Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	able_a	according_a	act_n	65	3	5.2692	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50038	The natural history of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Peak in Derbyshire with an account of the British, Phœnician, Armenian, Gr. and Rom. antiquities in those parts / by Charles Leigh ...	Leigh, Charles, 1662-1701?	1700 (1700)	Wing L975; ESTC R20833	287,449	522

pains before the Horns broke out whence came this Lusus Naturae or Praeternatural accident is I think a Phaenomenon not to be accounted for unless at the time of Coition some such Monstrous Idea might then be imprinted on the Faetus which is the most probable Conjecture I can make on this point since we have several Instances of strange Impressions thus Effected a Remarkable one is mention'd in Van Helmont where he tells us of a Woman who Dreamed she was with Child of a Cherry-Tree which made such a wonderful Impression upon the Faetus that in the Palms of the Hands instead of those Lines usual to Mankind were to be seen the Figures of the Leaves and Boughs and Cherries several other accounts of this Nature might be produced which wou'd too much swell this Chapter to recite them I shall only insert one more which was upon a Woman near Clitheral in Lancashire this Woman when with Child was affrighted with Fire and upon the Body of the Infant was very discernable a Lively representation of Flames this was Communicated to me by Dr. Parsons of Preston and I am satisfy'd in the Truth of it how these representations of things and sometimes the things themselves are caused by Ideas imprinted by Mothers upon thè Faetús is in my Judgment a matter that may admit of various Hypotheses but not any that will amount to a Demonstration for how is it solvable by any Rules of Mechanism that the Faetus which by a few Vessels adheres to the Womb of the Parent that an Artery and Vein which only carry and reconvey Blood to its subsistance shou'd ever perform these amazing Phoenomena it is certain the Faetus has no Communication with the Mother any way than only in the Chyle which is seperated by the Glandules in the Placenta Uterina which cannot possibly be imagined to produce these effects how therefore the motions of the Animal Spirits penetrate through all these recesses of Nature so far as I am able to apprehend surpasses human Conception and is indeed only solvable by him who knows no Limits but Acts according to his own Almighty Will and Pleasure The Atheist here may have room enough for Contemplation and then let him tell us how an Artery carrying only a little thoughtless Blood and a Vein returning what is not spent upon the nourishment of the Embrio let him tell us I say how by an Accidental concourse of Monades or Atomes it is possible these things shou'd be effected but since I am apt to think he cannot define me what thought is he may here acquiesce and needs not blush to acknowledge his Ignorance but may conclude with the Royal Psalmist that it is the Fool hath said in his Heart there is no God and indeed only he Lancashire chiefly in these Parts is most remarkable for breeding Cattle of a size more than Ordinary large particularly about Burneley and Maudsley from which places I have known Cattle sold at extraordinary Rates an Heifer sometimes amounting to Fifteen or Twenty Pounds the ground they Feed upon is usually upon an Ascent and the Grass shorter than in lower Grounds The usual method is to buy Calves in those Parts when they are about One Year Old then by removing them to a more Fruitful Pasture they arrive to a larger Pitch than usual The like is Observable in Horses and hence it is that in Yorkshire they generally breed the best of that Species Let us here add something concerning the Superfaetation of Hares which though not always yet is frequently observed that in the Uterus at the same time Young ones of different Productions are discovered one perhaps no larger than a small Plumb another about half its due size and a third at perfect Magnitude I have often seen here the Caesarian Birth that is a Young one taken alive from the Doe rip'd open preserved and nourished for a considerable time afterwards Phoenomena not unlike to these Superfaetations are observable in various Plants especially the Orange-Tree upon which are Blossoms and Fruits of different growths at the same time Let us enquire into the Rationale of this and in the first place consider that these Creatures have frequent Coitions after Conception and then why may we not easily suppose according to our former Hypothesis that the Semen equally at one time as an other after it is injected into the Uterus may be absorbed there by the Capillary Arteries and by them be convey'd and deposited into the Ova and cause a Faecundation and since there are various Ova's in the Ovaria it does not at all seem difficult to me how Superfaetation happens But rather indeed wonder there are not the same effects in Female Human-Kind the same circumstances concurring But some may object against this Hypothesis and allege that impregnation is not performed by the Semen thrown by the Mass of Blood within the Ova But that only a Gas or Aura of the Seed is by the Cornua convey'd to the Ova and so produces Faecundation But to these I answer since with small Bellows at the end of the Tubes I have frequently attempted to force only Air within the Ovaria but cou'd never effect it and since the Ovaria are likewise involved in a double Membrane I do not see how in the least that Hypothesis can be defended but since the Cornua or Horns of the Womb convey the Faetus from the Ovaria thither to assert too that they likewise carry the Semen to them to me seems very Preposterous besides Dr. Harvey assures us he has often immediately after Coition dissected the Womb and its Cornua but never in those cou'd discover the least relict of the Semen which probably he might have done had it been only thrown there to transmit its Aura into those Organs to convey it to the Ovaria again if we consider the suddain Indisposition of Persons after Conception The several Hereditary Distempers that attend many Births as the Gout Stone Dropsy and Consumption can we imagine how these causes shou'd be solved unless we suppose the very substance of the Seed to be deposited in the Ova for how an Aura shou'd ever bring these about to me is unaccountable But if as some defend Faecundation is effected by Animalcules floating in the Semen and that the Ova are only recipients to them I wou'd then appeal to those Modern Virtuosi that espouse this Doctrine to solve the causes of Hereditary Distempers and enquire of them if these small seminal Gentlemen have not frequent fits of the Gout and are not sometimes Hydropical and Consumptive But how Rational this is to imagine I leave it to the World to judge but shall rather conclude my self that the very substance of the Seed is deposited in the Ova and that as that is tainted so likewise is the Faetus and hence Hereditary Distempers arise But to return to the Hare it is observable those bred upon Morasses and Parts adjacent to the Sea-Coasts are usually the

is made most commonly from an Ash-colour'd Bass and is frequently mix'd with white Vitriol as may be observ'd in the Ores in Lancashire and Derbyshire The Feather'd Allum as was noted before is often found in reddish Marles near Thernham in Lancashire The Uses of these are so notorious I shall not insist upon them The next Mineral that bears the nearest affinity to its Salts is the Downham-Diamond these as we hinted are cast up by the Moles and in those little Mountains often discover'd after showers of Rain I have seen some of them as dazling as those from India and would likewise for some time cut Glass but not like those continue it The Learned Mr. Boyle and Seignior Bret have given us a large Account of their Formation to whom therefore I refer my Reader only in short I shall give you my own Conjecture which is that I take them to be a Composition of saline and terrene Particles perhaps not unlike those of the most refin'd Sparrs and in this I was confirm'd by the Calcination of them in which I could discover a perfect vitriolic Taste and found a cretaceous Matter but this I presume is in that small proportion and so curiously interwoven with the saline Particles that the whole Body becomes transparent as we see in those of Glass the like Phaenomena are observable The next Minerals to be prosecuted are the Sulphurs of which various kinds are observable in these Countries as in Mines Metals and Minerals and these as they are united with different Bodies may be rang'd into several Classes some may be call'd Vitriolic Sulphurs because consisting of oily and vitriolic Particles and form that Body which we commonly call Brimstone and these are observable in Coal-Mines Mineral-Basses Ores Metals and Minerals others are Oleaginous Sulphurs as the Halitus in the Burning-Well near Wigan the Sulphur-Damps in several Mines and the burning Turf near Halls-hall and a Sulphur different from all these is observable in Lead Copper and the Pyrites But to give a clear Idea of all these I shall delineate their several Effects by which the Reader will the better judge of their constituent parts I shall therefore in the next place proceed to the Oily and Metallic Sulphurs The Oily Sulphurs are easily inflammable but in their burning have no smell these are observable in the Burning-Well near Wigan and the burning Damps in Coal-Mines as was before hinted sometimes these take Fire by Collision and sometimes by Accension as from the flames of the Candles the Miners work with and then too often produce dismal Effects as the blowing Men out of the Shafts scorching them to Death and sometimes destroying the Works The Effects of these are as fatal as those of Lightning and frequently present us with very odd Phaenomena as the rending in pieces prodigious Rocks ejecting several great Stones perpendicular with a thousand other Disasters in the Works From these things to me it seems plain the wonderful Effects produc'd from Lightning upon Animals are chiefly from their sulphureous Particles by a total and sudden dissipation of the animal Spirits whence necessarily follows a coagulation of the Blood and consequently Death Wherefore in these Cases to save the Life of the Patient if possible as was inserted before in the Chapter of Air speedy bleeding in the Jugulars or Arms is to be us'd Cupping-Glasses volatile Alcalies Friction Epispastics and the like are the Methods to be taken and not to trifle with Milk expecting that to imbibe the Poyson as is the common Custom Other Sulphurs are observable in Lead and Lead-Ores the Effluvia of which are apt to produce Palsies the Byon and Consumption in these a metallic corrosive Salt is united with the Sulphur and so either by causing a coagulation of the Lympha or serum of the Blood entangles the Spirits obstructs the Lungs or Nerves and so produces the fore-recited Distempers The Byon is not much unlike a Quinsy the symptoms running parallel and no doubt but the like Method in that as in an essential Quinsy ought to be taken The Sulphur of the Pyrites will easily fulminate with Nitre which Pyrites is a Complex of different metallic Particles as they are found in different Mines as in Lead Copper Iron Antimony c. as was before related Sulphur is discernable in some mineral Waters by their smell and by a Reverberation of the sulphureous Steams of hot Baths in Cupulos native Sulphur may be collected Sulphur by the Greeks is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they thought in this in those times of Heathenism the Gods descended and by Thunder and Lightning destroy'd the Provinces But by modern Authors it is taken for an inflammable or oily Concrete from some mineral Acid which is render'd evident in the preparation of common Brimstone which contains both an inflammable Oyl and an acid Spirit and accordingly as the Acid is united with the Sulphur the Sulphur is benign or poysonous hence it is that common Brimstone may more safely be taken because it contains a mild Acid but the Sulphurs of Antimony Arsenic and other Minerals are poysonous because they contain more penetrating Salts and so inflame and lacerate the Vessels As to Mineral Damps it is observable that they will continue upon the surface of the Water in the Mine the space of a Month at least in an Oval form as the Miners assur'd me and then frequently break at which time if the Miners be within the Works they are often suffocated I discours'd with one who had like to have perish'd by them he told me he perceiv'd a sudden Coldness to strike to his Heart as he term'd it and an extraordinary sweetness in his Mouth that he lay like a Person in a Swooning Fit and was not sensible of either Pain or Sickness nor could he remember any thing farther save that he drew his Breath short as he recover'd and was drowsy for some time afterwards The Phaenomena seem to indicate these Damps to consist of arsenical Sulphurs and vitriolic Effluvia which suddenly entangle the Spirits and so produce a Coagulation of the whole Mass of Blood and consequently Death it self if not speedily prevented The way the Persons have in those Cases to save themselves is by digging an Hole in the Earth and lieing in it upon their Faces till such time as the Damp has spent it self and sometimes by shooting at it and so firing it out One of the Men whose Ignorance led him to Superstition affirm'd it to be an infernal Spirit and indeed if a Man reflect upon the Wickedness of most of the Miners one might have too much reason to conclude that they have too great a Correspondence with such sort of Company their Morals being inconsistent with any Religion there is scarce a vicious Act but they are guilty of it their Folly is as notorious as their Vice after all their toilsom Labours for a whole Week in dismal obscure Cells the product of all their six