307
march. 27. 1679.
m
r. Henshaw the vice p
t. in the chair.
The minutes of march 20
th. ^ /being/ Read Gaue occa
sion to Di
scour
se
further concerning the works of Roger Bacon, And It was Iudged very
De
sirable that All his works were printed together, But that before this vn
dertaking were begun all Imaginable care should be v
sed to Inquire what
parts of his writings may lye Di
sper
sed in Priuate Librarys more then are
to be found in the Publique. As his Computus naturalium is in vniuersity colledge
library but not in the Publique Library.
m
r. Aubery Affirmed that m
r. wood in his Engli
sh Edition of the Anti
quitys of Oxford Had Giuen a more particular account of R Bacons
life and had in
serted a catalogue of his works
Aubery was Desired to write to m
r wood to send his Catalogue of Roger Bacons works
The same al
so propo
sed that there might be a catalogue made of al
the Bookes & treati
ses written & publi
shed by any of
the members of
the Royall Society for that the thing might now easily enough be done
which would be much more Difficult if it were omitted too Long
D
r. Plot ^ /therevpon/ Propo
sed it as a thing very de
sirable that a Generall Catalogue
might be made of all the manu
scripts that could be found In England
whether in Publique
of or Priuate keeping.
D
r. Gale proposed that m
r. Hooke would perv
se the Epistle of Rog. Bacon
to Pope Clement, and take notice of w
t was con
siderable about any Inuenti
ons
to be suppo
sed to haue been the product of a much Later Age. for
thtin this epi
stle D
r. Gale conceiues is the Epitomy of All his Inuentions
mentiond, elswhere in his works, And that therefore he would thereby
quickly see w
t. might be expected.
D
r. Plot was desired to collate it w
th the oxford manu
scripts - - -
The same
mention Related that there was in some part of the said Bacons
work mention made of a way of Blowing vp a ship that had been
sunk
which was by conveying fire down to the ^ /bottom of a/ ship through a pipe filld
w
th a compo
sition like Gunpowder and soe setting fire /to/ it
m
r. Henshaw Related an Exp
t of
then making a peice of Iron Red hott
by Hammering which was, that A small barr of Iron
being about
the bigne
sse of ones finger being forged to a small point, /&/
Thebeing very nimbly hammered on an anvill would by the continuanc[e]
thereof be made red hot w
thout ^ /the help of/ any other heat
m
r. Hill propo
sed that It might be tryed whether any thing either natura[ll]
or Artificiall would burne in or vnder water. to w
ch. m
r Hooke -
Answered that this effect might be performed w
th Gunpowder
Ref: CELL/RS/HF_309 © Centre for Editing Lives and Letters
