receue the impression as the light by the brightnes cléernes of Diamonds Saphirs Cristal or such like strengthning the same but in these of thē afore aledged ther is no such aptnes of heating cooling moystning or drying or by any other meanes furthering the same as you may perceue by your own outward senses Beside these heat preserued becometh more mighty being ioyned to drynes then to moysture séeing drines doth whet sharpen heat contrariwise moisture doth dul it as you may also easely gather Lastly actuall fyre working vpon the water it self can not put into it a greater degrée of heat the water it self remayning then the degrée of feruent heate Experience doth verifye the supposition whereby it may be inferred that the waters of Bathes can not be brought to so great a degrée of heate by whot vapoures vnder the earth nor yit by their dashing from hyghe places and craggie for then the waters descendinge out of the cragged rockes in the hyghe hilles in Kayer Naruayne shyre there called VVithua and out of the rauen cragge in Cumbreland shuld through their longe course and violent tossinges become hote But experience proueth the contrarie therefore dashinge togyther and passage of the waters through stony places is not the immediate cause of the heate of the waters of Bathes Séeing that effecte lastly is fyre neyther be such vapours or dashinges matchable to fyre in heate so that from them such an heate can not procéede Wherefore it shal be shewed that if it be heated their heat shal bée by none other means but of fyre And séeing fire doth so heate it ensueth that in the bowels of the earth fire may be found Which as wée haue sayde shal be farther approued both by experience and reason Auicen and Auerhois do permit that Elements are formally in things mixed which thing we leaue worthy to bee graunted by their authoritie so that then thus wise we wil argue It is an harder thing for nature to be able to bringe forth in the bowels of the earth a thinge mingled perfyte then a thing simple perfecte when as a thing mingled thus wyse can not be produced without the simple séeinge it is presupposed but nature can do the first séeing it bringeth forth Golde Siluer Brimstone Salt peter Alume Iron and all other myneralles Ergo it can do the seconde ergo it can bring foorth fyre also And the cause of the beginninge of this fyre is none other then that which is assigned of Aristo in secundo meteo capite de terraemotu And it is an exhalacion hot and drye included in the concauities of the earth where it séeking a passage out and not fynding it is laboured being so laboured it is rarified and beinge rarifyed is kindled bycause great rarefaction standeth with great heate If therefore it happen that where such vapour is included and after the maner as is sayde inflamed if I say it happen that there be metal of Bitumen or Sulphur it is also kindled and the fyre is so longe preserued as the matter féeding it shal not fayle which matter féeding must now be searched out bycause it is not yit euident what it is and also many of those which doo followe the opinion of Aristo concerning the cause preseruing the fyre vnder the earth do disagrée although all do confesse that this fyre vnder the earth hath some subiect preseruing it and that thys fyre is the cause of the heate of the waters of Bathes hereafter shall appeare more euidently Iohannes de Dondis an excellent learned man and a pure Peripatetique hath made a very goodly treatice of the hot welles in the fielde of Padua and there amongst other questions hée moueth this Whence it is that the waters of Bathes doo springe hote hée aunswereth at the length with Arist and sayth that the cause is fyre vnder the earth and that such waters doo flowe perpetually hote bycause the fyre is perpetually preserued in those places vnder the earth after hée demaundeth what is the cause preseruing and aunswered wherevnto very ignorauntly Sanonarola cleaueth that it is heate excitated of the Starres in the face of the earth which heate hée affirmeth to bée not onely the cause preseruing but also the efficient as it were and the materiall and subiect of the fyre hée supposeth to bée an exhalation hote and drie that is wynde And bycause the wynde is still ministred therfore that especially fyre is perpetually preserued and perpetually heateth the waters Afterward he demaundeth of the place of that fyre vnder the earthe sayth that it is not nye the centre of the earth bicause then it would easily bée corrupted for the earth is ther most pure and therfore the vertue doth more florish so that it is most colde neither is the place of the fyre vnder the brimme of the Earth for if it were ther conteyned it would burne vp the plantes and whatsoeuer is in the face of the same and therfore he concludeth that it is in the middle hollownesses betwene these two extremes that is béetwene the centre and the face of the earthe he addeth that this place where the fyre lyeth is distant from the face of the earth .xxx. Myles whereby it appeareth that he woulde haue the Sunne to perse the earth by the space of .xxx. Myles But this opinion is false bicause if the beames of the Sunne should kéepe fyre vnder the earth it must fyrst passe thorough the face of the earth then passe part after part vntill it come to that especiall heate and so afore it come to that fyre it would burne whatsoeuer is found on the superficies of the earth But admit that this heauenly heate passing thorough the superficies of the earth do not burne all that it encountreth yet it wyll not preserue that fyre bycause seing it is .xxx. myles distant from the superficies of the earth as he sayth toward the centre before the heate excitated of the Sunne beames come thether it will bée so flacke that it wyll not bée warme therefore the opinion of Ioannes is false Againe if fyre vnder the earth that is this flame and especiall heate were perpetually preserued of the heauenly heate it would ensue that in colde Regions waters of Bathes wold not be hot but in hot Regions they would be most feruent hot bicause in colde regions ther is but small reflexion of the beames of the Sunne for which cause they be cold Therfore the heate of the Sunne in them can not bée so hot that it should minister too the fyre vnder the earth so strong an heate but in the hot Zone ther shold not only be so great an heate that those waters should bée most hot but also all things should bée burned But dayly experience proueth the contrary also the authoritie of Matten Curtesse in his booke of Nauigacion to Charles the fith Monarche If therefore the heauenly heate were the cause of heate vnder the earth in cold climates hot waters
set in goulden ouches Finally Plinie sheweth that the waters of bathes of Nitre and Allume were often dronk for the purging of the bodie lib. iii. hist nat The which Gabriel Fallopius most reasonably confirmeth lib. de mediatis aquis Howbeit none of all these writers nor any other that I can heare of do make any mencion of our bathes in England Brittaine or if any do it is vnknowen and also vnsufficient without probable reason why such vertues shold proceade from them consydering it wer thargument of blunt wits and also of féeble vnderstāding to iudge the nature of our Bathes for any cause that they haue vttered of theirs not knowing ours Seing Plato wylleth as may appeare by hys reasoning with Socrates that euery matter probable must be reasoned to and froe that so by our sences it may be knowen if for Philosophers we wyll be accounted not for rude Empirykes in phoedo the which thing also Tullie affyrmeth in these woordes Speculator vaenatorque naturae Physicus the Phisicyon is a viewer and sercher out of Nature Wherfore according to my capacitie desyrouse of the originall causes of things a louer of wysedome may not be so satisfyed but rather séeke further for the efficient causes ymediate mediate and material causes with the commixtions of myneralles qualities and temperatures faculties and degrées aswell by authoritie and reason as by experyence as in the next bookes shall appeare seing they be accounted most happy which do best attayne to the knowledge of the causes of things for Foelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas otherwise myght phantasie stand for vnderstāding and wilful opinion for absolute reason ¶ The ende of the fyrst booke ¶ The second Booke of Bathes ayde FOR asmuch as in euery kynd of profession the vse benefyte and knowledge of the cause is so necessarie that without it knowen it is in a maner impossible that any Scyence may consist sure and certayne If so bée that science itself is nothing else but an intelligence habite knowinge things by their causes and effectes I thought it conuenient to speake in a worde or twoo of the efficient immediat mediate and materiall causes of the heate of Bathes that so the ende which is the vse or profit of the thing for which wée labour may more manifestly appeare and the abuse which is the improper ende of things may bée auoyded an argument as I suppose not impertinent to this our present purpose In describing the which diuers Philosophers haue bin of diuers mindes as hereafter shall more playnely appeare and certainely this disagréeing of so wyse men may present argumentes of most waighty questions to you very doubtefull vntill they be discussed Therfore that I may not séeme ouer tediouse nor yet ouer briefe I will alleage the chiefest aswell of the most auncient and of the midle sorte as of the later in our tyme. Mileus the Philosopher hath spoken in this case and hée said the cause through which the waters of Bathes be heated is none other then a winde heatinge in the depth of the earth and in the hollownesses which be in the bowels of the same Wherefore that heat reboundeth vpon the water so it commeth forth hot Rentiphilus and Thesmophilus in this point bée contrary to Mileus and the world folowed them who sayd the earth in those places is very thinne and not of coniuncte partes so that the heate of the sunne entring heateth the water in the hollownesse of the earth and in the caues and trenches which be in the depth by means wherof it cometh forth hot Democritus contrariwise sayd that the cause of the heate of hot Bathes is for that in the holownesses of the earth there be mountaines of Chalke and heapes of ashes which when the water doeth runne vpon it is heated and so the water passeth out hot vpon the face of the earth and of this mynd haue béen many that I haue consulted with concerning the hot welles at Buckstone which opinion is altogether vayne as hereafter shall appéere left vnhandled in our woorke dedicated thervnto wishing therfore all those that will knowe the reason at large why and how waters become hot to reade this our woorke where I doubt not they shall finde wherwith to content them Seneca and Albertus magnus affyrme that the imediate or efficient cause of the hot Bathes is for that they runne vpon a Myne of Brimstone and thorow it are heated And this opinion they and also Sauonarola wyth many other would father vpon Aristotle Howbéeit so great a Philosopher could not so much as thinke it the reason is bycause they had read in a certayne booke ascrybed to Aristotle de proprietatibus Elementorum that the waters of the Baths flow hot bycause they passe through a Mine of Brimstone which booke to haue béen none of his it may appéere by other places in his woorkes wherein hée fréely protesteth a contrary iudgment as in secundo meteore et in problematū 24 sectione 17 probl The last and truest is the opinion of Aristotle who supposed that the waters of Bathes were made hot of a most strong and seruent cause which hée supposed to bée none other then fyer included in places vnder the earth and that fyer is vnder the earth it may easely appéere at Eclam in the Isle of Iseland and at Varigazzo and Florence in Italy and also in Sicilie and betwéen the great seas also in Darbyshire with infinite other places beside Now that the truth falshode of the aforesayd opinions may more cléerely appéere the diuine godhed first called vpon we wil lay this foundation that all simple water essentially challengeth vnto it selfe especiall cold for it is of cold elements the chéefest as the prince of Philosophers declareth and as hereafter it shal be made manifest in the table of the things naturall in the third booke Moreouer let this be a principle that all water heated must be supposed to be by vertu essence cold for al such so demisse of nature returneth to cold as by experience we do proue for if it be takē in a vessell out of the spring it waxeth cold whereby it is inferred that the waters of Bathes by some other meanes become hot must be by proper essence and nature virtualiter cold accidentaliter hot Furthermore séeing water is so cold as in the last degrée the qualitie especially disproporcionated with so great a degrée of heat as is the degrée of feruent heat cannot be induced but by an especial heat So that likewise it is inferred that it is not so heated by a wind heating it as it pleased Milene nor by the heat of the Sun as it pleased Reutiphilus Thesmophilus nor yit bicause it runneth vpon a moūtayn of Chalk or ashes as Democritus supposed séeing these can bring nothing to passe beyonde their owne proper degrée while they work according to nature except it work vpon some subiect which is like to the worker so by affinity
wold not flow but alwaies cold in hot regions they wold burst out most hot yit the consequeÌ„t is false bicause ther are found hot Bathes in the cold countreyes as is shewed afore Also in the féeld of Lukes ther be most hot bathes although that place all the yeare for the most is couered with snow as testifieth Fallopius what néede we séeke examples so far of our countrey is colder then Italy and yit at Bathe S. Vincents and Buckestones alwaies they flow hot But if the heaueÌ„ly heat wer ther so reflected snow would fyrst be melted But that is not so for the snow sometime continueth longer sometime shorter Let it bée that the Sunne beames may be hot in the face of the earth by Antyparistasis yit ther can not be so great Antyparistasis that so great heat should be excitated for that ther is not such Antiparistasis made in the sommer Agayne if the opinion of Ioannes should be true the discoÌ„modities which are aforesayd should ensue of the opinions of theÌ„ which did say that the waters of Bathes were hot thorough the heate of the sunne and wynd Moreouer the opinion of Dondis appeareth false by that that he supposeth one thing very false that the heate of the sunne heateth vnder the earth xxx miles which thing is most false For at our being in Wookie hole besydes Wels and in Poole hole besyde Buckstones in the chéefe of sommer those places were ryght colde yet not half a myle from the Sodde or turphe of the earth Also Theophrast in his history of plantes affyrmeth that the rootes of trées or plants do stretch so far into the ground as the heate of the Sunne doth perse where also hée sheweth that some sayde that the rootes of trées did counteruayle the length of one foote and an halfe which opinion there also hée confuteth worthely for it is more then manifest that many trées do take deaper root as the oke trées pyne trées larnix trées fir trées ash trées plane trées with infinit others howbeit of the leÌ„gth of the roots of the plane trées he reciteth for a miracle bicause it stretcheth direct dounward vnder the earth 33 foot which in other trées do not although they bee perhaps longer Therefore séeing the rootes of trées do descende no déeper then 33. foote and that also to be miraculouse it plainly proueth that the beames of the sunne can not perse déeper séeing the heat of the sunne vnder the earth hée would make the cause of their length and of the heat of the waters of Bathes which are proued to flowe out of déeper places Therefore the opinion of Iohannes de Dondis is altogither false Other some there bée followinge the Peripatetiques that would the cause of the fire to be a subiecte féeding such fyre perpetually which alwayes preserueth itself but afterward what that féeding should bée their is a discord betwéene them Some of them saye it is Allume and the reason with which they are moued is bicause the fyre is perpetuall and necessarely ther is required some sound nourishement which should last longe and that they saye is Allume bicause it is hard and compacte of substance It can not easely be consumed Vitruuius was the Authour of this opinion in his eight booke But this opinion is false for there is onely a double substance which may bée the nourishement of this fyre one truly oylie and fattie and the other thin â—orye replenished with much ayer but the one easly catcheth fyre long kepeth it the other although it be easly kindled yet it keepeth not the fyre long as it appeareth in styxes strawe chaffe kindled and like matter Let vs now sée whether Allume as some would haue it may bée reduced to the one or the other or noe truely I can not see how it may be reduced to the firste séeinge it hath no oylie thing in it nor fattie nor to the second because allume is of a stonie substance although it bée drie yit that dryenesse is earthy not ayery And if it should be in the fyre xx yeares it would neuer be inflamed as you may proue if you will not beleue mée Wherfore the opinion of Vitruuius is false Georgius Agricola in his booke which hée hath written De subterraneis which is truly a very fayre and most learned booke as be all the other which that learned man hath diuulgated sayeth that the subiect preseruing fyre vnder the earth is Bitumen for to this he sayeth some thing muste be subiect and the féeding of this fyre is required to be fattie that it may easely be taken with fyre and this is not desired in bitumen as it appeareth of Naphta wherof commeth our petrae oleum which is a kinde of bitumen and if it shall bée new it catcheth the flame from farre so that in the fields of Mutina sayeth Fallopius where it is gathered plentifully it is necessary for them which gather it to leaue their candle farre from the place wher they do gather it and they gather it in certayne places vnder the earth vnto which they goe downe by many steps and they be most darke places so that they are constrayned to carrie with them a light Therfore séeinge bitumen may easely be kindled and is plentifully found in places vnder the earth as plenty of Naphta gathered in the aforesayd place doth shewe it is very like that it is the subiect féeding such fyre Secondly Agricola addeth and this marke yée sayeth Fallopius that when the heate of waters of Bathes is so great and sometyme they burst out most plentifuly sayeth Agricola we can not saye that the fire which heateth them should be vnder the conduytes of those waters for they would not so waxe hote but it is necessary to saye that the fire is in the conduytes where the bitumen it selfe is Of which thing it is an argument that no matter can be found which may be kindled burne in water sauing bitumen which also if you powre on water burneth neuer the lesse you may also trye this with Camphyre which according to some is a kind of bitumen For if you kindle it and caste it kindled into the water you shall sée that it will burne no worse then if it were without water wherefore when Bitumen doth burne in water it séemeth to be sayde that fyre heating the waters is in the conduyts and not vnder them Likewise this opinion may bée confirmed of the propertie of bitumen bycause it doth not onely burne in the water but is also nourished of the water for it draweth a certayn humiditie of the water which it turneth into the nature of it selfe and it is the cause that it doth endure longe prooue you this I pray you taking a droppe of it and you shall sée the Naphta kindled and dure so longe that it may be maruaylouse which could not be except the féeding of that flame were encreased by the humiditie of the water which Naptha draweth and chaunging
to his own nature ministreth féeding to the flame long And that you may proue of Camphyre and such other things whence it is no maruayle if waters of Bathes bée alwayes hot séeing the fire thorowe which they ware hote hath for a féedinge and propre subiect plentie of bitumen conteyned in the places vnder the earth and longe preseruing the flame This opinion of Agricola although it bee very like to bée true yit it hath a difficultie agaynst it bicause both experience and also the authoritie of the most learned men is agaynst it For Vitruuius which was a great searcher out of thinges vnder the earth willeth that the fyre is vnder the conduyts and yit Agricola sayeth it is not necessarie It is also agaynst the experience of the olde Romaynes who as they were moste wealthie least nothing vnproued amongest other things of those which did séeme vnpossible they practised to make a well whose water might continually slow hot and the matter succéeding according to their desire for they framed brasen pypes which they rouled into many roūdnesses so that the pypes did resemble the Spyres of a Dragon and for this cause they called the pypes dragons these pypes so framed had in the one part an hole by which cold water entred in and by another hole which they had belowe the waters of the fountayne did enter in and afterward vnder the spyres of the pypes they made fyre by which the water of the first spyre was skarcely heated the second more the thyrde yit more and so in all the water was more hote and so continually the water of the wel flowed hote and would alwais haue broken out hote if they had kepte the fire still vnder those spyres which thinge also you may perceyue by stillinge therefore séeing both experience and also authoritie teacheth that water can onely ware hote through fyre vnder it without bitumen it is false which Agricola hathe sayde that it is not necessary that fyre should be vnder the conduytes which thing also is hence euident bicause in the Bathe of S. Bartholomewes in the fielde of Padua as testifieth Fallopius their is a certayne well into which cold water entreth yit as soone as it is ther it waxed hote and this is not done bicause bitumen is there as sayth Fallopius but bicause fire is vnder that place Also in the Valley of the same bath there are two places out of the which ther is drawen clay and in the place wher clay was drawen out there is found Glarea and most hote marble and that heat procéedeth not of bitumen but of fyre vnder that Glarea Furthermore if waters were hote of fyre nourished of bitumen béeing in the conduytes as Agricola sayeth it would followe that all waters in theyr passage shoulde haue in them selues some fattynesse and also smell and taste of Bitumen yet this is false bycause there bée many in which there are none of these as the waters of the Bathes of Buckstone And those waters which haue Bitumen in déed as ther are some found which haue in them fattines and smell and taste of bitumen and all things as is the clay of S. Bartho which in déed tasteth of bitumen iudaicum as affirmeth Fallopius bicause that in that Bathe Bitumen burneth and therefore representeth smell and taste and all things of bitumen But some man will saye note you that fattines is not in all waters bycause perchaunce the bitumen which they conteyne is sound so that it can not bée melted This I graunt yet both the smell and also the taste ought to bée perceyued if it were true besydes that in such waters ther ought to bée vapoures of bitumen Therefore the matter of bitumen is not necessary in all waters that by reason of it they should be hote Therefore let vs omit the opinion of Agricola and come vnto another which is true and it is the opinion of Aristot and of them which doo followe Arist which is that the matter preseruinge fyre is Brimstone and that this was his opinion it is euident of him selfe in the 24. section of his Problemes and the last Probleme for there hée demaundeth the cause why hote Bathes were called holly and aunswereth bycause they wer made of things most holly And things most holly hée calleth Brimstone lightening and hée called Brimstone moste holly after the maner of the auncient persons which vsed it to clense their sacrifices wherevpon in Gréeke it is called theion as it were diuine of this place therefore it is clearely gathered that the mind and opinion of Aristo is that the matter preseruing fyre heating water is sulphur which séeinge it is not méete to be burned out in the conduytes of the earth it is necessary that it be burned out elswhere Hée sayeth besyde that lighteninge is the cause engendring such fyre and by the worde fulmen you maye not vnderstande Bitumen as amisse Ioannes de Dondis did that he might cleaue to the common opinion but Aristo hath accustomed in hys Problemes first to assigne the cause naturall then some common and the common opinion was that lightening dyd heate waters But let vs omit this and let vs come to the naturall and it is that the matter féeding fyre vnder the earth is Sulphur as experience it selfe teacheth For at Bath sensibly it may be proued that brimstone boyleth in the water yet I not deny that Bitumen also is not the continuall féeding of fyre but I affirme that fire in some places is fedde by brimstone and in some places by Bitumen So that I will conclude howe that necessarily the waters which doo waxe hot through Sulphur haue smell and tast of Sulphur as the bathes of Bath hath of which folowing more largely shal be entreated and those of Bitumen haue smell and tast of Bitumen But when as al bathes haue not immediatly th one of these hence it is that some waters be found which doo represent neyther Sulphure nor Bitumen as at Buckstone And when they passe through stonie places they doo lose straight way if they haue Sulphure or Bitumen bicause some waters do not boyle in Sulphur do waxe hot in the iorney Therfore such waters tast not of Sulphur the same I say of Bitumen séeing there be some waters which doo waxe hote through it that they passe through places in which Bitumen burneth and those which doo waxe hote thus wise doo not of brimstone nor bitumen Howbée it these waters if not immediatly yet mediatly they wax hote by reason either of brimstone or Bitumen preseruing the heat as in my benefite of Buckstones bathes may appeere But here ariseth a doubt why these fiers goe not forth séeing fier consumeth all things this is true if it be not still fed but Sulphur or Bitumen be quickly regenerated again therfore it is no dout that fier hauing matter to burn on is preserued alwayes That it quickly ingendreth again Strabo testifieth so that the digging of it béeinge intermitted for the space
of fower yeares they shal finde agayne as great plenty as afore whereby it is sufficient to feede fyre continually when as continually it is engendred and by the same reason for euer preserueth the bathes Lastely if it be obiected that if so great fyre be preserued vnder the earth that it may cause the waters to come forth so hote it should followe that where such hote bathes were there should bée vomica and a chimney out of whiche that flame shuld bée expelled I say it is not néed to ymagine that this flame is equall in all places but in some places is great in some small and therefore where it is greatest there it bursteth out and where it is small the smoke passeth out togyther with the water as at bathe which smoke smelleth there of the nature of sulphur howbeit in other places it may bée of bitumen and that smoke is made bothe bicause the sulphur and bitumen haue in them a porcion of earth melted and hence it is that this fyre may be longe preserued bicause it is a sound matter I call it sounde bycause both brimstone and bitumē be it neuer so pure and myngled haue alwayes earth mingled withall wherevpon although in some places the fire bée not great bycause it is in a sounde subiect which with his soundnes doth long endure the flame also endureth longe Therefore the matter by which fyre is fed in places vnder the earth is sulphur eyther pure or else commixed with his owne earth or else bitumen or some kinde thereof as Fallopius moste reasonably affyrmeth where you that bee learned if this suffise you not may reade further to content you That the metalles of bitumen or Sulphur doo take the beginninge of their heate of wynde inflamed in the places vnder the earth it is shewed But howe the waters do waxe hote thorowe that heate receyued in the Metalles and where that flame is conteyned wée muste nowe séeke séeing it is not euydent enough Therefore there bée in this thinge two opinions one of Agricola that the waters waxe hote bicause there is in the same conduite with the waters both fyre and coles by which they do waxe hot and the opinion is most lyke to be true and partly true bicause we sée with the water passing forth that some of the metal passeth forth and remaineth on the froth in which the water boyleth at Bath and this could not be except the fyre and water wer contayned in one and the same conduite The other is the opinion of Empedocles propounded vnto vs of Seneca that the waters be hot not bicause they passe thorough the burning metall as Agricola supposed but bicause they passe thorough places vnder which there is fyre kyndled togither with the metalles Which opiniō séemeth good enough For we haue in the springes of Buckston certaine well springes into which water entreth cold bicause they come not of one conduite but when it is ther commixed it waxeth hot which thinge wée can not saye too bée done through brimstone or bitumen there kindled and burning séeinge there appeareth neyther any metal nor fyre but wée must suppose that this is only done bycause the metall burneth vnder those conduites the water there is altogyther putable and yet do breake out hote as you haue heard which thing should not be if they waxed hote through their passage through metalles fyred but they would necessarily haue the smell and taste and some substance of that metall which as I haue saide they altogyther lacke therfore wée must say that they be not only in vse too bée dronke and to make meats of but also they wash their finest linnen whit and be more whyter than with the Ryuer water harde by and yet they breake out whote bycause they gette heate of the Stones by which they passe vnder which Stones ther is fyre kindled in any of the mettalles aforesayd This opinion of Empedocles Vitruuius a man of greate experyence confyrmeth what then must we suppose in this thing I lay that the meane by which waters do wax hote is two foulde both already propounded one verily propounded of the mynde of Agricola and the other of Empedocles for some are heated bicause they passe thorough stonie places vnder which ther is fyre kindled and burning in the metall of brimstone or bitumen neyther are these stones therfore turned into chalke that one myght iudge or into ashes bicause they can not be disgested or bicause the heat is slack and lytle and so greate onely as may heale the stones and waters or bicause if it be much it is farre distāt from those stones And other doe waxe hot bicause they passe thorough the mettall it selfe fyred and burning as Agricola supposed you may gather of these two wayes by which waters doe waxe hot the cause why some of the waters of bathes break out most hote as the hote bath at Bath other meanly hot as the crosse bath other betwen both as the kings bath other warme as Buckstones other cold as at Halliwel in Flint shyre called in brittish Fannon Onen Freny which yit be bath waters and haue a medicinable force facultie Therfore the causes of these differences are two that is smalnesse and distance of the fyre for if heate being in the conduytes be much and strong and that water maketh his iourney not very long before it breake out of the earth it wyll flow most hote but if the fyre be lytle and the iourney long it wyll be warme If the fyre be much the iourney meanely long it wyll be meanely hot as contrarily if the fyre be lytle and the iourney most short bicause the water should keape the whole heate which it hath receaued And the contrary happeneth if it take a long iourney bicause in the passage some heate euaporateth continually After the same maner you may saye of water which doth not waxe hote thorow fyre béeing in the conduytes but by reason of hote stones vnder which there is fyre kindled in the metalles and that may be little or much and neare or farre of those stones and so the heate of the waters shal be varied by reason of the next situation or the flame farre of as also by reason of the smalnesse or muchnesse of the same to which you must adde the long or short iorney which the water it selfe maketh before it breake out of the earth for it may be that fyre to be much and neare the water flowing ouer and yit the water wil passe forth warme or lue warme or cold bicause the water hath lost all that heat in the long iourney as in Buckstones bathes benefyte you may reade Hitherto we haue shewed that Bathes be hote alwayes bicause the fire is continuall and that the fyre is continuall bicause new féeding may be ministred and that the féeding is alwayes ministred bicause in places vnder the earth there is matter of which it may be engendred Moreouer it hath appeared how that fyre hath bin
kindled what it is wher the heate heating the waters is contayned wée haue likewyse shewed the cause why some waters do breake oute hote some colde more or lesse and wée haue confuted the opinions of diuers Philosophers and haue shewed how they resulte c. Nowe it followeth that we shewe of what natures such waters be and after what sorte they be cōmixed I finde thrée maners of mixtions in waters of bathes for there be some which haue so farre commixed with thē those things which they containe that those things are made one body with the substāce of the water one forme hath resulted out of thē such things whether they be metallique or other cā not be seperated frō the substance of the water but in a very long tyme a most strong cōcoction or mutacion comming out such maner of mingling is that which doth giue gret integritie maketh thē durable this therfore is the first maner of mixtiō which may be cōsidered in the waters of bathes Another is that there are some waters which haue receiued metalles in the concauities of the earth as they flow yet those metalles are not wel commixed as we presuppose at Buckstons so that of the metalles and the water there resulteth one body by one forme as we haue said in the first maner of mixtion but they bée rather confounded with the waters The thirde is meane betwéene both for there are some waters which are partly mixed in déede with the waters which they do containe partly not commixed as S. Vincents but confounded as we haue sayd aboue But we haue not decréed to speake at large of the commixtions of al bathes but onely in a word or two of our baths of Bathe and what the mineralles be supposed there commixed or infunded in the course of those waters by the qualities wherof procéedeth their effectes medicinable which in my iudgement can in no way more certainly bée approued then by the properties and that the collour smell and taste best approueth The colloure of the waters of the bathes of bathe is swartie greene or marble yellowe the yellownes of the brimstone mingled with the water making a sussible couloure Albeit coulour maketh little or rather nothing to the knowledge of the facultie as Montan. hath most excellently shewed libro de componendorum facultatibus For many things of coulour whyte be found mere contrarie in operation as for example Snow is very cold and chalke is very hot yet eyther of them is most whyte The smell of the bathes of Bathe and S. Vincents is of brimstone as the artificiall bathes that bée made thereof howbeit neyther smell also maketh much to the knowledge of the propertie for it litle forceth whether they smel swetly or otherwise for of swéete smellinge and ill sauouringe things ye shall fynd many of diuers natures altogither neuerthelesse of these some coniecture may be made yet that is vncertayne and not perpetual of tast therefore shall wée entreat Theion chibur sulphur is sharpe and stinging of taste especially if you as the Chimistes do destill it into oyle or water of qualitie whit drie in the fourth degrée as partly by his quicke burning may appeare and of thynne essence And vnto this taste sayeth Montane we must onely trust for thorow it may be perceyued not only the temperaturs of simple medicines in heate colde moysture and dryenes hauing strength from the first faculties as Galen sheweth but also all other vertues as of wiping deuiding opening cutting expelling and such lyke the fittest instrument the truest touchestone of all properties trying both toucheable and tasteable qualities Taste I saye therefore aboue all other senses as all the learned Phisicions affyrmeth is too bée trusted of which so great occasion being gyuen wée can not but speake somwhat with that worthy scholler Melancton lib. de Anima First defyning what taste organ and obiect is Taste truely is a sense of féeling which in the tongue or ruffe of the mouth tryeth sauours Sauour or smacke is a perfect straining of the drie part of the humoure wrought by heate Instrument or organ is a skinne pellicle or philme stretched in the ouer part of the tongue vnder the roufe and hallowe fleshe full of holes like a sponge Obiect of taste is a qualitie in iuyce in which moysture ouercōmeth dryenes earthy heat digesting them both Of tastes ther be seuē simple iii. hote iii. cold the eight which the gréekes cal apoios tasteles without qualitie is rather a priuacion then that it might séeme to be taken any kinde of taste as for the wine fattie tastes they are applyed to the swéetest althogh Plinie in hist plant addeth vnto these suauē acutum albeit in my iudgement dulcis contayneth suauem and acris acutum of this iudgement is Theophrastus Montan. Mont. vi C. other truly they be in nūber these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dulcis calid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acidus frigid 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Salsus 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 austerus  2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Amarus 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acerbus  3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acris 3.    gradu   4.     Swéet hote 1. degrée Sooner cold 1. degrée Salt in 2. in the 2. Bitter the 3. Rouge 3. Sharpe  4. Harshe 4. The swéete taste is sayeth Montane in comen de simpli medicament qualit that which is lightly gathered delighting and pleasing the sense of the instrument arguinge an earthy dryenes temperatly excocted and not parched sometime with an ayrie moysture sometime with a watery therfore moderately warming not much moysteninge or drying nay it shall easely be turned to nourishement and alwayes such kinde of strength or vertu shall procéed from the swéete taste if it be simple but if it bée ioyned with other tastes as to the bitter or sharpe it shall bringe foorth mingled vertues the scope of our purpose for the qualities of the Bathes The Salte taste is that which perseth and byteth the tonge bringing a certayne kinde of féeling of heate by reason of earthy dryenes in a watery moysture thorow much heate deminished and by such a qualitie you may haue the force of heating drying and persynge to the depth bicause of much watery moysture mingled therewith The bitter taste is that which séemeth to shunne away from the tongue something arguing a farre greater deminishing of earthy substāce thorow heate thā in the salt tast therfore it shall haue a greater force of heating drying The sharpe taste is that which not onely doth byte the tongue but also dryeth setteth on fire as it were burneth arguing an earthy drynes perfectly diminished by heat and almost turned into the nature of fyre therefore it heateth thinneth and dryeth exquisitely also burneth consumeth Now for example of the swéete taste Sugar honie clarified or destilled honie suckles c. Of the salt tast Salt salt péeter Sal