A Letter on the Same Subject, from Mr. Richard Wright, Surgeon at Haverford West, to Mr. Sylvanus Bevan, Apothecary in London

VIII. A Letter on the same Subject, from Mr. Richard Wright, Surgeon at Haverford West, to Mr. Sylvanus Bevan, Apothecary in London. I Received yours the 9th instant, and, in Answer to it, will readily give you all the Satisfaction I can, in relation to a very antient Custom in this Country; commonly called buying the Small Pox, which, upon a strict Inquiry, since I had your Letter, I find to be a common Practice, and of very long standing; being assured by Persons of unquestionable Veracity, and of advanced Age, that they have had the Small Pox communicated to themselves this way, when about sixteen or seventeen Years of Age, they then being very capable of distinguishing that Distemper from any other; and that they have parted with the Matter contain'd in the Pustules to others, producing the same Effects. There are two large Villages in this County near the Harbour of Milford, more famous for this Custom than any other, namely, St. Ishmael's and Marloes. The old Inhabitants of those Villages, (with which they abound, being in a healthful Situation) say, that it has been a common Practice with them time out of mind; and what was more remarkable, one William Allen, of St. Ishmael's, ninety Years of Age, (who died about six Months ago or thereabouts) declared to some Persons of good Sense and Integrity, that this Practice was used all his Time; that he very well remember'd his Mother's telling him, that it was a common Practice all her Time, and that she got the Small Pox that way. These, together with the many other other Informations, I have met with from almost all parts of the County, confirm me in the Belief of its being a very antient and frequent Practice, among the common People; and to prove that this Method is still continued among us, I will give you the relation of an elderly Woman, a Midwife, who accidentally came into Company, when your Letter was reading, whose Name is Joan Jones, aged seventy Years, of good Credit, and perfect Memory. She solemnly declares, that about fifty four Years ago, having then the Small Pox, one Margaret Brown (to the best of her Remembrance then about twelve or thirteen Years of Age) bought the Small Pox of her; that the said Margaret Brown was seized with the Small Pox a few Days afterwards; that the said Margaret Brown had not had the Small Pox a second time, a twelve-Month ago, and she verily believes, that she has not had them since. She farther says, that she has known this way of procuring the Small Pox practised from time to time, above fifty Years; that it has been lately used in her Neighbourhood, and that she knows of but one dying of the said Distemper, when communicated after the Method aforesaid, which Accident happened within these two Years last past; the Person who miscarried (a young Woman about twenty Years of Age) having procured the Distemper from a Man then dying of a very malignant Small Pox. The above Relation I heard the old Woman declare two Days ago, and she was willing to take her Oath of it before Dr. Williams, who is a Magistrate. As to what you mention concerning the manner of communicating the infectious Matter to the Blood, by scraping the Skin thin with a Penknife, and so rubbing in the Matter, that was only the Case of one particular Gentleman, Mr. Owen, a Counsellor at Law, whom I heard several times posi- tively affirm, that he bought the Small Pox when at School, and of such a Lady, now living, and gave her three Pence for the Matter contained in 12 Pustules. That hundreds in this Country have had the Small Pox this way is certain; and it cannot produce one single Instance of their ever having them a second time. Haverford West, Feb. 15. 1723. Richard Wright. IX. An Account of some Experiments made to prove, that the Force of Moving Bodies is proportionable to their Velocities: (or rather that the Momentum of Moving Bodies is to be found by multiplying the Masses into the Velocities) In Answer to such who have sometime ago affirm'd, that that Force is proportionable to the Square of the Velocity, and to those who still defend the same Opinion. By the Reverend John Theophilus Desaguliers, LL.D. F.R.S. As far as I can learn, Monsieur Leibnitz was the first that oppos'd the receiv'd Opinion, concerning the Quantity of the Force of moving Bodies; by saying, that it was to be estimated by multiplying the Mass of the Bodies, not by their Velocity, but by the Square of it. But, instead of shewing any Paralogism, in the mathematical Demonstrations, which are