A Letter from the Reverend Mr. W. Derham, F. R. S. to Dr. Hans Sloane, R. S. Secr. Giving an Account of Some Inundations; Monstrous Births, Appearances in the Heavens, and Other Observables He Received from Ireland. With His Observations on the Eclipse of the Sun, Sept. 3. and of the Moon, Sept. 18, 1708

mers'd, and the Body reciprocally to the Menstruum, and both to act on one another with greater Vigour, than either of their own Particles do upon their contiguous Fellows; by which means a Separation of Parts must (I think) consequently follows. Thus being at liberty, they with the Menstruum become as one Body, and remain suspended in any part of it by their Mutual Attraction. And that one Menstruum in this Case should affect one Body more than another, is no more than why the Magnet should affect Iron only. V A Letter from the Reverend Mr. W. Derham, F. R. S. to Dr. Hans Sloane, R. S. Secr. giving an Account of some Inundations, Monstrous Births, Appearances in the Heavens, and other Observables he received from Ireland. With his Observations on the Eclipse of the Sun, Sept. 3. and of the Moon, Sept. 18, 1708. Upminster, October 26. 1708. SIR, Received some time since a Letter from Maghrafelt in the North of Ireland, from a very Intelligent Person there, and great Well-wisher to our Royal Society, one Mr. Neve; who out of his own good Will had collected some of the Lough-Neagh Petrifications, Pieces of the Giants-Causway, and other Curiosities, and sent them, he tells me, as far as Bristol: But hearing the Society had of them already in their Repository, he took no further care of them. He hath sent me divers Particulars relating to Lough-Neagh, which I give you no Account of at present; because there is nothing but what is in effect in Mr. W. Molyneux's, and Mr. Edward Smith's Accounts, already published in the Transactions. But there are some other Matters related by him, that I believe will not be unacceptable. He tells me, That on October 7, 1706, after a very Rainy Day, and Southerly Wind, there happened a prodigious Flood (the like not in the Memory of Man) which brake down several Bridges, and the Sides of some of the Mountains in that part of Ireland. That it came running down in vast Torrents from some of the Mountains, and drowned abundance of Black-Cattle and Sheep, spoiled a great deal of Corn and Hay in the Stacks, that it laid abundance of Houses two or three Feet deep in Water, and brake down several of the Forge and Mill-Dams. Also on July 3, 1707, they had another Flood, which came so suddenly from the Mountains, as if there had been some sudden Eruption of the Waters. And also on the 26th of the same Month, in the County of Antrim, there was a very sudden and surprizing Flood, which raised the Six-Mile-River (so call'd) at that rate, that it brake down two strong Stone-Bridges, and three Houses, and carried away 600 Pieces of Linnen-cloth, that lay a Bleaching, fill'd many Houses several feet deep with Water, tore down some large Rocks in its Passage, and left several Meadows covered a Foot or two deep with Sand. That they in the South-East part of the County of Derry had that Day but little Rain with some Thunder: But beyond the Mountains, in the North-West part of the County, the River Roe had a great Flood. Another thing he gives me an Account of, is of some Monstrous Births, viz. That an Alderman of the City of Derry told him, That a Cow in the Year 1706 had, within a Mile of that City, calved six Calves, then all dead. That the Barrack-Master told him, December 6. 1706, of a Monstrous Humane Birth, which the Barrack-Master said he himself saw in London-Derry, viz. with two Heads, four Arms, and but one Body at the Navel. That it was of both Sexes, Female on the Right side, Male on the Left. That the Right Hand of the Male was behind the Female's Back, and the Left Hand of the Female behind the Male's back, holding each other, as in Loving-manner. This Child, or Children were born Alive, but liv'd but a little while. My Friend was informed, that this Monstrous Birth was dissected by the Mayor of Derry (his Acquaintance) and (if it would be any Service or Satisfaction to the Society) he told me he could easily procure a full Account of his Observations. The last Curiosity he gives me an Account of, is, as I imagine, that which some call the Northern Streaming, which I do not remember the Society had ever any Accounts of; and this being (I must confess) one of the most particular Accounts I ever met with of it, and very consentaneous to such another Appearance in the Heavens, which my Ingenious Neighbour and Friend Mr. Barret (of the Society) was credibly informed was seen in his Neighbourhood in September or October, 1706; I say Mr. Neve's Account being so particular, will I hope be very acceptable to the Society: It is thus. "On Sunday, November 16, 1707. after a Frosty Morning, and Fair still Day, Wind North-Westly, about half an Hour after Eight in the Evening, there appeared a very strange Light in the North. The Evening was clear and Star-light, only the Horizon was darkned with condensed Vapours in the North, reach- ing, I guess, 10 or 15 Degrees above the Horizon. Out of this Cloud proceeded several Streams or Rays of Light, like the Tails of some Comets, broad below, and ending in Points above. Some of them extended almost to the Tail of Ursae Minor, and all were nearly perpendicular to the Horizon, and it was as bright as if the Full Moon had been rising in the Cloud. But what I wondered at most, was the Motion of the dark and lighter Parts running strangely through one another in a Moment; sometimes to the East, and sometimes to the West. It continued, after I first saw it, about a Quarter of an Hour, often changing its Face and Appearance, as to Form and Light; sometimes broken, sometimes entire and long Rays of Light in the clear Sky, quite separate from, and above the Cloud, and none below in the Cloud. To prevent Mistakes, I think it necessary to observe, that this Light which Mr. Neve saw, is very different from that like the Tail of a Comet, which hath been seen in the Constellation of Taurus, or near it; which I happened to see in 1706, the Figure whereof is published in the Transact. N. 305, and which some are pleased to call the Aurora Borealis; which Name, in my Opinion, would better befit this Lumen Boreale, which is seldom, if ever seen out of the North. The Eclipse of the Sun on September 3. in the Morning, at Upminster. | The correct Apparent Time. | The beginning of the Eclipse we could not see for Clouds. | |---------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | h. | | | 6 44 15 | The Sun peep'd out of the Clouds, and I judged, by my Eye, that about one Tenth of a Digit was Eclipsed. Then Clouds nearly all the time of the Eclipse. But at | | 8 31 15 | A little Obscuration appeared through the Telescope. | | 8 32 45 | A very little Obscuration, through the Telescope. | | 8 35 45 | Then Clouds. And at We could discern no remains of the Eclipse through the Telescope. From these Observations I imagine the End of this Solar Eclipse was much about 8 h. 33' in the Morning. | The Eclipse of the Moon, September 18. in the Evening, at Upminster. As I was that Evening coming from London, I observed for half an Hour, or more, a thin shade to possess that part of the Disk where the Eclipse began, which remain'd a good while after the Eclipse was over. After I got home, I made a shift to mount my Telescopes, and get all things in readiness before the Eclipse began. And the principal Observations I made thereof, were these following. | Correct Apparent Time | | |-----------------------|--| | h. | " | | 7 56 30 | A Thin Penumbra. | | 7 57 40 | A darker Penumbra. | | 7 59 00 | Yet darker, which may pass for the beginning of the Eclipse. | | 8 00 00 | The Eclipse no doubt begun. | | 9 01 00 | The Lucid Parts of the Moon, not long before the Middle of the Eclipse, were 925 Parts of my Micrometer. | | 9 16 40 | Diameter of the Moon 1634 Parts of the Micrometer. | | 10 23 11 | The End of the Eclipse draws nigh. | | 10 25 00 | A little Obscuration. | | 10 26 00 | Less. | | 10 28 15 | A very little, excepting the Duskishness before mentioned. | Y y VI. A