Thursday 25 February 1668/69
All the morning at the office. At noon home and eat a bit myself, and then followed my wife and girls to the Duke of York’s house, and there before one, but the house infinite full, where, by and by, the King and Court come, it being a new play, or an old one new vamped, by Shadwell, called “The Royall Shepherdesse;” but the silliest for words and design, and everything, that ever I saw in my whole life, there being nothing in the world pleasing in it, but a good martial dance of pikemen, where Harris and another do handle their pikes in a dance to admiration; but never less satisfied with a play in my life. Thence to the office I, and did a little business, and so home to supper with my girls, and pretty merry, only my eyes, which continue very bad, and my cold, that I cannot speak at all, do trouble me.
7 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
The Royal Society today at Arundel House — from the Hooke Folio Online
Feb: 25. There were some expts. made to finde what would be the resistance of air to bodys moued through it with seuerall velocitys, & it seemed that the Larger the arch was in which the pendulous body moued, the more impediment it sufferd from the air. and the slower the it moued through the air (as when it moued in a Smaller arch of a circle, the Lesse stop it receiud from the impediment of the air, and the impediment to motion decreased in a greater proportion then the decrease of the velocity. but what the exact proportion of the Decrease was, was to be found out by further tryall It was orderd that this kind of Expts. should be presented the next Day. by employing boords or plates of Seuerall expansions, but all of the same weight, and with balls or boords of seuerall weights, but of the same Expansion.
The Curator proposed an Expt. to find out how the magneticall power Decreaseth at Seuerall Distances. and promissed to bring in at the next meeting a Watch whose Ballance should moue by the force of a Magnetick Steel.
Dr. Holders Elements of Speech presented. -- [ http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2… ] [ http://goo.gl/mv1Ep ]
mr Hooke reported to the Company that he had perused Sigr. Malpighi's Discourse about Silkwormes, and found it very Curious and Elaborate well worth printing. this was seconded by Mr. Oldenburgh, who thereupon &c --
http://webapps.qmul.ac.uk/cell/Ho…
Linda F • Link
Babs and Betty seem like a gift from heaven to Sam and Bess after the recent Troubles -- so much and such sustained merriment.
Sam's failing eyes are the daily somber note.
Carl in Boston • Link
Well said, Linda. Well said.
Carl in Boston • Link
It was orderd that this kind of Expts. should be presented the next Day. by employing boords or plates of Seuerall expansions, but all of the same weight
Not exactly Sam, but this is The Royal Society, and they must have their say. This is a good experiment to get at friction and wind resistance. They would have to measure velocities, and the calculating with English measurements must have driven them nuts. Unless: they arranged their dimensions in multiples of 2. Analysts in 1900 cleverly made their sample weights near whole numbers so they had lots of zeroes in their figuring. Inches and feet are very practical for carpentry, but cm and meters are the only way to go for scientific calculating. I saw a reprint from the Royal Society once, it must have been 10" by 14", plastered with rampant lions and unicorns and old print, and very grand it was.
Dorothy Willis • Link
I feel very sorry for Sam, having such a terrible cold at such a bad time. Of course there is no good time for a bad cold, but this time is particularly unfortunate. Here he is playing the genial rich and sophisticated uncle, taking these country mice out and showing them the sights -- the live King and Queen one day, a dead Queen the next -- and casually spending money on fancy food and special treats. And all the time he is too sick to really enjoy it as he normally would.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"followed my wife and girls to the Duke of York’s house, and there before one, but the house infinite full, where, by and by, the King and Court come, it being a new play, or an old one new vamped, by Shadwell, called “The Royall Shepherdesse;”"
L&M: A pastoral tragicomedy by Shadwell, published in 1669. This is the first record of a performance. It was based on John Fountain's The rewards of virtue, published in 1661.
john • Link
@Dorothy, there is indeed no good time for a bad cold, especially in that era. His hoarse throat could invite all sorts of opportunistic infections.