Physiologicall Notes
Begun
the 25th of January[altered from 'begun On New-yeares-day'][pencil]
[Retrospective marginalia:]
Tbd /
An Ingenious person, and very worthy of Credit,
inform'd me the other day,
<in>[replacing 'thereto by way of'] answer to some questions that I proposd to him, that Hee was
imployd some years ago by a German physitian (whose Name hee told me) to
distill a certain Minerall not unknown to me which hee performd in a naked fire
with
<so>[insertion in margin ] good success that he had from about {pound}
{half} of the minerall neer
{ounce}[altered from '{drachm}']
iii of the liquor; this hee included in a glass with a
bubble[first 'b' inserted] and a
slender neck like one of my weather glasses: But tho. the liquor at first
reacht not above the bubble but onely filld it to the botom of the pipe, yet as
the Moon encreasd this liquor, as the doctor expected, by degrees, expanded it
self in the glass, so that about the full {moon} it reacht about an inch into
the pipe
< and upon the decrease of the {moon} it subsided
by degrees to the botom of the pipe.>[insertion in margin ]
And['A' altered from 'a'] when I askt
whether the vessell were
[ 'sealed, the R he' deleted] carefully stop'd, hee answerd That it was
not only so but hermetically seald like one of my Thermometers with
[ 'Sp' deleted] {spirit of wine} which hee had seen. This the Relator
averrd to me upon his own Observation
[ 'and having told me the occasion of the tryall and' deleted] and
being desired hee readily gave mee a description of the minerall, and a
direction where to procure it (which I am now indeavouring to do) adding that
the same Dr made the like tryall with another [BP 22, p. 62]
minerale
<akin to this> with which my having heard that such an
Experiment had bin done gave me occasion to propose
<him> the question.
[Retrospective marginalia:]
/ Tbd
To manifest how much the facultyes of loosening and binding are
relative things and depend upon the disposition of the body to be wrought upon,
and so, upon the congruity betwixt the Agent & the Patient, I know an
Ingenious Gentlewoman, on whom Cynamon, which
[ 'has' deleted] generally is a considerable Astringent and Stomachick
Medicine has a quite contrary operation and that in a strange degree, insomuch
that having found by 2 or 3 accidentall Tryalls that
<a very little> cynamon seemd to disorder her stomach and prove
laxative, she resolv'd once to satisfy her self whether those discomposures
came by chance or no, and having strew'd some pouder-cynamon upon a toste she
was going to put into her ale, upon eating the toste she was
<copiously>[replacing 'violently'] purg'd for 2 days together, and that with such violence that it
put her into Convulsion fits
<and a kind of Spasmus Cynicus>, which she could never bee
perfectly free'd from being troubled with from time to time for 3 years, as was
the other day averr'd to me, and divers others that know her, by her husband
who is himself a learned man and a profest physitian.
[Retrospective marginalia:]
Tbd /
I met the other day with a very intelligent person well verst in
Chymistry, not credulous
<and>[replacing 'And'] in a word very well worthy of Credit who assur'd me that he
had himself seen
<a few years ago> at Mentz in the hands of one
Monsieur
Paulier a gentleman of Lausanne and a Virtuoso a piece of glass about the
bigness of a shilling or somewhat bigger which was red
<& pretty transparent>[in Boyle hand] like glass of Antim.
made per se, and which this Monsieur Paulier affirm'd to the relator that he
hammerd before the present
Elector of
<Heidelberg, (to whom I told him I had the honor
to be known, &) by whom the>[replacing 'Mentz, by whom the', Boyle hand] Relator was about that time employd, and this Mons. Paulier
being
[ 'of' deleted] his
<intimate> Acquaintance and perceiving [BP 22, p. 63]
[ 'minerall' deleted] that he was, as he well might be, indisposd to
beleive so strange a thing, after he had confest the glass to have bin given
him by an Excellent: Chymist in (his country)
Switzerland['S' altered from 'J'] at the
Relators earnest request gave him leave for his satisfaction to lay the piece
of glass upon an Anvill and to strike 7 or 8. strokes with a hammer upon it, by
which he found that tho. it was not malleable (at least in the state it then
was) like neald silver, since it began to crack at the edges like silver that
is over-hammerd, yet it did really stretch under the hammer growing more thin
on the beaten part and having visible marks or impressions made on it by the
edg of the hammer.
[Integral marginalia:]
[ 'Jan. 19' deleted]
This day being invited to my
L.Treasurers His Lordship
desir'd me to conferre with an Experienc'd Chirurgeon & Lithotomist about a
strange cure affirmed to have bin lately done of the stone in the Bladder by a
Gentlewoman, whereupon
[ 'I found th' deleted] finding the Chirurgion to be my Old Acquaintance
Mr. Hollyer a man of
unsuspected skill & credit, my Curiosity was the more raisd, and Hee in
answer['d' at end of word deleted] to my
Questions told me divers Circumstances which twere too long now here to mention
wherof['of' altered from 'n'] the
principall were these, That Hee well knew and perfectly remembred the
<youth>[replacing 'patient'], on whom the cure was said to be done That Hee had formerly
searcht him himself and found that hee had a stone in the Bladder, which hee
then judg'd to be of the bigness of a walnut; the youth (about 16 or 17 years
of age being likewise sadly afflicted with the
[ 'sympt' deleted] pains of that tormenting disease: That being told that
his patient had bin cured by a Medicin given him by one
Mrs. Lawrence, hee
beleivd it not [BP 22, p. 64] but supposd it to be either a fiction
or a mistake
[ 'of the stone's' deleted] imagining that the stone might bee brought to
bee lodgd or adhere to some part of the bladder, instead of being dissolved:
But the youth affirming himself to be Cured and divers
<other> persons giving out that the Stone came away from him for
some days in the form of a substance much like the scrapings of an old
Mud-wall, hee to satisfy my L. Treas.
within these 2 days searcht him again, but found no stone at all in his
Bladder. My L. T. also related to mee That
Hee sent to Dr. Terne
a fellow of the Colledg of Physicins and a skilfull Anatomist of myne
acquaintance about a young man whom both the
Dr['D' altered from 'd'] and
Mr. Molins the
Chirurgion affirmed to have the stone without all doubt, and tho. hee had bin
long in the Drs hands
was brought so low with pain & watching that Mr. Mol.
<would>[replacing 'durst'] not venture to cut him, hereupon the Dr. sent my
L. Treas. word that hee did acknowledg that
this young man was to his great wonder cured, and
<from> this patient as from the other was affirmed there came
away for divers days store of matter like the scrapings or mouldrings of a
mud-wall and at length a Kernell, as there came away also from the
forementioned youth: after which his pain & difficulty of urine and other
symptoms ceasd. A while after Mrs. Lawrence herself came in with whom I had
some talk, and shee affirmd that shee had first try'd the remedy upon herself
[BP 22, p. 65] and afterward upon above 30 persons if I mistake not
without fayling in any on whom shee tryd it, though some of them were very old
except it were on one boy that was deaf and dumb, whom shee was not sure to
have really had the stone. One late Cure she mention'd to us on a person not
far off and easy to be enquird after, which shee says, shee performd in 12
days; but while wee were talking there came in so much Company that shee was
not willing to discourse freely any longer, and I was obliged by urgent
occasions to go away and leave her there. Shee makes no
great['g' altered from 'd'] difference
whether the stone. bee in the Kidneys or Bladder, but is extreamly shy of her
Medicine and will not suffer any that is a physician to smell or tast it, but
from a person that has done both I learn that 'tis a drink which is not at all
Corrosive, neither saline, sowre nor spicy.
And['A' altered in composition] it begins
to give ease and bring away the Stone commonly in 3. or 4. days, if not sooner.
[Retrospective marginalia:]
/ Tbd
Relating to a Judicious Virtuoso that
[ '[approximately 1 character illegible]' deleted] a
physician of Bruxells a
while since affirm'd to me that Hee himself had prepar'd 3. or 4. resuscitable
plants, one of which hee had presented to the
marg. of Castell Rodrigo now governor of the Spanish
Netherlands where this Virtuoso had not long since bin. Relating this, I say,
to this Gentleman, and enquiring of him whether hee had seen this resuscitable
plant, hee answer'd me that hee had never seen, nor hear'd of it, but
[ 'that' deleted] told me on this occasion that
coming['ing' altered from 'e'] to deale
with an Apothecary of Namur much Esteem'd for his extraordinary skill in
Chymistry about some choice preparations, wherewith this man's shop
was['w' altered from 'is] furnish'd, the
Apothecary told the Virtuoso that he
<had> really prepar'd resuscitable plants
[BP 22, p. 66] a different way from that which others pretended to,
and that he could prepare a great variety of them.
And['A' altered from 'a'] when having
enquir'd of the virtuoso whether hee himself had seen any of these prepar'd
plants, hee assur'd me that hee had seen not only some but many; I then upon
farther enquirys how they appeard, learn'd that the Chymist had divers of them
in distinct glass-bottles; That the apparitions that were exhibited show'd not
the peculiar colours, but onely the Shape of the plant, but This so genuinely
that hee could perfectly distinguish and easily know it to be such or such a
plant instancing particularly in Carduus Benedictus,
<Camomill>[insertion in line in Boyle hand],
[space of half a line] and the difference
betwixt this way of exhibiting plants, and that which is mention'd by
Quercetan and
pretended to by Others, I found by this Gentlemans Answers to consist chiefly
in these two things: The 1st: that the Apothecary's plants did not
[ 'arise' deleted] as the others
<seem to grow up> into the air encluded in a
<seald> viall, but
<were seen>[replacing 'appeard']
<as growing> in a clear liquor wherewith the bottle
<that contain'd it> was almost filld; and the next That whereas
to
[ 'the' deleted] make the apparition mention'd by
Quercetan &
others, the application of an
[ 'natu' deleted] actuall heat (as that of a lamp, or the Sun-beams or the
like) is
<affirm'd>[replacing 'confessed'] to be requisite;
[ 'in the formation of the Apoth's plants, he es' deleted] upon the
absence['a' altered from 'r'] of which
the phantasticall plant relapses into its ashes: In the formation of the
Apothecary's Vegetables, hee doth not employ any actuall heat, but (which may
[BP 22, p. 67] seem more strange) only the shaking of the bottle,
for upon that agitation the prepard ashes or powder being raisd from the botom
and disperst quite through the liquor, when the glass is set by in a quiet
place, the scatter'd particles by degrees so convene, as to
<compose>[replacing 'exhibit'] a Modell of the plant they once belong'd to. And heat no[t][tear in page] being requisite to their
formation, these plants do not quickly,
[ 'as the former,
<fall>[replacing 'disappear']' deleted] as the Polonian physitian's recorded by
Quercetan, fall back
into a powder, but, if let alone,
continued['n' inserted] a great while
untill the preparer think fit by a gentle agitation of the bottle to dissolve
the loose contexture of it.
[Integral marginalia:]
[ 'Jan. 21' deleted]
Some hours
<agoe,> being at Southampton House a Gentleman related to
my L. T. enformed me
that at [space of 7-9 characters] in
[space of 12-14 characters] a farmer,
whose garden was next to that of this Gentleman, had a daughter of about 12
years of age, who from her infancy (another gentleman there present and
confirmed the story told mee
it['t' altered from 'f'] was from the
time she was 3. or 4. year old) had bin grievously tormented with the Stone in
the bladder which made her go very much stooping and kept her continually very
weak and sickly: Hee farther told mee that
the['e' altered form 'i'] Patients
mother by the advice of an
[ 'certain' deleted] other Country woman gave her daughter a certain
medicine, upon the use of which after some days shee began to void
[ 'store' deleted] not without exquisite pains store of fragments of
stones very irregularly shap'd
<as if they had bin broken off> and of a strange bigness
considering the passage they came through: This odd Accident having continu'd
for divers days and made a great noise in the neighbourhood, this gentleman the
Relator was curious to know the truth of
it[altered from ', he'], which being
averr'd both by [BP 22, p. 68] the Mother & the Patient her
self, hee desir'd this latter to save the Stone she should voyd hereafter,
which she did, and after some time ceas'd to void them and to be troubl'd with
her former disease; upon which growing to be strong and healthy, she was early
married & dy'd 2. or 3. years ago in Child-bed. This Relation was confirm'd
to me by my L. Treas. who being himself
troubled with the Stone in the Bladder, and happening to be upon the place
<a> while after the girle was cur'd, he sent for the farmer,
who is one of his Tenants, & for the Patient her self, who averr'd to him
what has bin related; which appeard to be a very known thing in that place. His
Lordship added That when he first spake with the girle she was yet very lean
& pale and weakly, but coming there 2 years after, (it being a Manor of his
own) hee found her much grown, and
[ 'of' deleted] that she appeard to be of an healthy & florid Habit
of Body. After that His Lordship shewd mee the Stones that had bin preserv'd
amounting, as I
ghuess['h' altered from 'u' and followed by 'u' inserted], to
{ounce} i 1/2. or {ounce} ii
divers of them were about half an inch broad & proportionably big and
thick, others were far lesser and above 40 as I
ghess'd['d' altered from 't'] that
were inferior to those of the first sort, were yet bigger then the largest I
have hitherto known to come away from Calculous persons. Their shapes were very
irregular and thatt which seem'd exceeding odd was That in divers fragments
there appear'd on one part of the [BP 22, p. 69] superficies as it
were a kind of Coat like that which may be seen on the surface of many flints
& pebles, and having put some of these fragments together, it seemed
manifest enough to mee That two of them at least which were larg had before
made up one Body and had split or broken asunder; but my
L. T. affirm'd to me that having
<once> at
<his> leisure taken the pains to put very many of them
together, it was manifest to him that either all or the greatest part of them
had once made up an entire stone, and that which encreas'd my wonder,
(supposing the wench & her friends to have us'd no imposture) was That some
of the smaller of these fragments look'd just like parts of a white peble, and
when I held them against a Candle were transparent, and others of them were so
like pieces of a whitish flint, that if they had bin shown mee before I heard
any thing of the relation, I should without scruple have pronounc'd them to be
such, especially since
[ 'in the' deleted] considering the lately mention'd lump which appeard
evidently to mee to be made up of 2
<large fragments>[replacing 'others'] that I joyn'd together I discover'd in the midst of each of
these fragments a blackish part, by guess about the bigness of half a pea,
which seem'd manifestly to be of black flint, and for my further satisfaction I
not only
<by
hard
rubbing>[replacing 'rubd'] two great fragments together found as I expected that they
smelt like a chafed flint and not like stale urine as
<with> divers pieces of true
<& ordinary> Calculous Humanus I had long before try'd,
but desiring to have a steel brought found that these stones would strike fire
<with it> like a flint which my L. T. affirm'd he had severall times observ'd
before.
[BP 22, p. 70]
Hearing of a very odd accident that had befallen an intelligent
Gentleman, I learn'd the particulars of it from Himself, the chief whereof
were['w' altered from 'st] these;
This person who was a Major
being accus'd at Madrid of a State crime,
[ 'was brought into' deleted] had Irons put upon his feet, and was kept for
20 moneths in a room, which tho. otherways not unfurnish'd was by reason of its
darkness reckon'd among the dungeons, for there was no window to it, nor
[ 'nid' deleted] within divers rooms of it, so that for divers moneths he
saw no light at all, save
[ 'only' deleted] when the Jaylors came from time to time with Candles to
bring him
<wine & other provisions>[replacing 'necessarys'], and see that he made no attempt to escape;
<In>[replacing 'And'] this condition hee told mee that he continu'd
<divers>[replacing 'about 6'] moneths without seing any friend, nor would they, if he had had
light allow him a pen and ink or any book. At length he began by the
accustomance of his Eys to that dark place to have a dim perception of some
objects, which encreasing
[ 'd' deleted] by degrees, at length he came
<not only> to discern smaller objects, but to
see['s' altered from 'd'] no less
plainly, then wee did in the room that wee then were, in which there was a good
candle neer us; so that hee could
<plainly> see the mice that us'd to feed upon his leavings
plainly run up and down the room; and some moneths after a Spaniard upon
suspicion of some State crime being brought into the same dungeon & left
there for some days
[ 't' deleted] bemoning himself exceedingly of his sad condition was askd
by this Major whether he would have a cup of wine [BP 22, p. 71] to
refresh his Spirits, of
[ '[approximately 1 character]' deleted] which expressing a
desire rather then an expectation the major trayld his irons to
[ 'the' deleted] a corner of the room where he kept his wine, and filling
him out a glass of it brought it to him to the great Astonishment of the
Spanyard, who seing nothing at all himself in that dark dungeon, could not
imagine that this gentleman was able to
[ 'have' deleted] perform, what he had done, and to encrease this wonder
the major told him, That he could see well enough to make a mous-trap with his
cup, which in effect he did, and a while after the Spanyard heard the noise of
the fallen cup with which he so stun'd the mouse with roling him up & down
in it, that hee was quickly able to take him up & bring him to his fellow
prisoner. I ask'd the Major how
<long>[replacing 'soon'] it was before he began to discern things in the dark; Hee answer'd
that it was about the 7th. moneth of his
imprisonment tho. he then saw things but very dimly. I ask'd him also whether
at last hee could see so well as to judg himself able to
read['y &' at end of word deleted]
& write if he had bin permitted the use of pens & books?
[ 'upon which he' deleted] to which hee answer'd he made no doubt he could.
I farther enquir'd whether he were able to support the light that the Jaylors
used to bring along with them; when they came to visit him? to which he replyd
negatively: And when I farther enquir'd How
<far> he was able to support the light upon his release? he told
me That 2. months before
[ 'he was set at liberty' deleted] he was
<quite> discharg'd he was remov'd out of the dungeon to a
<better>[replacing 'dimme'] prison, whose dimme light was yet at first very uneasy to his
[ 'eye' deleted] disaccustom'd eys: And when having the liberty of the
prison he sometimes walk'd into some less dim places his eys were presently
dazled & offended & put him to much payn &
<even> for 2 mon.
<more> after he was quite discharg'd he was unable to turn his
eys toward the sky [BP 22, p. 72] without having his sight &
brain much disturbd by that Action.
[Retrospective marginalia:]
/ Tbd
A
<Pious & Learned>[replacing 'An Honest', Boyle hand] Scholemaster, that venturd to stay in London in the great
Plague
< 1665>, and was much employed
<as some friends of mine that knew him & commended him assurd
me,> to visit the sick and distribute alms & releif to them went
indiscriminately to all sorts of Infected, and even dying persons to the number
as he told me of 900 or 1000; and being askd by me about the Infection of other
things besides walls, he told me that being once calld to administer some
ghostly comfort to a
<poor> woman that had buried some Children of the plague, he
found the room so little that it scarce held any more than the bed whereon shee
lay sick, and an open coffin wherein he saw her husband ly dead of the same
disease, whom the wife soon after followd. In this litle close room they
affirm'd to him that the Contagious steams had produc'd spots on the very wall,
and when I askd whether he himself had seen them, he answered that he had not
but yet was enclind to beleive the thing to be true not only upon the score of
the Relators, but because he had observd the like in his own Study, which being
divided only by a wall from some roomes of a house which the owner had turnd
into a kind of a Pest house, and in which Numbers had dyd in a short time, he
took notice that the white wall of his Study was
<(since the Sickness rag'd)> without any other cause that he
could imagine blemishd
<
[ 'since' deleted]> in divers places with Spots like those of
infected persons. When I enquird what Antidote he usd he replyd that next the
protection of God which so many sad objects made him the more fervently
implore, and a constant fearlessness, the only preservative he us'd beside good
diet were Half a Spoonfull
<or a Spoonfull of Brandy 5. or 6. times a day
especially when he went into infected places, and the bigness of a small nut or
less of the root of Spanish Angelica of which he held in his mouth the quantity
of a peppercorn or somewhat less as often as he thought there was need.>[insertion in margin ]
[ 'beside' deleted]
[BP 22, p. 73]
[Integral marginalia:]
January the
XXVth.
Dr. O. F.
has assur'd me that one day going about to make
Helmonts and
Lullys Coagulum he pour'd
together Sp. of Urine and {spirit of wine} and finding a Salt to coagulate in the
botom of the vessell which seem'd not of the ordinary sort, he tasted it, and
found it, to his wonder, to tast just like Salt of Tart. Wherefore trying it in
a good heat he found that it would not fly away but only flow like an Alcali.
This gave me the hint of one sort of Ens Vegetabile.