deprived of that virtue and some thought that their plain Superficies had no part in the Effect seeing when the Diamond has depth tho smooth'd and polish'd upon the Wheel it draws vigorously whereas the flat Table-Stones that are shallow such as are set in Lockets at the end of Neck-laces commonly called Spere tho very large when strongly Rubb'd will yet not draw or if they do 't is so faintly that you must make them touch some hairs of the bit of Paper or Straw to make them raise it up yet 't is not to be doubted but some may be found that have a little force yet of these we at least were so unsuccessful as to find but few We indeed had one which by many trials for several days we were never able to make attract but a Year after desirous to see the same tryed again we took the same Ring in which the Stone was set and having but slightly rubb'd it as we used to do upon the Cloath as soon as ever it was held to the bit of Paper it drew it vigorously this same Effect was often observed with wonder by all those that the year before had often attempted in vain to make it draw and on the contrary as we said at first the fausets i. e. those that are ground of their own Octoedral Figure seldom or never failed In fine since Amber and all Electrick Bodies have been observed to be obstructed by a very thin Vail placed between them and the thing to be attracted therefore taking a sheet of Paper we made several little Lattices in it and the first of them was covered with a close Network of hair another with the Lint of a fine Rag a third with a Leaf of Gold the success was That the Electick Power of the Amber did not penetrate them EXPERIMENTS ABOUT Altering the COLOVRS of several FLVIDS THere is nothing more frequent amongst the Niceties of the Chymists than their Fantastic humour of changing Colours we indeed do not professedly meddle therewith and if any such Tryals were made we were moved thereto from the occasion we had of making use of some Liquors fit to examine the Qualities of Natural Springs Concerning which we will relate the little that came to our Knowledge again reminding the Reader That by the perfixt Name of Essays we would intimate That we do not presume we have examined these Matters with all the Experiments which may be thought on but onely barely given some hints of those things we were most inclined to take pains about The First Experiment Of altering Water WAter Distill'd in a Leaden Still thickens and muddies the Water of all Rivers Baths Fountains or Wells wherewith it is at any time mix'd and losing their Transparency they both look white like Whey onely Water Distilled in Glass Vessels and of Spring Water that of the Conduit of Pisa remains Limpid and Transparent But all those Waters so muddyed become clear and pure again by a few drops of strong Vinegar shook together with them The same Waters are changed by a dropping in of Oyl of Tartar and Oyl of Anniseeds which give the Appearance of a little white Cloud higher or lower therein which by shaking diffuses it self through all the Liquor and inturbidats it This also is brought to its former clearness by a small Quantity of Spirit of Sulphur which at first raises a few little bubbles Note That all Waters indifferently do not become turbid by the above-named Oyls and those Waters that are not altered by waters stillâ—d in Lead are likewise left Transparent by Oyl of Tartar and Aniseeds Moreover inflammable Waters Waters still'd in Glasses and that of the Conduit of Pisa are not at all changed from their Natural clearness and we find that in Waters generally held the lightest purest and noblest the little cloud is thinner and higher which is raised therein and onely in heavy Waters and those that are impregnated with Minerals or dreggy it thickens it like Milk whence some have pretended to prove Waters with some of the above-named Liquors for thereby is discovered the more hidden Quality of them and so their Goodness or Badness found If at any time the Thickness and Turbidness of the Water is very great and not to be Clarifyed by the ordinary proportion of Liquors it may be increased by some drops still agitating the Water till you see it become clear The Second Experiment Of Altering Wine OYL of Tartar not onely in Water but also in Wine produces the same Effect for through its Natural cleansing Quality as is known it makes a separation in all Liquors of what ever is mix'd with them from the purer parts by a sediment that it lets fall whence that which shews like a white Cloud higher or lower in the Water according to its different Qualities and Weight in all sorts of White Wines that we Experimented appears like a thin Cloud of a Red Colour which by shaking the Wine quits its first place and disperses it self uniformly throughout the whole Body it makes no other change in Red Wines than a little Tinging deeper especially toward the bottom On the contrary Spirit of Sulphur shews no alteration in the natural Transparency of the Wine and likewise restores it to those deprived thereof by the Oyl of Tartar The Third Experiment Of the Tincture of Roses A Tincture of Red Roses extracted with Spirit of Vitriol being mix'd with Oyl of Tartar shews a fair Green with a few drops of Spirit of Sulphur it ferments all into a Vermillion froth and at last returns to its first Rose Colour without losing its smell at all nor will it be again altered by dropping Oyl of Tartar into it We found the best way of getting the Tincture of Roses for this Experiment as follows Taking a good handful of dryed red Rose-buds we cut them and putting them in a Glass with one Ounce of strong Spirit of Vitriol stirred them together for a quarter of an hour in which time the Roses were well Macerated and the Tincture Extracted to this must be added at Three or Four times about half a pound of Spring Water still shaking the Glass till the very deep Colour of the Spirit being Diluted the Water is all tinged therewith then we let it stand an hour and so obtain a lively and beautiful Tincture of Roses To half an Ounce of this put Ten or Twelve drops of Oyl of Tartar and afterward as much Spirit of Sulphur which suffice to produce the Related Effects The Fourth Experiment Of the Tincture of Saffron WAter tinged with Saffron helped a little with the Tincture of Roses but not so as to lose its golden Colour changes green with Oyl of Tartar and again yellow with Spirit of Sulphur The Fifth Experiment Of Greens WAter Coloured with Iris Green mix'd with Spirit of Sulphur makes a Purplish Colour and with Oyl of Tartar takes its own again This Green is a Tincture taken from the
perceivable smoak till the Glass wherein this mixture is contained can carce be endured in the hand the like happens by mixing it with all other Liquids except Oyl and Strong Waters of which the First is not in the least altered from its Natural State and the Second if a tall scarce sensibly On the contrary 't is a known Experiment That Nitre dissolved in Water chills it and Sal Armoniac congeals to that Degree that if in the Water wherewith 't is mingled in a due proportion you set a thin Glass of other Water cooled before well with Ice the Cold produced by the said Salt as it dissolves will freeze it Having mingled together one Third part of Sal Armoniac and two Thirds of the forementioned Oyl of Vitriol there followed an unusual Effect for still as the Salt dissolved therein it smoaked and boyled up furiously and so much the more if we stirred it together with a little Stick for then it rose up much easierly in froth so as it then filled a space 25 times bigger than the Bulk of the Two separate Bodies of Oyl and Salt but for all this fury of smoak and boyling we not onely could observe no sensible beginnings of heat but a strange degree of Cold produced therein chilling the Glass that contained it and the Spirit of Wine of a Thermometer immersed thereinto swiftly subsided till the Salt being dissipated and evaporated the Boyling ceased and the Oyl returned to its former Natural state Such a Production of Cold we have known when ever we have repeated the Experiment indeed that as well as the Ebullition and smoaking is more or less as the Salt is stronger or the Liquor more refined We have also observed That a few drops of strong Water or Sp. of Vitriol put into the Oyl in its greatest fury of Ebullition stops it and makes the Mixture immediately hot adding Oyl of Tartar the Heat is augmented the Smoke and Ebullition returning but by dropping in of Sp. of Sulphur it quickly cools again It is worth a little Reflection That as Oyl of Vitriol mixt with all Liquors heats them Oyl and Strong Water excepted so contrarily Sal Armoniac stirr'd together with all Liquors cools and refrigerates them more or less Oyl and Strong-water likewise excepted upon which two only 't is ineffectual and again that upon mixing together the same Oyl of Vitriol and Sal Armoniac there should follow so wonderful a Cold Ebullition as is related SOME EXPERIMENTS TO KNOW If GLASS and CRYSTAL be Penetrable BY ODOVRS and HVMIDITY The First Experiment Touching Odours OYL of Wax Quintessence of Sulphur and Extract of Horses Vrine which are reckon'd the most acute and strong smells that are do not sensibly transpire through a Sealed Glass Vial as could by many persons that tryed it be perceived tho 't was heated The Halitus also of that thin Spirit that flies away upon cutting an Orange or Lemon Peel or which in a small Thread spins out of the same Peel when it is squeezed did not penetrate to give any smell to a little Water contained in a Cristal Glass Sealed Hermetically In like manner Sealing up a Partridge in a small Glass Vessel and setting it in a corner of the Room and bringing a Setting Dog in we led him round near the place where it was set but he shewed no sign of perceiving the Partridge The Second Experiment Of Humidity A Glass Ball being filled with Salt well ground to Powder and dryed was sealed up at the Flame of a Lamp and put for ten days at the bottom of a Cistern of Water and after that as long in a Conservatory of Snow but it did not increase at all in Weight and when broken the Salt was taken out so dry that it fell to powder Yet we have sometimes chanced to find in the Ball of Salt some little part thereof dampish but we can not argue a Penetration from thence for if it were really so it ought not to be more in one place than another whereas that little moisture being always found in one place 't is very probable it was onely a little of the Humidity which the force of the Cold drove out of the Air remaining in the Ball and sticking as a Cover to the inside thereof SOME EXPERIMENTS Concerning LIGHT and its EFFECTS The First Experiment Of the Instantaneous Motion of Light GAlileo in the First Dialogue of his Treatise of Two New Sciences suggests an easie way to discover Whether Light moves in time or with an Instantaneaus Velocity the Trial consists in the Confederacy of Two Companies of Men to expose Two Lights to each others view so that the discovery of the one may answer immediately to that of the other that when the one uncover their Light and expose it they may at the same time perceive the Light of their Confederates This being often practised at a small distance Galileo desired to have the same tryed by observers at a greater Distance to see if the mutual Correspondence of Exposing and Covering their Lights kept the same Measure as when nearer that is without any observable Delay We tryed it at a Miles distance which in the going forward and Return of the Light must be reckon'd Two and could not observe any If in a greater Distance it be possible to perceive any sensible Delay we have not yet had an opportunity to try The Second Experiment Of Fiâ—ing Bodies with a Burning-glass THE Light Refracted by a Crystal Lens or reflected by a Burning Concave will not fire Spirit of Wine tho made opaque by a Tincture Amongst other combustible matters Gunpowder fires upon the uniting the Rays of a Lens or Concave But the Perfumed Pastils white Balsame Storax and Incerse melt but will never take fire Likewise Paper and fine white Holland when exposed flat to the Reverberatory of a large Concave at length Fire wherefore 't is a mistake that the Light will not inflame any white Bodies as is generally thought indeed they take Fire with more Difficulty than Coloured Bodies and it may be with a small Concave or Lens they will not Fire The Third Experiment Of Bodies affording Light BEsides Fire-stones there are other Bodies that seem to be greater Conservatories of Light for by striking them together or by breaking them in the Dark they Sparkle Such are White-Sugar Loaf-Sugar and Sal-Gemme in the Stone all which being broken in a Mortar give forth so great a Light as distinctly to discern the sides of the Mortar and the shape of the Pestle thereby but we have not succeeded to see the same appearance in pounding Common Stone-salt Alumn or Nitre nor in Coral the Yellow or Black Amber Grâ—â—ats or Marchasites But Rock-Chrystal and Agate and Oriental Jasper either struck together or broken give a clear Light EXPERIMENTS ABOUT The Digestion of some Animals WOnderful is the Force wherewith the Digestion of the Hen and Duck-kind is performed for they
of their Transparency yet at least we gained this much that Water cannot be compressed with a very great force and so far we have proceeded That a power able to reduce Air into a space 30 times less than what it first filled that power not onely thirty times but a hundred nay perchance a Thousand times encreased was too weak to compress a quantity of Water a Hairs breadth or the least visible Space from its Natural Extent the Methods we took were those that follow TAb 17. p. 115. The First Experiment LEt there be at the Ends of Two Glass Canes AB AC two balls of Glass also the one larger than the other fill both with fair water to D and E and joyn them together with a Lamp remembring to leave a passage open in sealing them at A and to draw the beak AF very long and open then apply to each Ball a Glass full of beaten Ice burying them therein that by condensing the water there may enter as much air as possible into the Canes and the better to force it down you may rub a piece of Ice backward and forward upon the out-side of the Syphon DAE which by its Coldness contracting the air in the Canes there will enter in more to fill it at the Beak F then Seal it at a Flame and the contained Air will remain prest and thronged together after this as it is Sealed take the Ball B out of the Ice and at first immerse it in tepid Water next in warm and at last in boiling keeping the Ball C all the while covered with Ice to reduce the Water therein to the utmost condensation which suppose to be at E moreover indeavour to compress the Cilinder of Air GE to its greatest density by the force of the Water rising to G being Rarified by the received heat from the Water supposed to boile round about the Ball B now if the Water could suffer any Compression it ought to subside from the pressing Air below the Mark E but with us it still happened otherwise for when the Water at E was once reduc'd to its utmost Condensation by the Cold c. the force of the Air GE pressing thereon was unable to gain a Tittle and did sooner burst out the bottom of the Ball C than force the Level E a jot and when to add a greater strength to the Instrument we made the two Balls of Copper the Water in the Ball C has sustained the Force between the Air pressing at E and Solidity of the Metal with insuperable Resistance rather bursting the Syphon which must be of Glass to discover the Internal Motion of the Water joyned fast to the Copper with Mastick or the usual hard Cement The Second Experiment LEt there be prepared a Vessel of Glass AB contained about 6 l. of Water the Mouth large enough to receive a Glass Cane bound close about with Lead to keep it from bursting fill this Vessel with Water up to CD immersed the Cane EF open at each end therein and Soder it close at A with the usual Cement remembring to lift up the lower End a little from the bottom of the Vessel FB that the Liquor poured thereinto may have free passage into the Vessel then begin to pour Quick silver down the Cane into the Vessel raising up the water 'till the Vessel is quite full the air having its exit at the Beak H and to be certain all the air is gone let some Water out at the Beak H and immediately Seal it with a Flame noting at the same time the Degree the Mercury stands at in the Vessel IK afterwards pouring in more Mercury fill the Cane to the Top then if the Water by this force is compressed the height IK will gradually encrease as the Water yields we by a charge of 80 l. of Mercury in a Cane above 91 Inches long for so much our Instrument held without cracking could not perceive the Level IK raised an Hairs breadth the Water obstinately resisting the force of so great a momentum The Third Experiment WE ordered a thin large Vessel of Silver to be cast and filled it with Water cooled very well with Ice and screwed the Cover on with a very close Screw then we began to hammer the Vessel gently every where and the battered Silver which being so little Ductile did not at all thin and distend it self as refin'd Gold Lead and other soft Metals do lessened and comprest the inward Capacity of the Vessel by Degrees yet the Water for all this suffered not the least Compression for at every stroak we perceived it to sweat through the Vessel at all the little Pores of the Metal as Quick-silver when pressed with a piece of Leather spirts through in little drops This is what we thought worth relating of these three Experiments but are not yet able to say whether if the same Experiments be repeated in Vessels of greater strength and if the Rarefaction of the Water be Augmented in the first Experiment and so the Pressure of the Air or if the height of the Mercurial Cilinder be increased in the second or if in the last the Vessel be successively made of thicker Silver I say we are not positive whether the water may not at last happen to be comprest this is certain That Water in comparison of air resists the Compression we may almost say infinitely more which confirms what we said at the beginning of these Experiments That if Experience does not reach the very bottom of the enquired Truth yet it goes hard if it strikes not out some Light EXPERIMENTS To prove there is no Positive Levity ANcient and Famous is that Question Whether those Bodies that we usually call Light are so really in their own Nature and mount upwards from any proper tendency or whether their Motion be no other than a chase or flight they are forced to by more heavy Bodies which having the greater force and desire to descend and place themselves undermost press and as it were compel the other to rise This Opinion which chiefly seems to have been entertained in these latter Ages was yet not unknown to the Ancients Nay it was Asserted from rational grounds by many Philosophers in those times among the rest clearly by Plato in Timaeo and he advanced so far upon the probability of that thought that he not onely holds That the heavier Bodies force up the less heavy as Fire does Air but also the more heavy as Water in respect of Air when ever it is made lighter by the interspersion of Fiery Particles and this he seems designedly to insinuate in the above-cited Dialogue of Timaeus when he says That the fire rising from the hot Entrails of the Earth and not entring into a Vacuity thrusts forward the Air that is contiguous to it which not onely gives way thereto but even divests it of those moist Particles wherewith it ascends and then helps it forward and raises it up unto
being crammed with little Balls of Solid Crystal were dissected by us in a few hours and opening their Ventricles in the Sun they seemed to us covered all over with a glittering Coat which examining with a Microscope we found it to be onely strewed over with exquisitely fine and impalpable powder of Crystal In others likewise crammed with hollow Bubbles of Crystal-Glass with a small hole in them we were amazed to find of the said Bubbles some already broken and powdered others onely crack'd and filled with a Whitish Substance like curdled Milk got in at the small hole and we also observed that those were better powdered than the others which had in the Maws with them a greater Quantity of small Stones And 't is less strange that they break and grind to pieces Corke and any hard Woods as Cypress and Beech and rub to Powder Olive-stones the hardest Pine-Apple Kernels and Pistaches put down their Mouths with the Husk on Pistol bullets in Twenty four Hours we have found much Battered and several little hollow square Boxes of Tin were observed to be some scratched and battered others tore open from one side to the other FINIS A TABLE OF The Principal Matters Contained in this Work A. ACademie del Cimento intends not to dispute of the Experiments Page 16 and 33. Air diminishes the force of all Bodies that cut it p. 146. perhaps in continual motion p 14. Presses together those Bladders that seemed full in Vacuo p. 18. Dilates and Expands it self in Vacuo ib. What remains in the void space above the Mercury presses not thereon p. 23. When it is Dilated beyond the state of its Natural Compressure p. 23. The measure thereof ib. Proportion between Air Natural and Air Expanded as 1 to 174. p 24 When most rarifyed unfit for Respiration of Animals p. 61. Of Altering the Colours of several Fluids p. 133. Amber in Vacuo loses its Electric Quality p. 43. Which sort richest in that Quality p 128. Attracts any thing but flâ—me p. 129. Rubb'd upon smooth Bodies Attracts not p. 130 Acts no more upon the attracted Body than it suffers thereby p. 130. Acts upon all Liquids ib. By what Liquors hindred from attracting p. 131. Antiperistasis Experiments against it p. 151. Attraction by what hindred in Amber by the same also in other Bodies of Electic Virtue p. 129. A peculiar Effect observed in the Attraction of Rose and Table Diamonds p. 13â— B. Balls of Glass burst with great Violence p. 150 A Barbel taken alive out of a Vacuum and kept in a Pond with some observables thereon p. 66 Birds soon killed in Vacuo and why p. 63 Bladders of Fish in Vacuo p. 66 Blâ—bs in Ice what p. 71 Brass to what thickness burst by Frost p. 77 Bullets not wrapt about fly farther with the same charge of powder than those that are p. 144 C. Canes of Glass how made to be stop'd with a Finger easily p. 26 Cement to joyn together the mouths of Vessels p. 17 Change of Air produces an alteration in Experiments p. 1 Changing of Colours in several Liquors p. 133 Circles in Water move swifter as the force that makes them is greater p. 139 Clocks uncapable to shew the Minute divisions of time p. 10. Why made use of in the Experiments of Freezing p. 82 Cold whether reflected by Glasses as Heat and Light are p. 103 Cold and Heat Clouds and Mists encrease and lessen the weight of the Air p. 15. supposed by some the parent of Rock Cristal and Gems p. 70. Whether any thing Positive or onely a Privation of heat p. 70. Once imprest upon a Fluid shoots it into Ice after 't is taken out of the freezing mixture p. 80. * whether caused by an Intrusion of frigorifique Atoms p. 152 D. Dew upon the outsides of Glasses frozen p. 102 Diamonds how generated according to Plato p. 70 Table Diamonds less Electric than Roses p. 131 Digestion of some Animals how performed Several Experiments thereon p. 160 Drops of Liquors thought to be Spherical from the Airs Pressure p. 40 Disproved p. 41 E. A Cold Ebullition caused by a mixture of Sal Armoniac and Oyl of Vitriol p. 153 A strange Effect of Heat in subliming Liquors included in Vessels p. 150 Electricity what substances impregnated therewith p. 128 Experiments requiring an Exact measure of Time p. 11 the best way of Examining Nature p. 1â—4 Extrusion or pulsion of Bodies a thing known to the Ancients more especially evident from a Passage in Plato's Timeus p. 118 F. Fire and its Effluvia what Effect they have in Vacuo p. 46 Fishes kept a while in Vacuo dye disgorging some Air. p. 65 Flame diverts and abates the Virtue of Amber p. 129 Fluids aptest to move and why p. 13 Why different Fluids are raised to different heights by the incumbent Air p. 14. Fluids added to the Airs Pressure raise the Mercury above the usuâ— height p. 30 Force of Rarifaction in freezing Water how great p. 77 How thought reducible to dead Weight ib. Freezing how caused in Fluids p. 95 Artificial with its procedure and accidents p. 77 * Made in a very short time almost instantaneous p. 80 * What order it observes in divers Fluids p. 83 Tables of Freezings p. ib. The Explâ—catian of the Terms used in the Tables of Freezings p. 81 Those of the same Fluids Repeated still uniform p. 84 Natural Freezing with the procedure thereof p. 95 Diversity of the Figure of the Vessels causes some little diversity in the Freezings p. 96 Whether caused by the intrusion of Frigorifick Atoms p. 70 Froth in Vacuo expands it self p. 59 A sort of Funnel to fill Vessels with narrow Necks p. 3 G. Gems Transparent all Electric more or less p. 128 Glass Vessels enlarged by hot Water and lessened by cold p. 104 Stretch'd by the weight of the contained Mercury p. 113 Impenetrable by Odours and Moisture p. 155 Glass Balls burst with great violence p. 150 Glass and Cristal Electrical p. 128 Gold Vessels distended by the force of freezing p. 76 Gun-Powder fired with a Burning glass p. 144 H. Height of Liquors set in hot Water or Ice altered by the dilating or contracting of the Vessel p. 105 Horizontal discharge of Cannon dispatch the Ball in about the same time that it falls from the Mouth of the Piece perpendicular to the ground p. 143 Humidity of Winds how distinguish'd p. 9 I. Ice according to Galileo is Water Rarifyed not Condensed p. 71 Has not its full hardness at first p. 95 Produced by Art tenderer than the Natural ib. Made in Vacuo wherein different from that made in Air p. 98 How to find that difference ib. Sends forth a moist Exhalation p. 102 Sprinkled with Salt destroys the Vertue of Amber p. 129 The cause thereof proposed by some p. 130 Instruments shewing the heat and cold of the Air p. 2 Shewing the moisture of the Air p. 8 To measure time p. 10 Shewing the different