125

Dec: 20: 1677

(1) Entred.

The minutes of the 13 Instant were read and mr. Henshaw the vice president then
in . . . chair Desired that the Expt. of the small animals in Pepperwater might be shewd
to my Lord Halifax then present. who plainly Discouerd them swimming vp & down in
the liquor.
. . . mr. Oliuer Hill was called vpon for his Dicourse which he had promised the
Day before vpon seuerall maters that had been shewn in the Society. to wch. he made
an apology for his not bringing in his thoughts of the Baroscope by reason that
he could not obtaine what obseruations had been made by Dr. Wallis & others wch
he had called for of mr Hooke but they were not in his custody. he likewise made some
obiections to wt. was entred as his sense the last Day and sayd that though he did
maintaine that we ought to be ruled by a theory in the making all our experiments
yet he sayd he would be vnderstood to haue that Theory founded vpon preuious
expts. Vpon such a theory as this he affirmed to haue found the cause of the
little animalls aboue mentiond. And that was; That the skin of the pepper .
was being very porous & full of small cells was the cause of . . . the Recie
ving the spirit of the air which is there as in matrixes . . . into Animalls
and by /the/ heat and Drynesse of the Pepper hatched into animalcul. that these little
creatures were actually aliue in the pores of the skin of the black pepper &
that they were by water to be washed . . . off from the superficier of them
when it was obiected that this Did not seem soe probable, that these should be
in the pores of the skin of the pepper since It had been obserud that Creatures
not much vnlike had been found in the steeping of oats wheat barly pease
and diuers other steepings and euen in ^ /raine/ water it self. he affirmed the same
principles would make it out. for where euer there was a . . . fit matter the
spirit would operate & produce an animal.
The vice president affirmed Alledged that Rhedi had affected /found/ particular Animals
adherent to particular bodys. whence it was probable that those animals
if they had been produced by the pepper would not haue been produced
in those other waters in wch.oats wheat Barly &c had been Steeped
and therefore it was more probable that these Little creature were
pr originally in the water and that the peppe infusion of the . . .
pepper had only afforded them a better food wherein they increasd
more plentifully. and that their seeds or eggs were Despersud vp &c
. . . /in/ the water and not in the water. pepper.
To this mr O. Hill Affirmed that there was noe need of any such thing as a
seed or eggs since there was a spt. of nature which was euery where &
^ /where it/ found fitt matter to work on there it produced that an animal
when it was obiected that there was ^ /neuer/ yet any certaine Expt. ^ /or obseruation/ of the
production of an animal where there might not be shewn very
good reason to beleiue that there was a seed or egge for its cause

Ref: CELL/RS/HF_127  © Centre for Editing Lives and Letters