During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the American Philosophical Society regularly received letters, and occasionally full blown manuscripts, from members of the public regarding their ideas on science or technology. In 1829, Edward Mulhern of Philadelphia submitted a manuscript on terrestrial magnetism that he felt had implications for navigation. Little is known about Mulhern other than that he died before 1833. Mulhern's "Dissertation on the doctrine and principles of magnetism &" is an attempt to work through some fundamental issues in terrestrial magnetism, including the relative orientation and positions of the geographic and magnetic poles, with an eye toward their impact on navigation. The APS Minutes for April 15, 1833, read: "An application from Alex Mulhern to have returned to him a paper on the 'doctrine of Magnetism' laid before the society by his deceased father, was received and the Librarian was directed to return the same.'"

A compendium of natural philosophical knowledge, written in 1718-1720 by John Questebrune, chaplain to the 6th Earl of Galway. The chapters treat the various parts of the physical world (earth, water, air, and fire), plants (including a great deal on medicinal plants), animals, and the human body and soul. The volume is embellished with decorative chapter headings and pen and ink and watercolor sketches depicting the terrestrial globe, the Ptolemaic and Copernican solar systems, the phases of the moon, and the human body in dissection.