Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
William Musgrave Jr. to Hans Sloane – February 10, 1721/22
Item info
Date: February 10, 1721/22
Author: William Musgrave Jr.
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4046
Folio: ff. 198-199
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 198] Exon. Feb: 10. 1721/22 Honorable, I shou’d have returned you my most hearty and sincere Thanks, for your last obliging Letter, & offers of serving me, if my Affairs would have permitted me to do it sooner. The Offer you make of proposing me for a Fellow, is what, I readily accept of, & I shall allways esteem it as an Honour done, If so Great a Body condescend so far as to admitt me into their number. If any things occur in this End of the Kingdom, worthy your knowledge, I shall readily communicate it to you. I am your most obedient & most humble Ser:vt Willm Musgrave
William Musgrave, Junior was the son of of William Musgrave, Senior. See the latter’s entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Alick Cameron, Musgrave, William (16551721), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/19668, accessed 8 July 2013].
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Richard Richardson to Hans Sloane – September 5, 1720
Item info
Date: September 5, 1720
Author: Richard Richardson
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4046
Folio: ff. 13-14
Original Page
Transcription
Richardson thanks Sloane for his favours. He will be sure to inform him of any curiosities that come his way. He laments the fact that the Royal Society’s members are concerned with mathematics over all other pursuits.
Richardson was a physician and botanist who traveled widely in England, Wales, and Scotland in search of rare specimens. He corresponded and exchanged plants with many well-known botanists and naturalists (W. P. Courtney, Richardson, Richard (16631741), rev. Peter Davis, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2010 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23576, accessed 31 May 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Ambrose Godfrey Sr. to Hans Sloane – October 14, 1724
Item info
Date: October 14, 1724
Author: Ambrose Godfrey Sr.
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4047
Folio: f. 274
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 274]
oct: y’e 14 .1724
Sr.
Having some request to you, i was yesterday upon my way to wait for you at Mans Coffey House, But growing a little faintish by y’e way & fearing besides to find you in a Hurry & surrounded, to make my request more at leasure i choose to do it this way, w’ch is S’r Hans, that i keep correspondence w’th Mr. Casp. Neuman Pharmacopaeus Aulich’s att Berlin, a virtuoso of no small studies a diligent searcher in Chymistrie, & of a good knowledge both in theorie & practise, for whom mons’r Geoffroy at Paris has great esteem, taking hom commonly w’th him to the academie whilest he was there, & now much in Degree with the Phisicians at Berlin, & particularly with the famous stahlius to whom he is quasi plenamann’s in the Laboratory there his deserts have got him Entrance to the professorship of Chymie as also dr medicine there, who wishes to be inserted to the Royale society here, & it is my believe that he will be no idle member but very useful. Therefore Hon’d S’r if you would please to considre of it & more it to the Hon’ble members i believe Dr. Woodward would back it, i have a collection of Books to make for Mr. Neuman & it will be a week or fourtnight before i shall writ him, wherefore i beg leave to importune you then for an Answer, But please to Excuse The request of y’r much h: serv: Ambrose Godfrey
Ambrose Godfrey Sr. (1660-1741) was a chemist. He was first employed by Robert Boyle and went on to work at Apothecaries’ Hall. Godfrey analyzed the chemical properties of stones, waters, and other materials for Hans Sloane and the Royal Society. His work was published in the Philosophical Transactions from 1731 to 1736 (Lawrence M. Principe, Godfrey, Ambrose, the elder (16601741), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10865, accessed 14 Aug 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
John Woodward to Hans Sloane – February 14, 1721/22
Item info
Date: February 14, 1721/22
Author: John Woodward
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4046
Folio: f. 206
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 206] Gr. Coll. 14. Feb. 1721[/22]. Sr I’m sorry that I must excuse my self from waiting upon you at ye College to Day. I happen to have Business that will not permitt it. I hope you had Dr. Dridiers 2d Papers, by Dr. Egerland. Those I formerly communicated to you are since printed, as I suppose these will be, in ye Journ. des Scavans[.] I have made Mr. Woolhouse very sensible of your Curiosityes to Him: & sent Geo. Valla. I believe [they] will have ye 2 Books wch you want thence, so soon as I hear ye success of his searches, you shall be sure to know it. Pray leave out Cardinal Guastallas Book of ye Plague, I am S.r your very faithfull humble serv.t Woodward At y.r Leisure, if you will send me a Catalogue of all ye Books you have about ye Eyes, you will much oblige Mr. Woolhouse, who is putting out a Bibliotheca of those Authors.
Woodward was a physician, natural historian and antiquary who expounded a theory of the earth in which fossils were creatures destroyed by the biblical flood. This embroiled him in a controversy in which he was opposed by John Ray, Edward Llwyd, Martin Lister, and Tancred Robinson (J. M. Levine, Woodward, John (1665/16681728), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29946, accessed 17 June 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
John Woodward to Hans Sloane – October 14, 1718
Item info
Date: October 14, 1718
Author: John Woodward
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4045
Folio: f. 156
Original Page
Transcription
Woodward informs Sloane that Breyne has requested a copy of ‘Morton’s Natural His. of Northamptonshire’. Woodward would like a copy of ‘Grotis Excerpta ex Tragaediis et Comediis’ to satisfy a suspicion of his.
Woodward was a physician, natural historian and antiquary who expounded a theory of the earth in which fossils were creatures destroyed by the biblical flood. This embroiled him in a controversy in which he was opposed by John Ray, Edward Llwyd, Martin Lister, and Tancred Robinson (J. M. Levine, “Woodward, John (1665/1668-1728)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29946, accessed 17 June 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Margaret Flamsteed to Hans Sloane – May 4, 1726
Item info
Date: May 4, 1726
Author: Margaret Flamsteed
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4048
Folio: ff. 147-148
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 147]
Sr
I have inclosed a Letter in
French as you commanded. I have not
transcribed it for fear of making Mistake
I return you thanks for this great
favour you have honoured me with
and I am with perfect respect
Sr
Your
Most humble servant
Margaret Flamsteed
Greenwich May
ye 4th 1726
Margaret Flamsteed was the widow of the Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed. They married in 1692. John Flamsteed was an astronomer, had a crucial role in the founding the of the Royal Observatory, and participated in academic debates relating to astronomy (Frances Willmoth, Flamsteed, John (16461719), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9669, accessed 21 June 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Henry Jones to Hans Sloane – March 9, 1726
Item info
Date: March 9, 1726
Author: Henry Jones
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4048
Folio: ff. 139-140
Original Page
Transcription
Jones forwards a certificate to Sloane, signed by the Vice-Chancellor and two college heads. Jones does not know Sloane, but informs him the affair is an ‘affront to the Faculty’. He is displeased that ‘any Academical Honours [could be] prostituted to a common Mountebank, who is punishable by the Laws of the Land’. Jones considers the man concerned, who is being granted a degree by ‘Royal Mandate’, a quack. Others at Cambridge feel the same way. He blames the Royal College of Physicians for forcing the university to grant degrees to unqualified candidates. Jones suggests that future cases should be forwarded to the university Senate and Vice-Chancellor for consideration.
Henry Jones was a scientific editor. He was a graduate of Eton College and studied at King’s College, Cambridge. In 1716 he graduated BA, gained his MA in 1720, and was elected a Fellow of the College. He edited a two-volume edition of the Philosophical Transactions for the years 1700-1720. Jones was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1723. He died in London, unmarried, in 1727 (Gordon Goodwin, Jones, Henry (c.16951727), rev. Robert Brown, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/15011, accessed 15 Aug 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Daniel Turner to Hans Sloane – February 26, 1726
Item info
Date: February 26, 1726
Author: Daniel Turner
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4048
Folio: f. 135
Original Page
Transcription
Turner wants to arrange a medical appointment for a relation of his.
Daniel Turner was admitted as a surgeon to the Barber-Surgeons’ Company of London in 1691. He participated in four dissections that were recorded and published in the Philosophical Transactions between 1693 and 1694. In 1711, after twenty years of practicing surgery, he was admitted as a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. Turner published treatises on the nature and place of surgery in medicine throughout his career and engaged in debates on the treatment of syphilis (Philip K. Wilson, Turner, Daniel (16671741), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27844, accessed 15 Aug 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
William Beckett to Hans Sloane – February 4, 1717/18
Item info
Date: February 4, 1717/18
Author: William Beckett
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4045
Folio: ff. 94-97
Original Page
Transcription
Beckett is writing a book on the origins of venereal disease in England. Of particular interest to him is the method by which the authorities identify women suffering from such diseases, as described in one of his sources: ‘The 19th Chapter doth show of Burning of an Harlot, where his notion of Communication the Burning is very particular, he thinks that is the Harlot or Hoore doth hold in her breth and clapse her hands together and toes in like manner that this is sufficient to give the person Burning’. Beckett details his findings and observations.
William Beckett was a surgeon, Fellow of the Royal Society, and founding member of the Society of Antiquaries. He presented papers to the Royal Society, published in the Philosophical Transactions, and authored several books (Sidney Lee, Becket, William (16841738), rev. Michael Bevan, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1900, accessed 11 Aug 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
James Yonge to Hans Sloane – February 17, 1725/26
Item info
Date: February 17, 1725/26
Author: James Yonge
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4048
Folio: ff. 131-132
Original Page
Transcription
Yonge’s father presented a similar medical case to the Royal Society in 1702.
James Yonge was a surgeon and physician of Plymouth with experience as a ship’s surgeon. He was a prominent citizen in his native Plymouth and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1702 (Ian Lyle, Yonge, James (16471721), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30225, accessed 20 May 2011]).
Patient Details
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Patient info
Name: N/A Unnamed
Gender:
Age:47 years old.
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Description
The man had a strong consitution only 7 or 8 months ago, but due to his heavy drinking of cider he has been suffering from jaundice. After he was cured he returned to heavy drinking and developed anasarca.
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Diagnosis
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Treatment
Previous Treatment: He was initially prescribed 'chalybates'. After developing anasarca Yonge prescribed 'sal. Cathart. [drachms] ill in vin: Alb. [drachms] vi potash. junip. gutt. 20' and had him purged.
Ongoing Treatment: Yonge is going to try 'canthandes with Camphire in hopes to clear away ye urinary passages'. This idea came from his father's experience as a physician. He solicits Sloane's advice.
Response: The 'chalybates' cured him. After the relapse to drink and development of anasarca the man had diarrhea and Yonge could 'by no common diureticks get him to piss clearly'.
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More information
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Medical problem reference
Jaundice, Diarrhea, Alcoholism, Inflammations, Anasarca