Note 10 — Chapter IV

The geometrical idea was, however, given and applied at least as early as 1836 by Bellavitis, for a paper entitled "Teoria delle figure inversa" appears in the Annali delle Scienze del Regno Lombardo-Veneto for that year. It was also described as an independent discovery by Mr. John Wm. Stubbs, in a paper in the Philosophical Magazine for November 1843. In a note on the history of the transformation in Taylor's Geometry of Conics the date (without reference) of Bellavitis is given, and it is stated that the method of inversion was given afresh by Messrs. Ingram and Stubbs (Dublin, Phil. Soc. Trans. I). The note also mentions that inversion was "applied by Dr. Hirst to attractions," but contains no reference to Thomson's papers!