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diff --git a/22914.txt b/22914.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..45aa4bd --- /dev/null +++ b/22914.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8555 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Sceptical Chymist, by Robert Boyle + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Sceptical Chymist + or Chymico-Physical Doubts & Paradoxes, Touching the Spagyrist's Principles Commonly call'd Hypostatical; As they are wont to be Propos'd and Defended by the Generality of Alchymists. Whereunto is prĉmis'd Part of another Discourse relating to the same Subject. + + +Author: Robert Boyle + + + +Release Date: October 8, 2007 [eBook #22914] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCEPTICAL CHYMIST*** + + +E-text prepared by Robert Shimmin, Linda Cantoni, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net). +Color title-page images were generously provided by the University of +Pennsylvania Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text & Image +(http://dewey.library.upenn.edu/sceti). + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + This e-book was prepared from a facsimile of the 1661 first + edition and contains spelling, capitalization, and punctuation + inconsistencies typical of the era. These have been preserved + as they appear in the original. + + Printer errors have also been preserved. Those mentioned in + the Errata at the end of the book are noted with [Errata: + corrected text]. Other obvious printer errors are noted with + [Transcriber's Note: corrected text] where the meaning might + be unclear without the correction. See also the printer's note + preceding the Errata, which contains material omitted from the + text (the place where it should be inserted is marked in the + text with a Transcriber's Note). + + There are a number of sidenotes in this book, most of which + function as footnotes (e.g., citations to other works) and some + of which function as true sidenotes. For the sake of clarity, + sidenotes functioning as footnotes have been converted to + numbered footnotes, with number markers at appropriate places + in the text. + + A character with a macron is represented by an equal sign. + E.g., [=a] indicates "a" with macron. + + A table of contents has been provided for the reader's + convenience. + + + + + +THE + +SCEPTICAL CHYMIST: + +OR + +CHYMICO-PHYSICAL + +Doubts & Paradoxes, + +Touching the + +SPAGYRIST'S PRINCIPLES + +Commonly call'd + +HYPOSTATICAL, + +As they are wont to be Propos'd and Defended by the Generality of + +ALCHYMISTS. + +Whereunto is praemis'd Part of another Discourse relating to the same +Subject. + + +BY + +The Honourable _ROBERT BOYLE_, Esq; + + +_LONDON,_ + +Printed by _J. Cadwell_ for _J. Crooke_, and are to be Sold at the +_Ship_ in St. _Paul's_ Church-Yard. + +_MDCLXI._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +A Praeface Introductory +Physiological Considerations +The First Part +The Second Part +The Third Part +The Fourth Part +The Fifth Part +The Sixth Part +The Conclusion +Printer's Note +Errata + + + + +A + +PRAEFACE + +INTRODUCTORY + +_To the following Treatise._ + + +_To give the Reader an account, Why the following Treatise is suffer'd +to pass abroad so maim'd and imperfect, I must inform him that 'tis +now long since, that to gratify an ingenious Gentleman, I set down +some of the Reasons that kept me from fully acquiescing either in the +Peripatetical, or in the Chymical Doctrine, of the Material Principles +of mixt Bodies. This Discourse some years after falling into the hands +of some Learned men, had the good luck to be so favourably receiv'd, +and advantageously spoken of by them, that having had more then +ordinary Invitations given me to make it publick, I thought fit to +review it, that I might retrench some things that seem'd not so fit to +be shewn to every Reader, And substitute some of those other things +that occurr'd to me of the trials and observations I had since made. +What became of my papers, I elsewhere mention in a Preface where I +complain of it: But since I writ That, I found many sheets that +belong'd to the subjects I am now about to discourse of. Wherefore +seeing that I had then in my hands as much of the first Dialogue as +was requisite to state the Case, and serve for an Introduction as well +to the conference betwixt_ Carneades _and_ Eleutherius, _as to some +other Dialogues, which for certain reasons are not now herewith +publish'd, I resolv'd to supply, as well as I could, the Contents of a +Paper belonging to the second of the following Discourses, which I +could not possibly retrive, though it were the chief of them all. And +having once more try'd the Opinion of Friends, but not of the same, +about this imperfect work, I found it such, that I was content in +complyance with their Desires; that not only it should be publish'd, +but that it should be publish'd as soon as conveniently might be. I +had indeed all along the Dialogues spoken of my self, as of a third +Person; For, they containing Discourses which were among the first +Treatises that I ventur'd long ago to write of matters Philosophical, +I had reason to desire, with the Painter, to_ latere pone tabulam, +_and hear what men would say of them, before I own'd my self to be +their Author. But besides that now I find, 'tis not unknown to many +who it is that writ them, I am made to believe that 'tis not +inexpedient, they should be known to come from a Person not altogether +a stranger to Chymical Affairs. And I made the lesse scruple to let +them come abroad uncompleated, partly, because my affairs and +Prae-ingagements to publish divers other Treatises allow'd me small +hopes of being able in a great while to compleat these Dialogues. And +partly, because I am not unapt to think, that they may come abroad +seasonably enough, though not for the Authors reputation, yet for +other purposes. For I observe, that of late Chymistry begins, as +indeed it deserves, to be cultivated by Learned Men who before +despis'd it; and to be pretended to by many who never cultivated it, +that they may be thought not to ignore it: Whence it is come to passe, +that divers Chymical Notions about Matters Philosophical are taken for +granted and employ'd, and so adopted by very eminent Writers both +Naturalists and Physitians. Now this I fear may prove somewhat +prejudicial to the Advancement of solid Philosophy: For though I am a +great Lover of Chymical Experiments, and though I have no mean esteem +of divers Chymical Remedies, yet I distinguish these from their +Notions about the causes of things, and their manner of Generation. +And for ought I can hitherto discern, there are a thousand_ Phaenomena +_in Nature, besides a Multitude of Accidents relating to the humane +Body, which will scarcely be clearly & satisfactorily made out by them +that confine themselves to deduce things from Salt, Sulphur and +Mercury, and the other Notions peculiar to the Chymists, without +taking much more Notice than they are wont to do, of the Motions and +Figures, of the small Parts of Matter, and the other more Catholick +and Fruitful affections of Bodies. Wherefore it will not perhaps be +now unseasonable to let our_ Carneades _warne Men, not to subscribe to +the grand Doctrine of the Chymists touching their three Hypostatical +Principles, till they have a little examin'd it, and consider'd, how +they can clear it from his Objections, divers of which 'tis like they +may never have thought on; since a Chymist scarce would, and none but +a Chymist could propose them. I hope also it will not be unacceptable +to several Ingenious Persons, who are unwilling to determine of any +important Controversie, without a previous consideration of what may +be said on both sides, and yet have greater desires to understand +Chymical Matters, than Opportunities of learning them, to find here +together, besides several Experiments of my own purposely made to +Illustrate the Doctrine of the Elements, divers others scarce to be +met with, otherwise then Scatter'd among many Chymical Books. And to +Find these Associated Experiments so Deliver'd as that an Ordinary +Reader, if he be but Acquainted with the usuall Chymical Termes, may +easily enough Understand Them; and even a wary One may safely rely on +Them. These Things I add, because a Person any Thing vers'd in the +Writings of Chymists cannot but Discern by their obscure, Ambiguous, +and almost AEnigmatical Way of expressing what they pretend to Teach, +that they have no Mind, to be understood at all, but by_ the Sons of +Art _(as they call them) nor to be Understood even by these without +Difficulty And Hazardous Tryalls. Insomuch that some of Them Scarce +ever speak so candidly, as when they make use of that known Chymical +Sentence;_ Ubi palam locuti fumus, ibi nihil diximus. _And as the +obscurity of what some Writers deliver makes it very difficult to be +understood; so the Unfaithfulness of too many others makes it unfit to +be reli'd on. For though unwillingly, Yet I must for the truths sake, +and the Readers, warne him not to be forward to believe Chymical +Experiments when they are set down only by way of Prescriptions, and +not of Relations; that is, unless he that delivers them mentions his +doing it upon his own particular knowledge, or upon the Relation of +some credible person, avowing it upon his own experience. For I am +troubled, I must complain, that even Eminent Writers, both Physitians +and Philosophers, whom I can easily name, if it be requir'd, have of +late suffer'd themselves to be so far impos'd upon, as to Publish and +Build upon Chymical Experiments, which questionless they never try'd; +for if they had, they would, as well as I, have found them not to be +true. And indeed it were to be wish'd, that now that those begin to +quote Chymical Experiments that are not themselves Acquainted with +Chymical Operations, men would Leave off that Indefinite Way of +Vouching the Chymists say this, or the Chymists affirme that, and +would rather for each Experiment they alledge name the Author or +Authors, upon whose credit they relate it; For, by this means they +would secure themselves from the suspition of falshood (to which the +other Practice Exposes them) and they would Leave the Reader to Judge +of what is fit for him to Believe of what is Deliver'd, whilst they +employ not their own great names to Countenance doubtfull Relations; +and they will also do Justice to the Inventors or Publishers of true +Experiments, as well as upon the Obtruders of false ones. Whereas by +that general Way of quoting the Chymists, the candid Writer is +Defrauded of the particular Praise, and the Impostor escapes the +Personal Disgrace that is due to him._ + +_The remaining Part of this Praeface must be imploy'd in saying +something for_ Carneades, _and something for my Self._ + +_And first_, Carneades _hopes that he will be thought to have disputed +civilly and Modestly enough for one that was to play the Antagonist +and the Sceptick. And if he any where seem to sleight his Adversaries +Tenents and Arguments, he is willing to have it look'd upon as what he +was induc'd to, not so much by his Opinion of them, as the Examples +of_ Themistius _and_ Philoponus, _and the custom of such kind of +Disputes._ + +_Next, In case that some of his Arguments shall not be thought of the +most Cogent sort that may be, he hopes it will be consider'd that it +ought not to be Expected, that they should be So. For, his Part being +chiefly but to propose Doubts and Scruples, he does enough, if he +shews that his Adversaries Arguments are not strongly Concluding, +though his own be not so neither. And if there should appear any +disagreement betwixt the things he delivers in divers passages, he +hopes it will be consider'd, that it is not necessary that all the +things a Sceptick Proposes, should be consonant; since it being his +work to Suggest doubts against the Opinion he questions, it is +allowable for him to propose two or more severall_ Hypotheses _about +the same thing: And to say that it may be accounted for this way, or +that way, or the other Way, though these wayes be perhaps inconsistent +among Themselves. Because it is enough for him, if either of the +proposed_ Hypotheses _be but as probable as that he calls a question. +And if he proposes many that are Each of them probable, he does the +more satisfie his doubts, by making it appear the more difficult to be +sure, that that which they alwayes differ from is the true. And our_ +Carneades _by holding the Negative, he has this Advantage, that if +among all the Instances he brings to invalidate all the Vulgar +Doctrine of those he Disputes with, any one be Irrefragable, that +alone is sufficient to overthrow a Doctrine which Universally asserts +what he opposes. For, it cannot be true, that all Bodies whatsoever +that are reckon'd among the Perfectly mixt Ones, are Compounded of +such a Determinate Number of such or such Ingredients, in case any one +such Body can be produc'd, that is not so compounded; and he hopes +too, that Accurateness will be the less expected from him, because his +undertaking obliges him to maintain such Opinions in Chymistry, and +that chiefly by Chymical Arguments, as are Contrary to the very +Principles of the Chymists; From whose writings it is not Therefore +like he should receive any intentionall Assistance, except from some +Passages of the Bold and Ingenious_ Helmont, _with whom he yet +disagrees in many things (which reduce him to explicate Divers +Chymical_ Phaenomena, _according to other Notions;) And of whose +Ratiocinations, not only some seem very Extravagant, but even the Rest +are not wont to be as considerable as his Experiments. And though it +be True indeed, that some_ Aristotelians _have occasionally written +against the Chymical Doctrine he Oppugnes, yet since they have done it +according to their Principles, And since our_ Carneades _must as well +oppose their_ Hypothesis _as that of the Spagyrist, he was fain to +fight his Adversaries with their own Weapons, Those of the +Peripatetick being Improper, if not hurtfull for a Person of his +Tenents; besides that those_ Aristotelians, _(at Least, those he met +with,) that have written against the Chymists, seem to have had so +little Experimental Knowledge in Chymical Matters, that by their +frequent Mistakes and unskilfull Way of Oppugning, they have too often +expos'd Themselves to the Derision of their Adversaries, for writing +so Confidently against what they appear so little to understand._ + +_And Lastly_, Carneades _hopes, he shall doe the Ingenious this Piece +of service, that by having Thus drawn the Chymists Doctrine out of +their Dark and Smoakie Laboratories, and both brought it into the open +light, and shewn the weakness of their Proofs, that have hitherto +been wont to be brought for it, either Judicious Men shall henceforth +be allowed calmly and after due information to disbelieve it, or those +abler Chymists, that are zealous for the reputation of it, will be +oblig'd to speak plainer then hitherto has been done, and maintain it +by better Experiments and Arguments then Those_ Carneades _hath +examin'd: so That he hopes, the Curious will one Way or other Derive +either satisfaction or instruction from his endeavours. And as he is +ready to make good the profession he makes in the close of his +Discourse, he being ready to be better inform'd, so he expects either +to be indeed inform'd, or to be let alone. For Though if any Truly +knowing Chymists shall Think fit in a civil and rational way to shew +him any truth touching the matter in Dispute That he yet discernes +not,_ Carneades _will not refuse either to admit, or to own a +Conviction: yet if any impertinent Person shall, either to get Himself +a Name, or for what other end soever, wilfully or carelesly mistake +the State of the Controversie, or the sence of his Arguments, or shall +rail instead of arguing, as hath been done of Late in Print by divers +Chymists;_[1] _or lastly, shall write against them in a canting way; I +mean, shall express himself in ambiguous or obscure termes, or argue +from experiments not intelligibly enough Deliver'd_, Carneades +_professes, That he values his time so much, as not to think the +answering such Trifles worth the loss of it._ + +[Footnote 1: G. and F. and H. and others, in their books against one +another.] + +_And now having said thus much for_ Carneades, _I hope the Reader will +give me leave to say something too for my self._ + +_And first, if some morose Readers shall find fault with my having +made the Interlocutors upon occasion complement with one another, and +that I have almost all along written these Dialogues in a stile more +Fashionable then That of meer scholars is wont to be, I hope I shall +be excus'd by them that shall consider, that to keep a due_ decorum +_in the Discourses, it was fit that in a book written by a Gentleman, +and wherein only Gentlemen are introduc'd as speakers, the Language +should be more smooth, and the Expressions more civil than is usual in +the more Scholastick way of writing. And indeed, I am not sorry to +have this Opportunity of giving an example how to manage even Disputes +with Civility; whence perhaps some Readers will be assisted to discern +a Difference betwixt Bluntness of speech and Strength of reason, and +find that a man may be a Champion for Truth, without being an Enemy to +Civility; and may confute an Opinion without railing at Them that hold +it; To whom he that desires to convince and not to provoke them, must +make some amends by his Civility to their Persons, for his severity +to their mistakes; and must say as little else as he can, to displease +them, when he says that they are in an error._ + +_But perhaps other Readers will be less apt to find fault with the +Civility of my Disputants, than the Chymists will be, upon the reading +of some Passages of the following Dialogue, to accuse_ Carneades _of +Asperity. But if I have made my Sceptick sometimes speak sleightingly +of the Opinions he opposes, I hope it will not be found that I have +done any more, than became the Part he was to act of an Opponent: +Especially, if what I have made him say be compar'd with what the +Prince of the Romane Orators himself makes both great Persons and +Friends say of one anothers Opinions, in his excellent Dialogues,_ De +Natura Deorum: _And I shall scarce be suspected of Partiality, in the +case, by them that take Notice that there is full as much (if not far +more) liberty of sleighting their Adversaries Tenents to be met with +in the Discourses of those with whom_ Carneades _disputes. Nor needed +I make the Interlocutors speak otherwise then freely in a Dialogue, +wherein it was sufficiently intimated, that I meant not to declare my +own Opinion of the Arguments propos'd, much lesse of the whole +Controversy it self otherwise than as it may by an attentive Reader be +guess'd at by some Passages of_ Carneades: _(I say, some Passages, +because I make not all that he says, especially in the heat of +Disputation, mine,) partly in this Discourse, and partly in some other +Dialogues betwixt the same speakers (though they treat not immediately +of the Elements) which have long layn by me, and expect the +Entertainment that these present Discourses will meet with. And indeed +they will much mistake me, that shall conclude from what I now +publish, that I am at Defyance with Chymistry, or would make my +Readers so. I hope the_ Specimina _I have lately publish'd of an +attempt to shew the usefulness of Chymical Experiments to +Contemplative Philosophers, will give those that shall read them other +thoughts of me: & I had a design (but wanted opportunity) to publish +with these Papers an Essay I have lying by me, the greater part of +which is Apologetical for one sort of Chymists. And at least, as for +those that know me, I hope the pain I have taken in the fire will both +convince them, that I am far from being an Enemy to the Chymists Art, +(though I am no friend to many that disgrace it by professing it,) and +perswade them to believe me when I declare that I distinguish betwixt +those Chymists that are either Cheats, or but Laborants, and the true_ +Adepti; _By whom, could I enjoy their Conversation, I would both +willingly and thankfully be instructed; especially concerning the +Nature and Generation of Metals: And possibly, those that know how +little I have remitted of my former addictedness to make Chymical +Experiments, will easily believe, that one of the chief Designes of +this Sceptical Discourse was, not so much to discredit Chymistry, as +to give an occasion and a kind of necessity to the more knowing +Artists to lay aside a little of their over-great Reservedness, & +either explicate or prove the Chymical Theory better than ordinary +Chymists have done, or by enriching us with some of their nobler +secrets to evince that Their art is able to make amends even for the +deficiencies of their Theory: And thus much I shall here make bold to +add, that we shall much undervalue Chymistry, if we imagine, that it +cannot teach us things farr more useful, not only to Physick but to +Philosophy, than those that are hitherto known to vulgar Chymists. And +yet as for inferiour Spagyrists themselves, they have by their labours +deserv'd so well of the Common-wealth of Learning, that methinks 'tis +Pity they should ever misse the Truth which they have so industriously +sought. And though I be no Admirer of the Theorical Part of their Art, +yet my conjectures will much deceive me, if the Practical Part be not +much more cultivated than hitherto it has been, and do not both employ +Philosophy and Philosophers, and help to make men such. Nor would I +that have been diverted by other Studies as well as affairs, be +thought to pretend being a profound Spagyrist, by finding so many +faults in the Doctrine wherein the Generality of Chymists scruples not +to Acquiesce: For besides that 'tis most commonly far easier to frame +Objections against any propos'd_ Hypothesis, _than to propose an_ +Hypothesis _not lyable to Objections (besides this I say) 'tis no such +great matter, if whereas Beginners in Chymistry are commonly at once +imbu'd with the Theory and Operations of their profession, I who had +the good Fortune to Learn the Operations from illiterate Persons, +upon whose credit I was not Tempted to take up any opinion about them, +should consider things with lesse prejudice, and consequently with +other Eyes than the Generality of Learners; And should be more +dispos'd to accommodate the_ Phaenomena _that occur'd to me to other +Notions than to those of the Spagyrists. And having at first +entertain'd a suspition That the Vulgar Principles were lesse General +and comprehensive, or lesse considerately Deduc'd from Chymical +Operations, than was believ'd; it was not uneasie for me both to Take +notice of divers_ Phaenomena, _overlook'd by prepossest Persons, that +seem'd not to suite so well with the_ Hermetical _Doctrine; and, to +devise some Experiments likely to furnish me with Objections against +it, not known to many, that having practis'd Chymistry longer +perchance then I have yet liv'd, may have far more Experience, Than I, +of particular processes._ + +_To conclude, whether the Notions I have propos'd, and the Experiments +I have communicated, be considerable, or not, I willingly leave others +to Judge; and This only I shall say for my Self, That I have +endeavour'd to deliver matters of Fact, so faithfully, that I may as +well assist the lesse skilful Readers to examine the Chymical_ +Hypothesis, _as provoke the Spagyrical Philosophers to illustrate it: +which if they do, and that either the Chymical opinion, or the +Peripatetick, or any other Theory of the Elements differing from that +I am most inclin'd to, shall be intelligibly explicated, and duly +prov'd to me; what I have hitherto discours'd will not hinder it from +making a Proselyte of a Person that Loves Fluctuation of Judgment +little enough to be willing to be eas'd of it by any thing but +Error._ + + + + +PHYSIOLOGICAL + +CONSIDERATIONS + +Touching + +_The experiments wont to be employed to evince either the IV +Peripatetick Elements, or the III Chymical Principles of Mixt Bodies._ + +Part of the First Dialogue. + + +I Perceive that divers of my Friends have thought it very strange to +hear me speak so irresolvedly, as I have been wont to do, concerning +those things which some take to be the Elements, and others to be the +Principles of all mixt Bodies. But I blush not to acknowledge that I +much lesse scruple to confess that I Doubt, when I do so, then to +profess that I Know what I do not: And I should have much stronger +Expectations then I dare yet entertain, to see Philosophy solidly +establish't, if men would more carefully distinguish those things that +they know, from those that they ignore or do but think, and then +explicate clearly the things they conceive they understand, +acknowledge ingenuously what it is they ignore, and profess so +candidly their Doubts, that the industry of intelligent persons might +be set on work to make further enquiries, and the easiness of less +discerning Men might not be impos'd on. But because a more particular +accompt will probably be expected of my unsatisfyedness not only with +the Peripatetick, but with the Chymical Doctrine of the Primitive +Ingredients of Bodies: It may possibly serve to satisfy others of the +excusableness of my disatisfaction to peruse the ensuing Relation of +what passed a while since at a meeting of persons of several opinions, +in a place that need not here be named; where the subject whereof we +have been speaking, was amply and variously discours'd of. + +It was on one of the fairest dayes of this Summer that the inquisitive +_Eleutherius_ came to invite me to make a visit with him to his friend +_Carneades_. I readily consented to this motion, telling him that if +he would but permit me to go first and make an excuse at a place not +far off, where I had at that hour appointed to meet, but not about a +business either of moment, or that could not well admit of a delay, I +would presently wait on him, because of my knowing _Carneades_ to be +so conversant with nature and with Furnaces, and so unconfin'd to +vulgar Opinions, that he would probably by some ingenious Paradox or +other, give our mindes at least a pleasing Exercise, and perhaps +enrich them with some solid instruction. _Eleutherius_ then first +going with me to the place where my Apology was to be made, I +accompanied him to the lodging of _Carneades_, where when we were +come, we were told by the Servants, that he was retired with a couple +of Friends (whose names they also told us) to one of the Arbours in +his Garden, to enjoy under its coole shades a delightful protection +from the yet troublesome heat of the Sun. + +_Eleutherius_ being perfectly acquainted with that Garden immediately +led me to the Arbour, and relying on the intimate familiarity that had +been long cherish'd betwixt him and _Carneades_; in spight of my +Reluctancy to what might look like an intrusion upon his privacy, +drawing me by the hand, he abruptly entered the Arbour, where we found +_Carneades_, _Philoponus_, and _Themistius_, sitting close about a +little round Table, on which besides paper, pen, and inke, there lay +two or three open Books; _Carneades_ appeared not at all troubled at +this surprise, but rising from the Table, received his Friend with +open looks and armes, and welcoming me also with his wonted freedom +and civility, invited us to rest our selves by him, which, as soon as +we had exchanged with his two Friends (who were ours also) the +civilities accustomed on such occasions, we did. And he presently +after we had seated our selves, shutting the Books that lay open, and +turning to us with a smiling countenance seemed ready to begin some +such unconcerning discourse as is wont to pass or rather waste the +time in promiscuous companies. + +But _Eleutherius_ guessing at what he meant to do, prevented him by +telling him, I perceive _Carneades_ by the books that you have been +now shutting, and much more by the posture wherein I found Persons +qualifi'd [Errata: so qualify'd] to discourse of serious matters; and +so accustom'd to do it, that you three were before our coming, engag'd +in some Philosophical conference, which I hope you will either +prosecute, and allow us to be partakers of, in recompence of the +freedome we have us'd in presuming to surprise you, or else give us +leave to repair the injury we should otherwise do you, by leaving you +to the freedom we have interrupted, and punishing our selves for our +boldness by depriving our selves of the happiness of your company. +With these last words he and I rose up, as if we meant to be gone, But +_Carneades_ suddenly laying hold on his arme, and stopping him by it, +smileingly told him, We are not so forward to lose good company as you +seem to imagine; especially since you are pleas'd to desire to be +present at what we shall say, about such a Subject as that You found +us considering. For that, being the number of the Elements, +Principles, or Materiall Ingredients of Bodies, is an enquiry whose +truth is of that Importance, and of that Difficulty, that it may as +well deserve as require to be searched into by such skilfull +Indagators of Nature as your selves. And therefore we sent to invite +the bold and acute _Leucippus_ to lend us some light by his Atomical +Paradox, upon which we expected such pregnant hints, that 'twas not +without a great deal of trouble that we had lately word brought us +that he was not to be found; and we had likewise begg'd the Assistance +of your presence and thoughts, had not the messenger we employ'd to +_Leucippus_ inform'd us, that as he was going, he saw you both pass by +towards another part of the Town; And this frustrated expectation of +_Leucippus_ his company, who told me but last night that he would be +ready to give me a meeting where I pleas'd to day, having very long +suspended our conference about the freshly mention'd Subject, it was +so newly begun when you came in, that we shall scarce need to repeat +any thing to acquaint you with what has pass'd betwixt us before your +arrival, so that I cannot but look upon it as a fortunate Accident +that you should come so seasonably, to be not hearers alone, but we +hope Interlocutors at our conference. For we shall not only allow of +your presence at it, but desire your Assistance in it; which I adde +both for other reasons, and because though these learned Gentlemen +(sayes he, turning to his two friends) need not fear to discourse +before any Auditory, provided it be intelligent enough to understand +them, yet for my part (continues he with a new smile,) I shall not +dare to vent my unpremeditated thoughts before two such Criticks, +unless by promising to take your turnes of speaking, You will allow me +mine of quarrelling, with what has been said. He and his friends added +divers things to convince us that they were both desirous that we +should hear them, and resolved against our doing so, unless we allowed +them sometimes to hear us. _Elutherius_ [Transcriber's Note: +Eleutherius] after having a while fruitlesly endeavoured to obtain +leave to be silent promis'd he would not be so alwayes, provided that +he were permitted according to the freedom of his Genious and +Principles to side with one of them in the managing of one Argument, +and, if he saw cause, with his Antagonist, in the Prosecution of +another, without being confin'd to stick to any one party or Opinion, +which was after some debate accorded him. But I conscious to my own +Disability's told them resolutely that _I_ was as much more willing as +more fit to be a hearer then a speaker, among such knowing Persons, +and on so abstruse a Subject. And that therefore I beseeched them +without necessitating me to proclaim my weaknesses, to allow me to +lessen them by being a silent Auditor of their Discourses: to suffer +me to be at which I could present them no motive, save that their +instructions would make them in me a more intelligent Admirer. I +added, that I desir'd not to be idle whilst they were imploy'd, but +would if they pleas'd, by writing down in short hand what should be +delivered, preserve Discourses that I knew would merit to be lasting. +At first _Carneades_ and his two friends utterly rejected this motion; +and all that my Resoluteness to make use of my ears, not tongue, at +their debates, could do, was to make them acquiesce in the Proposition +of _Eleutherius_, who thinking himself concern'd, because he brought +me thither, to afford me some faint assistance, was content that I +should register their Arguments, that I might be the better able after +the conclusion of their conference to give them my sence upon the +Subject of it, (The number of Elements or Principles:) which he +promis'd I should do at the end of the present Debates, if time would +permit, or else at our next meeting. And this being by him undertaken +in my name, though without my consent, the company would by no means +receive my Protestation against it, but casting, all at once, their +eyes on _Carneades_, they did by that and their unanimous silence, +invite him to begin; which (after a short pause, during which he +turn'd himself to _Eleutherius_ and me) he did in this manner. + +Notwithstanding the subtile reasonings I have met with in the books of +the Peripateticks, and the pretty experiments that have been shew'd me +in the Laboratories of Chymists, I am of so diffident, or dull a +Nature, as to think that if neither of them can bring more cogent +arguments to evince the truth of their assertion then are wont to be +brought; a Man may rationally enough retain some doubts concerning the +very number of those materiall Ingredients of mixt bodies, which some +would have us call Elements, and others principles. Indeed when I +considered that the Tenents concerning the Elements are as +considerable amongst the Doctrines of natural Philosophy as the +Elements themselves are among the bodies of the Universe, I expected +to find those Opinions solidly establish'd, upon which so many others +are superstructed. But when I took the pains impartially to examine +the bodies themselves that are said to result from the blended +Elements, and to torture them into a confession of their constituent +Principles, I was quickly induc'd to think that the number of the +Elements has been contended about by Philosophers with more +earnestness then success. This unsatisfiedness of mine has been much +wonder'd at, by these two Gentlemen (at which words he pointed at +_Themistius_ and _Philoponus_) who though they differ almost as much +betwixt themselves about the question we are to consider, as I do from +either of them, yet they both agree very well in this, that there is a +determinate number of such ingredients as I was just now speaking of, +and that what that number is, I say not, may be, (for what may not +such as they perswade?) but is wont to be clearly enough demonstrated +both by Reason and Experience. This has occasion'd our present +Conference. For our Discourse this afternoon, having fallen from one +subject to another, and at length setl'd on this, they proffer'd to +demonstrate to me, each of them the truth of his opinion, out of both +the Topicks that I have freshly nam'd. But on the former (that of +Reason strictly so taken) we declin'd insisting at the present, lest +we should not have time enough before supper to go thorough the +Reasons and Experiments too. The latter of which we unanimously +thought the most requisite to be seriously examin'd. I must desire you +then to take notice Gentlemen (continued _Carneades_) that my present +business doth not oblige me so to declare my own opinion on the +Subject in question, as to assert or deny the truth either of the +Peripatetick, or the Chymical Doctrine concerning the number of the +Elements, but only to shew you that neither of these Doctrines hath +been satisfactorily proved by the arguments commonly alledged on its +behalfe. So that if I really discern (as perhaps I think I do) that +there may be a more rational account then ordinary, given of one of +these opinions, I am left free to declare my self of it, +notwithstanding my present engagement, it being obvious to all your +observation, that a solid truth may be generally maintained by no +other, then incompetent Arguments. And to this Declaration I hope it +will be needless to add, that my task obliges me not to answer the +Arguments that may be drawn either for _Themistius_ or _Philoponus's_ +Opinion from the Topick of reason, as opposed to experiments; since +'tis these only that I am to examine and not all these neither, but +such of them alone as either of them shall think fit to insist on, and +as have hitherto been wont to be brought either to prove that 'tis +the four Peripatetick Elements, or that 'tis the three Chymical +Principles that all compounded bodies consist of. These things (adds +_Carneades_) I thought my self obliged to premise, partly lest you +should do these Gentlemen (pointing at _Themistius_ and _Philoponus_, +and smiling on them) the injury of measuring their parts by the +arguments they are ready to propose, the lawes of our Conference +confining them to make use of those that the vulgar of Philosophers +(for even of them there is a vulgar) has drawn up to their hands; and +partly, that you should not condemn me of presumption for disputing +against persons over whom I can hope for no advantage, that _I_ must +not derive from the nature, or rules of our controversy, wherein I +have but a negative to defend, and wherein too I am like on several +occasions to have the Assistance of one of my disagreeing adversaries +against the other. + +_Philoponus_ and _Themistius_ soon returned this complement with +civilities of the like nature, in which _Eleutherius_ perceiving them +engaged, to prevent the further loss of that time of which they were +not like to have very much to spare, he minded them that their +present businesse was not to exchange complements, but Arguments: and +then addressing his speech to _Carneades_, I esteem it no small +happinesse (saies he) that I am come here so luckily this Evening. For +I have been long disquieted with Doubts concerning this very subject +which you are now ready to debate. And since a Question of this +importance is to be now discussed by persons that maintain such +variety of opinions concerning it, and are both so able to enquire +after truth, and so ready to embrace it by whomsoever and on what +occasion soever it is presented them; I cannot but promise my self +that I shall before we part either lose my Doubts or the hopes of ever +finding them resolved; _Eleutherius_ paused not here; but to prevent +their answer, added almost in the same breath; and I am not a little +pleased to find that you are resolved on this occasion to insist +rather on Experiments then Syllogismes. For I, and no doubt You, have +long observed, that those Dialectical subtleties, that the Schoolmen +too often employ about Physiological Mysteries, are wont much more to +declare the wit of him that uses them, then increase the knowledge or +remove the doubts of sober lovers of truth. And such captious +subtleties do indeed often puzzle and sometimes silence men, but +rarely satisfy them. Being like the tricks of Jugglers, whereby men +doubt not but they are cheated, though oftentimes they cannot declare +by what slights they are imposed on. And therefore I think you have +done very wisely to make it your businesse to consider the _Phaenomena_ +relating to the present Question, which have been afforded by +experiments, especially since it might seem injurious to our senses, +by whose mediation we acquire so much of the knowledge we have of +things corporal, to have recourse to far-fetched and abstracted +Ratiocination [Errata: Ratiocinations], to know what are the sensible +ingredients of those sensible things that we daily see and handle, and +are supposed to have the liberty to untwist (if I may so speak) into +the primitive bodies they consist of. He annexed that he wished +therefore they would no longer delay his expected satisfaction, if +they had not, as he feared they had, forgotten something preparatory +to their debate; and that was to lay down what should be all along +understood by the word Principle or Element. _Carneades_ thank'd him +for his admonition, but told him that they had not been unmindful of +so requisite a thing. But that being Gentlemen and very far from the +litigious humour of loving to wrangle about words or terms or notions +as empty; they had before his coming in, readily agreed promiscuously +to use when they pleased, Elements and Principles as terms equivalent: +and to understand both by the one and the other, those primitive and +simple Bodies of which the mixt ones are said to be composed, and into +which they are ultimately resolved. And upon the same account (he +added) we agreed to discourse of the opinions to be debated, as we +have found them maintained by the Generality of the assertors of the +four Elements of the one party, and of those that receive the three +Principles on the other, without tying our selves to enquire +scrupulously what notion either _Aristotle_ or _Paracelsus_, or this +or that Interpreter, or follower of either of those great persons, +framed of Elements or Principles; our design being to examine, not +what these or those writers thought or taught, but what we find to be +the obvious and most general opinion of those, who are willing to be +accounted Favourers of the Peripatetick or Chymical Doctrine, +concerning this subject. + +I see not (saies _Eleutherius_) why you might not immediately begin to +argue, if you were but agreed which of your two friendly Adversaries +shall be first heard. And it being quickly resolv'd on that +_Themistius_ should first propose the Proofs for his Opinion, because +it was the antienter, and the more general, he made not the company +expect long before he thus addressed himself to _Eleutherius_, as to +the Person least interessed in the dispute. + +If you have taken sufficient notice of the late Confession which was +made by _Carneades_, and which (though his Civility dressed it up in +complementall Expressions) was exacted of him by his Justice, I +suppose You will be easily made sensible, that I engage in this +Controversie with great and peculiar Disadvantages, besides those +which his Parts and my Personal Disabilities would bring to any other +cause to be maintained by me against him. For he justly apprehending +the force of truth, though speaking by no better a tongue then mine, +has made it the chief condition of our Duell, that I should lay aside +the best Weapons I have, and those I can best handle; Whereas if I +were allowed the freedom, in pleading for the four Elements, to employ +the Arguments suggested to me by Reason to demonstrate them, I should +almost as little doubt of making You a Proselyte to those unsever'd +Teachers, Truth and _Aristotle_, as I do of your Candour and your +Judgment. And I hope you will however consider, that that great +Favorite and Interpreter of Nature, _Aristotle_, who was (as his +_Organum_ witnesses) the greatest Master of Logick that ever liv'd, +disclaim'd the course taken by other petty Philosophers (Antient and +Modern) who not attending the Coherence and Consequences of their +Opinions, are more sollicitous to make each particular Opinion +plausible independently upon the the [Transcriber's Note: extra "the" +in original] rest, then to frame them all so, as not only to be +consistent together, but to support each other. For that great Man in +his vast and comprehensive Intellect, so fram'd each of his Notions, +that being curiously adapted into one Systeme, they need not each of +them any other defence then that which their mutuall Coherence gives +them: As 'tis in an Arch, where each single stone, which if sever'd +from the rest would be perhaps defenceless, is sufficiently secur'd by +the solidity and entireness of the whole Fabrick of which it is a +part. How justly this may be apply'd to the present case, I could +easily shew You, if I were permitted to declare to You, how harmonious +_Aristotles_ Doctrine of the Elements is with his other Principles of +Philosophy; and how rationally he has deduc'd their number from that +of the combinations of the four first Qualities from the kinds of +simple Motion belonging to simple bodies, and from I know not how many +other Principles and _Phaenomena_ of Nature, which so conspire with his +Doctrine of the Elements, that they mutually strengthen and support +each other. But since 'tis forbidden me to insist on Reflections of +this kind, I must proceed to tell You, that though the Assertors of +the four Elements value Reason so highly, and are furnish'd with +Arguments enough drawn from thence, to be satisfi'd that there must be +four Elements, though no Man had ever yet made any sensible tryal to +discover their Number, yet they are not destitute of Experience to +satisfie others that are wont to be more sway'd by their senses then +their Reason. And I shall proceed to consider the testimony of +Experience, when I shall have first advertis'd You, that if Men were +as perfectly rational as 'tis to be wish'd they were, this sensible +way of Probation would be as needless as 'tis wont to be imperfect. +For it is much more high and Philosophical to discover things _a +priore_, then _a posteriore_. And therefore the Peripateticks have not +been very sollicitous to gather Experiments to prove their Doctrines, +contenting themselves with a few only, to satisfie those that are not +capable of a Nobler Conviction. And indeed they employ Experiments +rather to illustrate then to demonstrate their Doctrines, as +Astronomers use Sphaeres of pastboard, to descend to the capacities of +such as must be taught by their senses, for want of being arriv'd to a +clear apprehension of purely Mathematical Notions and Truths. I speak +thus _Eleutherius_ (adds _Themistius_) only to do right to Reason, and +not out of Diffidence of the Experimental proof I am to alledge. For +though I shall name but one, yet it is such a one as will make all +other appear as needless as it self will be found Satisfactory. For if +You but consider a piece of green-Wood burning in a Chimney, You will +readily discern in the disbanded parts of it the four Elements, of +which we teach It and other mixt bodies to be compos'd. The fire +discovers it self in the flame by its own light; the smoke by +ascending to the top of the chimney, and there readily vanishing into +air, like a River losing it self in the Sea, sufficiently manifests to +what Element it belongs and gladly returnes. The water in its own form +boyling and hissing at the ends of the burning Wood betrayes it self +to more then one of our senses; and the ashes by their weight, their +firiness, and their dryness, put it past doubt that they belong to the +Element of Earth. If I spoke (continues _Themistius_) to less knowing +Persons, I would perhaps make some Excuse for building upon such an +obvious and easie _Analysis_, but 'twould be, I fear, injurious, not +to think such an Apology needless to You, who are too judicious either +to think it necessary that Experiments to prove obvious truths should +be farr fetch'd, or to wonder that among so many mixt Bodies that are +compounded of the four Elements, some of them should upon a slight +_Analysis_ manifestly exhibite the Ingredients they consist of. +Especially since it is very agreeable to the Goodness of Nature, to +disclose, even in some of the most obvious Experiments that Men make, +a Truth so important, and so requisite to be taken notice of by them. +Besides that our _Analysis_ by how much the more obvious we make it, +by so much the more suittable it will be to the Nature of that +Doctrine which 'tis alledged to prove, which being as clear and +intelligible to the Understanding as obvious to the sense, tis no +marvail the learned part of Mankind should so long and so generally +imbrace it. For this Doctrine is very different from the whimseys of +_Chymists_ and other Modern Innovators, of whose _Hypotheses_ we may +observe, as Naturalists do of less perfect Animals, that as they are +hastily form'd, so they are commonly short liv'd. For so these, as +they are often fram'd in one week, are perhaps thought fit to be +laughed at the next; and being built perchance but upon two or three +Experiments are destroyed by a third or fourth, whereas the doctrine +of the four Elements was fram'd by _Aristotle_ after he had leasurely +considered those Theories of former Philosophers, which are now with +great applause revived, as discovered by these latter ages; And had so +judiciously detected and supplyed the Errors and defects of former +_Hypotheses_ concerning the Elements, that his Doctrine of them has +been ever since deservedly embraced by the letter'd part of Mankind: +All the Philosophers that preceded him having in their several ages +contributed to the compleatness of this Doctrine, as those of +succeeding times have acquiesc'd in it. Nor has an _Hypothesis_ so +deliberately and maturely established been called in Question till in +the last Century _Paracelsus_ and some few other sooty Empiricks, +rather then (as they are fain to call themselves) Philosophers, having +their eyes darken'd, and their Brains troubl'd with the smoke of their +own Furnaces, began to rail at the Peripatetick Doctrine, which they +were too illiterate to understand, and to tell the credulous World, +that they could see but three Ingredients in mixt Bodies; which to +gain themselves the repute of Inventors, they endeavoured to disguise +by calling them, instead of Earth, and Fire, and Vapour, Salt, +Sulphur, and Mercury; to which they gave the canting title of +Hypostatical Principles: but when they came to describe them, they +shewed how little they understood what they meant by them, by +disagreeing as much from one another, as from the truth they agreed in +opposing: For they deliver their _Hypotheses_ as darkly as their +Processes; and 'tis almost as impossible for any sober Man to find +their meaning, as 'tis for them to find their Elixir. And indeed +nothing has spread their Philosophy, but their great Brags and +undertakings; notwithstanding all which, (sayes _Themistius_ smiling) +I scarce know any thing they have performed worth wondering at, save +that they have been able to draw _Philoponus_ to their Party, and to +engage him to the Defence of an unintelligible _Hypothesis_, who +knowes so well as he does, that Principles ought to be like Diamonds, +as well very clear, as perfectly solid. + +_Themistius_ having after these last words declared by his silence, +that he had finished his Discourse, _Carneades_ addressing himself, as +his Adversary had done, to _Eleutherius_, returned this Answer to it, +I hop'd for [Errata: for a] Demonstration, but I perceive _Themistius_ +hopes to put me off with a Harangue, wherein he cannot have given me a +greater Opinion of his Parts, then he has given me Distrust for his +_Hypothesis_, since for it even a Man of such Learning can bring no +better Arguments. The Rhetorical part of his Discourse, though it make +not the least part of it, I shall say nothing to, designing to examine +only the Argumentative part, and leaving it to _Philoponus_ to answer +those passages wherein either _Paracelsus_ or _Chymists_ are +concern'd: I shall observe to You, that in what he has said besides, +he makes it his Business to do these two things. The one to propose +and make out an Experiment to demonstrate the common Opinion about the +four Elements; And the other, to insinuate divers things which he +thinks may repair the weakness of his Argument, from Experience, and +upon other Accounts bring some credit to the otherwise defenceless +Doctrine he maintains. + +To begin then with his Experiment of the burning Wood, it seems to me +to be obnoxious to not a few considerable Exceptions. + +And first, if I would now deal rigidly with my Adversary, I might here +make a great Question of the very way of Probation which he and others +employ, without the least scruple, to evince, that the Bodies commonly +call'd mixt, are made up of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire, which they +are pleas'd also to call Elements; namely that upon the suppos'd +_Analysis_ made by the fire, of the former sort of _Concretes_, there +are wont to emerge Bodies resembling those which they take for the +Elements. For not to Anticipate here what I foresee I shall have +occasion to insist on, when I come to discourse with _Philoponus_ +concerning the right that fire has to pass for the proper and +Universal Instrument of Analysing mixt Bodies, not to Anticipate that, +I say, if I were dispos'd to wrangle, I might alledge, that by +_Themistius_ his Experiment it would appear rather that those he calls +Elements, are made of those he calls mixt Bodies, then mix'd Bodies of +the Elements. For in _Themistius's_ Analyz'd Wood, and in other Bodies +dissipated and alter'd by the fire, it appears, and he confesses, that +which he takes for Elementary Fire and Water, are made out of the +Concrete; but it appears not that the Concrete was made up of Fire and +Water. Nor has either He, or any Man, for ought I know, of his +perswasion, yet prov'd that nothing can be obtained from a Body by the +fire that was not _Pre-existent_ in it. + +At this unexpected objection, not only _Themistius_, but the rest of +the company appear'd not a little surpriz'd; but after a while +_Philoponus_ conceiving his opinion, as well as that of _Aristotle_, +concern'd in that Objection, You cannot sure (sayes he to +_Carneades_) propose this Difficulty; not to call it Cavill, otherwise +then as an Exercise of wit, and not as laying any weight upon it. For +how can that be separated from a thing that was not existent in it. +When, for instance, a Refiner mingles Gold and Lead, and exposing this +Mixture upon a Cuppell to the violence of the fire, thereby separates +it into pure and refulgent Gold and Lead (which driven off together +with the Dross of the Gold is thence call'd _Lithargyrium Auri_) can +any man doubt that sees these two so differing substances separated +from the Mass, that they were existent in it before it was committed +to the fire. + +I should (replies _Carneades_) allow your Argument to prove something, +if, as Men see the Refiners commonly take before hand both Lead and +Gold to make the Mass you speak of, so we did see Nature pull down a +parcell of the Element of Fire, that is fancy'd to be plac'd I know +not how many thousand Leagues off, contiguous to the Orb of the Moon, +and to blend it with a quantity of each of the three other Elements, +to compose every mixt Body, upon whose Resolution the Fire presents +us with Fire, and Earth, and the rest. And let me add, _Philoponus_, +that to make your Reasoning cogent, it must be first prov'd, that the +fire do's only take the Elementary Ingredients asunder, without +otherwise altering them. For else 'tis obvious, that Bodies may afford +substances which were not pre-existent in them; as Flesh too long kept +produces Magots, and old Cheese Mites, which I suppose you will not +affirm to be Ingredients of those Bodies. Now that fire do's not +alwayes barely separate the Elementary parts, but sometimes at least +alter also the Ingredients of Bodies, if I did not expect ere long a +better occasion to prove it, I might make probable out of your very +Instance, wherein there is nothing Elementary separated by the great +violence of the Refiners fire: the Gold and Lead which are the two +Ingredients separated upon the _Analysis_ being confessedly yet +perfectly mixt Bodies, and the Litharge being Lead indeed; but such +Lead as is differing in consistence and other Qualities from what it +was before. To which I must add that I have sometimes seen, and so +questionlesse have you much oftener, some parcells of Glasse adhering +to the Test or Cuppel, and this Glass though Emergent as well as the +Gold or Litharge upon your Analysis, you will not I hope allow to have +been a third Ingredient of the Mass out of which the fire produc'd it. + +Both _Philoponus_ and _Themistius_ were about to reply, when +_Eleutherius_ apprehending that the Prosecution of this Dispute would +take up time, which might be better employ'd, thought fit to prevent +them by saying to _Carneades_: You made at least half a Promise, when +you first propos'd this Objection, that you would not (now at least) +insist on it, nor indeed does it seem to be of absolute necessity to +your cause, that you should. For though you should grant that there +are Elements, it would not follow that there must be precisely four. +And therefore I hope you will proceed to acquaint us with your other +and more considerable Objections against _Themistius's_ Opinion, +especially since there is so great a Disproportion in Bulke betwixt +the Earth, Water and Air, on the one part, and those little parcells +of resembling substances, that the fire separates from _Concretes_ on +the other part, that I can scarce think that you are serious, when to +lose no advantage against your Adversary, you seem to deny it to be +rational, to conclude these great simple Bodies to be the Elements, +and not the Products of compounded ones. + +What you alledge (replies _Carneades_) of the Vastness of the Earth +and Water, has long since made me willing to allow them to be the +greatest and chief Masses of Matter to be met with here below: But I +think I could shew You, if You would give me leave, that this will +prove only that the Elements, as You call them, are the chief Bodies +that make up the neighbouring part of the World, but not that they are +such Ingredients as every mixt Body must consist of. But since You +challenge me of something of a Promise, though it be not an entire +one, Yet I shall willingly perform it. And indeed I intended not when +I first mention'd this Objection, to insist on it at present against +_Themistius_, (as I plainly intimated in my way of proposing it:) +being only desirous to let you see, that though I discern'd my +Advantages, yet I was willing to forego some of them, rather then +appear a rigid Adversary of a Cause so weak, that it may with safety +be favourably dealt with. But I must here profess, and desire You to +take Notice of it, that though I pass on to another Argument, it is +not because I think this first invalid. For You will find in the +Progress of our Dispute, that I had some reason to question the very +way of Probation imploy'd both by Peripateticks and Chymists, to +evince the being and number of the Elements. For that there are such, +and that they are wont to be separated by the Analysis made by Fire, +is indeed taken for granted by both Parties, but has not (for ought I +know) been so much as plausibly attempted to be proved by either. +Hoping then that when we come to that part of our Debate, wherein +Considerations relating to this Matter are to be treated of, you will +remember what I have now said, and that I do rather for a while +suppose, then absolutely grant the truth of what I have question'd, I +will proceed to another Objection. + +And hereupon _Eleutherius_ having promis'd him not to be unmindfull, +when time should serve, of what he had declar'd. + +I consider then (sayes _Carneades_) in the next place, that there are +divers Bodies out of which _Themistius_ will not prove in haste, that +there can be so many Elements as four extracted by the Fire. And I +should perchance trouble him if I should ask him what Peripatetick can +shew us, (I say not, all the four Elements, for that would be too +rigid a Question, but) any one of them extracted out of Gold by any +degree of Fire whatsoever. Nor is Gold the only Bodie in Nature that +would puzzle an _Aristotelian_, that is no more [Errata: (that is no +more)] to analyze by the Fire into Elementary Bodies, since, for ought +I have yet observ'd, both Silver and calcin'd _Venetian_ Talck, and +some other Concretes, not necessary here to be nam'd, are so fixt, +that to reduce any of them into four Heterogeneous Substances has +hitherto prov'd a Task much too hard, not only for the Disciples of +_Aristotle_, but those of _Vulcan_, at least, whilst the latter have +employ'd only Fire to make the _Analysis_. + +The next Argument (continues _Carneades_) that I shall urge against +_Themistius's_ Opinion shall be this, That as there are divers Bodies +whose _Analysis_ by Fire cannot reduce them into so many Heterogeneous +Substances or Ingregredients [Transcriber's Note: Ingredients] as +four, so there are others which may be reduc'd into more, as the Blood +(and divers other parts) of Men and other Animals, which yield when +analyz'd five distinct Substances, Phlegme, Spirit, Oyle, Salt and +Earth, as Experience has shewn us in distilling Mans Blood, +Harts-Horns, and divers other Bodies that belonging to the +Animal-Kingdom abound with not uneasily sequestrable Salt. + + + + +THE + +SCEPTICAL CHYMIST: + +OR + +CHYMICO-PHYSICAL + +Doubts & Paradoxes, + +Touching the + +EXPERIMENTS + +WHEREBY + +VULGAR SPAGYRISTS + +Are wont to Endeavour to Evince their + +SALT, SULPHUR + +AND + +MERCURY, + +TO BE + +The True Principles of Things. + + +_Utinam jam tenerentur omnia, & inoperta ac confessa Veritas esset! +Nihil ex Decretis mutaremus. Nunc Veritatem cum eis qui docent, +quaerimus._ Sen. + + +_LONDON,_ + +Printed for _J. Crooke_, and are to be sold at the Ship in St. _Pauls_ +Church-Yard. 1661. + + + + +THE + +SCEPTICAL CHYMIST. + +_The First Part._ + + +I am (sayes _Carneades_) so unwilling to deny _Eleutherius_ any thing, +that though, before the rest of the Company I am resolv'd to make good +the part I have undertaken of a Sceptick; yet I shall readily, since +you will have it so, lay aside for a while the Person of an Adversary +to the Peripateticks and Chymists; and before I acquaint you with my +Objections against their Opinions, acknowledge to you what may be +(whether truly or not) tollerably enough added, in favour of a certain +number of Principles of mixt Bodies, to that grand and known Argument +from the _Analysis_ of compound Bodies, which I may possibly +hereafter be able to confute. + +And that you may the more easily Examine, and the better Judge of what +I have to say, I shall cast it into a pretty number of distinct +Propositions, to which I shall not premise any thing; because I take +it for granted, that you need not be advertis'd, that much of what I +am to deliver, whether for or against a determinate number of +Ingredients of mix'd Bodies, may be indifferently apply'd to the four +Peripatetick Elements, and the three Chymical Principles, though +divers of my Objections will more peculiarly belong to these last +nam'd, because the Chymical _Hypothesis_ seeming to be much more +countenanc'd by Experience then the other, it will be expedient to +insist chiefly upon the disproving of that; especially since most of +the Arguments that are imploy'd against it, may, by a little +variation, be made to conclude, at least as strongly against the less +plausible, _Aristotelian_ Doctrine. + +To proceed then to my Propositions, I shall begin with this. That + +[Sidenote: Propos. I.] + +_It seems not absurd to conceive that at the first Production of mixt +Bodies, the Universal Matter whereof they among other Parts of the +Universe consisted, was actually divided into little Particles of +several sizes and shapes variously mov'd._ + +This (sayes _Carneades_) I suppose you will easily enough allow. For +besides that which happens in the Generation, Corruption, Nutrition, +and wasting of Bodies, that which we discover partly by our +_Microscopes_ of the extream littlenesse of even the scarce sensible +parts of Concretes; and partly by the Chymical Resolutions of mixt +Bodies, and by divers other Operations of Spagyrical Fires upon them, +seems sufficiently to manifest their consisting of parts very minute +and of differing Figures. And that there does also intervene a various +local Motion of such small Bodies, will scarce be denied; whether we +chuse to grant the Origine of Concretions assign'd by _Epicurus_, or +that related by _Moses_. For the first, as you well know, supposes not +only all mixt Bodies, but all others to be produc'd by the various +and casual occursions of Atomes, moving themselves to and fro by an +internal Principle in the Immense or rather Infinite _Vacuum_. And as +for the inspir'd Historian, He, informing us that the great and Wise +Author of Things did not immediately create Plants, Beasts, Birds, &c. +but produc'd them out of those portions of the pre-existent, though +created, Matter, that he calls Water and Earth, allows us to conceive, +that the constituent Particles whereof these new Concretes were to +consist, were variously moved in order to their being connected into +the Bodies they were, by their various Coalitions and Textures, to +compose. + +But (continues _Carneades_) presuming that the first Proposition needs +not be longer insisted on, I will pass on to the second, and tell you +that + +[Sidenote: Propos. II.] + +_Neither is it impossible that of these minute Particles divers of the +smallest and neighbouring ones were here and there associated into +minute Masses or Clusters, and did by their Coalitions constitute +great store of such little primary Concretions or Masses as were not +easily dissipable into such Particles as compos'd them._ + +To what may be deduc'd, in favour of this Assertion, from the Nature +of the Thing it self, I will add something out of Experience, which +though I have not known it used to such a purpose, seems to me more +fairly to make out that there May be Elementary Bodies, then the more +questionable Experiments of Peripateticks and Chymists prove that +there Are such. I consider then that Gold will mix and be colliquated +not only with Silver, Copper, Tin and Lead, but with Antimony, +_Regulus Martis_ and many other Minerals, with which it will compose +Bodies very differing both from Gold, and the other Ingredients of the +resulting Concretes. And the same Gold will also by common _Aqua +Regis_, and (I speak it knowingly) by divers other _Menstruums_ be +reduc'd into a seeming Liquor, in so much that the Corpuscles of Gold +will, with those of the _Menstruum_, pass through Cap-Paper, and with +them also coagulate into a Crystalline Salt. And I have further try'd, +that with a small quantity of a certain Saline Substance I prepar'd, +I can easily enough sublime Gold into the form of red Crystalls of a +considerable length; and many other wayes may Gold be disguis'd, and +help to constitute Bodies of very differing Natures both from It and +from one another, and neverthelesse be afterward reduc'd to the +self-same Numerical, Yellow, Fixt, Ponderous and Malleable Gold it was +before its commixture. Nor is it only the fixedst of Metals, but the +most fugitive, that I may employ in favour of our Proposition: for +Quicksilver will with divers Metals compose an _Amalgam_, with divers +_Menstruums_ it seems to be turn'd into a Liquor, with _Aqua fortis_ +will be brought into either a red or white Powder or precipitate, with +Oyl of Vitriol into a pale Yellow one, with Sulphur it will compose a +blood-red and volatile Cinaber, with some Saline Bodies it will ascend +in form of a Salt which will be dissoluble in water; with _Regulus_ of +Antimony and Silver I have seen it sublim'd into a kinde of Crystals, +with another Mixture I reduc'd it into a malleable Body, into a hard +and brittle Substance by another: And some there are who affirm, that +by proper Additaments they can reduce Quicksilver into Oyl, nay into +Glass, to mention no more. And yet out of all these exotick Compounds, +we may recover the very same running Mercury that was the main +Ingredient of them, and was so disguis'd in them. Now the Reason +(proceeds _Carneades_) that I have represented these things concerning +Gold and Quicksilver, is, That it may not appear absurd to conceive, +that such little primary Masses or Clusters, as our Proposition +mentions, may remain undissipated, notwithstanding their entring into +the composition of various Concretions, since the Corpuscle of Gold +and Mercury, though they be not primary Concretions of the most minute +Particles or matter, but confessedly mixt Bodies, are able to concurre +plentifully to the composition of several very differing Bodies, +without losing their own Nature or Texture, or having their cohaesion +violated by the divorce of their associated parts or Ingredients. + +Give me leave to add (sayes _Eleutherius_) on this occasion, to what +you now observ'd, that as confidently as some Chymists, and other +modern Innovators in Philosophy are wont to object against the +Peripateticks, That from the mixture of their four Elements there +could arise but an inconsiderable variety of compound Bodies; yet if +the _Aristotelians_ were but half as well vers'd in the works of +Nature as they are in the Writings of their Master, the propos'd +Objection would not so calmly triumph, as for want of Experiments they +are fain to suffer it to do. For if we assigne to the Corpuscles, +whereof each Element consists, a peculiar size and shape, it may +easily enough be manifested, That such differingly figur'd Corpuscles +may be mingled in such various Proportions, and may be connected so +many several wayes, that an almost incredible number of variously +qualified Concretes may be compos'd of them. Especially since the +Corpuscles of one Element may barely, by being associated among +themselves, make up little Masses of differing size and figure from +their constituent parts: and since also to the strict union of such +minute Bodies there seems oftentimes nothing requisite, besides the +bare Contact of a great part of their Surfaces. And how great a +variety of _Phaenomena_ the same matter, without the addition of any +other, and only several ways dispos'd or contexed, is able to exhibit, +may partly appear by the multitude of differing Engins which by the +contrivances of skilful Mechanitians, and the dexterity of expert +Workmen, may be made of Iron alone. But in our present case being +allow'd to deduce compound Bodies from four very differently qualified +sorts of matter, he who shall but consider what you freshly took +notice of concerning the new Concretes resulting from the mixture of +incorporated Minerals, will scarce doubt but that the four Elements +mannag'd by Natures Skill may afford a multitude of differing +Compounds. + +I am thus far of your minde (sayes _Carneades_) that the +_Aristotelians_ might with probability deduce a much greater number of +compound Bodies from the mixture of their four Elements, than +according to their present _Hypothesis_ they can, if instead of vainly +attempting to deduce the variety and properties of all mixt Bodies +from the Combinations and Temperaments of the four Elements, as they +are (among them) endowd with the four first Qualities, they had +endeavoured to do it by the Bulk and Figure of the smallest parts of +those supposed Elements. For from these more Catholick and Fruitfull +Accidents of the Elementary matter may spring a great variety of +Textures, upon whose Account a multitude of compound Bodies may very +much differ from one another. And what I now observe touching the four +Peripatetick Elements, may be also applyed, _mutatis mutandis_, (as +they speak) to the Chymical Principles. But (to take notice of that by +the by) both the one and the other, must, I fear, call in to their +assistance something that is not Elementary, to excite or regulate the +motion of the parts of the matter, and dispose them after the manner +requisite to the Constitution of particular Concretes. For that +otherwise they are like to give us but a very imperfect account of the +Origine of very many mixt Bodies, It would, I think, be no hard matter +to perswade you, if it would not spend time, and were no Digression, +to examine, what they are wont to alledge of the Origine of the +Textures and Qualities of mixt Bodies, from a certain substantial +Form, whose Origination they leave more obscure than what it is +assum'd to explicate. + +But to proceed to a new Proposition. + +[Sidenote: Propos. III.] + +_I shall not peremptorily deny, that from most of such mixt Bodies as +partake either of Animal or Vegetable Nature, there may by the Help of +the Fire, be actually obtain'd a determinate number (whether Three, +Four or Five, or fewer or more) of Substances, worthy of differing +Denominations._ + +Of the Experiments that induce me to make this Concession, I am like +to have occasion enough to mention several in the prosecution of my +Discourse. And therefore, that I may not hereafter be oblig'd to +trouble You and my self with needless Repetitions, I shall now only +desire you to take notice of such Experiments, when they shall be +mention'd, and in your thoughts referre them hither. + +To these three Concessions I have but this Fourth to add, That + +[Sidenote: Propos. IV.] + +_It may likewise be granted, that those distinct Substances, which +Concretes generally either afford or are made up of, may without very +much Inconvenience be call'd the Elements or Principles of them._ + +When I said, _without very much Inconvenience_, I had in my Thoughts +that sober Admonition of _Galen_, _Cum de re constat, de verbis non +est Litigandum_. And therefore also I scruple not to say _Elements_ or +_Principles_, partly because the Chymists are wont to call the +Ingredients of mixt Bodies, _Principles_, as the _Aristotelians_ name +them _Elements_; I would here exclude neither. And, partly, because it +seems doubtfull whether the same Ingredients may not be call'd +_Principles_? as not being compounded of any more primary Bodies: and +_Elements_, in regard that all mix'd Bodies are compounded of them. +But I thought it requisite to limit my Concession by premising the +words, _very much_, to the word _Inconvenience_, because that though +the Inconvenience of calling the distinct Substances, mention'd in the +Proposition _Elements_ or _Principles_, be not very great, yet that +it is an Impropriety of Speech, and consequently in a matter of this +moment not to be altogether overlook'd, You will perhaps think, as +well as I, by that time you shall have heard the following part of my +Discourse, by which you will best discern what Construction to put +upon the former Propositions, and how far they may be look'd upon, as +things that I concede as true, and how far as things I only represent +as specious enough to be fit to be consider'd. + +And now _Eleutherius_ (continues _Carneades_) I must resume the person +of a Sceptick, and as such, propose some part of what may be either +dislik't, or at least doubted of in the common _Hypothesis_ of the +Chymists: which if I examine with a little the more freedom, I hope I +need not desire you (a Person to whom I have the Happinesse of being +so well known) to look upon it as something more suitable to the +Employment whereto the Company has, for this Meeting, doom'd me; then +either to my Humour or my Custom. + +Now though I might present you many things against the Vulgar Chymical +Opinion of the three Principles, and the Experiments wont to be +alledg'd as Demonstrations of it, yet those I shall at present offer +you may be conveniently enough comprehended in four Capital +Considerations; touching all which I shall only premise this in +general, That since it is not my present Task so much to assert an +_Hypothesis_ of my own, as to give an Account wherefore I suspect the +Truth of that of the Chymists, it ought not to be expected that all my +Objections should be of the most cogent sort, since it is reason +enough to Doubt of a propos'd Opinion, that there appears no cogent +Reason for it. + +To come then to the Objections themselves; I consider in the first +place, That notwithstanding what common Chymists have prov'd or +taught, it may reasonably enough be Doubted, how far, and in what +sence, Fire ought to be esteem'd the genuine and universal Instrument +of analyzing mixt Bodies. + +This Doubt, you may remember, was formerly mention'd, but so +transiently discours'd of, that it will now be fit to insist upon it; +And manifest that it was not so inconsiderately propos'd as our +Adversaries then imagin'd. + +But, before I enter any farther into this Disquisition, I cannot but +here take notice, that it were to be wish'd, our Chymists had clearly +inform'd us what kinde of Division of Bodies by Fire must determine +the number of the Elements: For it is nothing near so easy as many +seem to think, to determine distinctly the Effects of Heat, as I could +easily manifest, if I had leasure to shew you how much the Operations +of Fire may be diversify'd by Circumstances. But not wholly to pass by +a matter of this Importance, I will first take notice to you, that +_Guajacum_ (for Instance) burnt with an open Fire in a Chimney, is +sequestred into Ashes and Soot, whereas the same Wood distill'd in a +Retort does yield far other Heterogeneities, (to use the _Helmontian_ +expression) and is resolv'd into Oyl, Spirit, Vinager, Water and +Charcoal; the last of which to be reduc'd into Ashes, requires the +being farther calcin'd then it can be in a close Vessel: Besides +having kindled Amber, and held a clean Silver Spoon, or some other +Concave and smooth Vessel over the Smoak of its Flame, I observ'd the +Soot into which that Fume condens'd, to be very differing from any +thing that I had observ'd to proceed from the steam of Amber purposely +(for that is not usual) distilled _per se_ in close Vessels. Thus +having, for Tryals sake, kindled Camphire, and catcht the Smoak that +copiously ascended out of the Flame, it condens'd into a Black and +unctuous Soot, which would not have been guess'd by the Smell or other +Properties to have proceeded from Camphire: whereas having (as I shall +otherwhere more fully declare) expos'd a quantity of that Fugitive +Concrete to a gentle heat in a close Glass-Vessel, it sublim'd up +without seeming to have lost any thing of its whiteness, or its +Nature, both which it retain'd, though afterwards I so encreased the +Fire as to bring it to Fusion. And, besides Camphire, there are divers +other Bodies (that I elsewhere name) in which the heat in close +Vessels is not wont to make any separation of Heterogeneities, but +only a comminution of Parts, those that rise first being Homogeneal +with the others, though subdivided into smaller Particles: whence +Sublimations have been stiled, _The Pestles of the Chymists_. But not +here to mention what I elsewhere take notice of, concerning common +Brimstone once or twice sublim'd, that expos'd to a moderate Fire in +Subliming-Pots, it rises all into dry, and almost tastless, Flowers; +Whereas being expos'd to a naked Fire it affords store of a Saline and +Fretting Liquor: Not to mention this, I say, I will further observe to +you, that as it is considerable in the _Analysis_ of mixt Bodies, +whether the Fire act on them when they are expos'd to the open Air, or +shut up in close Vessels, so is the degree of Fire by which the +_Analysis_ is attempted of no small moment. For a milde _Balneum_ will +sever unfermented Blood (for Instance) but into Phlegme and _Caput +mortuum_, the later whereof (which I have sometimes had) hard, +brittle, and of divers Colours, (transparent almost like +Tortoise-shell) press'd by a good Fire in a Retort yields a Spirit, an +Oyl or two, and a volatile Salt, besides a [Errata: another] _Caput +mortuum_. It may be also pertinent to our present Designe, to take +notice of what happens in the making and distilling of Sope; for by +one degree of Fire the Salt, the Water and the Oyl or Grease, whereof +that factitious Concrete is made up, being boyl'd up together are +easily brought to mingle and incorporate into one Mass; but by another +and further degree of Heat the same Mass may be again divided into an +oleagenous, an aqueous, a Saline, and an Earthy part. And so we may +observe that impure Silver and Lead being expos'd together to a +moderate Fire, will thereby be colliquated into one Mass, and mingle +_per minima_, as they speak, whereas a much vehementer Fire will drive +or carry off the baser Metals (I mean the Lead, and the Copper or +other Alloy) from the Silver, though not, for ought appears, separate +them from one another. Besides, when a Vegetable abounding in fixt +Salt is analyz'd by a naked Fire, as one degree of Heat will reduce it +into Ashes, (as the Chymists themselves teach us) so, by only a +further degree of Fire, those Ashes may be vitrified and turn'd into +Glass. I will not stay to examine how far a meere Chymist might on +this occasion demand, If it be lawful for an _Aristotelian_ to make +Ashes, (which he mistakes for meere Earth) pass for an Element, +because by one degree of Fire it may be produc'd, why a Chymist may +not upon the like Principle argue, that Glass is one of the Elements +of many Bodies, because that also may be obtain'd from them, barely by +the Fire? I will not, I say, lose time to examine this, but observe, +that by a Method of applying the Fire, such similar Bodies may be +obtain'd from a Concrete, as Chymists have not been able to separate; +either by barely burning it in an open Fire, or by barely distilling +it in close Vessels. For to me it seems very considerable, and I +wonder that men have taken so little notice of it, that I have not by +any of the common wayes of Distillation in close Vessels, seen any +separation made of such a volatile Salt as is afforded us by Wood, +when that is first by an open Fire divided into Ashes and Soot, and +that Soot is afterwards plac'd in a strong Retort, and compell'd by an +urgent Fire to part with its Spirit, Oyl and Salt; for though I dare +not peremptorily deny, that in the Liquors of _Guajacum_ and other +Woods distill'd in Retorts after the common manner, there may be +Saline parts, which by reason of the Analogy may pretend to the name +of some kinde of volatile Salts; yet questionless there is a great +disparity betwixt such Salts and that which we have sometimes obtain'd +upon the first Distillation of Soot (though for the most part it has +not been separated from the first or second Rectification, and +sometimes not till the third) For we could never yet see separated +from Woods analyz'd only the vulgar way in close vessels any volatile +Salt in a dry and Saline form, as that of Soot, which we have often +had very Crystalline and Geometrically figur'd. And then, whereas the +Saline parts of the Spirits of _Guajacum_, &c. appear upon +distillation sluggish enough, the Salt of Soot seems to be one of the +most volatile Bodies in all Nature; and if it be well made will +readily ascend with the milde heat of a Furnace, warm'd only by the +single Wieck of a Lamp, to the top of the highest Glass Vessels that +are commonly made use of for Distillation: and besides all this, the +taste and smell of the Salt of Soot are exceeding differing from those +of the Spirits of _Guajacum_, &c. and the former not only smells and +tastes much less like a vegetable Salt, than like that of Harts-horn, +and other Animal Concretes; but in divers other Properties seems more +of Kinne to the Family of Animals, than to that of vegetable Salts, as +I may elsewhere (God permitting) have an occasion more particularly to +declare. I might likewise by some other Examples manifest, That the +Chymists, to have dealt clearly, ought to have more explicitly and +particularly declar'd by what Degree of Fire, and in what manner of +Application of it, they would have us Judge a Division made by the +Fire to be a true _Analysis_ into their Principles, and the +Productions of it to deserve the name of Elementary Bodies. But it is +time that I proceed to mention the particular Reasons that incline me +to Doubt, whether the Fire be the true and universal Analyzer of mixt +Bodies; of which Reasons what has been already objected may pass for +one. + +In the next place I observe, That there are some mixt Bodies from +which it has not been yet made appear, that any degree of Fire can +separate either Salt or Sulphur or Mercury, much less all the Three. +The most obvious Instance of this Truth is Gold, which is a Body so +fix'd, and wherein the Elementary Ingredients (if it have any) are so +firmly united to each other, that we finde not in the operations +wherein Gold is expos'd to the Fire, how violent soever, that it does +discernably so much as lose of its fixednesse or weight, so far is it +from being dissipated into those Principles, whereof one at least is +acknowledged to be Fugitive enough; and so justly did the Spagyricall +Poet somewhere exclaim, + + _Cuncta adeo miris illic compagibus harent._ + +And I must not omit on this occasion to mention to you, _Eleutherius_, +the memorable Experiment that I remember I met with in _Gasto +Claveus_,[2] who, though a Lawyer by Profession, seems to have had no +small Curiosity and Experience in Chymical affairs: He relates then, +that having put into one small Earthen Vessel an Ounce of the most +pure Gold, and into another the like weight of pure Silver, he plac'd +them both in that part of a Glass-house Furnace wherein the Workmen +keep their Metal, (as our English Artificers call their Liquid Glass) +continually melted, and that having there kept both the Gold and the +Silver in constant Fusion for two Moneths together, he afterwards took +them out of the Furnace and the Vessels, and weighing both of them +again, found that the Silver had not lost above a 12th part of its +weight, but the Gold had not of his lost any thing at all. And though +our Author endeavours to give us of this a Scholastick Reason, which I +suppose you would be as little satisfied with, as I was when I read +it; yet for the matter of Fact, which will serve our present turne, he +assures us, that though it be strange, yet Experience it self taught +it him to be most true. + +[Footnote 2: _Gasto Claveus_ Apolog. Argur. & Chrysopera.] + +And though there be not perhaps any other Body to be found so +perfectly fix'd as Gold, yet there are divers others so fix'd or +compos'd, at least of so strictly united parts, that I have not yet +observ'd the Fire to separate from them any one of the Chymists +Principles. I need not tell you what Complaints the more Candid and +Judicious of the Chymists themselves are wont to make of those +Boasters that confidently pretend, that they have extracted the Salt +or Sulphur of Quicksilver, when they have disguis'd it by Additaments, +wherewith it resembles the Concretes whose Names are given it; +whereas by a skilful and rigid _Examen_, it may be easily enough +stript of its Disguises, and made to appear again in the pristine form +of running Mercury. The pretended Salts and Sulphurs being so far from +being Elementary parts extracted out of the Bodie of Mercurie, that +they are rather (to borrow a terme of the Grammarians) De-compound +Bodies, made up of the whole Metal and the _Menstruum_ or other +Additaments imploy'd to disguise it. And as for Silver, I never could +see any degree of Fire make it part with any of its three Principles. +And though the Experiment lately mentioned from _Claveus_ may beget a +Suspition that Silver may be dissipated by Fire, provided it be +extreamly violent and very lasting: yet it will not necessarily +follow, that because the Fire was able at length to make the Silver +lose a little of its weight, it was therefore able to dissipate it +into its Principles. For first I might alledge that I have observ'd +little Grains of Silver to lie hid in the small Cavities (perhaps +glas'd over by a vitrifying heat) in Crucibles, wherein Silver has +been long kept in Fusion, whence some Goldsmiths of my Acquaintance +make a Benefit by grinding such Crucibles to powder, to recover out of +them the latent particles of Silver. And hence I might argue, that +perhaps _Claveus_ was mistaken, and imagin'd that Silver to have been +driven away by the Fire, that indeed lay in minute parts hid in his +Crucible, in whose pores so small a quantity as he mist of so +ponderous a Bodie might very well lie conceal'd. + +But Secondly, admitting that some parts of the Silver were driven away +by the violence of the Fire, what proof is there that it was either +the Salt, the Sulphur, or the Mercury of the Metal, and not rather a +part of it homogeneous to what remain'd? For besides, that the Silver +that was left seem'd not sensibly alter'd, which probably would have +appear'd, had so much of any one of its Principles been separated from +it: We finde in other Mineral Bodies of a less permanent nature than +Silver, that the Fire may divide them into such minute parts, as to be +able to carry them away with its self, without at all destroying their +Nature. Thus we see that in the refining of Silver, the Lead that is +mix'd with it (to carry away the Copper or other ignoble Mineral that +embases the Silver) will, if it be let alone, in time evaporate away +upon the Test; but if (as is most usual amongst those that refine +great quantities of Metals together) the Lead be blown off from the +Silver by Bellowes, that which would else have gone away in the Form +of unheeded steams, will in great part be collected not far from the +Silver, in the Form of a darkish Powder or Calx, which, because it is +blown off from Silver, they call Litharge of Silver. And thus +_Agricola_[3] in divers places informs us, when Copper, or the Oare of +it is colliquated by the violence of the Fire with _Cadmia_, the +Sparks that in great multitudes do fly upwards do, some of them, stick +to the vaulted Roofs of the Furnaces, in the form of little and (for +the most part) White Bubbles, which therefore the Greeks, and, in +Imitation of them, our Drugsters call _Pompholix_: and others more +heavy partly adhere to the sides of the Furnace, and partly +(especially if the Covers be not kept upon the Pots) fall to the +Ground, and by reason of their Ashy Colour as well as Weight were +called by the same Greeks [Greek: spodos], which, I need not tell you, +in their Language signifies Ashes. I might add, that I have not found +that from Venetian Talck (I say Venetian, because I have found other +kinds of that Mineral more open) from the _Lapis Ossifragus_, (which +the Shops call _Ostiocolla_) from _Muscovia_ Glass, from pure and +Fusible Sand, to mention now no other Concretes; those of my +Acquaintance that have try'd have been able by the Fire to separate +any one of the Hypostatical Principles, which you will the less +scruple to believe, if you consider that Glass may be made by the bare +Colliquation of the Salt and Earth remaining in the Ashes of a burnt +Plant, and that yet common Glass, once made, does so far resist the +violence of the Fire, that most Chymists think it a Body more +undestroyable then Gold it self. For if the Artificer can so firmly +unite such comparative gross Particles as those of Earth and Salt that +make up common Ashes, into a Body indissoluble by Fire; why may not +Nature associate in divers Bodies the more minute Elementary +Corpuscles she has at hand too firmly to let them be separable by the +Fire? And on this Occasion, _Eleutherius_, give me leave to mention to +you two or three sleight Experiments, which will, I hope, be found +more pertinent to our present Discourse, than at first perhaps they +will appear. The first is, that, having (for Tryals sake) put a +quantity of that Fugitive Concrete, Camphire, into a Glass Vessel, and +plac'd it in a gentle Heat, I found it (not leaving behinde, according +to my Estimate, not so much as one Grain) to sublime to the Top of the +Vessel into Flowers: which in Whiteness, Smell, &c. seem'd not to +differ from the Camphire it self. Another Experiment is that of +_Helmont_, who in several places affirms, That a Coal kept in a Glass +exactly clos'd will never be calcin'd to Ashes, though kept never so +long in a strong Fire. To countenance which I shall tell you this +Tryal of my own, That having sometimes distilled some Woods, as +particularly Box, whilst our _Caput mortuum_ remain'd in the Retort, +it continued black like Charcoal, though the Retort were Earthen, and +kept red-hot in a vehement Fire; but as soon as ever it was brought +out of the candent Vessel into the open Air, the burning Coals did +hastily degenerate or fall asunder, without the Assistance of any new +Calcination, into pure white Ashes. And to these two I shall add but +this obvious and known Observation, that common Sulphur (if it be pure +and freed from its Vinager) being leasurely sublim'd in close Vessels, +rises into dry Flowers, which may be presently melted into a Bodie of +the same Nature with that which afforded them. Though if Brimstone be +burnt in the open Air it gives, you know, a penetrating Fume, which +being caught in a Glass-Bell condenses into that acid Liquor called +Oyl of Sulphur _per Campanam_. The use I would make of these +Experiments collated with what I lately told you out of _Agricola_ is +this, That even among the Bodies that are not fixt, there are divers +of such a Texture, that it will be hard to make it appear, how the +Fire, as Chymists are wont to imploy it, can resolve them into +Elementary Substances. For some Bodies being of such a Texture that +the Fire can drive them into the cooler and less hot part of the +Vessels wherein they are included, and if need be, remove them from +place to place to fly the greatest heat, more easily than it can +divorce their Elements (especially without the Assistance of the Air) +we see that our Chymists cannot Analyze them in close Vessels, and of +other compound Bodies the open Fire can as little separate the +Elements. For what can a naked Fire do to Analyze a mixt Bodie, if its +component Principles be so minute, and so strictly united, that the +Corpuscles of it need less heat to carry them up, than is requisite to +divide them into their Principles. So that of some Bodies the Fire +cannot in close Vessels make any _Analysis_ at all, and others will in +the open Air fly away in the Forms of Flowers or Liquors, before the +Heat can prove able to divide them into their Principles. And this may +hold, whether the various similar parts of a Concrete be combin'd by +Nature or by Art; For in factitious _Sal Armoniack_ we finde the +common and the Urinous Salts so well mingled, that both in the open +Fire, and in subliming Vessels they rise together as one Salt, which +seems in such Vessels irresoluble by Fire alone. For I can shew you +_Sal Armoniack_ which after the ninth Sublimation does still retain +its compounded Nature. And indeed I scarce know any one Mineral, from +which by Fire alone Chymists are wont to sever any Substance simple +enough to deserve the name of an Element or Principle. For though out +of native Cinnaber they distill Quicksilver, and though from many of +those Stones that the Ancients called _Pyrites_ they sublime +Brimstone, yet both that Quicksilver and this Sulphur being very often +the same with the common Minerals that are sold in the Shops under +those names, are themselves too much compounded Bodies to pass for the +Elements of such. And thus much, _Eleutherius_, for the Second +Argument that belongs to my First Consideration; the others I shall +the lesse insist on, because I have dwelt so long upon this. + +[Footnote 3: _Agricola_ de Natura Fossil. Lib. 9. Cap. 11. & 12.] + +Proceed we then in the next place to consider, That there are divers +Separations to be made by other means, which either cannot at all, or +else cannot so well be made by the Fire alone. When Gold and Silver +are melted into one Mass, it would lay a great Obligation upon +Refiners and Goldsmiths to teach them the Art of separating them by +the Fire, without the trouble and charge they are fain to be at to +sever them. Whereas they may be very easily parted by the Affusion of +Spirit of Nitre or _Aqua fortis_ (which the French therefore call _Eau +de Depart_:) so likewise the Metalline part of Vitriol will not be so +easily and conveniently separated from the Saline part even by a +violent Fire, as by the Affusion of certain Alkalizate Salts in a +liquid Form upon the Solution of Vitriol made in common water. For +thereby the acid Salt of the Vitriol, leaving the Copper it had +corroded to joyn with the added Salts, the Metalline part will be +precipitated to the bottom almost like Mud. And that I may not give +Instances only in De-compound Bodies, I will add a not useless one of +another kinde. Not only Chymists have not been able (for ought is +vulgarly known) by Fire alone to separate true Sulphur from Antimony; +but though you may finde in their Books many plausible Processes of +Extracting it, yet he that shall make as many fruitlesse Tryals as I +have done to obtain it by, most of them will, I suppose, be easily +perswaded, that the Productions of such Processes are Antimonial +Sulphurs rather in Name than Nature. But though Antimony sublim'd by +its self is reduc'd but to a volatile Powder, or Antimonial Flowers, +of a compounded Nature like the Mineral that affords them: yet I +remember that some years ago I sublim'd out of Antimony a Sulphur, and +that in greater plenty then ever I saw obtain'd from that Mineral, by +a Method which I shall therefore acquaint you with, because Chymists +seem not to have taken notice of what Importance such Experiments may +be in the Indagation of the Nature, and especially of the Number of +the Elements. Having then purposely for Tryals sake digested eight +Ounces of good and well powder'd Antimony with twelve Ounces of Oyl of +Vitriol in a well stopt Glas-Vessel for about six or seven Weeks; and +having caus'd the Mass (grown hard and brittle) to be distill'd in a +Retort plac'd in Sand, with a strong Fire; we found the Antimony to be +so opened, or alter'd by the _Menstruum_ wherewith it had been +digested, That whereas crude Antimony, forc'd up by the Fire, arises +only in Flowers, our Antimony thus handled afforded us partly in the +Receiver, and partly in the Neck and at the Top of the Retort, about +an Ounce of Sulphur, yellow and brittle like common Brimstone, and of +so Sulphureous a smell, that upon the unluting the Vessels it infected +the Room with a scarce supportable stink. And this Sulphur, besides +the Colour and Smell, had the perfect Inflamability of common +Brimstone, and would immediately kindle (at the Flame of a Candle) and +burn blew like it. And though it seem'd that the long digestion +wherein our Antimony and _Menstruum_ were detain'd, did conduce to the +better unlocking of the Mineral, yet if you have not the leasure to +make so long a Digestion, you may by incorporating with powder'd +Antimony a convenient Quantity of Oyl of Vitriol, and committing them +immediately to Distillation, obtain a little Sulphur like unto the +common one, and more combustible than perhaps you will at first take +notice of. For I have observ'd, that though (after its being first +kindled) the Flame would sometimes go out too soon of its self, if the +same Lump of Sulphur were held again to the Flame of a Candle, it +would be rekindled and burn a pretty while, not only after the +second, but after the third or fourth accension. You, to whom I think +I shewed my way of discovering something of Sulphureous in Oyl of +Vitriol, may perchance suspect, _Eleutherius_, either that this +Substance was some Venereal Sulphur that lay hid in that Liquor, and +was by this operation only reduc'd into a manifest Body; or else that +it was a compound of the unctuous parts of the Antimony, and the +Saline ones of the Vitriol, in regard that (as _Gunther_[4] informs +us) divers learned men would have Sulphur to be nothing but a mixture +made in the Bowels of the Earth of Vitriolate Spirits and a certain +combustible Substance. But the Quantity of Sulphur we obtain'd by +Digestion was much too great to have been latent in the Oyl of +Vitriol. And that Vitriolate Spirits are not necessary to the +Constitution of such a Sulphur as ours, I could easily manifest, if I +would acquaint you with the several wayes by which I have obtain'd, +though not in such plenty, a Sulphur of Antimony, colour'd and +combustible like common Brimstone. And though I am not now minded to +discover them, yet I shall tell you, that to satisfie some Ingenious +Men, that distill'd Vitriolate Spirits are not necessary to the +obtaining of such a Sulphur as we have been considering, I did by the +bare distillation of only Spirit of Nitre, from its weight of crude +Antimony separate, in a short time, a yellow and very inflamable +Sulphur, which, for ought I know, deserves as much the name of an +Element, as any thing that Chymists are wont to separate from any +Mineral by the Fire. I could perhaps tell you of other Operations upon +Antimony, whereby That may be extracted from it, which cannot be +forc'd out of it by the Fire; but I shall reserve them for a fitter +Opportunity, and only annex at present this sleight, but not +impertinent Experiment. That whereas I lately observed to you, that +the Urinous and common Salts whereof _Sal Armoniack_ consists, +remain'd unsever'd by the Fire in many successive Sublimations, they +may be easily separated, and partly without any Fire at all, by +pouring upon the Concrete finely powder'd, a Solution of Salt of +Tartar, or of the Salt of Wood-Ashes; for upon your diligently mixing +of these you will finde your Nose invaded with a very strong smell of +Urine, and perhaps too your Eyes forc'd to water by the same subtle +and piercing Body that produces the stink; both these effects +proceeding from hence, that by the Alcalizate Salt, the Sea Salt that +enter'd the composition of the _Sal Armoniack_ is mortify'd and made +more fixt, and thereby a divorce is made between it and the volatile +Urinous Salt, which being at once set at liberty, and put into motion, +begins presently to fly away, and to offend the Nostrils and Eyes it +meets with by the way. And if the operation of these Salts be in +convenient Glasses promoted by warmth, though but by that of a Bath, +the ascending Steams may easily be caught and reduc'd into a penetrant +Spirit, abounding with a Salt, which I have sometimes found to be +separable in a Crystalline Form. I might add to these Instances, that +whereas Sublimate, consisting, as you know, of Salts & Quicksilver +combin'd and carried up together by Heat, may be Sublim'd, I know not +how often, by a like degree of Fire, without suffering any divorce of +the component Bodies, the Mercury may be easily sever'd from the +adhering Salts, if the Sublimate be distill'd from Salt of Tartar, +Quick Lime, or such Alcalizate Bodies. But I will rather observe to +you, _Eleutherius_, what divers ingenious men have thought somewhat +strange; that by such an Additament that seems but only to promote the +Separation, there may be easily obtain'd from a Concrete that by the +Fire alone is easily divisible into all the Elements that Vegetables +are suppos'd to consist of, such a similar Substance as differs in +many respects from them all, and consequently has by many of the most +Intelligent Chymists been denied to be contain'd in the mixt Body. For +I know a way, and have practis'd it, whereby common Tartar, without +the addition of any thing that is not perfectly a Mineral except +Salt-petre, may by one Distillation in an Earthen Retort be made to +afford good store of real Salt, readily dissoluble in water, which I +found to be neither acid, nor of the smell of Tartar, and to be almost +as volatile as Spirit of Wine it self, and to be indeed of so +differing a Nature from all that is wont to be separated by Fire from +Tartar, that divers Learned Men, with whom I discours'd of it, could +hardly be brought to beleeve, that so fugitive a Salt could be +afforded by Tartar, till I assur'd it them upon my own Knowledge. And +if I did not think you apt to suspect me to be rather too backward +than too forward to credit or affirm unlikely things, I could convince +you by what I have yet lying by me of that anomalous Salt. + +[Footnote 4: Lib. 1. Observat. Cap. 6.] + +The Fourth thing that I shall alledge to countenance my first +Consideration is, That the Fire even when it divides a Body into +Substances of divers Consistences, does not most commonly analyze it +into Hypostatical Principles, but only disposes its parts into new +Textures, and thereby produces Concretes of a new indeed, but yet of a +compound Nature. This Argument it will be requisite for me to +prosecute so fully hereafter, that I hope you will then confess that +'tis not for want of good Proofs that I desire leave to suspend my +Proofs till the _Series_ of my Discourse shall make it more proper and +seasonable to propose them. + +It may be further alledg'd on the behalf of my First Consideration, +That some such distinct Substances may be obtain'd from some +Concretes without Fire, as deserve no less the name of Elementary, +than many that Chymists extort by the Violence of the Fire. + +We see that the Inflamable Spirit, or as the Chymists esteem it, the +Sulphur of Wine, may not only be separated from it by the gentle heat +of a Bath, but may be distill'd either by the help of the Sun-Beams, +or even of a Dunghill, being indeed of so Fugitive a Nature, that it +is not easy to keep it from flying away, even without the Application +of external heat. I have likewise observ'd that a Vessel full of Urine +being plac'd in a Dunghill, the Putrefaction is wont after some weeks +so to open the Body, that the parts disbanding the Saline Spirit, will +within no very long time, if the Vessel be not stopt, fly away of it +self; Insomuch that from such Urine I have been able to distill little +or nothing else than a nauseous Phlegme, instead of the active and +piercing Salt and Spirit that it would have afforded, when first +expos'd to the Fire, if the Vessel had been carefully stopt. + +And this leads me to consider in the Fifth place, That it will be very +hard to prove, that there can no other Body or way be given which +will as well as the Fire divide Concretes into several homogeneous +Substances, which may consequently be call'd their Elements or +Principles, as well as those separated or produc'd by the Fire. For +since we have lately seen, that Nature can successefully employ other +Instruments than the Fire to separate distinct Substances from mixt +Bodies, how know we, but that Nature has made, or Art may make, some +such Substance as may be a fit Instrument to Analyze mixt Bodies, or +that some such Method may be found by Humane Industry or Luck, by +whose means compound Bodies may be resolv'd into other Substances, +than such as they are wont to be divided into by the Fire. And why the +Products of such an _Analysis_ may not as justly be call'd the +component Principles of the Bodies that afford them, it will not be +easy to shew, especially since I shall hereafter make it evident, that +the Substances which Chymists are wont to call the Salts, and +Sulphurs, and Mercuries of Bodies, are not so pure and Elementary as +they presume, and as their _Hypothesis_ requires. And this may +therefore be the more freely press'd upon the Chymists, because +neither the _Paracelsians_, nor the _Helmontians_ can reject it +without apparent Injury to their respective Masters. For _Helmont_ +do's more than once Inform his Readers, that both _Paracelsus_ and +Himself were Possessors of the famous Liquor, _Alkahest_, which for +its great power in resolving Bodies irresoluble by Vulgar Fires, he +somewhere seems to call _Ignis Gehennae_. To this Liquor he ascribes, +(and that in great part upon his own Experience) such wonders, that if +we suppose them all true, I am so much the more a Friend to Knowledge +than to Wealth, that I should think the _Alkahest_ a nobler and more +desireable Secret than the Philosophers Stone it self. Of this +Universal Dissolvent he relates, That having digested with it for a +competent time a piece of Oaken Charcoal, it was thereby reduc'd into +a couple of new and distinct Liquors, discriminated from each other by +their Colour and Situation, and that the whole body of the Coal was +reduc'd into those Liquors, both of them separable from his Immortal +_Menstruum_, which remain'd as fit for such Operations as before. And +he moreover tells us in divers places of his Writings, that by this +powerful, and unwearied Agent, he could dissolve Metals, Marchasites, +Stones, Vegetable and Animal Bodies of what kinde soever, and even +Glass it self (first reduc'd to powder,) and in a word, all kinds of +mixt Bodies in the World into their several similar Substances, +without any Residence or _Caput mortuum_. And lastly, we may gather +this further from his Informations, That the homogeneous Substances +obtainable from compound Bodies by his piercing Liquor, were +oftentimes different enough both as to Number and as to Nature, from +those into which the same Bodies are wont to be divided by common +Fire. Of which I shall need in this place to mention no other proof, +then that whereas we know that in our common _Analysis_ of a mixt +Body, there remains a terrestrial and very fixt Substance, oftentimes +associated with a Salt as fixt; Our Author tells us, that by his way +he could Distill over all Concretes without any _Caput mortuum_, and +consequently could make those parts of the Concrete volatile, which in +the Vulgar _Analysis_ would have been fixt. So that if our Chymists +will not reject the solemn and repeated Testimony of a Person, who +cannot but be acknowledg'd for one of the greatest Spagyrists that +they can boast of, they must not deny that there is to be found in +Nature another Agent able to Analyze compound Bodies less violently, +and both more genuinely and more universally than the Fire. And for my +own part, though I cannot but say on this Occasion what (you know) our +Friend Mr. _Boyle_ is wont to say, when he is askt his Opinion of any +strange Experiment; _That He that hath seen it hath more Reason to +beleeve it, than He that hath not_; yet I have found _Helmont_ so +faithful a Writer, even in divers of his improbable Experiments (I +alwayes except that Extravagant Treatise _De Magnetica Vulnerum +Curatione_, which some of his Friends affirm to have been first +publish'd by his Enemies) that I think it somewhat harsh to give him +the Lye, especially to what he delivers upon his own proper Tryal. And +I have heard from very credible Eye-witnesses some things, and seen +some others my self, which argue so strongly, that a circulated Salt, +or a _Menstruum_ (such as it may be) may by being abstracted from +compound Bodies, whether Mineral, Animal, or Vegetable, leave them +more unlockt than a wary Naturalist would easily beleeve, that I dare +not confidently measure the Power of Nature and Art by that of the +_Menstruums_, and other Instruments that eminent Chymists themselves +are as yet wont to Empoly [Errata: employ] about the Analyzing of +Bodies; nor Deny that a _Menstruum_ may at least from this or that +particular Concrete obtain some apparently similar Substance, +differing from any obtainable from the same Body by any degree or +manner of Application of the Fire. And I am the more backward to deny +peremptorily, that there may be such Openers of compound Bodies, +because among the Experiments that make me speak thus warily, there +wanted not some in which it appear'd not, that one of the Substances +not separable by common Fires and _Menstruums_ could retain any thing +of the Salt by which the separation was made. + +And here, _Eleutherius_, (sayes _Carneades_) I should conclude as much +of my Discourse as belongs to the first Consideration I propos'd, but +that I foresee, that what I have delivered will appear liable to two +such specious Objections, that I cannot safely proceed any further +till I have examin'd them. + +And first, one sort of Opposers will be forward to tell me, That they +do not pretend by Fire alone to separate out of all compound Bodies +their _Hypostatical_ Principles; it being sufficient that the Fire +divides them into such, though afterwards they employ other Bodies to +collect the similar parts of the Compound; as 'tis known, that though +they make use of water to collect the Saline parts of Ashes from the +Terrestrial wherewith they are blended, yet it is the Fire only that +Incinerates Bodies, and reduces the fix'd part of them into the Salt +and Earth, whereof Ashes are made up. This Objection is not, I +confess, inconsiderable, and I might in great part allow of it, +without granting it to make against me, if I would content my self to +answer, that it is not against those that make it that I have been +disputing, but against those Vulgar Chymists, who themselves believe, +and would fain make others do so, That the Fire is not only an +universal, but an adaequate [Transcriber's Note: adequate] and +sufficient Instrument to analyze mixt Bodies with. For as to their +Practice of Extracting the fix'd Salt out of Ashes by the Affusion of +Water, 'tis obvious to alleadge, that the Water does only assemble +together the Salt the Fire had before divided from the Earth: as a +Sieve does not further break the Corn, but only bring together into +two distinct heaps the Flour and the Bran, whose Corpuscles before lay +promiscuously blended together in the Meal. This I say I might +alleadge, and thereby exempt my self from the need of taking any +farther notice of the propos'd Objection. But not to lose the Rise it +may afford me of Illustrating the matter under Consideration, I am +content briefly to consider it, as far forth as my present +Disquisition may be concern'd in it. + +Not to repeat then what has been already answer'd, I say farther, that +though I am so civil an Adversary, that I will allow the Chymists, +after the Fire has done all its work, the use of fair Water to make +their Extractions with, in such cases wherein the Water does not +cooperate with the Fire to make the _Analysis_; yet since I Grant +this but upon Supposition that the Water does only wash off the Saline +Particles, which the Fire Alone has Before Extricated in the Analyz'd +Body, it will not be Reasonable, that this Concession should Extend to +other Liquors that may Add to what they Dissolve, nor so much as to +other Cases than those Newly Mentioned: Which Limitation I Desire You +would be Pleas'd to Bear in Mind till I shall Anon have Occasion to +make Use of it. And This being thus Premis'd, I shall Proceed to +Observe, + +First, That Many of the Instances I Propos'd in the Preceding +Discourse are Such, that the Objection we are Considering will not at +all Reach Them. For Fire can no more with the Assistance of Water than +without it Separate any of the Three Principles, either from Gold, +Silver, Mercury, or some Others of the Concretes named Above. + +Hence We may Inferre, That Fire is not an Universal Analyzer of all +Mixt Bodies, since of Metals and Minerals, wherein Chymists have most +Exercis'd Themselves, there Appear scarce Any which they are able to +Analyze by Fire, Nay, from which they can Unquestionably Separate so +much as any One of their Hypostatical Principles; Which may well +Appear no small Disparagement as well to their _Hypothesis_ as to +their Pretensions. + +It will also remain True, notwithstanding the Objection, That there +may be Other Wayes than the wonted _Analysis_ by Fire, to Separate +from a Compound Body Substances as Homogeneneous [Transcriber's Note: +Homogeneous] as those that Chymists Scruple not to Reckon among their +_Tria Prima_ (as some of them, for Brevity Sake, call their Three +Principles.) + +And it Appears, That by Convenient Additaments such Substances may be +Separated by the Help of the Fire, as could not be so by the Fire +alone: Witness the Sulphur of Antimony. + +And Lastly, I must Represent, That since it appears too that the Fire +is but One of the Instruments that must be Employ'd in the Resolution +of Bodies, We may Reasonably Challenge the Liberty of doing Two +Things. For when ever any _Menstruum_ or other Additament is Employ'd, +together with the Fire to Obtain a Sulphur or a Salt from a Body, We +may well take the Freedom to Examine, whether or no That _Menstruum_ +do barely Help to Separate the Principle Obtain'd by It, or whether +there Intervene not a Coalition of the Parts of the Body Wrought upon +with Those of the _Menstruum_, whereby the Produc'd Concrete may be +Judg'd to Result from the Union of Both. And it will be farther +Allowable for Us to Consider, how far any Substance, Separated by the +Help of such Additaments, Ought to pass for one of the _Tria Prima_; +since by One Way of Handling the same Mixt Body it may according to +the Nature of the Additaments, and the Method of Working upon it, be +made to Afford differing Substances from those Obtainable from it by +other Additaments, and another Method, nay and (as may appear by what +I Formerly told You about Tartar) Differing from any of the Substances +into which a Concrete is Divisible by the Fire without Additaments, +though perhaps those Additaments do not, as Ingredients, enter the +Composition of the Obtained Body, but only Diversify the Operation of +the Fire upon the Concrete; and though that Concrete by the Fire +alone may be Divided into a Number of Differing Substances, as Great +as any of the Chymists that I have met with teach us that of the +Elements to be. And having said thus much (sayes _Carneades_) to the +Objection likely to be Propos'd by some Chymists, I am now to Examine +that which I Foresee will be Confidently press'd by Divers +Peripateticks, who, to Prove Fire to be the true Analyzer of Bodies, +will Plead, That it is the very Definition of Heat given by +_Aristotle_, and Generally Received, _Congregare Homogenea, & +Heterogenea Segregare_, to Assemble Things of a Resembling, and +Disjoyn those of a Differing Nature. To this I answer, That this +Effect is far from being so Essential to Heat, as 'tis Generally +Imagin'd; for it rather Seems, that the True and Genuine Property of +Heat is, to set a Moving, and thereby to Dissociate the parts of +Bodies, and Subdivide them into Minute Particles, without regard to +their being Homogeneous or Heterogeneous, as is apparent in the +Boyling of Water, the Distillation of Quicksilver, or the Exposing of +Bodies to the action of the Fire, whose Parts either Are not (at +least in that Degree of Heat Appear not) Dissimilar, where all that +the Fire can do, is to Divide the Body into very Minute Parts which +are of the same Nature with one another, and with their _Totum_, as +their Reduction by Condensation Evinces. And even when the Fire seems +most so _Congregare Homogenea, & Segregare Heterogenea_, it Produces +that Effect but by Accident; For the Fire does but Dissolve the +Cement, or rather Shatter the Frame, or [tructure [Errata: structure] +that kept the Heterogeneous Parts of Bodies together, under one Common +Form; upon which Dissolution the Component Particles of the Mixt, +being Freed and set at Liberty, do Naturally, and oftentimes without +any Operation of the Fire, Associate themselves each with its Like, or +rather do take those places which their Several Degrees of Gravity and +Levity, Fixedness or Volatility (either Natural, or Adventitious from +the Impression of the Fire) Assigne them. Thus in the Distillation +(for Instance) of Man's Blood, the Fire do's First begin to Dissolve +the _Nexus_ or Cement of the Body; and then the Water, being the most +Volatile, and Easy to be Extracted, is either by the Igneous Atomes, +or the Agitation they are put into by the Fire, first carried up, till +Forsaken by what carried it up, its Weight sinks it down into the +Receiver: but all this while the other Principles of the Concrete +Remain Unsever'd, and Require a stronger Degree of Heat to make a +Separation of its more Fixt Elements; and therefore the Fire must be +Increas'd which Carries over the Volatile Salt and the Spirit, they +being, though Beleev'd to be Differing Principles, and though Really +of Different Consistency, yet of an almost Equal Volatility. After +them, as less Fugitive, comes over the Oyl, and leaves behinde the +Earth and the _Alcali_, which being of an Equal Fixednesse, the Fire +Severs them not, for all the Definition of the Schools. And if into a +Red-hot Earthen or Iron Retort you cast the Matter to be Distill'd, +You may Observe, as I have often done, that the Predominant Fire will +Carry up all the Volatile Elements Confusedly in one Fume, which will +afterwards take their Places in the Receiver, either according to the +Degree of their Gravity, or according to the Exigency of their +respective Textures; the Salt Adhering, for the most part, to the +Sides and Top, and the Phlegme Fastening it self there too in great +Drops, the Oyle and Spirit placing themselves Under, or Above one +another, according as their Ponderousness makes them Swim or Sink. For +'tis Observable, that though Oyl or Liquid Sulphur be one of the +Elements Separated by this Fiery _Analysis_, yet the Heat which +Accidentally Unites the Particles of the other Volatile Principles, +has not alwayes the same Operation on this, there being divers Bodies +which Yield Two Oyls, whereof the One sinks to the Bottom of that +Spirit on which the other Swims; as I can shew You in some Oyls of the +same Deers Blood, which are yet by Me: Nay I can shew you Two Oyls +carefully made of the same Parcel of Humane Blood, which not only +Differ extreamly in Colour, but Swim upon one another without Mixture, +and if by Agitation Confounded will of themselves Divorce again. + +And that the Fire doth oftentimes divide Bodies, upon the account that +some of their Parts are more Fixt, and some more Volatile, how far +soever either of these Two may be from a pure Elementary Nature is +Obvious enough, if Men would but heed it in the Burning of Wood, which +the Fire Dissipates into Smoake and Ashes: For not only the latter of +these is Confessedly made up of two such Differing Bodies as Earth and +Salt; but the Former being condens'd into that Soot which adheres to +our Chimneys, Discovers it self to Contain both Salt and Oyl, and +Spirit and Earth, (and some Portion of Phlegme too) which being, all +almost, Equally Volatile to that Degree of Fire which Forces them up, +(the more Volatile Parts Helping perhaps, as well as the Urgency of +the Fire, to carry up the more Fixt ones, as I have often Try'd in +Dulcify'd _Colcothar_, Sublim'd by _Sal Armoniack_ Blended with it) +are carried Up together, but may afterwards be Separated by other +Degrees of Fire, whose orderly Gradation allowes the Disparity of +their Volatileness to Discover it self. Besides, if Differing Bodies +United into one Mass be both sufficiently Fixt, the Fire finding no +Parts Volatile enough to be Expell'd or carried up, makes no +Separation at all; as may appear by a Mixture of Colliquated Silver +and Gold, whose Component Metals may be easily Sever'd by _Aqua +Fortis_, or _Aqua Regis_ (according to the Predominancy of the Silver +or the Gold) but in the Fire alone, though vehement, the Metals remain +unsever'd, the Fire only dividing the Body into smaller Particles +(whose Littlenesse may be argu'd from their Fluidity) in which either +the little nimble Atoms of Fire, or its brisk and numberless strokes +upon the Vessels, hinder Rest and Continuity, without any +Sequestration of Elementary Principles. Moreover, the Fire sometimes +does not Separate, so much as Unite, Bodies of a differing Nature; +provided they be of an almost resembling Fixedness, and have in the +Figure of their Parts an Aptness to Coalition, as we see in the making +of many Plaisters, Oyntments, &c. And in such Metalline Mixtures as +that made by Melting together two parts of clean Brass with one of +pure Copper, of which some Ingenious Trades-men cast such curious +Patterns (for Gold and Silver Works) as I have sometimes taken great +Pleasure to Look upon. Sometimes the Bodies mingled by the Fire are +Differing enough as to Fixidity and Volatility, and yet are so +combin'd by the first Operation of the Fire, that it self does scarce +afterwards Separate them, but only Pulverize them; whereof an Instance +is afforded us by the Common Preparation of _Mercurius Dulcis_, where +the Saline Particles of the Vitriol, Sea Salt, and sometimes Nitre, +Employ'd to make the Sublimate, do so unite themselves with the +Mercurial Particles made use of, first to Make Sublimate, and then to +Dulcifie it, that the Saline and Metalline Parts arise together in +many successive Sublimations, as if they all made but one Body. And +sometimes too the Fire does not only not Sever the Differing Elements +of a Body, but Combine them so firmly, that Nature her self does very +seldom, if ever, make Unions less Dissoluble. For the Fire meeting +with some Bodies exceedingly and almost equally Fixt, instead of +making a Separation, makes an Union so strict, that it self, alone, is +unable to Dissolve it; As we see, when an Alcalizate Salt and the +Terrestrial Residue of the Ashes are Incorporated with pure Sand, and +by Vitrification made one permanent Body, (I mean the course or +greenish sort of Glass) that mocks the greatest Violence of the Fire, +which though able to Marry the Ingredients of it, yet is not able to +Divorce them. I can shew you some pieces of Glass which I saw flow +down from an Earthen Crucible purposely Expos'd for a good while, with +Silver in it, to a very vehement Fire. And some that deal much in the +Fusion of Metals Informe me, that the melting of a great part of a +Crucible into Glass is no great Wonder in their Furnaces. I remember, +I have Observ'd too in the Melting of great Quantities of Iron out of +the Oar, by the Help of store of Charcoal (for they Affirm that +Sea-Coal will not yield a Flame strong enough) that by the prodigious +Vehemence of the Fire, Excited by vast Bellows (made to play by great +Wheels turn'd about by Water) part of the Materials Expos'd to it was, +instead of being Analyz'd, Colliquated, and turn'd into a Dark, Solid +and very Ponderous Glass, and that in such Quantity, that in some +places I have seen the very High-wayes, neer such Iron-works, mended +with Heaps of such Lumps of Glasse, instead of Stones and Gravel. And +I have also Observ'd, that some kind of Fire-stone it Self, having +been employ'd in Furnaces wherein it was expos'd to very strong and +lasting Fires, has had all its Fixt Parts so Wrought on by the Fire, +as to be Perfectly Vitrifi'd, which I have try'd by Forcing from it +Pretty large Pieces of Perfect and Transparent Glass. And lest You +might think, _Eleutherius_, that the Question'd Definition of Heat may +be Demonstrated, by the Definition which is wont to be given and +Acquiesc'd in, of its contrary Quality, Cold, whose property is taught +to be _tam Homogenea, quam Heterogenea congregare_; Give me leave to +represent to You, that neither is this Definition unquestionable; for +not to Mention the Exceptions, which a _Logician_, as such, may Take +at it, I Consider that the Union of Heterogeneous Bodies which is +Suppos'd to be the Genuine Production of Cold, is not Perform'd by +every Degree of Cold. For we see for Instance that in the Urine of +Healthy Men, when the Liquor has been Suffer'd a while to stand, the +Cold makes a Separation of the Thinner Part from the Grosser, which +Subsides to the Bottom, and Growes Opacous there; whereas if the +Urinal be Warme, these Parts readily Mingle again, and the whole +Liquor becomes Transparent as before. And when, by Glaciation, Wood, +Straw, Dust, Water, &c. are Suppos'd to be United into one Lump of +Ice, the Cold does not Cause any Real Union or Adunation, (if I may so +Speak) of these Bodies, but only Hardening the Aqueous Parts of the +Liquor into Ice, the other Bodies being Accidentally Present in that +Liquor are frozen up in it, but not Really United. And accordingly if +we Expose a Heap of Mony Consisting of Gold, Silver and Copper Coynes, +or any other Bodies of Differing Natures, which are Destitute of +Aqueous Moisture, Capable of Congelation, to never so intense a Cold, +we find not that these Differing Bodies are at all thereby so much as +Compacted, much less United together; and even in Liquors Themselves +we find _Phaenomena_ which Induce us to Question the Definition which +we are examining. If _Paracelsus_ his Authority were to be look't upon +as a Sufficient Proof in matters of this Nature, I might here insist +on that Process of his, whereby he Teaches that the Essence of Wine +may be Sever'd from the Phlegme and Ignoble Part by the Assistance of +Congelation: and because much Weight has been laid upon this Process, +not only by _Paracelsians_, but other Writers, some of whom seem not +to have perus'd it themselves, I shall give You the entire Passage in +the Authors own Words, as I lately found them in the sixth Book of his +_Archidoxis_, an Extract whereof I have yet about me; and it sounds +thus. _De Vino sciendum est, faecem phlegmaque ejus esse Mineram, & +Vini substantiam esse corpus in quo conservatur Essentia, prout auri +in auro latet Essentia. Juxta quod Practicam nobis ad Memoriam +ponimus, ut non obliviscamur, ad hunc modum: Recipe Vinum +vetustissimum & optimum quod habere poteris, calore saporeque ad +placitum, hoc in vas vitreum infundas ut tertiam ejus partem impleat, +& sigillo Hermetis occlusum in equino ventre mensibus quatuor, & in +continuato calore teneatur qui non deficiat. Quo peracto, Hyeme cum +frigus & gelu maxime saeviunt, his per mensem exponatur ut congeletur. +Ad hunc modum frigus vini spiritum una cum ejus substantia protrudit +in vini centrum, ac separat a phlegmate: Congelatum abjice, quod vero +congelatum non est, id Spiritum cum substantia esse judicato. Hunc in +Pelicanum positum in arenae digestione non adeo calida per aliquod +tempus manere finito; Postmodum eximito vini Magisterium, de quo +locuti sumus._ + +But I dare not _Eleu._ lay much Weight upon this Process, because I +have found that if it were True, it would be but seldom Practicable in +this Country upon the best Wine: for Though this present Winter hath +been Extraordinary Cold, yet in very Keen Frosts accompanied with +lasting Snowes, I have not been able in any Measure to Freeze a thin +Vial full of Sack; and even with Snow and Salt I could Freeze little +more then the Surface of it; and I suppose _Eleu._ that tis not every +Degree of Cold that is Capable of Congealing Liquors, which is able to +make such an _Analysis_ (if I may so call it) of them by Separating +their Aqueous and Spirituous Parts; for I have sometimes, though not +often, frozen severally, Red-wine, Urine and Milk, but could not +Observe the expected Separation. And the Dutch-Men that were forc'd to +Winter in that Icie Region neer the Artick Circle, call'd _Nova +Zembla_, although they relate, as we shall see below, that there was a +Separation of Parts made in their frozen Beer about the middle of +_November_, yet of the Freezing of their Back [Errata: Sack] in +_December_ following they give but this Account: _Yea and our Sack, +which is so hot, was Frozen very hard, so that when we were every Man +to have his part, we were forc'd to melt it in the Fire; which we +shar'd every second Day, about half a Pinte for a Man, wherewith we +were forc'd to sustain our selves._ In which words they imply not, +that their Back [Errata: Sack] was divided by the Frost into differing +Substances, after such manner as their Beer had been. All which +notwithstanding, _Eleu._ suppose that it may be made to appear, that +even Cold sometimes may _Congregare Homogenea, & Heterogenea +Segregare_: and to Manifest this I may tell you, that I did once, +purposely cause to be Decocted in fair Water a Plant abounding with +Sulphureous and Spirituous Parts, and having expos'd the Decoction to +a keen North-Wind in a very Frosty Night, I observ'd, that the more +Aqueous Parts of it were turn'd by the next Morning into Ice, towards +the innermost part of which, the more Agile and Spirituous parts, as I +then conjectur'd, having Retreated, to shun as much as might be their +Environing Enemy, they had there preserv'd themselves unfrozen in the +Form of a high colour'd Liquor, the Aqueous and Spirituous parts +having been so sleightly (Blended rather than) United in the +Decoction, that they were easily Separable by such a Degree of Cold as +would not have been able to have Divorc'd the Parts of Urine or Wine, +which by Fermentation or Digestion are wont, as Tryal has inform'd me, +to be more intimately associated each with other. But I have already +intimated, _Eleutherius_, that I shall not Insist on this Experiment, +not only because, having made it but once I may possibly have been +mistaken in it; but also (and that principally) because of that much +more full and eminent Experiment of the Separative Virtue of extream +Cold, that was made, against their Wills, by the foremention'd Dutch +men that Winter'd in _Nova Zembla_; the Relation of whose Voyage being +a very scarce Book, it will not be amiss to give you that Memorable +part of it which concerns our present Theme, as I caus'd the Passage +to be extracted out of the Englished Voyage it self. + +"_Gerard de Veer_, _John Cornelyson_ and Others, sent out of +_Amsterdam_, _Anno Dom._ 1596. being forc'd by unseasonable Weather to +Winter in _Nova Zembla_, neer Ice-Haven; on the thirteenth of +_October_, Three of us (sayes the Relation) went aboard the Ship, and +laded a Sled with Beer; but when we had laden it, thinking to go to +our House with it, suddenly there arose such a Winde, and so great a +Storm and Cold, that we were forc'd to go into the Ship again, because +we were not able to stay without; and we could not get the Beer into +the Ship again, but were forc'd to let it stand without upon the Sled: +the Fourteenth, as we came out of the Ship, we found the Barrel of +Beer standing upon the Sled, but it was fast frozen at the Heads; yet +by reason of the great Cold, the Beer that purg'd out froze as hard +upon the Side of the Barrel, as if it had been glu'd thereon: and in +that sort we drew it to our House, and set the Barrel an end, and +drank it up; but first we were forc'd to melt the Beer, for there was +scarce any unfrozen Beer in the barrel; but in that thick Yiest that +was unfrozen lay the Strength of the Beer, so that it was too strong +to drink alone, and that which was frozen tasted like Water; and being +melted we Mix'd one with the other, and so drank it; but it had +neither Strength nor Taste." + +And on this Occasion I remember, that having the last very Sharp +Winter purposely try'd to Freeze, among other Liquors, some Beer +moderately strong, in Glass Vessels, with Snow and Salt, I observ'd, +that there came out of the Neck a certain thick Substance, which, it +seems, was much better able then the rest of the Liquor (that I found +turn'd into Ice) to resist a Frost, and which, by its Colour and +consistence seem'd mafestly [Transcriber's Note: manifestly] enough +to be Yiest, whereat, I confess, I somewhat marvail'd, because I did +not either discerne by the Taste, or find by Enquiry, that the Beer +was at all too New to be very fit to be Drank. I might confirm the +Dutchmens Relation, by what happen'd a while since to a neere Friend +of mine, who complained to me, that having Brew'd some Beer or Ale for +his own drinking in _Holland_ (where he then dwelt) the Keenness of +the late bitter Winter froze the Drink so as to reduce it into Ice, +and a small Proportion of a very Strong and Spirituous Liquor. But I +must not entertain you any longer concerning Cold, not onely because +you may think I have but lost my way into a Theme which does not +directly belong to my present Undertaking; but because I have already +enlarg'd my self too much upon the first Consideration I propos'd, +though it appears so much a Paradox, that it seem'd to Require that I +should say much to keep it from being thought a meere Extravagance; +yet since I Undertook but to make the common Assumption of our +Chymists and _Aristotelians_ appear Questionable, I hope I have so +Perform'd that Task, that I may now Proceed to my Following +Considerations, and Insist lesse on them than I have done on the +First. + + + + +THE + +SCEPTICAL CHYMIST. + +_The Second Part._ + + +The Second Consideration I Desire to have Notice Taken of, is This, +That it is not so Sure, as Both Chymists and _Aristotelians_ are wont +to Think it, that every Seemingly Similar or Distinct Substance that +is Separated from a Body by the Help of the Fire, was Pre existent in +it as a Principle or Element of it. + +That I may not make this Paradox a Greater then I needs must, I will +First Briefly Explain what the Proposition means, before I proceed to +Argue for it. + +And I suppose You will easily Believe That I do not mean that any +thing is separable from a Body by Fire, that was not Materially +pre-existent in it; for it Far Exceeds the power of Meerly Naturall +Agents, and Consequently of the Fire, to produce anew, so Much as one +Atome of Matter, which they can but Modifie and Alter, not Create; +which is so Obvious a Truth, that almost all Sects of Philosophers +have Deny'd the Power of producing Matter to Second Causes; and the +_Epicureans_ and some Others have Done the Like, in Reference to their +Gods themselves. + +Nor does the Proposition peremptorily Deny but that some Things +Obtain'd by the Fire from a Mixt Body, may have been more then barely +Materially pre-existent in it, since there are Concretes, which before +they be Expos'd to the Fire afford us several Documents of their +abounding, some with Salt, and Others with Sulphur. For it will serve +the present Turn, if it appear that diverse things Obtain'd from a +Mixt Body expos'd to the Fire, were not its Ingredients Before: for if +this be made to appear it, will [Errata: appear, it will] be Rationall +enough to suspect that Chymists may Decieve themselves, and Others, +in concluding Resolutely and Universally, those Substances to be the +Elementary Ingredients of Bodies barely separated by the Fire, of +which it yet may be Doubted Whether there be such or No; at least till +some other Argument then that drawn from the _Analysis_ be Brought to +resolve the Doubt. + +That then which I Mean by the Proposition I am Explaining, is, That it +may without Absurdity be Doubted whether or no the Differing +Substances Obtainable from a Concrete Dissipated by the Fire were so +Exsistent in it in that Forme (at least as to their minute Parts) +wherein we find them when the _Analysis_ is over, that the Fire did +only Dis-joyne and Extricate the Corpuscles of one Principle from +those of the other wherewith before they were Blended. + +Having thus Explain'd my Proposition, I shall endeavour to do two +things, to prove it; The first of which is to shew that such +Substances as Chymists call Principles May be produc'd _De novo_ (as +they speak.) And the other is to make it probable that by the Fire we +may Actually obtain from some Mixt Bodies such Substances as were not +in the Newly Expounded sence, pre-existent in them. + +To begin then with the First of these, I Consider that if it be as +true as 'tis probable, that Compounded Bodies Differ from One Another +but in the Various Textures Resulting from the Bigness, Shape, Motion, +and contrivance of their smal parts, It will not be Irrationall to +conceive that one and the same parcel of the Universal Matter may by +Various Alterations and Contextures be brought to Deserve the Name, +somtimes of a Sulphureous, and sometimes of a Terrene, or Aqueous +Body. And this I could more largely Explicate, but that our Friend Mr. +_Boyle_ has promis'd us something about Qualities, wherein the Theme I +now willingly Resign him, Will I Question not be Studiously Enquired +into. Wherefore what I shall now advance in favour of what I have +lately Deliver'd shall be Deduc'd from Experiments made Divers Years +since. The first of which would have been much more considerable, but +that by some intervening Accidents I was Necessitated to lose the best +time of the year, for a trial of the Nature of that I design'd; it +being about he [Transcriber's Note: the] middle of _May_ before I was +able to begin an Experiment which should have then been two moneths +old; but such as it was, it will not perhaps be impertinent to Give +You this Narrative of it. At the time newly Mention'd, I caus'd My +Gardiner (being by Urgent Occasions Hinder'd from being present +myself) to dig out a convenient quantity of good Earth, and dry it +well in an Oven, to weigh it, to put it in an Earthen pot almost level +with the Surface of the ground, and to set in it a selected seed he +had before received from me, for that purpose, of Squash, which is an +Indian kind of Pompion, that Growes apace; this seed I Ordered Him to +Water only with Rain or Spring Water. I did not (when my Occasions +permitted me to visit it) without delight behold how fast it Grew, +though unseasonably sown; but the Hastning Winter Hinder'd it from +attaining any thing neer its due and Wonted magnitude; (for I found +the same Autumn, in my Garden, some of those plants, by Measure, as +big about as my Middle) and made me order the having it taken Up; +Which about the Middle of _October_ was carefully Done by the same +Gardiner, who a while after sent me this account of it; _I have +Weighed the Pompion with the Stalk and Leaves, all which Weighed three +pound wanting a quarter; Then I took the Earth, baked it as formerly, +and found it just as much as I did at First, which made me think I had +not dry'd it Sufficiently: then I put it into the Oven twice More, +after the Bread was Drawn, and Weighed it the Second time, but found +it Shrink little or nothing._ + +But to deal Candidly with You, _Eleutherius_, I must not conceal from +You the Event of another Experiment of this Kind made this present +Summer, wherein the Earth seems to have been much more Wasted; as may +appear by the following account, Lately sent me by the same Gardiner, +in these Words. _To give You an Account of your Cucumbers, I have +Gain'd two Indifferent Fair Ones, the Weight of them is ten Pound and +a Halfe, the Branches with the Roots Weighed four Pounds wanting two +Ounces; and when I had weighed them I took the Earth, and bak'd it in +several small Earthen Dishes in an Oven; and when I had so done, I +found the Earth wanted a Pound and a halfe of what it was formerly; +yet I was not satisfi'd, doubting the Earth was not dry: I put it into +an Oven the Second Time, (after the Bread was drawn) and after I had +taken it out and weighed it, I found it to be the Same Weight: So I +Suppose there was no Moisture left in the Earth. Neither do I think +that the Pound and Halfe that was wanting was Drawn away by the +Cucumber but a great Part of it in the Ordering was in Dust (and the +like) wasted: (the Cucumbers are kept by themselves, lest You should +send for them.)_ But yet in this Tryal, _Eleutherius_, it appears that +though some of the Earth, or rather the dissoluble Salt harbour'd in +it, were wasted, the main Body of the Plant consisted of Transmuted +Water. And I might add, that a year after I caus'd the formerly +mentioned Experiment, touching large Pompions, to be reiterated, with +so good success, that if my memory does not much mis-inform me, it did +not only much surpass any that I made before, but seem'd strangely to +conclude what I am pleading for; though (by reason I have unhappily +lost the particular Account my Gardiner writ me up of the +Circumstances) I dare not insist upon them. The like Experiment may be +as conveniently try'd with the seeds of any Plant, whose growth is +hasty, and its size Bulky. If Tobacco will in These Cold Climates Grow +well in Earth undung'd, it would not be amiss to make a Tryal with it; +for 'tis an annual Plant, that arises where it prospers, sometimes as +high as a Tall Man; and I have had leaves of it in my Garden neer a +Foot and a Halfe broad. But the next time I Try this Experiment, it +shall be with several seeds of the same sort, in the same pot of +Earth, that so the event may be the more Conspicuous. But because +every Body has not Conveniency of time and place for this Experiment +neither, I made in my Chamber, some shorter and more Expeditions +[Transcriber's Note: Expeditious] Tryals. I took a Top of Spearmint, +about an Inch Long, and put it into a good Vial full of Spring water, +so as the upper part of the Mint was above the neck of the Glass, and +the lower part Immers'd in the Water; within a few Dayes this Mint +began to shoot forth Roots into the Water, and to display its Leaves, +and aspire upwards; and in a short time it had numerous Roots and +Leaves, and these very strong and fragrant of the Odour of the Mint: +but the Heat of my Chamber, as I suppose, kill'd the Plant when it was +grown to have a pretty thick Stalk, which with the various and +ramified Roots, which it shot into the Water as if it had been Earth, +presented in its Transparent Flower-pot a Spectacle not unpleasant to +behold. The like I try'd with sweet Marjoram, and I found the +Experiment succeed also, though somewhat more slowly, with Balme and +Peniroyal, to name now no other Plants. And one of these Vegetables, +cherish'd only by Water, having obtain'd a competent Growth, I did, +for Tryals sake, cause to be Distill'd in a small Retort, and thereby +obtain'd some Phlegme, a little Empyreumaticall Spirit, a small +Quantity of adust Oyl, and a _Caput mortuum_; which appearing to be a +Coal concluded it to consist of Salt and Earth: but the Quantity of +it was so small that I forbore to Calcine it. The Water I us'd to +nourish this Plant was not shifted nor renewed; and I chose +Spring-water rather than Rain-water, because the latter is more +discernably a kinde of [Greek: panspermia], which, though it be +granted to be freed from grosser Mixtures, seems yet to Contain in it, +besides the Steams of several Bodies wandering in the Air, which may +be suppos'd to impregnate it, a certain Spirituous Substance, which +may be Extracted out of it, and is by some mistaken for the Spirit of +the World Corporify'd, upon what Grounds, and with what Probability, I +may elsewhere perchance, but must not now, Discourse to you. + +But perhaps I might have sav'd a great part of my Labour. For I finde +that _Helmont_ (an Author more considerable for his Experiments than +many Learned men are pleas'd to think him) having had an Opportunity +to prosecute an Experiment much of the same nature with those I have +been now speaking of, for five Years together, obtain'd at the end of +that time so notable a Quantity of Transmuted Water, that I should +scarce Think it fit to have his Experiment, and Mine Mention'd +together, were it not that the Length of Time Requisite to this may +deterr the Curiosity of some, and exceed the leasure of Others; and +partly, that so Paradoxical a Truth as that which these Experiments +seem to hold forth, needs to be Confirm'd by more Witnesses then one, +especially since the Extravagancies and Untruths to be met with in +_Helmonts_ Treatise of the Magnetick Cure of Wounds, have made his +Testimonies suspected in his other Writings, though as to some of the +Unlikely matters of Fact he delivers in them, I might safely undertake +to be his Compurgator. But that Experiment of his which I was +mentioning to You, he sayes, was this. He took 200 pound of Earth +dry'd in an Oven, and having put it into an Earthen Vessel and +moisten'd it with Raine water he planted in it the Trunk of a Willow +tree of five pound Weight; this he Water'd, as need required, with +Rain or with Distill'd Water; and to keep the Neighbouring Earth from +getting into the Vessell, he employ'd a plate of Iron tinn'd over and +perforated with many holes. Five years being efflux'd, he took out +the Tree and weighed it, and (with computing the leaves that fell +during four Autumnes) he found it to weigh 169 pound, and about three +Ounces. And Having again Dry'd the Earth it grew in, he found it want +of its Former Weight of 200 Pound, about a couple only of Ounces; so +that 164 pound of the Roots, Wood, and Bark, which Constituted the +Tree, seem to have Sprung from the Water. And though it appears not +that _Helmont_ had the Curiosity to make any _Analysis_ of this Plant, +yet what I lately told You I did to One of the Vegetables I nourish'd +with Water only, will I suppose keep You from Doubting that if he had +Distill'd this Tree, it would have afforded him the like Distinct +Substances as another Vegetable of the same kind. I need not Subjoyne +that I had it also in my thoughts to try how Experiments to the same +purpose with those I related to You would succeed in other Bodies then +Vegetables, because importunate Avocations having hitherto hinder'd me +from putting my Design in Practise, I can yet speak but Confecturally +[Transcriber's Note: Conjecturally] of the Success: but the best is, +that the Experiments already made and mention'd to you need not the +Assistance of new Ones, to Verifie as much as my present task makes it +concern me to prove by Experiments of this Nature. + +One would suspect (sayes _Eleutherius_ after his long silence) by what +You have been discoursing, that You are not far from _Helmonts_ +Opinion about the Origination of Compound Bodies, and perhaps too +dislike not the Arguments which he imployes to prove it. + +What _Helmontian_ Opinion, and what Arguments do you mean (askes +_Carneades_.) + +What You have been Newly Discoursing (replies _Eleutherius_) tells us, +that You cannot but know that this bold and Acute Spagyrist scruples +not to Assert that all mixt Bodies spring from one Element; and that +Vegetables, Animals, Marchasites, Stones, Metalls, &c. are Materially +but simple Water disguis'd into these Various Formes, by the plastick +or Formative Virtue of their seeds. And as for his Reasons you may +find divers of them scatter'd up and down his writings; the +considerabl'st of which seem to be these three; The Ultimate Reduction +of mixt Bodies into Insipid Water, the Vicissitude of the supposed +Elements, and the production of perfectly mixt Bodies out of simple +Water. And first he affirmes that the _Sal circulatus Paracelsi_, or +his Liquor _Alkahest_, does adequately resolve Plants, Animals, and +Mineralls into one Liquor or more, according to their several +internall Disparities of Parts (without _Caput Mortuum_, or the +Destruction of their seminal Virtues;) and that the _Alkahest_ being +abstracted from these Liquors in the same weight and Virtue wherewith +it Dissolv'd them, the Liquors may by frequent Cohobations from chalke +or some other idoneous matter, be Totally depriv'd of their seminal +Endowments, and return at last to their first matter, Insipid Water; +some other wayes he proposes here and there, to divest some particular +Bodies of their borrow'd shapes, and make them remigrate to their +first Simplicity. The second Topick whence _Helmont_ drawes his +Arguments, to prove Water to be the Material cause of Mixt Bodies, I +told You was this, that the other suppos'd Elements may be transmuted +into one another. But the Experiments by him here and there produc'd +on this Occasion, are so uneasie to be made and to be judg'd of, that +I shall not insist on them; not to mention, that if they were granted +to be true, his Inference from them is somewhat disputable; and +therefore I shall pass on to tell You, That as, in his First Argument, +our Paradoxical Author endeavours to prove Water the Sole Element of +Mixt Bodies, by their Ultimate Resolution, when by his _Alkahest_, or +some other conquering Agent, the Seeds have been Destroy'd, which +Disguis'd them, or when by time those seeds are Weari'd or Exantlated +or unable to Act their Parts upon the Stage of the Universe any +Longer: So in His Third Argument he Endeavours to evince the same +Conclusion, by the constitution of Bodies which he asserts to be +nothing but Water Subdu'd by Seminal Virtues. Of this he gives here +and there in his Writings several Instances, as to Plants and Animals; +but divers of them being Difficult either to be try'd or to be +Understood, and others of them being not altogether Unobnoxious to +Exceptions, I think you have singl'd out the Principal and less +Questionable Experiment when you lately mention'd that of the Willow +Tree. And having thus, Continues _Eleutherius_, to Answer your +Question, given you a Summary Account of what I am Confident You know +better then I do, I shall be very glad to receive Your Sence of it, if +the giving it me will not too much Divert You from the Prosecution of +your Discourse. + +That _If_ (replies _Carneades_) was not needlessly annex'd: for +thorowly to examine such an Hypothesis and such Arguments would +require so many Considerations, and Consequently so much time, that I +should not now have the Liesure [Errata: leasure] to perfect such a +Digression, and much less to finish my Principle [Errata: principal] +Discourse. Yet thus much I shall tell You at present, that you need +not fear my rejecting this Opinion for its Novelty; since, however the +_Helmontians_ may in complement to their Master pretend it to be a new +Discovery, Yet though the Arguments be for the most part his, the +Opinion it self is very Antient: For _Diogenes Laertius_ and divers +other Authors speak of _Thales_, as the first among the _Graecians_ +that made disquisitions upon nature. And of this _Thales_, I Remember, +_Tully_[5] informes us, that he taught all things were at first made +of Water. And it seems by _Plutarch_ and _Justin Martyr_, that the +Opinion was Ancienter then he: For they tell us that he us'd to defend +his Tenet by the Testimony of _Homer_. And a Greek Author, (the +_Scholiast_ of _Apollonius_) upon these Words + + [Greek: Ex iliou [Transcriber's Note: iluos] eblastese chthon + aute],[6] + + _The Earth of Slime was made,_ + +Affirms (out of _Zeno_) that the _Chaos_, whereof all things were +made, was, according to _Hesiod_, Water; which, settling first, became +Slime, and then condens'd into solid Earth. And the same Opinion about +the Generation of Slime seems to have been entertain'd by _Orpheus_, +out of whom one of the Antients[7] cites this Testimony, + + [Greek: Ek tou hydatos ilui katiste.] + + _Of Water Slime was made._ + +[Footnote 5: De Natura Deorum.] + +[Footnote 6: Argonaut. 4.] + +[Footnote 7: Athenagoras.] + +It seems also by what is delivered in _Strabo_[8] out of another +Author, concerning the _Indians_, That they likewise held that all +things had differing Beginnings, but that of which the World was made, +was Water. And the like Opinion has been by some of the Antients +ascrib'd to the _Phoenicians_, from whom _Thales_ himself is +conceiv'd to have borrow'd it; as probably the Greeks did much of +their Theologie, and, as I am apt to think, of their Philosophy too; +since the Devising of the Atomical _Hypothesis_ commonly ascrib'd to +_Lucippus_ and his Disciple _Democritus_, is by Learned Men attributed +to one _Moschus_ a _Phoenician_. And possibly the Opinion is yet +antienter than so; For 'tis known that the _Phoenicians_ borrow'd +most of their Learning from the _Hebrews_. And among those that +acknowledge the Books of _Moses_, many have been inclin'd to think +Water to have been the Primitive and Universal Matter, by perusing the +Beginning of _Genesis_, where the Waters seem to be mention'd as the +Material Cause, not only of Sublunary Compounded Bodies, but of all +those that make up the Universe; whose Component Parts did orderly, +as it were, emerge out of that vast Abysse, by the Operation of the +Spirit of God, who is said to have been moving Himself as hatching +Females do (as the Original [Hebrew: merachephet], _Meracephet_[9] is +said to Import, and as it seems to signifie in one of the two other +places, wherein alone I have met with it in the Hebrew Bible)[10] upon +the Face of the Waters; which being, as may be suppos'd, Divinely +Impregnated with the seeds of all things, were by that productive +Incubation qualify'd to produce them. But you, I presume, Expect that +I should Discourse of this Matter like a Naturalist, not a Philologer. +Wherefore I shall add, to Countenance _Helmont's_ Opinion, That +whereas he gives not, that I remember, any Instance of any Mineral +Body, nor scarce of any Animal, generated of Water, a French Chymist, +_Monsieur de Rochas_, has presented his Readers an Experiment, which +if it were punctually such as he has deliver'd it, is very Notable. He +then, Discoursing of the Generation of things according to certain +Chymical and Metaphorical Notions (which I confess are not to me +Intelligible) sets down, among divers Speculations not pertinent to +our Subject, the following Narrative, which I shall repeat to you the +sence of in English, with as little variation from the Literal sence +of the French words, as my memory will enable me. _Having_ (sayes he) +_discern'd such great Wonders by the Natural Operation of Water, I +would know what may be done with it by Art Imitating Nature. Wherefore +I took Water which I well knew not to be compounded, nor to be mix'd +with any other thing than that Spirit of Life_ (whereof he had spoken +before;) _and with a Heat Artificial, Continual and Proportionate, I +prepar'd and dispos'd it by the above mention'd Graduations of +Coagulation, Congelation, and Fixation, untill it was turn'd into +Earth, which Earth produc'd Animals, Vegetables and Minerals. I tell +not what Animals, Vegetables and Minerals, for that is reserv'd for +another Occasion: but the Animals did Move of themselves, Eat, +&c.--and by the true Anatomie I made of them, I found that they were +compos'd of much Sulphur, little Mercury, and less Salt.--The Minerals +began to grow and encrease by converting into their own Nature one +part of the Earth thereunto dispos'd; they were solid and heavy. And +by this truly Demonstrative Science, namely Chymistry, I found that +they were compos'd of much Salt, little Sulphur, and less Mercury._ + +[Footnote 8: Universarum rerum primordia diverta esse, faciendi autem +mundi initium aquam. Strabo. Geograp. lib. 15. circa medium.] + +[Footnote 9: Deuter. 32. 11.] + +[Footnote 10: Jerem. 23. 9.] + +But (sayes _Carneades_) I have some Suspitions concerning this strange +Relation, which make me unwilling to Declare an Opinion of it, unless +I were satisfied concerning divers Material Circumstances that our +Author has left unmentioned; though as for the Generation of Living +Creatures, both Vegetable and Sensitive, it needs not seem Incredible, +since we finde that our common water (which indeed is often +Impregnated with Variety of Seminal Principles and Rudiments) being +long kept in a quiet place will putrifie and stink, and then perhaps +too produce Moss and little Worms, or other Insects, according to the +nature of the Seeds that were lurking in it. I must likewise desire +you to take Notice, that as _Helmont_ gives us no Instance of the +Production of Minerals out of Water, so the main Argument that he +employ's to prove that they and other Bodies may be resolv'd into +water, is drawn from the Operations of his _Alkahest_, and +consequently cannot be satisfactorily Examin'd by You and Me. + +Yet certainly (sayes _Eleutherius_) You cannot but have somewhat +wonder'd as well as I, to observe how great a share of Water goes to +the making up of Divers Bodies, whose Disguises promise nothing neere +so much. The Distillation of Eeles, though it yielded me some Oyle, +and Spirit, and Volatile Salt, besides the _Caput mortuum_, yet were +all these so disproportionate to the Phlegm that came from them (and +in which at first they boyl'd as in a Pot of Water) that they seem'd +to have bin nothing but coagulated Phlegm, which does likewise +strangely abound in Vipers, though they are esteem'd very hot in +Operation, and will in a Convenient Aire survive some dayes the loss +of their Heads and Hearts, so vigorous is their Vivacity. Mans Bloud +it self as Spirituous, and as Elaborate a Liquor as 'tis reputed, does +so abound in Phlegm, that, the other Day, Distilling some of it on +purpose to try the Experiment (as I had formerly done in Deers Bloud) +out of about seven Ounces and a half of pure Bloud we drew neere six +Ounces of Phlegm, before any of the more operative Principles began +to arise, and Invite us to change the Receiver. And to satisfie my +self that some of these Animall Phlegms were void enough of Spirit to +deserve that Name, I would not content my self to taste them only, but +fruitlesly pour'd on them acid Liquors, to try if they contain'd any +Volatile Salt or Spirit, which (had there been any there) would +probably have discover'd it self by making an Ebullition with the +affused Liquor. And now I mention Corrosive Spirits, I am minded to +Informe you, That though they seem to be nothing else but Fluid Salts, +yet they abound in Water, as you may Observe, if either you Entangle, +and so Fix their Saline Part, by making them Corrode some idoneous +Body, or else if you mortifie it with a contrary Salt; as I have very +manifestly Observ'd in the making a Medecine somewhat like _Helmont's +Balsamus Samech_, with Distill'd Vinager instead of Spirit of Wine, +wherewith he prepares it: For you would scarce Beleeve (what I have +lately Observ'd) that of that acid Spirit, the Salt of Tartar, from +which it is Distill'd, will by mortifying and retaining the acid Salt +turn into worthless Phlegm neere twenty times its weight, before it be +so fully Impregnated as to rob no more Distill'd Vinager of its Salt. +And though Spirit of Wine Exquisitely rectify'd seem of all Liquors to +be the most free from Water, it being so Igneous that it will Flame +all away without leaving the least Drop behinde it, yet even this +Fiery Liquor is by _Helmont_ not improbably affirm'd, in case what he +relates be True, to be Materially Water, under a Sulphureous Disguise: +For, according to him, in the making that excellent Medecine, +_Paracelsus_ his _Balsamus Samech_, (which is nothing but _Sal +Tartari_ dulcify'd by Distilling from it Spirit of Wine till the Salt +be sufficiently glutted with its Sulphur, and suffer [Errata: and till +it suffer] the Liquor to be drawn off, as strong as it was pour'd on) +when the Salt of Tartar from which it is Distill'd hath retain'd, or +depriv'd it of the Sulphureous parts of the Spirit of Wine, the rest, +which is incomparably the greater part of the Liquor, will remigrate +into Phlegm. I added that Clause [_In case what he Relates be True_] +because I have not as yet sufficiently try'd it my self. But not only +something of Experiment keeps me from thinking it, as many Chymists +do, absurd, (though I have, as well as they, in vain try'd it with +ordinary Salt of Tartar;) but besides that _Helmont_ often Relates it, +and draws Consequences from it; A Person noted for his Sobernesse and +Skill in Spagyrical Preparations, having been askt by me, Whether the +Experiment might not be made to succeed, if the Salt and Spirit were +prepar'd according to a way suitable to my Principles, he affirm'd to +me, that he had that way I propos'd made _Helmont's_ Experiment +succeed very well, without adding any thing to the Salt and Spirit. +But our way is neither short nor Easie. + +I have indeed (sayes _Carneades_) sometimes wonder'd to see how much +Phlegme may be obtain'd from Bodies by the Fire. But concerning that +Phlegme I may anon have Occasion to note something, which I therefore +shall not now anticipate. But to return to the Opinion of _Thales_, +and of _Helmont_, I consider, that supposing the _Alkahest_ could +reduce all Bodies into water, yet whether that water, because insipid, +must be Elementary, may not groundlesly be doubted; For I remember +the Candid and Eloquent _Petrus Laurembergius_ in his Notes upon +_Sala's_ Aphorismes affirmes, that he saw an insipid _Menstruum_ that +was a powerfull Dissolvent, and (if my Memory do not much mis-informe +me) could dissolve Gold. And the water which may be Drawn from +Quicksilver without Addition, though it be almost Tastless, You will I +believe think of a differing Nature from simple Water, especially if +you Digest in it Appropriated Mineralls. To which I shall add but +this, that this Consideration may be further extended. For I see no +Necessity to conceive that the Water mention'd in the Beginning of +_Genesis_, as the Universal Matter, was simple and Elementary Water; +since though we should Suppose it to have been an Agitated Congeries +or Heap consisting of a great Variety of Seminal Principles and +Rudiments, and of other Corpuscles fit to be subdu'd and Fashion'd by +them, it might yet be a Body Fluid like Water, in case the Corpuscles +it was made up of, were by their Creator made small enough, and put +into such an actuall Motion as might make them Glide along one +another. And as we now say, the Sea consists of Water, notwithstanding +[Errata: (notwithstanding] the Saline, Terrestrial, and other Bodies +mingl'd with it,) such a Liquor may well enough be called Water, +because that was the greatest of the known Bodies whereunto it was +like; Though, that a Body may be Fluid enough to appear a Liquor, and +yet contain Corpuscles of a very differing Nature, You will easily +believe, if You but expose a good Quantity of Vitriol in a strong +Vessel to a Competent Fire. For although it contains both Aqueous, +Earthy, Saline, Sulphureous, and Metalline Corpuscles, yet the whole +Mass will at first be Fluid like water, and boyle like a seething pot. + +I might easily (Continues _Carneades_) enlarge my self on such +Considerations, if I were Now Oblig'd to give You my Judgment of the +_Thalesian_, and _Helmontian_, _Hypothesis_. But Whether or no we +conclude that all things were at first Generated of Water, I may +Deduce from what I have try'd Concerning the Growth of Vegetables, +nourish'd with water, all that I now propos'd to my Self or need at +present to prove, namely that Salt, Spirit, Earth, and ev'n Oyl +(though that be thought of all Bodies the most opposite to Water) may +be produc'd out of Water; and consequently that a Chymical Principle +as well as a Peripatetick Element, may (in some cases) be Generated +anew, or obtain'd from such a parcel of Matter as was not endow'd with +the form of such a principle or Element before. + +And having thus, _Eleutherius_, Evinc'd that 'tis possible that such +Substances as those that Chymists are wont to call their _Tria Prima_, +may be Generated, anew: I must next Endeavour to make it Probable, +that the Operation of the Fire does Actually (sometimes) not only +divide Compounded Bodies into smal Parts, but Compound those Parts +after a new Manner; whence Consequently, for ought we Know, there may +Emerge as well Saline and Sulphureous Substances, as Bodies of other +Textures. And perhaps it will assist us in our Enquiry after the +Effects of the Operations of the Fire upon other Bodies, to Consider a +little, what it does to those Mixtures which being Productions of the +Art of Man, We best know the Composition of. You may then be pleas'd +to take Notice that though Sope is made up by the Sope-Boylers of Oyle +or Grease, and Salt, and Water Diligently Incorporated together, yet +if You expose the Mass they Constitute to a Graduall Fire in a Retort, +You shall then indeed make a Separation, but not of the same +Substances that were United into Sope, but of others of a Distant and +yet not an Elementary Nature, and especially of an Oyle very sharp and +Faetid, and of a very Differing Quality from that which was Employ'd to +make the Sope: fo [Errata: so] if you Mingle in a due Proportion, _Sal +Armoniack_ with Quick-Lime, and Distill them by Degrees of Fire, You +shall not Divide the _Sal Armoniack_ from the Quick-Lime, though the +one be a Volatile, and the other a Fix'd Substance, but that which +will ascend will be a Spirit much more Fugitive, Penetrant, and +stinking, then _Sal Armoniack_; and there will remain with the +Quick-Lime all or very near all the Sea Salt that concurr'd to make up +the _Sal Armoniack_; concerning which Sea Salt I shall, to satisfie +You how well it was United to the Lime, informe You, that I have by +making the Fire at length very Vehement, caus'd both the Ingredients +to melt in the Retort it self into one Mass and such Masses are apt to +Relent in the Moist Air. If it be here Objected, that these Instances +are taken from factitious Concretes which are more Compounded then +those which Nature produces; I shall reply, that besides that I have +Mention'd them as much to Illustrate what I propos'd, as to prove it, +it will be Difficult to Evince that Nature her self does not make +Decompound Bodies, I mean mingle together such mixt Bodies as are +already Compounded of Elementary, or rather of more simple ones. For +Vitriol (for Instance) though I have sometimes taken it out of +Minerall Earths, where Nature had without any assistance of Art +prepar'd it to my Hand, is really, though Chymists are pleas'd to +reckon it among Salts, a De-compounded Body Consisting (as I shall +have occasion to declare anon) of a Terrestriall Substance, of a +Metal, and also of at least one Saline Body, of a peculiar and not +Elementary Nature. And we see also in Animals, that their blood may +be compos'd of Divers very Differing Mixt Bodies, since we find it +observ'd that divers Sea-Fowle tast rank of the Fish on which they +ordinarily feed; and _Hipocrates_ himself Observes, that a Child may +be purg'd by the Milke of the Nurse, if she have taken _Elaterium_; +which argues that the purging Corpuscles of the Medicament Concurr to +make up the Milke of the Nurse; and that white Liquor is generally by +Physitians suppos'd to be but blanch'd and alter'd Blood. And I +remember I have observ'd, not farr from the _Alps_, that at a certain +time of the Year the Butter of that Country was very Offensive to +strangers, by reason of the rank tast of a certain Herb, whereon the +Cows were then wont plentifully to feed. But (proceeds _Carneades_) to +give you Instances of another kind, to shew that things may be +obtain'd by the Fire from a Mixt Body that were not Pre-existent in +it, let Me Remind You, that from many Vegetables there may without any +Addition be Obtain'd Glass, a Body, which I presume You will not say +was Pre-existent in it, but produc'd by the Fire. To which I shall +add but this one Example more, namely that by a certain Artificial way +of handling Quicksilver, You may without Addition separate from it at +least a 5th. or 4th. part of a clear Liquor, which with an Ordinary +Peripatetick would pass for Water, and which a Vulgar Chymist would +not scruple to call Phlegme, and which, for ought I have yet seen or +heard, is not reducible into Mercury again, and Consequently is more +then a Disguise of it. Now besides that divers Chymists will not allow +Mercury to have any or at least any Considerable Quantity of either of +the Ignoble Ingredients, Earth and Water; Besides this, I say, the +great Ponderousness of Quicksilver makes it very unlikely that it can +have so much Water in it as may be thus obtain'd from it, since +Mercury weighs 12 or 14 times as much as water of the same Bulk. Nay +for a further Confirmation of this Argument, I will add this Strange +Relation, that two Friends of mine, the one a Physitian, and the other +a Mathematician, and both of them Persons of unsuspected Credit, have +Solemnly assured me, that after many Tryals they made, to reduce +Mercury into Water, in Order to a Philosophicall Work, upon Gold +(which yet, by the way, I know prov'd Unsuccesfull) they did once by +divers Cohobations reduce a pound of Quicksilver into almost a pound +of Water, and this without the Addition of any other Substance, but +only by pressing the Mercury by a Skillfully Manag'd Fire in purposely +contriv'd Vessels. But of these Experiments our Friend (sayes +_Carneades_, pointing at the Register of this Dialogue) will perhaps +give You a more Particular Account then it is necessary for me to do: +Since what I have now said may sufficiently evince, that the Fire may +sometimes as well alter Bodies as divide them, and by it we may obtain +from a Mixt Body what was not Pre-existent in it. And how are we sure +that in no other Body what we call Phlegme is barely separated, not +Produc'd by the Action of the Fire: Since so many other Mixt Bodies +are of a much less Constant, and more alterable Nature, then Mercury, +by many Tricks it is wont to put upon Chymists, and by the Experiments +I told You of, about an hour since, Appears to be. But because I +shall ere long have Occasion to resume into Consideration the Power of +the Fire to produce new Concretes, I shall no longer insist on this +Argument at present; only I must mind You, that if You will not +dis-believe _Helmonts_ Relations, You must confess that the _Tria +Prima_ are neither ingenerable nor incorruptible Substances; since by +his _Alkahest_ some of them may be produc'd of Bodies that were before +of another Denomination; and by the same powerfull _Menstruum_ all of +them may be reduc'd into insipid Water. + +Here _Carneades_ was about to pass on to his Third Consideration, when +_Eleutherius_ being desirous to hear what he could say to clear his +second General Consideration from being repugnant to what he seem'd to +think the true Theory of Mistion, prevented him by telling him, I +somewhat wonder, _Carneades_, that You, who are in so many Points +unsatisfied with the Peripatetick Opinion touching the Elements and +Mixt Bodies, should also seem averse to that Notion touching the +manner of Mistion, wherein the Chymists (though perhaps without +knowing that they do so) agree with most of the Antient Philosophers +that preceded _Aristotle_, and that for Reasons so considerable, that +divers Modern Naturalists and Physitians, in other things unfavourable +enough to the Spagyrists, do in this case side with them against the +common Opinion of the Schools. If you should ask me (continues +_Eleutherius_) what Reasons I mean? I should partly by the Writings of +_Sennertus_ and other learned Men, and partly by my own Thoughts, be +supply'd with more, then 'twere at present proper for me to Insist +largely on. And therefore I shall mention only, and that briefly, +three or four. Of these, I shall take the First from the state of the +Controversie itself, and the genuine Notion of Mistion, which though +much intricated by the Schoolmen, I take in short to be this, +_Aristotle_, at least as many of his Interpreters expound him, and as +indeed he Teaches in some places, where he professedly Dissents from +the Antients, declares Mistion to be such a mutual Penetration, and +perfect Union of the mingl'd Elements, that there is no Portion of the +mixt Body, how Minute soever, which does not contain All, and Every +of the Four Elements, or in which, if you please, all the Elements are +not. And I remember, that he reprehends the Mistion taught by the +Ancients, as too sleight or gross, for this Reason, that Bodies mixt +according to their _Hypothesis_, though they appear so to humane Eyes, +would not appear such to the acute Eyes of a _Lynx_, whose perfecter +Sight would discerne the Elements, if they were no otherwise mingled, +than as his Predecessors would have it, to be but Blended, not United; +whereas the Antients, though they did not all Agree about what kind of +Bodies were Mixt, yet they did almost unanimously hold, that in a +compounded Bodie, though the _Miscibilia_, whether Elements, +Principles, or whatever they pleas'd to call them, were associated in +such small Parts, and with so much Exactness, that there was no +sensible Part of the Mass but seem'd to be of the same Nature with the +rest, and with the whole; Yet as to the Atomes, or other Insensible +Parcels of Matter, whereof each of the _Miscibilia_ consisted, they +retain'd each of them its own Nature, being but by Apposition or +_Juxta_-Position united with the rest into one Bodie. So that +although by virtue of this composition the mixt Body did perhaps +obtain Divers new Qualities, yet still the Ingredients that Compounded +it, retaining their own Nature, were by the Destruction of the +_Compositum_ separable from each other, the minute Parts disingag'd +from those of a differing Nature, and associated with those of their +own sort returning to be again, Fire, Earth, or Water, as they were +before they chanc'd to be Ingredients of that _Compositum_. This may +be explain'd (Continues _Eleutherius_,) by a piece of Cloath made of +white and black threds interwoven, wherein though the whole piece +appear neither white nor black, but of a resulting Colour, that is +gray, yet each of the white and black threds that compose it, remains +what it was before, as would appear if the threds were pull'd asunder, +and sorted each Colour by it self. This (pursues _Eleutherius_) being, +as I understand it, the State of the Controversie, and the +_Aristotelians_ after their Master Commonly Defining, that Mistion is +_Miscibilium alteratorum Unio_, that seems to comport much better +with the Opinion of the Chymists, then with that of their Adversaries, +since according to that as the newly mention'd Example declares, there +is but a _Juxta_-position of separable Corpuscles, retaining each its +own Nature, whereas according to the _Aristotelians_, when what they +are pleas'd to call a mixt Body results from the Concourse of the +Elements, the _Miscibilia_ cannot so properly be said to be Alter'd, +as Destroy'd, since there is no Part in the mixt Body, how small +soever, that can be call'd either Fir [Transcriber's Note: Fire], or +Air, or Water, or Earth. + +Nor indeed can I well understand, how Bodies can be mingl'd other +wayes then as I have declar'd, or at least how they can be mingl'd, as +our Peripateticks would have it. For whereas _Aristotle_ tells us, +that if a Drop of Wine be put into ten thousand Measures of Water, the +Wine being Overpower'd by so Vast a Quantity of Water will be turn'd +into it, he speaks to my Apprehension, very improbably; For though One +should add to that Quantity of Water as many Drops of Wine as would a +Thousand times exceed it all, yet by his Rule the whole Liquor should +not be a _Crama_, a Mixture of Wine and Water, wherein the Wine would +be Predominant, but Water only; Since the Wine being added but by a +Drop at a time would still Fall into nothing but Water, and +Consequently would be turn'd into it. And if this would hold in Metals +too, 'twere a rare secret for Goldsmiths, and Refiners; For by melting +a Mass of Gold, or Silver, and by but casting into it Lead or +Antimony, Grain after Grain, they might at pleasure, within a +reasonable Compass of time, turn what Quantity they desire, of the +Ignoble into the Noble Metalls. And indeed since a Pint of wine, and a +pint of water, amount to about a Quart of Liquor, it seems manifest to +sense, that these Bodies doe not Totally Penetrate one another, as one +would have it; but that each retains its own Dimensions; and +Consequently, that they are by being Mingl'd only divided into minute +Bodies, that do but touch one another with their Surfaces, as do the +Grains, of Wheat, Rye, Barley, &c. in a heap of severall sorts of +Corn: And unless we say, that as when one measure of wheat, for +Instance, is Blended with a hundred measures of Barley, there happens +only a _Juxta_-position and Superficial Contact betwixt the Grains of +wheat, and as many or thereabouts of the Grains of Barley. So when a +Drop of wine is mingl'd with a great deal of water, there is but an +Apposition of so many Vinous Corpuscles to a Correspondent Number of +Aqueous ones; Unless I say this be said, I see not how that Absurdity +will be avoyded, whereunto the Stoical Notion of mistion (namely by +[Greek: synchysis] [Errata: [Greek: Synchysis]], or Confusion) was +Liable, according to which the least Body may be co-extended with the +greatest: Since in a mixt Body wherein before the Elements were +Mingl'd there was, for Instance, but one pound of water to ten +thousand of Earth, yet according to them there must not be the least +part of that Compound, that Consisted not as well of Earth, as water. +But I insist, Perhaps, too long (sayes _Eleutherius_) upon the proofs +afforded me by the Nature of Mistion: Wherefore I will but name Two or +Three other Arguments; whereof the first shall be, that according to +_Aristotle_ himself, the motion of a mixt Body followes the Nature of +the Predominant Element, as those wherein the Earth prevails, tend +towards the Centre of heavy Bodies. And since many things make it +Evident, that in divers Mixt Bodies the Elementary Qualities are as +well Active, though not altogether so much so as in the Elements +themselves, it seems not reasonable to deny the actual Existence of +the Elements in those Bodies wherein they Operate. + +To which I shall add this Convincing Argument, that Experience +manifests, and _Aristotle_ Confesses it, that the _Miscibilia_ may be +again separated from a mixt Body, as is Obvious in the Chymical +Resolutions of Plants and Animalls, which could not be unless they did +actually retain their formes in it: For since, according to +_Aristotle_, and I think according to truth, there is but one common +Mass of all things, which he has been pleas'd to call _Materia Prima_; +And since tis not therefore the Matter but the Forme that Constitutes +and Discriminates Things, to say that the Elements remain not in a +Mixt Body, according to their Formes, but according to their Matter, +is not to say that they remain there at all; Since although those +Portions of Matter were Earth and water, &c. before they concurr'd, +yet the resulting Body being once Constituted, may as well be said to +be simple as any of the Elements, the Matter being confessedly of the +same Nature in all Bodies, and the Elementary Formes being according +to this _Hypothesis_ perish'd and abolish'd. + +And lastly, and if we will Consult Chymical Experiments, we shall find +the Advantages of the Chymical Doctrine above the Peripatetick Title +little less then Palpable. For in that Operation that Refiners call +Quartation, which they employ to purifie Gold, although three parts of +Silver be so exquisitely mingl'd by Fusion with a fourth Part of Gold +(whence the Operation is Denominated) that the resulting Mass acquires +severall new Qualities, by virtue of the Composition, and that there +is scarce any sensible part of it that is not Compos'd of both the +metalls; Yet if You cast this mixture into _Aqua Fortis_, the Silver +will be dissolv'd in the _Menstruum_, and the Gold like a dark or +black Powder will fall to the Bottom of it, and either Body may be +again reduc'd into such a Metal as it was before, which shews: that it +retain'd its Nature, notwithstanding its being mixt _per Minima_ with +the other: We likewise see, that though one part of pure Silver be +mingled with eight or ten Parts, or more, of Lead, yet the Fire will +upon the Cuppel easily and perfectly separate them again. And that +which I would have you peculiarly Consider on this Occasion is, that +not only in Chymicall Anatomies there is a Separation made of the +Elementary Ingredients, but that some Mixt Bodies afford a very much +greater Quantity of this or that Element or Principle than of another; +as we see, that Turpentine and Amber yield much more Oyl and Sulphur +than they do Water, whereas Wine, which is confess'd to be a perfectly +mixt Bodie, yields but a little Inflamable Spirit, or Sulphur, and not +much more Earth; but affords a vast proportion of Phlegm or water: +which could not be, if as the Peripateticks suppose, every, even of +the minutest Particles, were of the same nature with the whole, and +consequently did contain both Earth and Water, and Aire, and Fire; +Wherefore as to what _Aristotle_ principally, and almost only Objects, +that unless his Opinion be admitted, there would be no true and +perfect Mistion, but onely Aggregates or Heaps of contiguous +Corpuscles, which, though the Eye of Man cannot discerne, yet the Eye +of a _Lynx_ might perceive not to be of the same Nature with one +another and with their _Totum_, as the Nature of Mistion requires, if +he do not beg the Question, and make Mistion to consist in what other +Naturalists deny to be requisite to it, yet He at least objects That +as a great Inconvenience which I cannot take for such, till he have +brought as Considerable Arguments as I have propos'd to prove the +contrary, to evince that Nature makes other Mistions than such as I +have allowed, wherein the _Miscibilia_ are reduc'd into minute Parts, +and United as farr as sense can discerne: which if You will not grant +to be sufficient for a true Mistion, he must have the same Quarrel +with Nature her self, as with his Adversaries. + +Wherefore (Continues _Eleutherius_) I cannot but somewhat marvail that +_Carneades_ should oppose the Doctrine of the Chymist in a Particular, +wherein they do as well agree with his old Mistress, Nature, as +dissent from his old Adversary, _Aristotle_. + +I must not (replies _Carneades_) engage my self at present to examine +thorowly the Controversies concerning Mistion: And if there were no +third thing, but that I were reduc'd to embrace absolutely and +unreservedly either the Opinion of _Aristotle_, or that of the +Philosophers that went before him, I should look upon the latter, +which the Chymists have adopted, as the more defensible Opinion: But +because differing in the Opinions about the Elements from both +Parties, I think I can take a middle Course, and Discourse to you of +Mistion after a way that does neither perfectly agree, nor perfectly +disagree with either, as I will not peremptorily define, whether there +be not Cases wherein some _Phaenomena_ of Mistion seem to favour the +Opinion that the Chymists Patrons borrow'd of the Antients, I shall +only endeavour to shew You that there are some cases which may keep +the Doubt, which makes up my second General Consideration from being +unreasonable. + +I shall then freely acknowledge to You (sayes _Carneades_) that I am +not over well satisfi'd with the Doctrine that is ascribed to +_Aristotle_, concerning Mistion, especially since it teaches that the +four Elements may again be separated from the mixt Body; whereas if +they continu'd not in it, it would not be so much a Separation as a +Production. And I think the Ancient Philosophers that Preceded +_Aristotle_, and Chymists who have since receiv'd the same Opinion, do +speak of this matter more intelligibly, if not more probably, then the +Peripateticks: but though they speak Congruously enough, to their +believing, that there are a certain Number of Primogeneal Bodies, by +whose Concourse all those we call Mixts are Generated, and which in +the Destruction of mixt Bodies do barely part company, and recede from +one another, just such as they were when they came together; yet I, +who meet with very few Opinions that I can entirely Acquiesce in, +must confess to You that I am inclin'd to differ not only from the +_Aristotelians_, but from the old Philosophers and the Chymists, about +the Nature of Mistion: And if You will give me leave, I shall Briefly +propose to you my present Notion of it, provided you will look upon +it, not so much as an Assertion as an _Hypothesis_; in talking of +which I do not now pretend to propose and debate the whole Doctrine of +Mistion, but to shew that 'tis not Improbable, that sometimes mingl'd +substances may be so strictly united, that it doth not by the usuall +Operations of the Fire, by which Chymists are wont to suppose +themselves to have made the _Analyses_ of mixt Bodies, sufficiently +appear, that in such Bodies the _Miscibilia_ that concurr'd to make +them up do each of them retain its own peculiar Nature: and by the +_Spagyrists_ Fires may be more easily extricated and Recover'd, than +Alter'd, either by a Change of Texture in the Parts of the same +Ingredient, or by an Association with some parts of another Ingredient +more strict than was that of the parts of this or that _Miscibile_ +among themselves. At these words _Eleu._ having press'd him to do +what he propos'd, and promis'd to do what he desir'd; + +I consider then (resumes _Carneades_) that, not to mention those +improper Kinds of mistion, wherein _Homogeneous_ Bodies are Joyn'd, as +when Water is mingl'd with water, or two Vessels full of the same kind +of Wine with one another, the mistion I am now to Discourse of seems, +Generally speaking, to be but an Union _per Minima_ of any two or more +Bodies of differing Denominations; as when Ashes and Sand are +Colliquated into Glass or Antimony, and Iron into _Regulus Martis_, or +Wine and Water are mingl'd, and Sugar is dissolv'd in the Mixture. Now +in this general notion of Mistion it does not appear clearly +comprehended, that the _Miscibilia_ or Ingredients do in their small +Parts so retain their Nature and remain distinct in the Compound, that +they may thence by the Fire be again taken asunder: For though I deny +not that in some Mistions of certain permanent Bodies this Recovery of +the same Ingredients may be made, yet I am not convinc'd that it will +hold in all or even in most, or that it is necessarily deducible from +Chymicall Experiments, and the true Notion of Mistion. To explain +this a little, I assume, that Bodies may be mingl'd, and that very +durably, that are not Elementary or resolv'd [Errata: nor have been +resolved] into Elements or Principles that they may be mingl'd; as is +evident in the _Regulus_ of Colliquated Antimony, and Iron newly +mention'd; and in Gold Coyne, which lasts so many ages; wherein +generally the Gold is alloy'd by the mixture of a quantity, greater or +lesser, (in our Mints they use about a 12th. part) of either silver, +or Copper, or both. Next, I consider, that there being but one +Universal matter of things, as 'tis known that the _Aristotelians_ +themselves acknowledge, who call it _Materia Prima_ (about which +nevertheless I like not all their Opinions,) the Portions of this +matter seem to differ from One Another, but in certain Qualities or +Accidents, fewer or more; upon whose Account the Corporeal Substance +they belong to receives its Denomination, and is referr'd to this or +that particular sort of Bodies; so that if it come to lose, or be +depriv'd of those Qualities, though it ceases not to be a body, yet it +ceases from being that kind of Body as a Plant, or Animal; or Red, +Green, Sweet, Sowre, or the like. I consider that it very often +happens that the small parts of Bodies cohere together but by +immediate Contact and Rest; and that however, there are few Bodies +whose minute Parts stick so close together, to what cause soever their +Combination be ascrib'd, but that it is possible to meet with some +other Body, whose small Parts may get between them, and so dis-joyn +them; or may be fitted to cohere more strongly with some of them, then +those some do with the rest; or at least may be combin'd so closely +with them, as that neither the Fire, nor the other usual Instruments +of Chymical Anatomies will separate them. These things being promis'd, +I will not peremptorily deny, but that there may be some Clusters of +Particles, wherein the Particles are so minute, and the Coherence so +strict, or both, that when Bodies of Differing Denominations, and +consisting of such durable Clusters, happen to be mingl'd, though the +Compound Body made up of them may be very Differing from either of +the Ingredients, yet each of the little Masses or Clusters may so +retain its own Nature, as to be again separable, such as it was +before. As when Gold and Silver being melted together in a Due +Proportion (for in every Proportion, the Refiners will tell You that +the Experiment will not succeed) _Aqua Fortis_ will dissolve the +Silver, and leave the Gold untoucht; by which means, as you lately +noted, both the Metalls may be recover'd from the mixed Mass. But +(Continues _Carneades_) there are other Clusters wherein the Particles +stick not so close together, but that they may meet with Corpuscles of +another Denomination, which are dispos'd to be more closely United +with some of them, then they were among themselves. And in such case, +two thus combining Corpuscles losing that Shape, or Size, or Motion, +or other Accident, upon whose Account they were endow'd with such a +Determinate Quality or Nature, each of them really ceases to be a +Corpuscle of the same Denomination it was before; and from the +Coalition of these there may emerge a new Body, as really one, as +either of the Corpuscles was before they were mingl'd, or, if you +please, Confounded: Since this Concretion is really endow'd with its +own Distinct qualities, and can no more by the Fire, or any other +known way of _Analysis_, be divided again into the Corpuscles that at +first concurr'd to make it, than either of them could by the same +means be subdivided into other Particles. But (sayes _Eleutherius_) to +make this more intelligible by particular examples; If you dissolve +Copper in _Aqua Fortis_, or Spirit of Nitre, (for I remember not which +I us'd, nor do I think it much Material) You may by Crystalizing the +Solution Obtain a goodly Vitriol; which though by Virtue of the +Composition it have manifestly diverse Qualities, not to be met with +in either of the Ingredients, yet it seems that the Nitrous Spirits, +or at least many of them, may in this Compounded Mass retain their +former Nature; for having for tryal sake Distill'd this Vitrioll +Spirit, there came over store of Red Fumes, which by that Colour, by +their peculiar stinke, and by their Sourness, manifested themselves to +be, Nitrous Spirits; and that the remaining Calx continu'd Copper, I +suppose you'l easily beleeve. But if you dissolve _Minium_, which is +but Lead Powder'd by the Fire, in good Spirit of Vinager, and +Crystalize the Solution, you shall not only have a Saccharine Salt +exceedingly differing from both its Ingredients; but the Union of some +Parts of the _Menstruum_ with some of those of the Metal is so strict, +that the Spirit of Vinager seems to be, as such, destroy'd, since the +Saline Corpuscles have quite lost that acidity, upon whose Account the +Liquor was call'd Spirit of Vinager; nor can any such Acid Parts as +were put to the _Minium_ be Separated by any known way from the +_Saccharum Saturni_ resulting from them both; for not only there is no +Sowrness at all, but an admirable Sweetness to be tasted in the +Concretion; and not only I found not that Spirit of Wine, which +otherwise will immediately hiss when mingl'd with strong Spirit of +Vinager, would hiss being pour'd upon _Saccharum Saturni_, wherein yet +the Acid Salt of Vinager, did it Survive, may seem to be concentrated; +but upon the Distillation of _Saccharum Saturni_ by its Self I found +indeed a Liquor very Penetrant, but not at all Acid, and differing as +well in smell and other Qualities, as in tast, from the Spirit of +Vinager; which likewise seem'd to have left some of its Parts very +firmly united to the _Caput Mortuum_, which though of a Leaden Nature +was in smell, Colour, &c. differing from _Minium_; which brings into +my mind, that though two Powders, the one Blew, and the other Yellow, +may appear a Green mixture, without either of them losing its own +Colour, as a good Microscope has sometimes inform'd me; yet having +mingl'd _Minium_ and _Sal Armoniack_ in a requisite Proportion, and +expos'd them in a Glass Vessel to the Fire, the whole Mass became +White, and the Red Corpuscles were destroy'd; for though the Calcin'd +Lead was separable from the Salt, yet you'l easily beleeve it did not +part from it in the Forme of a Red Powder, such as was the _Minium_, +when it was put to the _Sal Armoniack_. I leave it also to be +consider'd, whether in Blood, and divers other Bodies, it be probable, +that each of the Corpuscles that concurr to make a Compound Body doth, +though some of them in some Cases may, retain its own Nature in it, +so that Chymsts [Transcriber's Note: Chymists] may Extricate each sort +of them from all the others, wherewith it concurr'd to make a Body of +one Denomination. + +I know there may be a Distinction betwixt Matter _Immanent_, when the +material Parts remain and retain their own Nature in the things +materiated, as some of the Schoolmen speak, (in which sence Wood, +Stones and Lime are the matter of a House,) and _Transient_, which in +the materiated thing is so alter'd, as to receive a new Forme, without +being capable of re-admitting again the Old. In which sence the +Friends of this Distinction say, that _Chyle_ is the matter of Blood, +and Blood that of a Humane Body, of all whose Parts 'tis presum'd to +be the Aliment. I know also that it may be said, that of material +Principles, some are _common_ to all mixt Bodies, as _Aristotles_ four +Elements, or the Chymists _Tria Prima_; others _Peculiar_, which +belong to this or that sort of Bodies; as Butter and a kind of whey +may be said to be the Proper Principles of Cream: and I deny not, but +that these Distinctions may in some Cases be of Use; but partly by +what I have said already, and partly by what I am to say, You may +easily enough guess in what sence I admit them, and discerne that in +such a sence they will either illustrate some of my Opinions, or at +least will not overthrow any of them. + +To prosecute then what I was saying before, I will add to this +purpose, That since the Major part of Chymists Credit, what those they +call Philosophers affirme of their Stone, I may represent to them, +that though when Common Gold and Lead are mingled Together, the Lead +may be sever'd almost un-alter'd from the Gold; yet if instead of Gold +a _Tantillum_ of the Red _Elixir_ be mingled with the Saturn, their +Union will be so indissoluble in the perfect Gold that will be +produc'd by it, that there is no known, nor perhaps no possible way of +separating the diffus'd _Elixir_ from the fixed Lead, but they both +Constitute a most permanent Body, wherein the Saturne seems to have +quite lost its Properties that made it be call'd Lead, and to have +been rather transmuted by the _Elixir_, then barely associated to it. +So that it seems not alwayes necessary, that the Bodies that are put +together _per minima_, should each retain its own Nature; So as when +the Mass it Self is dissipated by the Fire, to be more dispos'd to +re-appear in its Pristine Forme, then in any new one, which by a +stricter association of its Parts with those of some of the other +Ingredients of the _Compositum_, then with one another, it may have +acquired. + +And if it be objected, that unless the _Hypothesis_ I oppose be +admitted, in such Cases as I have proposed there would not be an Union +but a Destruction of mingled Bodies, which seems all one as to say, +that of such Bodies there is no mistion at all; I answer, that +_though_ the Substances that are mingl'd remain, only their Accidents +are Destroy'd, and _though_ we may with tollerable Congruity call them +_Miscibilia_, because they are Distinct Bodies before they are put +together, however afterwards they are so Confounded that I should +rather call them Concretions, or Resulting Bodies, than mixt ones; and +_though_, perhaps, some other and better Account may be propos'd, upon +which the name of mistion may remain; yet if what I have said be +thought Reason, I shall not wrangle about Words, though I think it +fitter to alter a Terme of Art, then reject a new Truth, because it +suits not with it. If it be also Objected that this Notion of mine, +concerning mixtion, though it may be allow'd, when Bodies already +Compounded are put to be mingl'd, yet it is not applicable to those +mixtions that are immediately made of the Elements, or Principles +themselves; I Answer in the first place, that I here Consider the +Nature of mixtion somewhat more Generally, then the Chymists, who yet +cannot deny that there are oftentimes Mixtures, and those very durable +ones, made of Bodies that are not Elementary. And in the next place, +that though it may be probably pretended that in those Mixtures that +are made immediately of the Bodies that are call'd Principles or +Elements, the mingl'd Ingredients may better retain their own Nature +in the Compounded Mass, and be more easily separated from thence; yet, +besides that it may be doubted, whether there be any such Primary +Bodies, I see not why the reason I alleadg'd, of the destructibility +of the Ingredients of Bodies in General, may not sometimes be +Applicable to Salt Sulphur or Mercury; 'till it be shewn upon what +account we are to believe them Priviledged. And however, (if you +please but to recall to mind, to what purpose I told you at First, I +meant to speak of Mistion at this Time) you will perhaps allow that +what I have hitherto Discoursed about it may not only give some Light +to the Nature of it in general (especially when I shall have an +Opportunity to Declare to you my thoughts on that subject more fully) +but may on some Occasions also be Serviceable to me in the Insuing +Part of this Discourse. + +But, to look back Now to that part of our Discourse, whence this +Excursion concerning Mistion has so long diverted us, though we there +Deduc'd, from the differing Substances obtained from a Plant nourished +only with Water, and from some other things, that it was not necessary +that nature should alwaies compound a Body at first of all such +differing bodies as the fire could afterwards make it afford; yet this +is not all that may be collected from those Experiments. For from +them there seems also Deducible something that Subverts an other +Foundation of the Chymical Doctrine. For since that (as we have seen) +out of fair Water alone, not only Spirit, but Oyle, and Salt, and +Earth may be Produced; It will follow that Salt and Sulphur are not +Primogeneal Bodies, and principles, since they are every Day made out +of plain Water by the Texture which the Seed or Seminal principle of +plants puts it into. And this would not perhaps seem so strange, if +through pride, or negligence, We were not Wont to Overlook the Obvious +and Familiar Workings of Nature; For if We consider what slight +Qualities they are that serve to denominate one of the _Tria Prima_, +We shall find that Nature do's frequently enough work as great +Alterations in divers parcells of matter: For to be readily dissoluble +in water, is enough to make the body that is so, passe for a Salt. And +yet I see not why from a new shufling and Disposition of the Component +Particles of a body, it should be much harder for Nature to compose a +body dissoluble in Water, of a portion of Water that was not so +before, then of the Liquid substance of an Egg, which will easily mix +with Water, to produce by the bare warmth of a hatching Hen, Membrans, +Feathers, Tendons, and other parts, that are not dissoluble in Water +as that Liquid Substance was: Nor is the Hardness and Brittleness of +Salt more difficult for Nature to introduce into such a yielding body +as Water, then it is for her to make the Bones of a Chick out of the +tender Substance of the Liquors of an Egg. But instead of prosecuting +this consideration, as I easily might, I will proceed, as soon as I +have taken notice of an objection that lies in my Way. For I easily +foresee it will be alledged, that the above mentioned Examples are all +taken from Plants, and Animals, in whom the Matter is Fashioned by the +Plastick power of the seed, or something analogous thereunto. Whereas +the Fire do's not act like any of the Seminal Principles, but +destroyes them all, when they come within its Reach. But to this I +shall need at present to make but this easy Answer, That whether it be +a Seminal Principle, or any other which fashions that Matter after +those various manners I have mentioned to You, yet 'tis Evident, that +either by the Plastick principle Alone, or that and Heat Together, or +by some Other cause capable to contex the matter, it is yet possible +that the matter may be Anew contriv'd into such Bodies. And 'tis only +for the Possibility of this that I am now contending. + + + + +THE + +SCEPTICAL CHYMIST. + +_The Third Part._ + + +What I have hitherto Discours'd, _Eleutherius_, (sayes his Friend to +Him) has, I presume, shew'n You, that a Considering Man may very well +question the Truth of those very Suppositions which Chymists as well +as Peripateticks, without proving, take for granted; and upon which +Depends the Validity of the Inferences they draw from their +Experiments. Wherefore having dispach't that, which though a Chymist +Perhaps will not, yet I do, look upon as the most Important, as well +as Difficult, part of my Task, it will now be Seasonable for me to +proceed to the Consideration of the Experiments themselves, wherein +they are wont so much to Triumph and Glory. And these will the rather +deserve a serious Examination, because those that Alledge them are +wont to do it with so much Confidence and Ostentation, that they have +hitherto impos'd upon almost all Persons, without excepting +Philosophers and Physitians themselves, who have read their Books, or +heard them talk. For some learned Men have been content rather to +beleeve what they so boldly Affirm, then be at the trouble and charge, +to try whether or no it be True. Others again, who have Curiosity +enough to Examine the Truth of what is Averr'd, want Skill and +Opportunity to do what they Desire. And the Generality even of Learned +Men, seeing the Chymists (not contenting themselves with the Schools +to amuse the World with empty words) Actually Perform'd divers strange +things, and, among those Resolve Compound Bodies into several +Substances not known by former Philosophers to be contain'd in them: +Men I say, seeing these Things, and Hearing with what Confidence +Chymists Averr the Substances Obtain'd from Compound Bodies by the +Fire to be the True Elements, or, (as they speak) Hypostaticall +Principles of them, are forward to think it but Just as well as +Modest, that according to the _Logicians_ Rule, the Skilfull _Artists_ +should be Credited in their own Art; Especially when those things +whose Nature they so Confidently take upon them to teach others are +not only Productions of their own Skill, but such as others Know not +else what to make of. + +But though (Continues _Carneades_) the Chymists have been able upon +some or other of the mention'd Acounts, not only to Delight but Amaze, +and almost to bewitch even Learned Men; yet such as You and I, who are +not unpractis'd in the Trade, must not suffer our Selves to be impos'd +upon by hard Names, or bold Assertions; nor to be dazl'd by that Light +which should but assist us to discern things the more clearly. It is +one thing to be able to help Nature to produce things, and another +thing to Understand well the Nature of the things produc'd. As we +see, that many Persons that can beget Children, are for all that as +Ignorant of the Number and Nature of the parts, especially the +internal ones, that Constitute a Childs Body, as they that never were +Parents. Nor do I Doubt, but you'l excuse me, if as I thank the +Chymists for the things their _Analysis_ shews me, so I take the +Liberty to consider how many, and what they are, without being +astonish'd at them; as if, whosoever hath Skill enough to shew men +some new thing of his own making, had the Right to make them believe +whatsoever he pleases to tell them concerning it. + +Wherefore I will now proceed to my Third General Consideration, which +is, That it does not appear, that _Three_ is precisely and Universally +the Number of the Distinct Substances or Elements, whereinto mixt +Bodies are resoluble by the Fire; I mean that 'tis not prov'd by +Chymists, that all the Compound Bodies, which are granted to be +perfectly mixt, are upon their Chymical _Analysis_ divisible each of +them into just Three Distinct Substances, neither more nor less, +which are wont to be lookt upon as Elementary, or may as well be +reputed so as those that are so reputed. Which last Clause I subjoyne, +to prevent your Objecting, that some of the Substances I may have +occasion to mention by and by, are not perfectly Homogeneous, nor +Consequently worthy of the name of Principles. For that which I am now +to consider, is, into how many Differing Substances, that may +plausibly pass for the Elementary Ingredients of a mix'd Body, it may +be Analyz'd by the Fire; but whether each of these be un-compounded, I +reserve to examine, when I shall come to the next General +Consideration; where I hope to evince, that the Substances which the +Chymists not only allow, but assert to be the Component Principles of +the Body resolv'd into them, are not wont to be uncompounded. + +Now there are two Kind of Arguments (pursues _Carneades_) which may be +brought to make my Third Proposition seem probable; one sort of them +being of a more Speculative Nature, and the other drawn from +Experience. To begin then with the first of these. + +But as _Carneades_ was going to do as he had said, _Eleutherius_ +interrupted him, by saying with a somewhat smiling countenance; + +If you have no mind I should think, that the Proverb, _That Good Wits +have bad Memories_, is Rational and Applicable to You, You must not +Forget now you are upon the Speculative Considerations, that may +relate to the Number of the Elements; that your Self did not long +since Deliver and Concede some Propositions in Favour of the Chymical +Doctrine, which I may without disparagement to you think it uneasie, +even for _Carneades_ to answer. + +I have not, replies he, Forgot the Concessions you mean; but I hope +too, that you have not forgot neither with what Cautions they were +made, when I had not yet assumed the Person I am now sustaining. But +however, I shall to content You, so discourse of my Third general +consideration, as to let You see, That I am not Unmindful of the +things you would have me remember. + +To talk then again according to such principles as I then made use of, +I shall represent, that if it be granted rational to suppose, as I +then did, that the Elements consisted at first of certain small and +primary Coalitions of the minute Particles of matter into Corpuscles +very numerous, and very like each other, It will not be absurd to +conceive, that such primary Clusters may be of far more sorts then +three or five; and consequently, that we need not suppose, that in +each of the compound Bodies we are treating of there should be found +just three sorts of such primitive Coalitions, as we are speaking of. + +And if according to this Notion we allow a considerable number of +differing Elements, I may add, that it seems very possible, that to +the constitution of one sort of mixt Bodies two kinds of Elementary +ones may suffice (as I lately Exemplify'd to you, in that most durable +Concrete, Glass,) another sort of Mixts may be compos'd of three +Elements, another of four, another of five, and another perhaps of +many more. So that according to this Notion, there can be no +determinate number assign'd, as that of the Elements; of all sorts of +compound Bodies whatsoever, it being very probable that some Concretes +consist of fewer, some of more Elements. Nay, it does not seem +Impossible, according to these Principles, but that there may be two +sorts of Mixts, whereof the one may not have any of all the same +Elements as the other consists of; as we oftentimes see two words, +whereof the one has not any one of the Letters to be met with in the +other; or as we often meet with diverse Electuaries, in which no +Ingredient (except Sugar) is common to any two of them. I will not +here debate whether there may not be a multitude of these Corpuscles, +which by reason of their being primary and simple, might be called +Elementary, if several sorts of them should convene to compose any +Body, which are as yet free, and neither as yet contex'd and entangl'd +with primary Corpuscles of other kinds, but remains liable to be +subdu'd and fashion'd by Seminal Principles, or the like powerful and +Transmuting Agent, by whom they may be so connected among themselves, +or with the parts of one of the bodies, as to make the compound +Bodies, whose Ingredients they are, resoluble into more, or other +Elements then those that Chymists have hitherto taken notice of. + +To all which I may add, that since it appears, by what I observ'd to +you of the permanency of Gold and Silver, that even Corpuscles that +are not of an Elementary but compounded Nature, may be of so durable a +Texture, as to remain indissoluble in the ordinary _Analysis_ that +Chymists make of Bodies by the Fire; 'Tis not impossible but that, +though there were but three Elements, yet there may be a greater +number of Bodies, which the wonted wayes of Anatomy will not discover +to be no Elementary Bodies. + +But, sayes _Carneades_, having thus far, in compliance to you, talk't +conjecturally of the number of the Elements, 'tis now time to +consider, not of how many Elements it is possible that Nature may +compound mix'd Bodies, but (at least as farr as the ordinary +Experiments of Chymists will informe us) of how many she doth make +them up. + +I say then, that it does not by these sufficiently appear to me, that +there is any one determinate number of Elements to be uniformly met +with in all the several sorts of Bodies allow'd to be perfectly mixt. + +And for the more distinct proof of this Proposition, I shall in the +first place Represent, That there are divers Bodies, which I could +never see by fire divided into so many as three Elementary substances. +I would fain (as I said lately to _Philoponus_) see that fixt and +noble Metal we call Gold separated into Salt, Sulphur and Mercury: and +if any man will submit to a competent forfeiture in case of failing, I +shall willingly in case of prosperous successe pay both for the +Materials and the charges of such an Experiment. 'Tis not, that after +what I have try'd my self I dare peremptorily deny, that there may out +of Gold be extracted a certain substance, which I cannot hinder +Chymists from calling its Tincture or Sulphur; and which leaves the +remaining Body depriv'd of its wonted colour. Nor am I sure, that +there cannot be drawn out of the same Metal a real quick and running +Mercury. But for the Salt of Gold, I never could either see it, or be +satisfied that there was ever such a thing separated, _in rerum +natura_, by the relation of any credible eye witnesse. And for the +several Processes that Promise that effect, the materials that must be +wrought upon are somewhat too pretious and costly to be wasted upon so +groundlesse adventures, of which not only the successe is doubtful, +but the very possibility is not yet demonstrated. Yet that which most +deterres me from such tryalls, is not their chargeablenesse, but their +unsatisfactorinesse, though they should succeed. For the Extraction of +this golden Salt being in Chymists Processes prescribed to be effected +by corrosive _Menstruums_, or the Intervention of other Saline Bodies, +it will remain doubtful to a wary person, whether the Emergent Salt be +that of the Gold it self; or of the Saline Bodies or Spirits employ'd +to prepare it; For that such disguises of Metals do often impose upon +Artists, I am sure _Eleutherius_ is not so much a stranger to +Chymistry as to ignore. I would likewise willingly see the three +principles separated from the pure sort of Virgin-Sand, from +_Osteocolla_, from refined Silver, from Quicksilver, freed from its +adventitious Sulphur, from _Venetian_ Talk [Transcriber's Note: +Talck], which by long detention in an extreme _Reverberium_, I could +but divide into smaller Particles, (not the constituent principles,) +Nay, which, when I caused it to be kept, I know not how long, in a +Glasse-house fire, came out in the Figure it's Lumps had when put in, +though alter'd to an almost _Amethystine_ colour; and from divers +other Bodies, which it were now unnecessary to enumerate. For though I +dare not absolutely affirme it to be impossible to Analyze these +Bodies into their _Tria Prima_; yet because, neither my own +Experiments, nor any competent Testimony hath hitherto either taught +me how such an _Analysis_ may be made, or satisfy'd me, that it hath +been so, I must take the Liberty to refrain from believing it, till +the Chymists prove it, or give us intelligible and practicable +Processes to performe what they pretend. For whilst they affect that +_AEnigmatical_ obscurity with which they are wont to puzzle the Readers +of their divulg'd Processes concerning the Analyticall Preparation of +Gold or Mercury, they leave wary persons much unsatisfyed whether or +no the differing Substances, they promise to produce, be truly the +Hypostatical Principles, or only some intermixtures of the divided +Bodies with those employ'd to work upon them, as is Evident in the +seeming Crystalls of Silver, and those of Mercury; which though by +some inconsiderately supposed to be the Salts of those Metalls, are +plainly but mixtures of the Metalline Bodies, with the Saline parts of +_Aqua fortis_ or other corrosive Liquors; as is evident by their being +reducible into Silver or Quicksilver, as they were before. + +I cannot but Confesse (saith _Eleutherius_) that though Chymists may +upon probable grounds affirm themselves Able to obtain their _Tria +Prima_, from Animals and Vegetables, yet I have often wondred that +they should so confidently pretend also to resolve all Metalline and +other Mineral bodies into Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury. For 'tis a +saying almost Proverbial, among those Chymists themselves that are +accounted Philosophers; and our famous Countryman _Roger Bacon_ has +particularly adopted it; that _Facilius est aurum facere quam +destruere_. And I fear, with You, that Gold is not the only Mineral +from which Chymists are wont fruitlessly to attempt the separating of +their three Principles. I know indeed (continues _Eleutherius_) that +the Learned _Sennertus_, even in that book where he takes not upon him +to play the Advocate for the Chymists, but the Umpier betwixt them and +the Peripateticks, expresses himself roundly, thus;[11] _Salem omnibus +inesse (mixtis scilicet) & ex iis fieri posse omnibus in +resolutionibus Chymicis versatis notissimum est._ And in the next +Page, _Quod de sale dixi_, saies he, _Idem de Sulphure dici potest_: +but by his favour I must see very good proofs, before I believe such +general Assertions, how boldly soever made; and he that would convince +me of their truth, must first teach me some true and practicable way +of separating Salt and Sulphur from Gold, Silver, and those many +different sort of Stones, that a violent Fire does not bring to Lime, +but to Fusion; and not only I, for my own part, never saw any of those +newly nam'd Bodies so resolved; but _Helmont_, who was much better +vers'd in the Chymical Anatomizing of Bodies then either _Sennertus_ +or _I_, has somewhere this resolute passage;[12] _Scio_ (saies he) _ex +arena, silicibus & saxis, non Calcariis, nunquam Sulphur aut +Mercurium trahi posse_; Nay _Quercetanus_ himself, though the grand +stickler for the _Tria Prima_, has this Confession of the +Irresolubleness of Diamonds;[13] _Adamas_ (saith he) _omnium factus +Lapidum solidissimus ac durissimus ex arctissima videlicet trium +principiorum unione ac Cohaerentia, quae nulla arte separationis in +solutionem principiorum suorum spiritualium disjungi potest._ And +indeed, pursues _Eleutherius_, I was not only glad, but somewhat +surprized to find you inclined to Admit that there may be a Sulphur +and a running Mercury drawn from Gold; for unlesse you do (as your +expression seem'd to intimate) take the word Sulphur in a very loose +sence, I must doubt whether our Chymists can separate a Sulphur from +Gold: For when I saw you make the experiment that I suppose invited +you to speak as you did, I did not judge the golden Tincture to be the +true principle of Sulphur extracted from the body, but an aggregate of +some such highly colour'd parts of the Gold, as a Chymist would have +called a _Sulphur incombustible_, which in plain English seems to be +little better than to call it a Sulphur and no Sulphur. And as for +Metalline Mercuries, I had not _wondred_ at it, though you had +expressed much more severity in speaking of them: For I remember that +having once met an old and famous Artist, who had long been (and still +is) Chymist to a great Monarch, the repute he had of a very honest man +invited me to desire him to tell me ingenuously whether or no, among +his many labours, he had ever really extracted a true and running +Mercury out of Metalls; to which question he freely replyed, that he +had never separated a true Mercury from any Metal; nor had ever seen +it really done by any man else. And though Gold is, of all Metalls, +That, whose Mercury Chymists have most endeavoured to extract, and +which they do the most brag they have extracted; yet the Experienced +_Angelus Sala_, in his _Spagyrical_ account of the seven _Terrestrial_ +Planets (that is the seven metalls) affords us this memorable +Testimony, to, our present purpose; _Quanquam_ (saies he) _&c. +experientia tamen (quam stultorum Magistrum [Errata: Magistram] +vocamus) certe Comprobavit, Mercurium auri adeo fixum, maturum, & +arcte cum reliquis ejusdem corporis substantiis conjungi, ut nullo +modo retrogredi possit._ To which he sub-joynes, that he himself had +seen much Labour spent upon that Design, but could never see any such +Mercury produc'd thereby. And I easily beleeve what he annexes; _that +he had often seen Detected many tricks and Impostures of Cheating_ +Alchymists. For, the most part of those that are fond of such +_Charlatans_, being unskilfull or Credulous, or both, 'tis very easie +for such as have some Skill, much craft, more boldness, and no +Conscience, to impose upon them; and therefore, though many profess'd +_Alchymists_, and divers Persons of Quality have told me that they +have made or seen the Mercury of Gold, or of this or that other Metal; +yet I have been still apt to fear that either these persons have had a +Design to deceive others; or have not had Skill and circumspection +enough to keep themselves from being deceived. + +[Footnote 11: Sennert. lib. de cons. & dissens. pag. 147.] + +[Footnote 12: Helmon. pag. 409.] + +[Footnote 13: Quercet. apud Billich. in Thessalo redivivo. pag. 99.] + +You recall to my mind (sayes _Carneades_) a certain Experiment I once +devis'd, innocently to deceive some persons, and let them and others +see how little is to be built upon the affirmation of those that are +either unskillfull or unwary, when they tell us they have seen +_Alchymists_ make the Mercury of this or that Metal; and to make this +the more evident, I made my Experiment much more Slight, Short and +Simple, than the Chymists usuall processes to Extract Metalline +Mercuries; which Operations being commonly more Elaborate and +Intricate, and requiring a much more longer time, give the +_Alchymists_ a greater opportunity to Cozen, and Consequently are more +Obnoxious to the Spectators suspicion. And that wherein I endeavour'd +to make my Experiment look the more like a True _Analysis_, was, that +I not only pretended as well as others to extract a Mercury from the +Metal I wrought upon, but likewise to separate a large proportion of +manifest and inflamable Sulphur. I take then, of the filings of +Copper, about a Drachme or two, of common sublimate, powder'd, the +like Weight, and _Sal Armoniack_ near about as much as of Sublimate; +these three being well mingl'd together I put into a small Vial with a +long neck, or, which I find better, into a Glass Urinall, which +(having first stopped it with Cotton) to avoid the Noxious Fumes, I +approach by degrees to a competent Fire of well kindled coals, or +(which looks better, but more endangers the Glass) to the Flame of a +candle; and after a while the bottom of the Glass being held Just upon +the Kindled Coals, or in the flame, You may in about a quarter of an +Hour, or perchance in halfe that time, perceive in the Bottom of the +Glass some running Mercury; and if then You take away the Glass and +break it, You shall find a Parcel of Quicksilver, Perhaps altogether, +and perhaps part of it in the pores of the Solid Mass; You shall find +too, that the remaining Lump being held to the Flame of the Candle +will readily burn with a greenish Flame, and after a little while +(perchance presently) will in the Air Acquire a Greenish Blew, which +being the Colour that is ascrib'd to Copper, when its Body is +unlocked, 'Tis easie to perswade Men that this is the True Sulphur of +_Venus_, especially since not only the Salts may be Suppos'd partly to +be Flown away, and partly to be Sublim'd to the upper part of the +Glass, whose inside (will Commonly appear Whitened by them) but the +Metal seems to be quite Destroy'd, the Copper no longer appearing in a +Metalline Forme, but almost in that of a Resinous Lump; whereas indeed +the Case is only this, That the Saline parts of the Sublimate, +together with the _Sal Armoniack_, being excited and actuated by the +Vehement heat, fall upon the Copper, (which is a Metal they can more +easily corrode, than silver) whereby the small parts of the Mercury +being freed from the Salts that kept them asunder, and being by the +heat tumbled up and down after many Occursions, they Convene into a +Conspicuous Mass of Liquor; and as for the Salts, some of the more +Volatile of them Subliming to the upper part of the Glass, the others +Corrode the Copper, and uniting themselves with it do strangely alter +and Disguise its Metallick Form, and compose with it a new kind of +Concrete inflamable like Sulphur; concerning which I shall not now say +any thing, since I can Referr You to the Diligent Observations which I +remember Mr. _Boyle_ has made concerning this Odde kind of +Verdigrease. But Continues _Carneades_ smiling, you know I was not +cut out for a Mountebank, and therefore I will hasten to resume the +person of a Sceptick, and take up my discourse where You diverted me +from prosecuting it. + +In the next place, then, I consider, that, as there are some Bodies +which yield not so many as the three Principles; so there are many +others, that in their Resolution Exhibite more principles than three; +and that therefore the Ternary Number is not that of the Universal and +Adequate Principles of Bodies. If you allow of the Discourse I ately +[Errata: lately] made You, touching the primary Associations of the +small Particles of matter, You will scarce think it improbable, that +of such Elementary Corpuscles there may be more sorts then either +three, or four, or five. And if you will grant, what will scarce be +deny'd, that Corpuscles of a compounded Nature may in all the wonted +Examples of Chymists pass for Elementary, I see not, why you should +think it impossible, that as _Aqua Fortis_, or _Aqua Regis_ will make +a Separation of colliquated Silver and Gold, though the Fire cannot; +so there may be some Agent found out so subtile and so powerfull, at +least in respect of those particular compounded Corpuscles, as to be +able to resolve them into those more simple ones, whereof they +consist, and consequently encrease the number of the Distinct +Substances, whereinto the mixt Body has been hitherto thought +resoluble. And if that be true, which I recited to you a while ago out +of _Helmont_ concerning the Operations of the _Alkahest_, which +divides Bodies into other Distinct Substances, both as to number and +Nature, then the Fire does; it will not a little countenance my +Conjecture. But confining our selves to such wayes of Analyzing mix'd +Bodies, as are already not unknown to Chymists, it may without +Absurdity be Question'd, whether besides those grosser Elements of +Bodies, which they call Salt Sulphur and Mercury, there may not be +Ingredients of a more Subtile Nature, which being extreamly little, +and not being in themselves Visible, may escape unheeded at the +Junctures of the Destillatory Vessels, though never so carefully +Luted. For let me observe to you one thing, which though not taken +notice of by Chymists, may be a notion of good Use in divers Cases to +a Naturalist, that we may well suspect, that there may be severall +Sorts of Bodies, which are not Immediate Objects of any one of our +senses; since we See, that not only those little Corpuscles that issue +out of the Loadstone, and perform the Wonders for which it is justly +admired; But the _Effluviums_ of Amber, Jet, and other Electricall +Concretes, though by their effects upon the particular Bodies dispos'd +to receive their Action, they seem to fall under the Cognizance of our +Sight, yet do they not as Electrical immediately Affect any of our +senses, as do the bodies, whether minute or greater, that we See, +Feel, Taste, &c. But, continues _Carneades_, because you may expect I +should, as the Chymists do, consider only the sensible Ingredients of +Mixt Bodies, let us now see, what Experience will, even as to these, +suggest to us. + +It seems then questionable enough, whether from Grapes variously +order'd there may not be drawn more distinct Substances by the help of +the Fire, then from most other mixt Bodies. For the Grapes themselves +being dryed into Raysins and distill'd, will (besides _Alcali_, +Phlegm, and Earth) yield a considerable quantity of an Empyreumatical +Oyle, and a Spirit of a very different nature from that of Wine. Also +the unfermented Juice of Grapes affords other distil'd Liquors then +Wine doth. The Juice of Grapes after fermentation will yield a +_Spiritus Ardens_; which if competently rectifyed will all burn away +without leaving any thing remaining. The same fermented Juice +degenerating into Vinager, yields an acid and corroding Spirit. The +same Juice turn'd [Errata: tunned] up, armes it self with Tartar; out +of which may be separated, as out of other Bodies, Phlegme, Spirit, +Oyle, Salt and Earth: not to mention what Substances may be drawn from +the Vine it self, probably differing from those which are separated +from Tartar, which is a body by it self, that has few resemblers in +the World. And I will further consider that what force soever you will +allow this instance, to evince that there are some Bodies that yield +more Elements then others, it can scarce be deny'd but that the Major +part of bodies that are divisible into Elements, yield more then +three. For, besides those which the Chymists are pleased to name +Hypostatical, most bodies contain two others, Phlegme and Earth, which +concurring as well as the rest to the constitution of Mixts, and being +as generally, if not more, found in their _Analysis_, I see no +sufficient cause why they should be excluded from the number of +Elements. Nor will it suffice to object, as the _Paracelsians_ are +wont to do, that the _Tria prima_ are the most useful Elements, and +the Earth and Water but worthlesse and unactive; for Elements being +call'd so in relation to the constituting of mixt Bodies, it should be +upon the account of its Ingrediency, not of its use, that any thing +should be affirmed or denyed to be an Element: and as for the +pretended uselessness of Earth and Water, it would be consider'd that +usefulnesse, or the want of it, denotes only a Respect or Relation to +us; and therefore the presence, or absence of it, alters not the +Intrinsick nature of the thing. The hurtful Teeth of Vipers are for +ought I know useless to us, and yet are not to be deny'd to be parts +of their Bodies; and it were hard to shew of what greater Use to Us, +then Phlegme and Earth, are those Undiscern'd Stars, which our New +_Telescopes_ discover to Us, in many Blanched places of the Sky; and +yet we cannot but acknowledge them Constituent and Considerably great +parts of the Universe. Besides that whether or no the Phlegme and +Earth be immediately Useful, but necessary to constitute the Body +whence they are separated; and consequently, if the mixt Body be not +Useless to us, those constituent parts, without which it could not +have been That mixt Body, may be said not to be Unuseful to Us: and +though the Earth and Water be not so conspicuously Operative (after +separation) as the other three more active Principles, yet in this +case it will not be amiss to remember the lucky Fable of _Menemius +Aggrippa_, of the dangerous Sedition of the Hands and Legs, and other +more busie parts of the Body, against the seemingly unactive Stomack. +And to this case also we may not unfitly apply that Reasoning of an +Apostle, to another purpose; _If the Ear shall say, because I Am not +the Eye, I am not of the Body; Is it therefore not of the Body? If the +whole Body were Eye, where were the Hearing? If the whole were for +hearing, where the smelling?_ In a word, since Earth and water appear, +as clearly and as generally as the other Principles upon the +resolution of Bodies, to be the Ingredients whereof they are made up; +and since they are useful, if not immediately to us, or rather to +Physitians, to the Bodies they constitute, and so though in somewhat a +remoter way, are serviceable to us; to exclude them out of the number +of Elements, is not to imitate Nature. + +[Transcriber's Note: See the printer's note (beginning "The Authors +constant Absence") at the end of the book for material that the +printer inadvertently omitted from this page.] + +But, pursues _Carneades_, though I think it Evident, that Earth and +Phlegme are to be reckon'd among the Elements of most Animal and +Vegetable Bodies, yet 'tis not upon that Account alone, that I think +divers Bodies resoluble into more Substances then three. For there are +two Experiments, that I have sometimes made to shew, that at least +some Mixts are divisible into more Distinct Substances then five. The +one of these Experiments, though 'twill be more seasonable for me to +mention it fully anon, yet in the mean time, I shall tell you thus +much of it, That out of two Distill'd Liquors, which pass for +Elements of the Bodies whence they are drawn, I can without Addition +make a true Yellow and Inflamable Sulphur, notwithstanding that the +two Liquors remain afterwards Distinct. Of the other Experiment, which +perhaps will not be altogether unworthy your Notice, I must now give +you this particular Account. I had long observ'd, that by the +Destillation of divers Woods, both in Ordinary, and some unusuall +sorts of Vessels, the Copious Spirit that came over, had besides a +strong tast, to be met with in the Empyreumaticall Spirits of many +other Bodies, an Acidity almost like that of Vinager: Wherefore I +suspected, that though the sowrish Liquor Distill'd, for Instance, +from Box-Wood, be lookt upon by Chymists as barely the Spirit of it, +and therefore as one single Element or Principle; yet it does really +consist of two Differing Substances, and may be divisible into them; +and consequently, that such Woods and other Mixts as abound with such +a Vinager, may be said to consist of one Element or Principle, more +then the Chymists as yet are Aware of; Wherefore bethinking my self, +how the separation of these two Spirits might be made, I Quickly +found, that there were several wayes of Compassing it. But that of +them which I shall at present mention, was this, Having Destill'd a +Quantity of Box-Wood _per se_, and slowly rectify'd the sowrish +Spirit, the better to free it both from Oyle and Phlegme, I cast into +this Rectify'd Liquor a convenient Quantity of Powder'd Coral, +expecting that the Acid part of the Liquor would Corrode the Coral, +and being associated with it would be so retain'd by it, that the +other part of the Liquor, which was not of an acid Nature, nor fit to +fasten upon the Corals, would be permitted to ascend alone. Nor was I +deceiv'd in my Expectation; For having gently abstracted the Liquor +from the Coralls, there came over a Spirit of a Strong smell, and of a +tast very piercing, but without any sourness; and which was in diverse +qualities manifestly different, not only from a Spirit of Vinager, but +from some Spirit of the same Wood, that I purposely kept by me without +depriving it of its acid Ingredient. And to satisfy you, that these +two Substances were of a very differing Nature, I might informe you +of several Tryals that I made, but must not name some of them, because +I cannot do so without making some unseasonable discoveries. Yet this +I shall tell you at present, that the sowre Spirit of _Box_, not only +would, as I just now related, dissolve Corals, which the other would +not fasten on, but being pour'd upon Salt of Tartar would immediately +boile and hiss, whereas the other would lye quietly upon it. The acid +Spirit pour'd upon _Minium_ made a Sugar of Lead, which I did not find +the other to do; some drops of this penetrant spirit being mingl'd +with some drops of the blew Syrup of Violets seem'd rather to dilute +then otherwise alter the colour; whereas the Acid Spirit turn'd the +syrup of a reddish colour, and would probably have made it of as pure +a red as Acid Salts are wont to do, had not its operation been +hindered by the mixture of the other Spirit. A few drops of the +compound Spirit being Shaken into a pretty quantity of the infusion of +_Lignum Nephriticum_, presently destroyed all the blewish colour, +whereas the other Spirit would not take it away. To all which it +might be added, that having for tryals sake pour'd fair water upon the +Corals that remained in the bottom of the glass wherein I had +rectifyed the double spirit (if I may so call it) that was first drawn +from the Box, I found according to my expectation that the Acid Spirit +had really dissolved the Corals, and had coagulated with them. For by +the affusion of fair Water, I Obtain'd a Solution, which (to note that +singularity upon the bye) was red, whence the Water being evaporated, +there remained a soluble Substance much like the Ordinary Salt of +Coral, as Chymists are pleas'd to call that Magistery of Corals, which +they make by dissolving them in common spirit of Vinager, and +abstracting the _Menstruum ad Siccitatem_. I know not whether I should +subjoine, on this occasion, that the simple spirit of Box, if Chymists +will have it therefore Saline because it has a strong tast, will +furnish us with a new kind of Saline Bodies, differing from those +hitherto taken notice of. For whereas of the three chief sorts of +Salts, the Acid, the Alcalizate, and the Sulphureous, there is none +that seems to be friends with both the other two, as I may, e're it +be long, have occasion to shew; I did not find but that the simple +spirit of Box did agree very well (at least as farr as I had occasion +to try it) both with the Acid and the other Salts. For though it would +lye very quiet with salt of Tartar, Spirit of Urine, or other bodies, +whose Salts were either of an Alcalizate or fugitive Nature; yet did +not the mingling of Oyle of Vitriol it self produce any hissing or +Effervescence, which you know is wont to ensue upon the Affusion of +that highly Acid Liquor upon either of the Bodies newly mentioned. + +I think my self, sayes _Eleutherius_, beholden to you, for this +Experiment; not only because I forsee you will make it helpful to you +in the Enquiry you are now upon, but because it teaches us a Method, +whereby we may prepare a numerous sort of new spirits, which though +more simple then any that are thought Elementary, are manifestly +endow'd with peculiar and powerfull qualities, some of which may +probably be of considerable use in Physick, as well alone, as +associated with other things; as one may hopefully guess by the +redness of that Solution your sour Spirit made of Corals, and by some +other circumstances of your Narrative. And suppose (pursues +_Eleutherius_) that you are not so confin'd, for the separation of the +Acid parts of these compound Spirits from the other, to employ Corals; +but that you may as well make use of any Alcalizate Salt, or of +Pearls, or Crabs eyes, or any other Body, upon which common Spirit of +Vinager will easily work, and, to speak in an _Helmontian_ Phrase, +Exantlate it self. + +I have not yet tryed, sayes _Carneades_, of what use the mention'd +liquors may be in Physick, either as Medicines or as _Menstruums_: But +I could mention now (and may another time) divers of the tryals that I +made to satisfy my self of the difference of these two Liquors. But +that, as I allow your thinking what you newly told me about Corals, I +presume you will allow me, from what I have said already, to deduce +this Corollary; That there are divers compound bodies, which may be +resolv'd into four such differing Substances, as may as well merit the +name of Principles, as those to which the Chymists freely give it. For +since they scruple not to reckon that which I call the compound +Spirit of Box, for the spirit, or as others would have it, the Mercury +of that Wood, I see not, why the Acid liquor, and the other, should +not each of them, especially that last named, be lookt upon as more +worthy to be called an Elementary Principle; since it must needs be of +a more simple nature then the Liquor, which was found to be divisible +into that, and the Acid Spirit. And this further use (continues +_Carneades_) may be made of our experiment to my present purpose, that +it may give us a rise to suspect, that since a Liquor reputed by the +Chymists to be, without dispute, Homogeneous, is by so slight a way +divisible into two distinct and more simple Ingredients, some more +skilful or happier Experimenter then I may find a way either further +to divide one of these Spirits, or to resolve some or other, if not +all, of those other Ingredients of mixt Bodies, that have hitherto +pass'd among Chymists for their Elements or Principles. + + + + +THE + +SCEPTICAL CHYMIST. + +_The Fourth Part._ + + +And thus much (sayes _Carneades_) may suffice to be said of the +_Number_ of the Distinct substances separable from mixt Bodies by the +Fire: Wherefore I now proceed to consider the _nature_ of them, and +shew you, That though they seem _Homogeneous_ Bodies, yet have they +not the purity and simplicity that is requisite to Elements. And I +should immediately proceed to the proof of my Assertion, but that the +Confidence wherewith Chymists are wont to call each of the Substances +we speak of by the name of Sulphur or Mercury, or the other of the +Hypostaticall Principles, and the intollerabln [Errata: intolerable] +Ambiguity they allow themselves ie [Errata: in] their Writings and +Expressions, makes it necessary for me in Order to the Keeping you +either from mistaking me, or thinking I mistake the Controversie, to +take Notice to you and complain of the unreasonable Liberty they give +themselves of playing with Names at pleasure. And indeed if I were +oblig'd in this Dispute, to have such regard to the Phraseology of +each particular Chymist, as not to Write any thing which this or that +Author may not pretend, not to contradict this or that sence, which he +may give as Occasion serves to his Ambiguous Expressions, I should +scarce know how to dispute, nor which way to turn myself. For I find +that even Eminent Writers, (such as _Raymund Lully_, _Paracelsus_ and +others) do so abuse the termes they employ, that as they will now and +then give divers things, one name; so they will oftentimes give one +thing, many Names; and some of them (perhaps) such, as do much more +properly signifie some Distinct Body of another kind; nay even in +Technical Words or Termes of Art, they refrain not from this +Confounding Liberty; but will, as I have Observ'd, call the same +Substance, sometimes the Sulphur, and Sometimes the Mercury of a Body. +And now I speak of Mercury, I cannot but take Notice, that the +Descriptions they give us of that Principle or Ingredient of mixt +Bodies, are so intricate, that even those that have Endeavour'd to +Pollish and Illustrate the Notions of the Chymists, are fain to +confess that they know not what to make of it, either by Ingenuous +Acknowledgments, or Descriptions that are not Intelligible. + +I must confess (sayes _Eleutherius_) I have, in the reading of +_Paracelsus_ and other Chymical Authors, been troubled to find, that +such hard Words and Equivocal Expressions, as You justly complain of, +do even when they treat of Principles, seem to be studiously affected +by those Writers; whether to make themselves to be admir'd by their +Readers, and their Art appear more Venerable and Mysterious, or, (as +they would have us think) to conceal from them a Knowledge themselves +judge inestimable. + +But whatever (sayes _Carneades_) these Men may promise themselves from +a Canting way of delivering the Principles of Nature, they will find +the Major part of Knowing Men so vain, as when they understand not +what they read, to conclude, that it is rather the Writers fault then +their own. And those that are so ambitious to be admir'd by the +Vulgar, that rather then go without the Admiration of the Ignorant +they will expose themselves to the contempt of the Learned, those +shall, by my consent, freely enjoy their Option. As for the Mystical +Writers scrupling to Communicate their Knowledge, they might less to +their own Disparagement, and to the trouble of their Readers, have +conceal'd it by writing no Books, then by Writing bad ones. If +_Themistius_ were here, he would not stick to say, that Chymists write +thus darkly, not because they think their Notions too precious to be +explain'd, but because they fear that if they were explain'd, men +would discern, that they are farr from being precious. And indeed, I +fear that the chief Reason why Chymists have written so obscurely of +their three Principles, may be, That not having Clear and Distinct +Notions of them themselves, they cannot write otherwise then +Confusedly of what they but Confusedly Apprehend: Not to say that +divers of them, being Conscious to the Invalidity of their Doctrine, +might well enough discerne that they could scarce keep themselves from +being confuted, but by keeping themselves from being clearly +understood. But though much may be said to Excuse the Chymists when +they write Darkly, and AEnigmatically, about the Preparation of their +_Elixir_, and Some few other grand _Arcana_, the divulging of which +they may upon Grounds Plausible enough esteem unfit; yet when they +pretend to teach the General Principles of Natural Philosophers, this +Equivocall Way of Writing is not to be endur'd. For in such +Speculative Enquiries, where the naked Knowledge of the Truth is the +thing Principally aim'd at, what does he teach me worth thanks that +does not, if he can, make his Notion intelligible to me, but by +Mystical Termes, and Ambiguous Phrases darkens what he should clear +up; and makes me add the Trouble of guessing at the sence of what he +Equivocally expresses, to that of examining the Truth of what he seems +to deliver. And if the matter of the Philosophers Stone, and the +manner of preparing it, be such Mysteries as they would have the World +believe them, they may Write Intelligibly and Clearly of the +Principles of mixt Bodies in General, without Discovering what they +call the Great Work. But for my part (Continues _Carneades_) what my +Indignation at this Un-philosophical way of teaching Principles has +now extorted from me, is meant chiefly to excuse my self, if I shall +hereafter oppose any Particular Opinion or assertion, that some +Follower of _Paracelsus_ or any Eminent Artist may pretend not to be +his Masters. For, as I told you long since, I am not Oblig'd to +examine private mens writings, (which were a Labour as endless as +unprofitable) being only engag'd to examine those Opinions about the +_Tria Prima_, which I find those Chymists I have met with to agree in +most: And I Doubt not but my Arguments against their Doctrine will be +in great part easily enough applicable ev'n to those private +Opinions, which they do not so directly and expresly oppose. And +indeed, that which I am now entering upon being the Consideration of +the things themselves whereinto _Spagyrists_ resolve mixt Bodies by +the Fire, If I can shew that these are not of an Elementary Nature, it +will be no great matter what names these or those Chymists have been +pleased to give them. And I question not that to a Wise man, and +consequently to _Eleutherius_, it will be lesse considerable to know, +what Men Have thought of Things, then what they Should have thought. + +In the fourth and last place, then, I consider, that as generally as +Chymists are wont to appeal to Experience, and as confidently as they +use to instance the several substances separated by the Fire from a +Mixt Body, as a sufficient proof of their being its component +Elements: Yet those differing Substances are many of them farr enough +from Elementary simplicity, and may be yet look'd upon as mixt Bodies, +most of them also retaining, somewhat at least, if not very much, of +the Nature of those Concretes whence they were forc'd. + +I am glad (sayes _Eleutherius_) to see the Vanity or Envy of the +canting Chymists thus discover'd and chastis'd; and I could wish, that +Learned Men would conspire together to make these deluding Writers +sensible, that they must no longe [Transcriber's Note: longer] hope +with Impunity to abuse the World. For whilst such Men are quietly +permitted to publish Books with promising Titles, and therein to +Assert what they please, and contradict others, and ev'n themselves as +they please, with as little danger of being confuted as of being +understood, they are encourag'd to get themselves a name, at the cost +of the Readers, by finding that intelligent Men are wont for the +reason newly mention'd, to let their Books and Them alone: And the +ignorant and credulous (of which the number is still much greater then +that of the other) are forward to admire most what they least +understand. But if Judicious men skill'd in Chymical affaires shall +once agree to write clearly and plainly of them, and thereby keep men +from being stunn'd, as it were, or imposd upon by dark or empty Words; +'tis to be hop'd that these men finding that they can no longer write +impertinently and absurdly, without being laugh'd at for doing so, +will be reduc'd either to write nothing, or Books that may teach us +something, and not rob men, as formerly, of invaluable Time; and so +ceasing to trouble the World with Riddles or Impertinencies, we shall +either by their Books receive an Advantage, or by their silence escape +an Inconvenience. + +But after all this is said (continues _Eleutherius_) it may be +represented in favour of the Chymists, that, in one regard the Liberty +they take in using names, if it be excusable at any time, may be more +so when they speak of the substances whereinto their _Analysis_ +resolves mixt Bodies: Since as Parents have the Right to name their +own Children, it has ever been allow'd to the Authors of new +Inventions, to Impose Names upon them. And therefore the subjects we +speak of being so the Productions of the Chymist's Art, as not to be +otherwise, but by it, obtainable; it seems but equitable to give the +Artists leave to name them as they please: considering also that none +are so fit and likely to teach us what those Bodies are, as they to +whom we ow'd them. + +I told You already (sayes _Carneades_) that there is great Difference +betwixt the being able to make Experiments, and the being able to give +a Philosophical Account of them. And I will not now add, that many a +Mine-digger may meet, whilst he follows his work, with a Gemm or a +Mineral which he knowes not what to make of, till he shews it a +Jeweller or a Mineralist to be inform'd what it is. But that which I +would rather have here observ'd, is, That the Chymists I am now in +debate with have given up the Liberty You challeng'd for them, of +using Names at Pleasure, and confin'd Themselves by their +Descriptions, though but such as they are, of their Principles; so +that although they might freely have call'd any thing their _Analysis_ +presents them with, either Sulphur, or Mercury, or Gas, or Blas, or +what they pleas'd; yet when they have told me that Sulphur (for +instance) is a Primogeneal and simple Body, Inflamable, Odorous, &c. +they must give me leave to dis-believe them, if they tell me that a +Body that is either compounded or uninflamable is such a Sulphur; and +to think they play with words, when they teach that Gold and some +other Minerals abound with an Incombustible Sulphur, which is as +proper an Expression, as a Sun-shine Night, or Fluid Ice. + +But before I descend to the Mention of Particulars belonging to my +Fourth Consideration, I think it convenient to premise a few Generals; +some of which I shall the less need to insist on at present, because I +have Touched on them already. + +And first I must invite you to take notice of a certain passage in +_Helmont_;[14] which though I have not Found much heeded by his +Readers, He Himself _mentions_ as a notable thing, and I take to be a +very considerable one; for whereas the Distill'd oyle of _oyle-olive_, +though drawn _per se_ is (as I have try'd) of a very sharp and +fretting Quality, and of an odious tast, He tells us that Simple oyle +being only digested with _Paracelsus's sal circulatum_, is reduc'd +into dissimilar parts, and yields a sweet Oyle, very differing from +the oyle distill'd, from [Errata: distill'd from] sallet oyle; as also +that by the same way there may be separated from Wine a very sweet and +gentle Spirit, partaking of a far other and nobler quality then that +which is immediately drawn by distillation and call'd _Dephlegm'd Aqua +vitae_, from whose Acrimony this other spirit is exceedingly remote, +although the _sal circulatum_ that makes these _Anatomies_ be +separated from the Analyz'd Bodies, in the same weight and with the +same qualities it had before; which Affirmation of _Helmont_ if we +admit to be true, we must acknowledge that there may be a very great +disparity betwixt bodies of the same denomination (as several oyles, +or several spirits) separable from compound Bodies: For, besides the +differences I shall anon take notice of, betwixt those distill'd Oyles +that are commonly known to Chymists, it appears by this, that by means +of the _Sal Circulatum_, There may be quite another sort of Oyles +obtain'd from the same Body; and who knowes but that there may be yet +other Agents found in Nature, by whose help there may, whether by +Transmutation or otherwise, be obtain'd from the Bodies Vulgarly +call'd Mixt, Oyles or other substances, Differing from those of the +same Denomination, known either to Vulgar Chymists, or even to +_Helmont_ Himself: but for fear You should tell me, that this is but a +conjecture grounded upon another Man's Relation, whose Truth we have +not the means to Experiment, I will not Insist upon it; but leaving +You to Consider of it at leasure, I shall proceed to what is next. + +[Footnote 14: _Illud notabile, in vino esse Spiritum quendam mitiorem +ulterioris & nobilioris qualitatis participem qu[=a] qui immediate per +distillationem elicitur diciturque aqua vitae dephlegmata, quod +facilius in simplici Olivarum oleo ad oculum spectatur. Quippe +distillatum oleum absque laterum aut tigularum [Errata: tegularum] +additamento, quodque oleum Philosophorum dicitur, multum dissert ab +ejus oleitate; quae elicitur prius reducto oleo simplici in partes +dissimilares sola digestione & Salis circulati Paracelsici +appositione; siquidem sal circulatum idem in pondere & quantitatibus +pristinis ab oleo segregatur postquam oleum olivarum in sui +heterogeneitates est dispositum. Dulce enim tunc Oleum Olivarum ex +oleo, prout & suavissimus vini spiritus a vino hoc pacto separantur, +longeque ab aquae vitae acrimonia distinctus._--Helmont. Aura vitalis, +pag. 725.] + +Secondly, Then if that be True which was the Opinion of _Lucippus_, +_Democritus_, and other prime _Anatomists_ of old, and is in our dayes +reviv'd by no mean Philosophers; namely, That our Culinary Fire, such +as Chymists use, consists of swarmes of little Bodies swiftly moving, +which by their smallness and motion are able to permeate the sollidest +and Compactest Bodies, and even Glass it Self; If this (I say) be +True, since we see that In flints and other Concretes, the Fiery part +is Incorporated with the Grosser, it will not be Irrationall to +conjecture, that multitudes of these Fiery Corpuscles, getting in at +the Pores of the Glass, may associate themselves with the parts of the +mixt Body whereon they work, and with them Constitute new Kinds of +Compound Bodies, according as the Shape, Size, and other Affections of +the Parts of the Dissipated Body happen to dispose them, in Reference +to such Combinations; of which also there may be the greater Number; +if it be likewise granted that the Corpuscles of the Fire, though all +exceeding minute, and very swiftly moved, are not all of the same +bigness, nor Figure. And if I had not Weightier Considerations to +Discourse to you of, I could name to you, to Countenance what I have +newly said, some particular Experiments by which I have been Deduc'd +to think, that the Particles of an open Fire working upon some Bodies +may really Associate themselves therewith, and add to the Quantity. +But because I am not so sure, that when the Fire works upon Bodies +included in Glasses, it does it by a reall Trajection of the Fiery +Corpuscles themselves, through the Substance of the Glass, I will +proceed to what is next to be mention'd. + +I could (sayes _Eleutherius_) help you to some Proofes, whereby I +think it may be made very probable, that when the Fire acts +immediately upon a Body, some of its Corpuscles may stick to those of +the burnt Body, as they seem to do in Quicklime, but in greater +numbers, and more permanently. But for fear of retarding Your +Progress, I shall desire you to deferr this Enquiry till another time, +and proceed as you intended. + +You may then in the next place (sayes _Carneades_) observe with me, +that not only there are some Bodies, as Gold, and Silver, which do not +by the usual Examens, made by Fire, Discover themselves to be mixt; +but if (as You may Remember I formerly told You) it be a De-compound +Body that is Dissipable into several Substances, by being expos'd to +the Fire it may be resolv'd into such as are neither Elementary, nor +such as it was upon its last mixture Compounded of; but into new +Kinds of mixts. Of this I have already given You some Examples in +Sope, Sugar of Lead, and Vitrioll. Now if we shall Consider that there +are some Bodies, as well Natural, (as that I last nam'd) as +Factitious, manifestly De-compounded; That in the Bowells of the Earth +Nature may, as we see she sometimes does, make strange Mixtures; That +Animals are nourish'd with other Animals and Plants; And, that these +themselves have almost all of them their Nutriment and Growth, +_either_ from a certain Nitrous Juice Harbour'd in the Pores of the +Earth, _or_ from the Excrements of Animalls, _or_ from the putrify'd +Bodies, either of living Creatures or Vegetables, _or_ from other +Substances of a Compounded Nature; If, I say, we consider this, it may +seem probable, that there may be among the Works of Nature (not to +mention those of Art) a greater Number of De-compound Bodies, then men +take Notice of; And indeed, as I have formerly also observ'd, it does +not at all appear, that all Mixtures must be of Elementary Bodies; but +it seems farr more probable, that there are divers sorts of compound +Bodies, even in regard of all or some of their Ingredients, consider'd +Antecedently to their Mixture. For though some seem to be made up by +the immediate Coalitions of the Elements, or Principles themselves, +and therefore may be call'd _Prima Mista_, or _Mista Primaria_; yet it +seems that many other Bodies are mingl'd (if I may so speak) at the +second hand, their immediate Ingredients being not Elementary, but +these primary Mixts newly spoken of; And from divers of these +Secondary sort of Mixts may result, by a further Composition, a Third +sort, and so onwards. Nor is it improbable, that some Bodies are made +up of Mixt Bodies, not all of the same Order, but of several; as (for +Instance) a Concrete may consist of Ingredients, whereof the one may +have been a primary, the other a Secondary Mixt Body; (as I have in +Native Cinnaber, by my way of Resolving it, found both that Courser +the [Errata: delete "the"] part that seems more properly to be Oar, +and a Combustible Sulphur, and a Running Mercury:) or perhaps without +any Ingredient of this latter sort, it may be compos'd of Mixt Bodies, +some of them of the first, and some of the third Kind; And this may +perhaps be somewhat Illustrated by reflecting upon what happens in +some Chymical Preparations of those Medicines which they call their +_Bezoardicum's_. For first, they take Antimony and Iron, which may be +look'd upon as _Prima Mista_; of these they compound a Starry +_Regulus_, and to this they add according to their Intention, either +Gold, or Silver, which makes with it a new and further Composition. To +this they add Sublimate, which is it self a De-compound body, +(consisting of common Quicksilver, and divers Salts United by +Sublimation into a Crystalline Substance) and from this Sublimate, and +the other Metalline Mixtures, they draw a Liquor, which may be allow'd +to be of a yet more Compounded Nature. If it be true, as Chymists +affirm it, that by this Art some of the Gold or Silver mingl'd with +the _Regulus_ may be carry'd over the Helme with it by the Sublimate; +as indeed a Skilfull and Candid person complain'd to me a while since, +That an experienc'd Friend of His and mine, having by such a way +brought over a great Deal of Gold, in hope to do something further +with it, which might be gainfull to him, has not only miss'd of his +Aim, but is unable to recover his Volatiliz'd Gold out of the +Antimonial butter, wherewith it is strictly united. + +Now (Continues _Carneades_) if a Compound body consist of Ingredients +that are not meerly Elementary; it is not hard to conceive, that the +Substances into which the Fire Dissolves it, though seemingly +Homogeneous enough, may be of a Compounded Nature, those parts of each +body that are most of Kin associating themselves into a Compound of a +new Kind. As when (for example sake) I have caus'd Vitrioll and _Sal +Armoniack_, and Salt Petre to be mingl'd and Destill'd together, the +Liquor that came over manifested it self not to be either Spirit of +Nitre, or of _Sal Armoniack_, or of Vitrioll. For none of these would +dissolve crude gold, which yet my Liquor was able readily to do; and +thereby manifested it self to be a new Compound, consisting at least +of Spirit of Nitre, and _Sal Armoniack_, (for the latter dissolv'd in +the former, will Work on Gold) which nevertheless are not by any +known way separable, and consequently would not pass for a Mixt Body, +if we our selves did not, to obtain it, put and Distill together +divers Concretes, whose Distinct Operations were known before hand. +And, to add on this Occasion the Experiment I lately promis'd You, +because it is Applicable to our present purpose, I shall Acquaint You, +that suspecting the Common Oyle of Vitrioll not to be altogether such +a simple Liquor as Chymists presume it, I mingl'd it with an equal or +a Double Quantity (for I try'd the Experiment more then once) of +common Oyle of Turpentine, such as together with the other Liquor I +bought at the Drugsters. And having carefully (for the Experiment is +Nice, and somewhat dangerous) Distill'd the Mixture in a small Glass +Retort, I obtain'd according to my Desire, (besides the two Liquors I +had put in) a pretty Quantity of a certain substance, which sticking +all about the Neck of the Retort Discover'd it self to be Sulphur, not +only by a very strong Sulphureous smell, and by the colour of +Brimstone; but also by this, That being put upon a coal, it was +immediately kindl'd, and burn'd like common Sulphur. And of this +Substance I have yet by me some little Parcells, which You may command +and examine when you please. So that from this Experiment I may deduce +either one, or both of these Propositions, That a real Sulphur may be +made by the Conjunction of two such Substances as Chymists take for +Elementary, And which did not either of them apart appear to have any +such body in it; or that Oyle of Vitrioll though a Distill'd Liquor, +and taken for part of the Saline Principle of the Concrete that yields +it, may yet be so Compounded a body as to contain, besides its Saline +part, a Sulphur like common brimstone, which would hardly be it self a +simple or un-compounded body. + +I might (pursues _Carneades_) remind You, that I formerly represented +it, as possible, That as there may be more Elements then five, or six; +so the Elements of one body may be Different from those of another; +whence it would follow, that from the Resolution of De-compound body +[Errata: bodies], there may result Mixts of an altogether new kind, by +the Coalition of Elements that never perhaps conven'd before. I might, +I say, mind You of this, and add divers things to this second +Consideration; but for fear of wanting time I willingly pretermit +them, to pass on to the third, which is this, That the Fire does not +alwayes barely resolve or take asunder, but may also after a new +manner mingle and compound together the parts (whether Elementary or +not) of the Body Dissipated by it. + +This is so evident, sayes _Carneades_, in some obvious Examples, that +I cannot but wonder at their Supiness that have not taken notice of +it. For when Wood being burnt in a Chimney is dissipated by the Fire +into Smoke and Ashes, that smoke composes soot, which is so far from +being any one of the principles of the Wood, that (as I noted above) +you may by a further _Analysis_ separate five or six distinct +substances from it. And as for the remaining Ashes, the Chymists +themselves teach us, that by a further degree of fire they may be +indissolubly united into glass. 'Tis true, that the _Analysis_ which +the Chymists principally build upon is made, not in the open air, but +in close Vessels; but however, the Examples lately produc'd may invite +you shrewdly to suspect, That heat may as well compound as dissipate +the Parts of mixt Bodies: and not to tell you, that I have known a +Vitrification made even in close vessels, I must remind you that the +Flowers of Antimony, and those of Sulphur, are very mix'd Bodies, +though they ascend in close vessells: And that 'twas in stopt glasses +that I brought up the whole Body of Camphire. And whereas it may be +objected, that all these Examples are of Bodies forc'd up in a dry, +not a Fluid forme, as are the Liquors wont to be obtain'd by +distillation; I answer, That besides that 'tis possible, that a Body +may be chang'd from Consistent to Fluid, or from Fluid to Consistent, +without being otherwise much altered, as may appear by the Easiness +wherewith in Winter, without any Addition or Separation of Visible +Ingredients, the same substance may be quickly harden'd into brittle +Ice, and thaw'd again into Fluid Water; Besides this, I say it would +be consider'd, that common Quick-silver it self, which the Eminentest +Chymists confess to be a mixt Body, may be Driven over the Helme in +its Pristine forme of Quicksilver, and consequently, in that of a +Liquor. And certainly 'tis possible that very compounded Bodies may +concur to Constitute Liquors; Since, not to mention that I have found +it possible, by the help of a certain _Menstruum_, to distill Gold it +self through a Retort, even with a Moderate Fire: Let us but consider +what happens in Butter of Antimony. For if that be carefully +rectify'd, it may be reduc'd into a very clear Liquor; and yet if You +cast a quantity of fair water upon it, there will quickly precipitate +a Ponderous and Vomitive Calx, which made before a considerable part +of the Liquor, and yet is indeed (though some eminent Chymists would +have it Mercurial) an Antimonial Body carryed over and kept dissolv'd +by the Salts of the Sublimate, and consequently a compounded one; as +You may find if You will have the Curiosity to Examine this White +powder by a skilful Reduction. And that You may not think that Bodies +as compounded as flowers of Brimstone cannot be brought to Concurr to +Constitute Distill'd Liquors; And also That You may not imagine with +Divers Learned Men that pretend no small skill in Chymistry, that at +least no mixt Body can be brought over the Helme, but by corrosive +Salts, I am ready to shew You, when You please, among other wayes of +bringing over Flowers of Brimstone (perhaps I might add even Mineral +Sulphurs) some, wherein I employ none but Oleaginous bodies to make +Volatile Liquors, in which not only the colour, but (which is a much +surer mark) the smell and some Operations manifest that there is +brought over a Sulphur that makes part of the Liquor. + +One thing more there is, _Eleutherius_, sayes _Carneades_, which is so +pertinent to my present purpose, that though I have touch'd upon it +before, I cannot but on this occasion take notice of it. And it is +this, That the Qualities or Accidents, upon whose account Chymists are +wont to call a portion of Matter by the name of Mercury or some other +of their Principles, are not such but that 'tis possible as Great (and +therefore why not the like?) may be produc'd by such changes of +Texture, and other Alterations, as the Fire may make in the small +Parts of a Body. I have already prov'd, when I discours'd of the +second General Consideration, by what happens to plants nourish'd only +with fair water, and Eggs hatch'd into Chickens, that by changing the +disposition of the component parts of a Body, Nature is able to effect +as great Changes in a parcell of Matter reputed similar, as those +requisite to Denominate one of the _Tria Prima_. And though _Helmont_ +do somewhere wittily call the Fire the Destructor and the Artificial +Death of Things; And although another Eminent Chymist and Physitian be +pleas'd to build upon this, That Fire can never generate any thing but +Fire; Yet You will, I doubt not, be of another mind, If You consider +how many new sorts of mixt Bodies Chymists themselves have produc'd by +means of the Fire: And particularly, if You consider how that Noble +and Permanent Body, Glass, is not only manifestly produc'd by the +violent action of the Fire, but has never, for ought we know, been +produc'd any other way. And indeed it seems but an inconsiderate +Assertion of some _Helmontians_, that every sort of Body of a +Peculiar Denomination must be produc'd by some Seminal power; as I +think I could evince, if I thought it so necessary, as it is for me to +hasten to what I have further to discourse. Nor need it much move us, +that there are some who look upon whatsoever the Fire is employ'd to +produce, not as upon Natural but Artificial Bodies. For there is not +alwaies such a difference as many imagine betwixt the one and the +other: Nor is it so easy as they think, clearly to assigne that which +Properly, Constantly, and Sufficiently, Discriminates them. But not to +engage my self in so nice a Disquisition, it may now suffice to +observe, that a thing is commonly termed Artificial, when a parcel of +matter is by the Artificers hand, or Tools, or both, brought to such a +shape or Form, as he Design'd before-hand in his Mind: Whereas in many +of the Chymical Productions the effect would be produc'd whether the +Artificer intended it or no; and is oftentimes very much other then he +Intended or Look't for; and the Instruments employ'd, are not Tools +Artificially fashion'd and shaped, like those of Tradesmen, for this +or that particular Work; but, for the most part, Agents of Nature's +own providing, and whose chief Powers of Operation they receive from +their own Nature or Texture, not the Artificer. And indeed, the Fire +is as well a Natural Agent as Seed: And the Chymist that imployes it, +does but apply Natural Agents and Patients, who being thus brought +together, and acting according to their respective Natures, performe +the worke themselves; as Apples, Plums, or other fruit, are natural +Productions, though the Gardiner bring and fasten together the Sciens +of the Stock, and both Water, and do perhaps divers other wayes +Contribute to its bearing fruit. But, to proceed to what I was going +to say, You may observe with me, _Eleutherius_, that, as I told You +once before, Qualities sleight enough may serve to Denominate a +Chymical Principle. For, when they anatomize a compound Body by the +Fire, if they get a Substance inflamable, and that will not mingle +with Water, that they presently call Sulphur; what is sapid and +Dissoluble in Water, that must pass for Salt; Whatsoever is fix'd and +indissoluble in Water, that they name Earth. And I was going to add, +that, whatsoever Volatile substance they know not what to make of, not +to say, whatsoever they please, that they call Mercury. But that these +Qualities may either be produc'd, otherwise then by such as they call +Seminal Agents, or may belong to bodies of a compounded Nature, may be +shewn, among other Instances, in Glass made of ashes, where the +exceeding strongly-tasted _Alcalizate_ Salt joyning with the Earth +becomes insipid, and with it constitutes a Body, which though also +dry, fixt, and indissoluble in Water, is yet manifestly a mixt Body; +and made so by the Fire itself. + +And I remmember to our present purpose, that _Helmont_,[15] amongst +other Medicines that he commends, has a short processe, wherein, +though the Directions for Practice are but obscurely intimated; yet I +have some reason not to Dis-believe the Process, without affirming or +denying any thing about the vertues of the remedy to be made by it. +_Quando_ (sayes he) _oleum cinnamomi &c. suo sali alkali miscetur +absque omni aqua, trium mensium artificiosa occultaque circulatione, +totum in salem volatilem commutatum est, vere essentiam sui simplicis +in nobis exprimit, & usque in prima nostri constitutivasese ingerit._ +A not unlike Processe he delivers in another place; from whence, if we +suppose him to say true, I may argue, that since by the Fire there may +be produc'd a substance that is as well Saline and volatile as the +Salt of Harts-horn, blood, &c. which pass for Elementary; and since +that this Volatile Salt is really compounded of a Chymical Oyle and a +fixt Salt, the one made Volatile by the other, and both associated by +the fire, it may well be suspected that other Substances, emerging +upon the Dissipation of Bodies by the Fire, may be new sorts of Mixts, +and consist of Substances of differing natures; and particularly, I +have sometimes suspected, that since the Volatile Salts of Blood, +Harts-horn, &c. are figitive [Errata: fugitive] and endow'd with an +exceeding strong smell, either that Chymists do Erroneously ascribe +all odours to sulphurs, or that such Salts consist of some oyly parts +well incorporated with the Saline ones. And the like conjecture I have +also made concerning Spirit of Vinager, which, though the Chymists +think one of the Principles of that Body, and though being an Acid +Spirit it seems to be much less of kin then Volatile Salts to +sulphurs; yet, not to mention its piercing smell; which I know not +with what congruity the Chymist will deduce from Salt, I wonder they +have not taken notice of what their own _Tyrocinium Chymicum_ teach us +concerning the Destillation of _Saccharum Saturni_; out of which +_Beguinus_[16] assures Us, that he distill'd, besides a very fine +spirit, no lesse then two Oyles, the one blood-red and ponderous, but +the other swimming upon the top of the Spirit, and of a yellow colour; +of which he sayes that he kept then some by him, to verify what he +delivers. And though I remember not that I have had two distinct Oyles +from Sugar of Lead, yet that it will though distill'd without addition +yield some Oyle, disagrees not with my Experience. I know the Chymists +will be apt to pretend, that these Oyls are but the volatiliz'd +sulphur of the lead; and will perhaps argue it from what _Beguinus_ +relates, that when the Distillation is ended, you'l find a _Caput +Mortuum_ extreamly black, and (as he speaks) _nullius momenti_, as if +the Body, or at least the chief part of the Metal it self were by the +distillation carried over the Helme. But since you know as well as I +that _Saccharum Saturni_ is a kind of Magistery, made only by +calcining of Lead _per se_, dissolving it in distill'd Vinager, and +crystalizing the solution; if I had leasure to tell You how Differing +a thing I did upon examination find the _Caput Mortuum_, so sleighted +by _Beguinus_, to be from what he represents it, I believe you would +think the conjecture propos'd less probable then one or other of these +three; either that this Oyle did formerly concur to constitute the +Spirit of Vinager, and so that what passes for a Chymical Principle +may yet be further resoluble into distinct substances; or that some +parts of the Spirit together with some parts of the Lead may +constitute a Chymical Oyle, which therefore though it pass for +Homogeneous, may be a very compounded Body: or at least that by the +action of the Distill'd Vinager and the Saturnine Calx one upon +another, part of the Liquor may be so alter'd as to be transmuted from +an Acid Spirit into an Oyle. And though the truth of either of the two +former conjectures would make the example I have reflected on more +pertinent to my present argument; yet you'l easily discern, the Third +and last Conjecture cannot be unserviceable to confirm some other +passages of my discourse. + +[Footnote 15: Helmont pag. 412.] + +[Footnote 16: Tyroc. Chym. L. 1. C. 4.] + +To return then to what I was saying just before I mention'd +_Helmont's_ Experiment, I shall subjoyne, That Chymists must confess +also that in the perfectly Dephlegm'd spirit of Wine, or other +Fermented Liquors, that which they call the Sulphur of the Concrete +loses, by the Fermentation, the Property of Oyle, (which the Chymists +likewise take to be the true Sulphur of the Mixt) of being unminglable +with the Water. And if You will credit _Helmont_,[17] all [Errata: a +pound] of the purest Spirit of Wine may barely by the help of pure +Salt of Tartar (which is but the fixed Salt of Wine) be resolv'd or +Transmuted into scarce half an ounce of Salt, and as much Elementary +Water as amounts to the remaining part of the mention'd weight. And it +may (as I think I formerly also noted) be doubted, whether that Fixt +and Alcalizate Salt, which is so unanimously agreed on to be the +Saline Principle of incinerated Bodies, be not, as 'tis Alcalizate, a +Production of the Fire? For though the tast of Tartar, for Example, +seem to argue that it contains a Salt before it be burn'd, yet that +Salt being very Acid is of a quite Differing Tast from the Lixiviate +Salt of Calcin'd Tartar. And though it be not truly Objected against +the Chymists, that they obtain all Salts they make, by reducing the +Body they work on into Ashes with Violent Fires, (since Hartshorn, +Amber, Blood, and divers other Mixts yield a copious Salt before they +be burn'd to Ashes) yet this Volatile Salt Differs much, as we shall +see anon, from the Fixt Alcalizate Salt I speak of; which for ought I +remember is not producible by any known Way, without Incineration. +'Tis not unknown to Chymists, that Quicksilver may be Precipitated, +without Addition, into a dry Powder, that remains so in Water. And +some eminent _Spagyrists_, and even _Raimund Lully_ himself, teach, +that meerly by the Fire Quicksilver may in convenient Vessels be +reduc'd (at least in great part) into a thin Liquor like Water, and +minglable with it. So that by the bare Action of the Fire, 'tis +possible, that the parts of a mixt Body should be so dispos'd after +new and differing manners, that it may be sometimes of one +consistence, sometimes of another; And may in one State be dispos'd to +be mingl'd with Water, and in another not. I could also shew you, that +Bodies from which apart Chymists cannot obtain any thing that is +Combustible, may by being associated together, and by the help of the +Fire, afford an inflamable Substance. And that on the other side, 'tis +possible for a Body to be inflamable, from which it would very much +puzzle any ordinary Chymist; and perhaps any other, to separate an +inflamable Principle or Ingredient. Wherefore, since the Principles of +Chymists may receive their Denominations from Qualities, which it +often exceeds not the power of Art, nor alwayes that of the Fire to +produce; And since such Qualities may be found in Bodies that differ +so much in other Qualities from one another, that they need not be +allow'd to agree in that pure and simple Nature, which Principles, to +be so indeed, must have; it may justly be suspected, that many +Productions of the Fire that are shew'd us by Chymists, as the +Principles of the Concrete that afforded them, may be but a new kind +of Mixts. And to annex, on this Occasion, to these arguments taken +from the Nature of the thing, one of those which _Logicians_ call _ad +Hominem_, I shall desire You to take Notice, that though _Paracelsus_ +Himself, and some that are so mistaken as to think he could not be so, +have ventur'd to teach, that not only the bodies here below, but the +Elements themselves, and all the other Parts of the Universe, are +compos'd of Salt, Sulphur and Mercury; yet the learned _Sennertus_, +and all the more wary Chymists, have rejected that conceit, and do +many of them confess, that the _Tria Prima_ are each of them made up +of the four Elements; and others of them make Earth and Water concur +with Salt, Sulphur and Mercury, to the Constitution of Mixt bodies. So +that one sort of these _Spagyrists_, notwithstanding the specious +Titles they give to the productions of the Fire, do in effect grant +what I contend for. And, of the other sort I may well demand, to what +Kind of Bodies the Phlegme and dead Earth, to be met with in Chymical +Resolutions, are to be referr'd? For either they must say, with +_Paracelsus_, but against their own Concessions as well as against +Experience, that these are also compos'd of the _Tria Prima_, whereof +they cannot separate any one from either of them; or else they must +confess that two of the vastest Bodies here below, Earth, and Water, +are neither of them compos'd of the _Tria Prima_; and that +consequently those three are not the Universal, and Adequate +Ingredients, neither of all Sublunary Bodies, nor even of all mixt +Bodies. + +[Footnote 17: _Ostendi alias, quomodo lib. una aquae vitae combibita in +sale Tartari siccato, vix fiat semuncia salis, caeterum totum corpus +fiat aqua Elementalis. Helmont. in Aura vitali._] + +I know that the chief of these Chymists represent, that though the +Distinct Substances into which they divide mixt bodies by the Fire, +are not pure and Homogeneous; yet since the four Elements into which +the _Aristotelians_ pretend to resolve the like bodies by the same +Agent, are not simple neither, as themselves acknowledge, 'tis as +allowable for the Chymists to call the one Principles, as for the +Peripateticks to call the other Elements; since in both cases the +Imposition of the name is grounded only upon the Predominancy of that +Element whose name is ascrib'd to it. Nor shall I deny, that this +Argument of the Chymists is no ill one against the _Aristotelians_. +But what Answer can it prove to me, who you know am disputing against +the _Aristotelian_ Elements, as the Chymicall Principles, and must not +look upon any body as a true Principle or Element, but as yet +compounded, which is not perfectly Homogeneous, but is further +Resoluble into any number of Distinct Substances how small soever. And +as for the Chymists calling a body Salt, or Sulphur, or Mercury, upon +pretence that the Principle of the same name is predominant in it, +That it self is an Acknowledgment of what I contend for; namely that +these productions of the Fire, are yet compounded bodies. And yet +whilst this is granted, it is affirm'd, but not prov'd, that the +reputed Salt, or Sulphur, or Mercury, consists mainly of one body that +deserves the name of a principle of the same Denomination. For how do +Chymists make it appear that there are any such primitive and simple +bodies in those we are speaking of; since 'tis upon the matter +confess'd by the answer lately made, that these are not such? And if +they pretend by Reason to evince what they affirm, what becomes of +their confident boasts, that the Chymists [Errata: Chymist] (whom they +therefore, after _Beguinus_, call a _Philosophus_ or _Opifex +Sensatus_) can convince our Eyes, by manifestly shewing in any mixt +body those simple substances he teaches them to be compos'd of? And +indeed, for the Chymists to have recourse in this case to other proofs +then Experiments, as it is to wave the grand Argument that has all +this while been given out for a Demonstrative One; so it releases me +from the obligation to prosecute a Dispute wherein I am not engag'd to +Examine any but Experimentall proofs. I know it may plausibly Enough +be Represented, in favour of the Chymists, that it being evident that +much the greater part of any thing they call Salt, or Sulphur, or +Mercury, is really such; it would be very rigid to deny those +Substances the names ascribed them, only because of some sleight +mixture of another Body; since not only the Peripateticks call +particular parcels of matter Elementary, though they acknowledge that +Elements are not to be anywhere found pure, at least here below; And +since especially there is a manifest Analogie and Resemblance betwixt +the bodies obtainable by Chymical Anatomies and the principles whose +names are given them; I have, I say, consider'd that these things may +be represented: But as for what is drawn from the Custome of the +Peripateticks, I have already told You, that though it may be employ'd +against Them, Yet it is not available against me who allow nothing to +be an Element that is not perfectly Homogeneous. And whereas it is +alledg'd, that the Predominant Principle ought to give a name to the +substance wherein it abounds; I answer, that that might much more +reasonably be said, if either we or the Chymists had seen Nature take +pure Salt, pure Sulphur, and pure Mercury, and compound of them every +sort of Mixt Bodies. But, since 'tis to experience that they appeal, +we must not take it for granted, that the Distill'd Oyle (for +instance) of a plant is mainly compos'd of the pure principle call'd +Sulphur, till they have given us an ocular proof, that there is in +that sort of Plants such an Homogeneous Sulphur. For as for the +specious argument, which is drawn from the Resemblance betwixt the +Productions of the Fire, and the Respective, either _Aristotelian_ +Elements, or _Chymical_ Principles, by whose names they are call'd; it +will appear more plausible then cogent, if You will but recall to mind +the state of the controversie; which is not, whether or no there be +obtain'd from mixt Bodies certain substances that agree in outward +appearance, or in some Qualities with Quicksilver or Brimstone, or +some such obvious or copious Body; But whether or no all Bodies +confess'd to be perfectly mixt were compos'd of, and are resoluble +into a determinate number of primary unmixt Bodies. For, if you keep +the state of the question in your Eye, you'l easily discerne that +there is much of what should be Demonstrated, left unprov'd by those +Chymical Experiments we are Examining. But (not to repeat what I have +already discover'd more at large) I shall now take notice, that it +will not presently follow, that because a Production of the Fire has +some affinity with some of the greater Masses of matter here below, +that therefore they are both of the same Nature, and deserve the same +Name; for the Chymists are not content, that flame should be look't +upon as a parcel of the Element of Fire, though it be hot, dry, and +active, because it wants some other Qualities belonging to the nature +of Elementary fire. Nor will they let the Peripateticks call Ashes, or +Quicklime, Earth, notwithstanding the many likenesses between them; +because they are not tastlesse, as Elementary Earth ought to be: But +if you should ask me, what then it is, that all the Chymical Anatomies +of Bodies do prove, if they prove not that they consist of the three +Principles into which the fire resolves them? I answer, that their +Dissections may be granted to prove, that some mixt bodies (for in +many it will not hold) are by the fire, when they are included in +close Vessels, (for that Condition also is often requisite) dissolube +[Transcriber's Note: dissoluble] into several Substances differing in +some Qualities, but principally in Consistence. So that out of most of +them may be obtain'd a fixt substance partly saline, and partly +insipid, an unctuous Liquor, and another Liquor or more that without +being unctuous have a manifest taste. Now if Chymists will agree to +call the dry and sapid substance salt, the Unctous liquor Sulphur, and +the other Mercury, I shall not much quarrel with them for so doing: +But if they will tell me that Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury, are simple +and primary bodies whereof each mixt body was actually compounded, and +which was really in it antecedently to the operation of the fire, they +must give me leave to doubt whether (whatever their other arguments +may do) their Experiments prove all this. And if they will also tell +me that the Substances their Anatomies are wont to afford them, are +pure and similar, as Principles ought to be, they must give me leave +to believe my own senses; and their own confessions, before their bare +Assertions. And that you may not (_Eleutherius_) think I deal so +rigidly with them, because I scruple to Take these Productions of the +Fire for such as the Chymists would have them pass for, upon the +account of their having some affinity with them; consider a little +with me, that in regard an Element or Principle ought to be perfectly +Similar and Homogeneous, there is no just cause why I should rather +give the body propos'd the Name of this or that Element or Principle, +because it has a resemblance to it in some obvious Quality, rather +then deny it that name upon the account of divers other Qualities, +wherein the propos'd Bodies are unlike; and if you do but consider +what sleight and easily producible qualities they are that suffice, as +I have already more then once observ'd, to Denominate a Chymical +Principle or an Element, you'l not, I hope, think my wariness to be +destitute either of Example, or else of Reason. For we see that the +Chymists will not allow the _Aristotelians_ that the Salt in Ashes +ought to be called Earth, though the Saline and Terrestrial part +symbolize in weight, in dryness, in fixness and fusibility, only +because the one is sapid and dissoluble in Water, and the other not: +Besides, we see that sapidness and volatility are wont to denominate +the Chymists Mercury or Spirit; and yet how many Bodies, think you, +may agree in those Qualities which may yet be of very differing +natures, and disagree in qualities either more numerous, or more +considerable, or both. For not only Spirit of Nitre, Aqua Fortis, +Spirit of Salt, Spirit of Oyle of Vitriol, Spirit of Allome, Spirit of +Vinager, and all Saline Liquors Distill'd from Animal Bodies, but all +the Acetous Spirits of Woods freed from their Vinager; All these, I +say, and many others must belong to the Chymists Mercury, though it +appear not why some of them should more be comprehended under one +denomination then the Chymists Sulphur, or Oyle should likewise be; +for their Distill'd Oyles are also Fluid, Volatile, and Tastable, as +well as their Mercury; Nor is it Necessary, that their Sulphur should +be Unctuous or Dissoluble in Water, since they generally referr Spirit +of Wine to Sulphurs, although that Spirit be not Unctuous, and will +freely mingle with Water. So that bare Inflamability must constitute +the Essence of the Chymists Sulphur; as uninflamablenesse joyned with +any taste is enough to intitle a Distill'd Liquor to be their Mercury. +Now since I can further observe to You, that Spirit of Nitre and +Spirit of Harts-horne being pour'd together will boile and hisse and +tosse up one another into the air, which the Chymists make signes of +great Antipathy in the Natures of Bodies (as indeed these Spirits +differ much both in Taste, Smell, and Operations;) Since I elsewhere +tell you of my having made two sorts of Oyle out of the same mans +blood, that would not mingle with one another; And since I might tell +You Divers Examples I have met with, of the Contrariety of Bodies +which according to the Chymists must be huddl'd up together under one +Denomination; I leave you to Judge whether such a multitude of +Substances as may agree in these sleight Qualities, and yet Disagree +in Others more Considerable, are more worthy to be call'd by the Name +of a Principle (which ought to be pure and homogeneous,) than to have +appellations given them that may make them differ, in name too, from +the bodies from which they so wildly differ in Nature. And hence also, +by the bye, you may perceive that 'tis not unreasonable to distrust +the Chymists way of Argumentation, when being unable to shew us that +such a Liquor is (for Example) purely saline, they prove, that at +least salt is much the predominant principle, because that the +propos'd substance is strongly tasted, and all Tast proceeds from +salt; whereas those Spirits, such as spirit of Tartar, spirit of +Harts-horn, and the like, which are reckoned to be the Mercuries of +the Bodies that afford them, have manifestly a strong and piercing +tast, and so has (according to what I formerly noted) the spirit of +Box &c. even after the acid Liquor that concurr'd to compose it has +been separated from it. And indeed, if sapidness belong not to the +spirit or Mercurial Principle of Vegitables and Animals: I scarce know +how it will be discriminated from their phlegm, since by the absence +of Inflamability it must be distinguish'd from their sulphur, which +affords me another Example, to prove how unacurate the Chymical +Doctrine is in our present Case; since not only the spirits of +Vegitables and Animals, but their Oyles are very strongly tasted, as +he that shall but wet his tongue with Chymical Oyle of Cinnamon, or of +Cloves, or even of Turpentine, may quickly find, to his smart. And not +only I never try'd any Chymical Oyles whose tast was not very +manifest and strong; but a skilful and inquisitive person who made it +his business by elaborate operations to depurate Chymical Oyles, and +reduce them to an Elementary simplicity, Informes us, that he never +was able to make them at all Tastless; whence I might inferr, that the +proof Chymists confidently give us of a bodies being saline, is so far +from demonstrating the Predominancy, that it does not clearly Evince +so much as the presence of the saline Principle in it. But I will not +(pursues _Carneades_) remind you, that the Volatile salt of +Harts-horn, Amber, Blood, &c. are exceeding strongly scented, +notwithstanding that most Chymists deduce Odours from Sulphur, and +from them argue the Predominancy of that Principle in the Odorous +body, because I must not so much as add any new Examples of the +incompetency of this sort of Chymical arguments; since having already +detain'd You but too long in those generals that appertain to my +fourth consideration, 'tis time that I proceed to the particulars +themselves, to which I thought fit they should be previous: + +These Generals (continues _Carneades_) being thus premis'd, we might +the better survey the Unlikeness that an attentive and unprepossess'd +observer may take notice of in each sort of Bodies which the Chymists +are wont to call the salts or sulphurs or Mercuries of the Concretes +that yield Them, as if they had all a simplicity, and Identity of +Nature: whereas salts if they were all Elementary would as little +differ as do the Drops of pure and simple Water. 'Tis known that both +Chymists and Physitians ascribe to the fixt salts of calcin'd Bodies +the vertues of their concretes; and consequently very differing +Operations. So we find the _Alkali_ of Wormwood much commended in +distempers of the stomach; that of Eyebright for those that have a +weak sight; and that of _Guaiacum_ (of which a great Quantity yields +but a very little salt) is not only much commended in Venereal +Diseases, but is believed to have a peculiar purgative vertue, which +yet I have not had occasion to try. And though, I confess, I have long +thought, that these _Alkalizate_ salts are, for the most part, very +neer of kin, and retain very little of the properties of the +Concretes whence they were separated; Yet being minded to Observe +watchfully whether I could meet with any Exceptions to this General +Observation, I observ'd at the Glasse-house, that sometimes the Metal +(as the Workmen call it) or Masse of colliquated Ingredients, which by +Blowing they fashion into Vessels of divers shapes, did sometimes +prove of a very differing colour, and a somewhat differing Texture, +from what was usuall. And having enquired whether the cause of such +Accidents might not be derived from the peculiar Nature of the fixt +salt employ'd to bring the sand to fusion, I found that the knowingst +Workmen imputed these Mis-adventures to the Ashes, of [Errata: Ashes +off] some certain kind of Wood, as having observ'd the ignobler kind +of Glass I lately mention'd to be frequently produc'd when they had +employ'd such sorts of Ashes which therefore they scruple to make use +of, if they took notice of them beforehand. I remember also, that an +Industrious Man of my acquaintance having bought a vast quantity of +Tobacco stalks to make a fixt Salt with, I had the Curiosity to go see +whether that Exotick Plant, which so much abounds in volatile salt, +would afford a peculiar kind of _Alcali_; and I was pleas'd to find +that in the _Lixivium_ of it, it was not necessary, as is usual, to +evaporate all the Liquor, that there might be obtain'd a Saline Calx, +consisting like lime quench'd in the Air of a heap of little +Corpuscles of unregarded shapes; but the fixt salt shot into figur'd +Crystal, almost as Nitre or _Sal-armoniack_ and other uncalcin'd salts +are wont to do; And I further remember that I have observ'd in the +fixt Salt of Urine, brought by depuration to be very white, a tast not +so unlike to that of common salt, and very differing from the wonted +caustick Lixiviate tast of other salts made by Incineration. But +because the Instances I have alledg'd of the Difference of +_Alcalizate_ salt are but few, and therefore I am still inclin'd to +think, that most Chymists and many Physitians do, inconsideratly +enough and without Warrant from Experience, ascribe the Vertues of the +Concretes expos'd to Calcination, to the salts obtain'd by it; I shall +rather, to shew the Disparity of salts, mention in the first Place the +apparent Difference betwixt the Vegetable fixt salts and the Animal +Volatile ones: As (for Example) betwixt salt of Tartar, and salt of +Harts-horn; whereof the former is so fixt that 'twill indure the brunt +of a violent Fire, and stand in fusion like a Metal; whereas the other +(besides that it has a differing tast and a very differing smell) is +so far from being fixt, that it will fly away in a gentle heat as +easily as Spirit of Wine it self. And to this I shall add, in the next +place, That even among the Volatile salts themselves, there is a +considerable Difference, as appears by the distinct Properties of (for +Instance) salt of Amber, salt of Urine, salt of Mans Skull, (so much +extoll'd against the falling Sicknesse) and divers others which cannot +escape an ordinary Observer. And this Diversity of Volatile salts I +have observ'd to be somtimes Discernable even to the Eye, in their +Figures. For the salt of Harts-horn I have observ'd to adhere to the +Receiver in the forme almost of a _Parallelipipedon_; and of the +Volatile salt of humane blood (long digested before distillation, with +spirit of Wine) I can shew you store of graines of that Figure which +_Geometricians_ call a _Rhombus_; though I dare not undertake that +the Figures of these or other Saline Crystals (if I may so call Them) +will be alwaies the same, whatever degree of Fire have been employ'd +to force them up, or how hastily soever they have been made to convene +in the spirits or liquors, in the lower part of which I have usually +observ'd them after a while to shoot. And although, as I lately told +You, I seldom found any Difference, as to Medical Vertues, in the fixt +Salts of Divers Vegetables; and accordingly I have suspected that most +of these volatile Salts, having so great a Resemblance in smell, in +tast, and fugitiveness, differ but little, if at all, in their +Medicinal properties: As indeed I have found them generally to agree +in divers of them (as in their being somewhat Diaphoretick and very +Deopilative; [Errata: Deopilative)] Yet I remember _Helmont_[18] +somewhere informes us, that there is this Difference betwixt the +saline spirit of Urine and that of Mans blood, that the former will +not cure the Epilepsy, but the Latter will. Of the Efficacy also of +the Salt of Common Amber against the same Disease in Children, (for in +Grown Persons it is not a specifick) I may elsewhere have an Occasion +to Entertain You. And when I consider that to the obtaining of these +Volatile Salts (especially that of Urine) there is not requisite such +a Destructive Violence of the Fire, as there is to get those Salts +that must be made by Incineration, I am the more invited to conclude, +that they may differ from one another, and consequently recede from an +Elementary Simplicity. And, if I could here shew You what Mr. _Boyle_ +has Observ'd, touching the Various Chymicall Distinctions of Salts; +You would quickly discern, not only that Chymists do give themselves a +strange Liberty to call Concretes Salts, that are according to their +own Rules to be look'd upon as very Compounded Bodies; but that among +those very Salts that seem Elementary, because produc'd upon the +Anatomy of the Bodies that yield them, there is not only a visible +Disparity, but, to speak in the common Language, a manifest Antipathy +or Contrariety: As is evident in the Ebullition and hissing that is +wont to ensue, when the Acid Spirit of Vitrioll, for Instance, is +pour'd upon pot ashes, or Salt of Tartar. And I shall beg leave of +this Gentleman, sayes _Carneades_, casting his Eyes on me, to let me +observe to You out of some of his papers, particularly those wherein +he treats of some Preparations of Urine, that not only one and the +same body may have two Salts of a contrary Nature, as he exemplifies +in the Spirit and _Alkali_ of Nitre; but that from the same body there +may without addition be obtain'd three differing and Visible Salts. +For He Relates, that he observ'd in Urine, not only a Volatile and +Crystalline Salt, and a fixt Salt, but likewise a kind of _Sal +Armoniack_, or such a Salt as would sublime in the form of a salt, and +therefore was not fixt, and yet was far from being so fugitive as the +Volatile salt; from which it seem'd also otherwise to differ. I have +indeed suspected that this may be a _Sal Armoniack_ properly enough so +call'd, as Compounded of the Volatile salt of Urine, and the fixt of +the same Liquor, which, as I noted, is not unlike sea-salt; but that +it self argues a manifest Difference betwixt the salts, since such a +Volatile salt is not wont to Unite thus with an ordinary _Alcali_, but +to fly away from it in the Heat. And on this occasion I remember that, +to give some of my Friends an Ocular proof of the difference betwixt +the fixt and Volatile salt (of the same Concrete) Wood, I devis'd the +following Experiment. I took common Venetian sublimate, and dissolv'd +as much of it as I well could in fair Water: then I took Wood Ashes, +and pouring on them Warme Water, Dissolv'd their salt; and filtrating +the Water, as soon as I found the _Lixivium_ sufficiently sharp upon +the tongue, I reserv'd it for use: Then on part of the former solution +of sublimate dropping a little of this Dissolv'd Fixt salt of Wood, +the Liquors presently turn'd of an Orange Colour; but upon the other +part of the clear solution of sublimate putting some of the Volatile +salt of Wood (which abounds in the spirit of soot) the Liquor +immediately turn'd white, almost like Milke, and after a while let +fall a white sediment, as the other Liquor did a Yellow one. To all +this that I have said concerning the Difference of salts, I might add +what I Formerly told you, concerning the simple spirit of Box, and +such like Woods, which differ much from the other salts hitherto +mention'd, and yet would belong to the saline Principle, if Chymists +did truly teach that all Tasts proceed from it. And I might also +annex, what I noted to you out of _Helmont_[19] concerning Bodies, +which, though they consist in great part of Chymical Oyles, do yet +appear but Volatile salts; But to insist on these things, were to +repeat; and therefore I shall proceed. + +[Footnote 18: _Error vero per distillationem nobis monstrat etiam +Spiritum salinum plane volatilem odore nequicquam ut nec gustu +distinguibilem a spiritu Urinae; In eo tamen essentialiter diversum, +quod spiritus talis cruoris curat Epilepsiam, non autem Spiritus salis +lotii._ Helmont. Aura Vitalis.] + +[Footnote 19: _Aliquando oleum Cinnamomi, &c. suo sali Alcali miscetur +absque omni aqua, trium mensium Artificiosa occultaque circulatione, +totum in salem volatilem commutatum est. Helmont. Tria Prima +Chymicorum, &c. pag. 412._] + +This Disparity is also highly eminent in the separated sulphurs or +Chymical Oyles of things. For they contain so much of the scent, and +tast, and vertues, of the Bodies whence they were drawn, that they +seem to be but the Material _Crasis_ (if I may so speak) of their +Concretes. Thus the Oyles of Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmegs and other +spices, seem to be but the United Aromatick parts that did ennoble +those Bodies. And 'tis a known thing, that Oyl of Cinnamon, and oyle +of Cloves, (which I have likewise observ'd in the Oyles of several +Woods) will sink to the Bottom of Water: whereas those of Nutmegs and +divers other Vegetables will swim upon it. The Oyle (abusively call'd +spirit) of Roses swims at the Top of the Water in the forme of a white +butter, which I remember not to have observ'd in any other Oyle drawn +in any Limbeck; yet there is a way (not here to be declar'd) by which +I have seen it come over in the forme of other Aromatick Oyles, to the +Delight and Wonder of those that beheld it. In Oyle of Anniseeds, +which I drew both with, and without Fermentation, I observ'd the whole +Body of the Oyle in a coole place to thicken into the Consistence and +Appearance of white Butter, which with the least heat resum'd its +Former Liquidness. In the Oyl of Olive drawn over in a Retort, I have +likewise more then once seen a spontaneous Coagulation in the +Receiver: And I have of it by me thus Congeal'd; which is of such a +strangely Penetrating scent, as if 'twould Perforate the Noses that +approach it. The like pungent Odour I also observ'd in the Distill'd +Liquor of common sope, which forc'd over from _Minium_, lately +afforded an oyle of a most admirable Penetrancy; And he must be a +great stranger, both to the Writings and preparations of Chymists, +that sees not in the Oyles they distill from Vegetables and Animals, a +considerable and obvious Difference. Nay I shall venture to add, +_Eleutherius_, (what perhaps you will think of kin to a Paradox) that +divers times out of the same Animal or Vegetable, there may be +extracted Oyles of Natures obviously differing. To which purpose I +shall not insist on the swimming and sinking Oyles, which I have +sometimes observ'd to float on, and subside under the spirit of +_Guajacum_, and that of divers other Vegetables Distill'd with a +strong and lasting Fire; Nor shall I insist on the observation +elsewhere mention'd, of the divers and unminglable oyles afforded us +by Humane Blood long fermented and Digested with spirit of Wine, +because these kind of oyles may seem chiefly to differ in Consistence +and Weight, being all of them high colour'd and adust. But the +Experiment which I devis'd to make out this Difference of the oyles of +the same Vegetable, _ad Oculum_, (as they speak) was this that +followes. I took a pound of Annisseeds, and having grosly beaten them, +caused them to be put into a very large glass Retort almost filled +with fair Water; and placing this Retort in a sand Furnace, I caus'd a +very Gentle heat to be administer'd during the first day, and a great +part of the second, till the Water was for the most part drawn off, +and had brought over with it at least most of the Volatile and +Aromatick Oyle of the seeds. And then encreasing the Fire, and +changing the Receiver, I obtain'd besides an Empyreumatical Spirit, a +quantity of adust oyle; whereof a little floated upon the Spirit, and +the rest was more heavy, and not easily separable from it. And whereas +these oyles were very dark, and smell'd (as Chymists speak) so +strongly of the Fire, that their Odour did not betray from what +Vegetables they had been forc'd; the other _Aromatick_ Oyle was +enrich'd with the genuine smell and tast of the Concrete; and +spontaneously coagulating it self into white butter did manifest self +[Errata: it self] to be the true Oyle of Annisseeds; which Concrete I +therefore chose to employ about this Experiment, that the Difference +of these Oyles might be more conspicuous then it would have been, had +I instead of it destill'd another Vegetable. + +I had almost forgot to take notice, that there is another sort of +Bodies, which though not obtain'd from Concretes by Distillation, many +Chymists are wont to call their Sulphur; not only because such +substances are, for the most part, high colour'd (whence they are +also, and that more properly, called Tinctures) as dissolv'd Sulphurs +are wont to be; but especially because they are, for the most part, +abstracted and separated from the rest of the Masse by Spirit of Wine: +which Liquor those men supposing to be Sulphureous, they conclude, +that what it works upon, and abstracts, must be a Sulphur also. And +upon this account they presume, that they can sequester the sulphur +even of Minerals and Metalls; from which 'tis known that they cannot +by Fire alone separate it. To all This I shall answer; That if these +sequestred substances where indeed the sulphurs of the Bodies whence +they are drawn, there would as well be a great Disparity betwixt +Chymical Sulphurs obtain'd by Spirit of Wine, as I have already shewn +there is betwixt those obtain'd by Distillation in the forme of Oyles: +which will be evident from hence, that not to urge that themselves +ascribe distinct vertues to Mineral Tinctures, extolling the Tincture +of Gold against such and such Diseases; the Tincture of Antimony, or +of its Glass, against others; and the Tincture of Emerauld against +others; 'tis plain, that in Tinctures drawn from Vegetables, if the +superfluous spirit of Wine be distill'd off, it leaves at the bottom +that thicker substance which Chymists use to call the Extract of the +Vegetable. And that these Extracts are endow'd with very differing +Qualities according to the Nature of the Particular Bodies that +afforded them (though I fear seldom with so much of the specifick +vertues as is wont to be imagin'd) is freely confess'd both by +Physitians and Chymists. But, _Eleutherius_, (sayes _Carneades_) we +may here take Notice that the Chymists do as well in this case, as in +many others, allow themselves a License to abuse Words: For not again +to argue from the differing properties of Tinctures, that they are not +exactly pure and Elementary Sulphurs; they would easily appear not to +be so much as Sulphur's, although we should allow Chymical Oyles to +deserve that Name. For however in some Mineral Tinctures the Natural +fixtness of the extracted Body does not alwayes suffer it to be easily +further resoluble into differing substances; Yet in very many extracts +drawn from Vegetables, it may very easily be manifested that the +spirit of Wine has not sequestred the sulphureous Ingredient from the +saline and Mercurial ones; but has dissolv'd (for I take it to be a +Solution) the finer Parts of the Concrete (without making any nice +distinction of their being perfectly Sulphureous or not) and united it +self with them into a kind of Magistery; which consequently must +contain Ingredients or Parts of several sorts. For we see that the +stones that are rich in vitriol, being often drench'd with +rain-Water, the Liquor will then extract a fine and transparent +substance coagulable into Vitriol; and yet though this Vitriol be +readily dissoluble in Water, it is not a true Elementary Salt, but, as +You know, a body resoluble into very differing Parts, whereof one (as +I shall have occasion to tell You anon) is yet of a Metalline, and +consequently not of an Elementary Nature. You may consider also, that +common Sulphur is readily dissoluble in Oyle of Turpentine, though +notwithstanding its Name it abounds as well, if not as much, in Salt +as in true Sulphur; witness the great quantity of saline Liquor it +affords being set to flame away under a glasse Bell. Nay I have, which +perhaps You will think strange, with the same Oyle of Turpentine alone +easily enough dissolv'd crude Antimony finely powder'd into a +Blood-red Balsam, wherewith perhaps considerable things may be +perform'd in Surgery. And if it were now Requisite, I could tell You +of some other Bodies (such as Perhaps You would not suspect) that I +have been able to work upon with certain Chymical Oyles. But instead +of digressing further I shall make this use of the Example I have +nam'd. That 'tis not unlikely, but that Spirit of Wine which by its +pungent tast, and by some other Qualities that argue it better +(especially its Reduciblenesse, according to _Helmont_, into _Alcali_, +and Water,) seems to be as well of a Saline as of a Sulphureous +Nature, may well be suppos'd Capable of Dissolving Substances That are +not meerly Elementary sulphurs, though perhaps they may abound with +Parts that are of kin thereunto. For I find that Spirit of Wine will +dissolve _Gumm Lacca_, _Benzoine_, and the _Resinous_ Parts of +_Jallap_, and even of _Guaiacum_; whence we may well suspect that it +may from Spices, Herbs, and other lesse compacted Vegetables, extract +substances that are not perfect Sulphurs but mixt Bodies. And to put +it past Dispute, there is many a Vulgar Extract drawn with Spirit of +Wine, which committed to Distillation will afford such differing +substances as will Loudly proclaim it to have been a very compounded +Body. So that we may justly suspect, that even in Mineral Tinctures it +will not alwaies follow, that because a red substance is drawn from +the Concrete by spirit of Wine, that Substance is its true and +Elementary Sulphur. And though some of these Extracts may perhaps be +inflamable; Yet besides that others are not, and besides that their +being reduc'd to such Minuteness of Parts may much facilitate their +taking Fire; besides this, I say, We see that common Sulphur, common +Oyle, Gumm Lac, and many Unctuous and Resinous Bodies, will flame well +enough, though they be of very compounded natures: Nay Travellers of +Unsuspected Credit assure Us, as a known thing, that in some Northern +Countries where Firr trees and Pines abound, the poorer sort of +Inhabitants use Long splinters of those Resinous Woods to burne +instead of Candles. And as for the rednesse wont to be met with in +such solutions, I could easily shew, that 'tis not necessary it should +proceed from the Sulphur of the Concrete, Dissolv'd by the Spirit of +Wine; if I had leasure to manifest how much Chymists are wont to +delude themselves and others by the Ignorance of those other causes +upon whose account spirit of Wine and other _Menstruums_ may acquire +a red or some other high colour. But to returne to our Chymical Oyles, +supposing that they were exactly pure; Yet I hope they would be, as +the best spirit of Wine is, but the more inflamable and deflagrable. +And therefore since an Oyle can be by the Fire alone immediately +turn'd into flame, which is something of a very differing Nature from +it: I shall Demand how this Oyle can be a Primogeneal and +Incorruptible Body, as most Chymists would have their Principles; +Since it is further resoluble into flame, which whether or no it be a +portion of the Element of Fire, as an _Aristotelian_ would conclude, +is certainly something of a very differing Nature from a Chymical +Oyle, since it burnes, and shines, and mounts swiftly upwards; none of +which a Chymical Oyle does, whilst it continues such. And if it should +be Objected, that the Dissipated Parts of this flaming Oyle may be +caught and collected again into Oyl or Sulphur; I shall demand, what +Chymist appears to have ever done it; and without Examining whether it +may not hence be as well said that sulphur is but compacted Fire, as +that Fire is but diffus'd Sulphur, I shall leave you to consider +whether it may not hence be argu'd, that neither Fire nor Sulphur are +primitive and indestructible Bodies; and I shall further observe that, +at least it will hence appear that a portion of matter may without +being Compounded with new Ingredients, by having the Texture and +Motion of its small parts chang'd, be easily, by the means of the +Fire, endow'd with new Qualities, more differing from them it had +before, then are those which suffice to discriminate the Chymists +Principles from one another. + +We are next to Consider, whether in the Anatomy of mixt Bodies, that +which Chymists call the Mercurial part of them be un-compounded, or +no. But to tell You True, though Chymists do Unanimously affirm that +their Resolutions discover a Principle, which they call Mercury, yet I +find them to give of it Descriptions so Differing, and so +AEnigmaticall, that I, who am not asham'd to confess that I cannot +understand what is not sence, must acknowledge to you that I know not +what to make of them. _Paracelsus_ himself, and therefore, as you +will easily believe, many of his Followers, does somewhere call that +Mercury which ascends upon the burning of Wood, as the Peripateticks +are wont to take the same smoke for Air; and so seems to define +Mercury by Volatility, or (if I may coyne such a Word) Effumability. +But since, in this Example, both Volatile Salt and Sulphur make part +of the smoke, which does indeed consist also both of Phlegmatick and +Terrene Corpuscles, this Notion is not to be admitted; And I find that +the more sober Chymists themselves disavow it. Yet to shew you how +little of clearness we are to expect in the accounts even of latter +_Spagyrists_, be pleas'd to take notice, that _Beguinus_, even in his +_Tyrocinium Chymicum_,[20] written for the Instruction of Novices, +when he comes to tell us what are meant by the _Tria Prima_, which for +their being Principles ought to be defin'd the more accurately and +plainly, gives us this Description of Mercury; _Mercurius_ (sayes he) +_est liquor ille acidus, permeabilis, penetrabilis, aethereus, ac +purissimus, a quo omnis Nutricatio, Sensus, Motus, Vires, Colores, +Senectutisque Praeproperae retardatio._ Which words are not so much a +Definition of it, as an _Encomium_: and yet _Quercetanus_ in his +Description of the same Principle adds to these, divers other +_Epithets_. But both of them, to skip very many other faults that may +be found with their Metaphoricall Descriptions, speak incongruously to +the Chymists own Principles. For if Mercury be an Acid Liquor, either +Hermetical Philosophy must err in ascribing all Tasts to Salt, or else +Mercury must not be a Principle, but Compounded of a Saline Ingredient +and somewhat else. _Libavius_, though he find great fault with the +obscurity of what the Chymists write concerning their Mercurial +Principle, does yet but give us such a Negative Description of it, as +_Sennertus_, how favourable soever to the _Tria Prima_, is not +satisfi'd with. And this _Sennertus_ Himself, though the Learnedst +Champion for the Hypostatical Principles, does almost as frequently as +justly complain of the unsatisfactoriness of what the Chymists teach +concerning their Mercury; and yet he himself (but with his wonted +modesty) Substitutes instead of the Description of _Libavius_, +another, which many Readers, especially if they be not Peripateticks, +will not know what to make of. For scarce telling us any more, then +that in all bodies that which is found besides Salt and Sulphur, and +the Elements, or, as they call them, Phlegm and Dead Earth, is that +Spirit which in _Aristotles_ Language may be call'd [Greek: ousian +analogon [Errata: ousia analogos] to ton astron stoichaio [Errata: +astron stoicheio]]. He sayes that which I confess is not at all +satisfactory to me, who do not love to seem to acquiesce in any mans +Mystical Doctrines, that I may be thought to understand them. + +[Footnote 20: _Chm. Tyrocin. lib. 1. Cap. 2._] + +If (sayes _Eleutherius_) I durst presume that the same thing would be +thought clear by me, and those that are fond of such cloudy +Expressions as You justly Tax the Chymists for, I should venture to +offer to Consideration, whether or no, since the Mercurial Principle +that arises from Distillation is unanimously asserted to be distinct +from the salt and Sulphur of the same Concrete, that may not be call'd +the Mercury of a Body, which though it ascend in Distillation, as do +the Phlegme and Sulphur, is neither insipid like the former, nor +inflamable like the latter. And therefore I would substitute to the +too much abused Name of Mercury, the more clear and Familiar +Appellation of Spirit, which is also now very much made use of even by +the Chymists themselves, of our times, though they have not given us +so Distinct an Explication, as were fit, of what may be call'd the +Spirit of a mixt Body. + +I should not perhaps (sayes _Carneades_) much quarrel with your Notion +of Mercury. But as for the Chymists, what they can mean, with +congruity to their own Principles, by the Mercury of Animals and +Vegetables, 'twill not be so easie to find out; for they ascribe Tasts +only to the Saline Principle, and consequently would be much put to it +to shew what Liquor it is, in the Resolution of Bodies, that not being +insipid, for that they call Phlegme, neither is inflamable as Oyle or +Sulphur, nor has any Tast; which according to them must proceed from a +Mixture, at least, of Salt. And if we should take Spirit in the sence +of the Word receiv'd among Modern Chymists and Physitians, for any +Distill'd Liquor that is neither Phlegme nor oyle, the Appellation +would yet appear Ambiguous enough. For, plainly, that which first +ascends in the Distillation of Wine and Fermented Liquors, is +generally as well by Chymists as others reputed a Spirit. And yet pure +Spirit of Wine being wholly inflamable ought according to them to be +reckon'd to the Sulphureous, not the Mercurial Principle. And among +the other Liquors that go under the name of Spirits, there are divers +which seem to belong to the family of Salts, such as are the Spirits +of Nitre, Vitriol, Sea-Salt and others, and even the Spirit of +Harts-horn, being, as I have try'd, in great part, if not totally +reducible into Salt and Phlegme, may be suspected to be but a Volatile +Salt disguis'd by the Phlegme mingl'd with it into the forme of a +Liquor. However if this be a Spirit, it manifestly differs very much +from that of Vinager, the Tast of the one being Acid, and the other +Salt, and their Mixture in case they be very pure, sometimes +occasioning an Effervescence like that of those Liquors the Chymists +count most contrary to one another. And even among those Liquors that +seem to have a better title then those hitherto mention'd, to the name +of Spirits, there appears a sensible Diversity; For spirit of Oak, for +instance, differs from that of Tartar, and this from that of Box, or +of _Guaiacum_. And in short, even these spirits as well as other +Distill'd Liquors manifest a great Disparity betwixt themselves, +either in their Actions on our senses, or in their other operations. + +And (continues _Carneades_) besides this Disparity that is to be met +with among those Liquors that the Modernes call spirits, & take for +similar bodies, what I have formerly told you concerning the Spirit of +Box-wood may let you see that some of those Liquors not only have +qualities very differing from others, but may be further resolved into +substances differing from one another. + +And since many moderne Chymists and other Naturalists are pleased to +take the Mercurial spirit of Bodies for the same Principle, under +differing names, I must invite you to observe, with me, the great +difference that is conspicuous betwixt all the Vegetable and Animal +spirits I have mention'd and running Mercury. I speak not of that +which is commonly sold in shops that many of themselves will confesse +to be a mixt Body; but of that which is separated from Metals, which +by some Chymists that seem more Philosophers then the rest, and +especially by the above mentioned _Claveus_, is (for distinction sake) +called _Mercurius Corporum_. Now this Metalline Liquor being one of +those three Principles of which Mineral Bodies are by _Spagyrists_ +affirmed to be compos'd and to be resoluble into them, the many +notorious Differences betwixt them and the Mercuries, as They call +Them, of Vegetables and Animals will allow me to inferr, either that +Minerals and the other two sorts of Mixt Bodies consist not of the +same Elements, or that those Principles whereinto Minerals are +immediately resolved, which Chymists with great ostentation shew us as +the true principles, of them, are but Secundary Principles, or Mixts +of a peculiar sort, which must be themselves reduc'd to a very +differing forme, to be of the same kind with Vegetable and Animal +Liquors. + +But this is not all; for although I formerly told You how Little +Credit there is to be given to the Chymical Processes commonly to be +met with, of Extracting the Mercuries of Metals, Yet I will now add, +that supposing that the more Judicious of Them do not untruly affirme +that they have really drawn true and running Mercury from several +Metals (which I wish they had cleerly taught Us how to do also,) yet +it may be still doubted whether such extracted Mercuries do not as +well differ from common Quicksilver, and from one another, as from the +Mercuries of Vegetables and Animalls. _Claveus_,[21] in his Apology, +speaking of some _experiments_ whereby Metalline Mercuries may be fixt +into the nobler metals, adds, that he spake of the Mercuries drawn +from metals; because common Quicksilver by reason of its excessive +coldnesse and moisture is unfit for that particular kind of operation; +for which though a few lines before he prescribes in general the +Mercuries of Metalline Bodies, yet he chiefly commends that drawn by +art from silver. And elsewhere, in the same Book, he tells us, that +he himself tryed, that by bare coction the quicksilver of Tin or +Pewter (_argentum vivum ex stanno prolicitum_) may by an efficient +cause, as he speaks, be turn'd into pure Gold. And the Experienc'd +_Alexander van Suchten_, somewhere tells us, that by a way he +intimates may be made a Mercury of Copper, not of the Silver colour of +other Mercuries, but green; to which I shall add, that an eminent +person, whose name his travells and learned writings have made famous, +lately assur'd me that he had more then once seen the Mercury of Lead +(which whatever Authors promise, you will find it very difficult to +make, at least in any considerable quantity) fixt into perfect Gold. +And being by me demanded whether or no any other Mercury would not as +well have been changed by the same Operations, he assured me of the +Negative. + +[Footnote 21: _Dixi autem de argento vivo a metallis prolicito, quod +vulgare ob nimiam frigiditatem & humiditatem nimium concoctioni est +contumax, nec ab auro solum alterato coerceri potest._ Gast. Clave. in +Apoll.] + +And since I am fallen upon the mention of the Mercuries of metals, you +will perhaps expect (_Eleutherius_!) that I should say something of +their two other principles; but must freely confess to you, that what +Disparity there may be between the salts and sulphurs of Metals and +other Menerals [Transcriber's Note: Minerals], I am not my self +experienced enough in the separations and examens of them, to venture +to determine: (for as for the salts of Metals, I formerly represented +it as a thing much to be question'd, whether they have any at all:) +And for the processes of separation I find in Authors, if they were +(what many of them are not) successfully practicable, as I noted +above, yet they are to be performed by the assistance of other bodies, +so hardly, if upon any termes at all, separable from them, that it is +very difficult to give the separated principles all their due, and no +more. But the Sulphur of Antimony which is vehemently vomitive, and +the strongly scented Anodyne Sulphur of Vitriol inclines me to think +that not only Mineral Sulphurs differ from Vegetable ones, but also +from one another, retaining much of the nature of their Concretes. The +salts of metals, and of some sort of minerals, You will easily guesse +by [Errata: (by] the Doubts I formerly express'd, whether metals have +any salt at all [Errata: all)], that I have not been so happy as yet +to see, perhaps not for want of curiosity. But if _Paracelsus_ did +alwaies write so consentaneously to himself that his opinion were +_confidently_ to be collected from every place of his writings where +he seems to expresse it, I might safely take upon me to tell you, that +he both countenances in general what I have delivered in my Fourth +main consideration, and in particular warrants me to suspect that +there may be a difference in metalline and mineral Salts, as well as +we find it in those of other bodies. For, _Sulphur_ (sayes he)[22] +_aliud in auro, aliud in argento, aliud in ferro, aliud in plumbo, +stanno, &c. sic aliud in Saphiro, aliud in Smaragdo, aliud in rubino, +chrysolito, amethisto, magnete, &c. Item aliud in lapidibus, silice, +salibus, fontibus, &c. nec vero tot sulphura tantum, sed & totidem +salia; sal aliud in metallis, aliud in gemmis, aliud in lapidibus, +aliud in salibus, aliud in vitriolo, aliud in alumine: similis etiam +Mercurii est ratio. Alius in Metallis, alius in Gemmis, &c. Ita ut +unicuique speciei suus peculiaris Mercurius sit. Et tamen res saltem +tres sunt; una essentia est sulphur; una est sal; una est Mercurius. +Addo quod & specialius adhuc singula dividantur; aurum enim non unum, +sed multiplex, ut et non unum pyrum, pomum, sed idem multiplex; +totidem etiam sulphura auri, salia auri, mercurii auri; idem competit +etiam metallis & gemmis; ut quot saphyri praestantiores, laevioris, &c. +tot etiam saphyrica sulphura, saphyrica salia, saphyrici Mercurii, &c. +Idem verum etiam est de turconibus & gemmis aliis universis._ From +which passage (_Eleutherius_) I suppose you will think I might without +rashness conclude, either that my opinion is favoured by that of +_Paracelsus_, or that _Paracelsus_ his opinion was not alwaies the +same. But because in divers other places of his writings he seems to +talk at a differing rate of the three Principles and the four +Elements, I shall content my self to inferr from the alledg'd passage, +that if his doctrine be not consistent with that Part of mine which it +is brought to countenance, it is very difficult to know what his +opinion concerning salt, sulphur and mercury, was; and that +consequently we had reason about the beginning of our conferences, to +decline taking upon us, either to examine or oppose it. + +[Footnote 22: Paracel. de Mineral. Tract. 1. pag. 141.] + +I know not whether I should on this occasion add, that those very +bodies the Chymists call Phlegme and Earth do yet recede from an +Elementary simplicity. That common Earth and Water frequently do so, +notwithstanding the received contrary opinion, is not deny'd by the +more wary of the moderne Peripateticks themselves: and certainly, most +Earths are much lesse simple bodies then is commonly imagined even by +Chymists, who do not so consideratly to prescribe and employ Earths +Promiscuously in those distillations that require the mixture of some +_caput mortuum_, to hinder the flowing together of the matter, and to +retain its grosser parts. For I have found some Earths to yield by +distillation a Liquor very far from being inodorous or insipid; and +'tis a known observation, that most kinds of fat Earth kept cover'd +from the rain, and hindred from spending themselves in the production +of vegetables, will in time become impregnated with Salt-Petre. + +But I must remember that the Water and Earths I ought here to speak +of, are such as are separated from mixt Bodies by the fire; and +therefore to restrain my Discourse to such, I shall tell you, That we +see the Phlegme of Vitriol (for instance) is a very effectual remedie +against burnes; and I know a very Famous and experienc'd _Physitian_, +whose unsuspected secret (himself confess'd to me) it is, for the +discussing of hard and Obstinate Tumours. The Phlegme of Vinager, +though drawn exceeding leasurly in a digesting Furnace, I have +purposely made tryall of; and sometimes found it able to draw, though +slowly, a saccharine sweetness out of Lead; and as I remember by long +Digestion, I dissolv'd Corpals [Errata: Corals] in it. The Phlegme of +the sugar of Saturne is said to have very peculiar properties. Divers +Eminent Chymists teach, that it will dissolve Pearls, which being +precipitated by the spirit of the same concrete are thereby (as they +say) rendred volatile; which has been confirmed to me, upon his own +observation, by a person of great veracity. The Phlegme of Wine, and +indeed divers other Liquors that are indiscriminately condemnd to be +cast away as phlegm, are endow'd with qualities that make them differ +both from meer water, and from each other; and whereas the Chymists +are pleas'd to call the _caput mortuum_ of what they have distill'd +(after they have by affusion of water drawn away its salt) _terra +damnata_, or Earth, it may be doubted whether or no those earths are +all of them perfectly alike: and it is scarce to be doubted, but that +there are some of them which remain yet unreduc'd to an Elementary +nature. The ashes of wood depriv'd of all the salt, and bone-Ashes, or +calcin'd Harts-horn, which Refiners choose to make Tests of, as freest +from Salt, seem unlike: and he that shall compare either of these +insipid ashes to Lime, and much more to the _calx_ of Talk +[Transcriber's Note: Talck] (though by the affusion of water they be +exquisitely dulcify'd) will perhaps see cause to think them things of +a somewhat differing nature. And it is evident in Colcothar that the +exactest calcination, follow'd by an exquisite dulcification, does not +alwaies reduce the remaining body into elementary earth; for after the +salt or Vitriol (if the Calcination have been too faint) is drawn out +of the Colcothar, the residue is not earth, but a mixt body, rich in +Medical vertues (as experience has inform'd me) and which _Angelus +Sala_ affirmes to be partly reducible into malleable Copper; which I +judge very probable: for though when I was making Experiments upon +Colcothar, I was destitute of a Furnace capable of giving a heat +intense Enough to bring such a Calx to Fusion; yet having conjectur'd +that if Colcothar abounded with that Metal, Aqua Fortis would find it +out there, I put some dulcifi'd Colcothar into that _Menstruum_, and +found the Liquor, according to my Expectation, presently Colour'd as +Highly as if it had been an Ordinary Solution of Copper. + + + + +THE + +SCEPTICAL CHYMIST. + +_The Fifth Part._ + + +Here _Carneades_ making a pause, I must not deny (sayes his Friend to +him) that I think You have sufficiently prov'd that these distinct +Substances which Chymists are wont to obtain from Mixt Bodies, by +their Vulgar Destillation, are not pure and simple enough to deserve, +in Rigour of speaking, the Name of Elements, or Principles. But I +suppose You have heard, that there are some Modern _Spagyrists_, who +give out that they can by further and more Skilfull Purifications, so +reduce the separated Ingredients of Mixt Bodies to an Elementary +simplicity, That the Oyles (for Instance) extracted from all Mixts +shall as perfectly resemble one another, as the Drops of Water do. + +If you remember (replies _Carneades_) that at the Beginning of our +Conference with _Philoponus_, I declar'd to him before the rest of the +Company, that I would not _engage_ my self at present to do any more +then examine the usual proofs alledg'd by Chymists, for the Vulgar +doctrine of their three Hypostatical Principles; You will easily +perceive that I am not oblig'd to make answer to what you newly +propos'd; and that it rather grants, then disproves what I have been +contending for: Since by pretending to make so great a change in the +reputed Principles that Destillation affords the common _Spagyrists_, +'tis plainly enough presuppos'd, that before such Artificial +Depurations be made, the Substances to be made more simple were not +yet simple enough to be look'd upon as Elementary; Wherefore in case +the _Artists_ you speak of could perform what they give out they can, +yet I should not need to be asham'd of having question'd the Vulgar +Opinion touching the _tria Prima_. And as to the thing it self, I +shall freely acknowledge to you, that I love not to be forward in +determining things to be impossible, till I know and have consider'd +the means by which they are propos'd to be effected. And therefore I +shall not peremptorily deny either the possibility of what these +_Artists_ promise, or my Assent to any just Inference; however +destructive to my Conjectures, that may be drawn from their +performances. But give me leave to tell you withall, that because such +promises are wont (as Experience has more then once inform'd me) to be +much more easily made, then made good by Chymists, I must withhold my +Beliefe from their assertions, till their Experiments exact it; and +must not be so easie as to expect before hand, an unlikely thing upon +no stronger Inducements then are yet given me: Besides that I have not +yet found by what I have heard of these Artists, that though they +pretend to bring the several Substances into which the Fire has +divided the Concrete, to an exquisite simplicity, They pretend also to +be able by the Fire to divide all Concretes, Minerals, and others, +into the same number of Distinct Substances. And in the mean time I +must think it improbable, that they can either truly separate as many +differing Bodies from Gold (for Instance) or _Osteocolla_, as we can +do from Wine, or Vitriol; or that the Mercury (for Example) of Gold or +Saturn would be perfectly of the same Nature with that of Harts-horn; +and that the sulphur of Antimony would be but Numerically different +from the Distill'd butter or oyle of Roses. + +But suppose (sayes _Eleutherius_) that you should meet with Chymists, +who would allow you to take in Earth and Water into the number of the +principles of Mixt Bodies; and being also content to change the +Ambiguous Name of Mercury for that more intelligible one of spirit, +should consequently make the principles of Compound Bodies to be Five; +would you not think it something hard to reject so plausible an +Opinion, only because the Five substances into which the Fire divides +mixt Bodies are not exactly pure, and Homogeneous? For my part +(Continues _Carneades_) I cannot but think it somewhat strange, in +case this Opinion be not true, that it should fall out so luckily, +that so great a Variety of Bodies should be Analyz'd by the Fire into +just five Distinct substances; which so little differing from the +Bodies that bear those names, may so Plausibly be call'd Oyle, Spirit, +Salt, Water, and Earth. + +The Opinion You now propose (answers _Carneades_) being another then +that I was engag'd to examine, it is not requisite for me to Debate it +at present; nor should I have leisure to do it thorowly. Wherefore I +shall only tell you in General, that though I think this Opinion in +some respects more defensible then that of the Vulgar Chymists; yet +you may easily enough learn from the past Discourse what may be +thought of it: Since many of the Objections made against the Vulgar +Doctrine of the Chymists seem, without much alteration, employable +against this _Hypothesis_ also. For, besides that this Doctrine does +as well as the other take it for granted, (what is not easie to be +prov'd) that the Fire is the true and Adequate Analyzer of Bodies, +and that all the Distinct substances obtainable from a mixt Body by +the Fire, were so pre-existent in it, that they were but extricated +from each other by the _Analysis_; Besides that this Opinion, too, +ascribe [Errata: ascribes] to the Productions of the Fire an +Elementary simplicity, which I have shewn not to belong to them; and +besides that this Doctrine is lyable to some of the other +Difficulties, wherewith That of the _Tria Prima_ is incumber'd; +Besides all this, I say, this quinary number of Elements, (if you +pardon the Expression) ought at least to have been restrain'd to the +Generality of Animal and Vegetable Bodies, since not only among these +there are some Bodies (as I formerly argu'd) which, for ought has yet +been made to appear, do consist, either of fewer or more similar +substances then precisely Five. But in the Mineral Kingdom, there is +scarce one Concrete that has been evinc'd to be adequatly divisible +into such five Principles or Elements, and neither more nor less, as +this Opinion would have every mixt Body to consist of. + +And this very thing (continues _Carneades_) may serve to take away or +lessen your Wonder, that just so many Bodies as five should be found +upon the Resolution of Concretes. For since we find not that the fire +can make any such _Analysis_ (into five Elements) of Metals and other +Mineral Bodies, whose Texture is more strong and permanent, it remains +that the Five Substances under consideration be Obtain'd from +Vegetable and Animal Bodies, which (probably by reason of their looser +Contexture) are capable of being Distill'd. And as to such Bodies, +'tis natural enough, that, whether we suppose that there are, or are +not, precisely five Elements, there should ordinarily occurr in the +Dissipated parts a five Fold Diversity of Scheme (if I may so speak.) +For if the Parts do not remain all fix'd, as in Gold, Calcin'd Talck, +&c. nor all ascend, as in the Sublimation of Brimstone, Camphire, &c. +but after their Dissipation do associate themselves into new Schemes +of Matter; it is very likely, that they will by the Fire be divided +into fix'd and Volatile (I mean, in Reference to that degree of heat +by which they are destill'd) and those Volatile parts will, for the +most part, ascend either in a dry forme, which Chymists are pleas'd to +call, if they be Tastless, Flowers; if Sapid, Volatile Salt; or in a +Liquid Forme. And this Liquor must be either inflamable, and so pass +for oyl, or not inflamable, and yet subtile and pungent, which may be +call'd Spirit; or else strengthless or insipid, which may be nam'd +Phlegme, or Water. And as for the fixt part, or _Caput Mortuum_, it +will most commonly consist of Corpuscles, partly Soluble in Water, or +Sapid, (especially if the Saline parts were not so Volatile, as to fly +away before) which make up its fixt salt; and partly insoluble and +insipid, which therefore seems to challenge the name of Earth. But +although upon this ground one might easily enough have foretold, that +the differing substances obtain'd from a perfectly mixt Body by the +Fire would for the most part be reducible to the five newly mentioned +States of Matter; yet it will not presently follow, that these five +Distinct substances were simple and primogeneal bodies, so +pre-existent in the Concrete that the fire does but take them asunder. +Besides that it does not appear, that all Mixt Bodies, (witness, +Gold, Silver, Mercury, &c.) Nay nor perhaps all Vegetables, which may +appear by what we said above of _Camphire_, _Benzoin_, &c. are +resoluble by Fire into just such differing Schemes of Matter. Nor will +the Experiments formerly alledg'd permit us to look upon these +separated Substances as Elementary, or uncompounded. Neither will it +be a sufficient Argument of their being Bodies that deserve the Names +which Chymists are pleas'd to give them, that they have an Analogy in +point of Consistence, or either Volatility or Fixtness, or else some +other obvious Quality, with the suppos'd Principles, whose names are +ascrib'd to them. For, as I told you above, notwithstanding this +Resemblance in some one Quality, there may be such a Disparity in +others, as may be more fit to give them Differing Appellations, then +the Resemblance is to give them one and the same. And indeed it seems +but somewhat a gross Way of judging of the Nature of Bodies, to +conclude without Scruple, that those must be of the same Nature that +agree in some such General Quality, as Fluidity, Dryness, Volatility, +and the like: since each of those Qualities, or States of Matter, may +Comprehend a great Variety of Bodies, otherwise of a very differing +Nature; as we may see in the Calxes of Gold, of Vitriol, and of +Venetian Talck, compar'd with common Ashes, which yet are very dry, +and fix'd by the vehemence of the Fire, as well as they. And as we may +likewise gather from what I have formerly Observ'd, touching the +Spirit of Box-Wood, which though a Volatile, Sapid, and not inflamable +Liquor, as well as the Spirits of Harts-horn, of Blood and others, +(and therefore has been hitherto call'd, the Spirit, and esteem'd for +one of the Principles of the Wood that affords it;) may yet, as I told +You, be subdivided into two Liquors, differing from one another, and +one of them at least, from the Generality of other Chymical Spirits. + +But you may your self, if you please, (pursues _Carneades_) +accommodate to the _Hypothesis_ you propos'd what other particulars +you shall think applicable to it, in the foregoing Discourse. For I +think it unseasonable for me to meddle now any further with a +Controversie, which since it does not now belong to me, Leaves me at +Liberty to Take my Own time to Declare my Self about it. + +_Eleutherius_ perceiving that _Carneades_ was somewhat unwilling to +spend any more time upon the debate of this Opinion, and having +perhaps some thoughts of taking hence a Rise to make him Discourse it +more fully another time, thought not fit as then to make any further +mention to him of the propos'd opinion, but told him; + +I presume I need not mind you, _Carneades_, That both the Patrons of +the ternary number of Principles, and those that would have five +Elements, endeavour to back their experiments with a specious Reason +or two; and especially some of those Embracers of the Opinion last +nam'd (whom I have convers'd with, and found them Learned men) assigne +this Reason of the necessity of five distinct Elements; that otherwise +mixt Bodies could not be so compounded and temper'd as to obtain a due +consistence and competent Duration. For Salt (say they) is the +_Basis_ of Solidity; and Permanency in Compound Bodies, without which +the other four Elements might indeed be variously and loosly blended +together, but would remain incompacted; but that Salt might be +dissolv'd into minute Parts, and convey'd to the other Substances to +be compacted by it, and with it, there is a Necessity of Water. And +that the mixture may not be too hard and brittle, a Sulphureous or +Oyly Principle must intervene to make the mass more tenacious; to this +a Mercurial spirit must be superadded; which by its activity may for a +while premeate [Transcriber's Note: permeate], and as it were leaven +the whole Mass, and thereby promote the more exquisite mixture and +incorporation of the Ingredients. To all which (lastly) a portion of +Earth must be added, which by its drinesse and poracity [Errata: +porosity] may soak up part of that water wherein the Salt was +dissolv'd, and eminently concurr with the other ingredients to give +the whole body the requisite consistence. + +I perceive (sayes _Carneades_ smiling) that if it be true, as 'twas +lately rooted [Errata: noted] from the Proverb, _That good Wits have +bad Memories_, You have that Title, as well as a better, to a place +among the good Wits. For you have already more then once forgot, that +I declar'd to you that I would at this Conference Examine only the +Experiments of my Adversaries, not their Speculative Reasons. Yet 'tis +not (Subjoynes _Carneades_) for fear of medling with the Argument you +have propos'd, that I decline the examining it at present. For if when +we are more at leasure, you shall have a mind that we may Solemnly +consider of it together; I am confident we shall scarce find it +insoluble. And in the mean time we may observe, that such a way of +Arguing may, it seems, be speciously accommodated to differing +_Hypotheses_. For I find that _Beguinus_, and other Assertors of the +_Tria Prima_, pretend to make out by such a way, the requisiteness of +their Salt, Sulphur and Mercury, to constitute mixt Bodies, without +taking notice of any necessity of an Addition of Water and Earth. + +And indeed neither sort of Chymists seem to have duly consider'd how +great Variety there is in the Textures and Consistences of Compound +Bodie; sand [Errata: Bodies; and] how little the consistence and +Duration of many of them seem to accommodate and be explicable by the +propos'd Notion. And not to mention those almost incorruptible +Substances obtainable by the Fire, which I have prov'd to be somewhat +compounded, and which the Chymists will readily grant not to be +perfectly mixt Bodies: (Not to mention these, I say) If you will but +recall to mind some of those Experiments, whereby I shew'd You that +out of common Water only mixt Bodies (and even living ones) of very +differing consistences, and resoluble by Fire into as many Principles +as other bodies acknowledg'd to be perfectly mixt; if you do this, I +say, you will not, I suppose, be averse from beleeving, that Nature by +a convenient disposition of the minute parts of a portion of matter +may contrive bodies durable enough, and of this, or that, or the other +Consistence, without being oblig'd to make use of all, much less of +any Determinate quantity of each of the five Elements, or of the three +Principles to compound such bodies of. And I have (pursues +_Carneades_) something wonder'd, Chymists should not consider, that +there is scarce any body in Nature so permanent and indissoluble as +Glass; which yet themselves teach us may be made of bare Ashes, +brought to fusion by the meer Violence of the Fire; so that, since +Ashes are granted to consist but of pure Salt and simple Earth, +sequestred from all the other Principles or Elements, they must +acknowledge, That even Art it self can of two Elements only, or, if +you please, one Principle and one Element, compound a Body more +durable then almost any in the World. Which being undeniable, how will +they prove that Nature cannot compound Mixt Bodies, and even durable +Ones, under all the five Elements or material Principles. + +But to insist any longer on this Occasional Disquisition, Touching +their Opinion that would Establish five Elements, were to remember as +little as You did before, that the Debate of this matter is no part of +my first undertaking; and consequently, that I have already spent time +enough in what I look back upon but as a digression, or at best an +Excursion. + +And thus, _Eleutherius_, (sayes _Carneades_) having at length gone +through the four Considerations I propos'd to Discourse unto you, I +hold it not unfit, for fear my having insisted so long on each of them +may have made you forget their _Series_, briefly to repeat them by +telling you, that + +Since, in the first place, it may justly be doubted whether or no the +Fire be, as Chymists suppose it, the genuine and Universal Resolver of +mixt Bodies; + +Since we may doubt, in the next place, whether or no all the Distinct +Substances that may be obtain'd from a mixt body by the Fire were +pre-existent there in the formes in which they were separated from it; + +Since also, though we should grant the Substances separable from mixt +Bodies by the fire to have been their component Ingredients, yet the +Number of such substances does not appear the same in all mixt Bodies; +some of them being Resoluble into more differing substances than +three, and Others not being Resoluble into so many as three. + +And Since, Lastly, those very substances that are thus separated are +not for the most part pure and Elementary bodies, but new kinds of +mixts; + +Since, I say, these things are so, I hope you will allow me to inferr, +that the Vulgar Experiments (I might perchance have Added, the +Arguments too) wont to be Alledg'd by Chymists to prove, that their +three Hypostatical Principles do adequately compose all mixt Bodies, +are not so demonstrative as to reduce a wary Person to acquiesce in +their Doctrine, which, till they Explain and prove it better, will by +its perplexing darkness be more apt to puzzle then satisfy considering +men, and will to them appear incumbred with no small Difficulties. + +And from what has been hitherto deduc'd (continues _Carneades_) we may +Learn, what to Judge of the common Practice of those Chymists, who +because they have found that Diverse compound Bodies (for it will not +hold in All) can be resolv'd into, or rather can be brought to afford +two or three differing Substances more then the Soot and Ashes, +whereinto the naked fire commonly divides them in our Chymnies, cry up +their own Sect for the Invention of a New Philosophy, some of them, as +_Helmont, &c._ styling themselves Philosophers by the Fire; and the +most part not only ascribing, but as far as in them lies, engrossing +to those of their Sect the Title of PHILOSOPHERS. + +But alas, how narrow is this Philosophy, that reaches but to some of +those compound Bodies, which we find but upon, or in the crust or +outside of our terrestrial Globe, which is it self but a point in +comparison of the vast extended Universe, of whose other and greater +parts the Doctrine of the _Tria Prima_ does not give us an Account! +For what does it teach us, either of the Nature of the Sun, which +Astronomers affirme to be eight-score and odd times bigger then the +whole Earth? or of that of those numerous fixt Starrs, which, for +ought we know, would very few, if any of them, appear inferiour in +bulke and brightness to the Sun, if they were as neer us as He? What +does the knowing that Salt, sulphur and Mercury, are the Principles of +Mixt Bodies, informe us of the Nature of that vast, fluid, and +AEtherial Substance, that seemes to make up the interstellar, and +consequently much the greatest part of the World? for as for the +opinion commonly ascrib'd to _Paracelsus_, as if he would have not +only the four Peripatetick Elements, but even the Celestial parts of +the Universe to consist of his three Principles, since the modern +Chymists themselves have not thought so groundless a conceit worth +their owning, I shall not think it Worth my confuting. + +But I should perchance forgive the Hypothesis I have been all this +while examining, if, though it reaches but to a very little part of +the World, it did at least give us a satisfactory account of those +things to which 'tis said to reach. But I find not, that it gives us +any other then a very imperfect information even about mixt Bodies +themselves: For how will the knowledge of the _Tria Prima_ discover to +us the Reason, why the Loadstone drawes a Needle and disposes it to +respect the Poles, and yet seldom precisely points at them? how will +this Hypothesis teach Us how a Chick is formed in the Egge, or how the +Seminal Principles of Mint, Pompions, and other Vegitables, that I +mention'd to You above, can fashion Water into Various Plants, each of +them endow'd with its peculiar and determinate shape, and with divers +specifick and discriminating Qualities? How does this Hypothesis shew +us, how much Salt, how much Sulphur, and how much Mercury must be +taken to make a Chick or a Pompion? and if We know that, what +Principle is it, that manages these Ingredients, and contrives (for +instance) such Liquors as the White and Yelk of an Egge into such a +variety of Textures as is requisite to fashion the Bones, Veines, +Arteries, Nerves, Tendons, Feathers, Blood, and other parts of a +Chick; and not only to fashion each Limbe, but to connect them +altogether, after that manner that is most congruous to the perfection +of the Animal which is to Consist of Them? For to say, that some more +fine and subtile part of either or all the Hypostatical Principles is +the Director in all this business, and the Architect of all this +Elaborate structure, is to give one occasion to demand again, what +proportion and way of mixture of the _Tria Prima_ afforded this +_Architectonick_ Spirit, and what Agent made so skilful and happy a +mixture? And the Answer to this Question, if the Chymists will keep +themselves within their three Principles, will be lyable to the same +Inconvenience, that the Answer to the former was. And if it were not +to intrench upon the Theame of a Friend of ours here present, I could +easily prosecute the Imperfections of the Vulgar Chymists Philosophy, +and shew you, that by going about to explicate by their three +Principles, I say not, all the abstruse Properties of mixt Bodies, but +even such Obvious and more familiar _Phaenomena_ as _Fluidity_ and +_Firmness_, The Colours and Figures of Stones, Minerals, and other +compound Bodies, The Nutrition of either Plants or Animals, the +Gravity of Gold or Quicksilver compar'd with Wine or Spirit of Wine; +By attempting, I say, to render a reason of these (to omit a thousand +others as difficult to account for) from any proportion of the three +simple Ingredients, Chymists will be much more likely to discredit +themselves and their _Hypothesis_, then satisfy an intelligent +Inquirer after Truth. + +But (interposes _Eleutherus_) [Transcriber's Note: Eleutherius] This +Objection seems no more then may be made against the four Peripatetick +Elements. And indeed almost against any other _Hypothesis_, that +pretends by any Determinate Number of Material Ingredients to render a +reason of the _Phaenomena_ of Nature. And as for the use of the +Chymical Doctrine of the three Principles, I suppose you need not be +told by me, that The great Champion of it, The Learned _Sennertus_,[23] +assignes this noble use of the _Tria Prima_, That from Them, as the +neerest and most Proper Principles, may be Deduc'd and Demonstrated +the Properties which are in Mixt Bodies, and which cannot be +Proximately (as They speak) deduc'd from the Elements. And This, sayes +he, is chiefly Apparent, when we Inquire into the Properties and +Faculties of Medecines. And I know (continues _Eleutherius_) That the +Person You have assum'd, of an Opponent of the _Hermetick Doctrine_, +will not so far prevaile against your Native and wonted Equity, as To +keep You from acknowledging that Philosophy is much beholden to the +Notions and Discoveries of Chymists. + +[Footnote 23: _Senn. de Cons. & Dissen. p. 165._] + +If the Chymists You speak of (Replyes _Carneades_) had been so modest, +or so Discreet, as to propose their Opinion of the _Tria Prima_, but +as a Notion useful among Others, to increase Humane knowledge, they +had deserv'd more of our thanks; and less of our Opposition; but since +the Thing that they pretend is not so much to contribute a Notion +toward the Improvement of Philosophy, as to make this Notion attended +[Errata: (attended] by a few lesse considerable ones) pass for a New +Philosophy itself. Nay, since they boast so much of this phancie of +theirs, that the famous _Quercetanus_ scruples not to write, that if +his most certain Doctrine of the three Principles were sufficiently +Learned, Examin'd, and Cultivated, it would easily Dispel all the +Darkness that benights our minds, and bring in a Clear Light, that +would remove all Difficulties. This School affording Theorems and +Axiomes irrefragable, and to be admitted without Dispute by impartial +Judges; and so useful withal, as to exempt us from the necessity of +having recourse, for want of the knowledg of causes, to that Sanctuary +of the igorant [Transcriber's Note: ignorant], Occult Qualities; +since, I say, this Domestick Notion of the Chymists is so much +overvalued by them, I cannot think it unfit, they should be made +sensible of their mistake; and be admonish'd to take in more fruitful +and comprehensive Principles, if they mean to give us an account of +the _Phaenomena_ of Nature; and not confine themselves and (as far as +they can) others to such narrow Principles, as I fear will scarce +inable them to give an account (I mean an intelligible one) of the +tenth part (I say not) of all the _Phaenomena_ of Nature; but even of +all such as by the _Leucippian_ or some of the other sorts of +Principles may be plausibly enough explicated. And though I be not +unwilling to grant, that the incompetency I impute to the Chymical +_Hypothesis_ is but the same which may be Objected against that of the +four Elements, and divers other Doctrines that have been maintain'd by +Learned men; yet since 'tis the Chymical _Hypothesis_ only which I am +now examining, I see not why, if what I impute to it be a real +inconvenience, either it should cease to be so, or I should scruple to +object it, because either Theories are lyable thereunto, as well as +the Hermetical. For I know not why a Truth should be thought lesse a +Truth for the being fit to overthrow variety of Errors. + +I am oblig'd to You (continues _Carneades_, a little smiling) for the +favourable Opinion You are pleas'd to express of my Equity, if there +be no design in it. But I need not be tempted by an Artifice, or +invited by a Complement, to acknowledge the great service that the +Labours of Chymists have done the Lovers of useful Learning; nor even +on this occasion shall their Arrogance hinder my Gratitude. But since +we are as well examining to [Errata: delete "to"] the truth of their +Doctrine as the merit of their industry, I must in order to the +investigation of the first, continue a reply, to talk at the rate of +the part I have assum'd; And tell you, that when I acknowledg the +usefulness of the Labours of _Spagyrists_ to Natural Philosophy, I do +it upon the score of their experiments, not upon that of Their +Speculations; for it seems to me, that their Writings, as their +Furnaces, afford as well smoke as light; and do little lesse obscure +some subjects, then they illustrate others. And though I am unwilling +to deny, that 'tis difficult for a man to be an Accomplisht +Naturalist, that is a stranger to Chymistry, yet I look upon the +common Operations and practices of Chymists, almost as I do on the +Letters of the Alphabet, without whose knowledge 'tis very hard for a +man to become a Philosopher; and yet that knowledge is very far from +being sufficient to make him One. + +But (sayes _Carneades_, resuming a more serious Look) to consider a +little more particularly what you alledg in favour of the Chymical +Doctrine of the _Tria Prima_, though I shall readily acknowledge it +not to be unuseful, and that the Divisers [Errata: devisers] and +Embracers of it have done the Common-Wealth of Learning some service, +by helping to destroy that excessive esteem, or rather veneration, +wherewith the Doctrine of the four Elements was almost as generally as +undeservedly entertain'd; yet what has been alledg'd concerning the +usefulness of the _Tria Prima_, seems to me liable to no contemptible +Difficulties. + +And first, as for the very way of Probation, which the more Learned +and more Sober Champions of the Chymical cause employ to evince the +Chymical Principles in Mixt Bodies, it seems to me to be farr enough +from being convincing. This grand and leading Argument, your +_Sennertus_ Himself, who layes Great weight upon it, and tells us, +that the most Learned Philosophers employ this way of Reasoning to +prove the most important things, proposes thus: _Ubicunque_ (sayes he) +_pluribus eaedem affectiones & qualitates insunt, per commune quoddam +Principium insint necesse est, sicut omnia sunt Gravia propter terram, +calida propter Ignem. At Colores, Odores, Sapores, esse_ [Greek: +phlogiston] _& similia alia, mineralibus, Metallis, Gemmis, Lapidibus, +Plantis, Animalibus insunt. Ergo per commune aliquod principium, & +subiectum, insunt. At tale principium non sunt Elementa. Nullam enim +habent ad tales qualitates producendas potentiam. Ergo alia principia, +unde fluant, inquirenda sunt._ + +In the Recital of this Argument, (sayes _Carneades_) I therefore +thought fit to retain the Language wherein the Author proposes it, +that I might also retain the propriety of some Latine Termes, to which +I do not readily remember any that fully answer in English. But as for +the Argumentation it self, 'tis built upon a precarious supposition, +that seems to me neither Demonstrable nor true; for, how does it +appear, that where the same Quality is to be met with in many Bodies, +it must belong to them upon the Account of some one Body whereof they +all partake? (For that the Major of our Authors Argument is to be +Understood of the Material Ingredients of bodies, appears by the +Instances of Earth and Fire he annexes to explain it.) For to begin +with that very Example which he is pleas'd to alledge for himself; how +can he prove, that the Gravity of all Bodies proceeds from what they +participate of the Element of Earth? Since we see, that not only +common Water, but the more pure Distill'd Rain Water is heavy; and +Quicksilver is much heavier than Earth it self; though none of my +Adversaries has yet prov'd, that it contains any of that Element. And +I the Rather make use of this Example of Quicksilver, because I see +not how the Assertors of the Elements will give any better Account of +it then the Chymists. For if it be demanded how it comes to be Fluid, +they will answer, that it participates much of the Nature of Water. +And indeed, according to them, Water may be the Predominant Element +in it, since we see, that several Bodies which by Distillation afford +Liquors that weigh more then their _Caput Mortuum_ do not yet consist +of Liquor enough to be Fluid. Yet if it be demanded how Quicksilver +comes to be so heavy, then 'tis reply'd, that 'tis by reason of the +Earth that abounds in it; but since, according to them, it must +consist also of air, and partly of Fire, which they affirm to be light +Elements, how comes it that it should be so much heavier then Earth of +the same bulk, though to fill up the porosities and other Cavities it +be made up into a mass or paste with Water, which it self they allow +to be a heavy Element. But to returne to our _Spagyrists_, we see that +Chymical Oyles and fixt Salts, though never so exquisitely purify'd +and freed from terrestrial parts, do yet remain ponderous enough. And +Experience has inform'd me, that a pound, for instance, of some of the +heaviest Woods, as _Guajacum_ that will sink in Water, being burnt to +Ashes will yield a much less weight of them (whereof I found but a +small part to be Alcalyzate) then much lighter Vegetables: As also +that the black Charcoal of it will not sink as did the wood, but swim; +which argues that the Differing Gravity of Bodies proceeds chiefly +from their particular Texture, as is manifest in Gold, the closest and +Compactest of Bodies, which is many times heavier then we can possibly +make any parcell of Earth of the same Bulk. I will not examine, what +may be argu'd touching the Gravity or Quality Analagous thereunto, of +even Celestial bodies, from the motion of the spots about the Sun, d +[Errata: and] from the appearing equality of the suppos'd Seas in the +Moon; nor consider how little those _Phaemonea_ [Transcriber's Note: +Phaenomena] would agree with what _Sennertus_ presumes concerning +Gravity. But further to invalidate his supposition, I shall demand, +upon what Chymical Principle Fluidity depends? And yet Fluidity is, +two or three perhaps excepted, the most diffused quality of the +universe, and far more General then almost any other of those that are +to be met with in any of the Chymicall Principles, or _Aristotelian_ +Elements; since not only the Air, but that vast expansion we call +Heaven, in comparison of which our Terrestrial Globe (supposing it +were all Solid) is but a point; and perhaps to [Errata: too] the Sun +and the fixt Stars are fluid bodies. I demand also, from which of the +Chymical Principles Motion flowes; which yet is an affection of matter +much more General then any that can be deduc'd from any of the three +Chymical Principles. I might ask the like Question concerning Light, +which is not only to be found in the Kindl'd Sulphur of mixt Bodis +[Transcriber's Note: Bodies], but (not to mention those sorts of +rotten Woods, and rotten Fish that shine in the Dark) in the tails of +living Glow-wormes, and in the Vast bodies of the Sun and Stars. I +would gladly also know, in which of the three Principles the Quality, +we call Sound, resides as in its proper Subject; since either Oyl +falling upon Oyle, or Spirit upon Spirit, or Salt upon Salt, in a +great quantity, and from a considerable height, will make a noise, or +if you please, create a sound, and (that the objection may reach the +_Aristotelians_) so will also water upon water, and Earth upon Earth. +And I could name other qualities to be met within divers bodies, of +which I suppose my Adversaries will not in haste assign any Subject, +upon whose Account it must needs be, that the quality belongs to all +the other several bodies. + +And, before I proceed any further, I must here invite you to compare +the supposition we are examining, with some other of the Chymical +Tenents. For, first they do in effect teach that more then one quality +may belong to, and be deduc'd from, one Principle. For, they ascribe +to Salt Tasts, and the power of Coagulation; to sulphur, as well +Odours as inflamableness; And some of them ascribe to Mercury, +Colours; as all of them do effumability, as they speak. And on the +other side, it is evident that Volatility belongs in common to all the +three Principles, and to Water too. For 'tis manifest, that Chymical +Oyles are Volatile; That also divers Salts Emerging, upon the Analysis +of many Concretes, are very Volatile, is plain from the figitiveness +[Errata: fugitivenesse] of Salt, of Harts-horne, flesh, &c. ascending +in the Distillation of those bodies. How easily water may be made to +ascend in Vapours, there is scarce any body that has not observ'd. And +as for what they call the Mercuriall Principle of bodies, that is so +apt to be rais'd in the form of Steam, that _Paracelsus_ and others +define it by that aptness to fly up; so that (to draw that inference +by the way) it seems not that Chymists have been accurate in their +Doctrine of qualities, and their respective Principles, since they +both derive several qualities from the same Principle, and must +ascribe the same quality to almost all their Principles and other +bodies besides. And thus much for the first thing taken for granted, +without sufficient proof, by your _Sennertus_: And to add that upon +the Bye (continues _Carneades_) we may hence learn what to judge of +the way of Argumentation, which that fierce Champion of the +_Aristotelians_ against the Chymists, _Anthonius Guntherus +Billichius_[24] employes, where he pretends to prove against +_Beguinus_, that not only the four Elements do immediately concur to +Constitute every mixt body, and are both present in it, and obtainable +from it upon its Dissolution; but that in the _Tria Prima_ themselves, +whereinto Chymists are wont to resolve mixt Bodies, each of them +clearly discovers it self to consist of four Elements. The +Ratiocination it self (pursues _Carneades_) being somewhat unusual, I +did the other Day Transcribe it, and (sayes He, pulling a Paper out of +his Pocket) it is this. _Ordiamur, cum Beguino, a ligno viridi, quod +si concremetur, videbis in sudore Aquam, in fumo Aerem, in flamma & +Prunis Ignem, Terram in cineribus: Quod si Beguino placuerit ex eo +colligere humidum aquosum, cohibere humidum oleaginosum, extrahere ex +cineribus salem; Ego ipsi in unoquoque horum seorsim quatuor Elementa +ad oculum demonstrabo, eodem artificio quo in ligno viridi ea +demonstravi. Humorem aquosum admovebo Igni. Ipse Aquam Ebullire +videbit, in Vapore Aerem conspiciet, Ignem sentiet in aestu, plus minus +Terrae in sedimento apparebit. Humor porro Oleaginosus aquam humiditate +& fluiditate per se, accensus vero Ignem flamma prodit, fumo Aerem, +fuligine, nidore & amurca terram. Salem denique ipse Beguinus siccum +vocat & Terrestrem, qui tamen nec fusus Aquam, nec caustica vi ignem +celare potest; ignis vero Violentia in halitus versus nec ab Aere se +alienum esse demonstrat; Idem de Lacte, de Ovis, de semine Lini, de +Garyophyllis, de Nitro, de sale Marino, denique de Antimonio, quod +fuit de Ligno viridi Judicium; eadem de illorum partibus, quas_ +Beguinus _adducit, sententia, quae de viridis ligni humore aquoso, quae +de liquore ejusdem oleoso, quae de sale fuit._ + +[Footnote 24: _In Thessalo redivivo. Cap. 10. pag. 73. & 74._] + +This bold Discourse (resumes _Carneades_, putting up again his Paper,) +I think it were not very difficult to confute, if his Arguments were +as considerable as our time will probably prove short for the +remaining and more necessary Part of my Discourse; wherefore referring +You for an Answer to what was said concerning the Dissipated Parts of +a burnt piece of green Wood, to what I told _Themistius_ on the like +occasion, I might easily shew You, how sleightly and superficially our +_Guntherus_ talks of the dividing the flame of Green Wood into his +four Elements; _When_ he makes that vapour to be air, which being +caught in Glasses and condens'd, presently discovers it self to have +been but an Aggregate of innumerable very minute drops of Liquor; and +_When_ he would prove the Phlegmes being compos'd of Fire by that Heat +which is adventitious to the Liquor, and ceases upon the absence of +what produc'd it (whether that be an Agitation proceeding from the +motion of the External Fire, or the presence of a Multitude of igneous +Atomes pervading the pores of the Vessel, and nimbly permeating the +whole Body of the Water) I might, I say, urge these and divers other +Weaknesses of His Discourse. But I will rather take Notice of what is +more pertinent to the Occasion of this Digression, namely, that Taking +it for Granted, that Fluidity (with which he unwarily seems to +confound Humidity) must proceed from the Element of Water, he makes a +Chymical Oyle to Consist of that Elementary Liquor; and yet in the +very next Words proves, that it consists also of Fire, by its +Inflamability; not remembring that exquisitely pure Spirit of Wine is +both more Fluid then Water it self, and yet will Flame all away +without leaving the Least Aqueous Moisture behind it; and without such +an _Amurca_ and Soot as he would Deduce the presence of Earth from. So +that the same Liquor may according to his Doctrine be concluded by its +great Fluidity to be almost all Water; and by its burning all away to +be all disguised Fire. And by the like way of Probation our Author +would shew that the fixt salt of Wood is compounded of the four +Elements. For (sayes he) being turn'd by the violence of the Fire into +steames, it shews it self to be of kin to Air; whereas I doubt whether +he ever saw a true fixt Salt (which to become so, must have already +endur'd the violence of an Incinerating Fire) brought by the Fire +alone to ascend in the Forme of Exhalations; but I do not doubt that +if he did, and had caught those Exhalations in convenient Vessels, he +would have found them as well as the Steames of common Salt, &c. of a +Saline and not an Aereal Nature. And whereas our Authour takes it also +for Granted, that the Fusibility of Salt must be Deduc'd from Water, +it is indeed so much the Effect of heat variously agitating the Minute +Parts of a Body, without regard to Water, that Gold (which by its +being the heavyest and fixtest of Bodies, should be the most Earthy) +will be brought to Fusion by a strong Fire; which sure is more likely +to drive away then increase its Aqueous Ingredient, if it have any; +and on the other side, for want of a sufficient agitation of its +minute parts, Ice is not Fluid, but Solid; though he presumes also +that the Mordicant Quality of Bodies must proceed from a fiery +ingredient; whereas, not to urge that the Light and inflamable parts, +which are the most likely to belong to the Element of Fire, must +probably be driven away by that time the violence of the Fire has +reduc'd the Body to ashes; Not to urge this, I I [Transcriber's Note: +extra "I" in original] say, nor that Oyle of Vitriol which quenches +Fire, burnes the Tongue and flesh of those that Unwarily tast or apply +it, as a caustick doth, it is precarious to prove the Presence of Fire +in fixt salts from their Caustick power, unlesse it were first shewn, +that all the Qualities ascribed to salts must be deduc'd from those of +the Elements; which, had I Time, I could easily manifest to be no easy +talk. And not to mention that our Authour makes a Body as Homogeneous +as any he can produce for Elementary, belong both to Water and Fire, +Though it be neither Fluid nor Insipid, like Water; nor light and +Volatile, like Fire; he seems to omit in this Anatomy the Element of +Earth, save That he intimates, That the salt may pass for that; But +since a few lines before, he takes Ashes for Earth, I see not how he +will avoid an Inconsistency either betwixt the Parts of his Discourse +or betwixt some of them and his Doctrine. For since There is a +manifest Difference betwixt the Saline and the insipid Parts of Ashes, +I see not how substances That Disagree in such Notable Qualities can +be both said to be Portions of an Element, whose Nature requires that +it be Homogeneous, especially in this case where an _Analysis_ by the +Fire is suppos'd to have separated it from the admixture of other +Elements, which are confess'd by most _Aristotelians_ to be Generally +found in common Earth, and to render it impure. And sure if when we +have consider'd for how little a Disparities sake the Peripateticks +make these Symbolizing Bodies Aire and Fire to be two Distinct +Elements, we shall also consider that the Saline part of Ashes is very +strongly Tasted, and easily soluble in Water; whereas the other part +of the same Ashes is insipid and indissoluble in the same Liquor: Not +to add, that the one substance is Opacous, and the other somewhat +Diaphanous, nor that they differ in Divers other Particulars; If we +consider those things, I say, we shall hardly think that both these +Substances are Elementary Earth; And as to what is sometimes objected, +that their Saline Tast is only an Effect of Incineration and Adustion, +it has been elsewhere fully reply'd to, when propos'd by _Themistius_, +and where it has been prov'd against him, that however insipid Earth +may perhaps by Additaments be turn'd into Salt, yet 'tis not like it +should be so by the Fire alone: For we see that when we refine Gold +and Silver, the violentest Fires We can Employ on them give them not +the least Rellish of Saltness. And I think _Philoponus_ has rightly +observ'd, that the Ashes of some Concretes contain very little salt if +any at all; For Refiners suppose that bone-ashes are free from it, and +therefore make use of them for Tests and Cuppels, which ought to be +Destitute of Salt, lest the Violence of the Fire should bring them to +Vitrification; And having purposely and heedfully tasted a Cuppel made +of only bone-ashes and fair water, which I had caus'd to be expos'd +to a Very Violent Fire, acuated by the Blast of a large pair of Double +Bellows, I could not perceive that the force of the Fire had imparted +to it the least Saltness, or so much as made it less Insipid. + +But (sayes _Carneades_) since neither You nor I love Repetitions, I +shall not now make any of what else was urg'd against _Themistius_ but +rather invite You to take notice with me that when our Authour, though +a Learned Man, and one that pretends skill enough in Chymistry to +reforme the whole Art, comes to make good his confident Undertaking, +to give us an occular Demonstration of the immediate Presence of the +four Elements in the resolution of Green Wood, He is fain to say +things that agree very little with one another. For about the +beginning of that passage of His lately recited to you, he makes the +sweat as he calls it of the green Wood to be Water, the smoke Aire, +the shining Matter Fire, and the Ashes Earth; whereas a few lines +after, he will in each of these, nay (as I just now noted) in one +Distinct Part of the Ashes, shew the four Elements. So that either the +former _Analysis_ must be incompetent to prove that Number of +Elements, since by it the burnt Concrete is not reduc'd into +Elementary Bodies, but into such as are yet each of them compounded of +the four Elements; or else these Qualities from which he endeavours to +deduce the presence of all the Elements, in the fixt salt, and each of +the other separated substances, will be but a precarious way of +probation: especially if you consider, that the extracted _Alcali_ of +Wood, being for ought appears at least as similar a Body as any that +the Peripateticks can shew us, if its differing Qualities must argue +the presence of Distinct Elements, it will scarce be possible for them +by any way they know of employing the fire upon a Body, to shew that +any Body is a Portion of a true Element: And this recals to my mind, +that I am now but in an occasional excussion, which aiming only to +shew that the Peripateticks as well as the Chymists take in our +present Controversie something for granted which they ought to prove, +I shall returne to my exceptions, where I ended the first of them, and +further tell you, that neither is that the only precarious thing that +I take notice of in _Sennertus_ his Argumentation; for when he +inferrs, that because the Qualities he Mentions as Colours, Smels, and +the like, belong not to the Elements; they therefore must to the +Chymical Principles, he takes that for granted, which will not in +haste be prov'd; as I might here manifest, but that I may by and by +have a fitter opportunity to take notice of it. And thus much at +present may suffice to have Discours'd against the Supposition, that +almost every Quality must have some [Greek: dektikon proton], as they +speak, some Native receptacle, wherein as in its proper Subject of +inhesion it peculiarly resides, and on whose account that quality +belongs to the other Bodies, Wherein it is to be met with. Now this +Fundamental supposition being once Destroy'd, whatsoever is built upon +it, must fall to ruine of it self. + +But I consider further, that Chymists are (for ought I have found) far +from being able to explicate by any of the _Tria Prima_, those +qualities which they pretend to belong primarily unto it, and in mixt +Bodies to Deduce from it. Tis true indeed, that such qualities are +not explicable by the four Elements; but it will not therefore follow, +that they are so by the three hermetical Principles; and this is it +that seems to have deceiv'd the Chymists, and is indeed a very common +mistake amongst most Disputants, who argue as if there could be but +two Opinions concerning the Difficulty about which they contend; and +consequently they inferr, that if their Adversaries Opinion be +Erroneous, Their's must needs be the Truth; whereas many questions, +and especially in matters Physiological, may admit of so many +Differing _Hypotheses_, that 'twill be very inconsiderate and +fallacious to conclude (except where the Opinions are precisely +Contradictory) the Truth of one from the falsity of another. And in +our particular case 'tis no way necessary, that the Properties of mixt +Bodies must be explicable either by the Hermetical, or the +_Aristotelian Hypothesis_, there being divers other and more plausible +wayes of explaining them, and especially that, which deduces qualities +from the motion, figure, and contrivance of the small parts of Bodies; +as I think might be shewn, if the attempt were as seasonable, as I +fear it would be Tedious. + +I will allow then, that the Chymists do not causelessly accuse the +Doctrine of the four elements of incompetency to explain the +Properties of Compound bodies. And for this Rejection of a Vulgar +Error, they ought not to be deny'd what praise men may deserve for +exploding a Doctrine whose Imperfections are so conspicuous, that men +needed but not to shut their Eyes, to discover them. But I am +mistaken, if our Hermetical Philosophers Themselves need not, as well +as the Peripateticks, have Recourse to more Fruitfull and +Comprehensive Principles then the _tria Prima_, to make out the +Properties of the Bodies they converse with. Not to accumulate +Examples to this purpose, (because I hope for a fitter opportunity to +prosecute this Subject) let us at present only point at Colour, that +you may guess by what they say of so obvious and familiar a Quality, +how little Instruction we are to expect from the _Tria Prima_ in those +more abstruse ones, which they with the _Aristotelians_ stile Occult. +For about Colours, neither do they at all agree among themselves, nor +have I met with any one, of which of the three Perswasions soever, +that does intelligibly explicate Them. The Vulgar Chymists are wont to +ascribe Colours to Mercury; _Paracelsus_ in divers places attributes +them to Salt; and _Sennertus_,[25] having recited their differing +Opinions, Dissents from both, and referrs Colours rather unto Sulphur. +But how Colours do, nay, how they may, arise from either of these +Principles, I think you will scarce say that any has yet intelligibly +explicated. And if Mr. _Boyle_ will allow me to shew you the +Experiments which he has collected about Colours, you will, I doubt +not, confess that bodies exhibite colours, not upon the Account of the +Predominancy of this or that Principle in them, but upon that of their +Texture, and especially the Disposition of their superficial parts, +whereby the Light rebounding thence to the Eye is so modifi'd, as by +differing Impressions variously to affect the Organs of Sight. I might +here take notice of the pleasing variety of Colours exhibited by the +Triangular glass, (as 'tis wont to be call'd) and demand, what +addition or decrement of either Salt, Sulphur, or Mercury, befalls the +Body of the Glass by being Prismatically figur'd; and yet 'tis known, +that without that shape it would not affor'd those colours as it does. +But because it may be objected, that these are not real, but apparent +Colours; that I may not lose time in examing the Distinction, I will +alledge against the Chymists, a couple of examples of Real and +Permanent Colours Drawn from Metalline Bodies, and represent, that +without the addition of any extraneous body, Quicksilver may by the +Fire alone, and that in glass Vessels, be depriv'd of its silver-like +Colour, and be turn'd into a Red Body; and from this Red Body without +Addition likewise may be obtain'd a Mercury Bright and Specular as it +was before; So that I have here a lasting Colour Generated and +Destroy'd (as I have seen) at pleasure, without adding or taking away +either Mercury, Salt, or Sulphur; and if you take a clean and slender +piece of harden'd steel, and apply to it the flame of a candle at some +little distance short of the point, You shall not have held the Steel +long in the flame, but You shall perceive divers Colours, as Yellow, +Red and Blew, to appear upon the Surface of the metal, and as it were +run along in chase of one another towards the point; So that the same +body, and that in one and the same part, may not only have a new +colour produc'd in it, but exhibite successively divers Colours within +a minute of an hour, or thereabouts, and any of these Colours may by +Removing the Steel from the Fire, become Permanent, and last many +years. And this Production and Variety of Colours cannot reasonably be +suppos'd to proceed from the Accession of any of the three Principles, +to which of them soever Chymists will be pleas'd to ascribe Colours; +especially considering, that if you but suddenly Refrigerate that +Iron, First made Red hot, it will be harden'd and Colourless again; +and not only by the Flame of a Candle, but by any other equivalent +heat Conveniently appli'd, the like Colours will again be made to +appear and succeed one another, as at the First. But I must not any +further prosecute an Occasional Discourse, though that were not so +Difficult for me to do, as I fear it would be for the Chymists to give +a better Account of the other Qualities, by their Principles, then +they have done of Colours. And your _Sennertus_ Himself (though an +Author I much value) would I fear have been exceedingly puzl'd to +resolve, by the _Tria Prima_, halfe that Catalogue of Problems, which +he challenges the Vulgar Peripateticks to explicate by their four +Elements.[26] And supposing it were true, that Salt or Sulphur were +the Principle to which this or that Quality may be peculiarly +referr'd, yet though he that teaches us this teaches us something +concerning That quality, yet he Teaches us but something. For indeed +he does not Teach us That which can in any Tollerable measure satisfie +an inquisitive Searcher after Truth. For what is it to me to know, +that such a quality resides in such a Principle or Element, whilst I +remain altogether ignorant of the Cause of that quality, and the +manner of its production and Operation? How little do I know more then +any Ordinary Man of Gravity, if I know but that the Heaviness of mixt +bodies proceeds from that of the Earth they are compos'd of, if I know +not the reason why the Earth is Heavy? And how little does the Chymist +teach the Philosopher of the Nature of Purgatition, if he only tells +him that the Purgative Vertue of Medicines resides in their Salt? For, +besides that this must not be conceded without Limitation, since the +purging parts of many Vegetables Extracted by the Water wherein they +are infus'd, are at most but such compounded Salts, (I mean mingl'd +with Oyle, and Spirit, and Earth, as Tartar and divers other Subjects +of the Vegetable Kingdom afford;) And since too that Quicksilver +precipitated either with Gold, or without Addition, into a powder, is +wont to be strongly enough Cathartical, though the Chymists have not +yet prov'd, that either Gold or Mercury have any Salt at all, much +less any that is Purgative; Besides this, I say, how little is it to +me, to know That 'tis the Salt of the Rhubarb (for Instance) that +purges, if I find That it does not purge as Salt; since scarce any +Elementary Salt is in small quantity cathartical. And if I know not +how Purgation in general is effected in a Humane Body? In a word, as +'tis one thing to know a mans Lodging, and another, to be acquainted +with him; so it may be one thing to know the subject wherein a Quality +principally resides, and another thing to have a right notion and +knowledg of the quality its self. Now that which I take to be the +reason of this Chymical Deficiency, is the same upon whose account I +think the _Aristotelian_ and divers other Theories incompetent to +explicate the Origen [Errata: origine] of Qualities. For I am apt to +think, that men will never be able to explain the _Phaenomena_ of +Nature, while they endeavour to deduce them only from the Presence and +Proportion of such or such material Ingredients, and consider such +ingredients or Elements as Bodies in a state of rest; whereas indeed +the greatest part of the affections of matter, and consequently of the +_Phaenomena_ of nature, seems to depend upon the motion and the +continuance [Errata: contrivance] of the small parts of Bodies. For +'tis by motion that one part of matter acts upon another; and 'tis, +for the most part, the texture of the Body upon which the moving parts +strike, that modifies to motion or Impression, and concurrs with it +to the production of those Effects which make up the chief part of the +Naturalists Theme. + +[Footnote 25: _De Cons. & dissen. cap. 11. pag. 186._] + +[Footnote 26: _Sennert. de Con. seus. [Transcriber's Note: Consens.] & +Dissens. pag. 165. 166._] + +But (sayes _Eleutherius_) me thinks for all this, you have left some +part of what I alledg'd in behalf of the three principles, unanswer'd. +For all that you have said will not keep this from being a useful +Discovery, that since in the Salt of one Concrete, in the Sulphur of +another and the Mercury of a third, the Medicinal vertue of it +resides, that Principle ought to be separated from the rest, and there +the desired faculty must be sought for. + +I never denyed (Replyes _Carneades_) that the Notion of the _Tria +Prima_ may be of some use, but (continues he laughing) by what you now +alledg for it, it will but appear That it is useful to Apothecaries, +rather than to Philosophers, The being able to make things Operative +being sufficient to those, whereas the Knowledge of Causes is the +Thing looked after by These. And let me Tell You, _Eleutherius_, even +this it self will need to be entertained with some caution. + +For first, it will not presently follow, That if the Purgative or +other vertue of a simple may be easily extracted by Water or Spirit of +Wine, it Resides in the Salt or Sulphur of the Concrete; Since unlesse +the Body have before been resolved by the Fire, or some Other Powerful +Agent, it will, for the most part, afford in the Liquors I have named, +rather the finer compounded parts of it self, Than the Elementary +ones. As I noted before, That Water will dissolve not only pure Salts, +but Crystals of Tartar, Gumme Arabick, Myrr'h, and Other Compound +Bodies. As also Spirit of Wine will Dissolve not only the pure Sulphur +of Concretes, but likewise the whole Substance of divers Resinous +Bodies, as Benzoin, the Gummous parts of Jallap, Gumme Lacca, and +Other bodies that are counted perfectly Mixt. And we see that the +Extracts made either with Water or Spirit of Wine are not of a simple +and Elementary Nature, but Masses consisting of the looser Corpuscles, +and finer parts of the Concretes whence they are Drawn; since by +Distillation they may be Divided into more Elementary substances. + +Next, we may consider That even when there intervenes a Chymical +resolution by he [Transcriber's Note: the] Fire, 'tis seldom in the +Saline or Sulphureous principle, as such, that the desir'd Faculty of +the Concrete Resides; But, as that Titular Salt or Sulphur is yet a +mixt body, though the Saline or Sulphureous Nature be predominant in +it. For, if in Chymical Resolutions the separated Substances were pure +and simple Bodies, and of a perfect Elementary Nature; no one would be +indued with more Specifick Vertues, than another; and their qualities +would Differ as Little as do those of Water. And let me add this upon +the bye, That even Eminent Chymists have suffer'd themselves to be +reprehended by me for their over great Diligence in purifying some of +the things they obtain by Fire from mixt Bodies. For though such +compleatly purifyed Ingredients of Bodies might perhaps be more +satisfactory to our Understanding; yet others are often more useful to +our Lives, the efficacy of such Chymical Productions depending most +upon what they retain of the Bodies whence they are separated, or gain +by the new associations of the Dissipated among themselves; whereas +if they were meerly Elementary, their uses would be comparatively very +small; and the vertues of Sulphurs, Salts, or Other such Substances of +one denomination, would be the very same. + +And by the Way (_Eleutherius_) I am inclin'd upon this ground to +Think, That the artificial resolution of compound bodies by Fire does +not so much enrich mankind, as it divides them into their supposed +Principles; as upon the score of its making new compounds by now +[Transcriber's Note: new] combinations of the dissipated parts of the +resolv'd Body. For by this means the Number of mixt Bodies is +considerably increased. And many of those new productions are indow'd +with useful qualities, divers of which they owe not to the body from +which they were obtein'd, but to Their newly Acquired Texture. + +But thirdly, that which is principally to be Noted is this, that as +there are divers Concretes whose Faculties reside in some one or other +of those differing Substances that Chymists call their Sulphurs, +Salts, and Mercuries, and consequently may be best obtain'd, by +analyzing the Concrete whereby the desired Principles may be had +sever'd or freed from the rest; So there are other wherein the noblest +properties lodge not in the Salt, or Sulphur, or Mercury, but depend +immediately upon the form (or if you will) result from the determinate +structure of the Whole Concrete; and consequently they that go about +to extract the Vertues of such bodies, by exposing them to the +Violence of the Fire, do exceedingly mistake, and take the way to +Destroy what they would obtain. + +I remmember that _Helmont_ himself somewhere confesses, That as the +Fire betters some things and improves their Vertues, so it spoyles +others and makes them degenerate. And elsewhere he judiciously +affirmes, that there may be sometimes greater vertue in a simple, such +as Nature has made it, than in any thing that can by the fire be +separated from it. And lest you should doubt whether he means by the +vertues of things those that are Medical; he has in one place[27] this +ingenuous confession; _Credo_ (sayes he) _simplicia in sua +simplicitate esse sufficientia pro sanatione omnium morborum._ Nag. +[Errata: Nay,] Barthias, even in a Comment upon _Beguinus_,[28] +scruples not to make this acknowledgment; _Valde absurdum est_ (sayes +he) _ex omnibus rebus extracta facere, salia, quintas essentias; +praesertim ex substantiis per se plane vel subtilibus vel homogeneis, +quales sunt uniones, Corallia, Moscus, Ambra, &c._ Consonantly +whereunto he also tells Us (and Vouches the famous _Platerus_, for +having candidly given the same Advertisement to his Auditors,) that +some things have greater vertues, and better suited to our humane +nature, when unprepar'd, than when they have past the Chymists Fire; +as we see, sayes my Author, in Pepper; of which some grains swallowed +perform more towards the relief of a Distempered stomack, than a great +quantity of the Oyle of the same spice. + +[Footnote 27: Helmont Pharm. & Dispens. Nov. p. 458.] + +[Footnote 28: Vide Jer. ad Begu. Lib. 1. Cap. 17.] + +It has been (pursues _Carneades_) by our Friend here present observ'd +concerning Salt-petre, that none of the substances into which the Fire +is wont to divide it, retaines either the Tast, the cooling vertue, or +some other of the properties of the Concrete; and that each of those +Substances acquires new qualities, not to be found in the Salt-Petre +it self. The shining property of the tayls of gloworms does survive +but so short a time the little animal made conspicuous by it, that +inquisitive men have not scrupled publickly to deride _Baptista Porta_ +and others; who deluded perhaps with some Chymical surmises have +ventur'd to prescribe the distillation of a Water from the tayles of +Glowormes, as a sure way to obtain a liquor shining in the Dark. To +which I shall now add no other example than that afforded us by Amber; +which, whilst it remains an intire body, is endow'd with an Electrical +faculty of drawing to it self fethers, strawes, and such like Bodies; +which I never could observe either in its Salt, its Spirit, its Oyle, +or in the Body I remember I once made by the reunion of its divided +Elements; none of these having such a Texture as the intire Concrete. +And however Chymists boldly deduce such and such properties from this +or that proportion of their component Principles; yet in Concretes +that abound with this or that Ingredient, 'tis not alwayes so much by +vertue of its presence, nor its plenty, that the Concrete is qualify'd +to perform such and such Effects; as upon the account of the +particular texture of that and the other Ingredients, associated after +a determinate Manner into one Concrete (though possibly such a +proportion of that ingredient may be more convenient than an other for +the constituting of such a body.) Thus in a clock the hand is mov'd +upon the dyal, the bell is struck, and the other actions belonging to +the engine are perform'd, not because the Wheeles are of brass or +iron, or part of one metal and part of another, or because the weights +are of Lead, but by Vertue of the size, shape, bigness, and +co-aptation of the several parts; which would performe the same things +though the wheels were of Silver, or Lead, or Wood, and the Weights of +Stone or Clay; provided the Fabrick or Contrivance of the engine were +the same: though it be not to be deny'd, that Brasse and Steel are +more convenient materials to make clock-wheels of than Lead, or Wood. +And to let you see, _Eleutherius_, that 'tis sometimes at least, upon +the Texture of the small parts of a body, and not alwaies upon the +presence, or recesse, or increase, or Decrement of any one of its +Principle, that it may lose some such Qualities, and acquire some +such others as are thought very strongly inherent to the bodies they +Reside in. [Errata: in;] I will add to what may from my past discourse +be refer'd to this purpose, this Notable Example, from my Own +experience; That Lead may without any additament, and only by various +applications of the Fire, lose its colour, and acquire sometimes a +gray, sometimes a yellowish, sometimes a red, sometimes an +_amethihstine_ [Transcriber's Note: amethistine] colour; and after +having past through these, and perhaps divers others, again recover +its leaden colour, and be made a bright body. That also this Lead, +which is so flexible a metal, may be made as brittle as Glasse, and +presently be brought to be again flexible and Malleable as before. And +besides, that the same lead, which I find by _Microscopes_ to be one +of the most opacous bodies in the World, may be reduced to a fine +transparent glasse; whence yet it may returne to an opacous Nature +again; and all this, as I said, without the addition of any extraneous +body, and meerly by the manner and Method of exposing it to the Fire. + +But (sayes _Carneades_) after having already put you to so prolix a +trouble, it is time for me to relieve you with a promise of putting +speedily a period to it; And to make good that promise, I shall from +all that I have hitherto discoursed with you, deduce but this one +proposition by way of Corollary. [_That it may as yet be doubted, +whether or no there be any determinate Number of Elements; Or, if you +please, whether or no all compound bodies, do consist of the same +number of Elementary ingredients or material Principles._] + +This being but an inference from the foregoing Discourse, it will not +be requisite to insist at large on the proofs of it; But only to point +at the chief of Them, and Referr You for Particulars to what has been +already Delivered. + +In the First place then, from what has been so largely discours'd, it +may appear, that the Experiments wont to be brought, whether by the +common Peripateticks, or by the vulgar Chymists, to demonstrate that +all mixt bodies are made up precisely either of the four Elements, or +the three Hypostatical Principles, do not evince what they are +alledg'd to prove. And as for the other common arguments, pretended to +be drawn from Reason in favour of _Aristotelian Hypothesis_ (for the +Chymists are wont to rely almost altogether upon Experiments) they are +Commonly grounded upon such unreasonable or precarious Suppositions, +that 'tis altogether as easie and as just for any man to reject them, +as for those that take them for granted to assert them, being indeed +all of them as indemonstrable as the conclusion to be inferr'd from +them; and some of them so manifestly weak and prooflesse; that he must +be a very courteous adversary, that can be willing to grant them; and +as unskilful a one, that can be compelled to do so. + +In the next place, it may be considered, if what those Patriarchs of +the _Spagyrists_, _Paracelsus_ and _Helmont_, do on divers occasions +positively deliver, be true; namely that the _Alkahest_ does Resolve +all mixt Bodies into other Principles than the fire, it must be +decided which of the two resolutions (that made by the _Alkahest_, or +that made by the fire) shall determine the number of the Elements, +before we can be certain how many there are. + +And in the mean time, we may take notice in the last place, that as +the distinct substances whereinto the _Alkahest_ divides bodies, are +affirm'd to be differing in nature from those whereunto they are wont +to be reduc'd by fire, and to be obtain'd from some bodies more in +Number than from some others; since he tells us, he could totally +reduce all sorts of Stones into Salt only, whereas of a coal he had +two distinct Liquors.[29] So, although we should acquiesce in that +resolution which is made by fire, we find not that all mixt bodies are +thereby divided into the same number of Elements and Principles; some +Concretes affordding more of them than others do; Nay and sometimes +this or that Body affording a greater number of Differing substances +by one way of management, than the same yields by another. And they +that out of Gold, or Mercury, or Muscovy-glasse, will draw me as many +distinct substances as I can separate from Vitriol, or from the juice +of Grapes variously orderd, may teach me that which I shall very +Thankfully learn. Nor does it appear more congruous to that variety +that so much conduceth to the perfection of the Universe, that all +elemented bodies be compounded of the same number of Elements, then it +would be for a language, that all its words should consist of the same +number of Letters. + +[Footnote 29: _Novi saxum & lapides omnes in merum salem suo saxo aut +lapidi & aequiponderantem reducere absque omni prorsus sulphure aut +Mercurio._ Helmont. pag. 409.] + + + + +THE + +SCEPTICAL CHYMIST + +OR, + +_A Paradoxical Appendix to the Foregoing Treatise._ + +_The Sixth Part._ + + +Here _Carneades_ Having Dispach't what he Thought Requisite to oppose +against what the Chymists are wont to alledge for Proof of their three +Principles, Paus'd awhile, and look'd about him, to discover whether +it were Time for him and his Friend to Rejoyne the Rest of the +Company. But _Eleutherius_ perceiving nothing yet to forbid Them to +Prosecute their Discourse a little further, said to his Friend, (who +had likewise taken Notice of the same thing) I halfe expected, +_Carneades_, that after you had so freely declar'd Your doubting, +whether there be any Determinate Number of Elements, You would have +proceeded to question whether there be any Elements at all. And I +confess it will be a Trouble to me if You defeat me of my Expectation; +especially since you see the leasure we have allow'd us may probably +suffice to examine that Paradox; because you have so largly Deduc'd +already many Things pertinent to it, that you need but intimate how +you would have them Apply'd, and what you would inferr from them. + +_Carneades_ having in Vain represented that their leasure could be but +very short, that he had already prated very long, that he was +unprepared to maintain so great and so invidious a Paradox, was at +length prevail'd with to tell his Friend; Since, _Eleutherius_, you +will have me Discourse _Ex Tempore_ of the Paradox you mention, I am +content, (though more perhaps to express my Obedience, then my +Opinion) to tell you that (supposing the Truth of _Helmonts_ and +_Paracelsus's_ Alkahestical Experiments, if I may so call them) though +it may seem extravagant, yet it is not absurd to doubt, whether, for +ought has been prov'd, there be a necessity to admit any Elements, or +Hypostatical Principles, at all. + +And, as formerly, so now, to avoid the needless trouble of Disputing +severally with the _Aristotelians_ and the Chymists, I will address my +self to oppose them I have last nam'd, Because their Doctrine about +the Elements is more applauded by the Moderns, as pretending highly to +be grounded upon Experience. And, to deal not only fairly but +favourably with them, I will allow them to take in Earth and Water to +their other Principles. Which I consent to, the rather that my +Discourse may the better reach the Tenents of the Peripateticks; who +cannot plead for any so probably as for those two Elements; that of +fire above the Air being Generally by Judicious Men exploded as an +Imaginary thing; And the Air not concurring to compose Mixt Bodies as +one of their Elements, but only lodging in their pores, or Rather +replenishing, by reason of its Weight and Fluidity, all those Cavities +of bodies here below, whether compounded or not, that are big enough +to admit it, and are not fill'd up with any grosser substance. + +And, to prevent mistakes, I must advertize You, that I now mean by +Elements, as those Chymists that speak plainest do by their +Principles, certain Primitive and Simple, or perfectly unmingled +bodies; which not being made of any other bodies, or of one another, +are the Ingredients of which all those call'd perfectly mixt Bodies +are immediately compounded, and into which they are ultimately +resolved: now whether there be any one such body to be constantly met +with in all, and each, of those that are said to be Elemented bodies, +is the thing I now question. + +By this State of the controversie you will, I suppose, Guess, that I +need not be so absur'd [Errata: absurd] as to deny that there are such +bodies as Earth, and Water, and Quicksilver, and Sulphur: But I look +upon Earth and Water, as component parts of the Universe, or rather +of the Terrestrial Globe, not of all mixt bodies. And though I will +not peremptorily deny that there may sometimes either a running +Mercury, or a Combustible Substance be obtain'd from a Mineral, or +even a Metal; yet I need not Concede either of them to be an Element +in the sence above declar'd; as I shall have occasion to shew you by +and by. + +To give you then a brief account of the grounds I intend to proceed +upon, I must tell you, that in matters of Philosophy, this seems to me +a sufficient reason to doubt of a known and important proposition, +that the Truth of it is not yet by any competent proof made to appear. +And congruously herunto, if I shew that the grounds upon which men are +perswaded that there are Elements are unable to satisfie a considering +man, I suppose my doubts will appear rational. + +Now the Considerations that induce men to think that there are +Elements, may be conveniently enough referr'd to two heads. Namely, +the one, that it is necessary that Nature make use of Elements to +constitute the bodies that are reputed Mixt. And the other, That the +Resolution of such bodies manifests that nature had compounded them of +Elementary ones. + +In reference to the former of these Considerations, there are two or +three things that I have to Represent. + +And I will begin with reminding you of the Experiments I not long +since related to you concerning the growth of pompions, mint, and +other vegetables, out of fair water. For by those experiments its +seems evident, that Water may be Transmuted into all the other +Elements; from whence it may be inferr'd, both, That 'tis not every +Thing Chymists will call Salt, Sulphur, or Spirit, that needs alwayes +be a Primordiate and Ingenerable body. And that Nature may contex a +Plant (though that be a perfectly mixt Concrete) without having all +the Elements previously presented to her to compound it of. And, if +you will allow the relation I mention'd out of _Mounsieur De Rochas_ +to be True; then may not only plants, but Animals and Minerals too, be +produced out of Water, And however there is little doubt to be made, +but that the plants my tryals afforded me as they were like in so +many other respects to the rest of the plants of the same +Denomination; so they would, in case I had reduc'd them to +putrefaction, have likewise produc'd Wormes or other insects, as well +as the resembling Vegetables are wont to do; so that Water may, by +Various Seminal Principles, be successively Transmuted into both +plants and Animals. And if we consider that not only Men, but even +sucking Children are, but too often, Tormented with Solid Stones, but +that divers sorts of Beasts themselves, (whatever _Helmont_ against +Experience think to the contrary) may be Troubled with great and Heavy +stones in their Kidneys and Bladders, though they Feed but upon Grass +and other Vegetables, that are perhaps but Disguised Water, it will +not seem improbable that even some Concretes of a mineral Nature, may +Likewise be form'd of Water. + +We may further Take notice, that as a Plant may be nourisht, and +consequently may Consist of Common water; so may both plants and +Animals, (perhaps even from their Seminal Rudiments) consist of +compound Bodies, without having any thing meerly Elementary brought +them by nature to be compounded by them: This is evident in divers +men, who whilst they were Infants were fed only with Milk, afterwards +Live altogether upon Flesh, Fish, wine, and other perfectly mixt +Bodies. It may be seen also in sheep, who on some of our English Downs +or Plains, grow very fat by feeding upon the grasse, without scarce +drinking at all. And yet more manifestly in the magots that breed and +grow up to their full bignesse within the pulps of Apples, Pears, or +the like Fruit. We see also, that Dungs that abound with a mixt Salt +give a much more speedy increment to corn and other Vegetables than +Water alone would do: And it hath been assur'd me, by a man +experienc'd in such matters, that sometimes when to bring up roots +very early, the Mould they were planted in was made over-rich, the +very substance of the Plant has tasted of the Dung. And let us also +consider a Graft of one kind of Fruit upon the upper bough of a Tree +of another kind. As for instance, the Ciens of a Pear upon a +White-thorne; for there the ascending Liquor is already alter'd, +either by the root, or in its ascent by the bark, or both wayes, and +becomes a new mixt body: as may appear by the differing qualities to +be met with in the saps of several trees; as particularly, the +medicinal vertue of the Birch-Water (which I have sometimes drunk upon +_Helmonts_ great and not undeserved commendation) Now the graft, being +fasten'd to the stock must necessarily nourish its self, and produce +its Fruit, only out of this compound Juice prepared for it by the +Stock, being unable to come at any other aliment. And if we consider, +how much of the Vegetable he feeds upon may (as we noted above) remain +in an Animal; we may easily suppose, That the blood of that Animal who +Feeds upon this, though it be a Well constituted Liquor, and have all +the differing Corpuscles that make it up kept in order by one +praesiding form, may be a strangely Decompounded Body, many of its +parts being themselves decompounded. So little is it Necessary that +even in the mixtures which nature her self makes in Animal and +Vegetable Bodies, she should have pure Elements at hand to make her +compositions of. + +Having said thus much touching the constitution of Plants and Animals, +I might perhaps be able to say as much touching that of Minerals, and +even Metalls, if it were as easy for us to make experiment in Order to +the production of these, as of those. But the growth or increment of +Minerals being usually a work of excessively long time, and for the +most part perform'd in the bowels of the Earth, where we cannot see +it, I must instead of Experiments make use, on this occasion, of +Observations. + +That stones were not all made at once, but that are some of them now +adayes generated, may (though it be deny'd by some) be fully prov'd by +several examples, of which I shall now scarce alledg any other, then +that famous place in _France_ known by the name of _Les Caves +Gentieres_ [Errata: Goutieres], where the Water falling from the upper +Parts of the cave to the ground does presently there condense into +little stones, of such figures as the drops, falling either severally +or upon one another, and coagulating presently into stone, chance to +exhibit. Of these stones some Ingenuous Friends of ours, that went a +while since to visit that place, did me the favour to present me with +some that they brought thence. And I remember that both that sober +Relator of his Voyages, _Van Linschoten_, and another good Author, +inform us that in the Diamond Mines (as they call them) in the +_East-Indies_, when having dig'd the Earth, though to no great depth, +they find Diamonds and take them quite away; Yet in a very few years +they find in the same place new Diamonds produc'd there since. From +both which Relations, especially the first, it seems probable that +Nature does not alwayes stay for divers Elementary Bodies, when she is +to produce stones. And as for Metals themselves, Authors of good note +assure us, that even they were not in the beginning produc'd at once +altogether, but have been observ'd to grow; so that what was not a +Mineral or Metal before became one afterwards. Of this it were easie +to alledg many testimonies of professed Chymists. But that they may +have the greater authority, I shall rather present you with a few +borrowed from more unsuspected writers. _Sulphuris Mineram_ (as the +inquisitive _P. Fallopius_ notes) _quae nutrix est caloris subterranei +fabri seu Archaei fontium & mineralium, Infra terram citissime renasci +testantur Historiae Metallicae. Sunt enim loca e quibus si hoc anno +sulphur effossum fuerit; intermissa fossione per quadriennium redeunt +fossores & omnia sulphure, ut autea [Errata: antea], rursus inveniunt +plena._ _Pliny_ Relates, _In Italiae Insula Ilva, gigni ferri +metallum._ Strabo _multo expressius; effossum ibi metallum semper +regenerari. Nam si effossio spatio centum annorum intermittebatur, & +iterum illuc revertebantur, fossores reperisse maximam copiam ferri +regeneratam._ Which history not only is countenanced by _Fallopius_, +from the Incom which the Iron of that Island yielded the Duke of +_Florence_ in his time; but is mention'd more expressely to our +purpose, by the Learned _Cesalpinus_. _Vena_ (sayes he) _ferri +copiosissima est in Italia; ob eam nobilitata Ilva Tirrheni maris +Insula incredibili copia, etiam nostris temporibus eam gignens: Nam +terra quae eruitur dum vena effoditur tota, procedente tempore in venam +convertitur._ Which last clause is therefore very notable, because +from thence we may deduce, that earth, by a Metalline plastick +principle latent in it, may be in processe of time chang'd into a +metal. And even _Agricola_ himself, though the Chymists complain of +him as their adversary, acknowledges thus much and more; by telling us +that at a Town called _Saga_ in _Germany_,[30] they dig up Iron in the +Fields, by sinking ditches two foot deep; And adding, that within the +space of ten years the Ditches are digged again for Iron since +produced, As the same Metal is wont to be obtain'd in _Elva_. Also +concerning Lead, not to mention what even _Galen_ notes, that it will +increase both in bulk and Weight if it be long kept in Vaults or +Sellars, where the Air is gross and thick, as he collects from the +smelling of those pieces of Lead that were imploy'd to fasten together +the parts of old Statues. Not to mention this, I say, _Boccacius +Certaldus_, as I find him Quoted by a Diligent Writer, has this +Passage touching the Growth of Lead. _Fessularum mons_ (sayes he) _in +Hetruria, Florentiae civitati imminens, lapides plumbarios habet; qui +si excidantur, brevi temporis spatio, novis incrementis instaurantur; +ut_ (annexes my Author) _tradit Boccacius Certaldus, qui id +compotissimum [Errata: compertissimum] esse scribit. Nihil hoc novi +est; sed de eadem Plinius, lib. 34. Hist. Natur. cap. 17. dudum +prodidit, Inquiens, mirum in his solis plumbi metallis, quod derelicta +fertilius reviviscunt. In plumbariis secundo Lapide ab Amberga dictis +ad Asylum recrementa congesta in cumulos, exposita solibus pluviisque +paucis annis, redunt suum metallum cum fenore._ I might Add to these, +continues _Carneades_, many things that I have met with concerning the +Generation of Gold and Silver. But, for fear of wanting time, I shall +mention but two or three Narratives. The First you may find Recorded +by _Gerhardus_ the Physick Professor, in these Words. _In valle_ +(sayes he) _Joachimaca [Errata: Joachimica] argentum gramini [Errata: +graminis] modo & more e Lapidibus minerae velut e radice excrevisse +digiti Longitudine, testis est Dr. Schreterus, qui ejusmodi venas +aspectu jucundas & admirabiles Domi sua aliis saepe monstravit & +Donavit. Item Aqua caerulea Inventa est Annebergae, ubi argentum erat +adhuc in primo ente, quae coagulata redacta est in calcem fixi & boni +argenti._ + +[Footnote 30: _In Lygiis, ad Sagam opidum; in pratis eruitur ferrum, +fossis ad altitudinem bipedaneam actis. Id decennio renatum denuo +foditur non aliter ac Ilvae ferrum._] + +The other two Relations I have not met with in Latine Authours, and +yet they are both very memorable in themselves, and as pertinent to +our present purpose. + +The first I meet with in the Commentary of _Johannes Valehius_ upon +the _Kleine Baur_, In which that Industrious Chymist Relates, with +many circumstances, that at a Mine-Town (If I may so English the +German _Bergstat_) eight miles or Leagues distant from _Strasburg_ +call'd _Mariakirch_, a Workman came to the Overseer, and desired +employment; but he telling him that there was not any of the best sort +at present for him, added that till he could be preferr'd to some +such, he might in the mean time, to avoid idleness, work in a Grove or +Mine-pit thereabouts, which at that time was little esteem'd. This +Workman after some weeks Labour, had by a Crack appearing in the Stone +upon a Stroak given near the wall, an Invitation Given him to Work his +Way through, which as soon as he had done, his Eyes were saluted by a +mighty stone or Lump which stood in the middle of the Cleft (that had +a hollow place behind it) upright, and in shew like an armed-man; but +consisted of pure fine Silver having no Vein or Ore by it, or any +other Additament, but stood there free, having only underfoot +something like a burnt matter; and yet this one Lump held in Weight +above a 1000 marks, which, according to the Dutch, Account [Errata: +Dutch account] makes 500 pound weight of fine silver. From which and +other Circumstances my Author gathers; That by the warmth of the +place, the Noble Metalline Spirits, (Sulphureous and Mercurial) were +carri'd from the neighbouring Galleries or Vaults, through other +smaller Cracks and Clefts, into that Cavity, and there collected as in +a close Chamber or Cellar; whereinto when they were gotten, they did +in process of time settle into the forementioned precious mass of +Metal. + +The other Germane Relation is of That great Traveller and Laborious +Chymist _Johannes_ (not _Georgus_) _Agricola_; who in his notes upon +what _Poppius_ has written of Antimony, Relates, that when he was +among the _Hungarian_ Mines in the deep Groves, he observ'd that there +would often arise in them a warm Steam (not of that malignant sort +which the Germains call _Shwadt_, which (sayes he) is a meer poyson, +and often suffocates the Diggers [Errata: diggers)], which fasten'd it +self to the Walls; and that coming again to review it after a couple +of dayes, he discern'd that it was all very fast, and glistering; +whereupon having collected it and Distill'd it _per Retortam_, he +obtain'd from it a fine Spirit, adding, that the Mine-Men inform'd +him, that this Steam or Damp of the English Mine [Errata: damp as the +Englishmen also call it] (retaining the dutch Term) would at last have +become a Metal, as Gold or Silver. + +I referr (sayes _Carneades_) to another Occasion, the Use that may be +made of these Narratives towards the explicating the Nature of +Metalls; and that of Fixtness, Malleableness, and some other Qualities +conspicuous in them. And in the mean time, this I may at present +deduce from these Observations, That 'tis not very probable, that, +whensoever a Mineral, or even a Metall, is to be Generated in the +Bowels of the Earth, Nature needs to have at hand both Salt, and +Sulphur, and Mercury to Compound it of; for, not to urge that the two +last Relations seem less to favour the Chymists than _Aristotle_, who +would have Metals Generated of certain _Halitus_ or steams, the +foremention'd Observations together, make it seem more Likely that the +mineral Earths or those Metalline steams (wherewith probably such +Earths are plentifully imbu'd) do contain in them some seminal +Rudiment, or some thing Equivalent thereunto; by whose plastick power +the rest of the matter, though perhaps Terrestrial and heavy, is in +Tract of time fashion'd into this or That metalline Ore; almost as I +formerly noted, that fair water was by the seminal Principle of Mint, +Pompions, and other Vegetables, contriv'd into Bodies answerable to +such Seeds. And that such Alterations of Terrestrial matter are not +impossible, seems evident from that notable Practice of the Boylers of +Salt-Petre, who unanimously observe, as well here in _England_ as in +other Countries; That if an Earth pregnant with Nitre be depriv'd, by +the affusion of water, of all its true and dissoluble Salt, yet the +Earth will after some years yield them Salt-Petre again; For which +reason some of the eminent and skillfullest of them keep it in heaps +as a perpetual Mine of Salt Petre; whence it may appear, that the +Seminal Principle of Nitre latent in the Earth does by degrees +Transforme the neighbouring matter into a Nitrous Body; for though I +deny that some Volatile Nitre may by such Earths be attracted (as they +speak) out of the Air, yet that the innermost parts of such great +heaps that lye so remote from the Air should borrow from it all the +Nitre they abound with, is not probable, for other reasons besides the +remoteness of the Air, though I have not the Leasure to mention them. + +And I remember, that a person of Great Credit, and well acquainted +with the wayes of making Vitriol, affirm'd to me, that he had +observ'd, that a kind of mineral which abounds in that Salt, being +kept within Doors and not expos'd (as is usual) to the free Air and +Rains, did of it self in no very long time turn into Vitriol, not only +in the outward or superficial, but even in the internal and most +Central parts. + +And I also remember, that I met with a certain kind of Merkasite that +lay together in great Quantities under ground, which did, even in my +chamber, in so few hours begin of it self to turne into Vitriol, that +we need not distrust the newly recited narrative. But to return to +what I was saying of Nitre; as Nature made this Salt-Petre out of the +once almost and inodorous Earth it was bred in, and did not find a +very stinking and corrosive Acid Liquor, and a sharp Alcalyzate Salt +to compound it of, though these be the Bodies into which the Fire +dissolves it; so it were not necessary that Nature should make up all +Metals and other Minerals of Pre-existent Salt, and Sulphur, and +Mercury, though such Bodies might by Fire be obtained from it. Which +one consideration duly weigh'd is very considerable in the present +controversy: And to this agree well the Relations of our two German +Chymists; for besides that it cannot be convincingly prov'd, it is not +so much as likely that so languid and moderate a heat as that within +the Mines, should carry up to so great a heat [Errata: height], though +in the forme of fumes, Salt, Sulphur and Mercury; since we find in our +Distillations, that it requires a considerable Degree of Fire to raise +so much as to the height of one foot not only Salt, but even Mercury +it self, in close Vessels. And if it be objected, that it seems by the +stink that is sometimes observ'd when Lightening falls down here +below, that sulphureous steams may ascend very high without any +extraordinary Degree of heat; It may be answer'd, among other things, +that the Sulphur of Silver is by Chymists said to be a fixt Sulphur, +though not altogether so well Digested as that of Gold. + +But, proceeds _Carneades_, If it had not been to afford You some hints +concerning the Origine of Metals, I need not have deduc'd any thing +from these Observations; It not being necessary to the Validity of my +Argument that my Deductions from them should be irrefragable, because +my Adversaries the _Aristotelians_ and Vulgar Chymists do not, I +presume, know any better then I, _a priori_, of what ingredients +Nature compounds Metals and Minerals. For their Argument to prove that +those Bodies are made up of such Principles, is drawn _a posteriori_; +I mean from this, that upon the _Analysis_ of Mineral bodies they are +resolv'd into those differing substances. That we may therefore +examine this Argument, Let us proceed to consider what can be alledg'd +in behalf of the Elements from the Resolutions of Bodies by the fire; +which you remember was the second Tophick [Transcriber's Note: Topick] +whence I told you the Arguments of my Adversaries were desum'd. + +And that I may first dispatch what I have to say concerning Minerals, +I will begin the remaining part of my discourse with considering how +the fire divides them. + +And first, I have partly noted above, that though Chymists pretend +from some to draw salt, from others running Mercury, and from others a +Sulphur; Yet they have not hitherto taught us by any way in us +[Errata: use] among them to separate any one principle, whether Salt, +Sulphur, or Mercury, from all sorts of Minerals without exception. And +thence I may be allow'd to conclude that there is not any of the +Elements that is an Ingredient of all Bodies, since there are some of +which it is not so. + +In the next place, supposing that either Sulphur or Mercury were +obtainable from all sorts of Minerals. Yet still this Sulphur or +Mercury would be but a compounded, not an Elementary body, as I told +you already on another occasion. And certainly he that takes notice of +the wonderful Operations of Quicksilver, whether it be common, or +drawn from Mineral Bodies, can scarce be so inconsiderate as to think +it of the very same nature with that immature and fugitive substance +which in Vegetables and Animals Chymists have been pleas'd to call +their Mercury. So that when Mercury is got by the help of the fire out +of a metal or other Mineral Body, if we will not suppose that it was +not pre-existent in it, but produc'd by the action of the fire upon +the Concrete, we may at least suppose this Quicksilver to have been a +perfect Body of its own kind (though perhaps lesse heterogeneous then +more secundary mixts) which happen'd to be mingl'd _per minima_, and +coagulated with the other substances, whereof the Metal or Mineral +consisted. As may be exemplyfied partly by Native Vermillion wherein +the Quicksilver and Sulphur being exquisitely blended both with one +another, and that other course Mineral stuff (what ever it be) that +harbours them, make up a red body differing enough from both; and yet +from which part of the Quicksilver, and of the Sulphur, may be easily +enough obtain'd; Partly by those Mines wherein nature has so curiously +incorporated Silver with Lead, that 'tis extreamly difficult, and yet +possible, to separate the former out of the Latter. [Errata: latter;] +And partly too by native Vitriol, wherein the Metalline Corpuscles are +by skill and industry separable from the saline ones, though they be +so con-coagulated with them, that the whole Concrete is reckon'd among +Salts. + +And here I further observe, that I never could see any Earth or Water, +properly so call'd, separated from either Gold or Silver (to name now +no other Metalline Bodies) and therefore to retort the argument upon +my Adversaries, I may conclude, that since there are some bodies in +which, for ought appears, there is neither Earth nor Water. [Errata: +Water;] I may be allow'd to conclude that neither of those two is an +Universal Ingredient of all those Bodies that are counted perfectly +mixt, which I desire you would remember against Anon. + +It may indeed be objected, that the reason why from Gold or Silver we +cannot separate any moisture, is, because that when it is melted out +of the Oare, the vehement Fire requisite to its Fusion forc'd away all +the aqueous and fugitive moisture; and the like fire may do from the +materials of Glass. To which I shall Answer, that I Remember I read +not long since in the Learned _Josephus Acosta_,[31] who relates it +upon his own observation; that in _America_, (where he long lived) +there is a kind of Silver which the _Indians_ call _Papas_, and +sometimes (sayes he) they find pieces very fine and pure like to small +round roots, the which is rare in that metal, but usuall in Gold; +Concerning which metal he tells us, that besides this they find some +which they call Gold in grains, which he tells us are small morsels of +Gold that they find whole without mixture of any other metal, which +hath no need of melting or Refining in the fire. + +[Footnote 31: _Acosta_ Natural and Moral history of the Indies, L. 3. +c. 5, p. 212.] + +I remember that a very skilful and credible person affirmed to me, +that being in the _Hungarian_ mines he had the good fortune to see a +mineral that was there digg'd up, wherein pieces of Gold of the +length, and also almost of the bigness of a humane Finger, grew in the +Oar, as if they had been parts and Branches of Trees. + +And I have my self seen a Lump of whitish Mineral, that was brought as +a Rarity to a Great and knowing Prince, wherein there grew here and +there in the Stone, which looked like a kind of sparr, divers little +Lumps of fine Gold, (for such I was assured that Tryal had manifested +it to be) some of them Seeming to be about the Bigness of pease. + +But that is nothing to what our _Acosta_ subjoynes, which is indeed +very memorable, namely, that of the morsels of Native and pure Gold, +which we lately heard him mentioning he had now and then seen some +that weighed many pounds;[32] to which I shall add, that I my self +have seen a Lump of Oar not long since digged up, in whose stony part +there grew, almost like Trees, divers parcels though not of Gold, yet +of (what perhaps Mineralists will more wonder at) another Metal which +seemed to be very pure or unmixt with any Heterogeneous Substances, +and were some of them as big as my Finger, if not bigger. But upon +Observations of this kind, though perhaps I could, yet I must not at +present dwell any longer. + +[Footnote 32: See _Acosta_ in the fore-cited Place, and the passage of +_Pliny_ quoted by him.] + +To proceed Therefore now (sayes _Carneades_) to the Consideration of +the _Analysis_ of Vegetables, although my Tryals give me no cause to +doubt but that out of most of them five differing Substances may be +obtain'd by the fire, yet I think it will not be so easily +Demonstrated that these deserve to be call'd Elements in the Notion +above explain'd. + +And before I descend to particulars, I shall repeat and premise this +General Consideration, that these differing substances that are call'd +Elements or Principles, differ not from each other as Metals, Plants +and Animals, or as such Creatures as are immediately produc'd each by +its peculiar Seed, and Constitutes a distinct propagable sort of +Creatures in the Universe; but these are only Various Schemes of +matter or Substances that differ from each other, but in consistence +(as Running Mercury and the same Metal congeal'd by the Vapor of +Lead) and some very few other accidents, as Tast, or Smel, or +Inflamability, or the want of them. So that by a change of Texture not +impossible to be wrought by the Fire and other Agents that have the +Faculty not only to dissociate the smal parts of Bodies, but +afterwards to connect them after a new manner, the same parcell of +matter may acquire or lose such accidents as may suffice to Denominate +it Salt, or Sulphur, or Earth. If I were fully to clear to you my +apprehensions concerning this matter, I should perhaps be obliged to +acquaint you with divers of the Conjectures (for I must yet call them +no more) I have had Concerning the Principles of things purely +Corporeal: For though because I seem not satisfi'd with the Vulgar +Doctrines, either of the Peripatetick or Paracelsian Schools, many of +those that know me, (and perhaps, among Them, _Eleutherius_ himself) +have thought me wedded to the Epicurean _Hypotheses_, (as others have +mistaken me for an _Helmontian_;) yet if you knew how little +Conversant I have been with _Epicurean_ Authors, and how great a part +of _Lucretius_ himself I never yet had the Curiosity to read, you +would perchance be of another mind; especially if I were to entertain +you at large, I say not, of my present Notions; but of my former +thoughts concerning the Principles of things. But, as I said above, +fully to clear my Apprehensions would require a Longer Discourse than +we can now have. + +For, I should tell you that I have sometimes thought it not unfit, +that to the Principles which may be assign'd to things, as the World +is now Constituted, we should, if we consider the Great Mass of matter +as it was whilst the Universe was in making, add another, which may +Conveniently enough be call'd an Architectonick Principle or power; by +which I mean those Various Determinations, and that Skilfull Guidance +of the motions of the small parts of the Universal matter by the most +wise Author of things, which were necessary at the beginning to turn +that confus'd _Chaos_ into this Orderly and beautifull World; and +Especially, to contrive the Bodies of Animals and Plants, and the +Seeds of those things whose kinds were to be propagated. For I confess +I cannot well Conceive, how from matter, Barely put into Motion, and +then left to it self, there could Emerge such Curious Fabricks as the +Bodies of men and perfect Animals, and such yet more admirably +Contriv'd parcels of matter, as the seeds of living Creatures. + +I should likewise tell you upon what grounds, and in what sence, I +suspected the Principles of the World, as it now is, to be Three, +_Matter_, _Motion_ and _Rest_. I say, _as the World now is_, because +the present Fabrick of the Universe, and especially the seeds of +things, together with the establisht Course of Nature, is a Requisite +or Condition, upon whose account divers things may be made out by our +three Principles, which otherwise would be very hard, if possible, to +explicate. + +I should moreover declare in general (for I pretend not to be able to +do it otherwise) not only why I Conceive that Colours, Odors, Tasts, +Fluidness and Solidity, and those other qualities that Diversifie and +Denominate Bodies may Intelligibly be Deduced from these three; _but +how two of the Three_ Epicurean Principles (which, I need not tell, +you [Transcriber's Note: tell you,] are Magnitude, Figure and Weight) +are Themselves Deducible from Matter and Motion; since the Latter of +these Variously Agitating, and, as it were, Distracting the Former, +must needs disjoyne its parts; which being Actually separated must +Each of them necessarily both be of some Size, and obtain some shape +or other. Nor did I add to our Principles the _Aristotelean +Privation_, partly for other Reasons, which I must not now stay to +insist on; and partly because it seems to be rather an Antecedent, or +a _Terminus a quo_, then a True Principle, as the starting-Post is +none of the Horses Legs or Limbs. + +I should also explain why and how I made rest [Errata: Rest] to be, +though not so considerable a Principle of things, as Motion, yet a +Principle of them; partly because it is (for ought we know [Errata: +know)] as Ancient at least as it, and depends not upon Motion, nor any +other quality of matter; and partly, because it may enable the Body in +which it happens to be, both to continue in a State of Rest till some +external force put it out of that state, and to concur to the +production of divers Changes in the bodies that hit against it, by +either quite stopping or lessning their Motion (whilst the body +formerly at Rest Receives all or part of it into it self) or else by +giving a new Byass, or some other Modification, to Motion, that is, To +the Grand and Primary instrument whereby Nature produces all the +Changes and other Qualities that are to be met with in the World. + +I should likewise, after all this, explain to you how, although +Matter, Motion and Rest, seem'd to me to be the Catholick Principles +of the Universe, I thought the Principles of Particular bodies might +be Commodiously enough reduc'd to two, namely _Matter_, and (what +Comprehends the two other, and their effects) the result or Aggregate +[Errata: Aggregate or complex] of those Accidents, which are the +Motion or Rest, (for in some Bodies both are not to be found) the +Bigness, Figure, Texture) [Errata: delete )] and the thence resulting +Qualities of the small parts) [Errata: delete )] which are necessary +to intitle the Body whereto they belong to this or that Peculiar +Denomination; and discriminating it from others to appropriate it to a +Determinate Kind of Things, as [Errata: (as] Yellowness, Fixtness, +such a Degree of Weight, and of Ductility, do make the Portion of +matter wherein they Concur, to be reckon'd among perfect metals, and +obtain the name of Gold.) Which [Errata: This] Aggregate or result of +Accidents you may, if You please, call either _Structure_ or Texture. + +[Errata: no paragraph break] Though [Errata: (Though] indeed, that do +not so properly Comprehend the motion of the constituent parts +especially in case some of them be Fluid [Errata: Fluid)], or what +other appellation shall appear most Expressive. Or if, retaining the +Vulgar Terme, You will call it the _Forme_ of the thing it +denominates, I shall not much oppose it; Provided the word be +interpreted to mean but what I have express'd, and not a Scholastick +_Substantial Forme_, which so many intelligent men profess to be to +them altogether Un-intelligible. + +But, sayes _Carneades_, if you remember that 'tis a Sceptick speaks to +you, and that 'tis not so much my present Talk to make assertions as +to suggest doubts, I hope you will look upon what I have propos'd, +rather as a Narrative of my former conjectures touching the principles +of things, then as a Resolute Declaration of my present opinions of +them; especially since although they cannot but appear Very much to +their Disadvantage, If you Consider Them as they are propos'd without +those Reasons and Explanations by which I could perhaps make them +appear much lesse extravagant; yet I want time to offer you what may +be alledg'd to clear and countenance these notions; my design in +mentioning them unto you at present being, _partly_, to bring some +Light and Confirmation to divers passages of my discourse to you; +_partly_ to shew you, that I do not (as you seem to have suspected) +embrace all _Epicurus_ his principles; but Dissent from him in some +main things, as well as from _Aristotle_ and the Chymists, in others; +& _partly_ also, or rather chiefly, to intimate to you the grounds +upon which I likewise differ from _Helmont_ in this, that whereas he +ascribes almost all things, and even diseases themselves, to their +determinate Seeds; I am of opinion, that besides the peculiar +Fabricks of the Bodies of Plants and Animals (and perhaps also of some +Metals and Minerals) which I take to be the Effects of seminal +principles, there are many other bodies in nature which have and +deserve distinct and Proper names, but yet do but result from such +contextures of the matter they are made of, as may without determinate +seeds be effected by heat, cold, artificial mixtures and compositions, +and divers other causes which sometimes nature imployes of her own +accord; and oftentimes man by his power and skill makes use of to +fashion the matter according to his Intentions. This may be +exemplified both in the productions of Nature, and in those of Art; of +the first sort I might name multitudes; but to shew how sleight a +variation of Textures without addition of new ingredients may procure +a parcel of matter divers names, and make it be Lookt upon as +Different Things; + +I shall invite you to observe with me, That Clouds, Rain, Hail, Snow, +Froth, and Ice, may be but water, having its parts varyed as to their +size and distance in respect of each other, and as to motion and +rest. And among Artificial Productions we may take notice (to skip the +Crystals of Tartar) of Glass, Regulus, Martis-Stellatus [Errata: +Regulus Martis Stellatus], and particularly of the Sugar of Lead, +which though made of that insipid Metal and sour salt of Vinager, has +in it a sweetnesse surpassing that of common Sugar, and divers other +qualities, which being not to be found in either of its two +ingredients, must be confess'd to belong to the Concrete it self, upon +the account of its Texture. + +This Consideration premis'd, it will be, I hope, the more easie to +perswade you that the Fire may as well produce some new textures in a +parcel of matter, as destroy the old. + +Wherefore hoping that you have not forgot the Arguments formerly +imploy'd against the Doctrine of the _Tria prima_; namely that the +Salt, Sulphur and Mercury, into which the Fire seems to resolve +Vegetable and Animal Bodies, are yet compounded, not simple and +Elementary Substances; And that (as appeared by the Experiment of +Pompions) the _Tria prima_ may be made out of Water; hoping I say, +that you remember These and the other Things that I formerly +represented to the same purpose, I shall now add only, that if we +doubt not the Truth of some of _Helmonts_ Relation [Errata: +Relations], We may well doubt whether any of these Heterogeneities be +(I say not pre-existent, so as to convene together, when a plant or +Animal is to be constituted but) so much as in-existent in the +Concrete whence they are obtain'd, when the Chymists [Errata: Chymist] +first goes about to resolve it; For not to insist upon the +un-inflamable Spirit of such Concretes, because that may be pretended +to be but a mixture of Phlegme and Salt; the Oyle or Sulphur of +Vegetables or Animals is, according to him, reducible by the help of +Lixiviate Salts into Sope; as that Sope is by the help of repeated +Distillations from a _Caput Mortuum_ of Chalk into insipid Water. And +as for the saline substance that seems separable from mixt bodies; the +same _Helmonts_ tryals[33] give us cause to think, That it may be a +production of the Fire, which by transporting and otherwise altering +the particles of the matter, does bring it to a Saline nature. + +[Footnote 33: _Omne autem Alcali addita pinguedine in aqueum liquorem, +qui tandem mera & simplex aqua fit, reducitur, (ut videre est in +Sapone, Lazurio lapide, &c.) quoties per adjuncta fixa semen +Pinguedinis deponit._ Helmont.] + +For I know (sayes he, in the place formerly alledg'd to another +purpose) a way to reduce all stones into a meer Salt of equal weight +with the stone whence it was produc'd, and that without any of the +least either Sulphur or Mercury; which asseveration of my Author would +perhaps seem less incredible to You, if I durst acquaint You with all +I could say upon that subject. And hence by the way you may also +conclude that the Sulphur and Mercury, as they call them, that +Chymists are wont to obtain from compound Bodies by the Fire, may +possibly in many Cases be the productions of it; since if the same +bodies had been wrought upon by the Agents employ'd by _Helmont_, they +would have yielded neither Sulphur nor Mercury; and those portions of +them which the Fire would have presented Us in the forme of +Sulphureous and Mercurial Bodies would have, by _Helmonts_ method, +been exhibited to us in the form of Salt. + +But though (sayes _Eleutherius_) You have alledg'd very plausible +Arguments against the _tria Prima_, yet I see not how it will be +possible for you to avoid acknowledging that Earth and Water are +Elementary Ingredients, though not of Mineral Concretes, yet of all +Animal and Vegetable Bodies; Since if any of these of what sort soever +be committed to Distillation, there is regularly and constantly +separated from it a phlegme or aqueous part and a _Caput Mortuum_ or +Earth. + +I readily acknowledged (answers _Carneades_) it is not so easy to +reject Water and Earth (and especially the former) as 'tis to reject +the _Tria Prima_, from being the Elements of mixt Bodies; but 'tis not +every difficult thing that is impossible. + +I consider then, as to Water, that the chief Qualities which make men +give that name to any visible Substance, are, that it is Fluid or +Liquid, and that it is insipid and inodorous. Now as for the tast of +these qualities, I think you have never seen any of those separated +substances that the Chymists call Phlegme which was perfectly devoyd +both of Tast and Smell: and if you object, that yet it may be +reasonably suppos'd, that since the whole Body is Liquid, the mass is +nothing but Elementary Water faintly imbu'd with some of the Saline or +Sulphureous parts of the same Concrete, which it retain'd with it +upon its Separation from the Other Ingredients. To this I answer, That +this Objection would not appear so stong [Transcriber's Note: strong] +as it is plausible, if Chymists understood the Nature of Fluidity and +Compactnesse; and that, as I formerly observ'd, to a Bodies being +Fluid there is nothing necessary, but that it be divided into parts +small enough; and that these parts be put into such a motion among +themselves as to glide some this way and some that way, along each +others Surfaces. So that, although a Concrete were never so dry, and +had not any Water or other Liquor in-existent in it, yet such a +Comminution of its parts may be made, by the fire or other Agents, as +to turn a great portion of them into Liquor. Of this Truth I will give +an instance, employ'd by our friend here present as one of the most +conducive of his experiments to Illustrate the nature of Salts. If you +Take, then, sea salt and melt it in the Fire to free it from the +aqueous parts, and afterward distill it with a vehement Fire from +burnt Clay, or any other, as dry a _Caput mortuum_ as you please, you +will, as Chymists confess, [Errata: confesse (delete comma)] by +teaching it drive over a good part of the Salt in the form of a +Liquor. And to satisfy some ingenious men, That a great part of this +Liquor was still true sea salt brought by the Operation of the Fire +into Corpuscles so small, and perhaps so advantageously shap'd, as to +be capable of the forme of a Fluid Body, He did in my presence poure +to such spiritual salts a due proportion of the spirit (or salt and +Phlegme) of Urine, whereby having evaporated the superfluous moisture, +he soon obtain'd such another Concrete, both as to tast and smell, and +easie sublimableness as common Salt _Armoniack_, which you know is +made up of grosse and undistill'd sea salt united with the salts of +Urine and of Soot, which two are very neer of kin to each other. And +further, to manifest that the Corpuscles of sea salt and the Saline +ones of Urine retain their several Natures in this Concrete, He mixt +it with a convenient quantity of Salt of Tartar, and committing it to +Distillation soon regain'd his spirit of Urine in a liquid form by its +self, the Sea salt staying behind with the Salt of Tartar. Wherefore +it is very possible that dry Bodies may by the Fire be reduc'd to +Liquors without any separation of Elements, but barely by a certain +kind of Dissipation and Comminution of the matter, whereby its parts +are brought into a new state. And if it be still objected, that the +Phlegme of mixt Bodies must be reputed water, because so weak a tast +needs but a very small proportion of Salt to impart it; It may be +reply'd, that for ought appears, common Salt and divers other bodies, +though they be distill'd never so dry, and in never so close Vessels, +will yield each of them pretty store of a Liquor, wherein though (as I +lately noted) Saline Corpuscles abound, Yet there is besides a large +proportion of Phlegme, as may easily be discovered by coagulating the +Saline Corpuscles with any convenient Body; as I lately told you, our +Friend coagulated part of the Spirit of Salt with Spirit of Urine: and +as I have divers times separated a salt from Oyle of Vitriol it self +(though a very ponderous Liquor and drawn from a saline body) by +boyling it with a just quantity of Mercury, and then washing the newly +coagulated salt from the Precipitate with fair Water. Now to what can +we more probably ascribe this plenty of aqueous Substance afforded us +by the Distillation of such bodies, than unto this, That among the +various operations of the Fire upon the matter of a Concrete, divers +particles of that matter are reduc'd to such a shape and bignesse as +is requisite to compose such a Liquor as Chymists are wont to call +Phlegme or Water. How I conjecture this change may be effected, 'tis +neither necessary for me to tell you, nor possible to do so without a +much longer discourse then were now seasonable. But I desire you would +with me reflect upon what I formerly told you concerning the change of +Quicksilver into Water; For that Water having but a very faint tast, +if any whit more than divers of those liquors that Chymists referr to +Phlegme; By that experiment it seems evident, that even a metalline +body, and therefore much more such as are but Vegetable or Animal, may +by a simple operation of the Fire be turn'd in great part into Water. +And since those I dispute with are not yet able out of Gold, or +Silver, or divers other Concretes to separate any thing like Water; I +hope I may be allow'd to conclude against Them, that water it self is +not an Universal and pre-existent Ingredient of Mixt Bodies. + +But as for those Chymists that, Supposing with me the Truth of what +_Helmont_ relates of the _Alkahest's_ wonderful Effects, have a right +to press me with his Authority concerning them, and to alledge that he +could Transmute all reputedly mixt Bodies into insipid and meer Water; +To those I shall represent, That though his Affirmations conclude +strongly against the Vulgar Chymists (against whom I have not +therefore scrupl'd to Employ Them) since they Evince that the Commonly +reputed Principles or Ingredients of Things are not Permanent and +indestructible, since they may be further reduc'd into Insipid Phlegme +differing from them all; Yet till we can be allow'd to examine this +Liquor, I think it not unreasonable to doubt whether it be not +something else then meer Water. For I find not any other reason given +by _Helmont_ of his Pronouncing it so, then that it is insipid. Now +Sapour being an Accident or an Affection of matter that relates to our +Tongue, Palate, and other Organs of Tast, it may very possibly be, +that the small Parts of a Body may be of such a Size and Shape, as +either by their extream Littleness, or by their slenderness, or by +their Figure, to be unable to pierce into and make a perceptible +Impression upon the Nerves or Membranous parts of the Organs of Tast, +and what [Errata: yet] may be fit to work otherwise upon divers other +Bodies than meer Water can, and consequently to Disclose it self to be +of a Nature farr enough from Elementary. In Silke dyed Red or of any +other Colour, whilst many Contiguous Threads makes up a skein, the +Colour of the Silke is conspicuous; but if only a very few of them be +lookt upon, the Colour will appear much fainter then before. But if +You take out one simple Thread, you shall not easily be able to +discern any Colour at all; So subtile an Object having not the Force +to make upon the Optick Nerve an Impression great enough to be taken +Notice of. It is also observ'd, that the best sort of Oyl-Olive is +almost tastless, and yet I need not tell you how exceedingly distant +in Nature Oyle is from Water. The Liquor into which I told you, upon +the Relation of _Lully_, and [Errata: an] Eye-witness that Mercury +might be Transmuted, has sometimes but a very Languid, if any Tast, +and yet its Operations even upon some Mineral Bodies are very +peculiar. Quicksilver it self also, though the Corpuscles it consists +of be so very small as to get into the Pores of that Closest and +compactest of Bodies, Gold, is yet (you know) altogether Tastless. And +our _Helmont_ several times tells us, that fair Water wherein a little +Quantity f [Errata: of] Quicksilver has lain for some time, though it +acquire no certain Tast or other sensible Quality from the +Quicksilver; Yet it has a power to destroy wormes in humane Bodies; +which he does much, but not causelessly extoll. And I remember, a +great Lady, that had been Eminent for her Beauty in Divers Courts, +confess'd to me, that this insipid Liquor was of all innocent washes +for the Face the best that she ever met with. + +And here let me conclude my Discourse, concerning such waters or +Liquors as I have hitherto been examining, with these two +Considerations. Whereof the first is, That by reason of our being wont +to drink nothing but Wine, Bear, Cyder, or other strongly tasted +Liquors, there may be in several of these Liquors, that are wont to +pass for insipid Phlegme, very peculiar and Distinct, Tasts [Errata: +distinct Tasts] though unheeded (and perhaps not to be perceiv'd) by +Us. For to omit what Naturalists affirm of Apes, (and which probably +may be true of divers other Animals) that they have a more exquisite +palate than Men: among Men themselves, those that are wont to drink +nothing but water may (as I have try'd in my self) Discern very +sensibly a great Difference of Tasts in several waters, which one +un-accustomed to drink water would take to be all alike insipid. And +this is the _first_ of my two Considerations; the _Other_ is, That it +is not impossible that the Corpuscles into which a body is dissipated +by the Fire may by the Operation of the same fire have their figures +so altered, or may be by associations with one another brought into +little Masses of such a Size and Shape, as not to be fit to make +sensible Impressions on the Tongue. And that you may not think such +alterations impossible, be pleased to consider with me, that not only +the sharpest Spirit of Vinager having dissolved as much Corall as it +can, will Coagulate with it into a Substance, which though soluble in +water, like salt, is incomparably less strongly Tasted then the +Vinager was before; but (what is more considerable) though the Acid +salts that are carried up with Quicksilver in the preparation of +common sublimate are so sharp, that being moistened with water it will +Corrode some of the Metals themselves; yet this Corrosive Sublimate +being twice or thrice re-sublim'd with a full proportion of insipid +Quicksilver, Constitutes (as you know) that Factitious Concrete, which +the Chymists call _Mercurius dulcis_; not because it is sweet, but +because the sharpness of the Corrosive Salts is so taken away by their +Combination with the Mercurial Corpuscles, that the whole mixture when +it is prepar'd is judg'd to be insipid. + +And thus (continues _Carneades_) having given you some Reasons why I +refuse to admit Elementary water for a constant Ingredient of Mixt +Bodies, It will be easie for me to give you an Account why I also +reject Earth. + +For first, it may well be suspected that many Substances pass among +Chymists under the name of Earth, because, like it, they are Dry, and +Heavy, and Fixt, which yet are very farr from an Elementary Nature. +This you will not think improbable, If you recall to mind what I +formerly told you concerning what Chymists call the Dead Earth of +things, and especially touching the copper to be drawn from the _Caput +Mortuum_ of Vitriol; And if also you allow me to subjoyn a casual but +memorable Experiment made by _Johannes Agricola_ upon the _Terra +Damnata_ of Brimstone. Our Author then tells us (in his notes upon +_Popius_ [Transcriber's Note: Poppius],) that in the year 1621 he made +an Oyle of Sulphur; the remaining _Faeces_ he reverberated in a +moderate Fire fourteen dayes; afterwards he put them well luted up in +a Wind Oven, and gave them a strong Fire for six hours, purposing to +calcine the _Faeces_ to a perfect Whiteness, that he might make +someting [Transcriber's Note: something] else out of them. But coming +to break the pot, he found above but very little _Faeces_, and those +Grey and not White; but beneath there lay a fine Red _Regulus_ which +he first marvell'd at and knew not what to make of, being well assured +that not the least thing, besides the _Faeces_ of the Sulphur, came +into the pot; and that the Sulphur it self had only been dissolv'd in +Linseed Oyle; this _Regulus_ he found heavy and malleable almost as +Lead; having caus'd a Goldsmith to draw him a Wire of it, he found it +to be of the Fairest copper, and so rightly colour'd, that a Jew of +_Prague_ offer'd him a great price for it. And of this Metal he sayes +he had 12 _loth_ (or six ounces) out of one pound of Ashes or _Faeces_. +And this Story may well incline us to suspect that since the _Caput +Mortuum_ of the Sulphur was kept so long in the fire before it was +found to be any thing else then a _Terra damnata_, there may be divers +other Residences of Bodies which are wont to pass only for the +Terrestrial _Faeces_ of things, and therefore to be thrown away as soon +as the Distillation or Calcination of the Body that yielded them is +ended; which yet if they were long and Skilfully examin'd by the fire +would appear to be differing from Elementary Earth. And I have taken +notice of the unwarrantable forwardness of common Chymists to +pronounce things useless _Faeces_, by observing how often they reject +the _Caput Mortuum_ of Verdegrease; which is yet so farr from +deserving that Name, that not only by strong fires and convenient +Additaments it may in some hours be reduc'd into copper, but with a +certain Flux Powder I sometimes make for Recreation, I have in two or +three minutes obtain'd that Metal from it. To which I may add, that +having for tryall sake kept Venetian Taclk [Errata: Talck] in no less +a heat than that of a glass Furnace, I found after all the Brunt of +the fire it had indur'd, the remaining Body though brittle and +discolour'd, had not lost very much of its former Bulke, and seem'd +still to be nearer of kin to Talck than to meer Earth. And I remember +too, that a candid Mineralist, famous for his Skill in trying of Oars, +requesting me one day to procure him a certain _American_ Mineral +Earth of a _Virtuoso_, who he thought would not refuse me; I enquir'd +of him why he seem'd so greedy of it: he confess'd to me that this +Gentleman having brought that Earth to the publick Say-Masters; and +they upon their being unable by any means to bring it to fusion or +make it fly away, he (the Relator) had procur'd a little of it; and +having try'd it with a peculiar Flux separated from it neer a third +part of pure Gold; so great mistakes may be committed in hastily +concluding things to be Uselesse Earth. + +Next, it may be suppos'd, That as in the Resolution of Bodies by the +Fire some of the dissipated Parts may, by their various occursion +occasion'd by the heat, be brought to stick together so closely as to +constitute Corpuscles too heavy for the Fire to carry away; the +aggregate of which Corpuscles is wont to be call'd Ashes or Earrh +[Errata: Earth]; So other Agents may resolve the Concrete into Minute +Parts, after so differing a manner as not to produce any _Caput +mortuum_, or dry and heavy Body. As you may remember _Helmont_ above +inform'd us, that with his great Dissolvent he divided a Coal into two +liquid and volatile Bodies, aequiponderant to the Coal, without any dry +or fixt Residence at all. + +And indeed, I see not why it should be necessary that all Agents that +resolve Bodies into portions of differingly qualifi'd matter must +work on them the same way, and divide them into just such parts, both +for nature and Number, as the Fire dissipates them into. For since, as +I noted before, the Bulk and shape of the small Parts of bodies, +together with their Fitness and Unfitness to be easily put into +Motion, may make the liquors or other substances such Corpuscles +compose, as much to differ from each other as do some of the Chymical +principles: Why may not something happen in this case, not unlike what +is usuall in the grosser divisions of bodies by Mechanical +Instruments? Where we see that some Tools reduce Wood, for Instance, +into darts [Errata: parts] of several shapes, bignesse, and other +qualities, as Hatchets and Wedges divide it into grosser parts; some +more long and slender, as splinters; and some more thick and +irregular, as chips; but all of considerable bulk; but Files and Saws +makes a Comminution of it into Dust; which, as all the others, is of +the more solid sort of parts; whereas others divide it into long and +broad, but thin and flexible parts, as do _Planes_: And of this kind +of parts it self there is also a variety according to the Difference +of the Tools employ'd to work on the Wood; the shavings made by the +_plane_ being in some things differing from those shives or thin and +flexible pieces of wood that are obtain'd by _Borers_, and these from +some others obtainable by other Tools. Some Chymical Examples +applicable to this purpose I have elsewhere given you. To which I may +add, that whereas in a mixture of Sulphur and Salt of Tartar well +melted and incorporated together, the action of pure spirit of wine +digested on it is to separate the sulphureous from the Alcalizate +Parts, by dissolving the former and leaving the latter, the action of +Wine (probably upon the score of its copious Phlegme) upon the same +mixture is to divide it into Corpuscles consisting of both Alcalizate +and Sulphureous Parts united. And if it be objected, that this is but +a Factitious Concrete; I answer, that however the instance may serve +to illustrate what I propos'd, if not to prove it; and that Nature her +self doth in the bowels of the Earth make Decompounded Bodies, as we +see in Vitriol, Cinnaber, and even in Sulphur it self; I will not urge +that the Fire divides new Milk into five differing Substances; but +Runnet and Acid Liquors divide it into a Coagulated matter and a thin +Whey: And on the other side churning divides it into Butter and +Butter-milk, which may either of them be yet reduc'd to other +substances differing from the former. I will not presse this, I say, +nor other instances of this Nature, because I cannot in few words +answer what may be objected, that these Concretes sequestred without +the help of the Fire may by it be further divided into Hypostatical +Principles. But I will rather represent, That whereas the same spirit +of Wine will dissociare [Transcriber's Note: dissociate] the Parts of +Camphire, and make them one Liquor with it self; _Aqua Fortis_ will +also disjoyn them, and put them into motion; but so as to keep them +together, and yet alter their Texture into the form of an Oyle. I know +also an uncompounded Liquor, that an extraordinary Chymist would not +allow to be so much as Saline, which doth (as I have try'd) from Coral +it self (as fixt as divers judicious writers assert that Concrete to +be) not only obtain a noble Tincture, Without the Intervention of +Nitre or other Salts; but will carry over the Tincture in +Distillation. And if some reasons did not forbid me, I could now tell +you of a _Menstruum_ I make my self, that doth more odly dissociate +the parts of Minerals very fixt in the fire. So that it seems not +incredible, that there may be some Agent or way of Operation found, +whereby this or that Concrete, if not all Firme Bodies, may be +resolv'd into parts so very minute and so unapt to stick close to one +another, that none of them may be fixt enough to stay behind in a +strong Fire, and to be incapable of Distillation; nor consequently to +be look'd upon as Earth. But to return to _Helmont_, the same Authour +somewhere supply's me with another Argument against the Earth's being +such an Element as my Adversaries would have it. For he somewhere +affirms, that he can reduce all the Terrestrial parts of mixt bodies +into insipid water; whence we may argue against the Earths being one +of their Elements, even from that Notion of Elements which you may +remember _Philoponus_ recited out of _Aristotle_ himself, when he +lately disputed for his Chymists against _Themistius_. And here we +may on this occasion consider, that since a Body from which the Fire +hath driven away its looser parts is wont to be look'd upon as Earth, +upon the Account of its being endow'd with both these qualities, +Tastlessenesse and Fixtnesse, (for Salt of Tartar though Fixt passes +not among the Chymists for Earth, because 'tis strongly Tasted) if it +be in the power of Natural Agents to deprive the _Caput Mortuum_ of a +body of either of those two Qualities, or to give them both to a +portion of matter that had them not both before, the Chymists will not +easily define what part of a resolv'd Concrete is earth, and make out, +that that Earth is a primary, simple, and indestructible Body. Now +there are some cases wherein the more skilful of the Vulgar Chymists +themselves pretend to be able, by repeated Cohobations and other fit +Operations, to make the Distilled parts of a Concrete bring its own +_Caput Mortuum_ over the Helme, in the forme of a Liquor; in which +state being both Fluid and Volatile, you will easily believe it would +not be taken for Earth. And indeed by a skilful, but not Vulgar, way +of managing some Concretes, there may be more effected in this kind, +then you perhaps would easily think. And on the other side, that +either Earth may be Generated, or at least Bodies that did not before +appear to be neer Totally Earth, may be so alter'd as to pass for it, +seems very possible, if _Helmont_[34] have done that by Art which he +mentions in several places; especially where He sayes that he knowes +wayes whereby Sulphur once dissolv'd is all of it fix'd into a +Terrestrial Powder; and the whole Bodie of Salt-Petre may be turn'd +into Earth: Which last he elsewhere sayes is Done by the Odour only of +a certain Sulphureous Fire. And in another place He mentions one way +of doing this, which I cannot give you an Account of; because the +Materialls I had prepar'd for Trying it, were by a Servants mistake +unhappily thrown away. + +[Footnote 34: _Novi item modos quibus totum Salpetiae [Errata: +sal-petrae] in terram convertitur, totumque Sulphur semel dissolutum +fixetur in Pulvearem terreum. Helmont in Compl. atque Mist. Elementor. +Sect. 24._] + +And these Last Arguments may be confirm'd by the Experiment I have +often had occasion to mention concerning the Mint I produc'd out of +Water. And partly by an Observation of _Rondeletius_ concerning the +Growth of Animals also, Nourish'd but by Water, which I remember'd not +to mention, when I discours'd to you about the Production of things +out of Water. This Diligent Writer then in his instructive book of +fishes,[35] affirmes That his Wife kept a fish in a Glass of water +without any other Food for three years; in which space it was +constantly augmented, till at last it could not come out of the Place +at which it was put in, and at length was too big for the glass it +self though that were of a large capacity. And because there is no +just reason to doubt, that this Fish, if Distill'd, would have yielded +the like differing substances with other Animals: And However, because +the Mint which I had out of water afforded me upon Distillation a good +quantity of Charcoal, I think I may from thence inferr, that Earth it +self may be produc'd out of Water; or if you please, that water may be +transmuted into Earth; and consequently, that though it could be +prov'd that Earth is an Ingredient actually in-existent in the +Vegetable and Animal Bodies whence it may be obtain'd by Fire: yet it +would not necessarily follow, that Earth as a pre-existent Element +Does with other Principles convene to make up those Bodies whence it +seems to have been separated. + +[Footnote 35: _Lib. 1. cap. 2._] + +After all is said (sayes _Eleutherius_) I have yet something to +Object, that I cannot but think considerable, since _Carneades_ +Himself alledg'd it as such; for, (continues _Eleutherius_ smiling) I +must make bold to try whether you can as luckily answer your own +Arguments, as those of your Antagonists, I mean (pursues he) that part +of your Concessions, wherein you cannot but remember that you supply'd +your Adversaries with an Example to prove that there may be Elementary +Bodies, by taking Notice that Gold may be an Ingredient in a multitude +of differing Mixtures, and yet retain its Nature, notwithstanding all +that the Chymists by their Fires and Corrosive Waters are able to do +to Destroy it. + +I sufficiently intimated to you at that time (replies _Carneades_) +that I propos'd this Example, chiefly to shew you how Nature may be +Conceived to have made Elements, not to prove that she actually has +made any; And you know, that _a posse ad esse_ the Inference will not +hold. But (continues _Carneades_) to answer more directly to the +Objection drawn from Gold, I must tell You, that though I know very +well that divers of the more sober Chymists have complain'd of the +Vulgar Chymists, as of Mountebanks or Cheats, for pretending so +vainly, as hitherto they have done, to Destroy Gold; Yet I know a +certain _Menstruum_ (which our Friend has made, and intends shortly to +communicate to the Ingenious) of so piercing and powerfull a Quality, +That if notwithstanding much care, and some skill, I did not much +deceive myself, I have with it really destroy'd even refin'd Gold, and +brought it into a Metalline Body of another colour and Nature, as I +found by Tryals purposely made. And if some just Considerations did +not for the present Forbid it, I could Perchance here shew you by +another Experiment or Two of my own Trying, that such _Menstruums_ may +be made as to entice away and retain divers parts, from Bodies, which +even the more Judicious and Experienc'd _Spagyrists_ have pronounc'd +irresoluble by the Fire. Though (which I Desire you would mark) in +neither of these Instances, the Gold or Precious Stones be Analys'd +into any of the _Tria Prima_, but only Reduc'd to new Concretes. And +indeed there is a great Disparity betwixt the Operations of the +several Agents whereby the Parts of a Body come to be Dissipated. As +if (for Instance) you dissolve the purer sort of Vitriol in common +Water, the Liquor will swallow up the Mineral, and so Dissociate its +Corpuscles, that they will seem to make up but one Liquor with those +of the water; and yet each of these Corpuscles retains its Nature and +Texture, and remains a Vitriolate and Compounded Body. But if the same +Vitriol be exposed to a strong Fire, it will then be divided not only, +as before, into smaller parts, but into Heterogeneous Substances, each +of the Vitriolate Corpuscles that remain'd entire in the water, being +it self upon the Destruction of its former Texture dissipated or +divided into new Particles of differing Qualities. But Instances more +fitly applicable to this purpose, I have already given you. Wherefore +to return to what I told you about the Destruction of Gold, that +Experiment Invites me to Represent to you, that Though there were +either Saline, or Sulphureous, or Terrestrial Portions of Matter, +whose parts were so small, so firmly united together, or of a figure +so fit to make them cohere to one another, (as we see that in +quicksilver broken into little Globes, the Parts brought to touch one +another do immediately re-imbody) that neither the Fire, nor the usual +Agents employ'd by Chymists, are pierceing enough to divide their +Parts, so as to destroy the Texture of the single Corpuscles; yet it +would not necessarily follow, That such Permanent Bodies were +Elementary, since tis possible there may be Agents found in Nature, +some of whose parts may be of such a Size and Figure as to take better +Hold of some parts of these seemingly Elementary Corpuscles than these +parts do of the rest, and Consequently may carry away such parts with +them, and so dissolve the Texture of the Corpuscle by pulling its +parts asunder. And if it be said, that at least we may this way +discover the Elementary Ingredients of Things, by observing into what +Substances these Corpuscles that were reputed pure are divided; I +answer, that it is not necessary that such a Discovery should be +practicable. For if the Particles of the Dissolvent do take such firme +hold of those of the Dissolved Body, they must constitute together new +Bodies, as well as Destroy the Old; and the strickt Union, which +according to this _Hypothesis_ may well be suppos'd betwixt the Parts +of the Emergent Body, will make it as Little to be Expected that they +should be pull'd asunder, but by little Parts of matter, that to +Divide them Associate Themselves and stick extreamly close to those of +them which they sever from their Former Adherents. Besides that it is +not impossible, that a Corpuscle suppos'd to be Elementary may have +its Nature changed, without suffering a Divorce of its parts, barely +by a new Texture Effected by some powerfull Agent; as I formerly told +you, the same portion of matter may easily by the Operation of the +Fire be turn'd at pleasure into the form of a Brittle and Transparent, +or an Opacous and Malleable Body. + +And indeed, if you consider how farr the bare Change of Texture, +whether made by Art or Nature (or rather by Nature with or without the +assistance of man) can go in producing such New Qualities in the same +parcel of matter, and how many inanimate Bodies (such as are all the +Chymical productions of the Fire) we know are Denominated and +Distinguish'd not so much by any Imaginary Substantial Form, as by the +aggregate of these Qualities. If you consider these Things, I say, and +that the varying of either the figure, or the Size, or the Motion, or +the Situation, or Connexion of the Corpuscles whereof any of these +Bodies is compos'd, may alter the Fabrick of it, you will possibly be +invited to suspect, with me, that there is no great need that Nature +should alwayes have Elements before hand, whereof to make such Bodies +as we call mixts. And that it is not so easie as Chymists and others +have hitherto Imagin'd, to discern, among the many differing +Substances that may without any extraordinary skill be obtain'd from +the same portion of matter, Which ought to be esteemed exclusively to +all the rest, its in-existent Elementary Ingredients; much lesse to +determine what Primogeneal and Simple Bodies convened together to +compose it. To exemplify this, I shall add to what I have already on +several occasions Represented, but this single instance. + +You may remember (_Eleutherius_) that I formerly intimated to you, +that besides Mint and Pompions, I produced divers other Vegetables of +very differing Natures out of Water. Wherefore you will not, I +presume, think it incongruous to suppose, that when a slender +Vine-slip is set into the ground, and takes root, there it may +likewise receive its Nutriment from the water attracted out of the +earth by his roots, or impell'd by the warm'th of the sun, or pressure +of the ambient air into the pores of them. And this you will the more +easily believe, if you ever observ'd what a strange quantity of Water +will Drop out of a wound given to the Vine, in a convenient place, at +a seasonable time in the Spring; and how little of Tast or Smell this +_Aqua Vitis_, as Physitians call it, is endow'd with, notwithstanding +what concoction or alteration it may receive in its passage through +the Vine, to discriminate it from common Water. Supposing then this +Liquor, at its first entrance into the roots of the Vine, to be common +Water; Let Us a little consider how many various Substances may be +obtain'd from it; though to do so, I must repeat somewhat that I had a +former occasion to touch upon. And first, this Liquor being Digested +in the plant, and assimilated by the several parts of it, is turn'd +into the Wood, Bark, Pith, Leaves, &c. of the Vine; The same Liquor +may be further dry'd, and fashon'd into Vine-buds, and these a while +after are advanced unto sour Grapes, which express'd yield Verjuice, a +Liquor very differing in several qualities both from Wine and other +Liquors obtainable from the Vine: These soure Grapes being by the heat +of the Sun concocted and ripened, turne to well tasted Grapes; These +if dry'd in the Sun and Distill'd, afford a faetid Oyle and a piercing +_Empyreumatical_ Spirit, but not a Vinous Spirit; These dry'd Grapes +or Raisins boyl'd in a convenient proportion of Water make a sweet +Liquor, which being betimes distill'd afford an Oyle and Spirit much +like those of the Raisins themselves; If the juice of the Grapes be +squeez'd out and put to Ferment, it first becomes a sweet and turbid +Liquor, then grows lesse sweet and more clear, and then affords in +common Distillations not an Oyle but a Spirit, which, though +inflamable like Oyle, differs much from it, in that it is not fat, and +that it will readily mingle with Water. I have likewise without +Addition obtain'd in processe of time (and by an easie way which I am +ready to teach you) from one of the noblest sorts of Wine, pretty +store of pure and curiously figured Crystals of Salt, together with a +great proportion of a Liquor as sweet almost as Hony; and these I +obtained not from Must, but True and sprightly Wine; besides the +Vinous Liquor, the fermented Juice of Grapes is partly turned into +liquid Dregs or Leeze, and partly into that crust or dry feculancy +that is commonly called Tartar; and this Tartar may by the Fire be +easily divided into five differing substances; four of which are not +Acid, and the other not so manifestly Acid as the Tartar it self; The +same Vinous Juice after some time, especially if it be not carefully +kept, Degenerates into that very sour Liquor called Vinegar; from +which you may obtain by the Fire a Spirit and a Crystalline Salt +differing enough from the Spirit and Lixiviate Salt of Tartar. And if +you pour the Dephlegm'd Spirit of the Vinegar upon the Salt of Tartar, +there will be produc'd such a Conflict or Ebullition as if there were +scarce two more contrary Bodies in Nature; and oftentimes in this +Vinager you may observe part of the matter to be turned into an +innumerable company of swimming Animals, which our Friend having +divers years ago observed, hath in one of his Papers taught us how to +discover clearly without the help of a _Microscope_. + +Into all these various Schemes of matter, or differingly Qualifyed +Bodies, besides divers others that I purposely forbear to mention, may +the Water that is imbib'd by the roots of the Vine be brought, partly +by the formative power of the plant, and partly by supervenient Agents +or Causes, without the visible concurrence of any extraneous +Ingredient; but if we be allowed to add to the Productions of this +transmuted Water a few other substances, we may much encrease the +Variety of such Bodies; although in this second sort of Productions, +the Vinous parts seem scarce to retain any thing of the much more +fix'd Bodies wherewith they were mingl'd; but only to have by their +Mixture with them acquir'd such a Disposition, that in their recess +occasion'd by the Fire they came to be alter'd as to shape, or +Bigness, or both, and associated after a New manner. Thus, as I +formerly told you, I did by the Addition of a _Caput Mortuum_ of +Antimony, and some other Bodies unfit for Distillation, obtain from +crude Tartar, store of a very Volatile and Crystalline Salt, differing +very much in smell and other Qualities from the usuall salts of +Tartar. + +But (sayes _Eleutherius_, interrupting him at these Words) if you have +no restraint upon you, I would very gladly before you go any further, +be more particularly inform'd, how you make this Volatile Salt, +because (you know) that such Multitudes of Chymists have by a scarce +imaginable Variety of wayes, attempted in Vain the Volatilization of +the Salt of Tartar, that divers learned _Spagyrists_ speak as if it +were impossible, to make any thing out of Tartar, that shall be +Volatile in a Saline Forme, or as some of them express it, _in forma +sicca_. I am very farr from thinking (answers _Carneades_) that the +Salt I have mention'd is that which _Paracelsus_ and _Helmont_ mean +when they speak of _Sal Tartari Volatile_, and ascribe such great +things to it. For the Salt I speak of falls extreamly short of those +Virtues, not seeming in its Tast, Smel, and other Obvious Qualities, +to differ very much (though something it do differ) from Salt of +Harts-horn, and other Volatile Salts drawn from the Distill'd Parts of +Animals. Nor have I yet made Tryals enough to be sure, that it is a +pure Salt of Tartar without participating any thing at all of the +Nitre, or Antimony. But because it seems more likely to proceed from +the Tartar, than from any of the other Ingredients, and because the +Experiment is in it self not Ignoble, and Luciferous enough (as +shewing a new way to produce a Volatile Salt contrary to Acid Salts +from Bodies that otherwise are Observ'd to yield no such Liquor, but +either only, or chiefly, Acid ones,) I shall, to satisfie you, +acquaint you before any of my other Friends with the way I now use +(for I have formerly us'd some others) to make it. + +Take then of good Antimony, Salt-Petre and Tartar, of each an equal +weight, and of Quicklime Halfe the Weight of any one of them; let +these be powder'd and well mingl'd; this done, you must have in +readiness a long neck or Retort of Earth, which must be plac'd in a +Furnace for a naked Fire, and have at the top of it a hole of a +convenient Bigness, at which you may cast in the Mixture, and +presently stop it up again; this Vessel being fitted with a large +Receiver must have Fire made under it, till the bottom of the sides be +red hot, and then you must cast in the above prepar'd Mixture, by +about halfe a spoonfull (more or less) at a time, at the hole made for +that purpose; which being nimbly stopt, the Fumes will pass into the +Receiver and condense there into a Liquor, that being rectifi'd will +be of a pure golden Colour, and carry up that colour to a great +height; this Spirit abounds in the Salt I told you of, part of which +may easily enough be separated by the way I use in such cases, which +is, to put the Liquor into a glass Egg, or bolthead with a long and +narrow Neck. For if this be plac'd a little inclining in hot sand, +there will sublime up a fine Salt, which, as I told you, I find to be +much of kin to the Volatile Salts of Animals: For like them it has a +Saltish, not an Acid Salt; it hisses upon the Affusion of Spirit of +Nitre, or Oyle of Vitriol; it precipitates Corals Dissolv'd in Spirit +of Vinager; it turnes the blew Syrup of Violets immediately green; it +presently turnes the Solution of Sublimate into a Milkie whiteness; +and in summ, has divers Operations like those that I have observ'd in +that sort of Salts to which I have resembled it: and is so Volatile, +that for Distinction sake, I call it _Tartari Fugitivus_ [Errata: Sal +Tartari Fugitivus]. What virtues it may have in Physick I have not yet +had the opportunity to Try; but I am apt to think they will not be +despicable. And besides that a very Ingenious Friend of mine tells me +he hath done great matters against the stone, with a Preparation not +very much Differing from ours, a very Experienc'd Germane Chymist +finding that I was unacquainted with the wayes of making this salt, +told me that in a great City in his Country, a noted Chymist prizes it +so highly, that he had a while since procur'd a Priviledge from the +Magistrates, that none but He, or by his Licence, should vent a Spirit +made almost after the same Way with mine, save that he leaves out one +of the Ingredients, namely the Quick-lime. But, continues _Carneades_, +to resume my Former Discourse where your Curiosity interrupted it; + +Tis also a common practice in _France_ to bury thin Plates of Copper +in the Marc (as the French call it) or Husks of Grapes, whence the +Juice has been squeez'd out in the Wine-press, and by this means the +more saline parts of those Husks working by little and little upon the +Copper, Coagulate Themselves with it into that Blewish Green Substance +we in English call Verdigrease. Of which I therefore take Notice, +because having Distill'd it in a Naked Fire, I found as I expected, +that by the Association of the Saline with the Metalline parts, the +former were so alter'd, that the Distill'd Liquor, even without +Rectification, seem'd by smell and Tast, strong almost like _Aqua +Fortis_, and very much surpassed the purest and most Rectifi'd Spirit +of Vinager that ever I made. And this Spirit I therefore ascribe to +the salt of the Husks alter'd by their Co-Mixture with the copper +(though the Fire afterwards Divorce and Transmute them) because I +found this later in the bottom of the Retort in the Forme of a +_Crocus_ or redish powder: And because Copper is of too sluggish a +Nature to be forc'd over in close Vessels by no stronger a heat. And +that which is also somewhat Remarkable in the Destillation of good +Verdigrease, (or at least of that sort that I us'd) is this, that I +Never could observe that it yielded me any oyl, (unless a little black +slime which was separated in Rectification may pass for Oyle) though +both Tartar and Vinager, (especially the former) will by Destillation +yield a Moderate proportion of it. If likewise you pour Spirit of +Vinager upon Calcin'd Lead, the Acid Salt of the Liquor will by its +Commixture with the Metalline parts, though Insipid, acquire in a few +hours a more than Saccharine sweetness; and these Saline parts being +by a strong Fire Destill'd from the Lead wherewith they were imbody'd, +will, as I formerly also noted to a Different purpose, leave the Metal +behind them alter'd in some qualities from what it was, and will +themselves ascend, partly in the Forme of an unctuous Body or Oyle, +partly in that of Phlegme; but for the greatest part in the Forme of a +subtile Spirit, indow'd, besides divers new Qualities which I am not +now willing to take notice of, with a strong smell very much other +than that of Vinager, and a piercing tast quite differing both from +the Sowerness of the Spirit of Vinager, and the Sweetness of the Sugar +of Lead. + +To be short, As the difference of Bodies may depend meerly upon that +of the schemes whereinto their Common matter is put; So the seeds of +Things, the Fire and the other Agents are able to alter the minute +parts of a Body (either by breaking them into smaller ones of +differing shapes, or by Uniting together these Fragments with the +unbroken Corpuscles, or such Corpuscles among Themselves) and the same +Agents partly by Altering the shape or bigness of the Constituent +Corpuscles of a Body, partly by driving away some of them, partly by +blending others with them, and partly by some new manner of connecting +them, may give the whole portion of matter a new Texture of its minute +parts; and thereby make it deserve a new and Distinct name. So that +according as the small parts of matter recede from each other, or work +upon each other, or are connected together after this or that +determinate manner, a Body of this or that denomination is produced, +as some other Body happens thereby to be alter'd or destroy'd. + +Since then those things which Chymists produce by the help of the Fire +are but inanimate Bodies; since such fruits of the Chymists skill +differ from one another but in so few qualities that we see plainly +that by fire and other Agents we can employ, we can easily enough work +as great alterations upon matter, as those that are requisite to +change one of these Chymical Productions into another; Since the same +portion of matter may without being Compounded with any extraneous +Body, or at least Element, be made to put on such a variety of +formes, and consequently to be (successively) turn'd into so many +differing Bodies. And since the matter cloath'd with so many differing +formes was originally but water, and that in its passage thorow so +many transformations, it was never reduc'd into any of those +substances which are reputed to be the Principles or Elements of mixt +Bodies, except by the violence of the fire, which it self divides not +Bodies into perfectly simple or Elementary substances, but into new +Compounds; Since, I say, these things are so, I see not why we must +needs believe that there are any Primogeneal and simple Bodies, of +which as of Pre-exsistent Elements Nature is obliged to compound all +others. Nor do I see why we may not conceive that she may produce the +Bodies accounted mixt out of one another by Variously altering and +contriving their minute parts, without resolving the matter into any +such simple or Homogeneous substances as are pretended. Neither, to +dispatch, do I see why it should be counted absur'd [Transcriber's +Note: absurd] to think, that when a Body is resolv'd by the Fire into +its suppos'd simple Ingredients, those substances are not true and +proper Elements, but rather were, as it were, Accidentally produc'd by +the fire, which by Dissipating a Body into minute Parts does, if those +parts be shut up in Close Vessels, for the most part necessarily bring +them to Associate Themselves after another manner than before, and so +bring Them into Bodies of such Different Consistences as the Former +Texture of the Body, and Concurrent Circumstances make such disbanded +particles apt to Constitute; as experience shews us (and I have both +noted it, and prov'd it already) that as there are some Concretes +whose parts when dissipated by fire are fitted to be put into such +Schemes of matter as we call Oyle, and Salt, and Spirit; So there are +others, such as are especially the greatest part of Minerals, whose +Corpuscles being of another Size or figure, or perhaps contriv'd +another Way, will not in the Fire yield Bodies of the like +Consistences, but rather others of differing Textures; Not to mention, +that from Gold and some other Bodies, we see not that the Fire +separates any Distinct Substances at all; nor That even those Similar +Parts of Bodies which the Chymists Obtain by the Fire, are the +Elements whose names they bear, but Compound Bodies, upon which, for +their resemblance to them in consistence, or some other obvious +Quality, Chymists have been pleas'd to bestow such Appellations. + + + + +THE CONCLUSION. + + +These last Words of _Carneades_ being soon after follow'd by a noise +which seem'd to come from the place where the rest of the Company was, +he took it for a warning, that it was time for him to conclude or +break off his Discourse; and told his Friend; By this time I hope you +see, _Eleutherius_, that if _Helmonts_ Experiments be true, it is no +absurdity to question whether that Doctrine be one, that doth not +assert Any Elements in the sence before explain'd. But because that, +as divers of my Arguments suppose the marvellous power of the +_Alkahest_ in the Analyzing of Bodies, so the Effects ascrib'd to that +power are so unparallell'd and stupendious, that though I am not sure +but that there _may be_ such an Agent, yet little less than [Greek: +autopsia] seems requisite to make a man sure there _is_. And +consequently I leave it to you to judge, how farre those of my +Arguments that are built upon _Alkahestical_ Operations are weakned by +that Liquors being Matchless; and shall therefore desire you not to +think that I propose this Paradox that rejects all Elements, as an +Opinion equally probable with the former part of my discourse. For by +that, I hope, you are satisfied, that the Arguments wont to be brought +by Chymists, to prove That all Bodies consist of either Three +Principles, or Five, are far from being so strong as those that I have +employ'd to prove, that there is not any certain and Determinate +number of such Principles or Elements to be met with Universally in +all mixt Bodies. And I suppose I need not tell you, that these +_Anti-Chymical_ Paradoxes might have been manag'd more to their +Advantage; but that having not confin'd my Curiosity to Chymical +Experiments, I who am but a young Man, and younger Chymist, can yet be +but slenderly furnished with them, in reference to so great and +difficult a Task as you impos'd upon me; Besides that, to tell you the +Truth, I durst not employ some even of the best Experiments I am +acquainted with, because I must not yet disclose them; but however, I +think I may presume that what I have hitherto Discoursed will induce +you to think, that Chymists have been much more happy in finding +Experiments than the Causes of them; or in assigning the Principles by +which they may best be explain'd. And indeed, when in the writings of +_Paracelsus_ I meet with such Phantastick and Un-intelligible +Discourses as that Writer often puzzels and tyres his Reader with, +father'd upon such excellent Experiments, as though he seldom clearly +teaches, I often find he knew; me thinks the Chymists, in their +searches after truth, are not unlike the Navigators of _Solomons +Tarshish_ Fleet, who brought home from their long and tedious Voyages, +not only Gold, and Silver, and Ivory, but Apes and Peacocks too; For +so the Writings of several (for I say not, all) of your Hermetick +Philosophers present us, together with divers Substantial and noble +Experiments, Theories, which either like Peacocks feathers make a +great shew, but are neither solid nor useful; or else like Apes, if +they have some appearance of being rational, are blemish'd with some +absurdity or other, that when they are _Attentively_ consider'd, makes +them appear Ridiculous. + +_Carneades_ having thus finish'd his Discourse against the received +Doctrines of the _Elements_; _Eleutherius_ judging he should not have +time to say much to him before their separation, made some haste to +tell him; I confess, _Carneades_, that you have said more in favour of +your Paradoxes then I expected. For though divers of the Experiments +you have mention'd are no secrets, and were not unknown to me, yet +besides that you have added many of your own unto them, you have laid +them together in such a way, and apply'd them to such purposes, and +made such Deductions From them, as I have not Hitherto met with. + +But though I be therefore inclin'd to think, that _Philoponus_, had he +heard you, would scarce have been able in all points to defend the +Chymical _Hypothesis_ against the arguments wherewith you have oppos'd +it; yet me thinks that however your Objections seem to evince a great +part of what they pretend to, yet they evince it not all; and the +numerous tryals of those you call the vulgar Chymists, may be allow'd +to prove something too. + +Wherefore, if it be granted you that you have made it probable, + +First, that the differing substances into which mixt Bodies are wont +to be resolved by the Fire are not of a pure and an Elementary nature, +especially for this Reason, that they yet retain so much of the nature +of the Concrete that afforded them, as to appear to be yet somewhat +compounded, and oftentimes to differ in one Concrete from Principles +of the same denomination in another: + +Next, that as to the number of these differing substances, neither is +it precisely three, because in most Vegetable and Animal bodies Earth +and Phlegme are also to be found among their Ingredients; nor is there +any one determinate number into which the Fire (as it is wont to be +employ'd) does precisely and universally resolve all compound Bodies +whatsoever, as well Minerals as others that are reputed perfectly +mixt. + +Lastly, that there are divers Qualities which cannot well be refer'd +to any of these Substances, as if they primarily resided in it and +belong'd to it; and some other qualities, which though they seem to +have their chief and most ordinary residence in some one of these +Principles or Elements of mixt Bodies, are not yet so deducible from +it, but that also some more general Principles must be taken in to +explicate them. + +If, I say, the Chymists (continues _Eleutherius_) be so Liberall as to +make you these three Concessions, I hope you will, on your part, be so +civil and Equitable as to grant them these three other propositions, +namely; + +First, that divers Mineral Bodies, and therefore probably all the +rest, may be resolv'd into a Saline, a Sulphureous, and a Mercurial +part; And that almost all Vegetable and Animal Concretes may, if not +by the Fire alone, yet, by a skilfull Artist Employing the Fire as +his chief Instrument, be divided into five differing Substances, Salt, +Spirit, Oyle, Phlegme and Earth; of which the three former by reason +of their being so much more Operative than the Two Later, deserve to +be Lookt upon as the Three active Principles, and by way of Eminence +to be call'd the three principles of mixt bodies. + +Next, that these Principles, Though they be not perfectly Devoid of +all Mixture, yet may without inconvenience be stil'd the Elements of +Compounded bodies, and bear the Names of those Substances which they +most Resemble, and which are manifestly predominant in them; and that +especially for this reason, that none of these Elements is Divisible +by the Fire into Four or Five differing substances, like the Concrete +whence it was separated. + +Lastly, That Divers of the Qualities of a mixt Body, and especially +the Medical Virtues, do for the most part lodge in some One or Other +of its principles, and may Therefore usefully be sought for in That +Principle sever'd from the others. + +And in this also (pursues _Eleutherius_) methinks both you and the +Chymists may easily agree, that the surest way is to Learn by +particular Experiments, what differing parts particular Bodies do +consist of, and by what wayes (either Actual or potential fire) they +may best and most Conveniently be Separated, as without relying too +much upon the Fire alone, for the resolving of Bodies, so without +fruitlessly contending to force them into more Elements than Nature +made Them up of, or strip the sever'd Principles so naked, as by +making Them Exquisitely Elementary to make them almost useless, + +These things (subjoynes _Eleu._) I propose, without despairing to see +them granted by you; not only because I know that you so much preferr +the Reputation of _Candor_ before that of subtility, that your having +once suppos'd a truth would not hinder you from imbracing it when +clearly made out to you; but because, upon the present occasion, it +will be no disparagement to you to recede from some of your Paradoxes, +since the nature and occasion of your past Discourse did not oblige +you to declare your own opinions, but only to personate an Antagonist +of the Chymists. So that (concludes he, with a smile) you may now by +granting what I propose, add the Reputation of Loving the truth +sincerely to that of having been able to oppose it subtilly. + +_Carneades's_ haste forbidding him to answer this crafty piece of +flattery; Till I shal (sayes he) have an opportunity to acquaint you +with my own Opinions about the controversies I have been discoursing +of, you will not, I hope, expect I should declare my own sence of the +Arguments I have employ'd. Wherefore I shall only tell you thus much +at present; that though not only an acute Naturalist, but even I my +self could take plausible Exceptions at some of them; yet divers of +them too are such as will not perhaps be readily answer'd, and will +Reduce my Adversaries, at least, to alter and Reform their +_Hypothesis_. I perceive I need not minde you that the Objections I +made against the Quaternary of Elements and Ternary of Principles +needed not to be oppos'd so much against the Doctrines Themselves +(either of which, especially the latter, may be much more probably +maintain'd than hitherto it seems to have been, by those Writers for +it I have met with) as against the unaccurateness and the +unconcludingness of the _Analytical_ Experiments vulgarly Relyed On to +Demonstrate them. + +And therefore, if either of the two examin'd Opinions, or any other +Theory of Elements, shall upon rational and Experimental grounds be +clearly made out to me; 'Tis Obliging, but not irrational, in you to +Expect, that I shall not be so farr in Love with my Disquieting +Doubts, as not to be content to change them for undoubted truths. And +(concludes _Carneades_ smiling) it were no great disparagement for a +Sceptick to confesse to you, that as unsatisfy'd as the past discourse +may have made you think me with the Doctrines of the Peripateticks, +and the Chymists, about the Elements and Principles, I can yet so +little discover what to acquiesce in, that perchance the Enquiries of +others have scarce been more unsatisfactory to me, than my own have +been to my self. + + +_FINIS._ + + * * * * * + +The Authors constant Absence from the Presse, whilst the former +Treatise was Printing, and the Nature of the Subject it self, +wherewith ordinary Composers are not wont to be at all acquainted, +will, 'tis hop'd, procure the Readers Excuse, till the next Edition, +if the _Errata_ be somewhat numerous, and if among them there want not +some grosser mistakes, which yet are not the only Blemishes these +lines must take notice of and acknowledg; For the Author now perceives +that through the fault of those to whom he had committed the former +Treatise in loose Sheets, some Papers that belonged to it, have +altogether miscarryed. And though it have luckily enough happen'd, for +the most part, that the Omission of them does not marr the Cohaerence +of the rest; yet till the next design'd Edition afford an +_opportunity_ of inserting them, it is thought fit that the Printer +give notice of one Omission at the End of the first Dialogue; and that +to these _Errata_ there be annex'd the ensuing sheet of Paper, that +was casually lost, or forgotten by him that should have put it into +the Presse; where it ought to have been inserted, in the 187. printed +Page, at the break, betwixt the words, [_Nature_] in the 13th. line, +and [_But_] in the next line after. Though it is to be noted here, +that by the mistake of the Printer, in some Books, the number of 187 +is placed at the top of two somewhat distant pages; and in such copies +the following addition ought to be inserted in the latter of the two, +as followeth. + + And on this occasion I cannot but take notice, that whereas + the great Argument which the Chymists are wont to employ to + vilify Earth and Water, and make them be look'd upon as + useless and unworthy to be reckon'd among the Principles of + Mixt Bodies, is, that they are not endow'd with Specifick + Properties, but only with Elementary qualities; of which + they use to speak very sleightingly, as of qualities + contemptible and unactive: I see no sufficient Reason for + this Practice of the Chymists: For 'tis confess'd that Heat + is an Elementary Quality, and yet that an almost innumerable + company of considerable Things are perform'd by Heat, is + manifest to them that duly consider the various _Phaenomena_ + wherein it intervenes as a principall Actor; and none ought + less to ignore or distrust this Truth then a Chymist. Since + almost all the operations and Productions of his Art are + performed chiefly by the means of Heat. And as for Cold it + self, upon whose account they so despise the Earth and + Water, if they please to read in the Voyages of our English + and Dutch Navigators in _Nova Zembla_ and other Northern + Regions what stupendious Things may be effected by Cold, + they would not perhaps think it so despicable. And not to + repeat what I lately recited to You out of _Paracelsus_ + himself, who by the help of an intense Cold teaches to + separate the Quintessence of Wine; I will only now observe + to You, that the Conservation of the Texture of many Bodies + both animate and inanimate do's so much depend upon the + convenient motion both of their own Fluid and Looser Parts, + and of the ambient Bodies, whether Air, Water, &c. that not + only in humane Bodies we see that the immoderate or + unseasonable coldness of the Air (especially when it finds + such Bodies overheated) do's very frequently discompose the + _Oeconomie_ of them, and occasion variety of Diseases; but + in the solid and durable Body of Iron it self, in which one + would not expect that suddain Cold should produce any + notable change, it may have so great an operation, that if + you take a Wire, or other slender piece of steel, and having + brought it in the fire to a white heat, You suffer it + afterwards to cool leasurely in the Air, it will when it is + cold be much of the same hardnesse it was of before: Whereas + if as soon as You remove it from the fire, you plunge it + into cold water, it will upon the sudden Refrigeration + acquire a very much greater hardness then it had before; + Nay, and will become manifestly brittle. And that you may + not impute this to any peculiar Quality in the Water, or + other Liquor, or Unctuous matter, wherein such heated steel + is wont to be quenched that it may be temper'd; I know a + very skillful Tradesman, that divers times hardens steel by + suddenly cooling it in a Body that is neither a liquor, nor + so much as moist. A tryal of that Nature I remember I have + seen made. And however by the operation that Water has upon + steel quenched in it, whether upon the Account of its + coldness and moisture, or upon that of any other of its + qualities, it appears, that water is not alwaies so + inefficacious and contemptible a Body, as our Chymists would + have it passe for. And what I have said of the Efficacy of + Cold and Heat, might perhaps be easily enough carried + further by other considerations and experiments; were it not + that having been mention'd only upon the Bye, I must not + insist on it, but proceed to another Subject. + + + + +_ERRATA._ + + +Pag. 5. line. 6. read _so qualify'd_, 15. 19. _Ratiocinations_, 25. +15. _for a_, 33. 17. in a parenth. (_that is no more_), 51. 24. +_besides another Caput_, 79. 10. _employ_, 86. 13. _structure_, 97. +13. _Sack_, ibid. 22. _Sack_, 104. 29. instead of _appear it, will_, +leg. _appear, it will_, 118. 20. _leasure_, ibid. _principal_, 126. +20. _and till it suffer_, 129. 3. leg. in parenth. (_notwithstanding, +&c._ 131. 15. _so_, 144. 15. [Greek: Synchysis], 151. 5. _nor have +been resolved_, 180. 25. _Magistram_, 185. 15. _lately_, 188. 15. +_tunned_, 200. 1. _intolerable_, ibid. 2. _in_, 209. 21. _tegularum_, +210. 7. _distill'd from_, 215. 25. dele _the_, 220. 1. _bodies_, 228. +11. [Transcriber's Note: 21.] _fugitive_, 231. 17. instead of _all_ +lege _a pound_, 237. 6. _Chymist_, 248. 18. _Ashes off_, 251. 23. +_Deopilative)_, 259. 6. _it self_, 269. 10. [Greek: ousia analogos], +_ibid._ [Greek: astron stoicheio], 276. 25. make a parenth. at the +words, _by the_, and shut it after the words in the 27. line _at all_, +280. 11. _Corals_, 288. 6. _ascribes_, 294. 22. _porosity_, ibid. 28. +_noted_, 296. 1. _Bodies_, 305. 8. _(attended_, 307. 12. dele _to_, +308. 12. _devisers_, 312. 14. _and_, 313. 3. _too_, 314. 24. +_fugitivenesse_, 333. 13. _origine_, ibid. 24. _contrivance of_, 339. +1. _Nay, Barthias_, 142. [Transcriber's Note: 342.] 3. _in; I will_, +350. 26. _absurd_, 356. 11. [Transcriber's Note: 21.] _Goutieres_, +358. 6. _antea_, 360. 1. _compertissimum_, ibid. 18. _Joachimica_, +ibid. 19 _graminis_, ibid. 23. _sua_ [Transcriber's Note: this appears +to be correct on the original page 360], 362. 6. _Dutch account_, 363. +2. _diggers)_, ibid. 11. and 12. lin. read _damp as the Englishmen +also call it_, 366. 25. _a height_, 368. 19. _in use_, 370. 9. +_latter; And_, ibid. 24. _Water; I_, 377. 22. _Rest_, ibid. 25. +_know)_, 378. 23. after _Aggregate_ insert _or complex_, ibid. 27. +dele ), ibid. 28. dele ), 379. 4. before _as_ begin a parenth. which +ends lin. 9. at _Gold_, ibid. instead of _Which_, put _This_, ibid. +12. with the word _Texture_ should be connected the next line, +_Though_, and this word _Though_ is to have put before it a +parenthesis, which is to end at the word _Fluid_ in the 16th. line, +383. 3. _Regulus Martis Stellatus_, 382. 3. _Relations_, ibid. 9. +_Chymist_, 386. 29. _confesse by teaching it_, 391. 8. _and yet may_, +392. 1. _an_, ibid. 12. _of_, 393. [Transcriber's Note: line 5] +_distinct Tasts_, 397. 13. _Talck_, 398. 18. _Earth_, 399. 18. +_parts_, 404. 8. _sal-petrae_, 419. 20. after _it_ put in _Sal_. + + * * * * * + +_The Publisher doth advertise the Redaer [Transcriber's Note: Reader], +that seeing there are divers Experiments related in this Treatise, +which the Author is not unwilling to submit to the consideration also +of Forraign Philosophers, he believes this piece will be very soon +translated into Latin._ + + +END. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCEPTICAL CHYMIST*** + + +******* This file should be named 22914.txt or 22914.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/9/1/22914 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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