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NVINOSHJ lifllliSNI NVINOSHIIIMS SSIHVHan LIBRARIES SMJi UTION ^ \ m ^ to to 5 \ JRARIES^SMITHSONIAn'^INSTITUTION N0liniilSMS NVIN0SHillAIS^S3 lava a n"LIB RARIES SMlTHSOr z r- z r- z f~ ^-r-^ ^ . Liu jytMm of ; CATALOGUE Di^sSon of Moluaks OF THE PORTLAND MUSEUM, tATELV THE PROPERTY OF The Duchefs Dowager (p/' Portland, D e c c a ^ C D: Which will be SOLD by AUCTION, B y J^/r. SKINNER Co; On MONDAY the 24th of APRIL, 1786, AND THE THIRTY-SEVEN following DAYS, At twelve O'CLOCK, Sundays, and the 5th of (the his \^ June, Day Majesty's Birth -Dat is kept) excepted At her late DWELLING-HOUSE, In PRIVr-GARD EN, JVH ITEHALLk \^ ^ ^% ^ By order of the ACTING EXECUTRIX. To be viewed Ten Days preceding the Sale. Catlogues may now be had on the Premises, and of Mr. SKINNER' and C®, Aldersgate-Street, Price Five Shillings, which will admit the Bearer during the Time of Exhibition and Sale. CONDITIONS OF SALE. I. 'TpHE higheft Bidder to be the Buyer; and it any Difpute ftiall arlfe between two or more Bidders, the Lot in Difpute to be put up again. II. No Perfon to advance lefs than Six-pence under a Pound ; above a Pound One Shilling; above Five Pounds Two Shillings and Six-pence j and fo in Proportion. III. Each Buyer to pay Five Shillings in the Pound as Earneft, in Part of Pay- ment for each Lot; and to give in their Names and Places of Abode, if required. IV. The Lots to be taken away, with all Faults, at the Expence of the Pur- chafers, within Six Days after the Sale is ended, or any Day during the Sale, between the Hours of Nine and Eleven in the Morning, and Five and Seven in the Afternoon; and the Remainder of the Purchafe-Money to be paid before the Delivery. Lastly. Upon Failure of complying with the above Conditions, the DepoCit- Money to be forfeited, the Lots (hall be re-fold, and the Deficiency (if any) by fuch fecond Sale, together with the Expences attending the fame, fhall be made good by the Defaulter at this prefent Sale. PREFACE. TT may be proper to inform the Purchafers of the Catalogue, and the Public in general. That there is no one Article contained in it but was a Part of the the late Noble PoffelTor, 'ifl-^-^l Genuine Collection of Margaret CayendiJ!?^ ^ Duchefs Dowager Portland. Nothing is foifted into it from the Cabinets of others ; but every Subject here recorded came into her Pofleffion, either by In- heritance, the Affiftance of thofe who were honored with hCr Friendfhip, or by [ her own Purchafe and Induftry. And how diligent have been her Enquiries into Natural Knowledge and the Polite Arts, as well as fuccefsful her En- deavours to encreafe the Stores of them, the following- Catalogue will, in a great Meafure, demonftrate. In the Articles of Virtu it contains no inconfider- able Part of her moft Valuable Colle£lion ; but in Natural H'ljlory every Sub- je£l is inferted flie had with fo much Pains and Treafure accumulated. And here it will appear, that all the Three Kingdoms of Nature, the Animal, Vegetable, and Fojfil, were comprehended in her Refearches. In all of thefe fhe is took infinite Pleafure and Delight J but in none of them her Cabinet more richly ftored than in that durable and beautiful Part of the FirJI, nzmcd Con- chohgy. In this Branch of Nature's Works, no Colledion in Europe can equal that of her Grace's in Number and Variety. To give fome Idea of its great Extent, it may be remarked, that the celebrated Linncsus, who had ftudied the Subjeffc, and methodized the Materials of it, has not defcribed One Fourth Part of the Obje£ls contained in the Mufeum now offered to the Public. It v/as indeed in the Intention of the enlightened PofTeflbr to have had every unknoivn Species defcribed and publifhed to the W^orld ; but it pleafed God to cut fhort the Defign, not only by the Death-of the ingenious Naturalift employed by her * for that Purpofe ; but, in a fhort Time afterwards, to the great and irreparable Lofs of Scierice, by her own alfo. Had her Life been continued a few Years longer, it is poffible that every Suhjeft in this Catalogue would have been properly defcribed and chara<Stcrifed ; but in the prefent Mazes of Science, all that could be done by the Compiler was only to give in general the claffical or popular Names to fuch Articles as were knov/n to have any, and to leave * Dr, Solander, (the ( iv ) the great Bullc of Non-defcripts to the Examination and determination of the Curious. Some Perfons, perhaps, may cbjeft to the Promifcuous AlTemblage of the various Subjects here exhibited, and be ready to wifh that they had been allotted in Order and Method, according to Genus and Species; and it muft be confelTed, that fuch a Proceeding would have proved extremely fatisfa£lory to eveny true Lover of Science. Such would have been highly pleafed to have feen each Article named, and ftand in its proper Place. But however defirable fuch an Attainment might have been to a few Cognofcentl, it is very certain that the Majority of the World are not MethocU/is. They love Variety more than Order, and would rather purchafe Twenty different Species of Cones ox turbos in One Lot, than the fame Number of High Admirals or Wentletraps. Yet to gratify every Palate, C?jre has been taken, as much as poffible, to keep the Grand ClaJJcs^ and often the Genera together; at leaft as far as Re(pe£l to Rarity^ or Beauty, would allow. And in this Difpofition, there are very few Subjefts but will occur again and again ; fo that almoft every Perfon defirous of becoming a Purchafer, may have an Opportunity of fupplying his Wants. Whereas, in a methodical Arrangement, it muft of Neceffity have frequently happened, either that a Multitude of fhe fa?ne Species muft be fold together in One Lot., (which very few would chiifc to purchafe) er each Individual of that Species, muft be difpofed of fingly^ or in Pairs ; which would have multiplied the Number of Lots to fuch a Degree as would -extend the Sale to as many Weeks^ as it confifts at prefent of Days. It is hoped however, that the Man oi Science will not be altogether difappdinted in the prefent Arrangement of the Catalogue ; for as much Pains and Care have been taken to affix the proper claffical, or generally received Names, to as many Articles as the Time and Abilhies of the Compiler^'would allow ; it will be no ^reat Trouble for him to caft his Eye over each Day's Sale, as it occurs, and he will hardly fail to meet in one or more of them, with the Subjects he defires. In Order therefore to bis more ready Underftanding the various Articles re- corded in the following Catalogue, it remains only to fubjoin an Explanation <)f the References and Abbreviations made Ufe of in it. REFE- — — — — —— REFERENCES and ABBREVIATIONS EXPLAINED. J^RGENF.—Conch'iliologie, par M. D'Argenville.—Paris, 1757, Buonani.—Recreatione Dell' Occhio e Delia Mente, dal Fllippo Bucnanni.—- x68t Soin. mus. cees. —Teftacea Mufei Cafarei Vindobonenfis, qua Juffu Mariee Therefiae, Augufta difpofuit & Defcripfit Ignatius a Born, Equ. Vindoioru-e 1780 j^irander Fofs. Hanten.—FolTilia Hantonicnfia collefta, & in Mufcaeo Britannico depo- fuo, a Guftavo Brander, R. S. and S. A. S. Muf. Brit, Cur. Ijondini, 1766 Srinws Jamaica.—The Civil and Natural Hillory of Jamaica, by Patrick Erovvn, M. D.— Loudon, 1756 i?Mw7«.—Catalogue Syflematique & raifonne dcs Curiofites de la Nature, tc de I'Art, qui compofent le Cabinet de M. D'Avlla, en 3 Tom.-^A Paris, iy6j Drwy.—lUuftrations of Natural Hiflory, wherein are exhibited Figures of exotic la- vols, fefts, in 3 by D. Drxxry.—'London j 1770, 177J, and ly^z jBUis's Corallines or—An EflTay towards a Natural Hiftory of Corallines, &c. by John Ellis, F. R. S. London, 1755' Ellis Zot^h.—The Natural Hillory of many curious and uncommon Zoophytes, col- leded from various parts of the Globe, by the late John Ellis, Efq. F.R.S. Soc. Reg. Upfal. Author of the Natural Hiftory of Englidi Corallines, and other Works, fyftematically arranged and defcribed, by Daniel Solander, M.