or initials: thus, "R. B. Robert Burton," Nathaniel Crouch, "R. F. Scoto-Britannicus," Robert Fairley, &c. The commencement of a new volume of