HALE S. 
tual cure of Teddington near Twickenham, in Middle¬ 
sex ; and afterwards accepted the living of Porlock in 
Somerfetlhire, which vacated his fellowlhip in the col¬ 
lege, and which he exchanged for the living of Faring- 
don in Hamplhire. Soon after, he married Mary, the. 
daughter and heirefs of Dr. Newce, who was reibtor of 
Hailihaih in Suflex, but refided in Hertford Ihire. On 
the 13th of March 1718, he was elefled member of the 
Royal Society; and on the 5th of March, in the year 
following, he exhibited an account of fome experiments 
he had made on the effedt of the fun’s warmth in railing 
the fap in trees. This procured him the thanks of the 
fociety, who alfo requefted him to profecute the Sub¬ 
ject. With this requeft he complied with great plea¬ 
sure ; and on the 14th of June 1725 exhibited a treatife 
in which he gave an account of his progrefs. This tcea- 
tife being highly applauded by the Society, he farther 
enlarged and improved it; and in April 1727, publilh- 
ed it under the title of Vegetable Statics. This work 
he dedicated to George II. who was then'prince of 
Wales; and he was the fame year chofen one of the 
council of the Royal Society, Sir Hans Sloane being at 
the fame annual election chofen their prefident. The 
book being well received, a Second edition of it was pub- 
lifhed in 1731. In a preface to this edition Mr. Hales 
promifed a Sequel to the work, which he publillied in 
1733 under the title of. Statical Elfays, &c. In 1732 
he was appointed one of the truftees for eftablilhing a 
new colony in Georgia. On the 5th of July 1733, the 
univerfity of Gxford honoured him with a diploma for 
the degree of doctor in divinity ; a mark of diltinCtion 
the more honourable, as it is not ufual for one univer¬ 
sity to confer academical honours on thofe who were 
educated at another. In 1734, when the health and 
morals of the lower clafs of people were Subverted by 
the exceffive drinking of gin, he publilhed A friendly 
Admonition to the Drinkers of Brandy and other Spiri¬ 
tuous Liquors; which was twice reprinted. The lat¬ 
ter end of the fame year he publifhed a Sermon which 
he preached at St. Bride’s before the.reft of the truftees 
for eftablilhing a new colony in Georgia. In 1739 he 
printed a volume in 8vo. entitled, Philofophical Expe¬ 
riments on Sea-water, Corn, Flelh, and other Subftances. 
This work, which contained many ufeful inftruCtions 
for voyagers, was dedicated to the lords of the admi¬ 
ralty. The fame year he exhibited to the Royal Socie¬ 
ty an account of fome farther experiments towards the 
difcovery of medicines for diffolving the ftone in the 
urinary palfages, and preserving meat in long voyages ; 
for which he received the gold medal of fir Godfrey 
Copley’s donation. The year following he publilhed 
fome account of Experiments and Observations on Mrs. 
Stephen’s celebrated Medicines for diffolving the Stone, 
in which their diffolvent power is inquired into and 
partly demonftrated. , 
In 1741, he read before the Royal Society an account 
of an inrtrument which he invented, which was a ventila¬ 
tor, for conveying frelh air into mines, hofpitals, pri¬ 
sons, and the clofe parts of Ships: he had communi¬ 
cated it to his particular friends fome months before; 
and it is very remarkable, that a machine of the fame 
kind, for the fame purpofe, was in the Spring of the 
fame year invented by Martin Triewald, an Officer in 
the Service of the king of Sweden, called captain of me¬ 
chanics , for which the king and Senate granted him a pri¬ 
vilege in O&ober following, and ordered every (hip of 
war in the Service of that ftate to be furniffied with one 
of them; a model alfo of this machine was Sent into 
France, and all the Ships in the French navy were or- 
- dered to have a ventilator of the fame fort.' It was alfo 
applied for keeping corn Sweet, by blowing through it 
large quantities of frelh air ; a practice very Soon adopt¬ 
ed by France, a large granary having been made, under 
the direction of Duhamel, for the preservation of corn 
171 
in this manner, with a view to make it a general prac¬ 
tice in that country. * 
In 1743, Dr. Hales read before the Royal Society a de¬ 
scription of a method of conveying liquors into the abdo¬ 
men during the operation of tapping, and it was after¬ 
wards printed in their Transactions. In 1745, he pub¬ 
lilhed fome experimental observations on tar-water,, 
which lie had been induced to make by the publica¬ 
tion of a work called Siris, in which the learned and 
molt excellent Dr. Berkley, bilhop of Cloyne, had re¬ 
commended tar-water as an univerfal medicine : on this 
occafion Several letters paffed between them on the Sub-. 
jeCt, particularly with refpeCt to the ufe of tar-water in 
the difeafes of horned cattle. In the fame year he com¬ 
municated to the public a description of a back-heaver , 
which will winnow and clean corn much Sooner and bet¬ 
ter than can be done by the common method. He alfo, 
at the fame time, communicated to the public a cheap 
and eafy way to preferve corn Sweet in Sacks ; an inven¬ 
tion of great benefit to farmers. He publillied alfo, but 
without his name, a detedtion of the fallacious boafts 
concerning the efficacy of the liquid Shell in diffolving 
the ftone in the bladder. In 1748 he communicated to 
the Royal Society a propofal for checking, in fome de¬ 
gree, the progrefs of fires, occafioned by the great fire 
which happened that year in Cornhill : and the fub- 
ftance of this propofal was printed in their Tranfadtions. 
In the Same year he alfo communicated to the fociety 
two memoirs, which were printed in their Tranfadtionsj 
one on the great benefit of ventilators, and the other on 
fome experiments in eledfricity. In 1749 his ventila¬ 
tors were fixed in the Savoy prifon, by order of Henry 
Fox, efq. then Secretary at war, afterwards lord Hol¬ 
land ; and the benefit was So great, that though fifty or 
a hundred in a year often died of the gaol-diftemper be¬ 
fore, yet from the year 1749 to 1752 inclufilve, no more 
than four perfons died, though in 1750 the number of 
prifoners was 240; and of thofe four, one died of the 
Small-pox, and another of intemperance. In 1750 he 
publilhed fome confiderations on the caufes of earth¬ 
quakes ; occafioned by the flight Shocks felt that year 
in London. 
Dr. Hales had now been Several years honoured with 
the efteem and friendlhip of his royal highnefs Frede¬ 
ric prince of Wales ; who frequently vifited him at 
Teddington, from his neighbouring palace at Kew, and 
toolc a pleaSure in furpriling him in the midft of thole 
curious researches into the various parts of nature which 
almoft inceffantly employed him. Upon the prince’s 
death, and the Settlement of the houfehold of the 
pfincefs-dowager, he was appointed clerk of the clofet 
to her royal highnefs. In 1751 he was chofen by the 
college of phyficians to-preach the annual Sermon called 
Croume's lecturer which Sermon was publilhed at the re- 
quelt of the college. In 1752, his ventilators were fixed 
in Newgate, with branching trunks to twenty-four wards j 
and it appeared that the disproportion of thofe that 
died in the gaol before, and after this eftabliffiment, was 
as Sixteen to Seven. He publillied alfo a farther account 
of their fuccefs, and fome observations on the great dan¬ 
ger arifing from, foul air, exemplified by a narrative of 
Several perfons Seized with gaol-fever by working in 
Newgate. 
On the death of fir Hans Sloane, which happened in 
1735, Dr. Hales was elected a member of the Academy 
of Sciences at Paris, in -his room. The lame year he 
publilhed a defcription of a Sea-gage, which he had in¬ 
vented to meafure unfathomable depths. The plan he 
communicated to the late Colin Campbell, efq. who em¬ 
ployed the ingenious Mr. Havvklbee to make the ma¬ 
chine, which was tried in various depths, and anfwered 
with great exadtnefs; but was at lalt loft near Bermuda. 
In 1754, he communicated to the Royal Society lome 
experiments for keeping water and filh Sweet with lime- 
water,: 
