74 CORRESPONDENCE OF RAY. 



new spiders, and one to be removed into another tribe, 

 to which it more properly belongs. When you please 

 to send me an account of the acid liquor of pismires, I 

 will retm'n something concerning the gilding of a chry- 

 salis, which is a pretty phenomenon. 



I know not what to think of the uncertainty of the 

 experiments we make concerning the bleeding of the 

 sycamore. I have observed, almost daily, two trees, 

 which I pierced in several places the first of November ; 

 but to this day no signs of the stirring of any juice, 

 which indeed surprises me, we having had two or three 

 pretty hard frosts already ; yet neither at their coming, 

 nor going away, made they any sensible alteration as to 

 this particular. In my last year's jom-nal I find that, 

 particularly the 17 th of December, there Avas a very 

 copious bleeding ; and onwards I find this memorandum, 

 that in some great bleedings there was still to be ob- 

 served a mighty reek or steam arising from the ground ; 

 and, indeed, this kind of thaw has not yet happened at 

 York this year. I desire to know what success you have 

 met with this year in such-like experiments. 



I am glad to hear you have spared yom* person in not 

 exposing yourself to I know not what inconveniences. 

 As for the searching of the Alps once again, it would 

 have, no doubt, been very beneficial to the commonwealth 

 of learning, but that is enough obliged to you already. 



York, December 22, —70. 



Dr. HuLSE to Mr. Ray. 



Sir, — Yom-s came safe to my hand. I thank you for 

 the experiments contained in yom- letter. I had thought 

 to have tried some other experiments with pismires ; but 

 now I must stay till next spring. The juice of these 

 insects will ferment with the powders of chalk, pearl, &c.. 



