THE EDDYSTONE : FACTS AND FICTIONS. 
207 
had been correct. A mass of lead, of a flat oval form, seven 
ounces in weight, was removed from the stomach. 
This occurrence was reported in the papers of the time, and for 
a while the statement was looked upon as a fiction. Even the 
Eoyal Society shared that opinion, to the extent at least of 
deferring the acceptance of Mr. Spry's account of the case, which 
he sent them on the 19th December. In order to show the 
possibility, Mr. Spry made some experiments on fowls, dogs, &c, 
showing that these ate and drank, and survived for many days, 
after doses of melted lead had been administered to them. The 
result of these experiments being certified by Dr. Huxham, as 
well as the experimenter, the Eoyal Society admitted Mr. Spry's 
description of the case, and a full account may be found at 
page 477 in vol. xlix. of the Philosophical Transactions. 
The lease of the light dues, which had been held in shares by 
the three persons previously mentioned, had, on account of deaths 
and marriages in these families, been greatly sub-divided ; but it 
so happened that Mr. Eobert Weston's share was such that the 
rest of the proprietors deputed him to act for the whole body. 
As soon therefore as the lessees heard of the destruction of their 
building, he immediately applied, on their behalf, to the President 
of the Eoyal Society, and asked him to recommend some one to 
act as architect of a new edifice. Lord Macclesfield at once 
thought of Mr. John Smeaton, who had, two years before, been 
elected a Fellow of the Eoyal Society. 
He had been brought up to the trade of an instrument-maker ; 
but having turned his attention to various mechanical inventions, 
had given up his shop, and entered upon some engagements as a 
civil engineer. 
At the time the lighthouse was burnt he was at work in 
Northumberland, and hesitated about undertaking what he thought 
was merely the task of repairing the former building. When, 
however, he understood that the lighthouse had been totally 
destroyed, and that the work was one worthy of him, he quickly 
completed the engagement in hand, and came to Plymouth. 
When he had inspected the rock, and made himself acquainted 
with the style of the previous building, he at once suggested to 
the lessees that the new structure should be of stone. 
At first this idea staggered them, not only because of its extra 
expense, but because it was generally believed that no stone 
