TOL. VI.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 633 



An Account of Vegetable Excresce?icies, by Mr. Martin LiSTERy in a 

 Letter of July 17, 1671. iV" 75, p. 2254. 



An ingenious paper, but not containing any thing that deserves particular 

 notice at this day. 



An Account of some Books. N" 75, p. 2258. 



I. Lectiones 18, Cantabrigiae in Scholis publicis habitae, in quibus Optico- 

 rum Phenomenwn Genuinae rationes investigantur et exponuntur, ab Isaaco 

 Barrow,* Coll. S. Trin. Socio, Mathes. Profess. Lucasiano, et Soc. Regiae 

 Sodali. Londini, 1669, in4to. 



* Dr. Isaac Barrow, an eminent divine and mathematician, was bom in London, l630. He was 

 first placed at tlie Charter-house, but afterwards removed to a school at Felsted in Essex, from 

 whence he was sent to Cambridge, where he was entered of Trinity college, in l645 ; where he 

 studied very diligently, and made great progress in various branches of literature ; as, natural philo- 

 sophy, botany, anatomy, chemistry, divinity, matliematics, astronomy, &c. In 1649 he was 

 chosen fellow of his college. But, on some disgust, he quitted the college, and travelled abroad for 

 several years, through France, Italy, Turkey, &c. unproving his knowledge j and at Constantinople 

 he read over tlie works of Chrysostom, whom he ever after preferred to all the other fathers. On 

 his return home he was episcopally ordained, and in 166O was chosen Greek professor at Cambridge, 

 In 1662 he was appointed professor of geometry in Gresham college, London j and the year follow- 

 ing he was elected fellow of the Royal Society, being the very first choice made by the council after 

 their charter. This same year also he was named the first Lucasian professor of mathematics, and 

 soon after resigned that at Gresham college. But he held the former only till 1669, when he resign- 

 ed the mathematical chair to his illustrious fiiend and pupil Mr. Isaac Newton. In 1670 he was 

 created D. D. ; and two years after he was appointed master of Trinity college j on which occa- 

 sion tlie king was pleased to say, " he had given tlie office to the best scholar in England." Indeed 

 his majesty was always and justly partial to him ; being then his chaplain, he often conversed with 

 him, and, in his humorous way, would call him " an unfair preacher," because he exhausted eveiy 

 subject, and left no room for others to come after him. In l675 he served the office of vice-chan- 

 cellor of the universit)\ But his useflil labours were suddenly terminated by a fever in l677. when 

 he died, being only in the 47th year of his age ; and was interred in Westminster Abbey, where a 

 monument, adorned with his bust, was soon after erected, by the contribution of his friends. 



The name of Dr. Barrow wUl ever be illustrious for the strength of his genius and the compass of 

 his knowledge. In mathematical learning he was unrivalled, especially in the higher geometry j 

 in which he has since been excelled only by his successor Newton. The same lofty genius would 

 sometimes amuse itself in the flowery paths of poetry ; and we find he composed verses both in 

 Greek and Latin. He at length gave himself up entirely to divinity j particularly to the more use- 

 ful part of it, that which tends to make men wiser and better. 



Dr. Barrow's works are very numerous and various ; mathematical, theological, poetical. See. 

 All the theological pieces, being in English, were collected and published 1 683, by Dr. TUlotson, 

 in 3 vols, folio. His mathematical works are, Euclidis Element!} Euclidis Data 3 Lectiones Op- 

 ticaej Lectiones Geometricae; Archimedis Opera 5 Apollonii Conicorum lib. 4j Theodosii Spheri- 

 corura lib. 3, nova methodo illustrata, et succincte demonstrata. Those were all published by him- 

 VOL. £. 4 L 



