Letter 4252

Steigertahl received a response from Dr Heister. He apologizes for taking so long to respond to Sloane. He thanks Sloane for sending the Philosophical Transactions and books with Mr Jäger. Dr Hampe delivered them. Dr Weidler offers a short dissertation in the hopes of gaining a recommendation. The man would like to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Steigertahl believes the death of Dr Ruysch is a great loss for the advancement of anatomy and botany. He was 93 years old and quite vigorous for his age except for his feet, which were injured some years before his death. He continued to work throughout his old age. Steigertahl asks whether Sloane saw the small medal struck by the ‘Duc regent de Wolfenbuttel’ to mark the second Jubilee celebrated by the Protestants. Steigertahl offers Sloane a medal, which is quite rare. He hopes it will be accepted and placed in Sloane’s cabinet. Steigertahl wants to know if Mr Hales was able to dissolve the stone. The late Mr Cyprianus and other physicians were looking to find a universal solvent. Steigertahl briefly discusses their efforts. Hales had proposed his remedy to the Royal Society. Johann Georg Steigertahl (1666-1740) was the personal physician to George I of England. He was a member of the Royal Society and secured the purchase of Engelbert Kaempfer’s collection of East Asian curiosities for Sir Hans Sloane in 1723 (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Georg_Steigerthal).