46 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. ^ANNO 1744. 



The Appearance of a Jiery Meteor, as seen by Mr. Zachariah Craddoch, of So- 

 merset-house . Communicated by Mr. Henry Baker, F.R.S. N° 473, p. 78. 



The head and body emitted an extremely lucid and white flame. The tail ap- 

 peared of a transparent blue, like the flame of sulphur. 



This phenomenon was seen on Sunday, May 27, 1744, at 11 minutes after 

 1 1 o'clock at night : its direction about from s. e. to n.w. ; its height seemingly 

 not half a mile. 



It was seen, as here described, from the terrace in Somerset-gardens. 



An Account of a Dissertation published in Latin by Dr. Weidler, F.R.S. in the 



Year 1727, concerning the Fulgar Numeral Figures. By John IVard, F.R.S. 



N''474, p. 79- 



Mr. W.'s former two Papers on this subject, gave the antiquity and use of 

 the Arabian or Indian figures, and more especially in relation to England. And 

 those papers, being afterwards published in the Phil. Trans., N°439, gave oc- 

 casion to Dr. Weidler, professor of the mathematics at Wirtemberg, to trans- 

 mit to Dr. Mortimer a dissertation he had formerly printed on that subject. 

 Which discourse coming before the Society, it was referred to Mr. W.'s perusal 

 and consideration ; of which the following is a brief account. 



The author begins his discourse by observing the great inconveniencies that 

 the ancients laboured under in their arithmetical computations, which were usu- 

 ally made vnth the letters of their several languages, diiFerently applied in different 

 countries. And he thinks it very strange, that, when it was always the custom 

 to distinguish their numbers by decades, they should not more early have fallen 

 into the method of using only 10 different characters, by means of which the 

 largest sums are now computed with so much ease and expedition. But the Ro- 

 mans, as he observes, had some assistance from their abacus, or counting-table ; 

 a description of which, with the use of it, he has given from Velser, by whom it 

 was first published, and afterwards by Gruter, and others. 



Our author employs the remaining part of his discourse in treating of the anti- 

 quity and use of the Arabian or Indian figures. And here he has given a very 

 particular account of the different opinions of several writers on this subject: but 

 more especially of what Kircher and Dr. Wallis have said concerning it. The 

 former of whom, as he observes, ventures to fix the precise time, when the Eu- 

 ropeans learned them of the Arabians ; which was occasioned by the assembly 

 called together by Alphonsus king of Castile, for settling the astronomical tables, 

 at which some Moors or Arabians were present. Now in those tables, which 

 were finished and published in the year 1252, the numbers are expressed in these 

 characters. Kircher thinks likewise, that the Arabians first borrowed them from 



