The works of Robert Boyle. Vol. 10 Publications of 1684-86

516 Pages·2003·3.624 MB·English

by  Robert Boyle, Hunter, M. W. C., Davis, E. B.

Frontmatter
Manuscript version of part of 'The Advantages of the Use of Simple Medicines' (1685) in the hand
of Boyle's amanuensis, Hugh Greg (Royal Society MS 198, fol. 97v).
― iii ―
Title Page
The Works of
Robert Boyle
Edited by
Michael Hunter and
Edward B. Davis
Volume 10
Notion of Nature
and other publications of 1684-6
LONDON
PICKERING & CHATTO
2000
― iv ―
Copyright Page
Published by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
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photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior permission
of the publisher.
© Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited 2000
BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Boyle, Robert, 1627-1691
The works of Robert Boyle
1. Philosophy, British - 17th century 2. Science - Early
works to 1800 3. Theology - Early works to 1800
I. Title II. Hunter, Michael III. Davis, Edward B. (Edward
Bradford), 1953-
192
Volumes 8-14 ISBN 1 85196 523-8
14-volume set ISBN 1 85196 109 7
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Boyle, Robert, 1627-1691.
[Works. 1999]
The works of Robert Boyle / edited by Michael Hunter and Edward B. Davis.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-85196-523-8 (v. 8-14 set : acid-free paper)
1. Science--Early works to 1800. I. Hunter, Michael Cyril William. II. Davis, Edward Bradford,
1953- . III. Title.
Q155.B667 1999
509.032--dc21
99-31428
CIP
This publication is printed on acid-free paper that
conforms to the American National Standard for the
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials
Typeset by Waveney Typesetters
Wymondham, Norfolk
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Bookcraft (Bath),
Midsomer Norton
― v ―
Contents

List of Abbreviations vii
Introductory Notes ix
Appendix: Robert Boyle, 'The Christian's Plea' lviii
Memoirs for the Natural History of Humane Blood (1684) 3
Translator's preface to Latin edition 98
Experiments and Considerations about the Porosity of Bodies (1684) 103
Translator's preface to Latin edition 155
Of the High Veneration Man's Intellect owes to God (1684-5) 157
Translator's preface to Latin edition 201
Short Memoirs for the Natural Experimental History of Mineral Waters (1685) 205
An Essay of the Great Effects of Even Languid and Unheeded Motion (1685) 251
A Short Supplement 293
Postscript 300
An Experimental Discourse of Some Unheeded Causes of the Insalubrity and Salubrity of the 303
Air
Of the Reconcileableness of Specifick Medicines to the Corpuscular Philosophy (1685) 351
The Advantages of the Use of Simple Medicines 405
A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Receiv'd Notion of Nature (1686) 437
Translator's preface to Latin edition 572
S.F. Nobilis Anglæ; in Librum Illustrissimi Boylii de Natura Carmen Encomiasticum 577
Glossary 583
― vi ―
― vii ―
List of Abbreviations

Royal Society Thomas Birch, The History of the Royal Society of London (4 vols.,
Birch,
London, 1756-7)
BL Royal Society Boyle Letters
BP Royal Society Boyle Papers
Cl. P. Royal Society Classified Papers
Michael Hunter and Antonio Clericuzio (eds.), The Correspondence of Robert
Correspondence
Boyle (6 vols., London, forthcoming)
DNB Dictionary of National Biography
F (in F1, etc.) Reference no. in Fulton, Bibliography (see below)
FRS Fellow of the Royal Society
Fulton,
J. F. Fulton, A Bibliography of the Hon. Robert Boyle (2nd edn., Oxford, 1961)
Bibliography
Kühn C. G. Kühn (ed.), Claudii Galeni opera omnia (20 vols. in 22, Leipzig, 1821-33)
Lat. Latin edition (see Introductory Note for elucidation as to which is referred to)
Littré Émile Littré (ed.), Les oeuvres complètes d'Hippocrate (10 vols., Paris, 1839-61)
If preceding a number, Royal Society Manuscript; if used on its own, a reference
MS to a manuscript version of a text as referred to in the relevant Table of
Manuscripts
NRRS Notes and Records of the Royal Society
OED Oxford English Dictionary
A. R. and M. B. Hall (eds.), The Correspondence of Henry Oldenburg (13 vols.,
Oldenburg
Madison, Milwaukee and London, 1965-86)
Ortus J. B. van Helmont, Ortus medicinae. Id est initia physicae inaudita, ed. F. M. van
medicinae Helmont (Amsterdam, 1648; reprinted Brussels, 1966)
Phil. Trans. Philosophical Transactions
RBHF Michael Hunter (ed.), Robert Boyle by Himself and his Friends (London, 1994)

G. E. B. Eyre and C. R. Rivington (eds.), A Transcript of the Registers of
Stationers' Company
the Worshipful Company
Register
― viii ―

of Stationers: from 1640 to 1708 (3 vols., London, 1913-14)
Term Edward Arber (ed.), The Term Catalogues, 1668-1709 (3 vols., London, 1903-
Catalogues 6)
― ix ―
Introductory Notes
― x ―
― xi ―
Memoirs for the Natural History of Humane Blood (1684)
Composition
The preface to this book makes it clear that a good deal of time had elapsed between Boyle's initial
work on the subject and the publication of the book. He explains how it was 'many years ago' that
he had propounded the idea of such 'a History of the Fluid parts of the Body' to medical colleagues
and drawn up queries on the subject, and how 'a long Tract of Time, and Studies of a quite other
nature' had since intervened (pp. 5-6). It seems likely that the initial episode to which he refers is to
be correlated with the investigations of the nature of blood made by the group of 'Oxford
physiologists' with which Boyle was associated in the 1660s. This is documented in such sources as
Boyle's correspondence with Richard Lower and Henry Oldenburg, and Boyle's reports to the Royal
Society, and a full account of it has been given by Robert G. Frank. In addition, some light is
†*
thrown on the project by John Locke's notes on related topics in his notebooks.
None of the manuscript material relating to Boyle's own published work on the subject that survives
among the Boyle Papers dates from the 1660s, but a list of headings that bears some relationship to
that published in Human Blood is to be found in one of Locke's notebooks covering the years 1664
†*
to 1669, Bodleian MS Locke f. 19, pp. 272-3. The overlap between the list of headings given by
Locke and that in the published work suggest that both the latter and the various manuscript
versions that survive in the Boyle Papers are derived with modifications from similar lists made by
Boyle at an earlier date, despite the fact that none now survives in handwritings identifiable as
dating from the 1660s (and despite the fact that in the preface Boyle complains that his early papers
had been lost). The extant recensions, which are in the hands of Robert Bacon, Hugh Greg and hand
Z, suggest an elaborate process of evolution in the early 1680s of such materials inherited from the
earlier period of research. In them, Boyle toyed with the idea of having 'Additional' titles,
'Secondary Titles', and a 'Second Classis', while in some he elaborated on topics that were only
cursorily dealt with in the final version, in some cases listing putative experiments. One item (BP
18, fols. 43-4)
― xii ―
†*
has some overlap with the 'Locke' list from the 1660s; others are rather fuller. However, a process
of compression is then in evidence, with a lengthy list in BP 18, fols. 56-7, being edited and with
groups of categories being linked together to form a list of forty-two 'Titles of the First Order'
†*
preceded by three 'Preliminary Titles'. That Boyle felt relatively happy with this is suggested by
the fact that three copies of it exist; however, he continued his editing, reducing the forty-two
headings in this to thirty headings, as seen both in the printed version and in various extant (not
quite identical) recensions which are listed in the Table.
The preface to the published work was addressed to 'the very Ingenious and Learned Doctor J[ohn]
L[ocke]', and the stimulus to Boyle's renewed interest may have come from Locke, to whose
'laudable design' for the subject Boyle deprecatingly saw himself as making only a limited
contribution (p. 6). On the other hand, it is not clear what he was referring to in this, since Locke is
not known to have had any major medical work in hand at this time. 'A Purple Paper about humane
Bloud &c' appears in the inventory of Boyle's writings of c. 1680, but no comparable item had
appeared in the list by Oldenburg compiled in 1677 (it is conceivable, however, that matters to do
†*
with blood were included in the more general medical works that are there referred to). The
surviving manuscript versions of parts of the text of the book, like the lists of headings, are in
handwritings that one might have predicted for a bout of work in the years immediately preceding
publication. In particular, the hand of Hugh Greg figures prominently, while relevant material
survives in MS 199, a notebook used in the early 1680s.
The last leaf of text (i.e., the end of the Appendix) is dated Knightsbridge - presumably for Pall
Mall - December 22, 1683 (below, p. 97); this evidently relates to the final stage in the preparation
of the copy.
Manuscript material relating to Human Blood

MS Identity and nature of MS; Hand(s) of Approx Location in Location in
location comments MS date of MS 1st edition this edition
Bacon,
BP 18, Materials for putative second
Greg, c. 1680
fols. 11-40 edition of this work.
others
Fol. 12 is copy of BP 19, fol. 194.
Fols. 13-14 are copies of BP 19, fol. 144v.

BP 18, fol. 41 List of secondary titles, exactly as published Bacon c. 1680 99-102 40-1
― xiii ―

BP 18, fol. MS version of 'Titles of the first Order', exactly as c. 11- 12-
Bacon
42 published. 1680 14 13

For another copy, see BP 18, fol. 54; for earlier versions, see BP 18, fols. 48, 53.
BP
18,
'Heads of the History of human blood', unpublished list. Greg c. 1680
fols.
43-4
BP
List of three 'Preliminary Titles' (unpublished) and forty-two 'Titles of
18,
the first Order', of which Boyle picked thirty and numbered them in the c. 11- 12-
fols. Greg
order given in the published version; the other twelve were not used. 1680 14 13
45v-
Based on BP 18, fols. 56-7.
6

For other copies, one without the numeration, see BP 18, fols. 49-50, BP 26, fol. 46.
BP 18, fol.
47 Analogous series of Heads concerning the Gall. Greg c. 1680
BP 18, fol. List of Heads, similar to published version but with some c. 11- 12-
Bacon
48 reordering. 1680 14 13

Verso has outlines of other planned works.
BP 18,
c. 11- 12-
fols. Copy of fols. 45v-6, numbered in pencil. Bacon
1680 14 13
49-50
BP 18, 'Materials for the Scheme of Titles of the Second Classis of the Z, Greg
fols. Natural History of H. Blood'. A further list, fuller than the final (title c. 1680
51-2 version. only)
'Titles of the 1. Order. for the natural History of Humane Blood of
BP 18, c. 11- 12-
Healthy Men', as published except one later dropped: 'the motion of Bacon
fol. 53 1680 14 13
H.B. especially that call'd circulation'.

For later version, see BP 18, fols. 42, 54.
BP 18, MS version of 'Titles of the 1. Order for the natural History of Humane c. 11- 12-
Z
fol. 54 Blood of healthy men', exactly as published. 1680 14 13

For another copy, see BP 18, fol. 42; for earlier versions, see BP 18, fols. 48, 53.
BP 18, fol. 'A list of the secondary Titles concerning the spirit of H.B.', c. 99- 40-
Z
55v exactly as published. 1680 102 1
― xiv ―

BP 18, fols. 56-7 Fol. 56r in two columns: Greg, Z c. 1680

(i) 'A Preliminary Title'/'Primary Titles Additional For the History of Human Blood',
(ii) 'Secondary Titles or Subtitles For the History of Human Blood', continuing on fols. 56v-
7. A discarded version of Boyle's 'Titles', some copied or epitomised in BP 18, fols. 45-6, as
is shown by the extent to which the numbers added here key to entries in that.
BP Greg
'Titles of the 1. Classis for the Natural History of Human Urine,
18, (58), c. 20- 15-
emitted by Healthy Men', exactly as printed except missing first
fols. Bacon 1680 3 16
title in the Appendix.
58-9 (59)

Fol. 59 is copy of fol. 58.
BP 18, MS version of opening paragraph in part II, virtually identical to c. 24-
Greg 17
fol. 83 published version, except that a few phrases were there added. 1680 5
BP 19, MS version of 'Advertisement' for second edition, overlapping with c.
Greg 286 96
fol. 194 comments published in the 'Postscript'. 1680

Copied out on BP 18, fols. 12-14.
BP 26, c. 11- 12-
Copy of BP 18, fols. 45v-6. Bacon
fol. 46 1680 14 13
BP 28,
MS version of preface, lacking dedication to John Locke but
c. A2- 5-
pp.
otherwise complete; showing several changes in wording, but Greg
1680 A8 7
109-11
almost identical to published version.
BP 28, MS version of introduction to part I, lacking final two sentences of
?, c. 1- 9-
pp. 113- second paragraph and final paragraph. Final paragraph in MS not
Greg 1680 9 11
15 printed.
MS
Draft of introduction to putative second edition, noting that 'I had
185,
about two years agoe publisht ‹my› Memoires about the history of Smith 1686
fols.
humane blood'. Copied in BP 18, fol. 11.
15-16
MS
'Tryals to be made on humane blood', apparently for second
185, Smith 1686
edition.
fol. 56
― xv ―

MS 189, List of experiments to try with blood, perhaps for second
Greg 1689
fol. 149 edition.
MS 198, Draft of second paragraph in 'The II. (Secondary) Title', c. 44-
Greg 112
fol. 23v lacking final sentence, otherwise as published. 1680 5
Unpublished observation about the colour of blood obtained in
a phlebotomy performed in Boyle's presence on 'A Lady of a
MS 198,
middle age & sanguine Complexion, being afraid of a Relapse Greg c. 1680
fol. 104v
into an Inflammatory Distemper'; perhaps intended for second
edition?
Unpublished observations on phlebotomy from 'A learned
MS 198,
Physician & of great Practice'; perhaps intended for second Greg c. 1680
fol. 105
edition?
MS 198, Probably a superseded version of opening paragraph in 'An c. 223-
Greg 78
fol. 114 Appendix to the Memoirs for the History of Humane Blood'. 1680 5
MS 199, Draft of 'An Appendix' to 'Titles of the First Order', first main c. 15- 13-
?
fol. 31 paragraph. Followed by text on MS 199, fols. 128-27. 1680 16 14
Draft of 'An Appendix' to 'Titles of the First Order', rest of text
MS 199, c. 16- 14-
after first main paragraph, heavily rewritten. Preceded by text Greg
fols. 127-8 1680 19 15
on MS 199, fol. 31.
MS 199,
List of Heads concerning the Gall: as copied in BP 18, fol. 47. Greg c. 1680
fol. 129
Bodleian
Library, MS
List of headings, with some overlap with published version. Locke c. 1665-7
Locke f. 19,
fols. 272-3
― xvi ―
Publication
The first edition was published in octavo at London in 1684, 'printed for Samuel Smith at the
Princes Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard'. An advertisement in Boyle's Mineral Waters reveals that
†*
its price was 2s. The original issue of this (F146A) had a title-page dated 1684; however, this was
replaced by a cancel which differs solely in giving the date 1683/4, in other words implying that the
book was published between January and March 1684, as against any month thereafter. This
concern on Boyle's part can be paralleled in certain of his earlier books: it evidently reflected a wish
†*
to establish the book's priority, though it is not clear at the expense of what. The errata list
explains that the book was 'Printed in the absence of the Author'. At the end of the book, starting on
the verso of the final page of the text, is Samuel Smith's 'Catalogue of late Physick Books'; a
catchword 'A' on sig. A8v suggests that it was originally intended to place this there rather than at
the end. This 'Catalogue' is not included here since it has no connection with Boyle.
†*
The book was reviewed in number 154 of the Philosophical Transactions, for 20 December 1683.
A copy of it was produced at a meeting of the Royal Society on 6 February 1684. The implication
of the passage in the minutes is that Boyle presented it in person on this occasion; William
†*
Aglionby, a medical Fellow, was asked to peruse it. John Evelyn records in his Diary that Boyle
†*
presented him with a copy of the work at a subsequent meeting of the Society, on 27 February. It
†*
was advertised in the Term Catalogues for February 1684. A presentation copy in the Bodleian
Library (8o N 50 Med) is inscribed in a scribal hand: 'Bibliothecæ Publicæ 1683/4. Donum
Authoris'. Receipt of a copy of the book was acknowledged by the emigré French physician, Philip
Guide, in his De la vertu singulière du vin rouge, pour guerir le retention d'urine (1684); this takes
the form of a letter to Boyle and is dated 2 March 1683 (i.e., 1683/4), by which time he must have
†*
received it.
Latin editions
A Latin edition of the book, entitled Apparatus ad historiam naturalem sanguinis humani, ac
spiritus præcipuè ejusdem liquoris was published in octavo at London
― xvii ―
in 1684, again printed for Samuel Smith (F146B). This was translated by 'D.A. M.D.', i.e., Boyle's
protegé, the doctor, David Abercromby. This edition was advertised in the Term Catalogues for
†*
May 1684. It was prefaced by a laudatory preface by the translator, which (as was typical of
Abercromby's translations in these years) acted as a kind of promotional 'puff' summarising the
content of the work; the Latin text of this, with an English translation, has here been appended at
the end of the work. The Latin edition also includes a minor annexe to the text in one place, which
is included with a translation in a footnote at the appropriate point.
This edition was reprinted in quarto at Geneva in 1685 by Samuel de Tournes (F147). De Tournes'
version was twice reissued with the date 1686, one with the imprint 'Genevae', the other 'Coloniae
Allobrogum' (F148, 148a).
Reception and sequels
The work was reviewed in the Journal des sçavans for 31 July 1684, and in the Acta eruditorum for
†*
September that year. In addition, an extract of 'some Physicall Matters' from the book appeared in
the journal, Medicina curiosa: or, A variety of new communications in physick, chirurgery, and
†*
anatomy, in the issue dated 23 October 1684.
A presentation copy of the Latin edition of the work, inscribed 'Pro. Do Drillincourte', presumably
the French Protestant physician, Charles Drellincourt (1633-97), physician to William III, is to be
†*
found in the Keynes Collection at Cambridge University Library, Q.3.28.
Boyle appears to have planned a second edition, which was to be extended with further headings
and extra experiments, and in the preface to this he noted how the work had been 'favourably
entertained by divers learned men, most of them strangers to me. And among these one of the
eminentest & famousest Physitians of this Age, hath been pleas'd, out of Italy, to sollicite me to
make a second edition of that little Tract, with as grand Enlargements as I could': this reference
†*
sounds as if it is to Malpighi, but no letter from Malpighi to Boyle of this date is known. At least
part of this additional material survives in BP 18; it is referred to in the list of Boyle's unpublished
†*
writings dated 7 July 1684, as also that of 3 July 1691 and the various versions related to it.
Modern interest in the work has been particularly in its genesis, as seen in the work of R. G. Frank
and others already cited.
― xviii ―
The present text
This is taken from the first edition, which has been collated with the Latin translation and with
extant manuscripts, and variants recorded as appropriate. The translation of the translator's preface
is by David Money.
― xix ―
Experiments and Considerations about the Porosity of Bodies (1684)
Composition
Some clues to the origin of this work, which comprises two essays, one on 'Animal Bodies', the
other on solid ones, are provided by 'To the Reader'. This explains how it comprises 'loose
Experiments and Observations', 'laid (not to say thrown) together, in order to what I had thought of
offering, towards an Intelligible account of Occult Qualities' (p. 105). This reference links the book
to Boyle's work on qualities, including occult ones, which he undertook as a sequel to his 'Essay on
†*
Nitre' in the late 1650s, and which has been more than once referred to in earlier volumes. That
the material used here was at least partially of earlier date is suggested by p. 107 of the work, where
Boyle refers to a 'Scheme' of the subject 'drawn diverse years since, and seen by some Virtuosi',
which could conceivably be the item that survives in BP 10, fols. 87-8, the synopsis of a work
entitled 'Heads of the Discourse of the Pores of Bodys & figures of Corpuscles'. However, his other
commitments hindered his work on it. The link between the project and Boyle's programme in the
1650s is confirmed by the fact that at one point it is addressed to Pyrophilus, like other works dating
†*
from that period. However, as Boyle's remarks imply, his basic framework was filled out over the
intervening period with material from his work-diaries: specific references to his notebooks occur
on pp. 127, 135 and 146, though the items in question do not appear to survive among his extant
manuscripts.
One such bout of work on it may be that mentioned in a letter to Oldenburg of 9 December 1665,
where Boyle refers to various papers that he had come across, '& some of them I have not yet, that I
remember, read over this 5 or 7 years', which he was at that point 'ordering': 'the chief heads are
about sensation in generall, about the pores of greater & figures of smaller Bodys; & about occult
†*
Qualitys', in other words, just the same juxtaposition as in 'To the Reader'. However, matters are
complicated by the fact that this was a topic on which Boyle compiled other writings which survive
in manuscript, of which the most substantial are printed in vol. 14, below. One of these,
― xx ―
'Notes upon the 27th Section', again signals through its title the link to Boyle's programme in the
late 1650s, the section referred to being of the 'Essay on Nitre', in which the pores in bodies are
referred to. This text is in hand G, dating from the 1660s, and one passage in it - that relating to
†*
Lord Mount-Alexander - overlaps with p. 122 of the published text.
Work on this subject is also referred to in Boyle's lists of his unpublished writings. The list of
'Tracts' appended to 'The Order of my Several Treatises' has as no. 14, 'Of the Pores of Bodys, & the
figures of Corpuscles' (in the parallel verse mnemonic, what is evidently the same item appears as