A Letter from Mr. William Watson, F. R. S. to Charles Gray, of Colchester, Esq; F. R. S. inRelation to a Large Calculus Found in a MareAuthor(s): William WatsonSource: Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775), Vol. 48 (1753 - 1754), pp. 800-802Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/105210 .

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[ 800 3

wii regard to numbers, and,- if I have omm;tted any mfiaket I hope your-ufilal %oodnefs will ex- cuSe}

Dear Sirt Sion-Collegei Novem. 20, Your moflc obedient fiertant,

7S4* wm. Brakenridge.

XCVI. sCLaMr. SWilliam VVitfon, F. R. S. o Aadfs Gray, yof C:olcheficer, E; F. R. 5. in r21vtion to<-a large Calc-- Igs fa;7d in a Mare.

Dear Sir, - Londons Jdy 26s 17S4* ReadNov. 2t, T T*er this oppor *Xnity, bsyourmvas,

* s of.fending back to its owner, who is fo unwilling to pt wsth it} -the flcone taken out o£ the belly-of the mare, Which you were fo obliging as to fieM me. I ould haveS been glad indeed to have been itiformed pregifeXy, from what part of the abdomen of the mare it was taken; but this you was Srevented from tanXitting to me, on account of the ignorarsce of the perbn, who opened the mare, and vfho faid, ffiat ie Xne was found in or near h kidneys; though l am of oplnion it was formedMin the inteRinal tube. As there are at prefent no -ordinaty mxtings of the Royal Society, I was preversted from laysng- this ilone- before that learned body . I Ihewed it towever to feveral of the gende_ men7 who, with myfielf, agreeX ffiat a flone, large

- as . . .

.. . . 4

[ 800 3

wii regard to numbers, and,- if I have omm;tted any mfiaket I hope your-ufilal %oodnefs will ex- cuSe}

Dear Sirt Sion-Collegei Novem. 20, Your moflc obedient fiertant,

7S4* wm. Brakenridge.

XCVI. sCLaMr. SWilliam VVitfon, F. R. S. o Aadfs Gray, yof C:olcheficer, E; F. R. 5. in r21vtion to<-a large Calc-- Igs fa;7d in a Mare.

Dear Sir, - Londons Jdy 26s 17S4* ReadNov. 2t, T T*er this oppor *Xnity, bsyourmvas,

* s of.fending back to its owner, who is fo unwilling to pt wsth it} -the flcone taken out o£ the belly-of the mare, Which you were fo obliging as to fieM me. I ould haveS been glad indeed to have been itiformed pregifeXy, from what part of the abdomen of the mare it was taken; but this you was Srevented from tanXitting to me, on account of the ignorarsce of the perbn, who opened the mare, and vfho faid, ffiat ie Xne was found in or near h kidneys; though l am of oplnion it was formedMin the inteRinal tube. As there are at prefent no -ordinaty mxtings of the Royal Society, I was preversted from laysng- this ilone- before that learned body . I Ihewed it towever to feveral of the gende_ men7 who, with myfielf, agreeX ffiat a flone, large

- as . . .

.. . . 4

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- t 8tI 3 s6 this, is a try great curiofit. It is compoScd of different lamina, and its figure is that of an oblate fpheroid, whofe greateflc diameter is eight inches and an halfs its lefl*er eight inches. ; It furface is ex_ tremely regu}ar, but appears in feveral d its parts, as thollgh it had been corroded by fome acrid men- IlrulJm; wand in a place or tgro, where the external lamina is quite worn away, and the lamina imme_ ditately underneath it poliflzed during its continuance in the mare, the calculus has great refemblance in colour to occidental bezoar.

This Rone weighed in air fifteen pounds tmrelve ounces avoirdupois; in water fix pounds: fo that its fpecific gravity- to that of water is Ilegly as eight to £ve. And you may obServe, thtt lt is not only confi_ derably lighter than any foffile petrifaflcion, but much more fo than many animal; fome human calculi, when freXh extrafted, being to water as tvgo to one.

With regard to its bulk, it is the largeR I remem- ber to have been obServed, except one prefented to the Royal Society in the year 1737, which was taken out of the Ilomach of a dray-horfe, belonging to Sir Henry Hicks, Knt. at Deptford, and which weighed nineteen pounds avoirdupois, exclufilve of the out- ward {hell or cruR, which was broken off ln feveral pieces. Both thefe flcones were in appearance like a pebblc, and formed of different lamina. The greateIt circumference of that you fent rne was fomewhat more than twenty-fsx inches; that o£ Sir Henry Hickes's twenty-eight.

SLr Henry Hickes's horfe was twenty-two years old; and, for eleven or twelve years before he died, *equently was obServed to be in violent pain: but

s.I the

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[ 802 ] the mare, e fubjeEt of the prefent letter, thougll fixteen yQrs old, gave no figns of being in pain till about tiee months before her -deai,when ffie would frequentwly lte down, a;nd roll about. And it is the more extraordxnary, that, large as the Ilone was (and it muR have been very large for a long time) it did not dtfable the mare from dolng her ufual work for a more co;nfiderable time before her death; which did not feem to be occafiloned by the ftone, lhe dying near her foaling-time; nor fo far diRurb her Qeco

nomy, as to prevent her propagating her fpecies. The Earl of Macclesfield, our moR worthy Pre-

fidellt, Dr. Birch, and fieveral of our friends, who llarre Seen this Itone, join with me in thanks to you for this communication.

In the year 746, his Grace the Duke of Rich mond prefented to the Society a Rone found in the colon-of a horfe, the circumference of which was fixteen inches. His- Grace at the fame time preSented fome offier llones, found in the inteRines of a mare, which were polifhed ltke bezoar. - It was very re- marliable, that two of thefie Itones, when fawed afunder, were found to have been formed each llpon an ironfnailX as a nucleus

I ihall embrace every opportunity of Ihewing you, Fat I am, with the gratell refpeEt,

Dear Sir, : -

Your moR obliged and obedient Servant,

-W. Watfon.

XCVII.

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