An account of some books: - I. Francisci willughbeii de middleton armigeri, è Reg. Societate, Ornithologiæ libritres; in quibus aves omnes bactenus cognitæ, in methodum naturis suis convenientem redactæ, accuraté describuntur; Descriptiones lconibus clegantissimis & vivarum avium simillimis, æri incisis, illustrantur: Totum opus recognovit, digessit, supplevit Joh. Rajus, pariter ê Soc. R. Sumptus in Chalcographos fecit illustriss. D. Emma Willughby, vidua. Londini, impensis Joh. Martyn, Typographi Soc

1675 ◽  
Vol 10 (120) ◽  
pp. 481-490
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Comparative Anatomy ◽  
John Ray

An account of some books: - I. Francisci willughbeii de middleton armigeri, è Reg. Societate, Ornithologiæ libritres; in quibus aves omnes bactenus cognitæ, in methodum naturis suis convenientem redactæ, accuraté describuntur; Descriptiones lconibus clegantissimis & vivarum avium simillimis, æri incisis, illustrantur: Totum opus recognovit, digessit, supplevit Joh. Rajus, pariter ê Soc. R. Sumptus in Chalcographos fecit illustriss. D. Emma Willughby, vidua. Londini, impensis Joh. Martyn, Typographi Soc. Regiæ, ad insigne campanæ in cæmeterio D. Pauli, 1676, in fol. - II. The comparative anatomy of the trunks of plants; together with an account of their vegetation grounded thereupon, by Nehemiah Grew M. D. and Fellow of the Royal Society: Printed by the assigns of John Martyn printer to the said society, for Walter Kittilby, in 80. - III. The Royal Almanack, &c. by N. Stevenson, one of his Majesties Gunners. As the person, that hath review'd, methodized and supplied this Work, Mr. John Ray, hath given to the worthy and learned Author thereof his just Elogy in the Preface; so we cannot but very thankfully acknowledge not only the Industry, Care and Accuracy of the Said person in digesting and perfecting it, but also the Bounty of that Excellent Lady, the Authors Relict Widow, enriching the same with so vast a Number of Elegant and Costly Figures.

Shining through the centuries: John Ray's life and legacy

2000 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-22
Author(s):  
B. J. Ford
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
John Ray

A major conference on John Ray and other clerical naturalists, entitled ‘John Ray and his successors; the clergyman as biologist’, was held at Braintree, Essex, from 18 to 21 March 1999. Speakers considered Ray's work and beliefs in the context of the theology of his day, and the interplay between religion and biology up to the present time. Some of the outstanding protagonists were, like Ray, ordained Fellows of the Royal Society.

scholarly journals VIII. On the structure, relations, and development of the nervous and circulatory systems, and on the existence of a complete circulation of the blood in vessels, in myriapoda and macrourous arachnida.—First series

1843 ◽  
Vol 133 ◽  
pp. 243-302 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Complete System ◽  
Comparative Anatomy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Circulation Of The Blood

The increasing importance that is daily attached to the study of the comparative anatomy of the Invertebrata, and the interest with which every microscopic exami­nation of structure is now regarded, as assisting to elucidate the great problems of life in the higher animals, have encouraged me through several years to prosecute a series of investigations, in the articulated classes, on two of the most important portions of the body,—the nervous and circulatory systems. These investigations have afforded me, from time to time, some interesting results, part of which, on one of these structures, I have already had the honour of communicating to the Royal Society. I now propose to communicate the results of my examinations of both these structures, and to illustrate their development, and the relations which they bear to each other, in some of the principal classes, commencing, in the present paper, with the Myriapoda and Arachnida. The objects to which my attention has been directed in this paper are three:— First , the minute anatomy of the nervous system in the Myriapoda and Macrourous Arachnida, more especially with regard to the structure of the cord and its ganglia, and the means which these afford us of explaining the physiology of the nervous system, and the phenomena of the reflected movements in articulated animals. Secondly , to demonstrate the existence of a complete system of circulatory vessels in the Myriapoda and Arachnida. Thirdly , to show the identity of the laws that regulate the development of the nervous and circulatory systems in these Articulata, and their dependence on the changes which take place in the muscular and tegu­mentary structures of the body, as I formerly showed in regard to the changes in the nervous system of insects.

scholarly journals [Report of the Secretary and Treasurer of the Royal Society]

1887 ◽  
Vol 41 (246-250) ◽  
pp. 372-399
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Comparative Anatomy ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Substantial Improvement ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Considerable Excess ◽  
Circle Of Friends ◽  
Sound Judgment

For many years it has been my duty as senior Secretary to read at each Anniversary the death-roll of the year.. The names this year are perhaps slightly fewer than usual, but many recall to us faces once familiar that we shall never see here again. Earliest among them comes Sir Frederick Evans, whose death took place only very shortly after our last Anniversary. In the course of the preceding summer he crossed the Atlantic to take part in that International Conference which assembled at Washington, to deliberate among other things on the choice of a common prime meridian for all civilised nations. On his return he was looking ill, and the illness increased until it carried him away. Yet even through his illness he kept on working at science, at a task he had undertaken, and which was almost completed when he died. To this I shall have occasion to refer again. In Mr. Busk we have lost one whose detailed knowledge of certain branches of natural history and comparative anatomy was almost unrivalled. He took an active part in the scientific business of the Society, and repeatedly served on our Council, and both then and subsequently gave us the benefit of his extensive knowledge and sound judgment in the important but laborious task of reporting on papers. In Lord Cardwell we have lost a statesman whose political duties did not prevent him from coming among us and serving on our Council. The public services and singular honesty and straightforwardness of Mr. Forster are appreciated by the nation at large. Quite recently, at no advanced age, we have lost Professor Guthrie, the occupant of a chair which a great many years ago I held for a time; a man whose genial character drew around him a close circle of friends. Still more recently we have lost the Earl of Enniskillen, whose fine palæontological collections are well known to geologists. Only the other day one passed away whom we seldom missed at our anniversary meeting, and who was frequently with us on other occasions: I allude to General Boileau, whose philanthropic labours will not soon be forgotten, and may, I trust, be recognised in a much needed form. The Fellows will have noticed with satisfaction a very considerable excess of income over expenditure in the balance sheet for the year. At first sight it might be supposed that as the ‘Transactions’ come out at irregular intervals there might have been fewer parts published than usual; but it will be found on examination that the past year has borne its proper share of printing expenses. The excess is really due to a substantial improvement in the. Society’s property, under the careful and judicious management of our Treasurer.

scholarly journals ‘Vividness’ in english natural history and anatomy, 1650–1700

2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Wragge-Morley
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Medical Discourse ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
John Ray ◽  
The Mind ◽  
It Knowledge ◽  
The Brain

This article concerns the use of rhetorical strategies in the natural historical and anatomical works of the seventeenth-century Royal Society. Choosing representative works, it argues that naturalists such as Nehemiah Grew, John Ray and the neuroanatomist Thomas Willis used the rhetorical device known as ‘comparison’ to make their descriptions of natural things vivid. By turning to contemporary works of neurology such as Willis's Cerebri Anatome and contemporary rhetorical works inspired by other such descriptions of the brain and nerves, it is argued that the effects of these strategies were taken to be wide-ranging. Contemporaries understood the effects of rhetoric in terms inflected by anatomical and medical discourse—the brain was physically altered by powerful sense impressions such as those of rhetoric. I suggest that the rhetoric of natural history could have been understood in the same way and that natural history and anatomy might therefore have been understood to cultivate the mind, improving its capacity for moral judgements as well as giving it knowledge of nature.

scholarly journals Deep questions about the nature of early-life signals: a commentary on Lister (1673) ‘A description of certain stones figured like plants’

2015 ◽  
Vol 373 (2039) ◽  
pp. 20140254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Brasier
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Pathways ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
John Ray ◽  
Living Fossils ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Carboniferous Limestone ◽  
Pentagonal Symmetry ◽  
350Th Anniversary

In 1673, Martin Lister explored the preservation of ‘St Cuthbert's beads’ plus other fossil crinoid remains from approximately 350 Ma Carboniferous limestone in northern England. He used taphonomic evidence (transport, disarticulation, burial and cementation) to infer an origin as petrified plant remains, in contrast with his views expressed elsewhere that fossil mollusc shells could have formed abiogenically, by ‘plastic forces’ within rock. Lister also observed pentagonal symmetry, now seen as characteristic of living echinoderm skeletons. A postscript from John Ray supports Lister's ‘taphonomic’ observations and accepts the biogenicity of these fossil ‘vegetables’. Ray then concluded with a prophecy, predicting the discovery of comparable living fossils in remote ocean waters. These early discussions compare with current debates about the character of candidate microfossils from the early Earth and Mars. Interesting biomorphs are now tested against the abiogenic null hypotheses, making use of features such as those pioneered by Lister, including evidence for geological context, rules for growth and taphonomy. Advanced techniques now allow us to extend this list of criteria to include the nanoscale mapping of biology-like behaviour patterns plus metabolic pathways. Whereas the science of palaeobiology once began with tests for biogenicity, the same is now true for geobiology and astrobiology. This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society .

The Wilkins Lecture, 1985 John Wilkins, John Ray and Carl Linnaeus

1986 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-123 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
The People ◽  
John Ray ◽  
Carl Linnaeus ◽  
History Of ◽  
John Wilkins

As a botanical taxonomist I was naturally highly honoured and much surprised lito be invited by this venerable and exclusive Society to deliver the 1985 Wilkins Lecture on a subject related to the history of science. If this were a sermon, there could be no Biblical text more appropriate for the present occasion dealing with Bishop Wilkins and his contemporaries in the Royal Society than a passage from the book of wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, composed in the second century B.C.: ‘Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us. The Lord hath wrought great glory by them through his great power from the beginning. . . leaders of the people by their counsels, and by their knowledge of learning meet for the people, wise and eloquent in their instructions. . . There be of them, that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported.’ So be it with particular respect to John Wilkins (1614—72), in whose commemoration the triennial Wilkins Lecture was founded in 1947.

scholarly journals Félix Vicq d'Azyr: Anatomy, Medicine and Revolution

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Parent
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Comparative Anatomy ◽  
Successful Management ◽  
French Academy ◽  
Anatomy And Physiology ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
Marie Antoinette ◽  
Animal Anatomy ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

ABSTRACT:Félix Vicq d'Azyr was born in 1748 in the small town of Valognes, Normandy. He studied medicine in Paris but he was particularly impressed by the lectures given at the Jardin du Roi by the comparative anatomist Louis Daubenton and the surgeon Antoine Petit. In 1773, Vicq d'Azyr initiated a series of successful lectures on human and animal anatomy at the Paris Medical School, from which he received his medical degree in 1774. He was elected the same year at the Academy of Sciences at age 26, thanks to his outstanding contributions to comparative anatomy. Vicq d'Azyr became widely known after his successful management of a severe cattle plague that occurred in the southern part of France in 1774, an event that led to the foundation of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1778. As Permanent Secretary of this society, Vicq d'Azyr wrote several eulogies that were models of eloquence and erudition and worth him a seat at the French Academy in 1788. Vicq d'Azyr published in 1786 a remarkable anatomy and physiology treatise: a large in-folio that contained original descriptions illustrated by means of nature-sized, colored, human brain figures of a quality and exactitude never attained before. In 1789, Vicq d'Azyr was appointed physician to the Queen Marie-Antoinette and, in 1790, he presented to the Constituent Assembly a decisive plan to reform the teaching of medicine in France. Unfortunately, Vicq d'Azyr did not survive the turmoil of the French Revolution; he died at age 46 on June 20, 1794.

scholarly journals IV. A further and more exact account of the same, sent in a letter from Father Camelli, to Mr. John Ray, and Mr. James Petiver, Fellows of the Royal Society.

1699 ◽  
Vol 21 (250) ◽  
pp. 88-94 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
John Ray

Catolongay quam alii Cantatà vocant: est Nuces Vomicas legitimas Serapionis ferens planta, quæ arbores quasvis altissimas sese involvendo scandit: Truncus lignosus, levis, porosus, & brachialis quandoque crassitudinis, corticisque scabri, crassi, et cinerei: Folia ampla, nervose; amara, Folio fermè similia: Florem Balaustiæ similem sructus in sequitur Melone major, qui delicatissima cuticula quæ splendens, lævis, et viroris luridi, ceu Alabastrini coopertas, subter quam alius cortex delitescit substantiæ quasi lapidescentis.

Rome and the Royal Society, 1660-1740

2004 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Classical Education ◽  
John Ray ◽  
Federico Cesi ◽  
New Churches ◽  
Accademia Dei Lincei ◽  
Queen Christina Of Sweden ◽  
John Evelyn

Most Fellows of The Royal Society in the late seventeenth century knew Rome through their classical education and would have been attracted to visit it for the remains of antiquity and for the new churches and palaces of the papal city. John Evelyn, in Rome 16 years before the foundation of the Society, John Ray, Edmond Halley and Robert Nelson, and Bishop Burnet and G.W. Leibniz, also met people who had links to the Accademia dei Lincei of Prince Federico Cesi, and to the later Accademia Fisica-mathematica associated with Queen Christina of Sweden. Besides astronomy, they were especially interested in cabinets of curiosities and in Vesuvius and other volcanic sites. They met English residents in Rome, especially those around the Venerable English College.

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