Wrote Letter L-463 of 1708-01-01 to the members of the Royal Society about the composition of red coral, the effects when heated and when dissolved in aqua fortis and boiling rain water, and crystals in dissolved coral
The original manuscript on eight quarto pages, written and signed by Leeuwenhoek, is preserved at the Royal Society (MS. 2078. L 4. 19A = L.4.27).
On the cover, Leeuwenhoek wrote, "for the Secretarij of the Roijall Societij, at Gresham Colledge London".
Leeuwenhoek did not date this letter.
In the first paragraph, it refers to L-462 of 6 December 1707. On 14 March 1708 (3 March 1707 O.S.), it was read aloud in London. The date here of January 1 is artibrary, but it keeps the database happy!
A translation of almost the whole letter was published in Philosophical Transactions in no. 316, dated July and August 1708. The manuscript of this translation on ten folio pages is preserved in London. Royal Society, MS 2079, Early Letters L.4.19.B (= L.4.28).