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An Essay towards a Natural History of the Corallines, and Other Marine Productions of the Like Kind, Commonly Found on the Coasts of Great Britain and Ireland.  To Which is Added the Description of a Large Marine Polype Taken Near the North Pole, by Whale-fishers, in the Summer 1753.  London, 1755.  French translation, 1756.  German translation, 1767.  46 copper-plate engravings. "In 1754 he became a fellow of the Royal Society, and in the following year established his reputation as one of the most acute observers of his time with the publication of An Essay towards the Natural History of the Corallines, London, 4to.  This work was translated into French in the following year; and though his views were opposed by Dr. Job Baster and but imperfectly comprehended by Linnæus, he established by it the animal nature of this group of organisms.  In 1768 the Copley medal of the Royal Society was awarded to Ellis for these researches." —Stephen Leslie, Dictionary of National Biography, 1889.

 

Print: 9" x 7"