THE BASS ROCK 201 



over with a white cement, and the egg when laid, is bedewed 

 with a thick and viscid moisture, which setting speedily, the 

 egg is soldered as it were, or agglutinated to the subjacent 

 rock." 



The words " one bird was pointed out to me " 

 show that Harvey, if he did not set foot on the Bass, 

 at any rate sailed round it, and therefore his testimony 

 is the more noteworthy when he speaks of its surface (by 

 which he must mean the grass-covered top) being almost 

 entirely covered with nests, presumedly of Gannets, but 

 he does not mention the Gannet. 



20. " Historia Naturalis de Avibus," by Dr. John 

 Jonston (1650) ; 1st ed., p. 131. 



It is hardly necessary to give Jonston's account of the 

 Bass, as it is avowedly copied from Boece and Gesner. 

 One additional item alone Jonston gives us, viz., that he 

 found the flesh of the Gannet hard and requiring wine, 

 which he could state from personal experience of it during 

 a visit to Scotland in 1623. In a later work by Jonston 

 on the "Tilings of Nature "his translator adds, "when 

 I was in Scotland I smelt of them and they smelt hke 

 herrings ! "* 



21. " Musseum Tradescantianum : or, A Collection of 



* "A History of the Wonderful Things of Nature," 1657; for the 

 reference and extract I am indebted to Mr. Mullens. 



