| Collection | GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections |
| Level | Item |
| Ref No | MS 38/100 |
| Alt Ref No | 113 |
| Title | Papers of David Skene: correspondence: Letter from John Ellis, Gray's Inn, London, to David Skene |
| Date | 26 December 1770 |
| 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 apologises for not sending the specimens of zoophytes that he wanted and describes some that he will send; he still lives in hope of seeing Banks and Solander though he has fears about them; he has not been able to get much done on the second volume partly due to the 'intolerable indolence and impertinence of the engraver; he has given the characters and figure of the new illicium or starry tree to the Royal Society and to correct the character of the alua floridasea of Caterby vulgo Loblolly Bay and the hypericum lacianthus of Linnaeus; he leaves an interpretation of what Pallas means by vegetating animals to Skene; he has tried to convince David McBride of Dublin that the cause of putrification in dead animal and vegetable substances is due to the animalcula which arise from them in an infusion of water as much as to the loss of the 'fixt air' in such bodies; he has found many animals new to him in these infusions and he believes that Needham has not been careful in his experiments on infusions; he describes the microscope he uses; he has received a letter from Linnaeus with several botanical criticisms and one from Linnaeus for Dr Garden, 26 December 1770. |
| Access Status | Open |
| Access Conditions | The records are available subject to the signed acceptance of the Department's access conditions. |