McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Halibut
Plaice
Pleuronectes platessa
Item
1 watercolour painting ; 56 x 39 cm + 1 leaf
Peter Paillou was born in London into a Huguenot family and was recognised in his own time as an eminent ‘bird painter’. In 1744 he began to paint for Taylor White and worked for him for almost thirty years, painting chiefly birds and mammals. He painted as well for Robert More, Joseph Banks, and for the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant. Many of his paintings of birds were used as the basis for book illustrations, often engraved by his colleague and fellow Huguenot, Peter Mazell. Paillou was elected to the Society of Artists and in 1763 he exhibited ‘A Piece of Birds, in Watercolours; the Hen of the Wood and Cock of the Red Game’. In 1778, to considerable approval, he also showed a picture of ‘A Horned Owl from Peru’, completely made from feathers.
Drawing of a Plaice from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: Northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on front of drawing: Halibut (Hippoglossus vulgaris)
Scientific name: Pleuronectes platessa
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Pisces Thoracici Pl[e]uronectes
Caput: Oculi ambo in eodem
latere corporis.
Membra: Branch: radiis IV-VII
Corpus: compressum latere altero
dorsum, altero abdomen referrente [referente]
Oculis a latere dextro
Species discriptae [descriptae] Linei sunt 17. viz
1 Tricodactylus. 10 Linguatula
occulis a latere sinistro
Pisces Thoracici Ple[u]ronectes
Hypoglossus
Pleuronectes oculis dextris.
corpore toto glabro.
Habitat in Oceano Europaeo
variat rarius Oculis sinistris
The Butt.
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Pisces Thoracici Pl[e]uronectes
Head: Both eyes on the same
side of the body.
Gill membrane: 4-7 rays
Body: the back is compressed on one side,
and the other side bears the abdomen;
with the eyes on the right side.
There are 17 species described in Linnaeus, namely:
1 Tricodactylus. 10 Linguatula
with the eyes on the left side
Pisces Thoracici Ple[u]ronectes
Hypoglossus
Pleuronectes with the eyes on the right side;
and an entirely smooth body.
It lives in the European ocean.
It rarely varies by having the eyes on the left side.
The Butt.