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Iuly. 11th. 1678.

  mr. Henshaw the vice president tooke the chair.
mr. Hooke gaue an account of the tryall of an Expt. propounded the last
Day by Dr. Croon to be made to see whether a plant set into a glasse
of water will grow in vacuo. . . . relating that a plant being
put into water vpon tuesday Last by mr Hunt the Air was and set into the Receiur
of the air pump he had indeauoured to keept the air exhausted euer since
by now & then fetching out ^ /by pumping/ what air might haue gotten in, and the plant which
was a blade of mint was obserued to be withered & Dead.
Herevpon was occasiond Discourse about the vse of air both to animalls and vege
tables. and of wt. animalls were obserued to liue Longest in the euacuated space
herevpon vipers. bees. snailes &c were mentiond but the snaile was mentiond as
a creature the Least sensible of the alteration of the medium. vipers were men
tiond to Liue Long. in it yet to be mightily swoln by the expansion of the air in
them. mr Henshaw gaue some instances of the strange stretching quality of
their skins. which some of the Society desiring to see mr. Hunt was orderd to
Fitt the engine and to procure a viper for tryall the next meeting. Dr. Cox
Desird a tortoise might be tryed also it being a creature that will liue Buried
in the earth a whole winter wthout air. others mentiond, snalles, sluggs
griggs and Bees. and mr. Hunt was orderd to procure as many as he could
against next Day.

Dr. Cox queryd about the slime of Eeles. whence it should proceed?
Dr Grew supposd it to be produced by certain glandules vnder the Skin
/after the manner as the glands in the throat eject continually a slime/
mr. Hooke supposd it Rather to proceed from the transudation of the vapours or
sweat or rather insensible transpiration of the eeles. which vapours comming -,
into the Water condense and conuert that wch. is contiguous into a Slymy Sub=
stance after the same manner as the seed of oculus Xts. put into water
doe condense the water about them into a jelly. And mentiond that he
had a way of conuerting Slime againe into water. -
Herevpon It was Debated whether the skin had Distinct pores or not. Dr. Grew
was of opinion that It had Distinct pores which he affirmed he could make visi
ble and that they were placed after the form of sphericall triangles. that he
could see the sweat Issue out of them.

mr. Hooke, supposd the skin to haue noe Distinct pores, which but Defined or
Rather Described the skin to be a body consisting of two sorts of substances
the one soled the other fluid. the soled parts was an infinite /close/ contexture of in
finite small fibres euery way interwouen like the hairs of wool in a peice of
cloth or felt. And thence was the reason of the great aptness it had fore
stretching and shrinking ^ /euery way/ as may be also obserud in a loosly wouen peice of
cloth.

The other part was a fluid which filld the Interstitia of all these contexed
fibres. the fluid was compounded of a more gummous substance and a more wa
tery. the watery part was that wch. comming to the out side of the skin was
exhaled into the air by which meas the gummous parts were thicker next
the air then els where and produced the cuticula. which if it were either by
fire or other accidentall cause thickned too much to Lett the watery part /from/ ani
mixing ^ /& compelling through it/ the watery part would gather behind it into a body & make blisters
or otherwise throw it off in scurfe. see X on the otherside.

The Discourse about eeles produced an other to wit about the Liuing of fish vpon
very Little food. Dr. Cox Affirmed that he had kept a crawfish in a cesterne of Lead
wthout any other food but the water where it had increasd & grown much bigger
Sr. I Hoskins affirmd it vsuall to feed crawfish. But said that there were some

Ref: CELL/RS/HF_227  © Centre for Editing Lives and Letters