VOL. VI.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SSQ 



Some Considerations upon Mr. Reed*s Letter, printed in N'^JO, shotv- 

 ing in what Se77se the Sap may be said to descend, and to circulate in 

 Plants, and the Graft to communicate with the Stock; as also, what 

 Choice of Jlpplcs for the Delicacy of the Liquor in peculiar Seasons, 

 and for easy and speedy Propagation; Pears for some Lands pro^ 

 per; their Choice for manifold Uses, especially for pleasant or for 

 lasting Liquor, and how to be planted and ordered for the best Ad- 

 vantage. The best Season for Transplantation. An Apiary, or Dis^ 

 ciplinc of Bees, recommended for public Benefit. All by Dr. John 

 Beal, in a Letter to the Publisher, of May 13, I67I. iV^Jl,/). 2144. 



This title and account of contents are all that is necessary to retain of this 

 long and unimportant paper. 



Extract of a Latin Letter from Signor Malpighi to the Editor, con- 

 cerning the Structure of the Lungs of Frogs, Tortoises, &c. and the 

 more perfect Animals; also, on the Texture of the Spleen, &c. 

 N" 71, p- 2149. Translated. 



After requesting Mr. Oldenburg to convey his thanks to Dr. Thruston for 

 having in his treatise, De Respiratione,* defended his (Malpighi's) opinion con- 

 cerning the structure of the lungs, he expresses his surprise that the author of 

 the Animadversions'}- should not have discovered, in his dissection of tortoises, 

 lizards, and frogs, the communication between the bronchia and lungs, which 

 he calls vesicles formed from or arising out of the loose exterior membrane of 

 the lungs (vesiculas a laxitate exterioris pulmonum membranae obortas) ; whereas 

 if a pipe be introduced into the trachea, and air be blown into it, the lungs 

 which are appended to the said trachea will become distended in various places 

 about the heart; this distension, indeed, the animal itself can produce at plea- 

 sure. Now after the lungs have been thus inflated, if they are tied with a liga- 

 ture and suffered to become dry, on cutting into them, the cells and vesicles, 

 evidently membranous, will be clearly discerned. And although in frogs the 

 processus or ramification of the bronchia is short, nevertheless the two branches 

 going from the larynx, and composed of several semicircular rings, terminate in 

 membranous vesicles ; and thus respiration and expiration are performed. But 



* See p, 420 of this vol. of the Abridgement 



The author of the animadversions or objections here alluded to was Dr. Ent. 



