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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Letter, from John Wallis to Edmond Halley, dated at Oxford

Reference number: EL/W2/42

Date: 25 November 1686

Description

Further details about the child with six fingers and toes (mentioned in EL/W2/41), who was called David Richardson, but has now died; concerns carrying out experiments on projected bodies; that Dr Plot has measured a cucumber of nearly four feet in length, which grew in Dr Jacob's garden; discussing remedies for gout, dropsy, rheumatism; account of the eruption of a spring in Yorkshire
Read to the Royal Society on 6 December 1686

Reference number
EL/W2/42
Earliest possible date
25 November 1686
Page extent
3 pages
Format
Manuscript
Also available on Early Modern Letters Online
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Creator name

John Wallis

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Citation

John Wallis, Letter, from John Wallis to Edmond Halley, dated at Oxford, 25 November 1686, EL/W2/42, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/el_w2_42/letter-from-john-wallis-to-edmond-halley-dated-at-oxford, accessed on 20 January 2026

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  • Early Letters

    The archival collection known as 'Early Letters' is composed of original manuscript letters sent to, or collected by, the Royal Society from English and foreign correspondents.

    Dates: 1613 - 1740

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