Wrote Letter L-095 of 1679-11-14 to Lambert van Velthuysen about gout, salt, and drinking tea

Date: 
November 14, 1679
Standard reference information
L-number: 
L-095
Collected Letters number: 
52
Collected Letters volume: 
3

Text of the letter in the original Dutch and in English translation from Alle de Brieven. The Collected Letters at the DBNL - De Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren.

The signed autograph on five quarto pages is in Gemeentearchief Delft (III B 58). It was not published during Leeuwenhoek's lifetime.

Leeuwenhoek wrote this letter about the composition of the tophi of gouty patients. He also speculated erroneously on the causes of gout. In the second part of the letter, he wrote about how common salt crystals influence the human body. Finally, he wrote about his personal experiences with the beneficial effect of drinking tea when he was hung over from drinking too much wine.

Leeuwenhoek sent a copy of this letter with Letter L-096 of 20 November 1679 to Robert Hooke in London.

Constitution of the tophi of gouty patients. The causes of gout. Crystals of common salt and their influence on the human body examined. The beneficial effect of drinking tea. The extract from Letter L-090 of 11 July 1679 to Lambert van Velthuysen accompanied this letter.