Found BBC has the Royal Society - Boyle manuscripts archive online at: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/boyle/boyle_papers/boylepapers_index.htm#bp02 http://www.bbk.ac.uk/

Found BBC has the Royal Society - Boyle manuscripts archive online at: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/boyle/boyle_papers/boylepapers_index.htm#bp02 http://www.bbk.ac.uk/boyle/boyle_papers/boylepapers_index.ht... A casual but chronological search of the material suggests Y^e was colloquial but in the process of fizzling out. Boyle, unlike the young Isaac, also made extensive use of the descending 's' (looked like an 'f' without the horizontal bar). As a kid, after seeing all these 'f-s' in ancient books you probably wondered whether people back then collectively spoke with a lisp. [fun diversion]