THE 



PHIL©SOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON; 

 ABRIDGED. 



INTRODUCTION. 



xjLFTER a short address to the Royal Society, Mr. Henry Oldenburg,* 

 their second or under secretary, and the collector and publisher of these 

 Transactions, adds a few lines, by way of introduction, stating the inten- 

 tions, the motives, and the occasion for publishing them ; viz. that it was in- 

 tended, for the advancement of science and the benefit of mankind, to make 

 known to the world, , through this channel, the results of the labours, not only 

 of those persons who were members of this Society, but also of other learned 

 men, in this and other countries ; that by the communication of such discoveries 

 others might be stimulated and encouraged to similar exertions, in promoting 

 and extending the various branches of natural knowledge. Mr. Oldenburg 

 then enters immediately on the memoirs or papers themselves ; which are pre- 

 sented in the following order: 



* Mr. Oldenburg (who sometimes wrote his name Gmbendol, transposing the letters) was a 

 native of Germany, bom in Bremen about the year l6'26. He came to England, as consul for his 

 countrymen, in the time of Charles the First, in which capacity he remained at London during Crom- 

 well's usvupation. He afterwards attended some young noblemen, as tutor, to Oxford, where he 

 became acquainted with the gentlemen who commenced the Royal Society, to which he was apr 

 pointed the assistant under Dr. Wilkins, the first secretarjv'in which capacity he was very useful, 

 by the extensive correspbndence he held with the learned men of other countries, as well as by tlie 

 arranging and publishing of the Philosophical Transactions, which he continued to do till the 136"th 

 Number inclusive, June 25, l677 ; when he was succeeded in his office of secretary, as well as in 

 publishing the Transactions, by Mr. Hook. Mr. Oldenburg was a man of considerable abilities, and 

 was very active in promoting the views of the Society. He died at Charlton, near filackheath, in 

 August 1678, being only in tlie 52d year of his age. 

 VOL. I. A 



