The reader will find this
chapter, as well as the next, rather uninteresting. But it is necessary
that the chapters should be written, in order to show the contributions
which Edward made to the scientific discoveries of his day.
Mr. C. Spence Bate, of Plymouth, the well-known zoologist, entered into
correspondence with Edward in 1856, while the latter was engaged in
collecting marine objects along the sea-coast of Banff. It appears that
Mr. Bate had sent to Edward some publications on natural history, and
that Edward requested Mr. Bate to name the various crustaceans which he
sent him. To this Mr. Bate willingly assented, and a correspondence
began between them, which continued for many years. Most of the letters
have been lost, and those which have been preserved “in the box in the
lumber garret” are not of very great interest.
Edward seems to have been particularly busy between the years 1861 and
1865. Multitudes of bottles were sent, during that interval, from Banff
to Plymouth. The bottles were often smashed in passing through the post.
Sometimes there was only a mass of debris to examine. In one batch there
was a new species of Leucothoii; in another, part of an Eusirus—“the
first British specimen.”
In one of his letters Mr. Bate says: “There are two minute specimens of
a prawn which I do not recognize. They are too much damaged for
examination; but if you can find any perfect ones like these, I should
like you to send them to me. I will send you shortly a paper that I have
recently published in the “Annals of Natural History” on the
“Nest-building Crustacea.” If you know or meet with any anecdotes
relative to these animals, I should be glad if you would communicate
them to me, as I am endeavoring to collect all of that kind that I can.
I assure you that your letters are always welcome, and much valued.”
In the midst of Edward’s explorations, he discovered a new Isopod, which
he forwarded to Mr. Hate. It was specifically named, in honor of the
discoverer, Praniza Edwardii. On subsequent examination, and after
comparing it with the Anceus, Messrs. Hate and Westwood changed the name
into Anceus Edwardii.
The Anceus is only about a sixth of an inch in length. But, in natural
history, size goes for nothing. The minutest animal is equal to the
largest, in point of value and interest. The Anceus creeps on the bottom
of the sea, but it swims with great rapidity—propelling itself forward
by the quick motions of a series of ciliated fins placed beneath the
tail. The Anceus, in its young state, is parasitical, and is furnished
with a sharp process at the apex of the anterior lip, to form a strong
lanceolate organ, with which the animal cuts its way through the skin of
the fish on which it preys. It was at first thought that Praniza
Edwardii was a female, and that the male had not yet been discovered. On
seeing this stated in the number of the “Sessile-eyed Crustacea” in
which the Praniza was noticed, Edward vTrote the following letter to Mr.
Spence Bate:
“My dear Sir,—Some considerable time ago, I sent you, among other
things, what I believed to be two distinct speeies of Anceus, the one
being considerably smaller than the other. Of the lesser, there were
several specimens; but of the larger, only two. The answer which you
gave me was, that they were Anceus maxillaris. At this I was somewhat
disappointed. I admit that the larger were of that speeies, but not the
smaller. And since I received your last number, which treats on this
subject, I am now more than ever convinced that they are distinct. I
consider the smaller specimen to be the male of the Praniza Edwardii. I
may be wrong, but that is my conviction. I need not, of course, attempt
to point out the distinctions to you; but perhaps you will allow me to
state a few words on the subject, and what makes me think that he is the
male of Praniza Edwardii.
“In the first place, I
would say that this little fellow is decidedly a deep-sea species—that
is, so far as my experience goes. I have never found him but on the old
shells and stones brought up by the fishermen’s lines. There he seems to
prowl about seeking what he may devour—prying into every erevice and
eorner in seareh of food, and also into the tenantless worm-cases with
which these old shells and stones are generally incrusted. Now these are
exaetly the habitats and manners of the Praniza Edwardii when adult.
Where I find the one, I am almost sure to find the other. I have found
them together, and taken them out of the same worm-tube. But though this
does not amount to an entire proof, still it helps to strengthen my
conjecture that they are male and female.
“In the second place, besides the striking disparity in size, the
mandibles in this species appear to me to differ considerably from the
same organs in the Anceus maxillaris. Here I have never seen them to
overlap each other as they do in the one just named. And, having
frequently kept them alive, I have seen their mandibles open and shut
times without number; and, so far as I could make out, they never
crossed each other in the least. Indeed, I do not think they could have
done so, from their construction. They seem to me, when they do shut, to
go together in the fashion of a rat-trap when closed. And, besides
several other distinctions which I have been able to discern, there are
two or three small bunches of stiff hairs or spines projecting from the
front of the head which I do not see in Anceus maxillaris and the others
which you describe. I would also point out that there is a most
remarkable similarity in the tail or hind-part of this species and the
same portion of the Praniza Edwardii.
In support of his views, Edward forwarded some farther specimens of the
supposed male to Mr. Bate for his inspection. We have not been able to
find Mr. Bate’s answer. It has doubtless been lost, like many of the
missing letters. But we gather from a future letter of Edward that Mr.
Bate considered the specimens to be Anceus rapax. “Never having seen a
description or plate of that species,” said Edward, “I can say nothing
as to that matter..... But, call him what you like, I am more than ever
persuaded that he is the tight little husband of Praniza Edwardii; and,
as such, I now intend to place them together, and to name them
accordingly.”
Many of the Crustacea which Edward collected did not belong to the
scssilc-cyed order, which Mr. Bate was studying and classifying. These
crustaceans he sent to other observers. For instance, when Mr. Bate was
about to set out for Paris to examine Milnc-Edward’s typical crustacea,
he received from Edward a letter containing some cnto-mostracea which
had been collected from the stomach of a mackerel. “I do not,” replied
Mr. Bate, “study the cntomostracous crustacea myself; so I gave some of
those you sent me to Mr. Lubbock, and some to Dr. Baird, of the British
Museum, from both of whom I hope you will hear.”
In a future letter, Edward sent Mr. Bate some worm-like parasites found
on a short sun-fish taken near Banff. “The genus,” said Edward, “is very
little known in this country. It has hitherto been found only on the
flying-fish. It seems, however, to frequent the sun-fish. This was not
previously known. When once these creatures take a firm hold, it is
impossible to shake them off or get rid of them, they sink so deep into
the animal’s body. There are from two to three longish barbs which
protrude from the neck, close to the head, and which appear to serve
exactly the same purpose as the barb does on the hook. One which I cut
out — and no easy matter it was — had its head sunk at least an inch and
a half into the fatty ridge of the fish. In the Illustrated London News
of July 10th, 1858, there is an illustration given of a flying-fish with
a parasite attached to its back, and having a lot of barnacles adhering
to it. The fish here figured is said to have leaped from the sea into
the mizzen chains of the East-Indiaman Monarch, while on her homeward
voyage from Calcutta. The parasite in that case was quite different from
the one I obtained from the sun-fish. It was there called Pennella
Blanvillii.”
In one of his communications, Edward sent Mr. Bate some parasites which
he had taken from the gills of a crab. Many of the crustaceans found by
him were so minute that they could scarcely be examined in detail with
the naked eye. Mr. Bate accordingly, with great kindness, made Edward a
present of a microscope to enable him to carry on his minute
investigations. “It is,” said; Mr. Bate, in his letter announcing the
departure of the parcel, “what we call a simple microscope, and I think
you will find it adapted for examining things out of or in doors. It is
made portable, and can be used upon the rocks as well as in a parlor. It
is similar to one which I use myself for every thing, excepting when I
examine into structural anatomy. I was not able,” added Mr. Bate, “to
have it prepaid farther than Bristol; so I beg to inclose a few stamps,
which I hope will cover it for the remainder of the way.”
Edward at first found a difficulty in managing the microscope, on which
Mr. Bate sent him a long letter illustrated by diagrams, informing him
how he was to use it. “I am sure,” he said, “you are too sharp a fellow
not to understand it thoroughly after these few hints have been given
you I will also send you a pocket lens, which you will find very useful
You will find it convenient during this cold weather (November 24th) to
bring home any thing, and then look at it at your leisure, rather than
study it upon the sea-shore.”
Mr. Bate must have been a thoroughly kind and good-hearted man. He may
possibly have heard something of the circumstances of Edward, and he was
now on the lookout for some higher vocation for the naturalist than that
of “ladies’ shoe-maker.” The Rev. George Gordon, also a zoologist, who
was in constant communication with Mr. Bate, may have probably informed
him of Edward’s ambition, which was to be appointed curator or
subcurator of some important museum. Hence Mr. Bate’s letter to Edward.
After informing him that Mr. Luhbock would shortly ask him to make a
collection of Crustacea, and advising him to send certain fishes in
proof-spirit to the British Museum, he proceeded:
“I have one thing more to say; but I write in ignorance of your
circumstances, and therefore, if I tread upon a compray forgive me. I
have been asked if I can recommend a person to the College of Surgeons,
whose duty will be to attend upon the curators and professors, and make
preparations, and do other work in natural history. The salary is one
pound ten shillings a week. If such a thing will suit you, let me know,
and I will write to propose you. If the place is not filled up, I think
it might be got.”
This letter raised a glimmer of hope in Edward’s breast. As is he really
to he rewarded at last for his efforts in natural history, by an
appointment which would bring him into communication with scientific
men? It may be mentioned that Edward had already been appointed keeper
of the Scientific Society’s Museum at Banff, at a salary of two pounds
two shillings per annum. This was, of course, merely a nominal
remuneration, and the occupation did not tend to feed Edward’s thirst
for further knowledge in natural history. He was therefore most willing
to accede to Mr. Bate’s proposition; and he sent in his application,
accompanied by testimonials, to Professor Quekett, of the Royal College
of Surgeons.
Unfortunately, Mr. Bate had been misinformed as to the nature of the
proposed appointment. “I am fearful,” said Professor Quekett, in his
letter to Edward, “that some of your kind friends have misinformed you
as to the nature of the appointment which is vacant. It is only that of
fourth museum porter. The duties are: to keep the room clean, dust
bottles, etc., at the wage of a guinea a week. Now, from what I learn of
you through your testimonials, and from what I have heard of your
reputation and high standing as a naturalist, I think such an
appointment is far beneath your notice.”
Edward’s hopes were once more blighted. Science could do nothing for
him, and he returned again to his cobbler’s stool. He had become
accustomed to disappointment; nevertheless, he continued to pursue his
work as a naturalist. In fact, he went on working harder than before. As
Mr. Bate was only engaged with one branch of the Crustacea—the
sessile-eyed—and as other naturalists were engaged in investigating
other branches of marine zoology, Edward was referred to these
gentlemen, more particularly to the Rev. A. Merle Norman, of Sedgefield,
Ferry hill, County of Durham; Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, of London; and Mr.
Joshua Alder, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, all of whom were great sea-dredgers.
Zoologists usually take up some special subject and work it up. They
freely correspond with their fellow-zoologists in different parts of the
country with the object of obtaining their help, which is rarely or
never withheld. There is a sort of freemasonry among naturalists in this
respect. Thus, when Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys opened his correspondence with
Edward, he said, “No introduction can be necessary from one naturalist
to another.” While artists and literary men form themselves into
cliques, and cut each other up in social circles and in newspapers,
naturalists, on the contrary, seem to be above such considerations of
envy and uncharitableness.
There is also a fellow-feeling among them, and they are ready to help
each other in various other ways. Thus, when Edward was informed by Mr.
Spence Bate that the Rev. Mr. Norman was working up the British
entomostracous crustacea, including the fish parasites, Edward
immediately began to scour the coast, and wade along the waves as the
tide came in, plunging into the rock-pools, in order to procure the
animals of which Mr. Norman was in search. He did this regardless of his
health, and also regardless of his pocket.
A long correspondence had already taken place between Edward and Mr.
Norman; but in the midst of it Edward was again laid up by illness,
which lasted for about six weeks. The correspondence dropped for a time,
but it was afterward renewed. Mr. Norman, in his letter of May 12th,
1802, observed: “I have been absent from home ever since I received your
last note, or I should have answered it before. I am extremely sorry to
hear of the cause, your serious illness, which prevented your answering
my two last letters, and seemed to end a correspondence from which I had
derived so much pleasure, finding in yourself such a kindred,
nature-loving spirit. I am rejoiced, however, that God has mercifully
raised you up again after so much suffering, and that you arc recovering
the blessings of health and strength.
“Many thanks for the promise of your kind offices for me in procuring
fish parasites. Our knowledge of them is at present but limited, and a
large number of species new to our Fauna may, I am satisfied, be found,
if properly looked after. I trust, therefore, that you may extend your
knowledge of the Crustacea of the Moray Firth to this branch of the
subject.”
It would occupy too much space to detail the contents of the letters
which Edward received from Mr. Norman and Mr. Spence Bate while their
respective works were in process of publication. But there are several
facts in them worthy of being noticed. There was one crustacean about
which some difficulty had arisen. It was the Mysis Spinife-ra, which
Edward had first found in the Moray Firth in the year 1858. He had sent
it to one of his correspondents, in order that he might give it its
name. But it remained unnoticed and unknown for a period of about four
years, when it was rediscovered in Sweden by M. Goes, who at once
published the fact. “Thus,” says Edward, “the first finder, as well as
the country in which this crustacean was first found, have both been
ignored in the records of science.”
Edward discovered many new species, some of which had never been met
with before, and others which had not been met with in Britain. Some
were recognized and named, but others were not. “The number of specimens
I collected,” says Edward, “was immense. It must have been so from the
various methods I adopted to procure them, and from the fact that I
never lost a single opportunity of obtaining even but one object when it
could be got. Labor, time, cold, wet, privation, were nothing, so that I
could but secure the specimen that I sought for There are still several
new species which I discovered and sent to gentlemen years ago. All I
knew about them, from letters I received in return, is that they were
new; but whether they have ever received names, or whether the
discoveries have been made public, I do not know.”
Mr. Spence Bate did every justice to Edward in the discoveries which he
made of new species, in connection with his branch of the sessile-eyed
Crustacea. In one case, Edward caught only the anterior moiety of a
small crustacean (Protomedeia hirsutimana), and yet Mr. Bate includes it
in his list, and gives a drawing of it. Mr. Bate also did every justice
to the accurate description of the habits of the species which Edward
forwarded to him. For instance, Edward discovered the Vibilia borealis,
a new species, in the Moray Firth, on which Mr. Spence Bate observes:
“Hitherto the species of this genus have been taken only as pelagic, in
tropical or subtropical latitudes. It is an interesting fact that this
species should have been taken off the coast of Banff, from whence it
was sent us by that very successful observer, Mr. Edward, who, in
writing, says: ‘I can say little as to its habits. I took eleven, and
kept a few alive for a short time, but observed nothing in their manners
beyond that which may be seen in the majority of species. I supplied
them with plenty of sand, and also with a few marine plants, but they
seemed to be neither burrowers nor climbers, as they never went into the
one, nor appeared to care for the other. They, however, swam a little.
This they do somewhat after the manner of Callisoma crenata; in other
words, they rise gradually from the bottom until they reach the top ;
then, putting on more power, they swim round and round the vessel. With
close observation, I observed that the superior antenmc were kept pretty
well up and very widely apart, whereas the inferior were always directed
downward. All the legs were kept doubled up. I never saw them stretched
out. They would then sink once more to the sand at the bottom. There
they would rest, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes longer, when
they would again repeat their voluntary evolutions. They did not,
however, always rise to the surface: the journey was sometimes performed
to about mid-water. rl hey are, when alive, a most beautiful colored
species, variegated not unlike Urothroe clegans, and rivaling that
animal in brightness of tints. I took one, however, that was all over a
most brilliant red. I have been told that this species has never been
found outside the medusa. However this may be, all mine were. And what
appears to be most extraordinary is, that we have had no medusae here
this season. During the months of July, August, and September, I have
seen them, generally, by hundreds and thousands." Mr. Bate proceeds to
say, “Mr. Edward informs us that he has seen specimens of these
crustaceans thrown on the shore in extraordinarily large quantities.
After a storm one night, he saw them forming a band an inch and a half
deep for thirty yards along the beach.”
Mr. Bate so much admired Edward’s enthusiasm in the cause of natural
history, that he more than once urged him to publish his observations:
“I received from you,” he says, “a few days since, a parcel of Eurydice
pulchra, in sand, one of which only was alive. I have been much
interested in watching its active habits, and the manner in which it
buries itself in the sand I wish that you would write some papers on the
habits of these creatures. Keep a few at home under as favorable
conditions as possible. I am sure much is yet to be learned about them.
I know no one better fitted to work out the subject than yourself. For
instance, get some of the Podocerus capillatus, and find out how it
spins the web that makes the nest; and closely watch all their ways.”
Edward might no doubt have written and published many papers in the
scientific journals. He might have gained praise, fame, and honor. But
what mattered these to him? The principal thing that he wanted was time—
time not only for his investigations, but to earn money for the
maintenance of his family. He had now a wife and eleven children to
support. He earned nothing by science: he earned every thing by his
shoe-maker’s awl. What could the Podocerus capillatus do for his family?
Nothing whatever! His entire labors were gratuitous. Properly speaking,
naturalists should be gentlemen of independent fortune. At all events,
they should have some profession to live by; while Edward had nothing
but his wretchedly paid trade of shoe-making. The wonder is, that, with
all his illnesses, arising for the most part from the results of
exposure, he should have done so much, and continued his
self-sacrificing investigations so long. But he seems to have been borne
up throughout by his scientific enthusiasm, and by his invincible
determination.
The Podocerus capillatus,
to which Mr. Bate repeatedly directed Edward’s attention, is a very
interesting crustacean. It is about a quarter of an inch long. It is
beautifully variegated, and builds its nests in a very bird-like manner
in submarine forests. Edward found it in the rock-pools off Ban If,
where it built its nests on CoraUina officinalis. The nest consists
chiefly of a fine thread-like material woven and interlaced. The form of
the nest is somewhat oval, the entrance being invariably at the top.
“These nests,” says Mr. Bate, “are evidently used as a place of refuge
and security, in which the parent protects and keeps her brood of young
until they are old enough to be independent of the mother’s care.” The
preceding illustration is taken from Messrs. Bate and Westwood’s book.
In this case, the nests were built in Plumaria, off Polperro, Cornwall.
A few extracts from Mr. Norman’s and Mr. Bate’s letters will serve to
show the numerous new species which Edward continued to forward to these
eminent zoologists.
Mr. Norman (September 24th, 1862) writes: “The Mysis I referred to in my
last letter is undescribed; and I propose to call it Mysis longicornis.
Might I be allowed to keep the specimen? I retain it, at any rate, for
the present, in order to draw up a description and figure.
“I have made a most important discovery since I last wrote. On looking
again at the specimens [of the Parasites taken by Edward from the
sun-fish], I find that I had confused two species together as Lcemargus
muricatus, and had passed by as the male of that species (looking at
them only with the naked eye) a distinct species, which is new to
Britain, and which I am at present unable to name.”
Mr. Norman wrote again (January 3d, 1863): “Thanks for the Hyperia,
which belongs to a different species from those you previously sent me.
At present I can not name them. The Annelid—a very curious fellow—I know
nothing of. I will name the sea-spider Nympham. The treasure of the
bottle was, however, the little white shrimp. It is new to Britain, and
possibly to science. We will call it, at any rate for the present,
Thysanopoda ensifera, new species. The genus is a very interesting one;
and only one species, Thysanopoda Couchii, was previously known in our
seas.”
A few days later, Mr. Norman wrote to Edward: “I gladly accept your
suggestion that the Thysanopoda should be called T. Batei (instead of
ensifera), and I am as glad as you are to pay the compliment to Mr.
Bate. Your observations on the habits of the Thysanopoda are very
interesting.”
Edward evidently supplied his correspondent with abundant examples, for
on the 27th of January, 1863, Mr. Norman writes: “The parasite on the
fin is Anchorellci rugosa —not a common species. I hope you will procure
more. The Pagurus cuanensis bore on its back an example of a highly
interesting genus of parasitic Crustacea, Peltogaster. The specimens do
not belong to the species hitherto recognized in our seas; perhaps they
are still undescribed.”
Mr. Bate also wrote to Edward during the same month of January: “I think
that your last long-legged shrimp may be a new genus. If so, I propose
calling it Polledactglos. There are other things of much interest also.
Do try what you can do in the way of collecting specimens of the young
of crabs, etc. Your species of Stenothoe clypeatus is new to Britain.”
During the next few months Edward was in constant communication with Mr.
Bate and Mr. Norman, who named for him an immense number of Crustacea.
Many of them were new to Britain; some of them were new to science. On
March 6th Mr. Bate writes: “The little fellow was a Pctticlium pmpureum.
The long-legged Mysis are handsome chaps. The second is, I think,
CEdiceros sasignatus: if so, it is the first taken in Britain.” Again,
shortly after, Mr. Bate asks: “Do you recollect a little fellow just
like this? [giving a diagram]. I never saw the like of it before. Where
did you get it? Do get me more! Is it a wood-borer? I am afraid that you
will scold me when I tell you that I have not yet examined the green
bottle which yon sent me previously. I am just in the midst of
describing a number of Crustacea put into my hands, belonging to the
Boundary Commission between America and British Columbia. \\ hen I
finish this work, I will write to you again.”
A few days later Mr. Bate examines the green bottle, and writes a letter
to Edward, in which he gives him the names of seventeen Crustacea which
it contained. Mr. Bate was as voracious for further discoveries as
Edward himself was. In a letter of December 10th, 1863, after giving an
account of the various works on which he was engaged, he says: “ Now,
because I am working hard in the path that you love so well and labor so
industriously in, and so adding to your own fame, do not say that I
don’t deserve the results of your researches.”
Fame! that “imagined life in the breath of others!” What could fame do
for poor Edward? What about his bread-and-cheese?
Curiously enough, the letter last mentioned did not at first reach
Edward. It was reposted by Mr. Bate, with the observation, “This has
just come back to me as a returned letter, because Banff was unknown at
the post-office.”
Mr. Norman also continued to furnish Edward with the names of his
various crustacea, though he could not name some of them. For instance,
on the 13th of May, 1863, he wrote to Edward: “The shrimps you have sent
completely puzzle me. I must wait for a time until I can solve the
mystery. I believe that they all belong to one species, yet there are
three, if not four, distinct forms. The general characters are so much
the same, that I can not think there are two species But the curious
thing is, that I have not yet seen a single specimen of the species
carrying eggs. I hope that you will yet find some, as it will be most
interesting to clear up not only the question of sex, but also to find
out the manner in which the eggs are carried. These forms are among the
most interesting things I have seen for a long time, because it would
almost seem as though we had a crustacean with three phases, just as the
bee has —male, female, and worker.” After giving a number of names, Mr.
Norman proceeds: “And, lastly, the parasite from the common gurnard is a
species new to Britain.”
In his next letter Mr. Norman informs Edward that he is again going to
Shetland on a dredging expedition with his friend, Mr. Jeffreys. They
are to go in a steamer, and “ought to do good work.” How Edward envied
them— going dry-footed, well fed, well clad, and in a steamer, while he
was working along-shore, with no tools but his hands and his bag-net!
Mr. Norman returned from Shetland in July, and immediately recommenced
his correspondence with Edward. “One of your shrimps,” he said, “is
Caligus isonyxneiv to our fauna, and a very interesting one it is. The
male is as yet unknown. I hope you may succeed in meeting with it.”
Toward the end of the year Edward forwarded a number of species new to
Britain—among others, Eurycercus hamellatus (obtained from the stomach
of the perch), Chondracantha solex, Mysis mixta, and others. In one
bottle of crustaceans three new species were found. The zoologists were
evidently in ecstasies. Mr. Norman exhibited the results of his
researches at the next meeting of the British Association. In a letter,
dated the 15th of September, 18G3, he observed: “I inclose a list of
fifteen Moray Firth Amphipoda, which you have found, and which are
unknown to me. If you now, or at any future time, should be able to
favor me with specimens of any of them, I shall be extremely obliged.”
The specimens were afterward sent to Mr. Norman.
On the 6th of February, 1864, Mr. Bate wrote to Edward: “You will be
glad to learn that your little specimen is Opis Essichtii, and that it
has not been found previously in Britain. I have reconsidered the little
Ilperia, and think that you are right; your remarks convince me that my
first opinion was the more correct. You will therefore call it Ilyperia,
medusarum.”
Mr. Bate was then publishing in parts his work on “The Sessile-eyed
Crustacea". He sent Edward the several parts as they appeared. About the
beginning of 1855, Mi Mate says: “You will soon get a new part of
‘Crustacea,’ and then you will find that all my time and attention have
been occupied with the isopods. So do try and look out for some of
these, and leave the Amphipods alone for a little while.”
And again: “Please never apologize for writing to me about natural
history. We have now been such long correspondents, that unless I hear
from you now and then, I begin to fancy myself forgotten. Your letters
always give me pleasure. The Crustacea that you speak of is a Vibilia,
the first taken in the British Islands. Please let me know its habitat,
and as much of its habits as you can.”
In the mean time Mr. Norman was appealing to him for specimens of the
Echinoderms, as he was about to prepare a paper on the subject. “I want
your aid,” he said; “I know you will kindly give it me. The Urothoes are
extremely difficult, and I want specimens from as many parts of the
coast as possible, of all varieties and sizes, and from all depths of
water. Will you collect for me some from your neighborhood, from young
to the largest size of all you can meet with, keeping distinct those
from the shore and those from the deep water? It is important that they
should be well preserved Please get the specimens as soon as possible,
and send them to me by rail.”
Edward obeyed the behests of his several correspondents. He searched the
rock-pools, fished with his bag-net along the shore, and found various
new specimens, which he sent to his friends. But he could not find the
Echinodermata in deep water, for he had no means of reaching them. He
had no boat, no dredging apparatus. Perhaps his correspondents
forgot—perhaps they never knew—that he was a poor hard-working man,
laboring at his trade during the day, with only a few hours in the early
morning and a few hours at night which he was able to employ in their
service.
Not only did he work for his correspondents so industriously, but he
also worked for others to whom they referred him. Thus Mr. Norman
desired him to send his Sponges to Mr. Bowerbank, and his Ascidians to
Mr. Alder, of Newcastle, who were engaged in working -up these subjects.
The investigators did not know—for none of them had ever seen him — that
Edward had the greatest difficulty in earning money enough to maintain
his large family. Sometimes, in fact, he was on the brink of starvation.
And yet he worked for his naturalist friends as willingly and as hardly,
perhaps more hardly, than if he had been a gentleman of independent
fortune.
When the “History of the Sessile-eyed Crustacea” came out, the
assistance which had been rendered by Edward to Mr. Bate was fully and
generously acknowledged. Let any one look over the book, and he will
find of how much service Edward was to Mr. Bate while he was preparing
the work for publication. Mr. Bate frequently speaks of Edward as “our
valued, able, and close observer.” In addition to the references to
Edward already mentioned, we may subjoin the following: In speaking of
the Lysianassa lonyicornus, Mr. Bate says that it “has been forwarded to
him by that obliging and indefatigable naturalist, Mr. Edward, of
Banff;” that his only specimen of Anonyx obesus has been sent to him by
Mr. Edvard; that the Phoxus Holbelli has been sent to him from Banff “by
that indefatigable lover of nature, Mr. Edwardthat the species of
Darwinia compressa was first taken, bv Mr. Edward, at the entrance to
the Moray Firth; that the first species of the Calliope Ossiani had been
received from Mr. Edward, “from which specimen the original description
in the catalogue in the British Museum has been drawn up.” Mr. Bate also
stated that he only knew of the genus Eurisus through an imperfect
specimen which had been taken by Mr. Edward in the Moray Firth, “the
first and only British representative of the genus that we have seen.”
So, too, with the genus Brotomedia, of which “only two specimens were
collected at Banff by Mr. Edward.” A moiety was obtained of the first
species, which was called Protomedeia hirsuti-mana. In the second case,
the entire crustacean was obtained, of which Mr. Bate made a drawing and
description, and he named it Protomedeia Whitei, “in compliment to Mr.
Adam White, author of a popular history of the British crustacea.” Only
a single specimen of the Cratippus tenuipes was sent him by Mr. Edward,
who knew nothing of its habits. Mr. Bate also stated that he “ had only
seen three specimens of the Phoxus fusticaudatus, which were discovered
by his valued correspondent, Mr. Edward, of Banff, attached to the
brachiae of the common soldier-crab.”
Besides these discoveries, Edward found an immense variety of
crustaceans of other orders in the Moray Firth, which had never been
found before. Some of these were new to Britain, some of them new to
science. But we will not bewilder the reader by introducing the
jaw-breaking names of the newly discovered crustaceans. We have thought
it right, however, to mention a few of those introduced in Messrs. Bate
and Westwood’s “History of the Sessile-eyed Crustacea,” for the purpose
of confirming the statements which we have made as to the indefatigable
enthusiasm of Edward in the pursuit of natural history. It must also be
mentioned that the sessile-eyed crustacea constitute only a single
order, and that on the one side of them there are the Stalk-eyed
crustacea, and on the other the Entomostracous crustacea.
There is one point, however, that must be referred to before we conclude
this heavy chapter. The impression prevailed at one time that the
Hyperioidse were parasites of the Medusa, or Jelly-fish. In 1862 Mr.
Bate acknowledged the receipt of a crustacean, which he denominated
Hyperia medusarum. He said, “If I am correct, this is the first time
that I have known it as British.” In a subsequent letter (December 23d,
1863), Mr. Bate said: “It is an interesting circumstance that you should
have found the Hyperia and Lestrigonus free on the shore; inasmuch as
they have previously only been known as inhabitants of the floating
Medusa. I wish you "would direct your attention further to the subject
Hunt and be successful.”
The Rev. Mr. Norman also communicated with Edward about the same time,
and informed him “that the atylus is not a parasitical species, though
there are some crustacea (Hyperia) which are parasitical upon Medusa.”
Upon further investigation, Edward came to the conclusion that the
Hyperia is no more the parasite of the Medusa because it is sometimes
found upon it, than a crow is the parasite of a tree because it
sometimes lights upon it. As Edward’s name was now frequently quoted in
matters of zoology, he thought that it might be of some use to give the
results of his observations to the world on the subject. Hence the
appearance of his “Stray Notes on Some of the Smaller Crustaceans,”
which shortly after appeared in the Journal of the Linntean Society.
It is probable that the facts in that paper, as stated by Edward, had
some influence on the minds of Professor Westwood and Mr. Spence Bate;
as Hyperia medusarum does not appear in their list of sessile-eyed
crustacea, the last part of which was published at the end of 1868.
To give an idea of the indefatigable industry of Edward in his
researches among the crustaceans, it may be mentioned, that of 294 found
in the Moray Firth, not fewer than twenty-six new species were added by
Edward himself! |