| Collection | GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections |
| Level | Item |
| Ref No | MS 38/91 |
| Alt Ref No | 104 |
| Title | Papers of David Skene: correspondence: Letter from John Ellis, Gray's Inn, London, to David Skene |
| Date | 11 July 1767 |
| Extent | 1 item |
| Creator Name | John Ellis (c.1710-1776), zoologist |
| Description | Letter from John Ellis, Gray's Inn, London, to David Skene in which he states that he has received the pinnatula for the Duchess of Portland; he is busy with linens and West Florida; has written to Linnaeus in defence of the chapter of corallinae 'which Dr Pallas brings to the vegetable kingdom as well as Job Baster' but criticises some of Pallas's conclusions; he remarks that 'another absurdity is to believe Mr Meese, that he found a true coralline growing on a heath far from the sea'; he tells Skene about experiments he had previously carried out before the Premium Society made to prove that corallines were animals and mentions Mr Miller, Dr Maningham and Sir Hans Sloane's 'History of Jamaica' (1707); he received a specimen of eschara from Dr Parson of Oxford but states that the one he received from Skene was the first and that he shall be credited as the discoverer; he intends to go through Pallas' work and point out all the mistakes in it 'since he has been so free with me'; the second part of his letter from Linnaeus cannot be read until November when the society meets, it concerned the difference between confervas and corallines; he discusses zoophytes and expresses his confusion over Pallas' notion of a vegetating animal; he asks for further instruction on finding a microscope for Skene; he is anxious to try Munckhausen's experiments on seeds of fungus and smut of wheat, 11 July 1767. |
| Access Status | Open |
| Access Conditions | The records are available subject to the signed acceptance of the Department's access conditions. |