The Sceptical Chymist Part 2

And that the Fire doth oftentimes divide Bodies, upon the account that some of their Parts are more Fixt, and some more Volatile, how far soever either of these Two may be from a pure Elementary Nature is Obvious enough, if Men would but heed it in the Burning of Wood, which the Fire Dissipates into Smoake and Ashes: For not only the latter of these is Confessedly made up of two such Differing Bodies as Earth and Salt; but the Former being condens'd into that Soot which adheres to our Chimneys, Discovers it self to Contain both Salt and Oyl, and Spirit and Earth, (and some Portion of Phlegme too) which being, all almost, Equally Volatile to that Degree of Fire which Forces them up, (the more Volatile Parts Helping perhaps, as well as the Urgency of the Fire, to carry up the more Fixt ones, as I have often Try'd in Dulcify'd _Colcothar_, Sublim'd by _Sal Armoniack_ Blended with it) are carried Up together, but may afterwards be Separated by other Degrees of Fire, whose orderly Gradation allowes the Disparity of their Volatileness to Discover it self. Besides, if Differing Bodies United into one Ma.s.s be both sufficiently Fixt, the Fire finding no Parts Volatile enough to be Expell'd or carried up, makes no Separation at all; as may appear by a Mixture of Colliquated Silver and Gold, whose Component Metals may be easily Sever'd by _Aqua Fortis_, or _Aqua Regis_ (according to the Predominancy of the Silver or the Gold) but in the Fire alone, though vehement, the Metals remain unsever'd, the Fire only dividing the Body into smaller Particles (whose Littlenesse may be argu'd from their Fluidity) in which either the little nimble Atoms of Fire, or its brisk and numberless strokes upon the Vessels, hinder Rest and Continuity, without any Sequestration of Elementary Principles. Moreover, the Fire sometimes does not Separate, so much as Unite, Bodies of a differing Nature; provided they be of an almost resembling Fixedness, and have in the Figure of their Parts an Aptness to Coalition, as we see in the making of many Plaisters, Oyntments, &c. And in such Metalline Mixtures as that made by Melting together two parts of clean Bra.s.s with one of pure Copper, of which some Ingenious Trades-men cast such curious Patterns (for Gold and Silver Works) as I have sometimes taken great Pleasure to Look upon. Sometimes the Bodies mingled by the Fire are Differing enough as to Fixidity and Volatility, and yet are so combin'd by the first Operation of the Fire, that it self does scarce afterwards Separate them, but only Pulverize them; whereof an Instance is afforded us by the Common Preparation of _Mercurius Dulcis_, where the Saline Particles of the Vitriol, Sea Salt, and sometimes Nitre, Employ'd to make the Sublimate, do so unite themselves with the Mercurial Particles made use of, first to Make Sublimate, and then to Dulcifie it, that the Saline and Metalline Parts arise together in many successive Sublimations, as if they all made but one Body. And sometimes too the Fire does not only not Sever the Differing Elements of a Body, but Combine them so firmly, that Nature her self does very seldom, if ever, make Unions less Dissoluble. For the Fire meeting with some Bodies exceedingly and almost equally Fixt, instead of making a Separation, makes an Union so strict, that it self, alone, is unable to Dissolve it; As we see, when an Alcalizate Salt and the Terrestrial Residue of the Ashes are Incorporated with pure Sand, and by Vitrification made one permanent Body, (I mean the course or greenish sort of Gla.s.s) that mocks the greatest Violence of the Fire, which though able to Marry the Ingredients of it, yet is not able to Divorce them. I can shew you some pieces of Gla.s.s which I saw flow down from an Earthen Crucible purposely Expos'd for a good while, with Silver in it, to a very vehement Fire. And some that deal much in the Fusion of Metals Informe me, that the melting of a great part of a Crucible into Gla.s.s is no great Wonder in their Furnaces. I remember, I have Observ'd too in the Melting of great Quant.i.ties of Iron out of the Oar, by the Help of store of Charcoal (for they Affirm that Sea-Coal will not yield a Flame strong enough) that by the prodigious Vehemence of the Fire, Excited by vast Bellows (made to play by great Wheels turn'd about by Water) part of the Materials Expos'd to it was, instead of being a.n.a.lyz'd, Colliquated, and turn'd into a Dark, Solid and very Ponderous Gla.s.s, and that in such Quant.i.ty, that in some places I have seen the very High-wayes, neer such Iron-works, mended with Heaps of such Lumps of Gla.s.se, instead of Stones and Gravel. And I have also Observ'd, that some kind of Fire-stone it Self, having been employ'd in Furnaces wherein it was expos'd to very strong and lasting Fires, has had all its Fixt Parts so Wrought on by the Fire, as to be Perfectly Vitrifi'd, which I have try'd by Forcing from it Pretty large Pieces of Perfect and Transparent Gla.s.s. And lest You might think, _Eleutherius_, that the Question'd Definition of Heat may be Demonstrated, by the Definition which is wont to be given and Acquiesc'd in, of its contrary Quality, Cold, whose property is taught to be _tam h.o.m.ogenea, quam Heterogenea congregare_; Give me leave to represent to You, that neither is this Definition unquestionable; for not to Mention the Exceptions, which a _Logician_, as such, may Take at it, I Consider that the Union of Heterogeneous Bodies which is Suppos'd to be the Genuine Production of Cold, is not Perform'd by every Degree of Cold. For we see for Instance that in the Urine of Healthy Men, when the Liquor has been Suffer'd a while to stand, the Cold makes a Separation of the Thinner Part from the Grosser, which Subsides to the Bottom, and Growes Opacous there; whereas if the Urinal be Warme, these Parts readily Mingle again, and the whole Liquor becomes Transparent as before. And when, by Glaciation, Wood, Straw, Dust, Water, &c. are Suppos'd to be United into one Lump of Ice, the Cold does not Cause any Real Union or Adunation, (if I may so Speak) of these Bodies, but only Hardening the Aqueous Parts of the Liquor into Ice, the other Bodies being Accidentally Present in that Liquor are frozen up in it, but not Really United. And accordingly if we Expose a Heap of Mony Consisting of Gold, Silver and Copper Coynes, or any other Bodies of Differing Natures, which are Dest.i.tute of Aqueous Moisture, Capable of Congelation, to never so intense a Cold, we find not that these Differing Bodies are at all thereby so much as Compacted, much less United together; and even in Liquors Themselves we find _Phaenomena_ which Induce us to Question the Definition which we are examining. If _Paracelsus_ his Authority were to be look't upon as a Sufficient Proof in matters of this Nature, I might here insist on that Process of his, whereby he Teaches that the Essence of Wine may be Sever'd from the Phlegme and Ign.o.ble Part by the a.s.sistance of Congelation: and because much Weight has been laid upon this Process, not only by _Paracelsians_, but other Writers, some of whom seem not to have perus'd it themselves, I shall give You the entire Pa.s.sage in the Authors own Words, as I lately found them in the sixth Book of his _Archidoxis_, an Extract whereof I have yet about me; and it sounds thus. _De Vino sciendum est, faecem phlegmaque ejus esse Mineram, & Vini substantiam esse corpus in quo conservatur Essentia, prout auri in auro latet Essentia. Juxta quod Practicam n.o.bis ad Memoriam ponimus, ut non obliviscamur, ad hunc modum: Recipe Vinum vetustissimum & optimum quod habere poteris, calore saporeque ad placitum, hoc in vas vitreum infundas ut tertiam ejus partem impleat, & sigillo Hermetis occlusum in equino ventre mensibus quatuor, & in continuato calore teneatur qui non deficiat. Quo peracto, Hyeme c.u.m frigus & gelu maxime saeviunt, his per mensem exponatur ut congeletur.

Ad hunc modum frigus vini spiritum una c.u.m ejus substantia protrudit in vini centrum, ac separat a phlegmate: Congelatum abjice, quod vero congelatum non est, id Spiritum c.u.m substantia esse judicato. Hunc in Pelicanum positum in arenae digestione non adeo calida per aliquod tempus manere finito; Postmodum eximito vini Magisterium, de quo locuti sumus._

But I dare not _Eleu._ lay much Weight upon this Process, because I have found that if it were True, it would be but seldom Practicable in this Country upon the best Wine: for Though this present Winter hath been Extraordinary Cold, yet in very Keen Frosts accompanied with lasting Snowes, I have not been able in any Measure to Freeze a thin Vial full of Sack; and even with Snow and Salt I could Freeze little more then the Surface of it; and I suppose _Eleu._ that tis not every Degree of Cold that is Capable of Congealing Liquors, which is able to make such an _a.n.a.lysis_ (if I may so call it) of them by Separating their Aqueous and Spirituous Parts; for I have sometimes, though not often, frozen severally, Red-wine, Urine and Milk, but could not Observe the expected Separation. And the Dutch-Men that were forc'd to Winter in that Icie Region neer the Artick Circle, call'd _Nova Zembla_, although they relate, as we shall see below, that there was a Separation of Parts made in their frozen Beer about the middle of _November_, yet of the Freezing of their Back [Errata: Sack] in _December_ following they give but this Account: _Yea and our Sack, which is so hot, was Frozen very hard, so that when we were every Man to have his part, we were forc'd to melt it in the Fire; which we shar'd every second Day, about half a Pinte for a Man, wherewith we were forc'd to sustain our selves._ In which words they imply not, that their Back [Errata: Sack] was divided by the Frost into differing Substances, after such manner as their Beer had been. All which notwithstanding, _Eleu._ suppose that it may be made to appear, that even Cold sometimes may _Congregare h.o.m.ogenea, & Heterogenea Segregare_: and to Manifest this I may tell you, that I did once, purposely cause to be Decocted in fair Water a Plant abounding with Sulphureous and Spirituous Parts, and having expos'd the Decoction to a keen North-Wind in a very Frosty Night, I observ'd, that the more Aqueous Parts of it were turn'd by the next Morning into Ice, towards the innermost part of which, the more Agile and Spirituous parts, as I then conjectur'd, having Retreated, to shun as much as might be their Environing Enemy, they had there preserv'd themselves unfrozen in the Form of a high colour'd Liquor, the Aqueous and Spirituous parts having been so sleightly (Blended rather than) United in the Decoction, that they were easily Separable by such a Degree of Cold as would not have been able to have Divorc'd the Parts of Urine or Wine, which by Fermentation or Digestion are wont, as Tryal has inform'd me, to be more intimately a.s.sociated each with other. But I have already intimated, _Eleutherius_, that I shall not Insist on this Experiment, not only because, having made it but once I may possibly have been mistaken in it; but also (and that princ.i.p.ally) because of that much more full and eminent Experiment of the Separative Virtue of extream Cold, that was made, against their Wills, by the foremention'd Dutch men that Winter'd in _Nova Zembla_; the Relation of whose Voyage being a very scarce Book, it will not be amiss to give you that Memorable part of it which concerns our present Theme, as I caus'd the Pa.s.sage to be extracted out of the Englished Voyage it self.

"_Gerard de Veer_, _John Cornelyson_ and Others, sent out of _Amsterdam_, _Anno Dom._ 1596. being forc'd by unseasonable Weather to Winter in _Nova Zembla_, neer Ice-Haven; on the thirteenth of _October_, Three of us (sayes the Relation) went aboard the s.h.i.+p, and laded a Sled with Beer; but when we had laden it, thinking to go to our House with it, suddenly there arose such a Winde, and so great a Storm and Cold, that we were forc'd to go into the s.h.i.+p again, because we were not able to stay without; and we could not get the Beer into the s.h.i.+p again, but were forc'd to let it stand without upon the Sled: the Fourteenth, as we came out of the s.h.i.+p, we found the Barrel of Beer standing upon the Sled, but it was fast frozen at the Heads; yet by reason of the great Cold, the Beer that purg'd out froze as hard upon the Side of the Barrel, as if it had been glu'd thereon: and in that sort we drew it to our House, and set the Barrel an end, and drank it up; but first we were forc'd to melt the Beer, for there was scarce any unfrozen Beer in the barrel; but in that thick Yiest that was unfrozen lay the Strength of the Beer, so that it was too strong to drink alone, and that which was frozen tasted like Water; and being melted we Mix'd one with the other, and so drank it; but it had neither Strength nor Taste."

And on this Occasion I remember, that having the last very Sharp Winter purposely try'd to Freeze, among other Liquors, some Beer moderately strong, in Gla.s.s Vessels, with Snow and Salt, I observ'd, that there came out of the Neck a certain thick Substance, which, it seems, was much better able then the rest of the Liquor (that I found turn'd into Ice) to resist a Frost, and which, by its Colour and consistence seem'd mafestly [Transcriber's Note: manifestly] enough to be Yiest, whereat, I confess, I somewhat marvail'd, because I did not either discerne by the Taste, or find by Enquiry, that the Beer was at all too New to be very fit to be Drank. I might confirm the Dutchmens Relation, by what happen'd a while since to a neere Friend of mine, who complained to me, that having Brew'd some Beer or Ale for his own drinking in _Holland_ (where he then dwelt) the Keenness of the late bitter Winter froze the Drink so as to reduce it into Ice, and a small Proportion of a very Strong and Spirituous Liquor. But I must not entertain you any longer concerning Cold, not onely because you may think I have but lost my way into a Theme which does not directly belong to my present Undertaking; but because I have already enlarg'd my self too much upon the first Consideration I propos'd, though it appears so much a Paradox, that it seem'd to Require that I should say much to keep it from being thought a meere Extravagance; yet since I Undertook but to make the common a.s.sumption of our Chymists and _Aristotelians_ appear Questionable, I hope I have so Perform'd that Task, that I may now Proceed to my Following Considerations, and Insist lesse on them than I have done on the First.

THE

SCEPTICAL CHYMIST.

_The Second Part._

The Second Consideration I Desire to have Notice Taken of, is This, That it is not so Sure, as Both Chymists and _Aristotelians_ are wont to Think it, that every Seemingly Similar or Distinct Substance that is Separated from a Body by the Help of the Fire, was Pre existent in it as a Principle or Element of it.

That I may not make this Paradox a Greater then I needs must, I will First Briefly Explain what the Proposition means, before I proceed to Argue for it.

And I suppose You will easily Believe That I do not mean that any thing is separable from a Body by Fire, that was not Materially pre-existent in it; for it Far Exceeds the power of Meerly Naturall Agents, and Consequently of the Fire, to produce anew, so Much as one Atome of Matter, which they can but Modifie and Alter, not Create; which is so Obvious a Truth, that almost all Sects of Philosophers have Deny'd the Power of producing Matter to Second Causes; and the _Epicureans_ and some Others have Done the Like, in Reference to their G.o.ds themselves.

Nor does the Proposition peremptorily Deny but that some Things Obtain'd by the Fire from a Mixt Body, may have been more then barely Materially pre-existent in it, since there are Concretes, which before they be Expos'd to the Fire afford us several Doc.u.ments of their abounding, some with Salt, and Others with Sulphur. For it will serve the present Turn, if it appear that diverse things Obtain'd from a Mixt Body expos'd to the Fire, were not its Ingredients Before: for if this be made to appear it, will [Errata: appear, it will] be Rationall enough to suspect that Chymists may Decieve themselves, and Others, in concluding Resolutely and Universally, those Substances to be the Elementary Ingredients of Bodies barely separated by the Fire, of which it yet may be Doubted Whether there be such or No; at least till some other Argument then that drawn from the _a.n.a.lysis_ be Brought to resolve the Doubt.

That then which I Mean by the Proposition I am Explaining, is, That it may without Absurdity be Doubted whether or no the Differing Substances Obtainable from a Concrete Dissipated by the Fire were so Exsistent in it in that Forme (at least as to their minute Parts) wherein we find them when the _a.n.a.lysis_ is over, that the Fire did only Dis-joyne and Extricate the Corpuscles of one Principle from those of the other wherewith before they were Blended.

Having thus Explain'd my Proposition, I shall endeavour to do two things, to prove it; The first of which is to shew that such Substances as Chymists call Principles May be produc'd _De novo_ (as they speak.) And the other is to make it probable that by the Fire we may Actually obtain from some Mixt Bodies such Substances as were not in the Newly Expounded sence, pre-existent in them.

To begin then with the First of these, I Consider that if it be as true as 'tis probable, that Compounded Bodies Differ from One Another but in the Various Textures Resulting from the Bigness, Shape, Motion, and contrivance of their smal parts, It will not be Irrationall to conceive that one and the same parcel of the Universal Matter may by Various Alterations and Contextures be brought to Deserve the Name, somtimes of a Sulphureous, and sometimes of a Terrene, or Aqueous Body. And this I could more largely Explicate, but that our Friend Mr.

_Boyle_ has promis'd us something about Qualities, wherein the Theme I now willingly Resign him, Will I Question not be Studiously Enquired into. Wherefore what I shall now advance in favour of what I have lately Deliver'd shall be Deduc'd from Experiments made Divers Years since. The first of which would have been much more considerable, but that by some intervening Accidents I was Necessitated to lose the best time of the year, for a trial of the Nature of that I design'd; it being about he [Transcriber's Note: the] middle of _May_ before I was able to begin an Experiment which should have then been two moneths old; but such as it was, it will not perhaps be impertinent to Give You this Narrative of it. At the time newly Mention'd, I caus'd My Gardiner (being by Urgent Occasions Hinder'd from being present myself) to dig out a convenient quant.i.ty of good Earth, and dry it well in an Oven, to weigh it, to put it in an Earthen pot almost level with the Surface of the ground, and to set in it a selected seed he had before received from me, for that purpose, of Squash, which is an Indian kind of Pompion, that Growes apace; this seed I Ordered Him to Water only with Rain or Spring Water. I did not (when my Occasions permitted me to visit it) without delight behold how fast it Grew, though unseasonably sown; but the Hastning Winter Hinder'd it from attaining any thing neer its due and Wonted magnitude; (for I found the same Autumn, in my Garden, some of those plants, by Measure, as big about as my Middle) and made me order the having it taken Up; Which about the Middle of _October_ was carefully Done by the same Gardiner, who a while after sent me this account of it; _I have Weighed the Pompion with the Stalk and Leaves, all which Weighed three pound wanting a quarter; Then I took the Earth, baked it as formerly, and found it just as much as I did at First, which made me think I had not dry'd it Sufficiently: then I put it into the Oven twice More, after the Bread was Drawn, and Weighed it the Second time, but found it Shrink little or nothing._

But to deal Candidly with You, _Eleutherius_, I must not conceal from You the Event of another Experiment of this Kind made this present Summer, wherein the Earth seems to have been much more Wasted; as may appear by the following account, Lately sent me by the same Gardiner, in these Words. _To give You an Account of your Cuc.u.mbers, I have Gain'd two Indifferent Fair Ones, the Weight of them is ten Pound and a Halfe, the Branches with the Roots Weighed four Pounds wanting two Ounces; and when I had weighed them I took the Earth, and bak'd it in several small Earthen Dishes in an Oven; and when I had so done, I found the Earth wanted a Pound and a halfe of what it was formerly; yet I was not satisfi'd, doubting the Earth was not dry: I put it into an Oven the Second Time, (after the Bread was drawn) and after I had taken it out and weighed it, I found it to be the Same Weight: So I Suppose there was no Moisture left in the Earth. Neither do I think that the Pound and Halfe that was wanting was Drawn away by the Cuc.u.mber but a great Part of it in the Ordering was in Dust (and the like) wasted: (the Cuc.u.mbers are kept by themselves, lest You should send for them.)_ But yet in this Tryal, _Eleutherius_, it appears that though some of the Earth, or rather the dissoluble Salt harbour'd in it, were wasted, the main Body of the Plant consisted of Trans.m.u.ted Water. And I might add, that a year after I caus'd the formerly mentioned Experiment, touching large Pompions, to be reiterated, with so good success, that if my memory does not much mis-inform me, it did not only much surpa.s.s any that I made before, but seem'd strangely to conclude what I am pleading for; though (by reason I have unhappily lost the particular Account my Gardiner writ me up of the Circ.u.mstances) I dare not insist upon them. The like Experiment may be as conveniently try'd with the seeds of any Plant, whose growth is hasty, and its size Bulky. If Tobacco will in These Cold Climates Grow well in Earth undung'd, it would not be amiss to make a Tryal with it; for 'tis an annual Plant, that arises where it prospers, sometimes as high as a Tall Man; and I have had leaves of it in my Garden neer a Foot and a Halfe broad. But the next time I Try this Experiment, it shall be with several seeds of the same sort, in the same pot of Earth, that so the event may be the more Conspicuous. But because every Body has not Conveniency of time and place for this Experiment neither, I made in my Chamber, some shorter and more Expeditions [Transcriber's Note: Expeditious] Tryals. I took a Top of Spearmint, about an Inch Long, and put it into a good Vial full of Spring water, so as the upper part of the Mint was above the neck of the Gla.s.s, and the lower part Immers'd in the Water; within a few Dayes this Mint began to shoot forth Roots into the Water, and to display its Leaves, and aspire upwards; and in a short time it had numerous Roots and Leaves, and these very strong and fragrant of the Odour of the Mint: but the Heat of my Chamber, as I suppose, kill'd the Plant when it was grown to have a pretty thick Stalk, which with the various and ramified Roots, which it shot into the Water as if it had been Earth, presented in its Transparent Flower-pot a Spectacle not unpleasant to behold. The like I try'd with sweet Marjoram, and I found the Experiment succeed also, though somewhat more slowly, with Balme and Peniroyal, to name now no other Plants. And one of these Vegetables, cherish'd only by Water, having obtain'd a competent Growth, I did, for Tryals sake, cause to be Distill'd in a small Retort, and thereby obtain'd some Phlegme, a little Empyreumaticall Spirit, a small Quant.i.ty of adust Oyl, and a _Caput mortuum_; which appearing to be a Coal concluded it to consist of Salt and Earth: but the Quant.i.ty of it was so small that I forbore to Calcine it. The Water I us'd to nourish this Plant was not s.h.i.+fted nor renewed; and I chose Spring-water rather than Rain-water, because the latter is more discernably a kinde of [Greek: panspermia], which, though it be granted to be freed from grosser Mixtures, seems yet to Contain in it, besides the Steams of several Bodies wandering in the Air, which may be suppos'd to impregnate it, a certain Spirituous Substance, which may be Extracted out of it, and is by some mistaken for the Spirit of the World Corporify'd, upon what Grounds, and with what Probability, I may elsewhere perchance, but must not now, Discourse to you.

But perhaps I might have sav'd a great part of my Labour. For I finde that _Helmont_ (an Author more considerable for his Experiments than many Learned men are pleas'd to think him) having had an Opportunity to prosecute an Experiment much of the same nature with those I have been now speaking of, for five Years together, obtain'd at the end of that time so notable a Quant.i.ty of Trans.m.u.ted Water, that I should scarce Think it fit to have his Experiment, and Mine Mention'd together, were it not that the Length of Time Requisite to this may deterr the Curiosity of some, and exceed the leasure of Others; and partly, that so Paradoxical a Truth as that which these Experiments seem to hold forth, needs to be Confirm'd by more Witnesses then one, especially since the Extravagancies and Untruths to be met with in _Helmonts_ Treatise of the Magnetick Cure of Wounds, have made his Testimonies suspected in his other Writings, though as to some of the Unlikely matters of Fact he delivers in them, I might safely undertake to be his Compurgator. But that Experiment of his which I was mentioning to You, he sayes, was this. He took 200 pound of Earth dry'd in an Oven, and having put it into an Earthen Vessel and moisten'd it with Raine water he planted in it the Trunk of a Willow tree of five pound Weight; this he Water'd, as need required, with Rain or with Distill'd Water; and to keep the Neighbouring Earth from getting into the Vessell, he employ'd a plate of Iron tinn'd over and perforated with many holes. Five years being efflux'd, he took out the Tree and weighed it, and (with computing the leaves that fell during four Autumnes) he found it to weigh 169 pound, and about three Ounces. And Having again Dry'd the Earth it grew in, he found it want of its Former Weight of 200 Pound, about a couple only of Ounces; so that 164 pound of the Roots, Wood, and Bark, which Const.i.tuted the Tree, seem to have Sprung from the Water. And though it appears not that _Helmont_ had the Curiosity to make any _a.n.a.lysis_ of this Plant, yet what I lately told You I did to One of the Vegetables I nourish'd with Water only, will I suppose keep You from Doubting that if he had Distill'd this Tree, it would have afforded him the like Distinct Substances as another Vegetable of the same kind. I need not Subjoyne that I had it also in my thoughts to try how Experiments to the same purpose with those I related to You would succeed in other Bodies then Vegetables, because importunate Avocations having hitherto hinder'd me from putting my Design in Practise, I can yet speak but Confecturally [Transcriber's Note: Conjecturally] of the Success: but the best is, that the Experiments already made and mention'd to you need not the a.s.sistance of new Ones, to Verifie as much as my present task makes it concern me to prove by Experiments of this Nature.

One would suspect (sayes _Eleutherius_ after his long silence) by what You have been discoursing, that You are not far from _Helmonts_ Opinion about the Origination of Compound Bodies, and perhaps too dislike not the Arguments which he imployes to prove it.

What _Helmontian_ Opinion, and what Arguments do you mean (askes _Carneades_.)

What You have been Newly Discoursing (replies _Eleutherius_) tells us, that You cannot but know that this bold and Acute Spagyrist scruples not to a.s.sert that all mixt Bodies spring from one Element; and that Vegetables, Animals, Marchasites, Stones, Metalls, &c. are Materially but simple Water disguis'd into these Various Formes, by the plastick or Formative Virtue of their seeds. And as for his Reasons you may find divers of them scatter'd up and down his writings; the considerabl'st of which seem to be these three; The Ultimate Reduction of mixt Bodies into Insipid Water, the Vicissitude of the supposed Elements, and the production of perfectly mixt Bodies out of simple Water. And first he affirmes that the _Sal circulatus Paracelsi_, or his Liquor _Alkahest_, does adequately resolve Plants, Animals, and Mineralls into one Liquor or more, according to their several internall Disparities of Parts (without _Caput Mortuum_, or the Destruction of their seminal Virtues;) and that the _Alkahest_ being abstracted from these Liquors in the same weight and Virtue wherewith it Dissolv'd them, the Liquors may by frequent Cohobations from chalke or some other idoneous matter, be Totally depriv'd of their seminal Endowments, and return at last to their first matter, Insipid Water; some other wayes he proposes here and there, to divest some particular Bodies of their borrow'd shapes, and make them remigrate to their first Simplicity. The second Topick whence _Helmont_ drawes his Arguments, to prove Water to be the Material cause of Mixt Bodies, I told You was this, that the other suppos'd Elements may be trans.m.u.ted into one another. But the Experiments by him here and there produc'd on this Occasion, are so uneasie to be made and to be judg'd of, that I shall not insist on them; not to mention, that if they were granted to be true, his Inference from them is somewhat disputable; and therefore I shall pa.s.s on to tell You, That as, in his First Argument, our Paradoxical Author endeavours to prove Water the Sole Element of Mixt Bodies, by their Ultimate Resolution, when by his _Alkahest_, or some other conquering Agent, the Seeds have been Destroy'd, which Disguis'd them, or when by time those seeds are Weari'd or Exantlated or unable to Act their Parts upon the Stage of the Universe any Longer: So in His Third Argument he Endeavours to evince the same Conclusion, by the const.i.tution of Bodies which he a.s.serts to be nothing but Water Subdu'd by Seminal Virtues. Of this he gives here and there in his Writings several Instances, as to Plants and Animals; but divers of them being Difficult either to be try'd or to be Understood, and others of them being not altogether Un.o.bnoxious to Exceptions, I think you have singl'd out the Princ.i.p.al and less Questionable Experiment when you lately mention'd that of the Willow Tree. And having thus, Continues _Eleutherius_, to Answer your Question, given you a Summary Account of what I am Confident You know better then I do, I shall be very glad to receive Your Sence of it, if the giving it me will not too much Divert You from the Prosecution of your Discourse.

That _If_ (replies _Carneades_) was not needlessly annex'd: for thorowly to examine such an Hypothesis and such Arguments would require so many Considerations, and Consequently so much time, that I should not now have the Liesure [Errata: leasure] to perfect such a Digression, and much less to finish my Principle [Errata: princ.i.p.al]

Discourse. Yet thus much I shall tell You at present, that you need not fear my rejecting this Opinion for its Novelty; since, however the _Helmontians_ may in complement to their Master pretend it to be a new Discovery, Yet though the Arguments be for the most part his, the Opinion it self is very Antient: For _Diogenes Laertius_ and divers other Authors speak of _Thales_, as the first among the _Graecians_ that made disquisitions upon nature. And of this _Thales_, I Remember, _Tully_[5] informes us, that he taught all things were at first made of Water. And it seems by _Plutarch_ and _Justin Martyr_, that the Opinion was Ancienter then he: For they tell us that he us'd to defend his Tenet by the Testimony of _Homer_. And a Greek Author, (the _Scholiast_ of _Apollonius_) upon these Words

[Greek: Ex iliou [Transcriber's Note: iluos] eblastese chthon aute],[6]

_The Earth of Slime was made,_

Affirms (out of _Zeno_) that the _Chaos_, whereof all things were made, was, according to _Hesiod_, Water; which, settling first, became Slime, and then condens'd into solid Earth. And the same Opinion about the Generation of Slime seems to have been entertain'd by _Orpheus_, out of whom one of the Antients[7] cites this Testimony,

[Greek: Ek tou hydatos ilui katiste.]

_Of Water Slime was made._

[Footnote 5: De Natura Deorum.]

[Footnote 6: Argonaut. 4.]

[Footnote 7: Athenagoras.]

It seems also by what is delivered in _Strabo_[8] out of another Author, concerning the _Indians_, That they likewise held that all things had differing Beginnings, but that of which the World was made, was Water. And the like Opinion has been by some of the Antients ascrib'd to the _Phoenicians_, from whom _Thales_ himself is conceiv'd to have borrow'd it; as probably the Greeks did much of their Theologie, and, as I am apt to think, of their Philosophy too; since the Devising of the Atomical _Hypothesis_ commonly ascrib'd to _Lucippus_ and his Disciple _Democritus_, is by Learned Men attributed to one _Moschus_ a _Phoenician_. And possibly the Opinion is yet antienter than so; For 'tis known that the _Phoenicians_ borrow'd most of their Learning from the _Hebrews_. And among those that acknowledge the Books of _Moses_, many have been inclin'd to think Water to have been the Primitive and Universal Matter, by perusing the Beginning of _Genesis_, where the Waters seem to be mention'd as the Material Cause, not only of Sublunary Compounded Bodies, but of all those that make up the Universe; whose Component Parts did orderly, as it were, emerge out of that vast Abysse, by the Operation of the Spirit of G.o.d, who is said to have been moving Himself as hatching Females do (as the Original [Hebrew: merachephet], _Meracephet_[9] is said to Import, and as it seems to signifie in one of the two other places, wherein alone I have met with it in the Hebrew Bible)[10] upon the Face of the Waters; which being, as may be suppos'd, Divinely Impregnated with the seeds of all things, were by that productive Incubation qualify'd to produce them. But you, I presume, Expect that I should Discourse of this Matter like a Naturalist, not a Philologer.

Wherefore I shall add, to Countenance _Helmont's_ Opinion, That whereas he gives not, that I remember, any Instance of any Mineral Body, nor scarce of any Animal, generated of Water, a French Chymist, _Monsieur de Rochas_, has presented his Readers an Experiment, which if it were punctually such as he has deliver'd it, is very Notable. He then, Discoursing of the Generation of things according to certain Chymical and Metaphorical Notions (which I confess are not to me Intelligible) sets down, among divers Speculations not pertinent to our Subject, the following Narrative, which I shall repeat to you the sence of in English, with as little variation from the Literal sence of the French words, as my memory will enable me. _Having_ (sayes he) _discern'd such great Wonders by the Natural Operation of Water, I would know what may be done with it by Art Imitating Nature. Wherefore I took Water which I well knew not to be compounded, nor to be mix'd with any other thing than that Spirit of Life_ (whereof he had spoken before;) _and with a Heat Artificial, Continual and Proportionate, I prepar'd and dispos'd it by the above mention'd Graduations of Coagulation, Congelation, and Fixation, untill it was turn'd into Earth, which Earth produc'd Animals, Vegetables and Minerals. I tell not what Animals, Vegetables and Minerals, for that is reserv'd for another Occasion: but the Animals did Move of themselves, Eat, &c.--and by the true Anatomie I made of them, I found that they were compos'd of much Sulphur, little Mercury, and less Salt.--The Minerals began to grow and encrease by converting into their own Nature one part of the Earth thereunto dispos'd; they were solid and heavy. And by this truly Demonstrative Science, namely Chymistry, I found that they were compos'd of much Salt, little Sulphur, and less Mercury._

[Footnote 8: Universarum rerum primordia diverta esse, faciendi autem mundi initium aquam. Strabo. Geograp. lib. 15. circa medium.]

[Footnote 9: Deuter. 32. 11.]

[Footnote 10: Jerem. 23. 9.]

But (sayes _Carneades_) I have some Suspitions concerning this strange Relation, which make me unwilling to Declare an Opinion of it, unless I were satisfied concerning divers Material Circ.u.mstances that our Author has left unmentioned; though as for the Generation of Living Creatures, both Vegetable and Sensitive, it needs not seem Incredible, since we finde that our common water (which indeed is often Impregnated with Variety of Seminal Principles and Rudiments) being long kept in a quiet place will putrifie and stink, and then perhaps too produce Moss and little Worms, or other Insects, according to the nature of the Seeds that were lurking in it. I must likewise desire you to take Notice, that as _Helmont_ gives us no Instance of the Production of Minerals out of Water, so the main Argument that he employ's to prove that they and other Bodies may be resolv'd into water, is drawn from the Operations of his _Alkahest_, and consequently cannot be satisfactorily Examin'd by You and Me.

Yet certainly (sayes _Eleutherius_) You cannot but have somewhat wonder'd as well as I, to observe how great a share of Water goes to the making up of Divers Bodies, whose Disguises promise nothing neere so much. The Distillation of Eeles, though it yielded me some Oyle, and Spirit, and Volatile Salt, besides the _Caput mortuum_, yet were all these so disproportionate to the Phlegm that came from them (and in which at first they boyl'd as in a Pot of Water) that they seem'd to have bin nothing but coagulated Phlegm, which does likewise strangely abound in Vipers, though they are esteem'd very hot in Operation, and will in a Convenient Aire survive some dayes the loss of their Heads and Hearts, so vigorous is their Vivacity. Mans Bloud it self as Spirituous, and as Elaborate a Liquor as 'tis reputed, does so abound in Phlegm, that, the other Day, Distilling some of it on purpose to try the Experiment (as I had formerly done in Deers Bloud) out of about seven Ounces and a half of pure Bloud we drew neere six Ounces of Phlegm, before any of the more operative Principles began to arise, and Invite us to change the Receiver. And to satisfie my self that some of these Animall Phlegms were void enough of Spirit to deserve that Name, I would not content my self to taste them only, but fruitlesly pour'd on them acid Liquors, to try if they contain'd any Volatile Salt or Spirit, which (had there been any there) would probably have discover'd it self by making an Ebullition with the affused Liquor. And now I mention Corrosive Spirits, I am minded to Informe you, That though they seem to be nothing else but Fluid Salts, yet they abound in Water, as you may Observe, if either you Entangle, and so Fix their Saline Part, by making them Corrode some idoneous Body, or else if you mortifie it with a contrary Salt; as I have very manifestly Observ'd in the making a Medecine somewhat like _Helmont's Balsamus Samech_, with Distill'd Vinager instead of Spirit of Wine, wherewith he prepares it: For you would scarce Beleeve (what I have lately Observ'd) that of that acid Spirit, the Salt of Tartar, from which it is Distill'd, will by mortifying and retaining the acid Salt turn into worthless Phlegm neere twenty times its weight, before it be so fully Impregnated as to rob no more Distill'd Vinager of its Salt.

And though Spirit of Wine Exquisitely rectify'd seem of all Liquors to be the most free from Water, it being so Igneous that it will Flame all away without leaving the least Drop behinde it, yet even this Fiery Liquor is by _Helmont_ not improbably affirm'd, in case what he relates be True, to be Materially Water, under a Sulphureous Disguise: For, according to him, in the making that excellent Medecine, _Paracelsus_ his _Balsamus Samech_, (which is nothing but _Sal Tartari_ dulcify'd by Distilling from it Spirit of Wine till the Salt be sufficiently glutted with its Sulphur, and suffer [Errata: and till it suffer] the Liquor to be drawn off, as strong as it was pour'd on) when the Salt of Tartar from which it is Distill'd hath retain'd, or depriv'd it of the Sulphureous parts of the Spirit of Wine, the rest, which is incomparably the greater part of the Liquor, will remigrate into Phlegm. I added that Clause [_In case what he Relates be True_]

because I have not as yet sufficiently try'd it my self. But not only something of Experiment keeps me from thinking it, as many Chymists do, absurd, (though I have, as well as they, in vain try'd it with ordinary Salt of Tartar;) but besides that _Helmont_ often Relates it, and draws Consequences from it; A Person noted for his Sobernesse and Skill in Spagyrical Preparations, having been askt by me, Whether the Experiment might not be made to succeed, if the Salt and Spirit were prepar'd according to a way suitable to my Principles, he affirm'd to me, that he had that way I propos'd made _Helmont's_ Experiment succeed very well, without adding any thing to the Salt and Spirit.

But our way is neither short nor Easie.

I have indeed (sayes _Carneades_) sometimes wonder'd to see how much Phlegme may be obtain'd from Bodies by the Fire. But concerning that Phlegme I may anon have Occasion to note something, which I therefore shall not now antic.i.p.ate. But to return to the Opinion of _Thales_, and of _Helmont_, I consider, that supposing the _Alkahest_ could reduce all Bodies into water, yet whether that water, because insipid, must be Elementary, may not groundlesly be doubted; For I remember the Candid and Eloquent _Petrus Laurembergius_ in his Notes upon _Sala's_ Aphorismes affirmes, that he saw an insipid _Menstruum_ that was a powerfull Dissolvent, and (if my Memory do not much mis-informe me) could dissolve Gold. And the water which may be Drawn from Quicksilver without Addition, though it be almost Tastless, You will I believe think of a differing Nature from simple Water, especially if you Digest in it Appropriated Mineralls. To which I shall add but this, that this Consideration may be further extended. For I see no Necessity to conceive that the Water mention'd in the Beginning of _Genesis_, as the Universal Matter, was simple and Elementary Water; since though we should Suppose it to have been an Agitated Congeries or Heap consisting of a great Variety of Seminal Principles and Rudiments, and of other Corpuscles fit to be subdu'd and Fas.h.i.+on'd by them, it might yet be a Body Fluid like Water, in case the Corpuscles it was made up of, were by their Creator made small enough, and put into such an actuall Motion as might make them Glide along one another. And as we now say, the Sea consists of Water, notwithstanding [Errata: (notwithstanding] the Saline, Terrestrial, and other Bodies mingl'd with it,) such a Liquor may well enough be called Water, because that was the greatest of the known Bodies whereunto it was like; Though, that a Body may be Fluid enough to appear a Liquor, and yet contain Corpuscles of a very differing Nature, You will easily believe, if You but expose a good Quant.i.ty of Vitriol in a strong Vessel to a Competent Fire. For although it contains both Aqueous, Earthy, Saline, Sulphureous, and Metalline Corpuscles, yet the whole Ma.s.s will at first be Fluid like water, and boyle like a seething pot.

I might easily (Continues _Carneades_) enlarge my self on such Considerations, if I were Now Oblig'd to give You my Judgment of the _Thalesian_, and _Helmontian_, _Hypothesis_. But Whether or no we conclude that all things were at first Generated of Water, I may Deduce from what I have try'd Concerning the Growth of Vegetables, nourish'd with water, all that I now propos'd to my Self or need at present to prove, namely that Salt, Spirit, Earth, and ev'n Oyl (though that be thought of all Bodies the most opposite to Water) may be produc'd out of Water; and consequently that a Chymical Principle as well as a Peripatetick Element, may (in some cases) be Generated anew, or obtain'd from such a parcel of Matter as was not endow'd with the form of such a principle or Element before.

And having thus, _Eleutherius_, Evinc'd that 'tis possible that such Substances as those that Chymists are wont to call their _Tria Prima_, may be Generated, anew: I must next Endeavour to make it Probable, that the Operation of the Fire does Actually (sometimes) not only divide Compounded Bodies into smal Parts, but Compound those Parts after a new Manner; whence Consequently, for ought we Know, there may Emerge as well Saline and Sulphureous Substances, as Bodies of other Textures. And perhaps it will a.s.sist us in our Enquiry after the Effects of the Operations of the Fire upon other Bodies, to Consider a little, what it does to those Mixtures which being Productions of the Art of Man, We best know the Composition of. You may then be pleas'd to take Notice that though Sope is made up by the Sope-Boylers of Oyle or Grease, and Salt, and Water Diligently Incorporated together, yet if You expose the Ma.s.s they Const.i.tute to a Graduall Fire in a Retort, You shall then indeed make a Separation, but not of the same Substances that were United into Sope, but of others of a Distant and yet not an Elementary Nature, and especially of an Oyle very sharp and Faetid, and of a very Differing Quality from that which was Employ'd to make the Sope: fo [Errata: so] if you Mingle in a due Proportion, _Sal Armoniack_ with Quick-Lime, and Distill them by Degrees of Fire, You shall not Divide the _Sal Armoniack_ from the Quick-Lime, though the one be a Volatile, and the other a Fix'd Substance, but that which will ascend will be a Spirit much more Fugitive, Penetrant, and stinking, then _Sal Armoniack_; and there will remain with the Quick-Lime all or very near all the Sea Salt that concurr'd to make up the _Sal Armoniack_; concerning which Sea Salt I shall, to satisfie You how well it was United to the Lime, informe You, that I have by making the Fire at length very Vehement, caus'd both the Ingredients to melt in the Retort it self into one Ma.s.s and such Ma.s.ses are apt to Relent in the Moist Air. If it be here Objected, that these Instances are taken from fact.i.tious Concretes which are more Compounded then those which Nature produces; I shall reply, that besides that I have Mention'd them as much to Ill.u.s.trate what I propos'd, as to prove it, it will be Difficult to Evince that Nature her self does not make Decompound Bodies, I mean mingle together such mixt Bodies as are already Compounded of Elementary, or rather of more simple ones. For Vitriol (for Instance) though I have sometimes taken it out of Minerall Earths, where Nature had without any a.s.sistance of Art prepar'd it to my Hand, is really, though Chymists are pleas'd to reckon it among Salts, a De-compounded Body Consisting (as I shall have occasion to declare anon) of a Terrestriall Substance, of a Metal, and also of at least one Saline Body, of a peculiar and not Elementary Nature. And we see also in Animals, that their blood may be compos'd of Divers very Differing Mixt Bodies, since we find it observ'd that divers Sea-Fowle tast rank of the Fish on which they ordinarily feed; and _Hipocrates_ himself Observes, that a Child may be purg'd by the Milke of the Nurse, if she have taken _Elaterium_; which argues that the purging Corpuscles of the Medicament Concurr to make up the Milke of the Nurse; and that white Liquor is generally by Physitians suppos'd to be but blanch'd and alter'd Blood. And I remember I have observ'd, not farr from the _Alps_, that at a certain time of the Year the b.u.t.ter of that Country was very Offensive to strangers, by reason of the rank tast of a certain Herb, whereon the Cows were then wont plentifully to feed. But (proceeds _Carneades_) to give you Instances of another kind, to shew that things may be obtain'd by the Fire from a Mixt Body that were not Pre-existent in it, let Me Remind You, that from many Vegetables there may without any Addition be Obtain'd Gla.s.s, a Body, which I presume You will not say was Pre-existent in it, but produc'd by the Fire. To which I shall add but this one Example more, namely that by a certain Artificial way of handling Quicksilver, You may without Addition separate from it at least a 5th. or 4th. part of a clear Liquor, which with an Ordinary Peripatetick would pa.s.s for Water, and which a Vulgar Chymist would not scruple to call Phlegme, and which, for ought I have yet seen or heard, is not reducible into Mercury again, and Consequently is more then a Disguise of it. Now besides that divers Chymists will not allow Mercury to have any or at least any Considerable Quant.i.ty of either of the Ign.o.ble Ingredients, Earth and Water; Besides this, I say, the great Ponderousness of Quicksilver makes it very unlikely that it can have so much Water in it as may be thus obtain'd from it, since Mercury weighs 12 or 14 times as much as water of the same Bulk. Nay for a further Confirmation of this Argument, I will add this Strange Relation, that two Friends of mine, the one a Physitian, and the other a Mathematician, and both of them Persons of unsuspected Credit, have Solemnly a.s.sured me, that after many Tryals they made, to reduce Mercury into Water, in Order to a Philosophicall Work, upon Gold (which yet, by the way, I know prov'd Unsuccesfull) they did once by divers Cohobations reduce a pound of Quicksilver into almost a pound of Water, and this without the Addition of any other Substance, but only by pressing the Mercury by a Skillfully Manag'd Fire in purposely contriv'd Vessels. But of these Experiments our Friend (sayes _Carneades_, pointing at the Register of this Dialogue) will perhaps give You a more Particular Account then it is necessary for me to do: Since what I have now said may sufficiently evince, that the Fire may sometimes as well alter Bodies as divide them, and by it we may obtain from a Mixt Body what was not Pre-existent in it. And how are we sure that in no other Body what we call Phlegme is barely separated, not Produc'd by the Action of the Fire: Since so many other Mixt Bodies are of a much less Constant, and more alterable Nature, then Mercury, by many Tricks it is wont to put upon Chymists, and by the Experiments I told You of, about an hour since, Appears to be. But because I shall ere long have Occasion to resume into Consideration the Power of the Fire to produce new Concretes, I shall no longer insist on this Argument at present; only I must mind You, that if You will not dis-believe _Helmonts_ Relations, You must confess that the _Tria Prima_ are neither ingenerable nor incorruptible Substances; since by his _Alkahest_ some of them may be produc'd of Bodies that were before of another Denomination; and by the same powerfull _Menstruum_ all of them may be reduc'd into insipid Water.

Here _Carneades_ was about to pa.s.s on to his Third Consideration, when _Eleutherius_ being desirous to hear what he could say to clear his second General Consideration from being repugnant to what he seem'd to think the true Theory of Mistion, prevented him by telling him, I somewhat wonder, _Carneades_, that You, who are in so many Points unsatisfied with the Peripatetick Opinion touching the Elements and Mixt Bodies, should also seem averse to that Notion touching the manner of Mistion, wherein the Chymists (though perhaps without knowing that they do so) agree with most of the Antient Philosophers that preceded _Aristotle_, and that for Reasons so considerable, that divers Modern Naturalists and Physitians, in other things unfavourable enough to the Spagyrists, do in this case side with them against the common Opinion of the Schools. If you should ask me (continues _Eleutherius_) what Reasons I mean? I should partly by the Writings of _Sennertus_ and other learned Men, and partly by my own Thoughts, be supply'd with more, then 'twere at present proper for me to Insist largely on. And therefore I shall mention only, and that briefly, three or four. Of these, I shall take the First from the state of the Controversie itself, and the genuine Notion of Mistion, which though much intricated by the Schoolmen, I take in short to be this, _Aristotle_, at least as many of his Interpreters expound him, and as indeed he Teaches in some places, where he professedly Dissents from the Antients, declares Mistion to be such a mutual Penetration, and perfect Union of the mingl'd Elements, that there is no Portion of the mixt Body, how Minute soever, which does not contain All, and Every of the Four Elements, or in which, if you please, all the Elements are not. And I remember, that he reprehends the Mistion taught by the Ancients, as too sleight or gross, for this Reason, that Bodies mixt according to their _Hypothesis_, though they appear so to humane Eyes, would not appear such to the acute Eyes of a _Lynx_, whose perfecter Sight would discerne the Elements, if they were no otherwise mingled, than as his Predecessors would have it, to be but Blended, not United; whereas the Antients, though they did not all Agree about what kind of Bodies were Mixt, yet they did almost unanimously hold, that in a compounded Bodie, though the _Miscibilia_, whether Elements, Principles, or whatever they pleas'd to call them, were a.s.sociated in such small Parts, and with so much Exactness, that there was no sensible Part of the Ma.s.s but seem'd to be of the same Nature with the rest, and with the whole; Yet as to the Atomes, or other Insensible Parcels of Matter, whereof each of the _Miscibilia_ consisted, they retain'd each of them its own Nature, being but by Apposition or _Juxta_-Position united with the rest into one Bodie. So that although by virtue of this composition the mixt Body did perhaps obtain Divers new Qualities, yet still the Ingredients that Compounded it, retaining their own Nature, were by the Destruction of the _Compositum_ separable from each other, the minute Parts disingag'd from those of a differing Nature, and a.s.sociated with those of their own sort returning to be again, Fire, Earth, or Water, as they were before they chanc'd to be Ingredients of that _Compositum_. This may be explain'd (Continues _Eleutherius_,) by a piece of Cloath made of white and black threds interwoven, wherein though the whole piece appear neither white nor black, but of a resulting Colour, that is gray, yet each of the white and black threds that compose it, remains what it was before, as would appear if the threds were pull'd asunder, and sorted each Colour by it self. This (pursues _Eleutherius_) being, as I understand it, the State of the Controversie, and the _Aristotelians_ after their Master Commonly Defining, that Mistion is _Miscibilium alteratorum Unio_, that seems to comport much better with the Opinion of the Chymists, then with that of their Adversaries, since according to that as the newly mention'd Example declares, there is but a _Juxta_-position of separable Corpuscles, retaining each its own Nature, whereas according to the _Aristotelians_, when what they are pleas'd to call a mixt Body results from the Concourse of the Elements, the _Miscibilia_ cannot so properly be said to be Alter'd, as Destroy'd, since there is no Part in the mixt Body, how small soever, that can be call'd either Fir [Transcriber's Note: Fire], or Air, or Water, or Earth.

Nor indeed can I well understand, how Bodies can be mingl'd other wayes then as I have declar'd, or at least how they can be mingl'd, as our Peripateticks would have it. For whereas _Aristotle_ tells us, that if a Drop of Wine be put into ten thousand Measures of Water, the Wine being Overpower'd by so Vast a Quant.i.ty of Water will be turn'd into it, he speaks to my Apprehension, very improbably; For though One should add to that Quant.i.ty of Water as many Drops of Wine as would a Thousand times exceed it all, yet by his Rule the whole Liquor should not be a _Crama_, a Mixture of Wine and Water, wherein the Wine would be Predominant, but Water only; Since the Wine being added but by a Drop at a time would still Fall into nothing but Water, and Consequently would be turn'd into it. And if this would hold in Metals too, 'twere a rare secret for Goldsmiths, and Refiners; For by melting a Ma.s.s of Gold, or Silver, and by but casting into it Lead or Antimony, Grain after Grain, they might at pleasure, within a reasonable Compa.s.s of time, turn what Quant.i.ty they desire, of the Ign.o.ble into the n.o.ble Metalls. And indeed since a Pint of wine, and a pint of water, amount to about a Quart of Liquor, it seems manifest to sense, that these Bodies doe not Totally Penetrate one another, as one would have it; but that each retains its own Dimensions; and Consequently, that they are by being Mingl'd only divided into minute Bodies, that do but touch one another with their Surfaces, as do the Grains, of Wheat, Rye, Barley, &c. in a heap of severall sorts of Corn: And unless we say, that as when one measure of wheat, for Instance, is Blended with a hundred measures of Barley, there happens only a _Juxta_-position and Superficial Contact betwixt the Grains of wheat, and as many or thereabouts of the Grains of Barley. So when a Drop of wine is mingl'd with a great deal of water, there is but an Apposition of so many Vinous Corpuscles to a Correspondent Number of Aqueous ones; Unless I say this be said, I see not how that Absurdity will be avoyded, whereunto the Stoical Notion of mistion (namely by [Greek: synchysis] [Errata: [Greek: Synchysis]], or Confusion) was Liable, according to which the least Body may be co-extended with the greatest: Since in a mixt Body wherein before the Elements were Mingl'd there was, for Instance, but one pound of water to ten thousand of Earth, yet according to them there must not be the least part of that Compound, that Consisted not as well of Earth, as water.

But I insist, Perhaps, too long (sayes _Eleutherius_) upon the proofs afforded me by the Nature of Mistion: Wherefore I will but name Two or Three other Arguments; whereof the first shall be, that according to _Aristotle_ himself, the motion of a mixt Body followes the Nature of the Predominant Element, as those wherein the Earth prevails, tend towards the Centre of heavy Bodies. And since many things make it Evident, that in divers Mixt Bodies the Elementary Qualities are as well Active, though not altogether so much so as in the Elements themselves, it seems not reasonable to deny the actual Existence of the Elements in those Bodies wherein they Operate.

To which I shall add this Convincing Argument, that Experience manifests, and _Aristotle_ Confesses it, that the _Miscibilia_ may be again separated from a mixt Body, as is Obvious in the Chymical Resolutions of Plants and Animalls, which could not be unless they did actually retain their formes in it: For since, according to _Aristotle_, and I think according to truth, there is but one common Ma.s.s of all things, which he has been pleas'd to call _Materia Prima_; And since tis not therefore the Matter but the Forme that Const.i.tutes and Discriminates Things, to say that the Elements remain not in a Mixt Body, according to their Formes, but according to their Matter, is not to say that they remain there at all; Since although those Portions of Matter were Earth and water, &c. before they concurr'd, yet the resulting Body being once Const.i.tuted, may as well be said to be simple as any of the Elements, the Matter being confessedly of the same Nature in all Bodies, and the Elementary Formes being according to this _Hypothesis_ perish'd and abolish'd.

And lastly, and if we will Consult Chymical Experiments, we shall find the Advantages of the Chymical Doctrine above the Peripatetick t.i.tle little less then Palpable. For in that Operation that Refiners call Quartation, which they employ to purifie Gold, although three parts of Silver be so exquisitely mingl'd by Fusion with a fourth Part of Gold (whence the Operation is Denominated) that the resulting Ma.s.s acquires severall new Qualities, by virtue of the Composition, and that there is scarce any sensible part of it that is not Compos'd of both the metalls; Yet if You cast this mixture into _Aqua Fortis_, the Silver will be dissolv'd in the _Menstruum_, and the Gold like a dark or black Powder will fall to the Bottom of it, and either Body may be again reduc'd into such a Metal as it was before, which shews: that it retain'd its Nature, notwithstanding its being mixt _per Minima_ with the other: We likewise see, that though one part of pure Silver be mingled with eight or ten Parts, or more, of Lead, yet the Fire will upon the Cuppel easily and perfectly separate them again. And that which I would have you peculiarly Consider on this Occasion is, that not only in Chymicall Anatomies there is a Separation made of the Elementary Ingredients, but that some Mixt Bodies afford a very much greater Quant.i.ty of this or that Element or Principle than of another; as we see, that Turpentine and Amber yield much more Oyl and Sulphur than they do Water, whereas Wine, which is confess'd to be a perfectly mixt Bodie, yields but a little Inflamable Spirit, or Sulphur, and not much more Earth; but affords a vast proportion of Phlegm or water: which could not be, if as the Peripateticks suppose, every, even of the minutest Particles, were of the same nature with the whole, and consequently did contain both Earth and Water, and Aire, and Fire; Wherefore as to what _Aristotle_ princ.i.p.ally, and almost only Objects, that unless his Opinion be admitted, there would be no true and perfect Mistion, but onely Aggregates or Heaps of contiguous Corpuscles, which, though the Eye of Man cannot discerne, yet the Eye of a _Lynx_ might perceive not to be of the same Nature with one another and with their _Totum_, as the Nature of Mistion requires, if he do not beg the Question, and make Mistion to consist in what other Naturalists deny to be requisite to it, yet He at least objects That as a great Inconvenience which I cannot take for such, till he have brought as Considerable Arguments as I have propos'd to prove the contrary, to evince that Nature makes other Mistions than such as I have allowed, wherein the _Miscibilia_ are reduc'd into minute Parts, and United as farr as sense can discerne: which if You will not grant to be sufficient for a true Mistion, he must have the same Quarrel with Nature her self, as with his Adversaries.

Wherefore (Continues _Eleutherius_) I cannot but somewhat marvail that _Carneades_ should oppose the Doctrine of the Chymist in a Particular, wherein they do as well agree with his old Mistress, Nature, as dissent from his old Adversary, _Aristotle_.

I must not (replies _Carneades_) engage my self at present to examine thorowly the Controversies concerning Mistion: And if there were no third thing, but that I were reduc'd to embrace absolutely and unreservedly either the Opinion of _Aristotle_, or that of the Philosophers that went before him, I should look upon the latter, which the Chymists have adopted, as the more defensible Opinion: But because differing in the Opinions about the Elements from both Parties, I think I can take a middle Course, and Discourse to you of Mistion after a way that does neither perfectly agree, nor perfectly disagree with either, as I will not peremptorily define, whether there be not Cases wherein some _Phaenomena_ of Mistion seem to favour the Opinion that the Chymists Patrons borrow'd of the Antients, I shall only endeavour to shew You that there are some cases which may keep the Doubt, which makes up my second General Consideration from being unreasonable.

I shall then freely acknowledge to You (sayes _Carneades_) that I am not over well satisfi'd with the Doctrine that is ascribed to _Aristotle_, concerning Mistion, especially since it teaches that the four Elements may again be separated from the mixt Body; whereas if they continu'd not in it, it would not be so much a Separation as a Production. And I think the Ancient Philosophers that Preceded _Aristotle_, and Chymists who have since receiv'd the same Opinion, do speak of this matter more intelligibly, if not more probably, then the Peripateticks: but though they speak Congruously enough, to their believing, that there are a certain Number of Primogeneal Bodies, by whose Concourse all those we call Mixts are Generated, and whi