Front Matter

The only official reprint authorized by The Royal Society of London Printed in U.S.A. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS, GIVING SOME ACCOUNT OF THE Present Undertakings, Studies, and Labours, OF THE INGENIOUS, IN MANY Considerable Parts of the WORLD. VOL. LVI. For the Year 1766. LONDON: Printed for L. Davis and C. Reymer, Printers to the Royal Society, against Gray's-Inn Gate, in Holbourn. M.DCC.LXVII. ADVERTISEMENT. The Committee appointed by the Royal Society to direct the publication of the Philosophical Transactions, take this opportunity to acquaint the public, that it fully appears, as well from the council-books and journals of the Society, as from repeated declarations, which have been made in several former Transactions, that the printing of them was always, from time to time, the single act of the respective Secretaries, till the Forty-seventh Volume. And this information was thought the more necessary, not only as it has been the common opinion, that they were published by the authority, and under the direction, of the Society itself; but also, because several authors, both at home and abroad, have in their writings called them the Transactions of the Royal Society. Whereas in truth the Society, as a body, never did interest themselves any further in their publication, than by occasionally recommending the revival of them to some of their secretaries, when, from the particular circumstances of their affairs, the Transactions had happened for any length of time to be intermitted. And this seems principally to have been done with a view to satisfy the public, that their usual meetings were then continued for the improvement of knowledge, and benefit of mankind, the great ends of their first institution by the Royal Charters, and which they have ever since steadily pursued. But the Society being of late years greatly enlarged, and their communications more numerous; it was thought adviseable, that a Committee of their Members should be appointed to reconsider the papers read before them, and select out of them such, as they should judge most proper for publication in the future Transactions; which was accordingly done upon the 26th of March 1752. And the grounds of their choice are, and will continue to be, the importance or singularity of the subjects, or the advantageous manner of treating them; without pretending to answer for the certainty of the facts, or propriety of the reasonings, contained in the several papers so published, which must still rest on the credit or judgment of their respective authors. It is likewise necessary on this occasion to remark, that it is an established rule of the Society, to which they will always adhere, never to give their opinion, as a body, upon any subject, either of nature or art, that comes before them. And therefore the thanks, which are frequently proposed from the chair, to be given to the authors of such papers, as are read at their accustomed meetings, or to the persons, through whose hands they receive them, are to be considered in no other light, than as a matter of civility, in return for the respect shewn to the Society by those communications. The like also is to be said with regard to the several projects, inventions, and curiosities of various kinds, which are often exhibited to the Society; the authors whereof, or those who exhibit them, frequently take the liberty to report, and even to certify in the public newspapers, that they have met with the highest applause and approbation. And therefore it is hoped, that no regard will hereafter be paid to such reports, and public notices; which in some instances have been too lightly credited, to the dishonour of the Society. CON- CONTENTS TO VOL. LVI. I. Observations of the Eclipse of the Sun on the 16th of August, 1765, made at Colombes, near Paris, at the Observatory of the Marquis of Courtenaux, 5° 13', 8" North of the Royal Observatory, and 20' 1/3 in Time to the East. By M. Messier, Astronomer, Keeper of the Journals, Plans, and Maps, belonging to the Marine of France, Fellow of the Royal Society in London, and Member of the Society of Sciences in Holland; translated from the French, by Mathew Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. p. 1. II. Remarks on the Palmyrene Inscription at Teive. In a Letter to the Rev. Thomas Birch, D. D. Secretary to the Royal Society, from the Rev. John Swinton, B. D. F. R. S. Member of the Academy degli Apatisti at Florence, and of the Etruscan Academy of Cortona in Tuscany. p. 4. III. A Letter to William Heberden, M. D. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London, and of the Royal Society, from Daniel Peter Layard, M. D. M. D. Physician to her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales, Member of the Royal College of Physicians in London; and of the Royal Societies of London and Gottingen; giving an Account of the Somersham Water, in the County of Huntingdon; and transmitting a Letter from Michael Morris, M. D. F. R. S. Member of the Royal College of Physicians in London, and Physician to the Westminster Hospital, to Dr. Layard, on the same Subject. p. 10. IV. Account of an inedited Coin of the Empress Crispina. In a Letter to the Reverend Thomas Birch, D.D. Secretary to the Royal Society, from the Reverend John Swinton, B.D. F.R.S. Member of the Academy degli Apatisti at Florence, and of the Etruscan Academy of Cortona, in Tuscany. p. 27. V. Observation of the Eclipse of the Sun, of August 16, 1765, made at Leyden, by Professor Lulois, F.R.S. to Charles Morton, M.D. Sec. R.S. p. 30. VI. A Letter from James Parsons, M.D. F.R.S. to the Right Honourable the Earl of Morton, President of the Royal Society; on the double Horns of the Rhinoceros. p. 32. VII. Extract from Two Letters, dated December 7th and 12th, 1765, from the Rev. Mr. William Borlase, of Ludgvan, in Cornwall, F.R.S. to Mr. Emanuel Mendez da Costa, Librarian, &c. to the Royal Society. p. 35. VIII. A Letter from Edward Wortley Montagu, Esquire, F.R.S. to William Watson, M.D. F.R.S. containing an Account of his Journey from Cairo, Cairo, in Egypt, to the Written Mountains, in the Desert of Sinai. IX. A Discovery, with Observations, of two new Comets in the Marine Observatory at Paris; by M. Messier, F. R. S. and Member of the Academy of Sciences at Paris; translated from the French, by M. Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. X. A Letter from Mr. Alexander Brice, to the Earl of Morton, President of the Royal Society, giving an Account of a Comet seen by him. XI. A Report concerning the Microscope Glasses, sent as a Present to the Royal Society, by Father di Torre of Naples, and referred to the Examination of Mr. Baker, F. R. S. XII. De Veneris Transitu, per discum Solis, A. 1761, d. 6 Junii, Auctore F. Mallet, Astronomo Regis Upsal. XIII. A Hepatitis, with unfavourable Symptoms, treated by Robert Smith, Surgeon at Edinburgh, now at Leicester. XIV. Experiments on the Peruvian Bark, by Arthur Lee, M. D. XV. Novorum quorundam in re electrica experimentorum Specimen, quod Regiae Londinensi Societati mittebat die 14 Januarii, Anni 1766, Joannes Baptista Beccaria, ex Scholis Piis, & R. S. Soc. XVI. Proposal of a Method for measuring Degrees of Longitude upon Parallels of the Æquator, by J. Michell, B. D. F. R. S. XVII. Observationes de Ascaridibus & Cucurbitinis, & potissimum de Taenia, tam humana quam leporina. XVIII. An CONTENTS. XVIII. An Account of an uncommon large Hernia, in a Letter from Dr. George Carlisle, to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Carlisle, F. R. S. p. 133. XIX. Three Papers, containing Experiments on fictitious Air, by the Hon. Henry Cavendish, F. R. S. p. 141. XX. A farther Account of the Polish Cochineal: from Dr. Wolfe, of Warsaw. Communicated by Henry Baker, F. R. S. p. 184. XXI. Some further Intelligence relating to the Faculator Fish, mentioned in the Philosophical Transactions for 1764, Art. XIV. from Mr. Hommel, at Batavia, together with the Description of another Species, by Dr. Pallas, F. R. S. In a Letter to Mr. Peter Collinson, F. R. S. from John Albert Schloesser, M. D. F. R. S. p. 186. XXII. An Account of an Amphibious Pipes, by John Ellis, Esquire, F. R. S. to the Royal Society. p. 189. XXIII. Observations upon Animals, commonly called Amphibious by Authors. Presented by Dr. Parsons, F. R. S. p. 193. XXIV. An Account of some peculiar Advantages in the Structure of the Asperæ Arteriae, or Wind Pipes, of several Birds, and in the Land-Tortoise. p. 204. XXV. A Letter from Mr. William Mountayne, F. R. S. to the Right Honourable James Earl of Morton, President of the Royal Society, containing some Observations on the Variation of the Magnetic Needle, made on Board the Montagu Man of War, in the Years 1760, 1761, and 1762, by Mr. David Ross, Surgeon. p. 216. XXVI. A Letter to the President of the Royal Society, containing a new Manner of measuring the Velocity of CONTENTS. of Wind, and an Experiment to ascertain to what Quantity of Water a Fall of Snow is equal. p. 224 XXVII. Some Observations on the Country and Mines of Spain and Germany, with an Account of the Formation of the Emery Stone; from William Bowles, Esquire, Director General of the Mines of Spain; communicated by P. Collinson, F. R. S. p. 229. XXVIII. Commentarius de indole Electrica Turmalini, auctore Torberno Bergman, Mathematum & Philosophiae Naturalis ad Reg. Academiam Upsal. adjuncto, Academiæ Imper. N. C. Academiae Reg. Scientiarum Stockholmensis & Societatis Regiae Londinensis Membro. p. 236. XXIX. Theory of the Parallaxes of Altitude for the Sphere, by Mr. F. Mallet, Professor and Astronomer at Upsal; Translated from the French, by M. Maty, M. D. R. S. Sec. p. 244. XXX. A Catalogue of the Fifty Plants from Chelsea Garden, presented to the Royal Society by the Worshipful Company of Apothecaries, for the Year 1765, pursuant to the Direction of Sir Hans Sloane, Baronet, Med. Reg. et Soc. Reg. nuper Praes; by William Hudson, Societatis Regiae & clariss. Societatis Pharmaceut. Lond. Soc. Hort. Chellean. Prefectus et Praelector Botanic. p. 250. * XXX. Observations on the Eclipse of the Sun of August 5, 1766, made at Colombes, the Observatory of the Marquis of Courtenaux, 20' 1/2 East of the Royal Observatory at Paris, and in Lat. 48° 55' 28''. By M. Messier, Astronomer to the Marine of France, of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, Vol. LVI. XXXI. A Letter from the Prince de Croy, to the Earl of Morton, President of the Royal Society, containing the Observations of the Eclipses of the Sun, of the 16th of August, 1765, and of the 5th of August, 1766, made at Calais, together with some Remarks on the first of these Eclipses: Translated from the French, by Mathew Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. XXXII. Observation of the Eclipse of the Sun the 5th of August, 1766, near the Courgain at Calais. XXXIII. An Account of the Extraction of three Inches and ten Lines of the Bone of the upper Arm, which was followed by a Regeneration of the bony Matter; with a Description of a Machine made use of to keep the upper and lower Pieces of the Bone at their proper Distances, during the Time that the Regeneration was taking Place; and which may also be of Service in Fractures happening near the Head of that Bone. By Mr. Le Cat, Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at Rouen, Member of several Academies, and F. R. S. Translated from the French by J. O. Justamond, Surgeon to the First Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. XXXIV. A Letter from Mr. Wargentin, F. R. S. and Secretary of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, to the Rev. Mr. Maskelyne, M. A. F. R. S. and Astronomer Royal at Greenwich, containing an Essay of a new Method of determining the Longitude of Places, from Observations of the Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites. XXXV. A Letter from John Ellis, Esquire, F. R. S. to the President, on the Coluber Ceraastes, or Horned Viper of Egypt. p. 287 XXXVI. Abstract of a Journal of the Weather in Quebec, between the 1st of April, 1765, and 30th of April, 1766. By Captain Alexander Rose, of the 52d Regiment; communicated by the Reverend P. Murdoch, D. D. F. R. S. p. 291 XXXVII. Description of two Parthian Coins, never hitherto published. By the Rev. John Swinton, B. D. F. R. S. Member of the Academy degli Apatisti at Florence, and of the Etruscan Academy of Cortona in Tuscany. In a Letter to Charles Morton, M. D. Sec. R. S. p. 296. XXXVIII. An Account of a successful Operation for the Hydrops Pectoris, by William Moreland, Surgeon at Greenwich; communicated by W. Watson, M. D. F. R. S. p. 302. XXXIX. A Letter from Mr. Emanuel Mendes da Costa, Librarian, &c. to the Royal Society, to M. Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. containing a Supplement to the Account of the Discovery of Native Tin, Art. VII. p. 305. XL. A Supplement to the Account of an Amphibious Bipes; by John Ellis, Esquire, (Art. XXII.) being the Anatomic Description of the said Animal, by Mr. John Hunter, F. R. S. p. 307.