502 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



account, certainly. The author of the book, it may be mentioned, 

 had previously published a work in which he endeavours to prove 

 that our first parents, Adam and Eve, spoke Gaelic : he does not, 

 however, hazard even a conjecture as to the language spoken by 

 the serpent of that period. 



The oil which this bird yields by vomiting when caught is 

 highly valued by the natives of St. Kilda as a cure for all diseases. 

 Its virtues, indeed, have been extolled by all the older writers 

 from Martin downwards; but no one, so far as I am aware, has 

 ever given the slightest information as to its chemical properties. 

 I have therefore much pleasure in inserting here, with other 

 details on the subject, the following note which has been oblig- 

 ingly furnished me by Mr Edward C. C. Stanford, F.C.S.: 



"The method of catching these birds is peculiar to St. Kilda; 

 the men may well call themselves bird-catchers, for assuredly there 

 are none like them. The process seems simple enough, but the 

 awful danger must be seen to be appreciated; indeed, the climbing 

 propensities of these men would astonish any member of the 

 Alpine Club. 



" Hanging on a rope (often made of heather) the bird-catcher 

 descends the fearful precipices, armed with a sort of fishing-rod, 

 having a slip noose at the end. This he dexterously throws over 

 the head of the bird, which is sitting on a ledge of the rock beneath 

 him, and hauls him up. He then dips the bird's beak into a small 

 leather bag suspended to his waist, and there the oil is vomited. 

 The bird is then killed and eaten as food, the feathers and the 

 oil forming the two articles of export. Beds made of the feathers 

 are said never to harbour insects, but it is alleged also that they 

 are difficult to keep dry. 



" The oil is a good deal mixed with a rougher sort from solan 

 geese, and realises a poor price as an ordinary rough fish-oil. 

 When genuine, it is of a clear, dark, slightly reddish sherry- colour, 

 and has a powerful and peculiar odour an odour of which the 

 whole island and all the inhabitants smell. It is certainly a fish- 

 oil, and it possesses nearly all the properties of cod- liver oil. 



" Its specific gravity is midway between cod-liver and sperm. 



Fulmar Oil, sp. gr. -902 



Cod-liver, light -924 



brown -926 



Sperm Oil ,, '875 



