INTRODUCTION. XXl 



inserted letters from Merrett to Browne (see 

 Appendix A.), which are printed by Wilkin in 

 his first edition, Vol. I., pp. 442-5. The 

 notes on Fishes are in the same volume of 

 manuscripts, folios 23 to 38 ; but there are 

 some irregularities which will be explained as 

 they occur. The whole of the notes are very 

 roughly written, and present the appearance of 

 a commonplace book, in which the entries 

 were made as the events occurred to the 

 writer, being quite devoid of any system or 

 arrangement. The entries doubtless extend 

 over several years, but it is impossible to fix 

 the dates on which they were made, the only 

 internal evidence I can find being that speaking 

 of the occurrence of a certain shark he states 

 it was taken "this year, 1662," and on the 

 next page of the MS. there is the record of 

 the occurrence of a sun-fish in the year 1667 ; 

 this latter, however, is evidently an interpolation. 

 A few pages further on there is the record of 

 what he calls a large mackerel, "taken this 

 year, 1668," but this also is an addition. We 

 may take it, I think, that most of the notes 

 were made about the year 1662, but that they 

 were added to on various occasions up to 1668, 

 in which year his first letter to Merrett is 

 dated. It has been suggested that these notes 



