Notes and Comments, 85 



are likewise great Plenty of Game, which occasions their being 

 resorted to by Gentlemen, who find it necessary to carry 

 provision with them.' 



THE EAST RIDING. 



' The Middle of this Division is Sandy and Dry, and less 

 fertile, which is called Yorkswould. However, these are great 

 Downs, which produce some Corn . . . The Soil about these 

 Woidds abound with Chalk, Flints, Fire-stones, &c, and in 

 diverse parts of it, there are Mines of Coal and Freestone ; 

 near Bogthorpe and Leppington, are found the stones called 

 Astroites, dug out of a blue clay .... The Man water [Hornsea 

 Mere], which is in the Way from Bridlington to Hornsey, is 

 pretty deep and always fresh : it is about 2 Miles long, and | 

 a Mile broad, and abounds with the best Perch, Pike and 

 Eels ; it is said, at first, to proceed from some Earthquake, 

 with a Flux of Water following it ! The Fuel of the Riding 

 is chiefly Pit-Coal, but it does not want wood and turf.' 



THE NORTH RIDING. 



' Besides Wood and Coals, this Riding produces Marble, 

 Allum, Jett and Copperas .... The chief Allum-works were 

 carried on by the late Duke of Burlington at Whitby, where 

 was the greatest Plenty of this Mineral. — As for Jett, Geat or 

 black Amber, in Latin, Gagates ; though the name is given to 

 the Agate ... it is found ... in the Chinks and Crevices of the 

 Rocks near the Sea . . . Besides the famous Spaw at Scar- 

 borough, there is a well near New Malt on, whose Waters are 

 supposed to have the same Virtue, but the spring is too weak 

 to afford a large Quantity. There are likewise, mineral Waters 

 upon Ounsberry-hill, or Roseberry-chopping, and at the very 

 Top, there flows a clear Spring of Water, esteemed very salutary 

 for sore eyes.' 



SCARBOROUGH. 



Of Scarborough we claim that ' The medicinal Waters are, 

 in their Nature and Operation, powerfully Cathartic and 

 Diuretic, communicate a sensible Alacrity to the Mind, Strength 

 and Vigour to the Body, and Elasticity to the Stomach ' — The 

 qualities of the Spaw are ' a Compound of Vitriol, Iron, Allum, 

 Nitre and Salt, very transparent, inclining somewhat to a 

 sky-colour, and of a pleasant taste.' Another ' spaw ' is 

 recorded : — ' About a Mile from Beverley, in a Pasture called 

 Swinemoor, is a Spring of a mineral Nature ; though it is scarce 

 distinguished by the Taste, it has been found of a very drying 

 Quality, and when applied, inwardly or outwardly, to be of 

 Use in the Cure of scorbutic Humours '! Such was the natural 

 history ' of Yorkshire a century and a half ago ! 



AN EARLY OCTOPUS RECORD. 



In the first volume of this ' Natural History,' is an early 

 and quaint record of Octopus vulgaris, together with a plate, 



1917 Mar. 1. 



