Letter 1050

(f. 169r)

Dundee May 24^th

1706

Sir Yours of the 9^th Instant is so obliging, & you have therin exprest such a Concern for the Papers I presum’d to trouble you with; that there only now remains in me a deep & grateful Sentment of such Surprising Kindness, & a despair of ever being able to give you any requital. All I can say, is, that since the Papers are now Safely in your hands, you may do with them what you please; for I Account it my greatest happiness, that Dr Sloane likes them very well. It would be no less my earnest wish, than your desire to acquaint you with such small Improvements as I can make in the discovery of any thing relateing to natural History. And if any enquiry I shall be able to make by a Late case of Providence, (I shall call it Lucky, if it shall any ways tend to that satisfying you or your honourable Society’s curiosity) may be worth your while it shall be my greatest ambition to acquaint you therwith. The Elephant which Lately travers’d the most of Europe; hapned upon the 26^th of the ^last^ month to fall down & Expire within a mile of this place; I know not whether I more regreated its dying in the open fields, (since because of bigness it could not be transported) where the great throng, the heat of the day, small assistance, & Last day of the week, which kept me from doing all; that day, or leaving any thing undone till to Morrow; wherby such curious enquiries as might have been made into its Viscera were altogether Lost, or rejoice in being so near it, as I could not miss to observe Something, tho not in the Softer, yet in harder parts, any the Bones, of which I intend to mount a Sceleton, which with the Skin already So stuff’d, that it represents the Animal to the life: will be none of the meanest Rarities in Europe. I desire an exact Description of the Bones, but whether it shall ever see the Light, tis only you must determine eno, for if other Pens have been dipt upon that Subject my weake endeavours will readily prove less usefull. And as the kindness you have shewn me, makes me hope for your Patronage; so the steps I make therin can be only advanc’d by your encouragement. My Mehtod of Pro= cedure shall be 1. To take an exact account of their dimenstions & Weight 2. To ob= serve their Situation, Figure, Connexion &c 3. To lay down Rules for mounting the Sceleton & 4. To express all in Taille doux, but all depends upon your honouring me with a Return, which I wish may be with the first conveniency.   (f. 170r) As to what concerns my Papers now in your hands, tis my humble desire, Since you’re pleas’d to Signifie your good Liking to them, that you Likewise will give your Self the trouble of procuring an Imrpimatur for them from your honourable & ever to be esteem’d Society, & that you’ll acquaint me when with conveniency you can have them publish’d. Amongst the other Errours wherewith I doubt not they abound, there is one particularly to be observ’d which the Grammatical, yet continued throughout the whole Book Viz Ingred: which is made to govern the Ablative Past with the Preposition V.G. Ingredis: In Pilne lis. should be Ingred. Pilulas. If you think it convenient to give any Advertise= ment of the publication of them in the Gazette; Let it be done rather in the Fly= ing Post than any other, that being the News Paper we are most acquainted with here. You make no mention of the Synopsis Tournefortiana, so that whether it be the Manuale or if you intend to publish, or both, be pleas’d to inform me by the first Thus begging Pardon for my nauseous Scribling. I heartily conclude  

Sir

Your most Sincererly devouted humble se.

Patrick Blair

Some days ago I gave a short Account of my Observations when I open’d the Elephant. to our good Friend Dr Preston (who has now got the Physick Garden at Edinburgh) for they were so coarse; that I durst not presume to acquaint you with them   Since writing of this he has desir’d a further Account of me especially concerning the Trunk & its Structure, which I intend to give him within a few days. He writes me that he is resolv’d to acquaint you with it therefore when it shall come to your hands, I beg to excuse the Imperfections, for though I may use my utmost endeavour, yet the inconveneances I labour’d under cannot but make it very lame.