Normanton, <1>
3d March, 1817.
My Dear Trevelyan,
I have to thank you for Two letters – I found the various extracts contained in them very amusing, nor had I seen any of them before – I suppose the phosphorescent appearance of Dicranum taxifolium must have been an optical deception – I don’t take in Thomson’s Annal’s <2> <sic> now, and yet I am sorry I don’t – I think the fall in the Thermometer during the Eclipse was less than might have been expected, but had the Eclipse taken place in the middle of Summer, & during the Heat of the Day, no doubt it would have caused a more notable fall – Bye the bye I have been amusing myself lately with calculating Eclipses, & I find among others, that there will be undoubtedly an Annular Eclipse of the Sun, on the sixth of September 1820. in the morning – In England it will not be annular, but in most parts of Italy it will, & I hope to see it, as I may perhaps be in Italy then. The Eclipse will be Annular for four Minutes exactly. I doubt whether it will cause sufficient darkness to render any of the Stars visible, unless perhaps the Planet Venus – I shall not be in Town at Easter, nor for some Months – Tell me where your direction is in Town, and direct to me
Normanton
Stamford
for I find that is my Post Town.
I know a little of Pursh’s Flora Americæ, And think it a very nice work – Your Lichen pustulatus was covered with little bushy excrescences, which are a genuine sign of a Gyrophora – The representations of the true fructification seem very odd; twisted like the head of a large pin, whence I presume the name – Do you recollect the Calicium we found at Harrow? <3> It is Sphærocephalum, not chrysocephalum as we thought. Did you ever find Lichen saxatilis in fruit – I have it very good – Mr Hooker <4> sent me the other day several plates of his new work; they are beyond anything pretty Did I tell you about the new Blowpipe I saw in London? I should be much obliged to you for an impression of your engraving – and also if you will procure for me at Oxford, “ Robertson’s Treatise <5> on such mathematical instruments as are usually put into a portable case” – the author of which I suppose is your Professor of Savilian Geometry and enquire for me at any mathematical instrument maker’s or optician’s the price of a good Sector. I suppose the Problem of finding remains of Tropical plants in England, may be solved by supposing (with Whiston <6>) that the Deluge was caused by the Earth’s being involved in the Tail of the great Comet which appeared again in 1680 – & whose periodical time is accurately known to be 575 years – If therefore we subtract 575 from 1680 we find it appeared in 1105 – before that in 530 – 45 A.C. when Julius Cæsar <7> was killed – where the Poëts make much mention of it, 620 A.C. – 1195 A.C. – 1770 A.C. And 2345 A.C. – – which is the received time of the Deluge – It might at the same time have materially changed the direction of the Earth’s Axis, & made what were the Tropics then – the Temperate Zones now
I remain,
Yr Affte Friend
W. H. F. Talbot
Near Fowey & elsewhere: a single white flower | Silene maritima, Common enough. |
The Lands End, – a white panicled flower, | Samolus Valerandi, Common enough, |
From Trevelyan – a large yellow Flower, | Bartsia viscosa, Rare, 4 counties only, – mentioned in several places, in Devonshire & Cornwall. |
Common near Sea Coast, a white flower | Arenaria verna, I think: Mr Dillwyn did not know it: – verna is an absurd name, for an <Au>tumnal plant. – Rare, 10 counties, not mentioned in Cornwall or Devonshire. |
Goonhilly Downs, | Erica vagans, 4 counties. |
Moss on Brendon Hill, an elegant blue flower. | Campanula hederacea, Rare. 12 counties, – Plentiful in Devonshire & Cornwall |
near Pensance <sic> . – near Tintagel | Mentha rotundifolia, Rare, 17 counties. – mentioned in Cornwall. |
near the Lands End, a little plant, with white whirled <sic> blossoms, | Illecebrum verticillatum, very rare, – only Devonshire & Cornwall. |
W. C. Trevelyan Esqr
University Coll.
Oxford
Notes:
1. Normanton, Rutlandshire.
2. Thomas Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy, first published in 1814.
3. Harrow School: WHFT attended from 1811–1815 and his son Charles from 1855-1859.
4. Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865), Prof & botanist.
5. John Robertson (1712–1776), A treatise of such mathematical instruments, as are usually put into a portable case. Shewing some of their uses in arithmetic … with an appendix containing the description and use of the gunners callipers… (London: Printed for J. Nourse, 1775).
6. Probably William Whiston (1667–1752), mathematician.
7. Julius Caesar ( ca.102–44 BC).