( 5 66 ) 

fupernatans feparaveram, vifus eft mihi alius liquor, 
cum aqua non permiftus, vafis feparatorii fun- 
dura petiiifej hoc etiam edudo, inveni efle Oleum 
Macis, aqua ponderofius: Ita ut ex eadem planta, 
eademque operatione, Oleum difpari gravitate extraxe- 
rim. In fuperiore parte hujus Oiei, aliquid cryftal- 
Jinje forma; hodie fluduare videtur} attamen cujus 
-generis fit fubftantia, five Camphora, five non, tempus 
docebit. 

P. S. 

Poftquam differentias inter noftrum Oleum Thymi 
coagularum 5 c Camphoram orientalem fupra defcrip- 
feram, Dominus Johannes Mattel, Chymicus, oftendit 
mihi Oleum Majorante coagulatum, quod nuper, 8c 
inopinato in vafe, (in quo Oleum Majoranae quinque 
annos afiervatum fuerat) invenit. 

Hoc Oleum coagulatum Majoranae etiam eadem ex- 
perimenta, cum Oleo noftro Thymi coagulato, fubire 
volui, quod & fadum eft, & multum inter fe conve- 
nire reperiebam, ita ut hoc nihilo magis, quam no¬ 
ftrum, nomen Camphorae mereri, fat is fciam. 


III. Two Letters on the EffeEls of Lightning, from 
the Qlpverend Mr. Jof. Waffe, (fieBor of Aynho 
in Northamptonlliire, to Dr. Mead. 

W E are told by Mr. Jeffop, in the Tranfadions, 
that what the common People call Fairy Circles, 
are occafioned by Lightning ; but I think it has not 
yet been obferved, that they continue vifible 50 Years, 
and that no Compofition of Ufe in Fire-works will 
produce near fo lafting an EfFed, as I have expe¬ 
rienc’d. There feems to be fomething here, which 

Sulphur 


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( 3<*7 ) 

Sulphur and Nitre will hardly account for. Does it 
depend upon the great Quantity of the Matter dif- 
charged, or the Violence with which it is impelled > 
The Ground is no way tore up, and the Grafs is only 
a little blafted jwhich would make one think its Force 
well nigh fpent: Whereas, when the Burft is near 
us, the Effed is like that of a Petard, as appears 
from the following Inftance. 

On Saturday July- 3, at Mix bury, three Miles Eaft 
of this Place, about two in the Afternoon, William 
Hall, aged above Six-tv, was found dead in a hard 
gravelly Field, together with five Sheep, which lay 
round him about 30 Yards Drftanee: Of the five, that 
only, which lay neareft him, had a vifible Wound 
through the Head. The Shepherd lay partly upon 
his Side j the upper Part of his Head was terribly 
fradur ? d, and his right Knee was out of joint: He 
had a Wound in the Sole of his Foot, towards the 
Heel y his right Ear was cut off, and beaten into hia 
Skull, and Blood flow’d out of that Part upon the 
Ground. He is fuppofed to have been driving thofe 
Sheep. All his Cloaths and Shirt were torn into 
fmall Pieces, and hung about him j but from the 
Girdle downwards were carried away intirely, and 
fcattered up and down the Field: Particularly, the 
Soles of a new flrong Pair of Shoes were rent off. His 
Hat was driven to Pieces: I have a Hand breadth of 
it full of irregular Slits, and, in fome few Places, cut 
as with a very lharp Pen-knife, and a little finged in 
the upper Part. His Beard, and the Hair of his 
Head were, for the mod Part, clofe burnt off. The 
Iron Buckle of his Belt was thrown 40 Yards off, and 
a Knife in the right Side Pocket of his Breeches was 
broken in Piece?, not melted, and the Haft fplit. Near 
each Foot appear two round Holes about a Yard 
3 deep, 



( 3 68 ) 

deep, and five Inches Diameter, which Ihews the 
Farce of the Blow* I have feen an Iron Ball fhot put 
of a.Mortar almoft perpendicular, which, upon a like 
gravelly Sail, made not a greater Impreflion. About 
ihe Time this Accident happen’d, a Trade f man of the 
Tame Town obferved a Sort of Fire-ball, as large as a 
Man’s Head, to burft in four Pieces near the Church. 
The Storm began here at i h 3oh and lafted, with lnter- 
miffions, to 2 1 '3c/,and we faw the Lightning towards 
Jilesbury all the Evening. Two Perfons at Aynho 
were a little hurt at the fame Time, and one of them 
ftruck down to the Ground, and fays, he thought he 
was felled with a Beetle. I myfelf heard the Hifs of 
a Ball of Fire, almoft as big as the Moon, which flew 
over my Garden, from S. E. to N. W. 

I Thought I had been impertinently circumftantial 
in the Account of the late Storm ; but there ftill 
remains a Particular or two to complete it. J order’d 
my Nephew, a Student of Merton a pretty good 
Philofopher, to fearch the Holes made by the Biafl, 
which the Owner of the Ground faid, his Confcience 
permitted him not to do. He prevailed upon him, 
at laft, with Money, Ale, and other rural Argu¬ 
ments, to trace the Path-way of it. Both the Holes, 
at firft, were almoft perpendicular for half a Yard, 
and after that grew narrower j in both of them, the 
Matter divided into two Parts, and form’d horizontal 
Cavities about three Inches Diameter. In one he 
found a very hard glazed Stone, of about 10 inches 
long, 6 wide, and 4 in Thicknefs, crack’d in two: 
Others it could not pierce, but was turned here and 
there out of its Courfe, but left not the leaft Biack- 
nefs, or other Difcolouring any where. As to the 
Knife, it was not the Blade, but the Haft, and the 

Hinge 



( 3<S? ) 

Hinge that goes into it, which was fhiver’d inPictes. 
Near the Sheep that was wounded, the Ground was 
tore up near two Yards round. It was very furpri- 
zing, that the Man’s Body was not beat to Pieces, or 
Bones broke at leafL Had Statius obferv’d a human 
Tabernacle withftanding a Shock To terrible, when 
the very Stones, lodg’d in the Ground, gave Way, he 
would, no doubt, have put him upon a Level with 
Capaneus ; 

- - — f 0 to Jove fulmen adaBum 

Corripuit: prima fugere in nubila crijla 
Et clype 't niger umbo cadit j jamq\ omnia lucent 
Membra viri. 

Exuiturq j animus } paulum fi tardius artus 
Cejjifl'ent, potuit fulmen meruijfe fecundum . 

To make a grofs Eftimate of the Force, I took a Cohorn 
charg’d with three Quarters of a Pound of very good 
Powder, wadded with thick Paper, and fired it againft 
a Stone of the fame Dimenfions, but not fo hard, 
which it fhatter’d to Pieces at half an Inch Di- 
fiance: But, in the other Blow, we have above tre¬ 
ble the Effed, without any difcoverable Particles at 
all; and yet it feems to fly like fmall Shot j pierces 
only here and there, and leaves a good many Places 
quite untouch’d, as is evident from the Hat which I 
have by me. To confirm this, James Marfbal of this 
Town affures me, that in the Middle of the fame 
Storm, he received a Blow upon his Hat, which rat¬ 
tled like Shot through the Branches of a Tree: It 
beat in the Crown a little without penetrating it: 
He dagger’d and was giddy for two Days afterward. 
Two of his Sons were, at the fame lnftant, both 
knock’d down to the Ground, and flunn’d a little, but 
presently came to themfelves, and have no Wound: 

F f f They 



( %?o ) 

They are about act, and *3 Tears old, jQu, whe¬ 
ther this may not be accounted for, by ftn?pofing the 
Flame t<^ rarify th# Air, and make a Sort of Vacuum 
about one * inter- which, when it returns agajn, it gives 
the Likenefs of a Stroke with a Beetle, as he expret- 
fe? it. I fancy a Wind-Gun, with compref&U Air, 
wou’d have the fame Effed, and might eafiiy be try’d 
upon a Dog, or fuch like Animat 


IV. De Tiribuf Magnetkh. Epiftola Viri Doflijfimi 
P. ^Mufchenbroek, M. 3). ad (ReV* 1 - J, Th. 
Defaguliers, LL. D. 5 . S. 

O Uurn motus, quos vocarnus Attradiones, frequen- 
tiffimi videantur in Natura, St plurimi effedus 
ab hifee pendeant, ad eos animum advertere caepi, ut 
intelligerem quales eflent, quaenam eorum caufa, 6c 
quibufsam proportionibus operarentur: cum vero in 
magnttibus videantur hi effedus fortiffimi, fufpicari 
czepi an ex iis non aliquantum plus lucis famerarer, 
quam ex aliis corporibus j St an, quod in majori gradu 
obtinet inter magnetes, non obtineret in minori for- 
fan inter quadibet alia corpora 3 ad experimenta cura 
magnetibus igitur veni, plura diverfa inftitui, quas in¬ 
fra deferibam, fed poft plurimos labores videor illud 
tantum colligere poife j magnetes non agere in fe, 
aut in ferrum, per effluvia quasdam corporea, fed cau- 
fam eorum effe penitus ignotam, St forte non corpo- 
ream. Conjeduris non detinebo te, nee pretiofiffimum, 
quod tibi fupereft a gravioribus negotiis, furripiam 
hifee vanis cogitationibus tempus ; credo enim nihil 
e(Te magisnoxium promovendze feientiae, quam fi con- 
jeduras pro demonftrationibus obtrudamus. 

3 Prirnum 




