VOL. LIII.] PHILOSOPHICAIr TBANSACTIONS, 3Q- 



ramifications were all gone, and it did not at all adhere to the pectoral muscle ; 

 her appetite was good, and she was able to do her business as usual ; she said she 

 sometimes felt some of those stabbing pains she before complained of, but they 

 were not frequent nor very severe. 



Tiie beginning of last Nov. he had a further account of her, then stating that 

 the lump in her breast, which she expected would break, was not half so large as 

 it was, and continued decreasing ; that she had great spirits ; and from being 

 one of the most miserable of the human species, she then enjoyed ease and hap 

 piness, and could without much pain do all her usual business, as washing, 

 brewing, baking, and needle-work, except spinning, that motion still giving her 

 great pain : she continued to take -i^ dr. of dry hemlock twice in a day, but took 

 the green, when she could get it, in larger quantities. 



XLIX. Of a Remarkable Meteor. By Mr. Sam. Durm! p. dSl!^ ^""* 



In Sept. and Oct. 1/63, on many different days, but always in the afternoon, 

 when the sun was nearly at the same height above the horizon, Mr. D. was 

 amused with the appearance of a kind of meteor, not liefore noticed. As it aj>- 

 peared under nearly the same circumstances at other tirnes, and therefore may 

 contribute towards the better understanding the theory of a parhelion, he gives 

 the description of this meteor, as it appeared the 6th of Oct. last, at 5 o'clock 

 afternoon- A kind of mock sun appeared of equal altitude with the real sun, 

 about 12^° southerly from him. A liftle above the mock sun the sky was clear, 

 but the phenomenon was in the midst of clouds that were not very dense. The 

 diameter of this phenomenon was nearly like that of the real sun, and a remark- 

 able red stream of light pointed from it, as at all other times towards the real 

 sun, which shined clearly at the same time. As there was no descending rain, 

 nor any other colour of the rainbow, he thinks this a meteor tiot yet registered 

 among meteorological observations. 



L. Of a Blow on the Heart, and of its Effects. By Mark ^kenside, M. D., 



F. R. S. p. 353. 



Sept. 1 1, 1762, Richard Bennet, a lad about 14 years of age, was brought to 

 a consultation at St. Thomas's Hospital. His disorder was a palpitation of the 

 heart, so very violent to the touch, that they all concluded it to be an aneurysm, 

 and without remedy. He had a frequent cough. His pulse was quick, weak, 

 and uneven, but not properly intermitting. It was apparent that nothing could 

 be done, further than by letting blood in small quantities; and by the use of 

 emollient pectoral medicines, to lessen now and then, however inconsiderably, 

 the extreme danger to which he was continually subject. He was taken into the 

 hospital that same day, being Saturday, and treated according to what had been 



