| Collection | GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections |
| Level | Item |
| Ref No | MS 38/81 |
| Alt Ref No | 94 |
| Title | Papers of David Skene: correspondence: Letter from John Ellis, Gray's Inn, London, to David Skene |
| Date | July 1765 |
| 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 discusses specimens sent by David Skene, which included celliferous corallines, and sertularia, and methods of sending them; he has sent him a small specimen of the snail-bearing coralline and one of the bird's head corallines and will soon send him some plates in which he has taken in some of the foreign celliferous corallines and escharas; he refers to his controversy with Baster and to his opponents in Royal Society including Philip Miller and Sir William Watson; he remarks that Skene is quite right that Linnaeus is wrong in his article on sertularias; he does not know if there are two types of polypes in one coralline; he has never seen any animals alive in the corallina of Linnaeus but their animal nature as yet depends on their structure and chemical analysis; he discusses the nature of sponges and he refers to Dr Solander, to Dr Knight, to the works of Peysonell and to an 'ingenious chemist' Mr Wulfe in this regard; he has not heard of the Comte de Lauragais; Dr Solander promises to write to him; he urges Skene to write to Linnaeus; he would be glad to know if a 'Flora Scotica' is in preparation; he has had a long letter from Dr Garden of Charlestown with several new genera of plants for Linnaeus and an animal between the lacerta and murana which he describes, July 1765. |
| Access Status | Open |
| Access Conditions | The records are available subject to the signed acceptance of the Department's access conditions. |