BOY 



rerfarcliM info the operations of nature, the reality of fafts, 

 wMtli he could not immcclijttrly reconcile by analogy to the 

 fnf\all aggregate of human acquilitioii, the k-tttr, hailily 

 written by him in reply to Mr. Slubbs, did not at all dero- 

 gate from his cliaraftcr as a philofophcr, or as a man of ra- 

 lional pietv. He neither denied nor admitted the cxilleiice 

 of the miraculous power afcribed to Mr. Gieatralis ; but 

 allowing the facls, he propofed a variety of inferences and 

 queries, wliich demanded difcuflion ; and in llic whole of 

 Uiis conlrovetfy he condu6u-d himfelf in fuch a manner as 

 to avoid perfonal ccnfure from any of the difputants. See 

 Stroakinc. 



In 166O Dr. Wallis addiefFed to Mr. Roylc " An hypo- 

 fhe'ls about the flu:^ and reflux of the fea," printed in 

 N" xvi. of the Philofophical Traiifaftions ; and Dr. Syden- 

 ham dedicated to him his «' Mcthodus curandi fibres, pro- 

 priis obfervationibns fuperftrudla." His own publications 

 in this year were " Hydroftatical paradoxes ;" " I'he ori- 

 gin of forms and qualities, according to the corpufciilar philo- 

 fophy, illullrated by expeii.ments ;" and fevcnd papers com- 

 municated to the Royal Society, aiid pri:ited in the Philo- 

 fophical Tranfaftions of that period. In the difpate that 

 occurred in the ellablifhment of the Royal Society between 

 the adherents to the Arilloteli.in or old philofophy, and the 

 advocates for the new method of philofophifing by experi- 

 ments, Mr. Boyle took a decided pan with the latter ; but 

 without incurring cenfyre or reproach from the moll violent 

 of the cppolitc party. About this time Mr. Boylt removed 

 to London, where he afterwards relided, very much to the 

 .idvantaqe of the Royal Society, which he countenanced by 

 his perfonal prefcnce and philofophical communications; as 

 well as of the caufe of fcience in general. 



In 1C69, he publifhed his " Continuation of new experi- 

 ments touching the weight and fpring of the air," to w hich 

 he annexed " A difcQurfe of the atmofphtres of confillent 

 bodies ;" and alfo " A difcourfe of ablolute rell in bodies ;" 

 together with other hydroftatical pieces fuhjcined to his 

 larger works : and ir. the fame year he revifed feveral of his 

 foimer trafts, which had been tranllatcd into Latin for the 

 benefit of foreigners In the following year appeared his 

 treatife " Of the cofmical Qualities of things," containing 

 a variety of intcrclling faft; and obfervati. os ; and feveral 

 papers, comrnvniicateJ to the Royal Society. At this time 

 liis (ludies were intcrmpted by a ftroke of the palfy, the 

 effefls of wliich were removed by a llriiSl attention to a pro- 

 per regimen ; fo that he foon returned to his labours. In 

 167 1, he publifhed a fecond volume of " Conliderations 

 touching the ufefulnefs of experimental philof:>phy," and 

 " Tracts of a difcoverj- of the admirable rarefaftion of the 

 air, &c. ;" and in 1672 appeared his " EfTay concerning the 

 origin aiid virtue of gems," 8vo. ; his " Trafts, containing 

 new experiments touching the relation between flame and 

 air, and various other intereRing fubjefts chiefly relating to 

 the ftatical aftion of fluids j" and, in the Philofophical 

 TranfaClions, " Obfervations on fliining flelh," and a paper 

 on the effefts of the varying preffure of air. In 1673 ^^ 

 publifhed " EfTays on the flrange fubtlety, great efficacy, 

 and determinate nature, of efBuviums ;" " Experiments en 

 fhe weighing and coercion of lire and flame," Svo.; and " A 

 letter concerning ambergris," communicated to the Roval 

 Society. In 1674 appeared a coUedion of " Trails on 

 the faltnefs of the fea ; on a ftatical hygrofcopc ; on the 

 natural and preternatural Hate of bodies, and on the pofitive 

 or privative nature of cold," 8vo. ; " The excellency of 

 theology compared with natural pliilofophy," 8vo. ; " Trails, 

 containing fnfpicioiis about the hidden qualities of the air : 

 aaiEadvcrfions upon Hobbts's probkm concerning a va- 



BOY 



ctium ; and a difcourfe of ihr- cnufe of attra£l!on bv fuc- 

 tio:," Svo. ; and in this year he communicated to the et'.itor 

 of the Philofophical Tr'anfactions, " An account of the 

 two forts of Hehiiontian laudanum." In 1675 he pub- 

 lifhed " Some confiderations about tiie reconcileablenefs of 

 reafon and religion," by T. E. a layman ; to whicii is an- 

 nexed, by the publilhcr, " A difcourfe of Mr. Doyle about 

 the polTibility of the rtfurre6tion," Svo. T. E. are fup- 

 pofed to be the final letters of his own name, as both thefe 

 trails are afcribed to him. In this year he comiminicatfd 

 to the Royal Society four papers, wiiich appear in the 

 Tranfaitions : " On the air-bladders of fiflies ;" " A new 

 elfajP inilriimcnt ;" " New experiments touching the fpring 

 of the air, &c. ;" and " An experimental difcourfe of 

 quickfilver growing hot mtli gold." In 1676 he publiflicd 

 " Experiments and notes about the mechanical origin of 

 particular qialities," in which he treats of alkalis and acids, 

 lieat and cold, talles, odours, volatility, fixity, corrolive ac- 

 tion, precipitation, magnetifm, and eleilricity ; and he alfo 

 comnuinicated to the Royal Society two papers on the con- 

 figuration of the furfaces of fluids in contaft with each 

 other. 



Mr. Boyle, having been for feveral years an ailivc and 

 ufeful dircdlor of the Eall-India company, wifhed to avail 

 hitnfelf of his office for propagating the gofpel in thofe re- 

 mote parts to which their commerce extended : and with 

 this view he caufed 500 copies of the four gofpcls and ails 

 of the apolUes to be printed at Oxford, in the Malayan 

 tongue, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Hyde, and to 

 be lent abroad at his own expence. For ii.nilar purpofss 

 of piety and benevolence, he had tranfmitted, about three 

 years before, fevera! c>ipies of Giotiiis's treatife " De veri- 

 tate Chriliiana; religionis," tranllated into Arabic by Dr. 

 Edward Pococke, into the Levant. 



In 1677 a mifcelhineous collection of his works, defec- 

 tive, and badly arranged, was printed in Latin at Geneva. 

 In the following year he communicated to Mr. Hook a 

 " Sluirt memorial of fome obfervations made upnn an arti- 

 ficial lubllaiice that fliines without any preceding illuHra- 

 tion," which was publillied in that philofopher's " Cutle- 

 rian leilures :" this iub!lance was the phofphorus of urine. 

 In this year he alfo pubiiflied his " Hifloiical narrative of 

 a degradation of gold made by an anti-elixir," 410. ; and he 

 received a tribute of fiiiguLir refpeil, in a letter from the 

 great Newton, laying before him his fentimeuts concerning 

 an ethereal medium, which he afterwards propofed, in his 

 Optics, as the mechanical caufe of gravitation. In the year 

 168c, he p jblifhed " The aerial nottiluca," Svo. ; and " An 

 account of a new lamp," in Hook's Philofophical Col.ec- 

 tions ; and he improved the fecond edition of his " Scepti- 

 cal Caymifl." Some perfons have very unwarrantably af- 

 fcrted, that Mr. Boyle affumed to himfelf the mvention of 

 phofphorus, after having 'purchafed the fecret of Kraft. 

 This calumny is refuted by his own narrative, in which he 

 difc'.ifles the claims of Brand, Kunckel, and Kraft, and 

 acknowledges the advantage which he derived, in the profe- 

 cution of his inquiries, from the inform?.tion communicated 

 to him by the latter, that the fnining fuhllanee was obtained 

 from a matter belonging to the human body. From the 

 narrative it appears, that tne aerial noiliiuca was an aqueous 

 folution, or diffufion of phofphorus, obtained by diitillation 

 from putrid urine in an cxpermient where his retort failed ; and 

 which did not prove altogether fuccefsf nl. At the annual elec- ,. 

 tion of officers for this y^.ir, Mr. Boyle was eleiled prefident 

 of the Royal Society ; but having objtilionsotiielicacy with 

 regard to the official oaths that arc required, and for fome 

 other reafons, he declined accepting the honour. At tuis 



ihne 



