366 ALCA IMPENNIS. 
Iceland, where he afterwards resided. I made a copy in a parallelo- 
gram of the inscription on my egg’, when Herr Brandt immediately 
said: ‘Ah, yes! The inscription was on paper; in those days, square 
cut ; afterwards Icelandic eggs had the paper lozenge-shaped. ‘The 
‘Geier Ei,’ you would observe, was in different writing to the scien- 
tific name, which was added by me, while the former was written in 
Iceland: ‘12 m7’ proves most positively that it was mine, for at that 
time I so marked the prices of the eggs which I afterwards represented 
by letters. So ‘12 m’ meant twelve marks, the price I paid for the 
egg, while I soldthem in England for seventeen marks, or one pound 
sterling. Argent, Tucker and his son-in-law Attenasio, and others 
had dealings with me. Gould was over here and I was withhim. I 
think I sent him two of the eggs. It must have been about 1836, as 
I know from the age of my son here. I will refer to my books, and 
I can perhaps find how many eggs I had, and also who had them all. 
A man at Oldenburg has an egg, for which he has been offered one 
hundred thalers, and he will not take it. I will write to you what I 
find in my books.” 
[Herr Brandt was as good as his word, as a note, dated the following day, 
from him to Mr. Wolley, and inserted in the latter's ‘ Egg-book,’ shews; but 
the information was not precise. However, in April 1858, he wrote again, 
stating positively that on the 6th of September, 1835, he sold three eggs of 
Alca impennis to Mr. Gould, Mr. Leadbeater, and Mr. Tucker for five pounds 
(or £1 13s. 4d. each), Meanwhile, Mr. Wolley, in February 1858, had been 
furnished by Mr. Gould with a memorandum from his books to the effect that 
on the lst of November, 1836, he sold to Mr. Bevan for £2 this egg, which he 
had bought of Herr Brandt for £1 16s.—the difference of exchange in foreign 
money accounting probably for the slight discrepancy; but Mr. Bevan’s 
memory must have been at fault, since he believed he had paid only £1 8s. 
for the egg, and was content with that price from Mr. Wolley. 
Thus the documentary history of this egg shews that it was sent by Brandt 
on the 6th of September, 1835, to Gould, who sold it to Mr. Bevan on the 1st 
of November, 1836, and that it was resold by that gentleman to Mr. Wolley, 
who received it from him on the 12th of December, 1846. On the 22nd of 
February, 1858, Mr. Wolley sent it to Mr, Hancock to be copied, and it was 
returned by him to Mr. Wolley on the 25th of March in the same year. It 
did not again leave his possession during his life, and at his death came into 
mine, during which time it has been always carefully kept by me. Its history 
before it reached Brandt’s hands is not so sure ; but, as it was certainly received 
by him from Iceland, the probability is greatly in favour of its having been 
Geier fug Bi 
Aiteiniaaem, (in different handwritirgs and 
* [This is on a paper label | 
inks: the “ Geter ”’ being in one, and the rest in enother.—Eb. | 
