Royal Society EL/A/29

The Minutes of the Dublin Philosophical Society and Covering Letter, June 1685

On 4th July 1685 St George Ashe sent a copy of the minutes of the Dublin Philosophical Society for the previous month to the Royal Society.

The meeting on 1st June was taken up with a discussion of Mr Aland's paper on longitude, originally presented at their previous meeting. No meeting was held on 8th June, because it was Whitsun week.

15th June

A letter from Mr Musgrave was read, which included a discourse on weather by Dr Garden. This generated a number of questions to be investigated concerning barometers. Dr Willoughby discoursed upon an optical illusion experienced during hot weather in Rhegium, Italy, reported by Athanasius Kircher and the selling of winds in Lapland.
A letter from Francis Aston,honorary secretary of the Royal Society, dated 4th June was read, in which he confirmed that members who belonged to the Dublin Society would be required to pay a lower subscription. The members of the society undertook to promote John Ray's History of Fishes when published. (This work, which proved expensive for the Royal Society, was published in 1686 under the name of Ray's former patron Francis Willughby, who had died in 1672.) The society requested details of Dr Papin's method of raising water, if it was not to be published soon, and a more detailed account of the barometer readings taken in London and of an experiment concerning bodies in water. The experiements described involving water passing through bodies were to be repeated by Ashe and Mr Smith.
Dr Silvius presented a new medical journal and gave the society an account of Voight and Johann Kunckel concerning acid and urine, which he was asked to investigate.

22nd June

Following the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting, a further question concerning barometer measurements was added.
Dr Huoglaghan reported on the dissection of a child with 2 heads (Siamese twins).
A letter from Mr Musgrave dated 29th May was read. It contained drawings of a large bladder stone, the earthenware vessel found at York (mentioned in the minutes for 11th May) and a shell taken from a woman's urethra. It also contained a copy of Dr Wallis's discourse on the weight of air in answer to Dr Garden's work, half of which was read to the meeting. George Tollet responded to this with the observation that the windows of Dublin castle were sucked in during the recent fire.
Mr Ashe described a man in Galway who suckled his daughter for 9 months, a full account of which was requested.
It was agreed that a monstrous fish caught at Myresan should be examined.

29th June

Description of the monstrous fish reported at the last meeting, including measurements. As it had been dried and salted before the society got to it, no internal organs could be examined. Mr Sandyes was instructed to make drawings.
Dr Mullen presented some funeral urns found in Dontrilegue, co. Cork, along with a letter describing the find by Mr Antony Ingby. Mr Smith reported a similar find at a Viking site in Warringstowne, co. Down, from which an urn had been presented to the library at Trinity College.
A letter from Mr Musgrave dated 30th May was read, which included minutes from the Oxford Society. These included Dr Lister's proposal for cutting the stone through the pubic bone, which Dr Mullen affirmed was described by van Rhuinhuyse and Dr Dun that it was the usual procedure in France. Some of Mr Ballard's experiments involving the heating of water through the addition of spirit of wine were tried and were to be repeated at the next meeting.
Mr Foley sent a stone (fossil) in the shape of a bird's wing.
Mr Smith reported the finding of a stone burial chamber containing two urns during bridge repairs at Loughbricklan, co. Down. The finders, thinking the urns contained money, broke them.

The covering letter enclosed a letter from Dr Willoughby, as Vice President of the Society, containing George Tollet's response to Hern's pamphlet. He requested, that the Royal Society and the Oxford Philosophical Society should adjudge the dispute, the former forwarding the paper to Oxford when they had considered it. The enclosure also included 2 propositions concerning gunnery and further information was sought on a similar proposition of Edmund Halley's, which had not been properly explained to them.