We can all learn from the observational
skills and industry of Nineteenth Century Natural Historians. Equipped with
hand lenses, microscopes, pens, pencils, paper and paints, they recorded what
they saw and this formed the basis of the classification of organisms and the
ecology and behaviour that was to follow. I hold them in very high regard,
especially when it is now so easy to record an image, or access information. Yet
I wonder whether we have lost some of the skills shown during the heyday of
Natural History? Much of our information now comes from television and video
programmes that have excitement engendered by Hollywood-style production
values, "appropriate" music, and a charismatic presenter to front the
whole package. We are just passengers, often receiving what we are told uncritically.
The enthusiasm, powers of
observation, and skill in illustration of Nineteenth Century Natural Historians
are exemplified by William Pennington Cocks (1791-1878), whose work is included
in the Haddon Collection in the Horniman Museum [1]. Although Cocks was
interested in a wide range of animals, the Collection contains the notes he made
on sea anemones that were used by Philip Henry Gosse in the preparation of Actinologia Britannica, his book on the British
sea anemones and corals. Here are some examples of the notes that he sent to
Gosse:
In the first (above, upper),
we have a water colour sketch of sea anemones attached to the under-surface of a
rock. This gives little detail of the animals, although Cocks provides the name
of the species in the heading, but we certainly have a feel for their location.
Next (above, lower), there are several species of sea anemones, all painted
in colour and with detail of their structure and their positioning. Several
locations are given, including Gwyllyn Vase, a favourite site of Cocks on the
shore near Falmouth and now known as Gyllyngvase. He also placed sea anemones into jars, or tumblers, of sea water to facilitate observation (below, excuse my thumb in the first picture) and the drawings show details of structure that would be very helpful to
others working on the biology and classification of these animals.
Cocks
recognised the value of the microscope and this is emphasised in a note (below): "If you have not examined the tentacula microscopically I
would recommend a campaign in that quarter – we know little or nothing of the
anatomy of the actinias".
His study of the biology of sea anemones included
their feeding and three examples are given below, complete with the
examination of two fish that had been partially digested. The lowest
illustration shows a sea anemone with stinging acontia discharged [2] – "the
appearance of one of these irritable fellows a few moments after removal from
natural quarters".
Cocks' interest in anatomy and
diet is not surprising as he was trained as a surgeon and became well known in
London for his medical illustrations. He had a gift for drawing and for
painting in water colours, although he appears to have received no formal training
(unlike Gosse, whose father was a miniaturist). This is what Tom Barnicoat
writes in an article entitled "The Gilbert White of Falmouth" [3]:
Born in 1791,
the son of a Devon surgeon, Cocks took up his father's profession in London
before retiring to Falmouth in 1842 at the age of 50. This was apparently due to
recurring bouts of unspecified ill-health which continued for the rest of his
life. Cocks' constitution must have had an underlying strength, given his
active life and longevity: for the next 36 years, he was not only a prolific
naturalist, but also keenly engaged in local politics, for the Liberal cause.
His main contribution was a stream of lively cartoons and caricatures. Cocks
was also an acute social observer, in his writing and drawings of contemporary
mores..
..That he was a
man of his time is clear, a certain type of Victorian professional with
sufficient leisure (and thus means) to pursue a wide range of interests in that
age of curiosity and discovery. From all the published sources, it would seem
he was also an inveterate bachelor, there is no mention of family life
anywhere.
F. Hamilton Davey in his appreciation
of Cocks in 1909 adds [4]:
While Cocks
will always be spoken of as a distinguished local naturalist, no reference to
his life's work can be deemed complete which omits mention of his achievements
in departments other than those connected with natural science..
..Everyone who
knew Cocks speaks of him as a most genial companion and a man who never, even
in his old years, lost touch with young men. To spend an evening with him, or
to accompany him on one of his natural history rambles, was an event long to be
remembered. He had a fine sense of humour, was a brilliant conversationalist,
and his memory was as reliable as a written diary.
Clearly, Cocks was of a quite
different personality to Gosse, who was shy and dedicated to his literalist
Biblical beliefs. We know of the importance of Gosse to the increasing
popularity of marine science, parlour aquaria and microscopy in the Nineteenth
Century, as Edmund Gosse wrote two biographies of his father, including the
well-known Father and Son. Few are
familiar with Cocks, yet we know that he corresponded with Gosse and others about
sea anemones and his correspondence was valued, which is why the notes by Cocks
were retained and then gathered into the Haddon Collection. Stella M. Turk wrote
in 1971 [5]:
If like Proust
we think of our personal pasts as stilts on which we must balance, then we must
also believe that science itself rests on its past – often precariously. The
ability to manoeuvre such stilts is related to an understanding of their
origins. Our present highly specialised, statistically-based professional
attitudes in biology could not have come about had it not been for the few
highly articulate, industrious and many-sided amateurs who helped to lay the
foundations of modern natural history studies in the last century. Dr. W. P. Cocks,
still alive less than a century ago, and in his working life a valued correspondent
of such outstanding authorities as Milne Edwards, Yarrell, Gosse, Couch, Johnston
and Ralfs.. ..was just such a naturalist.
Food for thought for those of us
who continue to believe in the importance of the study of Natural History. Viewing
the Haddon Collection was an exciting adventure for me, as I greatly admire the
Natural Historians of the Nineteenth Century, their powers of
observation and their means of communicating what they saw. Would Cocks have
been surprised to know that someone was admiring his field notes in a Museum, more
than 150 years after they were written?
[3] Tom Barnicoat (2008/2009) The
Gilbert White of Falmouth. Thepolymagazine pages 11-13.
[4] F. Hamilton Davey (1909)
William Pennington Cocks, M.R.C.S. Reports
of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society 76: 82-91.
[5] Stella M. Turk (1971) Wiliam
Pennington Cocks (1791-1878), a West Country naturalist. Journal of Conchology 27: 253-255.
I would like to thank the
Horniman Museum for allowing me to view the Haddon Collection and to reproduce
the illustrations in this post. Michael Carver, Judith Hann and the Royal
Cornwall Polytechnic Society provided valuable insights into the work of W. P.
Cocks and it is a pleasure to acknowledge their help, together with that of
Anna Holmes and Graham Oliver of the Conchological Society of Great Britain and
Ireland.
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