267 
what was his aim; he began a second harangue to 
convince me he was right. The harangue was worse 
than the lecture,—I was glad of the first opportu- 
nity to turn my back. I got acquainted that night 
with Mr. Wilson of Snow-hill ; he agreed with me 
the lecture upon shells could have been spared. 
Sticks and stones were exhibited as usual. Old 
Da Costa sat enjoying every thing said against Lin- 
neus*, having before him some old yellow paper, 
written very close, which I afterwards understood 
was a lecture upon the fossil and live Asteria. He 
would not deliver it in to the society, for he meant 
to publish it himself. Dr. Fordyce’s dilatory 
snorting took up the whole time, an hour (I think 
I could have said twice as much in ten minutes), so 
that Da Costa waited for another day. I have 
taken a capital rarity this year, Czeada aurita, said 
to be a German insect. St/pha germanica has also 
been taken. We have had the luck of taking a 
great variety of nondescripts, and describing many. 
We should have done much more, but I have been 
assaulted five times with blind attacks of the gout. 
I set out on Saturday for Hastings in Sussex, where 
I hope to meet with some new insects. With 
Marsham’s assistance and my own assiduity, my 
* Da Costa “ appears to have taken great offence at not being 
chosen a member of the Upsal Academy, and conceived an 
antipathy to Linnzeus, which the writer of this has often heard 
him express, but could never before account for. 
“ That Academy was always very select in itschoice of foreign 
members, and subsequent events too amply justified its conduct 
in the present instance.” —J. E. S.—See Selections of the Corre- 
spondence of Linneus, §c., vol. ii. 495. 
