In looking over this account it appears that 108 pints was the greatest quantity ever taken away at any one time; that he was never tapped more than five times in any one year; and the largest quantity in a year was 495 pints. The molt collected in the shorteft fpace of time was 95 pints in feven weeks, from July 24th to September 10th in 1780, which is very nearly two pints a day. It appears alfo, that in the laft 14 years of her life, when a regular account was kept, fhe increased fafter in the winter than in the fummer months: If the fix fummer months from April to September inclufive are reckoned, the loft in the 14 years in 23 operations 1972 pints, and in the winter months from October to March inclufive, by 30 tappings, 2596 pints; and it will be found, that 30 is to 2596 rather more

than

23 to 1972, fo that feven more tappings were at least neceffary in the winter than in the fummer. In the months of March and November the oftener underwent the operation than in any other. In thefe calculations the three months in 1783 are not included, as the year was not finished.

If we compare the famous cafe of Lady Page, related by Dr. Mead, the quantity of water taken from her ladyship appears fmall when oppofed to the number of pints drawn from Sarah Kippus. The one loft 1920, the other 6631. It must be confeffed, however, that Lady Page collected fafter than the poor woman whofe cafe I have related.

I come now to speak of the diffection, and to make fome obfervations on the whole. On the 10th of Auguft 1783, the poor woman died; and the following day Dr. Dack, an eminent phyfician of this place, accompanied me to open the body. I first drew off 78 pints of clear water fuppofing, therefore, all the water to have been taken away at the laf operation, then in three weeks she had collected 78 pints, which is more than three pints and a half in each day: a quantity far exceeding what he had taken. I then opened into the cavity from which the water came, and feparated the fac from the peritonum, and found the fac had arifen in the ovarium of the left fide. After this, I diffected out the uterus, with the right ovarium in a natural ftate, and thus obtained every part neceffary to show the difeafe, viz. the uterus, the right ovarium found, and the left enlarged into an immenfe pouch. The cyft itfelf was not very thick, but lined in almoft every part of it, but more efpecially in the fore part, with fmall offificacations. The peritoneum was prodigiously thickened, and thus, by its additional ftrength, became the chief fupport of the water. There was fomething fingular in the fac itself, for it was rather two than one, from there being an opening in the fide of what appeared at firft the only cavity, which led to another cavity, almoft

equally

equally large with the firft, fo that if all the water in any operation had not been evacuated, it maft probably have been owing to a difficulty in its paffage from the fecond into the first ot more external cyst. From the fize, however, of the poor woman after each operation, it is evident, that in her there being two facs did not prevent the total drawing off of the water. The other vifcera appeared all in a natural ftate. The. inteftines were quite empty, and pushed up under the ribs fo as to have left but very little room for the expantion of the lungs within the thorax. The bladder was contracted, or rather I fhould fay appeared lef fened. The kidneys were healthy, and both ureters in a natural ftate. The fac is in the collection of John Hunter, efq.

In reflecting upon this cafe, an obvious question arifes; from whence proceeded this immenfe collection of water? At different periods of this poor woman's life the quantity drawn off, without considering the urine fhe made, was much greater than the fluids the drank, which appeared from measuring whatever fhe took. It appears then pretty certain, that this fuperabundant quantity muft have been taken into the body by abforption; and if we allow the bodies of animals to have this power of abforbing, which we very well know vegetables are poffeffed of, it will account for many appearances in the animal economy. This poor woman collected fafter in the wet moilt months of winter, than in fummer.

From all this, a happy conclufion may be drawn, that although human art is at prefent infufficient to the perfect cure of diseases fimilar to the poor woman's cafe I have related,

4

yet nature is continually defending herself from fudden death; and fach relief may be granted as to protract life a long time without much pain and often with intervals of great ease and comfort.

An Account of the fenfitive Quality of

the Iree Averthoi Carambola. I a Letter from Robert Bruce, M.D. to Sir Jofeph Banks, Bart. F.R.S. From Vol. lxxv. of the Philfephical Tranfa&ions.

HE Averrhoa Carambola of

THE

LINNAEUS, a tree called in Bengal the Camrue or Camrunga, is poffeffed of a power fomewhat fimilar to thofe fpecies of Mimosa which are termed fenfitive plants; its leaves, on being touched, move very perceptibly.

In the Mimofa the moving faculty extends to the branches; but, from the hardness of the wood, this cannot be expected in the Camrunga. The leaves are alternately pinnated, with an odd one; and in their mott com. mon pofition in the day-time are horizontal, or on the fame plane with the branch from which they come out. On being touched, they move themfelves downwards, frequently in so great a degree that the two oppofite almoft touch one another by their under fides, and the young ones fometimes either come into contact or even país each other.

The whole of the leaves of one pinna move by ftriking the branch with the nail of the finger, or other hard fubftance; or each leaf can be moved fingly, by making an impreffion that fhall not extend beyond that leaf. In this way, the leaves of one fide of the pinna may be

made

made to move, one after another, whilft the oppofite continue as they were; or you may make them move alternately, or, in fhort, in any order you pleafe, by touching in a proper manner the leaf you wish to put in motion. But if the impreffion, although made on a fingle leaf, be ftrong, all the leaves on that pinna, and fometimes on the neighbouring ones, will be affected by it.

What at firft feemed furprizing was, that notwithstanding this apparent fenfibility of the leaf, I could with a pair of fharp fciffars make large incifions in it, without occafioning the fmalleft motion; nay, even cut it almoft entirely off, and the remaining part ftill continue un. moved; and that then, by touching the wounded leaf with the finger or point of the fciffars, motion would take place as if no injury had been offered. But on further examination, I found, that although the leaf was the oftenfible part which moved, it was in fact entirely paffive, and that the petiolus was the feat both of fenfe and action: for although the leaf might be cut in pieces, or fqueezed with great force, provided its direction was not changed, with any motion being occafioned; yet, if the impreffion on the leaf was made in fuch a way as to affect the petiolus, the motion took place. When, therefore, I wanted to confine the motion to a fingle leaf, I either touched it fo as only to affect its own petiolus, or, without meddling with the leaf, touched the petiolus with any fmallpointed body, as a pin or knife.

By compreffing the univerfal petiolus near the place where a partial one comes out, the leaf moves in a few feconds, in the fame manner as Vol. XXVII.

if you had touched the partial petiolus.

Whether the impreffion be made by puncture, percuffion, or compreffion, the motion does not inftantly follow; generally feveral feconds intervene, and then it is not by a jirk, but regular and gradual. Afterwards, when the leaves return to their former fituation, which is commonly in a quarter of an hour or lefs, it is in fo flow a manner as to be almoft imperceptible.

On fticking a pin into the univerfal petiolus at its origin, the leaf next it, which is always on the outer fide, moves firft; then the first leaf on the oppofite fide, next the fecond leaf on the outer, and fo on. But this regular progreffion feldomcontinues throughout; for the leaves on the outer fide of the pinna feem to be affected both more quickly, and with more energy, than those of the inner, fo the fourth leaf on the outer fide frequently moves as foon as the third on the inner; and fometimes a leaf, especially on the inner fide, does not move at all, whilft thofe above and below it are affected in their proper time. Sometimes the leaves at the extremity of the petiolus move fooner than feveral others which were nearer the place where the pin was put in.

On making a compreffion with a pair of pincers on the univerfal petiolus, between any two pair of leaves, those above the compreffed part, or nearer the extremity of the petiolus, move fooner than thofe under it, or nearer the origin; and frequently the motion will extend upwards to the extreme leaf, whilft below it perhaps does not go farther than the nearest pair.

D

If

If the leaves happen to be blown by the wind against one another, or against the branches, they are frequently put in motion; but when a branch is moved gently, either by the hand or the wind, without ftriking against any thing, no motion of the leaves takes place.

When left to themselves in the day-time, fhaded from the fun, wind, rain, or any disturbing caufe, the appearance of the leaves is different from that of other pinnated plants. In the laft a great uniformity fubfifts in the refpective pofition of the leaves on the pinna; but here fome will be seen on the horizontal plane, fome raifed above it, and others fallen under it; and in an hour or fo, without any order or regularity, which I could obferve, all thefe will have changed their refpective pofitions. I have feen a leaf, which was high up, fall down; this it did as quickly as if a ftrong impreffion had been made on it, but there was no caufe to be perceived.

Cutting the bark of the branch down to the wood, and even feparat. ing it about the space of half an inch all round, fo as to ftop all commu. nication by the veffels of the bark, does not for the first day affect the leaves, either in their pofition or their aptitude for motion.

In a branch, which I cut through in fuch a manner as to leave it fuf. pended only by a little of the bark no thicker than a thread, the leaves next day did not rife fo high as the others; but they were green and fresh, and, on being touched, moved, but in a much lefs degree than formerly.

After fun-fet the leaves go to fleep, first moving down fo as to touch one another by their under fides; they therefore perform rather

more extenfive motion at night of themselves than they can be mad to do in the day-time by external impreffions. With a convex lens I have collected the rays of the fun on a leaf fo as to burn a hole in it, with. out occafioning any motion. But when the experiment is tried on the petiolus, the motion is as quick as if from ftrong percuffion, although the rays were not fo much concentrated as to caufe pain when applied in the fame degree on the back of the hand, nor had the texture of the petiolus been any ways changed by this; for next day it could not be diftinguifhed, either by its appearance or moving power, from thofe on which no exeriment had been made.

The leaves move very faft from the electrical fhock, even although a very gentle one; but the ftate of the atmosphere was fo unfavourable for experiments of this kind, that I could not purfue them fo far as I wifhed.

There are two other plants mentioned as fpecies of this genus by Linnæus. The firft, the Averrhoa Bilimbi, I have not had an opportunity of feeing. The other, or Averrhoa Acida, does not feem to belong to the fame clafs; nor do its leaves poffefs any of the moving properties of the Carambola. Lin. neus's generic defcription of the Averrhoa, as of many other plants in this country which he had not an opportunity of feeing fresh, is not altogether accurate. The petals are connected by the lower part of the lamina, and in this way they fall off whilft the ungues are quite diftinct. The ftamina are in five pairs, placed in the angles of the germen. Of each pair only one ftamen is fertile, or furnished with an anthera. The filaments are curved, adapted to the

fhape

hape of the germen. They may be preffed down gently, fo as to remain; and then, when moved a little upwards, rife with a fpring. The fertile are twice the length of thofe deftitute of antheræ. Calcutta, Nov. 23, 1783.

Account of the celebrated Salt Mines of Wielitska in Poland; from Travels into Poland, Ruffia, Swe. den and Denmark, by W. Coxe, A.M. F. R. S.

"BEF

EFORE we quitted this part of Poland, we vifited the celebrated falt-mines of Wielitfka, which are fituated within eight miles of Cracow. Thefe mines are excavated in a ridge of hills at the Northern extremity of the chain which joins to the Carpathian moun. tains: they take their appellation from the fmall village of Wielitfka, but are fometimes called in foreign countries the mines of Cracow, from their vicinity to that city.

Upon our arrival at Wielitska, we repaired to the mouth of the mine*. Having faftened three feparate ham. mocks in a circle round the great rope that is employed in drawing up the falt, we feated ourselves in a commodious manner, and were let down gently without the leaft apprehenfion of danger, about 160 yards below the first layer of falt. Quitting our hammocks, we paffed a long and gradual defcent, fometimes through broad paffages or galleries capable of admitting feveral carriages abreaft; fometimes down fteps cut in the folid falt, which had

the grandeur and commodioufness of the ftair-cafe in a palace. We each of us carried a light, and feveral guides preceded us with lamps in their hands: the reflection of these lights upon the glittering fides of the mine was extremely beautiful, but did not caft that luminous fplendour, which fome writers have compared to the luftre of precious ftones.

The Salt dug from this mine is called Ziebna or Green Salt, for what reafon I cannot determine; for its colour is an iron gray; when pounded it has a dirty afh colour like what we call brown falt. The quality improves in proportion to the depth of the mine: towards the fides and furface it is mixed with earthy or ftony particles; lower down it is faid to be perfectly pure, and requires no other process before it is ufed than to be pounded. The fineft of this gray falt, however, is of a weak quality when compared with our common fea-falt: it is therefore undoubtedly by no means perfectly pure, but is blended with extraneous mixtures, though it ferves very well for common purposes. Being almoft as hard as ftone, the miners hew it with pix-axes and hatchets, by a tedious operation, into large blocks, many of which weigh fix or feven hundred pounds. Thefe' large maffes are raifed by a windlas, but the fmaller pieces are carried up by horfes along a winding gallery, which reaches to the furface of the earth.

Befide grey falt, the miners fometimes difcover fmill cubes of white falt, as transparent as cryftal, but not in any confiderable quantity; they find likewife occafionally pieces

D 2

of