INGENIOUS, IN MANY CONSIDERABLE PARTS OF THE WORLD ***




Transcriber’s Note

Variable spelling and hyphenation have been retained. Minor punctuation
inconsistencies have been silently repaired. The Errata of the original
edition have been corrected. Other changes made can be found at the end
of the book. Formatting and special characters are indicated as follows:

  [Sidenotes]
  _italic_
  +spaced font+




                             PHILOSOPHICAL
                             TRANSACTIONS,
                              GIVING SOME
                                ACCOUNT
                                OF THE
             Present Undertakings, Studies, _and_ Labours,
                                OF THE
                              INGENIOUS,
                                IN MANY
                   Considerable Parts of the WORLD.


                 VOL. L. +PART I.+ For the Year 1757.


                               _LONDON._

               Printed for +L. DAVIS+ and +C. REYMERS+,
                   Printers to the +ROYAL SOCIETY+,
               against _Gray’s-Inn Gate_, in _Holbourn_.

                             M.DCC.LVIII.




                                  THE
                               CONTENTS
                                  TO
                           PART I. VOLUME L.


  I. _AN Account of the Earthquake felt in_ New England, _and
  the neighbouring Parts of_ America, _on the 18th of_ November
  _1755. In a Letter to_ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secret. R.S. by Mr.
  Professor_ Winthrop, _of_ Cambridge _in_ New England.        Page 1.

  II. _The strange Effects of some effervescent Mixtures; in a Letter
  from Dr._ James Mounsey, _Physician of the_ Russian _Army,
  and F.R.S. to Mr._ Henry Baker, _F.R.S. Communicated by Mr._ Baker.
                                                                p. 19.

  III. _Extract of a Letter of_ J. Wall, _M.D. to the Rev.
  Dr._ Lyttelton, _Dean of_ Exeter, _and F.R.S. concerning the
  good Effects of_ Malverne _Waters in_ Worcestershire.         p. 23.

  IV. _An Account of the_ Carlsbad _Mineral Waters in_
  Bohemia: _In a Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of_
  Macclesfield, _President of the R.S. by the Rev._ Jeremiah
  Milles, _D.D. F.R.S._                                         p. 25.

  V. _An Essay towards ascertaining the specific Gravity of living
  Men. By_ Mr. John Robertson, _F.R.S._                         p. 30.

  VI. _An Instance of the Gut_ Ileum, _cut thro’ by a Knife,
  successfully treated by Mr._ Peter Travers, _Surgeon, at_
  Lisbon. _Communicated by_ John Huxham, _M.D. F.R.S._          p. 35.

  VII. _An Account of a Visitation of the leprous Persons in the
  Isle of_ Guadaloupe: _In a Letter to Mons._ Damonville,
  _Counsellor and Assistant-Judge at_ Martinico, _and in the
  Office of King’s Physician at_ Guadaloupe. _By_ John Andrew
  Peyssonel, _M.D. F.R.S. Translated from the_ French.          p. 38.

  VIII. _An Account of the late Discoveries of Antiquities at_
  Herculaneum; _in an Extract of a Letter from_ Camillo Paderni,
  _Keeper of the_ Herculanean Museum, _and F.R.S. to_ Thomas
  Hollis, _Esq; dated_ Naples, Dec. 16, 1756.                   p. 49.

  IX. _An Account of some Trees discovered underground on the Shore
  at_ Mount’s-Bay _in_ Cornwall: _In a Letter from the Rev.
  Mr._ William Borlase, _F.R.S. to the Rev. Dr._ Lyttelton,
  _Dean of_ Exeter.                                             p. 51.

  X. _Experiments on applying the Rev. Dr._ Hales’_s Method of
  distilling Salt-water to the Steam-Engine. By_ Keane Fitzgerald,
  _Esq; F.R.S._                                                 p. 53.

  XI. _Extract of a Letter of Mr._ Abraham Trembley, _F.R.S.
  to_ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secret. R.S. Translated from the_
  French.                                                       p. 58.

  XII. _A brief Botanical and Medical History of the_ Solanum
  Lethale, Bella-donna, _or_ Deadly Nightshade, _by Mr._
  Richard Pulteney. _Communicated by Mr._ William Watson,
  _F.R.S._                                                      p. 62.

  XIII. _An Account of some of the Antiquities discovered at_
  Herculaneum, &c. _In a Letter to_ Thomas Birch, _D.D. Secret.
  R.S. By_ John Nixon, _A.M. F.R.S._                            p. 88.

  XIV. _An Account of the Effects of a Storm of Thunder and Lightning,
  in the Parishes of_ Looe _and_ Lanreath, _in the County
  of_ Cornwall, _on the 27th Day of_ June _1756. Communicated
  to the Rev._ Jeremiah Milles, _D.D. F.R.S. in two Letters, one
  from the Rev. Mr._ Dyer, _Minister of_ Looe, _and the
  other from the Rev. Mr._ Milles, _Vicar of_ Duloe, _in_
  Cornwall.                                                    p. 104.

  XV. _An Account of the Peat-pit near_ Newbury _in_
  Berkshire; _in an Extract of a Letter from_ John Collet, _M.D.
  to the Right Reverend_ Richard _Lord Bishop of_ Ossory,
  _F.R.S._                                                     p. 109.

  XVI. _An Account of the Alterations making in the_ Pantheon
  _at_ Rome: _In an Extract of a Letter from_ Rome _to_
  Thomas Hollis, _Esq; Communicated by_ John Ward, _LL.D. R.S.
  Vice-Præs._                                                  p. 115.

  XVII. _An Account of a new medicinal Well, lately discovered
  near_ Moffat, _in_ Annandale, _in the County of_
  Dumfries. _By Mr._ John Walker, _of_ Borgue-house
  _near_ Kirkudbright _in_ Scotland.                           p. 115.

  XVIII. _An Account of the State of the Thermometer at the_ Hague
  _on the 9th of_ January _1757. Extracted from a Letter of
  Mr._ Abraham Trembley, _F.R.S. to_ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secret.
  R.S._                                                        p. 148.

  XIX. _Experimental Examination of_ Platina. _By_ William
  Lewis, _M.B. F.R.S. Paper_ V. ibid.

  XX. _Experimental Examination of_ Platina. _By_ William
  Lewis, _M.B. F.R.S. Paper_ VI.                               p. 156.

  XXI. _An Account of the Temple of_ Serapis _at_ Pozzuoli
  _in the Kingdom of_ Naples: _In a Letter to_ John Ward,
  _LL.D. and R.S. Vice-Præs. by the Rev._ John Nixon, _M.A.
  F.R.S._                                                      p. 166.

  XXII. _Some Remarks on a_ Parthian _Coin with a_
  Greek _and_ Parthian _Legend, never before published. In a
  Letter from the Rev._ John Swinton, _M.A. of_ Christ-Church,
  Oxon, _F.R.S. to the Rev._ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secret. R.S._
                                                               p. 175.

  XXIII. _An Account of a Red Coral from the_ East-Indies, _of a
  very singular Kind: In a Letter from Mr._ John Ellis, _F.R.S. to
  Mr._ Peter Collinson, _F.R.S._                                p. 189.

  XXIV. _An Account of the Effects of a Storm at_ Wigton _in_
  Cumberland. _Communicated by Mr._ Philip Miller, _F.R.S._     p. 194.

  XXV. _An Account of the Effects of Lightning upon the Steeple and
  Church of_ Lestwithiel, Cornwall; _in a Letter to the Right
  Honourable the Earl of_ Macclesfield, _President of the R.S. By
  Mr._ John Smeaton, _F.R.S._                                  p. 198.

  XXVI. _An Account of the Case of the late Right Honourable_
  Horace _Lord_ Walpole; _being a Sequel to his own Account
  published in the_ Philosophical Transactions, _Vol._ xlvii.
  _p._ 43 _and_ 472.                                           p. 205.

  _Postscript to Dr._ Whytt_’s Observations on Lord_
  Walpole_’s Case_.                                            p. 385.

  XXVII. _An Account of the Virtues of Soap in dissolving the Stone,
  in the Case of the Rev. Mr._ Matthew Simpson. _Communicated
  by_ John Pringle, _M.D. F.R.S._                              p. 221.

  XXVIII. _An Account of the Impressions of Plants on the Slates of
  Coals: In a Letter to the Right Honorable_ George _Earl of_
  Macclesfield, _President of the R.S. from Mr._ Emanuel Mendes da
  Costa, _F.R.S._                                              p. 228.

  XXIX. _A Catalogue of the Fifty Plants from_ Chelsea Garden,
  _presented to the_ Royal Society _by the worshipful Company of
  Apothecaries, for the Year_ 1756, _pursuant to the Direction of
  Sir_ Hans Sloane, _Baronet, Med. Reg. & Soc. nuper Præses, by_
  John Wilmer, _M.D. clariss. Societatis Pharmaceut. Lond. Socius,
  Hort._ Chels. _Præfect. & Prælector Botan._                  p. 236.

  XXX. _Remarks on the Opinion of_ Henry Eeles, _Esq; concerning the
  Ascent of Vapour, published in the_ Philosoph. Transact. _Vol._ xlix.
  _Part_ i. _p._ 124. _By_ Erasmus Darwin, _M.D. Communicated by Mr._
  William Watson, _F.R.S._                                     p. 240.

  XXXI. _An Account of a new-discovered Species of the Snipe or
  Tringa: In a Letter to the Rev._ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secret.
  R.S. from Mr._ Geo. Edwards, _Librarian of the College of
  Physicians_.                                                 p. 255.

  XXXII. _Observationes de Corallinis, iisque insidentibus Polypis,
  aliisque Animalculis Marinis: Quas Regiæ Societati Londinensi
  offert_ Job Baster, _Med. Doct. Acad. Cæsar. Reg. Societ. Lond. &
  Scient. Holland. Socius._                                    p. 258.

  XXXIII. _Remarks on Dr._ Job Baster’s Observationes de
  Corallinis, &c. _In a Letter to the Right Hon._ George _Earl
  of_ Macclesfield, _President of the R.S. from Mr._ John Ellis,
  _F.R.S._ p. 280.

  XXXIV. _An Account of an extraordinary Operation performed in the
  Dock-Yard at_ Portsmouth: _Drawn up by Mr._ John Robertson,
  _F.R.S._                                                     p. 288.

  XXXV. _Observations on an Evening, or rather Nocturnal, Solar_
  Iris. _By Mr._ George Edwards, _Librarian of the College of
  Physicians_.                                                 p. 293.

  XXXVI. _The Effects of the_ Opuntia, _or Prickly Pear, and of
  the_ Indigo _Plant, in colouring the Juices of living Animals.
  Communicated by_ H. Baker, _F.R.S._                          p. 296.

  XXXVII. _An Account of an extrordinary Shower of black Dust, that
  fell in the Island of_ Zetland _20th_ October 1755. _In a
  Letter from Sir_ Andrew Mitchell, _of_ Westshore, _Bart.
  to_ John Pringle, _M.D. F.R.S._                              p. 297.

  XXXVIII. _A Description of some Thermometers for particular Uses. By
  the Right Honourable the Lord_ Charles Cavendish, _V.P.R.S._  p. 300.

  XXXIX. _Observationes Anatomico-Medicæ de Monstro bicorporeo
  Virgineo A. 1701. die 26_ Oct. _in_ Pannonia, _infra_
  Comaromium, _in Possessione_ Szony, _quondam Quiritum_
  Bregetione, _in lucem edito, atque A. 1723. die 23_ Febr. Posonii
  _in Cœnobio Monialium_ S. Ursulæ _morte functo ibidemque
  sepulto. Authore_ Justo Johanne Torkos, _M.D. Soc. Regalis
  Socio._                                                       p. 311.

  XL. _Observations on the Origin and Use of the Lymphatic Vessels of
  Animals: Being an Extract from the_ Gulstonian _Lectures, read
  in the Theatre of the College of Physicians of_ London, _in_
  June 1755. _By_ Mark Akenside, _M.D. Fellow of the College of
  Physicians, and of the Royal Society_.                       p. 322.

  XLI. _A Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of_ Macclesfield,
  _President, the_ Council, _and_ Fellows, _of the_ Royal
  Society, _concerning the Variation of the Magnetic Needle; with a
  Sett of Tables annexed, which exhibit the Result of upwards of Fifty
  Thousand Observations, in Six periodic Reviews, from the Year 1700 to
  the Year 1756, both inclusive; and are adapted to every Five Degrees
  of Latitude and Longitude in the more frequented Oceans. By_
  William Mountaine _and_ James Dodson, _Fellows of the Royal
  Society_.                                                    p. 329.

  XLII. _An account of some extraordinary Tumors upon the Head of a
  labouring Man, now in_ St. Bartholomew’s _Hospital. By_ James
  Parsons, _M.D. F.R.S._                                       p. 350.

  XLIII. _An Extract of the Register of the Parish of_ Great
  Shefford, _near_ Lamborne, _in_ Berkshire, _for Ten Years:
  With Observations on the same: In a Letter to_ Tho. Birch, _D.D.
  Secret. R.S. from the Rev. Mr._ Richard Foster, _Rector of_
  Great Shefford.                                              p. 356.

  XLIV. _A remarkable Case of an Aneurism, or Disease of the principal
  Artery of the Thigh, occasioned by a Fall. To which is prefixed a
  short Account of the Uncertainty of the distinguishing Symptoms of
  this Disease. By_ Jos. Warner, _F.R.S. and Surgeon to_ Guy’s
  Hospital.                                                    p. 363.

  XLV. _Farther Experiments for increasing the Quantity of Steam in a
  Fire-Engine. By_ Keane Fitz-Gerald, _Esq; F.R.S._            p. 370.

  XLVI. _Observatio Eclipsis Lunæ Die 27_ Martii, _Ann. 1755.
  habita Ulissipone in Domo Patrum Congregationis Oratorii à_ Joanne
  Chevalier _ejusdem Congregationis Presbytero, Regiæ_ Londinensis
  _Societatis Socio, Regiæque_ Parisiensis _Scientiarum Academiæ
  correspondente_.                                             p. 374.

  XLVII. _Eclipsis Lunæ Die_ 4 Februarii, _Ann._ 1757.
  _habita Ulissipone à_ Joanne Chevalier _Presbytero
  Congregationis Oratorii, Regiæ_ Londinensis _Societatis Socio,
  Regiæque Scientiarum_ Parisiensis _Acadaemiæ correspondente, et
  a_ Theodoro de Almeida _ejusdem Congregationis Presbytero, ac
  Physicæ publico Professore_                                  p. 376.

    _Observationes Eclipsium Satellitum Jovis Ulissipone habitæ a_
    Joanne Chevalier, _&c._                                     p. 377.

  XLVIII. _Observationes Eclipsium Satellitum Jovis Ulissipone habitæ
  à_ Joanne Chevalier, _Presbytere Congregationis Oratorii,
  Regiæque_ Londinensis _Societatis Socio, Anno_ 1757.          p. 378.

  XLIX. _A remarkable Case of the Efficacy of the Bark in a
  Mortification: In a Letter to_ William Watson, _M.D. F.R.S. from Mr._
  Richard Grindall, _Surgeon to the_ London _Hospital_.         p. 379.

  L. _A Letter to the Rev._ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secret. R.S. from_ John
  Pringle, _M.D. F.R.S. inclosing Two Papers communicated to him by_
  Robert Whytt, _M.D. F.R.S._                                   p. 383.

    1. _Some Observations on the lithontriptic Virtue of the_ Carlsbad
    _Waters, Lime-water, and Soap: In Letter to Dr._ John Pringle,
    _F.R.S. from Dr._ Robert Whytt, _F.R.S. and Professor of Medicine
    in the University of_ Edinburgh.                            p. 386.

    2. _An Instance of the Electrical Virtue in the Cure of a Palsy. By
    Mr._ Patrick Brydone.                                       p. 392.

  LI. _An Account of some fossil Fruits, and other Bodies, found in the
  Island of_ Shepey. _By_ James Parsons, _M.D. F.R.S._          p. 396.

  LII. _Observations on the Comet, that appeared in the Months of_
  September _and_ October 1757, _made at the Royal Observatory by_ Ja.
  Bradley, _D.D. Astronomer Royal, F.R.S. and Member of the Royal Academy
  of Sciences at_ Paris.                                        p. 408.

  LIII. _The Resolution of a General Proposition for determining
  the_ horary _Alteration of the Position of the Terrestrial
  Equator, from the Attraction of Sun and Moon: With some Remarks on
  the Solutions given by other Authors to that difficult and important
  Problem. By Mr._ Tho. Simpson, _F.R.S._                      p. 416.

  LIV. _Remarks upon the Heat of the Air in_ July 1757, _in an Extract
  of a Letter from_ John Huxham, _M.D. F.R.S. to_ William Watson, _M.D.
  F.R.S. dated at_ Plymouth _19th of the same Month. With additional
  Remarks by Dr._ Watson.                                       p. 428.

  LV. _Remarks upon the Letter of Mr._ John Ellis, _F.R.S. to_ Philip
  Carteret Webb, _Esq; F.R.S. printed in the_ Philosophical Transactions,
  _Vol._ xlix. _Part_ ii. _p._ 806. _By Mr._ Philip Miller, _F.R.S._
                                                                p. 430.

  LVI. _An Answer to the preceding Remarks. By Mr._ John Ellis, _F.R.S._
                                                                p. 441.

  LVII. _A Letter to the Rev._ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secr. R.S. concerning
  the Number of the People of_ England; _by the Rev. Mr._ Richard
  Forster, _Rector of_ Great Shefford _in_ Berkshire.           p. 457.

  LVIII. _A Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of_ Macclesfield,
  _President of the_ Royal Society, _from the Rev._ William Brakenridge,
  _D.D. F.R.S. containing an Answer to the Account of the Numbers and
  Increase of the People of_ England, _by the Rev. Mr._ Forster.
                                                                p. 465.




ERRATA.


_Page_ 95. _line_ 24. _read_ even the ends of the umbilici.

_Page_ 96. _line_ 5. _read_ exposed the extremity of the umbilicus.

_Page_ 168. _line_ 4. _after_ as _dele_ well as.

_Page_ 328. _line_ 9 _from the bottom, for_ stream _read_ steam.

_In the Tables of the Variation of the Magnetic Needle, Anno_ 1756,

  Lat. Long.
   0--70E _for Var._ 3¼W _read_ 2¾W. _Read the same in p._ 333.
  15N 35W    ----    3½W  ----  2½W
   5S 40E    ----    17W  ----  18W
  30S 15E    ----    18W  ----  17½W
  35S 10W    ----    5½W  ----   5W
  35S 45E    ----   26½W  ----  26W




PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS.


I. _An Account of the Earthquake felt in_ New England, _and the
neighbouring Parts of_ America, _on the 18th of_ November 1755. _In a
Letter to_ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secret. R.S. by Mr. Professor_ Winthrop,
_of_ Cambridge _in_ New England.

[Read Jan. 13, 1757.]

Reverend Sir,

I Beg leave to lay before you the best account I am able to give of the
great earthquake, which shook New England, and the neighbouring parts
of America, on Tuesday the 18th day of November 1755, about a quarter
after four in the morning. I deferred writing till this time, in order
to obtain the most distinct information of the several particulars
relating to it, both here and in the other places where it was felt;
and especially the extent of it.

The night, in which this earthquake happened, was perfectly calm and
serene. In the evening there was a fog over the marshes bordering on
the river Charles, which runs through this town: but this I found
intirely dissipated at the time of the earthquake, the air being then
quite clear, and the moon, which wanted but 36ʰ of the full, shining
very bright. The earthquake began with a roaring noise in the N.W.
like thunder at a distance; and this grew fiercer, as the earthquake
drew nearer; which was almost a minute in coming to this place, as
near as I can collect from one of my neighbours, who was then on the
road in this town. He tells me, that, as soon as he heard the noise,
he stopt, knowing, that it was an earthquake, and waiting for it;
and he reckoned he had stood still about 2’, when the noise seemed
to overtake him, and the earth began to tremble under him: but, as I
doubted, whether it were so long, I counted several numbers to him
as slowly as a clock beats seconds; and then he said, he believed he
could have counted half an hundred, at that rate, before the noise and
shake came up to him. By his account, as well as that of others, the
first motion of the earth was what may be called a pulse, or rather an
undulation; and resembled (to use his own comparison) that of a long
rolling, swelling sea; and the swell was so great, that he was obliged
to run and catch hold of something, to prevent being thrown down. The
tops of two trees close by him, one of which is 25, the other 30 feet
high, he thinks waved at least ten feet (and I depend on his judgment
in this particular, because he judged right of the height of the trees,
as I found by actual mensuration); and there were two of these great
wavings, succeeded by one, which was smaller. This sort of motion,
after having continued, as has been conjectured, about a minute, abated
a little; so that I, who was just then waked, and, I suppose, most
others, imagined, that the height of the shock was past. But instantly,
without a moment’s intermission, the shock came on with redoubled noise
and violence; though the species of it was altered to a tremor, or
quick horizontal vibratory motion, with sudden jerks and wrenches. The
bed, on which I lay, was now tossed from side to side; the whole house
was prodigiously agitated; the windows rattled, the beams cracked, as
if all would presently be shaken to pieces. When this had continued
about 2’, it began to abate, and gradually kept decreasing, as if it
would be soon over: however, before it had quite ceased, there was a
little revival of the trembling and noise, though no-ways comparable
to what had been before: but this presently decreased, till all, by
degrees, became still and quiet. Thus ended this great shock. It was
followed by another about an hour and a quarter after, viz. at 5ʰ 29’.
This, though comparatively small, was very generally perceived, both as
to its noise and trembling, by those who were awake. On the Saturday
evening following, viz. the 22d of November, at 27’ after eight, there
was a third, more considerable than the second, but not to be compared
with the first. And on Friday the 19th of December in the evening,
exactly at ten o’ clock, there was a fourth shock, much smaller than
either of the former, though, like them, preceded by the peculiar noise
of an earthquake. The whole lasted but a few seconds; but the jarring
was great enough to cause the window-shutters and door of the room, in
which I then was, to clatter. The sky was perfectly clear, and there
was a very gentle and scarcely-perceptible gale at S.W. These four are
the only shocks, that I have been sensible of from the 18th of November
last to this date; tho’ more are said to have been felt in other parts
of the country to the northward of us.

As to the duration of the great shock, people have differed widely,
viz. from 1’ to 6 or 7. Our printed accounts have generally fixed it
to about 2’, or 3 at the most; but as these were only the uncertain
guesses of persons, who had no rule to guess by, no dependence can
be had on them. I am well satisfied, that with us it continued 4’,
or rather 4’ 1-half; taking in the whole of the time, from the first
agitation of the earth till it was become perfectly quiet; tho’ the
violence of the shock did not last above half so long. This I am
assured of, partly from the observations of some gentlemen, who were
up, and looked on their watches, when it began and ended; one of whom
tells me it was 4’, and another, that it was near 5; and partly from
my own observations, which were as follow. The preceding noon I had
adjusted both my clock and watch to the apparent time, by a meridian
line; and the following noon I found, that the watch had kept time
exactly. Being awaked by the earthquake, I lay till the violence
of it seemed to be over for the second time, the first abatement
happening just after I waked. Till then I forbore to rise, because the
agitation was so vehement, that I concluded it would be difficult, if
not impracticable, to go from the bed to the chimney, without being
thrown down; and therefore thought it best not to attempt it. The
space of time, in which I lay awake, I cannot think to be much, if any
thing, less than 2’. This was the conjecture I formed at that time;
though, it being but conjecture, I would not lay very great stress
upon it, were it not supported by concurring observations. On the
second abatement I rose, and lighting a candle, looked on my watch,
and found it to be 15’ after four. The shock then was not quite over,
but the windows continued rattling for about a minute longer, as near
as I can remember; for the shock went off very gradually. As soon as
I had looked on the watch, I went directly to the clock, which was in
another chamber, that I might see whether that agreed with the watch,
and found that it was stopt at 4ʰ 11’ 35’'. Its stopping, however, was
not immediately owing to the violence of the shock, though several
clocks, and watches too, at Boston, are said to have been stopped by
it, but to the following accident: Having some time before used a
pretty long glass tube, in a particular experiment, I had shut it up
in the clock-case for security; and this tube, being overthrown by the
earthquake, lodged against the pendulum, and stopt its motion. By this
accident, the beginning of the earthquake, I conceive, is determined
with all the exactness, that can be desired; for, so far as I can
learn, the first shake was violent enough to overset so tall, slender
a body, and standing in a position so near a perpendicular, as that
tube; and it was impossible for the pendulum to make one oscillation,
after the tube had struck against it. But I am not able to fix the
end, nor consequently the duration, with the same exactness: however,
from the time, when the clock stopt, to my looking on the watch, it was
about 3’ 1-half; and the jarring was not quite over till about a minute
after this: so that I think I speak within bounds, if I say, that this
shock with us lasted at least 4’. In other places, its duration might
possibly be different. I was careful to note the time, when we had it,
as exactly as I could, in hopes, that, by comparing it with the like
accounts from distant places, we might be able to judge, with a good
degree of exactness, of the course of this earthquake, the place of its
origin, and the velocity of its progress. But all the accounts of the
time, which I have yet seen, are so very lax, that no just conclusions
can be drawn from them, with respect to either of these points. What
I have been able to collect with relation to them, I shall set down
presently.

Those, who suppose the duration much shorter, as 1’ 1-half, or 2’,
urge, that a minute is a longer space of time than most people are
aware of; which is very true: but it should also be considered, that
if we judge the length of any space of time by the number of ideas,
which pass through our minds in that time; a very great fright,--a
fright so great, as to take intire possession of the mind for a time,
and shut out every idea except that of the present danger, will make
us judge the time to be much shorter than it really is. And this, I
make no doubt, was the case with many; the surprise, into which they
were thrown, being such, as to keep out every idea, except that,
which happened to strike their minds with the greatest force at the
beginning. Thus, several perceived no noise distinct from that, which
was occasioned by the crackling of their houses, and the disturbance of
the moveables in them; while others, who were waked by the noise, and
ran from one room to another, have told me, that they felt nothing at
all of the shake. For this reason, the conjectures, which persons in
these circumstances made, as to the duration of the shock, ought not to
be put into the balance with the actual observations made by watches.

The course of this earthquake seems to have been nearly from N.W. to
S.E. My neighbour before-mentioned, who was then abroad, and informed
me, that the noise began about the N.W. told me at the same time, that
it passed off towards the S.E. and that he heard the noise in that
quarter gradually abating, as it became more distant, for about the
same space of time after the shock was over here, as he heard it in
the N.W. before the shock began here. Other accounts, which I have
since met with, agree with this. Those, who were in such clear open
places, could make the best judgment in this matter; for such, as were
within doors, or surrounded with buildings, might easily be misled by
the various reflections of the sound. I am induced to give the greater
credit to this information by what I observed myself: for a key, which
was thrown from off a shelf in my house, was found at a place on the
floor, which bore very near N.W. of the place, from which it fell;
though the situation of it before its fall was such, that it might have
been thrown in any direction, except towards the S.E.

An account, which we have lately received from the West-Indies,
agrees very well with the supposition, that our earthquake proceeded
south-eastward. The account is, that 'on the 18th of November, about
two o’clock in the afternoon, the sea withdrew from the harbour of
St. Martin’s, leaving the vessels dry, and fish on the banks, where
there used to be three or four fathom water; and continued out a
considerable time; so that the people retired to the high land,
fearing the consequence of its return; and when it came in, it arose
six feet higher than usual, so as to overflow the low lands. There
was no shock felt at the above time.’ As this extraordinary motion of
the sea happened about 9ʰ after our great shock, it seems very likely
to have been occasioned by the same convulsion of the earth. Now if
this earthquake went off south-eastward into the Atlantic, it must
have passed considerably to the eastward of St. Martin’s; and, in
fact, it did not reach that island, there being no shock felt there.
The motion of the sea then was owing to a great agitation raised at a
considerable distance in some part or other of the ocean, where the
earthquake passed, and from thence propagated to that island. Nor is
the length of time greater than what seems to be necessary for this
effect. The earthquake itself, at the rate it moved with us, would be
some hours in going from hence to the distance of St. Martin’s: for
sound would be about 2¼ʰ in moving to such a distance; and the progress
of the earthquake was slower than that of sound, as appears from hence,
that the roar of this earthquake arrived here near a minute before
the shake. The rest of the 9ʰ might well be spent in conveying the
motion excited in the water, from the place where it was excited, to
St. Martin’s; for the waves raised thereby could not move with near the
velocity of sound.

It is worthy of remark, that, of the five great earthquakes, which
this country has felt since its settlement by the English, two have
gone nearly in the same track as this last did. The first, which was
on June 2. 1638, 'came from the northward, and passed southward.’ By
the description given of it, it was very much like our late earthquake,
only perhaps not quite so violent. 'The noise and shakes of the
earthquake, October 29. 1727, seemed,’ it is said, 'to come from the
north-westward, and to go off south-easterly; and so the houses seemed
to reel.’ As to the great earthquakes of 1658 and 1662, we have no
account of the courses, which they went in. But, from the other three,
it may be reasonably conjectured, that the source of our earthquakes,
or the place in which they originate, is in some part of Canada, or
perhaps beyond it.

The extent of this earthquake seems to have been greater than that of
any of our former earthquakes. This province of the Massachusetts-bay,
or rather the province of New Hampshire, about the latitude of 43°
north on the sea-coast, seems to have been the center of it, or the
place of its greatest violence, and the shake to have been less
considerable each way from hence towards the S. W. and N. E. By the
accounts we have from the S. W. the shock was less at New York than it
was with us; and still less at Philadelphia, which is farther towards
the S. W. By the best information I can procure, the limit toward the
S. W. was Chesopeak-bay in Maryland, the shock having been felt on
the eastern side of that bay, and not on the western. For the other
limit toward the N. E. we are informed, that the earthquake was felt
at Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia, though in a much less degree than
with us. It shook off a few bricks from the tops of some chimnies, but
was not perceived by vessels on the water. And a letter from Halifax
says, 'The earthquake, which happened in the W. extended itself to this
place, tho’ scarcely perceivable here.’ But it was not at all felt by
our army, which lay encamped at Seganecto, about 100 miles N. from
Halifax. Thus Halifax seems to have been very near the N. E. limit.
I am not able to ascertain its eastern and western limits; but it
extended to all our back inland settlements; and was perceived, though
in a very small degree, by our army at Lake George, distant from hence
about 130 miles N. W. by W. But it was not felt at all at the British
fort of Oswego, situate on the south-eastern shore of Lake Ontario,
and distant from hence about 230 miles W. by N. So great was the shock
in the Atlantic, 70 leagues to the E. of Cape Anne, that the people on
board a vessel there were suddenly surprised, just at the time of our
earthquake, supposing they had run a-ground; till, on throwing over the
lead, they found they had more than 50 fathom water. The extent of the
earthquake E. and W. from Halifax to Lake George was about 550 miles;
and its extent along the sea-coast, from N.E. to S.W. at least 800
miles. But if the agitation of the water at St. Martin’s was occasioned
by our earthquake continued into the Atlantic, as was conjectured
above, its extent, in a direction toward the S. S. E. must have been at
last 1900 miles.

I shall now proceed to mention the principal effects of this
earthquake, for which I can find sufficient vouchers; for many strange
things have been related, which, upon examination, appear to be without
foundation. Besides the throwing down of glass, pewter, and other
moveables in the houses, many chimnies were levelled with the roofs
of the houses, and many more shattered, and thrown down in part. Some
were broken off several feet below the top, and, by the suddenness and
violence of the jerks, canted horizontally an inch or two over, so as
to stand very dangerously. Some others were twisted, or turned round
in part. The roofs of some houses were quite broken in by the fall of
chimnies; and the gable ends of some brick buildings thrown down, and
many more cracked. Throughout the whole country, the stone fences were
more or less thrown down. The vane upon the public market-house in
Boston was thrown down; the wooden spindle, which supported it, about
five inches in diameter, and which had stood the most violent gusts of
wind, being snapt off. A new vane, upon one of the churches in Boston,
was bent at its spindle two or three points of the compass; and another
at Springfield, distant about 80 miles westerly from Boston, was bent
to a right angle. A distillers cistern, made of plank, almost new, and
very strong put together, was burst to pieces by the agitation of the
liquor in it; which was thrown out with such force, as to break down
one whole side of the shed, that defended the cistern from the weather;
as also to stave off a board or two from a fence at the distance of
eight or ten feet from it. In some parts of the country, particularly
at Pembroke and Scituate, about 25 miles S.E. from hence, there were
several chasms or openings made in the earth, from some of which water
has issued, and many cart-loads of a fine whitish sort of sand. These
are the principal effects of this earthquake on the land, some of which
argue a very quick and violent motion of the earth. Tho’ the degree of
violence was doubtless different in different places, yet, that I might
make some estimate of it with us, I measured the greatest distance on
the ground, to which any of the bricks, which were thrown off from the
tops of my chimnies, had reached, and found it to be 30 feet, and the
height from which they fell was 32 feet. Now since bodies fall thro’ 16
feet nearly in 1" of time; and the times, in which they fall through
other heights, are in the subduplicate ratio of those heights; it
follows, that the velocity, wherewith those bricks were thrown off, was
that of above 21 feet in 1" of time: for the subduplicate ratio of 32
to 16 is the same as the simple ratio of 30 to a little more than 21.
But the velocity was less at less heights: for the key before spoken
of, as thrown from off a shelf in a chamber in my house, was not thrown
so far, in proportion to the height thro’ which it fell, as the bricks
were from the top of the chimnies; and in my lower rooms nothing was
thrown down, but a small bell in the garret was made to ring by it.
Hence it appears, that our buildings were rocked with a kind of angular
motion, like that of a cradle; the upper parts of them moving swifter,
or thro’ greater spaces in the same time, than the lower; the natural
consequence of an undulatory motion of the earth.

But the agitation occasioned by this earthquake was not confined to
the land: it was very sensible on the water, and even at considerable
distances in the ocean. The vessels in our harbours were so shaken,
that it seemed to those, who were in them, as if they were beating on
the bottom. Some, that were in the bay, coming in from sea, thought
they had run upon rocks or sands. One very uncommon effect of this
concussion is related by several of our seafaring men, that almost
immediately after the earthquake, large numbers of fish of different
sorts, both great and small, came up to the surface of the water, some
dead, and others dying.

The center of our former earthquakes, as well as of this, seems to
have been near the river Merrimac, about the latitude of 43° north,
and 40 miles north from hence; many shocks having been felt in that
neighbourhood, which did not extend to this place. The late Rev. Mr.
Plant of Newbury, which is situated at the mouth of that river, has
given a very particular journal, in _Philos. Transact._ Nº. 462. of the
shocks felt there from 1727 to 1741, few of which were perceived here
or at Boston. I remember none after the memorable 29th October 1727,
beside that on 30th January 1728, about two in the afternoon; and that
on 5th September 1732, which, by his account, did considerable damage
at Montreal in Canada, but it was very small at Boston. That also on
6th February 1737, about a quarter past four in the afternoon, which
he calls a considerable shock, was perceived at Boston; and so was
that on 7th December following, a little before 11 in the night. From
the conclusion of Mr. Plant’s journal, till the earthquake which is
the subject of this letter, I know of none, but that which happened on
Sunday June 3, 1744, at a quarter after ten in the morning. The roar of
this was as loud as any I ever heard, but the shake not so great. The
day was very fair and hot, with a little wind in the morning at W.S.W.
which in the afternoon came round to N.N.W. The season preceding was
hot and dry, there having been no rain from 23d May. On the 1st June,
at four in the afternoon, Hauksbee’s thermometer stood at 5,2; on the
2d, at five in the afternoon, it was at 1, with high wind at S.W.; on
the 3d, at eight in the morning, it was at 19,8; and at six 1-half in
the afternoon at 3,8. From the 1st June to the 2d, at the hours just
mentioned, the barometer had fallen from 29,92 to 29,82; from which
time it continued rising till the 4th at eight in the morning, when it
was got up to 30,12; being, at the time of the earthquake, at 29,94.
The rest of the month the weather was in general very hot, with many
thunder-showers.

As the late Hon. Judge Dudley, who has given a very just account of
the great earthquake of 29 Oct. 1727, in _Philos. Trans._ Nº. 437,
has inserted an account of the weather in the preceding part of that
year; and as our last earthquake happened at the same time of the year
as that did, within 8 or 9 days (regard being had to the difference
between the Julian and Gregorian styles); I hope it will not be
disagreeable, if I give an account of our weather the last year: in
doing which, I shall follow, as near as may be, Mr. Dudley’s method,
setting down the particulars in corresponding columns, that so a
comparison may more easily be made between these two years.

WEATHER in

           1727, O. St.         |              1755, N. St.
                                |
  January and February          |    January, but especially
  very moderate.                |    February, very moderate.
                                |
  Beginning of March, a         |    4th of March the greatest
  great deal of snow, and       |    storm of snow we had
  some cold weather: afterwards,|    all winter. The whole
  pleasant, rain at             |    month colder than February.
  times, and once thunder       |
  and lightning.                |
                                |
  April, for the most part,     |    April, nothing very remarkable.
  fair, pleasant. Plentiful     |    No hot weather.
  rain, beginning and end       |    Each of these four
  of the month.                 |    months afforded more
                                |    snow and rain, than the
                                |    common quantity, taken
                                |    at a medium for 7 years
                                |    together.
                                |
  May, beginning, pleasant;     |    First 20 days of May,
  then a great deal of          |    dry; 14 to 18 inclusive,
  rain; afterwards, cold and    |    uncommonly hot; latter
  very dry.                     |    part, frequent thunder-showers.
                                |    The whole month drier
                                |    than the medium.
                                |
  June, abundance of            |    June, ten thunder showers;
  thunder and lightning.        |    15 to 20 inclusive,
                                |    uncommonly cool. The
                                |    driest June since 1749.
                                |
  July, very dry; a great       |    July, seven thunder-showers,
  deal of thunder and lightning.|    and a little more
                                |    rain than the medium.
                                |
  August, exceeding hot         |    August, not very hot;
  and dry. One plentiful        |    much drier than the medium.
  rain.                         |
                                |
  September, till the middle,   |    September, variable;
  very hot. More hot            |    10 to 14 inclusive, uncommonly
  weather than in any summer.   |    hot; several
  Middle, a violent             |    other days uncommonly
  north-east storm, with a      |    cool. Upon the whole,
  great deal of rain.           |    the summer rather cool
                                |    than hot. The hottest
                                |    weather was in the middle
                                |    of May. No great
                                |    rains; but rather more
                                |    than the medium.
                                |
  October, a pretty deal        |    October, a great deal
  of cold weather.              |    of cold weather. Thunder-showers
  23, a great deal of rain,     |    on the 13th
  with the S. wind.             |    and 17th. Snow on the
  25, at night a hard frost.    |    20th, 25th, 29th, & 30th.
  26, Winterish weather,        |    But the quantity of rain
  and a little snow.            |    and snow in the whole
  28, Cold. Wind N.W.           |    month less than the medium.
  29, Cold. Little wind         |
  at N.W. Evening quite         |
  calm, and a clear sky.        |

November began with cold and wet, there falling, in the eleven first
days 3,404 inches of rain; and on the 11th in the morning there was
thunder and lightning with the rain; and at a quarter past two in the
afternoon, the barometer was at 29,46; which was lower than it had been
since the 15th of October. From thence, till the day of the earthquake,
my diary stands thus:

November 1755.

                |Hauksb.|
  D. H.   Barom.|Therm. |Wind.|Weather.                      |Rain, &c.
  -------+------+-------+-----+------------------------------+----------
  12 7¾ M|29,78 |63,7   |  W 1|Very fair. Somewhat foggy.    |  ,003
     2¾ E|   82 |51,7   |  W 1|Fair.                         |
  13 9  M|30,14 |68     | NW 2|Very fair.                    |
     6¼ E|   21 |56,8   |NNW 1|Clear.                        |
  14 8½ M|   42 |69,4   |    0|Fair.                         |
     1½ E|   45 |59     | NE 2|Very cloudy.                  |
     8¾ E|   5  | . .   | NE 1|Clear.                        |
  15 8½ M|   4  |74,6   |    0|Cloudy. Hazy. White frost.    |
     4  E|   32 |60,5   |  E 1|Very fair.                    |
  16 0¼ M|   27 |70,8   |    0|Foggy.                        |
     2  E|   28 |59,9   |  N 1|Fair.                         | ,013
     9¼ E|   32 | ..    |  N 1|Fair with clouds. Foggy.      |
  17 8  M|   3  |70,1   |  N 1|Cover’d. Foggy.               |
     1½ E|  27  |59     |  E 1|Very fair. Evenᵍ somewhᵗ foggy.| ,001
  18 4¼ M|   17 |74,1   |    0|Clear. A violent earthquake.  |
     8  M|   16 |78     |    0|Very fair. Great white frost. |
     3¼ E|   11 |58,3   |  E 1|Very fair and hazy.           | ,017
     10 E|   08 |69,1   |    0|Clear. Somewhat hazy.         |

From this time the barometer rose till the 20th, when, at 8¼ M. it was
up at 30,44, the sky covered, wind N 2. Then it fell till the 23d at
6½ E, when it was so low as 28,87; which was lower than it had been
since the 6th of February last. The afternoon of the 22d, and night
following, when we had another shock, it was calm, and rained 1,205
inches. This leads me to observe, that though the _serenity_, as well
as _calmness_, of the air, is a circumstance taken notice of in many
earthquakes, both in this and in other parts of the world; yet it does
not always obtain, at least in the smaller shocks, and, so far as I
have had opportunity to observe, the _calmness_ of the air has more
constantly attended upon earthquakes, than its _clearness_. The white
frost on the morning of the earthquake, which, when melted, I found to
be of the depth of 17/1000 of an inch, was almost double of any white
frost we have had for seven years past, and about five or six times
as great as we commonly have. The barometer and thermometer underwent
no alteration at the time of the earthquake: only, my barometer,
which has an open cistern of quicksilver, and stood in a chamber, was
so agitated, that part of the quicksilver was dashed over the sides
of the cistern, and scattered upon the floor. This cistern was a
cylindric cup, whose sides were an inch higher than the surface of the
quicksilver.

I shall not pretend to make a comparison between the weather of the
two fore-mentioned years, nor inquire how far Mr. Dudley’s conjecture
(_Phil. Trans._ Nº. 437. p. 66.), as to the influence of the weather
in producing the earthquake of 1727, might be affected by such a
comparison. I choose to leave this to you, Sir, and to the other
gentlemen of the Royal Society, who, I know, are much better able to
make a proper judgment in this matter; and beg leave to subscribe, with
the greatest respect to that illustrious Society and yourself,

                             Reverend Sir,
                          Your most obedient,
                       and most humble Servant,
                            John Winthrop.

Cambridge _in_ New England, 10 Jan. 1756.




II. _The strange Effects of some effervescent Mixtures; in a Letter
from Dr._ James Mounsey, _Physician of the_ Russian _Army, and F.R.S.
to Mr._ Henry Baker, _F.R.S. Communicated by Mr._ Baker.


                                              Moscow, Sept. 20th, 1756.

[Read Jan. 20, 1757.]

MR. Butler, a paper-stainer, trying to make some discoveries for the
better fixing of colours, was put in great danger of his life by the
following experiments:

Having put into one gallipot a quarter of an ounce of verdegris, and
into another pot two leaves of false-gold leaf, to each he poured
about a spoonful of aqua-fortis. They began immediately to ferment,
especially the gold-leaf. He was very assiduous in stirring them, to
make the solution perfect. Having nothing else at hand, he did this
with a pair of small scissars, at arm’s length, carefully turning away
his face, to prevent the fumes from entering his lungs. He was called
away, about other business, before he had quite ended his process; and
soon after washed and shifted himself: but had scarce finished before
he felt a burning pain in the ring-finger of his right hand, which
he imputed to his having inadvertently touched the aqua-fortis. This
increased every moment, and affected the whole hand with burning pain
and swelling, which very soon subsided; but then it flew into the left
hand, and, a few minutes afterwards, into the insides of his legs,
as if scalding water had been thrown on them. His stockings being
immediately pulled off, there appeared a great many red spots, as large
as six-pences, something raised above the skin, and all covered with
very small blisters.

In about two hours after the accident, I first saw him: he was very
uneasy, complaining of pain, and great anxiety, at the pit of the
stomach, as if a burning hot iron was laid on it: so he expressed
himself. His pulse was regular, but slower and weaker than natural:
he had a nausea, and complained of a very coppery smell and taste. I
ordered some alcaline volatile medicines, and to drink small sack-whey.
He vomited once, and had four or five stools, and then his stomach grew
easy. But the scene soon began again with lancing pain in the left eye.
He continued the same medicines, drank plentifully of the whey, and was
kept in a breathing sweat, by which he found some ease at night: but
whenever the sweating lessened, the burning pains returned in broad
flakes, changing from one part of the body to the other; sometimes with
shootings in his eye, and sometimes along the penis, but he had no heat
of urine. His pulse continued regular, but weak; and in several places
of his body such kind of spots struck out as those on his legs.

Monday, the third day, in the morning, after sleeping well, his pulse
was somewhat raised, and he continued easy till about eleven o’ clock,
when the burning pains returned, shooting from place to place; but
always so superficial, that he could not distinguish whether it was in
or under the skin. Rubbing the part affected with one’s hand gave ease:
but when the sweating went off, and the burnings and shootings became
insufferable, I always put him into a bath of hot water, with some
wood ashes, kept ready in the room; which gave him great relief. This
afternoon he felt violent burning pain in his great toes, and sometimes
in his left hand, with shootings up to the shoulder. Once he cried out,
in great pain, that his shoulder was burst; for he felt something fly
out with a sort of explosion: but, examining the part, I found nothing
particular. He observed, when the flaky burnings began, they were as if
they kindled from a point, and flashed like lightning, as he termed it.
He was very often tormented with such pains on the pit of the stomach;
and this evening had shootings thro’ the back, with a pain in the
belly. He complained of a strong sulphurous smell, which, he said, was
like to suffocate him; tho’ his breathing seemed easy, and his lungs
no way affected. In the night he was seized with great pain about the
heart, and cried out violently, that his heart was on fire: but after
taking a dose of nervous medicines, and being put into the bath, he was
soon freed from this, and passed the rest of the night tolerably well.
At the time of such violent attacks the pulse continued regular, but
still slower and softer than usual.

Tuesday. He complained most of his toes, and now and then burning pains
in the forehead.

Wednesday. This whole day it continued most in the toes of the left
foot; but in the evening the pain on the stomach returned, which lanced
to the left side, with dartings inwardly. He became so uneasy and
restless, that I was obliged to add some opium to the other medicines;
which answered very well.

Thursday. The pains kept most in the toes of the left foot.

Friday. Nothing particular, except his feeling, with sharp pain, a
spark (as he called it) fly out of his right cheek, in the same way, he
said, as that, which burst on his shoulder, but much less. He perceived
no pain in that part before this; nor any thing after, besides a
soreness, which lasted for some days. Hitherto he had been kept in
a continual sweat: his appetite was greater than his allowance, his
digestion good; and his rest indifferent. From this time he was not
attacked by any violent symptoms; and could be quiet, tho’ he did not
sweat.

On Sunday he began to get out of bed; but was often seized with glowing
pains, suddenly affecting different parts of the body; which seldom
continued an hour in one part, but shifted from place to place: these
he was troubled with, in a less degree, even long after he went abroad.

By care and watchfulness the violence of the symptoms were kept under;
and, by the use of antidotes for poisons of the nature of what he
received this from, the disease was overcome, and the patient recovered
his perfect health and strength.




III. _Extract of a Letter of_ J. Wall, _M. D. to the Rev. Dr._
Lyttelton, _Dean of_ Exeter, _and F.R.S. concerning the good Effects
of_ Malverne _Waters in_ Worcestershire.


                                              Worcester, Dec. 22. 1756.

[Read Jan. 20, 1757.]

SIR,

THE Malverne Water much deserves encouragement, several very
extraordinary cures having been done by it lately. I propose to make
a collection of the principal, and publish them, as an appendix to my
little treatise. Amongst other remarkable instances of their great
effects are the following, which have happened this year. A poor woman,
formerly a patient in our infirmary for a fistulous ulcer in the hip,
and another in the groin, which penetrated the abdomen, has received
her cure there, tho’ she was reduced to so great a degree, as to be
thought incurable, and sent into the country on a milk-diet, _&c._ as
the last resource. The discharge from the sores was prodigiously great,
and so offensive, that she could hardly be borne in a room. The water
took off the ill smell almost instantly; the discharge soon lessened,
and grew thick and well-conditioned; her hectic symptoms went off in
proportion; and, by continuing the use of the water for five or six
months, she is cured.

A woman with a phagedenic ulcer in the cheek, throat, and nose, from
an ozæna in the hollow of the cheek-bone, received great relief this
year, in five or six weeks time; the external ulcer, which had
almost destroyed the whole cheek, being healed in that time, and the
other parts much amended. Her affairs would not permit her a longer
continuance at the well; but she continues the use of the water at
home, and finds great relief from it there. I hope another season will
complete the cure.

Mr. Parry, of Clent, had his skin cleared, and perfectly healed, in
five weeks; tho’, when he came to the well, he was covered with an
elephantiasis; for which he had tried most of the purging waters, and
sea-water, under the direction of Dr. Russell, without effect. So bad
was he, that he could not move a limb but the skin cracked, and ouzed
out a filthy sanies; and he left the mark of his body every night in
his bed. The waters have also had another very surprising effect on
him: for they have been his Helicon, and converted him into a poet; he
having written a poem on the occasion, which he shewed to Lord Foley
and Dr. Dalton.

I know a Lady, who, we had great reason to fear, had an internal
cancer, who has lately received great advantage from the use of these
waters, after other things had been tried unsuccessfully.

I could send many more instances; but the compass of a letter will not
admit of it: and I should be afraid of having tired you already, did
I not know, that it must give you pleasure to hear of its extensive
utility. I am, Sir,

                           Your most obliged
                            humble Servant,
                               J. Wall.




IV. _An Account of the_ Carlsbad _Mineral Waters in_ Bohemia: _In a
Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of_ Macclesfield, _President of
the R. S. by the Rev._ Jeremiah Milles, _D.D. F.R.S._


[Read Jan. 20, 1757.]

My Lord,

MR. Watson having favoured the Society with an Account of Dr.
Sprengsfeld’s treatise on the Carlsbad waters, I have taken the liberty
to submit to your Lordship some observations on the same subject, which
I made during my stay in that place; together with some specimens of
different sorts of incrustations, which are formed by those waters.

Carlsbad is a small town, situated on the confines of Bohemia, at the
distance of 14 German, or 28 French, leagues west of Prague. It is
remarkable for its warm mineral springs, which are said to have been
accidentally discovered, in the year 1370, by the Emperor Charles the
IVth, as he was hunting; from whom they received their present name of
Carlsbad, or Charles’s bath. These waters soon growing into repute,
occasioned the building of a small neat town, consisting chiefly of
houses calculated for the accommodation of the company, who frequent
this place in the summer time. There are two warm springs, which rise
in the middle of the town, very near each other: and tho’ they are
supposed to be of the same quality, yet, as one is much warmer, it
is thought likewise to be more efficacious than the other. The former
of these, called the Brudel, rises very near the bed of the small
river Tepel which runs thro’ the middle of the town, and is sometimes
overflowed by it. The water issues with great force from the bottom of
this spring, rising in a considerable body to the height of six feet
perpendicular; and would force itself much higher, if it were confined
within a narrower compass. The spring is inclosed with a square wall,
within which are fixed three wooden pipes, which convey the water from
the bottom of the spring into a reservoir; which distributes it into a
number of small troughs, communicating with the several bathing-houses,
which are built on both sides of the river for the use of the patients.
This spring is so impetuous, that they are obliged to pave and ramm
the bed of the river, lest it should force itself up in the channel:
and I observed one place on the river side, where it had burst thro’
the rock; and they had been obliged to confine it, by fastening down a
large stone on the orifice.

The water of this spring is so hot, that you cannot bear your hand in
it; and the inhabitants make use of it for scalding their pigs and
their poultry.

The water, when put into a glass, has a bluish cast, not unlike
that of an opal: and tho’ I could not discover, that in 24 hours
it had deposited the least sediment, yet there was a thin whitish
scum collected on the surface; and I observed the same in the baths,
where it was much thicker; and was of the colour, and almost of the
consistence, of a wafer. It has a salt taste when first taken from the
water, and is made use of by the inhabitants for cleaning of teeth and
scouring silver: it is called Baden Flaum.

Tho’ this water does not deposit any sediment, yet it is remarkable for
the speedy and strong incrustation of all bodies, which are put into
it. Little plaister figures are sold here, on purpose to verify the
experiment; which, tho’ perfectly white when put into the spring, are,
in eight-and-forty hours, entirely covered with a yellow incrustation.
The same effect is observed on the pipes and channels, thro’ which the
water is conveyed. If care were not taken to clean them four or five
times a year, they would be intirely choaked up; and in some parts,
where it has not been necessary to clean them so often, I have seen
them covered with an incrustation two inches thick. In surrounding
and covering these wooden pipes, they do not change the nature of the
wood; but it is observable, that they add great hardness and solidity
to it: so that it is affirmed a piece of deal will last a hundred years
in this water. The head spring is cleared out once in 30 or 40 years,
with a very great expence: at which time they are obliged to break off
all the stony incrustation, which had been made by the water since the
last cleaning; and if neglected would (as it has sometimes actually
done) choak the passages, and oblige the spring to find vent in some
other place. The incrustations formed by these waters are of different
kinds: that, which is made in the troughs and pipes, thro’ which the
water is conveyed after it comes above ground, is of a light sandy
nature, of a loose contexture, and a bright yellow. It is used by the
inhabitants as a gentle corrosive for eating off proud flesh. There is
another of a darker colour, and a much harder nature, which is found at
the very mouth of the spring, where it bursts out of the rock. There
are other sorts taken out of the subterraneous cavities of the spring
at the time it was cleaned. In what manner they are formed, is not so
easy to determine; unless there were an opportunity of observing in
what manner and direction they lie within the spring. They seem to be
an alabastrine spar, and are beautifully marked with strait veins of
different colours, which may be supposed to have received their tinge
from the different colour of the spring-water at the time when this
sediment, or rather scum, was formed upon it. They find pieces of this
kind most beautifully variegated; and some of them large enough, by
fineering to make tables: these polish very well, and are not much
inferior to jasper in appearance. It is a part of the manufacture of
the place, to work this sort of stone into snuff-boxes, cane-heads, and
sleeve-buttons.

There is likewise another sort of incrustation different from all
these, which was found some years ago, in digging for the foundations
of the new parish-church, which is about 300 yards distant from the
Brudel spring. They found there the same kind of water; but it did not
rise with so great force as in the other spring: and they discovered in
the cavities large masses of a stony concretion, which were a sort of
pisolithi, most of them in a globular, but some in an oval form, from
the smallest size to the bigness of a nutmeg; the former sort lying in
masses, the latter generally single and detached: they are perfectly
white, hard, and smooth, and appear to consist of a great number of
lamellæ formed round a small nucleus. This sort of incrustation has
been found in no other place; but there are some of a browner sort, and
more irregular shapes, which are taken out of the Brudel.

The medicinal virtues of these waters have been treated of by German
authors. They are esteemed to be particularly efficacious in removing
obstructions, and in cases of the stone and gravel; of which the
treatise lately produced to the Society contains many remarkable
proofs. They are much frequented in these and in other cases; so that
they have generally 200 persons in a season drinking the waters. The
season begins in May, and ends in August. They drink them in the
following method. They begin with a purge; and assist its operation
with ten or twelve chocolate-cups of the water, taken within five
minutes of each other. The day following they take the waters in the
same quantity, and at the same intervals, keeping themselves all the
time in a warm room; which, with the warmth of the waters, occasions
a most plentiful perspiration. This is repeated for seven or eight
days, increasing daily two or three cups of the water, till they come
to drink 25 or 30 cups a day. The operation continues from eight of
the clock in the morning till noon. Some bleed once in the middle of
the course, others not at all. After they have finished this course
of drinking, they bathe two days successively, continuing in the bath
half an hour, or longer, as their strength permits them, or their case
requires. This is the whole course; which is repeated two or three
times, or oftener, as they find necessary. The whole is concluded with
a gentle purge, tho’ the waters themselves are of a laxative nature.

There is another spring in the town of the same nature, but not so
warm, as the Brudel: it is called the Mill-spring, and is only tepid.
Those of a warm or weak constitution make use of this instead of the
other, both for drinking and bathing.

There are likewise several chalybeat springs in the neighbourhood of
Carlsbad; one at half a mile, and the other at two leagues distance
from the town. Both of them seem to resemble the water of the Pohun
spring at Spa; but are not near so strong. They do not use them
medicinally on the spot; but they are brought to Carlsbad, and sold, in
order to be drank with their wine. I am,

                               My Lord,
                      With the greatest respect,
                            Your Lordship’s
                     Most obedient humble Servant,
                           Jeremiah Milles.

Grosvenor-street, Jan. 19th, 1757.




V. _An Essay towards ascertaining the specific Gravity of living Men.
By Mr._ John Robertson, _F.R.S._


[Read Jan. 27, 1757.]

SOME time last autumn I had occasion to draw up a few examples on the
use of a table of the specific gravities and weights of some bodies.
Among other things, that occurred then to me, I thought it might be
useful to know the specific gravity of men. In order to make some
experiments on this subject, I got a cistern made, of 78 inches in
length, 30 inches wide, and 30 inches deep: it was constructed as near
a parallelopiped as the workman could, to prevent tedious operations in
computing the horizontal sections of the cistern by the surface of the
water. I then endeavoured to find ten persons, such as I proposed to
make the experiments withal; namely, two of six feet high, two of five
feet ten inches, two of five feet eight inches, two of five feet six
inches, and two of five feet four inches. One of each height I proposed
should be a fat man, and the other a lean one; but I could not succeed
in procuring such men; and, after waiting till near the middle of
October, I was obliged to put up with such, as would submit themselves
to the experiment at that season of the year. They were all labouring
men, belonging to the ordinary of Portsmouth yard, and, except one or
two of them, who were middling sized men, were for the most part very
thin and slim made persons. I had also provided a sliding measure to
take their heights, and scales to weigh them in. Every thing being
prepared, each man stript himself in an adjoining room, and put on
a pair of trowsers for decency’s sake: his height was first taken,
then his weight, and then he immersed (fortified with a large dram of
brandy). A ruler, graduated to inches, and decimal parts of an inch,
was fixed to one end of the cistern, and the height of the water
noted before a man went in, and to what height it rose when he ducked
himself under its surface; and of these several observations is the
following table composed.

  +---+--------+-----+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+
  |   |        |     |Ht. Water|Ht. Water| Water  |         |Weight |
  |Nº.|Heights.| Wt. | before  |  when   | raised.|         |Water. |
  |   |        |     |immersed.|immersed.|        |Solidity.|       |
  |   |Ft. In. | Pds.| Inches. | Inches. | Inches.|         |Pounds.|
  +---+--------+-----+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+
  |  1| 6 02   | 161 |  19,30  |  21,20  |  1,90  |  2,573  | 160,8 |
  |  2| 5 10⅜  | 147 |  19,25  |  21,16  |  1,91  |  2,586  | 161,6 |
  |  3| 5  9½  | 156 |  19,21  |  21,06  |  1,85  |  2,505  | 156,6 |
  +---+--------+-----+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+
  |  4| 5  6¾  | 140 |  19,17  |  21,21  |  2,04  |  2,763  | 172,6 |
  |  5| 5  5⅞  | 158 |  19,13  |  21,21  |  2,08  |  2,817  | 176,0 |
  |  6| 5  5½  | 158 |  19,09  |  21,26  |  2,17  |  2,939  | 183,7 |
  +---+--------+-----+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+
  |  7| 5  4⅜  | 140 |  19,05  |  21,06  |  2,01  |  2,722  | 170,1 |
  |  8| 5  3⅛  | 132 |  19,01  |  20,86  |  1,85  |  2,505  | 156,6 |
  |  9| 5  4⅛  | 121 |  18,97  |  20,76  |  1,79  |  2,424  | 151,5 |
  | 10| 5  3¼  | 146 |  18,93  |  20,66  |  1,73  |  2,343  | 146,4 |
  +---+--------+-----+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+

In making of these experiments, I remarked some inconveniencies, which
I did not at first advert to, and which, at that time, I could not
prevent. I intended, that each man should have got gently into the
water, immersed himself all but his head, and so have staid until the
motion of the water had ceased; then he was suddenly to have ducked
his head under, and have continued to a few seconds of time, until I
had noted the rise of the water; and, after his leaving the cistern,
another was not to go in until the water was free from motion. Could
these things have been done, as I projected, I could have recommended
the foregoing table as sufficiently complete: but I must observe, that
beside the men’s being of different sizes from what I had desired,
they were in too much haste to be dismissed (with another dram after
dressing); so that the water was not quite still when they got into
the cistern: neither could I persuade all of them to lay themselves
down gently, much less to keep their heads under water so long a time
as one second: so that, in most of the observations, the surface of
the water was far from being quite so still, as to render the measures
perfectly exact, I being obliged to catch them, as it were, by taking
the mean height between the librations. Moreover, the great area of the
cistern was no inconsiderable bar to the accuracy I expected. However,
as I do not recollect experiments of this kind any-where recorded,
these, perhaps, may give some satisfaction to such persons, who may
have the curiosity to desire some knowlege on this subject. Were I
to make any more observations of this kind, I would chuse an upright
parallelopiped, not above 18 or 20 inches in the side of the square;
into which the person should let himself down by steps nailed to the
side: for in so small an area the motion of the water would sooner
subside; neither would the librations be any thing near so large as on
a smaller surface.

One of the reasons, that induced me to make these experiments, was
a desire of knowing what quantity of fir or oak timber would be
sufficient to keep a man afloat in river or sea water, thinking that
most men were specifically heavier than river or common fresh water;
but the contrary appears from these trials: for, excepting the first
and last, every man was lighter than his equal bulk of fresh water,
and much more so than his equal bulk of sea-water: consequently, could
persons, who fall into water, have presence of mind enough to avoid the
fright usual on such accidents, many might be preserved from drowning;
and a piece of wood, not larger than an oar, would buoy a man partly
above water so long as he had spirits to keep his hold. Some things
herein advanced will perhaps more readily appear from the following
relation.

The Lords of the Admiralty have appointed, for the exercise of the
scholars belonging to the royal academy at Portsmouth, a small yacht;
wherein, during the summer months, those young gentlemen are taught
the practice of working a vessel at sea, under the directions of one
of the master-attendants, assisted by eight or ten seamen. The last
time this yacht was out, which was about the beginning of last October,
one of the scholars was ordered to heave the lead. The youth was about
thirteen years old, small of his age, and far from being fat; as he
was stepping on the gunnel, he fell over-board: the sea was rough, and
the yacht had great way; so that he was presently at a considerable
distance from the vessel. The skiff was immediately let down; but the
painter not being fast, the rope run an end, and the skiff went adrift.
One of the seamen jumpt over-board, got into the boat, brought her
along-side the vessel, took in another man, and then went after the
youth, whom they recovered, after he had been in the water more than
half an hour. The young gentleman, relating the affair, said, that as
he could swim very little, and judging he should sink if he strove
against the waves, he turned on his back, and committed himself to
their mercy. He kept himself perfectly calm; and observed, when a wave
was likely to break over him, to hold his breath, and to spurt out the
water forced into his mouth. His hat, which happened to be tied by a
piece of string to one of his coat button-holes, he often held up with
his hand, as a signal where he was. Just before the boat came up to him
he began to be faint, his eyes became dim, and he thought himself on
the verge of sinking. This youth, who, by his prudence, saved himself
from drowning, must, at that time, have been specifically lighter than
water.




VI. _An Instance of the Gut_ Ileum, _cut thro’ by a Knife, successfully
treated by Mr._ Peter Travers, _Surgeon, at_ Lisbon. _Communicated by_
John Huxham, _M.D. F.R.S._


[Read Jan. 27, 1757.]

                                               Lisbon, August 3d, 1756.

ANtonia Josée da Costa, one of the King’s messengers, was attacked by
two men, and, after receiving two blows on the head, was stabbed with
a knife in the right hypogastric region, about three fingers breadth
above the os pubis; the external wound being larger, as the knife was
drawn obliquely towards the navel, and might be an inch and half in
length, the perforation thro’ the peritonæum about three quarters of an
inch; the intestine ileum hanging out about ten or twelve inches, and
quite pierced thro’, the wound in the gut being large enough to admit
my fore finger. After clearing the grumous blood with warm water and
Hungary water, the uninterrupted suture was made on both perforations;
then dilating the common integuments of the belly, the intestine was
reduced, leaving the ends of the two threads at the superficies of
the wound; and the external incision was sewed up by the interrupted
suture, and common dressings of lint and bandage applied. A clyster was
given him immediately after the above operation, of oil of olives, the
yolk of an egg, and warm water.

4th. This day I found he had passed in the most excruciating pains,
attended with continual vomitings: his fever very high, pulse full
and irregular: he was bled ten ounces this morning, and the like
quantity this evening. The clysters were continued thrice a day, with
a decoction of wormwood and camomile instead of the warm water, and an
anodyne mixture of mint-water, liquid laudanum, and sugar, to be taken
occasionally; also three ounces of syrup of rhubarb, with an ounce of
the fresh-drawn oil of sweet almonds, to be taken, a common spoonful
every two hours.

5th. The bleedings were continued twice this day, three ounces each
time, and the clysters were administered as yesterday. His pulse
and fever very high; he vomited some excrements; and towards night
complained of a singultus.

6th. His bleedings and clysters were continued as before. Finding his
singultus and vomiting so very troublesome, I ordered him Dr. Huxham’s
tincture of the bark; which was taken, a tea-spoonful, six times a
day, in a little mint-water; which indeed greatly relieved him: his
singultus and vomiting became less frequent.

7th. I found his skin moist, and pulse softened. I remained with him
about an hour, and found a plentiful perspiration throughout the body;
on which I omitted his bleedings: the clysters were continued; and
towards night he had a proper discharge by stool, very fœtid, and
inspissated.

8th. I found, for the first time, he had slept last night, and seemed
much in spirits: the symptomatic fever something lessened; and he had
purged last night, and this day, eight times.

9th. He had five stools; his neausea much abated; and a gentle
diaphoresis continued.

10th. The singultus ceased; his vomiting very little; his pulse low,
accelerated, and thread-like in its stroke; his purging violent; and he
greatly complained of a most acute pain of the wounded parts. A paper
of the following absorbent powders was given him every three hours in
rice-water. Crabs-eyes and red coral prepared, of each one drachm,
crude opium two grains: these were made for three doses, and given as
above.

11th. He slept well; less pain; pulse more equal; his diarrhæa much the
same.

12th. The threads, with which I had made the suture of the intestine,
came out of themselves: the wound well-conditioned; fever very little;
his diarrhæa rather increased. He sent for me in the evening, being
much alarmed, as he thought some liquids he had taken to have passed
thro’ the wounded parts.

13th. Yesterday he complained of great pains in his belly: the
discharge from his wound was laudable matter, and in good quantity.

14th. He rested well, and was seemingly well beyond expectation. His
diarrhæa still continuing troublesome, he took the hartshorn decoction,
with an addition of diascordium.

15th. I cut off the threads of the external wound, and continued
dressings of digestive in the common method.

16th. He grew visibly better each day after; and on Sept. 7th I
discharged him from any further attendance, his wound being intirely
healed over, and he is in all respects very well, free from pain, or
any inconvenience from the wound. He was kept seven and twenty days on
chicken-broth, and never admitted to use any solids during that time:
afterwards he was indulged with young chickens, &c.




VII. _An Account of a Visitation of the leprous Persons in the Isle
of_ Guadaloupe: _In a Letter to Mons._ Damonville, _Counsellor and
Assistant-Judge at_ Martinico, _and in the Office of King’s Physician
at_ Guadaloupe. _By_ John Andrew Peyssonel, _M.D. F.R.S. Translated
from the_ French.


[Read Feb. 3, 1757.]

+SIR+,

I Received the letter, which you honoured me with, and the order for
visiting the persons afflicted with the leprosy. I was sensible of the
misfortune of being ordered upon that commission: I say misfortune;
for such you will perhaps think it, when you have read this letter.

It is now about 25 or 30 years since a very particular disease shewed
itself in many persons in this island Grande Terre. Its beginning
is imperceptible: there appear but a few livid-red spots upon the
skins of the white people, and of a yellowish red upon the blacks.
These spots in the beginning are not accompanied with pain, or any
other symptom; but nothing can take them away. The disease increases
insensibly, and continues several years in shewing itself more and
more. These spots increase, and extend indifferently over the skin
of the whole body. Sometimes they are a little prominent, but flat.
When the disease makes a progress, the upper part of the nose swells,
the nostrils are enlarged, the nose becomes softened; tuberosities
appear upon the cheek-bones; the eyebrows are inflated; the ears grow
thick; the ends of the fingers, and even the feet and toes, swell;
the nails become scaly; the joints of the feet and hands separate and
mortify: ulcers of a deep and of a dry nature are found in the palms
of the hands and soles of the feet, which grow well, and return again.
In short, when the disease is in its last stage, the patient becomes
frightful, and falls to pieces. All these symptoms come on by very
slow degrees, one after another, and sometimes require many years to
shew themselves: the patient is sensible of no sharp pain; but feels
a kind of numbness in his hands and feet. These people perform their
natural functions all the while, eating and drinking as usual: and
even when the mortification has taken off the fingers and toes, the
only ill consequence, that attends, is the loss of those parts, that
drop off by the mortification; for the wound heals of itself, without
any application: but when it comes to its last period, the poor sick
persons are horribly deformed, and truly worthy of compassion.

This shocking disease is observed to have several other unhappy
characters; as, 1st, that it is hereditary, and that some families are
more apt to be seized with it than others: 2dly, that it is infectious,
being communicated _per coitum_, and also caught by keeping company
with those so diseased: 3dly, that it is incurable, or at least that
no remedy has yet been found to cure it. They have in vain tried
mercurials, sudorifics, and every other regimen used in venereal
complaints, under a notion, that this leprosy was the consequence of
some venereal taint: but, instead of being of service, these methods
rather served to destroy the patients; for, far from lessening the
disease, the antivenereal medicines unlocked the distemper, the most
dreadful symptoms appeared, and all those so treated perished some
years sooner than the others, who did not take these medicines.

A very just fear of being infected with this cruel distemper; the
difficulty of examining infected persons before the disease came to
its state; the length of time of its lying concealed, by the care
of the patients to keep it secret; the uncertainty of the symptoms,
which distinguish it in the beginning; produced an extraordinary dread
in all the inhabitants of this island. They inspected one another,
since virtue and merit had no shelter from this cruel scourge. They
called this distemper the leprosy; and consequently presented several
memoirs to the generals and intendants, laying before them all these
facts above-mentioned; their just apprehensions; the public good; the
trouble, that this distrust caused in this colony; the complaints and
hatred, that these accusations occasioned among them; the laws made
formerly against such leprous persons, and their expulsion from civil
society. They required a general visitation of all persons suspected
of this distemper, that such, as were found infected, might be removed
into particular hospitals, or into some separate places.

These memorials were sent to court, which, giving due attention to
these just representations, issued orders for the required visitations
in the most convenient manner, for the good of the public and of the
state.

In the mean time, the post of physician-botanist become vacant in the
island of Cayenne. The minister was pleased to name me for it; and
altho’ this island was much more fertile in philosophical discoveries
than all the others, he thought proper to change my destination, and
sent me to this isle Guadaloupe; and did not forget the article of the
leprosy in my instructions.

When I arrived at Martinico in 1727, Monsieur Blondel de Juvencourt,
then intendant of the French isles, communicated to me both the orders
of the court, and all the memoirs, that related to this affair. A tax
was then laid upon the Negroes of the inhabitants of the Grande Terre,
to raise a necessary fund for this visitation, thus made at the expence
of the colony; and Mons. le Mercier Beausoleil was chosen treasurer of
this fund.

Being arrived at Guadaloupe, the Count de Moyencourt, and Mons.
Mesnier, ordinator and subdelegate to this intendance, communicated
to me the order of the general and intendant. I began then to inform
myself of the necessary instructions for acquiting myself of this
dangerous commission, the disagreeable consequences of which I easily
foresaw. I had so often heard of these leprous spots, that I judged
it necessary to know, whether what was said was true: for I could not
comprehend, that a disease, which has so dreadful an end, and the
symptoms then so terrible, should continue ten or fifteen years without
any other appearance than these simple spots; which, in themselves, had
nothing very bad. I demanded an inquest to be made, in order to satisfy
myself of this fact: several surgeons, as practitioners, and several
honest inhabitants, as observers, were accordingly called together,
who all proved the same fact in this inquest; which you, Sir, may, and
must, have seen in the register of the subdelegation of this island. I
am, most sincerely,

                                 +SIR+,
                Your most humble and obedient Servant,
                              Peyssonel.

August 10. 1748.


RESULT _of the_ VISITATION.

1st, NONE of the patients, whom we visited, had any fever; and they
all declared, that they found no inconvenience nor pain; but, on
the contrary, eat, drank, and slept well, performing every natural
function; which was proved by their plumpness, which appeared even when
the disease was most confirmed.

2. The disease began to shew itself in the Negroes by reddish spots,
a little raised, upon the skin, being a dry kind of tetter, neither
branny nor scabbed, and without any running, but of a livid-red, and
very ill-conditioned. The Negroes sometimes bring these spots with
them from their own country. The spots are constantly found upon every
person troubled with this disease; and are in greater numbers, in
proportion as the disease grows more inveterate.

3. Among the whites the disease shews itself at the beginning by spots
of a livid violet colour, without pain; which are followed by little
watery bladders, particularly upon the legs, which burst, and leave
small ulcers with pale edges, and different in their natures from the
common ulcers.

4. In proportion as the disease increased, the hands and feet grew
larger, without any signs of inflammation; since neither redness, nor
pain, nor any oedematous appearance accompanied it; but it was the very
flesh, that increased in bulk. And this growth of the hands and feet
was not attended with any sharp pain, but only a kind of numbness.

5. This bloated state of the hands and feet was succeeded by white
deep ulcers under the skin, which became callous and insensible; and
which emitted only a clear serous matter like water, and were but
little painful. Afterwards the ends of the fingers became dry, the
nails became scaly, and, I don’t know how, they were eaten away; the
ends of the fingers dropt off; then the joints separated without pain,
and the wounds cicatrized of themselves, without the least need of
medicines. In the increase of the distemper hardnesses and lumps were
formed in the flesh, the colour became tarnished, the nose swelled,
and the nostrils grew wide: at last the nose softened like paste, the
voice became hoarse, the eyes round and brilliant, the forehead covered
with tetters and lumps, as well as the face; the eye-brows became
very large, the countenance was horrible, the breath fœtid, the lips
swelled, large tubercles were formed under the tongue; the ears grew
thick and red, and hung down; and, such was the insensibility of all
the parts, that we run pins thro’ the hands of several, without their
feeling any thing of it. In short, we were assured, that these people
perished by degrees, falling into a mortification; and the limbs dropt
off of themselves, without any considerable pain, continuing still to
perform well their natural functions.

6. These leprous people lived thus easy, if I may be allowed the
expression, for several years, even fifteen or twenty; for the disease
begins insensibly, and shews itself but very slowly.

7. Antivenereal remedies, which were ordered for almost every patient
we saw, were of no service: if they sometimes palliated some symptoms,
they very often hastened the progress of the disease: besides, we never
found the parts of generation at all infected, nor any thing, that
looked like the pox about them.

8. Some of these people had indeed particular symptoms. In some the
hair fell off; which was replaced by a finer kind: in others, worms
were found in their ulcers: want of sleep, or frightful dreams,
afflicted some; while others quite lost their voice, or it became
effeminate like that of eunuchs; and others, we found, stunk extremely.

9. Almost all of them, being desirous of concealing their disorders,
endeavored to deceive us, by alleging false excuses for the causes of
their sores and ulcers: the greater part of them pretended, that the
rats had eaten off their toes, and that burns had caused their ulcers.
These were the figures, that every where presented to us.

10. We were confirmed in our opinions by experience, supported by
verbal process, that this was the state of the diseased; that the
distemper could neither be the pox, nor the effect of an inveterate
one: that it had no symptom of that disease; but that it had every
character of what the ancients called leprosy, elephantiasis, or
such other names, as they were pleased to give it. So that we do not
hesitate to pronounce, that those infected with this disease, as we
have described it, ought to be treated as leprous persons, and subject
to the ordinances, which his majesty was pleased to issue against such
persons.

11. Again, we are well assured, from our observations, that the
distemper is contagious, and hereditary; and yet the contagion is not
so active, nor poisonous, as that of the plague, small-pox, nor even as
the ring-worm, itch, scald, and other cutaneous disorders: for, if that
were the case, the American colonies would be utterly destroyed; and
these persons so infected, mixed as they are in every habitation, would
have already infected all the Negroes, whom they come near.

12. We believe, that this contagion does not take place but by long
frequenting the company of the infected, or by carnal knowlege.
Besides, we have observed, that even such long frequenting, or
cohabiting with them, are not always sufficient to communicate the
disease; because we have seen women cohabit with their husbands, and
husbands with their wives, in the distemper, while one is sound, and
the other infected. We see families communicate and live with leprous
persons, and yet never be infected; and thus, altho’ experience, and
the information of the sick, prove the contagion, we are of opinion,
that there must be a particular disposition in people to receive the
poison of the leprosy.

13. As to what regards the distemper’s being hereditary, it is
assuredly so. We have seen intire families infected; and almost every
child of a leprous father or mother fall insensibly into the leprosy;
and yet, in several other families, we have seen some children sound,
and others tainted; the father has died of the disease, and the
children grew old without any infection: so that, tho’ it is certainly
hereditary, yet we believe it is of the same nature with those in
families troubled with the consumption, gravel, and other hereditary
distempers; which are transmitted from father to son, without being so
very regular, as to affect every one of the family.

14. We could never find out any certain rule of judging, at what age
the disease shews itself first in those, who were begotten by infected
parents: but we have, as far as we could, observed, with regard to
women or girls, that the symptoms begin with the menses, and continue
slightly till they have lain in of one or two children: but that then
more visible, and indeed more cruel, symptoms appeared. As to men, or
infants, there is no rule to know it in them.

15. For the explanation of the causes, symptoms, and what we think
the most likely means of cure, we refer to a particular dissertation.
Let it suffice here to observe, that we do not imagine, that the air,
water, or manner of living, can produce it; for we have found as many
sick in the low marshy places, as in more airy saline places: and if
many Negroes were infected in the Grand Terre, where they drink the
foul waters of ponds and lakes, we see an equal number ill in places,
where they have fresh rivers and running waters; but they may prove
proper causes for unlocking, and disposing persons to receive, the
disease.

16. We believe, and are persuaded, that the origin of this disease
among the Negroes comes from Guinea: for almost all the Negroes from
the country told us they came from thence with these reddish spots, the
first and certain signs of the distemper begun.

17. As to the infected Whites and Mulattoes of this island, we were
informed, that the disease was not known among the Whites till about 25
or 30 years ago; when, out of charity, they received a miserable object
from the island of St. Christoper’s, whose name was Clement; who, about
the year 1694, fled hither. It was the family of the Josselins, called
the Chaloupers, that protected him; which family, as also that of the
Poulins, we found infected by communication with this sick man, as old
Poulin declared to us.

It is thought, that others were infected by communication with the
Negro women, especially in the beginning, when the disease is much
concealed, at a time when they did not mistrust one another; which
is very probable, since we saw many Mulatto children, born of female
Negroes, infected and leprous.

18. However this be, this distemper has had its progress; and in this
visitation, which we made, we examined 256 suspected persons; that is,
89 Whites, 47 free Mulattoes, and 120 Negroes: among whom we found
22 Whites, 6 Mulattoes, and 97 Negroes, infected with the leprosy,
amounting to 125. There were six Whites and five Negroes more, whom
we could not visit, for reasons set forth in the verbal process. The
remaining persons, which were 131, appeared to us very sound: not that
we can answer for the consequences, especially with respect to the
children, who are the offspring of leprous persons; whether declared
such by us, or dead before the visitation, suspected of infection.

This is the opinion, declaration, and result of the visitation made
by us, the physicians and surgeon appointed for that purpose. At
Basseterre, the day above-mentioned.

  PEYSSONEL.
  LEMOINE.
  MOULON.

A second visitation was made in October 1748.




VIII. _An Account of the late Discoveries of Antiquities at_
Herculaneum; _in an Extract of a Letter from_ Camillo Paderni, _Keeper
of the_ Herculanean Museum, _and F.R.S. to_ Thomas Hollis, _Esq; dated_
Naples, Dec. 16, 1756.


[Read Feb. 10, 1757.]

IT is probable, that the first volume of antique paintings will be
published at Easter; in which there will be fifty copper-plates, with
observations by the academy lately established here for illustrating
the antiquities.

Two volumes of the ancient papyrus have been unrolled. One treats of
_rhetoric_, and the other is upon _music_; and both are written by the
same author, Philodemus. Il Signor Canonico Mazzocchi, a very learned
gentleman of this city, is now translating them from the Greek. There
are two persons constantly employed in unrolling other volumes.

In the month of April were found two fine busts of women, the subjects
unknown. Also a young stag, of excellent workmanship, upon a base. The
height of it, from the feet to the top of the head, is three palms
and a half. Likewise its companion; but broken in many pieces; which
however I hope to restore.

In May, a small young hog.

In October, a female statue, of middling workmanship. Also a Silenus,
a palm and three inches high, standing upon a square base raised upon
three rows of steps, which are supported at the angles by lions claws.
He has a bald head, a long curled beard, a hairy body, and naked feet.
The drapery about him is loose and flowing: the fore-finger of each
hand is extended, and all the rest are closed. From his back arises a
branch above the head, where it divides into two, which, twisting their
foliage round it, fall and spread themselves below the shoulders, on
each of which a stand is placed to fix a lamp. In the middle, betwixt
the extremities of these two small branches, is a bird resembling a
parroquet. The whole of this figure is in a very good taste. All these
things above-mentioned are of bronze.

In November was discovered a beautiful marble Terminus, of Greek
workmanship, as big as the life. It is drest in a chlamys; has a young
countenance; and the head is covered with a Grecian helmet.

Many other things have also been found, as lamps, vases, and such-like,
in bronze. And we have often met with paintings. If any farther
discoveries are made, which are remarkable, you may depend on being
informed of them.

At present my time is much taken up, in a work extremely difficult and
tedious; which is this: When the theatre was first discovered, there
were found in it, among other things, several horses in bronze, larger
than the life; but all of them bruised, and broken into many pieces.
From this sad condition they are not yet restored. But his majesty
having expressed a particular desire to see that effected, if possible,
with regard to one of them, I resolved to attempt it; and accordingly
have set about it.




IX. _An Account of some Trees discovered under-ground on the Shore at_
Mount’s-Bay _in_ Cornwall: _In a Letter from the Rev. Mr._ William
Borlase, _F.R.S. to the Rev. Dr._ Lyttelton, _Dean of_ Exeter.


[Read Feb. 10, 1757.]

                                                 Ludgvan, Jan 24. 1757.

Reverend Sir,

BEING an airing the other day with Mrs. Borlase, on the sands below
my house, we perceived the sands betwixt the Mount and Penzance much
washed into pits, and bare stony areas, like a broken causey. In one
of the latter, Mrs. B. as we passed by, thought she saw the appearance
of a tree; and, upon a review, I found it to be the roots of a tree,
branching off from the trunk in all directions. We made as much haste
down to the same place in the afternoon as we could, and with proper
help to make a farther examination. I measured and drew the remains;
and about 30 feet to the west found the roots of another tree, but
without any trunk, tho’ displayed in the same horizontal manner as
the first. Fifty feet farther to the north we found the body of an
oak, three feet in diameter, reclining to the east. We dug about it,
and traced it six feet deep under the surface; but its roots were
still deeper than we could pursue them. Within a few feet distance
was the body of a willow, one foot and a half in diameter, with the
bark on; and one piece of a large hazel-branch, with its bark on.
What the two first trees were, it was not easy to distinguish, there
being not a sufficiency remaining of the first, and nothing but roots
of the second, both pierced with the teredo, or augur-worm. Round
these trees was sand, about ten inches deep, and then the natural
earth, in which these trees had formerly flourished. It was a black
marsh-earth, in which the leaves of the juncus were intirely preserved
from putrefaction. These trees were 300 yards below full-sea-mark;
and, when the tide is in, have at least 12 feet of water above them:
and doubtless there are the remains of other trees farther towards
the south, which the sea perpetually covers, and have more than 30
feet water above them. But these are sufficient to confirm the ancient
tradition of these parts, that St. Michael’s mount, now half a mile
inclosed with the sea, when the tide is in, stood formerly in a wood.
That the wood consisted of oak, very large, hazel and willow trees,
is beyond dispute. That there has been a subsidence of the sea-shores
hereabouts, is hinted in my letter to you, p. 92; and the different
levels and tendencies, which we observed in the positions of the trees
we found, afford us some material inferences, as to the degree and
inequalities of such subsidences in general; as the age, in which this
subsidence happened (near 1000 years since at least) may convince us,
that when earthquakes happen, it is well for the country, that they
are attended with subsidences; for then the ground settles, and the
inflammable matter, which occasioned the earthquake, has no longer room
to spread, unite, and recruit its forces, so as to create frequent and
subsequent earthquakes: whereas, where there are earthquakes without
proportionable subsidences, there are caverns and ducts under-ground
remaining open and unchoaked, the same cause, which occasioned the
first, has room to revive and renew its struggles, and to repeat its
desolations or terrors; which is most probably the case of Lisbon. I
am, Sir,

                        Your most affectionate
                      and obliged humble Servant,
                             Wm. Borlase.




X. _Experiments on applying the Rev. Dr._ Hales’_s Method of distilling
Salt-water to the Steam-Engine. By_ Keane Fitzgerald, _Esq; F.R.S._


[Read Feb. 17, 1757.]

ON reading Dr. Hale’s account of purifying salt-water, by blowing
showers of air thro’, it occurred to me, that something of the kind
might be applied with advantage to the steam or fire-engine, by
increasing the quantity of steam, and consequently diminishing the
quantity of fuel otherwise necessary.

As the strength of steam raised from boiling water is always in a
fluctuating state, and, by the best experiments hitherto made, has
never been found above ⅒ stronger, or weaker, than air; I was in doubt,
whether steam, produced by this method, would be sufficiently strong
for the purpose of the steam-engine.

I made an experiment first on a small boiler, about 12 inches diameter,
made in the shape of those commonly used in steam-engines, with a
funnel at the top, of about 1 inch diameter, for the steam to pass
thro’; the aperture of which was covered with a thin plate, fixt at
one end with a hinge, and a small leaden weight to slide on the other,
in the nature of a steel-yard, to mark the strength or quantity of
the steam. A tin pipe made for this purpose, with several small holes
towards the end, passed from a small pair of bellows, through the upper
part of the boiler, to within about an inch of the bottom. The boiler
was half filled with water, which covered the holes in the pipe about
six inches. From the best observation I was capable of making with this
machine, by blowing air thro’ the boiling water, it produced about ⅙
more steam than was produced by the same fire without blowing air thro’.

I then applied a machine of this kind to the engine at the
York-buildings water-works, the boiler of which is 15 feet diameter.
This is a patent-boiler, a section and plan of which is annexed. It
has a double concave, with a kind of door-way or passage from one to
the other, in order to let the flame pass, as it were, thro’ and round
the water; by which means there is no-where above nine inches of water
to be heated thro’, tho’ the boiler is so large; and which, by three
years experience, has been found to require ¼ less fuel, than any other
fire-engine of equal bigness.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. I _p. 54_. _J. Mynde sc._]

I fixt a pipe of an inch and a half diameter to a pair of double
bellows three feet diameter; which pipe reached about one foot under
the surface of the water in the boiler; to the end of which are fixed
horizontally two branches, each about eight feet long, tapering from
one inch diameter to about ¼ of an inch. These branches are bent in a
circular manner, as in the plan, to answer the form of the concave,
and are perforated with small holes about four inches distant at the
thickest part, and decreasing gradually in distance, to within ¼ of an
inch, towards the small end. The reason of these branches being made
taper, and the distance between the holes decreasing to the small end,
was in order to give the greater power to the air forced by the bellows
to discharge the water lodged in such a length of pipe; and I observed
by this method, that the water was gradually forced thro’ the holes to
the end of each branch, and seemed to throw an equal quantity of air
thro’ the water.

The length of the pipe, to which the branches are fixed horizontally,
is about 18 feet to the nosle of the bellows: notwithstanding which
length, the steam, that passed thro’ the pipe into the bellows, was so
hot before the water boiled, as to force thro’ the leather: but this I
easily remedied, by fixing a brass cock of one inch and a half diameter
to the pipe, which hindered the steam from ascending, until the engine
was ready to work; and being opened, the air continually keeps it cold
until the engine has done working; then the cock must be shut again.

The bellows is worked by means of a small lever, and pullies applied
to the great lever of the fire-engine, which keeps a continual
blast whilst the engine works; the strength of which is increased or
diminished, by adding or taking off the weights on the bellows.

The effect produced, according to the best observations I could make,
was, first, a very visible alteration for the better in the working
of the engine. When the fire was stirred, as it must be every time
fuel is added, the steam generally became too fierce, which occasioned
great irregularity, and sometimes, if not watched, great damage to the
engine; and when the fire abated, the stroke became immediately much
shorter, or stopped intirely, if fuel was not soon added: whereas, by
blowing air thus thro’ the water, it keeps, with any moderate care, an
equal stroke to its full length, from the beginning to the end; and
by that means discharges a considerably greater quantity of water. A
proof of which was very evident, tho’ I could not ascertain the exact
quantity: for the engine, before this improvement, supplied but two
main pipes at once, which conveyed the water to the houses served by
them; but since could not take off the quantity of water thrown up,
part of which was obliged to be discharged into a third main.

As to the quantity of fuel, that may be saved by this method, it is
not easy to determine from any experiment on this engine, the boiler
and fire-place of which is made very different from all others, and
the quantity of fuel already thereby greatly lessened. The fire-place,
which may be said to be within the boiler, and is but barely large
enough to contain a quantity of the roundest and strongest burning
coals sufficient to work the engine, cannot in this be made less; and
consequently will not admit such a saving from this model, as from
one properly constructed for the purpose: a proof of which I made, by
trying some coals of a weaker kind, which were also cheaper; but on
trial were not strong enough to work the engine, and had therefore
been laid by. These coals answered extremely well; and, as it was a
slower-burning coal, I found the consumption, whilst they lasted, was
between two and three bushels less in every six hours, which is about
the time the engine works each day: and I am satisfied, if the person,
who attends the engine, would take the proper care, more coals could
still be saved. For at several different times, when I had the coals
exactly measured, and marked the time, I constantly found, that it
required half a bushel in the hour less than he generally used, and the
engine threw up as much water.

As this method of blowing air thro’ boiling water, in order to increase
the quantity of steam for a fire-engine, has, I believe, never before
been attempted, and produces already a very good effect, I am in hopes
it may be still further improved.




XI. _Extract of a Letter of Mr._ Abraham Trembley, _F.R.S. to_ Tho.
Birch, _D.D. Secret. R.S. Translated from the_ French.


[Read Feb. 17, 1757.]

                                                    Hague, 1 Feb. 1757.

SIR,

I Wrote to you on the 26th of November last, concerning the earthquake
felt some time before between the Rhine and the Meuse. I have been
since informed by Professor Donati of Turin, that a slight shock had
been perceived there on the 13th of August 1756, at a quarter after
nine in the morning. It was likewise felt in other parts of Piedmont.
He has also communicated to me an extract of a letter of a professor of
Genoa, one of his friends, of which the following is a translation.

 “On the 9th of November we felt here two shocks of an earthquake; one
 at 20¾ hours, according to the Italian way of reckoning; the other
 at about 4½ hours at night. I did not perceive the first, being then
 walking in the house; but I felt the second. I was then laid down, and
 going to sleep. The direction of the undulations was from north to
 south, as far as I could judge.”

Mons. Donati took last summer, according to his custom, a journey,
in order to prosecute his researches into natural history. He was
accompanied by Dr. Ascanius, Fellow of the Royal Society; who was still
in doubt about coral’s being a composition of animals. Mons. Donati
carried him to the sea of Provence. He ordered coral to be fished up
in his presence. He placed it in a large vessel full of water; and
carried this vessel on shore; where he soon convinced Dr. Ascanius, by
his own eyes, that coral is a mass of animals of the polype-kind.

Mons. Donati has written to me, that he has thoroughly satisfied
himself by his last observations, that the polypes are fixed to their
cells; of which he had before doubted. What he says afterwards of
coral appears to me to express with more truth and precision what we
ought to think of this kind of animals, than any of the descriptions,
which have been given since the new discoveries have changed our
sentiments on that subject. Polype-beds, and the cells, which they
contain, are commonly spoken of as being the work of polypes. They
are compared to the honeycomb made by bees. It is more exact to say,
that coral, and other coralline bodies, have the same relation to the
polypes united to them, that there is between the shell of a snail and
the snail itself, or between the bones of an animal, and the animal
itself. Mons. Donati’s words are as follow. “I am now of opinion,
that coral is nothing else than a real animal, which has a very great
number of heads. I consider the polypes of coral only as the heads of
the animal. This animal has a bone ramified in the shape of a shrub.
This bone is covered with a kind of flesh, which is the flesh of the
animal. My observations have discovered to me several analogies between
the animals of kinds approaching to this. There are, for instance,
keratophyta, which do not differ from coral, except in the bone or
part, that forms the prop of the animal. In the coral it is testaceous,
and in the keratophyta it is horny.”

The observations, which I have made upon some kind of polype-beds,
lead me to think, that what are called polypes, in those bodies,
which are observed to come out of and return into the cells, are more
than the heads of the animal. I have seen some, which had a bag,
into which pass’d their food, which I saw them swallow; and another
bag, into which passed the grossest part of that food, after it was
digested. This is the case, for instance, of the plumed polypes, which
I described at the end of the third memoir, in the work published by me
on one kind of fresh-water polypes.

Mons. Donati has observed divers very curious facts in the journey,
which he made into the mountains. He has, in particular, traced out an
immense bed of marine bodies. This bed crosses the highest mountains,
which separate Provence from Piedmont, and loses itself in the plains
of Piedmont.

He has likewise observed a mass of rock, which forms the extremity of
a pretty high mountain, the foot of which is washed by the sea. This
rock is at a considerable height, intirely pierced by pholades, that
species of marine shell-fish so well known, which digs cells into the
stones. It appears from hence, that this rock was some time covered
by the sea. According to Mons. Donati, the sea has insensibly retired
from the parts, which were washed by it; and he thinks, that there
must have been a very considerable space of time between that and the
time, when this mountain, pierced by pholades, was covered by the
waters of the sea. He deduces his opinion from the following fact.
There is in this rock, pretty near the surface of the sea, a natural
cavern fill’d with earth. In this earth have been found ancient Roman
sarcophagi and lamps. It follows from hence, that even in the time of
the Romans this part of the rock, in which this cavern is situated, was
not under water. As there is but a small distance between the cavern
and the surface of the water, it follows, that the water has sunk but
very little since the time of the Romans. If it has sunk in the same
proportion since the time, when it covered the top of the rock, there
is no doubt, but that the time, when it was intirely covered by the
sea, must have been very distant. If the same manner of reasoning be
used, with respect to the bed of marine bodies, mentioned above, which
crosses the mountains, that separate Provence from Piedmont, we shall
be obliged to presume, that the time, when those mountains were under
the waters of the sea, was at a very great distance from the present.

Mons. Donati concludes from these facts, and the consequences deduced
from them, that the Mediterranean sea is a very ancient, and not a
modern one, as Mons. de Buffon imagines.

Those, who explain all phænomena of marine bodies found out of the
sea, by an universal deluge, do not admit the consequences drawn by
Mons. Donati from those marine bodies now under consideration. It is
plain, that most of the naturalists, who have observed a great number
of these marine bodies, are not of opinion, that all those phænomena
can be explained by a universal deluge. Upon these subjects, before we
undertake to judge, it is proper to be well informed of the nature of
marine fossile bodies, which are found in divers parts, and of their
situation and arrangement. It is necessary likewise to be acquainted
with the state of those, which are found actually under the sea, and
the revolutions, to which they are subject, while they are covered
by it. It is still farther requisite to have an attention to the
revolutions, which have been and are constantly observed, with respect
to the sea-shores, which change their situation in several parts, some
advancing upon the land, and others retiring. If all these different
facts be compared together, it will not be doubted, but there are
actually under the earth marine bodies which are found there only in
consequence of these slow revolutions, and not of an universal deluge.
Perhaps this notion might be extended to the greatest part of the
marine fossile bodies, which are known to us.

Mons. Donati informs me, that he would be glad to present to the Royal
Society an history of coral, if he thought, that it would be agreeable
to them.




XII. _A brief Botanical and Medical History of the_ Solanum Lethale,
Bella-donna, _or_ Deadly Nightshade, _by Mr._ Richard Pultney.
_Communicated by Mr._ William Watson, _F.R.S._


[Read Feb. 17, 1757.]

BELLA-DONNA is the name, which the Italians, and particularly the
Venetians, apply to this plant; and Mr. Ray[1] observes, that is so
called because the Italian ladies make a cosmetic from the juice,
or distilled water, which they use to make their complexion fair and
white. Others[2] suppose it derives its name from its intoxicating
quality. With us it is generally known by the name of Deadly
Nightshade, or Dwale, tho’ this last term is seldom used for it; and
the old French word _Morelle_, which Lobel applies to it, seems to be
quite forgotten amongst us.


CLASSICAL DISTRIBUTION.

The Deadly Nightshade was very soon discovered by the revivers of
botany after the restoration of learning; and, agreeable to the fashion
of those days, it was greatly debated among commentators, whether it
was known, and by what name, to the fathers of botany Theophrastus
and Dioscorides. Several of the writers of that time, as Dodenæus,
Guilandinus, Fuchsius, and Cordus, were of opinion, that it was the
Mandragora morion of Theophrastus; and their sentiments were espoused
by his learned commentator Bodæus à Stapel[3], who moreover supposes
it the plant, which Dioscorides describes, lib. iv. cap. 69. under the
name of Στρύχνος μανικὸς. On the other hand, Matthiolus[4] has taken
great pains to prove, that it is not the Mandragora of Theophrastus;
and both he and Ruellius[5] are inclined to think, that the Bella-donna
was not known to either of the Grecian Fathers; who are so short,
vague, and immethodical, in their descriptions, that it is very
difficult, not to say impossible, to apply them to particular species
with justness and precision.

Be this as it will, our restorers of botany agreed in general to rank
it with the Solana, or Nightshades; and as most of them took it to be
the Στρύχνος μανικός of Dioscorides, so we find thereto the addition
of some epithet, expressive of its deleterious quality, in most of
their writings; such as lethale, somniferum, furiosum, &c. Its general
agreement with the plants of that genus, and also the knowledge the
world soon had of its poisonous quality, when it is considered, that
systematic distributions, from the parts of fructification, had not
been thought of at that time: these, I say, were sufficient reasons for
referring it to the Nightshades. By such names therefore is it found in
most of the old writers; till Clusius, who, observing perhaps, that it
differed in its parts of fructification from the Solana, adopted the
indigenous Italian name, as a generical one, and called it Bella-donna.
Cæsalpinus, the first inventor of a botanic system, did not separate
it from the Nightshades. Morison and Ray, the revivers of method
almost an hundred years afterwards, were aware of the difference; the
former having placed it in a chapter among the _Solanis affines_,
and the latter constituted a distinct genus of it, tho’ he retained
the old name in his history of plants. Tournefort adopted Clusius’s
name _Bella-donna_, and was followed by all the systematic botanists,
who have since wrote; as Boerhaave, Rivini, Ruppius, Knaut, Magnol,
Ludwig, and Haller; until Linnæus, conformable to the 229th rule of
the Fundamenta Botanica[6], rejected it, and very expressly calls it
Atropa[7]; in which he is followed by all succeeding writers, who have
chosen his method.

Cæsalpinus, Morison, Ray, Herman, and Boerhaave, who range these plants
according to the fruit, place the Deadly Nightshade among the _Herbæ
Bacciferæ_ in their respective systems.

Rivinus, Ludwig, and Christian Knaut, who adopt the number and
regularity of the petals in the corolla, for their classical character,
refer it to such as have regular monopetalous flowers. Ruppius,
whose method is upon the same plan, brings it among the irregular
monopetalous ones.

Tournefort’s method, which is established upon the figure of the
flower, takes it into the first class among such plants as have
campaniform or bell-shaped flowers.

Dr. Van Royen, whose system is undoubtedly a very elegant attempt
towards the natural method in botany, arranges it among such as he
calls Oligantheræ; namely, such plants as have the stamina equal to, or
fewer in number than, the segments of the corolla.

Dr. Haller, whose method is upon the plan of a natural one also,
includes the Bella-donna among the Isostemones, such plants as have the
number of the stamina equal to the segments of the corolla.

In the sexual system of Linnæus, at this time so generally received,
and so well established, it belongs to the Pentandria monogynia, or
such plants as have five stamina and one style. The plants of this
order are arranged into five subdivisions. The Atropa comes in among
those, that have declinated stamina. According to this method, we shall
give its generical characters from the last edition of Linnæus’s Genera
Plantarum.

The most obvious and essential character of the genus is the _globose
berry, and open calyx_[8]. The general character is as follows.


ATROPA Linn. Gen. Plant. Ed. 5. Nº. 222.

The calyx is a gibbous permanent perianthium, formed of a single leaf
divided into five acute segments.

The corolla is formed of a single bell-shaped petal, the tube of which
is very short; the limb ventricose, of an oval figure, and longer than
the calyx. The mouth is small, expanded, and divided into five pretty
equal segments.

The stamina are five subulated filaments proceeding from the base of
the flower, and are of the same length: at the base they are connivent,
and at the top bent outwardly. The antheræ are thick and assurgent.

The germen is of a semiovated figure: the style is filiform, of the
length of the stamina, and inclinated. The stigma is capitated,
transversely oblong, and assurgent. The fruit is a globose berry,
standing in a large cup, and containing three cells. The receptacle is
convex on both sides, and kidney-shaped.

The seeds are numerous, and kidney-shaped also.


_The_ +SPECIES+.

1. Atropa caule herbaceo, foliis ovatis integris. Linn. Spec. Plant. p.
181.

 Atropa. Linn. Hort. Cliff. 57. Roy. Lugd. 423. Hort. Ups. 45. Dalib.
 Paris. 70.

 Bella-donna majoribus foliis et floribus. Tourn. Inst. 77. Boerh.
 Lugd. II. 69. Miller, plate 62.

 Bella-donna dicta Solanum lethale. Hill. Herb. Britan. p. 328. tab. 47.

 Bella-donna. Clus. Pan. p. 503. Bod à Stap. p. 586. Cat. Gissen. 142.
 Raii Syn. ed. 3. p. 265. Vaillant. Botan. Par. p. 20. Hall. Helv. 507.
 Dale Pharmacol. 4° ed. p. 72. Wilson. Synop. p. 122.

 Solanoc ongener flore campanulato vulgatius, latioribus foliis. Hist.
 Oxon. III. p. 532. sect. 13. tab. 3. fig. 4.

 Solanum somniferum. Fuchs. 689. Icon. opt.

 Solanum maniacum multis sive Bella-donna. J.B. III. p. 611.

 Solanum melanocerasos. C.B. pin. 166.

 Solanum lethale. Ger. 169. emac. 340. Park. 346. Raii. Hist. Plant.
 679.

 Solanum majus sive Herba Bella-donna. Matthiol. Oper. Omn. p. 756.

 Solanum somniferum et lethale. Lobel. Adversar. p. 102.

 _Deadly Nightshade_, or _Dwale_.

2. Atropa caule fruticoso. Spec. Plant. 182.

 Bella-donna frutescens rotundifolia Hispanica. Tourn. Inst. 77.

 Solanum frutex rotundifolium Hispanicum. Barril. Obs. 2. Icon. 1173.

 _Round-leaved shrubby Spanish Bella-donna._

3. Atropa foliis sinuato-angulatis, calycibus clausis acutangulis.
Spec. Plant. 181.

 Bella-donna flore magno violaceo. Hill. Herb. Brit. 319.

 Alkekengi amplo fiore violaceo. Few. Per. 724. tab. 16.

 _Large violet-flower’d Bella-donna, or Deadly Nightshade._

The first of the species here enumerated is the plant in question. The
second has been found growing naturally in no other country than Spain.
The third was first discovered by Father Feuillée in Peru, and is
therefore only an inhabitant of the gardens in this part of the world.


_The_ +DESCRIPTION+.

The root is perennial. It is pretty long, and divided into many
branches of a brown colour, succulent, and of a disagreeable smell. The
radical leaves are frequently a foot long, and five inches broad, of an
oval acuminated figure, and not sinuated on the edges. The stalk rises
to three or four feet: it is much divaricated and branched. The cauline
leaves stand alternately upon it, in shape like the radical, of a
dusky-green colour on the upper part, and a paler green underneath,
being a little hairy on both sides. The flowers stand on single
footstalks, in the alæ of the leaves: they are large, of a campanulated
figure, and striated, of a dusky-purple colour within, with a yellow
variegated base; the outer surface of the flower is of a greenish red.
After the flower succeeds a fine beautiful large berry, which is black
when ripe. For the rest, take in the generical character.

Most of the old authors give us figures of this plant, which, tho’ they
convey a general idea of it, are yet scarce any of them exact. This
fault in general runs thro’ all, that I have had an opportunity of
examining; namely, that the flowers and fruit are represented by much
too large in proportion to the leaves. Morison’s is perhaps one of the
best among the old figures: it is, upon the whole, tolerable, but not
accurate on account of the before-mentioned objection. Petiver’s does
by no means represent the plant justly, in that the alæ of the leaves
are not properly filled up. The most accurate figure of all, that I
have seen, is Mr. Miller’s, in his plates adapted to the Gardeners
Dictionary, which is undoubtedly taken from nature itself.


+PLACE+ _of_ +GROWTH+.

The Deadly Nightshade is found in many parts of Europe, especially in
England and in Austria; and yet in our own country it is happily not
very plentiful, inasmuch as our botanical writers usually reckon it
among the _more rare_ plants, and specify particularly the places where
they have observed it.

Here in England it is chiefly found in uncultivated places: in
church-yards, about old walls, among rubbish in shady places, about
dunghills, in lanes, and sometimes about woods and hedges. It begins to
flower in June, and maintains a succession of flowers for two months.
The berries are ripe in September and October.

It is of great importance, that the knowlege of poisonous plants
should be extended as much as possible, that they may the better be
avoided, and their fatal effects thro’ mistake be guarded against:
there can therefore be no impropriety in enumerating particularly
some of those places, where our English botanists have observed it.
Mr. Ray mentions its being found in the church-yard and lanes about
Fulburn in Cambridgeshire, Sutton-Colefield in Warwickshire: in
the Downs: at Cuckstone, near Rochester in Kent, all the yards and
backsides are over-run with it. _Ray. Syn._ Upon Clifton-hill, near
Nottingham; also in a quarry near the cold-bath at Mansfield. _Catal.
Notting_. In Currenwood-kins, near Burton in Kendal, and other places
in Westmorland. _Wilson’s Syn._ Dr. Wilmer found it amoung the bogs
going down to Dorking in Surrey, plentifully. In Preston church-yard,
near Feversham in Kent. Mr. Watson found it by the wood-side, under
the park-wall, between Temsford-mills and Welwyn, Hertfordshire; and
near the road between Rochester and Maidstone. Mr. Blackstone found it
in a shady gravel-pit near the old park-wood at Harefield, and in the
gardens at More-park near Rickmansworth, plentifully. _Specim. Botan._
About Rochester and Chatham, where it grows in the joints of old
walls, and in most of the unfrequented lanes: also in Woodstock-park
in Oxforshire, and Up-park in Hampshire. I have observed it four or
five years since on the edge of Charley-forest: about Grace-Dieu,
Leicestershire. It grows about North Luffenham in Rutland.


_Its_ +POISONOUS QUALITY+.

There have been many fatal instances of the narcotic and deleterious
effects of the berries of this plant. They are upon record in almost
all botanical, and many medical authors. Children have unhappily been
the principal sufferers this way, being tempted to eat by the enticing
aspect of the berries, or by mistaking them for some other fruit. The
berries, however, are not the only part of the plant, which partake of
this intoxicating and poisonous property: the whole plant is endued
with it, and that in no small degree.

If the Bella-donna is allowed to be the Στρύχνος μανικὸς of
Dioscorides[9], this quality of it was not unknown to that writer. It
was very soon known to the first writers in the medical and botanic way
after the restoration of letters; and they have not failed to inform us
of it.

Tragus and Fuchsius, who wrote about the middle of the sixteenth
century, both relate instances of the poisonous effects of these
berries: the former, of a man, who went mad after having eaten of them;
the latter, of two children, who perished by the same means[10].

Lobel[11] tells us, that the berries of this plant are present
death; and informs us of some youths, who, after eating them, became
stupified, and died as from an over-dose of opium.

Matthiolus[12] relates, from his own knowlege, of some children
poisoned by the same means.

Among all the instances of the intoxicating nature of this plant, there
is none more memorable than that mentioned by the Scotch historian
Buchanan[13], of the destruction of the army of Sweno; which is quoted
by almost all authors, who have wrote upon this plant. It is there
said, that the Scots mixed a quantity of the juice of these berries
with the drink, which, by their truce, they were to supply the Danes
with; which so intoxicated them, that the Scots killed the greatest
part of them while they were asleep. How far this anecdote is to be
depended upon, or whether other concurrent circumstances ought not to
be taken into the account, I cannot determine.

Our own herbalist Gerard[14] mentions the case of three boys in the
Isle of Ely, who, having eaten of these berries, two of them died in
less than eight hours; but the third, by drinking plentifully of honey
and water, and vomiting after it, recovered.

Bodæus à Stapel, in his comment upon Theophrastus[15], tells us of two
youths, that eat two or three of these berries, which they got in the
Leyden garden, mistaking them for black currants: one of them perished,
and the other recovered with great difficulty.

Simon Pauli relates two or three examples to the same effect[16].
Wepfer gives us a circumstantial account of a child about ten years
old, who was thrown into a great variety of convulsive symptoms after
eating of this fruit: but proper care being taken by vomiting, and
afterwards giving alexipharmics and anti-epileptic medicines, he
recovered[17].

M. Boulduc[18] laid before the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, the
case of some children, who, upon eating these berries, were seized with
a violent fever, palpitations of the heart, convulsions, and lost their
senses. One of them, a little boy of four years old, died the next
morning.

Boerhaave has instances to the same effect[19]: and it was the
misfortune of Dr. Abraham Munting, a noted botanist and professor
of physic in the university of Groningen, to have his own daughter
poisoned with the berries of the Bella-donna.

It would be almost endless to recite all the instances to be met with
upon this head. The German Ephemerides, the Commercium Literarium, and
other periodical works, furnish us with farther proofs of the deadly
quality of the Bella-donna; and they are unhappily corroborated by
more recent instances in modern authors. The Gentleman’s Magazine[20],
Mr. Miller in his Gardeners Dictionary, and Dr. Hill in his British
Herbal[21], exhibit to us several melancholy cases of this kind.

The effects of this plant have been so extraordinary, that several
distinct treatises have been published professedly upon it. The most
remarkable of these is that of J.M. Faber’s, printed at Augsburg in
1677, under the following title; _Strychnomania explicans Strychni
manici antiquorum, vel Solani furiosi recentiorum historiam_. In this
tract the author has collected a number of cases from various hands,
concerning the poisonous quality of the plant in question. In the year
1714. C. Sicelius published a treatise upon this plant, under the title
of _Diatribe de Bella-donna. Jenæ_. 8vo.


+MEDICAL HISTORY+.

Who it was, that was bold enough to venture first upon the internal
use of this plant as a medicine, I cannot say; chance very probably
led to it, as in many other cases. In the mean time, there is reason
to believe, that it is not altogether a modern practice. One would be
led to think, by the accounts given us in Matthiolus and Bodæus, that
in their days its operation was very well known; and that they knew how
to dose it very exactly, since they give us an account of tricks being
played with it, by infusing the quantity of a scruple of the root in
wine, and intoxicating people therewith. The former of these authors
relates, that the distilled water from this plant, in a dose of about
two or three spoonfuls, was exhibited by some people in inflammations
of the viscera; and, he observes, with good success. Parkinson seems to
have transcribed this account, respecting this use of it; but neither
of them speak of it from their own knowlege. It may be questioned,
however, whether this could act otherwise than as mere water; since the
principles with which this plant is endued, do not seem capable (if one
may judge from its sensible qualities and effects upon those who have
taken it) of rising in a still.

Mr. Ray[22], from the German Ephemerides, an. 13. obs. 64. presents
us with the relation of a shepherd in Denmark, who administered an
infusion of the berries in wine in the dysentery, which was there very
common, and very obstinate; adding, that it was attended with great
success, not only restraining the flux, but carrying off the disorder
by sweat. Mr. Ray observes further, that, correspondent with this
practice, Conrade Gesner actually prepared a syrop from the berries,
and gave it in dysenteric cases with great success. This account is
found in Gesner’s Epistles, and is quoted also by Dr. Haller[23], when
treating of this plant. Possibly its efficacy in these cases may be
accounted for, from considering it merely in the quality of an opiate;
and therefore it cannot be adviseable to use it, when safer medicines
are always at hand.

Its external use seems to be of as long a date as its internal; and
it was on account of its cooling and repellent quality, that it came
into credit as a fucus among the Italian ladies. Matthiolus recommends
it in the erysipelas, the shingles, and other inflammatory disorders
of the skin. The leaves, applied in the form of a cataplasm, are much
celebrated by many writers, as of great use in resolving tumors,
particularly of the breast, and even such as are of a schirrous and
cancerous nature. Many of the old authors[24] mention this application
of it, among other of the cooling and narcotic herbs; such as the
common nightshade, henbane, hounds-tongue, _&c._ which it was usual
to apply on such occasions. Mr. Ray informs us, that Mr. Percival
Willughby experienced its efficacy repeatedly, in discussing hardnesses
and cancerous tumors in the breast.

Its relaxing quality is very surprising, as appears by that memorable
case related by the last-mentioned author, of a lady’s applying a leaf
of it to a little ulcer, suspected to be of the cancerous kind, a
little below her eye, which rendered the pupil so paralytic, that it
lost all its motion for some time afterwards: and that this event was
really owing to that application, appears from the experiment’s being
repeated with the same effect three times.

The German physicians have gone much further: they have even ventured
to give it inwardly in cancerous cases. Dr. Haller, when treating of
the quality of this plant, refers to Junker, and others of the modern
physicians, as recommending the decoction of it with caution, that it
be not given in such quantity as to cause sleep. So long since as the
year 1739. there was a thesis published at Hall, by Michael Albert, in
which the Bella-donna is proposed as a specific in cancerous cases.
What other physicians patronize this use of it, I cannot say, having
but little opportunity of consulting those academic pieces, which are
of such eminent use in compilations of this kind. Thus much is certain,
that its use, in such cases, rather gains ground; and the case,
published in the French Bibliotheque[25], printed at the Hague, of an
ulcerated cancer being radically cured by an infusion of the leaves of
this plant in water, deserves particular attention, on account of its
being so well attested. The case is extracted from an inaugural thesis
of Professor Lambergen’s, who was the physician concerned[26]. The
event was so singularly happy and successful in this instance, that we
hope it will need no apology, if we give a particular detail of it.

The person afflicted with this miserable disease was a widow of 34
years of age, and mother of four children. She had but weak nerves, and
had been subject to inflammatory disorders. She informed M. Lambergen,
upon examining her, that she had had a quinzy six times, which had
twice ended in suppuration: that eight years before her right breast
had suppurated, and discharged much matter: that two years after it
suppurated again; and that at the end of another year both breasts
underwent the same fate; since when the right had remained schirrous,
but was without pain, except when she handled it. She had suckled her
youngest child about six months, when she was seized with a fever; and
the left breast (with which only she could suckle since the other had
suppurated) soon swelled, inflamed greatly, was very painful, and soon
became almost as large as a child’s head. Dr. Lambergen being called
in, ordered copious bleeding, and that the child should suck as little
as possible. She took some medicines, and soon recovered.

A year passed after this without any bad accident; when the lunar
evacuations, which she had had from her 18th year, beginning to
diminish, she felt a pricking pain in her left breast, and her right
began to swell. Upon a fright, she had a fall, which accident increased
both the pain and swelling; and she had recourse again to Dr. Lambergen.

He found the tumors in her right breast much enlarged, and so connected
together, as to feel like one large one only. On the upper part of the
breast, upon the pectoral muscle, it felt rugged, unequal, and almost
as hard as a stone. The patient complained of a constant itching in
the part, and at times a pungent pain, which seemed to shoot from
the armpit, and end in the tumor. Under this armpit the glands were
hard and schirrous; and the left breast was not exempt from the like
indurations. A vein or two on the right breast was a little enlarged,
otherwise no alteration. It was no hotter than common; nor had it
undergone any change of colour. To mitigate the pain of the schirrous,
Dr. Lambergen ordered the following plaister:

    ℞ _Ung. Diapomphol._ ℥ ij. _Amalgam, merc. et Plumb._ ȝ iij.
    _Sperm. Cet._ ȝ j. _M._

With this external application he prescribed likewise the following
powders, to be taken night and morning, and gave directions relating to
the non-naturals.

    ℞ _Coral. rub. Antimon. Diaphoret. illot. Sper. Ceti a_ ȝ ij.
    _Laud. gr._ vj. _M._ for 12 doses.

Under this method the pain remitted, but the tumor inlarged, and a
little rising was observed on the upper part of it; and towards the
nipple, where there was the least hardness, a small spot was perceived,
which, at the next return of the catamenia, inflamed, and became the
seat of the most excruciating pain. Dr. Lambergen, during this period,
in the room of the powders, substituted emmenagogic pills, and ordered
the pediluvium. She lost ten ounces of blood from the foot: and by
these means the swelling of the breast diminished, and the patient
suffered very little for some days. This truce, however, was but
temporary: the rising on the upper part of the tumor began to inflame,
itched intolerably, the pain returned, was almost perpetual, and
insupportably pungent.

In this dreadful state was the patient, when Dr. Lambergen desired the
late Dr. du Bois, Dr. Winter, physician to the house of Orange and
professor at Leyden, together with Dr. Van Arum of Leewarden, physician
in ordinary to the Princess dowager, to visit her. These gentlemen
examined her many times, and unanimously agreed, that it was now no
less than a confirmed cancer. It was Professor Winter, who acquainted
Dr. Lambergen, that he had heard M. Degner, a celebrated physician
at Nimeguen, speak of the Bella-donna, as a sovereign remedy against
inveterate schirri; adding, nevertheless, that he had never tried it
himself.

In such a case as this, where death seemed inevitable, a dangerous
remedy is to be preferred to none at all. Dr. Lambergen therefore
determined to try it upon his patient; but, knowing the character,
which the plant bore, he resolved to try the effects of it upon himself
first. To this end, he poured ten tea-cups of water upon a scruple of
the leaves, which had been gathered and dried three years: he let it
stand all night lukewarm. Of this infusion he took half a tea-cup full,
being the twentieth part of the whole, in the morning fasting; but
perceived no effect from it. This determined him the next morning to
double the dose; which produced a slight vertigo, and for an hour or
two an uncommon dryness in his mouth. Being thus prepared, as he knew
his patient had but a weak nervous system, he determined to begin with
caution.

It was the 14th day of January 1745, that she took the first dose,
being one tea-cup full. It had the same effect upon her, as it had had
on her physician; and moreover rendered her pulse weaker and quicker
than usual. For seven mornings successively she took the same dose,
which, in general, produced the same effect. At the same time the
plaster was renewed, with the addition of a few grains of opium. Under
this method her pain was mitigated; but, before the latter end of the
week, returned again more frequently, and more acute; so that she was
reduced to a most deplorable condition. The rising on the upper part
of the breast became livid; the place near the nipple before-mentioned
inflamed, and was very painful; and two little pointed risings were
observed upon it, together with a slight fissure or opening. As the
menstrual period was approaching, the infusion and the powders were
omitted, and the pediluvium substituted. A mixture with crabs-eyes,
spᵗ. nitri. d. and syr. e mecon. relieved the patient from some
spasmodic complaints she had at this time, and the menses returned more
copiously than ever. The 27th she took something more than a tea-cup of
the infusion, being the first dose of the second scruple: her body was
soluble; her breast less swelled, but the pain returned very acute, and
seemed to terminate in the little callous eminence on the upper part of
the breast, which now likewise became more pointed. The 28th she took
the same quantity of the infusion. The two little pointed places near
the nipple were now become two little holes, but had not discharged any
matter. The other sore on the upper part of the breast was more livid
still, and more painful, and had risen into two little whitish points.
The powders were omitted this night, as they had been now and then at
other times. The 29th, very little sleep the foregoing night, great
pain from the upper sore, the holes near the nipple were become larger,
and had run a yellowish matter. The same dose of the infusion as
before. At night she had most acute pain from the upper sore. The 30th
both sores were nearly in the same state. All remedies were this day
laid aside, except the infusion; of which she took a cup-full and an
half; but her mouth soon became so dry, that she could scarcely swallow
a little tea; and the vertigo was so violent, that she staggered: her
sight was so weakened, that she could scarcely read. Notwithstanding
this, she had no anxiety, nor nausea, nor pain; but her appetite was
less, and her pulse quicker. The 31st all the last-mentioned symptoms
continued the same: the two pointed eminences on the upper part of the
breast were become two little holes likewise, and had discharged a few
drops of good matter.

The 1st of February the upper sore had discharged but little matter,
and that thinner than before. That near the nipple was become more
livid, and the two holes were larger; but there had been no discharge
for several days. The pulse and appetite were good, sleep natural, the
body open. The pain, indeed, was continual, but less acute. The 2d,
little alteration. The sores discharged but little. From this time
they were dressed twice in a day with _Nutritum_, and over all the
_Emp. Saturnin_. The pain was not so violent, but was felt in another
place, which began to swell. From the 6th to the 18th better and worse:
the pain more or less acute; and the catamenia passed without any bad
effects. At the end of this month the schirrus all over the breast was
much softened, and sensibly diminished. This was the opinion of Dr. du
Bois and Dr. Winter, as well as of Dr. Lambergen.

The 1st of March an inflammation arose on the sole of the right foot,
and extended up the leg about four fingers above the heel. It ended in
two great blisters, as if from a burn, which were embrocated with wine
and oil, and nothing bad followed. To the 22d, the patient was better
and worse. The menstrual period did not pass without some disturbance.
The 26th she began with the infusion of the tenth scruple, and every
thing went on for the better to the end of the month.

From the 1st of April to the 6th the ulcers were firm and dry; but the
pain in the breast increased. Several blisters arose on the foot, along
the leg, and even upon the thigh, on the left side. One upon the sole
of the left foot, for 24 hours discharged an incredible quantity of
thick whitish lymph. The pain from these blisters was beyond all she
had felt before. It continued the 7th, 8th, and 9th; and new blisters
arose on the thigh. The excoriated parts were all dressed with spirit
of wine. During the disturbances from these new complaints, the breast
was likewise painful, and swelled, tho’ the ulcer near the nipple was
dry, and the other discharged little or nothing. The 10th she had less
pain both in her foot and in her breast. The upper sore was closed;
the foot discharged less. From the 11th to the 15th, notwithstanding
the weather was very cold, her pain still lessened. The ulcer remained
firm, and the whole breast was softened: her foot mended; and all went
on for the better till the 18th, when the ulcer on the upper part
of the breast opened again in three places, and discharged a thick
yellowish matter. The nipple of the left breast also became inflamed,
and surrounded with pimples, which discharged a little lymph. In the
mean time the cancerous breast was more painful than on the preceding
days. The 19th the pain less, tho’ continual. Some discharge from
the foot still; but the ulcers on the thigh were healed, and another
blister arose. The 20th the upper sore on the breast closed again; but
that near the nipple seemed to threaten another opening, and in fact it
did, on the 24th, in three places. On the 20th the catamenia returned
very copiously, and superseded the use of the pediluvium. The 25th she
began with the infusion of the fourteenth scruple of the Bella-donna,
which, it is to be observed, was scarcely ever omitted. The 26th a
blister arose at the end of the fore-finger on the left hand, was very
painful, and discharged a great quantity of serous matter. The next
day both ulcers on the breast discharged a small quantity of lymph;
otherwise the breast was less painful.

From the 28th of April to the 7th of May every thing went on for the
better: the cancerous breast was almost without pain. The ulcers ran
very little, but the excoriation and pain were much worse from the
nipple of the left breast, which also discharged a great quantity of
lymph. The 8th the upper ulcer on the right breast closed; but the
other opened again. From the 8th to the 16th no change for the worse:
on the contrary, the left breast was well; the right less painful, and
discharged but very little. From the 18th to the 22d the menstrual
period: all things on the mending hand; the ulcer healed, and the
patient had little or no pain: but, from the 23d to the 27th, the pain
returned something worse, and there was some discharge from the breast.

The _Nutritum_ was now discontinued, as too emollient. The 27th the
infusion from the eighteenth scruple of the Bella-donna was begun with.

From the 28th of May to the 12th of June the breast still painful: in
the mean time, however, the ulcers remained firm and dry. The tumor and
schirrosity of the breast diminished in such a manner, that, excepting
its being a little bigger than the other, it had intirely resumed its
natural form and colour. No indurations in the left breast, nor of the
glands in the right armpit.

The 13th of June she took a journey, was absent some weeks, and
returned in perfect health. Dr. Lambergen advised her, but in vain,
to continue the infusion. Nevertheless, she was obliged now and then,
when she felt pain, to have recourse to it, and was always relieved by
it: and in the course of another year the remains of the schirrus were
totally wasted.

It is now (1754) eight years since, and she has had no relapse, no
pain, no hardness in her breast; has married a second husband, by whom
she has had a child, which she suckled. What more can be requisite to
ascertain a cure?


Thus we have given a detail of this memorable case; wherein we see,
that six drachms of one of the most poisonous vegetables that the
world produces actually cured a woman, whom the most able physicians
had given up as incurable; and who must otherwise have finished her
miserable days in the most deplorable sufferings.

It must not be omitted, that notwithstanding the daily use this woman
made of the Bella-donna, she was not accustomed to it in the manner as
people are who take opium. Dr. Lambergen always prepared the infusion
himself, and never had occasion to make it stronger than at the first,
as the patient always found the like effects from the same dose.


So singular and happy an event, as attended Dr. Lambergen’s
administration of this plant, certainly merits the attention of the
medical profession; and surely, one may add, entitles the medicine
to future trials. And as the authenticity of the case will not be
disputed, it is therefore greatly to be wished, that those gentlemen,
who belong to the public hospitals, and others that have frequent
opportunities of attending patients labouring under this deplorable
disease, would give it a further trial. A cancer, even in its latent,
but much more in an ulcerated state, is allowedly one of the most
terrible and formidable disorders to which human nature is liable; and
hath long been ranged, very justly, among the _opprobria medicorum_,
instances of a radical cure being rarely met with: indeed, one of the
first physicians[27] of our age tells us, that it is not known to have
been cured at all, but by a total extirpation of the part; and all,
who are conversant in physic and surgery, know very well, that that
operation is frequently no security against its return.

I have here endeavoured, in as concise a manner as might be, to exhibit
the history of this extraordinary plant. The being able barely to
know and distinguish one plant from another, however praise-worthy in
itself, ought not to be the only view of our botanical researches: we
should do more, and endeavour to investigate, in the most attentive
manner, the properties of vegetable productions, in order to accomodate
them to the various exigencies of human life.

Several classes of vegetables, from their merely herbaceous taste,
and, as far as we can conjecture, from their other sensible qualities,
seem to be formed by the great Author of nature principally for the
nourishment of animals: but those plants, which are endued with
principles so highly active, as, when taken in small quantities,
to be able to put an end to animal life; such deserve to be more
minutely inquired into, as under certain circumstances these
principles, properly directed, may conduce to great and good ends.
We should endeavour, therefore, diligently to inform ourselves, in
what quantities, and under what circumstances, the poison ends, and
where the medicine begins. In this respect we have certainly a notable
instance in the history before us in Professor Lambergen; whose
industry, more especially as it was attended with success, merits our
greatest acknowlegements; inasmuch as he has informed us, with no small
degree of accuracy and precision, that the plant under consideration,
which is well known to be of a highly deleterious nature, and that even
in a small quantity, may be so managed, as to be productive of good
effects, not to be found possibly by any other means.

Some of the most efficacious medicines are such, as, being posssessed
of highly active principles, do greatly disturb the animal œconomy in
their operation: nevertheless, however rough the _modus operandi_ of
any medicine be, if its efficacy by repeated trials be approved and
confirmed, this is so far from proving a discouragement to its use,
that we ought to regard the discovery of such a one as a valuable
acquisition to the province of physic, especially if it is applicable
in desperate and obstinate cases. The Bella-donna, on the contrary,
supposing future trials should prove it as happily successful as
Professor Lambergen has experienced it, is a medicine of a different
kind; inasmuch as its operation is mild, when compared with that, which
attends the exhibition of many others: we should therefore have double
reason to rejoice at the discovery.




XIII. _An Account of some of the Antiquities discovered at_
Herculaneum, &c. _In a Letter to_ Thomas Birch, _D.D. Secret. R.S. By_
John Nixon, _A.M. F.R.S._


[Read Feb. 24, 1757.]

Reverend Sir,

THE subject of this letter are some cursory observations made by me
last spring, upon viewing the curiosities found at Herculaneum, and
the places adjacent. I deferred putting them into any order, till I
came to town, and had seen, by perusing the Transactions of the Royal
Society, whether some abler hand had not already prevented me, and made
any further communication needless: but as I now find, that no notice
has been hitherto taken of several particulars, which, in my humble
opinion, deserved it, as tending to throw new light upon antiquity; I
beg leave to trouble you with my thoughts upon them.

I shall begin with the museum in the King of the Two Sicilies’ palace
at Portici; wherein, amongst a great number of other ancient and
valuable remains, are these that follow, _viz._


I.

Several _tali lusorii_. The _tali_ are supposed to have been known to
the Greeks[28] by the name of Ἀϛράγαλοι as early as the Trojan war. But
as the monuments before us are undoubtedly Roman, I shall confine my
remarks upon them to the usages received among that people; and being
guided partly by what appears upon the face of these antiquities, and
partly by what the Latin classics have delivered in general upon this
subject, beg leave to observe, in the first place, that the _tali_
had each of them but four sides, two broader, and the other two more
narrow, on which they would ordinarily rest; as the rounding of their
ends did not easily permit them to stand upon those parts. However, the
possibility of such a position (tho’ it did not occur to me to make
the experiment with these pieces) may be deduced from a passage in
Tully[29].

Further, with regard to the manner of distinguishing the several sides
of the _tali_, some learned[30] writers speak of it according to ideas
taken from the fashion of marking the modern dice, and (I may add) the
ancient _tesseræ_ likewise: but, as I did not observe the traces of
any engraving, painting, _&c._ upon the pieces under consideration,
it seems to me more probable, what others assert[31], that this
distinction was effected by the different configuration of the sides
themselves, and not by any numbers marked upon them. And concerning
this notation, the common opinion is, that the appearances expressing
_one_ and _six_, as also those representing _three_ and _four_, were
opposed to each other respectively.

But leaving these (however probable) conjectures, we can with certainty
determine the number of the _tali_ used in this game to have been four;
and likewise, that among the various chances resulting from them,
the most fortunate one was that, wherein each of the sides exhibited
a different aspect. The former of these circumstances we learn from
Tully[32], as we do the latter from Martial, who, in a distich sent
with a present of a set of _tali_ to a friend, says,

    _Cum steterit nullus vultu tibi talus eodem,
      Munera me dices magna dedisse tibi_[33].

It may further be collected from Horace, that the throw above described
had the appellation of _Venus_: for when he intimates, that the
president of the feast was elected by the _tali_[34], he must be
supposed to mean the most favourable chance upon them. But he[35]
elsewhere gives us to understand, that the chance, which determined
that election, was called _Venus_.

Propertius is somewhat more explicite in assigning the title of this
throw, as above; and at the same time informs us further, that the
contrary (and consequently most unlucky) one was termed _canes_.

    _Me quoque per talos_ Venerem _quærente secundos,
      Semper damnosi subsiluere_ canes[36].

Now it seems to be agreed among the antiquaries, [37]that _canis_
on the _tali_ was unity: and indeed this opinion is countenanced
by Persius[38], who contrasts _canicula_ with _senio_. If this be
admitted, then the _canes_ of Propertius must have been the chance,
wherein all (or at least the greater number of) the _tali_ came up (as
we should express it) aces.

There have been several other conjectures proposed by learned writers
upon this subject, which I choose to omit, for want of proper
authorities from the classics to ascertain them. This is likewise
the case with regard to the rules observed by the ancient Romans at
this diversion. It is not at all improbable, that as we have several
species of games upon the same set of dice, cards, _&c._ so they might
have the same variety on the _tali_: and if there were any laws
established by custom for the regulation of this game in public, yet
private parties might be at liberty to innovate at pleasure, and agree
upon whatever terms of play were most agreeable to their inclinations
or circumstances. In this light (according to [39]Erasmus) we are to
consider the account, which Augustus gives of himself and his friends,
in an epistle to Tiberius[40]: _Inter cænam lusimus_ γεροντικῶς
_heri et hodie: talis enim jactatis, ut quisque canem aut senionem
miserat, in singulos talos singulos denarios conferebat, quos tollebat
universos, qui Venerem jecerat_. And it is obvious to remark, that
(upon this hypothesis) the critics, perhaps, need not have been so much
embarassed (as we find they have been) in endeavouring to reconcile
this passage of Suetonius with that other of Persius[41] produced above.

I shall conclude with noting, that in order to prevent any fraud
or slight of hand in managing the _tali_, it was usual to put them
into a box[42], and, after shaking them together, to throw them out
upon a table. Thus Martial introduces one of these _turriculæ_, as
recommending its own usefulness for the purpose above-mentioned:

    _Quærit compositos manus improba mittere talos,
      Qui per me mittit, nil nisi vota facit_[43].

However, this caution does not seem to have been so universally
observed, but that sometimes, _viz._ when the party consisted of
ladies, it was (I presume, for a reason greatly to their honour)
superseded. Thus, in one of the first paintings found at Herculaneum,
and now in the royal apartments at Portici, we see a young female
figure exhibited, as playing at this game, with one or more of the
_tali_ lying upon the back part of her hand, while the rest appear as
having fallen off from thence towards the floor.


II.

A rule with four joints, each of which contained about 5 inches
9-tenths of our measure. I think there was another in two parts, which
answered to the same proportion.


III.

A weight, inscribed on one side +EME+, and on the other +HABEBIS+.


IV.

A small _bolla d’oro_, which (after that in the late Dr. Middleton’s
collection, and another preserved at Rome) is the third known to be
extant in Europe. As this ornament was worn by so great a number
of young persons at Rome, and made of gold, which is so capable of
resisting the injuries of the weather, moisture, _&c._ one cannot but
wonder at the extreme scarcity of these monuments in the cabinets of
the curious. The most probable way of accounting for this (according to
[44]Dr. Middleton) is, that the value of the materials, of which these
_bullæ_ were made, induced the poor labourers, as soon as they had
found one, to sell it to the first goldsmith they met with for its real
value (however small it might be), by weight.


V.

A little figure like a Faunus, excepting that about the head it had
something of the character of the minotaur, _viz._ large curls upon
the forehead, and several muscular protuberances, or _tori_, under the
throat.


VI.

A figure in relievo of a man sitting with a bowl in his hand, which
has been thought a Socrates. And indeed the features of the face
bear a striking resemblance to those of that sage expressed in
ancient monuments; as the bowl might properly refer to the well-known
circumstance of his death. But the other insignia are not so suitable
to the character of the subject, as one could wish: for he holds,
partly in his hand, and partly under his arm, a short staff full of
knots, and curved at the end like a shepherd’s crook, such as we find
borne by satyrs in some Bacchanalian pieces: and the skin of a beast
appears hanging from the seat of his chair.


VII.

An antique painting of a muse with a _capsula_ near her containing some
volumes, from which hang labels showing the titles of the works. The
same representation appears in another painting kept in a different
part of the palace. Signor Paderni observed to me, that these remains
would help the curious to form a more certain idea of the manner in
which the ancients affixed titles to their volumes, than they have
hitherto been able to obtain. The most complete description, that I can
recollect, of an ancient book, with its appurtenances and decorations,
is that of Martial addressed to one of his own.

    _Faustini fugis in sinum? Sapisti.
    Cedro nunc licet ambules perunctus,
    Et frontis gemino decens honore
    Pictis luxurieris umbilicis:
    Et te purpura delicata velet,
    Et cocco rubeat superbus index._ L. iii. ep. 2.

The _superbus index_ in the last verse, curiously illuminated with
scarlet, was undoubtedly the title of the book; but to what part of
it it was annexed has hitherto been difficult to ascertain: for as
(according to the paintings under consideration) it was inscribed on
a detached piece of paper or parchment, it must soon have been lost
from the book; especialty if the latter had suffered by damps, or any
other injuries similar to those, that have affected the volumes found
in Herculaneum, of which not only the title, but even the ends of the
umbilici, tho’ consisting of more solid materials, as horn, ivory,
_&c._ are intirely destroyed: so that no light could be had from the
original antiquities with relation to this point. The only means,
whereby the connoisseurs could form any conjectures in this case, must
have been, I presume, from the fashion of books among the ancients,
_viz._ their being long scrolls rolled round upon a stick with
ornaments at each end, as described in the epigram produced above.
This form required, that the books should be laid at their length upon
the shelves, where they were deposited with either their side, or one
of their ends, appearing outwardly. Now of these two positions the
latter, which exposed the extremity of the umbilicus to view, might be
thought (all circumstances duly considered) the most convenient. To
this part therefore it might with probability be conjectured, that the
index or title was fastened; but the paintings mentioned above plainly
demonstrate, that it actually was so.

Mons. Dacier says[45], that the titles of books were anciently
inscribed upon the leathern covers, wherein they were wrapt, and
which, by the means of thongs fastened to them, kept the volumes
close and compact together. If that learned gentleman had supported
this fact by proper evidences, then it must have been concluded, upon
the joint authority of such evidences, and of the antiquities under
consideration, that the practice of the ancients was, besides the
title on the sides of the volume, to affix another on a label at one
of its extremities. And indeed this additional notation (whatever we
determine concerning its usefulness, while the books lay on a shelf in
a library) must have been very necessary, when such books stood upright
in a _capsula_ (like those in the painting before us), where no part of
them, but one end alone, could possibly be seen.


VIII.

Some pieces of fine paper, coloured red on one side, and black on
the other, found upon the breast of a skeleton. Signor Paderni told
me, that they had been viewed with great admiration by such of the
virtuosi, as he had shewn them to; and that their admiration proceeded
from those fragments appearing not to be of the _charta papyracea_, but
of that of silk, cotton, or linen. And indeed, if they should prove
to have been made of any of the materials last mentioned, it would
contradict the generally received opinion (according to [46]Montfaucon),
that paper of silk or cotton, denoted by the common appellation of
_charta bombycina_, was first found out in the 9th century; as that
composed of linen rags (_ex linteolis contritis et aquâ maceratis_, as
Pancirollus[47] expresses it) was about the 12th; and that the former
supplied the place of the _charta papyracea_ in the east, as the latter
superseded the use of it in the western parts of the world.


IX.

A flat piece of white glass, taken off from towards the extremity of
the sheet, as appears from the curvature and protuberant thickness of
one of its sides above the other parts. I have several observations by
me, with regard to this fragment, which I have not yet had leisure to
digest. I shall therefore proceed to the other parts of this collection.

       *       *       *       *       *

To enter into a detail of the paintings found at Herculaneum, and
deposited in a different part of the palace at Portici, would be
tedious, as their number, when I saw them, exceeded 800; and it
would be superfluous, as the principal of them will soon make their
appearance in the world by prints taken from them, and executed in a
manner, which (as far as I could judge by the specimens shewn me) will
in no-wise discredit the originals, I shall therefore only mention two
of them, _viz._


I.

Theseus with the Minotaur dead, and lying on his back at his feet,
while several Athenian youths are embracing the knees, and kissing
the hand, of their deliverer. We may observe, that the fabulous being
above-mentioned appears in this piece with the intire body of a man,
and only the head of a bull, which agrees with the manner, in which he
is represented in an antique sardonyx of Greek sculpture in the cabinet
at Vienna, and in most of the works of the ancient artists. Tho’ I have
by me the copy of an antique gem, wherein the Minotaur is exhibited
as standing in the center of the famous labyrinth, and having below
the body of a bull as far as to the waist, and from thence upwards an
human form: which representation is further countenanced by Ovid, who
describes that monster, as

    _Semibovemque virum, semivirumque bovem._
                                               Art. Am. L. ii. _v._ 12.


II.

Chiron and Achilles. The latter of these is standing, and has a
_plectrum_ in his right hand: the former seems to embrace his noble
pupil with his left arm, and with his right hand to strike the lyre,
as teaching him to play upon that instrument. But the most remarkable
circumstance in the figure of Chiron is his reposing his hinder parts
on his left haunch upon the ground. Yet this attitude, as well as the
other particulars mentioned above, is expressed in an antique gem, of
which I have seen a copy at Rome.

       *       *       *       *       *

I shall conclude this paper with an account of the statues, which stand
in several rooms adjoining to the unfinished part of the palace, and
were found (as to the far greater number) at or near Herculaneum.


_In the First Room._

An equestrian marble statue of M. Nonius Balbus the elder, which is
intended to be placed in a large entrance on the east side of the
palace, to answer to that of his son, which is already set up on the
other side, facing the bay of Naples.


_In the Second._

Nero and Germanicus, considerably larger than the life, but squeezed
somewhat flat by the weight of the lava, or other ruins, with which
they were once overwhelmed.

A man in a sacrificing habit.

Two others in the toga, and two women in the palla.

All these are of bronze.

Statues of marble deposited here are the following, _viz._

At the entrance, a matron larger than nature, with strong expression in
her face.

Two colossal trunks in a sitting posture.

Three statues of one of the Agrippina’s.

A Roman matron, or empress, with remains of red painting on the
extremities of her palla.

Three other matrons.


_In the Third Room._

Bacchus. A muse. A fragment of a statue in the pallium. A fine statua
togata with the head veiled, larger than the life.

Another very remarkable figure, whose face resembles in beauty that
commonly attributed to Venus, tho’ the dress and other insignia plainly
indicate a Pallas: for her head is covered with an helmet, below which
her hair falls down long and dishevelled. Her left arm is enveloped
with her ægis, which is large and expanded, so as to form a kind of
mantle. Her garments are thin, and fit close to her body in strait
plaits. She is in a posture of running, or striding, with her feet at a
considerable distance from each other, and her arms extended different
ways; an attitude strongly marking the utmost eagerness and haste.

Next appears a Vertumnus. A fine figure of a philosopher. Volumnia
and Veturius. A lady with a thin stola. A Venus. A boy of exquisite
workmanship. A small statua togata.

In another part is a Faun of bronze, reclined, with his right hand
lifted up, and his leg extended. This figure (as we were informed) was
found accompanied with seven others of the same metal, which now stand
in another chamber, _viz._ two young men in a running a posture; four
females somewhat resembling vestals in their habit, excepting that all
their heads were uncovered, and those of two of them were adorned with
_vittæ_, or filets. Lastly, a young man of a small size, cloathed, with
his arms somewhat extended.

There remains but one more figure to be taken notice of in this
collection, _viz._ that of Serapis, with Cerberus at his right hand.
Ancient writers[48] enable us to account for this appearance, by
informing us, that Serapis (besides his other characters of Æsculapius,
Sol, Osiris, and Jupiter) was accounted the same as Dis Pater, or
Pluto. Upon this hypothesis none can doubt of the propriety of
Cerberus’s attending upon this deity in the figure before us, as well
as in three others given us by Montfaucon[49].

If we desire to enter into the mystical reason of this representation,
we may learn it from Porphyry, _viz._ that Serapis[50], being the same
as Pluto, had dominion over the evil dæmons; and that those beings were
figured by a dog with three heads; meaning the dæmon subsisting in the
three elements of water, earth, and air.

Give me leave to add further, that I find, by my journal, that upon
viewing this figure, I took notice of a dissimilitude in the heads of
it: but as it did not then occur to me, that they were ever expressed
in any other form than the canine, I did not examine minutely into the
difference: but, upon recollection, I am now inclined to think, that
that monster might have the heads of three several animals in this
piece, as he has in another, given us by [51]Montfaucon: which mode of
exhibiting him was (according to that learned[52] antiquary) invented
by the Egyptians; a circumstance not to be wondered at in a people,
whose imagination teemed so plentifully with monstrous ideas of all
kinds, as theirs is known to have done.

To the same original we may refer the serpent twisting round Cerberus
in this monument; as we see two of the same species encircling his
heads and body in that mentioned above[53]. As I know no particular
relation, that the serpent bears to Serapis, considered as Pluto, I can
regard it here only as a sacred symbol in the theology of the ancient
Egyptians; and, as such, properly attributed to an attendant of one of
their chief divinities.

I shall trouble you but with one more observation upon this article,
_viz._ that (if I may trust my memory for a particular omitted in my
notes) this is the statue, which being the principal one found in
an ancient magnificent building discovered about seven years ago at
[54]Pozzuoli (in conjunction with other circumstances) occasioned it to
be called The Temple of Serapis. As this place seemed greatly to merit
the attention of the curious in antiquity, we procured a plan of it,
drawn by a native, who has free access to it and (if I thought it would
be acceptable to that learned Society, of which I have the honour to be
a member) the said plan should wait upon them, accompanied with some
observations upon it by,

                                 SIR,
                          Your most obedient,
                            humble Servant
                              John Nixon.

London. Feb. 24. 1757.

_P.S._ A long room is designed to be fitted up in the King’s palace at
Portici, for the reception of all the antiquities found at Herculaneum,
_&c._ This apartment will be lighted by thirteen windows on the side
towards the Cortile, and adorned with forty columns, partly of verde
antique, partly of alabaster with brownish veins, and other beautiful
marbles, found in divers parts of the King’s dominions. Between every
two of these columns will be placed a group, statue, or bust. The
compartments in the walls will contain the ancient paintings. The
other curiosities are to be deposited in cases made for that purpose;
and the pavement will consist intirely of the finest pieces of Mosaic
work, that have been found in Herculaneum, or any places within the
Neapolitan state.




XIV. _An Account of the Effects of a Storm of Thunder and Lightning,
in the Parishes of_ Looe _and_ Lanreath, _in the County of_ Cornwall,
_on the 27th Day of_ June, 1756. _Communicated to the Rev._ Jeremiah
Milles, _D.D. F.R.S. in two Letters, one from the Rev. Mr._ Dyer,
_Minister of_ Looe, _and the other from the Rev. Mr._ Milles, _Vicar
of_ Duloe, _in_ Cornwall.


[Read Feb. 24, 1757.]

ON Sunday the 27th of June last it grew on a sudden as dark as a winter
evening: soon after, the lightning began to flash, and the thunder to
roar. The claps were near, and extremely loud; and the lightning was
more like darting flames of fire, than flames of enkindled vapour.
Happily no damage was done to the town of Looe, which lies very low;
but at Bucklawren, a village situated on the top of a hill, about two
miles from hence, a farm-house was shattered in a most surprising
manner. The house fronts the south. The windows of the hall and
parlour, and of the chambers over them, which are in the front of
the house, are sashed. The dairy window is the only one on the west
side of the house. The chimnies are on the north side; and at the
south-west corner there is a row of old elms on a line with the front,
the nearest of which is ten feet distant from the house. The lightning
seems to have had a direction from the south-west to the north-east.
It first struck the bevilled roof of the south-west corner, near the
eaves of the house; made a large breach, and tore up the floor of the
garret, near the place where it entered, and descended by the west
wall, in oblique lines, into the chamber over the parlour; but not
having sufficient vent that way, it darted in a line from S.W. to N.E.
against the north wall of the garret, where meeting with resistance, it
broke down the floor near the north wall many feet wide, and carrying
the ceiling of the parlour-chamber before it, ran down by the wall of
that room in direct lines. Where it descended on the west and north
walls it made large and deep furrows in the plaister, and even tore
out the stones and mortar. A large splinter was struck off from the
bed-post contiguous to the north wall, and the bed was set on fire.
The chimney-piece was broken into many parts; the window-frame was
moved out of the wall, every pane of glass was broken, the under
sash was torn in pieces, and a large piece of the chimney-board was
thrown out of the window against an opposite garden wall, about 20
feet from the house. As the lightning shot thro’ the window, it found
a small cavity between the wall and the slating with which the wall
is covered, where it burst off the slates as far as it continued in
a direct line downward, and threw them at a great distance from the
house. Notwithstanding this dreadful havock, the force of the lightning
was not spent; the window gave it not a sufficient discharge. From
the chamber over the parlour, it descended by the north wall to the
room under it, which is wainscotted, tore off the cornice the whole
breadth of the room, and some mouldings from the wainscot; broke the
glasses and Delft ware in the beauffet; shivered the shelves of a
bottle-room; and, ripping off a small stock-lock from the door, burst
it open, and made its way chiefly thro’ the window, the frame of which
was moved from the wall, and the glass shattered to pieces. Near the
bottle-room there was a hole struck in the partition-wainscotting,
which divides the parlour from the hall, about eight inches long and
an inch broad: through this crevice the lightning entered the hall,
which serves at present for a kitchen, and meeting with some pewter in
its way, it flung it from the shelf about the room; threw down a large
iron bar, that stood in a corner and which seemed to have a trembling
and desultory motion; carried the tongs into the chimney, and threw a
tea-kettle, that stood there, into the middle of the floor; moved a
large brass pot out of its place, which was under a table; and then
darted thro’ the windows, carrying away a pane of glass intire out of
the upper sash to the distance of many feet. The mistress of the house
and her son were sitting at this window. They were the only persons
in the house, and providentially received no hurt. Some part of the
lightning found a way between the door and door-case of the hall. The
door is pannelled: and the lightning, in passing thro’, penetrated
into a close mortise, and split off a large splinter from the outside
of the door, close to the tenon. In its course it left a smoaky tinge
on the wall and timber, like that of fired gunpowder. A sulphureous
smell remained in the house many hours. Another (or probably a part
of the same) flash of lightning struck the dairy window, melted the
lead, and burnt the glass where it penetrated, and set the window-frame
on fire. From thence it darted in a line from S.W. to N.E. downward,
made a large hole in a plaistered partition near the floor into the
barn, shattered a large paving rag-stone in pieces, and tearing up the
ground, I suppose, sunk into the earth. The elms were affected with
the lightning, particularly that nearest the house, from the top of
which to the root appeared large furrows in the moss, which grew on the
bark, in some places in an irregular spiral, but for the most part in
a perpendicular line; and from the root of it the ground was torn up
in furrows, as if done with a plough-share, about six feet long, the
furrows gradually lessening according to their distance from the tree.
All this was done instantaneously. How amazingly swift, subtle, and
powerful is the force of lightning! I am,

                             Reverend Sir,
                      Your most obedient Servant,
                              James Dyer.


_A Letter from the Rev. Mr._ Milles _on the same Subject_.

ABOUT four of the clock on Sunday afternoon, the same day that the
lightning struck the farm-house at Bucklawren, it fell upon another
house called Pelyne, in the parish of Lanreath, about six miles
distant. The house fronts the east. The chimney, which is at the north
end, is cracked, and opened about two or three inches wide, from
the top to the roof, where it entered the slating thro’ a small hole
on the eastern side; forced its way thro’ the upper chamber, where
it melted an old copper skillet, a pair of sheepshears, and some odd
brass buckles and candlesticks that lay on the wall; consumed the laths
adjoining, and then made its way thro’ a small crevice in the upper
part of the window. Another and more severe part of the same lightning
descended the chimney; struck two women down who were sitting on each
side of it, without any further hurt; overturned a long table, that was
placed before the window in the ground room, upon two men, who were
sitting on the inside, with their backs towards the window. One of
these men was miserably burnt in his right arm. The lightning seems to
have struck him a little above the elbow, making a small orifice about
the bigness of a pea; the burn from thence to the shoulder is near an
inch deep. His right thigh was likewise burnt on the inside, and the
outside of his right leg, from a little below the knee, quite over the
ancle to his toes. Both knees were burnt across slightly, and his left
thigh. His shirt-sleeve, and the upper part of his waistcoat, were
reduced to tinder: the buckles in his shoes were melted in different
parts, and in different directions. He has not been able to use his
arm since; and is under the care of a surgeon, who has reduced the
wound to a hand’s breadth, which was in the beginning advancing fast
towards a mortification. The other man was but slightly wounded. The
lightning afterwards found its way thro’ the window in three different
places; melted the glass, leaving a smutty tinge, like that of fired
gunpowder. A boy, about ten years old, son to the under-tenant, was
also struck down, as he was standing at the door, but not hurt. The
father and his daughter felt no ill effects; but saw the lightning roll
on the floor, and thought the room was on fire.




XV. _An Account of the Peat-pit near_ Newbury _in_ Berkshire; _in an
Extract of a Letter from_ John Collet, _M.D. to the Right Reverend_
Richard _Lord Bishop of_ Ossory, _F.R.S._


[Read Feb. 24, 1757.]

                                              Newbury, Decemb. 2, 1756.

My Lord,

NOW I am mentioning the peat, I beg leave to assure your Lordship, that
tho’ some persons have asserted, that after the peat has been cut out,
it grows again after some years; yet this is not true of the peat found
here, none of the peat-pits, which were formerly dug out, and have
lately been opened again, affording the least reason to justify such an
opinion; but, on the contrary, the marks of the long spade (with which
they cut out the peat) are still plainly visible all along the sides
of the pits, quite down to the bottom; and are now as fresh as if made
but yesterday, tho’ cut above fifty years ago: which shews also, that
our peat is of too firm a texture to be pressed together, and to give
way, so as to fill again the empty pits: which perhaps may be the case
in some of the mosses, where the pits are found after some years to be
filled up again.

The town of Newbury lies north and south, in the shape of a Y, cross
a valley; which valley runs east and west, and is here about a mile
broad, the river Kennet running along the middle of it. The peat
is found in the middle of this valley, on each side of the river,
extending in all from between a quarter of a mile to about half a mile
in breadth and in length, along the valley, about nine miles westward,
and about seven eastward; and I believe much further tho’ not yet
discovered, and perhaps with some intermissions.

The ground it is found in is meadow land; and consists chiefly of a
whitish kind of earth: under this lies what they call _clob_, being
a peat-earth, compounded of clay, of a small quantity of earth, and
some true peat: it is from four to eighteen inches thick; and where
the earth above it is but thin, it is sometimes full of the roots of
plants, that grow on the surface of the ground: and if the meadow also
be moorish, the sedge and flags will shoot their roots quite thro’ it
into the true peat, which lies directly under this clob.

The top of the true peat is found at various depths, from one foot to
eight feet below the surface of the ground; and the depth or thickness
of this peat is also very different, from one foot to eight or nine
feet, the ground below it being very uneven, and generally a gravel. My
friend Mr. Osgood has dug two feet into this gravel, to see if any peat
lay below it, but could not find any.

The truest and best peat has very little (if any) earth in it; but is a
composition of wood, branches, twigs, leaves, and roots of trees, with
grass, straw, plants, and weeds; and lying continually in water makes
it soft and easy to be cut thro’ with a sharp peat-spade. The colour is
of a blackish brown; and if it be chewed between the teeth it is soft,
and has no gritty matter in it, which the clob has. It is indeed of a
different consistence in different places, some being softer, and some
firmer and harder; which may perhaps arise from the different sorts of
trees it is composed of.

To get at the peat, they first dig up the surface of the ground till
they come to the clob, throwing the earth into the empty pits, from
which they have already cut out the peat: they then dig up the clob,
and either sell it to the poor for firing, or lay it in heaps, to
burn to ashes, to be sold to the farmers. Then they cut out the true
peat, with a peculiar kind of spade, in long pieces, vulgarly called
long squares, about three inches and a half broad every way, and four
feet long, if the thickness of the peat will allow that length: and
as they cut it out in long pieces, they lay them in a regular order
carefully, in rows upon the ground, to be dried by the sun and wind.
If the peat be thick, when they have cut one length of the spade for
some distance, they return again, and cut down another length of it (or
four feet), and so on, till they reach the gravelly bottom, if they can
sufficiently drain it of the water, which continually comes in, tho’
proper persons are employed to pump out as much of the water as they
can all the time. As the peat dries, and is turned by persons appointed
for that purpose, to dry it the better, it breaks into smaller lengths,
and then it serves not only the poor; but many other persons, for
firing, and gives a good heat. It is sold for about ten shillings a
waggon-load, delivered at their houses in the town. The ashes also
prove very good manure for both grass and arable land; and the farmers
give from four pence to six pence a bushel for them, which renders this
firing very cheap.

Great numbers of trees are plainly visible in the true peat, lying
irregularly one upon another; and sometimes even cart-loads of them
have been taken out, and dried for firing: but the nearer these trees
lie to the surface of the ground, the less sound is the wood: and
sometimes the small twigs, which lie at the bottom, are so firm, as
not to be easily cut thro’ with the usual peat-spade. These trees are
generally oaks, alders, willows, and firs, besides some others not
easily to be known. The small roots are generally perished; but yet
have sufficient signs to shew, that the trees were torn up by the
roots, and were not cut down, there being no sign of the ax or saw;
which, had they been felled, would have been plainly visible.

No acorns are found in the peat, tho’ many cones of the fir-tree are,
and also a great number of nut-shells. They are all of a darkish
colour; and the nuts are hollow within, and some of them have a hole at
the broad end.

A great many horns, heads, and bones of several kinds of deer, the
horns of the antelope, the heads and tusks of boars, the heads of
beavers, _&c._ are also found in it: and I have been told, that some
human bones have been found; but I never saw any of these myself, tho’
I have of all the others.

But I am assured, that all these things are generally found at the
bottom of the peat, or very near it. And indeed, it is always very
proper to be well and faithfully informed of the exact depth and place,
where any thing of these kinds is found; whether it is in the earth
above the peat, or in the clob; or in the true peat, or at the bottom
of it; which will greatly assist us in forming a just judgment of the
real antiquity of the things that are found, or at least of the time
they have lain there. Besides this, as they formerly used to cut out
the peat in large plots here and there, leaving spaces full of peat
between those pits (whereas now they draw off the greatest part of the
water by pumps, and so clear out all the peat regularly as they go on);
so it must be carefully observed, whether whatsoever is found here be
dug out of these old peat-pits, or not; for axes, and other things, may
have been formerly dropt into these pits, before they were filled up
again with earth, and may now be dug out of them again. My father has
now in his possession an iron hatchet, not greatly differing from the
modern form, which was found lying flat at the very bottom of the peat:
it was covered with a rust near half an inch thick, and the handle was
to it, which seemed to be of beech-wood, but was so soft, that it broke
in bringing it up: but as the person is dead, who found it, I can’t say
whether it lay in an old peat-pit, or no.

Mr. Osgood found, some years ago, an urn, of a light brown colour, and
large enough to hold above a gallon, in the true peat about eight or
ten feet from the river, near a mile and a half west of this town, in
Speen-moor. It lay about four feet below the level of the ground, and
about one foot within the peat; and over it was raised an artificial
hill, about eight feet higher than the neighbouring ground; and as
the whole hill consisted of both peat and meadow-ground intermixed
together, it plainly appeared, that the peat was older than the urn;
and that the persons, who raised the hill, must first have dug a large
hole in the peat, to bury the urn there, and so formed the hill of
the peat and meadow-ground mixed together. Round the hill, where the
urn lay, they had made also many half-circular ridges, with trenches
between them, one beyond another, in this manner:

[Illustration]

Where _a_ is the river, and _c_ the hill; and the half circles shew
some of the ridges, the number of which Mr. Osgood has now forgot. The
urn was broke by the peat-spade, and it came up only in small pieces,
so that nothing was found in it; and no body happened to be there at
that time but the peat-cutters.

No coins of any sort have been found in the peat. But there may,
perhaps, be a variety of things at the bottom of it: but as the peat is
always full of water, which is never quite drained off, so it is not an
easy matter to examine the bottom.

I beg leave to assure you, my Lord, that I am, with great respect and
esteem,

                     Your Lordship’s most obliged,
                     and obedient humble Servant,
                             John Collet.




XVI. _An Account of the Alterations making in the_ Pantheon _at_
Rome: _In an Extract of a Letter from_ Rome _to_ Thomas Hollis, _Esq;
Communicated by_ John Ward, _LL.D. R.S. Vice-Præs._


[Read Mar. 3, 1757.]

A Project was lately laid before the government by Paolo Posi,
an architect, for modernizing the inside of the Pantheon, and
unfortunately approved. In consequence of which, the dome has been
already cleaned, and rough cast; and the remainder of the lead taken
away, which served as a lining to the silver work, that originally
covered it. The vestiges of the cornices, and other ornaments of the
silver work, were still discernible in the lead, which was fastened by
very large iron nails. All this was effected by a moveable scaffold,
that was fixed to the bronze cornice of the open circle above, whereby
the temple is illuminated, and descended to the cornice of the Attic
order, being as curious in the contrivance, as detestable for the
purposes intended by it. It is true, we could not before see the
dome in its pristine glory; but we had the satisfaction of viewing
the traces and remains of what it had been. Nor could the adepts
in architecture sufficiently admire the skill and sagacity of the
builder, who, composing it of a number of small arches, which together
formed a kind of net-work, and filling up the intervals between with
pumice-stones and mortar, gave it that strength and lightness, whereby
it has probably stood so many ages.

The evil would be comparatively small, had the project extended no
farther, than what has been related; but they are now busy in removing
the Attic order, to make room for a new invention, suitable to the
trifling taste, which at this day prevails. And not content with that,
they think of taking away the ancient pavement; and, what is still
worse, its peculiar beauty, the open circle at the top, to place a
lanthorn instead of it, as is usual in modern cupola’s.

You had the good fortune, Sir, to view this remarkable temple, in that
state, wherein it was left by the ancient barbarians: but those, who
see it hereafter, will find it in a much more deplorable condition,
stripped of its precious marbles and ornaments; and so disguised by
modern alterations, that the noble form given it by Agrippa will be no
longer distinguishable.

It is said Il Signor J.B. Piranesi, the architect, who published the
antiquities of Rome, and divers ingenious works of that kind, has
taken accurate plans of the Attic order, and every other particular
relating to it. These he proposes to engrave and publish, with exact
explanations annexed to them; together with a plan of the whole, as
he believes it appeared in its original splendor and perfection; that
posterity may not be deprived of informations, which are of so great
benefit and importance to all lovers of architecture. It is also said,
that the engineer [carpenter], who invented the scaffolding, has made
an exact model of it for him; which he intends to publish as a part of
the work before-mentioned.




XVII. _An Account of a new medicinal Well, lately discovered near_
Moffat, _in_ Annandale, _in the County of_ Dumfries. _By Mr._ John
Walker, _of_ Borgue-House, _near_ Kirkudbright, _in_ Scotland.


[Read Feb. 10, & Mar. 3, 1757.]

THIS mineral spring was found out by one Mr Williamson, a few years
ago, when he was overseeing a mine, which was at that time carrying
on in its neighbourhood. It is situate about four miles distant from
Moffat, in the bottom of a deep scar, which is on the west side of a
large mountain called Hartfell, from which it has acquired the name of
Hartfell-spaw. This scar is a part of the mountain, thro’ which a small
stream of water has worn its way to a considerable depth; by which it
has laid open, and exposed to view, the strata of the earth on each
side: and in the bottom of this scar, and near to the brink of this
small brook, the mineral water springs up.

When I saw it, it consisted of two springs, which were very well
ordered by Mr. Williamson, so as to run from two wooden spouts,
immediately at their rise out of the earth; which indeed must be of
very great advantage to all mineral waters; and I am persuaded there
are many, whose medical qualities are greatly impaired by falling into
reservoirs, and continuing in them for some time after they spring
from the earth. The one of these springs was situate about ten or
twelve yards farther up the brook than the other; and they were then
distinguished by the names of the upper and lower spring: but I have
been since informed, that their situation is now altered. Each of these
springs did at that time run nearly the same quantity of water, which,
as I thought, was above an English quart in a minute, and that during a
season of very dry weather.

As there are many instances of mineral waters springing out of the
earth very near each other, which at the same time are impregnated with
very different principles; it therefore seemed not at all improbable,
that as these waters did appear to run, for some part of their course,
in different channels, they might in some respects be different from
each other. And this suspicion I found not to be altogether groundless
with regard to these springs, as will be shewn afterwards. For which
reason it may be observed, that the following trials were all made upon
the water of the upper fountain, except where the other is particularly
mentioned; and also that they were made within 24 hours after the water
was taken from the spring, being carried to Moffat in bottles carefully
sealed.

According to what may be inferred from the following experiments, it
may be premised, that this water appears to contain in it a large
proportion of iron, but in two different forms; and an aluminous salt,
which is conjoined with a terrestrial principle.

As the contents of several mineral waters have been the cause of
many different opinions, and of great disputes among physicians and
chymists; as the inquiry I made into the principles of these waters,
which I am now considering, was not performed with that nicety and
exactness I could have wished; and as I am persuaded, that to dogmatize
in any branch of philosophy can never tend to its advancement; I shall
not therefore pretend to determine with certainty in any part of this
subject, where the contrary opinion can be admitted with the least
degree of probability. These trials are indeed but few and imperfect,
and are no-way sufficient to form an exact account of this mineral
water; yet I believe they may afford some conclusions, which may be
serviceable in compiling a more compleat history of it. They render
it pretty evident, that the above-mentioned principles are contained
in these waters: and tho’ I will not pretend absolutely to exclude
all others, yet I must say, that, by what inquiry I made, I could not
observe them to be in the least impregnated with any other kind of
mineral substance.

After a good deal of observation upon the water of this Spaw; and
after many fruitless attempts, which I have at different times made
upon several other waters of the chalybeat kind in Scotland, in quest
of the volatile spirit, which has been commonly attributed to them; I
must own, that I have been induced to think, that there is no such
thing exists in these waters at all. What has been generally called
the spirit of steel waters, seems to me to be very unintelligible;
altho’ the existence of it in these waters has been asserted by all
the writers on this subject, which I have yet had occasion to see. The
spirit of a mixed body is commonly taken to be a subtile, penetrating,
light, and volatile substance, more susceptible of motion than any
other of its parts, and most easily separable from them by avolation.
But that any chalybeat water contains such a substance, I think has
never been made evident, unless where the water has been found to be
impregnated with some other mineral principles. Some steel waters,
I believe, contain a large proportion of air, whose elasticity may
occasion it to break forth with an explosive force; some others there
are, which contain a volatile and sulphureous halitus; and to one or
other of these two causes, or to some other mineral principle, I think
most of the phænomena may be referred, which have been attributed to a
ferrugineous or vitriolic volatile spirit.

As the first thing observable in a mineral water is its outward form,
we must therefore take notice, that the water of this Spaw equals the
clearest spring-water in transparency; and is likewise as free of any
colour or odour: yet its taste is very strong, and may be discerned to
be compounded of a sweet, subacid, and astringent taste. Its sweetness
and acidity appear sensibly to arise from alum; and its high styptic
and astringent taste does as evidently proceed from that mineral salt,
joined with some earthy or ferrugineous parts. I must likewise observe,
that when I first compared the taste of these two springs, I could
plainly discern, that the water of the lower spring was more acid, and
less astringent, than that of the upper one; and, on the contrary, the
water of the upper spring seemed more astringent, and less acid. This
induced me to think, that the mineral parts, which caused the acid and
astringent tastes, were mixed in the waters of these two springs in
different proportions. And what I observed of them afterwards still
confirmed this conjecture.

But, in order to give some evidence for the existence of the
above-mentioned minerals in the waters of these springs, we shall
consider them separately, by relating the experiments, which seemed
to indicate, that they are contained in these waters in a very
considerable proportion, and by offering some conclusions, which may be
reasonably drawn from them.

And as the first trials were made in quest of iron, it may perhaps be
most proper to consider it in the first place.


_Experiment_ 1. Some pieces of galls being added to equal quantities of
the water of the two springs, an exceeding deep and bright blue colour
was immediately produced in the water of the upper spring, which in a
little time turned to a perfect black. The water of the lower spring,
tho’ indeed it was turned of the same colour, yet was not of so deep a
shade, but was somewhat lighter than the former. The tincture of galls
caused the same appearances.

2. A tincture of balaustine-flowers produced the above blue colours in
both waters.

3. A quantity of the water being thoroughly tinged with galls, was
allowed to stand 24 hours: being then filtrated thro’ brown paper,
the water, tho’ almost quite colourless, would not again receive any
tincture with galls.

4. After elixation the water became of a turbid yellow colour with
ochre, and afforded very little tincture with galls.

5. A solution of sal Martis, chemically prepared, being mixed with
galls, immediately turned of a bright dark blue colour, exactly similar
to that produced in the water.

6. A solution of common and rock alum was no-ways changed in its colour
with galls.

7. A solution of sal Martis and alum being mixed in equal quantities,
the mixture was turned of a bright blue colour with galls; yet not of
so deep a hue, but of a more diluted colour than the solution of sal
Martis, without alum.


From these experiments we must first of all observe, that the colour,
which these waters afford with galls and pomegranate-flowers, is
very uncommon. The more iron, that any mineral water contains, it
will afford the deeper colour with such astringents: but tho’ I have
tried this experiment upon a great many of the ferrugineous waters in
Scotland, and also upon the waters of some of the foreign Spaws, I
never observed one, that afforded so deep a colour as this, which we
now consider. Some of the weakest of them gives only a red or faint
purple tincture, and the strongest only a deep purple: but I never
saw or heard of any chalybeat water, but this, either in Scotland or
elsewhere, that afforded an intense black and inky colour with galls.
From which, I think we may venture to conclude, that the water of this
Spaw contains a far larger proportion of iron than most, or perhaps
than any, other chalybeat water hitherto discovered: and for this
reason, I dare say, it will likewise be so much the more preferable to
most others in medicinal virtues; which has indeed already appeared by
many surprising cures it has performed, and which, I am persuaded, will
more fully appear, when its medicinal effects shall be better known.

There must needs be a very great quantity of iron in this water, when
it yields as deep a colour with galls as a strong solution of sal
Martis. I was indeed at first apprehensive, that this perhaps might not
be owing so much to a large and uncommon proportion of chalybeat parts,
as to the commixture of alum, which I judged to be in the water. But we
see the contrary appears by these trials: for alum of itself affords no
tincture with astringents, and, instead of rendering a solution of sal
Martis with galls of a more intense colour, rather makes it lighter and
more diluted.

We see here, that the ferrugineous matter is intirely separated from
the water by an infusion of galls. The like also happens by elixation;
after which it is almost deprived of its tinging quality. Yet other
chalybeat waters lose this quality by much less degree of heat.


As there is an ochrous earth separated from all steel waters, when
exposed to the air, which subsides to the bottom, and a metalline scum
or cremor, which swim on their surface; we shall next consider the
appearances, which they make in this water.


_Exp._ 8. A solution of saccharum Saturni being dropt into common
spring-water, left the upper parts of the water clear and colourless,
but formed a lactescency towards the bottom. The same solution being
added to the mineral water, soon turned it of a turbid yellow colour,
which afterwards subsided, and formed a deep yellow cloud in the
bottom of the glass; and below this yellow sediment there adhered to
the bottom of the glass a whitish substance, which I took to be the
metalline parts of the saccharum Saturni separated from the purer parts
of the salt, which were still suspended in the water, and which made it
of a muddy whitish colour.

9. Forty drops of oleum tartari per deliquium being added to an ounce
of the water, made it of an uniform light yellow colour; but in an
hour afterwards there were many small yellow terrene _nubeculæ_ formed
in it. These the next day were more conspicuous, being thoroughly
separated from the water, and precipitated to the bottom, leaving the
water quite clear, as it was before the mixture. A small quantity of
this limpid water being taken, it would afford no tincture with galls.
It was then all poured off, except so much in the bottom of the glass
as contained the above-mentioned clouds: to this there were some galls
added, which in half an hour turned these clouds from a light yellow to
a deep red colour, but did not change the colour of the water, in which
they swam.

10. Immediately after the affusion of ol. tart. p.d. to the water,
galls were added to the mixture, which tinged it of a deep and bright
red colour. After standing for some time, there were red clouds
precipitated to the bottom, and the water continued of a dusky opake
red colour.

11. There is a small brook, formerly mentioned, which runs near
by these springs; into which the water, that flows from them, is
discharged. I observed the stones and channel of this brook all tinged
with ochre of a deep yellow colour, so far up as the water of these
springs flowed into it; but the channel, which the mineral water ran
over before it was mixed with the water of the brook, was very little
or nothing discoloured with ochre. As I conjectured what this was owing
to, I afterwards took two equal quantities of the mineral water, into
one of which I put an equal quantity of common water. In two hours
the mixture became less transparent, and appeared yellowish, while
the simple mineral water retained its clearness. Next day there was
much ochre separated from the mixture, which subsided to the bottom
of the glass: but the unmixed mineral water remained still clear and
colourless, as at first.


All chalybeat waters separate their ochrous parts, when exposed some
time to the air; but this separation is made sooner by the commixture
of several kinds of salts. Thus we see the ochre in this water is
immediately separated and precipitated by the solution of saccharum
Saturni.

The oil of tartar causes a precipitation of these ferrugineous
parts in the same manner. Which parts must be the sole cause, that
the water receives a tincture from galls; since, after they are
precipitate, it loses that quality, which they notwithstanding retain
even after they are separated from the water. This precipitation of
the ochrous parts of the water were the only visible effects that I
could perceive to follow from the affusion of the ol. tart. p.d. I
remember indeed, when I was at Moffat, I saw the manuscript of Dr.
Horsburgh’s experiments upon this mineral water; which appeared to be
very accurate; and which I understand are since printed, in a volume
lately published by the Philosophical Society at Edinburgh. Amongst
these I observed one, which I thought so very remarkable, that I
particularly adverted to it. It was the effects of the affusion of
ol. tart. p.d. to the water, producing in it clouds, or a coagulation
of a green or grass-green colour. I think these were the words; and I
own I was something surprised at them. A solution of vitriolum Martis,
mixed with this alkaline oil, does indeed produce a green coagulum:
but I could scarcely think, that this, or any other chalybeat water,
contained so large a proportion of that vitriol, as to be sufficient
to produce these effects, when I considered, that so many writers,
which I had seen, upon this subject, have all failed in their attempts
of extracting a conspicuous martial vitriol from such mineral waters.
I had tried this experiment upon four or five chalybeat springs in
Scotland, and likewise upon the Spa and Pyrmont waters, which had
been well preserved; but there never resulted any such effects from
the mixture of these with oil of tartar, as are related in the above
experiment. All the alteration it produced in these waters was the
precipitation of an ochrous earth, but without the least appearance
of any green colour. As I looked upon this as a leading experiment
in the history of vitriolic waters; as I had often tried it, and
as often seen the green coagulum produced with the solution of the
factitious vitriol, and never could observe it produced in any of
the above water; I began to suspect, that these waters were either
not possessed of a vitriolic salt at all, or else, that it was in
some respects very different from the factitious vitriol. For these
reasons, Dr. Horsburgh’s experiment appeared very extraordinary;
tho’ at the same time I was greatly pleased, that I should have the
opportunity of repeating it, and of observing those phænomena in this
ferrugineous water, which I had sought for in vain in several others.
But when I came to make the trial, I was yet more surprised, when I
found it misgive, and that the ol. tart. p.d. produced no green colour
or coagulum in this mineral water, nor caused any other alteration
in it, than the separation of a large quantity of ochrous earth of a
yellow colour, exactly the same with what I had observed in the other
steel waters. This failure made me immediately conclude, that I had
somehow or other committed an error in the experiment: and tho’ I was
pretty sure, that the mineral water, which I had used in it, was quite
fresh, yet I could not be so positive as to the oil of tartar, which
I suspected to have been long kept. Yet that this could have been the
cause of my being so unsuccessful, I could scarcely believe, tho’
indeed I could assign no other. I was sorry, that I had not afterwards
an opportunity of repeating this experiment with more accuracy, from
which I might have expected to reap more success, as it is perhaps
one of the most consequence, that can be performed on this mineral
water, as it is capable of demonstrating the existence of a substantial
vitriolum Martis in it; which is more than has been hitherto done, or
perhaps ever will be done, concerning any one of the vast number of
chalybeat waters, which have been yet discovered.

When galls are added to the water, at the same time with oil of tartar,
instead of its deep blue colour, it affords only a red tincture.

It appears from the 11th experiment, that an addition of common
water causes the mineral water to precipitate its ochre; and the
reason of this is obvious: for if these ochrous parts be altogether
terrene, as they appear to be, and exist in the water unconnected with
any other principle, then it must happen, that as these parts are
uniformly diffused thro’ the water, in which they are suspended as in
a menstruum; by the addition of common water, this menstruum being
diluted, the cohesion of these terrene parts must be thereby weakened,
and their contact destroyed; so that their menstrual equilibrium being
thus taken off, they can be no longer supported in the fluid, but must
be precipitated by the force of their own gravity.


_Exp._ 12. When the water was exposed for some days to the air, there
was a cremor separated from it of a shining chalybeat colour. This,
like other kinds of cremor, takes a considerable time to compleat its
intire separation from the fluid, out of which it is expelled: for when
it was despumated, a new cremor always succeeded, until the whole
quantity, which the water contained, was exhausted.

13. When this cremor first appeared on the water, it was of a faint
blueish colour; but as it increased, it changed into a deeper and more
bright shining blue: and, after longer standing, it became blotched
with various colours, as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and
violet.

14. A quantity of the water being put in a gentle heat, this cremor was
quickly separated from it, and appeared on the surface of the water. A
like quantity of the water, with its cremor already upon its surface,
was put over a gentle heat, which by degrees broke the cremor into very
small parts; but whether they did evaporate, or precipitate in the
water, I could not be certain. But, by other trials, this cremor was
found to have a great degree of fixity, bearing a considerable heat
without avolation; yet not without the appearance of some of its parts
flying off, altho’ most of them were fixed; because what remained lost
its fine colours, and was changed into a shining chalybeat colour.

15. The water of the lower spring afforded a much less quantity of the
cremor, than the water of the upper spring. It took also a longer time
to separate, was of a blueish colour, and had not the vivid colours,
which the water of the upper spring shewed.

16. When ol. tart. p.d. and spirit of sal ammoniac were added to the
water, it did not separate its cremor.


This cremor, which is separated from the water, is the same with that,
which appears on the surface of a solution of vitriolum Martis, when
exposed for some time to the air; and an infusion of iron in common
water also emits a cremor of the same kind. I remember, as I was once
carefully observing a large glass full of chalybeat water, which
contained much of this cremor; soon after it was exposed to the air,
I observed a tenuious blueish vapour rising in the parts of the water
next the surface, which very much diminished its transparency; and by
degrees this vapour was emitted by the lowest parts of the water: but
as the cremor increased on its surface, the water became gradually
deprived of the blueish tincture, which it received from this halituous
body; which was apparently nothing else but the parts of the cremor
separating from the water, and ascending upwards. From whence we may
conclude, that this cremor consists of the very finest part of iron
attenuated to the highest degree.

It has been the opinion of most naturalists, that these kind of mineral
waters do abound in sulphureous parts. This they have conjectured from
the foetor, that often attends them. But in what quantity or form
these parts exist in the fluid, or by what means they can be rendered
conspicuous, has not as yet been sufficiently determined. Yet, I think,
we may suspect some of the parts of this cremor to be sulphureous. They
are volatile, and, being heated, do fly off from the pure metalline
parts, which being more fixed, are thereby left destitute of those
vivid colours, which they enjoyed from the sulphureous parts. These are
evident marks of sulphur, and are altogether analogous to some other
appearances of that mineral. Another observation tending to support
this is the want of those vivid colours in the cremor, which appears
on an infusion of iron; the reason of which seems to be the loss of the
sulphureous parts of the chalybeat minerals by avolation, during the
operations of the fire, which they undergo in refining.

It appears from the fifteenth experiment, that the water of these two
springs contains a very different proportion of this cremor: and from
the last, that it is precipitated along with the ochrous parts, which
happens upon the affusion of these alkaline liquors.


The next trials were in quest of alum.


_Exp._ 17. A quantity of the water being kept for some time in a
boiling heat, and after it was cool being filtred quite clear from its
ochrous matter, it still retained a subacid and aluminous taste in a
very strong degree.

18. To an ounce of common spring-water there was added two gutts of
fresh sweet milk. This mixture being shaken, the milk mixed intimately
with the water, without any kind of coagulation.

19. The same experiment being made with the mineral water, the milk,
upon its affusion, was so curdled, or separated into clouds, that the
greatest shaking could not mix or incorporate it with the water.

20. This experiment being also made with a weak solution of alum in
spring-water, its effects upon the milk were not in the least different
from those of the mineral water.

21. And the same trial being again repeated with the water, when
boiled and filtred from its ochrous parts, the milk was in the same
manner coagulated as before elixation.

22. One part of sweet milk being added to four parts of the mineral
water, the milk subsided, and formed a cloud in the bottom of the
glass, leaving the upper parts of the water clear. This mixture being
heartily shaken, the milk mixed so well with the water, that it
appeared to be but a very little curdled.

23. When a larger quantity of milk was added to a smaller quantity of
water, and even when equal parts of the milk and mineral water were
mixed and shaken together, there could be no curdling or coagulation
observed.

24. An equal quantity of the water and milk being boiled together, the
greatest part of the milk was coagulated into a thick white curd; and
the remainder, with the mineral water, turned of a pure white milky
colour, which drank like whey, and was very agreeable.

25. Eight gutts of sweet milk being added to four ounces of the water,
and the mixture boiled, part of the milk was thereby curdled, and swam
upon the top of the water. The ochrous parts of the water were likewise
separated, and falling to the bottom, their colour did not appear of a
clear yellow, as usual, but was something milky.


All these experiments strongly indicate the existence of alum in this
water. It retains its aluminous taste, and coagulates milk, after the
chalybeat parts are almost all expelled by elixation. The coagulation
of the milk demonstrates an acidity in the water, and the other
appearances shew that acidity to be owing to an aluminous salt.

It appears, that the milk requires a large quantity of the water, to
make a sensible coagulation in it: for, in the 22d experiment, one
part of the milk being added to four parts of the mineral water, the
coagulation was scarcely discernible: and in the 23d, when an equal or
larger quantity of milk was added to the water, the coagulation was
not at all observable. I have heard it confidently averred, that this
mineral water did not at all curdle milk; which, I suppose, has been
thro’ a mistake in the experiment, in adding too large a proportion of
milk to the water: for in this way the coagulation cannot be observed.

I imagined, that when the water was boiled with milk, the mixture would
have become of a muddy yellow colour, by the separation of the ochre:
but it did not even appear, that the ochre was at all separated from
the mixture, as it is from the water when boiled by itself. On the
contrary, not only the coagulum, but also the liquor, was of a pure
white colour, and of a pleasant taste: and this makes me think it worth
the inquiring into, whether or not the water does retain its medical
qualities after it is prepared in this manner with milk? For, if it
does, such a preparation might certainly be very serviceable in many
cases.


These experiments, which we next relate, do not only ascertain the
existence of alum in the water with greater certainty, but also, that
there is a particular kind of earth conjoined with this salt.


_Exp._ 26. An English quart of the water being kept boiling for
a quarter of an hour, it turned thick, muddy, and yellow, by the
separation of its ochrous parts; and, being set to cool in a clean
bowl, the next day all the ochre was subsided to the bottom, from which
the water was carefully filtred: whereby it became almost as clear and
limpid as before the elixation, retaining a sharp aluminous taste, but
was deprived of the strong ferrugineous taste, which it had at first.
This water was again boiled; by which means it was again turned a
little yellow, by the separation of some more ochre. It was therefore
again filtred, and rendered clear, and its aluminous taste was stronger
than before. After this filtration, the water was evaporated in a
sand-heat to about a sixteenth part of the original quantity, and then
it tasted like a strong solution of alum joined with a small degree of
a chalybeat taste. And this being totally evaporated in a glass, there
adhered upon its sides a pure white salt; and a larger quantity of the
same salt remained in the bottom of the glass, which was not so white,
but more impure than the former, and of a brown colour.

27. This salt, thus procured from the water, being mixed with distilled
vinegar and spirit of vitriol, there was not the least effervescence
produced.

28. Some of the brown-coloured salt being put upon a red-hot iron, it
did neither sparkle nor decrepitate; but was turned into a blackish
cineritious substance, which in a short time became a white calx. And
tho’ some of the salt was put upon the iron finely powdered, yet it
concreted, and run together in a cinder, whose cohesion was afterwards
destroyed when calcined by a further degree of heat.

29. As I was accidentally deprived of the opportunity of obtaining
crystals of this salt, which would have been the best means of knowing
to what species it was to be referred; I dissolved the whole mass in
a small quantity of spring-water, and, by filtrating this solution, I
obtained a large proportion of fine earth of a brown colour.

30. This solution of the salt afforded a deep blue tincture with galls.

31. The same solution, being mixed with syrup of violets, became of a
reddish colour.

32. Saccharum Saturni being added to the solution, precipitated a thick
lactescent cloud.

33. Ol. tart. p.d. being also added to this solution, it caused no
visible effervescence, yet raised some bubbles of air, and caused a
coagulation of many small brown terrene nubeculæ in the water; which,
after standing some time, subsided to the bottom, and left the water
clear.


These experiments do plainly evince, that this water contains an
aluminous salt, conjoined with a fine terrene substance, which is
probably a part of the matrix, from whence the salt has been formed.

This salt gives no signs of any alkaline principle; but, on the
contrary, of an acidity, as its solution reddens with syrup of violets.

With this salt there are also intimately conjoined some very subtile
chalybeat parts, which are not separable from it by elixation or
evaporation.

Alum is distinguishable from all other mineral salts, by liquifying
and bubbling upon a red-hot iron, and turning into a white calx. But
this could not be well expected from this aluminous salt, which we
had extracted from the water, because it was extremely foul, by being
combined with so large a proportion of earth; which earthy parts were
the occasion of turning the salt of a blackish colour upon the iron.
However, we see it turns white by a further degree of heat. But if the
salt had been dissolved, filtrated, and crystallized, till it had been
purified and freed from this terrene matter, it would then certainly
have had the same appearance upon the red-hot iron, as a pure aluminous
salt. Again, as it is peculiar to an aluminous salt to liquify in some
degree with fire, so we see, that this was evidently the case of this
salt. Its eliquation indeed could not be so remarkable, as in pure
alum, because of its being mixed with so much earth; but that it did
liquify in some degree is plain, because the whole mass of salt and
earth, even when reduced to a powder, ran all together like a cinder.

The experiment upon the solution of this salt with ol. tart. p.d.
is also a further proof of what we have already asserted: for tho’
there was no visible effervescence, yet the bubbles of air shew, that
there was an intestine conflict of the oil with the acid principle
in the solution; which being absorbed by the alkali, the earth was
precipitated, to which it formerly adhered.


The two next experiments were made in order to discover, whether an
acid or alkaline principle prevailed in the water.


_Exp._ 34. Forty gutts of the syrup of violets being added to an ounce
of the water, the mixture became of a bright sea-green colour.

35. A quantity of water being kept boiling for five minutes, and
afterwards allowed to stand till it became clear, was carefully
filtrated from its ochrous sediment: after which, upon its mixture with
syrup of violets, it turned of a faint reddish colour.


From these experiments we infer, that this mineral water contains
both an alkaline and an acid principle; the former consisting of the
ochrous and ferrugineous parts, which are separated from the water by
elixation; and the latter of the aluminous salt, which remains in the
water after elixation.


The following trials were made in order to know what effects are
produced in the water by being exposed to the air; and in what respects
the waters of the two springs differed from each other.


_Exp._ 37. An English quart of the water of each of the springs being
fully exposed to the air in two China bowls, the next day that of the
under spring was neither altered in its taste, colour, or transparency,
nor in any other shape whatever; but that of the upper spring appeared
of a yellowish colour, altho’ it was clear and transparent as the other.

On the second day the taste of the waters scarcely appeared to be any
way diminished. No sensible change could be observed in the lower
water; but the upper water was become more yellow than it was the day
before, yet without any loss of its transparency. They both tinged of a
deep blue colour with galls; which tinctures appeared equally deep and
strong, as they did before the waters were exposed to the air.

The third day the lower water appeared clear and colourless as before,
only its surface was covered with a few small spots of cremor. The
upper water appeared more yellowish than formerly, and its surface
was almost wholly covered over with the cremor. They both afforded a
tincture with galls, which was not sensibly different from what they
gave before their exposure.

On the fourteenth day the water of the under well had precipitated
a yellow ochrous sediment, but the other water a more considerable
quantity. A large quantity of cremor continued also to swim upon the
surface of the upper water, but there was very little separated from
the water of the under well. Both waters being now tried with galls,
instead of the deep blue colour, which they did formerly exhibit, they
now became only of a deep purple colour.

On the twentieth day the visible appearance of both waters was the same
as when last observed.

On the thirty-eighth day they both afforded as deep a purple colour
with galls, as they did three weeks before; and during that time also
they had not precipitated any more of their ochrous parts, nor suffered
any other sensible alteration.

The water of the upper well being filtrated from all the ferrugineous
matter, which it had separated during these thirty-eight days, was
rendered almost as limpid and clear as when newly taken from the
well: but, being boiled for some time, it became of a turbid yellow
colour; and being allowed to stand, it again precipitated abundance
of an ochrous sediment; and being filtrated, and mixed with galls, it
received a faint purple colour of a blueish hue.

38. A bottle of the water of each of these springs, being carefully
sealed, carried to Moffat, and kept for two months, suffered not the
least alteration during that time, but was as fresh as when immediately
taken from the fountain. And I am informed, that after it is carried
to Edinburgh, and to places at a greater distance, it will keep a much
longer time without being any way spoiled.


I believe it will appear from these observations, that this mineral
water continues longer intire, and particularly that it retains the
quality of tinging with galls longer, than most others of the chalybeat
kind: at least, of a great number, which I have seen described, I do
not remember one, that retains it near so long, when exposed to the
open air. Many of them lose this quality intirely in a few hours; and
it is greatly impaired in the same time, even in those which retain
it longest. But this water, we see, remains exposed to the open air
for days, without almost any alteration. This may perhaps be owing
either to the larger proportion of ferrugineous parts, with which it is
impregnated; to their being attenuated to a greater degree; or to their
more perfect commixture with the water, by means of the aluminous salt.
The longer time, that any mineral water does remain intire, without
any separation of its mineral parts; or the longer it retains the same
form, which it has when newly taken from the spring; the more perfect
is the commixture of these parts with their fluid vehicle: and I
believe, upon that account, will be more effectual for medicinal uses:
for which reason, I suppose, these waters may prove a more beneficial
medicine, than any others of the ferrugineous kind, whose mineral
contents are not so intimately commixed with the aqueous fluid.

As these waters are so long in separating their mineral contents, they
appear particularly well adapted for being transported to distant
places: for by this quality they are fitted to undergo a long carriage,
and to be kept a considerable time, without any diminution of their
medicinal virtues. It must also be noticed, that the water of the under
well is by much the best of the two for carriage, or for being long
kept, as it is longer in separating its mineral contents than the upper
one.

From these experiments it is evident, that there is a considerable
difference betwixt the waters of the two springs. The upper one
contains a much larger quantity of ochrous earth, and metalline cremor,
than the under one; which is the reason, why it yields a deeper colour
with galls, as may be observed in the first experiment. I suspected,
on the other hand, that the under water contained a greater proportion
of alum, than the water of the upper spring; but this I cannot affirm,
as I find I had neglected to make the experiment, which would have
determined whether it be so or not. Tho’ the mineral contents of these
two waters be similar, yet, if they be thus mixed in them in different
proportions, this must certainly create a difference between them,
which deserves to be attended to, as it may be sufficient to disallow
of their being used promiscuously, since their medicinal effects may be
thereby different.

But now, to sum up the evidence, which these experiments, taken all
together, do afford, concerning the mineral ingredients of this Spaw; I
think they determine, with some degree of certainty, that it contains
two different principles of iron, both of which are fixed. The one,
which is the ochrous earth, is a true _minera ferri_, and, altho’ it
be a crude mineral, exists in the water in a very fine and subtile
form; the other, which is the cremor or pellicle, whose parts are
also extremely attenuated in the water, appears to be iron, not in
its mineral, but in its metalline form, and, when thrown up upon the
surface of the water, shews itself like an extreme thin _lamina_ of
that metal. There seems also to be some small proportion of sulphur
joined with the metalline cremor. The other mineral ingredient, which
enters into the composition of this Spaw, is a considerable proportion
of an aluminous salt, which is conjoined with a small quantity of a
light brown-coloured earth (probably a part of the matrix whence the
salt is formed), and still more intimately connected with some of the
chalybeat parts of the water, which are not separable from it either
by elixation or evaporation. Whether these be saline or terrestrial, I
cannot determine.


Having thus endeavoured to discover, by some plain and simple
experiments, the mineral principles, with which this medicinal water
is impregnated; I shall now only add some observations, with respect
to the origin of steel waters, and particularly of this Spaw, whose
origin, I think, is thereby discovered and ascertained in a very
obvious manner.

Among several things, that are still deficient in the history of
mineral waters; an exact knowlege of their origin seems to be the
chief; that is, from what fossils, and in what manner, these waters do
acquire the mineral substances, with which they are impregnated. As
this happens in the bowels of the earth, and is therefore far removed
from our view, it is not surprising, that there has been so little
discovered concerning it; tho’ indeed there have been many elaborate
hypotheses framed in order to account for it.

The writers on mineral waters have been of very different and opposite
opinions concerning their origin. They have disagreed widely amongst
themselves; and I very much suspect, that the accounts, which most of
them give of this matter, are not agreeable to truth: particularly
with respect to chalybeat waters, I have seen none, who have given a
satisfactory account of their origin. They have all agreed, that iron,
or the vitriol of that metal, does exist in mineral waters; but they
have never yet agreed, how they came to exist in them, or in what
manner mineral waters come to be imbued with these fossils.

Some of the more ancient writers cannot comprehend, how simple water
should be intimately impregnated with so many different kinds of
minerals, except by the means of some powerful agent. And as they
thought nothing more proper for communicating and mixing mineral
substances with water, than violent heat, they therefore termed all
mineral waters, of whatever kind, by the name of _thermæ_. They saw
some spring from the earth extremely hot, others moderately hot, others
tepid, others excessively cold: they concluded from this, that all
such various degrees of heat in these waters were owing either to the
different degree of subterranean fire, which they had undergone; or
else to the great distance, which some of them had run in the earth,
after they had been sufficiently heated. They therefore maintained,
that those waters particularly termed _acidulæ_ (the greatest part of
which are impregnated with iron), or those, which, tho’ intensely cold,
contained a large proportion of mineral matter, had in some part of the
earth been impregnated with it, by means of an intense heat, which they
had been gradually deprived of by a long passage thro’ the colder parts
of the earth.

Some naturalists again, of a later date, having exploded the former
notion as chimerical, have thought, that a vapour rising from vitriolic
minerals, and mixed with the neighbouring streams of water in the
bowels of the earth, has imbued them with some of the parts, and with
the properties, of vitriol.

Others are of opinion, that the exhalations of vitriolic minerals,
passing thro’ the cavities of the earth, are there condensed by the
subterraneous cold into a limpid fluid, containing the very finest
parts of that mineral salt: which fluid, mixing with the præterlabent
streams of water, and issuing out of the earth with them, produce those
mineral springs called vitriolic.

The last opinion I shall mention on this subject, and which indeed
appears the most plausible, is of those, who think, that the iron is
corroded and dissolved in these waters by means of an acid: for, as
they imagine simple water incapable of doing this, they suppose, that
it is first imbued with an acid in the bowels of the earth; and then,
by the corrosion of the chalybeat minerals, thro’ which it runs, it
comes to be impregnated with them. I once received this opinion, as
the most probable I could then observe, concerning the origin of these
springs: yet not as being satisfactory; for there are many objections
against it, which it is difficult either to elude or to answer.

The supposition of an acidity in ferrugineous waters, I thought but
ill confirmed, because, upon trial, they discover no vestiges of it,
but rather appear to be alkaline. Besides, in considering the causes
of mineral waters, it seems more probable, that whatever minerals they
contain, they must be such, as can be received or extracted by common
water in its passage thro’ the earth, by solution, abrasion, or the
like simple operations; and in this way alone I think we may come to
account not only for the commixtion of the saline and terrene minerals,
which are found in medical waters, but likewise of those, that are
metalline or sulphureous; for which simple water, at first sight, may
perhaps seem to be an insufficient solvent.

It was this notion, that first induced me to make trial upon various
mineral and metallic bodies, in order to know how far they could
communicate their virtues to common water by infusion. I thought this
might throw some light upon the origin of mineral waters; yet, tho’
I made a great many experiments of this sort, and particularly upon
several kinds of native chalybeat minerals, I was as little satisfied
concerning their origin as before. I at length, however, met, by
accident, with what I had inquired after with so little success.

As I happened to be at a gentleman’s house near Edinburgh, in whose
estate there was a great deal of coal, and who was at that time working
a level or adit, in order to drain off the water, I observed, that
the current of water, which flowed from this level, separated a great
quantity of ochre, and, emptying itself into a river soon after it came
from the entry of the level, tinged all the stones and the channel of
the river, for a good way, of an ochrous colour. The taste of this
water was exactly like that of a common steel Spaw; and it afforded a
purple colour with galls[55]. As I knew, that this water flowed off a
great body of coal, I often infused that fossil, taken from the pits
near this level, in common water; but the infusions never yielded any
tincture with galls. I tried in the same way another mineral, that
the miners call _blaes_; which is a cliffery stratum of a blueish
colour, that often lies both above and below the coal: also another
fossil of a brown colour, which is very ponderous, and is called by
the miners _dogger_; a thin seam of which often lies in the midst of
the coal. However, neither of these would afford an infusion, that
would tinge with galls. At last I got another mineral out of these
coal-pits, which is sometimes found amongst the coal, but is not so
frequent as any of the former; and this fully answered my expectation.
It is found either in round or broad pieces, is exceeding ponderous,
and of a shining yellow colour, and is called by the miners _brass
lumps_. When I infused this mineral for a short time in common water,
it communicated to it all the properties of a steel Spaw; its taste
was exactly the same; and it received a tincture from galls, which was
of a more diluted or intense purple, according to the proportion of
the mineral added to the water, or to the time of the infusion. This
simple experiment does therefore clearly discover to us the origin of
steel waters, and the manner, in which they are impregnated with their
mineral contents in the bowels of the earth.

This observation, which I had made concerning the origin of steel
waters, led me, when I first visited Hartfell-Spaw, to inquire into the
adjacent fossils: which was the more easily done, as the strata of the
earth about the well, for a considerable depth, are exposed to view.
After some search among these, I found a stratum of cliffery rock,
about three or four feet thick, of a grey colour, and, I think, about
twenty paces from the spring. In some of the hollow places of this
rock, where the rain and wind did not reach, I observed a white saline
efflorescence on its surface, which when I had taken off and tasted, I
concluded, from its styptic and chalybeat taste, that it was a native
vitriolum Martis, notwithstanding its white colour; but I found it,
upon trial, to be alum, having some fine attenuated parts of iron
conjoined with it, and the same salt with that contained in the Spaw
water.

Having taken some pieces of this rock, which were quite free from
the saline effervescence, and infused them in common spring-water
for some hours, this water did thereby acquire the true taste of the
Hartfell-Spaw. It likewise in the same manner received a deep blue
tincture with galls, and contained all the other qualities of that
mineral water, without the least difference, that I could observe:
which, I think, ascertains the true origin of this mineral spring in
the most obvious and undeniable manner.

I am persuaded, that this plain and easy method of investigating the
origin of mineral springs is not only superior to the most learned
discussions and elaborate theories, but will be found to be the surest,
yea, the only way of extending and compleating our knowlege concerning
them. As I have not yet had the opportunity of making the experiments,
which I designed, upon the two fossils, that we find to be the cause
of the above mineral waters, and which will be necessary to elucidate
and compleat these observations, which we have made concerning their
origin; I shall now only add one thing, and recommend it to the
observation of others: “_Whether or not, from such a knowlege of the
origin of mineral waters, we may not acquire artificial ones of as
great, or perhaps of greater, medicinal use, than those, which are
naturally produced?_”




XVIII. _An Account of the State of the Thermometer at the_ Hague _on
the 9th of_ January 1757. _Extracted from a Letter of Mr._ Abraham
Trembley, _F.R.S to_ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secret. R.S._


[Read Mar. 3, 1757.]

                                                 Hague, Febr. 15. 1757.

I Carefully observed the thermometer during the cold days, which we
have had this winter. I made use of the same thermometer, with which
I made my observations in 1740, and for that purpose fixed it in the
same place, where it was that year, _viz._ in a window directly exposed
to the north, and open to a large square. In 1740 I saw Fahrenheit’s
thermometer at two degrees below 0. This year, on the 9th day of
January in the morning, it was at three degrees above 0; that is, only
five degrees higher than in 1740.




XIX. _Experimental Examination of_ Platina. _By_ William Lewis, _M.B.
F.R.S._


[Read Mar. 17, 1757.]

PAPER V.

THE account of this extraordinary mineral, formerly read to this
illustrious Society, and honoured with their approbation, being
since published in the _Philosophical Transactions_, renders any
recapitulation of the discoveries hitherto made unnecessary.

The near and remarkable relation betwixt platina and gold, not only
in point of gravity, but in many less obvious properties, hitherto
supposed to belong to gold alone; and their as manifest disagreement in
others, particularly colour, ductility, and fusibility; induced me to
examine, what effects they might have in combination with one another
in different proportions; and whether there is reason to credit the
report of great frauds having been committed by mixing them together;
how far such abuses are practicable; and, what is of more importance,
the means by which they are discoverable.


_Experiments of the Mixture of Platina and Gold._

+EXPERIMENT+ I.

1. Twelve carats[56] of fine gold, and the same quantity of the purer
grains of platina, were urged in a blast-furnace, for near an hour,
with a fire so strong, that a slip of Windsor brick, with which the
crucible was covered, tho’ defended by a thin coating of pure white
clay, had begun to melt. Upon breaking the vessel, the metal was found
in one smooth lump or bead; which, after being nealed by the flame of a
lamp, and boiled in alum-water, appeared, both in the mass, and upon
the touchstone, of a pale bell-metal colour, without any resemblance
to gold. It bore several strokes, and stretched considerably under
the hammer, before it begun to crack about the edges. On viewing
the fracture with a magnifying glass, the gold and platina appeared
unequally mixed; and several small particles of the latter were seen
distinct: nor was the mixture intirely uniform after it had again and
again been returned to the fire, and suffered many hours of strong
fusion.

2. Eighteen carats of gold and six of platina (= 3:1) were melted
together as the foregoing, in an intense fire continued about an hour.
The bead, nealed and boiled, was less pale-coloured than the former,
but had nothing of the colour of gold. It forged tolerably well, like
coarse gold. To the naked eye it appeared uniform; but a good magnifier
discovered in this, as well as in the other, some inequality of
mixture, not withstanding the fusion was two or three times repeated,
with the strongest degrees of heat we were capable of exciting by large
bellows.

3. Twenty carats of gold and four of platina (= 5:1) were kept in
strong fusion for above an hour and a half. These united into an equal
mass, in which no granule of platina, or dissimilarity of parts, could
be distinguished. The colour was still so dull and pale, that the
compound could scarcely be judged by the eye to contain any gold. It
hammered well into a pretty thin plate; but we could not draw it into
wire of any considerable fineness.

4. Twenty-two carats of gold were melted in the same manner with two
of platina (= 11:1) the same that standard gold contains of alloy.
The mixture was uniform, of a tolerable golden colour, but easily
distinguishable from that of standard gold by a dingy bell-metal cast.
It worked well, was forged into a thin plate without cracking, and
drawn into moderately fine wire.

5. Twenty-two carats and a half of gold, and one and a half of platina
(= 15:1), melted into an uniform mass, which, after the usual nealing
and boiling, proved somewhat tougher than the preceding, and of a
better colour.

6. Twenty-three carats of gold were melted with one of platina; which
is nearly half the proportion, that standard gold contains of alloy.
The compound worked extremely well, but was distinguishable from gold
by a manifest dinginess, which it retained after repeated forgings,
fusions, nealings, and boilings.

7. Twenty-three carats and one-fourth of gold, and three-fourths of a
carat of platina (= 31:1), formed an equal mixture, very malleable,
ductile like the three foregoing whilst hot as well as cold, but not
intirely free from their peculiar dingy colour.

8. A mixture of twenty-three carats and a half of gold, with half
a carat of platina (= 47:1), was very soft and flexible, of a good
colour, without any thing of the disagreeable cast, by which all the
foregoing compositions were readily distinguishable, in the mass as
well as on the touchstone, from fine or standard gold.

9. A mixture of twenty-three carats and three-fourths of gold, with
one-fourth of a carat of platina (= 95:1), could not be distinguished
by the eye or hammer from the fine gold itself.

In all these processes, even where the proportion of platina was small,
the fusion was performed by a vehement fire, that the mineral might be
the more intimately dissolved, and equally diffused thro’ the gold.
The necessity of this precaution appeared from an experiment formerly
related; in which one of platina having been melted with four of gold,
the button appeared not much paler than standard gold with silver
alloy. On a second fusion it lost its yellow colour, which had at
first been only external, from an imperfect mixture, great part of the
platina being concealed in the internal part of the mass, and covered
as it were by a golden coat.

The crucibles were rubbed on the inside with chalk, to prevent any
particles of the metal from lodging in their cavities. A little borax
was employed in each as a flux; with the addition of nitre, by which
the colour of gold is somewhat heightened. On remelting some of the
mixtures with sundry other additions, powdered charcoal seemed to
improve the colour most.


+EXPERIMENT+ II.

The preceding compositions, after being gently hammered and boiled,
were weighed hydrostatically with great care, by a very tender balance,
in distilled water, wherein the gravity of standard gold turned out
17.788.

All the mixtures proved heavier than standard gold. Their gravities
were nearer to the medium of the gravities of the ingredients, than
those of the compositions of platina with any of the other metals
formerly given an account of; none falling considerably short of the
mean gravity, and some rather exceeding it.

                     +------------------------+
                     |        Gravity.        |
                     |    By     |    By      |
                     |Experiment.|Calculation.|Difference.
       Platina       |  17.000   |            |
  Platina 1 Gold 1   |  18.140   |   18.142   |  0. 02}
  Platina 1 Gold 3   |  18.613   |   18.714   |  0.101}
  Platina 1 Gold 5   |  18.812   |   18.904   |  0.092}
  Platina 1 Gold 11  |  18.835   |   19.094   |  0.259}  Diminution.
  Platina 1 Gold 15  |  18.918   |   19.142   |  0.224}
  Platina 1 Gold 23  |  19.089   |   19.189   |  0.100}
  Platina 1 Gold 31  |  19.128   |   19.213   |  0.085}
  Platina 1 Gold 47  |  19.262   |   19.237   |  0.025}
  Platina 1 Gold 95  |  19.273   |   19.261   |  0.012} Increase.
       Gold          |  19.285   |            |
                     +-----------+------------+


+EXPERIMENT+ III.

As a mixture of platina with an equal quantity of gold has been
reported to be specifically heavier than gold itself, but turned out
otherwise in the above experiments; some further trials were made on
that head.

1. Instead of the crude mineral, whose gravity is but 17, we took
platina, that had been cupelled with lead, one of the neatest of
the buttons formerly mentioned, which, tho’ retaining a portion of
the lead, was nearly as ponderous as fine gold, _viz._ 19.240. This
was melted with equal its weight of the gold, in a strong fire, and
continued in fusion for about an hour: the mass proved spongy, and
very light. We remelted it several times with vehement degrees of
fire, suffering it to cool leisurely in the crucible, and, in order
to separate as much as possible of the lead, to which its sponginess
seemed owing, boiled it in aqua-fortis, and repeatedly injected
corrosive sublimate upon it during fusion: the mass, nevertheless,
still turned out cavernulous and brittle, and specifically lighter than
either the gold or platina by themselves.

2. I likewise endeavoured to combine platina with small proportions of
gold. By vehemence of fire, it was made to unite, tho’ not perfectly,
with half its weight and less: but the mixtures were extremely spongy
and brittle; in specific gravity one scarce 16, another less than 15.

3. As a cast metalline body from the Spanish West Indies, of which some
account will be given hereafter, appears to have been confounded with
the mineral platina, this also was melted with an equal quantity of
gold. They united with great ease, by a moderate fire, into an uniform
compound, tolerably compact, but whose specific gravity was only 16½;
which is nearly the mean gravity of the two ingredients.


+EXPERIMENT+ IV.

As a small portion of copper somewhat heightens the colour of pale
gold, platina was melted with eight times its weight of standard gold
made with copper alloy. The fusion was performed, as in the preceding
experiments, in a close crucible, with a strong fire, but without any
flux, and continued for about an hour. The metal appeared covered with
a black scurf, and had lost about ⅟200. It was much duller coloured,
harder to the hammer, and cracked sooner about the edges, than mixtures
of fine gold with a larger quantity of platina. By repeated fusion, and
frequent nealing, it became a little softer and tougher, so as to be
drawn into pretty fine wire; but the colour was still exceeding dull,
more resembling that of bad copper than of gold.

The specific gravity of this compound was 17.915; a little less than
the medium of the three ingredients unmixed, and a little greater than
the mean gravity resulting from the platina by itself, and the copper
and gold mixed; for copper, in the standard proportion, appears to
diminish the gravity of gold more than it ought to do according to
calculation.


From the foregoing experiments it appears, that platina is miscible
with gold, in certain proportions, without injuring either its colour
or ductility, or occasioning any considerable alteration in the
gravity: experiments related in former papers have shewn, that it
stands aqua-fortis, and the other trials by which the purity of gold is
estimated. It is to be hoped, that the abuses manifestly practicable
by this mineral have hitherto been but rarely made use of. To guard
against them is the object of this paper; to detect them, of the next.




XX. _Experimental Examination of_ Platina. _By_ William Lewis, _M.B.
F.R.S._


+PAPER+ VI.

_Experiments of distinguishing and purifying Gold mixed with Platina._

[Read Mar. 31, 1757.]

1. _By Amalgamation with Mercury._

IN an experiment related in the fourth paper, an amalgam of one part
of platina and two of gold with a suitable quantity of mercury, having
been triturated with water for a considerable time, and occasionally
washed over, the platina was gradually thrown out, and the gold
retained by the quicksilver.

Repetitions of this experiment have shewn, that tho’ the separation
succeeds in some cases, it does not perfectly in all: that if there
is any particle of the platina imperfectly dissolved in the gold
(which will generally be the case, unless the quantity of gold is
three or four times greater than that of the platina), this part will
be retained, after long trituration, undissolved by the mercury,
uncomminuted by the pestle, and too ponderous to be washed off in its
gross form. A variety of mixtures of platina and gold were treated in
the manner above described; and the gold, recovered from the amalgams,
submitted to further examinations. Where the proportion of platina was
large, the microscope almost always discovered still some granules of
it on the fracture of the ingot: where the proportion was small, the
recovered gold was frequently, but not constantly, found to be pure.

From these experiments it appears, that mercury has a greater affinity
with gold than platina, and that platina is capable of being totally
separated by elutriation; but that the process is too vague and
undetermined to be applicable in the way of assay, as we have no mark
of the precise time for discontinuing it, and as we can never be
certain, without making another assay, whether the whole of the platina
is separated or not. As a preparatory examination, where the quantities
of platina and gold to be separated are large, it is nevertheless of
good use, as greatest part of the platina may by this means be washed
over with little trouble, and the gold brought into a less compass, so
as to be commodiously submitted to a perfect purification by the means
hereafter pointed out. This process has a similar effect on platina and
gold to that of stamping and washing on metallic ores; which could not
be reduced into pure metal in the furnace to advantage, without the
previous separation of great part of the earthy and stony matter by
water.


2. _By Precipitation with Alkalies._

Gold is precipitated totally by fixed alkaline salts, but platina
only in part. When solutions of the two metals are mixed together,
so much of the platina remains suspended, after saturation with the
alkali, as to be readily distinguishable by the yellow colour, which
it communicates to the liquor. It has been objected, that tho’ the
platina was discoverable, when thus mingled superficially with the
gold, it may nevertheless, when combined more intimately by fusion,
elude this method of trial.

1. Mixtures of gold with small proportions of platina were therefore
kept in fusion, by a very strong fire, for several hours, and
afterwards dissolved in aqua-regis. The solutions being diluted with
water, and a pure fixed alkaline salt gradually added, so long as any
effervescence of precipitation ensued, the liquors remained manifestly
coloured, tho’ apparently paler than when the two metals had been
dissolved by themselves.

2. A more convincing proof, that part of the platina remains suspended,
after the precipitation of the gold, was obtained, by putting into the
filtered liquors some plates of pure tin, which presently contracted an
olive hue, and threw down a large quantity of a brownish precipitate,
as from the common solutions of the crude mineral. It was observable,
that the tin plates were often sensibly acted on, even whilst the
liquor was overcharged with alkali.

3. It has been further suggested, and with great appearance of
probability, that as a part of platina is precipitated as well as gold
by alkaline salts, if only this part be mixed with gold, it will be
thrown down by them again upon dissolving the compound. To determine
this point, a precipitate of platina made by fixed alkali was melted
with thrice its weight of fine gold, and kept in strong fusion for
above an hour: they united more easily than gold does with so large
a proportion of the crude mineral, and formed a smooth neat bead,
which hammered well into a pretty thin plate before it cracked, and
appeared internally uniform and equal. This compound being dissolved
in aqua-regia, and a fixed alkaline salt added by degrees till the
acid was more than saturated, the liquor became indeed pale; but tin
plates put into it quickly discovered, that it held a very considerable
quantity of platina. It appears therefore a constant property of this
mineral to remain partially dissolved in the neutralised liquor; and
that minute proportions of it, mixed with gold, are by this means
distinguishable.

4. Many other experiments were made of the precipitations and
precipitates of gold and platina, by alkalies both of the fixed
and volatile kind. The most remarkable effects were, that volatile
alkalies, added to both solutions in quantity just sufficient to
saturate the acid, precipitated gold intirely, but platina only in
part, so much of it remaining suspended as to give the same colour to
the liquor as when fixed alkalies were made use of: that, on adding a
larger quantity of the spirit after the precipitation of the gold, the
liquor became yellow, a part of the metal being taken up again; and
that the platina was more copiously redissolved, the liquor becoming
of a deep brownish red: that the washed precipitates of both metals,
whether made by volatile or fixed alkalies, proved soluble, by moderate
digestion, in spirit of salt; those of platina much more difficultly
and sparingly than those of gold.


3. _By inflammable Liquors._

1. Inflammable spirits, which revive gold from its solutions in form
of yellow films, have no such effect on solutions of platina. This
experiment affords not only a criterion for distinguishing with
certainty whether gold has been debased by platina, but likewise an
infallible means of recovering it perfectly pure from any admixture of
that mineral. If the compound be dissolved in aqua-regis, the solution
mingled with twice its quantity or more of the spirit, and the mixture
suffered to stand for some days in a glass slightly covered; the whole
of the gold arises to the surface, leaving the whole of the platina
dissolved. The golden pellicles may be collected, by pouring the matter
into a filter just large enough to contain it. The dissolved platina
passes thro’, leaving the gold upon the paper, which is to be washed
with fresh parcels of water till the liquor runs colourless. The paper
is then to be carefully squeezed together, and burnt in a crucible
previously lined with vitrefied borax: when fully sunk down, a little
fresh borax is to be injected, and the fire raised to melt the gold.
The use of lining the crucible with borax is to prevent any moleculæ of
the gold from lodging in its cavities.--This process is attended with
one inconvenience, the slowness of the separation of the gold from the
solution: this may be in some measure expedited by employing a spirit,
which has been distilled from vegetables, that give over an essential
oil.

2. As essential oils take up gold from aqua-regis, and keep it
dissolved for a time upon the surface of the acid; a pure colourless
oil, that of rosemary, was poured into about half its quantity of a
solution of platina, the mixture well shaken, and suffered to rest:
the oil quickly arose, without taking up any thing from the platina,
or receiving any colour: the acid liquor underneath remained coloured
as at first. Compositions of platina and gold being dissolved in
aqua-regis, and treated in the same manner, the whole of the gold was
imbibed by the oil, and the whole of the platina remained dissolved
in the acid. The oil, loaded with the gold, appeared of a fine yellow
colour, and, on standing for a few hours, threw off great part of its
contents, in bright yellow films, to the sides of the glass. Sundry
other distilled oils were made trial of, with the same event. The gold
is easily recovered, by setting the oil on fire; and, when thoroughly
burnt out, melting the residuum with borax, as in the preceding
experiment. After the separation of the oil employed at first, it may
be proper, for the greater security, to add a little more; which, if
any part of the gold should happen to have been left in the liquor,
will effectually take it up.

3. The experiment was repeated likewise with the subtile fluid,
prepared from vinous spirits with the vitriolic acid, called by the
chemists æther. The separation succeeded in the same manner as before;
the æther receiving nothing from pure platina, but instantly taking up
the gold from a mixture of the two. It is observable, that the gold
imbibed by this fluid is kept permanently dissolved by it; without
separating or reviving, as it does from the common essential oils and
vinous spirits.

4. The liquors remaining in these experiments, after the extraction of
the gold, appear on all trials the same with the common solutions of
platina; and readily betray their being impregnated with that mineral
by their colour, by the precipitation with tin, by their yielding
a sparkling red precipitate with volatile spirits, _&c._ A far more
minute proportion of platina, mixed with gold, is more distinguishable
by these processes, than by those with alkaline salts above-mentioned;
these exhibiting the whole of the platina dissolved by itself, those
only a part of it.


4. _By metallic Solutions._

All the metals, which precipitate gold from aqua-regia, have been
already shewn to precipitate platina also. As gold is thrown down
by some metallic solutions, as well as by the metals in substance,
particularly those of mercury and iron, it remains to apply these
liquors as precipitants for platina.

1. A saturated solution of mercury in aqua-fortis, which readily and
totally threw down gold in its metallic form, being added to a solution
of platina, the liquor became immediately turbid, and, on standing for
a little time, nearly the whole of the platina fell to the bottom. A
solution of mercury in the marine acid, or of corrosive sublimate,
likewise precipitated platina, but less perfectly, and with this
difference, that the former precipitate was of a greyish brown colour,
the latter of a sparkling red.

2. Solutions of iron in the vitriolic acid, or of common green vitriol
in water, which totally throw down gold, happily made no change in
solutions of platina. Compositions of platina and gold being dissolved
in aqua-regis, the solutions diluted with about twice their quantity
of water, and a filtered solution of the vitriol gradually added; the
mixtures instantly grew turbid, and, on standing, deposited the gold
in form of a purplish grey calx, the whole of the platina remaining
dissolved. It appeared, on numerous repetitions of this experiment,
that no part of the platina was precipitated along with the gold, nor
any of the gold kept suspended with the platina. Where the quantity of
the mixt to be assayed was very small, the precipitation was usually
performed in a filter, that the gold, which separates in very minute
moleculæ, some of which might possibly remain unobserved in the bottom
of a glass, might be detained on the paper. The colourless sorts of
filtering-paper are preferable for this use to the coloured; as these
last may be impregnated with astringent matter, which would extricate
some of the ferrugineous part of the vitriol. The vitriol was dissolved
in about six times its quantity of water, and a few drops of oil of
vitriol added, to prevent the separation of any of its iron in the
filter. This solution was put into the filter first, the solution of
gold and platina immediately poured into it, the whole stirred together
with a clean glass rod, and such part of the liquor, as had run thro’
before they had been duly mixed, poured back to the rest. The gold
remaining in the filter was washed with fresh parcels of water, the
paper cautiously rolled up, and burnt in a crucible, as mentioned in a
former experiment.

3. Solutions of the vitriol, recommended by Kunckel and others for
precipitating gold of an uncommonly high colour, made no change in
the solutions either of gold or platina. The bluish green did indeed
precipitate the gold; not as blue vitriols, but by virtue of the
ferrugineous matter, of which these kinds largely participate. White
vitriol was likewise made trial of, but without producing any sensible
effect in either solution.

4. The experiments with green vitriol were repeated on the solutions of
platina and gold made in spirit of salt. The event was the same as with
those made in aqua-regis; the gold being constantly precipitated, and
the platina remaining dissolved.


+REMARKS+.

It may be proper to observe, that by the processes here pointed out,
the gold is purified from other metallic admixtures at the same time
that it is separated from platina; the inflammable spirits reviving,
essential oils and æther imbibing, and green vitriol precipitating,
gold alone. Care should be had, that the piece of the mixt, taken for
examination, be totally dissolved before any trials are made with
the solution; the menstruum not acting with equal facility on the
two metals, but dissolving the gold more readily than the platina.
Where the acid has been dilute, and only a gentle heat applied, great
part of the gold has appeared to be taken up before the platina was
considerably acted on. Where the filter, with the gold in it, is
burnt in the crucible, borax is the most commodious flux: but as
this salt gives a sensible paleness to gold, a little nitre may be
injected, after the metal has come into fusion, to restore its colour.
If the nitre was added at first, whilst the gold continues subtilely
divided, some particles of the metal would be dissipated during the
deflagration, which that salt produces with the coaly remains of the
paper.

As the foregoing experiments exhibit platina and gold dissolved in
a mineral fluid, which by simple mechanic agitation rejects the one
and retains the other, and which discovers this different appetite of
union so much the more remarkably, as the two metals have been the more
intimately combined:--as they further exhibit platina dissolved in
liquors incapable of holding gold suspended,--gold dissolved in liquors
incapable of holding platina suspended,--gold totally precipitated by
substances, which precipitate no particle of platina,--and gold, when
mixed _per minima_ with platina, perfectly recovered from it by these
means, without increase as well as without diminution:--it follows,
that platina is not, as some believe, gold naturally debased by the
admixture of some other metallic body, but a metal of a peculiar kind,
essentially different from all the others. Before the discriminating
characters of platina were discovered, such a notion was highly
plausible, and direct experiment seemed to confirm it: a portion of
the platina might be separated in the process; a quantity of gold
mixed with the remainder, in order to collect the gold supposed to be
contained in it; the mixture submitted to operations, which gold alone
was supposed capable of withstanding; and the augmentation, which
the noble metal still retained, held to be true gold gained from the
platina.

The methods of trial above related will, it is presumed, be sufficient
to undeceive those, who may have been imposed upon by such appearances,
and betrayed into the practice of unintended frauds: to convince them,
that all they have gained from platina, after the most laborious
attempts to divest it of its imaginary coat, is no other than platina
still: and, which is of more extensive utility, to distinguish all the
abuses, that may be made with this metal, and restore the gold, so
debased, to its original purity and value.




XXI. _An Account of the Temple of_ Serapis _at_ Pozzuoli _in the
Kingdom of_ Naples: _In a Letter to_ John Ward, _LL.D. and R.S.
Vice-Præs. by the Rev._ John Nixon, _M.A. F.R.S._


[Read Mar. 17, 1757.]

+SIR+,

BEFORE we enter upon a more particular consideration of this noble
piece of antiquity, it may not be improper to premise the general
account (and indeed the only one I have met with yet published), which
is given of it by Mess. Cochin and Bellicard, in a little [57]treatise
printed at Paris in 1755. These gentlemen acquaint us, that in 1749
there were only three pillars of this building visible, and that they
were buried half way within the ground: but that soon after, workmen
being employed by order of the King of the Two Sicilies to dig at the
place, they came to the pedestals of those pillars: and at length
discovered the building to have been a temple, which (as it was judged
by the principal[58] idol found there, and some other circumstances)
was dedicated to Serapis. They tell us further, that many statues and
vases of excellent workmanship had been taken out of the ruins; and
that the whole temple was extremely magnificent, being built, or cased
throughout, with marble, even to the parts appropriated to the meanest
offices.

This account, tho’ short, is yet sufficient to excite in the curious
a desire to be more fully informed, both as to the ancient and modern
state of this place. To gratify in some measure that desire is the
purpose of the present letter.

In order to form any conjecture concerning the antiquity of the
building before us, we must know, that the worship of Serapis, to whom
it is supposed to have been consecrated, was not introduced at Rome
till towards the end of the republic; and then tolerated in the suburbs
only[59]. However, at length he was allowed to have temples erected
to him within the precincts of the city; chiefly by the authority of
Vespasian, who was thought to have restored a blind man[60] to his
sight at Alexandria by the aid and direction of this deity. And upon
this account he continued to be held in high veneration by Titus and
Domitian, the sons of that Emperor, as appears by their [61]stamping
his image on the reverse of their coins. Now as it is reasonable
to suppose, that the other cities of Italy followed the example of
the metropolis in this instance, as we find, they did in others of a
similar nature; we may with some probability place the foundation of
this temple at Pozzuoli somewhere within the period assigned above.

As for the particular state of this building, it is situated on the
west side of the town, near to, and upon a level with, the beach (_See_
TAB. II.). Its grand entrance is towards the south, and seems to have
been a vestibule supported by four columns. This introduces you into a
spacious portico, or corridor[62], which was designed to defend such
as assembled here to worship from the injuries of the weather; as also
to afford a commodious passage into a range of rooms of different
dimensions, disposed on all the four sides of the court.

These chambers seem designed for preparing the sacrifices, lodging
the priests, and keeping their vestments; as also the fuel, stores,
and other things requisite for the service of the temple: not to omit
the convenience of purifying both the priests and the worshippers by
bathing or washing. This last destination is countenanced, with regard
to the chamber on the north-west and that on the north-east corner, by
the row of stone seats, which still remains on each of the sides of
the former. These seats have a gutter, or channel running along at the
foot of them on the floor; and are likewise perforated with holes of
a proper size, with funnels passing from them below. On these benches
probably the persons to be purified placed themselves, that the water
might be let out upon them from pipes; or administred in vases or
ewers by the attendants, and afterwards be carried off by the passages
mentioned above[63].

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans Vol. L._ TAB. II. _p. 168._

 A. _Ancient grand Entrance._

 B.B.B.B. _Portico or Corridor._

 C. _Atrium._

 D. _Temple properly so call’d._

 E. _Altar with it’s Drain._

 F. _Sacrarium._

 G.G. _Two large Chambers for washing &c._

 H. _Modern Entrance over Ruins. This seems to have been formerly such
 a Chamber, as is express’d in the Drawing at_ (L)

_A Scale of Feet._]

Nor can a provision for washing or bathing in this temple seem strange
to any one, who reflects, how high a rank this mode of purification
held among the religious ceremonies of almost all nations of the
world. As for the Romans, with whom we are principally concerned in
the present inquiry, the subsistence of this usage among them might
be abundantly shewn by the testimonies of their writers; and also by
the accommodations provided for it in other buildings of the same
character with that before us. Some of these still remain within the
neighbourhood of Pozzuolo, _viz._ the magnificent temple near the
lake of Avernus ascribed to Apollo, which has an apartment adjoining
to it indisputably intended for the purpose intimated above. For it
is furnished with several stone cisterns, whose inward dimensions are
proportioned to the ordinary size of an human body; and near them
is a spring, out of which the water was taken up, and poured into a
bason hollowed out in the side of the wall: from thence it ran along
in a groove or channel cut in the ends of the cisterns, to be let out
upon the persons bathing in them, according to their pleasure, or as
occasion should require. So likewise in the temple of Venus (as it
is commonly called) near Baiæ, there is a large chamber containing
several stone seats for washing, with little cells contiguous to it for
undressing before, and anointing the body and dressing afterwards.

I have but one more particular to add concerning the apartment in the
north-west angle of the temple, _viz._ that, when it was cleared of
its rubbish, there was found in a niche in one of its sides a male and
female figure naked, and in the most flagrant act of natural lewdness.
It is now (as we were informed) in a private room in the palace at
Portici, nor can be seen without the King’s special permission. In the
same place, probably, may stand the statue of a satyr in an unnatural
action with a goat, which was found at Herculaneum, and is, they say,
of exquisite sculpture, but concealed in the palace above-mentioned
with the same strict care as the former.

Having thus viewed the several chambers in the exterior parts of the
building, it is requisite (in order to a regular prosecution of our
design) to return to the grand entrance. And here, passing thro’ the
corridor above described, we come to a square court or _atrium_ paved
with large slabs of white marble streaked with blue or greyish veins.
At the distance of 25 feet further, in the center of the said court,
stood the temple properly so called, containing a circular area of 54
feet diameter, and elevated above the level of the pavement, so as
to admit an ascent to it of five steps[64], in four different parts
answering to the four sides of the corridor. This area is surrounded
with sixteen pedestals, on which formerly were columns to support a
rotundo or dome. Against each of these columns, on the outside, there
seems to have been placed a statue, and, in the intermediate spaces,
vases for incense, or lavers for washing, upon low stands on the floor.
In the middle of the temple was erected the grand altar, the traces of
which still remain, with a sink or drain near it to receive and carry
off the blood of the victims, _&c._

Northward of the temple, and at the distance of 25 feet, being the same
space, that was between it and the corridor at the entrance, was once
another stately vestibule or pavilion, supported by four columns four
feet and an half in diameter, and of the Corinthian order, as appears
by three of them, which still subsist standing in a line with the outer
face of the corridor. This pavilion (if we may judge by analogy from
what we find in other temples) led to an inner recess or _sacrarium_
terminating, probably, in the segment of a circle: but of this we had
no certain proof, as the rubbish was not yet removed from this part of
the building.

I beg leave further to mention a remarkable appearance in some of
the columns of this temple, _viz._ that that part of them, which was
lowermost, as well as that, which was nearest the capitals, is well
preserved and pretty entire; while part of the intermediate space
for two or three feet together is discoloured, as if it had suffered
by burning; and also excavated in such a manner[65], as to contain
multitudes of little shell-fish, which appear, like the pholades in
some stones, almost totally inclosed within their cells, so as not
to be got out without breaking. I know no way to account for this so
probable; as by supposing, that the lower parts of these columns were
secured by the mass of rubbish, that inclosed them, as the uppermost
were by their elevated situation, from being perforated either by the
corrosive quality of the sea, which (according to tradition) formerly
covered the site of this temple; or by the animalcula, which are bred
in that element; while the middle parts standing in the water were
(perhaps for ages) exposed to the injuries mentioned above. I had no
opportunity of taking the height of the uppermost line, where the
above-mentioned alteration in the columns ended, from the level of the
sea in the bay; which would have shewn how high the water must have
risen formerly above its present mark, to produce the effect ascribed
to it on this hypothesis. But, however that may be, the nature of the
situation of this place[66] being considered, the innovation supposed
to have happened in it will not, I presume, be thought improbable;
especially in a country so plentifully stored with combustible
matter in its interior parts, and consequently so liable to changes
in its outward form, as this is, and has been for many ages. For an
extraordinary instance of this we need go but a little way from this
place, _viz._ to Il Monte Nuovo, a hill about four miles in compass,
which in 1538 was cast up in one night’s time by an eruption, whereby
the greatest part of the Lucrine lake was filled up, and the town of
Tripergola, with a church, convent, hospital, and other buildings,
intirely buried.

I shall conclude with acquainting you, that at the corner of the court
of this temple, near the present entrance, there lie some large bases
of marble, which (as we were informed) were taken out of the sea at
about a mile’s distance from Pozzuolo, and are inscribed DVSARI SACRUM.
What was the original situation of these monuments, it may not be
possible now to ascertain. As for DVSARES mentioned in the inscription
upon them, G. Vossius[67] (upon the authority of Tertullian, and
Stephanus Byzantius) makes him to have been an Arabian deity, the same
as Bacchus or Sol according to the Roman theology. That learned man is
likewise inclined to think, that the name DVSARES is compounded of two
Hebrew words; one of which signifies _joy_, and the other, _the earth_,
i. e. mortals, who inhabit it. This etymology properly expresses
the genial effects of the sun, which makes glad the heart of man by
ripening the fruits of the earth, especially the grape: Whence Virgil
calls wine,

  _Munera lætitiamque Dei._    Æn. i. _v._ 640.

and stiles Bacchus the fabled inventer of it,

  ----_Bacchus lætitiæ dator._      Ib. _v._ 738.

                                 I am,
                                 +SIR,+
                      With the greatest respect,
                  Your most obedient humble Servant,
                               J. Nixon.

London, March 14. 1757.




XXII. _Some Remarks on a_ Parthian _Coin with a_ Greek _and_ Parthian
_Legend, never before published. In a Letter from the Rev._ John
Swinton, _M.A. of_ Christ-Church, Oxon. _F.R.S. to the Rev._ Thomas
Birch, _D.D. Secret. R. S._


[Read Mar. 24, 1757.]

Reverend Sir,

AS we know little of the reigns of the latter Parthian kings, and
less still of their coins; an attempt to strike out even the least
new light on either of those heads will not, I persuade myself, prove
unacceptable to the Royal Society. In this persuasion, I do myself the
honour to send you a few conjectures upon another brass Parthian medal,
in my possession, as remarkable, on account of the double legend it
contains, as the former, which I endeavoured a little to illustrate
about a year ago. This medal, which certainly merits the attention of
the curious, is in very good conservation, and approaches near the size
of those of the middle Roman brass. It exhibits the head, or effigies,
of a Parthian king, with a beard, diadem, and hair formed into such
curls as I never yet observed upon any antient coins. Under the
effigies, the Greek letters ΒΑϹΙΛΕωΝ ΜΕΓΑϹ ΜΟ⦙⦙⦙, which demonstrate the
piece to be Parthian, appear; and, on the reverse, a _Victory_, done
something after the Roman manner, tho’ the workmanship is pretty rude,
presents itself to our view, together with a legend in a language and
character at this time unknown. The legend consists of ten complete
elements, placed behind the _Victory_ above-mentioned; besides which
there is one in the field of the medal, being probably the initial
letter of the name of the city where the coin was struck. The metal,
tho’ termed by me brass, discovers something of a composition similar
to that of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire’s medal of Vologeses III.
as described by [68]Sig. Haym. This coin, of which I herewith transmit
you a draught most accurately taken (_See_ TAB. IV. _Fig. 1._), having
not yet, as I apprehend, been published; you will permit me now to
offer a few cursory remarks upon it, drawn up in the shortest and most
concise manner possible.


1. The Greek legend, had all of it appeared, would, undoubtedly have
been either ΒΑϹΙΛΕωΝ ΜΕΓΑϹ ΜΟΝΝΗϹΗϹ, or ΒΑϹΙΛΕΥϹ ΒΑϹΙΛΕωΝ ΜΕΓΑϹ
ΜΟΝΝΗϹΗϹ; of which I should chuse the former, notwithstanding it is
such Parthian Greek, as the round of the medal seems not to have
been capable of containing the latter. It will be, at first sight,
observed, that this legend is different from those of the Parthian
coins hitherto described; which are exhibited in the [69]genitive,
not the nominative, case. The last two letters MO leave no room to
doubt, tho’ the O is not so extremely well preserved, that the piece
was struck when Monneses sat upon the Parthian throne. It is true,
indeed, the first element of the prince’s name is not so apparently a
_Mu_; tho’ it resembles that letter, even as preserved on this very
medal, much more than any other of the Greek alphabet. It is however
totally unlike the _Alpha_ near it, as well as all the other forms of
that element to be met with in Montfaucon[70], and bears not the least
resemblance to _Beta_[71], particularly the _Beta_ which ought to have
been impressed on this piece; as most evidently appears from a particle
of that letter, visible in its proper place. From whence we may infer,
that the character I am considering must be _Mu_; as _Alpha_, _Beta_,
and _Mu_, were the only initial letters, according to Dr. Vaillant[72],
of the names of the Parthian kings reigning after the introduction
of the _Omega_ of the minuscular form, as it here occurs, upon the
Parthian coins. But Monneses was the only one of those princes whose
name began with _My_, and consequently the two last Greek elements on
this medal are part of his name. The metal and size of this piece, as
none belonging to the other Parthian monarchs seem to have been yet met
with of the same form, which exactly agree with those of Monneses’s[73]
coin published by Dr. Vaillant, may likewise be urged, as an additional
argument of no small weight, in support of my opinion.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. IV. _p. 176_.

_Fig. 1._

_Num. Parth. apud Jeannem Swinton, A. M. Oxoniens. R. S. S._

_Fig. 2. p. 202._

_Scale of feet, 20-1 Inch_ _J. Mynde sc._]

2. That the Greek and unknown legends on this medal are either of the
same or a similar import, will be acknowleged by all versed in this
kind of literature extremely probable. The Greek and Phœnician legends
on the same [74]coins of Tyre and Sidon, as I have, upon examination,
found, and shall hereafter more fully evince, clearly correspond. The
Latin and Punic legends on Juba’s medals, as has been by me formerly
proved[75], very well agree. The sense[76] I have assigned the legend
in unknown characters, exhibited by the reverse of my former Parthian
coin, with, I flatter myself, some appearance of truth, sufficiently
answers to the Greek one preserved by other medals of the same prince.
We may therefore be permitted to suppose, that both the legends handed
down to us by the coin before me related to Monneses, and conveyed
the same, or at least extremely similar, ideas to the Parthians and
the Greeks. Nothing can be more consonant to reason, tho’ we must not
directly assume this as a postulate, than such a supposition.

3. This notion will likewise receive a farther accession of strength
from the characters of which the unknown legend is composed. The first
of them so nearly approaches one of the forms of the Palmyrene _Pe_,
 as it appears in [77]Mr. Dawkins’s alphabet, that we may without
scruple ascribe to it the power of that letter. The second is so like
the Palmyrene and the Chaldee _Daleth_[78], that it ought indubitably
to pass for that element. The third differs something, tho’ not
greatly[79], from one of the forms of the Palmyrene _He_. The fifth,
which likewise occupies the eighth place, is by no means remote from
the figures of the [80]Palmyrene and Chaldee _Nun_. The sixth occurred
in the third place before. With regard to the seventh, it seems to me
pretty strongly to resemble some forms of the Palmyrene _Mem_[81],
and even exactly to answer to that of the same letter in [82]one
of the Palmyrene inscriptions preserved amongst those celebrated
remains of antiquity commonly, tho’ perhaps improperly, stiled _The
Ruins of_ PERSEPOLIS. The ninth is the _He_ touched upon before. The
tenth, which also succeeded the third, if the powers of the other
elements have been rightly determined, must be _Schin_. Nor does this
character, if we view it in a certain position, appear very remote from
a rude form of that letter. This legend then, according to what is
here advanced, as it now remains, consists of the words----PADESHANE
MONESH, PADESHAN EMONESH, or [83]PADESHAN AMONESH, that is, MONESH,
or AMONESH,----OF KINGS; the word PADISHAH, or rather PADESHAH, as it
seems to have been written and pronounced by the [84]ancient Persians,
in the Pehlawian, Pehelawian, or Bastanian, that is, the old Persic,
tongue, denoting [85]KING. That NI, or NE, was sometimes a masculine
plural termination in the antient Persic, seems to appear from the
word, or rather words, [bər.zaivašŋī.], BIR. ZEIVESHNI, LONGÆVI, which
occurs in Dr. Hyde[86]. And that the vowels A and E were sometimes
prefixed to the Persian proper names, in the remoter periods of time,
is abundantly manifest, from the words SFITAMAN, ESFINTAMAN, or
ESPINTAMAN, the [87]name of either the father or one of the ancestors
of Zerâtusht; XERXES, [88]AXERXES, or AXERSES, and others of the same
kind, that might, with equal facility, be produced. Whether therefore
we read this legend----PADESHANE MONESH, PADESHAN EMONESH, or PADESHAN
AMONESH, we cannot greatly err. As the coin was not so perfectly
struck, part of the Greek legend is thereby apparently lost; from
whence, and the evident want of a word there, we may conclude, that
the Parthian legend, for Parthian by the explication here laid down
it appears to be, on the correspondent part of the reverse, must have
met with the same fate. What that Parthian term was, I cannot take
upon me to say; but the whole legend was probably something like THE
GREAT KING MONNESES, MONNESES THE KING OF KINGS, or MONNESES[89] THE
GREAT KING OF KINGS; all which titles are intirely consonant to those
assumed by the Parthian kings[90], and transmitted down to us on their
other coins. The Persian, or Parthian, termination of the proper name
MONNESES, and others that occur, was ESH. This may be inferred from
the legend now before me, in conjunction with Scripture[91], and has
been remarked by some good authors[92]. That the Greeks also expressed
the _Schin_ by their _Sigma_, and superadded another termination to
such words, is sufficiently manifest from the Persian, or Parthian
ARSHAK[93], which was converted into ARSACES by the Greek writers. I
must farther observe, that, according to Herodotus[94], the antient
letters of the Persians were those used by the Assyrians; which I take
to have been the same with the elements that prevailed amongst the
Syrians, and formed the alphabet of the Palmyrenes. Nay, we may collect
from [95]Epiphanius, that a considerable part of the Persians used the
Palmyrene characters as late as the decline of the fourth century after
CHRIST. All which being maturely weighed, I cannot forbear thinking
the interpretation of the Parthian legend here laid down in a good
degree probable. I am far however from insisting upon the truth of it.
I shall only beg to be indulged the liberty of proposing it to the
consideration of our most illustrious Society, and leave the fate of it
intirely to the decision of so very eminent a part of the learned world.

4. But however my explication of the Parthian legend may be received,
I believe it will scarce be denied, that the coin was struck in the
reign of Monneses, one of the Parthian kings; this point having been
so clearly evinced, by the reasons above alledged. It may not be
improper here to remark, that the republic of letters has been obliged
with the publication of two of this prince’s medals; the first of which
was [96]coined in the year of the Parthian æra 422, and the other in
425[97]. Neither of them however exhibits the _Victory_ impressed on
the reverse of mine. That symbol, adopted by the Parthians in imitation
of the Roman manner, must undoubtedly have alluded to some victory, or
at least some remarkable advantage, gained by the Parthian forces over
the Romans, a little before the piece was struck. What that advantage
was, when and where obtained, and whether history conspires with the
medal, in order to settle this point, I am next to inquire.

5. Monneses, if Dr. Vaillant[98] may be credited, ascended the Parthian
throne in the year of the Arsacidæ 422, nearly coincident with the
166th of CHRIST, when M. Aurelius and L. Verus presided over the
Roman world. But so far were the Parthians at that time from gaining
any victories over the Romans, that they were every where worsted by
them, and put to the rout. A Roman army, under the command of Avidius
Cassius, had penetrated into Mesopotamia and Assyria, ravaged those
provinces, laid Seleucia in ashes, taken Ctesiphon, and levelled
the royal palace there with the ground, according to Dio[99], the
preceding year. Nay, it appears both from [100]Capitolinus and the
Roman[101] coins, that M. Aurelius and L. Verus triumphed over the
Parthians, the very year after Monneses, as [102]Dr. Vaillant will have
it, came to the crown. All which that celebrated antiquary acknowleges
to be true; and adds, that Monneses concluded an infamous peace with
the Romans, ceding to them the whole province of Mesopotamia, for which
he was soon after deposed by his subjects. Here then we can discover
not the faintest traces of a reason for the appearance of a _Victory_
upon the medals of this prince. Nor does any thing like a reason for
such an appearance, in antient history, occur, before the 950th year
of Rome, corresponding with the 197th of +CHRIST+; when the Parthians,
animated by the civil dissentions, which reigned amongst the Romans,
Albinus and Severus then fiercely contending for the empire, entered
Mesopotamia with a powerful army[103], and reduced to their obedience
most of the cities of that province. Now if, with F. Corsini[104],
we admit the commencement of the Parthian æra to have happened in the
525th year of Rome; the 425th or 426th year of the former and the
950th of the latter of those æra’s, wherein the Parthians undertook
the Mesopotamian expedition, will nearly coincide. But it may be
proved from a medal of Monneses, described by the [105]Marquis Scipio
Maffei, in opposition to [106]Dr. Vaillant, that this prince was
not dethroned in the year of the Arsacidæ 423, but had two years
afterwards the management and direction of the Parthian affairs:
wherefore, notwithstanding what has been advanced to the contrary
by that antiquary, he might still have sat one or two years longer
upon the Parthian throne. This may likewise be inferred from Dio, who
mentions Vologeses as presiding over the Parthians, not in 198, but
in 199, about two years after their irruption into Mesopotamia. All
which being with proper attention considered, it will appear extremely
probable, that the medal I have been endeavouring to explain was coined
either in the 425th or 426th year of the Parthian æra, that is, the
197th of CHRIST; that the authority of [107]Arrian, [108]Justin, and
[109]Athenæus, on which F. Corsini principally sounds his notion,
may be intirely depended upon; and, in fine, that the arguments he
makes use of on this occasion, to [110]evince the truth of his scheme,
however they may be opposed by F. Frœlich, and the medal before me
mutually strengthen and support one another.

6. I must not forget to remark, that F. Corsini thinks, without a
proper foundation, that the piece of Monneses published by Dr. Vaillant
may be considered either as a Parthian or [111]an Armenian coin.
This, I say, he takes, without a proper foundation, to be the case.
For the medals of the Armenian kings, such as that he has obliged the
learned world with a draught of, and a most excellent dissertation
upon, discover a taste far different from that which is exhibited by
Dr. Vaillant’s coin. The air of the face, the curls into which the
hair is formed, and in fine every thing else visible upon the former,
except the symbols on the reverses, bear little resemblance to what is
presented to our view by the latter. As for the titles, impressed on
these medals, they are far from being of the same kind; the Armenian
princes in this particular approaching nearer the successors of
Seleucus[112], and contenting themselves with more plain and simple
titles than that lofty one affected by Monneses, according to Dr.
Vaillant, in common with the other Parthian kings. To which I may add,
that my coin sets this point beyond dispute, by the Parthian characters
it has so apparently preserved; all the Armenian medals I have hitherto
met with, about three or four in number, as well as that of Baron
Stosch[113], which F. Corsini has so learnedly explained, having only
Greek legends upon them. What therefore he has advanced, on this head,
must be considered as not altogether so consonant to truth; especially,
as he seems to have offered nothing of any great weight in support of
his opinion.

7. Before I dismiss the present subject, I must beg leave to take
notice of the Parthian character on the field of my medal, which is not
very unlike the Chaldee[114] or Palmyrene _Aleph_, tho’ of something
a more complex form. Should this be allowed, that character may be
considered as the initial letter of ARSACIA, the name of a city subject
to the Parthians, placed by [115]Ptolemy in Media; where, according to
[116]Dr. Vaillant, many of the Parthian medals were coined. That city
is however believed by some to have been seated on the spot occupied
at this time by Casbin, or rather Kazwîn[117], one of the principal
towns of the Belâd Al Jebâl, or mountainous part of the Persian Irâk;
for a particular account of which place, the curious may have recourse
to Golius, and the eastern geographers. As I have already far exceeded
the limits proposed to myself, when I began this letter, I shall not
now touch upon any other observations relative to the medal before me,
which is the only one I have hitherto met with carrying a Greek and a
Parthian legend upon it; but only assure you that I am, with the most
perfect regard,

                                 +SIR,+
                           Your most obliged
                      and most obedient Servant,
                             John Swinton.

Christ-Church Oxon. Nov 29th, 1756.




XXIII. _An Account of a Red Coral from the_ East-Indies, _of a very
singular Kind: In a letter from Mr._ John Ellis, _F.R.S. to Mr._ Peter
Collinson, _F.R.S._


[Read Mar. 24, 1757.]

Dear Sir,

I Promised you, in my letter of the 7th of February 1754, published
in our Transactions, Vol. xlviii. p. 507. that I would, when I had
an opportunity, endeavour to illustrate the tubular structure of
the common red coral of the Mediterranean sea, and of some of the
keratophyta; which two kinds, tho’ evidently of as different natures as
stone and horn, yet are, from late observation, found to be fashioned,
or raised up into those beautiful forms, by animals of the same class.

This I shall attempt to do, by comparing them with bodies of a similar
kind, but of a less compact texture: for which reason I formerly
referred you, in the above-mentioned letter, to a figure, which I have
given of the herring-bone-coralline with its animals alive in it,
_Phil. Trans._ Vol. xlviii. TAB. XVII. _Fig._ E, F, G, to shew you the
nature of the tubular structure of the keratophyta.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. III. _p. 189_.

  _J. Mynde_

A. _A piece of pithy knobbit and Coral from the Spice Islands in the
East Indies which appears to be form’d by animals of the Polype kind,
contrary to the receiv’d opinion of these bodies being vegetables; the
vermicular tubes, of which it is compos’d, being no more than the cases
or coverings of the bodies of these Insects._

B. _The radiated holes on the yellow mealy surface, through which these
insects extend their arms or claws, as in the common red coral._

CC. _Small Branches almost cover’d by a further addition of tubes, that
have risen all round and increas’d the bulk of the Stem, continuing
themselves along it to extend the ramifications; by this means they
involve the former side branches into their own stem, differing
intirely from the laws of vegetation._

D. _A piece of yᵉ. knobby joints magnified to shew their reticular
texture like that of spongy orange wtʰ tubes._

 _d._ _The same in its natural size._

E. _A piece of yᵉ. blood red tubes which is harden’d into a shelly or
stony substance with some appearance of reticulations, taken from yᵉ.
space between yᵉ. knobs._

 _e._ _The same in its natural size._

 F.F. _Small holes in yᵉ. branches of yᵉ. polypes._

G. _A mass of the stem not so highly magnified shewing yᵉ. tubes
passing from stony to spongy._

 _g._ _The same in its natural Size._

H. _The transverse section of the base shewing the holes in the ends of
the tubes._

I. _One of the radiated cells magnified, this is guarded by 8 pointed
valves, which close inward, when_

K. _the Polype draws in his head_ (_which is figur’d at_ K) _and opens
outward when it extends it._]

I now lay before you a piece of red coral (_See_ TAB. III. _Fig._ A.)
from the East Indies of a very singular kind, which I received from
your friend Abraham Hume, Esq. The stem and branches of this appear
evidently to the naked eye to consist of a combination of vermicular
tubes closely connected together: and, if we trace these little tubes
to their starry openings on the surface, _Fig._ B. we shall plainly
discover them to be the red testaceous coverings of certain marine
polypes, which have raised themselves thus upright, and disposed
themselves into this remarkable vegetable form.

In order to form some idea, how these masses are increased and extended
to the sizes we often meet with them, and where the same regularity of
shape is preferred in the large, that we find in the small; we think
it more than probable to suppose, that the species of polypes, that
compose this coral, breed as we find all other polypes do: and this
appears more evident to me, from what I have already discovered in
many kinds of corallines (_See Plate 38. of my Essay on Corallines_),
where the young polypes in some species are produced in the egg state,
while others fall in great numbers from their matrices, completely
formed, down to the roots of their parent corallines, either to begin
a new race of the same species near them, or to increase the trunk,
and extend the ramifications, of the plant-like figure which they just
descended from.

From observing this method in nature, we shall the easier account
for the progress of those generations of young testaceous polypes
of this coral; which appear to us succeeding each other, and raising
themselves up from the root or base, passing along the stem and
branches, and covering the whole anew with their shelly cases: and
in this their passage upwards we may observe, in the specimen before
us, how they have involved and incrusted the small lateral branches
of the former generation, so as almost to hide their appearance. From
hence we may trace them extending themselves to the extremities of
the upper branches, and there forming a new series of slender twigs,
proportionable to those which they had just covered, still keeping
order and exact symmetry in the whole structure.

The distinguishing character of this red coral, after we have
considered its fistulous texture, is the knotty joints, of which it
is composed: these appear more distinct, and are placed at a greater
distance, in the smaller branches than the large; and, as we descend to
the trunk, the traces of these inequalities but just appear.

From these protuberances, or knots, the lateral branches take their
rise; and as these and the leading branches grow up together, they
frequently inosculate at these joints, forming a kind of network, like
what we observe in many of those species of keratophyta, which are
called sea-fans.

The surface of this coral, when recent, is covered with a mealy friable
matter, of a yellow colour, not unlike that of the true red coral, but
much fuller of little raised starry cells. The figure of these cells is
owing to the radiated position of the claws of the polypes.

Upon removing this friable matter, we observe, that the polypes of
these cells have had a communication with a small hole or opening into
one of the tubes, that lie immediately under it.

This frequent intervention of the openings of the small tubes, or their
ramifications, between the sides of the larger ones, makes the latter
appear more irregular, and not so parallel, as in the true red coral;
where we find fewer stars; and, where those occur, we may observe it
always alters the direction of the tubes.

I must further remark to you, that many of the tubes of this coral
appear, thro’ a magnifying glass, full of small holes, like those I
have described in the keratophyton (_Plate_ 26. _Fig._ G. _p._ 62. _of
my Essay on Corallines_); and these holes will appear more distinctly
to you, when you examine the half tubes, or broken irregular ones, on
the stem and great branches of this coral.

Further, if you compare the transverse section, at the base of this
coral, with a section of a common Rattan cane, they will both appear
full of holes in the same regular order, and of nearly the same
diameter: whereas the tubes, on the surface of the stem of this coral,
look as irregular as so many holes pierced or eaten out by worms.

I hope by this time our ingenious botanical friends, whom we could
not persuade to part with these beautiful sea-productions from the
vegetable kingdom, are thoroughly convinced, that this mealy, friable,
or calcarious covering, full of starry cells, which we are sure to
find covering all the recent red corals and keratophyta, is not a mere
blight of insects, common to the sea vegetables as well as land ones,
which they have formerly insisted on; but that they will consider this
covering, for the future, as proper and necessary for the well-being of
these little animals, as they do at present hair and wool for beasts,
feathers and down for birds, and scales and slime for fishes.

This red coral is mentioned by Rumphius, in his _Herbarium Amboinense_,
Vol. vi. Tab. 85. p. 264, but, as the figure he has given, is not
sufficient to demonstrate its tubular texture and animal structure,
I have had it more accurately drawn; and those parts in particular
magnified, which may tend to illustrate the foregoing description.
He mentions, that it is in great esteem with them, on account of its
beautiful figure; but would be much more so, if it was not for the
great difficulty they find in preserving the smallest twigs from
falling off; which is the reason, I suppose, that the specimen is not
more complete.

Lastly, he tells us, that it is used by the inhabitants of the
Spice-islands as a principal ingredient in their medicines to expel
poison: as also, that they have it in great esteem on account of its
excellent diuretic quality.

Upon examining this coral in the microscope, I observed, that the
outside tubes of the stem were chiefly stony, but that the inward parts
were composed of as many divisions of spongy tubes, as there were of
stony ones.

This I find arises from the smaller ramifications, which being spongy
at the knobs, and stony in the spaces between them, are inclosed and
united together into one common mass during the growth of this coral;
so that both the soft and hard parts together make up the inside of its
trunk or stem. When we examine minutely the two parts, that compose
the branches, we find, that the knobs consist of little sponge-like
tubes interwoven together, as they appear magnified at _Fig._ D; and
the shank or part between the knobs is composed of stony tubes, that
are more erect (_See the piece magnified at_ E): these tubes appear to
be branched from the lateral holes at FF. The Fig. E likewise shews the
appearance of the tubes on the surface of the main stem.

The radiated openings in the little wart-like figures on the surface
of the branches are guarded by eight pointed valves, as magnified at
_Fig._ I.: these inclose the heads of the polype, one of which is
figured at K.

The stem of this specimen is so intirely divested of its yellow mealy
covering, that we may easily trace the manner in which the animals,
that compose it, have carried up their stony tubular cells, which lie
side by side along the surface. These tubes have still some marks
of sponginess at particular distances, which, as they come to join
together, form those irregular cross-lines, that surround the stem in
several places. _See Fig._ A.

In other specimens I have observed the principal stems covered over
with calcarious tubes, such as I have described in the Essay on
Corallines, _&c._ in that species of keratophyton called Venus’s Fan.
_Plate 26_.

The sponginess of the knobby joints occasions that excessive
brittleness in the lesser branches; which accounts for the difficulty,
which Rumphius mentions, of getting good specimens of this beautiful
coral.

I have lately seen a white pipy and stony coral with spongy knobs,
which is only a different species of this genus, in the very curious
cabinets of our friends Dr. John Fothergill, M. D. and Mr. Isaac
Romilly, F.R.S. specimens of which they have both lately received
from the East Indies. The examining of these has given me an
opportunity to be more particular in the description of this coral;
which seems to point out to us the great affinity there is between
corals, keratophyta, and sponges.

I am,

                               Dear Sir,
                Your most affectionate humble Servant,
                              John Ellis.

Laurence Lane, Mar. 24, 1757.




XXIV. _An Account of the Effects of a Storm at_ Wigton _in_ Cumberland.
_Communicated by Mr._ Philip Miller, _F.R.S._


  _To the Rev._ Tho. Birch, _D. D. Secr. R. S._

[Read Mar. 31, 1757.]

SIR,

I Received the inclosed letter by the post, giving an account of the
storm, which happened lately in the north. If the Royal Society have
not already been informed of the effects of it, and you think the
contents of it worthy their notice; I beg you will be so good as to
communicate it to them. The facts therein mentioned have been confirmed
to me by a person of skill and integrity. Mr. Thomlinson’s conjecture
of the cause of the leaves of trees appearing scorched after the storm,
I believe to be true; having two or three times myself observed the
same in Sussex, at a considerable distance from the sea; when all the
hedges, trees, and woods, on the side toward the sea, have had their
leaves scorched, as if fire had passed over them; and their opposite
sides from the sea have continued in full verdure; which frequently
happens in storms from the south-west: and, upon tasting their leaves,
I have found them as salt, as if they had been steeped in brine. I am,

                                 SIR,
                  Your most obedient humble Servant,
                            Philip Miller.

Chelsea, Nov. 23. 1756.


_To Mr._ Philip Miller.

                        Wigton, Nov. 15. 1756.

+SIR,+

ON the 6th of last month, at night, happened a most violent hurricane,
such an one, perhaps, as has not been known in these parts in any
one’s memory. It lasted four hours at least, from about eleven till
three. The damage it has done is very deplorable. The corn has sufferd
prodigiously. Stacks of hay and corn have been intirely swept away:
houses unroofed, and in several places driven down by its fury: trees
without number torn up by the roots; others snapt off by the middles,
and their fragments scattered over the adjoining fields. Some were
twisted almost round, or split down to the very ground; and, in short,
left in such a shattered, mangled condition, as scarce any description
can give you an adequate idea of.

The change in the face of the country was very surprising in one single
night: for, to complete the dismally-desolate scene, the several tribes
of vegetables (in all their verdure the day before), as if blasted with
æthereal fire, hung down their drooping heads. Every herb, every plant,
every flower, had its leaves withered, shrivelled up, and turned black.
The leaves upon the trees, especially on the weather side, fared in the
same manner. The evergreens alone seem to have escaped. The grass also,
in a few days time, recovered itself in a great measure.

I agreed at first with the generality of people in their opinion, that
lightning had done all this mischief: but upon recollecting, that
there had not been much seen any where, in many places none at all,
but that the effect was general[118], as far as ever the wind had
reached; I began to think, that some other cause might probably be
assigned. Accordingly, I set myself immediately to examining the dew or
rain, which had fallen on the grass, windows, _&c._ in hopes of being
enabled, by its taste, to form some better judgment of the sulphureous
or nitrous particles (or of whatever other quality they were), with
which the air was so strongly impregnated that night, as to produce
such strange effects. Nor was I deceived in my expectations: for, upon
tasting it, I found it as brackish as any sea-water. The several
vegetables also, which I tasted, were all salt, more or less, and
continued so for five or six days after; the saline particles not being
then washed off; from the corn and windows in particular; the latter of
which, when the moisture on the outside was exhaled next day, sparkled
and appeared exceeding brilliant in the sunshine. This saltness, I
conceive, has done the principal damage: for common salt dissolved in
water, I find, upon experiment on some fresh vegetables (when sprinkled
two or three times upon them) has the very same effect, except that it
does not turn them quite so black: but particles of a sulphureous, or
[119]other quality, may have been mixed with it. That this salt water
had been brought from the sea[120], every body, I think, will allow;
but the manner how[121], is not so easy to conceive.

This freedom, Sir, perhaps may want an apology: but, as a
gentleman[122] of the Society you have the honour to be a member of,
did not think something of the like nature either unworthy of his
own notice, or that of the world; and as the hurricane principally
affected these parts of nature, in the knowledge of which you have so
eminently distinguished yourself; I flattered myself you would excuse
the trouble I should give you in a perusal of an account of this very
strange, tho’ hitherto unnoticed, phenomenon.

I am, Sir, with the greatest respect and esteem,

                       Your most humble Servant,
                          Thomas Thomlinson.




XXV. _An Account of the Effects of Lightning upon the Steeple and
Church of_ Lestwithiel, Cornwall; _in a Letter to the Right Honourable
the Earl of_ Macclesfield, _President of the R.S. By Mr._ John Smeaton,
_F.R.S._


[Read April 21, 1757.]

JAnuary 25. 1757. about five o’clock in the evening, returning home
from the Edystone works near Plymouth, I observed four flashes of
lightning, within the space of six or seven minutes, towards the west;
but heard no noise of thunder[123]. A few days after, I was informed,
that the same evening the lightning had shattered the church of
Lestwithiel in a very surprising manner.

The 1st of March I was at Lestwithiel: they had then begun to repair
the damages; but had not made such a such progress, but that the
principal effects were equally observable as at first. I observed,
and was informed, as follows: At the time before-mentioned, the
inhabitants were alarmed by a violent flash of lightning, accompanied
with thunder so sudden, loud, and dreadful, that every one thought the
house he was in was falling upon him; almost every one being within
doors, on account of a violent shower of rain, which preceded the
lightning: so that no body saw or heard any thing of the mischief done
to the church, till it was observed accidentally after the shower.

The steeple is carried up, plain and square, to about 49 feet, with a
kind of slate-stone, rough-casted on the outside; upon which is formed
a very elegant octogon Gothic lanthorn about 9 feet high, and thereon
a stone spire about 52 feet height, with a spindle and vane rising
about 3 feet above the stone: so that the whole together was about 113
feet. Each face of the lanthorn finishes above with a sort of a Gothic
pediment, with a little pinacle upon each, separated from the body of
the spire.

I will not affirm, that the lightning entered in at the spindle or vane
at top; but will suppose it, for the sake of methodizing the facts. The
vane was of plate copper, which being turned round, and rivetted, made
a socket to turn upon. The spindle did not reach thro’ the socket, but
the weight of the vane rested upon the top of the spindle, the top of
the socket being closed. About the vane were many acute angles, and
some almost sharp; but I did not observe any pointing directly upward.
The vane was much bruised, which might be occasioned by the fall; but
the socket was rent open, as if it had been burnt by gunpowder; and in
such a manner, as I cannot conceive could be occasioned by the fall.
Under the spindle, that carried the vane, was a bar of much the same
size and length[124], that passed thro’ the center of several of the
uppermost stones successively, in order to unite them the more firmly
together, and was run in with lead: all which surrounding stones were
broke off, except one, which, together with the bar, fell down within
the tower.

The shell of the spire, as far down as 35 feet from the top, was no
more than 7 inches thick, and the courses about the same height: so
that scarce any one stone in the spire could weigh more than 30 or
40 pounds; but they were joined together at the ends, with mortoise
and tenon, in a curious manner. Above 20 feet of the upper part was
intirely thrown down, and dispersed in all directions; and, as I was
informed, some pieces were found at the distance of 200 yards. A great
many stones fell upon the roof of the church; and several made their
way thro’ both roof and cieling down into the church, breaking the
pews, and whatever they fell upon. Six feet still lower the spire was
separated; the westermost half being thrown down; the eastern half was
left standing, but disjointed, and in so critical a posture, that it
seemed ready to fall every moment: so that this was ordered to be taken
down immediately; and likewise to 6 feet below, the work being found
remarkably shattered. In this condition it was when I saw it. The whole
of the spire I found much cracked and damaged, but the remainder of
the 7 inch shell so greatly, that there seemed scarcely a whole joint.

The pediments over every face of the lanthorn were damaged more or
less; but the whole ashlering of that to the N.W. was torn off from the
inner wall, to which it was connected. At first sight this might seem
to be done by the falling of the stones from above; but I was convinced
to the contrary, by observing, that several of the pediments were
damaged, and even stones struck out, where the little pinacles above
them were left standing.

About the top of the lanthorn is a bell for the clock to strike on: it
is hung upon a cross-bar, with gudgeons at each end; the whole being
suspended to a beam laid across the tower. The cross-bar was so bent,
that the clock-hammer would not touch the bell by above 2 inches. This
could not be done by the falling of stones, because the beam would
defend the bell from receiving any stroke in the direction to which
the cross-bar was bent. As to the wire, that drew the hammer, as I was
informed, not one bit of it could be found.

The bells (four in number) for ringing hung in the square part of the
tower, below the lanthorn, two above and two below: the wheels of every
one were broke to pieces, and one of the iron straps, by which they
are fastened to the yoke, unhooked; and, as appeared to me, could not
be replaced without great force, or unloosing. Whether these accidents
were occasioned by the lightning, or the falling stones, I leave
undetermined.

In the floor under the bells was placed the clock, cased up with slight
boards. The verge, that carries the pallets, was bent downwards, as if
a ten pound weight had fallen ten feet high right upon it. The crutch,
that lays hold of the pendulum, looked as if it had been cut off by a
blunt tool, and heated by the blow, till it was coloured blue, at the
place where it was cut. It turned at a right angle, and might be about
4/10 of an inch broad by 2/10 thick. As to the pendulum, which hung
pretty near the wall, the upper part of the rod was struck with such
violence against the wall, that a smart impression thereof was made
in the plaister: and near the upper part of the impression appeared
a circular shady ring, of a blackish colour, something like as if a
pistol had been discharged of powder, and the muzzle held near the
wall. The casing of boards round the clock remained unhurt.

In this story, on the north and south side, are two narrow windows or
air-loops; against the upper part of which, on the outside, were fixed
the timber dials belonging to the clock, both which were blown off,
and broke to pieces, possibly by the fall: and not only that, but part
of the stone jambs were broke out also, near to where the rod passed,
that carried the hands. In this story also was a sort of window or
air-loop on the east side, that had communicated with the church, but
was stopped up with lath and plaister: also several putlock-holes for
the scaffolding, which had gone thro’ the wall into the church, but
were stopped up with stone, and plaistered over: all these were forced
out into the church, and the plaister torn from the wall.

The ground-story of the tower or bellfrey is expressed in the plan
(_See_ TAB. IV. _Fig._ 2.). The south entrance A and north B were shut
with wooden doors. The upper part of the eastern C, that communicated
with the church, was made up with lath and plaister; and before it,
in the church, are the seats D, raised one higher than another; so
that the floor of the seats next the wall was half up the door-way;
consequently the vacuity under the seats lay open to the bellfrey.

About the middle of the westermost side, at _a_, one of the
paving-stones, about 1 foot square, and 1½ inch thick, was thrown
up, and a hole pierced into the wall, rather below the level of the
pavement, into which one might put three fingers. On the opposite side,
the south-west angle of the middle buttress at _b_ had a stone taken
out even with the ground, and a hole continued in to the buttress;
so that there is great appearance of its reaching thro’ both wall
and buttress, which together is 8 feet; but the hole was too rugged
and crooked to put any thing thro’. Besides this hole, this wall was
pierced in several places, and the plaister thrown off both within and
without. One place within, about 4 feet above the floor, right over
_c_, was a hole of about 14 inches square pierced 6 inches in the wall;
and so near square, that I inquired, whether it had not been made by
art; but was assured of the contrary.

The north and south doors of the tower were both blown out, and broke
in many pieces. Many of the arch-stones over both doors were disjointed
and displaced: two of the stones making the jamb of the south door at
_g_ were forced quite out, and one of them broke.

The vaulting of the east door-way C was plaistered underneath: the
plaister was sprung from the stone in 30 or 40 places, like as if a
small bar of iron had been drove from above thro’ the joints of the
stone, and thereby forced off the plaister with its end. The lath and
plaister partition, which stopped up the upper part of this door-way,
was forced into the church, and the wainscotting making the back of
the last seat was torn from the wall from end to end. Some part of the
vapour seems to have made its way thro’ the cavity under the seats; for
most of the boards composing the rise of the steps from seat to seat
were blown out forwards; and several panels of wainscot at each end of
the seats, at _d_ and _e_, were forced out, and broke. Hence the vapour
seems to have divided itself into three branches; one moving directly
forward to the east window G, being 13 feet wide, and about 20 feet
high, consisting of five principal lights divided by stone mullions:
two of the lights were in a manner wholly destroyed, and several large
holes in those remaining; the glass and lead being carried outward,
like as if an harlequin had leaped thro’ the window. The north window
E, fronting the broken panels at _d_, was very much shattered: but the
south window F had scarce a whole pane left.

It is farther to be noted, that almost all the lights in the church,
tho’ not broke, were bagged outward; but those parts remaining intire
in the window D most remarkably so.

 _N.B._ It was said in the London papers, that the organ was intirely
 spoilt: it is certain there is not, nor ever was, any organ in this
 church.




XXVI. _An Account of the Case of the late Right Honourable_ Horace
_Lord_ Walpole; _being a Sequel to his own Account published in the_
Philosophical Transactions, _Vol._ xlvii. _p. 43. and 472_.


I.

 _Copy of a Letter from_ John Pringle, _M.D. F.R.S. to Dr._ Robert
Whytt, _Professor of Medicine in the University of_ Edinburgh, _and
F.R.S. relating to the Case of the Right Honourable Lord_ Walpole;
_with Dr._ Whytt’_s Answer. Communicated by Dr._ Pringle.

[Read April 21, 1757.]

                                                  London, 22 Feb, 1757.

+SIR,+

I Imagined, that upon hearing of Lord Walpole’s death, you would be
desirous to know the state of his Lordship’s health from the time he
published his own case; whether he continued the use of his medicines
to the last; what distemper he died of; and, if his body was opened,
what was the condition of his bladder and kidneys. I informed myself,
as well as I could, of all these particulars; and I hope I shall be
able to give you some satisfactory account of most of them.

Last year, in the month of March, about ten months before his
Lordship’s death, I happened to meet him at a friend’s house, where
he dined, and never saw any man of his age with a more healthful
appearance. He was then in his 78th year. He ate with an appetite,
and of a variety of dishes; drank some Madeira, and was very chearful
the whole time. His Lordship then told me, that he had enjoyed perfect
health since he sent his case to the Royal Society; that he thought it
probable there was still a stone in his bladder, but so diminished, or
smoothed, as to give him no uneasiness; that he did not think it safe
to go about the streets of London in a coach, but that he went every
where in a chair; and that, in the country, he could travel 40 miles
a day in his post-chaise, without fatigue, or feeling any of his old
pains upon the motion. That he continued to drink, for a constancy,
three pints of oystershell lime-water daily; and to take, as often,
from half an ounce to a whole ounce of soap, by way of lenitive. All
these circumstances I am sure of, because I noted them down when I came
home.

From this time to the beginning of winter, Lord Walpole (as Mr.
Graham, his apothecary, informed me) continued in the same state of
health; but some time after coming to town, his Lordship was seized
with a lingering feverish disorder, very much affecting his spirits,
but intirely unconnected with the stone. Dr. Shaw, who attended his
Lordship for about a fortnight before his death, told me, that there
had never been any stoppage of water, or passing of bloody urine, or
any pain about his bladder or kidneys, during his last illness; but
that he now and then felt some irritation in making water, a symptom
too inconsiderable to require any other medicine than the continuation
of his lime-water; which, in smaller quantity, he drank till within two
or three days of his end.

Mr. Ranby and Mr. Hawkins, surgeons, with Mr. Graham, were present at
the opening of the body; and from the two last I received the account
of the dissection.

The coats of the bladder appeared to be a little thicker than natural,
but were otherwise sound. The _glandula prostata_ was of a large size,
but not distempered. They found three _calculi_, two lying loose in
the bladder, and the other, a very small one, sticking in the passage,
at that part, which is surrounded by the prostate gland. Mr. Graham
favoured me with a sight of them all. The two first were very much
alike, being of the shape and size of the kernel of a Spanish nut; only
the sides were irregularly flattened, but without forming any sharp
angle. The surface of each was every where smooth, except where there
had been a separation of some small scales, not so thick as one’s nail;
and the largest exfoliation from one of these stones appeared to have
been nearly about the breadth of the nail of my little finger. The
polish otherwise, as well as the colour of both, might be compared to
a boy’s marble. One of these _calculi_ weighed 21 grains, the other
22 grains: they were heavy for that bulk, and seemingly of a hard
substance. The smallest stone having been put up with some others of
the same size, taken out of the gall-bladder, Mr. Graham could not be
positive which of them it was; and therefore I can only say, that what
he thought most likely to be so, was about the size and shape of the
seed of an apple, with the point broken off, and the edge ragged. This,
as I observed, was found in the passage, seemed to be coming away, and
probably had occasioned that irritation the patient had now and then
felt during his last illness. It weighed only about a grain.

No parts could have a sounder appearance than both the ureters and
kidneys. The first were not dilated; nor did the last contain any
stone, mucus, or gravel: the pelvis in each was of a natural size.

The rest of the abdominal _viscera_ were in the same healthful state,
except the gall-bladder, which was full of stones. The largest was
about the size of a small chesnut, but rounder. The surface was
smooth, particularly at one part, where it seemed to have rubbed upon
a lesser _calculus_, of the shape of one of the _vertebræ_ of a small
animal, without the processes. This last had a hollow on each side
corresponding to the convexity of the large stone; and these cavities
being finely polished, it seemed as if sometimes one side, sometimes
the other, of the small stone had been turned to the great one, and had
been shaped in that manner by the attrition. The largest _calculus_
weighed one drachm two scruples and two grains; the small one but nine
grains: they both sunk in water; and felt specifically heavier than
any stones I have ever seen taken out of the gall-bladder. Besides
these two, there were several very small _calculi_ of irregular shapes,
and of rough surfaces, which all together did not weigh above five
grains. Mr. Graham, who had attended his Lordship for about 40 years,
assured me, that he never had any symptom that indicated a stoppage
of the bile, or the passage of a stone from the gall-bladder into the
intestines.

Neither the head nor breast were opened.


These are all the materials, I can furnish you with, relating to this
case. If you desire to be more particularly informed of any of these
circumstances, let me know, and I will endeavour to procure you all the
lights I can. In the mean while, I should be glad to have your remarks
upon what I have now sent you; and since you have been so long in the
train of thinking, with more than usual attention, on this subject,
I presume it would be very agreeable to the gentlemen of the Royal
Society to have a paper from you on this occasion; and the rather, as
his Lordship began his course of soap and lime-water, upon hearing of
your success by that method of cure. I am,

                              SIR, _&c._
                             John Pringle.


II.

 _Some Observations on the Case of the late Right Honourable Lord_
Walpole, _of_ Woolterton: _In a Letter to Dr._ John Pringle, _F.R.S.
By_ Robert Whytt, _M.D. F.R.S._

[Read April 21, 1757.]

                                             Edinburgh, March 16. 1757.

SIR,

PHysicians have not, perhaps, differed more widely in any thing, than
in their opinions of the medicines lately proposed for the cure of the
stone. While some imagined, that Mrs. Stephens’s medicines, or soap
and lime-water, were in most cases to accomplish a dissolution of the
stone; others have been positive, that nothing of this kind was to be
expected from them: nay, they have condemned these medicines, when
used in large quantities, and long persisted in, as hurtful to the
stomach, guts, and urinary passages; and have ascribed the remarkable
ease, which they almost always give to calculous patients, to their
depositing a calcarious powder upon the surface of the stone, by which
it is rendered less hurtful to the bladder. And this opinion seems to
have been not a little strengthened, by the great quantity of white
sediment observed in the urine of those patients, who have used soap
and lime-water in considerable quantities. Now, as I am of opinion,
that most of these objections and doubts, concerning the effects of
soap and lime-water in the cure of the stone, may be cleared by a
candid consideration of Lord Walpole’s case, I shall trouble you with
a few remarks, which have occurred to me, in comparing it with the
appearances found in his Lordship’s body after death, of which you were
so obliging as to send me a particular account.


1. Whatever doubts may have been entertained concerning the cause of
Lord Walpole’s complaints, yet it now appears evidently beyond dispute,
that they must have been owing, not to a scorbutic corrosive humour in
his bladder, as was imagined by some[125], but to stones lodged in it.
These stones may possibly have lain there since 1734; for from that
time to spring 1747, his Lordship was free of any gravelish complaints,
only passing some red sand at times. But at what time soever they may
have first arrived in the bladder, in 1747 and 1748 they seem to have
acquired such a bulk, or were become so rough or pointed in their
surface, as to occasion great pain, frequent provocations to urine,
and sometimes bloody urine; especially after any considerable motion.
These complaints, however, were soon relieved, by swallowing daily an
ounce of Alicant soap, and three English pints of lime-water made with
calcined oyster-shells; and from 1748 to 1757 his Lordship was kept
almost intirely free from any return of them, except for some months of
1750 and 1751, during which he took only one-third part of the quantity
of soap and lime-water above-mentioned[126].


2. It is highly probable, nay, I think, altogether certain, that the
soap and lime-water not only relieved Lord Walpole of the painful
symptoms occasioned by the stones in his bladder, but also prevented
their increase.

If these stones came into the bladder in 1734, they must, in so many
years as his Lordship lived after this, have acquired a very great
bulk: nay, if we suppose them not to have been lodged in the bladder
above a year before they began to occasion frequent inclination to make
urine, with pain, and sometimes sudden stoppages of urine; yet, from
1746 to 1757, they ought to have grown to a much larger size than that
of the kernel of a Spanish nut[127]. ’Tis true, the stone may increase
faster in some patients, and slower in others; but stones, after
remaining a dozen or more years in the bladder, generally weigh several
ounces. Some years since l saw a stone, weighing near six ounces, taken
from a boy of no more than 14 years of age.


3. Lord Walpole’s case not only shews the power of soap and lime-water
to relieve the painful symptoms, and prevent the increase, of the stone
in the bladder, but also makes it probable, that these medicines do
communicate to the urine a power of dissolving the stone.

In the beginning of 1749 his Lordship voided with his urine a calculous
substance of a flat shape, about the bigness of a silver penny, and
covered with a soft white _mucus_[128]; and upon the surfaces of the
stones found in his bladder there were some inequalities, which seemed
to have been made by the separation of thin _lamellæ_ or scales.
Further, the small stone found in the beginning of the _urethra_
must have been in a dissolving state, and considerably lessened in
the bulk: for, if it had lain long in the bladder, and never been
larger, it ought to have been voided thro’ the _urethra_ with the
urine; and it could not have arrived lately in the bladder, since Lord
Walpole had not had, for several years before his death, any nephritic
pains, or symptoms of stones passing from the kidnies; and since it
is not likely, that a stone of the size and shape of the seed of an
apple[129] would pass thro’ the ureters without being felt. Now if
this small stone, found in the _urethra_, was partly dissolved by the
virtue of the soap and lime-water; it will appear at least probable,
that the two larger stones in the bladder were so likewise. But altho’
Lord Watpole’s calculous concretions had remained undiminished, and
without any symptoms of dissolution; it would not therefore follow,
that soap and lime-water cannot dissolve the stone in other patients,
where the concretion may be of a less firm texture.

The Revᵈ. Dr. Richard Newcome, now Lord Bishop of Llandaff, while
drinking two English quarts of lime-water daily, for the cure of the
stone in his bladder, poured his urine every morning and evening upon
a piece of human _calculus_ weighing 31 grains; by which, in the space
of four months, it was reduced to three pieces, weighing in all only
six grains. Upon one of these pieces, weighing 2.31 grains, he caused
to be daily poured, for two months, the fresh urine of a person, who
drank no lime-water; at the end of which time the piece of _calculus_
was found to weigh 2.56 grains, having increased in weight a quarter
of a grain. This same piece being afterwards steeped in the bishop’s
urine (who continued to drink lime-water as above), from June 24th to
July 9th, was in these few days quite crumbled into powder. Since this
experiment shews, beyond dispute, that lime-water, unassisted by soap,
can communicate to the urine a power of dissolving the stone out of the
body, it can scarcely be doubted, that it must have the like effect on
it, when lodged in the bladder. And that the dissolution of the stone
in the bladder has been completed by soap alone, appeared evidently in
the case of the Rev. Mr. Matthew Simson, Minister of Pancaitland near
Edinburgh; an account of which will soon be made public[130] by Dr.
Austin, who opened his body after death. Mr. Simson had, from 1730,
been afflicted in a less or greater degree with the symptoms of a stone
in the bladder; and in November 1735 was sounded by Dr. Drummond of
Perth, and Mr. Balderston, surgeon in this city, by whom a stone was
not only plainly felt, but also by the patient himself. In February
1737 he began to take soap; and after 1743 never had any gravelish
symptoms. He died in May 1756; and, when his bladder was looked into,
there was neither stone nor gravel found in it.


4. It appears from Lord Walpole’s case, that soap and lime-water, even
when taken in large quantities, proceed very slowly in dissolving the
stone.

From July 1748, to the beginning of 1757, his Lordship drank three
English pints of lime-water, and swallow’d for the most part an ounce
of soap, daily; except from April 1750 to June 1751, during which time
he took only one pint of lime-water, and one-third part of an ounce
of soap, daily. However speedily soap and lime-water may dissolve the
greatest part of urinary stones out of the body, yet being mixed
with the aliment and humours of the stomach and guts, and afterwards
with the whole mass of blood, it is impossible but their force must
be greatly impaired before they arrive with the urine at the bladder.
When, therefore, urinary stones are of an uncommon hard texture, we are
perhaps scarcely to expect any sensible dissolution of them by the use
of soap and lime-water: but when they are of a softer kind, there is no
reason to doubt, that these medicines will in time dissolve them; and
this will happen sooner or later, in proportion to the hardness of the
stone, to the quantity of the medicines swallowed by the patient, and
the exact regimen he observes, as to diet[131].

But however slowly soap and lime-water may proceed in dissolving the
stone, yet they generally give speedy relief to the patient. Lord
Walpole did not take these medicines in the full quantity till the
end of July 1748; and, in a few months after, he was not only greatly
relieved of all his complaints, but in December was able to ride an
hundred miles in his coach, without finding any uneasiness, altho’
the two last days of the journey the horses went at a full trot[132].
In winter 1750, and spring 1751, when his Lordship swallowed only one
third part of the soap and lime-water, which he had been in use to
take, his pains and frequent inclination to make urine returned in a
good degree[133]; but, after taking the medicines in the full quantity,
he soon became as easy as before[134].

It would seem, while Lord Walpole used only one pint of lime-water and
one third of an ounce of soap daily, that the petrifying quality of his
urine was not intirely destroyed, and that the stony particles newly
formed on the surface of the _calculi_ occasioned, by their roughness,
the return of his painful symptoms. However, when he had recourse to
the medicines in a larger quantity, the petrescent quality of his urine
was not only destroyed, but this fluid seems to have acquired a power
of dissolving the rough stony particles deposited on the surface of the
_calculi_; and in this way soon removed the pain, bloody urine, and
frequent desire to make water, upon using any considerable exercise.

Soap and lime-water not only relieve the painful symptoms occasioned by
the stone, by wearing off its sharp points, and rougher parts, which
used to irritate the tender membrane, which lines the bladder; but,
when this membrane has been wounded or lacerated by the stone, there
is nothing, that will heal it more speedily than lime-water; which the
ingenious Dr. Langrish has found to be remarkable also for its effects
in curing the bladders of dogs, after being fretted with soap-lees[135].

The power of soap and lime-water to alleviate the painful symptoms
attending the stone is so great, that, as far as I remember, I have
only met with one patient, who did not find himself considerably
relieved by them. But it is to be observed, that this patient neither
took them in full quantity, nor persisted in their use for a long
enough time: and, when he was afterwards cut, the stone taken out
of his bladder was almost as thick set with sharp prickles, as the
back of an hedgehog: so that, in this case, no remarkable ease could
be procured to the patient by the medicines, until they had quite
dissolved these sharp points, and rendered the surface of the stone
smooth and equal; which was not to be done but after a very long time,
especially as the stone was of a pretty hard texture.

It may be proper to take notice, that when, along with the stone, there
is any ulceration in the bladder, soap does mischief, and lime-water
often fails of giving any considerable relief. However, even in this
case it is perhaps one of the best remedies we know.


5. Soap and lime-water, taken in large quantities, and persisted in for
many years together, appear to be innocent, and no way injurious to
health.

Lord Walpole, who used these medicines for upwards of eight years, was
not only relieved of the painful symptoms of the stone, but had his
health improved by them in other respects[136]. His appetite, healthful
look, and a degree of spirits uncommon at his age, continued till the
end of 1756, when his last illness begin to attack him. And as his
health did not appear to be any way injured by these medicines, so,
where his body was opened after death, his kidneys and ureters were
observed to be quite sound and natural, as was likewise his bladder;
only its coats appeared a little thicker than usual, owing probably to
the long-continued friction of the stones upon it. Neither the kidneys,
ureters, nor bladder, were loaded or crusted with any calcarious
matter; an effect most unjustly ascribed to soap and lime-water,
since in the urinary passages, to which the air has no access, they
cannot deposite their calcarious part[137]; and since the white stuff
observable in the urine of such patients, as take these medicines in
large quantities, is only the usual sediment of the urine changed in
its nature and colour, with, perhaps, some of the dissolved particles
of the stone[138].

As the urinary passages were no-way injured, so neither were the
stomach, guts, and other _viscera_ of the lower belly. These had all a
healthful appearance, except the gall-bladder, which was almost full of
biliary concretions: nor is it surprising, that soap and lime-water,
which prevent the growth of urinary _calculi_, should have no effect on
biliary stones, since, altho’ these medicines dissolve the former out
of the body, yet they do not make the smallest impression on the latter.

I presume it will be needless to take notice, that the lingering
nervous fever, of which Lord Walpole died, cannot, with any colour of
reason, be ascribed to the large use of soap and lime-water; since, if
they could have produced such an effect, they must have done it in much
less time than eight years and an half.

It may not be amiss to observe, that altho’ soap and lime-water, taken
in large quantities, are no-way injurious to health, yet in some cases
they may become improper, on account of the particular state of the
patient. Thus, in a scorbutic or putrid disposition of the humours,
soap at least ought to be totally omitted; and such patients, who are
much troubled with the hæmorrhoids, ought to be sparing in its use,
as the alkaline salt, with which it abounds, will scarcely fail to
exasperate their pain. Where the patient is naturally very costive,
less lime-water and more soap ought to be used; and, on the contrary,
where the body is too loose, little or no soap is to be taken, but the
cure is to be trusted to lime-water alone; which, in this case, ought
to be drank to the quantity of two English quarts a day.


As the foregoing observations will, I am afraid, appear more tedious
than important, I shall only add, that I am, with great esteem,

                                 +SIR+,
                  Your most obedient humble Servant,
                             Robert Whytt.


III.

[Read April 21, 1757.]

_Dr._ Pringle’s _Paper read after Dr._ Whytt’s _Letter_.

DR. Pringle begs leave to inform the Society, that having read the copy
of his letter, within these few days, to Dr. Shaw, Mr. Hawkins, and Mr.
Graham, those gentlemen found his account agreeable to their several
observations; only Mr. Graham took notice, that, of late years, Lord
Walpole, in his journies to Norfolk, had twice voided some blood with
his urine, but with little uneasiness; and that at other times had
passed some sand and stony particles (tho’ never larger than the head
of a small pin), attended with frettings of the parts, scarce painful.
But Mr. Graham was not sure, whether these accidents were prior or
subsequent to the sequel of the case, communicated to the Society by
his Lordship.

Dr. Pringle thinks it may be likewise proper to acquaint the Society
with another circumstance in Lord Walpole’s case, which he had both
from Dr. Shaw and Mr. Graham, _viz._ that after using the soap and
lime-water for some time, his Lordship was freed from a very obstinate
dry and scurfy eruption, which had resisted several other medicines.
But as there were no marks of a putrid scurvy (that species expressly
alluded to towards the end of Dr. Whytt’s letter) the Society will
easily understand, how the lithontriptic medicines may be prejudicial
to one troubled with the true putrid scurvy (such as is most incident
to sailors) and yet not be improper for those, that are subject to
the scurfy eruptions, which are commonly, tho’ erroneously, called
scorbutic.

Pall-Mall, 20 April, 1757.




XXVII. _An Account of the Virtues of Soap in dissolving the Stone,
in the Case of the Rev. Mr._ Matthew Simson. _Communicated by_ John
Pringle, _M.D. F.R.S._


_To the Rev._ Tho. Birch, _D.D. F.R.S._

[Read April 28, 1757.]

SIR,

A Few days ago I received from Dr. Austin, physician at Edinburgh, the
case of the Rev. Mr. Simson, drawn up by himself, in the form of a
letter to Dr. Austin; and which you may remember was alluded to by Dr.
Whytt, in the paper read at the last meeting of the Society.

As I am at liberty to communicate this account to others, I thought
it would not be unacceptable to the gentlemen of the Society, to have
another well-attested instance laid before them of the virtues of soap
in dissolving the stone, or, at least, in removing all those painful
symptoms, which usually accompany that distemper.

To the patient’s own narration I have subjoined an extract from Dr.
Austin’s letter to me, containing the sequel of the case from the date
of Mr. Simson’s letter to his death; with an account of the state of
his bladder, as it appeared to Dr. Austin upon dissection. I am,

                                 SIR,
                  Your most obedient humble Servant,
                             John Pringle.

Pall-Mall, 27 April, 1757.


 _A Letter from the Rev. Mr._ Simson, _Minister at_ Pencaitland, _to
Dr._ Adam Austin, _Physician in_ Edinburgh.

[Read April 28, 1757.]

Dear Sir,

ACcording to your desire, I send you the history of my case; which is
as follows:

I was of an healthy constitution till the year 1730, when I was seized
with a frequent inclination to make water, without any previous pain
in the kidneys or ureters. This symptom continued till the year 1733,
without giving me much uneasiness.

In June 1733, as I was riding from Edinburgh to my own house at
Pencaitland, I was seized with a great difficulty and pain in making
water, which went off when I got home.

In the month of July, having again got on horseback, I was seized with
the same complaint, but more violent; for then some drops of blood
came away. From this time, if I rode eight or ten miles, I passed some
blood, but without pain.

In September I made a journey of 60 miles on horseback; but every two
miles was obliged to dismount, and made some bloody water.

I continued much in the same way all the year 1734, as the preceding;
only had one additional complaint, of a pain in the glans after making
water, and likewise in the neck of the bladder. The only thing I did
for it was, to drink plentifully of warm milk and water; and gave over
riding, on account of the bloody urine.

In the month of August I was sounded by my nephew, Dr. Simson,
professor of medicine in the university of St. Andrew’s; but he found
no stone, which he attributed to a wrong posture I was in, when he
sounded me.

During the winter, if I walked more than usual, I was sure to have a
return of the bloody urine and strangury.

In November 1735, I was sounded by Mr. Balderstone, surgeon, in
Edinburgh, a gentleman very expert in that operation, and likewise by
Dr. Drummond of Perthshire. They both distinctly felt a stone: and I
myself took hold of the catheter, when it was in my bladder, and felt
the stone as distinctly, as if it had been in my hand.

About Christmas I was seized with a pain along the left ureter, and
violent vomitings; but, upon using a turpentine clyster and opiates, it
went off.

During the year 1736, I continued much the same as the preceding year,
always drinking great plenty of milk and water; which gave me great
relief, as to the bloody urine.

I was advised by my nephew, Dr. Simson, to go to London, and be cut
by Mr. Cheselden; the rest of my friends advising me to be cut by Mr.
Smith, a lithotomist at Perth. However, I deferred the operation, and
continued much the same all the year 1737, having severe fits now and
then.

In the year 1738 Sir Alexander Gibson, of Addiston, informed me, that
he had been in my condition, had passed several small stones, and had
found incredible service from the use of soap pills: for, from not
being able to get out of bed, in the space of two months after using
the soap he was able to go a hunting. However, for some time I was
afraid to try the soap, not knowing what effects it might have on a
confirmed stone; Sir Alexander Gibson’s case being only that of small
stones. But the Rev. Mr. Lundie, of Salton, by experiments convinced
me of the efficacy of soap in dissolving a confirmed stone out of the
bladder; for the stone gradually grew smoother and smoother, and at
last was quite dissolved.

On the 12th of February 1739, I first began the use of the soap, and
in the beginning took only a drachm in the 24 hours. The first week it
made me a little qualmish: however, I gradually increased the dose; so
that in six weeks I took six drachms a day, without its disagreeing in
the least with me. I made it up into pills, and washed them down with a
draught of warm milk and water.

From the time I began to use the soap, my gravelish symptoms gradually
abated; but, upon walking two or three miles, I made bloody urine.
However, that symptom gradually abated; and in the year 1743 all the
symptoms of a stone quite vanished, insomuch that I could walk, ride,
or go in a machine, as well as ever.

From February 1739, to July 1743, I took every day five or six drachms
of soap: but after that time I diminished the dose to half an ounce;
and never after had any return of a gravelish symptom, tho’ I still
imagine the stone is not intirely dissolved; for after sitting some
time, I find as it were something come to the neck of the bladder, but
which gives me no uneasiness.

This, Sir, according to the best of my memory, is my case: and if it
can be of any benefit to you, in the cure of this painful disease, it
will give great pleasure to,

                               Dear Sir,
                      Your most obedient Servant,
                            Matthew Simson.

Nov. 20th, 1749.


_The Extract from Dr._ Austin’_s Letter to Dr._ Pringle.

[Read April 28, 1757.]

THE Rev. Mr. Simson’s letter to me as written in the year 1749; about
which time he told me, that he had ridden 40 miles in a day, without
any bad symptom ensuing.

In the year 1752 he broke his thigh-bone at the neck; by a fall from
his horse, and continued for six weeks in great pain; but after that
time he grew easier, and was able to put his foot to the ground. One
day, as his servant was helping him to walk across the room, he let
him fall; upon which Mr. Simson felt a severe pain: the broken leg
became then evidently shorter than the other; and by that misfortune
he was confined to his bed for near two years. However, about six
months before he died, he was so well recovered, as to be able to go to
church, and to perform divine service.

About the beginning of May 1756, Mr. Simson was seized with a diarrhæa,
which resisted all medicine, and carried him off in the 83d year of his
age. From the date of his letter to his death he had never discontinued
the use of the soap (except during the time of his last illness), tho’
he had not been troubled with any painful symptom of a stone since the
year 1743.

I obtained leave of his friends to open the body, but found no stone
or gravel in the bladder; that part appearing to be, in every respect,
in a natural state, except at the neck, where the coats seemed to be
schirrous, and were about a quarter of an inch thick.

It is probable, that the stone had been of a softer texture, and more
easily dissolved, than ordinary; otherwise five or six drachms of soap
taken daily, even for so long a time, could not have dissolved it
intirely; for many have used that medicine in much larger doses, and at
the same time have drank lime-water plentifully, without obtaining such
effects; tho’ all their painful symptoms were removed by that course,
as Dr. Whytt has shewn in his treatise on this subject.

I shall only add, that Mr. Simson’s son, who is now minister at Fala,
was present at the opening of the body, and can attest, that there was
no stone found in the bladder.

                             Adam Austin.

Edinburgh, 15 April 1757.


_A Letter from Dr._ Adam Drummond _to Dr._ Adam Austin, _relating to
the Rev. Mr._ Matthew Simson’_s Case. Communicated by_ J. Pringle,
_M.D. F.R.S._

[Read June 23, 1757.]

I Have yours; and was present when Mr. Balderstone sounded Mr.
Simson; and both of us perceived, very distinctly, a large stone: and
Mr. Simson himself felt it; which we were the more sollicitous he
should do, as he was sounded before by Dr. Simson, who had declared
there was no stone. But the particular magnitude of it we could not
well determine at the end of a long catheter; tho’ I remember Mr.
Balderstone, who was well versed in that business, conjectured it to
be pretty large. He was sounded only once by us, as the urethra was a
little hurt by turning the catheter. There is only one circumstance
in the case, which Mr. Simson seems to have omitted; that, from the
first symptoms of the stone, he passed a great deal of _mucus_ mixed
with _pus_, as well as blood; and great quantities of gritty red sand,
all in single grains, never any concreted into small stones. I take
the more notice of this, as I do not remember, that, after he used the
soap, he ever passed any sand, but a good deal of _mucus_, in which
the soap was discoverable by its frothing. Could the gritty particles
of sand be again suspended in the urine, so as to become invisible? or
were they wrapt up in the soapy liquid, so as to escape observation? I
have seen several stones of a soft consistence dissolved into mucilage
by soap: but the sand passed by Mr. Simson, before he used the soap,
seems to indicate his stone of a harder nature, tho’ indeed it felt
obtuse at the end of the catheter.

I shall rejoice, if many instances of this kind are found afterwards:
but this seems to be the only one yet, of a stone in the bladder being
dissolved by soap alone. I am,

                             Dear Doctor,
                       Your most humble Servant,
                            Adam Drummond.

Bandeeran, June 5. 1757.




XXVIII. _An Account of the Impressions of Plants on the Slates
of Coals: In a Letter to the Right Honourable_ George _Earl of_
Macclesfield, _President of the R.S. from Mr._ Emanuel Mendes da Costa,
_F.R.S._


[Read April 28, 1757.]

My Lord,

I Have the honour to address this letter to your Lordship, in order to
be communicated to the Royal Society, if your Lordship deems it worthy
the attention of that learned and illustrious assembly.

The impressions of various kinds of plants are frequently, I might
say always, found in some of the strata lying over coal; but more
particularly in a stratum of earthy slat, which, in my History of
Fossils, page 168. Species IV. I have synonymed _Schistus terrestris
niger carbonarius_, and which always lies immediately upon the
coal-stratum, not only in the coal-pits of this kingdom, but of many
other parts of Europe, _e.g._ France, Saxony, Bohemia, Silesia, _&c._

Most of these impressions, my Lord, are of the _herbæ capillares et
affines_, the gramineous, and the reed tribes: but, however, among
them many rare and beautiful impressions undoubtedly of vegetable
origin, and impressed by plants hitherto unknown to botanists, are not
unfrequently met with.

Besides these, my Lord, found over coal-pits, there are likewise found
in some parts of this kingdom, as at Robinhood’s-bay in Yorkshire,
Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, _&c._ many curious impressions of the
fern tribe in regular nodules of iron-stone; and, in the latter place,
not only impressions of plants, but even the cones or iuli of some
kinds of trees are met with, very perfect and fair, and curiously
imbedded in masses of iron-stone.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. V. _p. 229_.

_J. Mynde sc._ ]

The most part of the impressions of ferns, grasses, _&c._ are easily
recognizable, they so minutely tally to the plants they represent.
Others indeed, tho’ they do not exactly answer any known species, yet
have characters so distinctly expressed, that they are easily arranged
under their respective genera[139]. Therefore I shall not trouble
your Lordship with any further remarks on all such, but shall only
touch on those elegant and extraordinary impressions, probably of
unknown vegetables, above-mentioned: for that they are the parts and
impressions of vegetables, I think clearly evinced, if we attentively
and with a philosophical mind consider them, and reflect on the various
circumstances, which attend them in the places, where they now lie
buried.

I have therefore the honour, my Lord, to exhibit the drawings of seven
such extraordinary impressions, and the fossiles themselves, for your
Lordship’s and this learned body’s inspection (_See_ TAB. V.). The
impressions figured Nº. 1. is from Mr. Mytton’s collieries at Drilt,
near Oswestry, in Shropshire; as are also those figured Nº. 2, 4, and
7: they are found sometimes two feet in length, and are generally
covered with a thin crust of coal. The specimina Dr. Woodward exhibits,
Catalogue B, pages 106, 107. specimina _q._ 22. and _q._ 32. are
analogous to this, tho’ not exactly the same. The Doctor’s fossiles
were from Haigh in Lancashire; and he imagines the impressions to be
made by vegetables of the fir kind. Volckman also, in his _Silesia
subterranea_, tab. 22. fig. 2. figures a branch with a rhomboidal work
on it, and with three long narrow leaves, which seems akin to this
impression.

Nº. 2. seems of the reed tribe: the knobs placed in rows, which are
like the vesicles on the _quercus marina_, and some other _algæ_,
are very remarkable. Woodward, Catalogue B. page 9. specimen _a._ 1.
exhibits an impression akin to this, which he imagines to be of the
fern kind.

Nº. 3. from a coal-pit in Yorkshire. I cannot but think this impression
is owing to somewhat of the fir kind. Dr. Woodward, who exhibits such
a like impression, Catalogue B. p. 16. specimen _a._ 108. imagines the
same: his words are, “The impression is much like what might be made by
the branches of the common fir, after the leaves are fallen or stript
off.”

Nº. 4. seems to be of the same kind as Nº. 2.

Nº. 5. This extraordinary impression is from Mostyn-colliery in
Flintshire. It is a little obscured; but, when attentively viewed,
exhibits a reticular impression, the meshes whereof are rhomboidal
hollows, and the sides of the rhombs, or the net-work, are raised, or
in relief.

Nº. 6. is from Newcastle. Volckman, ibid, part 3. tab. 4. fig. 9. seems
to be of this kind.

Nº. 7. The same author, Volckman, figures a somewhat-like impression,
ibid. fig. 5.

Only these seven extraordinary impressions I have presumed, my Lord,
to treat of at this present time; but I have many more in my cabinet
equally curious, some few of which I here exhibit to the Society,
without taking any further notice of them: only I shall add, that many
extraordinary impressions occur in Woodward’s and other collections,
and many are iconed in authors, worthy the attention of the curious.

These impressions, my Lord, are not only met with in small pieces;
but large evident branches, some feet in length, have been found. I
have, in the collieries of Derbyshire, frequently traced branches with
(what seemed to me) long narrow leaves proceeding from them, and parts
of other vegetables, above a foot’s length: but the hardness of the
substance they are immersed in renders it impossible to get them out
without breaking them to pieces[140].

As these remains of vegetables are very extraordinary, I would
recommend to the curious in botany to take notice of them, as an
_Appendix Plantarum adhuc incognitarum_. For my part, I am so very
little skilled in botany, that I hardly presume to offer my opinion;
which is, that they are impressions and parts of species of the firs
and pines, of the tithymals, the cereus’s, and other arborescent
plants, and of large reeds; for some of the said kind are embellished
with ribbed, studded, and reticulated works; _e.g._ the Hercules’
club, or _rubi facie senticosa planta Lobelii_, described by Dr. Grew,
_Museum Reg. Soc._ p. 221. the _cerei, &c._

I further exhibit to the Society some few specimina of iron-stones with
cones or iuli imbedded in them. These, my Lord, are from veins of ball
iron-stone, in the lands of Lord Gower, at Okenyate, a village on the
Roman road of Watling-street; and from the iron-works at Coalbrookdale
in Shropshire. The cones are frequently met with in fragments, but
rarely so intire, and are never found but in the strata of iron-stone.
I have added to these a figured fossile body, much like a cone, found
sometimes in our chalk-pits in England, but chiefly in the pits at
Cherry-Hinton in Cambridgeshire. Dr. Woodward, Catalogue B. p. 22.
specimen _b._ 72. calls them cones seeming to be of the larix; and
imagines they were not come to ripeness or maturity. They certainly
have some resemblance to cones, tho’ I much doubt them to be so; but
they most exactly resemble the roots of the _cyperus rotundus vulgaris_
of botanists.

I shall finish this paper, my Lord, by acquainting your Lordship and
the Society, that I firmly believe these bodies to be of the vegetable
origin, buried in the strata of the earth at the time of the universal
deluge recorded by Moses. It is, I must confess, with regret, that
I find there are some, who reject the burial of these bodies at
that fatal catastrophe, but substitute partial deluges to account
for it. Did those gentlemen consider, or maturely weigh, the many
remarkable and strong evidences of an universal deluge, every-where
obvious in the bowels of the earth, they certainly would abandon their
imaginary system: for, my Lord, it is not only the immense quantities
of marine remains, dispersed in all terrestrial strata, which are
to be considered (that circumstance alone might give some reasoning
to their system of partial deluges), but the following more weighty
circumstances are likewise to be added and flung into the scale. 1º.
The heavings, displacings, trappings, and breaks of the metallic veins,
and the loads of rubble, met with at vast depths, and where no marine
remains were ever found; and such heavings, _&c._ are not rare in
metallic or mineral works: of which, to give your Lordship an idea, I
have presumed to sketch the following plan of such a phænomenon.

[Illustration: These cross-loads are not unfrequent in the mines on
North Downs, near Redruth, in Cornwall. Wheal-Widden copper-work there,
in 1750, was about 60 fathoms deep. The load was 20 feet over; and has
many cross-loads two or three feet over, which sometimes heave the
metallic load from one to five or six fathom. These cross-loads are
generally filled with fragments of stone, minerals and other rubble.]

2º. If these effects proceed from local deluges, recedings of the sea,
gulphs atterrated, _&c._ we should then indeed find marine remains: but
how will that account for the vast quantity of remains of terrestrial
vegetables and animals, equally met with, and in like manner as the
marine remains, in the bowels of the earth? And, 3º. Were local or
partial deluges the cause, we should then find only the animals and
plants of the climates or places, where such deluges have happened;
whereas in these fossil remains it is quite the contrary: the remains
of those plants and animals, we know, are of animals and plants, the
inhabitants of the most remote climes from those, where they now lie
buried; _e.g._ the rhinoceros-bones, in the cave called Baumans-hole,
in the Hartz Forest in Germany; the strange bones in the Antra Draconum
in Hungary; the horns of the moose-deer, and other prodigious horns,
and elephants bones, found in England, Ireland, Germany, Sibiria,
and even America, _&c._ of vegetables, parts of the arbor tristis in
France; bamboo’s, or great Indian reeds, frequent in England; with
numbers of other such examples. And of those remains even of the marine
shells, yet unknown to us, all appear exotic to the climes where they
now lie deposited; _e.g._ the cliffs at Harwich in Essex abound with
a species of _buccinum heterostrophum_, and other shells, never yet
discovered in the adjacent waters. The _ammonitæ_ of so many species,
and the innumerable variety of _conchæ anomiæ_, with which this island
abounds, are yet unknown to be inhabitants of our seas, and appear
exotic to this climate. Therefore, my Lord, I reasonably conclude
partial or local deluges could never have produced such effects.
However, unprejudiced to any opinion, if the learned, who favour the
system of partial deluges, will either confute these my assertions,
or give solid reasons for the facts alleged to be producible by local
deluges, atterrations, _&c._ I will joyfully embrace the truth: but
till then, my Lord, I would recommend to those systematical gentlemen,
not to pervert that excellent maxim of the great Lord Bacon, and,
instead of _Non fingendum neque excogitandum, sed inveniendum quid
natura faciat, aut ferat_, not to corrupt it into _fingendum atque
excogitandum, non inveniendum quid natura faciat, aut ferat_.

I am, with great submission and respect,

                               MY LORD,
                            Your Lordship’s
                             Most devoted,
                           and most obliged,
                            humble Servant,
                       Emanuel Mendes da Costa.

London, 27 April, 1757.




XXIX. _A Catalogue of the_ Fifty Plants _from_ Chelsea Garden,
_presented to the_ Royal Society _by the worshipful Company of
Apothecaries, for the Year 1756, pursuant to the Direction of Sir_ Hans
Sloane, _Baronet, Med. Reg. & Soc. Reg. nuper Præses, by_ John Wilmer,
_M. D. clariss. Societatis Pharmaceut._ Lond. _Socius, Hort._ Chels.
_Præfect. & Prælector Botan._


[Read April 28, 1757.]

  1701 ABronanum campestre incanum Carlinæ odore. C.B.P.

  1702 Abrotanum humile corymbis majoribus aureis. H. Reg. Par.

  1703 Acer platanoides. Muntingii histor.

  1704 Amelanchier. Lobel.

  1705 Anchusa lutea minor. J.B. 3. 583.
       Buglossum luteum annuum minimum. Tourn. 134.

  1706 Arctotis ramis decumbentibus foliis lineari-lanceolatis rigidis
       subtus argenteis flore magno aureo pediculo longissimo.
       Miller’s Icons.

  1707 Ascyrum magno flore, C.B. 280.

  1708 Asphodelus Allobrogicus magno flore Lilii H.L. 65.

  1709 Aster caule ramoso scabro perenni foliis ovatis sessilibus
       pedunculis nudis unifloris. Miller’s Icons.

  1710 Astragalus repens minor flore cæruleo, filiqua
       Epigottidi simili. Index Plant. Boerh.

  1711 Barleria inermis foliis ovatis denticulatis petiolatis. Lin. Sp.
       Plant. 637.
       Barleria solani folio flore coccineo. Plum. nov. gen. 31.

  1712 Blitum Kaly minus album dictum. Kaly minus Ger. Emac. 535.

  1713 Campanula maxima foliis latissimis. C.B. 94.

  1714 Caryophillus montanus umbellatus floribus variis, luteis
       ferrugineis Italicus. Barrel obs. 648.

  1715 Cataria Hispanica Betonicæ folio angustiore flore cæruleo. Tourn.

  1716 Celastrus spinis nudis, ramis teretibus, foliis acutis. Hort.
       Cliff. 72.
       Lycium. Boerhaav. Ind. alt. 2. 237.

  1717 Ceralus racemosa sylvestris fructu non eduli rubro. H.R. Par.
       Cerasia racemosa rubra. 2. Tabernamont. Icon, 987.

  1718 Chamædrys Hispanica tenuifolia multiflora. H. R. Par. Tourn. 205.

  1719 Cherophyllum palustre latifolium flore albo. Boerh. 70.
       Myrrhis palustre latifolia rubra. Tourn. 315.

  1720 Chenopodium Stramonii folio. Vaill.

  1721 Cirsium foliis non hirsutis floribus compactis. C.B.P. 377.

  1722 Cirsium maximum Asphodeli radice. C.B. 377.

  1723 Colutea foliolis ovatis integerrimis caule fruticolo. Phil.
       Miller’s Icons.

  1724 Convallaria foliis sessilibus racemo terminal composito. Lin. Sp.
       Pl. 315.

  1725 Conyza mas Theophrasti major Dioscoridis. C.B.P. 265.
       Major Monspeliensis odorata. J.B. 2. 1053.

  1726 Coriandrum majus. C.B. 158. Officinar. 145.

  1727 Cornus Orientalis sylvestris fructu teretiformi. T. Cor.

  1728 Crithmum, sive Fæniculum maritimum, minus. C.B. 288. Offic. 152.

  1729 Crocus sativus. C.B. 65. Officinar. 152.

  1730 Cyclamen vernum minus orbiculato folio, inferne rubente, flore
       minore ruberrimo. Mor. Hist. 3. 551.

  1731 Elichrysum graveolens acutifolium alato caule. Hort. Eltham.

  1732 Gramen spica aristata. Lin. Sp. Pl. 83.
       Gramen loliaceum spica longiore lolium Dioscoridis. C.B.P.

  1733 Leucanthemum Tanaceti folio, flore majore. Boerh. 107.
       Matricaria Tanaceti folio, flore majore, semine umbilicato.
       Tourn. 493.

  1734 Meadia. Catesby Hist. Car. 3. p. 1. Dodecatheon.
       Lin. Sp. Pl. 144.

  1735 Medica magno fructu, aculeis sursum et deorsum rendentibus. Tourn.
       411.

  1736 Moscatellina foliis fumariæ bulbosæ, de qua Cordus. J.B. 2. 206.
       Radix cava minima viridi flore. Ger. 933.

  1737 Narcissus Illyricus Liliaceus. C.B.P. 55.
       Pancratii Monspeliaci Hemerocallidis Valentinæ facie.
       Lilio-narcissus, vel Narcissus tertius Matthioli. J.B. 2. 613.

  1738 Osmunda vulgaris et palustris. Tourn. 547.
       Filix ramosa non dentata florida. C.B.P. 357.

  1739 Papaver laciniato folio capitulo hispido rotundiore. Tourn.
       Argemone capitulo rotundiore. Park. 369.

  1740 Papaver Orientale hirsutissimum magno flore. Tourn. Cor. 17.

  1741 Periclymenum perfoliatum Virginianum sempervirens et florens.
       H.L.B.

  1742 Phillyrea, Oleæ Ephesiacæ folio. Pluk. Phyt. Tab. 310. fig. 5.

  1743 Phlomis Lychnitis. Clus. Hist. 27.
       Verbascum sylvestre Monspeliense flore luteo hiante. J.B. 3. 307.

  1744 Polygonum foliis cordatis caule volubili, floribus carinatis. Lin.
       Sp. Plant. 364.
       Fagopyrum scandens Americanum maximum. Tourn. Inst.

  1745 Saxifraga sedi folio, flore albo, multiflora. T. 252.
       Sedum Pyrenaicum pyramidale longifolium elegantissimum.
       Schol. Botan. Par.
       Sanicula Pyrenaica longifolia multiflora elegantissma. H.L.

  1746 Serratula Noveboracensis maxima foliis longis serratis. Hort.
       Eltham. 355.

  1747 Thalictrum minus. C.B.P. 337.
       Thalictrum minus seu Rutæ pratensis genus minus semine striato.
       J.B. 3. 487.

  1748 Verbascum fœmina flore luteo magno. C.B. 239.

  1749 Vicia leguminibus sessilibus reflexis pilosis solitariis
       pentaspermis corollæ vexilis glabris. Lin. Sp. Pl. 736.
       Vicia leguminibus solitariis deorsum flexis hirsutis.
       Sauv. Monspeliens. 235.

  1750 Ulmus folio latissimo scabro. Ger. Emac. 1481. Latiore folio.
       Park. 1404.




XXX. _Remarks on the Opinion of_ Henry Eeles, _Esq; concerning the
Ascent of Vapour, published in the_ Philosoph. Transact. _Vol._ xlix.
_Part_ i. _p._ 124. _By_ Erasmus Darwin, _M.D. Communicated by Mr._
William Watson, _F.R.S._


_To Mr._ William Watson, _F.R.S._

SIR,

THE inclosed papers were designed for the perusal of the Royal Society;
being an endeavour to confute the opinion of Mr. Eeles about the ascent
of vapours, published in the last volume of their Transactions. But the
author, having no electrical friend, whose sagacity he could confide
in, has at length prevailed upon himself to be so free to send them to
Mr. Watson; to whom the world is so much indebted for the advancement
of their knowlege in electricity.

Whence, Sir, if you should think that these papers have truth, the
great Diana of real philosophers, to patronize them, you will confer
a favour upon me, by laying them before that learned Body. If, on
the contrary, you should deem this confutation trifling or futil,
I hope you will be humane enough to suppress them, and give me your
objections; and by that means lay a still greater obligation on one,
who has not the pleasure to be personally acquainted with you. From,

                                 SIR,
                       Your very humble Servant,
                            Erasmus Darwin,
               _Physician at Litchfield, Staffordshire_.

March 23. 1757.


+LETTER I.+

_To the very honourable and learned the_ PRESIDENT _and_ MEMBERS _of
the_ Royal Society.

[Read May 5, 1757.]

Gentlemen,

THERE is ever such a charm attendant upon novelty, that be it in
philosophy, medicine, or religion, the gazing world are too often led
to adore, what they ought only to admire: whilst this vehemence of
enthusiasm has generally soon rendered that object contemptible, that
would otherwise have long laid claim to a more sober esteem. This was
once the fate of chemistry: the vain and pompous boasts of her adepts
brought the whole art into disrespect; and I should be sorry, if her
sister electricity should share the same misfortunes. It is hence the
ingenious Mr. Eeles will excuse me, for endeavouring to lay before you
my opinion on the ascent of vapours, tho’ it by no means coincides with
that he is so strenuous to establish, and plucks a plume from his idol
goddess electricity.

The probability, supporting the hypothesis of Mr. Eeles, according to
his own expressions, rests on this: “That every particle of vapour is
endued with a portion of electric fire; and that there is no other
sufficient cause assigned for their ascending.” (_Phil. Trans. vol._
xlix. _part._ i. _p._ 134.). My design is therefore first to attempt
to shew, that another theory, founded on principles better known, will
sufficiently explain the ascent of vapours: and then, that some kinds
of vapours are not endued with a more or less than their natural share
of electric æther.

The immense rarefaction of explosive bodies by heat, depends either
on the escape of air before condensed in them, or on the expansion
of the constituent parts of those bodies. This distinction has not
been sufficiently considered by any one to my knowlege; nor shall I
at present amuse the Society upon this head; it being enough for my
present purpose to observe, that they may be thus distinguished: where
air is emitted, it cannot be condensed again into the same bulk by
cold; but the expansion of heated parts of bodies, as soon as that heat
is withdrawn, ceases to exist.

Nitre comes under the first of these classes: in detonation it emits
great quantities of air, not afterwards condensible to the like space.
This may be seen by firing a few grains of gunpowder in an unblown
bladder, or in a vessel nearly full of water with its mouth inverted.
The same is true of all the solid parts of animals and vegetables, when
subjected to fire; as appears from the experiments of that learned
philanthropist, Dr. Hales.

But of water the contrary is evident. In the steam-engine, a jet of
cold water, we find, instantly condenses that immense rarefaction;
which I apprehend could not be, if it was constituted of escaped
elastic air. And altho’ this steam must be acknowledged to put on some
properties of air; such as ventilating a fire; or that a taper blown
out by it, is capable of being again lighted immediately, and that
without a crackling noise, which occurs when touched with water; this
does not in the least invalidate our opinion, tho’ it has certainly
conduced very much to propagate the former one: since from this way of
reasoning, the whole must be air, and we should have no water at all in
vapour.

From considering this power of expansion, which the constituent parts
of some bodies acquire by heat; and withal, that some bodies have
a greater affinity to heat, that is, acquire it sooner and retain
it longer than others; which affinity appears from experiments, and
which, I apprehend, is in some ratio of their specific gravities and
their powers of refraction, reflexion, or absorption of light; or at
least in some ratio much greater than that of their specific gravities
alone. From considering these, I say, many things, before utterly
inexplicable, became easily understood by me. Such as, Why when bismuth
and zinc are fused together, and set to cool, the zinc, which is
specifically heavier, is found above the bismuth? Why the buff covering
of inflammatory blood, the skum of heated milk, the sedative salt of
borax, which are all specifically heavier than the liquids in which
they are formed, are still formed at the surface of them? How benzoin,
sulphur, and even the ponderous body mercury, may be raised into
vapour, again to be condensed unaltered? And, lastly, how water, whose
parts appear from the æolipile to be capable of immeasurable expansion,
should by heat alone become specifically lighter than the common
atmosphere, without having recourse to a shell inclosing air, or other
assistant machinery? and when raised, I am persuaded we shall find,
that to support them floating, perhaps many days, in the atmosphere, is
not a knot so intricate, as to oblige us to conjure up a new divinity
to unravel it.

But before we proceed to this second part of our task, it will be
necessary previously to consider, first, how small a degree of heat is
required to detach or raise the vapour of water from its parent-fluid.
In the coldest day, I might say the coldest night, of winter, when the
weather is not frosty or very damp, wet linen or paper will become dry
in the course of a few hours. A greater degree of heat must indeed
cause a quicker evaporation. But I am persuaded, that was it not for
the pressure of the superincumbent fluid, greatly less than that of
boiling water would instantly disperse the whole so heated into vapour.

Secondly, That in the opinion of Sir Isaac Newton, well illustrated by
the late lamented Mr. Melvil, the sun-beams appear only to communicate
heat to bodies by which they are refracted, reflected, or obstructed;
whence, by their impulse, a reaction or vibration is caused in the
parts of such impacted bodies.

This is supported by the experiment of approaching some light body,
or blowing smoke near the focus of the largest glasses; and from
observing, that these do not ascend, it is evident the air is not
so much as warmed by the passage of those beams thro’ it, yet would
instantly calcine or vitrify every opake body in nature. And from
this we may collect, that transparent bodies are only heated at
their surfaces, and that perhaps in proportion to their quantity of
refraction: which will further give and receive illustration from
those very curious experiments, of producing cold by the evaporation
of liquors, published by the learned Dr. Cullen, in the late volume
of Essays Physical and Literary, at Edinburgh. In these experiments a
spirit-thermometer was immersed in spirit of wine, and being suddenly
retracted, was again exposed to the air; and as the spirit of wine
adhering to the glass evaporated, the spirit contained within the
thermometer was observed to subside. Now as the difference of the
refraction of spirit of wine and glass is exceedingly minute, compared
with the difference of refraction of spirit of wine and air; we may
consider, in the above experiment, the heat to be communicated to
the thermometer only at its surface: but here the adherent fluid
escapes as soon as heated; by which means the glass, and its contents,
are deprived of that constant addition of heat, which other bodies
perpetually enjoy either from the sun-beams immediately, or from the
emanations of other contiguous warmer bodies; and must thence, in a few
minutes, become colder than before.

The ingenious Mr. Eeles, I dare say, has already foreseen the use I
am going to make of this principle; _viz._ “That the little spherules
of vapour will thus, by refracting the solar rays, acquire a constant
heat, tho’ the surrounding atmosphere remain cold.” And as from the
minuteness of their diameters, if they are allowed to be globules,
they must do this to a very great degree, I apprehend none of those
objections will take place against us, with which Mr. Eeles has so
sensibly confuted the former received theories on this subject.

If we are asked, how clouds come to be supported in the absence of
the sun? It must be remembered, that large masses of vapour must for
a considerable time retain much of the heat they have acquired in
the day; at the same time reflecting, how small a quantity of heat
was necessary to raise them; and that doubtless even a less will be
sufficient to support them, as from the diminished pressure of the
atmosphere at a given height, a less power may be able to continue
them in their present state of rarefaction; and, lastly, that clouds
of particular shapes will be sustained or elevated by the motion they
acquire from winds.

I should here have concluded this paper, perhaps already too long; but
upon revising it, I find, where the affinity of some bodies with heat
is mentioned, that the deductions made from thence are not sufficiently
explained to be intelligible. First then, If the power of expansion
of any two bodies, by heat, be in a greater proportion than their
specific gravities, then will there be a certain degree of heat, in
which their specific gravities will be equal; and another, in which the
gravity of that, which was lighter when cold, will exceed the gravity
of that, which was heavier when cold. Hence zinc and bismuth alter
their specific gravities in fusion; some urine, and many solutions of
solids, grow turbid as they cool; others alter their colours. Secondly,
If (the power of expansion by heat being equal) the power of retaining
heat be in a greater ratio than the specific gravities; then, during
the time of cooling after being sufficiently heated, there will be an
instant, when the heavier body will become the lighter, and swim upon
the other. This seems the case in the buff covering of inflamed blood,
the skum of heated milk, and the cristallization of some salts: for
if these effects were from the evaporation of the thinner parts at
the surface, they should happen during the greatest evaporation, or
when boiling; but, on the contrary, they are all done in the greatest
degree when the liquor has for some time began to cool. Lastly, If
the quickness of acquiring heat be in a greater proportion than their
specific gravities (the power of expansion being equal), then, during
the time of their acquiring heat, there will be an instant, when the
body, that was heavier when cold, will now become the lighter. From one
or more of which principles, I apprehend, the volatility or fixity of
all minerals, and many other bodies, takes its origin.

It is no part of my design to account to you, gentlemen, in what manner
such an expansion of the parts of bodies can be brought about by the
action of fire. Tho’ perhaps a rotatory motion only of each particle
on its own center might be sufficient to produce such a rarefaction;
and the more so, if such parts were any other figures than spheres,
as by the percussion of their angles they must result further from
each other. Nor is the existence of such a rotatory motion without
some probability, when we observe the verticillary motion given to
charcoal-dust thrown on nitre in fusion, or the wonderful agitation of
the parts of burning phosphorus, or even of a common red letter-wafer
touched by the flame of a candle. But as in this paper I have laboured
(and I hope not without success) to shew you, that some properties of
solar heat are sufficient to account for the elevation and support of
vapours; so in another letter I propose nearly to demonstrate to you,
that the electric æther is far from having any share in the production
of this important phænomenon.

From,

                              GENTLEMEN,
                       Your very humble Servant,
                            Erasmus Darwin.

Litchfield, Mar. 20, 1757.


+LETTER II.+

_To the very honourable and learned the_ PRESIDENT _and_ MEMBERS _of
the_ Royal Society.

[Read May 5, 1757.]

Gentlemen,

EVERY theoretical inquiry, whose basis does not rest upon experiments,
is at once exploded in this well-thinking age; where truth, under
your patronage, has at length broke thro’ those clouds, with which
superstition, policy, or parade, had overwhelmed her. But experiments
themselves, gentlemen, are not exempted from fallacy. A strong
inventive faculty, a fine mechanic hand, a clear unbiassed judgment,
are at once required for the contrivance, conduct, and application, of
experiments; and even where these are joined (such is the condition of
humanity!) error too frequently intrudes herself, and spoils the work.

My very respectable antagonist, Mr. Eeles, to whose ear, I am
convinced, the voice of truth is more agreeable than that of applause,
will forgive me the following critique on his performance; as by that
means, I am persuaded, the probability of his notions will be intirely
destroyed, and the foregoing theory receive additional supports.

For this purpose our first endeavour will be to shew the uncertainty of
some of the most material principles, that support his arguments; and
afterwards, the fallacy of the experiments he has given us.

First then, in page 130. Mr. Eeles has asserted, that the greatest
possible rarefaction of water is when it boils. I think it might be
said, with equal propriety, that the greatest rarefaction of solids was
when they began to melt: and this may indeed be verbally true, if we
chuse to alter the names of bodies, when they undergo any alteration
by fire; so solids take the name of fluids, when they are in fusion;
and water the name of vapour, when it is greatly rarefied in the
steam-engine. Whence we find this assertion seems to be founded on a
confusion in terms, and the fact far from being existent in nature.

In page 133. the sphere of electrical activity is said to be increased
by heat. If by electrical activity is here meant an increase of its
repulsive power (the thing, which seems to be wanted in Mr. Eeles’s
hypothesis), I know no experiment to show it. If it be meant, that it
is capable of being attracted to a greater distance; I conjecture it
may, as the heat will rarefy the ambient air, and we know the electric
æther is attracted at very great distances in _vacuo_; but this cannot
properly be called an increased activity of electric fire.

We are afterwards told (page _ib._) “that electric fire will not mix
with air:” whence, in the succeeding section, it is argued, “That
as each particle of vapour, with its surrounding electric fluid,
will occupy a greater space than the same weight of air, they will
ascend.” In answer to this, it must be observed, that there are
some bodies, whose parts are fine enough to penetrate the pores of
other bodies, without increasing their bulk; or to pass thro’ them,
without apparently moving or disturbing them. A certain proportion of
alcohol of wine mixed with water, and of copper and tin in fusion, are
instances of the first of these; the existence and passage of light
thro’ air, and, I am persuaded, of electric fire, are instances of the
second.

To illustrate this, the following experiment was instituted. A glass
tube, open at one end, and with a bulb at the other, had its bulb,
and half way from thence to the aperture of the tube, coated on the
inside with gilt paper. The tube was then inverted in a glass of oil
of turpentine, which was placed on a cake of wax, and the tube kept
in that perpendicular situation by a silk line from the cieling of
the room. The bulb was then warmed, so that, when it became cold, the
turpentine rose about half-way up the tube. A bent wire then being
introduced, thro’ the oil into the air above, high electricity was
given. The oil did not appear at all to subside: whence I conclude,
the electric atmosphere flowing round the wire and coating of the tube
above the oil, did not displace the air, but existed in its pores.

This experiment I formerly tried various ways, as I had conceived, if
the electric matter would displace air, it might have been applied
to answer the end of steam in the steam-engine, and many other great
mechanical purposes. But as from the above it appears, that the
contrary is true, it is evident, that electric matter surrounding
particles of vapour must, in fact, increase their specific gravity, and
cannot any-ways be imagined to facilitate their ascent.

I may add further, that if this be true, that it pervades the pores
of air, its specific levity cannot, by any means I know, be compared
with that of air. Its particular attraction to some bodies, at least to
much the greater part of the terraqueous globe, is abundantly greater
than that of air to those bodies: and hence its gravitation to the
whole globe would appear, at first view, to exceed that of air. But the
more I consider this, the more perplexing and amazing it appears to
me: and thence must leave it to the investigation of my very ingenious
antagonist, or some other able philosopher.

I come now to the experiments, that are given us to show all vapour to
be electrifed. In these Mr. Eeles seems to have been led into error,
by not having observed, that many bodies electrifed will retain that
electricity for some time, altho’ in contact with conductors. The
Leyden phial may be touched three or four times by a quick finger
before the whole is discharged. Almost all light dry animal or
vegetable substances, such as feathers and cork, do this in a much
greater degree: and in general I have observed, the more slow any
bodies are to acquire electricity, the more avaritious they are to keep
it.

Part of the plume of a feather, hanging to a green line of silk about
a foot long, which was suspended from the midst of an horizontal line
of the same, about four yards in length, was electrified with a dry
wine-glass, according to the method of Mr. Eeles; and, after being
touched nine times with my finger, at the intervals of two seconds of
time, still manifested signs of electricity, by being attracted at the
tenth approach of it.

A cork ball, on the same line and circumstances, after being
electrised, was touched at the intervals of ten seconds repeatedly, for
seven times, before it was exhausted. The fumes of boiling water were
conveyed upon this ball after being electrised; and, after a fumigation
for thirty seconds, it shewed signs of electricity, by being attracted
to the approaching finger; and, after thirty seconds more, without
any fumigation, it again obeyed the finger; and again, after thirty
more, but at less and less distances. The same appearances occurred to
me from the fumes of resin. From whence I apprehend, that Mr. Eeles,
having dipped the electrised down of the _juncus bombycinus_ in vapour
for perhaps half a minute (for no time is mentioned), and finding it
still retained its electric attraction, was not aware, that this same
had happened, if he had by intervals touched it with his finger, or any
other known conductor of electricity.

As Mr. Eeles had here objected, that there was no real opposition in
the electric æther of glass, and that from wax; the common experiment
to shew this was many times repeated with constant success; _viz._
the cork ball, suspended as above, after being electrised by the
wine-glass, and repelled from it, was strongly attracted by a rubbed
stick of sealing-wax; and _vice versâ_. In the same manner I observed
the electric æther from a black silk stocking (which was held
horizontally extended by the top and foot, and, being rubbed in the
midst with an iron poker, was applied to the cork ball), to be similar
to that of glass, and opposite to that of wax. But the following
experiment appears to me to put this matter out of all doubt, and to
demonstrate, that this difference is only a _plus_ and _minus_ of the
same specific æther, and not different qualities of it, as Mr. Eeles
would suppose.

A stick of dry sealing-wax was rubbed on the side of a dry wine-glass,
and a cork ball, suspended as in the former experiments, played for
some time between them: but glass rubbed with glass, or wax with wax,
did not manifest any electric appearance. Whence it would appear, that
in rubbing glass and wax together, the glass accumulated on its surface
the identical æther that the wax lost. Nor is this a digression from
my design: for if this opposition of the electricity of glass and wax
be established, it still contributes to demonstrate the fallacy of Mr.
Eeles’s experiments.

But what alone would intirely destroy this electric hypothesis, is,
that from the experiments of Mr. Franklin and others, the clouds
are sometimes found to be electrised _plus_, sometimes _minus_, and
sometimes manifest no signs of electricity at all. Whence to say
an accumulation of electric æther supports these clouds, seems
an assertion built upon a very unstable foundation, whose whole
superstructure may well enough be termed an air-built castle, the
baseless fabric of a vision.

Add to this, that Mr. Eeles, in page 140. tells us, that himself has
passed thro’ clouds resting on the sides of mountains. Ought not those
clouds to have immediately discharged their electricity, and fallen?
And common experience may remind us, that any cold bodies will condense
vapour, whatever be their electric properties. So mirrors, or the glass
of windows, in damp rooms, are most frequently found covered with dew;
which, of all other bodies, ought most to be exempted from collecting
vapours supported by electricity, as they are the least capable to
attract or draw off that æther.

From all which, well examined, I am persuaded, gentlemen, you will
be induced to conclude, that tho’ clouds may sometimes possess an
accumulation of electricity, yet that this is only an accidental
circumstance, and not a constant one; and thence can have no possible
influence either in the elevation or support of them. I am,

                              GENTLEMEN,
                       Your very humble Servant,
                            Erasmus Darwin.

Litchfield, March 23. 1757.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. VI. _p. 255_.

_The grey Coot-footed_ Tringa _shot near Halifax in Yorkshire (January
1757) and Presented to me by Mʳ. Thomas Belton Florist of Worley-clough
in Yorkshire. Drawn from nature of the Figures of Life by Geo. Edwards
in Feb.⁴ 1757._]




XXXI. _An Account of new-discovered Species of the Snipe or Tringa:
In a Letter to the Rev._ Tho. Birch, _D.D. F.R.S. from Mr._ George
Edwards, _Librarian of the College of Physicians_.


[Read May 5, 1757.]

SIR,

I TAKE the liberty to lay before you the figure and description of a
new-discovered species of the snipe or tringa kind, which was lately
shot at Sowerby-bridge in Yorkshire, and sent to me by Mr. Florist of
Worley-clough, near Hallifax in the same county. If the account, that
follows, shall be thought by you deserving to be communicated to the
Royal Society, the real bird, which I have preserved dry, shall be
produced at the same time.

This bird is like in shape to most others of the tringa or snipe kind.
Its size is better shewn by the figure lying before you (_See_ TAB.
VI.), than by the dried bird, which is much shrunk since the drawing of
it was made. I chuse, by way of distinction, to name it the coot-footed
tringa, as it differs from other birds of that genus no otherwise, than
in having its toes webbed in the same particular manner as the fulica,
or our bald-coot. One of its feet is shewn in the plate, magnified a
little, to make it the better understood, in what manner the webs or
membranes spreading on both sides of the toes are scalloped or indented
at each of the toe-joints. These scallopings are finely pectinated on
their outer edges, as the enlarged figure expresses. The hinder toe is
small, and finely pectinated on the under side. The bill is black, and
channelled on both sides of the upper mandible; in which channels the
nostrils are placed near the forehead: it is compressed somewhat like a
duck’s bill, and ridged along its upper part, as a figure of the head
in the corner of the plate may shew. The lower head, figured with it,
is intended to shew the bill (which is very narrow) of another species
of coot-footed tringa, brought from North America, and described and
figured in my Natural History of Birds, _&c._ plate 46. The eyes are
placed farther backward from the bill than in many other sorts of
birds; in which the wisdom of Providence is remarkable: for birds of
this genus commonly feeding in soft muddy ground on the banks of rivers
or the sea, have occasion to thrust their bills deep into the shores,
to extract worms and insects; and their eyes would be in danger, were
they placed more forward. The fore part of the head, the neck, breast,
belly, thighs, covert-feathers withinside the wings and under the tail,
are white: the top and hinder part of the head is black. The lower part
of the neck behind, and the back, are of a blueish ash or slate-colour,
with a mixture of blackish or dusky: the upper sides of the wings and
tail are of a blackish or dusky colour: the tips of the covert of the
wings are white; the tips of the middlemost or shortest of the quills
are also white, and form white transverse bars across the wings. Two or
three of the middle quills are wholly white, and all of them have their
inner webs white toward their bottoms. It hath twelve feathers in the
tail; the outermost of which, on each side, is edged with white. The
covert-feathers on the rump, or upper side of the tail, are dusky and
white. The legs are bare of feathers above the knees (as they are in
most birds, who wade in shallow waters), and of an ash-colour.

I believe no discovery of this bird has been made till now: and it is
very probable there are many more species of birds in this island, that
have hitherto escaped the notice of curious inquirers. Mr. Ray, in a
book by him published, London, 1674. called, A Collection of English
Words, _&c._ with a Catalogue of English Birds and Fishes, _&c._ after
naming the coot in his catalogue of birds, p. 92. says, “Mr. Johnson of
Brigna, near Grota-bridge in Yorkshire, shewed me a bird of the coot
kind, scallop-toed, not much bigger than a black-bird.” As so little is
said by Mr. Ray, one can hardly determine any thing concerning the bird
he mentions: and ’tis plain he thought this note scarce worth notice,
as he hath not preserved it in the Ornithology since by him published.
Nor can I believe it was the bird now before us; for he says it was not
much bigger than a black-bird; which implies, that it was something
bigger. And, on reading his description of the black-bird, I find he
makes it to weigh four ounces; consequently it is four times the weight
of the bird above described by me: for my obliging friend, Mr. Florist,
who sent me this bird, says in his letter, that, when newly killed, it
weighed one ounce. Therefore I am inclined to think, that the bird Mr.
Ray has so slightly mentioned, is a bird not as yet fully discovered. I
am, Reverend Sir,

                       Your most humble Servant,
                             Geo. Edwards.

College of Physicians, Lond. May the 3d, 1757.




XXXII. _Observationes de Corallinis, iisque insidentibus Polypis,
aliisque Animalculis Marinis: Quas Regiæ Societati Londinensi offert_
Job Baster, _Med. Doct. Acad. Cæsar. Reg. Societ. Lond. & Scient.
Holland. Socius._


[Read May 19, 1757.]

DOMICILIUM meum mari propinquum[141] occasionem præbet, in nondum
satis cognitam quorundam animalium, in mare degentium, generationem
et œconomiam inquirendi. Quæ observavi Regiæ Societati temporis
successu offerre animus est; sed in hac prima dissertatione tantum
observationes quasdam de corallinis, iisque insidentibus polypis, et
aliis animalculis marinis, exhibere in animum induxi.

Paucis abhinc annis, inter doctos viros dissensio fuit, utrum corallia,
corallinæ, et kerato-phyta veræ essent plantæ, quæ crescunt, et
vegetant, in quibus insecta marina nidificant; an vero horum ipsorum
essent opus et fabrica. Multi et sagacissimi historiæ naturalis
scrutatores ultimam complexi sunt sententiam; sed nemini contradicere
studens, simpliciter tantum et fideliter illa referam, quæ variis
temporibus in corallinis observavi, et quæ lectorem benevolum, ut
spero, convincent, corallinas non magis a polypis fabrefieri, quam
diversa fungorum genera ab illis fabricantur animalculis, quibus,
æstivo tempore, quasi repleta inveniuntur.

Dura corallia, quæ recenter ex mari extracta, et in rotundum
animalculis obsita reperiebantur, primam ansam dedere suspicandi, hæc
ab illis esse fabrefacta.

Cum omnia juniora conchylia tenerrimæ et viscosæ substantiæ
reperiantur, ex analogia conclusum fuit, parva et tenera animalcula,
quæ coralliis insident, æque hæc fabricare potuisse, ac illa durissimas
suas conchas et buccina. Sed in historia naturali non tuto ex analogia
licet concludere.

Verun quidem est, quod recens natum conchylium tam tenerum est,
quam parvus ille corallio insidens polypus; sed tunc concha ejus
vel buccinum etiam erit tenerrimum, et quo magis in eo contentum
crescit animal, eo major, durior et firmior fit concha: et interior
conchæ superficies semper est lævissima et glaberrima, ne tenerrimum
animalculi corpus aliquo modo lædi posset, ut in ostreis, mytulis,
solenibus, et quibuscunque conchis et buccinis, hoc videre est.

Sed an hoc in coralliis invenitur? Nunquam polypi in ipsa coralliorum
substantiâ habitant, sed semper intra hanc et circumdatam corticem.
Cavitates, quas in coralliis invenies, non glabræ aut læves sunt, sed
asperæ et acutæ. Parvus corallii ramulus nec tener est nec mollis, sed
æque durus habita magnitudinis proportione ac maximum: nec minores illi
insident polypi quam ramis majoribus.

Cum vero hic, in Zelandia, necdum ulla dura corallia recenter ex mare
extracta explorare licuit, me tantum ad corallinas determinare debui,
ubique sere prope littora reperiundas, et quibus simillimi, qui
coralliis, insident polypi.

Animadvertam tantum mihi videri, animalcula, quæ summas coralliorum
extremitates inhabitant, et Nobilissimo Marsiglio flores visa sunt, ad
genus etiam polyporum referri debere, et in his extremitatibus non nata
esse, sed irrepsisse, dum illas vacuas et domicilio aptas invenerint:
eodem certe modo, quo cancelli, quos _Bernard l’hermite_ vocant Galli,
vacua irreptant buccina. Et hi cancelli, ut observant piscatores, non
casu aut temerarie id faciunt, sed quasi ex consulto. Si sex vel septem
cancelli vivi prudenter ex suis buccinis extrahantur, et hæc inter se
permixta iis iterum exhibeantur, quisque cancellus in proprium suum,
nunquam in alterius buccinum irrepit, et hoc ablatum undique quæritat,
quod jucundum visu est.

Necesse mihi fuit quasdam sed paucas corallinarum et polyporum figuras
addere: si vero quis plura desideret, elaboratum opus sagacissimi
Domini Ellis adeat, in quo quamplurimas et accuratissimas corallinarum
et polyporum delineationes inveniet[142].


_De Plantis Marinis generatim._

Plantæ marinæ a terrestribus in plurimis differunt, nam hæ in raro aëre
excrescentes, nutrimentum suum radicum ope, in terra proserpentium,
hauriunt: du millæ plerumque nec radices nec folia habent, sed ex
trunco et ramis consistunt. Illa plantæ marinæ pars, qua substantiæ,
cui increscit, adhæret, radicis nomen non meretur, nisi quatenus
plantam uni semper loco tenet adfixam: sed quod primarium radicis munus
est, nutrimentum ei non adfert: ipsa planta per truncum et ramos ex
medio, cui semper immersa est, incrementum suum acquirit. Neque maris
sundus radicibus recipiendis aptus esset, nam plerumque inconstans et
volubile sabulum est, quod continuo fluctuum motu de loco in locum
dimovetur, ita ut uno temporis momento radices nudæ, altero sub arena
forent sepultae.

Sed quamdiu vera vegetatio marinarum erit ignota, non bene explicari
poterit, quare corallia et kerato-phyta, licet ab imo ad summum
undique animalculorum cellulis obsessa, læte tamen crescant, ut hoc
in plurimis, non tamen in omnibus, observare est. Nam Nobilissimus
Marsigli kerato-phyta invenit, quæ nulla cortice, aut quæ uno loco
cortice erant obducta, altero non: et corticem hanc non nisi polyporum
cellulas fuisse clare ex ejus verbis patet[143].

At rogare mihi liceat, an vera vegetatio plantarum terrestrium, quæ
semper nobis ante oculos sunt, bene cognita et perspecta sit? an quidem
novimus, quæ vera sit radicum functio, et quomodo hanc exerceant?
Nonne plurimæ inveniuntur plantæ, quæ paucissimis instructæ radicibus
in altum crescunt, maxime ergo foliorum ope, quæ succos nutritios ex
vaporibus in aëre natantibus hauriunt, plantam alunt, et sic radicum
defectum supplent. Sed liceat mihi, accuratissimi Bonneti verba
adferre; “Plantæ, dicit hic sagacissimus naturæ scrutator, semper sunt
sugentes, et in statu suctionis, interdiu radicum ope nutriuntur, noctu
foliorum[144]. Sed optandum est[145], quod arte quadam exacte posset
determinari, et tunc inter se comparari hanc nutrimenti copiam, quam
plantæ radicum ope acquirunt, cum illâ, quæ folia adferunt. Examen hoc
forsan nos doceret, quod _Aër_ non minus quam _Terra_ ad plantarum
nutritionem et incrementum contribuat.”

Si ergo medium tam rarum et tenue, ut aër (ut ex Celⁱ. Halæi et Boneti
experimentis certum est) tantum ad plantarum nutritionem adferat,
mirum non est, quod nunquam quiescens et quam maxime heterogenea
aqua maris plantas marinas, licet expansis radicibus destitutas, ad
tantam magnitudinem, altitudinem et duritiem faciat excrescere. Sed
nonne similiter crescunt plurima fungorum genera? Quas radices habent
quercubus aliisque lignis increscentes agarici? Quas phallus, elvela,
et plura, quæ in _Methodo suo fungorum_ describit _J. G. Gledisch_.

Hæc de plantis marinis præmittere volui, ut evincam corallinas, licet
radicibus careant, crescere, vegetare, et plantas esse posse, ut aliæ
terrestres et fungi, quæ similiter aut minimas habent radices, aut
plane iis destituuntur.

Cætera, quæ de vegetatione, floribus et seminibus plantarum marinarim
observavi, alio tempore indicabo.


 _De Corallinis._

Corallinæ omnes habent proprietates, quas in genere de plantis marinis
indicavimus: Sed præterea, quod præcipuum est hujus dissertationis
propositum, omni fere corallinæ, si rami ejus ad justam magnitudinem et
firmitatem creverint, tam hyeme quam ætate, animalcula insident, quæ
a multitudine brachiorum, et similitudine, quam cum polypis, in aqua
fossarum dulci, reperiundis, habent, etiam polypi vocantur.

Si quis corallinæ plantam, eique insidentes polypos, rite examinare
studet, non incipiat parvam tenuis ramuli partem in vitro concavo
jacentem microscopio inspicere; sed totam corallinæ plantam recenter ex
mare extractam in vitrum pellucidum, aqua marina repletum, prudenter
inserat: aut talem plantam orbi porcellano concavo in fundo coloris
profunde cærulei imponat, et addita sufficiente aquæ marinæ pellucidæ
quantitate, ejus ramos prudenter expandat; tunc post quadrantis horæ
quietem, illos lente amplificante intueatur, et sic distinctissime
in hac unica planta polypos diversi generis, et plerumque mira alia
videbit insecta; quæ microscopio dein ad libitum ulterius examinari
possunt.

Corallinæ, quæ [146]capillares et filamentosos habent ramulos, aut quæ
[147]juniores et tenuiores adhuc sunt, ut

Quae navibus post longum iter;

Aut quæ doliis istis coniformibus, quæ ad littora vel fluminum
majorum exitum in mare ad nautarum securitatem ponuntur; Aut januis
emissariorum aquæ marinæ in his regionibus, accreverint, raro vel
nunquam habent polypos.

Sed si eadem corallinæ species jam ad sufficientem magnitudinem et
firmitatem, et præsertim supra ostrea, saxa, silices, aliaque in fundo
maris quiete jacentia corpora, increverit, polypis scatet. Perspicaci
suo judicio decidat lector B.

An hoc efficitur, quia polyporum semen, ova, vel nata progenies
gravitate sua fundum petat?

Vel quia animalculis his perpetuus navium aut doliorum motus obstet,
ut hæc non satis tuta credant, et ideo in fundo maris semper immota
eligant corpora, quibus ovula sua confidant?

Vel quia pix et colophonia, quibus naves, dolia, et emissariorum januæ
illuminuntur, corallinis, quæ illis increscunt, noxiam vel polypis
ingratam qualitatem communicent? Hoc saltem semper obvenit, me numquam
tot polypos invenisse in corallinis, quas a navibus, doliis aut
emissariorum januis abraseram, quam in illis, quæ ostreis, mytulis et
silicibus in fundo maris erant innatæ.

Hoc _primum_ mihi _argumentum_ est, corallinas a polypis non formatas
esse; nam tunc plantæ juniores et minores æque suos haberent polypos,
ac maximæ.

_Secundum argumentum_, quod polypi vel casu vel instinctu quodam sese
corallinis affigant, sed veram plantæ partem non constituant, est,
quod polypi non omnes majoris plantæ ramos æqualiter obsident; hic
ramus vel hujus rami tantum pars polypis obsessa erit quam plurimis,
altera nullis. Corallinam habeo, [148]cujus truncum plurimi inhabitant
polypi, dum nullos in ramulis poteram detegere, licet armato oculo. Et
sic algæ[149] vel quercui sic dictæ marinæ sæpius corallinæ increscunt,
in quibus nunquam polypos inveni. Hoc fieri non deberet, si corallinæ
polyporum essent opus. Omnes corallinæ semper suos deberent habere, et
ramis suis æqualiter et proportionaliter insidentes polypos; et nunquam
sine his essent reperiundæ, ut tamen sæpius sit. Cel. Jussieu[150]
quasi mirabundus dicit, se semel alcyonium et spongiam ramosam sine
polypis invenisse, licet recenter a rupe essent abstractæ.

_Tertium argumentum_ erit, quod fere semper una eademque[151] corallinæ
planta diversi generis alat polypis: in una eademque[152] corallinæ
tubulariæ planta quinque diversas polyporum species inveni[153].

Liceat jam mihi rogare, quibusnam horum quinque hæc corallina ortum
suum debeat? Certe non primæ aut secundæ, ut videtur, magnitudinis, nam
hi summis tantum insident corallinæ extremitatibus, et microscopium
clare ostendit locum, ubi corpus polypi minus pellucidum et superficiei
rudioris glabræ huic corallinæ adhæret. Nec fabricavit corallinam
tertia species, quæ extrema corporis parte, quasi caudâ, corallinæ est
affixa: et minus adhuc quarta, nam clare videre est, horum cellulas
corallinæ circumdatas, ut examen apum arboris ramum circumcludit: et
si hæ polyporum cellulæ non nimis densæ sunt, ipsius corallinæ color
translucet.

Si hæ quatuor polyporum species hanc corallinam non fabricaverint, non
fecit certe quinta. [154]Mirabilissima et minima hæc animalcula ad genus
polyporum certe pertinent, et omnibus fere corallinis, algis, aliisque
plantis marinis incredibili sæpe insident copia. Jucundissimum est
videre, quomodo se expandunt, et mox mira agilitate, capta prædâ, se
subito contrahunt, quod bis vel ter in minuto horæ repetunt.

Æque jam, ut in una eademque corallinæ planta diversos invenis
polypos, sic in diversis corallinæ speciebus videbis similes et eosdem
polypos:[155] quod etiam illi obstat sententiæ corallinas polyporom
esse opus aut fabricam. Polypi dum operantur, ut cætera animalia,
instinctu innato operantur: ergo, una eademque polyporum species
semper easdem fubricaret corallinas: sic semper similes et uniformes
apes faciunt favos, vespæ nidos, araneæ tela. Hic vero contrarium
eveniret; iidem polypi uno tempore hanc, alio tempore illam fabricarent
corallinam: quod rationi contrarium est, et mihi _quartum argumentum_.
Sed hoc verum est, quod eadem polyporum species non diversas
corallinas, sed in diversis corallinis easdem et uniformes semper sibi
construant cellulas.

_Quinto_, si corallinæ a polypis essent fabrefactæ, nunquam polypi
et eorum cellulæ etiam vivis animalibus, aliisque corporibus, essent
adfixæ. Polypos inveni in ostreorum[156] conchis, cancri[157]
arachnoideæ pedibus, animali[158], quod emissariorum januis et navibus
quietis sæpius adhæret et anus (_aars-gat_) vocatur, et aliis plurimis,
sine minimo corallinæ vestigio. Et animalia illa, quæ piscatores
nostri[159] _klap-konten_ vocant, et majorum polyporum species esse
videntur, nunquam teneris insident corallinis, sed semper hæc supra
ostreorum conchas et lapides inveni, et quamvis illorum progressum ipse
non viderim, tamen de loco in locum sese transmovisse, expertus sum.

_Sexto_: Hæ corallinæ non solum polypis, sed cochleis, buccinis[160]
aliisque plurimis insectis marinis conveniunt, ut illis ova vel
progeniem confidant. Hoc præcipue mensibus Februario et Martio videre
est: accepi tunc diversas corallinas diversis cochleis et buccinis
plenas, et sæpe inter hæc quosdam cancellos ova sua jamjam excludentes.
Mater cochlea ovula sua supra vel juxta corallinas deposuit; pulli
exclusi contra has ascenderunt, ne illis innixi fluctuum motu
eluerentur, vel ut adversus hostes suos tuto se absconderent.

Quantum omnibus animalibus divina prospexerit prudentia, animus
nunquam satis assequi quacunque industria potest. _Deus_, ut jam
animadvertit Rex[161] Psalmista, _plantavit arbores cedros Libani, ubi
aviculæ nidificent, et abietes domicilia ciconiæ: Montes excelsissimos
rupicaprarum, petras murium montanorum perfugium_. Sic corallinæ
domicilia et perfugium sunt polypis aliisque minoribus insectis
marinis. Et præsertim hoc censeo, quia tempore hyemali, mensibus
Decembri et Januario, corallinarum ramos plurimis vesiculis, operculo
vel valvula tectis, obsessos inveni: quare has vesiculas habeo pro ovis
ab aliis insectis his corallinis impositis.

Omnes, qui nunquam satis laudanda incomparabilis +REAUMURII+ scripta
legerunt, sciunt, quam miris et differentibus modis insecta quædam
sua ova opponunt, vel in [162]gyrum, vel in [163]lineam spiralem, vel
[164]singula ova a filis libere in aere pendentia, vel, ut hic fere
casus est, per[165]paria lignosæ substantiæ ramorum imposita. Quam
mira quam varia est etiam ipsorum [166]ovorum figura! Culicum[167]
autem ova, quoad externam figuram, quam maxime his corallinæ vesiculis
similia sunt.

Omnia vero insectorum ova inter se et cum his vesiculis in eo
conveniunt, quod[168] operculum vel valvulum habent eo in loco, ubi
eruca vel vermis exitum invenire debet; permittente quidem hac valvulâ
exitum extrorsum, omnem vero introitum aëris vel aquæ prorsus negante.
Sed præter hanc cum aliorum insectorum ovis convenientiam, ipsæ
vesiculæ mihi vera ova videntur, quia recenter ex mare extractæ erant
perspicuæ, in spiritu frumenti vero statim fiebant opacæ, albæ, cum
puncto flavo[169]. Secundo, quia hyeme plures vesiculæ in corallinis
reperiuntur, perpaucæ vero æstate; nam tum illorum pulli exclusi sunt,
et corallinæ cochleis parvis, forsan ex his ovis progenitis, magis sunt
obsessæ.

Nam hæ vesiculæ mihi ipsorum polyporum ova esse non videntur, licet
sæpius [170]polypos in illis invenire contigit: et ideo crederem hos
polypos in vesiculis repertos, quoniam licet adulti tamen vesiculis
multo minores sint, post veri pulli exclusionem in vacua illa ova
irrepsisse; cum jam antea observavimus cancellos in vacua irrepere
buccina, et ipsos polypos vacuis corallinæ tubulariæ summitatibus sese
adfigere. Sed quam maxime has vesiculas non polyporum, sed aliorum
animalculorum ova esse censeo, quia perspicacissimus _Reaumurius_
initio hyemis in oris Galliæ provinciæ _Pictaviensis_ (_Poitou_) ova
cochlearum marinarum invenerit, quæ quamvis his vesiculis paulum
majora, erant tamen simillima[171]. Licet corallinæ speciosam habeant
verisimilitudinem, ut quasi animalium opus appareant, aliæ tamen sunt
plantæ marinæ, præsertim _alcyonium digitatem molle_, quas adhuc magis
a polypis fabrefactas diceres; sed si accuratione indagine observantur,
pro veris plantis erunt agnoscendæ, ut in posterum, quando profusius
agam de plantis marinis, demonstrare spero. Alia vero alcyonia, ut
_vesicaria marina Bauhini_, &c. vera animalium opera, namque eorum
sunt ovaria. Plantæ marinæ unicæ non sunt, quæ pro insectorum opere
sunt habitæ. Liceat mihi locum adferre ex notis, quas Nobilissimus
_Lyonnet Theologiæ insectorum Doctiss. el Rev. Lessers_ subjunxit:
“Credendum non est, ut quidam faciunt, si stagnantes aquas viridi et
fibrosâ membrana tectas videas, hanc insectorum texturam esse. Est algæ
species, quæ in his stagnis crescit, et insectis est pro alimento.”[172]


_De Polypis Corallinis insidentibus._

Completam historiæ et oeconomiæ polyporum in corallinis repertorum
descriptionem dare nondum suscipio, sed paucis enarrabo, quæ de illis
observare mihi licuit.

Auctores, qui aquæ dulcis polypos examinarunt, quatuor eorum species
enumerant: sed in aqua marina major differentium specierum numerus est;
plus quam viginti diversos vidi polypos, quos ut plurimum in laudatis
figuris etiam delineavit accuratissimus _Ellis_, et profecto adhuc
plures sunt. Sed hic monendum, quod cum aquæ dulcis polypi nudo oculo
facile queant conspici, plerique marini non nisi lente aut microscopio
possint examinari: et aqua marina, in qua polypi vivunt, bis, vel ad
minimum semel, nucthemeri spatio, debet renovari, aut polypi moriantur.

Ad exemplum Dⁱ. _Schaffer_ in duas species primo polypos distinguam;
in polypos, qui cellulas sibi construant, et in polypos, qui corporis
extremitate corallinis aliisque corporibus extus sese affigant, vel
in cavitates naturales alcyoniorum, coralliorum, &c. (de quibus in
posterum) irrepant, ut cancelli in vacua buccina. Polypi, qui in
cellulis habitant, cæteris plerumque sunt minores: horum cellulæ
corallinæ[173] truncum vel ramos circumdant, a quibus prudenti manu
sine corallinæ læsione satis facile possunt abradi: et si hæ cellulæ
non nimia sint copia, et corallina contra solis splendorem inspiciatur,
præsertim si color vivide ruber, aureus aut subniger est, facile per
ipsas cellulas translucet.

Polyporum, qui sine cellulis in corporum quorundam cavitatibus
habitant, aut extrinsecus illis affixi sunt, plurimæ sunt species.
Apertis[174] corallinæ tubulariæ ramis (nam in tali planta semper
adsunt rami vel tubi naturaliter[175] clausi, id est, integri, in
quibus nunquam polypus insidet) majorum polyporum species sæpius supra
sedet; quos a colore rubente polypos vocabo _coccineos_, et præ cæteris
observavi. In detritis et apertis, ut modo dixi, corallinæ tubulariæ
ramulis, inserta sua cauda vel corporis parte posteriore, polypus
habitat, et ex hoc ramo facile et sæpe levi quassatione delabitur,
præsertim si ille jam per aliquot dies servatus debilis, æger, aut
mortuus sit[176].

Si vegetum talem polypum, corallinæ insidentem, vehementius
amplificante microscopio intueris, facile differentiam vides inter
scabram et quasi granulatam polypi cutem, et lævissimam corallinæ
corticem.

Hic polypus coccineus duplici brachiorum genere est munitus, quod
in aliis minoribus non vidi; et hæc coloris sunt subalbidi.
[177]Inferiora et longiora octodecim vel viginti sunt, nam numerus
sæpe variat, et expansa patinam formant, in cujus medio[178] ipsum
polypi corpus coccineum est. Hoc corpus in duas partes dividi potest.
Inferiori placentam referenti perpendiculariter alia pyriformis est
infixa, quæ duodecim[179] vel quatuordecim habet brachia, prioribus
tenuiora et breviora.

Hanc partem pyriformem polypus valde [180]extendere potest, præsertim si
prædam captans expansa claudit[181] brachia; et rursus ita contrahere,
ut quasi [182]globulus inferiori et depressæ parti adhæreat. In extremo
hujus partis [183]os polypi esse videtur: sed ob partium exilitatem
non omnia satis distincta possunt videri, ut in majoribus aquæ dulcis
polypis; sed ex similitudine partium hæc tuto licet concludere.

Si longiora brachia fortiori microscopio attente contemplaris, cutem
eorum valde asperam vides, ut est piscium (quos _Haijen_ vocant) vel
ut superficies corii granulati (_chagrein-leer_) forsitan ut minora
animalcula, quæ polyporum esca sunt, eo melius, ne elabantur, retinere
possint. Sed inter hujus speciei polypos vidi umum cæteris[184]
majorem, ex cujus corpore, illo loco ubi pars superior inferiori et
depressæ inhæret, sex vel octo enascebantur[185] ramuli, in quorum
extremitatibus erant duo vel tres parvi globuli, punctum coccineum in
medio habentes. Huic polypo bis in die novam dedi aquam, quam maxime de
ejus vita sollicitus, ea spe, ut hi globuli in juniores excrescerent
polypos, sed quamvis per mensem sic vivum servaverim, nihil mutatum
vidi, nisi quod globuli paululum evaserint majores.

Quæ deinceps de polyporum generatione observavi, non ita mihi
satisfaciunt, ut illa pro certis et comprobatis habeam: si vero hac
æstate meliora adiscam, Regiæ Societati indicabo.


_De aliis Insectis Marinis._

Si noctu aqua maris, quæ littora nostra alluit, lapide injecto vel
baculo movetur, innumeras videre est scintillas igneas, quæ nihil aliud
sunt, quam minima animalcula lucentia, non nisi fortiore microscopio
visibilia.

Ut hæc animalcula idoneâ colligas copiâ, sufficientem aquæ quantitatem,
in qua has scintillas observasti, per chartam emporeticam filtrare
facias, donec semiuncia aut minus aquæ supra chartam restat: hujus
guttula, vitro concavo, penicilli vel pennæ ope, imposita, fortiore
microscopio examinetur, et celerimo motu illa natare videbis. Tres
diversas horum observavi species, quas ad vivum delineatas exhibet
tabulæ X. fig. I.

Sed mare plura alit insecta, quibus hæc lucendi facultas inest, et
quorum in corallinis repertorum quædam delineata sunt tab X. fig. 1,
2, 4, 5. sed quoniam plures [186]auctores de his scripserunt, non
commemorabo.

Si corallinæ recenter ex mare extractæ major planta, orbi porcellano
concavo, et cujus fundus est profundi coloris cærulei, cum sufficiente
quantitate aquæ marinæ pellucidissimæ et filtratæ, at ante jam monui,
imponatur, et ejus ramuli prudenter penna expandentur, et lente oculari
inspiciantur, silvam saepius videre est, in qua plurima pascuntor
animalia, præter diversi generis polypes ramis infixos et brachia
extendentes: alia plura sunt, præsertim in infima parte, si corallinæ
supra ostrea creverint, quæ huc et illuc cursitant, et forsitan sæpius
hianti ostreo alimento inserviunt. Sic vigesimo tertio Octobris 1756
ostreum accepi, cui magna [187]corallinæ planta erat innata, in qua,
præter tres diversas polyporum species, sex differentia reperiebam
insecta. [188]Primum vermis erat, cujus caput sex majoribus et duobus
minoribus cornubus erat instructum. [189]Alteram valde parvum
araneam longipedem (Gallis _le Faucheur_) referebat, admodum lente
se movens. Tertium vermis erat, similis figuræ 3, sed in designando
deperdebatur. [190]Quartum, quintum et sextum non nisi fortiore
microscopio distincte erant visibilia. Horum quod littera c nocatur,
mirandæ erat structuræ.

Diversa sic ostrea et corallinas explorans, plura talia admiranda
insecta vidi, quorum delineationem sistunt tabulae X. figuræ 2, 3, 4,
5, 7. Decimo sexto ejusdem mensis Octobris, plures mihi sed valde parvæ
apportabantur corallinæ, quæ a dolio coniformi erant abrasæ: in his
licet sæpe et attente exploratis nullos detegere poteram polypos, sed
duo alia mirabilissima insecta.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB VII. _p. 275_.

  _I. Rhosiud ad vivum pinxit._      _J. Mynde sc._]

Horum, quæ secunda figura tabulæ decimæ littera A exhibet, erant
millia, celerrimo motu vel repentia vel natantia: sex suis pedibus
postremis ramulum arripiebant, ut erucarum, quas geometras appellant,
mos est, et mirum in modum prone et supine se flectentes, de ramo
in ramum saliebant quasi agilissimi. Inter hæc erant pauca cæteris
majora, quæ [191]naturali et [192]aucta magnitudine delineare curavi.
[193]Alterum animal non minos mirum erat; sed horum omnium cognitio
multo melius delineationis inspectu, quam ex valde prolixa descriptione
peti potest.

Sed si omnia insecta marina, quæ in diversis corallinis reperi,
delineare vellem, infinitum opus susciperem; nam eorum numerus et
diversitas captum nostrum superant.

Hæc ergo, ut spero, sufficient ad demonstrandum corallinas non
polyporum opus aut fabricam esse, sed his et plurimis aliis insectis
marinis domicilio et perfugio aut alimento inservire.

  Dabam Zirizœæ in Zelandia,
  17 Martii 1757.


TABULARUM EXPLICATIO.

TABULA SEPTIMA.

_Fig._ I. Exhibet corallinæ plantam, quæ corallina muscosa, sive muscus
marinus tenui capillo spermophorus vocatur.

_Fig._ II. Corallina ramulis dichotomis teneris capillaribus
rubentibus. _Fig._ III. Junior planta corallinæ tubulariæ laryngi
similis.

_Fig._ IV. Duæ species _a_, _b_, fig. I. et. II. et _c_ eschara
papyracea utrinque cellulifera, uni basi adnatæ, quod sæpius in doliis
marinis coniformibius contigit.

_Fig._ V. Corallinæ rubræ ramulus, quem per aliquot hebdomadas in aqua
marina sæpius renovata servavi, quo tempore parvi ramuli _a_, _a_,
multum creverunt, et alii _b_, _b_, pullulaverunt.

_Fig._ VI. Pars conchæ ostrei, in qua, præter filamenta quædam viridia,
duo polypi _a_ _a_ conspiciendi.

_Fig._ VII. Cancer arachnoideus, cui duæ polyporum species insidebant.
Singulus in _a_, et multi cellulas habitantes in _b_.

_Fig._ VIII. Animal, quod _aarsgat_ vocatur, et januis emissasiorum
veterioribus et navibus accrescit: huic parva corallinæ planta erat
innata, in qua nullos detegere poteram polypos; plurimos vero _b._ _b._
ipsi animali insidentes.

 _N.B._ Caudas horum et præcedentis figuræ polyporum nimis longas
 delineavit pictor, ut eo melius in conspectum venirent.


TABULA OCTAVA.

_Fig._ I. Ramus corallinæ rubentis magnitudine naturali.

_Fig._ II. Idem microscopio visus, et tres polyporum species in eo
conspiciendæ.

 _a. b._ Duæ diversæ species caudâ vel corporis parte posteriore
 corallinæ affixæ.

 _c._ Tertia species in cellulis habitans.  _d._ Polypus mortuus.

 _e._ Polyporum cellulæ.

_Fig._ III. Planta corallinæ tubulariæ laryngi similis magnitudine
naturali.

_Fig._ IV. Hujus plantæ ramus maximus, microscopio visus, in quo
quinque diversos polypos inveni.

 _a._ Prima et maxima species polypi, quem coccineum voco, et tab. IX.
 fig. II. fortiore adhuc microscopio visum exhibet.

 _b._ Eadem sed minor species.

 _c._ Tertia, quæ eadem ut hujus tabulæ fig. II. litt. _b_.

 _d._ Quarta, quæ eadem ut hujus tabulæ fig. II. litt. _c_.

 _e._ Quinta et minima polyporum species, maxime aucta magnitudine
 adhuc delineata fig. 1. tab. IX.

 _f._ Cellulæ, quas quarta species habitat.

_Fig._ V. Corallina erecta pennata denticulis alternis caule appressis:
in hac nulli erant polypi nisi in cellulis circumcirca truncam affixis
_a a_.

 _b._ Cochleæ magnitudine auctæ in B.

 _c._ Eschara millepora minima crustacea cellulis tubiformibus,
 animalculis domicilio inserviens, et magnitudinæ auctæ in C.

_Fig._ VI. Corallina abietis forma, quam mense Decembri accepi: ejus
rami vesiculis vel ovulis _a_, _a_, per paria ordine quadam positis,
erant obsessi.

 A. Talis vesicula vel ovum microscopio visum.

 _b._ Cochleæ, & _c._ Eschara minima, ut in præcedente figura
 magnitudine aucta in B et C.

 _d._ _d._ Dua corpuscula fusca, quæ microscopio visa nidum vermium
 referunt in D.

_Fig._ VII. Corallina pennata et siliquata, ab ostreo abstracta: in hac
præter tres polyporum species

 _a_ A, _b_ B. (quæ cædem ac in fig. II.) _c_ C, sex alia insecta
 reperire contigit, quæ delineata sunt in tab. X. fig. 1, 6, 8.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. VIII. _p. 276_.

  _I. Rhodius ad vivum pinxit._      _J. Mynde sc._]


TABULA NONA.

_Fig._ I. Minimorum polyporum marinorum genus, cum polypis ramosis
(_polypes à bouquet_) aquæ dulcis conveniens.

 A. talis polypus conservæ marinæ viridi insidens vix oculo nudo
 conspicuus.

 B. idem lente oculari, et in C fortiore visus microscopio.

_Fig._ II. Polypus coccineus, quem tabulæ secundæ

_Fig._ III. & IV. naturali et aucta magnitudine exhibent, hic
fortissimo microscopio visus.

 A. hic polypus expansis brachiis, prædam expectans.

 B. idem brachia contrahendo, prædam arripiens.

 _a._ Brachia majora inferiora numero 16, 18, vel 20.

 _b._ Brachia superiora breviora numero 12, 14, vel 16.

 _c._ Corporis pars superior pyriformis, inferiori infixa.

 _d._ Corporis pars inferior compressa.

 _e._ Locus, ubi polypus corallinæ inhæret.

 C. idem polypus a parte anteriore visus, cum corporis partem
 superiorem pyriformem in globulum contraxerat, quod in majoribus
 polypis (vide infra fig. IV, V, VI.) magis visibile.

_Fig._ III. Similis polypus coccineus, cæteris major, ex cujus corpore
(ubi partes _c_ et _d_ conjunguntur) octo ramuli enascebantur, qui
in summitatibus duos vel tres gerebant globulos, punctum rubrum in
medio habentes, et quos in polypos juniores excreturos fore speraveram
frustra.

 _a._ Hujus polypi brachia longiora inferiora.

 _b._ Brachia breviora superiora.

 _c._ In medio corporis pyriformis os polypi esse videtur.

_Fig._ IV. Majus, ut videtur, genus polyporum, quos _klapkonten_
vocant, ostreorum conchis insidentium, quorum hic, rudius attractum,
brachia penitus in corpus suum abscondit.

_Fig._ V. Idem polypus corpore extenso brachia expandens.

_Fig._ VI. Idem capta præda se contrahens.


[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. IX. _p. 278_.

_I. Rhodius ad vivum pinxit._ _J. Mynde sc._]


[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. X. _p. 279_.

_I. Rhodius ad vivum pinxit._ _J. Mynde sc._]


TABULA DECIMA.

_Fig._ I. Tres species animalculorum lucentium in guttula aquæ marinæ
fortiore microscopio visorum.

_Fig._ II. Mirum animalculum in corallinis a doliis marinis
coniformibus abrasis repertum.

 A. tales minores erant centeni.

 B. decem vel duodecim erant hac magnitudine naturali.

 C. idem animal microscopio visum.

 _a._ Antennæ.

 _b._ Primum par pedum vel brachiorum.

 _c._ Secundum par.

 _d._ Tertium et maximum par.

 _e_, _e_, _e_, _e_. Quatuor corpuscula oviformia, quæ animal ut
 movebat natando.

 _f_, _f_, _f_, _f_, _f_, _f_. Sex pedes posteriores, quibus simul
 corallinæ ramum arripiens, quaquaversum se flectore poterat.

 _g._ Cauda in cujus extrema parte anus.

 _h._ Oculi.

_Fig._ III. Aliud animal in iisdem corallinis repertum.

 A. illud animal pronum.

 B. supinum.

 C. fortiore microscopio visum.

_Fig._ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. exhibent quasdam noctilucas, et alia
animalcula in diversis corallinis reperta, ea magnitudine, qua tertia
et quarta lens microscopii à Dº. Cuff in Anglia fabrefacti illa
ostendit.

Animalculum _c_, fig. 8. mirabilissimæ erant structuræ, et plurima
habebat membra.




XXXIII. _Remarks on Dr._ Job Baster’s Observationes de Corallinis, &c.
_printed above, p. 258. In a Letter to the Right Honourable_ George
_Earl of_ Macclesfield, _President of the R. S. from Mr._ John Ellis,
_F.R.S._


[Read June 9, 1757.]

My Lord,

I HAVE read Dr. Job Baster’s letter to the Royal Society; wherein
he endeavours to prove, that corallines are not of an animal, but a
vegetable nature; and has brought many arguments to support his system;
which, to gentlemen not well acquainted with the subject, may appear
plausible.

I could have wished the Doctor had read and examined thoroughly what
has been lately written on the subject: I then should not have had
occasion to trouble your Lordship with the following remarks, which I
find necessary to support what I have already advanced on that head.

His first argument is, That because he does not find as many polypes in
the corallines adhering to ships, flood-gates, and buoys, as in deep
water on oysters, muscles, and rocks, therefore he concludes, that
corallines are not formed by polypes.

In answer to this, let us examine the pliable structure of these
bodies, and how wisely nature has defended such tender substances with
a tough thin membranaceous covering, and we shall find, that the sea is
calm enough often near the surface to give them time to grow, even in
the strongest currents: but, without doubt, they are more liable to be
destroyed in such agitated situations, than in the calm depths of the
sea.

His second argument is, That finding polypes are not equally dispersed
over the whole plant, how can they form it? and gives us an example,
_Tab._ VIII. _fig._ 5. of a coralline, that is incrusted with many
other corallines or polypes on the stem, but has none on the branches.

Here we plainly see the mistake: the Doctor looks for the tender part
of the polype on the surface of the coralline, considering it as a
plant; and indeed, if this was the case, he ought so to do; but he
never once takes notice of the internal hollow structure of the stem,
branches, and denticles of those bodies, to inform us whether he found
an animal in those parts or no. This material point he seems not to
have thought on; which is really the true point in controversy at
present among gentlemen, who have not examined these bodies recent in
sea-water.

His third argument is, That almost always one and the same coralline
plant cherishes polypes of different kinds; and refers us to Tab. VIII.
fig. 2. and 4.

In fig. 2. he gives us an elegant painting of a geniculated red
conserva for a coralline, surrounded, as is very common, by many
species of small corallines and escharas. And in fig. 4. he gives us a
drawing of one of the tubular corallines, with the head of the animal
at the top of it; the stem of this is incrusted with four different
corallines and escharas, like the conserva fig 2.; and then he asks,
which of these five polypes made the tubular coralline?

To give him some proof of the animal nature of this coralline, let him
consult Ray’s Synopsis, ed. 3. p. 34. n. 4. and there he will find one
of his species, called _adianti aurei minimi facie planta marina_,
taken notice of so long ago as the year 1713. by Dr. Lloyd, as a
zoophyte, from its stem or tube’s being full of a thick reddish liquor,
rather resembling blood than the juice of a plant; which, upon pressing
the stem, communicated with the little head at top.

His fourth argument is, That as upon one and the same coralline plant
you shall find different kind of polypes; so, in different species of
coralline, the same polypes; and, to confirm this, he quotes my Essay
on Corallines; where I have remarked, that the polypes in the denticles
of the setaceous or bristly coralline, Nº. 16. appear to be like those,
that are on the lobster’s horn coralline, Nº. 19. And to illustrate
this, he observes, that bees and wasps always build their cells
invariably the same; and that therefore these two corallines should be
the same.

But herein he takes this matter wrong: he has considered, in all his
observations, the heads of those parts of the polype, in which are
the mouths, arms, or tentacula, which appear coming out of the cups,
denticles, and at the ends of the tubes of the corallines, as so many
whole and intire animals, without every observing, that the body
of the animal is contained in the tubular part of the root, stem,
and branches; and that these differ from one another widely both in
size and shape, as he may plainly see in the two corallines he has
instanced: for the more exact drawings of which, I shall refer him,
_viz._ for the setaceous or bristly coralline, to my Plate, Nº. 38. the
natural size of which is at fig. 4. and the magnified one at fig. D:
this he will observe to have a small stem, and its branches disposed in
a pinnated form: and for the lobster’s-horn coralline, I shall refer
him to Tab. xxii. of Vol. xlviii. of the Philosophical Transactions;
where, at Nº. 3. the natural size is expressed, and at C the upper part
of this coralline is drawn in proportion to the bristly coralline from
the same magnifying glass; which shews the stem to be much larger, and
surrounded by its branches growing in whorles at equal distances, not
unlike the equisetum, or horse-tail plant; and yet the heads of this
animal nearly resemble the other, only a little larger. Further, his
comparison to bees and wasps, and their cells, is not conclusive: for
these ramified, hollow, and denticulated bodies, called corallines,
which we so frequently find dead on our shores, are properly skins of
certain marine polypes, and not nests, as those constructed by these
little winged animals are. And yet we find as great a regularity in
the same species of these corallines, as when we compare two oak trees
to one another, or two of Mr. Trembley’s branched fresh-water polypes
to one another.

He then proceeds to his fifth argument, That if corallines were formed
by polypes, neither the polypes, nor even their cells, would ever fix
on living animals, or any other bodies.

Here we may observe, that the consequence he draws doth not follow; for
corallines may be formed or produced by certain species of polypes, and
yet polypes of another species may be found adhering to other bodies,
and even to animal bodies.

By his sixth argument he endeavours to prove, That the vesicles, which
are found in regular rows on the sea-fir coralline in winter, Tab.
VIII. fig. 6. do not belong to it; and are no more than the eggs of
some sea insect deposited on it, of which there may be a great variety.

But to convince him of his mistake, let him take off one of the
vesicles, and apply a large magnifier to the place, and he will
discover a hole, by which this vesicle or ovary has had a communication
thro’ the skin with the parent polype. For a further illustration of
the manner in which these vesiculated polypes breed, let him consult
the 38th Plate of my Essay, where he will find several accurate figures
(drawn by Mr. Ehret from the life) of these vesicles, with the spawn
of the polypes coming out of them; some of which spawn we evidently
discovered to be young polypes with their arms formed; and, as they
fell from the vesicle, extending themselves in the watch-glass of
sea-water.

In examining the drawings for his plates, I have observed, that Tab.
VII. fig. 2. is evidently a red conserva, which he calls a coralline.
We have no corallines, but many conservas, of this form and bright red
colour on our coasts; and these shores, I believe, are allowed to have
similar marine productions with those of Holland.

Tab. VII. fig. 5. he calls a branch of red coralline, which he says he
kept several weeks in sea-water, and that often changed; during which
time it sprouted and grew very much. This experiment, I am persuaded,
is very true; because it is plainly a vegetable, as appears from his
own exact drawing of it; and seems to be the _fucus teres rubens minus
in longnum protensus_ of Ray’s Synopsis, ed. 3. p. 91. N. 53. This is
one of his principal arguments to prove the vegetation of corallines.

Tab. VIII. fig. 1. he calls a branch of red coralline; and at fig. 2.
he has it magnified, where it appears to be a geniculated red conserva,
drawn and painted with great exactness.


These arguments, my Lord, and these figures of real vegetables, which
the Doctor has given us for corallines, shew, how much he is willing to
support the old opinion of the botanists: but I am satisfied he will
soon alter his opinion, when he observes the remarkable difference of
the texture of vegetable and coralline bodies, when viewed in sea-water
thro’ a good aquatic microscope. And to convince him more fully, that
corallines are an animal substance, let him burn them, and he will
perceive the same pungent volatile alkaline smell, which he finds in
burning horn, hair, or oysters; whereas burnt fucus’s and conservas
yield a smell not much unlike that of common land vegetables. Even the
stony corallines, when their cretaceous covering has been dissolved in
vinegar, the membranous part, that remains of them, put into the fire,
yields the same animal smell with other corallines.

Further, since I find the Doctor has promised the Royal Society to
continue his researches at the seaside, the following hints may be of
use to him. And, first, he will find, that those he seems to think
naked polypes, which he found adhering to corallines and other bodies,
are really small corallines and escharas, with their proper skins
and cells; all which I have particularly described already. I would
then recommend him to examine such corallines as are taken out of the
deepest water, which are found adhering to shells and fucus’s. He will
find Mr. Cuff’s aquatic microscope, or one of that form, the most
commodious for observing these animals alive.

The most transparent ones he will find the best to discover their
gelatinous inside, which runs thro’ the stem and ramifications, and
ends in the heads, where the claws are. Some of the best kinds to
observe are as follows: The sea-oak coralline, the lily-flowering
coralline, the great tooth coralline, the sea-thread coralline, and
the branched tubular coralline. Pieces of these should be cut off
while they are in the sea water, and placed in watch-glasses full
of the same: in these they should remain a while, till they recover
themselves; and when they are placed on the stage of the microscope,
the motion of the internal part communicating with the heads will be
easily discovered.

If the Doctor will immerse some of these corallines, when they are
extended, in two thirds of spirit of wine and one third of clear
sea-water, it will preserve them many years, as I have experienced. He
may then put the different sorts into distinct phials, and view them at
pleasure with a lens of about one inch and half focus.

In fine, my Lord, opportunities so seldom offer at the sea-side to make
these experiments with accuracy; and likewise to this, the strong lines
of vegetation that these bodies carry in their appearance, and your
Lordship will not be surprised, that there are so many gentlemen, even
of the Royal Society, that totally disbelieve them to be animals.

Many there are in the Society, that are wavering between both opinions.
If then, my Lord, you think, that any specimens which I have, or any
demonstrations tending to clear up this point, that lie in my power,
will be acceptable to your Lordship and the Society, your Lordship may
freely command them, whenever you think proper, from

                           Your +LORDSHIP’S+
                Much obliged and most obedient Servant,
                              John Ellis.

London, June 9. 1757.




XXXIV. _An Account of an extraordinary Operation performed in the
Dock-Yard at_ Portsmouth: _Drawn up by Mr._ John Robertson, _F.R.S._


[Read May 26, 1757.]

THE Royal William, a first rate man of war, built about 40 years ago,
having, upon examination, been judged in so good a state, as to be
worthy of repairing for sea service, was ordered into dock, and brought
thither on the 29th of June 1756. On these occasions it is usual to lay
across the middle line of the bottom of the dock, at distances of about
five feet from one another, thick pieces of oak timber of about four
feet long; their upper surfaces lying in the same plane, or so posited,
that a line stretched from the two extreme blocks will touch all the
intermediate ones; and on the middle of these blocks the keel of the
ship is to rest. On the said day the tide did not rise so high as was
expected; and there was not quite depth enough of water to float the
ship in, and set her on the blocks, notwithstanding the assistance of
an empty lighter, which, being fixed to the stern, lifted the ship at
the end six inches: and as the officers knew they should not have so
much water again before the next spring-tides, they were determined to
heave her in; which is a very common operation in most dock-yards. Now
it so happened, thro’ the great weight of the head and stern, that the
ship cambered very much; that is, her keel, from being straight, was
become much curved, the two extremities hanging lower than the middle
part by many inches; and consequently the foremost part of the keel,
instead of sliding over the blocks, forced all the foremost ones away,
for above 60 feet; whereby that part of the keel rested on the bottom
or floor of the dock, and the aftermost part rested on such of the
blocks, as had escaped the violence, which had displaced the others.
In this situation the keel was very far from being strait; and so it
was resolved to lift by main force the head of the ship, until the keel
should be strait; and in that position to support it by the blocks,
which had been forced away from their places.

For this purpose there were set up, under the wales and other parts of
the ship, to the length of near 80 feet of the stem, as many shoars,
as were judged necessary; and also nine pair of bed-screws, three pair
under each bow, and three pair under the knee of the head. At each
shoar a workman was appointed, to drive wedges between the heels of
the shoars and the parts of the dock whereon they rested; whereby the
shoars were raised end-wise, and consequently the body of the ship
lifted at the same time. While this was doing, the 18 screws were also
at work: and between these efforts the fore part of the ship was raised
upwards of 19 inches, so much being necessary to bring the fore part of
the keel in a right line with the hinder part.

In this service were employed about 270 men; whereof about 144 worked
at the screws, and the others worked at the shoars with their mawls and
wedges; and the whole operation was performed in about seven hours.

My curiosity leading me to inquire what was the weight of the ship,
in the condition she was at the time of bringing her into the dock;
for this purpose I procured draughts of the elevation and section, and
of the plans at the line of floating, and at the parallel sections
of every foot distance down to the keel. Then, by finding the mean
area between every two sections, I was thereby enabled to come at the
magnitude of a solid, that would nearly fill the trough the ship made
in the water; and, by increasing this magnitude by that of the keel,
and so much of the stern-post and stem, as were under water, the cubic
feet of the fluid displaced by the ship were obtained, being 54869;
and consequently her weight was 3532091 pounds, or 1576 tons, 16 _C_.
2 qrs. 3 ℔. These numbers were not altogether so easily come at, as
they would have been, had the ship swam on an even keel, her draught
of water before being 13 feet 2 inches, and abast 16 feet 6 inches.
However, the computation may be esteemed as correct as the nature of
the subject would admit; because I found pretty near the same solidity
by another method.

I got a block or model made, by a scale of a quarter of an inch to a
foot, of so much of the Royal William’s body, as was immerged, when
she was brought into dock; and this block I immersed in a trough of
sea-water, and found its weight in the following manner.

The length of the trough was 46 inches, breadth 14 inches, and
depth 8 inches: at each corner was a graduated scale of inches, and
pencil-lines drawn round the inside of the trough at every inch.
Sea-water was poured into the trough to the height of 5 inches; and
the trough was exactly levelled, by means of the pencil-line, at 5
inches: then the block being forced under the water’s surface, the
fluid, when still, was risen to 6⅓ inches; consequently the magnitude
of the block was equal to a parallelopipedon of 46 inches long, 14
inches broad, and 1⅓ inches deep, or to 858⅔ cubic inches.

Now 858⅔ cubic inches are equal to 0.4969 cubic feet.

And a cubic foot of sea-water weighs 64.373² pounds avoirdupoize.

Then 64.373² × 0.4969 = 31.987 pounds.

So that by a quarter inch scale, a model similar to the Royal William
weighs near 32 ℔.

But a quarter inch scale is ⅟48 of a foot scale.

And the model is to the ship as 1³ is to 48³, or as 1 is to 110592.

Then 3537506 ℔. (= 110592 × 31.987), or 1579 tons, 4 _C._ 3 qrs. 14 ℔.
is the weight sought.

The difference by the two methods amounts to 5415 ℔. or to 2 tons, 8
_C._ 1 qr. 11 ℔.

Some of the persons present at this experiment read the height of the
water at 6⅜ inches: the difference between 6⅜ and 6⅓ inches is ⅟24 of
an inch; a difference easily to be made by different persons in an
experiment of this kind. But observing, that the computation made on
6⅜ inches amounted to near 50 tons more than on 6⅓ inches, I caused
the trough to be diminished in its depth to 6½ inches, had one of the
ends cut off, and a board fixed on the open side, being desirous of
making the experiment with the trough standing on one end: and indeed,
in this situation, an error of ⅒ of an inch in the height of the water
makes a difference of about 16½ tons in the weight of the ship. Into
this upright trough water was poured to the height of 36 inches; and
the block being immerged, the water was raised 9⅓ inches: so that the
block was equal in magnitude to a parallelopipedon of 14 inches long,
6½ inches wide, and 9⅓ inches deep, or to 849⅓ cubic inches: from
whence I find the weight of the ship to be 1562 tons, 1 _C._ 2 qrs. 16
℔. And altho’ I take this number to be nearest the truth, yet it may be
observed, that it is no easy matter to come at accuracy in this subject
by any of the methods in common use.

My next inquiry was, to find how much of this weight was lifted, and
how to proportion it among the screws and mawl-men: but in this, less
accuracy must be expected than in the preceding inquiry; for the exact
number of men employed is not known; neither can it be told, how many
worked at the screws, and how many with the mawls; and only a guess can
be made at the part lifted. However, something may be gathered, which
may, perhaps, be worth the knowing.

Let the weight raised be taken at half the weight of the ship; for
64 feet, the length of the keel raised, is not far from half the
whole length: add to this the sally of the head, the weight of the
forecastle, the friction of the timber, and the resistance of the parts
bent by the cambering: beside, the mawls worked at several shoars set
up abast the said 64 feet.

Now the weight by the last experiment was 3499064 pounds: one half, or
1749532 ℔. I take to be the weight raised between the screws and mawls.

The distance between two contiguous threads of each screw was 1⅓
inches; the length of the two opposite levers was 12 feet 8 inches, or
152 inches, and described a circumference of 477½ inches: each screw
was worked by 8 men: their force, reckoned at 30 ℔. each, makes the
power working on each screw equal to 240 ℔.

Hence, from the known property, each screw could raise 65485 ℔.

And the 18 screws raised 1178730 ℔.

Then there remained 570802 ℔. to be raised among about 126 mawls:

Which gives 4530 ℔, or a little more than two tons, to be raised by
each man with his mawl and wedges; which is considerably less than what
I have seen raised by way of experiment.




XXXV. _Observations on an Evening, or rather Nocturnal, Solar_ Iris.
_By Mr._ George Edwards, _Librarian of the College of Physicians_.

_To the Reverend Dr._ Birch.


[Read June 16, 1757.]

SIR,

ON Sunday evening the 5th of June 1757, being walking in the fields
near Islington, about half a mile north of the upper reservoir or bason
of the New River, I observed the sun to sink beneath the visible
horizon to the north-west, it being very clear in that quarter, except
some thin clouds a little above the horizon, which were painted of fine
red and golden colours, as is usual when the sun sets in a calm clear
evening. But about 20 minutes after sun-set, as near as I could judge,
it then being darkish, I was greatly surprised to see an Iris in the
dusky air, at a height greater than is seen at any time in the rainbow.
It was in the contrary quarter of the heavens to the setting sun, and
fell on the smoke, mists, and evening vapours arising from the city of
London and its neighbourhood. The arch seemed to be a full half circle,
tho’ its lower parts fell some degrees short of the horizon. It was
very distinctly seen for about 15 minutes. Its colours the same as in
the rainbow, but fainter. The lower ends of the bow arose gradually
higher from the earth, as the sun declined beneath the horizon, until
the whole arch disappeared. The center of the arch was above the
horizon at its first appearance. What most perplexed me, was, to find
the cause of this painted arch. I could not believe, that it proceeded
from the sun-beams falling on rain; for there had been none that
afternoon; nor was there any sort of signs of rain or rainy clouds to
be seen; the wind being northerly, and the air cool, and somewhat hazy
in the quarter where the bow appeared; which was not near so bright as
the rainbow appears to be in the day-time; and I believe, that it would
not have been visible at all in the presence of the sun. I imagine it
was formed on the gross particles of the evening vapours, mixed with
those of the smoke arising from the town; for had the sun-beams shot
from beneath the horizon on falling rain at a considerable height above
the earth, I believe the darkness would have rendered the appearance of
such a bow far brighter than it appears to the sight in the presence of
the sun: but this night or evening arch being reflected, as I suppose,
from particles so minute as those of floating vapours, gave but little
light and colour to the sight, and what would not have been visible,
had the sun been above the horizon. For the same reason, the moon and
stars are visible in the absence of the sun, and, on the contrary, are
unseen when the sun is present: and if we light a candle, and set it
in the sun-beams, the flame is lost to our sight, tho’ the same candle
will give us a considerable share of light in the night. As I have
never before seen or heard of such an arch, I thought this account of
it (imperfect as it is) might not be disagreeable to the Royal Society.

It could not be a lunar arch, the moon being then many degrees below
the horizon, and the arch in a place, where it could not be affected
by the moon’s rays. The consciousness of my inability to give a proper
account of such an uncommon appearance could not deter me from the
attempt.

I think I have said all that is necessary on this subject; yet am ready
to answer any question for the farther illustrating of it. I am,

                             Reverend Sir,
                       Your most humble Servant,
                             Geo. Edwards.

College of Physicians, London, June 6th, 1757.




XXXVI. _The Effects of the_ Opuntia, _or Prickly Pear, and of the_
Indigo _Plant, in colouring the Juices of living Animals. Communicated
by_ H. Baker, _F.R.S._


[Read June 23, 1757.]

                                                        June 23d, 1757.

MR. Baker received a letter yesterday from Dr. Alexander Garden, of
Charles Town in South Carolina, part of which he hopes he shall be
excused for laying before the Royal Society.

The Doctor writes thus:----“As you desired, I tried the effects of the
prickly pear in colouring the urine. A few days after your letter, I
went down to one of the islands, and gathered some of the fruit, and
gave four of the pears to a child of three years of age, and six pears
to one of five. The next morning I examined the urine of both, and it
appeared of a very lively red colour, as if tent-wine had been mixed
with clear water. The urine of the eldest was deeper coloured, and of
a darker look: the youngest (who always naturally made clear urine)
was of a more lively and beautiful red. Next day I gave six pears to a
Negroe wench, who gave suck, and strictly forbad her suckling her child
for six or eight hours; and then taking some of her milk in a tea-cup,
and setting it by for some hours, the cream had a reddish lustre, tho’
it was very faint.

I was led to this last experiment by an observation, which I made on
the milk of cows, who had fed in an indigo-field; the indigo had
not only tinged their urine blue, but the cream of the milk was of a
most beautiful blue colour, and had a radiated appearance from the
centre (Is it not hence probable, that the dye is the oily part of the
plant?). The milk underneath was clear and white as usual.”

Dr. Garden wrote, a year ago, that the prickly pear grows in great
abundance about Carolina; and also that the cochineal insects are found
upon it; but hitherto no attempts have been made to cure them as the
Spaniards do. In hope, that some rich dye may be produced from the
plant itself, Mr. Baker proposed some experiments to Dr. Garden, which
he intends to prosecute this summer.




XXXVII. _Account of an extraordinary Shower of black Dust, that fell in
the Island of_ Zetland _20th_ October 1755[194]. _In a Letter from Sir_
Andrew Mitchell, _of_ Westshore, _Bart. to_ John Pringle, _M.D. F.R.S._


[Read June 23, 1757.]

                                             Pall-Mall, June 9th, 1757.
SIR,

IN compliance with your desire, I made particular inquiry, whether
at or about the time the earthquake happened at Lisbon the 1st of
November 1755. any uncommon phænomena were observed to appear in
the islands of Orkney or Zetland, as such had happened about that
time in other parts of Scotland. From Orkney I was informed, that
nothing particular had happened; only, that about the time mentioned
the tides were observed to be much higher than ordinary. I received
from Zetland a letter, dated 28th May 1756. from Mr. William Brown,
Master of the grammar-school at Scalloway in that country, a sensible
and observing man; wherein he writes verbatim as follows. “Blessed be
God, notwithstanding the great devastations, that have been made in
other parts of the world by earthquakes, we have been intirely free
from any disaster of that nature: nor has any thing extraordinary
happened in this country since you left it; only on Monday the 20th
October last, betwixt the hours of three and four in the afternoon,
the sky being very hazy, as it uses to be before a storm of thunder
and lightning, there fell a black dust over all the country, tho’ in
greater quantities in some places than in others. It was very much
like lampblack; but smelled strongly of sulphur. People in the fields
had their faces, hands, and linen, blackened by it. It was followed
by rain.----Some people assign the cause of it to some extraordinary
eruption of Hecla. But I shall trouble you no more about it, as no
doubt some of your friends have written to you of it some time ago.”----

In June 1756. I returned to Zetland; and, upon further inquiry, found
what Mr. Brown had written me was attested by Mr. Mitchell, parson
of the parish of Tengwall, and by several Gentlemen of credit and
reputation, who had seen and observed the same phænomenon in different
parts of the country at the time above-mentioned.

Mr. Brown having omitted to mention, how the wind did blow at the time
the black dust was observed, I made particular inquiry about that
circumstance, and found it was from the S. W. which does not seem to
favour the opinion, that the dust proceeded from an eruption of mount
Hecla, which lies about N. W. from Zetland; unless it may be supposed,
that a north wind happening just before had carried this dust to the
southward, and the south-west wind immediately following had brought
it back to the northward. But, in this case, would not this black dust
have been observed in Zetland at its first travelling to the southward?
Upon inquiry, I did not hear it was.

Thus far I have obeyed your commands, which I will always do with
pleasure; and if you think it worth while to lay this letter before the
Royal Society, I leave you at full liberty to do so, or not, as you
think proper: but what it contains may be relied on as truth. I am,
with great regard,

                               Dear Sir,
                  Your most obedient humble Servant,
                            And. Mitchell.

_P.S._ I may add, that the distance from mount Hecla to Zetland is
between 500 and 600 miles.




XXXVIII. _A Description of some Thermometers for particular Uses. By
the Right Honourable the Lord_ Charles Cavendish, _V.P.R.S._


[Read June 30, 1757.]

THE thermometer (TAB. XI. _fig._ 1.) is designed for shewing the
greatest degree of heat, which happens in any place during the absence
of the observer. It consists of a cylinder of glass joined to a tube,
and differs from common thermometers only in having the top of the stem
drawn out into a capillary tube, which enters into a glass ball C,
joined on to the stem at the place where it begins to be contracted.
The cylinder, and part of the tube, are filled with mercury; the top of
which shews the common degrees of heat as usual. The upper part of the
tube above the mercury is filled with spirit of wine, and some of the
same liquor is left in the ball C, so as to fill it almost up to the
top of the capillary tube.

Now when the thermometer rises, the spirit of wine will be driven out
of the tube, and will fall into the ball C. When the thermometer sinks
again, as the spirit cannot return back from the ball, the top of
the tube will remain empty, and the length of the empty part will be
proportional to the fall of the thermometer. Therefore, by means of a
proper scale, the top of the spirit of wine will shew how many degrees
it has been higher than when observed; which being added to the present
height, will give the greatest degree of heat it has been at.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. XI. _p. 300_.

_J. Mynde sc._]

To fit this thermometer for a new observation, it is necessary to
fill the upper part of the tube with spirits; which may be done, by
inclining the instrument till the spirits in the ball C cover the end
of the capillary tube. For if the cylinder is then heated, by applying
the hand to it, or by the flame of a lamp held at some distance, till
the spirits rise to the top of the tube and run over into the ball
C, and is then suffered to cool in the same position, the tube will
remain full of spirits, and the thermometer will be fitted for a new
experiment.

The top of the capillary tube is made to stand pretty near to one side
of the ball, and also to the top of it, that a less inclination of the
instrument may be sufficient to make the spirit of wine in the ball
cover the end of the tube.

The ball C is joined on as high as possible, so as to hide no part of
the tube, except that, where the bore is contracted. By this means, the
top of the spirit of wine begins to appear before the thermometer has
sunk one degree.

It will be convenient to leave some mercury in the ball C, which may
be made to cover the end of the capillary tube, by inclining the
thermometer more than what is necessary to make the spirit of wine
cover it. By this means some mercury may be got back into the tube,
in case any of it should happen to be driven into the ball by the
thermometer’s being exposed to too great a heat.

The scale of degrees at top, which shews the descent of the thermometer
from the highest point it has arrived at, ought not, in strictness, to
be the same at all times of the year; for those degrees exceed the
common degrees of heat pointed out by the top of the mercury, as much
as the column of spirit of wine expands, and therefore are greatest
when that column is so; that is to say, when the greatest heat to which
the instrument has been exposed is least. A difference of 30 degrees
of Fahrenheit’s scale, in the greatest rise of the thermometer, would
require the scale to be altered one sixtieth part: and the error
arising from making use of the same scale will be about one sixth of a
degree, if the thermometer is observed when it has fallen ten degrees.

In the instrument here described, the bore of the tube is about 0.027
inches; and one inch of it contains two grains of mercury, and answers
to about ten degrees, the cylinder containing about 2280 grains. If a
much shorter tube was made use of, a considerable error might arise
from too great a quantity of spirits adhering to the sides of the
tube, in that part, which is filled with mercury; especially when the
thermometer rises fast. This makes it necessary to employ a cylinder of
a considerable bigness, if it is desired to have the scale of degrees
pretty large.

If the weight of the mercury is thought inconvenient, it may be avoided
by the construction described in fig. 2. where the bottom of the tube
is bent so as to point upwards, and is joined to a ball A, which
communicates with a cylinder placed above it. In all other respects it
is the same as the instrument before described.

It is filled with spirit of wine and mercury; the quantity of the
latter being sufficient to fill the whole tube and the ball A.

No part of the spirit, with which the cylinder is filled, can get into
the tube, as long as the instrument is kept in an erect position, or
even if it is carefully laid down flat on a table. For tho’ in this
last case some of the spirits may get into the ball A, it will rise to
that part of the ball, which is then uppermost, and will not touch the
orifice of the tube _n_; which was the reason for adding this ball,
which would be unnecessary, if the instrument was kept constantly
erect, or nearly so. If the spirit should come to touch the orifice of
the tube _n_, it would work up between the mercury and the glass; which
would put the instrument out of order.


The thermometer fig. 3. is designed for shewing the greatest cold,
which happens in any place during the time the instrument is left
in it. The tube is bent into the shape of a syphon of unequal legs
standing parallel to one another, the bend being at the bottom. The
top of the shorter leg is bent to a right angle, and immediately opens
into a ball A, which, by means of a short bent tube on the opposite
side, communicates with a cylinder standing parallel to the legs of the
syphon, and pointing downwards. This cylinder contains the greatest
part of the fluid; and is added only to make the thermometer more
sensible than it would be, if the ball A was made of a sufficient
bigness to contain the proper quantity of fluid. This instrument is
filled with spirit of wine, with the addition of as much mercury as is
sufficient to fill both legs of the syphon, and about a fourth or fifth
part of the ball A.

The common degrees of heat are shown by the top of the mercury in the
longest leg, or by the top of the spirit, in case any of it is left
above the mercury.

When the mercury in the longest leg sinks by cold, that in the shorter
leg will rise, and will run over into the ball A; from whence it cannot
return back when the thermometer rises again, as the surface of the
mercury in the ball is below the orifice of the tube _n_. Therefore the
upper part of the shorter leg will be filled with a column of spirits
of a length proportional to the increase of heat; the bottom of which,
by means of a proper scale, will show how much the thermometer has been
lower than it then is; which being subtracted from the present height,
will give the lowest point that it has been at.

If no further contrivance was used, the mercury would fall into the
ball A in large drops; which would make the instrument less accurate.
For the thermometer’s beginning to rise immediately after a drop is
fallen, or just as it is going to fall (in which case it will return
back into the tube), will make a difference of such part of a degree
nearly as that drop answers to. To prevent this inconvenience, the top
of the shorter leg, close to the ball, is contracted, by being held
in the flame of a lamp; and the passage is further streightened by a
solid thread of glass placed within the tube, and extending from the
bottom of the shorter leg to the part near the ball A, where it is most
contracted. By this means, as soon as any small portion of mercury is
got beyond the end of the thread of glass, it breaks off, and falls
into the ball in very small drops. This thread of glass is fastened
by the heat given to the tube in making the bend next to the ball. In
order to fill the shorter leg with mercury, to fit the instrument for
a new experiment, it must be inclined till the mercury in the ball
covers the orifice of the tube _n_. The cylinder being then heated,
the mercury will be forced into the shorter leg, and will run down
the thread of glass in drops, which will soon unite. By this means,
such a quantity of mercury must be got into the shorter leg, as, upon
the cooling of the instrument, will be sufficient to drive all the
spirit of wine into the ball with a less degree of cold than what the
thermometer is likely to be exposed to.

The ball A must always have some mercury in it, but never enough to
fill it up to the orifice of the tube _n_. It must therefore be made of
such a size, as to contain all the mercury, which can come into it from
the tube without being too full. If it should happen to be made too
small, so as to be too full in cold weather, any part of the mercury
may easily be driven into the cylinder, and got back again into the
ball when wanted in warmer weather.

It will be better to leave a little of the spirit above the mercury
in the longest leg; in which case the top of the spirit will shew
the common degrees of heat. For the filling the tube, so as to leave
none, is attended with some trouble; and more of it will be apt to get
up there, if the instrument should happen to be held in an improper
situation, or if it be kept in too warm a place without filling the
shorter leg with mercury by the method above described. If too great
a quantity should get up, tho’ it would not affect the scale for
the common degrees of heat, it would however cause some error in the
degrees on the shorter leg; inasmuch as the expansion of that portion
of spirits, which has got up into the longer leg, exceeds the expansion
of the mercury, which must supply its place. It may be got back at
pleasure, by exposing the thermometer to such a degree of cold as will
make the spirit get beyond the bend of the syphon; for then it will run
up along the thread of glass in the shorter leg till it gets above the
mercury there. For this purpose the point of 0 degrees of Fahrenheit’s
scale should be near the bend; by which means, any part of the spirit
of wine may be got beyond it by an artificial cold; and there will be
no danger of the whole getting beyond it by any natural cold; in which
case the air would get up into the ball.

The scale of degrees on the shorter leg will, in different seasons, be
liable to an error of the same kind as that, which was explained in the
first-mentioned thermometer; but in this it will be less considerable,
as the space between the two scales is filled with mercury, whose
expansion is about six times less than that of spirit of wine.

In the thermometer, which I have, the bore of the tube is about 0.054
inches; and one inch of it contains eight grains of mercury, and
answers to seven degrees of Fahrenheit’s scale. The drops of mercury,
which fall into the ball A, answer to about one eighth of a degree.


If instruments of the nature of those above described, were to be used
for finding the temper of the sea at great depths, some alteration
would be necessary in the construction of them, principally upon
account of the great pressure of the water; the ill effect of which
can, I believe, be prevented no other way, than by leaving the tube
open. For if the thermometer was made strong enough to resist the
pressure without breaking, yet it would be impossible to be sure, that
the figure of the glass would not thereby be altered, which should make
the experiment uncertain.

The instrument for finding the greatest heat might be made just like
that of fig. 1. only leaving the top open. It is to be filled with
mercury only, as is also the lower part of the ball at top, but not
near so high as the end of the capillary tube. The upper part of that
ball, being left open, will in a great measure be filled with the
sea-water, which will be forced into it by the pressure.

If this instrument (the tube being quite full of mercury) is plunged
into any part of the sea, where the heat is greater than that of the
air above, part of the mercury will be driven out of the tube; and,
upon bringing it into a colder place, the sea-water or air in the ball
will enter into the tube, and will fill the space left by the mercury.

As this thermometer does not show the common degrees of heat, it must
be placed in a vessel of water with another thermometer, and the scale
of degrees at top will shew how much the heat it has been exposed to is
greater than that of the water in the vessel.

The sea-water getting into the glass will corrode the mercury, and
thereby foul the glass; which will make the experiment less exact:
and therefore it would be much more convenient, if the sea-water could
intirely be kept out; which probably may be done by tying a bladder
full of air to the neck of the ball C, which will contract by the
pressure of the water, without letting any of it get in.

If this can be done, the instrument may be filled with mercury and
spirits, just like that at fig. 1. But it would be more convenient to
fill it with mercury only: in which case it may be made with as small
a tube and ball as common mercurial thermometers: or it may be filled
with spirits only. The instrument will thereby become much less bulky;
which will compensate the want of the common scale of heat.

It is better to put but little mercury into the ball at top, for fear
of its getting into the capillary tube by the motion of the instrument.

The thermometer for finding the greatest cold, if applied to this
purpose, must also be left open at top. There is another inconvenience
to be avoided; which is, that the mercury in the ball A, by the tossing
of the instrument, might sometimes get into the shorter leg of the
syphon; which would spoil the experiment. To prevent such an accident,
the most convenient construction, which occurs to me, is that of fig.
4. which differs from fig. 3. in having the ball A omitted; so that
the mercury running out of the shorter leg will fall to the bottom of
the cylinder, and will not be so liable to get back into the tube by
motion. The cylinder is made to stand not quite parallel to the legs
of the syphon, that the mercury contained therein may more easily be
brought to touch the end of the tube, in order to fit the instrument
for a new experiment.

If, by means of a bladder, the sea-water can be kept out of the glass,
this instrument may be made to shew the common degrees of heat; but
even then, in order to render it less bulky, it may be better to supply
the want of them as in the last instrument. The longer leg of the
syphon may in that case be made as short as you please; only making the
ball B big enough to receive all the mercury, which may be driven into
it by heat.

If thermometers of this kind were to be sent up into the air by means
of a kite, they might be made like those proposed for the sea; but it
would not be necessary to leave them open.

As it would be desirable to make them as small as possible, they
should be made so as not to shew the common degrees of heat: and it
would also, on that account, be convenient to omit the thread of glass
placed within the shorter leg of the syphon in fig. 3. and 4. This
thread of glass is placed there in order to make the mercury fall into
the ball A. fig. 3. or cylinder C. fig. 4. in smaller drops, and also
to facilitate the filling the shorter leg with mercury. The latter
purpose may be answered by having a ball blown towards the bottom of
the shorter leg, as marked in fig. 4. at M: for as soon as the mercury
driven out of the cylinder by heat gets to that ball, it will pass
by the spirit of wine. The other purpose may probably be answered by
having the tube contracted as much as possible at _n_.

In the foregoing instruments the tubes made use of were of a large
bore, as most of the errors in them would increase by making
use of smaller ones. Possibly less ones might be used without
much inconvenience. The chief advantage will be, the making these
thermometers more sensible of the changes of heat, than when large
cylinders are used. This will be of service when the greatest degree of
heat or cold continues but a short time.

It is better to use plain spirit of wine, than what is tinged, which
seems more apt to cause a foulness in the tube, and thereby makes the
surface of the mercury less well defined. I am induced to believe so,
from observing, that the portion of spirits above the mercury in the
tube fig. 3. which at first was strongly tinged with cochineal, in
some months became perfectly colourless, the tinging particles being
deposited in different parts of the tube, and causing a foulness there.
The colour of the spirits in the cylinder does not appear to be altered.


The dark-shaded part in the several figures represents mercury, the
dotted part spirit of wine.




[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. XII. _p. 311_.

_J. Mynde sc._]

XXXIX. _Observationes Anatomico-Medicæ, de Monstro bicorporeo Virgineo
A. 1701. die 26 Oct. in_ Pannonia, _infra_ Comaromium, _in Possessione_
Szony, _quondam Quiritum_ Bregetione, _in lucem edito, atque A. 1723.
die_ 23 Febr. Posonii _in Cœnobio Monialium_ S. Ursulæ _morte functo
ibidemque sepulto. Authore_ Justo Johanne Torkos, _M.D. Soc. Regalis
Socio._

[_See_ TAB. XII.]


[Read May 23. 1751.]

I. PARTUS hic bicorporeus singulare exemplum exhibet admirandarum
virium imaginationis maternæ in fœtum utero contentum. Mater enim hujus
bicorporis, primis graviditatis suæ mensibus vel potius hebdomadis,
attentius contemplabatur canes coëuntes, arctius cohærentes, et
capitibus erga se invicem quodammodo conversos, eosque sibi crebrius
præfigurabat.

II. In partu, primum prodiit umbilicotenus Helenæ corpus; post tres
demum horas editi sunt ejus pedes, cum adnexo corpore altero Judithæ.
Helenæ corporis statura erat altior et rectior, Judithæ brevior et
obliquior; et quamvis infra lumbos, a tergo, in unum corpus concretæ
fuissent, attamen vultu et corporibus, semilateraliter, erga se
fuerant conversæ, ut commode sedere, lentoque gradu procedere et
recedere potuerint. Unus communi ipsis erat alvi exitus, intra duas
nates, seu Helenæ dextrum et Judithæ sinistrum femur, situatus. Unam
quoque habebant vulvam, intra quatuor pedes reconitam, ut dum erectis
starent corporibus, ne vestigium ejus conspicuum esset. Quoad duos
istos excretionum meatus, observatum est, quod, una excretionem alvi
moliente, altera quoque nisum egerendi senserit; in reddenda vero
urina, quælibet, diverso tempore, stimulos habuerit: quamobrem altera
ad urinæ missionem solicitata, altera subinde recessum negavit. Unde in
juventute, utut alias semper semet tenerrime amarent et amplexarentur,
sæpius altercationes inter ipsas exortæ, et alterutra aliam vel dorso
injectam abripuit, vel colluctando eo, quo vellet, protraxit.

III. Anno ætatis sexto, Judithæ paralysis totius partis sinistræ;
obtigit ex qua affectione, utut convaluisset, per totam vitam suam
debilior, tardior, et stupidior perstitit; e contra Helena semper
agilior, docilior, et formosior suit.

IV. Prout diversa erant corpora, ita functionum vitalium, animalium,
et naturalium, magna in utroque corpore, tam in sano quam ægroto
statu, observata est differentia. Et quamvis variolas et morbillos
uno eodemque tempore habuissent, reliqui tamen morbi eis non erant
communes. Cum Judith sæpius convelleretur, Helena nec alterata nec
debilitata fuit. Helena erat pleuritica. Judith benigniore febre
laboravit: alterâ tussi, catarrho, colicâ afflictâ, altera sana
exstitit. Hinc etiam quælibet, pro suo diverso statu, diversis
medicamentis tractabatur: phlebotomia autem semper in saniore et
vegetiore celebrabatur.

V. Anno ætatis decimo sexto, menstrua comparuerunt, quæ deinde per
totam vitam, non tamen æquali tempore, modo, et quantitate successere.
Subinde alterutra majores hinc sensit molestias; Judith vero crebrius
convellebatur, variisque hystericis et pectoris affectionibus obnoxia
fuit.

VI. Anno ætatis vicesimo secundo, seu A. C. 1723. die 8 Febr. Judith
fortiter convulsa est, postea comatosa, usque ad mortem, quæ die
23 Febr. mane contigit, perstitit. Intra hos dies Helena febricula
laboravit, eique accesserunt crebriores lipothymiæ, quibus tandem ita
debilitata est, ut integra quamvis mente et loquela, subito, tribusque
horæ minutis prius quam Judith, in agonem inciderit: postea vero ambæ,
post brevem agonem, uno ferme momento expiraverint.

VII. Corporibus post mortem dissectis, reperta sunt in quolibet
corpore viscera singula: In Helena omnia sana; in Judithæ thorace
vero cor nimis magnum, fortissimo pericardio velatum, et pulmonum
dexter lobus putridus: Arteria aorta et vena cava ex utroque corde
descendentes, antequam arteriæ et venæ iliacæ ex iisdem emergerent,
inflexæ coadunabantur, et unam arteriam aortam, unamque venam cavam,
e corde uno ad aliud procedentes seu reflexas, præsentarunt. In
abdomine utrinque viscera omnia sana et integra. Quodlibet corpus suum
habuit hepar, splenem, pancreas, renes, vesicam, uterum cum ovariis,
tubis Fallopianis, et portione vaginæ, quæ utrinque concurrentes unam
communem vaginam efformarunt. Partes genitalium externorum, præter
commune orificium vaginæ, cuilibet erant propriæ, velut clitoris,
nymphæ, orificium urethræ; alæ seu labia utrinque ad perinæum
concurrentia fossulam navicularem densiorem constituerant. Ventriculus
cum intestinis, in utrâque, naturaliter erant situata; intestina recta
autem utrinque ad os sacrum reflexa et coalita, unum satis amplum et
communem canalem constituerunt: os sacrum ad secundam divisionem
concretum erat, et unum corpus efformando, in uno utrique ossi sacro
communi, osse coccygis, terminabatur.


Ex prærecensitis, sicut causa diversitaris actionum et functionum
patet, ita etiam ex arteriarum aortarum, et venarum cavarum,
intestinorum quoque rectorum et vaginarum uteri, compagine,
coadunatione et harmonia, apparet ratio conformitatis et disparitatis
morborum, synthanasiæ, communis nisus egerendæ alvi, possibilis
imprægnationis alterutrius, vel fors utriusque virginis, uno eodemque
coitu.

Hæc omnia conquisivi et retexui, partim e relationibus fide dignis
autoptarum; partim ex ephemeridibus B. Caroli Raygeri, soceri mei,
qui, dum viveret, medicum cœnobii dicti ordinarium agebat; partim ex
libro cœnobiali, cui B. Vir formulas medicamentorum inscripserat. Dab.
Posonii die 3 Julii 1757.

                        Justus Joannes Torkos,
                   Eques Pannonius, Medic. Doct. et
                  Liberæ Regiæ Civitatis Posoniensis
                         Physicus ordinarius.

The interval between the reading of this paper before the Royal Society
and the present publication, was occasioned by the long indisposition,
and afterwards death, of their late President Martin Folkes, Esq; who
having taken it to his house, with a view of collecting and adding to
it some further particulars, it could not be found after his decease.
But Dr. Torkos, the writer, being again applied to, immediately
transmitted the copy of it printed above: and, in order to supply
in some measure the want of what Mr. Folkes’s extensive reading and
industry might have furnished the public with, in relation to so very
remarkable a fact, the following accounts, printed and manuscript, are
subjoined as a supplement to the preceding article.


_Extract of a Letter of_ William Burnet, _Esq; F.R.S. eldest Son of
Dr._ Gilbert Burnet, _Lord Bishop of_ Salisbury, _to Dr. (afterwards
Sir)_ Hans Sloane, _dated at_ Leyden, May 9. 1708. _N. S._[195]

“+SIR+,

I Send you inclosed the print of a wonderful union of two twin sisters,
who are at this time to be seen at the Hague. I saw them, and observed
all, that I could think tended to explain the appearance. They are
Hungarians, as the lines under the print will shew you. There is there
an exact enough description of their condition; only I may add, that
in fig. 1. the urinal passage is between the two foremost thighs, as
they are in the print. The same is true of the anus in the 2d figure,
in such manner, that the situation of these parts is the same to
outward appearance as naturally, with this difference, that they are
between two different bodies here, whereas in the course of nature
they are between the two parts of the same body. It seems probable,
that their parts are distinct; but that the most remote labia of
each are outwardly visible, and the two contiguous ones are within.
There seems to be no cheat in the thing; and the skin, where they are
joined, is perfectly smooth, without any scar. They are now about six
years old. They speak French and High German. They are very full of
action, and talk one more than the other. When one stoops to take up
any thing, she carries the other quite from the ground; and that one of
them often does, being stronger as well as more lively than the other.
They have not their feeling common any where but in the place of their
conjunction. This is all I can say about it. If you think it worth
while, you will do me an honour in giving the print, and the substance
of this account, to the Society; to which, tho’ an unworthy member, I
would be proud to be capable of any service.”

This letter was read to the Royal Society on the 12th of May 1708[196];
and the print mentioned in it produced; which, being now become
extremely difficult to be met with, is thought proper to be engraved
again, and inserted here. _See_ TAB. XIII.

Soon after the date of Mr. Burnet’s letter the twin sisters were
brought to England, and publicly shewn in London, as appears from the
following MS. note in a copy of the print bound up by the writer with
Fortunius Licetus _de Monstris_[197], edit. Amstelod. 1665. 4to. in the
possession of Thomas Wilbraham, M.D. F.R.S. “_Londini 14 Junii 1708.
has vidi gemellas (plus annis sex natas) quarum forma et vivacitas
elegantior et vegetior quam pictura et descriptio._”

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. XIII. _p. 316_.

  _Corpora Binarum sic concrevere Sororum,
    Non nisi Divina dissocianda manu.
  SZÖNY Patria est, vicus COMORÆ co terminus Arci,
    Qvæ nunquam Lunæ paruit Imperio.
  Amplexa est ulnis HELENAM Lucina priorem,
    Horis deinde tribus JUDITHA fuit._

  _Exitus Urinæ patet unicus, unicus alvo,
    Observant numerum cætera membra suum.
  Misit ad Ignotos tenuis Fortuna Parentum,
    Neu pereat tantæ Fama stupenda rei.
  InterIora Latent, neqVeVnt abstrVsa VIDerI:
    eXIgVo totVM CorpVs In ære patet._

  _J. Mynde sc._]


Another account of them by an eye-witness in London is in a manuscript
volume among those of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. in the British Museum,
intituled, _A short History of human Prodigies and monstrous Births, of
Dwarfs, Sleepers, Giants, strong Men, Hermaphrodites, numerous Births,
and extreme old Age, &c._ The name of the writer was James Paris du
Plessis. In p. 39. under the Title _Two Sisters conjoined_, he gives a
drawing of them, and the following description: “These two monstrous
girls were born at Szony in Hungary in the year 1701. They were born
conjoined together at the small of the back. I asked the father and
mother, if they could not be separated one from the other? but they
answered, No; because the urinary and fœcal vessels and passages were
so united, as to have but one issue for the urine, and another for
the excrements, betwixt both. They were brisk, merry, and well-bred:
they could read, write, and sing very prettily: they could speak three
different languages, as Hungarian or High Dutch, Low Dutch, and French,
and were learning English. They were very handsome, very well shaped in
all parts, and beautiful faces. Helen was born three hours before her
sister Judith. When one stooped, she lifted the other from the ground,
and carried the other upon her back; neither could they walk side by
side. They loved one another very tenderly. Their clothes were fine and
neat. They had two bodies, four sleeves; and one petticoat served to
the bodies, and their shifts the same. When one went forward, the other
was forced to go backward.”


A later and more particular account is contained in p. 41, _& seqq._ of
a book very seldom met with in this country, being printed at Vienna in
1729. intituled, _Gerardi Cornelii Drieschii Historia magnæ Legationis
Cæsareæ, quam Caroli VI. auspiciis suscepit Damianus Hugo Virmondtius_,
&c. The following extract, tho’ long, will not probably be thought
unentertaining.

“Sunt in comitatu Commaroniensi in terris illustrissimi Zichii
(pagus Hungaris Szony dicitur) à parentibus colonis, quibus sua vita
constat, dum hæc scribo, anno 1701. vii calendas Novembreis procreatæ
in lucem duæ filiæ gemellæ, posticâ parte, quâ spina dorsi definit,
concretæ, sic ut altera alteram sequi, quo se cunque vertat, cogatur:
cætera haud deformes aspectu, nisi concretio illa corporum prodigium
efficeret. Binæ singulis manus, totidem pedes, et capita, necnon
corpora: suus membris omnibus usus; rationis multò etiam, quod mirere,
certior; ut, si sedentes solum videris, neque sciveris, hic monstri
notare nihil valeas. Majori natu, quæ lucem citius aspexit tribus
horis, Helenæ, minori Judithæ nomen est. Hæc ante annos circiter tres
stupore apoplectico tacta linguæ modicum ex eo ac bonæ mentis officium
impeditum habuit, simplicitatem quandam ingenii modo ut redoleat.
Illa animo semper integro atque spiritu prædita eodem, pudicâ facie,
non inconcinnis motibus, intuentium in se oculos ad misericordiam
commovet, utpote quæ rationis planè compos, sororis tenerrimè amans,
nec status ignara sui, duplicem miseriam tolerat, suam et istius.
Ductæ sunt olim infantes per varias regiones ac provincias, Germaniam,
Angliam, Galliam, Italiam, Poloniam, Bataviam, Austriam, Moraviam,
Hungariam, à medico Hungarico nomine Csuszio, qui easdem certâ pecuniâ
ad tempus sibi a parentibus concreditas et elocatas, bonâ eorundem
veniâ, paterno à solo âbduxit; unde trium gentium linguis, Germanicâ,
Gallicâ, Hungaricâ, hodiedum etiam loquuntur; alias desuetudine usuque
interrupto, ætate præsertim nondum satis confirmatâ, omnino dedidicere.

Dux Augustus Saxo Cizius inter purpuratos LXXII patres à constantia
religionis, timore erga Deum et caritate in proximum notissimus,
archiepiscopus Strigoniensis, veritus, ne frequentes hæ perignationes
puellarum adhuc infantium innocentiæ officerent, ac mores denique
illarum, ut fieri non raro assolet, planè depavarent, pacto
persolutoque pretio à medico redemit, et revocatas domum ad suos
virginibus à divâ Ursulâ nuncupatis intra Posonium deinceps educandas
commisit, necessariis ad hoc sumptibus benignè subministratis. Ingressæ
non diu puerilem ætatem suerant, nonusque illis annus agi cœptus
currebat, quando harum in disciplinam virginum tradebantur. Hic legere
primum ac scribere, ea, quæ ad fidem necessaria sunt, mente atque animo
comprehendere; operas manuum exercere varias, acu præcipuè phrygionicâ
pingere, denticulatas affabre fimbrias conficere, et cætera quæ sunt
ejusdem generis, edoctæ fuerunt. Vidi ego ex illarum operibus aliqua,
quæ magistras hâc in arte fecisse non pudeat. Receptæ autem sunt sacrum
hoc in collegium anno secul ix. die XII. kalendas Aprilis, ibi XI
mansionis, vitæ XIX jam planè complerunt. Istuc divarum contubernium,
quod adhuc constanter incolunt, nunquam postea deseruere. Addita illis
e prudentioribus virago, quæ indefinentur adsit, quo velint, ducat,
actonibus invigilet, de quibus respondere, ad aliosque referre, si
necessum fuerit, aliquando possit. Ex hâc scire quæ cupiebam, remotis
arbitris, nullo negotio percepi. Crediderat namque, quod res quoque
erat, non curiositatis gratiâ, sed officii, ac boni publici causâ
ista à me rogari: quare alios omnes secedere jussi, solus cum eadem
remanens, ut quæ, junioribus præsertim aliquot præsentibus, accuratius
explicare verecundia illam antea prohibuerat, majori mecum libertate
communicaret. Partes, quas vel nominare pudor honestasque vetuit, per
quas potus ciborumque fæces et reliqua corporis excrementa (sit verbo
venia) ejicimus, non illis his, quibus nobis, constitutæ locis. Illis
quidem, ubi nos eas habemus, occlusa sunt omnia; at infernè, quâ parte
concretio illa corporum incipit, easdem obtinent utrique communes.
Neque tamen cum necessitas alterutram premit ad exonerandum, exempli
gratiâ, ventrem, altera se quoque sentit tam inutili pondere gravatam,
at satisfaciendum necessario naturæ sit: sed jam huic, jam isti istud
imbecillitatis humanæ incommodum perferendum est, sitque etiam, ut
cum alvum purgat altera, alteri meatus sit urinarius aperiendus.
Muliebria, quæ statis fœminas vicibus incommodant, non uno ambabus
tempore veniunt. Octidui quandoque intervallo ac longiori disjuncta
sunt. Dum dormit hæc, sæpe vigilat illa, et in alterius labore altera
nonnunquam quiescit. Visa una potare est, aut cibo corpus reficere,
cum aliud alii agebatur. Sedent, stant, ambulant, jacent semper unà,
nec sine incommodo. Non permittit conglutinatio ista corporum, hæ uti
actiones separentur. Si colloquuntur, obtortis faciem collis obvertunt.
Suavia dant sibi, cum amant, et pugnis impetunt, cum furunt. Donec suæ
utrique vires adhuc constabant, si sorte exortæ inter illas aliquando
discordiæ essent, hæc, quæ se læsam magis credebat aut fortem, sublatam
in humeros aliam alio asportabat. Veruntamen ingenio miti magis ac
placido sunt quam incenso aut iracundo, et in communibus malis communem
fidem, commune robur adhibent, immissam sibi à Deo miseriam fortitèr
sustinentes. Ante triennium in gravi secundò genitæ morbo, de quo
nonnulla superiùs facta est mentio est, prior nata sacris omnibus
munita ad mortem quoque feliciter obeundam disposita ab sacerdote fuit,
quia medicorum pars potior credit aliâ extinctâ aliam haud posse longùm
amplius superesse. Id quod probare ex hoc etiam laborant, quod quoties
male uni sit, quamvis altera non eadem continuo ægrotatione teneatur,
angustias tamen animi certas, hebetationem sensuum, et commotionem
quandam viscerum in seipsa experiatur. Equidem dubitandum minimè reor,
quin monstrosa hæc bina corpora duplici mente ac spiritu regantur.
Nam sive cor faciamus, sive cerebrum statuamus animi sedem, ex
utrolibet idem nullo negotio evincitur. Adde tot actiones multiplices,
cogitationes rerum diversas, sensa animi varia, quæ, ut aliud nihil
sit, isthuc pariter nos docent. Unum præcipue hic admirandum venit,
quod commemorare superius memoria excidit; post prodigiosum videlicet
hunc difficilemque partum natos esse matri alios liberos, ex eodem
patre procreatos, sanos et valentes, corpore, specie ac forma integros,
qui monstri nihil admixtum habeant.”




XL. _Observations on the Origin and Use of the Lymphatic Vessels of
Animals: being an Extract from the_ Gulstonian _Lectures, read in the
Theatre of the College of Physicians of_ London, _in_ June 1755. _By_
Mark Akenside, _M.D. Fellow of the College of Physicians, and of the
Royal Society_.


[Read Nov. 30, 1757.]

IT is proved, by a multitude of experiments, that the lymphatics
communicate with the blood-vessels. They may be distended by blowing
air, or by injecting water or mercury, into an artery: and the lymph,
which they carry, is frequently, in a morbid state, found tinged with
a mixture of the red globules or crassamentum of the blood. Upon this
foundation two different theories have been raised, concerning the
connection of the lymphatics with the arteries.

Of these, we shall first consider that of the late famous professor
Boerhaave. He observed, that every artery of the body is greater, in
its diameter, than any of its branches: and this observation being
found true, as far as our eye and the microscope can inform us, he
inferred, by analogy, that it held good even thro’ the most minute
subdivisions of the arterial system. But, says he, proportionable to
the diameter of the canal is the size of the particles moving thro’
it: therefore, if an ultimate capillary artery, admitting only one red
globule at once to pass thro’ it, send off lateral branches, these
branches will be capable of receiving such particles only as are
smaller than a red globule. But the particles next in magnitude below
the red globules are the yellow serous ones; and the lateral vessel,
thus receiving them, is a serous artery, and the trunk of a second
order of vessels. In like manner, this trunk, being continued on thro’
many lessening branches, will at last grow so minute, as to admit only
one serous globule: its lateral branches, therefore, will receive only
such particles as are smaller than the serous ones: but these are the
particles of the lymph; and this lateral branch is a lymphatic artery,
and the trunk of a third order of vessels. Thus, in the red arteries
are contained all the circulated fluids of the body; in the serous
arteries, all except the red blood; in the lymphatics, all except
the red blood and serum: and this subordination is, according to the
same laws, continued down thro’ fluids more subtile than the lymph,
to the smallest vessel, which is propagated from the aorta. Such was
Boerhaave’s doctrine concerning the vascular system of animal bodies;
like many of his other notions, ingenious, plausible, and recommending
itself, at first sight, by an appearance of geometrical and mechanical
accuracy: but founded upon insufficient data, and by no means to be
reconciled to appearances.

For, in the first place, should we admit his hypothesis, it is certain,
that the conical or converging form of the aorta, and the change of
direction in its branches, must, in the distant blood-vessels, occasion
a great resistance to the moving blood, and a great diminution of its
velocity. Suppose that this resistance be, in any capillary red artery,
to the resistance in the trunk of the aorta, as any larger assignable
number is to unit: the resistance, then, in a capillary serous artery
will, to that in the aorta, be as the square of that number is to
unit; in the capillary lymphatic, as the cube; and so in progression:
that is, the velocity of the fluids, in the remoter series of vessels,
will be, physically, nothing. But we know, on the contrary, that some
very remote series of vessels have their contents moved with a very
considerable velocity; particularly the vessels of the insensible
perspiration: and in anatomical injections, the liquor thrown into an
artery scarce returns more easily or speedily by the corresponding
vein, than by the most subtile excretory ducts. Moreover, there are
an infinite number of observations of morbid cases, in which the red
blood itself has been evacuated thro’ some of the most remote series
of vessels, merely from an occasional temporary obstruction in one
part, or a præternatural laxity in another; and without any lasting
detriment to the structure and subordination of the vessels; which yet,
upon this hypothesis, must have been utterly destroyed before such an
irregularity could have happened.

The other theory concerning the origin of the lymphatics has been
maintained by some very eminent physiologists later than Boerhaave;
and supposes, that these vessels receive their lymph from the
blood-vessels, or from the excretories of the larger glands, by the
intermediation of only one small vessel, which these authors term a
lymphatic artery, invisible in its natural state, nor yet rendered
subject to the senses by experiments. But to this it may be answered,
that the lymphatics are traced into many parts of the body, and lost
there; and therefore most probably have their origin there, where no
large gland nor blood-vessel is to be found in their neighbourhood:
that it contradicts the whole analogy of nature, to suppose the motion
of an animal fluid more discernible in the veins than in the arteries:
and, finally, that it seems rather an instance of want of thought, and
of being imposed upon by words, to call the lymphatic vessels veins,
because they are furnished with valves; and then, because they are
called veins, to take for granted, that of course they must be the
continuation of arteries.

In attempting to investigate matters too subtile for the cognizance
of our senses, the only method, in which we can reasonably proceed,
is by inferring from what we know in subjects of the same nature: and
our conclusion thus inferred, concerning the subject sought, will
be firmer and more unquestionable, in proportion as it resembles
the subject known. But if the subjects be really of the same kind;
if no difference can be shewn between them, in any respect material
to the inquiry, in which we are engaged; in this case our inference
from analogy becomes the very next thing to a physical certainty: and
this I apprehend to be true in relation to the problem before us,
concerning the origin of the lymphatic vessels. Tho’ in general we
cannot, by experiments, arrive at the extremities of those tubes, nor
satisfy ourselves, by inspection, in what manner they receive their
fluid; yet in a very considerable number of them we can do both. There
is a certain part of the human body very abundantly provided with
lymphatics; in which part we can actually force injections thro’ those
vessels into a cavity, where their extremities open: and from this
cavity, on the other hand, we can at pleasure introduce a coloured
liquor into their extremities, and trace it from smaller into wider
canals; from capillary tubes, without valves, into large lymphatic
trunks copiously furnished with them. We know likewise, that into
this cavity are continually exhaling an infinite number of watery and
mucous vessels, both arterial tubes and excretory ducts: that these
keep it moist with a perpetual vapour, which the extremities of those
lymphatics are, in the mean time, perpetually imbibing. Does it not
seem strange, while these particulars are known and acknowledged by
all the world, that the great authors of anatomy and physiology should
never have reasoned from them; but should run into complex and obscure
suppositions, in order to explain a process, which they may at any time
examine with their own eyes? But perhaps this inadvertency may be
accounted for, if we recollect, that at the time when these vessels,
and the structure of this part, were discovered, the lymph, and every
thing belonging to it, was utterly unknown; and that the vessels in
question were first seen and considered as performing another and more
remarkable office: which circumstance, it should seem, has prevented
succeeding authors from being duly attentive to them in the capacity
of lymphatics. However this be, it is certain, that the lymphatics of
the mesentery, commonly called the lacteals, differ from those of the
other parts in no one particular, save that occasionally they carry
chyle instead of lymph; or rather carry lymph mixed, at stated times
(that is, for two or three hours after the creature has taken food)
with an emulsion of vegetable and animal substances, and coloured white
by that mixture. At other times, (that is, during sixteen of eighteen
hours out of the twenty-four) they contain nothing but lymph; and are,
in every respect, mere lymphatic vessels, not to be distinguished from
those in any other part of the body. Their structure is the same; the
membrane of which they are formed, their valves, the lymph which they
contain, the glands thro’ which they pass, their direction from smaller
tubes to larger, and from these to the blood, differ in nothing from
what we observe of the other lymphatics. Their lymph, in the mean
time, is without doubt or controversy supplied from the cavity of the
intestines; being the watery moisture continually exhaled there for
the purposes of digestion, and for the preservation of the alimentary
canal, and as continually taken up by the roots or extremities of
these vessels, in order to be carried back to the blood, after it has
performed its office in the bowels. Let it also be remembered, that
these vessels, in other places of the body, are generally, when we
trace them, lost in muscular, tendinous, or membranous parts: and then,
I should presume, it may fairly, and with a good degree of evidence,
be concluded, that the lymphatics of the body, in general, have their
origin among the little cavities of the cellular substance of the
muscles, among the mucous folliculi of the tendons, or the membranous
receptacles and ducts of the larger glands: that their extremities or
roots do, from these cavities, imbibe the moisture exhaled there from
the ultimate arterial tubes, just as the lacteals (the lymphatics of
the mesentery) do on the concave surface of the intestines: and that
the minute imbibing vessels, by gradually opening one into another,
form at length a lymphatic trunk, furnished with valves to prevent the
return of its fluid, and tending uniformly, from the extremities and
from the viscera, to reconvey to the blood that lymph, or that fine
steam, with which they are kept in perpetual moisture; a circumstance
indispensibly necessary to life and motion: while, at the same time,
the continual re-absorption of that moisture by the lymphatics is no
less necessary, in order to preserve the blood properly fluid, and
to prevent the putrefaction, which would inevitably follow, if this
animal vapour were suffered to stagnate in the cavities where it is
discharged.




XLI. _A Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of_ Macclesfield,
_President, the_ Council, _and_ Fellows, _of the_ Royal Society,
_concerning the Variation of the Magnetic Needle; with a Sett of
Tables annexed, which exhibit the Result of upwards of Fifty Thousand
Observations, in Six periodic Reviews, from the year 1700 to the year
1756, both inclusive; and are adapted to every Five Degrees of Latitude
and Longitude in the more frequented Oceans. By_ William Mountaine
_and_ James Dodson, _Fellows of the Royal Society_.


[Read Nov. 10, 1757.]

                                          Dated London, Nov. 9th. 1757.

SIRS,

ON the 20th of March 1755, we presented an address to this illustrious
Body, intituled, “An Attempt to point out, in a concise manner,
the Advantages which would accrue from a periodic Review of the
Variation of the Magnetic Needle, throughout the known World;
requesting contributions thereto, by communicating such observations
concerning it, as had then been lately made, or could be procured from
correspondents in foreign parts.”

This address was read at the same time, and afterwards honoured with
a place in the Transactions, vol. xlviii. part ii. for 1754: which
favour we now acknowledge in the most grateful manner; and, pursuant
to our engagements, beg leave to lay before you some account of the
communications received, with a specimen of the uses and applications
which we have been enabled to make of those, and other assistances with
which we have been indulged.

On application to the Honourable the Commissioners of the Navy, we were
obliged with an order of free access to all their masters log-books and
journals.

The Directors of the Honourable East India Company granted the like
privilege.

The Honourable Committee of the Hudson’s Bay Company obliged us with
sundry observations, made, and tabulated, by their own Captains.

James Bradley, D. D. Regius Professor of Astronomy, and F.R.S.
favoured us with several observations made at the Royal Observatory at
Greenwich.

John Hyde, Esq; F.R.S. communicated a sett of useful observations,
extracted from two journals kept on board the Triton and Britannia East
Indiamen.

A correct journal kept on board the Delawar East Indiaman was handed to
us by a gentleman unknown.

Capt. George Snow furnished a considerable number of observations, made
with care and accuracy by himself, in several successive voyages to,
and from Barbadoes and Virginia; together with several remarks upon
the subject: _One_, which we apprehend to be material, we beg leave
to insert, as it meets with some confirmation by the tables annexed;
_viz._ “At Barbadoes the variation seems at a stand very near; for in
the road, 1752, I observed 5 degrees east; and by Mr. Halley’s draught,
in the year 1701, 5½ degrees: in 1747, at Port Royal keys, Jamaica, I
observed the variation 7° 20’ E.; and on the coast of Carthagena the
same week, off the high land of Sancta Martha, 7° 45’ E. nearly south
of Port Royal: Therefore these curves are not much altered; and the
curve at Jamaica is nearly at a stand, as tho’ tied; and the south part
of them, with the rest, dropping to the westward.”

Mr. Mungo Murray, author of a treatise on ship-building, presented
us with several observations taken on board the Prince Edward and
Chesterfield East Indiamen, and his Majesty’s ship the Neptune.

For all these favours we return our sincere thanks.

No observations made upon land have been received, except Dr. Bradley’s
aforesaid; which has frustrated our intentions of continuing the curves
from sea to sea.

By collecting, comparing, and adjusting, all these materials, we
have been enabled to construct variation-curves upon Dr. Halley’s
mercator-chart, adapted to the year 1756; which will soon be in
readiness to present to this Royal Society.

As a work of this kind requires much time, and a multitude of
observations, both by sea and land, to render it more perfect and
general; we hope the ingenious in all nations will lend their
assistance: By this means every periodic review will be productive of
improvement.

From the first instant that we made this affair the object of our
more particular consideration, we have attended to the mode of
increase and decrease in the variation: and as a considerable number
of observations, made at periodic times, and duly registered, seem to
be the most essential toward determining the laws of its mutation, or
proving its irregularity, we have therefore formed a sett of tables,
from actual observations collected for the years 1710, 1720, 1730, and
1744, the date of our last chart; which, together with Dr. Halley’s
for the year 1700, and the present chart now publishing, compleat six
reviews: These are tabulated, and shew the quantity of the variation,
at those several periods, to every 5 degrees of latitude and longitude
in the more frequented oceans; which we hope will prove acceptable, as
nothing of the like kind has yet appeared, or can easily be obtained.

Our materials have been so deficient, that even in the limits to which
our tables are confined, we have been obliged to leave blanks in some
of the above periods, for want of that concurrent testimony, on which
the numbers inserted are founded: but, considering the difficulties
unavoidably attending a work of this sort, and the little assistance
which we have met with from private hands, we hope that this Royal
Society will not only excuse those vacancies, but also those in the
great tracts of sea, as well as land, concerning which we are very
unwillingly obliged to be intirely silent.

Agreeable to our former address, we lay only what appear to be facts
before you, without attempting to introduce any hypothesis for the
solution of these phænomena; some of which (being very extraordinary)
we recommend peculiarly to the notice of those gentlemen, who may
endeavour the investigation of their causes.

Under the equator, in longitude 40° E. from London, the highest
variation during the whole 56 years appears to be 17°¼ W. and the
least 16°½ W.: and in latitude 15° N. longitude 60° W. from London,
the variation has been constantly 5° E. but in other places the case
has been widely different; for in the latitude 10° S. longitude 60° E.
from London, the variation has decreased from 17° W. to 7°¼ W., and in
latitude 10° S. longitude 5° W. from London, it has increased from 2°¼
W. to 12°¾ W.; and in latitude 15° N. longitude 20° W. it has increased
from 1° W. to 9° W.

But there is still a more extraordinary appearance in the Indian seas:
for instance, under the equator,

  Longitude from|    Variation in
  _London_      |   1700.  |   1756.
  --------------+----------+---------
     Degrees.   | Degrees. | Degrees.
   40 E         | 16¾ W    | 16¾ W
   45 E         | 17¾ W    | 14½ W
   50 E         | 17½ W    | 11¾ W
   55 E         | 16½ W    |  8¾ W
   60 E         | 15¼ W    |  6  W
   65 E         | 13½ W    |  4½ W
   70 E         | 11½ W    |  2¾ W
   75 E         |  9¾ W    |  1  W
   80 E         |  7¾ W    |  0¼ E
   85 E         |  5½ W    |  1¼ E
   90 E         |  4¼ W    |  1  E
   95 E         |  3¼ W    |  0½ W
  100 E         |  2½ W    |  1  W
  --------------+----------+---------

Where the west variation in the longitude 40° E. is the same in both
the above years; and in 1700 the west variation seemed to be regularly
decreasing from longitude 50° E. to the longitude 100° E.; but in
1756 we find the west variation decreasing so fast, that we have
east variation in the longitude 80°, 85°, and 90° E; and yet, in the
longitude 95° and 100° E. we have west variation again.

Such are the irregularities, that experience hath shewn us, in the
variation of the magnetic needle; which appear so considerable, that we
cannot think it wholly under the direction of one general and uniform
law; but rather conclude, with the learned and judicious Dr. Gowen
Knight, Fellow of this Society, in the 87th prop. of his treatise
upon attraction and repulsion, That it is influenced by various and
different magnetic attractions, in all probability occasioned by the
heterogeneous compositions in the great magnet, the _Earth_.

Notwithstanding all which, should the sagacity of some eminent
philosopher be able to exhibit rules, whereby the quantity of the
variation may be computed for future times, yet then such a review, as
we have now made, will be necessary at a proper interval, to prove the
truth of them: and should no such rules appear, then will a continued
succession of such reviews be necessary so long as commerce and
navigation subsist among us.

What we have now done is intirely for the public service, the sale of
the former chart never having made good its expence; and we propose
to continue our endeavours for another review, at the proper time, if
we shall then be alive, and capable of the task: but as the contrary
may probably happen, we beg leave to conclude with recommending such
a continuation, in the strongest manner, to such of the members of
this Royal Society, or others, who may, at the proper intervals, have
leisure and ability for such a performance.

We are, with the greatest deference,

                           Your Lordship’s,
                       And the Royal Society’s,
                           Most faithful and
                        most obedient Servants,
                          William Mountaine.
                             James Dodson.


_A_ TABLE, _exhibiting the different Variations of the_ MAGNETIC-NEEDLE
_in the more frequented Oceans, from the Year 1700 to the Year 1756_.

            | Longitude, |                          VARIATION.
            |   From     |   Anno   |   Anno   |   Anno   |   Anno   |
  Latitude. |  London.   |   1700.  |   1710.  |   1720.  |   1730.  |
  ----------+------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
  _Degrees._| _Degrees._ |_Degrees._|_Degrees._|_Degrees._|_Degrees._|
  0         |  0         |  4½ W    |          |          | 10¼ W    |
  0         |  5 W       |  2¾ W    |          |          |  8¾ W    |
  0         | 10 W       |  1½ W    |  3½ W    |  5½ W    |  7  W    |
  0         | 15 W       |  0½ W    |  2  W    |  3½ W    |  5  W    |
  0         | 20 W       |  0¾ E    |  0½ W    |  1¾ W    |  3  W    |
  0         | 25 W       |  1½ E    |  0½ E    |  0½ W    |  1½ W    |
  0         | 30 W       |  2½ E    |  2  E    |  1½ E    |  1  E    |
  0         | 35 W       |  3¼ E    |  3  E    |  2¾ E    |  2½ E    |
  0         | 40 W       |  4¼ E    |  4¼ E    |  4  E    |  3¾ E    |
  0         | 45 W       |  5½ E    |  5½ E    |  5¼ E    |  5  E    |
  0         | 50 W       |  6¾ E    |          |          |  5¾ E    |
  0         |  5 E       |  6  W    |          |          | 12½ W    |
  0         | 10 E       |  7¾ W    |          |          | 14¼ W    |
  0         | 40 E       | 16¾ W    | 17  W    | 17¼ W    | 17  W    |
  0         | 45 E       | 17¾ W    | 17¼ W    | 16¾ W    | 16¼ W    |
  0         | 50 E       | 17½ W    | 16¾ W    | 16  W    | 15  W    |
  0         | 55 E       | 16½ W    | 15¼ W    | 14  W    | 13  W    |
  0         | 60 E       | 15¼ W    | 13¾ W    | 12½ W    | 11  W    |
  0         | 65 E       | 13½ W    | 11¾ W    | 10  W    |  8¼ W    |
  0         | 70 E       | 11½ W    |  9¾ W    |  7¾ W    |  6  W    |
  0         | 75 E       |  9¾ W    |  7¾ W    |  5¾ W    |  4  W    |
  0         | 80 E       |  7¾ W    |  6  W    |  4¼ W    |  3  W    |
  0         | 85 E       |  5½ W    |  4  W    |  2½ W    |  1½ W    |
  0         | 90 E       |  4¼ W    |  3½ W    |  1½ W    |  0½ W    |
  0         | 95 E       |  3¼ W    |  2¼ W    |          |          |
  0         |100 E       |  2½ W    |  1  W    |          |          |
  5 N       |  0         |  4¾ W    |          |          | 10½ W    |
  5 N       |  5 W       |  3¼ W    |          |          |  9  W    |
  5 N       | 10 W       |  1¾ W    |          |          |  7½ W    |
  5 N       | 15 W       |  0¾ W    |  2¼ W    |  3¾ W    |  5½ W    |
  5 N       | 20 W       |  0       |  1½ W    |  2½ W    |  3½ W    |
  5 N       | 25 W       |  1  E    |  0       |  1  W    |  2  W    |
  5 N       | 30 W       |  1¾ E    |  1¼ E    |  0½ E    |  0¼ W    |
  5 N       | 35 W       |  2½ E    |  2¼ E    |  1¾ E    |  1½ E    |
  5 N       | 40 W       |  3½ E    |  3¼ E    |  3  E    |  2½ E    |
  5 N       | 45 W       |  4½ E    |  4¼ E    |  4¼ E    |  4  E    |
  5 N       | 50 W       |  5½ E    |  5½ E    |  5¼ E    |  5¼ E    |
  5 N       | 55 W       |  6¾ E    |          |          |          |
  5 N       |  5 E       |  6¼ W    |          |          | 12¾ W    |
  5 N       | 10 E       |  7¾ W    |          |          | 14¼ W    |
  5 N       | 45 E       | 16¾ W    | 16  W    | 15¼ W    | 14¾ W    |
  5 N       | 50 E       | 16¾ W    | 15¾ W    | 14¾ W    | 13½ W    |
  5 N       | 55 E       | 15½ W    | 14¼ W    | 13  W    | 12  W    |
  5 N       | 60 E       | 14¼ W    | 12¾ W    | 11¼ W    | 10  W    |
  5 N       | 65 E       | 12¾ W    | 11  W    |  9½ W    |  8  W    |
  5 N       | 70 E       | 10¾ W    |  9  W    |  7¼ W    |  5½ W    |
  5 N       | 75 E       |  8¾ W    |  7  W    |  5¼ W    |  3¾ W    |
  5 N       | 80 E       |  6½ W    |  5  W    |  3½ W    |  2½ W    |
  5 N       | 85 E       |  4¾ W    |  3¾ W    |  2¾ W    |  1½ W    |
  5 N       | 90 E       |  3¾ W    |          |          |          |
  5 N       | 95 E       |  2¾ W    |          |          |          |
  10 N      | 15 W       |  1¼ W    |          |  4½ W    |  6  W    |
  10 N      | 20 W       |  0½ W    |  2  W    |  3¼ W    |  4½ W    |
  10 N      | 25 W       |  0¼ E    |  0¾ W    |  1¾ W    |  2¾ W    |
  10 N      | 30 W       |  1  E    |  0½ E    |  0       |  1  W    |
  10 N      | 35 W       |  1¾ E    |  1¼ E    |  0¾ E    |  0¼ E    |
  10 N      | 40 W       |  2½ E    |  2¼ E    |  2  E    |  1¾ E    |
  10 N      | 45 W       |  3½ E    |  3½ E    |  3¼ E    |  3  E    |
  10 N      | 50 W       |  4½ E    |  4½ E    |  4¼ E    |  4¼ E    |
  10 N      | 55 W       |  5½ E    |  5½ E    |  5½ E    |  5¼ E    |
  10 N      | 60 W       |  6½ E    |          |          |          |
  10 N      | 50 E       | 16  W    | 15  W    | 14  W    | 12¾ W    |
  10 N      | 55 E       | 15  W    | 13½ W    | 12  W    | 11  W    |
  10 N      | 60 E       | 13½ W    | 12  W    | 10½ W    |  9¼ W    |
  10 N      | 65 E       | 12  W    | 10¾ W    |  9  W    |  7½ W    |
  10 N      | 70 E       | 10  W    |  8¾ W    |  6½ W    |  5  W    |
  10 N      | 75 E       |  8  W    |  6½ W    |  5  W    |  3½ W    |
  10 N      | 80 E       |  5¾ W    |  4½ W    |  3¼ W    |  2  W    |
  10 N      | 85 E       |  4½ W    |  3½ W    |  2¼ W    |  1¼ W    |
  10 N      | 90 E       |  3½ W    |          |          |          |
  10 N      | 95 E       |  2½ W    |          |          |          |
  15 N      | 20 W       |  1  W    |  2½ W    |  4  W    |  5½ W    |
  15 N      | 25 W       |  0½ W    |  1½ W    |  2½ W    |  3½ W    |
  15 N      | 30 W       |  0¼ E    |  0¼ W    |  1   W   |  1¾ W    |
  15 N      | 35 W       |  1  E    |  0½ E    |  0       |  0½ W    |
  15 N      | 40 W       |  1½ E    |  1¾ E    |  1  E    |  0½ E    |
  15 N      | 45 W       |  2¼ E    |  2¼ E    |  2  E    |  1¾ E    |
  15 N      | 50 W       |  3¼ E    |  3¼ E    |  3¼ E    |  3  E    |
  15 N      | 55 W       |  4  E    |  4  E    |  4  E    |  4  E    |
  15 N      | 60 W       |  5  E    |  5  E    |  5  E    |  5  E    |
  15 N      | 65 W       |  6  E    |          |          |  5  E    |
  15 N      | 70 W       |  7  E    |          |          |  5½ E    |
  15 N      | 75 W       |  7¾ E    |          |          |          |
  15 N      | 80 W       |  8¼ E    |          |          |          |
  15 N      | 50 E       | 15½ W    | 14¼ W    | 13  W    | 11¾ W    |
  15 N      | 55 E       | 14¼ W    | 12¾ W    | 11½ W    | 10¾ W    |
  15 N      | 60 E       | 13  W    | 11¾ W    | 10¼ W    |  9  W    |
  15 N      | 65 E       | 11½ W    | 10  W    |  8¾ W    |  7½ W    |
  15 N      | 70 E       |  9¾ W    |  8¼ W    |  6¾ W    |  5½ W    |
  15 N      | 75 E       |  8  W    |  6½ W    |  5  W    |  3½ W    |
  15 N      | 80 E       |  5¾ W    |  4½ W    |  3½ W    |  2½ W    |
  15 N      | 85 E       |  4¼ W    |  3¼ W    |  2¼ W    |  1  W    |
  15 N      | 90 E       |  3¼ W    |  2½ W    |  1¼ W    |          |
  15 N      | 95 E       |  2½ W    |  1½ W    |          |          |
  20 N      | 20 W       |  1½ W    |  3  W    |  4¼ W    |  5¼ W    |
  20 N      | 25 W       |  1  W    |  2  W    |  2¾ W    |  3½ W    |
  20 N      | 30 W       |  0½ W    |  1  W    |  1½ W    |  2¼ W    |
  20 N      | 35 W       |  0¼ E    |  0¼ W    |  0¾ W    |  1½ W    |
  20 N      | 40 W       |  0¾ E    |  ¼ E     |  0       |  0½ W    |
  20 N      | 45 W       |  1½ E    |  1¼ E    |  1  E    |   ¾ E    |
  20 N      | 50 W       |  2  E    |  2  E    |  1¾ E    |  1½ E    |
  20 N      | 55 W       |  2¾ E    |  2¾ E    |  2¾ E    |  2½ E    |
  20 N      | 60 W       |  3¾ E    |  3¾ E    |  3¾ E    |  3½ E    |
  20 N      | 65 W       |  4¾ E    |          |          |          |
  20 N      | 70 W       |  5½ E    |          |          |          |
  20 N      | 75 W       |  6¼ E    |          |          |          |
  20 N      | 80 W       |  7  E    |          |          |          |
  20 N      | 60 E       | 12¾ W    | 11¼ W    | 10  W    |  9  W    |
  20 N      | 65 E       | 11½ W    | 10  W    |  8½ W    |  7¼ W    |
  20 N      | 70 E       |  9¾ W    |  8½ W    |  7  W    |  5¾ W    |
  20 N      | 90 E       |  3½ W    |  2½ W    |  1½ W    |  1  W    |
  25 N      | 20 W       |  2  W    |  3¼ W    |  4  W    |  5¼ W    |
  25 N      | 25 W       |  1¾ W    |  2¼ W    |  2¾ W    |  4  W    |
  25 N      | 30 W       |  1¼ W    |  1¾ W    |  2¼ W    |  3  W    |
  25 N      | 35 W       |  1  W    |  1½ W    |  2  W    |  2½ W    |
  25 N      | 40 W       |  0½ W    |  0¾ W    |  1  W    |  1½ W    |
  25 N      | 45 W       |  0¼ E    |  0       |  0½ W    |  1  W    |
  25 N      | 50 W       |  0¾ E    |  0½ E    |  0¼ E    |  0       |
  25 N      | 55 W       |  1¼ E    |  1  E    |  1  E    |   ¾ E    |
  25 N      | 60 W       |  2  E    |  2  E    |  2  E    |  1½ E    |
  25 N      | 65 W       |  2¾ E    |          |          |          |
  25 N      | 70 W       |  3½ E    |          |          |          |
  25 N      | 75 W       |  4¼ E    |          |          |          |
  25 N      | 80 W       |  4¾ E    |          |          |          |
  25 N      | 60 E       | 12¾ W    | 11½ W    | 10¼ W    |  9  W    |
  25 N      | 65 E       | 11½ W    | 10¼ W    |  9  W    |  7½ W    |
  25 N      | 70 E       | 10  W    |  8¾ W    |  7½ W    |  6  W    |
  30 N      | 10 W       |  3½ W    |          |          |          |
  30 N      | 15 W       |  3¼ W    |          |          |          |
  30 N      | 20 W       |  3  W    |  4¼ W    |  5½ W    |  6¾ W    |
  30 N      | 25 W       |  2¾ W    |  3½ W    |  4¼ W    |  5½ W    |
  30 N      | 30 W       |  2½ W    |  3  W    |  3½ W    |  4¼ W    |
  30 N      | 35 W       |  2¼ W    |  2¾ W    |  3¼ W    |  3¾ W    |
  30 N      | 40 W       |  1¾ W    |  2  W    |  2½ W    |  3  W    |
  30 N      | 45 W       |  1¼ W    |  1½ W    |  2  W    |  2¼ W    |
  30 N      | 50 W       | 0¾ W     |  1  W    |  1½ W    |  1¾ W    |
  30 N      | 55 W       | 0¼ W     |   ½ W    |  1  W    |  1¼ W    |
  30 N      | 60 W       | 0¼ E     |  0       |   ¼ W    |  0½ W    |
  30 N      | 65 W       | 0¾ E     |   ½ E    |   ¼ E    |  0       |
  30 N      | 70 W       | 1½ E     |  1¼ E    |  1  E    |   ¾ E    |
  30 N      | 75 W       | 2  E     |  1½ E    |  1¼ E    |  1  E    |
  30 N      | 80 W       | 2¼ E     |          |          |          |
  35 N      | 10 W       | 4¼ W     |          |          |  9¾ W    |
  35 N      | 15 W       | 4  W     |          |          |  9¼ W    |
  35 N      | 20 W       | 4  W     |          |          |  8¼ W    |
  35 N      | 25 W       | 3¾ W     |  4¾ W    |  6  W    |  7½ W    |
  35 N      | 30 W       | 3¾ W     |  4½ W    |  5½ W    |  6¾ W    |
  35 N      | 35 W       | 3¾ W     |  4¼ W    |  5¼ W    |  6  W    |
  35 N      | 40 W       | 3¾ W     |  4  W    |  4½ W    |  5¼ W    |
  35 N      | 45 W       | 3½ W     |  3¾ W    |  4¼ W    |  4¾ W    |
  35 N      | 50 W       | 3½ W     |  3¾ W    |  4  W    |  4¼ W    |
  35 N      | 55 W       | 3½ W     |  3¾ W    |  4  W    |  4¼ W    |
  35 N      | 60 W       | 3¼ W     |  3¾ W    |  4  W    |  4¼ W    |
  35 N      | 65 W       | 3  W     |          |          |          |
  35 N      | 70 W       | 2½ W     |          |          |          |
  35 N      | 75 W       | 2¼ W     |          |          |          |
  40 N      | 10 W       | 5  W     |          |          | 10¾ W    |
  40 N      | 15 W       | 5¼ W     |          |          | 10½ W    |
  40 N      | 20 W       | 5¼ W     |          |          | 10  W    |
  40 N      | 25 W       | 5½ W     |          |          |  9½ W    |
  40 N      | 30 W       | 5½ W     |  6¾ W    |  8  W    |  9  W    |
  40 N      | 35 W       | 5¾ W     |  6½ W    |  7¼ W    |  8¼ W    |
  40 N      | 40 W       | 5¾ W     |  6¼ W    |  7¼ W    |  8  W    |
  40 N      | 45 W       |  6  W    |          |          |  7½ W    |
  40 N      | 50 W       |  6¼ W    |          |          |  7¼ W    |
  40 N      | 55 W       |  6½ W    |          |          |  7¾ W    |
  40 N      | 60 W       |  6¾ W    |          |          |  8  W    |
  40 N      | 65 W       |  7  W    |          |          |  8½ W    |
  40 N      | 70 W       |  7  W    |          |          |  9  W    |
  45 N      |  5 W       |  6  W    |          |          | 12½ W    |
  45 N      | 10 W       |  6½ W    |          |          | 12¼ W    |
  45 N      | 15 W       |  6¾ W    |          |          | 11¾ W    |
  45 N      | 20 W       |  7  W    |          |          | 11½ W    |
  45 N      | 25 W       |  7½ W    |          |          | 11½ W    |
  45 N      | 30 W       |  8  W    |          |          | 11¾ W    |
  45 N      | 35 W       |  8¾ W    |          |          | 11¾ W    |
  45 N      | 40 W       |  9½ W    |          |          | 12  W    |
  45 N      | 45 W       | 10½ W    |          |          | 12¾ W    |
  45 N      | 50 W       | 11½ W    |          |          | 13½ W    |
  45 N      | 55 W       | 12½ W    |          |          | 14  W    |
  45 N      | 60 W       | 13¾ W    |          |          | 14  W    |
  50 N      |  5 W       |  7½ W    |          |          |          |
  50 N      | 10 W       |  7¾ W    |          |          |          |
  50 N      | 15 W       |  8½ W    |          |          |          |
  50 N      | 20 W       |  9  W    |          |          |          |
  50 N      | 25 W       |  9¾ W    |          |          |          |
   5 S      |  0         |  4¼ W    |          |          | 10  W    |
   5 S      |  5 W       |  2½ W    |          |          |  8½ W    |
   5 S      | 10 W       |  1  W    |  3  W    |  4¾ W    |  6½ W    |
   5 S      | 15 W       |  0       |  1½ W    |  3  W    |  4½ W    |
   5 S      | 20 W       |  1¼ E    |  0¼ W    |  0¾ W    |  2¼ W    |
   5 S      | 25 W       |  2¼ E    |  1¼ E    |  0¼ E    |  0¾ W    |
   5 S      | 30 W       |  3¼ E    |  2¼ E    |  1¾ E    |  1  E    |
   5 S      | 35 W       |  4¼ E    |  4  E    |  3½ E    |  3¼ E    |
   5 S      |  5 E       |  6  W    |          |          | 12½ W    |
   5 S      | 10 E       |  7½ W    |          |          | 14¼ W    |
   5 S      | 40 E       | 18  W    | 17¾ W    | 17¾ W    | 17½ W    |
   5 S      | 45 E       | 18½ W    | 18¼ W    | 18  W    | 17½ W    |
   5 S      | 50 E       | 18½ W    | 17¾ W    | 17  W    | 16¼ W    |
   5 S      | 55 E       | 17½ W    | 16½ W    | 15½ W    | 14¾ W    |
   5 S      | 60 E       | 16¼ W    | 14¾ W    | 13¼ W    | 12  W    |
   5 S      | 65 E       | 14¾ W    | 12¾ W    | 10¾ W    |  9  W    |
   5 S      | 70 E       | 13  W    | 11  W    |  9  W    |  6¾ W    |
   5 S      | 75 E       | 11  W    |  9  W    |  7  W    |  5  W    |
   5 S      | 80 E       |  9  W    |  7  W    |  5  W    |  3  W    |
   5 S      | 85 E       |  7  W    |  5½ W    |  3¾ W    |  2½ W    |
   5 S      | 90 E       |  5  W    |  4½ W    |  2¾ W    |  2  W    |
   5 S      | 95 E       |  3¾ W    |  3½ W    |  1½ W    |  1½ W    |
   5 S      |100 E       |  3  W    |  2½ W    |  1½ W    |  1  W    |
  10 S      |  0         |  3¾ W    |          |          |  9½ W    |
  10 S      |  5 W       |  2¼ W    |  4¼ W    |  6¼ W    |  8¼ W    |
  10 S      | 10 W       |  0¾ W    |  2¾ W    |  4¾ W    |  6½ W    |
  10 S      | 15 W       |   ½ E    |  1  W    |  2½ W    |  4  W    |
  10 S      | 20 W       |  1¾ E    |  0½ E    |  0       |  1½ W    |
  10 S      | 25 W       |  3  E    |  2½ E    |  1¾ E    |  0¾ E    |
  10 S      | 30 W       |  4  E    |  3½ E    |  3  E    |  2½ E    |
  10 S      | 35 W       |  5¼ E    |  5  E    |  4¾ E    |  4½ W    |
  10 S      |  5 E       |  5¾ W    |          |          | 12  W    |
  10 S      | 10 E       |  7½ W    |          |          | 14  W    |
  10 S      | 15 E       |  9¼ W    |          |          | 15½ W    |
  10 S      | 40 E       | 18¾ W    | 18¾ W    | 18¾ W    | 18¾ W    |
  10 S      | 45 E       | 19½ W    | 19¼ W    | 19  W    | 18¾ W    |
  10 S      | 50 E       | 19½ W    | 19  W    | 18½ W    | 17¾ W    |
  10 S      | 55 E       | 18½ W    | 17½ W    | 16½ W    | 15½ W    |
  10 S      | 60 E       | 17  W    | 16  W    | 15  W    | 14  W    |
  10 S      | 65 E       | 15¾ W    | 13¾ W    | 11¾ W    | 10  W    |
  10 S      | 70 E       | 14½ W    | 12  W    | 10  W    |  8  W    |
  10 S      | 75 E       | 12½ W    | 10¼ W    |  9  W    |  5¾ W    |
  10 S      | 80 E       | 10½ W    |  8  W    |  5½ W    |  4  W    |
  10 S      | 85 E       |  8½ W    |  6¾ W    |  5  W    |  3¾ W    |
  10 S      | 90 E       |  6¾ W    |  5½ W    |  4¼ W    |  3  W    |
  10 S      | 95 E       |  5  W    |  4½ W    |  4  W    |  3¼ W    |
  10 S      |100 E       |  3¾ W    |  3½ W    |  3¼ W    |  3  W    |
  10 S      |105 E       |  2¾ W    |  2¾ W    |  2½ W    |  2½ W    |
  10 S      |110 E       |  2  W    |          |          |          |
  15 S      |  0         |  3½ W    |  5½ W    |  7½ W    |  9½ W    |
  15 S      |  5 W       |  1¾ W    |  3¾ W    |  5¾ W    |  7¾ W    |
  15 S      | 10 W       |   ¼ W    |  2  W    |  3¾ W    |  5½ W    |
  15 S      | 15 W       |  1¼ E    |  0¼ W    |  1¾ W    |  3¼ W    |
  15 S      | 20 W       |  2½ E    |  1½ E    |  0¾ E    |  0½ W    |
  15 S      | 25 W       |  3¾ E    |  3  E    |  2¼ E    |  1½ E    |
  15 S      | 30 W       |  5  E    |  4½ E    |  4  E    |  3½ E    |
  15 S      | 35 W       |  6½ E    |  6¼ E    |  5¾ E    |  5½ E    |
  15 S      | 40 W       |  7¾ E    |          |          |          |
  15 S      |  5 E       |  5½ W    |          |          | 11½ W    |
  15 S      | 10 E       |  7½ W    |          |          | 14  W    |
  15 S      | 40 E       | 19¾ W    | 19¾ W    | 20  W    | 20  W    |
  15 S      | 45 E       | 20½ W    | 20½ W    | 20¼ W    | 20¼ W    |
  15 S      | 50 E       | 20½ W    | 20  W    | 19½ W    | 18¾ W    |
  15 S      | 55 E       | 19½ W    | 18½ W    | 17½ W    | 16½ W    |
  15 S      | 60 E       | 18¼ W    | 17  W    | 16  W    | 14½ W    |
  15 S      | 65 E       | 17  W    | 15½ W    | 13½ W    | 12  W    |
  15 S      | 70 E       | 15½ W    | 12¾ W    | 10¾ W    |  9  W    |
  15 S      | 75 E       | 14  W    | 12  W    |  9¾ W    |  7½ W    |
  15 S      | 80 E       | 12  W    | 10  W    |  8  W    |  6  W    |
  15 S      | 85 E       | 10  W    |  8  W    |  6¼ W    |  4¾ W    |
  15 S      | 90 E       |  8½ W    |  7¼ W    |  6  W    |  4½ W    |
  15 S      | 95 E       |  6½ W    |  5¾ W    |  5  W    |  4¼ W    |
  15 S      |100 E       |  5  W    |  4¾ W    |  4½ W    |  4¼ W    |
  15 S      |105 E       |  3½ W    |  3½ W    |  3¾ W    |  3¾ W    |
  15 S      |110 E       |  2½ W    |          |          |          |
  20 S      |  0         |  3¼ W    |  5¼ W    |  7¼ W    |  9  W    |
  20 S      |  5 W       |  1½ W    |  3¼ W    |  5  W    |  6¾ W    |
  20 S      | 10 W       |  0½ E    |  1¼ W    |  3  W    |  4¾ W    |
  20 S      | 15 W       |  1¾ E    |  0½ E    |  0¾ W    |  2  W    |
  20 S      | 20 W       |  3  E    |  2¾ E    |  1½ E    |  0½ W    |
  20 S      | 25 W       |  4¾ E    |  4¼ E    |  3½ E    |  2¾ E    |
  20 S      | 30 W       |  6  E    |  5½ E    |  5¼ E    |  4¾ E    |
  20 S      | 35 W       |  7¾ E    |  7½ E    |  7¼ E    |  6¾ E    |
  20 S      | 40 W       |  9¼ E    |          |          |          |
  20 S      |  5 E       |  5½ W    |          |          | 11  W    |
  20 S      | 10 E       |  7½ W    |          |          | 13½ W    |
  20 S      | 15 E       |  9½ W    |          |          | 15½ W    |
  20 S      | 35 E       | 19  W    | 19¼ W    | 19¾ W    | 20¼ W    |
  20 S      | 40 E       | 20½ W    | 20¾ W    | 21¼ W    | 21½ W    |
  20 S      | 45 E       | 21¼ W    | 21¼ W    | 21½ W    | 21½ W    |
  20 S      | 50 E       | 21¼ W    | 21  W    | 20¾ W    | 20¼ W    |
  20 S      | 55 E       | 20½ W    | 20  W    | 19¼ W    | 18½ W    |
  20 S      | 60 E       | 19½ W    | 18¼ W    | 17  W    |  5¾ W    |
  20 S      | 65 E       | 18¼ W    | 17  W    | 15¾ W    | 14¼ W    |
  20 S      | 70 E       | 16¾ W    | 15½ W    | 13½ W    | 12  W    |
  20 S      | 75 E       | 15  W    | 13  W    | 10½ W    |  9  W    |
  20 S      | 80 E       | 13½ W    | 11¾ W    |  9¾ W    |  8  W    |
  20 S      | 85 E       | 11½ W    | 10  W    |  8½ W    |  7  W    |
  20 S      | 90 E       | 10  W    |  8¾ W    |  7½ W    |  6¼ W    |
  20 S      | 95 E       |  8  W    |  7¼ W    |  6½ W    |  5¾ W    |
  20 S      |100 E       |  6½ W    |  6¼ W    |  6  W    |  5½ W    |
  20 S      |105 E       |  4¾ W    |  5  W    |  5  W    |  5  W    |
  25 S      |  0         |  3  W    |  5  W    |  7  W    |  8¾ W    |
  25 S      |  5 W       |  1  W    |  2¾ W    |  4½ W    |  6¼ W    |
  25 S      | 10 W       |  1  E    |  0½ W    |  2¾ W    |  4  W    |
  25 S      | 15 W       |  2½ E    |  1¼ W    |  0       |  1¼ W    |
  25 S      | 20 W       |  4  E    |  3¼ E    |  2  E    |  1¼ E    |
  25 S      | 25 W       |  6  E    |  5¼ E    |  4½ E    |  3¾ E    |
  25 S      | 30 W       |  7½ E    |  7  E    |  6½ E    |  6  E    |
  25 S      | 35 W       |  9¼ E    |          |          |          |
  25 S      | 40 W       | 11  E    |          |          |          |
  25 S      |  5 E       |  5¼ W    |  7  W    |  8¾ W    | 10½ W    |
  25 S      | 10 E       |  7½ W    |          |          |          |
  25 S      | 15 E       |  9½ W    |          |          |          |
  25 S      | 35 E       | 19½ W    | 20¼ W    | 20¾ W    | 21½ W    |
  25 S      | 40 E       | 21  W    | 21½ W    | 22  W    | 22½ W    |
  25 S      | 45 E       | 22¼ W    | 22½ W    | 22¾ W    | 23  W    |
  25 S      | 50 E       | 22½ W    | 22½ W    | 22¼ W    | 22¼ W    |
  25 S      | 55 E       | 22  W    | 21½ W    | 21  W    | 20½ W    |
  25 S      | 60 E       | 20¾ W    | 19¾ W    | 19  W    | 18¼ W    |
  25 S      | 65 E       | 19¼ W    | 18¼ W    | 17¼ W    | 16¼ W    |
  25 S      | 70 E       | 17¾ W    | 16¾ W    | 15¾ W    | 14½ W    |
  25 S      | 75 E       | 16¼ W    | 15  W    | 13¾ W    | 12½ W    |
  25 S      | 80 E       | 14¾ W    | 13½ W    | 12¼ W    | 10¾ W    |
  25 S      | 85 E       | 13  W    | 11¾ W    | 10½ W    |  9¼ W    |
  25 S      | 90 E       | 11¼ W    | 10¼ W    |  9¾ W    |  8¼ W    |
  25 S      | 95 E       |  9½ W    |  9  W    |  8½ W    |  7¾ W    |
  25 S      |100 E       |  7¾ W    |  7½ W    |  7¼ W    |  7  W    |
  30 S      |  0         |  2¾ W    |  4¼ W    |  6  W    |  7¾ W    |
  30 S      |  5 W       |  0½ W    |  2  W    |  3½ W    |  5¼ W    |
  30 S      | 10 W       |  1½ E    |  0       |  1½ W    |  3  W    |
  30 S      | 15 W       |  3¼ E    |  2¼ E    |  0¾ E    |  0¼ W    |
  30 S      | 20 W       |  5  E    |  4¾ E    |  3¾ E    |  2¾ E    |
  30 S      | 25 W       |  7¼ E    |  6½ E    |  5¾ E    |  5  E    |
  30 S      | 30 W       |  9  E    |          |          |          |
  30 S      | 35 W       | 11  E    |          |          |          |
  30 S      |  5 E       |  5  W    |  7  W    |  8¾ W    | 10¼ W    |
  30 S      | 10 E       |  7¼ W    |  9¼ W    | 11¼ W    | 12¾ W    |
  30 S      | 15 E       |  9½ W    |          |          |          |
  30 S      | 30 E       | 17½ W    | 18½ W    | 19½ W    | 20½ W    |
  30 S      | 35 E       | 20¼ W    | 21  W    | 21¾ W    | 22½ W    |
  30 S      | 40 E       | 21¾ W    | 22½ W    | 23¼ W    | 24  W    |
  30 S      | 45 E       | 23  W    | 23½ W    | 24  W    | 24½ W    |
  30 S      | 50 E       | 23½ W    | 23¾ W    | 24  W    | 24¼ W    |
  30 S      | 55 E       | 23  W    | 23  W    | 23  W    | 22¾ W    |
  30 S      | 60 E       | 21¾ W    | 21½ W    | 21  W    | 20½ W    |
  30 S      | 65 E       | 20¼ W    | 19½ W    | 19  W    | 18½ W    |
  30 S      | 70 E       | 18¾ W    | 18  W    | 17¼ W    | 16½ W    |
  30 S      | 75 E       | 17¼ W    | 16½ W    | 15¾ W    | 14¾ W    |
  30 S      | 80 E       | 15¾ W    | 15  W    | 14  W    | 13  W    |
  30 S      | 85 E       | 14  W    | 13¼ W    | 12½ W    | 11½ W    |
  30 S      | 90 E       | 12½ W    | 11¾ W    | 11  W    | 10¼ W    |
  30 S      | 95 E       | 10½ W    | 10  W    |  9½ W    |  9¾ W    |
  30 S      |100 E       |  8¾ W    |          |          |          |
  35 S      |  0         |  2½ W    |  4  W    |  5½ W    |  7  W    |
  35 S      |  5 W       |  0       |  1  W    |  2½ W    |  4  W    |
  35 S      | 10 W       |  2¼ E    |  1½ E    |  0½ W    |  1¾ W    |
  35 S      | 15 W       |  4¼ E    |          |          |          |
  35 S      | 20 W       |  6¾ E    |          |          |          |
  35 S      | 25 W       |  8¾ E    |          |          |          |
  35 S      | 30 W       | 10¾ E    |          |          |          |
  35 S      | 35 W       | 12¾ E    |          |          |          |
  35 S      |  5 E       |  5  W    |  6½ W    |  8  W    |  9½ W    |
  35 S      | 10 E       |  7¼ W    |  8½ W    | 10¼ W    | 11¾ W    |
  35 S      | 15 E       |  9¾ W    | 11¼ W    | 12¾ W    | 14¼ W    |
  35 S      | 20 E       | 12½ W    | 14  W    | 15½ W    | 17  W    |
  35 S      | 25 E       | 15¼ W    | 16½ W    | 18  W    | 19¼ W    |
  35 S      | 30 E       | 18¼ W    | 19½ W    | 20½ W    | 21½ W    |
  35 S      | 35 E       | 21  W    | 22  W    | 22¾ W    | 23½ W    |
  35 S      | 40 E       | 22¾ W    | 23½ W    | 24¼ W    | 25  W    |
  35 S      | 45 E       | 24¼ W    | 25  W    | 25  W    | 26  W    |
  35 S      | 50 E       | 24¾ W    | 25¼ W    | 25¾ W    | 26  W    |
  35 S      | 55 E       | 24¼ W    | 24½ W    | 24½ W    | 24¾ W    |
  35 S      | 60 E       | 23  W    | 23  W    | 23  W    | 22¾ W    |
  35 S      | 65 E       | 21½ W    | 21¼ W    | 21  W    | 20¾ W    |
  35 S      | 70 E       | 19¾ W    | 19¾ W    | 18¾ W    | 18¼ W    |
  35 S      | 75 E       | 18¼ W    | 17¾ W    | 17¼ W    | 17½ W    |
  35 S      | 80 E       | 16¾ W    | 16¼ W    | 15¾ W    | 15  W    |
  35 S      | 85 E       | 15  W    | 14½ W    | 14  W    | 13½ W    |
  35 S      | 90 E       | 13½ W    | 13  W    | 12¾ W    | 12½ W    |
  35 S      | 95 E       | 11½ W    | 11½ W    | 11¼ W    | 11  W    |
  40 S      |  0         |  2  W    |  3½ W    |  5  W    |  6½ W    |
  40 S      |  5 W       |  0¾ E    |  0½ W    |  2  W    |  3½ W    |
  40 S      | 10 W       |  3¼ E    |          |          |          |
  40 S      | 15 W       |  5½ E    |          |          |          |
  40 S      | 20 W       |  8  E    |          |          |          |
  40 S      | 25 W       | 10½ E    |          |          |          |
  40 S      | 30 W       | 12½ E    |          |          |          |
  40 S      |  5 E       |  4½ W    |  6  W    |  7½ W    |  9  W    |
  40 S      | 10 E       |  7¼ W    |  8½ W    | 10  W    | 11½ W    |
  40 S      | 15 E       |  9¾ W    | 11¼ W    | 12¾ W    | 14  W    |
  40 S      | 20 E       | 12¾ W    | 14¼ W    | 15½ W    | 17  W    |
  40 S      | 25 E       | 16  W    | 17¼ W    | 18½ W    | 19¾ W    |
  40 S      | 30 E       | 19  W    | 20  W    | 21¼ W    | 22¼ W    |
  40 S      | 35 E       | 21¾ W    | 22¾ W    | 23½ W    | 24½ W    |
  40 S      | 40 E       | 23¾ W    | 24½ W    | 25  W    | 26  W    |
  40 S      | 45 E       | 25¼ W    | 26  W    | 26¾ W    | 27½ W    |
  40 S      | 50 E       | 26  W    | 26½ W    | 27  W    | 27½ W    |
  40 S      | 55 E       | 25¼ W    | 25½ W    | 25¾ W    | 26  W    |
  40 S      | 60 E       | 24  W    | 24  W    | 24  W    | 24¼ W    |
  40 S      | 65 E       | 22½ W    | 22½ W    | 22¼ W    | 22¼ W    |
  40 S      | 70 E       | 20¾ W    | 20½ W    | 20¼ W    | 20  W    |
  40 S      | 75 E       | 19¼ W    | 18¾ W    | 18¼ W    | 17¾ W    |
  40 S      | 80 E       | 17½ W    | 17  W    | 16½ W    | 16  W    |


                | Longitude,            VARIATION.
                |  From          |  Anno    | Anno
  Latitude.     |  London.       |  1744.   | 1756.
  --------------+----------------+----------+------------+
  _Degrees._    | _Degrees._     |_Degrees._|_ Degrees._ |
  0             |  0             |14¼ W     |     15¼ W  |
  0             |  5 W           |12  W     |    13¼ W   |
  0             | 10 W           |10  W     |    11  W   |
  0             | 15 W           | 7½ W     |     9  W   |
  0             | 20 W           | 5¼ W     |     6½ W   |
  0             | 25 W           | 3  W     |     4  W   |
  0             | 30 W           | 0¾ W     |     0½ W   |
  0             | 35 W           | 1½ E     |     1½ E   |
  0             | 40 W           | 3½ E     |     3½ E   |
  0             | 45 W           | 4¾ E     |     5  E   |
  0             | 50 W           | 6  E     |     6½ E   |
  0             |  5 E           |15¾ W     |    16½ W   |
  0             | 10 E           |17  W     |    17½ W   |
  0             | 40 E           |16½ W     |    16¾ W   |
  0             | 45 E           |15¾ W     |    14½ W   |
  0             | 50 E           |14  W     |    11¾ W   |
  0             | 55 E           |11½ W     |     8¾ W   |
  0             | 60 E           | 9  W     |     6  W   |
  0             | 65 E           | 6½ W     |     4½ W   |
  0             | 70 E           | 4  W     |     2¾ W   |
  0             | 75 E           | 1¾ W     |     1  W   |
  0             | 80 E           | 0¼ W     |     0¼ E   |
  0             | 85 E           | 0¼ E     |     1¼ E   |
  0             | 90 E           | 1¼ W     |     1  E   |
  0             | 95 E           | 2  W     |     0½ W   |
  0             |100 E           | 2½ W     |     1  W   |
  5 N           |  0             |15  W     |    15¼ W   |
  5 N           |  5 W           |13  W     |    13  W   |
  5 N           | 10 W           |10¾ W     |    11¼ W   |
  5 N           | 15 W           | 8½ W     |     9¼ W   |
  5 N           | 20 W           | 6  W     |     7¼ W   |
  5 N           | 25 W           | 3¾ W     |     4½ W   |
  5 N           | 30 W           | 1½ W     |     1½ W   |
  5 N           | 35 W           | 0½ E     |     0½ E   |
  5 N           | 40 W           | 2¼ E     |     2¼ E   |
  5 N           | 45 W           | 3¾ E     |     4  E   |
  5 N           | 50 W           | 5  E     |     5¼ E   |
  5 N           | 55 W           | 6¼ E     |     6½ E   |
  5 N           |  5 E           |16¼ W     |    16½ W   |
  5 N           | 10 E           |17½ W     |    17½ W   |
  5 N           | 45 E           |14  W     |    13¾ W   |
  5 N           | 50 E           |12¼ W     |    11  W   |
  5 N           | 55 E           |10  W     |     8¼ W   |
  5 N           | 60 E           | 8¼ W     |     6  W   |
  5 N           | 65 E           | 6  W     |     4½ W   |
  5 N           | 70 E           | 3¾ W     |     2¾ W   |
  5 N           | 75 E           | 1¾ W     |     0¾ W   |
  5 N           | 80 E           | 0¼ W     |     0¼ E   |
  5 N           | 85 E           | 0¼ W     |     1¼ E   |
  5 N           | 90 E           | 1¼ W     |     0½ E   |
  5 N           | 95 E           | 2¼ W     |     0½ W   |
  10 N          | 15 W           | 9¼ W     |    10  W   |
  10 N          | 20 W           | 7  W     |     8  W   |
  10 N          | 25 W           | 4½ W     |     5½ W   |
  10 N          | 30 W           | 2¼ W     |     3  W   |
  10 N          | 35 W           | 0½ W     |     1  W   |
  10 N          | 40 W           | 1¼ E     |     1  E   |
  10 N          | 45 W           | 2¾ E     |     2½ E   |
  10 N          | 50 W           | 4  E     |     4  E   |
  10 N          | 55 W           | 5¼ E     |     5½ E   |
  10 N          | 60 W           | 6½ E     |     6¾ E   |
  10 N          | 50 E           |11¼ W     |    10½ W   |
  10 N          | 55 E           | 9¼ W     |     8  W   |
  10 N          | 60 E           | 7¾ W     |     6  W   |
  10 N          | 65 E           | 6  W     |     4½ W   |
  10 N          | 70 E           | 3¾ W     |     3  W   |
  10 N          | 75 E           | 1¾ W     |     1  E   |
  10 N          | 80 E           | 0½ W     |     0¼ E   |
  10 N          | 85 E           | 0        |     1  E   |
  10 N          | 90 E           | 1½ W     |     0½ E   |
  10 N          | 95 E           | 2¼ W     |     0½ W   |
  15 N          | 20 W           | 7  W     |     9  W   |
  15 N          | 25 W           | 4¾ W     |     6½ W   |
  15 N          | 30 W           | 2¾ W     |     4½ W   |
  15 N          | 35 W           | 1¼ W     |     2½ W   |
  15 N          | 40 W           | 0        |     0½ W   |
  15 N          | 45 W           | 1½ E     |     1  E   |
  15 N          | 50 W           | 2¾ E     |     2½ E   |
  15 N          | 55 W           | 4  E     |     3¾ E   |
  15 N          | 60 W           | 5  E     |     5  E   |
  15 N          | 65 W           | 6  E     |     6  E   |
  15 N          | 70 W           | 6¾ E     |     7  E   |
  15 N          | 75 W           | 7  E     |     7¾ E   |
  15 N          | 80 W           | 7  E     |     8  E   |
  15 N          | 50 E           |10½ W     |     9¾ W   |
  15 N          | 55 E           | 8¾ W     |     7¾ W   |
  15 N          | 60 E           | 7½ W     |     6  W   |
  15 N          | 65 E           | 6  W     |     4½ W   |
  15 N          | 70 E           | 4  W     |     2¾ W   |
  15 N          | 75 E           | 2¼ W     |     0¾ W   |
  15 N          | 80 E           | 1¼ W     |     0      |
  15 N          | 85 E           | 0¼ W     |    0¾  W   |
  15 N          | 90 E           | 0¾ W     |     0½ W   |
  15 N          | 95 E           | 2¼ W     |     0½ W   |
  20 N          | 20 W           | 7  W     |    10  W   |
  20 N          | 25 W           | 4¾ W     |     8  W   |
  20 N          | 30 W           | 3¼ W     |     5¾ W   |
  20 N          | 35 W           | 2¼ W     |     4  W   |
  20 N          | 40 W           | 1  W     |     2½ W   |
  20 N          | 45 W           | 0¼ E     |     0¾ W   |
  20 N          | 50 W           | 1¼ E     |     0¾ E   |
  20 N          | 55 W           | 2½ E     |     2  E   |
  20 N          | 60 W           | 3½ E     |     3¼ E   |
  20 N          | 65 W           | 4¼ E     |     4  E   |
  20 N          | 70 W           | 5  E     |     5  E   |
  20 N          | 75 W           | 5¼ E     |     5¼ E   |
  20 N          | 80 W           | 5¼ E     |     6  E   |
  20 N          | 60 E           | 7½ W     |     6  W   |
  20 N          | 65 E           | 6  W     |     4½ W   |
  20 N          | 70 E           | 4½ W     |     2¾ W   |
  20 N          | 90 E           | 0½ W     |     1  E   |
  25 N          | 20 W           | 7  W     |    11  W   |
  25 N          | 25 W           | 5¼ W     |     9½ W   |
  25 N          | 30 W           | 4  W     |     7½ W   |
  25 N          | 35 W           | 3  W     |     5½ W   |
  25 N          | 40 W           | 2¼ W     |     3¾ W   |
  25 N          | 45 W           | 1½ W     |     2½ W   |
  25 N          | 50 W           | 0½ W     |     1  W   |
  25 N          | 55 W           | 0½ E     |     0      |
  25 N          | 60 W           | 1½ E     |     1¼ E   |
  25 N          | 65 W           | 2¼ E     |     2¼ E   |
  25 N          | 70 W           | 3¼ E     |     2¾ E   |
  25 N          | 75 W           | 3½ E     |     3  E   |
  25 N          | 80 W           | 3½ E     |     3  E   |
  25 N          | 60 E           | 7½ W     |     6  W   |
  25 N          | 65 E           | 6  W     |     4½ W   |
  25 N          | 70 E           | 4½ W     |     2¾ W   |
  30 N          | 10 W           |11½ W     |    13¾ W   |
  30 N          | 15 W           |10¼ W     |    12¾ W   |
  30 N          | 20 W           | 8½ W     |    12  W   |
  30 N          | 25 W           | 6¾ W     |    10¾ W   |
  30 N          | 30 W           | 5¼ W     |     9  W   |
  30 N          | 35 W           | 4¼ W     |     7  W   |
  30 N          | 40 W           | 3½ W     |     5¼ W   |
  30 N          | 45 W           | 2¾ W     |     4  W   |
  30 N          | 50 W           | 2¼ W     |     3  W   |
  30 N          | 55 W           | 1½ W     |     2¼ W   |
  30 N          | 60 W           | 1  W     |     1½ W   |
  30 N          | 65 W           |  ¼ W     |     1  W   |
  30 N          | 70 W           |  ¼ E     |      ½ W   |
  30 N          | 75 W           |  ½ E     |     0      |
  30 N          | 80 W           |  ¾ E     |     0      |
  35 N          | 10 W           |12¼ W     |    14¾ W   |
  35 N          | 15 W           |11½ W     |    13¾ W   |
  35 N          | 20 W           |10¼ W     |    13  W   |
  35 N          | 25 W           | 9  W     |    12¼ W   |
  35 N          | 30 W           | 8  W     |    10½ W   |
  35 N          | 35 W           | 7  W     |     8¾ W   |
  35 N          | 40 W           | 6¼ W     |     7¼ W   |
  35 N          | 45 W           | 5½ W     |     6¼ W   |
  35 N          | 50 W           | 5  W     |     5½ W   |
  35 N          | 55 W           | 4¾ W     |     5  W   |
  35 N          | 60 W           | 5  W     |     5¼ W   |
  35 N          | 65 W           | 5¼ W     |     6  W   |
  35 N          | 70 W           | 5¾ W     |     6¾ W   |
  35 N          | 75 W           | 6½ W     |     7  W   |
  40 N          | 10 W           |13¼ W     |    15  W   |
  40 N          | 15 W           |12¾ W     |    14½ W   |
  40 N          | 20 W           |12¼ W     |    14¼ W   |
  40 N          | 25 W           |11¼ W     |    13½ W   |
  40 N          | 30 W           |10¼ W     |    12¾ W   |
  40 N          | 35 W           | 9½ W     |    11¼ W   |
  40 N          | 40 W           | 9  W     |    10  W   |
  40 N          | 45 W           | 8½ W     |     9½ W   |
  40 N          | 50 W           | 8½ W     |     9½ W   |
  40 N          | 55 W           | 8¾ W     |    10  W   |
  40 N          | 60 W           | 9¼ W     |    11  W   |
  40 N          | 65 W           |10¼ W     |    12  W   |
  40 N          | 70 W           |11½ W     |    12¾ W   |
  45 N          |  5 W           |15½ W     |    16½ W   |
  45 N          | 10 W           |15  W     |    16½ W   |
  45 N          | 15 W           |14¾ W     |    16¼ W   |
  45 N          | 20 W           |14½ W     |    16  W   |
  45 N          | 25 W           |14  W     |    16  W   |
  45 N          | 30 W           |13¾ W     |    15¾ W   |
  45 N          | 35 W           |13¼ W     |    15¼ W   |
  45 N          | 40 W           |13  W     |    15  W   |
  45 N          | 45 W           |13¼ W     |    15½ W   |
  45 N          | 50 W           |14  W     |    16  W   |
  45 N          | 55 W           |15¼ W     |    17  W   |
  45 N          | 60 W           |16  W     |    18½ W   |
  50 N          |  5 W           |17  W     |    19¼ W   |
  50 N          | 10 W           |17¼ W     |    19½ W   |
  50 N          | 15 W           |17½ W     |    20  W   |
  50 N          | 20 W           |17½ W     |    20½ W   |
  50 N          | 25 W           |17¾ W     |    21  W   |
   5 S          |  0             |13¼ W     |    15  W   |
   5 S          |  5 W           |11¼ W     |    13  W   |
   5 S          | 10 W           | 9¼       |    10¾ W   |
   5 S          | 15 W           | 6¾ W     |     8½ W   |
   5 S          | 20 W           | 4  W     |     6  W   |
   5 S          | 25 W           | 2  W     |     3  W   |
   5 S          | 30 W           | 0¼ E     |     0      |
   5 S          | 35 W           | 2¾ E     |     2¾ E   |
   5 S          |  5 E           |15  W     |    16  W   |
   5 S          | 10 E           |16½ W     |    17  W   |
   5 S          | 40 E           |17½ W     |    18  W   |
   5 S          | 45 E           |17  W     |    16  W   |
   5 S          | 50 E           |15½ W     |    12¾ W   |
   5 S          | 55 E           |13  W     |     9¼ W   |
   5 S          | 60 E           |10  W     |     6½ W   |
   5 S          | 65 E           | 7  W     |     4½ W   |
   5 S          | 70 E           | 4½ W     |     3  W   |
   5 S          | 75 E           | 2¼ W     |     1  W   |
   5 S          | 80 E           | 0¾ W     |     0      |
   5 S          | 85 E           | 0½ W     |     0¾ E   |
   5 S          | 90 E           | 1¼ W     |     0¾ E   |
   5 S          | 95 E           | 2  W     |     0½ W   |
   5 S          |100 E           | 2¾ W     |     1½ W   |
  10 S          |  0             |12½ W     |    14¼ W   |
  10 S          |  5 W           |10½ W     |    12¾ W   |
  10 S          | 10 W           | 8¼ W     |    10¼ W   |
  10 S          | 15 W           | 5¾ W     |     7¾ W   |
  10 S          | 20 W           | 3  W     |     4¾ W   |
  10 S          | 25 W           | 0¾ W     |     2  W   |
  10 S          | 30 W           | 1¾ E     |     1  E   |
  10 S          | 35 W           | 4  E     |     3½ E   |
  10 S          |  5 E           |14½ W     |    15¾ W   |
  10 S          | 10 E           |16  W     |    16¾ W   |
  10 S          | 15 E           |17¼ W     |    17¾ W   |
  10 S          | 40 E           |19  W     |    19¼ W   |
  10 S          | 45 E           |18½ W     |    18  W   |
  10 S          | 50 E           |16¾ W     |    14¼ W   |
  10 S          | 55 E           |14½ W     |    10½ W   |
  10 S          | 60 E           |11¼ W     |     7¼ W   |
  10 S          | 65 E           | 8  W     |     5  W   |
  10 S          | 70 E           | 5½ W     |     3½ W   |
  10 S          | 75 E           | 3½ W     |     2  W   |
  10 S          | 80 E           | 1¾ W     |     1  W   |
  10 S          | 85 E           | 1½ W     |     0¼ W   |
  10 S          | 90 E           | 1¾ W     |     0¼ W   |
  10 S          | 95 E           | 2½ W     |     1  W   |
  10 S          |100 E           | 2¾ W     |     2  W   |
  10 S          |105 E           | 3¼ W     |     2¾ W   |
  10 S          |110 E           | 3¾ W     |     3¼ W   |
  15 S          |  0             |11¾ W     |    14  W   |
  15 S          |  5 W           | 9½ W     |    12  W   |
  15 S          | 10 W           | 7½ W     |     9½ W   |
  15 S          | 15 W           | 4¾ W     |     7  W   |
  15 S          | 20 W           | 1¾ W     |     4  W   |
  15 S          | 25 W           | 0½ E     |     1  W   |
  15 S          | 30 W           | 3  E     |     2  E   |
  15 S          | 35 W           | 5  E     |     4½ E   |
  15 S          | 40 W           | 6¾ E     |     6½ E   |
  15 S          |  5 E           |13¾ W     |    15¼ W   |
  15 S          | 10 E           |15½ W     |    16½ W   |
  15 S          | 40 E           |20  W     |    20  W   |
  15 S          | 45 E           |20  W     |    19½ W   |
  15 S          | 50 E           |18  W     |    16¼ W   |
  15 S          | 55 E           |15½ W     |    12½ W   |
  15 S          | 60 E           |12½ W     |     9  W   |
  15 S          | 65 E           | 9¾ W     |     6  W   |
  15 S          | 70 E           | 7¼ W     |     4¼ W   |
  15 S          | 75 E           | 5  W     |     3¼ W   |
  15 S          | 80 E           | 3½ W     |     2½ W   |
  15 S          | 85 E           | 2¾ W     |     2¼ W   |
  15 S          | 90 E           | 3  W     |     2¼ W   |
  15 S          | 95 E           | 3¼ W     |     2¾ W   |
  15 S          |100 E           | 3¾ W     |     3½ W   |
  15 S          |105 E           | 4¼ W     |     3¾ W   |
  15 S          |110 E           | 4½ W     |            |
  20 S          |  0             |11  W     |    13½ W   |
  20 S          |  5 W           | 8¾ W     |    11¼ W   |
  20 S          | 10 W           | 6½ W     |     8¾ W   |
  20 S          | 15 W           | 3½ W     |     5¾ W   |
  20 S          | 20 W           | 0½ W     |     3  W   |
  20 S          | 25 W           | 2  E     |     0      |
  20 S          | 30 W           | 4¼ E     |     2½ E   |
  20 S          | 35 W           | 6½ E     |     5  E   |
  20 S          | 40 W           | 8  E     |     7½ E   |
  20 S          |  5 E           |13¼ W     |    15  W   |
  20 S          | 10 E           |15  W     |    16¼ W   |
  20 S          | 15 E           |16½ W     |    17¾ W   |
  20 S          | 35 E           |20¾ W     |    22  W   |
  20 S          | 40 E           |21¾ W     |    22  W   |
  20 S          | 45 E           |21¾ W     |    21¼ W   |
  20 S          | 50 E           |19¾ W     |    18¾ W   |
  20 S          | 55 E           |17  W     |    15  W   |
  20 S          | 60 E           |14½ W     |    11¼ W   |
  20 S          | 65 E           |12  W     |     8  W   |
  20 S          | 70 E           |10 W      |     6  W   |
  20 S          | 75 E           | 7¾ W     |     4¾ W   |
  20 S          | 80 E           | 6  W     |     4½ W   |
  20 S          | 85 E           | 5  W     |     4¼ W   |
  20 S          | 90 E           | 4¾ W     |     4½ W   |
  20 S          | 95 E           | 4¾ W     |     4½ W   |
  20 S          |100 E           | 5  W     |     4¾ W   |
  20 S          |105 E           | 5  W     |     4¾ W   |
  25 S          |  0             |10½ W     |    12½ W   |
  25 S          |  5 W           | 8  W     |    10  W   |
  25 S          | 10 W           | 5½ W     |     7½ W   |
  25 S          | 15 W           | 2½ W     |     4½ W   |
  25 S          | 20 W           | 0½ E     |     2¾ W   |
  25 S          | 25 W           | 3  E     |     1  E   |
  25 S          | 30 W           | 5½ E     |     3½ E   |
  25 S          | 35 W           | 7½ E     |     6  E   |
  25 S          | 40 W           | 9  E     |            |
  25 S          |  5 E           |12½ W     |    14½ W   |
  25 S          | 10 E           |14½ W     |    16  W   |
  25 S          | 15 E           |16¼ W     |    17¾ W   |
  25 S          | 35 E           |22¼ W     |    23½ W   |
  25 S          | 40 E           |23¼ W     |    23¾ W   |
  25 S          | 45 E           |23¼ W     |    23  W   |
  25 S          | 50 E           |22  W     |    21  W   |
  25 S          | 55 E           |19¾ W     |    18  W   |
  25 S          | 60 E           |17  W     |    14¾ W   |
  25 S          | 65 E           |15  W     |    11¾ W   |
  25 S          | 70 E           |13  W     |     9½ W   |
  25 S          | 75 E           |11¼ W     |     8  W   |
  25 S          | 80 E           | 9¼ W     |     7½ W   |
  25 S          | 85 E           | 8  W     |     7¼ W   |
  25 S          | 90 E           | 7¼ W     |     7  W   |
  25 S          | 95 E           | 7  W     |     6½ W   |
  25 S          |100 E           | 6¾ W     |     6  W   |
  30 S          |  0             | 9½ W     |    11¾ W   |
  30 S          |  5 W           | 7  W     |     9  W   |
  30 S          | 10 W           | 4½ W     |     6¼ W   |
  30 S          | 15 W           | 1½ W     |     3½ W   |
  30 S          | 20 W           | 1½ E     |     0½ W   |
  30 S          | 25 W           | 4  E     |     2  E   |
  30 S          | 30 W           | 6½ E     |     4½ E   |
  30 S          | 35 W           | 8½ E     |     7¼ E   |
  30 S          |  5 E           |11¾ W     |    13¾ W   |
  30 S          | 10 E           |14  W     |    15½ W   |
  30 S          | 15 E           |16  W     |    17½ W   |
  30 S          | 30 E           |21¾ W     |    23¼ W   |
  30 S          | 35 E           |23½ W     |    24¾ W   |
  30 S          | 40 E           |24¾ W     |    25¼ W   |
  30 S          | 45 E           |25¼ W     |    24½ W   |
  30 S          | 50 E           |24½ W     |    23¼ W   |
  30 S          | 55 E           |22½ W     |    21  W   |
  30 S          | 60 E           |20  W     |    18  W   |
  30 S          | 65 E           |17¾ W     |    15  W   |
  30 S          | 70 E           |15½ W     |    13  W   |
  30 S          | 75 E           |13¾ W     |    11½ W   |
  30 S          | 80 E           |12  W     |    10¾ W   |
  30 S          | 85 E           |10½ W     |    10¼ W   |
  30 S          | 90 E           | 9½ W     |     9½ W   |
  30 S          | 95 E           | 8¾ W     |     9  W   |
  30 S          |100 E           | 8¼ W     |            |
  35 S          |  0             | 8½ W     |    10½ W   |
  35 S          |  5 W           | 5¾ W     |     7¾ W   |
  35 S          | 10 W           | 3¼ W     |     5  W   |
  35 S          | 15 W           | 0¼ W     |     2¼ W   |
  35 S          | 20 W           | 2½ E     |     0½ E   |
  35 S          | 25 W           | 5  E     |     3  E   |
  35 S          | 30 W           | 7¼ E     |     5¾ E   |
  35 S          | 35 W           | 9¼ E     |     8¼ E   |
  35 S          |  5 E           |11  W     |    13  W   |
  35 S          | 10 E           |13½ W     |    15¼ W   |
  35 S          | 15 E           |15½ W     |    17½ W   |
  35 S          | 20 E           |18½ W     |    19¾ W   |
  35 S          | 25 E           |20¾ W     |    22½ W   |
  35 S          | 30 E           |22¾ W     |    24¼ W   |
  35 S          | 35 E           |24½ W     |    26  W   |
  35 S          | 40 E           |26  W     |    26¾ W   |
  35 S          | 45 E           |27  W     |    26  W   |
  35 S          | 50 E           |26½ W     |    24¾ W   |
  35 S          | 55 E           |25  W     |    23  W   |
  35 S          | 60 E           |22¾ W     |    21  W   |
  35 S          | 65 E           |20¼ W     |    18¾ W   |
  35 S          | 70 E           |17¾ W     |    16¾ W   |
  35 S          | 75 E           |16  W     |    15¼ W   |
  35 S          | 80 E           |14¼ W     |    14¼ W   |
  35 S          | 85 E           |13  W     |    13½ W   |
  35 S          | 90 E           |12  W     |    12¾ W   |
  35 S          | 95 E           |10¾ W     |            |
  40 S          |  0             | 7¾ W     |     9¼ W   |
  40 S          |  5 W           | 5  W     |     6¾ W   |
  40 S          | 10 W           | 2½ W     |     4¼ W   |
  40 S          | 15 W           | 0½ E     |     1½ W   |
  40 S          | 20 W           | 3¼ E     |     1¼ E   |
  40 S          | 25 W           | 5½ E     |     4  E   |
  40 S          | 30 W           | 8  E     |     6½ E   |
  40 S          |  5 E           |10¼ W     |    12  W   |
  40 S          | 10 E           |12¾ W     |    14½ W   |
  40 S          | 15 E           |15½ W     |    17¼ W   |
  40 S          | 20 E           |18½ W     |    20  W   |
  40 S          | 25 E           |21¼ W     |    22¾ W   |
  40 S          | 30 E           |23½ W     |    25¼ W   |
  40 S          | 35 E           |25½ W     |    27  W   |
  40 S          | 40 E           |27  W     |    28½ W   |
  40 S          | 45 E           |28¼ W     |    27¼ W   |
  40 S          | 50 E           |28¼ W     |    26  W   |
  40 S          | 55 E           |26½ W     |    24½ W   |
  40 S          | 60 E           |24¼ W     |    22¾ W   |
  40 S          | 65 E           |22  W     |    20¾ W   |
  40 S          | 70 E           |19½ W     |    19½ W   |
  40 S          | 75 E           |17¼ W     |    18¼ W   |
  40 S          | 80 E           |15½ W     |    17¼ W   |


VARIATION _of the_ Magnetic-Needle, _from the Islands of_ Orkney _to_
Hudson’s Straits, _for the Year 1757_.

  ----------+------------+---------------------------------------
     West   |            |
  Longitude |            |      Degrees of North Latitude.
     From   |            |
  _London_. |            | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63
  ----------+------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----
  Degrees.  |            |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
     4      |            |    |    |    | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 |
    10      | Degrees    |    |    | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 21 |
    27      | of         |    |    | 24 | 24 | 25 | 25 |    |
    45      | West       | 29 | 29 | 30 | 31 |    |    |    |
    55      | Variation. |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
    65      |            |    |    |    |    | 39 | 40 | 41 |
  ----------+------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+


VARIATION _in_ Hudson’s-Bay _and_ Straits, _for the Year 1757_.

  ----------+------------+--------------------------------------------
    West    |            |
  Longitude |            |          Degrees of North Latitude.
    From    |            |
  _London_. |            |52|55|56|57|58|59|60 | 61 | 62 | 63
  ----------+------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+----+----+----
  Degrees.  |            |  |  |  |  |  |  |   |    |    |
    65      |            |  |  |  |  |  |  | 39| 40 | 41 |
    71      | Degrees    |  |  |  |  |  |  |   | 41 | 41 |
    79      | of         |  |  |  |  |  |  |   |    |    | 43
    81      | West       |  |  |  |  |  |  |   | 38 | 39 | 40
    83      | Variation. |18|20|  |  |  |  |   |    | 39 | 40
    86      |            |  |  |  |  |  |  |   | 35 | 37 |
    92      |            |  |  |  |17|17|  |   |    |    |
    94      |            |  |  |  |  |17|18|   |    |    |
    95      |            |  |  |  |  |  |18|   |    |    |
  ----------+------------+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+----+----+

We have been informed, that in Hudson’s-Bay, there has been very little
alteration in the variation of the compass during the twenty years last
past.




XLII. _An Account of some extraordinary Tumors upon the Head of a
labouring Man, now in_ St. Bartholomew’s _Hospital. By_ James Parsons,
_M.D. F.R.S._


[Read Nov. 10, 1757.]

THIS poor man, whose name is John Tomlinson, gives this account of
himself: That he was born at or near Rotherham in Yorkshire, and is now
about 25 years of age: that when he was a boy of four or five years
old, at play with other children, he received a blow from one of them
upon the top of his head; and believes that hurt, he then received,
was the beginning of the appearances, that are represented before you.
_See_ TAB. XIV. The tumor upon the top of his head, however, grew
first, and, after having spread all over the vertex, extended gradually
downwards over his right shoulder, and forwards over the _os frontis_,
on the same side, till it stretched downwards into a lax flabby
substance all over the right side of his face and shoulder: then the
upper of the three anterior tumors arose from the large one; the middle
one from the _ala nasi_, pulling it down by its weight, as you see it
in Figure 1.[198]; and the lower one was pendulous from the inside
of the great tumor by a narrow neck. These are the appearances which
present themselves at first sight; but those under the great tumor
are no less extraordinary; for, upon lifting up the great tumor, and
looking up under it, his right eye comes in sight, with which he sees
very well, and the eye is clear and sound; but the under lid is pulled
down, and stretched to six or seven inches long, to which a tumor hung
also, as large as that anterior one at the chin, the lowest of the
three; besides several flaps and _rugæ_ of skin, and smaller tumors.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. XIV. _p. 350_.

  I. Parsons MD. _ad viv. del._       _J. Mynde sc._]

The hairy scalp is so stretched by the vertical tumor, that the hairs
are driven asunder; so that the tumor is in some places bald, and the
whole is rugged and uneven. At its basis, all round, till we come to
the extended part that goes away to the right shoulder, a bony edge
may be distinctly felt, as if the skull was depressed at the top: and
yet I cannot but believe, that there is no depression of the arch of
the inner table, because the man was from his childhood ever very
healthy; being never troubled with those symptoms, which usually attend
a depression of the _cranium_. From this seeming edge the _os frontis_
shoots out a great way over the _ossa nasi_, perhaps to two or three
inches beyond the frontal sinus’s; and is the basis, from which the
great pendulous tumor hangs downwards and forwards.

From the root of the nose, under the upper of the three smaller tumors,
arises a large trunk of a vein, which ramifies up to the vertical
tumor, and to the right over the upper part of the great pendulous one:
these are very conspicuous, and serve to bring back the residual blood
from the tumors: nor is it unlikely that the arteries bear a proportion
with these veins in their size, in order to supply the tumors with the
matter, which has given them their great increase; but these, lying
concealed, cannot be spoken to with any certainty.

If we compare this growth of the frontal bone with that of other
_exostoses_, I believe there may this difference be rationally
observed; that other _exostoses_ are generally attended with ulcerous
tumors, which are for the most part cancerous; and these may commence
at any age. I have now drawings, taken from the right hand of a man
of 50, which represent risings of the _radius_ and _ulna_, with the
fingers, to a most frightful degree; and these begun but six years
before, and are attended with foul running ulcers; and now the bones
of the arm and hand, on the left side, are beginning to have the same
appearances: whereas the frontal bone of the present subject appears
sound, as far as we are able to judge by examination: nor does there
appear the least disposition to ulceration in any part of it. When
this is the case, the growth generally begins while the subjects are
young; upon which we shall be more particular a little further on.
His sensation upon every part of these tumors, is exactly like that
of every other part of his skin, having not the least uneasiness upon
being handled. This poor man worked at day-labour in the fields till
some months before he came to town.

Perhaps it may not be improper to lay down the dimensions of these
tumors, as the case is so extraordinary; for the size of them is
almost incredible: but I made my drawing in the presence of several of
the gentlemen of that hospital, who allowed it to be very exact, and
precise in the expression of the parts, as well as in the dimensions.
The vertical tumor is about seven inches diameter at the basis, where
the bony edge is felt, mentioned before, and about four inches high
from that edge. From that edge, or the basis of the vertical tumor,
to the bottom of the great tumor, is ten inches; so that the length of
both, from the vertex to the end of the great one, is about 14 inches:
and upon viewing it, when he turns his side towards you, the whole
mass is eight or nine inches over all the way; hard at top, and flabby
downwards, hanging in kinds of plaits. From the eye to the opposite
outline of the great tumor is six inches; and lower down, from the
left corner of his mouth to the opposite outline of the same tumor,
eight inches. The upper small tumor, over the nose, is one inch three
quarters long by one inch and a half; the middle tumor is two inches
long from the _ala nasi_, to which it hangs, and of the same breadth;
and the lowest tumor, shaped like a goose’s egg, is four inches and a
half long by near three inches over.

This man is under the care of Mr. Crane, an eminent surgeon of St.
Bartholomew’s Hospital, who has just now taken off the lowest of
these three anterior tumors, and also the tumor mentioned, which hung
underneath to the under lid of his right eye. He intends proceeding to
take off that at the _ala nasi_ next, and so on till he takes away all
the smaller tumors first: afterwards the larger will be considered. The
substance of those cut off was intirely fat; nor was there the least
speck of blood in the lowest of the three smaller tumors; but there was
an hæmorrhage from a vessel divided in taking off that hanging to the
right eye-lid; which soon yielded to the methods he made use of, and
went on successfully till quite healed.

It is pity no one of the people of condition in the country, where
this poor man lived, took notice of him while he was a lad; because,
when the vertical tumor begun, or even after it had made some progress,
if he had been sent up to any of our hospitals, there would have been
no difficulty in curing him. This leads me to some precautions, which,
I hope, will render my account of the case of some use, considered in
a physiological light; which was my intention in thus laying it before
this learned Society.

There is a great deal of difference between injuries received in young
subjects and in adults. In the latter, the consequences are not apt
to be of so dangerous a nature as in the former (except indeed where
there happen violent fractures or wounds, which immediately dispatch
the person, young or old); because, in such as are so far advanced
in years, as that the parts have done growing, or, in other words,
are incapable of carrying the person to any larger size, preserving
the natural proportion, a tumor arising from a blow on the head would
be merely local, without extending to any neighbouring parts in so
extraordinary a manner: but in children, as in the case before you,
a tumor may increase every moment from a blow, and spread itself to
the neighbouring parts, to the ruin of the child, unless timely care
be taken to prevent it; because in such young subjects the parts are
continually growing, the vessels enlarging in their diameters, and
carrying more and more nutrition to every point, in proportion to the
nature of each individual organ, always preserving such an equilibrium,
in the distribution of the nutritive juices, as is proper to secure
the due proportion of every part as it increases: but when a tumor
arises from a blow in such a growing subject, if no wound is made, nor
suppuration brought on in the tumor, then the parts of the tumor being
only weakened, the equilibrium is destroyed, a greater flux of juices
than ordinary is carried to it, the due resistance being impaired, and
a luxuriancy of growth is produced in the place of the injury, which
greatly exceeds that of the rest of the body; and will most certainly
continue in the same manner, during the growth of the subject,
when once thus begun. In the present subject, this luxuriancy was
communicated even to the veins, which are apparent and large, and which
were before, in their natural state, scarce visible; and not only to
these, but to the very bones of the forehead: and as to the integuments
and membranes of the body, their great distensibility is well known
to every one. I have seen an _ovarium_ so distended by water, and
thickened as it grew, that it had substance enough to bear being
dressed by a tanner, and contained nine gallons, which I saw poured
into it after it was dressed. And does not every corpulent person shew
the same power of distension in the membranes and integuments of the
body, as well as wens of all kinds upon the surface?

I thought so extraordinary a case well worth the notice of the learned
members of this Society in itself; and the more so, as these few hints
fall naturally from it, to render its publication useful. We are taught
by this, how necessary it is for all such as have the management of
youth under their care, to have an early regard to every accident that
may befall children; for many times injuries of this kind have been
thought very trivial, which, being overlooked and neglected too long,
have been followed by very direful circumstances. I have known about a
young gentleman to have great hard swellings about his head, and become
epileptic, losing his senses as he advanced in years, from a blow with
the back of a book given him by a master. I am, with due respect,

                             The +SOCIETY+'s
                        Most obedient Servant,
                            James Parsons.

Sept. 18. 1757.




XLIII. _An Extract of the Register of the Parish of_ Great Shefford,
_near_ Lamborne, _in_ Berkshire, _for Ten Years: With Observations on
the same: In a Letter to_ Tho. Birch, _D. D. Secret. R. S. from the
Rev. Mr._ Richard Forster, _Rector of_ Great Shefford.


[Read Nov. 17, 1757.]

                    Great Shefford, near Lamborne, Berks, July 8. 1757.

Rev. Sir,

WHEN I settled in the country, abundant leisure enabled me to keep an
exact parish-register. I have now finished ten years, I trust, with
sufficient care, having examined every thing accurately myself. The
sight of three letters, lately published in the Transactions, upon
the subject of political arithmetic, put me upon overlooking and
methodizing my own account; which I here send you, to make what use you
think proper of it.


From Lady-day 1747. to Dº. 1757.

           { Males   73 }
  Baptized { Females 75 } 148

           { Males   44 }
  Buried   { Females 39 }  83
                          ---
                 Increase  65

         { Under 2 years of age 25
         { Between 2 &  5        4
         {         5 - 10        3
         {        10 - 20        4
         {        20 - 30        5
  Buried {        30 - 40        9
         {        40 - 50        4
         {        50 - 60        4
         {        60 - 70        9
         {        70 - 80       11
         {        80 - 87        5
                                --
                                83
                                --

  And but one alive above 87, who is 91.

  The Number of People 425.
  The Number of Houses  90.
  The Number of Acres 2245. whereof ⅙ is waste.

I do not offer such trifling numbers as these, as a fit subject to
build a canon of life upon; but only as they may furnish us with a few
particulars, which may throw some small light upon a subject hitherto
very little cultivated: and as what has been advanced this way has been
always taken from great cities, a little from the country perhaps may
not be disagreeable.

The first observable in my numbers is, that the two infancies of human
life are exactly equal; i. e. as many die above 60 as under 2 years of
age; and that these two periods of life are by much the most sickly,
five eighths of the whole, nearly, dying in these two stages, which
renders the intermediate numbers very small.

This will give us some reason to suspect, that capital cities are very
improper to estimate the probabilities of life from. The continual flux
of people from the circumjacent country, to seek for employment, makes
the decrements of life seem much larger than they really are. London
is very remarkable upon this account; and Breslaw must receive pretty
large accessions, as a very considerable manufacture is carried on
there.

The second thing I would observe from my table is, that it confirms
what Dr. Brackenridge observes of the Isle of Wight; _viz._ that the
births are to the burials as 2 to 1 almost; ours being as 15 to 8
nearly. Now if this is the case of all the country places in England,
it will give us a strong presumption, that the increase of mankind is
much quicker than Dr. Derham’s proportion of 1 to 12; especially if we
consider,

Thirdly, That of the living not 1 in 50 dies yearly; and this in a
village not very healthy. We are situated upon the celebrated Lamborne
stream, which dries up generally in August, and leaves a stagnated
water, and stinking mud, at a critical season of the year, which bring
on a putrid fever, and make our place sometimes very sickly. In the
year 1751 we buried 17, and in 1756. 11: and therefore we may presume,
that in the healthiest parts of the nation, the proportion is still
greater, perhaps not one in 60. In order to clear up this, it were to
be wished, that the actual number of the people was known, where-ever
the bills of mortality are exhibited. All reasoning without this
preliminary is really not much better than groping in the dark.

A fourth thing observable from my numbers is, that the quantity of
people allotted to a house is too big in all former calculations: for
if we divide 425, the number of people, by 90, the number of houses,
it gives but 4.72, which is not quite 4¾ to a house; and therefore 5
to a house, I believe, is as much as ought to be allowed, taking the
nation all together. Now if the number of houses, taken in Queen Anne’s
time, be any thing near the right, with one fourth more allowed for
cottages, according to Dr. Brackenridge’s computation, we shall make
the people in England, allowing 5 to a house, to be only 4,556,550.
which appears, at first sight, to be too small a number. However, of
Shefford I would beg leave to observe, (and it is far from being the
poorest of villages) that more than two thirds of all the houses are
downright cottages, and must be excluded, one as much as another, from
any proposed assessment. Upon this foundation we must grant, that at
least half the houses in England, take towns and all together, must be
cottages, and plead an exemption from taxation all alike. And thus
the number of houses will be 1,458,096. which, multiplied by 5, will
give us the number of people, 7,290,480. If to this we add the proposed
increase, 789,558. we shall have 8,080,038 for the number of people now
alive in England.

The fifth and last thing I would observe from my numbers is, that we
may hence guess at the number of people in the whole kingdom: for
if 1871, the good acres in Shefford, demand 425 persons for their
cultivation, then will 25,300,000 good acres in England require
5,704,168 for the cultivation of the land only. Now supposing one third
part of the people only to live in towns, above what is necessary for
the cultivation of the land belonging to such towns, then we must add
2,852,084 to the above sum, which gives us 8,556,252 for the number
of people in England. It may probably here be said, that this is but
little better than reckoning at random. Indeed I allow it is so. But
then I must beg leave to observe, that it has full as good a foundation
to stand upon, as any calculation, that I have seen hitherto advanced.
It has one _datum_, viz. a certain number of persons to a certain
number of acres. It ought to be noted at the same time, that we are an
inland place, have no sort of manufacture carried on, and consequently
no accession of strangers.

If we examine the calculation arising from the consumption of wheat,
we shall see some reason to suspect, that the number of inhabitants
in England is not short of eight millions. I am persuaded I do not
exaggerate, when I affirm, that three fourths of the people north of
Trent, and in Wales, do not eat wheat: and as this is near a third
part of England, it will follow, that one fourth of the whole is left
out of the calculation, and that we must add near two millions to it to
make it complete.

Again, I compute, that in my parish there are killed annually 160
fat hogs, _viz._ above one to three persons; and that this humour of
pig-killing prevails over half of England at least, and is in some
measure indulged in all parts. Now we will suppose, that there are but
six millions of people in the nation, and that what is killed in the
northern half makes up for what is deficient by reason of towns in the
southern half; we must from hence conclude, that a million of fat hogs
are killed in England every year. Now one hog with another takes two
quarters of corn, sometimes barley, sometimes pease: if we put half
barley, we shall be under the truth. And here we shall have a million
quarters of barley, not only to balance the exportation of wheat, but
also to be equivalent to, as much bread-corn as will maintain a full
million of people.

Farther, it is well known, that the greatest part of the corn-trade
is, of late years, got into the hands of millers: and it has been
whispered about for a considerable time, and, I think, now the millers
do not deny it, that _some_ whiting is carried to all the great mills.
The excuse alleged for it is, that it makes the flour _wet_, and
consequently _bake_, the better. I am rather inclined to be of opinion,
that it is to give a colour to something that wants colour. And indeed,
who-ever tastes the common bakers bread against a piece of genuine
wheat-bread, will have some reason to suspect, that all is not gold,
that glitters. Every body knows, that the millers buy large quantities
of barley and pease, they say, to fat hogs: but then they have pollard,
middlings, _&c._ to fat them with; and so may possibly mix the barley
and pease with wheat to grind. But as this is all surmise, I would have
no more weight laid upon it than it deserves.

The next article is of the same nature; I mean, something of a mystery
in trade; and therefore to be touched very gently. What I would hint
is, that it is the opinion of many very intelligent persons, that a
good deal of malt is made, which does not pay the excise. I do not
pretend to ascertain the quantity: perhaps one eighth may not be an
extravagant supposition. And if this be the case, we shall find as much
barley, as will weigh against bread for half a million of people.

But here, in all probability, you will object, that if all these
articles be admitted, we shall make the number of people near eleven
millions; which is undoubtedly too much. I am ready to grant it. And
here, if I might take the liberty to speak my mind, I think, that the
allowance of one quarter of wheat to three persons is too scanty,
and must quite starve the poor, whose chief provision is bread: and
therefore, two persons to a quarter may be pretty near the truth. And
then the numbers will stand thus:

  Such as eat wheat, by supposition     4,500,000
  In the North, and in Wales            1,500,000
  Against the fatting article           1,000,000
  Against the two last articles         1,000,000
                                        ---------
                                        8,000,000

I cannot conclude this long scroll without recommending it strongly
to the members of the Royal Society, who have many of them seats in
parliament, and most of them interest in those that have, to get an
Act passed for perfecting registers. The trouble is trifling; the
expence nothing. It would be of great service likewise to number the
people: and this might be done with great ease. I was not three hours
in finishing mine on foot; tho’ it is, perhaps, as extensive, for the
number of people, as most in England, being near five miles in length.
I am,

                             Reverend Sir,
                      Your affectionate Brother,
                       and very humble Servant,
                      Richard Forster, _Rector_.




XLIV. _A remarkable Case of an Aneurism, or Disease of the principal
Artery of the Thigh, occasioned by a Fall. To which is prefixed a short
Account of the Uncertainty of the distinguishing Symptoms of this
Disease. By_ Jos. Warner, _F.R.S. and Surgeon to_ Guy’s Hospital.


[Read Nov. 17, 1757.]

WHEN the coats of an artery become by any means præternaturally
distended, when they become wounded, or when they become ruptured in
such a manner as to discharge and deposit their former contents under
the neighbouring integuments, under the aponeurosis, or tendinous
expansion of a neighbouring muscle, or still more deeply under the
muscles themselves; the natural consequence attending this accident
will sooner or later be a degree of elevation, or tumor: which species
of tumor is known by the term _aneurism_.

If a true aneurism happens, that is, a swelling arising from a general
weakness of the coats of an arterial vessel, or from a wound or rupture
of some of its coats, it may be often distinguished from a tumor
proceeding from any other cause by a degree of pulsation, supposing
the situation of the injured vessel be superficial; as may be evinced
in recent aneurisms of the humeral artery, which sometimes happen from
bleeding near the bending of the elbow-joint; as well as in aneurisms
of the inferior part of the radical artery, of the ulnary artery, or
of the anterior artery of the leg called _tibialis antica_; and as
may be observed to be sometimes the case too in those arteries, whose
situations are not superficial; to wit, in aneurisms of the _aorta
ascendens_, the curvature of the _aorta_, and of the _carotides_.

The symptom of pulsation in tumors, which take their rise from a
partial wound, or from a general weakness, and subsequent dilatation of
the coats of an artery, is not confined to this species of aneurism,
but is frequently attendant upon false aneurisms (that is, such
tumors, as are occasioned by extravasated arterial blood), supposing
the disease to be a recent one of either of the preceding vessels, or
of any other arterial vessel not deeply situated: and this symptom
of pulsation in false aneurisms will sometimes be accompanied with a
discoloration, or variegated appearance, of the integuments dependent
upon the insinuation of the blood underneath them.

But if the extravasation be confined under an aponeurosis, or if the
disease has been of so long standing, as to admit of the thinner
parts of the extravasated blood being absorbed, or by any other means
dispersed, and the fibrous parts, which are left behind, should be
accumulated in considerable quantities, and acquire so compact and
solid an appearance, as to resemble brown macerated leather in their
colour and texture, which I have always observed to be the case in old
diseases of this kind; under these circumstances, the original symptoms
of pulsation on the swelling, and a discoloration of the integuments,
for the most part become imperceptible: for which reasons the true
nature of the disease must be attended with a degree of uncertainty.

It must be acknowleged by all those, whose experience has given them
opportunities of examining into these diseases, that the symptoms of
a pulsation, and a discoloration of the teguments from extravasated
blood, are not only very often wanting in old aneurisms, but in the
most recent ones: which proves the non-existence of these symptoms to
be no certain characteristics of tumors not being aneurismal: and the
reason why this often happens may be readily explained, and conceived
of, from demonstrating the very deep or low situation of many arteries,
that are known to be liable to these injuries; such as the femoral
arteries, the _arteriæ tibiales posticæ_, the _arteriæ peroneæ_, and
some others.

Notwithstanding I have treated of pulsation on tumors, and a
discoloration of the integuments or coverings of the part, when they
do exist, as being the truest marks of aneurisms; yet it must not be
inferred from what has hitherto been advanced, that the appearances of
these symptoms are unexceptionable rules of tumors being aneurismal;
seeing it does happen, that mere imposthumations, or collections
of matter, arising from external as well as from internal causes,
are sometimes so immediately situated upon the heart itself, and at
other times upon some of its principal arteries, as to partake in the
most regular manner of their contraction and dilatation (systole and
diastole).

Some years ago I saw an instance of a boy, about 13 years of age,
who had his breast-bone much broken by a fall. On this account he
was admitted into Guy’s Hospital; but not till a fortnight after the
accident happened.

Upon examination, there appeared an evident separation of the broken
parts of the bone, which were removed at a considerable distance
from each other: the intermediate space was occupied by a tumor of a
considerable size: the integuments were of their natural complexion:
the tumor had as regular a contraction and dilatation as the heart
itself, or the aorta could be supposed to have.

Upon pressure, the tumor receded; upon a removal of the pressure, the
tumor immediately resumed its former size and shape. All these are
the distinguishing signs of a true recent aneurism. The situation
and symptoms of this swelling were judged sufficient reasons for
considering the nature of the disease as uncertain; on which account
it was left to take its own course. The event was, the tumor burst in
three weeks after his admittance, discharged a considerable quantity of
matter, and the patient did well.

From what has been above advanced it is plain, if these arguments can
be supported by facts, that the laying down such rules for infallibly
distinguishing aneurismal tumors from tumors proceeding from very
different causes, must be a matter of the greatest difficulty: and, as
a further proof of their uncertainty, I take the liberty of offering
the following short history of a remarkable case, which has lately
occurred in my own experience.


In the month of December 1756. John Yates, aged 35 years, received an
hurt upon and about his knee, by falling upon the ground from a man’s
back. The accident was immediately followed with a considerable degree
of lameness and pain; which upon standing or walking were greatly
increased.

He continued in much the same state for about six weeks after the
accident. At the end of this time, the calf or the leg was attacked
with an œdematous or doughy swelling; which, in a fortnight, became
so painful, as to disable him from walking. The tumor continued to
increase for about eight weeks; and at length extended itself so far
upwards, as to affect the greatest part of the thigh, the whole of
which was attended with excessive pain, but more particularly so about
the knee.

_N. B._ So far I relate from the patient’s own account.

On the 28th of April 1757. he was admitted into Guy’s Hospital under my
care.

Upon examination, the thigh appeared enlarged to a very great size. The
tumor was uniform, and extended from the inside of the knee to within
a very small space of the groin. The integuments were in every part of
their natural colour.

Upon pressing the tumor on the inside, it appeared soft, and there was
a very evident fluctuation to be felt on its internal and lateral part;
but there was not the least appearance of pulsation.

The tumor, on its superior and posterior parts, was of a stony hardness.

The leg, which, according to the patient’s account, had some time ago
been much swelled, did not now appear to be at all so.

He was continually in great pain, and had been for some time incapable
of getting any sleep. His appetite was bad. He was a good deal
emaciated. He had a constant slow fever, which arose about five weeks
before his admission into the hospital. He appeared pale and sallow in
his complexion.

From the time of his being placed under my care to the end of ten days,
there was no alteration in the swelling, or in the symptoms attending
it.

In expectation therefore of affording him that relief, which could by
no other means be procured, I judged it adviseable to make an opening
into the tumor; which I did by incision into the most prominent and
fluctuating part; upon which there immediately gushed out a large
stream of thin florid blood, and at this instant discovered to me the
true state of that disease; which, till now, could not be ascertained
by any peculiar symptom distinguishable by the touch, or perceptible to
the eye.

Seeing this, I immediately filled up the wound with lint and tow; and
then proceeded, in as expeditious a manner as possible, to apply a
tight bandage upon the thigh, near to the groin; and, lest this might
accidentally break, I applied a second ligature below the first, and
proceeded to amputate the limb upon the spot.

During the operation the man fainted, but soon recovered from this
deliquium; and, without any bad symptoms, gradually recovered his rest,
appetite, and strength, and is now in perfect health.

Upon a dissection of the thigh and leg, I discovered the following
appearances:

A great part of the fleshy portions of two of the extensor muscles of
the leg, to wit, the _vastus internus_, and _crureus_, were destroyed,
with the subjacent _periosteum_.

Four of the muscles, whose uses are to bend the leg, and which
compose the internal and external hamstrings; to wit, _gracilis_,
_semitendinosus_, _semimembranosus_, and _biceps tibiæ_, together
with that adductor and flexor muscle of the leg called _sartorius_,
were removed at a considerable distance from the thigh-bone on its
inferior part, and from the _tibia_ and _fibula_ on their superior
parts; by which means a large bed or cavity was formed for containing
the extravasation, which consisted partly of a fluid, and partly of
a coagulated blood; but by far the greatest part of the coagulum had
acquired so firm and fibrous a consistence and appearance, as nearly
to resemble brown macerated leather in its colour and texture. The
neighbouring muscles appeared livid and lacerated.

The _os femoris_ was become carious on its inferior and posterior
parts; and, at about an inch distance above the condyle of that bone
internally, there arose a considerable _exostosis_.

The capsular ligament of the knee-joint was become much thickened, and
contained about two ounces of a viscid yellow _synovia_.

The femoral artery, on its inferior part, just above its division into
_tibialis antica_ and _postica_, was diseased; which disease extended
four inches upwards.

The coats of the artery were considerably thickened, and lacerated
longitudinally.

The smallest diameter of the diseased part of the artery was two inches
and one quarter: the largest diameter of the diseased part of the
artery was two inches and one half.

  Hatton-Garden,
  Nov. 17. 1757.




XLV. _Farther Experiments for increasing the Quantity of Steam in a
Fire-Engine. By_ Keane Fitz-Gerald, _Esq; F.R.S._


[Read Nov. 24, 1757.]

I Gave a former account to the Royal Society of some experiments made
for increasing the quantity of steam in a fire-engine, by blowing air
thro’ boiling water[199]. The effects then evidently produced left me,
and I believe many others, who came to view the experiments, no room to
doubt the seeming cause. In which error I should probably have still
remained, had not farther experiments demonstrated the mistake.

Whatever apology I ought to make this learned Society, for having given
in that account prematurely, I believe their great regard to truth,
which has always been the basis of their researches for the improvement
of natural knowlege, will require none for this. I shall therefore, as
briefly as I can, relate the further experiments, that were made, which
evidently demonstrate the error of the former; and from which some
phænomena have occurred, perhaps hitherto unknown.

In order to try what difference the air passing thro’ a thinner body
of water might occasion, I brought the horizontal pipe, which (as
mentioned in the former account) was placed 12 inches under the surface
of the water, to within six inches; and found, on setting the engine to
work, that the leaden pipe, for the conveyance of air from the bellows
into the boiler, became much hotter than I had perceived it before;
which could not happen, if a constant cool air had passed thro’: and
on shutting the cock, which was fixed in the leaden pipe to hinder the
steam from ascending into the bellows before the engine should be set
to work, tho’ no air could then possibly pass thro’, yet the bellows
still continued to move with the same regularity as before; which, on
examination, was found defective on the inside, where the middle board,
that divides the two bodies, was warped and cracked in several places,
thro’ which the air passed very regularly from one body to the other
at each stroke, instead of passing thro’ the pipe into the boiler, as
imagined. By this, the cause of deception was evident; which I was
still in hopes of remedying, by having a new pair of bellows made,
somewhat larger, and much stronger. When this was fixed, and the engine
worked a few strokes, I was surprised to find the bellows did not come
down, but remained fully charged with air, tho’ it had 400 lb. weight
upon it; and that, on increasing the weight gradually to 1400 lb. which
was as much as the bellows could support, the air was not forced thro’.

I also made several experiments, by lowering the horizontal pipe two
feet under the surface of the water, and raising it at different times
to within four inches of the surface, and could not at any depth force
the air thro’, whilst the engine worked; but on opening the steam-pipe,
which is a pipe for letting the steam pass from the boiler whenever
the engine stops, the bellows could then readily force the air thro’,
tho’ the water boiled ever so strong, and seemingly made a surprising
increase of steam.

I had the leaden pipe to convey the air from the bellows, which was
first put thro’ the top into the boiler, carried on the outside, and
passed horizontally into it, about the height the water generally
stands, that by opening a cock, fixed for the purpose close to the
boiler, I could readily discharge all the steam lodged in the pipe; and
by shutting the cock, and making small holes at three or four inches
distance, I could almost find the point, where the air and steam met in
opposition, cool air being strongly expelled thro’ one, and hot steam
thro’ the other.

It was also perceptible, that the air was impelled somewhat, tho’ not
considerably, more forward by the addition of each hundred weight on
the bellows:

That the deeper the horizontal pipe was placed in the water, the less
resistance was made by the steam:

That in proportion as the heat of the steam was increased, by making
the water boil more strongly, the resistance to the pressure of the air
by the weight on the bellows became greater.

It is a very doubtful matter, whether air forced thro’ boiling water
would have answered the purpose intended: but I believe it was never
imagined, that air could not be readily forced thro’, until proved by
the foregoing experiments. The attempt, tho’ it has failed demonstrably
in that point, has produced the same effect from another cause, as to
saving coals, and throwing up more water. For, by the constant care,
that was taken during the time of making these experiments, to measure
the coals, to admit only a proper quantity of fuel to be laid on, and
also to mark the time exactly it took in burning; the engine then did,
and still continues to require eight bushels of coals less, in every 24
hours work, than it did before; and also, from the regularity of its
stroke, to throw up more water; the same care being required from the
engineer, who can have no pretence for consuming more coals now, than
appeared sufficient during the time the experiments were making.

Tho’ some of the properties of steam are well known; yet the degrees of
expansion it is capable of; whether air be mixed with, or necessary
to, its formation; as also how far its power of resistance may reach;
are probably not yet known, to a proper degree of exactness. Niewentit
fixes the expansion of a cubical inch of water, converted into steam,
at 13365, Dr. Desaguliers at 14000, and Mr. Payne at 4000 times. The
great scope in this subject from a plenum to a vacuum, if I may be
allowed the expression, as also the very useful purposes, to which it
has already been, and possibly may be still further applied, will, I
hope, be an inducement to those, who are much better qualified, to
proceed in so useful an inquiry.




XLVI. _Observatio Eclipsis Lunæ Die 27_ Martii, _Ann. 1755. habita
Ulissipone in Domo Patrum Congregationis Oratorii à_ Joanne Chevalier
_ejusdem Congregationis Presbytero, Regiæ_ Londinensis _Societatis
Socio, Regiæque_ Parisiensis _Scientiarum Academiæ correspondente_.

Tubo optico 8 pedum peracta est observatio cœlo sereno, claroque.


[Read Dec. 8, 1757.]

IMMERSIONES.

                             Hora postmeridiana
                                temporis veri.
                                h     ’     ”
  Initium penumb rædubium       10    29    50
  Initium eclipsis dubium       10    33    35
  Certe jam incæperat           10    34    05
  Umbra ad mare humorum         10    44    00
  Umbra ad Grimaldum            10    44    53
  Grimaldus totus in umbra      10    47    58
  Mare humorum totum in umbra   10    51    14
  Thico incipit mergi           10    53    29
  Thico totus mergitur          10    55    14
  Umbra ad Reinholdum           11    08    04
  Umbram ingreditur Copernicus  11    19    22
  Umbra ad mare nectaris        11    24    52
  Totum in umbra                11    33    50
  Umbra ad mare tranquillitatis 11    35    24
  Promontorium acutum in umbra  11    45    46

EMERSIONES.

                                              h     ’     ”
  Incipit emergere ab umbra Copernicus       12    04    38
  Totus Copernicus extra umbram              12    07    40
  Incipit egredi Grimaldus                   12    09    38
  Totus Grimaldus extra umbram               12    12    38
  Incipit emergere mare fœcunditatis         12    31    37
  Emergit mare humorum                       12    36    11
  Incipit emergere Capuanus                  12    39    40
  Egreditur Schicardus                       12    48    30
  Emergit Thico                              12    51    40
  Totum mare nectaris egreditur              12    58    09
  Finis eclipsis                             13    13    02
  Finis penumbræ dubius                      13    16    50




XLVII. _Eclipsis Lunæ Die 4ᵃ_ Februarii, _Ann. 1757. habita Ulissipone
à_ Joanne Chevalier _Presbytero Congregationis Oratorii, Regiæ_
Londinensis _Societatis Socio, Regiæque Scientiarum_ Parisiensis
_Academiæ correspondente, et a_ Theodoro de Almeida _ejusdem
Congregationis Presbytero, ac Physicæ publico Professore_.


[Read Dec. 8, 1757.]

HANC observationem peregi tubo optico novem pedes longo, cujus
lens ocularis focum habebat ad 4 pollices, et lineam unam: adhibui
preterea vitrum planum cæruleum, quod oculum inter et ocularem lentem
interponebam, ut ingressum macularum in umbram observarem juxta ea
quæ in observatione eclipsis lunæ ann. 1755. invenit clarissimus
vir Josephus Soares de Barros ex regia Berolinensi academia. Primum
igitur vitro cæruleo adhibito observabam ingressum maculæ in umbram,
et tempore notato iterum solo tubo optico ingressum ejusdem maculæ in
umbram observabam, et differentiam utriusque ingressûs notabam.

Initio eclipsis cœlum serenum ac clarum fuit, postea nubilum, et post
maximam obscurationem vapores horizontis et claritas incipientis diei
observationem peragere impediere.

                                              Manè.
                                           H.    M.   S.
  Initium penumbræ                         4    52    49
  Initium dubium eclipsis                  4    55    29
  Certo jam incæperat                      4    57    30
  Umbra ad Aristarchum observata vitro
  cæruleo plano                             5    00   19
  Solo tubo optico adhibito                 5    00   50
  Keplerus umbram ingreditur observatus
    tubo, et vitro cæruleo plano            5    13   20
    Observatus solo tubo optico             5    14   00
  Plato umbram ingreditur observatus
    tubo, et vitro cæruleo                  5    15    2
  ---- Solo tubo                            5    15   40
  Umbra ad Eudoxum                          5    17   18
  Mare serenitatis incipit mergi            5    30   10
  Copernicus observatus tubo et vitro
    cæruleo umbram ingreditur               5    36   48
  ---- Solo tubo                            5    37   22
  Mare Crisium ingreditur umbram            5    53   51
  ---- Medium in umbra                      5    59   30
  ---- Totum mergitur                       6     5   21
  Mare fœcunditatis occultari incipit       6     7   41
  Umbra ad promontorium acutum              6     8   33
  Umbra tangit mare nectaris                6    22   51
  Umbra ad Langrenum                        6    23   33


_Observationes Eclipsium Satellitum Jovis Ulissipone habitæ a_ JOANNE
CHEVALIER, _&c._

  ANNO 1757 telescopio Gregoriano 7 pedum nocte serenâ, nullâque lunari
  luce illustratâ, observavi immersionem totalem primi satellitis die 21
  Martii tempore vero postmeridiano                           11ʰ 13’ 1”

  Die vero 22 Martii tempore vero, et antemeridiano, observavi
  immersionem totalem tertii satellitis                       0ʰ 13’ 32”




XLVIII. _Observationes Eclipsium Satellitum Jovis Ulissipone habitæ
à_ Joanne Chevalier, _Presbytero Congregationis Oratorii, Regiæque_
Londinensis _Societatis Socio, Anno 1757_.


[Read Dec. 8, 1757.]

  TElescopio Gregoriano 7 pedum observavi emersionem primi satellitis die
  7 Junii cum cœlum serenum ac clarum esset, hora postmeridiana temporis
  veri                                                     10ʰ 29’ 12”

  Die 8 Junii eodem telescopio observavi emersionem secundi satellitis
  hora postmeridiana                                        8ʰ 32’ 48”
  cœlum aliquantum nubilum erat.

  Eadem die observavi emersionem tertii satellitis hora postmeridiana
                                                            9ʰ 36’ 25”
  cœlo claro.

  Die 15 Junii cœlo claro observavi emersionem secundi satellitis hora
  postmeridiana                                             11ʰ 6’ 15”

  Sequenti die 16 Junii observavi immersionem tertii satellitis hora
  matutina temporis veri                                     0ʰ 0’ 29”




XLIX. _A remarkable Case of the Efficacy of the Bark in a
Mortification. In a Letter to_ William Watson, _M.D. F.R.S. from Mr._
Richard Grindall, _Surgeon to the_ London _Hospital_.


[Read Dec. 8, 1757.]

                                         Austin-Friars, Dec. 7th, 1757.

SIR,

THE following case being very singular has induced me to lay it before
the Royal Society, and beg the favour to do it through your means.
Although numerous instances are related in the records of medicine, of
the great danger in interrupting nature in her operations, there is not
one (so far as I know), in which more violent and extraordinary effects
have been produced, than in the following.

It may happen also, that this instance may be of service in
ascertaining the virtue of the medicine in intermittents, when in the
hands of men of judgment.

On the 28th of June 1757. Mary Alexander, aged 31 years, of the
parish of Whitechapel, was brought into the London hospital, having
a mortification in both hands, which reached about an inch and half
above the wrists. All her toes, and about an inch of one foot beyond
the last joint, were mortified; her nose was also intirely destroyed
by a mortification; and all these happened at the same time. Upon
inquiry into the cause of this misfortune, I found, that on Monday
the 30th of May she was seized with a quotidian ague, which usually
began about three of the clock in the afternoon, and lasted near two
hours; which was succeeded by a hot fit, and then a violent sweat. And
in this manner she was afflicted for seven days without any material
alteration; when, being informed by a neighbour, of a person, who had
an infallible remedy for the cure of an ague, she applied to him. He
brought her two phials, containing about an ounce and half each, of a
pale yellowish liquor; one of which he directed her to take directly,
promising, that she should have no return of the fit of consequence;
and that, if she had any small return, the second bottle should cure
her effectually. In consequence of which, she took one dose, which
was at the time the cold fit had been on about a quarter of an hour:
she had no sooner swallowed it, but, as she says, her stomach was on
fire, and felt as if she had swallowed the strongest dram possible.
The cold fit left her instantly; but she was immediately seized with
so violent a fever, as to make her burn, and be extremely thirsty,
all the following night; much more so than ever she had been before,
till the next morning, when a sweat a little relieved her from the
violent heat. When she rose in the morning, she was much troubled with
a great itching in the hands, feet, and nose; and soon after all those
parts began to feel numbed, or, as she describes it, as if her hands
and feet were asleep; which she took but little notice of, till the
evening of that day, when she found the nails of both hands and feet
were turning black, and, at the same time feeling great pain in both,
as also in her nose, and that they appeared of a darkish red colour,
like the skin in cold weather. Upon which, at nine o’clock that night
she sent for an apothecary, from whom, I have since been informed, the
person before mentioned had bought the medicine, which he gave her.
The apothecary was not at home; his journeyman went, and finding the
woman had a difficulty of breathing, ordered her a mixture with sperma
ceti and ammoniacum to be taken occasionally. The apothecary did not
see her himself till the 16th of June, when finding her in a very bad
condition, that her hands, and feet, and nose, were intirely black, and
had many vesicles or small bladders upon them, filled with a blackish
bloody water; he opened them, and let out the fluid, and dressed them
with yellow basilicon; and in this manner continued treating her till
the 20th of the same month, when, finding no material alteration for
the better, he ordered her a brownish mixture, of which she was to
take four spoonfuls every four hours; which, he informed me, was a
decoction of the bark; and says, on taking this, she was better, as the
mortification seemed inclined to stop. But as it was a bad case, he
advised the woman to be carried to an hospital: and in this condition
was she brought in, when she was immediately put into a course of the
bark, taking a drachm of the powder every four hours; and in 48 hours
taking it there was a perfect separation of all the mortified parts.
She was then ordered to take it only three times in 24 hours; and
pursuing this method for eight days, there was a very good digestion
from the parts above the mortification.

The mortified part became now so offensive, that the poor woman pressed
me much to take off her hands, assuring me she would go through the
operations with good courage, being very desirous to live, though in
this miserable condition.

On the 12th of July I took off both her hands: I had very little more
to do, than saw the bones, nature having stopped the bleeding, when she
stopped the mortification. In a day or two after, I took off all the
toes from both feet, and now discontinued the bark, the parts appearing
in a healthy and healing condition; which went on so for five weeks,
when, on a sudden, the parts began to look livid, her stomach failed
her, and she was feverish; but, upon taking an ounce of the bark, in 36
hours her sores began again to look well. She was not suffered to leave
off the bark so soon this time, but continued taking it twice a day for
a month. She is now almost well: that part of her face, from whence the
nose mortified, was healed in seven weeks; the stumps of both arms are
intirely healed; and both feet are well, only waiting for one piece of
bone scaling off, which I believe will be in a very short time; and she
is now in good health.

The person, who gave her this medicine, is a Barber and Peruke-maker
at Bow. I applied to him several times, to inform me what it was he
had given her. The affair was talked of so much in his neighbourhood,
and the man threatned by the woman’s husband, that for a long time I
could not get him to tell me, till I told him, I had been informed
where he bought the medicines; and the time of the day, that he had
them, corresponding with the time of his giving them to the woman, and
that I knew it was tincture of myrrh, he at last told me, that he had
frequently given the above quantity of an ounce and half of it in an
ague; that it had never done any harm; and hardly ever failed to cure.
Upon which information, I carried some tincture of myrrh to the woman,
who tasted it, and is well assured it is the same liquor the barber
gave her in her ague-fit.

I am, with respect,

                  Your obliged and obedient Servant.
                           Richard Grindall.




L. _A Letter to the Rev._ Tho. Birch, _D.D. Secret. R.S. from_ John
Pringle, _M.D. F.R.S. inclosing Two Papers communicated to him by_
Robert Whytt, _M.D. F.R.S._


[Read Dec. 15, 1757.]

                            Pallmall-Court, St. James’s, Dec. 10. 1757.

SIR,

ABOUT three weeks ago I put into your hands an extract of a letter,
I had then received from Dr. Whytt, containing a postscript to his
_Observations on Lord_ Walpole’_s Case_; and slightly mentioning some
doubts he had then about the justness of Dr. Springsfeld’s experiments
with lime-water, from some trials he himself had made, upon reading
that gentleman’s curious treatise on the extraordinary lithontriptic
quality of the waters at Carlsbad in Bohemia. Within these few Days,
Dr. Whytt having favoured me with a full account of those experiments,
I have herewith sent you his paper, in order, if you please, to lay
it before the Society; which the author desires may be done, in case
these observations should be judged useful.

The other paper inclosed was sent me by the same hand, to be likewise
presented to the Society, as a well-attested instance of the electrical
power in the cure of a palsy. To the other testimonies I have subjoined
what Dr. Whytt says in his letter to me, by way of strengthening the
evidence. I shall only add, that since Mr. Brydone, the author of
this account, has omitted telling how long the patient has continued
in perfect health since the operation, it appears she must have been
well for some months before the date of his paper; because, before the
end of last summer, Dr. Whytt transmitted the same case to me, which
I then returned, in order to have it drawn up in a fuller manner, and
with other vouchers besides the gentleman, who performed the cure. The
Doctor has been so good as to comply with my request, having procured
a more ample account of the circumstances from Mr. Brydone, and the
attestation of two ministers, besides that of the patient herself.[200]
My difficulties being thus removed, I believe I may now with freedom
offer this very curious case to the attention of the Society.

I am,

                                 SIR,
                  Your most obedient humble Servant,
                             John Pringle.


_Postscript to Dr._ Whytt’_s Observations on Lord_ Walpole’_s
Case_[201].

[Read Dec. 8, 1757.]

“I Do not know, if it be worth while to observe, that lately, in making
some experiments with different _calculi_, there was one almost as
white as chalk, but of a less hard substance than the others; and which
was not in the least degree dissolved or softned by being infused 20
days in oystershell lime-water, but yielded somewhat to a solution of
Spanish soap in common water.

From this experiment one may conclude, that it is better to prescribe
both soap and lime-water for the stone, than any one of them alone;
and that if one of these remedies has failed of giving relief, the
other ought to be tried: for as the above white _calculus_, which
yielded a little to the solution of soap, resisted lime-water; so there
may perhaps be others, that are readily dissolved by lime-water, but
little affected by soap.

Dr. Springsfeld’s experiments with lime-water are somehow not just; for
in several _calculi_ I have found the dissolving power of oystershell
lime-water above eight times greater than he makes it.”


_Some Observations on the lithontriptic Virtue of the_ Carlsbad
_Waters, Lime-water, and Soap: In a Letter to Dr._ John Pringle,
_F.R.S. from Dr._ Robert Whytt, _F.R.S. and Professor of Medicine in
the University of_ Edinburgh.

[Read Dec. 15, 1757.]

SIR,

FROM the experiments related in Dr. Springsfeld’s _Commentatio de
prærogativa thermarum Carolinarum, &c._ which you were so good as to
send me some time ago, it appears, that these waters are not only
possessed of a very extraordinary power of dissolving the stone, but
that in this respect they greatly exceed lime-water.

(A) Thus, Dr. Springsfeld having infused, for 14 Days, in a heat of 96
degrees of Fahrenheit’s scale, three pieces of the same _calculus_,
each weighing 30 grains, in eggshell lime-water, the Carlsbad water,
and in the urine of one who daily drank this last water, renewing these
several menstruums every day, he found, on the 15th day, that the
_calculus_ in the lime-water had lost 1 grain, the _calculus_ in the
Carlsbad water 6 grains, and that in urine 5 grains.

(B) Again, having divided another _calculus_ into four parts, each
of which was reduced to 80 grains, he put the first in oystershell
lime-water, the second in Carlsbad water, and the third in the urine
of a person who drank this water. After 20 days, during which time the
menstruums were renewed every day, and kept in a heat of 96 degrees,
the dried _calculi_ had lost of their weight as follows: the first 3
grains, the second 18 grains, and the third 14 grains.


Altho’ I make no doubt that Dr. Springsfeld, who appears to be a man
of candour, as well as learning, has faithfully related the event of
the experiments, which he made; yet either the lime-water he used must
have been very weak, or some other mistake must have happened in his
experiments: for in all the numerous trials I made, about 15 years
ago, of lime-water, as a solvent for the stone, I always found its
dissolving power much greater, than it appears in Dr. Springsfeld’s
experiments. And as in these trials different urinary stones were used,
it can scarcely be imagined, that it was owing to the peculiar hardness
of Dr. Springfeld’s _calculi_, that the lime-water made so little
impression on them. However, to be still further satisfied of this
matter, I made the following experiments.

1. I put a piece of a very hard _calculus_, which I shall call _x_,
weighing 80 grains, in oystershell lime-water, renewing the lime-water
every day, and keeping it in a heat between 90 and 106 degrees of
Fahrenheit’s scale. After 20 days, I took out the _calculus_; and
having set it by for some days, till it was become quite dry, I brushed
away all the rotten part of it, which was reduced to a kind of chalky
powder, and found that the undissolved part of it weighed 57 grains.

2. At the same time a piece of another _calculus_, _z_, weighing
15 grains, was, after a like infusion of 20 days in oystershell
lime-water, reduced to 10 grains.

3. I put a piece of _z_, weighing 14 grains, in a solution of half an
ounce of the internal part of Spanish soap in nine ounces of water, and
every third day renewed the solution, which was kept in a heat of about
60 degrees. After 14 days, I found the undissolved part not to exceed
11 grains.

4. A piece of a white chalky _calculus_, _y_, weighing 30 grains, had
near 4 grains of its substance dissolved, by being 14 days infused as
above in a solution of soap.


From Nº. 1. above, compared with Dr. Springsfeld’s Exper. (B), it
appears, that the dissolving power of oystershell lime-water is to that
of the Carlsbad water as 23 to 18, supposing the _calculi_ used in
these experiments to have been equally easy to dissolve.

Nº. 3. compared with Dr. Springsfeld’s Exper. (A), shews, that the
dissolving power of a solution of the inner part of Spanish soap, in a
heat of 60 degrees, is to that of the Carlsbad water, in a heat of 96
degrees, as 15 to 14.

From Nº. 4. compared with (A), the dissolving power of soap is to that
of the Carlsbad water only as 4 to 6; but it is probable, that had the
solution of soap been kept in a heat of 96 degrees, its dissolving
power would, even in this experiment, have nearly equalled that of the
Carlsbad water. It may, perhaps, be worth while to observe, that a
piece of the white chalky _calculus_ of Nº 4. was not in the smallest
degree dissolved by lying in lime-water 20 days.


5. In Exper. 19. of my Essay on the Virtue of Lime-water, a piece of
a _calculus_, _b_, weighing 31 grains, lost 7 grains by being infused
36 hours, in a heat of above 100 degrees, in very strong oistershell
lime-water. And in the same water, of a moderate strength, another
piece of _b_ lost, in the same time, 5 grains.


In this last experiment, the lithontriptic virtue of lime-water appears
to be stronger than in Nº. 1. and 2. above; and greatly exceeds that of
the Carlsbad water in Dr. Springsfeld’s Exper. (A) and (B).

But altho’, from what has been said, it appears not only that
lime-water, but also a solution of soap, dissolves the stone in close
vessels as fast, nay faster, than the _thermæ Carolinæ_; yet these last
waters, when the _calculi_ were so placed in open vessels, that the
water from the fountain might constantly flow along them, effected a
much quicker dissolution than lime-water, or even soap-lye, or indeed
any known menstruum, except, perhaps, strong spirit of nitre: for,
in the first experiment made by Dr. Springsfeld, a _calculus_ of two
ounces and a half was, in this manner, quite dissolved in six days.
From this experiment, compared with that of Dr. Springsfeld mentioned
above (B), it will be found, upon calculation, that the dissolving
power of the Carlsbad water, when it is allowed to flow constantly from
the fountain along the stone, is nearly 39 times greater than when it
is only poured fresh on the _calculus_ once a day[202]. What may have
been the reason of this surprising difference of the lithontriptic
power of the Carlsbad water in these different circumstances, I will
not pretend to say. I think it can scarcely be accounted for from the
gentle motion of the water along the surface of the _calculus_. Was it
then owing to some very volatile active part, which the water quickly
loses, after being taken from the fountain?

But how great soever the dissolving power of the Carlsbad waters may
be, when they issue from the bowels of the earth, yet that they do
not communicate a much greater dissolving power to the urine, than
lime-water, will appear from comparing the two following experiments.

In Dr. Springsfeld’s Exper. (A) above, the urine of a person, who
drank the Carlsbad waters, reduced, in 14 days, a piece of _calculus_,
weighing 30 grains, to 25 grains. And in an experiment made by Dr.
Newcome, now Lord Bishop of Llandaff, who drank four English pints of
oystershell lime-water daily, his Lordship’s urine reduced, in four
months, a piece of _calculus_, weighing 31 grains, to three small bits,
weighing in all 6 grains[203]. Whence it follows, that the dissolving
power of his Lordship’s urine must have been to the dissolving power
of the urine of the person who drank the Carlsbad waters nearly as 35
to 65[204]. But if we consider, that the _calculus_ infused in the
urine of the person who drank the Carlsbad waters was kept always in a
heat of 96 degrees, while in Dr. Newcome’s experiment, which was made
during part of the autumn and winter, no artificial heat was used,
it will appear probable, that the dissolving power of his Lordship’s
urine was little inferior to that of the person who drank the Carlsbad
waters; for lime-water, in a heat of 96 degrees, dissolves the
_calculus_ at least twice as fast, as in the common heat of the air in
winter. Further, if it be attended to, that the quantity of Carlsbad
waters drank every day before dinner is from six to eight lib. while
his Lordship only drank four lib. of lime-water in 24 hours, it will
follow, that whatever the different dissolving powers of the lime-water
and Carlsbad waters may be out of the body, yet the former seems, in
proportion to the quantity drank, to communicate at least an equal
dissolving power to the urine.

But without presuming to decide certainly, as to the comparative virtue
of the Carlsbad waters and lime-water, I shall conclude with observing,
that tho’ the Carlsbad waters are less disagreeable to the taste, and
may be drank in larger quantity, than lime-water, yet this last may be
drank equally good in all places, and at all seasons of the year; which
is not the case with the Carlsbad waters.

 November 30. 1757.


_An Instance of the Electrical Virtue in the Cure of a Palsy. By Mr._
Patrick Brydone.

[Read Dec. 15, 1757.]

ELizabeth Foster, aged 33, in poor circumstances, unmarried, about 15
years ago was seized with a violent nervous fever, accompanied with an
asthma, and was so ill, that her life was despaired of. She recovered
however from the violence of her distemper, but the sad effects of it
remained. For, from this time, she continued in a weakly uncertain
state of health till the month of July, 1755, when she was again taken
ill of the same kind of fever; and after it went off she was troubled
with worse nervous symptoms than ever, ending at last in a paralytic
disorder, which sometimes affected the arm, sometimes the leg, of
the left side; in such a manner as that these parts, tho’ deprived
of all motion for the time, yet still retained their sensibility. In
this condition she remained till the spring 1756, when unexpectedly
she grew much better; but not so far as to get quite rid of her
paralytic complaints; which, in cold weather, seldom failed to manifest
themselves by a numbness, trembling, sensation of cold, and a loss of
motion in the left side.

This paralytic tendency made her apprehensive of a more violent attack;
which accordingly soon happened: for, about the end of August, in the
same year, her symptoms gradually increased, and in a very short time
she lost all motion and sensation in her left side. In this state
she continued throughout last winter with the addition of some new
complaints; for now her head shook constantly; her tongue faltered so
much, when she attempted to speak, that she could not articulate a
word; her left eye grew so dim, that she could not distinguish colours
with it; and she was often seized with such an universal coldness and
insensibility, that those who saw her at such times scarce knew whether
she was dead or alive.

Whilst the woman was in this miserable condition, observing that she
had some intermissions, during which she could converse and use her
right leg and arm, in one of those intervals I proposed trying to
relieve her by the power of electricity. With this view, I got her
supported in such a manner as to receive the shocks standing, holding
the phial in her right hand, whilst the left was made to touch the
gun-barrel. After receiving several very severe shocks, she found
herself in better spirits than usual; said she felt a heat, and a
prickling pain in her left thigh and leg, which gradually spread over
all that side; and after undergoing the operation for a few minutes
longer, she cried out, with great joy, that she felt her foot on the
ground.

The electrical machine producing such extraordinary effects, the action
was continued; and that day the woman patiently submitted to receive
above 200 shocks from it. The consequence was, that the shaking of
her head gradually decreased, till it intirely ceased; that she was
able at last to stand without any support; and on leaving the room
quite forgot one of her crutches, and walked to the kitchin with very
little assistance from the other. That night she continued to be well
and slept better than she had done for several months before, only
about midnight she was seized with a faintishness, and took notice
of a strong sulphureous taste in her mouth; but both faintness and
that taste went off, upon drinking a little water. Next day, being
electrised as before, her strength sensibly increased during the
operation, and when that was over she walked easily with a stick, and
could lift several pounds weight with her left hand, which had been so
long paralytic before. The experiment was repeated on the third day;
by which time she had received in all upwards of 600 severe shocks.
She then telling us that she had as much power in the side that had
been affected as in the other, we believed it unnecessary to proceed
farther as the electricity had already, to all appearance produced a
compleat cure. And indeed the patient continued to be well till the
Sunday following, _viz_. about three days after the last operation; but
upon going that day to church, she probably catched cold; for on Monday
she complained of a numbness in her left hand and foot; but, upon being
again electrised, every symptom vanished, and she has been perfectly
well ever since.

 Coldingham, Nov. 1757.

                           Patrick Brydone.

That the above is a true and exact account of my case, and of the late
wonderful cure wrought on me, is attested by

                           Elizabeth Foster.

I was eye witness to the electrical experiments made by my son on
Elizabeth Foster, and saw with pleasure their happy effects. By the
blessing of God accompanying them, from a weak, miserable, and at
sometimes almost an insensible state, she was, in a very short time,
restored to health and strength; of which the above is in every respect
a true account.

                            Robert Brydone,
                        Minister of Coldingham.


_Extract of a Letter from Dr._ Whytt _to Dr._ Pringle, _relating to
this Account: Dated_ Edinburgh, _1 Dec. 1757_.

SOME days ago I had transmitted to me Mr. Brydone’s account (inclosed)
of the success of the electrical shocks in a paralytic patient,
attested by the patient herself, and by Mr. Brydone’s father, who is
minister at Coldingham, in the shire of Berwick. At the same time I
had a letter from the Reverend Mr. Allan, Minister of Eymouth (in
the neighbourhood), informing me, that he had examined the patient
particularly, and found Mr. Brydone’s account to be perfectly true.
He further informs me, that he never observed the electrical shock
so strong from any machine, as from Mr. Brydone’s. It seems, that
gentleman has not only applied himself to the study of natural
philosophy, but also of medicine.

                             Robert Whytt.




LI. _An Account of some fossile Fruits, and other Bodies, found in the
Island of_ Shepey. _By_ James Parsons, _M.D. F.R.S._


_To the Right Honourable the_ EARL _of_ MACCLESFIELD, President _of
the_ Royal Society.

[Read Dec. 15, 1757.]

                                                        Sept. 25, 1757.

My Lord,

BEING ever desirous to promote the business of this learned Society,
I could not lose the opportunity that presented, of laying before
you an account, and drawings (_See_ TAB. XV. _&_ XVI.), of a most
curious parcel of fossil fruits, and some other bodies, sent me from
Shepey-Island, by my ingenious friend Mr. Jacob, of Faversham, Surgeon,
and Fellow of the Antiquary Society.

I do not remember, that fossil seeds, or fruits, are recorded in our
Transactions, tho’ many of other kinds have places in them; nor indeed
that the memoirs of other academies have made mention of any such
fruits; and therefore, as these are chiefly pyritical, and consequently
liable to fall to pieces, I thought it necessary to make drawings of
them while in a sound state, in order for engraving, if the Society
shall think fit; lest their being so subject to moulder away might put
it out of my power to preserve their forms. However, I have great hopes
I shall be able to preserve the greater part of them intire till they
are shewed to the Society.

In describing these bodies, we shall be obliged to make the best
conjectures we can of some of them only; for several are sufficiently
obvious to every naturalist, and easily known by comparing them to
such recent fruits, as are frequent enough among us. Some of them are
absolutely exotics; and indeed they are all rare and curious, and, in
my humble opinion, well worth the notice of the Royal Society.

Doctor Woodward’s catalogue[205], which is so ample and full of all
kinds of fossil bodies, has only a very few fruits; and these are
only some hazle nuts found in different places, a few pine-cones, and
laryxes; and one fruit, which was taken for an unripe nutmeg. In this
collection before us they are all very different, and such as have not
been seen before.

It will not be amiss, in this place, to give a short detail of such
bodies as are capable of either being petrified themselves, or of
leaving their impressions in stony matter. By being petrified, is meant
being impregnated with stony, pyritical, or any other metalline or
sparry matter; for there are inumerable specimens, wherein all these
are apparent.


TESTACEOUS _and_ CRUSTACEOUS ANIMALS.

The shelly matter of these is of so compact and dry a nature, that
they will endure for ages: and if in a soil or bed where moisture
has access, they will receive stony matter into their pores, and
become ponderous in proportion to the quantity imbibed. If in a dry
place, they will remain fair and sharp, suffering very little change
by any length of time; whilst the flesh of these, being subject to
putrifaction, is soon destroyed; and yet, according to circumstances
that happen, some of these may be replaced in due form by stony
particles. I have a gryphites, with the form of the fish in its place,
as is the case in several of the oyster kinds. This may be occasioned
by the shells being close, or nearly so, and stony matter gradually
insinuating into their cavity, so as to fill up the whole.


WOOD.

The kinds of wood found fossil are very different: some are of a firmer
texture than others: and this too is according to the places wherein
they are deposited. Some I have seen so highly impregnated with a fine
stony and pyritical matter, as to bear a polish like a pebble; some,
tho’ quite reduced to stone, yet preserving the fibrous appearance of
the original state; and some which is found in boggy bottoms, being
not at all changed, except in color: this is called bog oak, or bog
deal, well known to country people in many places of these three
kingdoms, who light themselves about their business with slips of this
wood, cut on purpose instead of candles, as it burns with a clear and
durable flame. It is remarkable, that altho’ oak or fir shall lie ages
immersed in water under ground, it shall not putrify; but acquire
such sulphureous particles by lying in steep, in the bog-water, as to
qualify it for this use. Other wood, deposited in marly ground, is
found incrusted over, trunk and branches, with a white crust; the wood
remaining intire within. At other times, wood thus incrusted shall be
eroded by the matter which covers it, having something acrimonious in
its substance. We may add to these, clusters of the twigs of shrubs,
and small wood, which we find flakes of, incrusted with sparry or
calcarious matter, in many places; parts of which are totally changed
into that matter, whilst others are only inveloped with it.


BONES _of_ ANIMALS.

We see, by every day’s experience, that the human skeleton moulders
to dust in a very few years, when buried in mould: so it does even
in vaults, where the coffins are kept dry. In the first case, the
moisture and salts of the earth divide and dissolve the texture
of the bones; in the latter, those of the air, which gradually
insinuate themselves into them, and at length destroy them. How long
a skeleton whose bones are well dried and prepared, being totally
deprived of its medullary substance, will last, as we now order them
for anatomical purposes, we cannot say: but it may be reasonably
conjectured, that they will undergo the fate of the softer kinds of
wood, such as beech, which grows rotten in no great number of years;
because their internal substance is spungy and cellular, and their
crust is very thin, except about the middle of the bones of the arm
and thigh, I mean the humerus and fœmur. The same destruction would
happen, if bodies were deposited in a sandy soil; because water finds
its way either by dripping downwards, or by springs underneath. But
human skeletons have been found intire within a rock, where neither
moisture nor air could get at them. Mr. Minors, an eminent Surgeon
and Anatomist of the Middlesex-hospital, when he was in the Army, at
Gibraltar, saw an intire skeleton, standing upright, in a dry rock,
part of which had been blown up with gunpowder, in carrying on some
works in the fortifications, which left the skeleton quite exposed.
Indeed, the bones of Elephants have been found in Shepey-Island, but
much destroyed, several of which I have in my Collection; an account
of which we have in the last volume but one[206] of our Transactions;
their size and substance being so considerable, as to resist for a long
time that decay which those of the human could not withstand. To these
we may add the horns of large animals, as the elk, and others, which
have been found in bogs, preserved as the bog-oak, _&c._ mentioned.


TEETH _and_ PALATES _of_ FISHES _and other Animals_.

These are of so hard and firm a texture, as to suffer no great change,
wheresoever found; for we see, that no erosion appears in them, their
enamel and its polish being intirely preserved; yet sometimes their
roots will be found changed, especially in the yellow ones, having no
enamel to guard them in their roots.


_Parts of_ VEGETABLES.

The leaves of plants, whose fibres are firm and dry, will endure for a
long time; but those of a succulent nature never can, as they putrify
very soon. We see the leaves of ferns of several kinds, polypodium,
tricomanes, and other capillary plants, with nodules of stone formed
about them; flags, reeds, rushes, equisetum, and many such, of a firm
texture, are found in slate and stone; and even the iuli of trees are
said to have been found fossil as well as their leaves.


SEEDS _and_ FRUITS.

All seeds and the stones of fruits, having a firm texture, are also
capable of being strongly impregnated with stony and pyritical matter;
and I make no doubt but that the smaller seeds, if carefully looked
for, might be found fossil, as well as these before you; such, I mean,
as have a firmness in the covering; but being small, and mixt with
the dirt, sand, and the like, probably is the reason of their being
overlooked. Fruits of various kinds are found petrified; but this is
only in their green state, when they are hard enough to endure till
they are impregnated with stony or mineral particles. The rudiments
of fruits, when once well formed, and a little advanced, are firm and
acid: and the more remote they are from maturity, the more secure
from putrifaction; and their acid juice is no small help to their
preservation from growing soon rotten. But indeed, when the fruit
advances in growth, the texture grows gradually more lax; the acid
juices are now beginning to be replaced by saccharine or others more
soft; the fibres are driven farther asunder, and they now arrive at
their most ripe state: and the utmost maturity of fruits is the next
step to putrifaction. Hence they are destroyed before stony or other
particles can have time enough to impregnate them: and this is exactly
the case with the flesh of animals of every kind. The husks and hard
calyces of fruits, as well as their stones, are also susceptible of
petrifaction.

If these fruits, which I have the honour to lay before you, are
antediluvian, one would be apt to imagine they, in some measure, point
out, with Dr. Woodward, the time of year in which the deluge began;
which he thinks was in May: and yet this very opinion is liable to some
objections; because altho’ fruits capable of being petrified, from
their green state, may be pretty well formed in May here, as well as in
the same latitude elsewhere, in favour of this opinion; yet there are
the stones of fruits, found fossil, so perfect, as to make one imagine
they were very ripe, when deposited in the places where they are
discovered; which would induce one to think the deluge happened nearer
Autumn, unless we could think them the productions of more southern
latitudes, where perhaps their fruits are brought to perfection before
ours are well formed.

What follows is a catalogue of these fossil fruits &c. before you: and
I should be glad, if any of the gentlemen would take the trouble of
examining them, in order to assist in our conjectures about such of
them, as appear doubtful: but first beg leave to insert the following
remark:

I cannot omit an observation of Doctor Mason, Woodwardian professor,
in this place; which is well worth notice, and indeed which I never
attended to. It regards the impressions of fishes upon slate. Now
there are several kinds of slate, which have such impressions upon
them: in some there remains only the bare impression, without any
part of the fish; in others the scales only, but retaining the intire
form of the animal; and in others no part adheres to the slate, but
the skeleton, or part of it, most commonly the spine. He says that he
always observed, that the bones are never seen but upon the grey or
blue slate, or their impressions; and that the scales or skin are to be
found only upon the black stone or slate; which makes him conjecture,
that something erosive in the grey slate destroys every part but the
bony system; but that the black, being of a more soft and unctuous
nature, preserves the scales, and often the very skin. This, however,
must be referred to further observation.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. XV. _p. 403_.

  IP MD. _delin._      _J. Mynde sc._]

TAB. XV.

_Fig._ 1, 3. These two bodies seem to be figs, petrified when hard and
green; being, as I have just observed, then capable of receiving the
pyritical particles, with which they are manifestly impregnated. One
is more perfect in its form than the other; and they are now shooting
their salts, and will soon fall to pieces.

_Fig._ 2. appears to be a Myrobalan, distinguished from the other
species of that name by its round figure; and is called the belleric
Myrobalan. It is nearly destroyed by the pyritical matter, and will not
long remain whole.

_Fig._ 4. seems to be a species of Phaseolus, one of those especially
distinguished by the fruits. _Fructibus splendentibus nigris._

_Fig._ 5. Another Phaseolus.

_Fig._ 7. Another. See _Fig. 4._

_Fig._ 8. Semen Cucurbitæ, a large species of American gourd.

_Fig._ 9. Coffee-berries.

_Fig._ 10, 11. Two species of Beans, very apparent.

_Fig._ 12. Unknown. This, however, appears to be a fruit, with the
calyx running up, and embracing it, in its hard green state; being
somewhat compressed on the upper part, as it lay confined in the earth.

_Fig._ 13. _An Staphilodendri species?_ The learned and reverend Dr.
Hales gave me, some years ago, a handful of the recent fruits, one or
two of which are sent with this fossil one, for your consideration. He
had them from Bengal, and called them, in the Indian name, Neermelis;
and said the natives used them to fine down liquors.

_Fig._ 14. A compressed pod of the Arachidna, or Underground-Pea. The
full-grown pods are much larger, but of various sizes, as are other
kinds. This, however, seems to have been, when deposited where it was
found, not so far advanced. It has the reticulated surface, the apex
on one side, and every other character of that fruit or seed-pod, but
somewhat compressed.

_Fig._ 15. is evidently an Acorn. We have of this species here, and in
America also.

_Fig._ 16. An exotic fruit, like a small melon; but uncertain. It is
somewhat deformed by compression.

_Fig._ 17. This I took at first for a fruit; but now I rather believe
it a Fungoides of a very pretty kind. _Fig._ 18. _An Anguria?_ I take
it for a seed of a species of water-melon.

_Fig._ 19. seems a small plumb-stone.

_Fig._ 20. Unknown. The calyx seems to run up and embrace this fruit
towards the apex.

_Fig._ 21. Unknown. This resembles an American seed, which I have in
my collection, but do not know its name. Its apex is inclining to one
side; and it appears to have had a strong pedicle.

_Fig._ 22. _An Lachryma Jobi?_

_Fig._ 23. A Cherry-stone.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. XVI. _p. 406_.

  IP _MD. delin._       _J. Mynde sc._]


TAB. XVI.

 _Fig._ 1. _An Euonymi species?_ If this be an Euonymus, it is not so
far advanced as to form the seeds: and is therefore to be considered
only in its progress from the flower towards seeding: which is the case
in several of these, whose calyces appear still upon them, and hinder
us from absolutely determining what they are.

_Fig._ 2. A berry of the Sapindus, or Soap-tree, of America, being not
at all deformed, only having a little lump of pyrites upon it: but
there is another quite free.

_Fig._ 3. _Huræ Germen._ This is undoubtedly the young Sand-box, or
fruit of the Hura, so well known for its beautiful form to the curious,
who collect specimens of natural history; and seems to shew the time of
the deluge.

_Fig._ 4. This, I think, is certainly the stone of an eastern Mango;
such as comes over to us pickled, and, the stone being opened on one
side, is generally stuffed with spices.

_Fig._ 5. _Euonymi latifolii species._ This is a large species of
Euonymus, perhaps of Clusius.

_Fig._ 6. This body seems to be a Milleped, or Wood-louse. It is turned
round, the two extremities meeting; which is the attitude assumed by
these animals, upon being in any-wise obstructed in their passage, or
handled.

_Fig._ 7. A small long Bean, like our horse-bean; but longer than any
we have in England.

_Fig._ 8. Unknown to me.

_Fig._ 9. A species of Horse-chesnut from America.

_Fig._ 10. The external husk of the fruit of the Sapindus, or Soap-tree.

_Fig._ 11. I cannot determine whether this be an Olive, or the yellow
Myrobalan; but believe it the Myrobalan.

_Fig._ 12. _A Palmæ species?_ It seems a small Palma-coco.

_Fig._ 13, 14. unknown, as well as _fig._ 15.

_Fig._ 16. Unknown. The reason of the four last being not to be
distinguished is, that they seem to be the buds of their several
species, before they were perfectly formed. So that while some of the
antediluvian productions are mature, others appear to be premature; and
consequently one would be inclined to think them the inhabitants of
places of different latitudes.

_Fig._ 17. A species of foreign Walnut, injured and compressed.

_Fig._ 18. A Plumb-stone.

_Fig._ 19. The claw of an American Crab; which, being on the opposite
side of the mass containing the body, could not come in view with it at
the same time.

_Fig._ 20. The body of the crab, with other parts, appearing thro’ the
stony matter that invelopes it, which appears to be an induration of
yellow clay.

_Fig._ 21. seems a long American Phaseolus. Part of the petrified husk
is upon it.

_Fig._ 22. An American Echinite of the flat kind, much resembling that
species which Rumphius calls _Echinus sulcatus primus_.

_Fig._ 23. _Arista cujusdam Graminis._ This body has all the
characteristics of an ear of corn, or some species of grass, of which
there are many.

This has been taken for a spine of an Echinus: but, as we are to
consider its nearest resemblance to whatsoever body, we must conclude
it as we have said. I never saw any spine in the least like it; but
an ear of corn, ripe and dry, is as susceptible of being petrified,
as a crustaceous animal, in every respect. Indeed the spiculæ of the
ear, each arising from the grain, being very slender, are of course
destroyed during the petrifaction; but the form of the ear is actually
preserved, as much as the nature and circumstances of the thing will
allow.

_Fig. a._ A manifest species of Pediculus Marinus crumped up.

 _b._ A Seed-vessel, given me by Mr. Da Costa, found in a clay-pit in
 Staffordshire.

 _c._ Cocculus Indicus.




LII. _Observations upon the Comet that appeared in the Months of_
September _and_ October _1757, made at the Royal Observatory by_ Ja.
Bradley, _D.D. Astronomer Royal, F.R.S. and Member of the Royal Academy
of Sciences at_ Paris.


[Read Dec. 22, 1757.]

I Deferred to give an account of my observations upon the Comet that
hath lately appeared, till I could settle the places of the stars
with which it had been compared; several of them not being inserted
in the British catalogue, and those which are, requiring some small
corrections, which I have since made from my own observations.

When I first discovered this Comet, it appeared to the naked eye
like a dull star of the 5th or 6th magnitude; but viewing it thro’ a
seven-foot Telescope, I could perceive a small Nucleus (surrounded,
as usual, with a nebulous atmosphere), and a short tail extended in a
direction opposite to the sun.

Some small stars then appearing in the field of the telescope with the
Comet, I measured its distance from them with a Micrometer; and on
September 12ᵈ at 16ʰ 2’ mean time, I found it to be 1° 13’ 5" distant
from a small star, whose right ascension was afterwards found to be
89° 49’ 40" and declination 36° 11’ 30" north: and near the same time
the Comet was observed to be 43’ 10" from another star, whose right
ascension was 90° 20’ 0" and declination 35° 12’ 0" north.

Hence I collected, that the Comet’s right ascension was 89° 29’ 10“ and
its declination 35° 0’ 20" north.

September 13ᵈ 12ʰ 37’ mean time (which is likewise made use of in the
following observations), the Comet had the same right ascension with
a small star, whose right ascension was 93° 5’ 30" and declination
34° 36’ 40" north; and it was about two minutes more northerly than
the star. Hence the Comet’s right ascension was 93° 5’ 30" and its
declination 34° 38’ 40" north.

September 14ᵈ 14ʰ 0’ the Comet preceded θ Geminorum 1° 31’ 35“ in right
ascension, and was 11’ 35" more southerly. The apparent right ascension
of θ Geminorum was then 99° 11’ 40“ and its declination 34° 13’ 25"
north. Hence the right ascension of the Comet was 97° 40’ 5" and its
declination 34° 1’ 50" north.

Sept. 17ᵈ 13ʰ 0’ a small star (whose right ascension was 109° 55’
20“ and declination 31° 27’ 40") preceded the Comet 47’ 10" in right
ascension, and was 12’ 30" more northerly. Hence the Comet’s right
ascension was 110° 42’ 40" and its declination 31° 15’ 10" north.

Sept. 19ᵈ 15ʰ 17’ a star (whose right ascension was 118° 29’ 40"
and declination 28° 9’ 45") preceded the Comet 1° 14’ 0" in right
ascension, and was more southerly 15’ 45“. Hence the Comet’s right
ascension was 119° 43’ 40" and declination 28° 25’ 30" north.

Sept. 23ᵈ 15ʰ 57’ a star (whose right ascension was 134° 55’ 45" and
declination 22° 15’ 55" north) preceded the Comet 12’ 30" in right
ascension, and was 29’ 0" more northerly. Hence the Comet’s right
ascension was 135° 8’ 15" and its declination 21° 46’ 55" north.

Sept. 24ᵈ 15ʰ 21’ the Comet had the same declination with a small
star that preceded it 10’ 15“ in right ascension. This star’s right
ascension was afterwards found to be 138° 13’ 45" and its declination
20° 5’ 20". Hence the Comet’s right ascension was 138° 24’ 0" and its
declination 20° 5’ 20" north.

Sept. 28ᵈ 16ʰ 22’ the Comet followed Regulus 1° 7’ 12" in right
ascension, and was 14’ 45" more northerly. The right ascension of
Regulus being then 148° 51’ 13" and its declination 13° 8’ 35" north;
the Comet’s right ascension was 149° 58’ 25" and its declination 13°
23’ 20" north.

Sept. 30ᵈ 16ʰ 24’ ρ Leonis (whose right ascension was 155° 0’ 10" and
declination 10° 32’ 53" north) followed the Comet 18’ 45" in right
ascension, and was 7’ 53" more northerly. Hence the Comet’s right
ascension was 154° 41’ 25" and its declination 10° 25’ 0" north.

October 2ᵈ 16ʰ 48’ the 37th star Sextantis. Hevel. in the British
Catalogue (whose right ascension was 158° 21’ 25" and declination 7°
38’ 40" north) preceded the Comet 32’ 50" in right ascension, and was
3’ 20" more southerly. Hence the Comet’s right ascension was 158° 54’
15" and its declination 7° 42’ 0" north.

October 3ᵈ 16ʰ 45’ _c_ Leonis (whose right ascension was 162° 2’ 15’
and declination 7° 24’ 0" north) followed the Comet 1° 12’ 55" in right
ascension, and was 56’ 40" more northerly. Hence the Comet’s right
ascension was 160° 49’ 20" and its declination 6° 27’ 20" north.

October 4ᵈ 17ʰ 0’ _d_ Leonis (whose right ascension was 162° 0’ 15"
and declination 4° 54’ 57" north) preceded the Comet 40’ 15” in right
ascension, and was more southerly 20’ 53". Hence the Comet’s right
ascension was 162° 40’ 30" and its declination 5° 15’ 50" north.

October 7ᵈ 16ʰ 54’ the 79th Leonis in the British Catalogue (whose
right ascension was 167° 53’ 37" and declination 2° 44’ 15" north)
followed the Comet 13’ 0" in right ascension, and was more northerly
38’ 35". Hence the Comet’s right ascension was 167° 40’ 37" and its
declination 2° 5’ 40" north.

October 8ᵈ 16ʰ 53’ the Comet preceded _v_ Leonis 1° 53’ 30" in right
ascension, and was 37’ 20" more northerly. The right ascension of this
star was 171° 7’ 45" and its declination 0° 30’ 55" north; therefore
the Comet’s right ascension was 169° 14’ 15" and its declination 1° 8’
15" north.

October 11ᵈ 16ʰ 52’ the Comet followed _v_ Leonis 2° 33’ 30" in right
ascension, and appeared 1° 55’ 5" more southerly; but it being near the
horizon, the difference of right ascension must have been contracted by
refraction about 1’ 5", and the difference of declination about 1’ 30":
so that the corrected right ascension of the Comet was 173° 42’ 20" and
its declination 1° 25’ 40" south.

Immediately after this observation a fog arose, which prevented me from
repeating it; and several mornings following proving hazy or cloudy,
I could not see the Comet again till October 18th, about an hour and
a quarter before sun-rising; when the twilight being strong, and the
Comet low, it appeared very faint. However, I was unwilling to omit
the opportunity of determining its place, as near as I could, by a
single observation, in the following manner.

At 6ʰ 59’ 54" ½ sidereal time, I observed the passage of the Comet
over the perpendicular wire of my equatorial Sector; then leaving the
instrument in the same position till the next evening, I observed, that
at 22ʰ 8’ 15" sidereal time, the 17th star of Eridanus in the British
Catalogue passed over the same wire (or horary circle) 9’ 30" more
southerly than the Comet. And at 23ʰ 45’ 36" sidereal time the star
marked _b_ in Eridanus passed, 19’ 55" more northerly than the Comet.

I found that the situation of my instrument was not sensibly altered
between the 18th and 19th of October; for the transits and the
difference of declination of the same stars being observed with it
again on the 19th of October, they agreed very well with those that
were taken the preceding night. It may therefore be supposed, that the
position of the instrument continued the same likewise during the time
of the foregoing observations.

The right ascension of the 17th star of Eridanus being 49° 39’ 10"
and its declination 5° 55’ 25" south; and the right ascension of _b_
of Eridanus being 73° 59’ 15" and its declination 5° 25’ 10" south; I
collected, that when the Comet passed the wire (or horary circle) which
was October 17ᵈ 17ʰ 12’ mean time, its right ascension was 182° 34’ 0"
and its declination 5° 45’ 35" south.

The last time that I saw the Comet was on the 19th of October in the
morning; but it then appeared so faint, that I could not observe its
place. Its elongation from the sun was then but about 20 degrees; and
from that day to the present it hath always been less; which is the
principal reason why it was invisible to us at the time when it was in
its perihelion, and hath remained so ever since. The elongation will
indeed soon become greater, and yet it is probable that we shall not
be able to see the Comet again; because its real distance from the sun
will be greater than it was when I first saw it, and it will be also
four times further from us than it was at that time.

The Comet kept nearly at the same distance from the earth for ten or
twelve days together after I first saw it; but its brightness gradually
increased then, because it was going nearer to the sun. Afterwards,
when its distance from the earth increased, altho’ it continued to
approach the sun, yet its lustre never much exceeded that of stars of
the second magnitude, and the tail was scarce to be discerned by the
naked eye.

All the forementioned observations were made with a Micrometer in a
seven-foot Tube, excepting those of the 3d, 11th, and 17th days of
October, which were taken with a curious Sector constructed for such
purposes by the late ingenious Mr. George Graham; of which Dr. Smith
has given a very exact description in his third book of Optics.

Supposing the Trajectory of this Comet to be parabolic, I collected
from the foregoing observations, that its motion round the sun is
_direct_, and that it was in its _perihelion_ October the 21st, at 7ʰ
55’ mean (or equated) time at Greenwich. That the inclination of the
plane of its Trajectory to the ecliptic is 12° 50’ 20"; the place of
the descending Node ♉ 4° 12’ 50"; the place of the Perihelion ♄ 2° 58’
0"; the distance of the Perihelion from the descending Node 88° 45’
10"; the Logarithm of the Perihelion distance 9.528328; the Logarithm
of the diurnal motion 0.667636.

From these Elements (which are adapted to Dr. Halley’s general Table
for the Motion of Comets in parabolic Orbits), I computed the places
of this Comet for the respective times of the foregoing observations,
as in the following table; which contains likewise the longitudes and
latitudes deduced from the observed right ascensions and declinations,
and also the differences between the computed and observed places.
These differences (no-where exceeding 40") shew, that the elements here
set down will be sufficient to enable future astronomers to distinguish
this Comet upon another return; but as they do not correspond with the
elements of the orbit of any other Comet hitherto taken notice of, we
cannot determine at present the period thereof.

  Greenwich, 1757.|  Comet. Long.|
     Mean Time.   |    Observ.   |  Latit. Observ.
  ----------------+--------------+-----------------+
       _d._ _h._ '| S. °  ’ "    |  °   ’   "
  ----------------+--------------+-----------------+
  Sept.  12 16  2 | ♊ 29 34  13 | 11  32  16 No.
         13 12 37 | ♋  2 35  34 | 11  12  13
         14 14  0 |    6 27  45 | 10  44   3
  ----------------+-------------+-----------------+
         17 13  0 |   17 49  40 |  9   3  31
         19 15 17 |   26  6   8 |  7  36  49
         23 15 57 | ♌ 11 19  18 |  4  33  38
  ----------------+-------------+-----------------+
         24 15 21 |   14 44  19 |  3  49  37
         28 16 22 |   27 23  43 |  1   3  44 No.
         30 16 24 | ♍  2 45  43 |  0   5  30 So.
  ----------------+-------------+-----------------+
  Octob.  2 16 48 |    7 37  43 |  1   5  50
          3 16 45 |    9 51  36 |  1  32  22
          4 17  0 |   12  1   4 |  1  56  42
  ----------------+-------------+-----------------+
          7 16 54 |   17 51   3 |  2  56  48
          8 16 53 |   19 39  45 |  3  13   7
         11 16 52 |   24 47  22 |  3  48  49
         17 17 12 | ♎  4 38  58 |  4  15  42 So.


  Greenwich, 1757.|                |                | Diff. | Diff.
     Mean Time.   |  Long. Comp.   | Latit. Comput. | Long. | Latit.
  ----------------+----------------+---------------+-------+--------
       _d._ _h._ '| S.   °   ’   " |  °   ’   "     |   "   |   "
  ----------------+----------------+----------------+-------+-------
  Sept.  12 16  2 |  ♊ 29  34  11  | 11  32  20 No. |  -2   |  +4
         13 12 37 |  ♋  2  35  47  | 11  12  11     | +13   |  -2
         14 14  0 |     6  27  42  | 10  43  43     |   -3  |  -20
  ----------------+----------------+----------------+-------+-------
         17 13  0 |    17  50  16  | 9   3  11      |+36    |-20
         19 15 17 |    26   5  50  | 7  36  30      |-18    |-19
         23 15 57 |  ♌ 11  19   4  | 4  33  32      |-14    | -6
  ----------------+----------------+----------------+-------+-------
         24 15 21 |    14  44   3  | 3  49  39      |-16    | +2
         28 16 22 |    27  23  32  | 1   3  52 No.  |-11    | +8
         30 16 24 |  ♍  2  45  39  | 0   5  17 So.  | -4    |-13
  ----------------+----------------+----------------+-------+-------
  Octob.  2 16 48 |     7  37  42  | 1   5  32      | -1    |-18
          3 16 45 |     9  51  29  | 1  31  55      | -7    |-27
          4 17  0 |    12   0  25  | 1  56  23      | -39   | -19
  ----------------+----------------+----------------+-------+------
          7 16 54 |    17  51   6  | 2  56  24      |  +3   | -24
          8 16 53 |    19  39  33  | 3  12  28      | -12   | -39
         11 16 52 |    24  47  47  | 3  49  29      | +25   | +40
         17 17 12 |  ♎  4  38  36  | 4  15  2 So.   | -22   | -40




LIII. _The Resolution of a General Proposition for Determining the_
horary _Alteration of the Position of the Terrestrial Equator, from
the Attraction of the Sun and Moon: With some Remarks on the Solutions
given by other Authors to that difficult and important Problem. By Mr._
Tho. Simpson, _F.R.S._


[Read Dec. 22, 1757.]

SINCE the time, that that excellent Astronomer, my much honoured friend
Dr. Bradley, published his observations and discoveries concerning the
inequalities of the precession of the equinox, and of the obliquity
of the ecliptic, depending on the position of the lunar nodes,
mathematicians, in different parts of Europe, have set themselves
diligently to compute, from physical principles, the effects produced
by the sun and moon, in the position of the terrestrial equator;
and to examine whether these effects do really correspond with the
observations.

Two papers on this subject have already appeared in the Philosophical
Transactions; in which the authors have shewn evident marks of skill
and penetration. There is, nevertheless, one part of the subject, that
seems to have been passed over without a due degree of attention, as
well by both those gentlemen, as by Sir Isaac Newton himself.

This part, which, upon account of physical difficulties, is indeed
somewhat slippery and perplexing, I shall make the principal subject of
this essay.


GENERAL PROPOSITION.

_Supposing an homogeneous sphere_ OABCD (Fig. 1.) _revolving uniformly
about its centre, to be acted on at the extremity_ A _of the radius_
OA, _in a direction_ AL _perpendicular to the plane of the equator_
ABCD, _and parallel to the axis of rotation_ Pp, _by a given force,
tending to generate a new motion of rotation at right angles to the
former; It is proposed to determine the change, that will arise in the
direction of the rotation in consequence of the said force._

[Illustration: FIG. 1.]

Let _F_ denote the given force, whereby the motion about the axis P_p_
is disturbed, supposing _f_ to represent the centrifugal force of a
small particle of matter in the circumference of the equator, arising
from the sphere’s rotation; and let the whole number of such particles,
or the content of the sphere, be denoted by _c_: let also the momentum
of rotation of the whole sphere, or of all the particles, be supposed,
in proportion to the momentum of an equal number of particles,
revolving at the distance OA of the remotest point A, as _n_ is to
_unity_.

It is well known, that the centripetal force, whereby any body is
made to revolve in the circumference of a circle, is such, as is
sufficient to generate all the motion in the body, in a time equal
to _that_, wherein the body describes an arch of the circumference,
equal in length to the radius. Therefore, if we here take the arch AR
= OA, and assume _m_ to express the time, in which that arch would
be uniformly described by the point A, the _motion_ of a particle of
matter at A (whose central force is represented by _f_) will be equal
to _that_, which might be uniformly generated by the force _f_, in
the time _m_; and the motion of as many particles (revolving, all, at
the same distance) as are expressed by _cn_ (which, by hypothesis,
is equal to the momentum of the whole body), will, consequently, be
equal to the momentum, that might be generated by the force _f_ ×
_cn_, in the same time _m_. Whence it appears, that the momentum of
the whole body about its axe P_p_ is in proportion to the momentum
generated in a given particle of time _m’_, by the given force _F_ in
the direction AL, as _ncf_ × _m_ is to _F_ × _m’_, or, as _unity_ to
(_F_/_ncf_) × (_m’_/_m_) (because the quantities of motion produced by
unequal forces, in unequal times, are in the ratio of the forces and
of the times, conjunctly). Let, therefore, AL be taken in proportion
to AM, as (_F_/_ncf_) × (_m’_/_m_) is to _unity_ (supposing AM to be
a tangent to the circle ABCD in A), and let the parallelogram AMNL be
compleated; drawing also the diagonal AN; then, by the composition of
forces, the angle NAM (whose tangent, to the radius OA, is expressed
by OA × (_F_/_ncf_) × (_m’_/_m_)) will be the change of the direction
of the rotation, at the end of the aforesaid time (_m’_). But, this
angle being exceeding small, the tangent may be taken to represent
the measure of the angle itself; and, if Z be assumed to represent
the arch described by A, in the same time (_m’_) about the center O,
we shall also have (_m’_/_m_) = (Z/AR) = (Z/AO), and consequently OA
× (_F_/_ncf_) x (_m_/_m’_) = Z × (_F_/_ncf_). From whence it appears,
that the angle expressing the change of the direction of the rotation,
during any small particle of time, will be in proportion to the angle
described about the axe of rotation in the same time, as _F_/_ncf_ is
to _unity_. _Q.E.I._

Altho’, in the preceding proposition, the body is supposed to be a
perfect sphere, the solution, nevertheless, holds equally true in every
other species of figures, as is manifest from the investigation. It
is true, indeed, that the value of _n_ will not be the same in these
cases, even supposing those of _c_, _f_ and _F_ to remain unchanged;
except in the spheroid only, where, as well as in the sphere, _n_ will
be = ⅖; the momentum of any spheroid about its axis being 2-5ths of the
momentum of an equal quantity of matter placed in the circumference of
the equator, as is very easy to demonstrate.

But to shew now the use and application of the general proportion here
derived, in determining the regress of the equinoctial points of the
terrestrial spheroid, let AE_a_F (_Fig. 2._) be the equator, and P_p_
the axis of the spheroid: also let HECF represent the plane of the
ecliptic, S the place of the sun, and HAPNH the plane of the sun’s
declination, making right-angles with the plane of the equator AE_a_F:
then, if AK be supposed parallel, and OKM perpendicular, to OS, and
there be assumed _T_ and _t_ to express the respective times of the
annual and diurnal revolutions of the earth, it will appear (from the
_Principia_, B. III. prop. xxv.) that the force, with which a particle
of matter at A tends to recede from the line OM in consequence of the
sun’s attraction, will be expressed by (_3tt_/_TT_) × (AK/OA) × _f_;
_f_ denoting the centrifugal force of the same particle, arising from
the diurnal rotation. Hence, by the resolution of forces, (_3tt_/_TT_)
× (AK/OA) × (OK/OA) × _f_ will be the effect of that particle, in a
direction perpendicular to OA, to turn the earth about its center O.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.]

But it is demonstrated by Sir Isaac Newton, and by other authors, that
the force of all the particles, or of all the matter in the whole
spheroid AP _ap_, to turn _it_ about its center, is equal to ⅕th of
the force of a quantity of matter, placed at A, equal to the excess
of the matter in the whole spheroid above _that_ in the inscribed
sphere, whose axis is P_p_. Now this excess (assuming the ratio of
π to 1, to express _that_ of the area of a circle to the square of
the radius) will be truly represented by (4π/3) × OP × (OA² - OP²);
and, consequently, the force of all the matter in the whole earth, by
(_3tt_/_TT_) × (AK/OA) × (OK/OA) × (4π/15) × OP × (OA²- OP²). Let,
therefore, this quantity be now substituted for _F_, in the general
formula _F_/_ncf_, writing, at the same time, (4π/3) × OA² × OP,
and ⅖, in the place of their equals _c_ and _n_; by which means we
have (here) (_F_/_ncf_) = (_3tt_/_2TT_) × ((OA² - OP²)/OA²) × ((AK ×
OK)/OA²). Put the given quantity (_3tt_/_2TT_) × ((OA² - OP²)/OA²) =
_k_; and let the angle EA_e_ represent the horary alteration of the
position of the terrestrial equator, arising from the force _F_ (here
determined), and let the arch E_e_ be the regress of the equinoctial
point E, corresponding thereto: then, in the triangle EA_e_ (considered
as spherical) it will be sin. _e_ ∶ sin. AE (∷ sin. EA_e_: sin. E_e_) ∷
EA_e_ ∶ E_e_ (= (sin. AE x EA_e_)/sin. E) = _k_ × (sin. AE/sin. E) ×
((AK × OK)/OA²) = _k_ × ((sin. AE × cos. AH × sin. AH)/sin. E). But in
the triangle EHA, right-angled at A (where HA is supposed to represent
the sun’s declination, AE his right ascension, and HE his distance from
the equinoctial point E[207]) we have (_per spherics_)

   sin. AE   ∶ 1 (rad.)   ∷ co-t. E   ∶ co-t. AH,
  (sin. AH)² ∶ (sin. EH)² ∷ (sin. E)² ∶ 1² (rad.²)

From whence we get, sin. AE × co-t. AH × (sin. AH)² = (sin. EH)² ×
co-t. E × (sin. E)². But co-t. AH × sin. AH = co-s. AH × 1 (rad.), and
co-t. E × sin. E = co-s. E × 1 (rad.): therefore sin. AE × co-s. AH ×
sin. AH = (sin. EH)² × co-s. E × sin. E; and, consequently, _k_ × (sin.
AE × co-s. AH × sin. AH)/sin. E = _k_ × co-s. E × (sin. EH)² (= E_e_).

Let, now, the sun’s longitude EH be denoted by Z (considered as a
flowing quantity); then, (sin. Z)² being = ½-½ co-s. 2 Z, we shall have
_k_ × co-s. E × (sin. EH)² = ½_k_ × co-s. E × 1-co-s. 2 Z. But the
angle described about the axe of rotation P_p_, in the time that the
sun’s longitude is augmented by the particle Ż, will be = (_T/t_) × Ż.
Therefore (by the general proposition) we have, as 1: ½_k_ × co-s. E ×
1-co-s. 2 Z ∷ (_T/t_) × Ż : ½_k_ × (_T/t_) × co-s. E × Ż - Ż co-s. 2 Z,
the true regress of the equinoctial point E, during that time: whose
fluent, ½_k_ × (_T_/_t_) × co-s. E × (Z- ½ sin. 2 Z), will consequently
be the total regress of the point E, in the time that the sun, by
his apparent motion, describes the arch HE or Z; which, on the sun’s
arrival at the solstice, becomes barely = ½_k_ × (_T_/_t_) × co-s. E ×
an arch of 90°: the quadruple whereof, or ½_k_ × (_T_/_t_) × co-s. E ×
360° (= (3_t_/4_T_) × ((OA²-OP²)/OA²) × co-s. E × 360°) is therefore
the whole annual precession of the equinox caused by the sun. This, in
numbers (taking OP/OA = 229/230) comes out (3/(4 × 366¼)) × (2/230½) ×
0.917176 × 360° = 21´´ 6´´´.

The very ingenious M. Silvabelle, in his essay on this subject,
inserted in the 48th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, makes
the quantity of the annual precession of the equinox, caused by the
sun, to be the half, only, of what is here determined. But this
gentleman appears to have fallen into a twofold mistake. First, in
finding the _momenta of rotation_ of the terrestrial spheroid, and of
a very slender ring, at the equator thereof; which _momenta_ he refers
to an axis perpendicular to the plane of the sun’s declination, instead
of the proper axe of rotation, standing at right angles to the plane of
the equator. The difference, indeed, arising from thence, with respect
to the spheroid (by reason of its near approach to a sphere) will be
inconsiderable; but, in the ring, the case will be quite otherwise; the
equinoctial points thereof being made to recede just twice as fast as
they ought to do. This may seem the more strange, if regard be had to
the conclusions, relating to the nodes of a satellite, derived from
this very assumption. But, that these conclusions are true, is owing
to a second, or subsequent mistake, at Art. 27; where the measure of
the sun’s force is taken the half, only, of the true value; by means
whereof the motion of the equinoctial points of the ring is reduced to
its proper quantity, and the motion of the equinoctial points of the
terrestrial spheroid, to the half of what it ought to be.

That expert geometrician M. Cha. Walmsley, in his Essay on the
Precession of the Equinox, printed in the last volume of the
Philosophical Transactions, has judiciously avoided all mistakes of
this last kind, respecting the sun’s force, by pursuing the method,
pointed out by Sir Isaac Newton; but, in determining the effect of that
force, has fallen into others, not less considerable than those above
adverted to.

In his third Lemma, the momentum of the whole Earth, about its
diameter, is computed on a supposition, that the momentum or force of
each particle is proportional to its distance from the axis of motion,
or barely as the quantity of motion in such particle, considered
abstractedly. No regard is, therefore, had to the lengths of the
unequal levers, whereby the particles are supposed to receive and
communicate their motion: which, without doubt, ought to have been
included in the consideration.

In his first proposition, he determines, in a very ingenious and
concise manner, the true annual motion of the nodes of a ring (or of
a single satellite) at the earth’s equator, revolving with the earth
itself, about its center, in the time of one siderial day. This motion
he finds to be = (3co-s. 23° 29´/4 rad.) × (⅟366¼) × 360°. Then, in
order to infer from thence, the motion of the equinoctial points of the
earth itself, he, first, diminishes that quantity, in the ratio of 2
to 5: Because (as is demonstrated by Sir Isaac Newton in his 2d Lemma)
the whole force of all the particles situated without the surface of a
sphere, inscribed in the spheroid, to turn the body about its center,
will be only 2-5ths of the force of an equal number of particles
uniformly disposed round the whole circumference of the equator, in
the fashion of a ring. The quantity ((3co-s. 23° 29´/4 rad.) × ⅖ ×
(⅟366¼) × 360°) thus arising, will, therefore, express the true motion
of the equinoctial points of a ring, equal in quantity of matter to the
excess of the whole earth above the inscribed sphere, when the force
whereby the ring tends to turn about its diameter is supposed equal
to the force whereby the earth itself tends to turn about the same
diameter, in consequence of the sun’s attraction. Thus far our author
agrees with Sir Isaac Newton; but, in deriving from hence the motion
of the equinoctial points of the earth itself, he differs from him;
and, in the corollary to his third Lemma, assigns the reasons, why he
thinks Sir Isaac Newton, in this particular, has _wandered a little
from the truth_. Instead of diminishing the quantity above exhibited
(as Sir Isaac has done) in the ratio of all the motion in the ring to
the motion in the whole earth, he diminishes it in the ratio of the
motion of all the matter above the surface of the inscribed sphere to
the motion of the whole earth: which matter, tho’ equal to that of the
ring, has nevertheless a different momentum, arising from the different
situation of the particles in respect to the axis of motion.

But since the aforesaid quantity, from whence the motion of the earth’s
equinox is derived, as well by this gentleman, as by Sir Isaac Newton,
expresses truly the annual regress of the equinoctial points of the
ring (and not of the hollow figure formed by the said matter, which
is greater, in the ratio of 5 to 4) it seems, at least, as reasonable
to suppose, that the said quantity, to obtain from thence the true
regress of the equinoctial points of the earth, ought to be diminished
in the former of the two ratios above specified, as that it should be
diminished in the latter. But, indeed, both these ways are defective,
even supposing the momenta to have been truly computed; the ratio,
that ought to be used here, being that of the momenta of the ring and
earth about the proper axe of rotation of the two figures, standing
at right-angles to the plane of the ring and of the equator. Now this
ratio, by a very easy computation, is found to be as 230²-229² to ⅖ of
230²; whence the quantity sought comes out = (3co-s. 23° 29´/4 rad.)
× (⅟366¼) × (230²-229²)/230² × 360° = 21´´ 6´´´: which is the same that
we before found it to be, and the double of what this author makes it.

What has been said hitherto, relates to that part of the motion
only, arising from the force of the sun. It will be but justice to
observe here, that the effect of the moon, and the inequalities
depending on the position of her nodes, are truly assigned by both
the gentlemen above-named; the ratio of the diameters of the earth,
and the density of the moon being so assumed, as to give the maxima of
those inequalities, such as the observations require: in consequence
whereof, and from the law of the increase and decrease (which is
rightly determined by theory, tho’ the absolute quantity is not) a true
solution, in every other circumstance, is obtained.

The freedom, with which I have expressed myself, and the liberty I have
here taken, to animadvert on the works of men, who, in many places,
have given incontestible proofs of skill and genius, may, I fear, stand
in need of some apology. ’Tis possible I may be thought too peremptory.
Indeed, I might have delivered my sentiments with more caution and
address: but, had not I imagined myself quite clear in what has been
advanced, from a multitude of concurrent reasons, I should have thought
it too great a presumption to have said any thing at all here, on this
subject. The great regard I have for this Society, of which I have the
honour to be a member, will, I hope, be considered as the motive for my
having attempted to rectify some oversights, that have occurred in the
works of this learned body.




LIV. _Remarks upon the Heat of the Air in_ July 1757. _in an Extract
of a Letter from_ John Huxham, _M.D. F.R.S. to_ William Watson, _M.D.
F.R.S. dated at_ Plymouth _19th of that Month. With additional Remarks
by Dr._ Watson.


[Read Dec. 22, 1757.]

“FROM the beginning of June last we have had a very dry season,
generally very warm, and sometimes excessively hot. From the 7th to the
14th of this month the heat was violent; greater, indeed, than has been
known here in the memory of man. I have talked with several persons,
who have lived a considerable time in Jamaica, Gibraltar, and Minorca;
and they severally assert, that they never felt such intense heat in
any of those places. Upon the 11th, 12th, and 13th of this month,
Fahrenheit’s thermometer, in the shade, about three o’clock in the
afternoon, was at 87; nay, upon the 12th it was even above 88.

Abundance of people have suffered very severely from these excessive
heats: putrid, bilious, petechial, nervous fevers, are exceedingly
common every-where. Dysenteries, hæmorrhages, most profuse sweats,
affect not only those in fevers, but a vast many others. The days and
nights were so intolerably hot, that little or no sleep was to be
gotten day or night. The wind we had, like the Campsin, actually blew
hot, tho’ strong.

Upon the 15th, about seven at night, at Falmouth, Penryn, Truro, and
thereabouts, a pretty smart shock of an earthquake was felt, attended
with a hollow rumbling noise, throwing down pewter, china-ware, and
such-like. The tinners felt it eighty fathom under ground. No great
damage however was done. The day before we had, about eleven o’clock
before noon, a most violent hurricane, which lasted five or six
minutes, attended with a heavy shower.”

Thus far Dr. Huxham.


The heat of the air at London, during the period above-mentioned, was
much greater than has been usually observed in these high latitudes;
tho’ it was never quite so severe here as at Plymouth. The following
table exhibits the degrees of the heat, taken here upon the respective
days, about four o’clock in the afternoon, by a Fahrenheit’s
thermometer. The instrument was placed in the shade; and the accuracy
of the observer, who favoured me with his minutes, is not to be
questioned.

  1757. July  5      75
              6      78
              7      75½
              8      78
             10      80¼
             11      83¼
             12      80¼
             13      80
             14      85
             15      81
             16      73

From hence it appears, that the air at London was, upon several
days, hotter than it had been observed at Madeira for ten years
together: for, by Dr. Thomas Heberden’s observations, mentioned in the
Philosophical Transactions, the heat of the air at Madeira, during that
period, was never but once at 80.

  William Watson.




LV. _Remarks upon the Letter of Mr._ John Ellis, _F.R.S. to_ Philip
Carteret Webb, _Esq; F.R.S. printed in the_ Philosophical Transactions,
_Vol._ xlix. _Part_ ii. _p._ 806. _By Mr._ Philip Miller, _F.R.S._


[Read Dec. 15, 1757.]

THE paper of mine, which was read before the Royal Society on the
8th of May 1755, and afterward printed in the xlixth volume of the
Philosophical Transactions[208], was written at the request of Mr.
Watson; who informed me, that a letter from the Abbé Mazeas to the
reverend Dr. Hales had been communicated to the Royal Society, in
which it was mentioned, that the Abbé Sauvages had made a discovery of
the juice of the Carolina Toxicodendron staining linen of a permanent
black. But Mr. Watson said, that the letter, he thought, required a
careful perusal before it was printed; and he wished I would confirm
it. I told him, if the letter was put into my hands, I would look it
over, and deliver my opinion of it.

Accordingly Dr. Birch delivered the letter to me; and, upon reading it,
I found, that tho’ this might be a discovery to those two gentlemen;
yet, as it had been mentioned in several printed books long before, I
thought it might not be for the reputation of the Royal Society to have
it printed as such in their Transactions.

This was my motive for writing that paper: in which I have not
endeavoured to depreciate the discovery of the Abbé Sauvages, but
have only mentioned what had occurred to me in those books of botany,
where that shrub is taken notice of. And as the knowlege of it, and
the method of collecting the varnish, might be of service to the
inhabitants of the British colonies in America, I took the liberty of
adding the account given of it by Dr. Kœmpfer.

Mr. Ellis, in his letter to Mr. Webb, asserts, that the American
_Toxicodendron_ is not the same with Kœmpfer’s _Arbor vernicifera
legitima_. This assertion of his makes it necessary to lay before
the Society the authorities, upon which I have grounded my belief,
that they are the same. But it may not be amiss first to take notice,
that the shrub mentioned by the Abbé Sauvages is the same with that,
which the gardeners about London call the Poison-ash. The title of it,
mentioned by the Abbé Sauvages, was given by myself to that shrub, in
a catalogue of trees and shrubs, which was printed in the year 1730;
before which it had no generical title applied to it. And about the
same time I sent several of the plants to Paris and Holland with that
title, which I had raised a few years before from seeds, which were
sent by Mr. Catesby from Carolina.

And altho’ this shrub had not been reduced to any genus before, yet it
had been some years growing in the gardens of the Bishop of London at
Fulham, at Mr. Reynardson’s at Hillenden, Mr. Darby’s at Hoxton, and in
the Chelsea garden, which were raised from seeds sent by Mr. Banister
from Virginia; two of which were growing at Chelsea in the year 1722,
when the care of that Garden was intrusted to me.

The first intimation I had of the American shrub being the same with
Dr. Kœmpfer’s true varnish-tree, was from the late Dr. William Sherard,
in the year 1726, when that gentleman desired me to bring him a
specimen of the American Toxicodendron from the Chelsea garden; which
I accordingly did: and then the Doctor, and Dr. Dillenius, compared
it with a dried specimen in the collection of the former, which was
gathered in Japan, and which, if I remember right, he told me he
received from Dr. Kœmpfer some years before. It appeared to those two
gentlemen, that they were the same; and their skill in the science of
botany was never doubted.

About a year after this, I carried a specimen of the American
Toxicodendron to an annual meeting of some botanists at Sir Hans
Sloane’s in Bloomsbury; where there were present Mr. Dale of Braintree,
Mr. Joseph Miller, Mr. Rand, and some others; which was then compared
with Dr. Kœmpfer’s specimen, whose collection Sir Hans Sloane had
purchased: and it was the opinion of every one present, that they were
the same. Nor has any one doubted of their being so, who has compared
the American shrub with Kœmpfer’s figure and description of his true
varnish-tree, but Mr. Ellis.

And now give me leave to examine his reasons for differing in opinion
from every late botanist, who has mentioned this shrub.

He says, that the midrib, which supports the lobe leaves, is quite
smooth in the poison-ash, as is also the under side of the leaves;
whereas Dr. Kœmpfer, in his description of the midrib of the true
varnish-tree, calls it _læviter lanuginoso_; and in his description
of the lobes or _pinnæ_ he says, they are _basi inequaliter rotunda_;
whereas those of the poison-ash come to a point at their footstalks
nearly equal to that at the top. These characters, Mr. Ellis thinks,
are sufficient to prove, that they are different plants: and he blames
Dr. Dillenius for having omitted these necessary characters in his
description of it; and supposes this must have misled the accurate
Linnæus, who quotes his synonyma.

But as Dr. Linnæus is possessed of Kœmpfer’s book, he would little have
deserved the appellation of accurate in this particular, had he not
consulted the original, but trusted to a copy. But this I know he has
done, and is as well assured, that the plants in question are the same,
as Mr. Ellis can be of the contrary.

But here I must observe, that the branch, from which Dr. Kœmpfer’s
figure is taken, is produced from the lower part of a stem, which seems
to have been cut down, and not from a flowering branch; and it is not
improbable, that his description may have been taken from the same
branch: and if this be the case, it is easy to account for the minute
differences mentioned by Mr. Ellis; for it would not be difficult to
produce instances of hundreds of different trees and shrubs, whose
lower and upper branches differ much more in the particulars mentioned
by Mr. Ellis, than the figure and description given by Kœmpfer do
from the American Toxicodendron. I will only mention two of the
most obvious: the first is the white poplar, whose shoots from the
lower part of the stem, and the suckers from the root, are garnished
with leaves very different in form and size from those on the upper
branches, and are covered on both sides in the spring with a woolly
down. The next is the willow with smooth leaves, which, if a standard,
and the head lopped off, as is usual, the young shoots are garnished
with leaves much broader, and of different forms from those on the
older branches; and these have frequently a hairy down on their under
surface, which does not appear on those of the older. So that a person
unacquainted with these differences in the same tree would suppose they
were different. And the American Toxicodendron has varied in these
particulars much more, in different seasons, than what Mr. Ellis has
mentioned.

Mr. Ellis next says, that the Toxicodendron mentioned by Mr. Catesby,
in his Natural History of Carolina, is not the same with that, which
is now called by the gardeners poison-ash: but I am very positive of
the contrary; for most of the plants in the nursery-gardens about
London were first raised from the seeds, which were sent by Mr. Catesby
from Carolina; part of which were sent to the late Dr. Sherard, as
is mentioned by him in the Philosophical Transactions, Nº. 367; and
another part came to my hands, from which I raised a great many of the
plants, which were distributed, and some of them are now growing in the
Chelsea garden.

And that this shrub grows naturally in Carolina, I can have no doubt,
having received the seeds of it two or three times from the late Dr.
Dale, who gathered them in the woods of that country.

In my paper above-mentioned I likewise observed, that the seeds, which
were sent to the Royal Society by Father D’Incarville, for those of
the true varnish-tree, did not prove to be so; but the plants, which
were raised from them, were taken to be referred to the spurious
varnish-tree of Kœmpfer; which I believed to be the same, and own, that
it is yet my opinion, notwithstanding what Mr. Ellis has said to the
contrary: for the number of lobes or _pinnæ_ on each leaf, with their
manner of arrangement on the midrib, are the same. And here we must
observe, that the figure of this given by Kœmpfer is from a flowering
branch; and every gardener or botanist must know, that the leaves,
which are situated immediately below the flowers of most winged-leaved
plants, have fewer lobes or _pinnæ_, than those on the lower branches:
therefore I must suppose it to be the case in this plant; and from
thence, with some other observations which I made on the seeds, I have
asserted it to be the wild or spurious varnish-tree of Kœmpfer. But Mr.
Ellis is of a contrary opinion, because the base of the lobes of those
plants, which were raised from Father D’Incarville’s seeds, are rounded
and indented like two ears. In Dr. Kœmpfer’s figure and description of
the _fasi-no-ki_, the leaves are intire, and come to a point at their
base.

Here I think Mr. Ellis is a little too hasty in giving his opinion,
as he has not seen this plant in the state, that the branch was, from
which Kœmpfer’s figure was taken. For as there are often such apparent
differences between the leaves on the lower branches of trees, and
those which are at their extremities, as that in the descriptive
titles of the species Dr. Linnæus frequently uses them to distinguish
one from another; so in making the same allowance for the plant in
question, I cannot help thinking that I am in the right, and must abide
by my opinion, till the plants, which have been raised from Father
D’Incarville’s seeds, have flowered, to convince me of the contrary.

However, I cannot help observing, that Mr. Ellis has given a title
to this shrub before he had seen any of the characters, which are
necessary to determine the genus. And I have pretty good reason to
believe it should not be joined to the Rhus; for the three seeds,
which I received from the Royal Society, were shaped like a wedge,
being thicker on one edge than the other, and not unlike those of the
beech-tree, as I noted in my catalogue when I sowed them; and, by their
structure, seemed as if the three seeds had been inclosed in the same
capsule.

If it proves so, this will by no means agree with the characters of
Rhus; especially if the male flowers should grow upon different plants
from the fruit, which is what I suspect. Nor can I agree with Dr.
Linnæus in this particular of joining all the species of Toxicodendron
to the genus of Rhus, many of which have their male flowers growing
upon different plants from the fruit; and therefore would more
properly come into his twenty-second class of _Dioecia_, than his fifth
of _Pentandria_, into which he ranges the Rhus. At the bottom of the
characters of that genus he has added a note, to shew the varnish-tree
is so.

But as there are several other species which agree in this essential
character of distinction; so, according to the Linnæan system, they
should be separated from the Rhus, with another generical title.

Mr. Ellis observes, upon the poetical description, which he lays
Kœmpfer has given of the leaves of the wild varnish-tree turning red in
the autumn, that he had not found it to be the case of the tree growing
in the stove at Busbridge. How it appeared in that situation, I know
not; but the leaves of all those, which are growing in the Chelsea
garden, and stand in the open air, do constantly change to a purple
colour in the autumn, before they fall off from the shrub: but those
of the true varnish-tree are much more remarkable for the deepness of
their colour.

Mr. Ellis says, he had received a letter from Dr. Sibthorp, professor
of botany at Oxford, in which the Doctor informs him, that there is
no specimen of the true varnish-tree in the Sherardian collection at
Oxford; but that there is one of _fasi-no-ki_, or spurious varnish-tree
of Kœmpfer. How the Doctor could write so, I cannot conceive; for I am
very sure there was no specimen of the latter in that collection while
it remained in London, having myself often viewed that part of it:
and sure I am, Dr. Dillenius never added that synonym to the former:
and I do believe the latter was no other way known in Europe, than by
Kœmpfer’s figure and description of it, excepting that specimen of
Kœmpfer’s now in the British Museum.

But, to confirm what I have before said, of Dr. Sherard’s having a
specimen of the true varnish-tree, I beg leave to quote what Dr.
Dillenius has written in the _Hortus Elthamensis_; where, after
having described the American Toxicodendron, he says, _Ceterum
historiam verniciferæ arboris Japoniæ, diligenter et accurate more suo
exsequutus est laudatus Kœmpferius, cujus et descriptio et figura,
quin et planta sicca, quæ in Japonia lecta servatur in phytophylacio
Sherardino, nostræ huic speciei examussim quadrat: id tantum, sexus
nempe differentia, prætervisa fuit auctori: quoniam autem ille liber
non in omnium his in locis, multo minus in America, manibus versatur,
non alienum videtur, si qui, quorum interest, hæc legerint, ut norint,
quæ ille de collectione & preparatione vernicis illius habet, hoc loco
transcribere._ Then he goes on transcribing from Kœmpfer the manner, in
which it is collected.

After this, I find Mr. Ellis is inclinable to think, that the
poison-ash, as it is called by the gardeners, is the same with the
_fasi-no-ki_, or spurious varnish-tree of Kœmpfer. The difference
between these shrubs does not consist in small and minute particulars,
but the most obvious striking marks of distinction appear at first
sight; for the poison-ash has rarely more than three or four pair of
lobes to each leaf, terminated by an odd one: in which particular it
agrees with the true varnish-tree of Kœmpfer; whereas in the figure,
which Kœmpfer has given of the spurious varnish-tree, the leaves have
seven or eight pair of lobes terminated by an odd one: and this
figure, as I before observed, is drawn from a flowering branch. Every
one, who is the least acquainted with these things, knows, that the
leaves immediately below the flowers are considerably less than those
on the lower part of the branches: therefore this is a more essential
note of distinction than those mentioned by Mr. Ellis.

I must also observe, that Mr. Ellis would suggest, that I supposed
these two shrubs were only varieties of each other produced by culture:
whereas it must appear to every one, who reads my paper, that my
intention in mentioning the spurious varnish-tree was to shew it was
different from Kœmpfer’s true varnish-tree, altho’ Kœmpfer supposes
otherwise.

For the satisfaction of the curious, I have added a leaf of each shrub,
which are now growing in the Chelsea garden, that if any person has the
curiosity, they may compare them with Kœmpfer’s.

In my paper I took notice, that one of the best kinds of varnish was
collected from the Anacardium in Japan; and recommended it to the
inhabitants of the British islands in America, to make trial of the
occidental Anacardium, or Cashew-nut tree, which abounds in those
islands. This has occasioned Mr. Ellis to take great pains to shew,
that the eastern and western Anacardium were different trees: a fact,
which was well known to every botanist before; and of which I could not
be ignorant, having been possessed of both sorts near thirty years.
But as I was assured, from many repeated experiments, that the milky
juice, with which every part of the Cashew-tree abounds, would stain
linen with as permanent a black as that of the oriental Anacardium; so
I just hinted, that it was worth the trial. Nor was my hint grounded
on those experiments only, but on the informations I had received
from persons of the best credit, who had resided long in the American
islands, that people are very careful to keep their linen at a distance
from those trees, well knowing, that if a drop of the juice fell upon
it, they could never wash out the stain.

But Mr. Ellis, in order to prove that this tree has no such quality
of staining, says, he has made some experiments on the caustic oil,
with which the shell or cover of the Cashew-nut abounds; and that he
found it was not endued with any staining quality. But surely those
experiments cannot be mentioned to prove, that the milky juice of the
tree has not this property: and Sir Hans Sloane, in his History of
Jamaica, says, that the inhabitants of Jamaica stain their cottons with
the bark of the Cashew-tree.

I shall not intrude farther on the patience of the gentlemen, who may
be present when this paper is read; but humbly crave their pardon for
detaining them so long: nor should I have given them this trouble, had
not I thought my reputation concerned on the occasion.




LVI. _An Answer to the preceding Remarks. By Mr._ John Ellis, _F.R.S._


[Read Jan. 19, 1758.]

MY letter to Mr. Webb, which is printed in the second part of the
xlixth volume of the Philosophical Transactions[209], was intended to
shew this Honourable Society, that Mr. Miller, in his reply to the
Abbé Mazeas’s letter, had brought no proofs to lessen the discovery,
which he tells us the Abbé Sauvages had made, in attempting to improve
the art of painting or staining linens and cottons of a fine durable
black colour, by making use of the juice of the Carolina pennated
Toxicodendron, instead of the common method of staining black with
gauls and a preparation of iron; which, he says, always turns to a
rusty colour when washed.

Mr. Miller, instead of producing the proper proofs, to shew that this
method of staining cottons and linens of a black colour was known
before, or quoteing the authors in which he says it is mentioned,
contents himself with telling the Society, that this American
Toxicodendron is the same plant with the true varnish-tree of Japan;
and that callicuts are painted with the juice of this shrub.

In my letter to Mr. Webb, I have endeavoured to shew, that
notwithstanding the authority of Dr. Dillenius, and the authors that
have followed him, it does not appear, from Dr. Kœmpfer’s description
of this Japan plant, that it can be the same with our American one.
The design, then, of this paper, is to lay before this Society some
further reasons, why these plants cannot be the same; and that even
if they were the same, Mr. Miller has produced no authority to shew,
that this juice was ever made use of for this purpose abroad; with some
remarks on his reply to my letter, in which he obliges me to be more
particular than I intended, in explaining some errors, which I find he
has run into.

In my letter to Mr. Webb, I have pointed out the exact description,
which Kœmpfer has given us of the leaves of this plant, shewing how
much they differ from our American one: but now I shall mention some
observations that escaped me before, and which, I think, will give us a
clearer proof of this matter.

Kœmpfer, then, informs us, that this Japan varnish-tree, or
_Sitz-dsju_, is a tree, not a shrub: and this author (it is well known)
is remarkably exact in the description of his Japan plants, making the
necessary distinctions between a shrub, an arborescent shrub, and a
tree. He then goes on to explain the manner of its growth; and tells
us, that it grows with long sappy shoots, very luxuriantly, to the
height of a sallow or willow-tree, which we may reasonably allow to be
from 20 to 30 feet: whereas this Carolina pennated Toxicodendron, as
Mr. Miller tells us in his Dictionary, 6th edit. in folio, is a shrub,
and seldom rises above five feet high with us: and many people, who
have been in North America, agree, that it is but a slow grower there,
and is one of the shrubby underwoods of that country: so that, allowing
it to grow even double the height it does here, it is still but a
shrub, in companion with the other.

Further, while Dr. Dillenius was warm with this supposed discovery, of
our having got the true Japan varnish-tree in America, attempts were
made there, by intelligent persons under his direction, to procure
this varnish after the manner of Kœmpfer; but without success, as I
am assured by persons of that country now here, with whom the Doctor
corresponded.

Let us now consult the growth of the Carolina and Virginia Sumachs,
or Rhus’s, in our nursery-gardens, and compare them with this little
shrubby Toxicodendron, and we shall find, that even in this cold
climate nature keeps her regular proportionable pace in the growth of
vegetables of the same country.

Let us observe the growth of some of these Rhus’s, and we shall find
that great luxuriancy of the shoots, which Kœmpfer so justly describes
in his varnish-tree. One of these American ones even seems to promise
the same height as the Japan Rhus; whereas this little shrubby
Toxicodendron still preserves the same dwarfish slow-growing habit,
that it has in its native country.

This leads me, in the next place, to shew, that these two plants must
be of different genus’s; the one a Rhus, and the other a Toxicodendron:
and if so, according to Mr. Miller, they ought to be properly
distinguished, and not ranked together, as Dr. Linnæus has done.

In order to prove this, let us then examine Kœmpfer’s description of
the parts of the flower, and see whether it does not answer exactly
to the genus of Rhus; and whether the flowers are not male and female
in themselves, that is, hermaphrodites, on the same tree. The original
of Kœmpfer is as follows, p. 791 of his _Amœnitates_: “Flosculos
continent pumilos, et citra coriandri seminis magnitudinem radiantes,
in luteum herbaceos, pentapetalos, petalis carnosis nonnihil oblongis
et repandis, staminibus ad petalorum interstitia singulis, apicatis,
brevissimis, stylo perbrevi tricipite, floris turbini insidente;
fructus flosculum excipit gibbosus utcunque in rhomboides figuram
compressus.” Whereas Dr. Dillenius, and the authors that have copied
after him, say, that his Toxicodendron has the male blossoms on one
plant, and the female on the other; from whence it must evidently be
another genus.

It appears, however, that Dr. Dillenius was not altogether ignorant
of this difference of genus in these two plants; but, rather than his
Toxicodendron, which he had made agree exactly in the leaves, should
not agree in the fructification, he makes the accurate Kœmpfer guilty
of an unpardonable oversight, in not taking notice of the difference
of the sexes of this varnish-tree in different plants: whereas we have
just now shewn, that nothing can be more minutely and judiciously
described, than he has done both the male and female parts of the
blossom, which change into the fruit on the same plant.

The original of Dr. Dillenius’s remarks on Dr. Kœmpfer’s specimen runs
thus: “Planta sicca, quæ in Japonia lecta, servatur in phytophylacio
Sherardino, nostræ huic specie examussim quadrat, id tantum sexus
nempe differentia prætervisa fuit auctori.” Hence we find how this
error came to spread, and this false synonym to be adopted by the
botanic writers, who copied after Dillenius.

This shews us what little dependance we can have upon the result
of that meeting, which Mr. Miller mentions he had with his botanic
friends; where, from the similitude of leaves only, without the parts
of fructification, they determined these two plants, so different in
their growth, to be one and the same plant.

Mr. Miller remarks very justly, that the leaves of the same tree often
vary much in shape, such as those of the poplar, sallow, _&c._

But in answer to this, we may reasonably suppose, that Dr. Kœmpfer, who
was on the spot, would not choose for his specimens leaves of the most
uncommon sorts that were on the tree, and neglect the most common. This
would be carrying the supposition farther than can be allowed, unless
we suppose this author had not the understanding even of a common
gardener; for otherwise, I am persuaded, Sir Hans Sloane would not have
thought his specimens worth purchasing.

For another synonym to the true Japan varnish-tree, as also to
Dillenius’s pennated Toxicodendron with rhomboidal fruit, Mr. Miller
brings in (in his answer to the Abbé Mazeas’s letter) the Bahama
Toxicodendron _foliis alatis fructu purpureo pyriformi sparso_ of
Catesby’s Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 40. so that he would have all these
three different plants one and the same; and, in his reply to my
letter, he still insists on it, that these two Toxicodendrons are the
same. But here I must beg the favour of this Honourable Society,
when they come more attentively to consider this matter, to compare
his answer to the Abbé Mazeas’s letter, and his reply to me, in this
particular part.

I shall only at present take notice, that Catesby says, this
Toxicodendron, with the pear-shaped fruit, grows usually on rocks in
Providence, Ilathera, and other of the Bahama islands; and does not
mention, that he ever saw it in Carolina. I cannot find it described
by any author as growing in Carolina, or in any other part of the
continent of North America: nor do I believe that there is a plant
of it now growing in England, or that it is even the same genus with
Dillenius’s rhomboidal-fruited one, from the different structure both
of its leaves as well as fruit.

In looking over Dr. Linnæus’s _Hortus Cliffortianus_, I find he gives
this Bahama Toxicodendron of Catesby as a synonym to his _Elemifera
foliis pinnatis_, p. 486.

I now come to that part of Mr. Miller’s reply, relating to the China
varnish-tree, that was raised from seeds sent to the Royal Society by
Father D’Incarville; where he still insists on it, that this is the
same with the spurious varnish-tree of Kœmpfer. His reasons are, that
notwithstanding the indentation and roundness of the bottom of the
lobe-leaves of the China varnish-tree, and tho’ the lobe-leaves of the
spurious Japan varnish-tree come to a point at the base, and are no-way
indented, but quite even on the edges; yet he says, because they have
an equal number of _pinnæ_, or lobe-leaves, on the whole leaf of each
tree, they must be the same.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. XVII. _p. 447_.

  _Rhus sinense foliis alates foliolis oblongis
  Acuminatis ad basin sultrotundis et dentatis._

  _J. Mynde delin et sc._

  _Ex Horto Betanice Philippe Carter. & Webb. Armig._]

In answer to this, I say their lobe-leaves are not equal; for I have
examined both the specimens and drawings of Dr. Kœmpfer’s spurious
varnish-tree, and I don’t find that the number of the _pinnæ_ exceed
seven on a side: whereas I have a small specimen of a leaf by me, that
was taken from the top of one of D’Incarville’s China varnish-trees,
which is above eight feet high, and stands in an open exposure; and
this leaf, tho’ but a foot long, has 12 lobe-leaves, on a side, and
each lobe indented at the base[210]. At the same time I observed, that
the leaves of the young shoots of another tree were a yard long, as
they were this summer at the garden of the British Museum. Another
thing is remarkable in the leaves of this China varnish-tree; and that
is, the lobes of the leaves, as they approach to the end, grow smaller
and smaller; whereas in the spurious Japan varnish-tree they are
rather, if there is any difference, larger towards the end.

I shall make this further remark, that tho’ these indentations on the
lobe-leaves may vary in number in this China varnish-tree; yet, as
I observed before, since they are continued on even in the smaller
leaves at the top of the branches of a tree eight feet high in the open
ground, it appears to me, that this specific character, besides the
form and insertion of the lobe-leaves, will ever distinguish it as a
different species from the _Fasi-no-ki_, or spurious varnish-tree of
Kœmpfer.

Mr. Miller now goes on to tell us, he is confirmed in his belief of
their being the same, by making some observations on the seeds of this
China varnish-tree; and therefore asserts, that they are the same. It
is natural to suppose he compared them with the accurate drawings of
the seeds of Kœmpfer’s _Fasi-no-ki_, p. 794. that being the only place
where the seeds of it are described.

In the very next paragraph Mr. Miller seems to forget, that from
his own observations on the seeds of the China varnish-tree, he has
asserted it to be the _Fasi-no-ki_ of Kœmpfer; but now he finds, in his
memorandums, that those seeds were wedge-shaped, and like the seeds of
the beech-tree; and that all the three seeds he received seemed to be
inclosed in one capsule: so that now he is at a loss what to call it;
and at the same time says I have been too hasty in calling it a Rhus.

Mr. Miller goes on, and allows this China varnish-tree changes to a
purple in the autumn; but not so deep as the true varnish-tree. I
suppose he means, by this true varnish-tree, the Carolina pennated
Toxicodendron; for Kœmpfer has not told us what colour the true
varnish-tree of Japan changes to in autumn.

But this is no certain proof on either side of the question, only a
corroborating circumstance of the species of a tree: nor should I have
mentioned it, but for the manner in which Kœmpfer, with an imagination
truly poetical, describes the autumnal beauty of his _Fasi-no-ki_, or
spurious varnish-tree. “Rubore suo autumnati quâ viridantes sylvas
suaviter interpolat, intuentium oculos e longinquo in se convertit.”
Even this description would make one suspect it is not the same with
the China varnish-tree, which, I am informed, did not turn purplish
in the garden of the British Museum till the first frost came on:
whereas it is well known, that some of the Rhus’s and Toxicodendrons,
particularly the Carolina pennated one, change to a fine scarlet colour
in the beginning of a dry autumn, even before any frost appears.

Mr. Miller seems surprised, how I should think, that the Carolina
pennated Toxicodendron, or poison-ash is like the _Fasi-no-ki_ of
Kœmpfer. I must here acknowledge, at this time, not having seen Doctor
Kœmpfer’s specimen, I imagined, from the shape of the lobe-leaves (as
he has described them) and from the remarkable scarlet colour of both
these trees in autumn, that Mr. Miller might be right in what he has
advanced; for it was from his authority I took it, depending on the
information he gives us in his Dictionary, fol. edit. 6. under the
article _Toxicodendron_, where he takes some pains to assure us, that
they are the very same plants.

In the next paragraph I find Mr. Miller has intirely mistaken the
meaning of one part of my letter to Mr. Webb; which I must recommend
to him to read again, and he will find it exactly agrees with his own
sentiments. There he will find my opinion is, that notwithstanding the
change of soil and situation, this _Sitz-dsju_, or true varnish-tree,
and the _Fasi-no-ki_, or spurious varnish-tree of Kœmpfer, are distinct
species of Rhus or Toxicodendron, and will ever remain so.

Mr. Miller now desires me, since I have seen Dr. Kœmpfer’s specimens in
the British Museum, to declare, whether I think I am mistaken.

In answer to this, and to satisfy Mr. Miller as well as myself, I have
been very lately at the Museum, and have looked very carefully over
Dr. Kœmpfer’s specimens, and do sincerely think, as did other judges at
the same time, that the _Sitz-dsju_ is not the same with the Carolina
pennated Toxicodendron, nor the _Fasi-no-ki_ the same with Father
D’Incarville’s China varnish-tree.

Mr. Miller informs us, that one of the best kinds of varnishes is
collected from the Anacardium in Japan.

In answer to this, I must beg leave to shew the Society, that Dr.
Kœmpfer does not so much as mention, that this Anacardium grows in
Japan; but that the varnish, which is collected from it, is brought
to them from Siam: and I believe it will appear plainly, from what
follows, that there is not a plant of this kind in the kingdom of
Japan; for Siam and Cambodia, especially the parts of those kingdoms,
where Kœmpfer informs us this Anacardium[211] grows, lie in the
latitudes of from 10 to 15 degrees north, which must be full as hot as
our West Indies: so that it is not probable, that it would bear the
cold of the winters in Japan; for Japan lies from the latitudes of 33
to above 40 degrees north, which is about the same parallel with our
North American colonies.

I shall now beg leave to lay before the Society that passage of Dr.
Kœmpfer, which relates to this dispute, together with my translation
of it, that it may be compared with Mr. Miller’s translation, which he
gives us in his reply to the Abbé Mazeas’s letter, Philosoph. Trans.
vol. xlix. p. 164. 2d paragraph. Dr. Kœmpfer, in his _Amœnitates_,
p. 793. speaking of the true varnish-tree, says, “Colitur frequens in
provinciis Tsi-kocko et Figo, in quibus inserti agris scapi radices
agunt et caudices edunt post triennium vernicem suppeditantes.
Optima regionis, quin totius mundi, vernix perhibetur circa urbem
Jassino colligi. Vernicem ceres Japonica largitur oppido nobilem
et pretiosissimam, sed admodum parcam; nec pro operibus, quæ regio
construit, sufficeret, nisi prius cum, _Nam Rak_, i. e. vernice
ignobiliore ex Siamo invecta, pro basi illinerentur. Siamensis vernix
promitur in provincia Corsama, et regno Cambodiæ ex arbore Anacardo,
incolis _Tong Rak_, i. e. _Arbor Rak_ dicta, cujus fructus officinis
nostris Anacardium dictus _Luk Rak_, liquor _Nam Rak_ appellatur.
Perforatus truncus immisso tubulo, tantâ copiâ fundit liquorem ut Sinæ,
Tunquino et Japoniæ pro deliniendis utensilibus sufficiat, quin jam
Bataviam et alia Indiæ loca vasis ligneis inclusa appellit.”

Which, translated into English, appears to me to be thus:

'This varnish-tree is often cultivated in the provinces of Tsi-kocko
and Figo: there they plant the cuttings or truncheons in the fields,
which take root, and send forth vigorous shoots, which in three years
time yield this varnish.

'The best varnish of the kingdom, nay, of the whole world, is said to
be collected about the city of Jassino. The produce in Japan of this
most noble and very precious varnish, is so very little, that there
would not be sufficient for the wares made in the kingdom, if they did
not first lay on a ground with an ordinary kind of varnish, which they
call _Nam Rak_, and is brought to them from Siam.

'This Siam varnish is collected in the province of Corsama, and in the
kingdom of Cambodia, from the tree Anacardus, called by the inhabitants
_Tong_ or _Tree-Rak_; the fruit of which is called in our shops
Anacardium, or _Luk Rak_, and the liquor is called _Nam Rak_.

'To collect this liquor, they bore a hole in the trunk, and put in a
tube. By this method they get as much of it as is sufficient not only
to varnish all the utensils of China, Tonquin, and Japan, but it is
even exported in close wooden vessels to Batavia, and other parts of
India.’

The original of Kœmpfer, p. 794. speaking of the true Japan varnish, is
as follows: “Prostat non sincera modo, sed et colorata, vel cinnabari
nativa Sinensi, vel terra rubra (quam Batavi antea, nunc Sineses
advehunt) vel atramenti popularis materiâ.”

Which I apprehend may be read thus in English:

'This varnish is not only sold quite pure, but likewise coloured, and
that with Chinese native cinnabar, and a kind of red earth, which the
Dutch formerly, but now the Chinese, bring them; and also with the
materials that they make their common (or Japan) ink of.’

Mr. Miller translates it thus (_See p._ 164. _vol._ xlix. _Phil.
Transact._): 'This varnish is used without mixture to stain black: but
the Chinese mix native cinnabar, or a red kind of earth, with it, to
make a different colour.’

Here we may observe, that Mr. Miller uses the words staining black;
which is not the sense of the author, who, by mentioning the materials
of Japan ink, shews, that even in varnishing black it was necessary to
use this black mixture.

Further, Mr. Miller says, that the Chinese mix these colouring
ingredients with this varnish: but the original plainly says, that the
Chinese import them, and the Japanese mix them with their varnish for
sale.

And in a former part of this letter, p. 162. vol. xlix. Phil. Trans. he
says, speaking of this true varnish-tree, that callicuts are painted
with the juice of this shrub. But this bare assertion of his, without
producing a proper authority, I am persuaded this Honourable Society
will never admit as a matter of proof to invalidate the discovery of
the Abbé Sauvages.

In looking over one of the numbers of Mr. Miller’s Dictionary, under
the title of Anacardium, I find he quotes a passage from Dr. Grew,
which Sir Hans Sloane has placed among his observations on the
Cashew-tree, _Hist. Jam. vol._ ii. _p._ 127. which is, that cottons
are stained with lime, and the oil, or mellaginous succus, called Mel
Anacardium (but for the account of this Mel Anacardium I shall refer to
Parkinson’s Theat. p. 1568); and Mr. Miller seems to think it difficult
to know which of the Anacardiums is here meant.

One would be apt think, from this passage, and another that follows
a little after in the same page of the Hist. of Jamaica, relating to
the black dye of the mellago of this nut, that Sir Hans, at the time
his history was published, thought them, as Caspar Bauhin did, of
the same genus, but different species; and therefore he has mixt the
observations on both together.

For, immediately after mentioning the staining of cottons with this
mellaginous succus, Sir Hans says, that the gum is, in faculties and
colour, like gum-arabic; and that it is given internally in female
obstructions; and that the juice stains linen, which will not wash out
suddenly: but he says it is false, that they remain till they flower
next year, as Du Tertre asserts.

Sir Hans further quotes, from an anonymous Brasilian author, that the
apples stain linen; and that the gum is good to paint and write; and
the bark dyes yarn and vessels serving for pots.

And in another place he quotes De Laet, who compiled a general history
of America, and who likewise takes his quotation from an old Brasilian
author, treating of the trees of Brasil, That the gum of the Acajou
is used by painters; the bark is used to dye cotton-yarn and earthen
ware. Here I must remark, tho’ foreign to our present purpose, that in
the original of Laet, what relates to the earthen ware runs thus: “Et
a faire de vaisseaux de terre.” So that I believe it will appear more
probable, that the bark of these trees was used rather to burn earthen
ware vessels, than to dye them, as we find these earthen vessels were
used to boil their victuals in.

These two quotations from Sir Hans Sloane confirm the former, with
regard to the use of the gum; that is, its being fit, like gum-arabic,
to be used for water-colours, and to make ink; and that it is the juice
of the apple that stains, but this we find is not durable.

Mr. Miller has now only the bark of the Cashew-tree left to support
his argument. This the above-mentioned Brasilian writers say, that
the native Indians of Brasil used to dye their cotton-yarn with; but
of what colour no mention is made. And whether this bark is used to
give strength to this yarn, as we dye and tan our fishing-nets with
oak-bark, or for ornament, is uncertain; for a great deal of this yarn
was used in the making their net-hammocks, as well as their coarse
garments.

Mr. Miller then introduces Sir Hans Sloane, in opposition to Dr.
Browne, whose History of Jamaica I had quoted, to prove that the juice
of the Acajou was of the same nature and properties with that of the
gum-arabic, and consequently not fit for varnish: whereas it plainly
appears from the foregoing quotations, taken from Sir Hans Sloane, that
Dr. Browne is right, and agrees exactly in opinion with him.

He then makes Sir Hans say, that the inhabitants of Jamaica stain
their cottons with the bark of the Cashew-nut tree. By this, one would
naturally conclude, that Mr. Miller has been endeavouring to prove, in
opposition to the Abbé Mazeas’s letter, that the art of painting or
staining cottons of a fine deep black colour, equal to that discovered
by the Abbé Sauvages, as described in his experiments on the Carolina
Toxicodendron, was practised by the English forty or fifty years ago in
Jamaica.

If this was the case, it is something surprising, that, notwithstanding
our great intercourse with that island, the callico-printers of England
never got intelligence of this valuable secret.

Further, if Mr. Miller will consult Piso and Margrave, writers of the
best authority on the Brasilian plants, he will find their accounts of
the Acajou exactly correspond with that delivered by Dr. Browne, in
his History of Jamaica, as well as Sir Hans Sloane’s: for they say,
that the juice of this tree is equal in virtue, and mechanical uses, to
the best gum-arabic. And if he still doubts, I shall lastly recommend
him to go to the British Museum, and there he may see a most elegant
specimen of the Cashew-gum, which will put this matter quite out of all
doubt.

I shall now leave the decision of this controversy, which Mr. Miller
has obliged me so fully to explain in my own vindication, to the
candour and impartiality of this Honourable Society.

 _P.S._ Since the foregoing paper was read, Professor Sibthorp was
 so kind to deliver me an exact drawing of the _Fasi-no-ki_ in the
 Sherardian collection at Oxford, taken by the Rev. Mr. William
 Borlase, F.R.S. the title and synonym of which are both in the
 Hand-writing of Dr. Dillenius, as the Professor assures me. See TAB.
 XVIII.

[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. XVIII. _p._ 456.

_Fasi-noki_

_Foccicodendron foliis alatis fructu Rhomboide H. Elth. from Japan._

  _In Horto situ Shorards Oxon._

  _W. Borlase delin.
  J.M.Sc._]




LVII. _A Letter to the Rev._ Thomas Birch, _D. D. Secr. R.S. concerning
the Number of the People of_ England; _by the Rev. Mr._ Richard
Forster, _Rector of_ Great Shefford _in_ Berkshire.


[Read Dec. 22, 1757.]

                                                Shefford, Nov. 9. 1757.

Revᵈ Sir,

Since I did myself the honour of writing to you in July[212], my
bookseller has sent me part ii. of vol. xlix. of the Transactions; in
which[213] I find another medium advanced to determine the amount of
the people in England: and this is the number of houses, which pay the
window-tax, and which “amount to about 690,000, besides cottages, that
pay nothing.” To this is added, that “tho’ the number of cottages be
not accurately known, it appears from the accounts given in, that they
cannot amount to above 200,000.”

Here I cannot but express my concern, that this very ingenious
gentleman has not been a little more explicit, by informing us, what
these accounts are, upon which he builds so positive a conclusion. The
law requires no such accounts to be delivered in; and parish-officers
cannot be accused of works of supererogation: besides (which is more to
the purpose) I am very certain no such accounts have been given in from
this part of the world. On the other hand, in all parts of England,
which I have seen (and that is, I think, almost the whole) the number
of cottages greatly exceeds that of all other houses, except in the
middle of towns, and some villages about London.

 This is agreeable to the general interpretation of that sentence
passed upon our original parent, that _he should eat bread by the sweat
of his brows_; which is, that the majority of his descendents should be
poor labouring people. This I do not mention with design to defend the
interpretation, but only to shew the general sense of mankind.

As my notion of the matter differs so widely from that of this worthy
gentleman, I did every thing in my power to check any mistake, which
might arise from a fondness of one’s own opinion; and which, I hope,
will vindicate me in the eye of every candid inquirer. In a word, I set
myself to count all the houses in several contiguous parishes; and then
examined how many of them paid the window-tax, or duty upon houses. And
here I must observe, that if there be any small mistake, it can hardly
be supposed to be in favour of my own scheme; because I had the whole
number of houses, by counting as I rode along; and some might possibly
be missed, tho’ of this I took the utmost care: whereas the number of
those, that pay the window-tax, I had from the collectors rolls.

The following table is the fruit of my labours:

  Great Shefford      90     17
  Little Shefford     12      3
  Welford            162     62
  Chaddleworth        62     20
  Bright-Walton       72     21
  Catmore             10      1
  Farmborough         34      5
  Fawley              47      7
  East Garston        99     41
                     ----------
                     588    177

Here we see, that out of 588 houses only 177 pay the window-tax. Now if
we say with the philopher _ex pede Herculem_, and suppose, that 200,000
taxable houses stand in the country, we shall have the following
proportion, 177: 588 ∷ 200,000: 664406, for the whole number of houses
that stand in the country, commonly so called.

Again, Lamborn parish, in which is a market-town, contains 445 houses,
of which 229 pay the window-tax. Now if we suppose, in like manner,
200,000 taxable houses to stand in country towns (I mean of the
middling and inferior classes), we must then say 229: 445 ∷ 200,000:
388646, the whole number of houses, that stand in country towns.

The remaining 290,000 houses must be placed in cities and flourishing
towns; and must have Dr. Brakenridge’s proportion assigned them; for
without all doubt he had some reason for pitching upon such numbers;
and as they could not be taken from country towns or villages, must be
assumed from the present state of some flourishing place. Upon this
supposition, we must say 690,000: 200,000:: 290,000 : 84,058. for the
number of cottages in great towns; which, if added to the houses that
pay, makes the whole number in large towns to be 374,058. These three
sums added together make the total amount of houses in the nation to be

    664,406
    388,646
    374,058
  ----------
  1,427,110
  ----------

The two former of these numbers should be multiplied by 5, and the
latter by 6. The reason of this difference is the great quantity of
servants kept in large towns.

  1,053,052 × 5 = 5,265,260
    374,058 × 6 = 2,244,348
                -----------
                  7,509,608
                -----------

By this way of proceeding it appears, that the whole number of people
now alive in England is somewhat more than seven millions and an half.
I would not be understood, as if I meant to recommend this as exact;
tho’ I am in hopes, that, upon trial, it will be found nearer the
truth, than any thing hitherto advanced. Neither will I lay any stress
upon its approaching so near to the numbers advanced in my former
letter; being sensible, that all the methods I have hitherto tried are
liable to very great objections. Where certainty may be arrived at by a
little industry, all hypothesis should be despised and rejected.

The militia act levies 32,000 men upon the whole kingdom; and in
the west riding of Yorkshire 1 in 45, if my intelligence is right,
completed their quota. Now if this proportion be applied to the whole
nation, 32,000 × 45 will give 1,440,000 for the number of ballotters;
and this multiplied by 5 (which, considering the number of persons
excepted, must be under the truth) will amount to 7,200,000 for
the total of our people. But I dare not build any thing upon this
computation, as many parts of the nation may have heavier quota’s laid
upon them than the west riding.

Whether the kingdom is really in a declining or increasing state,
is, in like manner, a problem not to be solved, I think, by mere
calculation. If there happens but a small mistake in the principles,
what is built thereupon will be extremely wide of the truth. If one
might take the liberty to guess by appearances, I should think we are
greatly increased within these forty years, or since the accession
of the present Royal Family. This conjecture I found upon the great
facility, with which the government raises men, compared to the violent
methods made use of in King William’s and Queen Anne’s time. Indeed I
am sensible, that when the great ease, with which the government raises
money, and the low interest it pays, have been urged in the House of
Commons, as evident proofs of a flourishing trade, and plenty of cash,
it has constantly been answered by a gentleman, who understands these
matters better than any body else, that they are rather proofs of a
want of trade, and that people do not know what to do with their money.
In the same manner it may be answered, that the great facility, with
which the government raises soldiers, is not owing so much to the great
plenty of men, as to the want of employment: which it is possible may
really be the case.

But where certainty may be had, it is trifling to talk of appearances
and conjectures. For a century now past, the English way of
philosophising (and all the rest of the world is come into it) is not
to sit down in one’s study, and form an hypothesis, and then strive
to wrest all nature to it; but to look abroad into the world, and see
how nature works; and then to build upon certain matter of fact. In
compliance with this noble method, I have done all in my power: I
have examined the registers of several neighbouring parishes, and send
you the substance of three of the most perfect ones. Indeed, I could
have added several others; but as they seem to have been now and then
neglected, I did not care to trust to them. However, this I can safely
deduce from them; _viz._ that what I have here sent will be a proper
standard for these parts: and if other gentlemen would take the like
pains (and it is next to nothing) in four or five parishes in each
county, and in every great town, we might perceive, by one cast of the
eye, whether our people are in an ebbing or flowing state. I have not
set down the burials, as that would but have embarrassed the table;
and the increase will appear very well without them. However, upon an
average of all the parishes I have examined, the proportion of the
burials to the baptisms is as 83 to 149,4.

                           Lambourn.  Welford.  Shefford.  Total.
  From 1614 to 1623 inclus.   327        67        69       463
       1624 to 1633  ----     401        62        64       527
       1634 to 1643  ----     391       119        86       596
       1662 to 1671  ----     441       146        93       680
       1672 to 1681  ----     380       132       108       620
       1682 to 1691  ----     451       201       112       764
       1692 to 1701  ----     366       134        88       588
       1702 to 1711  ----     387       137        84       608
       1712 to 1721  ----     422       171        97       690
       1722 to 1731  ----     483       156       106       745
       1732 to 1741  ----     578       205       128       911
       1742 to 1751  ----     566       253       137       956
       1752 to 1756  ----     349       120        64       533

This table stands in need of no remarks: it speaks loud enough of
itself, that our people increase in a very rapid manner. All I shall
take the liberty of observing from it is, that all the registers I have
looked over seem to resent the wretched policy of King Charles II. who
submitted himself and kingdom too much to a powerful neighbour: and
that our civil war had no effect upon our numbers, in comparison to our
foreign wars.


I trust, that the very ingenious author of the _politico-arithmetical_
letters, I have all along had my eye upon, will take no offence, if I
recommend an article or two advanced by him to be reconsidered; which,
if pursued, might perhaps induce some small errors in government.

The first is, That all ways to increase our people would be for the
public welfare, even the naturalizeing of foreigners: whereas, if I
remember right, all political writers lay it down as a maxim, that
numbers of people without employment are a burden and disease to the
body politic; and where there is full employment, there the people
multiply of course. So that we should not measure the happiness of
the nation by the number of mouths, but by the number of hands. Nay,
if we were to import a quantity of foreigners we must immediately
re-export them, as we actually did in the case of the Palatines and
Saltzburghers. Indeed, I cannot deny, but that if the new-comers were
to bring new trades with them, they would be welcome: tho’ I apprehend
it is not an easy matter to find out many new manufactures. I can at
present think of nothing but the cambrick business; and that, with
a little encouragement, might be established in either Scotland or
Ireland, without the importation of strangers.

The next thing I propose to be ruminated is the assertion, That our
commerce at sea is one cause of the decay of our fencible men: which
sounds in my ear like saying, that if we had less trade, we should have
more people. And if this is the purport of it, I am afraid it is a
paradox, literally so called.

That emigrations to our colonies do lessen our numbers in appearance,
is beyond dispute: but then it is only in appearance: for if employment
begets people, the filling our plantations must increase us beyond
imagination, it having been made out, if I misremember not, that every
man rightly occupied in America finds employment for three persons in
Old England. But then care should be taken, that the planters were
generally employed in raising rough materials; and that every thing
imported there were manufactured by ourselves; because, if we settle
colonies, and then supply them with East-India stuffs and foreign
linens, it is neither better nor worse than being at a vast expence to
maintain other people’s poor.


I cannot conclude without begging leave to observe, that this
gentleman’s doctrine is, from beginning to end, to say the best of
it, ill timed. We are contending with our hereditary enemy, the
most powerful prince in the world, not for superiority, but for
independence, _pro aris et focis_. And, at such a time as this, to be
told, that we are but little better than half peopled, and the few we
have dwindling away every day, is indeed very discourageing: whereas,
on the contrary, I do not balance one moment to declare it, as my fixt
persuasion, that we can spare 100,000 brisk young fellows, and still be
the most populous flourishing nation in Europe.

  I am,

                             Reverend Sir,
                      Your affectionate Brother,
                       and very humble Servant,
                           Richard Forster.




LVIII. _A Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of_ Macclesfield,
_President of the_ Royal Society, _from the Rev._ William Brakenridge,
_D.D. F.R.S. containing an Answer to the Account of the Numbers and
Increase of the People of England, by the Rev. Mr._ Forster.


[Read Mar. 16, 1758.]

My Lord,

As I endeavoured, at a former meeting of the Society, to answer
ex-tempore some objections offered by a Gentleman in the country, to
what I have wrote concerning the number of people in England; I now
presume to send you what I said then in writing, with some farther
reflections. And this subject I never intended to have meddled with
any more; but as I seem to be called upon, to defend what I have
formerly wrote, I hope I shall be excused if I briefly attempt it.
Your Lordship, I know, and our illustrious Body only desire a fair
representation of facts, which is the ground of all philosophical
inquiries; and therefore I shall endeavour to do this, as far as I can,
without regarding any hypothesis.

My design, when I first entered on this subject, was to discover
whether our people were in an increasing or decreasing state, with
regard to their numbers; which I thought of great importance to be
known, because of its influence on the affairs of Government, in
determining our strength, in settling of taxes, and directing us in
the œconomy and imployment of our people. Now, in order to proceed in
this inquiry, it was evident to me, that if the number of houses were
exactly known, the number of people would be nearly ascertained. And
therefore I attended to this, to find out the number of houses, as
the only thing that could with any certainty help us to judge of this
matter. And accordingly, being resolved to depend only upon the most
sure, and general observations, I applied to a public office, where I
thought I might possibly get at their number. And I there found, that
from the last survey that was made, since the year 1750, there were
690,700 houses in England and Wales that paid the window-tax, and the
two-shilling duty on houses; besides cottages that paid nothing. By
cottages are understood those who neither pay to church or poor, and
are, by act of parliament in 1747, in consideration of the poverty
of the people, declared to be exempted both from the tax and the
two-shillings duty, and they only remain not accurately known, to
ascertain the whole number of houses. However, they are so far known,
that from all the accounts that are hitherto given in, they do not
appear to be so many as 300,000; and from what I myself have seen,
in the books of that office, I should think they were not much above
200,000; for in some places, that I was perfectly acquainted with, I
found many of the day labourers rated to the two-shillings duty, and
there did not appear to be one house in ten omitted. And therefore,
if there are not 300,000 cottages, as seems plain to me, there cannot
be a million of houses in the whole in England and Wales; and the
rated houses are to the cottages more than two to one; of both which,
according to the returns made, there is now about one in seventeen or
58,800 empty throughout the kingdom. But if we were to allow, that
there are a million of houses in the whole; which is more than the
Gentlemen in the above mentioned office believe, and then deduct those
that are empty, there could not be above 941,200 inhabited houses; and
consequently supposing six to a house, about 5,647,200 people, or near
about five millions and an half; which at the utmost, is what I insist
on to be the real number.

But now the Gentleman, who objects to my calculations, thinks, that I
have made the number of houses too few, and that in the whole there
are above 1,400,000 houses, of which he imagines there are more than
700,000 cottages; for he supposes them to be more than the rated
houses; and from thence he infers, that there are about seven millions
and an half of people, in England and Wales; which I wish, with all my
heart, was the true number: But I am so far from thinking that I have
under-rated them, that I suspect I have rather made them more than they
are. However, this controversy will soon be determined, there being now
orders given, as I am informed, to all the Officers concerned in the
window-tax, to make an exact return of all the cottages, as well as the
rated houses, in each of their several districts. In the mean time, the
Gentleman and I differ in this, that he supposes above 400,000 cottages
more than I can possibly imagine.

Let us now see upon what grounds, and by what method of reasoning he
determines his numbers. He makes a division of the 690,000 taxed houses
into three classes, placing 200,000 of them in the open country and
villages, and 200,000 in the market and inferior towns, and the next,
_viz._ 290,000, in the cities and great towns; for, which division he
has nothing to direct him; no proof, nor even probability. And as it is
a mere arbitrary supposition, all reasoning and calculations founded
upon it are nothing to the purpose, and the number of houses or people
comptued from thence must be false or uncertain. But yet, upon this
supposition, as if it was absolutely certain, he goes on to compute the
houses and people in each division.

As to the first, he says he has counted all the houses in nine
contiguous parishes in Berkshire, in which, he has found the whole
number to be 588, and those charged to the duty to be only 177; and
therefore the cottages are to the rated houses as 411 to 177, or
above, two to one. And from this he assumes, that the whole number of
houses thro’ the villages and open country in England will be to the
cottages nearly in the same proportion. But here I am surprised, that
he should reason in so loose and an inaccurate a manner. For, as there
may be 7000 parishes in the villages and open country, to infer from
the numbers in nine of them that are contiguous, and that all of them
together do not make a very large parish, many being much larger as to
the number of houses, and where there may be particular circumstances;
I say, to infer from them what the proportion will be in all parishes,
in the villages and open country, is the same way of reasoning as to
say, because the poor in one parish are in such a proportion, therefore
they are so in 1000 parishes, or thro’ four or five counties: whereas
it is plain, that the proportion differs almost in every parish, and
in every county; and the sum of all must be added together, before
we can know what the real proportion is. And nothing can be inferred
from the circumstances of a few parishes, or even of a County, what
the proportion will be in the whole. And yet, from such precarious and
vague reasoning he presumes to compute, that there are above 460,000
cottages in the villages and open country; having assumed, without any
hesitation, that there are 200,000 rated houses in that extent. Such
reasoning is unusual in philosophical inquiries.

In like manner the Gentleman reasons very inaccurately about his second
division, containing the lesser market and country towns, having
supposed in them 200,000 taxed houses: For from one instance of the
market town of Langborne, having found the whole number of houses to be
to the cottages as 445 to 229, or the rated homes to the cottages as
216 to 229, he supposes the like proportion in all the market towns.
That is, tho’ there be perhaps above 300 market towns in England, he
supposes each of them has the same proportion of the poor in it as the
single town of Langborne; which is unreasonable to imagine. For every
one of them may have a different proportion, according to the various
circumstances of their trade and situation. But yet from this strange
and uncertain way of reasoning, without any induction, and from one
instance among 300 cases at least, he concludes by proportion, that
there are 388,646 houses in the country market towns, of which there
are 188,646 cottages, besides those in the cities and great towns.

In the next place, as to his third class, the cities and great towns,
he allows, that my proportion may be among them, _viz._ that the rated
houses are to the cottages as 690,000 to 200,000, or 69 to 20: For he
thinks, that it cannot be any-where but in the most flourishing places.
And therefore, as he has arbitrarily placed 260,000 taxed houses in
them, he computes that they must contain 84,058 cottages. But he has
given no proof, that my proportion is only in the most flourishing
places, besides these few instances that he has produced; which are
nothing to form any general conclusion upon. For if we were to be
directed by a few cases, we might think that there were much fewer
cottages than I have allowed. There are some parishes, in which there
are none at all. In the great parishes of St. James’s and St George’s
Westminster, in which there are about 7000 houses, there are none:
in the country parish of Chiselherst in Kent, where there are above
100 houses, there are but three: and in many parishes there is not
one in 20. So that from particular instances, there is nothing to be
concluded. But in all Middlesex, London, Westminster, and Southwark
included, in which the poor are as numerous as in most places in
the kingdom, because of the numbers of labouring people that flock
hither for imployment, there is nearly the same proportion that I have
assigned. For from a late survey in that district, as I am informed,
there are 87,614 houses in the whole, and of these 19,324 cottages, and
4810 empty. Which indeed shews, that we are not so populous, in and
near the metropolis, as is commonly supposed, and much less than I had
calculated in my first letter: For from this account, if it be true,
there are not above 530,000 people in that compass; of which, within
the bills of mortality, there die about 25,000 yearly; that is, not
less than one in 20.

As to what the Gentleman mentions concerning the militia, he seems to
be much mistaken. For if the proportion be as he says, that one in
45 is levied, this directly proves the number of people in England
and Wales to be about five millions and an half, according to my
calculation; because the electors or balloters are the fencible men,
or those able to carry arms. And if the whole levy be 32,000, then 45
multiplied by 32,000 will give 1,440,000 for all the fencible men in
England. But Dr. Halley has clearly shewn, that the fencible men are
one quarter of the whole people, children included; and therefore, four
times 1,440,000, or 5,760,000, will be the whole number of the people;
which is nearly what I have made them.

And thus, having seen how he has established his numbers in opposition
to me, let us now, in the next place, consider what he has said with
regard to the increase of our people. He says, whether the kingdom
is really in a declining or increasing state, is a problem not to be
solved by calculation: And yet he himself can guess by appearances,
that it has greatly increased within these 40 years. But, by his good
leave I must tell him, that it is a problem in political arithmetic to
be solved from some _data_, as well as others. If the number of people
be nearly found, and the general proportion of births to burials, at
an average, thro’ the kingdom be known, with the annual losses of our
fencible men, at a moderate computation; from these _data_, I say,
any one, who understands numbers, will easily determine whether we
are increasing or decreasing. And accordingly, I have shewn, that the
annual increment of our fencible men is not much above 8000, which
number is consumed by our annual losses; and therefore we are not in
an increasing state. For the whole number of people must always be in
proportion to the fencible men; so that, if there is no increase of
them, there can be none upon the whole.

It is true, I am the first who ventured upon a solution of this
question; but when I consider what I have done, I cannot see but
that the principles upon which I reasoned are right. The _data_ are,
I think, exact enough to discover our state. And Dr. Halley’s rule
to compute the fencible men, where our losses are to be reckoned,
is undoubtedly true. So that if there is any difficulty, it is in
fixing the general proportion between births and burials, thro’ the
kingdom, _viz._ 112 to 100; which I have taken from Dr. Derham, who
had collected many observations; being a greater proportion than Sir
William Petty allowed. And which if it is thought too small, it is to
be considered, that within the bills of mortality the births are much
under the burials as 4 to 5; and in some of the great towns there are
fewer births than burials, and in others they are nearly equal; so that
these reduce the proportion that arises from the villages and open
country.

But if we were to make a calculation from the births and burials,
only in the villages and open country; which Dr. Derham has found to
be at an average as 117 to 100, or nearly as 7 to 6; and suppose this
to obtain all over Britain and Ireland, in the towns as well as the
country, which is surely more than the truth; we shall then find, that
the annual increment cannot be more than 9000 fencible men; which
corroborates my former estimate. For, to compute it by the principles
I have formerly endeavoured to establish; let the number of our people
in Britain and Ireland be eight millions and an half, that is, five and
an half in England and three millions in Scotland and Ireland; because
some Irish Gentlemen have assured me, from some facts, that there is
half a million more in their country than I formerly allowed; for I did
not pretend to calculate them; and then the annual number of the dead,
in Britain and Ireland, being one in 40, will be about 212,500; which
will be to the births as, 100 to 117: And therefore the births must be
248,625, and the increase 36,125; of which the fourth part is about
9000 for the fencible men, which I am persuaded is more than the real
number.

Now let any one compute our losses in the moderate way that I have
done, and he will easily see, that they cannot be less than this
number; and consequently we are far from increasing. And indeed it is
evident from the number of empty houses thro’ the kingdom, mentioned
above, _viz._ one in seventeen, or 58,000, and one in twelve of those
that are taxed within the bills of mortality. For it is impossible, if
we were increasing, that there could be so many empty; And therefore
the appearance of so much building is only the effect of our luxury,
requiring larger, more convenient, and more elegant houses, and not
caused by our increase.

However, the Gentleman objects to all this, and says, that he has
examined the Registers of some neighbouring parishes, and particularly
of three that are perfect; and he finds, that the burials are to the
baptisms as 83 to 149; which may possibly be the case, as I myself
have known it in one parish in the Isle of Wight, where the place is
healthy, and people generally marry. But does he imagine that this
proportion is general all over England? If so, we should increase in
a rapid manner indeed! for then we should double our people in 35
years, if it were not for our losses; which no reasonable man will
venture to say. He does not reflect, that in many country places, from
their bad situation, there is very little increase, and in some towns
none at all, and in others a decrease, continually supplied from the
neighbouring country. Within the bills of mortality there are annually
5000 burials more than the births; and consequently, to maintain our
numbers here, there must be a yearly supply of 5000; which destroys
the whole increase of six or seven counties. And Dr. Derham found,
from the accounts he had of country parishes, that in general among
them the proportion of births to burials was not greater than 117 to
100, as we mentioned above; so that nothing can be concluded from
particular healthy places. The question is, what is the result upon the
whole thro’ the kingdom? what is the general proportion of the births
to burials, from which the increase is to be estimated? and which Sir
William Petty says is 111 to 100, and Dr. Derham as 112 to 100. See if
he can disprove these numbers by putting together all the different
accounts from every corner, among the towns as well as the country;
and if he cannot, to argue only from a few instances is nothing to the
purpose; for where there is a multitude of different cases, they must
all be considered, to arrive at the general truth. But even in the
particulars he mentions, he has not completed his argument; for, to
make it conclusive, he should have shewn, that, within these last forty
years, the time, he thinks, of our great increase, in those parishes
the number of houses or people were increased, in proportion almost as
the births were above the burials, as 149 to 83: and if that cannot
be made to appear, it is plain, that, for all he has said, the annual
increase may be constantly consumed by our losses.

And now the worthy Gentleman having endeavoured to shew, from the case
of a few parishes in the country, that we are in an increasing state,
he proceeds to give me his serious advice in two particulars:

_First_, That I would reconsider a proposition advanced by me, That
all reasonable ways of increasing our people, even to the naturalizing
of foreigners, would be for the public welfare. In answer to which
kind admonition I must say, that I have often considered the thing,
as far as I can; and I think this may be easily shewn against any
political writer. That it is the interest of a government, when they
have powerful and dangerous neighbours, to increase their people by all
reasonable means, even to the inviting of foreigners, so far as the
natural produce of the country can sustain them; and that it is the
fault or weakness of an administration not to be able to employ them.
And in Britain, where they can have the assistance of the produce of
so many large and fruitful countries of their own in America, I will
venture to say, that it is an error in their policy, not to endeavour
to increase their people; by which they might be more formidable, and
perhaps stronger than their grand Enemy. The present King of Prussia
has shewn the utility of this within his dominions; by which he has
been enabled to make such a figure in Europe.

The _second_ thing he admonishes me to reconsider is, That I have
supposed our commerce to be one cause of the loss of our fencible men.
And who in the world doubts of it, but himself! Do shipwrecks, the
disasters and inclemency of the sea, the scurvy, _&c._ beget people?
But he will say, without these we could not have trade, which employs
great numbers of our people; and therefore, what we lose, we may gain
another way. And just so he may say of our wars, that occasion the
destruction of so many of our people, that they are no loss to us; for
we gain by them in their consequences, in securing of our liberties
and property, and by which our trade is preserved and promoted. But
notwithstanding this, can it be said, that war does not diminish our
fencible men! The truth is, trade increases riches, and gives more
of the conveniences of life, and brings luxury along with it; but it
does not necessarily breed people: For we see in those countries where
they have little trade, the people increase much faster than they do
with us, as appears from the Bills of mortality in Prussia; where the
general proportion of the births to the burials is greater than it is
here, _viz._ 4 to 3; and by which the people might double in 84 years,
if it were not for their losses. (_Vid. Phil. Trans. vol._ xxxvi.)
Which great increase, by the way, easily accounts for those vast swarms
of people that came from thence and the adjacent countries in former
ages, and over run all Europe. And therefore it is not so terrible a
paradox, as he imagines, that possibly where there is much less trade
the people may increase faster; for luxury and other vices, that come
with trade, do not promote an increase.

And now, as he has been so good as to give me his advice, I will return
the favour, and desire him to reconsider the method of reasoning by
induction; which may possibly help him to escape some paralogisms, in
arguing upon these subjects. And I would likewise recommend it to him
to inquire diligently, whether the number of our houses in England be
increased these last sixty years; which, according to his reasoning,
ought at least to be doubled: For if there is no increase of the
houses, there can be none of the people.

To conclude: He adds, that my doctrine, from beginning to end, to
say the best of it, is ill-timed, when we are contending with our
hereditary enemy, _pro aris & focis_. But here his zeal hurries him on,
that he does not look to the dates of my Letters. For the first three
were read before the Society, and ordered to be printed, long before
the war was proclaimed; and as for the last, it is only a supplement
to the rest; in which I have shewn, that France, by the bad œconomy
of her people, is not in an increasing state; which, I think, is a
comfortable hearing. But supposing they had been all printed during the
war: What then? Is a fact to be concealed that, if discovered, may be
useful to prevent errors in government, and rectify our notions of the
œconomy of our people? What advantage can our enemies make of such a
discovery? Will it encourage them to imagine that we shall be easier
subdued, when they know, by the most moderate computation, we have at
least two millions of fencible men in our British islands. Enough,
surely, to resist them in all their attempts! But I doubt we are not
so deficient in our numbers as in public virtue, without which the
greatest multitude may be easily overcome.


And thus, my Lord, I have endeavoured to answer what this Gentleman has
wrote in his second Letter; for I pass over the first, as it does not
seem to contain any more in opposition to me, than what I have here
considered. And upon the whole I cannot see, that he has said any thing
to invalidate what I have formerly advanced. If I could discover it,
I should be very ready to acknowlege my error. I am sensible I have
made this reply too long; but I trust your usual benevolence to all our
worthy Members will excuse me, who shall always esteem it an honour to
be,

                               My Lord,
                            Your Lordship’s
                             Most obedient
                         and faithful Servant,
                           Wm. Brakenridge.

 Sion-College, March 16. 1758.


+END+ of +PART+ I. +VOL.+ L.


FOOTNOTES:

[1] Nom. Etymol. ad Calcem. Cat. Cant. p. 43. item Hist. Plant. p. 680.

[2] Bella-donna dicitur quod imaginationes non injucundas efficiat, vel
ut honeste satis Plinius, quod lusum generet. Bod. Comment. in Theophr.
p. 586 quod in somnis pulchras ostendat virgines feminasque. Ibid. p.
1078.

[3] Locis citatis.

[4] Oper. omnia edit C.B. p. 756.

[5] Ruell. in Dioscor. p. 536.

[6] Nomina generica quæ ex Græca vel Latina lingua radicem non habent
rejicienda sunt.

[7] Atropos una furiarum. Crit. Botan. p. 75.

[8] See Lin. Syst. Naturæ, edit. Lugd. Bat. 1756. p. 97. No. 222.

[9] Mat. Med. lib. iv. cap. 69.

[10] See Sennert. lib. vi. par. 7. cap. 9.

[11] Stirpium Adversar. p. 103.

[12] Oper. Omn. p. 754.

[13] Rerum Scoticar. lib. vii.

[14] Ger. em. p. 341.

[15] Page 586.

[16] Quadripart. Botan. p. 488.

[17] Cicut. Aquat. Historia et Noxæ. Basil. 1716. p. 228.

[18] Histoire de l’Academie Royale. 1703.

[19] Hist. Plant. Lugd. Bat. Hort. p. 510.

[20] For August and September 1747, and for Sept. 1748.

[21] Page 329.

[22] Raii Hist. Plant. I. p. 681.

[23] Enumerat. Stirp. Helvet. p. 507.

[24] See Forestus, Etmuller, and the old chirurgical writers.

[25] Bibliotheque des Sciences et des beaux Arts pour les mois Jan.
Fevr. Mars. 1755.

[26] Tiberii Lambergen Lectio inauguralis, sisters Ephemeriden
persanati Carcinomatis. Groning. 1754.

[27] Dr. Van Swieten Comment. in Aphor. Boerh. sect. 492.

[28] Hom. Iliad. 23. _v._ 88.

[29] _Ut enim----si hoc fingamus, esse quasi finem----ita jacere talum,
ut rectus assistat; qui ita talus erit jactus, ut cadat rectus_----Cic.
de Fin. L. 3. §. 16. Ed. Verb.

[30] Vid. Dacier not. on Hor. L. ii. Od. 7, _v._ 25, &c.

[31] Τὸ δέ σχῆμα τοῦ κατά τὸν Ἀϛράγαλον Πτώματος Ἀριθμοῦ Δόξαν εἶχεν.
Jul. Pollux. L. ix. c. 7.

[32] _Quatuor tali jacti casu venereum efficiunt._ Cic. de Div. L. i.
§. 13. Ed. Verb.

[33] Mart. L. xiv. epig. 14.

[34] _Nec regna vini sortiere talis._ L. i. od. 4. _v._ 18.

[35] _Quem Venus artbitrum dicet bibendi?_ L. ii. od. 7. _v._ 25. Some
think, that this cast was also named _basilicus_ from the usage here
mentioned. Sanad. in Loc.

[36] Prop. L. iv. el. 9. _v._ 18.

[37] Jul. Pollux. L. ix. c. 7. Lubin. on Pers. sat. 3. _v._ 49, &c.

[38]

  ----_Quid dexter_ senio _ferret_,
  ----_Damnosa_ canicula _quantum_
  Raderet----

  Pers. sat. 3. _v._ 48.

[39] Dial. Ἀϛραγαλισμὸς.

[40] Sueton. C. Aug. §. 71.

[41] Sat. 3. _v._ 48. See Prat. not. in us. Delph. in loc.

[42] Hor. L. ii. sat 7. _v._ 17.

[43] Mart. L. xiv. epig. 16.

[44] Germ. Ant. Mon. p. 38.

[45] Not. on Hor. L. i. ep. 20. _v._ 2.

[46] Mem. lit. de l’Acad. des Inscrip. V. 9.

[47] Rerum Mem. L. ii. tit. 13.

[48] _Deum ipsum (Serapidem) multi Æsculapium--quidam Osirim--plerique
Jovem--plurimi Ditem patrem insignibus, quæ in ipso manifesta, aut per
ambages, conjectant._ Tac. His. L. iv. Εἷς Ζεὺς, εἷς Ἀΐδης, εἷς Ἥλιος
ἐστὶ Σάραπις, Oraculum Apollinis apud M.A. Caus. Museum Rom. vol. ii. §
6. tab. 13.

[49] Antiq. T. ii. P. 2. pl. 121, 122.

[50] Porphyr. apud Euseb. Præp. Evang. L. iv. c. 23. Τοὺς δὲ πονηροὺς
δαίμονας οὐκ εἰκῇ ὑπὸ Σάραπιν ὑποπτεύομεν, &c.

[51] Suppl. T. ii. L. vi. c. 10. Tab. xlviii.

[52] Montfaucon, ibid.

[53] Montfaucon, ibid.

[54] Vid. Observations sur les Antiquités d’Herculaneum, _&c._ par
Mess. Cochin & Bellicard, p. 83, Paris 1755.

[55] Within two miles of this place there is a steel Spaw of good
repute for the performance of several extraordinary cures, which gives
the same tincture with galls, and appears in every respect to be the
same with the water, that flows from this level.

[56] The proportions were adjusted according to the carat weights, as
it is by these, that the fineness of gold is usually expressed: A carat
is the twenty-fourth part of the whole compound: thus gold of so many
carats is a composition, of which so many twenty-fourths are fine gold,
and the rest an inferior metal.

[57] Observations sur les Antiquités d’Herculaneum, _&c._ p. 82

[58] For a more particular account of this statue, now in the palace at
Portici, I beg leave to refer you to a paper of mine read before the
Royal Society on Feb. 24, last.

[59] Dio. L. xl.

[60] Suet. Vesp. c. 7.

[61] For authorities, see Middleton’s Germana Antiq. Mon. p. 152.

[62] Pliny (L. ix. ep. 39.) acquainting his architect with his purpose
to repair a temple of Ceres, which was upon his estate, says, _Nullum
in proximo suffugium aut imbris, aut solis. Videor ergo munifice simul
religioseque facturum, si ædi, quam pulcherrimam exstruxero, addidero
porticus: illam ad usum deæ, has ad hominum._ That these portico’s
commonly inclosed the whole site of the ancient temples, as in this at
Pozzuoli, seems implied in what follows: _Quantum ad porticus, nihil
interim occurrit, quod videatur esse istinc repetendum: nisi tamen, ut
formam secundum rationem loci scribas; neque enim possunt circumdari
templo: nam solum templi hinc flumine--hinc viâ cingitur._

[63] Mess. Cochin and Bellicard seem to think this room was intended
for another purpose, by their calling the funnels under the holes
in the seats of it, _conduits des fosses d’aisance_. Which of the
two hypothesis’s is to be preferred, I submit to the judgment of the
learned; or rather, whether both of them may not be admitted, as in
no-wise incompatible the one with the other.

[64] Vitruvius Lib. iii. cap. 3. _Gradus in fronte ita constituendi
sunt, uti sint semper impares: namque cum dextro pede primus gradus
ascendatur, item in templo primus erit ponendus._

[65] The learned Abbate de Venuti, F.R.S. and Antiquary to the Pope at
Rome, has lately by letter favoured me with an ingenious account of
this phænomenon; tho’ he mentions the granite columns only as affected
by it. _Cùm columnæ, quæ circumibant templum, excavarentur e terrâ,
quâ erant partim abrutæ----minutissimæ conchæ, quæ ex testaceorum
genere sunt, atque in saxorum rimulis prope mare reperiuntur, ideoque a
vulgo_ Trutti di Mare _appellatæ, columnas hasce (i. e. Thebaicas) quam
sæpissimè perforaverant, sese componentes, veluti apes in alveari, cùm
essent sejunctæ integumentis ex ipso lapide subtilissimis_.--

[66] Vid. p. 168.

[67] Nec alius a Διονύσω sive sole est Δυσάρης, sive Δουσάρης, vel
Δευσάρης. Quæ vox (ut suspicor) conflata ex דוץ _Dutz_ et ארץ _Aretz_.
Quorum prius (_gaudium_) alterum notat (_terram_) ut notat _lætitiam
terræ_, sive mortalium. Nam Liber sive sol lætitiâ implet mortales,
maturando fruges, et uvas, unde de vino sic Maro,

  _Munera lætitiamque Dei._      Æn. i.

Dusarem verò esse Arabum numen indicat locus ille Tertulliani in
Apolog. c. 24. “Unicuique etiam provinciæ et civitati suus deus est. Ut
Syriæ Astartes; _ut Arabiæ Disares_.”

Etiam apud Stephanum sive Hermolaum Byzantium--Δυσάρη--σκόπελος ϗ
κορυφὴ ὑψηλοτάτη Αραβίας. Ἒιρηται δὲ ἀπό τοῦ Δυσάρου. Θεὸς δὲ οὗτος
παρὰ Ἂραψι ϗ Δαχαρηνοῖς τιμώμενος----Vossius de Idololat. L. ii. c. 8.

[68] Nicol. Haym Roman. _Del. Tesor. Britan._ Vol. ii. p. 36, 37. In
Londra, 1720.

[69] J. Foy Vaill. in _Arsacid. Imper._ Parisiis, 1728. _Numism.
Antiqu. Collect. a_ Thom. Pembroch. et Montis Gomer. Com. P. 2. T. 76.
Nicol. Haym Roman. ubi sup. p. 30-38.

[70] Montfauc. _Palæograph. Græc._ p. 123, 124, 125. Parisiis, 1708.

[71] Idem ibid.

[72] J. Foy Vaill. ubi sup.

[73] J. Foy Vaill. ubi sup. p. 335, 341.

[74] Montfauc. ubi sup. p. 118, 119. Hadrian. Reland. _Palæstin.
Illustrat._ Tom. ii. p. 1014, 1015, 1055. Trajecti Batavorum, 1714.
I have a Latin dissertation in the press here, almost printed off,
containing an explication of a considerable number of coins of Tyre and
Sidon, with Phœnician legends upon them.

[75] _De Num. quibusd. Sam. et Phœn. &c. Dissert._ p. 53-56. Oxon. 1750.

[76] _Philosoph. Transact._ Vol. xlix. p. 593-607.

[77] _Philosoph. Transact._ Vol. xlviii. p. 693.

[78] _Philosoph. Transact._ Vol. xlviii. p. 693, 740.

[79] _Philosoph. Transact._ ubi sup.

[80] _Philosoph. Transact._ ibid.

[81] _Philosoph. Transact._ ubi sup. p. 693, 740.

[82] Chard. _Voyages en Perse_, &c. Tom. iii. p. 119. A Amsterdam 1711.
_Philosoph. Transact._ Vol. xlix. p. *597, *598.

[83] That the plural termination of PADESHAH, or SHAH, which, according
to Khojah Asdhalo’ddîn, denoted originally the same thing, was AN, or
perhaps ANE, in the days of Ammianus Marcellinus, there is good reason
to believe; the word SAANSAA, KING OF KINGS, having been then used
by the Persians, and handed down to us by that author. The term ΣΑΑ,
SAA, equivalent to the Persic SHAH, KING, likewise occurs in Agathias,
a writer of the sixth century. Should my explication of the Parthian
legend of the coin before me meet with the approbation of the learned,
it will perhaps be granted me, that the plural of PADESHAH, or PADESHA,
amongst the Parthians was PADESHAN, if not PADESHANE, in the second
century after CHRIST. Hyd. _Hist. Rel. Vet. Pers._ p. 416. Khojah
Asdhalo’ddîn, D’Herbel. _Biblioth. Orient._ p. 767. Hadr. Reland.
_Dissert._ viii. _de Vet. Ling. Pers._ p. 221, 222. Ammian. Marcellin.
Lib. xix. cap. 2. Agath. Lib. iv. p. 135, 136. Parisiis, 1660. Ezech.
Spanhem. _De Præstant. et Us. Numism. Antiquor._ Tom. i. p. 463-466.
Lond. 1706.

[84] Hyd. _Hist. Rel. Vet. Pers._ p. 79. Oxon. 1700.

[85] D’Herbel. _Biblioth. Orient._ p. 699, 767. Hyd. ubi sup. Hadr.
Reland. _Dissert._ viii. _de Vet. Ling. Pers._ p. 147. Trajecti ad
Rhenum, 1707.

[86] Hyd. ubi sup. p. 326.

[87] Hyd. ubi sup. p. 18, 312.

[88] Matth. Hiller. _Onomast. Sacr._ p. 619. Hadr. Reland. ubi sup. p.
259-262.

[89] Nicol. Haym Roman. ubi sup. p. 33.

[90] J. Foy Vaill. & Nicol. Haym Roman. ubi sup. & alib.

[91] Esth. c. x. _v._ 1.

[92] Scalig. _Prolegom. in Lib. de Emend. Temp._ p. 41. Col. Allobrog.
1629. & _Can. Isag._ s. 317. Matth. Hiller. ubi sup. p. 619, 620.

[93] Moses Chorenens. _Hist. Armen._ Lib. ii. iii. Theophil. Sigefr.
Bayer. _Hist. Osrhoen. &c._ p. 97. Petropoli, 1734.

[94] Herodot. Lib. iv. c. 87.

[95] Epiphan. _Adv. Hær._ Lib. ii. Tom. ii. p. 629. Paris. 1622.

[96] J. Foy Vaill. ubi sup. p. 339.

[97] Maffeius, in _Gall. Antiqu. Quæd. Select._ Epist. 22. p. 106.
Parisiis, 1733.

[98] J. Foy Vaill. ubi sup. p. 334, 335, 336, 339.

[99] Dio, Lib. lxxi. p. 802. _Imperator. Romanor. Numism. &c. Stud.
& Cur._ Francisc. Mediobarb. Birag. p. 218. J. Foy Vaill. _Can.
Chronologic. Reg. Parthor._ p. 41.

[100] Jul. Capitolin. in _M. Antonin. Philos._ et in _Ver._

[101] _Imperator. Romanor. Numism. &c. Stud. & Cur._ Francisc.
Mediobarb. Birag. S.R.I. Com. &c. p. 220. Mediolani, 1683.

[102] J. Foy Vaill. ubi sup. & in _Arsacid. Imper._ p. 338.

[103] Dio, Lib. lxxv. p. 853. J. Foy Vaill. in _Arsacid. Imper._ p.
356. & in _Can. Chronologic_. p. 42. Ludovic. Du Four de Longuerüe,
Ab. S. Joan. de Jardo ad Melod. et Sept. Font. in Therasc. _Annal.
Arsacidar._ p. 51. Argentorati, 1732. Erasm. Froelich, S. J. S. in
_Dub. de Minnisar. Aliorumque Armen. Reg. Num. et Arsecidar, Epoch.
nuper vulgat._ p. 66. Viennæ Austriæ, 1754.

[104] Edv. Corsin. Cl. Reg. Scholar. Piar. in Acad. Pisan. Humanior.
Litterar. Profess. _De Minnisar. Aliorumq; Armen. Reg. Num. et Arsacid.
Epoch. Dissertat._ p. 13-29. Liburni, 1754.

[105] Maff. in _Gall. Antiqu. Epist._ 22. p. 106.

[106] J. Foy Vaill. ubi sup. p. 338.

[107] Arrian. in _Parthic._ apud Photium, _Cod._ 58. & apud Syncell. in
_Chronograph._ p. 226.

[108] Just. Lib. xli. c. 4.

[109] Athen. _Deipnosoph._ Lib. iv. c. 13.

[110] Corsin. ubi sup.

[111] Corsin. ubi sup. p. 2.

[112] Erasm. Froel. ubi sup. p. 72.

[113] Corsin. in _Ded. Nob. Vir._ Phil. Venut. p. 5.

[114] _Philosoph. Transact._ Vol. xlviii. p. 693, 740.

[115] Ptol. _Tab. Urb. Insign._ p. 39. Ed. Huds. Oxon. 1712.

[116] J. Foy Vaill. in _Arsacid. Imper._ pass.

[117] Hamdalla Ism. Abu’lfed. Mohammed Al Firauzabad. Nassîr Al Tûsi,
Ulugh Beik, &c. Golii not. ad Alfragan. p. 200-204.

[118] Upon inquiry, I find, that no such thing was taken notice of in
Northumberland; so it probably has not extended any further to the
eastward, than the skirts of our own county.

[119] In an adjoining bleach-yard, a piece of cloth, which had been
left out all night, was turned yellow; and was not without some
difficulty washed out again. Some also, which was spread out the next
day, contracted the same colour.

[120] The wind was westerly, and consequently would sweep the Irish sea.

[121] No rain, or however very little, during the hurricane.

[122] Mr. Derham, in his Physico Theology.

[123] Distance about thirty miles.

[124] _Viz._ About four feet long, and one inch square.

[125] Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlvii. p. 48. and Essay on the Virtues
of Lime water, _&c._ edit. 2d. p. 197.

[126] Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlvii. p. 48 and 473. and Essay on
Lime-water, p. 157 and 200.

[127] The two stones found in Lord Walpole’s bladder were of this size,
and weighed one of them 22 and the other 21 grains.

[128] Philosoph. Transact. Vol. xlvii. p. 47.

[129] The stone found in the beginning of the passage from the bladder
was of this size, and weighed about a grain.

[130] It is printed in this volume of the Philosoph. Transactions,
under the 28th of April, p. 221, & seqq.

[131] Essay on the Virtues of Lime-water, 2d edit. p. 140.

[132] Phil. Transact. Vol. xlvii. p. 46.

[133] Phil. Transact. Vol. xlvii. p. 472, 473.

[134] Essay on Lime-water, _&c._ p. 200, 201.

[135] Physical Experiments, p. 19.

[136] Essay on Lime-water, _&c._, 2d edit. p. 171, 201.

[137] Essay on Lime-water, _&c._ 2d edit. p. 170.

[138] Ibid. p. 24, 25, 30 & 31.

[139] The celebrated Dr. Scheuchzer has arranged the fossile plants
botanically, by Tournefort’s system, in his folio work, intituled,
_Herbarium Diluvianum_; and Dr. Woodward’s fossile plants, Catalogue B,
he informs us, were botanically considered and arranged by those famous
botanists Dr. Plukenet, and Mess. Doody, Buddle, and Stonestreet.

[140] Woodward, Catalogue B. p. 104. specimen _q._ 1. was of 6 1-half
feet in length; and Catalogue D. p. 60. specimen _h._ 38. was a yard
long; _et alibi passim_. In the collieries at Swanvich in Derbyshire,
in 1752. a plant of the cane kind was found 14 feet long: it ended in
a point at one end, and at the root in a large knob, and in the middle
measured nine inches about.

[141] Zirizææ, quæ, in insula Scaldiæ, secundum Zelandiæ oppidum est.

[142] Dominus Ellis, anno 1755. Lond. in 8º edidit _Essay on the
Natural History of Corals_, &c. quem librum Gallice versum in 4º
recudit P. de Hond Hagæ Comitum, sub titulo _Essay sur l’Histoire
Naturelle des Corallines, &c. par J. Ellis_, 1756.

[143] Il y a une sorte de Lithophyte, qui veritablement est curieuse,
et bien extraordinaire: elle n’a point d’ecorce continuée, mais bien
quelques fragmens, par ci par la interrompus d’un glu, qui fleurit dans
l’eau. Hist. de la Mer. pag. 89. fig. 101. 179, 1.

[144] Bonnet sur l’usage des Feuilles, pag. xviii. & 286.

[145] Id. ibid. pag. 66.

[146] Tab. VII. fig. I, II.

[147] Ibid. fig. III.

[148] Tab. VIII. fig. V.

[149] Vide talem delineatam in Mem. de l’Acad. p. 394, anni 1711.

[150] Mem. de l’Academie, 1742.

[151] Tab. VIII. fig. II, IV.

[152] Tab. VIII. fig. IV.

[153] Sic Dˢ. _Ellis_ in una eademque planta diversos, polypos
delineat, tab. IV. fig. C. tab. V. fig. A. tab. XIV. fig. A. B. tab.
XXXVIII. F. N. E.

[154] Tab. IX. fig. A, B, C.

[155] Sic Clar. _Ellis_ eosdem etiam polypos invenit in corallina
astaci cornicularum æmula Nº. 14. et in corallina setacea instar
arundinis geniculara Nº. 16.

[156] Tab. VII. fig. VI.

[157] Ibid. fig. VII.

[158] Ibid. fig. VIII.

[159] Tab. IX. fig. IV, V, VI.

[160] Tab. VIII. fig. VI.

[161] Psalm. civ. vers. 16, 17, 18.

[162] Memoir. des Insect. tom. ii. tab. iv. fig. 6, 8.

[163] Id. ibid. tab. iii. fig. xv.

[164] Id. tom. iii. mem. xi. tab. xxxii. fig. 1.

[165] Id. tom. v. mem. iii. tab. xv. fig. 1, 2, 3.

[166] Id. tom. ii. mem. ii. tab. iii. tom. iv. tab xxxvii. fig. 11, 12,
19, 20.

[167] Id. tom. iv. tab. xliv. fig. 8.

[168] Id. tom. ii. mem. ii. pag. 163. tab. iv. fig. 11, 12, 13. Ellis
Essay, pag. 100. tab. xxxiii. _a_ A.

[169] Tab. VIII. fig. VI. _a_ A.

[170] Ellis passim in figuris, præsertim tab. v. fig. A.

[171] Mem. de l’Acad. viii. pag. 253. tab. vi. fig. 1, 2, 3, 4.

[172] Lesser, Theologie des Insect. tom. ii. p. 112.

[173] Tab. VIII. fig. II. IV.

[174] Tab. VIII. fig. III.

[175] Tab. VII. fig. III.

[176] Idem observat Cel. Jussiæus, licet corillinas a polypis tamen
fabrifatas autumat. Vide Mem. de l’Acad. 1742. et figuram inspice,
quomodo corporis extremitate corallinæ insident.

[177] Tab. IX. fig. II. _a_ A.

[178] Tab. IX. fig. II A. _c._

[179] Ibid. _b. b._

[180] Ibid. A. _c._

[181] Ibid. B.

[182] Ibid. C. _c._

[183] Ibid. fig. III.

[184] Ibid. fig. III.

[185] Ibid. _c. c._

[186] _Vionelli_ nuove luci coperte. _Linnæi_ Amæn. Acad. tom. iii. de
noctiluca marina.

[187] Tab. VIII. fig. VII.

[188] Tab. X. fig. I.

[189] Ibid. fig. 6.

[190] Ibid. fig. 8.

[191] Tab. X. fig. II. B.

[192] Ibid. C.

[193] Ibid. fig. III.

[194] See Phil. Transact. Vol. xlix. Part 2. p. 509.

[195] Original Letters to Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. vol. A-B. in the
British Museum.

[196] Journal, vol. xi. p. 143.

[197] In this treatise, L. 2. p. 80. is the following passage: _In pago
Rorbachio non procul Heydelbergâ, Paræi etiam relatu, gemini utriusque
sexûs obversis tergoribus annexis orti sunt._

[198] The two figures shew a fore and back view of this subject.

[199] See above, Nº. X, p. 53.

[200] After this paper was read at the Society, Dr. Pringle having
acquainted Dr. Whytt, that Mr. Patrick Brydone had omitted, in his
account, the name of the parish, where the woman lived, the time when
she was cured, and also that he had not fully dated his paper; Dr.
Whytt some time after wrote to Dr. Pringle, that having desired Mr.
Brydone to furnish him with these particulars, he had received for
answer, “That the woman, on whom the cure was performed, had lived all
her life in the parish of Coldinghame, and for the last twelve years in
that town: That her father had died of the palsy seven years ago, after
having been subject to that distemper for several years: That the cure
was performed in his father’s house at Coldinghame, on the 4th, 5th,
6th, and 11th of days of April 1757. a circumstance he had noted down:
That as to the date of his paper, presented to the Royal Society, he
only recollects it was written some day in the beginning of November
last; but as the woman still continued well, he hoped the precise day
of the month was no material omission.” This letter to Dr. Whytt is
dated, Coldinghame, January 9th, 1758.

[201] See above, p. 209, & seqq.

[202] Vid. Essay on the Virtue of Lime-water, 2d edit. p. 176, 177.

[203] Essay on Lime-water, 2d edit. p. 208, &c.

[204] Ibid. p. 176 and 177.

[205] Since my writing this discourse, Dr. Mason informs me, that these
are found no other than recent nuts and laryxes.

[206] Vol. xlviii.

[207] No error arises from considering the triangles E A _e_ and AEH,
as being formed on the surface of a sphere, tho’ the earth itself is
not accurately such. The angle (E A _a_) representing the effect of the
solar force, is properly referred to the surface of a sphere; therefore
(after the measure thereof is truly determined) the figure AP _ap_ is
itself taken as a sphere, in order to avoid the trouble of introducing
a new scheme.

[208] Part I. p. 161.

[209] Page 806.

[210] See TAB. XVII. where this specimen is exactly delineated.

[211] This is likewise called the Malacca Bean, from its growing in
great plenty on that coast, near the equinoctial line.

[212] See above, p. 356.

[213] Page 887.




Corrections

p. 29

 The medicinal virtues of these waters have been been treated
 The medicinal virtues of these waters have been treated

p. 36

  which indeed greaty relieved him:
  which indeed greatly relieved him:

p. 85

  infusion from the eightteenth scruple
  infusion from the eighteenth scruple

Footnote 28

  Hom. Iiad. 23. _v._ 88.
  Hom. Iliad. 23. _v._ 88.

Footnote 67

  conflata ex דוצ _Dutz_ et ארצ
  conflata ex דוץ _Dutz_ et ארץ

p. 133

  in addding too large
  in adding too large

p. 206

  He eat with an appetite
  He ate with an appetite

p. 369

  by any peculiar symptom distinguishable by by the touch,
  by any peculiar symptom distinguishable by the touch,

p. 449

  he will find it exactly agees
  he will find it exactly agrees

p. 475

  for where there there is a multitude of different cases
  for where there is a multitude of different cases

p. 453

    that the Chinese import them, and the Japanese mix them with
    varnish for sale.

    that the Chinese import them, and the Japanese mix them with their
    varnish for sale.

The missing word “their” was added according to page 220 of this
edition: PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS: GIVING SOME ACCOUNT OF THE
Present Undertakings, Studies, and Labours, OF THE INGENIOUS IN
MANY Considerable Parts of the WORLD, by C. C. DÜRR, Printer of the
University, 1771

p. 468

 _viz._ 290,000, in the the cities
 _viz._ 290,000, in the cities