CORRESPONDENCE OF RAY. 417 



those that are here bred. My wife and girls give you 

 their very humble services. Excuse this unnecessary 

 trouble, and pardon my forgetfulness in thus long detain- 

 ing your book. I am, 



Sir, 

 Your much obliged servant and humble orator, 



JOHN RAY. 



To his honoured friend, Dr. Hans Sloane, 



at his house at the corner of Southampton street, ' 



towards Bloorasbury square, these present,. London. 



Mr. RAY to [Mr. PETIVER ?] 



SIR, It is now a long time since you were pleased to 

 send me your large and instructive contributions to the 

 first four tribes of the Supplement to my History of 

 Plants, with promise to do the like to the succeeding 

 tribes, which would have been of great advantage to the 

 work ; but either you forgot your promise, or were so 

 interrupted and diverted by multiplicity of other business, 

 that you could not find time to attend and make it good. 

 However, it is not yet too late to insert such additions 

 and observations as you think good to communicate in 

 the Appendix ; by which you will reap this advantage, 

 as to have all that is yours put together and known to be 

 so, and so to lose no part of the honour due to you for 

 any of your observations and discoveries. If you please 

 to draw them up yourself, and deliver them to the printer, 

 you will save an infirm and crazy person some pains ; if 

 you think better that I should do it, be pleased to send 

 them to me. 



Something further I have to communicate to you. I 

 am advised by some of my friends to describe such exotic 

 insects as are in the hands of the virtuosi in and about 

 London, which, God granting life and any tolerable 

 measure of ease (which I can hardly expect), I am not 



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