Letter 4211

Dereham writes to Sloane that he waited to answer Sloane’s May letter in hopes that the latest Transactions would have come to him so he could send his thanks through Sloane to the Society. He mentions that Sloane should receive his 4th or 5th volume of his essay/translation of the transactions. This translation has had a great effect on the curious Virtuosi who have learned the language and one in particular who is informing these parts with “our” discoveries of the secrets of natural history. He has been reading Dr. Arbuthnot’s contributions of weights and measures. He asks Sloane to keep sending the new Transactions to satisfy his own curiosity and has sent via Mr. Brown to the Society a book that Sig. Michele Rhelli has printed relating to the origin of the Gout and has also sent his book by sea. Dereham writes that he has sent Sloane three printed papers in the common post entitled ” Questiones de recta Palchae Indictione” which he was asked to present to the Society, Oxford University, and Cambridge. He mentions that he wrote on the 17th of Feb. 1734 and would like to know how the matter (previously stated in the letter) stands, whether the patient has miscarried. He apologizes for troubling “Chronologicall Tables”, but hopes Sloane will be able to make it up and deliver the balance to Mr. Pucci. He congratulates Sloane on the curious discoveries he obtained from the west indies, on obtaining the “medalls of the Caliphs” & the “Amulets”. He talks of Egyptian Curiosities, War disparities, and a great Planet of this “Emisphere” “P.S. a learned friend of mine desires to know whether Dr. Gregory as he says in the Preface of his Astronomical Physica … has published the work, which would be very acceptable or the notice of what book of the kind are.” Sir Thomas Dereham (c. 1678-1739) was a British expatriate and Roman Catholic who lived in Italy. He had a close association with the Royal Society (https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27dereham%27%29).