Thanks too, are due to various people for help and inspiration along the way: to David Anderson and the staff at the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff; to Aled Gruffydd Jones and the staff at the National Library of Wales; to my editor Penny Thomas and all at Seren; to Paul Frame for conversations about Radiolaria, and to Gareth Griffith for (still inconclusive) conversations about star-jelly; to Si Constantine for introducing me to Rainer; to my parents, for Norrard, where parts of this were written; and to Liz Edwards, Margaret Ames and (as ever) David Parsons for moral support. Especial thanks are due to Clive Hicks-Jenkins for finding the time to produce the beautiful cover and illustrations; and to Peter Wakelin, for reading and commenting on the whole thing with amazing grace under difficult circumstances. Direct citations in the text come from: Charles Fort, The Book of the Damned (1904); John Morton, The Natural History of Northamptonshire (1712); Thomas Pennant, British Zoology (1766); Edward Thomas, ‘Out in the Dark’.
