| Collection | GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections |
| Level | Item |
| Ref No | MS 38/62 |
| Alt Ref No | 135 |
| Title | Papers of David Skene: correspondence: Letter from David Skene to John Ellis |
| Date | 5 July 1765 |
| Extent | 1 item |
| Creator Name | David Skene (1731 - 1770), M.D., of Aberdeen |
| Description | Letter from David Skene to John Ellis in which he describes 3 new species of 'sertularia' that he has found; he remarks that from examining many species, he suspects that the eburnea and cornuta are varieties of the same species as were the reptans and the scruposa; he remarks 'I have looked into Mr Baster but as yet can perceive nothing but a man with a plain road before him bewildering and losing himself in a mist of his own making. Can anything be more pleasant than to find honest Job overcome with the difficulty of discovering how the animal makes the cell, endeavouring to solve it by telling us that the cell makes the animal'; he believes there is a strong resemblance between the human epidermis and the outermost cortical tegument of vegetables; he states that they have never yet been able to show that the epidermis is formed by man and shouldn't wonder at a Dutch philosopher finding that man is formed by it; Skene doesn't think that nature should be limited by the little that they know about it and discusses different modes of existence and proof and probability; he wonders if Linnaeus has been 'perverted to this strange Dutch theory' and points to mistakes Linnaeus has made with his sertularia; he asks if it is fact that Mr Baster advances that different species of polypas are to be found in the same sertularia and if he has ever observed any animal in corallines of Linnaeus or do the proofs of animal nature depend still on structure and chemical analysis; he asks Ellis if anything more distinct has happened with regard to sponges; he tells Ellis that he will ask regarding the seemingly truncated baderlock and will try to obtain more; he asks Ellis to send him some sertularia; he refers to correspondence with Dr Solander and states that he intends to write to Linnaeus; he tells Ellis that he has seen the Comte de Lauraguais and remarks that he is a 'good chemist and naturalist', 5 July 1765. |
| Access Status | Open |
| Access Conditions | The records are available subject to the signed acceptance of the Department's access conditions. |