other waters Carelesly in one or more vessels that will hold them These last waters shall be taken and forced to pass over New Earth operating as before and so many times shall they Pass over new earth untill you find the water sufficiently impregnated with Nitre which you shall easily know by the tast for the tongue will be hardly able to indure it for the great heaâ— and the waters will bear almost a new layd Egge without sinking to the bottom Having Collected a sufficient quantity of this Nitrous water you must put it into one or more Great Brazen or Copper caldron like those of the dyers accommodated to a fornace which being filled of two thirds of such liquor i. e. in such manner that a third part of the caldron be yet empty give fire to it at first gently afterwards more strongly by degrees untill the boyling be well advanced and so continue untill the caldron be but one third part full of liquor or to say better untill but half of what was put in do Remain The waters of one or more Caldrons being boyled and reduced to such a Quantity let them be gently taken out and put in a Capacious Tun or Tuns well hooped with hoopes of Iron and let them be covered with hempen cloath and tables upon them very diligently and so let them be left untill they coole and that they be setled very well in such manner that all the Earthy substance and naughty Salt be fallen to the bottom These waters being thus purified let them again be gently that they be not troubled but the common Salt and earthiness left in the bottom Returned in to the cleansed caldrons and they being boyled as at first untill one half be consumed or at least untill you know it be boyled and be coaguâ—aâ—ed which will be known when taking a little upon a stick and dropping it on a Polish'd marble or stone if it remain congealed or to say better thickned it is a sign it is boyled and therefore take it from the fire and suffer it to coole It being thus cooled clarified let there be ready some Trayâ— made of Planks long not too large nor too deep but more large in the top then in the botome let these be filled with the boyl'd and clarified waters a handful high putting into them some little sticks of wood without Barke and cover the trays and let them stand so two or three days and at that time or longer according to the season you shall find the Sal-Nitri Congeal'd and cleaving to the sides of the Trays and the sticks after the manner of clear Chrystall which take away carefully and the water that Remains let it be put to boyling anew as at first leaving the salt and the dregs in the bottome of the Trays And because the waters in the boyling swell and make a scum it will be necessary to take away that scum carefully as they do from the flesh-pots and to reserve that scum to throw it upon the Earth taken from the Tuns to reimpregnate it with Salt-petre Moreover because the water in boyling will spatter out of the caldron to remedy this let there be ready a strong lie made 3 fourths of ferne Ashes or the ashes of Oak holme oâ— Oak or with Ash or Maple such as was used aâ— the first elixiviation and of one fourth of quick-lime and in the said strong lie for every hundred pints let there be dissolved four pounds for Roach-alluâ—â— And of this lie so prepared take one or two potâ—uls and throw it in by little and little when the Caldron swells and it will presently be quiet and descend and become of a clear Azure colour and the dreggs of the common salt will fall to the Bottome Of the manner to râ—fine Sal-pâ—trae to make gun-powder cap. 50. ALL the vigour of Gun-powder consisting in Sol-petrae its quantity and its perfection if the Sal-petre should be put in use of the first boyling the Powder would â—ot be so perfect and so strong as need would require for the quantity of Terrestriall matterâ— Commonâ— salt and uâ—ctuosity which also reside with the Petre do hinder its vertue and strength and therefore the Artists do always anew Refine the said Salt-petre and purge it from every extraneous matter as much as is possible that they may obtaine the most strenuous effects of Powder that can be desired This Refining is made in two manners either with water commonly called the wett or with Fire commonly called the Dry or the Burnt The wett or with water is made thus They take as much sal-nitre as they please to Refine and put it in a Caldron over a fornace and upon that Sal-nitre they put such a quantity of fresh and clear water as may be sufficient to dissolve it they take notice of the quantity of the water and for every barrel of water which they put into the Caldron they put five or six Pot-fulls of that strong lie made of Ferne-Ashes Oake and Quick-lime and Allum and giving fire to the Caldron at first softly and afterward increasing it un till the melted Nitre boyle and rayse a scum Let there be ready a great Tun or vessel placed so high that another vessel may stand under it to receive the Sal-nitrous water which by little shall strain from above and in the said great Tun let there be put a hands-breadth of cleane and wash'd Sand and upon that a great linnen cloth doubled as the laundresses do and on that poure the water from the Caldron which contains the melted Nitre as soon as it boyles and the scum is taken from it and let it strain by little and little by the â—â—p into the vessel below as they do in making their Bucks Which water being all strained let it be put into a cleare Caldron and boyl it till by the proof of a Coâ—gealed drop it may be known to be well boyled not forgetting to give it some of the strong liâ— of Allum Ashes and lime when the Caldron swells and would spatter out the water and having made proof it is boyled enough let it be taken out and put into the long Trays to coolâ— as before and preserve the congealed Salt-petre and returne the water to boyle again that remains and againe to congeale and do so untill the water Give no more Salt-petre Now this Salt-petre so Refined is called Salt-petre Refin'd of the â—econd boylingâ— as the Refiners of sugar call their Sugar Refined of the Second Third or fourth boyling and to make Saltpetre of such perfection you may as some do Refine it that is Reboyl it in such manner the third time proceeding always as before Because that there is such difficulty in the depurating of Salt-peter from the fixed common Salt Allum Vitriol which adhere to it that without this be done no man can judge whether the salt it leaves upon calcination be from the Nitre or some
Charity stirring in them which ought to be they would love and honor us even for the resemblance of that Church the beauty of which themselves so much admire Thus far Mr. Hales with whose sentiments my thoughts so correspond that to justifie the procedure of that renowned Queen I add that Her action is warranted by the deportment of the Christians from the Apostolique and primitive times to the revolution under Constantine and that I never read any thing in Ecclesiastical History relating to Christianity to convince me that Her demeanor therein was unlawful or unexpedient Where I speak of the Sweating-Sickness to the accounts of Polydore Virgil and Hollingshed add this out of the Chronicle of Edw. Hall published by Richard Grafton Anno Domini 1550. In the first year of King Henry 7. a new kind of Sickness came suddenly through the whole Region even after the first entring of the King into this Isle which was so sore and painful and sharp that the like was never heard of to any mans remembrance before that time For suddenly a deadly and burning Sweat invaded their bodies and vexed their blood with a most ardent heat infested the stomach and the head grievously by the tormenting and vexation of which sicknes men were so sorely handled so painfully pangued that if they were laid in their bed being not hable to suffer the importunate heat they cast away the sheets and all the cloaths lying on the bed If they were in their apparel and vestures they would put off all their Garments even to their shirts Others were so dry that they drank the cold water to quench their importune heat and insatiable thirst Others that could or at the least would abide the heat and stench for indeed the Sweat had a great and strong savour caused cloathes to be laid upon them as much as they could â—ear to drive out the Sweat if it might be All in manner assoon as the Sweat took them or within a short space after yielded up their Ghost So that of all them that sickned there was not one amongst an hundred that escaped Insomuch that beside the great number which deceased within the City of London two Mayors successively died of the same disease within eight days and six Aldermen And when any person had fully and compleatly sweat 24 hours for so long did the strength of this plague hold them he should be then clearly delivered of his disease yet not so clear rid of that but that he might shortly relapse and fâ—ll again into the same evil pyt â—ea again and twice again as manâ— one in deed did which after the third time died of the same Aâ— the length by Study of Physicians and experience of the people driven thereunto by dreadful necessity there was a remedy invented For they that survived considering the extremity of the pain in them that deceased devised by things meer contrariant to resiâ—â— and withstand the furious rage of that burning furnace by luke-warm drink temperate heat and measurable cloathes For such persons as relapsed again into the flame after the first deliverance observed diligently and marked such things as did them ease and comfort at their first vexation and using the same for a remedy and medicine of their pain adding ever somewhat thereto that was sanative and wholsome So that if any person ever after fell sick again he observing the regiment that amongst the people was devised could shortly help himself and easily temper and avoid the strength and malice of the Sweat So that after the great loss of many men they learned a present and speedy remedy for the same disease and malady the which is this If a man on the day time were plagued with the Sweat then he should strait lie down with all his cloathes and garments and lie still the whole 24 hours If in the night he were taken then he should not rise out of his bed for the space of 24 hours so cast the cloathes off that he might in no wise provoke the sweat but so lie temperately that the water might distil out softly of its own acâ—ord and to abstain from all meat if he might so long sustain and suffer hunger and to take no more drink neither hot nor cold than will moderately quench and delay his thirsty appetite And in this his amending one point diligently above all other is to be observed and attended that he never put his hand or foot out of the bed to refresh or cool himself the which to do is no less pain than short death So you may plainly see what remedy was by the dayly experience excogitated and invented for this strange and unknown Disease the which at that time vexed and grieved only the Realm of England in every Town and Village as it did divers times after but 55 years after it sailed into Flanders and Germany where it destroyed people innumerable for lack of knowledge of the English experience In the twenty second year of the aforesaid King though the Sweating-Sickness did break out again yet he saith that it did less hurt and displeasure to the people at this time than it did before by reason of the remedy which was invented by the death of many a Creature in the beginning But in the subsequent years the Sweating-sickness is represented by him to be as direful as others relate of it But neither doth Hall or any other Chronologer speak of this famoâ—s and almost infalliâ—le Medicine what effect it had so that we may conclude that since it was impossible for the people to have been ignorant of that remedy during those latter mortalities the course it self must needs have been ineffectual Whereas I observe that the Arcanum of Ivy-berryes was no secret however that Arcanist pretended it to be so I prove it out of Alexius Piedmontius and others I add to those Authors Parkenson's Herbal a Book called A thousand Notable things and Simon Paulli professeth he was taught it by a Scotch Soldier And that it may appear with how much more accurateness the receipt is in our Medicinal Books than in the account of Mr. R. B. I shall set down the words of Alexius Piedmontius and that the rather because if the Receipt were so effectual as 't is represented as I am satisfied it hath been at other times 't is necessary men should know how to use it Alexius Piedmontius Secret l. 2. pag. 92. ex vers Latin Weckeri Basileae 1563. Praesentissimum remedium ad eos qui Peste correpâ—i sunt quod valet etiam ad lividas pustulas in cute ex febre pestilentiali subortas itemque ad carbunculos ignem sacrum id genus alia R. Hederae baccas maturas in umbra siccatas deinde contritas fiat pulvis de quo accipiant aegri Ê’â—8 cum poculo dimidio vini albi deinde maneant in lecto ut optime sudent Posteaquam sudaverint aegri indusium linteamina lecti stragula
Purging medicines Ioel in his discourse of poysons As for Scaliger he distinguisheth betwixt Nitre and Salt-Petre He saith and proveth it that the Nitre of the Ancients is not a thing lost totally but common to be had in Asia and Egypt and even in Tuscany And Poterius saith he gathered it in several places about Bononia and particularly in Monte Paderna And if Langius be the Author Mr. Henshaw cites I never heard of any writer called Longius and am apt to believe it to be a mistake of the Printer it is plain that he reckons our Salt-Petre as a distinct Species and not as the same with that oâ—her of the Ancients Est et alia Nitri Species marke that artis industriâ parata quae ex stirijs frigore in lapidibus parietum aut testudinum concretis sensim distillantibus saxis et caemento accrescit aut ex putrida et salsuginosa in stabulis terra veterinariorum urinâ conspersa decoquitur Novum inventum veteribus Medicis ignotum The distinction that Scaliger makes betwixt Salt-Petre and the Nitre consists in the tenuity of their parts and upon the same ground he distinguisheth Salt-Petre from the number of Salia Fossilia or Salts digged out of the Earth Tantum abest ut sal petrae sit sal Fossile ut et a Sale et a Nitro distet partium tenuitate Tam enim sal quam Nitrum ita uritur ut cineris quippiam relinquatur Sal petrae universum absumitur ab igni What the judgment of Cardan may be I know not But Untzerus doth give his reasons why our Nitre and theirs should not be of the same Species Because that theirs was such as might be eaten with meats and commonly drunk with wines it was of a rosy colour bitter light Spungy and of an Earthy Nature Whereas our Salt-Petre hath none of these qualities As for those that hold the Affirmative their number is not so great as he represents them to be nor is the general vote of learned men so favourable to that opinion But the controversie is laid aside because we have none of that Nitre brought over unto us Should it happen once to be so or that we should meet with any Veins of it or Nitrous Waters in Europe where it were to be digged or made without Lixiviating it is not to be doubted but there would arise several disputes about the Mineral it self and the bodies that separate from it upon refining Since there is a great difference in the Salt-Petre of several grounds in England and some having a greater proportion of Common Salt than others have and some abounding much more with Sal Armoniack than others as the Barbary-Petre or that which is cast out of the Earth in Italy or hangs upon old Stone walls in England whereas that which is made by boiling participates not at all of the nature of Sal Armoniack And that many little differnces in the Petre besides these might have been offered to the consideration of the Society and found out by them in order to the improving of Gunpowder is certain but they are not so serious as they pretend And whereas Mr. Henshaw saith that the reason why the general vote of learned men hath been most favourable to that opinion of their being but one Species was because that in all Latine Relations and prescriptions the word Nitrum or Halinitrum is most commonly used for Salt-Petre I do not believe any man ever gave that reason For the word Nitrum is of Greekish originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Greeks and Latines cald that peculiar â—ort of Minerall Nitre which was in some places digged out of the Earth in others made by the Sun operating upon little Canales made ouâ— of the Nile and oftentimes it was cast up of it self out of the Earth or bred there in manner of a hoar frost as it is now in the Indies and Barbary the Arabians called it Bauraekh and mention two sorts that of Armenia and that of Africk When the use of Gun-powder had rendred Salt-Petre so advantagious a commodity and that modern Artists had found out this way of extracting it out of Earth by Elixiviating it they gave it the same appellation that the Ancients did to their Nitre and came to use promiscuously the Names of Nitre and Salt-Petre both sorts of Nitre being equally subservient to their ends and being in a manner all one after refining although Curiosity might be able to multiply distinctions from the different manner of productions and different constitutive principles that occur daily in the making Salt-Petre They were the more induced to give ouâ— Salt-Petre the same name with the Ancient Nitre because that they had continued the name of Nitre to the same sort of Minerall though sometimes occurring in a white colour sometimes Black sometimes red sometimes they had it naturally produced sometimes it was artificially generated in their Pooles or Canales Sometimes it was of so hard a consistence as not to dissolve easily in water sometimes it was soft of a loose texture and as it were froathy From this consideration the moderns thought it no incongruity if they gave the same name to their Salt-Petre which the Ancients had given to a Minerall of so resembling a nature So Botallus saith Quanquam adhuc sub judice lis est num hoc nostrum Nitrum idem sit quod veterum sensus tamen indicat hoc facultate illi haud absimile esse So Quercetan saies Salpetrae nostrum a Nitro diversum est nisi quod qualitatum communionem forte quandam cum illo habet quemadmodum sales omnes inter se communionem quandam habent de vulner Sclopet Sect. 10. We see in common Salt how great a variety is comprehended under the same appellation Some is white some black some bay some red some purple some digged out of the Earth some made by the Sun Some is boild to its consistence in the tast there is great difference some more pleasantly Salt than others some bitter and ill tasted Some Salt hath a rank smell some none at all and in the effects and uses to which Salt is applyed there is so great a variety and discrepancy that we may justifie our calling the Common Salt-Petre by the name of Nitre In the mean while it is apparent that the Latines could not use the word Nitrum or Halinitrum for that Salt-Peter which we commonly make and they must be very ignorant persons that could avow our Salt-Petre and the Nitre of the Ancients to be of the same Species because that in all Latine Relations and prescriptions the word Nitrum or Halinitrum is commonly used for ours or another kind Salt-Petre If ever they had any such it was called Aphronitrum et Spuma Nitri and noâ— Nitrum â— But however Mr. Henshaw hath done less then one would have expected in the foregoing discourse he would have
generate there Salt-Petre in a shorter time and much greater quantity then otherwise would be found there Besides if there rise such great store of Scumme and Froth which must needs vary as the raw liquor is more or less fowle how shall any man conjecture by weighing his raw liquor against common water at the quantity of Salt-Petre hâ— is to receive Usually about that time it lets fall some common Salt to the bottom which you must take up with the said Scummer If there be a great quantity of common Salt in it it falls almost all to the bottom during the boiling what remains of common Salt in it granulates against the sides as it cooles which at Warwick they suffered to be done in the Cauldron without any distinct Tubb what an observation did our Vertuoso loose here concerning the discovery of two so different Salts at first swimming and mixing indiscernably in the liquor and afâ—erwards parting in this manner the one Chrystallizing whilst the liquor is hot and boiling and remaining in great quantities the other coagulating into Sexangular not Cubique shapes and that when it is cold and divided into Shallow pannes Here are Twenty pages lost that might have been Expended in Luciferous Experiments When the Liquor is brought to this pass every hundred weight of it containeth about threescoâ—e and ten pound weight of Petre. Any one may Judge how true this is by what I have said before it may happen that half of it is common Salt When you find the Cubiqâ—e Salt to granulate and stick to the sides Why did not he disgress to tell us why it granulates at the sides when it cooles and falls to the bottom when hot Draw of your Liquor into deep wooden Traies Which if you do it is ten to one but the weight of the Liquor will break out the sides of them wherefore our men think it good Husbandry to use Brass-pannes That part of the Liquor which is not coagulated but Swims upon the Petre must be carefully powred off and being mingled with new liquors must again pass the ashes before it be boiled else it will grow so greasy it will never generate any Salt This is the Mother of Salt-Petre of which I spake before And if it or the raw liquor being boiled too long grow so greasy as not to be able to coagulate by any meanes what must we think of his designe to counterfeit the Nitre of the Ancients Then cast in by degrees a pint of the strongest Wine-vinegar or else four ounces of Allom beaten to powder some choose burt Allom and you shall observe a black Scumme to rise on the top of the liguor I saw as good Petre made at Warwick as any in the world without this cautelous refining they cast in nothing but good Scowring water such as would bear Soap well continued the pouring of it as long as any Scumme would arise Nor did they lade the Liquor out into any Setling Tub as he proposeth but suffered it to stand in the Copper till it began to Chystall against the sides in such manner as the common Salt doth Chrystallize in the first boiling then did they take out the liquor leaving the faeces and all that is foule at the bottome Here I must take notice of an omission of Mr. Henshaw's in that having brought his refined Petre to chrystall rock in the pannes He then slightly transfers it into a Tub with an hole in the bottome to drain and when it is dry it is fit for use But I found that our workmen took more care For they took the large fragments of the Nitrous rocks and placed them in Live-ashes upright and so the ashes did drain from the rocks that greasy and Motherish substance which adheres to the Petre extrinsecally as it shootes and which if not separated this way vitiates the colour and takes of so much from the Efficacy and goodness of the Petre as there adheres of Grease As for the smaller Chrystalls and pieces which are too little to be so ranked they are placed upon a sheet spread upon the said ashes and so that Motherish humidity draines from them and they become clear and white as Snow The ashes being impregnated with this Oile are enriched in order to the generating of more Petre when the liquor comes to be passed through them The Figure of the Chrystalls is Sexangular and if it hath rightly shot is fistulous and hollow like a Pipe He should have done well to have told us how this Mineâ—al comes to be thus figured and evidenced it unto us that it was performed Mechanically This had been a much more generous undertaking then the suggestion of an impertinent conceit of his which I shall speak of presently He should have shewed the configuration of the particles what it is that gives them Motion what it is that Sizeth them and preserves them fistulous This had been a curiosity worthy a Philosopher that understands something more than common Formes To tell us that nature acts the Geometrician or that it is done by the agitation of any subtile Spirits or matter acting in a determinate manner upon particles of one configuration whilest the others are agitated and cast off by a different Motion I say this is no satisfactory discourse nor vâ—ry comprehensible when we reflect upon the Liquor of the Salt-Petre how thick it is crowded and into what fistulous Crystalls it coagulates For all this while a man does not understand how Ingenious nature doth particularly and distinctly figure out those Crystalls nor the manner of that Speciall Geometry which she practiseth in this case Should an Indian or other Ignorant person ask concerning the making of a watch or other piece of Clock-work what was the reason that the hand did so exactly discriminate the houres what was the reason of its so slow and equable motion bearing such an unerring correspondence with that great revolution of the Sun and should any man answer that it was a peculiar conformation of parts which consist of several meâ—talls differently shaped and placed in order to the composing of that machine which the ingenious Artist had atchieved though this answer carry much of truth in it yet doth it not solve the doubt or satisfie a speculative inquirer Nor if he continue his question further will he be satisfied with a narration that those very materialls are apparently Sand Lead Steel Iron Brass c. differently agitated according to determine rules of motion whereby it happens that it keeps so certain and constant a course in declaring of Time This kind of general knowledge may content such as have not leisure to engage in more accurate Theories but he deserves not the name of a Mechanick Philosopher who doth not perspicuously declare the matter and configuration of each part the Size and Use of each Wheel the effect of each Spring and weight and this either Mathematically to the understanding or by ocular demonstration
other body which by the usual process even of Mr. Boyle by filtration and coâ—gulation can never be perfectly sepâ—râ—ted nor the Petre â—educed to crystals of 〈◊〉 right Sigâ—â—ture 〈…〉 lis bestiarum â—rutus per solutionem et coagulationem purgetur impossible tamen est ut â—unditiem suam debitam et Signaturam veraâ— conâ—eqâ—â—â—â—â— so Glauber de signat Saâ— pag. 27. And because the crystâ—lâ— of Nitre appear best in their own shapes after such an exâ—ct depuration it may not be omitted to tell you what Mr. Henshaw might have done for 〈…〉 evident â—e had 〈◊〉 Glaâ—â—eâ— â—â—z 〈…〉 way of making pure Nitre is to take the course Mr. Boyle found out to burne part to an Alcali and to powr upon a filtrated solution of that the Spirit of Nitre and evaporating it to â— cuticle to crystalize it in a cold place But there is another way that may not be 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 Somienowicz p. 1. â— 2. â— 8. 〈…〉 2◠〈…〉 simul mixt a pulâ—â—r◠〈…〉 neo aceti vâ—l vini aâ—â— in defectu horum aqua dâ—lois 〈…〉 fundatu bonâ— quantiâ—as at fiaâ— lixiviumâ— Quod per triduâ—â—pâ—tium sibi relictum â— larescat Pone deinne saâ—em-nitri in caldarâ—e 〈…〉 tantum lixivij ut salem-nitri cooperiat prâ—â—oque lento igne ad consumptionem mediae partis totius liquoris residâ—um effunde in aliud vas faeces autem omnes immundas quas fundum caldarij petlisse videbisforas â—jiace frigescat postea aqua salâ—itrosa et ulterius elaboretur more consueto that is iâ— sâ—ch manner as is presâ—ribed by Sordi and him in the first boyling of Salt-petre The Refining Salt-petre by fire to wit the dry is made in this manner they have a great and capacious and thick vessel of Brass Copper or Iron placed on a Fornace and in that they put what quantity of Nitre they please and making a gentle fire at first and increasing it by degrees untill the Nitre be perfectly melted and running and begins to boyle and having ready fine powdered Brimstone they throw some of it in the top of the melted Nitre and if the Brimstone fire of it selfe it is well if not with a coale or having a stick they fire it and this Brimstone so fired they let alone untill it have consumed all the grease which swims upon the said Salt-petre The which being all consumed the Salt-petre is emptyed into what vessels a man will that the Loaves or Pieces of Salt-petre may become large of which he may prepare what quantity shall seem sufficient and in the bottom of the Caldron will remain the Dreggs and common salt the Salt-petre being cooled becomming like a piece oâ— fine white Marble in this manner you may refine it as often as you will and it shal always proâ—e more perfect and worke greater effects Of the Manner how to Re-impregnate the Earth taken out of the Vessells with new Salt-petre HAving taken out the Earth from the Vessels after that the water hath extracted al the Nitrous substance therefrom let it be spread on the face of the Earth but not exceeding a foot thick and in some covered place that it be subject to neither Rain nor the sight of the Sun Which Earth being so ordered and spread get a great quantity of Dung as well of great Cartel as small and spread it on the Earth as thick as you can one or two foot thick or more if you have dung enough Upon this dung cast all the scum and the waters which were taken from the Salt-petrâ— leaving the Earthy dreggs and the common salt And afterwards gathering in all publique plaâ—es in vessels prepared to that purpose as much Human urine as is possible and every Day cast it on the Dung and doing so at two years end that Earth will be impregnated with as much Nitre as ever and it may be with greater advantage How to prove Salt-petre to know its finess Cap. 52. TAke a Pound of Salt-petre and put it on a smooth white Table and with burning coales fire it in tâ—e doing whereof note these effects If it make a noyse as Salt does when it is cast on burning coales it shall be a sign that it reteins in it much common salt If it make a fat scumme it is a sign it hath too much fatt If after it is all burnt it leave in the bottom filth it is a sign it yet retains some of the Earthy substance and the greater these signs are so much the more extraneous matter doth the Saltâ—petre contain and it is so much the less purified fine and of less Vigour But if the flame it cast be cleare windy long divided into many parts after the manner of Brandishing Rays or beams of light that the Table remain clean if it is burn'd as pure coale that makes no sâ—umme or noyse then the Salt-petre may be said to be well purified and perfect How to know the goodness of Powder Cap. 53. The goodness of Powder is known by the Eye the Touch and by the Fire by the Eye if it be very Black or that it is Moist and put upon white paper and tinging it with black it is a sign that it hath too much Coal but if it be of dark Ash-colour and â—inge not it is a sign that it hath its proportion of Coal and it is dry With the Touch it is known when rubbing it with the fingers it appears soft and easily broken it is a sign of too much Coal and when rubbing it and powdering it with the fingers you feel some little knobs that prick the fingers it is a sign the Sulphur is not well powd'red and incorporated and that the Powder is not elaborated enough With the Fire likewise is known the goodness of Powder taking a pound of it and putting it on a Table smooth and white and near unto it another a third fourth and fifth pound so that they do noâ— touch and then giving fire unto a little heap if at one and the same time all the heapâ— are fired if the flame be raised clear and quick cracking in the raising it is a sign it is fine and well labour'd but if the flame be slow in raising and with much smoke and without noyse it is a sign of the little strength of it of the great â—uantity of Coal and Sulphur more than it ought If after it is burnt the Table remain black it is a sign of too much Coal if Unctuous it is a sign of the grease of the Salt-Petre and Sulphur that were not well refinedâ— and if with earthiness and little granulets of matter it is a sign the Salt-Petre was not well purged of common Salt and earthy matter and that the Sulphur was not well powder'd and incorporated and if after the powder is burnt the Table remain whitened it is a sign the Salt-Petre hath much of common Salt and that it was not well cleansed from that Of Powder spoiled and the ways to
Recover it BY Powder spoiled is meant that which wants much of the vigour and vertue which it had in the beginning now this want proceeds from no other thing than that the vertue of the Salt-Petre which gives it that vigour is weakned and vanish'd Now the Vertue of Salt-petre reduced into Gun-powder is lost either by Age or Moisture by old Age because being â—onjoy'nd with Coal and Sulphur it doth participate of that corruption which will happen to them in time by Moisture because the Salt-petre composed of Salnitrous Waters as all other Saâ—ts of their Salt Waters does no sooner as it were see the moisture but by that by little and little it is converted into moisture and the vertue and vigour thereof is exhal'd by that humidity Thus a great part of the Salt-petre being separated by this Humidity from the rest of the Composition of the Powder and the Salt-petre being more ponderous than the other two materials which are noâ— exhaled as is the Petre it follows that of that quanâ—ity of Powder which in the perfection of it was inclosed in the Barrel For example one hundred pound after the Salt-petre is wasted in this manner either by old Age or Moisture there will not remain the same quantity but much less Now to recover this Powder thus wasted it is to be done two ways viz. to adjoyn the quantity of Salt-petre is wanting to make it vigorous and perfect or to take away that Salt-petre which remaining in the wasted Powder to refine the Salt-petre and to make other Powder anew with it To recover that same weakned Powder by the vanishing of the Nitre proceed in this manner Take all that quantity of wasted Powder and put it on a cloath and lay it in the Sun to dry which being perfectly dried fill a Barrel with it â—or example let there be one hundred pound Then let it be emptied aside and let the Barrel be filled with perfect Powder such as was the spoil'd in the perfect vigour of it let it be weighed and noted how many pound it weigheth for example suppose one hundred and twenty Here we say that those twenty pound more which the Barrel of perfect Powder weighed shall be twenty pound of Salt-petre which the oâ—her wanted Now let us see how much wasted Powder there is in all and if there be for example 10000 pound for to know then in this great quantity of naughty powder how many pounds of Salt-petre there are wanting to reduce it to perfection and vigour Work with the Golden Rule of the 4 Proportionals saying If one hundred pound of wasted Powder there want 20 pound of Salt-pâ—tre how much Petre will there be wanting in ten thousand Let the second number be multiplied by the third viz. 20 by 10000 and the product shall be divided by the first viz. by 100 and you shall have 2000 in the Quotient and these shall be the pounds of Salt-petre which are wanting in the wasted powder to reduce it to perfection Let these 2000 l. of Salt-petre be powder'd likewise the 10000 of bad powder as the manner is and taking a proportion let it be incorporated with the 2000 of Salt-petre beating them together according to Art and in such manner working them there will be made good Powder If we will take away all the Salt-petrâ— out of wasted powder we must proceed in this manner Let there be prepared one or more capacious Tubbs and on them let there be laid three or four linnen Cloathes like the skins of a Drum well tied but not so strait Then let there be another Vessel or more of Copper or Wood and put therein the quantity of spoiled Powder that shall seem fit and pour upon it as much fresh clear Water as shall dissolve it stirring it with a cudgel or a Schoope This being liquified with a Ladle or Bucket throw it upon the cloath over the Table that the clear water may strain into the Tubb and upon the cloath may remain the Coal and the Sulphur and when it is all strain'd throw softly a Bucket or two of water to draw away the substance of Salt-petre that shall remain with the Coal and Sulphur And in this manner shall be done until all the Salt-petre of the naughty powder be strain'd drawing away the strain'd water in the Table when it is full and if these waters are not clear let them be put on again on the washed and cleansed cloath and let them be strain'd again until they are clear Then take all these clear waters and boyl them in the Caldrons as before and then put them in the Trays to congeal and make Salt-petre and taken and refined and new Powder made of it as the manner is and the Coal and Sulphur may be dried perfectly and proof made if it will serve but if not you must take new Sulphur and Coal But here I do advertise that all that is here said is written only that the Gunuer in time of Necessity may supply himself and do the best that he can for such Salt-petre and Powder is not made with that diligence and Art that the Powder-Masters and Salt-Petremen do but yet it will not fail to serve in â—â—me of Necessity Dal. Pietro Sardi in Venet. 1629. The Third Book of the various Questions and Inventions of Nicolas Tartaglia Of Sal Nitre and the various compositions of the Gun-Powder of the Propriety or the particular office which each of the Materials hath in that Composition and â—ther Particulars The first enquiry made by Seignior Gabriel Tadino Prior of Barletta IS it not to be wondred at that the Antients had no knowledg of Sal-Nitre which to us Moderns is become so familiar Yea Rather the knowledg of that Simple is most Antient for most of the Antient Naturalists make mention of it true it is that some of them and especially Avicenna have called it Baurach because it is so called in the Arabic Tongue some Aphroniâ—um because it is so nam'd in the Greek and others as Serapion Diascorides and Pliny have caâ—l'd it Nitrum or Spuma Nitri for the Latins so call it and in the Pandects it is affirmed there are two sorts of Nitrum or Sal Nitri viz. Mineral and Artificial of the Mineral they say there are four the Armenian African Roman and Aegyptian Serapion says that the Minerals of Sal Nitre are as the Minerals of Salt for there are found of it that are running waters which become congealed and condensed like a stone and this is affirmed also by Pliny that it is found also in the Mine as a stone and called Sal Petrosum yea he says that this Sal Nitre is found White and Red and of many Colours insomuch that he affirms that there are many kinds of it not only for the diversity of the colour but because there is found one that is Spongy viz. full of holes another very fragile and lamines or plates and of many
adhibito aer hic it a patuit ut illum potius prope ac circa Lunam quam in aere nostro in quo Halones fiunt cogar agnoscere And Zucchius at large proveth this Corollary Non elevantur vi luminis Solis vaporesâ—e Luna sicut elevantur ex Globo e terra aqua integrato Neque datur circa Lunam Sphaera vaporosa ulla qualis circa dictum Globum deprehenditur Having proceeded thus far I shall take notice of some extravagant opinions that possess many of our Comical wits and their Associates or Admirers which are extended to the prejudice of Christianity and the growth of Atheism in this Age viz. That the resemblance betwixt the Moon and the Earth is such that it is a Terraqueous Globe inhabited by men and they hereupon concern themselves about their Progeny Salvation c. I shall from hence take occasion to instruct those phantastical persons that even Hevelius who accommodated the Terrestrial Geography to the Lunar Globe and seems to conclude that the illuminated part is earth the darker is water yet did it only because He knew no fitter comparison amongst sublunary bodies Non est autem quod quispiam ideo existimet Lunam ex ejusmodi sabulo luto aut lapide esse compositam ut haec terra nostra siquidem fortassis ex alia poterit constare materia ab imaginatione nostra prorsus diversa modo adhuc incomprehensibili Minime etiam hasce Lunares aquas nostris similes assero sed quod nihil quicquam similius propter magnam utrarumque affinitatem hic in terra habeamus cum quo illas comparare valeamus It was indiscreetly done of Kepler Kircher Hevelius and such Writers to carry on the comparison so far the resemblance betwixt the two Globes being so little as the most unprejudic'd persons find it to be Hevelius perinde acsi Luna osset altera tellus Geographica nostratis Telluris nomina in Lunam transtulit licet quoad figuram situm symmetriam c. nulla fere sit Analogia inter utriusque superficiem The truth whereof will further appear from those considerations which the inquisitive Zucchius after thirty five years use of all manner of Telescopes at length fixed upon viz. That the discrepancy of Parts in the illuminated Moon may be explained without attributing thereunto any variety of colours yea it ought to be so explained The first part of which Assertion he proves thus because in Opace bodies the difference of a greater and lesser Obliquity in their â—cituation towards the body that shines upon them doth cause a diverse manner of illustration Thus the same wall of one uniform colour according as it is differently illuminated seems in some parts to be white in others pale in others dark-coloured and black besides that a greater or lesser asperity or inequality of the superficies may cause an intermixture of the enlightned and over-shadowed parts and so create different appearances of light and opacity in their most observable parts The second part He proves thus because that the face of the Moon being looked on with a Tube of an extraordinary length with Glasses excellently polished such as He used for many years appears all of it like a great Tract of Land covered over with Snow which the Sunne variously illâ—minates accordingly as the parts are differently framed and scituated Where there is any change of scituation in the parts illuminated in reference to the body that irradiates them then do such parts abate of their whiteness and although they still continue in such a position that his beams may in some degree and manner reach them yet by reason of the unequal surfâ—ce of the Moon in which some parts are more elevated then others some parts are directly opposite to the Sunne others are glanced upon with an oblique ray and this mixture of shades and brightness occasions those spots which we so talk of Thus upon the libration of the body of Iupiter the girdle which otherwise seems remarkably black above the other adjacent parts of the Planetâ— becomes like unto the rest of the body in whiteness and so disappears As to the distinction of the Moon into Sea and Land consisting of Mountains and Valleys although the Analogy may seem allowable by reason of the Asperities in the surface of the Moon which is a thing not to be denied albeit that the calculation of the heighth of those more elevated parts are ridiculous except the nature of the Cavities were better to be discovered as Zucchius shews yet the imagination of Seas and Lakes therein or any thing of that Nature except what borders upon the Peninsula deliriorum in the Lunar Chart of Ricciolus 't is all an improbable phancie For that the more pale and obscure spots are not water appears hence that those spots keep the same Phasis or appearance for many days though the Site of the Moon both in respect of the Sunne and of us the Spectators do vary much in that time whereas when the Sunne casts his beams upon Seas or great waters on Earth the Phaenomena differ according as the Sunne or the beholder vary their station And this alone might convince us but that I finde now in Zucchius viz Similiter transitum successivum radiis Solis ad fundum usque ad magnis maculis intra margines illustriores contentis praebent ut diximus in apparentiis pag. 239. quod non evenit in liquido profundo instar aquae ut in aquis experimur etiam in multa vicinitate illustratis quando not abilem habent profunditatem tum quia constantem inaequalitatem illustrationis exhibent in horizonte Lunari quidem juxta dicta in Apparentiis num 3. secundum magnam extensionem illustratam intra reliquas partes nondum Solis radiis perfusas imo aliquae Soli proximiores alias sequentes in eadem majori macula inumbrabant hujusmodi autem convenire non possunt corpori inconsistenti liquido aquam referenâ—i quae tamen certum est convenire aliquibus Lunae partibus ab omnibus inter maculas computatis I must confess I think these reasons convincing to any persons not prepossessed and they are much more inforced by him with a discourse concerning exhalations and an Atmosphear about the Moon which he denies absolutely yet considering the proportion of the imaginary Waters to the Land in the Moon and the heat and continuance of the Sunne-beams thereupon common reason would tell us that the vaporous exhalatious would proportionably exceed those about the Earth here and produce an Atmosphear that should be observable whereas the most accurate inspection at most opportune times with the best Telescopes could not satisfie Zucchius that there was any such thing at all Kepler and his Master Moestlinus did believe that the Moon was a World consisting of Sea and Land making up one entire Globe as the Earth does and that the Mountains there were much
of the Resurrection hath this passage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But these Narrations arâ— rejected by such as deny that other metalls may be transmuted into Gold It is replied by Erastus that either those Egyptian books contained nothing but the Art of melting down of metalls and separating the latent Gold therefrom or that Suidâ—â— being a late writer living but 500 years ago about 800 years or more after Diocletian might have been imposed upon by the Chymists of those times in Greece and during the disputing Ages mark that Mr. Glanvill who even then might have feigned some such stories as that and the Allegorising of the Golden Fleece just as they have within the last Centuries counterfeited the Works of Mosâ—s and Solomon and entitle them unto their Fictions There are an infinity of stories in Suidas which render his Assertions suspected and in this he hath not the countenance of any ancient Writer to second him It seems strange that the Romans having so long ruled in Egypt absolutely and their Governours they not being to be supposed free from all desires of gain how they should never apprehend the Artifice nor have the least mention of it in their Writers Greek or Latine till the end of the fourth Century and that so remarkable a passage as this is should be omitted by those ancient Writers who relate both the war and actings of Diocletian after his victory As for that saying of Aenaeas Gazaeus it is replied that he speaks by hear-say rather then certain knowledge of the operation that there have not wanted many learned persons who have with a great deal of confidence illustrated the Resurrection by contemplations of the Phoenix and of the forms of Plants resuscitated in their several Salts as if both were realities yet is there no such thing as either the one or the other Out of all which it is evident that Chymistry was a practice known and in use amâ—ng the Sectators of Aristotle and that the Grecian and disputing Ages were not unacquainted with those Processes though these latter times have been more various and inquisitive and have reduced that Art into better Method and enlarged the Practice of Physick with an infinity of Medicines and indeed we must confess our â—â—â—ves very much obliged by the labours of ingenious Chymisâ—â—â— and that they have afforded multitudes of Experiments such as contribute to the delight of all Philosophical heads and to the Cure of many that being sick have either better opinion of Chymical Medicines then of others or are pleased with their small and commonly more pleasant dâ—se But that those parts into which Chymists reduce things are latent in the compound body otherwise then by the Aristotelean distinction of formaliter and materialiter so much laughed at by Mr. Glanvill pag. 119. This is an Assertion which doth not become any man that pretends to have read Mr. Boyle in his Sceptical Chymist where that Point is too amply debated to be here transcribed or ever I think refuted Having denied Mr. Glanvill that by those useful and luciferous processes Nature is unwound and resolved into the minute Rudiments of its composition Which Rudiments were not made use of at the first Creation when one Fiat created those compound bodies which Artful Fires sometimes and but sometimes analyse into several parts as Salts Oyle or Sulphur and Spirit and those grosser Elements of Earth and water All which are not found in many bodies and when they are it is with a great discrepancy betwixt those of one Concrete and those of another nor any of them to be separated from Gold Which Libavius no nor Dr. Willis doth not make to be the last unmixt and simple Constituents of natural bodies sed â—jusmodi tantum substantias in quas veluti partes ultimo sensibiles res Physicae resolvuntur Substances into which natural bodies are resolved finally as far as sense can judge and when the Analysis is prosecuted in one sort of procedure for another method different Solvents and different Fires discover different parts and those sensible too from what the usual Chymistry builds upon Having denied him this I must further tell him that when the Countreywoman sets her Eggs to be hatched she produceth by those means such bodies as no Chymical fires wiâ—h â—heir vexatious Analysis ever would discover so she doth when she doth brew and churms her butter Nor is this more evident then it is clear that the Chymical principles when they come to be accommodated to the solving of the Phaenomena in nature or in diseases have as much of darkness and dissatisfaction in them as occurs in the Peripatetick way so that now we are more dubious not more knowing then before and this any man that hath considered how the Chymical Physicians disagree about the causes of diseases and even about the common Phaenomena of Nature will easily grant me nor will it appear less manifest that if the Chymical hypotheses do take place that it will subject the Mechanick Philosophy and establish that of Anaximander revived by the ingenious Berigardus But Mr. Glanvill adds That Chymistry directs Medicines less lothsom and far more vigorous and freeth the spirits and purer parts from the clogging and noxious appendices of grosser matter which not only hinder and disable the operation but leave hurtful dregs in the body behind them This Plea for the preferring CHYMICAL Medicines before those commonly called Galenical is much insisted on by Beguinus Quercetanus and others of that way Yet first it is observable that whether we regard taste or smell those very Authors recommend as odious medicaments and as loathsom as ever Coerdus or Foesius in their Dispensatories if not worse Will any man in his Wits condemn Wormwood and Centory because of their bitter taste or Castoreum for the smell Secondly every thing is not the better for being extracted Thus the Extract of Rhubarb though quickned with its Salt is not so efficacious as plain Rhubarb except it be sophisticated with Diagridium Nor is Cynnamom improved by Extraction Their being more vigorous and freed from grosser parts is not always a commendation and sometimes it carries danger with it That those grosser parts and those natural vehicles are requisite seems even thence clear that their spirits essences must be tempered and mixed often with other gross bodies before they be given Those appendices of grosser matter are not always noxious to Nature since in our meats we finde none to be able to live on Chymical viands but good Kitchin-Preparations How many ways are there of preparing Harts-horn yet is there not one that equalls the crude Horn. I shall set down Zwelfers words whose credit no Chymist almost will extenuate Licet ex cornibus vel ossibus ita Philosophice calcinatis distillationi subjectis de spiritu sale volatili oleo ipsorum foetido nonnihil eliciatur non tamen propterea existimandum ipsa adhuc iisdem
Bath into a lacteous colour and opacity insomuch that it represented an Almond-milk and after a time there precipitated to the bottom an insâ—pid Magistery resembling Burnt Harts horn finely powdered the precipitated powder was more copious in the affusion of the spirit of Sal Armoniack then that of spirit of Harts-horn and the former in that mixture lost its urinous smell and made no unpleasant but an unctuoâ—â— soft emulsionâ—like driâ—k which the other retained Not a man of them ever tried whether the several Bath-water would coagulate milk which I tried first and found that the Kings-Bath water makes Posset with a soft cuâ—d and whitish posset-drink which will not become clear the Cross-Bath makes an hard curd a clean but whitish-posset-drink the pump-Pumpâ—water of the Cross-Bath which ariseth from the neighbouring hot Bath yields an hard curd a clear and very green posset-drink which being drunk by a woman that gave suck bred a great deal of milk more then fennelâ—posset-drink and made her break abundance of winde which those usually do that drink the Bath-waters And I believe this way of giving the Bath-waters might be no small improvement of Physick were those courses taken there and that method which those that understand the ancient and modern Bathes and waters that are drunk might easily pitch upon but this is above the reading of our Comical Wits I could find no grounds to believe there was any sulphur or bitumen in the Baths but rather some odd Alcali mixed with the vitriol of Iron â— I extracted the Salts by evaporation of two gallons of the Cross-Bath-water and having reduced them to three quarts I set it to shoot but there was no appearance of salt-peter at all then I evaporated it to three-pints but still neither salt-peter or any other salt appeared then I evaporated it quite away and then I had about two ounces of a dark-coloured salt which at first resembled cream of Tartar somewhat in taste but having lien longer on the tongue it resembled very much the Vitriolum Mortis with some more Alcalisate taste I performed the Operation both in Iron and Glass vessels with little difference of the taste or quantity of salt some of the said salt dissolving into a moisture in the air did eat off the writing upon such papers as it fell and turned the paper yellow all over and rotted it I made a Lixivium with the Cross-Bath water and evaporated that thinking that if there were any unctuous matter in the water it might hinder the discovery of the Nitre in its shooting but neither could I finde any thing of Nitre this way but still there was a taste of â—he Vitriolum Mortis in the salt and 〈◊〉 Mr◠〈◊〉 a Practitioner there assured me that he had known the Bathâ—water drink and to have tinged the 〈…〉 cannot avow the truth of that I inquired about 〈◊〉 truth of what Dr. Mearn had writ about the Stone he took upâ— upon Lands-down which being infused in water produced a resembling heat and taste to what is in the Bath 〈…〉 Maplet an inquisitive and learned Physician there who was with Dr. Mearn then and had some of the mineral stone assured me it was a limeâ—stone so did Mr. Chapman an observing Apothecary there who likewise saw the Stone and tasted the infusion In fine where Dr. Mearn took up that Stone any man may take up â— thousand they not being east out of the Earth but dropped out of the limeâ—carts which pass that way into Bathe â— the Kills being thereabouts The stones in the bottom of the Cross-Bath many are of reddish rusty colour others green but concerning the Batthe I may next Summer during my stay there in the midst of Iune and Iuly if God giâ—e me life and health make a further Narrative I only mention on this to prevent the Virtuosi from usurping upon my discoveries and intendments Yet to do them some justice I was told that in some of their Transactions they have this observation about Bathe that if any person that is drunk go in there the Bath will make him sober If any that is in the Bath drink freely there it will cause him to be presently drunk with less drink by far then if he were out of it This report is worthy of our Philosophers and advanceth their intelligence above the credit that Aristotle and his Hunters deserve The first part is defective for it should have been added that the drunk person must sit still and sweat soundly if he stir up and down or swim he shall be more sick then if he had never come in The second part is notoriously false and all the Bath-Guides and others that have tried it avow that 't is usual for the Townsmen to sit some hours and drink in the Parlour of the Queenâ—-Bath and never be drunk and they say a man that sweats there shall bear much moâ—e drink then if he were out of the Bath which I thought rational and agreeable to what I had observ'd in the Indies where men sweat and have more drink then in England and stronger But I come now to that Case for which I adde this Discourse and that is Observations upon the mixture of the Bath-water and other Liquors with blood and the Phaenomenâ— thereupon which though I might reserve for that other discourse of mine about Phlebotomy yet I will oblige my Reader with some of those Curiosities here especially since it will give him occasion to reflect how facile it is to multiply such Experiments and how negligent they are who pretend to be the grand Observators of this Age. When I went to make use of the Bath amongst other Preparâ—tives thereto which are better taken upon the place then at a distance I caused my self to be let blood and being williâ—g to improve that occasion as well for my instruction as health I câ—used several Venice-Glasses to be filled with several liquors each liquor amounting to some three ounces and into each glass I suffered to run as much as half an ounce of blood or little more taking no other measure then that the whole liquor seemed of a deep blood red The Phaenomena thereupon were these ensuingâ— being observed presently after I had bound up my arm and was in condition to write 1. That Glass which contained the spirit of Sâ—l Armoniack drawn the Leiden-way kept of an equal consistence from top to bottom being of a deep red and not â—ransparent liâ—e Tent-wine 2. Into two several Glasses I had dissolved the Salts of Ash and Wormwood half a dram in three ounces of water the solutions of these two Salts shewed no difference at all the top after some space was of a florid red such as is visible in watrish blood for about a quarter of an inch the bottom was of a more dark red and resembled Tent-wine 3. A fouâ—th Glass held Oleum Tartari per deliquium the blood and that liquor did not first mix but were aâ— two distinct liquors
Elasticity or pressure of this Springy Air so much talked of Thirdly 't is necessary to distinguish betwixt the pressure and weight of bodies for suppose were a man pressed under a bended stick or other springy body compreâ—â—ed he shall fâ—â—l a great oppression upon him and be kept down to his great pain not with the weight but spring of the said stick or other spriâ—gy body and whosoever by the violence of the compression would judge of the weight of the incumbent body would expose himself to laughter Fourthly 't is possible for a body without any springiness or accessional gravity to press downwards above its weight thus a needle touched with a Loadstone declines from that line in which it hung parallel to the Horizon without any addition of weight 〈◊〉 is deâ—â—nstrable from 〈◊〉 variety of its dâ—clâ—â—ation â—nd râ—stitâ—â—ion and 't is as indubitable that such declination of it carries with it something of pressure Fifthly we are to consider the nature of the Earth whether that be a Magnet or no for if it be such however the Magnetism be explained whether according to the Cartesian Hypothesis or that of Berigardus instead of weighing the Air we deceive our selves as grosly as if we took the impulse with which Iron runs to the Loadstone for its weight and thus in some cases we shall weigh things by their ascent which is inconsistent with the common notion of weighing things Sixthly to wave the unestablished notions of Gravity and Lenity and to abstract from all the preceding considerations I say that even so this opinion of the Aerial Column pressing down upon the Mercury is false since in a body so unequally mixed as the Air is often and it cannot be disproved that 't is ever otherwise it is impossible to imagine that the pressure or gravitation is by way of a Column or Cylinder Imagine the Experiment to be tried by six or more weights pressing at one time upon the Mercury would any man in his wits say that this joint pressure were cylindrical consider but the variety of mixtures in the Air and the separate prâ—ssures that are consequential thereuntoâ— which the contemplation of the clouds will lead us into and 't is the same thing Were a man swimming in that concourse of water in Hungary where the unmixed rivers flow in one channel and his body so placed that part of it were in one stream and part in another would you say that the incumbent water did press upon him in a Column or Cylinder But to proceed â—urther if it be true that the superiour part of the Air or Atmosphâ—re which transcends the mountainous asperities of the Earth hath aâ—other motion or lation then that which is more low explain it either the Aristotelian way or according to Galilaeo and agreeably to the motion of the Earth if this be true as I take it to be now how can we determine of the Gravity of the neighbouring Air by this Experiment and how vain is this notion of a Cylinder for in a fluid agitated with different motions as the subject Air is by repercussion from the Hills and Plains which begets vibrations and undulations God knows what it suffers upon the geâ—eration and motions of Meteors and where the superior part hath a motion different oftentimes from the other of whose rapidity we are as uncertain as of its structure and texture and we see that the rapidity or swift motion of an heavy body takes it from its pressure and gravity how can any man talk of Aerial columns much less pretend to weigh the Air incumbent and to determine exactly of any accession of weight as M. Glanvill professeth to do Besides if heavy bodies do not gravitate in a streight line but describe the circumference of a Circle or some such line as new Philosophers hold in opposition to Aristotle and if the Atmosphere be to be reckon'd amongst the bodies that gravitate how can we imagine this gravitation to be performed by way of a column or cylinder Moreover this Atmosphere can no way be considered to press cylindrically if we consider that in every part of it there are continual exhalations and smoke ascending through it so that the weight of it must needs be abated by the ascent of those vapors and what we experiment here is not the weight of the Air properly but the super-ponderancy or over-weight of it The Atmosphere seems to me constantly to resemble a Glass in which water is poured on wine and the wine is ascending thorough each part of the water indeterminately if it be thus and that the ascending vapours carry a great force with them which any man will grant who considers the weight of the smoke in comparison to what remains of the wood and coal that is burnt and who statically regards the steams transpiring from our bodies and how that spittle which in an entire body issues from our mouthsâ— descends till near the ground it be dissipated and distended I cannot imagine how it can be said that wâ— thus measure all the degrees of compressiâ—n in the Atmosphere and estimate exactly any accession of weight which the Air receives from winds clouds or vapors To conclude if the Air do thus press upon the Mercury how comes it to pass that there is no difference when the Experiment is tried in a chamber where the incumbent column is less then abroad and in the open Air of the same levell Why doth it not press up water or other liquors in the like Syphon to an heighth as different as is the disproportiâ—n betwixt the gravity of Mercury and water which I have not heard it doth yet the proportion betwixt Mercury and water in gravity is 1 â— 13â— In fine how is that true which Mr. Hooke saith viz. That he contrived an instrument to shew all the minute-variations in the pressure of the Air by which he constantly found that before and during the time of rainy weather the pressurâ— of the Air is less and in dry weather but especially when an Eastern winde which having past over vast tracts of Land is heavy with earthy particles blows it is much more though these changes are varied according to very odd Laws If this be true as I am apt to believe it is with what face can our Virtuoso tell us It is concluded that such a Cylinder of the Air as presses upon the Mercury in the vessel is of equal weight to about 29 digits of that ponderous body in the Tube Thus it is when the Air is in its ordinary temper but vapours winds and clouds alter the Standard so that the Quicksilver somtimes falls somâ—times rises in the Glass proportionably to the greater or less accession of gravity and compression the Air hath received from any of those alterations and the degree of increase beyond the Standard is the measure of the additional gravity Is not this prettily said by a man that writes