Des Maizeaux was a French Huguenot writer in exile in London known for his translations of Pierre Bayle as well as publications of his own.
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Domenico Bottoni (1641-c. 1721) was an Italian physician. He was educated at the Jesuit College in Messina as well as Messina University. Bottoni was physician to several prominent people, including the Viceroy of Naples, and was Professor of Philosophy in Naples for four years. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1695.
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Michael Le Vassor (1648-1718) was born in France, but converted to Protestantism. He went to Holland to embark upon a literary career, making several important contacts there. He travelled to England in 1697 and authored the ‘Histoire de Louis XIV’ (1700-1711). Louis XIV responded by requesting that Vassor be dismissed, which came to pass. Vassor was then given a pension by William III.
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https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27vassor%27%29. retrieved 18th February 2017
Anne Coventry, Countess of Coventry (1691-1788) was the second wife of Gilbert Coventry, 4th Earl of Coventry (d. 1719).
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(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Coventry,_Countess_of_Coventry_(1691-1788) [accessed 9 February 2017]).
James Campbell was a physician or surgeon of the British garrison in Minorca, and possible travelling companion of Juan Salvador.
Reference:
Neus Iáñes, Josep M. Montserrat, Ignasi Soriano and Josep M. Camerasa, ‘Plant Material Exchange Between James Petiver (ca. 1663-1719) and Joan Salvador I Riera (1682-1725). I. The Balearic Plants Conserved in the BC-Salvador and BM-Sloane Herbaria’ in Notes and Records of the Royal Society, (2006), Vol. 60, p. 243.
Sr. Be pleased Sr not to reveal ye contents of these Lines. As Physicians are ye only proper Gentlemen on whose experienc’d judgement indispos’d Per-sons can with any degree of human security depend for relief, & who therefore in Reason & Duty, human & divine, they ought to apply to: I venture to conclude it cannot be improper to make an offer of discovering to you ye real ingerdients, quantitys & manner of composing Mr. Ward’s Pill, Drop & Liquid he gives up ye nose yr work such wonders, but for want of sufficient judgement in ye application &c are say’d to prove fatal to several. As Sr. you are a Gentleman perticularly regarded as eminently Skill’d & long experienced in ye art of Phisick, witness yr being consulted by infinit numbers you wth success continually treat. Moreover Sr. as you are constituated president of yr Learned Meded & honorable Body wch therefore you must doubtless be thought a su-perlatively deserving member on; I think it every way proper to single out yr. so worthy self in order to offer ye Discovery of ye mention’d Areanas to, yr. you alone Sr. who seem above all others, by the in choice deserving ye Credit of finding out secrets yr (ripped off) Property of do Skilfull a Physician (ripped off) to be on trial. It ye Discovery I here offer to make be Sr. by you, on terms, accep-ted of I will oblige myself by oath never to own directly nor indirectly to any Creature living yt. I ever did any such thing, so in case you judge proper to discourse me about this affair, be pleas’d to p-point yr own time where most convenient yt. we may not be over heard & I will not fail to wait on you in order to give you all ye Satisfaction you can wish for from Sr. yr most obedient & very humble servant N.N. P.S. The favour of a Line in answer to these you may please Sr. to honour me with by ye Bearer hereof. no soul Sr. besides your self is made privi to ye offer I make you so let it go no further pray, if not Relish’d by you. August ye 27th 1735
[fol. 192] Sr I had the pleasure of your favour the 28th of Septr, dates the 7th, the packets being detaind by contrary winds, I should be very unworthy, if I had not a gratefull sense of your kindness to my Nephew & the pains you have been at to provide for him. But I should hardly have prevaild with myself to give you so much trouble upon so slender acquaintance, but that the character I had of your benevolence, & the great concern I had for so near a relation in distress, not by his own fault, pusht me on to be so forward, I wish heartyly for an opportunity to convince you that I am not unmindfull of the obligation, I ly under. I have given directions for getting a parcell of the blew earth, to one who hes undertaken to provide it for me, I have not heard of the small pox any where since my last to you, when any are inoculated you shall have the whole process, with my method of treating them, which I take to be something out of the common road. I give my humble respects & sincere good wishes to Mrs Elsmere. & will rejoyce at any good befalls her, I hope soon to Joyne in a letter to her with Mrs Hamilton I am Your most obedient & most obliged servant Magnus Prince Belfast 2d Octr 1732
Magnus Prince was a physician.
Sr Your last to me, found me in the field a trying some prob= =lemes of Jaquetts practicall Geometrie wch I quickly became master ofe; after the reading of yours for nothing surely more enlivens the spirritts, or raiseth a greater promtitude & industry then prayses from you, who all men praise. tho I must interpret those you have bin pleased with soe much elo= quencie to bestow in your letter to be [n?]either a specimen of what you could say; had you a better subject; then yt any there in, is in anywise to be attributed to my selfe. I have now made often experiment of Mr Marks’s Instruments; and as far as I can heither to find the gradations there on are pretty exact but the Theodolite I think is not altoga= =ther according to directions, for the box there of (as far as I can find) is not with a screw to take downe the nedle att pleasure and besides is so badly cemented to ye plate that betweene that, and itt, is left open severall wide chinks wch makes itt almost unserviceable in windy weather; because the nedle desturb’d with ye wind, wch comes through them: will not settle wch is a very trouble- =some fault. I think I could help itt with soft wax but that is not soe well, as if itt was againe under the [sau?] ther ere hands. and uppon ye brasse Index of the plane table there wants lines of numbers, sines, and Tangents, wch are of great use for the speedy solution of triangles without tables of sines [&c.?] or pen and Inke if marks could still putt them on, or would exchange this Index for another so improved; I would willingly be att the charge tho unwilling to putt you to any trouble herein, but if when your occasions leads you yt way you can without any; examine Marks herein you will more and more oblidge me, and tho I mae confesse that I have received more favours allready from you then I feare I have [ablilitie?] to [wharne?] yett whatso= ever lyes in my poore power shall never be wanting to show you how much I really am sr your most truly faithfull Servant Phillip Cotton. Hatley St George Augst. 14.
Phillip Cotton writes to Dr. Plukenett to inform him that he was recently “in the field a trying some prob= =lemes of Jaquetts practicall Geometrie wch [he] quickly became master ofe[.]” Cotton goes on to discuss a Theodolite, which he had difficulty using.
Sloane should have received ‘le Codex de Pharmacie’ by the last post. Geoffroy received two medals from London. Claude Joseph Geoffroy (1685-1752) was a chemist, apothecary, botanist, and member of both l’Academie des sciences and Royal Society. His brother was the clergyman and librarian to Louis XIV Etienne Francois Geoffroy (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude-Joseph_Geoffroy).
Morand sends the figure of a stone. He requests that Sloane send the Royal Society’s list and newly printed works. Sauveur-Francois Morand (1697-1773) was a French surgeon and son of John Morand, surgeon at the Hotel des Invalides. Morand was admitted as a surgeon at the Hotel des Invalides in 1724 at the age of 15. He became a Fellow of the Academie des sciences in 1722, Chief Surgeon of the Hospital of Charity in 1730, and Chief Surgeon of the French Guards in 1739. Morand published several texts on anatomy and surgery (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauveur-Francois_Morand).