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. LXIII. PART I. LONDON: Printed for LOCKYER DAVIS, in Holbourn, Printer to the Royal Society. M.DCC.LXXIII. 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 had 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 and 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, 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. At a COUNCIL, January 28, 1773. Resolved, That after Volume LXII. the Philosophical Transactions be published twice in a year; the first publication to be of the months of November and December of the preceding year, and January and February of the current year, as soon as may be after February, under the name of the "first part" of the volume: and the second publication to be of the remaining months unto the receipt of the Society, as soon as may be after the receipt, under the name of the "second part" of the volume. CON- CONTENTS TO VOL. LXIII. PART I. I. An Account of the Discovery of the Manner of making Isinglass in Russia; with a particular Description of its Manufacture in England, from the Produce of British Fisheries. In a Letter from Humphrey Jackson, Esq; F. R. S. to William Watson, M. D. F. R. S. p. 1 II. A Letter to Charles Morton, M. D. Sec. R. S. from Mr. Adam Walker; containing an Account of the Cavern of Dunmore Park, near Kilkenny, in Ireland. p. 16 III. A short Account of some Specimens of native Lead found in a Mine of Monmouthshire: In a Letter from Michael Morris, M. D. F. R. S. to M. Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. p. 20 IV. Farther Remarks upon a Denarius of the Veturian Family, with an Etruscan Inscription on the Reverse, formerly considered. In a Letter to Mathew Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. from the Rev. John Swinton, B. D. F. R. S. Custos Archivorum of the University of Oxford, Member of the Academy degli Apatisti at Florence, and of the Etruscan Academy of Cortona in Tuscany. p. 22 V. A Catalogue of the Fifty Plants, from Chelsea garden, presented to the Royal Society, by the Worshipful Company of Apothecaries for the Year 1771, pursuant to the Direction of the late Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. M. D. Soc. Reg. nuper Praeses: By Stanesby Alchorne, Member of the said Society of Apothecaries in London. p. 30 VI. Extract of a Letter from Mr. Ebenezer Kinnerley to Benjamin Franklin, LL D. F. R. S. on some electrical Experiments made with Charcoal. p. 38 VII. Account of an Experiment made with a Thermometer, whose Bulb was painted black, and exposed to the direct Rays of the Sun: In a Letter from Richard Watson, D. D. Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, and F. R. S. to Mathew Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. p. 40 VIII. A Report of the Committee appointed by the Royal Society, to consider of a Method for securing the Powder Magazines at Purfleet. p. 42 IX. Observations upon Lightning, and the Method of securing Buildings from its Effects: In a Letter to Sir Charles Frederick, Surveyor-General of His Majesty's Ordnance, and F. R. S. By Benjamin Wilson, F. R. S. & Ac. R. Ups. Soc. p. 49 X. A Letter to Sir John Pringle, Bart. Pr. R. S. on pointed Conductors. p. 66 XI. Astronomical Observations made at Chislehurst in Kent; by the Reverend Francis Wollaston, F. R. S. p. 67 XII. A Letter from Dr. Ducarel, F. R. S. and F. S. A. to William Watson, M. D. F. R. S. upon the early Cultivation of Botany in England; and some Particulars about John Tradescant, a great Promoter of that Science, as well as Natural History, CONTENTS History, in the last Century, and Gardener to King Charles I. P. 79 XIII. De intenso Frigore Mensibus Januario 1767 ac 1768, & Novembri 1770, observato Franekeræ, Auctore J. H. Van Swinden, Philos. Profess. in Academia Franeker. Societ. Harlemo-Hollandicæ Socio. p. 89 XIV. An Inquiry into the Quantity and Direction of the proper Motion of Arcturus; with some Remarks on the Diminution of the Obliquity of the Ecliptic: By Thomas Hornsby, M. A. Savilian Professor of Astronomy in the University of Oxford, and F. R. S. XV. New Observations upon Vegetation. By Mr. Mustel, of the Acad. of Sciences at Rouen; translated from the French. p. 126 XVI. Actual Fire and Detonation produced by the Contact of Tin-foil, with the Salt composed of Copper and the Nitrous Acid. By B. Higgins, M. D. Communicated by R. Brocklesby, M. D. F. R. S. and of the Royal College of Physicians in London. p. 137 XVII. Extracts of some Letters, from Sir William Johnson, Bart. to Arthur Lee, M. D. F. R. S. on the Customs, Manners, and Language of the Northern Indians of America. p. 142 XVIII. An Account of some curious Fishes, sent from Hudson’s Bay; by Mr. John Reinhold Forster, F. R. S. in a Letter to Thomas Pennant, Esq; F. R. S. p. 149 XIX. Experiments on the different Kinds of Marle found in Staffordshire, by William Withering, M.D. Communicated by Charles Morton, M. D. Sec. R. S. p. 161 XX. A XX. A Letter from Patrick Brydone, Esq. to Sir John Pringle, Bart. Pres. R. S. containing an Account of a fiery Meteor, seen on the 10th of February last; and also of some new electrical Experiments. Dated Eccles, (in the Shire of Berwick) 7 July, 1772. p. 163 XXI. Some Account of a Fossil lately found near Christ-Church in Hampshire; in a Letter to Dr. Maty, Sec. R. S. from the Hon. Daines Barrington, Vice Pres. R. S. p. 171 XXII. A Description of a rare American Plant of the Brownææ Kind; with some Remarks on this Genus. By Peter Jonas Bergius, F. R. S. p. 173 XXIII. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Samuel Kirkshaw, D. D. Vicar of Leeds, and Rector of Ripley, in the County of York, to William Moun- taine, Esq; F. R. S. Communicated by William Watson, M. D. and F. R. S. p. 177 XXIV. Extract of a Letter from Paul Panton, Esq; of Plasgwyn in Anglesey, to the Hon. Daines Barrington, V. P. R. S. concerning the Increase of Population in Anglesey. p. 180 XXV. A Letter to the Rev. Nevil Maskelyne, F. R. S. Astronomer Royal, from Mr. Bailly, of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris: Containing a Proposal of some new Methods of improving the Theory of Jupiter's Satellites; translated from the French; with the Original underneath. p. 185 XXVI. A Letter from Mr. Bernard, of Deptford, to Mr. Robertson, Lib. R. S. containing a short Account of an Explosion of Air, in a Coal-Pit, at Middleton, near Leeds in Yorkshire. p. 217 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS, GIVING SOME ACCOUNT OF THE Present Undertakings, Studies, and Labours, OF THE INGENIOUS, IN MANY Considerable Parts of the WORLD. VOL. LXIII. PART II. LONDON: Printed for LOCKYER DAVIS, in Holbourn, Printer to the ROYAL SOCIETY. M.DCC.LXXIV. CONTENTS TO VOL. LXIII. PART II. XXVII. Extract of a Register of the Barometer, Thermometer, and Rain, at Lyndon in Rutland, 1772, by T. Barker, Esq.; Communicated by Sir John Pringle, Bart. P. R. S. p. 21 XXVIII. Observations on the Lagopus, or Ptarmigan; in a Letter from the Hon. Daines Barrington, V. P. R. S. to Mathew Maty, M. D. S. R. S. p. 224 XXIX. Account of the Effects of Lightning at Steeple Ashton and Holt, in the County of Wilts, on the 20th of June, 1772, contained in several Letters, communicated by Edward King, Esq.; F. R. S. p. 21 XXX. A Letter to Mathew Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S.; containing some Observations on a singular Sparry Incrustation found in Somersetshire. By Edward King, Esq.; F. R. S. p. 241 XXXI. Experiments and Observations on the Singing of Birds, by the Hon. Daines Barrington, Vice Pres. R. S. In a Letter to Mathew Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. p. 249 XXXII. An XXXII. An Account of the Tokay and other Wines of Hungary, by Sylvester Douglas, Esquire: Communicated by Edward Poore, Esq; F. R. S. p. 292 XXXIII. On the Figure and Composition of the Red Particles of the Blood, commonly called the Red Globules. By Mr. William Hewson, F. R. S. and Teacher of Anatomy. p. 303 XXXIV. Account of the Effects of a Thunder-Storm on the 15th of March, 1773, upon the House of Lord Tylney at Naples. In a Letter from the Hon. Sir William Hamilton, Knight of the Bath, his Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Naples, and F. R. S. to Mathew Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. p. 324 XXXV. An Extract of a Letter from Dr. Nooth to Dr. Franklin, F. R. S. on some Improvements in the Electrical Machine. p. 333 XXXVI. Properties of the Conic Sections; deduced by a compendious Method. Being a Work of the late William Jones, Esq; F. R. S. which he formerly communicated to Mr. John Robertson, Libr. R. S. who now addresses it to the Reverend Nevil Maskelyne, F. R. S. Astronomer Royal. p. 340 XXXVII. An Essay, towards elucidating the History of the Sea-Anemonies, by Abbé Dicquemare, Member of several Academies, Professor of Experimental Philosophy, &c. at Havre de Grace. Communicated by Mathew Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. p. 361 XXXVIII. Account of a new Hygrometer. By M. J. A. De Luc, Citizen of Geneva, F. R. S. and Correspond. Member of the Academies of Paris and of Montpellier. p. 404 XXXIX. Of XXXIX. Of the Electric Property of the Torpedo. In a Letter from John Walsh, Esq; F. R. S. to Benjamin Franklin, Esq; LL. D. F. R. S. Ac. R. Par. Soc. Ext., &c. p. 461 XL. Anatomical Observations on the Torpedo. By John Hunter, F. R. S. p. 481