Letter 1638

Sibbald sends a figure of a fish, wondering if it is known by any member of the Royal Society and, if so, to provide him with its name and class. He tells Sloane of the death of his friend Edward Lhwyd, mentioning a book authored by him. Sibbald describes a book he is writing on the qualities of the ‘Ancient and Modern state’ in the area of the ‘Firth of Forth’ (Fife). He plans on writing about the Romans and Picts, the flora and fauna of the area, the ‘state of the Christian Religion’ therein, and the history of St Andrews University. Sibbald asks Sloane about the state of the Royal Society and its members, for he has not read any of its publications in the past two years. Sibbald was a physician and a geographer. He was physician to James VII (Charles W. J. Withers, Sibbald, Sir Robert (16411722), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, May 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25496, accessed 20 May 2011]).