2S2 Ancient Catalogue of Objects of Natural History. 



Art. V. — Selections from an Ancient Catalogue of objects of 

 Natural History, formed in New England more than one 

 hundred years ago; by John Winthrop, F. R. S. 



Remarks. — This catalogue is a curious original document, 

 presenting a picture of the times, in regard to the objects to which 

 it relates. In this view, it may be worth preserving, and although 

 it contains some errors, (owing to the imperfect science of the 

 day,) it does great credit to the industry and spirit of obser- 

 vation of the actual collector, whose remarks are frequently 

 sagacious and just. Mr. Winthrop was grandson of the first 

 governor of Connecticut, great grandson of the first governor 

 of Massachusetts, and grandfather of the late Hon. Th. L. Win- 

 throp, Lt. Governor of Massachusetts. He was graduated at 

 Harvard College in 1700, and became a magistrate in the colony 

 of Connecticut, but left it on account of a question relating to in- 

 heritance, which he wished to refer to the king in council ; he 

 never returned to his country, but died in England in 1747. 



He was a Fellow and a most conspicuous member of the Royal 

 Society, as his grandfather had been one of its founders. Being 

 like him an industrious collector of natural objects, he presented 

 more than 600 specimens, chiefly minerals, to the museum of the 

 society, and was, after Mr. Col well, the greatest contributor up to 

 that time. 



The 10th vdlume of the transactions of the society, was dedi- 

 cated to him by their secretary, Mortimer Cromwell. An original 

 copy of the catalogue in Mr. Winthrop's handwriting was placed 

 in our hands by the consent of the late Lt. Gov. Winthrop of 

 Boston, through the kind offices of the Hon. John Davis of the 

 same city. It is a fair and beautiful MS. and perfectly legible 

 after the lapse of 109 years from the time it was written. To 

 remove all doubt as to its author, the present American minister 

 in London, the Hon. Edward Everett, at the instance of Robert 

 Winthrop, Esq., also of Boston, the respected son of Lt. Gov. 

 Winthrop, made application to the secretary of the Royal Society 

 for the examination of their records, and the assistant secretary, 

 Mr. Robertson, very kindly copied out the whole gratuitously, 

 and we now present the most interesting portions of it as the first 

 rudiments of American natural history, and especially of mine- 

 ralogy. 



