226 CORRESPONDENCE OF RAY. 



elegant trees of the Abrotanoides Planta Saxea Clusi, 

 with considerable variety of other Fori, Corals, Horny 

 Sea Plants, &c. I admired a sort of Cormi Ammonis, 

 found somewhere in Somersetshu'e, resembling a nautilus, 

 but having two prominences each side of the aperture, 

 about as thick and taper as the end of a walking-staff to 

 be screwed in and out. Another Cornu, of a rainbow 

 colom-, about six inches diameter, and as thin as a shil- 

 ling, composed of a sort of Selenitis or Talc. The resem- 

 blance of several exotic plants (as it should seem to me) 

 in a kind of cole-slat, found somewhere near Bristow ; 

 they seemed to be of several capillaries, and one particu- 

 larly like the Capillus Ven. verus ; the signatures of the 

 leaves as curiously veined as the real plants have. I have 

 room to add no more at present. 



Oxford, July 1, 1690. 



Mr. Lhwyd to Mr. Ray. 



Honoured Sir, — Considering your local words since 

 I read yom* letter, I find some amongst the north-country 

 words to bear affinity Avith the Welsh, l)oth in sound and 

 signification, which possibly may be some remains of the 

 British tongue continued still in the mountainous parts 

 of the north. Of these, if you please, I shall hereafter 

 send you a catalogue ; but in the mean time I must con- 

 fess, that although they may agree in sound and sense, it 

 will yet be difficult to distinguish whether they have been 

 formerly borrowed from the Britons, or whether they are 

 only an argument that the ancient British language had 

 much affinity with those of Germany, Denmark, &c. I 

 omit the supposition of the Welsh borrowing them from 

 the English, in regard I find them not (at least but very 

 few of them) used by the borderers of both nations ; and 

 the Britons might leave them in Westmoreland, Cum- 

 berland, &c., having heretofore lived there; but the 



