Royal Society. 339 
difappeared, and from thence prcceeding tliro' the Moulders 
and arms o{ Cepbeiis, where it had irs greateft latitude from the 
cchptic, viz. 76°, It pafled between the 'Dragon and S-wan, 
over the ftmof the Lion in Hercules, and over Ophiucus, till it 
came to the conitellation Scorpius, where, according to the 
obfervations made, it continued from the 24th to the iSth 
oi September -^ by the fame obfervations, he found that it had 
come to its "Perig^im the ix\\ o{ September m the evening, 
having a very great apparent velocity oUlmoft 10° in a day. 
Virtues of the Oflracites 5 by Dr. Cay. Phil. Tranf. N" 250. 
p. 81. 
DR Home pave him an account, that he never ufed the 
OftraciteTin '^ny cafe where he knew the patient was 
troubled with a confirmed ftone (being perfuaded that no me- 
dicine can break a large ftone) but only to iuch as were a^^iift- 
ed with gravel or fmali ftones^ that fome of his patients were 
cured without evacuating any gravel or ftones at a.i 5 that 
others evacuated both; that it never does its vvork of a luaden 
Cnot being remarkably diuretic) but diffolves rather than 
expels the little ftones^ that none he ever gave this medi- 
cine to, however grievoufly and frequently affiiaed before, 
had ever been troubled with nephritic pains fince; that his 
manner of giving it was in fine pow-der mixed with about a 
third part of the flowers of cammomil ; and the dofe he gave, 
was from half a dram to a dram put in white wine; that the 
greateft dofe is often apt to offend and nauleate the ftomach ; 
That he gave it once alone, and a weak infufion of cammomil 
flowers in white wine after it, but this did not fo well This 
fhell, which Dv.Cay takes to be the fame with Dr. Zrfiers 
Oflracites ma^imus rugofus ^> afper, burns to a lime as other 
ihells do, and as the Selenites (tho' weakly) does; it yielded no 
volatile fair, tho' he tried it m a naked fire; nor do common 
ovfter-fhells, when frefh taken and uied, afford out of tour 
ounces, above half a fcruple of liquor, fome what urinous, atid 
poffibi;, if long dried and expofed to the weather, they would 
lofe even that,^nd yield no more volatile lalt than the 0/ ^- 
Cites: Some fay that the othet fhells that '^^^^°^^«?;°"^V f "^^ 
petrified, yield a volatile fait; and the Doaor himfelf had 
Lm the mells of cruftaceous fiflies, particularly lobfters, a 
volatile fait and fetid oil in great quantity, even in a land fur- 
nace; but thefe fort of Ihells difter from other ^fi^^ ^ 
Dr. Lifter has well obferved in this too, that m thefe the 
