Royal Irish Academy, 597 



" This extract will be sufficient to give an idea of the whole tract. 

 After this rule, follow those of multiplication, division, and progres- 

 sion in their proper order. For the comprehension of the uninitiated 

 in the old arithmetic, it may be necessary to state, that a digit is any 

 number below ten, an article is ten, or any multiple of ten, and that 

 all other numbers are composites, or composed of an article and 

 some digit. My friend Mr. Wright gives it as his opinion, that this 

 tract is a translation from the Latin or French. 



'* 2. Tractatus de Geometria. 



" This is an Irish tract with a Latin title, and consists of only one 

 page, containing the simplest rules of geometrical measurement, ap- 

 plied to one example of finding the height of a tower. No mention 

 occurs of any of the old geometers. 



" 3. A treatise on the signs of the zodiac. 



" An astrological tract with very curious drawings of the various 

 signs. Messabalah, the famous Arabic astronomer, is mentioned at 

 the commencement, and this tract is very probably translated from one 

 of that author's works. 



" 4. A treatise on the length of the days in the year. 



" 5. A fragment (one half page). 



" This terminates the contents of this manuscript, and is written 

 in Latin. It appears to relate to abacal arithmetic, but as I confess 

 myself unable to understand its meaning, I give it here entire, in the 

 hopes that some other may be more fortunate in attempting to de- 

 cipher its meaning. 



" ' Intervalla autem in quibus distribuuntur. dicimus sedes horum 

 numerorum. qui in abaci regula secundum geometricam habitudinem 

 sic proportionaliter ordinati continentur. ut juxta numerum novem 

 caracterum nonis termis altemati distinctis terminis. secundum pro- 

 per. * * *' 



" I have pointed this exactly as in the original manuscript, but the 

 fragment appears to be altogether unconnected. 



" In addition to the above, I may mention, that in the library of 

 Trinity College, Cambridge, under the press mark R. xiv. 48, is pre- 

 served a short poem in the Irish language on astronomy, of the early 

 part of the thirteenth century*. And in the Bodleian Library, MS. 

 Rawlinson, 3. 490, is a translation of the Secreta Secrelorum of 

 Aristotle, by James Yonge, on vellum, of the early part of the 

 fifteenth century. This work of Young is not mentioned by Sir 

 James Ware, nor does it appear to be at all known to Irish writers. 

 It is almost unnecessary to observe, that this latter work has no re- 

 lation with science, but its rarity is a sufficient excuse for mention- 

 ing it here. 



" It will now be necessary to pass over nearly two centuries be- 

 fore we meet with any traces of scientific progress. Some time 

 about tlie year 1600, WiUiam Farmer, ' Cliirurgian and Practitioner 

 in the Mathematicall Artes,' dwelt at Dublin ; and among the 

 manuscripts of Archbishop Tenison, at Lambetli Palace, No. 816, is 



• This I learn from Mr. Wright. In the printed catalogue it is said to 

 be in Saxon characters. 



