you cast this blanched Gold into the fire the heat chases and drives away the Mercury and the Gold returns to its former colour but if you repeat this often the Gold calcines and then you may pound and reduce it to powder Now there is no dissolvant in the World that can well calcine and burn the body of Gold but Quick-silver I speak of that which is already formed by Nature without engaging my self to speak of that which is talked of among the Secrets of Philosophy Take then a spoonful of Mercury in some porcelan or other dish and finger it with one hand if you have a Gold-Ring on the other hand it will become white and covered with Mercury though it doth not any way touch it Moreover if you take a leaf or a Crown of gold in your mouth and put but one of your toes in a Vessel where Mercury is the Gold in your mouth though you shut your lips never so close shall turn white and laden with Mercury then if you put the Gold in the fire to make all the Mercury evaporate and re-iterate this thing often your Gold will be calcin'd as if you had by amalgation joyn'd Mercury therwith corporally And all this will yet be done more speedily and effectually if in lieu of common Mercury you make use of Mercury of Antimony which is much hotter and more penetrating and though you drive it away by force of fire it will carry away with it a good quantity of the substance of the Gold that re-iterating often this operation there will no more Gold remain for you to continue your experiments If then cold Mercury doth so penetrate the whole body we ought not to think it strange that subtil atoms of fruit composed of many fiery parts wil pass with more facility and quickness I could further make you see how such Spirits Emanations suddenly also penetrateev'n steel though it be a substance so compacted cold and hard that the said atoms keep there residence their many months and years In a living body such as is Mans the intern Spirits aid and contribute much facility to the Spirits that are without such as those of Fruits are to make their journy to the Brain The great Architect of Nature in the fabrick of a Human Body the master piece of corporal nature hath placed there some intern Spirits to serve as Sentinels to bring their discoveries to their General the Imagination which is as it were the Mistress of the whole family wherby the man might know and understand what is done without his Kingdom in the great World and might shun what is noxious and seek after that which is profitable For these Sentinels or intern Spirits with all the inhabitants of the sensitive organs are not able to to judg alone insomuch that if the Imagination or thought be distracted strongly to some other object these intern Spirits do not know whether a man hath drunk the wine which he hath swaâ—low'd if perchance seeing a person who comes to salute him he fixes his eye upon him all the while or he listens attentively to the air of some melodious Song or musical Instrument The inward Spirits theâ—efore bring all their acquisitions to the Imagination and if she be not more strongly bent upon another object she falls a forming certain Idâ—as and Images for the atoms from without being convey'd by these intern Spirits to our imagination erect there the like edifice or else a model in short resembling the great body whence they come And if the Imagination hath no more use of those significative atoms for the present she ranges them in some proper place within her Magazin the Memory where she can recall and send them back when she pleases And if there be any object which causes some emotions in the Imagination and touches her nearer than common objects use to do she sends back her Sentinels the internal Spirits upon the Confines to bring her more particular news Hence it proceeds that being surprized by some particular person or other object that has already some eminent place in his Imagination be it with desire or aversion man suddenly changes colour and becomes now red then pale then red again at divers times according as the Ministers which are those intern Spirits go quick or slow towards their object and return with their reports to their Mistress which is the Imagination But besides these passages we speak of from the brain to the external parts of the body by the ministry of the nerv's there is also a great road from the Brain to the Heart by which the vital spirits ascend from the Heart to the Brain to be animated and hereby the Imagination sends to the Heart those atoms which she hath receiv'd from some external object And there they make an ebullition among the vital Spirits which according to the intervening atoms either cause a dilatation of the Heart and so gladden it or contract it and so sadden it and these two differing and contrary actions are the first general effects whence proceed afterwards the particular Passions which require not that I pursue them too far in this place having done it more particularly else where and more expresly Besides these passages which are common to all Men and Women there is another that 's peculiar only to females which is from the Brain to the Matrix wherby it often falls out that such violent vapours mount up to the Brain and those in so great a number that they often hinder the operation of the Brain and Imagination causing convulsions and follies with other strange accidents and by the same channel the Spirits or atoms pass with a greater liberty and swiftness to the womb or Matrix when the case requires Now le ts consider how the strong Imagination of one mâ—n doth marvailously act upon another man who hath it more feeble and passive We see daily that if a person gape those who see him gaping are excited to do the same If one fall in company with persons that are in a fit of laughter he can hardly forbear laughing though he knows not why they laugh or if one enters into an house where all the World is sad he becomes melancholy Women and Children being very moist and passive are most susceptible of this unpleasing contagion of the Imagination I have known a very melancholy woman which was subject to the disease called the Mother and while she continued in that mood she thought her self possessed and did strange things which among those that knew not the cause passed for supernatural effects and of one possessed by the ill spirit she was a person of quality and all this hap'ned through the deep resentment she had for the death of her Husband She had attending her four or five young Gentlewomen wherof some were her Kinswomen and others serv'd her as Chamber-maids All these came to be possessed as she was and did prodigious actions These young Maids were
some ingenious sleight without diving into the bottom endeavouring rather to shew the vivacity of their spirit and force of their eloquence than to satisfie their Readers and Auditors how the thing is really to be done They would have us take for ready mony some terms which we understand not nor know what they signifie They would pay us with conveniences with resemblances with Sympathies with Magnetical virtues and such terms without explicating what these terms mean They think they have done enough if they feebly perswade any body that the business may be performed by a natural way without having any recourse to the intervention of Demons and Spirits but they pretend not in any sort to have found out the convincing reasons which demonstrate how the thing is done If I did not hope to gain otherwise upon your spirits if I did not I say believe that I should be able to perswade you otherwise than by words I would not have underâ—aken this enterprize I know to well Quid valeâ—nt humeri quid ferre recusent Such a design requires a great fire and vivacity of conceptitions volubility of tongue aptness of expressions to insinnuate as it were by surprisal that which one cannot carry away by a firm foot by cold reasons though solid A Discourse of this nature challenges other than a Stranger who finds himself obliged to display his sense in a language wherein he can hardly express his ordinary conceptions Nevertheless these considerations shall not deterr me from engaging my self in an enterprize which may seem to some much more difficult than that which I am now to perform viz. to make good convincing proofs that this Sympathetical cure may be done naturally and to shew before your eyes and make you touch with your finger how it may be done You know that Perswasions are made by ingenious arguments which expressed with a good grace rather tickle the Imagination than satisfy the Understanding But demonstrations are built upon certain and approved principles and though they be but roughly pronounced yet they convince and draw after them necessary conclusions They proceed as a strong Engin fastned to a gate to batter it down or as a plate of metal to imprint the mark of the mony At every turn that truth makes she approaches but little and as it were insensibly and makes not much noise and there is no such great force required to turn her but her strength though it be slow is invincible That at the end she breaks down the gate and makes a deep impression on the pâ—ece of Gold or Silver Whereas the stroke of hammers and bars whereto witty discourses and the flourished conceptions of Subtile spirits may be compared requires the arm of a Giant makes a great noise and at the end of the account produces little effect To enter then into the matter I will according to the method of Geometrical Demonstrations lay Six or Seven Principles as foundation-stones wheron I will erect my Structure But I will lay them so well and so firmly that there shall be no great difficulty to grant them These Principles shall be like the wheels of Archimedes by the advantage wherof a child might be capable to hale on shore the bigest Carack of King Hieron which a hundred pair of Oxen with all the Ropes and Cables of his Arsenal were not able to stir So by the strength of these Principles I hope to wast my Conclusions to a safe Port. The First Principle shall be that the whole Oâ—be or Sphere of the Air is filled with Light If it were needful to prove in this point that Light is a material and corporal Substance and not an imaginary and incomprehensible Quality as many Schoolmen aver I could do it evidently enough but I have done this in another Tâ—eatise which hath been published not long since And it is no new opâ—nion for many of the most esteemed Philosophers among the Antients have advanced it yea the Great St. Augustine in his Third Epâ—stle to Volusian alledges that it is his sentiment But to our present business whether Lâ—ght be the one or the other it matters not t is enough to explicate its course and the journies it makes wherto our Senses bear witness T is clear that issuing continually out of its source the Suu and lancing it self by a marvailous celerity on all sides by straight lines where it encounters any obstacles in its way by the opposition of some hard or opaque body it reflects leaping thence to equal angles takes again its course by a straight line till it bandies upon some other solid body so it continues to make new boundings here there till at the end being chased on all sides by the bodies which oppose it in its passage 't is tired and so extinguishes In the like manner as we see a Ball in Tenis Court being struck by a strong arm against the walls leaps to the opposite side so that sometimes it makes the circuit of the whole Court finishes its motion near the place where it was first struck Our very eys are witnesses of this progress of the Light when by way of reflexion it illuminates some obscure place whither it cannot directly arrive Or when issuing immediatly from the Sun beating upon â—he Moon or some other of the Planets the ray's which cannot find entrance there bound upon our Earth otherwise we should not see them and there it is reflected broken bruised by so many bodies as it meets in its diversity of reflexions The Second Principle shal be that The Light glaâ—cing so upâ—n some body the rayes which enter no further but rebound from the superficies of the body carry with them some smal particles or atomes just as the Ball whereof we have spoken would carry with it some of the moisture of the wall against which'tis banded if the plaister therof were also moist as in effect it carryed away some tincture of the black wherwith the walls are coloured The Reason wherof is that the Light that subtil and rarified fire coming with such an imperceptible haste for its darts are within our eyes as soon as soon as its head is above our Horison making so many millions of miles in an inimaginable space of time I say the Light beating upon the body which opposes it cannot chuse but make there some small incisions proportionâ—ble to its rarity and subtility And these small Atomes being cut and loosned from their trunk the heat of the light sticks and incorporates it self wiâ—h the most humid viscuouâ— and glewing parts of them and carries them along with it Experience shews us this as well as Reason For when one puts some hâ—mâ—d cloth to dry before the fire the fiery rays beating theron those which find no entrance but reflâ—ct thâ—nce carry away with them some small moist bodies which make a kind of mist betwixt the cloth and the fire In like manner the Sun at his rising enlightning
the earth which is moistned either by rain or the dew of the night his beams raise a Mist which by little and little ascends to the tops of the hills and this Mist doth rarifie according as the Sun hath more force to draw it upwards till at last we lose the sight thereof and it becomes part of the Air which in regard of its tenuity is invisible to us These Atomes then are like Cavaliers mounted on winged Coursers who ride on still till the Sun setting â—akes from them their Pegasus and leaves them unmounted and then they precipitate themselvs in crowds to the Earth whence they sprung The greatest part of them and the most heavy fall upon the first reâ—â—eating of the Sun and that we call the Serain which though it be so thin that we cannot see it yet we feel it as so many small hammers striking upon our heads and Bodies principally the elder sort of us For young persons in regard of the boyling of their blood and the heat of their complexion thrust out of them abundance of Spirits which being stronger than those that fall from the Serain repulse them and hinder them to operate on the Bodies whence these Spirits came forth as they do upon those that being grown cold by age are not guarded by so strong an emanation of their Spirits The Wind which blows and is tossed to and fro is no other than a great River of the like Aâ—omes drawn out of some solid Bodies which are upon the earth and so banded here and there according as they find cause for that effect I remember to have once sensibly seen how the Wind â—s ingendred I passed over Mount Cenis to go for Italy towards the begining of Summer and I was advanced to half the Hill as the Sun rose clear and luminous bâ—t before I could see his body because the Mountains interposed I observed his rays which gilded the top of the Mâ—untain Viso which is the Pyramid of a Rock a good deal hâ—gher than Mount Cenis and all the neighbouring Mountains Manâ— are of opinion that it is the highest Mountain in the World after the Pic of Tenariff in the Gran-de-Canary and this Mount Viso is always cover'd with Snow I observed then that about that place which was illuminated by the Solar rays there was a Fog which at first was of no greater extent than an ordinary Boul but by degrees it grew so great that at last not only the top of that Mountain but all the neighbouring Hills were canopied all over with a Câ—oud I was now come to the top of Mount Cenis and finding my self in the straight line which pâ—sses from the Sun to Mount Viso I stay'd a while to behold it while my Servants were coming up the Hill behind for having more men to carry my chair than they had I was there sooner It was not long e're I might perceive the said Fog descend gently to the place where I was and I began to feel a freshness that came over my face when I turn'd it that way When all my Troop was come about me we went descending the other side of Mount Cenis towards Sâ—zâ— and the lower we went we sensibly found that the Wind began to blow hard behind our backs for our way obliged us to go towards the side where the Sun was We met with Passengers that were going up as we down who told us that the Wind was very impetuous below and did much incommodate them by blowing in their faces and eyes but the higher they came it was lâ—sser and lesser And for our selves when we were come to the place where they said the Wind blew so hard we found a 〈◊〉 of Storm and it encreased still the lower we went till the Sun being well advanced drew no more by that line but caused a Wind in some other place The people of that Country assured me that it was there always so if some extraordinary and violent accident did not intervene and divert the ordinary course viz. at a certain hour of the day the Wind raises it self to such a romb or point and when the Sun is come to another point another wind rises and so from hand to hand it changes the point till the Sun set which always brings with it a calm if the weâ—ther be faâ—r and that always comes from the Mount Viso opposite to the Sun They told us also that the daily wind is commonly stronger towards the bottom of the Mountain than towards the top wherof the reason is evident For the natural movement of every body natural encreases always in swiftness according as it moves forward to its center and that by the unequal numbers as Galileo hath ingeniously demonstrated I did it also in another Treatise that is to say if at the first moment it advances an ell in the second it advances three in the third five in the fourth seven and so it continues to augment in the same manner which proceeds from the density and figure of the descending body acting upon the cessiblility of the medium And these small Bodies which cause a wind from Mount Viso are thick and terrestrial for the Snow being composed of watry and earthy parts united by the cold when the heat of the Solar beams disunites and separates them the viscous parts flie with them while the terrestrial being too heavy to fly upward fall presently downward This makes me remember a very remarkable thing which befell me when I was with my Fleet in the Port of Scanderon or Alexandretta towards the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea there they use to dis-imbark when they go to Aleppo or Babylon I had done already what I had intended to do in those Seas and happily compassed my design so it imported me much to return to England as soon as possibly I could and the rather because my Ships were batter'd by a great Fight I had had a little before against a formidable power wherin although I had obtain'd the better yet in so furious a dispute my Fleet was in some disorder and my Ships full of wounded Men. To advise therefore of the most expedient Course to come to some Harbour where I might repair my Ships and be in surety I assembled all my Captains Pilots and Mariners the most experienced of my Fleet and having propounded to them my design they were all of an unanimous opinion that the surest course was towards the South and to cast upon Syria Iudea Egypt and Africa and render our selves at the streight of Giâ—raltar sailing so near the main Land we should have every night some small briezes of wind wherby we should in a short time make our Voyage And besides we should not be in any great danger to meet either with Spanish or French Fleets For England was at that time in open War with both those Kings and we had advice that they had great Fleets abroad to vindicate some things we had done in prejudice of
great transpiration or evaporation of Spirits use to be killed because through attraction the Air taking the room of the Spirits which issue forth by the evaporation the pestiferous atomes which are scatter'd in the air and accompany it use to stick to their feathers skins or furs And for the same reason we see that Bread coming hot out of the Oven put upon the Bung draws to it the Must of the Cask which would spoil the Wine and that Onions and such hot bodies which perpetually exhale fiery parts as appears by the strength of their smel are quickly poison'd with infectious airs if they be exposed to them and 't is one of the signs to know whether the whole mass of the air be universally infected And one might reduce to this head the great attraction of air by calcin'd bodies and particularly by Tartar all ignited by the violent action of the fire which is crowded and encorporated among it's Salt I have observed that it attracts to it nine times more air than it self weighs For if one expose to the air a pound of Salt of Tartar well calcin'd and bâ—rnt it will â—ffâ—rd ten pound of good Oil of Tartar drawâ—â—g to it and so incorporating the circumjacent air and that is mingled with it as it befell that Oâ—l of Tartar which Monâ—ir Fâ—rrier made me wherof I spake before But methâ—nks all this is but little compared to the attraction of air by the body of a certain Nâ—n at Rome wherof Peâ—rus Servius â—râ—aâ— the Eâ—ght's Physician makes mention in a Book which he hath published touching the marvailous accidents which he observ'd in his time Had I not such a vouchy I durst not produce this History although the Nun her self confirm'd it to me and a good number of Physicians assured me of the truth thereof There was a Nun that by excesse of fasting watching and mental orisons was so â—eaâ—ed in her body that she seem'd to be all on fire and her bones dryed up and calcin'd This heat then this inâ—ernal fire drawing the air powerfully this air incorporated within her body as it uses to do in Salt of Tartar and the passages being all open it got to those parts where there is most serosity which is the bladder and thence she rendred it in water among her Urine and that in an incredible quantity for she voided during some Weeks more than two hundred pounds of Water every four and twenty hours With this notable example I will put an end to the experiments I have urged to prove and explicate the attrâ—ction made of air by hot and igâ—ited bodies which are of the nature of fire My Sixth Principle shall be that When fire or some hot body attracts the Air and that which is within the Air if it happens that within that air there be found some dispersed aâ—oms of the same nature with the body that draws them such atoms are more powerfully attracted than if they were Bodies of a different nature and they stay stick and mingle more willingly with the body which draws them The Reason hereof is the Resemblance and Sympathy they have one with the other If I should not explicate wherein this Resemblance consisted I should expose my self to the same censure and blame as that which I taxed at the beginning of my discourse in those who spake but lightly and vulgarly of the Powder of Sympathy and such marvels of Nature But when I shall have cleared that which I contend for by such a resemblance and conveniency I hope then you will rest satisfied I could make you see that there are many sorts of Resemblances which cause an Union between bodies but I will content my self to speak here only of three signal ones The first Resemblance shall be in Weight whereby bodies of the same degree of heaviness assemble together The reason wherof is evidenâ— For if one body were lighter it would occupy a higher situation than the heavier body as on the contrary if a body were more weighty it would descend lower than that which is less heavy but both having the same degree of heavâ—ness they keep company together in equilibrio As one may see by experience in this gentile example which some curious spirits use to Produce to make us understand how the Four Elements are situated one above the other according to their weight They put in a vial the spâ—rit of Wine tinctur'd with red to represent the Fire the spirit of Turpentine tinctur'd with blew for the Air the spirit of Water tinctur'd with green and represent the element of Water And to represent the Earth the Powder of some solid Metal enamell'd you see them one upon the other wâ—thout mixâ—ng and if you shake them together by a violent◠〈◊〉 you shal see a Chaos such a confusion that it wil seem there 's no particular atoms that belong to any of those bodies they are so hudled pel mel altogether But cease this agitation and you shall see presently every one of these four substances go to its natural place calling again labouring to unite all their atoms in one distinct mass that you shall see no mixture at all The second Resemblance of bodies which draw one another and unite is among them which are of the same degree of Rarity and Density The nature and effect of Quantity is to reduce to unity all things which it finds if some other stronger power as the differing substantial Form which multiplies it do not hinder And the reason is evident For the â—ssence of Quantity is Divisibility or a Capacity to be divided that is to be made Many whence may be inferr'd that Quantity it self is not-many 't is therfore of it self and in its own nature one continued extension Seeing then that the nature of Qâ—antity in general tends to Unity and Continuity the first differences of Quantity which are Rarity and Density must produce the same effect of Unity and Continuity in those bodies which participate in the same degree of them For proof whereof we find that water unites and incorporates it self strongly and easily with water oil with oil spirit of wine with spirit of wine but water and oil will hardly unite nor mercury with the spirit of wine and so other bodies of differing density and tenuity The third Resemblance of bodies which unites and keeps them strongly together is that of Figure I will not serve my self here with the ingenious conceit of a Great Personage who holds that the continuity of Bodies results from some smal hooks or clasps which keep them together and are different in bodies of a differing nature But not to extend my self too diffusively in every particularity I will say in gross as an apparent thing that every kind of body affects a particular Figure We see it plainly in the several sorts of Salt peel and stamp them separately dissolve coagulate and change them as long as you please they come again alwayes to their own natural figure
her lodging she was brought to-bed before her time of a Child who had his head sever'd from his body both the parts yet shedding fresh blood besides that which was abundantly shed in the womb as if the heads-man had done an execution also upon the tender young body within the Mothers wombe These three Examples manifestly enough prove the strength of the Imagination and many others as true I could produce which would engage me too far if I should undertake to clear the causes and unwrap the difficulties that would be found greater in them than in any of those wherwith I have entertain'd you Because those spirits had the power to cause essential changes and fearful effects upon bodies that were already brought to their perfect shapes and it may be well believ'd that in some of them there was a transmutation of one species to another and the introduction of a new Form into the subject-Matter totally differing from that which had been introduced at first at least if that which most Naturalists tell us at the animation of the Embryo in the womb be true But this digression hath been already too long To return then to the great channel and thrid of our Discourse The examples and experiments which I have already insisted on in confirmation of the reasons I have aledg'd clearly demonstrate that Bodies which draw the atomes dispersed in the air attract themselvs such as are of their own nature with a greater force and energy than other heterogeneous and strange atoms as Wine doth the vinal spirits The oyl of Tartar perfum'd in the making with Roses drew the volatil spirits of the Rose The flesh of Deer or Venison buried in crust attracts the spirits of those Beasts and so all the other wherof I have spoken The History of the Tarantula in the kingdom of Naples is very famous you know how the venome of this Animal ascending from the part that was bitten towards the head and heart of the Parâ—ies excites in their Imagination an impetuous desire to hear some melodious airs and most commonly they are delighted with differing airs Therfore when they hear an air that pleases them they begin to dance incessantly and therby fall a sweating in such abundance that a great part of the venome evaporates Besides the sound of the musick raises a movement and causes an agitation among the aereal and vaporous Spirits in the brain and about the heart and diffused up and down through the whole body proportionably to the nature and cadence of such Musick as when Timotheus transported Alexander the great with such a vehemency to what Passions he pleas'd and as when one Lute struck makes the consonant strings of the other to tremble by the motions and tremblings which it causes in the air though they be not touch'd otherwise at all We find too oftentimes that Sounds which are no other thing than Motions of the air cause the like movement in the Water as the harsh sound caus'd by rubbing hard with ones finger the brim of a 〈◊〉 full of water excites a noise a turning and boundings as if it danced according to the cadence of the Sound The harmonious Sounds also of Bells in those Countries where they use to be rung to particular tunes makes the like impressions upon the superficies of the Rivers that are nigh the Steeple as in the Air especially in the night time when there is no other movement to stop or choak the other supervenient one For the air being contiguous or rather continuous with the water and the water being susceptible of movement ther 's the like motion caused in the fluid parts of the water as began in the air And the same contract which is betwixt the agitated air and the water by this means moved to happens also to be betwixt the agitated air and the vap'rous Spirits in those bodies that have been bitten by the Tarantula which Spirits by consequence are moved by the agitated air that is to say by the Sound and that the more efficaciously the more this agitation or Sound is proportion'd to the nature and temperature of the party hurt And this intern agitation of the Spirits and vapours helps them to discharge the vaporous venom of the Tarantula which is mixt among all their humours as standing puddle Waters and corrupted airs putrified by long repose and the mixture of other noisome substanceâ— are refin'd and purifi'd by motion Now winter approâ—ching which destroys these Animals the persons are freed from this malady but at the return of that season when they use to be bitten the mischief returns and they must dance again as they did the year before The reason is that the heat of Summer revives these Beasts so that their venom becomes as malignant and furious as before and that being heated and evaporating it self and dispersing in the air the leven of the same poyson which remains in the bodies of them who have been hurt that draws it to it self wherby such a fermentation is wrought as infects the other humours and thence a kind of steam issuing and mounting to the brain uses to produce such strange effects It is also well known that where there are great dogs or Mastifs as in England if any be bitten perchance by them they commonly use to be kil'd though they be not mad for fear least the leven of the canine choler which remains within the body of the party bitten might draw to it the malignant spirits of the same dog should he afterwards chance to be mad which might come to distemper the spirits of the person And this is not only practised in England where there are such dangerous dogs but also in France according to the report of Father Cheron Provincial of the â—armelites in this Gountrey In his examen de la Theologie mystique newly imprinted and which I have lately read I will say nothing of artificial Noses made of the flesh of other men to remedy the deformity of those who by an extreme excess of cold have lost their own which new Noses putrifie as soon as those persons out of whose substance they were taken come to die as if that small parcel of flesh engrafted on the face lived by the spirits it drew from it's first root and source For though this be constantly avouch'd by considerable Authors yet I desire you to think that I offer you nothing which is not verified by solid tradition such that it were a weakness to doubt of it But it is high time that I come now to my Seventh and last Principle it is the last turn of the engine and will I hope batter down quite the gate which hindred us an entrance to the knowledge of this so marvailous a mystery and imprint such a lawful mark upon the doctrine proposed that 't will pass for current This principle is that The source of those spirits or little bodies whâ—ch attract them to it self draws likewise after them that which accompanies
proper place to receive the dry cold blasts of the Northern winds those blasts intermingle with the said corrupt impostumated matter which spreading its Spirits about through all the air the ulcerated foot of the Animal being their sourse draws them to it and with them the cold dry atoms which cure it the malady requiring no other help than to be wel dry'd and refreshed But if one should expose this turf to a moist hottish wind it weuld produce contrary effects Behold my Lords all my wheels formed I confess they are ill filed and polished but let us try whether being put together and mounted they wil make the engin go which if they do and fairly draw in the Conclusion you will I presume have the goodness to pardon the grâ—ssness of my language and passing by the words content your selvs with the naked truth of the things Let us therefore apply what ha's been said to that which is practic'd when a hurt person is cured Let us consider Mrâ— Hoâ—el wounded in the hand and a great inflammation following upon his hurt his Garter is taken cover'd with the blood that issued from the wound and is steep'd in a bason of water where Vâ—triol was dissolv'd one keeps the Bason in a closet moderately warm'd by the Sun all day and at night in the chimney corner so that the blood upon the Garter be always in a good natural temperament neither colder nor hotter than the degree required in a healthful body What now must result according to the doctrine that we endeavour to establish from all this In the first place the Sun and Light will attract a great extent and distance off the spirits of the blood upon the Garter and the moderate heat of the chimney acting gently upon the composition which comes to the same thing as if one should carry it dry in his pocket to make it feel the temperate heat of the Body will push out and thrust forward still the said atoms and make them march of themselvs a good way in the air round about to help therby the attraction of the Sun and Light Secondly the Spirit of Vitriol being incorporated with the blood cannot choose but make the same voyage together with the atoms of the blood Thirdly the wounded hand expires and exhales in the mean time continually abundance of hot fiery Spirits which stream as a river out of the inflamed hurt nor can this be but the wound must consequently draw to it the air which is next it Fourthly this air must draw to it the other air next it and that the next to it also and so there will be a kind of current of air drawn round about the wound Fiftly with this air will come to incorporate at last the atoms and Spirits of the Blood and Vitriol which were dâ—ffused a good way off in the air by the attractions of the Light and the Sun Besides it may well be that from the begining the orb and sphere of these atomes and Spirits extended it self to so great a distance without having need of the attractions of the air or light to make them come thither Sixthly the atoms of blood finding the proper source and original root whence they issued will stay there re-entering into their natural beds and primâ—tive receptacles wheras the other air being but a passenger will evaporate away as soon as it comes as when it is carried away through the funnel of the chimney as soon as it is drawn into the chamber by the door Seventhly the atoms of the blood being inseparable from the Spirits of the Vitriol both the one and the other will joyntly be imbibed together within all the corners fibres and orifices of the Veins which lye open about the wound whence it must of necessity be refreshâ— and in fine imperceptibly cured Now to know in virtue of what such an effect and cure is so happily performed we must examine the nature of Vitriol which is composed of two parts the one fixed the other volatil The fixed which is the Salt is sharp and biting and cauftique in some degree The volatil is smooth soft balsamical and astringent and 't is for that reason that Vitriol is made use of as a sovereign remedy for the inflammations of the eyes when they are corroded and parched by some sharp and burning humor or defluction as also in injections where excoriations require them and in the best plaisters to stanch the blood and incarnate hurts But they who well know how to draw the sweet oyl of Vitriol which is the pure volatil part therof know also that in the whole closet of Nature there is no balm like this oyl For it heals in a very short time all kind of hurts which are not mortal it cures and consolidates the broken veins of the breast ev'n to the Ulcers in the lungs which is an incurable malady without this balm Now 't is the volatil part of the Vitriol which is transported by the Sun the great Distiller of Nature and which by that means dilates it self in the air and that the wound or part which receiv'd the hurt draws and incorporates with the blood and its humours and spirits Which being true we cannot expect a less effect of the volatil Vitriol but that it should shut the veins stanch the blood and so in a short time heal the wound The method and primitive manner how to make use of this Sympathetical remedy was To take only some Vitriol and that of the common sort as it came from the Druggists without any preparation or addition at all and to make it dissolve in fountain or rather in rain-water to such a proportion that putting therin a knife or some polished iron it should come out chang'd into the colour of copper and into this water they used to put a clowt or rag embrued with the blood of the party hurt if the rag were dry But if the rag was yet fresh and moist with the reaking blood there was no need but to sprinkle it with the smal powder of the same Vitriol so that the powder might incorporate it self with and imbibe the blood remaining yet humid In both cases the rag was to be kept in a temperate heat or place viz. the powder in ones pocket and the water which admits not of this commodity within a chamber where the heat should be temperate and every time that one should put new water of Vitriol or fresh powder to new cloth or other bloodied stuff the patient would feel new ease as if the wound had been then drest with some sovereign medicament And for this reason they used to reiterate this manner of dressing both Evening and Morning But now the most part of those who serve themselvs with the Powder of Sympathy endeavour to have Vitriol of Rome or of Cyprus which they calcine at the rayes of the Sun And besides some use to add the Gum of Tragagantha it being easy to add to things already invented
retain the light and rays that ener there so that they are thereby stop'd and quite lost Moreover Morover if you suffer the water of Vitriol to congeal into ice or the cloth dip't in it the party hurt shall be sensible at the begining of a very great cold in his wound but when it is iced all over he shall feel neither heat nor cold in regard that congealed cold constipates the pores of the water so that it ceases to transpire and send forth Spirits If one wash the bloody Cloth in Vinegar or Lye which by their penetrating acrimony transport all the spirits of the blood before the Vitriol be applied it will produce no effect Yet if the Cloth be wash'd but with pure simple water it will nevertheless do something for that water carries not away so much but the effect will not be so great as if the Cloth had not been washed at all for then it would remain full of the spirits of the blood The same cure is performed by applying the remedy to the Blade of a Sword which ha's wounded a body so the Sword be not too much heated by the fire for that will make all the Spirits of the blood to evaporate and consequently the Sword will contribute but little to the cure Now the reason why the Sword may be dressed in order to the cure is because the subtile spirits of blood penetrate the substance of the blade as far as it went into the body of the wounded party and there keep their residence unless the fire as I said before chase them away For experiment wherof hold the Blade over a chasing dish of moderate fire and you shall discern on the side opposite to the fire a little humidity which resembles the spots that ones breath makes upon looking-glasses or upon the burnished blade of a sword If you look upon it through a magnifying-glass you shall find that this soft dew of the Spirits consists in lâ—ttle bubles or blown bladders and when once they are entirely evaporated you shall discern no more upon the weapon unless it were thrust a new into the body of a 〈…〉 nor from the begining shall you discover any such thing but precisely upon the part of the blade which had entred the wound This subtile penetration of the Spirits into hard steel may confirm the belief of such Spirits piercing through the skin of a woman big with child as I remind to have proposed to you in my sixth Principle To confirm all these particulars I could add to those I have already recounted many notable examples more but I fear I have already too much exercised your patience I will therfore suspend any mention of them at this time but I offer to entertain any of this Honourable Assembly therwith when they shall have the curiosity I conclude then my Lords with representing to you that all this mystery is carry'd and guided throughout by true natural ways and circumstances although by the agency and resorts of very subtile spirits I am perswaded my Discourse hath convincingly shew'd you that in this Sympathetical cure there is no need to admit of an action distant from the Patient I have traced to you a real Communication 'twixt the one and the other viz. of a Balsamical substance which corporally mingles with the wound Now it is a poor kind of pusillanimity and faint-heartedness or rather a gross weakness of the Understanding to pretend any effects of charm or magick herin or to confine all the actions of Nature to the grossness of our Senses when we have not sufficiently consider'd nor examined the true causes and principles wheron t is fitting we should ground our judgment we need not have recourse to a Demon or Angel in such difficulties Nec Deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus Inciderit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉