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POST-POSTSCRIPT.

Wonder, that in the firft Edition of this Effay, I forgot to mention fome Inconveniences I fuffer of a very grievous Nature; and which have a Right to a Place in Pages 102 and 103 of this Edition.

When I am in a Coach with a Fair Lady, I am hid by Silk and Whale-bone. When I fit next her at Table, my Arm is so pinioned, I can neither help her nor myself. We are deprived of the Pleafure of seeing each other; and fhe would fcarce know I was there, if she did not fometimes hear me under her Wing. I am in Purgatory on the Confines of Paradise. I therefore beg one Favour, and which fhe may grant with Honour; that (fince I defpair of fupplanting her [e] Lap-dog) fhe will allow me a Cushion to raise me above fuch Misfortunes.

[e] N. B. Many Ladies fay, that Shock is as ugly a Cur as myself, and unworthy of his Poft. But nothing so disrespectful shall ever escape me; left it would offend, or be thought the Envy of a Rival,

Lucina

་།། ༈ །།

A

LETTER

Humbly addreffed to the

ROYAL SOCIETY;

IN WHICH

Is proved, by moft Inconteftable EVIDENCE,
drawn from Reason and Practice, that a
WOMAN may conceive, and be brought to
Bed, without any Commerce with MAN.

Ore omnes verfæ in Zephyros ftant rupibus altis,
Exceptantque leves auras, et fæpe fine ullis
Conjugiis vento gravida (mirabile dictu)
Saxa per, et fcopulos et depreffas convalles
Diffugiunt, &c.

VIRG. Georgic. iii.

Cur ego defperem fieri fine conjuge mater,
Et parere intacto, dummodo cafta, viro?

OVID, Faft. v.

Or, as other Authors fing,
The frolic Wind that breathes the Spring,
Zephyr with Aurora playing,

As he met her once a Maying,

Fill'd her with thee a Daughter fair,
So buxom, blithe, and debonnair.

MILTON'S L'Allegro.

First Printed in 1750.

1001

A

LETTER

Humbly addreffed to the

ROYAL SOCIETY.

GENTLEMEN,

T

HE great Encouragement you fhew to all learned Investigations of Nature (witness those excellent Treatifes published every Year in your Philofophical Transactions) emboldens me to lay before you a Discovery, which, I believe, is entirely new, and which I am fure will equal any thing that has been offered to the World fince Philofophy has been a Science. Excufe my Prefumption, and forbear your Cenfures, till you have read my Narrative. No lefs than fifteen Years of my Life have been spent in bringing this Arcanum to a Maturity. And when both Theory and Practice had confirmed me in it, my firft Thoughts inclined me to go over into France, and put up for the Prize at Bourdeaux, where Philofophers fhew Problems, as Gardeners do Carnations at a Florift's Feaft. But confidering with myself, that your illuftrious Society might,

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