A History of Inventions, Discoveries, and Origins. Johann Beckmann
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Название: A History of Inventions, Discoveries, and Origins
Автор: Johann Beckmann
Издательство: Bookwire
Жанр: Документальная литература
isbn: 4064066382865
isbn:
49 This word was coined by Menage.
50 The principal works in which an account of this Tulipomania is to be found are—Eerste Tzamenspraak tuschen Waermondt en Gaargoed nopens deopkomst en ondergang van Flora. Amsterdam, 1643, 12mo.—Meterani Novi, or New History of the Netherlands, part fourth. Amsterdam, 1640, folio, p. 518, from which Marquard, De Jure Mercatorum, p. 181, has taken his information.—Naauwkeurige beschryving der Aardgewassen, door Abraham Munting. Leyden en Utrecht, 1696, folio, p. 907.—De Koophandel van Amsterdam, door Le Long, ii. p. 307.—Le Negoce d’Amsterdam, par J. P. Ricard. A Rouen, 1723, 4to, p. 11.—Breslauer Samlung von Natur- und Kunst-Geschichten, 1721, May, p. 521.—Francisci Schaubühne, vol. ii. p. 639.—Tenzel, Monatliche Unterredungen, 1690, November, p. 1039.—Année Littéraire, 1773, xv. p. 16.—Martini Zeiler Miscellanea, p. 29.—Christ. Funcii Orbis Politicus, p. 879.
51 A perit is a small weight less than a grain.—Trans.
52 [How well the author’s remarks apply to the recent mania in railway scrip!]
53 In the year 1769, the dearest kinds in England were Don Quevedo and Valentinier; the former cost 2l. 2s. and the latter 2l. 12s. 6d. See Weston’s Botanicus Universalis, part 2. In the German catalogues none of the prices are so high. The name Semper Augustus is not once to be found in new catalogues. [They still remain flowers of considerable value among florists; for, according to Mr. Hogg, a moderate collection of choice bulbs cannot now be purchased for a sum much less than 1000l., at the usual prices.—See Chambers’ Journal, March 15, 1845.]
54 Blainville’s Travels.
55 Introd. in Hist. Lit. iii. 3, p. 92.
56 That he might relax and refresh his mind, worn out by study, he amused himself with the cultivation of his garden and of flowers, and particularly of tulips, the roots of which he was at great pains to procure from all parts of the world, by means of Dodonæus, Clusius, and Boisotus, men singularly well-skilled in horticulture, and by others of his friends. Here, at a distance from civil tumult, with a cheerful countenance and placid eye, he sauntered through his plants and flowers, contemplating sometimes one declining, sometimes another springing up, and forgetting all his cares amidst the pleasure which these objects afforded him. See the Life of Lipsius, prefixed to the edition of his works printed at Antwerp in 1637. This is confirmed by what Lipsius says himself in his book De Constantia, ii. 2, 3, in praise of gardening.
57 He rented a house near to the Vatican, with a garden, in which he had planted the choicest flowers, and those chiefly which are not propagated from seeds or roots, but from bulbs. These flowers were not known about thirty years before, nor had they been ever seen at Rome, but lay neglected in the Alps.—Of these flowers, which have no smell, but are esteemed only on account of their colours, Barclay was remarkably fond, and purchased their bulbs at a great price. Erythræi Pinacotheca. Lips. 1712, 8vo, iii. 17, p. 623. See also Freheri Theatrum, p. 1515.
CANARY BIRD.
This little bird, highly esteemed for its song, which is reared with so much care, particularly by the fair sex, and which affords an innocent amusement to those who are fond of the wild notes of nature, is a native of those islands from which it takes its name. As it was not known in Europe till the fifteenth century, no account of it is to be met with in any of the works of the old ornithologists. Bellon, who about the year 1555 described all the birds then known, does not so much as mention it. At that period it was brought from the Canary Islands. It was therefore so dear that it could be procured only by people of fortune, and those who purchased were even often imposed on58. It was called the sugar-bird, because it was said to be fond of the sugar-cane, and that it could eat sugar in great abundance. This circumstance seems to be very singular; for that substance is to many birds a poison. Experiments have shown, that a pigeon to which four drachms of sugar were given died in four hours, and that a duck which had swallowed five drachms did not live seven hours after. It is certain, therefore, that the power of poison is relative.
The first figure of this bird is given by Aldrovandus, but it is small and inaccurate. That naturalist reckons the Canary bird among the number of those which were scarce and expensive, as it was brought from a distant country with great care and attention. The first good figure of it is to be found in Olina59: it has been copied by both Johnston and Willughby.
In the middle of the seventeenth century these birds began to be bred in Europe, and to this the following circumstance, related by Olina, seems to have given occasion. A vessel, which, among other commodities, was carrying a number of Canary birds to Leghorn, was wrecked on the coast of Italy; and these birds, being thus set at liberty, flew to the nearest land, which was the Island of Elba, where they found the climate so favourable, that they multiplied, and perhaps would have become domesticated, had they not been caught in snares; for it appears that the breed of them there has been long since destroyed. Olina says that the breed soon degenerated; but it is probable that these Canary birds, which were perhaps all males, did at the Island of Elba what the European sailors do in India. By coupling with the birds of the island, they may have produced mules. Such hybrids are described by Gesner and other naturalists60.
The breeding of these birds was at first attended with great difficulty; partly because the treatment and attention they required were not known, and partly because males chiefly, and few females, were brought to Europe. We are told that the Spaniards once forbade the exportation of males, that they might secure to themselves the trade carried on in these birds, and that they ordered the bird-catchers either to strangle the females or to set them at liberty61. But this order seems to have been unnecessary; for, as the females commonly do not sing, or are much inferior in the strength of their notes to the males, the latter only were sought after as objects of trade. In the like manner, as the male parrots are much superior in colour to the females, the males are more esteemed, and more of them are brought to Europe than of the females. It is probable, therefore, that in our system of ornithology, many female parrots belonging to species already well-known are considered as distinct species. It was at first believed that those Canary birds bred in the Canary Islands were much better singers than those reared in Europe; but this at present is doubted62. In latter times various treatises have been published in different languages, on the manner of breeding these birds, and many people have made it a trade, by which they have acquired considerable gain. It does no discredit to the industry of the Tyrolese that they have carried it to the greatest extent. СКАЧАТЬ