there will remain at bottom eleven ounces six drachms of a white salt keep it in a Viol 't is both a good Aperitive and Laxative it is good for Cachexies Dropsies and all Diseases that proceed from Obstructions the Dose is from ten grains to two scruples in Broth or some proper liquor Remarks This Operation is nothing but a Dissolution that the Salt of Tartar has made of Cream of Tartar so that it can dissolve in cold water which it could not do being alone the Cream of Tartar also being an Acid insinuates into the Pores of the Alkali salt and sweetens it If you Boil Cream of Tartar in water and put into it some salt of Tartar there will happen an Effervescency between 'em but if you mix these two Ingredients together in cold water there will be no Effervescency the reason of which is that the Acid Spirits of Cream of Tartar being involved in other Principles can have no active power to penetrate the Alkali unless they be actuated by fire I use to filter the Dissolution in order to separate some terrestrious part of the Cream of Tartar which could not dissolve this salt comes near to Tartar vitriolated for virtues some do call it Vegetable salt Chalybeated or Martial Crystals of Tartar Powder and mix a pound of good white Tartar and three ounces of Rust of Iron boil this mixture in an Iron Kettle with five or six quarts of water for half an hour or so much time as is requisite to dissolve the Tartar pass the liquor hot through a warm cloth then let it alone to settle in an Iron or Earthen Pot ten or twelve hours it will shoot into brown Crystals at the sides and bottom of the Pot pour off the liquor by Inclination and gather the Crystals then evaporate over the fire about half the liquor in the same Pot then let the remainder settle and take out the Crystals as before continue these Evaporations and Crystallizations until you have drawn out all your Tartar dry the Crystals in the Sun and so keep them It is a good remedy for Obstructions of the Liver Mesentery Spleen it is given in Cachexies and for Melancholy and the Quartan Ague the Dose is from fifteen grains to two Scruples in Broth or some other liquor proper to the Distemper Remarks This Preparation is boil'd but little that the Tartar may dissolve only the more Saline part of Iron the liquor is made to pass through a cloth to free it from the Impurities of the Tartar and Iron that could not dissolve but you must pass it very hot for if it were a little cool the Tartar would Coagulate in the Cloth and so none of the liquor would pass Instead of Crystallizing the dissolved Tartar you may evaporate all the liquor and so obtain a brown powder which has the same virtues as the Crystals When you would exhibite this Chalybeated Crystal of Tartar you must make it just boil in the liquor you give it in for otherwise it will not dissolve and you must be sure to give it as hot as they can take it for fear it should Crystallize at the bottom of the Poringer or Cup. Soluble Tartar Chalybeated Put into an Earthen Pan or Glass vessel four ounces of soluble Tartar and sixteen ounces of Tincture of Mars prepared according to the description that I have given set the vessel in sand and with a small fire evaporate the humidity of the liquor until there remains a black powder shut it in a viol well stopt and keep it you 'l have eight ounces of it This Martial Tartar has the same virtues as the Tincture of Tartar it is good to remove all Obstructions wherefore 't is very properly used in Cachexies Dropsies retention of the Menstrua in Nephritick Colicks and difficulties of Vrine the Dose is from ten grains to half a drachm in some proper liquor or else made into Lozenges Remarks This Preparation of Chalybeate or Martial Tartar is not only more convenient for use than the former in that it dissolves or mixes in a cold liquor but has much more virtue in it for the Tincture of Mars contains only the more salt part of Tartar Add to pag. 265. Remarks on Soluble Emetick Tartar Volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack may be used instead of that of Vrine but then there will appear no sensible Ebullition the reason of which is because the salt of this Spirit is not so open as the Spirit of Vrine by reason of some impression it has of the Acid sal Armoniack with which it was mixt insomuch that the Crystals of Tartar whose Acid is not separated from the Earth has points too gross and too unactive to insinuate into the Pores of this salt and divide its parts so easily as those of the salt that 's contained in Spirit of Vrine whose Pores are bigger Another sort of Soluble Emetick Tartar may be made by boiling in Water an ounce of the Glass of Antimony in Powder with four ounces of Soluble Tartar for seven or eight hours then upon Filtring and evaporating the liquor there will remain a grey Powder of the same virtues as the other and to be given in the same Dose Add to pag. 268. Remarks upon the Fixt Salt of Tartar and its Oyl I commonly use to draw this way four ounces of very white and well Purified salt of Tartar from each pound of Red Tartar a little more may be drawn from white Tartar but it is no better than the other I have observed that when water is thrown upon the Mass of Tartar newly Calcined it heats much like unslack't Lime when wetted the reason of which is the same that I have given to explicate the Ebullition of Quick-lime in water all the difference is this that Tartar Calcined containing a great deal of Salt does more easily imbibe water than Quick-lime Some do Calcine salt of Tartar with a little sulphur to hinder it from dissolving so easily by the Air and to whiten it the more but this is no good practice because the Acid Spirit of sulphur destroyes some part of the Alkali and this does come to happen by reason that the Pores of this Salt by being thus Calcined are not so open as they were and the Air therefore cannot so easily melt it If you would desire to make Salt of Tartar and other Alkali fixt salts very white indeed you must Calcine them all alone in a great fire until they become white and then Purifie them by Dissolation Filtration and Coagulation As for their proneness to dissolve this accident is Natural to Alkali salts and it cannot be taken from them but by destroying their nature Nor can I approve the addition of some quantity of Niter to the Calcination of Tartar as some will do because the Volatile parts of Niter being exalted the fixt do remain and by their Acidity do diminish the virtue of Salt of Tartar Alkali salts are Aperitive in that they dissolve those
makes me think that the points of Spirit of Salt are necessary to make a sublimate very Corrosive The reason why it will sublime is because the Mercury being discharged of a great many Acid Spirits that held it fixed has power to rise with those that remain But because these remaining Spirits do moderate a little its Volatility it makes a stop in the middle of the Viol. Some do put Red Precipitate into an Earthen Pot and pour upon it Spirit of Wine well Rectified then fire it and when the Spirit is consumed they add more and burn it as before they repeat Spirit of Wine and burn it six times together and then they call this Preparation Arcanum Corallinum The Spirit of Wine by burning does carry off some edges of the Precipitate and joyns it self to the rest so that this Precipitate is sweetned and rendred fit to be taken inwardly If by way of curiosity you pour Spirit of Vitriol upon common Red Precipitate such as I have described a Dissolution will soon follow because Spirit of Vitriol joyning with the Spirit of Niter that remained in the Precipitate an Aqua Fortis must happen from their union which is able to dissolve imperceptibly the parts of Mercury but this Dissolution will happen without any Ebullition because the Mercury has been already rarified by an acid so that the Spirit of Vitriol does only dissolve them without making any commotion The Dissolution is clear like other Dissolutions of Mercury without any manner of appearance of Redness and the same Preparations may be made with it as are used to be done by the Dissolution of Quicksylver in Aqua fortis If instead of Spirit of Vitriol you pour Spirit of Salt upon the Red Precipitate it turns presently into a curious white because the Spirit of salt breaks the force of the Spirit of Niter that was in the Red Precipitate and the same thing must happen here as when Spirit of salt is poured upon the Dissolution of Quicksylver for although Red Precipitate is a Dry body yet it is nothing else but a mixture of Quicksylver and Spirit of Niter As for the sudden change of Colour it is indeed somewhat strange that a matter which is grown Red by Calcination should in a minutes time turn so exceeding white This Effect can be attributed only to the dislocation which the Acid Spirit of salt does cause in the parts of Red Precipitate and to the disposition it puts them anew into so that their Superficies is put into a capacity of Reflecting the Light in a right line to our eyes to give the appearance of a white colour for if by means of another sort of liquour or else by fire and some Alkali body the Disposition of the parts of your Precipitate is again changed it will obtain some other Colour or else it will return and revive into Quicksylver If you pour the Volatile spirit of Sal Armoniack upon Red Precipitate it turns into a grey powder but if you throw a great deal of water upon it it becomes a milk though none of the whitest The same thing happens when you drop Spirit of Sal Armoniack into the dissolution of Quicksylver made with Spirit of Niter for soon after the Effervescency is over a grey powder is seen to Precipitate and if you add to it water it becomes a milk of the same whiteness as the other Common Red Precipitate therefore is subject to the same alterations as the Dissolution of Mercury the Red colour giving no particular impression to it which truly is a good proof that Colour is no real thing but wholly depends upon the modification of the parts Other Precipitates of Mercury Mix 7 or 8 ounces of Sublimate Corrosive powdered in a glass or marble Mortar with 16 or 18 ounces of warm water stir them about for half an hour then let the liquor settle and pour it off by Inclination filter it and divide it into 3 parts to be put into so many Viols Pour into one of these Viols some drops of the Oyl of Tartar made per Deliquium there falls immediately a Red Precipitate Drop into another of these Viols some Volatile spirit of Sal Armoniack and you have a white Precipitate Pour into the last of these Viols about a spoonful of Lime-water you have a Yellow-water that is called Phagaedenick-water or a water for Vlcers because it is good to cleanse and heal Vlcers the Chirurgeons do very frequently use it especially in Hospitals if you let the liquor settle 't will let fall a Yellow precipitate To obtain these three Precipitates you have only to pour off the water by Inclination wash them and dry them apart Red precipitate may be used like that I described before but it is not so strong 't is the truest Red precipitate of any White precipitate has the same virtues as the other Yellow precipitate may be used in Pomatums for the Itch half a drachm or a drachm of it is mixed with an ounce of pomatum The Sublimate which remains at the bottom of the Mortar being dried may be used in pomatums for the Itch like Yellow precipitate Remarks Sublimate being mercury loaded with Acids common water is able to dissolve some of it because these Acids do rarifie it and make a kind of salt of it but because there are not Acids enough in it to dissolve all the mercury the most compact part of it remains at bottom the liquor is filtred to clear and purifie it the more it is as clear and transparent as Fountain water If by further way of Curiosity you should drop into the Viol of Red precipitate that I now described some spirit of Sal Armoniack and would shake the liquor a little it would presently turn white and your precipitate would be white but if instead of Spirit of Sal Armoniack you would use spirit of Vitriol an Ebullition would rise in it and the Red liquor would become clear and transparent as common water Because the Oyl of Tartar is an Alkali salt dissolved it breaks the edges of the Acid which held up the mercury imperceptible and serv'd as Swimmers to it in the Water so that this mercury having nothing left to bear it up must needs precipitate by its own weight The same thing happens when the Spirit of Sal Armoniack is thrown upon the other part of the Dissolution of sublimate Corrosive For this spirit being in like manner an Alkali produces the same effect as the Oyl of Tartar But although Alkali's do all agree in this that they all break and destroy Acids nevertheless there is always some difference in their action And this evidently appears in those differently coloured precipitates for this diversity can be attributed only to this that they having in several manners wrought upon Acids do dispose and modifie the parts of the precipitated body so as they may be capable of making different Refractions of Light These precipitates are no longer poisons though they come from
from its red colour It is commonly found in iron Mines and it contains something of that metal the best is that which is clearest and has blackish raies It is prepared by grinding it on a marble with a little Plantain water it is Desiccative and astringent it is used for spitting of bloud and other Haemorrhagies the dose is from fifteen grains to two scruples it is also used outwardly in Vnguents A little acid spirit that partakes of the nature of Iron may be drawn from this stone by distilling it like Vitriol in a Retort this spirit is a very good Aperitive for all Obstructions the dose is to an agreeable acidity Sublimation of the stone Haematites Powder and mix together equal quantities of the stone Haematites and sal Armoniack put this mixture into an Earthen Cucurbite or glass one luted at bottom set a Head upon it and fitting to it a small Receiver and Luting well the Junctures place it in a Furnace over a very small fire at first to warm the vessel then encrease your fire by little and little until it is very strong continue it in this condition for some hours or until the heat of the head lessens then let the vessels cool and unlute them you 'l find in the head and at top of the Cucurbite Yellow Flowers drawing towards Red and in the Receiver a Volatile Vrinous Yellowish spirit keep the spirit and the Flowers apart in bottles well stopt They are both of them very good to procure Sweat and to open Obstructions they may be used in Malignant Feavers Apoplexies Palsies and in the Scurvy in Bolus or in proper liquors the dose of the Flowers is from six grains to four and twenty and of the Volatile spirit from twelve drops to two scruples In the bottom of the Cucurbite is found a mass that may be distilled in a Retort with a gradual fire encreased to the highest degree of all in a Reverberatory Furnace there will come forth an acid spirit of much the same virtues as the fixt spirit of Sal Armoniack of which I shall speak hereafter Remarks Sal Armoniack is here mixt that the Volatile parts may carry off the more soluble portion of the stone Haematites for it would never be able to sublime if it were not driven by some such like Vehicle This salt being also incorporated with it serves very much to give it the sudorisick quality by reason of its Volatility The Cucurbite is set in an open fire that it may be heated the more and the Flowers be the more tinctur'd for the more heat there is the sal armoniack does the more easily sublime the parts of the stone the Volatile spirit is only some portion of the Flowers drawn into liquor The mass that remains in the Cucurbite is a mixture of the more fixt part of the stone and sal armoniack All that is drawn from the stone Haematites is accounted of some use and chiefly so by reason of the Iron it contains Many other Preparations of this stone have been invented but these are the best and choicest Add to pag. 154. Remarks upon the Oyl of Bricks The ancient Chymists called this Oyl the Oyl of Philosophers and have given the Epithete Philosophical to all Preparations that are made with Bricks The reason that can be given for it is that because they call themselves the only True Philosophers or Philosophers by way of excellence they thought they were obliged to confer some influences of this mighty name upon Bricks because they are the materials where with they build their Furnaces to work at the High and mighty Operation or the Philosophers stone for they pretend it is by this Operation alone that True Philosophy can be obtained Add to pag. 165. chap. 14. Of Common Salt Sea salt is made at Rochell in salt marshes which are places that must be of a lower situation than the sea and the ground must be Clayie for otherwise they would not be able to retain the salt-water that has been let into them Thus all places near the sea are not alike proper to make salt marshes When the Season of the year begins to grow hot which commonly happens in May all the water is emptied that was put into the marshes for better preserving them during the Winter then the sluces are opened to let in as much salt-water as they think fit 't is made to pass through a great many Channels wherein it purifies and heats and then is let into places that are made flat smooth and fit to Crysâ— allize the salt This salt is made only during the great heats of Summer the Sun does in the first place evaporate some part of the Water and because after the great heat a small Wind does use to blow as is usual near the sea the coolness of this Wind does condense and Crystallize the salt But if it happens to rain but two hours during the hot weather there can no salt be made for a fortnight afterwards because the marshes must be again emptied of all the water to let in more in its place so that if it chances to rain but once again in the next fortnight they can make no salt Besides the Purification of salt by evaporation it may be further purified if instead of Evaporation of the humidity you set some of it a Crystallizing in a cool place for very fine pure salt is found at bottom of the vessel which salt may be separated from the water and dried you may then evaporate again some part of the salt liquor and set it in a Celler a Crystallizing and so continue your Evaporations and Crystallizations but at last you must be fain to evaporate the liquor to the consumption of all the humidity because at last it will Crystallize no longer the reason whereof is that the remaining salt is full of a fat bituminous matter which is in a manner inseparable from it and this 't is that hinders the Crystallizing at last 'T is probable that this fat matter comes from the earth of those marshes that were spoken of The first Crystallized salt being put into Oyl of Tantar or some other Alkali salt dissolved does mix with it without making any Ebullition because although sea-salt is Acid yet its points are too gross and have too little motion to separate the parts of the Alkali The last salt being dried over the fire and mixed with some Alkali salt rendred liquid such as Oyl of Tartar makes a Coagulation and Precipitation of a substance that appears saline and Oyly this Coagulation does proceed from the mixture and adhesion of Bituminous earth with sea-salt and Tartar for these salts do easily embrace Oyly substances and in them lose their activity Many Acid Bituminous salts which are drawn by the Evaporation of certain Mineral waters such as those of Baleruc in Languedoc and Digne in Provence do perform the same effects when they are mixed with Oyl of Tartar This Coagulum does not dissolve in water
taken the pains to make the Experiment of it they would have found that with two or three of these Vessels they might have drawn as much Spirit of Wine as they could be able to do with their great Machine and that this Spirit is not liable to the Impression which might be communicated to it from Copper or Tin vessels As for the difficulty that there is pretended of finding these Glass vessels there is none at all that I know of but only for such as will not take the pains to visit the Glass-houses for there they would find enough for their turn and though I use a great many of them in my Courses of Chymistry I never was to seek for any yet But suppose there were none to be found ready made methinks they might as easily bespeak 'em and have 'em made at the Glass-houses as well as bespeak those grand Copper or Tin Machines that are commonly used I know those that are better pleased with making a Fair shew than with the effects of things and who measure the goodness of an Operation by the trouble it gives one and by the greatness of Vessels and Furnaces will find here but little to their satisfaction But I am very little concerned at such mens exceptions I never at all endeavoured to follow their Road way My design is simply to facilitate the means of working in Chymistry and to despoil it as much as lies in my power of those things which render it mysterious and dark Add to pag. 258. Remarks upon Spirit of Wine Tartarized A sign that the Spirit of Wine has carried along with it some of the Salt of Tartar is this if you dry gently the Salt of Tartar that remains in the Cucurbite and weigh it you 'l find it diminished an ounce and a half You may again put this Spirit of Wine Tartarized to half a pound of more Salt of Tartar in a Limbeck and distil it as before but I have found that it is ne'r a-whit the better for it This way of Tartarizing Spirit of Wine is the very best and shortest of all that have been invented whether you desire to make it Pure or to impregnate it with salt of Tartar and I may venture to say that all the many long and tedious descriptions that have been given of this Operation have been only invented to cast a dust into the eyes of Novices for it is easie for any to observe who give themselves a little to examine things that after all their long turnings and windings and circumstances to no purpose the Spirit of Wine is not so well Tartarized as by the plain Method that I have described Add to pag. 259. Remarks on the Queen of Hungary's Water The Oyl or Essence of Rosemary may be made as the Oyl of Cinnamon and some drops may be put into Spirit of Wine and thus we have a Queen of Hungaries Water presently made upon the spot The Water of the Queen of Hungary sometimes gives ease to the Tooth-ach being snufft at the Nose or applied to the Gums with a little Cotton Some endeavouring to Criticize to little purpose do say it is altogether useless to digest Rosemary Flowers with Spirit of Wine because their substance being of a very Volatile nature it easily dissolves without any Digestion But this Circumstance is very necessary if we desire to have a Water well impregnated with the Essence of the Flowers for although there is a Volatile substance in Rosemary yet good part of the Oyl in which consists principally the Smell is involved in the other Principles and it cannot be well Rarified mixed and Exalted but only by a Digestion and thus we find a very good Effect from it Add to pag. 260. last line Chap. Of Vinegar Perhaps it will be Objected that Wine separated from Tartar and Lees grows sowre when kept a long time in a vessel without any dissolution of Tartar But we must consider that Wine let it be as clear and pure as may be does always retain the more salt and subtile part of Tartar which exalts and easily smells when by the Fermentation it gets the predominancy of the Sulphureous Spirits which held it as it were involved and thus clear wine sowrs when alone but it does not sowr so fast and the Vinegar is not so strong as when it is made upon Tartar Furthermore if we consider the Principles that Wine consists of we shall find that neither the Oyl nor Earth nor Water are capable of yielding any Acidity and that nothing but the Salt is able to give it Now it can't be doubted but that the Salt of Wine is in the Tartar It may be added here that the Air to which Wines are exposed by leaving the vessel open when they would have them turn into Vinegar does likewise communicate a little of its Acidity to the Wines in the stirring up and rarifying the Acid of Tartar Add to pag. 262. Remarks on Distillation of Vinegar Some having dried and calcined the sweet extract that remains at the bottom of the Cucurbite after the Distillation of vinegar and having by Dissolution Filtration and Coagulation separated an Alkali fixt salt much like unto that which is drawn from Tartar they do mix it with Spirit of vinegar and Distil and Cohobate it divers times until say they the spirit has carried off all the Salt and then will needs have it called Spirit of vinegar Alkalized or Radical spirit of vinegar and they assert that this being much more pure and entirely united with its proper salt is much more powerful in dissolving Metals But far from the Distilled vinegars becoming the stronger through this Preparation I can demonstrate that it breaks and loses the greatest part of its points in contending with the Alkali salt with which it is mixt for 't is the property of this salt to sween Acids Neither is it necessary to believe that by Distillations is drawn the Alkali salt of Vinegar for it remains fixt at bottom of the Retort with the Acids it is impregnated with so that this same Spirit of Vinegar to which so many great names and uses have been appropriated is properly the more Phlegmatick part of distilled vinegar Add to pag. 264. Remarks on Crystals of Tartar I see no reason so much to wonder as some do why Tartar will not dissolve in cold water for although it does contain a great deal of Salt this salt is involved in Earth and Oyl which must needs hinder this dissolution and there 's no need of having recourse for an explication of this to a proportionate Union of Volatile salts and Acids Add to pag. 264. Soluble Tartar Powder and mixe together eight ounces of Crystals of Tartar and four ounces of the fixt salt of Tartar put this mixture into a glazed earthen Pot and pouring upon it three pints of common water boil the matter gently for half an hour then letting it cool filter and evaporate the liquor until it is dry and
are altogether uncapable of any sober admonition and they shut their ears to any thing than can be said to disabuse them so that all other Philosophers that are not besotted with their fantastical opinions are by them thought and called Prophane reserving to themselves the name of the only True Philosophers or Philosophers paramount But the saddest consideration of all is to see a great many of them who have spent all the flower of their years in this desperate concern in which nevertheless they pertinaciously run on and consume all they have at last instead of recompence for their miserable fatigues reduced to the lowest degree of Poverty Penotus will serve us for an instance of this nature among thousands of others he died a hundred years old wanting but two in the Hospital of Yverdon in Switzerland and he used to say before he died having spent his whole life in vainly searching after the Philosophers stone that if he had a mortal Enemy he did not dare to encounter openly he would advise him above all things to give up himself to the Study and Practice of Alchymy Though I deny not absolutely that some certain Artist by a particular method might have got the way of making Gold heretofore nor that some body may be as lucky in time to come yet there is more appearance of Impossibility than Possibility in the case because of the small knowledge that any of us have of the Natural Composition of this Mixt for seeing that Gold as well as Sylver is drawn from Mines environed with Waters it is very probable that these Waters do bring along with them some Saline Principles that congele and incorporate in Earths of a particular composition and whose Pores are disposed in such a manner as 't is impossible for Art to imitate Nevertheless in order to make Gold a perfect knowledge of the Salts that the Waters of the Mines do convey is very requisite as well as the disposition of the Matrixes or Earths in which they do congeal Thus we see that working after Gold is working in the dark and Alchymy seems very well defined by one thus Ars sine arte cujus principium mentiri medium laborare finis mendicare an Art without any Art whose beginning is Lying middle is nothing but Labour and whose end is Beggery Gold taken inwardly is thought to be a most potent Cordial because Astrologers tell us it receives its Influence from the Sun which is as it were the Heart of the World and by the communication of those Influences to the Heart it serves to fortifie and cleanse it from all impurities upon which ground a great many Operations have been invented in order to open this Metal and separate its Sulphur from its Salt Moreover this Operation by way of bravery is called Aurum Potabile because this Salt or this Sulphur dissolving in a Liquor can be taken by way of Potion And because this Aurum Potabile can be thought to be distributed into all parts of the body they fancy it can drive out every thing that interrupts the Functions of Nature that it can free him that takes it from all fear of any Diseases for a long time and can prolong life But this Opinion is built upon a weak foundation and Experience does not confirm any of these great effects for what assurance can one have or what Evidence is there that the Sun is such a great friend of Gold or that it bestows more Influences on it than other mixt bodies 't is a thing that can never be prov'd and we see that the Sun casts it light and heat in general upon all bodies without making any difference Who can understand that the Pores of Gold are so disposed as to have a greater facility of retaining the Suns Influences than other Metals or things This will be full as hard to prove as the other But though we should grant the Astrologers this supposition concerning the Suns Influence on Gold the consequence they draw from it that therefore it Fortifies the Heart would be ne're a whit the truer for all that we are able to apprehend in Gold is that it is a most compact and weighty body the union of whose Principles is extraordinary close which is proved from hence that no Art can instruct us to dissolve it Radically so as to separate its salt and its sulphur This Gold being beaten into the thinnest Leaves that can be imagined and taken inwardly receives not the least change in our bodies and is voided the very same it was before excepting when Quicksylver has been taken before-hand for it unites with that as I have said Wherefore we must conclude that if Gold has received more Influence from the Sun than other Metals yet it is never the fitter to dissolve in our Bodies nor to produce those rare effects that are talkt of I know that stories are told to prove that Gold does communicate virtue to the bodies of those who have taken it and that it loses in the body some of its quantity and among other stories 't is said that several persons who had fed upon Capons nourished with a Paste made of a mixture of Vipers and Gold together have been cured that way of several Diseases but there 's a great deal more reason to attribute this effect rather to the Vipers than Gold for we know by experience that Vipers taken inwardly without any thing else do use to produce diverse sensible effects whereas we observe none at all in Gold when 't is given alone As for the Loss of Gold in bodies they prove it by their gathering together all the Excrements of those Capons and Calcining them for they could obtain again but the fourth part of the Gold that was used in the Paste the Capons had fed upon But this proof is as weak as the former for the Excrements of the Capons being full of a Volatile Salt that Salt may have Volatiliz'd and carried away the greatest part of the Gold during the Calcination after the same manner as we see several Volatile liquors to sublime Gold I know well enough by my own Experience that there are such Volatiles as are able to carry away Gold for having one day mixed three ounces of Gold with about three pounds of matter consisting of diverse Volatile Ingredients I put the mixture about a moneth afterwards into the Coppell and the Gold appeared very resplendent in the middle of the mixture but blowing as we use to do in its purification I was astonished to see it Exalt away by little and little into the air until there was not a grain of it left Thus no body can be assured that Gold did nourish those Capons but besides though some of it should be dissolved in the body as it does in Aqua Regalis which is very hard to conceive though some of it should exalt nay though some should plainly glitter in the Chyle here 's no proof nevertheless that it produces such
of sea salt but only they are keener Add 10 pag. 179. Remarks on Salt of Sulphur Some have presumed to write that when spirit of sulphur is poured upon Sal Polychrestum dissolved in Water there rises an Effervescency as great as when the same Acid spirit is cast upon salt-peter but doubtless they took but little care in what they maintained for there happens no manner of Effervescency neither with Sal polychrestum nor with salt-peter for both of them are Acid salts Nor do I see any reason to believe that if the mixture of salt-peter and spirit of Sulphur is drawn in a Retort the spirit of Niter will come forth and leave the spirit of Sulphur in union with the fixt part of salt-peter for although red vapours are seen to come forth of the Retort this does not prove that they are purely Nitrous those of the spirit of Sulphur are mixt with them but they are hid in the redness like Water in Wine Add to pag. 182. after Spirit of Niter Spirit of Niter Dulcified Put into a large Boulthead eight ounces of good spirit of Niter and so much spirit of Wine well dephlegmated set your Boulthead in the Chimney upon a Round of Straw the liquor will grow hot without coming near the fire and half an hour or an hour afterwards it will boil very much have a care of the red vapours that come out a-pace at the neck of the Boulthead and when the Ebullition is over you 'l find your liquor clear at bottom and to have lost half what it was pour it into a Viol and keep it this is the sweet spirit of Niter It is good for the Wind Cholick and the Nephritick for Hysterical distempers and for all Obstractions its Dose is from four to eight drops in Broth or some other convenient liquor Remarks You must leave the Boulthead open for the Vapours would either carry away the Stopple if there were one or else they would break the vessel the Boulthead is so hot during the Ebullition that one can't endure ones hand upon 't The Heat and Ebullition begin sooner or later according as the Spirits that are used have been more or less dephlegmated This Effect is very strange for spirit of Niter being a strong Acid and Spirit of Wine a sulphur it can't be said that there 's here any alkali to cause the Ebullition with Acid according to the common maxime And this Operation shews us that every thing can't be explicated by the sole Principles of Acid and alkali as some do pretend This Operation has much resemblance with that which happens when Oyl of Turpentine is put into a bottle with Oyl of Vitriol for the mixture of these liquors does heat and boil much alike I shall say something of this last mixture hereafter There is this difference notwithstanding that spirit of Niter being more Volatile than Oyl of Vitriol causes a greater Effervescency In order therefore to explicate this Ebullition two things must be considered First that spirit of Niter contains a great many fiery parts lock't up in its Acidity but which still retain some motion for 't is they that make spirit of Niter to Fume as it does The second is that spirit of Niter is more Inflammable than salt-peter when mixed with any sulphureous body and the reason thereof is that it is more rarified than salt-peter Thus when this Acid spirit is mixt with spirit of Wine which is a sulphur very much exalted and very susceptible of motion the Volatile part of the spirit of Niter joyns its self to this sulphur and the mixture becomes ready to take flame likewise after this mixture the fiery bodies that were in Spirit of Niter do by striving to mount upwards put the liquor into so great a motion that it e'en almost flames and would without all question quite flame if there were not some Phlegm always mixed with these spirits let 'em be drawn never so pure which serves to allay the activity of the fiery particles so that there must needs follow a very great Ebullition This Effervescency therefore proceeds from this that spirit of wine and spirit of Niter which are as it were a salt-peter and highly exalted sulphur have been almost kindled into a flame by the fiery bodies that were in spirit of Niter and that which further proves this conception is a noise or kind of Detonation during the Effervescency which is much like that which happens when sulphur and salt-peter are burnt together The great diminution of the liquor proceeds from the Evaporation of the more Volatile parts of the Spirits of wine and Niter through the neck of the Boulthead during the Ebullition That which remains is a well sweetned spirit of Niter for not only its points are soundly blunted in the Ebullition but the spirit of wine being a sulphur unites and imbodies with those that remain so that they have no longer any Corrosive quality Add to pag. 182. Remarks upon Aqua Fortis The mixture of Vitriol and salt-peter has quickly some smell of Aqua fortis because Vitriol contains a great deal of sulphur which easily insinuates into the Volatile part of salt-peter and exalts some little of it which causes the smell it is this sulphur in Vitriol which by volatilizing the Red spirit of Niter makes it come forth faster and with a less fire than when salt-peter is distilled with Clay Add to pag. 184. Remarks upon the Fixation of Salt-peter into an Alkali Salt The Crucible must be but half full of salt-peter because the Detonation is so great that the matter would be driven out of the Crucible if too much be put in When the Crucible is not very strong it breaks in pieces about the middle of the Operation and some part of the matter is lost by it This Detonation is more violent than that which is made with a mixture of salt-peter and common sulphur because the sulphur of Coals is more Rarified than common sulphur Niter will never be able to flame when set over the fire alone in a Crucible though you make your fire never so strong and coals though loaded with fuliginous or Oyly parts do send forth but only a small blew flame but when these two bodies come to be mixt together the Volatile parts of Niter joyning with the Coals which are Oyly do rarify and exalt the Coals with such a violence that they produce a very great flame Now this Operation confirms my Opinion that salt-peter does only serve here to Rarifie the flame of sulphur but cannot send forth the least flame of its self seeing that as soon as ever the coals you put into the Crucible are burnt the flame goes out and appears no more until you throw in more Coals with which a convenient proportion of the Volatile parts of salt-peter that still remained does joyn and Rarifie them into a flame Thus new Coals are successively thrown into the Crucible until it flames no longer but toward the
black This Colour proceeds from sulphureous Fuliginosities which rise more from this Vitriol than the other because it partakes of Copper for this Sooty vapour finding no vent to get out at falls down again upon the matter and blackens it There 's one thing happens about the Oyl of Vitriol when 't is very strong which is very strange indeed it is that if you mix it with its Acid Spirit or with water or else with an Ethereal Oyl such as the Oyl of Turpentine this mixture grows hot to that degree that sometimes it breaks the Viol 't was put into and often it produces a considerable Ebullition I should quickly give account of this heat and Ebullition if I would suppose an Alkali in the Oyl of Vitriol as those do who pretend to explicate every thing that happens by the notions of Acid and Alkali but not comprehending how an Alkali should be able to remain so long a time with so strong an Acid as is the Oyl of Vitriol without being destroyed I had rather give a reason that seems to me abundance more probable I conveive therefore that if water or Spirit of Vitriol or the Ethereal Oyl of Turpentine do heat the Oyl of Vitriol it is by setting in motion a great many fiery particles which the Oyl of Vitriol had drawn with it in the Distillation for these little fiery bodies being environ'd with salts that are exceeding heavy and hard to Rarifie they drive about vehemently whatsoever stands in their way and when they have caused an Ebullition and find they can't get out a-top of the Viol they break it to pieces with the bussle they make at bottom and on the sides Perhaps it will-be said I do here suppose gratis that the Oyl of Vitriol does contain fiery particles but if we consider the great violence of fire and the time that is spent in drawing this Acid 't will be no such hard matter to grant me this supposition Besides it will be hard to explicate the great and burning Corrosion of Oyl of Vitriol without admitting these fiery parts for the Vitriol contains nothing in it self of this Caustick nature 't is true indeed that it contains Phlegm Sulphur and Earth but it is a thing impossible but this Acid should discover it self more than it does if it were as Corrosive in the Vitriol as it is in the Oyl Once it hapned to me that putting into my Furnace a Retort whose two thirds were filled with German Vitriol dried in order to draw off its Spirits I Distilled first of all the Phlegm and sulphureous spirit which I took out of the Receiver I then fitted it again to the Retort and by a great fire continued for three dayes and three nights I distilled off the Acid Spirit as we are used to do When the Vessels were grown cold I admired to find in my Receiver nothing but a Mass of Salt or Congeal'd Oyl of Vitriol This Salt was so exceeding Caustick and burning that if I offer'd to touch the smallest part of it with my finger I presently felt an insufferable scalding and was fain to put my hand immediately into water it continued to fume still and when a little of it was thrown into water it made the same hissing noise as a fire-coal put into water would do Besides it heated the water very much and much more than common Oyl of Vitriol could If you fill a Glass Viol with the Decoction of Nephritick Wood clarified and observe it turning toward the Light it will appear Yellow but if you turn your back to the Light it will appear Blew if you mix with it some dregs of Spirit of Vitriol it will appear Yellow on every side but if you again and about as much more Oyl of Tartar it will return unto its first colour If you take a Blew or Violet tincture made in water such as is drawn out of the Sun-Flower or Violet Flowers and pour upon it some drops of Spirit of Vitriol it will presently turn Red but if you throw into it some Alkali salt it will recover again its former colour On the contrary if you pour an Alkali liquor such as Volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack upon the Blew tincture it will presently turn Green and if you again pour upon it a little Spirit of Vitriol it will change this colour into an obscure Red. The Decoction of Indian Wood is very Red if you drop into it a little Spirit of Vitriol it will turn Yellow and if you still add some Volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack it will become black All these changes of colour which the Spirit of Vitriol or other Acids and Alkali's do make proceed only from the different position of bodies dissolved in the liquor and from its disposition to modifie the Light different wayes Add to pag. 208. Remarks upon Distillation of Alom Some have written that Alom yields but very little Acid yet if they 'l but take the pains to keep up a strong fire under it for three dayes together they 'l find that this Spirit does not give place in strength or quantity to that of Vitriol Nor are we at all obliged to distinguish as they would have us the Acrimonious Corrosive salt of Alom from its Acid seeing that there is nothing either Acrimonious or Corrosive in this Mineral salt which will not turn into an Acid Spirit when it is driven forcibly by fire Add to pag. 211. Remarks upon Flowers of Sulphur If you mix one part of Sal Polychrestum with two pounds of Sulphur and sublime them together as those I have described you 'l have white Flowers of Sulphur which are thought to be better for distempers of the Breast than those others they are given in the same Dose This Whiteness proceeds from a very exact Attenuation which Sal Polychrestum gives to the Sulphur the Sal Polychrestum which remains at bottom of the Cucurbite may be Calcined and if you afterwards Purifie it by Dissolution Evaporation and Filtration it will be full as good as before Add to pag. 216. Chap. Of Amber Amber is to be found near the Baltick-sea in the Dutchy of Prussia and no where else Some do think Petroleum or Oyl of Peter to be nothing but a liquor drawn from Amber by the means of subterranean fires which make a distillation of it and that Jet and Coals are the remainders of this distillation This Opinion would have some resemblance of truth if the places where this Oyl is found were not so far distant the one from the other for Petroleum is usually found only in Italy as in Sicily and in Provence this Oyl Distills through the clefts of rocks and it is very probable to be the Oyl of some Bituminous matter which the subterranean fires had raised Tincture of Amber Powder finely five or six ounces of Yellow Amber and put it into a Boult head pour upon it spirit of wine four singers height stop this Boult-head with another to make a Circulatory
the former discourse upon its effects and operations in the Pox vindicated modestly to be the Authors own invention 45. It is proved to be an Alkali though it contains no alkali salt 46. Objections against its being an alkali and the venom of the Pox an acid answered 47 48. K. Not half the Spirit of Niter requisite to dissolve it as is for the same weight of Bismuth 49. a difficulty about its making a sublimate corrosive in the body answered 50 51. why Mercurius Dulcis in a Flux does not fill the Brain with Vloers as it does the mouth 49. its White Precipitate by sublimation becomes as sweet as Mercurius Dulcis and may be then given in as great a Dose 52. its Red Precipitate the less 't is Calcined and the less Red it is the more Corrosive 't will prove 53. why spirit of Vitriol upon its Red Precipitate makes a clear dissolution without any Ebullition 54. why spirit of Salt upon its Red Precipitate makes a curious white 55. why the Colour turns so soon from Red to White ib. its Red precipitate will sublime if you continue it on the fire too long 53 54. other Precipitates of Mercury 56. and remarkable Observations upon them 57 58 59. why the Volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack does so much help the Precipitation of Mercury 52. Milk whence its Coagulation 18 19. Minerals how they grow 20. Myrrhe what 132. its liquid Gum anciently called Stacten ib. how chosen and what it is good for 133. its Tincture how drawn ib. why spirit of Wine draws it best 134. its Tincture better than the Extract ib. its Oyl per Deliquium how made ib. N. Niter not at all inflammable 76. No Sulphur in Saltpeter 77. Spirit of Niter how dulcified 79. in the Fixation of Saltpeter into an alkali salt why the Crucible must be but half full 82. The Detonation from Saltpeter and Coals why greater than from Saltpeter and common Sulphur 82. why more Fixt Salt get by the use of common saltpeter than by that which is Purified 83. How to make Grey fixt Niter become exceeding White 84. Fixt Niter why an Alkali ib. No Alkali salt in saltpeter ib. why the liquor of Fixt Niter that is made with common saltpeter being kept a year or so loses its alkali nature whereas that which is made with purified Saltpeter never loses being an Alkali 84 85. Fixt Niter an Acid salt rendred porous by the Alkali of Coals 85. Liquor of Fixt Niter called by some Alkaest or Vniversal dissolvent 85. Niter excellently well proved not to be inflammable ib. O. Opium what it is good for 127. its Operation proved to proceed from Narcotick Vapours shutting the channels of the Spirits and Humours 128. and not from any proportion of salt and sulphur or secret Ferment 129. Opium observed to be Sudorifick ib. Oyl nothing else properly said to be inflammable 1. that which caused its Flagration must be a Volatile or Essential salt ib. this proved from common sulphur and a mixture of saltpeter with sulphur 2. Oyl of Bricks why called by Chymists the Oyl of Philosophers 70 71. Oyl of Peter Jet and Coals supposed to be from a distillation in the Earth but falsly 97. 98. P. Petrification how 20. Philosophers-stone the several methods of searching after it related and pleasantly discoursed of 24 25. the misery of those men that seek after it 26. the possibility of the Philosophers-stone granted but accounted next to an impossibility and the reason why ib. Q. Quicklime in the making of it the fire must be kept at an equal height to the end of the work 65. its Corrosion caused by Igneous bodies 66. no Acid in it to cause its Ebullition in water 67. S. Sal Armoniack how made Artificially at Venice 85. eight ounces of it do contain at least four ounces and a half of Volatile salt 88. its Volatile spirit only a dissolution of Volatile salt in Water ib. its spirit sensibly proved to be Sudorifick by a proper instance 89. whence it is that a Coagulation happens from the mixture of spirit of Wine with the Volatile spirit of Sal Armoniack ib. Sal Polychrestum not fit to be used until it is made very white 77. why more of it is made with common Saltpeter than that which is Purified 78. an Ebullition falsly said to rise when spirit of Sulphur is cast upon it or upon Salt-peter 78. Salt that of Vegetables proceeds from a salt juice of the Earth they grow in 5. too much salt as bad for Lands as too little an instance of those near the River Nile 6. 't is a Volatile or at least a saltpetrous salt that fertilizes Lands ib. yet the Ashes of Vegetables though full of a fixt salt do well to this purpose 7. Three sorts of salt drawn from Vegetables an Acid or Essential a Volatile and a fixt salt 9. the acid salt the only true salt in nature 9 10 11. Salt decrepitated exposed to the Air to be distilled without addition yields only a Phlegm rather than spirit 74. Monsieur Seignet's Distillation of spirit of Salt without addition of Clay to separate its parts vindicated to be good and an admirable Operation 74 75. how all alkali Fixt salts are made very white 113. and why they are Aperitive 114. its spirit not good to bathe bodies with that are to be Embalmed 116. Salt-water in the Sea caused by Mines of Salt therein contained 3 4. Sea-salt how made at Rochel 71. when Crystallized it makes no Ebullition with Oyl of Tartar 72. Saltpeter vide Niter Sulphur its white Flowers made with Sal Polychrestum 97. T. Tartar why its Crystals will not dissolve in cold water 108. why its Crystals boiled with its salt do raise an effervescency in hot water which they cannot do in cold 109. its soluble Tartar only the Cream of Tartar made soluble in cold water ib. it s Chalybeated or martial Crystals ib. soluble Tartar how chalybeated 111. soluble Emetick Tartar may be made with Volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack instead of Spirit of Vrine but then there will be no Ebullition and why 112. how this Emetick is prepar'd another way ib. why water thrown upon its salt newly Calcined does come to heat like unslack't Lime 113. Salt of Tartar not to be Calcin'd with Sulphur ib. nor Niter 114. its Volatile salt why made of Lees of Wine rather than Tartar 124. very hard to keep its Volatile salt dry and yet how that may be done ib. its Volatile salt made alkali by the fire but was not of that nature either in the Plant or in the Lees ib. the Salt of its Lees proved to be Acid 125 126. this Volatile salt no better than others 126. some fixt Alkali salt to be found in the Lees remaining in the Retort 127. Tartarum Vitriolatum distilled in a Retort yields not so strong a spirit of Vitriol as it was at first 115. during the Ebullition of Acid and Alkali in this Operation a great many dashes of water fly about enough to put out a Candle ib. Tartarum Vitriolatum made with Rectified Oyl of Vitriol is not so white as that made with the Spirit 114. but when Oyl of Vitriol is used the Ebullition is the greater 115. V. Vegetation from a mixture of Volatile salt and Sulphur 7 8. the fixt salt that lies in the ashes of Vegetables does fructifie by being Porous 7. Vinegar it s Alkalized or Radical spirit proved to be only the more Phlegmatick part of distilled Vinegar 107. Vipers their venom caused by Acid salts 135. the natural acidity of the bloud not capable of causing any such Venemous Coagulation as Vipers do 135 136. their Volatile salt how Rectified and why 136. Vitriol the Redness of it Calcin'd proved not to proceed from any Copper therein contained 91 92. some of its Spirit always flyes away through the Junctures use what care you can 93. German Vitriol yields more but not so good spirit as the English 93. its Oyl being mixed with its Acid Spirit or with water or some Ethereal Oyl as Oyl of Turpentine why it causes so violent a Heat and Ebullition 93 94. This not to be explicated by the notions of Acid and Alkali but by fiery particles contained in the Oyl 94. an excellent Experiment to prove its Oyl full of fiery parts 94 95. Volatile salts when proper to be used and when not 126. many of these Volatile salts drawn Acid as they were in the mixt 139. W. Water Queen of Hungaries water how readily made upon the spot 105. the Rosemary Flowers in it though Volatile in their nature yet require a Digestion to draw out their virtue 106. why plain water can Precipitate Bismuth Lead and Antimony but can't precipitate Gold Sylver or Mercury 32. Wax its spirit an Acid Volatile salt like the Salt of Amber 138. This Distillation and that of Amber prove all the Salt of mixt bodies to be naturally Acid and Alkali's to be nothing but mutations made by fire 139. Wine that which is clear and freed from Lees and Tartar will sowre and turn into a weak Vinegar but this by reason of a Tartar contained in its Principles 106. and the Air thought to communicate some Acidity to Wine 107. The Authors way of drawing its Spirit vindicated 103 104. FINIS