One Vincent Banchi, of Turin in Piedmont, a strong robust man, and an old soldier, of about forty-five years of age, belonging to the horse, was a slave with the Turks eleven years, having been taken prisoner at the siege of Belgrade. He was overseer of my habitation towards the month of July of the year 1756. He was one day walking upon the sea side, and seeing a great number of apples upon the ground, was charmed with their beautiful colours, and sweet smell, resembling that of the apple called d’apis: he took and eat of them, without knowing what they were; he found they had a subacid taste; and having eaten a couple of dozen of them, he fill’d his pockets, and came home, eating the rest as he came. The Negroes, that saw him eat this cruel fruit, told him it was mortal; upon which he ceased to eat them, and threw away the rest. About four in the afternoon, _viz._ an hour after this repast, his belly swelled considerably, and he felt as it were a consuming fire in his bowels. He could not keep himself upright; and at night the swelling of his belly increased, with the burning sensation of his bowels. His lips were ulcerated with the milk of the fruit, and he was seized with cold sweats; but my principal Negro made him a decoction of the leaves of a _Ricinus_[157] in water, and made him drink plentifully of it, which brought on a vomiting, followed by a violent purging; both which continued for four hours, during which it was thought he would die. At length these symptoms grew less; and my Negroes made him walk, and stir about by degrees; and soon after they were stopped. Rice-gruel, which they gave him, put an end to all these disorders; and in four-and-twenty hours he had no more ailments nor pain; the swelling of his belly diminished in proportion to his evacuations upwards and downwards, and he has continued his functions without being any more sensible of the poison. We see by this, that the effects of the poison of the Manchenille are different from those of the fish at Guadaloupe, which I mentioned. Dec. 2. 1756. CVI. _Abstract of a Letter from Mr._ William Arderon, _F.R.S. to Mr._ Henry Baker, _F.R.S. on the giving Magnetism and Polarity to Brass. Communicated by Mr._ Baker. [Read Nov. 16, 1758.] Dear Sir, FOR some time past I have been making experiments on the magnetism of brass, and amongst many pieces that I have tried, find several that readily attract the needle; but whether they have had this property originally, or have received it by hammering, filing, clipping, or any other such-like cause, I cannot yet determine.