Letter 2689

Encouraged by Sloane, Martin presumes to trouble him with a letter. Having travelled to a few of the western isles of Scotland, he has created a small collection of curiosities. Martin has enclosed a copy of the specimens along with his observations, as Sloane instructed him. If the essay is approved by Sloane, Martin asks that it be sent to William Charleton, who Martin designs to share the curiosities with also. He asks for the collection to be shown to members of the Royal Society in the hopes they might afford him the ‘necessary encouragement’ for another, more critical inquiry. Martin studied medicine in Leiden and practiced as a doctor in Middlesex, England until his death in 1719 (Domhnall Uilleam Stibhart, Martin, Martin (d. 1718), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18201, accessed 19 June 2013]).