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

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

[1]

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

Reverend Sir,

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

[2]

The night, in which this earthquake happened, was perfectly calm and serene. In the evening there was a fog over the marshes bordering on the river Charles, which runs through this town: but this I found intirely dissipated at the time of the earthquake, the air being then quite clear, and the moon, which wanted but 36^h of the full, shining very bright. The earthquake began with a roaring noise in the N.W. like thunder at a distance; and this grew fiercer, as the earthquake drew nearer; which was almost a minute in coming to this place, as near as I can collect from one of my neighbours, who was then on the road in this town. He tells me, that, as soon as he heard the noise, he stopt, knowing, that it was an earthquake, and waiting for it; and he reckoned he had stood still about 2', when the noise seemed to overtake him, and the earth began to tremble under him: but, as I doubted, whether it were so long, I counted several numbers to him as slowly as a clock beats seconds; and then he said, he believed he could have counted half an hundred, at that rate, before the noise and shake came up to him. By his account, as well as that of others, the first motion of the earth was what may be called a pulse, or rather an undulation; and resembled (to use his own comparison) that of a long rolling, swelling sea; and the swell was so great, that he was obliged to run and catch hold of something, to prevent being thrown down. The tops of two trees close by him, one of which is 25, the other 30 feet high, he thinks waved at least ten feet (and I depend on his judgment in this particular, because he judged right of the height of the trees, as I found by actual[3] mensuration); and there were two of these great wavings, succeeded by one, which was smaller. This sort of motion, after having continued, as has been conjectured, about a minute, abated a little; so that I, who was just then waked, and, I suppose, most others, imagined, that the height of the shock was past. But instantly, without a moment's intermission, the shock came on with redoubled noise and violence; though the species of it was altered to a tremor, or quick horizontal vibratory motion, with sudden jerks and wrenches. The bed, on which I lay, was now tossed from side to side; the whole house was prodigiously agitated; the windows rattled, the beams cracked, as if all would presently be shaken to pieces. When this had continued about 2', it began to abate, and gradually kept decreasing, as if it would be soon over: however, before it had quite ceased, there was a little revival of the trembling and noise, though no-ways comparable to what had been before: but this presently decreased, till all, by degrees, became still and quiet. Thus ended this great shock. It was followed by another about an hour and a quarter after, viz. at 5^h 29'. This, though comparatively small, was very generally perceived, both as to its noise and trembling, by those who were awake. On the Saturday evening following, viz. the 22d of November, at 27' after eight, there was a third, more considerable than the second, but not to be compared with the first. And on Friday the 19th of December in the evening, exactly at ten o' clock, there was a fourth shock, much smaller than either of the former, though, like them, preceded by the peculiar noise of an earthquake.[4] The whole lasted but a few seconds; but the jarring was great enough to cause the window-shutters and door of the room, in which I then was, to clatter. The sky was perfectly clear, and there was a very gentle and scarcely-perceptible gale at S.W. These four are the only shocks, that I have been sensible of from the 18th of November last to this date; tho' more are said to have been felt in other parts of the country to the northward of us.

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

Those, who suppose the duration much shorter, as 1' 1-half, or 2', urge, that a minute is a longer space of time than most people are aware of; which is very true: but it should also be considered, that if we judge the length of any space of time by the number of ideas, which pass through our minds in that time; a very great fright,—a fright so great, as to take intire possession of the mind for a time, and shut out every idea except that of the present danger, will make us judge the time to be much shorter than it really is. And this, I make no doubt, was the case with many; the surprise, into which they were thrown, being such, as to keep out every idea, except that, which happened to strike their minds with the[7] greatest force at the beginning. Thus, several perceived no noise distinct from that, which was occasioned by the crackling of their houses, and the disturbance of the moveables in them; while others, who were waked by the noise, and ran from one room to another, have told me, that they felt nothing at all of the shake. For this reason, the conjectures, which persons in these circumstances made, as to the duration of the shock, ought not to be put into the balance with the actual observations made by watches.

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

[8]

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

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

The extent of this earthquake seems to have been greater than that of any of our former earthquakes. This province of the Massachusetts-bay, or rather the province of New Hampshire, about the latitude of 43° north on the sea-coast, seems to have been the center of it, or the place of its greatest violence, and the shake to have been less considerable each way from hence towards the S.W. and N.E. By the accounts we have from the S.W. the shock was less at New York than it was with us; and still less at Philadelphia, which is farther towards the S.W. By the best information I can procure, the[10] limit toward the S.W. was Chesopeak-bay in Maryland, the shock having been felt on the eastern side of that bay, and not on the western. For the other limit toward the N.E. we are informed, that the earthquake was felt at Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia, though in a much less degree than with us. It shook off a few bricks from the tops of some chimnies, but was not perceived by vessels on the water. And a letter from Halifax says, 'The earthquake, which happened in the W. extended itself to this place, tho' scarcely perceivable here.' But it was not at all felt by our army, which lay encamped at Seganecto, about 100 miles N. from Halifax. Thus Halifax seems to have been very near the N.E. limit. I am not able to ascertain its eastern and western limits; but it extended to all our back inland settlements; and was perceived, though in a very small degree, by our army at Lake George, distant from hence about 130 miles N. W. by W. But it was not felt at all at the British fort of Oswego, situate on the south-eastern shore of Lake Ontario, and distant from hence about 230 miles W. by N. So great was the shock in the Atlantic, 70 leagues to the E. of Cape Anne, that the people on board a vessel there were suddenly surprised, just at the time of our earthquake, supposing they had run a-ground; till, on throwing over the lead, they found they had more than 50 fathom water. The extent of the earthquake E. and W. from Halifax to Lake George was about 550 miles; and its extent along the sea-coast, from N.E. to S.W. at least 800 miles. But if the agitation of the water at St. Martin's was occasioned by our earthquake continued into the Atlantic, as was conjectured[11] above, its extent, in a direction toward the S. S. E. must have been at last 1900 miles.

I shall now proceed to mention the principal effects of this earthquake, for which I can find sufficient vouchers; for many strange things have been related, which, upon examination, appear to be without foundation. Besides the throwing down of glass, pewter, and other moveables in the houses, many chimnies were levelled with the roofs of the houses, and many more shattered, and thrown down in part. Some were broken off several feet below the top, and, by the suddenness and violence of the jerks, canted horizontally an inch or two over, so as to stand very dangerously. Some others were twisted, or turned round in part. The roofs of some houses were quite broken in by the fall of chimnies; and the gable ends of some brick buildings thrown down, and many more cracked. Throughout the whole country, the stone fences were more or less thrown down. The vane upon the public market-house in Boston was thrown down; the wooden spindle, which supported it, about five inches in diameter, and which had stood the most violent gusts of wind, being snapt off. A new vane, upon one of the churches in Boston, was bent at its spindle two or three points of the compass; and another at Springfield, distant about 80 miles westerly from Boston, was bent to a right angle. A distillers cistern, made of plank, almost new, and very strong put together, was burst to pieces by the agitation of the liquor in it; which was thrown out with such force, as to break down one whole side of the shed, that defended the cistern from the weather; as also to[12] stave off a board or two from a fence at the distance of eight or ten feet from it. In some parts of the country, particularly at Pembroke and Scituate, about 25 miles S.E. from hence, there were several chasms or openings made in the earth, from some of which water has issued, and many cart-loads of a fine whitish sort of sand. These are the principal effects of this earthquake on the land, some of which argue a very quick and violent motion of the earth. Tho' the degree of violence was doubtless different in different places, yet, that I might make some estimate of it with us, I measured the greatest distance on the ground, to which any of the bricks, which were thrown off from the tops of my chimnies, had reached, and found it to be 30 feet, and the height from which they fell was 32 feet. Now since bodies fall thro' 16 feet nearly in 1" of time; and the times, in which they fall through other heights, are in the subduplicate ratio of those heights; it follows, that the velocity, wherewith those bricks were thrown off, was that of above 21 feet in 1" of time: for the subduplicate ratio of 32 to 16 is the same as the simple ratio of 30 to a little more than 21. But the velocity was less at less heights: for the key before spoken of, as thrown from off a shelf in a chamber in my house, was not thrown so far, in proportion to the height thro' which it fell, as the bricks were from the top of the chimnies; and in my lower rooms nothing was thrown down, but a small bell in the garret was made to ring by it. Hence it appears, that our buildings were rocked with a kind of angular motion, like that of a cradle; the upper parts of them moving swifter, or thro' greater spaces[13] in the same time, than the lower; the natural consequence of an undulatory motion of the earth.

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

The center of our former earthquakes, as well as of this, seems to have been near the river Merrimac, about the latitude of 43° north, and 40 miles north from hence; many shocks having been felt in that neighbourhood, which did not extend to this place. The late Rev. Mr. Plant of Newbury, which is situated at the mouth of that river, has given a very particular journal, in Philos. Transact. Nº. 462. of the shocks felt there from 1727 to 1741, few of which were perceived here or at Boston. I remember none after the memorable 29th October 1727, beside that on 30th January 1728, about two in the afternoon; and that on 5th September 1732, which, by his account, did considerable damage at Montreal in Canada, but it was very small at Boston. That also on 6th February 1737, about a quarter past four in the afternoon, which he calls a considerable shock, was perceived at Boston; and so was that on 7th[14] December following, a little before 11 in the night. From the conclusion of Mr. Plant's journal, till the earthquake which is the subject of this letter, I know of none, but that which happened on Sunday June 3, 1744, at a quarter after ten in the morning. The roar of this was as loud as any I ever heard, but the shake not so great. The day was very fair and hot, with a little wind in the morning at W.S.W. which in the afternoon came round to N.N.W. The season preceding was hot and dry, there having been no rain from 23d May. On the 1st June, at four in the afternoon, Hauksbee's thermometer stood at 5,2; on the 2d, at five in the afternoon, it was at 1, with high wind at S.W.; on the 3d, at eight in the morning, it was at 19,8; and at six 1-half in the afternoon at 3,8. From the 1st June to the 2d, at the hours just mentioned, the barometer had fallen from 29,92 to 29,82; from which time it continued rising till the 4th at eight in the morning, when it was got up to 30,12; being, at the time of the earthquake, at 29,94. The rest of the month the weather was in general very hot, with many thunder-showers.

As the late Hon. Judge Dudley, who has given a very just account of the great earthquake of 29 Oct. 1727, in Philos. Trans. Nº. 437, has inserted an account of the weather in the preceding part of that year; and as our last earthquake happened at the same time of the year as that did, within 8 or 9 days (regard being had to the difference between the Julian and Gregorian styles); I hope it will not be disagreeable, if I give an account of our weather the last year: in doing which, I shall follow, as near as may[15] be, Mr. Dudley's method, setting down the particulars in corresponding columns, that so a comparison may more easily be made between these two years.

Weather in

November began with cold and wet, there falling, in the eleven first days 3,404 inches of rain; and on the 11th in the morning there was thunder and lightning with the[17] rain; and at a quarter past two in the afternoon, the barometer was at 29,46; which was lower than it had been since the 15th of October. From thence, till the day of the earthquake, my diary stands thus:

November 1755.

From this time the barometer rose till the 20th, when, at 8¼ M. it was up at 30,44, the sky covered, wind N 2. Then it fell till the 23d at 6½ E, when it was so low as 28,87; which was lower than it had been since the 6th of February last. The afternoon of the 22d, and night following, when we had another shock, it was calm, and rained 1,205 inches. This leads me to observe, that though the serenity, as well as calmness, of the air, is a circumstance taken notice of in many earthquakes, both in this and in other parts of the world; yet it does[18] not always obtain, at least in the smaller shocks, and, so far as I have had opportunity to observe, the calmness of the air has more constantly attended upon earthquakes, than its clearness. The white frost on the morning of the earthquake, which, when melted, I found to be of the depth of 17/1000 of an inch, was almost double of any white frost we have had for seven years past, and about five or six times as great as we commonly have. The barometer and thermometer underwent no alteration at the time of the earthquake: only, my barometer, which has an open cistern of quicksilver, and stood in a chamber, was so agitated, that part of the quicksilver was dashed over the sides of the cistern, and scattered upon the floor. This cistern was a cylindric cup, whose sides were an inch higher than the surface of the quicksilver.

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

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

Cambridge in New England, 10 Jan. 1756.

[19]

Moscow, Sept. 20th, 1756.

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

Having put into one gallipot a quarter of an ounce of verdegris, and into another pot two leaves of false-gold leaf, to each he poured about a spoonful of aqua-fortis. They began immediately to ferment, especially the gold-leaf. He was very assiduous in stirring them, to make the solution perfect. Having nothing else at hand, he did this with a pair of small scissars, at arm's length, carefully turning away his face, to prevent the fumes from entering his lungs. He was called away, about other business, before he had quite ended his process; and soon after washed and shifted himself: but had scarce finished before he felt a burning pain in the ring-finger of his right hand, which he imputed to his having inadvertently touched the aqua-fortis. This increased every moment, and affected the whole hand with burning pain and swelling, which very soon subsided; but then it flew into the left hand, and, a few minutes afterwards, into the insides of his legs, as if scalding water had[20] been thrown on them. His stockings being immediately pulled off, there appeared a great many red spots, as large as six-pences, something raised above the skin, and all covered with very small blisters.

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

Monday, the third day, in the morning, after sleeping well, his pulse was somewhat raised, and he continued easy till about eleven o' clock, when the burning pains returned, shooting from place to place; but always so superficial, that he could not distinguish whether it was in or under the skin. Rubbing the part affected with one's hand gave ease: but when the sweating went off, and the burnings and shootings[21] became insufferable, I always put him into a bath of hot water, with some wood ashes, kept ready in the room; which gave him great relief. This afternoon he felt violent burning pain in his great toes, and sometimes in his left hand, with shootings up to the shoulder. Once he cried out, in great pain, that his shoulder was burst; for he felt something fly out with a sort of explosion: but, examining the part, I found nothing particular. He observed, when the flaky burnings began, they were as if they kindled from a point, and flashed like lightning, as he termed it. He was very often tormented with such pains on the pit of the stomach; and this evening had shootings thro' the back, with a pain in the belly. He complained of a strong sulphurous smell, which, he said, was like to suffocate him; tho' his breathing seemed easy, and his lungs no way affected. In the night he was seized with great pain about the heart, and cried out violently, that his heart was on fire: but after taking a dose of nervous medicines, and being put into the bath, he was soon freed from this, and passed the rest of the night tolerably well. At the time of such violent attacks the pulse continued regular, but still slower and softer than usual.

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

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

[22]

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

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

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

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

Worcester, Dec. 22. 1756.

SIR,

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

A woman with a phagedenic ulcer in the cheek, throat, and nose, from an ozæna in the hollow of the cheek-bone, received great relief this year, in five or six weeks time; the external ulcer, which[24] had almost destroyed the whole cheek, being healed in that time, and the other parts much amended. Her affairs would not permit her a longer continuance at the well; but she continues the use of the water at home, and finds great relief from it there. I hope another season will complete the cure.

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

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

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

Your most obliged
humble Servant,
J. Wall.

[25]

My Lord,

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

Carlsbad is a small town, situated on the confines of Bohemia, at the distance of 14 German, or 28 French, leagues west of Prague. It is remarkable for its warm mineral springs, which are said to have been accidentally discovered, in the year 1370, by the Emperor Charles the IVth, as he was hunting; from whom they received their present name of Carlsbad, or Charles's bath. These waters soon growing into repute, occasioned the building of a small neat town, consisting chiefly of houses calculated for the accommodation of the company, who frequent this place in the summer time. There are two warm springs, which rise in the middle of the town, very near each other: and tho' they are supposed to be of the same[26] quality, yet, as one is much warmer, it is thought likewise to be more efficacious than the other. The former of these, called the Brudel, rises very near the bed of the small river Tepel which runs thro' the middle of the town, and is sometimes overflowed by it. The water issues with great force from the bottom of this spring, rising in a considerable body to the height of six feet perpendicular; and would force itself much higher, if it were confined within a narrower compass. The spring is inclosed with a square wall, within which are fixed three wooden pipes, which convey the water from the bottom of the spring into a reservoir; which distributes it into a number of small troughs, communicating with the several bathing-houses, which are built on both sides of the river for the use of the patients. This spring is so impetuous, that they are obliged to pave and ramm the bed of the river, lest it should force itself up in the channel: and I observed one place on the river side, where it had burst thro' the rock; and they had been obliged to confine it, by fastening down a large stone on the orifice.

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

The water, when put into a glass, has a bluish cast, not unlike that of an opal: and tho' I could not discover, that in 24 hours it had deposited the least sediment, yet there was a thin whitish scum collected on the surface; and I observed the same in the baths, where it was much thicker; and was of the colour, and almost of the consistence, of a wafer.[27] It has a salt taste when first taken from the water, and is made use of by the inhabitants for cleaning of teeth and scouring silver: it is called Baden Flaum.

Tho' this water does not deposit any sediment, yet it is remarkable for the speedy and strong incrustation of all bodies, which are put into it. Little plaister figures are sold here, on purpose to verify the experiment; which, tho' perfectly white when put into the spring, are, in eight-and-forty hours, entirely covered with a yellow incrustation. The same effect is observed on the pipes and channels, thro' which the water is conveyed. If care were not taken to clean them four or five times a year, they would be intirely choaked up; and in some parts, where it has not been necessary to clean them so often, I have seen them covered with an incrustation two inches thick. In surrounding and covering these wooden pipes, they do not change the nature of the wood; but it is observable, that they add great hardness and solidity to it: so that it is affirmed a piece of deal will last a hundred years in this water. The head spring is cleared out once in 30 or 40 years, with a very great expence: at which time they are obliged to break off all the stony incrustation, which had been made by the water since the last cleaning; and if neglected would (as it has sometimes actually done) choak the passages, and oblige the spring to find vent in some other place. The incrustations formed by these waters are of different kinds: that, which is made in the troughs and pipes, thro' which the water is conveyed after it comes above ground, is of a light sandy nature, of a loose contexture, and a[28] bright yellow. It is used by the inhabitants as a gentle corrosive for eating off proud flesh. There is another of a darker colour, and a much harder nature, which is found at the very mouth of the spring, where it bursts out of the rock. There are other sorts taken out of the subterraneous cavities of the spring at the time it was cleaned. In what manner they are formed, is not so easy to determine; unless there were an opportunity of observing in what manner and direction they lie within the spring. They seem to be an alabastrine spar, and are beautifully marked with strait veins of different colours, which may be supposed to have received their tinge from the different colour of the spring-water at the time when this sediment, or rather scum, was formed upon it. They find pieces of this kind most beautifully variegated; and some of them large enough, by fineering to make tables: these polish very well, and are not much inferior to jasper in appearance. It is a part of the manufacture of the place, to work this sort of stone into snuff-boxes, cane-heads, and sleeve-buttons.

There is likewise another sort of incrustation different from all these, which was found some years ago, in digging for the foundations of the new parish-church, which is about 300 yards distant from the Brudel spring. They found there the same kind of water; but it did not rise with so great force as in the other spring: and they discovered in the cavities large masses of a stony concretion, which were a sort of pisolithi, most of them in a globular, but some in an oval form, from the smallest size to the bigness of a nutmeg; the former sort lying in masses, the latter generally single and detached: they are[29] perfectly white, hard, and smooth, and appear to consist of a great number of lamellæ formed round a small nucleus. This sort of incrustation has been found in no other place; but there are some of a browner sort, and more irregular shapes, which are taken out of the Brudel.

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

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

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

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

Grosvenor-street, Jan. 19th, 1757.

SOME time last autumn I had occasion to draw up a few examples on the use of a table of the specific gravities and weights[31] of some bodies. Among other things, that occurred then to me, I thought it might be useful to know the specific gravity of men. In order to make some experiments on this subject, I got a cistern made, of 78 inches in length, 30 inches wide, and 30 inches deep: it was constructed as near a parallelopiped as the workman could, to prevent tedious operations in computing the horizontal sections of the cistern by the surface of the water. I then endeavoured to find ten persons, such as I proposed to make the experiments withal; namely, two of six feet high, two of five feet ten inches, two of five feet eight inches, two of five feet six inches, and two of five feet four inches. One of each height I proposed should be a fat man, and the other a lean one; but I could not succeed in procuring such men; and, after waiting till near the middle of October, I was obliged to put up with such, as would submit themselves to the experiment at that season of the year. They were all labouring men, belonging to the ordinary of Portsmouth yard, and, except one or two of them, who were middling sized men, were for the most part very thin and slim made persons. I had also provided a sliding measure to take their heights, and scales to weigh them in. Every thing being prepared, each man stript himself in an adjoining room, and put on a pair of trowsers for decency's sake: his height was first taken, then his weight, and then he immersed (fortified with a large dram of brandy). A ruler, graduated to inches, and decimal parts of an inch, was fixed to one end of the cistern, and the height of the water noted before a man went in, and to what height it rose when he ducked himself[32] under its surface; and of these several observations is the following table composed.

In making of these experiments, I remarked some inconveniencies, which I did not at first advert to, and which, at that time, I could not prevent. I intended, that each man should have got gently into the water, immersed himself all but his head, and so have staid until the motion of the water had ceased; then he was suddenly to have ducked his head under, and have continued to a few seconds of time, until I had noted the rise of the water; and, after his leaving the cistern, another was not to go in until the water was free from motion. Could these things have been done, as I projected, I could have recommended the foregoing table as sufficiently complete: but I must observe, that beside the men's being of different sizes from what I had desired, they were in too much haste to be dismissed (with another dram[33] after dressing); so that the water was not quite still when they got into the cistern: neither could I persuade all of them to lay themselves down gently, much less to keep their heads under water so long a time as one second: so that, in most of the observations, the surface of the water was far from being quite so still, as to render the measures perfectly exact, I being obliged to catch them, as it were, by taking the mean height between the librations. Moreover, the great area of the cistern was no inconsiderable bar to the accuracy I expected. However, as I do not recollect experiments of this kind any-where recorded, these, perhaps, may give some satisfaction to such persons, who may have the curiosity to desire some knowlege on this subject. Were I to make any more observations of this kind, I would chuse an upright parallelopiped, not above 18 or 20 inches in the side of the square; into which the person should let himself down by steps nailed to the side: for in so small an area the motion of the water would sooner subside; neither would the librations be any thing near so large as on a smaller surface.

One of the reasons, that induced me to make these experiments, was a desire of knowing what quantity of fir or oak timber would be sufficient to keep a man afloat in river or sea water, thinking that most men were specifically heavier than river or common fresh water; but the contrary appears from these trials: for, excepting the first and last, every man was lighter than his equal bulk of fresh water, and much more so than his equal bulk of sea-water: consequently, could persons, who fall into water, have presence of mind enough to avoid the fright[34] usual on such accidents, many might be preserved from drowning; and a piece of wood, not larger than an oar, would buoy a man partly above water so long as he had spirits to keep his hold. Some things herein advanced will perhaps more readily appear from the following relation.

The Lords of the Admiralty have appointed, for the exercise of the scholars belonging to the royal academy at Portsmouth, a small yacht; wherein, during the summer months, those young gentlemen are taught the practice of working a vessel at sea, under the directions of one of the master-attendants, assisted by eight or ten seamen. The last time this yacht was out, which was about the beginning of last October, one of the scholars was ordered to heave the lead. The youth was about thirteen years old, small of his age, and far from being fat; as he was stepping on the gunnel, he fell over-board: the sea was rough, and the yacht had great way; so that he was presently at a considerable distance from the vessel. The skiff was immediately let down; but the painter not being fast, the rope run an end, and the skiff went adrift. One of the seamen jumpt over-board, got into the boat, brought her along-side the vessel, took in another man, and then went after the youth, whom they recovered, after he had been in the water more than half an hour. The young gentleman, relating the affair, said, that as he could swim very little, and judging he should sink if he strove against the waves, he turned on his back, and committed himself to their mercy. He kept himself perfectly calm; and observed, when a wave was likely to break over him, to hold his[35] breath, and to spurt out the water forced into his mouth. His hat, which happened to be tied by a piece of string to one of his coat button-holes, he often held up with his hand, as a signal where he was. Just before the boat came up to him he began to be faint, his eyes became dim, and he thought himself on the verge of sinking. This youth, who, by his prudence, saved himself from drowning, must, at that time, have been specifically lighter than water.

Lisbon, August 3d, 1756.

ANtonia Josée da Costa, one of the King's messengers, was attacked by two men, and, after receiving two blows on the head, was stabbed with a knife in the right hypogastric region, about three fingers breadth above the os pubis; the external wound being larger, as the knife was drawn obliquely towards the navel, and might be an inch and half in length, the perforation thro' the peritonæum about three quarters of an inch; the intestine ileum hanging out about ten or twelve inches, and quite pierced thro', the wound in the gut being large enough to admit my fore finger. After clearing the grumous blood with warm[36] water and Hungary water, the uninterrupted suture was made on both perforations; then dilating the common integuments of the belly, the intestine was reduced, leaving the ends of the two threads at the superficies of the wound; and the external incision was sewed up by the interrupted suture, and common dressings of lint and bandage applied. A clyster was given him immediately after the above operation, of oil of olives, the yolk of an egg, and warm water.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SIR,

I Received the letter, which you honoured me with, and the order for visiting the persons afflicted with the leprosy. I was sensible of the misfortune of being ordered upon that[39] commission: I say misfortune; for such you will perhaps think it, when you have read this letter.

It is now about 25 or 30 years since a very particular disease shewed itself in many persons in this island Grande Terre. Its beginning is imperceptible: there appear but a few livid-red spots upon the skins of the white people, and of a yellowish red upon the blacks. These spots in the beginning are not accompanied with pain, or any other symptom; but nothing can take them away. The disease increases insensibly, and continues several years in shewing itself more and more. These spots increase, and extend indifferently over the skin of the whole body. Sometimes they are a little prominent, but flat. When the disease makes a progress, the upper part of the nose swells, the nostrils are enlarged, the nose becomes softened; tuberosities appear upon the cheek-bones; the eyebrows are inflated; the ears grow thick; the ends of the fingers, and even the feet and toes, swell; the nails become scaly; the joints of the feet and hands separate and mortify: ulcers of a deep and of a dry nature are found in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, which grow well, and return again. In short, when the disease is in its last stage, the patient becomes frightful, and falls to pieces. All these symptoms come on by very slow degrees, one after another, and sometimes require many years to shew themselves: the patient is sensible of no sharp pain; but feels a kind of numbness in his hands and feet. These people perform their natural functions all the while, eating and drinking as usual: and even when the mortification has taken off the fingers and toes, the only ill[40] consequence, that attends, is the loss of those parts, that drop off by the mortification; for the wound heals of itself, without any application: but when it comes to its last period, the poor sick persons are horribly deformed, and truly worthy of compassion.

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

A very just fear of being infected with this cruel distemper; the difficulty of examining infected persons before the disease came to its state; the length of time of its lying concealed, by the care of the patients to keep it secret; the uncertainty of the symptoms, which distinguish it in the beginning; produced an extraordinary dread in all the inhabitants of this island. They inspected one another, since virtue and merit had no shelter from this cruel scourge. They called this distemper the leprosy; and consequently presented several memoirs to the generals and[41] intendants, laying before them all these facts above-mentioned; their just apprehensions; the public good; the trouble, that this distrust caused in this colony; the complaints and hatred, that these accusations occasioned among them; the laws made formerly against such leprous persons, and their expulsion from civil society. They required a general visitation of all persons suspected of this distemper, that such, as were found infected, might be removed into particular hospitals, or into some separate places.

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

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

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

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

SIR,
Your most humble and obedient Servant,
Peyssonel.

August 10. 1748.

Result of the Visitation.

1st,     NONE of the patients, whom we visited, had any fever; and they all declared, that they found no inconvenience nor pain; but, on the contrary, eat, drank, and slept well, performing every[43] natural function; which was proved by their plumpness, which appeared even when the disease was most confirmed.

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

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

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

5. This bloated state of the hands and feet was succeeded by white deep ulcers under the skin, which became callous and insensible; and which emitted only a clear serous matter like water, and were but little painful. Afterwards the ends of the fingers became dry, the nails became scaly, and, I don't know how, they were eaten away; the ends of the fingers dropt off; then the joints separated[44] without pain, and the wounds cicatrized of themselves, without the least need of medicines. In the increase of the distemper hardnesses and lumps were formed in the flesh, the colour became tarnished, the nose swelled, and the nostrils grew wide: at last the nose softened like paste, the voice became hoarse, the eyes round and brilliant, the forehead covered with tetters and lumps, as well as the face; the eye-brows became very large, the countenance was horrible, the breath fœtid, the lips swelled, large tubercles were formed under the tongue; the ears grew thick and red, and hung down; and, such was the insensibility of all the parts, that we run pins thro' the hands of several, without their feeling any thing of it. In short, we were assured, that these people perished by degrees, falling into a mortification; and the limbs dropt off of themselves, without any considerable pain, continuing still to perform well their natural functions.

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

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

8. Some of these people had indeed particular symptoms. In some the hair fell off; which was replaced by a finer kind: in others, worms were[45] found in their ulcers: want of sleep, or frightful dreams, afflicted some; while others quite lost their voice, or it became effeminate like that of eunuchs; and others, we found, stunk extremely.

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

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

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

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

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

14. We could never find out any certain rule of judging, at what age the disease shews itself first in those, who were begotten by infected parents: but we have, as far as we could, observed, with regard to women or girls, that the symptoms begin with the menses, and continue slightly till they have lain[47] in of one or two children: but that then more visible, and indeed more cruel, symptoms appeared. As to men, or infants, there is no rule to know it in them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peyssonel.

Lemoine.

Moulon.

A second visitation was made in October 1748.

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

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

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

In May, a small young hog.

In October, a female statue, of middling workmanship. Also a Silenus, a palm and three inches high, standing upon a square base raised upon three[50] rows of steps, which are supported at the angles by lions claws. He has a bald head, a long curled beard, a hairy body, and naked feet. The drapery about him is loose and flowing: the fore-finger of each hand is extended, and all the rest are closed. From his back arises a branch above the head, where it divides into two, which, twisting their foliage round it, fall and spread themselves below the shoulders, on each of which a stand is placed to fix a lamp. In the middle, betwixt the extremities of these two small branches, is a bird resembling a parroquet. The whole of this figure is in a very good taste. All these things above-mentioned are of bronze.

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

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

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

Ludgvan, Jan 24. 1757.

Reverend Sir,

BEING an airing the other day with Mrs. Borlase, on the sands below my house, we perceived the sands betwixt the Mount and Penzance much washed into pits, and bare stony areas, like a broken causey. In one of the latter, Mrs. B. as we passed by, thought she saw the appearance of a tree; and, upon a review, I found it to be the roots of a tree, branching off from the trunk in all directions. We made as much haste down to the same place in the afternoon as we could, and with proper help to make a farther examination. I measured and drew the remains; and about 30 feet to the west found the roots of another tree, but without any trunk, tho' displayed in the same horizontal manner as the first. Fifty feet farther to the north we found the body of an oak, three feet in diameter, reclining to the east. We dug about it, and traced it six feet deep under the surface; but its roots were still deeper than we could pursue them. Within a few feet distance was the body of a willow, one foot and a half in diameter, with the bark on; and one piece of a large hazel-branch, with its bark[52] on. What the two first trees were, it was not easy to distinguish, there being not a sufficiency remaining of the first, and nothing but roots of the second, both pierced with the teredo, or augur-worm. Round these trees was sand, about ten inches deep, and then the natural earth, in which these trees had formerly flourished. It was a black marsh-earth, in which the leaves of the juncus were intirely preserved from putrefaction. These trees were 300 yards below full-sea-mark; and, when the tide is in, have at least 12 feet of water above them: and doubtless there are the remains of other trees farther towards the south, which the sea perpetually covers, and have more than 30 feet water above them. But these are sufficient to confirm the ancient tradition of these parts, that St. Michael's mount, now half a mile inclosed with the sea, when the tide is in, stood formerly in a wood. That the wood consisted of oak, very large, hazel and willow trees, is beyond dispute. That there has been a subsidence of the sea-shores hereabouts, is hinted in my letter to you, p. 92; and the different levels and tendencies, which we observed in the positions of the trees we found, afford us some material inferences, as to the degree and inequalities of such subsidences in general; as the age, in which this subsidence happened (near 1000 years since at least) may convince us, that when earthquakes happen, it is well for the country, that they are attended with subsidences; for then the ground settles, and the inflammable matter, which occasioned the earthquake, has no longer room to spread, unite, and recruit its forces, so as to create frequent and subsequent earthquakes: whereas, where[53] there are earthquakes without proportionable subsidences, there are caverns and ducts under-ground remaining open and unchoaked, the same cause, which occasioned the first, has room to revive and renew its struggles, and to repeat its desolations or terrors; which is most probably the case of Lisbon. I am, Sir,

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

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

As the strength of steam raised from boiling water is always in a fluctuating state, and, by the best experiments hitherto made, has never been found above ⅒ stronger, or weaker, than air; I was in doubt, whether steam, produced by this method,[54] would be sufficiently strong for the purpose of the steam-engine.

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

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

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. I p. 54.

J. Mynde sc.

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

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

The bellows is worked by means of a small lever, and pullies applied to the great lever of the fire-engine,[56] which keeps a continual blast whilst the engine works; the strength of which is increased or diminished, by adding or taking off the weights on the bellows.

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

As to the quantity of fuel, that may be saved by this method, it is not easy to determine from any experiment on this engine, the boiler and fire-place of which is made very different from all others, and the quantity of fuel already thereby greatly lessened. The fire-place, which may be said to be within the boiler, and is but barely large enough to contain a quantity of the roundest and strongest burning coals[57] sufficient to work the engine, cannot in this be made less; and consequently will not admit such a saving from this model, as from one properly constructed for the purpose: a proof of which I made, by trying some coals of a weaker kind, which were also cheaper; but on trial were not strong enough to work the engine, and had therefore been laid by. These coals answered extremely well; and, as it was a slower-burning coal, I found the consumption, whilst they lasted, was between two and three bushels less in every six hours, which is about the time the engine works each day: and I am satisfied, if the person, who attends the engine, would take the proper care, more coals could still be saved. For at several different times, when I had the coals exactly measured, and marked the time, I constantly found, that it required half a bushel in the hour less than he generally used, and the engine threw up as much water.

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

Hague, 1 Feb. 1757.

SIR,

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

Mons. Donati took last summer, according to his custom, a journey, in order to prosecute his researches into natural history. He was accompanied by Dr. Ascanius, Fellow of the Royal Society; who was still in doubt about coral's being a composition of animals. Mons. Donati carried him to the sea of Provence. He ordered coral to be fished up in his[59] presence. He placed it in a large vessel full of water; and carried this vessel on shore; where he soon convinced Dr. Ascanius, by his own eyes, that coral is a mass of animals of the polype-kind.

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

[60]

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

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

He has likewise observed a mass of rock, which forms the extremity of a pretty high mountain, the foot of which is washed by the sea. This rock is at a considerable height, intirely pierced by pholades, that species of marine shell-fish so well known, which digs cells into the stones. It appears from hence, that this rock was some time covered by the sea. According to Mons. Donati, the sea has insensibly retired from the parts, which were washed by it; and he thinks, that there must have been a very considerable space of time between that and the time, when this mountain, pierced by pholades, was covered by the waters of the sea. He deduces his opinion from the following fact. There is in this rock, pretty near the surface of the sea, a natural[61] cavern fill'd with earth. In this earth have been found ancient Roman sarcophagi and lamps. It follows from hence, that even in the time of the Romans this part of the rock, in which this cavern is situated, was not under water. As there is but a small distance between the cavern and the surface of the water, it follows, that the water has sunk but very little since the time of the Romans. If it has sunk in the same proportion since the time, when it covered the top of the rock, there is no doubt, but that the time, when it was intirely covered by the sea, must have been very distant. If the same manner of reasoning be used, with respect to the bed of marine bodies, mentioned above, which crosses the mountains, that separate Provence from Piedmont, we shall be obliged to presume, that the time, when those mountains were under the waters of the sea, was at a very great distance from the present.

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

Those, who explain all phænomena of marine bodies found out of the sea, by an universal deluge, do not admit the consequences drawn by Mons. Donati from those marine bodies now under consideration. It is plain, that most of the naturalists, who have observed a great number of these marine bodies, are not of opinion, that all those phænomena can be explained by a universal deluge. Upon these subjects, before we undertake to judge, it is proper to be well informed of the nature of marine fossile bodies, which are found in divers parts, and of their situation and arrangement. It is necessary likewise to be acquainted[62] with the state of those, which are found actually under the sea, and the revolutions, to which they are subject, while they are covered by it. It is still farther requisite to have an attention to the revolutions, which have been and are constantly observed, with respect to the sea-shores, which change their situation in several parts, some advancing upon the land, and others retiring. If all these different facts be compared together, it will not be doubted, but there are actually under the earth marine bodies which are found there only in consequence of these slow revolutions, and not of an universal deluge. Perhaps this notion might be extended to the greatest part of the marine fossile bodies, which are known to us.

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

BELLA-DONNA is the name, which the Italians, and particularly the Venetians, apply to this plant; and Mr. Ray[1] observes, that is so called because the Italian ladies [63]make a cosmetic from the juice, or distilled water, which they use to make their complexion fair and white. Others[2] suppose it derives its name from its intoxicating quality. With us it is generally known by the name of Deadly Nightshade, or Dwale, tho' this last term is seldom used for it; and the old French word Morelle, which Lobel applies to it, seems to be quite forgotten amongst us.

Classical Distribution.

The Deadly Nightshade was very soon discovered by the revivers of botany after the restoration of learning; and, agreeable to the fashion of those days, it was greatly debated among commentators, whether it was known, and by what name, to the fathers of botany Theophrastus and Dioscorides. Several of the writers of that time, as Dodenæus, Guilandinus, Fuchsius, and Cordus, were of opinion, that it was the Mandragora morion of Theophrastus; and their sentiments were espoused by his learned commentator Bodæus à Stapel[3], who moreover supposes it the plant, which Dioscorides describes, lib. iv. cap. 69. under the name of Στρύχνος μανικὸς. On the other hand, Matthiolus[4] has taken great pains to prove, that it is not the Mandragora of Theophrastus; and both he and Ruellius[5] are [64]inclined to think, that the Bella-donna was not known to either of the Grecian Fathers; who are so short, vague, and immethodical, in their descriptions, that it is very difficult, not to say impossible, to apply them to particular species with justness and precision.

Be this as it will, our restorers of botany agreed in general to rank it with the Solana, or Nightshades; and as most of them took it to be the Στρύχνος μανικός of Dioscorides, so we find thereto the addition of some epithet, expressive of its deleterious quality, in most of their writings; such as lethale, somniferum, furiosum, &c. Its general agreement with the plants of that genus, and also the knowledge the world soon had of its poisonous quality, when it is considered, that systematic distributions, from the parts of fructification, had not been thought of at that time: these, I say, were sufficient reasons for referring it to the Nightshades. By such names therefore is it found in most of the old writers; till Clusius, who, observing perhaps, that it differed in its parts of fructification from the Solana, adopted the indigenous Italian name, as a generical one, and called it Bella-donna. Cæsalpinus, the first inventor of a botanic system, did not separate it from the Nightshades. Morison and Ray, the revivers of method almost an hundred years afterwards, were aware of the difference; the former having placed it in a chapter among the Solanis affines, and the latter constituted a distinct genus of it, tho' he retained the old name in his history of plants. Tournefort adopted Clusius's name Bella-donna, and was followed by all the systematic botanists, who have since wrote; as Boerhaave, Rivini, Ruppius,[65] Knaut, Magnol, Ludwig, and Haller; until Linnæus, conformable to the 229th rule of the Fundamenta Botanica[6], rejected it, and very expressly calls it Atropa[7]; in which he is followed by all succeeding writers, who have chosen his method.

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

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

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

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

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

[66]

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

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

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

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

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

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

The germen is of a semiovated figure: the style is filiform, of the length of the stamina, and inclinated. The stigma is capitated, transversely oblong, and assurgent.

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The fruit is a globose berry, standing in a large cup, and containing three cells. The receptacle is convex on both sides, and kidney-shaped.

The seeds are numerous, and kidney-shaped also.

The Species.

• 1. Atropa caule herbaceo, foliis ovatis integris. Linn. Spec. Plant. p. 181.
• Atropa. Linn. Hort. Cliff. 57. Roy. Lugd. 423. Hort. Ups. 45. Dalib. Paris. 70.
• Bella-donna majoribus foliis et floribus. Tourn. Inst. 77. Boerh. Lugd. II. 69. Miller, plate 62.
• Bella-donna dicta Solanum lethale. Hill. Herb. Britan. p. 328. tab. 47.
• Bella-donna. Clus. Pan. p. 503. Bod à Stap. p. 586. Cat. Gissen. 142. Raii Syn. ed. 3. p. 265. Vaillant. Botan. Par. p. 20. Hall. Helv. 507. Dale Pharmacol. 4° ed. p. 72. Wilson. Synop. p. 122.
• Solanoc ongener flore campanulato vulgatius, latioribus foliis. Hist. Oxon. III. p. 532. sect. 13. tab. 3. fig. 4.
• Solanum somniferum. Fuchs. 689. Icon. opt.
• Solanum maniacum multis sive Bella-donna. J.B. III. p. 611.
• Solanum melanocerasos. C.B. pin. 166.
• Solanum lethale. Ger. 169. emac. 340. Park. 346. Raii. Hist. Plant. 679.
• Solanum majus sive Herba Bella-donna. Matthiol. Oper. Omn. p. 756.
• Solanum somniferum et lethale. Lobel. Adversar. p. 102.
• Deadly Nightshade, or Dwale.
• [68] 2. Atropa caule fruticoso. Spec. Plant. 182.
• Bella-donna frutescens rotundifolia Hispanica. Tourn. Inst. 77.
• Solanum frutex rotundifolium Hispanicum. Barril. Obs. 2. Icon. 1173.
• Round-leaved shrubby Spanish Bella-donna.
• 3. Atropa foliis sinuato-angulatis, calycibus clausis acutangulis. Spec. Plant. 181.
• Bella-donna flore magno violaceo. Hill. Herb. Brit. 319.
• Alkekengi amplo fiore violaceo. Few. Per. 724. tab. 16.
• Large violet-flower'd Bella-donna, or Deadly Nightshade.

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

The Description.

The root is perennial. It is pretty long, and divided into many branches of a brown colour, succulent, and of a disagreeable smell. The radical leaves are frequently a foot long, and five inches broad, of an oval acuminated figure, and not sinuated on the edges. The stalk rises to three or four feet: it is much divaricated and branched. The cauline leaves stand alternately upon it, in shape like the radical,[69] of a dusky-green colour on the upper part, and a paler green underneath, being a little hairy on both sides. The flowers stand on single footstalks, in the alæ of the leaves: they are large, of a campanulated figure, and striated, of a dusky-purple colour within, with a yellow variegated base; the outer surface of the flower is of a greenish red. After the flower succeeds a fine beautiful large berry, which is black when ripe. For the rest, take in the generical character.

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

Place of Growth.

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

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

It is of great importance, that the knowlege of poisonous plants should be extended as much as possible, that they may the better be avoided, and their fatal effects thro' mistake be guarded against: there can therefore be no impropriety in enumerating particularly some of those places, where our English botanists have observed it. Mr. Ray mentions its being found in the church-yard and lanes about Fulburn in Cambridgeshire, Sutton-Colefield in Warwickshire: in the Downs: at Cuckstone, near Rochester in Kent, all the yards and backsides are over-run with it. Ray. Syn. Upon Clifton-hill, near Nottingham; also in a quarry near the cold-bath at Mansfield. Catal. Notting. In Currenwood-kins, near Burton in Kendal, and other places in Westmorland. Wilson's Syn. Dr. Wilmer found it amoung the bogs going down to Dorking in Surrey, plentifully. In Preston church-yard, near Feversham in Kent. Mr. Watson found it by the wood-side, under the park-wall, between Temsford-mills and Welwyn, Hertfordshire; and near the road between Rochester and Maidstone. Mr. Blackstone found it in a shady gravel-pit near the old park-wood at Harefield, and in the gardens at More-park near Rickmansworth, plentifully. Specim. Botan. About Rochester and Chatham, where it grows in the joints[71] of old walls, and in most of the unfrequented lanes: also in Woodstock-park in Oxforshire, and Up-park in Hampshire. I have observed it four or five years since on the edge of Charley-forest: about Grace-Dieu, Leicestershire. It grows about North Luffenham in Rutland.

Its Poisonous Quality.

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

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

Tragus and Fuchsius, who wrote about the middle of the sixteenth century, both relate instances of the poisonous effects of these berries: the former, of a man, who went mad after having eaten of them; [72]the latter, of two children, who perished by the same means[10].

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

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

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

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

[73]

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

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

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

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

It would be almost endless to recite all the instances to be met with upon this head. The German Ephemerides, the Commercium Literarium, and other periodical works, furnish us with farther proofs [74]of the deadly quality of the Bella-donna; and they are unhappily corroborated by more recent instances in modern authors. The Gentleman's Magazine[20], Mr. Miller in his Gardeners Dictionary, and Dr. Hill in his British Herbal[21], exhibit to us several melancholy cases of this kind.

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

Medical History.

Who it was, that was bold enough to venture first upon the internal use of this plant as a medicine, I cannot say; chance very probably led to it, as in many other cases. In the mean time, there is reason to believe, that it is not altogether a modern practice. One would be led to think, by the accounts given us in Matthiolus and Bodæus, that in their days its operation was very well known; and that they knew how to dose it very exactly, since they give us an [75]account of tricks being played with it, by infusing the quantity of a scruple of the root in wine, and intoxicating people therewith. The former of these authors relates, that the distilled water from this plant, in a dose of about two or three spoonfuls, was exhibited by some people in inflammations of the viscera; and, he observes, with good success. Parkinson seems to have transcribed this account, respecting this use of it; but neither of them speak of it from their own knowlege. It may be questioned, however, whether this could act otherwise than as mere water; since the principles with which this plant is endued, do not seem capable (if one may judge from its sensible qualities and effects upon those who have taken it) of rising in a still.

Mr. Ray[22], from the German Ephemerides, an. 13. obs. 64. presents us with the relation of a shepherd in Denmark, who administered an infusion of the berries in wine in the dysentery, which was there very common, and very obstinate; adding, that it was attended with great success, not only restraining the flux, but carrying off the disorder by sweat. Mr. Ray observes further, that, correspondent with this practice, Conrade Gesner actually prepared a syrop from the berries, and gave it in dysenteric cases with great success. This account is found in Gesner's Epistles, and is quoted also by Dr. Haller[23], when treating of this plant. Possibly its efficacy in these cases may be accounted for, from considering it merely in the quality of an opiate; and [76]therefore it cannot be adviseable to use it, when safer medicines are always at hand.

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

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

The German physicians have gone much further: they have even ventured to give it inwardly in cancerous cases. Dr. Haller, when treating of the quality [77]of this plant, refers to Junker, and others of the modern physicians, as recommending the decoction of it with caution, that it be not given in such quantity as to cause sleep. So long since as the year 1739. there was a thesis published at Hall, by Michael Albert, in which the Bella-donna is proposed as a specific in cancerous cases. What other physicians patronize this use of it, I cannot say, having but little opportunity of consulting those academic pieces, which are of such eminent use in compilations of this kind. Thus much is certain, that its use, in such cases, rather gains ground; and the case, published in the French Bibliotheque[25], printed at the Hague, of an ulcerated cancer being radically cured by an infusion of the leaves of this plant in water, deserves particular attention, on account of its being so well attested. The case is extracted from an inaugural thesis of Professor Lambergen's, who was the physician concerned[26]. The event was so singularly happy and successful in this instance, that we hope it will need no apology, if we give a particular detail of it.

The person afflicted with this miserable disease was a widow of 34 years of age, and mother of four children. She had but weak nerves, and had been subject to inflammatory disorders. She informed M. Lambergen, upon examining her, that she had had a quinzy six times, which had twice ended in suppuration: that eight years before her right breast [78]had suppurated, and discharged much matter: that two years after it suppurated again; and that at the end of another year both breasts underwent the same fate; since when the right had remained schirrous, but was without pain, except when she handled it. She had suckled her youngest child about six months, when she was seized with a fever; and the left breast (with which only she could suckle since the other had suppurated) soon swelled, inflamed greatly, was very painful, and soon became almost as large as a child's head. Dr. Lambergen being called in, ordered copious bleeding, and that the child should suck as little as possible. She took some medicines, and soon recovered.

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

He found the tumors in her right breast much enlarged, and so connected together, as to feel like one large one only. On the upper part of the breast, upon the pectoral muscle, it felt rugged, unequal, and almost as hard as a stone. The patient complained of a constant itching in the part, and at times a pungent pain, which seemed to shoot from the armpit, and end in the tumor. Under this armpit the glands were hard and schirrous; and the left breast was not exempt from the like indurations. A vein or two on the right breast was a little enlarged, otherwise no alteration. It was no hotter than common;[79] nor had it undergone any change of colour. To mitigate the pain of the schirrous, Dr. Lambergen ordered the following plaister:

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

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

In this dreadful state was the patient, when Dr. Lambergen desired the late Dr. du Bois, Dr. Winter, physician to the house of Orange and professor at Leyden, together with Dr. Van Arum of Leewarden, physician in ordinary to the Princess dowager, to visit her. These gentlemen examined her many times, and unanimously agreed, that it was now no less than[80] a confirmed cancer. It was Professor Winter, who acquainted Dr. Lambergen, that he had heard M. Degner, a celebrated physician at Nimeguen, speak of the Bella-donna, as a sovereign remedy against inveterate schirri; adding, nevertheless, that he had never tried it himself.

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

It was the 14th day of January 1745, that she took the first dose, being one tea-cup full. It had the same effect upon her, as it had had on her physician; and moreover rendered her pulse weaker and quicker than usual. For seven mornings successively she took the same dose, which, in general, produced the same effect. At the same time the plaster was renewed, with the addition of a few grains of opium. Under this method her pain was mitigated; but, before the latter end of the week, returned again[81] more frequently, and more acute; so that she was reduced to a most deplorable condition. The rising on the upper part of the breast became livid; the place near the nipple before-mentioned inflamed, and was very painful; and two little pointed risings were observed upon it, together with a slight fissure or opening. As the menstrual period was approaching, the infusion and the powders were omitted, and the pediluvium substituted. A mixture with crabs-eyes, sp^t. nitri. d. and syr. e mecon. relieved the patient from some spasmodic complaints she had at this time, and the menses returned more copiously than ever. The 27th she took something more than a tea-cup of the infusion, being the first dose of the second scruple: her body was soluble; her breast less swelled, but the pain returned very acute, and seemed to terminate in the little callous eminence on the upper part of the breast, which now likewise became more pointed. The 28th she took the same quantity of the infusion. The two little pointed places near the nipple were now become two little holes, but had not discharged any matter. The other sore on the upper part of the breast was more livid still, and more painful, and had risen into two little whitish points. The powders were omitted this night, as they had been now and then at other times. The 29th, very little sleep the foregoing night, great pain from the upper sore, the holes near the nipple were become larger, and had run a yellowish matter. The same dose of the infusion as before. At night she had most acute pain from the upper sore. The 30th both sores were nearly in the same state. All remedies were[82] this day laid aside, except the infusion; of which she took a cup-full and an half; but her mouth soon became so dry, that she could scarcely swallow a little tea; and the vertigo was so violent, that she staggered: her sight was so weakened, that she could scarcely read. Notwithstanding this, she had no anxiety, nor nausea, nor pain; but her appetite was less, and her pulse quicker. The 31st all the last-mentioned symptoms continued the same: the two pointed eminences on the upper part of the breast were become two little holes likewise, and had discharged a few drops of good matter.

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

The 1st of March an inflammation arose on the sole of the right foot, and extended up the leg about four fingers above the heel. It ended in two great[83] blisters, as if from a burn, which were embrocated with wine and oil, and nothing bad followed. To the 22d, the patient was better and worse. The menstrual period did not pass without some disturbance. The 26th she began with the infusion of the tenth scruple, and every thing went on for the better to the end of the month.

From the 1st of April to the 6th the ulcers were firm and dry; but the pain in the breast increased. Several blisters arose on the foot, along the leg, and even upon the thigh, on the left side. One upon the sole of the left foot, for 24 hours discharged an incredible quantity of thick whitish lymph. The pain from these blisters was beyond all she had felt before. It continued the 7th, 8th, and 9th; and new blisters arose on the thigh. The excoriated parts were all dressed with spirit of wine. During the disturbances from these new complaints, the breast was likewise painful, and swelled, tho' the ulcer near the nipple was dry, and the other discharged little or nothing. The 10th she had less pain both in her foot and in her breast. The upper sore was closed; the foot discharged less. From the 11th to the 15th, notwithstanding the weather was very cold, her pain still lessened. The ulcer remained firm, and the whole breast was softened: her foot mended; and all went on for the better till the 18th, when the ulcer on the upper part of the breast opened again in three places, and discharged a thick yellowish matter. The nipple of the left breast also became inflamed, and surrounded with pimples, which discharged a little lymph. In the mean time the cancerous breast was more painful than on the preceding days. The[84] 19th the pain less, tho' continual. Some discharge from the foot still; but the ulcers on the thigh were healed, and another blister arose. The 20th the upper sore on the breast closed again; but that near the nipple seemed to threaten another opening, and in fact it did, on the 24th, in three places. On the 20th the catamenia returned very copiously, and superseded the use of the pediluvium. The 25th she began with the infusion of the fourteenth scruple of the Bella-donna, which, it is to be observed, was scarcely ever omitted. The 26th a blister arose at the end of the fore-finger on the left hand, was very painful, and discharged a great quantity of serous matter. The next day both ulcers on the breast discharged a small quantity of lymph; otherwise the breast was less painful.

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

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

[85]

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

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

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

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

It must not be omitted, that notwithstanding the daily use this woman made of the Bella-donna, she was not accustomed to it in the manner as people are who take opium. Dr. Lambergen always prepared the infusion himself, and never had occasion to make[86] it stronger than at the first, as the patient always found the like effects from the same dose.

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

I have here endeavoured, in as concise a manner as might be, to exhibit the history of this extraordinary plant. The being able barely to know and distinguish one plant from another, however praise-worthy in itself, ought not to be the only view of our botanical researches: we should do more, and [87]endeavour to investigate, in the most attentive manner, the properties of vegetable productions, in order to accomodate them to the various exigencies of human life.

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

Some of the most efficacious medicines are such, as, being posssessed of highly active principles, do greatly disturb the animal œconomy in their operation: nevertheless, however rough the modus operandi of any medicine be, if its efficacy by repeated[88] trials be approved and confirmed, this is so far from proving a discouragement to its use, that we ought to regard the discovery of such a one as a valuable acquisition to the province of physic, especially if it is applicable in desperate and obstinate cases. The Bella-donna, on the contrary, supposing future trials should prove it as happily successful as Professor Lambergen has experienced it, is a medicine of a different kind; inasmuch as its operation is mild, when compared with that, which attends the exhibition of many others: we should therefore have double reason to rejoice at the discovery.

Reverend Sir,

THE subject of this letter are some cursory observations made by me last spring, upon viewing the curiosities found at Herculaneum, and the places adjacent. I deferred putting them into any order, till I came to town, and had seen, by perusing the Transactions of the Royal Society, whether some abler hand had not already prevented me, and made any further communication needless: but as I now find, that no notice has been hitherto taken of several particulars, which, in my[89] humble opinion, deserved it, as tending to throw new light upon antiquity; I beg leave to trouble you with my thoughts upon them.

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

I.

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

Further, with regard to the manner of distinguishing the several sides of the tali, some learned[30] writers [90]speak of it according to ideas taken from the fashion of marking the modern dice, and (I may add) the ancient tesseræ likewise: but, as I did not observe the traces of any engraving, painting, &c. upon the pieces under consideration, it seems to me more probable, what others assert[31], that this distinction was effected by the different configuration of the sides themselves, and not by any numbers marked upon them. And concerning this notation, the common opinion is, that the appearances expressing one and six, as also those representing three and four, were opposed to each other respectively.

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

It may further be collected from Horace, that the throw above described had the appellation of Venus: for when he intimates, that the president of the feast was elected by the tali[34], he must be supposed to [91]mean the most favourable chance upon them. But he[35] elsewhere gives us to understand, that the chance, which determined that election, was called Venus.

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

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

There have been several other conjectures proposed by learned writers upon this subject, which I choose to omit, for want of proper authorities from the classics to ascertain them. This is likewise the case with regard to the rules observed by the ancient Romans at this diversion. It is not at all improbable, that as we have several species of games upon the same set of dice, cards, &c. so they might have the same [92]variety on the tali: and if there were any laws established by custom for the regulation of this game in public, yet private parties might be at liberty to innovate at pleasure, and agree upon whatever terms of play were most agreeable to their inclinations or circumstances. In this light (according to [39]Erasmus) we are to consider the account, which Augustus gives of himself and his friends, in an epistle to Tiberius[40]: Inter cænam lusimus γεροντικῶς heri et hodie: talis enim jactatis, ut quisque canem aut senionem miserat, in singulos talos singulos denarios conferebat, quos tollebat universos, qui Venerem jecerat. And it is obvious to remark, that (upon this hypothesis) the critics, perhaps, need not have been so much embarassed (as we find they have been) in endeavouring to reconcile this passage of Suetonius with that other of Persius[41] produced above.

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

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

II.

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

III.

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

IV.

A small bolla d'oro, which (after that in the late Dr. Middleton's collection, and another preserved at Rome) is the third known to be extant in Europe. As this ornament was worn by so great a number of young persons at Rome, and made of gold, which is so capable of resisting the injuries of the weather, moisture, &c. one cannot but wonder at the extreme scarcity of these monuments in the cabinets of the curious. The most probable way of accounting for this (according to [44]Dr. Middleton) is, that the [94]value of the materials, of which these bullæ were made, induced the poor labourers, as soon as they had found one, to sell it to the first goldsmith they met with for its real value (however small it might be), by weight.

V.

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

VI.

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

VII.

An antique painting of a muse with a capsula near her containing some volumes, from which hang labels showing the titles of the works. The same representation appears in another painting kept in a different part of the palace. Signor Paderni[95] observed to me, that these remains would help the curious to form a more certain idea of the manner in which the ancients affixed titles to their volumes, than they have hitherto been able to obtain. The most complete description, that I can recollect, of an ancient book, with its appurtenances and decorations, is that of Martial addressed to one of his own.

The superbus index in the last verse, curiously illuminated with scarlet, was undoubtedly the title of the book; but to what part of it it was annexed has hitherto been difficult to ascertain: for as (according to the paintings under consideration) it was inscribed on a detached piece of paper or parchment, it must soon have been lost from the book; especialty if the latter had suffered by damps, or any other injuries similar to those, that have affected the volumes found in Herculaneum, of which not only the title, but even the ends of the umbilici, tho' consisting of more solid materials, as horn, ivory, &c. are intirely destroyed: so that no light could be had from the original antiquities with relation to this point. The only means, whereby the connoisseurs could form any conjectures in this case, must have been, I presume, from the fashion of books among the ancients, viz. their being long scrolls rolled round upon a stick with ornaments at each end, as described in the epigram[96] produced above. This form required, that the books should be laid at their length upon the shelves, where they were deposited with either their side, or one of their ends, appearing outwardly. Now of these two positions the latter, which exposed the extremity of the umbilicus to view, might be thought (all circumstances duly considered) the most convenient. To this part therefore it might with probability be conjectured, that the index or title was fastened; but the paintings mentioned above plainly demonstrate, that it actually was so.

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

VIII.

Some pieces of fine paper, coloured red on one side, and black on the other, found upon the breast [97]of a skeleton. Signor Paderni told me, that they had been viewed with great admiration by such of the virtuosi, as he had shewn them to; and that their admiration proceeded from those fragments appearing not to be of the charta papyracea, but of that of silk, cotton, or linen. And indeed, if they should prove to have been made of any of the materials last mentioned, it would contradict the generally received opinion (according to [46]Montfaucon), that paper of silk or cotton, denoted by the common appellation of charta bombycina, was first found out in the 9th century; as that composed of linen rags (ex linteolis contritis et aquâ maceratis, as Pancirollus[47] expresses it) was about the 12th; and that the former supplied the place of the charta papyracea in the east, as the latter superseded the use of it in the western parts of the world.

IX.

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

To enter into a detail of the paintings found at Herculaneum, and deposited in a different part of the palace at Portici, would be tedious, as their [98]number, when I saw them, exceeded 800; and it would be superfluous, as the principal of them will soon make their appearance in the world by prints taken from them, and executed in a manner, which (as far as I could judge by the specimens shewn me) will in no-wise discredit the originals, I shall therefore only mention two of them, viz.

I.

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

Semibovemque virum, semivirumque bovem.

Art. Am. L. ii. v. 12.

II.

Chiron and Achilles. The latter of these is standing, and has a plectrum in his right hand: the former seems to embrace his noble pupil with his left arm, and with his right hand to strike the lyre, as teaching[99] him to play upon that instrument. But the most remarkable circumstance in the figure of Chiron is his reposing his hinder parts on his left haunch upon the ground. Yet this attitude, as well as the other particulars mentioned above, is expressed in an antique gem, of which I have seen a copy at Rome.

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

In the First Room.

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

In the Second.

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

A man in a sacrificing habit.

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

All these are of bronze.

Statues of marble deposited here are the following, viz.

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

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Two colossal trunks in a sitting posture.

Three statues of one of the Agrippina's.

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

Three other matrons.

In the Third Room.

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

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

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

In another part is a Faun of bronze, reclined, with his right hand lifted up, and his leg extended. This figure (as we were informed) was found accompanied with seven others of the same metal, which now stand in another chamber, viz. two young men in a running a posture; four females somewhat[101] resembling vestals in their habit, excepting that all their heads were uncovered, and those of two of them were adorned with vittæ, or filets. Lastly, a young man of a small size, cloathed, with his arms somewhat extended.

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

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

Give me leave to add further, that I find, by my journal, that upon viewing this figure, I took notice of a dissimilitude in the heads of it: but as it did [102]not then occur to me, that they were ever expressed in any other form than the canine, I did not examine minutely into the difference: but, upon recollection, I am now inclined to think, that that monster might have the heads of three several animals in this piece, as he has in another, given us by [51]Montfaucon: which mode of exhibiting him was (according to that learned [52]antiquary) invented by the Egyptians; a circumstance not to be wondered at in a people, whose imagination teemed so plentifully with monstrous ideas of all kinds, as theirs is known to have done.

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

I shall trouble you but with one more observation upon this article, viz. that (if I may trust my memory for a particular omitted in my notes) this is the statue, which being the principal one found in an ancient magnificent building discovered about seven years ago at [54]Pozzuoli (in conjunction with other circumstances) occasioned it to be called The Temple of [103]Serapis. As this place seemed greatly to merit the attention of the curious in antiquity, we procured a plan of it, drawn by a native, who has free access to it and (if I thought it would be acceptable to that learned Society, of which I have the honour to be a member) the said plan should wait upon them, accompanied with some observations upon it by,

SIR,
Your most obedient,
humble Servant
John Nixon.

London. Feb. 24. 1757.

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

ON Sunday the 27th of June last it grew on a sudden as dark as a winter evening: soon after, the lightning began to flash, and the thunder to roar. The claps were near, and extremely loud; and the lightning was more like darting flames of fire, than flames of enkindled vapour. Happily no damage was done to the town of Looe, which lies very low; but at Bucklawren, a village situated on the top of a hill, about two miles from hence, a farm-house was shattered in a most surprising manner. The house fronts the south. The windows of the hall and parlour, and of the chambers over them, which are in the front of the house, are sashed. The dairy window is the only one on the west side of the house. The chimnies are on the north side; and at the south-west corner there is a row of old elms on a line with the front, the nearest of which is ten feet distant from the house. The lightning seems to have had a direction[105] from the south-west to the north-east. It first struck the bevilled roof of the south-west corner, near the eaves of the house; made a large breach, and tore up the floor of the garret, near the place where it entered, and descended by the west wall, in oblique lines, into the chamber over the parlour; but not having sufficient vent that way, it darted in a line from S.W. to N.E. against the north wall of the garret, where meeting with resistance, it broke down the floor near the north wall many feet wide, and carrying the ceiling of the parlour-chamber before it, ran down by the wall of that room in direct lines. Where it descended on the west and north walls it made large and deep furrows in the plaister, and even tore out the stones and mortar. A large splinter was struck off from the bed-post contiguous to the north wall, and the bed was set on fire. The chimney-piece was broken into many parts; the window-frame was moved out of the wall, every pane of glass was broken, the under sash was torn in pieces, and a large piece of the chimney-board was thrown out of the window against an opposite garden wall, about 20 feet from the house. As the lightning shot thro' the window, it found a small cavity between the wall and the slating with which the wall is covered, where it burst off the slates as far as it continued in a direct line downward, and threw them at a great distance from the house. Notwithstanding this dreadful havock, the force of the lightning was not spent; the window gave it not a sufficient discharge. From the chamber over the parlour, it descended by the north wall to the room under it, which is wainscotted, tore off the cornice the whole breadth of[106] the room, and some mouldings from the wainscot; broke the glasses and Delft ware in the beauffet; shivered the shelves of a bottle-room; and, ripping off a small stock-lock from the door, burst it open, and made its way chiefly thro' the window, the frame of which was moved from the wall, and the glass shattered to pieces. Near the bottle-room there was a hole struck in the partition-wainscotting, which divides the parlour from the hall, about eight inches long and an inch broad: through this crevice the lightning entered the hall, which serves at present for a kitchen, and meeting with some pewter in its way, it flung it from the shelf about the room; threw down a large iron bar, that stood in a corner and which seemed to have a trembling and desultory motion; carried the tongs into the chimney, and threw a tea-kettle, that stood there, into the middle of the floor; moved a large brass pot out of its place, which was under a table; and then darted thro' the windows, carrying away a pane of glass intire out of the upper sash to the distance of many feet. The mistress of the house and her son were sitting at this window. They were the only persons in the house, and providentially received no hurt. Some part of the lightning found a way between the door and door-case of the hall. The door is pannelled: and the lightning, in passing thro', penetrated into a close mortise, and split off a large splinter from the outside of the door, close to the tenon. In its course it left a smoaky tinge on the wall and timber, like that of fired gunpowder. A sulphureous smell remained in the house many hours. Another (or probably a part of the same) flash of lightning[107] struck the dairy window, melted the lead, and burnt the glass where it penetrated, and set the window-frame on fire. From thence it darted in a line from S.W. to N.E. downward, made a large hole in a plaistered partition near the floor into the barn, shattered a large paving rag-stone in pieces, and tearing up the ground, I suppose, sunk into the earth. The elms were affected with the lightning, particularly that nearest the house, from the top of which to the root appeared large furrows in the moss, which grew on the bark, in some places in an irregular spiral, but for the most part in a perpendicular line; and from the root of it the ground was torn up in furrows, as if done with a plough-share, about six feet long, the furrows gradually lessening according to their distance from the tree. All this was done instantaneously. How amazingly swift, subtle, and powerful is the force of lightning! I am,

Reverend Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
James Dyer.

A Letter from the Rev. Mr. Milles on the same Subject.

ABOUT four of the clock on Sunday afternoon, the same day that the lightning struck the farm-house at Bucklawren, it fell upon another house called Pelyne, in the parish of Lanreath, about six miles distant. The house fronts the east. The chimney, which is at the north end, is cracked, and[108] opened about two or three inches wide, from the top to the roof, where it entered the slating thro' a small hole on the eastern side; forced its way thro' the upper chamber, where it melted an old copper skillet, a pair of sheepshears, and some odd brass buckles and candlesticks that lay on the wall; consumed the laths adjoining, and then made its way thro' a small crevice in the upper part of the window. Another and more severe part of the same lightning descended the chimney; struck two women down who were sitting on each side of it, without any further hurt; overturned a long table, that was placed before the window in the ground room, upon two men, who were sitting on the inside, with their backs towards the window. One of these men was miserably burnt in his right arm. The lightning seems to have struck him a little above the elbow, making a small orifice about the bigness of a pea; the burn from thence to the shoulder is near an inch deep. His right thigh was likewise burnt on the inside, and the outside of his right leg, from a little below the knee, quite over the ancle to his toes. Both knees were burnt across slightly, and his left thigh. His shirt-sleeve, and the upper part of his waistcoat, were reduced to tinder: the buckles in his shoes were melted in different parts, and in different directions. He has not been able to use his arm since; and is under the care of a surgeon, who has reduced the wound to a hand's breadth, which was in the beginning advancing fast towards a mortification. The other man was but slightly wounded. The lightning afterwards found its way thro' the window in three different places; melted the glass, leaving a smutty tinge, like that of[109] fired gunpowder. A boy, about ten years old, son to the under-tenant, was also struck down, as he was standing at the door, but not hurt. The father and his daughter felt no ill effects; but saw the lightning roll on the floor, and thought the room was on fire.

Newbury, Decemb. 2, 1756.

My Lord,

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

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

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

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

The truest and best peat has very little (if any) earth in it; but is a composition of wood, branches, twigs, leaves, and roots of trees, with grass, straw,[111] plants, and weeds; and lying continually in water makes it soft and easy to be cut thro' with a sharp peat-spade. The colour is of a blackish brown; and if it be chewed between the teeth it is soft, and has no gritty matter in it, which the clob has. It is indeed of a different consistence in different places, some being softer, and some firmer and harder; which may perhaps arise from the different sorts of trees it is composed of.

To get at the peat, they first dig up the surface of the ground till they come to the clob, throwing the earth into the empty pits, from which they have already cut out the peat: they then dig up the clob, and either sell it to the poor for firing, or lay it in heaps, to burn to ashes, to be sold to the farmers. Then they cut out the true peat, with a peculiar kind of spade, in long pieces, vulgarly called long squares, about three inches and a half broad every way, and four feet long, if the thickness of the peat will allow that length: and as they cut it out in long pieces, they lay them in a regular order carefully, in rows upon the ground, to be dried by the sun and wind. If the peat be thick, when they have cut one length of the spade for some distance, they return again, and cut down another length of it (or four feet), and so on, till they reach the gravelly bottom, if they can sufficiently drain it of the water, which continually comes in, tho' proper persons are employed to pump out as much of the water as they can all the time. As the peat dries, and is turned by persons appointed for that purpose, to dry it the better, it breaks into smaller lengths, and then it serves not only the poor; but many other persons, for firing, and gives a good[112] heat. It is sold for about ten shillings a waggon-load, delivered at their houses in the town. The ashes also prove very good manure for both grass and arable land; and the farmers give from four pence to six pence a bushel for them, which renders this firing very cheap.

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

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

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

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

Mr. Osgood found, some years ago, an urn, of a light brown colour, and large enough to hold above a gallon, in the true peat about eight or ten feet from the river, near a mile and a half west of this town, in Speen-moor. It lay about four feet below[114] the level of the ground, and about one foot within the peat; and over it was raised an artificial hill, about eight feet higher than the neighbouring ground; and as the whole hill consisted of both peat and meadow-ground intermixed together, it plainly appeared, that the peat was older than the urn; and that the persons, who raised the hill, must first have dug a large hole in the peat, to bury the urn there, and so formed the hill of the peat and meadow-ground mixed together. Round the hill, where the urn lay, they had made also many half-circular ridges, with trenches between them, one beyond another, in this manner:

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

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

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

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

A Project was lately laid before the government by Paolo Posi, an architect, for modernizing the inside of the Pantheon, and unfortunately approved. In consequence of which, the dome has been already cleaned, and rough cast; and the remainder of the lead taken away, which served as a lining to the silver work, that originally covered it. The vestiges of the cornices, and other ornaments of the silver work, were still discernible in the lead, which was fastened by very large iron nails. All this was effected by a moveable scaffold, that was fixed to the bronze cornice of the open circle above, whereby the temple is illuminated, and descended to the cornice of the Attic order, being as curious in the contrivance, as detestable for the purposes intended by it. It is true, we could not before see the dome in its pristine glory;[116] but we had the satisfaction of viewing the traces and remains of what it had been. Nor could the adepts in architecture sufficiently admire the skill and sagacity of the builder, who, composing it of a number of small arches, which together formed a kind of net-work, and filling up the intervals between with pumice-stones and mortar, gave it that strength and lightness, whereby it has probably stood so many ages.

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

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

It is said Il Signor J.B. Piranesi, the architect, who published the antiquities of Rome, and divers ingenious works of that kind, has taken accurate plans of the Attic order, and every other particular relating to it. These he proposes to engrave and publish, with exact explanations annexed to them;[117] together with a plan of the whole, as he believes it appeared in its original splendor and perfection; that posterity may not be deprived of informations, which are of so great benefit and importance to all lovers of architecture. It is also said, that the engineer [carpenter], who invented the scaffolding, has made an exact model of it for him; which he intends to publish as a part of the work before-mentioned.

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

[118]

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

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

[119]

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

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

After a good deal of observation upon the water of this Spaw; and after many fruitless attempts, which I have at different times made upon several other waters of the chalybeat kind in Scotland, in quest of the volatile spirit, which has been commonly attributed to them; I must own, that I have been[120] induced to think, that there is no such thing exists in these waters at all. What has been generally called the spirit of steel waters, seems to me to be very unintelligible; altho' the existence of it in these waters has been asserted by all the writers on this subject, which I have yet had occasion to see. The spirit of a mixed body is commonly taken to be a subtile, penetrating, light, and volatile substance, more susceptible of motion than any other of its parts, and most easily separable from them by avolation. But that any chalybeat water contains such a substance, I think has never been made evident, unless where the water has been found to be impregnated with some other mineral principles. Some steel waters, I believe, contain a large proportion of air, whose elasticity may occasion it to break forth with an explosive force; some others there are, which contain a volatile and sulphureous halitus; and to one or other of these two causes, or to some other mineral principle, I think most of the phænomena may be referred, which have been attributed to a ferrugineous or vitriolic volatile spirit.

As the first thing observable in a mineral water is its outward form, we must therefore take notice, that the water of this Spaw equals the clearest spring-water in transparency; and is likewise as free of any colour or odour: yet its taste is very strong, and may be discerned to be compounded of a sweet, subacid, and astringent taste. Its sweetness and acidity appear sensibly to arise from alum; and its high styptic and astringent taste does as evidently proceed from that mineral salt, joined with some earthy or ferrugineous parts. I must likewise observe, that when[121] I first compared the taste of these two springs, I could plainly discern, that the water of the lower spring was more acid, and less astringent, than that of the upper one; and, on the contrary, the water of the upper spring seemed more astringent, and less acid. This induced me to think, that the mineral parts, which caused the acid and astringent tastes, were mixed in the waters of these two springs in different proportions. And what I observed of them afterwards still confirmed this conjecture.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From these experiments we must first of all observe, that the colour, which these waters afford with galls and pomegranate-flowers, is very uncommon. The more iron, that any mineral water contains, it will afford the deeper colour with such astringents: but tho' I have tried this experiment upon a great many of the ferrugineous waters in Scotland, and also upon the waters of some of the foreign Spaws, I never observed one, that afforded so deep a colour as this, which we now consider. Some of the weakest of them gives only a red or faint purple tincture, and the strongest only a deep purple: but I never saw or heard of any chalybeat water, but this, either in[123] Scotland or elsewhere, that afforded an intense black and inky colour with galls. From which, I think we may venture to conclude, that the water of this Spaw contains a far larger proportion of iron than most, or perhaps than any, other chalybeat water hitherto discovered: and for this reason, I dare say, it will likewise be so much the more preferable to most others in medicinal virtues; which has indeed already appeared by many surprising cures it has performed, and which, I am persuaded, will more fully appear, when its medicinal effects shall be better known.

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

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

As there is an ochrous earth separated from all steel waters, when exposed to the air, which subsides[124] to the bottom, and a metalline scum or cremor, which swim on their surface; we shall next consider the appearances, which they make in this water.

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

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

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

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

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

The oil of tartar causes a precipitation of these ferrugineous parts in the same manner. Which parts[126] must be the sole cause, that the water receives a tincture from galls; since, after they are precipitate, it loses that quality, which they notwithstanding retain even after they are separated from the water. This precipitation of the ochrous parts of the water were the only visible effects that I could perceive to follow from the affusion of the ol. tart. p.d. I remember indeed, when I was at Moffat, I saw the manuscript of Dr. Horsburgh's experiments upon this mineral water; which appeared to be very accurate; and which I understand are since printed, in a volume lately published by the Philosophical Society at Edinburgh. Amongst these I observed one, which I thought so very remarkable, that I particularly adverted to it. It was the effects of the affusion of ol. tart. p.d. to the water, producing in it clouds, or a coagulation of a green or grass-green colour. I think these were the words; and I own I was something surprised at them. A solution of vitriolum Martis, mixed with this alkaline oil, does indeed produce a green coagulum: but I could scarcely think, that this, or any other chalybeat water, contained so large a proportion of that vitriol, as to be sufficient to produce these effects, when I considered, that so many writers, which I had seen, upon this subject, have all failed in their attempts of extracting a conspicuous martial vitriol from such mineral waters. I had tried this experiment upon four or five chalybeat springs in Scotland, and likewise upon the Spa and Pyrmont waters, which had been well preserved; but there never resulted any such effects from the mixture of these with oil of tartar, as are related in the above experiment. All the alteration it produced[127] in these waters was the precipitation of an ochrous earth, but without the least appearance of any green colour. As I looked upon this as a leading experiment in the history of vitriolic waters; as I had often tried it, and as often seen the green coagulum produced with the solution of the factitious vitriol, and never could observe it produced in any of the above water; I began to suspect, that these waters were either not possessed of a vitriolic salt at all, or else, that it was in some respects very different from the factitious vitriol. For these reasons, Dr. Horsburgh's experiment appeared very extraordinary; tho' at the same time I was greatly pleased, that I should have the opportunity of repeating it, and of observing those phænomena in this ferrugineous water, which I had sought for in vain in several others. But when I came to make the trial, I was yet more surprised, when I found it misgive, and that the ol. tart. p.d. produced no green colour or coagulum in this mineral water, nor caused any other alteration in it, than the separation of a large quantity of ochrous earth of a yellow colour, exactly the same with what I had observed in the other steel waters. This failure made me immediately conclude, that I had somehow or other committed an error in the experiment: and tho' I was pretty sure, that the mineral water, which I had used in it, was quite fresh, yet I could not be so positive as to the oil of tartar, which I suspected to have been long kept. Yet that this could have been the cause of my being so unsuccessful, I could scarcely believe, tho' indeed I could assign no other. I was sorry, that I had not afterwards an opportunity of repeating this experiment with more[128] accuracy, from which I might have expected to reap more success, as it is perhaps one of the most consequence, that can be performed on this mineral water, as it is capable of demonstrating the existence of a substantial vitriolum Martis in it; which is more than has been hitherto done, or perhaps ever will be done, concerning any one of the vast number of chalybeat waters, which have been yet discovered.

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

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

Exp. 12. When the water was exposed for some days to the air, there was a cremor separated from it of a shining chalybeat colour. This, like other kinds of cremor, takes a considerable time to compleat its intire separation from the fluid, out of which it is expelled: for when it was despumated, a new[129] cremor always succeeded, until the whole quantity, which the water contained, was exhausted.

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

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

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

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

This cremor, which is separated from the water, is the same with that, which appears on the surface of[130] a solution of vitriolum Martis, when exposed for some time to the air; and an infusion of iron in common water also emits a cremor of the same kind. I remember, as I was once carefully observing a large glass full of chalybeat water, which contained much of this cremor; soon after it was exposed to the air, I observed a tenuious blueish vapour rising in the parts of the water next the surface, which very much diminished its transparency; and by degrees this vapour was emitted by the lowest parts of the water: but as the cremor increased on its surface, the water became gradually deprived of the blueish tincture, which it received from this halituous body; which was apparently nothing else but the parts of the cremor separating from the water, and ascending upwards. From whence we may conclude, that this cremor consists of the very finest part of iron attenuated to the highest degree.

It has been the opinion of most naturalists, that these kind of mineral waters do abound in sulphureous parts. This they have conjectured from the foetor, that often attends them. But in what quantity or form these parts exist in the fluid, or by what means they can be rendered conspicuous, has not as yet been sufficiently determined. Yet, I think, we may suspect some of the parts of this cremor to be sulphureous. They are volatile, and, being heated, do fly off from the pure metalline parts, which being more fixed, are thereby left destitute of those vivid colours, which they enjoyed from the sulphureous parts. These are evident marks of sulphur, and are altogether analogous to some other appearances of that mineral. Another observation tending to support this is the want of those vivid colours in the[131] cremor, which appears on an infusion of iron; the reason of which seems to be the loss of the sulphureous parts of the chalybeat minerals by avolation, during the operations of the fire, which they undergo in refining.

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

The next trials were in quest of alum.

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

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

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

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

21. And the same trial being again repeated with[132] the water, when boiled and filtred from its ochrous parts, the milk was in the same manner coagulated as before elixation.

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

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

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

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

All these experiments strongly indicate the existence of alum in this water. It retains its aluminous taste, and coagulates milk, after the chalybeat parts are almost all expelled by elixation. The coagulation[133] of the milk demonstrates an acidity in the water, and the other appearances shew that acidity to be owing to an aluminous salt.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alum is distinguishable from all other mineral salts, by liquifying and bubbling upon a red-hot iron, and turning into a white calx. But this could not be well expected from this aluminous salt, which we[136] had extracted from the water, because it was extremely foul, by being combined with so large a proportion of earth; which earthy parts were the occasion of turning the salt of a blackish colour upon the iron. However, we see it turns white by a further degree of heat. But if the salt had been dissolved, filtrated, and crystallized, till it had been purified and freed from this terrene matter, it would then certainly have had the same appearance upon the red-hot iron, as a pure aluminous salt. Again, as it is peculiar to an aluminous salt to liquify in some degree with fire, so we see, that this was evidently the case of this salt. Its eliquation indeed could not be so remarkable, as in pure alum, because of its being mixed with so much earth; but that it did liquify in some degree is plain, because the whole mass of salt and earth, even when reduced to a powder, ran all together like a cinder.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On the second day the taste of the waters scarcely appeared to be any way diminished. No sensible change could be observed in the lower water; but the upper water was become more yellow than it was the day before, yet without any loss of its transparency. They both tinged of a deep blue colour with galls; which tinctures appeared equally deep[138] and strong, as they did before the waters were exposed to the air.

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

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

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

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

The water of the upper well being filtrated from all the ferrugineous matter, which it had separated during these thirty-eight days, was rendered almost as limpid and clear as when newly taken from the well: but, being boiled for some time, it became of a turbid yellow colour; and being allowed to stand,[139] it again precipitated abundance of an ochrous sediment; and being filtrated, and mixed with galls, it received a faint purple colour of a blueish hue.

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

I believe it will appear from these observations, that this mineral water continues longer intire, and particularly that it retains the quality of tinging with galls longer, than most others of the chalybeat kind: at least, of a great number, which I have seen described, I do not remember one, that retains it near so long, when exposed to the open air. Many of them lose this quality intirely in a few hours; and it is greatly impaired in the same time, even in those which retain it longest. But this water, we see, remains exposed to the open air for days, without almost any alteration. This may perhaps be owing either to the larger proportion of ferrugineous parts, with which it is impregnated; to their being attenuated to a greater degree; or to their more perfect commixture with the water, by means of the aluminous salt. The longer time, that any mineral water does remain intire, without any separation of its mineral parts; or the longer it retains the same form, which it has when newly taken from the spring; the more perfect is the commixture of these parts with their[140] fluid vehicle: and I believe, upon that account, will be more effectual for medicinal uses: for which reason, I suppose, these waters may prove a more beneficial medicine, than any others of the ferrugineous kind, whose mineral contents are not so intimately commixed with the aqueous fluid.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some of the more ancient writers cannot comprehend, how simple water should be intimately impregnated with so many different kinds of minerals, except by the means of some powerful agent. And as they thought nothing more proper for communicating and mixing mineral substances with water, than violent heat, they therefore termed all mineral waters, of whatever kind, by the name of thermæ. They saw some spring from the earth extremely hot, others moderately hot, others tepid, others excessively[143] cold: they concluded from this, that all such various degrees of heat in these waters were owing either to the different degree of subterranean fire, which they had undergone; or else to the great distance, which some of them had run in the earth, after they had been sufficiently heated. They therefore maintained, that those waters particularly termed acidulæ (the greatest part of which are impregnated with iron), or those, which, tho' intensely cold, contained a large proportion of mineral matter, had in some part of the earth been impregnated with it, by means of an intense heat, which they had been gradually deprived of by a long passage thro' the colder parts of the earth.

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

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

The last opinion I shall mention on this subject, and which indeed appears the most plausible, is of those, who think, that the iron is corroded and dissolved in these waters by means of an acid: for, as they imagine simple water incapable of doing this,[144] they suppose, that it is first imbued with an acid in the bowels of the earth; and then, by the corrosion of the chalybeat minerals, thro' which it runs, it comes to be impregnated with them. I once received this opinion, as the most probable I could then observe, concerning the origin of these springs: yet not as being satisfactory; for there are many objections against it, which it is difficult either to elude or to answer.

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

It was this notion, that first induced me to make trial upon various mineral and metallic bodies, in order to know how far they could communicate their virtues to common water by infusion. I thought this might throw some light upon the origin of mineral waters; yet, tho' I made a great many experiments of this sort, and particularly upon several kinds of native chalybeat minerals, I was as little satisfied concerning their origin as before. I at length, however,[145] met, by accident, with what I had inquired after with so little success.

As I happened to be at a gentleman's house near Edinburgh, in whose estate there was a great deal of coal, and who was at that time working a level or adit, in order to drain off the water, I observed, that the current of water, which flowed from this level, separated a great quantity of ochre, and, emptying itself into a river soon after it came from the entry of the level, tinged all the stones and the channel of the river, for a good way, of an ochrous colour. The taste of this water was exactly like that of a common steel Spaw; and it afforded a purple colour with galls[55]. As I knew, that this water flowed off a great body of coal, I often infused that fossil, taken from the pits near this level, in common water; but the infusions never yielded any tincture with galls. I tried in the same way another mineral, that the miners call blaes; which is a cliffery stratum of a blueish colour, that often lies both above and below the coal: also another fossil of a brown colour, which is very ponderous, and is called by the miners dogger; a thin seam of which often lies in the midst of the coal. However, neither of these would afford an infusion, that would tinge with galls. At last I got another mineral out of these coal-pits, which is sometimes found amongst the coal, but is not so frequent as any of the former; and this fully [146]answered my expectation. It is found either in round or broad pieces, is exceeding ponderous, and of a shining yellow colour, and is called by the miners brass lumps. When I infused this mineral for a short time in common water, it communicated to it all the properties of a steel Spaw; its taste was exactly the same; and it received a tincture from galls, which was of a more diluted or intense purple, according to the proportion of the mineral added to the water, or to the time of the infusion. This simple experiment does therefore clearly discover to us the origin of steel waters, and the manner, in which they are impregnated with their mineral contents in the bowels of the earth.

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

[147]

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

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

Hague, Febr. 15. 1757.

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

PAPER V.

THE account of this extraordinary mineral, formerly read to this illustrious Society, and honoured with their approbation, being since published in the Philosophical Transactions,[149] renders any recapitulation of the discoveries hitherto made unnecessary.

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

Experiments of the Mixture of Platina and Gold.

Experiment I.

1. Twelve carats[56] of fine gold, and the same quantity of the purer grains of platina, were urged in a blast-furnace, for near an hour, with a fire so strong, that a slip of Windsor brick, with which the crucible was covered, tho' defended by a thin coating of pure white clay, had begun to melt. Upon breaking the vessel, the metal was found in one smooth lump or bead; which, after being nealed by the flame of a lamp, and boiled in alum-water, appeared, [150]both in the mass, and upon the touchstone, of a pale bell-metal colour, without any resemblance to gold. It bore several strokes, and stretched considerably under the hammer, before it begun to crack about the edges. On viewing the fracture with a magnifying glass, the gold and platina appeared unequally mixed; and several small particles of the latter were seen distinct: nor was the mixture intirely uniform after it had again and again been returned to the fire, and suffered many hours of strong fusion.

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

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

4. Twenty-two carats of gold were melted in the same manner with two of platina (= 11:1) the[151] same that standard gold contains of alloy. The mixture was uniform, of a tolerable golden colour, but easily distinguishable from that of standard gold by a dingy bell-metal cast. It worked well, was forged into a thin plate without cracking, and drawn into moderately fine wire.

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

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

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

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

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

[152]

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

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

Experiment II.

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

All the mixtures proved heavier than standard gold. Their gravities were nearer to the medium of the gravities of the ingredients, than those of the compositions of platina with any of the other metals[153] formerly given an account of; none falling considerably short of the mean gravity, and some rather exceeding it.

Experiment III.

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

1. Instead of the crude mineral, whose gravity is but 17, we took platina, that had been cupelled with lead, one of the neatest of the buttons formerly mentioned, which, tho' retaining a portion of the lead, was nearly as ponderous as fine gold, viz. 19.240. This was melted with equal its weight of the gold, in a strong fire, and continued in fusion for about an hour: the mass proved spongy, and very light. We[154] remelted it several times with vehement degrees of fire, suffering it to cool leisurely in the crucible, and, in order to separate as much as possible of the lead, to which its sponginess seemed owing, boiled it in aqua-fortis, and repeatedly injected corrosive sublimate upon it during fusion: the mass, nevertheless, still turned out cavernulous and brittle, and specifically lighter than either the gold or platina by themselves.

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

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

Experiment IV.

As a small portion of copper somewhat heightens the colour of pale gold, platina was melted with eight times its weight of standard gold made with copper alloy. The fusion was performed, as in the preceding experiments, in a close crucible, with a strong fire, but without any flux, and continued for about an hour. The metal appeared covered with a[155] black scurf, and had lost about ⅟200. It was much duller coloured, harder to the hammer, and cracked sooner about the edges, than mixtures of fine gold with a larger quantity of platina. By repeated fusion, and frequent nealing, it became a little softer and tougher, so as to be drawn into pretty fine wire; but the colour was still exceeding dull, more resembling that of bad copper than of gold.

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

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

PAPER VI.
Experiments of distinguishing and purifying Gold mixed with Platina.

1. By Amalgamation with Mercury.

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

Repetitions of this experiment have shewn, that tho' the separation succeeds in some cases, it does not perfectly in all: that if there is any particle of the platina imperfectly dissolved in the gold (which will generally be the case, unless the quantity of gold is three or four times greater than that of the platina), this part will be retained, after long trituration, undissolved by the mercury, uncomminuted by the pestle, and too ponderous to be washed off in its gross form. A variety of mixtures of platina and gold were treated in the manner above described; and the gold, recovered from the amalgams, submitted to further examinations. Where the proportion of platina was large, the microscope almost always discovered still some granules of it on the fracture of[157] the ingot: where the proportion was small, the recovered gold was frequently, but not constantly, found to be pure.

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

2. By Precipitation with Alkalies.

Gold is precipitated totally by fixed alkaline salts, but platina only in part. When solutions of the two metals are mixed together, so much of the platina remains suspended, after saturation with the alkali, as to be readily distinguishable by the yellow colour, which it communicates to the liquor. It has been[158] objected, that tho' the platina was discoverable, when thus mingled superficially with the gold, it may nevertheless, when combined more intimately by fusion, elude this method of trial.

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

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

3. It has been further suggested, and with great appearance of probability, that as a part of platina is precipitated as well as gold by alkaline salts, if only this part be mixed with gold, it will be thrown down by them again upon dissolving the compound. To determine this point, a precipitate of platina made by fixed alkali was melted with thrice its weight of fine gold, and kept in strong fusion for above an hour: they united more easily than gold does with so large a proportion of the crude mineral, and formed a smooth neat bead, which hammered well[159] into a pretty thin plate before it cracked, and appeared internally uniform and equal. This compound being dissolved in aqua-regia, and a fixed alkaline salt added by degrees till the acid was more than saturated, the liquor became indeed pale; but tin plates put into it quickly discovered, that it held a very considerable quantity of platina. It appears therefore a constant property of this mineral to remain partially dissolved in the neutralised liquor; and that minute proportions of it, mixed with gold, are by this means distinguishable.

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

3. By inflammable Liquors.

1. Inflammable spirits, which revive gold from its solutions in form of yellow films, have no such effect[160] on solutions of platina. This experiment affords not only a criterion for distinguishing with certainty whether gold has been debased by platina, but likewise an infallible means of recovering it perfectly pure from any admixture of that mineral. If the compound be dissolved in aqua-regis, the solution mingled with twice its quantity or more of the spirit, and the mixture suffered to stand for some days in a glass slightly covered; the whole of the gold arises to the surface, leaving the whole of the platina dissolved. The golden pellicles may be collected, by pouring the matter into a filter just large enough to contain it. The dissolved platina passes thro', leaving the gold upon the paper, which is to be washed with fresh parcels of water till the liquor runs colourless. The paper is then to be carefully squeezed together, and burnt in a crucible previously lined with vitrefied borax: when fully sunk down, a little fresh borax is to be injected, and the fire raised to melt the gold. The use of lining the crucible with borax is to prevent any moleculæ of the gold from lodging in its cavities.—This process is attended with one inconvenience, the slowness of the separation of the gold from the solution: this may be in some measure expedited by employing a spirit, which has been distilled from vegetables, that give over an essential oil.

2. As essential oils take up gold from aqua-regis, and keep it dissolved for a time upon the surface of the acid; a pure colourless oil, that of rosemary, was poured into about half its quantity of a solution of platina, the mixture well shaken, and suffered to rest: the oil quickly arose, without taking up any thing from the platina, or receiving any colour: the acid[161] liquor underneath remained coloured as at first. Compositions of platina and gold being dissolved in aqua-regis, and treated in the same manner, the whole of the gold was imbibed by the oil, and the whole of the platina remained dissolved in the acid. The oil, loaded with the gold, appeared of a fine yellow colour, and, on standing for a few hours, threw off great part of its contents, in bright yellow films, to the sides of the glass. Sundry other distilled oils were made trial of, with the same event. The gold is easily recovered, by setting the oil on fire; and, when thoroughly burnt out, melting the residuum with borax, as in the preceding experiment. After the separation of the oil employed at first, it may be proper, for the greater security, to add a little more; which, if any part of the gold should happen to have been left in the liquor, will effectually take it up.

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

4. The liquors remaining in these experiments, after the extraction of the gold, appear on all trials the same with the common solutions of platina; and readily betray their being impregnated with that mineral by their colour, by the precipitation with[162] tin, by their yielding a sparkling red precipitate with volatile spirits, &c. A far more minute proportion of platina, mixed with gold, is more distinguishable by these processes, than by those with alkaline salts above-mentioned; these exhibiting the whole of the platina dissolved by itself, those only a part of it.

4. By metallic Solutions.

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

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

2. Solutions of iron in the vitriolic acid, or of common green vitriol in water, which totally throw down gold, happily made no change in solutions of platina. Compositions of platina and gold being dissolved in aqua-regis, the solutions diluted with about twice their quantity of water, and a filtered solution of the vitriol gradually added; the mixtures instantly grew turbid, and, on standing, deposited the gold in[163] form of a purplish grey calx, the whole of the platina remaining dissolved. It appeared, on numerous repetitions of this experiment, that no part of the platina was precipitated along with the gold, nor any of the gold kept suspended with the platina. Where the quantity of the mixt to be assayed was very small, the precipitation was usually performed in a filter, that the gold, which separates in very minute moleculæ, some of which might possibly remain unobserved in the bottom of a glass, might be detained on the paper. The colourless sorts of filtering-paper are preferable for this use to the coloured; as these last may be impregnated with astringent matter, which would extricate some of the ferrugineous part of the vitriol. The vitriol was dissolved in about six times its quantity of water, and a few drops of oil of vitriol added, to prevent the separation of any of its iron in the filter. This solution was put into the filter first, the solution of gold and platina immediately poured into it, the whole stirred together with a clean glass rod, and such part of the liquor, as had run thro' before they had been duly mixed, poured back to the rest. The gold remaining in the filter was washed with fresh parcels of water, the paper cautiously rolled up, and burnt in a crucible, as mentioned in a former experiment.

3. Solutions of the vitriol, recommended by Kunckel and others for precipitating gold of an uncommonly high colour, made no change in the solutions either of gold or platina. The bluish green did indeed precipitate the gold; not as blue vitriols, but by virtue of the ferrugineous matter, of which these kinds largely participate. White vitriol was likewise[164] made trial of, but without producing any sensible effect in either solution.

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

Remarks.

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

[165]

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

The methods of trial above related will, it is presumed, be sufficient to undeceive those, who may have been imposed upon by such appearances, and betrayed into the practice of unintended frauds: to convince them, that all they have gained from platina, after the most laborious attempts to divest it of[166] its imaginary coat, is no other than platina still: and, which is of more extensive utility, to distinguish all the abuses, that may be made with this metal, and restore the gold, so debased, to its original purity and value.

SIR,

BEFORE we enter upon a more particular consideration of this noble piece of antiquity, it may not be improper to premise the general account (and indeed the only one I have met with yet published), which is given of it by Mess. Cochin and Bellicard, in a little[57] treatise printed at Paris in 1755. These gentlemen acquaint us, that in 1749 there were only three pillars of this building visible, and that they were buried half way within the ground: but that soon after, workmen being employed by order of the King of the Two Sicilies to dig at the place, they came to the pedestals of those pillars: and at length discovered the building to have been a temple, which [167](as it was judged by the principal[58] idol found there, and some other circumstances) was dedicated to Serapis. They tell us further, that many statues and vases of excellent workmanship had been taken out of the ruins; and that the whole temple was extremely magnificent, being built, or cased throughout, with marble, even to the parts appropriated to the meanest offices.

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

In order to form any conjecture concerning the antiquity of the building before us, we must know, that the worship of Serapis, to whom it is supposed to have been consecrated, was not introduced at Rome till towards the end of the republic; and then tolerated in the suburbs only[59]. However, at length he was allowed to have temples erected to him within the precincts of the city; chiefly by the authority of Vespasian, who was thought to have restored a blind man[60] to his sight at Alexandria by the aid and direction of this deity. And upon this account he continued to be held in high veneration by Titus and Domitian, the sons of that Emperor, as appears by their [61]stamping his [168]image on the reverse of their coins. Now as it is reasonable to suppose, that the other cities of Italy followed the example of the metropolis in this instance, as we find, they did in others of a similar nature; we may with some probability place the foundation of this temple at Pozzuoli somewhere within the period assigned above.

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

These chambers seem designed for preparing the sacrifices, lodging the priests, and keeping their vestments; as also the fuel, stores, and other things requisite for the service of the temple: not to omit the convenience of purifying both the priests and the [169]worshippers by bathing or washing. This last destination is countenanced, with regard to the chamber on the north-west and that on the north-east corner, by the row of stone seats, which still remains on each of the sides of the former. These seats have a gutter, or channel running along at the foot of them on the floor; and are likewise perforated with holes of a proper size, with funnels passing from them below. On these benches probably the persons to be purified placed themselves, that the water might be let out upon them from pipes; or administred in vases or ewers by the attendants, and afterwards be carried off by the passages mentioned above[63].

Philos. Trans Vol. L. Tab. II. p. 168.

• A. Ancient grand Entrance.
• B.B.B.B. Portico or Corridor.
• C. Atrium.
• D. Temple properly so call'd.
• E. Altar with it's Drain.
• F. Sacrarium.

• G.G. Two large Chambers for washing &c.
• H. Modern Entrance over Ruins. This seems to have been formerly such a Chamber, as is express'd in the Drawing at (L)

 

A Scale of Feet.

Nor can a provision for washing or bathing in this temple seem strange to any one, who reflects, how high a rank this mode of purification held among the religious ceremonies of almost all nations of the world. As for the Romans, with whom we are principally concerned in the present inquiry, the subsistence of this usage among them might be abundantly shewn by the testimonies of their writers; and also by the accommodations provided for it in other buildings of the same character with that before us. Some of these still remain within the neighbourhood of Pozzuolo, viz. the magnificent temple near the lake of Avernus ascribed to Apollo, which has an apartment adjoining to it indisputably intended for the purpose [170]intimated above. For it is furnished with several stone cisterns, whose inward dimensions are proportioned to the ordinary size of an human body; and near them is a spring, out of which the water was taken up, and poured into a bason hollowed out in the side of the wall: from thence it ran along in a groove or channel cut in the ends of the cisterns, to be let out upon the persons bathing in them, according to their pleasure, or as occasion should require. So likewise in the temple of Venus (as it is commonly called) near Baiæ, there is a large chamber containing several stone seats for washing, with little cells contiguous to it for undressing before, and anointing the body and dressing afterwards.

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

Having thus viewed the several chambers in the exterior parts of the building, it is requisite (in order to a regular prosecution of our design) to return to the grand entrance. And here, passing thro' the corridor above described, we come to a square court or atrium paved with large slabs of white marble[171] streaked with blue or greyish veins. At the distance of 25 feet further, in the center of the said court, stood the temple properly so called, containing a circular area of 54 feet diameter, and elevated above the level of the pavement, so as to admit an ascent to it of five steps[64], in four different parts answering to the four sides of the corridor. This area is surrounded with sixteen pedestals, on which formerly were columns to support a rotundo or dome. Against each of these columns, on the outside, there seems to have been placed a statue, and, in the intermediate spaces, vases for incense, or lavers for washing, upon low stands on the floor. In the middle of the temple was erected the grand altar, the traces of which still remain, with a sink or drain near it to receive and carry off the blood of the victims, &c.

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

[172]

I beg leave further to mention a remarkable appearance in some of the columns of this temple, viz. that that part of them, which was lowermost, as well as that, which was nearest the capitals, is well preserved and pretty entire; while part of the intermediate space for two or three feet together is discoloured, as if it had suffered by burning; and also excavated in such a manner[65], as to contain multitudes of little shell-fish, which appear, like the pholades in some stones, almost totally inclosed within their cells, so as not to be got out without breaking. I know no way to account for this so probable; as by supposing, that the lower parts of these columns were secured by the mass of rubbish, that inclosed them, as the uppermost were by their elevated situation, from being perforated either by the corrosive quality of the sea, which (according to tradition) formerly covered the site of this temple; or by the animalcula, which are bred in that element; while the middle parts standing in the water were (perhaps for ages) exposed to the injuries mentioned above. I had no opportunity of taking the height of the uppermost line, where the above-mentioned [173]alteration in the columns ended, from the level of the sea in the bay; which would have shewn how high the water must have risen formerly above its present mark, to produce the effect ascribed to it on this hypothesis. But, however that may be, the nature of the situation of this place[66] being considered, the innovation supposed to have happened in it will not, I presume, be thought improbable; especially in a country so plentifully stored with combustible matter in its interior parts, and consequently so liable to changes in its outward form, as this is, and has been for many ages. For an extraordinary instance of this we need go but a little way from this place, viz. to Il Monte Nuovo, a hill about four miles in compass, which in 1538 was cast up in one night's time by an eruption, whereby the greatest part of the Lucrine lake was filled up, and the town of Tripergola, with a church, convent, hospital, and other buildings, intirely buried.

I shall conclude with acquainting you, that at the corner of the court of this temple, near the present entrance, there lie some large bases of marble, which (as we were informed) were taken out of the sea at about a mile's distance from Pozzuolo, and are inscribed DVSARI SACRUM. What was the original situation of these monuments, it may not be possible now to ascertain. As for DVSARES mentioned in the inscription upon them, G. Vossius[67] [174](upon the authority of Tertullian, and Stephanus Byzantius) makes him to have been an Arabian deity, the same as Bacchus or Sol according to the Roman theology. That learned man is likewise inclined to think, that the name DVSARES is compounded of two Hebrew words; one of which signifies joy, and the other, the earth, i. e. mortals, who inhabit it. This etymology properly expresses the genial effects of the sun, which makes glad the heart of man by ripening the fruits of the earth, especially the grape: Whence Virgil calls wine,

Munera lætitiamque Dei. Æn. i. v. 640.

and stiles Bacchus the fabled inventer of it,

——Bacchus lætitiæ dator. Ib. v. 738.

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

London, March 14. 1757.

[175]

Reverend Sir,

AS we know little of the reigns of the latter Parthian kings, and less still of their coins; an attempt to strike out even the least new light on either of those heads will not, I persuade myself, prove unacceptable to the Royal Society. In this persuasion, I do myself the honour to send you a few conjectures upon another brass Parthian medal, in my possession, as remarkable, on account of the double legend it contains, as the former, which I endeavoured a little to illustrate about a year ago. This medal, which certainly merits the attention of the curious, is in very good conservation, and approaches near the size of those of the middle Roman brass. It exhibits the head, or effigies, of a Parthian king, with a beard, diadem, and hair formed into such curls as I never yet observed upon any antient coins. Under the effigies, the Greek letters ΒΑϹΙΛΕωΝ ΜΕΓΑϹ ΜΟ⦙⦙⦙, which demonstrate the piece to be Parthian, appear; and, on the reverse, a Victory, done something after the Roman manner, tho' the workmanship is pretty rude, presents itself to our view, together with a legend in a language[176] and character at this time unknown. The legend consists of ten complete elements, placed behind the Victory above-mentioned; besides which there is one in the field of the medal, being probably the initial letter of the name of the city where the coin was struck. The metal, tho' termed by me brass, discovers something of a composition similar to that of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire's medal of Vologeses III. as described by [68]Sig. Haym. This coin, of which I herewith transmit you a draught most accurately taken (See Tab. IV. Fig. 1.), having not yet, as I apprehend, been published; you will permit me now to offer a few cursory remarks upon it, drawn up in the shortest and most concise manner possible.

1. The Greek legend, had all of it appeared, would, undoubtedly have been either ΒΑϹΙΛΕωΝ ΜΕΓΑϹ ΜΟΝΝΗϹΗϹ, or ΒΑϹΙΛΕΥϹ ΒΑϹΙΛΕωΝ ΜΕΓΑϹ ΜΟΝΝΗϹΗϹ; of which I should chuse the former, notwithstanding it is such Parthian Greek, as the round of the medal seems not to have been capable of containing the latter. It will be, at first sight, observed, that this legend is different from those of the Parthian coins hitherto described; which are exhibited in the [69]genitive, not the nominative, case. The last two letters MO leave no room to doubt, tho' the O is not so extremely well preserved, that the piece was struck when Monneses sat upon the [177] Parthian throne. It is true, indeed, the first element of the prince's name is not so apparently a Mu; tho' it resembles that letter, even as preserved on this very medal, much more than any other of the Greek alphabet. It is however totally unlike the Alpha near it, as well as all the other forms of that element to be met with in Montfaucon[70], and bears not the least resemblance to Beta[71], particularly the Beta which ought to have been impressed on this piece; as most evidently appears from a particle of that letter, visible in its proper place. From whence we may infer, that the character I am considering must be Mu; as Alpha, Beta, and Mu, were the only initial letters, according to Dr. Vaillant[72], of the names of the Parthian kings reigning after the introduction of the Omega of the minuscular form, as it here occurs, upon the Parthian coins. But Monneses was the only one of those princes whose name began with My, and consequently the two last Greek elements on this medal are part of his name. The metal and size of this piece, as none belonging to the other Parthian monarchs seem to have been yet met with of the same form, which exactly agree with those of Monneses's[73] coin published by Dr. Vaillant, may likewise be urged, as an additional argument of no small weight, in support of my opinion.

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. IV. p. 176.

Fig. 1.

Num. Parth. apud Jeannem Swinton, A. M. Oxoniens. R. S. S.

Fig. 2. p. 202.

Scale of feet, 20-1 Inch

J. Mynde sc.

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

3. This notion will likewise receive a farther accession of strength from the characters of which the unknown legend is composed. The first of them so nearly approaches one of the forms of the Palmyrene Pe, [179]as it appears in [77]Mr. Dawkins's alphabet, that we may without scruple ascribe to it the power of that letter. The second is so like the Palmyrene and the Chaldee Daleth[78], that it ought indubitably to pass for that element. The third differs something, tho' not greatly[79], from one of the forms of the Palmyrene He. The fifth, which likewise occupies the eighth place, is by no means remote from the figures of the [80]Palmyrene and Chaldee Nun. The sixth occurred in the third place before. With regard to the seventh, it seems to me pretty strongly to resemble some forms of the Palmyrene Mem[81], and even exactly to answer to that of the same letter in [82]one of the Palmyrene inscriptions preserved amongst those celebrated remains of antiquity commonly, tho' perhaps improperly, stiled The Ruins of Persepolis. The ninth is the He touched upon before. The tenth, which also succeeded the third, if the powers of the other elements have been rightly determined, must be Schin. Nor does this character, if we view it in a certain position, appear very remote from a rude form of that letter. This legend then, according to what is here advanced, as it now remains, consists of the words——PADESHANE MONESH, PADESHAN [180]EMONESH, or [83]PADESHAN AMONESH, that is, MONESH, or AMONESH,——OF KINGS; the word PADISHAH, or rather PADESHAH, as it seems to have been written and pronounced by the [84]ancient Persians, in the Pehlawian, Pehelawian, or Bastanian, that is, the old Persic, tongue, denoting [85]King. That NI, or NE, was sometimes a masculine plural termination in the antient Persic, seems to appear from the word, or rather words, , BIR. ZEIVESHNI, LONGÆVI, which occurs in Dr. Hyde[86]. And that the vowels A and E were sometimes prefixed to the Persian proper names, in the remoter periods of time, [181]is abundantly manifest, from the words SFITAMAN, ESFINTAMAN, or ESPINTAMAN, the [87]name of either the father or one of the ancestors of Zerâtusht; XERXES, [88]AXERXES, or AXERSES, and others of the same kind, that might, with equal facility, be produced. Whether therefore we read this legend——PADESHANE MONESH, PADESHAN EMONESH, or PADESHAN AMONESH, we cannot greatly err. As the coin was not so perfectly struck, part of the Greek legend is thereby apparently lost; from whence, and the evident want of a word there, we may conclude, that the Parthian legend, for Parthian by the explication here laid down it appears to be, on the correspondent part of the reverse, must have met with the same fate. What that Parthian term was, I cannot take upon me to say; but the whole legend was probably something like THE GREAT KING MONNESES, MONNESES THE KING OF KINGS, or MONNESES[89] THE GREAT KING OF KINGS; all which titles are intirely consonant to those assumed by the Parthian kings[90], and transmitted down to us on their other coins. The Persian, or Parthian, termination of the proper name MONNESES, and others that occur, was ESH. This may be inferred from the legend now before me, in conjunction with Scripture[91], and has [182]been remarked by some good authors[92]. That the Greeks also expressed the Schin by their Sigma, and superadded another termination to such words, is sufficiently manifest from the Persian, or Parthian Arshak[93], which was converted into Arsaces by the Greek writers. I must farther observe, that, according to Herodotus[94], the antient letters of the Persians were those used by the Assyrians; which I take to have been the same with the elements that prevailed amongst the Syrians, and formed the alphabet of the Palmyrenes. Nay, we may collect from [95]Epiphanius, that a considerable part of the Persians used the Palmyrene characters as late as the decline of the fourth century after Christ. All which being maturely weighed, I cannot forbear thinking the interpretation of the Parthian legend here laid down in a good degree probable. I am far however from insisting upon the truth of it. I shall only beg to be indulged the liberty of proposing it to the consideration of our most illustrious Society, and leave the fate of it intirely to the decision of so very eminent a part of the learned world.

4. But however my explication of the Parthian legend may be received, I believe it will scarce be denied, that the coin was struck in the reign of Monneses, one of the Parthian kings; this point [183]having been so clearly evinced, by the reasons above alledged. It may not be improper here to remark, that the republic of letters has been obliged with the publication of two of this prince's medals; the first of which was [96]coined in the year of the Parthian æra 422, and the other in 425[97]. Neither of them however exhibits the Victory impressed on the reverse of mine. That symbol, adopted by the Parthians in imitation of the Roman manner, must undoubtedly have alluded to some victory, or at least some remarkable advantage, gained by the Parthian forces over the Romans, a little before the piece was struck. What that advantage was, when and where obtained, and whether history conspires with the medal, in order to settle this point, I am next to inquire.

5. Monneses, if Dr. Vaillant[98] may be credited, ascended the Parthian throne in the year of the Arsacidæ 422, nearly coincident with the 166th of Christ, when M. Aurelius and L. Verus presided over the Roman world. But so far were the Parthians at that time from gaining any victories over the Romans, that they were every where worsted by them, and put to the rout. A Roman army, under the command of Avidius Cassius, had penetrated into Mesopotamia and Assyria, ravaged those provinces, laid Seleucia in ashes, taken Ctesiphon, and levelled the royal palace there with the ground, [184]according to Dio[99], the preceding year. Nay, it appears both from [100]Capitolinus and the Roman[101] coins, that M. Aurelius and L. Verus triumphed over the Parthians, the very year after Monneses, as [102]Dr. Vaillant will have it, came to the crown. All which that celebrated antiquary acknowleges to be true; and adds, that Monneses concluded an infamous peace with the Romans, ceding to them the whole province of Mesopotamia, for which he was soon after deposed by his subjects. Here then we can discover not the faintest traces of a reason for the appearance of a Victory upon the medals of this prince. Nor does any thing like a reason for such an appearance, in antient history, occur, before the 950th year of Rome, corresponding with the 197th of Christ; when the Parthians, animated by the civil dissentions, which reigned amongst the Romans, Albinus and Severus then fiercely contending for the empire, entered Mesopotamia with a powerful army[103], and reduced to their obedience most of the cities of that [185]province. Now if, with F. Corsini[104], we admit the commencement of the Parthian æra to have happened in the 525th year of Rome; the 425th or 426th year of the former and the 950th of the latter of those æra's, wherein the Parthians undertook the Mesopotamian expedition, will nearly coincide. But it may be proved from a medal of Monneses, described by the [105]Marquis Scipio Maffei, in opposition to [106]Dr. Vaillant, that this prince was not dethroned in the year of the Arsacidæ 423, but had two years afterwards the management and direction of the Parthian affairs: wherefore, notwithstanding what has been advanced to the contrary by that antiquary, he might still have sat one or two years longer upon the Parthian throne. This may likewise be inferred from Dio, who mentions Vologeses as presiding over the Parthians, not in 198, but in 199, about two years after their irruption into Mesopotamia. All which being with proper attention considered, it will appear extremely probable, that the medal I have been endeavouring to explain was coined either in the 425th or 426th year of the Parthian æra, that is, the 197th of Christ; that the authority of [107]Arrian, [108]Justin, and [109]Athenæus, on which [186]F. Corsini principally sounds his notion, may be intirely depended upon; and, in fine, that the arguments he makes use of on this occasion, to [110]evince the truth of his scheme, however they may be opposed by F. Frœlich, and the medal before me mutually strengthen and support one another.

6. I must not forget to remark, that F. Corsini thinks, without a proper foundation, that the piece of Monneses published by Dr. Vaillant may be considered either as a Parthian or [111]an Armenian coin. This, I say, he takes, without a proper foundation, to be the case. For the medals of the Armenian kings, such as that he has obliged the learned world with a draught of, and a most excellent dissertation upon, discover a taste far different from that which is exhibited by Dr. Vaillant's coin. The air of the face, the curls into which the hair is formed, and in fine every thing else visible upon the former, except the symbols on the reverses, bear little resemblance to what is presented to our view by the latter. As for the titles, impressed on these medals, they are far from being of the same kind; the Armenian princes in this particular approaching nearer the successors of Seleucus[112], and contenting themselves with more plain and simple titles than that lofty one affected by Monneses, according to Dr. Vaillant, in common with the other Parthian kings. To which I may add, that my coin sets this point beyond dispute, by the Parthian characters it has so apparently preserved; all the Armenian medals I have hitherto met with, [187]about three or four in number, as well as that of Baron Stosch[113], which F. Corsini has so learnedly explained, having only Greek legends upon them. What therefore he has advanced, on this head, must be considered as not altogether so consonant to truth; especially, as he seems to have offered nothing of any great weight in support of his opinion.

7. Before I dismiss the present subject, I must beg leave to take notice of the Parthian character on the field of my medal, which is not very unlike the Chaldee[114] or Palmyrene Aleph, tho' of something a more complex form. Should this be allowed, that character may be considered as the initial letter of ARSACIA, the name of a city subject to the Parthians, placed by [115]Ptolemy in Media; where, according to [116]Dr. Vaillant, many of the Parthian medals were coined. That city is however believed by some to have been seated on the spot occupied at this time by Casbin, or rather Kazwîn[117], one of the principal towns of the Belâd Al Jebâl, or mountainous part of the Persian Irâk; for a particular account of which place, the curious may have recourse to Golius, and the eastern geographers. As I have already far exceeded the limits proposed to myself, when I began this letter, I shall not now touch upon any other observations relative to the [188]medal before me, which is the only one I have hitherto met with carrying a Greek and a Parthian legend upon it; but only assure you that I am, with the most perfect regard,

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

Christ-Church Oxon. Nov 29th, 1756.

Dear Sir,

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

This I shall attempt to do, by comparing them with bodies of a similar kind, but of a less compact texture: for which reason I formerly referred you, in the above-mentioned letter, to a figure, which I have given of the herring-bone-coralline with its[189] animals alive in it, Phil. Trans. Vol. xlviii. Tab. XVII. Fig. E, F, G, to shew you the nature of the tubular structure of the keratophyta.

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. III. p. 189.

J. Mynde

 

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

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

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

D. A piece of y^e. knobby joints magnified to shew their reticular texture like that of spongy orange wt^h tubes.

d. The same in its natural size.

E. A piece of y^e. blood red tubes which is harden'd into a shelly or stony substance with some appearance of reticulations, taken from y^e. space between y^e. knobs.

e. The same in its natural size.

F.F. Small holes in y^e. branches of y^e. polypes.

G. A mass of the stem not so highly magnified shewing y^e. tubes passing from stony to spongy.

g. The same in its natural Size.

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

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

K. the Polype draws in his head (which is figur'd at K) and opens outward when it extends it.

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

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

From observing this method in nature, we shall the easier account for the progress of those generations[190] of young testaceous polypes of this coral; which appear to us succeeding each other, and raising themselves up from the root or base, passing along the stem and branches, and covering the whole anew with their shelly cases: and in this their passage upwards we may observe, in the specimen before us, how they have involved and incrusted the small lateral branches of the former generation, so as almost to hide their appearance. From hence we may trace them extending themselves to the extremities of the upper branches, and there forming a new series of slender twigs, proportionable to those which they had just covered, still keeping order and exact symmetry in the whole structure.

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

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

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

Upon removing this friable matter, we observe,[191] that the polypes of these cells have had a communication with a small hole or opening into one of the tubes, that lie immediately under it.

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

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

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

I hope by this time our ingenious botanical friends, whom we could not persuade to part with these beautiful sea-productions from the vegetable kingdom, are thoroughly convinced, that this mealy, friable, or calcarious covering, full of starry cells, which we are sure to find covering all the recent red corals and keratophyta, is not a mere blight of insects, common to the sea vegetables as well as land ones, which they have formerly insisted on; but that they will[192] consider this covering, for the future, as proper and necessary for the well-being of these little animals, as they do at present hair and wool for beasts, feathers and down for birds, and scales and slime for fishes.

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

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

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

This I find arises from the smaller ramifications, which being spongy at the knobs, and stony in the spaces between them, are inclosed and united together into one common mass during the growth of this coral; so that both the soft and hard parts together make up the inside of its trunk or stem. When we examine minutely the two parts, that[193] compose the branches, we find, that the knobs consist of little sponge-like tubes interwoven together, as they appear magnified at Fig. D; and the shank or part between the knobs is composed of stony tubes, that are more erect (See the piece magnified at E): these tubes appear to be branched from the lateral holes at FF. The Fig. E likewise shews the appearance of the tubes on the surface of the main stem.

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

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

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

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

I have lately seen a white pipy and stony coral[194] with spongy knobs, which is only a different species of this genus, in the very curious cabinets of our friends Dr. John Fothergill, M. D. and Mr. Isaac Romilly, F.R.S. specimens of which they have both lately received from the East Indies. The examining of these has given me an opportunity to be more particular in the description of this coral; which seems to point out to us the great affinity there is between corals, keratophyta, and sponges.

I am,

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

Laurence Lane, Mar. 24, 1757.

To the Rev. Tho. Birch, D. D. Secr. R. S.

SIR,

I Received the inclosed letter by the post, giving an account of the storm, which happened lately in the north. If the Royal Society have not already been informed of the effects of it, and you think the contents of it worthy their notice; I beg you will be so good as to communicate it to them. The facts therein mentioned have been confirmed to me by a person of skill and integrity.[195] Mr. Thomlinson's conjecture of the cause of the leaves of trees appearing scorched after the storm, I believe to be true; having two or three times myself observed the same in Sussex, at a considerable distance from the sea; when all the hedges, trees, and woods, on the side toward the sea, have had their leaves scorched, as if fire had passed over them; and their opposite sides from the sea have continued in full verdure; which frequently happens in storms from the south-west: and, upon tasting their leaves, I have found them as salt, as if they had been steeped in brine. I am,

SIR,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
Philip Miller.

Chelsea, Nov. 23. 1756.

To Mr. Philip Miller.

Wigton, Nov. 15. 1756.

SIR,

ON the 6th of last month, at night, happened a most violent hurricane, such an one, perhaps, as has not been known in these parts in any one's memory. It lasted four hours at least, from about eleven till three. The damage it has done is very deplorable. The corn has sufferd prodigiously. Stacks of hay and corn have been intirely swept away: houses unroofed, and in several places driven down by its fury: trees without number torn up by the roots; others snapt off by the middles, and their fragments scattered over the adjoining fields. Some were twisted almost round, or split down to the very[196] ground; and, in short, left in such a shattered, mangled condition, as scarce any description can give you an adequate idea of.

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

I agreed at first with the generality of people in their opinion, that lightning had done all this mischief: but upon recollecting, that there had not been much seen any where, in many places none at all, but that the effect was general[118], as far as ever the wind had reached; I began to think, that some other cause might probably be assigned. Accordingly, I set myself immediately to examining the dew or rain, which had fallen on the grass, windows, &c. in hopes of being enabled, by its taste, to form some better judgment of the sulphureous or nitrous particles (or of whatever other quality they were), with which the air was so strongly impregnated that night, as to produce such strange effects. Nor was I deceived in my expectations: for, upon tasting it, [197]I found it as brackish as any sea-water. The several vegetables also, which I tasted, were all salt, more or less, and continued so for five or six days after; the saline particles not being then washed off; from the corn and windows in particular; the latter of which, when the moisture on the outside was exhaled next day, sparkled and appeared exceeding brilliant in the sunshine. This saltness, I conceive, has done the principal damage: for common salt dissolved in water, I find, upon experiment on some fresh vegetables (when sprinkled two or three times upon them) has the very same effect, except that it does not turn them quite so black: but particles of a sulphureous, or [119]other quality, may have been mixed with it. That this salt water had been brought from the sea[120], every body, I think, will allow; but the manner how[121], is not so easy to conceive.

This freedom, Sir, perhaps may want an apology: but, as a gentleman[122] of the Society you have the honour to be a member of, did not think something of the like nature either unworthy of his own notice, or that of the world; and as the hurricane principally affected these parts of nature, in the knowledge of which you have so eminently distinguished yourself; [198]I flattered myself you would excuse the trouble I should give you in a perusal of an account of this very strange, tho' hitherto unnoticed, phenomenon.

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

Your most humble Servant,
Thomas Thomlinson.

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

The 1st of March I was at Lestwithiel: they had then begun to repair the damages; but had not made such a such progress, but that the principal effects were equally observable as at first. I observed, and was informed, as follows:

[199]

At the time before-mentioned, the inhabitants were alarmed by a violent flash of lightning, accompanied with thunder so sudden, loud, and dreadful, that every one thought the house he was in was falling upon him; almost every one being within doors, on account of a violent shower of rain, which preceded the lightning: so that no body saw or heard any thing of the mischief done to the church, till it was observed accidentally after the shower.

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

I will not affirm, that the lightning entered in at the spindle or vane at top; but will suppose it, for the sake of methodizing the facts. The vane was of plate copper, which being turned round, and rivetted, made a socket to turn upon. The spindle did not reach thro' the socket, but the weight of the vane rested upon the top of the spindle, the top of the socket being closed. About the vane were many acute angles, and some almost sharp; but I did not observe any pointing directly upward. The vane was much bruised, which might be occasioned by the fall; but the socket was rent open, as if it had been burnt by gunpowder; and in such a manner, as I cannot conceive could be occasioned by the fall.[200] Under the spindle, that carried the vane, was a bar of much the same size and length[124], that passed thro' the center of several of the uppermost stones successively, in order to unite them the more firmly together, and was run in with lead: all which surrounding stones were broke off, except one, which, together with the bar, fell down within the tower.

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

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

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

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

In the floor under the bells was placed the clock, cased up with slight boards. The verge, that carries the pallets, was bent downwards, as if a ten pound weight had fallen ten feet high right upon it. The[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 4/10 of an inch broad by 2/10 thick. As to the pendulum, which hung pretty near the wall, the upper part of the rod was struck with such violence against the wall, that a smart impression thereof was made in the plaister: and near the upper part of the impression appeared a circular shady ring, of a blackish colour, something like as if a pistol had been discharged of powder, and the muzzle held near the wall. The casing of boards round the clock remained unhurt.

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

The ground-story of the tower or bellfrey is expressed in the plan (See Tab. IV. Fig. 2.). The south entrance A and north B were shut with wooden doors. The upper part of the eastern C,[203] that communicated with the church, was made up with lath and plaister; and before it, in the church, are the seats D, raised one higher than another; so that the floor of the seats next the wall was half up the door-way; consequently the vacuity under the seats lay open to the bellfrey.

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

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

The vaulting of the east door-way C was plaistered underneath: the plaister was sprung from the stone in 30 or 40 places, like as if a small bar of iron had[204] been drove from above thro' the joints of the stone, and thereby forced off the plaister with its end. The lath and plaister partition, which stopped up the upper part of this door-way, was forced into the church, and the wainscotting making the back of the last seat was torn from the wall from end to end. Some part of the vapour seems to have made its way thro' the cavity under the seats; for most of the boards composing the rise of the steps from seat to seat were blown out forwards; and several panels of wainscot at each end of the seats, at d and e, were forced out, and broke. Hence the vapour seems to have divided itself into three branches; one moving directly forward to the east window G, being 13 feet wide, and about 20 feet high, consisting of five principal lights divided by stone mullions: two of the lights were in a manner wholly destroyed, and several large holes in those remaining; the glass and lead being carried outward, like as if an harlequin had leaped thro' the window. The north window E, fronting the broken panels at d, was very much shattered: but the south window F had scarce a whole pane left.

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

I.

Copy of a Letter from John Pringle, M.D. F.R.S. to Dr. Robert Whytt, Professor of Medicine in the University of Edinburgh, and F.R.S. relating to the Case of the Right Honourable Lord Walpole; with Dr. Whytt's Answer. Communicated by Dr. Pringle.

London, 22 Feb, 1757.

SIR,

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

Last year, in the month of March, about ten months before his Lordship's death, I happened to meet him at a friend's house, where he dined, and never saw any man of his age with a more healthful appearance. He was then in his 78th year. He ate [206] with an appetite, and of a variety of dishes; drank some Madeira, and was very chearful the whole time. His Lordship then told me, that he had enjoyed perfect health since he sent his case to the Royal Society; that he thought it probable there was still a stone in his bladder, but so diminished, or smoothed, as to give him no uneasiness; that he did not think it safe to go about the streets of London in a coach, but that he went every where in a chair; and that, in the country, he could travel 40 miles a day in his post-chaise, without fatigue, or feeling any of his old pains upon the motion. That he continued to drink, for a constancy, three pints of oystershell lime-water daily; and to take, as often, from half an ounce to a whole ounce of soap, by way of lenitive. All these circumstances I am sure of, because I noted them down when I came home.

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

[207]

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

The coats of the bladder appeared to be a little thicker than natural, but were otherwise sound. The glandula prostata was of a large size, but not distempered. They found three calculi, two lying loose in the bladder, and the other, a very small one, sticking in the passage, at that part, which is surrounded by the prostate gland. Mr. Graham favoured me with a sight of them all. The two first were very much alike, being of the shape and size of the kernel of a Spanish nut; only the sides were irregularly flattened, but without forming any sharp angle. The surface of each was every where smooth, except where there had been a separation of some small scales, not so thick as one's nail; and the largest exfoliation from one of these stones appeared to have been nearly about the breadth of the nail of my little finger. The polish otherwise, as well as the colour of both, might be compared to a boy's marble. One of these calculi weighed 21 grains, the other 22 grains: they were heavy for that bulk, and seemingly of a hard substance. The smallest stone having been put up with some others of the same size, taken out of the gall-bladder, Mr. Graham could not be positive which of them it was; and therefore I can only say, that what he thought most likely to be so, was about the size and shape of the seed of an apple, with the point broken off, and the edge ragged. This, as I observed, was found in the passage, seemed to be coming away, and probably had occasioned that irritation[208] the patient had now and then felt during his last illness. It weighed only about a grain.

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

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

Neither the head nor breast were opened.

These are all the materials, I can furnish you with, relating to this case. If you desire to be more particularly[209] informed of any of these circumstances, let me know, and I will endeavour to procure you all the lights I can. In the mean while, I should be glad to have your remarks upon what I have now sent you; and since you have been so long in the train of thinking, with more than usual attention, on this subject, I presume it would be very agreeable to the gentlemen of the Royal Society to have a paper from you on this occasion; and the rather, as his Lordship began his course of soap and lime-water, upon hearing of your success by that method of cure. I am,

SIR, &c.
John Pringle.

II.

Some Observations on the Case of the late Right Honourable Lord Walpole, of Woolterton: In a Letter to Dr. John Pringle, F.R.S. By Robert Whytt, M.D. F.R.S.

Edinburgh, March 16. 1757.

SIR,

PHysicians have not, perhaps, differed more widely in any thing, than in their opinions of the medicines lately proposed for the cure of the stone. While some imagined, that Mrs. Stephens's medicines, or soap and lime-water, were in most cases to accomplish a dissolution of the stone; others have been positive, that nothing of this kind was to be expected from them: nay, they have condemned these medicines, when used in large quantities, and long persisted in, as hurtful to the[210] stomach, guts, and urinary passages; and have ascribed the remarkable ease, which they almost always give to calculous patients, to their depositing a calcarious powder upon the surface of the stone, by which it is rendered less hurtful to the bladder. And this opinion seems to have been not a little strengthened, by the great quantity of white sediment observed in the urine of those patients, who have used soap and lime-water in considerable quantities. Now, as I am of opinion, that most of these objections and doubts, concerning the effects of soap and lime-water in the cure of the stone, may be cleared by a candid consideration of Lord Walpole's case, I shall trouble you with a few remarks, which have occurred to me, in comparing it with the appearances found in his Lordship's body after death, of which you were so obliging as to send me a particular account.

1. Whatever doubts may have been entertained concerning the cause of Lord Walpole's complaints, yet it now appears evidently beyond dispute, that they must have been owing, not to a scorbutic corrosive humour in his bladder, as was imagined by some[125], but to stones lodged in it. These stones may possibly have lain there since 1734; for from that time to spring 1747, his Lordship was free of any gravelish complaints, only passing some red sand at times. But at what time soever they may have first arrived in the bladder, in 1747 and 1748 they [211]seem to have acquired such a bulk, or were become so rough or pointed in their surface, as to occasion great pain, frequent provocations to urine, and sometimes bloody urine; especially after any considerable motion. These complaints, however, were soon relieved, by swallowing daily an ounce of Alicant soap, and three English pints of lime-water made with calcined oyster-shells; and from 1748 to 1757 his Lordship was kept almost intirely free from any return of them, except for some months of 1750 and 1751, during which he took only one-third part of the quantity of soap and lime-water above-mentioned[126].

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

If these stones came into the bladder in 1734, they must, in so many years as his Lordship lived after this, have acquired a very great bulk: nay, if we suppose them not to have been lodged in the bladder above a year before they began to occasion frequent inclination to make urine, with pain, and sometimes sudden stoppages of urine; yet, from 1746 to 1757, they ought to have grown to a much larger size than that of the kernel of a Spanish nut[127]. 'Tis [212]true, the stone may increase faster in some patients, and slower in others; but stones, after remaining a dozen or more years in the bladder, generally weigh several ounces. Some years since l saw a stone, weighing near six ounces, taken from a boy of no more than 14 years of age.

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

In the beginning of 1749 his Lordship voided with his urine a calculous substance of a flat shape, about the bigness of a silver penny, and covered with a soft white mucus[128]; and upon the surfaces of the stones found in his bladder there were some inequalities, which seemed to have been made by the separation of thin lamellæ or scales. Further, the small stone found in the beginning of the urethra must have been in a dissolving state, and considerably lessened in the bulk: for, if it had lain long in the bladder, and never been larger, it ought to have been voided thro' the urethra with the urine; and it could not have arrived lately in the bladder, since Lord Walpole had not had, for several years before his death, any nephritic pains, or symptoms of stones passing from the kidnies; and since it is not likely, that a stone of the size and shape of the seed of an [213]apple[129] would pass thro' the ureters without being felt. Now if this small stone, found in the urethra, was partly dissolved by the virtue of the soap and lime-water; it will appear at least probable, that the two larger stones in the bladder were so likewise. But altho' Lord Watpole's calculous concretions had remained undiminished, and without any symptoms of dissolution; it would not therefore follow, that soap and lime-water cannot dissolve the stone in other patients, where the concretion may be of a less firm texture.

The Rev^d. Dr. Richard Newcome, now Lord Bishop of Llandaff, while drinking two English quarts of lime-water daily, for the cure of the stone in his bladder, poured his urine every morning and evening upon a piece of human calculus weighing 31 grains; by which, in the space of four months, it was reduced to three pieces, weighing in all only six grains. Upon one of these pieces, weighing 2.31 grains, he caused to be daily poured, for two months, the fresh urine of a person, who drank no lime-water; at the end of which time the piece of calculus was found to weigh 2.56 grains, having increased in weight a quarter of a grain. This same piece being afterwards steeped in the bishop's urine (who continued to drink lime-water as above), from June 24th to July 9th, was in these few days quite crumbled into powder. Since this experiment shews, beyond dispute, that lime-water, unassisted by soap, can communicate to the urine a power of dissolving the stone out of the [214]body, it can scarcely be doubted, that it must have the like effect on it, when lodged in the bladder. And that the dissolution of the stone in the bladder has been completed by soap alone, appeared evidently in the case of the Rev. Mr. Matthew Simson, Minister of Pancaitland near Edinburgh; an account of which will soon be made public[130] by Dr. Austin, who opened his body after death. Mr. Simson had, from 1730, been afflicted in a less or greater degree with the symptoms of a stone in the bladder; and in November 1735 was sounded by Dr. Drummond of Perth, and Mr. Balderston, surgeon in this city, by whom a stone was not only plainly felt, but also by the patient himself. In February 1737 he began to take soap; and after 1743 never had any gravelish symptoms. He died in May 1756; and, when his bladder was looked into, there was neither stone nor gravel found in it.

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

From July 1748, to the beginning of 1757, his Lordship drank three English pints of lime-water, and swallow'd for the most part an ounce of soap, daily; except from April 1750 to June 1751, during which time he took only one pint of lime-water, and one-third part of an ounce of soap, daily. However speedily soap and lime-water may dissolve the greatest part of urinary stones out of the body, yet [215]being mixed with the aliment and humours of the stomach and guts, and afterwards with the whole mass of blood, it is impossible but their force must be greatly impaired before they arrive with the urine at the bladder. When, therefore, urinary stones are of an uncommon hard texture, we are perhaps scarcely to expect any sensible dissolution of them by the use of soap and lime-water: but when they are of a softer kind, there is no reason to doubt, that these medicines will in time dissolve them; and this will happen sooner or later, in proportion to the hardness of the stone, to the quantity of the medicines swallowed by the patient, and the exact regimen he observes, as to diet[131].

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

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

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

The power of soap and lime-water to alleviate the painful symptoms attending the stone is so great, that, as far as I remember, I have only met with one patient, who did not find himself considerably relieved by them. But it is to be observed, that this patient neither took them in full quantity, nor persisted in their use for a long enough time: and, when he was afterwards cut, the stone taken out of his [217]bladder was almost as thick set with sharp prickles, as the back of an hedgehog: so that, in this case, no remarkable ease could be procured to the patient by the medicines, until they had quite dissolved these sharp points, and rendered the surface of the stone smooth and equal; which was not to be done but after a very long time, especially as the stone was of a pretty hard texture.

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

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

Lord Walpole, who used these medicines for upwards of eight years, was not only relieved of the painful symptoms of the stone, but had his health improved by them in other respects[136]. His appetite, healthful look, and a degree of spirits uncommon at his age, continued till the end of 1756, when his last illness begin to attack him. And as his health did not appear to be any way injured by these medicines, so, where his body was opened after death, his kidneys and ureters were observed to be quite sound and natural, as was likewise his bladder; only its coats appeared a little thicker than usual, owing probably to the long-continued friction of the stones upon it. Neither the kidneys, ureters, nor [218]bladder, were loaded or crusted with any calcarious matter; an effect most unjustly ascribed to soap and lime-water, since in the urinary passages, to which the air has no access, they cannot deposite their calcarious part[137]; and since the white stuff observable in the urine of such patients, as take these medicines in large quantities, is only the usual sediment of the urine changed in its nature and colour, with, perhaps, some of the dissolved particles of the stone[138].

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

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

It may not be amiss to observe, that altho' soap and lime-water, taken in large quantities, are no-way injurious to health, yet in some cases they may [219]become improper, on account of the particular state of the patient. Thus, in a scorbutic or putrid disposition of the humours, soap at least ought to be totally omitted; and such patients, who are much troubled with the hæmorrhoids, ought to be sparing in its use, as the alkaline salt, with which it abounds, will scarcely fail to exasperate their pain. Where the patient is naturally very costive, less lime-water and more soap ought to be used; and, on the contrary, where the body is too loose, little or no soap is to be taken, but the cure is to be trusted to lime-water alone; which, in this case, ought to be drank to the quantity of two English quarts a day.

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

SIR,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
Robert Whytt.

III.

Dr. Pringle's Paper read after Dr. Whytt's Letter.

DR. Pringle begs leave to inform the Society, that having read the copy of his letter, within these few days, to Dr. Shaw, Mr. Hawkins, and Mr. Graham, those gentlemen found his account agreeable to their several observations; only Mr. Graham took notice, that, of late years, Lord Walpole, in his journies to Norfolk, had[220] twice voided some blood with his urine, but with little uneasiness; and that at other times had passed some sand and stony particles (tho' never larger than the head of a small pin), attended with frettings of the parts, scarce painful. But Mr. Graham was not sure, whether these accidents were prior or subsequent to the sequel of the case, communicated to the Society by his Lordship.

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

Pall-Mall, 20 April, 1757.

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To the Rev. Tho. Birch, D.D. F.R.S.

SIR,

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

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

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

SIR,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
John Pringle.

Pall-Mall, 27 April, 1757.

[222] A Letter from the Rev. Mr. Simson, Minister at Pencaitland, to Dr. Adam Austin, Physician in Edinburgh.

Dear Sir,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the year 1738 Sir Alexander Gibson, of Addiston, informed me, that he had been in my condition, had passed several small stones, and had found incredible service from the use of soap pills: for, from not being able to get out of bed, in the space[224] of two months after using the soap he was able to go a hunting. However, for some time I was afraid to try the soap, not knowing what effects it might have on a confirmed stone; Sir Alexander Gibson's case being only that of small stones. But the Rev. Mr. Lundie, of Salton, by experiments convinced me of the efficacy of soap in dissolving a confirmed stone out of the bladder; for the stone gradually grew smoother and smoother, and at last was quite dissolved.

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

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

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

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

Dear Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
Matthew Simson.

Nov. 20th, 1749.

The Extract from Dr. Austin's Letter to Dr. Pringle.

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

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

About the beginning of May 1756, Mr. Simson was seized with a diarrhæa, which resisted all medicine, and carried him off in the 83d year of his age. From the date of his letter to his death he had never discontinued the use of the soap (except during the time[226] of his last illness), tho' he had not been troubled with any painful symptom of a stone since the year 1743.

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

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

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

Adam Austin.

Edinburgh, 15 April 1757.

A Letter from Dr. Adam Drummond to Dr. Adam Austin, relating to the Rev. Mr. Matthew Simson's Case. Communicated by J. Pringle, M.D. F.R.S.

I Have yours; and was present when Mr. Balderstone sounded Mr. Simson; and both of us perceived, very distinctly, a large stone: and Mr. Simson himself felt it; which we[227] were the more sollicitous he should do, as he was sounded before by Dr. Simson, who had declared there was no stone. But the particular magnitude of it we could not well determine at the end of a long catheter; tho' I remember Mr. Balderstone, who was well versed in that business, conjectured it to be pretty large. He was sounded only once by us, as the urethra was a little hurt by turning the catheter. There is only one circumstance in the case, which Mr. Simson seems to have omitted; that, from the first symptoms of the stone, he passed a great deal of mucus mixed with pus, as well as blood; and great quantities of gritty red sand, all in single grains, never any concreted into small stones. I take the more notice of this, as I do not remember, that, after he used the soap, he ever passed any sand, but a good deal of mucus, in which the soap was discoverable by its frothing. Could the gritty particles of sand be again suspended in the urine, so as to become invisible? or were they wrapt up in the soapy liquid, so as to escape observation? I have seen several stones of a soft consistence dissolved into mucilage by soap: but the sand passed by Mr. Simson, before he used the soap, seems to indicate his stone of a harder nature, tho' indeed it felt obtuse at the end of the catheter.

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

Dear Doctor,
Your most humble Servant,
Adam Drummond.

Bandeeran, June 5. 1757.

My Lord,

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

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

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

Besides these, my Lord, found over coal-pits, there are likewise found in some parts of this kingdom, as at Robinhood's-bay in Yorkshire, Coalbrookdale[229] in Shropshire, &c. many curious impressions of the fern tribe in regular nodules of iron-stone; and, in the latter place, not only impressions of plants, but even the cones or iuli of some kinds of trees are met with, very perfect and fair, and curiously imbedded in masses of iron-stone.

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. V. p. 229.

J. Mynde sc.

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

I have therefore the honour, my Lord, to exhibit the drawings of seven such extraordinary impressions, and the fossiles themselves, for your Lordship's and this learned body's inspection (See Tab. V.). The impressions figured Nº. 1. is from Mr. Mytton's collieries at Drilt, near Oswestry, in Shropshire; as are also those figured Nº. 2, 4, and 7: they are found [230]sometimes two feet in length, and are generally covered with a thin crust of coal. The specimina Dr. Woodward exhibits, Catalogue B, pages 106, 107. specimina q. 22. and q. 32. are analogous to this, tho' not exactly the same. The Doctor's fossiles were from Haigh in Lancashire; and he imagines the impressions to be made by vegetables of the fir kind. Volckman also, in his Silesia subterranea, tab. 22. fig. 2. figures a branch with a rhomboidal work on it, and with three long narrow leaves, which seems akin to this impression.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As these remains of vegetables are very extraordinary, I would recommend to the curious in botany to take notice of them, as an Appendix Plantarum adhuc incognitarum. For my part, I am so very little skilled in botany, that I hardly presume to offer my opinion; which is, that they are impressions and parts of species of the firs and pines, of the tithymals, the cereus's, and other arborescent plants, and of large reeds; for some of the said [232]kind are embellished with ribbed, studded, and reticulated works; e.g. the Hercules' club, or rubi facie senticosa planta Lobelii, described by Dr. Grew, Museum Reg. Soc. p. 221. the cerei, &c.

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

I shall finish this paper, my Lord, by acquainting your Lordship and the Society, that I firmly believe these bodies to be of the vegetable origin, buried in the strata of the earth at the time of the universal deluge recorded by Moses. It is, I must confess, with regret, that I find there are some, who reject the burial of these bodies at that fatal catastrophe, but substitute partial deluges to account for it. Did those gentlemen consider, or maturely weigh, the many remarkable and strong evidences of an universal deluge, every-where obvious in the bowels of the earth, they certainly would abandon their imaginary[233] system: for, my Lord, it is not only the immense quantities of marine remains, dispersed in all terrestrial strata, which are to be considered (that circumstance alone might give some reasoning to their system of partial deluges), but the following more weighty circumstances are likewise to be added and flung into the scale. 1º. The heavings, displacings, trappings, and breaks of the metallic veins, and the loads of rubble, met with at vast depths, and where no marine remains were ever found; and such heavings, &c. are not rare in metallic or mineral works: of which, to give your Lordship an idea, I have presumed to sketch the following plan of such a phænomenon.

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

[234]

2º. If these effects proceed from local deluges, recedings of the sea, gulphs atterrated, &c. we should then indeed find marine remains: but how will that account for the vast quantity of remains of terrestrial vegetables and animals, equally met with, and in like manner as the marine remains, in the bowels of the earth? And, 3º. Were local or partial deluges the cause, we should then find only the animals and plants of the climates or places, where such deluges have happened; whereas in these fossil remains it is quite the contrary: the remains of those plants and animals, we know, are of animals and plants, the inhabitants of the most remote climes from those, where they now lie buried; e.g. the rhinoceros-bones, in the cave called Baumans-hole, in the Hartz Forest in Germany; the strange bones in the Antra Draconum in Hungary; the horns of the moose-deer, and other prodigious horns, and elephants bones, found in England, Ireland, Germany, Sibiria, and even America, &c. of vegetables, parts of the arbor tristis in France; bamboo's, or great Indian reeds, frequent in England; with numbers of other such examples. And of those remains even of the marine shells, yet unknown to us, all appear exotic to the climes where they now lie deposited; e.g. the cliffs at Harwich in Essex abound with a species of buccinum heterostrophum, and other shells, never yet discovered in the adjacent waters. The ammonitæ of so many species, and the innumerable variety of conchæ anomiæ, with which this island abounds, are yet unknown to be inhabitants of our seas, and appear exotic to this climate. Therefore, my Lord, I reasonably conclude partial or local deluges could never have[235] produced such effects. However, unprejudiced to any opinion, if the learned, who favour the system of partial deluges, will either confute these my assertions, or give solid reasons for the facts alleged to be producible by local deluges, atterrations, &c. I will joyfully embrace the truth: but till then, my Lord, I would recommend to those systematical gentlemen, not to pervert that excellent maxim of the great Lord Bacon, and, instead of Non fingendum neque excogitandum, sed inveniendum quid natura faciat, aut ferat, not to corrupt it into fingendum atque excogitandum, non inveniendum quid natura faciat, aut ferat.

I am, with great submission and respect,

My Lord,

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

London, 27 April, 1757.

• 1701 ABronanum campestre incanum Carlinæ odore. C.B.P.
• 1702 Abrotanum humile corymbis majoribus aureis. H. Reg. Par.
• 1703 Acer platanoides. Muntingii histor.
• 1704 Amelanchier. Lobel.
• 1705 Anchusa lutea minor. J.B. 3. 583.
• Buglossum luteum annuum minimum. Tourn. 134.
• 1706 Arctotis ramis decumbentibus foliis lineari-lanceolatis rigidis subtus argenteis flore magno aureo pediculo longissimo. Miller's Icons.
• 1707 Ascyrum magno flore, C.B. 280.
• 1708 Asphodelus Allobrogicus magno flore Lilii H.L. 65.
• 1709 Aster caule ramoso scabro perenni foliis ovatis sessilibus pedunculis nudis unifloris. Miller's Icons.
• 1710 Astragalus repens minor flore cæruleo, filiqua
• Epigottidi simili. Index Plant. Boerh.
• [237]
• 1711 Barleria inermis foliis ovatis denticulatis petiolatis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 637.
• Barleria solani folio flore coccineo. Plum. nov. gen. 31.
• 1712 Blitum Kaly minus album dictum. Kaly minus Ger. Emac. 535.
• 1713 Campanula maxima foliis latissimis. C.B. 94.
• 1714 Caryophillus montanus umbellatus floribus variis, luteis ferrugineis Italicus. Barrel obs. 648.
• 1715 Cataria Hispanica Betonicæ folio angustiore flore cæruleo. Tourn.
• 1716 Celastrus spinis nudis, ramis teretibus, foliis acutis. Hort. Cliff. 72.
• Lycium. Boerhaav. Ind. alt. 2. 237.
• 1717 Ceralus racemosa sylvestris fructu non eduli rubro. H.R. Par.
• Cerasia racemosa rubra. 2. Tabernamont. Icon, 987.
• 1718 Chamædrys Hispanica tenuifolia multiflora. H. R. Par. Tourn. 205.
• 1719 Cherophyllum palustre latifolium flore albo. Boerh. 70.
• Myrrhis palustre latifolia rubra. Tourn. 315.
• 1720 Chenopodium Stramonii folio. Vaill.
• 1721 Cirsium foliis non hirsutis floribus compactis. C.B.P. 377.
• 1722 Cirsium maximum Asphodeli radice. C.B. 377.
• 1723 Colutea foliolis ovatis integerrimis caule fruticolo. Phil. Miller's Icons.
• [238]1724 Convallaria foliis sessilibus racemo terminal composito. Lin. Sp. Pl. 315.
• 1725 Conyza mas Theophrasti major Dioscoridis. C.B.P. 265.
• Major Monspeliensis odorata. J.B. 2. 1053.
• 1726 Coriandrum majus. C.B. 158. Officinar. 145.
• 1727 Cornus Orientalis sylvestris fructu teretiformi. T. Cor.
• 1728 Crithmum, sive Fæniculum maritimum, minus. C.B. 288. Offic. 152.
• 1729 Crocus sativus. C.B. 65. Officinar. 152.
• 1730 Cyclamen vernum minus orbiculato folio, inferne rubente, flore minore ruberrimo. Mor. Hist. 3. 551.
• 1731 Elichrysum graveolens acutifolium alato caule. Hort. Eltham.
• 1732 Gramen spica aristata. Lin. Sp. Pl. 83.
• Gramen loliaceum spica longiore lolium Dioscoridis. C.B.P.
• 1733 Leucanthemum Tanaceti folio, flore majore. Boerh. 107.
• Matricaria Tanaceti folio, flore majore, semine umbilicato. Tourn. 493.
• 1734 Meadia. Catesby Hist. Car. 3. p. 1. Dodecatheon. Lin. Sp. Pl. 144.
• 1735 Medica magno fructu, aculeis sursum et deorsum rendentibus. Tourn. 411.
• 1736 Moscatellina foliis fumariæ bulbosæ, de qua Cordus. J.B. 2. 206.
• Radix cava minima viridi flore. Ger. 933.
• 1737 Narcissus Illyricus Liliaceus. C.B.P. 55.
• Pancratii Monspeliaci Hemerocallidis Valentinæ facie. Lilio-narcissus, vel Narcissus tertius Matthioli. J.B. 2. 613.[239]
• 1738 Osmunda vulgaris et palustris. Tourn. 547.
• Filix ramosa non dentata florida. C.B.P. 357.
• 1739 Papaver laciniato folio capitulo hispido rotundiore. Tourn.
• Argemone capitulo rotundiore. Park. 369.
• 1740 Papaver Orientale hirsutissimum magno flore. Tourn. Cor. 17.
• 1741 Periclymenum perfoliatum Virginianum sempervirens et florens. H.L.B.
• 1742 Phillyrea, Oleæ Ephesiacæ folio. Pluk. Phyt. Tab. 310. fig. 5.
• 1743 Phlomis Lychnitis. Clus. Hist. 27.
• Verbascum sylvestre Monspeliense flore luteo hiante. J.B. 3. 307.
• 1744 Polygonum foliis cordatis caule volubili, floribus carinatis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 364.
• Fagopyrum scandens Americanum maximum. Tourn. Inst.
• 1745 Saxifraga sedi folio, flore albo, multiflora. T. 252.
• Sedum Pyrenaicum pyramidale longifolium elegantissimum. Schol. Botan. Par.
• Sanicula Pyrenaica longifolia multiflora elegantissma. H.L.
• 1746 Serratula Noveboracensis maxima foliis longis serratis. Hort. Eltham. 355.
• 1747 Thalictrum minus. C.B.P. 337.
• Thalictrum minus seu Rutæ pratensis genus minus semine striato. J.B. 3. 487.
• 1748 Verbascum fœmina flore luteo magno. C.B. 239.
• 1749 Vicia leguminibus sessilibus reflexis pilosis solitariis pentaspermis corollæ vexilis glabris. Lin. Sp. Pl. 736.[240]
• Vicia leguminibus solitariis deorsum flexis hirsutis. Sauv. Monspeliens. 235.
• 1750 Ulmus folio latissimo scabro. Ger. Emac. 1481. Latiore folio. Park. 1404.

To Mr. William Watson, F.R.S.

SIR,

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

Whence, Sir, if you should think that these papers have truth, the great Diana of real philosophers, to patronize them, you will confer a favour upon me, by laying them before that learned Body. If, on the contrary, you should deem this confutation trifling[241] or futil, I hope you will be humane enough to suppress them, and give me your objections; and by that means lay a still greater obligation on one, who has not the pleasure to be personally acquainted with you. From,

SIR,
Your very humble Servant,
Erasmus Darwin,
Physician at Litchfield, Staffordshire.

March 23. 1757.

LETTER I.

To the very honourable and learned the President and Members of the Royal Society.

Gentlemen,

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

[242]

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

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

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

But of water the contrary is evident. In the steam-engine,[243] a jet of cold water, we find, instantly condenses that immense rarefaction; which I apprehend could not be, if it was constituted of escaped elastic air. And altho' this steam must be acknowledged to put on some properties of air; such as ventilating a fire; or that a taper blown out by it, is capable of being again lighted immediately, and that without a crackling noise, which occurs when touched with water; this does not in the least invalidate our opinion, tho' it has certainly conduced very much to propagate the former one: since from this way of reasoning, the whole must be air, and we should have no water at all in vapour.

From considering this power of expansion, which the constituent parts of some bodies acquire by heat; and withal, that some bodies have a greater affinity to heat, that is, acquire it sooner and retain it longer than others; which affinity appears from experiments, and which, I apprehend, is in some ratio of their specific gravities and their powers of refraction, reflexion, or absorption of light; or at least in some ratio much greater than that of their specific gravities alone. From considering these, I say, many things, before utterly inexplicable, became easily understood by me. Such as, Why when bismuth and zinc are fused together, and set to cool, the zinc, which is specifically heavier, is found above the bismuth? Why the buff covering of inflammatory blood, the skum of heated milk, the sedative salt of borax, which are all specifically heavier than the liquids in which they are formed, are still formed at the surface of them? How benzoin, sulphur, and even the ponderous body mercury, may be raised into vapour, again to be condensed unaltered?[244] And, lastly, how water, whose parts appear from the æolipile to be capable of immeasurable expansion, should by heat alone become specifically lighter than the common atmosphere, without having recourse to a shell inclosing air, or other assistant machinery? and when raised, I am persuaded we shall find, that to support them floating, perhaps many days, in the atmosphere, is not a knot so intricate, as to oblige us to conjure up a new divinity to unravel it.

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

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

This is supported by the experiment of approaching some light body, or blowing smoke near the focus of the largest glasses; and from observing, that these do not ascend, it is evident the air is not so much as warmed by the passage of those beams thro' it, yet would instantly calcine or vitrify every[245] opake body in nature. And from this we may collect, that transparent bodies are only heated at their surfaces, and that perhaps in proportion to their quantity of refraction: which will further give and receive illustration from those very curious experiments, of producing cold by the evaporation of liquors, published by the learned Dr. Cullen, in the late volume of Essays Physical and Literary, at Edinburgh. In these experiments a spirit-thermometer was immersed in spirit of wine, and being suddenly retracted, was again exposed to the air; and as the spirit of wine adhering to the glass evaporated, the spirit contained within the thermometer was observed to subside. Now as the difference of the refraction of spirit of wine and glass is exceedingly minute, compared with the difference of refraction of spirit of wine and air; we may consider, in the above experiment, the heat to be communicated to the thermometer only at its surface: but here the adherent fluid escapes as soon as heated; by which means the glass, and its contents, are deprived of that constant addition of heat, which other bodies perpetually enjoy either from the sun-beams immediately, or from the emanations of other contiguous warmer bodies; and must thence, in a few minutes, become colder than before.

The ingenious Mr. Eeles, I dare say, has already foreseen the use I am going to make of this principle; viz. “That the little spherules of vapour will thus, by refracting the solar rays, acquire a constant heat, tho' the surrounding atmosphere remain cold.” And as from the minuteness of their diameters, if they are allowed to be globules, they must[246] do this to a very great degree, I apprehend none of those objections will take place against us, with which Mr. Eeles has so sensibly confuted the former received theories on this subject.

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

I should here have concluded this paper, perhaps already too long; but upon revising it, I find, where the affinity of some bodies with heat is mentioned, that the deductions made from thence are not sufficiently explained to be intelligible. First then, If the power of expansion of any two bodies, by heat, be in a greater proportion than their specific gravities, then will there be a certain degree of heat, in which their specific gravities will be equal; and another, in which the gravity of that, which was lighter when cold, will exceed the gravity of that, which was heavier when cold. Hence zinc and bismuth alter their specific gravities in fusion; some urine, and many solutions of solids, grow turbid as they cool; others alter their colours. Secondly, If (the power of expansion by heat being equal) the power of retaining[247] heat be in a greater ratio than the specific gravities; then, during the time of cooling after being sufficiently heated, there will be an instant, when the heavier body will become the lighter, and swim upon the other. This seems the case in the buff covering of inflamed blood, the skum of heated milk, and the cristallization of some salts: for if these effects were from the evaporation of the thinner parts at the surface, they should happen during the greatest evaporation, or when boiling; but, on the contrary, they are all done in the greatest degree when the liquor has for some time began to cool. Lastly, If the quickness of acquiring heat be in a greater proportion than their specific gravities (the power of expansion being equal), then, during the time of their acquiring heat, there will be an instant, when the body, that was heavier when cold, will now become the lighter. From one or more of which principles, I apprehend, the volatility or fixity of all minerals, and many other bodies, takes its origin.

It is no part of my design to account to you, gentlemen, in what manner such an expansion of the parts of bodies can be brought about by the action of fire. Tho' perhaps a rotatory motion only of each particle on its own center might be sufficient to produce such a rarefaction; and the more so, if such parts were any other figures than spheres, as by the percussion of their angles they must result further from each other. Nor is the existence of such a rotatory motion without some probability, when we observe the verticillary motion given to charcoal-dust thrown on nitre in fusion, or the wonderful agitation of the parts of burning phosphorus, or even of a[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 success) to shew you, that some properties of solar heat are sufficient to account for the elevation and support of vapours; so in another letter I propose nearly to demonstrate to you, that the electric æther is far from having any share in the production of this important phænomenon.

From,

Gentlemen,
Your very humble Servant,
Erasmus Darwin.

Litchfield, Mar. 20, 1757.

LETTER II.

To the very honourable and learned the President and Members of the Royal Society.

Gentlemen,

EVERY theoretical inquiry, whose basis does not rest upon experiments, is at once exploded in this well-thinking age; where truth, under your patronage, has at length broke thro' those clouds, with which superstition, policy, or parade, had overwhelmed her. But experiments themselves, gentlemen, are not exempted from fallacy. A strong inventive faculty, a fine mechanic hand, a clear unbiassed judgment, are at once required for the contrivance, conduct, and application, of experiments; and even where these are joined[249] (such is the condition of humanity!) error too frequently intrudes herself, and spoils the work.

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

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

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

In page 133. the sphere of electrical activity is said to be increased by heat. If by electrical activity is here meant an increase of its repulsive power (the thing, which seems to be wanted in Mr. Eeles's hypothesis), I know no experiment to show it. If it be meant, that it is capable of being attracted to a[250] greater distance; I conjecture it may, as the heat will rarefy the ambient air, and we know the electric æther is attracted at very great distances in vacuo; but this cannot properly be called an increased activity of electric fire.

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

To illustrate this, the following experiment was instituted. A glass tube, open at one end, and with a bulb at the other, had its bulb, and half way from thence to the aperture of the tube, coated on the inside with gilt paper. The tube was then inverted in a glass of oil of turpentine, which was placed on a cake of wax, and the tube kept in that perpendicular situation by a silk line from the cieling of the room. The bulb was then warmed, so that, when it became cold, the turpentine rose about half-way up the tube. A bent wire then being introduced, thro' the oil into the air above, high electricity was given. The oil did not appear at all to subside:[251] whence I conclude, the electric atmosphere flowing round the wire and coating of the tube above the oil, did not displace the air, but existed in its pores.

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

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

I come now to the experiments, that are given us to show all vapour to be electrifed. In these Mr. Eeles seems to have been led into error, by not having observed, that many bodies electrifed will retain that electricity for some time, altho' in contact with conductors. The Leyden phial may be touched three or four times by a quick finger before the whole is discharged. Almost all light dry animal or vegetable substances, such as feathers and cork, do this in a[252] much greater degree: and in general I have observed, the more slow any bodies are to acquire electricity, the more avaritious they are to keep it.

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

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

As Mr. Eeles had here objected, that there was no real opposition in the electric æther of glass, and that from wax; the common experiment to shew this[253] was many times repeated with constant success; viz. the cork ball, suspended as above, after being electrised by the wine-glass, and repelled from it, was strongly attracted by a rubbed stick of sealing-wax; and vice versâ. In the same manner I observed the electric æther from a black silk stocking (which was held horizontally extended by the top and foot, and, being rubbed in the midst with an iron poker, was applied to the cork ball), to be similar to that of glass, and opposite to that of wax. But the following experiment appears to me to put this matter out of all doubt, and to demonstrate, that this difference is only a plus and minus of the same specific æther, and not different qualities of it, as Mr. Eeles would suppose.

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

But what alone would intirely destroy this electric hypothesis, is, that from the experiments of Mr. Franklin and others, the clouds are sometimes found to be electrised plus, sometimes minus, and sometimes manifest no signs of electricity at all. Whence to say an accumulation of electric æther supports these[254] clouds, seems an assertion built upon a very unstable foundation, whose whole superstructure may well enough be termed an air-built castle, the baseless fabric of a vision.

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

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

Gentlemen,
Your very humble Servant,
Erasmus Darwin.

Litchfield, March 23. 1757.

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. VI. p. 255.

The grey Coot-footed Tringa shot near Halifax in Yorkshire (January 1757) and Presented to me by M^r. Thomas Belton Florist of Worley-clough in Yorkshire. Drawn from nature of the Figures of Life by Geo. Edwards in Feb.⁴ 1757.

SIR,

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

This bird is like in shape to most others of the tringa or snipe kind. Its size is better shewn by the figure lying before you (See Tab. VI.), than by the dried bird, which is much shrunk since the drawing of it was made. I chuse, by way of distinction, to name it the coot-footed tringa, as it differs from other birds of that genus no otherwise, than in having its toes webbed in the same particular manner as the fulica, or our bald-coot. One of its feet is shewn in the plate, magnified a little, to make it the better understood, in what manner the webs or membranes spreading on both sides of the toes are scalloped or indented at each of the toe-joints. These scallopings are finely pectinated on their outer edges, as the enlarged figure expresses. The hinder toe is small, and[256] finely pectinated on the under side. The bill is black, and channelled on both sides of the upper mandible; in which channels the nostrils are placed near the forehead: it is compressed somewhat like a duck's bill, and ridged along its upper part, as a figure of the head in the corner of the plate may shew. The lower head, figured with it, is intended to shew the bill (which is very narrow) of another species of coot-footed tringa, brought from North America, and described and figured in my Natural History of Birds, &c. plate 46. The eyes are placed farther backward from the bill than in many other sorts of birds; in which the wisdom of Providence is remarkable: for birds of this genus commonly feeding in soft muddy ground on the banks of rivers or the sea, have occasion to thrust their bills deep into the shores, to extract worms and insects; and their eyes would be in danger, were they placed more forward. The fore part of the head, the neck, breast, belly, thighs, covert-feathers withinside the wings and under the tail, are white: the top and hinder part of the head is black. The lower part of the neck behind, and the back, are of a blueish ash or slate-colour, with a mixture of blackish or dusky: the upper sides of the wings and tail are of a blackish or dusky colour: the tips of the covert of the wings are white; the tips of the middlemost or shortest of the quills are also white, and form white transverse bars across the wings. Two or three of the middle quills are wholly white, and all of them have their inner webs white toward their bottoms. It hath twelve feathers in the tail; the outermost of which, on each side, is edged with white. The covert-feathers on the rump, or upper side of the tail, are[257] dusky and white. The legs are bare of feathers above the knees (as they are in most birds, who wade in shallow waters), and of an ash-colour.

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

Your most humble Servant,
Geo. Edwards.

College of Physicians, Lond.

May the 3d, 1757.

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

Paucis abhinc annis, inter doctos viros dissensio fuit, utrum corallia, corallinæ, et kerato-phyta veræ essent plantæ, quæ crescunt, et vegetant, in quibus insecta marina nidificant; an vero horum ipsorum essent opus et fabrica. Multi et sagacissimi historiæ naturalis scrutatores ultimam complexi sunt sententiam; sed nemini contradicere studens, simpliciter tantum et fideliter illa referam, quæ variis temporibus in corallinis observavi, et quæ lectorem benevolum, ut spero, convincent, corallinas non magis a polypis fabrefieri, quam diversa fungorum genera ab illis fabricantur [259]animalculis, quibus, æstivo tempore, quasi repleta inveniuntur.

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

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

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

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

Cum vero hic, in Zelandia, necdum ulla dura corallia recenter ex mare extracta explorare licuit, me tantum ad corallinas determinare debui, ubique sere[260] prope littora reperiundas, et quibus simillimi, qui coralliis, insident polypi.

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

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

De Plantis Marinis generatim.

Plantæ marinæ a terrestribus in plurimis differunt, nam hæ in raro aëre excrescentes, nutrimentum suum radicum ope, in terra proserpentium, hauriunt: du millæ plerumque nec radices nec folia habent, [261]sed ex trunco et ramis consistunt. Illa plantæ marinæ pars, qua substantiæ, cui increscit, adhæret, radicis nomen non meretur, nisi quatenus plantam uni semper loco tenet adfixam: sed quod primarium radicis munus est, nutrimentum ei non adfert: ipsa planta per truncum et ramos ex medio, cui semper immersa est, incrementum suum acquirit. Neque maris sundus radicibus recipiendis aptus esset, nam plerumque inconstans et volubile sabulum est, quod continuo fluctuum motu de loco in locum dimovetur, ita ut uno temporis momento radices nudæ, altero sub arena forent sepultae.

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

At rogare mihi liceat, an vera vegetatio plantarum terrestrium, quæ semper nobis ante oculos sunt, bene cognita et perspecta sit? an quidem novimus, quæ vera sit radicum functio, et quomodo hanc exerceant? Nonne plurimæ inveniuntur plantæ, quæ paucissimis instructæ radicibus in altum crescunt, maxime ergo foliorum ope, quæ succos nutritios ex vaporibus in [262]aëre natantibus hauriunt, plantam alunt, et sic radicum defectum supplent. Sed liceat mihi, accuratissimi Bonneti verba adferre; “Plantæ, dicit hic sagacissimus naturæ scrutator, semper sunt sugentes, et in statu suctionis, interdiu radicum ope nutriuntur, noctu foliorum[144]. Sed optandum est[145], quod arte quadam exacte posset determinari, et tunc inter se comparari hanc nutrimenti copiam, quam plantæ radicum ope acquirunt, cum illâ, quæ folia adferunt. Examen hoc forsan nos doceret, quod Aër non minus quam Terra ad plantarum nutritionem et incrementum contribuat.”

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

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

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

[263]

De Corallinis.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Secundum argumentum, quod polypi vel casu vel instinctu quodam sese corallinis affigant, sed veram plantæ partem non constituant, est, quod polypi non omnes majoris plantæ ramos æqualiter obsident; hic ramus vel hujus rami tantum pars polypis obsessa erit quam plurimis, altera nullis. Corallinam habeo, [148]cujus truncum plurimi inhabitant polypi, dum nullos[265] in ramulis poteram detegere, licet armato oculo. Et sic algæ[149] vel quercui sic dictæ marinæ sæpius corallinæ increscunt, in quibus nunquam polypos inveni. Hoc fieri non deberet, si corallinæ polyporum essent opus. Omnes corallinæ semper suos deberent habere, et ramis suis æqualiter et proportionaliter insidentes polypos; et nunquam sine his essent reperiundæ, ut tamen sæpius sit. Cel. Jussieu[150] quasi mirabundus dicit, se semel alcyonium et spongiam ramosam sine polypis invenisse, licet recenter a rupe essent abstractæ.

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

Liceat jam mihi rogare, quibusnam horum quinque hæc corallina ortum suum debeat? Certe non primæ aut secundæ, ut videtur, magnitudinis, nam hi summis tantum insident corallinæ extremitatibus, et microscopium clare ostendit locum, ubi corpus polypi minus pellucidum et superficiei rudioris glabræ huic corallinæ adhæret. Nec fabricavit corallinam tertia species, quæ extrema corporis parte, quasi caudâ, corallinæ est affixa: et minus adhuc quarta, nam clare videre est, horum cellulas corallinæ circumdatas, [266]ut examen apum arboris ramum circumcludit: et si hæ polyporum cellulæ non nimis densæ sunt, ipsius corallinæ color translucet.

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

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

Quinto, si corallinæ a polypis essent fabrefactæ, nunquam polypi et eorum cellulæ etiam vivis animalibus, aliisque corporibus, essent adfixæ. Polypos inveni in [267]ostreorum[156] conchis, cancri[157] arachnoideæ pedibus, animali[158], quod emissariorum januis et navibus quietis sæpius adhæret et anus (aars-gat) vocatur, et aliis plurimis, sine minimo corallinæ vestigio. Et animalia illa, quæ piscatores nostri[159] klap-konten vocant, et majorum polyporum species esse videntur, nunquam teneris insident corallinis, sed semper hæc supra ostreorum conchas et lapides inveni, et quamvis illorum progressum ipse non viderim, tamen de loco in locum sese transmovisse, expertus sum.

Sexto: Hæ corallinæ non solum polypis, sed cochleis, buccinis[160] aliisque plurimis insectis marinis conveniunt, ut illis ova vel progeniem confidant. Hoc præcipue mensibus Februario et Martio videre est: accepi tunc diversas corallinas diversis cochleis et buccinis plenas, et sæpe inter hæc quosdam cancellos ova sua jamjam excludentes. Mater cochlea ovula sua supra vel juxta corallinas deposuit; pulli exclusi contra has ascenderunt, ne illis innixi fluctuum motu eluerentur, vel ut adversus hostes suos tuto se absconderent.

Quantum omnibus animalibus divina prospexerit prudentia, animus nunquam satis assequi quacunque industria potest. Deus, ut jam animadvertit Rex[161] Psalmista, plantavit arbores cedros Libani, ubi aviculæ nidificent, et abietes domicilia ciconiæ: Montes excelsissimos rupicaprarum, petras murium montanorum perfugium. Sic corallinæ domicilia et perfugium [268]sunt polypis aliisque minoribus insectis marinis. Et præsertim hoc censeo, quia tempore hyemali, mensibus Decembri et Januario, corallinarum ramos plurimis vesiculis, operculo vel valvula tectis, obsessos inveni: quare has vesiculas habeo pro ovis ab aliis insectis his corallinis impositis.

Omnes, qui nunquam satis laudanda incomparabilis Reaumurii scripta legerunt, sciunt, quam miris et differentibus modis insecta quædam sua ova opponunt, vel in [162]gyrum, vel in [163]lineam spiralem, vel [164]singula ova a filis libere in aere pendentia, vel, ut hic fere casus est, per [165]paria lignosæ substantiæ ramorum imposita. Quam mira quam varia est etiam ipsorum [166]ovorum figura! Culicum[167] autem ova, quoad externam figuram, quam maxime his corallinæ vesiculis similia sunt.

Omnia vero insectorum ova inter se et cum his vesiculis in eo conveniunt, quod[168] operculum vel valvulum habent eo in loco, ubi eruca vel vermis exitum invenire debet; permittente quidem hac valvulâ exitum extrorsum, omnem vero introitum aëris vel aquæ prorsus negante. Sed præter hanc cum aliorum insectorum ovis convenientiam, ipsæ vesiculæ mihi vera ova videntur, quia recenter ex mare extractæ erant perspicuæ, in spiritu frumenti vero statim fiebant [269]opacæ, albæ, cum puncto flavo[169]. Secundo, quia hyeme plures vesiculæ in corallinis reperiuntur, perpaucæ vero æstate; nam tum illorum pulli exclusi sunt, et corallinæ cochleis parvis, forsan ex his ovis progenitis, magis sunt obsessæ.

Nam hæ vesiculæ mihi ipsorum polyporum ova esse non videntur, licet sæpius [170]polypos in illis invenire contigit: et ideo crederem hos polypos in vesiculis repertos, quoniam licet adulti tamen vesiculis multo minores sint, post veri pulli exclusionem in vacua illa ova irrepsisse; cum jam antea observavimus cancellos in vacua irrepere buccina, et ipsos polypos vacuis corallinæ tubulariæ summitatibus sese adfigere. Sed quam maxime has vesiculas non polyporum, sed aliorum animalculorum ova esse censeo, quia perspicacissimus Reaumurius initio hyemis in oris Galliæ provinciæ Pictaviensis (Poitou) ova cochlearum marinarum invenerit, quæ quamvis his vesiculis paulum majora, erant tamen simillima[171]. Licet corallinæ speciosam habeant verisimilitudinem, ut quasi animalium opus appareant, aliæ tamen sunt plantæ marinæ, præsertim alcyonium digitatem molle, quas adhuc magis a polypis fabrefactas diceres; sed si accuratione indagine observantur, pro veris plantis erunt agnoscendæ, ut in posterum, quando profusius agam de plantis marinis, demonstrare spero. Alia vero alcyonia, ut vesicaria marina Bauhini, &c. vera animalium opera, namque eorum sunt ovaria. Plantæ marinæ unicæ non sunt, quæ pro insectorum opere [270]sunt habitæ. Liceat mihi locum adferre ex notis, quas Nobilissimus Lyonnet Theologiæ insectorum Doctiss. el Rev. Lessers subjunxit: “Credendum non est, ut quidam faciunt, si stagnantes aquas viridi et fibrosâ membrana tectas videas, hanc insectorum texturam esse. Est algæ species, quæ in his stagnis crescit, et insectis est pro alimento.”[172]

De Polypis Corallinis insidentibus.

Completam historiæ et oeconomiæ polyporum in corallinis repertorum descriptionem dare nondum suscipio, sed paucis enarrabo, quæ de illis observare mihi licuit.

Auctores, qui aquæ dulcis polypos examinarunt, quatuor eorum species enumerant: sed in aqua marina major differentium specierum numerus est; plus quam viginti diversos vidi polypos, quos ut plurimum in laudatis figuris etiam delineavit accuratissimus Ellis, et profecto adhuc plures sunt. Sed hic monendum, quod cum aquæ dulcis polypi nudo oculo facile queant conspici, plerique marini non nisi lente aut microscopio possint examinari: et aqua marina, in qua polypi vivunt, bis, vel ad minimum semel, nucthemeri spatio, debet renovari, aut polypi moriantur.

Ad exemplum D^i. Schaffer in duas species primo polypos distinguam; in polypos, qui cellulas sibi construant, et in polypos, qui corporis extremitate corallinis aliisque corporibus extus sese affigant, vel in cavitates naturales alcyoniorum, coralliorum, &c. [271](de quibus in posterum) irrepant, ut cancelli in vacua buccina. Polypi, qui in cellulis habitant, cæteris plerumque sunt minores: horum cellulæ corallinæ[173] truncum vel ramos circumdant, a quibus prudenti manu sine corallinæ læsione satis facile possunt abradi: et si hæ cellulæ non nimia sint copia, et corallina contra solis splendorem inspiciatur, præsertim si color vivide ruber, aureus aut subniger est, facile per ipsas cellulas translucet.

Polyporum, qui sine cellulis in corporum quorundam cavitatibus habitant, aut extrinsecus illis affixi sunt, plurimæ sunt species. Apertis[174] corallinæ tubulariæ ramis (nam in tali planta semper adsunt rami vel tubi naturaliter[175] clausi, id est, integri, in quibus nunquam polypus insidet) majorum polyporum species sæpius supra sedet; quos a colore rubente polypos vocabo coccineos, et præ cæteris observavi. In detritis et apertis, ut modo dixi, corallinæ tubulariæ ramulis, inserta sua cauda vel corporis parte posteriore, polypus habitat, et ex hoc ramo facile et sæpe levi quassatione delabitur, præsertim si ille jam per aliquot dies servatus debilis, æger, aut mortuus sit[176].

Si vegetum talem polypum, corallinæ insidentem, vehementius amplificante microscopio intueris, facile differentiam vides inter scabram et quasi granulatam polypi cutem, et lævissimam corallinæ corticem.

Hic polypus coccineus duplici brachiorum genere est munitus, quod in aliis minoribus non vidi; et hæc [272]coloris sunt subalbidi. [177]Inferiora et longiora octodecim vel viginti sunt, nam numerus sæpe variat, et expansa patinam formant, in cujus medio[178] ipsum polypi corpus coccineum est. Hoc corpus in duas partes dividi potest. Inferiori placentam referenti perpendiculariter alia pyriformis est infixa, quæ duodecim[179] vel quatuordecim habet brachia, prioribus tenuiora et breviora.

Hanc partem pyriformem polypus valde [180]extendere potest, præsertim si prædam captans expansa claudit[181] brachia; et rursus ita contrahere, ut quasi [182]globulus inferiori et depressæ parti adhæreat. In extremo hujus partis [183]os polypi esse videtur: sed ob partium exilitatem non omnia satis distincta possunt videri, ut in majoribus aquæ dulcis polypis; sed ex similitudine partium hæc tuto licet concludere.

Si longiora brachia fortiori microscopio attente contemplaris, cutem eorum valde asperam vides, ut est piscium (quos Haijen vocant) vel ut superficies corii granulati (chagrein-leer) forsitan ut minora animalcula, quæ polyporum esca sunt, eo melius, ne elabantur, retinere possint. Sed inter hujus speciei polypos vidi umum cæteris[184] majorem, ex cujus corpore, illo loco ubi pars superior inferiori et depressæ inhæret, sex vel octo enascebantur[185] ramuli, in quorum extremitatibus erant duo vel tres parvi globuli, punctum coccineum in medio habentes. Huic polypo bis in die novam dedi aquam, quam maxime de ejus vita sollicitus, ea spe, ut hi globuli in juniores [273]excrescerent polypos, sed quamvis per mensem sic vivum servaverim, nihil mutatum vidi, nisi quod globuli paululum evaserint majores.

Quæ deinceps de polyporum generatione observavi, non ita mihi satisfaciunt, ut illa pro certis et comprobatis habeam: si vero hac æstate meliora adiscam, Regiæ Societati indicabo.

De aliis Insectis Marinis.

Si noctu aqua maris, quæ littora nostra alluit, lapide injecto vel baculo movetur, innumeras videre est scintillas igneas, quæ nihil aliud sunt, quam minima animalcula lucentia, non nisi fortiore microscopio visibilia.

Ut hæc animalcula idoneâ colligas copiâ, sufficientem aquæ quantitatem, in qua has scintillas observasti, per chartam emporeticam filtrare facias, donec semiuncia aut minus aquæ supra chartam restat: hujus guttula, vitro concavo, penicilli vel pennæ ope, imposita, fortiore microscopio examinetur, et celerimo motu illa natare videbis. Tres diversas horum observavi species, quas ad vivum delineatas exhibet tabulæ X. fig. I.

Sed mare plura alit insecta, quibus hæc lucendi facultas inest, et quorum in corallinis repertorum quædam delineata sunt tab X. fig. 1, 2, 4, 5. sed quoniam plures [186]auctores de his scripserunt, non commemorabo.

Si corallinæ recenter ex mare extractæ major planta, orbi porcellano concavo, et cujus fundus est [274]profundi coloris cærulei, cum sufficiente quantitate aquæ marinæ pellucidissimæ et filtratæ, at ante jam monui, imponatur, et ejus ramuli prudenter penna expandentur, et lente oculari inspiciantur, silvam saepius videre est, in qua plurima pascuntor animalia, præter diversi generis polypes ramis infixos et brachia extendentes: alia plura sunt, præsertim in infima parte, si corallinæ supra ostrea creverint, quæ huc et illuc cursitant, et forsitan sæpius hianti ostreo alimento inserviunt. Sic vigesimo tertio Octobris 1756 ostreum accepi, cui magna [187]corallinæ planta erat innata, in qua, præter tres diversas polyporum species, sex differentia reperiebam insecta. [188]Primum vermis erat, cujus caput sex majoribus et duobus minoribus cornubus erat instructum. [189]Alteram valde parvum araneam longipedem (Gallis le Faucheur) referebat, admodum lente se movens. Tertium vermis erat, similis figuræ 3, sed in designando deperdebatur. [190]Quartum, quintum et sextum non nisi fortiore microscopio distincte erant visibilia. Horum quod littera c nocatur, mirandæ erat structuræ.

Diversa sic ostrea et corallinas explorans, plura talia admiranda insecta vidi, quorum delineationem sistunt tabulae X. figuræ 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. Decimo sexto ejusdem mensis Octobris, plures mihi sed valde parvæ apportabantur corallinæ, quæ a dolio coniformi erant abrasæ: in his licet sæpe et attente exploratis nullos detegere poteram polypos, sed duo alia mirabilissima insecta.

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. VII. p. 275.

I. Rhosiud ad vivum pinxit.

J. Mynde sc.

[275]Horum, quæ secunda figura tabulæ decimæ littera A exhibet, erant millia, celerrimo motu vel repentia vel natantia: sex suis pedibus postremis ramulum arripiebant, ut erucarum, quas geometras appellant, mos est, et mirum in modum prone et supine se flectentes, de ramo in ramum saliebant quasi agilissimi. Inter hæc erant pauca cæteris majora, quæ [191]naturali et [192]aucta magnitudine delineare curavi. [193]Alterum animal non minos mirum erat; sed horum omnium cognitio multo melius delineationis inspectu, quam ex valde prolixa descriptione peti potest.

Sed si omnia insecta marina, quæ in diversis corallinis reperi, delineare vellem, infinitum opus susciperem; nam eorum numerus et diversitas captum nostrum superant.

Hæc ergo, ut spero, sufficient ad demonstrandum corallinas non polyporum opus aut fabricam esse, sed his et plurimis aliis insectis marinis domicilio et perfugio aut alimento inservire.

Dabam ZirizϾ in Zelandia,
17 Martii 1757.

TABULARUM EXPLICATIO.

Tabula Septima.

Fig. I. Exhibet corallinæ plantam, quæ corallina muscosa, sive muscus marinus tenui capillo spermophorus vocatur.

Fig. II. Corallina ramulis dichotomis teneris capillaribus rubentibus.

[276] Fig. III. Junior planta corallinæ tubulariæ laryngi similis.

Fig. IV. Duæ species a, b, fig. I. et. II. et c eschara papyracea utrinque cellulifera, uni basi adnatæ, quod sæpius in doliis marinis coniformibius contigit.

Fig. V. Corallinæ rubræ ramulus, quem per aliquot hebdomadas in aqua marina sæpius renovata servavi, quo tempore parvi ramuli a, a, multum creverunt, et alii b, b, pullulaverunt.

Fig. VI. Pars conchæ ostrei, in qua, præter filamenta quædam viridia, duo polypi a a conspiciendi.

Fig. VII. Cancer arachnoideus, cui duæ polyporum species insidebant. Singulus in a, et multi cellulas habitantes in b.

Fig. VIII. Animal, quod aarsgat vocatur, et januis emissasiorum veterioribus et navibus accrescit: huic parva corallinæ planta erat innata, in qua nullos detegere poteram polypos; plurimos vero b. b. ipsi animali insidentes.

Tabula Octava.

Fig. I. Ramus corallinæ rubentis magnitudine naturali.

Fig. II. Idem microscopio visus, et tres polyporum species in eo conspiciendæ.

Fig. III. Planta corallinæ tubulariæ laryngi similis magnitudine naturali.

Fig. IV. Hujus plantæ ramus maximus, microscopio visus, in quo quinque diversos polypos inveni.

Fig. V. Corallina erecta pennata denticulis alternis caule appressis: in hac nulli erant polypi nisi in cellulis circumcirca truncam affixis a a.

Fig. VI. Corallina abietis forma, quam mense Decembri accepi: ejus rami vesiculis vel ovulis a, a, per paria ordine quadam positis, erant obsessi.

Fig. VII. Corallina pennata et siliquata, ab ostreo abstracta: in hac præter tres polyporum species

[278]

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. VIII. p. 276.

I. Rhodius ad vivum pinxit.

J. Mynde sc.

Tabula Nona.

Fig. I. Minimorum polyporum marinorum genus, cum polypis ramosis (polypes à bouquet) aquæ dulcis conveniens.

Fig. II. Polypus coccineus, quem tabulæ secundæ

Fig. III. & IV. naturali et aucta magnitudine exhibent, hic fortissimo microscopio visus.

Fig. III. Similis polypus coccineus, cæteris major, ex cujus corpore (ubi partes c et d conjunguntur) octo ramuli enascebantur, qui in summitatibus duos vel tres gerebant globulos, punctum rubrum in medio habentes, et quos in polypos juniores excreturos fore speraveram frustra.

[310]

Fig. IV. Majus, ut videtur, genus polyporum, quos klapkonten vocant, ostreorum conchis insidentium, quorum hic, rudius attractum, brachia penitus in corpus suum abscondit.

Fig. V. Idem polypus corpore extenso brachia expandens.

Fig. VI. Idem capta præda se contrahens.

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. IX. p. 278.

I. Rhodius ad vivum pinxit.

J. Mynde sc.

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. X. p. 279.

I. Rhodius ad vivum pinxit.

J. Mynde sc.

Tabula Decima.

Fig. I. Tres species animalculorum lucentium in guttula aquæ marinæ fortiore microscopio visorum.

Fig. II. Mirum animalculum in corallinis a doliis marinis coniformibus abrasis repertum.

[280]

Fig. III. Aliud animal in iisdem corallinis repertum.

Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. exhibent quasdam noctilucas, et alia animalcula in diversis corallinis reperta, ea magnitudine, qua tertia et quarta lens microscopii à Dº. Cuff in Anglia fabrefacti illa ostendit.

Animalculum c, fig. 8. mirabilissimæ erant structuræ, et plurima habebat membra.

My Lord,

I Have read Dr. Job Baster's letter to the Royal Society; wherein he endeavours to prove, that corallines are not of an animal, but a vegetable nature; and has brought many arguments to support his system; which, to gentlemen not well acquainted with the subject, may appear plausible.

I could have wished the Doctor had read and examined thoroughly what has been lately written on the subject: I then should not have had occasion[281] to trouble your Lordship with the following remarks, which I find necessary to support what I have already advanced on that head.

His first argument is, That because he does not find as many polypes in the corallines adhering to ships, flood-gates, and buoys, as in deep water on oysters, muscles, and rocks, therefore he concludes, that corallines are not formed by polypes.

In answer to this, let us examine the pliable structure of these bodies, and how wisely nature has defended such tender substances with a tough thin membranaceous covering, and we shall find, that the sea is calm enough often near the surface to give them time to grow, even in the strongest currents: but, without doubt, they are more liable to be destroyed in such agitated situations, than in the calm depths of the sea.

His second argument is, That finding polypes are not equally dispersed over the whole plant, how can they form it? and gives us an example, Tab. VIII. fig. 5. of a coralline, that is incrusted with many other corallines or polypes on the stem, but has none on the branches.

Here we plainly see the mistake: the Doctor looks for the tender part of the polype on the surface of the coralline, considering it as a plant; and indeed, if this was the case, he ought so to do; but he never once takes notice of the internal hollow structure of the stem, branches, and denticles of those bodies, to inform us whether he found an animal in those parts or no. This material point he seems not to have thought on; which is really the true point in controversy at present among gentlemen, who have not examined these bodies recent in sea-water.

[282]

His third argument is, That almost always one and the same coralline plant cherishes polypes of different kinds; and refers us to Tab. VIII. fig. 2. and 4.

In fig. 2. he gives us an elegant painting of a geniculated red conserva for a coralline, surrounded, as is very common, by many species of small corallines and escharas. And in fig. 4. he gives us a drawing of one of the tubular corallines, with the head of the animal at the top of it; the stem of this is incrusted with four different corallines and escharas, like the conserva fig 2.; and then he asks, which of these five polypes made the tubular coralline?

To give him some proof of the animal nature of this coralline, let him consult Ray's Synopsis, ed. 3. p. 34. n. 4. and there he will find one of his species, called adianti aurei minimi facie planta marina, taken notice of so long ago as the year 1713. by Dr. Lloyd, as a zoophyte, from its stem or tube's being full of a thick reddish liquor, rather resembling blood than the juice of a plant; which, upon pressing the stem, communicated with the little head at top.

His fourth argument is, That as upon one and the same coralline plant you shall find different kind of polypes; so, in different species of coralline, the same polypes; and, to confirm this, he quotes my Essay on Corallines; where I have remarked, that the polypes in the denticles of the setaceous or bristly coralline, Nº. 16. appear to be like those, that are on the lobster's horn coralline, Nº. 19. And to illustrate this, he observes, that bees and wasps always build their cells invariably the same; and that therefore these two corallines should be the same.

[283]

But herein he takes this matter wrong: he has considered, in all his observations, the heads of those parts of the polype, in which are the mouths, arms, or tentacula, which appear coming out of the cups, denticles, and at the ends of the tubes of the corallines, as so many whole and intire animals, without every observing, that the body of the animal is contained in the tubular part of the root, stem, and branches; and that these differ from one another widely both in size and shape, as he may plainly see in the two corallines he has instanced: for the more exact drawings of which, I shall refer him, viz. for the setaceous or bristly coralline, to my Plate, Nº. 38. the natural size of which is at fig. 4. and the magnified one at fig. D: this he will observe to have a small stem, and its branches disposed in a pinnated form: and for the lobster's-horn coralline, I shall refer him to Tab. xxii. of Vol. xlviii. of the Philosophical Transactions; where, at Nº. 3. the natural size is expressed, and at C the upper part of this coralline is drawn in proportion to the bristly coralline from the same magnifying glass; which shews the stem to be much larger, and surrounded by its branches growing in whorles at equal distances, not unlike the equisetum, or horse-tail plant; and yet the heads of this animal nearly resemble the other, only a little larger. Further, his comparison to bees and wasps, and their cells, is not conclusive: for these ramified, hollow, and denticulated bodies, called corallines, which we so frequently find dead on our shores, are properly skins of certain marine polypes, and not nests, as those constructed by these little winged animals are. And yet we find as great a[284] regularity in the same species of these corallines, as when we compare two oak trees to one another, or two of Mr. Trembley's branched fresh-water polypes to one another.

He then proceeds to his fifth argument, That if corallines were formed by polypes, neither the polypes, nor even their cells, would ever fix on living animals, or any other bodies.

Here we may observe, that the consequence he draws doth not follow; for corallines may be formed or produced by certain species of polypes, and yet polypes of another species may be found adhering to other bodies, and even to animal bodies.

By his sixth argument he endeavours to prove, That the vesicles, which are found in regular rows on the sea-fir coralline in winter, Tab. VIII. fig. 6. do not belong to it; and are no more than the eggs of some sea insect deposited on it, of which there may be a great variety.

But to convince him of his mistake, let him take off one of the vesicles, and apply a large magnifier to the place, and he will discover a hole, by which this vesicle or ovary has had a communication thro' the skin with the parent polype. For a further illustration of the manner in which these vesiculated polypes breed, let him consult the 38th Plate of my Essay, where he will find several accurate figures (drawn by Mr. Ehret from the life) of these vesicles, with the spawn of the polypes coming out of them; some of which spawn we evidently discovered to be young polypes with their arms formed; and, as they fell from the vesicle, extending themselves in the watch-glass of sea-water.

[285]

In examining the drawings for his plates, I have observed, that Tab. VII. fig. 2. is evidently a red conserva, which he calls a coralline. We have no corallines, but many conservas, of this form and bright red colour on our coasts; and these shores, I believe, are allowed to have similar marine productions with those of Holland.

Tab. VII. fig. 5. he calls a branch of red coralline, which he says he kept several weeks in sea-water, and that often changed; during which time it sprouted and grew very much. This experiment, I am persuaded, is very true; because it is plainly a vegetable, as appears from his own exact drawing of it; and seems to be the fucus teres rubens minus in longnum protensus of Ray's Synopsis, ed. 3. p. 91. N. 53. This is one of his principal arguments to prove the vegetation of corallines.

Tab. VIII. fig. 1. he calls a branch of red coralline; and at fig. 2. he has it magnified, where it appears to be a geniculated red conserva, drawn and painted with great exactness.

These arguments, my Lord, and these figures of real vegetables, which the Doctor has given us for corallines, shew, how much he is willing to support the old opinion of the botanists: but I am satisfied he will soon alter his opinion, when he observes the remarkable difference of the texture of vegetable and coralline bodies, when viewed in sea-water thro' a good aquatic microscope. And to convince him more fully, that corallines are an animal substance, let him burn them, and he will perceive the same pungent volatile alkaline smell, which he finds in[286] burning horn, hair, or oysters; whereas burnt fucus's and conservas yield a smell not much unlike that of common land vegetables. Even the stony corallines, when their cretaceous covering has been dissolved in vinegar, the membranous part, that remains of them, put into the fire, yields the same animal smell with other corallines.

Further, since I find the Doctor has promised the Royal Society to continue his researches at the seaside, the following hints may be of use to him. And, first, he will find, that those he seems to think naked polypes, which he found adhering to corallines and other bodies, are really small corallines and escharas, with their proper skins and cells; all which I have particularly described already. I would then recommend him to examine such corallines as are taken out of the deepest water, which are found adhering to shells and fucus's. He will find Mr. Cuff's aquatic microscope, or one of that form, the most commodious for observing these animals alive.

The most transparent ones he will find the best to discover their gelatinous inside, which runs thro' the stem and ramifications, and ends in the heads, where the claws are. Some of the best kinds to observe are as follows: The sea-oak coralline, the lily-flowering coralline, the great tooth coralline, the sea-thread coralline, and the branched tubular coralline. Pieces of these should be cut off while they are in the sea water, and placed in watch-glasses full of the same: in these they should remain a while, till they recover themselves; and when they are placed on the stage of the microscope, the motion of the internal part communicating with the heads will be easily discovered.

[287]

If the Doctor will immerse some of these corallines, when they are extended, in two thirds of spirit of wine and one third of clear sea-water, it will preserve them many years, as I have experienced. He may then put the different sorts into distinct phials, and view them at pleasure with a lens of about one inch and half focus.

In fine, my Lord, opportunities so seldom offer at the sea-side to make these experiments with accuracy; and likewise to this, the strong lines of vegetation that these bodies carry in their appearance, and your Lordship will not be surprised, that there are so many gentlemen, even of the Royal Society, that totally disbelieve them to be animals.

Many there are in the Society, that are wavering between both opinions. If then, my Lord, you think, that any specimens which I have, or any demonstrations tending to clear up this point, that lie in my power, will be acceptable to your Lordship and the Society, your Lordship may freely command them, whenever you think proper, from

Your Lordship's
Much obliged and most obedient Servant,
John Ellis.

London, June 9. 1757.

THE Royal William, a first rate man of war, built about 40 years ago, having, upon examination, been judged in so good a state, as to be worthy of repairing for sea service, was ordered into dock, and brought thither on the 29th of June 1756. On these occasions it is usual to lay across the middle line of the bottom of the dock, at distances of about five feet from one another, thick pieces of oak timber of about four feet long; their upper surfaces lying in the same plane, or so posited, that a line stretched from the two extreme blocks will touch all the intermediate ones; and on the middle of these blocks the keel of the ship is to rest. On the said day the tide did not rise so high as was expected; and there was not quite depth enough of water to float the ship in, and set her on the blocks, notwithstanding the assistance of an empty lighter, which, being fixed to the stern, lifted the ship at the end six inches: and as the officers knew they should not have so much water again before the next spring-tides, they were determined to heave her in; which is a very common operation in most dock-yards. Now it so happened, thro' the great weight of the head and stern, that the ship cambered very much; that is, her keel, from being straight, was become much curved, the[289] two extremities hanging lower than the middle part by many inches; and consequently the foremost part of the keel, instead of sliding over the blocks, forced all the foremost ones away, for above 60 feet; whereby that part of the keel rested on the bottom or floor of the dock, and the aftermost part rested on such of the blocks, as had escaped the violence, which had displaced the others. In this situation the keel was very far from being strait; and so it was resolved to lift by main force the head of the ship, until the keel should be strait; and in that position to support it by the blocks, which had been forced away from their places.

For this purpose there were set up, under the wales and other parts of the ship, to the length of near 80 feet of the stem, as many shoars, as were judged necessary; and also nine pair of bed-screws, three pair under each bow, and three pair under the knee of the head. At each shoar a workman was appointed, to drive wedges between the heels of the shoars and the parts of the dock whereon they rested; whereby the shoars were raised end-wise, and consequently the body of the ship lifted at the same time. While this was doing, the 18 screws were also at work: and between these efforts the fore part of the ship was raised upwards of 19 inches, so much being necessary to bring the fore part of the keel in a right line with the hinder part.

In this service were employed about 270 men; whereof about 144 worked at the screws, and the others worked at the shoars with their mawls and wedges; and the whole operation was performed in about seven hours.

[290]

My curiosity leading me to inquire what was the weight of the ship, in the condition she was at the time of bringing her into the dock; for this purpose I procured draughts of the elevation and section, and of the plans at the line of floating, and at the parallel sections of every foot distance down to the keel. Then, by finding the mean area between every two sections, I was thereby enabled to come at the magnitude of a solid, that would nearly fill the trough the ship made in the water; and, by increasing this magnitude by that of the keel, and so much of the stern-post and stem, as were under water, the cubic feet of the fluid displaced by the ship were obtained, being 54869; and consequently her weight was 3532091 pounds, or 1576 tons, 16 C. 2 qrs. 3 ℔. These numbers were not altogether so easily come at, as they would have been, had the ship swam on an even keel, her draught of water before being 13 feet 2 inches, and abast 16 feet 6 inches. However, the computation may be esteemed as correct as the nature of the subject would admit; because I found pretty near the same solidity by another method.

I got a block or model made, by a scale of a quarter of an inch to a foot, of so much of the Royal William's body, as was immerged, when she was brought into dock; and this block I immersed in a trough of sea-water, and found its weight in the following manner.

The length of the trough was 46 inches, breadth 14 inches, and depth 8 inches: at each corner was a graduated scale of inches, and pencil-lines drawn round the inside of the trough at every inch. Sea-water was poured into the trough to the height of 5[291] inches; and the trough was exactly levelled, by means of the pencil-line, at 5 inches: then the block being forced under the water's surface, the fluid, when still, was risen to 6⅓ inches; consequently the magnitude of the block was equal to a parallelopipedon of 46 inches long, 14 inches broad, and 1⅓ inches deep, or to 858⅔ cubic inches.

Now 858⅔ cubic inches are equal to 0.4969 cubic feet.

And a cubic foot of sea-water weighs 64.373² pounds avoirdupoize.

Then 64.373² × 0.4969 = 31.987 pounds.

So that by a quarter inch scale, a model similar to the Royal William weighs near 32 ℔.

But a quarter inch scale is 1/48 of a foot scale.

And the model is to the ship as 1³ is to 48³, or as 1 is to 110592.

Then 3537506 ℔. (= 110592 × 31.987), or 1579 tons, 4 C. 3 qrs. 14 ℔. is the weight sought.

The difference by the two methods amounts to 5415 ℔. or to 2 tons, 8 C. 1 qr. 11 ℔.

Some of the persons present at this experiment read the height of the water at 6⅜ inches: the difference between 6⅜ and 6⅓ inches is 1/24 of an inch; a difference easily to be made by different persons in an experiment of this kind. But observing, that the computation made on 6⅜ inches amounted to near 50 tons more than on 6⅓ inches, I caused the trough to be diminished in its depth to 6½ inches, had one of the ends cut off, and a board fixed on the open side, being desirous of making the experiment with the trough standing on one end: and indeed, in this situation, an error of ⅒ of an inch in the [292] height of the water makes a difference of about 16½ tons in the weight of the ship. Into this upright trough water was poured to the height of 36 inches; and the block being immerged, the water was raised 9⅓ inches: so that the block was equal in magnitude to a parallelopipedon of 14 inches long, 6½ inches wide, and 9⅓ inches deep, or to 849⅓ cubic inches: from whence I find the weight of the ship to be 1562 tons, 1 C. 2 qrs. 16 ℔. And altho' I take this number to be nearest the truth, yet it may be observed, that it is no easy matter to come at accuracy in this subject by any of the methods in common use.

My next inquiry was, to find how much of this weight was lifted, and how to proportion it among the screws and mawl-men: but in this, less accuracy must be expected than in the preceding inquiry; for the exact number of men employed is not known; neither can it be told, how many worked at the screws, and how many with the mawls; and only a guess can be made at the part lifted. However, something may be gathered, which may, perhaps, be worth the knowing.

Let the weight raised be taken at half the weight of the ship; for 64 feet, the length of the keel raised, is not far from half the whole length: add to this the sally of the head, the weight of the forecastle, the friction of the timber, and the resistance of the parts bent by the cambering: beside, the mawls worked at several shoars set up abast the said 64 feet.

Now the weight by the last experiment was 3499064 pounds: one half, or 1749532 ℔. I take[293] to be the weight raised between the screws and mawls.

The distance between two contiguous threads of each screw was 1⅓ inches; the length of the two opposite levers was 12 feet 8 inches, or 152 inches, and described a circumference of 477½ inches: each screw was worked by 8 men: their force, reckoned at 30 ℔. each, makes the power working on each screw equal to 240 ℔.

Hence, from the known property, each screw could raise 65485 ℔.

And the 18 screws raised 1178730 ℔.

Then there remained 570802 ℔. to be raised among about 126 mawls:

Which gives 4530 ℔, or a little more than two tons, to be raised by each man with his mawl and wedges; which is considerably less than what I have seen raised by way of experiment.

To the Reverend Dr. Birch.

SIR,

ON Sunday evening the 5th of June 1757, being walking in the fields near Islington, about half a mile north of the upper reservoir or bason of the New River, I observed the[294] sun to sink beneath the visible horizon to the north-west, it being very clear in that quarter, except some thin clouds a little above the horizon, which were painted of fine red and golden colours, as is usual when the sun sets in a calm clear evening. But about 20 minutes after sun-set, as near as I could judge, it then being darkish, I was greatly surprised to see an Iris in the dusky air, at a height greater than is seen at any time in the rainbow. It was in the contrary quarter of the heavens to the setting sun, and fell on the smoke, mists, and evening vapours arising from the city of London and its neighbourhood. The arch seemed to be a full half circle, tho' its lower parts fell some degrees short of the horizon. It was very distinctly seen for about 15 minutes. Its colours the same as in the rainbow, but fainter. The lower ends of the bow arose gradually higher from the earth, as the sun declined beneath the horizon, until the whole arch disappeared. The center of the arch was above the horizon at its first appearance. What most perplexed me, was, to find the cause of this painted arch. I could not believe, that it proceeded from the sun-beams falling on rain; for there had been none that afternoon; nor was there any sort of signs of rain or rainy clouds to be seen; the wind being northerly, and the air cool, and somewhat hazy in the quarter where the bow appeared; which was not near so bright as the rainbow appears to be in the day-time; and I believe, that it would not have been visible at all in the presence of the sun. I imagine it was formed on the gross particles of the evening vapours, mixed with those of the smoke arising from the[295] town; for had the sun-beams shot from beneath the horizon on falling rain at a considerable height above the earth, I believe the darkness would have rendered the appearance of such a bow far brighter than it appears to the sight in the presence of the sun: but this night or evening arch being reflected, as I suppose, from particles so minute as those of floating vapours, gave but little light and colour to the sight, and what would not have been visible, had the sun been above the horizon. For the same reason, the moon and stars are visible in the absence of the sun, and, on the contrary, are unseen when the sun is present: and if we light a candle, and set it in the sun-beams, the flame is lost to our sight, tho' the same candle will give us a considerable share of light in the night. As I have never before seen or heard of such an arch, I thought this account of it (imperfect as it is) might not be disagreeable to the Royal Society.

It could not be a lunar arch, the moon being then many degrees below the horizon, and the arch in a place, where it could not be affected by the moon's rays. The consciousness of my inability to give a proper account of such an uncommon appearance could not deter me from the attempt.

I think I have said all that is necessary on this subject; yet am ready to answer any question for the farther illustrating of it. I am,

Reverend Sir,
Your most humble Servant,
Geo. Edwards.

College of Physicians, London, June 6th, 1757.

June 23^d, 1757.

MR. Baker received a letter yesterday from Dr. Alexander Garden, of Charles Town in South Carolina, part of which he hopes he shall be excused for laying before the Royal Society.

The Doctor writes thus:——“As you desired, I tried the effects of the prickly pear in colouring the urine. A few days after your letter, I went down to one of the islands, and gathered some of the fruit, and gave four of the pears to a child of three years of age, and six pears to one of five. The next morning I examined the urine of both, and it appeared of a very lively red colour, as if tent-wine had been mixed with clear water. The urine of the eldest was deeper coloured, and of a darker look: the youngest (who always naturally made clear urine) was of a more lively and beautiful red. Next day I gave six pears to a Negroe wench, who gave suck, and strictly forbad her suckling her child for six or eight hours; and then taking some of her milk in a tea-cup, and setting it by for some hours, the cream had a reddish lustre, tho' it was very faint.

I was led to this last experiment by an observation, which I made on the milk of cows, who[297] had fed in an indigo-field; the indigo had not only tinged their urine blue, but the cream of the milk was of a most beautiful blue colour, and had a radiated appearance from the centre (Is it not hence probable, that the dye is the oily part of the plant?). The milk underneath was clear and white as usual.”

Dr. Garden wrote, a year ago, that the prickly pear grows in great abundance about Carolina; and also that the cochineal insects are found upon it; but hitherto no attempts have been made to cure them as the Spaniards do. In hope, that some rich dye may be produced from the plant itself, Mr. Baker proposed some experiments to Dr. Garden, which he intends to prosecute this summer.

Pall-Mall, June 9th, 1757.

SIR,

IN compliance with your desire, I made particular inquiry, whether at or about the time the earthquake happened at Lisbon the 1st of November 1755. any uncommon phænomena [298]were observed to appear in the islands of Orkney or Zetland, as such had happened about that time in other parts of Scotland. From Orkney I was informed, that nothing particular had happened; only, that about the time mentioned the tides were observed to be much higher than ordinary. I received from Zetland a letter, dated 28th May 1756. from Mr. William Brown, Master of the grammar-school at Scalloway in that country, a sensible and observing man; wherein he writes verbatim as follows. “Blessed be God, notwithstanding the great devastations, that have been made in other parts of the world by earthquakes, we have been intirely free from any disaster of that nature: nor has any thing extraordinary happened in this country since you left it; only on Monday the 20th October last, betwixt the hours of three and four in the afternoon, the sky being very hazy, as it uses to be before a storm of thunder and lightning, there fell a black dust over all the country, tho' in greater quantities in some places than in others. It was very much like lampblack; but smelled strongly of sulphur. People in the fields had their faces, hands, and linen, blackened by it. It was followed by rain.——Some people assign the cause of it to some extraordinary eruption of Hecla. But I shall trouble you no more about it, as no doubt some of your friends have written to you of it some time ago.”——

In June 1756. I returned to Zetland; and, upon further inquiry, found what Mr. Brown had written me was attested by Mr. Mitchell, parson of the parish of Tengwall, and by several Gentlemen of credit and reputation, who had seen and observed[299] the same phænomenon in different parts of the country at the time above-mentioned.

Mr. Brown having omitted to mention, how the wind did blow at the time the black dust was observed, I made particular inquiry about that circumstance, and found it was from the S.W. which does not seem to favour the opinion, that the dust proceeded from an eruption of mount Hecla, which lies about N. W. from Zetland; unless it may be supposed, that a north wind happening just before had carried this dust to the southward, and the south-west wind immediately following had brought it back to the northward. But, in this case, would not this black dust have been observed in Zetland at its first travelling to the southward? Upon inquiry, I did not hear it was.

Thus far I have obeyed your commands, which I will always do with pleasure; and if you think it worth while to lay this letter before the Royal Society, I leave you at full liberty to do so, or not, as you think proper: but what it contains may be relied on as truth. I am, with great regard,

Dear Sir,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
And. Mitchell.

P.S. I may add, that the distance from mount Hecla to Zetland is between 500 and 600 miles.

THE thermometer (Tab. XI. fig. 1.) is designed for shewing the greatest degree of heat, which happens in any place during the absence of the observer. It consists of a cylinder of glass joined to a tube, and differs from common thermometers only in having the top of the stem drawn out into a capillary tube, which enters into a glass ball C, joined on to the stem at the place where it begins to be contracted. The cylinder, and part of the tube, are filled with mercury; the top of which shews the common degrees of heat as usual. The upper part of the tube above the mercury is filled with spirit of wine, and some of the same liquor is left in the ball C, so as to fill it almost up to the top of the capillary tube.

Now when the thermometer rises, the spirit of wine will be driven out of the tube, and will fall into the ball C. When the thermometer sinks again, as the spirit cannot return back from the ball, the top of the tube will remain empty, and the length of the empty part will be proportional to the fall of the thermometer. Therefore, by means of a proper scale, the top of the spirit of wine will shew how many degrees it has been higher than when observed; which being added to the present height, will give the greatest degree of heat it has been at.

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. XI. p. 300.

J. Mynde sc.

[334]

To fit this thermometer for a new observation, it is necessary to fill the upper part of the tube with spirits; which may be done, by inclining the instrument till the spirits in the ball C cover the end of the capillary tube. For if the cylinder is then heated, by applying the hand to it, or by the flame of a lamp held at some distance, till the spirits rise to the top of the tube and run over into the ball C, and is then suffered to cool in the same position, the tube will remain full of spirits, and the thermometer will be fitted for a new experiment.

The top of the capillary tube is made to stand pretty near to one side of the ball, and also to the top of it, that a less inclination of the instrument may be sufficient to make the spirit of wine in the ball cover the end of the tube.

The ball C is joined on as high as possible, so as to hide no part of the tube, except that, where the bore is contracted. By this means, the top of the spirit of wine begins to appear before the thermometer has sunk one degree.

It will be convenient to leave some mercury in the ball C, which may be made to cover the end of the capillary tube, by inclining the thermometer more than what is necessary to make the spirit of wine cover it. By this means some mercury may be got back into the tube, in case any of it should happen to be driven into the ball by the thermometer's being exposed to too great a heat.

The scale of degrees at top, which shews the descent of the thermometer from the highest point it has arrived at, ought not, in strictness, to be the same at all times of the year; for those degrees exceed[302] the common degrees of heat pointed out by the top of the mercury, as much as the column of spirit of wine expands, and therefore are greatest when that column is so; that is to say, when the greatest heat to which the instrument has been exposed is least. A difference of 30 degrees of Fahrenheit's scale, in the greatest rise of the thermometer, would require the scale to be altered one sixtieth part: and the error arising from making use of the same scale will be about one sixth of a degree, if the thermometer is observed when it has fallen ten degrees.

In the instrument here described, the bore of the tube is about 0.027 inches; and one inch of it contains two grains of mercury, and answers to about ten degrees, the cylinder containing about 2280 grains. If a much shorter tube was made use of, a considerable error might arise from too great a quantity of spirits adhering to the sides of the tube, in that part, which is filled with mercury; especially when the thermometer rises fast. This makes it necessary to employ a cylinder of a considerable bigness, if it is desired to have the scale of degrees pretty large.

If the weight of the mercury is thought inconvenient, it may be avoided by the construction described in fig. 2. where the bottom of the tube is bent so as to point upwards, and is joined to a ball A, which communicates with a cylinder placed above it. In all other respects it is the same as the instrument before described.

It is filled with spirit of wine and mercury; the quantity of the latter being sufficient to fill the whole tube and the ball A.

[303]

No part of the spirit, with which the cylinder is filled, can get into the tube, as long as the instrument is kept in an erect position, or even if it is carefully laid down flat on a table. For tho' in this last case some of the spirits may get into the ball A, it will rise to that part of the ball, which is then uppermost, and will not touch the orifice of the tube n; which was the reason for adding this ball, which would be unnecessary, if the instrument was kept constantly erect, or nearly so. If the spirit should come to touch the orifice of the tube n, it would work up between the mercury and the glass; which would put the instrument out of order.

The thermometer fig. 3. is designed for shewing the greatest cold, which happens in any place during the time the instrument is left in it. The tube is bent into the shape of a syphon of unequal legs standing parallel to one another, the bend being at the bottom. The top of the shorter leg is bent to a right angle, and immediately opens into a ball A, which, by means of a short bent tube on the opposite side, communicates with a cylinder standing parallel to the legs of the syphon, and pointing downwards. This cylinder contains the greatest part of the fluid; and is added only to make the thermometer more sensible than it would be, if the ball A was made of a sufficient bigness to contain the proper quantity of fluid. This instrument is filled with spirit of wine, with the addition of as much mercury as is sufficient to fill both legs of the syphon, and about a fourth or fifth part of the ball A.

[304]

The common degrees of heat are shown by the top of the mercury in the longest leg, or by the top of the spirit, in case any of it is left above the mercury.

When the mercury in the longest leg sinks by cold, that in the shorter leg will rise, and will run over into the ball A; from whence it cannot return back when the thermometer rises again, as the surface of the mercury in the ball is below the orifice of the tube n. Therefore the upper part of the shorter leg will be filled with a column of spirits of a length proportional to the increase of heat; the bottom of which, by means of a proper scale, will show how much the thermometer has been lower than it then is; which being subtracted from the present height, will give the lowest point that it has been at.

If no further contrivance was used, the mercury would fall into the ball A in large drops; which would make the instrument less accurate. For the thermometer's beginning to rise immediately after a drop is fallen, or just as it is going to fall (in which case it will return back into the tube), will make a difference of such part of a degree nearly as that drop answers to. To prevent this inconvenience, the top of the shorter leg, close to the ball, is contracted, by being held in the flame of a lamp; and the passage is further streightened by a solid thread of glass placed within the tube, and extending from the bottom of the shorter leg to the part near the ball A, where it is most contracted. By this means, as soon as any small portion of mercury is got beyond the end of the thread of glass, it breaks off, and falls into the[305] ball in very small drops. This thread of glass is fastened by the heat given to the tube in making the bend next to the ball. In order to fill the shorter leg with mercury, to fit the instrument for a new experiment, it must be inclined till the mercury in the ball covers the orifice of the tube n. The cylinder being then heated, the mercury will be forced into the shorter leg, and will run down the thread of glass in drops, which will soon unite. By this means, such a quantity of mercury must be got into the shorter leg, as, upon the cooling of the instrument, will be sufficient to drive all the spirit of wine into the ball with a less degree of cold than what the thermometer is likely to be exposed to.

The ball A must always have some mercury in it, but never enough to fill it up to the orifice of the tube n. It must therefore be made of such a size, as to contain all the mercury, which can come into it from the tube without being too full. If it should happen to be made too small, so as to be too full in cold weather, any part of the mercury may easily be driven into the cylinder, and got back again into the ball when wanted in warmer weather.

It will be better to leave a little of the spirit above the mercury in the longest leg; in which case the top of the spirit will shew the common degrees of heat. For the filling the tube, so as to leave none, is attended with some trouble; and more of it will be apt to get up there, if the instrument should happen to be held in an improper situation, or if it be kept in too warm a place without filling the shorter leg with mercury by the method above described. If too great a quantity should get up, tho' it would[306] not affect the scale for the common degrees of heat, it would however cause some error in the degrees on the shorter leg; inasmuch as the expansion of that portion of spirits, which has got up into the longer leg, exceeds the expansion of the mercury, which must supply its place. It may be got back at pleasure, by exposing the thermometer to such a degree of cold as will make the spirit get beyond the bend of the syphon; for then it will run up along the thread of glass in the shorter leg till it gets above the mercury there. For this purpose the point of 0 degrees of Fahrenheit's scale should be near the bend; by which means, any part of the spirit of wine may be got beyond it by an artificial cold; and there will be no danger of the whole getting beyond it by any natural cold; in which case the air would get up into the ball.

The scale of degrees on the shorter leg will, in different seasons, be liable to an error of the same kind as that, which was explained in the first-mentioned thermometer; but in this it will be less considerable, as the space between the two scales is filled with mercury, whose expansion is about six times less than that of spirit of wine.

In the thermometer, which I have, the bore of the tube is about 0.054 inches; and one inch of it contains eight grains of mercury, and answers to seven degrees of Fahrenheit's scale. The drops of mercury, which fall into the ball A, answer to about one eighth of a degree.

If instruments of the nature of those above described, were to be used for finding the temper of[307] the sea at great depths, some alteration would be necessary in the construction of them, principally upon account of the great pressure of the water; the ill effect of which can, I believe, be prevented no other way, than by leaving the tube open. For if the thermometer was made strong enough to resist the pressure without breaking, yet it would be impossible to be sure, that the figure of the glass would not thereby be altered, which should make the experiment uncertain.

The instrument for finding the greatest heat might be made just like that of fig. 1. only leaving the top open. It is to be filled with mercury only, as is also the lower part of the ball at top, but not near so high as the end of the capillary tube. The upper part of that ball, being left open, will in a great measure be filled with the sea-water, which will be forced into it by the pressure.

If this instrument (the tube being quite full of mercury) is plunged into any part of the sea, where the heat is greater than that of the air above, part of the mercury will be driven out of the tube; and, upon bringing it into a colder place, the sea-water or air in the ball will enter into the tube, and will fill the space left by the mercury.

As this thermometer does not show the common degrees of heat, it must be placed in a vessel of water with another thermometer, and the scale of degrees at top will shew how much the heat it has been exposed to is greater than that of the water in the vessel.

The sea-water getting into the glass will corrode the mercury, and thereby foul the glass; which[308] will make the experiment less exact: and therefore it would be much more convenient, if the sea-water could intirely be kept out; which probably may be done by tying a bladder full of air to the neck of the ball C, which will contract by the pressure of the water, without letting any of it get in.

If this can be done, the instrument may be filled with mercury and spirits, just like that at fig. 1. But it would be more convenient to fill it with mercury only: in which case it may be made with as small a tube and ball as common mercurial thermometers: or it may be filled with spirits only. The instrument will thereby become much less bulky; which will compensate the want of the common scale of heat.

It is better to put but little mercury into the ball at top, for fear of its getting into the capillary tube by the motion of the instrument.

The thermometer for finding the greatest cold, if applied to this purpose, must also be left open at top. There is another inconvenience to be avoided; which is, that the mercury in the ball A, by the tossing of the instrument, might sometimes get into the shorter leg of the syphon; which would spoil the experiment. To prevent such an accident, the most convenient construction, which occurs to me, is that of fig. 4. which differs from fig. 3. in having the ball A omitted; so that the mercury running out of the shorter leg will fall to the bottom of the cylinder, and will not be so liable to get back into the tube by motion. The cylinder is made to stand not quite parallel to the legs of the syphon, that the mercury contained therein may more easily be brought to[309] touch the end of the tube, in order to fit the instrument for a new experiment.

If, by means of a bladder, the sea-water can be kept out of the glass, this instrument may be made to shew the common degrees of heat; but even then, in order to render it less bulky, it may be better to supply the want of them as in the last instrument. The longer leg of the syphon may in that case be made as short as you please; only making the ball B big enough to receive all the mercury, which may be driven into it by heat.

If thermometers of this kind were to be sent up into the air by means of a kite, they might be made like those proposed for the sea; but it would not be necessary to leave them open.

As it would be desirable to make them as small as possible, they should be made so as not to shew the common degrees of heat: and it would also, on that account, be convenient to omit the thread of glass placed within the shorter leg of the syphon in fig. 3. and 4. This thread of glass is placed there in order to make the mercury fall into the ball A. fig. 3. or cylinder C. fig. 4. in smaller drops, and also to facilitate the filling the shorter leg with mercury. The latter purpose may be answered by having a ball blown towards the bottom of the shorter leg, as marked in fig. 4. at M: for as soon as the mercury driven out of the cylinder by heat gets to that ball, it will pass by the spirit of wine. The other purpose may probably be answered by having the tube contracted as much as possible at n.

In the foregoing instruments the tubes made use of were of a large bore, as most of the errors in[310] them would increase by making use of smaller ones. Possibly less ones might be used without much inconvenience. The chief advantage will be, the making these thermometers more sensible of the changes of heat, than when large cylinders are used. This will be of service when the greatest degree of heat or cold continues but a short time.

It is better to use plain spirit of wine, than what is tinged, which seems more apt to cause a foulness in the tube, and thereby makes the surface of the mercury less well defined. I am induced to believe so, from observing, that the portion of spirits above the mercury in the tube fig. 3. which at first was strongly tinged with cochineal, in some months became perfectly colourless, the tinging particles being deposited in different parts of the tube, and causing a foulness there. The colour of the spirits in the cylinder does not appear to be altered.

The dark-shaded part in the several figures represents mercury, the dotted part spirit of wine.

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. XII. p. 311.

J. Mynde sc.

[See Tab. XII.]

I. PARTUS hic bicorporeus singulare exemplum exhibet admirandarum virium imaginationis maternæ in fœtum utero contentum. Mater enim hujus bicorporis, primis graviditatis suæ mensibus vel potius hebdomadis, attentius contemplabatur canes coëuntes, arctius cohærentes, et capitibus erga se invicem quodammodo conversos, eosque sibi crebrius præfigurabat.

II. In partu, primum prodiit umbilicotenus Helenæ corpus; post tres demum horas editi sunt ejus pedes, cum adnexo corpore altero Judithæ. Helenæ corporis statura erat altior et rectior, Judithæ brevior et obliquior; et quamvis infra lumbos, a tergo, in unum corpus concretæ fuissent, attamen vultu et corporibus, semilateraliter, erga se fuerant conversæ, ut commode sedere, lentoque gradu procedere et recedere potuerint. Unus communi ipsis erat alvi exitus, intra duas nates, seu Helenæ dextrum et Judithæ sinistrum femur, situatus. Unam quoque habebant vulvam, intra quatuor pedes reconitam, ut dum[312] erectis starent corporibus, ne vestigium ejus conspicuum esset. Quoad duos istos excretionum meatus, observatum est, quod, una excretionem alvi moliente, altera quoque nisum egerendi senserit; in reddenda vero urina, quælibet, diverso tempore, stimulos habuerit: quamobrem altera ad urinæ missionem solicitata, altera subinde recessum negavit. Unde in juventute, utut alias semper semet tenerrime amarent et amplexarentur, sæpius altercationes inter ipsas exortæ, et alterutra aliam vel dorso injectam abripuit, vel colluctando eo, quo vellet, protraxit.

III. Anno ætatis sexto, Judithæ paralysis totius partis sinistræ; obtigit ex qua affectione, utut convaluisset, per totam vitam suam debilior, tardior, et stupidior perstitit; e contra Helena semper agilior, docilior, et formosior suit.

IV. Prout diversa erant corpora, ita functionum vitalium, animalium, et naturalium, magna in utroque corpore, tam in sano quam ægroto statu, observata est differentia. Et quamvis variolas et morbillos uno eodemque tempore habuissent, reliqui tamen morbi eis non erant communes. Cum Judith sæpius convelleretur, Helena nec alterata nec debilitata fuit. Helena erat pleuritica. Judith benigniore febre laboravit: alterâ tussi, catarrho, colicâ afflictâ, altera sana exstitit. Hinc etiam quælibet, pro suo diverso statu, diversis medicamentis tractabatur: phlebotomia autem semper in saniore et vegetiore celebrabatur.

V. Anno ætatis decimo sexto, menstrua comparuerunt, quæ deinde per totam vitam, non tamen æquali tempore, modo, et quantitate successere. Subinde alterutra majores hinc sensit molestias; Judith vero crebrius convellebatur, variisque hystericis et pectoris affectionibus obnoxia fuit.

[313]

VI. Anno ætatis vicesimo secundo, seu A. C. 1723. die 8 Febr. Judith fortiter convulsa est, postea comatosa, usque ad mortem, quæ die 23 Febr. mane contigit, perstitit. Intra hos dies Helena febricula laboravit, eique accesserunt crebriores lipothymiæ, quibus tandem ita debilitata est, ut integra quamvis mente et loquela, subito, tribusque horæ minutis prius quam Judith, in agonem inciderit: postea vero ambæ, post brevem agonem, uno ferme momento expiraverint.

VII. Corporibus post mortem dissectis, reperta sunt in quolibet corpore viscera singula: In Helena omnia sana; in Judithæ thorace vero cor nimis magnum, fortissimo pericardio velatum, et pulmonum dexter lobus putridus: Arteria aorta et vena cava ex utroque corde descendentes, antequam arteriæ et venæ iliacæ ex iisdem emergerent, inflexæ coadunabantur, et unam arteriam aortam, unamque venam cavam, e corde uno ad aliud procedentes seu reflexas, præsentarunt. In abdomine utrinque viscera omnia sana et integra. Quodlibet corpus suum habuit hepar, splenem, pancreas, renes, vesicam, uterum cum ovariis, tubis Fallopianis, et portione vaginæ, quæ utrinque concurrentes unam communem vaginam efformarunt. Partes genitalium externorum, præter commune orificium vaginæ, cuilibet erant propriæ, velut clitoris, nymphæ, orificium urethræ; alæ seu labia utrinque ad perinæum concurrentia fossulam navicularem densiorem constituerant. Ventriculus cum intestinis, in utrâque, naturaliter erant situata; intestina recta autem utrinque ad os sacrum reflexa et coalita, unum satis amplum et communem canalem constituerunt: os sacrum ad secundam divisionem[314] concretum erat, et unum corpus efformando, in uno utrique ossi sacro communi, osse coccygis, terminabatur.

Ex prærecensitis, sicut causa diversitaris actionum et functionum patet, ita etiam ex arteriarum aortarum, et venarum cavarum, intestinorum quoque rectorum et vaginarum uteri, compagine, coadunatione et harmonia, apparet ratio conformitatis et disparitatis morborum, synthanasiæ, communis nisus egerendæ alvi, possibilis imprægnationis alterutrius, vel fors utriusque virginis, uno eodemque coitu.

Hæc omnia conquisivi et retexui, partim e relationibus fide dignis autoptarum; partim ex ephemeridibus B. Caroli Raygeri, soceri mei, qui, dum viveret, medicum cœnobii dicti ordinarium agebat; partim ex libro cœnobiali, cui B. Vir formulas medicamentorum inscripserat. Dab. Posonii die 3 Julii 1757.

Justus Joannes Torkos,
Eques Pannonius, Medic. Doct. et
Liberæ Regiæ Civitatis Posoniensis
Physicus ordinarius.

Extract of a Letter of William Burnet, Esq; F.R.S. eldest Son of Dr. Gilbert Burnet, Lord Bishop of Salisbury, to Dr. (afterwards Sir) Hans Sloane, dated at Leyden, May 9. 1708. N. S.[195]

“SIR,

I Send you inclosed the print of a wonderful union of two twin sisters, who are at this time to be seen at the Hague. I saw them, and observed all, that I could think tended to explain the appearance. They are Hungarians, as the lines under the print will shew you. There is there an exact enough description of their condition; only I may add, that in fig. 1. the urinal passage is between the two foremost thighs, as they are in the print. The same is true of the anus in the 2d figure, in such manner, that the situation of these parts is the same to outward appearance as naturally, with this difference, that they are between two different bodies here, whereas in the course of nature they are between the two parts of the same body. It seems probable, [316]that their parts are distinct; but that the most remote labia of each are outwardly visible, and the two contiguous ones are within. There seems to be no cheat in the thing; and the skin, where they are joined, is perfectly smooth, without any scar. They are now about six years old. They speak French and High German. They are very full of action, and talk one more than the other. When one stoops to take up any thing, she carries the other quite from the ground; and that one of them often does, being stronger as well as more lively than the other. They have not their feeling common any where but in the place of their conjunction. This is all I can say about it. If you think it worth while, you will do me an honour in giving the print, and the substance of this account, to the Society; to which, tho' an unworthy member, I would be proud to be capable of any service.”

This letter was read to the Royal Society on the 12th of May 1708[196]; and the print mentioned in it produced; which, being now become extremely difficult to be met with, is thought proper to be engraved again, and inserted here. See Tab. XIII.

Soon after the date of Mr. Burnet's letter the twin sisters were brought to England, and publicly shewn in London, as appears from the following MS. note in a copy of the print bound up by the writer with Fortunius Licetus de Monstris[197], edit. Amstelod. [317] 1665. 4to. in the possession of Thomas Wilbraham, M.D. F.R.S. “Londini 14 Junii 1708. has vidi gemellas (plus annis sex natas) quarum forma et vivacitas elegantior et vegetior quam pictura et descriptio.”

Philos. Trans. Vol. L. Tab. XIII. p. 316.

 

Corpora Binarum sic concrevere Sororum,

Non nisi Divina dissocianda manu.

SZÖNY Patria est, vicus COMORÆ co terminus Arci,

Qvæ nunquam Lunæ paruit Imperio.

Amplexa est ulnis HELENAM Lucina priorem,

Horis deinde tribus JUDITHA fuit.

Exitus Urinæ patet unicus, unicus alvo,

Observant numerum cætera membra suum.

Misit ad Ignotos tenuis Fortuna Parentum,

Neu pereat tantæ Fama stupenda rei.

InterIora Latent, neqVeVnt abstrVsa VIDerI:

eXIgVo totVM CorpVs In ære patet.

 

J. Mynde sc.

Another account of them by an eye-witness in London is in a manuscript volume among those of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. in the British Museum, intituled, A short History of human Prodigies and monstrous Births, of Dwarfs, Sleepers, Giants, strong Men, Hermaphrodites, numerous Births, and extreme old Age, &c. The name of the writer was James Paris du Plessis. In p. 39. under the Title Two Sisters conjoined, he gives a drawing of them, and the following description: “These two monstrous girls were born at Szony in Hungary in the year 1701. They were born conjoined together at the small of the back. I asked the father and mother, if they could not be separated one from the other? but they answered, No; because the urinary and fœcal vessels and passages were so united, as to have but one issue for the urine, and another for the excrements, betwixt both. They were brisk, merry, and well-bred: they could read, write, and sing very prettily: they could speak three different languages, as Hungarian or High Dutch, Low Dutch, and French, and were learning English. They were very handsome, very well shaped in all parts, and beautiful faces. Helen was born three hours before her sister Judith. When one stooped, she lifted the other from the ground, and carried the other upon her back; neither could they walk[318] side by side. They loved one another very tenderly. Their clothes were fine and neat. They had two bodies, four sleeves; and one petticoat served to the bodies, and their shifts the same. When one went forward, the other was forced to go backward.”

A later and more particular account is contained in p. 41, & seqq. of a book very seldom met with in this country, being printed at Vienna in 1729. intituled, Gerardi Cornelii Drieschii Historia magnæ Legationis Cæsareæ, quam Caroli VI. auspiciis suscepit Damianus Hugo Virmondtius, &c. The following extract, tho' long, will not probably be thought unentertaining.

“Sunt in comitatu Commaroniensi in terris illustrissimi Zichii (pagus Hungaris Szony dicitur) à parentibus colonis, quibus sua vita constat, dum hæc scribo, anno 1701. vii calendas Novembreis procreatæ in lucem duæ filiæ gemellæ, posticâ parte, quâ spina dorsi definit, concretæ, sic ut altera alteram sequi, quo se cunque vertat, cogatur: cætera haud deformes aspectu, nisi concretio illa corporum prodigium efficeret. Binæ singulis manus, totidem pedes, et capita, necnon corpora: suus membris omnibus usus; rationis multò etiam, quod mirere, certior; ut, si sedentes solum videris, neque sciveris, hic monstri notare nihil valeas. Majori natu, quæ lucem citius aspexit tribus horis, Helenæ, minori Judithæ nomen est. Hæc ante annos circiter tres stupore apoplectico tacta linguæ modicum ex eo ac bonæ mentis officium impeditum habuit, simplicitatem quandam ingenii[319] modo ut redoleat. Illa animo semper integro atque spiritu prædita eodem, pudicâ facie, non inconcinnis motibus, intuentium in se oculos ad misericordiam commovet, utpote quæ rationis planè compos, sororis tenerrimè amans, nec status ignara sui, duplicem miseriam tolerat, suam et istius. Ductæ sunt olim infantes per varias regiones ac provincias, Germaniam, Angliam, Galliam, Italiam, Poloniam, Bataviam, Austriam, Moraviam, Hungariam, à medico Hungarico nomine Csuszio, qui easdem certâ pecuniâ ad tempus sibi a parentibus concreditas et elocatas, bonâ eorundem veniâ, paterno à solo âbduxit; unde trium gentium linguis, Germanicâ, Gallicâ, Hungaricâ, hodiedum etiam loquuntur; alias desuetudine usuque interrupto, ætate præsertim nondum satis confirmatâ, omnino dedidicere.

Dux Augustus Saxo Cizius inter purpuratos LXXII patres à constantia religionis, timore erga Deum et caritate in proximum notissimus, archiepiscopus Strigoniensis, veritus, ne frequentes hæ perignationes puellarum adhuc infantium innocentiæ officerent, ac mores denique illarum, ut fieri non raro assolet, planè depavarent, pacto persolutoque pretio à medico redemit, et revocatas domum ad suos virginibus à divâ Ursulâ nuncupatis intra Posonium deinceps educandas commisit, necessariis ad hoc sumptibus benignè subministratis. Ingressæ non diu puerilem ætatem suerant, nonusque illis annus agi cœptus currebat, quando harum in disciplinam virginum tradebantur. Hic legere primum ac scribere, ea, quæ ad fidem necessaria sunt, mente atque animo comprehendere; operas[320] manuum exercere varias, acu præcipuè phrygionicâ pingere, denticulatas affabre fimbrias conficere, et cætera quæ sunt ejusdem generis, edoctæ fuerunt. Vidi ego ex illarum operibus aliqua, quæ magistras hâc in arte fecisse non pudeat. Receptæ autem sunt sacrum hoc in collegium anno secul ix. die XII. kalendas Aprilis, ibi XI mansionis, vitæ XIX jam planè complerunt. Istuc divarum contubernium, quod adhuc constanter incolunt, nunquam postea deseruere. Addita illis e prudentioribus virago, quæ indefinentur adsit, quo velint, ducat, actonibus invigilet, de quibus respondere, ad aliosque referre, si necessum fuerit, aliquando possit. Ex hâc scire quæ cupiebam, remotis arbitris, nullo negotio percepi. Crediderat namque, quod res quoque erat, non curiositatis gratiâ, sed officii, ac boni publici causâ ista à me rogari: quare alios omnes secedere jussi, solus cum eadem remanens, ut quæ, junioribus præsertim aliquot præsentibus, accuratius explicare verecundia illam antea prohibuerat, majori mecum libertate communicaret. Partes, quas vel nominare pudor honestasque vetuit, per quas potus ciborumque fæces et reliqua corporis excrementa (sit verbo venia) ejicimus, non illis his, quibus nobis, constitutæ locis. Illis quidem, ubi nos eas habemus, occlusa sunt omnia; at infernè, quâ parte concretio illa corporum incipit, easdem obtinent utrique communes. Neque tamen cum necessitas alterutram premit ad exonerandum, exempli gratiâ, ventrem, altera se quoque sentit tam inutili pondere gravatam, at satisfaciendum necessario naturæ sit: sed jam huic, jam isti istud imbecillitatis humanæ incommodum perferendum[321] est, sitque etiam, ut cum alvum purgat altera, alteri meatus sit urinarius aperiendus. Muliebria, quæ statis fœminas vicibus incommodant, non uno ambabus tempore veniunt. Octidui quandoque intervallo ac longiori disjuncta sunt. Dum dormit hæc, sæpe vigilat illa, et in alterius labore altera nonnunquam quiescit. Visa una potare est, aut cibo corpus reficere, cum aliud alii agebatur. Sedent, stant, ambulant, jacent semper unà, nec sine incommodo. Non permittit conglutinatio ista corporum, hæ uti actiones separentur. Si colloquuntur, obtortis faciem collis obvertunt. Suavia dant sibi, cum amant, et pugnis impetunt, cum furunt. Donec suæ utrique vires adhuc constabant, si sorte exortæ inter illas aliquando discordiæ essent, hæc, quæ se læsam magis credebat aut fortem, sublatam in humeros aliam alio asportabat. Veruntamen ingenio miti magis ac placido sunt quam incenso aut iracundo, et in communibus malis communem fidem, commune robur adhibent, immissam sibi à Deo miseriam fortitèr sustinentes. Ante triennium in gravi secundò genitæ morbo, de quo nonnulla superiùs facta est mentio est, prior nata sacris omnibus munita ad mortem quoque feliciter obeundam disposita ab sacerdote fuit, quia medicorum pars potior credit aliâ extinctâ aliam haud posse longùm amplius superesse. Id quod probare ex hoc etiam laborant, quod quoties male uni sit, quamvis altera non eadem continuo ægrotatione teneatur, angustias tamen animi certas, hebetationem sensuum, et commotionem quandam viscerum in seipsa experiatur. Equidem dubitandum minimè reor, quin[322] monstrosa hæc bina corpora duplici mente ac spiritu regantur. Nam sive cor faciamus, sive cerebrum statuamus animi sedem, ex utrolibet idem nullo negotio evincitur. Adde tot actiones multiplices, cogitationes rerum diversas, sensa animi varia, quæ, ut aliud nihil sit, isthuc pariter nos docent. Unum præcipue hic admirandum venit, quod commemorare superius memoria excidit; post prodigiosum videlicet hunc difficilemque partum natos esse matri alios liberos, ex eodem patre procreatos, sanos et valentes, corpore, specie ac forma integros, qui monstri nihil admixtum habeant.”

IT is proved, by a multitude of experiments, that the lymphatics communicate with the blood-vessels. They may be distended by blowing air, or by injecting water or mercury, into an artery: and the lymph, which they carry, is frequently, in a morbid state, found tinged with a mixture of the red globules or crassamentum of the blood. Upon this foundation two[323] different theories have been raised, concerning the connection of the lymphatics with the arteries.

Of these, we shall first consider that of the late famous professor Boerhaave. He observed, that every artery of the body is greater, in its diameter, than any of its branches: and this observation being found true, as far as our eye and the microscope can inform us, he inferred, by analogy, that it held good even thro' the most minute subdivisions of the arterial system. But, says he, proportionable to the diameter of the canal is the size of the particles moving thro' it: therefore, if an ultimate capillary artery, admitting only one red globule at once to pass thro' it, send off lateral branches, these branches will be capable of receiving such particles only as are smaller than a red globule. But the particles next in magnitude below the red globules are the yellow serous ones; and the lateral vessel, thus receiving them, is a serous artery, and the trunk of a second order of vessels. In like manner, this trunk, being continued on thro' many lessening branches, will at last grow so minute, as to admit only one serous globule: its lateral branches, therefore, will receive only such particles as are smaller than the serous ones: but these are the particles of the lymph; and this lateral branch is a lymphatic artery, and the trunk of a third order of vessels. Thus, in the red arteries are contained all the circulated fluids of the body; in the serous arteries, all except the red blood; in the lymphatics, all except the red blood and serum: and this subordination is, according to the same laws, continued down thro' fluids more subtile than the lymph, to the smallest vessel, which is propagated from the aorta.[324] Such was Boerhaave's doctrine concerning the vascular system of animal bodies; like many of his other notions, ingenious, plausible, and recommending itself, at first sight, by an appearance of geometrical and mechanical accuracy: but founded upon insufficient data, and by no means to be reconciled to appearances.

For, in the first place, should we admit his hypothesis, it is certain, that the conical or converging form of the aorta, and the change of direction in its branches, must, in the distant blood-vessels, occasion a great resistance to the moving blood, and a great diminution of its velocity. Suppose that this resistance be, in any capillary red artery, to the resistance in the trunk of the aorta, as any larger assignable number is to unit: the resistance, then, in a capillary serous artery will, to that in the aorta, be as the square of that number is to unit; in the capillary lymphatic, as the cube; and so in progression: that is, the velocity of the fluids, in the remoter series of vessels, will be, physically, nothing. But we know, on the contrary, that some very remote series of vessels have their contents moved with a very considerable velocity; particularly the vessels of the insensible perspiration: and in anatomical injections, the liquor thrown into an artery scarce returns more easily or speedily by the corresponding vein, than by the most subtile excretory ducts. Moreover, there are an infinite number of observations of morbid cases, in which the red blood itself has been evacuated thro' some of the most remote series of vessels, merely from an occasional temporary obstruction in one part, or a præternatural laxity in another; and without[325] any lasting detriment to the structure and subordination of the vessels; which yet, upon this hypothesis, must have been utterly destroyed before such an irregularity could have happened.

The other theory concerning the origin of the lymphatics has been maintained by some very eminent physiologists later than Boerhaave; and supposes, that these vessels receive their lymph from the blood-vessels, or from the excretories of the larger glands, by the intermediation of only one small vessel, which these authors term a lymphatic artery, invisible in its natural state, nor yet rendered subject to the senses by experiments. But to this it may be answered, that the lymphatics are traced into many parts of the body, and lost there; and therefore most probably have their origin there, where no large gland nor blood-vessel is to be found in their neighbourhood: that it contradicts the whole analogy of nature, to suppose the motion of an animal fluid more discernible in the veins than in the arteries: and, finally, that it seems rather an instance of want of thought, and of being imposed upon by words, to call the lymphatic vessels veins, because they are furnished with valves; and then, because they are called veins, to take for granted, that of course they must be the continuation of arteries.

In attempting to investigate matters too subtile for the cognizance of our senses, the only method, in which we can reasonably proceed, is by inferring from what we know in subjects of the same nature: and our conclusion thus inferred, concerning the subject sought, will be firmer and more unquestionable, in proportion as it resembles the subject known. But[326] if the subjects be really of the same kind; if no difference can be shewn between them, in any respect material to the inquiry, in which we are engaged; in this case our inference from analogy becomes the very next thing to a physical certainty: and this I apprehend to be true in relation to the problem before us, concerning the origin of the lymphatic vessels. Tho' in general we cannot, by experiments, arrive at the extremities of those tubes, nor satisfy ourselves, by inspection, in what manner they receive their fluid; yet in a very considerable number of them we can do both. There is a certain part of the human body very abundantly provided with lymphatics; in which part we can actually force injections thro' those vessels into a cavity, where their extremities open: and from this cavity, on the other hand, we can at pleasure introduce a coloured liquor into their extremities, and trace it from smaller into wider canals; from capillary tubes, without valves, into large lymphatic trunks copiously furnished with them. We know likewise, that into this cavity are continually exhaling an infinite number of watery and mucous vessels, both arterial tubes and excretory ducts: that these keep it moist with a perpetual vapour, which the extremities of those lymphatics are, in the mean time, perpetually imbibing. Does it not seem strange, while these particulars are known and acknowledged by all the world, that the great authors of anatomy and physiology should never have reasoned from them; but should run into complex and obscure suppositions, in order to explain a process, which they may at any time examine with their own eyes? But perhaps this inadvertency may be[327] accounted for, if we recollect, that at the time when these vessels, and the structure of this part, were discovered, the lymph, and every thing belonging to it, was utterly unknown; and that the vessels in question were first seen and considered as performing another and more remarkable office: which circumstance, it should seem, has prevented succeeding authors from being duly attentive to them in the capacity of lymphatics. However this be, it is certain, that the lymphatics of the mesentery, commonly called the lacteals, differ from those of the other parts in no one particular, save that occasionally they carry chyle instead of lymph; or rather carry lymph mixed, at stated times (that is, for two or three hours after the creature has taken food) with an emulsion of vegetable and animal substances, and coloured white by that mixture. At other times, (that is, during sixteen of eighteen hours out of the twenty-four) they contain nothing but lymph; and are, in every respect, mere lymphatic vessels, not to be distinguished from those in any other part of the body. Their structure is the same; the membrane of which they are formed, their valves, the lymph which they contain, the glands thro' which they pass, their direction from smaller tubes to larger, and from these to the blood, differ in nothing from what we observe of the other lymphatics. Their lymph, in the mean time, is without doubt or controversy supplied from the cavity of the intestines; being the watery moisture continually exhaled there for the purposes of digestion, and for the preservation of the alimentary canal, and as continually taken up by the roots or extremities of these vessels, in[328] order to be carried back to the blood, after it has performed its office in the bowels. Let it also be remembered, that these vessels, in other places of the body, are generally, when we trace them, lost in muscular, tendinous, or membranous parts: and then, I should presume, it may fairly, and with a good degree of evidence, be concluded, that the lymphatics of the body, in general, have their origin among the little cavities of the cellular substance of the muscles, among the mucous folliculi of the tendons, or the membranous receptacles and ducts of the larger glands: that their extremities or roots do, from these cavities, imbibe the moisture exhaled there from the ultimate arterial tubes, just as the lacteals (the lymphatics of the mesentery) do on the concave surface of the intestines: and that the minute imbibing vessels, by gradually opening one into another, form at length a lymphatic trunk, furnished with valves to prevent the return of its fluid, and tending uniformly, from the extremities and from the viscera, to reconvey to the blood that lymph, or that fine steam, with which they are kept in perpetual moisture; a circumstance indispensibly necessary to life and motion: while, at the same time, the continual re-absorption of that moisture by the lymphatics is no less necessary, in order to preserve the blood properly fluid, and to prevent the putrefaction, which would inevitably follow, if this animal vapour were suffered to stagnate in the cavities where it is discharged.

Dated London, Nov. 9th. 1757.

SIRS,

ON the 20th of March 1755, we presented an address to this illustrious Body, intituled, “An Attempt to point out, in a concise manner, the Advantages which would accrue from a periodic Review of the Variation of the Magnetic Needle, throughout the known World; requesting contributions thereto, by communicating such observations concerning it, as had then been lately made, or could be procured from correspondents in foreign parts.”

This address was read at the same time, and afterwards honoured with a place in the Transactions, vol. xlviii. part ii. for 1754: which favour we now acknowledge in the most grateful manner; and, pursuant[330] to our engagements, beg leave to lay before you some account of the communications received, with a specimen of the uses and applications which we have been enabled to make of those, and other assistances with which we have been indulged.

On application to the Honourable the Commissioners of the Navy, we were obliged with an order of free access to all their masters log-books and journals.

The Directors of the Honourable East India Company granted the like privilege.

The Honourable Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company obliged us with sundry observations, made, and tabulated, by their own Captains.

James Bradley, D. D. Regius Professor of Astronomy, and F.R.S. favoured us with several observations made at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.

John Hyde, Esq; F.R.S. communicated a sett of useful observations, extracted from two journals kept on board the Triton and Britannia East Indiamen.

A correct journal kept on board the Delawar East Indiaman was handed to us by a gentleman unknown.

Capt. George Snow furnished a considerable number of observations, made with care and accuracy by himself, in several successive voyages to, and from Barbadoes and Virginia; together with several remarks upon the subject: One, which we apprehend to be material, we beg leave to insert, as it meets with some confirmation by the tables annexed; viz. “At Barbadoes the variation seems at a stand very near; for in the road, 1752, I observed 5 degrees east; and by Mr. Halley's draught, in the year 1701, 5½ degrees: in 1747, at Port Royal keys, Jamaica, I observed the variation 7° 20' E.; and on the coast of Carthagena the same week, off[331] the high land of Sancta Martha, 7° 45' E. nearly south of Port Royal: Therefore these curves are not much altered; and the curve at Jamaica is nearly at a stand, as tho' tied; and the south part of them, with the rest, dropping to the westward.”

Mr. Mungo Murray, author of a treatise on ship-building, presented us with several observations taken on board the Prince Edward and Chesterfield East Indiamen, and his Majesty's ship the Neptune.

For all these favours we return our sincere thanks.

No observations made upon land have been received, except Dr. Bradley's aforesaid; which has frustrated our intentions of continuing the curves from sea to sea.

By collecting, comparing, and adjusting, all these materials, we have been enabled to construct variation-curves upon Dr. Halley's mercator-chart, adapted to the year 1756; which will soon be in readiness to present to this Royal Society.

As a work of this kind requires much time, and a multitude of observations, both by sea and land, to render it more perfect and general; we hope the ingenious in all nations will lend their assistance: By this means every periodic review will be productive of improvement.

From the first instant that we made this affair the object of our more particular consideration, we have attended to the mode of increase and decrease in the variation: and as a considerable number of observations, made at periodic times, and duly registered, seem to be the most essential toward determining the laws of its mutation, or proving its irregularity, we have therefore formed a sett of tables, from actual observations collected for the years 1710, 1720, 1730, and 1744, the date of our last chart; which, together[332] with Dr. Halley's for the year 1700, and the present chart now publishing, compleat six reviews: These are tabulated, and shew the quantity of the variation, at those several periods, to every 5 degrees of latitude and longitude in the more frequented oceans; which we hope will prove acceptable, as nothing of the like kind has yet appeared, or can easily be obtained.

Our materials have been so deficient, that even in the limits to which our tables are confined, we have been obliged to leave blanks in some of the above periods, for want of that concurrent testimony, on which the numbers inserted are founded: but, considering the difficulties unavoidably attending a work of this sort, and the little assistance which we have met with from private hands, we hope that this Royal Society will not only excuse those vacancies, but also those in the great tracts of sea, as well as land, concerning which we are very unwillingly obliged to be intirely silent.

Agreeable to our former address, we lay only what appear to be facts before you, without attempting to introduce any hypothesis for the solution of these phænomena; some of which (being very extraordinary) we recommend peculiarly to the notice of those gentlemen, who may endeavour the investigation of their causes.

Under the equator, in longitude 40° E. from London, the highest variation during the whole 56 years appears to be 17°¼ W. and the least 16°½ W.: and in latitude 15° N. longitude 60° W. from London, the variation has been constantly 5° E. but in other places the case has been widely different; for in the latitude 10° S. longitude 60° E. from London, the variation has decreased from 17° W. to 7°¼ W., and in latitude 10° S. longitude 5° W. from London, it[333] has increased from 2°¼ W. to 12°¾ W.; and in latitude 15° N. longitude 20° W. it has increased from 1° W. to 9° W.

But there is still a more extraordinary appearance in the Indian seas: for instance, under the equator,

Where the west variation in the longitude 40° E. is the same in both the above years; and in 1700 the west variation seemed to be regularly decreasing from longitude 50° E. to the longitude 100° E.; but in 1756 we find the west variation decreasing so fast, that we have east variation in the longitude 80°, 85°, and 90° E; and yet, in the longitude 95° and 100° E. we have west variation again.

Such are the irregularities, that experience hath shewn us, in the variation of the magnetic needle; which appear so considerable, that we cannot think it wholly under the direction of one general and uniform law; but rather conclude, with the learned and judicious Dr. Gowen Knight, Fellow of this Society, in the 87th prop. of his treatise upon attraction and repulsion, That it is influenced by various and different[334] magnetic attractions, in all probability occasioned by the heterogeneous compositions in the great magnet, the Earth.

Notwithstanding all which, should the sagacity of some eminent philosopher be able to exhibit rules, whereby the quantity of the variation may be computed for future times, yet then such a review, as we have now made, will be necessary at a proper interval, to prove the truth of them: and should no such rules appear, then will a continued succession of such reviews be necessary so long as commerce and navigation subsist among us.

What we have now done is intirely for the public service, the sale of the former chart never having made good its expence; and we propose to continue our endeavours for another review, at the proper time, if we shall then be alive, and capable of the task: but as the contrary may probably happen, we beg leave to conclude with recommending such a continuation, in the strongest manner, to such of the members of this Royal Society, or others, who may, at the proper intervals, have leisure and ability for such a performance.

We are, with the greatest deference,

Your Lordship's,
And the Royal Society's,
Most faithful and
most obedient Servants,
William Mountaine.
James Dodson.

[335] A TABLE, exhibiting the different Variations of the Magnetic-Needle in the more frequented Oceans, from the Year 1700 to the Year 1756.