Sceptical CH Ymis 00 Boy La
Sceptical CH Ymis 00 Boy La
Sceptical CH Ymis 00 Boy La
of the History of
Science and Technology
^jSeSw
^^^^^^^»
SCEPTIC AkCHYMlSf:
OR
CHYMICO. PHYSICAL
Doubts &
Paradoxes,
Touching the
SPACYRlST'S PRINCIPLES
Commonly call'd
I hypos tatical;
As they are wont to be Propos'd and
Defended by the Generality of
ALCHYMISTS.
hereunto is premised f>art of another Difcour^
relating to the fame Subject
B Y
The Honourable ROBERT BOTLE, jEfe
L O JV.D O N>
printed by J. Cadveil for
J. Crooke, and are to %j
IV Sold at the Ship in St. Paul's
Church-Yard.
M D c L'X /;
A
;
PREFACE
INTRODUCTORY
To the fallowing Trcafife*
A Preface Intrpdu&ory.
The remaining Part of this Preface mufl be
implofdin faying fomething for Carneades,
ar/dfomething for my Self.
And firfti Carneades hopes that he will be
thought to have difputed civilly and Modeftly e-
noughfor one that was to play the Antagonifl
and the Sceptkh. And if he any where feem
to fleight his Adverfaries Tenents and Argu-
ments 3 he is willing to have it look'd upon as
what he was indued to, not fo much by his
A Preface Introductory,
tflont 5 with whom he yet difagrees in man)
things (which reduce him to explicate Divert
CkymicalPhxnomem, accordingto other ifo-
tions 5 ) And ofwhofe Ratiocinations , not only
fome feem very Extravagant, but even the Reft
are not wont to be as considerable as his Experi-
ments, And though it be True indeed , thatfonfa
Ariftotelians have occasionally writt en againfi
the Chymical DoHrine heOppugnes, yet Jince
they have done it according to their Princi-
ples, And fwce cur Came&des mufl as well op-
pefe their Hyvdthc&s as that oftheSpagyrift,he
was fain to fight his Adverfaries with their own
Weapons , Tbofe of the Peripatetic k being Im-
proper , if not hurtfull for a P erfon of his Te*
vents -, befides that thofe Ariftotelians , ( at
Leafi, tkfe he met with, ) that have written
again ft the Cbymifts, feem to have had fo
little Experimental Knowledge in Chymical
Matters, that by their frequent Miftakes and
unskilfull Way of Oppugning^ they have too of-
ten exposed Themfelves to the Derifion of their *
G F
n4H.
'
defence of his Arguments, or (hall rail inflead]
thers,in
^
divers Chymijis ; or laftly, fhall wvite a-l\
books z-gainti them in a canting way -, I mean, fhall ex-t
gainft
p refs himfelfin ambiguous or obfcure termes,- or
'
thek* argue from experiments not intelligibly enough
Ve~
A Preface Introdu&ory.
Delivered) Carneades profeffes^That he values
his time fa much) as not to think the anfwering
fitch Trifles worth the lofs of it.
And now bating faid thus much for Carne-
ades,/ hope the Reader will give me leave t&
fajfometbing too for ?ny felf.
A Preface Introdu&ory.
Chymical Hypothecs, as provoke the Spagyrical
Philofophers to illufirate it : which if they do ,
Mid that either the Chymical opinion, or the pe-
ripatetick, or any otherTheory of the Elements
differing from that / am mo(t inclined to^jhaU be
intelligibly explicated^ and duly proved to me 5
_w_ . —^—
1 —
. .
.
(O
PHYSIOLOGICAL
CONSIDERATIONS
Touching
The experiments wont to be em-
ployed to evince either the IV
Peripatetic}^ Elements > or the
III Chymical Principles of
Mixt Bodies,
m
(o candidly their Doubts, that the in-
"
duftry of intelligent perfons might be
feton work to make further enquiries,
and the eafinefs of lefs difcerning Men
might not be impos'd on. But bccaufe
a more particular accompt will probably
be expected of my unfatisfyednefs not
only with the Peripatetick, but with the
ChymicalDo&rineofthe Primitive In-
gredients of Bodies : It may poflibly ferve
to fatisfy others of the excufablenefs of
my difatisfadlion to perufe the enfu-
ing Relation of what pafled a while
fince at a meeting of perfons offeveral
opinions, in a place that need not here
be named 5 where the fubjeft whereof
we have been fpcaking, was amply and
varioufly difcours'd of.
It'
(J)
It was on one of the faireft dayes of
thisSummer that theinquiiitive Eletitbe-
rim came to invite me to make a vifit
with him to his friend Caweades. 1 readi-
ly contented to this motion, telling him
that if he would but permit me to go
flrft and make an excufe at a place not
(4)
Eleutherius being
perfe&ly acquaintedi
with that Garden immediately led me
to the Arbour, and relying on the in^-f
timate familiarity that had been long
cherifh'd betwixt him and Carneades 5 in
fpight of my Relu&ancy to what might!
look like an intruiion upon his privacy,
drawing me by the hand, he abruptly
entered the Arbour, where we found j
Carneades , PhihponuSy and Tkemiflms, fit- 1
ting clofe about a little round Table, on f
which beficfes paper, pen, and inke,;
there lay two or three open Books 5
Carneades appeared not at all trou-p
bled at this furprife, but rifing fromsr
the Table j received his Friend withp
open looks and armes 3 and welcom-:
ing me alfo with his wonted freedom f
(7)
your arrival, f© that 1 cannot but look
upon it as a fortunate Accident that you
mould come To feafonably, to be not
hearers alone, but we hope Interlocu-
tors at our conference. For we (hall
not only allow of your prefence at it,
but defire your Afliftancc in which
it ,
Difcouries : to furfer me to
be at which ;
tongue
(9)
tongue, at their debates, could do, was
to make them acquiefce in the Pro-
portion of EkuiheriuSi who thinking
himfelf concern'd , becaufe he brought
me thither, to me feme faint
afford
afMance, was content that 3 fhould
regifter their Arguments, that I might
be the better able after the conclusion
of their conference to give them my
fence upon the Sub)c£ of it, (The
number of Elements or Principles ) :
Cio)
diffident, or dull a Nature, as "to think i
the
(13)
the four Pcripatetick Elements, or that
'tis the three Chymical Principles thac
all compounded bodies confift of. Thefe
things ( adds Carneades ) I thought my
felf obliged to premife, partly left you
fhould do thefe Gentlemen
( pointing
at ibemiRhs and Pbilopoms ,and fmiling
on them ) the injury of meafuring their
parts by the arguments they are ready
to propofe, the lawes of our Conference
confining them to make u(e of thofe that
the vulgar of Philofophers ( for even of
them there is a vulgar) has drawn up to
theirhands 5 and partly, that you fhould
not condemn me of preemption for dis-
puting againft perfons over whom I can
hope for no advantage, that / muft not
derive from the nature, or rules of our
controverfy, wherein I have but a nega-
tive to dcfend,and wherein too I am like
on feveral occafions to have the Af-
fiftance of one of my difagreeing advec-
faries againft the other.
Philopomis and Themiftks foon return-
ed this complement with civilities of the
like nature, in which Eleutherius perceiv-
ing them engaged, to prevent the fur-
ther lofs of that time of which they were
sot like to have very much to fpare, he
minded
(i4)
minded them that their prefent bufineue i
heard. And
being quickly refolv'd
it
Man
(19)
Man in vaftand comprchcnfive In*
his
tclle^, fo fram'd each of lis Notions*
that being curioufly adapted into one
Syfteme, they need not each of them
any other defence then that which their
mutuall Coherence gives them : As 'tis
in an Arch, where each finglc ftone,
which if fever'd from the reit would
be perhaps defencelefs, is fumciently
fecur'dby the folidity and entirenefs
of the whole Fabrick of which it is a
part. How juftly this may beapply'd
to the prefent cafe, I could eafily iliew
You, if I were permitted to declare
to You, how harmonious Ariftotles Do-
ftrine of the Elements is with his o-
thcr Principles of Philofophy jandhoW
rationally he has dedue'd their number
from that of the combinations of the
four firft Qualities from the kinds of
fenple Motion belonging to fimple bo-
dies, and from I know not how many
other Principles and
Phenomena of
Hature, which fo confpire with his
Doftrine of the Elements, that they
mutually ftrengthen and fupport each
other. But fince 'tis forbidden me to
infift on Refle&ions of this kind,
I rauft
proceed to tell You, that though the
Ci Af-
(20)
Affcrtors of the four Elements value
Rcafon fo highly, and are furnilh'd with
Arguments enough drawn from thence,
to be fatisfi'd that there mult be four
Elements, though no Man had ever yet
made any fcniible tryal to difcover
their Number , yet they are not desti-
tute of Experience to fatisfie others
that are wont to be more fway'd by
their fenfes then their Reafon. And
I fhall proceed to conlider the tefti-
mony of Experience , when I fhall
have firft advertis'd You, that 'd Men
were as perfectly rational as 'tis to be
wifh'd they were, this ienfible way of
Probation would be as necdlcfs as 'tis
wont to be imperfect. For it is much
more high and Philosophical to difco*
ver things a priore^ then a pfiericre.
And therefore the Peripatcticks have
not been very gather Ex-
follicitous to
periments to prove their Doctrines,
contenting themfelves with a few only,
to fatisfie thofe that are not capable
of a Nobler Conviction. And indeed
they employ Experiments rather to il-
luftrate then to demonftrate their Do*
clrines, as Aftronomers ufe Spheres
of paftboard, to defcend to the capaci-
ties
.(»0
ties of fucb as muft be taught by their
fenfes, for want of being arriv'd to a
clear apprehenfion of purely Mathe-
matical Notions and Truths. Ifpeak
thus Eleutherius ( adds TbemLffius ) on-
(22)
of Earth. If I {poke (continues The-
miflius ) to lefs
knowing Perfons, I
would perhaps make fome Excufe for
building upon fuchan obvious and
eafie
Maiyfis ? but 'twould be,I fear, injurious,
not to think fuchan Apology
needlcfs
to You, who are too judicious' either to
think it neceffary that Experiments
to
prove obvious truths fhould be farr
fetch'd,or to wonder that amoag i'o ma-
ny mixt Bodies that are compounded
of the four Elements, fome of them
fhould upon a flight Malyjis manifest-
ly exhibite the Ingredients they confift
of, Efpecially fince it is very
agreeable
to the Goodnefs of Nature, to diklok
even in fome of the moft obvious Expe-
riments that Men make , a Truth i'o
important, and fo recp.ifite to be taken
notice of by them. Befides that our A-
mlyfis by how much the more obvious
we make it, by fo much the more fuit-
tableit 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
fenfe, tis no marvail the learned
part
of Mankind fhould {o long and fo ge-
nerally imbrace ir, For this Do&nne
(*3)
;
is very different from the whimfeys of
Cbjmijts and other Modern Innovators.,
of whofe Hjpotbefes we may obferve,
as Naturalifts do of lefs perfect Ani-
mals, that as they are haftily form'd, fo
they are commonly fhort liv'd. For
fo thefe, as they are often fram'd in one
week, are perhapsthought fit to be
laughed at the next 5 and being bulk
.perchance but upon two cr three Expe-
riments are deilroyed by a third or
fourth , whereas the doctrine of the
fourElements was, fram'd by ArjFtotle
afterhe had leafurely considered thofe
Theories of former Philofophers, which
are now with great applaufe revived, as
difcovered by thefe latter ages 5 And
had fojudicioufly detected and fuppjyed
the Errors and defecls of former Hyfo-
'
on
04)
On till in the M CcntmyParaeelfaand
fame,few other footy Ernpiricks, rather'
then ( as they are fain to call them-
felves ) Philofophers, having their eyes
darken'd , and their Brains troubl'd
with the fmoke of their own Furnaces,
began to rail at the Peripatetick Do-
drine, which they were too illiterate to
underitand, and to tell the credulous
World, that they could fee but three In-
.
gredicnts in mixt Bodies 5 which to gain
themfelves the repute of Inventors, they
endeavoured to difguife by calling them',
mftead of Earth, and Fire, and Vapour,
Salt,Sulphur,and Mercury; to which they
gave the canting title of Hypoftatical
Principles : but when they came to de{-
cribethem, they ihewed how little they
underftood what they meant by them,
bydifagreeing as much from one ano-
ther's from the truth they agreed in
op-
poflng For they deliver their Hypotbe-
.-
(hall
0~7)
fhallhave occafionto infift on, when I
come with Pbiloponus con-
to difcourfe
cerning the right that fire has to pals
for the proper and Univerfal Instru-
ment of Analyfing mixt Bodies, not to
Anticipate that, I fay, if I were dif-
pos'd to wrangle, I might alledge, that
by Tbemiflim his Experiment it would
appear rather that thofc he callsEIe-
ments,are made of thofe he calls mixt
Bodies, then mix'd Bodies of the Ele-
ments. For in TbemiBiuss Analyz'd
Wood, and in other Bodies difTipated
and alter'd by the fire, it appears, and
he confeifes, that which he takes for E-
lementary 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 perfwafi-
on, -yet prov'd that nothing can be ob-
1
Fire
(2 9 )
Fire prefents us with Fire, and Earthy
and the reft. And let me add, philopo*
nw^ that to make ycur Reafoning co-
gent,*it muft be firft prov'd, that the fire
do's only take the Elementary Ingredi-
ents afunder, without otherwife altera
ingthem. For elfe 'tis obvious, that Bo-
dies may afford fubftances which were
not pre-exiftent in them ; as Flefh tod
Jong kept produces Magots, and old
Cheefe Mites, which 1 fuppofe you will
not affirm to be Ingredients of thofe Bo-
dies. Now that fire do s not alwayes
barely fcparate the Elementary parts,
but fome times at lcaft alter alfo the In-
gredients of Bodies, if I did not expecT:
ere long a better occafion to prove it, I
i
Otis, when to lofe no advantage againft
5
You, if You would give me leave , that
this will prove only that the Elements,as
l
,
You call them,are the chief Bodies that
,
make up the neighbouring part of the
;1
World, but not that they are fuch In-
,
gredientsas every mixtBodymuftcon-
5
lift of. ^
Bur challenge me of
fince You
i
fomething of a Promife, though it be
J
not an entire one, Yet 1 fball willingly
;
K
perform it. And indeed I intended
(
,
not when I firft mention d this Objc&i-
on, to infift on it at prefem againft
K
j,
though I difcern'dmy Advantages, yet
it *
I was willing to forego fome of them,
rather then appear a rigid Adverfary of
a Caufe fo weak, that it may with fafe-
ty be favourably dealt with. But I
muft here profefs 3 and defire You to
take Notice of it., that though 1 pafs
on to another Argument, it is not be-
caufe I think this firft invalid. For You
will find in the Progrefs of our Dis-
pute, that had fome reafonto quefti-
I
j
tracted out of Gold by any degree of
Fire whatfoevet. Nor is Gold the on-
ly Bodie in Nature that would puzzle
,
1
both Silver and calcin'd Venetian Talck,
j
and fome other Concretes, not neceflary
here to be nam'd, are fo fixt, that
i to
, reduce any of them into four Heteroge-
neous Subftanccs has hitherto prov'd a
f
|
"Task much too hard, not only for che
d
Maples of Ariflotle, butthofe of/^Z-
flw3 at leaft, whilft the latter have em-
,i
l(1
D neades )
(34)
tteades ) that .1 dial! urge againft Tb&
mifiitti-'s Opinion be ifbis, That as
(hall
there are divers Bodies whofe Analyfis
by Fire cannot reduce them into fo ma-
ny Heterogeneous Subftances or Ingre-
gredients as four , fo 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 anafyz'd five diftin& Subftances,
Phlegme, Spirit, Oyle, Salt and Earth,
as Experience has (hewn us in diftilling
Mans Blood, Harts-Horns, and divers
other Bodies that belonging to the Ani-
mal-Kingdom abound with not uneafily
fecjueftrable Salr.
The
THE
SCEPTICAL CHYMIST:
OR
CHYMICO-PHYSICAL
& Paradoxes,
Doubts 1
Touching the
EXPERIMENTS
WHEREBY
VULGAR SPAGYRISTS
Arc wont to Endeavour to Evince their "
SULPHUR
lAiT, AND
T O B E
The True Principles of Things,
L O ND O M 9
Printed for J.Cmhe, and are to be fold at the
Ship m St.fauls Church- Yard. i66u
<3$)
THE
SCEPTICAL CHYMIST.
To proceed thentomyPrppoiuions,
I fhall begin with this. That
It
(37)
^
But (continues Cameades) prefuming
that the firft Proportion needs not
be longer infiftedon, I will pafs on to
the lecond, and tell you that
(19)
tions or Majfes as were not eafily difii-
may be com*
rioufly qualified Concretes
pos'd of them. Efpedally iince the Cor-
pufcles of one Element may barely, by
being affociated among themfelvcs,
make up little Mattes of differing fize
and figure from their conftituent parts :
and fince alfo to the ftridt union of fuch
minute Bodies there feems oftentimes
nothing requifitc, befides the bare Con^
tad of a great part cf their Surfaces.
And
(43)
And how great a variety of ¥h<tnomen&
the fame matter, without the addition of
any other ,and only feveral ways difpos^d
or contexed,is able to exhibit,may partly
appear by the multitude of differing En-
gins which by the contrivances of skilful
Mechanilians, and the dexterity of ex-
pert Workmen, may be made of Iron
alone. But in our prefent cafe being al-
io w'd to deduce compound Bodies from
four very differently qualified forts of
matter, he who (hall but confider whac
you frefhly took notice of concerning
the new Concretes refulting from the
mixture of incorporated Minerals, will
fearce 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 ( fayes
Carneades ) that the AriHotelUns might
with probability deduce a much greater
number of compound Bodies from the
mixture of their four Elements , than
according to their prefent Hypotbefis they
to
can, if inftead of vainly attempting
of all
deduce the variety and properties
and
mixt Bodies from the Combinations
four Element*
Temperaments of the
endowd
as, hey are ( among them )
(44)
with the four firft Qualities, they had
endeavoured to do it by the Bulk and
Figure of the fmalleit parts of thofe
fqppofed Elements. For from thefe
more Catholick and Fruitfull Accidents
of the Elementary matter may fpring a
great variety of Textures, upon whole
Account a multitude of compound Bo-
dies may very much differ from one an-,
other. And what I now obferve touch-
ing the four Per ipate tick Elements, may
be alfo applyed, mrtatis mutandis ^ ( as
they fpeak ) to the Chymical Princi-
ples. But ( to take notice of that by the
by ) both the one and the other, muft,
I fear, call in to their affiftance fomt>
thing that not Elementary, to excite
is
(45)
from a certain fubftantia) Form., whofe
Origination they leave more obfcure
than what it is ailum'd to explicate.
(55)
Animal Concretes ; but in divers other
Properties feems more of Kinnc to the
Family of Animals,than to that of vege*
j
table Salts,as I may elfewhcre (God per-
mitting have an occafion more particu-
)
E'ementary Bodies.
deferve the name of
'
!i
what remain'd ?For befides,tha t thcSil vcr
alter d,
I that was left feeirfd not fenfibly
have appear d,
* which probably would
any one oi Princi-
it had fo much of its
K
pies been fcparated from it :We hnde m
perma-
jj
other Mineral Bodies of a lefs
nature than Silver, that the Fire
| nent
1
in divers
why may not Nature arTouate
Bodies the more minute &f*#*7
Corpufcles fbe has at
hand too firmly to
[62)
let them be feparable by the Fire ? And
on this Occalion, EleuthertWy give me
leave to mention to you two or three
fleight Experiments, which will, I hope,
be found more pertinent to our prefent
Difcourfe, than at
fiilt perhaps they will
are not
That even among the Bodies that
of fuch a Texture,
fixe,., there are divers
com-
(*5)
compounded Nature. And indeed I
place to
Proceed we then in the next
divers Separa-
confider, That there are
means, which
tions to be made by other
elfe cannot:fo
either cannot at ail, or
well be made by the Fire
alone. When
Silver are melted into one
Gold and
Mafs,it would lay a great Obligation
Goldfmiths to teach
upon Refiners and
feparaung them
them the Art of
r Di
(66)
bv the Fire, without the trouble and
charge they are fain to be at to fevcf
,
re-
(&9)
rekindled and burn a pretty while, not
only after the fecond, but after the third
or fourth accenfion.You,to whom i think
I (hewed my way of difcovering fome-
thing of Sulphureous in Oyl of VitrioJ,
may perchance fufpeit, Elentberias, ei-
ther that this Subftance was feme Ve-
nereal Sulphur that lay hid in that Li-
quor, and was by this operation only re-
duced into a manifeft Body 3 or clfe that
it was a compound of the unctuous parts
decree o*^h£
how often, by a like
withoutfuffcringanydivorceottec^-
the Mercury may
feK*
ponent Bodies,
.
.(70
from the adhering Salts, if
fily fevei 'd
the Sublimate be diftill'd from Salt of
Tartar , Quick Lime, or fuch Alcaltzatc
Bodies. But I will rather obferve to you,
EleutberiWy what divers ingenious men
have thought fomewhat ftrange; that by
fuch an Additament rhap feemsbut only
to promote the Separation,
there may
be ea.fily obtained from a Concrete that
by the Fire alone is eafily divifible into
all the Elements that
Vegetables arc
fuppos'd to confift of, fuch a fimilac
Subftance as differs in many refpefts
from them all, and confequently has by
many of the moft Intelligent Chymifts
been denied to be contain'd in the mixt
Body. For I know a way, and have
praftis'd it, whereby common Tartar,
without the addition of any thing that
is not perfectly a Mineral
except Salt-
petre , may by one Diftillation in an
Earthen Retort be made to afford good
ftore of real Salt, readily
difloluble in
water, which I found to be neither acid,
nor of the frhell of Tartar, and to be
almoft as vokrile as Spirit of
Wine it
(elf,and to be indeed of fo differing a
Nature from all that is wont to be fepa-
rated by Fire from Tartar, that divers
Learned
(73)
Learned Men, with whom I difcours'd
of it, could hardly be brought to be-
Jeevc, that fo fugitive a Salt could be
afforded by Tartar, till I affor'd it them
upon my own Knowledge, And if I did
not think you apt to fufpect me to be
rather too backward than too forward
to credit or affirm unlikely things,! could
convince you by what I have yet lying
by me of that anomalous Salt.
The Fourth thing that I (hall alledge
to countenance my fir ft Consideration
is, That the Fire even when it divides a
_,
And this leads me to eonfider in the
Fiirh place, That it will be very hard to
prove,
(75)
prove, that there can no other Body or
way be given which will as well as the
Fire divide Concretes into feveral ho-
mogeneous SubitancCs, which may con-
fequcntly be call'd their Elements or
Principles, as well as thofe feparated or
produe'd by the Fire. For fince wc have
Nature can fuccetfefully
lately icen, that
employ other Inftruments than the Fire
to feparate diftincl; Subftances from mixt
Bodies, how know we, but that Nature
has made, or Art may make, fome fuch
Subftancc as may be a fit Ir.ftrumcnt to
Analyze mixt Bodies , or that fome
fuch Method may be found by Humane
Induftry or Luck, by whofc means com-
pound Bodies may be refolv'd into other
Subftances, than fuch as they are wont to
be divided into by the Fire. And why
the Produces of fuch an ^mI)/is may not
as juftjybe call'd the component Prin-
ciples of the Bodies that afford them,
it will not be eafy to fhew, efpccially
ftnee I (hall hereafter make it evident,
there-
)
(70
therefore be the more freely prefs'd up-
on the Chymifts, becaufe neither the
Paracelfims, nor the Helmontians can re-
ject it without apparent Injury to their
refpe&ive Mafters.For Helmont do's more
than once Inform his Readers., that both
Paracelfus and Himfelf were Poflfeffors
of the famous Liquor, AlkaheB^ which
for its great power in rcfolving Bodies
irrefoluble by Vulgar Fires, he fome-
wherefeems to call Ignis Gehenna. To
this Liquor he afcribes, (and that in
great part upon his own Experience
luch wonders, that if we fuppofe them
all true, I am (o much the more a Friend
to Knowledge than to Wealth, that I
fhould think the Alkahest a nobler and
more defireable Secret than thePhilo-
fophers Stone itfclf. Of thisllniverfal
Diffolvent he relates , That having di-
gested with it for a competent time a
piece of Oaken Charcoal, k was there-
by redue'd into a couple of new and di-
Liquors, difcrtminated from each
itincl:
(78)
been fixr. So tbdc i£ our Cbymifts will
not reject thefolcmn and repeated Te-
itimony of a Perfon, who cannot but be
acknowledged' for one of the greatet'l
Spagyrifts that they can boaft of, they
muff not deny that there is to be found in
Nature another Agent able to Analyze
compound Bodies Jefs violently, and
both more genuinely and more univer-
fally than the Fire. And for my own
parr, though cannot but fay on this Oc-
I
Proceed to Obferve, i
(88)
cording to the Exigency pf their re?
fpe&ive Textures ; the Salt Adhering,
for the moll: part, to the Sides and Top,
and the Phlegme Fattening it felf there
too in great Drops, the Oyle and Spirit
placing themfelves Under,or Above one
another, according as their Pondercuf-
nefsmakes them Swim or Sink. For
Obfervable, that though Oyi or Li^
'tis
( 9 o)
enough to be Expell'd or carried up,
makes no Separation at all s as may ap-
pear by a Mixture of Colliquated Silver
and Gold 3 whofe Component Metals
may be eafily Sever'd by Aqua Fortis, or
Aqua Regis (according to the Predo-
minancy of the Silver &r the Gold
but in the Fire alone, though vehement,
the Metals remain anfever'd, the Fire
only dividing the Body into fmaller Par-
ticles ( whofe LittlenefTe may be argu'd
from their Fluidity) in which either
the little nimble Atoms of Fire, Or its
brisk and numberlefs ftrokes upon the
Veftels, hinder Reft and Continuity,
without any Sequeftration of Elemen-
tary Principles. Moreover, the Fire fome-
times does not Separate , (o much as
Unite, Bodies of a differing Nature -y
provided they be of an almoft refcmbling
Fixednefs , and have in the Figure of
cheir Parts an Aptnefsro Coalition, as
we fee in the making of many Plaifters,
Oyntrnents, &c. And in fuch Metalline
Mixtures as that made
Melting to-
by-
gether two parts of clean Brafs with
one of pure Copper, of which fomc In-
genious Trades-men caft fuch curious
Patterns ( for Gold and Silver Works
as
as I have fometimes taken great Plea-
lure to Look upon. Sometimes the Bo-
dies mingled by the Fire are Differing
enough as to Fixidity and Volatility^
and yet are (o comhin'd by the firft Ope-
ration of the Fire, that it ielf doesfcarce
afterwards Separate them, but only
them 5 whereof an Inftanccis
.Pulverize
afforded us by the Common Preparati-
on of Menurm where the Sa-
Dulcis,
of the Vitriol, Sea Salt,
line Particles
and fometimes Nitre, Employ'd to
make the Sublimate, do fo unite them-
felves with the Mercurial Particles made
ufe of, firft to Make Sublimate, and
lizate
lizatc Salt and the Terreftrial Refidue of
the Afhes are Incorporated with pure
Sand, and by Vitrification made one
permanent Body, ( I mean the courfe
or greenijfh fort of Glafs ) that mocks
the greateft Violence of the Fire, which
though able to Marry the Ingredients of
u, yet is not able to Divorce them. I
can (hew you fome pieces of Glafs which
I faw flow down from an Earthen Cru-
cible purpofely Expos'd for a good
while, with Silver in it, to a very vehe-
ment Fire. And fome that deal much
in the Fufion of Metals Informe me,
that the melting of a great part of a
Crucible into Glafs is no great Wonder
in their Furnaces. I remember, I have
Obferv'd too in the Melting of great
Quantities of Iron out ot the Oar, by
the Help of (lore of Charcoal ( for they
Affirm that Sea-Coal will not yield a
Flame ft rong enough ) that by the pro-
digious Vehemence of the Fire, Excited
by vaft Bellows ( made to play by great
Wheels turn'd about by Water ) part
of the Materials Expos'd to ir was, in-
ftead of being Analyzed, Golliquatcd,
and turned into a Dark, Solid and very
Ponderous Ghk x and that in fuch Quan-
tity
(93)
tity , that in fome places I have
Teen the
very High- waves, neerfuch Iron-works,
mended with Heaps of fuch Lumps of
Gla{fe, inftead of Stones and Gravel.
And I have alfo Obferv'd, that fome
kind of Firc-ftone it Self, having been
employ 'd in Furnaces wherein it wasex-
pos'd to very ftrong and iafting Fires,
has had all its Fixt Parts fo Wrought on
by the Fire, as to be Perfe&ly Vitrifi'd,
which I have try'd by Forcing from it
Pretty large Pieces of Perfea and Tranf-
parent Glafs. And left Ycu might
think, ElentheriuS) that the Queftion'd
Definition of Heatmay be Demonftra-
ted, by the Definition which is wont
to be given and Acquiefc'd in , of its
contrary Quality, Co/d, whofe proper-
ty is taught to be tarn Homogenea, quam
Heterogenea congregate 5 Give me leave
to reprefent to You, that neither is this
Definition unquestionable 3 for not to
Mention the Exceptions , which a Logi-
cim y as fuch, may Take at it, I Con-
fider that the Union of Heterogeneous
Bodies which is Suppos'cf to be the Ge-
nuine Production of Cold, is not Per-
forrn'd by every Degree of Cold. For
we fee for Inftance that in the Urine of
Healthy
(94)
Healthy Men, when the Liquor has
been Suffer'd a while to ftand, the
Cold makes a Separation of the Thin-
ner Part from the Groner, which Sub-
fides to the Bottom., and Growes O-
pacous there 5 wnereas if the Urinal
be Warme, thefe Parts readily Mingle
again, and the whole Liquor becomes
Tranfparent as before. And when, by
Glaciation, Wood, Straw, Duft, Wa-
ter, &c. are Suppos'd to be United into
one Lump of Ice, the Cold does not
Caufe any Real Union or Adunation,
( ^ I may fo Speak ) of thefe Bodies,
but only Hardening the Aqueous Parts
of the Liquor into Ice, the other Bo-
dies being Accidentally Prefent in that
Liquor are frozen up in iz, but not
Really United. And accordingly if we
Expofc a Heap of Mony Confining of
Gold, Silver and Copper Coynes, or
any other Bodies of Differing Natures,
which are Deftitute of Aqueous
Moiiture, Capable of Congelation, to
never fo intenfe a Cold, we find not
that thefe Differing Bodies are at all
thereby fo much as Compacted, much
lefsUnited together 5 and even in Li-
quors Themfelves we find Phenomena
which ,
which Induce us to Queftion the Defi-
nitionwhich we are examining. If
Paracelfus his Authority were
to be
look't upon as a Suiricient
Proof in mat-
ters of this Nature, I might here infift
on that Procefs of his, whereby he
Teaches that the Effence of Wine may
be Sever 'd from the Phlegme aad Ig-
noble Part by the Affiftance of Con-
gelation : and becaufe much Weight
has been laid upon this Procefs, not on-
ly by Paracelfians , but other Writers,
fome of whom feem not to have per-
ns d it thcmfelves, I (hall give You the
entire Paffage in the Authors own
Words, as I lately found them in the
(ixth Book of his Archidoxis , an Extrael:
whereof I have yet about me ; and it
founds thus. Be Vino fciendum ef y fa-
tern phlegmaque ejus ejj'e Mineram^ & Vi-
nt fibffantiam ej]e corpus in quo confer-
vatiir Ejjentia, prout auri in aura latetEf-
in
in equina ventre menfibus quatuor^ & in
continuato calore teneatur qui non deficiat.
Quo perdtlo, Hyeme cum frigus &
gelu,
maxime feviunti his per menfem expona-
tur ut congeleturi Ad hum modam fri-
gitf Vini fpiritum una cum ejus fubtfantia
H poiclvj
(5>3)
pofely caufc to be Decoded in fair
Water a Plant abounding with Sulphu-
reous and Spirituous Parts, and having
expos'd the Decoction to a keen North-
Wind in a very Froity Night,I obferv 'd, j
;
Others, fent out of Amsterdam ,
cc
Anno Dom. 1596. being forc'd by un-
cc
feafonable Weather to Winter in No-
r. va Zembla, neer Ice-Haven 5 on the
Ct
thirteenth of Oftober, Three of us
u
(fa yes the Relation ) went aboard the
<c
Ship , and laded a Sled with Beer;
<c
but when we had laden it, thinking
c
to go to our Houfe with it, fuddenly
" there arof e fuch a Winde , and fo
cc
great a Storm and Cold, that we
cc
were forc'd to go into the Ship again 3
<c
becaufe we were not able to ftay with-
out ; and we could not get the Beer
cc
into the Ship again, but were fore d
" to let it (land without upon the Sled :
cc
the Fourteenth , as we came out of
Cc
forc'd to melt the Beer, for there was
Cc
fcarce any unfrozen Betr in the barrel;
cc
bur m was un-
that thick ' Yieft that
cc
fk Z; n lay the Strength of the Beer,
j
tc
fo that it was too ftrong to drink alone,
c:
aad that which was frozen tailed like
<c
Water ; and being melted we Mix's
c:
one with the other, and fo drank
cc
it; but it had neither Strength nor
"Tafte.
And on this Occafion I remember,
that having the laft very Sharp Winrer
purpofely try'd to Freeze, among other
Liquors, fome Beer moderately ftrong,
in Giafs VciTels, with Snow and Salt,
I obferv'd, that there came out of the
Neck a certain thick Subftance, which,
ir feems, was much better able then the
r eft of the Liquor ( that I found turn'd
into Ice ) to refill a Froft, and
which j
THE
)
( i«8
THE
SCEPTICAL CHYMIST.
THe Second
have Notice Taken
fire to
Confideration I De-
of, is
That it
jjfbis, is not fo Sure, asBoth
Chymiftsand Aristotelians are wont to
Think it, that every Seemingly Similar
pr DiftincT: Subftance that is Separated
ifrom a Body by the Help of the Fire,
[was Pre exiftent in it as a Principle or
IjElement of it.
That I may not make this Paradox a
[Greater then I needsmuft,! will Firft
(io8)
the fame .Autumn 3 in my Garden^
fome of thofe planes, by Meafure, as
big about as my Middle ) and made me
order the having it taken Up ; Which
about the Middle OBober was care-
oS.
nothing.
But Candidly with You, E-
to deal
leuthenAS ,mult
I not conceal from You
the Event of another Experiment of
this Kind made this prefent Summer
wherein the Earth feems to have been
much more Wafted as may appear -,
(Ho)
that I made before^ but fcem'd ftrange-
ly to conclude what I am pleading for A
though by reafon I have unhappily loft]
(
the particular Account my Gardiner writ]
me up of the Circumftances ) I dare not]
infift upon them. The like Experiment
(Ill)
the lower part Immers'd in the Water 5
[within a few Dayes this Mint began to
(hoot forth Roots into the Water, and
to difplay its Leaves , and afpire up-
wards 5 and 111 a fhort time it had nu-
merous Roots and Leaves, and thefe
very ftrong and fragrant of the Odour
of the Mint but the Heat of my Cham-
.*
s
be VVater'd , as need required* with
Rain or with DiftuTd Water ; and to
keep the Neighbouring Earth frOrri
:
getting into the VelTc-11, he emplo/d
a plate of Iron tina*d over and pef-
I
l forated
,(H4)
footed with many boles.. Five years be-
ing: efflux'd, he took out the Tree and
related to
You would fucceed in other Bodies
then
Vegetables, .tecaiife
importunate Avo-<
nations having hitherto
hinder^ me^
ftoffl pumiij tay Oefigri id
.
Praaifc, t
can
(II 5 )
'can yet{peak but Confedurally of the
Succefs ; but the beft is, that the Expe-
riments already made and mention •
d
to you need not the AffiLtance of new
Ones, to Veririe as much as my pre-
fent task makes it concern me to prove
by Experiments of this Nature.
One would fufpctf: ( fayes Ekathen-
us after his long filence) by what You
have been difcourfing, that You are noc
far from Helmonts Opinion about
the O-
ngination of Compound Bodies
, and
perhaps coo diilike not the Arguments
which he imployes to prove it.
,
What Helmont'tan Opinion , and
what Arguments do you mean (a^kes
Cdrneades.)
What You have been Newly Dif-
courfing ( replies Eleutberim tells us
) j
that You cannot but know that this bold
and Acute Spa^yriit fcruples not to Af-
fert that all mi'xt Bodies fpring from one
Element; and that Vegetables, Ani-
mals, Marchafites, Stones Metalls,&c*
3
are Materially but fmple Water M-
guis'd into thefe Various Formes, by the
plaftiek or Formative Virtue of "their
feeds. And as for his Reafons you may
find divers of them fcatter'd' up and
I a dovvrj
down bis writings ; the confiderabl'ft
of which feem to be thefe three 5 The
Ultimate Reduction of mixt Bodies in-
to Infipid Water, the VicifTitude of
the fuppofed Elements, and the pro-
du&ijn of perfectly mixt Bodies out of
fim )le Water. And firft he affirmes
r
^^ CVV
^^ ov 5 ^tthough"the
(up)
tigenes Laertlus and divers other Authors
fpeak of 1 batons the firft among theGV*-
• I
(I2P)
~Univer-fr feems alfoby what is delivered in Sttfjk
Sf*
farumre- bo out of another Author jconcerning
divei ia
Thac thc y i&wifii held that ail'
things had differing Beginnings, but thac
*
the
&> Wy T
g fj Jf u
n
he
V
^
t0 haVC borrOW d k
*
'
as
Greeks did much of their The-
m
d2
rae
"i?$V as l
•
ri
& m
a P c to think of tk *
>
Philofophy too; fince the Deviftng of
the
Atomical Bypotkefis commonly afcrib'd
toLucippw and his Difciple Democritus^
is by Learned
Men attributed to one
Mofchus * Phoenician. And pofliblythe
Opinion is yet antientcr than fo ; For
tis known that the Phmkim borrow'd
molt of their Learning from the Be*
*rw. And among thofe that acknow-
ledge the Books
tifMofa, many have
been inchn'd to
think Water to have
been the Primitive
and Univerfal Mat-
W
fa
b
l »*£
where
ng the Beginning of Gene-
the Waters feem
to be men-
uorid as the Material
fc I
Caufe, not only
of Sublunary Compounded
Bodies, but
ofaythofethatmakeuptheUniverfei
whofe Component Parts
did .orderly, as
(121)
itwere, emerge our of that vaft Aby ffe»>
by the Opcracion of the Spirit of God,
who is faid to have been moving Him-
felf as hatching Females do (as the Ori-
ginal r\$~oc i Meracephet is faid to Im- Deute^
port, and as it feems to fignifie in one 52,11 '
of the two other places,wherein alone I
j cr€ m.
have met with it in the Hebrew Bible ) «3- *•
upon the Face of the Waters; which
being, asmay be fuppos'd, Divinely Im-
v
pregnated with the feeds of all things,
were by that productive Incubation qua-
lify 'd to produce them. But you, 1 prc-
heavy.
(123)
heavy. And by this truly Demonstrative
Science, namely ChymiHry, I found that
they were composed of much Salt, little Sul-
phur, and lefs Mercury.
But (fayes Cameades) I have fome
Sufpitions concerning this ftrange Rela-
tion, which make me unwilling to De-
clare an Opinion of it, unlets I were
fatisfied
concerning divers Material Cir-
cumstances that our Author has lef tun-
mentioned % though as lor the Genera-
tion of Living Creatures,both Vegetable
and Senfitive, needs not feem Incre-
it
ted
(HO
ted with the one Bodie. So that
reft into
although by virtue ofthis compofitioa
the mixt Body did perhaps obtain Di-
vers new Qualities, yetftill the Ingre-
dients that Compounded it, retaining
their own Nature, were by the De-
ftru&ion of the Compptum feparable
from each other, the minute Parts di(-
ingag^d from thofe of a differing Na-
ture, and affociatcd with thofe of their
own fort returning to be again, Fire,
Earth, or Water, as they were before
they cbanc d to be Ingredients o£ that
Compofitum. This may be explain'd
( Continues Eletitkevks, ) by a piece of
Cloathmade of white and black threds
interwoven, wherein though the whole
piece appear neither white nor black*
but of a refulting Colour, that is gray
9
yet each of the white and black threds
that compofc it, remains what it was
before, as would appear if the threds
were pull'd afunder,and forted each Co-
lour by it fdf. This ( purfues Eleutherm)
being, asI underftand it, the State of
jet
( 141 )
yet by his Rule the whole Liquor (honld
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 ftill Fall into nothing
but Water, and Confequently would
be tum'd into it. And if this would
hold in Metals too, 'twere a rare fe-
cretfor Goldfmiths, and Refiners ;Por
by melting a Mafs of Gold, or Silver*
and by but calling into it Leader An-
timony, Grain after Grain, they might
at pleafure,within a reafonable Compafs
of time, turn what Quantity they de-
fire , of the ignoble into the Noble Me-
talls. And indeed fince a Pint of wine,
and a pint of water, amount to about
a Quart of Liquor, it feems manifeft
to fenfe, that thefe Bodies doe not
Totally Penetrate one another, as one
would have it ; but that each retains its
own Dimenflons; and Confequently,
that they are by being Mingl'd only di-
vided into minute Bodies, that do but
touch one another with their Surfaces,
as do the Grains, of Wheat, R^e, Bar-
ley, &c. in aheap of feverall iorts of
Corn t And unlefs we fay , that as
when
( x
44)
when one meafure of wheat , for In*
ftance, Blended with a hundred mea*
is
L Na-
I
nature with the whole,and confequently
did contain both Earth and Water, and
Aire, and Fire s Wherefore as to what
uirifiotle principally 3 and almoft only
Objects, that unlefs his Opinion be ad-
mitted, there would be no true and per-
fect Miftion, but onely Aggregates or
Heaps ofcontiguousCorpufcles, which 5
though the Eye of Man cannot difccrne,
yet the Eye of a Lynx might perceive
not to be of the fame Nature with one
another and with their Totum, as the
Nature of Million requires , if: he do
not beg the Queftion,and make Miftion
toconfift in what other Naturalifts deny
to be requifite to it, yet He at leaft ob-
jects That as a great Inconvenience
which I cannot take for fuch, till he
have brought as Confiderable Argu-
ments as I have propos'd to prove the
contrary, to evince that Nature makes
other Millions than fuch as I have al-
lowed, wherein the MifcibiUa are re-
duc'd into minute Parts, and United
as farrasfenfe can difcerne
: which if
You will not grant to be
fufficicnt for a
true Miftion, he muft
have the fame
Qiarrel with Nature
her felf, as with his
Where*
:
C 147)
Wherefore ( Continues Ehutherlm )
I cannot but fomewhat marvail that Car*
nt&des fhould oppofe the Doctrine of
the Cbymift in a Particular, wherein
they do as well agree with his old Mt-
ftrefs,Nature, as difTent from his old
Adverfary, Ariftotle.
I muft not ( replies Ctrneades ) engage
myfelf at prefenc to examine thorowly
the Controveriies concerning Million
And if there were no third thing , but
that I were reduc'd to embrace abfo-
lutely and unrefervedly either the Opini-
on of Aristotle , or that of the Philofo-
phers that went before him, I fhould
look upon the latter, which the Chy-
miftshavc adopted, as the more defen-
fible Opinion: But becaufe differing in
muft
(i45>>>
muftconfefs to You that I am inclin'd
to not only from the Aristotelians,
dififer
(I$2)
from being that kind of Body as a Plant,
qr Animal, or Red, Green , Sweet
Sowre , or the like. I contukr that it
very often happens that the fmali
parts of Bodies cohere together but by
immediate ContacT: and Reft ; and that
however, there are few Bodies whofe
minute Parts ttickfoclofe together, to
what eaufe foever their Combination be
afcrib'd, but that it is meet
poflible to
with fome other Body
, whofe fmali
Parts may get between them , and fo
dis- joyn them 5 or may be fitted to co*
here more ftrongly with fome of them,
then thofefomedo with the reft; or at
leaft may be combin'd fo clckly with
them as that neither the Fire , nor
,
(*53)
the Ingredients, yet each of the little
Maffes or Clufters may fo retain its own
Nature, as j^be again feparable, fuch
as it was before. As when Gold and
Silver being melted Together in a Due
Proportion ( for in every Proportion
the Refiners will tell Ycu that the Ex-
periment will not (ueceed )Aqua Fortis
will diffolve the Silver, and leave the
Gold untouch^ by which means, as you
lately noted, both the Me tails may be
recover'd from the mixed Mafs. But
( Continues Carneades ) there are other
Clufters wherein the Particles flick not
fo clofe together , but that they may
meet with Corpufcles of another De-
nomination , which are difpos'd to be
more clofely United with fome of them,
then they were among themfelves.And in
fuch cafe,two thus combining Corpufcles
lofing that Shape, or Size, or
Motion, or
other Accident , upon whofe Account
n
they
(154)
they were mingl'd, or, if you pleafe.
Confounded Since this Concretion is
.-
|
by Virtue of the Compofuion it have
;manifeftly diverfe Qualities, not to be
met with of the Ingredients,
in either
yet k feems that the Nitrous Spi-
rits, or at leaft many of them, may in
this Compounded Mais retain their for-
mer Nature; for having for tryal fake
DifthTd this Vitrioll Spirit, there came
over ftore of Red Fumes, which by
that Colour, by their peculiar ftiake,
and by their Sournefs, manifefted them-
felves to be, Nitrous Spirits
; and that
(157)
fome Cafes may, retain its own Nature
in it, fo that Chymfts may Extricate
each fort of them from ail the "others
wherewith it concurr'd to make a Body
ef one Denomination.
I know there may be a Diftinclion be-
twixt Matter Immanent^ when the ma-
terial Partsremain and retain their own
Nature inthe things materiated, as
fome of the Schoolmen fpeak,(in which
fence Wood, Stones and Lime are the
matter of aHoufe,)and Tranfient ywhich
in the materiated thing is fo alter 'd, as
to receive a new Forme , without being
capable of re-admitting again the Old.
In which fence the Friends of this Di-
itin&ion fay, that Chyle
is the matter of
be
foe of Ufe ; but partly by
what I have*
(aid already, and partly by what I am.
to fay, You may cafiiy enough guefs m
what fence I admit them, and difcerne
that in fuch a fence they will either il-
luftrate fome of my Opinions, or at
leaft will not overthrow any of them.
To profecute then what I was fayin^
before, I will add to this purpofe, That
fince the Major part of Chyrnifts Cre-
dit, what thofe they call Philofophers
affirme of their Stone, I may repre*
fent to them, that though when Com-
mon Gold and Lead are mingled To-
gether, the Lead may be fever d almoft
un-alter'd from the Gold j yet ii inftead
of Gold a Tantillum of the Red Elixir
be mingled with the Saturn , their
Union will be fo indiflbluble in the per-
fect Gold that will be produe'd by it>
that there is no known, nor perhaps no
poflible way of feparating the diffused
Elixir from the fixed Lead, but they
both Conftitute a moft permanent Body,
wherein the Saturne feems to have
quite loft
its Properties that made it
be
calFd Lead, and to have been rather
tranfmuted by the £/w/>,then barely af-
fociated to it. So that it feems not al-
wayes
(*59)
wayes necefTary, rhat the Bodies that
are put together per m>mma y Gaoald each
retain its own Nature 5 So as when the
(itf©)
©f million may remain 5 yet i£ what 1
have faid be thought Reafon,! fhall not
wrangle about Words, though 1 think it
fitter to alter a Terme of Art , then re-
ject a new Truth, becaufe
it fuits not
thcTria Prima, We
ftmll find that]
Nature do's frequently enough work I
The
THE
SCEPTICAL CHYMIST.'
Friend to
Him ) hasj I prefume, {hew'n You, that
a Confidering Man may very welj
queftion the Truth of thofe very Sup-
portions which Chymifts 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 difpach't that, which though a
Chymift Perhaps will not, yet I do,
look upon as the moft Important, as
well as Difficult, part of my Task, it
will now be Seafonable for me t;o pro-
Ml ceed
am
ccedtothe Confideration of the Expe-
riments thcmfelves, wherein they are
wont fomuch to Triumph and Glory*
And will the rather deferve a fe-
tftp fe
ther
ther more nor lefs, which are wont to
be lookt upon as Elementary, or may
as well be reputed To as thofe that are
(o reputed. Which laft Claufe I fub-
joyne, to prevent your Objecting, that
fome of the Subftances I may have bci
caflon to mention by and by, are not
perfectly Homogeneous, nor Confe-
qucntly worthy o? the name of Princi-
ples. For that which 1 am now to con-
fer, is, into how many Differing
Subftances , that may plauflbly pafs for
the Elementary Ingredients of a mix'd
Body , it may be Analyz'd by the Eircj
of thefe.
But asCarneades was going to do as ;
(178)
feparating of their three Principles. I
know indeed ( continues Ekutherim) chat
the Learned Sennertus^ even in that book
where he takes not upon him to play
the Advocate for theChymifts,but the
Umpier betwixt them and thePcripa-
teticks, expreffes himfelf roundly, thus*
Salemomnibus inejje ( pifotfif feilicet ) &
ex H* fieri poffe omnibus in refolutionibuS
Ib^de"'
conf. & Cbymicis verfatis notiffimum eft. And
aiflfenf.
jn ^g next p agCjQyoj defile dixi^ faies
i41' ^ c 5 Idem Ae Sulphure did potest: but by
his favour I muft fee very good proofs,
before I believejfuch general Alfertions
how boldly foever made j and he that
would convince me of their truth, muft
teach me fome true and practicable
firft
( l8o)
nQtwondredsLt it,though you had expref-
fedmuch more feverity in Ipcaking of
them : For I remember that having once
met an old and famous Artift, who had
Jong been (and (till is)Chymiit so a great
Monarchy the repute he had of a very
honeft man invited me to; defire him
to tell me ingenuoufly whether or no, a-
mong his many labours, he had ever re-
ally extracted a trueand running Mercu-
ry out of Metalls $ to which queftion he
freely replyed D that he had never ie-
pa rated a true Mercury fr^pm any Metal
nor had ever feen it really done by any
man elfe. And though Gold is, of all
Metalls, That.>whofe Mercury Chymifts
have moft endeavoured to extract, and
which they do the moft brag they have
extracted 5 yet the Experienced An^eha
Sala, in his Spagyricahccount of theTevcn
Terreflrial Planets ( that is the feven
metalls ) affords us this memorable Te-
ftimony,to our prefent purpofe 5 Q^an-
qs(am ( faies he ) &c . experientia umen
(quam ftultorum Magiftrum vocamus ) certe I
that
,
(iSO
that he himfelf had feen much Labour
{pent upon that Defign, but could ne*r
vcr fee any fuch Mercury produe'd
thereby. And I eafilybeleeve what he
annexes 5 that he bad often feen Detefted
many tricks and Impotfures of Cheating
Alchymifts. For,the moft part of thofe
that are fond of fuch Charlatans^ being
unskilfull or Credulous, or both, 'tis ve-
ry eafie for fuch as have fome Skill
-much craft, more boldnefs, and no
.Conference, toimpofeupon them 3 and
therefore, though many profefsd Al-
fbymiffs , and divers Perfons of Qjali-
tyhave told me that they have made or
feen the Mercury of Gold, or of this
or that other Metal 5 yet 1 have been
apt to fear that cither thefe pet-
itill
(182)
ken AlchjmiHs make the Mercury of
this or that Metal ; and to make this
the more evident, I made my Expert
merit much more Short and
Slight,
Simple, than the Chymifts ufuall pro-
ceffes to Extract Metalline Mercuries $
which Operations being commonly more
Elaborate and Intricate, and requiring
a much more longer time, give the
•
larcompounded Corpufclcs, as to be a-
ble to refcke-them into thofe more
ftmple ones, whereof they confift, and
consequently encreafe the number of the
Mtinft Subftances, whereinto the mixt
Body has been hitherto thought reftv
luble. And if that be true, which I
recited to you a while ago out of Het-
mom concerning the Operations of the
jilfahefZ) which divides Bodies into o-
ther Diftin& Subftances, both as to num-
ber and Nature then the Fire docs
,
(i88)
Grapes themfelves being dryed into
Rayfinsand diftill'd, will (betides Ah
cah , Phlegm,and Earth ) yield a conside-
rable quantity of an Empyreumatkal
Oyle, and a Spirit of a very different na-r
ture from that or Wine. Alfotheiin-
fermented Juice of Grapes affords other
diftil'd Liquors then Wine doth. The
Juice of Grapes after fermentation will
yield a Spiritus Ardent ; which if compe-
tently re&ifyed will all burn away with^
j
out leaving any thing remaining. The
{fame fermented Juice degenerating into
IVinager, yields an acid and corroding
[Spirit. The fame Juice turnd up,armes
it Mf with Tartar; out , of which may
"
O 3 ' not
(i?8)
not to -reckon 'that which I call the com-}
pound of Box, for the fpirir, ori
Spirit
as others would have it, the
Mercury of!
that Wood, I fee not, why the Acid
li-
quor, andtheother, fhouldnot
each of
them, especially that laft named,be lookt
f
THE
THE
SCEPTICAL CHYMIST.
fore I now
proceed to confider the na-
ture of them, and {hew you, That
though they feem Homogeneous Bodies,
yet have they not the purity and fim-
plicity that is rcquifite to Elements.
And
I fhould immediately proceed to
thefe
( aoy )
thefe men no long-
finding that they can
er write impertinently and abfurdly 3
without being laugh'd at for doing fo
r
3
will be reduc'd either to write nothings
or Books that may teach us fomething,
and notrobmen,as formerly, of invalua-
ble Time ; and fo ceafing to trouble the
World with Riddles or Impertinencies^
we {hall either by their Books receive an
Advantage^ or by their filence^efcape
an Inconvenience.
But after all this is faid ( continues
Eleutkeriits ) it may be reprefented in fa-
vour of theChymifts, that>in one regard
the Liberty they take in ufing names,
if it be excufable at any time, maybe
more fo when they fpeak of the fubftan-
ces whereinto their Amljfis refolves mixt
Bodies: Since as Parents have the Right
to name their own Children, it has c*
ver been allow'd to the Authors of new
Inventions,to Impofe Names upon them.
And thereforethe fubje&s we fpeak of
being fo the Productions of the ChymilVs
I
Art, as not to be otherwife, but by ir,
'obtainable; feems but equitable to give
it
them.
I told You already ( fayes Cameades)
that there great Difference betwixt the
is I
fitch
fticha Sulphur s and to tbink'tlicy pky
with words, when they teach that Gold
and fome other Minerals abound with an
Incombuftible Sulphur, which is as pro-
per an Expreffion , as a Sun- thine Night,
or Fluid Ice.
But before I defcend to the Mention
ofParticulars belonging to my Fourth
Confideration, I think it convenient to
rremife a few Generals ; fome of which
fhall the -Iefs need to infift on at prefenr,
becaufe I have Touched on them al-
ready.
And firft I muft invite you to "take
notice of a certain T„ , •., . . „. hi i 3
'
-rr •
rj j Iliad notable, in vino ejje Spirt-
paiiage in HelmOMy tumqiiendammitioremulteriorUfy
which though nobilior'K qualiutk participem qua
I have
nnt "P/mi^J
1
rv,,,^U l«i immediattper diftilktionem
dh
not round much \ im dhimrqie aC{ iA „j dephki- M
hecdedby his Rea- mata i q^odfadiiwh fimpliti on-
rWc varum oho ad oculum fpe&atur.
ULrs, 1An TJi*r«r^ir
ne HimieJt Quipfe difliUatum oleum abfque la-
inentlOM as a notable temmaut tigularum additamento^
thin? and T1 taKe
nung, ana tnVe* to m ^
c
i
uodcl ue oleum Vbilofephorum diet-
multum diffm y^olehare _
P drawn
(2lO>
drawn perfs is ( as I have try'd )
of a ve-
ry (harp and fretting Quality, and of an
odious tail. He tells us that Simp J e oyle
being only digefted with Paracelfits's fal
ciredatum , is reduc'd into diffimiiar
parts,and yields a fweet Oyle,very differ-
ing from the oylediftuTd,from fallet oyle;
as alfo that by the fame way there may
be feparated from Wine a very fweet
and gentle Spirit,partaking of a far other
and nobler quality then that which is
immediately drawn by diftilladon and
Vephlegm d AquaviUy fromwhofe
call'd
Acrimony this other fpirit is exceedingly
remote , although the fal circuUtum that
makes thefe Amtomiesht feparated from
the Analyz'd*Bodies,in the fame weight
and with the fame qualities it had before;
which Affirmation of Belmont if we ad-
mit to be true, we muft acknowledge
that there may be a very great difparity
betwixt bodies of the fame denomination
(as feveral oyles, orfeveral fpirits) fe-
parable from compound Bodies For, :
("3)
je&ion of the Fiery Corpufdes thcm-
felves, through the Subftance of the
Glafs, I will proceed to what is next to
be mentioned.
I could ( fayes Eleutherim ) help you
to fomc Proofes, whereby I think it
may be made very probable., that when
the Fire ads immediately upon a Body,
fomc of its Corpufdes may ftick to
thofe of the burnt Body, as they fcem
to do in Quicklime, but in greater
numbers, and more permanently. But
for fear of retarding Your Progrefs, I
fhall defire you to deferr this Enqwf^
till another time, and proceed as you
intended.
You may then in the next place (fayes
Carneades) obferve with me, that not
only there are fome Bodies, as Gold,
and Silver, which do not by the ufual
Examens, made by Fire, Difcover them-
felves to be mixt s but if ( as You may
Pi Kinds
(214)
Hinds of mixts. Of this I have already
given You fome Examples in Sope, Su-
gar of Lead, and Vitriolh Now if we I
though homogeneous c-
feemingly
nough, may be of a Compounded
Nature, thofe parts of each body that
are molt of Kin alfociating themfelves
into aCompound of a new Kind. As
when ( for example fake ) I have caus'd
Vitrioll and SalArmontack^nd Salt Petre
to be mingl'd and Dettill'd together,
the Liquor that came over manifeued
it felf not to be either Spirit of Nitre, or
A
of Sal mom'ack, or of Vitrioll. For
none of thefe would dhTolve crude gold,
which yet my Liquor was able readily to
do; and thereby manifefted it felf to be
a new Compound, confifting at leaft
of Spirit of Nitre, and Saljirmoniaeky
for the latter dilfohrd in the former,
will
(218)
will Work
on Gold) which never-
thelefsare not by any known way fe-
parable, and conlequently would not
pafs for a Mixt Body, if we our fdves
did not, to obtain it, put and Diftill to-
gether divers Concretes, whofe Diftinft
Operations were known before hand.
And, to add on this Occafion the Ex-
periment I lately promis'd You, be-
caufe it is Applicable to our prefent
purpofe, I fhall Acquaint You , that
lufpe&ing the Common Oyle of Vitriol!
not to be altogether fuch a fimple Liquor
as Chymifts prefume it, I mingi'd k
with an equal or a Double Quantity
( for I try'd the Experiment more then
once ) of common Oyle of Turpentine,
fuch as together with the other Liquor
I bought at the Drugfters. And ha-
ving carefully C for the Experiment is
Nice, and fomewhat dangerous) T>i-
ih'll'dthe Mixture in a fmall Glafs Re-
tort , I obtain'd according to my Dc-
fire, ( befides the two Liquors had put
I
in ) a pretty Quantity of a certain fub-
ftance, which flicking all about the
Neck of the Retort Difcover'd it felf
to be Sulphur , not only by a very ftrong
Sulphureous fmell, and by the colour of
Brimftone,
(2Ip)
Brimftone 5 but alfo by this, That be-
i
this occafion take notice of it. And it is
'this., That the Qualities or Accidents,
upon whofe account Chymifts are wont
to call a portion of Matter by the name
of Mercury or fome other of their Prin-
ciples 3 are not fuch but that 'tis pof-
fible as Great (and therefore why not the
like ? ) may be producd by fuch changes
of
(2 24)
of Texture, and other Alterations, as
the Fire may make in the fmali Parts of a
Body. I have already prov'd, when I
difcours'd of the fecond General Confi-
deration, by what happens to plants
nourifh'4 only with fair water, and
Eggs hatch'd into Chickens , that by
changing the difpofition of the compo-
nent parts of a Body, Nature is able to
effect as great Changes in a cfercell of
Matter reputed fimilar, as thole requifue
to Denominate one of the Tria Prima.
And though Belmont do Tomewhere
wittily call the Fire the Deftru&or and
the Artificial Death of Things 5 And al-
though another Eminent Chymift and
Phyfitian 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 confidcr how
many new forts of mixt Bodies Cby-
mifts themfelves have produe'd by means
of the Fire ; And particularly,if You con*
fiderhow that Noble and Permanent
Body, Glafs, is not only manifeftly pro-
duct by the violent action of the Fire,
but has never, for ought we know, been
produe'dany other way. And indeed
it feems but an inconfiderate Aflercion of
fomc
fome Helmontiam , that every fort of
Body of a Peculiar Denomination muft
be produe'd by fome Seminal power s as
I chink I could evince, if I thought it fo
neceflary, as it is for me to haften to
what I have further to difcourfe. Nor
need much move us, that there
it are
fome who look upon whatfoever the
Fire is employ'd to produce, not as up-
on Natural but Artificial Bodies. For
there is not alwaies fuch a difference as
many imagine betwixt the one and the
other: Nor is it fo eafvas they think*
clearly to afligne that which Properly,
Conftantly , and Sufficiently, Difcrimi*
nates them. But not to engage my felf
in fo nice a Difquifition, may now fuf-
it
fice to obfervc, that a thing is common-
lytermed Artificial, when a parcel of
matter is by the Artificers hand,or Tools,
or both, brought to fuch a fhape or
Form, as he Defign'd before-hand in
his Mind Whereas in many of the
:
Q. fraped
(22*)
fhaped , like thofe of Tradefmen, for
this or that particular Work 5 but, for
the moft part, Agents of Nature's own
providing, andwhofe 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 Chymift that
imployes it, does but apply Natural A-
gents and Patients, who being thus
brought together, and acting according
to their refpeftive Natures , performe
the worke themfelves ; as Apples,Plums,
or other fruit, are natural Productions,
though the Gardiner bring and faften
together the Sciens of theStock,and both
Water , and do perhaps divers other
wayes Contribute to its bearing fruit.
But, to proceed to what I was going to
lay, You may obferve with me, Elm?-
theriw,t\m, as I told You once before
Qualities Height enough may ferve to
Denominate a Chymical Principle. For,
when they anatomize a compound Body
by the Fire, if they get a Subftance in-
fkmable, and that will not mingle with
Water, that they prefently call Sulphur*
what is fapid and Diflbluble in Water,
thacmuftpatic for Salt 5 Whatsoever is
&'d
(227)
fix'd and indiflbluble in Watef 3 that
they name Earth. And I was going to
whatfoever Volatile iubftance
add., that 5
QL3 the
(23°)
the Metal it felf were* by the di&Uation
carried over the Helme. But fince you
Jcnow as well as I that Saccbarum Saturni
isa kind of Magiftery^made only by cal-
cining of Lead perfi, dilTolving it in di-
Vinager, and cryftalizing the fo-
ftili'd
!
name is grounded on-
Impofition of the
lyupon the Predominancy of that Ele-
ment whofe name is afcribd to it. Nor
fhall I deny, that this Argument of the
Chymifts is no ill one againft the Arifto-
telims. But what Aniwercan it prove
to me, who you know am difpu ting a-
gainft the Ar iHotel,an Elements ,
as the Ghymicall Principles, and muft
not look upon any body as a true Prin-
ciple or Element, but as yet compoun-
ded, which is not perfe&ly Homogene-
ous, but is further Refoluble into any
number of Diftind Subftances how
(ball foever. And as for the Chymifts
calling a body Salt, or Sulphur, or Mer-
cury, upon pretence that the Principle
of the fame name is predominant in it,
That it felf is an Acknowledgment of
what I contend for ; namely that thefe
productions of the Fire, are yet com-
pounded bodies. And yet whilftthis is
granted, k is affirmed, but not prov'd,
that the reputed Salt, or Sulphur, or
Mercury, mainly of one body
confifts
that deferves the name of a principle
of the fame Denomination. For how
do Chymifts make it appear that there
are any fuch primitive and fimple bo-
dies,
(^37)
idies in thofe we are fpeaking of 5 fincc
'tis upon the matter confefs'd by the an-
fwer lately made,that thefe are notfuch?
And if they pretend by Reafon to evince
what they affirm , what becomes of
their confident boafts, that the Chymifts
(whom the;y therefore, after Beguim >ca\\
aPbilafophtts or Opifex Senfatus ) can con-
vince our Eyes, by manifeftly (hewing in
any mixt body thofe fimple fubftances he
teaches them to be compos'd of ? And
indeed , for the Chymifts to have recourfe
in this cafe to other proofs then
Experi-
ments, as it is to wave the grand Argu-
ment that has all this while been given
out for a Demonftrative One , fo k re-
leafesmefromthe obligation to profe-
cute a Difpute wherein I am not engag'd
to Examine any but Experimental!
proofs. I know it may plaufibly E~
noughbe Reprefented,in favour of the
Chymifts 3 thatit being evident that much
(242}
Homogeneous, there is no juftcaufe why
I Should rather give the body propos'd
the Name of this or that Element or
Principle, becaufe it has a refembiance
to it fome obvious Quality, rather
in
then deny it that name upon the account
of divers other Qualities, wherein the
propos'd Bodies are unlike ; and if you
do but confider what fleight and eaiily
producible qualities they are that fufrice
asl have already more then once obferv'd,
to Denominate a Chymical Principle or
an Element's you'liiot^ I hdpc^ think my
warinefs to be deftitute either of Exam-
ple, or clfe of Reafon. For we fee that
the Chymi'ffswili not allow the Aripo-
tel'Um that the Salt m Afhes ought robe
called Earth, though the Saline and Ter-
teftrial part fyrnbolize in weight, in dry-
nefs, in Exnefs and fufibility, only be-
caufe the oite is fapid .and diffoluble in
Watered the other nor:Befides,we fee
that fapidnefs and volatility are wont to
denominate the ChymirV' Mercury .or
Spirit and yet how many Bodies, think
',
( H5
fuch a Liquor is ( for Example ) purely
faline, they prove, that at lead ialt is
under-
undertake that the Figures of thefe oro-
ther Saline Cryftals ( if I may fo call
Them willbealwaiesthe fame 5 what-
)
ever degree of Fire have been employ'd
to force them up, or how haftily foevcr
they have been made to convene in the
(pints or liquors, in the lower part of
which! have ufually obferv'cl them af-
ter a while to {hoot. And although,
asI lately told You, I feldom found a-
T
" li
Vrw,
» ec & w
h WingumiemafpmtH
In eo tamen ejjentiahter
•tive; 1 et 1 remem- diver/uw^uodfpiritus talis cruoris
ber Helmont fome- ? f E T J!eTf'am ^ on autemfpirim
l r
falis lonii
, .
c
.Where mrormes US, Helmcnt. Aura Vitalis.
i
that there is this
j
Difference betwixt the faline fpirit of U-
rineand that of Mans blood, that the
former will not cure the Epilcpfy 5
but
(2 5 2 >
but the Latter will. Of the Ef-
ficacy alfo of the Salt of Common
-Amber againft the fame Difeafe in
Children s (for m
Grown Perfons ic
is not a fpecifick ) I may elfewhere
have an Occaflon to Entertain You.
And when I confider that to the ol>
taking of thefe Volatile Salts ( efpe-
cially that of Urine ) there is not rcqui-
fite fuch a Deftru&ive Violence of the
Fire, as there is to get thofe Salts that
muft be made by Incineration, I am the
more invited to conclude, that they'
may differ from one another, and con-
fequently recede from a$ Elementary
Simplicity. And, if I could here (hew
You what Mr. has Obferv'd,
Boyle
touching the Various Chymicali Di-
minutions of Salts ; You would quickly
difcern, not only that Chymifts do give
themfclves a ftrange Liberty to call
Concretes Salts, that are according to
their own Rules, to be look'd upon as
very Compounded Bodies ; but that a-
mong thofe very Salts that feem Ele-
mentary, becaufe produe'd upon the
Anatomy of the Bodies that yield
them, there is not onlyavifible Difpa-'
rity, but, to fpeak in the common Lar
g«age 3
,
(253)
guage, a rmnifeft Antipathy or Contra-
riety: As is evident in the Ebullition
and hilling that is wont to enfue
when the Acid of Vitrioll, for
Spirit
Inftance, is pour'd upon pot afhes, or
Salt of Tartar. And I {hall beg leave
of this Gentleman, fayes Carneades^ cart-
ing his Eyes on me, to let me obferve
to You out of fame of his papers, par-
ticularly thofe wherein he treats of lome
Preparations of Urine, that not only
one and the fame body may have two
Salts of a contrary Nature as he ex-
>
emplifies in the Spirit and Alkali of
Nitre ; but, that from the fame body
there may without addition be obtained
three differing and Vifible Salts, For
He Relates, that he obferv'd in Urine,
not only a Volatile and Cryftalline
Salt, and a but likewife a kind
fixe Salt,
of Sal Armaniack^ or fuch a Salt as
would fublime in the form of a fait,
and therefore wasnotfixr, and yet was
far from being {0 fugitive as the Vo^
; from which it feem'd alfo o-
latile fait
onaits,! ?
Jdlem mlatUem comr;ktanim eJt ,
What I rormerlV ^Imont.-Tria Prima Cbymkorum*
&c * pag Al2 '
'
told you, concern-
fog the fimple fpirit of Box, and fuel*
like Woods, which differ much from
the other falts hitherto mention'd^and
yet would belong to the falirie Princi-
ple, if Chymifts did truly teach that
all Tafe proceed from' it. And!
might alfo annex, what I noted to you
out of Helmont concerning Bodies,
which, though they confrft in great
part of Chymical Oyles, do yet ap-
pear but Volatile falts ; But to infift on
thefc things, were to repeat 5 and there-
fore I (hall proceed.
This Difparity is alfo highly eminent
in the feparated fulphurs or Chymical
Oyles of things. For they contain To
much of the 'fcerrt,arid taft,.arid venues,
of; the
Bodies whence they were drawn.,
that theyfeem to Material
c^p (if I may befr
Concretes, Thus '
mou,
mon, Cloves, Nutmegs and other fpK
feem to be but the United Aroma-
ces,
tick parts that did ennoble thofe Bo-
dies. And 'tis a known thing,
that Oyl
of Cinnamon > and oyle of Cloves,
(which I have likewife obferv'd in the
Oyles of feveral Woods ) will fink to
the Bottom of Water : whereas thofe
of Nutmegs and divers other Vcge*
tables will fwim upon it. The Oyle
< abufively call'd fpirit ) of Rdfes fwims
at the Top of the Water in the forme
of a white butter, which I remember
not to have obferv'd in any other Oyle
drawn any Limbeck ; yet there is a
in
way not here to be dcclar'd ) by
(
which 1 have feen it comd over in the
forme of other Aromatick Oyles, to the
Delight and Wonder of thofe that be-
held it. In Oyle of Annifeeds, which
I drew both with, and without Fer-
mentation, I obferv'd the whole Body
of the Oyle in a coole place to thicken
into the Confidence and Appearance
of white Butter, which with the leaft
heat refum'd its Former Liquidnefs. In
the Oyl of Olive drawn over in a Re-
tort, I have likewife more then once
feen a fpontaneous Coagulation in the
Re-
(257)
Receiver: And I have of it by me
thus Congeal'd 5 which is of fuch a
firangely Penetrating fcent, as if 'twould
Perforate the Nofcs that approach k.
The pungent Odour I alfo obferv'd
like
in the DiitiirdLiquor of common fope,
which fore'd over from Minium, lately
afforded an oyle of a moft admirable
Penetrances And he mull: be a great
Granger, both to the Writings and pre-
parations of Chymilts, that fees not in
the Oyles they diftili from Vegetables
and Animals ,' a confiderable and obvi-
ous Difference. Nay I (hall venture
to add yEleutherws, ( what perha'ps you
will think of kin to a Paradox
) that di-
vers times out of the fame Animal or Ve-
getable, there may be extrafted Oyles
of Natures obvioufly differing. To
which purpofel (hall not infift on the
fvvimming and finking Oyles , which I
have fometimes obferv'd 'to float on,
and fubfide under the fpirit of Gttajd~
cum, and that of divers other Vegeta-
bles DiftuTd with a ftrong and lading
Fire 5 Nor (hall I infift on the obfer-
vation elfewhcre mention'd of the di-
2
ners and unminglable oyles afforded us
by Humane Blood long
fermented and
(2 5 8)
Digefted with fpirit of Wine, becaufe
thefe kind of oylcs may feem chiefly
to differ in Conflitence and Weighs
being all of tjaem high colour'd and a-
duft. But the Experiment which I de-
vis'd to make out this Difference of the
oyles of the fame Vegetable, ad Owr
lum*, fas they fpeak ) was this that
•
followes. took a pound of Annif-
I
feeds, and having grofly beaten them,
caufed them to be put into a very
large glafs Retort almoft filled with
fair Water 5 and placing this Retort in
a fand Furnace, I caus'd a very Gentle
heat to be adminiftcr'd during the firft
day, and a great part of the fecond.
till the was for the mod pari
Water
drawn and had brought over with it
off,
(274>
merly told You how Little Credit there
is to be given to the Chymical ProceiTes
commonly to be met with, of Extracting
the Mercuries of Metals, Yet I will now
add, that fuppofing that the more Ju-
dicious of Them do not Untruly arfirme
that they have really drawn true and
running Mercury from fevcral Metals
( which I wifh they had cleerly taught
Us how to doalfoaJyet it maybeitill
doubted whether fuch extracted Mercu-
do not as well differ from common
ries
And
(*7s)
And elfewhere, in the fame Boole, he
tells us,that he himfelf trycd,that by bare
coftionthequickfilvcroftin or Pewter
( wgWum vimmex farmoprolichuinfatf
by an efficient caufe, as he fpeaks, be
turn'd into pure Gold. And the Expe-
rience Alexander v&n Sucker,, fome*
where 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 5 which 1 {hall add, that
to
an eminent perfon, whofe name his tra-
vells and learned writings have made
famous, lately affur*d me that he had
more then once ken the Mercury of
Lead ( which whatever Authors pro-
mife, you will find it Very difficult to
make, at leaft in'any considerable quanti-
ty ) fixt into perfect Gold. And being
by me demanded whether ot no any o-
|
ther Mercury would not :as well have
been changed by the fame Operations^
;
he affured me of the Negative.
And fince I am fallen upon the men-
tion of the Mercuries of metals, you will
perhaps expect ( Eleuthemh ) that I !
THE
(283)
THE
SCEPTICAL CHYMIST.
(23 5 )
couching the tria Prima. And as to the
thing it felf, Ifhall freely acknowledge
to you , that I love not to be forward
in determining things to be imponrble,
till I know and have confidefd the
means by which they are propos'd to be
effe&ed* And therefore I {hall not pe-
remptorily deny either the poilibility of
what theie Artijts promife, or my Af-
fent to any juft Inference , however de-
ftru&ive to my Conjectures, that may
be drawn from their performances. But
give me leave to tell you withall
that becaufe fuch promifes are wont
( as Experience has more then once in-
form'dme) to be much more eafily
made, then made good by Chymifts, I
muft withhold my Beliefe from their af-
fertions Experiments exact it;
, till their
and muft not befo eafie as to expect
before hand, an unlikely thing upon no
ftronger Inducements then are yet given
me : Befides that I have not yet found
by what I have heard of thefe Artifts,
that though they pretend to bring the
feveral Subftances into which the Fire
has divided the Concrete, to an exqui-
fite fimplicity, They pretend alfo to be
(29$)
And thus, Etevtherm, ( fayes C&ms.-
des ) having at length gone-jthrough the
four Confiderations I propos'd to Dif-
courfe unto you, I hold it not unfit, for
fear my having infifted fo long on each of
them may have made you forget their
Series ) briefly to repeat them by telling
you, that
Since,in the firft place,it may juftlybe
doubted whether or no the Fire be, as
Chymifts fuppofe it^ the genuine and
UniverfalRefolver of mixt Bodies 5
Sinee we may doubt, in the next
place, whether or no all the Diftin£t
Subftances that may be obtain'd from a
mixt body by the Fire were pre-exiftent
there in the formes in which they were
feparated from it
.Since alfo, though we fhould grant
i Seel:
|
phy,fome of them,as Belmont^ cSS^Wng
them-
(2O0)
themfelves Philofophers by the Fire; and
the moft part noc only afcribing, but as
far as in them lies, engroffing to thofe
of their Sc& the Title of PHLLOSO-
PHERS.
But alas, how narrow is thisPhilofo-
phy, that reaches but ro fome of thofe
compound Bodies, whichwe find but
upon,or or outfide of our ter-
in the cruft
reftrial Globe, which is h felf but a point
in comparifon of the vaft extended Uni*
verfe, of whofe other and greater parts
the Dowtrine of the Tria Prima does not
givcusan Account! For what dees it
teach us, either of the Nature of the Sun,
which Aftronomers affirme to be eight-
fcore and odd times bigger then the whole
Earth ? or of that of thofe numerous fixe
Starrs, which,for ought we know, would
very few, if any of them, appear inferi-
our in bulkc and brightnefs to the Sun, i£
they were as neer us as He ? What does
the knowing that Salt, fulphur and
Mercury, are the Principles of Mixt Bo-
dies 5 informe us of the Nature of that
vaft, fluid, and jEcherial .SiMance,
that feemes to make up the in-
terftellar, and confequently much the
|
pute by impartial Judges 5 and fo ufeful
;
withal, as to exempt us from the neceiH-
tyof having recourfe,for want of the
knowledg of caufes, to that Sanctuary o£
the igorant, Occult Qualities? fince, I
Domeftick Notion of the Chy-
fay, this
1
X3 ap<
appear , that where the fame Quality
is to be met with in many Bodies., ic
(313)
our Terreftrial Globe f fuppofiag it were
all Solid ) is but a point 5 and perhaps
(315)
for what they call the Mercuriall Prin-
ciple of bodies, that is fo apt to be rais'd
in the form of Steam, that Paracelfa
and others define it by thataptnefs to
fly up ; fo that ( to draw that inference
by the way ) it feems not that Chy-
mifts have been accurate in their Do-
ctrine of qualities , and their refpe&ive
Principles, fmce they both derive feve-
ral qualities from the fame Principles
and muft afcribe the fame quality to al-
moft all their Principles and other bodies
bcfides. And thus much for the firft
thing taken for granted, without fuffi-
cient proof, by your Sennertus : And to
add thatupon the Bye (continues Came-
fides ) we may hence learn what to judge
defale fuiu
This bold Difcourfe ( refumes CarneA-
flfc^puiting up again
Paper,) I think
his
it were not very difficult to confute^ if
Iiis Arguments were as confiderable as
our time will probably prove {hoi t for
the remaining and more neceflary Pare
of my Difcourfe 5 wherefore referring
You for an Anfwer to what was faid con-
cerning the Dhlipated Parts of a burnt
piece of green Wood, to what I told
Themiftim on the like occafion, I mighs
il&Y
duc'd it ( whether that be an Agitati-
on proceeding from the motion of the
External Fire , or the prefence of a
Multitude of igneous Atonies pervading
the pores of the Veffel, and nimbly per-
meating the whole Body of the Water)
I might, I fay, urge thefe and divers o-
,
ther Weakneffesof His Difcourfe. But
I will rather take Notice of what is more
pertinent to the Occafion of this Digref-
fion, namely, that Taking it for Granted,
that Fluidity ( with which he unwarily
feems to confound Humidity ) muft pro-
ceed from the Element of Water, he
makes a Chymical Oyle to Confift of
that Elementary Liquor ; and yet in the
very next Words proves, that it coniifts
alfo of Fire,by its Infiamability 5 not re-
membring that exquifitely pure Spirit of
Wine is both more Fluid then Water
itfelf, and yet will Flame all away
without leaving the Leaft Aqueous
Moifture behind it ; and without fuch
an Amurea and Soot as he would De-
duce the prefence of Earth from. So
that the fame Liquor may according to
his Doctrine be concluded by its great
Fluidity to be almoft all Water ; and
by its burning all away to be all difgaifed
Fire
fire. And by the like way of Probati-
on our Author w.uld fhew that the fixe
falc of Wood is compounded of
the
four Elements. For ( fayes he ) being
turn'dby the violence of the Fire into
fteames, it {hews it felf to be of kin
to Air 5 whereas I doubt whether he e-
ver faw a true fixt Salt (which to become
fo,muft have already endufd the vio-
lence of an Incinerating Fire ) brought
by the Fire alone to afcend in the Forme
of Exhalations ; but I do not doubt that
if he did,
and had caught thofe Exhalati-
ons in convenient Veflfels, he would
have found them as well as the Steames
of common Salt, &c. ofa Saline and not
an Aereal Nature. And whereas our Au-
thour takes k alfo for Granted, that the
Fufibilityof Saltmuftbe Dcduc'd from
Water, it is indeed fo much the Effect
(320)
gttation of
minute parts I Ice li
its
that
,
O*0 5
,.
infipid and indiffoluble in the fame Li-
3
quor : Not to add, that the one fub-
j
ftance is Opacous, and the "other fomc-
Y what
<3»>
what Diaphanous, nor that they differ
in Divers other Particulars 5 If we con-
ilder thofe things, I fay, we {hall hardly
rhink thac both thefe Subftances are E-
lementary Earth 5 And as to what is
fometimes objeeled,that their Saline Taft
is only an Effedl of Incineration and A-
pos'd
(3*3)
pos'd to a Very Violent Fire, acuated
by the Blaft of a large pair of Double
Bellows, I could not perceive that the
force of the Fire bad imparted to it the
Jeaft Saltnefs, or lb much as made it .
lefs
Infipid.
But ( fayes Carneades ) fince neither
You nor I love Repetitions, I (hall not
now make any of what eife was urg'd a-
gainft Tbemiftws but rather invite You to
take notice with me that when cur Au-
thour, though a Learned Man, and one
that pretends skill enough inChymiftry
to reformc the whole Art,ccmes to
make good his confident Undertaking, to
give us an occular Demonftration of the
immediate Prefenceof the four Elements
in the refolution of Green Wood, He
is fain to fay things that agree very little
with one another. For about the be-
ginning of that paCfage of His lately re-
cited to you, he makes the fweat as he
calls it of the green Wood to be Water, ?
'<
fliewn,
(hewn, attempt were as feafona-
if the
ble,as I fear would be Tedious.
it
i
plain the Propertiesof Compound bo-
|
dies. And Reje&ion of a Vul-
for this
gar Error, they ought not to be denyd
i
what praife men may deferve for ex-
,
ploding a Doctrine whofe Imperfecti-
ons are fo confpicuous, that men need-
l
j
ed but not to (hut their Eyes, to dis-
cover them. But I am miftaken, if our
,
Hermetical Philofophers Themfelves
i
need not, as well as the Peripateticks,
have Recourfe to more Fruitfull and
Comprehenfive Principles then the tria
Prima , to make out the Properties of
the Bodies they converfe with. Not
to accumulate Examples to this pur-
pofe, ( becaufe I hope for a fitter op-
portunity to profecute this Subject) let
us at prefent only point at Colour, that
you mayguefs by what they fay of (o
obvious and familiara Quality, how
little Interaction we are to expect from
the Tria Prima in thofe more abftrufe
ones, which they with the Arrfotdians
ftile Occult. For about Colours, nei-
Y4 ther
ther do they at all agree among them-
felvcs, nor have I met with any one, of
which of the three Perfwafions foever,
that does intelligibly explicate Them.
The Vulgar Chymilts are wont to af-
ve Co«j cribe Colours to Mercury ; Paracelfus m
^
fJlfu' vcrs P^ ace 5 attributes them to Salt ->
(333)
Purgation in general iserTe&edin a Hu-
mane Body l In a word , as 'tis one
thing to know a mans Lodging*
and another, to be acquainted with him ;
(bit may be one thing to know the fub-
jecl: wherein a Quality principally re-
(ides,and another thing to have a right
notion and knowledg of the quality its felf
Now that which I take to be the reafon
of this Chymical Deficiency, is the fame
Upon whofe account I think the jiriflo-
telim and divers other Theories incom-
petent to explicate the Origen of Quali-
ties. For I am apt to thinks that men
will never be able to explain the Pheno-
mena of Nature, while they endeavour to
deduce them only from the Prefencc and
Proportion of fuch or fuch material In-
gredients, andconfiderluch ingredients
or Elements as Bodies in a ftate of reft 5
fought for.
j
For ;
,
(335)
For will not prefcntly fol-
firft, it
to be Obtain d Irom
& * qu P o n deranten redvcere Uf-
i
THE
(347)
THE
SCEPTICAL CHYMIST
OR,
J
pofe
Ere Camesdes Having Difpach't
what be Thought Requifite to op-
againft what the Chymifts are
wont to alledge for Proof of their three
look'd
Principles, Paus'd awhile, and
whether it were
about bim 3 todifcover
Time for him and his Re-
Friend to
joyne the Reft of the Company.
But
to
EUtitberius perceiving nothing yet
cm)
forbid Them to Profecute their Dif-
courfe a little further, kid to his Friend,
( who had likewife taken Notice of
the fame thing ) I halfe expe&ed, Car-
veades, that after yon had fo freely de-
Your doubting, whether there be
clared
any Determinate Number of Elements,
You would have proceeded to queftion
whether there be any Elements at all.
And I confefs it will be a Trouble to me
If You defeat me of my Expedation
;
efpecially fince you fee the Jeafure we
have allow'd us may probably fufrice ro
examine that Paradox ; becaufe you
liave fo JarglyDeduc'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 reprefented
that their leafure could be but very
feort , had already prated very
that he
long, that he was unprepared to main-
tain fo great and fo invidious
a Para-
dox, was at length prevail'd with to
tell his Friend 5 Since, Eleuthenw, you
will have me Difcourfe Ex Tempore of
the Paradox you mention^ I
am content,
C though more perhaps to exprefs my
( 34* )
Obedience 3 then my Opinion) to tell
you (fuppofingthe Truth of HtU
that
monts and Paraceifafs
Alkaheftieai Ex-
penmems,if I may fo call them though )
it may feem
extravagant, yet it is not
abfurd to doubt, whether, for
oughc
has been prov'd , there be a neceifity
to admit any Elements, or Hypoftatical
Principles,at all.
And, as formerly, fo now, to avoid
the needlefs trouble of Difputing fede-
rallywith the Aristotelians and the Chy-
mills, I will addrefsmy fclf to oppofe
them I have laft nam'd , Becaufe their
Doctrine about the Elements is more
applauded by the Moderns, as pretend-
ing highly to be grounded upon Expe-
rience; 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 con-
ifent to, the rather that my DifcOutfe
may the better reach the Tenents of the
Peripateticks 5 who cannot plead for a-
ny fo probably as for thofe two Ele-
ments 5 that of fire above the Air be-
ing Generally by Judicious Men explo-
ded an Imaginary thing 5 And the
as
Air not concurring to compofe Mixc
bodies
(35°)
Bodies as one of their Elements^ but
only lodging in their pores, or Rather
ieplemYhingj by reafon of its Weight
and Fluidity, all thofe Cavities of bo-
dies here below, whether compound-
ed or not, that are big enough to ad-
mit it, and are not fill'd up with any
groflfer fubftance.
And, to prevent miftakes, I muft ad-
vertize You, that I now mean by Ele-
ments , as thofe Chymifts that fpeak
plaineft do by their Principles, certain
Primitive and simple, or perfectly un-
mingled bodies % which not being made
of any other bodies , or of one ano-
ther, are the Ingredients of which all
thofe call'd perfe&ly mixt Bodies are
immediately compounded, and into
(
ol
CssO
of theUniverfe, or rather of the Ter*
reftrial Globe, not of all mixt bo-
dies. And though I will not peremp-
torily deny that there may fometimes ei-
as
(353)
as they were like in fo many other re-
fpe&s to the of the plants of the fame
reft
Denomination , fo they would, in cafe
Ihadredue'dthem to putrefa&ion,have
Iftewife produc'd Wormes or other
infe&s, as well as the refembling Vege-
tables are wonrtodo; fo that Water-
may, by Various Seminal Principles*
be fucceilively Tranfmuted into both
plants and Animals. And if we confi-
der that not only Men, but even fuck-
ing Children are, but too often, Tor-
niented with Solid Stones, but that di-
vers forts of Beafts themfelves, ( whate-
ver Belmont againft Experience think to
the contrary ) may be Troubled with
great and Heavy ftones in their Kid-
1
i
unable to come at any other aliment* And
if we confider, how much of the Vegeta-
I
a i Having
Having faid thus much touching the
conftitution of Plantsand Animals, I
might perhaps be able to fay as much
touching that of Minerals,, and even Me-
were as eafy for us to make ex-
talls, if it
I
they brought thence. And I remem-
ber that both that fober Relator of his
Voyages, Van Ltnfchote» > and another
I
himfelf,
,
Sagam ottdum-)in
11
Called Saga
j c
m
•
Aa4 Boccacim
BoccAcias CertjJdttty qui id compotifflmum
Nihil hoc novi efi 5 fed de
ejje fcribit.
they
(3*x)
tbey are both very memorable in them-*
felves, and as pertinent to our prefent.
purpofe.
The firft I meet with in the Commen-
tary of Johannes V&lehm upon the Kleine
Zaur, In which that Induftrious Chy-
many ciroimftances,
mift Relates, with
that Mine-Town ( If I may fo
at a
Englifh the German JSe/gflat) eight
miles or Leagues diftant from Straflurg
calFd Mariflkirch} a Workman came to
the Overfcer, and defired employment 3
but he telling him that there was not a-"
jiy of the beft fort at prefentfor him,
added that till he could be prefcrr'd to
fome fuch, he might in the mean time,,
to avoid idlenefs, work in a Grove or
Mine-pic thereabouts, which at that
time was little efteem'd. This Work-
man after fome weeks Labour, had by
a Crack appearing in the Stone upon
a Stroak given near the wall, an Invi-*
tation Given him to Work his Way
through, which as foon as he had done,
JitsEyes were faluted by a mighty ftone
or Lump which flood in the middle of
the Cleft ( that had a hollow place be-
hind it) upright, and in Chew like an
armed-man 5 but confifted of pure fine
Sliver
Silver having no Vein or Ore by if, or
any other Additament,but flood there
free, having only underfoot fomething
like a burnt matter , and yet this one
Lump held in Weight above a iooo
marks., which;, according to the Dutch,
Account makes 500 pound weight of
fine filver. From which and other Cir-
cumftances my Author gathers 5 That
by the warmth of the place,., the Nobie
Metalline Spirits, ( Sulphureous and
Mercurial ) were carri'd from the neigh-
bouring Galleries or Vaults, through o-
ther (mailer Cracks and Clefts, into
that Cavity, and there collected as in a
clofe Chamber or Cellar , whereinto
when they were gotten, they did in pro-
cefsoftime fettle into the forementio-
ned precious mafs of Metal.
The other Germane Relation is of
That great Traveller and Laborious
Chymift Johannes ( not Georgia ) Agvico'
la ; who in his notes upon what Popp-
%is_ has written of Antimony, Relates,
that when he was among the Hungarian \
Sul-i
i¥9)
Sulphur or Mercury would be but a com-
pounded, not an Elementary body, as
i told you already on another occafion;
And certainly he that takes notice of the
wonderful Operations oi Quickfilver,
whether it be common, or drawn from
Mineral Bodies, can fcarce be fo inconfi-
derate as to think it of the very fame na-
ture with that immature aud fugitive fub-
itance which hi Vegetables and Ani-
mals Chymifts have been pleas'd to call
their Mercury. So that when Mercury
is got by the help of the fife out of a me-
tal or other Mineral Body, if we will
not fuppofe that it was not pre-exiftent in
it, but produe'dby the a&ion of the fire
y
fometimes ( fayes he ) they find pieces fthJ
very fine and pure like to fmall round indies,!,
,pl
roots, the which is rare in that metalj Ifjf
bur ufuall in Gold j Concerning which
tmetal he tells us, that befides this they
tfind fome which they call Gold in grains.*
f
I remember that a very skilful and
j credible perfon affirmed tome, that be-
singin the Hungarian mines he had the
good fortune to fee a mineral that was
"
1 a £b there
,
fe 2
^geof
d 0ny P* rt tbere grew,almoft
"CCS, divers parcels though
*
like
1
ltE
!
&
Sd jT
w
which
t u- uT
'
T
teed
yct of Cwhat perhaps
C
.
not of
Mmenlife*
ndcr ac ') mother Metal P
to be very pure or un-
mixtr c
,Ja
mitt with any Heterogeneous Subflbm-
ces, and were fotne of them as
big as
my Finger,, if not bigger. But upon
Obfervations of this kind, though per-
haps I could, yetlmuft not at prefent
dwell any longer.
To proceed Therefore now (fayes
Ctmeades) to the Confideration of the
dndyfis of Vegetables , although my
Tryals give me no caufe to doubt but
that out of mod of them five differing
Subftances may be obtain'd by the fire,
yet I think it will not be fo eafily De-
nionftrated that thefe deferve to be
call'd Elements in the Notion above ex-
i
plain'd.
i
And before Idefcendto particulars,
i I {ball repeat and premife this General
,i
Confideration., that thefe differing fub-
I ftances that are call'dElements or
| Principles, differ not from each other as
! Metals, Plants and Animals, or asfuch
I
Creatures as are immediately producd
each by its peculiar Seed, and Confli-
tutes a diftinffc propagable fort of Crea-
s
tures in the Univerfe ; but thefe are on-
ly Various Schemes of matter or Sub-
:
fiances that differ from each other, but
in confidence (as Running Mercury
and
Bb3 e ^
d74)
the fame Metal congeal'd by the Vapor
of Lead) and fome very few other ac-
cidents, as Taft, or Smel, or Inflama-
bility, or the want of them. So that by
a change of Texture not impoflible to
be wrought by the Fire and other A-
gents that have the Faculty not only
to dhTociate the fmal parts of Bodies,
but afterwards to connect them after a |
i
(37S)
Authors, and how great a part of Lu*
cretin* himfelf I never yet had the Cu-
riofity to read, you would perchance
be of another mind 5 efpecially if I were
to entertain you at large, I fay not, of
my prefent Notions ; but of my former
thoughts concerning the Principles of
things. But, as I laid above, fully to
clear my
Apprchenfions would require
a Longer Difcourfe than we can now
have.
For, I fhould tell you that I have
fometimes thought it not unfit, that to
the Principles which may be aflign'd to
things, as the World is now Confti-
tuted, we we confider the
fbould, if
Great Mafs of matter as it was whilft
the Univerfe was in making, add ano-
ther, which may Conveniently enough^
be call'd an Archite&onick Principle
or power; by which I mean thofe
Various Determinations, and that
Skilfull Guidanceof the motions
of the fmall parts of the Univer-
fal matter by the moft
wife Author of
which were neceiTary at the be-
things,
Chaos into
ginning to turn that confus'd
this Orderly andbeautifull
World 5 andj
to contrive the Bodies
of A-l
Efpecially,
r 7
Bb4 mmalsl
(IJ6)
nimals and Plants, and the Seeds of
thofe things whofe kinds were to be
propagated. Forlconfefs I cannot well
Conceive, how from matter , Barely
put into Motion, and then left to it felf,
there could Emerge fuch Curious Fa-
bricks as the Bodies of men and perfect
Animals, andfuch yet more admirably
Comriv'd parcels of matter, as the feeds
of living Creatures,
I fhould likewife tell you upon what
grounds, and in what fence, I fufpected
the Principles of the World, as it now
is,to be Three., Matter, Motion and
Re&, I fay, as the World now is , be-
caufe the prefent Fabriek of the Uni-
verfe, and efpecially the feeds of things,
together with the eftablifht Courfeof
Nature, is a Requiilte or Condition,
Upon whofe account divers things may
be made out by our three Principles,
which otherwife would be very hard, ii
polfible,to explicate,
fhould moreover declare in gene^
I
ral (fori pretend not to be able to do
it otherwife ) not only why I
Conceive
that Colours, Odors, Tafts, Fluidnefs
and Solidity, and thofe other qualities
*hat DiverfijSe and Denominate Bodies
may
(377)
may be Deduced from
Intelligibly
thefe three ,how two of the Three
but
Epicurean Principles (which, I need not
tell, you are Magnitude, Figure and
Weight ) are Themfelves Deducible
from Matter and Motion 5 finee the
Latter of chefe Variously Agitating,
and, as k were, Diftrafting the Former,
.muft needs disjoyne its parts 5 which be-
ing Actually feparated muft Each of
them nccefiarily both be of fome Size,
and obtain fome ifcape or other. Nor
did I add to our Principles the Ariflote-
lean Privotiony partly for other Reafoxis,
which I muft not nowftay toinfiftonj
and partly becaufe it feems to be ra-
ther an Antecedent, or a Terminus <t quo,
then a True Principle, as the ftarting-
Poft is none of the Horfes Legs or
Limbs.
I fhould alfo explain why and how
I made reft to be, though notfoconfi-
derable a Principle of things, as Moti-
be-
on, yet a Principle of them 5 partly
caufe (for ought we know as An-
it is
World.
fhould likewife, after all this, ex-
I
plain to you how, although Matter, Mo-
tion and Reft, feem'd to me to be the
Catholick Principles of the Univerfe,!
thought the Principles of Particular bo-
diesmight be Commodioufly enough
reduced to two,namely Matter,and(wbat
Comprehends the two other, and their
effects ) the refuh or Aggregate of thofe
Accidents , which are the Motion or
Reft, ( for in fome Bodies both are aot to
be found ) the Bignefs, Figure, Tex-
ture ) and the thence refulting Qualities
of the fmall parts ) which are neceffa-
«7 to intitle the Body whereto they
be-
(37?)
belong to this or that Peculiar Deno-
mination; and difcriminating it frorno*
tbers to appropriate it to a Determi-
nate Kind of Things, as YelJownefs ,
£ixtnefs, fuch a Degree of Weights
aid of Ductility, do make the Portion
of matter wherein they Concur, to be
rcckon'd among perfect metals, and ob-
tain the name of Gold, ) Which Ag-
gregate or refult of Accidents you? may,
if You pleafc. call either Structure or
Texture.
Though indeed, that do not fo proper-
ly Comprehend the motion of the con-
stituent parts especially in cafe fome of
them be Fluid, or what other appella-
tion {hall appear moil: Expreflive, Or
if, retaining the Vulgar Terme, You
will call ic the Forme of the thing it de-
nominates , I fhall not much oppofe it 5
Provided the word be interpreted to
mean but what I have exprefsd, and
not a Scholaftick SdfiaKtial Forme,
which fo many intelligent men profefs
1
kins; it to a Saline nature,
For
(334)
For I know (
fayes he, in the place
formerly alledg'd to another purpofe ) a
way to reduce all ftones into a meer Salt
ofequal weight with theftone whence it
was product, and^that without any of
the Jeaft either Sulphur or Mercury 5
which affeveration of my Author would
perhaps feem lefs incredible to You., if I
Surft acquaint You with all I could fay
upon that fubjeel:. And
hence by the
way you may alfo conclude that the Sul-
phur and Mercury, as they call them,
that Chymifts are wont to obtain from
compound Bodies by the Fire, may I
.
ons of it; finceif the fame bodies had
been wrought upon by the Agents em- i
(335)
phureous parts of the fame Concrete,
which it retain'd with it upon its Separa-
tion from the Other Ingredients^ To
thislanfwer, That this Ob je&ion would
.not appear fa ftong as it is plaufiblej if
Chymifts understood the Nature of Flui-
dityand Compaanefle 3 and that, as I
formerly obferv'd , to a Bodies being
Fluid there is nothing neceffary, but that
it be divided into parts fraall enough
and that thefe parts be put into fucha
motion among themfeives as to glide
fome this way and fome that way, along
each others -Surfaces. -So that, al though
a Concrete were never (o dry, and had
not any Water or other Liquor in-
exiftent in it, yet fuch a Comminution of
its parts may be made, by
the fire or o-
ther Agents, as to turn a great portion of
them into Liquor. Of this Truth I will
give aninftance, employ'd by our friend
hereiprefent asone of the raoft conducive
of his experiments to Uluftratethe nature
of Salts. If you Take, then, fea fait and
melt it in the Fire to free it from the a-
queous parts, and afterward diftill it
witha vehement Fire from burnt Clay,
or any other, as dry a Caput
?nortuu?HSis
jou pleafe, you will,as Cbymiftsconfcis,
by
,
( 387)
by teaching it drive over a good part of
the Salt in the form of a Liquor. And
tofatisfy fome ingenious men , That a
great part of this Liquor was mil true
lea fait brought by the Operation of the
Fire into Corpufcles fo fmall, and per-
haps fo advantageoufly fhap'd,as to be
capable of the forme of a Fluid Body 3
He did in my prefence poure to fuch fpi-
ritual falts a due proportion of the fpiric
Cc % ducd
cm)
duc'd to Liquors without any feparation
of Elements, but barely by a certain kind
ofDi&pation and Comminution of the
matter,whereby its parts are brought in-
to a new (rate. And if it be ftill objected,
that thePhlegme of mixt Bodies mutt be
reputed water, becaufefo weak a taft
needs but a very fmall proportion of Salt
to impart it; It may be reply d that
3
for ought appears, common Salt and dU
vers other bodies , though they be di*
ftill'd never fo dry, and in never fo clofe
Veflels, will yidd each of them pretty
ftare of a Liquor,wherein though ( as I
lately noted) Saline Corpufcles abound*
Yet there is betides a large proportion ot
Phlegme, as may eafily be difcovcrcd by
coagulating the Saline Corpufcles with
any convenient Body 5 as I lately told
you, our Friend coagulated part of the
Spirit of Salt with Spirit of Urine and :
denceatall. ft
Bo- i
:
(4°4)
m this kind, then you perhaps would
eafily think* And on the other fide
that either Earth may be Generated, or
at leaft Bodies that did not before ap-
pear to be neer Totally Earth, may
be (o alter'd as to pafs for it, fecms very
pofTible , if Helmont
Novi mmmodos quibw to-
have done that by Art
turn Salftti & in tenant conver- ,- 1 i
•
delet'm l
(4 ° s)
detem concerning the Growth of Ani-
mals alfo, Nourifh'd but by Water*
which I remember'd not to mention,
when I difcours'd to you about the Pro-
duction of things out of Water. This
Diligent Writer then in his inftructivc Ub u '
eap 2 ' *
book of fillies, affirmes That his Wife
kept a fifh in sl Glafs of water without
any other Food for. three years; in which
fpace itwasconftantly augmented, till
,
at laft it could not come out of the
,
Place at which it was put in, and at
'
Ddj not
(4©*)
not fleeeffarily follow, that Earth as a,
(4*3>
through the Vine, to difcriminate it from
common Water. Suppollng then this
Liquor, at its firft entrance into the roots
of the Vine, to be common Waters
Lee Us a little confider how many vari-
ous Subftances may be obtain 'd from it;
though to do fo,I mull: repeat fomewbat
that I had a former occafipn to touch up-
on. And firft, this Liquor bein£ Di-
gefted in theplant,and affimilatedby the
fevcral parts of it, is turn'd into the
Wood, Bark, Pith , Leaves, &c. of
the Vine , The fame Liquor may be fur-
ther dry'd, and fafhon'd into Vine-buds,
and thefe awhile after are advanced
unto four Grapes, which expreifd yield
Verjuice, a Liquor very differing in fe-
veral qualities both from Wine and o-
ther Liquors obtainable from the Vine
Thefe foure Grapes being by the heat of
the Sun conceded and ripened, turne
to well ta.fted Grapes , Thtfe if dry'd
in the Sun and Diftill'd, afford a fetid
Oyle and a piercing EmpyreummcAl Spi-
rit , but not a Vinous Spirit 5 Thefe
(417)
to make any thing out of Tartar, that
(hall be Volatile in a Saline Forme, or
as fomeof them exprefs it, in forma fic-
ca. I am very farr from thinking ( an-
fwers Cameades ) that the Salt I have
mcntion'd is that which Paracelfm
and Helmont mean when they fpeakof
Sd Tartari Volatile, and afcribe fuch
great things to it. For the Salt I fpeak
of falls extreamly fhort of thofe Vir-
tues, not feeming initsTaft, Smel,and
other Obvious Qualities, to differ very
much ( though fomething it do differ
from Salt of Harts-horn, and other Vo-
latile Salts drawn from the Diftill'd
Parts of Animals. Nor have I yet
made Tryals enough to be fure,that ic
is a pure Salt of Tartar without parti-
(4 1*)
by tbc way I ufe w fuch cafes, which
is, to put the Liquor into a glafs Egg,
or bolthead with a long and narrow
Neck. For if this be plac d a little m+
dining in hot fand, there will fublime
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
aSaltifh, not an Acid Salt jit hitTcs up-
on the Arfufion of Spirit of Nitre, or
Oyle of Vitriol 5 it precipitates Corals
Diffolv'din Spirit of Vinagersit turnes
the blew Syrup of Violets immediately
green , it prefently turnes the Solution
of Sublimate into a Miikie whitenefs;
and in fumm, has divers Operations like
thofe that I have obferv'd in that fort
of Salts to which I have refembled it
and is fo Volatile, that for Diftin&ion
fake, I call it Tart art Ftigmvus.
What virtues it may have in Phyfickl
have not yet had the opportunity to Trys
but I am apt to think they will not be de-
fpicable. And befides that a very
Inge-
Forme of an
felves afcend, partly in the
un&uous Body or Oyle, partly in that
of Phlcgmc j but for the greateft part
in the Forme of a fubtile Spirit, in-
dow'd, betides divers new Qualities
which I am not now willing to take no-
tice of, with a ftrong fmell very much
other than that of Vinager, and a pier^
cing taft quite differing both from the
Sowernefs of the Spirit of Vinager, and
the Sweetnefs of the Sugar o{ Lead,
To be fhort, As the difference of Bo-
dies may depend meerly upon that of
the fchemes whereinto their Common
matter is put 5 So the feeds of Things,
the Fire and the other Agents are able
to alter the minute parts of a Body (ei-
ther by breaking them into fmaller ones
of differing fhapes, or by Uniting to-
ether thefe Fragments with the un-
troken Corpufcles, or fuch Corpufcles a-
mong Themfelves ) and the fame A-
gents partly by Altering the fhape or
big-
(423)
bigncfs of the Conftituent Corpufcles of
a Body, partly by driving away fome of
them, partly by blending others with
them,and partly by fome new manner of
conne&ing them,may give the whole por-
tion of matter a new Texture of its mi-
nute parts 9 and thereby make it de-
ferve a new and DiftincT: name. So that
according as the fmali parts of matter
recede from each other, or work upon
each other, or are connected togetherjaf-
ter this or that determinate manner, a
Body of this or that denomination is
produced, as fome other Body happens
thereby to be alter'd or deftroy'd.
Since then thofe things which Chy-
mifts produce by the help of the Fire are
but inanimate Bodies; fince fuch fruits of
the Chymifts skill differ from one ano-
ther but info few qualities that we fee
plainly that by fire and other Agents
we can employ, we can enough
eafily
The
(473)
THE CONCLUSION.
FINIS,
(437)
£ H Z J T J.
5 line. *, veadfo
qualify* Ration-
d, 15. 19.
PAg. .
EN 0.