which weighs nine ounces It is a good Escharotick it eats proud flesh it is used for the laying open of Chancres mixt with burnt Alom AEgyptiacum and the common Suppurative Some do give it inwardly to four grains for to raise a Flux with but this is dangerous unless rectified Spirit of Wine be burnt two or three times upon it Remarks This Preparation is improperly called Precipitate here being no Precipitation at all Many Authors have thought they could much encrease the redness of this Precipitate by Cohobating it or distilling Spirit of Niter three times upon the white mass but I have found by experience both ways that these Circumstances are of no use The white Mass which remains after Evaporation of the humidity is a mixture of Mercury with a great many acid Spirits for it weighs three ounces more than the Mercury did which was dissolved it is extreme Corrosive and fiery if applied to the flesh but according as it is Calcined in order to make it red the edges of the Spirit of Niter which caused the Corrosion do strike off and fly into the Air whence it comes to pass that the more we desire to encrease its redness by Calcination the less it weighs and the less it corrodes Some Chirurgeons observing this effect do choose the Precipitate that is not so red as usual when they would make an Eschar quickly If you still continue the fire some hours under the red mass it will sublime and still retain its colour this sublimate is not so Corrosive as the other which makes me think that the points of Spirit of Salt are necessary to make a sublimate very Corrosive The reason why it sublimes is because the Mercury being delivered from a great many acid Spirits which did fix it has power to rise with those that remain But because these remaining Spirits do moderate a little its volatility it makes a stop in the middle of the Viol. Some do put red Precipitate into an Earthen Pot and pour upon it Spirit of Wine well rectified then fire it and when the Spirit is consumed they add more and burn it as before they repeat the adding Spirit of Wine and burning it six times and then call this Preparation Arcanum Corallinum The Spirit of Wine by burning does carry off some edges of the Precipitate and joyns it self to the rest so that this Precipitate is sweetned and rendred fit to be taken inwardly If by way of curiosity you pour Spirit of Vitriol upon common red Precipitate such as I have described a dissolution will soon follow because Spirit of Vitriol joyning with the Spirit of Niter that remained in the Precipitate an Aqua fortis must happen from their union which is able to dissolve imperceptibly the parts of Mercury but this dissolution will happen without any Ebullition because the Mercury has been already rarified by an acid so that the Spirit of Vitriol does only dissolve them without making any commotion The solution is clear like other solutions of Mercury without any appearance of redness and the same Preparations may be made with it as are used to be by the solution of Quicksilver in Aqua fortis If instead of Spirit of Vitriol you pour Spirit of Salt upon the red Precipitate it turns presently into a curious white because the Spirit of Salt does break the force of the Spirit of Niter that was in the red Precipitate and the same thing must happen here as does when Spirit of Salt is poured upon the solution of Quicksilver for although red Precipitate be a dry body yet it is nothing else but a mixture of Quicksilver and Spirit of Niter I have given the reason why Spirit of Salt comes to weaken Spirit of Niter in my Remarks upon white Precipitate As for the sudden change of colour it is indeed somewhat strange that a matter which is grown red by Calcination should in a minutes time turn so exceeding white This Effect can be attributed only to the dislocation which the acid spirit of Salt does cause in the parts of red Precipitate and to the disposition it puts them anew into so that their Superficies is put into a capacity of reflecting the light in a right line to our eyes to give the appearance of a white colour for if by means of another sort of liquor or else by fire and some alkali body the disposition of the parts of your Precipitate is again changed it will obtain some other colour or else it will return and revive into Quicksilver If you pour the volatile spirit of Sal Armoniack upon red Precipitate it turns into a grey powder but if you throw a great deal of water upon it it becomes a milk though none of the whitest The same thing happens when you drop Spirit of Sal Armoniack into the solution of Quicksilver made with Spirit of Niter for soon after the effervescency is over a grey powder is seen to Precipitate and if you add to it water it becomes a milk of the same whiteness as the other Common red Precipitate then is subject to the same alterations as the solution of Mercury the red colour giving no particular impression to it which truly is a good proof that colour is no real thing but wholly depends upon the modification of parts Turbith Mineral or Yellow Precipitate This Preparation is a Mercury impregnated with the acidity of Oil of Vitriol Put four ounces of Quick-silver revived from Cinnabar into a glass Retort and pour upon it sixteen ounces of Oil of Vitriol set your Retort in Sand and when the Mercury is dissolved put fire underneath and distil the humidity make the fire strong enough toward the end for to drive out some of the last Spirits of all afterwards break your Retort and powder in a glass Mortar a white Mass you find within it which weighs five ounces and a half pour warm water upon it and the matter will presently change into a yellow powder which you must dulcifie by a great many repeated Lotions then dry it in the shade you 'l have three ounces and two drachms of it It purges strongly both by vomit and stool it is given in Venereal maladies the dose is from two grains unto six in Pills Remarks Though that which is improperly called Oil of Vitriol be the strongest and most Caustick acid of this Mineral Salt it is nevertheless much weaker than Spirit of Niter and so requires a greater quantity of it and longer time to dissolve the Mercury in for there 's much a-do to dispatch the solution in ten hours That which is distilled is exceeding weak because the Mercury retains the greatest part of the acid Spirits and they are the things that purge so strongly although many of them be carried off by the Lotions All these Preparations are nothing but so many different shapes of Mercury made by acid Spirits which according to their different adhesions do cause such different effects All these Precipitates and
gentle sand-heat It is esteemed better than t'other to be taken inwardly because it is less Corrosive being corrected by the Spirit of Wine the dose is from four to twelve drops in some liquor appropriate to the disease Remarks The Potters earth is mixed with the Salt to divide it into particles that the fire may the more easily be able to rarefie it for the parts which Salt consists of are so strictly united that the utmost force of fire is not able to disengage them until they are separated by some Intermedium The preparation that I give unto Salt before it is put into the Retort is longer than the common sort but I have observed that the Spirit comes forth with less difficulty when the matter is prepared according to this form You must leave a vacuity in the Retort and fit to it a large Receiver for giving liberty to the spirit to circulate before it dissolves otherwise it would break them both Likewise the fire must be encreased by little and little because the first Spirits do break out with a mighty violence when they are driven too hard Some ways of drawing the Spirit of Salt without addition have been much sought after but that is not yet well discovered It is true indeed Monsieur Seignette an Apothecary of Rochell among other excellent discoveries that he hath made on Salts to the knowledge of which he hath particularly applied himself brought me hither a sea-salt in the year 1672 that we distilled without addition of any thing else by a very moderate fire and in two hours time we drew three ounces and a half of very good Spirit out of six ounces of salt that we put into the Retort After this we broke the Retort and having powdered the Salt that remained in it to the weight of two ounces and a half we exposed it to the air in a pan for a fortnight and we found it reimpregnated with Spirits we distilled it once more and with the same ease as before we drew half its weight in Spirit of the same force as the former The matter remaining in the Retort being again exposed to the air recovered new Spirits Monsieur Seignette did assure me that he had thus drawn Spirit from the same matter nine several times which is a thing worth our admiration and shews us very well that the air contains a spirit which forms divers things according to the different disposition of the subjects that it enters into This salt is particular to him that shewed it me and he prepares it himself some way that he is unwilling to discover Since I writ of Monsieur Seignette's particular way of drawing spirit of salt some have Printed that if common salt well decrepitated and kept a good while over the fire were exposed to the air for some dayes and distilled without addition of any thing to it it would yield a spirit much like that I have spoken of and in full as great a quantity But if we examine the sharp liquor which is drawn this way we shall find it of so weak a nature that it may more reasonably be called phlegm than spirit and the salt remains entire in the Retort whereas M. Seignette's spirit of salt is full as strong as common spirit of salt and has the very same qualities nay I conceive it somewhat better as not having so great an impression from fire as the other Again some say it does not deserve the name of spirit of sea-salt nor ought this preparation to be look't upon as any great mystery because the same incorporation and augmentation happens to divers other salts exposed to the air after drawing off their spirit I grant this augmentation proceeds from the spirit of the air and I conceive it is the same spirit which produces all manner of things according to the Matrixes or different pores of the earth it uses to meet with as I have explicated in my Remarks upon the Principles But because this spirit of the air has met with pores in our matter ready disposed to make a salt much like unto common salt and a spirit is drawn from it much like unto that which is drawn from common salt I see no reason to doubt why this spirit should not be a true spirit of salt all the difference is this the salt I now speak of is not so throughly united to its earthy part as common salt is and therefore its spirits do separate with more ease for they are drawn without addition of any thing else and with a gentle fire whereas those of common salt are so fixt that they can't be driven out without mixing a great deal of earth in order to separate all its parts and without a very great fire As for the augmentation which happens to many other bodies exposed to the air after their spirits are drawn off I don't question the matter of fact nor that these same substances do return into what they were before by impregnating again with spirits of the air in some considerable time but it is rarely found that any of them do yield so strong spirits and so easily as our salt and herein lies the mystery It is observable that the acids which are drawn by so violent a fire do very much differ from those that are made naturally such as the Vinegars of Beer Wine Cider the acid of Citron c. The Spirit of salt among others hath some particular difference from the rest because it will precipitate that which Aqua fortis hath dissolved This acid according as may be judged by its effects is compounded of stronger and more weighty points than the rest but they are not so sharp and piercing And this is the reason that it jogs so effectually those of Aqua fortis loaded with some bodies they have dissolved and that shaking them about it makes them let go their hold Some have writ that this precipitation must not be imputed either to the weight or the strength no more than to the agitation which spirit of salt may have given to the Aqua fortis or to matters dissolved but rather to the conjunction of the acidity of this spirit with the volatile and sulphureous alkali of Aqua fortis or Spirit of Niter which does by that means constrain this last to abandon the metal which it had dissolved But this is the way to explicate as they say one obscure thing by another that is much more obscure for what likelihood is there that the volatile spirit of Aqua fortis is an alkali and pray how comes it to remain in so great a motion with the fixed acid spirit of this same water without destroying or losing its nature this is a thing that can never be conceived very easily But furthermore supposing this spirit were an alkali it would be still necessary to explicate mechanically for what reason this alkali does quit the body of the metal to betake itself to the Spirit of salt for to say meerly
CHAP. I. Of Jalap JAlap is a grayish root brought out of America cut into slices and dried it grows in the Province of Mechoacan and in several other places the best is that which is most compact and filled with Resinous veins It purges watery humors very well and is therefore usually given in the Dropsie and Gout the dose is from ten grains to a drachm in broth or White-wine Rosine or Magistery of Jalap This Operation is a solution of the oily or resinous part of Jalap made in Spirit of wine and precipitated by common water Put a pound of good Jalap grosly powdered into a large matrass pour upon it Spirit of wine Alcoholized until it be four fingers above the matter stop the matrass with another whose neck enters into it and luting the junctures with a wet bladder digest it three days in a sand-heat the Spirit of wine will receive a red Tincture decant it and then pour more upon the Jalap proceed as before and mixing your dissolutions filtrate them through brown paper Put that which you have filtred into a glass Cucurbite and distil in a vaporous bath two thirds of the Spirit of wine which may serve you another time for the same Operation Pour that which remains at the bottom of the Cucurbite into a large earthen Pan filled with water and it will turn into a milk which you must leave a day to settle and then separate the water by Inclination you 'l find the Rosine at bottom like unto Turpentine Wash it several times with water and dry it in the Sun it will grow hard like common Rosine powder it fine and it will become white Keep it in a Viol it purges Serosities It is given in Dropsies and for all Obstructions the dose is from four to twelve grains mixt in Electuary or else in Pills The Rosines of Turbith Scammony and Benjamin may be drawn after the same manner Remarks The Spirit of wine which is a Sulphur is likewise a very convenient Menstruum to extract Rosines which are gross Sulphurs you must use enough Spirit to dissolve all the Rosine and give it a sufficient time to open all the body of the Jalap after which a good part of the Spirit of wine is drawn off and may serve for the same use again provided you distil it with a very gentle fire for if you let it be too strong it will carry along with it good part of the Rosine A great deal of water is poured upon it to weaken the Spirit of wine which held the Rosine dissolved and then it revives again and its parts approaching one another there is made a kind of milk which clears up according as the Rosine precipitates If you have used sixteen ounces of Jalap you will draw an ounce and six drachms of Rosine well washed and dried From six ounces of good Scammony you draw five ounces of Rosine by the like preparation Some do evaporate the Spirit of wine and without using any Precipitation they find their Rosine in an Extract at the bottom of the vessel but then it becomes black like pitch All the Purgative virtue of the Jalap consists in the Rosine an Alkali salt may be drawn from the remainder but in a very small quantity You must observe to give the Rosine of Jalap always mixt with something else that may separate its parts for if it be taken alone it will be apt to adhere to the inward membrane of the Intestines and so cause Ulcers by its acrimonious quality Moreover Apothecaries should observe to mix it in a little yolk of an Egg when they would dissolve it in a Potion for it sticks to the mortar like Turpentine when it is humected by any aqueous liquor It may be likewise incorporated with some Electuary and then it easily dissolves Twelve grains of this Rosine work the same effect as a drachm of Jalap in substance It is not yet sufficiently known wherein the Purgative virtue of mixts doth consist to give it a right explication It is easily conceived that these effects do follow the Fermentation that the Remedy hath caused but no body can find what it is that makes this Remedy be Purgative rather than several others which seem to have as great a disposition as this to cause such Fermentation wherefore I shall not pretend to clear the knowledge of this Phaenomenon I shall only endeavour to give some reason for a very considerable difficulty which is to know how Hydragogues do work in our bodies and why they rather purge water than other humors A general reason that may be given of it is that all Hydragogue Remedies have more acrimony than other Purgatives and consequently they are better able to open the Lymphatick vessels But it may be further said that these Remedies do so cut and attenuate the Viscosities which are found in bodies that they make them be like water and there is no difficulty in conceiving this last reason when it is considered that these Remedies which do purge water are all of them Resinous or else salts for after the same manner as we see Sulphurs or Liquified salts dissolve Sulphureous bodies so do Rosines which are Sulphurs and salts dissolve Viscosities in the body which are compounded of a great deal of Sulphur But there is this difference between the effects of Salt and of Rosines that the Salt passing quick and making but little impression doth dissolve only that which is found in what is called the first Region of the body wherefore it purges but mildly whereas the Rosine by reason of its viscous hooked parts remains a longer time in the body and leasurely causes a Fermentation not only about the parts where it immediately works but operates on the brain and other remote places from whence it forces Phlegm to discharge it self into the Belly and this is that which causes Rosinous Hydragogues to purge more than Salts CHAP. II. Of Rhubarb RHubarb is a Purgative root brought from China It takes its name from Barbary where it hath grown in abundance it is likewise called Rheum The best sort is that which being broke appears of a Nutmeg colour within Its virtues are so many and so great that if they were sufficiently known and men could generally use it without that nauseousness which too commonly attends it mankind would have infinitely less need than they have of the Art of Physick in most cases and men might perhaps preserve themselves from most diseases without any other help Extract of Rhubarb This Extract is a separation of the purer parts of Rhubarb from the terrestrious Bruise six or eight ounces of good Rhubarb and steep it twelve hours warm in a sufficient quantity of Succory water so as the water may be four fingers above the Rhubarb let it just boil and pass the liquor through a cloth infuse the remainder in so much more Succory water as before then strain the Infusion and express it strongly mix your Impregnations or
dropsie it is good to stop diarrhea's and dysenteries with it may be dropt into the Tincture of Roses instead of other acid Spirits Some do think it good for diseases of the breast the dose is eight or ten drops or to an agreeable acidity in some proper liquor That which remains in the body after the rectification is a foetid oil which may be outwardly used to cleanse old ulcers Remarks The Spirit of common Sugar is made without addition of any thing in the preparation it is an acid Spirit but is not so strong nor has so great virtues as that which I have now described It is thought good for diseases of the breast by reason of the Sugar which indeed is good for them but so strong an acid is apt to give a Cough The body must be big enough in order to give room to the vapours to circulate in as they do rise A very little Oil of Sugar can be drawn in this operation for that which remains after the rectification is not a pure oil but a remainder of the Spirit tinged with some drops of oil insomuch that it would be very hard to get one drachm of pure Oil. CHAP. XII Of Wine WIne is nothing else but the Muste or juice of ripe Grapes whose Spirituous parts are set at liberty in the Fermentation This Wine is more or less gross according as it abounds more or less with Tartar In the making of White-wine the Muste of white Grapes is left to Ferment all alone but Claret must Ferment with the Faeces of the Grapes whence it comes to pass that the Red is loaded with more Tartar than the White and remains longer in the body after it is drunk The wines of hot Countrys do commonly more abound with Tartar than others by reason of the abundance of Salts which they attract from the earth Muscat and Spanish Wines do not endure a Fermentation until good part of the Phlegm is evaporated either by the heat of the Sun or by fire and this is the reason they become so glutinous as they do almost like Syrup Lastly there may be made as many different Wines as there can be different Fermentations to the Muste Now let us consider what it is that happens in these Fermentations Muste is a sweet liquor that sends no vapours to the head to Intoxicate though one drinks never so much If you distil it there will rise first of all good store of Insipid water after that a fetid Oil with a few weak Spirits which are nothing but an Essential Salt dissolved and lastly there will remain a terrestrious mass out of which may be drawn some quantity of fixt salt by making a Lixivium as we draw other alkali salts but among all these substances we find none of those Spirits that use to make Brandy and yet nevertheless when Muste hath Fermented for some time it turns into Wine from whence you may draw a considerable quantity of Inflammable Spirits Now to explicate this effect you must know that Muste doth contain a great deal of Essential Salt this Salt like a volatile making an effort in the Fermentation to deliver it self from the oily parts with which it was before incumbred does open and divide them until by its subtile and keen points it hath rarified them into Spirit this effort of the salt does cause the Ebullition which happens to wine and which at the same time does help to purifie it for it separates the grosser parts of the wine in form of a scum of which some part does stick to and petrifie on the sides of the vessel and another part precipitates to the bottom the first is called Tartar the last the Lees of wine The inflammable Spirit of Wine then is nothing but an Oil exalted by Salts and this is an indubitable proof of what I establish that there was nothing but oil in the Muste which was capable of taking fire these same salts also being a little freed from the cover they were wrapt in are they that change the wallowish sweetness of Muste into an agreeable Tartness such as we perceive in our French Wines It is likewise remarkable that a sufficient quantity of Phlegm is requisite for the better separation of the Salts in their Fermentation and an Exaltation of the Oil for otherwise several changes are apt to happen for example when Muscat and Spanish wine are made a great deal of Phlegm is separated from them for the Muscat Grape is left to dry in the Sun upon the Branches before it is gathered to put into the press and some part of the liquor of the Muste with which Spanish wine is made is Evaporated before it is suffered to Ferment which is the cause that the Salts not having liberty to expatiate and to rarifie the Oil as much as they would do if they had room do make but an imperfect Fermentation The Oil being thus half exalted hath still strength enough to hinder the Tartness of the salt and therefore only tickling the Nerves of the tongue makes us perceive in these liquors a sweet taste And this is also the reason why fewer Spirits are drawn from Muscat and Spanish wines than from French wines for whereas the Spirit of Wine doth consist in a rarified Oil there must needs be fewer Spirits in those than in French wines But much more of a gross Oil is drawn by distillation from those half fermented Wines If on the contrary the Muste should be loaded with too much phlegm as it happens often enough there follows another imperfect Fermentation because the Salts being too much weakned by it are not able sufficiently to cut and exalt the parts of Oil whence it comes to pass that these Wines are subject to turn aigre or to sowre The Wines of Languedoc and Provence being extreamly loaded with Tartar are grosser than the Wines of Burgundy and Champaigne because their Spirits are incumbred with abundance of Salt and Earth Wherefore the goodness of Wine may be said to proceed from a convenient proportion of phlegm and Tartar It is objected to this last discourse that the Tartareous part being in a natural way separated from the Wine should in no wise diminish the quantity nor the strength of the Spirituous and inflammable part But when I asserted that the Spirits of divers Wines are extreamly loaded with Tartar I did not mean that Tartar which petrifies at the sides of the vessels for that is at quiet and does not hinder the Exaltation of Spirits but I intended a Tartar that still remains mixt in the Wine after the Fermentation and which according as it abounds more or less does render the Wines more or less thick and gross It is easy to see this Tartar I speak of if you Evaporate the aqueous part of Wine for it will remain at bottom in form of Lees. Nevertheless there is no need of establishing two sorts of Tartar in one kind of Wine for the former is only the more
another manner a little differing from this these do acknowledge that the foresaid substances are naturally in the Mixts much as we draw them by Art but they assert that we have no proof that the Mixts are compounded of these same substances called Principles and that they are not drawn from the juyce of the earth in such a form that Salt Sulphur c. may indeed have been formed in the natural Fermentations and other elaborations which happen in the Mixt during its growth and therefore they conclude that those substances cannot properly be called Principles because we do not know sufficiently whether the Mixt was composed of them at first But since we are satisfied that the earths which serve for a matrix to Mixt bodies are impregnated with Salt Sulphur and other substances of the nature of those which we do find in the bodies and since we can perceive nothing else which can contribute to their composition it remains beyond all doubt that they are even compounded of them It must be granted that the Fermentations or other Elaborations which come to pass in mixt bodies have given the Principles a certain order of parts or some dispositions they had not before but they do by no means form or compose them The five Principles are easily found in Animals and Vegetables but not so easily in Minerals Nay there are some Minerals out of which you cannot possibly draw so much as two nor make any separation at all as Gold and Silver whatsoever they talk who search with so much pains for the Salts Sulphurs and Mercuries of these metals I can believe that all the Principles do indeed enter into the composition of these Bodies but it does not follow that they must remain in their former condition or can be drawn as they were before for it may be these substances which are called Principles are so strictly involved one within another as to suffer no separation any other way than by breaking their Figure Now it is by reason of their Figure that they are called Salts Sulphurs and Spirits For example if you mix an Acid Spirit with the Salt of Tartar or some other Alkali the edges of the Acid will so insinuate into the pores of the Salt that if by distillation you would separate the Acid Spirit again from the Salt you 'l never be able to effect it the Acid will have lost almost all its strength because the edges of these Spirits are so far destroyed or changed that they no longer preserve their former Figure Every body knows that glass is made of Salt but because the Fire hath wrought so great a change upon its Texture or Figure it can do nothing at all that Salt is used to do nay and it is in a manner impossible to draw any true Salt from it by Chymistry There are three sorts of Liquors that are qualified with the name of Spirit in Chymistry the Spirit of Animals the Burning spirit of Vegetables and the Acid spirit The first of them as the spirit of Harts-horn is nothing but a Volatile salt dissolved by a little Phlegm as I shall shew when I treat of Animals The second as the Spirit of Wine the Spirit of Juniper and the Spirit of Rosemary is an exalted Oyl as I shall shew speaking of Wines And the last as the Spirit of Vinegar Tartar and Vitriol is an Acid Essential salt dissolved and put in fusion by the fire as I shall prove when I speak of Vinegar and the distillation of Tartar this last is called a Fluid salt These three sorts of liquors comprehending all that can any way be called Spirit this may pass for one Principle very well for seeing that the Spirit which is drawn from Animals is nothing but a Salt dissolved by a little Phlegm that Spirit of Wine is only an Oyl exalted and that the Acid Spirit is a Salt become fluid we can observe nothing in these liquors but an Oyl Salts of a different nature and water Wherefore it must be concluded that the Spirit or Mercury which Chymists have talk'd of is a meer Chimaera that serves only to confound mens minds and render Chymistry unintelligible for men might if they would have called these liquors by more proper names thus what hindred them from calling the Spirit of Animals by the name of a Volatile salt dissolv'd the liquors which come from Oyls might have been called an exalted Oyl and the Acid spirits a Fluid salt and hereby we should not have been troubled about an imaginary Principle and Chymistry would have been better understood But it is impossible to change a name that has been so long fixt and appropriated to these liquors All that I can do is to explicate as I have done what is meant by the word Spirit in order to avoid Equivocations Nothing but the Oyl can properly be said to be Inflammable and the Oyl is so much the more so as the Salts with which it is closely united have been more or less spiritualized For that which I call Spirit in the Oyl is nothing but an Essential or Volatile Salt this Salt is not of it self Inflammable but serves to Rarifie and Exalt the parts of the Oyl to render them the more susceptible of Motion and consequently of Flagration after the same manner as when Salt-peter is put to mix with some Oily substance this Oily matter fires much more easily than when it is alone though Salt-peter of it self is not at all Inflammable as I shall prove hereafter We have examples of the truth of what I say in Spirit of Wine Oyl of Turpentine and all other Inflammable Liquors for they are only Oyls subtilized and refined by the Volatile Salts they contain Vegetables have a great deal of Salt much like to Salt-peter this Salt being straitly united with their Oyl makes them the more apt to flame than if they had been deprived of it The Fat of Animals as well as their other parts is full of a Volatile Acid salt Wax Rosine and all other matters that are inflammable are impregnated with an Acid Salt Essential or Volatile I say the Salt which causes the flagration of Oyls must be either Volatile or Essential for if it were a fixt Salt 't would have a contrary effect it would allay in some measure the quick motion of the parts of an Inflammable body and this we see happens when Sea-salt is flung into the fire it serves to put it out Common Sulphur yields us another instance of the same kind consisting of one part Sulphureous or Oily and another Saline or Acid fixt which plainly appears in the opening of it the Oily part fires and would soon rise like other Oils into a great white flame but that the Acid part being a load to its activity hinders it from rising and so forces it to cast but only a small blue flame and a proof of what I affirm may be had from mixing Salt-peter with Sulphur for the Volatile salt of Salt-peter
does Volatilize the Salts of Sulphur and causes a white flame to burn violently as I shall shew hereafter in the Operation of Salt Polychrest Many things are called Oils very improperly as the Oyl of Tartar made per Deliquium the Oyl of Vitriol and the Oyl of Antimony The first is nothing else but a Salt dissolved the second is the strongest and most caustick part of the spirit of Vitriol and the last is a mixture of Acid Spirit and Antimony As for Salt I am apt to think that there is one chief of which all the rest are compounded and do conceive it to be made of an Acid liquor sliding through the veins of the Earth which doth insensibly insinuate and incorporate in the Pores of stones which it does dilate and attenuate afterwards by a long fermentation and concoction of several years a Salt comes to be formed that is called Fossile and this Opinion is the more likely to be true because from the mixture of Acids with some Alkali matter we always draw a substance very like unto Salt Now stones are an Alkali I add that the long fermentation and concoction which is made in the stone serves to digest and perfectly unite the Acid with the stony parts for the making of Salt This Fossile salt which is called Gemma by reason of its transparency is found in many high Mountains of Europe such as those in Poland Catalonia and Persia and in the Indies it is altogether like that we use for nourishment which is called Sea salt insomuch that the Waters of the Sea may be said to receive their saltishness from nothing else but this Salt dissolved in them Is it not likely enough that the bottom of the Sea or its shores may be much like the surface of the Earth we inhabit and that there may be Mountains Rocks different sorts of earth and consequently inexhaustible Mountains of Salt in a Million of places at the bottom of the Sea whence it receives its brackishness And it may be there are Waters which after taking Salt from several earths do at last discharge themselves into the Sea through an infinite number of subterranean channels which do much contribute likewise to making Sea-water salt That which confirms me in this opinion is because there are Lakes in Italy Germany Egypt the Indies and many other places which are as Salt as the Sea and can have no other cause but that their waters have hapned to run through Mines of Salt I doubt not but many will be apt to object against my opinion that the Sea being of so prodigious boundless an extent all the Salt I have spoken of would not be able to salt it as it is but if they please to consider that this great extent of the Ocean may meet with Mines of Salt in abundance of places and that what is once dissolv'd can never be separated from it I am perswaded their doubt will soon vanish Add to what is said that Sea water does not contain so great a quantity of Salt as is commonly imagined and this is easily prov'd if you take the pains to evaporate some of it over the fire or dissolve salt in that water for it will receive a considerable quantity into it which is a certain sign that the water was not so salt before as it might have been for if it had been impregnated with as much as it could it would have dissolv'd no more Therefore we have good reason to believe that the Sea which may be called a large Lake becomes salt through the Mines that are therein and the Salt Currents that in several places empty into it Some Fountains are also seen to yield a Salt like this because their waters having passed through places fill'd with this Salt have dissolved and carried along with them some of it Salt-peter differs from these salts I speak of in that it contains more spirit so that when you take the pains to exalt a part of it what remains is like unto Sal Gemme It may be objected that Salt peter is found in places where no Acid liquor can be thought to come but no body can doubt but that there is an Acid in the Air which though a very insensible body is able enough to enter into Stones and Earths the truth whereof is seen every day in Earths that have lost their Salt as much as could be drawn by Art which upon being exposed some time to the open air get new additions of Salt and encrease their weight considerably Now the liquor that I speak of which runs in some places of the earth receives its Acidity from this Acid Spirit of the Air which condenses in some places better than in others by reason of the coolness or some other disposition it finds there I conceive therefore that Salt peter is form'd in Stones and Earths by the Acid spirit of the Air after the same manner as Sal Gemme in Mines by an Acid liquor and that this Aerial acid entring insensibly into the body of stones produces a Salt at first much like Sal Gemme but afterwards new Acid spirits still coming and mixing with it makes it of a middle nature between Volatile and fixt And it is for this reason that a great deal of Salt peter is taken from old ruined buildings for the stones there continuing a long time exposed to the air receive greater quantity of spirits than other stones it is likewise to be found in Cellers and other places where the Sun casts no heat because the spirit of the air does there easily condense by reason of the coolness and moisture But I shall discourse more amply of that when I come to treat of the Preparations that are made upon Salt peter Vitriols Alums and all other Salts that are naturally found in the Earth may be explicated upon the same Principle for according as Acid liquors do meet with different earths they produce different Salts All Earths being impregnated with an Acid Salt as I have said it is not hard to conceive how that the salt of Vegetables is communicated to them from the earth wherein they grew Their growth must needs have proceeded from a Saline juice of the earth they grew in which having opened the Seed through the Fermentation it caused insinuates and filtrates into the Fibres that constitute the Plant and the leaving grounds fallow some years is in order to preserve and retain the Salt that is continually encreased in them by the Acid spirit of the air Likewise Dung and other matters which are said to fatten and fructifie Lands do so by nothing else but their Salt Neither need we wonder at the barrenness of sandy and stony soils for that the Acid spirit of the Air cannot unite and fix with them in sufficient quantity to render them fertile Nevertheless it is worth observation that there are Lands which remain barren through too great an abundance of Salt they contain and for this reason in Egypt
that I now described but because Water alone has not strength enough to destroy the acid so as to make it quit every particle that it held dissolved some part of the Lead still remains indiscernable in the liquor and does not precipitate Wherefore it is better to follow my description in the making Magistery of Saturn You must use an equal quantity of Water and Vinegar to dissolve the Salt of Saturn for if you should use Water alone it would rather cause a precipitation than dissolution The Oil of Tartar or rather the Salt of Tartar dissolved being an Alkali destroys the edges of the Vinegar that suspended the Lead whence it comes to precipitate for finding nothing in the Liquor that is able to hold it up it falls down by its own weight Now in this Operation there happens no effervescency at all because the edges of the Vinegar being broken the fragments of them which remain have not activity and are not keen enough to enter into the pores of Salt of Tartar with a sufficient penetration And it is the same thing with all other precipitations of matters which have been dissolved by Vinegar but when the solution has been performed with stronger acids the precipitations are made with ebullition for the reason that I gave in my Remarks upon Aurum Fulminans This Powder being washt and dried is nothing but a Cerusse rendred exceeding fine It is used for Paint but this Cosmetick as well as all others that are made of Metallick substances such as Tinn and Bismuth do often black the skin after having whitened it because the heat of the flesh doth gather together these Metallick Particles which owed all their whiteness to an exact Alkoholisation and losing that do often Revive Balsam or Oil of Saturn The Balsam of Saturn is a solution of Salt of Saturn made in Oil of Turpentine Put eight ounces of Salt of Saturn powdered into a Matrass and pour upon it Spirit of Turpentine four fingers above it place the Matrass in a small Sand heat digesting for a day you 'l have a red Tincture decant the Liquor and pour more Spirit of Turpentine on the Matter that remains in the bottom of the Matrass leave it in digestion as before then separate again the Liquor which remains still a little coloured and there will remain at the bottom nothing but a little Matter that you may Revive into Lead in a Crucible Pour your dissolutions into a Glass-Retort place it in Sand and fitting to it a Receiver distil over a gentle fire about two thirds of the Liquor which will be Spirit of Turpentine quench the fire and when the Retort is cold pour that which is in it into a Viol and keep it for use This is the Balsam of Saturn excellent for cleansing and cicatrizing of Ulcers You may touch Chancres with it though they be never so bad for it mightily resists putrefaction Remarks The Spirit of Turpentine to speak properly is an exalted Oil. It dissolves Lead and easily unites with it because it is very sulphureous If you should still persist in putting new Spirit of Turpentine on the remaining matter all the Salt of Saturn would at last dissolve Some do use to distil away all the Liquor and keep that for Oil which comes forth last But it is a great deal better to follow my description for when all the Liquor is distilled there will hardly have risen any Particle of Saturn and therefore it cannot be so good Burning Spirit of Saturn Spirit of Saturn is an inflammable liquor which is drawn from Salt of Saturn Fill two thirds of an earthen Retort or a glass one luted with Salt of Saturn place it in a Furnace over a very gentle fire both for gently heating the Retort and driving out a Phlegmatick Water continue this degree of Fire until the drops begin to have some taste then fit to the Retort a large Recipient lute well the junctures and encrease the fire by degrees a Spirit will come forth that will fill the Recipient with Clouds When nothing more will come let the Vessels cool and having unluted them pour what you find in the Recipient into a Glass-Cucurbite and rectifie in a very gentle Sand-fire about half the Liquor which will be the inflammable Spirit of Saturn burning like Spirit of Wine and of a sowr taste This Spirit is very good to resist putrefaction of humours It is also given in the Hypochondriack Melancholy from eight unto sixteen drops in Broth or some Liquor peculiar to the Disease and the use of it is continued every Morning for a Fortnight The other moyety of the liquor that remains in the Alembick is called improperly Oil of Saturn it is good to cleanse the eyes of horses If you take out the blackish matter that remains in the Retort and put it in a Crucible upon burning Coals it will reassume the form of Lead Remarks You must remember not to fill above two thirds of the Retort with the Salt and to joyn a Receiver large enough because these Volatile Spirits flying out with violence might be apt to break the Vessels if they had not room to play in If you use six ounces of Salt of Saturn in your Distillation you 'l draw an Ounce and six drachms of liquor and there will remain in the Retort six ounces and six drachms of a blackish and yellow matter and if you put this matter into a Crucible setting it in the fire 't will melt and you 'l regain four ounces of Lead and half an ounce or it may be six drachms of a yellow earth coloured like Litharge of Gold It is evident from this Operation that an ounce and six drachms of the more Acid parts of Vinegar are sufficient to impregnate four ounces and two drachms of Lead to reduce it into Salt but the strangest thing that happens to it is the great change that acids do give it insomuch that it is not to be known again in the least The Augmentation that the Lead in the Retort does here receive is as evident as may be for six drachms are taken out of it at last more than were put in of Salt of Saturn besides an ounce and six drachms of liquor that were drawn out So that we must necessarily conclude that the four ounces and two drachms of Lead are encreased two ounces and an half It is probable enough that the more rarified the Lead becomes the more capable it will be of igneous particles for although the Salt of Saturn is not suffer'd to remain long in the fire yet the Lead encreases apace Possibly it may be that as fast as the acids go out of it igneous bodies enter in their place and open likewise the Pores of Lead by their nimble motion but these Pores must needs be so disposed as to shut again like valvules and hinder the return back of those fiery parts When this Calx is Calcined in an open fire in a Crucible without stirring
Vinegar four fingers above it Place the Matrass in Digestion in hot Sand and let it lye so three days stirring it ever now and then the Vinegar will acquire a blue colour separate by Inclination the liquor that swims upon the Copper and pour new distilled Vinegar upon the matter leave it in Digestion for three days as before decant the Liquor and continue to put other distilled Vinegar on the matter until three fourths of the Verdegrease or thereabouts be dissolved and there remains nothing but a terrestrious matter Then Filtrate all these Impregnations and evaporate two thirds of the moisture in a Olass Body in Sand put the Vessel into a Celler and leave it there without stirring it four or five days little Crystals will appear separate by Inclination the Liquor and gather them up consume again about the third part of the moisture and put it a crystallizing as before continue these Evaporations and Crystallizations till you have got all your Crystals dry them and keep them for the following Operation Remarks You had better use Verdegrease than crude Copper in this Operation because it is more open and disposed for solution by the acids of Vinegar for Verdegrease is nothing but a Copper opened and reduced to a rust by the fermenting spirits of Tartar For the making of Verdegrease Plates of Copper are stratified with the husks of Grapes pressed They are left so for some time and part of these Plates is turned into Verdegrease which is scraped off with a Knife then these same Plates are stratified again with pressed Grapes and are penetrated as before and more Verdegrease made This stratification is continued until the whole is turned into Verdegrease You must observe that Verdegrease is better made in Languedock and Provence than other places because in those Countries the Grapes do yield more Tartar and consequently do abound in these fermenting Spirits which do penetrate the Copper The Crystals of Venus are nothing but Copper dissolved and afterwards coagulated with the acids of Vinegar that incorporate with it and form a kind of Vitriol Spirit of Venus Put what quantity you please of the Crystals of Venus prepared with distill'd Vinegar as I shewed before into a Glass Retort whose third part remains empty Place your Retort in Sand and Fitting to it a large Receiver and Luting well the junctures give a small Fire at first to drive out a little insipid Phlegm this Phlegm will be followed by a Volatile Spirit Then augment the Fire by degrees and the Receiver will fill with white Clouds Towards the latter end kindle coals round about the Retort that the last Spirits may come forth for they are the strongest When you see the clouds disappear and the Recipient grow cool put out the Fire unlute the junctures and pour all that which is in the Recipient into a Glass Body to distil it in Sand until it is dry This is the rectified Spirit of Venus This Remedy is used against the Epilepsie the Palsie the Apoplexie and other Diseases of the Head Seven or Eight drops of it are given in a convenient Vehicle many do use it to dissolve Pearl Coral and such like substances The black Mass that remains in the Retort may be revived into Copper if put in a Crucible in a Fire of Fusion with a little Salt-peter or Tartar Remarks The Acid is drawn from the Copper by fire without breaking its points for Spirit of Venus is considerably sharp which happens not in other Metals The reason that may be given of it is that Copper which is very full of Sulphur doth but barely touch upon the Acids by its ramous parts So that when these points are stirred by the violence of fire they come forth whole because they do not meet with resistance of a body hard enough to break them in pieces They do also draw along with them some of the most Volatile parts of Copper with which they are inseparably united It hath been thought that this Spirit being poured upon Coral and Pearl was able to dissolve them without losing any thing of its force so that when you would use the same Spirit it would corrode the Matters as before But Experience doth not confirm it it is true the dissolvent comes from the Coral with a great deal of sharpness but it hath lost the Acidity which was the principal Menstruum and if there remains any sharpness it proceeds from the Copper If you use a pound of Crystals of Venus in this distillation you 'l draw half a pound of liquor and the matter which remains in the Retort will be just the same quantity CHAP. VII Of Iron IRon is called Mars from the Planet of that name whose Influence it is thought to receive it is a very Porous Metal compounded of a Vitriolick Salt Sulphur and Earth ill digested together wherefore the dissolution of its parts is very easily performed Iron is found in many Mines in Europe in form of a Stone or Marcassite which much resembles the Loadstone but this last is more heavy and brittle than Iron The Loadstone is also found in Mines of Iron and may be reduced into Iron by a strong fire Iron for its part does easily acquire the virtue of the Loadstone as every body knows so that these bodies do seem to differ only in the figure of their Pores as has been very well observed by our modern Philosophers Iron in the stone is melted in large Furnaces made on purpose both to purifie it from some earth and to bring it into the Form we desire Having continued some time in Fusion it Vitrifies as it were and much resembles an Enamel of several colours and it enters indeed into the composition of ordinary Enamels with Lead Tinn Antimony Sand the Saphire the Stone of Perigord a Province in France Gravelled ashes and the ashes of a Plant called Kali It is turned into Steel by means of Horns or Nails of Animals with which it is stratified and so Calcined These matters containing a great deal of Volatile Salt which is an Alkali do kill or destroy the Acids of the Iron that kept its Pores open and do render it more compact Besides the Fire carries off many of the more Volatile and Soluble parts of Iron whence it comes to pass that Steel will remain longer without rusting than Iron Steel is to be preferred before Iron for the making of Vtensils but for Remedies Iron is the better beyond comparison I shall give you the reasons for what I say in the following Operations Although Mars does contain an Acid Vitriolick Salt yet it ceases not the being an Alkali for it ferments with Acids and no body needs wonder at this effect when they consider there is more Earth than Salt in this Metal and this Earth containing this Salt within it retains Pores sufficient to receive the Points of Acids when thrown upon it and so does the office of an Alkali for as I have said speaking of the
unto Air. But if there were not enough the fermentation which happens at the meeting of Iron and Brimstone may be able to raise the earth in some places and to burst it a-sunder The great heat of many Mineral waters may likewise easily be explicated by the means of these Subterranean Fires and how they came to receive those Sulphurs which we see are wont to be separated on the sides of the Bath when the water is not disturbed It is because those waters do pass immediately over or else through the midst of some of these burning earths wherein they are heated as they pass and do imbibe the Sulphur But when they are arrived to the place of the Baths and have there a-while setled this Sulphur being a fatt body cannot so intimately mix with the water but that it will separate to the sides of the Bath It may be also that some Mineral waters do owe their heat to a natural Quick-lime they may meet withal in their passage through the bowels of the earth but this Quick-lime is only a stone calcined by the Subterranean Fires of which I have spoken And now to return to our Operation You must observe to make this Calcination rather in an earthen Pan than Pot or Crucible and to stir it continually with a Spatula that the Sulphur may exhale the more easily I have sometimes tried to do it in a Crucible but the matter still remained black though I persisted in calcining and stirring it for above twelve hours together If you have used a Pound of Mars you 'l get at least a pound and four ounces of Crocus which proves the acids of Sulphur or some igneous bodies to incorporate in the pores of the Iron and augment its weight The red colour proceeds from Vitriol that Mars is full off which being calcined grows red like Colcothar Many other Preparations of Opening Saffron of Mars have been invented but these three are sufficient as being the best Binding Saffron of Mars This Preparation is the filings of Iron deprived of their more Saline part Take what quantity you please of the last Aperitive Saffron of Mars wash it five or six times with strong Vinegar leaving it to steep an hour at a time then calcine it in a Pot or upon a Tile in a great Fire five or six hours after that let it cool and keep it for use It stops the Diarrhoea the immoderate flowing of the Hemorrhoids and Terms the Dose is from fifteen grains to a drachm in Lozenges or else in Pills Remarks Because Mars is an impure Vitriol the more it is Calcined the more astringent it is But seeing that which renders it Aperitive is its Salt or more soluble part I intend by washing it several times with Vinegar to deprive it of much of its Salt Afterwards I Calcine the matter to carry off by Fire what Aperitive parts might remain Not that I expect by this means to separate intirely all that is Aperitive in Mars from that which is astringent that is a thing in a manner impossible by reason of the strict union of its Salt and earth in the Mine but I do believe it very probable to say that if there be any thing astringent in this metal as it cannot be denied it must needs be the more terrestrious part I may likewise say that if the astringent Mars has sometimes the effect of opening it is by the remaining Salt that it opens but when this Salt has done acting the terrestrious part never fails to bind Lastly I further say that I do not believe any Preparation of Mars to be absolutely astringent and that all we can do is to render it less incisive and less penetrating than before by depriving it of some part of its Salts Several other Preparations for making the Astringent Saffron of Mars are taught but this one may suffice Salt or Vitriol of Mars This Preparation is an Iron opened and reduced into the form of Salt by an acid liquor Take a clean Frying-pan and pour into it an equal weight of Spirit of Wine and Oil of Vitriol set it for some time in the Sun and then in the shade without stirring it you 'l find all the Liquor incorporated with the Mars and turned into a Salt that you must dry and then separate from the Pan and keep in a Viol well stopt It is an admirable Remedy for all Diseases that proceed from Obstructions the Dose is from four to twelve grains in Broth or some appropriate Liquor Remarks The Spirit of Wine serves here to moderate the too great force of the Oil of Vitriol which if alone would indeed in a little time penetrate all the parts of the Iron and cause a very impure Salt but the spirit of Wine hinders its so quick dissolution so that nothing but the more soluble part incorporates with the Oil to make a Salt or Vitriol A Frying-pan is more proper for this Operation than another vessel less flat because the liquor spreads it self about and incorporates the better you must use a Pan that is new If you use two ounces of Spirit of Wine and the same quantity of Oil of Vitriol in a small Frying-pan you 'l obtain five ounces of Mars You may put your liquor a thumbs height in the Pan and leave it there a day and a half or two days without stirring it The Oil of Vitriol is improperly called Oil being nothing but the more caustick Spirit as I shall prove in its proper place Riverius in his Practice gives a way of preparing the Salt of Mars like unto this excepting that he puts more Spirit of Wine than Oil of Vitriol but it is better to put equal parts as I have done It s virtue is greater than that of the Crocus because it is whetted by the Oil of Vitriol and therefore is given in a less dose you must observe that sometimes it causes a nauseousness as all Vitriols do If you put this Salt or Vitriol of Mars to dissolve in a cold place you 'l have a liquor that is called improperly Oil of Mars Another Vitriol of Mars This Vitriol of Mars is an Iron dissolved and reduced into the form of Salt by Spirit of Vitriol Put eight ounces of clean filings of Iron into a large Matrass and pour upon it two pounds of common water heated a little add unto it a pound of good Spirit of Vitriol stir it and set your Matrass in hot Sand leave it in Digestion four and twenty hours during which time the purest part of the Iron will dissolve separate the Liquor by Inclination and fling away the earthy part that remains in a small quantity at the bottom Filtrate this Liquor and evaporate it in a Glass-Cucurbite unto a Skin in a Sand-fire then set your vessel in a cool place and you 'l find green Crystals which you may take out after having gently poured off the Liquor Then evaporate again this Liquor unto a Skin and Crystallize it as before
continually steam from it for these Sulphurs consisting of gross parts do enter through the Pores of the Body and fixing themselves rather in the Nerves by reason of their coldness than in the other Vessels do stop the passage of the Spirits and hinder their course Mercury is given in the Disease called Miserere unto two or three pounds and is voided again by siege to the same weight it is better to take a great deal of it than a little because a small quantity might be apt to stop in the circumvolutions of the Guts and if some Acid humours should happen to joyn with it a Sublimate Corrosive would be there made but when a large quantity of it is taken there 's no need of fearing this Accident because it passes quickly through by its own weight Mercury mixes so well with rosinous and fat Bodies as to remain imperceptible all Vnguents Pomatums and Plaisters in which it enters are good against the Itch and Tetters and do dissolve cold tumours because it opens the Pores and drives by perspiration Furthermore seeing these Distempers are fomented by Acid humours it breaks their edge and hinders them from causing any further Fermentation Hitherto there is no Remedy found out to be so soveraign for the cure of Venereal Maladies as Mercury wherefore its greatest enemies have been forced to fly to it after they had tried a long time to no purpose to drive out the poison by other Remedies And in truth if we knew any milder ones that were able to terminate the Accidents of the Pox as well as this does 't would argue much rashness to make use of Mercury because it is not always conducted according to our desires and sometimes very scurvey consequences do happen upon it but we know no other that can be esteemed to approach it in virtue for all Venereal Diseases and especially the Universal Pox. It is killed in Turpentine then with Suet an Ointment is made of it that serves to rub the parts of the Body and particularly the joints with several days together after the Patient hath been prepared by Baths Broths and Purges The Friction is continued until the Salivation rises which is caused by a great many Shancres in the mouth for these Shancres by an exceeding great acrimony do open exceedingly the salivating Vessels and give way to a tickling Phlegm that runs down abundantly A Flux is also raised by applying Mercurial Plaisters upon all the Body and also by Fumigations by making one receive the Fume of Mercury Again it is raised by taking inwardly white Precipitate or some other Mercurial Preparation without using it outwardly Let us now come to reason a little upon it The effect of Mercury hath puzled almost all Chymical Philosophers and those Moderns who have explicated with much probability and likelihood many other Natural things that lay hid to our Forefathers have declared those of Mercury to be some of the most difficult I know very well that several Persons governed by false Principles have not forborn to give us their Explications but when their discourses come to be examined by Chymistry which alone is able to give us Demonstrations on this matter they presently come to nothing I shall here present you with a Thought of mine that seems more probable than any thing I ever met with and is maintained by Chymical Experiments You must first take notice and it is a thing indisputable among all Physicians that the Nodes Tumors and other effects of the Venereal Poison are fomented by Saline or Acid humours which make a certain Ferment and that this disease can never be cured until this Poison is quite destroyed This being supposed we must examine the nature of Mercury and see what will become of it if we mix it with Salts or Acids I have said that Mercury is a Volatile and we shall find hereafter that in the making of Sublimate Corrosive Mercury is mixed with Salt and Vitriol which are Acids that upon the encreasing the fire the Spirits adhering unto Mercury which is an Alkali do sublime along with it to the top of the Vessel and make together that which is called Sublimate Corrosive Let us now see in the cure of the Pox how Mercury is used It is mixed as I have said with Suet and with this Unguent the parts of the Body are rubbed a long time that the Mercury may pierce and enter through the Pores which it does as every Body must grant and this hapning there 's no contradiction at all in thinking that some part of it mixes with the Saline or Acid Ferment of the venereal matter after the same manner as it doth with Salt and Vitriol The Acid Salts of the Venereal Poison fixing in the Pores of Mercury which is as I have said a Volatile Alkali do sublime together being driven by the heat of the body up to the head which is the top of the vessel and the coolest place and so most proper to condense them At the same time it is that the Head swells and the inside of the mouth is full of Shancres which cause a pain much like unto that a man would receive if Sublimate Corrosive were applied some time upon an excoriated part Moreover the Salivating Vessels being prickt and corroded with this sharp humour do open and let fall abundance of Phlegm and this causes the involuntary Salivation that uses to accompany these Shancres and remains sometimes a longer sometimes a less time according as the Shancres are more or less acrimonious for the Phlegm trickling down continually cleanses them from their keen Salts and mitigates the pain whence it comes to pass that they are often cured of themselves and then the Salivating Vessels closing up again the Flux doth cease It sometimes happens when a man is not well prepared to receive a Flux or that it is raised too soon that the Sublimation being too violent some part of the Sublimate sticks to some one or more of the vessels and coroding their membrane causes grievous Hemorrhagies as I have seen to happen several times and among others to a man in Languedock who voided in half an hours time twelve pints of blood by mouth without dying of it notwithstanding because he was a very stout lusty man As for what may still remain of the Venereal Poison after the Salts are driven out its dissolution is then a very easie business because nothing but those Salts was able to hold it coagulated so that it is easie to conceive that the subtiler part of it may pass through the Pores and the more terrestrious precipitate and be evacuated by way of Urine Perhaps you 'l object that Mercury will raise a Flux in Persons who never had such a Disease as the Pox and who never had any of those tumours that contain Acid Salts but it is an easie matter to answer that there is no man whatsoever let him be never so sound but hath store of Saline or Acid humours in his
the same virtue as Sal Armoniack but are given in a little less dose as from four to fifteen grains Remarks This operation is performed to the end the Sal Armoniack may be volatilized by checking some part of its fixt salt by the addition of Salt decrepitated thus these Flowers are a little more active than the Sal Armoniack though they are both compounded of the same Salts Iron or Steel powdered may be used instead of Sea-salt as Schroder describes it and then the Flowers do become of a Yellow colour because the Salts do take the Tincture of Mars And these last Flowers are a little more penetrating than the others Aqua Regalis This water is a solution of Sal Armoniack in Spirit of Niter Powder four ounces of Sal Armoniack and put them into a matrass or other glass vessel of a good bigness pour upon it sixteen ounces of Spirit of Niter place the vessel in sand a little warm until the Sal Armoniack is all dissolved then pour the dissolution into a bottle and stop it with wax this is Aqua Regalis you will have seventeen ounces of it Remarks This water is called Regalis or Royal because it dissolves Gold which is the King of metals It is likewise called Aqua Stygia or Chrysulca The vessel in which it is made must be of a sufficient bigness because in the dissolution the Spirits do rarefie with so great violence that they would break it if they had not room to circulate in when a great deal of this water is preparing at a time you must take care to remove the vessel from the fire so soon as the dissolution begins Aqua Regalis may be likewise made with equal quantities of Salt-peter and Sal Gemme by mixing these Salts with thrice as much Potters-earth powdered and the distillation of it is made after the same manner as I shewed to draw the Spirit of Niter It is somewhat difficult to conceive how Aqua Regalis is able to dissolve Gold which is a most solid Metal and cannot dissolve Silver which is a much less solid body Some Chymists endeavouring to resolve this difficulty have said that Gold being a Metal fuller of Sulphur than Silver did therefore require a sulphureous dissolvent such as Aqua Regalis compounded of the volatile sulphureous salts of Sal Armoniack but this explication destroys itself for if Gold did contain more Sulphurs than Silver it would consequently be less weighty for Sulphur is one of the lightest Principles in Chymistry I know the Alchymists will tell me that their Sulphur is quite of a different nature from the common sort and that they do conceive in Gold a Fixt and consequently a heavy sulphur But besides that a fixt sulphur is a thing meerly imaginary it can never be so heavy as the other principles which they pretend to be in Gold and which they are forced to think as fixed as the Sulphur Moreover if we examine what happens in the composition of the dissolvent of Gold it will be no difficult matter to contradict this opinion for we see that as soon as ever the Spirit of Niter begins to work upon the Sal Armoniack the acid salt joyns with it and quits the volatile salts which finding themselves disingaged from the bodies that held them in a manner fixed do rise up with violence but because these salts which are alkalies do meet in their passage with some acids of the Spirit of Niter the great effervescency happens which is always wont at the meeting of alkali salts and acids This effervescency being over our Aqua Regalis remains in the vessel it is properly nothing else but an acid sea-salt dissolved in Spirit of Niter the volatile salts being either exalted or destroyed by Acids and that which confirms this opinion is that Aqua Regalis is as well made with sea-salt in which there are no volatiles at all as with Sal Armoniack according as I have said It is not then by discourses of this nature that this Phanomenon can be clearly explicated I am apt to believe with more likelihood that if Aqua Regalis be not able to dissolve Silver the reason of it is because the edges of the Spirit of Niter being magnified by the addition of Salt do slide over the pores of Silver not being capable to enter into them by reason of the disproportion of their figures whereas they easily enter into Gold whose pores are larger to make their divisions On the contrary if the Spirit of Niter dissolves Silver it is because its points are very subtle and fitly proportioned to enter into the small pores of this metal and by their motion to divide its parts These same points may likewise enter into the large pores of Gold but they are too small and pliable to act upon this body There 's need of stronger and keener knives which by filling its pores more advantageously may have force enough to divide it I do easily foresee it will be objected that Gold being heavier than Silver should have lesser pores and not greater because the weight of a body doth only consist in the proximity of parts but it is easie to solve this difficulty by considering each metal with a good Microscope for the pores of Gold are seen to be much larger than those of Silver though indeed there are much fewer and that will explicate very well why Gold is heavier than Silver though its pores are greater for seeing they are at a good distance the one from the other there 's a very compact matter as it were intercepted which causes all the weight but the pores of Silver being very near one another and of a much greater number do intercept less solid matter and consequently it must be lighter I 'le use a familiar example to make my self more plainly understood If you take two vessels of the same size and bigness and fill one with small hail-shot and the other with large bullets that which holds the bullets will be much heavier than that which is full of shot and yet notwithstanding the vacuities between the bullets are much larger than those between the shot According to this Hypothesis reason may be likewise given why Gold is cut in pieces more easily than Silver for the greater the pores of a body are the easier entrance will a pair of Sheers meet with Gold spreads under the hammer more than Silver because having larger pores the hammer makes a greater impression into it and dilates the parts the more easily It is objected that if there be any heavy matter as it were intercepted between the pores of Gold it must needs precipitate of itself after the action of Aqua Regalis upon this metal which is a thing that does not happen I answer that if the parts of Gold are heavy the dissolvent nevertheless is a gross body and very well proportioned to hold up those heavy parts and to hinder them from precipitating Others have opposed this explication and have
volatile salt will be dissolved in the Spirit of Wine and that which remains undissolved will receive a perfect dissolution in the bottle It is a very good Medicin for the Lethargy the Palsy the Scurvy Malignant feavers and Hysterical maladies it may be given instead of Spirit of Sal Armoniack before described And it is not so repugnant to the taste It works by Sweat or by insensible Transpiration the dose is from twelve drops to thirty in some proper liquor it is likewise good outwardly applied for the Palsie and for cold pains Remarks So soon as the Sal Armoniack is mixed with the salt of Tartar Volatile salts do rise from them which would very much incommode the Artist if he should hold his nose over it You must lose no time in putting the mixture into the body and then stopping it for these first salts are the most subtile of all The salts must be separately powdered by reason of the loss which would be made of the volatile salts in the mixing of the Sal Armoniack with the salt of Tartar In the making this mixture you must not use any mortar made of metal because that in the conflict of the two salts it would be corroded and that which were corroded from it would be apt to spoil the operation The body must be filled but half way when the whole is in The volatile salt is lighter than the spirit of Wine for it rises first When the Spirit of Wine is well rectified it will not dissolve any of the volatile salt at first but on the contrary it hinders this salt from dissolving in a liquor because the ramous parts of the wine do stop the entrance of the air but if there be any phlegm in the Spirit of Wine it dissolves the salt according to the proportion that there is of it Those who had rather use the volatile Sal Armoniack dry then in liquor may keep it dry in a bottle well stopt and use it for the same purposes as the spirit the dose of it must be a little less it is very white and pure this keeps better than that which is drawn with water because an impression of Spirit of Wine which remains in it does serve to retain the salts in some measure You need not wonder that there happens no Coagulum when Spirit of Wine and this volatile salt are stirred together in a bottle as there does by the mixture of Spirit of Wine and Spirit of Sal Armoniack for this salt having all its parts intirely united cannot so well mix with the sulphur of spirit of wine but if you add water enough to dissolve the salt then there will be a coagulum because the parts of the salt will be disunited and by the help of water will enter into the pores of Spirit of wine I have explicated this coagulum in the Remarks of the Chapter preceding The volatile Sal Armoniack does dissolve well with waterish liquors and spirit of Sal Armoniack may be made of them together by only mixing water enough to dissolve the salt But if you would mix or dissolve it in Spirit of wine you will find a great deal of trouble in the doing it if you should only infuse it in spirit of wine it would none of it dissolve on the contrary that is a way to keep and preserve the salt therefore you must distil it over several times that the saline parts may rarefie and unite with the spirit of wine That which remains undissolved in the Receiver has been very much rarefied by repeated distillations for which reason it also dissolves some days afterwards Spirit of wine in this operation hath so wrought upon the volatile salts that they are no longer so disagreeable to the taste or the smell as they were before and it is by that means that it sweetens them for sulphurs do contemperate the acrimony of salts as I have said speaking of the Principles Acid Spirit of Sal Armoniack This Spirit is a fixed Sal Armoniack dissolved into a liquor with a great fire Take what quantity you please of the fixt Febrifugous salt that I have spoken of powder it and mix it well with thrice as much Potters-earth powdered put this mixture into a Retort whose third part remains empty place it in a close Reverberatory Furnace and fit to it a large capacious Receiver Lute the junctures close and proceed in the method I spoke of to make the Spirit of Salt you 'l find in the Receiver an acid spirit which is a very good diuretick It is esteemed to be specifick for Malignant diseases the dose is to an agreeable acidity in Juleps and broths Remarks This acid Spirit proceeds from the fixt part of the Sal Armoniack for the Alkali contributes not one drop of it Although the Salt of Tartar has weakned the strength of Sea-salt which was mixed with the volatile salts in Sal Armoniack as I have said this same sea-salt nevertheless will yield a very acid spirit upon distillation because the parts of sea-salt though they have suffered a strong conflict with the other yet do contain a Spirit as well as they do otherwise intire after the same manner as when sea-salt is reduced into a very fine powder it continues as full of Spirits as when it was in larger pieces for you must not imagine that Sal Armoniack does contain the acidity of sea-salt separate from its earth for if it could remain in it in such a state it would quietly divide the parts of the Alkali salt with which it is mixed and would be destroyed it self but this salt remains in it in its substance intire CHAP. XVIII Of Vitriol VItriol is a Mineral compounded of an Acid Salt and Sulphureous Earth there are four sorts of it the Blue the White the Green and the Red. The Blue is found near the Mines of Copper in Hungary and the Isle of Cyprus from whence it is brought to us in fair Crystals which keep the name of the Country and are called Vitriol of Hungary or Cyprus it partakes very much of the nature of Copper which renders it a little Caustick it is never used but in outward applications such as Collyriums or waters for the eyes and to consume proud flesh White Vitriol is found near unto Fountains it is the most of all depurated from a Metallick mixture it may be taken inwardly to give a vomit it is likewise used in Collyriums There are three sorts of Green Vitriol the German English and the Roman That of Germany draws near unto the blue and contains a little Copper it is better than the rest for the preparation of Aqua fortis That of England partakes of Iron and is proper to make the Spirit of Vitriol The Roman is much like the English Vitriol excepting that it is not so easie to dissolve Red Vitriol was brought among us a few years ago out of Germany it is called Natural Colcothar and is esteemed to be a Green Vitriol
to an agreeable acidity That which remains in the body is the most acid part of the Vitriol and is improperly called Oil. It may be used like the acid Spirit for continued Feavers and other distempers that are accompanied with a violent heat This Oil is likewise used for the dissolution of metals You 'l find in the Retort a Colcothar which hath the same virtues with that I spoke of before Remarks To make the Spirit of Vitriol you must take green English Vitriol such as being rubbed upon Iron doth not at all change colour which shews it doth not partake of Copper as the German does that looks a little blueish and is more acrimonious You must Calcine it as I have said to the end it being deprived of the greatest part of its Phlegm the distillation may be dispatched the sooner A third part of the Retort is left empty that the Spirits may have room to rarefie in when they come forth There distils also a great deal of Phlegm into the Receiver and all of it is known to have come when there drops no more Those who don't care for the sulphurcous spirit do let it come forth and mix together with the Phlegm before the junctures are luted but you must be sure to govern the fire discreetly at that time for these Spirits come with a great deal of violence and use to break the Retort when they are driven too furiously When they are out you must augment the fire to the last degree of all for the acid Spirit will not part with its earth until it is forced by an extraordinary heat If you distil eight pounds of white Vitriol at sixteen ounces to the pound you 'l draw off seventeen ounces of Phlegm and two and twenty ounces and a half both of the Sulphureous and the Acid spirit of Vitriol Of these two and twenty ounces and a half there will be five ounces of Sulphureous spirit You 'l find in the Retort five pounds five ounces of Colcothar Use all the care you can possible to preserve all the liquors which come from Vitriol yet it will be impossible for you to hinder it from losing some through the junctures during the distillation If you should use German instead of English Vitriol you 'd draw off a little more spirit than the quantity I have named but it would have some smell of Aqua fortis and the matter which remains in the Retort would be of a brown colour drawing towards black This colour proceeds from sulphureous Fuliginosities which rise more from this Vitriol than the other because it partakes of Copper for this Sooty vapour finding no vent to get out at falls down again upon the matter and blackens it The Furnace in which this operation is performed must be very thick that the heat of the fire being none of it lost through the Pores may the better act upon the Retort These Spirits do rarefie into white vapours in the Receiver which must be provided large enough to give them free liberty to circulate in before they condense into a liquor at bottom The fire is usually continued four or five days together but if after that you should change the Receiver and continue the fire three or four days longer there would come forth an Oil of Vitriol congealed and caustick which is nothing but the more fixt part of the Sprit of Vitriol And this Congelation hath given this liquor the name of Oil of Vitriol though improperly Vitriol contains earth enough wherefore none is added to it as is necessarily done in the distillation of Niter Acid Spirits are Salts become fluid by the force of fire which hath disingaged them from their more terrestrious part and they may be revived again by pouring them upon some Alkali for example the Spirit of Vitriol remaining some time upon Iron doth reincorporate into Vitriol and the Spirit of Niter poured upon Salt of Tartar makes a Salt-peter There is one thing happens about the Oil of Vitriol when it is very strong which is strange indeed it is that if you mix it with its Acid Spirit or with water or else with an Ethereal Oil such as the Oil of Turpentine this mixture grows hot to that degree that sometimes it breaks the Viol it was put into and often it produces a considerable Ebullition I could quickly give an account of this heat and Ebullition if I would suppose an Alkali to be in the Oil of Vitriol as those do who pretend to explicate every thing that happens by the notions of acid and alkali but not comprehending how an alkali should be able to remain so long a time with so strong an acid as is the Oil of Vitriol without being destroyed I had rather give a reason that seems to me abundantly more probable I conceive therefore that if water or Spirit of Vitriol or the Ethereal Oil of Turpentine do come to heat the Oil of Vitriol it is by setting in motion a great many fiery particles which the Oil of Vitriol had drawn with it in the distillation for these little fiery bodies being environ'd with salts that are exceeding heavy and hard to rarefie they drive about with vehemence whatsoever stands in their way and when they have caused an Ebullition and find they can't get out at the top of the Viol they break it to pieces with the bussle they make at bottom and on the sides Perhaps it will be said I do here suppose gratis that the Oil of Vitriol does contain fiery particles but if we consider the great violence of fire and the time that is spent in drawing this acid it will be no such hard matter to grant me this supposition Besides it will be hard to explicate the great and burning Corrosion of Oil of Vitriol without admitting these fiery parts for the Vitriol contains nothing in it self of this Caustick nature it is true indeed that it contains Phlegm Sulphur and Earth but it is a thing impossible but this acid should discover it self more than it does if it were as Corrosive in the Vitriol as it is in the Oil. Once it hapned to me that putting into my Furnace a Retort whose two thirds were filled with German Vitriol dried in order to draw off its Spirits I distilled first of all the Phlegm and sulphureous spirit which I took out of the Receiver I then fitted it again to the Retort and by a great fire continued three days and three nights I distilled off the acid Spirit as we are used to do When the vessels were cold I admired to find in my Receiver nothing but a mass of Salt or Congealed Oil of Vitriol This Salt was so exceeding Caustick and burning that if I offer'd to touch the smallest part of it with my finger I presently felt an insufferable scalding and was fain to put my hand immediately into water it continued to fume still and when a little of it was thrown into water it made the same hissing noise as a
Ambar and put it into a bolt-head pour upon it Spirit of wine to the height of four fingers stop this bolthead with another to make a double vessel and having exactly luted the junctures with a wet bladder place it in digestion in hot sand and leave it there five or six dayes or until the Spirit of wine is sufficiently tinged with the Ambar colour decant this Tincture and put more Spirit of wine to the matter you must digest it as before then having separated the impregnation mix it with the other Filtrate them and distil from them in an Alembick with a very little fire about half the Spirit of wine which may serve you as before keep the Tincture that you will find at the bottom of the Alembick in a Viol well stopt It is good for the Apoplexy Palsie Epilepsie and for Hysterical women the dose is from ten drops to a drachm in some proper liquor Remarks You must powder the Ambar finely that the menstruum may open its body the better this Tincture is nothing but the Sulphureous or oily part of Ambar which Spirit of wine a Sulphur does become impregnated with a liquor that were not sulphureous would perhaps dissolve the Ambar but that which is dissolved by it would be the more impure wherefore you must always use such a dissolvent as is of the same nature with the substance that you would dissolve Half the Spirit of wine is drawn off to make the Tincture the stronger Distillation of Ambar and the Rectification of its Oil and Spirit Fill with Ambar grosly beaten two thirds of an earthen Retort or glass one luted place it in a Furnace on two iron bars fit to it a large Receiver and luting the junctures close give under it a small Fire to warm the Retort and drive out the Phlegm Afterwards augment it by little and little there will come forth a Spirit and an Oil continue the Fire until there comes no more then let the vessels cool and unlute them Pour about a pint of warm water into the Receiver and stirring it soundly about for to dissolve some volatile Salt that often sticks to the sides of the Receiver pour all the liquor into a glass Alembeck fit to it a Receiver and luting well the junctures make a small Fire to heat the vessel then augment it a little the water and Spirit will rise and carry with them a little white Oil continue the Fire until there rises no more and the thick Oil remains at bottom of the Cucurbite without boiling separate the white Oil that swims above the Spirit and Phlegm and keep it in a Viol well stopt it is given inwardly in Hysterical Distempers in the Palsie Apoplexy and Epilepsie the dose is from one drop to four in some appropriate liquor it may be mixed with a little yelk of an Egg to dissolve it easily in water or broth The water and Spirit do remain mixed confusedly together now to separate them you must pour this mixture into an earthen or glass dish and evaporate over a very gentle Fire two thirds of it that which remains is the Spirit of Ambar keep it in a Viol well stopt It is an excellent Aperitive and is given in the Jaundise stoppage of Urine Ulcers of the neck of the bladder and in the Scurvy the dose is from ten to four and twenty drops in some convenient liquor The Black Oil which remains in the Cucurbite may be kept apart for outward uses to chafe the Nose and Wrists of women in Hysterical maladies If you would rectifie it you must mix it with so much sand as is necessary to make it into a Paste and put it into a Retort and placing it in a Furnace in a naked Fire distil all the Oil the first that comes forth will be red but exceeding clear keep it by it self It may serve instead of the white The Oil of Jet may be drawn as the Oil of Ambar but because Jet is more terrestrious it requires a stronger Fire Remarks The Oils of Ambar and Jet do work in Hysterical cases chiefly by their ill smell for we see that whatsoever is ungrateful to the smell does commonly allay symptoms in diseases of the matrix and that good smells do increase them The reason of these effects is not very easie to find seeing that all that has been hitherto said for explication of them has only come to this that the matrix sympathizing with the brain does rise upwards to share in the good smells of the brain and sinks downwards when the nose is offended with that which is unpleasant Nay some have thought the matrix to be a little animal by reason of the many motions that have been observed in it These kinds of discourses are indeed very proper to leave people in the same doubts they were in before and I don't think any body has received any satisfaction from them Therefore let us try whether we can say any thing more to the purpose When a woman receives an agreeable smell the tickling pleasure which this smell produces in the brain by means of the olfactive nerve does move the Spirits and determinate them to run into the vessels in a greater abundance and with more agility than they did before Then also is perceived if she minds it a certain titillation of the parts and all the senses do seem willing to partake of this good smell All this is common to men as well as women But because the vessels which go from the brain to the matrix do swell with this affluence of Spirits they must of necessity be abbreviated in their length as a cord is found to swell and to shorten when it is wetted or as the Fibres of a glove do shrink when the humidity that is within them is rarefied by the Fire These vessels being thus shortned they must needs give shocks and receive like returns from the matrix And then likewise it is perceived to rise and to move upwards But because this viscus does commonly contain a gross bloud and humors very easie to ferment which are actuated by these shocks there do rise from it gross vapours which oppress the diaphragm and do cause that which is called the suffocation of the matrix These distempers do likewise very often happen to women who have no ways been offended with sweet smells but that which causes the same symptoms does work after the same manner As for ill smells they must produce a quite contrary effect for by striking offensively the nerve of the nose the Spirits do retire back to their places and consequently the vessels and the matrix do resume their ordinary disposition But you will say perhaps that a grain of Musk or Civet is often applyed to the Navil to settle the mother and to lay the vapours This has been practised indeed by some but without any proof that ever it did any good or that it gave any ease Civet is put into the middle of
Tinctures and let them settle filtrate them and evaporate the liquor in a glass vessel over a very gentle fire until there remains a matter that hath the consistence of thick honey this is called Extract of Rhubarb keep it in a Pot. The dose is from ten grains to two Scruples in Pills or dissolved in Succory water for diseases of the Liver and Spleen it binds after the purgeing The Extracts of Vegetables are made after the same manner except the Resinous whereof I have spoken Likewise waters may be used for Menstruums that are appropriated to the virtue of the mixt whose Extract you intend to draw When you draw the Extract of Aromaticks such as Roses and Cinnamon the liquor may be distilled rather than evaporated whereby you gain a fragrant water Remarks Though the name of Extract ought to be very general in Physick it is confined only to one sort of Preparation that is reduced to the consistence of an Electuary it is nothing else but a Purification that is made to cleanse a mixt from its more Terrestrious parts that being more open and free it may work with the greater strength Now this operation is good for mixts that are not Odoriferous but not so for those that are for by evaporation their best part is lost which consists in a volatile So that I would by no means advise to make the Extract of Aromaticks Nature is a very good Artist to perform this Operation within our bodies when the Principles are easie to separate as in these sorts of mixts There has been a great contest among Chymists heretofore in which of the Principles it is that the Purgative virtue of many medicins doth consist Some have maintained it to be in the Salt others in the Sulphur and others again in the Mercury But when every party had very diligently separated each their Principle and came to try it they found after all that none of them was Purgative which hath perswaded many of them to think that this Purgative principle was of so subtile and penetrating a nature that glass it self was not able to preserve it from being lost For my part I cannot grant any such indiscernable Purgative I rather am apt to believe that the Purgative virtue of a mixt consists in nothing else but such a different mixture of Principles as is requisite to produce certain Fermentations in our bodies So that when once we separate the Sulphur Mercury or Salt the position of parts or proportion of Principles being changed there remains no longer any Purgative effect because the Principles being separated can no more produce that Fermentation which they did while they were mixed and united together some kind of way that Art is ignorant how to imitate Perhaps some who think themselves good Criticks will say this Chapter contradicts the former for I there maintained that the Rosine of Jalap which is a Sulphur doth contain all the Purgative virtue of Jalap but though I did call the Rosine of Jalap a Sulphur I did not mean it was a pure Sulphur it is a substance out of which all the five Principles may be still drawn but by reason it doth contain great store of Sulphur this name may be given to it as it often is to others of the like nature And thus Salt may be said to be Purgative too but it doth not follow from thence that the Salt alone must be thought to contain all the Purgative virtue of mixt bodies seeing many plants such as Guaiacum Box Carduus and Wormwood do contain as much or more Salt than Senna and Rhubarb and yet nevertheless do not purge at all CHAP. III. Of the Wood Guaiacum GVaiacum called Lignum Sanctum is the Wood of a large Tree that grows in a great many places in the West Indies It is likewise cultivated here in Europe in Languedoc is good store but that which is brought out of the hot Countries is best esteemed this Wood is very much in use in Sudorifick Decoctions the Bark is also used and the Gum that runs from it the best Guaiacum is that which is most compact Distillation of Guaiacum This operation is a separation of the liquid parts of Guaiacum from its terrestrious matter Take the shavings of Guaiacum fill a large Retort with them three quarters full place it in a Reverberatory Furnace and joyn to it a great capacious Receiver Begin the distillation with a fire of the first degree to warm the Retort gently and to distil the water which is called Phlegm continue it in this condition until there come no more drops which is a sign that all the Phlegm is distilled Throw away that which you find in the Receiver and fitting it again to the neck of the Retort lute well the junctures You must afterwards encrease the fire by degrees and the Spirits and Oyl will come forth in white clouds continue the fire until there comes no more let the vessels cool and unlute them pour that which is in the Receiver into a Tunnel lined with brown paper set upon a bottle or some other vessel the Spirit will pass through and leave the black thick and very fetid Oil in the Tunnel pour it into a viol and keep it for use it is an excellent Remedy for rottenness of bones for the Tooth-ach and to cleanse old Ulcers It may be rectified as I said of the Oil of Ambar and may be used inwardly in the Epilepsie Palsie and to drive forth the after-birth the dose is from two drops to six The Spirit of Guaiacum may be rectified by distilling it by an Alembeck for to separate a little impurity that might have passed with it it works by perspiration and by Urine the dose is from half a drachm to a drachm and a half It is likewise used mixt with the water of honey to cleanse inveterate Ulcers You 'l find in the Retort the coals of Guaiacum which you may turn into ashes by putting fire to them which they will sooner take than other coals Calcine these ashes some hours in a Potters furnace then make a Lixivium of them with water which being filtred evaporate it in a glass or earthen vessel in sand there will remain the Salt of Guaiacum which you may make white by Calcining it in a Crucible in a strong fire This Salt is Aperitive and Sudorifick it may serve as all other Alkalis to draw the Tincture of Vegetables the dose is from ten grains to half a drachm in some convenient liquor The earth called Caput Mortuum is good for nothing After this manner the five substances of all Vegetables may be drawn but because the fire doth give them a loathsome Empyreumatical smell other ways have been invented to draw the Oil of Aromaticks I shall describe them in the sequel Remarks During the distillation of Spirits you must not make the fire too strong for they coming forth with a great deal of violence would else be apt to break either the Retort or the
as the Spirit of Vrine by reason of some impression it has of the Acid sal Armoniack with which it was mixt insomuch that the Crystals of Tartar whose acid is not separated from the Earth has points too gross and too unactive to insinuate into the pores of this salt and separate its parts so easily as those of the salt that is contained in Spirit of Vrine whose pores are bigger Some part of the Glass of Antimony dissolves in the boiling and gives the Emetick quality to the powder It is a very gentle Vomit because the Tartar fixes and in some measure hinders the activity of the Sulphurs of Antimony If instead of making the aforesaid evaporation you should take the vessel off the fire when there is but two thirds of the liquor consumed and let it settle without stirring it in four and twenty hours the soluble Tartar will crystallize at the bottom and on the sides but it will be never a whit the better When you would make this Crystallization you must use a flat vessel let it be of earth that the Crystals may display themselves the better The liquor is to be decanted and the Crystals to be taken and dryed The evaporations and crystallizations are to be continued until you have obtained all your salt Another sort of Soluble Emetick Tartar may be made by boiling in water an ounce of the Glass of Antimony powdered with four ounces of Soluble Tartar for seven or eight hours then upon filtring and evaporating the liquor there will remain a grey powder of the same virtues as the other and to be given in the same dose Distillation of Tartar This Operation is a separation of the Phlegm the Spirit and the Oil of Tartar Fill two thirds of a Retort with Tartar grosly powdered place your Retort in a Reverberatory Furnace and fitting to it a large capacious Receiver begin the distillation with a very small fire for three hours only to warm the Retort and drive out the Phlegm drop by drop throw away this insipid water and refitting the Receiver Lute closely the joints encrease the fire by little and little and you 'l see Spirits fill the Receiver with Clouds continue it that the Oil may likewise come forth then when there will come no more let the vessels cool and unlute them pour that which is in the receiver into a Tunnel lined with brown paper that the Spirit may filtrate and separate from the thick black Oil that remains in the filter keep this Oil in a Viol it is good to smell to in Hysterical vapours it would be good to rub Paralytical parts with and for cold pains but by reason of its abominable smell it is not used Pour the Spirit into a glass Cucurbite and rectifie it by distilling it in sand it is good against the Palsie Asthma and Scurvy it works by Urine and by Sweat It is used in Hysterical maladies and for the Epilepsie the dose is from one drachm to three in some appropriate liquor You will find in the Retort a black mass from which a Salt may be drawn as I shall shew hereafter Remarks If you have used three pounds of Tartar of sixteen ounces to the pound in this Operation you will draw four ounces of Phlegm eight ounces of Spirit and three ounces of Oil the black mass which remains in the Retort after distillation will weigh two pounds or two and thirty ounces and you will draw from that mass twelve ounces of salt Almost all Authors who have spoke of Tartar have asserted that two sorts of Spirits could be drawn from it by distillation the one very Volatile the other fixt and acid wherefore after all had mixed confusedly in the Receiver they separated the Oil and added some Alkali such as Coral or Crabs-eyes to that which remained then they poured it into a Cucurbite and distilled about half the liquor which they pretended to be a Volatile Spirit for the acid Spirit remained absorb'd by the Alkali with the Phlegm in the bottom of the body But having vowed never to be led by any Authority which is not founded upon Experience I have examined the nature of Tartar as strictly as possible and after a great many distillations of it I could never perceive this Volatile Spirit which hath been obtruded upon us all that I could ever find is this that Tartar contains good store of Essential salt which renders it acid and that this Salt coming forth by distillation and mixing with phlegm doth make all the Spirit that can be drawn from Tartar So that the Spirit of Tartar according to the description of these men is only the more Phlegmatick part of the liquor that is to say the most deprived of this Essential Salt because almost all of it doth adhere unto the Alkali body of Coral or Crabs-eyes which were added to it But according to the way I have set down the Spirit may be drawn as pure as may be because I do not leave it to mix with the phlegm which comes out first If we do rectifie the Spirit it is done to purifie it from some Terrestrious parts which it might have carried along with it in the distillation Some thinking to do better than those who rectifie Spirit of Tartar on alkali matters do instead of those alkalis use biscuit powdered but they attain their end never the better for the biscuit does sweeten the acid Spirit of Tartar as much as Coral or Crabs-eyes A very volatile and alkali Spirit is drawn from the Lees of wine I shall speak of it in the Chapter of the Volatile Salt of Tartar and perhaps it is this very Spirit that Paracelsus and Van Helmont do boast so much of and which has occasioned many Authors to write that the Tartar does contain a most volatile Spirit Fixt Salt of Tartar and its liquor called Oil per Deliquium Break the Retort which served you for distillation of Tartar and take the black mass you find in it Calcine it until it becomes white then put it into a great deal of hot water and make a Lixivium filtrate it and pour it into a glass or earthen vessel evaporate in a sand-heat all the water and there will remain a white salt which is called the Alkali Salt of Tartar This Salt is Aperitive it is used for to draw forth the Tincture of Vegetables and is given for Obstructions the dose is from ten to thirty drops in broth or Laxative Infusions If you expose for some days in a Cellar this Salt of Tartar in a wide glass vessel it will dissolve into a liquor that is improperly called Oil of Tartar per Deliquium It is used for Tettars and to discuss Tumors the Ladies do mix it in Lilly-water to clear their complexion and hands Remarks In these two last Operations I have given you the means of obtaining all that can be got from Tartar but those who have no need of the Spirit or Oil and would only desire the
it will be here objected that Opium is full of subtile parts which on the contrary instead of condensing the Spirits must needs rarifie them and further that according to my discourse all sorts of Gummous matters should incline to sleep as well Opium which is a thing manifestly false In the first place I answer that the Spirits of Opium being actuated by the heat of the Stomach do serve to raise the Gummous part and to conduct it into the little passages of the Brain but having there introduced them they either fly away through their volatile nature or else condense with the moisture of the Brain The same thing happens after drinking any Spirituous liquor such as Wine Cyder or Beer for the Sulphureous Spirits of these liquors carrying along with them some phlegmatick parts do conduct them into the little vessels of the Brain or else do cause some Coagulation there whence it comes to pass that a man who is drunk commonly sleeps until the Spirits of the liquor he is intoxicated with are in part spent or evaporated out of his Brain In the second place I say that all Gummous or viscous things are not able to cause a sleepiness as Opium does because they have not equally the same proportion of volatile Spirits to convey them into the Brain They may indeed by giving more consistence to the bloud moderate its motion a little and excite some disposition to sleeping but it will not be done so quickly as by the means of Opium and they likewise do it with a great deal less force If you should mix volatile Spirits with the Gummous matters I now spoke of it would not follow that they would prove narcotick as Opium is because the Spirits not being capable of so strict an union with those matters as the Spirituous part of Opium has received with its viscous substance they would soon separate from one another in the stomach and the gummous matter would want a vehicle to convey it into the channels of the brain as would be requisite in order to cause sleep The viscous parts of Opium insinuating into the small channels of the brain do there produce a condensation or inspissation of the humors until by little and little new Spirits do draw together which by dissolving and rarifying this glue do carry it along with the bloud or other humors And then it is that the sleeping ceases a man finds himself awake as before Reason may be given why pains in many places are asswaged after the effect of Laudanum for these pains being caused by an agitation of the Spirits when these Spirits are condensed the pain consequently ceases And this Opium does perform exceeding well as I have said Those who fall into Deliriums in a continued Feaver do find themselves strangely relieved by the use of Opium by reason that the principal cause of this accident is an acrimonious salt which is got into the Brain and irritates its membranes Now Laudanum which is a viscous substance unites with these salts by means of its Sulphur and takes away their Acrimony It likewise stops the Dysentery the Flux of the menses and other Hemorrhagies by sweetning the acrimonious Salts which fomented them Lastly Opium may be said to be one of the greatest Remedies that we have when it is properly administred and in a reasonable dose but when it is given in too great a quantity it so thickens and glues the humors in the brain by its viscous parts that the Spirits which come afterwards to succour not being able to dissolve this viscosity are forced to stop and congeal likewise by little and little until at last they lose all their motion whence it comes to pass that many do dye upon the taking of Opium It is remarkable that many do so accustom themselves to the use of Opium that at last it is scarce able to make them sleep except when they take three or four times as much as is commonly given There are some men in France who can venture to take to a drachm and this quantity does no more in them than two grains in another It is well known that the Turks will take of it to the bigness of a hazle nut to fortifie themselves when they are going to fight The reason that they can do so is that Opium passing a great many times into the small vessels of the Brain hath in great measure dilated them So that finding the passages very large it makes little or no stop unless taken in a greater quantity than before for the Turks do not only accustom themselves to the taking of Opium by little and little but being of a hotter Temperament than we they supply more Spirits to the Brain for rarefaction of the humors which Opium might there have condensed If the Turks do find themselves fortified so soon as they have taken Opium it is by reason of these volatile Spirits which work in them much the same effect as the Spirits of Wine use to do with us Some have writ in opposition to what I have establish'd on this subject and say that if we have regard to the quantity of Narcotick vapours that may arise from a small dose of Opium it ought not to be imagined that those vapours should be able to shut the channels of the Spirits and humors which make a defluxion upon some part but that we should rather conclude the mitigation of pains and stopping of defluxions to proceed from a just proportion of the salt and sulphur of Opium and from the secret ferment they contain But this Objection will give us little trouble to answer when we consider that although the vapours caused by it are but few yet the vessels of the Brain in which the Animal Spirits do move are exceeding delicate and easie to be obstructed and that the too great activity of the Spirits which often fly into the diseased parts being thus abated by the viscous nature of Opium there must needs follow thereupon some ease and comfort without any need at all of admitting a stoppage of the vessels which contain the humors As for the proportion of salt and sulphur in Opium and the secret Ferment they pretend to acquaint us with in order to explicate this matter I know they are high terms indeed but illustrate the matter very little for though they say these salts and sulphurs do unite with Homogeneous particles that they meet with and destroy such as are the cause of the distemper yet we can never by this means obtain any clear Idea of that which makes Opium to be soporiferous Besides the virtue which Opium has to cause sleep I have observed that it is often Sudorifick I conceive this effect must not be attributed only to the volatile parts of this mixt which may be thought to operate this way after they are disingaged from its viscosity but rather to this that during sleep the inward vessels being as it were obstructed or in some manner coagulated and
is from Florida it hath been transplanted among us but our Countrey not being hot enough that which grows here is not so strong as the Tabaco that is brought out of America Tabaco either chewed or smoked now and then makes a great discharge of humors from the Head but if it be used too immoderately it is apt to cause several Diseases such as the Palsie and Apoplexy It is beaten and applied to tumors to discuss them it being full of Spirits which do rarifie them and open the pores It is likewise infused in common water and Tettars and other Itchings of the Skin are washed with this Infusion but you must have a care that the water be not too much charged with it for fear of giving a vomit Tabaco kills Serpents Vipers Lizards and such like Animals if you open a hole in their flesh and thrust a little bit into it or if you should smoke them with it Distillation of Tabaco Put into a Glass-Cucurbite eight ounces of good Tabaco cut small pour upon it about an equal weight of Phlegm of Vitriol cover the Cucurbite with its head and digest the matter in sand for a day fit to it a Receiver and distil about five ounces of liquor in a small fire keep it in a viol It is a powerful vomit the dose is from two drachms to six in some proper liquor it is likewise good for Tettars and the Itch being rubbed lightly with it Put that which remains in the Cucurbite into an earthen Retort or Glass one luted place it in a Furnace and fit to it a great Receiver and luting close the joints begin with a small fire to raise all the phlegm augment it by little and little and the Spirits will come forth confusedly with a black Oil continue the fire until there comes no more then let the vessels cool and unlute them pour that which you find in the Receiver into a Tunnel lined with brown paper the watry part will pass through while the black and fetid Oil remains in the filter keep it in a viol a drachm of it may be mixed with two ounces of Hogs-grease it is a good Remedy for the itch and for Tettars An Alkali salt may be drawn from the Coals that remain in the Retort after the same manner as the Salt of Guaiacum This salt is a Sudorifick the dose is from four grains to ten in some convenient liquor Remarks Tabaco is full of such piercing sulphurs and volatile salts that so soon as ever it is in the stomach it falls a pricking the Fibers and moving to vomit The Oil of Tabaco is so great a vomit that if one should but hold ones Nose a little over the Viol in which it is kept it would make one vomit One day I made a small Incision in the skin of a dog's thigh and thrusting in a little tent dipt in the Oil of Tabaco the dog immediately purged both upwards and downwards with a great deal of violence The fixt salt of Tabaco may be made as I have said but if you would have any quantity of it you must join a great deal of other Tabaco with it for receiving so little matter out of the Retort it would be hard to get a drachm of Salt CHAP. XIX Extractum Panchymagogum THIS Extract is a farrago of the purer substances of divers purgative and cordial medicines Take an ounce and a half of the Pulp of Coloquintida one ounce of the Pulvis Diarrhodon Abbatis so much good Agarick and two ounces of black Hellebore powder them all grosly and put them into a matrass pour upon it rain-water distilled four fingers above the mixture Stop the matrass close and set it in digestion in hot sand or in horse dung three or four days and shake the vessel ever now and then After this pass your infusion through a cloth pour upon the residence a like quantity of the same liquor let it infuse as before then strain and express it strongly mix your infusions and let them settle until they become clear decant them and evaporate the liquor in an earthen pan in a sand-heat with a little fire to the consistence of a Syrop then mix with them half an ounce of Rosine of Scammony and two ounces of Extract of Aloes evaporate the whole to the consistence of an Extract It purges all the humors well the dose is from one scruple to two in Pills Remarks The flesh or pulp of Coloquintida is nothing but the apple it self cleansed from its Seeds It purges the Brain the best is that which is whitest and lightest The powder Diarrhodon Abbatis is Cordial and resists the malignity of humors it takes its name from the Rose which is its Basis The Agarick is a Rosinous Mushrom that grows on the Larix the best is the whiter lighter and most friable it is used for to purge the brain The root of black Hellebore is a very strong purger of Melancholy wherefore it is given to Hypochondriacal persons and even to the Maniacal it gives a vomit when taken alone but with this mixture it fixes downwards the white is a poison taken inwardly it is never used but for sneezing powders Scammony is a very Purgative resinous juyce the best is most friable and which being powdered hath a grey colour drawing towards white its Rosine is drawn from it as that of Jalap Aloes is said to purge Choler I have spoken of its virtues sufficiently already when I described its Extract Spirit of Wine is commonly used to make this Extract and it may seem to be so much the purer being drawn by this dissolvent rather than by a watry Menstruum for spirit of wine dissolves only the more Balsamick and purer part of mixt bodies but nevertheless I chuse rather to prefer the use of Dew or else Rain-water nay and even common water before Spirit of wine for several reasons First because in the evaporation of the liquidity of the Extract drawn by Spirit of wine a great many of the more subtile parts are lost which this dissolvent had volatilized And indeed it cannot be denied but some useful parts will evaporate let us use what dissolvent we please but it is plain there is no such great loss when watry menstruums are used as when Spirit of wine Now we should always prefer such menstruums as are best able to preserve the virtue of the mixt whose Extract we intend to draw The second is because Spirit of wine does always leave some impression of heat and acrimony in the Extracts it draws which the liquors that I use do not do The third is because Spirit of wine is not so convenient a menstruum to dissolve the salts which the Ingredients we use are full of and it is in this salt that their greatest virtue does consist Wherefore we ought to chuse such dissolvents as can best preserve the virtue of mixt bodies and such as are familiar to our nature We must use Spirit of wine to extract
chuse it clean friable and full of white spots and that sort is called Amygdaloides Flowers of Benjamin and its Oil. This is an exaltation of the volatile salts of Benjamin and a separation of its Oil by distillation Take an earthen pot high and narrow with a little border round it put into it three or four ounces of clean Benjamin grosly powdered cover the pot with a Coffin of paper and tye it round about under the border set the pot into hot ashes and when the Benjamin is heated the Flowers will sublime take off the Coffin every two hours and fix another in its place stop up quickly in a glass the Flowers you find in the Coffins and when those which afterwards sublime do begin to appear Oily take the pot off the fire put that which remains into a little glass Retort and fitting a Receiver to it distil in a Sand-heat a thick and fragrant Oil until nothing more comes forth there will remain in the Retort nothing but a very spongy earth The Flowers are good for Asthmatical persons and to fortifie the stomach the dose is from two grains to five in an Egg or in Lozenges The Oil is a Balsom for wounds and ulcers Remarks Benjamin being full of a great many volatile parts easily sublimes over the smallest fire the Flowers do rise in little needles that are very white but if you give never so little fire more than should be they carry along with them a small quantity of Oil which makes them to be yellow and impure You must therefore perform the Operation in hot Ashes or in Sand to have the Flowers fair The Flowers of Benjamin have a very pleasant acidity Tincture of Benjamin Take three ounces of Benjamin and half an ounce of Storax powder them grosly and put them into a bottle or matrass half empty pour upon them a pint of Spirit of wine stop your vessel close and set it in warm horse-dung leave it in digestion for a Fortnight after which filtrate the liquor and keep it in a Viol well stopt some do add to it five or six drops of Balsom of Peru to give it a better smell it is good to take away spots in the face a drachm of it is put into four ounces of water and it whitens like milk this water serves for a wash and is called Virgin 's Milk Remarks This Tincture is a dissolution of the Rosine of Benjamin made in Spirit of Wine When it is mixed in a great deal of water it makes a Milk because water weakens the Spirit of Wine and makes it quit what it held up dissolved If you let this Milk settle the Rosine precipi 〈…〉 to the bottom of the vessel and the water becomes clear The Storax is added to this Tincture to encrease the goodness of the smell CHAP. XXII Of Camphire CAmphire is a Rosine that distils drop by drop from a great Tree that is much like to a Walnut-tree in the Island Borneo in Asia Little Cakes of it are likewise brought out of China but that is not so good it must be chosen white transparent clean friable without spot and such as is hard to quench when once lighted Camphire is compounded of a Sulphur and Salt so exceeding volatile that it is very hard to keep it any time and it always loses something let it be never so closely stopt It is an excellent remedy for the Fits of the mother it is not only smelt to by women in this condition and used in their Clysters but also taken inwardly for it is lighted and then quenched five or six times in some water proper to the Distemper and so the water is given to drink it is likewise good for intermittent Feavers being hung about the neck because in its evaporating away it insensibly enters through the pores and causes a rarefaction and transpiration of the humor which caused the disease and for the same reason it is that several Druggs applied to the Wrists and other places have often cured diseases but you must observe that this sort of Remedies is always of a very Spirituous nature Camphire is dissolved in Spirit of Wine and this dissolution is called Spirit of Wine Camphorized it is good in the Apoplexy and in Hysterical maladies it is also found to be of excellent use in the Tooth-ach a little Cotton is dipt into it and put into the aking Tooth Oil of Camphire This Operation is a Camphire impregnated with Spirit of Niter which converts it into a liquor Powder grosly three or four ounces of good Camphire put it into a matrass and pour upon it twice as much Spirit of Niter stop your vessel close and set it over a pot half full of water a little heated stir it ever now and then to help forward the dissolution which will be finished in two or three hours and then you 'l find the Camphire turned into a clear Oil which swims above the Spirit separate it and keep it in a Viol well stopt It is used for the Caries of bones and to touch Nerves that are uncovered in wounds Remarks This Oil is nothing but a dissolution of Camphire in Spirit of Niter for if you pour water upon it to destroy the force of the Spirit it returns into Camphire as before Of all the Rosines this is the only one that can dissolve with Spirit of Niter This dissolution is made without Ebullition or sensible heat because the Camphire consisting of thin disunited parts the acids do enter among them and make an easie separation again acids mixing with sulphurs do never raise any ebullition because they find those bodies too pliant and yielding to make sufficient resistance If you have used three ounces of Camphire in this operation you will obtain four ounces of Oil and the Spirit of Niter will have lost an ounce this last will likewise have lost much of its acrimony Some have censured this operation by reason say they of the violent impression which the corrosive Spirit does give to the Camphire in its dissolution and that therefore the acrimony of the medicine renders it of a dangerous use But seeing this Oil is not wont to be given inwardly methinks there is very little reason for this scruple there are medecins which are much more acrimonious than this which nevertheless are not esteemed dangerous to be used Again there is occasion for this acrimony in the use that is made of this Oil for the Spirit of Niter which is mixed with it does very much help the Camphire to deterge wounds and to cleanse rotten bones CHAP. XXIII Of Gumm Ammoniack GVmm Ammoniack is so called because it distils from a sort of Ferula or Fennil-gyant that grows near the place where the Oracle of Jupiter Ammon stood heretofore the best is in large yellowish tears and white within It is given inwardly in Deoppilative Electuaries for Schirrhous Tumors of the Liver Spleen and Mesentery it is used in Emollient and Attractive Plaisters The
must be distilled with a gentle fire it is in this distilled Vrine that the Volatile salt will be found exalted by the Fermentation Rectifie this liquor again three or four times throwing away each Distillation the Phlegm that remains at the bottom of the Cucurbite then putting your Spirit of Vrine into a Matrass with its head sublime the Volatile Salt as I shewed before Some do add to it Salt-peter This Salt is of a more penetrating nature than the other but a great deal of time is required to make it The Phosphorus It is a luminous matter distilled from Vrine that has been fermented Take a good quantity of humane urine let it ferment or putrifie in the air in an open vessel three or four months then pour it into earthen pans and evaporate it over the fire until the remaining matter comes to the consistence of thick honey put this matter into an earthen body that can endure the fire and is big enough to be left at least half empty place your body in a furnace fit to it a glass head with its receiver and having well luted the joints give it a little fire for two or three hours to distil some phlegmatick Spirits which still remained in the matter after which you must encrease the fire by little and little to the third degree there will rise some small quantity of Volatile Salt which will stick to the head and some black oil which will fall into the receiver continue a good coal fire until there comes no more Oil let the vessels cool and having taken off the receiver pour the liquor you find in it into a Tunnel lined with brown paper the Spirit and phlegm will pass through and the oil will remain in the filter put the oil into an earthen pan and in a mild sand-heat dry it until it comes to be as thick as an ointment take off the head and you will find in the body a black spongey mass which you are to separate from the solid compact matter which remains at bottom powder your spongey matter and mix it with the dried black oyl put it into an earthen retort set it in a Reverberatory furnace fit to it a large capacious receiver and luting well the joints give it a small fire to heat insensibly the Retort then increase it by little and little a Volatile salt will come forth which will stick to the sides of the receiver and a little oil with it increase the fire to the last degree of violence and you will perceive a white Fume which after it has circulated in the receiver will likewise stick to the receiver and will be of a yellow colour this is the PHOSPHORVS continue the fire in its greatest vigour four or five hours or until no more will come into the retort Let the vessels grow cold then unlute them throw water into the receiver and having shook it sufficiently about to loosen that which was glu'd to its sides pour it all into a large glass vessel and leave it to settle the volatile salt will dissolve in the water but the matter of the Phosphorus and the oil will precipitate to the bottom decant the water and having gathered the matter together put it into a little glass vessel add to it a little water and place the vessel in sand give it a digestive heat and stir the matter gently with a wooden spatule the Phosphorus will separate from the oil and sink to the bottom you may make it up into little sticks whilst it is hot by putting of it into the neck of a very little bolt-head and taking it out when it is cold then keep it stopt in a little bottle filled with water for without water to preserve it it would spend it self and be lost in fumes To make PHOSPHORVS liquid you must scrape or break off a piece of it put it into a viol and pour upon it the clear Essence of Cloves to the height of one finger stop the viol close and set it two days in digestion in horse-dung stirring it from time to time to help the solution of the matter after that take your viol and keep it you have in it the liquid PHOSPHORVS All the matter will not have dissolved some part of it will remain at bottom Remarks The word Phosphorus comes from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Lucifer or the Morning-Star Of them there are the Natural and the Artificial the Natural are such as Glow-worms Rotten wood and many others The Artificial are made with the Bolonian stone with chalk with urine with bloud and with divers other sulphureous matters The Bolonian stone was one of the first Artificial Phosphorus that has been known it takes its name from the Town in Italy where it was made he that did prepare it is dead without leaving the knowledge of his Secret insomuch that no body 'till the present has been able sufficiently to imitate it he did calcine it for a certain time and perhaps after such a manner as we are still ignorant of then exposing it to the air it yielded a great light in the dark which by little and little grew weaker and weaker This Stone is bituminous and full of Sulphur which is the thing that gives it this disposition to shine in the dark but because its sulphur is spent by little and little it comes at length to be opake like another stone When it has not been calcined enough it yields no light at all because the sulphureous parts have not been put into sufficient motion and when it is calcined too much these sulphureous parts are thereby lost therefore a medium is to be observed which no body has yet been able to hit The Germans being very curious and industrious in Chymical concerns have found out several kinds of Phosphorus and I do not doubt but upon working further upon this subject much may still be done Among those who have particularly applied themselves to it Balduinus a German has invented a sort of Phosphorus whose description I shall give anon Kunkelius a Saxon has written very well upon it and workt to good effect Daniel Kraff a German Chymist is the first inventor of the Phosphorus which is drawn from Urine he gives it the consistence of a paste or of a liquor as he pleases and the Honourable Mr. Boyle of London to whom all the ingenious have so much obligation put forth a Treatise in English about three or four years ago called Noctiluca Aeria full of abundance of Experiments and most Curious Remarks which he has made upon this Phosphorus he likewise found the way to give it a solid consistence and a little while since he put forth the same Treatise in Latin enlarged above half with new Experiments and Observations on the same subject You must provide a great quantity of Urine for this Operation for a great deal is necessary to draw a little luminous matter from The vessel in which it is put to
263 how possibly they grow in our bodies 268 Succinum or Ambar 363 Sublimate Corrosive often counterfeited and how to be discovered 177 Its Corrosion much greater than that of Arsenick 182 How from so great a Poison it comes to be so mild as it is in Mercurius dulcis 185 Suffocation of the Matrix explicated 368 Sugar whence its sweetness is derived 243 410 how made 408 Sugar-candy how made 409 Sulphur 353 Its Flowers how made white 354 Its Milk 355 That half the quantity of its Milk or Magistery is as effectual as double the quantity of its Flowers 357 Its Spirit suspected in diseases of the breast 360 Its Salt why so much more acid then tartarum vitriolatum 362 Sulphur vivum 353 Sylver 74 how made or counterfeited by Alchymists 55 The difference between Plate-sylver and Coppel sylver 79 Its Crystals how Revived 82 Its Calx how Revived 86 Sympathetical powder its preparation and use and its operation explicated 334 335 336 The authors candid judgment of it 337 Syrop of Mars 148 T Tabaco 481 An Experiment made upon its Oil 483 Tartar 433 Its Cream and Crystals 434 Why its Crystals will not dissolve in cold water 435 No true Volatile Salt to be drawn from it 443 A quick way of making its Salt 445 That water thrown upon Tartar newly Calcined gives it a heat and ebullition like Quicklime 445 How its Salt mixed with distilled waters will make them look green 447 That its Salt will cause a flame after the manner as does Salt-peter when thrown upon kindled coals 449 Chymical Terms explicated 40 Tinctures how made 501 Turpentine 488 Tynn 92 V Venereal disease its venom proved to be an Acid 168 169 Verdigrease how made 127 Vermilion 157 Vinegar how made 429 That common Vinegar keeps its strength longer than the distilled Spirit 431 Good against the Plague ib. Vinegar of Saturn 111 Vipers when taken can live a whole Summer without eating if they have but air 505 How the Viper differs from Serpents 506 The quickest remedy for the biting of a Viper 507 Wherein her venom does consist 507 c. A Sudorifick water of Vipers 519 Virgins Milk 112 Vitriol its several sorts 329 330 The English how to be distinguished from the German 339 Its Spirit how Revived into Vitriol 341 That its strong Oil causes heat and ebullition with divers liquors that are not alkali 342 A remarkable instance of its Caustick Oil 343 Volatile Salts how Rectified 514 515 When to be used and when not 466 Why they become foetid and are alkalis 21 22 Vomiting when excessive through the taking Antimonial preparations is to be stopt with Cream of Tartar 231 232 W Wax 546 Wine 412 analyzed 420 Why Claret lies longer in the body and abounds more with Tartar than White-wine 412 Its Muste anatomised 413 No inflammable Spirit in the Muste ib. It s Spirit what ib. Why Muscat and Spanish wines are so sweet as they are and why they yield fewer Spirits than French wines 414 The Small-pox ingeniously compared with the fermentation of Wines 416 Its good and bad effects 418 419 How it causes so profound a sleep 419 The drawing Spirit of Wine by the Serpent rejected and another instrument preferred 421 422 c. What causes Wine to turn egre and what will hinder it 466 FINIS BOOKS Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in S. Paul's Church-yard THO. Sydenhami M.D. Opera Universa oct Lister de fontibus medicatis Angliae oct Jones de Febribus intermittentibus oct Mayow Tractat. quinq è med de sal nitro c. oct Charletoni Inquisitio physica de Causis catamenionum uteri Rheumatismo oct Entii Apologia pro Circuitione sanguinis contra Parisanum Edit altera auct accuratior oct Lossii Observationes Medicae oct R. Grovii Carmen de Circuitione sanguinis quart Dr. Charleton's three Anatomick Lectures 1. Of the motion of the Bloud 2. Of the Organick structure of the Heart 3. Of the efficient causes of the Hearts Pulsation quart Dr. Webster's History of Metals quart Grew's Anatomy of Trunks oct 's Anatomy of Plants fol. Dr. Goodall's Royal College of Physicians of London founded and established by Law as appears by Letters Patents Acts of Parl. c. quart Dr. Smith's Portraicture of Old Age oct Burnetii Telluris Theoria Sacra quart Mr. Burnets Theory of the Earth fol. Dr. Hicks's Jovian in Answer to Julian oct Plato's Daemon or the State Physician unmask'd in Answer to Plato Redivivus by T. Goddard Esq Dr. More 's Exposition on Daniel quart Exposition on the Apocalypse quart Answer to several Remarks on his Exposition on Daniel and the Revel by S.E. quart Dr. More 's Answer to Dr. Butler about Judicial Astrology quart 's Reply to the Answer to his Antidote against Idolatry with his Appendix oct 's Remarks on Judge Hales about fluid bodies c. oct Dr. Falkner's Libertas Ecclesiastica oct 's Christian Loyalty oct 's Vindication of Liturgies oct Dr. Sherlocks Discourse of the knowledge of Jesus Christ with his Defence oct Dr. Scott's Christian Life first and second part Dr. Fowler 's Libertas Evangelica in pursuance of his Design of Christianity oct Mr. Kidder's Discourse of Christian fortitude oct Mr. Hesketh's serious exhortation to frequent Communion oct Piety the best Rule of Orthodoxy oct Dr. Worthington's great Duty of Self-Resignation oct Mr. Needhams six Sermons at Cambridge oct Mr. Grails Sermons at Norwich oct Mr. Long 's History of the Donatists oct 's Character of a Separatist oct Against Hales of Schism with Mr. Baxter's Arguments for Conformity oct 's Nonconformists plea for Peace impleaded against Mr. Baxter oct Mr. W. Allens Works in 4 Vol. oct Mr. Lamb's stop to the Course of Separation oct 's Fresh suit against Independency oct Dr. Charleton's Harmony of Nat. and Positive Divine Laws oct
Imprimatur Rob. Midgley Aug. 24. 1685. A COURSE OF Chymistry CONTAINING An easie Method of Preparing those Chymical Medicins which are used in PHYSICK WITH Curious Remarks and Useful Discourses upon each Preparation for the benefit of such who desire to be instructed in the Knowledge of this ART By NICHOLAS LEMERY M. D. The Second Edition very much Inlarged Translated from the Fifth Edition in the French By WALTER HARRIS M. D. Fellow of the College of Physicians LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-yard 1686. TO THE Most Honourable THE LORD MARQUISS OF WORCESTER MY LORD IT may seem very improper to address a Translation out of French to Your Lordship who have spent so many years to the greatest advantage in France and who is not only a Great Master of that Gentile Language but of all the more eminent modern Languages of Europe But those who have the Honour to know any thing of Your Lordship must needs allow that no Dedication of what is Vseful to the world or Learned in any kind can be more properly tendered than to a Person who being born in the Highest Rank of our Nobility has Power to Patronize whatsoever he takes into his Protection and who being fully replenished with all the admirable accomplishments which a mighty Genius a penetrating and vigorous Vnderstanding an early and exemplary Virtue and Piety and all sorts of Foreign and Domestick improvements could bestow in order to render Your Lordship either a Great Minister in affairs of State a Compleat Courtier an Eminent Patriot in the time of Peace a Valiant and Judicious Commander in the time of War or an excellent Judge both of Men and Books My Lord the Treatise I now offer You is not writ after the usual way of ordinary Chymists it has none of the bombastick expressions nor ridiculous pretences none of the Melancholick Dreams and wretched Enthusiasms none of the palpable falsities and even impossibilities wherewith the common rate of Chymical Books has been stuff'd heretofore The Author is no Believer in that great and unhappy stumbling-block the Mystery of Projection nor at all addicted to the Transmutation or rather Adulteration of Metals He is an excellent Operator his Reasonings are close and pertinent to the matter in hand and all deduced from matter of Fact insomuch that I think he may be said to have Purified and Refined Chymistry from the many dregs and feculencies which by other mens over-refining and over-curious diligence it had been tainted with before I shall not trouble Your Lordship too much with things so unsuitable as these are considering that Your Noble Soul and Publick Spirit is hourly engaged in serving and becoming highly useful to your Countrey upon the greatest occasions Your Lordship had a considerable share in the happy conclusion of this Summers Campaign with Your most Illustrious Father his Grace my Lord Duke of Beaufort who did maintain by his Presence and Wise Conduct that great Post of the utmost importance the City of Bristol against the power of the Rebels who confidently gave out that they were sure of Bristol and doubtless might have been so unless prevented by the Wisdom and Courage of His Grace and Your Lordship These things My Lord are but the beginning of what the World is to expect from You and may now very reasonably promise it self under the auspicious Government of our most Potent and most Invincible Monarch What great thing may not reasonably be presumed when the Head and Body are so admirably fitted for the Conquest of the World and the rather now the Body is so well Purged from the sowre Leaven of Intestine Rebellion May Your Lordship long continue to partake of His Majestie 's Royal Favour and to Ennoble the most Illustrious House of the Somersets with thousands of gallant Actions worthy Your self and worthy Your high Descent from some of the Greatest Men in the World for many Generations past I am MY LORD Your Lordship 's most Humble and most Obedient Servant WALTER HARRIS THE PREFACE I Shall easily acknowledge that the world is in no want of Chymical Books Germany alone can sufficiently furnish those who are much inquisitive after them with as great variety as their heart can wish And yet in this great plenty or rather superfluity of Books of Chymistry when we have weighed things a little maturely we shall find that something very material is still wanting in order to render Chymistry of good use to the World and that is to give a just and impartial judgment of the benefits and the mischiefs the safety and the danger of many great and common but those very Active Chymical Medicins according to the proper use or irregular application of them and according to the innocence or destructiveness of their composition In order to this end I do conceive that this Author 's plain and natural way of examining every Operation by Reason and Experience together his singular perspicuity in his Discourses and Remarks and his universally avoiding all Imaginary Notions in the explication of the accidents and circumstances which do attend the Operation may be a good foundation upon which some Judicious Practisers may hereafter raise cautions instructions of excellent use to mankind This Author is one of the first through-pac'd Chymists who has had the ingenuity and sagacity to suspect the influence of Fire on the chief Preparations made with it For though Chymistry has by some been called Pyrotechnia or the ART of FIRE and Fire has seemed to be as much deified by most Chymists as Scaliger tells us Exercit. 258. it was by the barbarous Lybians who did worship it as a God yet this worthy man has in many places of his Book abundantly acknowledged or at least sufficiently hinted at the hurt as well as the good which medecins may receive from its violent nature He says p. 21. If we consider impartially how Fire does act we shall be forced to acknowledge that it rather destroyes and confounds the greatest part of the bodies it opens and does not leave them in the natural state they were in before and especially when it is driven with that force which is necessary to draw them He proves all Alkali Salts whether Volatile or Fixt to be changed from their Natural state by the means of Fire and also to have received and to retain the very particles and substance of Fire in its full activity and shews how the great ebullition which happens upon the mixture of Acid and Alkali is or may be presumed to be wholly or in great part owing to the fire contained in them The heat and fume and ebullition the noise and detonation which do attend the making Spirit of Niter Dulcified do shew what a Fire is drawn into the body of that Corrosive Spirit that can make so remarkable a conflict and bustle that it is even ready to take flame of it self though the operation or Dulcification be
made without coming near the fire and though there is no appearance of Alkali contending with Acid to cause the aforesaid tumult see the Remarks on Spirit of Niter Dulcified p. 302 303. The same thing happens upon mixing Oil of Vitriol another Corrosive Acid with Oil of Turpentine which is no Alkali the mixture grows so hot through the Fire contained in the Acid that it sometimes breaks the Viol and often produces a considerable ebullition see p. 342. He observes that water thrown upon Tartar newly Calcined does heat and cause ebullition after the manner as it does with Quicklime the Fire that was entred into it making a violent eruption He is the first perhaps who has taken such particular notice what an augmentation of weight is added to many Preparations by the concurrence and incorporation of the substance of Fire into their composition as you may see in the Calcination of Lead p. 107. in the Distillation of Spirit of Saturn from the Salt of Saturn p. 116. in the Calcination of Regulus of Antimony p. 208. and even in the Calcination of Antimony by the heat of the Sun with a burning-glass p. 228. which few instances may possibly lead the way to Inquisitive persons to discover the same augmentation in divers other Preparations His addiction to Chymistry has not heated his head with fond and groundless hopes of attaining Projection nor led him to abuse the world with Counterfeiting the Nobler Metals but he has candidly exposed the impostures of Alchymists at large in the Chapter of Gold p. 49 c. I shall say nothing of his description of the Phosphorus and divers other new matters delivered in this Edition I dare presume the Judicious Reader will not dislike many things in the Book when he has a little considered them Therefore although we may possibly be overstockt with Books that pretend to Chymistry yet I hope the discerning Reader will think it no dis-service that I become an instrument of adding one more good Book of this kind to the number of our bad ones the kind reception which the former Edition met with when comparatively short and imperfect has already in some measure bespoke the welcom which this may reasonably hope for being revised and very much inlarged by the ingenious Author and when compared with the former Edition will be found to bear the proportion of a Man in his full strength and vigor to that of a growing hopeful Youth I will not detain you from the work it self only would advise young Students for whose instruction it is principally designed not to be too bold in the use of such Medicins as have undergone great Fires nor to be over-credulous in believing the strange wonders and most mighty Cures which too many other Chymists have extravagantly boasted and most solemnly but groundlesly assured us The wise Hippocrates will acquaint them that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Galen frequently teaches that Nature is abundantly wiser in her works than Art can be and that the Works of Nature are far above our greatest praises and deserve our highest admiration as may be seen more at large in his 7. and 11. Books of that excellent Tract de usu partium A good Physician must have studied Art and Nature too And a Chymist of the first rank will find himself never the worse an Artist by his being likewise a skilful Naturalist A TABLE OF THE CHAPTERS OF Chymistry in general Page 1 Of the Principles of Chymistry 2 Remarks upon the Principles 5 Of Chymical Vessels and Furnaces 31 The Figures or Cutts 32 Of Lutes 37 Of the Degrees of Fire 38 Explication of many Terms that are used in Chymistry 40 FIRST PART Of Minerals 45 Chap. I. OF Gold 48 Purification of Gold 61 Amalgamation of Gold with Mercury and its reduction into an impalpable Powder 65 Aurum Fulminans called the Saffron of Gold 66 Chap. II. Of Silver 74 Purification of Silver 75 Crystals of Silver called Vitriol of the Moon 80 Infernal Stone or perpetual Caustick 83 Tincture of the Moon 85 Diana's Tree 89 Chap. III. Of Tinn 92 Pulverisation of Tinn ib. Calcination of Tinn 93 Salt of Jupiter or Tinn 94 Sublimation of Tinn 96 Magistery of Jupiter or Tinn 97 Flowers of Jupiter or Tinn 98 Chap. IV. Of Bismuth called Tinn-glass 101 Flowers of Bismuth 102 Magistery of Bismuth ib. Chap. V. Of Lead 105 Calcination of Lead 106 Salt of Saturn 108 Magistery of Saturn 111 Balsom or Oil of Saturn 113 Burning Spirit of Saturn 114 Chap. VI. of Copper 118 Calcination of Copper 122 Purification of Copper 123 Vitriol of Venus or Copper 124 Other Crystals of Venus 126 Spirit of Venus 128 Chap. VII Of Iron 130 Opening Saffron of Mars 132 Another Opening Saffron of Mars 138 Another Opening Saffron of Mars 139 Binding Saffron of Mars 142 Salt or Vitriol of Mars 143 Another Vitriol of Mars 145 Tincture of Mars with Tartar 147 Opening Extract of Mars 148 Binding Extract of Mars 150 Mars Diaphoretick 152 Chap. VIII Of Mercury 154 Artificial Cinnabar 156 Reviving of Cinnabar into Quick-silver 158 Sublimate Corrosive 170 Sweet Sublimate or Mercurius dulcis 183 White Precipitate 186 Red Precipitate 191 Turbith Mineral or Yellow Precipitate 195 Oil or Liquor of Mercury 196 Another Oil of Mercury 197 Other Precipitates of Mercury 198 Chap. IX Of Antimony 202 Common Regulus of Antimony 204 Golden Sulphur of Antimony 209 Regulus of Antimony with Mars 210 Glass of Antimony 214 Crocus Metallorum or Liver of Antimony 217 Antimonium Diaphoreticum 222 Another Antimonium Diaphoreticum 225 Flowers of Antimony 229 Red Flowers of Antimony 230 Butter or Icy Oil of Antimony 231 Butter of Antimony together with its Cinnabar 233 The Emetick Powder of Algarot or Mercurius vitae 236 Bezoar Mineral 238 Caustick Oil of Antimony 240 Another Oil of Antimony 242 Chap. X. Of Arsenick 244 Regulus of Arsenick 245 Sublimate of Arsenick 246 Caustick Arsenick 248 Corrosive Oil of Arsenick 249 Chap. XI Of Quick-lime 251 Phagedenick water 254 Caustick Stones or Cauteries 255 Sympathetical Inks. 258 Chap. XII Of Flints 263 Calcination of Flints 264 Tincture of Flints 265 Liquor of Flints 266 Chap. XIII Oil of Bricks 268 Chap. XIV Of Coral 270 Dissolution of Coral 272 Magistery of Coral 274 Salt of Coral 276 Chap. XV. Of Common Salt 277 Calcination of Common Salt 281 Spirit of Salt 282 Chap. XVI Of Niter or Salt-peter 289 Purification of Salt-peter 291 Crystal Mineral called Sal Prunellae 293 Sal Polycrestum 296 Spirit of Niter 298 Spirit of Niter dulcified 300 Aqua Fortis 304 Fixation of Salt-peter into an Alkali Salt 306 Chap. XVII Of Sal Armoniack 310 Flowers of Sal Armoniack 311 Aqua Regalis 312 Volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack 317 Another Preparation of the Volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack together with its Flowers and Fixt Salt against Fevers 321 Acid Spirit of Sal Armoniack 328 Chap. XVIII Of Vitriol 329 Gilla Vitrioli or Vomitive Vitriol 331
detained by some Salts which check its Volatility and then may be called a fixt Spirit as the Acid Spirits of Vitriol Alum Salt c. The Oil which is called Sulphur by reason of its inflammability is a sweet subtile unctuous substance that rises after the Spirit This is said to cause the diversity of Colours and Smells according to its disposition in Bodies this gives them their Beauty and Deformity uniting together the other Principles this also sweetens the acrimony of Salts and by shutting up the Pores of a mixt hinders it from corrupting either through too much moisture or cold Wherefore many Trees and Plants that have a great deal of Oil are wont to last green much longer than others and can resist the extremity of ill weathers It is always drawn impure For either it is mixt with Spirits as the Oils of Rosemary of Lavender which swim above the water or else it is fill'd with Salts that it draws along with it in the distillation as the Oil of Box Guaiacum Cloves which do precipitate to the bottom of the water by reason of their weight Salt is the last of the Active Principles which remains disguised in the Earth after the other Principles are extracted It is drawn by pouring water upon the earth to imbibe its Salt then filtring the dissolution and evaporating all the moisture a Salt is found at the bottom of the Vessel It is a fixt incombustible substance that gives Bodies their consistence and preserves them from corruption This causes the diversity of tasts according as it is diversly mixed There are three different Salts as the Fixt Volatile and Essential The Fixt Salt is that which remains after Calcination the Volatile is that which easily riseth as the Salt of Animals And Essential Salt is that which is obtained from the Juyce of Plants by Crystallization This last is between the Fixt and Volatile Water which is called Phlegm is the first of the Passive Principles it comes in distillation before the Spirits when they are fixt or after them when they are volatile It is never drawn pure but always receives some impression from the Active Principles And this causes it to have a more detersive virtue in it than common Water It serves to separate the Active Principles and to bridle their motion The Earth which is called Caput Mortuum or Terra Damnata is the last of the Passive Principles and can no more be separated pure than the rest but will still retain some Spirits in it and if after you have depriv'd it of them as much as you are able you leave it a good while exposed to the Air it will recover new Spirits again Remarks upon the Principles The word Principle in Chymistry must not be understood in too nice a sense for the substances which are so called are only Principles in respect of us and as we can advance no farther in the division of bodies but we well know that they may be still divided into abundance of other parts which may more justly claim in propriety of speech the name of Principles wherefore such substances are to be understood by Chymical Principles as are separated and divided so far as we are capable of doing it by our weak imperfect powers And because Chymistry is an Art that demonstrates what it does it receives for fundamental only such things as are palpable and demonstrable It is in truth a great advantage to us that we have Principles so sensible as they are and whereof we can have so reasonable an assurance The fond conceits of other Philosophers concerning Natural Principles do only puff up the mind with grand Idea's but they prove or demonstrate nothing And this is the reason that going to discover their Principles we find some of them do frame one Systeme and others another But if we would come as near as may be to the true Principles of Nature we cannot take a more certain course than that of Chymistry which will serve us as a Ladder to them and this division of substances though it may seem a little gross will give us a very great Idea of Nature and the figure of the first small particles which have entred into the composition of mixt bodies Some modern Philosophers would perswade us that it is altogether uncertain whether the substances which are separated from bodies and are called Chymical Principles do effectually exist and are naturally residing in the body before these do tell us that the fire by rarifying the matter in time of distillation is capable of bestowing upon it such an alteration as is quite different from what it had before and so of forming the Salt Oil and other things which are drawn from it This objection does at first seem to have much weight and reason in it because it is certain as hereafter shall be shewn that the Fire does give a very considerable impression to the preparations and that very often it does put such a new face upon things that they are very hardly to be known when compar'd with what they were before But it is easie to shew that though the Fire does so diversifie and alter substances yet it does not make those Principles for we see them and smell them in many bodies before ever we bring them to undergo the Fire For example it cannot be denied but that there was existent Oyl in Olives in Almonds in Nuts and in many other fruits and seeds because it is drawn only by beating and pressing them Turpentine which is a thickned Oyl and many other fat or unctuous liquors are drawn by meer incision into the trunk or root of trees and what else I pray is the fat of animals but an Oyl or Sulphur coagulated Nor can it be denied but that there is salt actually in mixt bodies since that by bruising a Plant and making expression to draw out its juyce and then leaving the juyce to settle in some cool place for a few daies a salt will be found fixt about the vessel in form of little Crystals I know that some doubting Scepticks who make it their business to doubt of every thing will still say that by beating the Almonds and then pressing them and by making incision into Trees the parts which compose the plant are agitated and put in motion after such a manner as they are by Fire and that this agitation of parts is capable of ranging them so as to make the Oyl and Salt But such reasonings as these do destroy themselves by too much niceness and there is no sober understanding man but easily perceives the falshood for can a man well perceive that meer trituration or incision are able to make Salt Oyl Earth it is abundantly more probable nay and it may be sufficiently demonstrated that those substances did exist in the bodies before and that by incision and trituration the gate has only been opened to let them come freely out Others again do attack the Principles of Chymistry after
they are forced to temper their grounds with Sand after the ebbing of the River Nile to make them Fertile because the earth till that is done is so full of Salt that its Pores are quite choaked up with it So that instead of causing any Fermentation in the Seed the Salt fixes and depresses it so that it can't have its motion free enough to rarifie and raise a stalk but now when Sand is mingled with it it is able to divide and separate the Salt which not having then such power of fixing the Seed it Ferments and rises into a Plant. Whence it may be seen that too much Salt is at least as Offensive to the earths fertility as too little and that it is the same thing with other Fermentable matters as it is with Earths they come to ferment by means of a moderate quantity of Salt mixed with them for if you add too much the Fermentation will be spoil'd Again every kind of Salt is not fit to fertilize lands it must be a Volatile Salt or approaching to the nature of Salt-peter to serve for Vegetation a Salt too fixt would rather spoil it and it has been observ'd that places which should fructifie have brought forth nothing when Sea-salt has been sprinkled upon them the reason of which is for that this fixt Salt hinders the Fermentation that was necessary to fertilize Nevertheless it sometimes happens that the Ashes of Vegetables though full of a fixt salt do serve to fertilize and this Countrey-men are well acquainted with who in some places where they find their Lands too poor and barren to yield any thing without assistance of Art do use at certain seasons of the year to burn Fern and Turfs upon them and spread about the ashes Now it is by reason of a Lixivious salt in the ashes that the Lands are hereby improv'd But this happens for the same reason as I said before for the fixt Salt of Vegetables that lies in the ashes is very porous as I shall prove hereafter and so does very well mix with the Spirits or acid Salts of the Air and turns easily into Salt-peter as when Spirit of Salt-peter is mixt with an Alkali salt it makes a good Salt-peter As for sea-salt possibly it might happen that if it were left in the Earth for some considerable time it would impregnate with the Spirit of the Air and so being at length Volatilized would render a place fertile But because it is a very compact body and its parts closely united the Volatilizing of it would be a tedious business and so the present requisite Fermentation failing the place would remain barren too long to gratifie our expectations It is very likely that the Volatile or Nitrous salt meets in the Earth with some Sulphureous or fat matter that is continually raised by the subterranean heat toward the surface of the Earth and unites with it This mixture of a Volatile salt and Sulphur together may much contribute towards explicating the manner of Vegetation for just as the mixture of Sulphur and Salt-peter does excellently dispose to an Exaltation by heat which will not happen while they are separated so the Bituminous or fat part of the earth mixing with Salt-peter which all Earths have the subterranean heat exalts them much more easily than if the Salt were alone And now let us see what happens from this Exaltation to the production of Plants Some part of this Sulphureous salt meeting with seed in the earth proper to grow does enter into the seed and cause a Fermentation that is to say suppling the parts of the seed disposes it to open it self Now 't is very certain and what has been sensibly demonstrated by Microscopes that each grain of seed contains in little the whole Plant with all its parts Wherefore this opening the body of the seed is by reason that the sulphureous salts entring at the pores of the root of this small Plant and by their Volatile quality insinuating along the Fibres which constitute the Plant do orderly display before us what was before but very confused in respect of us These salts do never enter at the head of the Plant and so descend to the Root though often the Root of the Seed lies uppermost and the head or stalk downwards because the Pores of the stalk are not of such a Figure as is proper to receive them whereas those of the Root have a proper contexture The Volatility of these Salts does also cause the stalk though seated downwards to rise upwards and follow their tendency which is always up and this is that which by extending and enlarging the Fibres of the Plant makes it grow to that height which their nature requires 'T is probable that this fat part of earth insinuating with the salt as I have said does make the Oyl of a mixt body for we find that those matters which help best to fertilize are full of Volatile Salt and Oyl as Dung Vrine and Plants corrupted 'T is fit to observe here that the salt does act after another-guise manner than the Oyl in hindring the Fermentation or corruption of the matter it is mixed with for it does not only stop the pores and hinder the air from entring but fixes it likewise by its hooked parts that it can neither have motion nor rarefaction for which reason it is that meat is salted in order to keep it sweet and does thereby remain firm and compact for some time Three kinds of salt are drawn from Vegetables an Acid salt called Essential a Volatile and a Fixt salt The first is sometimes like Salt-peter and sometimes like Tartar according as it contains more or less earth this salt is drawn from the juice of the Plant as I said before for after expression and purifying this juice it is set in a vessel in some cool place a few daies without stirring and the salt shoots into Crystals every way This Acid salt may be said to be the true salt that was in the Plant because the means that are used in drawing it are Natural and such as cannot change its nature but this can't be said of those others because the violent fires that are used about them make impressions of another nature and their effects are very different so that the fire seems to alter and disguise them as I shall shew in the following discourse The second salt or the Volatile salt of Plants is usually drawn from seeds or fruits Fermented While it remains in the Vegetable it differs from the Essential salt only in this that being driven up higher by Spirits it becomes more Volatile The Fermentation that is caused in fruits by beating and bruising them does very much assist us in Volatilizing the salt for it sets the particles at work and disposes them for an easier separation but it happens that in the great circulation or continual motion this salt is in it unites so strongly with the Oyl which Fruits and Seeds are full of that they
tinn'd o' th' inside supported on two Iron bars q The Head r A copper Pipe tinn'd passing through a vessel filled with water s A glass Receiver t A small Iron Furnace u An Iron pot x The Cover to the Iron pot y A Cock to let the water out of the vessel when it grows too hot z A Matrass or Bolt-head The FIRST TABLE The SECOND TABLE a a A Moveable Furnace for fusions b Registers or holes to let the air into the fire c A Dome divided in two d A little Chimny and the flame passing through it e An Iron trevet to support the furnace f A glass Mortar with its Pestle g h A pot with a coffin of paper over it for receiving the Flowers of Benjamin i k l A Matrass or Bolt-head and its blind-head for sublimations m n A great earthen pan with a little Cup turned upside downwards A Crucible containing the lighted Sulphur A great glass Tunnel to draw Spirit of Sulphur o A Mould p A copper Body q Its Refrigeratory r The Receiver s A Circulating vessel t A Pot with a hole in the middle of its height and the stopple of the hole lying by u Three Aludels or Pots upon one another x The glass head y A Mould to make the balls of Regulus of Antimony which are called perpetual Pills z The Mould wherewith to form the lapis infernalis a a A little furnace and its pan with sand in it and an earthen pan filled with liquor to be evaporated b b A Coppel c c A little Coppel to make trials with The SECOND TABLE The THIRD TABLE A Moveable Furnace to distil in Sand. a The Ash-hole and its door b The Fire-place and its door c The Cucurbite or Body d The Sand wherein the Body is placed e The Head f The Receiver g The same Furnace empty h A Body i A Head k A glass in which Oil of Cloves is made l A Copper Balneum to contain and distil with four Alembicks m n A Pipe through which the hot water is poured into the Balneum according as it evaporates o The Receiver p A Balneum to distil with one Alembick q A Mold to make Cups of Regulus of Antimony r A French Crucible s A German Crucible The THIRD TABLE Reverberatory Furnace You may also leave holes through which the Iron-bars may pass which support the Retort that they may be easily taken out when you have a mind to use this Furnace for Fusions A Furnace of this form may be called Polychrest or general because such a one may be used for all sorts of Operations It is likewise convenient for Fusions to have a moveable Furnace of the same matter as the others it must be round and may be set upon a stool it is to have only one grate and six Registers or holes on the sides to let in the air to the fire The Dome may be made of the same matter for to cover it and a small earthen Chimney for to place upon the hole of the Dome that the fire may keep the stronger See the figure of it in the second Table You must be sure to put sand or broken pots or such like things into the Paste that you use for the building Furnaces either fixt or moveable to hinder them from cracks when they come to dry for these matters rendring the clay more porous the wet breaths out much the more easily Again Lime and Sand tempered together might serve for the building your fixt Furnaces and stones might be used instead of bricks but because it is necessary to increase and lessen the Furnaces to proportion their size to the vessels you would place in them the description which I gave before is the more convenient for that a man may very easily break them and build them again without the help of a Brick-layer A small Iron Furnace with its iron pot and a cover to it is convenient for performing many operations this pot may serve for a Balneum Mariae and for a Vaporous Bath when there is no other It may be likewise used to distil by an Alembick in a Bath of Sand Ashes or of filings of Iron See the description of it in the first Table A great Iron Furnace should likewise be had whereon to place a Copper Balneum Mariae for to distil with four bodies at once In the middle of this Bath there should be a pipe raised the top of which must be made like a Funnel into which you are to pour hot water in place of that which consumes away in vapour See its figure in the third Table As for Vessels chuse them as much as may be of Earth or Glass for it is to be feared that those which are made of Metal will communicate some particular impression to the Liquors you put into them but because sometimes you may have occasion to distil a great many things in a little time you may use the Copper-Cucurbit or Body Tinn'd because that Tinn is not so soluble as Copper and besides hath no such pernicious quality upon this Cucurbit place a fit head round about which must be made a kind of bason to hold the water that cools and condenses the vapours which rise from the Matter contained in the Vesica so soon as it is heated See its description in the second Table You may likewise provide a Copper pipe tinn'd o' th' inside which may pass sloping downwards through a vessel fill'd with water and when you would distil Essences with it you must fit the upper end of it to the nose of the head and the lower end of it to the mouth of the Receiver but you must remember to empty the water out of the vessel according as it grows hot for to cool the liquor that is distilling and to this end there must be a hole made at the bottom of the vessel to be stopt with a wooden stopple which may be taken out and put in again as often as you would let out the water The Moor's head is a Copper cap tinn'd on the inside made like to a head See the figure of it in the first Table Many Retorts of different sizes are necessary in a Laboratory those which are of Earth are convenient for the distillation of Acid Spirits because they are able to endure the utmost degree of Fire and will not melt as glass do The Vessels made of Earth have their pores as close as glass it self and preserve the Spirits as well They who want Earthen Vessels may coat their glass Retorts with the Lute that I shall describe hereafter that if the glass should melt when they are distilling Acid Spirits the Lute may preserve the matter safe Earthen and Glass Cucurbits with their heads do serve for a great many Operations Matrasses both great and small when they are fitted to the nose of a Limbeck are called Receivers at other times we put things into them to digest and they are also fit for sublimations When the
evaporating some part of them over the fire or else by mixing liquors together that are of a different nature Cohobate signifies to repeat the Distillation of the same liquor having poured it again upon the matter that remains in the Vessel This Operation is used to open Bodies or to Volatilize the Spirits Congele is to let some matter that is melted fix or grow into a consistence as when we let a metal cool after it has been melted in a Crucible or else it is when wax fat butter or the like are taken from the fire and set to cool Detonation is a noise that is made when the Volatile parts of any mixture do rush forth with impetuosity it is also called Fulmination Digestion is when some body is put to steep or infuse in a convenient menstruum over a very gentle heat Dissolve is to turn some hard matter out of a hard into a liquid form by means of a certain liquor To Distil per ascensum is when fire is put under the Vessel that contains the matter which is to be heated To Distil per descensum is when fire is placed over the matter that is to be heated for then the moist parts being rarified and the vapour which rises from them not being able to arise away upwards as it would do if not hindred it precipitates and distils at the bottom of the vessel Edulcorate is to sweeten some matter that is impregnated with Salts by means of common water Extract is to separate the purer part from the grosser Fermentation is an ebullition raised by the Spirits that endeavour to get out of a Body for meeting with gross earthy parts that oppose their passage they swell and rarifie the liquour until they find their way out Now in this separation of parts the Spirits do divide subtilize and separate the principles so as to make the matter be of another nature than it was before Filtrate is to purifie a Liquor by passing it through a Coffin of brown paper Fumigate is to make one Body receive the Fume of another Granulate is to pour a melted Metal drop by drop into cold water that it may congeal into grains Levigate is to reduce a hard Body into an impalpable powder upon a marble Mortifie is to change the outward form of a Mixt as is done in Mercury Also Spirits are said to be Mortified when they are mixed with others that hinder or destroy their strength Precipitate is to separate a matter that is dissolved so as to make it fall or settle at the bottom Rectifie is to Distil Spirits for the separation of what Heterogeneous parts might have been drawn along with them Reverberate is to cause the flame of the Wood or coals that 's lighted in the Furnace to beat back upon the Vessel by means of a Dome placed over it Revive is to restore a Mixt to its former condition that lies disguised by Salts or Sulphurs Thus Cinnabar and the other preparations of Mercury are Revived into Quick-silver Stratifie is to lay different matters bed upon bed This operation is performed when we would Calcine a Mineral or Metal with a Salt or some other matter Sublime is to raise by Fire any Volatile matter to the top of the Cucurbit or into its Head THE FIRST PART Of Minerals WHatsoever is found Petrified in the Earth or upon the Earth is called Mineral Petrification is made by a Coagulation of acid or salt waters that are found in the pores of the Earth This Petrification differs according to the divers dispositions or different nature of the Earth and according to the time that Nature uses in its perfection The growth of Minerals proceeds from an accumulation or from several veins of congeled Waters that do as it were glue together and these veins are the cause that all the adjacent parts have their Sinus and meetings a travers one another and not running directly downwards These Sinus like so many joints are of great help to Labourers to cut in the Quarries for by those cavities the stones are in great measure separated before hand whereas 't would be extream hard working them out if nature had not so concurred The growth of Minerals is very different from that of Vegetables and Animals for whereas the former does happen through an agglutination of congeled waters as I have said the latter is performed by means of juices that insinuate and spread in the vessels and fibres that Animals and Plants do consist of Metals do differ from other Minerals in being malleable which the others are not They are counted seven Gold Silver Iron Tinn Copper Lead and Quicksilver this last is not malleable of it self but is so mingled with the others and because this is thought to be the Seed of Metals it is numbred with the rest Astrologers have conceited that there was so great an affinity and correspondence between the Seven Metals before named and the seven Planets that nothing hapned to the one but the others shared in it they made this correspondence to happen through an infinite number of little bodies that pass to and from each of them and they suppose these corpuscles to be so figured that they can easily pass through the pores of the Planet and Metal they represent but cannot enter into other bodies because their pores are not figured properly to receive them or else if they do chance to get admittance into other bodies they can't fix and stay there to contribute any nourishment for they do imagine that the Metal is nourished and perfected by the Influence that comes from its Planet and so the Planet again the same from the Metal For these reasons they have given these seven Metals the name of the seven Planets each accordingly as they are governed and so have called Gold the Sun Silver the Moon Iron Mars Quicksilver Mercury Tinn Jupiter Copper Venus and Lead Saturn They have likewise fancied that each of these Planets has his day apart to distribute liberally his Influence on our Hemisphere and so they tell us that if we work upon Silver on Munday Iron on Tuesday and so of the rest we shall attain our end much better than on other days Again they have taught us that the seven Planets do every one govern some particular principal part of our bodies and because the Metals do represent the Planets they must needs be mighty specifick in curing the distempers of those parts and keeping them in good plight Thus they have assigned the Heart to Gold the Head to Silver the Liver to Iron the Lungs to Tinn the Reins to Copper and the Spleen to Lead Thus you see in short what some of the most sober Astrologers do fancy concerning Metals and they draw consequences from hence which 't would be too long here to relate I have told you what the soberest among them say for nothing can be so absurd as what some of them would have us believe 'T is no hard matter to disprove these
and its reduction into an impalpable Powder To Amalgamate Gold is to mix it with Quicksilver Take a Drachm of the Regule of Gold beat it into very thin little Plates which you must heat in a Crucible red hot in a large Fire then pour upon it an ounce of Quicksilver revived from Cinnaber as I shall shew hereafter stir the matter with a little Iron-rod and when you find it begin to raise a fume which quickly happens cast your mixture into an Earthen Pan fill'd with Water it will coagulate and become tractable wash it several times to take away its blackness thus you have an Amalgame from which you must separate the Mercury that you find not united by pressing it a little between your fingers in a linnen cloth The Gold retains about thrice its weight in Mercury Now to reduce this Gold into Powder you must put this Amalgame into a Crucible over a gentle fire the Mercury will evaporate into the Air and leave the Gold at bottom in an impalpable Powder Remarks Mercury doth easily penetrate Gold and insinuating into its Pores makes a soft matter that is called Amalgame it doth the same with other Metals too except Iron and Copper which are too ill digested to receive its impression The Amalgamation of Gold is useful to Gilders for so it is easily extended upon their works Aurum Fulminans called Saffron of Gold This Operation is a Gold impregnated with some Spirits which cause it to give a loud crack when it is set over the Fire Take what quantity you please of Gold beaten into thin plates put it into a Viol or Matrass and pour upon it by little and little three or four times as much Aqua Regalis compounded after the manner I shall shew in its proper place Set the Matrass upon Sand a little heated until the Aqua Regalis has dissolved as much of the Gold as it is able to contain which you will know by the ceasing of the ebullitions pour your solution into a Glass-vessel of five or six times as much common Water Afterwards drop into this mixture by degrees the Volatile Spirit of Salt Armoniack or the Oyl of Tartar made by Deliquium or Solution you 'l find the Gold precipitate to the bottom of the Glass Let it alone a good while to settle that all the Gold may fall down then pouring off the Water by Inclination wash your powder with warm Water till it grows insipid and so dry it in Paper at a gentle fire because it is apt to fire and the Powder would fly away with a terrible noise If you use one drachm of Gold you will obtain four scruples of Aurum Fulminans well dried Aurum Fulminans causes sweat and drives out ill humors by Transpiration It may be given in the Small Pox from two to six grains in a Lozenge or Electuary It stops Vomiting and is also good to moderate the activity of Mercury Remarks The Plates of Gold are made use of in this Operation that its dissolution may be more easily performed You must pour the Aqua Regalis by little and little to avoid the great effervescency that might be able to drive it out of the Matrass The effervescency proceeds from the violent division of the particles of Gold by the Aqua Regalis for when it finds no more bodies to act upon having divided the Gold into as many parts as 't is possible the ebullition ceases and though the Gold doth all remain in the Aqua Regalis it becomes so imperceptible to us as it seems the Water hath not changed from what it was before it appears so very clear and transparent Indeed the solution has received a Golden colour and becomes yellow The dissolution of Gold is a suspension of this metal in Phlegm made by the edges of Aqua Regalis For it is not enough that the Aqua Regalis does divide the Gold into subtle parts but it is further requisite that its edges do hold up the Gold as if it were like so many Finns otherwise it would always fall to the bottom in a powder though it were never so subtle Now 't is objected that the particles of Gold should fall to the bottom of the liquor because they being joined to the points of the Aqua Regalis they are become more heavy than they were before for the union or adhaesion of two bodies does cause a greater weight than when the two bodies were separated one from the other I answer that we ought to conceive the particles of Gold being suspended or held up in the Phlegm by the acid points much after the manner as we do conceive very well that a small piece of metal fixed to a staff or a plank will swim with the wood in the water for although the small piece of metal sinks to the bottom when it is alone yet it swims when it is affixed to the wood the acid edges are bodies exceeding light in comparison with the particles of Gold and they have likewise their superficies more extended and consequently do take up more room in the phlegm this is that which holds them up and causes them to swim The Oyl of Tartar or the Spirit of Salt Armoniack is used for the Precipitation of Gold because both those Liquors do contain an Alkali Salt which being mixed with Acids must cause a Fermentation Now in this Fermentation the parts of Aqua Regalis that held up the particles of Gold do grow weak and having no more force to retain them longer they must needs precipitate by their own weight Perhaps some may find a difficulty in comprehending how the Volatile Spirit of Salt Armoniack should come to weaken the Aqua Regalis that is it self compounded of Salt Armoniack but there will be no difficulty at all when they shall consider that the force of the Aqua Regalis doth not so much depend on the volatile part of the Salt Armoniack as on the Sea-salt that is in good store in it united with the Aqua Fortis for Sea-salt or Sal Gemma may be substituted very well in the place of Salt Armoniack for making Aqua Regalis as I shall observe hereafter speaking of the composition of this Water It may be also enquired here why the Dissolvents do quit the bodies they held before in Dissolution to betake themselves to some other for example why the Aqua Regalis leaves the Gold it was impregnated with to give way to the Alkali Salt This question is one of the most difficult to resolve well of any in Natural Philosophy Nevertheless I 'le give you my opinion of what can be said most sensibly on this Subject I do suppose that when the Aqua Regalis hath acted upon the Gold so as to dissolve it the points or edges that enabled it to do so are fixed in the particles of Gold But seeing that these little bodies are very hard and consequently hard to penetrate these points do enter but very superficially yet far
enough to suspend the particles of Gold and hinder them from precipitating Wherefore if you would add never so much Gold more when these points have seized upon as much as they are able to joyn with they cannot possibly dissolve one grain more and it is this suspension that renders the particles of Gold imperceptible But now if you add some body that by its motion and figure is able to engage the acids enough to break them the particles of Gold being left at liberty will precipitate by their own weight And this is what I conceive the Oyl of Tartar and Volatile Alkali Spirits are able to do They are impregnated with very Active Salts which finding bodies at rest do presently move them and by the quickness of their motion do shake them so violently as to break the points by which they were suspended these fragments of little points being thus disengaged from the Gold are still keen enough to act and they have action enough remaining to pierce and divide violently the parts of Alkali Salts which are much more soluble in their nature than Gold and this occasions the Ebullition which presently happens when these Spirits are poured upon the Dissolution These edges then being thus broken two things must follow thereupon The first is that the remaining Aqua Regalis is rendred uncapable of dissolving any more Gold because it hath no more power left of making a penetration The second is that the precipitated Powder of Gold is impregnated with some part of the Dissolvent by reason that the sharpest part of these edges remains within it Experience teaches us both the one and the other to wit the force of the Aqua Regalis is quite destroyed for dissolving any more Gold and the precipitated Powder hath drawn along with it some Spirits that are so closely lockt up that though it be several times washt in warm Water they cannot possibly be disengaged from their hold And this is evident when it is put upon the Fire for the great Detonation or noise that it makes cannot proceed from any thing else but the inclosed Spirits which violently divide the most compact body of Gold to get out quickly when they are forced to it by the action of Fire I can here explicate by the by after the same manner the action of a certain Powder consisting of three parts of Niter two parts of Salt of Tartar and one part of Sulphur This Powder being heated in a Spoon to the weight of a Drachm gives as Thundering a noise as a Cannon it self Now the fixt Salt of Tartar causes in this Powder what the Gold did in the other that is to say it retains the Spirits of Niter and Sulphur so lockt up that they cannot be separated without violently breaking their Prison and this is that which makes such a noise Aurum Fulminans taken inwardly causes sweat because the heat of the Body volatilises it and drives it through the Pores Now if the Pores are very open it will only cause an insensible transpiration but if they are closed up by the coldness of the weather so that it must remain some time before it passes the vaporous humidity which bears it company dissolves upon the skin into what we call sweat Some think the Gold contributes nothing at all to these transpirations and that the spirit of Niter alone being forced by the heat of the body to pass through its Pores causes all the action But I conceive it is more likely that these spirits do carry along with them some parts of the Gold with which they are so intimately mixed And by this explication may be better comprehended how so small a quantity of spirits is able to produce sweat for suppose there passes through the Pores one grain of Gold and two grains of spirits these spirits being as I may so say armed with the grosser parts of Gold will be better able to conquer the resistance that shall oppose their passage than if they were separate after the same manner as a good piece of Timber that is driven along by the stream of a River will strike with much more violence against the Arch of a Bridge and endanger it much more than a single Wave would be able to do though never so swift There are two sorts of insensible Transpirations one hapening at all times as well in health as sickness and the other in a Burning Feaver or else sometimes upon the taking a Sudorifick The first Transpiration is insensible because the vapour which passes continually through the pores is yet in so small a quantity that though it does dissolve in a moisture upon the skin it is not perceived at all The other is caused by a great motion of the Spirits which drive the humours through the pores of the body after a rapid manner and whereas at that time the pores become very open and the skin is heated more than ordinarily the vapour passes away through the skin without condensing upon it But if once the rapid motion of humours begins to slacken then the sweat appears and begins to be felt and this does happen in Agues for during the great heat of the Ague men do not sweat at all but only in the declination of the fit because then the skin somewhat cools the vapour condenses into a moisture which we call sweat wherefore sweat may be said to issue from a middle degree of heat between the first insensible Transpiration and the second Most men think that there goes out more moisture in the time of the sweat than by the insensible Transpiration which is made during the height of the hot fit but they seem to be mistaken very likely for it may easily be conceived that there should be a greater disposition in the vigour of the fit than afterwards in the declination by reason that at that time the heat is greater and so more able to impel forth effluviums Distillation in a Retort will confirm what is here maintained For if you make only a moderate fire under the Retort the moisture which rises out of the matter will distil drop by drop because the vapours cooling and condensing in the neck of the Retort do resolve into a liquor but if you make a great fire in the Furnace so that the neck of the Retort comes to be heated too much all the moisture is driven in a meer vapour and there appears not the least humidity in the neck of the Retort I have already said that Gold doth repress the violence of Mercury because it doth Amalgamate with it but Aurum Fulminans doth it much better for being Volatile it is more easily carried through all the body and fails not to find out the Mercury wheresoever it lies We need not fear lest Aurum Fulminans taken inwardly and heated by the stomach should cause such a Detonation there as it does when set over the fire in a spoon for so much the more moisture as comes to it so much
Fusion of Metals The flame is made to Reverberate on the Silver to drive all Heterogeneous substances towards the sides That which is called a Caratt in Gold is a Denier or penny weight in Silver and thus an ounce of Silver well purified is of four and twenty penny weight which make 24 times 24 grains Now this ounce of Silver must lose nothing at all upon trial but if it should lose one penny weight in the Coppel the Silver then is said to be that of 23 penny weight and if it loses two scruples or penny weight it is but of 22 Deniers and so of the rest There is no Silver to be had of 24 deniers no more than Gold of 24 Caratts because there is always some mixture with it use what diligence and application you please in its purification Plate-silver contains one part of Copper to 24 parts of Silver and the Coppel-silver contains but a quarter of a part of Copper to four and twenty parts of Silver The Depart or parting of Metals is when a Dissolvent quits the Metal it had dissolved to betake it self unto another Thus when Copper is put into the Dissolution of Silver the Aqua fortis leaves the Silver to fall upon Dissolving the Copper and the reason of this is because the Copper-particles do so stir and shake the edges of the Dissolvent as to make them let go their hold Iron precipitates Copper Lapis Calaminaris precipitates Iron and the Liquor of fixt Niter doth so to the Lapis Calaminaris for the same reason but you must observe that Iron does not precipitate all the Copper nor the Calaminaris all the Iron no more than the Copper did precipitate all the Silver and the reason of this is that the points of the Aqua fortis having entred more deeply into the great pores of Copper and Iron are much the harder to be broken by bodies of this nature but because the liquor of fixt Niter does contain an Alkali much more active than the others it precipitates all the Lapis Calaminaris and all the Iron and Copper which did remain dissolved I shall in the sequel of this Book describe the manner of preparing the Liquor of fixt Niter the Salt that it contains reunites with the Volatile Spirits of Salt-peter that were in the Aqua fortis insomuch that the Salt-peter revives again Crystals of Silver called Vitriol of the Moon This Operation is a Silver opened and reduced into the form of Salt by the acid points of Spirit of Niter Dissolve one or two ounces of Coppel-silver in three times as much Spirit of Niter pour forth your dissolution into a Glass-Cucurbite set in a gentle Sand-fire evaporate about the fourth part of the moisture and so let the rest cool without stirring it it will turn into Crystals which you must separate from the Liquor and after you have dried them keep them in a Viol well stopt You may again fall to Evaporating half the remaining Liquor and set it a Crystallizing as before You may repeat these Evaporations and Crystallizations till all your Silver has turned into Crystals This Vitriol of the Moon is used to make an Eschar by touching the part with it It is also given inwardly for Dropsies and for Diseases of the Head from two unto six Grains in some Specifick Water it purges gently These Crystals might be prepared with Oyl of Vitriol instead of Spirit of Niter for inward use Remarks You must put your Silver purified by the Coppel into a Viol or Matrass large enough and pour upon it only as much Spirit of Niter as will serve to Dissolve it now that comes to about three times its weight Indeed you may use Aqua fortis instead of Spirit of Niter if you please in this Operation but I rather chuse Spirit of Niter because it is found to act with more celerity than Aqua fortis You may read in their proper places the description I have given you of them both and the Remarks I have made upon them Place your Vessel in Ashes or Sand a little warm for to hasten the Dissolution When the acid Spirits begin to work upon the Silver an Ebullition presently rises accompanied with a very considerable heat because these sharp edges do break those obstacles that hindred their entrance and violently force their passage It is this great motion and impetuous dispersion of parts that produces the heat and ebullition and by rarefaction of the Spirit of Niter sends forth through the neck of the Vessel a Red fume or vapour that you must be very careful to avoid as a thing very unwholsom and prejudicial to the Breast The Smoke and Ebullition do remain until the Silver is all of it dissolved after which the Liquor becomes clear and transparent but a little bluish If the Silver which is dissolved were perfectly purified from Copper the solution would no more be tinged than Spirit of Niter but because there is none to be found so perfectly pure it always tinges a little The solution of Plate-silver is much bluer than that of Silver purified by the Coppel because the Plate-silver contains more Copper than the other as I said before So that the purer the Silver is the less blue is the solution A little of it is evaporated that the rest may Crystallize the easier for that which evaporates is little better than a kind of insipid water the Silver still retaining the Acid fixt Spirits Now you must observe in all Crystallizations not to leave too much moisture for fear of weakning too much the Salts and so hindring their Coagulation Nor must you leave too little moisture for the Crystals not finding room enough to extend themselves in would confusedly fall one upon another These Crystals can be dissolved in Water like Salt their strength depends on the Spirits of Niter that are incorporated with them wherefore they weigh more than the Silver did that was employed and it is these Spirits which pierce and gnaw the flesh on which these Crystals are applied when an Eschar is to be made It is likewise they which cause that Fermentation of humours by which they purge when these Crystals are given inwardly The Liquor in which they are dissolved to be taken and the moisture of the Stomach do serve to correct their acrimony If you have a mind to revive these Crystals into Silver again you must only put them into hot Water and lay therein a plate of Copper They will then dissolve and the Silver precipitate to the bottom in a White powder that is to be washed and dried afterwards melting it in a Crucible with a little Salt-peter it will return into Ingots of the same weight as before Infernal Stone or perpetual Caustick The Infernal stone is a Silver rendred Caustick by the Salts of Spirit of Niter Dissolve in a Viol what quantity of Silver you please with three times as much Spirit of Niter set your Viol in a Sand fire and evaporate about two thirds
Liquor till you have recovered all that is in it Mix all your Crystals dry them and weigh them and if you have half an ounce of them powder them and mix them with six drachms of the matter I described for reviving the Calx of Silver remaining in the Matrass put this mixture into a Crucible and covering it with a tile light a strong fire about it to put the matter into fusion then taking it off the fire and letting it cool break the Crucible you 'l find the Silver at the bottom which will be fit for the same Operation again when you please Note that all the Liquor which was drawn by Distillation is as clear as common water wherefore I conclude that the Colour did consist in the dissolution of Silver it self and not of its sulphurs as some have thought You must cut the Silver into little pieces or plates that it may dissolve the more easily The Salt-water must be made of an ounce and a half of Salt dissolved in a quart of water this salt precipitates the Silver because it engages the points of the dissolvent and shaking them violently about makes them let go the hold they had with other bodies I shall speak more at large concerning these kinds of Precipitations in the Remarks which I shall make upon White Precipitate and shall then explicate the reason why Sea-salt which is an acid does precipitate that which another acid had dissolved I shall likewise answer the objections which have been raised on this subject Silver may be also precipitated by means of a Copper-plate as I have said already It is very indifferent which way you please to Precipitate it for it is done for no other end but to reduce the Silver into a very fine powder for an easier dissolution The Precipitate of Silver made with salt or Copper waxes brown in the drying and though dried in the shade which doubtless is by reason of some small proportion of Copper that it contains If you have dissolved an ounce of Coppel-silver and precipitate it with Salt or Copper you 'l draw an ounce and three drachms of Precipitate well washt and dried this augmentation does proceed from a remainder of the points which were broken in pieces and yet do still remain in the pores of the metal for these pores being very small they do but hardly let go what they have received into them There is no need of distilling a part of the Liquor that the Tincture may be the stronger as some have presumed to write for on the contrary it causes a Crystallization which diminishes both its colour and strength for the reason I have given before The effect of this Tincture for Diseases must rather be attributed to the Salt of Urine and spirit of Wine than to the Silver for they are not only able to fly into the Head and open obstructions there but assisted with the Natural heat do open the pores of all the body and drive out ill humours by transpiration The portion of Silver which remains at the bottom of the Matrass being impregnated with volatile parts would fly into the Air if it were melted alone without the addition of something else wherefore the abovementioned matter is added to it that being of a very fixt nature may weigh it down and hinder it from flying away Diana's Tree Take an ounce of Silver and dissolve it in three ounces of spirit of Niter pour your dissolution into a Matrass wherein you shall have put eighteen or twenty ounces of water and two ounces of Quick-silver Your Matrass must be fill'd up to the neck let it lye still upon a little round of straw in some convenient place for forty days together during which time you 'l find a Tree spread forth its branches and little balls at the end which represent their fruit This Operation is of no use at all in Physick I have here described it only to please the Curious Remarks These branches do proceed from the spirit of Niter which being incorporated with the Silver and Mercury do form divers Figures according to the room and moisture it hath to expatiate it self in For if you should put to it but ten or twelve ounces of water nothing but a kind of Crystals in great confusion would be able to appear On the contrary if you should use too much water nothing would then be seen besides a little precipitated powder You must let the mixture lye still for forty days together because the spirit of Niter being very much weakned by common water is able to work but very slowly If the matter should happen to be removed the figure would quickly fall into confusion but would recover it self again if you let it lye still long enough This Preparation is best performed in a cool place being properly a Crystallization This Operation may be fitly compared with the manner of Generation and Nourishment of Plants in the Earth for if the seed abounds with too much moisture the spirits which serve to ferment and dilate its parts will be rendred so weak as not to be able to act and so nothing can be produced if on the contrary there should prove too little moisture the spirits not finding room enough to expatiate in would either continue imprisoned or evaporate into Air and so be ineffectual But when there happens to be a fit proportion of water in the Earth then the spirits gently moving about do insensibly expatiate themselves and do rarifie and sublime along with them the substance of the seed from whence Vegetation doth proceed But to return unto our Operation If you should desire to separate the Silver from the Mercury shake the whole together and having poured it out into an earthen Vessel make it boil for half a quarter of an hour then let it cool a little till it becomes little more than luke-warm pour upon it a quart of water by little and little in which you have dissolved two ounces of Sea-salt and a white Precipitate will fall down pour off the water by Inclination and dry the Powder Then put it in a Retort placed in a Sand-furnace and having fitted to it a Receiver fill'd with water give a small fire at first then encrease it by degrees till the Retort grows red-hot and your Quick-silver will distil drop by drop into the water continue the fire till nothing more will distil let the Vessels cool pour the water out of the Receiver and having washt the Mercury dry it with linnen or the crum of bread and keep it for use You 'l find your Silver in the Retort which you may reduce into an Ingot by melting it in a Crucible with a little Salt-peter in a great Circular fire CHAP. III. Of Tinn TInn is a Metal that comes near unto Silver in colour but differs very much in the figure of its Pores and in the solidity and weight The name of the Planet Jupiter is given unto it and it is thought to receive its
upon it five or six pints of Fountain-water in which you shall have dissolved before-hand an Ounce of Sea-salt you 'l see a White powder Precipitate to the bottom Pour off the Water by Inclination and wash this Magistery several times then dry it in the shade It is an excellent Cosmetick called Spanish White that serves to whiten the complexion It is either mixed in Pomatum or Lilie-water Remarks You must use a large Bolt-head to dissolve the Bismuth in because the great Ebullition that happens as soon as Spirit of Niter is cast upon it requires room to move in You must likewise have a care as much as you can of receiving the Vapours at your Nose or Mouth for they are very offensive to the breast This quick and violent Ebullition proceeds from the acids immediate penetration of the large pores of Bismuth so soon as thrown upon it and the acid violently divides all that opposes its motion It happens also that the Bolt-head grows so hot that a man can't endure his hand upon it because the points of the Menstruum do chafe against the solid body of Bismuth with such force that you may observe from thence much the same heat as when two solid bodies are rub'd against one another Add to this that the great store of igneous particles contained in Spirit of Niter may much increase this heat If the Dissolution becomes turbid through some impurities in the Bismuth you must pour into it about twice as much Water and filter it for if you should go to filter it without water it would coagulate like salt in the Filter and not pass through This Coagulation proceeds from the acid spirits of Niter that are included in the particles of Bismuth which finding too little liquor to swim in and disperse do gather together into Crystals when the dissolution is cold The impurity which commonly swims upon the solution of Bismuth is a fat or bituminous matter which will not dissolve in the spirit of Niter This Magistery may be made by pouring in great quantity of Fountain water without any salt into the dissolution but it is made the quicker when you use salt and the Precipitation is the better because salt does encounter and break some of the acids that water alone was not able to weaken sufficiently Now some difficulty appears in conceiving how plain water alone comes to precipitate Bismuth Lead Antimony which the acid had dissolved and yet can do nothing at all to the precipitating Gold Silver or Mercury without the assistance of some salt or other body I do imagine that the former having large Pores the acids cannot stick so close in them but that water is able to force them out but Gold Silver and Mercury having finer pores in comparison than the other do retain the acids so very closely that the weak impulses of water alone can make no separation some more active body is requisite to do it The Augmentation which happens to Bismuth when made into a Magistery does proceed from some part of the Spirit of Niter that remains still in it notwithstanding the Precipitation and Lotion Commonly one Drachm of this Magistery or Precipitate is mixed with Four ounces of Water or in an ounce of Pomatum It softens the skin very much and is also good against the Itch because it feeds upon those acids or Salts which cherish this Disease CHAP. V. Of Lead LEad is a Metal fill'd with Sulphur or a Bituminous earth that renders it very supple and pliant It is probable that it contains some Mercury It hath Pores very like those of Tinn it is called Saturn by reason of the influence it is thought to receive from the Planet of that name Those who work upon Lead are subject to Colicks and to become Paralytick whether it be that there rises out of it a Mercury which obstructs the Nerves or else that the very substance of Lead does act upon them after the manner of Mercury Lead is extremely cold and for that reason is proper to asswage the heats of Venus being applied to the Perinaeum and it may be the heat of the skin causes it to lose some particles which insinuating through the pores do some way fix the Spirits and qualifie their motion from whence the part waxes cold it is also applied on many Tumours caused by too great an Ebullition of the Bloud Lead serves to Purifie Gold and Silver and may be said to act in the Coppel much after the same manner as the white of an Egg does in Clarifying a Syrop that 's boil'd in a Bason for as the gross and terrestrious impurities of a Syrop do stick to the white of an Egg by reason of its glutinous nature and are driven to the sides of the Bason in the stirring so do the Heterogeneous parts that were mixt with Gold and Silver stick unto the Lead and by the fire are driven to the sides of the Coppel like unto a Scum Calcination of Lead Melt Lead in an earthen Pan unglazed and stir it over the Fire with a Spatule 'till it is reduced to a powder If you increase the Fire and still Calcine the Matter for an hour or two it will be more open and fit to be penetrated by acids If you put this Powder to Calcine in a Reverberatory Fire for three or four hours it will be of a red colour and is that which is called Minium Lead is also prepared into Cerusse or White-Lead by the means of Vinegar whose vapour it is made to imbibe for it turns into a White Rust that is gather'd up and little Cakes made of it Two parts of Lead may be melted in a Pot or Crucible and one part of Sulphur added to it when the Sulphur is burnt out you 'l find the matter turned into a black powder which is called Plumbum ustum All these Preparations of Lead are of a drying nature they may be mixed with unguents and plaisters they unite with oils or fat substances in the boiling and they do give them a solid consistence and the greatest part of our plaisters do derive their hardness from it I spoke of the way of reducing Lead into Litharge when I treated of the Purification of Silver by the Coppel and it is thither I desire my Reader to return Remarks There happens an observation in the Calcination of Lead as well as several other things which very well deserves some reflection 'T is that although the Sulphureous or Volatile parts of Lead do fly away in the Calcination which loss should indeed make it weigh the less nevertheless after a long Calcining 't is found that instead of losing it increases in weight Some trying to explicate this Phaenomenon do say that as long as the violence of the flame does open and divide the parts of the Calx of Lead the acid of the Wood or other matter that burns does insinuate into tha pores of this Calx where 't is stopt or fixt by the Alkali but
than when it is filled with water nevertheless it is plain that when an empty vessel is set over the fire the bottom does heat and grow red-hot especially if left so a good while I answer to this that when the kettle which was set in a great fire is full of liquor the fiery parts having passed through the bottom in a strait line as I said are in a manner absorbed by the liquor and have no more strength or action left to reflect again upon the bottom of the vessel and so to beat it but now when it is empty the fiery parts which pass through the bottom finding nothing to drown them and check their motion many of them do return back upon the bottom and that way heat it so much as they do And the same reason holds why an empty Tinn or Leaden vessel being set in the fire does quickly melt but when filled with liquor they will not melt make what fire under them you please for the fiery parts finding nothing that is able to hinder their activity in an empty vessel do pass to and fro through its pores often enough to melt it But these same fiery parts finding moisture to engage them in a full vessel they cannot return upon the bottom so as to melt it Copper does not melt so easily as many other matters because it contains more terrestrious parts than those others Brass or Yellow Copper is a mixture of Lapis Calaminaris and Copper and vessels that are made of it give less impression to liquors than the others Calcination of Copper To Calcine Copper is to purifie it from its more Volatile parts by the means of common Sulphur and fire in order to render it the more compact Stratifie plates of Copper with powder'd Sulphur in a large Crucible cover the Crucible with a Cover that hath a hole in the middle to give the Vapours vent Place your Crucible in a Wind-furnace and light a very strong fire about it until there rise no more vapours then draw off your Plates as they are hot and separate them this is the Aes ustum that is used in outward remedies to deterge Remarks In the making of this stratification we begin with a bed of Sulphur and lay over it a bed of Copper-plates then another bed of Sulphur and another of Plates We continue to do so till the Crucible is quite full but you must be sure to let the first and last bed be of Sulphur This Calcination is thus performed that the common Sulphur by its burning may cleanse the Copper of its superficial Sulphur but it will be much better purified by the following Operation Purification of Copper This second Purification of Copper is to render it fair to the eye and of a high colour Take what quantity you please of Calcined Copper heat it red-hot in a Crucible placed among burning coals and cast it red-hot into a Pot wherein you shall have put enough Oil of Linseed to swim above it four fingers cover the Pot presently for otherwise the Oil would take fire let the Copper steep till the Oil is grown pretty cool separate it and put it to heat again in the Crucible then cast it into Oil of Linseed continue to made it red-hot and quench it in the Oil nine several times You must change your Oil every third time and you 'l have a Copper well purified and of its former colour If you Calcine it once again to consume the Oil and powder it you 'l have a Crocus of Copper that is detersive and good to eat the proud flesh of Wounds and Ulcers Vitriol of Copper or Venus This Operation is a Copper opened and transformed into a Vitriol by Spirit of Niter Dissolve two ounces of Copper cut into little pieces in five or six ounces of Spirit of Niter pour the dissolution into a Glass-Cucurbite and evaporate in Sand about the fourth part of the Liquor put that which remains into a Cellar or some other cool place and let it lye there five or six Hours you 'l find Blue Crystals separate them and continue to evaporate and crystallize till you have drawn them all dry these Crystals and keep them in a Viol well stopt They are Caustick and are used to consume superfluous or proud flesh If you leave these Crystals in a Pan uncover'd they will turn into liquor that may serve for the same use Remarks You must put the Copper into a large body placed within the Chimney and pour to it by little and little the Spirit of Niter there does presently rise a great effervescency and a red cloud from it which would be very mischievous to the breast if it were not avoided Then the vessel grows so hot that a man cannot keep his hand upon it and the heat continues until the solution be finished for then the liquor clears up and becomes of a fair blue colour The great effervescency that happens does proceed from the sutable Pores of Copper to the edges of Spirit of Niter so that they can make their entrance and jostles with a good force for when these edges which did before swim with all liberty in a liquid do find their motion checkt in the body of the metal they do strive to disengage themselves and do thereby separate the parts of the Copper It is this violent separation which causes the ebullition and heat for the acid edges striking strongly against the solid parts of Copper do cause a great agitation in the liquor and by that means do excite a heat much after the manner as when two solid bodies are beaten against one another violently they grow so hot as even to strike fire The red cloud is derived from the Spirit of Niter which upon rarefaction does always acquire that same colour When the Copper is but half dissolved it is green but when it is all dissolved it assumes a blue colour if you will separate the acids again from the Copper dissolved and reunite the parts by the help of fire it recovers its red colour After that the acids have divided the parts of Copper as much as they are able they stick fast to them and suspend them in the liquor Some part of the liquor is evaporated that the rest may crystallize the more easily That which flies away in time of the solution is the more phlegmatick part Vitriol of Copper is nothing but the acids of Spirit of Niter incorporated in the Copper and it is these Spirits that cause all the Corrosion for they are like so many little knives fastned to the Body of the Copper which do tear and gnaw the flesh on which they are applied This Vitriol dissolves into Liquor because the Copper having large Pores the moisture doth easily insinuate into them Other Crystals of Venus These Crystals of Venus are the acid part of the Vinegar incorporated into Copper Take what quantity you please of Verdegrease in powder put it into a large Matrass and pour upon it distilled
repeat these evaporations and Crystallizations until you have got all your Crystals then dry them and keep them in a Glass bottle well stopt This Vitriol of Mars hath the same virtues as the former and must be given in the same Dose Remarks The Spirit of Vitriol is weakned by the Water to the end that it may be incapable of dissolving but only the purer part of Mars Moreover if it were used alone it would incorporate with the very substance of Mars but would not be able to dissolve any of it because there would be wanting sufficient moisture to separate its parts During the dissolution the liquor heats and boils considerably because the acidity of Spirit of Vitriol doth violently enter the body of this metal and makes a separation of its parts To Evaporate unto a Pellicle doth signifie to consume the Liquor until a kind of thin skin is perceived to swim upon it which always happens when some part of the moisture being evaporated there remains but little more than is necessary to hold the Salt in Fusion An Acid Spirit may be drawn from this Vitriol of Mars by distilling it in a Retort in a Reverberatory fire like common Vitriol this Spirit hath been thought to have the same virtues as ordinary Spirit of Vitriol but it can't be near so good because it hath much blunted or broken some part of its edges against the body of Mars in the dissolution and distillation That which remains in the Retort after distillation is that part of Mars which the Spirit of Vitriol had dissolved It may be used like an aperitive Crocus Martis Those who do attribute the aperitive effect of Mars only to its sweetning as an Alkali the acid juices which do too plentifully abound in mens bodies will find it hard to explicate how these two last preparations do come to be esteemed the best aperitives which are made upon Mars for the acid does so far predominate in their composition that the Alkali is able to do little or nothing Tincture of Mars with Tartar This Preparation is a dissolution of Iron performed by the acid of Tartar Take Twelve ounces of the Rust of Iron and Two pounds of White Tartar of Montpelier powder and mix them together then boil them in a great Iron pot or Cauldron with Twelve or Fifteen pints of Rain-water for Twelve hours time stir the matter with an Iron Slice from time to time and take care to put more boiling water into the Cauldron according as it consumes afterwards leave it a while to settle and you 'l have a black Liquor Filtrate and evaporate it in an Earthen Pan over a Sand-fire to the consistence of a Syrup or till there rises a Pellicle upon it It is a very great Aperitive it opens the most inveterate Obstructions and is given in Cachexies Dropsies Obstruction of the Terms and other Diseases that proceed from Oppilations the Dose is from a Drachm to half an ounce in Broth or some appropriate Liquor Remarks Water alone would not be able enough to penetrate the Iron for to make a Tincture though you should boil it a Month together But when it is impregnated with Tartar it dissolves it very easily Nevertheless you must not think that this Tincture is a perfect solution of Mars for if there were an intire solution of it there would appear no more Tincture than there does in the solution of it with Spirit of Vitriol and water but because the soluble part of Tartar which is the agent in this Operation is only an impure acid Salt it can but grosly rarify the Mars and after mixing with it keep it suspended in the water After the Tincture is drawn there remains a whitish matter that you must fling away as good for nothing it is a mixture of the grosser parts of Tartar and Mars This Tincture is called Syrup of Mars by reason of a certain sweetness that is perceived in its Taste It is reduced into the consistence of a Syrup to keep the better As for its virtues it is a very great Aperitive because the force of Mars is assisted by the Tartar that serves to be its Vehicle Opening Extract of Mars This Preparation is a solution of the more open parts of Iron by aperitive juices and reduced into a solid consistence by fire Take Eight ounces of the Rust of Iron prepared in the Morning Dew put it in an Iron pot and pour upon it three pounds of the Water of Honey and four pounds of Must or the juice of White grapes perfectly ripe Add to it four ounces of juice of Lemons cover it with an Iron Cover and set it in a Furnace over a little fire leave the Matter in Digestion three days then boil the Matter gently three or four hours uncovering the Pot ever now and then to stir up the bottom with an Iron slice then cover it again that the moisture may not evaporate too fast When you perceive the Liquor to be black you must take away the fire and leave it a while to settle pass warm through a cloth that which is clear and evaporate the liquor in a Sand fire in an Earthen pan or Glass vessel to the consistence of an Extract 'T is a very good aperitive it hath the same virtues as the Tincture for Obstructions of the Liver Spleen and Mesentery it delivers the Lymphatick vessels admirably well of what may hinder the current of Serum The Dose is from Ten grains to two Scruples in Pills or else dissolved in some proper Liquor That which remains in the bottom of the Iron pot is the more Earthy part of Mars that is good for nothing Remarks This Extract doth not receive its consistence only from the Iron but from the Tartareous juices of the Grapes and Lemons with which it is mixed its virtue is augmented by the Essential Salts and the Spirit of Honey that leaves in it a very good impression The mixture is left in digestion for the better Dissolution of the Mars but seeing the Menstruum is not very sharp or corrosive it dissolves only the more Saline and soluble parts This Description is not common but may be preferred before many others Every body grants that Mars is as excellent a Remedy as any in all Physick for opening Obstructions and restoring a good complexion to those that want it by reason of Obstructions but you must not be contented with giving it once or twice but for a fortnight together some intervals may be observed that nature may not be troubled too much In hot climes such as Languedoc and Provence where are more Oppilations than in other Countries they make no difficulty to take it sometimes every day for a month together after a due Preparation and it is the best Remedy that hath been known for that Distemper Binding Extract of Mars This Preparation is a solution of Iron made with an astringent Wine and reduced into a thick consistence by fire Take Eight ounces of the
making the subtiler part of it perspire away or that by being Alkali's they do absorb some part of it For this reason some do use to give their Patients the Volatile Salt of Vipers several mornings together but these Alkali's are in truth of too weak a nature to carry off such an Acidity after they are impregnated with it as Mercury is able to do without losing its nature They are Nets of too fine a make to catch such keen and active bodies if these Salts do destroy some part of the Acidity they destroy themselves likewise in the conflict so that they can have no further operation wherefore there 's need of a more powerful Volatile Alkali than these Salts are to eradicate the Acidity of the Venereal poison As for Fixt Salts and Alkali bodies as Pearl Coral Crabs-eyes whereas they have no Volatile quality in them and their tendency is wholly downwards it is very uncertain whether ever they reach to Venereal tumours which commonly rise in the Joints by reason of the long way they have to pass thither and the Juices they have to encounter with in their passage which may in all likelihood change their nature but suppose they were carried to those Tumors with the same qualifications with which they were taken they would only serve to weaken a little this Acidity without being able to carry it off and so they would only give a little ease without removing Radically the Ferment of the Distemper as Mercury is able to do It may be further asked why Sublimate does not fill the substance of the Brain with Vlcers as well as it does the mouth I Answer that this Sublimate being in the Brain finds it self so clog'd with a Mucilaginous moisture that it is fain to lose there some part of its Acidity so that it can do nothing else but cause a Fermentation which makes the Phlegm purge away through the Salivating vessels and this it is that causes the Spittle of those who have a Flux to be so sharp and stinking This sharp Phlegm may also as it passes in the mouth encrease the number of Vlcers for the mouth is as it were the sink of the whole body upon this occasion Sublimate Corrosive Sublimate Corrosive is a Mercury impregnated with acids and raised by fire to the top of the vessel Put a pound of Mercury revived from Cinnabar into a Matrass pour upon it Eighteen ounces of Spirit of Niter Set your Matrass in Sand a little warm and leave it there till it be all dissolved pour your dissolution which will be clear as water into a glass vessel or earthen pan and evaporate the Liquor gently in Sand until there remains a white Mass which you must powder in a glass mortar and mix with a pound of Vitriol Calcined white and so much Salt decrepitated put this mixture into a Matrass whose two thirds at least remain empty place your Matrass in Sand and begin with giving a small fire which you must continue so for three hours then encrease it with coals to a pretty good strength there will arise a Sublimate to the top of the Matrass the Operation must be ended in six or seven hours let the Matrass cool then break it avoiding a kind of Farine or light powder that flies into the air when the matter is stirred you 'l have a pound of very good Sublimate Corrosive keep it for use The red Scories that are found at the bottom must be flung away as useless This Sublimate is a powerful Escharotick it eats proud flesh and cleanses old Ulcers very well If half a drachm of it be dissolved in a pound of Lime-water it turns Yellow and makes that which is called Phagedenick Water Remarks There needs not half the Spirit of Niter for dissolving a pound of Mercury as there does for the same weight of Bismuth although the pores of this last be much the larger and the parts more disposed for separation the reason of which is that the Mercury being Volatile and very disunited in its parts it will divide almost of it self and is held up more easily by Acid Spirits than another body can be whose parts are more united and whose tendency is downwards such as Bismuth is When the dissolution of mercury is a making there appears a great ebullition in the Matrass accompanied with Red vapours also the heat is so very strong that a man cannot endure his hand upon it all this great stir proceeds from the Acids which meet with resistance in their penetration of this body for jostling one against another they heat the liquor and cause some part of the Spirit of Niter to evaporate away in red clouds as it uses always to do when it rarifies When the mercury is all dissolved the dissolution clears up and cools because the edges of the Spirits are all sheathed in the mercury whence their motion comes to be interrupted and cease and this is a thing so true that if you should by way of curiosity distil this dissolution you would draw off only a weak acid for the greatest part of the edges do remain involved with the mercury in a white mass That which proves this Remark is this that the white mass which is drawn from the Solution of sixteen ounces of Quicksilver in eighten ounces of Spirit of Niter does weigh at least two and twenty ounces that is to say six ounces more than the weight of the Quicksilver Now this augmentation cannot proceed from any thing else but the acid Spirits This mass is exceeding Corrosive by means of the same acid Spirits which become very active whereever they are met with If instead of Spirit of Niter we should use Aqua fortis to dissolve the Mercury the Solution would become clear like the other but there would be this difference between them that when we have evaporated about a fourth part of the liquor in a glass-body in Sand the remainder would be as red as Claret wine and if we should let the liquor cool there would appear in it white Crystals in form of long needles and the liquor would still retain its red colour I conceive that the Solution acquires this colour from the Sulphurs which remain in the Aqua fortis for the Sulphureous parts being in great motion may often turn and whirl about the insensible parts of Mercury round their center Now it is easie to Remark by abundance of Experiments that the red colour is a consequence of the great attenuation or disposition to circulary motion which the matter has received But the Solution which is made with Spirit of Niter does not become red because there is no Sulphur in this Spirit or else there is not enough to do it You might perform this Operation by only mixing crude Mercury with Salt and Vitriol without taking the pains to dissolve it with Spirit of Niter but you would be an intolerable while incorporating them together so as to make the Quicksilver imperceptible Moreover
there rises up a dust to the Nose that is very unwholsom that which we aim at therefore by dissolving it and reducing it into a white Mass is only to prepare it for an easier mixture In the Sublimation I have described the Mercury loads it self with as many Acid Spirits as it is able to contain these Spirits are a kind of load to it and restrain its great Volatility so that it doth not evaporate quite away as it would do if there were nothing to withhold it but it only Sublimes to the upper part of the Vessel in fair white Crystals that are called Sublimate Corrosive the Mass that remains at the bottom of the Matrass is nothing but a mixture of the Terrestrious parts of Salt and Vitriol it weighs eight and twenty ounces Some will needs blame this preparation of Sublimate Corrosive by saying that when it is used to the making Mercurius dulcis the Spirit of Niter ought to be suspected by reason of its acrimony and particularly its Saline Sulphureous parts But by performing this Operation the way that I have described there will be no need of retaining any scruple upon this account because the Sublimate can't be made without an evaporation of many red vapours through the entrance of the Matrass for three hours time at the least and these vapours can be nothing else but the Spirits of Niter for so small a fire is not able to separate and raise so high the Spirits of Salt and Vitriol Thus there is no need of fearing these Saline Sulphureous Spirits with which Spirit of Niter is thought to be well stored because they being of a Volatile nature must necessarily come before the others But supposing that Spirit of Niter did still remain in the Sublimate Corrosive of which we make our Mercurius dulcis I see no reason why we should apprehend more hurt from their acrimony than from the other Corrosive Spirits because few men scruple to give this Spirit itself inwardly in potions for the Colick and other diseases and they give divers Preparations made with this dissolvent such as white Precipitate and many Precipitates of Gold and Silver without any visible harm But that which is most remarkable is that even those who cry out upon this Preparation for being made with Spirit of Niter do nevertheless themselves recommend and use much a Mercurius dulcis which they make by Subliming white Precipitate that is prepared with Spirit of Niter The Corrosion of Sublimate does proceed from the edged Acids which do fix in the body of Mercury and it may be said with great probability that this metal always retaining a round figure let it be divided never so subtily does rarifie by the heat of fire into an abundance of little balls which the acid Spirits do fix into on all sides and so interlace themselves in it that they hinder its rising higher and do together make one body that is called Sublimate But when this Sublimate is applied to flesh the heat and moisture of it do set in motion the Mercurial parts and the motion of the little balls being once raised they rowl about with great fury and tear the flesh with the edges they contain which are like so many little knives cutting whereever they touch from whence it comes to pass that if the Sublimate should be taken inwardly it kills in a very little time the humidity which does always accompany and soften our flesh gives it a greater hold than otherwise it would have which is the reason why Sublimate does act with that celerity it does upon a soft moist part rather than a dry nay it is often wetted with a little water to make it work the more quickly By this Remark may be explicated why the Lapis infernalis which is a Silver filled with the edges of Spirit of Niter has not so violent an effect as Sublimate Corrosive because the parts of Silver have no such aptitude to rowl to and fro and to rise as those of Mercury have for which reason it is likewise that it does not make so great an Eschar as the Sublimate although it does contain at least as much Spirit of Niter as the other And thus a reason may be given why even six grains of Crystals of Silver may be given by mouth without any danger whenas not two grains of Sublimate can be given without a manifest danger because the Crystals of the Moon have not that circulary motion in their parts as Sublimate has all their tendency is only downwards and all that they can do is to purge by their Acidity When Sublimate Corrosive is dissolved in Lime-water the water presently turns yellow as is seen in the Phagedenick water and it loses so much of its Corrosive quality that it may be given inwardly after that without fear of poisoning and the reason of this is that the greatest part of the acid points strike off from the Sublimate to enter into the alkali of Lime which is a more porous body so that the Mercury losing some of its most keen acids becomes the less Corrosive It will not be amiss to acquaint you here that you 'l often meet in the Shops of Druggists with a Sublimate Corrosive made of Arsenick Now to know the truth of it you must only rub it with a little Salt of Tartar and if it turns black there is Arsenick infallibly in it on the contrary if it turns yellow it is good Those who have thought fit to Criticize upon what I have said about the effects of Mercury would methinks have spoken more to the purpose than they have done if they had objected to me one difficulty that I have made my self since the first Edition of my Book and which has seemed to me to be the greatest that can be made on this subject It is this If the Mercury that is given in order to raise a Flux does joyn with the acid salt of our humors and so does make a Sublimate Corrosive after the same manner as it does in the Matrass when it is mixt with Salt and Vitriol this Sublimate of the body cannot be well made so long as there is any watry humor in the part wherein the Mercury is mixt with the acids just as none of it can be made in a Matrass until all the Phlegm that 's in it is evaporated away Now it is not to be conceived that there should ever happen such a Desiccation of humours to the body for it would be Corroded by the Mercury so loaded with acids before it could Sublime To answer this Objection I say That although I have made a comparison between the Sublimation of Mercury that 's made in the body and that which is done in a Matrass nevertheless there is this difference between them that the first is not only made with Salts extremely volatile but is likewise assisted or carried on by the motion of the humours with all their humidity up to the head whereas this other is made
with fixt salts whose acidity is so strongly rooted in the Earthy part that it cannot be separated from it without a very considerable fire Nor must we think that the Mercury in the body is loaded with as many and as strong acids as that in the Matrass for if it were so it would carry destruction and cause a Gangrene wheresoever it came but it is enough that its Pores are in part impregnated with them sufficient to diminish a little of its volatility and cause those prickings and pains which do happen during the Salivation If you dissolve Sublimate Corrosive in Water then Filtrate and separate the filtred liquor into two Viols and cast into one of them some drops of the Oil of Tartar made per deliquium you 'l presently have a Red Precipitate that you may dry and use Then if you drop into the other Viol the volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack you 'l have a fine white Precipitate of the same virtues with that I shall describe anon Because Sublimate Corrosive is so great a Poison I have thought it not amiss to speak here of the Counterpoisons that may be given to such persons who by misfortune have taken it But lest some may imagine that one and the same Antidote can serve for all sorts of Poisons as the Mountebanks and Sellers of Orvietan do pretend and indeavour to perswade I shall say something of Poisons and their differences Whatsoever is able to break and destroy the Oeconomy of the body and the orderly connexion or derivation of humours or else to hinder the natural course of the Spirits is really a Poison It may be taken or received two ways the one outward as when the Pestilence and many other Malignant diseases which do proceed from an infected air do seize upon a man or when one is bit or stung by venemous beasts The other inward as when a man takes Arsenick Sublimate Hemlock Woolfsbane c. The same Poison does not kill all sorts of Animals as for example the Nux Vomica is a Poison to dogs and yet does many other beasts no hurt at all The smoke of Tabaco does kill Vipers in a very little time although there is hardly a creature that has more life than the Viper and that this smoke will only give a little purging to other creatures The water in which Quicksilver has been infused will kill Worms and yet does good to other animals Arsenick soon kills a man and many other creatures and it will only purge a Wolf and render him more lively than he was before All these different effects can only proceed from a diversity of natures and a difference of humors for that which is able to tear and destroy one sort will cause only a light Fermentation in others We must consider two sorts of effects in Poisons the one does coagulate the bloud by degrees as that of the Viper the Tarantula Hemlock Wolfs-bane c. and whereas these do hinder the motion of the Spirits by this coagulation the Animal falls into Convulsions and dies soon after much after the same manner as it happens when some acid liquor is syringed into a Vein or Artery The others such as Sublimate and Arsenick do tear and excoriate the viscera by their pungent Salts until they come to gangrene and then they dye The Medicines which are very properly given to obviate the accidents caused by the first poisons I now mentioned are volatile Salts Treacle Mithridate Orvietan and an infinite number of other remedies of this kind Vipers flesh and the flesh of Scorpions do cure the poison themselves do give as I shall shew hereafter when I come to speak of the Viper And hereupon the Reader will not take it amiss if I give him a short story that is very pertinent to this subject One day I put two living Scorpions into a glass-bottle and then added a little Mouse to their company Which Mouse runing over the Scorpions provoked them to bite her till she cried out Half a quarter of an hour after I saw her dye of Convulsions Some hours after this I threw in another Mouse a little bigger and more active than the first to the same Scorpions She leapt upon the Scorpions as the other had done before and was bit by them in like manner she cried aloud and was so provoked to revenge her self that she eat up both the Scorpions leaving only the head and the tail I would needs observe the end of this Tragedy I left the Mouse in the bottle four and twenty hours and during all that time she had not the least appearance of being hurt and was only concerned at the being imprisoned I intended to have dissected her in order to see whether there were no change in the parts or in the blood But a stander by hapning to take up the bottle too carelesly let it fall and broke it so the Mouse escaped Now the Volatile salts which were in the Scorpions flesh might be said by their active power to hinder the coagulation of the blood which would soon have â—een in the veins of the Mouse after she was bit but let every body explicate this experiment according to his own principles I shall resume the thread of my discourse The remedies which ought to be given to obviate the effects of Arsenick Sublimate and other corrosive poisons are of a contrary nature to those I now mentioned for instead of agitating the mass of blood and adding new heat to all the body as those do these must calm and quiet the violent agitation of humors and sweeten the acrimony of its salts Therefore you must so soon as you can make the Patient take a porringer of old Oil of Olives in order to make him vomit fresh butter fat and all unctuous things will very properly be given because they do not only purge away the poison both upwards and downwards but likewise which is a thing very considerable they consisting of unctuous slimy parts do blunt and dull the edge of those salts which remain of them in the body You must afterwards make him drink warm milk and continue the use of it several days after which you must purge him The effect of Sublimate Corrosive is much quicker than that of Arsenick because its acids being presently set to work by the heat of the body and by the volatility of Mercury do tear and cut in pieces all that is in their way Wherefore if remedies be not immediately given after the poison is taken the person is in a most deplorably dangerous condition What has been here said does shew that it is exceeding necessary for a man to understand the nature of the poisons which are taken before he presume to give a Counter-poison or Antidote and that a box of Orvietan must not be esteemed a sure Antidote in all cases And hence it is plain that if the Quacks and Mountebanks who shew upon stages should offer to take Sublimate or Arsenick by mouth
in order to try the virtue of their remedies as they pretend to do all the Mithridate they have would never be able to save them And supposing they did not understand their Legerdemain tricks well enough but should be constrained to swallow such poisons as these you must not think them such fools as to keep to the remedy they recommend which would be sure to do nothing else but increase their misery by its acrimonious heat They would have recourse to the Oil and other fat substances to avoid death which otherwise would certainly follow Sweet Sublimate or Mercurius dulcis Sweet Sublimate is a Mercury reduced to a white mass by some broken edges of acids Powder sixteen ounces of Sublimate Corrosive in a marble or glass mortar mix with it by little and little twelve ounces of Mercury revived from Cinnabar stir this mixture with a wooden Pestle until all the Quicksilver becomes imperceptible then put this gray powder into several Viols or into a Matrass whose two thirds do remain empty place your vessel in Sand and give but a little fire at first then augment it unto the third degree continue it in this condition until your Sublimate is made which usually happens in four or five hours Break your Viols and fling away a little light earth that 's found at bottom separate also that which sticks to the neck of the Viols or the Matrass and keep it for Unguents against the Itch but gather up carefully all that is in the middle which is very white and having powdered it resublime it in Viols or a Matrass as before separate once more the matter in the middle and resublime it in other Viols as before this third time lastly separate the terrestrious matter at the bottom and the Fuliginous that lies in the neck of the Viols and keep the Sublimate that is in the middle for it is sufficiently dulcified It s use is for all sorts of Venereal diseases it opens obstructions and kills the Worms the Dose is from six unto thirty grains in Pills it purges gently by Stool Remarks You must observe never to powder Sublimate Corrosive in a mortar made of metal because it would corrode it and carry off some part which would spoil the operation glass marble and stone mortars are more convenient because they can communicate no ill impression to the matter Many have written that we should use equal parts of Sublimate and Mercury but they did not consider that so great a quantity of Mercury could not be here used and that when the Sublimate hath received near about the quantity I have appointed the rest will remain unmixed When a matrass is used for this operation half its neck must be cut off before-hand for when it is performed in common matrasses a great part of the Fuliginous matter not being able to rise high enough falls down again on the Sublimate and hinders it from becoming sweet because this Fuliginosity contains the more acrimonious part whereas it will easily fly out of Viols or matrasses with a short neck Two thirds of each vessel must remain empty otherwise the Mercury which rarefies like a Spirit would be apt to break them That which sticks to the neck of the Viols being too acrimonious to be used inwardly may serve for Ointments against the Itch and Tettars Sweet Sublimate rises more easily than the Corrosive because it is less loaded with acids The Sublimate that is made in a matrass loses half an ounce each sublimation so that an ounce and a half is lost in three times when the operation is done Six drachms of Scories and light earth are found at bottom and consequently there is but two drachms of matter carried off each Sublimation But if you try this operation in Viols the sublimate loses half an ounce more as having a larger aperture to fly out at than in a matrass or long neck It seems a little strange at first that so strong a Poyson as Sublimate Corrosive should be reduced into so mild a remedy by the addition of nothing but Mercury But you ought to wonder no longer when you consider that those Spirits which caused the Corrosion were then shut up in a strait room but being now divided and enlarging their quarters cannot in reason act with such force besides that by the repeated action of fire the subtler part of their points is blunted against the body of Mercury The Purgative quality of sweet Sublimate does consist in the acids that remain wherefore if you should sublime it twice or thrice more the Sublimate would not be at all Purgative but only Sudorifick And it is then more proper to raise a Flux with than it was before for having lost those salts which by irritating the stomach and guts did render it Purgative it is the more disposed for rarefaction in the body and so to joyn with the ferment of Venereal Tumors Mercury prepared any way whatsoever ought to be taken inwardly no other way than in Pills but by no means in potion for fear it should stick in the Gums and so spoil and loosen the Teeth White Precipitate White Precipitate is a Mercury dissolved by Spirit of Niter and precipitated by salt into a white powder Dissolve in a Glass-Cucurbite sixteen ounces of Mercury revived from Cinnabar with eighteen or twenty ounces of Spirit of Niter when the dissolution is made pour upon it salt-water filtrated made of ten ounces of sea-salt in two quarts of water add unto this about half an ounce of the volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack there will Precipitate a very white powder that you must leave for a sufficient time to settle then having poured off the water by Inclination wash it several times with Fountain water and dry it in the shade It is used to raise a Flux with the Dose is from four to fifteen grains in Pills It is also used in Pomatums for Tettars and the Itch from half a drachm to two drachms for an ounce of Pomatum Remarks Although I do recommend eighteen or twenty ounces of Spirit of Niter for the solution of sixteen ounces of Mercury yet you must know that it is not very necessary to keep too strictly to this same quantity You may use either a little more or a little less according to the strength of the Spirit or according as it is more or less dephlegmated I my self do commonly use but an equal weight of it with the Quick-silver because the Spirit of Niter I do use is exactly dephlegmated You might likewise use Aqua fortis instead of Spirit of Niter The Dose of white Precipitate must be less than that of sweet Sublimate because it retains more acid Spirits but if you would Sublime this Precipitate alone in a matrass in a gradual fire you 'd obtain a Sublimate as sweet as the other because the fire having acted upon it breaks most of its points and then it may be given in as great a Dose as ordinary Mercurius Dulcis If
you desire to make this Precipitate exceeding white you must dissolve the Mercury in a vessel whose mouth is very large that so the red vapour of the Spirit of Niter may sly out the more easily When the dissolution is made without the help of fire the Precipitate is the whiter The Precipitation of Mercury may be made with the Spirit of Salt as well as the salt in substance This is not so easily made as that of Bismuth because the pores of Mercury being smaller than those of Bismuth do retain with more force the acids which are fixt into it Moreover Quick-silver being of a volatile nature does remain suspended in the liquor more easily than Bismuth which is a body altogether fixt It may well seem strange that an acid salt such as sea-salt should be able to precipitate that which the acidity of Spirit of Niter had dissolved To resolve this difficulty you must know that though our Senses tell us that acids do all perform the same effect which is to prick and to pierce yet nevertheless they all do differ in the figure of their points for according as they have received more or less fermentation they have also consequently their points more subtile sharp and light and this is attested not only by taste but the sight also for if you should Crystallize the same body by dissolving several parts of it in several vessels by Spirit of Salt Spirit of Niter Spirit of Vitriol Spirit of Alom and by Vinegar you 'l observe so many kinds of Crystals different in figure as there were different dissolutions The Crystals made by Vinegar will be more sharp than those prepared by Spirit of Niter those made by Spirit of Niter will be sharper than those by the Spirit of Vitriol those made by Spirit of Vitriol will be sharper than those by the Spirit of Alom but of all these Crystals none will be found to have grosser parts than those prepared by the Spirit of Salt for these Crystals do all retain the figure of their constituent parts This now being supposed it will be an easie matter to explicate our Precipitation for the salt or its spirit containing points more gross or less delicate than those of Spirit of Niter and falling on this dissolution do move jostle and easily break the points impregnated with the body of Mercury and so do make them let go their hold whence it comes that Mercury precipitates by its own weight The same Principle may serve to explicate why Lead dissolved in Vinegar precipitates by means of the Spirit of Vitriol or Salt You must observe not to make the water too salt for then the great quantity of salt would hinder the Mercury from precipitating The Volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack containing an alkali salt does much help the Precipitation for its agility carries it into every recess of the liquor where the sea-salt whose parts are not of so active a nature was not able to go which is proved from hence that if you use only sea-salt dissolved in water to make this Precipitation with it will then happen that if after pouring off the clear liquor which swims upon the Precipitate into another vessel you drop the Spirit of Sal Armoniack into the liquor there falls a considerable quantity of Mercurial Precipitate which may serve like the other If instead of the volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack you 'd use the Oil of Tartar made per Deliquium the Pricipitate would then be reddish Two objections have been made against my manner of explicating the Precipitation of such matters as Spirit of Niter had dissolved made by Sea-Salt First they say it is not proper to make the jostles and encounter of salt-water with Spirit of Niter loaded with bodies which it had dissolved to be the cause of its precipitation whenas the most violent jogs that can be given to the solution either from an arm or with matters much more heavy and solid than sea-salt are not able to cause the precipitation This Objection will raise no difficulty to any that are a little skill'd in Natural Philosophy for although I have said that by reason the edges of sea-salt are grosser than those of Spirit of Niter the sea-salt does precipitate what Spirit of Niter had dissolved and suspended I never meant that if these edges were as big as a mans arm they would do it the better It is sufficiently known that there must be a proportionable subtilty of parts between the dissolvent and that which does precipitate and that the edges of an acid must be otherwise treated than with a cuff of the fist in order to make them let go their hold But I intended to make it appear that if sea-salt does jog and shake the edges of Spirit of Niter it does it by dividing into very minute parts and thereby entring into the pores of the phlegm which in would not be able to do if these parts were as big as a mans arm or were like the solid heavy matters now spoken of Secondly if the grossness of the edges of sea-salt or the shock they give did make the precipitation of substances dissolved by Spirit of Niter we should expect afterwards to find the first with its gross edges separated from those of Spirit of Niter whereas upon evaporating and crystallizing the liquor their edges are indeed reciprocally confounded the one with the other making together a new body I answer that the shock and jostle which the edges of sea-salt do give to Spirit of Niter when loaded with some bodies does not hinder the edges of Spirit of Niter remaining after the precipitation from uniting with the sea-salt by which union the Crystals do become confused I shall here add one preparation more that is very proper to raise a Salivation with Take an ounce of the solution of Mercury made in Spirit of Niter put it into a glass-vessel and pour upon it three or four and twenty ounces of water all the liquor will turn white let it settle until it becomes clear filtrate the liquor and keep it for use This water may be given from half an ounce to an ounce in a glass of Ptisan or broth It vomits gently and provokes a Salivation some do drink half an ounce of it to cure the itch but they ought to be purged and bled before-hand Red Precipitate This preparation is a Mercury impregnated with Spirit of Niter and calcined by fire Take eight ounces of Mercury revived from Cinnabar dissolve it in a sufficient quantity of Spirit of Niter which is eight or nine ounces pour the dissolution into a Viol or Matrass with a short neck set it in Sand and evaporate all the moisture with a gentle heat until there remains a white Mass then quicken the fire by little and little to the third degree and keep it in this condition till all your matter is turned red then take it off the fire let the Viol cool and break it to obtain your Precipitate
what was precipitated before whence it comes that the liquor clears up and turns into poison as it was before If you would again pour Oil of Tartar then spirit of Sal Armoniack upon it there would happen new red and white precipitates which might again be dissolved and the liquor made clear again by adding to it more spirit of Vitriol but only a greater quantity of this Spirit must be used than was before CHAP. IX Of Antimony ANtimony is a Mineral consisting of a Sulphur like unto common Sulphur and of a substance near approaching to Metallick it is called Stibium in Latin It is found in many places in Transylvania Hungaria France Germany Sometimes you may meet with some of the mineral Antimony at the Druggists that is to say just as it is taken out of the Mines but that which is commonly brought among us hath been melted and moulded into cakes of a Pyramidal form You must chuse that which is in long shining needles and not expect to find it of a reddish colour as many Authors do advise for in a hundred weight of this Mineral you 'l hardly find one piece of this kind The occasion of this error came from the Alchymists who thought that Antimony did contain a Sulphur like unto that of Gold and that the reddish sort had more of it than the black but this pretended Sulphur is as imaginary as that of gold This reddish colour does doubtless proceed either from the heat of the Sun coming to it or from a participation of the subterranean heat bestowed more on such pieces than the rest for when the Sulphur of Antimony is rarefied it assumes a red colour as may be seen in the operation called Golden sulphur of Antimony Antimony will not dissolve but with Aqua Regalis which has made a great many Alchymists think that this Mineral was an imperfect Gold Although nothing but a metallick substance mixt with Sulphur can be perceived in the analyzing of Antimony nevertheless considering its Figure somewhat like that of salt-peter and its Emetick quality which can proceed from nothing but a punction made in the stomach there is reason to think that it contains an acid salt but because the edges of this salt are sheathed in a great deal of Sulphur it cannot exert its activity without opening a way for it either by salts which divide the Sulphur or by Calcination which carries off its grosser part Notwithstanding it is not to be understood that the Emetick faculty of Antimony does consist in this salt alone for if it were alone it would no more produce this effect than other acid salts do but it is assisted by the Sulphur which serves for a Vehicle to exalt it towards the upper Orifice of the stomach Thus Antimony may be said to vomit by reason of the Saline sulphur it contains Crude Antimony is used in Sudorifick decoctions when we would dissipate a tumor by Transpiration but great care must be had that no acid may enter into the Decoction for then it would open its body and render it Emetick It is dangerous also to take it in substance because it may be apt to meet with an acid in the stomach that would open its body and thereby cause a great vomiting to follow The reason that Crude Antimony causes sweat is because of some Sulphureous Particles that separate from the Antimony which not being strong enough to make one vomit do therefore work by transpiration Common Regulus of Antimony This preparation is an Antimony rendred more heavy and more metallick by the separation that is made of its grosser Sulphurs Take sixteen ounces of Antimony twelve ounces of crude Tartar and six ounces of Salt-peter purified powder them and mix them well together then heat a large Crucible red-hot throw into it a spoonful of your mixture and cover it with a Tile until the detonation is over continue to throw into the Crucible spoonfuls of this mixture one after another until all of it is spent then light a great fire about it and when the matter hath been some time in Fusion pour it into a Mortar or an Iron mould greased with suet and heated then strike the sides of the said mould or mortar with tongs to make the Regulus precipitate to the bottom when it is cold separate it from the dross that remains on the top of it with a hammer and after you have powdered it melt it in another Crucible then throw into it a little Salt-peter there will rise some little flame from it then pour out the matter into the iron mortar well cleansed and greased let it cool and you have four ounces and a half of Regulus If you melt it over again and form it into balls of the bigness of a Pill you have a perpetual Pill that is to say such as being taken and voided fifty times will purge every time and yet there 's hardly any sensible diminution This Regulus is melted in a Crucible and then cast into moulds to make Cups and Gobelets But it is somewhat hard to do it by reason of a sharpness in the Regulus that hinders its parts from uniting so as to spread well If you put White-wine into these Cups or Gobelets it becomes Vomitive like the Vinum Emeticum I shall speak of anon Remarks The name Regulus signifies Royal and is given to the most fixt and hardest matters of many minerals and metals This Preparation is made in order to open the Antimony and purifie it from a great deal of gross Sulphur that it is impregnated with and to this end it is Calcined with Tartar and Salt-peter which do easily flame and carry off with them good store of this Sulphur the rest remains in the Faeces as I shall shew in the following Operation The mixture is cast into the Crucible by little and little for fear least if it should be put in all at a time the detonation growing too violent and the matter rarefying too much it might rise over the Crucible You must not grease the Iron Mortar with Oil by reason of a little humidity that it contains which would make the matter rise and tumble out It is greased to the end that the matter not sticking to the mortar may separate from it the more easily The Regulus is melted again and Salt-peter thrown into it to the end that some little superficial sulphur which remained of the dross may fly away and the Regulus may remain the purer Fifteen ounces of dross will be found to four ounces and a half of Regulus and there was used four and thirty ounces of mixture in this operation so that there loses fourteen ounces and a half during the time it is on the fire Although good store of the Antimonial Sulphurs do exhale the Regulus is notwithstanding still loaded with them and it is they which chiefly give it its Vomitive virtue for the Vomiting doth proceed from a very quick motion that these Sulphurs do give to the
it so three or four hours then let the Retort cool and break it you 'l find a Cinnabar sublimed and adhering to the neck separate it and keep it it is a good Remedy for the Pox and the Epilepsie it purges by sweat the dose is from six to fifteen grains in Pills or Bolus with some proper Conserve This Butter of Antimony is Caustick like the other I now spoke of It may be rectified by distilling it anew in a glass Retort Remarks In the Receiver are found little crystals sticking to its sides which do curiously represent the branches of trees these figures do proceed from the acid spirits of sublimate mixed with Antimony If you have used five ounces of Sublimate Corrosive and the same of Antimony you 'l draw two ounces and a half of very good Butter of Antimony three ounces and six drachms of Cinnabar of Antimony and half an ounce of Quick-silver The mass which remains in the Retort does weigh two ounces and a half Thus the matter has lost six drachms which loss happened whilst the Cinnabar was rising The Quick-silver is found in the neck of the retort with the Cinnabar and in the last receiver Sometimes a kind of mossey substance is found at the end of the neck of the retort which does represent many little figures it is the more rarefied Cinnabar The mass which is found at bottom of the retort is the more terrestrious part of the Antimony and is to be flung away In the preceding operation the Mercury did not find sulphurs enough to adhere to whence it hapned that it came forth flowing but in this operation wherein crude Antimony is used which hath all its sulphur whilst the Corrosive spirits sticking to the Antimony come forth in Butter the Mercury joyns with the sulphur and by the action of fire sublimes afterwards into Cinnabar in the neck of the retort for to make Cinnabar Sulphur and Mercury must be sublimed together Now if you have the curiosity to anatomise Cinnabar you must powder it and mix it with a double quantity of Salt of Tartar then putting it into a Retort distil with a great fire the Mercury into a Receiver filled with water the Sulphur will remain in the Retort with the Salt of Tartar but may be separated from it by boiling it in water Filtrate the Decoction and then pour upon it distilled Vinegar a gray powder will precipitate which may be washed with water and dried thus you have the Sulphur of Antimony which is much esteemed for diseases of the Breast six or eight grains of it are given for a dose in some liquor appropriate to the disease If you mix Butter of Antimony with double its weight of oil or spirit of Sulphur prepared according to my description you will have a liquor that is good for foul bones and for venereal ulcers and Chancres it is applied on pledgets and works much like the oil or liquor of Mercury that I have described The Emetick powder of Algarot or Mercurius vitae It is a Precipitate of Antimony or Butter of Antimony washed Melt in hot sand the first butter of Antimony I described with Regulus and pour it into as earthen pan wherein are two or three quarts of warm water a white powder will precipitate that must be sweetned with many lotions and so kept it is improperly called Mercurius vitae It purges upwards and downwards it is given in Quartans and Intermitting feavours and all the maladies wherein it is required to purge strongly the dose is from two grains to eight in Broth or some other convenient liquor If you joyn all the lotions together and evaporate about two thirds or until the liquor becomes very acid you 'l have a Philosophick spirit of Vitriol that may be used like common spirit of Vitriol in Juleps to give them an agreeable acidity Remarks I have said before that the Butter or Icy Oil of Antimony was nothing but a mixture of the spirits of Salt and Vitriol with the Regulus of Antimony This last operation confirms this opinion because when this Butter is cast into warm water these spirits render the liquor very acid letting the Regulus of Antimony fall down to the bottom so that the powder of Algarot is an Antimony transmuted much like the white flowers I spoke of before The water does separate or take off very well the acid spirits from the Butter of Antimony because they cannot have a good hold in the pores of this softish and sulphureous mineral but it was not able to separate those same acids from the Sublimate Corrosive because the pores of Mercury being of a closer fabrick than those of Antimony they do retain what they once receive into them with greater strength The powder of Algarot may be made after the same manner as the Butter that may be drawn from crude Antimony or else with the Liver or Glass but that which is made with crude Antimony is not so white as the rest If you do use four ounces of Butter of Antimony you will draw an ounce and six drachms of Mercurius vitae after it is well washed and dried insomuch that four ounces of this Butter do contain two ounces and two drachms of acid spirit in which its corrosion does consist The acid liquor called Philosophick spirit of Vitriol does grow in a manner insipid in length of time because its acidity has been volatilized by the Mercury and afterwards by the Antimony Bezoar Mineral This preparation is an Antimony fixed by spirit of Niter and rendred sudorifick Melt in hot ashes two ounces of the Butter of Antimony and pour it into a Viol or a Bolthead drop into it good spirit of Niter until the matter is perfectly dissolved commonly so much spirit of Niter is requisite as there is Butter of Antimony during the dissolution there will rise up vapours that you must have a care of and therefore will do well to place the vessel in the Chimney Pour your solution into a glass body or an earthen dish and evaporate it in a gentle sand-fire until it is dry there will remain a white mass which you must let cool and then pour upon it two ounces of spirit of Niter set the vessel again in sand and evaporate the liquor as before once more pour two ounces of spirit of Niter on the white mass and having evaporated the humidity encrease the fire a little and Calcine the matter for half an hours time then take it off the fire and you have a white powder which you must keep in a Viol well stopt It is sudorifick and serves for the same uses as Antimonium Diaphoreticum the dose is from six to twenty grains in broth or some appropriate liquor Remarks The Spirits of Vitriol and Salt were not strong enough nor in quantity enough to make an entire dissolution of the Antimony they only made a light adhesion to it but when they are joyned with spirit of Niter they act with
much more force for they penetrate and divide every particle and do render them imperceptible and uncapable of receiving a more exact dissolution Now in this penetration as in the solution of Mercury there happens a great effervescency for which reason I advise to pour the spirit of Niter by little and little for fear the matter should rise above the vessel This effervescency doth proceed from the resistance that the edges of the spirits do meet with when they enter into the pores of the Antimony for so soon as the dissolution is ended there is no further Ebullition Afterwards the humidity is evaporated and new spirit of Niter poured twice more on the fixt mass as I have said after which the Butter of Antimony that was so great a Caustick and Emetick becomes one of the mildest medicins we have and near approaching the preparation of Antimony that is called Diaphoretick This great change may well make us wonder at it and it is hard to conceive how an acid Corrosive spirit such as spirit of Niter should be able to to sweeten a matter that became Caustick only for being impregnated with acid spirits To give this difficulty some solution it may be said that the Butter of Antimony became Caustick for that the acids which it contained did but superficially adhere and were so adapted that the motion of the Antimonial parts did serve them for a vehicle to distribute their keenness as they did but that after the solution the acids being in great quantity do fix the Antimony and not only destroy its aptitude to motion but do so sheath or lock themselves in the pliant sulphureous parts of this mixt that they lose thereby all their corrosion In the evaporation abundance of the sulphurs which were in the Butter of Antimony are lost This powder is called Bezoar Mineral because it causes Sweat like the Bezoar stone You must know that these preparations are nothing but so many transformations of the Regulus of Antimony made by acid spirits or by fire so that by Fusion or by the means of some reductive salt they may be recovered into Regulus again by destroying those salts which kept them under this form Caustick Oil of Antimony This preparation is a portion of Antimony dissolved in the acid spirits of salt and vitriol Put into a glass retort six ounces of Antimony finely powdered pour upon it four ounces of good spirit of salt and the same quantity of the Caustick Oil of Vitriol shake and mingle them all together and stopping the retort set it in sand with the nose upwards give it a small digesting fire for four and twenty hours then turn the nose downward and when you have unstopt it fit to it a glass receiver lute the junctures with a wet bladder make a little fire gradually to the second degree and there will distil a whitish liquor increase it a little at last and continue it until nothing more comes forth into the receiver Let the vessels cool and unlute them keep what you find in the receiver well stopt in a bottle It is an Escharotick liquor and will serve to open Venereal Shancres to eat proud flesh to cleanse old ulcers to use in carious bones and in the gangrene Remarks The Retort must be big enough for at least half to remain empty that the vapours may find room enough for their rarefactio 〈…〉 I put the whole in digestion four and twenty hours that the acids may have time to open the Antimony If I should add unto this mixture eight or ten ounces of spirit of Niter the Antimony would dissolve with a great ebullition because those three sorts of acid spirits would together make an Aqua Regalis with which Antimony is easily dissolved but there is no need of making so exact a dissolution for this operation This liquor is improperly called oil for it is nothing but a solution of Antimony by acid spirits It differs from the Icy Oil of Antimony only in this that it contains more phlegm for the acids of sublimate corrosive have no aqueous moisture to dilute them as there is in the acids we do here use With this Oil may be made the powder of Algarot after the same manner as with the Butter but only then it would not be so white This liquor might be likewise used for the making Bezoar Mineral Spirit of Niter being poured upon it there rises an ebullition as when it is poured on Butter of Antimony This Oil of Antimony is not so Escharotick as the butter because it contains more phlegm It is also more easie to use by reason of its liquidity Another Oil of Antimony This preparation is a solution of some parts of Antimony by the acid spirit and oil of Sugar Take equal parts of Antimtny and Sugar Candy powder them and mix them put this mixture into a glass retort large â—â—â—ugh for the matter to fill but a third part or it set your retort in sand and fit a receiver to it give a gentle fire for the first hours to distil off a phlegmatick water and when red drops begin to come forth fling away that which is fall'n into the receiver then refitting it lute the conjunctions and make the fire a little stronger but manage it prudently for otherwise the matter will rarefie and run into the receiver in substance so that you 'l be forced to begin the Operation anew continue the fire until nothing more comes forth and when the vessels are cold take and keep what you find in the receiver This liquor is Oil of Antimony It is proper to cleanse Ulcers with and for Tettars and Itchings which infect the skin If it proves too sharp you may temper and qualifie it with the water of honey Remarks The Sugar contains an essential acid salt and an oil which being mixed with a portion of the sulphurs of Antimony do make an oily liquor The sweet taste of Sugar does proceed from a natural mixture of this acid with the oil for if you separate these two substances one from the other neither of the two will prove at all sweet The Oil all alone is insipid upon the tongue because it makes little or no impression on the nerve that serves for tasting but when the acid is intirely mixed with it the edges of this acid do serve for a vehicle to the oil to make it penetrate and tickle superficially the nerve whereby the sense of tasting is produced The acids therefore being alone do become incisive and prick the tongue by their edges but when they are dulled and blunted by the ramous parts of the Oil then they have another sort of determination and can no longer pierce the nerve of tasting but with a great deal of tenderness and gentleness CHAP. X. Of Arsenick ARsenick is a Mineral Body consisting of much Sulphur and some Caustick salts There are three sorts of it the White that keeps the name of Arsenick the Yellow called Auripigmentum or Yellow
violently driven about by the volatile part of Salt-peter finds a little hole to fly out at The more fixt part of Arsenick remains at bottom with the fixt salt-peter The matter is Calcined again that being the more open it may be the more Caustick but this must be done in a covered Crucible for otherwise the Arsenick which is almost all of it sulphur would fly quite away by the great fire Corrosive Oil of Arsenick This liquor is an Arsenick opened and become of the consistence of butter by the acids of sublimate Corrosive Take equal parts of Arsenick and Sublimate Corrosive powder and mix them put this mixture into a glass-retort and set it in sand fit to it a Receiver and luting the junctures distil with a gentle fire a butter-like liquor resembling the butter of Antimony and when no more will distil take away the Receiver and put another in its place filled with water Encrease the fire and you 'l see the Mercury fall into the water drop by drop continue the distillation till there comes no more You may use this Mercury on all occasions like to another after you have washed and dried it The Butter of Arsenick is a very strong Caustick it makes an Eschar more quickly than that of Antimony Remarks The same thing happens in this operation that I spoke of in the Butter of Antimony that is the Spirits of Sublimate Corrosive do leave the Mercury to joyn with the Arsenick which they draw along with them in a gummous liquor the Mercury being afterwards disengaged and finding no sulphurs to fix it comes forth in a vapour and condenses into water CHAP. XI Of Quick-lime QVick-lime is a Stone whose moisture the fire hath quite dried up and brought into its place a great many igneous bodies It is these little bodies that cause the Ebullition when water hath opened the matter that kept them inclosed and this Ebullition lasts until all the parts of the Lime are dilated and the fiery particles set at liberty so that there is no need of further trouble to get out These little igneous bodies do likewise render the Lime Corrosive for the stone is not at all so of it self When the stone that Quick-lime is made of is grown red hot in the Furnaces the Workmen have a special care to keep up the fire at an equal height until the stone is quite Calcin'd for if the flame which has begun to burn among the stones should be suffered to lessen for a while and so the heat be checkt before the end of the work they would never afterwards be able to make Quick-lime with those stones any more though they should be at the charge of burning fifty times as much wood as is commonly required and this because in that interval of heat the pores of the stone which were begun to be opened do close and shut and the matter sinks down in a lump to the destruction of the whole And then again the flame can't rise in it any more for it finds none of those interstices or spaces between which were frequent before for it to pass through The matter therefore is rendred uncapable of receiving the fire any more because all the small cells that were useful for its reception are shut up and destroyed in this confusion It is objected that if igneous bodies were they that caused the Corrosion of Quick-lime Tiles Bricks and all stones that are not of the nature of Lime-stone and Iron Copper Silver Gold and many other bodies should be as Caustick as Quick-lime after having endured the fire as long if not longer than it But this does not follow for Tiles and other Calcined stones have not the pores disposed like those of Quick-lime to retain fiery particles and if some metals are found impregnated with them during their Calcination they are known to retain them so well by the solidity of their parts that neither the heat nor moisture of the flesh are able to draw them out of the places they are fixt in to cause a Corrosion upon the part It is easie here to give you an example for if you take the Calx of Lead that encreased its weight in the Calcination as I have said before and steep it in water the water will not act at all upon it and the Calx may be taken from the water in the same weight it was put in you must melt it by fire if you would separate the igneous bodies but now as for common Quick-lime a small matter of moisture is able to separate the tender parts of the stone and drive out the fiery particles in abundance It is said likewise that the ebullition of water which happens when flung upon Quick-lime must not be imputed to fiery bodies seeing neither spirit of wine nor oil when thrown upon it do at all cause heat although they are both of them Inflammable bodies nay on the contrary they are observed to quench the heat that uses to happen to Quick-lime when water is joyned with it I Answer that these effects do proceed from this that Oil spirit of wine and other Sulphureous liquors of the same nature instead of separating the parts of quick-lime as water does do rather hinder any separation from being made by stopping up the pores That which withdrew me from the Sentiment of those who will have all the effects of quick-lime derived from its salt was that I could never find any in it though I have sought after it with care enough for some through mistake do take a certain Bituminous scum which often swims upon the Lime-water for a salt Neither can I be of the opinion of those who will needs have an acid to be in quick-lime which being drawn out by the water and meeting an alkali does cause the effervescency which is observed when water is poured upon quick-lime for although according to appearance an acid may enter into the natural composition of the stone that quick-lime is made of this acid has lost its nature not only by breaking its points in its strict union with earth at the Petrification but also in the violent Calcination that is given to this stone to reduce it to a Calx So that we may here say the same thing happens to the acid which enters into the composition of the stone as I have said did happen to the salt of Vegetables and other mixt bodies which though naturally an acid salt changes into an alkali by means of its union with earth and the fiery particles in time of the Calcination there is only this difference between them both the acid of the stone is mixed with more earth than the salt of Vegetables When Lime is once slackt it neither causes any more ebullition nor heat with water but if you add to it an acid it makes both a considerable ebullition and heat because the acid edges will penetrate into the particles of the Lime where the water was not able to go There is not made
Viol and keep it for use it is called the Oil of Philosophers It is a good Remedy applyed outwardly to discuss the Tumours of the Spleen for the Palsie Phthisick and suffocations of the mother It may be given inwardly from two to four drops in wine or some appropriate liquor Some drops of it are instilled into the Ear to dissipate the flatulent humours that are there inclosed Remarks This operation serves only to exalt the Oil of Olives that being more opened by the fire it may rarefie and dissolve humours more easily for you must not imagine that the Brick doth communicate any great virtue it is a dry body and wanting all active principles You must make a very moderate fire in this distillation that the Oil may come forth in vapours for if it should come out drop by drop it would not be so open nor would it produce so good effects Some do rectifie the Oil of Bricks with Colcothar instead of Bricks or else with the mass that remains after the distillation of Aqua fortis Antient Chymists have given the epithete Philosophick to all preparations wherein they have used Brick The reason that can be given for it is that because they call themselves the only True Philosophers or Philosophers by way of excellence they thought they were obliged to confer some influences of this mighty name upon Bricks because they are the materials wherewith they build their Furnaces to work at the high and mighty operation or the Philosophers stone for they pretend it is by this Operation alone that True Philosophy can be obtained CHAP. XIV Of Coral COral is a petrified plant that grows under deep hollow Rocks in many places of the Mediterranean Sea where the Sea is deep or rather it is a certain shoot from a Rock that hath received the form of a Plant. It is not true that it is taken out of the Sea soft as some have said There are of them of several colours as the White the Red and the Black now and then there are found some of two colours as Red and Black The Red is the most common and most in use it is chosen of a deep colour the White is more rare than the Red. A certain white stone very spungy that is like unto Coral is brought among us which is mistaken for true white Coral by those that don't know it but the true is not at all spungy it is rather very compact and as white as Ivory Black Coral is the greatest rarity of them all If you put the branches of Red Coral to infuse a day or two in melted white Wax upon hot embers the Coral will lose its former colour and become white and the wax will assume a yellow colour The Wax must be a fingers breadth above the Coral If you should put other red Coral to steep in the same Wax it would turn brown If again the third time you should put red Coral to steep in the same wax the wax would then become red The wax dissolves a little of the bituminous matter that is upon the Coral and which did render it red this operation is done only for curiosity Many persons do hang red Coral about the neck in order to stop Haemorrhagies to purifie the bloud and to fortifie the heart I believe that which gave occasion to think it has such excellent virtues was its Red colour which is like to that of the bloud and the heart but experience does no way confirm that outwardly applied it has any such effects Coral is prepared by beating it on a Marble into a most fine powder that it may the more easily be dissolved and this prepared Coral is given to stop Dysenteries Diarrheas Flux of the Haemorrhoids and Terms Haemorrhagies and all other distempers that are caused by an acrimony of humours this being an alkali that destroys them the dose is from ten grains to a drachm in Knot-grass water or some other appropriate liquor Dissolution of Coral Take what quantity you please of Coral finely powdered on a Marble put it into a large matrafs and pour upon it distilled Vinegar enough to cover the matter four fingers high there will happen a great effervescency which being over set your matter in digestion in warm sand for two days stirring the matrass from time to time Leave the Coral to settle at bottom and decant the clear liquor into a bottle Pour again so much distilled Vinegar on the remainder as before and leave it two days in digestion separate the clear liquor and continue to add more distilled Vinegar and to draw off the Impregnation until all the Coral is in a manner dissolved Then mix your dissolutions and pour them into a glass Cucurbite or else into an earthen one evaporate in sand two thirds of the liquor or until there appears upon it a very fine skin Filtrate this Impregnation and keep it in order to make the Salt and Magistery as I shall shew hereafter It may be given for the same purposes as the Salt the dose is from ten to twenty drops in some appropriate liquor Remarks Red Coral is generally used because it is thought to have more virtue than the rest by reason of its Tincture The effervescency which happens when Vinegar doth penetrate Coral is reckoned among cold effervescencies if there be any such for my part I cannot say that I ever perceived any coldness in it In truth it is very strange that so great an Ebullition or motion of the parts should not produce any sensible heat but you must consider that Coral having large pores may be easily dissolved and so the acids need not jostle it very much which would be requisite to produce any considerable heat Some do use in this operation the acid Lotion of Butter of Antimony or pure Spirit of Vitriol instead of Vinegar but because these spirits do leave too great an acidity in the Preparations of Coral I conceive it better to use distilled Vinegar Coral being an alkali the acid points do stick in it and suspending its parts do render them imperceptible and this is the reason that the Vinegar doth lose all its acidity because the acidity did only consist in the activity of its points which do now sheath themselves in the alkali If you would by way of curiosity distil this dissolution instead of Evaporating it as I have said you 'd gain nothing but an insipid water because the acid is fixt with the Coral This water is evaporated away because it would serve for nothing and would only weaken the impregnation The dissolution of Perle Crabs-eyes burnt Harts-horn and all other alkali matters is performed after the same manner their Salts and Magisteries may be likewise made as those of Coral which I am going to describe It is here remarkable that the solution of this sort of alkalies in distilled Vinegar smells much like spirit of Wine and that some quantity of it may be drawn with a very gentle fire the
marshes When the Season of the year begins to grow hot which commonly happens in May all the water is emptied that was let into the marshes for the better preserving them during the winter then the sluces are opened to let in as much salt-water as they think fit it is made to pass through a great many different Channels wherein it purifies and heats and then is let into places that are made flat smooth and fit to Crystallize the salt The salt is made only during the great heats of Summer the Sun does first evaporate some part of the water and because after the great heat a small wind does use to blow as is usual near the sea the coolness of this wind does condense and Crystallize the salt But if it happens to rain but two hours during the hot weather there can no salt be made for a fortnight afterwards because the marshes must be again emptied of all the water to let in more in its place so that if it chances to rain but once again in the next fortnight they can make no salt Salt is purified by dissolving it in water then filtrating the solution through brown paper and afterwards evaporating the water in an earthen pan until a very white salt does remain But besides the purification of salt by evaporation it may be further purified if instead of evaporation of the humidity you set some of it a Crystallizing in a cool place for very pure salt is found at bottom of the vessel which salt may be separated from the water and dried and you may then evaporate again some part of the salt liquor and set it in a Celler a Crystallizing and so continue your evaporations and Crystallizations but at last you must be fain to evaporate all the liquor because at last it will Crystallize no longer the reason whereof is that the remaining salt is full of a fat bituminous matter which is in a manner inseparable from it and this it is that hinders the Crystallizing at last It is probable that this fat matter may come from the earth of those marshes that were spoken of The first Crystallized salt being put into Oil of Tartar or some other alkali salt dissolved does mix with it without making any Ebullition because although sea salt is acid yet its points are too gross and have too little motion to separate the parts of the alkali The last salt being dried over the fire and mixed with some alkali salt rendred liquid such as Oil of Tartar makes a Coagulation and precipitation of a substance that appears saline and oily this Coagulation does proceed from the mixture and adhesion of some Bituminous earth with the sea-salt and the Tartar for the salts do easily unite with oily substances and in them lose their activity Many acid Bituminous salts which are drawn by the Evaporation of certain Mineral waters such as those of Baleruc in Languedoc and Digne in Provence do perform the same effects when they are mixed with Oil of Tartar This Coagulum does not dissolve in water as well by reason of the different nature of the salts it is compounded of as the oily earth that holds them together but it will dissolve in distilled Vinegar and several other acid liquors and then happens an effervescency because the acid does penetrate the salt of Tartar whose parts the sea-salt had no power to separate Calcination of Common Salt Heat a pot that 's unglazed red-hot throw into it about an ounce of sea-salt then cover it and it will crackle and so fall into powder this noise is called Decrepitation when it is over put so much more salt into the pot and continue to do so till you have enough The pot must be sure to be red-hot all the while when the crackling is over take the pot out of the fire and when it is cold put the salt into a bottle and stop it well to hinder the air from entring in to moisten it anew Bags full of it are applied behind the neck warm to consume too great a a moisture of the Brain by opening of the pores It is used likewise in several Chymical operations Remarks That which makes the Salt crackle when it is in the fire is an inwardly contained moisture which upon its being rarefied doth force its way out with impetuosity and finding the pores too closely shut to suffer an easie escape doth break through the parts and open a passage Now every thing else that hath close compact pores will make such a noise too in the Calcination as do glass and shells If you have occasion to use Salt decrepitated it is convenient to have it newly Calcined because the moisture of the air does return again what the fire had driven away But if you would keep it any time let it be in a glass bottle well stopt For as much as this Salt is deprived of all humidity by its Calcination it will absorb serosities much better than common salt It is laid hot behind the neck to the end that opening the pores it may facilitate transpiration A little Salt of Tartar may be mixed with it to render it the more active Spirit of Salt This Spirit is a very acid liquor drawn from Salt by distillation Dry Salt over a little fire or else in the Sun then powder finely two pounds of it mix it well with six pounds of Potters earth powdered make up a hard paste of this mixture with as much rain-water as is needful form out of it little pellets of the bigness of a Nut and set them in the Sun a good while a drying when they are perfectly dry put them into a large earthen Retort or glass one luted whereof a third part remains empty place this Retort in a Reverberatory Furnace and fit to it a large capacious Receiver without luting the junctures give a very moderate heat at first to warm the Retort and make an insipid water come forth drop by drop when you perceive some white clouds succeed these drops pour out that which is in the Receiver and having refitted it lute the junctures close encrease the fire by degrees to the last degree of all and continue it in this condition twelve or fifteen hours all this while the Receiver will be hot and full of white clouds but when it grows cold and the clouds do disappear the Operation is at an end unlute the junctures and you 'l find the Spirit of Salt in the Receiver pour it into an earthen or glass bottle and stop it well with wax it is an Aperitive and is used in Juleps to an agreeable acidity for such as are subject to the Gravel It is likewise used for cleansing the Teeth being temper'd with a little water and to consume the rottenness of bones To make the dulcified Spirit of Salt of Basilius Valentinus you must mix equal parts of Spirit of Salt and Wine and set them in digestion two or three days in a double Vessel in a
stupefaction of the Nerves and nauseousness of the stomach If you used sixteen ounces of purified Salt-peter and so much sulphur in this operation you 'l have at last but three ounces and a half of Sal Polychrestum very fine but if you use common Salt-peter instead of purified you 'l have five ounces of Polychrestum as white as the other This difference of weight proceeds from common Salt-peters containing more fixt salt than purified Salt-peter Sal Polychrestum may be Crystallized like Salt-peter and other salts Its Crystals are very small and much like those of sea-salt but only they are keener Monsieur Seignette an Apothecary of Rochell whom I have spoke of before hath put in use a certain Sal Polychrestum which seems at first to be like unto this but when it comes to be examined there 's found a notable difference as well in the Crystallizations and when it is thrown into the fire as in the effects for whereas six drachms of this sort taken as I have said do cause gripes in pricking the membranes of the stomach that of Monsieur Seignette in the same quantity doth purge very gently without any gripes at all as he proves in a little Treatise that he hath made touching the uses of this Polychrestum And the truth of it I have found my self in several persons The composition of this salt is known to none but himself who having given it a reputation in the chiefest Towns of France hath left some quantity of it with me to distribute and make use of here at Paris Spirit of Niter Spirit of Niter is a liquor very acid and corrosive drawn from Salt-peter by distillation Powder and mix well together two pounds of fine Salt-peter and six pounds of Potters earth dried put this mixture into a large Retort either of earth or glass luted set it in a close Reverberatory Furnace fit to it a great capacious Balon or Receiver and give a very little fire to it for four or five hours to make all the Phlegm come forth which will distil out drop by drop When you perceive there will distil no more throw the Phlegm away that is found in the Receiver and having refitted it lute the junctures and encrease the fire by little and little to the second degree there will come forth Spirits which will fill the Receiver with white clouds then keep the fire two hours in the same degree after that encrease it to the greatest violence you can give it and so the vapours will come red continue the greatest fire till there come no more the operation will be ended in fourteen hours When the vessels are cold unlute the junctures and pour your Spirit of Niter into an earthen bottle which you must stop with Wax Spirit of Niter is used for the dissolution of metals it is the best Aqua fortis that is and the corrosive virtue of other waters of this nature doth chiefly proceed from the Niter that enters into their composition Remarks You might as some do mix four parts of Potters earth with one part of Niter when you would draw its Spirit but you will succeed better and with less difficulty by observing my description for whereas the earth does here serve only as an intermedium to separate the parts of this salt to the end that the fire operating more easily upon it may draw its Spirits it is a very needless business to use more of the earth than is necessary towards this effect Besides this over great quantity of earth may serve to weaken the Spirits and by taking up too much room may hinder the drawing so much as otherwise you would with the same Retort I fling away the Phlegm because it only serves to weaken the Spirit The white vapours do proceed from the volatile part of Salt-peter and are a weaker sort of Spirit but the red ones do come from the fixt part and are the strongest Spirit for which reason the fire is made so very violent towards the latter end This fixt Spirit is commonly called Salamanders bloud Of all Salts Niter is the only one that yields red vapours When you use here the best Salt-peter there remains nothing in the Retort but only earth I have boiled several times in water a good while the earth that remained after the distillation of the Spirit of Niter and after evaporation of the filtrated decoction I could find no salt at bottom I have likewise observed that out of two pounds of purified Niter a pound and fourteen ounces of liquor in Phlegm and Spirit may be drawn A third part of the Retort wherein the operation is performed must remain empty and the Receiver must be very large for otherwise these Spirits coming hastily forth would break all to pieces for room to move in Spirit of Niter Dulcified This oparation is a Spirit of Niter whose more subtile edges have been broken or evaporated Put into a large Bolt-head eight ounces of good spirit of Niter and so much spirit of Wine well dephlegmated set your Bolthead in the Chimney upon a round of straw the liquor will grow hot without coming near the fire and half an hour or an hour afterwards it will boil very much have a care of the red vapours that come out a-pace at the neck of the Bolthead and when the ebullition is over you 'l find your liquor clear at bottom and to have lost half what it was pour it into a Viol and keep it this is the sweet spirit of Niter It is good for the wind Colick and the Nephritick for Hysterical distempers and for all Obstructions its dose is from four to eight drops in broth or some other convenient liquor Remarks You must leave the Bolthead open for the vapours would either carry away the stopple if there were one or else they would break the vessel the Bolt-head is so hot during the ebullition that one can't endure ones hand upon it The heat and ebullition begins sooner or later according as the Spirits that are used have been more or less dephlegmated or else according as the season in which it is made is either hotter or colder for in the winter you must warm the liquor in a gentle sand-heat and when it grows a little hot you must take it off and shake it thus it will come to boil This effect is very strange for spirit of Niter being a strong acid and spirit of Wine a sulphur it can't be said that there is here any alkali to cause the ebullition with acid according to the common maxim And this operation shews us that every thing can't be explicated by the sole Principles of acid and alkali as some do pretend This operation has much resemblance with that which happens when oil of Turpentine is put into a bottle with oil of Vitriol for the mixture of these liquors does heat and boil much alike I shall say something of this last mixture hereafter There is this difference notwithstanding that spirit
of Niter being more volatile than oil of Vitriol causes a greater effervescency In order therefore to explicate this ebullition two things must be considered First that spirit of Niter contains a great many fiery parts lock't up in its acidity but which do still retain some evident motion for it is they that make the spirit of Niter to Fume as it does The second is that spirit of Niter is more Inflammable than salt-peter when mixed with any sulphureous body and the reason thereof is that it is more rarefied than salt-peter Thus when this acid spirit is mixt with spirit of Wine which is a sulphur very much exalted and very susceptible of motion the volatile part of the spirit of Niter joyns itself to this sulphur and the mixture becomes very ready to take flame likewise after this mixture the fiery bodies that were in spirit of Niter do by striving to mount upwards put the liquor into so great a motion that it e'en almost flames and would without all question quite flame if there were not some phlegm always mixed with these spirits let them be drawn never so pure which serves to allay the activity of the fiery particles so that there must needs follow a very great ebullition This effervescency therefore proceeds from this that spirit of wine and spirit of Niter which are as it were a salt-peter and sulphur highly exalted have been almost kindled into a flame by the fiery bodies that were in spirit of Niter and that which further proves this conception is a noise or kind of detonation during the effervescency which is much like that which happens when sulphur and salt-peter are burnt together But because there may be some difficulty in conceiving what is meant by little fiery bodies I do understand by them a subtile matter which having been put into a very rapid motion does still retain the aptitude of moving with impetuosity even when it is inclosed in grosser matters and when it finds some bodies which by their texture or figure are apt to be put into motion it drives them about so strongly that their parts rubbing violently the one against the other heat is thereby produced Now the sulphureous parts of spirit of Wine and the volatile acids of spirit of Niter being mixed and being very aptly disposed for motion of themselves they must needs be easily put into it by these fiery bodies insomuch that their parts often rubbing or striking the one against the other they must cause a heat after the same manner as when a stone is strook hard against a piece of Iron a heat and fire do follow The great diminution of the liquor proceeds from the evaporation of the more volatile parts of the Spirits of Wine and Niter through the neck of the Bolt-head during the ebullition That which remains is a well sweetned spirit of Niter for not only its edges are very much blunted in the ebullition but the spirit of Wine being a sulphur does unite and imbody with those that remain so that they have no longer any Corrosive quality Aqua Fortis This preparation is a mixture of the Spirits of Niter and Vitriol drawn by fire to dissolve metals Powder and mix Salt-peter purified Vitriol Calcined white as I shall shew hereafter and Potters earth or clay dried of each two and thirty ounces put this mixture into an earthen Retort or glass one luted whose third part is to remain empty place your Retort in a close Reverberatory Furnace and fitting to it a capacious Receiver Lute well the junctures then begin by giving a little fire to warm gently the Retort and encrease it by little and little but when you perceive the Spirits to come forth into the Receiver in red clouds continue it for fifteen or sixteen hours in the same degree then drive it to the last extremity until there do appear white clouds instead of red Then let the vessels cool and unlute them you 'l find in the Receiver an Aqua fortis which you must keep in an earthen bottle well stopt It serves for the dissolution of metals Remarks I do use to Calcine the Vitriol to a whiteness that the Aqua fortis may not be weakned with an insipid water The mixture of Vitriol and Salt-peter has quickly some smell of Aqua fortis because Vitriol contains a great deal of Sulphur which easily insinuates into the volatile part of Salt-peter and exalts some little of it which causes the smell it is this Sulphur in Vitriol which by volatilizing the red spirit of Niter makes it come forth faster and with a less fire than when Salt-peter is distilled with Clay alone The greatest Corrosion of Aqua fortis proceeds from the Niter for the Vitriol doth yield but very weak Spirits in comparison with the other I do acknowledge indeed that the Oil of Vitriol is exceeding Corrosive but eighteen or twenty hours are not able to drive that out for it doth not use to come until after three days continual distillation The Vitriol then and the Clay do serve here only for a matter to separate the Salt-peter that it may by the means of fire the better rarefie into Spirits Although there does not enter into this preparation so much terrestrial matter as there does into that of Spirit of Niter nevertheless it proves very well because the Sulphurs of Vitriol do help the Spirits to rise If you would keep on the fire five days and nights together the Receiver would be still full of clouds because the Vitriol would yield some Spirits during all that time Sometimes Alom and Arsenick are added to the composition of Aqua fortis but the description which I have given you is the best of all There remains in the Retort a red mass which may be used like Colcothar for an Astringent This mass may be obtained without breaking the Retort Fixation of Salt-peter into an Alkali Salt by the means of Coals This operation is a Salt-peter rendred porous by Calcination and by the ashes of coals which are mixed with it Melt sixteen ounces of Salt-peter in a strong and large Crucible among burning coals throw into it a spoonful of coals grosly powdered and there will rise a flame and detonation which being over throw so much more and continue to do so until the matter flames no longer but remains fixt in the bottom of the Crucible then pour it into a warm mortar and when it is cold powder it and dissolve it in a sufficient quantity of water filtrate the dissolution through brown paper and evaporate all the water in an earthen pan in sand there will remain a very white salt which you must keep in a Viol well stopt This Salt hath a taste like to that of Salt of Tartar and they differ but little in virtue it opens Obstructions and works by Urine and sometimes by Stool the dose is from sixteen to thirty grains in some convenient liquor It may be used to assist in drawing forth the
writ that if Aqua Regalis dissolves Gold and cannot dissolve Silver the reason of it is that the gross points of spirit of Niter or Aqua fortis are subtilized by the mixture of sal Armoniack and are rendred fit to enter into the small pores of Gold whereas the delicate Fabrick of these same points does not leave them the necessary strength nor motion to divide the parts of Silver whose pores are a great deal bigger But this way of arguing does not agree with experience for what likelihood is there that the points of spirit of Niter are so subtilized by the penetration and division of the parts of sal Armoniack or where shall we find any example that after a considerable effervescency of two salts met together in conflict the acidity grows sharper than it was before this is a thing that can never be proved On the contrary every body knows well enough that no effervescency happens but the acid is in part blunted or broken thereby Moreover the Argument supposes that spirit of Niter does break its subtilest points in violently contending with the Sal Armoniack since also that in sal Armoniack there are alkali salts whose property it is to destroy acids I could further add here that the conjunction of salt with spirit of Niter should of necessity render its points more gross than they were and that the Crystals which are drawn by aqua Regalis have their shape not so keen as those that are drawn by aqua Fortis But that which I have said is so probable in itself and so easie to be convinced of if a man takes never so little pains to consider it that I should but amuse my Reader to little purpose if I should offer to give any proofs of it Neither do I find it convenient to make a long discourse in explicating how Silver which has lesser pores is more susceptible of the impressions of Air and Fire than Gold which has larger seeing I have already supposed that the matter intercepted between the pores of Gold is more compact and consequently more hard to separate than that of Silver Volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack This preparation is a volatile salt raised from sal Armoniack by the means of Quick-lime and dissolved into a liquor Take eight ounces of sal Armoniack and four and twenty ounces of Quick-lime powder them apart and when you haved mixed them in a mortar pour upon them four ounces of water and put it quickly into a Retort whose half must remain empty Set your Retort in a sand Furnace and fitting to it a great Receiver and luting the junctures exactly begin the distillation without fire for a quarter of an hour afterwards increasing it by little and little unto the second degree continue it until nothing more comes forth take off your Receiver and pour out the Spirit immediately into a Viol turning away your head as much as may be to avoid a very subtile vapour that continually rises from it Stop the bottle close with wax to keep the Spirit in you will have of it five ounces and six drachms It is an excellent Remedy for all diseases that proceed from Obstructions and corruption of humours such as Malignant feavers the Epilepsie Palsie Plague Small-pox c. It drives by perspiration or by Urine the dose is from six drops to twenty in a glass of Balm or Carduus water Remarks Quick-lime which is an alkali destroys the strength of the acid Sea-salt which in a manner bound up the volatile salts in the Sal Armoniack whence it comes to pass that as soon as Lime and Sal Armoniack are mixed together there exhales an unsufferable smell of Urine for the volatile salts coming forth abundantly do so fill the Nose and Mouth of the Artist that he would never be able to put the mixture into the Retort if he did not take good care to turn away his head while his hands are at work Water is added to it to liquifie these volatile salts for if there were nothing to moisten them they would suddenly sublime to the neck of the Retort and stopping it all together would break it to pieces You must stop the Retort with your hand so soon as you have poured the water into it and shaking it one minute you must hasten all you can to fit to it the Receiver and to lute well the junctures for the Quick-lime does presently grow hot so soon as its body is opened and this heat which is very considerable would spend the more volatile of the salts if there were no care taken to preserve them The Quick-lime being wetted does swell and take up a great deal of room wherefore the Retort must be filled but half full that there may remain room enough for the Spirits to rarefie in you must also use a large Receiver in which the vapours that rise in abundance may be able to circulate with ease This Spirit is nothing but a solution of volatile salts in water if you would sublime and separate it from the water you must put the liquor into a matrass with its head and proceed as I shall shew when I describe the volatile salt of Vipers but this salt being dry flies away more easily than when it continues dissolved in water so that it were better keep it as it is This is a stronger Spirit than that which is prepared with Salt of Tartar because the little fiery bodies of the Quick-lime which are mixed with it have quickned the motion of the volatile salts likewise these fiery particles are they that do hinder the coagulation of this Spirit with spirit of Wine when they are mixed together for there must be a cohaesion and repose of parts in order to make a Coagulum You must also have a care when you remove the Receiver not to hold your head over it for this volatile salt suffering a greater separation than before enters the Nose immmediately and hinders Respiration insomuch that several persons have been seen to fall in a swound by that means alone Now to avoid this accident you had best have ready a wet cloth to stop the Receiver with so soon as it is unluted This Spirit is an excellent Menstruum to make precipitations with it destroys acids exceeding well as do all other volatile alkalis it is used to precipitate Gold after it is dissolved It is good in those diseases I named because it opens the pores and drives the humours by perspiration or by Urine according to the disposition of bodies moreover as it is an alkali it destroys the acids which caused these diseases Again it sometimes causes sleep because it dulls the keenness of acid salts which entring into the little conduits of the Brain do cause perpetual watchings It is better give volatile Spirits in Sudorifick waters than broth because the broth being taken hot the heat would evaporate the better part of the volatile Spirits before a man could reach the Porringer to his mouth You
Calcined by some subterranean heat It is the least common of them all it stops Bloud being applied to Hemorrhagies If you dissolve a little white or green Vitriol in water and write with the dissolution the writing will not be seen but if you rub the paper with a little Cotton dipt in the decoction of Galls it will appear legible then if you wet a little more Cotton in Spirit of Vitriol and pass it gently over the paper the Ink will disappear again and yet at last if you rub the place with a little more Cotton dipt in Oil of Tartar made per Deliquium it will again appear legible but of a Yellowish colour The reason that I can give for these effects is this the Spirit of Vitriol dissolves a certain Coagulum which is made of Vitriol and Galls but the Oil of Tartar breaking the force of this acid Spirit the Coagulum recovers it self and appears again but because it now contains Oil of Tartar too it acquires a new colour If you throw the dissolution of Vitriol or Vitriol only powdered into a strong decoction of dried Roses it will turn as black as common Ink if you pour some drops of spirit of Vitriol into it this Ink will turn red and if you add to it a little volatile spirit of Sal Armoniack it will turn gray These changes of colour do proceed from the spirit of Vitriol's dissolving the Coagulum which the Vitriol it self had made and rendring it invisible the liquor recovers a fresher red colour than it had before the Vitriol was put into it because the same spirit does separate the parts of the Rose which were dissolved in the liquor and renders them more visible The volatile spirit of Sal Armoniack which is an alkali does partly break the acid edges of the spirit of Vitriol so that the parts of the Rose having nothing more to keep them rarefied do close together and consequently the liquor changes colour By this experiment may be seen that the dried Rose may serve to make Ink with as well as Galls Indian wood and divers other things will do the same Gilla Vitrioli or Vomitive Vitriol This operation is only a purification of white Vitriol Dissolve what quantity you please of white Vitriol in as much Phlegm of Vitriol as is needful to dissolve it filtrate the dissolution and evaporate two thirds of the moisture in an earthen pan Put the rest into a cool place for three days time there will shoot out Crystals which you must separate then evaporate a third part of the liquor that remains and set the vessel again in a Cellar there will shoot new Crystals continue thus evaporating and crystallizing until you have gotten all you can dry these Crystals in the Sun and keep them for use the dose is from twelve grains to a drachm in Broth or some other liquor Remarks This is only a Purification of Vitriol that serves to separate a little earth from it All the liquor may be evaporated without any Crystallization the Gilla Vitrioli will remain at bottom in a white powder White Vitriol is used in this operation rather than Green because it is milder The other Vitriols may be purified after the same manner After taking this vomit a man sometimes voids by stool a black matter like Ink because it frequently happens that some part of the Vitriol descending into the Guts meets a saline matter that it joyns with and so causes a blackness as it uses to do when Vitriol is mixed with Galls Calcination of Vitriol Put what quantity you please of Green Vitriol into an earthen pot unglazed set the pot over the fire and the Vitriol will dissolve into water boil it to the consumption of the moisture or else until the matter turn into a grayish mass drawing towards white this is called Vitriol Calcined to whiteness If you should Calcine this gray Vitriol a good while over a strong fire it would turn as red as bloud It is called Colcothar and is good to stop bloud being applied to a wound Remarks You must not Calcine the Vitriol in a glazed pot for fear of dissolving the Vernish which would change the nature of the Vitriol It may be Calcined or rather dryed in the Sun until it becomes white this Calcination deserves to be preferr'd before the other but only it is longer a doing The Vitriol may be likewise spread about a Furnace heated a little and so dried until it turns white If you should resolve to dry as exactly as you can sixteen pounds of green Vitriol there would remain but seven pounds of white Vitriol But in order to do this you must powder the white mass of Calcined Vitriol after you have broke the pot and stir it a long time in an earthen pan over a little fire until there rises no more fume from it or until there remains in it no more phlegm If you should Calcine this white Vitriol to a redness you 'd have five pounds and a half of Colcothar The sulphur of Vitriol is lost during this last Calcination you must do it in the Chimney for the fume would be very injurious to the breast This sulphur has the same smell as ordinary sulphur Some have writ that the red colour which appears after a long Calcination of English Vitriol was an undoubted proof that there was Copper in it after the same manner as the red colour which happens to Verdigreese calcined is a certain proof that it contains in it some particles of Copper But that which is here said to pass for a thing undeniable is no proof at all for first of all those Vitriols which are thought most to partake of Copper do give no greater redness in their Calcination than the others which partake the least of it Secondly let Copper be prepared which way you please you can never make it redder than the Colcothar of English Vitriol whose redness must be thought to proceed from some particles of this metal contained in it And thirdly we see plainly that Iron Lead Mercury and divers mineral bodies do acquire a red colour in their Calcining without containing any Copper The Sympathetical powder that has made so much noise is nothing but white Vitriol opened prepared divers ways according to mens different conceptions about it The Roman Vitriol is better esteemed than the other for this operation The common method of preparing this Powder is to expose it to the heat of the Sun whilst the Sun is in Leo that is in July in order to dry it and to open it And men think that Sign does bestow particular influences on the preparation Though in truth it undergoes drying better in that season than another by reason of the great heat then of the Sun And it may be the parts of the Vitriol do become more volatile by this heat but for what is said of Influence it is meerly imaginary Many do only pulverize the ordinary Vitriol in order to make the
Sympathetical powder When you would use this powder you are to take the bloud of a wound upon a linnen cloth and to sprinkle some of it upon the bloud It is pretended that though the bloudy linnen were ten miles off from the Patient when the Sympathetical powder is applied to it the wound would presently heal But the experience of several persons who have tried it and others may do the same does evince that men have had a great faith when they have talked of the effects of this powder for if it be not applied to a cloth newly blouded and even in the chamber of the Patient you will certainly find no effect from it Nay where such precautions have been used it performs no great matter and sometimes does nothing at all Now to explicate the action of Vitriol called Sympathy you must know that there does continually exhale into the air little bodies from this mineral salt and to convince you of it you need only to put the several Vitriols of different colours pretty near one another in the same place you will find after 12 or 15 daies that they have all changed colour a little in their superficies The white will become yellow the green whitish the blue greenish the red grayish These changes of colour cannot proceed but from little bodies which being separated from each kind of Vitriol and mixing in the air some part of them do fall confusedly on the matter And it must not be said that these changes are caused by the air which does open and rarefie these salts for if you put them into places separate or distant from one another this effect will in no wise happen You must also observe that the bloud to which the Vitriolick powder is applied retaining some heat still may thereby increase the activity and number of the little bodies which do arise from the Vitriol And these Vitriolick bodies dispersing themselves in the air are they that cause all the Sympathy for they do mix in the wound of the patient and because the virtue of Vitriol is to stop the bloud and to dry it you need not wonder if the volatile parts which come from it do perform the same effect But it may be objected that the volatile parts of Vitriol have no more determination naturally to go find out the wound of a person than other parts of the body and other places of the chamber Nay on the contrary that a wound being commonly covered with a plaister and somewhat thick bandage is not so likely to receive those bodies I answer that there is no need of giving any other determination to these volatile parts of Vitriol than is given to other volatile salts which are dispersed in the air but because wounds are always of a glutinous temper it is easie to conceive that these little bodies will adhere to them in greater quantity than to others as any downy substance which flies about a room wherein there is Glue or Turpentine will more easily stick in them than in other places As for the Bandage and Plaster used to wounds you must know that those who do use the Sympathetical powder do apply none of them But when it happens which is very rare that a mans wound has been cured by this Powder although there was a Plaister and bandage also laid upon it this effect can never be attributed to any thing else but the penetration of Vitriol for there are wounds that a very little quantity of Vitriol is capable of drying Thus I have given you the most rational explication that can be of an effect which has hitherto passed for a thing altogether inexplicable To conclude I would not advise any wounded person to insist or depend too much on a remedy of this nature for to one who ever received considerable good there 's a hundred who never perceived any effect from it and the cause of it has been that the volatile parts of the Vitriol have hapned to be diverted from the wound by some wind or else because the greatest part of people have their bloud too subtile and too active to be fixed by so little a quantity of Vitriol Nevertheless those whose heads are filled with the Sympathetical Powder do speak of it as of a never failing medicine And if a man offers to convince them by an experiment to the contrary as it is not hard to do they presently cry out that the reason it fails is because it is ill prepared but it is easie to convince them if they desire a serious satisfaction in it for the powder of their own preparation that they so much magnifie though it be successful in one will be found to fail in a great many others Many Authors have also written a great many falshoods in defence of the Sympathy as for example that if the urine of an Infant were cast into the fire so soon as it is made it would cause a heat of urine that if the excrements of an animal were thrown into the fire or among Nettles there would be an Inflammation in the guts of the same creature and many the like stories which a thousand experiments will prove not to be true Distillation of Vitriol This Spirit is an acid salt of Vitriol dissolved into a liquor by a great fire Fill two thirds of a large earthen Retort or glass one luted with Vitriol Calcined to whiteness place it in a close Reverberatory furnace and fitting to it a great Balon or Receiver give a very small fire to warm the Retort and make the water come forth that might still remain in the Vitriol and when there will distil no more pour the water out of the Receiver into a Bottle this is called Phlegm of Vitriol it is used in Inflammations of the eyes to wash them with refit the Receiver to the neck of the Retort and luting the junctures exactly encrease the fire by degrees and when you perceive Clouds to come forth into the Receiver continue it in the same condition until the Receiver grows cold then strengthen the fire with wood to an extream violence until the flame rises through the Tunnel of the Reverberatory as big as ones arm The Receiver will fill again with white Clouds continue the fire after this manner for three days and so many nights then put it out unlute the junctures when the vessels are cold and pour the Spirit into a glass body set it in sand and fit to it quickly a Head with its Receiver lute the junctures close with a wet Bladder and distil with a very gentle fire about four ounces of it this is the Sulphureous spirit of Vitriol keep it in a viol well stopt It is good for the Asthma Palsie and diseases of the Lungs the dose is from four drops to ten in some convenient liquor Change the Receiver and augmenting the fire distil about half the liquor that remains in the body this is called the Acid Spirit of Vitriol it is mixed in Juleps
fire-coal flung into water would do Besides it heated the water very much and much more than common Oil of Vitriol could I kept this congealed Spirit about six months after which time it dissolved into a liquor which I used as Oil of Vitriol for it was in effect the same thing And in my opinion this operation does sufficiently evince that Oil of Vitriol contains fiery parts It hapned to me another time that having rectified the Spirit of Vitriol to separate it from its Oil by an Alembick some part of the distilled Spirit was turned into fair and transparent Crystals in the bolt-head or Receiver which Crystals had the same acrimony and strength with the mass I now spoke of If you pour some drops of Spirit or Oil of Vitriol into a quart of hot water in which you shall infuse a pugil of dried red Roses the liquor will in a little time become as red as Claret and this effect must not so much be attributed to the Spirit of Vitriol's sharpning the water and so thereby drawing out the Tincture of Roses as to this that the acid Spirit does rarefie and separate the particles of the Rose which the water had dissolved and made to appear better than before for if you strain the Infusion and separate the Roses before you pour to it your Spirit of Vitriol although the liquor so strained be yet but little raised in colour it will nevertheless turn to as high a red after the Spirit is dropt into it as if the Roses remained still in the liquor We must say the same thing of other Tinctures that are drawn by acids as also of such as are made by an Alkali salt If you fill a glass Viol with the decoction of Nephritick wood clarified and look on it turning toward the light it will appear yellow but if you turn your back to the light it will appear blue if you mix with it some drops of Spirit of Vitriol it will appear yellow on every side but if you again add about as much more Oil of Tartar it will return unto its first colour If you take a Blue or Violet tincture made in water such as is drawn out of the Sun-flower or Violet flowers and pour upon it some drops of Spirit of Vitriol it will presently turn red but if you throw into it some Alkali salt it will recover again its former colour On the contrary if you pour an Alkali liquor such as volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack or the Oil of Tartar upon the blue Tincture it will presently turn green and if you again pour upon it a little Spirit of Vitriol it will change this colour into an obscure red The decoction of Indian wood is very red if you drop into it a little Spirit of Vitriol it will turn yellow and if you still add some volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack it will become black If you infuse three or four hours a piece of Indian wood in some clear juice of Citron and take out your wood the liquor will have received no alteration of colour but if you add to it some drops of Oil of Tartar made per deliquium it will take a brown colour and if you add to it a little Spirit of Vitriol it will resume its colour again If you pour some drops of Oil of Tartar upon Claret it will become greenish and if you add to it a little Spirit of Vitriol it will return to its former colour All these changes of colour which the Spirit of Vitriol or other acids and Alkali's do make proceed only from the different position of bodies dissolved in the liquor and from its disposition to modifie the light different ways Styptick Water This water is a solution of Vitriol and other ingredients to stop bleedings Take Colcothar or the red Vitriol that remains in the Retort after the spirit is drawn out Burnt-alom and Sugar-candy of each half a drachm the Urine of a young person and Rose-water of each half an ounce Plantain-water two ounces stir them all together a good while in a mortar then pour the mixture into a Viol and when you use it separate it by Inclination If you apply a Bolster dipt in this water to an opened Artery and hold your hand a while upon it it stops the bloud In like manner you may wet a little Pledget in it and thrust it into the Nose when an Hemorrhage continues too long taken inwardly it cures spitting of bloud bloudy flux and the immoderate flux of the Hemorrhoids or Terms the dose is from half a drachm to two drachms in Knot-grass water Remarks When the bloud gushes forth too fast you must redouble the first Bolster that was put upon the wound and assist it a little with your fingers for half an hour The Basis of this water is Colcothar Having used this water with good success upon several occasions I was willing to insert it in this Book and I believe if any body please to experiment it as I have done they will easily acknowledge it to be an excellent Remedy in many Distempers Lapis Medicamentosus Powder and mix together Colcothar or the red Vitriol that remains in the Retort after distillation or in want of it Vitriol Calcined to a redness two ounces Litharge Alom and Bole-Armenick of each four ounces put this mixture into a glazed pot and pour upon it good Vinegar enough to cover the matter two fingers high cover the pot and leave it two days in digestion then add to it eight ounces of Niter two ounces of Sal Armoniack set the pot over the fire and evaporate all the moisture Calcine the mass that remains about half an hour in a strong fire and keep it for use It is a good Remedy to stop Gonorrheas a drachm of it is dissolved in eight ounces of Plantain water or Smith's water to make an Injection into the Yard it is likewise good to cleanse the eyes in the small pox seven or eight grains of it must be dissolved in four ounces of Plantain or eye-bright water it is also good to stop bloud applied outwardly to a wound It may be dissolved in Knot-grass water and will go near to have the same effects as the styptick water Remarks This stone is called Medicamentosus by way of excellence by reason of the good effects it produces The Colcothar that remains in the Retort after the distillation of Vitriol must be better than the others for this Operation because being deprived of the greatest part of its Spirits it is the more Astringent Litharge which is a Lead Calcined Alom and Bole-Armenick are so many considerable Astringents that do no hurt in this composition Vinegar is put in to incorporate the ingredients together and set them a Fermenting after which the Niter and Sal Armoniack do easily mix among the rest The Calcination which is given to it at the end is done to carry off some part of the acid and to augment the Astriction It
likewise fixes the stone the more and makes it fitter to keep It is one of the best Remedies I ever met with for stopping Gonorrheas when it is a proper time to stop them by Injections Salt of Vitriol This Operation is the more fixed Salt of Vitriol that remains after distillation Take two or three pounds of the Colcothar that remains in the Retort after distillation of Vitriol let it infuse in eight or ten pints of warm water for ten or twelve hours boil it a little while and then let it settle separate the water by Inclination and pour new water upon the matter proceed as before and mixing your Impregnations evaporate all the moisture in a sand-heat in a glass or earthen vessel there will remain a salt at bottom It is used as the Gilla Vitrioli to give a Vomit the dose is from ten to thirty grains Remarks This salt is that part of the Vitriol that the fire is not able to rarefie into Spirit Some Authors say that it Vomits just after the same manner as Gilla Vitrioli taken in a smaller dose but I have observed that its effect was much less and on the contrary there was need of giving it in a larger dose than the Gilla to procure a Vomit for having given of it several times a drachm at a dose the person had no Inclination at all to Vomit and truly I am apt to believe that a fixt salt of Vitriol divested of its Sulphur doth rather tend to precipitate downwards than mount upwards for Vomiting is caused by Saline Sulphurs which prick the Fibers of the Stomach whence follows a Convulsion to this part That which remains indissoluble is called Caput Mortuum it is used for Astringents If you expose it to the Air for a year or a year and half it returns into Vitriol again CHAP. XIX Of Roche-Alom and of its Purification ROche-Alom is a very Styptick Mineral Salt found in the veins of the earth in many places of Europe it is taken up in great transparent pieces the best is that which is reddish for the white contains fewer Spirits Alom is purified after the same manner as Vitriol it is used to cleanse the teeth it is a good Diuretick a drachm of it is dissolved in a quart of water and a glass of it is given now and then Many things are likewise called by the name of Alom as the Saccharinum which resembles Sugar it is nothing but a mixture of Roche-Alom Rose-water and the white of an Egg. Plume-Alom which some call Lapis Amianthus is a kind of Talk Distillation of Alom Put five pounds of Roche-Alom into a glass or earthen body and fitting to it a head with its Receiver distil in sand as much as will rise you will have a Phlegm of Alom that is used for distempers of the eyes for Quinsies and to cleanse wounds unlute the vessels break the body and powder the white mass that remains in it put it into an earthen Retort half empty place your Retort in a Reverberatory furnace and fitting to it a large Receiver lute the junctures close and light a very small fire the first three hours only to warm the Retort afterwards increase it every hour to the utmost violence and these Spirits will come forth and fill the Receiver with white Clouds continue the fire in this condition three days together then let the vessels cool you 'l find in the Receiver an acid Spirit which you may rectifie by distilling it in a glass Alembick in sand in order to make it the clearer This acid is more disagreeable than that of Vitriol it is used in Juleps for continued Feavers and Tertian Agues the dose is from four to eight drops it is likewise good to cure the Aphtha or little Chancres in the mouth Break the Retort and you 'l find in it a white mass very much rarefied and light it is called Burnt Alom or Calcined Alom it is used for to eat carnous excrescences or proud flesh Remarks The Distillation of Alom must be performed like that of Vitriol that is to say without addition of earth because these Salts do contain enough themselves The Body into which you put your Alom must be sure to be large enough because it rarefies extreamly The Phlegm is known to be all come forth when there distils no more for these Spirits being very weighty do require a greater heat than that of sand to raise them Some have written that Alom yields but very little acid yet if they take the pains to keep a strong fire under it for three days together they 'l find that this Spirit does not give place in strength or quantity to that of Vitriol Nor are we at all obliged to distinguish as they would have us the Acrimonious Corrosive salt of Alom from its acid seeing that there is nothing either Acrimonious or Corosive in this Mineral salt which will not turn into an acid Spirit when it is strongly urged by fire If a Drachm of Alom be dissolved in six ounces of this Phlegm you make an excellent Alom water to cleanse wounds and ulcers with The mass that remains in the Cucurbite or Dephlegmated Alom is more Escarotick than that which hath lost its Spirits Chirurgeons are wont to Calcine Alom in a Frying pan but the Iron dulls the greatest part of its vertue as absorbing its Spirits wherein consists the corrosion of Alom the Retort must be filled but half full because there happen Ebullitions which do require room CHAP. XX. Of Sulphur SVlphur is a kind of Bitumen that is found in many places in Italy and Spain There is brought among us both a Natural and an Artificial the Natural is greyish and called Sulphur Vivum the other is Yellow and is nothing but the Natural melted purified from its grosser earth and formed into Rowls which we do commonly use Some think that Sulphur is a Vitriol sublimed in the earth because these mixts are very often found near one another that there is a great deal of Sulphur in the mass of Mineral Vitriol and that the acid Spirits which are drawn from them both are wholly alike Flower of Sulphur This preparation is an exaltation of Sulphur Put about half a pound of Sulphur grosly powdered into a glass body place it in a small open fire and cover it with a pot or another Cucurbite turned upside down one that is unglazed so as that the neck of the one may enter into the neck of the other Change the upper Cucurbite every half hour fitting another in its place add likewise new Sulphur gather your Flowers which you find stuck in the Cucurbite and continue to do thus until you have got as much as you desire Then put out the fire and let the vessels cool there will remain at bottom only a little light insignificant earth The Flower of Sulphur is used in Diseases of the Lungs and Breast the dose is from ten to thirty grains in Lozenges or in Electuary It
is used also in Unguents for the Itch. Remarks This Operation is intended only to rarefie the Sulphur that being become more open it may work the better Sulphur is proper against Infirmities of the Lungs when they proceed from a Viscosity that sticks to them because it deterges but if it should be given to such as are too much dried with a Feaver it proves very ill in that it raises a greater motion of the humours it cures Tettars and the Itch because opening the Pores it drives out the subtler part of the humor but yet the grosser part remaining within they do frequently return again You may use a glass head to fit upon the body If you mix one part of Sal Polychrestum with two pounds of Sulphur and sublime them together as those I have described you 'l have white flowers of Sulphur which are thought to be better for distempers of the Breast than those others they are given in the same dose This whiteness proceeds from a very exact attenuation which Sal Polychrestum gives to the Sulphur the Sal Polychrestum which remains at bottom of the Cucurbite may be Calcined and if you afterwards Purifie it by solution Evaporation and Filtration it will be as good as before Magistery of Sulphur This Operation is a Sulphur dissolved by an Alkali salt and precipitated by an acid Take four ounces of the Flower of Sulphur and twelve ounces of the Salt of Tartar or Salt-peter fixed by the coals put them into a large glazed pot and pour upon them six or seven pints of water Cover the pot and setting it on the fire make the matter boil five or six hours or until being become red the Sulphur is all dissolved Then Filtrate the dissolution and pour upon it by little and little distilled Vinegar or some other acid there will presently appear a Milk let it settle that a white powder may precipitate to the bottom of the vessel pour off by Inclination that which is clear and washing this powder five or six times with water dry it in the shade this is called the Magistery or Milk of Sulphur it is thought good for all diseases of the Lungs or Breast the dose is from six to sixteen grains in some convenient liquor Remarks Water alone is not able to dissolve such a gross body as Sulphur wherefore an Alkali salt is added to divide it into small imperceptible particles The acid liquor pierces the Alkali and by separating its parts makes it let go its hold so that the Sulphur gathers it self together and falls down to the bottom in a white powder This powder is washed to take away the impression of the Salt of Tartar and the acid that might remain among it after which it may be said to be a Flower of Sulphur Alcoholised The change of its yellow colour into a white comes from this that being more rarefied it hath a smoother surface then it had before to reflect the light in a direct line to our eyes This Operation may give us an Idea of what happens in Chylification and in Sanguification for after the same manner as the Sulphur does become white when it has been reduced into a Magistery or fine powder so the aliments having been fermented and their substance attenuated in our stomachs the Chyle receives a white colour and after the manner as the Sulphur when intirely dissolved does turn of a red colour so the parts of Chyle having been altogether exalted and dissolved by repeated circulations does become red and turn into bloud This bloud turns into a Pus and becomes white in Imposthumes because the acid which is found in them having as it were fixed and gathered together its insensible parts does make them recover again the colour of Chyle You must take care not to let there be any Silver vessel where this Operation is performed because the vapour which proceeds from Sulphur will make it black Fifteen grains of this powder will do as much as double the quantity of Flower of Sulphur for diseases of the Breast and it doth not heat so much Balsom of Sulphur This Operation is a solution of the oily parts of common Sulphur in oil of Turpentine Put into a small matrass an ounce and a half of Flower of Sulphur and pour upon it eight ounces of Oil of Turpentine place your matrass in sand and give it a digesting fire two hours afterwards encrease it a little for four hours and the Oil will take a red colour let the vessel cool then separate the clear Balsom from the Sulphur that could not dissolve This Balsom is excellent for Ulcers of the Lungs and Breast the dose is from one drop to six in some proper liquor This Balsom may be reduced to the consistence of an Unguent by evaporating some part of it and it is thus used to cleanse wounds and ulcers To make the Aniseed Balsom of Sulphur you must use the Oil drawn from Aniseed instead of the Oil of Turpentine and proceed as I have said it is more agreeable than the former and has less acrimony Remarks There is no need of a great fire for this Operation because Sulphur being a fat body doth easily incorporate with Oils and commonly gives them a red colour When you would have this Balsom taken in Potion you must dissolve it in a little yelk of an Egg that it may mix in waters or broths That which remains undissolved in the matrass is the acid or saline part of Sulphur and is found crystallized A Balsom of Sulphur may be likewise made with Oil of Linseed instead of the Oil of Turpentine for wounds Spirit of Sulphur This Spirit is the acid part of Sulphur turned into a liquor by fire Provide a great earthen pan and set in the middle of it a little earthen pan turn'd upside down and then another such pan on this filled with melted Sulphur cover both these Pans with a great glass tunnel made on purpose with a neck as long as that of a matrass and the bigness of a thumb fire the Sulphur and do not stop the hole of the tunnel but let the air come in to increase its burning for it would otherwise go out When your Sulphur is spent put new in its place and continue to do so until you find under the lower pan as much Spirit as you need keep it in a Viol. It is put into Juleps to give them an agreable acidity to qualifie the heat of continued Feavers and is a good diuretick Some do prescribe it for diseases of the Breast but because acids are apt to give a Cough it may therefore do more hurt than good to that part Remarks A great many Machines have been invented to draw the Spirit of Sulphur the ordinary one is the glass bell under which the Brimstone is burnt and the Spirits coagulating against its sides distil into an earthen pan that is set underneath after the same manner as I have shewed in the description of
my Machine You must leave an empty space between the brims of the Bell and the Pan that the Fire may have air enough to keep it lighted but besides that the Fire is apt to go out every moment use never so much precaution a very poor quantity of Spirit is drawn this way Authors do recommend this Operation to be done when the weather 's wet and to moisten the Bell before-hand but I have found by experience that these circumstances signified nothing at all With the Machine that I have described I can draw a good handsom quantity of Spirit and I am not forced to fire the Sulphur several times because the hole at top gives vent to the air and hinders the fires going out Again the more Phlegmatick part evaporates that way but the acid Spirit not being able to rise so high condenses against the sides of the tunnel and then falls down under the little pan that is turned upside down to raise the other higher that contains the Sulphur You may use a Crucible instead of a pan to put the Sulphur in The greenish Sulphur is better than the other for this Operation because it has more Vitriol in it and consequently more Spirit for this Spirit is nothing but a Vitriolick Salt dissolved that differs little from the Spirit of Vitriol besides in the Taste which is not so Empyreumatical as not having undergone so violent a Fire The Vitriolick salt which is in the Sulphur does not rise until the more volatile parts are spent for which reason the Spirit does not distil until towards the end and the drops begin then to appear in the middle of the Tunnel Forasmuch as Sulphur is good for diseases of the Lungs and Breast many do think that the Spirit which is drawn from it ought to have the same virtues but they do not consider that this Spirit being deprived of the fat or most sulphureous part of Sulphur hath also lost the virtue that accompanies it and that it must produce effects altogether different from those of Sulphur after the manner as the acid Spirits which are drawn from Sugar Vitriol and many other matters have very different virtues from those of the mixts themselves And the reason of it is very plain for whereas the Sulphur by its ramous parts can sweeten the acrimonious humours which fall upon the Lungs and so help the Cough the Spirit of Sulphur which is an acid does prick the Fibres of the Larynx and cause a Coughing as all other acids do Salt of Sulphur The Salt of Sulphur is a Sal Polychrestum impregnated with Spirit of Sulphur Put four ounces of Sal Polychrestum prepared as I have said into an earthen pan or a glass vessel and pour upon it two ounces of Spirit of Sulphur set your vessel in sand and evaporate all the liquor over a gentle fire there will remain four ounces and six drachms of an acid salt most agreeable to the taste keep it in a bottle well stopt It is a good medicine for to open all Obstructions and to work by Urine and sometimes it works also by stool the dose is from ten grains to two scruples in broth It is dissolved from half a drachm to two drachms in a quart of water for a drink in Feavers Remarks This Salt is improperly called Salt of Sulphur for it is nothing but a Sal Polychrestum impregnated with an acid Spirit Many great descriptions have been given of Salt of Sulphur which being well examined do all come to the same thing as this it is called by many Authors a Febrifugous salt The true Salt of Sulphur truly so called should be a little of the fixed Vitriol which remains in the earth of Sulphur after that the flowers have been drawn from it and should be separated from the earth by a Lixivium as other fixed salts are made but such a Salt would not have the same qualities as this Some have written that when Spirit of Sulphur is poured upon Sal Polychrestum dissolved in water there is made a great effervescency as well as when the same Spirit is thrown upon Salt-peter but without doubt they little examined the matter for there is no ebullition made neither with the Sal Polychrestum nor with Salt-peter they being both of them acid salts The union of acid Spirits with acid Salts is very different from that between acids and alkalis for the acid Spirits not being able to open the insensible parts of acid Salts they do lose nothing of their strength and their keenness remains the same but it is not so in respect of acids mixed with alkalis for such a penetration is made into the alkalis that the acid loses its strength in them And for the reason that I have now given the Salt of Sulphur is very acid and tartarum vitriolatum is hardly at all acid although there is imployed proportionably as much more acid Spirit for the making tartarum vitriolatum than there is for the making Salt of Sulphur The Salt of Sulphur is good in Tertians and continued Feavers and on all occasions where there is need of calming the too great motion of the humours because the acid serves to fixe the volatile Salts or Sulphurs which are most commonly the principal cause of these diseases CHAP. XXI Of Succinum or Ambar THere is found in small currents near the Baltick Sea in the Dutchy of Prussia a certain coagulated Bitumen which because it seems to be a juice of the earth is called Succinum and Carabè because it will attract straws it is likewise called Electrum Glessum Ambra Citrina vulgarly Yellow Ambar This Bitumen being soft and viscous several little Animals such as Flies and Ants do stick to it and are buried in it Ambar is of different colours such as White Yellow and Black The White is most esteemed though it be no better than the Yellow The Black hath the least virtue of all Ambar serves to stop spitting of bloud the Bloudy-flux the immoderate flux of the Hemorrhoids Terms and Gonorrheas the dose is from ten grains to half a drachm It is likewise used to stop a little the violence of Catarrhs by receiving the fume of it at the Nose Some do think that Petroleum or Oil of Peter is a liquor drawn from Ambar by the means of Subterranean fires which make a distillation of it and that Jet and coals are the remainders of this distillation This opinion would have probability enough in it if the places from whence this sort of drogues does come were not so far asunder the one from the other for Petroleum is not commonly found but in Italy in Sicily and Provence This Oil distils through the clefts of rocks and it is very likely to be the Oil of some Bitumen which the subterranean fires have raised Tincture of Ambar This Operation is a solution of some oily parts of Ambar made in Spirit of wine Reduce into an impalpable powder five or six ounces of yellow
Receiver Though the Guaiacum that is used be a very dry body yet abundance of liquor is drawn from it for if you put into the Retort four pounds of this Wood at sixteen ounces to the pound you 'l draw nine and thirty ounces of Spirit and Phlegm and five ounces and a half of Oil there will remain in the Retort nineteen ounces of coals from which you may draw half an ounce or six drachms of an Alkali salt The Oil of Guaiacum is acrimonious by reason of the Salts it has carried along with it and it is the gravity of these salts that does precipitate it to the bottom of the water The Oil of Box and most others that are drawn this same way do the like These sorts of Oil are good for the Tooth-ach because they stop the nerve with their ramous parts hindring thereby the air from entring Moreover by means of the acrimonious salts which they contain they do dissipate a phlegm which uses to get within the gum and causes the pain but yet by reason of their fetid smell men have much ado to take them into their mouth That which is called Spirit of Guaiacum is nothing but a dissolution of the Essential salt of the Plant in a little phlegm The fixt salt is an Alkali that works much like others of that kind nevertheless it is very probable that the fixt salts of Vegetables let them be never so much Calcined do always retain some particular virtue of the Plant they were drawn from If one would take the pains to Calcine the earth that remains he would obtain a salt though but very little of it CHAP. IV. Of Paper THE Papyrus of the Antients which gave the name to our PAPER was a tree growing in Aegypt near the river Nilus The bark of this tree was prepared and men did write upon it but our Paper is made of old rags or clouts which are beaten exceeding fine in Paper-mills and then put into the press in order to make Paper with them This Paper has some use in Physick pieces of it are lighted in a room and Hysterical women are made to receive the fume of it they are commonly relieved with this disagreeable smell as by many others of the like nature Oil and Spirit of Paper Fold white paper into little pellets and fill a great earthen Retort or glass one luted with them place your Retort in a Reverberatory furnace Fit to it a large capacious Receiver lute well the junctures give it a very little fire for two hours only to heat the Retort increase it with two or three coals and continue it so for two or three hours then quicken it to the third degree The Receiver will be filled with white clouds put out the fire when no more will come forth the operation will be ended in seven or eight hours When the vessels are cold unlute them pour what you find in the Receiver into a Tunnel lined with a coffin of brown paper the Spirit will pass through the filter and a thick black and ill-scented oil will remain within it keep the oil for use in a Viol. It is a very good remedy in deafness some drops of it are put into the ear with a little cotton from time to time it quiets the noise of the ear it is also good for Tettars and for the Itch the parts being anointed a little with it it cures the tooth-ach much like the Oil of Guaiacum it is good likewise to repress hysterical vapours women so affected are to smell to it You must rectifie the Spirit by distilling it in sand It is an Aperitive and may be given where there is occasion for a diuretick the dose is from six drops to twenty in some proper liquor Remarks The Vitriol and other drogues which are in Ink might alter the virtue of the Oil and Spirit of paper wherefore it is better to use clean than written paper The receiver must be large in order to give room to the vapours to circulate in for they come forth with that force that they would break the vessel if they had not room enough to play in you must manage the fire with prudence for if you make it too great the first hours the Spirits will break the Retort If you have used in this operation four and twenty ounces of paper you will draw two ounces and two drachms of Oil and thirteen ounces and a half of Spirit there will remain in the Retort seven ounces and a half of coals The Oil does not pass with the Spirit through the coffin in the tunnel because it is too thick its black colour and its ill smell do come from the fire It is good for deafness because that disease is often caused by a thick or phlegmatick humor which dries and hardens in the ear so as to stop the auditory nerve Now this Oil dissolves and rarefies this humor and disposes it the better to come out And this is the reason that it dissipates the noises in the ears for they were caused by winds which this humor had shut in The Spirit is very acid in comparison with other Spirits of Vegetables because it comes from an essential salt which has been put into a very considerable motion Again it is probable that by the many different forms which the flax and canvas have received in order to make cloth and afterwards Paper and by the fermentations which they may have received their fixed salt may be volatilized and become of the nature of that which is called Essential Now in the distillation all this salt has been dissolved into a liquor by the phlegm and turned into that which is called Spirit that which confirms me in this sentiment is that there can be hardly any fixed salt at all drawn from the coal which remains in the Retort wherefore the coal is thrown away as useless it takes fire exceeding easily by reason of a light soot that is fallen upon it and which gave it the black colour CHAP. V. Of Cinnamon CInnamon is the Bark of a Tree as large as an Olive Tree it grows in the East-Indies and is much like that which the Cassia Lignea is taken from but it is not the very same as some will needs think the best Cinnamon is that which has the strongest smell is quick upon the taste and of a reddish colour The Cassia Lignea differs from Cinnamon in that it is not so biting to the taste smells not so strong and becomes mucilaginous in the mouth when it is chewed which Cinnamon doth not do Both Cinnamon and Cassia Lignea are good to fortifie the stomach to help perspiration of gross humors to strengthen and rejoice the heart and in hysterical cases Oil or Essence of Cinnamon and its Aethereal water Bruise four pounds of good Cinnamon and infuse it in six quarts of hot water leave it in digestion in an earthen vessel well stopt two days pour the Infusion into a large Copper
matter fit to it another matrass in order to make a double vessel lute well the junctures and place your vessel to digest in horse-dung or in a vaporous Bath four days stir it from time to time the Spirit of wine will load it self with a red colour unlute the vessels filtrate the Tincture through brown paper and keep it in a viol well stopt It is a Febrifuge to be given in Agues three or four times a day at a distance from the fitt and to be continued for a fortnight the dose is from ten drops to a drachm in some proper liquor such as Centaury water or Juniper or Wormwood water or wine If you put new Spirit of wine to the matter which remains in the matrass and set it in digestion as before you will draw more Tincture but it will not be so strong as the other wherefore you must give it in a little larger dose Remarks This Tincture works like the Infusion I now spoke of it is a more convenient preparation than the other in this that it can keep as long as you will whereas the other does sowr in a little time Again those who do not love wine will like it better but I should prefer the Infusion before the Tincture because wine is a more proper menstruum wherewith to draw the saline and sulphureous substance of a mixt then Spirit of wine You may steep a few Coriander seeds or a little Cinnamon in the wine or water and after it is strained off dissolve some sugar in it and in this you may mix the Tincture of the Bark and so make a kind of Febrifugous Rossoli which Infants may be easily made to take of Extract of Peruvian Bark This Operation is a separation of the more substantial parts of the Bark Put to infuse warm four and twenty hours eight ounces of Peruvian Bark in a sufficient quantity of distilled water of Nuts afterwards boil the Infusion gently and strain it make a strong expression of the residence put it to infuse in new water of Nuts boil and strain it as before mix together what you have strained and let them settle decant the clear liquor and evaporate it in a glass or earthen vessel set in a sand-heat unto the consistence of thick honey It is a Febrifuge that has the same virtues as the former the dose is from twelve grains to half a drachm in Pills or dissolved in wine Remarks The Wine and Spirit of wine are very proper to draw forth the Tincture of the Bark but they are by no means good to make the Extract with because in the evaporation the Spirit carries away with it the more subtile parts of the mixt The water of Nuts is much more convenient for besides that it loses less of the volatile substance it is a little febrifugous itself Instead of this water you might use those of Juniper-berries the lesser Centaury or Wormwood-water The Extract is convenient for those who cannot endure the taste of remedies for it may be given in Pills wrapped up in a wafer without partaking of the taste But I should prefer the Infusion or the Bark in substance before this preparation because it is impossible to avoid the evaporation of the more subtile parts in the ebullition of it use what precaution you will to preserve them You may draw the fixt salt from the residence that remains after you have drawn the Extract or the Tincture You must dry it and burn and calcine the ashes in a crucible then steep them in hot water ten or twelve hours boil them an hour and then filtrate this lixivium and evaporate the water in an earthen pan or glass vessel in sand there will remain a salt at bottom which you must keep in a bottle well stopt This salt is an alkali as are all other fixed salts drawn from plants it is aperitive it may be given for a quartan Ague the dose is from ten grains to a scruple in some proper liquor You must not think that this salt retains all the virtues of the Bark they are rather all destroyed in the calcination Nor may we think to separate the Febrifugous virtue of this Bark by distilling it dry in a Retort for on the contrary this would destroy it by breaking the natural harmony and union of its parts and you would get only a stinking Spirit and a burnt oil which would be of no great use CHAP. VII Of Cloves CLoves are the fruit of a Tree as big as the Laurel Tree its Bark is very much like Cinnamon but tasts like the fruit Cloves it grows in many places in the Indies it is an admirable stomachick held in the mouth it preserves from the contagion of ill air Oil of Cloves per Descensum Take several large drinking glasses cover them with a Linnen-cloth and tie it round each of them leaving a cavity in each Cloth to put the powdered Cloves into set a small earthen Cup upon each glass of these Cloves let it stop so fitly that it may suffer no air to enter between its brim and that of the glass fill these Cups with hot ashes to warm the Cloves and distil down to the bottom of the glass first a little phlegm and Spirit and after that a clear and white oil continue the fire until there falls no more separate the oil in a Tunnel lined with a cornet of brown paper and keep it in a Viol well stopt Some drops of it are with Cotton put into aking Teeth it is likewise good in Malignant Feavers and the Plague the dose is two or three drops in Balm-water or some appropriate liquor You must mix it with a little Sugar-candy or a little yelk of an egg before you drop it into water otherwise it will not dissolve in the water Remarks I have given you this Preparation to serve upon an emergence when you want in haste the Oil of Cloves you must only use hot ashes to warm the Cloves if you desire to have a white Oil for if you give a greater heat the Oil turns red and loses a good part of it You must also take care to lift up the Cup from time to time to stir about the powder of Cloves The Oil of Cloves may be likewise drawn if you please like that of Cinnamon If you use a pound of Cloves to distil per descensum according to the description I have given you 'l draw an ounce and two drachms of white Oil and an ounce of Spirit there will remain thirteen ounces and two drachms of matter from whence might still be drawn a little red Oil. It is likely that the Oil of Cloves works in easing the tooth-ach much after the same manner as I said the Oil of Guaiacum did But this Oil having an agreeable smell with it there is no difficulty in admitting the application of this as there was in the other Some do dissolve Opium in Oil of Cloves and do use this dissolution for the tooth-ach
Sun their spirituous parts that were condensed in the Phlegm do display themselves and exert their activity for which reason it is that the water becomes fragrant which was not so before The Extract doth contain almost all the Essential Salt of the Plant wherefore it is of greater virtue than the water you must take care to Evaporate the liquor with a mild heat for fear too much should carry off this salt which is but too volatile of its own nature for it is in the salt that the principal virtue of the Plant doth consist CHAP. X. Distillation of a Plant that is not Odoriferous such as Carduus Benedictus and its Essential Salt TAke a good quantity of Carduus when it is in its prime pound it in a Mortar and fill with it two thirds of a Limbeck draw by expression a sufficient quantity of the Juyce of other Carduus and pour it into the Limbeck that the herbs swimming in the Juyce may incur no danger of sticking to the bottom during the distillation distil with a fire of the second degree about half as much water as you used juyce this water is Sudorifick It is used to drive out the Small-Pox and in the Plague Express through a cloth that which remains in the Limbeck let the juyce settle and after it is filtred Evaporate with a small fire about two thirds of the liquor in an earthen or glass vessel set this vessel in a cool place and leave it there eight or ten days there will shoot out Crystals round about the vessel separate them and keep them in a Viol well stopt These Crystals are called the Essential salt it is Sudorifick the dose is from six to sixteen grains in its proper distilled water The Extract of Carduus may be likewise made the same way that I described for Balm Remarks Succory Fumitory Sorrel Scabious Cresses and all other Plants that are not Odoriferous which yield good store of Juice must be distilled like the Carduus Benedictus and this method may serve to draw the Essential Salt out of any plant whatsoever The hot Plants have much more of this Salt than others Lettice contains less than Succory Succory less than Sorrel and so of the rest Seeing it is in the Salt that the virtue of the plant consists I would advise rather to use the decoction of Plants than their distilled water when the Plants are in season and when they are out then to have recourse to distilled waters and mix with them a little of their Essential Salt or Extract The fixt Alkali Salt may be drawn from the remainder of the Plant in like manner as I have shewed to draw that of Guaiacum CHAP. XI Of Sugar SVgar is the essential salt of a reed or cane that grows in many places and especially in the Western Islands The pulp in the trunk of this plant is taken and washed and then steeped in hot water this water is strained and evaporated and the Sugar remains at bottom heretofore it was called Mel arundinaceum or the Cane-honey but since it has been called Zucharum or Saccharum The first elaboration that is given to Sugar is to purifie it by dissolving it in water filtrating and evaporating the liquor after which it is made up into Loaves or else it is sent in Casks or Chests and is called Cassonnade or Castonnade There are of it the red the brown and the white Sugar according as it has been more or less purified it differs in colour The name Castonnade may have been derived from the Casks in which it is brought called Cast by the Germans When the Sugar has been refined no more then abovesaid it is a little fat now to refine it farther it is dissolved in Lime-water it is boiled and the scum taken off when it is sufficiently boiled it is cast into molds of a Pyramidal form which have a hole at bottom to let the more glutionous part run through and separate It is still farther refined by boiling it with the whites of eggs in water for the glutinous quality of the whites of eggs does help to receive and take away the impurities which might remain in the Sugar and the boiling of it serving to drive them all to the sides of the vessel in a scum the liquor is passed through a cloth and then evaporated to a due consistence Sugar-Candy is only a Sugar crystallized the way to make it is to boil refined Sugar in water to the consistence of a thick Syrop it is then poured into pots wherein little sticks have been laid in order it is left in a still place some days without stirring and you have the Sugar-Candy sticking to those sticks Red Sugar-Candy is made after the same manner Sugar is good for infirmities of the breast and lungs because it does attenuate and cut the phlegm which sometimes oppresses the fibres of these parts but you must use it as little as may be in hysterical cases by reason that it raises vapours Red-Sugar is sometimes mixed with detersive Clysters It s sweetness does proceed from an essential acid salt mixed with some oily parts of which it consists as I have already explicated in the Remarks upon Oil of Antimony prepared with Sugar The Cassonnade or Cask-sugar makes a sweeter impression upon the tongue than our finer Sugar because it contains more viscous or fat parts which do remain the longer upon the nerve of the tongue and this makes us sometimes prefer the first as to use before the other And for the same reason the finer a Sugar is the quicker it passes off the taste Sugar-candy is better for Rheums than common Sugar because being harder it requires a longer time to melt in the mouth and besides it keeps the breast moister than the common Sugar Spirit of Sugar This Spirit is a mixture of the acid part of Sugar with the Flowers of Sal Armoniack Powder and mix eight ounces of white Sugar-candy with four ounces of Sal Armoniack put this mixture into a glass or earthen body whose third only is thereby filled fit a head to the body and place it in a sand-furnace joyn a receiver to it and lute well the junctures with a wet bladder give it a small fire for an hour only to heat the vessel then increase it to the second degree there will distil a liquor drop by drop and towards the end there will rise white vapours into the head increase your fire still more until nothing more comes forth let the vessels cool and unlute them you will find in the receiver seven ounces of a brown liquor that has but an ill smell and a little black oil stuck to the sides pour it all together into a glass-body and having fitted to it a head and receiver and luted the joints distil in sand six ounces of a very acid spirit that is clear and agreeable to the taste and without any smell of Empyreum It is a good aperitive against the gravel and the
soluble part of the other Divers little Objections have likewise been made me on this subject for want of duly examining what I have established Wherefore I do not desire to enlarge in the relation of them for I do aim as much as I can to avoid Repetitions as being good for nothing but to swell a Book and tire the Reader Wine diminishes the appetite as saith Hippocrates and the cause may be because the Sulphureous Spirits it is charged with do dull and oppress the Ferment of the Stomach which by its irritation caused hunger Vinous liquors may be made of all Fruits and many other things by means of Fermentation as from Apples Pears Honey and Hopps In like manner Berries Seeds Leaves and Flowers may be made to Ferment but because several of these things are naturally too dry to ferment easily they must be wetted with water after they are beaten and to quicken their Fermentation a little Yest is to be added and by this means liquors are made whence burning Spirits may be drawn as well as from Wine That which happens in the fermentation of Wines may serve very well to explicate many diseases but especially the Small Pox for it is very probable that in this disease the bloud does boil and ferment in the vessels much after the manner as Wine ferments in a vessel The little pustules of the Small Pox are a Tartar which is separated from the bloud to the skin after the same manner as the Tartar separates from the Wine to the sides of the vessel and indeed they have the same effect as salt in corroding the skin Infants are more subject to this disease than elder persons because their bloud is more like to Muste and consequently is more subject to ferment The Small-pox does usually happen but once in a mans life just as Muste does ferment also but once Distillation of Wine into Brandy Fill with Wine half a large Copper body cover it with its Moors head bordered with its Refrigeratory and fit to it a Receiver lute well the junctures with a wet Bladder and distil with a gentle fire about a quarter of the Liquor or else until the liquor which distils doth not burn when fire is put to it that which is in the Receiver is called Brandy and in French Aqua vitae Remarks Brandy is a Spirit of wine loaded with phlegm that it hath carried with it in the distillation these Spirits do always rise first and so it is known that there remain no more in the Cucurbite when the liquor that distils is no longer inflammable Brandy may be drawn from all sorts of Wines but more of it may be drawn in some Countries than others For example the Wines that are made about Orleans and Paris do yield greater plenty of Brandy than many others which seem to be stronger and the reason is that those Wines which appear stronger being loaded with a great deal of Tartar have their Spirits as it were fixed whereas the others containing but a convenient portion of this Tartar do leave their Spirits at greater liberty When Wine has been drunk there is made a separation of Spirits in the body much resembling that which is made by distillation for the heat of the bowels warming it causes the Spirituous parts to spread on all sides through the pores and some part of them to mix with the bloud and rarefie it from whence it comes to rejoyce the heart and encrease the vigour of the whole body but because these Spirits do always tend upwards the greatest part flies into the brain where it quickens its motion and produces a certain gaiety of mind that is wont to furnish us with many excellent thoughts But now if wine moderately taken is so profitable for the Functions of the body it likewise causes many mischiefs when it is excessively used for the Spirituous parts rising in great abundance do circulate in the brain with so much celerity that they soon confound the whole Oeconomy And then the objects will appear double and the walls of the place where one is seem to have changed their ordinary situation This Confusion remains until the Spirits having some good time dissolved the phlegm do in part condense with it and in part spend through the pores It likewise then happens that a man is prone to sleep because the Pituita being attenuated either by the Spirits of wine or by the phlegm they have drawn along with them glides into the small passages of the brain and retards the Circulation of the Animal Spirits by gluing them together for after the same manner as the motion of the Spirits in the Brain doth beget watchfulness so their repose or condensation produces sleep But I shall speak more amply of this subject hereafter when I come to treat of the effects of Opium The sleep which is caused through excess of Wine doth usually remain until the Animal Spirits have rarefied this phlegm and opened a free passage Those who are intoxicated with Beer Sider or some such like liquor do remain in their Drunkenness a longer time and sleep more after it than those who are drunk with Wine because the Spirit of these liquors carrying along with it a viscous phlegm into the brain remains a longer time in the disengaging it self and passing through the pores Again it is the viscosity of this phlegm which entring into the Sinus of the brain does cause so long a sleep because it is so hard to rarefie Those Accidents that I have related to proceed from the immoderate use of Wine are but the first and the less grievous though indeed they are but little to be desired every body knows that a continuation of frequent debauches doth at last render a man dull and stupid and this by reason the Spirits of Wine do not only trouble the Natural Spirits in their functions and render them Phlegmatick but likewise by rarefying them do ever carry off and lose some store of them These Persons are likewise subject to a continual spitting or else they are molested with defluxions Catarrhs and Gout because the Pituita being rendred more liquid by the Spirits and phlegm of vinous liquors is forced to descend through the Lymphatick vessels but if there happens to be the least obstacle in these vessels it takes its course with the Nerves and falls upon all the parts of the body Lastly when excess of wine does occasion falling into the Apoplexy and Palsie it is by reason the Pituita is rendred too liquid by the Spirits and Phlegm of wine and causes Obstructions in the head and hinders the natural course of the Spirits into the Nerves Many other sad effects of wine-debauches might be here mentioned but this digression is too long Let us return to our Operation After the wine hath been deprived of these Sulphureous Spirits there remains in the body a Tartareous liquor which being exposed a good while to the Sun in a Cask without its stopple turns
into good Vinegar It may be some such thing happens in the Bodies of those who accustom to drink too much wine for whereas the volatile parts which ascend to the Brain and Heart by an agitation of the Spirits do beget Joy so on the contrary the Tartareous parts by fixing the humors about the Hypochondria do cause by little and little that which is called Melancholy which proceeds from an acid whence it comes to pass that many men making a debauch upon wine with design to pass away their Melancholy do afterwards find they have encreased it when the debauch hath had its effect If you would by way of curiosity make an exact Analysis of wine you must take that which remains in the body after distillation of the Brandy and distil off all the phlegm there will remain a Matter like unto Rosine put it into a Retort and placing it in a Furnace distil away more phlegm in a small fire until it begins to come sharp Then fit a large Receiver to the Retort and luting well the junctures strengthen the fire by degrees to drive forth acid Spirits and a little fetid Oil continue the fire until there comes no more The Oil is separated from the Spirit in a Tunnel lined with brown paper for the Spirit will pass through and the Oil being too thick will remain But it is here remarkable that more of this Spirit and Oil is drawn from Muste than wine which sufficiently proves the Remark I made before touching the origine of the volatile Spirit of wine for seeing good store of the Oil of Muste hath contributed to the making volatile Spirit of Wine there must needs remain but very little Oyl in the liquor that Brandy is drawn from The acid Spirit of wine and the Black Oil are like to those of Tartar which I shall describe anon And an alkali salt wholly resembling that of Tartar may be drawn by a Lixivium from the mass that remains in the Retort Spirit of Wine Spirit of Wine is the oily part of wine rarefied by acid Salts Fill a large bolt-head with a long neck half full with Brandy and fitting a head and Receiver lute close the junctures set your bolthead upon a pot half filled with water to distil in a vaporous Bath the Spirit which separates from the phlegm and rises pure continue this degree of fire until nothing more distils thus you 'l have a dephlegmated Spirit of Wine in the very first distillation It serves for a Menstruum to a great many things in Chymistry half a spoonful of it is given to Apoplectical and Lethargical persons to make them come to themselves likewise their Wrists Breast and Face are rubbed with it 'T is a good Remedy for Burnings if applied so soon as they happen and it is good for cold pains for the Palsie Contusions and other Maladies wherein it is requisite to discuss and to open the pores Remarks The usual way of making Spirit of Wine is by distilling Brandy in a Limbeck so many times over until it comes pure and to do this about half the Brandy is drawn by distillation and the phlegm that remains at bottom accounted of no use Again half the Spirit which was distilled is anew drawn off and the phlegm thrown away these Rectifications are continued until you find by firing a spoonful of the Spirit that every drop burns and there remains not the least Phlegm but because this Operation is very tedious and it is a hard matter thus to get a Spirit of Wine wholly free from Phlegm even after nine or ten times repeating these distillations let the fire be never so small Artists have invented a long Machine which they call the Serpent by reason of the circumvolutions which it makes It is fitted to the Cucurbite containing the Brandy and the top made like a Tunnel receives the head to which a Receiver is fitted and the junctures well luted and the vessel placed in a small fire the Spirits of Wine do rise by this gentle heat but the phlegm being too heavy cannot ascend so high so that thus a Spirit of Wine deprived of its phlegm is had the very first time But because this Machine is hard to carry into the country and other places where one would desire to make Spirit of Wine and besides that it is subject to loosen in the joints through the violence of the Spirits I have thought that the way I delivered for making Spirit of Wine was more commodious for provided you have but a matrass and a head it will be an easie matter to draw as good Spirit of Wine as that by the Serpent and there 's no need to fear the Spirits breaking any way out of the vessel if you do but lute well the junctures as I have said The matrass must have a very long neck that no phlegm may be able to rise into the Receiver The vaporous Bath is fitter than any other to perform this Operation in because a most moderate heat is requisite to raise up the Spirits all alone now the vapour of water warms very insensibly You must continue the same degree of fire until there comes nothing more Some persons do endeavour to reject the method that I have described for drawing Spirit of Wine because say they a long time is required to draw a little Spirit and by reason of the difficulty they conceive in procuring such vessels well made at Paris and much more so in the Country But it is likely these Gentlemen do blame this method because they never tried it for if they had but taken the pains to make Experiment of it they would have found that with two or three of these vessels they might have drawn as much Spirit of Wine as they could be able to do with their great Machine and that this Spirit is not liable to the impression which might be communicated to it from Copper or Tin vessels As for the difficulty that there is pretended of getting such glass vessels there is none at all that I know of but only for such as will not take the pains to visit the Glass-houses for there they would find enough for their turn and though I use a great many of them in my Courses of Chymistry I never was to seek for any yet But suppose there were none to be found ready made methinks they might as easily bespeak them and have them made at the Glass-houses as well as bespeak those grand Copper or Tin Machines that are commonly used I know that such as are better pleased with making a Fair shew than with the effects of things and who measure the goodness of an Operation by the trouble it gives one and by the greatness of vessels and Furnaces will find here but little to their satisfaction But I am very little concerned at such mens exceptions I never endeavoured to follow their Track My design is simply to facilitate the means of working in Chymistry and to take away
as much as lies in my power those things which render it mysterious and dark Spirit of Wine is good for Lethargical and Apoplectical persons because it puts the Spirits into a greater motion than they were in before Now because according to all appearance these Diseases are caused by Obstructions which hinder the course of the Spirits into the Brain this Spirit serves to give them a new vigour to dissolve and rarefie these Tartareous viscosities which shut up their passage It likewise discusses Tumors and Defluxions because it not only opens the pores and gives vent to the subtler part of the humor to perspire but likewise dissolves and rarefies the grosser part so as to render it fit to circulate with the blood The Spirit of Wine is excellent for Burnings provided it be used so soon as they happen for then it opens a passage for the igneous particles to come out at and if there should remain any within the part it unites with them as it uses to do when mixed with an Acid. Spirit of Wine Tartarised This preparation is a Spirit of Wine that has carried with it some portion of Salt of Tartar Put a Pound of Salt of Tartar into a long glass-body pour upon it four pounds of Spirit of Wine prepared as I said before place your vessel in Sand and cover it with a head to which fit a Receiver lute well the junctures with a wet Bladder and give it a gradual fire which continue until three parts of the Spirit of Wine are risen then remove the fire and keep this Spirit in a Viol well stopt it hath the same virtues as the other but is more subtile The liquor that remains in the body may be evaporated and a Salt of Tartar got as good as before Remarks This Operation is only a Rectification of the Spirit of Wine to render it more subtile than it was before because the Salt of Tartar becomes impregnated with the Phlegmatick parts and hinders them from rising The Spirit of Wine doth likewise volatilize and carry along with it some portion of the Salt of Tartar which gives it a very agreeable smell and renders it a good Remedy for Obstructions A sign that the Spirit of Wine has carried along with it some of the Salt of Tartar is this if you dry gently the Salt of Tartar that remains in the Body and weigh it you 'l find it diminished an ounce and a half You may again put this Spirit of Wine Tartarized to half a pound of more Salt of Tartar and distil it as before but I have found that it is never a-whit the better for it This way of Tartarizing Spirit of Wine is the very best and shortest of all that have been invented whether you desire to make it pure or to impregnate it with Salt of Tartar and I may venture to say that all the many long and tedious descriptions that have been given of this Operation have been only invented to cast a dust into the eyes of Novices for it is easie for any to observe who give themselves a little to examine things that after all their long turnings and windings and circumstances to no purpose the Spirit of Wine is not so well Tartarized as by the plain method that I have described Queen of Hungary's Water This Operation is a Spirit of Wine impregnated with the more essential part of Rosemary flowers Fill a glass or earthen cucurbite half full with Rosemary Flowers gathered when they are at their best pour upon it Spirit of Wine sufficient to infuse the Flowers in set your Cucurbite in a Balneum and joyning its head and Receiver lute close the junctures and give it a digesting fire for three days after which unlute them and pour into the Cucurbite that which may have been distilled Refit your Alembick and encrease the fire strong enough to make the liquor distil so as one drop may immediately follow another and when you shall have drawn about two thirds of it and put out the fire let the vessels cool and unlute them you 'l find in the Receiver a very good Water of the Queen of Hungary keep it in a Viol well stopt It is good in the Palsie Lethargy Apoplexy and Hysterical Maladies The Dose is from one drachm to two It is likewise used outwardly for Burnings Tumors Cold pains Contusions Palsie and all other occasions wherein it is requisite to revive the Spirits Ladies do use to mix half an ounce of it with six ounces of Lily-water or Bean-flower water and wash their Face with it to clear their complexion Remarks You must distil this water in a Fire that is strong enough for otherwise the Spirit of Wine would rise alone or else draw along with it but very little Essence as I have observed in the working upon it The Oyl or Essence of Rosemary may be made as the Oyl of Cinnamon and some drops of it mixed in the Spirit of Wine and hereby you have a Queen of Hungary's water made upon the spot The Water of the Queen of Hungary sometimes gives ease to the Tooth-ach being snufft at the Nose or applied to the Gums with a little Cotton Some thinking to Criticize a little do say it is altogether useless to digest Rosemary flowers with Spirit of Wine because their substance being of a very Volatile nature it easily dissolves in the Spirit without any digestion But this Circumstance is very necessary if we desire to have a Water well impregnated with the Essence of the Flowers for although there is a Volatile substance in Rosemary yet good part of the Oil in which consists principally the Smell is involved in the other Principles and cannot be well rarefied mixed and exalted but only by a digestion and thus we have a very good effect from it CHAP. XIII Of Vinegar WInes like all other liquors that use to Ferment do grow sowr by the dissolution of their Tartar in a second Fermentation This dissolution is commonly made when upon the Wines going to decay some of the more subtile Spirits are lost for the Tartar taking their place fixes the rest of the Spirits which remain in the Wine so that they can act no longer This fixation is the cause that when the Wine turns sowr very little quantity of it is diminished and very little Tartar is found in the vessels wherein Vinegar is made To the end that Wine may quickly sowr you must set the Vessel that contains it in some hot place and mix the Lees from time to time for this Tartar will easily dissolve when heat comes to act upon it Perhaps it will be objected that Wine deprived of Tartar and Lees does grow sowr when kept a long time in a vessel without any dissolution of Tartar But we must consider that Wine let it be as clear and pure as may be does always retain the more saline and subtile part of Tartar which exalts and easily smells when by Fermentation it gets the predominancy
of the Sulphureous Spirits which held it as it were involved and thus clear wine sowrs alone but it does not sowr so fast and the Vinegar is not so strong as when it is made upon Tartar Furthermore if we consider the Principles that wine consists of we shall find that neither the Oil nor Earth nor Water are capable of yielding any Acidity and that nothing but the Salt is able to give it Now it cannot be doubted but that the Salt of wine is in the Tartar It may be added here that the Air to which wines are exposed by leaving the vessel open when they would have them turn into Vinegar does likewise communicate a little of its Acidity to the wines by exciting and rarifying the Acid of Tartar Distillation of Vinegar Put six quarts of strong Vinegar into an earthen pan evaporate in Balneum about a quart which is the Phlegmatick part and pour that which remains into a glass or earthen Cucurbite and distil it in a strong sand-heat until there remains at bottom nothing but a substance like Honey keep this Vinegar well stopt many do call it Spirit of Vinegar It s principal use is to dissolve or precipitate bodies It is sometimes mixed in Cordial potions to resist putrefaction the dose is half a spoonful it is mixed with water and this Oxycrate is used to stop Hemorrhagies taken inwardly and to asswage Inflammations applied outwardly Remarks The Acidity of Vinegar consists in an Essential or Tartareous Salt which being heavier than the Phlegm rises last but you must evaporate this Phlegm very gently because the Acid Spirit of Vinegar will easily sublime with it I do use an earthen pan rather than a Cucurbite that the Phlegm of Vinegar finding a large open passage may evaporate the more easily It would be no great fault if you should distil the Vinegar without dephlegmating it first for the separating the phlegm from it is not of so much consideration as to make it as clear as pure water that it may not bestow any particular tincture to the ingredients that are to be dissolved in it The Spirit of Vinegar is much less fixed than many other acids because it partakes of the Sulphureous Spirits of wine which still remain in it Common Vinegar keeps its strength a longer time than the distilled because it contains a more Terrestrious Salt that doth not Volatilize so easily And for this reason you should rather chuse to use Vinegar newly distilled than that which hath been kept a good while All Acids do prove Cordial and good against malignity of humors when it is caused by too great a commotion because it fixes and Coagulates them moderating their motion Thus in places where the Air is corrupted and Pestilential Vinegar is a good Preservative you may every morning take half a Spoonful of it Fasting but in diseases which proceed from a Tartareous humor as the Hypochondriack melancholy it is rather hurtful than good because it fixes the humors the more Some having dried and calcined the sweet extract that remains at the bottom of the Cucurbite after the distillation of Vinegar and having by Solution Filtration and Coagulation separated from it an Alkali fixt salt much like to that which is drawn from Tartar they do mix it with Spirit of Vinegar and distil and cohobate it divers times until say they the spirit has carried off all the salt and then will needs have it called Spirit of Vinegar Alkalized or Radical Spirit of Vinegar and they affirm that this being much more pure and entirely united with its proper salt is much the more powerful in dissolving Metals But the distilled Vinegar is so far from becoming the stronger through this Preparation that I can demonstrate that it breaks and loses the greatest part of its edges in contending with the Alkali salt with which it is mixt for it is the property of this salt to sweeten Acids Neither is it necessary to believe that by distillations is so drawn the Alkali salt of Vinegar for it remains fixt at bottom of the Retort with the acids it is impregnated with so that this same Spirit of Vinegar to which so many great names and uses have been appropriated is properly the more Phlegmatick part of distilled Vinegar CHAP. XIV Of Tartar ANY gross or terrestrious matter that sticks to the sides of the vessel when separated from its liquor by means of Fermentation is called Tartar But the Tartar I am going to speak of here is that of Wine It is found sticking to Casks like a very hard stone sometimes white and sometimes red according to the colour of the wine it comes from White Tartar is to be prefer'd before red because it is purer and contains less earth both one and t'other are had in greater abundance in hot Countries such as Languedock and Provence than many other Climats but the best white Tartar of all is brought out of Germany it must be heavy White and Crystalline The Lees of wine are likewise a liquified Tartar they are burned and the Ashes that are made of them are called Cineres Clavellati in English Gravelled Ashes Crystals of Tartar This Operation is a Tartar purified and coagulated in form of Crystals Boil in a great deal of water what quantity of white Tartar you please until it be all dissolved pass the liquor hot through Hippocrates his Sleeve into an earthen vessel and evaporate about half of it set the vessel in a cool place two or three days you 'l find little Crystals on the sides which you are to separate evaporate again half the liquor that remains and remit the vessel to the Cellar as before there will shoot out new Crystals continue doing thus until you have gotten all your Tartar dry the Crystals in the Sun and keep them for use The Crystal of Tartar is Purgative and Aperitive it is good for Hydropical and Asthmatical persons and for Tertian and Quartan Agues The dose is from half a drachm to three drachms in broth or some other proper liquor Remarks This Operation is to speak properly nothing but a Purification of the more Terrestrious parts of Tartar You must observe to boil it in an earthen vessel rather than any metallick one because it would be apt to take some Tincture from it A Skin that swims a-top after evaporation of some part of the liquor was heretofore carefully taken off and there was thought to be some difference between it and the Crystal of Tartar But this Cream or Skin is only a part of the Tartar that begins to Coagulate and so it is the very same thing in substance with the Crystal You must not imagine that the Crystals of Tartar do much differ from common Tartar for they differ from it only in the containing a little less earth but all the five Principles may be drawn from the Crystals as from common Tartar When you would take the Crystals in substance you must make them into Pills or
Salt may bruise the Crude Tartar and wrapping it up in paper may Calcine it until it turns into a white mass after which they may draw the salt by a Lixivium as I said before I do commonly draw this way four ounces of very white and well purified salt of Tartar from each pound of red Tartar a little more may be drawn from white Tartar but it is no better than the other I have observed that when water is thrown upon the mass of Tartar newly Calcined it heats much like unslack'd Lime when wetted the reason of which is the same that I have given to explicate the Ebullition of Quick-lime in water all the difference is this that Tartar Calcined containing a great deal of Salt does more easily imbibe water than Quick-lime Some do Calcine salt of Tartar with a little sulphur to hinder it from dissolving so easily by the air and to render it the whiter but this is no good practice because the acid Spirit of sulphur destroys some part of the Alkali and this does come to happen by reason that the pores of this Salt by being thus Calcined are not so open as they were and the air therefore cannot so easily melt it If you would make Salt of Tartar and other Alkali fixt salts very white indeed you must Calcine them all alone in a great fire until they become white and then purifie them by Dissolution Filtration and Coagulation As for their proneness to dissolve this is natural to Alkali salts and cannot be taken from them but by destroying their nature Nor can I approve the addition of any quantity of Niter to the Calcination of Tartar as some do because the volatile parts of Niter being exalted the fixt do remain and by their acidity do diminish the virtue of Salt of Tartar Although the Salt of Tartar be tolerably white after the first purification yet if you do calcine threescore and four ounces of it and filtrate it as I have said you will draw still abundance of earthy matter and if in curiosity you should dry this earth you would find three ounces and a half of it Alkali salts are Aperitive in that they dissolve those slimy humors which caused Obstructions and it is for the same reason that Salt of Tartar does correct Senna and hinders it from griping for the substance of Senna being viscous this does rarefie it and make it work the quicker it may also serve to dissolve some viscous phlegm that sticks in the guts which as it is going off causes griping pains The liquor or Oil made per Deliquium is only a Salt of Tartar dissolved by the moisture of the Cellar If you would make it quickly you must dissolve the Salt of Tartar in as much Rain water well filtrated as is needful to turn it into a liquor It may be used like the former it cures Tettars and discusses Tumors because being an Alkali it sweetens the keen Salts which fomented these distempers When Salt of Tartar or its liquor is dissolved in water newly distilled from some green plant the water will turn green and the greener the plant is from which the water was distilled this salt does make the water so much the greener The water of Night-shade turns greener with it than Balm-water Balm-water greener than Eye-bright-water and so of the rest The reason of this effect proceeds from this that the Alkali salt of Tartar does rarefie and make appear many little parts of the plant which did rise with the water in the distillation and did not till then appear But the water must be sure to be distilled with a fire sufficiently great for if it should have been distilled in a Balneum or such like heat there would not appear the least shew of green though an Alkali salt were mixed with it Cherry-water Rose-water and many other distilled waters of fruits or flowers do give no colour by the addition of Salt of Tartar Tincture of Salt of Tartar This Operation is an exaltation of some parts of Salt of Tartar in Spirit of wine Melt in a good Crucible twenty ounces of Salt of Tartar in great fire and when it is in Fusion cover it with a Tile and put coals round it blow about it so as to raise a greater heat than if you were melting Gold continue this degree of fire about six hours or until your Salt of Tartar is of a red marble colour which you may know by thrusting the end of a Spatula into the Crucible for when it is drawn out you may look upon a little matter that is stuck to it then take out the Crucible with a pair of tongs and turn it upside down into a warm mortar the matter will coagulate in a little time powder it presently and put it into a matrass warmed before-hand pour upon it Spirit of wine Tartarized until it swims four fingers above the matter stop the matrass with another to make a double-vessel lute the junctures close with a wet bladder set your matrass in Sand and heat it with a gradual fire to make the Spirit of wine boil seven or eight hours during which time it will assume a red colour After that let the vessels cool and unlute them separate by Inclination this most fragrant Tincture and keep it in a Viol well stopt You may pour more Spirit of Wine on the remaining Salt of Tartar and proceed as before as long as it will draw out any Tincture The Tincture of the Salt of Tartar is an excellent Aperitive it purifies the bloud and resists malignity of humors It is used in the Scurvy the dose is from ten to thirty drops in some convenient liquor Remarks You must place the Crucible in the furnace upon a Tile for fear lest the wind which comes through the doors of the Ash-hole and fire-room might be apt to cool the bottom and hinder the Fusion of the Salt The Salt of Tartar having been a good while melted in the Crucible does flame when thrown upon lighted coals as easily as Salt-peter does This effect proceeds only from this that the fire has attenuated and volatilized the parts of this fixt salt so as to render them fit to exalt with the sulphur of coals Many have writ that it is sufficient to Calcine the Salt of Tartar two hours in a violent fire or until the Salt of Tartar becomes blewish but after having tried several times to make the Tincture according to this description I could never be able to do it it is true the Spirit of Wine will be a little Tinctured but it comes not near that which is necessary to call it the Tincture of Salt of Tartar for it should be red like wine and to make it so it is requisite to Calcine it as I have said and good store of it should be put into the Crucible because it diminishes exceedingly You must likewise take care to use Spirit of wine well rectified for if there should be any phlegm
in it it would not turn red This Tincture doth not proceed from a fixt sulphur contained in the Salt of Tartar as many have pretended it is only an exaltation of this salt in Spirit of Wine for if by way of curiosity you should distil this Tincture you would recover only a Spirit of Wine and yet nevertheless there will remain at bottom but a small quantity of Salt of Tartar with its usual whiteness which shews sufficiently that this colour did only proceed from the exact mixture of the Spirit of Wine with the Salt of Tartar seeing upon their separation the colour disappears The Tincture of the Salt of Tartar loses its red colour as it grows old by reason that the more subtile part of the Spirit of wine is lost through the pores of the glass and there remains only a Spirit which has not strength enough to keep the Salt of Tartar in its exalted condition Magistery of Tartar or Tartarum Vitriolatum This Operation is a Salt of Tartar impregnated with the acidity of Spirit of Vitriol Put into a glass body what quantity you please of Oil of Tartar made per Deliquium pour upon it by little and little rectified Spirit of Vitriol there will be a great effervescency continue to drop more in till there 's no further Ebullition then place your Cucurbite in Sand and evaporate the Spirit with a little fire there will remain a very white salt keep it in a Viol well stopt It is a good Aperitive and is also a little Purgative it is given in hypochondriacal cases in Quartans Kings-evil and all other diseases wherein it is necessary to open Obstructions and to work by Urine The dose is from ten to thirty grains in some proper liquor Remarks Tartarum Vitriolatum may be made with the Salt of Tartar as well as with the Oil the Ebullition proceeds from this that the acid of Vitriol piercing the Alkali Salt of Tartar doth violently separate its parts and gives vent to igneous Bodies which were there imprisoned and this Effervescency comes to pass as often as an Alkali meets with an acid and remains until the acid can find nothing more to encounter in the alkali salt Then there follows a Coagulum at the bottom of the vessel because the acid and alkali clasping together do lose their motion and by their united weight do precipitate to the bottom And this causes the liquor to be much less acrimonious than the Oil of Tartar was before though at least an equal quantity of Spirit of Vitriol was mixed with it You must evaporate it gently and especially toward the end for fear the acid should rise withal This Salt is whiter than common Salt of Tartar as having been subtilized by Acids after the same manner as we see several other white things encrease in their colour as they are beaten into a fine powder If you do use two ounces of Salt of Tartar in this Operation you 'l draw two ounces and a half of Tartarum Vitriolatum This Augmentation comes from the more heavy and strong part of the Vitriol for that which is evaporated is very phlegmatick You may here use the Rectified Oil of Vitriol instead of the Spirit and then the less is requir'd because it is a stronger acid but the Tartarum Vitriolatum will not be so white as when Spirit of Vitriol is used by reason of some Tincture that always remains with the Oil of Vitriol rectifie it as much as you please Though some have written that if Tartarum Vitriolatum were put into a Retort and distilled one might draw Spirit of Vitriol as good as it was at first nevertheless it is certain that it will not be so strong a Spirit for it has lost the most subtile part of its acidity by encountring with the alkali which may be easily judged both by the taste and the effects If by way of curiosity you would search a little narrowly into this Operation and observe what happens during the ebullition of the acid and the alkali you would find that a great many little dashes of water do fly about especially if the vessel is not placed too low and you hold a lighted Candle near it for they will be apt to put it out This effect can have no other cause than the violent separation of the parts of the alkali by the acid which makes the watry part of this liquor to sparkle upwards being on all sides violently driven If you use Oil of Vitriol the ebullition is the greater and the heat the more considerable because its acid being stronger it separates the parts of the alkali body more easily Now considering the ebullition which happens between acid and alkali I have the less opinion of a method that some do follow which is to bathe a little the bodies that are to be embalmed with Spirit of salt and then to put Salt of Tartar into the embalming powder for it is very likely that this Spirit of Salt which is an acid by mixing with the alkali salt of Tartar may produce a Fermentation which may stir up the remaining humidity of the Carkass and make it to mix with the Ingredients of the powder and so instead of preserving the dead body we have reason to fear lest this Fermentation should rather hasten a dissolution of its parts Acids do sometimes dissolve and rarifie and at other times coagulate and precipitate as may be seen by the Operations which have been described These different actions do seem very strange for it is hard to conceive how one and the same liquor should produce contrary effects but I 'le give you an explication of this Phaenomenon which because it is built upon experience may perhaps meet with some Approbation An Acid proves always a dissolvent when good store of it is poured upon the matter that is to be dissolved but it makes a Coagulum as often when being in too small a quantity its points are fixed in the pores of the matter and have not power enough to get out and this is plainly perceived when Spirit of Vitriol is poured upon the liquor of Salt of Tartar for if you should mix but so much as is requisite to penetrate the Salt the acids do remain sheathed in it and bear it down whence a Coagulation and Precipitation happens but if now so much more or a greater quantity of Spirit of Vitriol should be still added to the liquor the Coagulum will disappear by reason that the little bodies which being gathered together maintained their part against the acid and hindred its motion will be then scattered and dissolved by the acid that is now grown the stronger The same thing may be remarked in all other bodies which can be dissolved by acids for if you take a little of any of those and pour a little acid upon it there is made a great effervescency and after that a Coagulum but if you add more acid the matter will all dissolve An acid can
and those other things I mentioned which are preserved in Vinegar The acids will indeed endeavour to cut in pieces what stands in their way but having to do with parts too viscous and heavy they will soon lose all their activity and fix by their quantity and their gravity the natural salt of these Aliments as Vinegar fixes that of Cucumbers for when the acids do shut the pores of the matter and keep them firm and quiet the natural salt cannot exalt so as to cause any Fermentation or digestion The reason then why a small portion of acids will cause digestion in the stomach and a greater quantity will hinder it is that the small quantity will joyn with the natural salt of the Aliments and have its operation without shutting the pores of the matter whereas a great store of acids will quite fill the pores of this matter and hinder the motion of the natural salt for it is not enough that there be a great many acids to cause such a dissolution these acids must have room to move in and to make their jostles Thus these effects do make nothing against what I have asserted concerning acids for a greater quantity of them will always have more disposition and tendency to a dissolution but if this great quantity does Coagulate divers things it is only by accident and through the disposition of the matter into which the acid points have entred What I have here established concerning acids may serve very much to explicate the nature of Feavers and their principal symptoms First of all every body must grant that when there are Obstructions in our bodies the obstructed matter does ferment and sowr as Dough Wine and several other things grow sowr by being stale This matter by Fermenting sends saline or acid vapours into the mass of bloud which do cause divers alterations in it according to their quantity and quality for these acids are commonly mixt with sulphurs which are a kind of Vehicle to the acids and are more or less corrupted according as the matter whence they are derived has sojourned more or less in the obstructed part Now if these acid vapours are carried into the vessels but only in such a quantity as is fit to make a kind of Leaven they will then rarifie the bloud too much and whereas they by consequence do encrease its motion and heat they do cause that which we call a Feaver this Feaver must remain as long as the Ferment continues in the bloud and according as there comes a new supply of matter in place of that which nature has thrown off But if a greater quantity of acids should rise all of a sudden from out of the Obstructions then there must needs happen a kind of Coagulation for these acids thus abounding and fixing the grosser part of the bloud do partly lose their motion and quiet the Ebullition of the bloud by fixing its parts It is this kind of Congelation which causes those cold shiverings which are felt before the hot fit begins for as the heat is derived from the motion of the Spirits the cold is produced from the cessation of their motion The cold fit continues until the Spirits have by their activity rarified this Congelation for the Spirits being continually supplied with additional forces do make violent assaults until they have made their way free The Coagulum being dissolved the bloud should seem to Circulate as it did before but because the matter of the Coagulum is converted into a Leaven this Leaven makes the bloud to boil and so causes a Feaver this Feaver continues until the bloud is freed from all this Ferment either by Transpiration or by Urine Now to conceive how this Coagulum may be converted into a Leaven we must consider that the Spirits of the bloud have lost most of their acidity in dissolving this Coagulum and that there remains but only acidity enough to produce a Fermentation Nevertheless you must not think I mean by this Congelation now spoken of a Coagulum altogether like to that in Milk or to that which happens when an acid liquor is syringed into the Veins of an Animal for these Congelations are too strong and there would then happen the same thing or very near the same as does to the Animal who soon afterwards falls into Convulsions and dies because the course of the Spirits and bloud would be intirely stopt and they would never be able to break through so great an obstacle but I do understand here that the bloud is made thicker than it was and has not so free a motion as it had before which is enough to cause such cold fits Now it remains for me to explicate how it comes to pass that Feavers have their returns regularly by fits The matter that makes the Obstructions which I have laid down for the Fundamental cause of Feavers begins not to send forth its vapours nor to disperse its acid salt into the bloud in order to cause a Feaver until it has got together a certain quantity in the obstructed vessels and then it is probable that there is a new discharge of the matter This discharge or eruption of Feaverish matter must happen at set times so long as the Obstruction lasts because the humors which Circulate to the obstructed parts and there stop are always in an equal quickness and an equal quantity Now because in a Tertian the vessels wherein the obstruction happens do acquire in two days a sufficient repletion of matter to produce the Eruption and Fermentation I have spoken of the Fits do come to operate every second day But because in a Quartan the humors are more tenacious and heavy and flow with less expedition the Fermentation and eruption must needs be slower and consequently the fits more distant the one from the other The Quotidian Ague is caused by a Saline Pituita which is naturally fluid enough to make the matter ferment in less time wherefore it is that the fits do return every day We may reason concerning the other kinds of Feavers upon the same principle and explicate all the accidents that happen but I have no design to enlarge my self further upon this subject I should think it would be too great a digression and a book should rather be made on purpose to express all the circumstances which might be deduced from it Volatile Salt of Tartar This Operation is the Salt of the Lees of Wine volatilized by fermentation Dry the Lees of wine with a gentle fire and fill with them two thirds of a large earthen or glass Retort place this Retort in a Reverberatory Furnace and fitting to it a large Receiver give a small fire to it to heat the Retort by degrees and to drive forth an insipid phlegm when vapours begin to rise you must take out the phlegm and luting carefully the junctures of your vessels quicken the fire by little and little until you find the Receiver filled with white clouds continue it in
Rosines such as that of Scammony Jalap Turbith but whenever an Extract can be drawn with a watry menstruum it is better to use that rather than another for the reasons I have mentioned Purgative medecins have been divided into Melanagogues Phlegmagogues and Cholagogues By Melanagogues are understood those that chiefly purge Melancholy by Phlegmagogues such as purge Phlegm and by Cholagogues those that evacuate Choler so then by mixing these three sorts of Remedies a composition is made that is called Panchymagogue that is to say purging all the humors as doth the Extract I have described Now to explicate the action of Purgative Remedies upon all the several humors you must consider in the first place that Melancholy is a very Tartareous humor and full of fixt salts that Phlegm is very viscous and descending from the brain sticks like Glue to the internal Membrane of the Viscera and that Choler is very thin and easie to rarifie The Remedies which are called Melanagogue such as Scammony Senna c. are full of Lixivious Salts which are very good dissolvents of the Melancholick humor contained in the lower parts in that these sort of Remedies do always descend and being strong purgers do raise a Fermentation where-ever they come Phlegmagogues such as Agarick Coloquintida c. do purge the Phlegm chiefly that is contained in the Brain because these Remedies are full of volatile parts which easily sublime thither by means of the Natural heat and rarifying this humor do make it come down by the ordinary ways of Purgation Cholagognes such as Cassia Rhubarb c. which are mild Remedies and are not strong enough to excite so great a fermentation as the others do only purge Choler it being very soluble and easie to ferment but they are not able to reach Melancholy or Phlegm by reason of their thickness wherefore there is no need of wondring why a greater evacuation of Choler than other humors is effected by these Remedies It is further observable that the Remedies which purge Phlegm and Melancholy do remain or leave their impression in the body a longer time than those that purge Choler because they more abound in Spirits or Salts Moreover it is not to be imagined that these Phlemagogues and Melanagogues do evacuate no Choler at all for they do force away all they can meet with but because it is then mixt with other humors it appears not so plainly as when it is wrought upon alone CHAP. XX. Of Turpentine THere are two sorts of Trees that the Turpentine comes from by Incisions that are made into them to wit the Turpentine Tree and the Larix or Larch-tree there are a great many of both sorts in hot Countries such as Italy Provence and even in Dauphiné Turpentine is properly a liquid Rosine in the consistence of a Balsom that which is brought out of the Isle of Chios is best esteemed and is also the dearest that which we commonly use and is called Venice Turpentine must be clear transparent fragrant and a little biting on the taste it is used like a Balsom for Wounds it is very Diuretick taken inwardly and is therefore given in Gonorrheas in Bolus or else dissolved in some liquor by means of a little Yelk of an Egg it gives the Urine a smell much like Violets It is often boiled in water and then becomes solid like Rosine and being so prepared is made up into Pills the Dose is from half a drachm to a drachm if you take too much of it it gives the Head-ach If in curiosity you should boil a little Turpentine in water for a quarter of an hour and after you have removed it from the fire if you should pour cold water upon it you would see a little skin spread it self upon the water which has many curious marble colours And if you gather this skin into a lump it will become a white Turpentine Distillation of Turpentine This Operation is a separation of the Oil of Turpentine from its terrestrious part Take three pounds of good Turpentine and pour it into a Retort large enough to remain half empty Add to it a handful of Stupe to prevent the thicker parts of the Turpentine from rising when the liquor distils you must cleanse the inside of the neck of the Retort and place it in a Furnace to distil in an open fire fit to it a Receiver and luting the joints begin the Distillation with a very small fire only to warm the Retort and drive out a volatile spirit after which augment the fire by degrees there will come forth first a clear Oil then a yellow oil and at last a red oil take care to separate these liquors as they do distil and when you see the red oil begin to come thick take away the fire and when the vessels are cold unlute them Keep all these liquors separately in Viols The volatile Spirit is an excellent Aperitive it is given from four to twelve drops in some appropriate liquor to expel Gravel out of the Reins or Ureters in the Nephritick Colick or to dissolve Viscosities it is likewise used in Gonorrheas The first Oil serves for the same uses as the Spirit the second and third do serve as a Balsom to consolidate wounds discuss tumors and to fortifie the Nerves Break the Retort and you 'l find in it a mass melt and strain it to separate the Stupe it is a good Colophone and is used in Plaisters to dry and to consolidate After this manner may be distilled Rosines Mastich Frankincense Tacamahaca Gum Elemi Varnish Labdanum and other Gums of this nature Remarks The Spirit of Turpentine is properly an Ethereal oil mixed with a little phlegm and Acid Essential salt which renders it Aperitive it is this Spirit that gives the Turpentine its smell A great fire is requisite for to draw the last oil and it becomes red through some Fuliginosities that fall upon it before it comes forth of the Retort If you should continue to raise the fire until there comes no more liquor you 'd find in the Retort nothing but a little light and very rarified matter that is good for nothing The Oil of Turpentine that is bought at the Druggists is a mixture of Spirit and yellow oil The Oil of Turpentine being mixed with that of Vitriol there grows a very considerable heat and if the Oil of Vitriol is strong it makes an ebullition I have endeavoured to give you a reason for it in the Remarks which I have made upon Distillation of Vitriol CHAP. XXI Of Benjamin BEnjamin called by some Assa Dulcis is a Rosine that distils from a great Tree in Foreign Countries the name of it is unknown though many have thought fit to call it Laserpitium this Tree is very common in Samaria and in many other adjacent Countries Benjamin is very much used by the Perfumers and it hath use also in Physick to resist the malignity of humors and to fortifie the Heart and Brain you must
way to Purifie it is to dissolve it in Vinegar then passing it through a cloth all the moisture is evaporated away over the fire by this means it is cleansed from some straws or other little impurities that it contained But some part of its Volatile Spirits are evaporated at the same time and in them consists its greatest virtue while some others are fixed by the acid which always hinders the motion of Volatiles Wherefore I would never advise this Purification to be made I would rather after chusing it as clean as may be only powder it in a Mortar to mix it with what may be thought fit for though there should be some little straws in it that would never be able to alter the nature of the Remedy or diminish its virtue so much as doth the destruction of its Volatile salts by the Vinegar The same thing may be considered in the use of all other Gumms if some of them as Galbanum and Opopanax are too moist to be powdered you may cut them into little slices dry them in the Sun Distillation of Gumm Ammoniack This is a separation of the Oil and Spirit of Gumm Ammoniack from its earthy part Put a pound of Gumm Ammoniack into an earthen Retort or glass one luted great enough for two thirds to remain empty place this Retort in a Reverberatory Furnace and fitting to it a Receiver begin the distillation with a very little fire to warm gently the Retort and drive forth drop by drop a little Phlegmatick water When the vapours begin to appear throw out that which is in the Receiver and refitting it and luting close the joints encrease the fire by degrees and continue it until all is come forth Then let the vessels cool and unlute them pour out that which is in the Receiver into a Tunnel lined with brown paper the Spirit will pass through and leave the thick black Oil in the filter keep it in a Viol it is good for the Palsie and Hysterical diseases the diseased parts are rub'd with it and it is given to women to smell to Put the Spirit into a glass Alembeck and Rectifie it by distilling it in Sand. 'T is a good Remedy against the Plague and all sorts of malignant diseases it is used in the Scurvy and all manner of Obstructions the dose is from eight to sixteen drops in some proper liquor The Spirit of all other Gumms may be drawn after the same manner Remarks Two thirds of the Retort must remain empty because the Gumm rarifies exceedingly as it heats and would be apt to come forth in substance if it had not room enough There is no need of adding alkali's for the Rectification of this Spirit as many Authors would perswade us this circumstance doth rather more hurt than good because alkalies do spoil these sorts of Spirits as I have said when I treated of the Rectification of the Spirit of Tartar The phlegm is taken out of the receiver before the Spirits come forth in order to their being the purer You will have six drachms of phlegm three ounces and seven drachms of Spirit six ounces of a black stinking oil and there remains in the retort four ounces six drachms of a black light and very spongious matter which is to be flung away It is likewise a little inflammable by reason of fuliginosities which have fallen upon it And this is that which gave it the black colour a great deal of the ashes of this matter is requisite to make a little salt for the salt of Gumms being commonly more volatile than fixed it comes forth almost all of it in acid Spirit CHAP. XXIV Of Myrrhe MYrrhe is a Gummy juice that distils from a thorny Tree of a middle height by Incisions that are made into it this Tree grows commonly in Ethiopia and Arabia and because the Inhabitants of those countries are thought to feed on Serpents the Myrrhe that is brought thence is called Troglodytick The Antients were wont to collect from the same Tree a liquor that fell from it without Incision which was called Stacten it is only a liquid Gum but I am apt to think it should have more virtue than common Myrrhe because it was the more spirituous part which filtrated through the pores of the Bark of this Tree You must chuse such Myrrhe as is friable light odoriferous clear and such as is in small pieces of a yellowish colour and bitter to the taste it is aperitive and discutient it is much esteemed for obstructions of the Vterus and to bring the menstrua and to quicken womens Labour it also resists malignity of humors it is used in Corroborative remedies and discutient Plaisters Tincture of Myrrhe This Operation is a solution of the oily parts of Myrrhe in Spirit of wine Put what quantity you please of good Myrrhe powdered into a Bolt-head and pour upon it Spirit of wine four fingers high stir the matter and set it in digestion in warm sand two or three days or until the Spirit of wine is loaded with the Tincture of Myrrhe then separate the liquor by Inclination and keep it in a Viol well stopt It may be used to expedite womens Labour to bring down the menstrua and in the Palsie Apoplexy Lethargy and all diseases that proceed from Corruption of humors it is Sudorifick and Aperitive the dose is from six drops to fifteen in some proper liquor it is commonly used in outward applications or mixed with the Tincture of Aloes to discuss cold Tumors and to dissolve gypsous humors by way of Injection and in the Gangrene After this manner may be made the Tinctures of Castor and Saffron which are much esteemed in hysterical cases the dose of them is from four to twelve drops in balm or mugwort water Remarks Though Tinctures of Myrrhe are daily drawn in wine yet the best that can be prepared is with Spirit of wine because this menstruum receives the more Oily or Balsamick part of the Myrrhe whereas the phlegm of wine does cause it to dissolve and impregnate with the more terrestrious part of the Gumm as well as with the Oily Some do use to evaporate this Tincture to the consistence of an Extract but because thereby they are fain to lose the more volatile part of the Myrrhe with the Spirit of wine I do conceive it better to use the Tincture it self as I have described it The Tincture of Castor makes the water white into which you drop it by reason of a Rosine which it contains which is the same I have said speaking of the Rosine of Jalap Oil of Myrrhe per Deliquium This preparation is a solution of the more separable parts of Myrrhe made with whites of Eggs. Boil Eggs until they are hard then cutting them in two separate the Yelk and fill the White with Myrrhe powdered set them on little sticks placed conveniently on purpose in a plate or earthen pan in a Cellar or some such moist place
and there will distil a liquor to the bottom of the vessel which you may take out and keep for use This is called the Oil of Myrrhe it is good to take away spots and blemishes in the face applied outwardly Remarks Though this liquor improperly called Oil is only the more soluble part of Myrrhe humected with the moisture of whites of Eggs and the Cellar together yet it is the best of any that have been invented whether you should draw it in Spirit of wine or distill this Gumm in a Retort for by Spirit of wine the more volatile part of Myrrhe is lost either by Distillation or Evaporation and it is so torrified in a Retort that it loses its best virtues whereas per Deliquium what volatile this Gumm contains is preserved in its natural being for the wet that mixes with it is no ways capable of destroying or altering its nature THE THIRD PART Of Animals CHAP. I. Of the Viper PAssing by the fabulous Stories that the Ancients have left us concerning the Birth of the Viper I shall say it is a sort of Serpent that comes into the world by eating through the belly of her Dam and killing her whence she is called Vipera quòd vi pariat This Animal is very common in Dauphiné and Poictou from whence it is carried all over France While it is in the field it feeds upon several little Animals but when taken and shut up in any place it may be kept a whole Summer without eating any thing at all provided it hath Air enough to breath in The reason why they can live so long without eating is doubtless that the pores of their skin being so exceeding narrow as they do appear to be upon examination very few of their Spirits do come to be lost wherefore they have little need of successive nourishment to beget new ones as other animals have who spend abundance of Spirits 'T is good to take Vipers in the Spring or Autumn because then they are fattest and in greatest vigour The Cold kills ' em They differ from other Serpents in that they never grow so much they have two Teeth on the sides of their Jaws and those very long in comparison with a great many little ones that are round about and the Gum of each of those long Teeth is full of a Yellowish Juyce in which many do think their venom consists now Serpents have none of those long Teeth but only little ones Again they differ in that being taken up by the Tails they can't wind themselves like Serpents to make such circumvolutions about the Arm or thing that holds them and this by reason of the different connexion of their Vertebra's When the Viper is irritated it shoots out a forked tongue which looks like a little fire-brand by reason of the vigorous motion of its Spirits those who never had seen the teeth of the Viper do think this is that which causes all the mischief but the tongue is not at all venomous Some do save the tongue to wear about their neck instead of an Amulet in order to preserve them from the effects of ill airs Serpents do likewise thrust out their tongues as the Viper does But here it may be good to advertise you by the by that those things which are brought to us from Maltha for the tongues of petrified Serpents are nothing but the teeth of a fish which that Countrey affords The biting of Vipers is more dangerous than that of other Serpents but the most quick and assured Remedy that can be used upon it is to crush the head of the Animal and lay it on the wound because by opening of the pores it lets out the venomous Spirits that were got in The bit person may likewise take the volatile salt of Vipers as I shall shew hereafter It is not yet sufficiently known wherein consists the venom of Vipers nor can any good substantial reason be given of the accidents which happen after the biting Most men think this malignity consists in the enraged spirits And this is the opinion of Van Helmont and Poterius according to the relation of Zwelfer in his Remarks upon the Augustan Dispensatory where he treats of the Troches of Vipers He saith there have been a great many eminent men who have confirmed this opinion with curious observations on the bitings of enraged Animals particularly of Man of the Cat Wolf Horse Dog Weasil c. And among others Fabritius Hildanus in his Chirurgical Operations to whose proofs he thinks nothing further can be added to confirm the truth of this opinion If accidents saith he do happen that are sometimes more severe and sometimes less they must be attributed only to more or less provocation and anger or sometimes to a more profound or slighter biting of these Animals This opinion seems likewise to have been confirmed by some experiments which Monsieur Charas relates in his book of Vipers where he shews not only that the enraged Spirits are the sole poison of the Viper but also pretends that the Yellow Juice which is found in the hollow part of the Jaw wherein the great tooth is fastned and was supposed to be the venom of this Animal is no such matter for having poured some of this liquor on the wounds of several beasts not one of them died nay further that those persons who had ventured to taste it never found any inconvenience from it Nevertheless Monsieur Redy in a particular Treatise on the Viper will not grant the truth of these experiments On the contrary he maintains that having put some of this Yellow juice into the wounds of divers sorts of Animals they soon died upon it and thence concludes that the venom of Vipers consists in the Yellow juice and not in the enraged Spirits only as the others have thought he taking this cause alone to be too Metaphysical And in truth who would believe that the Idea which this Animal forms when he finds himself provoked should be able to imprint on the Spirits qualities so malignant Now in so great an opposition of Opinions and Experiments a certain great man of these times found a way to reconcile them by affirming that the Yellow juice of Vipers did produce different effects according to the several places where these Animals lived so that Monsieur Redy might have found the Yellow juice to be venomous in Italy whereas in France where the Climate is not so hot this juice doth not produce any poisonous quality unless it be quickned by the Angry Spirits of the Viper which gives it a sufficient penetration Others do confidently assure us they have seen several Animals in France die soon after they had put some of this Yellow liquor into the wounds they had made for that purpose which very much favours the assertion of Monsieur Redy Furthermore as for what is related that in France people have ventured to taste this Yellow liquor without any harm I find this not to be a convincing proof
that it is no poison for although Spirit of Vitriol for example or some other acid does not prove mortal when taken inwardly nevertheless if the same quantity should be syringed into the veins the Animal falls presently into Convulsions and dies Now as that which caused the Spirit of Vitriol taken inwardly not to be Poison was this the acids do become weak through the mixture of the Saliva and before ever they come to mix in the Mass of bloud their parts do receive so great an alteration from the ferment of the places they must pass through that they are able to do nothing else at most but cool the Body so the same may be said of the Yellow liquor of the Viper when it is tasted of that besides its mixture with the liquors of the mouth and stomach it receives divers alterations from the ferments of the places it must pass through before it enters into the mass of bloud Many do likewise think that the venom of Vipers hath its chief seat in the Gall and thence is easily transported to the Gums when they are angry nevertheless in the Anatomy of this Animal there 's no passage found capable of such a translation I know very well that the pores of living bodies may be said to be so open that all manner of liquors may be presumed to pass through them but yet no mischievous effect is discovered to proceed from the Viper's Gall when given inwardly for it only causes sweat Lastly others will have the Viper's venom to be dispersed over all its body And those who think thus do advise us to whip these Animals in a warm bason to drive their venom into the extremities of the body before we cut as is usually done their heads two fingers below and their tails two fingers above after that to flea off the skin and take out the bowels and then boil the body in water wherein are added Salt and Dill to correct as they say the remaining malignity When the flesh is tender it is to be separated from the bones then to eight ounces of this flesh beaten into a Paste in a marble mortar are added two ounces of bread dried and powdered and Troches made of it which being dried are kept for use But this long preparation is seldom used since Experience hath taught us that no part of a dead Viper is at all poisonous The Head and Tail dried and powdered may be taken instead of a Cordial as well as the rest of the body I can likewise assure you upon my own experience that the Tooth of a dead Viper is no ways venomous having by chance been prickt my self till the bloud came whilst I was a handling the heads of Vipers newly kill'd that I had a mind to dry and there did not follow the least ill accident from it Furthermore by this Coction the Vipers flesh is deprived of its volatile salts which gave its greatest virtue for they dissolve in the broth which is flung away and only the Faeces remain wherein there hardly rests so much Cordial virtue as there does in the bread which is mixed for a Corrective But there is no need I should enlarge my self further on this subject because these Observations are sufficiently delivered in the Augustan Pharmacopoeia Wherefore I do conceive it to be much better to use the Powder of Vipers newly made than the Troches To make this Powder well it is good to chuse Vipers when they are in the prime of their strength the Females that are full of Eggs or young ones are not so good as the others their heads are to be cut off their skins thrown by and their bowels taken out and so they are set a drying in the shade to be afterwards powdered in a mortar But because this Powder is hard to keep in that worms do breed in it it will be good to make it into a Paste with a sufficient quantity of the mucilage of Gum Tragacanth so form it into Troches to dry them and powder them when there is occasion to use them and thus it keeps good a long time This Powder is given in the Small pox Malignant Feavers and all other maladies where Alexipharmicks are required and the humors are to be purified by Perspiration the dose is from eight grains to thirty in broth or some other convenient liquor The Heart and Liver are dried in the Sun and powdered together and this Powder called Animal Bezoar hath the same virtues as the body of the Viper only it is given in a little lesser dose The Gall of Vipers provokes Sweat the dose is a drop or two in Carduus water The fat that is found in them is melted then strained for to separate it from the membranes it sticks to it is as clear as Oil. Several Countries do use it in the Small-pox and in Feavers The dose is from one drop to six in broth or some other convenient liquor It likewise enters into the composition of some Plaisters and into discutient unguents Distillation of Vipers This Operation is a separation of the phlegm the volatile salt and the Oil of Vipers from its earth Take twelve dozen of Vipers dried in the shade as I said before put them into an earthen Retort or glass one Coated place it in a Reverberatory furnace fit to it a great capacious Receiver and luting the joints close begin the distillation with a small fire to warm the Retort gently and drive out a phlegmatick water drop by drop when you see no more drops to fall encrease the fire a little and Spirits will come forth which will fill the Receiver with white Clouds you will see at last a black oil come and the volatile salt stick to the sides of the Receiver Continue the fire until there comes no more after which let the vessels cool and unlute them Shake about the Receiver a little to loosen the volatile salt from the sides and pour it all into a Bolt-head fit to it a head and a small Receiver and lute the joints with a wet bladder you must set your vessel in Sand and with a gentle fire under it the volatile salt will sublime and stick to the head and uppermost part of the bolt-head separate it and keep it in a viol well stopt It is one of the best medicins we have in Physick it is good in Malignant Feavers and Agues the Pox Apoplexy Epilepsie Palsie Hysterical Maladies and the bitings of all venomous Beasts the dose is from six to sixteen grains in some proper Liquor Pour that which remains in the bolt-head into a Tunnel lined with brown paper the Spirit and phlegm will pass through and the stinking Oil remain behind Hysterical women may smell to this last to allay vapours and Paralytical parts may be anointed therewith but its smell is so offensive that it is hard to endure it Pour the Spirit and Phlegm mixed confusedly together into an Alembeck and distil in a vaporous Bath about half
the liquor you 'l have a Spirit that must be kept well stopt it hath the same virtues as the Salt the dose is from ten to thirty drops The Phlegm must be flung away If that which remains in the Retort is Calcined in an open fire and a Lixivium made of it as I said concerning fixt Alkali Salts a small quantity of fixt Salt will remain which nevertheless hath no more virtue than other Alkali Salts I spoke of before The volatile salts of Harts-horn the bloud Skull Nails Hair and other parts of Animals may be drawn after the same manner Remarks The Receiver must be sure to be large enough that the Spirits may circulate with greater ease the fire must likewise be well managed for these Spirits being forced out too fast do rush forth violently and break the Receiver or else are lost through the joints The Phlegm comes before the other Principles in the first distillation but in the Rectification the Volatile Salt rises first because it is at liberty and is lighter than the Phlegm The Spirit which is drawn from Animals by Chymistry is nothing but a volatile salt dissolved in Phlegm Your vessel for sublimation must be very high that the Volatile Salt may rise without any Phlegm for when the vessel is short the Phlegm riseth with the Volatile salt liquifies it and turns it into Spirit A bolt-head or a long body with its head may serve for this Operation because the Phlegm being too heavy cannot mount so high and therefore leaves the Volatile Salt to sublime alone which may nevertheless be Rectified to become more pure you must mix it with the distilled Spirit and repeat the Sublimation according as I have said but because this Salt always carries along with it a small quantity of Oil a few days afterwards it loses its whiteness and turns Yellowish now to avoid that you must pour upon it when it is in the bottle Spirit of Wine Tartarised one fingers height and so keep it well stopt This Spirit of Wine hinders the salt from dissolving its self and the Oil it contained so that after some days it turns red and the salt grows white when it is to be used the Spirit is decanted from it and the Salt left alone by means of this Lotion it loses a little of its former smell but care must be taken that the Spirit of Wine be well Rectified for if there remained any the least Phlegm the Salt would dissolve in it You may also sublime it again as before after having well washt it in Spirit of Wine it will be dry and very fair There is another way of Rectifying the Volatile salt which is by mixing it with four or five times as much bones or horns burnt white and putting the mixture into a glass or earthen body then fitting to it a blind-head or such a one whose Nose has not been opened after that luting well the joints then setting the vessel in sand and with a gentle fire the Volatile salt will rise and stick to the head you must continue the fire until there rises no more This salt is hereby purified from a great deal of its Oil which remains in the powder of Bones wherefore it becomes whiter than it was and pleasanter to the palate It may again be mixt with other Calcined bones and sublimed as before to render it purer still and take away more of its loathsome smell that 's caused partly by the Empyreumatical oyl that it draws along with it in the distillation The Volatile salt dissolved in a little water Crystallizes like Sugar-Candy and then it is easier to keep than before There can be drawn from Animals but a very little quantity of fixt salt because the Spirits which abound in them do volatilize their salt for which reason this volatile salt keeps dry longer than that of Vegetables The virtue of Animals doth principally consist in their Volatile salt it is that which gives meat its savour that makes Broths strong and turns them into a Gelly according as they do abound more or less The Juscula Consummata which are made with a small fire are better than those that are boiled quick because a strong fire carries away good part of the Volatile salts Volatile Salts do rarifie the humors of the body both by reason of their piercing nature and also in that being Alkalis they do dull the strength of Acids which keep the humors condensed after which the bloud being in greater motion than before doth the more easily purifie it self either by perspiration or by Urine from heterogeneous bodies which were there gathered together This Operation may serve to shew how the Volatile Salt of all Animals or any part of them may be drawn When the Volatile Salt of Bloud is to be drawn that of the best colour must be taken and dried in the Sun or else with a very little fire and so distilled like Vipers If you distil two and thirty ounces of shavings of Harts-horn you 'l draw thirteen ounces of liquor and Volatile salt and there will remain in the Retort nineteen ounces of matter as black as Coal You 'l draw from the liquor an ounce and a half of Volatile salt six ounces of Spirit and two ounces of Black oil The black matter being grinded on a Marble is good for Painters use if you Calcine it the fuliginous parts which make it black will fly away and leave the Harts-horn very white you 'l have sixteen ounces of it and this is called burnt Harts-horn It is accounted a Cordial but indeed has no other virtue than to destroy acids as all other alkali matters do Some do stratifie Harts-horn with Bricks and Calcining it that way they call it Harts-horn prepared Philosophically they account it more Cordial than it was before but they are egregiously mistaken for the Volatile salt and oil which were the things that should render it Cardiacal were carried away in the Calcination and there remains only a Terrestrious matter that may be called a Caput mortuum Notwithstanding it is an alkali which may serve as Crabs-eyes Coral and divers other matters of the like nature which absorb acids the Bricks bestow no virtue at all to it If you distil forty ounces of Ivory you will draw thirteen ounces of liquor and volatile salt and there will remain in the Retort six and twenty ounces of a matter as black as Coal Afterwards by the Rectification you will get two ounces and a drachm of Volatile salt one ounce and five drachms of a stinking black oil five ounces of Spirit and four ounces two drachms of phlegm If you Calcine the black pieces which remain in the Retort in an open fire the soot will leave them and they will burn white this is called burnt Ivory or Spodium it has the same virtues as burnt Harts-horn you will have at least twenty ounces of it It is here remarkable that Ivory does contain much more earth than Harts-horn and
doubtless that is the reason why it is the whiter If you distil twelve ounces of Hair you will obtain eight ounces of liquor and volatile salt There will remain in the Retort three ounces and a half of a black matter very spongy and earthy from which no fixed salt can be drawn And by Rectification you will raise into the Head an ounce and seven drachms of a very fine volatile salt separate by a filter three ounces of a black and very fetid oil and by distillation of that which is filtrated you 'l have two ounces of Spirit and nine drachms of phlegm All Volatile salts have much resemblance in their figure smell and taste but that of Vipers is accounted the most active and proper against Poisons those of Harts-horn and Mans Skull are thought to be better than others for the Epilepsie that of mans bloud to purifie the bloud and so of the rest When you Rectifie the Spirit of Vipers or man's Skull or Harts-horn or hair in order to purifie them from their phlegm if you should let the liquor continue distilling longer than is fitting the phlegm will rise after the Spirit but then it separates from the Spirit as water separates from oil the Spirit will be uppermost and a little troubled and whitish but if you keep these two liquors together for a month the whole will mix together and there will be no longer any separation of them at all These effects do happen from this that the Spirit in rising does carry with it some small quantity of Oil which was dissolved in the liquor by reason of salts that it contains This Oil is very volatile it rises with the Spirit and by rendring the Spirit a little oily it hinders at first the phlegm from mixing with it It is likewise this little quantity of oil which makes the Spirit look a little troubled and whitish but when the Spirit and phlegm are kept a good while together they mix and the whole appears like a homogeneous liquor because there being but little oil in the Spirit the phlegm insensibly enters into and incorporates with it wherefore you must take care to separate the Spirit from the phlegm so soon as ever you take the Receiver from the nose of the head in case you have suffered the liquor to distil too long What I have now spoken of does not happen in the Rectification of the Spirit of Ivory and without doubt the reason is that the Ivory does not contain so much Oil as the other parts of Animals Some do prepare a Sudorifick water with Vipers after this manner They do put the Vipers alive into a great earthen body they fit to it a head with its Receiver they lute the joints and distil in a Balneum all that will rise from it but you must take care that the head be well fastned to the body for when the Vipers begin to be heated they leap and fling about with so much violence that they would otherwise throw it down and get out of their stove And then the Artist must have a care of himself and not be too bold for these creatures being irritated would fling about on every side and a bite of theirs at that time would be twice as dangerous as at another This water which rises whilest the Vipers are in their greatest fury is Sudorifick because some Volatile salts have risen and mixed with it You may give of it from a drachm to half an ounce in some proper liquor But to avoid the forementioned danger you might cut the Vipers in pieces before you put them into the body and because these pieces of them do retain life a long time the water will be little the worse for their not being intire When you have drawn as much water from them as you can by the heat of a Balneum you must put the remainder of the Vipers into a Retort and distil it as I have shewn before you will thereby have the Volatile salt the Spirit and the Oyl CHAP. II. Distillation of Vrine and its Volatile Salt THIS Operation is a separation of the Spirit the Volatile Salt and the Oil of Vrine from the phlegm and the earth which it contains Take ten or twelve quarts of Vrine newly made by sound young men evaporate it in an earthen or glass Cucurbite in a Sand-heat until it remains in the consistence of Honey then fit a head with its Receiver and luting the junctures close continue a small fire to distil the rest of the phlegm after which encrease it by little and little and the Spirits will rise in Clouds carrying with them a little Oil and after that the Volatile salt which will stick to the head like Butter-flies continue the fire until there comes no more then unlute the Vessels and separating the Volatile salt put it into a bolt-head pour likewise into it the Spirit that is in the Receiver and fit a blind-head to the bolt-head lute the junctures with a wet bladder and setting your bolt-head in Sand sublime with a small fire all the Volatile salt as I have shewed concerning that of Vipers separate this Salt and keep it in a Viol well stopt It is a good Remedy for Quartan Agues and Malignant Feavers it opens all Obstructions and works both by Vrine and Sweat the dose is from six to sixteen grains in some convenient liquor filtrate that which remains in the bolt-head the Spirit will pass through the Filter whilst a small quantity of black and extraordinary stinking Oil remains which is good to discuss cold Tumors and to give to Hysterical women to smell to You may distil the Spirit in a Sand-heat to separate it from a thick matter that remains at bottom it hath the same virtues as the Salt it is given from eight to twenty drops in some proper vehicle Two drachms of it are mixed with two ounces of Spirit of Wine to rub Paralytical parts with it is likewise used for cold pains and for the Sciatica If the Mass that remains in the Cucurbite should be Calcined and a Lixivium made of it with water a very small quantity of fixt Alkali salt might be gotten from evaporating the water and it hath the same virtues as other Alkali salts Remarks The Vrine of young men is to be prefer'd before others because it contains more Salt It must be newly made and evaporated with a gentle fire that the Fermentation or too much heat may not cause the Volatile Salts to rise with the phlegm The Spirit is only a Volatile salt dissolved in a little phlegm this Volatile salt works more by Vrine than any of the rest but its smell is more offensive This Remedy must never be given in Broth for Broth being to be taken hot the heat evaporates some of the volatile salts before it can well be taken A Volatile salt may be drawn from Vrine after setting it some months Fermenting in a Vessel close stopt and then a third part of the Liquor
will ask me then why the greatest part of mixt bodies do yield no light although the same means are used to excite a motion of their parts I answer that all mixt bodies have not their insensible parts so disposed to a rapid motion and after such a manner as those I have now spoken of Wood indeed will easily enough flame but you can't make a flame with stones because you cannot give stones the same determination to motion of parts as you can to wood To give light or to make a fire bodies must be compounded of sulphureous parts for sulphurs are very susceptible of motion I do not at all doubt but an infinite number of things that there is no imagination of at present might serve to the making of Phosphorus when inquisitive men shall have a mind to try it It has been observ'd in many men that when they have been in a great rage or are become extream Cholerick the very hair of their head has shone brighter than usual and we need not be scrupulous in believing what is said of Alexander the Great that when he was hotly engaged in the battle fire was seen to sparkle out of his eyes because his humors were then in an extraordinary commotion What I have now said may pass for a general explication on this matter but if we should descend into particulars nicely it would be very hard to clear so well as could be wished a great many doubts that have been raised for example wherein consists the difference of fermentations which of many like matters makes this to shine and that not to shine although they do seem to have undergone the same fermentations and elaborations in a like space of time Why some things that have fermented but little do give a light and others of the same nature though they have fermented as long and longer yet give no light Why one side of a matter shall be luminous and the other shall not be we ought to have a very perfect knowledge of the structure and the order of the insensible parts of the matter to give good substantial reasons for the resolution of these doubts Sometimes there have been found in the Shambles pieces of Veal Mutton Beef which do shine in the dark though they have been but newly killed and yet other pieces of the same kind killed at the same time shall not shine at all Nay this very year was seen at Orleans in a very temperate season a great quantity of meat of this sort some of it would shine all over and others of it would shine only in some certain places in form of Stars It was likewise observed that with some Butchers almost all their meat was found to be luminous and with other Butchers there was not a bit to be seen of that kind Men concluded presently that such flesh as this was altogether unwholsome to eat of they therefore flung away a great deal of it into the river and several Butchers there had like to be ruined by this accident but at last perceiving that there was such quantities of it some people ventured to eat of it and at length it was found to be as good meat as any other I conceive that this Phenomenon may be imputed to two causes First to the Pasturage of the beasts for it is certain that in some countries the herbs are more spirituous than in others and those do give such an active impression to the humors of those beasts who feed on them that they may have a disposition to the making this Phosphorus Secondly To these beasts having been heated more than others in their driving upon the road or else to their having been killed before they had sufficiently rested after their journey for the spirits being put into a great motion thereby do not every where lose it after the beast is killed and so long as the spirits do continue their rapid motion so long the Phosphorus is to be seen but when the flesh begins to stink there appears no more light in it because these vigorous spirits are then spent or else they come to be confused in the meat by the means of another fermentation But you will not fail to make me this Objection If the Phosphorus does consist in a violent motion of the insensible parts then stinking meat should be more luminous than that which was newly killed because the smell proceeds from the separation of the principles of a mixt body by fermentation which as they rise from it do strike the nerve of Smelling wherefore there must needs be a greater motion of parts in stinking meat than in that which is fresh I answer that that which makes the Phosphorus in meat newly killed is a matter much more active and more subtile than that which gives the ill smell to stinking meat it is a remainder of the spirits which do run with a prodigious swiftness through the body of a living creature in all its parts and unless the matter be in this degree of motion it will never become lucid no more than if the insensible parts of inflammable matters be not put into a very rapid motion they will not take fire Perhaps also it may be that the meat in the corrupting might receive a sufficient agitation of parts to produce light as it happens sometimes in the standing puddles of Urine In considering the light which appears upon the surface of standing Urines I have been led to think that there are oftentimes serosities that settle in the bodies of sick persons which might be in a condition to make kinds of Phosphorus if they had but air enough to illuminate them at least they do produce the effects of fire as in Gouts in Rheumatisms in the Erysipelas and in abundance of other Inflammations The Hermetick PHOSPHORUS of BALDUINUS It is a mixture of Chalk and the Acid Spirits of Aqua fortis which makes it lucid Make red-hot about two pounds of Chalk then let it cool and powder it Take a quantity of Aqua fortis for example a pound pour it into a great glass body and throw into it a spoonful of your calcined Chalk powdered it will make a strong ebullition when that shall be dissolved throw into it as much more and continue to do so until it makes no ebullition let the liquor settle and decant it into an earthen pan placed in sand and evaporate all the liquor with a little fire you will have remain a kind of salt at bottom Put this salt into a Coppel or into an earthen pan unglazed set it in sand in a gentle heat the matter being heated will swell continue this gentle heat about an hour or until it be a little sunk cover it then with a cover or lid that has three or four holes in it increase the fire by little and little until it be strong enough to melt the matter and when it is melted you must expect to see a yellow vapour come forth through the holes of the
Colcothar the Natural 330 And the Artificial 333 339 Colophone 490 Colour what it is 194 195 228 Variety of colours 199 344 345 and the reason of them 201 Coppel 77 Copper 118 Coral 270 The ebullition it causes with Vinegar in its dissolution thought to be a cold ebullition 273 The solution of Pearl and other alkali matters perform'd as that of Coral 274 Coral prepared 272 much better than the Magistery 275 Cornachine powder 225 Crocus Martis its best preparation of all 132 133 Crocus metallorum how often the same will serve to make the Emetick wine 221 D Depart 62 79 That Digestion owes more to the saliva than to acids 456 E Earthquakes their nature explicated 140 Ebullition without the encounter of acid and alkali 302 342 Elosaccharum 391 Elixir proprietatis 479 Emetick Syrop 215 Emetick wine 218 222 Extracts of greater virtue than waters 406 Extractum Panchymagogum 484 F Feavers their nature and their principal symptoms explicated 459 460 The regularity of their fits explicated 461 A Febrifugous salt 321 Fermentation 26 Fire how it alters the nature of bodies 20 21 25 26 251 How the substance of fire does increase the weight of some medicines 107 116 208 228 229 What Fire is 303 Flints how generated 263 Fulminant powder 71 Furnaces and vessels 31 G Gold 48 The wicked cheats which Alchymists do use in pretending to make it 49 c. The improbability of making Gold fairly represented 56 57 Whether it be a Cordial 58 59 That it can be volatilized 60 Purified by an operation called the Depart 62 Purified by Cementation 63 Its Precipitation 68 Its Fulmination from whence 70 Why it spreads under the hammer better than Sylver 315 Gravelled ashes 256 Guaiacum 383 its Oil why so good for the tooth-ach 385 Gumm Armoniack its best Purification 497 Other Gumms how Purified 498 H Hair distilled 518 Harts-horn distilled 516 Honey 542 Hunger from what cause 457 Hydragogues why they do work more on watery humours than the others 358 Hysterical vapors why allaied by ill smells 367 368 I Jalap 373 That all its Purgative virtue consists in the Rosine 373 Inks called sympathetical 258 330 Iron 130 How made Steel 131 Preferred before Steel for Physical uses ib. 132 133 c. That it opens obstructions by its salt 133 When mixed with Sulphur and wetted with water it grows extraordinary hot of it self which serves to explain the nature of Earthquakes and hot baths 140 141 Ivory distilled 517 L Lead 105 That it purifies Gold and Sylver as the white of an Egg clarifies a Syrop ib. increased in weight by Calcination 107 increased in weight by Distillation 116 how to be Revived 115 118 Lignum sanctum 383 Lime water 254 Litharge 76 Lutes 37 M Mace 425 Magnesia Opalina 219 Marcassite 101 Mercury 154 Why it remains fluid and why it so easily volatilizes by fire ib. it s ill effects 160 and its good effects 161 especially in Venereal Maladies ib. the raising a Flux by Mercury ingeniously and at large explicated 162 163 c. proved to be an alkali 167 168 why it requires less Spirit to dissolve it than other metals 172 in what form to be taken inwardly 185 Mercurius vitae 236 Mercurial water 190 191 Metals seven 46 Milk its coagulation explicated 29 454 Virgins Milk 493 Minerals their formation and growth 45 Minium 106 Mountebanks their cheat in taking Poisons 182 Myrrhe 500 N Niter see Salt-peter Nutritum or Butter of Saturn 111 Nutmegs 401 O Oleum Philosophorum or Oil of Bricks why so called 270 Opium and Meconium 467 how its narcotick quality is best to be preserved in the Extract 469 That it ought not to be Torrified 470 how it is that Opium causes sleep more than other things 471 Reason given why it allaies pains takes off deliriums and cures fluxes 473 The Turks taking such quantities of it descanted upon 474 Why Sudorifick 476 P Paper both antient and modern how made 386 Perpetual Pills 204 not good in the Iliaca passio but good in the Colick 207 Whether they do lose their virtue by frequent use 206 Perspiration insensible two sorts 72 That more is Perspired in the heat and drought of a Feaver than in the violent sweat ib. Petrification how 264 Petroleum 363 364 Peruvian Bark 393 The greatest Specifick ever known in Agues ib. The different manner of giving it heretofore and at present ib. The body to be well Purged before the Bark is given 394 The ill effects of taking it irregularly ib. To be avoided by such who have an Abscess ib. How it comes to remove the fit ib. 395 Its febrifugous virtue lost by distillation 398 Phagedenick water 171 Philosophers Stone or Powder of Projection a miserable cheat 51 c. Phosphorus the solid 523 and the Liquid 525 Its Inventors 526 Experiments made upon the Phosphorus 528 529 c. Baldwin 's Phosphorus 538 Plumbum ustum 106 Poison what it is 179 The difference between Coagulative or cold Poisons and the Corrosive or hot 179 How different the Remedies proper to each of them be 180 181 Principles of Chymistry 2 That they are not first Principles 5 How much they are indebted to fire in their production 6 c. The five Principles not to be found in Minerals 9 Pulvis Cornachinus 225 Purgative medicines their different operation explicated 487 Purgative virtue of mixt bodies wherein it consists 381 382 Pus how it becomes white 356 Q Quicklime how made 251 Fiery bodies proved to cause its corrosion and ebullition with water 252 253 No salt to be drawn from it 253 That Acids will give it a new ebullition after it is slak't 254 but will make no ebullition with Lime-water ib. R Rhubarb commended as it deserves 379 Rosines how distilled 490 S Salivation explicated 162 163 c. Sal Armoniack the Natural and the Artificial 310 Its Purification ib. Its Flowers Chalybeated 312 Sal Gemme its origine 13 277 Sal Prunellae often counterfeited 295 Salt one chief of which all the rest are compounded 12 Three sorts of it drawn from Vegetables 19 That it becomes Alkali by fire 23 24 Alkali Salts how made exceeding white 446 Common Salt 277 its origine 13 That made by evaporation not so strong as that by crystallization 278 The manner of making Salt at Rochel 279 Its Spirit drawn without addition of earth 284 New Spirits drawn several times from the same matter exposed to the air after distillation 285 Salt decrepitated must be newly made for use 282 Salt-peter or Niter of the antients different from ours 289 its origine 15 289 That it is not inflammable in it self nor sulphureous 290 308 That it is a Sal Gemme impregnated with greater store of Spirits 292 Salt-peter Purified judged better for use than Sal prunellae 295 Sanguification explicated 356 Sea-sickness its cause 278 Small-pox ingeniously compared to the fermentation of Wines 416 Vniversal Spirit 2 Steel how made 131 Stones how generated