The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
John Beaumont (c.1640 - 1731)
Virtuoso, geologist, and occultist. He was a correspondent and friend of Sir Hans Sloane, whom he supplied with geological specimens (Hunter, 2011, vii). Dictionary of National Biography entry: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1876?docPos=18 Other biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Beaumont_%28geologist%29 Agent - source of objectCollector (minor)
Relevant locations: Residence at Ston Easton, Somerset
Relationships: William Cole (1635-1716) was a visited by John Beaumont
Linked print sources: as Author (in assoc. with a ms or print source) - A Further Account of Some Rock-Plants Growing in the Lead Mines of Mendip Hills, Mention'd in the Philosophical Transactions, Numb. 129. by the Ingenious Mr. John Beaumont jun. of Stony-Easton in Sommerset Shire Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775).
as Author (in assoc. with a ms or print source) - A Letter from Mr. J: Beaumont of Stony-Easton in Sommersetshire to one of the R.S. concerning a New way of Cleaving Rocks.
as Author (in assoc. with a ms or print source) - Two letters written by Mr. John Beaumont Junior of Stony-Easton in Somerset-shire, concerning rock-plants and their growth.
as Subject of/in a document - Magic and Mental Disorder: Sir Hans Sloane's Memoir of John Beaumont.
as Subject of/in a document - Witchcraft and Demonology in South-West England, 1640-1789 .
References in Documents:
STELECHITES: Entrochites, by most. But, in
proper speaking,
distinct from both. For it is not only of a
Cylindrical
Figure, or near it, and containeth a softer substance in the
Centre, answerable to a Pith: and also radiated as the
Branch of any Tree cut transversly. But
moreover con
b)
pid. Figur
pil'd, and, with the said Rays, mutually indented, so as
altogether to make a Cylinder. Described also
by c)
& Gem
(b)
c)
d)
and others. But we have
two Accounts hereof given us in the
d)
Mus.
Metall
actions
where extant.
The former, by Mr. e) e)
100
with
between thirty and forty Figures of their Varieties,
with some
other Congenerous Stones. The latter, by
Mr. f)
f)
129Junior; who hath added the De
scription of some more Diversities. And the manner of
their
growth. In this Species, which I
shall here enumerate.
Magnet, with
the signa
ture of a TROCHITES.
These Stones being broken, look flaky, and with a gloss,
as the
Lapis Judaicus; but somewhat more
obscure. They
also make a like Effervescence with Acids,
especially with
Spirit of Nitre. And
may probably be as good a Diuretick. That All Fossiles of what
figure soever make an
Ebullition with Vinegar, is affirmed by Mr. a) a) Trans. N. 100
was a slip of his, otherwise most accurate Pen. For there
are
many, and those of several figures, which, although
powder'd, yet are so far from making any Ebullition with
Vinegar, that neither Oil of Vitriol, nor Spirit of Nitre it
self, (which taketh place sometimes where the former doth
not) will stir them: as appears in several Instances in this
Catalogue.
They are found in as great variety here in
any other
Country. By Mr. Scarrs in
Villages in
places of
the Rock as hard as Marble. In such plenty,
that
there are whole Beds of Rock made of them. By Mr.
montMundip-Hills; in the
Rocks, from the Grass to
twenty fathome: but most in Beds of a
grey and gristy
Clay. In a Grotto, five and thirty
fathome deep, he observed
their growth: which was, from the
finest, and the softest
of the Clay. At first, they were
whitish, soft, and smooth.
Trochi
or Joynts; beginning at the top, and so descending. Be
ing all the while in a manner quicken'd with Mineral
Steams; conveyed, from the Mother-Bed, through the Pith
of the several Feet of the Root (which Mr.
and of the
Stock it self.
It were also further worth the enquiry, In what Time,
one of
these Stones will grow up. Whether it doth
so, by
Starts, as Ice often
doth, and as I have seen a little Icy-Tree
to grow level upon a Table? And whether so much as
serves for the making of a single Joynt, at every start?
the former,
saving that it is less spread.
Coral is fish'd for from the beginning of April to the
end of July. Not in the Ocean, but the
a)
Ind. Voyage,
Chap. 21
only. In which there are eight or nine Fisheries, among
the Rocks, no where above forty miles from
Land. Three
upon the Coast of b)
Læt
Sicily, Catalonia, Corsica, and a) Of
white
Coral, there is great abundance in b)c)
Orig.
of
Forms, 136
Of the Nature and Generation of Coral, it is
affirmed
by the Honourable Mr. c) That whilst it grows,
it
is often found soft and succulent, and propogates it
Species. And by d) d)
Rom. p. 45.
Col. 2
had been us'd for many years, to dive for Coral in the
Red-learned thus much; That it would sometimes
Sea,
Kircher
let fall a Spermatick Juyce, which lighting upon any
(steady)
Body, would thereupon
produce another Coral. And e)
Dr.
Brown
further, by
others, That this Juyce is white or milky. Which
may
seem the more credible, when we consider, that the like
milky substance is found in divers Mines. (e)
Sometimes f)
Trans.
N.
100
inclosed as is observed by Mr.
lows of the Metallick Rock. (f)
And that Mr.
hath found in the Hollows of some Stones called Entrochi,
and Rock-Plants, or a kin to them, an evident concretion
of such milky Juyce. (g)g)
Trans.
129. p. 730.
l.
pen
Of Corals, are chiefly prepar'd, The Powder
ground
upon a Marble; the Magisterial Salt; and the Tincture.
To good purpose, in some Feavers, and some other Cases.
But the Name of Tincture, according to the common no
tion of it, is a meer deceipt: it being, in truth,
no more
but a Liquamen, or solution of
the Magisterial Salt. For
those Acid Liquors which are used as Menstruums for the
making of it; by
digestion or repeated heats, do always
turn red: which not
being heeded, the said colour hath
been believed to proceed
from the Corals. Of the Effect
of this
Tincture, or rather Salt of Coral, upon a Malignant
Feaver, see a Memorable Relation of
Case. (h)
h)
& G. lib. 2.
c. 154. p.
312
A Letter from
Mr.J: Beaumont
of
in
to one of theR. S. con
cerning a New way ofCleaving
cerning a New way of
Rocks.
with almost all the
Varieties of the Entrochi, that are described by ListerBeaumontPhil. Trans. N° 100
the Trochitæ, or single Joints, to the Number of 38 or 40, in an Entrochus of near 2 ½ Inches in Length; and as to
Thickness from little
more than a Pin, to near three Inches. As to the Form, here are
per
fectly round, exactly Oval, and the
Compress'd of different Degrees.
an Inch) that the Cracks are visible. Vertebræ of some
are strangely dislocated, and in Part
slip'd off, as it were, yet adhe
ring to the other Part.
treamly thin, that they are scarce the 24th Part of an Inch,
seemingly
joynted,
and the Sutures indented.
out Notches;
of these Rock Plants have issued; but of
these out-Branches there
seldom remain above two or three Joints.
exactly Cylindrical (equally thick at both Ends), here are some of
the
are drawn very fine and small
Rays from a Point in the Center to
the Circumference.
round,Cinque-foil in the
midst of the Rays in
are Concave, a protuberant Point in the Center of others doth cor
Strings are called Cay
procured me some:Medulla whereof
is the Pyrites.
the
Middle of the Joints;
smooth round Joints, and
so alternately;
be met with) have a Circle of Knots, or small
Protuberances in the
midst of each Joint: Entrochus with a white Pith,
growing upon a Rock of a reddish Colour.