Royal Society. 509 
half an hour, viz. at 5 in the mornings yet he fbon found it, 
and faw it afterwards, as often as he pleafed, untill half an hour 
after 9 the fame morning 5 fo that he doubts not, but that this 
ftar may be leen in a clear day throughout the whole year ; The 
declination of the polar ftar for the year 1700 is 87°. 42'. 51", 
as he finds it by Rlcciolus^s catalogue of fixed ftars, in the appen- 
dix to Sir Ed-ward Sberbournh iphere of Manilius^ ^c. hence 
its dillance from the pole at this time may be afTumed 2°. if y 
the focal length of his objedt-glafs was 1 5 foot 6 inches 5 fo that 
the diameter of the ring will be 14 inches and 84 hundredth 
parts of an inch, which is the natural tangent of the former arch 
2°. 17' doubled 5 a circle large enough to be divided into minutes 
and halves, which will be lo magnified by the eye-glafs, that it 
will be eafy to diftinguifli the time to a few feconds^ it is true, 
there is fome difficulty in fixing up this inftrument 5 and when it 
is fo, to keep it from varying from its due pofltion^ but yet it is 
not infuperable^ but for Imall inftruments, of about two or 
three foot long, there cannot be a more accurate, eafy and expe- 
ditious way, than this for drawing a meridian line. 
An Argument het'ineen 'Dr. WalHs and Dr. Tyfon, concerning 
Men'i feeding on Flefh. Phil Tranf N"* 2^9. p. 759. 
GASSE NDUS in one of hisepiilles efpoufes it as his 
opinion, that it is not originally natural for man to feed up- 
on flefh 5 tho' by long ufage, at leafl ever fince the flood, wc 
have been accuftomed to it, and it is now become familiar to us 5 
but rather, on plants, roots, fruits, grain, ^c. and Dr. Willis takes 
it to be the opinion of feveral Divines, that before the flood, men 
did not uie to i^Q^ on flefli, becaufe of what God fays to 2<loah 
Gen. ix. 3. after the flood, Every moving thing that liveth 
floall he meat for yotiy even as the green herb have 1 given 
you all things 5 compared \*ith Gen. i. 2p. where God fays to 
Adamy I have given you every herb bearing feed, and every 
tree, in -which is the fruit of a tree yielding feed, to you it 
fhall he for meat 5 but without any intimation of his feeding on 
the flefh of animals j yet the Dr. had fome doubt remaining 5 
feeing we find very early, that Abel was a keeper of fheep, as 
well as Cain a tiller of the ground , both imployments feeming to be 
equally in order to their food and fuftenance; and their firflcloath- 
ings were the fkins of animals : It may perhaps be thought, thelc 
animals were flain for facrifice, and the fheep fed only for that 
purpofe • but even their facrifices leem to have been offered only 
as a portion, pr firft fruits, of things appointed for food 5 and that 
as 
