365

Nouember the 20th. 1679.

The Society againe met vpon summons sent forth

Mr Christopher Wren the Mr. Henshaw the viceprest. tooke the chair
The minutes of the 7th. of August were Read which gaue occasion of further
Discourse about sensation and sight And it was concluded that sensati
on was made by the help of the medium and that the eye Iudged of the place
of the obiect only by the impression made on the eye by that end of the
Ray which Immediately touched the Eye and that the Imagination always
conceiued those Rayes to proceed in a Direct Line to the obiect and was not
sensible of any Refraction or reflection of those Rayes without some
other help to Informe the Iudgement, that ^ /Direct/ was much of the same nature
wth. the feeling of Differing substances by the help of a stick which is -
straight and soe the blind man distinguishes the nature & position of those
things he touches wth his stick by meanes of his hand which Directs and hold
the stick fast soe that any thing that moues the end of his stick moues also his head
that the Refracted or Reflected ray is immitated by a stick various beaded
whereby the blind man not knowing of it supposes the substances touched by
the end of it to be there where that part of the end of his stick held in his hand
doth directly point.

Dr. Crone Propounded Dr. Henry Palmon a Candidate of this Society
mr. Flamstead Related that he had obserued the Refraction to be a whole
minute at the Height of 45 Degrees and that /was/ very considerable also
at the height of 60. degrees and that it was sensible almost to the zenith

Dr. Croon moued it as a very desirable thing to haue the Barometer ob=
serued in seuerall Places. for that It did something vary very much
in a small Distance of Places. And to confirm this he alledged that
by comparing the obseruations made at Paris wth those he had made
here he found them sometimes to Differ very much.
mr. Flamstead conceiued that the Barometer was only alterd
by the wind.
mr. Henshaw conceiued it Proceeded from the vapours that were
in the air. and that the greatest part of those vapours were
brought from between the tropicks into these northerne parts./
It was Desired that mr. Hooke should write so      Sturmius at
Altorf to Desire him to keep an account there of the variations
of the Barometer, which he promised to doe -

mr Flamstead affirmed that he had compared the obseruations
of mr. Townly wth. his own & found them much the same &
to Differ very Little

It was obserued that these Last Raines were Generall througout all
[. . . . . . . . .] it was conceiued that the alterations of the Barometer.

Ref: CELL/RS/HF_367  © Centre for Editing Lives and Letters