ii6 Mr. Oldenburgh to Mr. Ray. 



mefmes plantes. J' apprens avec plaifir, que le Sola* 

 num fpinofum maxime foment ofum a efte apporte dela 

 Virgmie en Angleterre la premiere fois, cela m' ay- 

 ant efte inconnu jufques icy. 



So far Seignior Boccone. To which I fhall add 

 fomething that may concern the Ornithology - y which 

 is, That I faw lately z or 3 Sorts of Raft-Indian Birds, 

 brought thence with the laft Return-Ships 3 very fine 

 Creatures : And they were, 1 . A curious fpeckled 

 Indian Hen. z. Some Raft- Indian Pigeons, delicately 

 Ihaped. 3. Some very fmall Birds, with fhort Scar- 

 let Beaks, and curioufly fpeckled Feathers, &c. Thefe, 

 if we could learn their Names, and fomething of 

 their Nature and Qualities, were very well worth, 

 in my Opinion, to be taken into your Book. I hear 

 they are fhortly to be brought from Wapping (where 

 I faw them in the Company cf my Lord Brouncker) 

 to "Tower-Hilly and if they be fo, we may then get 

 a Draught of them, if you think fit, for the Engra- 

 ver, efpecially if the Perfon that brought them can 

 give us any tolerable Defcription of them. 



I cannot conclude this, without giving you No- 

 tice, that the Council of the Royal Society intends 

 to engage thofe of the Fellows of that Body, that are 

 able and willing, to give them once a Year, each of 

 them, an Experimental Entertainment at their ordinary 

 Meetings, that is, fome good Difcourfe grounded on 

 Experiments made or to be made> that fo their Week- 

 ly Meetings may be more confiderable and inviting 

 than hitherto they have been, and the Work of the 

 Society not lie altogether on the Shoulders of 3 or 4 

 of the Fellows. And this being to reach the abfent 

 as well as the prefent, I mean of thofe that have Op- 

 portunity and Ability^ I do herewith intimate to you, 

 (as I have lately done to Mr. Lifter) that you are look- 

 ed upon as one of thofe which the laid Council have 

 in their Eye for fuch an Exercife, defiring you that 



you 



