Natural History Museum Library

000163712

& 3. C- 33.

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TH E

CONTENTS

T O

Part I. Volume L

I. /IN Account of the Earthquake felt in New

England, and the neighbouring Parts of Ame-
rica, on the 1 8 th of November 17 yy. In a Let-
ter to Tho. Birch, D. D. Secret. R. S. by Mr.
Profejfor Winthrop, of Cambridge in New Eng-
land. Page i.

II. The f range EffeBs offome ejfervefcent Mixtures j
in a Letter from Dr. James Mounfey, Phyfician
of the Ruffian Army , and F. R. S. to Mr. Henry
Baker, F.R.S. Communicated by Mr. Baker.

p. 19,

III. ExtraB of a Letter of J. Wall, M. D. to the

Rev. Dr. Lyttelton, Dean of Exeter, and F. R.S.
concerning the good EffeBs of Mai verne Waters
in Worcefierfhire. p. 23.

IV. An Account of the Carlfbad Mineral Waters in
Bohemia : In a Letter to the Right Honourable
the Earl of Macclesfield, Prefident of the R. S. by
the Rev. Jeremiah Milles, D. D. F. R. S. p. 25.

V. An Ef 'ay towards afcertaining the fpecifc Gravity
of living Men . By Mr. John Robertfon, F.R.S .

k , P- 3°-

A 2 IV.

CONTENTS.

VI. An Injiance of the Gut Ileum, cut throy by a
Knife , fuccefsfully treated by Mr. Peter Travers,
Surgeon , at Lilbon. Commimicated by John Hux-

ham, M. D. F. R, S. P* 35*

VII. An Account of aVifitation of the leprous Per-
f'ons in the lfle of Guadaloupe : In a Letter to
Monf Datnonville, Counfellor and Affiant-fudge
at Martinico, and in the Office of King's Phyjician
at Guadaloupe. Ay John Andrew Peyffonel,.MD.
F. R . S. Pranfated from the French. p. 38.

VIII. An Account of the late Dfcoveries of Anti-

quities at Herculaneum ; in an Extra SI 0} a Let-
ter from Camillo Paderni, Keeper of the Hercula-
neaq Mufeum, and F.R.S. to Thomas Hollis,
E/ifo dated Naples, Dec. 16, 1756. p. 49.

IX. An Account of feme Frees dif covered under-

ground on the Shore at Moum’s-Bay in Cornwall :
In a Letter from the Rev. Mr. William Borlafe,
F. R. S. to the Rev. Dr. Lyttelton, Dean ^/'Exe-
ter. p. fi.

X. Experiments on applying the Rev. Dr. Hales r
Method of difilling Salt-water to the Steam-En-
gine. By Keane Fitzgerald, Efq\ F. R. S. p. 53.

XI. Ext raff of a Letter of Mr. Abraham Trem-

bley, F. R. S. to Tho. Birch, D. D. Secret. R. S.
Franjlated from the French. p. 38.

XII. A brief Botanical and Medical Hi /lory of the

Solanum Lethale, Bella-donna, or Deadly Night
fhade, by Air. Richard Pulteney. Communicated
by Air. William Watfon, F. R. S. p. 62.

XIII. An Account of Jome of the Antiquities dis-

covered 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.

contents:

XIV. An Account of the Ejfetfs of a Storm of Thun-

der and Lightning , in the Par if oes of Looe and
Lanreath, in the County of Cornwall, on the lyth
Day of June 17 y6. Communicated to the Rev.
Jeremiah Milles, D. D. F. R. S. in two Let ter sr
one from the Rev. Mr. Dyer, Minijier of Looe, and
the other from the Rev. Mr. Milles, Vicar of Du-
loe, in Cornwall. p. 104.

XV. An Account of the Peat -pit near Newbury in

Berkshire ; in an ExtraB of a Letter from John
Collet, M. D. to the Right Reverend Richard
Lord Bifop of Offory, F. R. S. p. 109.

XVI. An Account of the Alterations making in the
Pantheon at Rome : In an ExtraB of a Letter
from Rome to Thomas Hollis, Efq-, Communicated
by John Ward, LL.D. R. S. Vice-Praf. p. 1 iy.

XVII. An Account of a new medicinal Well , lately
di [covered near Moffat, in Annandale, in the
County of Dumfries. By Mr. John Walker, of
Borgue-houle near Kirkudbright in Scotland.

p. 1 r 5..

XVIII. An Account op the State of the Thermometer
at the Hague on the 9 th of January 1757. Ex-
tracted from a Letter of Mr. Abraham Trembley,,
F.R.S. toTho. 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 Exami?iation of Platina. By
William Lewis, M. B. F. R. S. Paper VI. p.156.

XXI. An Account of the Temple of Serapis at Poz-

zuoli in the Khigdom of Naples : In a Letter to
John Ward, LL.D. and R.S. Vice-Praf by the
Rev. John Nixon, M. A. F. R. S. p. 1 66.

XXII. Some Remarks on a Parthian Coin with a

Greek

C O N T E N T S,

Greek and Parthian Legend , never before publijhed.
In a Letter from the Rev. John Swinton, M. A .
of Chrift-Church, Oxon, F. R. S. to the Rev .
Tho. Birch, D. D. Secret. R. S. p. lyg.

XXIII. An Account of a Red Coral from the Eaft-
Indies, of a very fingular Kind : In a Letter from
Mr. John Ellis, F.R.S. to Mr. Peter Collinfon,
F. R. S. p. 189.

XXIV. An Account of the EffeAs of a Storm at

Wigton in Cumberland. Commwiicated by Mr.

Philip Miller, F. R. S. p. 194.

XXV. An Account of the EffeAs of Lightning upon

the Steeple and Church of Leftwithiel, Cornwall ;
in a Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of
Macclesfield, Prefident of the R.S. By Mr. John
^Smeaton, F.R.S. p.198.

XXVI. An Account of the Cafe of the late Right
Honourable Horace Lord Walpole ; being a Sequel
to his own Account publijhed in the Philofophical
Tranfadti.ons, Vol. xlvii. p. 43 and 472. p. 205.

Pojlfcript to Dr. Whytt'r ObJ'ervations on Lord
WalpoleV Cafe. ' p.385.

XXVII. An Account of the Virtues of Soap in dif-
folving the Stone , in the Cafe of the Rev. Mr.
Matthew Simpfon. Communicated by John Pringle,
M. D. F. R. S. p. 22 1 .

XXVIII. An Account of the Impreffions of Plants
on the Slates of Coals : In a Letter to the Right
Honourable George, Earl of Macclesfield, Prefident
of the R.S. from Mr. Emanuel Mendes da Cofh,
F.R.S. p.228.

XXIX. A Catalogue of the Fifty Plants from Chel-
fea Garden, prefented to the Royal Society by the
worjhipjul Company of Apothecaries , f or the Tear

'7S6>

C O N T E N T £

1756, purfuant to the Direction of Sir Hans
Sloane, Baronet , Med. Reg. & Soc. nuper Prafes,
by John Wilmer, M. D. clariff. Societatis Phar-
maceut. Lond. Socius Hort. Chelf. Prafedl. &
Prcelettor Botan. p. 236.

XXX. Remarks on the Opinion of Henry Eeles, Efq ,

concerning the Afcent of Vapour , publifked in the
Philofoph. Tranfatt. Vol. xlix. Part i. p. 124. By
Erafmus Darwin, M. D. Communicated by Mr.
William Watfon, F. R. S- p. 249.

XXXI. An Account of a new -dif covered 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 Phyficians.

. , . . .. P-

XXXII. Obfervationes de Corallims , iifque infidenti-

bus Polypis,. aliifque Animalculis Marinis : §>uas
Regia Societati Londinenfi offert Job Bailer, Med.
Doff. Acad. Cafar. Reg ^ Societ. Lond.. & Scient.
Holland.. Socius. p. 2y8.-

XXXIII. Remarks on Hr. Job Bader’s Ohlervationes
de Corallinis, &c. In a Letter to the Right Hon.
George Earl 0/ Macclesfield, Prefdent of the R.S.
from Mr. John Ellis, F. R. S. p. 280.

XXXIV. An Account of an extraordi?iary Opera-
tion performed in the Dock-Tard at Portfmouth :
Drawn up by Mr. John Robertfon, F.R.S. p. 288.
XXXV. Qbfervations on an Evening, or rather Noc-
turnal, Solar Iris. By Mr. George Edwards, Li-
brarian of the College of Phyfcians.. p. 295.
XXXVI. Fhe E fells of the Opuntia, or Prickly
Peary and of the Indigo Plant, in colouring the
Juices of living Animals. Communicated by H.
Baker, F. R. S. p. 296,

XXX VIE

CONTENTS.

XXXVII. An Account of an extrordinary Shower of
black Dufy that fell in the If and of Zetland zoth
October 1755. In a Letter from Sir Andrew
Mitchell, of Weltlhore, Bart, to John Pringle,
M. D. F. R. S. p. 297.

XXXVIII. A Defcriptionxf fome 'Thermometers for
particular IJfes. By the Right Honourable the
Lord Charles Cavendifh, V. P. R.S . p. 300.

XXXIX. Obfervationes Anatomico-Medi cce de Mon -
fro bicorporeo Virgineo A. 1701. die 26 Odt. in
Pannonia, infra Comaromium, in Pof'efione Szony,
quondam Quiritum Bregetione, in lucem edito , at-
que A. 1723. die 23 Febr. Poi'onii in Cae nobio Mo -
nialium S. Urfulae morte funfto ibidemque fepulto.
Authore Jufto Johanne Torkos, M. D. Soc . Re-
galis Socio. p.311.

XL. Obf creations on the Origin and Ufe of the Lym-
phatic Vejfels of Animals : Being an Ex trail from
the Gulftonian Lettures , read in the Theatre of
the College of Phyficians of London, in June 1755.
By Mark Akeniide, M. D. Fellow of the College
of Phyficians , and of the Royal Society. p. 322.

XLI. A Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of
Macclesfield, Prefdent , the Council, and Fellows,
of the Royal Society, concerning the Variation af
the Magnetic Needle ; with a Sett of Tables an-
nexed, which exhibit the Refult of upwards of Fifty
Thoufand Obfervations, in Six periodic Reviews,
from the Tear 1700 to the Tear 1756, both in -
c lit five •, and are adapted to every Five Degrees of
Latitude and Longitude in the more frequented
Oceans. By William Mountaine and James Dod-
fon, Fellows of the Royal Society. p. 329.

XLII.

contents;

XLII. An Account of form extraordinary "Tumors
upon the Head of a labouring Man , now in St.
Bartholomew’s HoJ’pital. By Janies Parfons, M. D.
F. R. S. p. 35-0.

XLIII. An Extract of the R'egifier of the Barf of
Great' Shefford, near Lamborne, in Berkshire,
for Ten Tears r JVith Obf'crvatiom on the fame :
In a Letter to Tho. Birch, D. D. Secret. R. S.
from the Rev. Mr. Richard Fofter, Retd or of Great
Shefford.. p. 35-6.

XLJV. A' remarkable Cafe of an Aneurifm , or Dif
cafe of the principal Artery of the I high , occafoned
by a Fall. To which is prefixed a fort Account
of the Uncertainty of the difiinguifing Symptoms
of this Difeafe. By Jof. Warner, F. R. S. and
Surgeon to Guy’s Hofpital. p. 363.

XLV. Farther Experiments for increajing the Quan-
tity of Steam in a Fire-Engine. By Keane Fitz-
Gerald, Ejq\ F. R. S. p. 370.

XL VI. Obfervatio Eclipfis Luna Die 27 Martii-,
Ann. 1755. habita Ulifiipone in Domo Batrum
Congregationis Oratorii a Joanne Chevalier ejuf-
dem Congregationis Brefytero , Regia Londinenfis
Societatis Socio , Regiaque Parifienfis Scientiarum
Academia correfpondente. p. 374..

XLVII. Eclipfis Luna Die 4-Februarii, Ann.iyqy.
habita Ulifiipone a Joanne Chevalier Brefytero
Congregationis Oratorii , Regia Londinenfis Socie-
tatis Socio , Regiaque Scientiarum Parilienfis Aca-
demia correfpondente , et a Theodoro de Almeida
ejufdem Congregationis Brefytero , ac Bhyfica pub-
lico Brofejfore. p. 376.

Obfervat tones Eclipfium Satellitum Jovis Ulifiipone
habita a Joanne Chevalier, &c. P* 377*

Vol. 5o.> a XLVI1L

CONTENTS.

"XL VIII. Obfervationes Eclipfium Satellitum fovis
XJlifiipone habit# a Joanne Chevalier, Prefbytero
Congregationis Oratorii, Regiceque Londinenfis So-
cietatis Socio , Anno 1 757. p. 378.

XLIX. A remarkable Cafe of the Efficacy of the
Bark in a Mortification : In a Letter to William
W atfon, M. D. F. R. S. from Mr, Richard Grind-
all, Surgeon to the London HoJpitaL p. 379.

L. A Letter to the Rev. TTho. Birch, D. D. Secrete
R.S. from John Pringle, M.D. F.R.S. inclofing
Two Papers communicated to him by Robert Why tt,
M. D. F. R. S. p. 383 .

1. Some Obfervations on the lithontriptic Virtue of
the Carlihad Water sy Lime-water , and Soap :
In Letter to Dr. John Pringle, F. R. S. from
Dr. Robert Whytt, F. R. S. and Prof e for of
Medicine in the Univerfity o/Edinburgh. p. 3 86..

2. An Infiance of the Eledlrical Virtue in the Cure
cf a Palfy. By Mr. Patrick Brydone. p. 392.

LI. An Account of forne fojjil Fruits , and other Bo-
dies , found in the IJland of Shepey. By James
Parfons, M. D. F. R. S. p. 396.

LII. Obfervations on the Comet , that appeared in the
Months of September and O&ober 1757, made at
the Royal Obfervatory by Ja. Bradley, D.D. Afire -
nomer Royal , F.R.S. and Member of the Royal
Academy of Sciences at Paris. p. 408.

LIII. The Refolution of a General Proportion for de-
termining the horary Alteration of the Pofition of
the Terreftrial Equator , from the At t radii on of
Sun and Moon : With forne Remarks on the Solu-
tions given by other Authors to that difficult and
important Problem .. By Mr. Tho. Simpfon, P.R.S.

p. 416.
LIV.

CONTENTS.

L1V. Remarks upon the Heat of the Air in July
17 57, in an Ext raff of a Letter from John Hux-
ham, M.D. F.R.S. to William Watfon, M.D .
F.R.S. dated at Plymouth lqth of the fame
Month. With additional Remarks by Dr. Watfon.

p. 428.

LV. Remarks upon the Letter of Mr. John Ellis,
F.R.S. to Philip Carteret Webb, Efq j F.R.S.
printed in the Philofophical Tran factions, Vol. xlix.
Part ii. p. 806. By Mr. Philip Miller, F. R. S.

p. 430.

LVI. An Anfwer to the preceding Remarks. By
Mr. John Ellis, F.R. S. p. 441.

LVII. A Letter to the Rev. Tho. Birch, D.D. Seer.
R . S. concerning the Number of the People of
England ; by the Rev. Mr. Richard Forfler, Rec-
tor of Great Sbefford in Berkshire. p. 457.

LVIII. A Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl
of Macclesfield, P ref dent of the Royal Society,
from the Rev. William Brakenridge, D.D. F.R.S.
containing an Anfwer to the Account of the Num-
bers and Increafe of the People of England, by the
Rev. Mr. Forlier. p. 465.

E R R A-

ERRATA*.

Page 95. line 24. read even the ends of the umbilici.

Pare 96. line 5. read expofed the extremity of the umbilicus.
Page 16b. line 4. after as dele well as.

Page 328. line 9 from the bottom, for ft ream read fteam.

In the Tables of the Variation of the Magnetic Needle, Anno 1756,
Lat.

O — -oE for Var. 3lW read 2%W. Read the fame in p. 333.

15N 35 W 31 W 2iW

5S 40 E 17 W 18 W

30 S 15 E 18 W 1.7 1W

35 S 10W 51 W 5 W

35 S 45 E 26| W 26 W

PHIL O-

PHILOSOPHICAL

TRANSACTIONS.

I. An Account of the Earthquake felt in
New England, and the neighbouring Parts
of America, on the 18 th of November
1755. hi a Letter to Tho. Birch, D.D.
Secret. R. S. by Mr. Profeffor Winthrop,
of Cambridge in New England*

Reverend Sir,

Read Jan. i3,y Beg leave to lay before you the bed
1757 JL account I am able to give of the great
earthquake, which (hook New England, and the
neighbouring parts of America, onTuefday the 1 8th.
day of November 1 755, about a quarter after four
in the morning. I deferred writing till this time, in
order to obtain the mod didinct information of the
feveral particulars relating to it, both here and in the
other places where it was felt ; and efpecially the
extent of it.

Vol. -50. -B

The

c>3:

The night, in which this earthquake happened,
was perfectly calm and ferene. In the evening there
was a fog over the marfhes bordering on the river
Charles, which runs through this town : but this I
found intirely diffipated at the time of the earth-
quake, the air being then quite clear, and the moon,
which wanted but 36 h of the full, filming very
bright. The earthquake began with a roaring noife
in the N.W. like thunder at a diftance ; and this grew
fiercer, as the earthquake drew nearer ; which was
almolb a minute in coming to this place, as near as
I can colied: from one of my neighbours, who was
then on the road in this town. He tells me, that,
as foon as he heard the noife, he flopt, knowing,
that it was an earthquake, and waiting for it ; and
he reckoned he had flood flill about 2', when the
noife feemed to overtake him, and the earth began
to tremble under him : but, as I doubted, whether it
were fo long, I counted feveral numbers to him as
ilowly as a clock beats feconds ; and then he faid,
he believed he could have counted half an hundred,
at that rate, before the noife and fhake came up to
him. By his account, as well as that of others, the
firfl motion of the earth was what may be called a
pulfe, or rather an undulation ; and refembled (to
ufe his own companion) that of a long rolling,
lwelling fea $ and the fwell was fo great, that he
was obliged to run and catch hold of lomething, to
prevent being thrown down. The tops of two trees
clofe by him, one of which is 2f, the other 30 feet
high, he thinks waved at lead ten feet (and I depend
on his judgment in this particular, becaufe he judged
right of the height of the trees, as I found by a&ual

menftua-

[ 3 ]

menfuration) ; and there were two of thefe great
wavings, fucceeded by one, which was fmaller. This
fort of motion, after having continued, as has been
conjectured, about a minute, abated a little ; fo that
I, who was juft then waked, and, I fuppofe, moft
others, imagined, that the height of the fhock was
paft. But inftantly, without a moment’s intermif-
lion, the fhock came on with redoubled noife and
violence ; though the fpecies of it was altered to a
tremor, or quick horizontal vibratory motion, with
fudden jerks and wrenches. The bed, on which I
lay, was now tofled from fide to fide ; the whole
houfe was prodigioufly agitated ; the windows rattled,
the beams cracked, as if all would prefently be
fhaken to pieces. When this had continued about 2',
it began to abate, and gradually kept decreafing, as if
it would be foon over : however, before it had quite
ceafed, there was a little revival of the trembling
and noife, though no- ways comparable to what had
been before : but this prefently decreafed, till all,
by degrees, became ftill and quiet. Thus ended
this great fhock. It was followed by another about
an hour and a quarter after, viz. at 5^ 29'. This,
though comparatively fmall, was very generally per-
ceived, both as to its noife and trembling, by thofe
who were awake. On the Saturday evening follow-
ing, viz. the 22d of November, at 2 7 after eight,
there was a third, more confiderable than the fecond,
but not to be compared with the firft. And on Fri-
day the 19th of December in the evening, exadly
at ten o’ clock, there was a fourth fhock, much
fmaller than either of the former, though, like them,
preceded by the peculiar noife of an earthquake.

B 2 The

[4]

The whole Iafted but a few feconds ; but the jarring
was great enough to caufe the window-fhutters and
door of the room, in which I then was, to clatter.
The fky was perfectly clear, and there was a very
gentle and fcarcely-perceptibie gale at S.W. Thefe;
four are the only fhocks, that I haive been fenfible of
from the 1 8th of November laft to this date; tho’
more are faid to have been felt in other parts of the.
country to the northward of us.

As to the duration of the great fhock, people'
have differed widely, viz. from i ' to 6 or 7. Oar
printed accounts have generally fixed it to about 2 ', or
3 at the moft ; but as thefe were only the uncertain
gueffes of perfons, who had no rule to guefs bv, no
dependence can be had on them. I am well fatif-
fied, that with us it continued 4', .or rather 4' i-half,
taking in the whole of the time, from the firfl agi-
tation of the earth till it .was become perfectly quiet;,
tho’ the violence of the fhock did not laft above half
fo long. This l am affured of, partly from the obfer-
vations of fome 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 obfervations, which
were as follow. The preceding noon I had adjufted.
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 exadtly. Being awaked
by the earthquake, I lay till, the violence of it feemed,
to be over for the fecond time, the firfl abatement
happening juft after I waked. Till then I forbore to
rife, becaule the agitation was fo vehement, that I
concluded it would"be difficult, if not impracticable,

to

4

C 5 ] '

to go from the bed to the chimney, without being
thrown down ; and therefore thought it bed: not to
attempt it. The fpace of time, in which I lay
awake, I cannot think to be much, if any thing,
lefs than 2'. This was the conjedture I formed at
that time ; though, it being but conjecture, I would
not lay very great flrefs upon it, were it not fupport-
ed by concurring obfervations. On the fecond abate-
ment I rofe, and lighting a candle, looked on my
watch, and found it to be 15' after four. The
fhock then was not quite over, but the windows
continued rattling for about a minute longer, as near
as I can remember; for the fhock went off very
gradually. As foon as I had looked on the watch,

I went diredlly to the clock, which was in another '
chamber, that I might fee whether that agreed with
the watch, and found that it was flopt at 4h 11' 55".
Its flopping, however, was not immediately owing to
the violence of the fhock, though feveral clocks,
and watches too, at Boflon, are faid to have been
flopped by it, but to the following accident : Having
fome time before ufed a pretty dong glafs tube, in a*
particular experiment, I had float it up in the clock-
cafe for fecurity ; and this tube, being overthrown
by the earthquake, lodged againfl the pendulum,
and flopt its -motion. By this accident, the begin-
ning of the earthquake, I conceive, is determined
with all the exadtnefs, that can be defired ; for, fo
far as I can learn, the firfl fhake was violent enough
to .overfet fo tall, flender a body, and'. Handing in a
pofition fo near a perpendicular, as that tube ; and
it was impcfhble for the pendulum to make one
ofcillationj after the tube had ftruck againfl it. But.

I am

1 am not able to fix the end, nor confequently the
duration, with the fame exadtnefs : however, from
the time, when the clock ftopt, to my looking on
the watch, it was about 3' i-half; and the jarring
was not quite over till about a minute after this : fo
that I think I fpeak within bounds, if I fay, that this
thock with us lafted at leaft 4. In other places, its
duration might pofiibly 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 diftant places, we might be able to
judge, with a good degree of exadlnefs, of the courfe
of this earthquake, the place of its origin, and the
velocity of its progrefs. But all the accounts of the
time, which I have yet feen, are fo very lax, that
no juft conclufions can be drawn from them, with
refped; to either of thefe points. What I have been
able to colledt with relation to them, I fhall fet
down prefen tly.

Thofe, who fuppofe the duration much fhorter, as
if i-half, or 2', urge, that a minute is a longer fpace
of time than moft people are aware of ; which is
very true : but it fhould alfo be confidered, that if
we judge of the length of any fpace of time by the
number of ideas, which pafs through our minds in
that time ; a very great fright,— a fright fo great, as
to take intire pofteflion of the mind for a time, and
fhut out every idea except that of the prefent danger,
will make us judge the time to be much fhorter than
it really is. And this, I make no doubt, was the
cafe^with many ; the furprife, into which they were
thrown, being fuch, as to keep out every idea, except
that, which happened to ftrike their minds witli the

greateft

C 7 ]

greatefl force at the beginning. Thus, ffeveral per-
ceived no noife diftinCt from that, which was occa-
floned by the crackling of their houfes, and the dis-
turbance of the moveables in them ; while others,
who were waked by the noife, and ran from one room
to another, have told me, that they felt nothing at
all of the (hake. For this reafon, the conjectures,
which perfons in thefe circumflances made, as to the
duration of the fhock, ought not to be put into
the balance with the aCtual obfervations made by
watches.

The courfe of this earthquake feems to have been
nearly from N.W. to S.E.. My neighbour before-
mentioned, who was then abroad, and informed me,
that the noife began about the N.W. told me at the
fame time, that it paffed off towards the S. E. and
that he heard the noife in that quarter gradually
abating, as it became more diftant, for about the
fame fpace of time after the fhock was over here, as
he heard it in the N. W. before the fhock began
here. Other accounts, which I have iince met with,
agree with this. Thofe, who were in fuch clear
open places, could make the beft judgment in this
matter ; for fuch, as were within doors, or furround-
ed with buildings, might eafily be milled by the
various reflections of the found. I am induced t b
give the greater credit to this information by what
1 obferved myfelf : for a key, which was thrown
from off a flhelf in my houfe, was found at a place
on the floor, which bore very near N.W. of the
place, from which it fell though the fltuation of it
before its fall was fuch, that it might have been
thrown in any direction, except towards the S. E.

An account, which we have lately received from
the Weft-Indies, agrees very well with the fuppoft-
tion, that our earthquake proceeded fouth-eaftward.
The account is, that ‘ on the 1 8th of November,
‘ about two o’ clock in the afternoon, the fea with-
* drew from the harbour of St. Martin’s, leaving the
‘ veftels dry, and fifh on the banks, where there
1 ufed to be three or four fathom water ; and con-
e tinued out a .confiderable time ; fo that the people
c retired to the high land, fearing the confequence
e of its return ; and when it came in, it arofe fix
c feet higher than ufual, fo as to overflow the low
( lands. There was no ftiock felt at the above time/
As this extraordinary motion of the fea happened
about after, our great ftiock, it feems very likely
to have been occafioned by the fame convulfion of
the earth. Now if this earthquake went off fouth-
eaftward into the Atlantic, it muft have pafied con-
ftderably to the eaftward of St. Martin’s ; and, in
fadt, it did not reach that ifland, there being no
ftiock felt there. The motion of the fea then was
owing to a great agitation raifed at a confiderable
diftance in fome part or other of the ocean, where
the earthquake pafled, and from thence propagated
to that ifland. Nor is the length of time greater
than what feems to be neceflary for this effedt. The
earthquake itfelf, at the rate it moved with us, would
be fome hours in going from hence to the diftance
of St. Martin’s : for found would be about 2^ in
moving to fuch a diftance ; and the progrefs of the
earthquake was flower than that of found, as appears
from hence, that the roar of this earthquake arrived
here near a minute before the fliake. The reft of

the

[ 9 3

the 9^ might well be fpent in conveying the motion
excited in the water, from the place where it was
excited, to St. Martin’s ; for the waves raifed thereby
could not move with near the velocity of found.

It is worthy of remark, that, of the five great
earthquakes, which this country has felt fince its fet-
tlement by the Englifh, two have gone nearly in the
fame track as this lafi: did. The firft, which was on
June 2. 1638, ‘ came from the northward, and pafied
‘ fouthward.’ By the defcription given of it, it was
very much like our late earthquake, only perhaps
not quite fo violent. ‘ The noife and fhakes of the
‘ earthquake, October 29. 1727, feemed,’ it is faid,

‘ to come from the north -weftward, and to go
4 off fouth-eafterly ; and fo the houfes feemed to
c reel.’ As to the great earthquakes of 1658 and
1662, we have no account of the courfes, which
they went in. But, from the other three, it may
be reafonably conjectured, that the fource of our
earthquakes, or the place in which they originate,
is in fome part of Canada, or perhaps beyond it.

The extent of this earthquake feems to have
been greater than that of any of our former earth-
quakes. This province of the Maflachufetts-bay, or
rather the province of New Hampfhire, about the
latitude of 43 0 north on the fea-coaft, feems to have
been the center of it, or the place of its greatefl
violence ; and the fhake to have been lefs confiderable
each way from hence towards the S. W. and N. E.
By the accounts we have from the S. W. the fhock
was lefs at New York than it was with us j and ftill
lefs at Philadelphia, which is farther towards the
S.W. By the beft information lean procure, the
Vol. 50, C limit

[ IO ]

i;mit toward the S. W. was Chefopeak-bay in Mary-
land, the fhock having been felt on the eaftern fide
of that bay, and not on the weftern. 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 lefs degree than with us. It fhook
off a few bricks from the tops of fome chimnies, but
was not perceived by vHfels on the water. And a
letter from Halifax fays, ‘ The earthquake, which

* happened in the W. extended itfelf to this place,

* tho’ fcarcely perceivable here.’ But it was not at all
felt by our army, which lay encamped at Seganedto,
about too miles N. from Halifax. Thus Halifax
feems to have been very near the N.E. limit. I am
not able to afeertain its eaftern and weftern limits j,
but it extended to all our back inland fettlements ;
and was perceived, though in a very fmall degree, by
our army at Lake George, diftant from hence about
130 miles N. W. by W. But it was not felt at all
at the Britifh fort of Ofwego, fituate on the fouth-
eaftern fhore of Lake Ontario, and diftant from hence
about 2yo miles W. by N. So great was the fhock
in the Atlantic, 70 leagues to the E. of Cape Anne,
that the people on board a veffel there were fuddenly
furprifed, juft at the time of our earthquake, fup-
pofing they had run a-ground ; till, on throwing over
the lead, they found they had more than jo fathom
water. The extent of the earthquake E. and W.
from Halifax to Lake George was about f yo miles ;
and its extent along the fea-coaft, from N.E. to S.W.
at leaft 800 miles. But if the agitation of the water
at St. Martin’s was occafioned by our earthquake
continued into the Atlantic, as was conjedured

above.

[ *1 ]

above, its extent, in a direction toward the S. S. E.
mud have been at lad 1 900 miles.

I fhall now proceed to mention the principal
effects of this earthquake, for which I can find fuf-
ficient vouchers; for many drange things have been
related, which, upon examination, appear to be
without foundation. Befides the throwing down of
glafs, pewter, and other moveables in the houfes,
many chimnies were levelled with the roofs of the
houfes, and many more fhattered, and thrown down
in part. Some were broken off feverat feet below
the top, and, by the fuddennefs and violence of the
jerks, canted horizontally an inch or two over, fo
as to dand very dangeroufly. Some others were
twided, or turned round in part. The roofs of fome
houfes were quite broken in by the fall of chimnies ;
and the gable ends of fome brick buildings thrown
down, and many more cracked. Throughout the
whole country, the done fences were more or lefs
thrown down. The vane upon the public market-
houle in Bodon was thrown down ; the wooden
fpindle, which fupported it, about five inches in dia-
meter, and which had dood the mod violent guds
of wind, being fnapt off. A new vane, upon one
of the churches in Bodon, was bent at its fpindle
tvro or three points of the compafs ; and another at
Springfield, didant about 80 miles wederly from
Bodon, was bent to a right angle, A didillers cif-
tern, made of plank, almod new, and very drong put
together, was burd to pieces by the agitation of the
liquor in it ; which was thrown out with fuch force,
as to break down one whole fide of the died, that
defended the ciftern from the weather 5 as alfo to

C 2 dave

I 12]

have off a board or two from a fence at the difiance
of eight or ten feet from it. In fome parts of the
country, particularly at Pembroke and Scituate, about
25 miles S.E. from hence, there were feveral chafms
or openings made in the earth, from fome of which
water has iffued, and many cart-loads of a fine
whitifh fort of fand. Thefe are the principal effedts
of this earthquake on the land, fome of which argue
a very quick and violent motion of the earth. Tho’
the degree of violence was doubtlefs different in dif-
ferent places, yet, that I might make fome eftimate
of it with us, I meafured the greatefl diflance 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 fince bodies
fall thro’ 1 6 feet nearly in*i " of time > and the times,
in which they fall through other heights, are in the
fubduplicate ratio of thofe heights ; it follows, that
the velocity, wherewith thofe bricks were thrown
off, was that of above 21 feet in i 'of time: for
the fubduplicate ratio of 32 to 16 is the fame as the
fimple ratio of 30 to a little more than 21. But
the velocity was lefs at lefs heights : for the key be-
fore fpoken of, as thrown from off a fhelf in a
chamber in my houfe, was not thrown fo far, in pro-
portion 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 fmall bell
in the garret was made to ring by it. Hence it ap-
pears, that our buildings were rocked with a kind
of angular motion, like that of a cradle ; the upper
parts of them moving fwifter, or thro’ greater l'paces

5

C x3 ]

in the fame time, than the lower ; the natural con-
iequence of an undulatory motion of the earth.

But the agitation occafioned by this earthquake
was not confined to the land : it was very fenfible
on the water, and even at confiderable diftances in
the ocean. The veflels in our harbours were l'o
fhaken, that it feemed to thofe, who were in them,
as if they were beating on the bottom. Some, that
were in the bay, coming in from fea, thought
they had run upon rocks or fands. One very un-
common effect of this concuflion is related by feve-
ral of our feafaring men, that almoft immediately
after the earthquake, large numbers of fifh of dif-
ferent forts, both great and fmall, came up to the
furface of the water, fome dead, and others dying.

The center of our former earthquakes, as well as
of this, feems to have been near the river Merrimac,
about the latitude of 43 ° north, and 40 miles north
from hence 5 many fhocks having been felt in that
neighbourhood, which did not extend to this place.
The late Rev. Mr. Plant of Newbury, which is fitu-
ated at the mouth of that river, has given a very
particular journal, in Philof. <Tra?jfaff. N°. 462. of
the fhocks felt there from 1727 to 1741, few of
which were perceived here or at Bofton. I remem-
ber none after the memorable 29th October 1727,
befide that on 30th January 1728, about two in the
afternoon ; and that on 5th September J732, which,
by his account, did confiderable damage at Montreal
in Canada, but it was very fmall at Bofton. That
alfo on 6th February 1737, about a quarter paft four
in the afternoon, which he calls a confiderable (hock,
was perceived at Bofton j and fo was that on 7 th

December

C H ]

December following, a little before 1 1 in the night.
From the conclufion of Mr. Plant’s journal, till the
earthquake which is the fubjed 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
fhake not fo 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 fea-
fon preceding was hot and dry, there having been no
rain from 23d May. On the iff June, at four in
the afternoon, Haukfbee’s thermometer liood at 5,2 ;
on the 2d, at five in the afternoon, it was at i, with
high wind at S. W.; on the 3d, at eight in the
morning, it was at 19,8; and at fix i-half in the
afternoon at 3,8. From the iff June to the 2d, at
the hours juft mentioned, the barometer had fallen
from 29,92 to 29,82 ; from which time it continued
rifing till the 4th at eight in the morning, when it
was got up to 30,1 2 ; being, at the time of the earth-
quake, at 29,94. The reft of the month the wea-
ther was in general very hot, with many thunder-
fhowers.

As the late Hon. Judge Dudley, who has given a
very juft account of the great earthquake of 29 Od.
1727, in PbiloJ'. Pranf. N°. 437, has inferted an ac-
count of the weather in the preceding part of that
year ; and as our laft earthquake happened at the
iame time of the year as that did, within 8 or 9 days
(regard being had to the difference between the Julian
and Gregorian ftyles) ; I hope it will not be difagree-
able, if I give an account of our weather the laft
year : in doing which, I fliall follow, as near as may

be,

[ *5 ]

be, Mr. Dudley’s method, fetting down the particu-
lars in correfponding columns, that fo a comparifon
may more ealily be made between theie two years.

W EAT
1727, O. St.

January and February
very moderate.

Beginning of March, a
great deal of fnow, and
fome cold weather : after-
wards, pleafant, rain at
times, and once thunder
and lightning.

April, for the moil part,
fair, pleafant. Plentiful
rain, beginning and end
of the month.

May, beginning, plea-
fant ; then a great deal of
rain ; afterwards, cold and
very dry.

June, abundance of
thunder and lightning.

her in

1755, N. St.

January, but efpecially
February, very moderate.

4th of March the great-
eft ftorm of fnow we had
all winter. The whole
month colder than Febru-
ary.

April, nothing very re-
markable. No hot wea-
ther. Each of thefe four
months afforded more
fnow and rain, than the
common quantity, taken
at a medium for 7 years
together.

Firft 20 days of May,
dry; 14 to 18 incluftve,
uncommonly hot ; latter
part, frequent thunder -
fhowers. The whole
month drier than the me-
dium.

June, ten thunder fhow-
ers; iy to 20 inclufivs,
uncommonly cool. The
dried; June fince 1749.

July.

[ i6 1

We at
1727, O. St.

July, very dry; a great
deal of thunder and light-
ning.

Auguft, exceeding hot
and dry. One plentiful
rain.

September, till the mid-
dle, very hot. More hot
weather than in any fum-
mer. Middle, a violent
north-eaft dorm, with a
great deal of rain.

O&ober, a pretty deal
of cold weather.

23, a great deal of rain,
with the S. wind.

2 5, at night a hard froft.

26, Winterifh weather,
and a little fnow.

28, Cold. Wind N.W.

29, Cold. Little wind
at N. W. Evening quite
calm, and a clear Iky.

days 3,4.04 inches of rain
morning there was thundi

i e r in

17s?*

July, feven thunder -
fhowers, and a little more
rain than the medium.

Auguft, not very hot ;
much drier than the me-
dium.

September, variable;
10 to 14 inclulive, un-
commonly hot ; feveral
other days uncommonly
cool. Upon the whole,
the fumtner rather cool
than hot. The hotted:
weather was in the mid-
dle of May. No great
rains ; but rather more
than the medium,

Ofrober, a great deal
of cold weather. Thun-
der-fhowers on the 13 th
and 17th. Snow on the
20th, 25th, 29th, & 30th.
But the quantity of rain
and fnow in the whole
month lefs than the me-
dium.

November began with
cold and wet, there fall-
ing, in the eleven firil
; and on the 1 1 th in the
;r and lightning with the

rain 5

t r7 ]

vain ; and at a quarter pad: two in the afternoon, the
barometer was at 29,46; which was lower than it
had been fince the 15th of Odtober. From thence,
till the day of the earthquake, my diary {lands thus :

D. H.

larom.

Haukft.

Therm.

Nove

Wind.

mber 1755.

Weather.

Rain.&rc.

12 74 M

29,78

63>7

W 1

Very fair. Somewhat foggy.

O

O

2$ E

82

51.7

W i

Fair.

13 q M

3°,H

68

N W 2

Very fair.

64 E

2 1

56,8

NNWi

Clear.

14 84 M

42

69,4

0

Fair.

1 1 E

45

59

NE 2

Very cloudy.

84 E

5

NE 1

■Clear.

15 84 M

4

74,6

0

Cloudy. Hazy. W'hite frofl.

4 E

32

60,5

E 1

Very fair.

16 04 M

27

70,8

0

Foggy.

2 E

28

59,9

N 1

Fair.

,013

94 E

3Z

N 1

Fair with clouds. Foggy.

if 8 M

3

7°, 1

N 1

Cover’d. Foggy.

ii E

27

59

E 1

Very fair. Evens fomewh1 foggy

,00 X

18 44 M

*7

74» 1

0

Clear. A violent earthquake.

8 M

16

78

0

Very fair. Great white frofl:.

3t E

1 1

58»3

E 1

Very fair and hazy.

,017

10 E

08

69,1

0

Clear. Somewhat hazy.

From this time the barometer rofe till the 20th,
when, at 8£ M. it was up at 30,44, the fky covered,
wind N 2. Then it fell till the 23d at 64 E, when
it was fo low as 28,87; which was lower than it
hd'd been fince the 6th of February laft. The after-
noon of the 2 2d, and night following, when wc
had another {hock, it was calm, and rained 1,205-
inches. This leads me to obferve, that though the
ferenity , as well as calmnefs , of the air, is a circum-
ilance taken notice of in many earthquakes, both in
this and in other parts of the world; yet it does
Vol. 50. D not

£ »8 ]

not always obtain,- at leafl in the fmaller fhocka;
and, fo far as I have had' opportunity to obferve, the*
calmnefs of the air has more conflantly attended upon
earthquakes, than its clearnefs. The white frofl on
the morning of the. earthquake, which, when melted,
I found to be of the depth qf of an inch, was
almoft double of any white frofl we have had for
feven years pad, and about five or fix times as great
as we commonlv have. The barometer and ther-
mometer underwent no alteration at the time of the
earthquake : only, my barometer, which has an
open ciflern of quickfilver, and flood in a chamber,
was fo agitated, that part of the quickfilver was
dafhed over the fides of the ciflern, and fcattered
upon the floor. This ciflern was a cylindric cup,
whofe fides were an inch higher than the furface of
the quickfilver.

I fhall not pretend to make a comparifon between
the weather of the two fore- mentioned years, nor
inquire how far Mr. Dudley’s conjecture (Phil. Tranf.
N°. 437. p. 66.), as. to the influence of the weather
in producing the earthquake of 1727, might be af-
fedted by fuch a comparifon. I choofe 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 j and beg leave to
fubfcribe, with the greatefl refpedt to that illuflriou$
Society and yourfelf,

Cambridge in New
England, 10 Jan.
1756.

Reverend Sir,

Your moft obedient,

and moft humble Servant,

John Winthrop.

II. The

I *9 ]

II. He ftrange FffeEls of fome effervefcent
Mixtures ; in a Letter from Dr . James
Mounfey, Phyfcian of the Ruffian Army ,
and F. R. S. to Mr. Henry Baker, F. R. S.
Communicated by Mr. Baker.

Mofcow, Sept. 20th, 1756.

Read Jan. 20,
1 7 57 *

MR. Butler, a paper-ftainer, trying to
make fome difcoveries for the bet-
ter 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 falfe-
gold leaf, to each he poured about a fpoonful of
aqua-fortis. They began immediately to ferment,
efpecially the gold-leaf He was very afliduous in
ftirring them, to make the folution perfedt. Having
nothing elfe at hand, he did this with a pair of fmali
fcifiars, at arm's length, carefully turning away his
face, to prevent the fumes from entering his lungs.
He was called away, about other bufinefs, before he
had quite ended his procefs j and foon after wafhed
and fhifted himfelf : but had fcarce finifhed 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 increafed every mo-
ment, and affedted the whole hand with burning pain
and fwelling, which very foon fubfided : but then it
hew into the left hand, and, a few minutes afterwards,
into the infides of his legs, as if fcalding water had

D 2 been

[ 20 ]

been thrown on them. His dockings being imme-
diately pulled off, there appeared a great many red
fpots, as large as (ix-pences, fomething railed abova
the (kin, and all covered with very fmall blitters.

In about two hours after the accident, I did faw
him : he was very uneafy, complaining of pain, and
great anxiety, at the pit of the ftomacb, as if a burn-
ing hot iron was laid on it: fo he expreded himfelf.
His pulfe was regular, but flower and weaker than
natural : he had a naufea, and complained of a very
coppery lmell and tade. I ordered fome alcaline.
volatile medicines, and to drink fmall fack-whey.
He vomited once, and had four or five flools, and
then his flomach grew eafy. But the fcene foom
began again with lancing pain in the left eye. He
continued the fame medicines, drank plentifully of
the whey, and was kept in a breathing fweat, by
which he found fome eafe at night: but whenever
the l'weating leffened, the burning pains returned in
broad flakes, changing from one part of the body to
the other ; fometimes with fhootings in his eye, and
fometimes along the penis, but he had no heat of
urine. His pulfe continued regular, but weak ; and'
in feveral places of his body fuch kind of fpots (truck
out as thofe on his legs.

Monday, the third day, in the morning, after
deeping well, his pulfe was fomewhat railed, and he
continued eafy till about eleven o’ clock, when the
burning pains returned, (hooting from place to place ;
but always fo fuperficial, that he could not diftinguilh
whether it was in or under the fkin. Rubbing the
part affedted with one’s hand gave eafe : but when
tke fweating went off, and the burnings and dioot-

ings

[ ™ 1

tngs became infufferable, I always put him into a
bath of hot water, with fome wood afhes, kept"
ready in the room ; which gave him great relief.
This afternoon he felt violent burning pain in his
great toes, and fometimes in his left hand, with
(bootings up to the (boulder. Once he cried out,
in great pain, that his (boulder was burft ; for he
felt fomething fly out with a fort of exploflon : but,
examining the part, I found nothing particular. Pie
obferved, when the flaky burnings began, they were
as if they kindled from a point, and fla(hed like
lightning, as he termed it. Pie was very often tor-
mented with fuch pains on the pit of the ftomach ;
and this evening had (hootings thro’ the back, with
a pain in the belly. Pie complained of a ftrong fub
phurous fmell, which, he faid, was like to fuffocate
him; tho’ his breathing feemed eafy, and his lungs
no way affected. In the night he was feized with
great pain about the heart, and cried out violently, -
that his heart was on fire : but after taking a dole of
nervous medicines, and being put into the bath, he
was foon freed from this, and palled the reft of the
night tolerably well. At the time of fuch violent
attacks the pulfe continued regular, but ft ill flower
and fofter than ufual,

Tuefday. Pie complained moft of his toes, and-
now and then burning pains- in the forehead.

Wednesday. This whole day it continued moft
in the toes of the left foot ; but in the evening the
pain on the ftomach returned, which lanced to the
left fide, with dartings inwardly. PPe became fo un-
eafy and reftlefs, that I was obliged to add fome opium
to the other medicines ; which anfwered very well.

Thurfday,

4

E 22 3

Thurfday. The pains kept moft in the toes of
the left foot.

Friday. Nothing particular, except his feeling,
with fnarp pain, a fpark (as he called it) fly out of
his right cheek, in the fame way, he faid, as that,
which burft on his fhoulder, but much lefs. He
perceived no pain in that part before this • nor any
thing after, be (ides a forenefs, which lafted for fome
days. Hitherto he had been kept in a continual
fweat : his appetite was greater than his allowance ;
his digeftion good ; and his reft indifferent. From
this time he was not attacked by any violent fym-
ptoms ; and could be quiet, tho’ he did not fweat.

On Sunday he began to get out of bed ; but was
often feized with glowing pains, fuddenly affedting
different parts of the body ; which feldom continued
an hour in one part, but fhifted from place to place :
thefe he was troubled with, in a lefs degree, even
long after he went abroad.

By care and watchfulnefs the violence of the fym-
ptoms were kept under ; and, by the ufe of antidotes
for poifons of the nature of what he received this
from, the difeafe was overcome, and the patient
recovered his perfedt health and ftrength.

Ill, Ex-

C ** I

III. ExtraSl of a Letter of J, Wall, M. D.
to the Rev. Dr. Lyttelton, Dean of Exe-
ter, and F. R. S. concerning the good EffeBs
of Malverne Waters in Worcefterfhire.

SIR, Worcefter, Dec. 22. 1756.

Read Jan. 20, H E Mai verne Water much de-
17 57" ferves encouragement, feveral very-

extraordinary cures having been done by it lately. I
propofe to make a collection of the principal, and
publish them, as an appendix to my little treatife.
Amongft other remarkable inftances of their great
effects are the following, which have happened this
year. A poor woman, formerly a patient in our
infirmary for a fiftulous ulcer in the hip, and another
in the groin, which penetrated the abdomen, has
received her cure there, tho’ fire was reduced to fo
great a degree, as to be thought incurable, and fent
into the country on a milk-diet, &c. as the laft
refource. The difcharge from the fores was pro-
digioufly great, and fo offenfive, that fire could
hardly be borne in a room. The water took off the
ill fmell almofl inftantly ; the difcharge foon leffened,
and grew thick and well- conditioned; her heCtic fym-
ptoms went off in proportion ; and, by continuing
the ufe of the water for five or fix months, fhe is
cured.

A woman with a phagedenic ulcer in the cheek,
throat, and nofe, from an ozaena in the hollow of
the cheek-bone, received great relief this year, in
five or fix weeks time ; the external ulcer, which

had

[ 24 ]

had almoft deftroyed the whole cheek, being healed
in that time, and the other parts much amended.
Her affairs would not permit her a longer continu-
ance at the well ; but fhe continues the ufe of the
water at home, and finds great relief from it there.
1 hope another feafon will complete the cure.

Mr. Parry, of Clent, had his fkin cleared, and
perfectly healed, in five weeks ; tho’, when he came
to the well, he was covered with an elephantiafis ;
for which he had tried mod of the purging waters,
and fea-water, under the direction of Dr. Ruffed,
without effedt. So bad was he, that he could not
move a limb but the fkin cracked, and ouzed out a
filthy fanics ; and he left the mark of his body every
night in his bed. The waters have alfo had an-
other very furprifing effedt on him : for they have
been his Helicon, and converted him into a poet ;
he having written a poem on the occafion, which
he fhewed to Lord Foley and Dr. Dalton.

I know a Lady, who, we had great reafon to
fear, had an internal cancer, who has lately received
great advantage from the ufe of thefe waters, after
other things had been tried unfuccefsfully.

I could lend many more inftances ; but the com-
pafs of a letter will not admit of it : and I fhould
be afraid of having tired you already, did I not
know, that it muff give you pleafure to hear of its
extenfive utility. Iam, Sir,

Your moft obliged

humble Servant,

J. Wall.

IV. An

C 25 ]

IV. An Account of the Carllbad Mineral
TV aters in Bohemia : In a Letter to the
Right Honourable the Earl of Macclef-
field, Prefident of the R. S, by the Rev .
Jeremiah Milles, £). D. F. R. S.

My Lord,

Read Jan. 20, TV /T R. Watfon having favoured the
JL V A Society with an Account of Dr.
Sprengsfeld’s treatife on the Carllbad waters, I have
taken the liberty to fhbmit to your Lordfhip fome
oblervations on the fame fubjedt, which I made
during my ftay in that place ; together with fome
fpecimens of different forts of incruftations, which
are formed by thole waters.

Carllbad is a fmall town, fltuated on the confines
of Bohemia, at the diftance of 14 German, or 28
French, leagues weft of Prague. It is remarkable for
its warm mineral fprings, which are faid to have
been accidentally diicovered, in the year 1370, by the
Emperor Charles the IVth, as he was hunting ; from
whom they received their prefent name of Carllbad,
or Charles’s bath. Thefe waters foon growing into
repute, occalioned the building of a fmall neat town,
conlifting chiefly of houfes calculated for the accom-
modation of the company, who frequent this place
in the fummer time. There are two warm fprings,
which rife in the middle of the town, very near each
other : and tho’ they are fuppofed to be of the lame
Vol. 50. E quality.

C ]

quality, yet, as one is much warmer, it is thought
likewife to be more efficacious than the other. The
former of thefe, called the Brudel, rifes very near
the bed of the fmall river Tepel, which runs thro’
the middle of the town, and is fometimes overflowed
by it. The water iffiies with great force from the
bottom of this fpring, riling in a conliderable body
to the height of fix feet perpendicular ; and would
force itfelf much higher, if it were confined within,
a narrower compafs. The fpring is inclofed with
a fquare wall, within which are fixed three wooden
pipes, which convey the water from the bottom of
the fpring into a refervoir ; which diftributes it into
a number of fmall troughs, communicating with the
feveral bathing-houfes, which are built on both Tides
of the river for the ufe of the patients. This fpring
is fo impetuous, that they are obliged to pave and
ramm the bed of the river, left it fhould force itfelf
up in the channel : and I obferved one place on the
river fide, where it had burft thro’’ the rock ; and
they had been obliged to coniine it, by fattening
down a large ftone on the orifice.

The water of this fpring is fo hot, that you
cannot bear your hand in it ; and the inhabitants
make ufe of it for fcalding their pigs and their
poultry.

The water, when put into a glafs, has a bluifti
caft, not unlike that of an opal and tho’ I could
not difcover, that in 24 hours it had depofited the
leaft fediment, yet there was a thin whitilh fcum
collected on the furface ; and I obferved the fame in
the baths, where it was much thicker and was of
the colour, and almoft of the confiftence, of a wafer.

It

[ 27 ] ;

It has a fait tafte when firft taken from the water,
and is made ufe of by the inhabitants for cleaning
of teeth and fcouring filver : it is called Baden
Fiaum.

Tho’ this water does not depofit any fediment,
yet it is remarkable for the fpeedy and ftrong incruft-
ation of all bodies, which are put into it. Little
plaifter figures are fold here, on purpofe to verify the
experiment ; which, tho’ perfectly white when put
into the fpring, are, in eight-and-forty hours, en-
tirely covered with a yellow incruftation. The fame
effedl is obferved 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 fome parts, where it
has not been neceftary to clean them fo often, I have
feen them covered with an incruftation two inches
thick. In furrounding and covering thefe wooden
pipes, they do not change the nature of the wood ;
but it is obfervable, that they add great hardnefs and
folidity to it : fo that it is affirmed a piece of deal will
laft a hundred years in this water. The head fpring
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 ftony incruftation, which had been
made by the water fince the laft cleaning ; and if
negledted would (as it has fometimes actually done)
choak the paffages, and oblige the fpring to find
vent in fome other place. The incruft ations formed
by thefe 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 fandy nature, of a loofe contexture, and a

E z bright

[28]

bright yebow. It is ufed by the inhabitants as a
gentle coirolive for eating off proud deffi. There is
another of a darkei colour, and a much harder nature,
which is found at the very mouth of the fpring, where
it burfts out of the rock. There are other forts taken
out of the fubterraneous cavities of the fpring at the
time it was cleaned. In what manner they are formed,
is not fo eafy to determine ; unlefs there were, an op-
portunity of obferving in what manner and direction
they lie within the fpring. They feem to be an ala-
baftrine fpar, and are beautifully marked with ftrait
veins of different colours, which may be fuppofed to
have received their tinge from the different colour of
the fpring-water at the time when this fediment, or
rather leum, was formed upon it. They find pieces
of this kind molt beautifully variegated and fome of
them large enough, by ffneering to make tables :
thefe polifh very well, and are not much inferior to
jafper in appearance. It is a part of the manufacture
of the place, to work this fort of ftone into fnuff-
boxes, cane-heads, and lleeve-buttons.

There is likewife another fort of incruffation dif-
ferent from all thefe, which was found fome years
ago, in digging for the foundations of the new parifh-
church, which is about 300 yards diffant from the
Brudel fpring. They found there the fame kind of
water ; but it did not rife with fo great force as in
the other fpring : and they difeovered in the cavities
large maffes of a ffony concretion, which were a
fort of pifolithi, molt of them in a globular, but
fome in an oval form, from the fmalleft fize to the
bignefs of a nutmeg ; the former fort lying in maffes,
the latter generally ffngle and detached : they are

perfectly

[ 29 ]

perfectly white, hard, and fmooth, and appear to
confift of a great number of lamellae formed round
a fmall nucleus. This fort of incruftation has been
found in no other place ; but there are fome of a.
browner fort; and more irregular lhapes, which are
taken out of the Brudel.

The medicinal virtues of thefe waters have been
been treated of by German authors. They are
efteemed to be particularly efficacious in removing
obftrudtions, and in cafes of the done and gravel j
of which the treatife lately produced to the Society
contains many remarkable proofs. They are much
frequented in thefe and in other cafes ; fo that they,
have generally 200 perfons in a feafon drinking the
waters. The feafon begins in May, and ends in
Auguft. They drink them in the following me-
thod, They begin with a purge ; and affift 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 fame quan-
tity, and at the fame intervals, keeping themfelves all
the time in a warm room ; which, with the warmth
of the waters, occafions a moll plentiful perfpiration.
This is repeated for feven or eight days, increaiing
daily two or three cups of the water, till they come
to drink 25 or 30 cups a day. The operation con-
tinues from eight of the clock in the morning till
noon. Some bleed once in the middle of the courfe,
others not at all. After they have finished this courfe
of drinking, they bathe two days fucceffively, con-
tinuing in the bath half an hour, or longer, as their
ftrength permits them, or their cafe requires. This
is the whole courfe $ which is repeated two or three

times.

[ 3° ]

times, or oftener, as they find neceffary. The whole
is concluded with a gentle purge, tho’ the waters
themfelves are of a laxative nature.

There is another fpring. in the town of the fame
nature, but not fo warm, as the Brudel : it is called
the Mill-fpring, and is only tepid. Thofe of a warm
or weak conftitution make ufe of this inftead of the
other, both for drinking and bathing.

There are likewife feveral chalybeat fprings in the
neighbourhood of Carlfbad one at half a mile, and
the other at two leagues diftance from the town.
Both of them feem to refemble the water of the
Pohun fpring at Spa ; but are not near fo ftrong.
They do not ufe them medicinally on the fpot ; but
they are brought to Carlfbad, and fold, in order to.
be drank with their wine. I am,

My Lord, "

With the greateff refpedt,.

Your Lordfhip’s
Moft obedient humble Servant,

Jeremiah Milles.

Grofvenor-ftrcet,
Jan. 19th, 1757.

V. An EJfay towards afcertaining the fpecifc
Gravity of living Men . By Mr . John
Robertfon, F. R. S,

Read Jan. 27, ^JOME time laft autumn I had occa-
1757* flon to draw up a few examples on

the ufe of a table of the fpecific gravities and weights

of

[ 31 ] . -

of fome bodies. Among other things, that occurred
then to me, I thought it might be ufeful to know
the fpeciAc gravity of men. In order to make fome
experiments on this fubjectt, I got a cittern made, of
78 inches in length, 30 inches wide, and 30 inches
deep : it was cOnttrudted as near a parallelopiped as
the workman could, to prevent tedious operations in
computing the horizontal fedlions of the cittern by
the furface of the water. I then endeavoured to find
ten perfons, fuch as I propofed to make the experi-
ments wkhal ; namely, two of fix feet high, two
of five feet ten inches, two of five feet eight inches,
two of five feet fix inches, and two of five feet four
inches. One of each height I propofed fhould be a
fat man, and the other a lean one; but I could not
fucceed in procuring fuch men ; and, after waiting
till near the middle of Odtober, I was obliged to put
up with fuch, as would fubmit themfelves to the ex-
periment at that feafon of the year. They were all
labouring men, belonging to the ordinary of Portf-
mouth yard, and, except one or two of them, who
were middling fized men, were for the moft part
very thin and ilim made perfons. I had alfo pro-
vided a Aiding meafure to take their heights, and
fcales to weigh them in. Every thing being pre-
pared, each man ttript himfelf in an adjoining room,
and put on a pair of trowfers for decency’s fake : his
height was firft taken, then his weight, and then he
immerfed (fortiAed with a large dram of brandy).
A ruler, graduated to inches, and decimal parts of an
inch, was Axed to one end of the cittern, and the
height of the water noted before a man went in,
and to what height it rofe when he ducked himfelf

under

C 32 ]

under its furface ; and of thefe feveral obfervations
is the following table compofed.

Ht. Water

Ht. Water

Water

Weight

N<\

Heights.

Wt.

before

when

raifed.

Water.

immerfed.

immerfed.

Solidity.

Ft.

In.

Pds.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

Pounds.

I

6

02

161

*9>30

21,20

1,9°

2>573

l60,8

2

5

I of

H7

I9> 2f

21,16

1,91

2,i86

l6l,6

3

5

9i

lib

19,21

2 1,06

i,8y

2>5°5

if 6, 6

4

5

140

l9^7

21,21

2,04

2>763

172,6

5

5

Si

if 8

l9>*3

2 1,21

2,08

2,817

176,0

6

5

if

i*8

19,09

2 1,26

2,17

2,939

i83>7

7

i

4f

140

19, oy

21,06

2,01

2,722

170,I

8

5

3i

132

19,01

20,86

1,85

2.f°t

156,6

9

5

4i

121

18,97

20,76

1 >79

2,424

10

i

3f

T46

i8>93

20,66

C73

2>343

146,4

In making of thefe experiments, I remarked fome
inconveniencies, which I did not at firft advert to,
and which, at that time, I could not prevent. I in-
tended, that each man fhould have got gently into
the water, immerfed himfelf all but his head, and fo
have ftaid until the motion of the water had ceafed ;
then he was fuddenly to nave ducked his head under,
and have continued fo a few feconds of time, until I
had noted the rife of the water ; and, after his leav-
ing the cittern, another was not to go in until the
water was free from motion. Could thefe things
have been done, as I had projected, 1 could have
recommended the foregoing table as fufiiciently com-
plete : but I mutt obferve, that befide the men’s being
of different ffzes from what I had defired, they were
in too much hatte to be difmifled (with another dram
7 after

C 33 3

after drefling) ; fo that the water was not quite ftill
when they got into the ciftern : neither could I per-
fuade all of them to lay themfelves down gently,
much lefs to keep their heads under water fo long a
time as one fecond : fo that, in moil of the obferva-
tions, the furface of the water was far from being
quite fo ftill, as to render the meafures perfectly ex-
adt, I being obliged to catch them, as it were, by
taking the mean height between the librations. More-
over, the great area of the ciftern was no incon-
fiderable bar to the accuracy I expelled. However,
as I do not recoiled experiments of this kind any-
where recorded, thefe, perhaps, may give fome fa-
tisfadion to fuch perfons, who may have the curiofity
to deftre fome knowlege on this fubjedt. Were I to
make any more obfervations of this kind, I would
chule an upright parallelopiped, not above 18 or 20
inches in the lide of the fquare ; into which the per-
fon fhould let himfelf down by fteps nailed to the
lide : for in fo fmall an area the motion of the water
would fooner fubfide ; neither would the librations
be any thing near fo large as on a fmaller furface.

One of the reafons, that induced me to make
thefe experiments, was a deftre of knowing what
quantity of ftr or oak timber would be fufticient to
keep a man afloat in river or fea water, thinking
that moft men were fpecifically heavier than river or
common frefh water ; but the contrary appears from
thefe trials : for, excepting the firft and laft, every
man was lighter than his equal bulk of frefh water,
and much more fo than his equal bulk of fea~water :
conl'equently, could perfons, who fall into water,
have prefence of mind enough to avoid the fright

Vol. 50. F ufual

C 34 ] '

ufual on fuch accidents, many might be preserved
from drowning ; and a piece of wood, not larger
than an oar, would buoy a man partly above water
fo long as he had fpirits to keep his hold. Some
things herein advanced will perhaps more readily ap-
pear from the following relation.

The Lords of the Admiralty have appointed, for
the exercife of the fcholars belonging to the royal
academy at Portfmouth, a fmall yacht ; wherein,
during the fummer months, thofe young gentlemen
are taught the practice of working a velfel at fea,
under the directions of one of the mafter-attendants,
aftifted by eight or ten feamen. The laft time this
yacht was out, which was about the beginning of
laft October, one of the fcholars was ordered to
heave the lead. The youth was about thirteen years
old, fmall of' his age, and far from being fat ; as he
was flopping on the gunnel, he fell over-board : the
fea was rough, and the yacht had great way ; fo that
he was prefently at a conftderable diftance from the
vefiel. The fkiff was immediately let down ; but
the painter not being faft, the rope run an end, and
the fkifF went adrift. One of the feamen jumpt
over-board, got into the boat, brought her along-
ftde the velfel, 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, faid, that as he
could fwim very little, and judging he fhould fink
if he drove againft the waves, he turned on his
back, and committed himfelf to their mercy. He
kep; himlelf perfectly calm; and obferved, when a
wave was likely to break over him, to hold his
7 breath,

[ 35 ]

breath, and to fpurt out the water forced into his
mouth. His hat, which happened to be tied by a
piece of firing to one of his coat button-holes, he
often held up with his hand, as a fignal where he
was. Jufl before the boat came up to him he began
to be faint, his eyes became dim, and he thought
himfelf on the verge of finking. This youth, who, by
his prudence, faved himfelf from drowning, muff,
at that time, have been fpecifically lighter than
water.

VI. An Inflance of the Gut Ileum, cut thro ' by
a Knife , fuccefsfully treated by Mr. Peter
Travers, Surgeon , at Lifbon. Communi-
cated ^JohnHuxham, M.D. F.R.S.

Lifbon, Auguft 3d, 1756.

Read Jan. 27,
1757-

ANtonia Jofec da Cofla, one of the
King’s meflengers, was attacked
by two men, and, after receiving two blows on the
head, was dabbed with a knife in the right hypo-
gaflric region, about three fingers breadth above
the os pubis 5 the external wound being larger, as
the knife was drawn obliquely towards the navel,
and might be an inch and half in length, the per-
foration thro’ the peritonaeum about three quarters of
an inch ; the intefline ileum hanging out about ten
or twelve inches, and quite pierced thro’, the wound
in the gut being large enough to admit my fore fin-
ger. After clearing the grumous blood with warm

F 2 water

[36]

water and Hungary water, the uninterrupted future
was made on both perforations ; then dilating the
common integuments of the belly, the inteftine was
reduced, leaving the ends of the two threads at the
fuperficies of the wound 5 and the external incifion
was fewed up by the interrupted future, and com-
mon dreflings of lint and bandage applied. A clyfter
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 pafied in the moft
excruciating pains, attended with continual vomit-
ings : his fever very high, pulfe full and irregular :
he was bled ten ounces this morning, and the like
quantity this evening. The clyfters were continued
thrice a day, with a decodtion of wormwood and
camomile inftead of the warm water, and an ano-
dyne mixture of mint-water, liquid laudanum, and
fugar, to be taken occafionally ; alfo three ounces of
fyrup of rhubarb, with an ounce of the frefh-drawn
oil of fweet almonds, to be taken, a common fpoon-
ful, every two hours.

5th. The bleedings were continued twice this day,
three ounces each time, and the clyfters were ad-
min iftered as yefterday. His pulfe and fever very
high ; he vomited fome excrements ; and towards
night complained of a fingultus.

6th. His bleedings and clyfters were continued as
before. Finding his fingultus and vomiting fo very
troublefome, I ordered him Dr. Huxham’s tindture
of the bark $ which was taken, a tea-fpoonful, fix
times a day, in a little mint- water ; which indeed
greaty relieved him : his fingultus and vomiting be-
came lefs frequent.

C 37 3

7th. I found his fkin moift, and pulfe foftened, I
remained with him about an hour, and found a
plentiful perfpiration throughout the body ; on which
I omitted his bleedings : the clyfters were conti-
nued ; and towards night he had a proper dilcharge
by ftool, very foetid, and infpiffated.

8th. I found, for the firft time, he had flept laft
night, and feemed much in fpirits : the fymptomatic
fever fomething leftened ; and he had purged laft
night, and this day, eight times.

9th. He had five ftools ; his neaufea much abated ;
and a gentle diaphorefis continued.

10th. The hngultus ceafed ; his vomiting very
little ; his pulfe low, accelerated, and thread-like in
its ftroke ; his purging violent ; and he greatly com-
plained of a moft acute pain of the wounded parts.
A paper of the following abforbent powders was
given him every three hours in rice-water. Crabs-
eyes and red coral prepared, of each one drachm,
crude opium two grains : thefe were made for three
dofes, and given as above.

nth. He ilept well j lefs pain j pulfe more equal 5
his diarrhea much the fame.

1 2 tli. The threads, with which I had made the
future of the inteftine, came out of themfelves : the
wound well-conditioned ; fever very little ; his diar-
rhea rather increafed. He fent for me in the even-
ing, being much alarmed, as he thought fome li-
quids he had taken to have pafted thro’ the wounded
parts.

13th. Yefterday he complained of great pains in
his belly : the difcharge from his wound was laud-
able matter, and in good quantity.

[ 38 ]

T4th. He refted well, and was feemingly well
beyond expectation. His diarrhaea dill continuing
troublefome, he took the hartfhorn decoCtion, with
an addition of diafcordium.

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

1 6th. He grew vifibly better each day after j and
on Sept. 7th I difcharged him from any further at-
tendance, his wound being intirely healed over, and
he is in all refpeCts very well, free from pain, or any
inconvenience from the wound. He was kept feven
and twenty days on chicken-broth, and never ad-
mitted to ufe any folids during that time : afterwards
he was indulged with young chickens, &c.

VII. An Account of a Vifitatiojt of the leprous
Perfons in the IJle of Guadaloupe : In a
Letter to Monf Damonville, Counfellor and
AJftft ant- Judge at Martinico, and in the
Office of King s Phyfician at Guadaloupe.

By John Andrew Peyflonel, M.D. F.R.S.
Tranflated from the French.

S I R,

Read Feb. 3, "j" Received the letter, which you ho-
1 noured me with, and the order for
vifiting the perfons afflicted with the leprofy. I was
fenfible of the misfortune of being ordered upon that **

commiffion :

C 39 ]

commiflion : I fay misfortune ; for fuch you will
perhaps think it, when you have read this letter.

It is now about 25 or 30 years fince a very parti-
cular difeafe fhewed itfelf in many perfons in this
ifland Grande Terre. Its beginning is imperceptible :
there appear but a few livid- red fpots upon the fkins
of the white people, and of a yellowifh red upon
the blacks. Thefe fpots in the beginning are not
accompanied with pain, or any other fymptom ; but
nothing can take them away. The difeafe increafes
infenfibly, and continues feveral years in fhewing it-
felf more and more. Thefe fpots increafe, and ex-
tend indifferently over the fkin of the whole body.
Sometimes they are a little prominent, but flat.
When the difeafe makes a progrefs, the upper part
of the nofe fwells, the noftrils are enlarged, the nofe
becomes foftened ; tuberofities appear upon the
cheek-bones > the eyebrows are inflated ; the ears
grow thick ; the ends of the fingers, and even the
feet and toes, fwell ; the nails become fcaly; the
joints of the feet and hands feparate and mortify :
ulcers of a deep and of a dry nature are found in the
palms of the hands and foies of the feet, which
grow well, and return again. In fhort, when the
difeafe is in its lafl ftage, the patient becomes fright-
ful, and falls to pieces. All thefe fymptoms come
on by very flow degrees, one after another, and fome-
times require many years to fbew themfelves : the
patient is fenfibie of no fharp pain ; but feels a kind
of numbnefs in his hands and feet. Thefe people
perform their natural functions all the while, eating
and drinking as ufual : and when even the mortifi-
cation has taken off the fingers and toes, the only ill

confe-

[4°]

confequence, that attends, is the lofs of thofe parts,
that drop off by the mortification ; for the wound
heals of itfelf, without any application : but when it
comes to its laft period, the poor fick perfons are hor-
ribly deformed, and truly worthy of compaffion.

This fhocking difeafe is obferved to have feveral
other unhappy characters ; as, iff, that it is heredi-
tary, and that fome families are more apt to be feized
with it than others : 2dly, that it is infectious, being
communicated per coitum , and alfo caught by keeping
company with thofe fo difeafed : 3dly, that it is
incurable, or at lead that no remedy has yet been
found to cure it. They have in vain tried mercu-
rials, fudorifics, and every other regimen ufed in
venereal complaints, under a notion, that this leprofy
was the confequence of fome venereal taint : but,
inftead of being of fervice, thefe methods rather
ferved to deftroy the patients ; for, far from leffening
the difeafe, the antivenereal medicines unlocked the
diffemper, the mod: dreadful fymptoms appeared,
and all thofe fo treated periflied fome years fooner
than the others, who did not take thefe medicines.

A very jud fear of being infeCted with this cruel
didemper ; the difficulty of examining infeCted per-
fons before the difeafe came to its date j the length
of time of its lying concealed, by the care of the
patients to keep it fecret ; the uncertainty of the
fymptoms, which didinguidi it in the beginning;
produced an extrordinary dread in all the inhabitants
of this illand. They lufpeCted one another, fince vir-
tue and merit had no ffielter from this cruel fcourge.
They called this didemper the leprofy; and confe-
quently prefented feveral memoirs to the generals and

intendants.

[ 4i ]

intendants, laying before them all thefe fadts above-
mentioned ; their juft apprehenfions ; the public
good; the trouble, that this diftruft caufed in this
colony ; the complaints and hatred, that thefe ac-
cufations occafioned among them ; the laws made
formerly againft fuch leprous perfons, and their ex-
pulfion from civil fociety. They required a general
viiitation of all perfons fufpe&ed of this diftemper,
that fuch, as were found infedted, might be re-
moved into particular hofpitals, or into fome feparate
places.

Thefe memorials were fent to court, which, giving
due attention to thefe juft: reprefentations, iflued or-
ders for the required vifitations in the moft conve-
nient manner, for the good of the public and of the
ftate.

In the mean time, the poft of phyfician-botanift
became vacant in the ifland of Cayenne. The mini-
fter was pleafed to name me for it ; and altho’ this
ifland was much more fertile in philofophical difeo-
veries than all the others, he thought proper to
change my deftination, and fent me to this ifle
Guadaloupe ; and did not forget the article of the
leprofy in my inftrudtions.

When I arrived at Martinico in 1727, Monfieur
Blondel de Juvencourt, then intendant of the French
ifles, 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 raife a neceffary
fund for this viiitation, thus made at the expence of
the colony; and Monf. le Mercier Beaufoleil was
chofen treafurer of this fund.

Vol. 50. G Being

[42 ]

Being arrived at Guadaloupe, the Count de Moyen-
court, and Monf. Mefnier, ordinator and fubdelegate
to this intendance, communicated to me the orders
of the general and intendant. I began then to in-
form myfelf of the neceflary inftruCtions for acquit-
ing myfelf of this dangerous commiflion, the difa-
greeable confequences of which I eafily forefaw. I
had fo often heard of thefe leprous fpots, that I
judged it neceflary to know, whether what was faid
was true : for 1 could not comprehend, that a dif-
eafe, which has fo dreadful an end, and the fym-
ptoms then fo terrible, fliould continue ten or fifteen
years without any other appearance than thefe fimple
fpots; which, in themfelves, had nothing very bad,
I demanded an inqueft to be made, in order to fatisfy
myfelf of this faCt : feveral furgeons, as practitioners,
and feveral honeft inhabitants, as obfervers, were ac-
cordingly called together, who all proved the fame
faCt in this inqueft ; which you, Sir, may, and muft,
have feen in the regifter of the fubdelegation of this
ifland. I am, moft lincerely,

S I R,

Your moft humble and obedient Servant,
Auguft io. 1748. Pey florid.

Result of the Visitation.

ift,'^TONE of the patients, whom we vifited, had
any fever ; and they all declared, that they
found no inconvenience nor pain ; but, on the con-
trary, eat, drank, and flept well, performing every
7 natural

[ +3 ]

natural function j which was proved by their plump-
nefs, which appeared even when the difeafe was
moft confirmed.

2. The difeafe began to fhew itfelf in the Ne-
groes by reddifh fpots, a little raifed, upon the fkin,
being a dry kind of tetter, neither branny nor fcabbed,
and without any running, but of a livid-red, and
very ill-conditioned. The Negroes fometimes bring
thefe fpots with them from their own country. The
fpots are confiantly found upon every perfon troubled
with this difeafe ; and are in greater numbers, in pro-
portion as the difeafe grows more inveterate.

3. Among the whites the difeafe fhews itfelf
at the beginning by fpots of a livid violet colour,
without pain ; which are followed by little watery
bladders, particularly upon the legs, which burrf,
and leave fmall ulcers with pale edges, and different
in their natures from the common ulcers.

4. In proportion as the difeafe increafed, the hands
and feet grew larger, without any figns of inflam-
mation 5 fince neither rednefs, nor pain, nor any
oedematous appearance accompanied it ; but it was
the very flefh, that increafed in bulk. And this
growth of the hands and feet was not attended with
any fharp pain, but only a kind of numbnefs.

5. This bloated ftate of the hands and feet was
fucceeded by white deep ulcers under the fkin,
which became callous and infenfible ; and which
emitted only a clear ferous matter like water, and
were but little painful. Afterwards the ends of the
fingers became dry, the nails became fealy, and, I
don’t know how, they were eaten away ; the ends
of the fingers dropt off ; then the joints feparated

G 1 without

[4+]

without pain, and the wounds cicatrized of them-
felves, without the lead need of medicines. In the
increafe of the d idem per hardneiTes and lumps were
formed in the flefh, the colour became tarnifhed,
the nofe fwelled, and the nodrils grew wide : at lad
the nofe ioftened like pade, the voice became hoarfe,
the eyes round and brilliant, the forehead covered
with tetters and lumps, as well as the face j the eye-
brows became very large, the countenance was hor-
rible, the breath fcetid, the lips fwelled, large tu^
bercles were formed under the tongue -} the ears grew
thick and red, and hung down j and, fuch was the
infen fibility of all the parts, that we run pins thro’
the hands of feveral, without their feeling any thing
of it. In fhort, we were adured, that thefe people
peridied by degrees, falling into a mortification ; and
the limbs dropt oft of themfelves, without any con-
fiderable pain, continuing dill to perform well their
natural fundtions.

6. Thefe leprous people lived thus eafy, if I may
be allowed the expredion, for feveral years, even
fifteen or twenty ; for the difeafe begins infenfibly,
and thews itfelf but very flowly.

7. Antivenereal remedies, which were ordered for
almod every patient we faw, were of no fervice :
if they fometimes palliated fome fymptoms, they
very often hadened the progrefs of the difeafe : be-
fides, we never found the parts of generation at all
infedted, nor any thing, that looked like the pox,
about them.

8. Some of thefe people had indeed particular
fymptoms. In fome the hair fell off ; which was
replaced by a finer kind : in others, worms were

found

[ +5 ]

found in their ulcers : want of deep, or frightful
dreams, afflicted Tome > while others quite loft their
voice, or it became effeminate like that of eunuchs ;
and others, we found, ftunk extremely.

9. Almoft all of them, being defirous of conceal-
ing their diforders, endeavoured to deceive us, by
alleging falfe excufes for the caufes of their fores
and ulcers : the greater part of them pretended, that
the rats had eaten off their toes, and that burns had
caufed their ulcers. Thefe were the figures, that
every where prefented to us.

10. We were confirmed in our opinions by expe-
rience, fupported by verbal procefs, that this was the
ftate of the difeafed ; that the diftemper could nei-
ther be the pox, nor the effedt of an inveterate one :
that it had no fymptom of that difeafe ; but that it
had every character of what the ancients called le-
profy, elephantiafis, or luch other names, as they
were pleafed to give it. So that we do not hefitate
to pronounce, that thofe infedted with this difeafe,
as we have defcribed it, ought to be treated as leprous
perfons, and fubjedt to the ordinances, which his
majefty was pleated to iffue againft fucli perfons.

11. Again, we are well affured, from our ob-
fervations, that the diftemper is contagious, and he-
reditary ; and yet the contagion is not fo adtive, nor
poifonous, as that of the plague, fmall-pox, nor even
as the ring-worm, itch, fcald, and other cutaneous
diforders : for, if that were the cafe, the American
colonies would be utterly deftroyed ; and thefe per-
fons fo infedted, mixed as they are in every habita-
tion, would have already infedted all the Negroes,,
whom they come near.

11. We.

f 46 ]

ia. We believe, that this contagion does not take
place but by long frequenting the company of the
infected, or bv carnal knowlege. Befides, we have
obferved, that even fuch long frequenting, or coha-
biting with them, are not always fufficient to com-
municate the difeafe ; becaufe we have feen women
cohabit with their huibands, and huibands with their
wives, in the diilemper, while one is found, and the
other infedted. We fee families communicate and
live with leprous perfons, and yet never be infedted ;
and thus, altho’ experience, and the information of
the lick, prove the contagion, we are of opinion,
that there muft be a particular difpoiition in people
to receive the poifon of the leprofy.

13. As to what regards the diitemper’s being here-
ditary, it is afluredly fo. We have feen intire fa-
milies infedted j and almoit every child of a leprous
father or mother fall infenfibly into the leprofy ; and
yet, in feveral other families, we have feen fome
children found, and others tainted j the father has
died of the difeafe, and the children grew old with-
out any infedtion : fo that, tho’ it is certainly here-
ditary, yet we believe it is of the fame nature with
thofe in families troubled with the confumption,
gravel, and other hereditary diitempers ; which are
tranfmitted from father to fon, without being fo
very regular, as to affedt every one of the family.

14. We could never find out any certain rule of
judging, at what age the difeafe fhews itfelf firit in
thofe, who were begotten by infedted parents : but
we have, as far as we could, obferved, with regard
to women or girls, that the fymptoms begin with
the menfes, and continue llightly till they have lain-

in

. [ 47 ]

in of one or two children : but that then more vifible*
arid indeed more cruel, fymptoms appeared. As to
men, or infants, there is no rule to know it in them.

15. For the explanation of the caufes, fymptoms,
and what we think the mod: likely means of cure,
we refer to a particular diflfertation. Let it fuffice
here to obferve, that we do not imagine, that the
air, water, or manner of living, can produce it ; for we
have found as many fick in the low marfhy places,
as in more airy faline places : and if many Negroes
were infedted in the Grand Terre, where they drink
the foul waters of ponds and lakes, we fee an equal
number ill in places, where they have frefh rivers and
running waters ; but they may prove proper caufes
for unlocking, and difpofing perfons to receive, the
difeafe.

1 6. We believe, and are perfuaded, that the ori-
gin of this difeafe among the Negroes comes from
Guinea : for almoft all the Negroes from that country
told us they came from thence with thefe reddifh
fpots, the firft and certain ligns of the diftemper
begun.

17. As to the infedted Whites and Mulattoes of
this ifland, we were informed, that the difeafe was
not known among the Whites till about 25 or 30
years ago j when, out of charity, they received a
miferable objedt from the ifland of St. Chriftopher’s,
whofe name was Clement j who, about the year
1 694, fled hither. It was the family of the Joflelins,
called the Chaloupers, that protedted him ■, which
family, as alfo that of the Poulins, we found infedted
by communication with this lick man, as old Poulin
declared to us.

It

[ 48 3

It is thought, that others were infedted by com-
munication with the Negro women, efpecially in
the beginning, when the difeafe is much concealed,
and at a time when they did not miftruft one an-
other ; which is very probable, iince we faw many
Mulatto children, born of female Negroes, infe&ed
and leprous.

1 8. However this be, this diflemper has had its
progrefs ; and in this vilitation, which we made, we
examined 256 fufpedted perfons ; that is, 85) Whites,
47 free Mulattoes, and 1 20 Negroes : among whom
we found 22 Whites, 6 Mulattoes, and 97 Negroes,
infedted with the leprofy, amounting to 1 25. There
were fix Whites and five Negroes more, whom we
could not vifit, for reafons let forth in the verbal
procefs. The remaining perfons, which were 131,
appeared to us very found : not that we can anfwer
for the confequences, efpecially with refpedf to the
children, who are the offspring of leprous perfons ;
whether declared fuch by us, or dead before the vifit-
ation, fufpe&ed of infection.

This is the opinion, declaration, and refult of the
vilitation made by us, the phyficians and lurgeon
appointed for that purpofe. At Baffeterre, the day
above-mentioned.

Peyssonel.

Lemoine.

Moulon.

A fecond vifitation was made in O&ober 1748.

VIII. An

I

[ 49 ]

VIII. An Account Gf the late Dif cover ies of
Antiquities at Herculaneum ; in an Ex-
traB of a Letter from Camilio Paderni,
Keeper of the Herculanean Mufeum, and
F. R. S. to Thomas Hollis, Efq\ dated
Naples, Dec. 16, 1756.

Read Feb. 10, T" T is probable, that the firft volume
of antique paintings will be publifhed
at Eafter ; in which there will be fifty copper-plates,
with obfervations by the academy lately eftablifhed
here for illuftrating the antiquities.

Two volumes of the ancient papyrus have been
unrolled. One treats of rhetoric , and the other is
upon mujic ; and both are written by the fame au-
thor, Philodemus. II Signor Canonico Mazzocchi,
a very learned gentleman of this city, is now tranl-
lating them from the Greek. There are two perfons
conftantly employed in unrolling other volumes.

In the month of April were found two fine bufts
of women, the fubjedls unknown. Alfo a young
flag, of excellent workmanfhip, upon a bafe. The
height of it, from the feet to the top of the head,
is three palms and a half. Likewife its companion j
but broken in many pieces ; which however I hope
to reftore.

In May, a fmall young hog.

In October, a female ftatue, of middling work-
manfhip. Alfo a Silenus, a palm and three, inches
high, handing upon a fquare bafe raifed upon -three
Vol. 50. H rows

[ 5° ]

rows of fteps, which are fupported 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 loofe and flowing : the fore-finger of
each hand is extended, and all the reft are clofed.
From his back arifes a branch above the head, where
it divides into two, which, twilling their foliage
round it, fall and fpread thcmfelves below the fhoul-
ders, on each of which a ftand is placed to fix a
lamp. In the middle, betwixt the extremities of
thefe two fmall branches, is a bird refembling a par-
roquet. The whole of this figure is in a very good
tafte. All thefe things above-mentioned are of
bronze.

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

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

At prefent my time is much taken up, in a work
extremely difficult and tedious ; which is this : When
the theatre was firft difcovered, there were found in
it, among other things, feveral horfes in bronze,
larger than the life 5 but all of them bruifed, and
broken into many pieces. From this fad condition
they are not yet reftored. But his majefty having
exprefled a particular defire to fee that effe&ed, if
poffible, with regard to one of them, I refolved to
attempt it > and accordingly have fet about it.

7

IX.

C 5* ]

IX. An Account of form 'Tress difcovered un-
der-ground on the Shore at Mount’s- Bay
in Cornwall : In a Letter from the Rev ,
Mr, William Borlafe, F. R. S. to the Rev,
Dr, Lyttelton, Dean of Exeter.

Reverend Sir, Ludgvan, Jan 24. 1757.

Read Feb. io, EING an airing the other day
*757’ it) with Mrs. Borlafe, on the fands be-
low my houfe, we perceived the fands betwixt the
Mount and Penzance much wafhed into pits, and
bare ftony areas, like a broken caufey. In one of
the latter, Mrs. B. as we pafled by, thought fhe faw
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 dire&dons. We made as much hade
down to the fame place in the afternoon as we could,
and with proper help to make a farther examination.
I meafured and drew the remains ; and about 30
feet to the weft found the roots of another tree, but
without any trunk, tho’ difplayed in the fame hori-
zontal manner as the firft. Fifty feet farther to the
north we found the body of an oak, three feet in
diameter, reclining to the eaft. We dug about it,
and traced it fix feet deep under the furface ; but its
roots were ftill deeper than we could purfue them.
Within a few feet diftance 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

H a on.

C 52 ]

on. What the two firft trees were, it was not eafy
to diftinguifh, there being not a fufficiency remaining
of the firft, and nothing but roots of the fecond,
both pierced with the teredo, or augur-worm. Round
thefe trees was fand, about ten inches deep, and then
the natural earth, in which thefe trees had formerly
flourifhed. It was a black marfh-earth, in which
the leaves of the j uncus were intirely preserved from
putrefaction. Thefe trees were 300 yards below
full-fea-mark $ and, when the tide is in, have at
leaft 1 2 feet of water above them : and doubtlefs
there are the remains of other trees farther towards
the fouth, which the fea perpetually covers, and
have more than 30 feet water above them. But
thefe are fufficient to confirm the ancient tradition
of thefe parts, that St. Michael’s mount, now half
a mile inclofed with the fea, when the tide is in,
flood formerly in a wood. That the wood confifted
of oak, very large, hazel and willow trees, is beyond
difpute. That there has been a fubfidence of the
fea-fhores hereabouts, is hinted in my letter to you,
p. 9 2 j and the different levels and tendencies, which
we obferved in the pofitions of the trees we found,
afford us fome material inferences, as to the degree
and inequalities of fuch fubfidences in general ; as
the age, in which this fubfidence happened (near 1000
years fince at leaft) may convince us, that when
earthquakes happen, it is well for the country, that
they are attended with fubfidences j for then the
ground fettles, and the inflammable matter, which
occafioned the earthquake, has no longer room to
fpread, unite, and recruit its forces, fo as to create
frequent and fubfequent earthquakes : whereas, where

there

[ 53 ]

there are earthquakes without proportionable fub-
fidences, there the caverns and dudfs under-ground
remaining open and unchoaked, the fame caufe,
which occafioned the firft, has room to revive and
renew its ftruggles, and to repeat its deflations or
terrors ; which is moft probably the cafe of Lifbon.
I am, Sir,

Your moft affectionate

and obliged humble Servant,

Wm. Borlafe.

X. Experiments on applying the Rev. Dr.
H ales’ s Method of di filling Salt-water to
the Steam-Engine . By Keane Fitzgerald,
Efq> F. R. S.

Read Feb. 17. N reading Dr. Hales’s account of

purifying fait water, by blowing
fhowers of air thro’, it occurred to me, that fome-
thing of the kind might be applied with advantage
to the fteam or fire-engine, by increafing the quan-
tity of fteam, and confequently diminifhing the
quantity of fuel otherwife neceftary.

As the ftrength of fteam raifed from boiling water
is always in a fluctuating ftate, and, by the beft
experiments hitherto made, has never been found
above T'- ftronger, or weaker, than air ; I was in
doubt, whether fteam, produced by this method,

would

[ 54 ]

would be fufficlently flrong for the purpofe of the
fleam-engine.

I made an experiment firfl on a fmall boiler,
about 1 2 inches diameter, made in the fhape of thofe
commonly ufed in fleam-engines, with a funnel at
the top, of about i inch diameter, for the fleam to
pafs thro’ ; the aperture of which was covered with
a thin plate, fixt at one end with a hinge, and a
fmall leaden weight to Hide on the other, in the na-
ture of a fleel-yard, to mark the flrength or quantity
of the fleam. A tin pipe made for this purpofe,
with feveral fmall holes towards the end, paffed
from a fmall 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 fix inches.
From the befl obfervation I was capable of making
with this machine, by blowing air thro’ the boiling
water, it produced about £ more fleam than was
produced by the fame fire without blowing air
thro’.

I then applied a machine of this kind to the en-
gine at the York-buildings water- works, the boiler
of which is 15 feet diameter. This is a patent-
boiler, a fe<5lion and plan of which is annexed. It
has a double concave, with a kind of door-way or
paffage from one to the other, in order to let the
flame pafs, as it were, thro’ and round the water j by
which means there is no-where above nine inches of
water to be heated thro’, tho’ the boiler is fo large ;
and which, by three years experience, has been
found to require | lefs fuel, than any other fire-en-
gine of equal bignefs.

I fixt

PAHar.Tnm*; Vol.L. TAB. I

C 55 3

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 furface 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 ~
of an inch. Thefe branches are bent in a circular
manner, as in the plan, to anfwer the form of the
concave, and are perforated with fmall holes about
four inches diflant at the thickefl part, and decreaf-
ing gradually in diftance, to within f of an inch,
towards the fmall end. The reafon of thefe branches
being made taper, and the diftance between the holes
decreafing to the fmall end, was in order to give the
greater power to the air forced by the bellows to dif-
charge the water lodged in fuch a length of pipe j
and I obferved by this method, that the water was
gradually forced thro’ the holes to the end of each
branch, and feemed to throw an equal quantity of
air thro’ the water.

The length of the pipe, to which the branches are
fixed horizontally, is about 1 8 feet to the nolle of the
bellows : notwithflanding which length, the fleam,
that pahed thro’ the pipe into the bellows, was fo hot
before the water boiled, as to force thro’ the leather ;
but this I eafily remedied, by fixing a brafis cock of
one inch and a half diameter to the pipe, which hin-
dered the fleam from afcend'ing, until the engine
was ready to work ; and being opened, the air con-
tinually keeps it cold unT the engine has done
working , rhen the cock mult be fhut again.

The bellows is worked by means of a fmall lever,,
and puilies applied to the great iever of the fire-

engine*

[ 56 3

engine, which keeps a continual blaff whilff the en-
gine works ; the ffrength of which is increafed or
dimini fhed, by adding or taking off the weights on
the bellows.

The effedt produced, according to the befl ob-
fervations I could make, was, firft, a very vifible
alteration for the better in the working of the engine.
When the fire was ffirred, as. it muft be every time
fuel is added, the fteam generally became too fierce,
which occafioned great irregularity, and fometimes,
if not watched, great damage to the engine ; and
when the fire abated, the ffroke became immediately
much fhorter, or flopped intirely, if fuel was not foon
added : whereas, by blowing air thus thro’ the water,
it keeps, with any moderate care, an equal ffroke
to its full length, from the beginning to the end ;
and by that means difcharges a confiderably greater
quantity of water. A proof of which was very evi-
dent, tho’ I could not afcertain the exadt quantity :
for the engine, before this improvement, fupplied
but two main- pipes at once* which conveyed the
water to the houfes ferved by them ; but fince could
not take off the quantity of water thrown up, part
of which was obliged to be difcharged into a third
main.

As to the quantity of fuel, that may be faved by
this method, it is not eafy 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 lefiened.
The fire-place, which may be faid to be within the
boiler, and is but barely large enough to contain a
quantity of the roundeft and ffrongeft burning coals

fuflicient

[ 57 ]

fufficient to work the engine, cannot in this be made
lefs ; and confequently will not admit fuch a laving
from this model, as from one properly condru&ed
for the purpofe : a proof of which I made, by try-
ing fome coals of a weaker kind, which were alfo
cheaper ; but on trial were not drong enough to
work the engine, and had therefore been laid by.
Thefe coals anfwered extremely well ; and, as it was
a flower-burning coal, I found the confumption,
whild they laded, was between two and three bufhels
lefs in every fix hours, which is about the time the
engine works each day : and I am fatisfied, if the
perfon, who attends the engine, would take the pro-
per care, more coals could lfill be faved. For at
feveral different times, when I had the coals exactly
meafured, and marked the time, I condantly found,
that it required half a bufhel in the hour lefs than
he generally ufed, and the engine threw up as much
water.

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

Vol, 50.

I

XI. Ex -

[ 58 3

XI. ExtraB of a Letter of Mr . Abraham
Trembley, F. R. S. to Tho. Birch, D.D .
Secret . R. S. Tranfated from the French.

SIR, Hague, i Feb. 1757.

Read Feb. 17, T Wrote to you on the 26th of Novem-
X ber laft, concerning the earthquake
felt fome time before between the Rhine and the
Meufe. I have been flnee informed by Profeflor
Donati of Turin, that a flight fliock had been per-
ceived there on the 13th of Auguft 1756, at a quar-
ter after nine in the morning. It was likewife felt
in other parts of Piedmont. He has alfo communi-
cated to me an extract of a letter of a profeflor of
Genoa, one of his friends, of which the following
is a tranflation.

“ On the pth of November we felt here two
a fhocks of an earthquake ; one at 20 f hours, accord-
“ ing to the Italian way of reckoning ; the other at
il about 4 4 hours at night. I did not perceive the
" firft, being then walking in the houfe ; but I felt
“ the fecond. I was then laid down, and going to
<c fleep. The direction of the undulations was from
north to fouth, as far as I could judge.”

Monf. Donati took laft fummer, according to his
cuftom, a journey, in order to profecute his refearches
into natural hiftory. He was accompanied by Dr.
Afcanius, Fellow of the Royal Society j who was
ftill in doubt about coral s being a compofition of
animals. Monf. Donati carried him to the fea of
Provence. He ordered coral to be fiflied up in his
7 prefence.

[ 59 ]

prefence. He placed it in a large veflel full of water ;
and carried this vefifel on fhore ; where he foon con-
vinced Dr. Afcanius, by his own eyes, that coral is
a mafs of animals of the polype-kind.

Monf. Donati has written to me, that he has tho-
roughly fatisfied himfelf by his laft obfervations, that
the polypes are fixed to their cells ; of which he had
before doubted. What he fays afterwards of coral
appears to me to exprefs with more truth and pre-
cifion what we ought to think of this kind of ani-
mals, than any of the defcriptions, which have been
given fince the new difcoveries have changed our
fentiments on that fubjedt. Polype-beds, and the
cells, which they contain, are commonly fpoken of
as being the work of polypes. They are compared
to the honeycomb made by bees. It is more exadt
to fay, that coral, and other coralline bodies, have
the fame relation to the polypes united to them, that
there is between the fhell of a fnail and the fnail
itfelf, or between the bones of an animal, and the
animal itfelf. Monf. Donati’s words are as follow.
tc I am now of opinion, that coral is nothing elfe
“ than a real animal, which has a very great number
<c of heads. I confider the polypes of coral only as
“ the heads of the animal. This animal has a bone
<c ramified in the fhape of a fhrub. This bone is
<c covered with a kind of fleih, which is the flefli
c< of the animal. My obfervations have difcovered
<l to me feveral analogies between the animals of
cc kinds approaching to this. There are, for inftance,
“ keratophyta, which do not differ from coral, ex-
<l cept in the bone or part, that forms the prop of the
“ animal. In the coral it is teflaceous, and in the
‘‘ keratophyta it is horny.”

The

[ 60 ]

The obfervations, which I have made upon fome
kinds of polype-beds, lead me to think, that what
are called polypes, in thole bodies, which are ob-
ferved to come out of and return into the cells, are
more than the heads of the animal. I have feen
fome, which had a bag, into which pafs’d their
food, which I faw them fwallow ; and another bag,
into which paded the grofieft part of that food, after
it was digelled. This is the cafe, for inlfance, of the
plumed polypes, which I defcribed at the end of the
third memoir, in the work publilhed by me on one
kind of frefh-water polypes.

Monf. Donati has obferved divers very curious
fads in the journey, which he made into the moun-
tains. He has, in particular, traced out an immenfe
bed of marine bodies. This bed croffes the higheft
mountains, which feparate Provence from Piedmont,
and lofes itfelf in the plains of Piedmont.

He has likewife obferved a mafs of rock, which
forms the extremity of a pretty high mountain, the
foot of which is walked by the fea. This rock is,
at a confiderable height, intirely pierced by pholades,
that fpecies of marine fhell-fifh fo well known, which
digs cells in the Hones. It appears from hence, that
this rock was fome time covered by the fea. Ac-
cording to Monf. Donati, the fea has infenfibly re-
tired from the parts, which were walked by it ;
and he thinks, that there muft have been a very
confiderable fpace of time between that and the
time, when this mountain, pierced by pholades, was
covered by the waters of the fea. He deduces his
opinion from the following fad. There is in this
rock, pretty near the furface of the fea, a natural

cavern

[ 6! ]

cavern fill’d with earth. In this earth have been
found ancient Roman farcophagi and lamps. It fol-
lows from hence, that even in the time of the Ro-
mans this part of the rock, in which this cavern
is fituated, was not under water. As there is but a
fmall diflance between the cavern and the furface of
the water, it follows, that the water has funk but very
little fince the time of the Romans. If it has funk
in the fame proportion fince the time, when it co-
vered the top of the rock, there is no doubt, but
that the time, when it was intirely covered by the
fea, mull have been very diftant. If the fame man-
ner of reafoning be ufed, with refpedt to the bed of
marine bodies, mentioned above, which erodes the
mountains, that leparate Provence from Piedmont,
we fhall be obliged to prefume, that the time, when
thofe mountains were under the waters of the fea,
was at a very great diflance from the prefent.

Monf. Donati concludes from thefe fadts, and the
confequences deduced from them, that the Mediter-
ranean fea is a very ancient, and not a modern one,
as Monf. de Buffon imagines.

Thofe, who explain ail the phaenomena of marine
bodies found out of the fea, by an univerfal deluge,
do not admit the confequences drawn by Monf. Do-
nati from thofe marine bodies now under confidera-
tion. It is plain, that mofi: of the naturalifts, who
have obferved a great number of thefe marine bodies,
are not of opinion, that all thofe phenomena can be
explained by an univerfal duluge. Upon thefe fub-
jedts, before we undertake to judge, it is proper to
be well informed of the nature of marine foflile bodies,
which are found in divers parts, and of their fituation
and arrangement. It is necedfary likewife to be ac-
quainted

[ 62 ]

quainted with the Rate of thofe, which are found
actually under the fea, and the revolutions, to which
they are fubjed, while they are covered by it. It is
ftill farther requifite to have an attention to the revo-
lutions, which have been and are conftantly obferved,
with refped to the fea-fhores, which change their
fituation in feveral parts, fome advancing upon the
land, and others retiring. If all thefe different fads
be compared together, it will not be doubted, but
there are adually under the earth marine bodies,
which are found there only in confequence of thefe
flow revolutions, and not of an univerfal deluge.
Perhaps this notion might be extended to the greateft
part of the marine foffile bodies, which are known
to us.

Monf. Donati informs me, that he would be glad
to prefent to the Royal Society an hiftory of coral,
if he thought, that it would be agreeable to them.

XII. A brief Botanical and Medical Hiftory
of the Solanum Lethale, Bella-donna, or
Deadly Nightfhade, by Mr . Richard
Pultney. Communicated by Mr . William
Watfon, F. R. S.

Read Feb. 17
*757-

BE l l a-d o n n A is the name, which
the Italians, and particularly the Ve-
netians, apply to this plant $ and Mr. Ray ( 1 ) ob-
ferves, that it is fo called becaufe the Italian ladies

(1) Nom. Etymol. ad Calcem. Cat. Cant. p. 47. item Hift.
Plant, p. 680.

make

[ 63 3

make a cofmetic from the juice, or diftilled water,
which they ufe to make their complexion fair and
white. Others (2) fuppofe it derives its name from
its intoxicating quality. With us it is generally
known by the name of Deadly Nightfhade, or Dwale,
tho’ this laft term is feldom ufed for it j and the old
French word More lie, which Lobel applies to it,
feems to be quite forgotten amongft us.

Classical Distribution.

X

The Deadly Nightfhade was very foon difcovered
by the revivers of botany after the reftoration of
learning ; and, agreeable to the fafhion of thofe days,
it was greatly debated among the commentators,
whether it was kn©wn, and by what name, to the
fathers of botany Theophraftus and Diofcorides.
Several of the writers of that time, as Dodonasus,
Guilandinus, Fuchfius, and Cordus, were of opinion,
that it was the Mandragora morion of Theophraftus ;
and their fentiments were efpoufed by his learned
commentator Bodasus a Stapel (3), who moreover
fuppofes it the plant, which Diofcorides defcribes,
lib. iv. cap. 69. under the name of Xt e^XV0S
On the other hand, Matthiolus (4) has taken great
pains to prove, that it is not the Mandragora of
Theophraftus ^ and both he and Ruellius (5) are

(2) Bella- donna dicitur quod imaginationes non injucundas ef-
ficiat, vel ut honefte fatis Plinius, quod lufum generet. Bod. Com-
ment. in Theophr. p. 586. quod in fomnis pulchras oftendat vir-
gines feminafque. Ibid. p. 1078.

(3) Locis citatis.

(4) Oper. omnia edit C. B. p. 756,

(5) Ruell. in Diofcor. p. 536.

inclined.

[ 6+]

inclined to think, that the Bella-donna was not
known to either of the Grecian Fathers ; who are
fo Short, vague, and immethodical, in their defcrip-
tions, that it is very difficult, not to fay impoffible,
to apply them to particular fpecies with judnefs and
precision.

Be this as it will, our redorers of botany agreed
in general to rank it with the Solana, or Nightshades ;
and as mod; of them took it to be the Xt y-a.nx.ci
of Diofcorides, fo we find thereto the addition of fome
epithet, expreffive of its deleterious quality, in mod: of
their writings; fuch as lethale, fomniferum, furiofum,
&c. Its general agreement with the plants of that
genus, and alfo the knowlege the world foon had of
its poifonous quality, when it is considered, that fyf-
tematic distributions, from the parts of fr unification,
had not been thought of at that time : thefe, I fay,
were Sufficient reafons for referring it to the Night-
shades. By fuch names therefore is it found in mod
of the old writers j till Clulius, who, oblerving per-
haps, that it differed in its parts of frudffication from
the Solana, adopted the indigenous Italian name, as
a generical one, and called it Bella-doqna. Csefal-
pinus, the fird inventor of a botanic fydem, did not
feparate it from the NightShades. Morifon and Ray,
the revivers of method almod an hundred years af-
terwards, were aware of the difference ; the former
having placed it in a chapter among the Solanis af-
fine s , and the latter condituted a didindt genus of it,
tho’ he retained the old name in his hidory of plants.
Tournefort adopted Clufius's name Bella-donna , and
was followed by all the fydematic botanids, who
have fince wrote ; as Boerhaave, Rivini, Ruppius,

Knaut,

[ 65 ]

Knaut, Magnol, Ludwig, and Haller ; until Lin-
naeus, conformable to the 229th rule of the Funda-
mcnta Botanica (6), rejected it, and very exprefsly
calls it Atropa (7) ; in which he is followed by all
fucceeding writers, who have chofen his method.

Caefalpinus, Morifon, Ray, Herman, and Boer-
haave, who range thefe plants according to the fruit,
place the Deadly Nightfhade among the Herbce Bac -
ctferce in their refpedtive fyffems.

Rivinus, Ludwig, and Chriftian Knaut, who adopt
the number and regularity of the petals in the co-
rolla, for their claflical character, refer it to fuch as
have regular monopetalous flowers. Ruppius, whofe
method is upon the fame plan, brings it among the
irregular monopetalous ones.

Tournefort’s method, which is eftablifhed upon
the figure of the flower, takes it into the firfl clafs
among fuch plants as have campaniform or bell-
flaaped flowers.

Dr. Van Royen, whofe fyftem is undoubtedly a
very elegant attempt towards the natural method in
botany, arranges it among fuch as he calls Oligan-
therae ; namely, fuch plants as have the ftamina equal
to, or fewer in number than, the fegments of the
corolla.

Dr. Haller, whofe method is upon the plan of a
natural one alfo, includes the Bella-donna among the
Ifoffemones, fuch plants as have the number of the
ftamina equal to the fegments of the corolla.

(6) Nomina generica quae ex Graeca vel Latina lingua radicem
non habent rejicienda funt.

(7) Atropos una furiarum. Crit. Botan. p. 75.

Vo I.. 50. K

In

[ 66 ]

In the fexual fyftem of Linnaeus, at this time fo
generally received, and fo well eftabiifhed, it belongs
to the Pentandria monogynia, or fuch plants as have
five ftamina and one ftyle. The plants of this order
are arranged into five fubdiviiions. The Atropa
comes in among thofe, that have declinated ftamina.
According to this method, we fhall give its generical
characters from the laft edition of Linnaeus’s Genera
Plantarum.

The molt obvious and eftential character of the

genus is the globofe berry , and open calyx (8). The

general character is as follows.

©

Atropa Linn. Gen. Plant. Ed. 5. N°. ziz.

The calyx is a gibbous permanent perianthium,
formed of a fingle leaf divided into five acute feg-
ments.

The corolla is formed of a fingle bell-fhaped petal,
the tube of which is very fhort ; the limb ventricofe,
of an oval figure, and longer than the calyx. The
mouth is fmall, expanded, and divided into five pretty
equal fegments.

The ftamina are five fubulated filaments proceed-
ing from the bafe of the flower, and are of the fame
length : at the bafe they are connivent, and at the
top bent outwardly. The antherre are thick and
affurgent.

The germen is of a femiovated figure : the ftyle
is filiform, of the length of the ftamina, and in-
elinated. The ftigma is capitated, tranfverlely ob-
long, and affurgent.

(8) See Lin. Syft, Natune, edit. Lugd.Bat. 1756. p.97. N°. 222.

The

[67 ]

The fruit is a globofe berry, Handing in a large
cup, and containing three cells. The receptacle is
convex on both Tides, and kidney- lhaped.

The feeds are numerous, and kidney-fhaped alfo.

1 The Species.

i . Atropa caule herbaceo, foliis ovatis integris. Linn.
Spec. Plant, p. 1 8 1 .

Atropa Linn. Hort. Cliff. 57. Pvoy. Lugd. 423.

Hort. Upf. 45. Dalib. Parif. 70.

Bella-donna majoribus foliis et floribus. Tourn.

Inft. 77. Boerh. Lugd. II. 65). Miller, plate 62.
Bella-donna didta Solanum lethale. Hill. Herb.
Britan, p. 328. tab. 47.

Bella-donna. Cluf. Pan. p. 503. Bod a Stap. p. 586.
Cat. Giffen. 142. Raii Syn. ed. 3. p. 265. Vail-
lant. Botan. Par. p. 20. Hail. Helv. 507. Dale
Pharmacol. 40 ed. p. 72. Wilfon. Synop. p. 122.
Solanoc ongener Tore campanulato vulgatius, latio-
ribus foliis. Hill. Oxon. III. p. 532. fedt. 13.
tab. 3. fig. 4.

Solanum fomniferum. Fuchf. 689. Icon. opt.
Solanum maniacum multis five Bella-donna. J. B.
III. p. 6 1 1.

Solanum melanocerafos. C. B. pin. 166.

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

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

Solanum fomniferum et lethale. Lobel. Adverfar.
p. 102.

Deadly Nightjhade, or Dwale.

K 2

2. Atropa

[ 68 ]

2. Atropa caule fruticofo. Spec. Plant. 182.

Bella -donna fruteficens rotundifolia flifpanica.
Tourn. Inft. 77.

Solanum frutex rotundifolium Hifpanicum. Bar-
ril. Obf. 2. Icon. 1173.

Round- leaved Jhrubby Spanijh Bella-donna.

3. Atropa foliis fmuato-angulatis, calycibus claufis

acutangulis. Spec. Plant. 181.

Bella-donna flore magno violaceo. Hill. Herb.
Brit. 325?.

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

Large violet-flower d Bella-donna , or Deadly Night-
floade .

The firft of the fpecies here enumerated is the
plant in queftion. The fecond has been found grow-
ing naturally in no other country than Spain. The
third was firft difcovered by Father Feuillee 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 di-
vided into many branches of a brown colour, fuccu-
lent, and of a difagreeable fmell. The radical leaves
are frequently a foot long, and five inches broad, of
an oval acuminated figure, and not finuated on the
edges. The ftalk rifes to three or four feet : it is
much divaricated and branched. The cauline leaves
Hand alternately upon it, in £hape like the radical,

of

[ 69 ]

of a dufky-green colour on the upper part, and a
paler green underneath, being a little hairy on both
fides. The flowers {land on Angle footflalks, in the
alas of the leaves : they are large, of a campanulated
figure, and floated, of a dufky-purple colour with-
in, with a yellow variegated bafe ; the outer fur-
face of the flower is of a greenifh red. After the
flower fucceeds a fine beautiful large berry, which is
black when ripe. For the reft, take in the generical
character.

Moft of the old authors give us figures of this
plant, which, tho’ they convey a general idea of it,
are yet fcarce any of them exact. This fault in ge-
neral runs thro’ all, that I have had an opportunity
of examining ; namely, that the flowers and fruit
are reprefented by much too large in proportion to
the leaves. Morifon’s is perhaps one of the beft
among the old figures : it is, upon the whole, tole-
rable, but not accurate on account of the before-
mentioned objection. Petiver’s does by no means
reprefent the plant juftly, in that the alas of the
leaves are not properly filled up. The moft accurate
figure of all, that I have feen, is Mr. Miller’s, in his
plates adapted to the Gardeners Dictionary, which is
undoubtedly taken from nature itfelft

Place c/ Growth.

The Deadly Nightftiade is found, in many parts of
Europe, efpecially in England and in Auftria ; and
yet in our own country it is happily not very plenti-
ful, inafmuch as our botanical writers ufually reckon-
it among the more rare plants, and ft ecify particu-
larly the places where they have obferved if.

Here

[ 70 ]

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

It is of great importance, that the knowlege of
poifonous plants lliould be extended as much as pof-
flble, that they may the better be avoided, and their
fatal effects thro’ mifcake be guarded again!! : there
can therefore be no impropriety in enumerating par-
ticularly fome of thole places, where our Engliflh
botanifts have oblerved it. Mr. Ray mentions its
being found in the church-yard and lanes about Ful-
burn in Cambridgelhire, Sutton-Colefield in War-
wicklhire : in the Downs : at Cuckftone, near Ro-
chefter in Kent, all the yards and backfldes are
over-run with it. Ray. Syn. Upon Clifton-hill, near
Nottingham ; alfo in a quarry near the cold-bath at
Mansfield. Catal. Netting. In Currenwood - kins,
near Burton in Kendal, and other places in Weft-
morland. fVilfon's Syn. Dr. Wilmer found it among
the bogs going down to Dorking in Surrey, plenti-
fully. In Prefton church-yard, near Feverfham in
Kent. Mr. Watfon found it by the wood-lide, un-
der the park-wall, between Temsford- mills and
Welwyn, Hertfordlhire ; and near the road between
Rochefter and Maidftone. Mr. Blackftone found it
in a lhady gravel-pit near the old park-wood at
Harefield, and in the gardens at More-park near
Rickmanfworth, plentifully. Specim. Botan. About
Rochefter and Chatham, where it grows in the joints

of

[ 71 ]

of old walls, and in moll of the unfrequented lanes :
all'o in Woodllock-park in Oxforlhire, and Up-park
in Hampshire. I have obferved it four or five years
lince on the edge of Charley-forell : about Grace-
Dieu, Leicefterfhire. It grows about North Luffen-
ham in Rutland.

Its Poisonous A L I T Y.

There have been many fatal inllances of the nar-
cotic and deleterious effects of the berries of this
plant. They are upon record in aimed all botanical,
and many medical authors. Children have unhappily
been the principal fufferers this way, being tempted
to eat by the enticing afpedt of the berries, or by
millaking them for fome other fruit. The berries,
however, are not the only part of the plant, which
partake of this intoxicating and poifonous property :
the whole plant is endued with it, and that in no
fmali degree.

If the Bella-donna is allowed to be the Xt^'^vos
fxa.n-x.es of Diofcorides (9), this quality of it was
not unknown to that writer. It was very foon known
to the firlt writers in the medical and botanic way
after the relloration of letters ; and they have not
failed to inform us of it.

Tragus and Fuchlius, who wrote about the middle
of the lixteenth century, both relate inftances of the
poifonous effects of thefe berries : the former, of a
man, who went mad after having eaten of them ;

(9) Mat. Med. lib. iv. cap. 69.

7

the

[72]

the latter, of two children, who perifhed by the fame
means (io).

Lobel (n) tells us, that the berries of this plant
are prefent death ; and informs us of fome youths,
who, after eating them, became ftupified, and died
as from an over-dofe of opium.

Matthiolus (12) relates, from his own knowlege,
of fome children poifoned by the fame means.

Among all the instances of the intoxicating nature
of this plant, there is none more memorable than
that mentioned by the Scotch hifrorian Buchanan (13),
of the deftrudtion of the army of Sweno ; which
is quoted by almoft all authors, who have wrote
upon this plant. It is there faid, that the Scots
mixed a quantity of the juice of thefe berries with
the drink, which, by their truce, they were to fup-
ply the Danes with ; which fo intoxicated them,
that the Scots killed the greateil part of them while
they were alleep. How far this anecdote is to be
depended upon, or whether other concurrent cir-
cumftances ought not to be taken into the account,
I cannot determine.

Our own herbalift Gerard (14) mentions the cafe
of three boys in the Ifle of Ely, who, having eaten
of thefe berries, two of them died in lefs than eight
hours ; but the third, by drinking plentifully of
honey and water, and vomiting after it, recovered.

(10) See Sennert. lib. vi. par. 7. cap. 9.

(11) Stirpium Adverfar. p. 103.

(12) Oper. Omn. p. 754.

(13) Rerum Scoticar. lib. vii.

.<14) Ger. cm. p. 341.

Bodaeug

[ 73 ]

Bodaeus a Stapel, in his comment upon Theo-
phraftus (15), tells us of two youths, that eat two
or three of thefe berries, which they got in the Ley-
den garden, miftaking them for black currants : one
of them periffied, and the other recovered with great
difficulty.

Simon Pauli relates two or three examples to the
fame effedt (16). Wepfer gives us a circumftantial
account of a child about ten years old, who was
thrown into a great variety of convulftve fymptoms
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 cafe of fome children, who,
upon eating thefe berries, were feized with a vio-
lent fever, palpitations of the heart, convullions, and
loft their fenfes. One of them, a little boy of four
years old, died the next morning.

Boerhaave has inftances to the fame effiedt ( 1 9) :
and it was the misfortune of Dr. Abraham Munting,
a noted botanift and profeftor of phylic in the uni-
verfttv of Groningen, to have his own daughter
.poifoned with the berries of the Bella-donna.

It would be almoft endlefs to recite all the in-
ftances to be met with upon this head. The Ger-
man Ephemerides, the Commercium Literarium, and
other periodical works, furniffi us with farther proofs

(15) Page 586.

(16) Quadripart. Botan. p.4.88.

(17) Cicut. Aquat. Hiftoria et Noxas. Bafil. 1716. p. 228.

(18) Hiftoire de l’Academie Royale. 1703.

(19) Hift. Plant. Lugd. Bat. Hort. p. 510.

Vol. 50. L

of

[74]

of the deadly quality of the Bella-donna ; and they
are unhappily corroborated by more recent inftances
in modern authors. The Gentlemans Magazine (20),
Mr. Miller in his Gardeners Dictionary, and Dr.
Hill in his BritiSh Herbal (21), exhibit to us feveral
melancholy cafes of this kind.

The effects of this plant have been fo extraordi-
nary, that feveral diftindt treatifes have been pub-
lished profefledly upon it. The mod: remarkable of
thefe is that of J. M. Faber’s, printed at Auglburg
in 1 677, under the following title ; Strychnomania
explicans Strychni manici antiquorum, vel Solani fu-
rioji recentiorum hijioriam. In this tradt the author
has collected a number of cafes from various hands,
concerning the poifonous quality of the plant in que-
stion. In the year 1724. C. Sicelius published a
treatife upon this plant, under the title of Diatribe
de Bella-donna . ‘Jenee. 8vo.

Medical History.

Who it was, that was bold enough to venture firft
upon the internal ufe of this plant as a medicine, I
cannot fay; chance very probably led to it, as in
many other cafes. In the mean time, there is reafon
to believe, that it is not altogether a modern practice.
One would be led to think, by the accounts given us
in Matthiolus and Bodaeus, that in their days its
operation was very well known ; and that they knew
how to dofe it very exadtly, fince they give us an

(20) For Auguft and September 1747, and for Sept. 1748.

(21) Page 329.

account

[ 75 ]

account of tricks being played with it, by infilling
the quantity of a fcruple of the root in wine, and*
intoxicating people therewith. The former of thefe
authors relates, that the diftilled water from this
plant, in a dofe of about two or three fpoonfuls, was
exhibited by fome people in inflammations of the vif-
cera ; and, he obferves, with good fuccefs. Parkin-
fon feems to have tranfcribed this account, refpefting
this ufe of it ; but neither of them fpeak of it from
their own knowlege. It may be questioned, how-
ever, whether this could aft otherwife than as mere
water ; fince the principles with which this plant is
endued, do not feem capable (if one may judge from
its fenfible qualities and effedts upon thofe who have
taken it) of rifing in a ftill.

Mr. Ray (22), from the German Ephemerides,
an. 13. obf. 64. prefents us with the relation of a
fhepherd in Denmark, who adminiftered an infufion
of the berries in wine in the dyfentery, which was
there very common, and very obftinate ; adding,
that it was attended with great fuccefs, not only re-
straining the flux, but carrying oft the diforder by
fweat. Mr. Ray obferves further, that, correfpondent
with this practice, Conrade Gefner adtually prepared
a fyrop from the berries, and gave it in dyfenteric
cafes with great fuccefs. This account is found in
Gefner’ s Epiftles, and is quoted alfo by Dr. Haller,
(23) when treating of this plant. Poflibly its effi-
cacy in thefe cafes may be accounted for, from con-
fidering it merely in the quality of an opiate ; and

(22) Raii Hift. Plant. I. p. 68 r.

(23) Enumerat. Stirp. Helvet. p. 507.

L 1

there-

[ 76 3

therefore it cannot be advifeable to ufe it, when fafer
medicines are always at hand.

Its external ufe feems to be of as long a date as
its internal j and it was on account of its cooling
and repellent quality, that it came into credit as a
fucus among the Italian ladies. Matthiolus recom-
mends it in the eryflpelas, the fhingles, and other
inflammatory diforders of the fkin. The leaves,
applied in the form of a cataplafm, are much cele-
brated by many writers, as of great ufe in refolving
tumors, particularly of the bread:, and even fuch as
are of a fchirrous and cancerous nature. Many of
the old authors (24) mention this application of it,
among other of the cooling and narcotic herbs j fuch
as the common nightfhade, henbane, hounds-tongue,.
&c. which it was ufual to apply on fuch occafions.
Mr. Ray informs us, that Mr. Percival Willughby
experienced its efficacy repeatedly, in difcuffing hard-
nefles and cancerous tumors in the bread:.

Its relaxing quality is very furprifing, as appears
by that memorable cafe related by the lafl:-men-
tioned author, of a lady’s applying a leaf of it to a
little ulcer, fufpedted to be of the cancerous kind, a
little below her eye, which rendered the pupil fo
paralytic, that it loft all its motion for fome time
afterwards : and that this event was really owing to
that application, appears from the experiment’s being
repeated with the fame effedt three times.

The German phyficians have gone much further :
they have even ventured to give it inwardly in can-
cerous cafes. Dr. Haller, when treating of the qua-

(24) See Foreftus, Etmuller, and the old chirurgical writers.

lity

[77]

lity of this plant, refers to Junker, and others of the
modern phyficians, as recommending the decodtion
of it with caution, that it be not given in fuch quan-
tity as to caufe deep. So long fince as the year
1739. there was a thefis publifhed at Hall, by Mi-
chael Albert, in which the Bella-donna is propofed
as a fpecific in cancerous cafes. What other phyfi-
cians patronize this ufe of it, I cannot fay, having
but little opportunity of confulting thofe academic
pieces, which are of fuch eminent ufe in compilations
of this kind. Thus much is certain, that its ufe, in
fuch cafes, rather gains ground ; and the cafe, pub-
lifhed in the French Bibliotheque (25), printed at
the Hague, of an ulcerated cancer being radically
cured by an infufion of the leaves of this plant in
water, deferves particular attention, on account of its
being fo well attefted. The cafe is extracted from
an inaugural thefis of Profefior Lambergen’s, who
was the phyfician concerned (26). The event was
fo fingularly happy and fuccefsful in this inftance,
that we hope it will need no apology, if we give a
particular detail of it.

The perfon afflidted with this miferable difeafe
was a widow of 34 years of age, and mother of
four children.. She had but weak nerves, and had.
been fubjedt to inflammatory diforders. She informed
M. Lambergen, upon examining her, that fhe had
had a quinzy fix times, which had twice ended in
fuppuration : that eight years before her right bread:

(25) Bibliotheque des Sciences et des beaux Arts pour les mois
Jan. Fevr. Mars. 1755.

(26) Tiberii Lambergen Ledtio inauguralis, filters Ephemeri-
den perfanati Carcinomatis, Groning. 1754.

had

f 78 ]

had fuppurated, and dilcharged much matter : that
two years after it fuppurated again ; and that at the
end of another year both breads underwent the fame
fate ; fince when the right had remained fchirrous,
but was without pain, except when die handled it.
She had fuckled her youngeft child about dx months,
when die was feized with a fever ; and the left bread:
(with which only die could luckle dnce the other
had fuppurated) foon dwelled, inflamed greatly, was
very painful, and foon became almod as large as a
child’s head. Dr. Lambergen being called in, or-
dered copious bleeding, and that the child diouid
fuck as little as poflible. She took fome medicines,
and foon recovered.

A year pafled after this without any bad accident ;
when the lunar evacuations, which die had had from
her 1 8th year, beginning to diminidi, die felt a
pricking pain in her left bread, and her right began
\to dwell. Upon a fright, die had a fall, which ac-
cident increafed both the pain and dwelling j and
die had rccourfe again to Dr. Lambergen.

He found the tumors in her right bread much
enlarged, and fo conne<ded together, as to feel like
one large one only. On the upper part of the bread,
upon the pedtoral mufcle, it felt rugged, unequal,
and almod as hard as a done. The patient com-
plained of a condant itching in the part, and at
times a pungent pain, which deemed to dioot from
the armpit, and end in the tumor. Under this arm-
pit the glands were hard and fchirrous ; and the left
bread was not exempt from the like indurations. A
vein or two on the right bread was a little enlarged,
otherwife no alteration. It was no hotter than com-
mon ;

[ 79 ]

mon ; nor had it undergone any change of colour.
To mitigate the pain of the fchirrous, Dr. Lamber-
gen ordered the following plaider :

Ung. JDiapomphol. 5 ij. Amalgam, mere, et
Plumb.' 3 iij. Sperm. Cet. 3 j. M.

With this external application he preferibed likewife
the following powders, to be taken night and morn-
ing, and gave directions relating to the non-naturals.

Coral, rub. Antimon. Diaphoret. illot . Sper.
Ceti a 3 ij« Laud. gr. vj. M. for 1 2 dofes.
Under this method the pain remitted, but the tu-
mor inlarged, and a little riling was obferved on the
upper part of it ; and towards the nipple, where
there was the lead: hardnefs, a fmall fpot was per-
ceived, which, at the next return of the catamenia,
inflamed, and became the feat of the mod excruci-
ating pain. Dr. Lambergen, during this period, in
the room of the powders, fubdituted emmenagogic
pills, and ordered the pediluvium. She lod ten
ounces of blood from the foot : and by thefe means
the fwelling of the bread diminifhed, and the pa-
tient buffered very little for fome days. This truce,
however, was but temporary : the riling on the upper
part of the tumor began to inflame, itched intoler-
ably, the pain returned, was almod perpetual, and
infupportably pungent.

In this dreadful date was the patient, when Dr.
Lambergen defired the late Dr. du Bois, Dr. Winter,
phyfician to the houfe of Orange and profelfor at
Leyden, together with Dr. Van Arum of Leewarden,
phyfician in ordinary to the Princefs dowager, to
vilit her. Thefe gentlemen examined her many times,
and unanimoufly agreed, that it was now no lei's than
7 a con-

[ 80 ]

a confirmed cancer. It was Profeflor Winter, who
acquainted Dr. Lambergen, that he had heard M.
Degner, a celebrated phyfician at Nimeguen, fpeak
of the Bella-donna, as a fovereign remedy againft
inveterate fchirri j adding, neverthelefs, that he had
never tried it himfelf.

In fuch a cafe as this, where death feemed inevi-
table, a dangerous remedy is to be preferred to none
at ail. Dr. Lambergen therefore determined to try
it upon his patient ; but, knowing the character,
which the plant bore, he refolved to try the effedts
of it upon himfelf firft. To this end, he poured ten
tea- cups of water upon a fcruple of the leaves, which
had been gathered and dried three years : he let it
ftand all night lukewarm. Of this inftiflon he took
half a tea-cup full, being the twentieth part of the
whole, in the morning failing ; but perceived no
eftedt from it. This determined him the next morn-
ing to double the dofe ; which produced a flight ver-
tigo, and for an hour or two an uncommon drynefs
in his mouth. Being thus prepared, as he knew his
patient had but a weak nervous fyftem, he deter-
mined to begin with caution.

It was the 14th day of January 1745, that fhe
took the firfi dofe, being one tea-cup full. It had
the fame effedt upon her, as it had had on her phy-
fician ; and moreover rendered her pulfe weaker and
quicker than ufual. For fevcn mornings fucceflively
lhe took the fame dofe, which, in general, produced
the fame effedt. At the fame time the plafler 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

*

[ 8* ]

more frequently, and more acute ; fo that die was
reduced to a mod deplorable condition. The riling
on the upper part of the bread: became livid ; the
place near the nipple before-mentioned inflamed,
and was very painful ; and two little pointed
rifings were obferved upon it, together with a flight
dffure or opening. As the menflrual period was
approaching, the infufion and the powders were
omitted, and the pediluvium fubdituted. A mix-
ture with crabs-eyes, fpr. nitri. d. and fyr. e mecon.
relieved the patient from fome fpafmodic complaints
flie had at this time, and the me^fes returned more
copioufly than ever. The 27th l'xie took fomething
more than a tea-cup of the infufion, being the frit
dofe of the fecond fcruple : her body was foluble ^
her bread: lefs dwelled, but the pain returned very
acute, and deemed to terminate in the little callous
eminence on the upper part of the bread:, which
now likewife became more pointed. The 28th die
took the fame quantity of the infufion. The two
little pointed places near the .nipple were now be-
come two little holes, but had not difeharged any
matter. The other fore on the upper part of the
bread: was more livid dill, and more painful, and
had rifen into two little whitidi points. The pow-
ders were omitted this night, as they had been now
and then at other times. The 29th, very little deep
the foregoing night, great pain from the upper fore,
the holes near the nipple were become larger, and
had run a yellowidi matter. The fame dofe of the
infudon as before. At night fhe had mod acute
pain from the upper fore. The 30th both fores
were nearly in the fame date. All remedies were
Vol. 50. M this

[ 82 ]

this day laid afide, except the infufion ; of which
die took a cup-full and an half; but her mouth foon
became fo dry, that die could fcarcely fwallow a little
tea ; and the vertigo was fo violent, that die dag-
gered : her fight was fo weakened, that die could
fcarcely read. Notwithdanding this, die had no
anxiety, nor naufea, nor pain ; but her appetite was
lefs, and her pulfe quicker. The 31b all the lad-
mentioned fymptoms continued the fame : the two
pointed eminences on the upper part of the bread
were become two little holes likewife, and had dis-
charged a few drops of good matter.

The id of February the upper fore had difcharged
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 difcharge
for Several days. The pulfe and appetite were good,
deep natural, the body open. The pain, indeed,
was continual, but lefs acute. The 2d, little altera-
tion. The fores difcharged but little. From this
time they were drefied twice in a day with Nutritum ,
and over all the Emp. Saturnin. The pain was not
fo violent, but was felt in another place, which be-
gan to fwell. From the 6th to the 28th better and
worfe : the pain more or lefs acute ; and the cata-
menia paffed without any bad effects. At the end
of this month the fchirrus all over the bread was
much Softened, and fenfibly diminifhed. This was
the opinion of Dr. du Bois and Dr. Winter, as well
as of Dr. Lambergen.

The id of March an inflammation arofe on the
foie of the right foot, and extended up the leg about
four fingers above the heel. It ended in two great

blitters.

C 83 ]

blifters, as if from a burn, which were embrocated
with wine and oil, and nothing bad followed. To
the 2 2d, the patient was. better and worfe. The
menftrual period did not pafs without fome difturb-
ance. The 26th (he began with the infufion of the
tenth fcruple, and every thing went on for the better
to the end of the month.

From the ift of April to the 6th the ulcers were
firm and dry ; but the pain in the bread increafed.
Several blifters arofe on the foot, along the leg, and
even upon the thigh, on the left fide. One upon
the foie of the left foot, for 24 hours difcharged an
incredible quantity of thick whitifh lymph. The
pain from thefe blifters was beyond all fine had felt
before. It continued the 7th, 8th, and 9th ; and new
blifters arofe on the thigh. The excoriated parts
were all drefled with fpirit of wine. During the
difturbances from thefe new complaints, the bread;
was likewife painful, and fwelled, tho’ the ulcer near
the nipple was dry, and the other difcharged little
or nothing. The 10th (lie had lefs pain both in her
foot and in her bread. The upper fore was clofed \
the foot difcharged lefs. From the 1 ith to the 15th,
notwithftanding the weather was very cold, her pain
dill lefiened. The ulcer remained firm, and the
whole bread was foftened : her foot mended ; and
all went on for the better till the 1 8th, when the
ulcer on the upper part of the bread opened again in
three places, and difcharged a thick yellowish matter.
The nipple of the left breaft alfo became inflamed,
and furrounded with pimples, which difcharged a
little lymph. In the mean time the cancerous breaft
was more painful than on the preceding days. The

M2 1 9th

[ % ]

ipth the pain lefs, tho continual. Some difchargs
from the foot fHil ; but the ulcers on the thigh were
healed, and another blitter arofe. The acth the
upper fore on the breatt clofed again ; but that near
the nipple feemed to threaten another opening, and
in fadt it did, on the 24th, in three places. On the
20th the catamenia returned very copioufly, and lu-
perfeded the uie of the pediluvium. The 2fth fhe
began with the infutton of the fourteenth fcruple of
the Bella donna, which, it is to be obferved, was
fcarcely ever omitted. The 26th a blitter arofe at
the end of the fore- finger on the left hand, was very
painful, and difeharged a great quantity of ferous
matter. The next day both ulcers on the breatt dif-
eharged a fmall quantity of lymph ; otherwife the
breatt was lefs painful.

From the 28 th of April to the 7th of May every
thing went on for the better : the cancerous breatt;
was almcft without pain. T he ulcers ran very little ;
but the excoriation and pain were much worfe from
the nipple of the left breatt, which alfo difeharged a
great quantity of lymph. The 8th the upper ulcer
on the right breatt: clofed ; but the other opened
again. From the 8 th to the 16th no change for the
worfe : on the contrary, the left breatt was well j
the right lefs painful, and difeharged but very little.
From the 18th to the 2 2d the menftrual 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 fomething worfe, and
there was fome difeharge from the breatt.

The Nutritum was now difeontinued, as too
emollient. The 27th the infutton from the eigh-
teenth fcruple of the JBella-donna was begun with.

From.

I

[ 85 ]

From the 28th of May to the 12th of June the
bread Hill painful : in the mean time, however,
ulcers remained firm and dry. The tumor and fchir-
rofity of the bread: diminidied in fuch a manner, that,
excepting its being a little bigger than the other, it
had inti rely refumed its natural form and colour. No
indurations in the left bread:, nor of the glands in
the right armpit.

The 13th of June fhe took a journey, was abfent
fome weeks, and returned in perfect health. Dr.
Lambergen advifed her, but in vain, to continue the
infufion. Neverthelefs, fhe was obliged now and then,
when die felt pain, to have recourle to it, and was
always relieved by it : and in the courfe of another
year the remains of the fchirrus were totally wafted.

It is now (1754) eight years fince, and fhe has
had no relapfe, no pain, no hardnefs in her bread;
has married a fecond hulband, by whom die has
had a child, which die fuckled. What more can
be requifite to afcertain a cure ?

Thus we have given a detail of this memorable
cafe ; wherein we fee, that fix drachms of one of the
moft poifonous vegetables that the world produces
actually cured a woman, whom the mod able phyfi-
cians had given up as incurable ; and who mud
otherwife have f. ifhed her miferable days in the
mod deplorable bufferings..

It mud not be omitted, that notwithdanding the
daily ufe this woman made of the Bella- donna, die
was not accudomed to it in the manner as people are
who take opium. Dr. Lambergen always prepared
the infufion himfelf, and never, had oc?afion to make

[ 86 ]

it ftronger than at the firft, as the patient always
found the like effe&s from the fame dofe.

So fingular and happy an event, as attended Dr.
Lambergen’s adminiflration of this plant, certainly
merits the attention of the medical profeflion ; and
furely, one may add, entitles the medicine to future
trials. And as the authenticity of the cafe will not
be difputed, it is therefore greatly to be wifhed, that
thofe gentlemen, who belong to the public hofpitals,
and others that have frequent opportunities of attend-
ing patients labouring under this deplorable difeafe,
would give it a further trial. A cancer, even in its
latent, but much more in an ulcerated date, is al-
lowedly one of the molt terrible and formidable
diforders to which human nature is liable ; and hath
long been ranged, very juftly, among the opprcbria
medicorum , inftances of a radical cure being rarely
met with : indeed, one of the firft phylicians (23) 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 converfant in phyfic and furgery,
know very well, that that operation is frequently no
lecurity againft its return.

I have here endeavoured, in as concife a manner
as might be, to exhibit the hiftory of this extraordi-
nary plant. The being able barely to know and dif-
tinguilh one plant from another, however praife-
worthy in itfelf, ought not to be the only view of
our botanical refearches : we fhould do more, and

(23) Dr. Van Swieten Comment, in Aphor. Boerh. fe&. 492.

endeavour

I

[ »7 ]

endeavour to invedigate, in the moft attentive man-
ner, the properties of vegetable productions, in order
to accomodate them to the various exigencies of hu-
man life.

Several clades of vegetables, from their merely
herbaceous tade, and, as far as we can conjecture,
from their other fenfible qualities, feem to be formed
by the great Author of nature principally for the
nourifhment of animals : but thofe plants, which
are endued with principles fo highly aCtive, as, when
taken in fmall quantities, to be able to put an end
to animal life ; fuch deferve to be more minutely
inquired into, as under certain circumdances thefe
principles, properly directed, may conduce to great
and good ends. We ffiould endeavour, therefore,
diligently to inform ourfelves, in what quantities, and
under what circumftances, the poifon ends, and where
the medicine begins. In this refpeCt we have certainly
a notable inftance in the hiftory before us in Profeffor
Lambergen ; whofe induftry, more efpecially as it
was attended with fuccefs, merits our greateft ac-
knowlegements ; inafmuch as he has informed us,
with no fmall degree of accuracy and precifion, that
the plant under confideration, which is well known
to be of a highly deleterious nature, and that even
in a fmall quantity, may be fo managed, as to be
productive of good effeCts, not to be found poffibly
by any other means.

Some of the mod efficacious medicines are fuch,
as, being poffeffied of highly aCtive principles, do
greatly didurb the animal ceconomy in their opera-
tion : neverthelefs, however rough the modus ope-
randi of any medicine be, if its efficacy by repeated

trials

[ 88 ]

trials be approved and confirmed, this is fo far from
proving a difcouragement to its life, that we ought
to regard the difcovery of fuch a one as a valuable
acquifition to the province of phyfic, efpecially if
it is applicable in defperate and obfiinate cafes. The
Bella-donna, on the contrary, fuppofing future trials
Ihould prove it as happily fuccefsful as Profefior
Lambergen has experienced it, is a medicine of a
different kind j inafmuch as its operation is mild,
when compared with that, which attends the exhi-
bition of many others : we fhould therefore have
double reafon to rejoice at the difcovery.

XIII. An Account of fane of the Antiquities
dif covered at Herculaneum, See. In a
Letter to Thomas Birch, D.D. Secret .
R. S. By John Nixon, A. M. F. R. S .

Reverend Sir,

Read Feb. 24, / ■ ^ H E fubjedt of this letter are fome
i curfory obfervations made by me
laft fpring, upon viewing the curiofities found at
Herculaneum, and the places adjacent. I deferred
putting them into any order, till I came to town, and
had feen, by perufing the Tranfadtions of the Royal
Society, whether fome abler hand had not already
prevented me, and made any further communication
needlefs : but as I now find, that no notice has been
hitherto taken of feveral particulars, which, in my

humble

C 89 ]

humble opinion, deferved it, as tending to throw
new light upon antiquity ; I beg leave to trouble you
with my thoughts upon them.

I fhall begin with the mufeum ip the King of the
Two Sicilies’ palace at Portici ; wherein, amongft a
great number of other ancient and valuable remains,
are thefe that follow, viz,

1 «

I.

Several tali htforii. The tali are fuppofed to
have been known to the Greeks ( 1 ) by the name of
5 A^pdiyaAoi as early as the Trojan war. But as the
monuments before us are undoubtedly Roman, I
ihall confine my remarks upon them to the ufages
received among that people 5 and being guided partly
by what appears upon the face of thefe antiquities,
and partly by what the Latin clafiics have delivered
in general upon this fubiedt, beg leave to obferve, in
the firft place, that the tali had each of them but
four fides, two broader, and the other two more nar-
row, on which they would ordinarily reft ; as the
rounding of their ends did not eafily permit them to
ftand upon thofe parts. However, the poflibility of
fuch a pofition (tho’ it did not occur to me to make
the experiment with thefe pieces) may be deduced
from a paflage in Tully (2).

Further, with regard to the manner of diftinguifhing
the feveral tides of the tali , fome learned (3) writers

(1) Horn. Iiad. 23. v. 88.

(2) Ut enim ft hoc jingamus , ejfe quafi Jinem it a jacere

talum , ut reflus affljlat , qui ita talus erit jaflus, ut cadat retlut
Cic. de Fin. L. 3. § 16. Ed. Verb.

(3) Vid. Dacier not. on Hor. L. ii. Od. 7. v. 25, See.

Vol. 50. N fpeak.

[ 9° ]

fpeck of it according to ideas taken from the fafh’on
of marking the modern dice, and (I may adc) the
ancient l fierce likewife : but, as I did not obferve
the traces of any engraving, painting, &c. upon the
pieces under confideration, it feemsto me more pro-
bable, what others affert (4.), that this diflindtion
was effedted by the different configuration of the fides
tbemfelves, and not by any numbers marked upon
them. And concerning this notation, the common
opinion is, that the appearances exprefling one and
fix , as alfo thofe reprefenting three and fioury were
oppofed to each other refpedtively.

But leaving thefe (however probable) conjedhires,
we can with certainty determine the number of the
tali ufed in this game to have been four j and like-
wife, that among the various chances reful ting from
them, the moft fortunate one was that, wherein each
of the fides exhibited a different afpedt. The former
of thefe circumftances we learn from Tully (y), as
we do the latter from Martial, who, in a difiich fent
with a prefent of a fet of tali to a friend, fays.

Cum Jieterit nullus valtu tibi talus eodem ,
Muncra m e dices magna dediffe tibi (6).

It may further be colledted from Horace, that the
throw above deferibed had the appellation of Venus :
for when he intimates, that the prefident of the feafl
was eledted by the tali (7), he mull be fuppofed to

(4) Tfl rtl <y*u'Z ry x.a.Tc t <f ’Arp dycLKov Htu[j.o.7os ’A Ao'cti/
tiyzv. Jul. Pollux. L. ix. c. 7.

(5) Quatuor tali jafti cafu 'venereum effeiunt. Cic. de Div. L. i.
§. 13. Ed. Verb.

(6) Mart. L. xiv. epig. 14.

(7) Net regna vini for ii ere tails, L, i, od, 4. v, 18.

mean

[ 91 ]

mean the moft favourable chance upon them. But
he (8) elfewhere gives us to underhand, that the
chance, which determined that election, was called
V m/s.

Propertius is fomewhat more explicite in align-
ing the title of this throw, as above ; and at the fame
time informs us further, that the contrary (and con-
fequently mod; unlucky) one was termed canes.

Me quoque per talos Venerem queer ent e fecundosy
Semper damnoji fubjiluere canes (9).

Now it feems to be agreed among the antiquaries,
(10) that canis on the tali was unity : and indeed
this opinion is countenanced by Perfius (11), who
contrails canicula with fenio. If this be admitted,
then the canes of Propertius mull have been the
chance, wherein all (or at lead the greater number
of) the tali came up (as we fhould exprefs it) aces.

There have been feveral other conjectures propofed
by learned writers upon this fubjeCt, which I choofe
to omit, for want of proper authorities from the
claffics to afeertain them. This is likewife the cafe
with regard .to the rules obferved by the ancient Ro-
mans at this diverfion. It is not at all improbable,
that as we have feveral fpecies of games upon the fame
fet of dice, cards, &c. fo they might have the fame

(8) Quern Venus arbitrum t licet bibendi ? L. ii. od. 7. v. 25.
Some think, that this caft was alfo named bafilicus from the ufage
here mentioned. Sanad. in Loc.

(9) Prop. L. iv. el. 9. v. 18.

(10) Jul. Pollux. L. ix. c. 7. Lubin. on Perf. fat. 3. v. 49, kc.

(11) 'Quid dexter fenio ferrety

Damnofa canicula quantum

Raderet Perf. fat. 3. v. 48.

N 2

variety

[ 90

variety on the tali : and if there were any laws
eftabiifhed by cuftom for the regulation of this game
in public, yet piivate parties might be at liberty to
innovate at pieafure, and agree upon whatever terms
cf play were mod: agreeable to their inclinations or
circumftances. In this light (according to (i 2) Eraf-
mus) we are to confider the account, which Au-
guflus gives of himfelf and his friends, in an epiftle
to Tiberius (13): Inter canam lujimus yegovTiKobs
keri et hodie : tails enim jaftatis, ut quijque canem
cut fenionem miferat , in fingulos talcs fingulos dena-
rics conferebat , qucs tollcbat univerfos , qui Venerem
jecerat. And it is obvious to remark, that (upon
this hypothefis) the critics, perhaps, need not have
been fo much embaraffed (as we find they have been)
in endeavouring to reconcile this paffage of Sueto-
nius with that other of Perfius ( 1 4) produced above.

1 fhall conclude with noting, that in order to pre-
vent any fraud or flight of hand in managing the
tali , it was ufual to put them into a box ( 1 y), and,
after fhaking them together, to throw them out
upon a table. Thus Martial introduces one of thefe
turricula , as recommending its own ufefulnefs for
the purpofe above-mentioned :

Queer it compojitos manus improba mittere talos ,

Qui per me mitt it, nil niji vota facit (16).

(12) Dial. ’ Ar&ryciri<ruof.

(13) Sueton. C. Aug. §.71.

( 1 4) Sat. 3. v. 48. See Prat. not. in uf. Delph, in Ioc.

(15) Hor. L. ii. fat. 7. v. 17.

(16) Mart. L. xiv. epig. 16.

However,

[ 93 ]

However, this caution does not Teem to have been fo
univerfally obferved, but that fometimes, viz. when
the party confided of ladies, it was (I prefume, for
a reafon greatly to their honour) fuperfed. d. Thus,
in one of the fil'd paintings found at Herculaneum,
and now in the royal apartments at Portici, we fee
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 red appear as
having fallen off from thence towards the door.

II.

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

III.

A weight, infer ibed on one fide e m e, and on
the other habebis.

IV.

A fmall bolla d’oro , which (after that in the late
Dr. Middleton’s collection, and another prefervtd at
Rome) is the third known to be extant in Europe.
As this ornament was worn by fo great a number of
young perfons at Rome, and made of gold, which is
fo capable of refiding the injuries of the weather,
moidure, £?c. one cannot but wonder at the extreme
fcarcity of thefe monuments in the cabinets of the
curious. The mod probable way of accounting for
this (according to (17) Dr. Middleton) is, that the

(17) Germ. Ant. Mon. p. 38.

value

r 9+ ]

value of the materials, of which thefe bulla were
made, induced the poor labourers, as foon as they
had found one to fell it to the firft goldfmith they
met with for its real value (however fmali it might
be) by weight.

V.

A little figure like aFaunus, excepting that about
the head it had fomething of the charader of the
minotaur, viz. large curls upon the forehead, and
feveral mufcular protuberances, or tori> under the
throat.

VI.

A figure in relievo of a man fitting with a bowl
in his hand, which has been thought a Socrates.
And indeed the features of the face bear a ftriking
refemblance to thofe of that fage exprefPd in ancient
monuments j as the bowl might properly refer to the
well-known circumftance of his death. But the
other infignia are not fo fuitable to the character of
the fubjed, as one could wifh : for he holds, partly
in his hand, and partly under his arm, a fhort ftaff
full of knots, and curved at the end like a fhepherd’s
crook, fuch as we find borne by fatyrs in fome Bac-
chanalian pieces : and the fkin of a beaft appears
hanging from the feat of his chair.

VII.

An antique painting of a mufe, with a capfula
near her containing fome volumes, from which
hang labels fhewing the titles of the works. The
fame reprefentation appears in another painting kept
in a different part of the palace. Signor Paderni

obferved

[ 95 ]

obftrved to me, that thefe 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
moft complete defeription, that I can recollect, of
an ancient book, with its appurtenances and decora-
tions, is that of Martial addreffed to one of his own.

Faujfini fug is in Jinum ? Sapijii .

Cedro nunc licet ambules penmSius ,

Et front is gemino decens honor e
Pidlis luxurieris umbilici s :

Et te purpura delicata velet ,

Et cocco rubcat fuperbus index. L. iii. ep. 2.

1

Th t fuperbus index in the laft verfe, curioufly illu-
minated with fcarlet, was undoubtedly the title of
the book ; but to what part of it it was annexed has
hitherto been difficult to afeertain : for as (according
to the paintings under confideradon) it was inferibed
on a detached piece of paper or parchment, it mult
loon have been loft from the book ; efpecially if the
latter had buffered by damps, or any other injuries
limilar to thofe, that have affedted the volumes found
in Herculaneum, of which not only the title, but
even the umbilici, tho’ conftfting of more folid ma-
terials, as horn, ivory, &c. are intirely deftroyed :
fo that no light could be had from the original anti-
quities with relation to this point. The only means,
whereby the connoifteurs could form any conjectures
in this cafe, muff: have been, I prefume, from the
faffiion of books among the ancients, viz. their
being long fcrolls rolled round upon a ftick with or-
naments at each end, as deferibed in the epigram
7 produced

[96]

produced above. This form required, that the books
fhould be laid at their length upon the (helves, where
they were depoiited with either their fide, or one of
their ends, appearing outwardly. Now of thefe two
portions the latter, which expofed the umbilicus to
view, might be thought (all circumdances duly con-
fidered) the mod convenient. To this part there-
fore it might with probability be conjectured, that
the index or title was fattened ; but the paintings
mentioned above plainly demonftrate, that it actually
was fo.

Monf. Dacier fays (18), that the titles of books
were anciently infcribed upon the leathern covers,
wherein they were wrapt, and which, by the means
of thongs fattened to them, kept the volumes clofe
and compact together. If that learned gentleman
had fupported this fa£t by proper evidences, then it
mud have been concluded, upon the joint authority
of fuch evidences, and of the antiquities under con-
lideration, that the pra&ice of the ancients was, be-
fides the title on the fides of the volume, to affix
another on a label at one of its extremities. And
indeed this additional notation (whatever we deter-
mine concerning its ufefulnefs, while the books lay
on a flielf in a library) mud have been very necefiary,
when fuch books dood upright in a capfula (like
thofe in the painting before us), where no part of
them, but one end alone, could pofiibly be feen.

VIII.

Some pieces of fine paper, coloured red on one
fide, and black on the other, found upon the bread

(18) Not. on Hor. L, i. ep. 20. v.

of

[ 97 ]

of a fkeleton. Signor Paderni told me, that they
had been viewed with great admiration by fuch of
the virtuofi, as he had fhewn them to ; and that their
admiration proceeded from thofe fragments appear-
ing not to be of the charta papyracea , but of that of
filk, cotton, or linen. And indeed, if they fliould
prove to have been made of any of the materials lad:
mentioned, it would contradict the generally received
opinion (according to (19) Montfaucon), that paper
ot filk or cotton, denoted by the common appellation
of charta bombycina , was fird found out in the 9th
century ; as that compofed of linen rags (ex linteolis
contritis et aqua jnaceratis , as Pancirollus (20) ex-
preffes it) was about the 12th ; and that the former
fupplied the place of the charta papyracea in the
ead, as the latter fuperfeded the ufe of it in the
wedern parts of the world.

IX.

A flat piece of white glafs, taken off from to-
wards the extremity of the iheet, as appears from
the curvature and protuberant thicknefs of one of its
fldes above the other parts. I have feveral enerva-
tions by me, with regard to this fragment, which I
have not yet had leifure to diged. I fliall therefore
proceed to the other parts of this collection.

To enter into a detail of the paintings found at
Herculaneum, and depoflted in a different part of
the palace at Portici, would be tedious, as their

(19) Mem. lit. de l’Acad. des Infcrip. V. 9.

(20) Rerum Mem. L. ii. tit. 13.

Vol. 50. O number,

[98 ]

number, when I faw them, exceeded 800 ; and it
would be fuperfluous, as the principal of them will
foon 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 fpecimens fhewn me)
will in no-wife dilcredit the originals, I fhall there-
fore only mention two of them, viz,

I.

Thefeus with the Minotaur dead, and lying on
his back at his feet, while feveral Athenian youths
are embracing the knees, and killing the hand, of
their deliverer. We may obferve, 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 repre-
fented in an antique fardonyx of Greek fculpture in
the cabinet at Vienna, and in moH of the works of
the ancient artiHs. Tho’ I have by me the copy of
an antique gem, wherein the Minotaur is exhibited
as Handing in the center of the famous labyrinth,
and having below the body of a bull as far as to the
wain, and from thence upwards an human form :
which reprefentation is further countenanced by Ovid,
who defcribes that monfter, as

Semibovemque virum , femivir unique bovem.

Art. Am. L. ii. v. 1 2,

II.

Chiron and Achilles. The latter of thefe is Hand-
ing, and has a pleblrum in his right hand : the former
feems to embrace his noble pupil with his left arm,
and with his right hand to Hrike the tyre, as tcach-

7 inS

[ 99 ]

ing him to play upon that inftrument. But the
moft remarkable circumftance in the figure of Chi-
ron is his repofing his hinder parts on his left haunch
upon the ground. Yet this attitude, as well as the
other particulars mentioned above, is expreffed in an
antique gem, of which I have feen a copy at Rome.

I fhall conclude this paper with an account of the
flatues, which ftand in feveral rooms adjoining to
the unfinifhed part of the palace, and were found
(as to the far greater number) at or near Hercula-
neum.

In the Firjl Room.

An equeftrian marble ftatue of M. Nonius Balbus
the elder, which is intended to be placed in a large
entrance on the eaft fide of the palace, to anfwer to
that of his fon, which is already fet up on the other
fide, facing the bay of Naples.

In the Second.

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

A man in a facrificing habit.

Two others in the toga, and two women in the

thefe are of bronze.

Statues of marble depofited here are the follow-
ing, viz.

At the entrance, a matron larger than nature, with
ftrong expreffion in her face.

O 2 Two

[ 100 ]

Two coloffal trunks in a fitting podure.

Three datues of one of the Agrippina’s.

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

Three other matrons.

In the \ Third Room.

Bacchus. A mufe. A fragment of a datue in
the pallium. A fine datua togata with the head
veiled, larger than the life.

Another very remarkable figure, whofe face re-
fembles in beauty that commonly attributed to Ve-
nus, tho’ the drefs and other infignia plainly indicate
a Pallas : for her head is covered with an helmet,
below which her hair falls down long and difhevelled.
Her left arm is enveloped with her aegis, which is
large and expanded, fo as to form a kind of mantle.
Her garments are thin, and fit clofe to her body in
drait plaits. She is in a podure of running, or
ftriding, with her feet at a confiderable didance from
each other, and her arms extended different ways j
an attitude drongly marking the utmod eagernefs
and hade.

Next appears a Vertumnus. A fine figure of a
philofopher. Volumnia and Veturius. A lady with
a thin dola. A Venus. A boy of exquiiite work-
manfhip. A fmall datua 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 accompa-
nied with feven others of the fame metal, which
now hand in another chamber, viz. two young
men in a running a podure four females fomcwhat

refembling

\

[ I01']

refembling veftals in their habit, excepting that all
their heads were uncovered, and thole of two of
them were adorned with vhta, or filets. Laffcly, a
young man of a frnall fize, cloathed, with his arms
fomewhat 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 (21)
enable us to account for this appearance, by inform-
ing us, that Serapis (befides his other characters of
/Efculapius, Sol, Ofiris, and Jupiter) was accounted
the fame as Dis Pater, or Pluto. Upon this hypo-
thefis 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 (22).

If we defire to enter into the myftical reafon of
this reprefentation, we may learn it from Porphyry,
viz. that Serapis (23), being the fame as Pluto, had
dominion over the evil daemons ; and that thole be-
ings were figured by a dog with three heads j mean-
ing the daemon fubfifting 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 diffimilitude in the heads of it : but as it did

(21) Down ipfum (Serapidcm) multi /Efculapium quidam

OJirim — plerique Jevem — plurimi Ditem patrem infignibus , qua:
in ipfo manifejla , aut per ambages , conjettant. Tac. Hif. L. iv.
E U Z iu'f, i/s Af JVir, hs "Ha/oj iri 2dpa.Tr/s, Oraculum Apollinis
apud M. A. Cauf. Mufeum Rom. vol. ii. §. 6. tab. 13-

(22) Antiq. T. ii. P. 2. pi. 121, 122.

(23) Porphyr. apud Eufeb. Prasp. Evang. L. iv. c. 23. Ta> S'i
’joi'ttp is <Pd/y.wa,s a/, uk ii vtto 2dpa.Tr/v v7ro/\ivoy.sv, lie.

not

[ *02 ]

not then occur to me, that they were ever exprefied
in any other form than the canine, I did not examine
minutely into the difference : but, upon recolledion,
I am now inclined to think, that that monfler
might have the heads of three feveral animals in this
piece, as he has in another, given us by (24) Mont-
faucon : which mode of exhibiting him was (ac-
cording to that learned (25) antiquary) invented by
the Egyptians j a circumftance not to be wondered
at in a people, whofe imagination teemed fo plenti-
fully with monftrous ideas of all kinds, as theirs is
known to have done.

To the fame original we may refer the ferpent
twitting round Cerberus in this monument ; as we
fee two of the fame fpecies encircling his heads and
body in that mentioned above (26). As I know no
particular relation, that the ferpent bears to Serapis,
confidered as Pluto, I can regard it here only as a
facred fymbol in the theology of the ancient Egyp-
tians j and, as fuch, properly attributed to an attend-
ant of one of their chief divinities.

I fhall trouble you but with one more obfervation
upon this article, viz. that (if I may trull my memory
for a particular omitted in my notes) this is the ttatue,
which being the principal one found in an ancient
magnificent building difcovered about feven years ago
at (27) Pozzuoli (in conjunction with other circum-
ftances) occafioned it to be called The Temple of

(24) Suppl. T. ii. L. vi. c. 10. Tab. xlviii.

(25) Montfaucon, ibid.

(26) Montfaucon, ibid.

(27) Vid. Obfervations fur les Antiquites d’Herculaneum, &c.
par MelT. Cochin & Bellicard, p. 83. Paris 1755.

Serapis.

[ 103 ]

Serapis. As this place feemed greatly to merit the
attention of the curious in antiquity, we procured a
plan of it, drawn by a native, who has free accefs
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 faid plan fhould wait upon them,
accompanied with fome obfervations upon it by,

S I R,

Your moft obedient,

London, Feb. 24. humble Servant,

J757*

John Nixon.

P. S. A long room is defigned 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 fide towards the Cortile, and adorned with
forty columns, partly of verde antique, partly of
alabafter with brownifh veins, and other beautiful
marbles, found in divers parts of the King’s do-
minions. Between every two of thefe columns
will be placed a group, ftatue, or butt. The
compartments in the walls will contain the an-
cient paintings. The other curiofities are to be
deposited in cafes made for that purpofe ; and the
pavement will coniifi: intirely of the finefi: pieces
of Mofaic work, that have been found in Her-
culaneum, or any places within the Neapolitan
Rate.

XIV..

[ I04 ]

XIV. An Account of the EffeSis of a Storm
of \ Thunder and Lightnings in the Pu-
rifies 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 Letter j, one
from the Rev. Mr. Dyer, Minifier of Looe,
and the other from the Rev. Mr. Milles,
Vicar of Duloe, in Cornwall.

Read Feb. 24, /^\N Sunday the 27th of June laft it

grew on a fudden as dark as a
winter evening : foon after, the lightning began to
flafh, and the thunder to roar. The claps were near,
and extremely loud ; and the lightning was more
like darting flames of fire, than flafhes of enkindled
vapour. Happily no damage was done to the town
of Looe, which lies very low j but at Bucklawren, a
village fituated on the top of a hill, about two miles
from hence, a' farm-houfe was fhattered in a mold
furprifing manner. The houfe fronts the fouth.
The windows of the hall and parlour, and of the
chambers over them, which are in the front of the
houfe, are fafhed. The dairy window is the only
one on the weft fide of the houfe. The chimnies
are on the north fide ; and at the fouth-weft corner
there is a row of old elms on a line with the front,
the neareft of which is ten feet diflant from the
houfe. The lightning feems to have had a direction

from

[ io5 ]

from the fouth-weft to the north-eaft. It firft ftruck
the bevilled 2 oof of the fouth-weft corner, near the
eaves of the houfe ; made a large breach, and tore up
the floor cf the garret, near the place where it en-
tered, and dcfcended by the weft wall, in oblique
lines, into the chamber over the parlour ; bat not
having fufiicient vent that way, it darted in a line
from S. W. to N. E. againft the north wall of the
garret, where meeting with reflftance, it broke down
the floor near the north wall many feet wide, and car-
rying the cieling of the parlour-chamber before it, ran
down by the wail of that room in diredt lines. Where
it dcfcended on the weft and north walls it made large
and deep furrows in the plaifter, and even tore out
the ftones and mortar. A large fplinter was ftruck
off from the bed-poft contiguous to the north wall,
and the bed was fet on fire. The chimney-piece
was broken into many parts ; the window-frame was
moved out of the wall, every pane of glafs was
broken, the under fafh was torn in pieces, and a
large piece of the chimney-board was thrown out of
the window againft an oppofite garden wall, about
20 feet from the houfe. As the lightning; fhot thro’
the window, it found a fmall cavity between the
wall and the dating with which the wall is covered,
where it burft off the dates as far as it continued in
a diredt line downward, and threw them at a great
diftance from the houfe. Notwithftanding this
dreadful havock, the force of the lightning was not
fpent ; the window gave it not a fufiicient difcharge.
From the chamber over the parlour, it dcfcended by
the north wall to the room under it, which is wain-
fcotted, tore off the cornice the whole breadth of
Vol. 50. P the

C I°6 ]

the room, and feme mouldings from the wainfeot ;
broke the glaflfes and Delft ware in the boauffet ;
Hiivered the (helves of a bottle-room ; and, ripping
off a fmall flock-lock from the door, burfl it open,
and made its way chiefly thro’ the window, the frame
of which was moved from the wall, and the glafs
fhattered to pieces. Near the bottle- room there was
a hole flruck in the partition-wainlcotting, which
divides the parlour from the hall, about eight inches
long and an inch broad : through this crevice the
lightning entered the hall, which ferves at prefent
for a kitchen, and meeting with fome pewter in its
way, it flung it from the fhelf about the room ;
threw down a large iron bar, that flood in a corner,
and which feemed to have a trembling and defultory
motion ; carried the tongs into the chimney, and
threw a tea-kettle, that flood there, into the middle
of the floor; moved a large brafs pot out of its
place, which was under a table ; and then darted
thro’ the windows, carrying away a pane of glafs
intire out of the upper fafh to the diftance of many
feet. The miflrefs of the houfe and her fon were
fitting at this window. They were the only perfons
in the houfe, and providentially received no hurt.
Some part of the lightning found a way between the
door and door-cafe of the hall. The door is pan-
nelled : and the lightning, in pafling thro’, penetrated
into a clofe mortife, and fplit off a large fplinter
from the outfide of the door, clofe to the tenon. In
its courfe it left a fmoaky tinge on the wall and tim-
ber, like that of fired gunpowder. A fulpbureous
fmell remained in the houfe many hours. Another
(or probably a part of the fame) flafh of lightning

flruck

[ 107 ]

ftruck the dairy window, melted the lead, and burnt
the glafs where it penetrated, and fet 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
plaiftered partition near the floor into the barn, flut-
tered a large paving rag-fione in pieces, and tearing
up the ground, I fuppofe, funk into the earth. The
elms were affected with the lightning, particularly
that neareft the houfe, from the top of which to the
root appeared large furrows in the mofs, which grew
on the bark, in fome places in an irregular fpiral,
but for the moft part in a perpendicular line ; and
from the root of it the ground was torn up in fur-
rows, as if done with a plough-fhare, about fix feet
long, the furrows gradually leffening according to their
diftance from the tree. All this was done inftanta-
neoufly. How amazingly fwift, fubtle, and power-
ful is the force of lightning ! I am.

Reverend Sir,

Your moft obedient Servant,

James Dyer.

A Letter from the Rev. Mr. Milles on the fame

SabjeEf.

AB O'U T four of the clock on Sunday afternoon,
the fame day that the lightning flruck the farm-
houfe at Bucklawren, it fell upon another houfe
called Pelyne, in the parifh of Lanreath, about fix
miles diftant. The houfe fronts the eaft. The
chimney, which is at the north end, is cracked, and

P 2 opened

[ I°8 ]

opened about two or three inches wide, from the top
to the roof, where it entered the dating thro’ a fmall
hole on the eaftern fide ; forced its way thro’ the
upper chamber, where it melted an old copper
fkillet, a pair of fheepfhears, and fome odd brafs
buckles and candlefticks that lav on the wall ; con-
fumed the laths adjoining, and then made its way
thro’ a fmall crevice in the upper part of the window.
Another and more fevere part of the fame lightning
defeended the chimney; ftruck two women down,
who were fitting on each fide 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 fitting on the infide, with their
backs towards the window. One of thefe men was
miferably burnt in his right arm. The lightning feems
to have ftruck him a litt’e above the elbow, making a
fmall orifice about the bignefs of a pea : the burn from
thence to the fhoulder is near an inch deep. His
right thigh was likewife burnt on the infide, and the
outfide of his right leg, from a little below the knee,
quite over the ancle to his toes. Both knees were burnt
acrofs flightly, and his left thigh. His fhirt-fleeve,
and the upper part of his waiftcoat, were reduced to
tinder : the buckles in his fhoes were melted in dif-
ferent parts, and in different directions. He has not
been able to ufe his arm fince ; and is under the care
of a furgeon, who has reduced the wound to a hand’s
breadth, which was in the beginning advancing faft
towards a mortification. The other man was but
flightly wounded. The lightning afterwards found
its way thro’ the window in three different places ;
melted the glafs, leaving a fmutty tinge, like that of

filed.

C I09 ]

fired gunpowder. A boy, about ten years- old, ion
to the under-tenant, was alfo (truck down, as he was
(tanding at the door, but not hurt. The father and
his daughter felt no ill effedts ; but faw the lightning
roll on the floor, and thought the room was on fire.

XV. An Account of the Peat-pit near New-
bury in Berkihire ; in an ExtraEl of a
Letter from John Collet, M. D. to the
Right Reverend Richard Lord Bifop of
Oflory, Z7. R. S.

.Read Feb.
1 757-

fcN

My Lord, Newbury, Decemb. 2, 175.6.

O W I am mentioning the peat,
leave to a flu-re your Lord-

I

beg

(hip, that tho’ fiome perfons have aflerted, that after
the peat has been cut out, it grows again after fome
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 lead
reafon to juflify fuch an opinion ; but, on the con-
trary, the marks of the long fpade (with which they
cut out the peat) are ftill plainly viflble all along the
lides of the pits, quite down to the bottom ; and are
now as frefh as if made but yefferday, tho’ cut above
fifty years ago : which (hews aifo, that our peat is
of too firm a texture to be preffed together, and to
give way, fo as to fill- again the empty pits : which
perhaps may be the cafe in fome of the moffes,
where the pits are found after fome years to be
filled up again. The

t C 110 ]

The tcnvn of Newbury lies north and fouth, in
the fhape of a Y, crofs a valley ; which valley runs
eaft and weft, 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
fide 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
weftward, and about feven eaftward ; and I believe
much further, tho’ not yet difcovered, and perhaps
with fome intermiflions.

The ground it is found in is meadow land, and
confifts chiefly of a whitifh kind of earth : under
this lies what they call clob> being a peat-earth,
compounded of clay, of a fmall quantity of earth,
and fome true peat : it is from four to eighteen inches
thick ; and where the earth above it is but thin, it
is fometimes full of the roots of plants, that grow
on the furface of the ground : and if the meadow
alfo be moorifh, the fedge and flags will fhoot their
roots quite thro’ it into the true peat, which lies di-
redtly under this clob.

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

The trueft and beft peat has very little (if any)
earth in it j but is a compofition of wood, branches,
twigs, leaves, and roots of trees, with grafs, ftraw,

7 plants,

C 111 ]

plants, and weeds ; and lying continually in water
makes it foft and eafy to be cut thro’ with a {harp
peat-fpade. The colour is of a blackifh brown j
and if it be chewed between the teeth it is foft, and
has no gritty matter in it, which the clob has. It is
indeed of a different confidence in different places,
fome being fofter, and fome firmer and harder ;
which may perhaps arife from the different forts of
trees it is compofed of.

To get at the peat, they hid dig up the furface 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 fell it to the poor for firing, or lay it in heaps,
to burn to afhes, to be fold to the farmers. Then they
cut out the true peat, with a peculiar kind of fpade,
in long pieces, vulgarly called long fquares, about
three inches and a half broad every way, and four
feet long, if the thicknefs 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 fun and wind. If
the peat be thick, when they have cut one length of
the fpade for fome didance, they return again, and
cut down another length of it (or four feet), and fo
on, till they reach the gravelly bottom, if they can
diffidently drain it of the water, which continually
comes in, tho’ proper perfons are employed to pump
out as much of the water as they can all the time.
As the peat dries, and is turned by perfons appointed
for that purpofe, to dry it the better, it breaks into'
fmaller lengths, and then it ferves not only the poor y
but many other perfons, for firing, and gives a good

heat.

[ 112 ]

heat. It is fold for about ten (hillings a waggon-
load, delivered at their houfes in the town. The
aihes alfo prove very good manure for both grafs
and arable land ; and the farmers give from four
pence to fix pence a bufhel for them, which renders
this firing very cheap.

Great numbers of trees are plainly vifible in the
true peat, lying irregularly one upon another j and
fometimes even cart-loads of them have been taken
out, and dried for firing : but the nearer thefe trees
lie to the furface of the ground, the lefs found is
the wood : and fometimes the fmall twigs, which
lie at the bottom, are fo firm, as not to be eafily cut
thro’ with the ufual peat-lpade. Thefe trees are ge-
nerally oaks, alders, willows, and firs, befides fome
others not eafily to be known. The fmall roots are
generally perifhed ; but yet have fufficient figns to
fhew, that the trees were torn up by the roots, and
were not cut down, there being no fign of the ax or
faw ; which, had they been felled, would have been
plainly vifible.

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

A great many horns, heads, and bones of feveral
kinds of deer, the horns of the antelope, the heads
and tufks of boars, the heads of beavers, &c. are alfo
found in it : and I have been told, that fome human
bones have been found ; but I never faw any of tilde
myfelf, tho’ I have of all the others.

But

[ IX3 ]

But I am affured, that all thefe things are gene-
rally 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 exadt depth and place,
where any thing of thele kinds is found ; whether it
is in the earth above the peat, or in the clob -y or in
the true peat, or at the bottom of it ; which will
greatly a (lift us in forming a juft judgment of the
real antiquity of the things that are found, or at ieaft
of the time they have lain there. Behdes this, as
they formerly ufed to cut out the peat in large plots
here and there, leaving fpaces full of peat between
thofe pits (whereas now they draw off the greateft
part of the water by pumps, and fo clear out ail the
peat regularly as they go on) ; fo it muft be carefully
obferved, whether wrhatfoever is found here be dusc

• O

out of thefe old peat-pits, or not ; for axes, and
other things, may have been formerly dropt into
thefe pits, before they were filled up again with
earth, and may now be dug out of them again. My
father has now in his poftelfion an iron hatchet, not
greatly differing from the modern form, which was
found lying fiat at the very bottom of the peat : it
was covered with a ruft near half an inch thick, and
the handle was to it, which feemed to be of beech-
wood, but was fo foft, that it broke in bringing it up :
but as the perfon is dead, who found it, I can’t fay
whether it lay in an old peat-pit, or no.

Mr. Ofgood found, lome 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 weft of this
town, in Speen-moor. It lay about four feet below
Vo i.. 50. Q the

[ ”4 ]

the level of the ground, and about one foot within
the peat ; and over it was raifed an artificial hill, about
eight feet higher than the neighbouring ground ; and
as the whole hill confided of both peat and meadow-
ground intermixed together, it plainly appeared, that
the peat was older than the urn ; and that the perfons,
who raifed the hill, mud fird have dug a large hole
in the peat, to bury the urn there, and fo formed
the hill of the peat and meadow-ground mixed toge-
ther. Round the hill, where the urn lay, they had
made alfo many half-circular ridges, with trenches be-
tween them, one beyond another, in this manner :

Where a is the river, and c the hill ; and the half
circles drew fome of the ridges, the number of
which Mr. Ofgood has now forgot. The urn was
broke by the peat-fpade, and it came up only in
fmall pieces, fo that nothing was found in it ; and
no body happened to be there at that time but the
peat-cutters.

No coins of any fort 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, fo it is not
an eafy matter to examine the bottom.

7 1 beg

[ rl5 ]

I beg leave to afliire you, my Lord, that I am,
with great refpedf and efteem,

XVI. An Account of the Alterations making
in the Pantheon at Rome : In an ExtraSl
of a Letter from Rome to Thomas Hollis,
Efq\ Communicated by John W ard, LL,D.

architedt, for modernizing the infide of the Pantheon,
and unfortunately approved. In confequence of
which, the dome has been already cleaned, and
rough caft ; and the remainder of the lead taken
away, which ferved as a lining to the diver work,
that originally covered it. The veftiges of the cor-
nices, and other ornaments of the filver work, were
{fill difcernible in the lead, which was fattened by
very large iron nails. All this was effected by a
moveable fcattold, that was fixed to the bronze cor-
nice of the open circle above, whereby the temple is
illuminated, and defcended to the cornice of the Attic
order, being as curious in the contrivance, as detett-
able for the purpofes intended by it. It is true, we
could not before fee the dome in its priftine glory ;

Your Lordfhip’s mott obliged,

and obedient humble Servant,

John Collet.

R. S. Lice- Prof.

Projedt was lately laid before the
government by Paolo Pofi, an

CL*

but

[ 1 16 ]

but we had the fatisfaCtion of viewing the traces and
remains of what it had been. Nor could the adepts
in architecture fufficiently admire the fkill and faga-
city of the builder, who, compoling it of a number
of lmall arches, which together formed a kind of
net-work, and filling up the intervals between with,
pumice-ltones and mortar, gave it that ftrength and
lighrnefs, whereby it has probably flood fo many
ages.

The evil would be comparatively fmall, had the
projedt extended no farther, than what has been re-
lated ; but they are now bufy in removing the Attic
order, to make room for a new invention, luitable
to the trifling tafte, which at this day prevails. And
not content with that, they think of taking away the
ancient pavement ; and, what is ftill worfe, its pe-
culiar beauty, the open circle at the top, to place a
lanthorn inftead of it, as is ufual in modern cu-
pola’s.

You had the good fortune, Sir, to view this remark-
able temple, in that ftate, wherein it was left by the
ancient barbarians : but thole, who fee it hereafter,
wiil find it in a much more deplorable condition,
ftripped of its precious marbles and ornaments ; and
fo difguited by modern alterations, that the noble
form given it by Agrippa will be no longer diftin-
guifhable.

It is faid II Signor J. B. Piranefi, the architect,
who publifhed 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. Thefe he propofes to engrave and
publifh,, with exaCt explanations annexed to them ;

together

[ ”7 ]

together with a plan of the whole, as he believes it
appeared in its original fplendor and perfection ; that
pofterity may not be deprived of informations, which
are of fo great benefit and importance to all lovers
of architecture. It is alfo faid, that the engineer
[carpenter], who invented the fcaffolding, has made
an exaCt model of it for him ; which he intends to
publifh as a part of the work before-mentioned.

XVII. An Account of a new medicinal Well ,
lately difcovered near Moffat, in Annan-
dale, in the County of Dumfries. By
Mr. John Walker, of Borgue-Houfe, near
Kirkudbright, in Scotland.

Read Feb. io, & ' HIS mineral fpring was found

Mar. 3, 1 7,7. out by Gne Mr. Williamfon; a

few years ago, when he was overfeeing a mine,
which was at that time carrying on in its neighbour-
hood. It is fituate about four miles diflant from
Moffat, in the bottom of a deep fear, which is on
the weft fide of a large mountain called Hartfell,
from which it has acquired the name of Hartfell-
fpaw. This fear is a part of the mountain, thro’
which a fmall ftream of water has worn its way to
a confiderable depth ; by which it has laid open,
and expoled to view, the ftrata of the earth on each
fide : and in the bottom of this fear, and near to
the brink of this fmall brook, the mineral water
fprings up. When

[ 118 ]

When I faw it, it confifted of two fprings, which
were very well ordered by Mr. Williamfon, fo as to
run from two wooden fpouts, immediately at their
rife out of the earth ; which indeed muff be of very
great advantage to all mineral waters : and I am per-
fuaded there are many, whofe medical qualities are
greatly impaired by falling into refervoirs, and con-
tinuing in them for fome time after they fpring from
the earth. The one of thefe fprings was fituate about
ten or twelve yards further up the brook than the
other ; and they were then diftinguifhed by the
names of the upper and lower fpring : but I have
been fince informed, that their fituation is now al-
tered. Each of thefe fprings did at that time run
nearly the fame quantity of water, which, as I
thought, was above an Englifh quart in a minute,
and that during a feafon of very dry weather. .

As there are many inftances of mineral waters
fpringing out of the earth very near each other,
which at the fame time are impregnated with very
different principles ; it therefore feemed not at all
improbable, that as thefe waters did appear to run,
for fome part of their courfe, in different channels,
they might in fome refpedts be different from
each other. And this fufpicion I found not to be
altogether groundlefs with regard to thefe fprings,
as will be fhewn afterwards. For which reafon it
may be obferved, that the following trials were all
made upon the water of the upper fountain, except
where the other is particularly mentioned j and alfo
that they were made within 24 hours after the water
was taken from the fpring, being carried to Moffat
in bottles carefully fealed.

According

C ll9 ]

According to what may be inferred from the fol-
lowing experiments, it may be premifed, that this
water appears to contain in it a large proportion of
iron, but in two different forms ; and an aluminous
falt„ which is conjoined with a terredrial principle.

As the contents of feveral mineral waters have been
the caufe of many different opinions, and of great
difputes among phyficians and chymids ; as the in^.
quiry I made into the principles of thefe waters,
which I am now confidering, was not performed
with that nicety and exadlnefs I could have wifhed;
and as I am perfuaded, that to dogmatize in any
branch of philofophy can never tend to its advance-
ment ; I fhall not therefore pretend to determine
with certainty in any part of this fubjedt, where the
contrary opinion can be admitted with the lead: de-
gree of probability. Thefe trials are indeed but few
and imperfedt, and are no-way fufhcicnt to form an
exadt account of this mineral water ; yet I believe
they may afford fome conclufions, which may be
ferviceable in compiling a more compleat hiftory of
it. They render it pretty evident, that the above-
mentioned principles are contained in thefe waters :
and tho’ I will not pretend abfolutely to exclude all
others, yet I mud fay, that, by what inquiry I made,
I could not obferve them to be in the lead impreg-
nated with any other kind of mineral fubdance.

After a good deal of obfervation upon the water
of this Spaw ; and after many fruitlefs attempts,
which I have at different times made upon feveral
other waters of the chalybeat kind in Scotland, in
qued of the volatile fpirit, which has been commonly
artributed to them j I mud own, that I have been

induced

C 120 1

induced to think, that there is no fuch thing exifls in
thefe waters at all. What has been generally called
the fpirit of deel waters, teems to me to be very un-
intelligible ; altho’ the exidence of it in thefe waters
has been atferted by all the writers on this fubjedt,
.which I have yet had occafion to fee. The fpirit
of a mixed body is commonly taken to be a tub-
tile, penetrating, light, and volatile fubdance, more
fufceptible of motion than any other of its parts,
and molf eafily feparable from them by avolation.
But that any chalybeat water contains iuch a lub-
dance, I think has never been made evident, unlels
where the water has been found to be impregnated
with fome other mineral principles. Some deel
waters, I believe, contain a large proportion of air,
whofe eladicity may occaiion it to break forth with
an exploiive force j fome others there are, which
contain a volatile and fulphureous halitus ; and to
one or other of thefe two caufes, or to fome other
mineral principle, I think mod of the phenomena
may he referred, which have been attributed to a
ferrugineous or vitriolic volatile fpirit.

As the firft thing obl'ervable in a mineral water is
its outward form, we mud therefore take notice,
that the water of this Spaw equals the cleared fpring-
water in tranfparency ; and is likewife as free of any
colour or odour : yet its tade is very drong, and
may be difcerned to be compounded of a fweet,
fubacid, and adringent tade. Its fweetnefs and acidity
appear fenfibly to arife from alum ; and its high
dyptic and adringent tade does as evidently proceed
from that mineral fait, joined with fome earthy or
ferrugineous parts. I mud likewife obferve, that when

I fird

[ 121 ]

I firft compared the tafte of thefe two fprings, I could
plainly difcern, that the water of the lower fpring
was more acid, and lefs aftringent, than that of the
upper one ; and, on the contrary, the water of the
upper fpring feemed more aftringent, and lefs acid.
This induced me to think, that the mineral parts,
which caufed the acid and aftringent taftes, were
mixed in the waters of thefe two fprings in different
proportions. And what 1 obferved of them after-
wards ftill confirmed this conjecture.

But, in order to give fome evidence for the exift-
ence of the above-mentioned minerals in the waters
of thefe fprings, we fhall confider them feparately,
by relating the experiments, which feemed to indi-
cate, that they are contained in thefe waters in a very
confiderable proportion, and by offering fome con-
clufions, which may be reafonably drawn from
them.

And as the firft trials were made in queft of iron,
it may perhaps be moft proper to confider it in the
firft place.

Experiment i. Some pieces of galls being added
to equal quantities of the water of the two fprings, an
exceeding deep and bright blue colour was immedi-
ately produced in the water of the upper fpring,
which in a little time turned to a perfect black. The
water of the lower fpring, tho’ indeed it was turned
of the fame colour, yet was not of fo deep a ffiade,
but was fomewhat lighter than the former. The
tinCture of galls caufed the fame appearances.

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

Vol, 50. R 3. A

[ 122 ]

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

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

5. A folution of fal Martis, chemically prepared,
being mixed with galls, immediately turned of a
bright dark blue colour, exadtly fimilar to that pro-
duced in the water.

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

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

From thefe experiments we muff: firft of all ob~
ferve, that the colour, which thefe 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 fuch aftringents :
but tho’ I have tried this experiment upon a great
many of the ferrugineous waters in Scotland, and alfo
upon the water of fome of the foreign Spaws, I never
obferved one, that afforded fo deep a colour as this,
which we now confider. Some of the weakeft of
them gives only a red or faint purple tin&ure, and
the ffrongeft only a deep purple : but I never faw or
heard of any chalybeat water, but this, either in

Scotland

C I23 ]

Scotland or elfewhere, that afforded an intenfe 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
moft, or perhaps than any, other chalybeat water
hitherto difcovered : and for this reafon, I dare fay,
it will likewife be fo much the more preferable to
moft others in medicinal virtues ; which has indeed
already appeared by many lurprifing cures it has
performed, and which, I am perfuaded, will more
fully appear, when its medicinal effedts ftiall be
better known.

There muft needs be a very great quantity of iron
in this water, when it yields as deep a colour with
galls as a ftrong folution of fal Martis. I was indeed
at firft apprehenfive, that this perhaps might not be
owing fo 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 fee the
contrary appears by thefe trials : for alum of itfelf
affords no tindture with aftringents, and, inftead of
rendering a folution of fal Martis with galls of a more
intenfe colour, rather makes it lighter and more di-
luted.

We fee here, that the ferrugineous matter is intirely
feparated from the water by an infulion of galls.
The like alfo happens by elixation ; after which it is
almoft deprived of its tinging quality. Yet other
chalybeat waters lofe this quality by a much lefs de-
gree of beat.

As there is an ochrous earth Separated from all
fteel waters, when expofed to the air, which fubftdes

R 2 to

[ r2+ ]

to the bottom, and a metalline fcum or cremor, which
fwim on their furface ; we {hall next consider the
appearances, which they make in this water.

Exp. 8. A foiution of faccharum Saturni being
dropt into common fpring-water, left the upper parts
of the water clear and colourlefs, but formed a lac-
telcency towards the bottom. The fame foiution
being added to the mineral water, foon turned it of
a turbid yellow colour, which afterwards fublided,
and formed a deep yellow cloud in the bottom of
the glafs ; and below this yellow fediment there ad-
hered to the bottom of the glafs a whitifh fubftance,
which I took to be the metalline parts of the faccha-
rum Saturni feparated from the purer parts of the
fait, which were Hill fufpended in the water, and
which made it of a muddy whitilh colour.

9. Forty drops of oleum tartari per deliquium be-
ing added to an ounce of the water, made it of an uni-
form light yellow colour ; but in an hour afterwards
there were many fmall yellow terrene nubeculce
formed in it. Thefe the next day were more con-
fpicuous, being thoroughly feparated from the water,
and precipitated to the bottom, leaving the water
quite clear, as it was before the mixture. A fmall
quantity of this limpid water being taken, it would
afford no tindture with galls. It was then all poured
off, except fo much in the bottom of the glafs as
contained the above-mentioned clouds : to this there
were fome galls added, which in half an hour turned
thefe clouds from a light yellow to a deep red colour,
but did not change the colour of the water, in which
they fwam.

io. Im-

C I25 ]

xo. Immediately after the affuflon 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
{landing for fome time, there were red clouds pre-
cipitated to the bottom, and the water continued of
a dufky opake red colour.

1 1. There is a fmall brook, formerly mentioned,
which runs near by thefe fprings ; into which the
water, that flows from them, is difcharged. I ob-
ferved the flones and channel of this brook all tinged
with ochre of a deep yellow colour, fo far up as the
water of thefe fprings flowed into it ; but the chan-
nel, which the mineral water ran over before it was'
mixed with the water of the brook, was very little
or nothing difcoloured 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 lefs tranfparent, and ap*-
peared yellowifh, while the Ample mineral water
retained its clearnefs. Next day there was much ochre
feparated from the mixture, which fubflded to the
bottom of the glafs : but the unmixed mineral water
remained Hill clear and colourlefs, as at firft.

All chalybeat waters feparate their ochrous part3,
when expofed fome time to the air ; but this fepara-
tion is made fooner by the commixture of feveral
kinds of falts. Thus we fee the ochre in this water
is immediately feparated and precipitated by the fo-
lution of faccharum Saturni.

The oil of tartar caufes a precipitation of thefe
ferrugineous parts in the fame manner. Which parts

mud

C 126 ]

mufl be the foie caufe, that the water receives a tinc-
ture from galls ; fince, after they are precipitate, it
lofes that quality, which they notwithftanding retain
even after they "are feparated from the water. This
precipitation of the ochrous parts of the water were
the only vifible effedts that I could perceive to follow
from the affufion of the ol. tart. p. d. I remember
indeed, when I was at Moffat, I faw the manufcript
of Dr. Horfburgh’s experiments upon this mineral
water ; which appeared to be very accurate ; and
which I underfhnd are fince printed, in a volume
lately publiflied by the Philofophical Society at Edin-
burgh. Amongft thefe I obferved one, which I
thought fo very remarkable, that I particularly ad-
verted to it. It was the effedts of the affufion of oh
tart. p. d. to the water, producing in it clouds, or
a coagulation of a green or grafs-green colour. I
think thefe were the words ; and I own I was fome-
thing furprifed at them. A folution of vitriolum
Martis, mixed with this alkaline oil, does indeed
produce a green coagulum : but I could fcarcely
think, that this, or any other chalybeat water, con-
tained fo large a proportion of that vitriol, as to be
fufficient to produce thefe effedts, when I confidered,
that fo many writers, which I had feen, upon this
fubjedt, have all failed in their attempts of extradting
a confpicuous martial vitriol from fuch mineral wa-
ters. I had tried this experiment upon four or five
chalybeat fprings in Scotland, and likewife upon the
Spa and Pyrmont waters, which had been well pre-
ferved ; but there never refulted any fuch effedts from
the mixture of thefe with oil of tartar, as are related
in the above experiment. All the alteration it pro-
7 duced

[ I27 ]

duced in thefe waters was the precipitation of an
ochrous earth, but without the lead: appearance of
any green colour. As I looked upon this as a lead-
ing experiment in the hiftory of vitriolic waters 5 as
I had often tried it, and as often feen the green coa-
gulum produced with the folution of the factitious
vitriol, and never could obferve it produced in any
of the above water j I began to fufpedt, that thefe
waters were either not poifeffed of a vitriolic fait at
all, or elfe, that it was in fome refpedts very different
from the factitious vitriol. For thefe reafons, Dr. Horf-
burgh’s experiment appeared very extraordinary ; tho’
at the fame time I was greatly pleafed, that I fhould
have the opportunity of repeating it, and of obferving
thofe phenomena in this ferrugineous water, which
I had fought for in vain in feveral others. But when
I came to make the trial, I was yet more furprifed,
when I found it mifgive, and that the ol. tart. p. d.
produced no green colour or coagulum in this mine-
ral water, nor caufed any other alteration in it, than
the feparation of a large quantity of ochrous earth
of a yellow colour, exa&ly the fame with what I had
obferved in the other fteel waters. This failure
made me immediately conclude, that I had fome-
how or other committed an error in the experiment :
and tho’ I was pretty fure, that the mineral water,,
which I had ufed in it, was quite frefh, yet I could
not be fo pofitive as to the oil of tartar, which I
fufpedted to have been long kept. Yet that this
could have been the caufe of my being fo unfucceif-
ful, I could fcarcely believe, tho’ indeed 1 could affign
no other. I was forry, that I had not afterwards an
opportunity of repeating this experiment with more

accuracy,.

[ 128 ]

accuracy, from which I might have expedled to reap
more fuccefs, as it is perhaps one of the moft confe-
quence, that can be performed on this mineral water,
as it is capable of demonflrating the existence of a
fubllantial vitriolum Martis in it ; which is more
than has been hitherto done, or perhaps ever will be
done, concerning any one of the vaft number of
chalybeat waters, which have been yet difcovered.

When galls are added to the water, at the fame
time with oil of tartar, inftead of its deep blue co-
lour, it affords only a red tindture.

It appears from the nth experiment, that an ad-
dition of common water caufes the mineral water to
precipitate its ochre ; and the reafon of this is ob-
vious : for if tliefe ochrous parts be altogether terrene,
as they appear to be, and exifl in the water uncon-
nected with any other principle, then it inuft hap-
pen, that as thefe parts are uniformly diffufed thro’
the water, in which they are lufpended as in a men*
ftruum ; by the addition of common water, this
menftruum being diluted, the cohefion of thefe ter-
rene parts muff be thereby weakened, and their con-
tact deftroyed ; lb that their menflrual equilibrium
being thus taken off, they can be no longer fupported
in the fluid, but mufh be precipitated by the force of
their own gravity.

Exp. i a. When the water was expofed for fome
days to the air, there was a cremor l'eparated from
it of a fhining chalybeat colour. This, like other
kinds of cremor, takes a confiderable time to com-
pleat its intire feparation from the fluid, out of which
it is expelled : for when it was defpumated, a new

cremor

[ 129 ]

cremor always fucceeded, until the whole quantity,
which the water contained, was exhaufted.

13. When this cremor firft appeared on the wa-
ter, it was of a faint blueifh colour : but as it in-
creafed, it changed into a deeper and more bright
fhining blue : and, after longer handing, it became
blotched with various colours, as red, orange, yel-
low, green, blue, purple, and violet.

14. A quantity of the water being put in a
gentle heat, this cremor was quickly feparated from
it, and appeared on the furface of the water. A
like quantity of the water, with its cremor already up-
on its furface, was put over a gentle heat, which by
degrees broke the cremor into very fmall parts j but
whether they did evaporate, or precipitate in the wa-
ter, I could not be certain. But, by other trials,
this cremor was found to have a great degree of
fixity, bearing a confiderable heat without avolation ;
yet not without the appearance of fome of its parts
flying off, altho’ moft of them were fixed ; becaufe
what remained loft its fine colours, and was changed
into a fhining chalybeat colour.

15. The water of the lower fpring afforded a
much lefs quantity of the cremor, than the water of
the upper fpring. It took alfo a longer time to fe-
parate, was of a blueifh colour, and had not the
vivid colours, which the water of the upper fpring
fhewed.

16. When ol. tart. p. d. and fpirit of fal ammo-
niac were added to the water, it did not feparate its
cremor.

T! fls cremor, which is feparated from the water,
is the fame with that, which appears on the furface of

Vol. 50. S a folu-

[ *3° ]

a folution of vitriolum Martis, when expofed for
fome time to the air : and an infudon of iron in
common water alfo emits a cremor of the fame kind.
I remember, as I was once carefully obferving a large
glafs full of a chalybeat water, which contained much
of this cremor ; foon after it was expofed to the air,
I obferved a tenuicus blueifh vapour riling in the
parts of the water next the furface, which very much
diminifhed its tranfparency ; and by degrees this va-
pour was emitted by the lowed parts of the water :
but as the cremor increafed on its furface, the water
became gradually deprived of the blueifh tinCture,
which it received from this halituous body ; which
was apparently nothing elfe but the parts of the cre-
mor feparating from the water, and afcending up-
wards. From whence we may conclude, that this
cremor confids of the very fined: parts of iron at-
tenuated to the highed degree.

It has been the opinion of mod naturalids, that
thefe kind of mineral waters do abound in fulphure-
ous parts. This they have conjectured from the
foetor, that often attends them. But in what quan-
tity or form thefe parts exid in the fluid, or by what
means they can be rendered confpicuous, has not as
yet been diffidently determined. Yet, I think, we
may fufpeCt fome of the parts of this cremor to be
fulphureous. They are volatile, and, being heated,
do fly off from the pure metalline parts, which being
more fixed, are thereby left deditute of thofe vivid
colours, which they enjoyed from the fulphureous
parts. Thefe are evident marks of fulphur, and are
altogether analogous to fome other appearances of
that mineral. Another obfervation tending to dip-
port this is the want of thofe vivid colours in the

cremor.

[ 131 ]

cremor, which appears on an infufion of iron •, the
reafon of which feems to be the lofs of the fulphure-
ous parts of the chalybeat minerals by avolation,
during the operations of the fire, which they under-
go in refining.

It appears from the fifteenth experiment, that the
water of thefe two fprings contains a very differ-
ent proportion of this cremor : and from the laid,
that it is precipitated along with the ochrous parts,
which happens upon the affufion of thefe alkaline
liquors.

The next trials were in quefd of alum.

Exp. 17. A quantity of the water being kept for
fome time in a boiling heat, and after it was cool
being filtred quite clear from its ochrous matter, it
fbill retained a fubacid and aluminous tafde in a very
ftrong degree.

18. To an ounce of common fpring-water there
was added two gutts of freih fweet milk. This
mixture being fhaken, the milk mixed intimately
with the water, without any kind of coagulation.

19. The fame experiment being made with the
mineral water, the milk, upon its affufion, was fo
curdled, or feparated into clouds, that the greatefd
fhaking could not mix or incorporate it with the
water.

20. This experiment being alio made with a weak
folution of alum in fpring-water, its effedds upon the
milk were not in the leafd different from thofe of the
mineral water.

2 1 . And the fame trial being again repeated with

. S 1' the

[ T32 ]

the water, when boiled and iiltred from its ochrous
parts, the milk was in the fame manner coagulated
as before elixation.

22. One part of fweet milk being added to four
parts of the mineral water, the milk fubfided, and
formed a cloud in the bottom of the glals, leaving
the upper parts of the water clear. This mixture
being heartily Shaken, the milk mixed fo 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 fmaller 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 obferved.

24. An equal quantity of the water and milk be-
ing boiled together, the greateft part of the milk
was coagulated into a thick white curd ; and the re-
mainder, with the mineral water, turned of a pure
white milky colour, which drank like whey, and
was very agreeable.

25. Eight gutts of fweet milk being added to four
ounces of the water, and the mixture boiled, part
of the milk was thereby curdled, and fwam upon
the top of the water. The ochrous parts of the
water were likewife feparated, and falling to the bot-
tom, their colour did not appear of a clear yellow,
as ufual, but was fomething milky.

All thefe experiments ftrongly indicate the exist-
ence of alum in this water. It retains its aluminous
tafte, and coagulates milk, after the chalybeat parts
are almoft all expelled by elixation. The coagula-
tion

[ x33 ]

tion of the milk demonftrates an acidity in the water,
and the other appearances fhew that acidity to be
owing to an aluminous fait.

It appears, that the milk requires a large quantity
of the water, to make a fenfible coagulation in it:
for, in the 2 2d experiment, one part of the milk be-
ing added to four parts of the mineral water, the
coagulation was fcarcely difcernible : and in the 23d,
when an equal or larger quantity of milk was added
to the water, the coagulation was not at all obfervabie.

I have heard it confidently averred, that this mineral
water did not at all curdle milk ; which, I fuppofe,
has been thro’ a miftake in the experiment, in add-
ding too large a proportion of milk to the water :
for in this way the coagulation cannot be obferved.

I imagined, that when the water was boiled with
milk, the mixture would have become of a muddy
yellow colour, by the feparation of the ochre : but
it did not even appear, that the ochre was at all fe-
parated from the mixture, as it is from the water
when boiled by itfeif. On the contrary, not only
the coagulum, but alfo the liquor, was of a pure
white colour, and of a pleafant tafte : 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, fuch a preparation might certainly be very fer-
viceable in many cafes.

Thefe experiments, which we next relate, do not
only afcertain the exiftence of alum in the water

J

with greater certainty, but alfo, that there is a par-
ticular kind of earth conjoined with this fait.

f *34 ]

Exp. 2 6. An Englifh quart of the water being
kept boiling for a quarter of an hour, it turned thick,
muddy, and yellow, by the feparation of its ochrous
parts ; and, being fet to cool in a clean bowl, the
next day all the ochre was fubfided to the bottom,
from which the water was carefully nltred : where-
by it became almoft as clear and limpid as before
the elixation, retaining a fharp aluminous tafte, but
was deprived of the ftrong ferrugineous tafte, which
it had at firfb. This water was again boiled j by
which means it was again turned a little yellow, by
the feparation of fome more ochre. It was there-
fore again filtred, and rendered clear, and its alumi-
nous tafte was Wronger than before. After this fil-
tration, the water was evaporated in a fand-heat to '
about a fixteenth part of the original quantity, and
then it tailed like a ftrong folution of alum joined
with a frnall degree of a chalybeat tafte. And this
being totally evaporated in a glafs, there adhered upon
its fides a pure white fait ; and a larger quantity of
the fame fait remained in the bottom of the glafs,
which was not fo white, but more impure than the
former, and of a brown colour.

27. This fait, thus procured from the water, be-
ing mixed with diftilled vinegar and fpirit of vitriol,
there was not the leaft effervefcence produced.

28. Some of the brown-coloured fait being put
upon a red-hot iron, it did neither fparkle nor decre-
pitate ; but was turned into a blackifh cineritious fub-
ftance, which in a fhort time became a white calx.
And tho’ fome of the fait was put upon the iron
finely powdered, yet it concreted, and run together
in a cinder, whole cohefion was afterwards deftroyed
when calcined by a further degree of heat.

29. As

[ J35 ]

29. As I was accidentally deprived of the oppor-
tunity of obtaining the cryftals of this fait, which
would have been the bed. means of knowing to what
fpecies it was to be referred 5 I dilfolved the whole
mafs in a fmall quantity of fpring-water, and, by
filtrating this folution, I obtained a large proportion
of fine earth of a brown colour.

30. This folution of the fait afforded a deep blue
tindture with galls.

31. The fame folution, being mixed with fyrup
of violets, became of a reddifh colour.

32. Saccharum Saturni being added to the folu-
tion, precipitated a thick ladtefcent cloud.

33. Ol. tart. p. d. being alfo added to this folution,
it caufed no vifible effervefcence, yet raifed fome
bubbles of air, and caufed a coagulation of many
fmall brown terrene nubeculas in the water ; which,
after handing fome time, fubfided to the bottom, and
left the water clear.

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

This fait gives no fi gns of any alkaline principle ;
but, on the contrary, of an acidity, as its folution
reddens with fyrup of violets.

With this fait there are alfo intimately conjoined
fome very fubtile chalybeat parts, which' are not fe-
parable from it by elixation or evaporation.

Alum is diftinguifhable from all other mineral
falts, by liquifying and bubbling upon a red-hot iron,
and turning into a white calx. But this could not
be well expedted from this aluminous fait, which we
7 had

[ J36 ]

had extracted from the water, becaufe it was ex-
tremely foul, by being combined with fo large a
proportion of earth ; which earthy parts were the
occafion of turning the fait of a blackifh colour upon
the iron. However, we fee it turns white by a fur-
ther degree of heat. But if the fait had been dif-
folved, filtrated, and cryftallized, till it had been pu-
rified and freed from this terrene matter, it would
then certainly have had the fame appearance upon
the red-hot iron, as a pure aluminous fait. Again,
as it is peculiar to an aluminous fait to liquify in
fome degree with fire, fo we fee, that this was evi-
dently the cafe of this fait. Its eliquation indeed
could not be fo remarkable, as in pure alum, be-
caufe of its being mixed with fo much earth but
that it did liquifv in fome degree is plain, becaufe
the whole mafs of fait and earth, even when reduced
to a powder, ran all together like a cinder.

The experiment upon the folution of this fait with
ol. tart. p. d. is alfo a further proof of what we have
already aiferted : for tho’ there was no vifible effer-
vefcence, yet the bubbles of air fhew, that there was
an inteftine conflict of the oil with the acid principle
in the folution j which being abforbed by the alkali,
the earth was precipitated, to which it formerly ad-
hered.

The two next experiments were made in order to
diicover, whether an acid or alkaline principle pre-
vailed in the water.

Exp. 34. Forty gutts of the fyrup of violets being
added to an ounce of the water, the mixture became
of a bright fea-green colour.

35- A

I

[ r37 ]

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

From thefe experiments we infer, that this mine-
ral water contains both an alkaline and an acid prin-
ciple ; the former confiding of the ochrous and fer-
rugineous parts, which are feparated from the water
by elixation ; and the latter of the aluminous fait,
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 ex-
pofed to the air ; and in what refpe&s the waters of
the two fprings differed from each other.

Exp. 37. An English quart of the water of each
of the fprings being fully expofed to the air in tw'o
China bowls, the next day that of the under fpring
was neither altered in its tafte, colour, or tranfparency,
nor in any other fhape whatever ; but that of the
upper fpring appeared of a yellowifh colour, altho’
it was clear, and tranfparent as the other.

On the fecond day the tafte of the waters fcarcely
appeared to be any way diminished. No fenfible
change could be obferved in the lower water \ but
the upper water was become more yellow than it
was the day before, yet without any lofs of its tranf-
parency. They both tinged of a deep blue colour
with galls ; which tindtures appeared equally deep

Vol. 50. T and

[ t38 ]

and flrong, as they did before the waters were ex-
pofed to the air.

The third day the lower water appeared clear and
colourlefs as before, only its furface was covered with
a few fmall fpots of cremor. The upper water ap-
peared more yellowifh than formerly, and its furface
was almoft wholly covered over with the cremor.
They both afforded a tincture with galls, which was
not fenfibly different from what they gave before
their expofure.

On the fourteenth day the water of the under
well had precipitated a yellow ochrous fediment, but
the other water a more confiderable quantity. A
large quantity of cremor continued alfo to fwim upon
the furface of the upper water, but there was very
little feparated from the water of the under well.
Both waters being now tried with galls, inftead of
the deep blue colour, which they did formerly ex-
hibit, they now became only of a deep purple
colour.

On the twentieth day the vifible appearance of
both waters was the fame as when laid obferved.

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 alfo they had
not precipitated any more of their ochrous parts, nor
fuffered any other fenfible alteration.

The water of the upper well being filtrated from
all the ferrugineous matter, which it had feparated
during thefe thirty-eight days, was rendered almoft
as limpid and clear as when newly taken from the
well : but, being boiled for fome time, it became of
a turbid yellow colour 5 and being allowed to ftand,

it

c r39 i

it again precipitated abundance of an ochrous fedi-
ment ; and being filtrated, and mixed with galls, it
received a faint purple colour of a blueilh hue.

38. A bottle of the water of each of thefe Springs,
being carefully fealed, carried to Moffat, and kept
for two months, buffered not the lead; alteration
during that time, but was as frefh as when imme-
diately taken from the fountain. And I am informed,
that after it is carried to Edinburgh, and to places at
a greater diftance, it will keep a much longer time
without being any way fpoiled.

I believe it will appear from thefe observations*
that this mineral water continues longer intire, and
particularly that it retains the quality of tinging with
galls longer, than mold others of the chalybeat kind :
at leaft, of a great number, which I have feen de-
lcribed, I do not remember one, that retains it near
fo long, when expofed to the open air. Many of
them lofe this quality intirely in a few hours ; and it
is greatly impaired in the fame time, even in thofe
which retain it longed:. But this water, we fee, re-
mains expofed to the open air for days, without
almod any alteration. This may perhaps be owing
either to the larger proportion of ferrugineous parts,
with which it is impregnated j to their being attenu-
ated to a greater degree ; or to their more perfedd
commixture with the water, by means of the alumi-
nous fait. The longer time, that any mineral water
does remain intire, without any feparation of its mine-
ral parts ; or the longer it retains the fame form, which
it has when newly taken from the Spring ; the more
perfedt is the commixture of thefe parts with their

T 2 fluid

[ r4° ]

fluid vehicle : and I believe, upon that account, will be
more effectual for medicinal ules : for which reafon,
I luppofe, thefe waters may prove a more beneficial
medicine, than any others of the ferrugineous kind,
whofe mineral contents are not fo intimately com-
mixed with the aqueous fluid.

As thefe waters are fo long in feparating their mi-
neral contents, they appear particularly well adapted
for being tranfported to diflant places : for by this
quality they are fitted to undergo a long carriage, and
to be kept a confiderable time, without any diminu-
tion of their medicinal virtues. It muff aifo be no-
ticed, that the water of the under well is by much
the beft of the two for carriage, or for being long-
kept, as it is longer in feparating its mineral contents
than the upper one.

From thefe experiments it is evident, that there
is a confiderable difference betwixt the waters of the
two fprings. The upper one contains a much larger
quantity of the ochrous earth, and metalline cremor,
than the under one ; which is the reafon, why it
yields a deeper colour with galls, as may be obferved
in the firft experiment. I fufpedted, on the other
hand, that the under water contained a greater pro-
portion of alum, than the water of the upper fpring ;
but this I cannot affirm, as I find I had negledted to
make the experiment, which would have determined
whether it be fo or not. Tho’ the mineral contents
of thefe two waters be fimilar, yet, if they be thus
mixed in them in different proportions, this muff
certainly create a difference between them, which
deferves to be attended to, as it may be fufficient to
difallow of their being ufed promifcuoufly, llnce their
medicinal effefts may be thereby different.

But

C I4I ]

But now, to fum up the evidence, which thefe
experiments, taken all together, do afford, concern-
ing the mineral ingredients of this Spaw; I think
they determine, with fome 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 miner a ferri , and, altho’ it be a crude
mineral, exifts in the water in a very fine and fubtile
form ; the other, which is the cremor or pellicle,
whofe parts are alio extremely attenuated in the wa-
ter, appears to be iron, not in its mineral, but in its
metalline form, and, when thrown up upon the fur-
face of the water, fhews itfelf like an extreme thin
lamina of that metal. There feems alfo to be fome
fmall proportion of fulphur joined with the metalline
cremor. The other mineral ingredient, which enters
into the compofition of this Spaw, is a confiderable
proportion of an aluminous fait, which is conjoined
with a fmall quantity of a light brown-coloured
earth (probably a part of the matrix whence the fait
is formed), and ftill more intimately connected with
fome of the chalybeat parts of the water, which are
not feparable from it either by elixation or evapora-
tion. Whether thefe be faline or terreftrial, I can-
not determine.

Having thus endeavoured to difcover, by fome
plain and fimple experiments, the mineral principles,
with which this medicinal water is impregnated ; I
fhall now only add fome observations, with refpedt
to the origin of ffeel waters, and particularly of this
Spaw, whofe origin, I think, is thereby difcovered'
and afcertained in a very obvious manner.

[ H2 ]

Among feveral things, that are ftill deficient in the
hiftory of mineral waters, an exadt knowlege of their
origin feems to be the chief j that is, from what
foflils, and in what manner, thefe waters do acquire
the mineral fubftances, with which they are impreg-
nated. As this happens in the bowels of the earth,
and is therefore far removed from our view, it is
not furprifing, that there has been fo little difcovered
concerning it ; tho’ indeed there have been many ela-
borate hypothefes framed in order to account for it.

The writers on mineral waters have been of very
different and oppofite opinions concerning their ori-
gin. They have difagreed widely amongft them-
lelves ; and I very much fufpe<ft, that the accounts,
which moft of them give of this matter, are not
agreeable to truth : particularly with refpedt to

chalybeat waters, I have feen none, who have given
a fatisfacftory account of their origin. They have all
agreed, that iron, or the vitriol of that metal, does
exift in mineral waters ; but they have never yet
agreed, how they came to exift in them, or in what
manner mineral waters come to be imbued with thefe
foftils.

Some of the more ancient writers cannot compre-
hend, how fimple water fhculd be intimately im-
pregnated with fo many different kinds of minerals,
except by the means of fome powerful agent. And
as they thought nothing more proper for communi-
cating and mixing mineral fubftances with water,
than violent heat, they therefore termed all mineral
waters, of whatever kind, by the name of thenrne .
They faw fome fpring from the earth extremely hot,
others moderately hot, others tepid, others exceflively

cold ;

[ *43 ]

cold : they concluded from this, that all fuch various
degrees of heat in thefe waters were owing either to
the different degree of fubterranean fire, which they
had undergone ; or elfe to the great didance, which
fome of them had run in the earth, after they had
been fufiiciently heated. They therefore maintained,
that thole waters particularly termed acidulce (the
greated part of which are impregnated with iron),
or thole, which, tho’ intenfely cold, contained a
large proportion of mineral matter, had in fome
part of the earth been impregnated with it, by means
of an intenfe heat, which they had been gradually
deprived of by a long paffage thro’ the colder parts
of the earth.

Some naturaliffs again, of a later date, having ex-
ploded the former notion as chimerical, have thought,
that a vapour riling from vitriolic minerals, and
mixed with the neighbouring dreams of water in
the bowels of the earth, has imbued them with fome
of the parts, and with the properties, of vitriol.

Others are of opinion, that the exhalations of vi-
triolic minerals, paffing thro' the cavities of the earth,
are there condenfed by the fubterraneous cold into a
limpid fluid, containing the very fined parts of that
mineral fait : which duid, mixing with the praeter-
labent dreams of water, and i filling out of the earth
with them, produce thofe mineral fprings called
vitriolic.

The lad opinion I diall mention on this fubjedt,
and which indeed appears the mod plaufible, is of
thofe, who think, that the iron is corroded and dif-
folved in thefe waters by means of an acid : for, as
they imagine fimple water incapable of doing this,
7 they

[ *44 ]

they fuppofe, that it is firft imbued with an acid in
the bowels of the earth ; and then, by the corrofion
of the chalybeat minerals, thro’ which it runs, it
comes to.be impregnated with them. I once re-
ceived this opinion, as the moft probable I could
then obferve, concerning the origin of thefe fprings :
yet not as being fatisfaCtory ; for there are many ob-
jections againft it, which it is difficult either to elude
or to anfwer.

The fuppoffiion of an acidity in ferrugineous wa-
ters, I thought but ill confirmed, becaufe, upon trial,
they difcover no veftiges of it, but rather appear to
be alkaline. Befides, in coniidering the caufes of
mineral waters, it feems more probable, that what-
ever minerals they contain, they muft be fuch, as can
be received or extracted by common water in its
paffiage thro’ the earth, by folution, abrafion, or the
like iimple operations j and in this way alone I
think we may come to account not only for the
commixtion of the faline and terrene minerals, which
are found in medical waters, but likewife of thole,
that are metalline or fulphureous ; for which Iimple
water, at firft fight, may perhaps feem to be an in-
fufficient folvent.

It was this notion, that firft 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 infufion. I thought this might
throw fome light upon the origin of mineral waters :
yet, tho’ I made a great many experiments of this
fort, and particularly upon feveral kinds of native
chalybeat minerals, I was as little fatisfied concern-
ing their origin as before. I at length, however,

met,

I *45 ]

met, by accident, with what I had inquired after
with fo little fuccefs.

As I happened to be at a gentleman’s houfe near
Edinburgh, in whofe eftate 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 obferved,
that the current of water, which flowed from this
level, feparated a great quantity of ochre, and, emp-
tying itfelf into a river foon after it came from the
entry of the level, tinged all the hones and the chan-
nel of the river, for a good way, of an ochrous
colour. The tafle of this water was exactly like
that of a common heel Spaw ; and it afforded a
purple colour with galls *. As I knew, that this
water flowed off a great body of coal, I often infufed
that foffil, taken from the pits near this level, in
common water ; but the infufions never yielded any
tindture with galls. I tried in the fame way another
mineral, that the miners call blaes ; which is a clif-
fery hratum of a blueifh colour, that often lies both
above and below the coal : alfo another fohil of a
brown colour, which is very ponderous, and is called
by the miners dogger ; a thin feam of which often
lies in the midh of the coal. However, neither of
thefe would afford an infufion, that would tinge with
galls. At laft I got another mineral out of thefe coal-
pits, which is fometimes found amongfl the coal, but
is not fo frequent as any of the former ; and this fully

* Within two miles of this place there is a fteel Spaw of good
repute for the performance of feveral extraordinary cures, which
gives the fame tincture with galls, and appears in every refpedt to
be the fame with the water, that flows from this level.

Vol. 50. U

anfwered

[ 146 ]

anfwcred my expectation. It is found either in round
or broad pieces, is exceeding ponderous, and of a
Ihining yellow colour, and is called by the miners
braj\ lumps. When I infufed this mineral for a fhort
time in common water, it communicated to it all
the properties of a fteel Spaw ; its tafle was exactly
the fame ; and it received a tindure from galls, which
was of a more diluted or intenfe purple, according
to the proportion of the mineral added to the water,
or to the time of the infufion. This Ample experi-
ment does therefore clearly difcover to us the origin
of fteel waters, and the manner, in which they are
impregnated with their mineral contents in the bowels
of the earth.

This obfervation, which I had made concerning
the origin of fteel waters, led me, when I firft vifited
Hartfell-Spaw, to inquire into the adjacent foffils :
which was the more eafily done, as the ftrata of the
earth about the well, for a confiderable depth, are
expofed to view. After fome fearch among thefe, I
found a ftratum of cliffery rock, about three or four
feet thick, of a grey colour, and, I think, about
twenty paces from the fpring. In fome of the hol-
low places of this rock, where the rain and wind
did not reach, I obferved a white faline efflorefcence
on its furface, which when I had taken off and
tailed, I concluded, from its ftyptic and chalybeat
tafte, that it was a native vitriolum Martis, not-
withftanding its white colour ; but I found it, upon
trial, to be alum, having fome fine attenuated parts
of iron conjoined with it, and the fame fait with that
contained in the Spaw water.

Having

C H7 ]

Having taken fome pieces of this rock, which
were quite free from the faline effervefcence; and in-
fufed them in common fpring-water for fome hours,
this water did thereby acquire the true tade of the
Hartfell-Spaw. It likewife in the fame fnanner re-
ceived a deep blue tin&ure with galls, and con-
tained all the other qualities of that mineral water,
without the lead; difference, that I could obferve :
which, I think, afcertains the true origin of this
mineral fpring in the mod; obvious and undeniable
manner.

I am perfuaded, that this plain and eafy method
of invedigating the origin of mineral fprings is not
only fuperior to the mod learned difcuffions and
elaborate theories, but will be found to be the fured,
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 defigned) upon the two foffils, that we find to be
the caufe of the above mineral waters, and which
will be neceffary to elucidate and compleat thefe
obfervations, which we have made concerning their
origin ; I diall now only add one thing, and recorm
mend it to the obfervation of others: “ Whether or
‘c not , from fuch a knowlege of the origifi of mineral
u waters , we may not acquire artificial ones of as
“ great , or perhaps of greater , medicinal ufey than
<c thofe , which are naturally produced ? ”

U 2

XVIII.

[ r48 ]

XVIII. An Account of the State of the Iher-
mometer at the Hague on the qth of Ja-
nuary 1757. Ext ratted from a Letter of
Mr. Abraham Trerfibley, F.R.S. to Tho.
Birch, D. D. Secret. R. S.

Hague, Febr. 15. 1757.

Read Mar. 3, *y Carefully oblerved the thermometer
I/57' JL during the cold days, which we have
had this winter. I made ufe of the fame thermo-
meter, with which I made my obfervations in 1740,
and for that purpofe fixed it in the fame place, where
it was that year, viz. in a window diredtly expofed
to the north, and open to a large fquare. In 1 740
I faw Fahrenheit’s thermometer at two degrees be-
low o. This year, on the 9th day of January in
the morning, it was at three degrees above o 3 that
is, only five degrees higher than in 1740.

• • T

XIX. Experimental Examination of Platina*
By William Lewis, M. B. F. R. S .

PAPER V.

Read Mar. 17, f g \ H E account of this extraordinary
J_ mineral, formerly read to this il-
luftrious Society, and honoured with their approba-
tion, being fince publiflied in the F hilojophical Franf-

attionSy.

C x49 ]

attionSy renders any recapitulation of the difcoveries
hitherto made unneceffary.

The near and remarkable relation betwixt platina
and gold, not only in point of gravity, but in many
lefs obvious properties, hitherto fuppofed to belong
to gold alone ; and their as manifest difagreement in
others, particularly colour, duCtility, and fufibility j
induced me to examine, what effects they might have
in combination with one another in different propor-
tions ; and whether there is reafon to credit the re-
port of great frauds having been committed by mixing
them together j how far fuch abufes are practicable >
and, what is of more importance, the means by
which they are difcoverable.

Experiments of the Mixture of Platina and Gold.

Experiment I.

i. Twelve carats* of fine gold, and the fame
quantity of the purer grains of platina, were urged
in a blaft -furnace, for near an hour, with a fire fo
jftrong, that a flip of Windfor brick, with which the
crucible was covered, tho’ defended by a thin coating
of pure white clay, had begun to melt. Upon break-
ing the veffel, the metal was found in one fmooth
lump or bead ; which, after being nealed by the
flame of a lamp, and boiled in alum-water, appeared.

* The proportions were adjufted according to the carat weights,
as it is by thefe, that the finenefs of gold is ufually exprefted. A
carat is the twenty-fourth part of the whole compound : thus gold
of fo many carats is a competition, of which fo many twenty-
fourths are fine gold, and the reft an inferior metal.

both

[ x5° 1

both in the mafs, and upon the touchflone, of a
pale bell-metal colour, without any refemblance to
gold.. It bore feveral ftrokes, and ftretched con-
siderably under the hammer, before it begun to crack
about the edges. On viewing the fracture with a
magnifying glafs, the gold and platina appeared un-
equally mixed ; and feveral fmall particles of the lat-
ter were feen diflinft : nor was the mixture intirely
uniform after it had again and again been returned to
the fire, and fuffered many hours of flrong fufion.

2. Eighteen carats of gold and fix of platina
(=3:1) were melted together as the foregoing, in
an intenfe fire continued about an hour. The bead,
nealed and boiled, was lefs pale-coloured than the
former, but had nothing of the colour of gold. It
forged tolerably well, like coarfe gold. To the
naked eye it appeared uniform ; but a good magni-
fier difcovered in this, as well as in the other, fome
inequality of mixture, notwithftanding the fufion
was two or three times repeated, with the ffrongefl
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 flrong fufion for above an
hour and a half. Thefe united into an equal mafs,
in which no granule of platina, or difTimilarity of
parts, could be diftinguifhed. The colour was flill
fo dull and pale, that the compound could fcarcely
be judged by the eye to contain any gold. It ham-
mered well into a pretty thin plate j but we could
not draw it into wire of any confiderable finenefs.

4. Twenty-two carats of gold were melted in the
fame manner with two of platina (=11 : 1 ) the

7 fame

[ X5X ]

fame that standard gold contains of alloy. The
mixture was uniform, of a tolerable golden colour,
but eafily diftinguifhable from that of ftandard gold
by a dingy bell-metal call. 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 mafs, which, after the ufual nealing and
boiling, proved fomewhat tougher than the pre-
ceding, and of a better colour.

6. Twenty- three carats of gold were melted with
one of platina ; which is nearly half the proportion,
that ftandard gold contains of alloy. The compound
worked extremely well, but was diftinguifhable from
gold by a manifeft dinginefs, which it retained after
repeated forgings, fulions, 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, dudtile
like the three foregoing whilft 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 foftand flexible, of a good colour, without any
thing of the difagreeable caft, by which all the fore-
going compofitions were readily diftinguifhable, in
the mafs as well as on the touchftone, from fine or
ftandard 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 diftinguifhed by the eye or
hammer from the fine gold itfelf.

In

t[ 152 ]

In all thefe procefies, even where the proportion
of platina was l'mall, the fufion was performed by a
vehement fire, that the mineral might be the m '‘re
intimately difi'olved, and equally diffufed thro’ tbc
gold. The neceffity 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 ftandard gold
with filver alloy. On a fecond fufion it loft its yel-
low colour, which had at firfl been only external,
from an imperfect mixture, great part of the platina
being concealed in the internal part of the mats, and
covered as it were by a golden coat.

The crucibles were rubbed on the infide with
chalk, to prevent any particles of the metal from
lodging in their cavities. A little borax was em-
ployed in each as a flux ; with the addition of nitre,
by which the colour of gold is fomewhat heightened.
On remelting fome of the mixtures with fundry other
additions, powdered charcoal feemed to improve the
colour mod.

Experiment II.

The preceding compofitions, after being gently
hammered and boiled, were weighed hydroftatically
with great care, by a very tender balance, in diftilled
water, wherein the gravity of ftandard gold turned
out 17.788.

All the mixtures proved heavier than ftandard
gold. Their gravities were nearer to the medium
of the gravities of the ingredients, than thole of the
compofitions of platina with any of the other metals

formerly

[ r53 ]

formerly given an account of ; none falling confider-
ably fhort of the mean gravity, and fome rather ex-
ceeding it.

•

Gravity.

Platina

By

Experiment.

1 7.OOO

By

Calculation.

Difference;

Platina 1 Gold 1

l8. I4O

18.I42

O. 02

Platina 1 Gold 3

18.613

18.7I4

0. IOI

Platina 1 Gold 5

l8.8l2

I 8.9O4

O.O92

Platina 1 Gold 1 1

18.835

I9.C94

0.279 \

Platina 1 Gold 15

1 8.918

19.142

O.224 |

Platina 1 Gold 23

ip. 089

I9.189

0.100

Platina 1 Gold 31

1 9.128

l9'2 1 3

0.0857

Platina 1 Gold 47

19.262

19.237

0.025- *>

Platina 1 Gold 0 c
Gold

I9-273

19.285

19.261

0.0123

G

O

w

G-

G

s

Q

£

CTJ

I

Experiment III.

As a mixture of platina with an equal quantity of
gold has been reported to be fpecifically heavier than
gold itfelf, but turned out otherwife in the above
experiments -} fome further trials were made on that
head

i. Inftead of the crude mineral, whole gravity is
but 1 7, we took platina, that had been cupelled with
lead, one of the neateft of the buttons formerly men-
tioned, 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 ftrong fire, and continued in fufion for about an.
hour : the mafs proved fpongy, and very light. We
Vol 5,0. X remeked

[ *54 ]

remelted it feveral times with vehement degrees of
lire, fuffering it to cool leifureiy in the crucible j
and, in order to feparate as much as poffible of die
lead, to which its fpongineis feemed owing, boiled
it in aqua-fortis, and repeatedly injected corrolive
fublimate upon it during fulion : the mafs, neverthe-
lefs, ftill turned out cavernulous and brittle, and fpe-
cifically lighter than either the gold or platina b}r
themfelves.

2. I likewife endeavoured to combine platina with
fmall proportions of gold. By vehemence of lire, it
was made to unite, tho’ not perfectly, with half its
weight and lefs : but the mixtures were extremely
fpongy and brittle ; in fpecific gravity one fcarce 1 6,
another lefs than 1 5.

3. As a call metalline body from the Spanifh
Weft Indies, of which fome account will be given
hereafter, appears to have been confounded with the
mineral platina, this alfo was melted with an equal
quantity of gold. They united with great eafe, by a
moderate lire, into an uniform compound, tolerably
compact, but whofe fpecific gravity was only i6{-;
which is nearly the mean gravity of the two ingre-
dients.

Exp ERIME N T IV.

As a fmall portion of copper fomewhat heightens
the colour of pale gold, platina was melted with
eight times its weight of ftandard gold made with
copper alloy. The fufion was performed, as in the
preceding experiments, in a clofe crucible, with a
fkrong fire, but without any flux, and continued for
about an hour. The metal appeared covered with a

black

C *55 ]

black fcurf, and had loft about It was much

duller coloured, harder to the hammer, and cracked
fooner about the edges, than mixtures of fine gold
with a larger quantity of platina. By repeated fu-
fion, and frequent nealing, it became a little fofter
and tougher, fo as to be drawn into pretty fine wire ;
but the colour was ftill exceeding dull, more re-
fembling that of bad copper than of gold.

The fpecific gravity of this compound was 17.9 15;
a little lefs than the medium of the three ingredients
unmixed, and a little greater than the mean gravity
refulting from the platina by itfelf, and the copper
and gold mixed ; for copper, in the ftandard pro-
portion, appears to diminifh the gravity of gold
more than it ought to do according to calculation.

From the foregoing experiments it appears, that
platina is mifcible with gold, in certain proportions,
without injuring either its colour or ductility, or oc-
cafioning any confiderable alteration in the gravity :
experiments related in former papers have fhewn, that
it ftands aqua- fortis, and the other trials by which
the purity of gold is eftimated. It is to be hoped,
that the abufes manifeftly practicable by this mineral
have hitherto been but rarely, made ufe of. To guard
againft them is the object of this paper $ to detect
them, of the next*

X 2

XX, Ex-

C 156 ]

XX. Experimental Exammation of Platina.
By William Lewis, M. B. F. R. S.

' PAPER VI.

Experiments of dijlinguifhing and purifying Gold
mixed with Platina.

1. By Amalgamation with Mercury.

Read Mar. 31,
‘757-

IN an experiment related in the fourth
paper, an amalgam of one part of
platina and two of gold with a fuitable quantity of
mercury, having been triturated with water for a
confiderable time, and occafionally wafhed over, the
platina was gradually thrown out, and the gold re-
tained by the quickfilver.

Repetitions of this experiment have {hewn, that
tho’ the feparation fucceeds in fome cafes, it does not
perfectly in all : that if there is any particle of the
platina imperfectly diffolved in the gold (which will
generally be the cafe, unlefs the quantity of gold is
three or four times greater than that of the platina),
this part will be retained, after long trituration, un-
diffolved by the mercury, un comminuted by the
peftle, and too ponderous to be wafhed off in its
grofs form. A variety of mixtures of platina and
gold were treated in the manner above defcribed j
and the gold, recovered from the amalgams, fubmit-
ted to further examinations. Where the proportion
of platina was large, the microfcope almoft always
difcovered (till fome granules of it on the fraCture of

the

C r57 ]

the ingot : where the proportion was fmall, the
recovered gold was frequently, but not conftantly,
found to be pure.

From thefe experiments it appears, that mercury
has a greater affinity with gold than platina, and that
platina is capable of being totally feparated by elutri-
ation ; but that the procefs is too vague and undeter-
mined to be applicable in the way of affiay, as we
have no mark of the precife time for difcontinuing
it, and as we can never be certain, without making
another allay, whether the whole of the platina is
feparated or not. As a preparatory examination,
where the quantities of platina and gold to be fepa-
rated are large, it is neverthelefs of good ufe, as
greateft part of the platina may by this means be
walhed over with little trouble, and the gold brought
into a lefs compafs, fo as to be commodioully fub-
mitted to a perfect purification by the means here-
after pointed out. This procefs has a fimilar effect
on platina and gold to that of ftamping and walking
on metallic ores ; which could not be reduced into
pure metal in the furnace to'advantage, without the
previous feparation of great part of the earthy and
lfony matter by water.

2. By Precipitation with Alkalies.

Gold is precipitated totally by fixed alkaline fa Its,
but platina only in part. When foliations of the two
metals are mixed together, fo much of the platina
remains fufpended, after faturation with the alkali,
as to be readily diftinguilhable by the yellow colour,
which it communicates to the liquor. It has been

objected,

[ r58 ]

objected, that tho’ the platina was dlfcoverable, when
thus mingled fuperficially with the gold, it may r.e-
verthelefs, when combined more intimately by fulion,
elude this method of trial.

1 . Mixtures of gold with fmall proportions of
platina were therefore kept in fulion, by a very
ftrong lire, for leveral hours, and afterwards diflblved
in aqua-regis. The folutions being diluted with
water, and a pure fixed alkaline fait gradually added,
fo long as anv effervefcence or precipitation enfued,
the liquors remained manifeftly coloured, tho’ ap-
parently paler than when the two metals had been
diffolved by themfelves.

2. A more convincing proof, that part of the
platina remains fufpended, after the precipitation of
the gold, was obtained, by putting into the filtered
liquors fome plates of pure tin, which prefently
contracted an olive hue, and threw down a large
quantity of a browmifh precipitate, as from the com-
mon folutions of the crude mineral. It was oblerv-
able, that the tin plates were often fenfibly aCted on,
even whilft the liquor was overcharged with alkali.

3. It has been further fuggefted, and with great
appearance of probability, that as a part of platina is
precipitated as well as gold by alkaline falts, if only
this part be mixed with gold, it will be thrown down
by them again upon diffolving 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 ftrong fufion for above an
hour : they united more eafily than gold does with
fo large a proportion of the crude mineral, and
formed a fmooth neat bead, which hammered well

into

[ *59 ]

into a pretty thin plate before it cracked, and ap-
peared internaily uniform and equal. This com-
pound being diflolved in aqua- regia, and a fixed al-
kaline fait added by degrees till the acid was more
than faturated, the liquor became indeed pale ; but
tin plates put into it quickly difcovered, that iit held
a very confiderable quantity of platina. It appears
therefore a conftant property of this mineral to re-
main partially diflolved in the nentralifed liquor *,
and that minute proportions of it, mixed with gold,
are by this means diftinguifhable.

4. Many other experiments were made of the
precipitations and precipitates of gold and piatina, by
alkalies both of the fixed and volatile kind. The moil
remarkable effedts were, that volatile alkalies, added
to both folutions in quantity juft fufficient to faturate
the acid, precipitated gold intirely, but platina only
in part, fo much of it remaining fufpended as to give
the fame colour to the liquor as when fixed alkalies
were made ufe of: that, on adding a larger quantity of
the fpirit 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 copioufiy re-
diflolved, the liquor becoming of a deep brown ilh
red : that the walked precipitates of both metals,
whether made by volatile or fixed alkalies, proved
foluble, by moderate digeftion, in fpirit of fait ;
thofe of platina much more difficultly and fparingly
than thofe of gold.

3. By inflammable Liquors.

1. Inflammable fpirits, which revive gold from its
folutions in form of yellow films, have no fuch effect
7 on

[ i6° ]

on folutions of platina. This experiment affords not
only a criterion for diftinguifhing with certainty whe-
ther gold has been debafed by platina, but likewife an
infallible means of recovering it perfectly pure from
any admixture of that mineral. If the compound
be diffolved in aqua-regis, the folution mingled with
twice its quantity or more of the fpirit, and the mix-
ture fuffered to hand for fome days in a glafs flightly
covered ; the whole of the gold ariles to the furface,
leaving the whole of the platina diffolved. The
golden pellicles may be collected, by pouring the
matter into a filter juft large enough to contain it.
The diffolved platina paffes thro’, leaving the gold
upon the paper, which is to be wafhed with frefh
parcels of water till the liquor runs colourlefs. The
paper is then to be carefully fqueezed together, and
burnt in a crucible previoufly lined with vitrefied
borax : when fully funk down, a little frefh borax is
to be. injected, and the fire railed to melt the gold.
The ufe of lining the crucible with borax is to pre-
vent any molecular of the gold from lodging in its
cavities. — This procefs is attended with one inconve-
nience, the flownefs of the feparation of the gold from
the folution : this may be in fome meafure expedited
by employing a fpirit, which has been diftilled from
vegetables, that give over an effential oil.

i. As effential oils take up gold from aqua-regis,
and keep it diffolved for a time upon the furface of
the acid ; a pure colourlefs oil, that of rofemary, was
poured into about half its quantity of a folution of
platina, the mixture well fhaken, and fuffered to reft :
the oil quickly arofe, without taking up any thing
from the platina, or receiving any colour : the acid

liquor

[ 161 3

liquor underneath remained coloured as at firff.
Compofitions of platina and gold being diflolved in
aqua-regis, and treated in the fame manner, the whole
of the gold was imbibed by the oil, and the whole
of the platina remained diflolved in the acid. The
oil, loaded with the gold, appeared of a fine yellow
colour, and, on {landing for a few hours, threw off
great part of its contents, in bright yellow films, to
the tides of the glafs. Sundry other diftilled oils
were made trial of, with the fame event. The gold
is eafily recovered, by fetting the oil on fire ; and,
when thoroughly burnt out, melting the refiduum
with borax, as in the preceding experiment. After
the feparation of the oil employed at firft, it may
be proper, for the greater fecurity, to add a little
more ; which, if any part of the gold fhould hap-
pen to have been left in the liquor, will effectually
take it up.

3. The experiment was repeated likewife with
the fubtile fluid, prepared from vinous fpirits with
the vitriolic acid, called by the chemifts asther. The
feparation fucceeded in the fame manner as before ;
the sether receiving nothing from pure platina, but
inftantly taking up the gold from a mixture of the
two. It is obfervable, that the gold imbibed by this
fluid is kept permanently diflolved by it ; without
feparating or reviving, as it does from the common
eflential oils and vinous fpirits.

4. The liquors remaining in thefe experiments,
after the extraction of the gold, appear on all trials
the fame with the common folutions of platina ;
and readily betray their being impregnated with that
mineral by their colour, by the precipitation with

Vol. 50. Y tin,

/

[ 162 ]

tin, by their yielding a fparkling red precipitate with
volatile fpirits, &c. A far more minute proportion
of platina, mixed Avith gold, is more dihinguifhable
by thefe procehes, than by thofe with alkaline falts
above-mentioned ; thefe exhibiting the whole of the
platina diflolved by itfelf, thofe only a part of it.

4. By metallic Solutions .

All the metals, which precipitate gold from aqua-
regia, have been already (hewn to precipitate platina
alfo. As gold is thrown down by fome metallic fo-
lutions, as well as by the metals in fubhance, par-
ticularly thofe of mercury and iron, it remains to
apply thefe liquors as precipitants for platina.

1. A faturated folution of mercury in aqua-fortis,
which readily and totally threw down gold in its me-
tallic form, being added to a folution of platina, the
liquor became immediately turbid, and, on handing
for a little time, nearly the whole of the platina fell
to the bottom. A folution of mercury in the ma-
rine acid, or of corrofive fublimate, likewife preci-
pitated platina, but lefs perfectly, and with this dif-
ference, that the former precipitate was of a greyilh
brown colour, the latter of a fparkbng red.

2. Solutions of iron in the vitriolic acid, or of
common green vitriol in water, which totally threw
down gold, happily made no change in folutions of
platina. Compofitions of platina and gold being dif-
folved in aqua-regis, the folutions diluted with about
twice their quantity of water, and a filtered folution
of the vitriol gradually added ; the mixtures inhantly
grew turbid, and,, on handing, depofited the gold in

form

Ci63]

form of a purplilh grey calx, the whole of the platina.
remaining diifolved. It appeared, on numerous re-
petitions of this experiment, that no part of the
platina was precipitated along with the gold, nor any
of the gold kept fufpended with the platina. Where
the quantity of the mixt to be affayed was very
fmall, the precipitation was ufually performed in a
filter, that the gold, which feparates in very minute
molecuiae, fome of which might polfibly remain un-
obferved in the bottom of a glafs, might be detained
on the paper. The colourlefs forts of filtering-paper
are preferable for this ufe to the coloured ; as thefe
laft may be impregnated with aftringent matter,
which would extricate fome of the ferrugineous part
of the vitriol. The vitriol was diffolved in about
fix times its quantity of water, and a few drops of
oil of vitriol added, to prevent the feparation of any
of its iron in the filter. This folution was put into
the filter firft, the folution of gold and platina im*j
mediately poured into it, the whole flirred together
with a clean glafs rod, and flich part of the liquor,
as had run thro’ before they had been duly mixed,
poured back to the reff. The gold remaining in the
filter was waflied with frelh parcels of water, the
paper cautioufly rolled up, and burnt in a crucible,
as mentioned in a former experiment.

3. Solutions of the vitriol, recommended by Kunc-
kel and others for precipitating gold of an uncom-
monly high colour, made no change in the folutions
either of gold or platina. The bluilh green did in-
deed precipitate the gold ; not as blue vitriols, but
by virtue of the ferrugineous matter, of which thefe
kinds largely participate. White vitriol was like wife

Y 2 made

[ i64 ]

made trial of, but without producing any fenlible
effedt in either folution.

4. The experiments with green vitriol were re-
peated on the folutions of platina and gold made in
fpirit of fait. The event was the fame as with thofe
made in aqua-regis ; the gold being confbantly pre-
cipitated, and the platina remaining diffolved.

Remarks.

It may be proper to obferve, that by the proceffes-
here pointed out, the gold is purified from other
metallic admixtures at the fame time that it is fepa-
rated from platina ^ the inflammable fpirits reviving,
effential oils and aether imbibing, and green vitriol
precipitating, gold alone. Care fhould be had, that
the piece of the mixt, taken for examination, be
totally diffolved before any trials are made with the
folution ; the menftruum not adting with equal fa-
cility on the two metals, but diffolving 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 confiderably added on. Where the
filter, with the gold in it, is burnt in the crucible,
borax is the moft commodious flux : but as this fait
gives a fenfible palenefs to gold, a little nitre may be
injedted, after the metal has come into fufion, to
reftore its colour. If the nitre was added at firff,
whilft the gold continues fubtilely divided, fome par-
ticles of the metal would be diflipated during the
deflagration, which that fait produces with the coaly
remains of the paper*.

As

[ i65 1

As the foregoing experiments exhibit platina and
gold difTolved in a mineral fluid, which by fimple
mechanic agitation rejects the one and retains the
other, and which difcovers this different appetite of
union fo much the more remarkably, as the two
metals have been the more intimately combined : —
as they further exhibit platina difTolved in liquors in-
capable of holding gold fufpended, — gold difTolved
in liquors incapable of holding platina fufpended, — »
gold totally precipitated by fubftances, which preci-
pitate no particle of platina, — and gold, when mixed
fer minima with platina, perfectly recovered from it
by thefe means, without increafe as well as without
diminution : — it follows, that platina is not, as Tome
believe, gold naturally debafed by the admixture of
Tome other metallic body, but a metal of a peculiar
kind, efTentially different from all the others. Be-
fore the difcriminating characters of platina were
difcovered, fuch a notion was highly plaufible, and
direCt experiment Teemed to confirm it : a portion of
the platina might be feparated in the procefs ; a quan-
tity of gold mixed with the remainder, in order to
eolleCt the gold fuppofed to be contained in it ; the
mixture fubmitted to operations, which gold alone
was fuppofed capable of withftanding. j and the aug-
mentation, which the noble metal dill retained, held
to be true gold gained from the platina.

The methods of trial above related will, it is pre-
fumed, be fufficient to undeceive thole, who may
have been impoled upon by fuch appearances, and
betrayed into the practice of unintended fraud's : to>
convince them, that all they have gained from pla-
tina, after the moft laborious attempts to dived it of

its-

[ 166 r

its imaginary coat, is no other than platina flill :
and, which is of more extenlive utility, to diltinguifh
all the abufes, that may be made with this metal,
and reftore the gold, fo debafed, 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-Preef by the Rev . John Nixon,
M.A. F.R.S .

S I R,

Read Mar. 1 7
*757-

B

EFORE we enter upon a more
particular confideration of this no-
ble piece of antiquity, it may not be improper to
premife the general account (and indeed the only
one I have met with yet publifhed), which is given
of it by Meff. Cochin and Bellicard, in a little ( 1 )
treatife printed at Paris in 17^5. Thefe gentlemen
acquaint us, that in 174.9 there were only three
pillars of this building vifible, and that they were
buried half way within the ground : but that foon
after, workmen being employed by order of the
King of the Two Sicilies to dig at the place, they
came to the pedeftals of thofe pillars ; and at length
difcovered the building to have been a temple, which

(i) Obfervations fur les Antiquites d’Herculaneum, tfc. p. 82.

(as

I

[ r67 ]

(as it was judged by the principal (2) idol found there,
and fome other circumdances) was dedicated to Se-
rapis. They tell us further, that many datues and
vafes of excellent workmanfhip had been taken out
of the ruins ; and that the whole temple was ex-
tremely magnificent, being built, or cafed through-
out, with marble, even to the parts appropriated to
the meaned offices.

This account, tho’ ffiort, is yet fufficient to excite
in the curious a defire to be more fully informed,
both as to the ancient and modern date of this place.
To gratify in fome meafure that defire is the pur-
pofe of the prefent letter.

In order to form any conjecture concerning
the antiquity of the building before us, we mud
know, that the worfhip of Serapis, to whom it is
fuppofed to have been confecrated, was not intro-
duced at Rome till towards the end of the republic;,
and then tolerated in the fuburbs only (3). How-
ever, at length he was allowed to have temples
ereCted to him within the precinCts of the city ;
chiefly by the authority of Vefpafian, who was
thought to have redored a blind man (4) to his fight
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 fons of
that Emperor, as appears by their (5) damping his

(2) For a more particular account of this ftatue, 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. laft.

(3) Dio. L. xl.

(4) Suet. Vefp. c. 7.

(5) For authorities, fee Middleton’s Germana Antiq. Men,
P- 15.2*

image.

[ 168 ]

Image on the reverfe of their coins.' Now as it Is
reafonable to fuppofe, that the other cities of Italy
followed the example of the metropolis in this in-
ftance, as well as, we find, they did in others of a
fimilar nature ; we may with fome probability place
the foundation of this temple at Pozzuoli fomewhere
within the period affigned above.

As for the particular ftate of this building, it is
fituated on the weft fide of the town, near to, and
upon a level with, the beach (See Tab. II.). Its
grand entrance is towards the fouth, and feems to
have been a veftibule fupported by four columns.
This introduces you into a fpacious portico, or cor-
ridor (6), which was defigned to defend fuch as
affembled here to worfhip from the injuries of the
weather ; as alfo to afford a commodious palfage
into a range of rooms of different dimenfions, dil-
pofed on all the four fides of the court.

Thefe chambers feem defigned for preparing the
facrifices, lodging the priefts, and keeping their veft-
ments ; as alfo the fuel, fiores, and other things re-
quifite for the fervice of the temple : not to omit
the convenience of purifying both the priefts and the

(6) Pliny (L. ix. ep. 39.} acquainting his architect with his
purpofe to repair a temple of Ceres, which was upon his eftate,
lays, Nullum in proximo fuffugium aut imbris , out folis. Vi dear
ergo munifice fitnul religiofeque fafturum , ft eedi , quam pulcberrimam
exjlruxero , addidero porticus : illam ad ufum dece, has ad hominum.
That thefe portico’s commonly inclofed the whole fite of the an-
cient temples, as in this at Pozzuoli, feems implied in what fol-
lows £htantum ad porticus , nihil interim occurrit , quod videatur
ejje ijlinc repetendum : niji tamen , ut for mam fecundum rationem loci
J'cribas ; neque enim pojjunt circumdan templo : nam Jolum templi bine
fiumine — bine via cingitur.

worfhippers

i

A. Ancient grand Entrance.
JJ.R1U3. Portico or Corridor.

C . Atrium. .

D. Jem /tie fere/ierh/ .to call d.
K. Altar /vith c/d Drain .

F. Sacrariurn .

F

B %

PliksTranf T Q.x. , TABU./.. ,e<t.

G.G.7 «v large Chambers for tva/hing /&.

II .Modem Entrance ever Ruins. fhis seems
to hire leenfmn/rli/ sn.'/ia Chamber, as is
exprefs \l in the Rran-ing at (L)

tl

*

[ i69 ]

worlhippers by bathing or walhing. This laft de-
ftination is countenanced, with regard to the cham-
ber on the north-weft and that on the north-eaft cor-
ner, by the row of ftone feats, which ftiil remains on
each of the fides of the former. Thefe feats have a
gutter, or channel running along at the foot of them
on the floor ; and are likewife perforated with holes of
a proper fize, with funnels palling from them below.
On thefe benches probably the perfons to be purified
placed themfelves, that the water might be let out
upon them from pipes ; or adminiftred in vafes or
ewers by the attendants, and afterwards be carried
off by the paflage6 mentioned above (7).

Nor can a provifion for walhing or bathing in this
temple feem ftrange to any one, who reflects, how
high a rank this mode of purification held among
the religious ceremonies of almoft all nations of the
world. As for the Romans, with whom we are princi-
pally concerned in the prefent inquiry, the fubfiftence
of this ufage among them might be abundantly fhewn
by the teftimonies of their writers ; and all’o by the
accommodations provided for it in other buildings of
the fame character with that before us. Some of
thefe ftiil remain within the neighbourhood of Poz-
zuolo, viz. the magnificent temple near the lake of
Avernus afcribed to Apollo, which has an apartment
adjoining to it indifputably intended for the purpofe

(7) Meff. Cochin and Bellicard feem to think this room was in-
tended for another purpofe, by their calling the funnels under the
holes in the feats of it, conduits des fojfts d'aifance. Which of the
two hypothefis’s is to be preferred, I fubmit to the judgment of the
learned ; or rather, whether both of them may not be admitted,
as in no-wife incompatible the one with the other.

Vol. 50. Z

intimated

[ 17° 3

intimated above. For it is furnifhed with feveral
ftone cifterns, whole inward dimenfions are propor-
tioned to the ordinary fize of an human body ; and
near them is a fpring, out of which the water was
taken up, and poured into a bafon hollowed out in
the fide of the wall : from thence it ran along in a
groove or channel cut in the ends of the cifterns, to
be let out upon the perfons bathing in them, accord-
ing to their pleafure, or as occafion lhould require.
So likewife in the temple of Venus (as it is com-
monly called) near Baias, there is a large chamber
containing feveral ftone feats for wafhing, with little
cells contiguous to it for undrefiing before, and
anointing the body and drefling afterwards.

I have but one more particular to add concerning
the apartment in the north-weft angle of the temple,
viz. that, when it was cleared of its rubbifh, there was
found in a niche in one of its ftdes a male and female
figure naked, and in the moft flagrant aft of natural
lewdnefs. It is now (as we were informed) in a
private room in the palace at Portici, nor can be feen
without the King’s fpecial permiflion. In the fame
place, probably, may ftand the ftatue of a fatyr in
an unnatural adtion with a goat, which was found at
Herculaneum, and is, they fay, of exquiflte fculp-
ture, but concealed in the palace above-mentioned
with the fame ftridt care as the former.

Having thus viewed the feveral chambers in the
exterior parts of the building, it is requifite (in order
to a regular profecution of our defign) to return to
the grand entrance. And here, pafling thro’ the
corridor above defcribed, we come to a fquare court
or atrium paved with large flabs of white marble

ftreaked

[ *7* ]

{freaked with blue or greyifh veins. At the distance
of feet further, in the center of the faid court,
flood the temple properly fo called, containing a
circular area of 54 feet diameter, and elevated above
the level of the pavement, fo as to admit an afcent
to it of five fleps (8), in four different parts anfwer-
ing to the four fides of the corridor. This area is
furrounded with fixteen pedeftals, on which formerly
were columns to fupport a rotundo or dome. Againfl:
each of thefe columns, on the outfide, there teems
to have been placed a flatue, and, in the interme-
diate fpaces, vafes for incenfe, or lavers for wafhing,
upon low flands on the floor. In the middle of the
temple was eretted the grand altar, the traces of
which {fill remain, with a fink or drain near it to
receive and carry off the blood of the vi<5lims, &c.

Northward of the temple, and at the diflance
of 25 feet, being the lame fpace, that was be-
tween it and the corridor at the entrance, was once
another {lately veflibule or pavilion, fupported by
four columns four feet and an half in diameter, and
of the Corinthian order, as appears by three of them,
which Hill fubfifl: {landing in a line with the outer
face of the corridor. This pavilion (if we may
judge by analogy from what we find in other tem-
ples) led to an inner recefs or faerarium terminating,
probably, in the fegment of a circle : but of this
we had no certain proof, as the rubbifh was not yet
removed from this part of the building.

(8) Vitruvius, Lib. iii. cap. 3. Gradus in fronte ita conjiitu-
endi funt , uti fint femper impares : namque cum dextro peck primus
gradus afeendatur , item in templo primus errt ponendus.

Z 2 I beg

[ l72 ]

I beg leave further to mention a remarkable ap-
pearance in fome of the columns of this temple, viz;
that that part of them, which was lowermoft, as
well as that, which was neareft the capitals, is well
preferved and pretty entire ; while part of the in-
termediate fpace for two or three feet together is dis-
coloured , as if it had fuffered by burning ; and alfo
excavated in fuch a manner (9), as to contain multi-
tudes of little fhell-ffth, which appear, like the pho-
lades in fome ftones, almoft totally inclofed within
their cells, lo as not to be got out without breaking.
I know no way to account for this fo probable, as
by fuppofing, that the lower parts of thefe column's
were fecured by the mafs of rubbifh, that inclofed
them, as the uppermoft were by their elevated fitua-
tion, froffi being perforated either by the corrofive
quality of the fea, which (according to tradition)
formerly covered the fite of this temple ; or by the
animalcula, which are bred in that element ; while
the middle parts ftanding in the water were (per-
haps for ages ) expofed to the injuries mentioned
•above. I had no opportunity of taking the height
of the uppermoft line, where the above-mentioned

(9) The learned Abbate de Venuti, F.R.S. and Antiquary to
the Pope at Rome, has lately by letter favoured me with an inge-
nious account of this phenomenon ; tho’ he mentions the granite
columns only as affe&ed by it. Cum column es, qv.ce circumibant
templum , excavarentur e terra , quel erant partim obrutce — — minu-
tijjimcs concha , quee ex tejlaccorum genere funty atque in faxorutn
rirnulis prope mare reperiuntur , ideoque a vulgo Trutti di Mare ap-
pellatcs , columnas hafee ( i. e. Thcbaicas ) quam fespijjimc per f crave -
rant , fefe componentes , veluti apes in alveari , cum cjjent fejunftce in-
tegumentis ex ipfo lapide fubtilij[fimis.

alteration

5

[ J73 ]

alteration in the columns ended, from the level of
the fea in the bay ; which would have fhewn how
high the water mud; have rifen formerly above its pre-
fent mark, to produce the erFeft afcribed to it on this
hypothecs. But, however that may be, the nature
of the fituation of this place (io) being confidered,
the innovation fuppofed to have happened in it will
not, I prefume, be thought improbable ; efpecially
in a country fo plentifully ftored with combuftible
matter in its interior parts, and confequently fo liable
to changes in its outward form, as this is, and has
been for many ages. For an extraordinary inftance
of this we need go but a little way from this place,
viz. to II Monte Nuovo, a hill about four miles in
compafs, which in 1538 was caft up in one night’s
time by an eruption, whereby the greatefl part of
the Lucrine lake was filled up, and the town of
Tripergola, with a church, convent, hofpital, and
other buildings, intirely buried.

I fhall conclude with acquainting you, that at the
corner of the court of this temple, near the prefent
entrance, there lie fome large bafes of marble, which
(as we were informed) were taken out of the fea at
about a mile’s difiance from Pozzuolo, and are in-
fcribed DVSARI SACRUM. What was the ori-
ginal fituation of thefe monuments, it may not be
pofiible now to afcertain. As for DVSARES men-
tioned in the infcription upon them, G. Vofiius (11)

(upon

(10) Vid. p. 168.

(11) Nec alius a Aiwvou five foie eft Avails, five A^a.^. vel
AivcrctpK. Quae vox (ut fufpicor) conflata ex 2CH Dutz. et

Jretz.

[ *74 ]

(upon the authority of Tertullian, and Stephanus
Byzantius) makes him to have been an Arabian deity,
the fame as Bacchus or Sol according to the Roman
theology. That learned man is likewife inclined to
think, that the name DVSARES is compounded of
two Hebrew words ; one of which fignifies joy, and
the other, the earth , i. e. mortals, who inhabit it.
This etymology properly expreffes the genial effects
of the fun, which makes glad the heart of man by
ripening the fruits of the earth, efpecially the grape :
Whence Virgil calls wine,

Munera latitiamque Dei. ^Tn. i. v. 64.0.
and ftiles Bacchus the fabled inventer of it,

Bacchus Icetitire dator. Ib. V. 738.

I am,

S I R,

With the greateft refpedf,
Your mod: obedient humble Servant,

London,

March 14. 1757.

J. Nixon.

Aretz. Quorum pri us ( gaudium ) alterum notat ( terram ) ut notet
latitiam terra, five mortalium. Nam Liber five fol laetitia implet
mortales, maturando fruges, et uvas, unde de vino fic Maro,

Munera latitiamque Dei. JEn. i.

Dufarem verb efle Arabum numen indicat locus ille Tertulliani in
Apolog. c. 24. “ Unicuique etiam provinciae et civitati fuus deus
“ eft. Ut Syriae Aftart»s ; ut Arabia D if ares”

Etiam apud Stephanum five Hermolaum Byzantium — Awa'p »
— 'Gx.birihos Jcopt/tpn uQuAorrtTM A£?/3i leu. vF./pi)T«t i J'i Au-

Cctp». ovTos ’ 1 Aa^etpm 'oi{

Voftius de Idololat. L. ii. c. 8.

XXII.

[ *75 3

XXII. Some Remarks on a Parthian Coin
with a Greek and Parthian Legendy never
before publifhed. In a Letter from the Rev .
John Swinton, M.A. of Chrift-Church,
Oxon. F. R. S. to the Rev. Thomas Birch,
D . D. Secret. R. S.

Reverend Sir,

Read Mar. 24, A S we know little of the reigns of
7%, the latter Parthian kings, and lefs
ftill of their coins; an attempt to ftrike out even the
lead; new light on either of thofe heads will not, I per-
fuade myfelf, prove unacceptable to the Royal Society.
In this perfuafion, I do myfelf the honour to fend
you a few conje&ures upon another brafs Parthian
medal, in my poffeffion, as remarkable, on account
of the double legend it contains, as the former, which
I endeavoured a little to illudrate about a year ago.
This medal, which certainly merits the attention of
the curious, is in very good confervation, and ap-
proaches near the lize of thofe of the middle Roman
brafs. It exhibits the head, or effigies, of a Parthian
king, with a beard, diadem, and hair formed into
iuch curls as I never yet obferved upon any an-
tient coins. Under the effigies, the Greek letters
EACIAGcoN MGrAC MO-; •:•:>, which demonftrate
the piece to be Parthian, appear; and, on the reverfe,
a Vifiory , done fomething after the Roman manner,
tho’ the workmanfhip is pretty rude, prefents itfelf
to our view, together with a legend in a language

[ *76 ]

and charafter at this time unknown. The legend
confifls of ten complete elements, placed behind the
Victory above-mentioned ; betides which there is one
in the field of the medal, being probably the initial let-
ter of the name of the city where the coin was flruck.
The metal, tho’ termed by me brafs, difcovers fome-
thing of a competition timilar to that of his Grace
the Duke of Devonshire's medal of Vologefes III. as
deferibed by (i) Sig. Haym. This coin, of which
I herewith tranfmit you a draught mold accurately
taken (See Tab. IV. Fig. i.), having not yet, as I
apprehend, been published ; you will permit me now
to offer a few curfory remarks upon it, drawn up in
the fhortefi: and mod concife manner poflible.

i. The Greek legend, had all of it appeared,
would undoubtedly have been either BACIAeouN
MerAC MONNHCHC, or BACIASTC BAClAeioN
MerAC MONNHCHC; of which I fhould chute
the former, notwithtianding it is fuch Parthian Greek,
as the round of the medal feems not to have been
capable of containing the latter. It will be, at firfi:
tight, obferved, that this legend is different from
thofe of the Parthian coins hitherto deferibed ; which
are exhibited in the ( 2 ) genitive, not the nominative,
cafe. The laft two letters MO leave no room to
doubt, tho’ the O is not fo extremely well preferved,
that the piece was ftruck when Monnefes fat upon the

(1) Nicol. Haym Roman. Del. Tefor. Britan. Vol. ii. p. 36, 37.
In Londra, 1720.

(2) J. Foy Vaill. in Arfacid. Imper. Parifiis, 1728. Numifm.
Antiqu. Colleft. a Thom. Pembroch. et Montis Gomer. Com. P. 2.
T. 76. Nicol. Haym Roman, ubi fup. p. 30 — 38.

Parthian

Taletrb

1

Palm.

1

Heb

1

No

>

n

Mow

n

an.

r>

N UK

2

1

Sc/jw

t

b> '•-Y

u /

To

%

Mfo/t/j

ff

K

N

JPbi/os . T, Mrs . Vo/.Z . TAB

T/y. j .

Num Partlr . a/uut Jtntnn&n' Snointorfo, AM.
Ajw/iwif. Ji. S S.

J° ... o vo 20 30 40 5 0

U I I I I I ! I l.L. k i- 1 1

cfivr/e of ' -Foot, 2 or — / J/trf .

J.^HundeJr . \

\

t •

\

f t

,\ u

C *77 ]

Parthian throne. It is true, indeed, the fird element
of the prince’s name is not fo apparently a Mu ; tho’
it refembles that letter, even as prefer ved 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 (3),
and bears not the lead: refemblance to Beta (4),
particularly the Beta which ought to have been
impreffed on this piece ; as mod evidently appears
from a particle of that letter, vidble in its proper
place. From whence we may infer, that the cha-
racter I am conddering mud be Mu 5 as Alpha ,
a Beta, and Mu, were the only initial letters, according
to Dr. Vaillant (5), of the names of the Parthian
kings reigning after the introduction of the Omega
of the minufcular form, as it here occurs, upon the
Parthian coins. But Monnefes was the only one
of thofe princes whofe name began with My, and
confequently the two lad Greek elements on this
medal are part of his name. The metal and dze
of this piece, as none belonging to the other Par-
thian monarchs feem to have been yet met with
of the fame form, which exactly agree with thofe
of Monnefes’s (6) coin published by Dr. Vaillant, may
likewife be urged, as an additional argument of no
lfnall weight, in fupport of my opinion.

(3) Montfauc. Palasgrapb, Greet, p. 123, 124, 125. Parifiis,
1708.

(4) Idem ibid.

(5) J. Foy Vaill. ubi fup.

(6) J. Foy Vaill. ubi fup. p. 335, 341.

Vol. 50. A a

2. That

C *78 ]

2. That the Greek and unknown legends onthis
medal are either of the fame or a fimilar import,
will be acknowleged by all verfed in this kind of
literature extremely probable. The Greek and Phoe-
nician legends on the fame (7) coins of Tyre and
Sidon, as I have, upon examination, found, and diall
hereafter more fully evince, clearly correfpond. The
Latin and Punic legends on Juba’s medals, as has
been by me formerly proved (8), very well agree.
The fenfe (9) I have afiigned the legend in unknown
characters, exhibited by the reverfe of my former Par-
thian coin, with, I flatter myfelf, fome appearance
of truth, fufficiently anfwers to the Greek one pre-
ferved by other medals of the fame prince. We
may therefore be permitted to fuppofe, that both
the legends handed down to us by the coin before
me related to Monnefes, and conveyed the fame, or
at lead extremely fimilar, ideas to the Parthians and
the Greeks. Nothing can be more confonant to
reafon, tho’ we mud not direCtly adume this as a
podulate, than fuch a fuppodtion.

3. This notion will likewife receive a farther ac-
cedion of drength from the characters of which the
unknown legend is compofed. The fird of them
fo nearly approaches one of the forms of the Pal-

(7) Montfauc. ubi fup. p. 1 1 8, 119. Hadrian. Reland. Pa-
lajlin. Illujirat. Tom. ii. p. 1014, 1015, 1055. Traje&t Bataro-
rum, 1714. I have a Latirl diflertation in the prefs here, almoft
printed off, containing an explication of a confiderable number of
coins of Tyre and Sidon, with Phoenician legends upon them.

(8) De Num. quibufd. Sam. et Pbcen. &£. Dijfert. p. 53 — 56.
Oxon. 1750.

(9) Pbilofoph. Tranfaft. Vol. xlix. p. 593— -607.

myrene

[ 179 ]

myrene Pe , as it appears in (io) Mr. Dawkins’s al-
phabet, that we may without fcruple afcribe to it the
power of that letter. The fecond is fo like the Pal-
myrene and the Chaldee Daleth (n), that it ought
indubitably to pafs for that element. The third dif-
fers fomething, tho’ not greatly (i 2), from one of
the forms of the Palmyrene He. The fifth, which
likewife occupies the eighth place, is by no means
remote from the figures of the (13) Palmyrene and
Chaldee Nun. The fixth occurred in the third place
before. With regard to the feventh, it feems to me
pretty flrongly to refemble fome forms of the Pal-
myrene Mem (14), and even exactly to anfwer to
that of the fame letter in ( 1 y) one of the Palmyrene
infcriptions preferved amongfl thofe celebrated re-
mains of antiquity commonly, tho’ perhaps improper-
ly, filled The Ruins <?/'Persepolis. The ninth is the
He touched upon before. The tenth, which alfo fuc-
ceeded the third, if the powers of the other elements
have been rightly determined, mull be Schin. Nor
does this character, if we view it in a certain pofi-
tion, appear very remote from a rude form of that
letter. This legend then, according to what is here
advanced, as it now remains, confifls of the words
PADESHANE MONESH, PADESHAN

(10) Philofoph. Tranfatl. Vol. xlviii. p. 693.

(11) Philofoph. Tranfatl. Vol. xlviii. p.693, 740.

(12) Philofoph. Tranfatl. ubi fup.

( 1 3) Philofoph. Tranfatl. ibid.

(14) Philofoph. Tranfatl. ubi fup. p. 693, 740.

(15) Chard. Voyages en Perfe , &c. Tom. iii. p. 119. A Am-
fterdam, 17 11. Philofoph. Tranfatl. V ol, xlix. p. *597, *598.

A a 2 EMO-

[ i8o 1

EMONESH.or (i6)PADESHAN AMONESH.that

is, MONESH, or AMONESH, OF KINGS;

the word PADISHAH, or rather PADESHAH, as

it leems to have been written and pronounced by the

(17) antient Perfians, in the Pehlawian, Pehelawian,
or Baftanian, that is, the old Perhc, tongue, denoting

(18) King. That NI, or NE, was fometimes a
mafculine plural termination in the antient Perfic,
feems to appear from the word, or rather words,

G/EVI, which occurs in Dr. Elyde (19). And that
the vowels A and E were fometimes prefixed to the
Perfian proper names, in the remoter periods of time,

(16J That the plural termination of PADESHAH, or SHAH,
which, according to Khojah At'dhalo’ddin, denoted originally the
fame thing, was AN, or perhaps ANE, in the days of Ammianus
Marcellinus, there is good reafon to believe ; the word SAANSAA,
KING OF KINGS, having been then ufed by the Perfians, and
handed down to us by that author. The term 2AA, SAA, equi-
valent to the Perfic SHAH, KING, lilcewife occurs in Agathias,
a writer of the lixth century. Should my explication of the Par-
thian 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, amongft the Parthians was PA-
DESHAN, if not PADESHANE, in the fecond century after
Christ. Hyd. Hiji. Rel. Vet. Perf. p. 416. Khojah Afdhalo’ddin,
D’Herbel. Bi'olioth . Orient, p. 767. Hadr. Reland. Dijfert. viii. de
Vet. Ling. PerJ. p. 221,222. Ammian. Marcellin. Lib. xix. cap. 2.
Agath. Lib. iv. p. 135, 136. Parifiis, 1660. Ezech. Spanhem. De
Prajlant. et IJf. Numifm. Antiquor. Tom. i. p. 463-— 466. Lond.
1706.

(17) Hyd. Hiji. Rel. Vet. Perf. p. 79. Oxon. 1700.

(18) D’Herbel. Biblioth. Orient, p. 699, 767. Hyd. ubi fup.
Hadr. Reland. Dijfert. viii. de Vet. Ling. Perf. p. 147. Traje<SIi ad
Rhenum, 1707.

(19) Hyd. ubi fup. p.326.

BIR. ZEIVESHNI, LON-

is

[ i8i ]

is abundantly rrianifeft, from the words SFITA-
MAN, ESFINTAMAN, or ESPINTAMAN, the
(20) name of either the father or one of the an-
ceftors of Zeratufht ; XERXES, (21) AXERXES,
or AXERSES, and others of the fame kind, that
might, with equal facility, be produced. Whether

therefore we read this legend PADESFIANE

MONESH, PADESHAN EMONESH, or PA-
DESHAN AMONESH, we cannot greatly err.
As the coin was not fo perfectly ltruck, part of
the Greek legend is thereby apparently loft ; from
whence, and the evident want of a word there, we
may conclude, that the Parthian legend, for Parthiaji
by the explication here laid down it appears to be,
on the correlpondent part of the reverie, muff have
met with the fame fate. What that Parthian term
was, I cannot take upon me to fay ; but the whole
legend was probably fomething like THE GREAT
KING MONNESES, MONNESES THE KING
OF KINGS, or MONNESES (22) THE GREAT
KING OF KINGS j all which titles are intirely
confonant to thofe adumed by the Parthian kings (23),
and tranfmitted down to us on their other coins.
The Perfian, or Parthian, termination of the proper
name MONNESES, and others that occur, was
ESH. This may be inferred from the legend now be-
fore me, in conjunction with Scripture (24), and has

(20) Hyd. ubi fup. p. 18, 312.

(21) Matth. Hiller. Onomaji. Sacr. p. 619. Hadr. Reland, ubi
fup. p. 259—262.

( 22) Nicol. Haym Roman, ubi fup. p. 33.

(23) J. Foy Vaill. & Nicol. Haym Roman, ubi fup. h alib.

(24) fifth, c. x. v. x.

been

[ 182 ]

been remarked by fome good authors (25). That
the Greeks alfo expreffied the Schin by their Sigma ,
and fuperadded another termination to fuch words,
is Sufficiently manifeft from the Perfian, or Parthian,
Arshak (26), which was converted into Arsaces
by the Greek writers. I muft farther obferve, that,
according to Herodotus (27), the antient letters of the
Perfians were thofe ufed by the Affyrians ; which I
take to have been the fame with the elements that
prevailed amongff the Syrians, and formed the alpha-
bet of the Palmyrenes. Nay, we may colled: from
(28) Epiphanius, that a considerable part of the Per-
sians ufed the Palmyrene charaders as late as the de-
cline 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
infixing upon the truth of it. I ffiall only beg to be
indulged the liberty of propoling it to the confidera-
tion of our moft illuftrious Society, and leave the
fate of it intirely to the deciiion of fo 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 ftruck in the reign of
Monnefes, one of the Parthian kings j this point

(25) Scalig. Prolegom. in Lib. de Emend. Temp. p. 41. Col.
Allobrog. 1629. & Can. Ifag. f. 317 . Matth. Hiller, ubi fup. p.
619, 620.

(26) Mofes Chorenenf. Hiji. Armen. Lib. ii. iii. Theopnil. Si-
gefr. Bayer. Hiji. Ofrhoen. £ 5?c. p. 97. Petropoli, 1734.

(27) Herodot. Lib. iv. c. 87.

(28) Epiphan. Adv, Hcer. Lib. ii. Tom. ii. p. 629. Parif. 1622.

s having

[ i83 ]

having been fo clearly evinced, by the reafons 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 drft
of which was (29) coined in the year of the Parthian
sera 422, and the other in 425 (30). Neither of them
however exhibits the ViSiory impreffed on the reverfe
of mine. That fymbol, adopted by the Parthians
in imitation of the Roman manner, muft undoubt-
edly have alluded to fome victory, or at lead; fome
remarkable advantage, gained by the Parthian forces
over the Romans, a little before the piece was ftruck.
What that advantage was, when and where obtained,
and whether hidory confpires with the medal, in
order to fettle this point, I am next to inquire.

5. Monnefes, if Dr. Vaillapt (31) may be cre-
dited, afcended the Parthian throne in the year of the
Arfacidae 42 2, nearly coincident with the 166th of
Christ, when M. Aurelius and L. Verus prefided
over the Roman world. But fo far were the Par-
thians at that time from gaining any victories over
the Romans, that they were every where worded
by them, and put to the rout. A Roman army,
under the command of Avidius Caflius, had pene-
trated into Mefopotamia and AfTyria, ravaged thofe
provinces, laid Seleucia in afhes, taken Ctefiphon,
and levelled the royal palace there with the ground.

(29) J. Foy Vaill. ubi fup. p. 339.

(30) Maffeius, in Gall, yintiqu. ghiad. Selcft. Epift. 22. p. 1 06.
Parifiis, 1733.

(31) J. Foy Vaill. ubi fup. p. 334, 335, 336, 339.

according

[ i84 ]

according to Dio (32), the preceding year. Nay,
it appears both from (33) Capitolinus and the Ro-
man (34) coins, that M. Aurelius and L. Verus tri-
umphed over the Parthians, the very year after Mon-
nefes, as (33) Dr. Vaillant will have it, came to the
crown. All which that celebrated antiquary ac-
knowleges to be true ; and adds, that Monnefes
concluded an infamous peace with the Romans,
ceding to them the whole province of Mefopo-
tamia, for which he was foon after depofed by
his fubjedts. Here then we can difcover not the
faintefl traces of a reafon for the appearance of a Vic-
tory upon the medals of this prince. Nor does any
thing like a reafon for fuch an appearance, in antient
hiflory, occur, before the 950th year of Rome, cor-
refponding with the 197th of Christ; when the
Parthians, animated by the civil diffentions, which
reigned amongft the Romans, Albinus and Severus
then fiercely contending for the empire, entered
Mefopotamia with a powerful army (36), and re-
duced to their obedience mod of the cities of that

(32) Dio, Lib. Ixxi. p. 802. Imperator. Romanor. Numifm. &c.
Stud. iff Cur. Francifc. Mediobarb. Birag. p. 218. J. Foy Vaill.
Can. Chronologic. Reg. Parthor. p. 41.

(33) Jub Capitolin. in M. Antonin. Philof. et in Ver.

(34) Imperator. Romanor. Numifm. iffc. Stt/d. iff Cur. Francifc.
Mediobarb. Birag. S. R. I. Com. See. p. 220. Mediolani, 1683.

(35) J. Foy Vaill. ubi fup. & in Arfacid. Imper. p. 338.

(36) Dio, Lib. lxxv. p. 853. J. Foy Vaill. in Arfacid. Imper.
p. 356. & in Can. Chronologic, p. 42. Ludovic. Du Four de Lon-
guerue, Ab. S. Joan, de Jardo ad Melod. et Sept. Font, in Therafc.
Atinal. Arfacidar. p. 51. Argentorati, 1732. Erafm. Froelich, S.
J. S. in Dub. de Minnifar. Aliorumque Armen. Reg. Num. ct Arfa-
iidar. Epoch, nuper vulgat. p. 66. Vicnnae Auftriae, 1754.

province.

[ i«5 3

province. Now if, with F. Corfini (37), we admit
the commencement of the Parthian aera to have
happened in the 525th year of Rome ; the 425th or
426th year of the former and the 970th of the latter
of thofe sera’s, wherein the Parthians undertook the
Mefopotamian expedition, will nearly coincide. But it
may be proved from a medal of Monnefes, defcribed
by the (38) Marquis Scipio Maffei, in oppofition to
(39) Dr. Vaillant, that this prince was not dethroned
in the year of the Arfacid<e 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 flill have fat one or two years longer upon
the Parthian throne. This may likewife be inferred
from Dio, who mentions Vologefes as preliding over
the Parthians, not in 198, but in 199, about two
• years after their irruption into Melbpotamia. All
which being with proper attention confidered, 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 tera, that is,
the 197th of Christ; that the authority of (40)
Arrian, (4i)Juftin, and (42) Athenasus, on which

(37) Edv. Corfin. Cl. Reg. Scholar. Piar. in Acad. Pifan. Hu-
manior. Litterar. ProfefT. De Minnifar. Aliorumq\ Armen. Reg.
Num. et Arfacid. Epoch. DiJJ'ertat. p. 13 — 29. Liburni, 1754.

(38) Maff. in Gall. Antiqu. Epijl. 22. p. 106.

(39) J. Foy Vaill. ubi fup. p. 338.

(40) Arrian, in Parthic. apud Photium, Cod. 58. & apud Syncelk
in Chronograph, p. 226.

(41) Juft. Lib. xll. c. 4.

(42) Athen. Deipnofoph. Lib. iv. c. 13.

Vol. 50. B b

F. Cor*

[ 186 ]

F. Corfini principally founds his notion, may be in-
tirely depended upon ; and, in fine, that the argu-
ments he makes ufe of on this occaiion, to (43)
evince the truth of his fcheme, however they may
be oppofed by F. Froelich, and the medal before me
mutually ftrengthen and fupport one another.

6. I muft not forget to remark, that F. Corfini
thinks, without a proper foundation, that the piece
of Monnefes published by Dr. Vaillant may be con-
fidered either as a Parthian or (44) an Armenian coin.
This, I fay, he takes, without a proper foundation,
to be the cafe. For the medals of the Armenian
kings, fuch as that he has obliged the learned world
with a draught of, and a mod: excellent differtation
upon, difcover a tafle far different from that which
is exhibited by Dr. Vaillant’s coin. The air of die
face, the curls into which the hair is formed, and in
fine every thing elfe vifible upon the former, except
the fymbols on the reverfes, bear little refemblance to
what is prefented to our view by the latter. As for the
titles, impreffed on thefe medals, they are far from
being of the fame kind ; the Armenian princes in
this particular approaching nearer the fucceffors of
Seleucus (45”), and contenting themfelves with more
plain and fimple titles than that lofty one affedled by
Monnefes, according to Dr. Vaillant, in common
with the other Parthian kings. Tq which I may
add, that my coin fets this point beyond difpute, by
the Parthian characters it has fo apparently preferved j
all the Armenian medals I have hitherto met with,

(43) Corfin. ubi fup.

(44) Corfin. ubi fup. p. 2.

(45) Erafm. Froel. ubi fup. p. 72.

about

t i87 ]

about three or four in number, as well as that
of Baron Stofch (46), which F. Corfini has fo
learnedly explained, having only Greek legends upon
them. What therefore he has advanced, on this
head, muff be confidered as not altogether fo con-
fonant to truth ; efpecially, as he feems to have of-
fered nothing of any great weight in fupport of his
opinion.

7. Before I difmifs the prefent fubjedt, I mull beg
leave to take notice' of the Parthian character on the
field of my medal, which is not very unlike the
Chaldee (47) or Palmyrene Aleph , tho’ of fomething
a more complex form. Should this be allowed,
that character may be confidered as the initial letter
of ARSACIA, the name of a city fubjedt to the
Parthians, placed by (48) Ptolemy in Media ; where,
according to (49) Dr. Vaillant, many of the Parthian
medals were coined. That city is however believed
by fome to have been feated on the fpot occupied
at this time by Caibin, or rather Kazwin (fo), one
of the principal towns of the Belad A1 Jebal, or
mountainous part of the Perlian Irak ; for a par-
ticular account of which place, the curious may
have recourfe to Golius, and the eaftern geographers.
As I have already far exceeded the limits propofed
to myfelf, when I began this letter, I fhall not now
touch upon any other obfervations relative to the

(46) Corfin. in Ded. Nob. Fir, Phil. Venut. p. 5.

(47) Pbilofopb. Tranfatt. Vol. xlviii. p. 693, 740.

(48) Ptol. Tab. Urb. Infign. p. 39. Ed. Hudf. Oxon. 1712.

(49) J. Foy Vaill. in Arfadd. Imper. palT.

(50) Hamdalla Ifm. Abu’lfed. Mohammed A1 Firauzabad.
Nafsir A1 Tufi, Ulugh Beik, &c. Golii not. ad Alfragan. p. 200
— 204.

Bb 2

medal

[.I88]

medal before me, which is the only one I have hi-
therto met with carrying a Greek and a Parthian
legend upon it ; but only allure you that I am, with
the mod perfect regard,

S I R,

Your moft obliged,

Chrift- Church, and mod obedient Servant,

Oxon. Nov. 29th,

i756- John Swinton.

XXIII. An Account of a Red Coral froi?i the
Eaft-Indies, of a very fingular Kind : In
a Letter from Mr. John Ellis, F.R.S. to
Mr. Peter Collinfon, F. R. S.

Read Mar
*757*

24»

I

Dear Sir,

Promifed you, in my letter of the
7th of February 1754, publidied in
our Tranfadtions, Vol. xlviii. p. 507. that I would,
when I had an opportunity, endeavour to illudrate
the tubular drudture of the common red coral of the
Mediterranean fea, and of fome of the keratophyta ,
which two kinds, tho’ evidently of as different na-
tures as done and horn, yet are, from late obferva-
tion, found to be faddoned, or raifed up into thofe
beautiful forms, by animals of the fame clafs.

This I fhall attempt to do, by comparing them
with bodies of a dmilar kind, but of a lefs compadt
texture : for which reafon I formerly referred you,
in the above-mentioned letter, to a figure, which I
have given of the herring-bone-coralline, with its

animals

r> .

Mi/m. 'Irons . fW. I

[ r89 ]

animals alive in it, Phil. Franf. Vol. xlviii. Tab.
XVII. Fig. E, F, G, to fhcw you the nature of the
tubular ftrudture of the keratophyta.

I now lay before you a piece of red coral (See
Tab. III. Fig. A.) from the Eaft Indies of a very
fingular kind, which I received from your friend
Abraham Hume, Efq;. The flan and branches of
this appear evidently to the naked eye to confift of a
combination of vermicular tubes clofely connected
together : and, if we trace thefe little tubes to their
ftarry openings on the furface, Fig. B. we fhall
plainly difcover them to be the red teftaceous cover-
ings of certain marine polypes, which have railed
themfelves thus upright, and difpofed themfelves into
this remarkable vegetable form.

In order to form fome idea, how thefe mafles are
increafed and extended to the fizes we often meet
with them, and where the fame regularity of fhape
is preferved in the large, that we find in the fmall *
we think it more than probable to fuppofe, that the
fpecies of polypes, that compofe this coral, breed
as we find all other polypes do : and this appears
more evident to me, from what I have already dif-
covered in many kinds of corallines ( See Plate 38.
of my Ejf'ay on Corallines) , where the young polypes
in fome fpecies are produced in the egg ftate, 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 fame
fpecies near them, or to increafe the trunk, and ex-
tend the ramifications, of the plant-like figure which
they juft defcended from.

From obferving this method in nature, we fhall
the eafier account for the progrefs of thofe genera-
tions

[ 190 3

tions of young teftaceous polypes of this coral ; which
appear to us fucceeding each other, and railing them-
felves up from the root or bafe, paffing along the
ftem and branches, and covering the whole anew
with their flielly cafes : and in this their paffage up-
wards we may obferve, in the fpecimen before us,
how they have involved and incrufted the fmall
lateral branches of the former generation, fo as al-
moft to hide their appearance. From hence we may
trace them extending themfelves to the extremities of
the upper branches, and there forming a new feries
of (lender twigs, proportionable to thole which they
had juft covered, ftill keeping order and exadt fym-
metry in the whole ftrudture.

The diftinguifhing character of this red coral,
after we have confidered its fiftulous texture, is the
knotty joints, of which it is compofed : thefe appear
more diftindt, and are placed at a greater diftance, in
the fmaller branches than the large ; and, as we de-
fcend to the trunk, the traces of thefe inequalities
but juft appear.

From thefe protuberances, or knots, the lateral
branches take their rife j and as thefe and the lead-
ing branches grow up together, they frequently in-
ofculate at thefe joints, forming a kind of network,
like what we obferve in many of thofe fpecies of
keratophyta, which are called fea-fans.

The furface 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 raifed ftarry cells. The figure of thefe cells is
owing to the radiated pofition of the claws of the
polypes.

Upon removing this friable matter, we obferve,

that

C X9I ]

that the polypes of thefe cells have had a communi-
cation with a fmall hole or opening into one of the
tubes, that lie immediately under it.

This frequent intervention of the openings of the
fmall tubes, or their ramifications, between the fides
of the larger ones, makes the latter appear more ir-
regular, and not fo parallel, as in the true red coral ;
where we find fewer flats ; and, where thofe occur,
we may obferve it always alters the direction of the
tubes.

I mufl further remark to you, that many of the
tubes of this coral appear, thro’ a magnifying glafs,
full of fmall holes, like thole I have defcribed in the
keratophyton ( Plate 26. Fig. G. p. 62. of my Eff'ay
on Corallines) ; and thefe holes will appear more di-
llindtly to you, when you examine the half tubes,
or broken irregular ones, on the flem and great
branches of this coral.

Further, if you compare the tranfverfe fedtion, at
the bafe of this coral, with a fedtion of a common
Rattan cane, they will both appear full of holes in
the fame regular order, and of nearly the fame dia-
meter : whereas the tubes, on the furface of the
flem of this coral, look as irregular as fo many holes
pierced or eaten out by worms.

I hope by this time our ingenious botanical friends,
whom we could not perfuade to part with thefe beau-
tiful fea- productions from the vegetable kingdom,
are thoroughly convinced, that this mealy, friable,
or calcarious covering, full of Harry cells, which we
are fure to find covering all the recent red corals and
keratophyta, is not a mere blight of infedts, common
to the fea vegetables as well as land ones, which
they have formerly infilled on j but that they will

confiaer

[ J92 ]

confider this covering, for the future, as proper and
neceffary for the well-being of thefe little animals,
as they do at prefent hair and wool for bead's, fea-
thers and down for birds, and fcales and flime for
fifhes.

This red coral is mentioned by Rumphius, in his
Herbarium Amboinenfe , Vol. vi. Tab. 85. p. 26 4.
but, as the figure he has given, is not fufiicient to de-
monftrate its tubular texture and animal ffrudture, I
have had it more accurately drawn ; and thofe parts
in particular magnified, which may tend to illuftrate
the foregoing defcription. He mentions, that it is in
great efteem with them, on account of its beautiful
figure j but would be much more fo, if it was not
for the great difficulty they find in preferving the
fmalleft twigs from falling off ; which is the reafon,
I fuppofe, that this fpecimen is not more complete.

Laftly, he tells us, that it is ufed by the inhabit-
ants of the Spice-iflands as a principal ingredient in
their medicines to expel' poifon : as alfo, that they
have it in great efteem on account of its excellent
diuretic quality.

Upon examining this coral in the microfcope, I
obferved, that the outfide tubes of the ftem were
chiefly ftonv, but that the inward parts were cofn-
pofed of as many divifions of fpongy tubes, as there
were of ffony ones.

This I find arifes from the fmaller ramifications,
which being fpongy at the knobs, and ftony in the
fpaces between them, are inclofed and united to-
gether into one common mafs during the growth
of this coral ; fo that both the foft and hard parts
together make up the infide of its trunk or idem.
When we examine minutely the two parts, that

compofe

[ x93 ]

compofe the branches, we find, that the knobs con-
lift of little fponge-like tubes interwoven together,
as they appear magnified at Fig. D ; and the ihank
or part between the knobs is compofed of itony
tubes, that are more eredt (See the piece magnified
at E ) : thefe tubes appear to be branched from the
lateral holes at FF. The Fig. E likewife fhews the
appearance of the tubes on the furface of the main,
item.

The radiated openings in the little wart-like figures
on the furface of the branches are guarded by eight
pointed valves, as magnified at Fig. I. : thefe inclofe
the heads of the polype, one of which is figured at K.

The item of this fpecimen is fo intirely diverted of
its yellow mealy covering, that we may eafily trace
the manner in which the animals, that compofe it,
have carried up their itony tubular cells, which lie
fide by fide along the furface. Thefe tubes have
itill fome marks of fponginefs at particular diftances,
which, as they come to join together, form thofe
irregular crofs-lines, that furround the item in feveral
places. See Fig. A.

In other fpecimens I have obferved the principal
items covered over with calcarious tubes, fuch as
I have defcribed in the Eflay on Corallines, &c±
in that lpecies of keratophyton called Venus’s Fan.
Plate 26.

The fponginefs of the knobby joints occafions
that exceifive brittlenefs in the lefier branches ;
which accounts for the difficulty, which Rumphius
mentions, of getting good fpecimens of this beau-
tiful coral.

I have lately feen a white pipy and itony coral

Vol. 50. C c with

[ »94 3

with fpongy knobs, which is only a different fpecies
of this genus, in the very curious cabinets of our
friends Dr. John Fothergill, M. D. and Mr. Ifaac
Romilly, F. R. S. fpecimens of which they have
both lately received from the Eafl Indies. The
examining of thefe has given me an opportunity to
be more particular in the defeription of this coral •
which feems to point out to us the great affinity
there is between corals, keratophyta, and fponges.

I am.

Dear Sir,

Your moft affectionate humble Servant.

i *

Laurence-Lane,
Iviar. 24. 1757.

John Ellis.

XXIV. An Accoimt of the EffeBs of a Storm
at Wigton in Cumberland. Communi-
cated hy Mr. Philip Miller, F \ R. S.

To the Rev. Tho. Birch, D. D. Seer. R. S.

S I R,

Read Mar. 31, T" Received the inclofed letter by the
1/ 57 JL poll:, giving an account of the fform,
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 fo good as to communi-
cate it to them. The faCts therein mentioned have
been confirmed to me by a perfon of fkill and in-
tegrity.

[ *95 ]

tegrity. Mr. Thomlinfon’s conjecture of the caufc
of the leaves of trees appearing fcorched after the
dorm, I believe to be true ; having two or three
times myfelf obferved the fame in Sudex, at a con-
fiderable didance from the fea ; when all the hedges,
trees, and woods, on the fide toward the fea, have
had their leaves fcorched, as if fire had paffed over
them ; and their oppofite fides from the fea have
continued in full verdure ; which frequently happens
in dorms from the fouth-wed : and, upon tailing
their leaves, I have found them as fait, as if they had
been lleeped in brine. I am,

/^N the 6th of laft month, at night, happened a
moll violent hurricane, fuch an one, perhaps,
as has not been known in thefe parts in any one’s
memory. It lalled four hours at lead:, from about
eleven till three. The damage it has done is very
deplorable. The corn has fufferd prodigioudy. Stacks
of hay and corn have been intirely fwept away :
houfes unroofed, and in feveral places driven down
by its fury : trees without number torn up by the
roots ; others fnapt off by the middles, and their
fragments fcattered over the adjoining fields. Some
were twilled almoll round, or iplit down to the very

S I R,

Your mod obedient humble Servant,

Chelfea, Nov. 23.
*756-

To Mr. Philip Miller.

S I R,

Wigton, Nov. 15. 1756.

C C 2

ground ;

[ *9* ]

ground ; and, in fhort, left in fuch a (battered,
mangled condition, as fcarce any defcription can give
you an adequate idea of.

The change in the face of the country was very
furprifing in one (ingle night : for, to complete the
difmally-defolate fcene, the feveral tribes of vege-
tables (in all their verdure the day before), as if
blaAed with aethereal fire, hung down their drooping-
heads. Every herb, every plant, every flower, had
its leaves withered, lhrivelled up, and turned black.
The leaves upon the trees, efpecially on the weather
fide, fared in the fame manner. The evergreens-
alone feem to have efcaped. The grafs alfo, in a.
few days time, recovered itfelf in a great meafure.

I agreed at firA with the generality of people in
their opinion, that lightning had done all this mif-
chief : but upon recollecting, that there had not
been much feen any where, in many places none at
all, but that the cffeCt was general- (i), as far as
ever the wind had reached ; I began to think, that
fome other cauie might probably be afligned. Ac-
cordingly, I fet myfelf immediately to examining
the dew or rain, which had fallen on the grals, win-
dows, &c. in hopes of being enabled, by its tafle,
to form fome better judgment of the fulphureous or
nitrous particles (or of whatever other quality they
were), with which the air was fo Arongly impregnated
that night, as to produce fuch Arange effeCts. Nor was
I deceived in my expectations : for, upon taAing it,,

(i ) Upon inquiry, I find, that no fuch thing was taken notice of
in Northumberland ; fo it probably has not extended any further:
to the eaft ward, than the ikuts of our own county.

I. found

C x97 ]

I found it as brackifh as any fea-water. The feveral
vegetables alfo, which I tafted, were all fait, more
or lefs, and continued fo for five or fix days after j
the faline particles not being then walhed off ; from
the corn and windows in particular ; the latter of
which, when the moifture on the outfide was ex-
haled next day, fparkled and appeared exceeding
brilliant in the funfhine. This faltnefs, I conceive,
has done the principal damage : for common fait
diffolved in water, I find, upon experiment on fome
frefh vegetables (when fprinkled two or three times
upon them) has the very fame effect, except' that it
does not turn them quite fo black : but particles of
a fulphureous, or (2) other quality, may have been
mixed with it. That this fait water had been
brought from the fea (3), every body; I think, will
allow ; but the manner how (4), is not fo eafy to
conceive.

This freedom, Sir, perhaps may want an apology:
but, as a gentleman (5) of the Society you have the
honour to be a member of, did not think fomething
of the like nature either unworthy of his own no-
tice, or that of the world ; and as the hurricane prin-
cipally affedted thefe parts of nature, in the knowlege
of which you have fo eminently diftinguifhed your-

(2) In an adjoining bleach-yard, a piece of cloth, which had
been left out all night, was turned yellow ; and was not without
(bme difficulty wafhed out again. Some alfo, which was fpread out
the next day, contracted the fame colour.

(3) The wind was wefterly, and confequently would fweep the
Irifh fea.

(4) No rain, or however very little, during the hurricane.

(.5) Mr, Derham, in his Phyfico Theology.

felf ;;

[ r98 ]

rdf ; I flattered myfelf you would excufe the trrouble
I lhould give you in a perufal of an account of this
very ftrange, tho’ hitherto unnoticed, phenomenon.

I am. Sir, with the greateft refped and efteem.

Your mofc humble Servant,

Thomas Thomlinfon.

XXV. An Account of the EffeEls of Lightning
upon the Steeple and Church of Leftwithiel,
Cornwall ; in a Letter to the Right Ho-
nour able the Earl of Macclesfield, P ref-
dent of the R.S. By Mr . John Smeaton,
F. R. S.

Read April 21, XAnuary 15. 1757. ahout five o1 clock
17 S'7’ J in the evening, returning home from

the Edyftone works near Plymouth, I obferved four
flafhes of lightning, within the fpace of fix or feven
minutes, towards the weft ; but heard no noife of
thunder *. A few days after, I was informed, that
the fame evening the lightning had fhattered the
^church of Leftwithiel in a very furprifing manner.

The 1 ft of March I was at Leftwithiel: they
had then begun to repair the damages ; but had not
made fuch a fuch progrels, but that the principal
effects were equally obfervable as at firft. I obferved,

and was informed, as follows :

* Pittance about thirty miles.

At

[ i99 ]

At the time before- mentioned, the inhabitants
were alarmed by a violent flafh of lightning, accom-
panied with thunder fo fudden, loud, and dreadful,
that every one thought the houfe he was in wTas fall-
ing upon him ; almoft every one being within doors,
on account of a violent fhower of rain, which pre-
ceded the lightning : fo that no body faw or heard
any thing of the mifchief done to the church, till it
was obferved accidentally after the fhower.

The fteeple is carried up, plain and fquare, to
about 49 feet, with a kind of hate-hone, rough-
cahed on the outfide ; upon which is formed a very
elegant odogon Gothic lanthorn about 9 feet high,
and thereon a hone fpire about 52 f£et height, with
a fpindle and vane riling about 3 feet above the hone r
fo that the whole together was about 1 1 3 feet. Each
face of the lanthorn fmifhes above with a fort of a
Gothic pediment, with a little pinacle upon each,
feparated from the body of the fpire.

I will not affirm, that the lightning entered in at
the fpindle or vane at top ; but will fuppole it, for
the fake of methodizing the fads. The vane was
of plate copper, which being turned round, and
rivetted, made a focket to turn upon. The fpindle
did not reach thro’ the focket, but the weight of
the vane refted upon the top of the fpindle, the top
of the focket being doled. About the vane were
many acute angles, and fome almoft fharp ; but I did
not obferve any pointing diredly upward. The vane
was much bruifed, which might be crccalioned by
the fall ; but the focket was rent open, as if it had
been burft by gunpowder ; and in fuch a manner,
as I -cannot conceive could be occafioned by the fall.

Under

[ 200 ]

Under the fpindle, that carried the vane, was a bar
of much the fame fize and length -f-, that palled
thro’ the center of feveral of the uppermoft ftones
fuccefiively, in order to unite them the more firmly
together, and was run in with lead : all which fur-
rounding ftones were broke off, except one, which,
together with the bar, fell down within the tower.

The fhell of the fpire, as far down as 35 feet from
the top, was no more than 7 inches thick, and the
courfes about the fame height : fo that fcarce any
one ftone in the fpire could weigh more than 30 or
40 pounds ; but they were joined together at the ends
with mortoife and tenon, in a curious manner.
Above 20 feet of the upper part was intirely thrown
down, and difperfed in all directions ; and, as I was
informed, fome pieces were found at the diftance of
200 yards. A great many ftones fell upon the roof
of the church ; and feveral made their way thro’
both roof and deling down into the church, break-
ing the pews, and whatever they fell upon. Six feet
ftill lower the fpire was feparated ; the weftermoft
half being thrown down ; the eaftern half was left
Handing, but disjointed, and in fo critical a pofture,
that it feemed ready to fall every moment : fo that
this was ordered to be taken down immediately; and
likewife to 6 feet below, the work being found re-
markably fhattered. In this condition it was when
I faw it. The whole of the fpire I found much
cracked and damaged, but the remainder of the 7
inch fhell fo greatly, that there feemed fcarcely a
whole joint.

f Viz. About four feet long, and one inch fquare.

4

The

C 201 ]

The pediments over every face of the lanthorn
were damaged more or lefs ; but the whole a fhler-
ing of that to the N.W. was torn off from the inner
wall, to which it was connected. At firft fight this
might feem to be done by the falling of the (tones
from above ; but I was convinced to the contrary, by
obferving, that feveral of the pediments were da-
maged, and even (tones (truck out, where the little
pinacles above them were left (tanding.

About the top of the lanthorn is a bell for the
clock to (trike on : it is hung upon a crofs-bar, with
gudgeons at each end ; the whole being fufpended
to a beam laid acrofs the tower. The crofs-bar was
fo bent, that the clock-hammer would not touch the
bell by above 2 inches. This could not be done by
the falling of (tones, becaufe the beam would defend
the bell from receiving any (troke in the direction to
which the crofs-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 fquare 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 (traps, by
which they are fattened to the yoke, unhooked ;
and, as appeared to me, could not be replaced
without great force, or unlooling. Whether thefe
accidents were occafioned by the lightning, or the
falling (tones, I leave undetermined.

In the floor under the bells was placed the clock,
cafed up with (light 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

Vo I., 50. Dd crutch,

[ 202 ]

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 of an inch broad by 7- thick. As to
the pendulum, which hung pretty near the wall, the
upper part of the rod was ftruck with fuch violence
again ft the wall, that a fmart impreftion thereof was
made in the plaifter : and near the upper part of the
impreftion appeared a circular fhady ring, of a black-
ifh colour, fomething like as if a piftol had been dis-
charged of powder, and the muzzle held near the
wall. The caling of boards round the clock re-
mained unhurt.

In this ftory, on the north and fouth fide, are two
narrow windows or air-loops ; againft the upper part
of which, on the outlide, were fixed the timber
dials belonging to the clock, both which were blown
off, and broke to pieces, poftibly by the fall : and
not only that, but part of the ftone jambs were
broke out alio, near to where the rod pafled, that
carried the hands. In this ftory alfo was a fort of
window or air-loop on the eaft fide, that had com-
municated with the church, but was flopped up
with lath and plaifter : alfo feveral putlock-holes for
the fcaffolding, which had gone thro’ the wall into
the church, but were flopped up with ftone, and
plaiftered over : all thefe were forced out into the
church, and the plaifter torn from the wall.

The ground-ftory of the tower or bellfrey is ex-
preffcd in the plan ( See Tab. IV. Fig. 2.). The
fouth entrance A and north B were fhut with
wooden doors. The upper part of the eaftern C,

that

[ 203 3

that communicated with the church, was made up
with lath and plaifter ; and before it, in the church,
are the feats D, raifed one higher than another ; fo
that the floor of the feats next the wall was half up
the door-way ; confequently the vacuity under the
feats lay open to the bellfrey.

About the middle of the weftermoft fide, at a ,
one of the paving- ftones, about i foot fquare, and
i 4- 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
oppofite fide, the fouth-weft angle of the middle
buttrefs at b had a ftone taken out even with the
ground, and a hole continued in to the buttrefs ; fo
that there is great appearance of its reaching thro'
both wall and buttrefs, which together is 8 feet;
but the hole was too rugged and crooked to put any
thing thro’. Befides this hole, this wall was pierced
in feveral places, and the plaifler 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 fquare pierced 6 inches in the wall ; and fo
near fquare, that I inquired, whether it had not been
made by art ; but was afliired of the contrary.

The north and fouth doors of the tower were both
blown out, and broke in many pieces. Many of the
arch-ftones over both doors were disjointed and dis-
placed : two of the' ftones making the jamb of the
fouth door at g were forced quite out, and one of
them broke.

The vaulting of the eaft door-way C was plaiftered
underneath : the plaifter was fprung from the ftone
in 3 o or 40 places, like as if a fmall bar of iron had

D d 2 been

[ 204 ]

been drove from above thro’ the joints of the flone,
and thereby forced off the plaifler with its end. The
lath and plaifter partition, which flopped up the
upper part of this door-way, was forced into the
church, and the wainfcotting making the back of
the lafl feat was torn from the wall from end to end.
Some part of the vapour feems to have made its way
thro’ the cavity under the feats ; for moll of the
boards compofing the rife of the fleps from feat to
feat were blown out forwards ; and feveral panels
of wainfcot at each end of the feats, at d and e , were
forced out, and broke. Hence the vapour feems to
have divided itfelf into three branches j one moving
diredlly forward to the eafl window G, being 13 feet
wide, and about 20 feet high, confifling of five
principal lights divided by flone mullions : two of
the lights were in a manner wholly deflroyed, and
feveral large holes in thofe remaining ; the glafs
and lead being carried outward, like as if an harle-
quin had leaped thro’ the window. The north win-
dow E, fronting the broken panels at d , was very
much fhattered : but the fouth window F had fcarce
a whole pane left.

It is farther to be noted, that almofl all the lights
in the church, tho’ not broke, were bagged out-
ward 5 but thofe parts remaining intire in the win-
dow D mofl remarkably fo.

N- B. It was faid in the London papers, that the
organ was intirely fpoilt : it is certain there is not,
nor ever was, any organ in this church.

XXVI.

[ 205 ]

XXVI. An Account of the Cafe of the late
Right Honourable Horace Lord Walpole ;
being a Sequel to his own Account publijhed
in the PhilofophicalTranfa&ions, V oL xlvii..
p. 43. and 472.

L

Copy of a Letter from John Pringle, M. D. F. R. S.
to Dr. Robert Whytt, Profeffor of Medicine in the
Univerfity of Edinburgh, and F. R> S. relatijig to
the Cafe of the Right Honourable Lord Walpole ;
with Dr. Whytt'j Atifwer . Communicated by Dr.
Pringle-

Read April 21,
»7S7-

I

S I R, London, 22 Feb. 1757.

Imagined, that upon hearing of Lord
Walpole’s death, you would be de-
firous to know the date of his Lordlhip’s health
from the time he publifhed his own cafe ; whether
he continued the ufe of his medicines to the laft ;
what diftemper he died of ; and, if his body was
opened, what was the condition of his bladder and
kidneys. I informed myfelf, as well as I could, of
all thefe particulars and I hope I fhall be able to
give you fome fatisfadtory account of mold of them.

Laft year, in the month of March, about ten
months before his Lordfhip’s death, I happened to
meet him at a friend’s houfe, where he dined, and
never faw any man of his age with a more healthful
appearance. He was then in his 78th year. He eat

with

[ 206 ]

with an appetite, and of a variety of difhes ; drank
fome Madeira, and was very chearful the whole
time. His Lordfhip then told me, that he had
enjoyed perfect health fince he fent his cafe to the
Royal Society ; that he thought it probable there
was ftill a ftone in his bladder, but fo diminifhed,
or fmoothed, as to give him no uneafinefs ; that he
did not think it fafe to go about the ftreets 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 poft-chaife, without fatigue, or feeling any
of his old pains upon the motion. That he con-
tinued to drink, for a conftancy, three pints of oyfter-
fhell lime-water daily ; and to take, as often, from
half an ounce to a whole ounce of loap, by way of
lenitive. All thefe circumftances I am fure of, be-
caufe 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 fame ftate of health ; but fome
time after coming to town, his Lordfhip was feized
with a lingering feverifh diforder, very much affedting
his fpirits, but intirely unconnected with the ftone.
Dr. Shaw, who attended his Lordfhip for about a
fortnight before his death, told me, that there had
never been any ftoppage of water, or pafling of
bloody urine, or any pain about his bladder or kid-
neys, during his laft illnefs ; but that he now and
then felt fome irritation in making water, a fymptom
too inconfiderable to require any other medicine than
the continuation of his lime-water ; which, in a fmal-
ler quantity, he drank till within two or three days of
his end.

Mr.

f

C 207 ]

Mr. Ranby and Mr. Hawkins, furgeons, with
Mr. Graham, were prefent at the opening of the
body ; and from the two laft I received the account
of the diffe£tion.

The coats of the bladder appeared to be a little
thicker than natural, but were otherwife found. The
glandula profiata was of a large fize, but not diftem-
pered. They found three calculi , two lying loofe in
the bladder, and the other, a very fmall one, flicking
in the paflage, at that part, which is furrounded by
the proffate gland. Mr. Graham favoured me with a
fight of them all. The two firft were very much
alike, being of the fhape and fize of the kernel of a
Spanifh nut; only the fides were irregularly flattened,
but without forming any (harp angle. The furface
of each was every where fmooth, except where there
had been a feparation of fome fmall fcales, not fo thick
as one's nail ; and the largeft exfoliation from one of
thefe hones appeared to have been nearly about the
breadth of the nail of my little finger. The polifh
otherwife, as well as the colour of both, might be
compared to a boy’s marble. One of thefe calculi
weighed 21 grains, the other 22 grains: they were
heavy for their bulk, and feemingly of a hard fub-
ffance. The fmalleft hone having been put up with
fome others of the fame fize, taken out of the gall-
bladder, Mr. Graham could not be pofitive which
of them it was ; and therefore I can only fay, that
what he thought mod likely to be fo, was about
the fize and fhape of the feed of an apple, with the
point broken off and the edge ragged. This, as I
obferved, was found in the paffage, feemed to be
coming away, and probably had occafioned that irri-
tation

8

[ 208 ]

tation the patient had now and then felt during his
laft: illnefs. It weighed only about a grain.

No parts could have a founder appearance than
both the ureters and kidneys. The firft were not
dilated ; nor did the laft contain any ftone, mucus, or
gravel : the pelvis in each was of a natural fize.

The reft of the abdominal vi/cera were in the fame
healthful ftate, except the gall-bladder, which was
full of ftones. The largeft was about the fize of a
fmall chefnut, but rounder. The furface was fmooth,
particularly at one part, where it feemed to have
rubbed upon a lefler calculus , of the fhape of one of
the 'certebrce of a fmall animal, without the proceftes.
This laft had a hollow on each fide correfponding to
the convexity of the large ftone ; and thefe cavities
being finely polifhed, it feemed as if fometimes one
fide, fometimes the other, of the fmall ftone had been
turned to the great one, and had been fhaped in that
manner by the attrition. The largeft calculus weighed
one drachm two fcruples and two grains ; the fmall
one but nine grains : they both funk in water ; and
felt fpecifically heavier than any ftones I have ever feen
taken out of the gall-bladder. Befides thefe two, there
were feveral very fmall calculi of irregular fhapes, and
of rough furfaces, which all together did not weigh
above five grains. Mr. Graham, who had attended
his Lordfhip for about 40 years, aflured me, that he
never had any fymptom that indicated a ftoppage of
the bile, or the pafiage of a ftone from the gall-bladder
into the inteftines.

Neither the head nor breaft were opened.

Thefe are all the materials, I can furnilh you with,
.relating to this cafe. If you defire to be more parti-
cularly

[ 209 ]

cularly informed of any of thefe circumdances, 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 fent
you ; and fince you have been fo long in the train of
thinking, with more than ufual attention, on this
fubjed, I prefume it would be very agreeable to the
gentlemen of the Royal Society to have a paper from
you on this occafion ; and the rather, as his Lord {hip
began his courfe of foap and lime-water, upon hear-
ing of your fuccefs by that method of cure. I am,

S I R, &c.

John Pringle.

II.

Some Obfervations on the Cafe of the late Right Ho-
nourable Lord Walpole, of ’Woolterton : In a Let-
ter to Dr. John Pringle, F. R. S, By Robert
Whytt, M. D. F. R. S.

S I R} Edinburgh, March 16. 1757.

Read April 21, T)Hysicians have not, perhaps, dif-
* fered more widely in any thing, than
in their opinions of the medicines lately propofed for
the cure of the done. While fome imagined, that
Mrs. Stephens’s medicines, or foap and lime-water,
were in mod cafes to accomplish a diflolution of the
done ; others have been podtive, that nothing of this
kind was to be expected from them : nay, they have
condemned thefe medicines, when ufed in large
quantities, and long perdded in, as hurtful to the
Vol. £0. Ee domach,

[ 21° ]

ilomach, guts, and urinary palfages ; and have ai-
eribed the remarkable eafe, which they almoft al-
ways give to calculous patients, to their depofiting a
calcarious powder upon the furface of the done, by
which it is rendered lefs hurtful to the bladder. And
this opinion feems to have been not a little flrength-
ened, by the great quantity of white fediment ob-
ferved in the urine of thofe patients, who have ufed
foap and lime-water in confiderable quantities. Now,
as I am of opinion, that mod: of thefe objections
and doubts, concerning the effeCts of foap and lime-
water in the cure of the ftone, may be cleared by a
candid confideration of Lord Walpole's cafe, I fhall
trouble you with a few remarks, which have oc-
curred to me, in comparing it with the appearances
found in his Lordfhip’s body after death, of which
you were fo obliging as to fend me a particular ac-
count.

i. Whatever doubts may have been entertained
concerning the caufe of Lord Walpole’s complaints,
yet it now appears evidently beyond difpute, that
they mud have been owing, not to a fcorbutic cor-
rohve humour in his bladder, as was imagined by
fome (i), but to hones lodged in it. Thefe hones
may pohibly have lain there lince 17344 for from
that time to fpring 1747, his Lordfhip was free of
any gravelifh complaints, only pahing fome red fand
at times. But at what time foever they may have
find arrived in the bladder, in 1747 and 1748 they

(1) Philofoph. Tranfaft. Vol. xlvii. p. 48. and E/Iay on the
Virtues of Lime water, &c. edit. 2d. p, 197.

feem

[ 211 ]

feem to have acquired fuch a bulk, or were become
fo rough or pointed in their furface, as to occafion
great pain, frequent provocations to urine, and fome-
times bloody urine ; efpecially after any confiderable
motion. Thefe complaints, however, were foon re-
lieved, by fwallowing daily an ounce of Alicant
foap, and three Englifh pints of lime-water mads
with calcined oyfter-fhells : and from 1748 to 1757
his Lordfihip was kept almoft intirely free from any
return of them, except for fome months of 17 fo
and 175*1, during which he took only one-third
part of the quantity of foap and lime-water above-
mentioned (2).

a. It is highly probable, nay, I think, altogether
certain, that the foap and lime-water not only re-
lieved Lord Walpole of the painful fymptoms occa-
sioned by the ftones in his bladder, but alfo prevented
their increafe.

If thefe hones came into the bladder in 1734,
they muft, in fo many years as his Lordftfip lived
after this, have acquired a very great bulk : nay, if we
fuppofe them not to have been lodged in the bladder
above a year before they began to occafion frequent
inclination to make urine, with pain, and fometimes
fudden ftoppages of urine; yet, from 1746 to 175*7,
they ought to have grown to a much larger fize
than that of the kernel of a Spanifh nut {3), JTis

(2) Philofoph. Tranfaft. Vol. xlvii. p. 48 and 473. and Eflay
on Lime-water, p. 157 and 200.

(3) The two ftones found in Lord Walpole’s bladder were of
this fize, and weighed one of them 22 and the other 21 grains.

E e 2 true.

C 212 ]

true, the Hone may increafe fader in fo me patients,
and flower in others ; but Hones, after remaining a
dozen or more years in the bladder, generally weigh
feveral ounces. Some years iince I law a Hone, weigh-
ing near fix ounces, taken from a boy of no more
than 14 years of age.

4

3. Lord Walpole’s cafe not only fhews the power
of l'oap and lime-water to relieve the painful lym-
ptoms, and prevent the increafe, of the Hone in the
bladder, but alfo makes it probable, that thefe medi-
cines do communicate to the urine a power of dif-
folving the Hone.

In the beginning of 1749 his Lordlhip voided
with his urine a calculous fubflanee of a fiat Hi ape,
about the bignefs of a filver penny, and covered witlr
a foft white mucus (4) ; and upon the furfaces of the
Hones found in his bladder there were fome inequa-
lities, which feemed to have been made by the l'epa-
ration of thin lamellce or fcales. Further, the fmall
Hone found in the beginning of the urethra mufl
have been in a diflolving Hate, and confiderably
leflened 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, fince
Lord Walpole had not had, for feveral years before
his death, any nephritic pains, or fymptoms of Hones
palling from the kidnies ; and fince it is not likely,
that a Hone of the fize and fhape of the feed of an

(4) Philofoplu Tranfad, Vol.xlvii. p. 47.

apple

, { 213

apple (y) would, pafs thro' the ureters without beine
felt. Now it this fmall ftone, found in the urethra , was
partly diifolved by the virtue of the foap and lime-
water ; it will appear at kail probable, that the two
larger ltones in the bladder were fo likewife. But
altho’ Lord Walpole’s calculous concretions had re-
mained undiminifhed, and without any fymptoms of
diffolution ; it would not therefore follow, that foap,
and lime-water cannot diifolve the ftone in other pa-
tients, where die concretion may be of a lefs firm
texture.

The Revk Dr. Richard Newcome, now Lord Bi-
fhop of Llandaff, while drinking two Englifh quarts
of lime-water daily, for the cure of the hone in his
bladder, poured his urine every morning and evening
upon a piece of human calculus weighing 31 grains 5
by which, in the fpace of four months, it was re-
duced to three pieces, weighing in all only fix grains..
Upon one of thefe pieces, weighing 2.31 grains, lie
caufed to be daily poured, for two months, the frefh
urine of a perfon, who drank no lime-water; at the
end of which time the piece of calculus was found
to weigh 2.y6 grains, having increaled in weight a
quarter of a grain. This fame piece being afterwards
fteeped in the bifhop’s urine (who continued to drink
lime-water as above), from June 24-th to July 9th,
was in thefe few days quite crumbled into powder.
Since this- experiment fhews, beyond difpute, that
lime-water, unaffifted by foap, can communicate to.
the urine a power of difl'olving the ftone out of the.

(5) The ftone found in the beginning of the paflage from the
bladder was of this fize, and weighed about a grain.

body,.

[ 2I+ 3

body, it can fcarcely be doubted, that it muft have
the like effebt on it, when lodged in the bladder.
And that the didolution of the done in the bladder
has been completed by foap alone, appeared evidently
in the cafe of the Rev. Mr. Matthew Simfon, Minider
of Pancaitland near Edinburgh ; an account of
which will foon be made public (6) by Dr. Audin,
who opened his body after death. Mr. Simfon had,
from 1730, been afflicted in a lefs or greater de-
gree with the fymptoms of a done in the bladder ;
and in November 1735 was founded by Dr. Drum-
mond of Perth, and Mr. Balderdon, furgeon in this
city, by whom a done was not only plainly felt, but
alfo by the patient himfelf. In February 1737 he
began to take foap j and after 1743 never had any
gravelifh fymptoms. He died in May 1756 ; and,
when his bladder was looked into, there was neither
done nor gravel found in it.

4. It appears from Lord Walpole’s cafe, that foap
and lime-water, even when taken in large quantities,
proceed very dowly in didolving the done.

From July 1748, to the beginning of 1757, his
Lorddiip drank three Englifh pints of lime-water,
and fwal low’d for the mod part an ounce of foap,
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 foap, daily. How-
ever fpeedily foap and lime-water may did'olve the
greated part of urinary dones out of the body, yet

(6) It is printed in this volume of the Philofoph. Tranfa&ions,
under the 28th of April, p. 221, & feqq.

being

[ «5 ]

being mixed with the aliment and humours of the
ftomach and guts, and afterwards with the whole
mafs of blood, it is impoffible but their force muft
be greatly impaired before they arrive with the urine
at the bladder. When, therefore, urinary hones are
of an uncommon hard texture, we are perhaps
fcarcely to expedt any fenfible dilfolution of them
by the ufe of foap and lime-water : but when they
are of a fofter kind, there is no reafon to doubt, that
thefe medicines will in time diffolve them ; and this
will happen fooner or later, in proportion to the
hardnefs of the hone, to the quantity of the medi-
cines fwal lowed by the patient, and the exadt regi-
men he obferves, as to diet (7).

But however howly foap and lime-water may pro-
ceed in dilfolving the hone, yet they generally give
fpeedy relief to the- patient. Lord Walpole did not
take thefe 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 uneafinefs, altho’ the two
lafl days of the journey the horfes went at a full
trot (8). In winter 17 yo, and fpring 1 7 5 r , when
his Lordfhip fwal lowed only one third part of the
foap and lime-water, which he had been in ufe to
take, his pains and frequent inclination to make urine
returned in a good degree (9) ; but, after taking the
medicines in the full quantity, he foon became as
eafy as before (10).

(7) Eflay on the Virtues of Lime-water, 2d edit. p. 140.

(8) Phil. Tranfadb Vol. xlvii. p. 46.

(9) Phil. TranfadL Vol. xlvii. p.472,473.

£10) EBay on Lime-water, £sV. p. zco, 201,

It

C 216 ]

It would feem, while Lord Walpole ufed only one
pint of lime-water and one third of an ounce of
foap daily, that the petrifying quality of his urine
was not intirely deftroyed, and that the ftony par-
ticles newly formed on the furface of the calculi oc-
casioned, by their roughnefs, the return of his pain-
ful fvmptoms. However, when he had recourfe to
the medicines in a larger quantity, the petrefcent
quality of his urine was not only deifroyed, but this
fluid feems to have acquired a power of diflolving
the rough ftony particles depolited on the lurface of
the calculi ; and in this way i'oon removed the pain,
bloody urine, and frequent deiire to make water,
upon ufing any confiderable exercife.

Soap and lime-water not only relieve the painful
Symptoms occafioned by the hone, by wearing off
its fharp points, and rougher parts, which ufed to
irritate the tender membrane, which lines the blad-
der -y but, when this membrane has been wounded or
lacerated by the ftone, there is nothing, that will heal
it more fpeedily than lime-water ; which the ingeni-
ous Dr. Langrifh has found to be remarkable alio fol-
ks effeds in curing the bladders of dogs, after being
fretted with foap-lees ( 1 1 ).

The power of foap and lime-water to alleviate
the painful fymptoms attending the Hone is fo great,
that, as far as I remember, I have only met with one
patient, who did not find himlelf conliderably re-
lieved by them. But it is to be obferved, that this
patient neither took them in full quantity, nor per-
illed in their ufe for a long enough time : and,
when he was afterwards cut, the ftone taken out of his

( 1 1 ) Phyfical Experiments, p. 19.

bladder

[ 2I7 ]

bladder was almoft as thick fet with (harp prickles,
as the back of an hedgehog : fo that, in this cafe, no
remarkable eafe could be procured to the patient by
the medicines, until they had quite diflolved thefe
fharp points, and rendered the furface of the ftone
fmooth and equal ; which was not to be done but
after a very long time, especially as the ftone was of
a pretty hard texture.

It may be proper to take notice, that when, along
with the ftone, there is any ulceration in the bladder,
foap does mifchief, and lime-water often fails of
giving any confiderable relief. However, even in this
cafe it is perhaps one of the beft remedies we know.

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

Lord Walpole, who ufed thefe medicines for up-
wards of eight years, was not only relieved of the
painful fymptoms of the ftone, but had his health
improved by them in other refpedts (12). His ap-
petite, healthful look, and a degree of fpirits un-
common at his age, continued till the end of ly yd,
when his laft illnefs began firft to attack him. And
as his health did not appear to be any way injured by
thefe medicines ; fo, when his body was opened aftet
death, his kidneys and ureters were obferved to be
quite found and natural, as was likewife his bladder j
only its coats appeared a little thicker than ufual,
Owing probably to the long-continued fridtion of the
ftones upon it. Neither the kidneys, ureters, nor

(12) Eflay on Lime-water, &V. ad edit. p. 171, 201.

Vol. 50, Ff bladder*

[ 218 3

bladder, were loaded or crufted with any calcarious
matter ; an effect moft unjudly afcribed to foap and
lime-water, dnce in the urinary paflages, to which
the air has no accefs, they cannot depodte their cal-
carious part (13) ; and dnce the white duff obferv-
able in the urine of fuch patients, as take thefe medi-
cines in large quantities, is only the ufual fediment
of the urine changed in its nature and colour,
with, perhaps, fome of the diiTolved particles of the
done (14).

As the urinary paflages were no- way injured, fo
neither were the domach, guts, and other 'uifcei'a of
the lower belly. Thefe had all a healthful appear-
ance, except the gall-bladder, which was almod full
of biliary concretions : nor is it furprifing, that foap
and lime-water, which prevent the growth of urinary
calculi , Ihould have no ededt on biliary dones, dnce,
altho’ thefe medicines didolve the former out of the
body, yet they do not make the fmalled impreflion
on the latter.

I prefume it will be needlefs to take notice, that
the lingering nervous fever, of which Lord Walpole
died, cannot, with any colour of reafon, be afcribed
to the large ufe of foap and lime-water ; dnce, if they
could have produced fuch an effedt, they mud have
done it in much lefs time than eight years and an
ha f

.It may not be amifs to obferve, that altho’ foap
and lime-water, taken in large quantities, are no-
way injurious to health, yet in fome cafes they may

(13) Eflay on Lime-water,^. 2d edit. p. 170.

(14) Ibid. p. 24, 25. 30 & 31.

become

___ [ 2,9 ]

become improper, on account of tbe particular date
of the patient. Thus, in a fcorbutic or putrid dif-
pofition of the humours, foap at lead ought to be
totally omitted ; and fuch patients, who are much
troubled with the haemorrhoids, ought to be fparing
in its ufe, as the alkaline fait, with which it abounds,
will fcarcely fail to exafperate their pain. Where the
patient is naturally very coftive, lefs lime-water and
more foap ought to be ufed ; and, on the contrary,
where the body is too loofe, little or no foap is to be
taken, but the cure is to be trufted to lime-water
alone ; which, in this cafe, ought to be drank to the
quantity of two Englilh quarts a day.

As the foregoing obfervations will, I am afraid, ap«
pear more tedious than important, I fhall only add,
that I am, with great efteem,

S I R,

Your mod obedient humble Servant,

Robert Whytt*

III

Dr. Pringle’s Paper read after Dr. Whytt’s Letter.

• ’ \ A.

Read April 21, T^\R. Pringle begs leave to inform the
•757- Society, that having read the copy

of his letter, within thefe few days, to Dr. Shaw,
Mr. Hawkins, and Mr. Graham, thofe gentlemen
found his account agreeable to their feveral obferva-
tions j only Mr. Graham took notice, that, of late
years, Lord Walpole, in his journies to Norfolk, had

F f z twice

[ 220 ]

twice voided fome blood with his urine, but with
little uneafinefs ; and that at other times he had palled
fome fand and dony particles (tho’ never larger than
the head of a fmall pin), attended with frettings of
the parts, fcarce painful. But Mr. Graham was not
fure, whether thefe accidents were prior or fubfequent
to the fequel of the cafe, communicated to the Society
by his Lordfhip,

Dr. Pringle thinks it may be likewife proper to ac-
quaint the Society with another circumftance in Lord
Walpole’s cafe, which he had both from Dr. Shaw
and Mr. Graham, viz. that after ufing the foap and
lime-water for fome time, his Lordfhip was freed
from a very obdinate dry and fcurfy eruption, which
had redded feveral other medicines. But as there
were no marks of a putrid fcurvy (that fpecies ex-
predly alluded to towards the end of Dr. Whytt’s
letter) the Society will eadly underdand. how the
lithontriptic medicines may be prejudicial to one
troubled with the true putrid fcurvy (fuch as is mod
incident to failors) and yet not be improper for thofe,
that are fubjedt to the fcurfy eruptions, which are
commonly, tho’ erroneoufly, called fcorbutic.

Pall-Mall, 20 April,

*757-

/

XXVII.

[ 22* ]

XXVII. An Account of the Virtues of Soap
in dijfolving the Stone , in the Cafe of the
Rev . Mr. Matthew Simfon. Communi-
cated by John Pringle, M. D. F. R. S .

To the Rev . Tho. Birch, D. D. F. R. S.

Read April 28,
>757-

A

I R,

Few days ago I received from
Dr. Auftin, phyfician at Edin-
burgh, the cafe of the Rev. 'Mr. Simfon, drawn up
by himfelf, in the form of a letter to Dr. Auftin 3
and which you. may remember was alluded to by
Dr. Whytt, in the paper read at the laft 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-
attefted inftance laid before them of the virtues of
foap in diffolving the ftone, or, at lead, in removing
all thofe painful fymptoms, which ufually accompany
that diflemper.

To the patient’s own narration I have fubjoined
an extradt from Dr. Auftin’s letter to me, containing
the fequel of the cafe from the date of Mr. Sim-
fon’s letter to his death; with an account of the
Rate of his bladder, as it appeared to Dr. Auftin.
upon diffedion. I am,

SIR,

Your mod: obedient humble Servant,

Pall-Mall, 27 April, John Pringle.

1 7 5 7* J „ %

A Let -

7

[ 222 ]

A Letter from the Rev. Mr. Simfon, Minijler at
Pencaitland, to Dr. Adam Auftin, Phyfician in
Edinburgh.

as follows :

I was of an healthy conftitution till the year 1730,
when I was feized with a frequent inclination to
make water, without any previous pain in the kid-
neys or ureters. This fymptom continued till the
year 1733, without giving me much uneafinefs.

In June 1733, as I was riding from Edinburgh to
my own houfe at Pencaitland, I was feized 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 horfe-
back, I was feized with the fame complaint, but
more violent j for then fome drops of blood came
away. From this time, if I rode eight or ten miles,
I paffed fome blood, but without pain.

In September I made a journey of 60 miles on
horfeback ; but every two miles was obliged to dif-
mount, and made fome bloody water.

I continued much in the fame way all the year
1734, as the preceding j only had one additional
complaint, of a pain in the glans after making
water, and likewife 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 ac-
count of the bloody urine.

Read April 28.

Dear Sir,

Ccording to your defire, I fend you

the hiflory of my cafe j which is

In

[ 223 ]

In the month of Auguft I was founded by my
nephew, Dr. Simfon, profeffor of medicine in the
univerfity of St. Andrew's ; but he found no ftone,
which he attributed to a wrong pofture I was in,
when he founded me.

During the winter, if I walked more than ufual,
I was fure to have a return of the bloody urine and
' itrangury.

In November 173 y, I was founded by Mr. Bal-
derftone, furgeon, in Edinburgh, a gentleman very
expert in that operation, and likewife by Dr. Drum-
mond of Perthfhire. They both diftindlly felt a
hone : and I myfelf took hold of the catheter, when
it was in my bladder, and felt the ftone as diftindtly,
as if. it had been in my hand..

About Chriftmas I was feized with a pain along
the left ureter, and violent vomitings ; but, upon
ufing a turpentine clyiter and opiates, it went off.

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

I was advifed by my nephew, Dr. Simfon, to go
to London, and be cut by Mr. Chefelden ; the reft of
my friends advifing me to be , cut by Mr. Smith, a
lithotomift at Perth. Plowever, I deferred the opera-
tion, and continued much the fame all the year 1 737,
having fevere fits now and then.

In the year 1738 Sir Alexander Gibfon, of Ad-
difton, informed me, that he had been in my con-
dition, had patTed feveral fmall Hones, and had found
incredible fervice from the ufe of foap pills : for,
from not being able to get out of bed, in the f} ace

[ 224 ]

of two months after ufing the foap he was able to go
a hunting. However, for fome time I was afraid to
try the foap, not knowing what effects it might have
on a confirmed ftone ; Sir Alexander Gibfon’s cafe
being only that of fmall ftones. But the Rev. Mr.
Lundie, of Salton, by experiments convinced me of
the efficacy of foap in difiolving a confirmed ftone
out of the bladder ; for the ftone gradually grew
fmoother and fmoother, and at laft was quite dif-
folved.

On the 1 2th of February 1739, I firft began the
ufe of the foap, and in the beginning took only a
drachm in the 2.4. hours. The firft week it made
me a little qualmifh : however, I gradually increafed
the dofe ; fo that in fix weeks I took fix drachms a
day, without its difagreeing in the leaft with me. I
made it up into pills, and waflied them down with
a draught of warm milk and water.

From the time I began to ufe the foap, my gra-
velifh fymptoms gradually abated j but, upon walk-
ing two or three miles, I made bloody urine. How-
ever, that fymptom gradually abated ; and in the
year 1743 all the fymptoms of a ftone quite vanifhed,
infomuch that I could walk, ride, or go in a ma-
chine, as well as ever.

From February 1739, to July 1743, I took every
day five or fix drachms of foap : but after that time I
diminilhed the dofe to half an ounce ; and never
after had any return of a gravelifh fymptom, tho’ I
ftill imagine the ftone is not intirely diflolved ; for,
after fitting fome time, I find as it were fomething
come to the neck of the bladder; but which gives
me no uneafinefs.

This,

[ 225 ]

This, Sir, according to the beft of my memory,
is my cafe : and if it can be of any benefit to you,
in the cure of this painful difeafe, it will give great
pleafure to,

The ExtraB from Dr. AuftinV Letter to Dr. Pringle.

Read April 28. TpH E Rev. Mr. Simfon’s letter to me
-*■ was written in the year 1 749 j about
which time he told me, that he had ridden 40 miles
in a day, without any bad fymptom enfuing.

In the year 1752 he broke his thigh-bone at the
neck, by a fall from his horfe, and continued for fix
weeks in great pain but after that time he grew eafier,
and was able to put his foot to the ground. One
day, as his fervant was helping him to walk acrofs
the room, he let him fall j upon which Mr. Simfon
felt a fevere pain : the broken leg became then evi -
dently fhorter than the other ; and by that misfor-
tune he was confined to his bed for near two years.
However, about fix months before he died, he was
fo well recovered, as to be able to go to church, and
to perform divine fervice.

About the beginning of May 17 y6, Mr. Simfon
was feized with a diarrhoea, which refilled all medi-
cine, and carried him off in the 83d year of his age.
From the date of his letter to his death he had never
difcontinued the ufe of the foap (except during the time

Nov. 20th, 1749.

Dear Sir,

Your moft obedient Servant,

Matthew Simfon.

Vol. 50.

of

[ 226 ]

of his laft illnefs), tho’ he had not been troubled with
any painful fymptom of a ftone fince the year 1743.

I obtained leave of his friends to open the body,
but found no ftone or gravel in the bladder j. that
part appearing to be, in every refpedl, in a natural
ftate, except at the neck, where the coats feemed to
be fchirrous, and were about a quarter of an inch
thick.

It is probable, that the ftone had been of a fofter
texture, and more eafily diftolved, than ordinary ;
otherwife five or fix drachms of foap taken daily, even
for fo long a time, could not have diftolved it intirely;
for many have ufed that medicine in much larger
dofes, and at the fame time have drank lime-water
plentifully, without obtaining fucli effects ; tho’ all
their painful fymptoms were removed by that courfe,
as Dr. Whvtt has fhewn in his treatife on this fubjedt.

I fhall only add, that Mr. Simfon’s fon, who is
now minifter at Fala, was prefent at the opening of
the body, and can atteft, that there was no ftone
found in the bladder.

Edinburgh, Adam Auftin.

15 April 1 757.

A Letter from Dr. Adam Drummond to Dr. Adam
Auftin, relating to the Rev. Mr. Matthew Simfon’*
Cafe. Communicated by J. Pringle, M. D. F. R. S.

Read June 23, T Have yours ; and was prefent when.

>757- X Mr. Balderftone founded Mr. Simfon ;
and both of us perceived, very diftindtiy, a large
ftone : and Mr, Simfon himfelf felt it j which we

were

[ 227 ]

were the more foliicitous he fhould do, as he was
founded before by Dr. Simfon, who had declared
there was no ftone. But the particular magnitude of
it we could not well determine at the end of a long
catheter ; tho’ I remember Mr. Balderftone, who was
well verfed in that bufinefs, conjectured it to be
pretty large. He was founded only once by us, as
the urethra was a little hurt by turning the catheter.
There is only one circumftance in the cafe, which Mr.
Simfon feems to have omitted ; that, from the firft
fymptoms of the (tone, he paffed a great deal of’
mucus mixed with pus , as well as blood ; and great
quantities of gritty red fand, all in fingle grains, ne-
ver any concreted into fmall ftones. I take the
more notice of this, as I do not remember, that, after
he ufed the foap, he ever paffed any fand, but a
good deal of mucus , in which the foap was dif-
coverable by its frothing. Could the gritty particles
of fand be again fufpended in the urine, fo as to be-
come invifible ? or were they wrapt up in the foapy
liquid, fo as to efcape obfervation ? I have feen fe-
veral (tones of a foft confidence diffolved into mu-
cilage by foap : but the fand paffed by Mr. Simfon,
before he ufed the foap, feems to indicate his ftone
of a harder nature, tho’ indeed it felt obtufe at the
end of the catheter.

I ftiall rejoice, if many inftances of this kind are
found afterwards : but this feems to be the only one
yet, of a ftone in the bladder being diffolved by foap
alone. I am.

Dear DoCtor,

Bandeeran, Junes. Your moft humble Servant,

I?S7’ Adam Drummond.

Gg 2

XXVIII.

[ .228 ]

L v

« • • > fv t • r » *v ' » , ,

XX VI i I. An Account of the bnpreffions of
Plants on the Slates of Coals : In a Letter
to the Right Honourable George Earl of
Macclesfield, P ref dent of the R. S. from
Mr. Emanuel Mendes da Cofta, F. R. S

My Lord,

Read April 28, "y Have the honour to addrefs this let-
I ter to your Lordfhip, in order to be
communicated to the Royal Society, if your Lordfhip
deems it worthy the attention of that learned and
illuftrious affembly.

The impreffions of various kinds of plants are
frequently, I might fay always, found in fome of
the flrata lying over coal ; but more particularly in a
ftratum of earthy flat, which, in my Hijftory of Foffils,
page 168. Species IV. I have fynonymed Schijius
terrejlris niger carbonarius , and which always lies
immediately upon the coal-ftratum, not only in the
coal-pits of this kingdom, but of many other parts
of Europe, e.g. France, Saxony, Bohemia, Silefia,
&c.

Moft of thefe impreffions, my Lord, are of the
her bee capillar es et affine s, the gramineous, and
the reed tribes : but, however, among them many
rare and beautiful impreffions undoubtedly of ve-
getable origin, and impreffed by plants hitherto un-
known to botanifls, are not unfrequently met with.

Befides thefe, my Lord, found over coal-pits, there
are likewife found in fome parts of this kingdom,
as at Robinhood’s-bay in Yorkfhire, Coalbrookdale

in

I

l

Philos. Pran.s . Vol.L . TAB .V

J- JWfruie Jc.

" [ 229 ]

in Shropffiire, &c, many curious impreffions of the
fern tribe in regular nodules of iron-fione ; and, in the
latter place, not only impreffions of plants, but even
the cones or iuli of fome kinds of trees are met
with, very perfed and fair, and curioully imbedded
in maffes of iron-ftone.

The moft part of the impreffions of ferns, grades,,
&c. are eahly recognizable, they fo minutely tally
to the plants they reprefent. Others indeed, tho’
they do not exadly anfwer any known fpecies, yet
have characters fo diftinCtly expreifed, that they are
eahly arranged under their refpeCtive genera (i).
Therefore I fhall not trouble your Lordffiip with any
further remarks on all fuch, but ffiall only touch on
thofe elegant and extraordinary impreffions, pro-
bably of unknown vegetables, above-mentioned : for
that they are the parts and impreffions of vegetables,
I think clearly evinced, if we attentively and with
a philofophical mind conhder them, and refleCt on
the various circumftances, which attend them in the
places, where they now lie buried.

I have therefore the honour, my Lord, to exhibit
the drawings of feven fuch extraordinary impreffions,
and the foffiles themfelves, for your Lord ffi ip’s and
this learned body’s infpeCtion ( See Tab. V.). The
impreffion figured N°. i . is from Mr. Mytton’s col-
lieries at Drilt, near Ofweftry, in Shropffiire ; as are
alfo thofe figured N°. 2, 4, and 7 : they are found-

(1) The celebrated Dr. Scheuchzer has arranged the foflile
plants botanically, by Tournefort’s fyftem, in his folio work, in-
tituled, Herbarium Diluvianum ; and Dr. Woodward’s foflile plants.
Catalogue B, he informs us, were botanically coafidered and ar-
ranged by thofe famous botanifts Dr. Plukenct, and Meff. Doody,
Buddie, and Stoneftrcet.

c feme*'

[ 23° ]

fometimes two feet in length, and are generally
covered with a thin cruft of coal. The fpecimina
Dr. Woodward exhibits, Catalogue B, pages 106, 1 07.
fpecimina q. 22. and q. 32. are analogous to this,
tho’ not exactly the fame. The Dodtor’s foftiles
were from Haigh in Lancafhire ; and he imagines
the impreflions to he made by vegetables of the fir
kind. Volckman alio, in his Silefia fubterranea , tab.
22. fig. 2. figures a branch with a rhomboidal work
on it, and with three long narrow leaves, which
feems akin to this impreftion.

N°. 2. feems of the reed tribe : the knobs placed
in rows, which are like the veficles on the quercus
marina , and fome other alga, are very remarkable.
Woodward, Catalogue B. page 9. fpecimen a. 1. ex-
hibits an impreftion akin to this, which he imagines
to be of the fern kind.

N°. 3. from a coal-pit in Yorkfliire. I cannot
but think this impreftion is owing to fomewhat of
the fir kind. Dr. Woodward, who exhibits fuch
a like impreftion, Catalogue B. p. 16. fpecimen a.
108. imagines the fame : his words are, “ The im-
c< prefiion is much like what might be made by the
“ branches of the common fir, after the leaves are
u fallen or ftript off.”

N°. 4. feems to be of the fame kind as N°. 2.

N°. 5. This extraordinary impreftion is from
Moftyn-colliery in Flintfhire. It is a little obfcured j
but, when attentively viewed, exhibits a reticular
impreftion, the mefhes whereof are rhomboidal hol-
lows, and the fides of the rhombs, or the net-work,
are raifed, or in relief.

N°. 6. is from Newcaftle. Volckman, ibid, part 3.
tab, 4. fig. 9. feems to be of this kind,

N°. 7.

C 23r ]

N°. 7. The feme author, Volckman, figures a
fomewhat-like imprefiion, ibid. fig. 5.

Only thefe feven extraordinary impreflions I have
prefumed, my Lord, to treat of at this prefent time ;
but I have many more in my cabinet equally curious,
fomefew of which I here exhibit to the Society, with-
out taking any further notice of them : only I fhall
add, that many extraordinary impreflions occur in
Woodward’s and other collections, and many are
iconed in authors, worthy the attention of the curious.

Thefe impreflions, my Lord, are not only met
with in fmall pieces ; but large evident branches,
fome feet in length, have been found. I have, in the
collieries of Derbyfhire, frequently traced branches
with (what feemed to me) long narrow leaves pro-
ceeding from them, and parts of other vegetables,
above a foot’s length but the hardnefs of the fub-
ftance they are immerfed in renders it impofiible to
get them out without breaking them to pieces (2)..

As thefe remains of vegetables are very extraor-
dinary, I would recommend to the curious in botany
to take notice of them, as an Appendix P'lantarum
adhuc incognitarum . For my part, I am fo very
little fkilled in botany,, that I hardly prefume to
offer my opinion ; which, is, that they are impref-
fions and parts of fpecies of the firs and pines, of
the tithymals, the cereus’s, and other arborefcent
plants, and of large reeds j for fome of the laid

(2) Woodward, Catalogue B. p. 104.. fpecimen q. 1. was of
6 i-half feet in length ; and Catalogue D. p. 60. fpecimen h. 38.
was a yard long ; et alibi pajfm. In the collieries at Swanvich in
Derbyfhire, 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 meafured nine inches about.

kinds

[ 232 ]

kind are embellilhed with ribbed, ftudded, and reti-
culated works ; e.g. the Hercules’ club, or rubi facie
JenticoJa planta Lobelii , defcribed by Dr. Grew, Mu-
feum Reg. See. p. 221. the cerei, &c.

I further exhibit to the Society Tome few fpecimina
of iron-dones with cones or iuli imbedded in them.
Thefe, my Lord, are from veins of ball iron-done,
in the lands of Lord Gower, at Okenyate, a village
on the Roman road of Watling-dreet ; and from the
iron-works at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire. The
cones are frequently met with in fragments, but
rarely fo intire, and are never found but in the drata
of iron -done. I have added to thefe a figured foffile
body, much like a cone, found fometimes in our
chalk-pits in England, but chiefly in the pits at
Cherry-Hinton in Cambridgcfhire. Dr. Woodward,
Catalogue B. p. 22. fpecimen b.-j 2. calls them cones
feeming to be of the larix ; and imagines they were
not come to ripenefs or maturity. They certainly
have fome refemblance to cones, tho’ I much doubt
them to be fo ; but they mod exadtly refemble the
roots of the cyperus rotundus vulgaris of botanids.

I diall finifh this paper, my Lotd, by acquainting
your Lorddiip and the Society, that I firmly believe
thefe bodies to be of the vegetable origin, buried in
the drata of the earth at the time of the univerfal
deluge recorded by Mofcs. It is, I mud confefs,
with regret, that I find there are fome, who rejedt
the burial of thefe bodies at that fatal catadrophe,
but fubditute partial deluges to account for it. Did
thofe gentlemen confider, or maturely weigh, the
many remarkable and drong evidences of an univer-
fal deluge, every-where obvious in the bowels of the
earth, they certainly would abandon their imaginary

fydem :

[ 233 ]

fyftem : for, my Lord, it is not only the immenfe
quantities of marine remains, difperfed in all terref-
trial ilrata, which are to be confidered (that circum-
stance alone might give fome reafoning to their fyftem
of partial deluges), but the following more weighty
circumftances are likewife to be added and flung into
the fcale, i°„ The heavings, difplacings, trappings,
and breaks of the metallic veins, and the loads of rub-
ble, met with at vaft depths, and where no marine
remains were ever found j and fuch heavings, &c. are
not rare in metallic or mineral works: of which,
to give your Lordfhip an idea, I have presumed to
iketch the following plan of fuch a phenomenon.

Thefe crofs-loads are not unfrequent in the mines on North
Downs, near Redruth, in Cornwall. Wheal-Widden copper-
work there, in 1 7 50, was about 60 fathom deep. The load
was 20 feet over ; and has many crofs-loads two or three feet
over, which fometimes heave the metallic load from one to five
or fix fathom. Thefe crofs-loads are generally filled with frag-
ments of ftone, minerals, and other rubble.

Vol 50. Hh

2°, If

C 234 ]

2V. If thefe effects proceed from local deluges.,
recedings of the fea, gulphs atterrated, &c. we fhould
then indeed find marine remains : but how will that
account for the vafi: quantity of remains of terreftrial
vegetables and animals, equally met with, and in
like manner as the marine remains, in the bowels of
the earth ? And, 30. Were local or partial deluges
the caufe, we fhould then find only the animals and
plants of the climates or places, where fuch deluges
have happened ; whereas in thefe fofiile remains it
is quite the contrary : the remains of thofe plants
and animals, we know, are of animals and plants,
the inhabitants of the mod remote climes from thofe,
where they now lie buried ; e. g. the rhinoceros-
bones, in the cave called Baumans-hole, in the Hartz
Foreft in Germany ; the ftrange bones in the Antra
Draconum in Hungary ; the horns of the moofe-
deer, and other prodigious horns, and elephants bones,
found in England, Ireland, Germany, Sibiria, and
even America, &c. of vegetables, parts of the arbor
triftis in France ; bamboo’s, or great Indian reeds,
frequent in England ; with numbers of other fuch
examples. And of thofe remains even of the marine
fhells, yet unknown to us, all appear exotic to the
climes where they now lie depofited 5 e.g. the cliffs at
Harwich in Effex abound with a fpecies of buccinum
heterojlrophum , and other fhells, never yet difcovered
in the adjacent waters. The ammonitce of fo many
fpecies , and the innumerable variety of conch £
anomice, with which this ifland abounds, are yet un-
known to be inhabitants of our feas, and appear exotic
to this climate. Therefore, my Lord, 1 real'onably
conclude partial or local deluges could never have

produced

[ ns 3

produced fuch effects, However, unprejudiced to
any opinion, if the learned, who favour the fyftem
of partial deluges, will either confute thefe my af-
fertions, or give folid reafons for the fadts alleged to
be producible by local deluges, aberrations, &c. I will
joyfully embrace the truth : but till then, my Lord,
I would recommend to thofe fyftematical gentlemen,
not to pervert that excellent maxim of the great
Lord Bacon, and, inftead of Non jingendum neque
excogitandum , Jed inveniendum quid natura faciat ,
aut j'erat , not to corrupt it into jingendum atque ex-
cogitandum, non inveniendum quid natura faciat , aut
ferat.

J am, with great fubmiffion and refpedt,

My Loro,

Your Lordfhip’s
Moft devoted,

London, 27 April, and moft obliged,

*757-

humble Servant,

Emanuel Meades da Cofta.

II h a

XXIX.

[ 236 ]

XXIX. A Catalogue of the Fifty Plants front
Chellea Garden, prefented to the Royal
Society by the wor (hipful Company of Apo-
thecaries, for the Tear 1756, purjuant to
the Direction of Sir Hans Sloane, Baronet ,
Med. Reg. & Soc. Reg. ?2uper 4 Frcefes , by
John Wilmer, M. D. clarijf. Societatis
Pharmaceut. Lond. Socius , Hort. Chelf.

1 PrcefeB. & PrceleElor Botan.

Read April 28, jyoj A Brotanum campeftre rncanum

TV Carlins odore. C. B. P.

1702 Abrotanum^humile corymbis majoribus aureis..

H. Reg. Par.

1703 Acer platanoides. Muntingii hiftor.

170.4. Amelanchier. Lobel.

1705 Anchufa lutea minor. J. B. 3. 583.

Bugloftum luteum annuum minimum. Tourn.

*34r .

1706 Arttotis ramis decumbentibus foliis lineari-

lanceolatis rigidis fubtus argenteis flore mag-
no aureo pediculo longiffimo. Miller s Icons.

1707 Afcyrum magno flore, C. B. 280.

1708 Afphodelus Allobrogicus magno fibre Lilii,

H. L. 65.

2709 After caule ramofo ficabro perenni foliis ovatis-

feftilibus pedunculis nudis unifbris. Miller’s.
Icons.

2710 Aftragalus repens minor flore csruleo, filiqua,

Epiglottidi fimili. Index Plant. Boerh.

171.1,

[ 237 ]

1711 Barleria inermis foliis ovatis denticulatis petio-

latis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 637.

Barleria folani folio flore coccineo. Plum,
nov gen. 3 1.

1712 Biitum Kaly minus album didtum. Kaly mi-

nus Ger. Emac. 33 y.

1713 Campanula maxima foliis latiffimis. C. B. 94.
1714. Caryophiilus montanus umbellatus floribus va-

riis, luteis ferrugineis Italicus. Barrel, obf.
64S.

1715 Cataria Hifpanica- Betonica3 folio anguftiore

flore casruleo. Tourn.

171 6 Celaftrus fpinis nudis, ramis teretibus,. foliis

acutis, Hort. Cliff. 72.

Lycium. Boerhaav. Ind. alt. 2. 237.

1717 Cerafus racemofa fylveftris frudtu non eduli.

rubro. H. R. Par.

Cerafia racemofa rubra. 2 . T abernamont. Icon,

987-

1718 Chamsedrys Hifpanica tenuifolia multiflora-. H.

R. Par. Tourn. 205. ,

1715) Cherophyllum paluftre latifolium Acre albo.
Boerh. 70.

Myrrhis paluftre latifblia rubra. Tourn. 313.

1720 Chenopodium Stramonii folio. Vaill.

1721 Cirflum foliis non hirfutis floribus compadlis.

C. B. P. 577.

1722 Cirflum maximum Afphodeli radice. C. B

377-

1723 Colutea foliolis ovatis integerrimis caule frutf

cofo. Phil. Miller’s Icons.

1724 Convallaria foliis feffilibus racemo terminali

compoflto. Lin. Sp. PI. 313.

i

C 238 ]

1725 Conyza mas TheophrafU major Diofcaridis, C.

B, P. 26 f.

Major Monfpelienfls odorata. J, B. 2. 1053.

1726 Coriandrum majus. C, B. 1 f8. Officinar. 145'.

1727 Cornus Orientals fylveftris frudtu teretiformi.

T. Cor.

1728 Crithmum,fiveFasniculum maritimum, minus,

C. B. 288. Offic. 1 f2.

1729 Crocus fativus. C. B. 67. Officinar. 152.

17 3° Cyclamen vernum minus orbiculato folio, in-
ferne. rubente, flore minore ruberrimo.
Mor. Hid:. 3. 551.

1731 Elichryluin graveolens acutifolium alato caule.

Hort. Eltham.

1732 Gramen fpica ariflata. Lin. Sp PI. 83.
Gramen loliaceum fpica longiore lolium Diof-

coridis. C. B. P.

1733 Leucanthemum Tanaceti folio, flore majore.

Boerh. 107.

Matricaria Tanaceti folio, flore majore, femine
umbilicato. Tourn. 493.

1734 Meadia. Catefby Hift. Car. 3. p. 1. Dodeca-

theon. Lin. Sp. PI. 144.

1737 Medica magno fru&u, aculeis furfum et deor-
fum rendentibus. Tourn. 41 1.

1736 Mofcatellina foliis fumariae bulbofae, de qua

Cordus. J. B. 2. 206.

Radix cava minima viridi flore. Ger. 933.

1737 Narciflus Ulyricus Liliaceus. C. B. P. 55.
Pancratii Monfpeliaci Hemerocallidis Valen-
tinas facie. Lilio-narciffiis, vel Narciflus ter-
tius Matthioli. J. B. 2. 613.

•738

C 239 ]

1 73 8 Ofmunda vulgaris et paluftris. Tourn. 547.
Filix ramofa non dentata florida. C. B. P. 3 57.

1739 Papaver laciniato folio capitulo hifpido ro-

tundiore. Tourn.

Argemone capitulo rotundiore. Park. 369.

1740 Papaver Orientale hirfutiflimum magno flore.

Tourn. Cor. 17.

1 74, i Periclymenum perfoliatum Virginianum fem-
pervirens et florens. H. L. B.

1742 Phi 1 lyrea, Olea? Epheflacae folio. Pluk. Phyt.

Tab. 3 10. fig. 5,

1743 Phlomis Lychnitis. Cluf. Hid. 27.
Verbafcum fylveftre Monfpelienfe flore luteo

hiante. J. B. 3. 307.

1744 Polygonum foliis cordatis caule volubili, flori-

bus carinatis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 364.
Fagopyrum fcandens Americanum maximum.
Tourn. Inft.

3745- Saxifraga fedi folio, flore albo, multiflora.

T. 2f2.

Sedum Pyrenaicum pyramidale longifolium
elegaritiflimum. Schol. Botan. Par.

Sanicula Pyrenaica longifolia multiflora elegan-

tiflima. H. L.

1746 Serratula Noveboracenfis maxima foliis longis

ferratis. Hort. Eltham. 355.

1747 Thali&rum minus. C. B. P. 337.
Thalidtrum minus feu Ruts pratenfis genus

minus femine flriato. J. B. 3. 487.

1748 Verbafcum fcemina flore luteo magno. C. B.

2 39'

1749 Vicia leguminibus feflilibus reflexis pilofis fo-

litariis pentalpermis corollse vexihs glabris.
Liu. Sp. PL 736.

Vicia

[ 240 ]

Vida leguminibus folitariis deorfum flexis hir-
futis. Sauv. Monipelienf. 237,

17 fo Ulmus folio iatiflimo lcabro. Ger. Eraac. 1481.
Lahore folio. Park. 1404,

XXX. Remarks on the Opinion of Henry
Eeles, Ffq\ concerning the Afcent of Va-
pour, publifhed in the Philofoph, Tranfadfc.
Vol. xlix. Part i, p. 124, By Erafmus
Darwin, M. D. Communicated by Mr .
William Watfon, F. R, S.

To Mr. William Watlon, F, R. S .

S I R,

TH E inclofed papers were defigned for the
perufal of the Royal Soeietyj being an en-
deavour to confute the opinion of Mr. Eeles about
the afcent of vapours, publifhed in the laft volume
of their TranfaCtions. But the author, having no
electrical friend, whofe fagacity he could confide in,
has at length prevailed upon himfelf to be fo free to
fend them to Mr. Watfon j to whom the world is
fo much indebted for the advancement of their
knowlege in electricity.

Whence, Sir, if you fhould think, that thefe papers
have truth, the great Diana of real philofophers, to
patronize them, you will confer a favour upon me,
by laying them before that learned Body. If, on the
contrary, you fhould deem this confutation trifling

3

[ 241 ]

or futil, I hope you will be humane enough to fup-
prefs them, and give me your objections ; and by
that means lay a ftill greater obligation on one, who
has not the pleafure to be perfonaliy acquainted with
you. From,

S I R,

Your very humble Servant,

March 23. 1757. Erafmus Darwin,

Phyfician at Litchfield , Staffordshire .

LETTER I.

To the very honourable and learned the President
and Members of the Royal Society.

Gentlemen,

Read May 5. f ■ \ HERE is ever fuch a charm at-
l757- tendant upon novelty, that be it in

philofophy, medicine, or religion, the gazing world
are too often led to adore, what they ought only to
admire : whilft this vehemence of enthufiafm has
generally foon rendered that objeCt contemptible, that
would otherwife have long laid claim to a more fober
efteem. This was once the fate of chemiftry : the
V.ain and pompous boafts of her adepts brought the
whole art into difrefpeCt ; and I fhould be' forry, if
her lifter electricity fhould fhare the fame misfor-
tunes. It is hence the ingenious Mr. Eeles will ex-
cufe me, for endeavouring to lay before you my opi-
nion on the afcent of vapours, tho’ it by no means
■coincides with that he is fo ftrenuous to eflablifih,
•and plucks a plume from his idol goddefs electricity.
Vol. 50. Ii The

[ 242 ]

The probability, fupporting the hypothecs of Mr.
Eeles, according to his own expreffions, refts on this :

“ That every particle of vapour is endued with a
“ portion of eledtric fire ; and that there is no other
t£ fufficient caufe affigned for their afcending.” (Phil.

1 Tranj, ' voL xlix. part. i. p. 134.)* My defign is there-
fore firft to attempt to fhew, that another theory,
founded on principles better known, will lufficiently
explain the afcent of vapours : and then, that fome
kinds of vapours are not endued with a more or lefs
than their natural fhare of eledtric sether.

The immenfe rarefadtion of explofive bodies by
heat, depends either on the efcape of air before con-
denfed in them, or on the expanlion of the conftituent
parts of thofe bodies. This diflindtion has not been
lufficiently confidered by any one to my knowlege ;
nor fhall I at prefent amufe the Society upon this
head ; it being enough for my prefent purpofe to ob-
ferve, that they may be thus diftinguifhed : where air
is emitted, it cannot be condenfed again into the fame
bulk by cold; but the expanfion of heated parts of
bodies, as foon as that heat is withdrawn, ceafes to
exift.

Nitre comes under the firft of thefe claffes : in de-
tonation it emits great quantities of air, not after-
wards condenfible to the like fpace. This may be
feen by firing a few grains of gunpowder in an
unblown bladder, or in a veffel nearly full of water
with its mouth inverted. The fame is true of all the
folid parts of animals and vegetables, when fubjedt-
cd to fire ; as appears from the experiments of that
learned philanthropic, Dr. Hales.

But of water the contrary is evident. In the ftcam-

engine,

[ 243 ]

engine, a jet of cold water, we find, inflantly condenfes
that immenfe rarefaction ; which I apprehend could
not be, if it was conflicted of efcaped elaflic air.
And altho’ this fleam mufl be acknowledged to put
on fome properties of air ; fuch as ventilating a fire ;
or that a taper blown out by it, is capable of being
again lighted immediately, and that without a crack-
ling noife, which occurs when touched with water ;
this does not in the leafl invalidate our opinion, tho’
it has certainly conduced very much to propagate the
former one : fince from this way of reafoning, the
whole mufl be air, and we fhould have no water at
all in vapour.

From confidering this power of expanfion, which
the conflituent parts of fome bodies acquire by heat ;
and withal, that fome bodies have a greater affinity to
heat, that is, acquire it fooner and retain it longer than
others ; which affinity appears from experiments, and
which, I apprehend, is in fome ratio of their fpecific
gravities and their powers of refradion, reflexion, or
abforption of light ; or at leafl in fome ratio much
greater than that of their fpecific gravities alone. From
confidering thefe, I fay, many things, before utterly
inexplicable, became eafily underflood by me. Such
as, Why when bifmuth and zinc are fuied together,
and fet to cool, the zinc, which Is fpecifically heavier,
is found above the bifmuth ? Why the bufi covering
of inflammatory blood, the fkum of heated milk, the
fedative fait of borax, which are all fpecifically hea-
vier than the liquids in which they are formed, are
flill formed at the furface of them ? How benzoin,
fulphur, and even the ponderous body mercury, may
be raifed into vapour, again to be condenfed unaltered ?

I i 2 And

[ 244 ]

t

And, laftly, how water, whofe parts appear from the
asolipile to be capable of immeafurable expanlion,
Ihould by heat alone become Ipecifically lighter than
the common atmofphere, without having recourfe to
a fhell incloling air, or other afhftant machinery ?
and when raifed, I am perfuaded we fhall find, that
to fupport them floating, perhaps many days, in the
atmofphere, is not a knot fo intricate, as to oblige us
to conjure up a new divinity to unravel it.

But before we proceed to this fecond part of our
talk, it will be neceffary previoufly to confider, firft,
how fmall a degree of heat is required to detach
or raife the vapour of water from its parent-fluid.
In the coldeft day, I might fay the coldeft night,
of winter, when the weather is not frofty or very
damp, wet linen or paper will become dry in the
courfe of a few hours. A greater degree of heat
muff indeed caufe a quicker evaporation. But I am
perfuaded, that was it not for the preffure of the fu-
perincumbent fluid, greatly lefs than that of boiling
water would inftantly difperfe the whole fo heated
into vapour.

Secondly, That in the opinion of Sir Ifaac Newton,
well illuftrated by the late lamented Mr. Melvil, the
fun-beams appear only to communicate heat to bodies
by which they are refradted, reflected, or obftrudted ;
whence, by their impulfe, a reabtion or vibration is
caufed in the parts of luch impacted bodies.

This is fupported by the experiment of ap-
proaching fome light body, or blowing fmoke near
the focus of the largeft glares ; and from obferving,
that thefe do not afcend, it is evident the air is not
fo much as warmed by the paflage of thofe beams
thro’ it, yet would inftantly calcine or vitrify every

opake

[ *45 ]

opake body in nature. And from this we may col-
led:, that tranfparent bodies are only heated at their
furfaces, and that perhaps in proportion to their
quantity of refradion : which will further give and
receive illufiration from thofe very curious experi-
ments, of producing cold by the evaporation of li-
quors, publifhed by the learned Dr. Cullen, in the
late volume of Effays Phyfical and Literary, at Edin-
burgh. In thefe experiments a fpirit-thermometer
was immerfed in fpirit of wine, and being fuddenly
retraded, was again expofed to the air ; and as the
fpirit of wine adhering to the glafs evaporated, the
fpirit contained within the thermometer was obferved
to fubfide. Now as the difference of the refradion of
fpirit of wine and glafs is exceedingly minute, com-
pared with the difference of refradion of fpirit of
wine and air we may confider, in the above experi-
ment, the heat to be communicated to the thermo-
meter only at its furface : but here the adherent fluid
efcapes as foon as heated ; by which means the glafs,
and its contents, are deprived of that conftant addi-
tion of heat, which other bodies perpetually enjoy
either from the fun-beams immediately, or from the
emanations of other contiguous warmer bodies ; and
muff: thence, in a few minutes, became colder than
before.

The ingenious Mr. Eeles, I dare fay, has already
forefeen the ufe lam going to make of this principle y
viz. “ That the little fpherules of vapour will thus,
<f by refrading the folar rays, acquire a conftant
“ heat, tho’ the furrounding atmofphere remain
4< cold.” And as from the minutenefs of their dia-
meters, if they are allowed to be globules, they mufl

[ 2+6 ]

do this to a very great degree, I apprehend none of
thofe objedlions will take place againd us, with which
Mr. Eeles has fo fenfibly confuted the former received
theories on this fubjedt.

If we are afked, how clouds come to be fupported
in the abfence of the fun ? it mud; be remembered,
that large mafi'es of vapour mud; for a condderable
time retain much of the heat they have acquired in
the day ; at the fame time reflecting, how fmall a
quantity of heat was necedary to raife them ; and
that doubtlefs even a lefs will be fufficient to fupport
them, as from the diminiflied preflure of the atmo-
fphere at a given height, a lcfs power may be able to
continue them in their prefent date of rarefaction ;
and, ladly, that clouds of particular drapes will be
fudained or elevated by the motion they acquire from
winds.

I ffiould here have concluded this paper, perhaps
already too long j but upon revidng it, I dnd, where
the affinity of fome bodies with heat is mentioned,
that the deductions made from thence are not diffi-
dently explained to be intelligible. Fird then, If
the power of expanfion of any two bodies, by heat,
be in a greater proportion than their fpecidc gravities,
then will there be a certain degree of heat, in which
their fpecidc gravities will be equal j 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 bifmuth alter
their fpecidc gravities in fudon ; fome urine, and
many folutions of folids, grow turbid as they cool ;
others alter their colours. Secondly, If (the power
of expanfion by heat being equal) the power of re-

C 247 ]

taining heat be in a greater ratio than the fpecific
gravities •, then, during the time of cooling after be-
ing fufficiently heated, there will be an inftant, when
the heavier body will become the lighter, and fwim
upon the other. This feems the cafe in the buff co-
vering of inflamed blood, the fkum of heated milk,
and the criftallization of fome falts : for if thefe
effects were from the evaporation of the thinner
parts at the furface, they fhould happen during the
greatefl evaporation, or when boiling ; but, on the
contrary, they are all done in the greatefl; degree
when the liquor has for fome time began to cool.
Laftly, If the quicknefs of acquiring heat be in a
greater proportion than their fpecific gravities (the
power of expanfion being equal), then, during the
time of their acquiring heat, there will be an inftant,
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 defign to account to you,
gentlemen, in what manner fuch an expanfion of
the parts of bodies can be brought about by the
adtion of fire. Tho’ perhaps a rotatory motion only
of each particle on its own center might be fufficient
to produce fuch a rarefaction ; and the more fo, if
fuch parts were any other figures than fpheres, as
by the percufllon of their angles they muft refult
further from each other. Nor is the exiftence of fuch
a rotatory motion without fome probability, when we
obferve the verticillary motion given to charcoal-duft
thrown on nitre in fufion, or the wonderful agitation
of the parts of burning phofphorus, or even of a

common

C 248 ]

common red letter-wafer touched by the flame of a
candle. But as in this paper I have laboured (and
I hope not without fuccefs) to fhew you, that fome
properties of folar heat are fufficient to account for
the elevation and fupport of vapours j fo in another
letter I propofe nearly to demonftrate to you, that
the eledtric aether is far from having any fhare in the
production of this important phenomenon.

Front,

Gentlemen,

Litchfield, Your very humble Servant, '

Mar. 20. 1757.

Erafmus Darwin.

LETTER II.

To the very honourable and learned the President
and Members of the Royal Society.

Gentlemen,

Head May 5, p VERY theoretical inquiry, whofe
D bafls does not reft upon experiments,
is at once exploded in this well-thinking age ; where
truth, under your patronage, has at length broke
thro’ thofe clouds, with which fuperftition, policy,
or parade, had overwhelmed her. But experiments
themfelves, gentlemen, are not exempted from fal-
lacy. A ftrong inventive faculty, a flne mechanic
hand, a clear unbiafled judgment, are at once re-
quired for the contrivance, conduct, and application,
of experiments ; and even where thefe are joined

[ 249 ]

(fuch is the condition of humanity!) error too fre-
quently intrudes herfelf, and fpoils the work.

My very refpeCtable antagonift, Mr. Eeles, to
whofe ear, I am convinced, the voice of truth is
more agreeable than that of applaufe, will forgive
me the following critique on his performance ; as
by that means, I am perfuaded, the probability of
his notions will be intirely deftroyed, and the fore-
going theory receive additional fupports.

For this purpofe our firft endeavour will be to
(hew the uncertainty of fome of the mod: material
principles, that fupport his arguments * and after-
wards, the fallacy of the experiments he has given
us.

Fir ft then, in page 130. Mr. Eeles has afterted,
that the greateft poflible rarefaction of water is when
it boils. I think it might be faid, with equal pro-
priety, that the greateft rarefaction of folids was
when they began to melt : and this may indeed be
verbally true, if we chufe to alter the names of
bodies, when they undergo any alteration by fire :
fo folids take the name of fluids, when they are in
fufion ; and water the name of vapour, when it is
greatly rarefied in the fteam-engine. Whence we
find this aflertion feems to be founded on a con-
fufion in terms, and the faCt far from being exiftent
in nature.

In page 133. the fphere of eleCtrical activity is
laid to be increafed by heat. If by eleCtrical activity
is here .meant an increafe of its repulfive power (the
thing, which feems to be wanted in Mr. Eeles’s hy-
pothefis), I know no experiment to (how it. If it
be meant, that it is capable of being attracted to a
; V o l. 50. K k greater

[ 25° 3

greater diftance > I conjecture it may, as the heat
will rarefy the ambient air, and we know the eleCtric
asther is attracted at very great diftances in vacuo $
but this cannot properly be called an increafed acti-
vity of eleCtric fire.

We are afterwards told (page ib.) Cl that eleCtric
“ fire will not mix with air whence, in the fuo
ceeding feCtion, it is argued, “ That as each particle
u of vapour, with its furrounding eleCtric fluid, will
“ occupy a greater fpace than the fame weight of
u air, they will afcend.” In anfwer to this, it muft
be obferved, that there are fome bodies, whofe parts
are fine enough to penetrate the pores of other bodies,
without increafing their bulk ; or to pafs thro’ them,
without apparently moving or difturbing them. A
certain proportion of alcohol of wine mixed with
water, and of copper and tin in fufion, are inftances
of the firft of thefe j the exiflence and paflage of light
thro’ air, and, I am perfuaded, of eleCtric fire, are
inftances of the fecond.

To illuftrate this, the following experiment wa9
inftituted. A glafs 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
infide with gilt paper. The tube was then inverted
in a glafs of oil of turpentine, which was placed on.
a cake of wax, and the tube kept in that perpen-
dicular lituation by a filk line from the cieling of the
room. The bulb was then warmed,, fo that, when
it became cold, the turpentine rofe 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 fubfide :
3 whence

C 2sr ]

whence I conclude, the eleCtric atmofphere flowing
round the wire and coating of the tube above the
oil, did not difplace the air, but exifted in its pores.

This experiment I formerly tried various ways, as
I had conceived, if the eleCtric matter would dif-
place air, it might have been applied to anfwer the
end of fleam in the fleam-engine, and many other
great mechanical purpofes. But as from the above
it appears, that the contrary is true, it is evident, that
electric matter furrounding particles of vapour muft,
in faCt, increafe their fpecific gravity, and cannot
any-ways be imagined to facilitate their afcent.

I may add further, that if this be true, that it
pervades the pores of air, its fpecific levity cannot,
by any means I know, be compared with that of
air. Its particular attraction to fome bodies, at
leaft to much the greater part of the terraqueous
globe, is abundantly greater than that of air to thofe
bodies : and hence its gravitation to the whole globe
would appear, at firft view, to exceed that of air.
But the more I confider this, the more perplexing
and amazing it appears to me : and thence muft
leave it to the inveftigation of my very ingenious
antagonift, or fome other able philofopher.

I come now to the experiments, that are given us
to fliow all vapour to be eleCtrifed. In thefe Mr.
Eeles feems to have been led into error, by not having
obferved, that many bodies eleCtrifed will retain that
electricity for fome time, altho’ in contaCt with con-
ductors. The Leyden phial may be touched three
or four times by a quick finger before the whole is
difcharged. Almoft all light dry animal or vege-
table fubftances, fuch as feathers and cork, do this in a

. ,• K k 2 much

[ 252 ]

much greater degree : and in' general I have obferved,
the more flow 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 iilk about a foot long, which was lufpended
from the midft of an horizontal line of the fame,
about four yards in length, was eleCtrifed with a dry
wine-glafs, according to the method of Mr. Eeles ;
and, after being touched nine times with my finger,
at the intervals of two feconds of time, ftill mani-
fefted figns of electricity, by being attracted at the
tenth approach of it.

A cork ball, on the fame line and circumftances,
after being eleCtrifed, was touched at the intervals of
ten feconds repeatedly, for feven times, before it was
exhaufted. The fumes of boiling water were con-
veyed upon this ball after being eleCtrifed and, after
a fumigation for thirty feconds, it fliewed figns of
eleCtricity, by being attracted to the approaching
finger ; and, after thirty feconds more, without any
fumigation, it again obeyed the finger ; and again,
after thirty more, but at lefs and lefs distances. The
fame appearances occurred to me from the fumes of
refin. From whence I apprehend, that Mr. Eeles,
having dipped the eleCtrifed down of the juncus bow-
bycinus in vapour for perhaps half a minute (for no
time is mentioned), and finding it ftill retained its
eleCtric attraction, was not aware, that this fame 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 oppofition in the eleCtric aether of glafs, and
that from wax j the common experiment to fhew this.

was

[ 253 }

was many times repeated with conftant fuccefs j viz.
the cork ball, fufpended as above, after being elec-
trifed by the wine-glafs, and repelled from it, was
ftrongly attracted by a rubbed flick of fealing-wax 5
and vice verja. In the fame manner I obferved the
eleCtric aether from a black filk flocking (which was
held horizontally extended by the top and foot, and,
being rubbed in the midfl with an iron poker, was
applied to the cork ball), to be fimilar to that of
glafs, and oppofite to that of wax. But the follow-
ing experiment appears to me to put this matter out
of all doubt, and to demonflrate, that this difference
is only a plus and minus of the fame fpecific aether,
and not different qualities of it, as Mr. Eeles would
fuppofe.

A flick of dry fealing-wax was rubbed on the fide
of a dry wine-glafs, and a cork ball, fufpended as in
the former experiments, played for fome time between,
them : but glafs rubbed with glafs, or wax with wax,
did not manifefl any eleCtric appearance. Whence
it would appear, that in rubbing glafs and wax to-
gether, the glafs accumulated on its furface the iden-
tical aether that the wax loft. Nor is this a digrefkon.
from my delign : for if this oppofition of the elec-
tricity of glafs and wax be eflablifhed, it flill contri-
butes to demonflrate the fallacy of Mr. Eeles’s ex-
periments.

But what alone would intirely dellroy this eleCtric
hypothecs, isv that from the experiments of Mr.
Franklin and others, the clouds are fometimes found
to be ele&rifed plus , fometimes minus , and fometimes
manifell no figns of electricity at all. Whence to
fay an accumulation of eleCtric aether fupports thefe

clouds,

[ 2 54 ]

clouds, feems an aflertion built upon a very unftable
foundation, whofe whole fuperftruCture may well
enough be termed an air-built caftle, the bafelefs fa-
bric of a vifion.

Add to this, that Mr. Eeles, in page 140. tells us,
that himfelf has pafled thro’ clouds refting on the
fides of mountains. Ought not thofe clouds to have
immediately difcharged their electricity, and fallen ?
And common experience may remind us, that any
cold bodies will condenfe vapour, whatever be their
eleCtric properties. So mirrors, or the glafs of win-
dows, in damp rooms, are moil frequently found
covered with dew j which, of all other bodies, ought
mod to be exempted from collecting vapours fup-
ported by electricity, as they are the leaft capable to
attraCt or draw off that sether.

From all which, well examined, I am perfuaded,
gentlemen, you will be induced to conclude, that
tho’ clouds may fometimes poffefs an accumulation
of electricity, yet that this is only an accidental cir-
cumftance, and not a conftant one ; and thence can
have no poflible influence either in the elevation or
fupport of them. I am,

Gentlemen,

Your very humble Servant,

Litchfield, -r> r T~v

March 23. 1757. fcraimus Darwin*

XXXI.

Philos* Trans. Yoi .L. I AE .VI . /'. a$f>.

J/uyrry Coot'Jbote/l Trmga jftot near Jfa/tfejr in YerA/'/nre ( Januan/ tJSj) and Pre/ented fo rnr It/ M^Thtnuu
Be //an Yfaril/ of 7i ror//u - c fa tur A in Ynr/tj'Jttrt JJrarrn /ram rut /are of Me if flues a/'Zt/f ft/ Oeo , Bd/vetrdj in Feb. //^7-

C 255 ]

XXXI. An Account of a new-difcovered Spe-
cies of the Snipe or Seringa : In a Letter
to the Rev . Tho. Birch, Z). D . F. R. S.
from Mr . George Edwards, Librarian of
the College of Phyfcians .

S I R,

Read May 5, I Take the liberty to lay before you

*7S7-

the figure and defcription of a new-
difcovered fpecies of the fnipe or tringa kind, which was
lately fhot at Sowerby-bridge in Yorkshire, and fent
to me by Mr. Florid: of Worley- dough, near Halli-
fax in the fame county. If the account, that follows,
fhall be thought by you deferving to be communi-
cated to the Royal Society, the real bird, which I have
preferved dry, fhall be produced at the fame time.

This bird is like in fhape to molt others of the
tringa or fnipe kind. Its fize is better fhewn by the
figure lying before you (See Tab. VI.), than by the
dried bird, which is much fhrunk fince the drawing
of it was made. I chufe, by way of diftindion, to
name it the coot-footed tringa, as it differs fro no-
ether birds of that genus no otherwife, than in having
its toes webbed in the fame particular manner as the
fulica, or our bald-coot. One of its feet is fhewn
in the plate, magnified a little, to make it the better,
underdood, in what manner the webs or membranes
fp reading on both fides of the toes are fcalloped or
indented at each of the toe-joints. Thefe fcallopings
are finely pedinated on their outer edges, as the en-
larged figure exprefleS’. The hinder toe is fmall, and

finely

I »s« 1

finely pe&inated on the under fide. The bill is black,
and channelled on both fides of the upper mandible ;
in which channels the noftrils are placed near the fore-
head : it is comprefied fomewhat like a duck’s bill,
and ridged along its upper part, as a figure of the
head in the corner of the plate may fhew. The
lower head, figured with it, is intended to ihew the
bill (which is very narrow) of another fpecies of
coot-footed tringa, brought from North America,
and defcribed and figured in my Natural Hiftory of
Birds, &c. plate 46. The eyes are placed farther
backward from the bill than in many other forts of
birds ; in which the wifdom of Providence is re-
markable : for birds of this genus commonly feeding
in foft muddy ground on the banks of rivers or the
fea, have occafion to thruft their bills deep into the
fhores, to extradt worms and infedts; and their eyes
would be in danger, were they placed more forward.
The fore part of the head, the neck, bread, belly,
thighs, covert-feathers withinfide the wings and un-
der the tail, are white : the top and hinder part of
the head is black. The lower part of the neck be-
hind, and the back, are of a blueifh afli or flate-
colour, with a mixture of blackifh or dulky : the
upper fides of the wings and tail are of a blackifh or
dufky colour : the tips of the covert of the wings
are white ; the tips of the middlemofi: or fhorteft of
the quills are alfo white, and form white tranfverfe
bars acrofs 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 fide, is edged with white. The covert-
feathers on the rump, or upper fide of the tail, are

dulky

[ ^57 ]

fiu iky and white. The legs are bare of feathers
above the knees (as they are in mod: birds, who
wade in {hallow waters), and of an alh-colour.

I believe no difcovery of this bird has been made
till now : and it is very probable there are many
more fpecies of birds in this illand, that have hitherto
efcaped the notice of curious inquirers. Mr. Ray,
in a book by him published, London, 1674. called,
A Collection of English Words, &c. with a Cata-
logue of Englifh Birds and Fifhes, £?<r. after nam-
ing the coot in his catalogue of birds, p. 92. fays,
<c Mr. Johnfon of Brigna, near Grota-bridge in York-
tc fhire, {hewed me a bird of the coot kind, fcallop-
“ toed, not much bigger than a black-bird.” As fo
little is faid by Mr. Ray, one can hardly determine
any thing concerning the bird he mentions : and ’tis
plain he thought this note fcarce worth notice, as he
hath not preferved it in the Ornithology iince by him
publidied. Nor can I believe it was the bird now
before us ; for he fays it was not much higger than a
black-bird ; which implies, that it was fomething
bigger. And, on reading his defcription of the black-
bird, I find he makes it to weigh four ounces ; confe-
quently it is four times the weight of the bird above
defcribed by me : for my obliging friend, Mr. Florifi,
who fent me this bird, fays in his letter, that, when
newly killed, it weighed one ounce. Therefore I
am inclined to think, that the bird Mr. Ray has fo
{lightly mentioned, is a bird not as yet fully dis-
covered. I am. Reverend Sir,

Your moft humble Servant

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

Geo, Edwards.

Vol, 50.

LI

XXXII

C 258 J

XXXII. Obfervationes de Corallinis , iifque in-
fidentibus Poly pis , aliifque Animalculis Ma-
rinis : £$uas Regime Societati Londinenji
offert Job Bafter, Med. DoSl. Acad. Ccefar.
Reg. Societ. Lo?id. & Scient. Holland. So-
cius.

Read May 19. TTVOm icilium meum mari propin*

1 757 * I J quum *f- occafionem praebet, in

nondum fatis cognitam quorundam animalium, in
mare degentium, generationem et aeconomiam in-
quirendi. Quae obfervavi Regis Societati temporis
fucceflu ofFerre animus eft; led in hac prima difter-
tatione tantum obfervationes quafdam de corallinis,
iifque infidentibus polypis, et aliis animalculis marinis,
exhibere in animum induxi.

Paucis abhinc annis, inter dodos viros diftenfto
fuit, utrum corallia, corallinae, et kerato-phyta verge
eftent plants, quae crefcunt, et vegetant, in. quibus
infeda marina nidificant ; an vero horum ipforum
eftent opus et fabrica. Multi et fagaciftimi hiftoriae
naturalis fcrutatores ultimam complexi funt fenten-
tiam; fednemini eontradicere ftudens, ftmpliciter tan-
tum et fideliter ilia referam, quae variis temporibus in
corallinis obfervavi, et quae ledorem benevolum,- ut
fpero, convincent, corallinas non magis a polypis fa-
brefieri, quam diverfa fungorum genera ab illis fabri-

f Zirizaesc, quse4 in infula Scaldise, fecundum Zelandiae op-
pidum eft.

cantur

[ 259 ]

cantur animalculis, quibus, aeftivo tempore, quad
repleta inveniuntur.

Dura corallia, quas recenter ex mari extradta, et in
rotundum animalculis obfita reperiebantur, primani
an fam dedere fufpicandi, base ab iliis efie fabre-
fadta.

Gum omnia juniora conchylia tenerrimae et vifcofae
fubftantiae reperiantur, ex analogia conclufum fuit,
parva et tenera animalcula, quae coralliis infident,
aeque base fabricare potuifle, ac ilia duriflimas fuas
conchas et buccina. Sed in hiftoria naturali non tuto
ex analogia licet concludere.

Verum quidem eft, quod recens natum conchy-
bum tarn tenerum eft, quam parvus ille corallio in-
ftdens polypus j fed tunc concha ejus vel buccinum
etiam eric tenerrimum, et quo magis in eo contentum
crefcit animal, eo major, durior et firmior fit concha :
et interior conchas fuperficies femper eft lasvifiima
et glaberrima, ne tenerrimum animalculi corpus ali-
quo modo lasdi pofiet, ut in oftreis, mytulis, foleni-
bus, et quibufeunque conchis et buccinis, hoc videre
eft.

Sed an hoc in coralliis invenitur ? Nunquam polypi
in ipfa coralliorum fubftantia habitant, fed femper
intra hanc et circumdatam corticem. Cavitates, quas
in coralliis invenies, non glabrae aut laeves funt, fed
afperas et acutae. Parvus corallii ramulus nec tener
eft nec mollis, fed asque durus habita magnitudinis
proportione ac maximus : nec minores illi infident
polypi quam ramis majoribus.

Cum vero hie, in Zelandia, necdum ulla dura co-
rallia recenter ex mare extradta explorare licuit, me
tantum ad corallinas determinare debui, ubique fere

LI 2 prope

[ 2^° ]

prope littora reperiundas, et quibus fimillimi, qui co-
ralliis, infident polypi.

Animadvertam tantam mihi videri, animakula,
qua? fummas coralliorum extremitates inhabitant, et
Nobiliftimo Marliglio flores vifa funt, ad genus etiam
polyporum referri debere, et in his extremitatibus
non nata efle, led irrepfifle, dum illas vacuas et
domicilio aptas invenerint : eodem certe modo,
quo cancelli, quos Bernard P her mite vocant Galli,
vacua irreptant buccina. Et hi cancelli, ut obfer-
vant pifcatores, non cafu aut temerarie id faciunt,
fed quad ex confulto. Si fex vel l'eptem cancelli vivi
prudenter ex fuis buccinis extrahantur, et hasc inter
fe permixta iis iterum exhibeantur, quifque cancellus
in proprium fuum, nunquam in alterius buccinum
irrepit, et hoc ablatum undique quasritat, quod ju-
Cundum vifu eft.

Necefte mihi fuit quafdam fed paucas corallina*
rum et polyporum figuras addere : fi vero quis pi lira
defideret, elaboratum opus fagaciftimi Domini Ellis
adeat, in quo quamplurimas et accuratiffimas coraU
linarum et polyporum delineationes inveniet -f,

De Plantis Marinis generatim.

Plantae marinas a terreftribus in plurimis differunt,
nam hx in raro aere excrefcentes, nutrimentum
fuum radicum ope, in terra proferpentium, hauriunt;
du m illae plerumque nec radices nec folia habent.

t Dominus Ellis, anno 1755. Lond. in 8° edidit Effay on the
Natural Hijtory of Corals , &c. quem librum Gallice verfum in 4°
recudit P. de Hond Hagae Comitum, fub titulo Effay fur C Hijlolrt
Naturellc des Corallines, isfc, par f, Ellis, 1 756.

fed

[ 26i ]

fed ex trunco et ram is confiftunt. Ilia plantar rna*?
rinae purs, qua fubftantiae, cui increfcit, adhaeret, ra-
dicis nomen non meretur, nifi quatenus plantam uni
femper loco tenet adfixam : led quod primarium
radieis munus eft, nutrimentum ei non adfert: ipfa
planta per truncum et ramos ex medio, cui femper
immerfa eft, incrementum fuum acquirit. Neque
maris fundus radicibus recipiendis aptus efiet, nam
plerumque inconftans et volubile fabulum eft, quod
continuo fludtuum motu de loco in locum dimove-
tur, ita ut uno temporis momento radices nudae, al-
tero fub arena forent fepultae.

Sed quamdiu vera vegetatio marinarum erit ignota,
non bene explicari poterit, quare corallia et kerato-
phyta, licet ab imo ad fummum undique animalcu-
lorum cellulis obfelfa, laete tamen crefcant, ut hoc
in plurimis, non tamen in omnibus, obfervare eft.
Nam Nobiliffimus Marfigli kerato-phyta invenit,
quae nulla cortice, aut quae uno loco cortice erant
obdubta, altero non : et corticem hanc non nifi po-*
lyporum cellulas fuifie clare ex ejus verbis patet *.

At rogare mihi liceat, an vera vegetatio plantarum
terreftrium, quae femper nobis ante oculos funt, bene
cognita et perfpedta fit ? an quidem novimus, quae
vera fit radicum fundtio, et quomodo hanc exerceant ?
Nonne plurimae inveniuntur plantae, quae paucifiimis
inftrudtae radicibus in altum crefcunt, maxime ergo
foliorum ope, quae fuccos nutritios ex vaporibus in

* II y a une forte de Lithophyte, qui veritablement eft curieufe,
et bien extraordinaire: elle n’a point d’ecorce continuee, mais bien
queiques fragmens, par ci par la interrompus d’un glu, qui fleurit
dans l’eau. Hift. de la Mer. pag. 89. fig. 101. 179^ 1.

a ere

[ 2^2 ]

acre natantibus hauriunt, plantam alunt, et fic radi-
cum defedturn fupplent. Sed liceat mihi, accuratiftimi
Bonneti verba adferre “ Plants, dicit hie fagacifti-
<l mus naturae ferutator, Temper funt fugentes, et in
a ftatu fu&ionis, interdiu radicum ope nutriuntur,
“ nodu foliorum *. Sed optandum ell -f-, quod arte
<c quadam exade poftet determinari, et tunc inter fe
tc comparari hanc nutrimenti copiam, quam plants
cc radicum ope acquirurat, cum ilia, quae folia adfe-
“ runt. Examen hoc forfan nos doceret, quod A'er
Ci non minus quam Terra ad plantarum nutritionem
<c et incrementum contribuat.”

Si ergo medium tarn rarum et tenue, utaer (ut ex
Cel1'. Halaei et Boneti experiments certum eft) tan-
tum ad plantarum nutritionem adferat, mirum non
eft, quod nunquam quiefeens et quam maxime he-
terogenea aqua maris plantas marinas, licet expands
radicibus deftitutas, ad tantam magnitudinem, alti-
tudinem et duritiein faciat excrefcere, Sed nonne
fimiliter crefeunt plurima fungorum genera ? Quas
radices habent quercubus aliifque lignis increfcentes
agarici ? Quas phallus, elvela, et plura, quae in Me -
thodo Juo fungorum deferibit J. G. Gledijbh.

Hsc de plantis marinis praemittere volui, ut evin-
cam corallinas, licet radicibus careant, crefcere, vege-
tare, et plantas efle pofle, ut alia; terreftres et fungi,
quae fimiliter aut minimas habent radices, aut plane
iis deftituuntur,

Caetera, quae de vegetatione, floribus et feminibus
plantarum marinarum obfervavi, alio tempore indi-
cabo.

* Bonnet fur I’ufage des Feuilles, pag. xviii. & 286.
f Id. ibid. pag. 66.

De

[ 263 ]

?'

Z)^ Cor alii ni s.

Corallinas. omnes habent proprieties, quas in
genere de plantis marinis indicavimus: Sed prasterea,
quod prascipuum eft hujus diflertationis propofitum,
omni fere corallinae, fi rami ejus ad juftam magnitu-
dinem et firmitatem creverint, tarn hyeme quam
astate, animalcula inftdent, quas a multitudine bra-
chiorum, et fimilitudine, quam cum polypis, in
aqua foliar um dulci, reperiundis, habent, etiam po-
lypi vocantur.

Si quis corallinae plantam, eique infidentes polypos,
rite examinare ftudet, non incipiat parvam tenuis ra-
muli partem in vitro concavo jacentem microfcopio
infpicere ; fed totam corallinas plantam recenter ex
mare extradtam in vitrum pellucidum, aqua marina
repletum, prudenter inferat : aut talem plantam orbi
porcellano concavo in fundo colons profunde casrulei
imponat, et addita fufficiente aquas marinas pellucidfe
quantitate, ejus ramos prudenter expandat ; tunc poft
quadrantis boras quietem, illos lente amplificante
intueatur, et fic diftindiftime in hac unica planta
polypos diverli generis, et plerumque mira alia vide-
bit infeda ; quas microfcopio dein ad libitum ulterins
examinari poftunt.

Corallinas, quas a capillares et. filamentofos habent
ramulos, aut quae b juniores et tenuiores adhuc funt, ut

Quae navibus poft longum iter;

Aut quae doliis iftis coniformibus, quae ad littora
vel fluminum majorum exitum in mare ach
nautarum fecuritatem ponuntur ;

b Ibid. fig. III.

Ante

a Tab. VII, fig. I, II.

[ 264 ]

Aut lanuis emiflariorum aquae marine in his re-
gionibus,

■accreverint, raro vel nunquam habent polypos.

Sed fi eadem corallina? fpecies jam ad fufficientem
magnitudinem et firmitatem, et praeTer tim Tupra of-
trea, Taxa, Alices, aliaque in fundo maris quiete ja-
centia corpora, increverit, polypis fcatet. PerTpi-
caci fuo judicio decidat ledtor B.

An hoc efficitur, quia polyporum femen, ova, vel
nata progenies gravitate lua fundum petat?

Vel quia animalculis his perpetuus navium aut do-
liorum motus obftet, ut haec non fatis tuta credant,
et ideo in fundo maris Temper immota eligant corpora,
quibus ovula fua confidant ?

Vel quia pix et colophonia, quibus naves, dolia, et
emiflariorum januae illiminuntur, corallinis, quae illis
increfcunt, noxiam vel polypis ingratam qualitatem
communicent ? Hoc Taltem Temper obvenit, me
numquam tot polypos invenifle in corallinis, quas a
navibus, doliis aut emiflariorum januis abraferam,
quam in illis, quae oflreis, mytulis et filicibus in fundo
maris erant innatae.

Hoc primum mihi argirmentum eft, corallinas a
polypis non formatas efle ; nam tunc plantae juniores
et minores aeque Tuos haberent polypos, ac maximae.

Secundum argumentum , quod polypi vel caTu vel
inftindtu quodam TeTe corallinis aftigant, Ted veram
plantae partem non conftituant, eft, quod polypi non
omnes majoris plantae ramos aequaliter obfident : hie
ramus vel hujus rami tantum pars polypis obTeflli erit
quam plurimis, altera nullis. Corallinam habeo, c

mT *" — ' ... ......... —

c Tab. VIII. fig. V.

cujus

[26sj|

cuius truncum plurimi inhabitant polypi, dum nullos
in ramulis poteram detegere, licet armato oculo. Et
fic algas * * vel quercui fic didhe marine faepius coral-
linae increfcunt, in quibus nunquam polypos inveni.
Hoc fieri non deberet, fi corallinae polyporum effent
qpus. Omnes corallinae femper fuos deberent ha-
bere, et ramis fuis aequaliter et proportionaliter infi-
dentes polypos j et nunquam fine his effent reperi-
undae, ut tamen faepius fit. Cel. Juftieu -f* quafi mi-
rabundus dicit, fe femel alcyonium et fpongiam ra-
mofam fine polypis invenilfe, licet recenter a rupe
effent abftra&ae.

Tertium argnmentum erit, quod fere femper Una
eademque d corallinae planta diverfi generis alat po-
lypis : in una eademque « corallinae tubulariae planta
quinque diverfas polyporum fpecies inveni

Liceat jam mihi rogare, quibufnam horum quin-
que haec corallina ortum fuum debeat ? Certe non
primae aut fecundae, ut videtur, magnitudinis, nam
hi fummis tantum infident corallinae extremitatibus,
et microfcopium clare oftendit locum, ubi corpus
polypi minus pellucidum et fuperficiei rudioris gla-
brae huic corallinae adhaeret. Nec fabricavit coralli-
nam tertia fpecies, quae extrema corporis parte, quafi
cauda, corallinae eft affixa : et minus adhuc quarta,
nam clare videre eft, horum cellulas corallinae cir^

d Tab. VIII. fig. II, IV. e Tab. VIII. fig. IV.

* Vide talem delineatam in Mem. de l’Acad. p. 394. anni 17 1 1.
f Mem. de I’Academie, 1742.

J Sic Ds. Ellis in una eademque planta diverfos polypos] deli-
neat, tab. IV. fig. C. tab. V. fig. A. tab. XIV. fig. A. B. tab.
XXXVIII. F. N. E.

Vol 50. M m cumdatas.

[ 266 ]

cumcTatas, ut examen apum arboris ramum circum-
cludit : et fi ha? polyporum cellulae non nirnis denfb
funt, ipfius corallinas color tranflucet.

Si has quatuor polyporum fpecies hanc corallinarn
non fabricaverint, non fecit certe quinta, f Mirabi-
liffima et minima hsec animalcula ad genus polyporum
certe pertinent, et omnibus fere corallinis, algis, aliif-
que plantis marinis incredibili fape infident copia.
Jucundiffimum eft videre, quomodo fe expandunt,
et mox mira agilitate, capta prasda, fe fubito contra-
hunt, quod bis vel ter in minuto hone repetunt.

/Eque jam, ut in una eademque corallinas planta
diverfos invenis polypos, fic in diverfis corallinas fpe-
ciebus videbis fi miles et eofdem polypos : * * quod
etiam illi obftat fententite corallinas polyporum elfe
opus aut fabricam. Polypi dum operantur, ut ca:-
tera animaba, inlfindfu innato operantur : ergo,
una eademque polyporum fpecies temper eafdem
fabricaret corallinas : lie femper fimiles et uniformes
apes faciunt favos, vefpns nidos, aranese tela, flic vero
contrarium eveniret ; iidem polypi uno tempore hanc,
alio tempore ilium fabricarent corallinarn : quod ra-
tioni contrarium eft, et mihi qua? turn argwnentum.
Sed hoc verum elf, quod eadem polyporum fpecies
non diverfas corallinas, fed in diverfis corallinis eaf-
dem et uniformes femper fibi conlfruant cellulas.

Quinto, fi corallinas a polypis ell'ent fabrefactae, nun-
quam polypi et eorum cellulas etiam vivis animalibus,
aliifque corporibus, elfent adfixae. Polypos inveni in

f Tab. IX. fig. A, B, C.

* Sic Clar. Ellis eofdem etiam polypos invenit in corallina aftaci
cornicularuni semula N9. 14. et in corallina fetacea inftar arundinis
geniculata N°. 1 6.

olfreorum

C 267 ]

cdreorum g conchis, cancri b arach noidea? pedibus,
animali i, quod emifTariorum januis et navibus quietis
faepius adhaeret et anus (aars-gat) vocatur, et aliis
plurimis, fine minimo corallinae veftigio. Et animalia
ilia, quae pifeatores nodri k klap-konten vocant, et
majorum polyporum fpecies efle videntur, nunquam
teneris infident corallinis, fed Temper haec fupra of-
treorum conchas et lapides inveni, et quamvis illo-
rum progreffum ipfe non viderim, tamen de loco in
locum fefe tranfmoviffe, expertus fum.

Sexto : Hae corallinae non folum polypis, fed coch-
leis, buccinis 1 aliifque plurimis infe&is marinis con-
veniunt, ut illis ova vel progeniem confidant. Hoc
praecipue menfibus Februario et Martio videre eft :
accepi tunc diverfas corallinas diverfis cochleis et
buccinis plenas, et faepe inter hare quofdam cancellos
ova fua jamjam excludentes. Mater cochlea ovula
fua fupra vel juxta corallinas depofuit; pulli exclufi
contra has afeenderunt, ne illis innixi fludluum motu
eluerentur, vel ut adverfus hodes fuos tuto fe ab-
fconderent.

Quantum omnibus animalibus divina profpexerit
prudentia, animus nunquam Tatis aflequi quacunque
indudria poted. Deus , ut jam animadvertit Rex -f-

Pfalmida, plant avit arbores cedros Libani , ubi avi-
culce nidificent , et abides domi cilia ciconice : Montes
exceljifjimos rupi caprarum , petras murium montano-
rum perfugium . Sic corallinae domicilia et perfu-

g Tab. VII. fig. VI. h Ibid. fig. VII. i Ibid. fig. VIII.
k Tab. IX. fig. IV, V, VI. 1 Tab. VIII. fig. VI.

t Pfalm. civ. verf. 16, 17, 18.

M m 2

giuna

[ 268 J

gium Aint polypis aliifque minoribus infedis marimsi
Et praefertim hoc cenfeo, quia tempore hyemali, men-
fibus Decembri et Januario, corallirrarum ramos plu-
rimis veficulis, operculo vel valvula tedis, obfeifcs
inveni : quare has veficulas habeo pro ovts ab aliis
infedis his corallinis impolitis.

Omnes, qui nunquam fatis laudanda incorrrparabilis
Reaumur ii fcripta iegerunt, fcinnt, quam miris ct
differentibus modis infeda quaedam fua ova oppo-
nunt, vel in * gyrum, vel in -j* lineam fpiralem, vcl
J lingula ova a fills libere in aere pendentia, vel, lit
hie fere cafus eh, per || paria lignoft fubftantias ra*
morum impofita. Quam mira quam varia eftetiam
ipforum ovorum figura ! Culicum 4. autem ova,
quoad externam figuram, quam maxi me his coralline
veficulis limilia funt.

Omnia vero. infedorum ova inter fe et cum his
veficulis in eo conveniunt, quod :||: operculum vd
valvulum habent eo in loco, ubi eruca vel vermis
exitum invenire debet j permittente quidem hac val-
vula exitum extrorfum, omnem vero introitum acris
vel aquas prorfus negante. Sed praeter hanc cum alio-
rum infedorum ovis convenientiam, ipfae veficulae mi-
hi vera ova videntur, quia recenter ex mare extradas
erant peripicuae, in fpiritu frumenti vero ftatim fie-

* Memoir, des Infed. tom. ii. tab. iv. fig. 6y 8.
t Id. ibid. tab. iii. fig. xv.

| Id. tom. iii. mem. xi. tab. xxxii. fig. i.

1| Id. tom. v. mem. iii. tab. xv. fig. i, 2, 3.

Id. tom. ii. mem. ii. tab. iii. tom. iv. tab. xxxvii. fig. it,
12, 19, 20.

4. Id. tom. iv. tab. xliv. fig. 8.

:||: Id. tom. ii. mem. ii. pag. 163. tab. iv. fig. 1 1, 12, 1 3. Ellis
Eflay. pag. 100. tao. xxxiii. a A.

bant

[ 269 ]

bant opacae, albae, cum pundo flavo m. Secundo,
quia hyeme plures veficulae in corallinis reperiuntur,
perpaucas vero aeftate ; nam turn illorum pulli exclufi.
funt, et corallinae cochleis parvis, forfan ex his ovis
progenitis, magis funt obfeffae.

Nam has veficulae mihi ipforum polyporum ova
elTe non videntur, licet faepius •* * polypos in illis in-
venire eontigit : et ideo crederem hos polypos in ve-
liculis repertos, quoniam licet adulti tamen vehculis
inulto minores fint, poft veri pulli exclufionem in
vacua ilia ova irrepfiffe j cum jam antea obfervavimus
cancellos in vacua irrepere buccina, et ipfos polypos
vacuis corallinae tubulariae fummitatibus iefe adfigere.
Sed quam maxime has veficulas non polyporum, fed
aliorum animalculorum ova elTe cenfeo, quia perfpi-
caciffimus Reaumurius initio hyemis in oris Gallic
provinciae Piffavienfis (Poitou) ova cochlearum ma-
rinarum invenerit, quae quamvis his veficulis paulum
majora, erant tamen fimillima *f\ Licet corallinae
fpeciofam habeant verifimilitudinem, ut quafi ani-
malium opus appareant, aliae tamen funt plantae ma-
rinas, praefertim alcyonium digitatem molle , quas ad-
huc magis a polypis fabrefadas diceres ; fed fi accu-
ratione indagine obfervantur, pro veris plantis erunt
agnofcendae, ut in pofterum, quando profufius again
de plantis marinis, demonftrare fpero. Alia vero
alcyonia, ut vejicaria marina Bauhini , &c. vera ani-
malium opera, namque eorum funt ovaria. Plantae
marinae unicae non funt, quae pro infedorum operc

«" Tab. VIII. fig. VI. a A.

* Ellis paflim in figuris, praefertim tab. v. fig. A.
t Mem. de l’Acad. viii. pag. 253. tab. vi. fig. 1, 2, 3, 4..

funt

[ 27° ]

feint habits.. Liceat mihi locum adferre ex notis, quas
Nobiliffimus Lyonnet theologies infeclorum Dottiff.
et Rev. Lejjers fubjunxit: u Credendum non eft, ut
,c quidatn faciunt, ft ftagnantes aquas viridi et fibrola
<c membrana tedas videas, hanc infedorum textu-
“ ram efte. Eft algae fpecies, quae in his ftagnis
“ crefcit, et infedis eft pro alimento.” *

De Polypis Corallinis infdentibus .

Completam hiftoriae et oeconomiae polyporum in
corallinis repertorum deferiptionem dare nondum
fufeipio, fed paucis enarrabo, quae de illis oblervare
mihi licuit.

Audores, qui aquae dulcis polypos examinarunt,
quatuor eorum fpecies enumerant : fed in aqua ma-
rina major differentium fpecierum numerus eft ; plus
quam viginti diverfos vidi polypos, quos ut plurimum
in laudatis figuris etiam delineavit accuratiftimus
Ellis, et profedo adhuc plures funt. Sed hie mo-
nendum, quod cum aquae dulcis polypi nudo oculo
facile queant conlpici, plerique marini non nifi lente
aut microfcopio poffint examinari : et aqua marina,
in qua polypi vivunt, bis, vel ad minimum femel,
nucthemeri fpatio, debet renovari, aut polypi mo-
riuntur.

Ad exemplum Di. Schaffer in duas fpecies primo
polypos diftinguam ; in polypos, qui cellulas ftbi con-
itruant, et in polypos, qui corporis extremitate co-
rallinis aliilque corporibus extus fefe aftigant, vel in
cavitates naturales alcyoniorum, corallioruro, &c.

* Leihr, Theologle des Inftcl. tom. ii. p. 112.

(de

[ *7* T

(de quibus in pofterum) irrepant, ut cancelii in va-
cua buccina. Polypi, qui in cellulis habitant, caeteris
plerumque funt minores : horum cellulac corallinaa n
truncum vel ramcs circumdant, a quibus prudenti
manu fine corallinse lsefione fatis facile pofiunt abradi :
et fi hse cellulae non nimia lint copia, et corallina
contra folis fplendorem infpiciatur, praefertim fi co-
lor vivide ruber, aureus aut fubniger eft, facile per
ipfas cellulas tranilucet.

Polyporum, qui fine cellulis in corporum quorun-
dam cavitatibus habitant, aut extriniecus illis affixi
funt, plurimae funt fpecies. Apertis ° corallinse tubu-
lariae ram is (nam in tali planta femper adfunt rami
vel tubi naturaliter f claufi, id eft, integri, in quibus
nunquam polypus infidet) majorum polyporum fpe-
cies faepius fupra fedet j quos a colore rubente poly-
pos vocabo CGcdneos , et prae caateris obfervavi. In
detritis et apertis, ut modo dixi, corallinse tubularise
ramulis, inferta fua cauda vel corporis parte pofteriore,
polypus habitat, et ex hoc ramo facile et faepe levi
quaflatione delabitur, praefertim fi ille jam per ali-
quot dies fervatus debilis, aeger, aut mortuus fit -f*.

Si vegetum talem polypum, corallinse infidentem,
vehementius amplificante microlcopio intueris, facile
differentiam vides inter fcabram et quafi granulatam
polypi cutem, et laeviftimam corallinse corticem.

Hie polypus coccineus duplici brachiorum genere
eft munitus, quod in aliis minoribus non vidi ; et hsc

» Tab. VIII. fig. II. IV. ° Tab. VIII. fig. III. p Tab.
VII. fig. III.

f Idem obfervat Cel. Juffiaeus, licet corallinas a polypis tamen
fabrifatas autumat. Vide Mem. de l’Acad. 1742. et figuram in-
fpice, cuomodo corporis extremi'tate corallinse infident.

color is

[ 272 ]

colons funt fubalbidi. q Inferiora ct longiora odo-
decim vel viginti funt, nam numerus faepe variat, et
cxpanfa patinam formant, in cujus medio r ipftmi
polypi corpus coccineum eft. Hoc corpus in duas
partes dividi poteft. Inferiori placentam referenti per-
pendiculariter alia pyriformis eft infixa, quae duodecim
s vel quatuordecim habet brachia, prioribus tenuiora
et breviora.

Hanc partem pyriformem polypus valde t extendere
poteft, prsefertim ft praedam captans cxpanfa clau-
dit u brachia ; et rurfus ita contrahere, ut quaft * glo-
bulus inferiori et depreflae parti adhaereat. In extremo
hujus partis y os polypi efle videtur : fed ob partium
exilitatem non omnia fatis diftinda poffunt videri, ut
in majoribus aqua; dulcis polypis ; fed ex fimilitudine
partium haec tuto licet concludere.

Si longiora brachia fortiori micro fcopio attente con-
templaris, cutem eorum valde afperam vides, ut eft
pifcium (quos Haijen vocant) vel ut fuperficies corii
granulati (chagrein-leer) for fi tan ut minora animal-
■cula, quae polyporum efca funt, eo melius, ne ela-
bantur, retinere poffint. Sed inter hujus fpeciei po-
lypos vidi unum caeteris z majorem, ex cujus cor-
pore, illo loco ubi pars luperior inferiori et depreflae
inhaeret, fex vel odo enafcebantur a ramuli, in quo-
rum extremitatibus erant duo vel tres parvi globuli,
pundum coccineum in medio habentes. Huic po-
ly po bis in die novam dedi aquam, quam maxime de
ejus vita follicitus, ea fpe, ut hi globuli in juniores

i Tab. IX. fig. II. a A. 1 Tab. IX. fig. II. A. c. sJbid.£.£.
t Ibid. A. c. u Ibid. B. * Ibid. C. c. * Ibid. fig. III.
z Ibid. fig. III. * Ibid. c. c>

cxcrefcerent

4

[ 273 ]

excrefcerent polypos, fed quamvis per menfem fie
vivum fervaverim, nihil mutatum vidi, nifi quod
globuli paululum evaferint majores.

Qu?e deinceps de polyporum generatione obfervavi,
non ita mihi fatisfaciunt, ut ilia pro certis et com-
probatis habeam : fi vero hae asftate meliora adifeam,
Regias Societati indicabo.

+■ r - • ■ \ \\ -'fi i *'?*•'

*_• i ^ ; , « W . 4 • ' . J . , * . : t

De aliis Infeflis Marinis .

•\ -\ «• * * • ' • * f . • f T * ^ ”• * ■ i « * • ~

Si nodtu aqua maris, quae littora nofira alluit, la-
pide injedto vel baculo movetur, innumeras videre
eft fcintillas igneas, quae nihil aliud funt, quam mi-
nima animalcula lucentia, non nifi fortiore microfr
copio vifibilia. s

Ut haec animalcula idonea colligas copia, fufficien-
tem aquae quantitatem, in qua has lcintillas obfervafti,
per chartam emporeticam filtrare facias, donee femi-
uncia aut minus aquae fupra chartam reftat: hujus
guttula, vitro concavo, penicilli vel pennae ope, im-
pofita, fortiore microfcopio examinetur, et celer-
rimo motu ilia natare videbis. Tres diverfas horum
obfervavi fpecies, quas ad vivum delineatas exhibet
tabulae X. fig. I.

$ed mare plura alit infedta, quibus haec lucendi
facultas ineft, et quorum in corallinis repertorum.
quaedam delineata funt tab. X. fig. i, 2, 4, 5. fed
quoniam pluses -f* aueftores de his feripferunt, non
commemorabo.

Si corallinae recenter ex mare extracbe major
planta, orbi porcellano concavo, et cujus fundus eft

f Vxonelli nuove luci coperte, Linnai Amasn. Acad. tom. iii.
de no&iluca marina, ’ “ • '

■V;Q.'j,^5o. Nn ? profundi

C 374 ]

/

profundi coloris caerulei, cum fufiiciente quantitate
aqua; marina; pellucidiffima; et filtrate, ut ante jam
monui, imponatur, et ejus ramuli prudenter penna
expandentur, et lente oculari infpiciantur, filvam
faepius videre eft, in qua piurima pafcuntur animalia,
praeter diverfi generis polypos ramis infixos et brachia
extendentes : alia plura funt, praefertim in infima
parte, fi corallinas fupra oftrea creverint, qua; hue
et illuc curfitant, et forfitan faepius hianti oftreo ali-
mento inferviunt. Sic vigefimo tertio Odtobris 1756
oftreum accepi, cui magna b corallinae planta erat
innata, in qua, praeter tres diverfas polyporum fpecies,
fex differentia reperiebam infedta. c Primum ver-'
mis erat, cujus caput fex majoribus et duobus mino-
ribus cornubus erat inftru&um. d Alterum valde
parvum araneam longipedem (Gallis le Faucheur)
referebat, admodum lente fe movens. Tertium ver-
mis erat, fimilis figurae 3, fed in delignando deperde-
batur. e Quartum, quintum et fextum non nifi for-
tiore microlcopio diftindle erant vifibilia. Horum
quod littera c notatur, mirandae erat ftrudturae.

Diverfa lie oftrea et corallinas explorans, plura
talia admiranda infedta vidi, quorum delineationem
fiftunt tabula; X. hgurae 2,3, 4, y, 7. Decimo fexto
ejufdem menfis Odtobris, plures mihi fed valde parvae
apportabantur corallinas, quae a dolio coniformi erant
abrafae : in his licet faepe et attente exploratis nullos
detegere poteram polypos, fed duo alia mirabiliftima
infedta.

Horum, quae fecunda figura tabulae decimae littera A

*> Tab. VIII. fig. VIL ‘ Tab. X. fig. I. - Ibid. fig. 6.
c Ibid. fig. 8.

y exhibet.

/

*

Fir. I.

Pbi/cs. Tin ns. Vol X . TA 15 MI .J>. 3/5.

C 275 ]

exhibet, erant millia, celerrimo motu vel repentia
vel natantia: lex fuis pedibus poftremis ramulum
arripiebant, ut erucarum, quas geometras appellant,
mos eft, et mirum in modum prone et lupine fe
fie&entes, de ramo in ramum faliebant quaft agiliffimi.
Inter haec erant pauca caeteris majora, quae f naturali
et g audta magnitudine delineare curavi. b Alterum
animal non minus mirum erat : fed horum omnium
cognitio multo melius delineationis infpedtu, quam
ex valde prolixa defcriptione peti poteft.

Sed ft omnia infedta marina, quae in diverlis co-
rallinis reperi, delineare vellem, infinitum opus fufci-
perem; nam eorum numerus et diverlitas captum
noftrum fuperant.

Haec ergo, ut fpero, fufficient ad demonftrandum
corallinas non polyporum opus aut fabricam efle,
fed his et plurimis aliis infeftis marinis domiciiio ct
perfugio aut alimento inlervire.

Dabam Zirizoeae in Zelandia,

17 Martii 1757.

TABULARUM EXPLICATIO.
Tabula Septima.

I* * •- Jk A. J-

Fig. L Exhibet corallinae plantam, quae corallina
mufcofa, five milieus marinus tenui capillo fper-
mophorus vocatur.

Fig. II. Corallina ramulis dichotomis tener-is capil-
laribus rubentibus.

Tab. X. fig. II. B. * Ibid. C. h ibid. fig. ID.

Nn a Fig.

f

1 2 76 ]

Fig. III. Junior planta coralline tubulariae laryngi
fimilis.

Fig. IV. Duae fpecies a , b , fig. I. et II. et c efchara
papyracea utrinque cellulifera, uni bafi adnata,
quod faepius in doliis marinis coniformibus con-
tigit. ’

Fig. V. Corallinae rubrae ramulus, quem per aliquot
hebdomadas in aqua marina faepius renovata fer-
vavi, quo tempore parvi ramuli a , a , multum •
creverunt, et alii b , by- pullulaverunt. • 7 ,

Fig . VI. Pars conchae oftrei, in qua, preter filamenta
quaedam viridia, duo polypi a a. con/piciendi. . .
Fig. VII. Cancer arachnoideus, cui duae polyporun* .
fpecies infidebant. Singulus in ay et multi cellulas
habitantes mb.. ■ ■ , l . ,

Fig. VIII. Animal, quod aarfgat yoeatur, et januis
emiflariorum veterioribus et navibus accrefcit
huic parva corallinae planta erat irinata, in qua
nullos detegere poteram polyposj plurimos vero
b. b. ipfi animali infidentes. 1

* • ^ . r i

*• • - * k -

N. B. Caudas horum et praecedentis figure poly-

delineavit pidtor, ut ea
venirent. :

porum nimis longas
itiftlins- iri confpedtum

, ... -

Tabula O

c T AV A.

Fiz. I. Ramus corallinae rubentis magnitudine natu-
ral.

Fig. II. Idem microfcopio vifus, et tres polyporum
fpecies in eo confpiciendae.
a. b. Duae diverfae fpecies cauda vel corporis parte
pofteriore corallinae affixae.

€. Tertia fpecies in cellulis habitans.

« / d. Poly-

P/j/lo.r Trans. Vol. X.TAB . VUE .j) 27b'.

IW&2/ <3

«Vnm vinxit

—

.

[ 277 ]

' d. Polypus rticfrtuus.

e. Polyporum ;Cellulae. *

Fig. III. Planta coralline tubularlae laryngi fimilis
magnitudine naturali.

Fig. IV. Hujus pjantae ramus maximus, microfco-
pio vifus, in quo quinque diverfos #polypos in-
veni. 1 V

a. Prima et maxima fpecies polypi, quern’ cocci-
neum voco, et tab. IX. fig. II. fortiore^dhuc
microfcbpio vifum exhibet.

b. Eadem fed minor fpecies. j

c. Tertia, quae eadem ut hujus tabulae fig. II. litt. b.

d. Qiiarta, quae eadem ut hujus tabulae fig. II. -litt. c.

e. Quinta et minima polyporum fpecies, maxime
auda magnitudine adhuc d'elineata fig. i. tab. IX.

f Cellulae, quas quarta fpecies habitat. .

Fig. V. Corallina ereda pennata denticulis al terms
caule apprefiis : in hac nulli erant polypi nifi in
cellulis' circumcirca truncam affixis a a.

" b. Cochleae magnitudine audae in B.

c. Efchara'millepora minima cruftacea cellulis tu-
biformibus, animalculis domicilio inferviens, et
magnitudihae audae in C.

Fig. VI. Corallina abietis forma, quam menfe De-
cembri accepi : ejus rami veficulis vel ovulis ay a,
per paria ordine quadam pofitis, erant obfefii.

A. Talis veficula vel ovum microfcopio vifum.

b. Cochleae, & c. Efchara minima, ut in praeca-
dente figura magnitudine auda in B et C.

d. d. Dua corpufcula fufca, quae microfcopio vifa
nidum vermium referunt in D..

Fig. VII. Corallina pennata et filiquata, ab oftreo-
abftrada : in hac praeter tres polyporum fpecies

c A,.

[ 278 3

a A, b B. (qusc Cfedem ac in fig. II.) c C, fcx alia
infedta reperire contigit, quze delineata funt in
tab. X. fig. i,6 , 8.

Tabula Nona.

Fig. I. Minlmorum polyporum marinorum genus,
cum polypis ramofis ( polypes a bouquet) aquae
dulcis conveniens.

A. tftlis polypus confervas marinse viridi infidens vix
oculo nudo confpicuus.

B. idem lente oculari, et in C fortiore vifus mi-
crofcopio.

Fig. II. Polypus coccineus, quem tabulas fecundas

Fig. III. & IV. naturali et aucta magnitudine exhi-
bent, hie fortiflimo microfcopio vifus.

A. hie polypus expanfis brachiis, praedam expe&ans.

B. idem brachia contrahendo, prasdam arripiens.

a. Brachia majora inferiora numero 16, 1 8, vel 20.

b. Brachia fuperiora breviora numero 12, 14, vel 16.

c. Corporis pars fuperior pyriformis, inferiori in-
fixa.

A. Corporis pars inferior compreffa.

<r. Locus, ubi polypus coralline inhaeret.

C. idem polypus a parte anteriore vifus, cum Cor-
poris partem fuperiorem pyriformem in globu-
lum contraxerat, quod in majoribus polypis
(vide infra fig. IV, V, VI.) magis vifibile.

Tig. III. Similis polypus coccineus, caeteris major,
ex cujus corpore (ubi partes c et d conjunguntur)
odto ramuli enafeebantur, qui in fummitatibus
duos vel tres gerebant globulos, pundlum rubrum
in medio habentes, et quos in polypos juniores
cxcreturos fore fperaveram fruftra.

a. Hujus

I Tt/citaJ <u) Vtoutn fMJUt .

AJfyndtft.

C *79 ]

a. Hujus polypi brachia longiora inferiora.

b . Brachia breviora fuperiora.

e. In medio corporis pyriformis os polypi efie vi-
detur.

Fig. IV. Majus, ut videtur, genus polyporum, quos
klapkonten vacant, oltreorum conchis infidentium,
quorum hie, rudius attradtum, brachia penitus in
corpus fuum abfeondit.

Fig. V. Idem polypus corpore extenfo brachia ex-
pandens.

Fig. VI. Idem capta praeda fe contrahens.

Tabula Decima.

Fig. I. Tres fpecies animalculorum lucentium in
guttula aquae marinae fortiore microfcopio vi-
forum.

Fig. II. Mirum animalculum in corallinis a doliis
marinis coniformibus abrafis repertum.

A. tales minores erant centeni.

B. decern vel duodecim erant hac magnitudine
naturali.

C. idem animal microfcopio vifum.

a. Antennae.

b . Primum par pedum vel brachiorum.

c . Secundum par.

d. Tertium et maximum par.

e , e , e. Quatuor corpufcula oviformia, qua ani-
mal ut movebant natando.

Pe(^es pofteriores, quibus fimul
corallinae ramum arripiens, quaquaverfum fe
fledlore poterat.

g, Cauda in cujus extrema parte anus,

b. Oculi. Fig .

C 280 ]

Fig. III. Aliud animal in iifdem corallinis repertum,"
A. illud animal pronum.

' B. fupinum. a

C. fortiore microfcopio vifum.

Fig. 1, 2, 3,4,5 ’,6,7, 8; exhibent quafdam nodilucas,
et alia animalcula in diver fis corallinis reperta,
ea magnitudine, qua tertia et quarta lens micro
fcopii a D». Cuff in Anglia fabrefadi ilia oftendit.

Animalculum c , fig. 8. mirabiliflinyae erant druc-
turae, et plurima habebat membra.

• 2 ” ■ - w : . ■ • v :j noff . : ' • •

XXXIII. Remarks on Dr. Job Bafter’s Ob-
fervationes de Corallinis, Sec. printed
above , p. 258. In a Letter to the Right
Ho?wurable George Earl of Macclesfield,
P ref dent of the R. S. fro?n Mr . John
Ellis, F. R. S.

My Lord,

Read June 9. T Have read Dr. Job Bader’s letter to

*757*

1

the Royal Society; wherein he endea-
vours to prove, that corallines are not of an animal,
but a vegetable nature ; and has brought many ar-
guments to fupport his fydem ; which, to gentlemen
not well acquainted with the fubjed, may appear
plaufible. • \ •

I could have wifhed the^Dodor had read and
examined thoroughly what has been lately written
on the fubjed : I then fliould not have had occafioYi

C* .to

[ 281 3

to trouble your Lordlhip with the following remarks,
which I find neceflary to fupport what I have al-
ready advanced on that head.

His firjft argument is, That becaufe he does not
find as many polypes in the corallines adhering to
lhips, flood-gates, and buoys, as in deep water on
oyfters, mufcles, and rocks, therefore he concludes,
that corallines are not formed by polypes.

In anfwer to this, let us examine the pliable ftruc-
ture of thefe bodies, and how wifely nature has de-
fended fuch tender fubftances with a tough thin
membranaceous covering, and we fhall find, that the
fea is calm enough often near the furface to give
them time to grow, even in the ftrongefl: currents :
but, without doubt, they are more liable to be de-
flroyed in fuch agitated fituations, than in the calm
depths of the fea.

His fecond argument is, That finding polypes are
not equally difperfed over the whole plant, how can
they form it ? and gives us an example, Tab. VIII.
jig. 5. of a coralline, that is incrufted with many
other corallines or polypes on the ftem, but has none
on the branches.

Here we plainly fee the miftake : the Do&or looks
for the tender part of the polype on the furface of
the coralline, confidering it as a plant ; and indeed,
if this was the cafe, he ought fo to do ; but he never
once takes notice of the internal hollow ftru&ure of
the Hem, branches, and denticles of thofe bodies, to
inform us, whether he found an animal in thofe parts
or no. This material point he feems not to have
thought on ; which is really the true point in con-
troverfy at prefent among gentlemen, who have not
examined thefe bodies recent in fea-water.

V o l. 50. O o His

[ 2«3 ]

His third argument is, That almoft ajways '©oe
and the fame coralline plant cherifhes polypes of
different kinds j and refers us to Tab. VIII. fig. 2.
and 4.

In fig. 1. he gives us an elegant painting of a geni-
culated red conferva for a coralline, furrounded, as
is very common, by many fpecies of fmall corallines
and efcharas. 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 Item of this is in-
crufted with four different corallines and efcharas,
like the conferva fig. 2 ; and then he afks, which
of thefe five polypes made the tubular coralline ?

To give him fome proof of the animal nature of
this coralline, let him confult Ray’s Synopfis, ed. 3.
p. 34. n. 4. and there he will find one of this fpecies,
called adianti aurei minimi Jacie plant a marina ,
taken notice of fo long ago as the year 1713. bv
Dr. Lloyd, as a zoophyte, from its ftem or tube’s
being full of a thick reddifh liquor, rather refem-
bling blood than the juice of a plant; which, upon
prefling the ftem, communicated with the little head
at top.

His fourth argument is, That as upon one and
the fame coralline plant you fhall find different kind
of polypes ; fo, in different fpecies of coralline, the
fame polypes : and, to confirm this, he quotes my
Effay on Corallines ; where I have remarked, that
the polypes in the denticles of the fetaceous or briftly
coralline, N°. 16. appear to be like thofe, that are on
the lobfter’s-horn coralline, N*. 19. And to illuftrate
this, he obferves, that bees and wafps always build
their cells invariably the fame ; and that therefore
thefe two corallines fhould be the fatoe,

But

C 283 ]

But herein he takes this matter wrong: he has
confidered, in all his obfervations, the heads of thofe
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 coral-
lines, as fo many whole and intire animals, without
ever obferving, that the body of the animal is con*
tained in the tubular part of the root, item, and
branches ; and that thefe differ from One another
widely both in fize and fhape, as he may plainly fee
in the two corallines he has inflanced : for the more
exadt drawings of which, I fhall refer him, viz. for
the fetaceous or briftly coralline, to my Plate, N°. 38.
the natural fize of which is at fig. 4. and the magni-
fied one at fig. D : this he will obferve to have a
fmall flem, and its branches difpofed in a pinnated
form : and for the lobfler’s-horn coralline, I fhall
refer him to Tab. xxii. of Vol. xlviii. of the Philo-
fophical Tran factions ; where, at N°. 3. the natural
fize is exprbffed, and at C the upper part of this
coralline is drawn in proportion to the briflly coral-
line from the fame magnifying glafs ; which (hews
the flem to be much larger, and furrounded by its
branches growing in whorles at equal diflances, not
unlike the equifetum, or horfe-tail plant ; and yet the
heads of this animal nearly refemble the other, only
a little larger. Further, his cOmparifoil to bees and
wafps, and their cells, is not conclufive : for thefe
ramified, hollow, and denticulated bodies, called co-
rallines, which we fo frequently find dead on our
fhores, are properly fkins of certain marine polypes,
and not nefls, as thofe conflrubled by thefe little
winged animals are. And yet we find as great a

Oo 2 regularity

[ 284 ]

regularity in the fame fpecies of thefe corallines, as
xvhen we compare two oak trees to one another, or
two of Mr. Trembley’s branched frefh- water polypes
to one another.

He then proceeds to his fifth argument. That if
corallines were formed by polypes, neither the po-
lypes, nor even their cells, would ever fix on living
animals, or any other bodies.

Here we may obferve, that the confequence he
draws doth not follow : for corallines may be formed
or produced by certain fpecies of polypes, and yet
polypes of another fpecies may be found adhering to
other bodies, and even to animal bodies.

By his fixth argument he endeavours to prove,
That the veficles, which are found in regular rows
on the fea-fir coralline in winter. Tab. VIII. fig. 6.
do not belong to it j and are no more than the eggs
of fome fea infedt depofited on it, of which there
may be a great variety.

But to convince him of his miflake, let him take
off one of the veficles, and apply a large magnifier
to the place, and he will difcover a hole, by which
this veficle or ovary has had a communication thro’ the
fkin with the parent polype. For a further illuftra-
tion of the manner in which thefe veficulated polypes
breed, let him confult the 38th Plate of my Effay,
where he will find feveral accurate figures (drawn by
Mr. Ehret from the life) of thefe veficles, with the
fpawn of the polypes coming out of them j fome of
which fpawn we evidently difcovered to be young
polypes with their arms formed ; and, as they fell
from the veficle, extending themfelves in the watch-
glafs of fea-water*

[ 285 ]

In examining the drawings for his plates, I have
obferved, that Tab. VII. fig. 2. is evidently a red con-
ferva, which he calls a coralline. We have no co-
rallines, but many confervas, of this form and bright
red colour on our coafts ; and thefe fhores, I believe,
are allowed to have fimilar marine productions with
thofe of Holland.

Tab. VII. fig. 5. he calls a branch of red coralline,
which he fays he kept feveral weeks in fea -water,
and that often changed ; during which time it
fprouted and grew very much. This experiment, I
am perfuaded, is very true ; becaufe it is plainly a
vegetable, as appears from his own exaft drawing of
it ; and feems to be the fucus teres rubens minus in
longum protenfus of Ray’s Synopfis, ed.3. p. 51. 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 conferva, drawn and painted
with great exadtnefs.

, f " ' , ’ ' . * + , l

Thefe arguments, my Lord, and thefe figures of
real vegetables, which the Do&or has given us for
corallines, £hew, how much he is willing to fupport
the old opinion of the botanifts : but I am fatisfied
he will foon alter his opinion, when he obferves the
remarkable difference of the texture of vegetable and
coralline bodies, when viewed in fea- water thro’ a
good aquatic microfcope. And to convince him
more fully, that corallines are an animal fubflance,
let him burn them, and he will perceive the fame
pungent volatile alkaline fmell, which he finds in

burning.

[ ,286 ]

■burning horn, hair, or oyfters ; whereas burnt fucus’s
and confervas yield a frnell not much unlike that of
common land vegetables. Even the ftony coralline?,
when their cretaceous covering has been diffolved in
vinegar, the membranous part, that remains of them,
put into the fire, yields the fame animal i'mell with
other corallines.

Further, lince I find the Do£or has promifed the
Royal Society to continue his refearches at the fea-
fide, the following hints may be of ufe to him;.
And, firft, he will find, that thofe he feems to
think naked polypes, which he found adhering to
corallines and other bodies, are really fmall corallines
and efcharas, with their proper fkins and cells $ all
which I have particularly defcribed already. I would
then recommend him to examine fuch corallines as
are taken out of the deepeft water, which are found
adhering to fhells and fucus’s. He will find Mr. Cuff’s
aquatic microfcope, or one of that form, the moil
commodious for obferving thefe animals alive.

The moft tranfparent ones he will find the beft to
difcover their gelatinous infide, which runs thro’ the
ftem and ramifications, and ends in the heads, where
the claws are. Some of the beft kinds to obferve
are as follows : The fea-oak coralline, the lily*
flowering coralline, the great tooth coralline, the
lea-thread coralline, and the branched tubular co-
ralline. Pieces of thefe fliould be cut off while they
are in the fea water, and placed in watch- glalfes full
of the fame : in thefe they fliould remain a while,
till they recover themfelves ; and when they are
placed on the ftage of the microfcope, the motion
of the internal part communicating with the heads
will be eafily discovered.

If

C 287 ]

If the Dodlor will immerfe fome of thefe coral-
lines, when they are extended, in two thirds of fpirit
of wine and one third of clear fea-water, it will
preferve them many years, as I have experienced.
He may then put the different forts into diftindt
phials, and view them at pleafure with a lens of
about one inch and half focus.

In fine, my Lord, opportunities fo feldom offer at
the fea-fide to make thefe experiments with accuracy ^
add likewife to this, the ftrong lines of vegetation
that thefe bodies carry in their appearance, and your
Lordfhip will not be iurprifed, that there are fo many
gentlemen, even of the Royal Society, that totally dis-
believe them to be animals.

Many there are in the Society, that are wavering
between both opinions. If then, my Lord, yon
think, that any fpecimens which I have, or any
demonftrations tending to clear up this point, that
lie in my power, will be acceptable to your Lord-
fhip and the Society, your Lordfhip may freely com-
mand them, whenever you think proper, from

Your Lordsh i p’s

Much obliged and moil obedient Servant,.

London,
June 9. 1757.

XXXIV

[ 288 ]

XXXIV. An Account of an extraordinary
Operation performed in the Dock- Yard at
Portfmouth : Drawn up by Mr. John
Robertfon, F . R. S.

Read May z6. rp H E Royal William, a firft rate
17 57‘ man of war, built about 40 years

ago, having, upon examination, been judged in fo
good a ftate, as to be worthy of repairing for fea fer-
vice, was ordered into dock, and brought thither on
the 29th of June 1756. On thefe occafions it is
yfual to lay acrofs the middle line of the bottom of
the dock, at diftances of about five feet from one
another, thick pieces of oak timber of about four
feet long j their upper furfaces lying in the fame
plane, or fo pofited, that a line ftretched from the
two extreme blocks will touch all the intermediate
ones ; and on the middle of thefe blocks the keel of
the ftiip is to reft. On the faid day the tide did not
rife fo high as was expedfed ; and there was not quite
depth enough of water to float the fhip in, and fet
her on the blocks, notwithftanding the afiiftance of
an empty lighter, which, being fixed to the ftern,
lifted the fhip at that end fix inches : and as the
officers knew they ftiould not have fo much water
again before the next fpring-tides, they were deter-
mined to heave her in j which is a very common
operation in moft dock-yards. Now it fo happened,
thro’ the great weight of the head and ftern, that
the Ihip cambered very much ; that is, her keel,
from being ftrait, was become much curved, the

two

[ 289 ]

two extremities hanging lower than the middle part
by many inches ; and confequently the foremoft
part of the keel, indead of Aiding over the blocks,
forced all the foremod ones away, for above 60 feet ;
whereby that part of the keel reded on the bottom
or floor of the dock, and the aftermod part reded
on fuch of the blocks, as had efcaped the violence,
which had difplaced the others. I11 this fituation the
keel was very far from being drait ; and fo it was
refolved to lift by main force the head of the diip,
until the keel diould be drait ; and in that pofition
to fupport it by the blocks, which had been forced
away from their places.

For this purpofe there were fet up, under the
wales and other parts of the diip, to the length of
near 80 feet of the dem, as many dioars, as were
judged neceflary ; and alfo nine pair of bed-fcrews,
three pair under each bow, and three pair under the
knee of the head. At each flioar a workman was ap-
pointed, to drive wedges between the heels of the
dioars and the parts of the dock whereon they reded ;
whereby the dioars were raifed end-wife, and con-
fequently the body of the diip lifted at the fame time.
While this was doing, the 18 fcrews were alfo at
work : and between thefe efforts t the fore part of the
diip was raifed upwards of 1 9 inches, fo much being
neceflary to bring the fore part of the keel in a right
line with the hinder part.

In this fervice were employed about 270 men ;
wdiereof about 144 worked at the fcrews, and the
others worked at the flhoars with their mawls and
wedges ; and the whole operation was performed in
about feven hours.

Vol. 50.

pP

My

[ 290 ]

t • f •

My curioftty leading me to inquire what was the
weight of the fhip, in the condition fhe was at the
time of bringing her into the dock j for this purpofe
I procured draughts of the elevation and fedtion, and
of the plans at the line of floating, and at the pa-
rallel fections of every foot diftance down to the
keel. Then, by finding the mean area between every
two fedfions, I was thereby enabled to come at the
magnitude of a folid, that would nearly fill the trough
the fhip made in the water ; and, by increafing this
magnitude by that of the keel, and fo much of the
ftern-poft and ftem, as were under water, the cubic
feet of the fluid difplaced by the fhip were obtained,
being 54869 and confequently her weight was
3532091 pounds, or 1576 tons, 16 C. 2 qrs. 3 ib.
Thefe numbers were not altogether fo eafily come
at, as they would have been, had the fhip fwam on
an even keel, her draught of water before being 1 3
feet 2 inches, and abaft 16 feet 6 inches. However,
the computation may be efteemed as corredt as the
nature of the fubjedt would admit ; becaufe I found
pretty near the fame folidity by another method.

I got a block or model made, by a fcale of a quar-
ter of an inch to a foot, of fo much of the Royal
William’s body, as was immerged, when flie was
brought into dock ; and this block I immerfed in a
trough of fea- 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 fcale of inches, and pencil-lines drawn
round the infide of the trough at every inch. Sea-
water was poured into the trough to the height of 5

inches $

[ 29* ]

inches ; and the trough was exa&ly levelled, by-
means of the pencil-line, at 5 inches : then the
block being forced under the water’s furface, the
fluid, when ftill, was rifen to 6 7 inches j confe-
quently the magnitude of the block was equal to a
parallelopipedon of 46 inches long, 14 inches broad,
and 1 7 inches deep, or to 858 -§ cubic inches.

Now 8y8f cubic inches are equal to 0.4965? cubic
feet.

And a cubic foot of fea-water weighs 64.3732
pounds avoirdupoize.

Then 64.3732x0.4969=31.987 pounds.

So that by a quarter inch fcale, a model fimilar to
the Royal William weighs near 3 2 ife.

But a quarter inch fcale is 77 of a foot fcale.

And the model is to the {hip as "?3 is to 4P5, or
as 1 is to 110592.

Then 3537fo6ib (=110592x31.98 7), or 1779
tons, 4 C. 3 qrs. 14 jfc>. is the weight fought.

The difference by the two methods amounts to
,5415 lb- or to 2 tons, 8 C. 1 qr. 1 1 ib.

Some of the perfons prefent at this experiment
read the height of the water at 6j inches : the dif-
ference between 6 f and 6 7 inches is Ar of an inch ;
a difference eaflly to be made by different perfons in
an experiment of this kind. But obferving, that the
computation made on 6 •§ inches amounted to near
yo tons more than on 6 7 inches, I caufed the trough
to be diminifhed in its depth to 67 inches, had
one of the ends cut off, and a board fixed on the
open fide, being defirous of making the experiment
with the trough {landing on one end : and indeed,
in this fituation, an error of — of an inch in the

P p 2 height

[ 292 ]

height of the water makes a difference of about t5|
tons in the weight of the fhip. Into this upright
trough water was poured to the height of 36 inches j
and the block being immerged, the water was raifed
9 -j inches : fo that the block was equal in magni-
tude to a parallelopipedon of 14 inches long, 6 j*
inches wide, and 9 -3 inches deep, or to 849 f cubic
inches : from whence I find the weight of the fhip
to be 1562 tons, 1 C. 2 qrs. 16 fo. And altho’ I
take this number to be neareft the truth, yet it may
be obferved, that it is no eafy matter to come at ac-
curacy in this fubjedt by any of the methods in com-
mon ufe.

My next inquiry was, to find how much of this
weight was lifted, and how to proportion it among
the fcrews and mawl-men : but in this, lefs accuracy
mufl be expedted than in the preceding inquiry ; for
the exadt number of men employed is not known ;
neither can it be told, how many worked at the
fcrews, and how many with the mawls ; and only
a guefs can be made at the part lifted. However,
fomething may be gathered, which may, perhaps, be
worth the knowing.

Let the weight raifed be taken at half the weight
of the fhip ; for 64 feet, the length of the keel
raifed, is not far from half the whole length : add
to this the fally of the head, the weight of the
forecaftle, the fridtion of the timber, and the refin-
ance of the parts bent by the cambering : befide, the
mawls worked at feveral fhoars fet up abaft the faid
64 feet.

Now the weight by the laft experiment was
3499064 pounds: one half, or 1749532 lb. I take

to

[ 293 ]

to be the weight raifed between the fcrews and
mawls.

The diftance between two contiguous threads of
each lerew was 1 j inches ; the length of the two
oppofite levers was 12 feet 8 inches, or 152 inches,
and defcribed a circumference of 477 ~ inches : each
fcrew was worked by 8 men : their force, reckoned
at 30 lb. each, makes the power working on each
fcrew equal to 240 lb.

Hence, from the known property, each fcrew could
raife 65485 lb.

And the 18 fcrews raifed 1178730 ib.

Then there remained 570802 lb. to be raifed
among about 126 mawls :

Which gives 45301b, or a little more than two
tons, to be raifed by each man with his mawl and
wedges ; which is confiderably lefs than what I have
feen raifed by way of experiment.

XXXV. Obfervations on an Evenings or ra-
ther NoEiurnal , Solar Iris. By Mr. George
Edwards, Librarian of the College of
Phyfcians,

To the Reverend Dr. Birch.

S I R,

Read Jane Sunday evening the 5th of June

V_^/ J757> being walking in the fields
near Iflington, about half a mile north of the upper
refervoir or bafon of the New River, I obferved the

fun

[ 2 94 ]

fun to fink beneath the vifible horizon to the north-
well, it being very clear in that quarter, except fome
thin clouds a little above the horizon, which were
painted of fine red and golden colours, as is ufual
when the fun fets in a calm clear evening. But
about 20 minutes after fun-fet, as near as I could
judge, it then being darkifh, I was greatly furprifed
to fee an Iris in the dufky air, at a height greater
than is feen at any time in the rainbow. It was in
the contrary quarter of the heavens to the fetting fun,
and fell on the fmoke, mills, and evening vapours
arifing from the city of London and its neighbour-
hood. The arch feemed to be a full half circle,
tho’ its lower parts fell fome degrees fhort of the
horizon. It was very diftindtly feen for about i y
minutes. Its colours the fame as in the rainbow,
but fainter. The lower ends of the bow arole gra-
dually higher from the earth, as the fun declined
beneath the horizon, until the whole arch difap—
peared. The center of the arch was above the ho-
rizon at its firll appearance. What moft perplexed
me, was, to find the caufe of this painted arch. I
could not believe, that it proceeded from the lun-
beams falling on rain ; for there had been none that
afternoon ; nor was there any fort of figns of rain
or rainy clouds to be feen ; the wind being northerly,
and the air cool, and lomewhat hazy in the quarter
where the bow appeared ; which was not near fo
bright as the rainbow appears to be in the day-time ;
and I believe, that it would not have been vifible at
all in the prefence of the fun. I imagine it was
formed on the grofs particles of the evening vapours,
mixed with thofe of the fmoke arifing from the

town ;

I 2 95 3

town ; for had the fun-beams fhot from beneath the
herizoA on fatting rain at a confiderable height above
the earth, I believe the darknefs would have rendered
the appearance of fuch a bow far brighter than it
appears to the fight in the prefence of the fun : but
this night or evening arch being reflected, as I fup-
pofe, from particles fo minute as thofe of floating
vapours, gave but little light and colour to the fight,
and what would not have been vifible, had the
fun been above the horizon. For the fame reafon,
the moon and ftars are vifible in the abfence of the
fun, and, on the contrary, are unfeen when the fun
is prefect : and if we light a candle, and fet it in
the fun-beams, the flame is loft to our fight, tho’ the
fame candle will give us a confiderable fhare of light
in the night. As I have never before feen or heard
of fuch an arch, I thought this account of it (im-
perfect as it is) might not be difagreeable 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 affedted by the moon’s
rays. The confcioufnefs of my inability to give a
proper account of fuch an uncommon appearance
could not deter me from the attempt.

I think I have faid all that is neceflary on this
fubjeCl ; yet am ready to anfwer any queftion for
the farther illuftrating of it. I am,

Reverend Sir,

Your moft humble Servant,

College of Phyficians, Lon
don, June 6th, 1757.

Geo. Edwards.
XXXVI.

[ 296 ]

XXXVI. The EffeEls of the Opuntia, or
Prickly Pear , and of the Indigo Plants
in colouring the Juices of living Animals .
Communicated by H. Baker, F. R. S.

June 23d, 1757.

Read June 23, 'll /TR. Baker received a letter yefterday

from Dr. Alexander Garden, of
Charles Town in South Carolina, part of which he
hopes he fhall be excufed for laying before the Royal
Society.

The Doftor writes thus : <c As you defired, I

“ tried the effedts of the prickly pear in colouring
“ the urine. A few days after your letter, I went
“ down to one of the iflands, and gathered fome of
“ the fruit, and gave four of the pears to a child of
<{ three years of age, and fix pears to one of five.
tc The next morning I examined the urine of both,
“ and it appeared of a very lively red colour, as if
<c tent-wine had been mixed with clear water. The
“ urine of the eldefi: was deeper coloured, and of a
“ darker look: the youngefl (who always naturally
“ made clear urine) was of a more lively and beau-
“ tiful red. Next day I gave fix pears to a Negroe
“ wench, who gave fuck, and ftridtly forbad her
“ fuckling her child for fix or eight hours ; and
4t then taking fome of her milk in a tea-cup, and
“ fetting it by for fome hours, the cream had a red-
“ difh luftre, tho’ it was very faint.

“ I was led to this lafi: experiment by an obferva-
“ tion, which I made on the milk of cows, who

“ had

[ 297 ]

cc had fed in an indigo-field : the indigo had not
<c only tinged their urine blue, but the cream of
<c the milk was of a moft beautiful blue colour, and
et had a radiated appearance from the centre (Is it
ec not hence probable, that the dye is the oily part
<£ of the plant?). The milk underneath was clear

“ and white as ufual.”

»>

Dr. Garden wrote, a year ago, that the prickly
pear grows in great abundance about Carolina ; and
alfo that the cochineal infedts are found upon it ;
but hitherto no attempts have been made to cure
them as the Spaniards do. In hope, that fome rich
dye may be produced from the plant itfelf, Mr.
Baker propofed fome experiments to Dr. Garden,
which he intends to profecute this fummer.

XXXVII. An Account of an extraordinary
Shower of black Dujl , that fell in the
If and of Zetland 20 th October 1 755 *.
In a Letter from Sir Andrew Mitchell,
of Wefifhore, Bart . to John Pringle,
M.D. RR.S.

SIR, Pall-Mall, June 9th, 1757.

Read June 23, TN compliance with your defire, I made
I7j7’ JL particular inquiry, whether at or about
the time the earthquake happened at Lilbon the ifi:
of November iyyy. any uncommon phenomena

* See Phil. Tranfadb Vol. xlix. Part 2. p. 509.

Vol. 50. Qjj

were

C 298 ]

were obferved to appear in the iflands of Orkney or
Zetland, as fuch had happened about that time in
other parts of Scotland. From Orkney I was informed,
that nothing particular had happened ; only, that a-
bout the time mentioned the tides were obferved to be
much higher than ordinary. I received from Zetland
a letter, dated 28th May 1756. from Mr. William
Brown, Mailer of the grammar-fehool at Scalloway
in [that country, a fenfible and obferving man
wherein he writes verbatim as follows. “ BleiTcd be
il God, notwithstanding the great devailations, that
“ have been made in other parts of the world by
“ earthquakes, we have been intirely free from any
“ difader of that nature : nor has any thing extra-
“ ordinary happened in this country iince you left
“ it j only on Monday the 2cth Odober lad, be-
“ twixt the hours of three and four in the afternoon,
‘c the Iky being very hazy, as it ul'es to be before a
<c dorm of thunder and lightning, there fell a black
u dud over all the country, tho’ in greater quantities
“ in fome places than in others. It was very much
<c like lampblack ; but duelled drongly of fulphur.
“ People in the Helds had their faces, hands, and
<c linen, blackened by it. It was followed by rain.

‘c Some people adign the caufe of it to fome ex-

“ traordinary eruption of Flecla. But I diall trou-
tc ble you no more about it, as no doubt fome of
<c your friends have written to you of it fome time
u ago.:’

In June 1756. I returned to Zetland j and, upon
further inquiry, found what Mr. Brown had written
me was atteded by Mr. Mitchell, parfon of the
parifh of Tengwall, and by feveral Gentlemen oi
credit and reputation, who had feen and obferved

tlie

[ 299 ]

the fame phenomenon in different parts of the coun-
try at the time above-mentioned.

Mr. Brown having omitted to mention, how the
wind did blow at the time the black duft was ob-
ferved, I made particular inquiry about that circum-
ftance, and found it was from the S. W. which does
not feem to favour the opinion, that the duft pro-
ceeded from an eruption of mount Hecla, which lies
about N. W. from Zetland ; unlefs it may be fup-
pofed, that a north wind happening juft before had
carried this duft to the fouthward, and the fouth-
weft wind immediately following had brought it
back to the northward. But, in this cafe, would
not this black duft have been obferved in Zetland at
its firft travelling to the fouthward ? 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 fo, or not, as you think
proper : but what it contains may be relied on as
truth. I am, with great regard,

Dear Sir,

Your moft obedient humble Servant,

And. Mitchell.

P-. S. I may add, that the diftance from mount
Hecla to Zetland is between yoo and 600
miles.

Q^q 2

xxxviir.

C 300 ]

XXXVIII. A Defcription of fome Thermo-
meters for particular Ufes. By the Right
Honourable the Lord Charles Cavendifh,.

r.p. r.s.

Read June 30, / g ^HE thermometer (TAB.XI.y2g-. ij

is defigned for fhewing the great-
eft degree of heat, which happens in any place dur-
ing the abfence of the obferver. It confifts of a
cylinder of glafs joined to a tube, and differs from
common thermometers only in having the top of the
ftem drawn out into a capillary tube, which enters
into a glafs ball C, joined on to the ftem at the
place where it begins to be contracted. The cylin-
der, and part of the tube, are filled with mercury ;
the top of which fhews the common degrees of heat
as ufual. The upper part of the tube above the
mercury is filled with fpirit of wine, and fome of
the fame liquor is left in the ball C, fo as to fill it,
almoft up to the top of the capillary tube.

Now when the thermometer rifes, the fpirit of
wine will be driven out of the tube, and will fall
into the ball C. When the thermometer finks again,
as the fpirit 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
fcale, the top of the fpirit of wine will fhew how
many degrees it has been higher than when obferved
which being added to the prefent height, will give
the greateft degree of heat it has been at..

To-

•*

[ 30i ] •

To fit this thermometer for a new obfervatfon, it
is neceffary to fill the upper part of the tube with
fpirits which may be done, by inclining the inftru-
ment till the fpirits 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 fome diftance, till the fpirits rife to the
top of the tube and run over into the ball C, and is
then' fuffered to cool in the fame polition, the tube
will remain full of fpirits, and the thermometer will
be fitted for a new experiment.

The top of the capillary tube is made to ftand
pretty near to one fide of the ball, and alfo to the top
of it, that a lefs inclination of the inftrument may
be fufficient to make the fpirit of wine in the ball
cover the end of the tube.

The ball C is joined on as high as pofiible, fo as
to hide no part of the tube, except that, where the
bore is contracted. By this means, the top of the
fpirit of wine begins to appear before the thermo-
meter has funk one degree.

It will be convenient to leave fome 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 neceffary to make the fpirit of
wine cover it. By this means fome mercury may
be got back into the tube, in cafe any of it fhould
happen to be driven into the ball by the thermo-
meter’s being expofed to too great a heat.

The fcale of degrees at top, which fhews the de-
fcent of the thermometer from the higheft point .it
has arrived at, ought not, in firridtnefs, to be the fame
a i all times of the year; for thofe degrees exceed

the

[ 302 •]

the common degrees of heat pointed out by the top
of the mercury, as much as the column of fpirit of
wine expands, and therefore are greateft when that
column is fo ; that is to fay, when the greateft heat
to which the inftrument has been expofed is leaft.
A difference of 30 degrees of Fahrenheit’s fcale, in
the greateft rife of the thermometer, would require
the fcale to be altered one fixtieth part : and the
error arifing from making ufe of the fame fcale will
be about one fixth of a degree, if the thermometer
is obferved when it has fallen ten degrees.

In the inftrument here defcribed, the bore of the
tube is about 0.027 inches 5 and one inch of it con-
tains two grains of mercury, and anfwers to about
ten degrees, the cylinder containing about 2280
grains. If a much fhorter tube was made ufe of,
a confiderable error might arife from too great a
quantity of fpirits adhering to the fides of the tube,
in that part, which is filled with mercury ; efpecially
when the thermometer riles faft. This makes it ne-
ceflary to employ a cylinder of a confiderable big-
nefs, if it is defired to have the fcale of degrees
pretty large.

If the weight of the mercury is thought inconve-
nient, it may be avoided by the conftrudtion de-
fcribed in fig. 2. where the bottom of the tube is
bent fo as to point upwards, and is joined to a ball A,
which communicates with a cylider placed above it.
In all other refpedts it is the fame as the inftrument
before defcribed.

It is filled with fpirit of wine and mercury ; the
quantity of the latter being fufticient to fill the
whole tube and the ball A.

No

C 3°3 T

No part of the fpirit, with which the cylinder is
filled, can get into the tube, as long as the inftrument
is kept in an eredf poiition, or even if it is carefully laid
down flat on a table. For tho’ in this laft cafe fome
of the fpirits may get into the ball A, it will rife to
that part of the ball, which is then uppermoft, and
will not touch the orifice of the tube n ■ which was
the reafon for adding this ball, which would be un-
neceflary, if the inftrument was kept conftantly eredt,
or nearly fo. If the fpirit fhould come to touch the
orifice of the tube 77, it would work up between the
mercury and the glafs ; which would put the in-
ftrument out of order.

The thermometer fig. 3. is defigned for fhewing
the greateft cold, which happens in any place during
the time the inftrument is left in it. The tube is
bent into the fhape of a fyphon of unequal legs Hand-
ing parallel to one another, the bend being at the
bottom. The top of the fhorter leg is bent to a
right angle, and immediately opens into a ball A,
which, by means of a fhort bent tube on the op-
polite fide, communicates with a cylinder Handing
parallel to the legs of the fyphon, and pointing
downwards.. This cylinder contains the greateft
part of the fluid ; and is added only to make the
thermometer more fenfible than it would be, if the
ball A was made of a lufficient bignefs to contain the
proper quantity of fluid. This inftrument is Ailed
with fpirit of wine, with the addition of as much
mercury as is fufficient to fill' both legs of tine
fyphon, and about a fourth or fifth part of the
ball A.

The

[ 3°4 ]

The common degrees of heat are ftiown by the
top of the mercury in the longeft leg, or by the top
of the fpirit, in cafe any of it is left above the mer-
cury.

When the mercury in the longeft leg finks by
cold, that in the ftiorter leg will rife, and will run
over into the ball A ; from whence it cannot return
back when the thermometer rifes again, as the fur-
face of the mercury in the ball is below the orifice
of the tube Therefore the upper part of the
ihorter leg will be filled with a column of fpirits of
a length proportional to the increafe of heat ; the
bottom of which, by means of a proper fcale, will
fhow how much the thermometer has been lower
than it then is ; which being fubftraCted from the
prefent height, will give the loweft point that it has
been at.

If no further contrivance was ufed, the mercury
would fall into the ball A in large drops; which
would make the inftrument lefs accurate. For the
thermometer’s beginning to rife immediately after a
drop is fallen, or juft as it is going to fall (in which
cafe it will return back into the tube), will make a
difference of fuch part of a degree nearly as that drop
anfwers to. To prevent this inconvenience, the top
of the ftiorter leg, clofe to the ball, is contracted, by
being held in the flame of a lamp ; and the paffage
is further ftreightened by a folid thread of glafs placed
within the tube, and extending from the bottom of
the ftiorter leg to the part near the ball A, where it
is moft contracted. By this means, as loon as any
fmall portion of mercury is got beyond the end of
the thread of glafs, it breaks off, and falls into the

ball

3

[ 305 ]

ball in very fmall drops. This thread of glafs is
fattened by the heat given to the tube in making the
bend next to the ball. In order to fill the fhorter
leg with mercury, to fit the inftrument for a new
experiment, it mutt be inclined till the mercury in
the ball covers the orifice of the tube n. The cy-
linder being then heated, the mercury will be forced
into the fhorter leg, and will run down the thread of
glafs in drops, which will foon unite. By this means,
luch a quantity of mercury mutt be got into the
fhorter leg, as, upon the cooling of the inftrument,
will be fufiicient to drive all the fpirit of wine into
the ball with a lefs degree of cold than what the
thermometer is likely to be expofed to.

The ball A mutt always have feme mercury in it,
but never enough to fill it up to the orifice of the
tube ?i. It mutt therefore be made of inch a fize,
as to contain all the mercury, which can come into
it from the tube without being too full. If it fnould
happen to be made too fmall, fo as to be too full in
cold weather, any part of the mercury may ealily
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 fpirit above
the mercury in the longeft leg ; in which cafe the
top of the fpirit will fhew the common degrees of
heat. For the filling the tube, fo as to leave none,
is attended with fome trouble ; and more of it will
be apt to get up there, if the inftrument ihould hap-
pen to be held in an improper fituation, or if it be
kept in too warm a place without filling the fhorter
leg with mercury by the method above delcribed.
If too great a quantity fhould get up, tho’ it would

Vol. 50. Rr not

[ 3°6 ]

not affeft the fcale for the common degrees of heat,
it would however caufe fome error in the degrees on
the fhortcr leg ; inafmuch as the expanlion of that
portion of fpirits, which has got up into the longer
leg, exceeds the expanfion of the mercury, wrhich
mull; lupply its place. It may be got back at plea-
l'ure, by expofing the thermometer to fuch a degree
of cold as will make the fpirit get beyond the bend
of the fyphon ; for then it will run up along the
thread of glafs in the fhorter leg till it gets above
the mercury there. For this purpofe the point of o
degrees of Fahrenheit’s fcale fhould be near, the bend ;
by which means, any part of the fpirit 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 cafe the air would get up
. into the ball.

.The fcale of degrees on the fliorter. leg will, in
different feafons, be liable to an error of the fame
kind as that, which was explained in the firff-men-
tionecl thermometer ; but in this it will be lefs con-
fiderable, as the fpace between the two feales is filled
with mercury, whofe expanfion is about fix times
lefs than that of fpirit 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 anfwers to:
feven degrees of Fahrenheit’s fcale. The drops of
mercury, which fall into the ball A, anfwer to
about one eighth of a degree.

If inflruments of the nature of thofe above de-
ferified, were to be ufed for finding the temper. of

the

[ 307 ]

the fea at great depths, fome alteration would he
necelfary in the conllrudtion of them, principally
upon account of the great prelfure of the water ;
the ill effedt of which can, I believe, be prevented
no other way, than by leaving the tube open. For
if the thermometer was made ftrong enough to refill
the prefliire without breaking, yet it would be im-
poflible to be fure, that the figure of the glafs would
not thereby be altered, which Ihould make the ex-
periment uncertain.

The inllrument for finding the greatell heat might
be made jull like that of fig. i. only leaving the top
open. It is to be filled with mercury only, as is
alfo the lower part of the ball at top, but not near
fo high as the end of the capillary tube. The upper
part of that ball, being left open, will in a great
ineafure be filled with the fea-water, which will be
forced into it by the prelfure.

If this inllrument (the tube being quite full of
mercury) is plunged into any part of the fea, 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 fea-water or
air in the ball will enter into the tube, and will fill
the fpace left by the mercury.

As this thermometer does not Ihow the common
degrees of heat, it mull be placed in a vefiel of
water with another thermometer, and the fcale of
degrees at top will fhew how much the heat it has
been expofed to is greater than that of the water in
the velfel.

The fea-water getting into the glafs will corrode
the mercury, and thereby foul the glafs j which

R r 2 will

[ 3°8 ]

will make the experiment lefs exadt : and therefore
it would be much more convenient, if the fea-watcr
could intirely be kept out ; which probably may be
done by tying a bladder full of air to die neck of
the ball C> which will contradt by the preflure of
the water, without letting any of it get in.

If this can be done, the inftrument may be filled
with mercury and fpirits, juft like that at fig. i. But
it would be more convenient to fill it with mercury
only : in which cafe it may be made with as linall a
tube and ball as common mercurial thermometers :
or it may be filled with fpirits only. The inftru-
ment will thereby become much lefs bulky ; which
will compenfate the want of the common icale 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 inftrument.

The thermometer for finding the greateft cold, if
applied to this purpofe, muft alfo be left open at top.
There is another inconvenience to be avoided ; which
is, that the mercury in the ball A, by the tofting of
the inftrument, might fometimes get into the fhorter
leg of the fyphon ; which would fpoil the experi-
ment. To prevent fuch an accident, the raoft con-
venient conftrudfion, which occurs to me, is that of
fig. 4. which differs from fig. 3. in having the ball A
omitted ; fo that the mercury running out of the
fhorter leg will fall to the bottom of the cylinder,
and will not be fo liable to get back into the tube by
motion. The cylinder is made to ftand not quite
parallel to the legs of the fyphon, that the mercury
contained therein may more eafily be brought to*

touch

3

[ 3°9 ]

touch the end of the tube, in order to fit the infiru-
ment for a new experiment.

If, by means of a bladder, the fea- water can be
kept out of the glafs, this inftrument may be made
to (hew the common degrees of heat ; but even then,
in order to render it lefs bulky, it may be better to
fupply the want of them as in the lafl inftrument.
The longer kg of the fyphon may in that cafe be
made as Ihort as you pleale ; 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 fent up
into the air by means of a kite, they might be made
like thole propofed for the fea j but it would not be
necefiary to leave them open.

As it would be definable to make them as final! as
pofiible, they fhould be made fo as not to (hew the
common degrees of heat : and it would alfo, on
that account, be convenient to omit the thread of
glafs placed within the fhorter leg of the fyphon in.
fig. 3. and 4. This thread of glafs is placed there
in order to make the mercury fall into the ball A.
fig. 3. or cylinder C. fig. 4. in fmaller drops, and alfo
to facilitate the filling the fhorter leg with mercury.
The latter purpofe may be anfwered by having a ball
blown towards the bottom of the fhorter leg, as.
marked in fig. 4. at M : for as foon as the mercury
driven out of the cylinder by heat gets to that ball,
it will pafs by the fpirit of wine. The other pur-
pofe may probably be anfwered by having the tube
contracted as much as pofiible at n.

In the foregoing inftruments the tubes made ufe
of were of a large bore,, as mod of the errors in

them

[ 31° ]

them would increafe by making ufe of fmaller ones.
Poffibly lefs ones might be ufed without much in-
convenience. The chief advantage will be, the
making thefe thermometers more fenfible of the
changes of heat, than when large cylinders are ufed.
This will be of fervice when the greateft degree of
heat or cold continues but a fhort time.

It is better to ufe plain fpirit of wine, than what
is tinged, which feems more apt to caufe a foulnefs
in the tube, and thereby makes the furface of the
mercury lefs well defined. I am induced to believe
fo, from obferving, that the portion of fpirits above
the mercury in the tube fig. 3. which at firfi; was
ifrongly tinged with cochineal, in fome months be-
came perfectly colourlefs, the tinging particles being
depofited in different parts of the tube, and caufing
a foulnefs there. The colour of the fpirits in the
cylinder does not appear to be altered.

r

The dark-fhaded part in the feveral figures repre-
ients mercury, the dotted part fpirit of wine.

}

XXXIX.

I

Jp/Uas.lraris . Vol.L. TAB.
Ife/e/ta

Jffr/tt/t

[ 31 1 3

XXXIX. Obfervationes Anatomico - Medic#,
de Monjlro bicorporeo Virgineo A. 1701.
die 26 Odt. in Pannonia, infra Gomaro-
mium, in PoJfeJJime Szony, quondam §>ui-
ritum Bregetione, in lucem edito , atque
A. 1723. die 23 Febr. Pofonii in Ccern-
bio Monialium S. Urfulas morte funElo
ibidemque fepulto. Author e Jufto Johanne
Torkos, M. D. Soc. Regalis Socio.

[ See Tab. XII.]

Read May 23. I. IF) ART U S Iiic bicorporeus fingu-
175 '* r lare exemplum exhibet admiran--
darum virium imagination^ maternas in feetum utero
contentum. Mater enirn hujus bicorporis, primis
graviditatis fuse menfibus vel potius hebdomadis, at-
tentius contemplabatur canes coeuntes, ardtius co-
hasrentes, et capitibus erga fe invicem quodammodo
converfos, eofque libi crebrius praefigurabat.

II. In partu, primum prodiit umbiiicotenus He-
lenas corpus , poll; tres demum horas editi funt ejus
pedes, cum adnexo corpore altero Judithae. Helenas
corporis flatura erat altior et redtior, Judithas brevior
et obliquior ; et quamvis infra lumbos, a tergo, in
unum corpus concrete fuiffent, attamen vultu et cor-
poribus, femilateraliter, erga fe fuerant converfas, ut
commode ledere, lentoque gradu procedere et rece-
dere potuerint. Unus communis ipfis erat alvi exi-
tus, intra duas nates, feu Helens dextrum et Judithas
finidrum femur, fituatus. Unam quoque habebant
milvam, intra quatuor. pedes reconditam, ut dum

eredfis

[ 312 ]

eredis ftarent corporibus, ne veftigium ejas conTpi-
cuum effet. Quoad duos iftos excretionum meatus,
obTervatum eft, quod, una excretionem alvi moliente,
altera quoque nifum egerendi TenTerit; in reddenda
vero urina, quaelibet, diverfo tempore, ftimulos ha-
buerit : quamobrem altera ad urinal miftionem Toli-
•citata, altera fubinde receflum negavit. Unde in ju-
ventute, utut alias Temper femet tenerrime amarcnt et
amplexarentur, ftepius altercationes inter ipfas exortae,
et alterutra aliam vel dorfo injedam abripuit, vel
colludando eo, quo vellet, protraxit.

III. Anno aetatis fexto, Judiths paralyfis totius
partis finiftrs ; obtigit ex qua aftedione, utut con-
valuiftet, per totam vitam Tuam debilior, tardior, et
ftupidior perftitit j e contra Helena Temper agilior,
docilior, et Tormofior Tuit.

IV. Prout diverTa erant corpora, ita Tundionum
vitalium, animalium, et naturalium, magna in utro-
que corpore, tarn in Tano quam sgroto ftatu, obTer-
vata eft differentia. Et quamvis variolas et morbillos
uno eodemque tempore habuiftent, reliqui tamen
morbi eis non erant communes. Cum Judith Taepius
convellcretur, Helena nec alterata nec debilitata
Tuit. Elelena erat pleuritica. Judith benigniore Tebre
laboravit : altera tuffi, catarrho, colica afHida, altera
Tana exftitit. Hinc etiam quslibet, pro Tuo diverTo
ftatu, diverffs medicamentis tradabatur : phlebotomia
autem Temper in Taniore et vegetiore celebrabatur.

V. Anno statis decimo Texto, menftrua comparu-
erunt, qus deinde per totam vitam, non tamen x-
quali tempore, modo, et quantitate Tucceftere. Sub-
inde alterutra majores hinc TenTit moleftias ; Ju-
dith vero crebrius c.onvellebatur, variiTque hyftericis
et pedoris affedionibus obnoxia Tuit.

VI.

[ 3X3 ]

VI. Anno astatis vicefimo fecundo, feu A.C. 1723.
die 8 Febr. Judith fortiter convulfa eft, poftea co-
matofa, ufque ad mortem, quae die 23 Febr. mane
contigit, perftitit. Intra hos dies Helena febricula
laboravit, eique accefterunt crebriores lipothymiae,
quibus tandem ita debilitata eft, ut integra quamvis
mente et loquela, fubito, tribufqUe horae minutis
prius quam Judith, in agonem incident : poftea
vero ambae, poft brevem agonem, uno ferme mo-
mento expiraverint.

VII. Corporibus poft mortem difledtis, reperta
funt in quolibet corpore vifcera ftngula • In Helena
omnia fana; in Judithae thorace vero cor nimis
magnum, fortiflimo pericardio velatum, et pulmonum
dexter lobus putridus : Arteria aorta et vena cava ex
utroque corde defcendentes, antequam arteriae et
venae iliacae ex iifdem emergerent, inflexae coaduna-
bantur, et unam arteriam aortam, unamque venam
cavam, e corde uno ad aliud procedentes feu reflexas,
praefentarunt. In abdomine utrinque vifcera omnia
iana et integra. Quodlibet corpus fuum habuit hepar,
fplenem, pancreas, renes, veficam, uterum cum ova-
riis, tubis Fallopianis, et portione vaginae, quae utrin-
que concurrentes unam communem vaginam effor-
marunt. Partes genitalium externorum, prater com-
mune orificium vaginae, cuilibet erant propris, velut
clitoris, nymphae, orificium urethrae j alae feu labia
utrinque ad perinaeum concurrentia foflulam navi-
cularem denfiorem conftituerant. Ventriculus cum
inteftinis, in utraque, naturaliter erant fituata ; in-
teftina redla autem utrinque ad os facrum reflexa et
coalita, unum fatis amplum et communem canalem
conftituerunt ; os facrum ad fecundam divifionem

Vo l. 50. S f con-

E 3H ]

concretum erat, et unum corpus efFormando, in
uno utrique ofii facro communi, ofFe coccygis, ter-
minabatur.

Ex praerecenfitis, ficut caufa diverfitatis adionum
et fundionum patet, ita etiam ex arteriarum aortarum,
et venarum cavarum, inteftinorum quoque redorum
et vaginarum uteri, compagine, coadunatione et har-
monia, apparet ratio conformitatis et difparitatis
morborum, fynthanafias, communis nifus egerendas
alvi, poffibilis impraegnationis alterutrius, vel fors
utriufque virginis, uno eodemque coitu.

Ha;c omnia conquifivi et retexui, partim e rela-
tionibus fide d ignis autoptarum ; partim ex epheme-
ridibus B. Caroli Raygeri, foceri mei, qui, dum viveret,
medicum coenobii didi ordinarium agebat j partim
ex libro ccenobiali, cui B. Vir formulas medica-
mentorum infcripferat. Dab. Pofonii die 3 Julii

I757*

Juftus Joannes Torkos,
Eques Pannonius, Medic. Dod. et
Liberae Regias Civitatis Pofonien-
fis Phyficus ordinarius.

The interval between the reading of this paper be-
fore the Royal Society, and the prefent publica-
tion, was occafioned by the long indifpofition, and
afterwards death, of their late Prefident Martin
Folkes, Efq; who having taken it to his houfe,
with a view of colleding and adding to it fome
further particulars, it could not be found after his
deceafe. But Dr. Torkos, the writer, being again
applied to, immediately tranfmitted the copy of it

printed

[ 3r5~]

printed above : and, in order to fupply in fome
meafure the want of what Mr. Folkes’s extenfive
reading and induftry might have furnifhed the
public with, in relation to fo very remarkable a
fadt, the following accounts, printed and manu-
fcript, are fubjoined as a fupplement to the pre-
ceding article.

TLxtraB of a Letter of William Burnet, Efq ; F.R.S.
eldefi Son of Dr. Gilbert Burnet, Lord Bifliop of
Salifbury, to Dr. (afterwards Sir) Hans Sloane,
dated at Leyden, May 9. 1708. N. S. *

“SIR,

tc T Send you inclofed the print of a -wonderful
“ union of two twin lifters, who are at this
<c time to be feen at the Hague. I faw them, and
{C obferved all, that I could think tended to explain
“ the appearance. They are Hungarians, as the
“ lines under the print will ftiew you. There is
tc there an exadt enough defcription of their condi-
<c tion ; only I may add, that in fig. 1. the urinal
“ paffage is between the two foremoft thighs, as
<£ they are in the print. The fame is true of the
“ anus in the 2d figure, in fuch manner, that the
ct fituation of thefe parts is the fame to outward ap-
“ pearance as naturally, with this difference, that
lt they are between two different bodies here, where-
<c as in the courfe of nature they are between the
“ two parts of the fame body. It feems probable,

* Original Letters to Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. vol. A— -B. in
the Britifh Mufeum,

S f 2 ~ cC that

C 316 ]

" that their parts are diflind; but that the moil:
“ remote labia of each are outwardly vifible, and
** the two contiguous ones are within. There feems
<c to be no cheat in the thing j and the fkin, where
<c they are joined, is perfectly fmooth, without any
“ fear. They are now about fix years old. They
“ fpeak French and High German. They are very
t£ full of a&ion, and talk one more than the other.
cc When one hoops to take up any thing, the carries
li the other quite from the ground ; and that one
<c of them often does, being ftronger as well as more
“ lively than the other. They have not their feeling
tc common any where but in the place of their con-
u jundlion. This is all I can fay about it. If you
“ think it worth while, you will do me an honour
u in giving the print, and the fubhance of this ac-

count, to the Society j to which, tho* an unworthy
f( member, I would be proud to be capable of any
*c fervice.”

This letter was read to the Royal Society on the
3 2th of May i7o8-f-; and the print mentioned in
it produced ; which, being now become extremely
difficult to be met with, is thought proper to be en-
graved again, and inferted here. See Tab. XIII.

Soon after the date of Mr. Burnet’s letter, the
twin fillers were brought to England, and publicly
ffiewn in London, as appears from the following MS.
note in a copy of the print bound up by the writer
with Fortunius Licetus de Monjlris J, edit. Am-

+ Journal, vol. xi. p. 143.

J In this treatife, L. 2. p. 80. is the following pafiage: In pago
. 'Rcrbachio non procul Heydelberga , Parai etiam relaiu> gemini utri-
ufque fexus obverfis tergoribus annexis orti funt.

ftelod.

4

/i-c con c rev ere Sororuni ,
n-Ao,!1 nt/clDiyzna. d tfio cuz/uda. nuztiu .

O (ZOJV~yjPcdrta cst, vicUtrCd UOJtrE contenn inusjLrcr.

Qyce ri.uiufua.nl £urtce pa.ru.it dmperio .
^cifjloxih cst u l/uc y^C'Zcl \./{.Af duc/rui priorem,
Jtirru dcinde tri6j) natad l/2)dX/Ot jiiit .

Gcitus UrincB patet untciu, umeus aluoj
O /f/ervant nu rncru/n cartera. me/nfrra, Jiium. .
M/fitr ru)Jcf nntos tenuis tdortuna ZPa ren tum ,
dVeu perecit tantccjda/na J'tupcnda rei .
InterTora_Latent, neqVeVnt alwtrVrcL VIDcrl :
dXLpVo tolYM CorpVr In cere patet . ^

JPti/os. Tram. Vo/.Z. TAB. XUI ^.j/C

I

I

[ 3i7 ]

ftelod. 1665. 4to. in the poffeflion of Thomas Wil-
braham, M. D. F. R. S. “ Londini i^Junii 1708,
tc has vidi gemellas (plus annis fex natas) quarum
“ forma et vivacitas elegantior et vegetior quam
tc pi 51 ura et defcriptio

Another account of them by an eye-witnefs in
London is in a manufcript volume among thofe of
Sir Hans Sloane, Bart, in the Britifh Mufeum, in-
tituled, A jhort Hiftory of human Prodigies and
monflrous Births , of Dwarfs, Sleepers , Giants , Jlrong
Men , Hermaphrodites , numerous Births , and extreme
old Age , &c. The name of the writer was James
Paris du Pieffis. In p. 39. under the Title Two
Sijlers conjoined , he gives a drawing of them, and
the following defcription : “ Thefe two monflrous
tc girls were born at Szony in Hungary in the year
<c 1701. They were born conjoined together at the
<c fmall of the back. I afked the father and mother,
tc if they could not be feparated one from the other ?
<c but they anfwered, No ; becaufe the urinary and
tl foecal veffels and paffages were fo united, as to have
“ but one ifliie for the urine, and another for the ex-
cc crements, betwixt both. They were brifk, merry,
“ and well-bred: they could read, write, and ling very
“ prettily: they could fpeak three different languages,
<c as Hungarian or High Dutch, Low Dutch, and
<c French, and were learning Englifh. They were
tl very handfome, very well fhaped in all parts, and
“ beautiful faces. Helen was born three hours be-
tc fore her filter Judith. When one ftooped, die
tc lifted the other from the ground, and carried the
other upon her back ; neither could they walk

“ fide

n

C 318 ]

<c fide by fide. They loved one another very ten-
“ derly. Their clothes were fine and neat. They
“ had two bodies, four fleeves; and one petticoat
“ ferved to the bodies, and their fhifts the fame.
<£ When one went forward, the other was forced
cc to go backward.”

A later and more particular account is contained
in p. 41, & J'eqq. of a book very feldom met with
in this country, being printed at Vienna in 1729.
intituled, Gerardi Cornelii Driefchii Hijioria magnet
Legationis Ccefarece , quam Caroli VI. aufpiciis fufee-
pit D ami anus Hugo Virmotidtius , &c. The follow-
ing extract, tho’ long, will not probably be thought
unentertaining.

“ Sunt in comitatu Commaronienli in terris il-
<£ luftriftimi Zichii (pagus Hungaris Szony dicitur)
£C a parentibus colonis, quibus fua vita conftat, dum
££ haec feribo, anno 1701. vii calendas Novembreis
££ procreate in lucem duae filiae gemellae, pofiica
“ parte, qua fpina dorfi definit, concreta;, fic ut al-
<c tera alteram fequi, quo fe cunque vertat, cogatur :
“ caetera haud deformes afpeftu, nifi concretio ilia
<£ corporum prodigium efficeret. Binae fingulis ma-
££ nus, totidem pedes, et capita, necnon corpora :
<c fuus membris omnibus ufus *, rationis multo etiam,
££ quod mirere, certior j ut, fi fedentes folum videris,
<£ neque feiveris, hie monftri notare nihil valeas.
t£ Majori natu, quas lucem citius afpexit tribus
££ horis, Helen*, minori Judithae nomen eft. Hasc
££ ante annos circiter tres ftupore apopledtico tadta
£t linguae modicum ex eo ac bonae mentis officium
<£ impeditum habuit, fimplicitatem quandam ingenii

££ modo

[ 3*9 ]

** modo ut redoleat. Ilia animo Temper integro at-
££ que fpiritu praedita eodem, pudica facie, non in*
“ concinnis motibus, intuentium in fe oculos ad
“ mifericordiam commovet, utpote qus rationis
t£ plane compos, fororis tenerrime amans, nec jftatus
<£ ignara fui, duplicem miferiam tolerat, fuam et
,e iftius. Dudtae funt olim infantes per varias re-
“ giones ac provincias, Germaniam, Angliam, Gal-
££ liam, Italiam, Poloniam, Bataviam, Auftriam, Mo-
£c raviam, Hungariam, a medico Hungarico nomine
£t Cfufzio, qui eafdem certa pecunia ad tempos fibi
*£ a parentibus concreditas et elocatas, bona eorun-
<c dem venia, paterno a folo abduxit ; unde trium
<£ gentium linguis, Germanica, Gallica, Hungarica,
“ hodiedum etiam loquuntur ; alias defuetudine
“ ufuque interrupto, astate prasfertim nondum fatis
<c confirmata, omnino dedidicere.

<c Dux Auguftus Saxo Cizius inter purpuratos
<£ lxxii patres a conftantia religionis, timore erga
<£ Deum et caritate in proximum notiffimus, archi-
££ epifcopus Strigonienfis, veritus, ne frequentes hae
££ perignationes puellarum adhuc infantium inno-
<£ centise officerent, ac mores denique illarum, ut
“ fieri non raro afiolet, plane depravarent, padto
u perfolutoque pretio a medico redemit, et revocatas
“ domum ad fuos virginibus a diva Urfula nuncu-
££ patis intra Pofonium deinceps educandas commifit,
£t necefiariis ad hoc fumptibus benigne fubminiftratis.
tc Ingreflas non diu puerilem aetatem fuerant, nonuf-
t£ que illis annus agi cceptus currebat, quando harum
££ in difciplinam virginum tradebantur. Hie legere
££ primum ac feribere, ea, qux ad fidem necefiaria
£< lunt, mente atque animo comprehendere ; operas

“ manuum

[ 320 ]

tl manuum exercere varias, acu praecipue phrygionici
<c pingere, denticulatas affabre fimbrias conficere, et
“ caetera quae funt ejufdem generis, edodae fuerunt.
u Vidi ego ex illarum operibus aliqua, quae magif-
“ tras hac in arte fecifie non pudeat. Receptae autem
“ funt facrum hoc in collegium anno fecul ix. die xi r.
“ kalendas Aprilis, ibi xi manfionis, vitae xix jam
<c plane coinplerunt. Iduc divarum contubernium,
<c quod adhuc conflanter incolunt, nunquam poftea
“ deferuere. Addita illis e prudentioribus virago,
£C quae indefinentur adfit, quo velint, ducat, adioni-
£t bus invigilet, de quibus refpondere, ad aliofque
tc referre, ii necefliim fuerit, aliquando poffit. Ex
<c hac fcire quae cupiebam, remotis arbitris, nullo
<{ negotio percepi. Crcdiderat namque, quod res
‘£ quoque erat, non curiofitatis gratia, fed officii, ac
“ boni publici caufa ida a me rogari : quare alios
£< omnes fecedere juffi, folus cum eadem remanens,
<c ut quae, junioribus praefertim aliquot praefentibus,
Cl accuratius explicare verecundia illam antea pro-
<c hibuerat, majori mecum libertate communicaret.
‘c Partes, quas vel nominare pudor honeftafque ve-
“ tuit, per quas potus ciborumque faeces et reliqua
<c corporis excrementa (fit verbo venia) ejicimus, non
tc illis his, quibus nobis, conftitutae locis. Illis qui-
a dem, ubi nos eas habemus, occlufa funt omnia $
<c at inferne, qua parte concretio ilia corporum in-
t( cipit, eafdem obtinent utrique communes. Neque
tamen cum neceffitas alterutram premit ad exone-
<f randum, exempli gratia, ventrem, altera fe quoque
“ fentit tarn inutili pondere gravatam, ut fatisfacien-
“ dum necefiario naturae fit : fed jam huic, jam ifti
ir iftud imbecillitatis humanae incommodum perfe-

“ rendum

[ 321 ]

u rendum eft, fitque etiam, ut cum alvum purgat
“ altera, alteri meatus fit urinarius aperiendus. Mu-
<£ liebria, quae ftatis fceminas vicibus incommodant,
<c non uno ambabus tempore veniunt. Odtidui
“ quandoque intervallo ac longiori disjundta funt.
<c Dum dormit haec, faspe vigilat ilia, et in alterius
tc labore altera nonnunquam quielcit. Vifa una po-
“ tare eft, aut cibo corpus reficere, cum aliud alii
<c agebatur. Sedent, ftant, ambulant, jacent Temper
“ una, nec fine incommodo. Non permittit con-
<£ glutinatio ifta corporum, has uti adtiones feparen-
<£ tur. Si colloquuntur, obtortis faciem collis ob-
<£ vertunt. Suavia dant fibi, cum amant, et pugnis
c£ impetunt, cum furunt. Donee fuae utrique vires
“ adhuc conftabant, ft forte exortae inter illas ali-
xc quando difeordiae eftent, haec, quae fe laefam magis
<£ credebat aut fortem, fublatam in humeros aliam
tc alio afportabat. Veruntamen ingenio miti magis ac
t£ placido funt quam incenfo aut iracundo, et in com-
“ munibus malis communem fidem, commune ro-
<£ bur adhibent, immiftam fibi a Deo miferiam for-
££ titer fuftinentes. Ante triennium in gravi fecundo
“ genitae morbo, de quo nonnulla fuperius fadla eft
<£ mentio eft, prior nata facris omnibus munita ad
££ mortem quoque feliciter obeundam difpofita ab
££ facerdote fuit, quia medicorum pars potior credit
££ alia extindla aliam haud pofle longum amplius
<£ fuperefte. Id quod probare ex hoc etiam laborant,
u quod quoties male uni fit, quamvis altera non
££ eadem continuo segrotatione teneatur, anguftias
“ tamen animi certas, hebetatiignem fenfuum, et
££ commotionem quandam vifeerum in feipfa ex-
<£ periatur. Equidem dubitandum minime reor, quin
Vol 50. T t ££ mon-

[ 322 ]

6* mondrofa haec bina corpora duplici mente ac fpi-
•c ritu regantur. Nam five cor faciamus, five cere-
“ brum datuamus animi fedem, ex utrolibet idem
“ nullo negotio evincitur. Adde tot adtiones multi-
“ plices, cogitationes rerum diverfas, fenfa animi varia,
u qu?e, ut aliud nihil fit, ifthuc pariter nos docent.
<£ Unum praecipue hie admirandum venit, quod
<c commemorare fuperius memoria excidit ; pod:
cc prodigiofum videlicet hunc difficilemque partum
ct natos effe matri alios liberos, ex eodem patre pro-
“ creatos, fanos et valentes, corpore, fpecie ac forma
“ integros, qui monftri nihil admixtum habeant.”

XL. Obfer nations on the Origin and Ufe of
the Lymphatic V effels of Animals : being
an ExtraB from the Gulftonian LeBuresr
read in the "Theatre of the College of Phy-
ficians of London, in June 1755.

Mark Akenfide, M.D. Fellow of the College
of Phyfcians , and of the Royal Society .

Head Nov
1 757-

jo,

I

T is proved, by a multitude of expe-
riments, that the lymphatics com-
municate with the blood-veffels. They may be
didended by blowing air, or by injedting water or
mercury, into an artery : and the lymph, which
they carry, is frequently, in a morbid date, found
tinged with a mixture of the red globules or crada-
mentum of the blood. Upon this foundation two

d iff; rent

[ 323 ]

different theories have been railed, concerning the
connection of the lymphatics with the arteries.

Of thefe, we fhall firft coniider that of the late
famous profeffor Boerhaave. He obferved, that every
artery of the body is greater, in its diameter, than
any of its branches : and this obfervation being found
true, as far as our eye and the microfcope can inform
us, he inferred, by analogy, that it held good even
thro’ the molt minute fubdivilions of the arterial
fyftem. But, fays he, proportionable to the diameter
of the canal is the fize of the particles moving thro!
it : therefore, if an ultimate capillary artery, admit-
ting only one red globule at once to pafs thro’ it, fend
off lateral branches, thefe branches will be capable
of receiving fuch particles only as are fmaller than a
red globule. But the particles next in magnitude
below the red globules are the yellow ferous ones ;
and the lateral veffel, thus receiving them, is a ferous
artery, and the trunk of a fecond order of veffels.
In like manner, this trunk, being continued on thro’
many leffening branches, will at laff grow fo minute,
as to admit only one ferous globule : its lateral
branches, therefore, will receive only fuch particles
as are fmaller than the ferous ones : but thefe are the
particles of the lymph ; and this lateral branch is a
lymphatic artery, and the trunk of a third order of
veffels. Thus, in the red arteries are contained all
the circulated fluids of the body ; in the ferous arte-
ries, all except the red blood j in the lymphatics, all
except the red blood and ferum : and this fuboraina-
tion is, according to the fame la'&vs, continued down
thro’ fluids more fubtile than the lymph, to the
fmalleft veffel, which is propagated from the aorta.

Tt 2 Such

[ 32+ 3

Such was Boerhaave’s doCtrine concerning the vaf-
cuiar fyftem of animal bodies ; like many of his-
other notions, ingenious, plaufible, and recommend-
ing itfelf, at firft light, by an appearance of geome-
trical and mechanical accuracy : but founded upon
inefficient data, and by no means to be reconciled
to appearances.

For, in the firft place, fhould we admit his hypo-
thefts, it is certain, that the conical or converging
form of the aorta, and the change of direction in its^
branches, muft, in the diftant blood-veftels, occafton
a great reftftance to the moving blood, and a great
diminution of its velocity. Suppofe that this refift-
ance be, in any capillary red artery, to the reftftance
in the trunk of the aorta, as any larger affignable num-
ber is to unit : the reftftance, then, in a capillary ferous-
artery will, to that in the aorta, be as the fquare of
that number is to unit ; in the capillary lymphatic,
as the cube ; and fo in progreffion : that is, the ve-
locity of the fluids, in the remoter l'eries of veffels,.
will be, phyficially, nothing. But we know, on the
contrary, that fome very remote feries of veffels have
their contents moved with a very confiderable velo-
city ; particularly the veffels of the infenftble per-
fpiration r and in anatomical injections, the liquor
thrown into an artery fcarce returns more eafily or
fpeedily by the eorrefponding vein, than by the moft
fubtile excretory duCts. Moreover, there are an in-
finite number of obfervations of morbid cafes, in
which the red blood itfelf has been evacuated thro’
fome of the moft remote feries of veffels, merely
from an occaftonal temporary obftruCtion in one part,
or a praeter natural laxity in another ; and without

any

[ 325 ]

any lading detriment to the drudture and fubordina-
tion of the veflels ; which yet, upon this hypothecs,
mud have been utterly dedroyed before fuch an irre-
gularity could have happened.

The other theory concerning, the origin of the
lymphatics has been maintained by forne very emi-
nent phyfiologids later than Boerhaave ; and fup-
pofes, that thefe veffels receive their lymph from the
blood-veflels, or from the excretories of the larger
glands, by the intermediation of only one final!
veflel, which thefe authors term a lymphatic artery,,
invisible in its natural date, nor yet rendered fubjedtr
to the fenfes by experiments. But to this it may be
anfwered, that the lymphatics are traced into many
parts of the body,, and loft there } and therefore
mod probably have their origin there,, where no*
large gland nor blood-veflel is to be found in their
neighbourhood that it contradicts the whole ana-
logy of nature, to fuppofe the motion of an animat
fluid more difcernible in the veins than in the arte-
ries : and, finally,, that it feems rather an indance
of want of thought, and of being impofed upon,
by words, to call the lymphatic veflels veins, becaufe
they are furnifhed with valves and then, becaule
they are called veins, to take for granted, that of
courfe they mud be the continuation of arteries.

In attempting to invedigate matters too fubtile for
the cognizance of our fenfes, the only method, in.
which we can reafonably proceed,, is by inferring
from what we know in fubjeCts of the fame nature :
and our conclufion thus inferred, concerning the fub-
jeCt fought, will be firmer and more unquedionable,,
in proportion, as it refembles the fubjeCt known. But

[ 326 ]

if the fubje&s be really of the fame kind; if no
difference can be fhewn between them, in any refpeCt
material to the inquiry, in which we are engaged ;
in this cafe our inference from analogy becomes the
very next thing to a phyfical certainty : and this I
apprehend to be true in relation to the problem be-
fore us, concerning the origin of the lymphatic vef-
fels. Tho’ in general we cannot, by experiments,
arrive at the extremities of thofe tubes, nor fatisfy
ourfelves, by infpeCtion, in what manner they receive
their fluid ; yet in a very confiderable number of
them we can do both. There is a certain part of
the human body very abundantly provided with lym-
phatics ; in which part we can actually force in-
jections thro’ thofe veflels into a cavity, where their
extremities open : and from this cavity, on the other
hand, we can at pleafure introduce a coloured liquor
into their extremities, and trace it from fmaller into
wider canals ; from capillary tubes, without valves,
into large lymphatic trunks copioufly furnifhed with
them. We know likewife, that into this cavity are
continually exhaling an infinite number of watery
and mucous veflels, both arterial tubes and excretory
duCts : that thefe keep it moift with a perpetual va-
pour, which the extremities of thofe lymphatics are,
in the mean time, perpetually imbibing. Does it
not feem flrange, while thefe particulars are known
and acknowleged by all the world, that the great
authors of anatomy and phyfiology fhould never have
reafoned from them ; but fhould run into complex
and obfcure fuppofitions, in order to explain a pro-
cefs, which they may at any time examine with their
own eyes ? But perhaps this inadvertency may be

accounted

[ 327 1

accounted for, if we recoiled:, that at the time when
thefe veffels, and the ftrudure of this part, were dis-
covered, the lymph, and every thing belonging to it,
was utterly unknown ; and that the veffels in que-
ftion were firft feen and confidered as performing
another and more remarkable office : which circum-
ffance, it ffiould feem, has prevented fucceeding au-
thors from being duly attentive to them in the capa-
city of lymphatics. However this be, it is certain,
that the lymphatics of the mefentery, commonly
called the ladeals, differ from thofe of the other
parts in no one particular, lave that occafionally they
carry chyle inffead of lymph or rather carry lymph
mixed, at ftated times (that is, for two or three
hours after the creature has taken food) with an
emulfion of vegetable and animal fubftances, and
coloured white by that mixture. At other times,
(that is, during fixteen or eighteen hours out of the
twenty-four) they contain nothing but lymph 5 and
are, in every refped, mere lymphatic veffels, not to
be diffinguiffied from thofe in any other part of the
body. Their ftrudure is the fame ; the membrane
of which they are formed, their valves, the lymph
which they contain, the glands thro’ which they
pafs, their diredion from fmaller tubes to larger,
and from thefe to the blood, differ in nothing from
what we obferve of the other lymphatics. Their
lymph, in the mean time, is without doubt or con-
troverfy fupplied from the cavity of the inteftines
being the watery moifture continually exhaled there
for the purpofes of digeftion, and for the preferva-
tion of the alimentary canal, and as continually taken,
up by the roots or extremities of thefe veffels, in

[ 328 ]

order to be carried back to the blood, after it has
performed its office in the bowels. Let it alfo be
remembered, that thefe veffels, in other places of the
body, are generally, when we trace them, loft in
mufcular, tendinous, or membranous parts : and

then, I fhould prefume, 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 fubftance of
the mufcles, among the mucous folliculi of the ten-
dons, or the membranous receptacles and dudts of
the larger glands : that their extremities or roots do,
from thefe cavities, imbibe the moifture exhaled
there from the ultimate arterial tubes, juft as the
ladteals (the lymphatics of the mefentery) do on the
concave furface of the inteftines : and that the minute
imbibing veffiels, by gradually opening one into an-
other, form at length a lymphatic trunk, furniffied
with valves to prevent the return of its fluid, and
tending uniformly, from the extremities and from
the vifcera, to -reconvey to the blood that lymph, or
that fine ftream, with which they are kept in per-
petual moifture ; a circumftance indifpenfibly necef-
iary to life and motion : while, at the fame time,
the continual re-abforption of that moifture by the
lymphatics is no lefs neceflary, in order to preferve
the blood properly fluid, and to prevent the putrefac-
tion, which would inevitably follow, if this animal
vapour were fuffered to ftagnate in the cavities where
ft is difcharged.

XLI.

[ 329 ]

»

XLI. A Letter to the Right Honourable the
Earl of Macclesfield, Prefdent , the Coun-
cil, and Fellows, of the Royal Society,
concerning the V ariation of the Magnetic
Needle \ with a Sett of Tables annexed-,
which exhibit the Rejult of upwards of
Fifty Thoufand Obfervations , in Six perio-
dic Reviews, from the Year 1700 to the
Year 1756, both inclufive ; and are ad-
apted to every Five Degrees of Latitude
a7id Lo?igitude in the more frequented
Oceans. By William Mountaine and
James Dcdfon, Fellows of the Royal So-
ciety.

Dated London, Nov. 9th. 175 7.

SIRS,

Read Nov. 10. N the 20th of March 1755, we

Vs_>/ presented an addrefs to this illus-
trious Body, intituled, “ An Attempt to point out,
<c in a concife manner, the Advantages which would
“ accrue from a periodic Review of the Variation of
“ the Magnetic Needle, throughout the known World ;
<c requefting contributions thereto, by communicat-
“ ing fuch obfervations concerning it, as had then
“ been lately made, or could be procured from cor-
“ refpondents in foreign parts.”

This addrefs was read at the fame time, and af-
terwards honoured with a place in the Tran factions,
vol. xlviii. part ii. for 1754.: which favour we now
acknowlege in the mod grateful manner ; and, pur-
Vol. 50. U u fua«t

[ 33° ]

fuant to our engagements, beg leave to lay before
you fome account of the communications received,
with a fpecimen of the ufes and applications which
we have been enabled to make of thofe, and other
attiftances with which we have been indulged.

On application to the Honourable the Commif-
fioners of the Navy, we were obliged with an order
of free accefs to all their matters log-books and
journals.

The Directors of the Honourable Eaft India
Company granted the like privilege.

The Honourable Committee of the Hudfon’s Bay
Company obliged us with fundry obfervations, made,
and tabulated, by their own Captains.

James Bradley, D. D. Regius Profeffor of Attro-
nomy, and F. R. S. favoured us with feveral obferva-
tions made at the Royal Obfervatory at Greenwich.

John Hyde, Efqj F.R.S. communicated a fett of
ufeful obfervations, extracted from two journals kept
on board the Triton and Britannia Eatt Indiamen.

A correct journal kept on board the Delawar Eatt
Indiaman was handed to us by a gentleman unknown.

Capt. George Snow furniibed a confiderable num-
ber of obfervations, made with care and accuracy
by himfelf, in feveral fuccettive voyages to, and from
Barbadoes and Virginia ; together with feveral re-
marks upon the fubjedt : Oney which we apprehend
to be material, we beg leave to infert, as it meets
with fome confirmation by the tables annexed ; viz.
<c At Barbadoes the variation feems at a ttand very
“ near; for in the road, 1 7 5-2 , I obferved f degrees
<f eatt ; and by Mr. Halley’s draught, in the year
“ 1701, 5 t degrees: in 1747, at Port Royal keys,
“ Jamaica, I obferved the variation 70 20' E.; and
“ on the coatt of Carthagena the fame week, off

c- tl.e

[ 33i ]

u the high land of Sanda Martha, 70 45' E. nearly
“ fouth of Port Royal : Therefore thefe curves are
tc not much altered 3 and the curve at Jamaica is
“ nearly at a ftand, as tho’ tied ; and the fouth part
“ of them, with the reft, dropping to the weftward.”

Mr. Mungo Murray, author of a treatife on fhip-
building, prefented us with feveral obfervations taken
on board the Prince Edward and Chefterfteld Eaft
Indiamen, and his Majefty’s fhip the Neptune.

For all thefe favours we return our ftncere thanks.

No obfervations made upon land have been re-
ceived, except Dr. Bradley’s aforefaid 5 which has
fruftrated our intentions of continuing the curves
from fea to fea.

By colleding, comparing, and adjufting, all thefe
materials, we have been enabled to conftrud varia-
tion-curves upon Dr. Halley’s mercator-chart, ad-
apted to the year 1 7 56 3 which will foon be in rea-
dinefs to prefent to this Royal Society.

As a work of this kind requires much time, and
a multitude of obfervations, both by fea and land, to
render it more perfed and general 3 we hope the in-
genious in all nations will lend their aftiftance : By
this means every periodic review will be productive
of improvement.

From the firft inftant that we made this affair the
object of our more particular confideration, we have
attended to the mode of increafe and decreafe in the
variation: and as a confiderable number of obferva-
tions, made at periodic times, and duly regiftred,
feem to be the moft eftential toward determining the
laws of its mutation, or proving its irregularity, we
have therefore formed a fett of tables, from actual ob-
fervations collected for the years 1710, 1720, 1730,
and 1 744, the date of our laft chart 3 which, together

U u 2 with

[ 332 ]

with Dr. Halley’s for the year 1700, and the prefent
chart now publishing, compleat fix reviews : Thefe
are tabulated, and Shew the quantity of the variation,
at thofe Several periods, to every y 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 eafily be obtained.

Our materials have been fo deficient, that even in
the limits to which our tables are confined, we have
been obliged to leave blanks in fome of the above
periods, for want of that concurrent testimony, on
which the numbers inlerted are founded : but, con-
fidering the difficulties unavoidably attending a work
of this fort, and the little afiiStance which we have
met with from private hands, we hope that this
Royal Society will not only excufe thofe vacancies,
but alfo thofe in the great tradts of fea, as well as
land, concerning which we are very unwillingly
obliged to be intirely Silent.

Agreeable to our former addrefs, we lay only
what appear to be fadts before you, without at-
tempting to introduce any hypothefis for the folution
of thefe phaenomena ; fome of which (being very
extraordinary) we recommend peculiarly to the no-
tice of thofe gentlemen, who may endeavour the in-
vestigation of their caufes.

Under the equator, in longitude 40° E. from Lon-
don, the highefi; variation during the whole y6 years
appears to be 17°^ W. and the leaft W.: and
in latitude i5°N. longitude 6o° W. from London,
the variation has been constantly y° E. but in other
places the cafe has been widely different ; for in the
latitude io° S. longitude 6o° E. from London, the
variation has decreafed from 1 70 W. to 7 i W. , and
in latitude io° S. longitude 5° W. from London, it

has

C 333 ]

has increafed from 2°i W. to 120 JW.; and in lati-
tude if0 N. longitude 20° W. it has increafed from
1 0 W. to c)a W.

But there is ftill a more extraordinary appearance
in the Indian feas : for inftance, under the equator.

Longi-

Variation in

Longi-

Variation in

tude

tude

from

1700.

1 756-

from

1700.

1756.

London

London

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

40 E

16J w

16I W
*

75 E

94 W

I w

45 E

i?i W

I4tW

80 E

74 w

04 E

^0 E

I7f w

ii| W

85 E

5iW

i| E

55 E

1 6 2 W

81- W

90 E

4* W

1 E

60 E

i5* W

6 W

95 E

37 W

o| W

65 E

i3hW

4? W

100 E

2f W

1 W

70 E

Iii w

37 W

Where the weft variation in the longitude 40° E. is
the fame in both the above years ; and in 1 700 the
weft variation feemed to be regularly deerealing from
longitude jo0 E. to the longitude ioo°E.; but in
175-6 we find the weft variation decreafing fo faft,
that we have eaft variation in the longitude 8c°, 85%
and 9o°E ; and yet, in the longitude 950 and ioo° E.
we have weft variation again.

Such are the irregularities, that experience hath
fhewn us, in the variation of the magnetic needle j
which appear fo confiderable, that we cannot think
it wholly under the direction of one general and uni-
form law; but rather conclude, with the learned and
judicious Dr. Gowen Knight, Fellow of this Society,
in the 87th prop, of his treatife upon attraction and
repuifion, That it is influenced by various and different

magnetic

[ 334 ]

magnetic attra&ions, in all probability occafioned by
the heterogeneous competitions in the great magnet,
the Earth.

Notwithftanding all which, fhould the fagacity
of fome eminent philofopher be able to exhibit rules,
whereby the quantity of the variation may be com-
puted for future times, yet then fuch a review, as
we have now made, will be neceflary at a proper
interval, to prove the truth of them : and fhould no
fuch rules appear, then will a continued fuccetiion of
fuch reviews be necetiary fo long as commerce and
navigation fubtifl among us.

What we have now done is intirely for the public
fervice, the fale of the former chart never having
made good its expence ; and we propofe to continue
our endeavours for another review, at the proper
time, if we fhall then be alive, and capable of the
tafk : but as the contrary may probably happen, we
beg leave to conclude with recommending fuch a
continuation, in the ftrongeti: manner, to fuch of the
members of this Royal Society, or others, who may,
at the proper intervals, have leifure and ability for
fuch a performance.

We are, with the greateft deference.

Your Lordfhip’s,

And the Royal Society’s,

Mod: faithful and

moft obedient Servants,

William Mountaine.
James Dodfon.

A

[ 335 ]

A TABLE, exhibiting the different Variations of
the Magnetic-Needle in the more frequented
Oceans , from the Tear 1700 to the Tear 1756.

Lati-

Longi-

VARIATION.

tude.

tude,

From

London.

Anno

1700.

Anno

1710.

Anno

1720.

Anno

1730.

Anno

1744-

Anno

1756.

Degrees.

O

Degrees.

O

Degrees.

4iW

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

iofW

Degrees.

HfW

Degrees.

i5fW

O

5 W

2-;W

8fW

12 W

i3fW

O

10 w

ifW

3iW

5tW

7 W

10 w

11 W

O

15 W

oFW

2 W

3tW

5 w

7fW

9 w

O

20 w

of E

ofW

ifW

3 W

5tW

6fW

O

25 W

if E

of E

ofW

ifW

3 W

4 W

O

30 w

2f E

2 E

itE

1 E

ofW

of W

O

35 w

3 "t E

3 E

2fE

2f E

if E

ifE

O

40 w

44- E

4t E

4 E

3t E

37 E

37 E

O

45 w

5i E

5 1 E

5-{E

5 E

4te

5 E

O

50 w

64 E

5t E

6 E

6f E

O

jE

6 W

I2f W

154W

i6fW

O

10 E

7^W

t

I44W

17 w

i7fW

O

40 E

164W

17 w

I71W

17 w

i6|W

i6|W

O

45 E

174W

174W

i6fW

i6fW

I*iw

i4fW

0

50 E

177W

164W

16 W

15 W

14 w

nfW

O

55 E

i6fW

i5?W

14 W

13 W

nfW

8|W

O

60 E

15-W

I3JW

I2fW

II w

9 W

6 W

O

65 E

!3tW

nfW

10 W

84W

6fW

4tW

0

70 E

nfW

9iw

7|W

6 W

4 W

3fW

0

75 E

94W

7iW

!■ 5*1 W

4 W

ifW

! 1 W

0

80 E

71W

6 W| 4;-w

3 W

0-4 w

of E

0

85 E

51 W

4 Wj 2t w

ifW

of E

*4 E

[ 336 ]

Lati-

tude.

Longi-

tude,

From

London.

Anno
1 700.

V A
Anno
1710.

R I j
Anno
1720.

A T I
lAnno
1 73°*

O N.
Anno

1744-

Anno

1756.

Degrees.

O

Degrees.

90 E

Degrees.

4tW

Degrees.

3tW

Decrees.

ifW

<ftw

Degrees.

17W

Degrees.

1 E

O

95 E

3 4W

24W

2 W

ofW

O

100 E

-

2*W

1 W

2iW

1 W

5 N

0

4-i-W

ioiW

I15 w

154W

5N

5 W

34 W

9 w

! 1 3 w

13 w

jN

10 w

ii-W

77W

j 1 04 w

jufW

5n

15 w

04 w

2|W

3-1 W

5[W

84W

94W

jN

20 w

0

i{W

2|W

3-1-W

6 W

7 4 W

SN

25 W

I E

0

1 W

2 w

34W

4t w

5n

30 w

ifE

itE

0; E

04W

It W

14 w

5n

35 W

24E

24 E

iiE

It e

olE

04 E

5n

40 W

3t e

34E

3 E

2|E

24 E

2 1 E

5 N

45 W

4ve

44 E

4t e

4 E

3t e

4 E

5'N

50 w

5. E

5» E

jJ-E

54 E

5 E

54 E

5: N

55 W

61 E

64 E

6i-E

5N

5 E

67 W

12AW

164W

1 6 ' W

5n

1 0 E

7lW

144W

I7IW

I74VV

5n

45 E

i6|W

16 W

15|W

14IW

14 W

1 3tW

5 N

50 E

i6|W

154W

i4iW(

137W

12^-W

11 W

5N

55e

i5fW

144W

13 W

12 W

10 W

84 w

5N

60 E

i4iW

I2|W

nfW

10 w

8f W

6 W

5N

65 E

I2fW

II w

91W

8 W

6 W

4rW

5n

70 E

io|W

9 W

7iW

5tW

3lW

24 W

5n

75 E

8-| W

7 w

57 W

3i w

14W

ol-W

5n

80 E

6;w

5 W

3tW

2|W

04W

01 E

5n

85 E

44W

31W

24W

i4W

04- W

itE

5 N

90 E

3tW

1-4W

of E

5N

95 E

2|W

2;w

oJ-Wj

C 337 ]

Lati-

Lor.gU

V A

R I A T I

0 N.

tude.

tude,

From

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

London.

1700.

1710.

1720.

1730.

1744.

1756.

Degree

Degrees.

Degree s.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

10 N

I5W

ifW

4fW

6 W

9fW

10 W

10 N

20 W

otW

2 W

3fW

4-i w

7 W

8 W

10N

25 w

ofE

04W

i|W

2fW

4fW

5fW

10N

30 w

1 E

of E

0

1 W

2fW

3 W

10N

35 W

iJE

if E

0-1 E

of- E

of W

1 w

10N

40 W

2f E

2fE

2 E

14 E

if E

1 E

10N

45 W

3tE

3t E

3tE

3 E

2 -f E

2 ' E

10N

50 W

47 E

41E

4t E

4t E

4 E

4 E

10N

55 W

5rE

5t E

5f E

57 E

5t E

5fE

10N

60 W

6f E

6± E

61 E

10N

50 E

16 W

15 W

14 W

I2|W

nfW

iofW

10N

55 E

15 W

1 3t W

12 W

II w

9fW

8 W

10N

60 E

i3*W

12 W

iofW

9fW

7fW

6 W

10N

65 E

12 W

iofW

9 w

7fW

6 W

4fW

10 N

70 E •

10 w

8|W

6fW

5 W

3fW

3 w

io N

75 E

8 W

61 W

5 W

3fW

ifW

1 E

10N

80 E

5*W

4iW

3fW

2 W

of W

of E

10 N

85' E

4iW

3fW

2fW

ifW

0

1 E

10 N

90 E

3iW

ifW

of E

10N

95 E

2fW

2f W

cfW

15N

20 W

1 W

2|W

4 W

5iW

7 W

9 W

15N

25 w

ojW

I|W

2fW

3fW

4fW

6fW

15N

30 w

of E

of W

I w

ifW

2fW

4fW

15N

35 W

1 E

of E

0

of W

IfW

3fW

15N

40 W

if E

if E

1 E

of E

0

of W

15N

45 W

2f E

2f E

2 E

if E

If E

1 E

15N

50 w

3i E

3f E

3f E

3 E

2! E

2f E

15N

55 W

4e

4 E

4 E

4 E

4 E

3f E

Vo L. 50.

X X

[ 33§ ]

Lati- '

^ongi-

V A

R I A T I 0 N.

t.ude.

tude.

From

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

London.

1700.

1710.

1720.

1730.

1744-

17 56-

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Decrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

15 N 60 W

5 E

5 E

5 E

5 E

5 E

5 E

15 N 1 6 5 W

6 E

5 E

6 E

6 E

15N

70 w

7 E

54 E

6| E

7 E

15N

75 W

7f E

7 E

7f E

15N

80 w

8fE

7 E

8 E

15 N

50 E

i5iW

I4*W

13 w

nfW

iofW

9fW

15N

55 E

I4iw

I2*W

nfW

lofW

8fW

7fW

15 N

60 E

13 W

nfW

iofW

9 W

7fW

6 W

15N

65 E

1 1 i W

10 w

8| w

74 W

6 W

44 w

15N

70 E

9|W

8fW

64W

54 W

4 w

2fW

J5 N

75 E

8 W

61 W

5 W

34W

2 f W

of W

15 N

80 E

5|W

4|W

3iW

2fW

if w

0

15N

85 E

44 W

34 W

24 w

1 W

of W

of E

ijN

90 E

34 W

2|W

ifW

ofW

of E

15 N

95 E

2fW

ifW

2fW

ofW

20 N

20 W

ifW

3 W

44 w

54 W

7 w

10 W

20 N

25 w

I w

2 w

24W

34 W

4fW

8 W

20 !N

30 w

ofW

I w

i{W

2fW

34W

5fW

20 N

35 W

of E

of w

of W

ifW

2fW

4 W

20 N

40 w

of E

4E

0

of W

I w

2 f w

2C N

45 W

HE

14 E

1 E

f E

of E

ofW

20 N

jo W

2 E

2 E

if E

It E

i4E

of E

2C N

55 W

2% E

2\ E

2f E

2f E

2f E

2 E

20 N

60 W

3I E

3lE

34e

34 E

34 E

34 E

20 N

65 w

4+ E

4 4 E

4 E

20 N

70 w

54 E

5 E

5 E

20 N

75W

6iE

J4E

54 E

20 N

80 w

7 E

*4 E

6 E

)

[ 339 ]

Lati- I

>ongi-

VARIATION.

tude.

tude,

From

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

jOiidon •

1700.

1710.

1720.

1730.

H44-

H5o-

Depress. 1

20 N

Degrees. \

60 E;

Degrees.

I2*W

Degrees.

nfW

Degrees,

10 w

Degrees,

9 w

Degrees. .

7l W

Degrees.

6 VV

20 N

65 E'

nfW

10 w

8fW

7t VV

6 W

4lW

20 N

70 E

9lW

8f VV

7 W

54 w

4fW

24W

2oN

90 E

3* W

2fW

ifW

1 W

of W

1 e ;

25 N

20 W

2 W

3tW

4 W

5iW

7 W

11 vv

25 N

2 5 w

I|W

2fW

2|W

4 W

54 W

9lW

25N

30 w

liW

i|W

2fW

3 w

4 w

7iW,

25 N

3jW

i w

ifVV

2 W

2fVV

3 W

51W'

25N

40 w

of W

o*W

I VV

IfVV

2fW

3lW,

25 N

45 w

°i E

0

o}W

1 w

ifW

2fW.

25 N

50 W

o4E

of E

of E

c .

of VV

I w

25N

55 W

ii E

1 E

1 E

4E

of E 1

0

25 N

60 W

2 E

2 E

2 E

he

he!

if E

25 N

65 w

2|E

2f E

2f E

25 N

70 w

3i E

3i-E

i4E

25 N

75 W

4iE

31 E

I 3 E

25 N

80 w

44 E

3fE

3 E

25 N

60 E

I2^W

nfW

iofW

9 vv

71 W

1 6 W

25 N

65 E

ii|W

iofW

9 W

7fW

6 VV

4I w

25 N

70 E

10 w

8|W

7fW

6 W

4*W

24 VV ;

30 N

10 W

3fW

nfW

!3lW

30 N

15 W

3tW

iofW

1 124 w ,

30N

20 w

3 W

4iW

5|W

64 W

8fW

12 w

3°N

25 w

2|W

3fW

4fW

5l W

64 W

io4W

30 N

3° w

2fW

3 W

3fW

4tw

5fW

9 W

30 N

35 vv

2fW

2| w

3fW

34W

4iW

7 W

30 N

40 W

r ii-w

2 vv

2fW

3 W

31W

5fW

30 N

45 w

if-W

ifW

2 W

2fW

24 w

4 W

X X 2

[ 34° ]

Lati-

Longi

VARIATION.

tude.

tude,

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

London.

1700.

1710.

1720.

! I73°-

1744.

I756-

Degrees.

3°N

Degrees.

50 W

Degrees.

ofW

Degrees .

1 W

Degrees.

if W

! Degrees.

i|W

Degrees.

2-fW

Degrees.

3 W

30N

55 W

of-W

fW

I w

IfW

ifW

2fW

30N

60 W

04 E

0

fW

of W

i w

IfW

30 N

65 W

o| E

IE

A E

0

fW

i w

3° N

70 w

It E

1-4- E

1 E

4 E

iE

fW

30 N

75 W

2 E

It E

1 4- E

1 E

IE

0

30 N

80 W

2-f E

4E

0

35N

10W

4iW

9* W

I2fW

i4fW

35N

15 w

4 W

9fW

i if w

i34W

35N

20 W

4 W

8fW

iofW

13 w

35 N

25 W

3*w

4lW

6 W

71 W

9 w

I2fW

35N

30 w

34 W

4iVV

5IW

64W

8 W

iofW

35N

35 W

34W

4iw

5iW

6 W

7 w

84W

35 N

40 W

3*W

4 W

4tW

5iW

6fW

74W

35N

45 W

3* W

34W

4i W

4^W

5fW

6f W

35 N

50 w

3tW

3fW

4 W

4iW

5 W

5fW

35 N

55 W

3fW

3 4 W

4 w

4iW

44W

5 W

35 N

60 W

34W

3|W

4 W

4iW

5 w

5iW

35^

65 W

3 W

5*W

6 W

35 N

70 w

2 j w

54W

64W

35N

75 W

2fW

6fW

7 W

40 N

10 W

5 W

io4W

i3fW

15 w

40 N

15 w

5iW

iofW

I2|W

HfW

4c N

20 W

5iW

10 W

I2fW

i4iW

40 N

25 W

5tW

9t W

nfW

i3fW

40 N

30 w

51 W

64W

8 W

9 W

iofW

124W

40 N

35 W

sk w

6| W

■ 7iW

8fW

94 W

nfW

40N

40 W

Si W

6f W

• 7iW

8 W

9 w

10 W

[ 34-1 ]

Lati-

Longi-

V A

RIATION,

tude.

tude,

From

Anno

Anno

Anno

JAnno

Anno

Anno

Loftdon.

1 700.

1710.

1720.

* I73°*

1744-

J 756.

Degrees.

40 N

Degrees.

45 W

[ Degrees.

6 W

Degrees.

Degrees,

Degrees,

74W

Degrees.

84W

Degrees.

94 W

40 N

50 w

64 W

74 W

84W

9lW

40 N

55 W

64W

7lW

8|W

10 W

40 N

60 W

6| W

8 W

94W

11 w

40 N

65 W

7 vv

84 W

104W

12 W

40 N

70 w

7 W

9 W

1 14 w

I2-I-W

45 N

5 W

6 W

124W

1 5t W

164 w

45 N

10 W

64 W

124W

15 W

164W

45 N

15W

6 |W

n4W

1 4-$ w

164W

45 N

20 w

7 W

114W

I44W

16 W

45 N

25 w

7tW

iijW

14 w

16 w

45 N

30 w

8 W

II|W

I3IW

I5IW

45 N

35W

84 w

n4W

i3iW

I54W

45 N

40 w

9*W

12 w

13 w

15 W

45 N

45 W

iofW

I2-IW

134-vv

154W

45 N

50 w

n|W

I34VV

14 w

16 W

45 N

55 W

I2|W

14 w

J54W

17 w

45 N

60 W

I3-IW

14 w

16 w

I84W

5°

5 W

7t W

17 w

I94W

50 N

jo W

7lW

I71W

I94W

50 N

15 w

8| W

171 w

20 W

5°N

20 w

9 W

I7IW

204 W

50 N

25 W

9iW

I74W

21 W

5 S

0

4fW

10 w

134W

15 w

5 s

5 W

24 w

84 W

II4W

13 w

5 S

10W

I w

3 w

4IW

64W

9i-

iofW

J s

15W

0

I4W

3 w

4iW

6-4 W

84 W

5 S

20 w

i*E

04 E

o*W

24W

4 w

6 W

[ 342 ]

Latl-

Longi-

V A

R I A T I O N.

tude.

tude.

From

London.

Anno

1700.

Anno

1710.

Anno

1720.

Anno

173°.

Anno

1744.

Anno

1756.

Degrees.

s s

Degrees.

25 W

Degrees.

2*E

Degrees,

i*E

Degrees.

04 E

Degrees.

of W

Degrees.

2 VV

Degrees.

3 w

5 S

3o W

3i E

2f E

1 1 E

1 E

of E

0

5 S

35 W

4i E

4 E

3iE

3tE

2 f E

2f E

5 s

5 E

6 W

1 2 7 W

15 w

16 VV

5 S

10 E

7i W

i4iW

i6£ W

17 w

5 S

40 E

18 w

17IW

17IW

1 7t W

177W

17 W

5 S

+JE

i8fW

18-4 W

18 VV

I7i W

17 W

16 w

s s

50 E

i8|W

17IW

17 w

i6*W

i5iW

I-2fW

5 S

55 E

1 7t W

i6| W

i5fW

!4fVV

13 W

9*W

s s

60 E

i6fW

i4tw

i.nw

12 w

10 w

6f VV

J s

65 E

i4fW

12|W

ioiw

9 W

7 W

4? VV

5 S

70 E

13 w

II w

9 w

6fW

4i W

3 VV

s s

75 E

II w

9 W

7 vv

5 VV

2fW

1 VV

5 s

80 E

9 W

7 w

5 VV

3 W

of W

0

5 S

85 E

7 w

5*W

3iW

2|W

0 j w

of E

5 S

90 E

5 W

4|W

2|W

2 W

ifW

of E

5 s

95 E

3*W

3iW

i{W

ifW

2 W

of W

5 S

100 E

3 W

I|W

1 W

2fW

I*w

io S

0

3^W

9» VV

I 2 7 W

!4fW

IO S

5 W

2i-W

4iw

6fW

8f VV

107 w

I2fW

io S

10 W

ofW

2*W

4fVV

6f VV

8fW

1 o f VV

io S

15 W

7 E

I w

2jW

4 w

5f\V

7fVV

io S

20 w

if E

07 E

O

ifVV

3 VV

4fW

io S

25 w

3 E

2{ E

i*E

of E

of VV

2 VV

io S

30 w

4 E

?y E

3 E

2 f E

if E

1 E

io S

35 W

51 E

5 E

4! E

4a W

4 E

3f E

i o S

JE

5* W

12 VV

i4iW

x5fW

IO S

10 E

7|W

[4 w

16 w

i6f W

[ 343 3

Lati-

Longi-

V A

RIATION.

tude.

tude,

From

London.

Anno

1700.

Anno !

17:0.

Anno
1 720.

Anno

Anno

1744.

Anno

1756.

Degrees.

io S

Degrees.

■jE

Degrees.

9iW

Degrees.

Degrees.

degrees.

1 Si W

Degree.

1 7*W

Degr es.

I7|W

io S

40 E

i8|W

i8|W

i8*W

i8|W

19 W j

I9-4AY

io S

45 E

19IW

i9^W

19 w

18IVV

I 8 y W

18 w

io S

50 E

i9t W

19 VY

l8yW

17IW

i6|VV

i4*W

io S

SS E

l8yW

1 7fW

l6y W

15IW

I4yW

IOy W

io S

60 E

17 w

16 w

15 w

14 w

II|W

7iW

io S

65 E

1 5*W

13IW

II|W

10 w

8 W

5 W

TO S

70 E

14IVV

12 w

10 w

8 W

5lW

3*W

io S

75 E

I2}W

io*W

9 W

5lW

3|W

2 W

io S

80 E

IOy W

8 W

5iW

4 W

i|W

1 w

10 S

85 E"

8y W

6*W

5 W

3*W

I|W

Oy W

io S

90 E

6|W

5|W

4iW

3 W

I|W

Oy W

io S

95 E

5 W

4t W

4 W

3iW

2dW

I W

io S

100 E

3lW

3t W

3iW

3 W

2*W

2 W

i o S

105 E

2|W

27 w

2y W

2 1 w

3iW

io S

1 10 E

2 W

3lw

3iW

l5 s

0

3t W

5* W

7lW

9* W

nfW

14 w

*S S

5 W

i|W

3|W

5|W

7|W

9fW

12 w

15 s

10 W

*W

2 W

5|W

7iW

9fW

15 S

15 w

HE

OyW

i|W

3iW

4*W

7 w

15 s

20 W

2 y E

HE

of E

Oy W

i*W

4 W

15 S

.25 W

3IE

3 E

2y E

HE

Oy E

1 W

15 s

30 w

5 E

4t e

4 E

3l E

3 E

2 E

15 s

35 W

6y E

6 yE

5i£

jtE

5 E

4t E

15 s

40 w

7* E

61 E

6y E

15 s

jE

5t W

I!|W

!3*W

i5iW

15 s

10 E

7}W

14 w

I5iW

l6y W

15 s

40 E

19IW

19IW

20 W

20 W

20 WI20 W!

[ J++ ]

Lati-

Longi-

V A

R I A T I

0 N.

tude.

tude,

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

London.

1700.

1710.

1 720.

1730.

1744-

1 756.

L egrets.

1 5 s

Degrees.

45 E

Degrees.

20 jW

' egress,

20IW

Dcgre

2G*W

Degrees.

20-*- W

Degrees.

20 W

Decrees.

i9fW

15 s

50 E

20fW

20 w

I9fW

i8|W

18 W j 1 6 f W

l5 s

55 E

I9*W

IS7W

1 7v W

i6fW

i5f\V

1 2 f W

15 s

60 E

i8i\V

17 w

16 w

i+*w

I2fW

9 w

15 s

65 E

1-7 W

1

t5iW

1 3* W

12 w

94 w

6 W

15 s

70 E

15IW

I2fW

io-|W

9 W

7iW

4fW

15 s

75 E

14 W

12 W

9|W

7fW

5 W

3*W

15 s

80 E

12 W

10 w

8 W

6 W

3fW

2fW

*5 S

85 E

10 w

8 W

6fW

4IW

2fW

2fW

15 S

90 E

8fW

7i W

6 W

4I-W

3 w

2fW

15 S

95 E

6fW

5lW

5 W

4fW

3iW

2|W

15 S

100 E

5 W

4|W

4|W

4l-W

3fW

3fW

I 5 S

105 E

3t W

3fW

3fW

3|W

4fW

3|W

15 S

1 10 E

2fW

4iW

20 S

0

3iW

5iW

7iW

9 W

11 W

i3fW

2 0 S

5 W

ifW

3iW

5 W

6|W

8|W

nfW

20 S

10 W

0} E

ifW

3 W

4?W

6|W

8|W

20 S

15 w

i4E

of E

ofW

2 w

3fW

54 W

20 S

20 W

3 E

2\ E

It E

of W

of W

3 W

20 S

25 w

4IE

4iE

37 £

2|E

2 E

0

20 S

30 w

6 E

Jt E

5i E

44 E

4? E

2f E

20 S

35W

7^E

7f E

7i-E

64 E

6f E

5 E

2 O S

40 w

9? E

8 E

7fE

20 S

5E

5t W

/

11 tv

i3fW

15 w

20 S

10 E

7fW

i3fW

15 w

i6fW

20 S

15 E

97 w

15IW

i6fW

I7|W

20 S

.

35 E

19 w

!9iW

19IW

2of W

2oiW

22 W

[20 s

40 E

20fW

204W

2lfW

2lfW

214W

22 W

[ 345 ]

Lati-

Lor.gi-

VARIATION.

tude.

tude.

From

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

London.

1700.

1710.

1720.

1730.

1744-

1756.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

Degrees.

20 S

45 E

2lfW

2lfW

2lfW

2lfW

2l|W

2 1 f W

20 S

50 E

2lfW

21 W

2o|W

2ofW

I9|W

i8-|W

20 S

55 E

20f W

20 W

!9fW

18I Wj

17 w

15 w

20 s

60 E

I9fW

I 8 4-W

17 W

5|W

14! w

nfW

20 S

65 E

18-4W

17 w

i*4W

i4iW

12 W

8 W

20 S

70 E

i64W

1 5I W

I3*W

12 w

10 w

6 W

20 S

75 E

15 w

13 W

iof W

9 W

74W

4|W

20 S

80 E

i3*W

II|W

9iW

8 W

6 W

4fW

20 S

85 E

nfW

10 w

8f W

7 w

5 W

4iW

20 S

90 E

10 W

8|W

7iW

6-4- w

4? w

4iW

20 S

95 E

8 W

7i W

6|W

5|W

4|W

4iW

20 S

100E

6fW<

6fW

6 W

5a W

5 W

4fW

20 S

105 E

4IW

5 W

5 W

5 W

5 W

44 w

2 5 S

0

3 W

5 W

7 W

8fW

iof W

I2fW

25 S

5 W

1 W

2|W

4a W

6fW

8 W

10 W

25 S

10 w

1 E

of W

2fW

4 W

5fW

7fW

25 S

15 w

2! E

iiE

O

ifW

2fW

4iW

25 s

20 W

4 E

3i E

2 E

i*E

0 f E

24 W

25 s

25 w

6 E

5i E

4t E

34E

3 E

1 E

25 s

30 w

71 E

7 E

6f E

6 E

5t E

3f E

25 s

35 W

9i E

7t E

6 E

25 s

40 W

11 E

9 E

25 s

5E

5fW

7 W

8|W

iof W

1 2f W

141 w

25 s

10 E

7t W

ufW

16 W

25 s

15 E

9*W

i6f W

1 74 w

25 s

E

i9|-W

2of W

20|W

2 if W

22f W

2 3 f VV

25 s

40 E

21 w

2lfW

22 W

22 fW

23fW

234W

2 5 s

45 E

22f W

22f W

22|W

23 w

23fW

23 w

, 2 5 S

5° E

22 fW

22 fW

22-fW

22f W

22 W

21 w

Vo L. qo. Y y

[ 346 ]

Lati-

Lohgi-

V A

R I A T I 0 N.

*

tude.

tude.

From

London.

Anno

1700.

Anno

1710.

Anno

1720.

jAnno

1730.

Anno

1744.

Anno

1756.

Degrees-

25 s

Degrees.

Degrees.

22 W

Degrees.

2l|W

Degrees.

21 W

Degrees.

2Q|W

Degrees.

I9|W

Degrees.

18 w

25 s

60 E

2o|W

I9|W

19 w

i8*W

17 w

I44W

25 s

65 E

J9tW

i8tW

i7tW

i6*W

15 w

u4W

2 5 s

70 E

I7|W

i6|W

154W

I4|W

13 w

9^W

25 s

75 E

i6fvW

15 w

i3^W

I2^W

niW

8 W

25 s

80 E

14 jW

i3fW

1 24W

io|W

9tW

7iW

25 3

85E

13 W

II#W

io|W

9tW

8 W

7?W

25 s

90 E

ufW

I04-W

9*W

8iW

7iW

7 W

25 s

95 E

9fW

9 W

84W

7lW

7 W

64W

25 s-

ico E

7*W

7iW

7iW

7 VV

64 w

6 W

30 s

0

2+HV

4tW

6 W

7IVV

9fW

1 14W

30 s

5 W

o|W

2 W

3iW

5iW

7 w

9 VV

30 s

10 W

It E

0

i|W

3 W

VV

6i-W

30 s

15 w

3i E

24 E

o|E

Oy VV

ifW

3tW

30 s

20 W

5 E

4? E

3|E

27 E

M-E

OyW

30 s

25 W

74 E

65- E

jJE

5 E

4 E

2 E

30 s

So W

9 E

6y E

4T E

30 s

35 W

1 1 E

8j E

7t E

30 s

jE

5 W

7 W

84W

10-i-W

114W

13IW

30 s

10E

7i W

9iW

ni-W

I2|W

14 W

154 VV

30 s

*jE

9fW

16 vv

18 W

30 6

30 E

i7fW

i8|W

197W

20y W

21 4 VV

234W

30 s

35 E

204W

21 W

2I^W

22y W

2 3 y \V

24 4 w

30 s

40 E

21-iW

22 y VV

23^W

24 w

244 vv

254W

30 s

45 E

23 W

23 jW

24 w

24-y VV

254 W

24 y W

30 s

50 E

23IW

2 3 i W

24 w

24|W

244 w

23 i vv

30 s

55 E

23 w

23 VV

23 w

22 4 W

22y VV

21 vv

30 s

60 E

2l4W

2I|W

21 W

20 yW

20 W

18 vv

1 30 s |

6 s E

2oiW

I94W

19 w

l8|W

I74VV

15 VV|

I 347 ]

Lati-

Longi-

VARIATION.

tude. •

tude,

From

London.

Anno

1700.

Anno

1710.

iVnno

1720.

Anno

l73°-

Anno

1744-

Anno

1756.

Degrees.

30 s

Degrees.

70 E

Degrees.

i8|W

Degrees.

18 w

Degrees. .

I74W

Degrees.

l64W

Degrees.

I54W

Degrees.

13 W

30 s

7jE

I7iW

i6|W

I5^V

I44W

i34W

II4W

30 s

80 E

i5^W

15 W

14 w

13 w

12 w

io4W

30 s

85 E

14 w

134W

124W

n|W

104W

104W

30 s

90 E

I2|W

n4-w

11 W

10-4W

9*W

9lW

30 s

95 E

iofW

10 YV

94W

9|W

84W

9 W

30 s

100 E

8|W

84W

35 S

0

2fW

4 W

54 W

7 W

84W

104W

35 S

5 W

O

1 W

24W

4 w

54W

74 w

35 s

10 W

2iE

It E

04 w

i4W

3tW

54W

35 S

15 w

4?E

04W

24W

35 s

20 w

64 E

24 E

04 E

35 S

25 w

8| E

5 E

3 E

35 S

30 w

io4E

7t E

54 E

35 s

35W

!2|E

9f E

84 E

35 s

5E

5 W

64 W

8 W

94 W

11 w

13 W

35 s

10 E

7iW

84 W

104W

n4W

134W

1 5iw

. 35 s

1 5 E

94 w

u|W

124W

144W

I5}W

174W

35 s

20 E

I2fW

14 w

154W

17 w

184W

1 94 vv

35 S

25 E

I5?W

164W

18 W

I94W

2o4W

224 w

35 s

30 E

184W

194W

204W

2I4W

224W

244 w

35 s

35 E

21 W

22 W

224 v/

234 w

244W

26 w

35 s

40 E

224W

234W

244 w

25 W

26 w

264W

35 s

45 E

24iW

25 w

25 VV

26 w

27 W

264 W

35 s

! 5° E

24|W

254 w

]254W

26 vv

264W

244W

35 s

1 55 E

24fVV

244 W

I244W

244 W

25 VV

23 w

35 s

60 E

23 W

2 3 W ^23 W

22|W

224W

21 VV

35 S

65 E

21IVV

2 1 4 w

! 2 I W

i

204W

204W

i8|W

| 35 s

70 E

i94W

i94 W

■I84W

I84W

I 7-4: W

i64W

Y y 2

[ 3+S ]

Lati-

Lon»i-

VARIATION.

tude.

tude,

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno

Anno-

London.

1700.

1710.

1720.

1730.

I744-

1756. .

Degrees.

35 S

Degrees.

IS E

Degrees.

i8fW

Degrees.

I7|W

Degrees.

I7*W

Degrees.

I7*W

Degrees.

16 w

Degrees.

1 5i W

35 S

80 E

i6|W

i6fW

15IW

15 w

i+iW

i4iW

35 s

85 E

15 W

i4iW

14 w

i3iW

13 w

i3fW

35 s

90 E

13IW

13 w

1 2 |W

l2fW

12 W

124W

35 s

95 E

ill w

nfW

nfW

11 w

io|W

40 S

0

2 W

3|W

5 W

6fW

7lW

9fW

40 S

5 W

of E

ofW

2 W

3iW

5 W

6|W

40 s

10 W

3i E

£|W

4*w

40 s

15 W

si E

of E

ifW

40 s

20 W

8 E'

3? E

i*E

40 s

25 W

iof E

5iE

4 E

40 s

30 w

I2| E

8 E

6f E

40 s

5 F

4*W

6 W

7t W

9 W

1 of W

12 W

40 s

10 E

7iW

8fW

10 w

nfW

iafW

i4f\V

40 s

15 E

9lW

nfW

12|W

14 W

i5iW

I7*W

40 s

20 E

12-IW

151-w

17 W

i8fW

20 W

40 s

25 E

16 w

17-4 w

i8i.W

I9IW

2lfW

22 f w

40 s

30 E

19 w

20 W

2lfW

22 fW

23|W

25fW

40 s

35 E

2IIW

22-1 VV

f24jW

25fW

27 w

40 s

40 E

23! w

24IW

25 w

26 w

27 w

28fW

40 s

45 E

2 54 W

26 w

26I-W

27{W

28 fW

27fW

40 s

50 E

26 W

26 j- w

27 w

27fW

28 fW

26 w.

40 s

55 E

254 w

25fW

25IW

26 w

26fW

24fW

40 s

60 E

24 w

24 w

24 w

24fw

24-f.W

22-|VV

40 s

65 E

22 y W

22| W

22fW

224 w

22 w

2C-|W

40 s

70 E

20-$ W

20jW

20fW

20 W

!9fW

19 jW

43 s

75 E

195 w

i8|W

18;^W

17|W

I7*W

1 8 f W

40 s

80 E

i?iW

17 W

i6fW

16 w

151W

1-iW

I

[ 349 }

Variation of the Magnetic-Needle, from the Ijlatids
of Orkney to Hudfon’s Straits, for the Tear 1757.

Weft
Longi-
• tude

Degrees of North Latitude.

From

London.

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

Degrees.

4

Id

18

18

19

19

10

£ c

f . o

19

19

20

20

21

27

'-M

° 3

24

24

25

25

45

85 S*

<u

29

29

3°

3i

55

65

Q

39

40

41

Variation in Hudfon’s-Bay and Straits, for the

Tear 1 757.

Weft 1

Longi-

tude

Degrees of North Latitude.

From

London.

521

55

56

57

58

60

61

62

63

Degrees.

65

c

0

39

40

4i

71

w

03

•

u

41

41

79

cs

43

81

e:

38

39

40

83

&

18

20

39

40

86

U-I

0

35

37

92

C/3

<u

<U

17

17

94

bD

17

18

95

a

18

We have been informed, that in Hudfon’s-Bay, there has been
very little alteration in the variation of the compafs during the
twenty years laft pad,

XLIIs

[ 35° }

XLI1. An Account of fo7ne extraordinary

Man , now in St. Bartholomew’s Hofpital,
By James Parfons, M. D. F. R. S.

Read Nov. 10, IS poor man, whofe name is

l7S7- John Tomlinfon, gives this ac-

count of himfelf: That he was born at or near
Rotherham in Yorkshire, and is now about 2y 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 j
and believes that hurt, he then received, was the
beginning of the appearances, that are reprefen ted
before you. See Tab. XIV. The tumor upon the
top of his head, however, grew firff, and, after
having fpread all over the vertex, extended gradually
downwards over his right fhoulder, and forwards
over the cs frontis , on the fame fide, till it ffretched
downwards into a lax flabby fubftance all over the
right fide of his face and fhoulder : then the upper
of the three anterior tumors arole from the large one ;
the middle one from the ala nafi , pulling it down
by its weight, as you fee it in Figure i . ; and the
lower one was pendulous from the infide of the great
tumor by a narrow neck. Thefe are the appearances
which prefent themfelves at firft fight ; but thofe
under the great tumor are no lefs extraordinary ; for,
upon lifting up the great tumor, and looking up

* The two figures fhew a fore and back view of this fubjeft.

4

under

I1

Tbifas. Trans. VolL. TAB.XIV. jj. 3 50.

J.JMjjndeJc.

Il’arfoos M). «?</ iw. .4/

[ 351 ]

under it, his right eye comes in fight, with which
he fees very well, . and the eye is clear and found ;
but the under lid is pulled down, and flretched to
fix or feven inches long, to which a tumor hung
alfo, as large as that anterior one at the chin, the
loweft of the three ; befides feveral daps and ruga. r
of fkin, and fmaller tumors.

The hairy fcalp is fo ftretched by the vertical tu-
mor, that the hairs are driven afunder • fo that the
tumor is in fome places bald, and the whole is rugged
and uneven. At its bafis, all round, till we come
to the extended part that goes away to the right
fhoulder, a bony edge may be diftindtly felt, as if the
fkull was deprefied at the top : and yet I cannot but
believe, that there is no depreffion of the arch of the
inner table, becaufe the man was from his childhood
ever very healthy > being never troubled with thofe
fymptoms, which ufually attend a depreffion of the
cranium. From this feeming edge the os front is
jfhoots out a great way over the ojja nafi , perhaps to
two or three inches beyond the frontal finus’s ; and
is the bafis, from which the great pendulous tumor
hangs downwards and forwards.

From the root of the nofe, under the upper of the
three fmaller tumors, arifes 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 :
thefe are very confpieuous, and ferve to bring back
the refidual blood from the tumors : nor is it unlikely
that the arteries bear a proportion with thefe veins in
their fize, in order to fupply the tumors with the
matter, which has given them their great increafe j
but thefe, lying concealed, cannot be ipoken to with
any certainty..

I 352 ]

If we compare this growth of the frontal bone
with that of other exojlofes , I believe there may this
difference be rationally obferved ; that other exnf-
tofes are generally attended with ulcerous tumors,
which are for the mofl part cancerous ; and thefe
may commence at any age. I have now drawings,
taken from the right hand of a man of yo, which
reprefent rifings of the radius and ulna , with the fin-
gers, to a molt frightful degree ; and thefe begun
but fix years before, and are attended with foul run-
ning ulcers j and now the bones of the arm and
hand, on the left iide, are beginning to have the fame
appearances : whereas the frontal bone of the prefent
fubjed appears found, as far as we are able to judge
by examination : nor does there appear the leafl dif-
pofition to ulceration in any part of it. When this
is the cafe, the growth generally begins while the
fubjeds are young ; upon which we fhall be more
particular a little further on. His fenfation upon
every part of thefe tumors, is exadly like that of
every other part of his {kin, having not the leafl
uneafinefs upon being handled. This poor man
worked at day-labour in the fields till feme months
before he came to town.

Perhaps it may not be improper to lay down the
dimenfions of thefe tumors, as the cafe is fo extraor-
dinary ; for the fize of them is almofl incredible :
but I made my drawing in the prefencer of feveral
of the gentlemen of that hofpital, who allowed it to
be very exad, and precife in the exprefiion of the
parts, as well as in the dimenfions. The vertical
tumor is about feven inches diameter at the balls,
where the bony edge is felt, mentioned before, and
.about four inches high from that edge. From that

edge.

I

[ 353 ]

edge, or the bafis of the vertical tumor, to the bot-
tom of the great tumor, is ten inches ; fo 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 fide towards you, the whole mafs
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 oppoflte outline of the great
tumor is fix inches j and lower down, from the left
comer of his mouth to the oppoflte outline of the fame
tumor, eight inches. The upper fmall tumor, over
the nofe, is one inch three quarters long by one inch
and a half ; the middle tumor is two inches long from
the ala naji , to which it hangs, and of the fame
breadth ; and the lowefl tumor, fhaped like a goofe’s
egg, is four inches and a half long by near three
inches over.

This man is under the care of Mr. Crane, an emi-
nent furgeon of St. Bartholomew’s Hofpital, who has
]ufl; now taken off the lowefl of thefe three anterior
tumors, and alfo the tumor mentioned, which hung
underneath to the under lid of his right eye. He in-
tends proceeding to take off that at the ala naji next,
and fo on till he takes away all the fmaller tumors
firfl : afterwards the larger will be confldered. The
fubflance of thofe cut off was intirely fat ; nor was
there the leafl fpeck of blood in the lowefl of the
three fmaller tumors ; but there was an hemorrhage
from a veffel divided in taking off that hanging to
the right eye-lid ; which foon yielded to the methods
he made ufe of, and went on fuccefsfully till quite
healed.

It is pity no one of the people of condition in the
Vol. 50* Z z country,

[ 354 ]

country, where this poor man lived, took notice of
him while he wras a lad ; becaufe, when the vertical
tumor begun, or even after it had made fome pro-
grefs, if he had been fent up to any of our hofpitals,
there would have been no difficulty in curing him.
This leads me to fome precautions, which, I hope,
will render my account of the cafe of fome ufe, con-
lidered in a phyfiological light ; which was my in-
tention in thus laying it before this learned Society.

There is a great deal of difference between injuries
received in young fubjedts and in adults. In the
latter, the confequences are not apt to be of fo dan-
gerous a nature as in the former (except indeed where
there happen violent fradtures or wounds, which im-
mediately difpatch the perfon, young or old) ; be-
caufe, in fuch as are fo far advanced in years, as
that the parts have done growing, or, in other words,
are incapable of carrying the perfon to any larger
fize, preserving the natural proportion, a tumor,arifing
from a blow on the head would be merely local,
without extending to any neighbouring parts in fo
extraordinary a manner : but in children, as in the
cafe before you, a tumor may increafe every moment
from a blow, and fpread itfelf to the neighbouring
parts, to the ruin of the child, unlefs timely care be
taken to prevent it ; becaufe in fuch young fubjedts
the parts are continually growing, the veffels en-
Jarging in their diameters, and carrying more and
more nutrition to every point, in proportion to the
nature of each individual organ, always preferving
fuch an equilibrium, in the diftribution of the nutri-
tive juices, as is proper to fecure the due proportion
of every part as it increafes : but when a tumor arifes

from

[ 355 ]

from a blow in filch a growing fubject, if no wound
is made, nor fuppuration brought on in the tumor,
then the parts of the tumor being only weakened,
the equilibrium is deftroycd, a greater flux of juices
than ordinary is carried to it, the due refinance being
impaired, and a luxuriancy of growth is produced in
the place of the injury, which greatly exceeds that
of the reft of the body ; and will moft certainly con-
tinue in the fame manner, during the growth of the
fubjedt, when once thus begun. In the prefent fubjedt,
this luxuriancy was communicated even to the veins,
which are apparent and large, and which were before,
in their natural ftate, fcarce vifible ; and not only to
thefe, but to the very bones of the forehead : and as
to the integuments and membranes of the body,
their great diftenfibility is well known to every one.
I have feen an ovarium fo diftended by water, and
thickened as it grew, that it had fubftance enough
to bear being dreffed by a tanner, and contained nine
gallons, which I faw poured into it after it was dreffed.
And does not every corpulent perfon fhew the fame
power of diftenfion in the membranes and integu-
ments of the body, as well as wens of all kinds upon
the furface ?

I thought fo extraordinary a cafe well worth the
notice of the learned members of this Society in it-
felf ; and the more fo, as thefe few hints fall natu-
rally from it, to render its publication ufeful. We
are taught by this, how neceffary it is for all fuch 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

Z z 2 and

[ 3 56 ]

and neglected too long, have been followed by very
direful circumftances. I have known a young gen-
tleman to have great hard fwellings about his head,
and become epileptic, lohng his fenfes as he advanced
in years, from a blow with the back of a book given
him by a matter. I am, with due refped.

The Society’s

Sept. 1 8. 1757. Mott obedient Servant,

James Parfons.

XLIII. An ExtraEl of the Regifler of the
Parifj of Great Shefford, near Lamborne,
in Berklhire, for Pen Years : With Ob-
fervations on the fame : In a Letter to
Tho. Birch, D. D. Secret. R. S. from the
Rev. Mr, Richard Forfter, ReElor of Great
Shefford.

Great Shefford, near Lamborne,
Rev. Sir, Berks, July 8. 1757.

Read Nov. i7>T T THEN I fettled in the country,
VV abundant leifure enabled me to
keep an exad paritti-regifter. I have now finittied
ten years, I trutt, with fufhcient care, having exa-
mined every thing accurately myfelf. The fight of
three letters, lately published in the Tranfadions,
upon the fubjed of political arithmetic, put me upon

over-

[ 357 ]

overlooking and methodizing my own account ;
which I here fend you, to make what ufe you think
proper of it.

From Lady-day 1747. to D°. 1777.

Baptized -{pe^,es _ 73} I4S

Buried “ Kales” Ji

Increafe — 6y

'Under 2 years of age — ay

Between 2 & 5 — 4

y— 10 3

10 — 20 4

I 20 — 30 y

Buried \ 30 — 40 9

40 — 50 4

50 — 60 4

60 — 70 — 9

70 — 80 1 1

- 80 — 87 y

83

And but one alive above 87, who is pi.

The Number of People 42 y.

The Number of Houfes 90.

The Number of Acres 2245. whereof £ is wade.

I do not offer fuch trifling numbers as thefe, as a
fit fubjeft to build a canon of life upon 5 but only
2 as

[ 358;]

as they may furnifh us with a few particulars, which
may throw fome fmail light upon a fubjeCt 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 difagreeable.

The flrft obfervable in my numbers is, that the
two infancies of human life are exactly equal ; i. e.
as many die above do as under 2 years of age ; and
that thefe two periods of life are by much the mod;
dckly, five eighths of the whole, nearly, dying in
thefe two dages, which renders the intermediate
numbers very lmall.

This will give us fome reafon to fufped, that
capital cities are very improper to edimate the proba-
bilities of life from. The continual flux of people from
the circumjacent country, to feek for employment,
makes the decrements of life feem much larger than
they really are. London is very remarkable upon
this account ; and Breflaw mud receive pretty large
acceflions, as a very conliderable manufacture is car-
ried on there.

The fecond thing I wTould obferve from my table
is, that it confirms what Dr. Brackenridge obferves of
the Ifle of Wight ; viz. that the births are to the
burials as 1 to 1 almoft ; ours being as 1 5 to 8 nearly.
Now if this is the cafe of all the country places in
England, it will give us a ftrong prefumption, that
the increafe of mankind is much quicker than Dr.
Derham’s proportion of 1 to 12 j efpecially if we
confider,

Thirdly, That of the living not 1 in 50 dies
yearly ; and this in a village not very healthy. We
are fituated upon the celebrated Lamborne dream,

which

[ 359 ]

which dries up generally in Augufi:, and leaves a stag-
nated water, and {linking mud, at a critical feafon of
the year, which bring on a putrid fever, and make
our place fometimes very fickly. In the year 17 yi
we buried 17, and in 1756. 11: and therefore we
may prefume, that in the healthiefi: parts of the na-
tion, the proportion is ftill greater, perhaps not one
in 60. In order to clear up this, it were to be wifhed,
that the adtual number of the people was known,
where-ever the bills of mortality are exhibited. All
reafoning without this preliminary is really not much
better than groping in the dark.

A fourth thing obfervable from my numbers is,
that the quantity of people allotted to a houfe is too
big in all former calculations : for if we divide 425,
the number of people, by 90, the number of houfes,
it gives but 4.7a, which is not quite 4 to a houfe ;
and therefore 5 to a houfe, I believe, is as much as
ought to be allowed, taking the nation all together.
Now if the number of houfes, taken in Queen Anne’s
time, be any thing near the right, with one fourth
more allowed for cottages, according to Dr. Bracken-
ridge’s computation, we (hall make the people in
England, allowing 5 to a houfe, to be only 4,5’5'6,f 5 o.
which appears, at firft fight, to be too fmall a number.
However, of Shefford I would beg leave to obferve,
(and it is far from being the poore'l of villages) that
more than two thirds of al the houfes are downright
cottages, and mud be excluded, one as much as an-
other, from any pronofed afifeflinent. Upon this
foundation we mull grant, that at leaf! half the
houfes in England, take towns and all together, mud
be cottages, and plead an exemption from taxation

all

[ 36o ]

all alike. And thus the number of houfes 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 propofed increafe, 789,558. we fhall have
8,080,038 for the number of people now alive in
England.

The fifth and laft thing I would obferve from my
numbers is, that we may hence guefs at the number
of people in the whole kingdom : for if 1 87 1, the
good acres in Shefford, demand 425 perfons for their
cultivation, then will 25,300,000 good acres in
England require 5,704,168 for the cultivation of the
land only. Now fuppofing one third part of the
people only to live in towns, above what is necefiary
for the cultivation of the land belonging to fiich
towns, then we muff add 2,852,084 to the above
fum, which gives us 8,556,252 for the number of
people in England. It may probably here be faid,
that this is but little better than reckoning at random.
Indeed I allow it is fo. But then I mull beg leave to
obferve, that it has full as good a foundation to ftand
upon, as any calculation, that I have feen hitherto
advanced. It has one datum y viz. a certain number
of perfons to a certain number of acres. It ought
to be noted at the fame time, that we are an inland
place, have no fort of manufa&ure carried on, and
confequently no acceffion of ftrangers.

If we examine the calculation arifing from the
confumption of wheat, we fliall fee fome reafon to
fufpedt, that the number of inhabitants in England
is not lliort of eight millions. I am perfuaded I
do not exaggerate, when I affirm, that three fourths
of the people north of Trent, and in Wales, do not

cat

[ 36i ]

eat wheat : and as this is near a third part of Eng-
land, it will follow, that one fourth of the whole is
left out of the calculation, and that we mud; add
near two millions to it to make it complete.

Again, I compute, that in my parifh there are
killed annually 160 fat hogs, viz. above one to three
perfons ; and that this humour of pig-killing pre-
• vails over half of England at lead, and is in fome
meafure indulged in all parts. Now we will fuppofe,
that there are but fix hiillions of people in the na-
tion, and that what is killed in the northern half
makes up for what is deficient by reafon of towns in
the fouthern half ; we mud 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, fometimes barley, fometimes peafe : if we
put half barley, we lhall be under the truth. And
here we diall have a million quarters of barley, not
•only to balance the exportation of wheat, but alfo to
be equivalent to, as much bread-corn as will main-
tain a full million of people.

Farther, it is well known, that the greated part of
.the corn-trade is, of late years, got into the hands of
millers : and it has been whifpered about for a con-
liderable time, and, I think, now the millers do not
deny it, that fome whiting is carried to all the great mills.
'The excufe alleged for it is, that it makes the flour
we/, and confequently bake, the better. I am rather
inclined to be of opinion, that it is to give a colour
to fomething that wants colour. And indeed, who-
ever tades the common bakers bread again d a piece
of genuine wheat-bread, will have fome reafon to
fufpedt, that all is not gold, that glitters. Every body

Vo l. 50. A a a knows.

C 362 1

knows, that the miilers buy large quantities of barley
and peafe, they fay, to fat hogs : but then they have
pollard, middlings, &c. to fat them with ; and fo
may poflibly mix the barley and peafe with wheat to
grind. But as this is all furmife, I would have no

0

more weight laid upon it than it deferves.

The next article is of the fame nature ; I mean,
fomething of a myftery in trade ; and therefore to be
touched very gently. What I would hint is, that it
is the opinion of many very intelligentper fons, that
a good deal of malt is made, which does not pay the
cxcife. I do not pretend to afeertain the quantity :
perhaps one eighth may not be an extravagant fup-
pofition. And if this be the cafe, we fliall find as
much barley, as will weigh againft bread for half a
million of people.

But here, in all probability, you will objedt, that
if all thefe articles be admitted, vve fliall make the
number of people near eleven millions j which is
undoubtedly too much. I am ready to grant it. And
here, if I might take die liberty to fpeak my mind,

1 think, that the allowance of one quarter of wheat
to three perfons is too fcanty, and mull quite flarve
the poor, whole chief provifion is bread : and there-
fore, two perfons to a quarter may be pretty near the
truth. And then the numbers will hand thus :

Such as eat wheat, by fuppofition - 4,500,000
In the North, and in Wales - - 1,500,000
Againft the fatting article - - - 1,000,000
Againft the two laft articles - - 1,000,000

8, ooo?ooo

I can

[ 3&3 ]

I cannot conclude this long fcroli without recom-
mending it drongly to the members of the Royal
Society, who have many of them feats in parliament,
and mod: of them intered in thofe that have, to get
an ACt pafied for perfecting regiders. The trouble
is trifling ; the expence nothing. It would be of
great fervice likewife to number the people : and
this might be done with great eafe. I was not three
hours in finifliing mine on foot ; tho’ it is, perhaps,
as extenflve, for the number of people, as mod: in
England* being near five miles in length, I am.

Reverend Sir,

Your affectionate Brother,

and very humble Servant,

Richard E'orfter, ReSior .

XLIV. A remarkable Cafe of an Aneurifmy
or Difiafe of the principal Artery of the
Thighs occafioned by a Fall. To which is
prefixed a fhort Account of the Uncer-
tainty of the diftingitijhing Symptoms of
this D if eafe. By Jof. Warner, F. R . S.

and Surgeon to Guy’s Hofpital.

-Read Nov. 17, T X T H E N the coats of an artery be-
17 3 7* VV come by any means prasternatu-

rally didended, when they become wounded, or
when they become ruptured in fucll a manner as to

A a a 2 difcharge,

[ 36+ ]

difcharge and depofit their former contents tinder
the neighbouring integuments, under the aponeurofis,
or tendinous expanfion of a neighbouring mufeler
or ftili more deeply under the mufcles themfelves ;
the natural confequence attending this accident will
fooner or later be a degree of elevation, or tumor
which lpecies of tumor is known by the term
aneurifm*

If a true aneurifm happens, that is, a fwelling
arifing from a general weaknefs of the coats of an
arterial veffel, or from a wound or rupture of fome
of its coats, it may be often diflinguifhed from a
tumor proceeding from any other caul'e by a degree of
pulfation, fuppofing the fituation of the injured
veffel be fuperficial ; as may be evinced in recent
aneurilms of the humeral artery, which fometimes-
happen from bleeding near the bending of the elbow-
joint ; as well as in aneurifms of the inferior part
of the radical artery, of the ulnary artery, or of the
anterior artery of the leg called tibialis antica j and
as may be obferved to be fometimes the cafe too in
thole arteries, whofe fituations are not fuperficial ; to
wit, in aneurifms of the aorta afcendens , the curva-
ture of the aorta , and of the carotides.

The fymptom of pulfation in tumors, which take
their rife from a partial wound* or from a geilerai
weaknefs, and fubfequent dilatation of the coats of
an artery, is not confined to this fpecies of aneurifm,
but is frequently attendant upon falfe aneurifms
(that is, fuch tumors, as are occafi'oned by extrava-
fated arterial blood), fuppofing the difeafe to be a
recent one of either of the preceding veffels, or ol
any other arterial veffel not deeply fituated : and

[ 365 ]

this fymptom of pulfation in falfe aneurifms will
fometimes be accompanied with a difcoloration, or
variegated appearance, of the integuments dependent
upon the infinuation of the blood underneath them.

But if the extravafation be confined under an apo-
neurofis, or if the difeafe has been of fo long land-
ing, as to admit of the thinner parts of the extrava-
fated blood being abforbed, or by any other means
difperfed, and the fibrous parts, which are left behind*
fihould be accumulated in confiderable quantities, and
acquire fo compadt and folid an appearance, as to re-
ferable brown macerated leather in their colour and
texture, which I have always obferved to be the cafe
in old difeafes of this kind ; under thefe circumftances,
the original fymptoms of pulfation on the fwelling,
and a difcoloration of the integuments, for the moft
part become imperceptible : for which reafons the
true nature of the difeafe muff be attended with a
degree of uncertainty.

It muff be acknowleged by all thofe, whofe ex-
perience has given them opportunities of examining
into thefe difeafes, that the fymptoms of a pulfation,
and a difcoloration of the teguments from extrava-
fated blood, are not only very often wanting in old
aneurifms, but in the mod recent ones : which
proves the non-exiftenee of thefe fymptoms to be no
certain charadferifties of tumors not being aneurifmal :
and the reafon why this often happens may be readily
explained, and conceived of, from demonstrating the
very deep or low fituation of many arteries, that are
known to be liable to thefe injuries ; fuch as the
femoral arteries, the arteriez tibiales pojlica ?, the ar-
teries perenea, and fome others.

Notwith-

[ 3^6 ]

Nctwithdanding I have treated of pulfation on
tumors, and a difcoloration of the integuments or
coverings of the part, when they do exid, as being
the trued: marks of aneurifms ; yet it mud not be
inferred from what has hitherto been advanced,
that the appearances of thefe fymptoms are unexcep-
tionable rules of tumors being aneurifmal ; feeing it
does happen, that mere impodhumations, or collec-
tions of matter, arifing from external as well as from
internal caufes, are fometimes fo immediately fituated
upon the heart itfelf, and at other times upon fome
of its principal arteries, as to partake in the mod
regular manner of their contraction and dilatation
(fydole and diadole).

Some years ago I faw an indance of a boy, about
13 years of age, who had his bread-bone much
broken by a fall. On this acccount he was admitted
into Guy’s Hofpital 5 but not till a fortnight after the
accident happened.

Upon examination, there appeared an evident fe-
paration of the broken parts of the bone, which were
removed at a confiderable didance from each other :
the intermediate fpace was occupied by a tumor of
u confiderable dze : the integuments were of their
natural complexion : the tumor had as regular a
contraction and dilatation as the heart itfelf, or the
aorta could be fuppofed to have.

Upon predure, the tumor receded ; upon a re-
moval of the predure, the tumor immediately re-
fumed its former fize and fhape. All thefe are the
-didinguhhing dgns of a true recent aneurifm. The
iituation and fymptoms of this fwelling were judged
Sufficient reafons for confidering the nature of the

difeafe

[ 367 ]

difcafe as uncertain ; on which account it was left to
take its own courfe. The event was, the tumor
burft in three weeks after his admittance, difcharged
a confiderable quantity of matter, and the patient
did well.

From what has been above advanced it is plain,
if thefe arguments can be fupported by fadts, that
the laying down fuch rules for infallibly diftinguifh-
ing aneurifmal tumors from tumor9 proceeding from
very different caufes, muft be a matter of the greateft
difficulty : and, as a further proof of their uncer-
tainty, I take the liberty of offering the following
fhort hiffory of a remarkable cafe, which has lately
occurred in my own experience.

In the month of December 17 y 6. John Yates,,
aged 3 5 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 confiderable degree of lamenefs and pain ; which
upon Handing or walking were greatly increafed.

He continued in much the lame Hate for about
fix weeks after the accident. At the end of this
time, the calf or the leg was attacked with an cede-
raatous or doughy fwelling ; which, in a fortnight,,
became fo painful, as to difable him from walking.
The tumor continued to increafe for about eight
weeks ; and at length extended itfelf fo far upwards,
as to affedl the greateft part of the thigh, the whole
of which was attended with exceffive pain, but
more particularly fo about the knee.

N. B. So far I relate from the patient’s own ac-
count.

On

[ 368 ]

On the 28th of April 1757. he was admitted into
Guy’s Hofpital under my care.

Upon examination, the thigh appeared enlarged
to a very great lize. The tumor was uniform, and
extended from the infide of the knee to within a
very fmall fpace of the groin. The integuments
were in every part of their natural colour.

Upon prefling the tumor on the infide, it appeared
foft, and there was a very evident fluctuation to be
felt on its internal and lateral part ; but there was
not the lead appearance of pulfation.

The tumor, on its luperior and pofterior parts,
was of a dony hardnefs.

The leg, which, according to the patient’s account,
had fome time ago been much fwelied, did not now
appear to be at all fo.

He was continually in great pain, and had been for
fome time incapable of getting any fleep. His appe-
tite was bad. He was a good deal emaciated. He
had a conftant flow fever, which arofe about five
weeks before his admiflion into the hofpital. He
appeared pale and fallow 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 fwelling, or in the fymptoms attending it.

In expedition therefore of affording him that re-
lief, which could by no other means be procured, I
judged it advifeable to make an opening into the tu-
mor ; which I did by incifion into the moft promi-
nent and fluctuating part ; upon which there imme-
diately gufhed out a large ftream of thin florid blood,
and at this inflant difeovered to me the true date of
that difeafe ; which, till now, could not be afeer-

tained

[ 369 ]

tained by any peculiar fymptom diftinguifhable by
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 expe-
ditious a manner as pofiible, to apply a tight band-
age upon the thigh, near to the groin; and, left
this might accidentally break, I applied a fecond li-
gature below the firft, and proceeded to amputate
the limb upon the fpot.

During the operation the man fainted, but foon
recovered from this deliquium ; and, without any
bad fymptoms, gradually recovered his reft, appe-
tite, and ftrength, and is now in perfect health.

Upon a difledtion of the thigh and leg, I difcovered
the following appearances :

A great part of the flefhy portions of two of the
extenfor mufcles of the leg, to wit, the vafius in-
terims , and crureus , were deftroyed, witji the fub-
jacent periofteum.

Four of the mufcles, whofe ufes are to bend the
leg, and which compofe the internal and external
hamftrings ; to wit, gracilis , J' emit end mofus, femi-
membranofeis, and biceps tibiae , together with that
addudlor and flexor mufcle of the leg called fartorius ,
were removed at a confiderable diftance from the
thigh-bone on its inferior part, and from the tibia
and fibula on their fuperior parts ; by which means a
large bed or cavity was formed for containing the
extravafation, which confifted partly of a fluid, and
partly of a coagulated blood ; but by far the greateft
part of the coagulum had acquired fo firm and
fibrous a confidence and appearance, as nearly to re-
femble brown macerated leather in its colour and

V o l. 50. B b b texture

[ 37° ]

texture. The neighbouring mufcles appeared livid
and lacerated.

The os femoris was become carious on its inferior
and pofterior parts ; and, at about an inch distance
above the condyle of that bone internally, there arofe
a confiderable exoflojis.

The capfular ligament of the knee-joint was be-
come much thickened, and contained about two
ounces of a vifcid yellow J'ynovia.

The femoral artery, on its inferior part, juft above
its divifion into tibialis a?itica and pojlica , was dif-
eafed j which difeafe extended four inches upwards.

The coats of the artery were confiderably thick-
ened, and lacerated longitudinally.

The fmalleft diameter of the difeafed part of the
artery was two inches and one quarter : the larged:
diameter of the difeafed part of the artery was two
inches and one half.

Hatton* Garden,

Nov. 17. 1757.

XLV. Farther Experiments for increafmg
the Quantity of Steam in a Fire-Engine .
By Keane Fitz-Gerald, Efq\ F, R. S.

Read Nov. 2^, T Gave a former account to the Royal
X Society of fome experiments made
for increafing the quantity of fteam in a fire-engine,
by blowing air thro’ boiling water *, The effedts

* See above, N°. X. p. 53.

then

[ 371 ]

then evidently produced left me, and I believe many
others, who came to view the experiments, no room
to doubt the Teeming caufe. In which error I Should
probably have Still remained, had not farther expe-
riments demonstrated the miflake.

Whatever apology I ought to make this learned
Society, for having given in that account premature-
ly, I believe their great regard to truth, which has
always been the bafis of their refearches for the im-
provement of natural knowlege, will require none
for this. I Shall therefore, as briefly as I can, relate
the further experiments, that were made, which evi-
dently demonstrate the error of the former ; and
from which fome phenomena have occurred, per-
haps hitherto unknown.

In order to try what difference the air paffing thro'
a thinner body of water might occafion, I brought
the horizontal pipe, which (as mentioned in the
former account) was placed 1 2 inches under the
Surface of the water, to within fix inches ; and
found, on fetting the engine to work, that the
leaden pipe, for the conveyance of air from the bel-
lows into the boiler, became much hotter than I had
perceived it before ; which could not happen, if a
conSlant cool air had pafled thro’ : and on Shutting the
cock, which was fixed in the leaden pipe to hinder
the fleam from afcending into the bellows before the
engine Should be fet to work, tho’ no air could then
poflibly pafs thro’, yet the bellows flill continued to
move with the fame regularity as before ; which, on
examination, was found defective on the infide, where
the middle board, that divides the two bodies, was
warped and cracked in feveral places, thro’ which

B b b 2 the

[ 372 ]

the air paited very regularly from one body to the
other at each ftroke, inftead of palling thro’ the pipe
into the boiler, as imagined. By this, the caufe of
deception was evident ; which I was ftill in hopes
of remedying, by having a new pair of bellows
made, fomewhat larger, and much ftronger. When
this was fixed, and the engine worked a few firokes,
I was furprifed to find the bellows did not come
down, but remained fully charged with air, tho’ it
had 4.00 lb. weight upon it ; and that, on increafing
the weight gradually to 1 400 lb. which was as much
as the bellows could fupport, the air was not forced
thro’.

I alfo made feveral experiments, by lowering the
horizontal pipe two feet under the furface of the
water, and railing it at different times to within four
inches of the furface, and could not at any depth
force the air thro’, whilft the engine worked j but on
opening the fteam-pipe, which is a pipe for letting
the fteam pafs from the boiler whenever the engine
flops, the bellows could then readily force the air
thro’, tho’ the water boiled ever fo ftrong, and feem-
ingly made a furprifing increafe of fteam.

I had the leaden pipe to convey the air from the
bellows, which was firft put thro’ the top into the
boiler, carried on the outfide, and palled horizontally
into it, about the height the water generally Hands,
that by opening a cock, fixed for the purpofe clofe to
the boiler, I could readily difcharge all the fteam
lodged in the pipe ; and by Hunting the cock, and
making fmall holes at three or four inches diftance,
I could almoft find the point, where the air and
fteam met in oppofition, cool air being ftrongly ex-
pelled thro’ one, and hot fteam thro’ the other.

It

[ 373 ]

It was alfo perceptible, that the air was impelled
fomewhat, tho’ not coniiderably, more forward by
the addition of each hundred weight on the bel-
lows :

That the deeper the horizontal pipe was placed
in the water, the lefs refiftance was made by the
fleam :

That in proportion as the heat of the fleam was
increafed, by making the water boil more ftrongly,
the refiftance to the prelfure 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 anfwered the purpofe
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 demonftrably in that point, has produced the
fame effedt from another caufe, as to faving coals,
and throwing up more water. For, by the conftant
care, that was taken during the time of making thefe
experiments, to meafure the coals, to admit only a
proper quantity of fuel to be laid on, and alfo to
mark the time exadtly it took in burning ; the en-
gine then did, and hill continues to require eight
bufhels of coals lefs, in every 24 hours work, than
it did before ; and alfo, from the regularity of its
ftroke, to throw up more water ; the fame care be-
ing required from the engineer, who can have no
pretence for confuming more coals now, than ap-
peared fufficient during the time the experiments
were making.

Tho’ fome of the properties of fleam are well
known ; yet the degrees of expanfion it is capable

of v

[ 374 ]

of j whether air be mixed with, or neceflary to, its
formation ; as alfo how far its power of refinance
may reach ; are probably not yet known, to a proper
degree of exa&nefs. Niewentit fixes the expanfion
of a cubical inch of water, converted into fteam, at
13365", Dr. Defaguliers at 14000, and Mr. Payne
at 4000 times. The great fcope in this fubjedt
from a plenum to a vacuum, if I may be allowed the
expreflion, as alfo the very ufeful purpofes, to which
it has already been, and pofiibly may be flill further
applied, will, I hope, be an inducement to thofe,
who are much better qualified, to proceed in fo
ufeful an inquiry.

,u

XLVI. Obfervatio Eclipfis Euruz Die 27 Mar-
tii, Ann. 1755. habit a UliJJipone in Domo
Patrum Congregationis Or at or ii a Joanne
Chevalier ejufidem Congregationis Prejby-
tero , Regime Londinenfis Societatis Socio ,
Regiceqae Parifieniis Scientiarum Aca-
demia? correfiponde?ite .

Tubo optico 8 pedum peradta eft obfervatio coelo
' lereno, claroque.

Hora poftnieridiana

IMMERSIONES. temporis veri.

h / //

Read Dec. 8,'l'Nitium penumb raedubium 10 29 fo

1 757* Initium eclipfis dubium 10 33 35"

Certe jam incaeperat 10 34 05

Umbra ad mare humorum 10 44 00

Umbra

[ 375 ]

Umbra ad Grimaldum —
Grimaldus totus in umbra

Thico incipit mergi
Thico totus mergitur

Umbra ad Reinholdum
Umbram ingreditur Cop
Umbra ad mare nedaris
Totum in umbra —

Emersiones.

Incipit egredi Grimaldus

Emergit mare humoruni —
Incipit emergere Capuanus
Egreditur Schicardus - —

Emergit Thico

Totum mare nedraris egreditur
Finis eclipfis

Finis penumbrae dubius

h

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1 6

50

XLVIT

[ 376 ]

XLVTI. Eclipfis Luna Die 4* Februarii,
Ann. 1 757 . habita UHJfipone a Joanne
Chevalier Prejbytero Co?2gregationis Ora -
toriiy Regime Londinenfis Societatis Socio ,
Regiceque Scientiarum Parifienfis Acade-
mia carref pendente, et a Theodoro de Al-
meida ejufdem Congregationis Prejbytero ,
ac Phyfca publico Profejfore.

Read Dec. 8. T ~T A N C obfervationem peregi tubo
JL X °pbco novem pedes longo, cujus
lens ocularis focum habebat ad 4 pollices, et lineam
unam : adhibui preterea vitrum planum casruleum,
quod oculum inter et ocularem lentem interpone-
bam, utingreffum macularum in’umbram obfervarem
juxta ea quae in obfervatione eclipfis lunas ann. 17 f 5.
invenit clariffimus vir Jofephus Soares de Barros ex
regia Berolinenfi academia. Primum igitur vitro
caeruleo adhibito obfervabam ingrelTum maculae in
umbram, et tempore notato iterum folo tubo optico
ingreffum ejufdem maculae in umbram obfervabam,
et differentiam utriufque ingreflus notabam.

Initio eclipfis coelum ferenum ac clarum fuit,
poftea nubilum, et poll maximam obfeurationem
vapores horizontis et claritas incipientis diei obferva-
tionem peragere impediere.

Mane.

Initium penumbrae
Initium dubium eclipfis
Certojam incaeperat

H. m. s.

4 52 4p

• 4 55 2()

4 57 3°

Umbra

C 377 3

Umbra ad Ariftarchum obfervata vi-
tro cseruleo piano

Solo tubo optico adhibito ■ -
Keplerus umbram ingreditur obferva-
tus tubo, et vitro casruleo piano —

Obfervatus folo tubo optico

Plato umbram ingreditur obfervatus

tubo, et vitro cseruleo

Solo tubo

Umbra ad Eudoxum

Mare ferenitatis incipit mergi

Copernicus obfervatus tubo et vitro

cseruleo umbram ingreditur

Solo tubo

Mare Cr ilium ingreditur umbram —

Medium in umbra —

■ Totum mergitur

Mare fcecunditatis occultari incipit --
Umbra ad promontorium acutum

Umbra tangit mare nedtaris

Umbra ad Langrenum

Man£.

H.

M.

s.

5

OO

S

00

5

*3

20

S

14

00

S

*5

A

J*

5

15

40

S

*7

l8

5

30

IO

S

36

48

S

37

22

5

S3

51

S

59

30

6

5

21

6

7

4*

6

8

33

6

22

6

23

33

Obfervationes Eclipfmm Sate Hi turn Jovis Uliffiponc
habitce a Joanne Chevalier, &c .

ANNO 1757 telefcopio Gregoriano 7 pedum
nodte ferena, nullaque lunari luce illuftrata, ob-
fervavi immerfionem totalem primi fatellitis die 21
Martii tempore vero poftmeridiano — nh 13' 1"

Die vero 22 Martii tempore vero> et antemeridiano*
obfervavi immerfionem totalem tertii fatellitis

0h 13' 32"

Vol, 50, Ccc XL VIII.

[ 378 ]

XLVIII. Obfervationes Eclipjtum Satellitum

Regiceque Londineniis Societatis Socioy
Anno 1757.

Read Dec. 8. t ■ lElefcopio Gregoriano 7 pedum ob-
^57. fervavi emerfionem primi fatellitis

die 7 Junii cum caelum ferenum ac clarum eftet,
hora poftmeridiana temporis veri io*» 29' 21"

Die 8 Junii eodem telefcopio obfervavi emerfio-
nem fecundi fatellitis hora poftmeridiana 8h 32' 48'''
caelum aliquantum nubilum erat.

Eadem die obfervavi emerfionem tertii fatellitis

hora poftmeridiana • — - . 9 h 3 6 ' 25"

caelo claro.

Die 1 5 Junii caelo claro obfervavi emerfionem fe-
cundi fatellitis hora poftmeridiana nh 6' 15"

Sequenti die 16 Junii obfervavi immerfionem tertii
fatellitis hora matutina temporis veri — oh o' 29"

habitcz a Joanne Cheva-
Congregationis Oratorii ,

XLIX.

C 379 ]

XLIX. A remarkable Cafe of the Efficacy of
the Bark in a Mortification . In a Letter
to William Watfon, M. D. F.R. S. from
Mr. Richard Grind all, Surgeon to the
London Hof pit al .

Auftin-Friars, Dec. 7th, 1757.

S I R,

Read Dec. 8, / g A H E following cafe being very fin-
1 757- gular has induced me to lay it

before the Royal Society, and beg the favour to do
it through your means. Although numerous inftan-
ces are related in the records of medicine, of the great
danger in interrupting nature in her operations, there
is not one (fo far as I know), in which more violent
and extraordinary effects have been produced, than
in the following.

It may happen alfo, that this inftance may be of
fervice in afcertaining the virtue of the medicine in
intermittents, when in the hands of men of judg-
ment.

On the 28th of June 17 f 7. Mary Alexander, aged
31 years, of the parifh of Whitechapel, was brought
into the London hofpital, having a mortification in
both hands, which reached about an inch and half
above the wrifts. All her toes, and about an inch of
one foot beyond the laft joint, were mortified ; her
nofe was alfo intirely deffroyed by a mortification j
and all thefe happened at the fame time. Upon in-
quiry into the caufe of this misfortune, I found, that
on Monday the 30th of May fhe was feized with a

quotidian

C c c 2

[ 3So ]

quotidian ague, which ufually began about three of the
dock in the afternoon, and lafted near two hours;
which was fucceeded by a hot fit, and then a violent
fweat. And in this manner fiie was affli&ed for feven
days without any material alteration ; when, being
informed by a neighbour, of a perfon, who had an
infallible remedy for the cure of an ague,, {lie applied
to him. He brought her two phials, containing about
an ounce and half each, of a pale yellowifii liquor ;
one of which he directed her to take diredly, pro-
miGng, that fiie fiiould have no return of the fit of
confequence ; and that, if file had any fmall return,
the fecond bottle fiiould cure her effectually. In
confequence of which, file took one dofe, which was
at the time the cold fit had been on about a quarter
of an hour : file had no fooner fwallowed it , but, as
file fays, her ftomach was on fire, and felt as if (he
had fwallowed the ftrongeft dram pofiible. The cold
fit left her inftantly ; but file was immediately feized
with fo violent a fever, as to make her burn, and be
extremely thirfty, all the following night ; much
more fo than ever fiie had been before, till the next
morning, when a fweat a little relieved her from the
violent heat. When file rofe in the morning, fiie
was much troubled with a great itching in the hands,,
feet, and nofe ; and foon after all thofe parts began
to feel numbed, or, as fiie defcribes it, as if her
hands and feet were afieep; which fiie took but little
notice of, till the evening of that day, when fiie
found the nails of both hands and feet were turning
black, and, at the fame time feeling great pain in
both, as alfo in her nofe, and that they appeared of
a darkifii red colour, like the fkin in cold weather.

Upon

f

[ 38i ]

Upon which, at nine o’clock that night fhe Tent for
an apothecary, from whom, I have fince been infor-
med, the perfon 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 mix-
ture with fperma ceti and ammoniacum to be taken
occafionally. The apothecary did not fee her himfelf
till the 1 6th of June, when finding her in a very bad
condition, that her hands, and feet, and nofe, were
intirely black, and had many veficles or fmall bladders
upon them, filled with a blackifh bloody water ; he:
opened them, and let out the fluid, and dreffed them
with yellow bafilicon ; and in this manner continued
treating her till the 20th of the fame month, when,
finding no material alteration for the better, he or-
dered her a brownifh mixture, of which fine was to
take four fpoonfuls every four hours; which, he in-
formed me, was a decoClion of the bark; and fays,
on taking this, fire was better, as the mortification
teemed inclined to flop. But as it was a bad cafe, he
advifed the woman to be carried to an hofpital : and
in this condition was fhe brought in, when fire was
immediately put into a courfe of the bark, taking a
drachm of the powder every four hours ; and in 48
hours taking it there was a perfect feparation of all
the mortified parts. She was then ordered to take
it only three times in 24 hours; and purfuing this me-
thod for eight days, there was a very good digeffion
from the parts above the mortification.

The mortified part became now fo offenfive, that
the poor woman preffed me much to take off her
hands, affixing me fire wrould go through tire opera*

tions*

[ 382 ]

tions with good courage, being very defirous to lire,
though in this miferable condition.

On the 1 2th of July I took off both her hands : I
had very little more to do, than faw the bones, na-
ture having flopped the bleeding, when (he flopped
the mortification. In a day or two after, I took
off all the toes from both feet, and now difcon-
tinued the bark, the parts appearing in a healthy
and healing condition ; which went on fo for five
weeks, when, on a fudden, the parts began to look
livid, her ffomach failed her, and flie was feverifh ;
but, upon taking an ounce of the bark, in 36 hours
her fores began again to look well. She was not
fuffered to leave off the bark fo foon this time, but
continued taking it twice a day for a month. She
is now almoft well : that part of her face, from
whence the nofe mortified, was healed in feven weeks ;
the flumps of both arms are intirely healed ; and
both feet are well, only waiting for one piece of bone
fcaling oft', which I believe will be in a very fhort
time *, and fhe is now in £ood health.

The perfon, who gave her this medicine, is a Bar-
ber and Peruke- maker at Bow. I applied to him
l'everal times, to inform me what it was he had given
her. The affair was talked of fo much in his neigh-
bourhood, and the man threatned by the woman’s
hulband, 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, correfponding with the time of his giv-
ing them to the woman, and that I knew it was tinc-
ture of myrrh, lie at laft told me, that he had fre-
quently given the above quantity of an ounce and half

of

[ 383 ]

of it in an ague ; that it had never done any harm
and hardly ever failed to cure. Upon which infor-
mation, I carried fome tinfture of myrrh to the wo-
man, who tailed it, and is well allured it is the fame
liquor the barber gave her in her ague-fit.

I am, with refped:,

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 . inclojing Two Papers communicated
to him by Robert Whyttr, M. D. F. R. S.

Pallmall-Court, St. James’s,
SIR, Dec. 10. 1757.

Head Dec. 15. tk BOUT three weeks ago I put into
1757 jlJL your hands an extract of a letter,
I had then received from Dr. Whytt, containing
a pofifcript to his Obfervations on Lord Walpole’*
Cafe ; and Rightly mentioning fome doubts he had
then about the juftnefs of Dr. Springsfeld’s experi-
ments with lime-water, from fome trials he himfelf
had made, upon reading that gentleman’s curious
treatife on the extraordinary lithontriptic quality of'
the waters at Carlfbad in Bohemia. Within thefe
few Days, Dr. Whytt having favoured me with a full
account of thofe experiments, I have herewith fent
you. his paper, in order, if you pleafe, to lay it be-

[ 384 ]

fore the Society ; which the author de/ires may be
done, in cale thefe obfervations Should be judged
ufeful.

The other paper incloied was lent me by the fame
hand, to be like wile prefented to the Society, as a
well-attefled inffimee of the electrical power in the
cure of a palfy. To the other testimonies I have
Subjoined what Dr. Whytt fays in his letter to me,
by way of Strengthening the evidence. I Shall only
add, that lince Mr. Brydone, the author of this ac-
count, has omitted telling how long the patient has
continued in perfedt health lince the operation, it
appears She mult have been well for Some months
before the date of his paper ; becaufe, before the end
of laft Summer, Dr. Whytt transmitted the Same
cafe to me, which I then returned, in order to have
it drawn up in a fuller manner, and with other
vouchers belides the gentleman, who performed the
cure. The DoCtor has been fo good as to comply
with my requeSt, having procured a more ample ac-
count of the circumstances from Mr. Brydone, and
the atteSlation of two ministers, befides that of the
patient herfelf. * My difficulties being thus re-
moved.

* 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 parifh, where the woman lived, the
time when (he was cured, and alfo that he had not fully dated his
paper ; Dr. Whytt fome time after wrote to Dr. Pringle, that hav-
ing defired Mr. Brydone to furnifh him with thefe particulars, he had
received for anfwer, “ That the woman, on whom the cure was
<c performed, had lived all her life in the parifh of Coldinghame,
“ and for the laft twelve years in that town : That her father had

“ died

. C 3«s ]

moved, I believe I may now with freedom offer this
very curious cafe to the attention of the Society.

I am,

S I R,

Your moft obedient humble Servant,

John Pringle.

Pojlfcript to Dr. Whytth Ob [creations on Lord
Walpole’* Cafe *.

9

Read Dec. 8, << T Do not know, if it be worth while
'757- “ A t0 obferve, that lately, in making

“ fome experiments with different calculi , there was
“ one almoft as white as chalk, but of a lefs hard
“ fubftance than the others ; and which was not
tx in the lead degree diffolved or foftned by being
<c infufed 20 days in oyflerfhell lime-water, but
“ yielded fomewhat to a folution of Spanifh foap
u in common water.

“ From this experiment one may conclude, that
<l it is better to prelcribe both foap and lime-water

<c died of the palfy feven years ago, after having been fubjedt to
<c that diftemper for feveral years : That the cure was performed
“ in his father’s houfe at Coldinghame, on the 4th, 5th, 6th,
“ and nth of days of April 1757. a circumftance he had noted
tc down : That as to the date of his paper, prefented to the Royal
c‘ Society, he only recolledts it was written fome day in the be-
“ ginning of November laftj but as the woman ftill continued
“ well, he hoped the precife day of the month was no material
“ omiffion.” This letter to Dr. Whytt is dated, Coldinghame,
January 9th, 1758.

* See above, p. 209, & feqq.

V o l. 50. D d d

<c

for

[ 386 ]

,{ for the ftone, than any one of them alone ; and
*'* that if one of thefe remedies has failed of giving
<f relief, the other ought to be tried : for as the
" above white calculus , which yielded a little to the
<c folution of foap, refilled lime-water ; fo there may
“ perhaps be others, that are readily diffolved by
“ lime-water, but little affedted by foap.

“ Dr. Springsfeld’s experiments with lime-water
“ are fomehow not juft j for in feveral calculi I
“ have found the diflolving power of oyfterfhell
“ lime-water above eight times greater than he
“ makes it.”

Some Obfervaiions on the lithontriptic Virtue
of the Carl (bad IV aters , Lime-water y and
Soap : In a Letter to Dr. John Pringle,
F. R . S. from Dr. Robert Why tt, F. R. S.
and Profeffor of Medicine in the Umverfty
of Edinburgh.

S I R,

Read Dec. 15. T^ROM tire experiments related in Dr.

Springsfeld’s Commcntatio de prczro-
gativa thermarum Carolinarum , &c. which you were
fo good as to fend me fome time ago, it appears,,
that thefe waters are not only poflefied of a very ex-
traordinary power of difiolving the ftone, but that
in this refpedt they greatly exceed lime-water.

(A) Thus, Dr. Springsfeld having infufed, for 14
Days, in a heat of 96 degrees of Fahrenheit’s fcale,
three pieces of the fame calculus , each weighing 30
5 grains,.

[ 387 ]

grains, in eggfhell lime-water, the Carlfbad water,
and in the urine of one who daily drank this laft
water, renewing thefe feveral menftruums every day,
he found, on the 15th day, that the calculus in the
lime-water had loft 1 grain, the calculus in the Carlft
bad water 6 grains, and that in urine y grains.

(B) Again, having divided another calculus into
four parts, each of which was reduced to 80 grains,
he put the firft in oyfterfhell lime-water, the fecond
in Carlfbad water, and the third in the urine of a
perfon who drank this water. After 20 days, during
which time the menftruums were renewed every
day, and kept in a heat of 96 degrees, the dried
calculi had loft of their weight as follows : the firft 3
grains, the fecond 18 grains, and the third 14 grains.

Altho’ I make no doubt that Dr. Springsfeid, who
appears to be a man of candour, as well as learning,
has faithfully related the event of the experiments,
which he made ; yet eitjier the lime-water he ufed
muft have been very weak, or fome other miftake
muft have happened in his experiments : for in all
the numerous trials I made, about 15 years ago, of
lime-water, as a folvent for the ftone, 1 always found
its diflolving power much greater, than it appears in
Dr. Springsfeld’s experiments. And as in thefe trials
different urinary ftones were ufed, it can fcarcely be
imagined, that it was owing to the peculiar hardnefs
of Dr. Springsfeld’s calculi, that the lime-water
made fo little impre'flion on them. However, to be
ftill further fatisfted of this matter, I made the fol-
lowing experiments.

D d d 2 1. 1

Ddd 2

[ 388 ]

I. I put a piece of a very hard calculus , which
I lhall call x , weighing 80 grains, in oyfterfhell
lime-water, renewing the lime-water every day, and
keeping it in a heat between 90 and 1 06 degrees of
Fahrenheit's fcale. After 20 days, I took out the
calculus ; and having fet it by for fome days, till it
was become quite dry, I brufhed away all the rotten
part of it, which was reduced to a kind of chalky
powder, and found that the undiffolved part of it
weighed 57 grains.

1. At the fame time a piece of another calculus ,

weighing 1 y grains, was, after a like infufion of
20 days in oyfterfhell lime-water, reduced to 10

grains.

3. I put a piece of weighing. 14 grains, in a
folution of half an ounce of the internal part of
Spanifh foap in nine ounces of water, and every
third day renewed the folution, which was kept in
a heat of about 60 degrees. After 14 days, I found
the undiffolved part not to exceed 1 1 grains.

4. A piece of a white chalky calculus , y, weigh-
ing 30 grains, had near 4 grains of its fubflahce
diffolved, by being 14 days infufed as above in a fo-
lution of foap.

From N°. r. above, compared with Dr. Springs-
feld’s Exper.(B), it appears, that the diffolving power
of oyfterfhell lime-water is to that of the Carhbad.
water as 23 to 18, fuppofing the calculi ufed in thefe.
experiments to have been equally eafy to diffolve.

N°. 3. compared with Dr. Springsfeld’s Exper.(A),
fhews, that the diffolving power of a folution of the
inner part of Spanifh foap, in a heat of 60 degrees,

[ 389 ]

is to that of the Carlfbad water, in a heat of 96 de-
grees,. as 15 to 14.

From N°. 4. compared with (A), the diflblving
power of foap is to that of the Carllbad water only as
4 to 6; but it is probable, that had the folution of
foap been kept in a heat of g6 degrees, its diflblving
power would, even in this experiment, have nearly
equalled that of the Carlfbad water. It may, per-
haps, be worth while to obferve, that a piece of the
white chalky calculus of N 0 4. was not in the fmalleft
degree diflolved by lying in lime-water 20 days..

5. In Exper. 19. of my Eflay on the Virtue of
Lime-water, a piece of a calculus , b , weighing 31
grains, loft 7 grains by being infilled 36 hours, in a*
a heat of above 100 degrees, in very ftrong oifter-
fhell lime-water. And in the fame water, of a mo-
derate ftrength, another piece of b loft, in the fame
time, f grains-..

In this laft experiment, the lithontriptic virtue of
lime-water appears to be ftronger than in N°. 1. and
2. above i and greatly exceeds that of the Carllbad
water in Dr. Springsfeld’s Exper. (A) and (B).

But altho’, from what has been faid, it appears
not only that lime-water, but alfo a folution of loap,
dilfolves the ftone in dole veflels as faft, nay fafter,
than the thermae Carolina ; yet thefe laft waters,
when the calculi were lo placed in open veflels, that
the water from the fountain might conftantly flow
along them, effected a much quicker diflolution than,
lime-water, or even foap-lye, or indeed any known
menftruum, except, perhaps, ftrong fpirit of nitre :

for,..

[ 39° ]

for, in tlie firff experiment made by Dr. Springsfeld,
a calculus of two ounces and a half was, in this
manner, quite diffolved in fix days. From this ex-
periment, compared with that of Dr. Springsfeld
mentioned above (B), it will be found, upon calcu-
lation, that the diffolving power of the Carlfbad
water, when it is allowed to flow conftantly from
the fountain along the hone, is nearly 3 9 times
greater than when it is only poured frefh on the cal-
culus once a day *. What may have been the rea-
fon of this furprifing difference of the lithontriptic
power of the Carlibad water in thefe different cir-
cum dances, I will not pretend to fay. I think it
can fcarcely be accounted for from the gentle motion
of the water along the furface of the calculus . Was
it then owing to l'ome very volatile adtive part, which
the water quickly lofes, after being taken from the
fountain ?

But how great foever the diffolving power of the
Carlibad waters may be, when they iffue from the
bowels of the earth, yet that they do not commu-
nicate a much greater diffolving 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 perfon, who drank the Carlibad waters, reduced,
in 14 days, a piece of calculus , weighing 30 grains,
to 2y grains. And in an experiment made by Dr.
Newcome, now Lord Biihop of Llandaff, who
drank four Engliih pints of oyilerihell lime-water

* Vid. EiTay on the Virtue of Lime-water, 2d edit. p. 176, 177.

daily, >

[ 39i ]

daily, his Lordfhip’s urine reduced, in four months
a piece of calculus , weighing 3 1 grains, to three
fmali bits, weighing in all 6 grains *f*. Whence it
follows, that the diffolving power of his Lordfhip’s
urine mufl have been to the diffolving power of the
urine of the perfon who drank the Carlfbad waters
nearly as 35 to 65 £. But if we confider, that the
calculus infufed in the urine of the perfon who drank
the Carlfbad 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 ufed, it will appear probable,
that the diffolving power of his Lordfhip’s urine was
little inferior to that of the perfon who drank the
Carlfbad waters > for lime-water, in a heat of 96
degrees, diffolves the calculus at lead: twice as faft,
as in the common heat of the air in winter. Further,
if it be attended to, that the quantity of Carlfbad
waters drank every day before dinner is from fix to
eight lib. while his Lordfhip only drank four lib.
of lime-water in 24 hours, it will follow, that
whatever the different diffolving powers of the lime-
water and Carlfbad waters may be out of the body,
yet the former feems, in proportion to the quantity
drank, to communicate at lead: an equal diffolving
power to the urine.

But without prefuming to decide certainly, as to
the comparative virtue of the Carlfbad waters and
lime-water, I fhall conclude with obferving, that
tho’ the Carlfbad waters are lefs difagreeable to the

tafle,.

t Eflay on Lime-water, 2d edit. p. 208, &c,
X Ibid. p. 176 and 177.

C 392 ]

tade, and may be drank in larger quantity, than
lime-water, yet this laft may be drank equally
good in all places, and at all feafons of the year ;
which is not the cafe with the Carlibad waters.

November 30. 1757.

An Inflance of the Ele&rical Virtue in the
Cure of a Valfy . By Mr, Patrick Fry-
done.

Read Dec. 1 Lizabeth Foder, aged 33, in poor cir-
' cumdances, unmarried, about 1 5 years
ago was feized with a violent nervous fever, accom-
panied with an afthma, and was lb ill, that her life
was defpaired of. She recovered however from the
violence of her aidemper, but the fad effedts of it re-
mained. For, from this time, die continued in a
weakly uncertain date of health till the month of
July, 175*5, when die was again taken ill of the
fame kind of fever ; and after it went off lhe was trou-
bled with worfe nervous fymptoms than ever, ending
at lad in a paralytic dilorder, which fometimes affedted
the arm, fometimes the leg, of the left lide ; in fuch
a manner as that thefe parts, tho’ deprived of all mo-
tion for the time, yet dill retained their fenlibility.
In this condition lhe remained till the fpring 1756,
when unexpedtedly die grew much better ; but not
fo far as to get quite rid of her paralytic complaints ;
which, in cold weather, feldom failed to manifed
themfelves by a numbnefs, trembling, fenfation of
cold, and a lofs of motion in the left dde.

This

[ 393 ]

This paralytic tendency made her apprehend ve of
a more violent attack ; which accordingly foon hap-
pened : for, about the end of Auguft, in the fame
year, her fymptoms gradually increafed, and in a very
fhort time the loft all motion and fenfation in her left
ftde. In this ftate fhe continued throughout laft win-
ter with the addition of fome new complaints ; for
now her head fhook conftantly ; her tongue falter-
ed fo much, when fhe attempted to fpeak, that
(he could not articulate a word ; her left eye grew
fo dim, that fhe could not diftinguifh colours with
it ; and fhe was often feized with fuch an uni-
ver.fal coklnefs and infenfibility, that thofe who faw
her at fuch times fcarce knew whether fhe was dead
or alive.

Whilft the woman was in this miferd le condition,
obferving that (he had fome interm lions, during
which fhe could converfe and ufe her right leg and
arm, in one of thofe intervals I propofed trying to re-
lieve her by the power of electricity. With this view,
I got her fupported in fuch a manner as to receive the
fhocks ftanding, holding the phial in her right hand,
whilft the left was made to touch the gun-barrel.
After receiving; feveral verv fevere fhocks, fhe found
herfelf in better fpirits than ufual ; faid fhe felt a heat,
and a prickling pain, in her left thigh and leg, which
gradually lpread over all that fide ; and after under-
going the operation for a few minutes longer, ffe
cried out, with great joy, that fhe felt her foot on
the ground.

The electrical machine producing fuch extraordi-
nary effeCls, the aCtion was continued; and that: day
the woman patiently fubmitted to receive above 200
Vol. 50. See fhocks

[ 394 ]

frocks from it. The confequence was, that the fra-
king of her head gradually decreafed, till it intirely
ceafed ; that fre was able at laft to ftand without any
fupport ; and on leaving the room quite forgot one of
her crutches, and walked to the kitchin with very
little afiiftance from the other. That night fre con-
tinued to be well and ilept better than fie had done
for feveral months before, only about midnight fre
was fcized with a faintifrnefs, and took notice of a
ftrong fulphureous tafte in her mouth; but both faint-
nefs and that taf e went off, upon drinking a little wa-
ter. Next day, being eledtriled as before, her ft rength
fenfibly increafed during the operation, and when
that was over fre walked eafily with a ftick, and could
lift feveral pounds weight with her left hand, which
had been fo long paralytic before. The experiment
was repeated on the third day ; by which time flie
had received in all upwards of 600 fevere ftiocks.
She then telling us that ftie had as much power in
the fide that had been affedted as in the other, we
believed it unneceffary to proceed farther as the elec-
tricity had already, to all appearance produced a com-
pleat cure. And indeed the patient continued to be
well till the Sunday following, viz. about three days
after the laft operation ; but upon going that day to
church, fre probably catched cold ; for on Mon-
day ftie complained of a numbnefs in her left hand
and foot ; but, upon being again eledtrifed, every
fymptom vanifred, and fre has been perfedtly well
ever fince.

Coldingham, Nov. 1757. Patrick Brydonc.

Til at

_ •[ 395 ]

That the above is a true and exadt account of my
cafe, and of the late wonderful cure wrought on me,
is attefted by

Elizabeth Fofler.

I was eye witnefs to the eledtrical experiments made
by my fon on Elizabeth Fofter, and faw with plea-
fure their happy effedts. By the blefting of God ac-
companying them, from a weak, miferable, and at
fometimes almoft an infenfible ftate, die was, in a
very fhort time, reftored to health and ftrength ; of
which the above is in every refpedt a true account.

Robert Brydonc,

Minifter of Coldingham.

Extract of a Letter from Dr. Whytt to Dr. Pringle,

relating to this Account : Dated Edinburgh, i Dec.

1 757 •

COME days ago I had tranfmitted to me Mr. Bry-
^ done’s account (inclofed) of the fuccefs of the elec-
trical Blocks in a paralytic patient, attefted by the pa-
tient herfelf, and by Mr. Brydone’s father, who is
minifter at Coldingham, in the (hire of Berwick. At
the fame time I had a letter from the Reverend Mr.
Allan, Minifter of Eymouth (in the neighbourhood),
informing me, that he had examined the patient par-
ticularly, and found Mr. Brydone’s account to be per-
fedtly true. lie further informs me, that he never
obferved the eledtrical ftiock fo ftrong from any ma-
chine, as from Mr. Brydone’s. It feems, that gen-
tleman lias not only applied himfelf to the ftudy of
natural philofophy, but ajlb of medicine.

Robert Whytt

[ 396 }

LI. An Account of fome fojfle Fruits , and
other Bodies , found in the If and of Shepey.
By James Parfons, M. D . F. R . S.

"To the Right Honourable the Earl of Maccles-
field, Prefident of the Royal Society.

My Lord, Sept. 25, 17-57.

.Read Dec. 15. | jEIN G ever defirous to promote the
J757- Jj bufinefs of this learned Society, I
could not lofe the opportunity that prefented, of lay-
ing before you an account, and drawings (See Tab.
XV. S? XVI.), of a moft curious parcel of foffil
fruits, and fome other bodies, fent me from Shepey-
Ifland, by my ingenious friend Mr. Jacob, of Faver-
fham, Surgeon, and Fellow of the Antiquary So-
ciety.

I do not remember, that foffil feeds, or fruits, are
recorded in ourTranfadtions, tho’ many of other kinds
have places in them ; nor indeed that the memoirs
of other academies have made mention of any fuch
fruits j and therefore, as thefe are chiefly pyritical,
and confequently liable to fall to pieces, I thought it
neceffary to make drawings of them while in a found
Rate, in order for engraving, if the Society ffiall think
fit ; left their being fo fubjedl to moulder away might
put it out of my power to preferve their forms. How-
ever, I have great hopes I ffiali be able to preferve the
greater part of them intire till they are ffiewed to the
Society^

In

[ 397 ]

In defcribing thefe bodies, we fliall be obliged to
make the belt conjectures we can of fome of them
only ; for feveral are fufficiently obvious to every natu-
ralilt, and eafily known by comparing them to fuch
recent fruits, as are frequent enough among us. Some
of them are abfolutely exotics ; and indeed they are
all rare and curious, and, in my humble opinion, well
worth the notice of the Royal Society.

Dodtor Woodward’s catalogue *, which is fo ample
and full of all kinds of foffil bodies, has only a very
few fruits ; and thefe are only fome hazle nuts found
in different places, a few pine-cones, andlaryxes; and
one fruit, which was taken for an unripe nutmeg.
In this collection before us they are all very different,
and fuch as have not been feen before.

It will not be amifs, in this place, to give a Ihort
detail of fuch bodies as are capable of either being
petrified themfelves, or of leaving their impreffions
in (tony matter. By being petrified, is meant being im-
pregnated with Itony, pyritical, or any other metal-
line or fparry matter ; for there are inumerable fpeci-
mens, wherein all thefe are apparent.

Testaceous and Crustaceous Animals.

The Ihelly matter of thefe is of fo compaCt and dry
a nature, that they will endure for ages : and if in a
foil or bed where moifture has accefs, they will receive
Itony matter into their pores, and become ponderous
in proportion to the quantity imbibed. If in a dry

* Since my writing this difcourfe, Dr. Mafon informs me, that
thefe are found no other than recent nuts and laryxes.

place

[ 398 ]

place, they will remain fair and /harp, fuffering very
little change by any length of time ; whilfl the flefh
of thefe, being fubje<5t to putrifa&ion, is foon deftroy-
ed ; and yet, according to circumftances that happen,
fome of thefe may be replaced in due form by itony
particles. 1 have a gryphites, with the form of the
h/h in its place, as is the cafe in feveral of the oyfter
kinds. This may be occaiioned by the /hells being
clofe, or nearly fo, and ftony matter gradually infinu-
ating into their cavity, fo as to fill up the whole.

Wood.

The kinds of wood found foffil are very different:
fome are of a firmer texture than others : and this too
is according to the places wherein they are depofited.
Some I have feen fo highly impregnated with a fine
itony and pyritical matter, as to bear a polifh like a
pebble ; fome, tho’ quite reduced to done, yet pre-
serving the fibrous appearance of the original /late
and fome 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 thefe three kingdoms, who light themfelves
about their bufinefs with flips of this wood, cut on
purpofe inftead of candles, as it burns with a clear and
durable flame. It is remarkable, that altho’ oak or
fir /hall lie ages immerfed in water under ground, it
fhall not putrify 5 but acquire fuch fulphureous par-
ticles by lying in fleep, in the bog- water, as to qua-
lify it for this ufe. Other wood, depofited in marly
ground, is found incrufled over, trunk and branches,
with a white cruft ; the wood remaining intirc within.

At

[ 399 ]

At other times, wood thus incrufted (hall be eroded bv
the matter which covers it, having fomething acri-
monious in its fubflance. We may add to thefe, clus-
ters of the twigs of fhrubs, and Small wood, which
we find flakes of, incrufted with fparry or calcarious
matter, in many places ; parts of which are totally
changed into that matter, whilft others are only in-
veloped with it.

Bones of Animals.

We fee, by every day’s experience, that the human
Skeleton moulders to duff in a very few years, when
buried in mould : fo it does even in vaults, where
the coffins are kept dry. In the firft cafe, the moif-
ture and Salts of the earth divide and diffolve the tex-
ture of the bones ; in the latter, thofe of the air,
which gradually infinuate themfelves into them, and
at length deftroy them. How long a fkeleton whofe
bones are well dried and prepared, being totally de-
prived of its medullary fubflance, will laft, as we now
order them for anatomical purpofes, we cannot fay :
but it may be reafonably 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 ; becaufe their internal fubflance is Spungy and
cellular, and their cruft is very thin, except about the
middle of the bones of the arm and thigh, I mean the
humerus and fcemur. The fame deftruCtion would
happen, if bodies were depofited in a Sandy foil j be-
caufe water finds its way either by dripping downwards,
or by Springs underneath. But human Skeletons have
been found intire within a rock, where neither inoif-

ture

[ 400 ]

#

ture nor air could get at them. Mr. Minors, an emi-
nent Surgeon and Anatomift of theMiddlefex-hofpital,
when he was in the Army, at Gibraltar, faw an
intire fkeleton, Handing upright, in a dry rock, part
of which had been blown up with gunpowder, in car-
rying on lome works in the fortifications, which left
the fkeleton quite expofed. Indeed, the bones of
Elephants have been found in Shepey-Ifland, but
much deftroyed, feveral of which I have in my Col-
lection ; an account of which we have in the laft vo-
lume but one * of our TranfaCtionsj their fize and
fubftance being fo confiderable, as to refift for a long
time that decay which thole of the human could not
withfland. To thefe we may add the horns of large
animals, as the elk, and others, which have been
found in bogs, preferved as the bog-oak, &c. men-
tioned.

Teeth and Palates 0/ Fishes and ether Animals,

Thefe are of fo hard and firm a texture, as to fuf-
fer no great change, wherefoever found • for we fee,
that no erolion appears in them, their enamel and its
polilli being intirely preferved ; yet fometimes their
roots will be found changed, efpecially in the yellow
ones, having no enamel to guard them in their roots.

Tarts (/Vegetables.

The leaves of plants, whofe fibres are firm and dry,
will endure for a long time ; but thole of a fucculent
nature never can, as they putrify very foon. We fee
the leaves of ferns of feveral kinds, polypodium,

* Vol. xlviii.

trico-

C 401 ]

tricomanes, and other capillary plants, with nodules
of Hone formed about them ; dags, reeds, rallies,
equifetum, and many fuch, of a firm texture, are found
in date and Hone ; and even the iuli of trees are faid
to have been found fofiil as well as their leaves.

Seeds and Fruits.

All feeds and the Hones of fruits, having a firm
texture, are alfo capable of being flrongly impregna-
ted with Hony and pyritieal matter ; and I make no
doubt but that the fmaller feeds, if carefully looked
for, might be found fofiil, as well as thefe before
you; fuch, I mean, as have a firmnefs in the cover-
ing ; but being frnall, and mixt with the dirt, land,
and the like, probably is the reafon of their being over-
looked. Fruits of various kinds are found petrified ;
but this is only in their green Hate, when they are
hard enough to endure till they are impregnated
with Hony or mineral particles. The rudiments, of
fruits, when once well formed, and a little advan-
ced, are firm and acid : and the more remote they are
from maturity, the more fecure from putrifadlion;
and their acid juice is no fmall help to their prefer-
vation from growing foon rotten. But indeed, when
the fruit advances in growth, the texture grows gra-
dually more lax ; the acid juices are now beginning
to be replaced by faccharine or others more foft ; the
fibres are driven farther afunder, and they now arrive at
their moH ripe Hate : and the utmoH maturity of fruits
is the next Hep to putrifadlion. Hence they are de-
Hroyed before Hony or other particles can have time
enough to impregnate them: and this is e; adtly the
cafe with the fiefh of animals of every kind. The
V o l. 50. F f f hufks

[ 402 ]

hulks and hard calyces of fruits, as well as their flones,
are alfo fufceptible of petrifaction.

If thefe fruits, which I have the honour to lay be-
fore you, are antediluvian, one would be apt to imagine
they, in fome meafure, point out, with Dr. Wood-
ward, the time of year in which the deluge began;
which he thinks was in May : and yet this very opinion
is liable to fome objections ; becaufe altho’ fruits ca-
pable of being petrified, from their green ftate, may
be pretty well formed in May here, as well as in the
fame latitude elfewhere, in favour of this opinion ;
yet there are the lhones of fruits, found foffil, fo per-
fect, as to make one imagine they were very ripe,
when depofited in the places where they are difco-
vered ; which would induce one to think the deluge
happened nearer Autumn, unlefs we could think them
the productions of more fouthern latitudes, where per-
haps their fruits are brought to perfection before ours
are well formed.

What follows is a catalogue of thefe foffil fruits
6cc. before you : and I ffiould be glad, if any of the
gentlemen would take the trouble of examining
them, in order to affift in our conjectures about fuch
of them, as appear doubtful : but firft beg leave to
infert the following remark :

I cannot omit an obfervation of DoCtor Mafon,
Wood wardian profe dor, in this place; which is well
worth notice, and indeed which I never attended to.
It regards the impreffions of ffihes upon fate. Now
there are feveral kinds of date, which have fuch im-
preffions upon them : in fome there remains only the
bare impreldon, without any part of the fidi ; in others
the fcales only, but retaining the intire form of the

animal ;

[‘kilos Tnr/is. IW J. TAB.XY /^yj

ir md

J.VynJtyc.

C 403 ]

animal ; and in others no part adheres to the flate,
but the fkeleton, or part of it, moft commonly the
fpine. He fays that he always obferved, that the
bones are never feen but upon the grey or blue flate,
or their impreflionsi and that the fcales or fkin are to
be found only upon the black ftone or flate ; which
makes him conjedture, that fomething erofive in the
grey flate deftroys every part but the bony fyflem ; but
that the black, being of a more foft and undtuous na-
ture, preferves the fcales, and often the very fkin. This,
however, muft bereferred to further obfervation.

TAB. XV.

1

Fig. I,. 3. Thefe two bodies feem to be figs, petrified
when hard and green ; being, as I have juft
obferved, then capable of receiving the py-
ritical particles, with which they are mani-
feftly impregnated. One is more perfedt in
its form than the other ; and they are now
fhooting their falts, and will foon fall to
pieces.

Fig. 2. appears to be a Myrobalan, diftinguifhed
from the other fpecies of that name by its
round figure ; and is called the belleric
Myrobalan. It is nearly deftroyed by the
pyritical matter, and will not long remain
whole.

Fig. 4. feems to be a fpecies of Phafeolus, one of
thofe efpecially diftinguifhed by the fruits.
FruBibus Jplendentibus nigris.

Fig. 5- Another Phafeolus.

Fig. 7, Another. SwFig. 4.

Fff 2

Fig. 8.

[ 4°4 J

Fig. 8. Semen Cucurbitae, a large fpecies of Ameri-
can gourd.

Fig. 9. Coffee-berries.

Fig. 10, 11. Two fpecies of Beans, very apparent.

Fig. 12. Unknown. This, however, appears to be
a fruit, with the calyx running up, and em-
bracing it, in its hard green fate ; being
fomewhat compreffed on the upper part, as
it lay confined in the earth.

Fig. 13. An Staphilodendri fpecies % The learned and
reverend Dr. Hales gave me, fome years ago,
a handful of the recent fruits, one or two
of which are'fent with this foffil one, for
your con fi deration. He had them from Ben-
gal, and called them, in the Indian name,
Neermelis * and faid the natives ufed them
to fine down liquors.

Fig. 14. A compreffed pod of the Arachidna, or
Underground-Pea. The full-grown pods are
much larger, but of various fizes, as are
other kinds. This, however, feems to have
been, when depofited where it was found,
not fo far advanced. It has the reticulated
furface, the apex on one fide, and every
other character of that fruit or feed-pod,
but fomewhat comprefled. *

Fig. 1 5". is evidently an Acorn. We have of this
fpecies here, and in America alfo.

Fig. 16. An exotic fruit, like a fmall melon j but
uncertain. It is fomewhat deformed by com-
preffion.

Fig . 1 7. This I took at firft for a fruit j but now I
rather believe it aFungoides of a very pretty
kind.

Fig . 18,

f

IP Jin Min.

I

[ 4° 5 ]

Fig. 1 8, AnAnguria? I take it for a feed of a
fpecies of water-melon.

Fig. i p. feems a fmall plumb-ftone.

Fig. 20. Unknown. The calyx feems to run up
and embrace this fruit towards the apex.

Fig. 2i. Unknown. This refembles an American
feed, which I have in my colledtion, but do
not know its name. Its apex is inclining to
one fide ; and it appears to have had a firong
pedicle.

Fig. 22. An Lachryma Jobi ?

Fig. 23. A Cherry- fione.

TAB. XVI.

Fig. 1. An Euonymi fpecies? If this be an Euony-
mus, it is not fo far advanced as to form the
feeds ; and is therefore to be confidered only in
its progrefs from the flower towards feeding :
which is the cafe in feveral of thefe, whofe
calyces appear ftill 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. Hurce Germen. This is undoubtedly the
young Sand-box, or fruit of the Hura, fo well
known for its beautiful form to the curious,
who collect fpecimens of natural hiflory 3
and feems to fhew the time of the deluge.

Fig. 4. This, I think, is certainly the fione of an
eaftern Mango 3 fuch as comes over to us'
- pickled3

[ 4°6 ]

pickled, and* the ftone being opened on one
fide, is generally fluffed with fpices.

Fig. y. Euonymi latifolii fpecies . This is a large
fpecies of Euonymus, perhaps of Clulius,

Fig. 6. This body feems to be a Milleped, or Wood-
loufe. It is turned round, the two extremi-
ties meeting ; which is the attitude affumed
by thefe animals, upon being in any-wife
obffrudled in their paffage, or handled.

Fig. 7. A fmall long Bean, like our horfe-bean ;
but longer than any we have in England.

Fig . 8. Unknown to me.

Fig. 9. A fpecies of Horfe-chefnut from America.

Fig. 10. The external hulk of the fruit of the Sa-
pindus, or Soap-tree.

Fig. 11. I cannot determine whether this be an
Olive, or the yellow Myrobalan j but be-
lieve it the Myrobalan.

Fig. 1 2. Ati Palma Jpecies ? It feems a fmall Palma-
coco.

Fig. 13, 14. unknown, as well as jig. iy.

Fig. 1 6. Unknown. The reafon of the four laft be-
ing not to be diftinguifhed is, that they feem
to be the buds of their feveral fpecies, before
they were perfectly formed. So that while
fome of the antediluvian productions are ma-
ture, others appear to be premature ; and
confequently one would be inclined to think
them the inhabitants of places of different
latitudes.

Fig. 1 7. A fpecies of foreign Walnut, injured and
compreffed.

Fig. 18. A Plumb-Hone.

Fig. 19. The claw of an American Crab; which,
3 being

C 407 ]

being on the oppofite fide of the mafs con-
taining the body, could not come in view
with it at the fame time.

Fig. 20. The body of the crab, with other parts,
appearing thro’ the flony matter that inve-
lopes it, which appears to be an induration
of yellow clay.

Fig. 2 1 . feems a long American Phafeolus. Part of
the petrified hufk is upon it.

Fig. 22. An American Echinite of the flat kind,
much refembling that fpecies which Rum-
phius calls Echinus fulcatus primus.

Fig. 23. Arijia cujij'dam Graminis. This body has
all the charadteriftics of an ear of corn, or
fome fpecies of grafs, of which there are
many.

This has been taken for a fpine of an Echi-
nus : but, as we are to confider its neareft:
refemblance to whatfoever body, we muff
conclude it as we have faid. I never faw
any fpine in the leaf! like it ; but an ear of
corn, ripe and dry, is as fufceptible of be-
ing petrified, as a cruftaceous animal, in
every refpedt. Indeed the fpiculs of the
ear, each arifing from the grain, being very
llender, are of courfe destroyed during the
petrifaction j but the form of the ear is ac-
tually preferved, as much as the nature and
circumftances of the thing will allow.

Fig. a. A manifeft fpecies of Pediculus Marinus
crumped up.

b. A Seed-veffel, given me by Mr. Da Cofta,
found in a clay-pit in Staffordfhire.

c. Cocculus Indicus.

LII.

[ 408 ]

LIT. Obfervations upon the Comet that ap-
peared in the Months of September and
October 1757, made at the Royal Obfer-
vatory by |a. Bradley, D. D. Aftronomer
Royal , F. R. S. and Member of the Royal
Academy of Sciences at Paris.

Read Dec. 22, "y Deferred to give an account of my
175 7* y obfervations upon the Comet that
hath lately appeared, till I could fettle the places of
the ftars with which it had been compared ; feveral
of them not being inferted in the Britifh catalogue,
and thofe which are, requiring fome fmall corrections,
which I have lince made from my own obfervations.

When I firft difcovered this Comet, it appeared
to the naked eye like a dull ftar of the 5th or 6th
magnitude j but viewing it thro’ a feven-foot Tele-
fcope, I could perceive a fmall Nucleus (furrounded,
as ufual, with a nebulous atmofphere), and a fhort
tail extended in a direction oppofite to the fun.

Some fmall {tars then appearing in the field of
the telefcope with the Comet, I meafured its di-
ftance from them with a Micrometer ; and on Sep-
tember i2<* at i6h 1' mean time, I found it to be i°
13' 5" diffant from a fmall flar, whofe right afcen-
fion was afterwards found to be 8p° 45)' 40 ' and de-
clination 36° 1 1 ' 30" north : and near the fame time
the Comet was obferved to be 43' 10 ' from another
ftar, whofe right afcenfion was po° 2 o' o" and decli-
nation 3 50 12' o" north.

Hence

[409]

Hence I colle&ed, that the Comet’s right afcen-
fion was 89° 25/ 10” and its declination 350 o' 20"
north.

September 13d i2h 37' mean time (which is like-
wife made ufe of in the following obfervations), the
Comet had the fame right afcenfion with a fmall ftar,
whofe right afcenfion was 930 5' 3 o'' and declination
34° $6' 40" north ‘y and it was about two minutes
more northerly than the ftar. Hence the Comet’s
right afcenfion was 930 5' 30" and its declination 340
38' 40" north.

September 14^ 14b o' the Comet preceded G Ge-
minorum i° 31' 35" in right afcenfion, and was 1 1'
35-" more foutherly. The apparent right afcenfion
of G Geminorum was then 990 1 1' 40” and its decli-
nation 340 13' 25" north. Hence the right afcen-
fion of the Comet was 970 40' 5" and its declination
340 T 50" north.

Sept. 1 7^ 13b o' a fmall ftar (whofe right afcenfion
was i09oy5’' 20" and declination 310 27' 40") pre-
ceded the Comet 47' io" in right afcenfion, and was
12' 30" more northerly. Hence the Comet’s right
afcenfion was iio0 42' 40" and its declination 31°
if' ro" north.

Sept. 19^ ifh ij a ftar (whofe right afcenfion
was 1180 29' 40" and declination 28° 9' 4f ) pre-
ceded the Comet i° 14' o" in right afcenfion, and
was more foutherly 15' 4f". Hence the Comet’s
right afcenfion was H9°43,4o" and declination 28°
25' 30" north.

Sept. 23d ifh 5-7' a ftar (whofe right afcenfion
was 1 340 ff 45" and declination 220 15' ff" north)
preceded the Comet 12' 30" in right afcenfion, and

Vol. 50. Ggg was

[ +10 ]

was 29' o" more northerly. Hence the Comet’s right
afcenfion was 1350 8' ly" and its declination 21° 4 6'
yy" north.

Sept. 24^ i5h 21' the Comet had the fame declina-
tion with a fmall ftar that preceded it io' iy" in
right afcenfion. This ftar’s right afcenfion was af-
terwards found to be 138° 13' 45" and its declination
200 5' 20". Hence the Comet’s right afcenfion was
138° 24' o" and its declination 20° y' 20 ' north.

Sept. 28^ i6h 21' the Comet followed Regulus
1° y' 12" in right afcenfion, and was 14' 4y" more
northerly. The right afcenfion of Reguius being
then 148° 5T 13" and its declination 130 8 35"
north ; the Comet’s right afcenfion was 1490 58 25'
and its declination 130 23' 20'' north.

Sept. 30^ i6’n 24' f> Leonis (whofe right afcenfion
was iyy°o' 10" and declination io°32' 54” north)
followed the Comet 18' 45" in right afcenfion, and
was 7' 53 ' more northerly. Hence the Comet’s right
afcenfion was 154,° 41' 25 ' and its declination ioy
25' o" north.

October 2d i6h 48 the 37th ftar Sextantif. Heveh
in the Britifh Catalogue (whofe right afcenfion was
iy8° 21' 25" and declination 70 38' 40" north) pre-
ceded the Comet 32' 50" in right afcenfion, and was
3' 20 ' more foutherly. Hence the Comet’s right
afcenfion was iy8° 5-4 15" and its declination
42' o" north.

O&ober 3 d i6h 4y' c Leonis (whofe right afcen-
fion was 162° 2' 15' and declination 70 24' o" north)
followed the Comet i° 1 2' yy" in right afcenfion, and
was y6' 40" more northerly. Hence the Comet's
right afcenfion was 160° 49' 20" and its declination
6° 27' 20" north.

1

O&o-

C 4-1 1 ]

October ^ I7h o' d Leonis (whofe right afcenfion
was 162° o' 13" and declination 40 54' 57" north)
preceded the Comet 40' 15" in right afcenfion, and
was more foutherly 20' 53*". Hence the Comet’s
right afcenfion was 162° 40' 30" and its declination
S° 1 51 5 °" north.

October yd 16I1 94' the 79th Leonis in the Britifh
Catalogue (whofe right afcenfion was 167° 53' 37"
and declination 20 44' 15" north) followed the Comet
1 3' o" in right afcenfion, and was more northerly 38'
35". Hence the Comet’s right afcenfion was 167®
40' 37" and its declination 20 y' 40 " north.

October 8d i6h 53' the Comet preceded v Leonis
i° 73' 30" in right afcenfion, and was 3 7' 20" more
northerly. The right afcenfion of this ltar was 17 1°
7' 45'" and its declination o° 30' yy" north $ therefore
the Comet’s right afcenfion was 169° 34' 1 y" and its
declination i° 8' 15" north.

October 1 1 d 1 6h 52' the Comet followed v Leonis
2° 33' 30' in right afcenfion, and appeared i° 5 y' y"
more foutherly ; but it being near the horizon, the
difference of right afcenfion muff have been con-
tracted by refraCfion about 1' y", and the difference
of declination about f 30": fo that the corrected
right afcenfion of the Comet was i73°42' 20" and
its declination i° 2y' 40" fouth.

Immediately after this obfervation a fog arofe,
which prevented me from repeating it ; and feveraL
mornings following proving hazy or cloudy, I could
not fee the Comet again till October 18th, about an
hour and a quarter before fun-rifing ; when the twi-
light being ftrong, and the Comet low, it appeared
very faint, However, I was unwilling to omit the

Ggg 2 oppor-

[ 4r2 ]

opportunityof determining its place, as near as I could,
by a fingle obfervation, in the following manner.

At 6h 59' 54/' t fidereal time, I obferved the
pafifage of the Comet over the perpendicular wire of
my equatorial SeCtor j then leaving the inftrument
in the fame pofition till the next evening, I obferved,
that at 22h 8' if fidereal time, the 17th ftar of
Eridanus in the Britilh Catalogue palled over the
fame wire (or horary circle) 9' 30" more foutherly
than the Comet. And at 23*1 45- 36" fidereal time
the ftar marked b in Eridanus palled, 19' 55 more
northerly than the Comet.

I found that the fituation of my inftrument was
not fenfibly altered between the 18th and 19th of
October ; for the tranfits and the difference of de-
clination of the fame ftars being obferved with it
again on the 19th of October, they agreed very well
with thofe that were taken the preceding night. It
may therefore be fuppofed, that the polition of the
inftrument continued the fame like wife during the
time of the foregoing obfervations.

The right afcenfion of the 17th ftar of Eridanus
being 490 39' 10" and its declination 50 ff' 2f" fouth ;
and the right afcenfion of h of Eridanus being 730
59' 25" and its declination 50 2f' 10 fouth; I col-
lected, that when the Comet palled the wire (or ho-
rary circle) which was October 17^ 1711 12 mean
time, its right afcenfion was 182° 34' o ' and its de-
clination 50 45' 35’" fouth.

The laft time that I faw the Comet was on the
19th of October in the morning; but it then ap-
peared fo faint, that I could not obferve its place.
Its elongation from the fun was then but about 20

degrees jj

[ 413 ]

degrees ; and from that day to the prefent it hath
always been lefs j which is the principal reafon why
it was invifible to us at the time when it was in its
perihelion, and hath remained fo ever fince. The
elongation will indeed foon become greater, and yet
it is probable that we fhall not be able to fee the
Comet again ; becaufe its real diftance from the fun
will be greater than it was when I firft faw it, and it
will be alfo four times further from us than it was
at that time.

The Comet kept nearly at the fame diftance from
the earth for ten or twelve days together after I firft
faw it ; but its brightnefs gradually increafed then,
becaufe it was going nearer to the fun. Afterwards,
when its diftance from the earth increafed, altho’ it
continued to approach the fun, yet its luftre never
much exceeded that of ftars of the fecond magni-
tude, and the tail was l'carce to be difcerned by the
naked eye.

All the forementioned obfervations were made with
a Micrometer in a feven-foot Tube, excepting thofe
of the 3d, nth, and 17th days of Odtober, which
were taken with a curious Sedtor conftrudted for fuch
purpofes by the late ingenious Mr. George Graham ;
of which Dr. Smith has given a very exadt defcrip-
tion in his third book of Optics.

Suppofing the Trajedtory of this Comet to be pa-
rabolic, I collected from the foregoing obfervations,
that its motion round the fun is dir eft , and that it
was in its perihelion Odtober the 21ft, at 711 yy' mean
(or equated) time at Greenwich. That the inclina-
tion of the plane of its Trajedtory to the ecliptic is
120 50' 20" y the place of the defcending Node » 40

[ 4!4 J

12' 50'i the place of the Perihelion a 2° 58' o"f
the diftance of the Perihelion from the defcending
Node 88° 45' io"j the Logarithm of the Perihelion
diftance 9.528328 ; the Logarithm of the diurnal
motion 0.66763d.

From thele Elements (which are adapted to Dr.
Halley’s general Table for the Motion of Comets in
parabolic Orbits), I computed the places of this Co-
met for the refpedtive times of the foregoing ob-
servations, as in the following table ; which contains
likewife the longitudes and latitudes deduced from
the obferved right afcenfions and declinations, and
alfo the differences between the computed and ob-
ferved places. Thefe differences (no- where exceed-
ing 40") Shew, that the elements here fet down will
be Sufficient to enable future aftronomers to distin-
guish this Comet upon another return j but as they
do not correfpond with the elements of the orbit of
any other Comet hitherto taken notice of, we cannot
determine at prefent the period thereof,.

Greenwich,

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[ +i6 ]

LI II. The Refolution of a General Propcftion
jor Determining the horary Alteration of
the P oft ion of the Ter refl rial Equator , from
the Attraction of the Sun and Moon : With
fc7?te Remarks on the Solutions given by
other Authors to that difficult and impor-
tant Problem . By Mr . Tho. Simpfon,
F. R. S.

Read Dec. 32, ^INCE the time, that that excellent
^ Aftronomer, my much honoured
friend Dr. Bradley, publifhed his obfervations and
difcoveries concerning the inequalities of the preceffion
of the equinox, and of the obliquity of the ecliptic,
depending on the pofition of the lunar nodes, ma-
thematicians, in different parts of Europe, have fet
themfelves diligently to compute, from phyfical prin-
ciples, the effects produced by the fun and moon, in
the pofition of the terreftrial equator; and to examine
whether thefe effedts do really correfpond with the
obfervations

Two papers on this fubjedt have already appeared
in the Philofophical Tranfadtions ; in which the au-
thors have fliewn evident marks of fkill and penetra-
tion. There is, neverthelefs, one part of the fubjedt,
that feems to have been paffed over without a due de-
gree of attention, as well by both thofe gentlemen,
as by Sir Ifaac Newton himlelf.

This part, which, upon account of phyfical diffi-
culties, is indeed fomewhat flippery and perplexing,
I fhali make the principal fubjedt of this effay.

Gene-

[ 417 ]

General Proposition.

Suppofmg an homogeneous fphere OABCD (Fig. i.)
revolving unifortnly about its centre , to be added 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 ge?ierate a new motion of rotation at right
angles to the former j It is propoj'ed to determine the
change , that will arife in the direction of the rotation
in confe queue e of the Jdid force.

Fig. i.

Let F denote the given force, whereby the motion
about the axis Pp is difturbed, fuppofing/' to repre-
fent the centrifugal force of a fmall particle of matter
in the circumference of the equator, arifing from the
fphere’s rotation 3 and let the whole number of fuch
particles, or the content of the fphere, be denoted
by c : let alfo the momentum of rotation of the
whole fphere, or of all the particles, be fuppofed,
in proportion to the momentum of an equal number
V o l. 50. H h h of

%

’[ 4*8 ]

of particles, revolving at the didance 0 A of the-
demoted point A, as n is to unity.

It is well known, that the centripetal force,, where-
by any body is made to revolve in the circumference
of a circle, is fuch, as is fufficient to generate all the
motion in the body, in a time equal to that , wherein
the body defcribes an arch of the circumference,
equal in length to the radius. Therefore, if we here
take the arch AR = OA, and affume m to exprefs
the time, in which that arch would be uniformly
defcribed by the point A, the motion of a particle
of matter at A (whofe central force is reprefented
by f) will be equal to that) which might be uniformly
generated by the force J\ in the time m and the mo-
tion of as many particles (revolving, all, at the fame
didance) as are expreffed by cn (which, by hypothe-
cs, is equal to the momentum of the whole body),
will, confequently, be equal to the momentum, that
might be generated by the force J\cn, in the fame
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

nc f't'try is to Fy,m'. or, as unity to -X — (be-

J y ncf m v

caufe the quantities of motion produced by unequal
forces, in unequal times, are in the ratio of the forces
and of the times, conjundlly). Let, therefore, AL be

taken in proportion to A M, as

F

ncf

III • •

X — is to unity

(fuppofing AM to be a tangent to the circle A BCD
in A), and let the parallelogram AMNL be com-
pleated j drawing alfo the diagonal AN- ; then, by

the

/

C 4X9 ]

the compofition of forces, the angle NAM (whofe
tangent, to the radius O A, is expreffed by O A x

X—) will be the change of the direction of the

ncf m l a

rotation, at the end of the aforefaid time (m). But,
this angle being exceeding fmall, the tangent may be
taken to reprelent the meafure of the angle itfelf;
and, if Z be a (fumed to reprefent the arch defcribed
by A, in the fame time ( m ) about the center O, we

(hall alfo have ~ and confequently

O A x —r X — = Z x —r. From whence it appears,

ncf m ncf r r »

that the angle expreffing the change of the direction
of the rotation, during any fmall particle of time,
will be in proportion to the angle defcribed about

p

the axe of rotation in the fame time, as — > is to

1 ncf

unity . E. /.

Altho’, in the preceding propofition, the body ig
fuppofed to be a perfedl fphere, the folution, never-
thelefs, holds equally true in every other fpecies of
figures, as is manifeft from the inveftigation. It is
true, indeed, that the value of n will not be the
fame in thefe cafes, even fuppofing thofe of c, f
and F to remain unchanged ; except in the fphe-
roid only, where, as well as in the fphere, n will
be = j- i the momentum of any fpheroid 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 eafy to demonftrate.

But to (hew now the ufe and application of the
general proportion here derived, in determining the
regrefs of the equinodtial points of the terredrial

H h h 2 fpheroid,

[ 420 ]

fpheroid, let AE#F (Fig. 2.) be the equator, and
P p the axis of the fpheroid : alfo let H E C F repre-
fent the plane of the ecliptic, S the place of the fun,
and HAPNH the plane of the fun’s declination,
making right-angles with the plane of the equator
AEtfF: then, if AK be fuppofed parallel, and
OKM perpendicular, to O S, and there be affumed
and t to exprefs the refpeCtive 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 O M in confequence of the

fun’s attraction, will be expreffed by|4yX^-^X f ;

f denoting the centrifugal force of the fame particle,
arifing from the diurnal rotation. Hence, by the

refolution of forces, X X 2^ X f will be the

effedt of that particle, in a direction perpendicular to
O A, to turn the earth about its center O.

Fig. 2.

But

[ 421 ]

But it is demonftrated by Sir Ifaac Newton, and
by other authors, that the force of all the particles,
or of all the matter in the whole fpheroid A P ap, to
turn it about its center, is equal to fth of the force
of a quantity of matter, placed at A, equal to the
excefs of the matter in the whole fpheroid above
that in the infcribed fphere, whofe axis is P p. Now
this excefs (afiuming the ratio of 7r to i , to exprefs
that of the area of a circle to the fquare of the radius)

will be truly reprefented by OPxOA:

OP:

and, confequently, the force of all the matter in the

whole earth, by|i^X-— — X

AK OK 4T

TT” O A r'Q A X 15 x OPxOA1-

-OP\

ILet, therefore, this quantity be now fubftituted for

p

F , in the general formula writing, at the fame

and

n

in the place of their

time, jxOA2xOP,

equals c and n ; by which means we have (here)
F 3 it O A1 — OP* AK x OK D 1

v' ^ — o A^ — * ^ut t“e glven

= k 5 and let the angle

' 2 TTX

3"

X

O A1

o A1 — O P1
OA1

ncf

quantity %rr

E A e reprefent the horary alteration of the pofition
of the terreftrial equator, arifmg from the force F
(here determined), and let the arch Ee be the re-
grefs of the equinoctial point E, correfponding there-
to: then, in the triangle EAe (confidered as fpheri-
cal) it will be fin. e : fin. AE (: : fin. EAf : fin. E<?)

:: EA< : Ee = k

AK x OK

= k X

iin. £

fin. A E x cof. AH x fin. A H

, fin. A E
X r~ X

fin. E
But in

OA1 iin. E

the triangle EH A, right-angled at A (where HA is

fuppofed

[ 422 ]

fuppofed to reprefent the fun’s declination, A E his
right afcenfion, and H E his diftance from the equi-
noctial point E *) we have (per fpherics)

fin. A E : i (rad.) : : co-t. E : co-t. AH,
fin. AH' 2 *. fin. EH1 2 : : lin. E'2 : i2(radl2)
From whence we get, fin. AE x co-t. AH x fin. AH’2
= fin. EH'2 x co-t. E x fin. E’2. But co-t. AH x

fin. AH = co-f. AH x i (rad.), and co-t. E x fin. E
= co-f. E x i (rad.) : therefore fin. AE x co-f. AH

x fin. AH = fin. Eh?2 x co-f. E x fin. E ; and, con-

r , , fin. AE X co-f. AH x fin. AH , - _

iequently, k x ^ ^ = n co-f. E

x fin E H|Z (==Ef).

Let, now, the fun’s longitude EH be denoted by

Z (confidered as a flowing quantity) ; then, lin. Z12

being =q- — q co-f. 2 Z, we (hall have k x co-f. E x

fin. EH*2 = a- k x co-f. E x 1 — co-f. 2 Z. But the

angle defcribed about the axe of rotation P p, in the

time that the fun’s longitude is augmented by the par-
ty-

tide z, will be = — x z. Therefore (by the general
propofition) we have, as 1 : f £ x co-f. E x 1 — co-f. 2 Z
: : fx z : i k x j- x co-f. E x z — Z co-f. 2 Z,
the true regrefs of the equino&ial point E, during

* No error arifes from confidering the triangles EAe and
A E H, as being formed on the furface of a fphere, tho’ the earth
itfelf is not accurately fuch. The angle (EAa) reprefenting the
effect of the folar force, is properly referred to the furface of a
fphere ; therefore (after the meafure thereof is truly determined)
the figure AP ap is itfelf taken as a fphere, in order to avoid
the trouble of introducing a new fcheme.

that

[ 423 ]

T . . -

that time : whofe fluent, | k x — x co-fl E x Z —

f iin. 2 Z, will eonfequently be the total regrefs of
the point E, in the time that the fun, by his apparent
motion, defcribes the arch HE or Z ; which, on the
fun’s arrival at the folftice, becomes barely = l k x

— x co-f. E x an arch of 90° : the quadruple where-

T f 7 1

of, or | k x — x co-f. E x 360° ( = x

OA1 — OP2

O A2

x co-f. E x 360°) is therefore the whole annual pre-
eeflion of the equinox caufed by thej fun. This,

in numbers (taking — \ comes out— ^

4 x 366^

X

— - x 0.917176x3^0 = 21" 6 ".

The very ingenious' M. Silvabelle, in his eflay on
this fubjedt, inferted in the 48th volume of the Phi-
lofophical Tranfadtions, makes the quantity of the an-
nual preceflion of the equinox, caufed by the fun, to
be the half, only, of what is here determined. But
this gentleman appears to have fallen into a twofold
miftake. Firft, in finding the momenta of rotation
of the terreflrial fpheroid, and of a very {lender ring,
at the equator thereof j which momenta he refers
to an axis perpendicular to the plane of the fun’s
declination, inftead of the proper axe of rotation,
{landing at right angles to the plane of the equator.
The difference, indeed, arifing from thence, with
refpedt to the fpheroid (by reafon of its near approach
to a fphere) will be inconfiderable ; but, in the ring,
the cafe will be quite otherwife ; the equinodtial
points thereof being made to recede juft twice as faff
4 as

C 424 ]

as they ought to do. This may feem the more
ftrange, if regard be had to the conclufions, relating
to the nodes of a fatellite, derived from this very
affumption. But, that thefe conclufions are true, is
owing to a fecond, or fubfequent miflake, at Art.
2/j where the meafure of the lull’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 terreftrial fpheroid, to
the half of what it ought to be.

That expert geometrician M. Cha. Walmfley, in
his EfTay on the Preceffion of the Equinox, printed
in the lad: volume of the Philofophical TranfaCtions,
has judicioufly avoided all miftakes of this laft kind,
refpeCting the fun’s force, by purfuing the method,
pointed out by Sir Ifaac Newton ; but, in deter-
mining the effeCt of that force, has fallen into others,
not lefs confiderable than thofe above adverted to.

In his third Lemma, the momentum of the whole
Earth, about its diameter, is computed on a fuppo-
lition, 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 fuch particle,
confidered abflraCtedly. No regard is, therefore, had
to the lengths of the unequal levers, whereby the par-
ticles are fuppofed to receive and communicate their
motion : which, without doubt, ought to have been
included in the confideration.

In his firft propofition, he determines, in a very
ingenious and concife manner, the true annual motion
of the nodes of a ring (or of a fingle fatellite) at the
earth’s equator, revolving with the earth itfelf, about

its

[ 425 ]

its center, in the time of one fiderial day. This mo-
tion he finds to be = 2 1 -2-9- x x 3 6o°. Then,

in order to infer from thence, the motion of the equi-
noctial points of the earth itfelf, he, firft, diminifhes
that quantity, in the ratio of 2 to y : Becaufe (as is>
demonflrated by Sir Ifaac Newton in his 2d Lemma)
the whole force of all the particles fituated without the
furface of a fphere, infcribed in the fpheroid, to turn
the body about its center, will be only a-5ths of the
force of an equal number of particles uniformly dif-
pofed round the whole circumference of the equator,

in the fafhion of a ring. The quantity

x -x x 360°) thus arifing, will, therefore, ex-

prefs the true motion of the equinoctial points of a
ring, equal in quantity of matter to the excefs of the
whole earth above the infcribed fphere, when the force
whereby the ring tends to turn about its diameter is
fuppofed equal to the force whereby the earth itfelf
tends to turn about the lame diameter, in confequence
of the fun’s attraction. Thus far our author agrees
with Sir Ifaac Newton 5 but, in deriving from hence
the motion of the equinoctial points of the earth itfelf,
he differs from him ; and, in the corollary to his third
Lemma, afiigns the reafons, why he thinks Sir Ifaac
Newton, in this particular, has wandered a little from,
the truth. Inflead of diminifhing the quantity above
exhibited (as Sir Ifaac has done) in the ratio of all the
motion in the ring to the motion in the whole earth,
he diminifhes it in the ratio of the motion of all the
matter above the furface of the infcribed fphere to the
motion of the whole earth : which matter, tho’ equal
Vo l. 50. I i i to

[ 426 ]

to that of the ring, has neverthelefs a different mo-
mentum, arifing from the different fituation of the
particles in refpeCt to the axis of motion.

But fince the aforefaid quantity, from whence the
motion of the earth’s equinox is derived, as well by
this gentleman, as by Sir Ifaac Newton, expreffes truly
the annual regrefs of the equinoctial points of the
ring (and not of the hollow figure formed by the
faid matter, which is greater, in the ratio of 5 to 4)
it feems, at leaft, as reafonable to fuppofe, that
the faid quantity, to obtain from thence the true
regrefs of the equinodtial points of the earth, ought
to be diminifhed in the former of the two ratios
above fpecified, as that it fhould be diminifhed in the
latter. But, indeed, both thefe wavs are defective,
even fuppofing the momenta to have been truly
computed ; the ratio, that ought to be ufed here,
being that of the momenta of the ring and earth
about the proper axe of rotation of the two figures,
handing at right-angles to the plane of the ring and of
the equator. Now this ratio, by a very eafy com-
putation, is found to be as 230 2 — 229 2 to \ of 2 3 o' z;

whence the quantity fought comes out =

" 6"'

270H — 22qh .

X — X 3 6cr

2 I

3 CG-f. 23° 29''
4 rad.

which is the

366.F 230

fame that we before found it to be, and the double
of what this author makes it.

What has been faid hitherto, relates to that part
of the motion only, arifing from the force of the fun.
It will be but juftice to obferve here, that the effeCt of
the moon, and the inequalities depending on the
pofition of her nodes, are truly afligned by both the

gen tie me a

[ +27 ]

gentlemen above-named ; the ratio of the diameters of
the earth, and the denfity of the moon being fo af-
fumed, as to give the maxima of thofe inequalities,
fuch as the obfervations require : in confequence
whereof, and from the law of the increafe and decreafe
(which is rightly determined by theory, tho’ the
abfolute quantity is not) a true folution, in every other
circumftance, is obtained.

The freedom, with which I have expreffed myfelf,
and the liberty I have here taken, to animadvert
on the works of men, who, in many places, have
given inconteftible proofs of ikill and genius, may,
I fear, fland in need of fome apology. ’Tis pofhble
I may be thought too peremptory. Indeed, I might
have delivered my fentiments with more caution and
addrefs : but, had not I imagined myfelf quite clear
in what has been advanced, from a multitude of con-
current reafons, I fliould have thought it too great
a prefumption to have faid any thing at all here, on
this, fubjedt. The great regard I have for this So-
ciety, of which I have the honour to be a member,
will, I hope, be confidered as the motive for my
having attempted to rectify fome overfights, that
have occurred in the works of this learned body..

I i i 2

LIV.

C 428 ]

LIV. Remar is upon the Heat of the Air in
Ju]y 1757. in an Extracl of a Letter
from John Huxham, M.D. F.R.S. to
William Watfon, M.D. F.R.S. dated at
Plymouth 19 th of that Month. With ad-
ditional Re?narks by Dr. Watfon.

“ generally very warm, and fometimes exceffively
<c 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 feveral perfons, who have lived
“ a confiderable time in Jamaica, Gibraltar, and
“ Minorca j and they feverally affert, that they ne-
<e ver felt fuch intenfe heat in any of thofe places.
“ Upon the nth, 12th, and 13th of this month,
“ Fahrenheit’s thermometer, in the /hade, about
“ three o’ clock in the afternoon, was at 87 ; nay,
“ upon the 12th it was even above 88.

“ Abundance of people have fuffered very feverely
“ from thefe exceffive heats : putrid, bilious, pe-
<e techial, nervous fevers, are exceedingly common
*c every-where. Dyfenteries, haemorrhages, mod
“ profufe fweats, afted; not only thofe in fevers, but
“ a vafl: many others. The days and nights were
“ fo intolerably hot, that little or no flcep was to
“ be gotten day or night. The wind we had, like
“ the Campfin, actually blew hot, tho’ ftrong.

ROM the beginning of June Iaft
we have had a very dry feafon.

Upon

3

[ 429 ]

Upon the 15th, about feven at night, at Fal-
“ mouth, Penryn, Truro, and thereabouts, a pretty
“ fmart (hock of an earthquake was felt, attended
<c with a hollow rumbling noife, throwing down
“ pewter, china-ware, and fuch-like. The tinners
“ felt it eighty fathom under ground. No great
u damage however was done. The day before we
“ had, about eleven o’ clock before noon, a mofl
<c violent hurricane, which lafted five or fix minutes,
“ attended with a heavy fhower.”

Thus far Dr. Huxham.

The heat of the air at London, during the period
above-mentioned, was much greater than has been
ufually obferved in thefe high latitudes ; tho’ it was
never quite fo fevere here as at Plymouth. The fol-
lowing table exhibits the degrees of the heat, taken
here upon the refpeftive days, about four o’ clock in
the afternoon, by a Fahrenheit’s thermometer. The
inflrument was placed in the fliade ; and the accuracy
of the obferver, who favoured me with his minutes,
is not to be queftioned.

I757- Ju'y

5

— 75

d

- 78

7

7Si

8

- 78

10 —

80 ;

1 1

83 i

1 2 —

— Sc-*-

1 3

— 80

14

- 85

15

81

1 6 —

73

From

[ 430 ]

From hence it appears, that the air at London
was, upon feveral days, hotter than it had been ob-
ferved at Madeira for ten years together : for, by
Dr. Thomas Heberden’s obfervations, mentioned in
the Philofophical Tranfadions, the heat of the air at
Madeira, during that period, was never but once
at 80.

William Watfon.

LV. Remarks upon the Letter of Mr. John
Ellis, F. R. S. to Philip Carteret Webb,
Ffq\ F.R.S. printed in the Philofophical
Tranfadions, Vol. xlix. Part ii. p. 806.
By Mr. Philip Miller, F. R . £

Read Dec. i$. r g 'HE 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 Philofophical Tranfadions *,
was written at the requeft of Mr. Watfon ; who in-
formed me, that a letter from the Abbe Mazeas to the
reverend Dr. Hales had been communicated to the
Royal Society, in which it was mentioned, that the
Abbe Sauvages had made a difcovery of the juice of
the Carolina Toxicodendron flaming linen of a per-
manent black. But Mr. Watfon faid, that the letter,
he thought, required a careful perufal before it was
printed -} and he wifhed I would confirm it. I told

* Part I, p. 1 6 1.

him.

c 431 ]

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 5
and, upon reading it, I found, that tho’ this might
be a difcovery to thofe two gentlemen ; yet, as it had
been mentioned in feveral printed books long before,

I thought it might not be for the reputation of the
Royal Society to have it printed as fuch in their
Tranfactions.

This was my motive for writing that paper : in
which I have not endeavoured to depreciate the dif-
covery of the Abbe Sauvages, but have only men-
tioned what had occurred to me in thofe books of
botany, where that fhrub is taken notice of. And
as the knowlege of it, and the method of collecting
the varnifh, might be of fervice to the inhabitants of
the Britifh colonies in America, I took the liberty of
adding the account given of it by Dr. Kcempfer.

Mr. Ellis, in his letter to Mr. W ebb, afferts, that
the American Toxicodendron is not the fame with
Kcempfer’s Arbor 'uernicifera legitima. This af-
fertion of his makes it neceffary to lay before the
Society the authorities, upon which I have grounded
my belief, that they are the fame. But it may not
be amifs firft to take notice, that the fhrub men-
tioned by the Abbe Sauvages is the fame with that,
which the gardeners about London call the Poifon-
afh. The title of it, mentioned by the Abbe Sau-
vages, was given by myfelf to that fhrub, in a cata-
logue of trees and fhrubs, which was printed in the
year 1730 ; before which it had no generical title
applied to it. And about the fame time I fent feve-
ral of the plants to Paris and Holland with that title,

which

[ 432 ]

which I had raifed a few years before from feeds,
which were fent by Mr. Catefby from Carolina.

And altho’ this fhrub had not been reduced to any
genus before, yet it had been fome years growing in
the gardens of the Bifhop of London at Fulham, at
Mr. Reynardfon’s at Hillenden, Mr. Darby’s at Hox-
ton, and in the Chelfea garden, which were raifed
from feeds fent by Mr. Banider from Virginia; two
of which were growing at Chelfea in the year 1722,
when the care of that Garden was intruded to me.

The fird intimation I had of the American dirub
being the fame with Dr. Kcempfer’s true varnidi-tree,
was from the late Dr. William Sherard, in the year
1726, when that gentleman defired me to bring him
a fpecimen of the American Toxicodendron from the
Chelfea garden ; which I accordingly did : and then
the DoCtor, and Dr. Dillenius, compared it with a
dried fpecimen in the collection of the former, which
was gathered in Japan, and which, if I remember
right, he told me he received from Dr. Koempfer
fome years before. It appeared to thofe two gentle-
men, that they were the fame ; and their fkill in the
lcience of botany was never doubted.

About a year after this, I carried a fpecimen of
the American Toxicodendron to an annual meeting
of fome botanids at Sir Hans Sloane’s in Bloomibury •
where there were prefent Mr. Dale of Braintree, Mr.
Jofeph Miller, Mr. Rand, and fome others ; which
was then compared with Dr. Kcempfer’s fpecimen,
whofe colle&ion Sir Hans Sloane had purchaibd : and
it was the opinion of every one prefent, that they
were the fame. Nor has any one doubted of their
being fo, who has compared the American dirub

with

C 433 ]

with Kcempfer’s figure and defcription of his true
varnifh-tree, but Mr. Ellis.

And now give ms leave to examine his reafons for
differing in opinion from every late botanifl, who
has mentioned this fhrub.

He fays, that the midrib, which fupports the lobe
leaves, is quite fmooth in the poifon-afh, as is alfo
the under fide of the leaves ; whereas Dr. Koempfer,
in his defcription of the midrib of the true varnifh-
tree, calls it laviter lanuginofo ; and in his defcrip-
tion of the lobes or pinna he fays, they are baji ine~
qualiter rotunda ; whereas thofe of the poifon-afh
come to a point at their footftalks * nearly equal to
that at the top. Thefe charadters, Mr. Ellis thinks,
are fufficient to prove, that they are different plants :
and he blames Dr. Dillenius for having omitted thefe
neceffary charadters in his defcription of it ; and
fuppofes this mufl have mifled the accurate Linnaeus,
who quotes his fynonyma.

But as Dr. Linnaeus is poffeffed of Kcempfer’ s
book, he would little have deferved the appellation
of accurate in this particular, had he not confulted
the original, but trufled to a copy. But this I know
he has done, and is as well affured, that the plants
in queflion are the fame, as Mr. Ellis can be of the
contrary.

But here I mufl obferve, that the branch, from
which Dr. Kcempfer’s figure is taken, is produced
from the lower part of a flem, which feems to have
been cut down, and not from a flowering branch ;
and it is not improbable, that his defcription may
have been taken from the fame branch : and if this
be the cafe, it is eafy to account for the minute dif-

V o -L. 50. K k k ferences

[ +34 I

ferences mentioned by Mr. Ellis ; for it would not be
difficult to produce inftances of hundreds of different-
trees and ihrubs, whole lower and upper branches
differ much more in the particulars mentioned by
Mr. Ellis, than the figure and defeription given by
ICoempfer do from the American Toxicodendron.
I will only mention two of the moll obvious : the
firft is the white poplar, whofe fhoots from the lower
part of the item, and the fuckers from the root, are
gamifhed with leaves very different in form and fize
from thofe on the upper branches, and are covered
on both Tides in the fpring with a woolly down.
The next is the willow with fmooth leaves, which, if
a ffandard, and the head lopped off, as is ufual, the
young fhoots are gamifhed with leaves much broader,
and of different forms from thofe on the older
branches ; and thefe have frequently a hairy down
on their under furface, which does not appear on
thofe of the older. So that a perfon unacquainted
with thefe differences in the fame tree would fuppofe
they were different. And the American Toxicoden-
dron has varied in thefe particulars much more, in
different feafons, than what Mr. Ellis has mentioned.

Mr. Ellis next fays, that the Toxicodendron men-
tioned by Mr. Catefby, in his Natural Hiflory of Ca-
rolina, is not the fame with that, which is now called
by the gardeners poil'on-afh : but I am very pofitive
of the contrary ; for mod of the plants in the nurfery-
gardens about London were firft raifed from the
feeds, which were lent by Mr. Catefby from Carolina ;
part of which were fent to the late Dr. Sherard, as
is mentioned by him in the Philofophical Trans-
actions, N°, 367; and another part came to my

hands.

[ +35 1

hands, from which I raifed a great many of the
plants, which were diftributed, and fome of them
are now growing in the Chelfea garden.

And that this fhrub grows naturally in Carolina,

I can have no doubt, having received the feeds of it
two or three times from the late Dr. Dale, who ga-
thered them in the woods of that country.

In my paper above-mentioned I likewife obferved,
that the feeds, which were fent to the Royal Society
by Father D’Incarville, for thofe of the true varnifh-
tree, did not prove to be fo; but the plants, which
were raifed from them, were taken to be referred to
the fpurious varnifh-tree of Koempfer 5 which I be-
lieved to be the fame, and own, that it is yet my
opinion, notwithftanding what Mr. Ellis has faid to
the contrary : for the number of lobes or pinnce on
each leaf, with their manner of arrangement on the
midrib, are the fame. And here we muft obferve,
that the figure of this given by Koempfer is from a
flowering branch ; and every gardener or botanifl:
muft know, that the leaves, which are fituated im-
mediately below the flowers of moil winged-leaved
plants, have fewer lobes or pinnce , than thofe on the
lower branches : therefore I muft fuppofe it to be the
cafe in this plant ; and from thence, with fome other
obfervations which I made on the feeds, I have af-
ferted it to be the wild or fpurious varnifh-tree of
Koempfer. But Mr. Ellis is of a contrary opinion,
becaufe the bafe of tire lobes of thofe plants, which
were raifed from Father D’ Incar ville’s feeds, are
rounded and indented like two ears. In Dr. Koemp-
fer’s figure and defcription of the faji-no-ki , the
leaves are intire, and come to a point at their bafe.

K k k 2 Here

C 436 ]

Here I think Mr. Ellis is a little too hafly in giving
his opinion, as he has not feen this plant in the date,
that the branch was,, from which Kcempfer’s figure
was taken. For as there are often fuch apparent
differences between the leaves on the lower branches
of trees, and thofe which are at their extremities, as
that in the defcriptive titles of the fpecies Dr. Lin-
nreus frequently ufes them to diftinguifh one from
another; fo in making the fame allowance. for thei
plant in queftion, I cannot help thinking that I am
in the right, and muff abide by my opinion, till the
plants, which have been raifed from Father D’ln-
carville’s feeds, have flowered, to convince me of
the contrary.

However, I cannot help obferving, that Mr. Ellis
has given a title to this flhrub before he had feen any.
of the characters, which are necefiary to determine
the genus. And I have pretty good reafbn to believe
it fhould not be joined to the Rhus ; for the three
feeds, which I received from . the Royal . Society*
were fhaped like a wedge, being , thicker on one
edge than the other, and not unlike thofe of the
beech-tree, as I. noted in my catalogue when I flowed
them.; and, by their ftruCture, feemed as if the
three feeds had been inclofed in the fame capflule.

If it proves fo, this will by no means agree with
the characters of Rhus ; efpecially if the male flow-
ers fhould grow upon different plants from the fruit,
which is what I fufpeCt. Nor can I agree with Dr;
Linnaeus in this particular of joining all the fpecies of
Toxicodendron to the genus of Rhus, many of
which have their male flowers growing upon diffe-
rent plants from the fruit ; and therefore would

more

[ 437 ]

more properly come into his twenty-fecond clafs of
Dioecia , than his fifth of Pentandria , into which he
ranges the Rhus. At the bottom of the chara&er s
of that genus he has added a note, to fhew tl)e
varnifh-tree is fo:

But as there are feveral other fpecies, which agree
in this efTential character of diflinCtion ; fo, accord-
ing to theLinnaean. fyftem, they fhould be feparated
from the Rhus, with another generical title.

Mr. Ellis obferves, upon the poetical defcription,
which he fays Kcempfer has given of the leaves of the
wild varnifh-tree turning red in the autumn, that he
had not found it to be the cafe of the tree growing in
the ftove at Bufbridge. How it appeared in that fitua-
tion, I know not ; but the leaves of all thofe, which
are growing in the Chelfea garden, and ftand in the
open air, do conftantly change to a purple colour in
the autumn, before they fall off from the fhrub :
but thofe of the true varnifh-tree are much more re-
markable for the deepnefs of their colour.

Mr. Ellis fays, he had received a letter from Dr.
Sibthorp, profeffor of botany at Oxford, in which
the Doctor informs him, that there is no fpecimen
of the true varnifh-tree in the Sherardian collection
at Oxford y, but that there is one of fflfi-no-ki , or
fpurious varnifh-tree of Kaempfer. Blow the DoCtor
could write fo, I cannot conceive ; for I am very fure
there was no fpecimen of the latter in that collection
while it- remained in London, having myfelf often
viewed that part of it : and fure I am,- Dr. Dillenius
never added that fynonym to the former : and I do
believe the latter was no other way known in Europe,
than by Kcempfer’s figure and defcription of it, ex-

4. cepting

1 4-3B ]

cep ting that fpecimen of Kcempfer’s now in the Bri-
tifh Mufeum.

But, to confirm what I have before faid, of Dr.
Sherard’s having a fpecimen of the true varnifh-tree,
I beg leave to quote what Dr. Dillenius has written
in the Hortus Elthamenfis where, after having de-
ferred the American Toxicodendron, he fays, Ce-
terum hijloriam verm c if era arboris Japonia , dili-
genter et accurate more fuo exfequutus efi laudatus
Kcempferiusy cujus et deferiptio et figura , quin et
plant a fee a , qua in Japonia left a fervatur in phyto -
phylacio Sberardino , noflra huic fpeciei examujjim
quadrat : id tantum> J'exus nempe differentia , pra-
te rvi fa fuit autdori : quoniam autem ille liber non in
omnium his in locis , multo minus in America , mani -
bus verfatur , non alienum v idetur , fi qui , quorum
intereft, hac legerint , ut norint, qua ille de collec-
tion & preparatione vernicis illius habet , hoc loco
tranferibere. Then he goes on tranferibing from
Koempfer the manner, in which it is collected.

After this, I find Mr. Ellis is inclinable to think,
that the poifon-afh, as it is called by the gardeners,
is the fame with the fafi-no-kiy or fpurious varnifh-
tree of Koempfer. The difference between thefe
fhrubs does not confift in fmall and minute particu-
lars, but the moft obvious flunking marks of diftinc-
tion appear at firft fight ; for the poifon-afh has rare-
ly more than three or four pair of lobes to each leaf,
terminated by an odd one : in which particular it
agrees with the true varnifh-tree of Koempfer ;
whereas in the figure, which Koempfer has given of
the fpurious varnifh-tree, the leaves have feven or
eight pair of lobes terminated by an odd one : and

this

[ 439 ]

tliis figure, as I before obferved, is drawn from a
flowering branch. Every one, yvho is the leafi: ac-
quainted with thefe things, knows, that the leaves
immediately below the flowers are confiderably lefs
than thofe on the lower part of the branches : there-
fore this is a more effential note of diftindion than
thofe mentioned by Mr. Ellis.-

I muft alfo obferve, that Mr. Ellis would fuggeft,
that I fuppofed thefe two flirubs were only varieties
©f each other produced by culture : whereas it muft
appear to every one, who reads my paper, that my
intention in mentioning the fpurious varnifh-tree
was to fliew it was different from Kcempfer’s true
varnilh-tree, altho’ Koempfer fuppofes otherwife.

For the fatisfadion of the curious, I have added
a leaf of each fhrub, which are now growing in
the Chelfea garden, that if any perfon has the cu-
riofity, they may compare them with Koempfer’s.

In my paper I took notice, that one of the beft
kinds of varnifh was colleded from the Anacardium-
in Japan ; and recommended it to the inhabitants of
the Britifti iflands in America, to make trial of the
occidental Anacardium, or Cafhew-nut tree, which-
abounds in thofe iflands.. This has occafioned Mr.
Ellis to take great pains to (hew, that the eaftern
and weftern Anacardium were different trees : a fad:,
which was well known to every botanift before ; and

J *

of which I could not be ignorant, having been pof-
feffed of both forts near thirty years. But as I was
affured, from many repeated experiments, that the
milky juice, with which every part of the Calhew-
tree abounds, would ftain linen with as permanent a
black as that of the oriental Anacardiurq; fo I juft-

hinted,

C 44° 1

hinted, that it was worth the trial. Nor was my
hint grounded on thofe experiments only, but on
the informations I had received from perfons of the
bed; credit, w7ho had refided long in the American
iflands, that people are very careful to keep their
linen at a diftance from thofe trees, well knowing,
that if a drop of the juice fell upon it, they could
never walh out the ftain.

But Mr. Ellis, in order to prove that this tree has
no fuch quality of Gaining, fays, he has made fome
experiments on the cauftic oil, with which the fheli
or cover of the Cafhew-nut abounds ; and that he
found it was not endued with any ftaining quality.
But furely thofe experiments cannot be mentioned to
prove, that the milky juice of the tree has not this
property : and Sir Hans Sloane, in his Hiftory of
Jamaica, fays, that the inhabitants of Jamaica ftain
their cottons with the bark of the Cafhew-tree.

I fhall not intrude farther on the patience of the
gentlemen, who may be prefent when this paper is
read ; but humbly crave their pardon for detaining
them fo long : nor Ihould I have given them this
trouble, had not I thought my reputation concerned
on die occalion.

LVI.

[ 44 1 ]

LVI. An Anfwer to the preceding Remarks .
By Mr. John Ellis, F.R.S.

Read jan. i g, 'fa /fY letter to Mr. Webb, which is
JlVA printed in the fecond part of the
xlixth volume of the Philofophical Tranfadtions *,
was intended to fhew this Honourable Society, that
Mr. Miller, in his reply to the Abbe Mazeas’s letter,
had brought no proofs to leflen the difcovery, which
he tells us the Abbe Sauvages had made, in attempt-
ing to improve the art of painting or ftaining linens
and cottons of a fine durable black colour, by making
ufe of the juice of the Carolina pennated Toxicoden-
dron, inftead of the common method of ftaining
black with gauls and a preparation of iron > which, he
fays, always turns to a rufty colour when wafhed*

Mr. Miller, inftead of producing the proper proofs,
to fhew that this method of ftaining cottons and
linens of a black colour was known before, or quote -
ing the authors in which he fays it is mentioned,
contents himfelf with telling the Society, that this
American Toxicodendron is the fame plant with the
true varnifh-tree of Japan ; and that callicuts are
painted with the juice of this Shrub.

In my letter to Mr. Webb, I have endeavoured to
fhew, that notwithstanding the authority of Dr. Dil-
lenius, and the authors that have followed him, it
does not appear, from Dr. Kcempfer’s defcription of
this Japan plant, that it can be the fame with our
American one.

* Page 806.

VoL. 50.

L 1 1

The

£ 44 2 1

The defign-, then, of this paper, is to lay before
this Society fome further reafons, why theie plants
cannot be the fame ; and that even if they were the
fame, Mr. Miller has produced no authority to fhew,
that this juice was ever made ufe of for this purpofe
abroad ; with fome remarks on his reply to my let-
ter, in which he obliges me to be more particular
than I intended, in explaining fome errors, which I
find he has run into.

In my letter to Mr. Webb, I have pointed out the
exa<£t defcription, which Koempfer has given us of
the leaves of this plant, fhewing how much they
differ from our American one : but now I fhall
mention fome obfervations that efcaped me before,
and which, I think, will give us a clearer proof of
this matter.

Koempfer, then, informs us, that this Japan var-
nifli-tree, or Sitz-dJju , is a tree, not a fhrub : and
this author (it is well known) is remarkably exadt
in the defcription of his Japan plants, making the
neceffary diftin&ions between a fhrub, an arborefcent
fhrub, and a tree. He then goes on to explain the
manner of its growth ; and tells us, that it grows with
long fappy fhoots, very luxuriantly, to the height of
a fallow or willow-tree, which we may reafonably
allow to be from 20 to 30 feet : whereas this Caro-
lina pennated Toxicodendron, as Mr. Miller tells us
in his Dictionary, 6th edit, in folio, is a fhrub, and
feldom rifes above five feet high with us : and many
people, who have been in North America, agree,
that it is but a flow grower there, and is one of the
fhrubby underwoods of that country : fo that, al-
lowing it to grow even double the height it does

. here.

[ 443 ]

here, It is ftill but a fhrub, in comparifon with the

other.

F urther, while Dr. Dillenius was w&rm with this
fuppofed difeovery, of our having got the true Japan
varnifh-tree in America, attempts were made there,
by intelligent perfons under his direction, to procure
this varnifh after the manner of Kcempfer ; but
without fuccefs, as I am allured by perfons of that
country now here, with whom the Dodlor corref-

now confult the growth of the Carolina
and Virginia Sumachs, or Rhus’s, in our nurfery-
gardens, and compare them with this little fhrubby
Toxicodendron, and we fhall find, that even in this
cold climate nature keeps her regular proportionable
pace in the growth of vegetables of the fame coun-
try.

Let us obferve the growth of fome of thefe
Rhus’s, and we fhall find that great luxuriancy of
the fhoots, which Koempfer fo juftly deferibes in his
varnifh-tree. One of thefe American ones even feems
to promife the fame height as the Japan Rhus ;
whereas this little fhrubby Toxicodendron ftill pre-
ferves the fame dwarfifh flow-growing habit, that it
has in its native country.

This leads me, in the next place, to fliew, that
thefe two plants muft be of different genus’s ; the
one a Rhus, and the other a Toxicodendron : and
if fo, according to Mr. Miller, they ought to be
properly diftinguifhed, and not ranked together, as
Dr. Linnaeus has done.

In order to prove this, let us then examine Kcemp-
fer’s defeription of the parts of the flower, and fee

L 1 1 2 whether

ponded.
Let i

C 444 ]

whether it does not anfwer exactly to the genus of
Rhus $ and whether the flowers are not male and
female in themfelves, that is, hermaphrodites, on
the fame tree. The original of Kcempfer is as fol-
lows, p. 791 of his Amcenitates : “ Flojculos conti-
<c nent pumilos, et citra coriandri feminis magni-
,l tudinem radiantes, in luteum herbaceos, pentape-
“ talos, petalis carnofis nonnihil oblongis et repan-
<c dis, ftaminibus ad petalorum interftitia fingulisr
u apicatis, breviflimk, ftylo perbrevi tricipite, floris
“ turbini infidente ; frucftus flofculum excipit gib-
4C bofus utcunquc in rhomboides flguram.- conv
“ preffus.” Whereas Dr. Dillenius, and the authors
that have copied after him, fay, that his Toxicoden-
dron has the male blofloms on one plant, and the
female on the other ; from whence it muft evidently
be another genus.

It appears, however, that Dr. Dillenius was not
altogether ignorant of this difference of genus in
thefe two plants ; but, rather than his Toxicoden-
dron, which he had made agree exactly in the leaves,
fhould not agree in the fructification, he makes the
accurate Kcempfer guilty of an unpardonable over-
iight, in not taking notice of the difference of the
fexes of this varnifh-tree in different plants : whereas
we have juft now fhewn, that nothing can be more
minutely and judicioufly defcribed, than he has done
both the male and female parts of the bloffom,
which change into the fruit on the fame plant.

The original of Dr. Dillenius’s remarks on Dr.
Kcempfer’ s lpecimen runs thus: “ Planta licca, qua;

‘ c in Japonia le<fta, fervatur in phytophylacio Sherar-
a dino, noftrae huic fpecie examuflim quadrat, id

“ tantum

[ +4-5 ].

<c tantum ferns nempe differentia praetervifa fuit auc-
tc tori.” Hence we find how this error came to-
fpread, and this falfe fynonym to be adopted by the
botanic writers, who copied after Dillenius.

This fliews us what little dependance we can have
upon the refult of that meeting, which Mr. Miller
mentions he had with his botanic friends ; where,,
from the fimilitude of leaves only, without the parts
of fructification, they determined thefe two plants,
fo different in their growth, to be one and the fame
plant.

Mr. Miller remarks very juflly, that the leaves of
the fame tree often vary much in fhape, fuch as
thofe of the poplar, fallow, &c.

But in anfwer to this, we may reafonably fuppofe,,
that Dr, Kaempfer, who was on the fpot, would not
choofe for his fpecimens leaves of the mofl uncom-
mon forts that were on the tree, and negleCt the-
mofl common. This would be carrying the fup-
pofition farther than can be allowed, unlefs we fup-
pofe this author had not the underflanding even of
a common gardener ; for otherwife, I am perfuaded,
Sir Hans Sloane would not have thought his fpeci-
mens worth purchafing.

For another fynonym to the true Japan varnifh-
tree, as alfo to Dillenius’s pennated Toxicodendron,
with rhomboidal fruit, Mr. Miller brings in (in his
anfwer to the Abbe Mazeass letter) the Bahama
Toxicodendron joiiis alatis fructu purpureo pyriformi
fparfo of Catefby’s Nat. Hifl. vol. i. p. 4,0.. fo that he
would have all thefe three different plants one and the
fame: and, in his reply to my letter, he ftill infills on
it, that thefe two Toxicodendrons are the fame. But

5 here.

[ 446 ]

here I mull beg the favour of this Honourable So-
ciety, when they come more attentively to confider
this matter, to compare his anfwer to the Abbe Ma-
zeas’s letter, and his reply to me, in this particular
part.

I fhall only at prefent take notice, that Catelby
fays, this Toxicodendron, with the pear-fhaped fruit,
grows ufually on rocks in Providence, Ilathera, and
other of the Bahama iflands ; and does not mention,
that he ever faw it in Carolina. I cannot find it de-
fcribed 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 grow-
ing in England, or that it is even the fame genus
with Dillenius’s rhomboidal-fruited one, from the
different ftrudture both of its leaves as well as fruit.

In looking over Dr. Linnaeus’s Hortus Cliff or tianus,
I find he gives this Bahama Toxicodendron of Catef-
by as a fynonym to his Elemifera joliis pinnatis ,
p. 486.

I now come to that part of Mr. Miller’s reply, re-
lating to the China varnilh-tree, that was raifed from
feeds fent to the Royal Society by Father D’lncar-
ville ; where he Rill infills on it, that this is the
fame with the fpurious varnilh-tree of Kcempfer. His
reafons are, that notwithftanding the indentation and
roundnefs of the bottom of the lobe-leaves of the
China varnilh-tree, and tho’ the lobe-leaves of the
fpurious Japan varnilh-tree come to a point at the
bale, and are no-way indented, but. quite even on
the edges ; yet he fays, becaufe they have an equal
number of pinna, or lobe-leaves, on the whole leaf
of each tree, they mull be the fame.

In

\

/‘kilos. Zidtn.i, Vol.J. TAB.XVJI y-.

C 4-4-7 3

In anfwer to this, I fay their lobe-leaves are not
equal 3 for I have examined both the fpecimens and
drawings of Dr. Kcempfer’s fpurious varnifh-tree, and
I don’t find that the number of the pinnae exceed leven
on a fide : whereas I have a fmall fpecimen of a leaf
by me, that was taken from the top of one of D’ln-
carville’s China varnifh-trees, which is above eight
feet high, and hands in an open expofure ; and. this
leaf, tho’ but a foot long, has 12 lobe-leaves on a fide,
and each lobe indented at the bafe *. At the fame
time I obferved, that the leaves of the young fhoots
of another tree were a yard long, as they were this
fummer at the garden of the Britifh Mufeum. An-
other thing is remarkable in the leaves of this China
varnifh-tree 3 and that is, the lobes of the leaves, as
they approach to the end, grow fmaller and fmaller 3
whereas in the fpurious Japan varnifh-tree they are
rather, if there is any difference, larger towards the
end.

I fhall make this further remark, that tho’ thefe
indentations on the lobe-leaves may vary in number
in this China varnifh-tree 3 yet, as I obferved before,
fince they are continued on even in the fmaller leaves
at the top of the branches of a tree eight feet high
in the open ground, it appears to me, that this fpe-
cific character, befides the form and infertion of the
lobe-leaves, will ever diflinguifh it as a different
fpecies from the Vafi-no-ki , or fpurious varnifh-tree
of Kcempfer.

Mr. Miller now goes on to tell us, he is confirmed
in his belief of their being the fame, by making
fome obfervations on the feeds of this China varnifh-

* See Tab. XVII. where this fpecimen is exadly delineated.

[ 44-8 ]

tree ; and therefore afierts, that they are the fame.
It is natural to fjppofe he compared them with the
accurate drawings of the feeds of Kcempfer’s Fafi-no -
> kty p. 794. that being the only place where the feeds
of it are defcribed.

In the very next paragraph Mr. Miller feems to
forget, that from his own obfervations on the feeds
of the China varnifh-tree, he has afferted it to be
the Fafi-no -ki of Kcempfer ; but now he finds, in
his memorandums, that thofe feeds were wedge-
fhaped, and like the feeds of the beech-tree ; and
that all the three feeds he received feemed to be in-
clofed in one capfule : fo that now he is at a lofs
what to call it ; and at the fame time fays I have
been too haffy in calling it a Rhus.

Mr. Miller goes on, and allows this China varnifh-
tree changes to a purple in the autumn ; but not fo
deep as the true varnitli-tree. I fuppofc he means,
by this true varnifh-tree, the Carolina pennated Toxi-
codendron ; for Kcempfer has not told us what co-
lour the true varnifh-tree of Japan changes to in
autumn.

Rut this is no certain proof on either fide of the
queftion, only a corroborating circumftance of the
fpecies of a tree : nor fhould I have mentioned it,
but for the manner in which Koempfer, with an
imagination truly poetical, deferibes the autumnal
beauty of his Fafi-?io-ki , or l'purious varnifh-tree.

“ Rubore fuo autumnati qua viridantes fylvas fua-
“ viter interpolat, intuentium oculos e longinquo in
“ le convertit.” Even this defeription would make
one fufpedt it is not the fame with the China varnifh-
tree, which, I am informed, did not turn purplifh in
the garden of the Britifli Mufeum till the firft froft

came

[ +49 3

came on : whereas it is well known, that fome of
the Rhus’s and Toxicodendrons, particularly the Ca-
rolina pennated one, change to a fine fcarlet colour
in the beginning of a dry autumn, even before any
froft appears.

Mr. Miller feems furprifed, how I fliould think,
that the Carolina pennated Toxicodendron, or poifon-
afli is like the Faji-no-ki of Kcempfer. I muft here
acknowlege, at this time, not having feen Dodtor
Koempfer’s fpecimen, I imagined, from the fhape of
the lobe-leaves (as he has defcribed them) and from
the remarkable fcarlet colour of both thefe 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 Dic-
tionary, fob edit. 6. under the article Toxicodendron ,
where he takes fome pains to allure us, that they
are the very fame plants.

In the next paragraph I find Mr. Miller has in-
tirely miflaken the meaning of one part of my let-
ter to Mr. Webb ; which I muft recommend to him
to read again, and he will find it exadtly agees with
his own fentiments. There he will find my opinion
is, that notwithftanding the change of foil and fitua-
tion, this Sitz-dsju , or true varnifh-tree, and the Faji-
no-ki , or fpurious varnifh-tree of Koempfer, are di-
ftindt fpecies of Rhus or Toxicodendron, and will
ever remain fo.

Mr. Miller now defires me, fince I have feen Dr.
Koempfer’s fpecimens in the Britifh Mufeum, to de-
clare, whether I think I am miftaken.

In anfwer to this, and to fatisfy Mr. Miller as
well as myfelf, I have been very lately at the Mu-

V o l. 50. M m m feutrr,

[ +5° ]

feum, and have looked very carefully over Dr. Kcemp-
fer’s fpecimens, and do dncerely think, as did other
judges at the fame time, that the Sitz-dsju is not
the fame with the Carolina pennated Toxicoden-
dron, nor the Taji-no-ki the fame with Father D’ln-
carville’s China varnifh-tree.

Mr. Miller informs us, that one of the bed: kinds of
varnifhes is collected from the Anacardium in Japan.

In anfwer to this, I muft beg leave to fhew the
Society, that Dr. Kcempfer does not fo much as
mention, that this Anacardium grows in Japan j but
that the varnifh, 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, efpecially the parts of thofe kingdoms,
where Kcempfer informs us this * Anacardium grows,
lie in the latitudes of from 10 to 15 degrees north,
which mud: be full as hot as our Well Indies: fo
that it is not probable, that it would bear the cold
of the winters in Japan ; for Japan lies from the la-
titudes of 33 to above 40 degrees north, which is
about the fame parallel with our North American
colonies.

I lhall now beg leave to lay before the Society
that padage of Dr. Kcempfer, which relates to this
difpute, together with my trandation of it, that it
may be compared with Mr. Miller’s trandation, which
he gives us in his reply to the Abbe Mazeas’s letter,
Philofoph. Tranf. vol. xlix. p. 164. 2d paragraph.

* This is likewife called the Malacca Bean, from its growing
in great plenty on that coaft, near the equino&ial line.

Dr.

[ 4-5* ]

Dr. Koempfer, in his Anuznitates, p. 793. fpeak-
ing of the true varniffi-tree, fays, ct Colitur frequens
in provinciis Tfi-kocko et Figo, in quibus inferti
“ agris fcapi radices agunt et caudices edunt poll
<c triennium vernicem fuppeditantes. Optima regi-
<c onis, quin totius mundi, vernix perhibetur circa
“ urbem Jaffino colligi. Vernicem ceres Japonica
“ largitur oppido nobilem et pretiofiffimam, fed ad-
“ modum parcam ; nec pro operibus, quae regio
tc conftruit, fufficeret, nifi prius cum, Nam Rak> i. e.
4C vernice ignobiliore ex Siamo inveda, pro bah illi-
44 nerentur. Siamenfis vernix promitur in provincia
44 Corfama, et regno Cambodi® ex arbore Anacardo,
44 incolis Tong Rak, i. e. Arbor Rak dida, cujus
44 frudus officinis noftris Anacardium didus Luk
44 Rak , liquor Nam Rak appellatur. Perforatus
44 truncus immiffo tubulo, tanta copia fundit liquo-
44 rem ut Sin®, Tunquino et Japoni® pro deliniendis
<c utenfilibus fufficiat, quin jam Bataviam et alia In-
44 di® loca valis ligneis inclufa appellit.”

Which, tranflated into Engliffi, appears to me to
be thus :

4 This varniffi-tree is often cultivated in the pro-

* vinces of Tfi-kocko and Figo: there they plant
1 the cuttings or truncheons in the fields, which take

* root, and fend forth vigorous ffioots, which in
4 three years time yield this varnifh.

4 The beft varnifh of the kingdom, nay, of the
4 whole world, is faid to be colleded about the city

* of Jaffino. The produce in Japan of this moft
c noble and very precious varnilh, is fo very little,
4 that there would not be fufficient for the wares
4 made in the kingdom, if they did not firft lay on

M m m 2 4 a

[ 452 ]

c a ground with an ordinary kind of varnifi, which
c they call Nam Raky and is brought to them from
4 Siam.

c This Siam varnifi is collefted in the province of

* Corfama, and in the kingdom of Cambodia, from

* the tree Anacardus, called by the inhabitants Tong
4 or Tree-Rak the fruit of which is called in our
‘ flops Anacardium, or Luk Raky and the liquor is
‘ called Nam Rak.

4 To colledl this liquor, they bore a liole in the
i trunk, and put in a tube. By this method they
4 get as much of it as is fufficient not only to varnif 1
4 all the utenfils of China, Tonquin, and Japan, but

* it is even exported in clofe wooden veffels to Bata-
4 via, and other parts of India.’

The original of Koempfer, p. 794. fpeaking of the
true Japan varnifi, is as follows : “ Troftat non fin-
“ cera modo, fed et colorata, vel cinnabari nativa-
44 Sinenfi, vel terra rubra (quam Batavi antea, nunc
“ Sinenfes advehunt) vel atramenti popularis ma-
“ teria.”

Which I apprehend may be read thus in English :

4 This varnifi is not only fold quite pure, but
4 likewife coloured, and that with Chinefe native
4 cinnabar, and a kind of red earth, which the
4 Dutch formerly, but now the Chinefe, bring them ;

4 and alfo with the materials that they make their
4 common (or Japan) ink of.’

Mr. Miller tranfates it thus ( See p. 164. vol. xlix.
Phil. TranfaB.) : 4 This varnifi is ufed without mix-
4 ture to fain black : but the Chinefe mix native
4 cinnabar, or a red kind of earth, with it, to make
4 a different colour.’

* s

Here

[ 453 ] ;

Here we may obferve, that Mr. Miller ufes the
words ftaining black ; which is not the' fenfe of the
author, who, by mentioning the materials of Japan
ink, (hews, that even in varnifhing black it was ne~
ceffarv to ufe this black mixture.

Further, Mr. Miller fays, that the Chinefe mix
thefe colouring ingredients with this varnifh : but
the original plainly fays, that the Chinefe import
them, and the Japanefe mix them with : rvarnifh

for fale.

And in a former part of this letter, p. 162. vol.
xlix. Phil. Tranf. he fays, fpeaking of this true var-
nifh-tree, that callicuts are painted with the juice of
this ihrub. But this bare affertion of his, without
producing a proper authority, I am perfuaded this
Honourable Society will never admit as a matter of
proof to invalidate the difcovery of the Abbe Sau-
vagesf

In looking; over one of the numbers of Mr. Mil-
ler’s Dictionary, under the title of Anacardium, I
find he quotes a paffage from Dr. Grew, which Sir
Hans Sloane has placed among his obfervations on
the Cafhew-tree, Hiji.yam. vol. ii. p. 127. which is,
that cottons are ffained with lime, and the oil, or
mellaginous fuccus, called Mel Anacardium (but for
the account of this Mel Anacardium I (hall refer to
Parkinfon’s Theat. p. 1 y68) \ and Mr. Miller feems
to think it difficult to know which of the Anacar-
diums is here meant.

One would be apt think, from this paffage, and
another that follows a little after in the fame page of the
Hift. of Jamaica, relating to the black dye of the mel-
lagoof this nut, that Sir Hans, at the time his hiffory
8 was

[ 454 ]

was publifhed, thought them, as Cafpar Bauhin did,
of the lame genus, but different fpecies ; and there-
fore he has mixt the obfervations on both together.

For, immediately after mentioning the flaining of
Cottons with this mellaginous fuccus, Sir Hans fays,
that the gum is, in faculties and colour, like £um-
arabic ; and that it is given internally in female ob-
ftrudtions j and that the juice flains linen, which will
not wafh out fuddenly : but he fays it is falfe, that
they remain till they flower next year, as Du Tertre
afferts.

Sir Hans further quotes, from an anonymous Bra-
filian author, that the apples ftain linen ; and that
the gum is good to paint and write ; and the bark
dyes yarn and veffels ferving for pots.

And in another place he quotes De Laet, who
compiled a general hiftory of America, and who
likewife takes his quotation from an old Brafilian
author, treating of the trees of Brafil, That the gum
of the Acajou is ufed by painters ; the bark is ufed to
dye cotton-yarn and earthen ware. Here I muft re-
mark, tho’ foreign to our prefent purpofe, that in the
original of Laet, what relates to the earthen ware
runs thus : “ Et a faire de vaiffeaux de terre.” So
that I believe it will appear more probable, that the
bark of thefe trees was ufed rather to burn earthen
ware veffels, than to dye them, as we find thefe
earthen veffels were ufed to boil their victuals in.

Thefe two quotations from Sir Hans Sloane con-
firm the former, with regard to the ufe of the gum ;
that is, its being fit, like gum-arabic, to be ufed for
water-colours, and to make ink ; and that it is the
juice of the apple that ftains, but this we find is not
durable.

Mr.

[ 455 ]

Mr. Miller has now only the bark of the Cafhew-
tree left to fupport his argument. This the above-
mentioned Brafilian writers fay, that the native In-
dians of Brafil ufed to dye their cotton-yarn with ;
but of what colour no mention is made. And whe-
ther this bark is ufed to give ftrength to this yarn,
as we dye and tan our fifhing-nets with oak-bark, or
for ornament, is uncertain for a great deal of this
yarn was ufed in the making their net-hammocks,
as well as their coarfe garments.

Mr. Miller then introduces Sir Hans Sloane, in
oppofition to Dr. Browne, whofe Hiftory of Jamaica
I had quoted, to prove that the juice of the Acajou
was of the fame nature and properties with that of
the gum-arabic, and confequently not fit for varnifh :
whereas it plainly appears from the foregoing quota-
tions, taken from Sir Hans Sloane, that Dr. Browne
is right, and agrees exactly in opinion with him.

He then makes Sir Hans fay, that the inhabitants
of Jamaica ftain their cottons with the bark of the
Cafhew-nut tree. By this, one would naturally con-
clude, that Mr. Miller has been endeavouring to
prove, in oppofition to the Abbe Mazeas’s letter,
that the art of painting or ftaining cottons of a fine
deep black colour, equal to that difcovered by the
Abbe Sauvages, as defcribed in his experiments on
the Carolina Toxicodendron, was pradtifed by the
Englifh forty or fifty years ago in Jamaica.

If this was the cafe, it is fomething furprifing,
that, notwithflanding our great intercourfe with that
ifland, the callico-printers of England never got in-
telligence of this valuable fecret.

Further, if Mr. Miller will confult Pifo and Mar-
grave,

[ 45 6 ]

grave, writers of the bed authority on the Brafilian
plants, he will find their accounts of the Acajou
exadtlv correfpond with that delivered by Dr. Browne,
in his Hidory of Jamaica, as well as Sir Hans Sloane’s :
for they lay, that the juice of this tree is equal in
virtue, and mechanical ufes, to the bed gum-arabic.
And if he dill doubts, I lhall ladly recommend him
to go to tire Britidr Mufeum, and there he may fee
a mod elegant foecimen of the Cadiew-gum, which
will put this matter quite out of all doubt.

I fhall now leave the decifion of this controverfy,
which Mr. Miller has obliged me fo fully to explain
in my own vindication, to the candour and impar-
tiality of this Honourable Society.

P. S. Since the foregoing paper was read, Pro-
feffor Sibthorp was fo kind to deliver me an
exact drawing of the Fafi-no-ki in the Sherar-
dian collection at Oxford, taken by the Rev.
Mr. William Borlafe, F. R. S. the title and
fynonym of which are both in the Hand-
writing of Dr. Dillenius, as the ProfefTor af-
i'ures me. See Tab. XVIII.

LVII.

ThilctJram. Vol.J,. TAB. XVIII.

fi-4ge.

[ 457 ]

LVII. A Letter to the Rev . Thomas Birch,
D. D, Seer. R. S. concerning the Number*
of the People of England ; by the Rev .
Mr. Richard Forfter, Reffor of Great
Shefford in Berkfhire.

Revd Sir, Shefford, Nov. 9. 1757.

Read Dec. 22. ^<INCE I did myfelf the honour of
^ writing to you in July-f-, my book-
feller has fent me part ii. of vol. xlix. of the Tranf-
adions ; in which * 1 find another medium advanced
to determine the amount of the people in England :
and this is the number of houfes, which pay the
window-tax, and which “ amount to about 690,000,
<c befides cottages, that pay nothing.” To this is
added, that “ tho’ the number of cottages be not ac-
“ curately known, it appears from the accounts given
<l in, that they cannot amount to above aoo,ooo.”
Here I cannot but exprefs my concern, that this
very ingenious gentleman has not been a little more
explicit, by informing us, what thefe accounts are,
upon which he builds fo pofitive a conclufion. The
law requires no fuch accounts to be delivered in ; and
parifh-officers cannot be accufed of works of fuperero-
gation : befides (which is more to the purpofe) 1 am
very certain no l'uch accounts have been given in from
this part of the world. On the other hand, in all
parts of England, which I have feen (and that is,
I think, almofi: the whole) the number of cottages
greatly exceeds that of' all other houfes, except in
the middle of towns, and fome villages about Lon-

f See above, 9*356. * Page 887.

Vo l. 50. N n n

don.

( 458 ]

don. This is agreeable to the general interpretation of
that fentence palled upon our original parent, that he
Jhould eat bread by the fweat of his broils ; which is,
that the majority of his dependents fhould be poor-
labouring people. This I do not mention with de-
fign to defend the interpretation, but only to fhew
the general fenfe of mankind.

As my notion of the matter differs fo widely from
that of this worthy gentleman, I did every thing in
my power to check any miftake, which might arife
from a fondnefs of one’s own opinion ; and which,
I hope, will vindicate me in the eye of every candid
inquirer. In a word, I fet myfelf to count all the
houfes- in feveral contiguous parifhes j and then ex-
amined how many of them paid the window-tax, or
duty upon houfes. And here I muff obferve, that
if there be any fmall miftake, it can hardly be fup-
pofed to be in favour of my own fcheme ; becaufe I
had the whole number of houfes, by counting as I
rode along ; and fame might pofiibly be miffed, tho’
of this I took the utmofl care : whereas the number
of thofe,’ that pay the window-tax, I had from the
colle&ors rolls.

The following table is the fruit of my labours :

Great Shefford

9°

— 17

Little Shefford

12

~ 3

Welford —

162

— 62

Chaddleworth

6 2

— 20

Bright- Walton

72

21'

Gatmore —

10

I

Farmborough

34

— 5>

Fawley

47

— 7

Eaft Garflon

99

— 41

jSS.

— 177

Here

t 459 ]

Here we fee, that out of 5$ 8 houfes only 177
pay the window-tax. Now if we fay with the phi-
lopher ex pede Herculem , and fuppofe, that 200,000
taxable houfes ftand in the country, we fhall have
the following proportion, 177 : 588 : : 200,000 :
664406, for the whole number of houfes that Hand
in the country, commonly fo called.

Again, Lamborn parifti, in which is a market-
town, contains 445 houfes, of which 229 pay the
window-tax. Now if we fuppofe, in like manner,
200,000 taxable houfes to ftand in country towns (I
mean of the middling and inferior claftes), we muft
then fay 229 : 445 : : 200,000 : 388646, the whole
number of houfes, that ftand in country towns.

The remaining 290,000 houfes muft be placed in
cities and flourishing towns ; and muft have Dr.
Brakenridge’s proportion affigned them ; for without
all doubt he had fome reafon for pitching upon fuch
numbers ; and as they could not be taken from
country towns or villages, muft be aflumed from the
prefent ftate of fome flourifhing place. Upon this
fuppofition, we muft fay 69 0,000 : 200,000 :: 290,000
: 84,058. for the number of cottages in great towns ;
which, if added to the houfes that pay, makes the
whole number in large towns to be 374,058. Thefe
three fums added together make the total amount of
houfes in the nation to be

664,406

388,646

374>ojS

1,427,110

N n n 2 The-

[ 460 ]

The two former of thefe numbers fhould be mul-
tiplied by 5, and the latter by 6. The reafon of
this difference is the great quantity of fervants kept
in large towns.

*>°53r°52 x 5 = S, a 65, 260-
374,058 x 6 = 2,244,348

7,309,608

By this way of proceeding it appears, that the
whole number of people now alive in England is
fomewhat more than feven millions and an half. I
would not be underftood, as if I meant to recommend
this as exaCt -r tho’ I am in hopes, that, upon trial,
it will be found nearer the truth, than any thing hi-
therto advanced. Neither will I lay any ilrefs upon
its approaching fo near to the numbers advanced in my
former letter ; being fenfible, that all the methods I
have hitherto tried are liable to very great objections.
Where certainty may be arrived at by a little induftry,
all hypothecs fhould be defpifed and rejected.

The militia aCt levies 32,000 men upon the whole
kingdom and in the weft riding pf Yorkshire 1 in
45, if my intelligence is right, completed their
quota. Now if this proportion be applied to the
whole nation, 32,000 x 45 will give l, 440,000 for
the number of ballotters ; and this multiplied by 5
(which, confidering the number of perfons excepted,
muft 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 weft riding.

3

Whether

C 461 ]

' Whether the kingdom is really in a declining or
increafing ftate, is, in like manner, a problem not to
be folved, I think, by mere calculation. If there
happens but a fmall miftake in the principles, what is
built thereupon will be extremely wide of the truth.
If one might take the liberty to guefs by appear-
ances, I fhould think we are greatly increafed within
thele forty years, or fince the acceflion of the pre-
fent Royal Family. This conjecture I found upon
the great facility, with which the government raifes
men, compared to the violent methods made ufe
of in King William’s and Queen Anne’s time. In-
deed I am fenfible, that when the great eafe, with
which the government raifes money, and the low
intereft it pays, have been urged in the Houfe of
Commons, as evident proofs of a flourifhing trade,
and plenty of cafh, it has conftantly been anfwered
by a gentleman, who underftands thefe matters better
than any body elfe, that they are rather proofs of a
want of trade, and that people do not know what
to do with their money. In the fame manner it may
be anfwered, that the- great facility, with which the
government raifes foldiers, is not owing fo much to
the great plenty of men, as to the want of employ-
ment : which it is pofiible may really be. the cafe.

But where certainty may be had, it is trifling to
talk of appearances and conjectures. For a century
now paft, the Englifh way of philofophiling (and
all the reft of the world is come into it) is not to fit
down in one’s ftudy, and form an hypothefis, and
then ftrive to wreft all nature to it ; but to look
abroad into the world, and fee how nature works ;
and then to build upon certain matter of faCt. In
compliance with this noble method, I have done all

[ 462 ]

in my power : I have examined the regifters of fe-
veral neighbouring parishes, and fend you the fub-
ftance of three of the moil perfect ones. Indeed,
I could have added feveral others j but as they feem
to have been now and then negle&ed, I did not care
to truft to them. However, this I can fafely de-
duce from them j viz. that what I have here fent
will be a proper ftandard for thefe parts : and if other
gentlemen would take the like pains (and it is next
to nothing) in four or five pariflies in each county,
and in every great town, we might perceive, by one
caft of the eye, whether our people are in an ebb-
ing or flowing ftate. I have not fet down the burials,
as that would but have embarrafled the table ; and the
increafe will appear very well without them. How-
ever, upon an average of all the parifhes I have ex-
amined, the proportion of the burials to the baptifms
is as 83 to 149,4..

-0 £

a TJ

1

•

*c3

*

J

£

From 1614 to -1023 incluf. 327 67

463

1624 to 1633 —

— 401 6 2

64

517

1634 to 1643 —

— 391 119

8 6

59<5

1661 to 1671 —

■ — 441 146

93

680

1672 to 16S1 —

— 380 132

108

6lO

1682 to 1691 —

— 451 201

1 12

764.

1692 to 1701 —

— 344 134

88

588

1702 to 1 71 1 —

— 387 137

84

60S

1712 to 1721 • —

— 422 171

97

690

1722 to 1731

— 483

10 6

745

1732 to 1741 —

— 378 105

128

91 I

1742 to 1751 —

— j66 253

'37

956

1752 to iy$6 —

— 349 120

64

533

This

[ 463 ]

This table flands in need of no remarks : it fpeaks
loud enough of itfelf, that cur people increafe in a •
very rapid manner. All I (hall take the liberty of
observing from it is, that all the regiflers I have
looked over feem to relent the wretched policy of
King Charles II. who fubmitted himfelf and king-
dom too much to a powerful neighbour : and that
our civil war had no efredt upon our numbers, in
comparifon to our foreign wars.

I trull, that the very ingenious author of the poli-
tico-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 reconfidered > which,
if purfued, might perhaps induce fome fmall errors
in government.

The firft is, That all ways to increafe our people
would be for the public welfare, even the naturalize-
ing of foreigners : whereas, if I remember right, all
political writers lay it down as a maxim, that num-
bers of people without employment are a burden
and difeafe to the body politic j and where there is
full employment, there the people multiply of courfe.
So that we Ihould not meafure the happinefs 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 muft immediately re-export them, as
we actually did in the cafe of the Palatines and Saltz-
burghers. 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 eafy matter to find out many new manufactures.-
I can at prefent think of nothing but the cambrick-

bufinefs'i

[ 464 ]

bufinefs ; and that, with a little encouragement, might
be eftablifhed in either Scotland or Ireland, without
the importation of Grangers.

The next thing I propofe to be ruminated is the
affertion, That our commerce at fea is one caufe of
the decay of our fencible men : which founds in my
ear like faying, that if we had lefs trade, we fliould
have more people. And if this is the purport of it,
I am afraid it is a paradox, literally fo called.

That emigrations to our colonies do leffen our
numbers in appearance, is beyOnd difpute : but then
it is only in appearance : for if employment begets
people, the filling our plantations muft increafe us
beyond imagination, it having been made out, if I
mifremember not, that every man rightly occupied
in America finds employment for three perfons in
Old England. But then care fhould be taken, that
the planters were generally employed in railing rough
materials ; and that every thing imported there were
manufactured by ourfelves ; becaufe, if we fettle
colonies, and then fupply them with Eaft-India fluffs
and foreign linens, it is neither better nor worfe than
being at a vafl expence to maintain other people’s
poor.

I cannot conclude without begging leave to ob-
ferve, that this gentleman’s doctrine is, from begin-
ning to end, to fay the bell of it, ill timed. We
are contending with our hereditary enemy, the mofl
powerful prince in the world, not for fuperiority,
but for independence, pro aris et focis. And, at
fuch a time as this, to be told, that we are but little
better than half peopled, and the few we have

dwindling:

C 465 ]

dwindling away every day, is indeed very difcourage-
ing : whereas, on the contrary, I do not balance one
moment to declare it, as my fixt perfuafion, that we
can fpare 100,000 brifk young fellows, and frill be
the mod: populous flourifhing nation in Europe.

I am,

Reverend Sir,

Your affectionate Brother,

and very humble Servant,

Richard Forfter.

LVIII. A Letter to the Right Honourable
the Lari of Macclesfield, Prefident of the
Royal Society, from the Rev . William
Brakenridge, D.D. F.R.S. containing an
Anfwer to the Account of the Numbers and
Increafe of the People of England , by the
Rev. Mr. Forfter.

My Lord,

Read Mar. 16, A S I endeavoured, at a former meet-

ing of the Society, to anfwer ex-
tempore fome objections offered by a Gentleman in
the country, to what I have wrote concerning the
number of people in England ; I now prefume to fend
you what I faid then in writing, with fome farther
reflections. And this fubjeCt I never intended to
Vo l. 50. O 0 o have

✓

[ 4^6 ]

have meddled with any more ; but as I feem to be
called upon, to defend what I have formerly wrote,
I hope I fhall be excufed if I briefly attempt it. Your
Lordlhip, I know, and our illuftrious Body only
defire a fair reprefentation of fads, which is the
ground of all philofophical inquiries ; and therefore
I Shall endeavour to do this, as far as I can, without
regarding any hypothefis.

My defign, when I firft entered on this fubjed,
was to difcover whether our people were in an increa-
fing or decreasing State, with regard to their numbers;
which I thought of great importance to be known,
becaufe of its influence on the affairs of Government,
in determining our Strength, in fettling of taxes, and
direding us in the ceconomy and impioyment of our
people. Now, in order to proceed in this inquiry,
it was evident to me, that if the number of houfes
were exadly known, the number of people would
be nearlv ascertained. And therefore I attended to
this, to find out the number of houfes, as the only
thing that could with any certainty help us to judge
of this matter. And accordingly, being refolved to
depend only upon the moff lure, and general. obser-
vations, I applied to a public office, where I thought
1 might pofiibly get at their number. And I there
found, that from the laft Survey that- was made, fince
the year 1750, there were 65)0,700 houfes in En-
gland and Wales that paid the window-tax, and the
two-flfilling duty on houfes ; befides cottages that paid
nothing. By cottages are understood thole who nei-
ther pay to church or poor, and are, by a6t of par-
liament in 1747, in confideration of the poverty of
the people, declared to be exempted both from the

tax

[ 4^7 ']

tax and the two- Shillings duty ; and they only remain
not accurately known, to afcertain the whole number
of houfes. However, they are fo far known, that
from all the accounts that are hitherto given in, they
do not appear to be fo many as 300,000 ; and from
what I myfelf have feen, in the books of that office,
I fhould think they were not much above 200,000 ;
for in fome places, that I was perfe&iy acquainted
with, I found many of the day labourers rated to the
two-fhillings duty, and there did not appear to be
one houfe in ten omitted. And therefore, if there
are not 300,000 cottages, as feems plain to me, there
cannot be a million of houfes in the whole in England
and Wales; and the rated houfes are to the cottages
more than two to one ; of both which, according to
the returns made, there is now about one in feven-
teen or 58,800 empty throughout the kingdom. But
if we were to allow, that there are a million of houfes
in the whole ; which is more than the Gentlemen in
the above mentioned office believe, and then dedudt
thofe that are empty, there could not be above 94,1 ,200
inhabited houfes ; and confequently fuppofing fix to
a houfe, about y, (347,200 people, or near about five
millions and an half; which at the utmoft, is what
I infill on to be the real number.

But now the Gentleman, who objects to my calcu-
lations, thinks, that I have made the number of houfes
too few, and that in the whole there are above
1,400,000 houfes, of which he imagines there are
more than 700,000 cottages ; for he fuppofes them to
be more than the rated houfes ; and from thence he
infers, that there are about feven millions and an half of
people, in England and Wales.; which I wifh, with all

Ooo 2 my

[ 468 ]

my heart, was the true number : But I am fo far from
thinking that I have under-rated them, that I fufpedt
I have rather made them more than they are. How-
ever, this controverfy will foon be determined, there
being now orders given, as I am informed, to all the
Officers concerned in the window-tax, to make an
exadt return of all the cottages, as well as the rated
houfes, in each of their feveral diflridts. In the
mean time, the Gentleman and I differ in this, that
he fuppofes above 400,000 cottages more than I
can pofnbly imagine.

Let us now fee upon what grounds, and by what
method of reafoning he determines his numbers.
He makes a divifion of the 690,000 taxed houfes in-
to three claffes, 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
the cities and great towns ; for which divifion he has
nothing to diredt him ; no proof, nor even probability.
And as it is a mere arbitrary fuppofition, all rcafoning
and calculations founded upon it are nothing to the
purpofe, and the number of houfes or people com-
ptued from thence muff be falfe or uncertain. But
yet, upon this fuppolition, as if it was abfolutely
certain, he goes on to compute the houfes and people
in each divifion.

As to the firft, he fays he has counted all the
houfes in nine contiguous parifhes in Berkfhire, in
which he has found the whole number to be 588,
and thofe charged to the duty to be only 177 >
and therefore the cottages are to the rated houfes
as 411 to 177, or above two to one. And from
this he affumes, that the whole number of houfes
thro’ the villages and open country in England will

be

[ 4&9 ]

be to the cottages nearly in the fame proportion.
But here I am furprifed, that he fhould reafon in fo
loofe and an inaccurate a manner. For, as there may
be 7000 parifhes in the villages and open country, to
infer from the numbers in nine of them that are con-
tiguous, and that all of them together do not make
a very large parifh, many being much larger as to
the number of houfes, and where there may be par-
ticular circumftances ; I fay, to infer from them what
tile proportion will be in all parifhes, in the villages
and open country, is the fame way of reafoning as to
fay, becaufe the poor in one parifh are in fuch a pro-
portion, therefore they are fo in 1000 parifhes, or
thro’ four or five counties : whereas it is plain, that
the proportion differs almoft in every parifh, and in
every county ; and the fum of all muft be added to-
gether, before we can know what the real propor-
tion is. And nothing can be inferred from the cir-
cumftances of a few parifhes, or even of a County,
what the proportion will be in the whole. And yet,
from fuch precarious- and vague reafoning he pre-
fumes to compute, that there are above 460,000
cottages in the villages and open country ; hav-
ing affirmed, without any hefitation, that there are
200,000 rated houfes in that extent. Such reafoning
is unufual in philofophcal inquiries..

In like manner the Gentleman reafons very inac-
curately about his fecond divifion, containing the lef-
fer market and country towns, having fuppofed in
them 200,000 taxed houfes : For from one inftance
of the market town of Langborne, having found the
whole number of houfes to be to the cottages as 445
to 2 29, or the rated houfes to the cottages as 216 to
220, he fuppcfes the like proportion in all the mar-

[ 47° ]

ket towns. That is, tho’ there be perhaps above
300 market towns in England, he fuppofes each of
them has the fame proportion of the poor in it as the
Angle town of Langbome; which is unreafonable to
imagine. For every one of them may have a dif-
erent proportion, according to the various circum-
ftances of their trade and fttuation. But yet from this
ftrange and uncertain way of reafoning, without any
induction, and from one inftance among 300 cafes
at lead:, he concludes by proportion, that there are
388,646 houfes in the country market towns, of
which there are 188,646 cottages, befides thofe in
the cities and great towns.

In the next place, as to his third clafs, the cities
and great towns, he allows, that my proportion may
be among them, viz. that the rated houfes 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 moft
flourishing places. And therefore, as he has arbitra-
rily placed 260,000 taxed houfes in them, he com-
putes that they muff contain 84,058 cottages. But
he has given no proof, that my proportion is only in
the mofl: flourifhing places, befides thefe few inftances
that he has produced ; which are nothing to form
any general conclufion upon. For if we were to be
directed by a few cafes, we might think that there
were much fewer cottages than I have allowed.
There are fome parifhes, in which there are none at
all. In the great parifhes of St. James’s and St George’s
Weftminfter, in which there are about 7000 houfes,
there are none : in the country parifli of Chifelherft in
Kent, where there are above 1 00 houfes, there are but
three : and in many parifhes there is not one in 20.
So that from particular inftances, there is nothing

4 to

[ 47* 3

to be concluded. But in all Middlefex, London,
Weftminfter, and Southwark included, in which the
poor are as numerous as in moil places in the king-
dom, becaufe of the numbers of labouring people that
flock hither for imployment, there is nearly the fame
proportion that I have affigned. For from a late fur-
vey in that diftridt, as I am informed, there are
87,614 houfes in the whole, and of thefe 19,324
cottages, and 4810 empty. Which indeed fliews,
that we are not fo populous, in and near the metro-
polis, as is commonly fuppofed, and much lefs than
1 had calculated in my firll letter : For from this ac-
count, if it be true, there are not above 530,000 people
in that compafs ; of which, within the bills of mor-
tality, there die about 25,000 yearly $ that is, not
lefs than one in 20.

As to what the Gentleman mentions concerning
the militia, he feems to be much miftaken. For if
the proportion be as he fays, that one in 45 is levied,
this dire&ly proves the number of people in England
and Wales to be about five millions and an half, ac-
cording to my calculation ; becaufe the electors or
balloters are the fencible men, or thofe 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
lhewn, that the fencible men are one quarter of the
whole people, children included ; and therefore, four
times 1,440,000, or 5,7 60,000, will be the whole
number of the people ; which is nearly what I have
made them.

And thus, having feen how he has eftablifhed his
numbers in oppofition to me, let us now, in the next

place.

[ 472 ]

place, confider what he has faid with regard to the
increafe of our people. He fays, whether the king-
dom is really in a declining or increafing ftate, is a
problem not to be folved by calculation : And yet he (
himfelf can guefs by appearances, that it has greatly
increafed within thefe 40 years. But, by his good
leave I muft tell him, that it is a problem in po-
litical arithmetic to be folved from fome 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 lofles of our fencible men, at a mode-
rate computation ; from thefe data, I fay, any one,
who underftands numbers, will eafily determine
whether we are increafing or decreafing. And ac-
cordingly, I have fhewn, that the annual increment
of our fencible men is not much above 8000, which
number is confumed by our annual Ioffes ; and there-
fore we are not in an increafing ftate. For the whole
number of people muft always be in proportion to
the fencible men ; fo that, if there is no increafe of
them, there can be none upon the whole.

It is true, 1 am the firft who ventured upon a fo-
lution of this queftion ; but when I confider what I
have done, I cannot fee but that the principles upon
which I reafoned are right. The data are, I think,
exadt enough to difcover our ftate. And Dr. Halley’s
rule to compute the fencible men, where our Ioffes
are to be reckoned, is undoubtedly true. So that if
there is any difficulty, it is in fixing the general pro-
portion between births and burials, thro’ the kingdom,
viz. 112 to 1 00 ; which I have taken from Dr. Der-
ham, who had colledted many obfervations ; being

a greater

f 473 1 .

a greater proportion than Sir William Petty allowed.
And which if it is thought too fmall, it is to be con-
fidered, that within the bills of mortality the births
are much under the burials as 4 to 5 ; and in fome
of the great towns there are fewer births than burials,
and in others they are nearly equal ; fo that thefe
reduce the proportion that arifes 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
1 17 to 100, or nearly as 7 to 6 ; and fuppofe this to
obtain all over Britain and Ireland, in the towns as
well as the country, which is furely more than the
truth; we fhall then find, that the annual increment
cannot be more than 9000 fencible men ; which cor-
roborates my former eflimate. For, to compute it by
the principles I have formerly endeavoured to eftablifh ;
let the number of our people in Britain and Ireland be
eight millions and an half, that is, f ve and an half in
England and three millions in Scotland and Ireland ;
becaufe fome Irifh Gentlemen have affured me, from
fome facds, that there is half a million more in their
country than I formerly allowed ; for I did not pre-
tend 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 1 17: And therefore the births mud be
248,625, and the increafe 36,125 ;. of which the
fourth part is about 9000 for the fencible men, which
I am perfuaded is more than the real number.

Now let any one compute our Ioffes in the mode-
rate way that I have done, and he will eafily fee, that

Vol. 50. Ppp they;

[ 474 ]

they cannot be lefs than this number; and confe-
quently we are far from increafing. And indeed it is
evident from the number of empty houfes thro’ the
kingdom, mentioned above, viz. one in feventeen,
or 58,000, and one in twelve of thofe that are taxed
within the bills of mortality. For it is impoflible, if
we were increafing, that there could be fo many empty;
And therefore the appearance of fo much building is
only the effedt of our luxury, requiring larger, more
convenient, and more elegant houfes, and not caufed
by our increafe.

However, the Gentleman objedls to all this, and
fays, that he has examined the Regifters of fome
neighbouring parifhes, and particularly of three that
are perfedt ; and he finds, that the burials are to the
baptifms as 83 to 14.9 ; which may pofiibly be the
cafe, as I myfelf have known it in one parilh in the
Me of Wight, where the place is healthy, and people
generally marry. But does he imagine that this pro-
portion is general all over England ? If fo, we fhould
increafe in a rapid manner indeed ! for then we fhould
double our people in 35 years, if it were not for
our lodes ; which no reafonable man will venture
to fay. He does not refled!, that in many country
places, from their bad fituation, there is very little
increafe, and in fome towns none at all, and in others
a decreafe, continually fupplied from the neighbouring
country. Within the bills of mortality there are an-
nually 5000 burials more than the births ; and con-
lequently, to maintain our numbers here, there mull
be a yearly fupply of 5000 ; which defliroys the whole
increafe of fix or feven counties. And Dr. Derham
found, from the accounts he had of country parishes,

that

C +75 ]

that in general among them the proportion of births
to burials was not greater than 1 17 to 100, as we men-
tioned above ; fo that nothing can be concluded from
particular healthy places. The queftion is, what is
the refult upon the whole thro’ the kingdom ? what
is the general proportion of the births to burials,
from which the increafe is to be effimated ? and
which Sir William Petty fays is m to 100, and
Dr. Derham as 1 12 to 100. See if he can difprove
thefe numbers by putting together all the different
accounts from every corner, among the towns as
well as the country yi and if he cannot, to argue only
from a few inffances is nothing to the purpofe ; for
where there there is a multitude of different cafes,
they muff all be confidered, to arrive at the general
truth. But even in the particulars he mentions, he
has not completed his argument for, to make it
eoncluhve, he fhould have fhewn, that, within thefe
laft forty years, the time, he thinks, of our great in-
creafe, in thofe parifhes the number of houffs or
people were increafed,. in proportion almoft 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 faid, the annual increafe may be conftantly
confumed by our Ioffes..

And now the worthy Gentleman having endea-
voured to fhew, from the cafe of a few parifhes in
the country, that we are in an increafing ftate,, he-
proceeds to give me his ferious advice in two par-
ticulars :

Firfl , That I would reconfider. a proportion ad-
vanced by me, That all reafonable ways of increafing
our people, even to the naturalizing of foreigners,

P p p 2 would i

[ 476 ]

would be for the public welfare. In anfwer to which
kind admonition I muft fay, that I have often con-
fiderd the thing, as far as I can ; and I think this may
be eafily fhewn againft any political writer, That it is
the intereft of a government, when they have power-
ful and dangerous neighbours, to increafe their people
by all reafonable means, even to the inviting of
foreigners, fo far as the natural produce of the
country can luftain them ; and that it is the fault
or weaknefs of an adminiftration not to be able to
employ them. And in Britain, where they can have
the afhftance of the produce of fo many large and
fruitful countries of their own in America, I will
venture to fay, that it is an error in their policy, not
to endeavour to increafe their people ; by which they
might be more formidable, and perhaps ftronger than
their grand Enemy. The prefent King of Pruffia has
fhewn the utility of this within his dominions; by
which he has been enabled to make fuch a figure in
Europe.

The J'econd thing he admonifhes me to recon-
fider is, That I have fuppofed our commerce to be
one caufe of the lofs of our fencible men. And
who in the world doubts of it, but himfelf ! Do drip-
wrecks, the difafters and inclemency of the fea, the
fcurvy, &c. beget people ? But he will fay, without
thefe we could not have trade, which employs great
numbers of our people ; and therefore, what we
lofe, we may gain another way. And juft fo he may
fay of our wars, that occafion the deftrudtion of fo
many of our people, that they are no lofs to us ;
for we gain by them in their confequences, in fe-
curing of our liberties and property, and by which

our

C 477 ]

our trade is' preferved and promoted. But notwitli-
danding this, can it be laid, that war does not dimi-
nifli our fencible men ! The. truth is, trade increafes
riches, and gives more of the conveniencies of life,
and brings luxury along with it ; but it does not ne-
cefiarily breed people : For we fee in thofe countries
where they have little trade, the people increafe
much fader than they do with us, as appears from
the Bills of mortality in Prufiia ; where the general
proportion of the births to the burials is greater than
it is here, viz. 4 to 3 j and by which the people
might double in 84 years, if it were not for their
lodes. (Vid. Phil . Pranf. vol. xxxvi.) Which great
increafe, by the way, eafily accounts for thofe vaft
fwarms of people that came from thence and the
adjacent countries in former ages, and over run all
Europe. And therefore it is not fo terrible a para-
dox, as he imagines, that podibly where there is
much lefs trade the people may increafe fader .; for
luxury and other vices, that come with trade, do
not promote an increafe.

And now, as he has been fo good as to give me
his advice, I will return the favour, and delire him
to reconiider the method of reafoning by indudion ;
which may podibly help him to efcape fome para-
logifms, in arguing upon thefe fubjeds. And I
would likewife recommend it to him to inquire dili-
gently, whether the number of our houfes in Eng-
land be increaled thefe lad fixty years ; which, ac-
cording to his reafoning, ought at lead to be doub-
led : For if there is no increafe of the houfes, there
can be none of the people.

To conclude : He adds, that my dodrine, from
.. beginning

[ 478 ]

beginning to end, to fay the bed: 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 firffc three were read before the Society, and
ordered to be printed, long before the war was pro-
claimed ; and as for the lad, it is only a fupplement
to the reft ; in which I have fhewn, that France, by
the bad ceconomy of her people, is not in an in-
creafing Itate ; which, f think, is a comfortable
hearing. But fuppofing they had been all printed
during the war : What then ? Is a fadt to be con-
cealed that, if difcovered, may be ufeful to prevent
errors in government, and rectify our notions of the
ceconomy of our people ? What advantage can our
enemies make of fuch a difcovery ? Will it encourage
them to imagine that we fhall be eafier fubdued,
when they know, by the mod' moderate computa-i-
tion> we have at lead two millions of fencible men in
our Britifh iflands. Enough, furely, to refill them in
all their attempts ! But 1 doubt we are not fo defi-
cient in our numbers as in public virtue, without
which the greated multitude may be ealily over-
come.

And thus, my Lord, I have endeavoured to an~
fwer what this Gentleman has wrote in his fecond
Letter j for I pafs over the fird, as it does not feem
to contain any more in oppofition to me, than what
I have here confidered. And upon the whole I
cannot fee, that he has faid any thing to invalidate
what I have formerly advanced. If I could difcover
it, I fhould be very ready to acknowlegc my error.

4 lam

[ 479 ]

I am fenfible I have made this reply too long ; but
I truft your ufual benevolence to all our worthy
Members will excufe me, who £hall always efteem
it an honour to be,

My Lord,

Your Lordfhip’s

Sion-College, Mod obedient

March 16. 1758.

and faithful Servant,

Wm. Brakenridge.

End of Part I. Vol. L.

V