Memoirs and Papers sent to the Royal Society of London

Collection I. Comprised of eleven short Memoirs and Papers sent to the Royal Society of London, including four holograph items by Folkes: all are initialed, signed, or endorsed by him.

MS.2391/1: (Brief?) Memoir upon the communication of Electricity: read at the public meeting at the Royal Academy of Sciences, the 12 of Nov(ember)r 1746, by Monsieur le Monier the younger, M.D. of the Royal Academy of Sciences and F.R.S., 1746. Holograph MS. by Folkes, endorsed: 'Dec. 11, 1746. Pr. Tr. 481. VI'. Produced in London. Louis Guillaume Lemonnier [1717-1799] was a French physician and scientist. He was elected F.R.S. in 1745, was a member of the Académie des Sciences and professor of botany at the Jardin du Roi in 1758.

MS.2391/2: A remark on Father Hardouin('s) amendment of a passage in Pliny's Natural History, 1747. Endorsed: 'No. 1. Jan. 22. 1746-7. Pr. Tr. 482. V.' Produced in London.

MS.2391/3: An account of some Magnetical Experiments exhibited before the Royal Society on Thursday the 19th of February 1746 (1747), by Gowin Knight, M.B., F.R.S.: of which the President (Folkes) ... was pleased to make the following report, 1747. Endorsed on the verso of the last leaf: 'Feb. 19. 1746/7. Dr. Knight. Pr. in Append. Tr. 474. II.' Produced in London. Knight was a scientist and physician, and the first principal librarian of the British Museum. He was elected F.R.S. in 1747 [see the Dictionary of National Biography].

MS.2391/4: An account of the Pitt diamond, 1747. Endorsed on the last leaf: 'March 17. 1747'. Produced in London.

MS.2391/5: Bailey, Edward (1693-1755), 1746. An account of a very large Stone, found in the Colon of a Horse; and of several Stones which were taken from the Intestines of a Mare: with some Experiments and Observations thereon. Probably holograph: the 'Figures' referred to on p. 13 are wanting. There is an inserted slip by Folkes noting the loss. With his endorsement: 'No. 3. Dec. 11. 1746. Pr. Tr. 481. VII'. Produced in Havant. The author matriculated at Leiden in 1715, and obtained his M.D. at Rheims in 1714: he practised at Havant in Hampshire.

MS.2391/6: Costa, Emanuel Mendes da (1717-1791), 1746. Dissertation on those fossil figured stones called Belemnites. Endorsed: 'No. 6. Jan. 29. 1746-7. Pr. Tr. 482. XI.' He has also copied out the title on the verso of the last leaf. Produced in London. The author was a Portuguese mineralogist of Jewish descent, elected F.R.S. in 1747. [see the Dictionary of National Biography].

MS.2391/7: Ellicott, John (1706?-1772), c. 1747-1748. An Essay towards discovering the laws of Electricity, addressed to the Royal Society, 1748 [London.]. Endorsed: 'No. 2 March 24. 1747-8. Pr. Tr. 486. XI. 2'. The author was a scientist and clock-maker and was elected F.R.S. in 1748 [see the Dictionary of National Biography].

MS.2391/8: Ellicott, John (1706?-1772), -1748. A continuation of the foregoing Essay [London.] 1748. The title, some additions and corrections, and the text of the last leaf with signature, are by the author's hand. Endorsed: 'No. 3. May 19. 1748'. On the title-page, by a different hand: 'read Thursday May 19. 1748'.

MS.2391/9: Fothergill, John (1712-1780), 1748. An account of some observations and experiments made in Sibiria, extracted from the Preface to the 'Flora Sibirica, sive historia plantarum Sibiriae ...', auct[ore] D. Gmelin, Chem[iae] et Hist[oriae] Nat[uralis] Prof[essore] Petropoli 1747, 4to. vol. Im. Endorsed by Folkes: 'March 31. 1748. Pr. Tr. 486. XVII.' Part of the Title is by his hand. Produced in London. John Fothergill obtained his M.D. at Edinburgh in 1736, and was elected F.R.S. in 1763 [see the Dictionary of National Biography]. Peter Collinson, naturalist and antiquary was elected in 1728 [Cf. ibid.].

MS.2391/10: Gersten, Christian Ludwig (1701-1762), 1746-1747. Mercurius sub Sole visus in specula astronomica Academiae Giesensis [sic] Anno 1743, die 5 Novembris. Inserted is an 8vo. sheet, written by a different hand, entitled: 'Via Cometae qui ab initio Martii 1742 usque ad initium Aprilis apparuit, ex observationibus in Observatorio et Collegio Patrum S. J. Pekini Sinarum habitis, et secundum Aequatorem ac Eclipticam, uti ad propriam eius orbitam supputata'. Endorsed by Folkes: 'No. 4. Pr. Gersten Obs. Mercury sub Gold Nov. 1. 1743. Jan. 22. 1746-7. Pr. Tr. n.° 482. VIII'. He has also endorsed the single sheet: 'Novr. 13. 1746. Pr. Tr. 481. II.' Produced in Giessen. Gersten was appointed professor of astronomy at Giessen in 1733: he was elected F.R.S. in 1738.

MS.2391/11: Glass, Samuel ( -1773), 1746. An uncommon Dropsy from the Want of a Kidney, and a Description of a large Saccus that contained the Water. Endorsed by Folkes: 'No. 2. Jan. 8. 1746-7. Pr. Tr. 482. II.' Produced in Oxford. The author describes himself as 'Surgeon at Oxford'; he was elected F.R.S. in 1764.

1746-1748

1 volume v.s. Unbound.

cf. MS.5403

Database description transcribed from S.A.J. Moorat, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts on Medicine and Science in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library (London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1962-1973).