233

August the 1st. 1698.

The President Sr. Ioseph Williamson tooke the chair.

Dr. Grew Read a Letter to mr. Leibnitz in answer to that of the

It was orderd that mr. weeks should coppy the same into the Letter booke

Then mr Hooke read his minutes of the Last Day -


which hauing Done he Produced a peice of Punk Giuen him by the
virginia merchant who had acquainted him wth the former Relation and
Description thereof. It was a very light spongy substance and seemd
to be noe other then the substance of a fungus or mushrome it was
of a brown colour and Readily tooke fire and would continue to bvrne
till the fire were stifled but seemd not to burn very fiercely.

vpon wch. mention was made of the moxa of the east Indies wch. cures
the Goute by the appljcation thereof burning to the place affected
which seemed also to be a kind of spunk.
Sr. Christopher Wren noted that twas probable that both these
cures might be effected by the heat of the fire and not by any
peculiar virtue in either the moxa or the Punk -
mr supposd that twas the heat also of the limestone which had effec
ted the cure of the gout mentiond in the notes of the Last Day.
some mention also was made of the cures Done by naturall heats
of liuing bodys outwardly applyed
Sr. Christopher wren mentiond that the rasing of a blister would cure
the stinging of wasps. It was likewise added that the heat
of a red hott Iron would cure the biting of adders And that
there was a man that sould adders who had seuerall times -
shewn the experiment and would at any time to one that was
curious, for a reward in money

mr. Hooke then Read a Discourse of his concerning the
nature and Power of springs and Elasticall body. Giuing not
only an account of the nature and power of all sorts of springy
bodys and the seuerall phenomena thereof but of the Reasons
and Grounds of those phenomena. As will more at Large appear
in the Discourse It self wch. he Designes speedily to Publish -
The he Exhibited two Experiments in order to proue his said
Theory the one wth. A helicall spring of Brasse wire &

Ref: CELL/RS/HF_235  © Centre for Editing Lives and Letters