From Sir Joseph Banks (unpublished)
Soho Square Decr. 9 1783
Dear Sir

The Friendship which I have experienced from you in your so speedily sending me Accounts of the Progress of the new art of Flying which makes such rapid advances in the Countrey you now inhabit I beg to acknowledge with real gratitude I wish I had more than gratitude     to Communicate in return but times must Come when I shall be bale to repay the debt which you have accumulated upon me with so much Friendly perseverance and beleive me I shall do it with a grateful pleasure.

Charles’s Experiment seems decisive and must be perforemd here in its full extent. I have   been of Opinion that it is unwise to struggle for the honor of an invention which is     Effected Practical Flying We claim ourselves Bishop Wilkins in his Mechanical magic    I am informd (for I have not yet got the book) a proposal for flying by means of a vessel filld with rare Air and Mr. Cavendish when he blew Soap bubbles of his Inflammable air evidently performed the Experiemnt which Caused Charles the memorable flight of the 1st. instant when our Friend on your side of the water are coold a little however they shall see that we will visit the repositories of Stars and Meteors and try if we cannot derive as much Knowledge by application of Theory to what we find in the Armories of heaven as they can do.

Mr. Mitchel has given us a very curious paper in which he considers light as subject the power of gravitation like all other bodies if says he should there be any meterial difference   the magnitude of the Fixd Stars the light of the Large ones would move more slowly and in consequence be liable to a different refraction from it of the smaller ones but no such thing was observd with our best Telescopes we have here a right to judge them not varying from each other in any immense quantites of magnitude or was any one to be 100 times larger than another the difference would be discernable.

A miserable Comet made his Appearance to Mr. Nathan Pigit in his observatory at Yorkshire on the 19 and the weather has been so hazy in the evenings that it has scarce been observd since (it was

Right AscenNorth
on the19 at11h: 15 –41: 0: 0:1
2010h: 54 40: 0: 0:43
21

it was seen in the place it was expected but the night was too hazy to observe it.

It appears like a Nebule, with a diameter of about 2 minutes of a degree the nucleus   it is seen with difficulty when the wires of the instrument are illuminated but is not visible with an opera glass.

Mr. Pigit

Novr. 29 it was seen near the Chin of Aries appeard like a nebulous star as there was s mon light it was dificult to find it. Decr. 1 it was removd near the preceeding Eye Aries, but conceiving other astronomers who have fixd instruments have noted its place he   not calculated the distance from any known.

Mr. Herscell

We are told that a Man has prepard Wings of a very considerable expence indeed they say £ 1000 that the models upon which they are Constructed have flown and that the reality now in London but packd up in a Box should by a comparative calculation carry 150 lb more than the man the machine consists of 4 wings two of which beat while the other two are drawn back some poeple whose opinion in Mechanics is lookd upon as Authority have said that they must succeed Credat Judeus say I I must see it before I beleive it. I am dear Sir with real gratitude and sincere thanks Yours Faithfully

Jos: Banks

I open this to thank you for Mr. Fauges’s book which I receivd this moment on my return home from dinner.
Addressed: Dr. Franklin / Passy / near / Paris
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