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OF THE
VSEFVLNESSE
O F
Experimental Philofephy











SOME
CO H.S I V E%AT 1 0
touching the
VSEFVLNESSE
A
Of Experimental
JSfaturall Philofophy ,1
Propofd in Familiar Difcourfes to a Friendly
way of Invitation to the Study of it.
OXFORD
Printed by Hen: Hall Printer to the Univerfity , for
Ric:Davxs. Anno Domini i





The V V$ L IS HE
T is, Courteous Reader, part of the
Satyr of Tetronim againft the Vice of
his own Time. V rife is cum
adhuc nuda Virtus ,
jtrtes ingenue, fummumque certamen inter homines
erat,ne quid profutururn faculis •
tus omnium Herbarum fuicos ex pre fit, isr
isirgultorumque inis later eti xtatem inter Experimental
confumpjit. Other Examples of the like Induftry
he brings, and then concludes againft the Lazinefs
and Luxury of his own Age. /it faith He, ne
par at as quidem Artts audemus cognofeere) Jed
res Antiquitatis <vitiatantum docemus <s> difcimus. Ic
was for want of a Democritus ortwothathecafts
this hard Cenfure upon his own Time. For, noc-
C * I 3 withftan*


The Tuhlifher to the Reader]
withftanding all his Harangue in Commendation
ofiome Ages which were anticnt to his Own} It is
evident out of Hiftory, thatthere was never at once
any great Number, who ferioufly and in earned:
for the Benefit of Mankind applyed themfelvesto
thefcfevereScrutinyes ofNatural Bodyes. Itistrue
that now and then, in all Centuries from the Be¬
ginning of che World,there have appear'd fome Per¬
sons of a Nature more refin'd, as if indeed (accor¬
ding to that Phancy of the Old Poets) fome Trowe*
theus had made them either of another Metall, or of
another Temper, from the Vulgar, utterly above all
Mixture with, or Embafement by the common
Fafhions of this World; who did make it the End of
their Lives, by Severing and Mixing, Making and
Marring, and multiplying Variery of Experiments
on all Bodies,to difcover their hidden Vermes,& fo
to enlarge the Power 8c Empire of Man. But thefe
were ever very few and lingular. Even in that fo
much celebrated Time of thefe Studies
were fo rare, that his ufual Exercife ofthe Anatomy
of Beads was look'd upon, as chat which made the
Soundnefs of his Mind cjueflionable , even as a
Spice of Madnefs in him: and probably much more
might the Vulgar of his Age have been amuled,had
they


The Tuhlifber to the eater".
they (een him torturing Minerals and Metals in the
more toilfome Anatomy of Fire.
Now if it be a diflronourable Crimination to an
Age,that it hath brought out no Perfons who make
it their great Endeavour quid profuturum faculis
lateat: and if the Difcovery of one or two perfons
ofthis Kind beenough to expiate for, and take off
the Diflionour ot the Proletarian Lazinefle and
Luxury of the Reft, I think 1 may juftly efteem that
the exhibiting to the World the Hiftory of the Stu-
dyes of the Honourable Author of this Piece may
ferve to be the Apology and Defence of our Age
againft fuch Cenfures as that wherewith the new*
ly cited Satyrift ftained his own Time.
And this was one great Reafon that hath made
me very forward to promote the Publication oE
This, and diverie other Wricings of the lame Noble
Author. For were there only Tokens of Endea¬
vour in Them,the proof of This Endeavour (even
without Attainment) ought to wipe off all Imputa¬
tions ofthis nature. But this Motive(though I do ac¬
count that by exhibiting this Expiation I do fome-
what oblige the Age, whofe Honour is thereby de*
fended, yet) was far from being the moft great and
forcible. For the Excellence pf the Works them-
felvesJ


The Pullijher to the •
felvcs, even as loon as they fell from the pen of the
Author, did long lince in all Equity let an
tur on them.
X^ecfumunt autponunt
Arbitr'to popularis Aura.
Epicurus,when he was calling upthe account of his
life, upon the very Day of his Death, mentions a
very great pleafure that he even then took in two
Parts ofhis former Studyes: And thefe were his <Ra-
tiones^and his InVenta- Pointswe/1 , and things
happily found out. The two very fame particulars
are principally confpicuous in this enliung Piece.
There are good Conclufions againll the Enemies of
the Being and Providence of God in the Fiill Part,
and inthe Second there be Notices of divers Invent a
profitableto the Ufe of Man. By the one found
Notions are propoled to the Readers apprehenfion
from the Contemplation of God's Creation and Go¬
vernment of the World, and thereby good Matter is
iuggelled to his Affe&ions for the Advancement of
his Devotion, by the Other, there are divers things
deliver'd, which may tend to enlarge Man's power
ofdoingGood: By them, inthe whole, both our
Honour to God, and our Charity to our Neighbors
may


The fuhlijhtr the Tjaderl
may be affifted: in which two the Subftantial part
ofallthe moft Noble, not only Human but Chrifti-
an Vertues,both Speculative and Pra&ical, are cer¬
tainly contained.
I muft not omit,that an Argument of this Nature,
at this Time, may juftly be commended for its Sea-
fonablenels, when divers Perlons, who know not
the way of Experimental , and are loath
now to give themfelves the trouble of learning it,
have been making fome attempts,very unthankful1
ly,totraduce both It, and its Promoters.
Thcie Confiderations palled with me for Rea-
fons, and had upon me this force and Prevalence,
that as foon as I had the Authors leave, I durft not
forbear the committing of them to the Prefs, not-
withftanding his Many arguments, which were
plaufible enough to the Contrary: as, namely, that
much of the Fir ft Fart was written when he was
of fo immature Years, that flhould 1 be particular
concerning his Age then, to any perfon who hath
read the Piece, the Paucity of fuch Inftances might
juftly make me difpair of begetting Credit to my
Relation. Another Obje&ion was, That, though
his Method did of necefthy lead him to it, yet it
might be look'd upon as unbecomming for Him ro
[*¥l! meddle


The Tuhlijher to the Reader}
meddle with the Phyfitians Art,of which he never
did (norcould, by reafonofhis Native Honour)
make any Profeffion. Burthefe Oppositions being
raifed upon points of Curiofity in Ceremony and
outward Tecortm, were of litile weight, when the
forementioned Noble Offices of Charity and doing
good werein the other Scale.
The greater Queftion was. Suppofe them to be
publifht, But whynow? Whyfofoon? Should not
rather the Edition have been delay'd, untill it might
have come out together withT/^ fecondSeftion oj the
ftcond Tart? (which difcovers the Ule that may be
made of Experimental Learning, to advance the
Empire of Man over other Creatures) or untill the
Common Preface, and fome other little TraCts, all
Written long fince,and intended toaccompany this,
might be reviled by the Authorjor atleaft untill the
Author might have had leifure to have made fome
more new & full Animadverfionsto the Receipts &
ProcelTcs contain'd in the Appendix?The Confide-
ration which anfwer'd this Objection was, That
this Piece,as nowprinted alone,would make(as you
fee it doth) a very competent Book, which would
have by it Self the perfection, if notofthe Wholeyet
©fa more principal part; and of that part, which to
Profeflors


77;? Tuhlifher to the Reader.
Profeflors or Candidates of Learning is moft defin¬
able. And then the Author's Avocations and other
Studies being fo many, that we could prefix no cer»
taintimefor the complement of the mention'd re¬
maining parts, I was loath to hazard the Prelervati®
on of Thefe by deferring the Imprefsionj fince I
know there is no Security ofthe continuance of
thofe Writings which arerepoled only in fingle, or
at moll in few written Copies. I remember, the
Author had once loft for a good while one ofthele
very Eflays which are now here Printed, and put
beyond that Danger for the future. Befides other
Cafual accidents,the very Contingency of Humane
life, and the chance of a Man's papers after Death,
(For to them the Queftion ofKing Solomon is mod
proper and pertinent, VFbo whether then they
may happen to fall into the hands of a Wife man or a FooU)
wereof forceenoughto perfwade raeto lecurethefe,
when it was in my power, unto the Common Ufe.
Would notPrintingin all probability have preferv'd
unto Usthat Univerfal Hiftory of Vegetables from
the Cedar of Lihanus unto the Mols that groweth
upon the Wall, written by that Wife and Learned
King,and the iofs of which we now in vain lament?
Would not Printing have fav'd that Excellent Book
2] of


The Tubliflier to the *R eactef.
o{Democritw} wch he infcribed his xeipokmhta
or Experiments of Ins own Tryaf fo ut¬
terly loft, that the Name of the piece is not menti¬
on u amorgthe Catalogue of his Writings in Laer-
tius ? And may not the Printing of this Piece be a
meanesofthe prefervation (bciides the Notional
part) ofdivers very uleful xeipokmhta of the Ho»
nourable Author,who hath been ever unwearied in
the Try al of all probable Experiments, that may in-
creale the Light or advance the Profit of Mankind?
But beforel leave the Reader, 1 mud give him this
fingle Advertilement, that the Pafiages included
within the Tarathefes or Qrotchetts) as the P; efs ftiles
them, that is,between any two fuch Marks asthele
E 3 were inferted long fince the writing of thefe
Eflays.upon the Rele&ion of fome parts of the Book
before He fent it to me: Which I therefore did fo di-
flinguifh,and do intimate, thatthere may appear no
inconfiftency in our Author, and the Reader may
not marvel to find fomethings very Recent in a Book
written feveral Years agoe. Farewell.
RO: SHARROCJC


Tfbe Authors
Advertisement about the following
E SS AYS,
'•Tat the Title of the following Treatife
might not ra the Reader an Expe¬
ctation of more then he find in the
'Book, I think my felf to inform
him, That,though it tome not forth
fore,divers parts were fenttotheBrefs in 1660,or
and this prfent Tar 1665 yet the very Lafl Effay of
it IVas written divers Tears before. Since when
Tapers "St ere left,fometime$ in the hands of Friends, and
fometimes in diflantplaces where I could not come at
them: TVhich 1 mention,that the Reader may neither
wonder nor blame Me, if he now meet with fome things
in them thai have already been publijhed by others,or are
more Vulgarly known then my way of mentioning them
imp lyes. For it may, this nottoithflandmg, Very well be,
that when Itbrit them, nobody had yet lighted on fome of
them, and that others of them did then but begin to be
taken


The Author's Advertifement
taken notice of. jindas for the Five Eflays, which
treat of The Ulefulnefs of Natural Philofophy to
the Mind of Man ,thoughby all the
Way to the Gentleman 1 call Pyrophilus, they may feem
to have been Originally written to the fame and
about the fame time With the Eflays, that make up the
Second Part- yet indeed a great Portion of the Firfl:
part was Written, as I remember 10 or iz years
(When I Was /car ce above 21 old) to another
Friend, towhom the Qonfiderations that to
firm Piety, and excite Devotion, were far more accept
table then tho/e that were more purely :
that having, whether through or want of «
fure contented my )elf to fubf name Pyro¬
philus for that of my other Friend ( Was not unwil¬
ling I fhould do fo) in a Difnurf written when 1 Was fo
Young-, I would not have the Pjader think, that 1 do now
fo appi ove of all thofe Youthful hi four(es {Which I there¬
fore fuffer to pafiabroad without a as to think
all the Tenets they propoj'd to be irrefragable ,
or all the pea jottings they content to he j
that 1 would at prefent have my e/limated
according to their (fogency. Put yet I do Without much
Qfeluftancy comply With thofe who would by no
means confent, that the Five fir ft Eft ays of this
Jhould not come forth With the Pjif partly becauje not
Writing


About the following Eflays.
writing all things for all Readers, / it not unfit to
puhl'Jh fometbtng to gratify thofet who defire
to be both excited and af ifled to admire and the
Great and FFife jiuthorof all • partly
the Treati/e Would feem maim'd and incompkat, if the
latter Ejjays fhould come abroad without e/?. and
partly too becaufe Learned Men been pleas'd to af*
fure me} that thofe Effays are not of Ffotions
and Ratiocinations, that are not altogether <vulgar or
contemptible. However thofe Readers, that either •
not rellifh, or at leaft defire not any but what is
meerly Vhyfiologicall, may} thus ad y pajje by the
former part of this Treati/e, and content to
read over the Latter, though they who flrall take the
'Pains to read Both} will not perhaps think, their Labour
loft: Since 1 have taken (fare to leaVe even the former
P art as little disfurnifht with Experiments and ufeful
Ffotions, as, the Argument confide/dt I conveniently
could. And fince alfo for the Paucity of fuch things in
the FirH Part, lhaVe endeavoured to make amends in
the Second tWhich is alrnofl wholly Phyfiological • con*
cerningwbicb neVertbelefs 1 Pleader,
And indeed the Whole Tenets that make up the following
Book, are by no means to be look'd upon as Publtfhedfor
an acurate Treatife of the Hfefulnes of true PhyJiologyf
but cm Familiar WritingsJ that want only the formality of
Salve


The Author's Advettifemenc
Salve andVa topajfe for and Medical
EpiftleSj con fifthly of Juch loofe ,as I
thought might be this way pref and did notJo pro>
perly belong to my other Writings as fitted for
the ufey and whereto I have applyed them 5 that
being drawn up together into one Treatife, their Union
viight enable them to make the greater ImpreJJion and
might (fomewhat at leaft) recommend that fort of Leaf
n'tng to a Beginner. And one thing that muft be
comprehended in this Admonition the Particulars
J have mentioned, to fbe~fr of what ufe Experi¬
ments may be to a Pbyfitianare
that even I could Jet dofrn, if 1 not retrained by
Jome justifiable Confederations^ efpecially 'till Ifee what
Entertainment, the things 1 now Venture "frill
meet with there: Some ofthofe I
tomefhat IconfefjeI do not be fond
of obtruding them upon the if 1 thought they
would not be "frelcome to it. Mud I do little defire to
have,~frbat 1 have written, lookd upon as the that
can be faid, to fhe"fr the Ufefulnejf of Experimental
Philofophy, that I fcruple not to are
things "frhichincline me to fufpetty bat fome in the
though not particularly known to me, may haVe Arcana,
to which mofl oftheProceffes 1 referVe, as T as all
that is commonly known in fhymtjlry, may proVe little
more then Trifles.


M''BOYLE
Of Experimental Philosophies
A





. ,
OF THE
VSEFVLN ESSE
OF
fsfaturall Philofophy,
The Firft Pare.
Of its Vfefulnefs in reference to
the Minde of <£A<fan.





CO
Of the USEFULNESSE of
Experimentall Philosophy,
Principally as ic Relates to the
MIlSlDof MA
HE Natural Philosophy wont to
be taught in moft Schools, being little
other then a Syfteme of the Opinions
of ^driflotki and fome few other Wri¬
ters, is not, I confefle, Pyrophilu4,vzxy
difficult to be Learned •, as being attai¬
nable by the per u fall of a few of the more
Current Authors. But, Pyrcphilus^xhzz
Exp erimental Phi lo sop h y,
which you will find Treated of in the following EfTayes, is a
Study, if duely profecuted, fo difficult, fo chargable, and fo
toilfome, that I think it requifite ^ before I propofe any parti¬
cular Subjects to your Enquiries, to pofTefTe you with a jufl:
value of true and folid Phyfiologie* and to convince you, That
by endevouring toaddidi you to it, I invite you not to mifpend
your time or trouble on a Science unable to merit and requite
it. Inordtr, Pyrophilus, to the giving you this fatisfadlion,
Givemekave commdyou, that it was a faying.of .Eyth*gor4s%
.Sb, woithy
du


worthy fo celebrated a Philofopher, That there are two things
which moft ennoble Man, and makehim'referable the Gods-, To
know the Truth, andTo do Good, For, Pyrophilus, that Diviner
part of Man, theSoufe, which alone is capable of wearing the
Glorious Image of its Author, being endowed with two chief
Faculties, the Underftanding and the Will* the former is bleft
and perfedionated by Knowledg, and the latter's Lovelieftand
moft improving property is Goodnefle. A due Reflection
upon this excellent Sentence of him to whom Philofopers owe
that rnodeft name, fhould, me thinks, Pyrophilus,vt ry much en¬
dear to us the Study of Naturall Philofophy. For there is no
Humane Science that does more gratifie and enrich the Under¬
ftanding with variety of choice and acceptable Truths-,nor fcarce
any that does more enable a willing mind to exercifea Goodnefle
beneficiall to others.
To manifeft thefe truths more diftindly, Pyrophilus, and yei
without exceeding that Brevity my Avocations and the bounds
of an Eflay -exad of me, I fhall, among the numerous advantages
accruing to Men from the Study of the Book of Nature, con¬
tent my felfe toinftance only in a Couple, that relate more pro¬
perly to the Improving of CM ens Under (landings, and to mention
a few of thofe many, by which it encreafes their Power.
The two chiefe advantages which a reall acquaintance with
Nature brings to our Minds, are, Fir ft, by inftruding our Un-
dei {landings and gratifying our Curiofitiesj and next, byexci*
ting and cherifhing our Devotion,
And for the firft of thefe, fince,as Ariflotie teacheth,and was
taught himfelf by Common Experience, all Men are Naturally
defirous to Know ; that Fropenfity cannot but be powerfully
engaged to the Works of Nature, which being inceflantly pre-
fent to our fenfes, do continually follicite our Curiofities: Of
whofe potent inclining us to the Contemplation of Natures
Wonders, it is not perhaps the inconliderableft Inftance, That
though the Nacurall Philofophy hitherto taught in moft
Schools,


(I)
Schools, hath been fo Litigious in its Theorle, and fo barren
as to its Productions-, yet it hath found numbers of Zealous
and Learned Cultivators, whom fure nothing but Mens in¬
bred fondneffe for the Objeft it converfes with, and the end it
pretends to, could fo pafTionately devote to it.
And fince that (as the fame Ariftotle taught by his Matter
Plato well obferves) Admiration is the Parent of Philo-
fophy, by engaging us to enquire into the Caufes of the
things at which we marvail we cannot but be powerfully-
invited to the Contemplation of Nature, by living and con-
verfing among WondersTomeofwhich are obvious and con-
fpicuous enough to amaze even ordinary Beholders-, and others
admirable and abftrufe enough to aftonifh the moft inquifitive
Spectators. .
The bare profpeCt of this magnificent Fabrickof theUni-
verfe, furniflied and adorned with fuch ftrange variety of cu¬
rious and ufefull Creatures5would, fuffice to tranfport us both
with Wonder and Joy, if their Commonnetfe did not hinder
their Operations. Of which Truth Mr Stepk'ins^ the famous
Oculiff, did not long fince fuppiy us with a memorableIn-
ftance; For fas both himfelfe and an Illuftnous Perfonthac
was prefent at the Cure informed me ) a Maid of about
Eighteen yeares of Age,having by a couple of CataraCts, that
fhe brought with her into the World, lived abfolutely blind
from the.moment of her Birth* being brought to the free life
of her Eyes, was fo ravifht at the furprizing fpe&acle of fo
many and various Objects, as prelented themlelves to her
unacquainted Sight,that almoft every thing fhe faw tranfpor-
ted her with fuch admiration and delight, that fhe was in dan¬
ger to loofe the eyes of her Mind by thofe of her Body, and
expound that Myfticall Arabian Proverb, which advifes57>
Jhut the Windowesjhat the Houfe may be Light,
But if the bare beholding of this admirable Structure is ca¬
pable of pleafing men fo highly, how much fatisfact ion, Py
B z tophi I at)


rcphilus, may it be fuppofed to afford to an Intelligent Spe<5h-
tor, who is able both to undei ftand and to relifh the admirable
Architecture and skilfull contrivance of it; For the Book
of Nature is to an ordinary Gazer,and a Naturalift,like a rare
Book of Hieroglyphicks to a Child,and a Philosopher: the
one is fufficiently pleas'd with the O .nefle and Variety of the
Curious Pictures that adorne it- whereas the other is not
only delighted with thofe outward objects that gratifie his
fenfe, but receives a much higher fatisfadion in admiring the
knowledg of the Author, and in finding out and inriching
himfelfe with thofe abftrufe and vailed Truths dexterpufly
hinted in them.
Yes, Pyropbilus, as the Underftanding is the higheft fa¬
culty in Man, fo its Pleafures are the higheft he .can naturally
receive. And therefore I cannot much wonder that the fa¬
mous Archimedes lighting in a Bath upon an Expedient to
refolve a perplexing difficultie in Naturall Philofophy,
fhould leap out of the Bach , and run unclothed like a mad¬
man, crying nothing but 1 have found it, 1
have found it. Nor do I fo much admire as deplore the fa¬
tally venturous Curiofity of the Elder Pliny, who,as the
Younger relates, could not be deterr'd by the formidable*
nefle of the deftru&ive flames vomited by Vefuvius, frornin-
devoring by their Light to read the Nature of fuch Vulca-
nian.Hils*, but in fpight of ail the diflwafions of his Friends,
and the affrighting eruptions of that hideous Place, herefol-
ved that Flaming Wonder fhould rather kill him, then ef-
cape him and thereupon approch'd fo neer that he loft his
Life to fatisfie his Curiofity, and fell (if [may fofpeakja
Martyr to Phy fiologie. For we daily fee Alchymifts hazard
their Lives on Minerall Experiments in Furnaces, where
though the fires are not fo vaft and fierce, as thofe that Piiny
went to confide^ jyet the (dangerous when not pernicious)
Fumes do fometimes prove as fatail.
One


d)
One would th'nk, Pjrophtlusy that the converfing with
dea . an ftmking Carkafeslthat are not onely hideous objedis
in themfelves,but made more ghaftly by the puting us in mind
that our leives muftbefuch)fhouldbenotonelvavery melanr-
choly, but a very hated imployment. And yet, Pyrofhilus^
there are Anatormfts who dote upon it •, and I confefs its In-
ftruCtivends has not onely fo reconciled me to it, butfoen-
amor'd me of it, that I have often fpent hours much lefs de¬
lightfully, not onely in Courts, but even in Libraries, then in
tracing in chafe forfaken Manfions, the inimitable Workman-
fhip of the Omnifcient Architect.
The curious Works of famous Artificers, are wont to in¬
vite the Vifits, and excite the wonder of the generality of in-
quifitive Perfons. And I remember, that in my Travels, I
have often taken no fmall pains to obtain the pleafureof ga¬
zing upon fomeMafterpiece of Art: But now, I confefs, 1
.could with more delight look upon a skilful DiifeCtion, then
the famous Clock at Strasburg. And, methinks, i^Ariftlotle
difcourfes very Philofophically in that place, where paffing
from the confiderationof the fublimift productions of Na¬
ture, to juftsfie his diligence in recording the more homely
Ciicumftances of the Hiftory of Animals, he thus difcourfes:
Peftlat (faith he) ut'de animantinature differ amus^ nihil fto vi drift:
ribus omjttentes velvillus vel nobilitis. Nam & in its qua hoc
in gencre minus grata noflro occurrunt fenfui, Natnra parens
& author ommu miras excitat voluptates homimbus, qui tntelli-
gunt caufas & ingenue pbilofopbantur. Abfurdum enim nulla
rationeprobandum ejl, ft imagines quidem rerum naturalium non
fineddetfatione propteredinfpettamws-, quod ingenium content-
plamur quod illas condiderit, id ejl, artempingendi ant fngendi 3
rerum autem ipfarum natura ingenio mirdque folertia conjlttu*
lam contemplationcm non magis profequamur at que exofcule-
niur^ modo caujas-perfpicercvaleamus: It remains (faith he)
that we dijcourfe of the natures of Animals^ being circumfpett


(«)
to omit none, either of the nobler or inferior fort: Tor even from
thofe Creatures which lefs pleafe our Jenfe, docs the univer[al Pa¬
rent , Nature, incredible contentments to fuch Perfons, as
finder ft and their caufcs, and Philophize ingenuoufy. St nee it
were abfurdand inconfiftent to reafon, if we jhould behold the
Portraitures of Natural things with delegation, becaufe weob*
fervt the.accuratne[s wherewith they are deftgned,namelyythe skit
of Painture or Sculpture •, and not much more affeffi and purfue
the contemplation of things themfelves, contrived by the exqui-
ftte Artifice and Sagacity of Nature, provided we be able tQ nn-
derftandtheir caufes. Anckhe better to make out to you, Py -
rcphilusr the delightfulnefs of the ftudy of Natural Philoso¬
phy, let me obfetve to you, That thofepleafing Truths ic
teacheth us, do highly gratifieour intellectual Faculties, with¬
out difpleafing any of them: for they are none of thofe Cri¬
minal Pleafutes, which injur'dand incenfed Confidence does
very much allay, even in the Fruition, and turns into Tor¬
ments after it. Nor are the Enquiries I am recommending of
that trifling and unferviceable lort of Imployments, which
though Confcience condemns not as unlawful for a Chriffian,
Reafon difapproves as not worthy of a Philofopher* and
wherewith to be much delighted, argues a weaknefs ♦, as to be
pleafed with Babies and Whiffles, fuppofes unripe and weak
Intelle&uais: But the contemplation of Nature, is an Imploy-
menjti which both the PoflTeflTors of the fublimeff Reafon, and
thofe of the fevereft Virtue, have not onely allowed, but cul¬
tivated. The Learned Author of the Book De Mundo, afcrib'd
to ^AriftotU, begins it with this Elogium of Natural Philo-
fophy : OVLibi qu/demfape (fays he) divina quadem res, Alex¬
ander ^ad mirationedigria vifa eft Phtlofophia•, pracipue vero in
eaparte in qua fola ipfafublime fefe tollcns ad contemplandas
rerum naturae, magno Ultc ftudio contendit exiftentem in eis ve-
ritatem pernofcere. Philofophy (faith hej O Alexander, hath
oftentimes feemd to me a Divine and Admirable Thing ; but


If II.
(7)
chiefly, that part of it, which afpires to contemplate the Natures
of things, imploying its utmoft power in fearching cut the truth
contained in them. The reafonablenefs of which Commen¬
dation, he handfomly enough profecutes in the iubfequent
Difcoui fe: To which lihail refer you, that I may proceed to
mindeyou, that Pythagoras, Bemocrittls, Plato, and divers o-
thers of thofe whofe Wifdom made after-ages reverence An¬
tiquity, did not onely efteem the Truths of Nature worth ftu-
dyingfor, but thought them too worth Travelling for as far
as thofe Eaftern Regions, whofe Wife-men were then cry'd
up for the beft Expofitors of the obfeure Book of Nature;
And that fevere Teacher, and perfwafive Recommender of the
ftridieft Virtue, Seneca, (whofe eminent Wifdom made him in¬
vited to govern Him that was to govern the World, and who
fo often and fo excellently pvefies the husbanding of our time)
does not onely in feveral Paflages of his Writings praife a con¬
templation of Nature, but Writes himfelf feven Books of
Natural Queftions, andaddrefles them to that very Luc Hi us,
whom in his Epiftles he takes fuch pains to make compleatly
Virtuous 5 and in his Preface, after hehadfaid according to
his manner, loftily, Equidern tunc Nature rerum gratias ago, Sc.^ca'vlV r
cutnillam non abhac parte video, qua publica eft, fed cum fe- f xat:
cretiora ejus intravi, cum difco qua Univerft Materia ft, quis Quxft.
Author, aut Cuflos, See. ihen do I pay my acknowledgements to
Nature, when 1 behold, her not on the out-fide, which is obvious
topublick view, but am enter3d into her more fccret Receffes 5
when 1 under ft and what the Matter of the Univer fe is, who its
uthor, and Prcferver, See. He concludes in the fame ftrain,
Nife ad hac admitterer, non fuerat opera pretium nafci: Had I
been debarr d from the[e things, it would not have been worth
coming into the World. And to adde what he excellently fays
in another Treatife, Ad hac qitarendanatus (fays he, having
fpoken of Enquiries concerning the Univer k)*fttmaquam non
mult um acctperit tempori$% etiam ft Hind tot urn fibi vindicet, cut
licet


f 8)
licet nihil facilitate errpi^nihil negligenti a patiatur excidert % li¬
cet boras fuas avarifstmi fervet, & ufq^e tn ultima at at is hit*
mana terminos procedat, nec quicquidtiltex eo quod Naiura con•
fiituit fort una concutiat \ tamen homo ad tmrnort ahum cognttio-
nem ntmis mortalis i(I. Ergo fecundum Naturam vivo, ft to-
turn me illi dedi^ft ilhus Admirator Cult or (f fum. Natu/a auttm
ntrumq* facere me voluit & agere, & contemplations vacare:
Being born defignecllyfor fearchwg out the(e things ^ cotifider that
the portion of time allotted to Man, is not great, if this fludy
Jhould ingrofs it all % ft rice though he fhotild preferve his hours with
the great e(I frugality all his life-time, not fuffering any to be flo-
lenfrom him, or flide away negligently, and never be dtflurbed by
Accidents of Fortune in the Iwployment Nature has appointed
him, yet is he too Mortal to attain the knowledge of Immortal
4Things• Wherefore, I live agreeably to Nature^ when 1 give
up my [elf wholly to Her, and am Her Admirer and Adorer.-
^Moreover, Nature hath deftgned meto act, and imploy my felf
in Contemplation. How far Religion is from dil-approving
the Study of Phyfiology, Ifhall have occafion to manifeft ere
long, when we fhall come to fhew, That it is anadtof Piety
to offer up for the Creatures the Sacrifice of Praife to the Cre¬
ator •, For, as anciently among the Jews, by virtue of an
Aaronical Extra&ion, Men were born with a Right to Prieft-
hood •, foReafonisa Natural Dignity, and Knowledge a Pre¬
rogative, that can confer a Priefthood without Undfion or Im-
pofitionof Hands. And as for Reafon, that is fo far from
making us judge that Imployment unworthy of Rational Crea¬
tures, that thofe Philofophers (as Arijlotle, Epicurus, Demo-
critus^ &c ) that have improved Reafon to the greateft height,
have the moft feriouily and induftrioufly imploy'd ittoinve-
ftigate the Truths, and promote the ftudyof Natural Philo*
fophy.
And indeed, that noble Faculty call'd Reafon, being con-
fciousof the great progrefs it may enable us to make in the
knowledge


(9)
knowledge of Natures Myfteries, if it were induftrioufly im-
ploy'd in theftudy of them, cannot, but like a great Com¬
mander, think it felf dilobliged by not being confiderably em*
ploy'd. And certainly we are wanting to our (elves, and are
guilty of little lefs then our own Degradation, that being by
Gods peculiar vouchfafement, endowed with thofe noble Fa"
culties of Underftanding, and Difcourfing, and plac'd amidft
a numberlefs variety of Objedls, that inceffantly invite our
Contemplations, can content our felves to behold fo many
Inftru&ive Creatures which make up this vaft Univerfe, whole
nobleftPart wearedefignd tobe, with no moi«, or but lit¬
tle more difcerning Eyes then thofe lefs favored Animals, to
whom Nature hath denyed the Prerogative of Reafon, as we
deny our felves the ufe of it. Kyirtftotlc well obferves, that
among Animals, Man alone is ofaneredted Stature 5 and adds,
That it is becaufe his Nature hath fomething in it of Divine:
offtcium ant em Divim (infers he) eft tntellipere atqtic Sapere: De Part. An'im.
The Qualifications of. a Divine Being, are Under (landing and
Wtfdom. And it cannot but mif-become the dignity of iuch a
Creature to live Ignorant or Unftudious of the Laws and Con-
ilitutions of that great Commonwealth (as divers of theAn-
tients have not improperly ftiled the World) whereof he is
the eminentefl; part: And were we not lulled afleep by Cuflom
or Senfuality, ft could not but Trouble, as well as it Injures a
reafonable Soul to Ignore the Structure and Contrivance of
that admirably Organized Body in which fhe lives, and to
whole intervention the owes the Knowledge (lie hath of other
Creatures.
'Tis true indeed, that even the generality of Men, without
making it their defign, know fomewhat more of the Works
of Nature, then Creatures deftitureof Reafon can, by the
advantage of that Superior Faculty, which cannot but ever*
unurg'd, and of its own accord make fome, though but ilight,
reflections on the Information of the Senfes: But if thofe lm-
prefiions beonely receiv'dandnot improv'd, but rather neg-
C ledted;


( 1°)
letted-, and if we (contenting our felves with the fuperfidal
account given us of things by their obvious Appearances and
Qualities^ are beholding for that "we know, to our Nature,
not our Induftry, we faultily loofe both one of the nobleft Im-
ployments, and one of the higheft Satisfactions of our rational
Faculty : And he that is this way wanting to himfelf, feems
to live in this magnificent Structure, call'dthe Univerfe, not
unlike a Spider in a Palace who taking notice onely of thofe
ObjeCts that obtrude themfelves upon her Senfes, lives igno¬
rant of all the other Rooms of the Houfe, fave that wherein
fhe lurks, an4 difcerning nothing either of the Architecture of
the ftately Building, or of the Proportion of the Parts of it
in relation to each other, and to the intire Structure, makes
it her whole bufinefs, by intrapping of Flies to continue an
ufelefs Life-, or exercife her felf to fpin Cob-webs, which
though confiding of very fubtle Threds, are unferviceable
for any other then her own trifling ufes. And that the con¬
templation of the World, efpecially the higher Region of it,
was defign'd for Mans Imploym'ent by Natures Self, even
the Heathen Poet (perhaps inftruCted by rijlotle) could,
obferve, who Sings,
Pronacf cum fpeclcnt Am extern
Os homini fublime dedit,
fufstt^c? creHos ad fiderat
Wife Nature, framing Brutes downward lookst
ok an with a lofty Afpeftdid indue.
And bad him Heaven with its bright Glories view.
I might annex, Pyrophilm, the Story tfofephsu tells us in the
beginning of his tfewijh Antiquities, that'twas the ho\y Seth
and his Pofterity (who are in Genefis ftil'd the Sons of God)
that were the Inventers of Aftronomy, whofe more Funda¬
mental Obfetvations (to perpetuate them to Man-hinde, and
fever


Ifaiak
(ii )
{ever them from the foretold definitions by Fire and Water )
they engraved upon two Pillars, the one of Brick, the other
of Stone 5 the latter of which our Hiftorian reports to have
been extant in Syria in his time. And it is an almoft uncon-
troll'd tradition, that the Patriarch, whom God vouchfafes to
ftile bis Friend, was the firft Teacher of Aftronomy and Phi* T
lolophytothe Egyptians, from whom, long afterwards, the
Grecians learn d them. Ecrofm himfeif records him to have
been skill'd in the Science of the Stars, as he is cited by $o[e-
phtUj (Ant. lib, i.e. 8.) who a little alter fpeaking of Abra*
bam and the Egyptians, exprefly affirms, that Numero>um fct-
entiam & fiderum bcnigne illis eommunicavit: Nam ante A-
brahami ad (e adventum,JEgyptii rudeserant hujufmodi difcipli-
varum \ qua a Cb aide is ad JEgyptios profetf*, hinc ad Graeos
tandem pervenerunt.
But, Pyrophtus,to put it out of queftion that the fubli-
meft reaion needs not make the Pofleffbr of it think the ftu-
die of Phy fiologie an Imployment below him,that Unequalled
Solomon, who was pronounced the Wifcft of men by their
omnifcient Author, did not onely Juftifie the Study ofNa-
turall Phitofophy by addicting himfelfe to it, but ennobled
it by teaching it, and purpofely compofing of it thofe match-
leffe Records of Nature, from which I remember fome Jewifh
Authors relate Ariflotle to have borrowed diverfe-, which (if
it be true)may well be fuppoled to be the choiceft pieces that
adorn'd his Philofophie, and which Providence perhaps de¬
prived the World of, upon fuch a fcore as it did the Jewes of
the Body of CMofes, left menlhould Idolize it ^ or as fome
Rabbies are pleafed to informe us, left vicious men Ihould
venture upon all kinds of Intemperance, out of Confidence of
finding out by the help of thofe excellent Writings the Cure
of all the Diftempers their diff'olutenefl'e fiiould produce.
And, Pyrophilus, yet a little further to difcover to you, the
Dehghtfulneffe of the Contemplations of Natures works,
Give me leave to mind you of their almoft unimaginable Va-
G 2 riety.
4i.
XI. 25-


(ll)
riety, as of a Propertie, that ihould methinks not faintty
recommend Nacurall Philofophy, to curious and aCtive In¬
tellectuals.
For moft other Sciences, atleaft as they are wont to be
taught, are fo narrow and fo circumfcrib'd, that he who has
read one ofthebeft and recenteft Syftems of them, flrall find
little in the other Books publiiht onthofe fubjeCts, butdif-
guis'd repetitions v and a diligent Scholar may in no long
time learn as much as the Profenors themfelvescan teach him.
But the objeCis ofNaturall Philofophy, being as many as
the Laws and Works of Nature are, fo various and fo num-
berleffe, that if a Man had the Age of Meihttfelah to fpend,
he might fooner want time then matter, for his Contempla¬
tions: And fo pregnant is each of that vaft multitude of
Creatures, that make up the Naturalifts Theme, with ufefuli
matter to employ Mens ftudie, that I dare fay, that the whole
life of a Philofopher fpent in that alone, would be too fhort
to give a full and perfe& account of the Natural Properties
andUfesof any one of feveral Minerals, Plants, or Animals,
that I could name. 'Tis an almoft incredible variety of Ve¬
getables, that the teeming Earth, impregnated by Gods
aucat Terra, does in feveral Regions produce. Botanifts have
a pretty while fince, reckon'dup near 6000 Subjects of the
Vegetable Kingdom .4 fince when, divers other not-defcribed
Plants have been obferved by Herbarifts 5 the chief of which
will, Ihope, be iliortly communicated to the World, by that
Curious and Diligent Botanift my Induftrious Acquaintance,
Dr. How, to whom I not long fince prefented a peculiar and
excellent kinde of Pepper, whofe Shell taftes not unlike Cin¬
namon, and fmells fo like Cloves, that with the Odor I have
deceived many, which he confeft to be new even to him •, it
having been lately gathered in Jam (where it abounds; and
prefented me by the inquifitive Commander of the Engliili
Forces there. And yet, Pyrophilue, this great variety of Sim¬
ples could not deter either Ancient or Modern Inquirers from
Writing


( n)
Writing'entire Treatifes of fome particular Ones. So Pliny
tells us,a That Themifon the Phyfitian publifht a Volume (for a p&/(
fo he call'd it) of that vulgar and defpifed Herb called Plantain: *<*/>•8-
So the fame b Author tells us, That Amphilochi^ writ a Vo- hJ^l6'l*'
lume De Medica Herba, & Cytjfa . and King c tfuba another, c id:lib,
of a fort of Nymph a a by him found on Mount Atlas. And
in our Times, not to mention thofe many Books that have
been written by Phylitians, Of the Structure of Mans Body,
and DeUfu Partium: Carolus Rofenborgius writ fome Years
iince an entire Book of Rofes, which he calls his Rhodologia:
<JWartinus Blochwitiw fince publifhed another Book of Elder,
under the Title of lAnatomia Sambuci. Among the Chy-
mifts, S^publifht in diftindt Treatifes, his Vitrio-
logia^Tartarologta, Saccharologia: Untz.trus alfo writ peculi- ,
arTr3(Ss, De CMercurio^ De SulphurDe Sale. And Para-
celfus himfelf vouchfafed diftindt Treatifes to Hypericon, Per-
ficariay HelUborus, and fome other particular Plants. Bafilius
Valcntinus (one of themoft Knowing and Candid Chymical
Writers) publifht long fince an excellent Treatifeof Antimo¬
ny , infcrib'd Currm Trtumphalis Antimonii? but though in
his other he hath alfo taught us divers other things concerning
it, yet he left fo much undifcovered in Antimony, that Angelas
Salawas thereby emboldned to publifh his Anatomia Anti¬
monii. And Hamerus Poppius (if that be his true name) $o-
hannis Tholdius, and the experienced Alexander van Sucbten,
thought fit to write entire Treatifes of that fame Mineral ?
by which if they feem to Eclipfe the diligence of Bafilius, at
leaft they bore witnefs to his Judgement: for modeftly invi¬
ting his Readers to make further enquiries into the Nature and
Preparations of that abifrufe Mineral, He gives this account
of his leaving many things unmentionJd, 7hatthe jhortnefs of
Life makes it impofsible for one man throughly to learn Anti¬
mony^ in rvhich every day fdmething of new is di [covered. A nd
I remember, that having lately given a Chymift, upon his
requeft, fome Directions for drawing, not an imaginary Mer¬
cury


(»4)
curyof Antimony, as thofe which are wont to be taught by
Chy mitts, bin a realfluid Quick-filver-, he fome days fince
broughtmeaboutanOunceof it (which you may command
when you pleafe) as the firft Fruits of Diredions, differing e-
nough from thofe which I hav^hitherto met with in Authors,
A peculiar way likewife of feparating from Antimony, not
fuch a Subftanceas thofe which areas improperly as vulgarly
call'd Antimonial Sulphurs, but a really combuftible Body,
which looks and burns fo like common Brimftone, chat it is
not eafily diftinguifhaBlc from it, we (hail elfewhere, God wil¬
ling, Pjrofhilus^ teach you. And I remember, that whereas
according to the way mentioned by Bdftitus in his Carries Jri«
tiwvhalts, and both generally tranfcrib'd by Authors, and for¬
merly pradifd by our ielves, the Tincture of the Glafs of
Antimony is very tedious to make, being to be drawn with
Spirit of Vinegar, I once made a Menftruum to draw ;t more
expeditioufly, which having not hitherto met with in any of
the Authors I have read, I (hall not conceal from you : Taking
then an arbitrary quantity of the beft French Veraegreece, and
diftilling it orderly in a ftrong naked Fire, I found the extorted
Liquor to extrad: (even in an ordinary digefting he*t) from
powdred Antimonial Glafs, a Blood-red Tmdurein three or
four hours •, and my curiofity leading me to abftrad the Men-
ftruum from the tinging Powder, and put it again upon pulve-
rifd Glafs, I found it again h ghly Tindedina very few hours.
And pi ofecutmg the Experiment, I found that by drawing off
the Menftruum, and digefting Spirit of Wine upon the remain¬
ing Calx, I could foon obtain a red Tindure, or Solution,
From which fome Chymifts, if I fhould tell them what I have
now told you, would perhaps exped no ordinary Medicine.
But this, I fuppofe, you will think lefsftrange, then that with
a Liquor eafily feparated, by a way which 1 may elfewhere
teach you, from an obvious Vegetable, of which you may
fafely eat a whole Pound at a time, I have drawn a deep red
Tindtire, even from crude Antimony, and that in not many
hours, and without heat. And



(r?)
And to thefe Experiments of Antimony, I might ("partly
from the communication of my Friends, and partly from fome
tryalsfif my own J adde divers other undivulg'd Experiments
relating to that Mineral $ if it were not now more feafonable,
referving them for other Papers, "to minde you , That the
Learned Kircherus hath inrich'd «us with a great Volume in
I olio, of Light and Shadows*, and another in Quarto^ of the
Load ftone: and yet none of thefe have fo exhauited the Sub¬
jects they have treated of, but that an after-Enquirer may be
able to recruit their Obfervations with many new ones, perhaps
more numerous or more confiderable then the former: As af¬
ter our Learned Country-man Gilbertm had written a Volume
•of the Load-ftone, the Jefuit Cabeus was not by thatdeterr'd
from writing another of the fame SubjeCt: And though fince
Cabeus, the Ingenious Kircberus have fo largely profecuted it
in his Voluminous Ars Magnetic^ yet he has not reap'd his
Field fo clean, but that a careful Gleaner may ftill finde Ears
enough to make fome Sheaves. And what I have lately try'd
or feen, makes me think it very poflible to recruit thofe many
of Kircherwsy with fome further Magnetical Experiments un-
mention'd in his Book. And I have, the very day I writ this,
made in that admirable Stone a not-inconfiderable Experi¬
ment, not extant (that I remember) there: For taking an ob¬
long Load-ftone, and heating it red-hot, I found the attra&ive
Facultie in not many minutes, either altogether aboliflvd, or
atleaftfo impaired and weakned, that I was fear ce, if at all,
able to difcern it. But this hath been obferved, though not
fo faithfully related, by more then one •, wherefore Ifhall adde,
That by refrigerating this red-hot Load-ftone either North
or South, I found that I could give its Extreams a Polarity (if
I may fo fpeak) which they would readily difplay upon an exci¬
ted Needle freely plac'd in Mqnilibrium.: Andnot onely Co,but
I could by refrigerating the fame ®nd fometime North & fbme-
time South, in a very lhort time change the Poles of the
Load-ftone at pleafure? making that which was a quarter of
am


(<«)
an hour before the North pole, become the South; an J on
the contrary, the formerly Southern Pole become the Nor¬
thern: And this change was wrought ontheLoad.ftoife, not
onely by cooling it dire&ly North and South, but by cooling
it perpendicularly •, that end of it which was contiguous to
the Ground, growing the Northern Pole, and fo (according
to the Laws Magnetical) drawing to it the South end of the
Needle-, and that which was remoteft from it, the contrary
one: As if indeed the Terreftriai Globe, were, asfome Mag-
netickPhilofophershavefuppof'd it,but a Great Magnes, lince
its Effluviums are able, in fome Cafes, to impart aMagne-
tick Faculty to the Load-ftone it felf. Some other Experi¬
ments of this nature, not extant in Kircherus, we may have-
elfewherefit opportunity to mention. And indeed, that E-
nigmatical Mineral (if I may fo call it) the Load-ftone, is a
fubjed fo fertile in Rarities, that I hear, he himfelf is Re¬
printing that accurate Treatile, with new and large Additi¬
ons.
Nor are the fmalleft and nioft defpicable produ&ions of
Nature fo barren, but that they are capable both to invite our
Speculations, and to recompense them. Pliny in the eleventh
Book of his Natural Hiftory, where he treats of Infedls, is
a little after the entrance, transported with an unwonted admi¬
ration of the Workmanfhip of Nature in them .• Nufquam
ahbi (fays he) fpeffatiore Nature rerum artificio: In nothing
elfwhere (faith he) is the workmanftnp of Nature more remark¬
able then in the contexture of thefe little Creatures. And after
a Wonder, not unworthy a Philofopher, he concludes, Rerum
Natura nufquam magis quam tn minimis tot a efl: Nature in her
whole Power is never more wholly feen then in her fmalleft Works.
To which Epiphonema he adds this Sober and Philofophical
Admonition, guapropter, quafo ne h*c legentes, qttoniam ex
his fpernunt multay etiamrelatafafttdio damnent, cum in con¬
templations Natura nihil pofsit videri fupervacaneum : Where¬
fore I would requeft the Perufers of thefe Difcourfes7 that al¬
though
'


(17)
though the fubjecls we treat of are contemptible in their eyes, thet
would not therefore difdain the relations we jhall make of them $
fince nothing ought to feem fuperfluous in the contemplation of .
Nature. I remember that it is from the confiderationof fo
defpicable a part as the skin of the Sole of the Foot , that
Galen takes occafion to magnifie the Wifdom of God in thofe
excellent terms that we (hall have occafion to mention here¬
after. And, as he fays rarely well, though fome Creatures
feem made o f much courfer Stuff then others, yet even in the
vileft the Makers Art Shines through the defpicablenefs of
the Matter. For Idiots admire in things the Beauty of their .
Materials, but Artiftsthatof the Workmanlhip: To which,
after agreatdealof Philofophical Difcourfe, he adds, Neque
cculo nec cerebro deter ins eft pes conft ruff us, fi utraifi pars ad
aBtones,cu]us gratia fuit facia,fc habeat optime•, neque cerebrum
fine pede fe probe haberet, neque pes fine cerebro: Fget enim} cpi-
nor, illud vehiculo , hie autem fenfu: Nor is the Foot worfe con¬
trived then the Brain or Eye, provided each part be duly difpofd
for performance of the atiions to which it was defign'd: Since
the Brain could not conveniently want t he Foot, nor the Foot the
Brain. For, I conceive, that one ftands in need of a fupport for
local motion, and the ether of a fource from whence to derive the
faculties of Feeling. To which we may annex that J udicious
reafoning of Ariftotley who defending from the Contempla¬
tion of the fubSimer Works of Nature, to treat of the Parts
of Animals, thus endeavors to keep his Readers from thinking
that the Objedl of it muft render that Enquiry defpicable:
Be flat (fays heW de animante Natura differ arnus \ And having
fet down thofe Words which you have not long fince read in
connexion to thefe, he thus profecutes his Difcourfe: ffyam-
cbrem, viliorum animalium difputationem perpenftonemque fa-
fiidio quod am puerih fpreviife^olefteq^ tuliffe dignum nequa-
quam eft: Cum nulla res fit Natura, in qua non mirandum ali-
quod habeatur. Ft quod Heraclitum ferunt dixifte ad cos, qui
cum alloqui cum vellent} quod forte in Cafa furnaria quadam
D caloric


(xS)
calorisgratia fedentem vidiflent, accedere temperarunt, ingrcdi
enimeos fidenterjuflit, fhtoniam, intuit, ne huic quidem loco
Dii defunt immortales} Hoc idem in tndagandaqucque natuta
animantium faciendum efe. Ag^redi enim quaque fine ullopu-
dore debemusz, cum in omnibus Nature numen^ & honcflum pul~
cbrumque in fit Ingeninm ^ Wherefore it is altogether unfeemly
to rcjeff with a kind of childijh nicetie, or be offended at the
Difcourfe and Speculation of inferior Animals ^ Since there
is nothing in all Nature, but containes in it fomervhat worthy of
Admiration. And as it is recorded of Heraclitusy that feeing
fome perfons defirous to fpeak with him, refufe to approach to¬
wards htm> becaufe they beheld him warming himfelfe in a mi-
ferable Cottage, he baa them come in without fcruple, fwcc here
alfo (faid he) are the Immortall Godsprefent: So in like manner
ought we to be highly per [waded of the Dignity of ^Animals 5
when we make Enquiries into their Natures. Which we ought
in no wife to be afham doff fence the mighty Power and laudable
Wifdome of Nature is confpicuous in all things. Nay Para-
celfus him felte^s haughty as he was, was Philofopher enough
nottodifdain to write a Book De MyfteriisVermium^ where¬
in, though according to His manner he have fet down many
extravagances, he is more Candid in the Delivery of feverall
Remedies ( which Experience hath recently taught us to be
more tfte&uall then probable) then in mod other of his Wri¬
tings: And in that Treatife he judly reprehends theLazi-
nelle and Pride of thofe Phyfitians, who not only negleft
and fcorn Enquiries of Nature themfelves: but when the
fruits of fuch Enquiries are prefented them by others, inftead
of a gratetull acceptance, receive them with contempt and de-
rifion. To which a while after he adds, what is mod true,
That Cod hath Created nothingfo Vilc^Defpicable,K_Abjefl^ or
.Filthy in the World, that may not make for the Health and
life of CM an. And certainly what ever God himfelfe has been
pleated to think worthy his Making,its Fellow-creature,Man,
Ihould mc chink unworthy of his Knowing. Nor is it a
difparagement


(19)
difparagement to a Humane Notion, to reprefent a Creature,
which has the Honour to have>been framed according to a
Divine idea: and therefore the Wifeft of Men in His Na-
turall Hiftory, fcruples not to write as well of abject ,
as of Lions,Eagles,Elephants, and other Noble Animals •• and
did not only Treate of the tall Cedars of , but that
defpicable Plant (whatever it be that is defigned by the He¬
brew Ez,ob) which growes out of the Wall. For my part,
If I durfl think my Adfions fit to be Examples, I fhould tell
you, that I have been fo farre from that effeminate fqueamifh-
neffe, that one of the Philofophicall T , for which I have
been gathering Experiments, is of the Nature andUfeof
Dungs. And though my condition does (God bepraifed)
ennable me to make Experiments by others Hands; Yet
have I not been fo nice as to decline differing Dogs, Wolves,
Ei/he/, and even Rats and Mice, with my own Hands. Nor
when I am in my Laboratory do I fcruple with them naked
to handle Lute and Charcoale.
I fh uld here, Pyropbilus, ceafe to entertain you with Dif-
courfes of the pleafantnefs of Natural Philofophy, but that
I remember I have not yet told you, that the Study of Phyfi-
ologie is not only Delightful, as it teaches us to Know Na¬
ture, but alfo as it teaches us in many Cafes to Matter 3nd
Command her. For the true Naturalift ( as we fhall fee
hereafter)does not only Know m3ny things, which other men
Ignore, but can Performe many things that other men cannot
Doe*, being enn .bled by his skill not barely to underftand fe-
veral Wonders of Nature, but alfo partly to imitate, and
partly to multiply and improve them. And how Naturally
we affedi the Exercife of this Power over the Creatures may
appear in the Delight Children take to do many things (which
we may have occafion to mention eifewhere) that feetii to
proceed from an InnatePropenfity to pleafe themfelvesin imi -
tating or changing the Produdtions of Nature.
And fure 'tis a great Honour that the Indulgent Creator
D 2 vouchlaies


(io)
vouchfafes to Naturalifts, thac though he gives them not the
power to produce one Atome of Matter, yet he allowes
them the power to introduce fomany Formes (which Phi-
lofophers teach to be nobler then Matter) and work fuch
changes among the Creatures, that if were now alive,
and fliould Survey that great Variety of Man's Productions,
that is to be found in the fhops of Artificers, the Laboratories
©fChymifts, and other well-furnilhed Magazines of Art, he
would admire to fee what a new world, as it were, orfetof
Things has been added to the Primitive Creatures by the
Induftry of His Pofterity.
And though it be very true, that Man is but the Minifter
of Nature, and can but duely apply Agents to Patients (The
reft of the Work being done by the applied Bodies them-
felves ) yet by His skill in making thofe Applications, he
is able to performe fuch things as do not only give him a
Power to Mafter Creatures otherwife much ftronger then
himfelfe; but may ennable one man to do fuch wonders,as
another man fhall think he cannot fufficiently admire. As
the poor Indians lookt upon the Spaniards as more then
Men, becaufe the knowledg. they had of the Properties of
Nitre, Sulphur and Charcoale duely mixt, ennabled them to
Thunder and Lighten fo fatally, when they pleafed. And
this Empire of Man-, as a Naturalift, over the Creatures, may
perchance be to a Philofophical Soul preferved byreafon
untainted with Vulgar Opinions, ofa much more fatisfadfory
kind ofPowerorSoveraignty then that for which ambitious
Mortals are wont fo bloodily to contend. For oftentimes
this Latter, being commonly but the Gift of Nature or Pre.
fent of Fortune, and but too often the Acquift of Crimes,does
no more argue any true worth or noble fuperiority in the
pofieffor of it, then it argues one Brafl'e Counter to be ofa
better Mettal then itsFellowes,in that it is chofenout to ftand
in the Account for many Thoufand Pounds more then any
of them. Whereas the Dominion that Pbyfiologie gives


(a)
»U the Profperous Studier ofit fbefides that it is wont to be in-
ahowes nocently acquired , by being the EffeCt of his Knowledg)
is a Power that becomes Man as Man. And to an ingenious
A kb fpirit, the Wonders he performes bring perchance a higher
Malwt, fatisfattion, as they are Proofes of his Knowledg, then as
ttots, they are Productions of his Power, or even bring Acceflions
to his Store.
st, oifetoj
atcsbjtk
theMinifc
itieoti (Ik
ic'mirt, li
s moretta
'roptrtieci
Wttai


ESSAY II.
OF THE SAME.
THe next Advantage, P that we mention'd
the Knowledg of Nature to bring to the Minds of
Men, is, That it therein excites and cheriihes Devo¬
tions Which when I fay, pyropb.I forget not that there
arefeverali Divines (and Come of them Eminent ones J that
out of a Holy Jealoufie (as they think) for Religion, labour
to deterre men from addi&ing tnemfelves to ferious and tho¬
rough Enquiries into Nature, as from a Study unfafe for a
Chriftian, and likely to end in Athsifine, oy making it pcili-
ble for Men (that I may propole to you their Objection as
much to its Advantage as I can) to give themfelves fuch an
Account of all the Wonders of Nature, by the fingle Know¬
ledg of Second Caufes, as may bring them to disbelieve the
Neceflitie ofa fir it. And certainly, if this Ap-
prthenfion were well grounded, P ihould think the threat-
tied Evill fo confiderable, that i'nftead of inviting you to the
Study of Naturall Phiiofophy, I ihould very earnefl ly La¬
bour to Diflwade you from it. For I, that had much rather
have Men not Philolophers then not Chuitans, ihould be
better content to fee you ignore trie Myfteries of Nature then
deny the Author ofit. But though theZealeoftheirlnten-
tions keep Me from harbouring any unfavourable Opinion
of the Perfons of thefe Men, yet the Prejudice that might re¬
dound from their Do&rine (if generally received) both to
the Glory of God from the Creatures, and to the Empire
ot Man over them, forbids Me to leave their Opinion unan-
fwer'd


'(*}>
fwer'd; though I am Sorry that the Neceffity of Vindicating
the Study I recommend to You from fo Heinous a Crime as
they have accus'd it of> will compel me to Theologize in
a Philofophical Difcours .• Which that I may do, with as
much Brevity as the Weight and Exigency of my SubjeCt
will permit, I ihall Content my felfe onely in the Explication
of my own Thoughts, to hint to you the grounds of Anfwe-
ring what is alledg'd againft them.
And Firft, Pyrophilus, I muft premife, That though it
may be a Prefumption in Man, fwho to ufe a Scripture Ex-
preflion, Is but of Tejlerday, and knows Nothing his
Hayes upon the Earth are but as a Jhadow ) precifely and pe- J°'a ■
remptorily to define all the Ends and Aimes ofthe Omni-
fcient God in His Great Work of the Creation 5 Yet, per¬
haps, it will be no great venture to fuppofe that at leaft in
the Creating ofthe Sublunary World, and the more Confpi-
cuous Stars, two of God's Principal Ends were, the Mani-
feftation of His own Glory, and the Good ofMen. For the prov.KM.
Firft of thefe; The Lord hath made all things for ,
faies the Preacher 5 For of Him, and through , and to Him,
are all things, faies the Apoftle. And, Thou ha(l Created
all things',and for Thy Pleafure they are and were Created,
fay the Twenty foure Proftrate Elders (Reprefentatives, per¬
haps, of the whole Church of both Teftamencs, propagated
by the Twelve Patriarchs, and the like number of Apoftles,)
to their Creatour, which Truth, were it requifite,might
be further confirmed byfeveral other Texts, which to de¬
cline needlefTe prolixity, I here forbear to infift on. Con-
fonantly to this we hear the Pfalmift Proclaiming that The
Heavens Declare the Glory of God, and the Firmament [heweth .,
his Handy-Works. To which purpofe we may alfo obferve,
that though Man were not Created till theclofe ofthe Sixt
Day (the Refident's Arrival being Obligingly Sufpended till
the Palace was made ready to entertain Him) yet that none
of God's works might want Intelligent Spectators and Ad¬
mirers


wmmmmmm
(H)
mirers, the Angels were Created the Firft Day, as Divines
generally infer from the Words of God in fob ; Where waft
thou when 1 laid the Foundations of the Earth? and a little after;
When the Morning Stars fang together , and all the Sons of God
Xob 38.5, 7. pouted for foy. Where by theeMorning Stars and Sons of
God are fuppos'd to be meant the newly Created Angels; one
of whofe earlieft exercifes was, it feems, to applaud the Crea¬
tion, and take thence occafion to fing Hymnes to the Almigh¬
ty Author of it. I fliould not, Vyophiins, adde any thing fur¬
ther on this fubjedi, but that having fince the writing of thefe
thoughts met with a Dilcourfe of Seneca's, very confonant
tofomeofthem, I fuppofe it may tend to your delight as
well as to their advantage, if I prefent you feme of the Truths
you have feen in my courfer Languag, dreft up in his finer
and happier Expreflions. Curiofum nobis ( faith he) natura
i ngent um d edit, & art is fibi pulchritudinifque confciaffpeftato-
Sm.de Otio Sap. res nos t ant is rerum fpe&aculis genuit, perditura fruEiumfui,
Cxp-S 2. - f tam magna, tam clara tarnfubti liter duff a Jam nitida &non
mogenereformofa folitudini oftenderet; Ut fcias illam fpeffari
vcluifte, non t ant urn afpici, vide quern locum nobis dedit•, nec e-
rexit tantummodo hominem, fed etiam ad contempluttonem Via
fatturum; ut ab ortu ftdera in occafum labentia profequipofj'et
& vultum fuum circumferre cum toto, Sublime tilt fecit caput,
& collo fiexibili impofuit. Deinde fena per diem> [end per
noFtem ftgna produxit; nullam non partem fui exphcuit, ut per
hac qua obtulerat ejus oculis cupiditatcm faceret etiam c&tero-
rnm : nec enim omnia ncc tam a vtfimus quanta funt^ fedacies
noftra aperit ftbi wveftigando viam, & fundament a veri jacit^
ut in qui fit io tr an feat ex ap.rtis in ohfeura, & all quid ipfo Mundo
tnveniat Antiquius. And lead you might be offended at h,:s
mentioning of Nature, and filence of God, give me leave to
informe you, that about the dole of the Chapter immedi¬
ately preceding that, whence the Pafiage you come from Rea¬
ding is tranferib'd , having fpoken of the Enquiries of Phi-
lolophers into the Nature of the Univerfe3 he adds, Hac qui
contemplalur?


05)
contemplatur, quid Deo praflat ? ne tanta ejus opera fine tefle
fint.
And to proceed to that which we have formerly aflfigmd
for the Second End of the Creation 3 That much of this Vi-
fible World was made for the ufe of Man, may appear, not
only from the time of his Creation (already taken notice of;
and by the Commitfion given to the firft Progenitors of
Mankind, to replenish the Earthy and fubdue it, and to have
Dominion over*the Fiji) of the Sea, and over the Fouls of the
Air, and over all the Earthy and over every living thing that
creepeth or moveth onthe Earth: But alfo by God's making 0en,I'lS>2*9
thole noble and vaft Luminaries, and other Bodies thatadornd
the Skie to give light upon the Earth, though inferiourto
them in Dimenfions, and to divide between the Day and be-
jween the Nighty andtobefor Stgnet^andfor Seajons , and for Gen.i.i4,ij,
Dates, and for Tears. To this agrees that Paffage in the Pro- 16.
phet, Thus faith the Lord that Created the Heavens, God him-
felfe that form d the Earth ^and made it, He hath eflabhjlied it,
He Created it not in Vatne , He formed it to be Inhabited, &c.
And thelnfpired Poet fpeaks of Man's Dignity in very com- *45,2
prehenfive Termes, For thou (faies he to his Maker) haft .
made him little lower then the Angels, and hafl Crowned him
with Glory and Honour 3 Thou madeft him to have Dominion pfai. j.^#
ever the Works ofthy Hands, thou hafl put all things under his-
Feet.
The fame truth may be confirm'd by divers other Texts,
which it might here prove tedious to infift on. And there- G=n.i.i8,i$,
fore I fhall rather obferve, that confonantly thereunto, God pfai.8.7.
was pleafed to confider man fo much more then the Creatures * 7.
made for him, that he made the Sun it felfe at one time to ho'1ix3	,zz
ftand ftill, and at another time to goe back, £nd divers times Rom. s.W
made the parts of the Univerfe forget their Nature, or A6i *£or 3;*2-
contrary to it 3 And ha's (infumme) vouchlafed to alter by
Miracles the Courfe of Nature, for the inftru&ion orreliefe
of Man (As when the Fire fufpended its deftru&ive Opera-
E tiom


r »<)
tion , whilft the three refolute Jewes with their ProteCfotir
iKing, 6.1>6.walk'd unharm'd in the mid'ft of thofe flames that deftroy'd
the Kindlers; and as the heavy Iron emerg'd up to the fwim-
ming piece of wood, miraculoufly by made Magne¬
tically And you may alfo, take notice, that when
Adam had tranfgrelled, immediatly the ground was curfed for
his fake. And as it is not unufual in Humane Juftice to raze
the very houfes of Regicides and refemblinsfTraitours •, So
when the provocations of Sodom fweli'd high enough to reach
Heaven, God did not only Deftroy the Inhabitants from the.
Face of the Earth, but for the Inhabitants Sins deftroy'd the
very Face of the Earth. So when in time a Deluge
of Impiety call'd for a Deluge of Waters, God looking upon
the living Creatures as made for the Ufe of Man, ftuck not to
Deftroy them with him, and for him-, but involv'd in his .
Ruine all thofe Animals that were not neceflary to the per¬
petuation of the Species,and the Sacrifice due for Noah's pre-
fervation. And fo when (in the Laft daies) the Earth lhall
be replenifh'd with thofe Scoffers mention'd by Sc Peter,
3; 3>5>6j who will walk after their otvn Lufts,and deride the Expectati¬
on of God's foretold coming to Judg and Punifli the Ungod¬
ly, their Impiety fliall be aS well puniflit as filenc't by the un¬
expected Flames (perhaps haftned by that very impiety) that
fhall either Deftroy or Transfigure the World. For as by
the Law of tjuofes, the Leprous Garment which could not
berecover'd by being vvailit in Water, was to be burnt in the
Fire, fo the World which the Deluge could not Cleanfe, a
generall Conflagration muft Deftroy.
Nor is reafon it felfe backward to countenance what we
teach. For it is no great prefumption to conceive, that the
reft of the Creatines were made for Man, fince He alone of
the Vifible World is able to enjoy, ufe, and relifh many of
the other Creatures, and to difcerne the Omnifcience, Al-
mightinefle and Goodnefl'e of their Author in them, and re¬
turns Him praifes for them- 'Tis not for themfelves that the
Rubies
«


(*7)
Rubies flame, other Jewels fparkle, the Bezar-ftone is Anti-
dotal!-, nor is it for their own advantage that fruitfull trees
fpend and exhauft themfelves in Annual profufions. The
Light which he diffufes through the World is ufelefle to the *
Sun himfelfe, whofe inanimate being makes him incapable of
dclightingin his own fplendor-, which he receives but to convey
it to the Earth, and other by him illuminated Globes: whence
probably the Hebrewes call'dhim Shemejh, which Gramma¬
rians derive from the RooteShemafh iignifying in the Chal¬
dean Tongue , to [erve, or minifter to\ the Sun being the
great Minifter of Nature, and Servant general of the Univerfe,
And as Animals alone among the Creatures feemtohavea
proper fenfe of, and complacency in,their own Being • So
Man alone among Animals is endowed with Reafon, at leaft
fuch a pitch of it, as by which he can difcerne God's Creatures
to be the Gifts of God, and referre them to their Creator 's
Glory. This truth I find not only embrac'd by Chriftians,
but affented to even byjewes and Heathens-, Among the
Jcwes my Learned Acquaintance, Cteanafleb Ben lfrael,pvo~in.probi. dt
fefledly labours to prove it by Scripture and Tradition emu
(though in fome of his Arguments he might appear more a
Philofopher, if he would have appear'd leffea Rabbi) and a-
mong other paflages I remember he alledges that, wherein
the Wife man faies ( asour Tranflators Englifh it) Thatthe
Righteous is an ever lafting Foundation which he renders, f li¬
ft us efl columna Mundi, jhefuft Man is'the Pillar of the prov. io.lf.
World. And indeed if the Context did not fomewhat 'Gen.*.9.
disfavour the Interpretation, the Hebrew words ['tzaddik
yefod olam~] would well enough bear the fenfe affigned them.
Congruously whereunto, I remember that when Noah (who
is call'd in Scripture a Righteous man, anda
Herald j or Proclaimer of Righteoufnejje ) offerd up that
noble Sacrifice of all the forts of clean Beafts andFovvles, as
a Thank-offering for the Reprieve of the World, God is faid
lohwefmelled a Savour of Reft, and to have refolved in his ,
E 2 Heart


€>tn.S.ii,i2,
2 do T)e Ira
cap. 2 7.
Dc lu
cap.13,
Df>
J)e Bcmf. cap.
*3-
2 do Vc Nat.
Dear.
(•iS)
Heartneverto Curfe the ground for Man's fake, but tocon^
tinue the vicifiitudes of Summer, and Winter, Day, and
Night, &c, as long as the Earth fhall remain. And among
the Philofophers themfelves, the Truth we are now mani-
fefting, has not been altogether ignor'd. For though Seneca
fomewhere, more wittily then truely,faies, Non caufamundo
fumu6 hyemem aflat emque referendi^ fuas ifta leges habent, qui-
bus divina exereentur, Ntmis nos fufpicimus, ft digni nobis
videmur, propter quos tanta move ant ur : Yet Lattantim
(not to mention other Authors) telsusthat the Stoicksge¬
nerally believed the World to have been made for man. Vera efi
(faieshe) fententia Stoicorum, qui ajunt noflracaufa Mundum
fuifte conflruHum. Omnia cnim quibus con flat, quaque gene-
rat ex fe (JMundus, ad utilitatcm hominis accommodata funt.
And Seneca himfelfe (peaks elfewhere almoft as if he had read
and believed the beginning of Genefis^ Dii (faieshe) non per
negligentiam nosgenuere, quibus tarn mult a gen iterant: Cogi-
tavit enim nos ante Natura quam fecit.
Nor were the Stoicks the only Philofophers to whom the
Contemplation of the Univerfe difcover'd this End of it. For
to inftance now in Cicero only^ Quorum igitur caufd ( faies
that great Orator J effeffum ejfe mundum r Eorum fcilicet Ani-
mantium, qua ratione utuntur: Hi funt Dii et Homines, quibus
prcfeffo nihil eft melius.
Having thus premifed, Pyrophilus, that two of God's prin¬
cipal aimes in the Creation, were the manifeflation of his own
Glorious Attributes, and the Welfare of hisnobleft Vifible
Creature, Man-, It will not be perhaps difficult for You to
difcerne,that thofe who labour to deterre men from fedulous
Enquiries into Nature,do,(though I grant, defigneleflely)take
acoutfe which tends to defeat God of both thofe mention'd
Ends.
For to fpeak firft to the Laft of them •, that man's ex ter.
nal fruition of the Creatures, and the Delight and Accommo¬
dation which they may afford him, muft be highly prejudie'd
and


X 29 5
andimp^ir'd by his ignorance of that Natural Philofophy^
whereinhis Dominion over the Creatures chiefly confifts,
what we fhall fay hereafter concerning the ufefulnefleofthe
Knowledg of Nature to humane Life, will fufficiently evince.
But fuch an Animal fruition (if I may fo call it) of the Works
of Nature, affords not Man all the good that God defign'd
him in them. For Religion being not only the great Duty
of Man, but the grand Inftrument of his future Happineffe,
which confifts in an Union with and Fruition of God, during
that endleffeTerme that fhall fucceed the expiration of his
tranfitory Life on Earth-, what ever increafes or cherifhes his
Religion deferves to belookt on as a great contributer to his
FLappinefle. And we may therefore venture to affirme that
the knowledg of the Creatures does lefle advantage Man, as
it ennables him to Mafter them-, then as it Aflifts him, by ad¬
miring and ferving him,to become Acceptable to their Author.
And what ever our diftruftful Adverfaries are pleas'd to fur-
mife to the contrary , certainly God intended that his Crea¬
tures fhould afford not only Necelfaries, and Accommodati¬
ons to our Animal part, but Inftru&ions to our Intellectual.
The World is wont to be ftil'd not unfitly by Divines, The
Chrifti*ns Inner, but perchance it may be altogether as pro¬
perly call'd his Ship: for whereas both Appellations fuppofe
him a Traveller, thelnne, though it refreih him in his Jour¬
ney, does not further him in it, but rather retard his progreffc
by detaining him in one place-, whereas a Ship not only
ferves the Paifenger for an Inne when he is weary, but helps
to convey him towards his Journey's End. And according
to this Notion, to fuppofe that God hath placed in the World
innumerable things to feed Man, and delight him,and none to
inftrudt him, were a conceit little lefle injurious to God, then
it were to a wife Merchant, that fends Perfons, he loves, to a
farre Country, to think that he would furnifh their Cabinets
with plenty of Provifions, foft Beds, fine Pictures, and all
other accommodations for their Voyage, but fend them to
E 3 Sea
yfT,


(3°)
Sea difprovided of Sea-Charts and Mariners Compares, and
other requifite helps to fteer their Courfe by , to the defired
Harbour.
And indeed fofarre is God from being unwilling, that we
fhould Prye into his Works, that, by divers Difpeafations he
itnpofes on us little lefle then a neceflityof ftudyingthem.
Tor firft he begins the Book of Scripture with the Defcrip.
tion of the Book of Nature; of which he. not only gives us a
general account,to informe us that he made the World; fince
tor that end the very firft Verfe in the Bible might have fuf-
fic'd: But he vouchfafes us by retaile the Narrative of each
Day's Proceedings, and in the two firft Chapters of
is pleas'd to give nobler hints of Natural Philofophy, then
men are yet perhaps aware of. Though that in moft other
placesof the Scripture,where the Works of Nature are men*
tioned but incidently, or in order to other purpofes, they
are fpoken of rather in a Popular then Accurate manner, I dare
not peremptorily deny, being unwilling to lnterefle the re¬
putation of Holy Writ (defign'd to teach us rather Divinity
then Philofophy )in the doubtful contentions of Naturalifts,
about fuch matters as may (though the Hiftory of the Crea¬
tion cannot) be known by the meer Light of Natural Reafon.
We may nextobferve, that God has made fome knowledg
of his Created Book, both conducive to the beliefe, and ne-
ceft'ary to theUnderftanding,of his Written one .• Our Savi¬
our making it one caufe of the Sadduces great Error about the
Relurredtion,that they knew not the Power of God. - And the
Scripture being fo full of Allufions to, and comparifons bor¬
rowed from the properties of the Creatures, that there are
many Texts not clearly Intelligible without.fome knowledg
of them; as may appear even by the firft Gofpel ( The
Promi fe that the Seed of the Womanthe Serpents
Head, and have his Heele brut fed hy that fubtle Creatureprea¬
ched to fallen Man in Paradife, and by the reprefentation of
the Worlds Four great Monarchies, and the Genius of each


(V)
of them, under the Notion of Four Beafts, in Daniels pro-
phetick Vifion : and that often repeated Precept of our great
Mafter to his Difciples, is coucht in an expreffton alluding to
the properties of Animals:. For where he commands them
to be Wife as Serpents, and Harmkfle as Doves, he does
not only recommend to them a Serpentine warinefle in decli¬
ning dangers,but feems alfo toprefcribe not alone an inoffen-
fivenefle towards others(the confpicuoufnefTe of which quality
in Pigeons have made them, though erroneoufly, be fuppo-
fedtohaveno Gall) But alfo as harmleffe a way of efcaping
the dangers they are a&ually ingaged in, as that of Doves,
who being purfued by Birds of Prey, endeavour to fave them-
felves not by fight but, only by flight.
And indeed fo many of the Texts in Scripture are not to
be competently illuftrated, without fome knowledg of the
properties of the Creatures related to in them, that I wonder
not, that Levinas Lemmas, Frantzius^Rueus, and other Lear¬
ned Men have ihoughtit requilite to publifh entire Treati-
fes, fome of the Animals, others of the Stones, andothersof
the other Works of Nature mentioned in Scripture: Only
I could wifli that they had been as wary in their Writings,
as commendable for their Intentions, and had not fometimes
admitted doubtful or fabulous accounts into Comments upon
that Book, whofe Prerogative it is to teach nothing but
Truth.
Nor ought their Labors to deterre others from cultiva¬
ting the fame Theme$ For as (fuch is Gods condefcention
to Humane weaknefle) moftofthe Texts, to whofe Expo-
fition Phyfiologie is neceffary, may be explicated by the
knowledg of the ex ternal, or at leafl: more ealily obferved qua¬
lities of the Creatures •, So, that there are divers not to be
fully underftood without the Afliftance,of more penetrating
indagations of the Abftrufities ofNature and the more unob-
vious properties of things, an Intelligent <ind Philofophical
perufer will readily difccrne.
Now


(l*)
Now if you ftiould put me upon telling yon, Tyrophilns,
whatthofe Attributes of God are,which I to often mention to
be vifibly difplay'd in the Fabrick o*f the World, I canreadily
anfwer you, that though many of Gods Attributes are legible
in his Creatures, yetthofe that are mcft confpicuous there,
are his Power, his Wifdome, and his Goodnefle, in which the
World, as well as the Bible, though in a differing, and in fome
points a darker way,isdefigned to inftrudt us, which that you
may not think to be affinn'd gratis, wemuft infift a-while on
each of the Three.
And fiift, How boundleffe a power, or rather what an
AlmightineiTe is eminently displayed in Gods making out of
Nothing all Things, and without Materials or Inftruments
conftrudling, this Immenfe Frabrick of the World, whofe
Vaftnefle is fuch, that even what maybe prov'dofit, can
fcarcely be conceived, and after a Mathematical Demonftra-
tion,its Greatneffe is diftrufted.? Which yet is, I confeffe,
a wonder lefie to be admir'd then the Powg: expreffed by
God info immenfe a Work, which nevertheleffe fome mo-
dernePhilofophers fwhofe opinions Ifind fome Cabalifts to
countenance) fuppofe to be not the only Produdlion of Gods
Omnipotence. Not to mention Elephants, or Whales, fome
of which an Hyperbolift would not icruple to call moving
Mountains and Floting Iflands-, and to pafle by thofe ftupen-
dousHils, and thofe Seas, where the Light loofes it felfe, as
Objedls which their neerneffe only reprefents fo Bulky $ let
us haften to confider, that whereas the Terreftrial Globe we
Men inhabit, containes,befides all thofe vaft Kingdomes the
Unions of fome of which conftituted the Worlds fourecele- ,
brated Monarchies, thofe fpacious ( fince dete&ed) Ameri¬
can Regions,that have been defervedly filled The New World:
And that whereas the Common Account makes the circuit
of this Terreftrial Globe to benolefte then 22600 Italian
miles,confifting each of icoo Geometrical Paces (which num¬
ber the more recent account of the accurate Gajjendus makes
amount
______ *


(??)
amount to 2625:? Miles of the fame meafure) whereas, I fay,
, this Globe of Earth and Water feems to us fo vaft, Aftrono-
mers teach us, that it is but a Point incomparifon of the Im-
menfity of Heaven s which they not irrationally prove by the
Parallaxis(or Circular difference betwixt the place of a Star, '
' fuppofd to betaken by two Obfervations, the one made at
the Centre, and the other on the furface of the Earth) which
G agendas confeffeth to be undifcernable in the fixt Stars: as if
the Terrettrial Globe were fo meer a Point, that it were not
material, whether a fixt Star be look'd upon from the Centre,
or from the furface of the Earth. * This may leffen our won¬
der at the*BtolomtAnS) making the Sun (which feems not half
a Foot over) to be above a hundred fixty and fix times bigger
then the Earth-, anddittant from it One thoufand one hundred
fi^ty and five Semi-Diameters of the Earth, each of which
contains, according to the afore-mentioned computation of
Gajjendus, 4i77Miles$ andat their fuppofingthe fixtStars
(whofe diftance the fame Author, as a Ptolom*an> fupput's to
be ipooo Semi-Diameters of the Earth) fo great,. that they Grfend. in.fl
conclude each of the fixt or fmalleft Magnitude to benolefs
then 18 times greater then the whole Earth, & each Star of the
Firftor Chief Magnitude to exceed the Terrettrial Globe 108
times. And as for rhe Copcrntcans (that growing Sext of A-
ftronomers) they, as their Hypothecs requires, fuppofe the
vaftnefsof the Firmament to be exceedingly greater then the
Ancients believed it. For Phihppus Lanfbcrgtus, who ven¬
tured to aflign Diftances and Dimenfions to the Planets and
FixtStars (which Coptrnicm forbore to do) fuppofes as well Gr.vi ,
as his Matter, that the Great Orbit felf (as the Copernicans '
call that in which they efteem the Earth to move about the
Sun) though its Semi-Diameter be fuppofd to be 1500 times
as great as that of the Earth, is but as a Point in comparifon
. of the Firmament or Sphere of the Fixt Starswhich he fup¬
pofes to bediftantfrom the Earth no lefs then 28000 Semi-
Diameters of the Great Orb, that is,* 42 000000 of Semi-
F Diameters


(h)
diameters of the Earth •, or according to the former Compu¬
tation of common Miles 175434000000, which is a Diftance
vaftly exceeding that which the Ptolomtans ventur'd to aflign,
and fuch as even imagination it felf can hardly reach to. I con-
fefs indeed, that I am not fo well fatisfied with the exadtnels
(nor perhaps with the Grounds) of thefe kinde of Computa¬
tions, by reafon of the Difficulty I have met with in making
exadl Celeftial Obfervations with either Telefcopes, or other
Inftruments, fufficientlv witnefPd, by the great difparity re¬
markable betwixt the Computations of the beft Artifts them -
felves. But on the other'fide I am not fure, but that even
theCopermeans afcribe not too great a diftance to fome of the
Fixt Stars •, fince (for ought we yet know) thofe of the fixth
Magnitude, and thofe which our Telefcopes difcover (though
our bare Eyes cannot) are not really lefs then thofe of the firil
Magnitude, but onely appear fo by reafon of their greater
Diftance from our Eyes-, as fome Fixt Stars feem no bigger
then Venus and cMercury, which are much lefter then the
Earth. And therefore upon fucli Confiderations, and becaufe
the modefteft Computation allows the Firmament to be great
enough to make the Earth but a Pointincomparifonof it 5 it
will be fafe enough, as well as juft, to conclude with the Pfal-
mift, Great is the Lord^ and greatly to be praifed $ and his great-
nefs is unsearchable.
The next Attribute of God that fhines forth in his Crea¬
tures, is his Wifdom; which to an intelligent Confiderer ap¬
pears very manifeftly exprefPd in the World, whether you
contemplate it as an Aggregate or Syftem of all Natural Bo¬
dies, or confider the Creatures it is made up of, both in their
particular and diftindt Natures, and in Relation to each other,,
and the Univerfe which they conftitute. In fome of thefe the
Wifdom of God is fo confpicuous, and written in fuch large
Charadfers, that it is legible even to a vulgar Reader: But in
many others the Lineaments and Traces of it are fo delicate
and llender, or fo wrapt up andcover'd with Corporeity, than


C ?5)
it requires an attentive 3ndintelligent Perufer. So numberlefs
a multitude, andfo great a variety of Birds,- Beads, Fiflies,
Reptiles,Herbs,Shrubs,Trees,Stoncs3MetaU,Minerals, Stars,
&c. and every one of them plentifully furnifh'd andendow'd
with all the Qualifications requifite to the Attainment of the
refpeCiive Ends of its Creation, are productions of a Wifdom
too limitlefs not to be peculiar to God : To infill on any one
of them in particular (befiaesthat it would too muchfwell
this Difcourfe) might appear injurious to the reft ^ which do
all of them defer ve that extend ve Exclamation of thePfalmift,
How manifold arc thy works, O Lord; in Wifdom hafl thou made xo4,24
them all. And therefore I fhall content my felf to obferve in
general, That as highly as fomeNaturalifts are pleafed to va¬
lue their own knowledge,it can at beft attain but to underftand
and applaud, not emulate the ProduClions of God. For as •
a Novice,when the curiofeft Watch therareft Artift can make,
is taken in pieces and fet before him, may eafily enough dif-
ccrn the Workmanfliip and Contrivance of it to be excellent 5
but.had he not been fhown it, could never have of himfelf de-
vifed fo skilful and rare a piece of Work: So, for inftance,
anAnatomift, though when by many and dexterous Difl'eCti-
ons of humane Bodies, and by the help of Mechanical Prin¬
ciples and Rules (without 3 competent skill wherein, a Man
can fcarce be an Accomplifh'd and Philofophical Anatomift) he
has learn'd the Structure, life and Harmony of the parts of
the Body, he is able to difcern that matchtefs Engine to be ad¬
mirably contriv'd, in order to the exercife of all the Motions
and Fundlions whereto it was defignd: And yet this Artift,
had he never contemplated a humane Body, could never have
imagined or devifd an Engine of no greater Bulk, anything
near fo fitted to perform all that variety of ACtions we daily
fee perforirfd either in or by a humane Body. Thus the Cir¬
cular motion of the Blood, and ftruCiure of the Valves of the
Heart and Veins (The conlideration whereof, as himfelf told
me, firft hinted the Circulation to our Famous Harvey) though
F 2 • now


(■?«)
now Modern Experiments have for the main (the Modus Teem¬
ing not yet fo fully explicated) convince! us of them, we ac¬
knowledge them to be very expedient, and can admire Gods
Wifdom in contriving them : Yet thofemany Learned Ana-
tomifts, that have for many fucceeding Ages preceded both
D"Harvey, m&Colunibtts, Cafa/pinus, Padre Paulo, and Mr
Warner (for each of thefe four laft are fuppof'd byfometo
have had fome notion of the Circulation) by all their diligent
contemplation of humane Bodies, never dream'd (for ought
appears) of fo advantagious an ufe of .the Valves of the Hearr,
nor that nimble Circular motion of the Blood, of which our
modern Circulators think they difcern fuch excellent Ufe, not
to fay, NecefTity.
' And though it be true, that the greater Works of God do
• as well declare his great Wifdom as his Power, according to
PrcY.13.1^,10 that of the Infpired Philofopher^ The Lord by Wifdom hath
founded the Earthy by Under (landing hath he ejtablijh'd the Hea¬
vens. By his Knowledge the depths are broken up, and the Clouds
drop down the Dew • Yet does not his Wifdom appear lefs in
lefler Creatures for there is none of them fo little, but it
would deferve a great deal of our Wonder, did we attentively
enough confiderit. Andas K^ipelles (iruheStory) wasdif-
cover'd by the skilful Protagoras, by fo neat and flender a Line,
that Protagoras, by being fcarce able to difcern it, difcenvd it
to have been drawn by ^y£pelles\ So God, in thefe little
Creatures, oftentimes draws traces of Omnilcience, too de¬
licate to be liable to be afcrib'd to any other Caufe. 1 have
feen Elephants, andadmir'd them iefs then the ftrudlure of a
difl'edfed Mole, which hath better Eyes then thofe,that will not
fee a defignation in the dimnefs of its Eyes (made onely to fee
the Light, not other Objedis by the help of it) and the un¬
wonted pofture of its Feet, given it not to run on the Ground,
but to dig it felt" a way under Ground. And, as defpi,cable as
their Littlenefs makes the Vulgar apt to think fome Creatures,
I muftconfefs my wonder dwells not fo much on Natures
C locks
/


( &)
Clocks (if I ma^ fo fpeak) as on her Watches, and is more
exercifd in the coynefs of the fenfitive Plant, and the Mag-
netical Properties of afmall and abjedt Load-ftone, then the
bulk of the talleft Oakes, or thofe vart Rocks, made famous
by Shipwracks. I have paff'd the and haveleenas
much to admire at in an Ant-hill, and have fo muchwondred
at the Induftry of thofe little Creatures themfelves that inha¬
bited it, that I have ceaf'd to wonder at their having given a
Theme to Solomons Contemplation, Thofe vaft Exotick
Animals which the Multitude flocks to fee, and which Men
give Money to be allow'd to gaze on, have had many of them
lefle of my Admiration, then the little Catterpillar (as Learn¬
ed Naturalifts efteem it) to which we are beholden for Silk.
For (not to mention all the Obfervables crouded by Nature
in that little Worm) I thought it very welldeferv'd my won¬
der (when not long fince I kept fome of them purpofely to
try Experiments) how this curious Spinfter, after he had bu-
ryedhimfelf alive in the precious Tomb he had wrought for
himfelf out of his own Bowels, did call off his former Skin
and Legs, and, in fliew, his former Nature, appearing for di¬
vers days but an almoft movelefle Magot 5 till at length, di¬
verting thisfecond Tegument alfo (in which Nert, Phenix-
like, he had been regenerated out of his own Remains) he
cam-e forth (if Imayfo fpeak) out of this attiring Room un¬
der another form*, with Wings, Eyes, and Leggs, &c. to
a&anewpart upon the Stage of the World •, which (having
• fpent fome days without feeding (that I could obferve) in pro¬
viding for the propagation of his Species) he for fakes and
dies. And I the rather mention the Silk-Worm, becaufe
that there have been of late divers fubtle Speculators, who
would fain perfwade us, That Animals do nothing out of In-
ftinft, or, if youpleafe, innate or feminal Impreflions ^ but
Spin, build Nefts, and perform all the other AdLons for which
they are admir'd, barely by Imitation of what they havefeen
done by others of the fame Kinde. But iu the Silk -Worm
(at


(atleaft here in England) this plaufible Opinion will not hold;
For the Silk-worms I kept,were not hatch'd but in the Spring,
out of Eggs laid fome Days in the Sun 5 and the Worms that
laid thofe Eggs, being every one of them dead the Winter be¬
fore, it was impoflible thefe new Silk-Worms, when they
firft began to lpin their fcarce imaginable fine Web, and indole
themfelves in Oval Balls of avery Artificial Figure and Tex¬
ture, fhould have wrought thus by Imitation •, there not ha¬
ving been for many Moneths before, in the place where they
werehatch'd (nor perhaps in the whole Country) any Silk-
Worms alive which they might imitate. But Imuft leave
thefe curious Spinfters to their Work, and proceed to tell you,
That Seas and Mountains, with the other Hyperboles of Na¬
ture (if I may fo term them) proclaim indeed Gods Power,but
do not perhaps moremanifeft his Wifdom, then the contri¬
vance of fome living Engines, and (if I may focall them)
Breathing Atoms, that are fo fmall that they are almoft all
Workmaniliip; fothat, as before, in the Pfalmifts Expreffi-
on we truly laid of Gods Greatnefle,7*£<tf it ;
we may now as truly fay of his Wifdom in the Prophets
Words, and in the fame Text where he reprefents him as the
Creator of the endiof the Earth,
his Under(landing.
And it I durft, Pyrophilus, make this part of this EfTay of
a length too difproportionate to the reft, I could eafily, as well
as willingly, reprefent to you divers things which might ferve
to Illuftrate the vo^oixiin®- ntU 7»©i«, manifold Wifdom of
Cod (as St. Paulfpeaks on anotheroccafion) But though I
dare not expatiate on this Subjedt, yet neither dare I altoge¬
ther conceal from you, th3t I have fometimes admired to fee
what fcarce imaginable variety of living Engines his Plaftick
skill (if I may fo fpeak) has been able to produce, (efpecially
in the Waters) without fcarce any other refemblance betwix t
them, then that they are each of them excellent in ics own
Kinde, and compleatly furnifh'd according to the exigency* of
its


Its
( 19 )
its Nature. And that which much encreafes this Wonder, is
thedifproportion of thofe living Engines, wherein the great
[Yotzer hakkol~] Former of all things fas the Scripture juftly Jer. 10. iff.
calls God) has been pleaf'd to difpiay an almoft equally skilful
Contrivance. Amongft Terreftrial Animals we have the E-
lephant, of whofe ftupendious vaftnefs fuch ftrange things are
related, even by eminent Writers, that I know not well how
either to dif- believe them, or give credit to them: And there¬
fore we fliall content our felves to mention that which is left on
Record by the accurate Gafiendus in the Life of ; For m Vit.
this matchlefs Gentleman having cauf'dan Elephant, in the
Year 1631, to be weigh'd in a Scale, purpofely provided, he
was found to weigh, of the Roman Pounds (confifting of
twelve Ounces apiece) very near Five thoufand : And yet fure-
ly that this Elephant was very far from being one of the lar-
geftof that fort of Beafts, he that fliall confider thebignefs
and length of fome of their Teeth, as they are commonly
call'd, which are to be feen at divers places, both in England
and elfewhere, and is not refolv'd not to believe the confonant
Relations of Eaftern Travellers (among whom tells
us there have been fome Teeth found to weigh Two hundred
pounds apiece, each pound confifting of twenty four Ounces)
may be eafily perfwaded. On the other fide let us reflect up¬
on the fmalnefs of fome Terreftrial Animals 5 and not to men¬
tion that little white Creature bred in Wax, which Ariftotle
calls 'Awei, and fpeaks of as fuppof d to be the leaft of all li¬
ving Creatures whatfoever: Let us confider thofe little Mites
that are bred in mouldy Cheefe; for divers of thefefcarce.a-
mount to the weight of a Grain, and every Pound containing
Five thoufand feven hundred and fixty Grains 5 fuppofing
e3ch Mite did weigh a whole Grain, yet that formerly men¬
tion d fmall Elephant would exceed him near 28800000 times.
And yet though a Mite feem but a moving Atome, and unlefs
there be divers together, is not eafily difcern'd by the unalfift-
cd Eye 5 yet in an excellent Microfcope I have, you know,
feveral


(4o)
Several tunes both feenand (hewn to others, even in a gloomy
Day, and a difadvantageous Place, not onely the Limbs of
this little Animal, but the very Hair growing upon his Legs.
Now let us but confider howftrangely skilful and delicate a
Workmanlhip muftvbe employ'd to contrive into Co narrow a
compafs,the feveral Parts Internal and External, requifite to
make up this little Animal-, how many muft goe to the texture
of the Eyes, and other Organs of Senfes how many to the
Snout (which he has, not unlike a Hog) and the feveral parts
of it how many to the Stomach and Guts, and the other In¬
ward Parts addicted to the digeftion of Aliment, andexclufi-
on of Excrements • and to be Ihort, how inimaginably fub-
tle muft be the Animal Spirits running too and fro in Nerves
fuitable in fuch little Legs: And if, as we have obferv'd them
to multiply by Eggs, the little Creatures be hatch'djn thofe
little Eggs, after the manner of divers other Oviparous Ani¬
mals, howmuchfmallerthen a hatched Mite muft be a Mite
upon the Animation of its delineated Parts ? fince in Hens
Eggs we have fometimes feen the Chick manifeftly alive, and
its Limbs clearly delineated, whilll: yet it took up fo fmalla
portion of the Egge, that both the White and the Yolk (be¬
twixt which it is generated, and not of the Chalazia or Tredlc,
as Aquapendente and other Moderns teach) feem'd to be fome-
timesyet intire,as well as involv'din their peculiar Membranes.
But it is not fo confpicuous in gradient Animals (if I may fo
fpeak) as in fwimfeiing ones 5 How vaftly difproportionate
Mafles of Matter the wife Former of things can fafliion into
living Engines. For Whales are much more ftupendious Crea¬
tures then Elephants: And not to mention what
( apud fohnflonum) tells us of twenty forts of Whales, where¬
of the eighteenth Species, which he calls Nordhrval, is by him
related to be Ninety Ells long-, but what Ells he means, I
know not: Nor to-mention thole lefs incredible Accounts
which are given of the vaftnefs of Whales by our Englifli Na¬
vigators, who are wont to Filh for them 5 I lliall onely fee
down


I 4* J
down what Is related by one of the eminenteft Modern Lyn-
cean Philofophers, becaufe he fpeaks as an Eye- witnefs, when yo: v^eY Ly4:
he tells us, That in the Year 1624, there was caft upon a place ceta in hi* ex-
near Santa Sever a, about 3 o Miles from Rome, a dead Whale p0ar^aes°o£0mC
of 91 Palms in length, and 50 in thicknefs: He adds, That
its Mouth was 16 Palms long, and 10 high ; in which, being
opened and kept gaping; a Man on Horfe-back might finde
competent room ; this Mouth beingufed toharbor a Tongue
of twenty Palms (which may make out fifteen Foot) in length.
The fame inquifitive Writer adds, That four Years before,near
the Ifland of Corfica, not far from the Coaft of Italy, another
Whale was caft, One hundred Foot long; which being a Fe¬
male, was found to be big with a Cub of thirty Foot long*
1500 pound weight. But that which will let you fee, Tyro-
jphiltts, the difyroportion betwixt thefe kindeof Fifties and
common Elephants, is, that which the, fame Author adds,
That the Lard onely, or Fat (as he fpeaks Came a pinguedo) of
this corpulent Creature,weigh'd One hundred and thirty five thou-
f'and pound, that is, above Twenty feven times the weight of
the whole Elephant, which wascauf'd tobeweigh'd by Pc*-
reskius. And though the Omnipotent Creator be able to
make fwimming Creatures of fuch prodigious bignefs, that:
the Ocean it felf may feem to be but a proportionate Pond for
fuch Fifties; yet is the fame Omnifcient Continuer, as able
to make a fwimming Engine more (lender then a Cheefe mite,
and fo little, that a fmall part of a Grain may out-weigh di- 1
vers of them. For, Tyrophilus, I muft here acquaint you
with a ftrange Obfervation, which I have been informed to
have been fome while iince made in Italy by Panarola a Fa¬
mous Phyfitian in Rome^ who is faid, by the help of an ex¬
cellent Microfcope, to have difcern'd in Vinegar fmall Living
Creatures, which he takes to be Worms. The mention of
fo unlikely an Experiment, made me engage fome excellent
Philofophers and Mathematicians to afliftmein examining it:
But though our Microfcopes exceeded the beft that were
G brought


brought ns over from Rome, yet all our diligence and attention
did but make them conclude that s Eyes bad been de¬
luded. Notwithftanding which, caufinga fomewhat hollow
bottom of pure Cryftalline Glafle to be fitted to my Mi-
crofcope, I profecuted the Enquiry my felf; and at length was
fo lucky, asnotonely todifcoverthefe little Creatures with
a Microfcope, but by holding the Liquor in a Cryftal Viol,
almoft upon the ftrong Flame of a Candle, to difcover multi¬
tudes of them with my naked Eyes, as weak as they are. But
though I have already convinc'd thofe that formerly derided
fuch Obfervations, as not to be made with the beft Microf¬
cope, yet the great weaknefs of my Sight has not permitted
me to perfedt my Obfervations concerning thefe Creatures.
And therefore referving the more particular mention of this
odde Obfervation till another time, I (hall now onely tell you
as much as is pertinent to our prefent purpofe; namely, That
having with a certain parcel of ftrong White-wine Vinegar
(for 'tis not in every Vinegar that they are conftantly to be
found,) fill'd up to the top thin Viols with long and {lender
Necks 5 and having likewife with the fame Liquor fill'd other
imall Cryftalline Viols, though fhort-neck'd, and held them
betwixt my Eye and the Sun, or a Window open towards it,
or very near a great Candle, I have often in thefe Giaftes, ef-
pecially in their {lender Necks, after having a while fix'd my
Eye on them (attention being in this cafe very necefl'ary) ad¬
miringly obferv'd great numbers (and fometimes as it were
Shoals) of living Creatures, which feem'd to be rather Fifties
then Worms; for they fwim freely up and down the Liquor,
and often hover about the top of it, with a wrigling motion,
like that of Eels, to which likewife their long and {lender fli3pe
refembles them. And though thefe fwimming Creatures be
not all exadlly of a fize, yet fome of them feem'd flenderer
then any fort of living ones, that hath hitherto been taken no¬
tice of by the unaflifted Eye: And I remember, that having
look'd in a good Microfcope upon one of them, and a Cheefe-
mite


( 4* )
mite nv.?ch about the fame time, the Fiflr appear'd fo {lender,
that we judg'd it not much thicker then one of the Legs of the
Mite: So that considering what a vaft deal of matter the great
Creator can manage and fafhion into a Whale, and in howlit-
tleroomhecan contrive all the parts requifiteto conftitute a
Fifin,wemay juftly fay to him in the Pfalmifts Language, Pfal.
is none Uke unto thee (0 Lord) neither are there any works like
unto thy works.
Thelaftofthe three Properties of God, which we menti¬
oned him to have manifefted in the Creation,is his Goodnefies
Of which all his Creatures do in their due meafure partake,
partly by their having a Being vouchfafed them, and partly
bytheirbeingprefervedinitaslongas their fubordination to
higher purpofes, and to more powerful creatures do permit,
by that fupporting Influence of God which keeps them from
relapfing into their firft Nothing-, according to that memo¬
rable Paflage, where Nehemiah having mentioned God as the
Creatour of the Heavens, the Earth, the Seas, and all the Crea¬
tures belonging to them, He calls Him the Preferver, or fas
the Original has it) The enlivener of them all. And as for
Animals, who 3re more capable of enjoying, though not moft
of them of difcerning His bounty, His Goodnefle to them
is more confpicuous. For befides that in Scripture he is
called The Preferver both of OUan and Beafl, 3nd accor¬
dingly is faid to give food even to the young Ravens that cry,
and to have after the Flood remembred not only Noah, but
every living thing that wets with him in the , His Good¬
nefle to them is apparent by the plentiful and eafily attainable
provifion he makes according co the exigence of their fe-
veral Natures. For that innumerable fwarm of various Birds,
Beafts, Fiflies, Reptiles, and other Animals that People the
Terreftrial Globe, and the contiguous parts of the World,
and by his endowing each of them, with all the Qualifications
requifite to the perpetuation of their Species, and the prefer-
yatron of their Lives, as far forth as is confiftenc with his Ends
G a in
Nehem.
Gen. 8, t


In their Creation. But moft refplendent does the Good-
nefle of God appear towards his Favourite Creature, Man*
whom having vouchfaf d to ennoble with his own Image, he
makes moft of the Creatures of the world vifible to us, pay
homage to him, and in fome manner or degree do himfervice:
Cod's liberality at once bellowing on him all thofe Creatures
by endowing him with a Reafon enabling him to make
ufe of them; fo that even thofe Creatures which he is not able
to fubdue by his Power, he is able to make ferviceable to him
by his Knowledg •, as thofe vaft Globes of Light, which are fo
farreabove him, that their Immenlity and Brightnefle can
fcarce render them vifible to him, are by man's Mathematicks
forced to give him an accounc of all their Motions, and wai¬
ting upon his Dials keep time for him •, and even the defeats
of fuch works of Nature, are by man's skill made ferviceable
to him, as the Eclipfes of the Moon ferve Geographers notably
in that difficult and ufeful worke of finding Longitudes. The
Stars ferve for Candles to give man light, and the Celeftial
Orbs are his Candlefticks. He breaths the Aire, the Fire
w-ai mes him, and ferves him not only in his Kitchin, but to
mailer moft other Bodies in his furnaces. The Clouds wa¬
ter his Land, the Earth fupports him and his Buildings, the
Sea and winds convey him andhisFloating-houfestothere-
moteft parts o{ the World, and enable him to polfelle every
where almoft all that Nature or Art has provided for him
any where. The Earth produces him an innumerable mul¬
titude of Beafts to'feed, cloath, and carrie him; of Flowers and
Jewels to delight and adotnehim; of Fruits, to fuftaine and
refrelh him; of Stones and Timber, to lodg him; of Simples,
to cure him; and in fumme, the whole fubiunary World is
but his Magazine. And it feems the grand bufinefie of reft-
. lefle Nature fo to conftitute and manage his Productions,
as to fumilh him with Neceflaries, Accommodations, and
Pleafures.
Of


Of fuch a Number of Plants, Animals,Metals,Minerals,&c.
that people and enrich the Terreftriall Globe, perhaps there
is not anyone, of which Man might not make an excellent
ufe, had he but an infight into its Nature: nor are the moft
abjed and defpicable therefore the leaft ufeful. There is
not any Stone, no not the fparkling Diamond it felf, to
whom Man is fo much beholden, as he is to the dark & unpro*
mifing Load-ftone, without which the New-World probably
had never been detected,and many Regions of the Old World
would have little or no commerce with each other. Nor
have the Lion,the Eagle,and the Whale, joyned all together
(though reputed the Chief of Birds, Beafts, and Fifties)
been fo ferviceable to Man, as that defpicable Infed, The Silk¬
worm. And if we impartially confider the Lucriferoufnefs (if
[ may fpeak in my Lord of Sc Alb Stile) of the properties
of Things, and their Medical Virtues, weihall finde, That we
trample upon many things, for which we flrould have caufe to
kneel, and offer God Praifes, if we knew all their Qualities
and Ufes: But of this fubjed we may elfewhere purpofely
treat.
To which I muff onely adde, That you will in¬
jure Nature, if you fuppofe, either that all the Concretes,
endowed with excellent Properties, have long fince been no¬
torious, or that all the Medicinal Virtues of Simples, Com¬
monly uf'd,are already known 5 or that all thofe Concretes are
deftitute of confiderable Properties, to whom none have been
yet afcrib'd by eminent Authors. For almoft every day ei¬
ther difclofes new Creatures, or makes new Difcoveries of the
ufefulneffeof things*, almoft each of which hath yet a kinde
of Terra incognita, or undeteded part in it: How many new
Concretes,rich in Medicinal vertues,does the New World pre-
fent the Inquifitive'Phyfitians of the Old? dig nam (fays
the Ingenious Pifo, in his newly publiih'd Medicina ,
lib. 1.) quod eximia tot arbores, frutic& innumera herb*,
fi&ura> folik & frufiibus a veter Fegetabilibw,


except Is, difsimillima appareant.
bus&pi[citrus deprehenditur, ut &
fiitutis •, qua tneffabili colorum pulchritudine & portent of a
titudine generantur, partem nota nobis, And
of the known American Simples, How many latent Virtues
does experience from time to time difcover ? And (to men¬
tion now no others J the Febrifugal property of that Peruvian
Tree, called by the Natives Gann, whofe Bark, call'd
commonly china Febris, has been at , and frelhly alfo
at London, found fo wonderfully effectual againft thofeftub-
born Difeafes, guartatn Agues; and though a Learned Au¬
thor endeavors to depreciate it, by alledging, That it is wont
rather to fufpend the Fits, then truly cure the Difeafe, which
after awhile will return again; yet, befides that, it may be
often very beneficial to a weakned Patient, to have his Fits put
off,the Phyfitia thereby alfo gaining Opportunities to imploy
ftrengthning and preventing Remedies: Befides this, I fay,
if you will credit that great Perfon, Sir Kenelm Digby, it is
rather the Patients or Dodfors fault, then the Medicines, if
the Difeafe return. For having purpofely confulted him about
this Objedlion againft the life of the Cortex he
folemnly aflur'd me,-That of betwixt Twenty and Thirty Per-
fons, that he had himfelf cur'd of Jguartanes by this Remedy ^
not fo many as Two fell into a Relapfe.
And now I am upon the mor^ frefhly difcover'd Virtues of
American Drugs, I might acquaint you with the admirable
Properties, not onelyin Difeafes, but even in Wounds of a
certain Mineral, which (though careful examination of it has
not yet taught me to what Species of Stones to reduce it) you
cannot but have heard mention'd with wonder, under the name
of Sir Walter Raleigh's Stone, which my Father, e<W,
enjoy'd,and did ftrange things with for mahy years, gnd by his
Will bequeathed fas the higheft Legacy he could leave him)
to his deareft Friend, the moft Learned and Famous Br
Frtmate of Ireland: But of this Stone, the merit of the tub-.
jedt


ivfl
Kit
(47)
je& makes me referve what I have to fay, to a Difcourfe*
wherein I maybe allowed to fay more to it then now I dare:
and therefore I fhall proceed to tell you, that 'tis not in the
Simples of the New World onely, that new Medicinal pro¬
perties may be difcover'd for even thofe which daily obtrude
themfelves upon our carelefs Eyes, or are trampled under our
regardleife Feet, may pofTeffe Virtues, to which the major
part of Botanifts are mere Strangers. To which purpofe, I
remember that I have often gather'd a little fhort-liv'd and de-
fpicable Plant, with which alone (flightly infuf'd in Beer) I
lately knew a yong Kinfman of Sir Ktntlm in few
Days, and without pain, as both Himfelf, his Mother, and
hisPhyfitian afl'ur'dme, cur'd of that ftubborn and feldotn
vanquiih'd Difeafe of the Kings Evil, againft which it doth
Wonders; and yet having confulted not onely fome of the
famoufeft and recenteft Herbals, both Englifh and Latine, a-
boutthis, but alfo enquired of two or three eminent Herba-
rifts, I could finde neither any fuch Virtue, noralmoftany at
all, afcrib'd by Authors to that excellent Plant.
And whereas Gods bounty to Man in the Creatures, feems
a little clouded and ftreightned by his permitting fome Poifon-
ous Plants and Venomous Animals to have a Being in Nature;
to that it may be reply'd, Firft, That many Poifonous Bo¬
dies contain their own Antidotes; infomuch that the diligent
rifo, who hath had great opportunities to examine the Effe&s
of both, ventures to fay, treating of the Poifons and Anti¬
dotes to be met with in Brafil, dixeris,
an Alexiteria plura fint pronata: and a little lower, ,
fores, fxfruciusherbarum Tangarac
filia f acile prima, propriam [uam unaquzj, oppofitum
babet Antidotum: and a little after,
guedinem & capita, turn & integra Infect,i qua vulnera intule-
rint, ex arte par ata,audacter & cum fucceffu
iiiibxf applicant; adeof peripfos comprobare nituntur
in emm veneno contineri [num Antidotum: And next, that
the


(4§ )
the noxioufneflfe of many (and therefore not improbably of
all of them) is not fo incorrigible, but that by Mans Art and
Chymical Preparations, they may be made, not onely inno^
cent and harmlefs, but ufefultoo. This Truth, Pyropliilus,
Antimony and Quick-filver, andfome other noxious Bodies
(which Men have learn'd to make Medicinal) have already
taught our Modern Phyfitians who prefcribe, even in their
Difpenfatories, divers Medicines made out of thofe churlifh
Minerals, to which, intheenfuing Difcourfes, you will find
divers others (perhaps not inferior) added. That Of turn is
reckon'd by Phyfitians among Poifons, I need not tell you 5
and yet fuch powerful Remedies may be made with it for many
defperate Cafes, efpecially inhot Countries, that the good it
may doe, fo much exceeds the harm, that Phyfitians would be
forry there were none of it in the World. The Oyl of Scor«
pions is not onely Antidotal againft their Stings, but iswit-
neffed, by experience, to be very uleful to bring away the de¬
fending Stone of the Kidneys, and to remedy divers other
Mifchiefs, befides thofe that Scorpions can doe. And to thefe
I fhall need but to adde one inftance more, becaufe of the no-
bleneffe of that fingle one, and that is the Root Mandthoc<tt
fo common all over the Weft Indies : for Nature is fo far from
having been a Step-mother to Man in making that Plant a-
bound fo much in thofe Countries, though in its crude fimpli-
city (as the Helmontians fpeak it be confefi'edly a rank Poifon,
that fhe hath fcarce in any one Plant been fo bountiful to the
?nericans. For by a flight and eafie preparation, which we
fball hereafter mention, it affords many populous Nations al-
moftall the Bread they eat, and fonre of them a good part of
their Drink •, the Root freed by a ftrong Prefs from the noxi¬
ous Juice, and dry'd, affording them that Caffavie Meal,
whereof they make their Bread} which by the tafteandco-
loutT could not dilcernto be other then good. Nor is this
the onely ufe this Poifonous Plant affords them: For the a-
bove-commended ///"ogivesus this /hort, but comprehenfive
rr-" Cha-
...
/2


P-fai. 19. t*
(49)
Chara&ef of it 5 Ex Mandihoca radice maxim fcatente vent*
no^ optimum Alimentu non folumfed & Antidotum concinnatur»
(lib. 30) But concerning the ufe that may be made of Poi*
fonous Creatures, we elfewhere profefledly difcourfe: And
fhall therefore now proceed to obferve to you here, that I have
not yet mention'd to you the inftance which moft manifefts
the greatnefs of the Good which God intended Man in the
Creatures: For, not content to have provided him all that>
was requifite either to Support or Accommodate him here, he
hath been pleafd to contrive the Wbrld fo, that (if Man be
not wanting to himfelf) it may afford him not#onely Neceffa-
ries and Delights, but Inftrudions too 5 For each Page in the
great Volume of Nature is full of real Hieroglyphicks, where
fby an inverted way of Expreflion) Things ftand for Words,
and their Qualities for Letters. The Pfalmift obferves, That
the Heavens declare theglory of Cod: And indeed, they cele¬
brate his Praifes, though with a foundlefs Voice, yet with fo
loud a one (and which gives us the Moral of Plato's exploded
notion of the Mufick of the Spheres) to our intelle&ual Ears,
that he fcruples not to affirm, that There is no Speech nor Lan¬
guage where their voice is not heard (or as Junius and Tremellius
render it, without violence to the Hebrew Text, There is no
Speech nor Words ^ y et without thefe their Voice is under flood) and
that their Line is gone throughout all the earth $ that is (as the
Learned Diodati expounds it) their Writing in grofs ana plain
Draughts, and their Words to the end of the World: Their
Language having fo efcap'd the confufion of .Tongues, that
thefe Natural and Immortal Preachers give all Nations occa-
fion to fay of them, as the Alfembly at Pentecoft did of the
Infpir'd Apoftles, We do hear them (peak in*our Tongues the Aftsi.it.] ]
wonderful Works of Cod*
Nor can we without liftning to thefe Sermons, derive the
entire(perhaps not the chiefeft)Benefit defign'd us in the Crea¬
tures :^Forfure, that God, who hath compofd us both of
Body and Soul, hath not confin'd the ufesof fomanyadml-
H table


15° )
rable Creatures, and fo much inimitable Workmanfhip to that
ignoble part of Man which coupleth him to the Beafts, with
thenegle&of that Diviner Portion, which allies him to the
Angels-, vouchfafing to the Lord of the Creatures, in the
fruition of this his Palace, no higher Prerogative then he is
pleaPd to allow to the Brutes, that ferve buttocompleatthe
variety requifite for its embellifliment. Of this Opinion I
lately found that excellent Writer, S'^Alufline, to have been
before me : For, Non debes uti oculis (fays h€)ut pecus, tan-
tum ut videos^ qua add a* non menti: utere, ut homo, in¬
tends Caelum, qf intende Faff a, Square Faff or cm 5 afpice qu&
vidcs, &qu&re quem non vidcs, crcdein eumqncm non vidcs,
propter ifia qu& vidcs. Nolite fieri (icut equw & mulus, &c.
Nor can the Creatures onely inform Man of Gods Beirfg
and Attributes (as we have already feen) butaifo inftrudl him
p. Aug. Ho;n. jn ^ own Duties: For we may fay of the World, as St Au-
5 fin did of the Sacraments, that it is Verhum vifibile. And
certainly, God hath never fo confin'd himfelt to inftruct
Men by Words or Types, as not toreferve himfelf the liber¬
ty of doing it by things: Witnefs his appointing the Rain¬
bow to Preach his Goodnefs to all Nations, andfortifie the
Faith of Mankindeagainft the fear of a fecond Deluge. 'Tis
fomething to high a faying for an Heathen, that of Plate,
where he teaches, 7'hat the World ts Gods Fpiftle, mitten to
Mankinde. For by Solomon God fends the Sluggard to fchool
to the Ant, to learn a provident Induftry : Chrift commands
his Difciples to team of Serpens and Pigeons prudence and in-
offenfivenefs: The fame Divine Teacher enjoyns his Apo-
files to conjider the Lilies, or (as fome would have it) the Tu¬
lips of the Field, and to learn thence that difficult Virtue of a
&€«r, 55. 3d, diftruftlefs relyance upon God: And Sr feems almoft an-
37> gry with the Cartntbians, That their Faith, info abftrufeMy-
fteries as that of the Refurre&ion, was not inform'd and
ftrengchned, by coniidering the meliorating death of Corn
committed to the Earth: And the Royal Poet learns Humili¬
ty


' (5* J
ty, by the Contemplation of themoft elevated parts of Na¬
ture •, when I conftder (fays he )the Heavens, , t
fingers, the (JHoon and Stars which thou ordained, What is '
Man, that thou viftte/l hint ? Thus you may fee that God in¬
tended the World fliould ferveMan, not onely for a Palace
to live in, and to gaze on, but for a School of Virtue 5 to
which his Philanthropy referves fuch ineftimable Rewards,
that the Creatures can, on no account, be fo beneficial to Man,
as by promoting his Piety, by a competent degree of which,
Gods goodnefs hath made no lefs then Eternal Felicity attain¬
able.
H M* Ejfr





(53)
ESSAY III.
Containing a Continuation of the Former.
HAving thus, Pyrophilus, endeavored to evince, that
the Opinion that would deter Men from the fcrutiny
of Nature, is not a little prejudicial to Manslnte-
refts, and does very much leflen the Advantages he may derive
from the Creatures, both in relation to his accommodation in
this Life, and his Felicity in the next: Let us proceed to confi-
der, whether the Dodtrine we oppofe do not likewife tend, in
its own nature (though not in the Intentions of its Patrons; to
defeat God of much of that Glory which Man both ought and
might afcribe to him, both for himfelf and the reft of the
Creatures. How unlikely is it that we fhould be able to offer
to God that Glory, Praife, and Admiration, hebothexpedis
and merits from fuch a contemplation of the Creatures, as
though it be requifite to the true knowledge of their Nature
and Properties, is yet fuppof'd either pernicious, or at leaft
dangerous, You, Pyropbi/w, or any other impartial Perfon
may eafily determine.
For the Works of God are not like the Tricks of Juglers,
or the Pageants that entertain Princes, where concealment is
requifite to wonder $ but the knowledge of the Works of
God proportions our admiration of them, they participating
and difclofing fo much of the inexhaufted Perfections of their
Author, that the further we contemplate them, the more
Foot-fteps and Impreffionswe difcover of the Perfedtions of
their Creator $ and our utmoft Science cau but give us a jufter
venera-


_
54)
veneration of his Omnifcie-nce. And as when fome Country
Fellow iooks upon a curious Watch, though he may be huge¬
ly taken with the rich Enamel of the Cafe, and perhaps with
feme pretty Landskip that adornsthe Dial-plate ^ yet will not
his Ignorance permit him fo advantageous a Notion of the ex-
quifite Makers skill, as that little Engine will form in fome
curious Artift, who befides that obvious Workmanihip that
fir ft entertains the Eye, confiders the exaCtnefs, and knows
the ufe of every Wheel, take? notice of their proportion,
contrivance, and adaptation altogether, and of the hidden
Springs that move them all: So in the World, though every
Perufer may read the exiftence of a Deity, and be in his de¬
gree affeCted with what he fees, yet is he utterly unable to de-
fcry there thofe fubtler Characters and Flourillits of Omnifci-
ence, which true Philofophers are fharp.fighted enough to dif-
cern. The exiftence of God is indeed fo legibly written on
the Creatures, that (as the Scripture fpeaks in another fenfe)
Habb.a. waJ ri'» that reads it •, that is, even a perfunCtory Beholder,
that makes it not his bufinefs, may perceive it. But that this
God has manifefted in thefe Creatures a Power, a Wifdom,
and a Goodnefs worthy of himfelf, needs an attentive and dili¬
gent Surveyor to aifcover. How different notions of Gods
Wifdom do the Eggs of Hens produce in the ordinary Eaters
of them, and in curious Naturalifts, who carefully watch and
' diligently obferve from time to time the admirable progrefs of
Nature in the Formation of a Chick, from the firft change ap¬
pearing in the Ctcatricula (or little whitifh fpeck difcernable in
the Coat of the Eggs Yolk) to the breaking of the Egg-fhell
by the perfectly hatched Bird, and on Natures exquifite me¬
thod in the order and fafhioning of the parts, make fuch Philo-
fophical reflections as you may meet with (not to mention
what Ariflotle and Fabricius ab , haveobferved
onthac fubjeCt)in the Ingenious Treatife of Generation,which
our accurate and juftly Famous Anatomift, D has
bsenpleafed to Dedicate tomes and in the excellent Exerci-
tations,


(55)
tions, De Ovo, x>f that great Promoter of Anatomical Know-
ledge, Dr Harvey. And whereas it may be alledg'd, That
the Attributes of God, which are not taught us,but after much
{peculation of the World, arethingsof which lio Man but an
Atheift doubts 5 to this it may bei eply'd, That befidesthat,
it ill becomes the fenfe we ought to have of our weaknefs to de-
fpife any helps vouebfaf'd us of God to affiftusto know or
ferve him • befides this, I fay, God loving, as he deferves, to
be honor'd in all our Faculties, and confequently to be glori-
fi'd and acknowledge by the ads of Reafon, as well as by
thofe of Faith, there muft be fure found a great difpanty be¬
twixt that general, confufd, and lazy Idea we commonly have
of his Power and Wifdom, and the diftind, rational, andaf-
feding notions of thofe Attributes jvhich are form'd by an at¬
tentive infpedion of thofe Creatures in which they are moft
legible, and which were made chiefly for that very end. The
Queen of Sheba had heard in her own Country averyadvan-
tageous Fame of the Wifdom of Solomon $ but when the cu-
riofity of aperfonal Vifit made her an Eye-witnefs of thofe
particular both exquifite Strudures, and almoft Divinely pru¬
dent Conduds and Contrivances wherein that Wifdom did in¬
imitably difplay it felf, flie then brake forth into Pathetick and
Venerating Exclamations, that acknowledg'd how much juft-
er and improved a Charader (of his Wifdom) her Eyes had
now given her, then formerly her Ears had done.
Very like a Philolopher, methinks, does the Great
Mercurius Trifmegiftus (if we grant him to be the Author
of the Books afcribed to him) fpeak, when he tells his Son,
There can be no Religion more true or jufl, then to know the Merc.Trifm.
things that are, and to acknowledge thanks for all things to htm j^Vuihed b
that made them $ which thing 1 /hall not ceafe to do: (he conti - Di\ Evtrard.
nues) Be Pious and Religious^ O my Son I for he that doesfo is the
be [I and higheft Philofopher $ and without Philofophy it is impof-
fible ever to attain to the height and exaffnefs of Piety and Reli¬
gion. And'twas perhaps, Pyrophtlw, toingage us toanin-
duftnous


f5«l
mduftrious indagation of the Creatures, that God made Man
fo indigent, and furniflfd him with fuch a multiplicity of De-
fires v fo that whereas other Creatures are conrent with thofe
few obvious and eafily attainable neceffaries, that Nature has
almoft every where provided for them-, In Man alone, every
fenfe has ftore of greedy Appetites, for themoft part of Su¬
perfluities and Dainties, that to relieve his numerous 'Wants,
orfatisfie his more numerous Defires, He might be oblig'd
with an inquifitive Induftry to Range, Anatomize,and Ranfack
Nature, and by that concern'd furvey come to a moreexqui-
lice Admiration of the Omnifcient Author. To illuftraie
this iubjed yet a little further, Pjrophilus, give me leave to
obferve to you, That Philofophers of almoft all Religions
have been, by the contemplation of the World, Hiov'd to
confident under the notion of a Temple: Neadoremus flays
Plutarch) Element a, Caelum^ Solem, Lunam^ &c. fpecula funt
hac^ in quibus artem illius fingularem intueamur^ qui mundum
condidit, & adornavit $ nec eft aliud CMundus quam Templum
ejus : Let us not venerate the Elements, the Heaven^ the Sun5
the Moon^ &c. thefe are but Miroirs, wherein we may behold his
excellent rt, who framd and adorn d the World $ nor is the
World any thing elfe but his Temple : Homines ffays Ctcero) tu -
entur ilium Globnm^quem in Templo hoc medium vides, qui terra
dicitur: Men abide upon that Globe which you fee in the middle of
this Temple^ and is called the Earth •, which Macrobius hand-
fomely thus expounds: guicquid humano ajpettui fubjicitur,
Templum ejus vocavit qui jold mente concipttur, ut qui hac vs»
neraturut ternpla, cultum tamen maximum debeat Conditoriy
fciatfo quifquts in ufum Templi hu\us inducitur, ntu fibi viven -
dumfacerdotis : kJa 11 that humane view reaches, he terms his
Temple, who is apprehended by the minde alone , to the end that
who jo reverences thefe things as Templemight render the great-
eft worfhip to the Maker 3 and-every one that is brought to con-
verfetn this Temple^ might know himfelf obligd to live like a
Prieft.


(5?)
And the Lofty Seneca, (to mention now no other Hea¬
thens) in divers paflages of his excellent Writings > ftilesthe
World a Temple*, and Iremember in hisTreatiie, De Bene-
ficiis, he avers in terms not unworthy his Mind or his Subjedh
Totum mundum Deorum efje i mm or t ahum Templum, folum
qutdem amplttudinc tllorum ac■ magnificentia dignum. That
the whole World is the Temple of the immortal Gods, being alone
worthj of their Grandeur and Magnificence. The affent of
the Jewifh Philofophers, to this Notion, you may bepleafed.
to receive from their Eloquent Phtlo, who not only gi1
the World the Name ofTemple, but gives us this account
of that appellation^ Templum Dei (upremum & vere tale
cxiftimare totum hunc mundum , qui facrartum qutdem habet,
puriftimam rerum nature partem. Caelum; ornamenta, fellas5
facerdotes, admtniflros potentu ejus, Angelos, & incorporeas
animas The whole World is to be accounted the chief eft Temple of
God•, the San&u Sandloru if it is the pur eft part of the Univerfe,
Heaven; the ornaments , tht Stars; the Priefts, the Minifters
of His Power, Angels , and immaterial Souls• And as for
Chriftian Philofophers,! luppofe it wouldbe needleiTe to enu¬
merate the pallages wherein they adapt the Notion of the
World already mention'd; and therefore Iihall content my
felfe to adde, that the Scripture it felfe feems to Authorife it by
reprefenting to us in the 8th and 9th Chapters of the Epiftle
to the Hebrews 5 the Mofaical Tabernacle^ as an adumbration
of that Great Temple of the World > and particularly there ^
isafigaai Text in the latter of thofe Chapters, whereit isfaid Hc '9,24<
thatChriftis not enter'dinto Holy places made with Hands
which are copies of the true^*'^™** y ]
but into Heaven it felfe 3 now to appeare in the preience of
God for us.
Upon what account, Pyophilus, I efteem the World a
Tempie, I may elfewhere have occalion to Declare; but this
for the prefent: It will not be r afh to infer that if the World
be a Temple, Man fure muft be the Prieft^ordain d (by being
I qualified


(58)
qualified ) to celebrate Divine Service not only in ir5 but fol¬
ic. For as in Schools, when the Prince or fome munificent
BenefaCtor confers fome large pofteffion or rich annuity upon
the Foundation, though all the Boyes be concern'd in the
benefit, yet becaufe moft of them are too young to be fen-
fible of it, or roo unlearned to be able to make the retribution
of a handlome acknowledgment, either the Mafter or that
other perfon of the Society, who is moft capable and the beft
fpoakefman, is by a kind of natural right engag'd to the duty
of returning praife and thanks,not for himfelf alone,but in the
name of all the reft: So in the World, where there are fo many
inanimate and irrational Creatures, that neither underftand
how much they owe to their Creator, by owing him even
themfelves , nor are born to a condition inabling them to ac-
knowledg it* Man, as born the Prieft of Nature, and as the
moft oljlig'd and moft capable member of it, is bound to re-
turne Thanks and Praifes to his Maker, not only tor him-
felfe but for the whole Creation. In which fenfc we may
reconcile thofe two current AlTertions, Thai God made all
things for His own Glory, and that God made all things for Many
and Man for htm ft Ife. Since whether or no Man be aMi-
crocofme or Little World in Paracelfus's fenfe, if not as a
refembler, yet as a reprefenter of the Macrocofme or Great
World, he prefents with his own adorations the Homages
of all the Creatures to their Creator, though they be igno¬
rant of what is done, as Infants under the Law were of the
facrifices offered on their account. And in this Relation may
the Creatures anfwer the Solemn invitation made them in the
whole 148 Pfalm „ and numerous other Scriptures: which
they may do fto borrow a barbarous but fignificant School-
terme) objectively, though not formally • I mean, by pro¬
ving occafions, though not fingers of his praifes, and being
fuch objeCts as prompt and invite Man to pay God that praife
upon their fcore, which they cannot actually pay him them -
felves j even God's muteft works being capable of being faid
to


(59)
to pralfe him in the fame fenfe (though in an incomparably
tranfcendenter degree) that Solomon faies of his virtuous Pr0f
Woman (in the laft Verfe ofthe Proverbs) Let her own Works
pratfe her in the Gatesthat is, give the confidercrs of them
occafion to extol her: and thus bv man s referring the know-
ledg of the Creature to the Creator's Glory, it becomes in
fome fenfe, and congruoufly to its own Nature, the praifer
of its Maker, as may feem intimated in this OEconomy of the -
Laft part of one of the Pfalmes, Bleffe the Lord^a/lye His Hojlsy pfo w
the CMiniflers of His that do His plea fare. Bleffe the Lord,
all His Works, tn all places of His Dominion: BicfJe the Lord,
0 my sonic. Where by fhutting up the reft of God's Crea¬
tures betwixt Angels and Man's Soule, he feems to infinuate
that the irrational Creatures bleffe the Lord by the mouth of
thofe that are Intelligent.
And truly, Pjropbilus, I fear it may relifli a'little of fel-
fiihnefle, to make fuch a difparity betwixt Perfections, all
of them equal, becaufe all of them infinite, as to let God's
mercy, becaufe it moft advantages us , fo to ingrofte our
thoughts, and wonder, as to make us negleft the contempla¬
tion of thofe other Glorious Attributes, his Power and h's
VVifdome, which were thofe that exaCted both Man and
Angels%doration, before fin gave occafion to the exercife
of the firft. And I fhall not fcruple to confeile unto you,
that I dare not confine the A&s of Devotion to thofe which
moft men fuppofe tocomprife the whole exercife of it-, not
that I at all undervalue, or would depreciate any, even the
meaneft pra&ifes of Devotion, which either Scripture or reafon
confonant to it recommends- but that I efteem that God
may be alfo acceptably fand perhaps more nobly) ferv'd and
glorifi'd by our entertaining of high, rational, and as much as
our nature is capable of worthy notions, attended with a pro¬
found and proportionable admiration of thofe divine Attri¬
butes and Prerogatives for whofe manifefting he was pleas'd
t# conftruCUhis vaft Fabrick.
§ I 2 T @


(6o)
To which purpofe I confider, that in the Life to come, when
we lhall queftionlefs glorifie God exadtlieft, we fh -.11 have little
either need or ufe of Faith, Prayer, Liberality,Patience,and re-
fembling Graces •, but our Worfliip will chiefly confift in ele¬
vated Notions, and'aproftrate Veneration of Gods Omnipo¬
tence, Wifdom, Goodnefs, and other Perfe&ions; and fuch a
one as this is reprefented in the to be the prefent
employment of the Bleft Spirits in Heaven, where the Elders
that alfift about the Throne of God, are defcrib'd, calling their
Crowns before it, and faying to him that fits on it, Thou art
worthy, O Lordy to receive Glory, and , and Power : for
thou haft created all things, and for thy they are and were
ereated.
By this time, Pyrophiltu, I hope you begin to think, that
the Dodlrine that tends to deter Men from enquiring into Na¬
ture, is as well derogatory from Gods Glory, as prejudicial to
Mans Interefts. And indeed, I purpofd to content my felt
with the having difperfl throughout the paft Difcourfe, the
grounds of anfwering their Objection againft the lludy of Phy-
fiology, who pretend it is apt to make Men Atheifts: But be-
caufe I am much concern'd to have you fatisfied of fo important
a Truth, as that which we have hitherto been laboring to e-
vince, I mull beg your leave, P to adde ex afkndanti
(as they fpeak )to what lias been already alledg'd, fome things
that may more diredlly anfwer the Objection of our Adverfa-
ries, and manifeft how little their feverity is befriended, either
by Scripture, Reafon, or Experience.
And fir ft, it feems not at all probable, That if the Omni-
fcient Author of Nature knew that the ftudy of his Works
did really tend to make Men dif-believe his Being or Attri¬
butes, he would have given Men fo many Invitations, and al»
moft Necelfities, to ftudy and contemplate the Nature of his
Creatures: Of thefe Invitations divers have been mention'd
already, and more might be added to them, if we thought it
requifite. But what has been above alledg'd, will make us
» forbear


(6i)
forbear the annexing of any, favethat of the ancient Inftiru*
tion of the Sabbath, which many eminent Divines do not
groundlefly hold to have been ordain'd to commemorate the
Creation, and give Men the opportunity every Seventh Day
to contemplate God in his Works, as he himfelf was pleafd
to reft on the firft Seventh Day, and contemplate Himfelf in
the works of the firft liy. And though our Weftern Churches,
for certain Reafons (not here to be inquired into ) have long
fincedifuf'd the Solemnizing of the Saturday, and appointed
the Sunday for the Celebration of both the Works of the
Redemption, and Creation of the World together 5 yet 'tis
evident enough that the Primitive Chriftians did for the moft
part keep the Saturday as Holy-day, as well as the Sunday:
For that ancient Book (whoever be refolv d to have written it)
which goes under the Name of Clement's Confiitutions, affords
us, among others, thefe two memorable Paftages to our pur-
pofe: And firft, To ^70/(fays he) r yjueji*.*Luu iofrufylt' Lib, 7^'cap.
gr/to ptJy i<nv \^pvnuci cLv*su!<ricos. Keep the Sabbath and
the Lords Day as Holy-days $ that being dedicated to the remem¬
brance of the Creation^ and this to that of the Redemptions To
which we fhall adde this fecond PafTage of the fame Author,
9 Let Servants work for five dajS'7 but
on the Sabbath, and the Lords-day , let them attend in the
Church the Dottrine of Godlinefs. To which purpofe, I re¬
member the moft Learned Grctius obferves, That the con- §ee 0f the"^-
verted Emperor Conflantinc, forbad the compelling Chrifti- byfineoro£tu-
ans to appear before Tribunals on either of thofe Days, as be? fnd lur¬
ing their Feftivals: Nay, and if Modern Travellers do not wife of the Ma-
mif-inform rpe, Irfinde that divers of the Eaftern Churches,
particularly the Jbyfsine Chriftians, to this day do as well r^cetothdr
fanftiffe the Sabbath-day in commemoration of Gods having Celebration of
created the Vl/brld, as the Lords-day to commemorate the jl^Rofje'in
Refurre&ion of Chrift. And as for the Jews fenfe of the his view of all
Fourth Commandment, fome of the I^arnedft of their Cri a?<t
ticks are pleafd to diftinguilh betwixt the Words and bL cited,"
Smor,


(6l)
Smor, Remember and Keep, imploy'd in the Command of
folemnizing the Sabbath: For, the remembring of it they
hold to beanadiof Religion, performable by all Man kinde
that are capable of it, and acquainted with its having been
commanded ^ though the keeping of it Holy they fuppofc
bnely enjoyn'd to thelfraelttes: On which occafion, I remem¬
ber 1 was one Sabbath-day entertain'd at his own Lodgings,by
a Learned Jew (who taught me the Holy Language ) with
Meat then newly dreff'd: to remove my wonder at which, he
told me, That it was drefl'd by Chriflians, who, being Gen~
tiles, were not obligd to the jlrtff and legal observation of the
Sabbath. But whatever be to be thought of this JewiihNo^
tion, yet queftionlefs if the Fourth Commandment do not*
atleaft, divers other Paffages of Scripture do muchdifcoun-
tenance their fevericy, who would fright Men from the inda-
gation of Nature. And he that (hall duly confider divers
Texts obvious enough in the Book of $ob^ and thtPfalms
(befides other parts of the Bible; will not readily conclude^
that Natural Philofophy and Divinity are at fuch variance, as
the Divines we deal with would perfwade us. Sc Paul feems
to inform us, that the invifible things of God from the Crea¬
tion of the World, are clearly feen, being underftood by the
things that are made, even his eternal Power and God-head:
So that they that were mention'd before are without excufe.
And though I ignore not, that not onely feveral of the Soci-
mans following their Mafter Socintssy but fome few Orthodox
Writers, are pleafd to give a very differing Interpretation of
that Text, and make the *6^™. duris bp/li*to fignifie
thofe things of God that have been Invifible ever fince the
Creation of the World, and referring the mihiutn to things
not made, as we Tranflate it, but doners the Miracles of Chnft
and his Apoftlesj yet I fee no neceffity why the •uoihua 7ct ihould
be taken in a i'enieexclufive of the Creation, and not atleaft
admitted to take in all the Ways and Methods imployed by
God to tnanifeft the fnvifible things there intimated unto Marc
And
n


f«3)
d certainly, however Sr Paul may be fuppof'd to appear
but darkly, yet fob was clearly of a differing Opinion from
theirs, who teach, That the fluty of Nature leads Tcib ?,
for ask now the Beajh(fays hej and they will and 7' '9'
the Fowls of the Air, a»d they jhall tell : or [peak to the
Firth, and it jhall teach thee, and the Fijhes of the Sea fhall
declare unto thee. .Wbojenowctb not inallthefe that the hand of
the Lord hath wrought this ? And confonantly hereunto (which
'twere not amifs for our Adverfaries to take notice of) we
mayobferve, That almoft all the Writers of Natural Theo¬
logy, and the mod alfo of thofe that have labored to demon-
ftrate the Truth of Chriftian Religion (divers of whom have
been as well Profound Divines, as other wife Eminent Scho¬
lars! have undertaken to evince, by the confideration of the
Univerfe, both that there is a God, and that he is the Au¬
thor of it: Which I the rather mention, , be-
caufe I would not bemiftaken,. as if I difputed againft Di¬
vines in general, or were guilty of the lead Irreverence to¬
wards a Faculty, in whofe Study I have thought my felf
oblig'd, as a Chriftian, to fpend much of my time •, and
efpecially, I would not appear dif-refpe&ful to Divines in
England, where they have already been but too muchvilk
fied, though queftionlefs for their Sins againft God, yet, I
fear, not without the Sin of their Opprefl'ors.
In the next place I confider, That fince Phyfiology is
faid to tempt to Atheifm, but by enabling Men to give an
account of all the Phenomena of Nature, by the knowledge
of Second Caufes, without taking in the Firft, it will not be
fo eafie a matter as many prefume, for the contemplation of
Nature, to turn a confidering Man Atheift. For we are yet,
for ought I canfinde, far enough from being able to expli¬
cate all the Phenomena of Nature by any Principles whatso¬
ever. And even of the Atomical Philosophers, whofe Sed
feeins to have the moft ingenioufly attempted it, fome of
the


f«4>
the eminenteft have themfe'ves freely acknowledged to me,
their being unable to do it convincingly to others, or fo much
as fatisfa&orily to themfelves. And indeed, notonelythe
Generation ot Animals is a Myftery, which all that Natural-
iftshave laid to explain it, hath been far enough from depri¬
ving of that Name i but we fee that to explicate all the vari¬
ous Phenomena that belong to that fingle inanimate, and
feemingly homogeneous Body, Mercury, fo as not to make
anv Hypothecs aflum'd to make out one of its Properties or
Effedh incongruous to any other Hypsthcfis requifite to the
explanation of any of the reft, hath been hitherto found fa
difficult, that if our Pofterity be not much happier Unriddlers,
then our Fore-Fathers, or we have been, it is like to prove a
Task capable of defeating the Induftry and Attempts, 1 iay
not of more then one Philofopher, but of more then one Age;
even our Chymical Tortures hitherto, having, from that de¬
luding Proteus, fbrc'd no Conteflions that bring us not more
Wonder then Satisfaction, and do not Beget aimoft as many
Scruples as they Refolve.


C*5)
E S SA Y IV.
Containing a requijite concerning
thofe that would exclude the Deity from
intermedling with cfMatter.
I Ignore not that not onely Leu Epicurus, and other
Atomijis of old, but of late fome Perfons, for the mod
part Adorers of Aripot-le's Writings, have pretended to
be able to explicate the firft Beginning of , and-the
Worlds Phenomena, without taking in, or acknowledging
any Divine Author of it: And therefore, though we may
elfewhere, by the alfiftance of that Author, have an oppor¬
tunity to give You an Account of our unfatisfiednefs with the
Attempts made by fome bold Wits in favor of fuch Pretenti¬
ons $ Yet fince the main Truth We plead for, in thisDif-
courfe, is fo nearly concern'd in what hath been taught by thofe
that would keep God from being thought to have any (hare in
the Production of the llniverfe-, I can fcarce forbear (as un¬
willing as I am to digrefs) toreprefent to You, on the prefent
-occafion, a few Confiderations which may affift You, if not
to leffen the Arrogance of fuch Perfons, at leaft, to keep Your
felt from thinking their Evidence as great as their Confidence
is wont to be. Now of the Philofophers we fpeak of, fome
being Atomifts, and o'thers not, it will be requifite to fay
fomething to each of the two forts: And becaufe we not long
fince, in an Illuftrious Company, where You, are
noc unknown, met with one of them, who avowedly ground¬
ed his Opinions on the Artftot clean or vulgar Phy fiology, We
K fhall


(66)
fliall fir ft recommend to You two or three Confrderations con¬
cerning fuch arrogant Peripateticks ("For I fpeak not of that
Sed in general, of which I know there are divers excellent
Men.)
Firft then, You will in many Pafiages of the following Ef-
fays, finde,that divers things that have been very Magifterially
taught, and confidently believ'd among the Followers of Art-
fiotleu are Errors or Miftakes; and that as feveral, even of the
obvious Phenomenaof Nature, do contradid the common
Peripacetick Dodrine, fo divers, at leaft of thofe that are
tnoreabftrufe, are not explicable by it 5 and as confidently as
thefe h:s Followers talk of the expounding the very Riddles of
Nature5 yet I remember that he himfelf fomewhere (fori
cannot call to minde the place) did not fcruple to confefs, that
As the Eyes of Owls are to the (pleof the Day, fo are thofe of
our Minds even to things obvious and manifeft.
I fliall next take notice, That Philofophers, whofcornto
afcribe any thing toGod,do often deceive themfelves,in think¬
ing they have fufficiently fatisfiedourEnquirres, when they
have given us the neareftand mod immediate caufes of fome
things •, whereas oftentimes the affignment of thofe Caufes is
but the manifeftmg that fuch and fuch Effeds may bededue'd
from the more Catholick affedions of things, though thefe
be not unfrequently asabftrufe as the Phenomena explicated
by them, as having onely their Effeds more obvious, not
their Nature better understood: As when, for inftance, an ac¬
count is demanded of that ftrange fuppofed Sympathy be¬
twixt Quick- frlver and Gold •, in that we finde, .that whereas
all other Bodies fwim upon Quick-filver, it will readily fwal-
low up Gold, and hide it in its Bofom. This pretended Sym¬
pathy the Naturalift may explicate, by faying, That Gold
being the onely Body heavier then Quick-filverof the fame
bulk, the known Laws of the Hjdroftathks make it ntctilary,
that Gold fliould fink in it, and ail lighter Bodies fwim on it:
But though the caufe of this Effed be thus plaulibly alfign'd,


(67)
by deducing it from fo known and obvious an affe&ion of Bo¬
dies, as Gravity, which every man is apt to think he fufficient-
ly underftands $ yet will not this put a fatisfa&orie period to a
fevere Inquirers Curiofitie, who will, perchance, be apt to
alledge, That though the Effe&s of Gravity indeed be very tfyfio'ogo qui
obvious, yet the Caufe and Nature of it are as obfcure as thofe ^
of almoft any Phenomenon it can be brought to explicate, marum caufarum
And that therefore he that defires no farther account,defifls too
foon from his Enquiries, and acquiefces long before he comes '/We-
to his Journies end. And indeed,the inveftigation of the true mafque can fas
nature and adequate caufe of gravity,is a task of that difficulty,
that in fpight of ought I have hitherto feen or read, I muff aeUprimo Fri-
yet retain great doubts whether they have.been clearly and fo- g'"10- „ y
lidly made out by any Man. And fure, , there are Ts
divers Effeds in Nature, of which, though the immediate"J*
Caufe may be plaufibly affign'd, yet if we further enquire i
to the Caufes of thofe Caufes, and defift not from af-
cending in the Scale of Caufes till we are arriv'd at the top of c*p. 8.
it, we fliall perhaps finde the more Catholick and Primary
caufes of Things, to be either certain, primitive, general and
fix'd Laws of Nature for rules of Adion and Paffion among
the parcels of the Univerfal Matter) or elfe the Shape, Size,
Motion, and other primary Affedions of the imalleft parts of
Matter, and of their firfl Coalitions orClufters: efpecially
thofe endowed with feminal Faculties or Properties, or (to
difpatch) the admirable confpiring of the feveral parts of the
Univerfe to the produdionof particular Effeds 5 of all which
it will be difficult to givea fatisfadory Account, without ac¬
knowledging an intelligent Author or Difpofer of Things.
And thebetter to clear fo weighty a Truth, let us further
coniider on thisoccafion, That not onely , and thofe
that, mif-led by his Authority, maintain the Eternity of the
World, but very many other Phiiofophers and Phyfitianc,
who afcribe fo much to Nature, that they will not be reduc'd
to acknowledge an Author of it,are wont very much to delude
K 2 both


(63 )
both th?mfelves and others in the account they prefume to give
us, as fat is factory of the Caufes or Reafons of very many
Effedfs: I will not inftance in the Magnetick Properties of
Things, nor any of thofe numerous abftrufities of Nature,
which'tis well known that the i^irifioteleans are wont to re¬
fer to Sympathy, Antipathy, or Occult Qualities, and ft rive
to put Men off with empty Names, whereby they do not fo
much lefien our Ignorance, as betray their own.
But I fliall inftance in thofe more obvious Phenomena, of
which theyfuppofe they have given us very fatisfadfory Ac¬
counts : If you ask one of thofe I fpeak of, whence it comes to
pafsthatif a Man put one end of a long Reed into a Veftel full
of Water, and fuck at the other end, his Mouth will be im-
mediatly fill'd with that Liquor $ he will readily tell you, That
the Sudlion drawing the Air out of the cavity of the Reed, the
Water Inuft neceflarily fucceed in the place deferted by the
Air, to prevent a Vacuity abhorr'd by Nature. If you like-
wife ask luch a Man, Why to Women about a certain Age,
their Pnrgationes OMenflru* do commonly fupervene, he will
think he has fufficiently anfvvered you, when he has told you,
that about that Age, beginning to beripe for Procreation, Na¬
ture has wifely provided that their fuperfluous Blood rhould be
fent to the Uterine Velfe-ls, partly to dif-burthen the Mafs
of Blood of an ufelefs load, and partly to contribute Matter,
or at leaft afford Nourishment in cafe of Conception. But
though thefe Solutions are wont to be acquiefc'd in by fuch as
thofe that give them, yet I fee not how they can fatisfie a ri¬
gid Reafoner. For not now to mention what may be objected
againft them out of fome Modern Mechanical and J^natomical
Obfervations, letusalittleconfider, that to fay that the afcent
of the Water in the firft Problem, proceeds from Natures De •
teftationof a Vacuity, fuppofes that there is akinde of Ani'
ma Mundi, furnihed with various Paflions, which watchfully '
provides for the fafety of the Univerfe 5 or that a Brute and In¬
animate Creature, as Water, not onely has a power to move
its


<<>9)
its heavy Body upwards, contrary (to fpeak in their Language)
to the tendency of its particular Nature, but knows both that
Air has been fuck'd out of the Reed, and that unlefsit fucceed
the atttt'&ed Air, there will follow a Vacuum ; and that this
Water is withal fo generous, as by afcending, to ail contrary to
its particular inclination for the general good of the Univerfe,
like a Noble Patriot, that facrifices his particular Interefts
to the publick ones of his Countrey.
But to Ihew Men by an eafie Experiment how little Attra-
dtion is perform'd to avoid a Vacu, I have fometimes done
thus*, I have taken a flender Pipe of Glafs, of about four
Foot long, and putting one of the open ends of it intoaVef-
fel full of Quick- filver, I have f uck'd as ftronlyas I could at
the other, andcauf'd one to watch the afcent of the Quick-
filver, and mark where it was at the higheft, and I found not
that at one fuck, I could raife it up much above a Foot; and
having cauf'd a couple of ftrong Men, one after another, to
fuck at the fame end of the fame Pipe, I found not that either
of them could draw it up much higher. Nor did it appear
that by repeated Sudfions, though the upper end of the Pipe
were each time ftopp'd, to hinder the relapfe of the Quick-
filver, it could at all be raif'd above the (even and twenty Di¬
gits at which it uf'd to fubfift in the Torricellian Experiment
De Vacuo: Whereas the fame end of that Tube being put in-
toa fmall Vefiel of Water, I could at one fuck make the Wa¬
ter fwiftly afcend thorow the perpendicularly held Tube into
my Mouth, which argues, tlmthe afanfion of Liquors up¬
on Sudtion, rather depends upon the prefl'ure of the Air, and
their refpedfive meafures of Gravity and Lightnei's compar'd
to that Prefliire, then it proceeds from fuch an abhorrency of
a Vacuum as is prefum'd.
And fo likewife in the other Queftion propof'd,itis imply'd,
that there is in a Female Body fomething,that knows the rule of
Phyfitians, that of a Plethora, the Cure is the convenient Eva¬
cuation of Blood, and that this intelligent Faculty is wife e-
nough


(7°)
nough alfo to propofe to it felf the double end above-mention¬
ed, in this Evacuation, and therefore will not provide a Quan¬
tity of Blood great enough to require an Excretion, nor begin
it till the Female become to an Age wherein 'tis poflible for
both the Ends to be obtain d-,& that alfo this prefiding Nature
is fo charitable, as that Man kinde might not fail, itwillmake
the Female fubject tofuch Monethly Superfluities of Blood,
from which Experience informs us, that a whole Set of Dif-
eafts peculiar to that Sex, does frequently proceed. And in
a word, there is a multitude of Problems, especially fuch as
belong to the ufe of the Parts of a humane Body, and to the
Caufes and Cures of the Difeafes incident thereunto, in whofe
Explication thofe we write of, content themfelvesto tell us,
That Nature does fuch and fuch a thing, becaufe it was fit for
her fo to do •, but they endeavor not to make intelligible to us,
what they mean by this Nature,and how meer,and confequent-
ly bruit, Bodies can act according to Laws, and for determinate
Ends, without any knowledge either of the one or of theo*
ther. Let them therefore, till they have out their
fothefis more intelligibly, either ceafe to afcnbe to. irrational
Creatures fuch Actions as in Men are apparently the Producti¬
ons of Reafon and Choice, and fometimes even of Induftry
and Virtue-, or elfelet them with us acknowledge, thatfutfi-
-Actions of Creatures inthemfelves Irrational, are perforafd
under the fuperintendence and guidance of a Wife and Intel¬
ligent Author of Things. Bat that you may notmiftakc
me, Pjr&fhilus^ it will be requifite forme, to acquaint you
in two or three words with fome of my prefent thoughts con¬
cerning this fubjeCi : That there are fome Actions fo peculiar
to Man, upon the account of his Intellect and Will, that they
cannot be fatisfaCtorily explicated after the maner of the Act¬
ings of meer corporeal Agents, I am very much inclined to be¬
lieve: And whether or no there may be fome Actions of
fome other Animals, which cannot well be Mechanically ex¬
plicated, I have not here Icifare or opportunity to examine.


(7*
Bat for (moft oO the other Phenomena, of Nature, methinks
we may, without abfurdity, conceive, That God, of whom
in the Scripture 'tis affirm'd, That all his Works Are known to
him from the Beginning having refolved, before the Crea- u>
tion, to make fucha World asthisof Ours, did divide fat
lead if he did not create it incoherent) that Matter which he
had provided into an innumerable multitude of very varioufly
figur'd Corpufcles, and both conneded thofe Particles into
fuchTextures or particular Bodies, and piac'd theminfuch
Scituations, and put them into fuch Motions, that by the
aflldanceof his ordinary preferving Concourfe, the Phano*
rnena, which he intended fhould appear in the Univerfe, mud
as orderly follow, and be exhibited by the Bodies neceffarily
ading according to thofe Impreflions or Laws, though they
underftand them not at all, as if each of thofe Creatures had
aDefignof Seif-prefervation, and were furnifh'd with Know-*
ledge and Induftry to profecute it $ and as if there were
diftufd through the Univerfe an intelligent'Being, watchful
over the publick Good of it, and careful to Adminider all
things wifely for the good of the.particular Parts of it, but
fo far forth as is confident with the Good of the whole, and
the prefervationof the Primitive and Catholick Laws eda-
blifiied by the Supreme Caufe. As it* the formerly mention'd
Clock of SXrasburgy the feveral Pieces m iking up that curi¬
ous Engine, are fo fram'd and adapted, and are put into fuch
a motion, that though the numerous Wheels, and other parts
of it, move feveral ways, and that without any thing either
of Knowledge or Defign •, yet each performs its part in order
to the various Ends for which it was Contrivd, as regularly
and uniformly as if it knew and were concern'd to do its Duty 5
and the various Motions of the Wheels, and other parts con
cur to exhibit the Phenomena defigmd by the Artificer in the
Engine, as exa£tly as if they were animated by a common
Principle, which makes them knowingly confpire to do fo,
and might, to a rude Indian, feem to be more intelligent then
Cm *
18.


.——
(7*)
CtiHfddtu DafyfwditM himfelf, that publilhed a Defcription of
it, wherein he tells the World, That he contrived it, who
could not tell the hours and meafure time fo accuratly as his
Clock. And according to this Notion, if you be pleaf'd to
bear it in your memory, PyrophilHs, you may eafily appre¬
hend in what fenfel ufe many common Phrafes, which cuftom
hath fo authorized, that we can fcarce write of Phyfiological
fubje&s without employing either them, or frequent and te¬
dious Circumlocutions in their ftead: Thus when I fay, that
a ftone endeavors to defcend towards the Centre of the Earth,
or that being put into a Vefl'elof Water, it affedis the loweft
place: I mean that not fuch a Mathematical Point as the Centre
of the Earth,hath power to attradf all heavy Bodies,the leaft of
which, it being a point, it cannot harbor 5 or that a Stone does
really aim at that unknown and unattainable Centre; but that,
as we fay, that a Man ftrives or endeavors to go to any place,
at which he would quickly arrive, if he were not forcibly hin¬
dered by fome Body that holds him faft where he is, and will
not let him go: So a Stone may be faid to ftrive to defcend,
when either by the Magnetical Steams of the Earth, or the
preflureof fome fubtle Matter incumbent on it, or by what
ever elfe may be the caufeof Gravity, the Stone is fo deter¬
mined to tend downwards, that if alflmpediments, interpof'd
by the Neighboring Bodies, were removed, it would certain¬
ly arid directly fall to the ground-, or being put into a Veflel
with Water, or any other Liquor much lefs heavy then it felf
ffor on Quick-filver, which is heavier, Stones will fwimJ the
fame Gravity will make it fubfide to the bottom of the Veflel,
and confequently thruft away its bulk of Water, which though
heavy in it felf, yet becaufe it is lefs ponderous then the Stone,
feems to be light. And fo in our late inftance in the Clock, ifit
be faid that the Hand that points at the Hours affedfs- a circular
motion, becaufe it conftantly moves round the Centre of the
Dial-plate, 'tis evident that the inanimate piece of Metal af-
fedis not that motion more then any other, butonely that the


(71)
isnpreffion it receives from the Wheels, and the adaptation of
the reft of the Engine, determine it to move aftei that man¬
ner. And although if a Man fliould with his Finger ftop that
Index from proceeding in its courfe, it may be faid, in fome
fenfe, that it ftrives or endeavors to profecute its former Cir¬
cular Motion-, yet that will fignifie no more, th.en that by
virtue of the Contrivance of the Engine, the Index isfoim-
pell'd, that, if the Obftacle, put by the Finger of him that
ft ops it, were taken away, the Index would move onwards,
from that part of the Circle where itwasftopt, towards the
mark of the next Hour. Nor do I by this, PyrophiltUy deny
that it may in a right fenfe be faid, as it is wont to be in the
Schools, that Opus Nature e (I opus Neither do
I rejedf fuch common Expreifions as Nature always and
intends that which is hefty and Nature doth nothing in ;
For fince I muft, according to the above-mention'd Notion,
refer many of the adions of irrational Creatures to a moil wife
JDifpoferof Things, it can fcarcefeem ftrangetome, that in
thofe particulars in which the Author intended, and it was re-
quifitethat irrational Creatures ihould operate fo and fofor
their own Prefervation, or the Propagation of their Species,
orthepublick good of thellniverfe, their Actions being or¬
dered by a Reafon tranfeending Ours, iliould notonely often¬
times refemble the A&ings of Reafon in Us, but fometimes
even furpafs them. As in effed we fee that Silk-worms and
Spiders an, without being taught, fpin much more curioufly
their Balls and Webs, then our beft Spinfters could ^ and
that fevetal Birds can build and fallen their Nefts more Artifi¬
cially then many a Man, or perhaps any Man could frame and
fatten (uch little and elaborate Buildings. And the Induftries
of Foxes, Bees, and divers other Beafts, are fuch, that'tis not
much to be wondered at that thofe Creatures ihould have Rea-
fons afcrib'd to them by divers Learned Men, who yet perhaps
would be lefs confident, if they considered how much may be
feid for the Immortality of all rational Souls. And that the
L * fubtle


(74)
fubtle Adings of thefe Beafts are determined to fome few Par¬
ticulars requifite for their own Prefervation, or that of their
Species; whereas on all other occafions, they feem to betray
their want of Reafon, and by their Voice and Geftures feem
to exprefs nothing, but the Natural Paffions, and not any Ra¬
tional or Logical Conceptions. And therefore, as when (to
refumeour former comparifon) I fee in a curious Clock, how
orderly every Wheel and other part performs its own Moti¬
ons, and with what feeming Unanimity they confpire to iliew
the Hour, and accompli(h the other Defigns of the Artificer,
I do not imagine that any of the Wheels, &c. or the Engine it
felf is endowed with Reafon, but commend that of the Work¬
man who fram'd it fo Artificially. So when I contemplate the
Adions of thofe feveral Creatures that make up the World*
I do not conclude, the inanimate Pieces, at leaft, that 'tis made
up of, or the vaft Engine it felf, to ad with Reafon or Defign,
but admire and praife the moft wife Author, who by his admi¬
rable Contrivance can fo regularly produce Effeds, to which
fo great a number of fucceffive and confpiring Caufes are re-
quir'd.
And thus much, Pyrephilw, having been reprefented con¬
cerning thofe, that rejeding from the Production and Prefer¬
vation of Things, all but Nature, yet imbrace the Principles
of thevulgar Philofphy, you will perhaps think it more then
enough: but Objed, That what is not to be expeded from
the barren Principles of the Schools, may yet be perform'd by
thofe Atomical ones which we our felves have within not very
many Pages feem'd to acknowledge Ingenious. And I know
indeed, that the modern Admirers of Epicurw confidently e-
nough pretend, that he and his Expofitors have already,with¬
out being beholding to a Deity, clearly made out, at leaft the
Origineof the World, and of the principal Bodies 'tis made
up of: But I contefs, I am fo far from being convinc'd of this,
that I have been confirm'd rather, then unfetled in my Opini¬
on, of the difficulty of making out the Original of the World,


(75)
and of the Creatures, efpecially the living Ones that com-
pofe it, by confidering the accounts which are given us of the
Nativity (if I may fofpeak) of theUniverfe, and of the Ani¬
mals, by thofe great Denyets of Creation and Providence,
Epicurus* and his Parapharft Lucretius: Whofe having ihown
themfelves (as I freely confefs they have) very fubtile Philo-
fophers in explicating divers Myfteries of Nature, ought not
fo much to recommend to us their impious Errors, about the
Original of Things, as to let us fee the neceffity of afcribing
it to an Intelligent Caufe. This then is the account of this
matter, which is given us by Epicurus himfelf, in that Epiftle
of his to Herodotus, which we finde in Diogenes Laertius:
Jjhtod ad Meteor a attmet extfttmart non oportet, aut moturn, ant
converfiontm, aut Ecclipfin, aut ortum oecafumve, aut alt a hn-
jufcemodi ideo fieri quod fit Prafcffus aliquis, qui ficdijponat,
difpofuerituc ac ftmul beatitudinem immortalttatewfc pofudeat:
And having interpofed fome Lines, to prove that the Provi¬
dence of God is not confiftent with his Felicity, he addes,
Jguare cpinandum eft, turn cum Mundus procreatus ejft,faffosfu-
ifte cos cncumplexus convolventium fe itomorum, ut natafue~
rit hac necefsitas, qua circuitus tales obierint: And elfewhere
in the fame Epiftle, Infiniti (fays he) ftint mundi, alii [miles
ifti, altiverodifsimtles. JQaippe Atomi cum ftnt infinite, ut
non multo ante demonftratum eft per infnitatem f"patiorum, &
alibi alia, acproculab hoc adfabrefafftonem Mundorum infini-
torum varte concurrent. And leaft this Epicurean Explication
of the Worlds Original ihouldfeem to owe all its unfatisfa-
ftorinefs to its obfeure brevity, we fti^ll not fcruple to give
you that elegant Paraphrafe and Expofition of it, which Lu¬
cretius has delivered in his 5 th Book, De Return Natura :■
Scd quibtis ille modis, con] elf us, material
Fundarit Caelum, ac Terr am Ponticf profunda
Solis, Lunai cur/us ex or dine ponarny
Nam eerie, neque conciliis pnmordta ret urn
L 2 Otdine


(f7«)
Ordine fe quaque at quefaga menlrhcarunt,
Necquos quaque darent mot us pepigere profeii b:
Sed quia multa modis mult is
Ex infnito jam tempore p plagif,
Ponderibusquefuis, confucrunt ,
Omni modiJque coire, a! que omnia pertentarc,
Jjhtacunque inter fe pofjent
Propterea fit, ut magnum volgata per ,
Omntgenos cxtus & motus ,
Tandem convent ant •• ea qua conjunct a
'JHagnarum rerum fiant
Terrai maris, & cceligeneriffy aoim
The Hypothecs expreffd in thefe Verfes (which pleafe oar
Author fo well, that he has almoft the fame Lines in feveral
other places of his Poem) he profecutes and applies to fome
particular parts of the Univerfe in the fame 5 th Book: But
whilft he thus refufeth to allow God an Intereft in the Worlds
production, his Hypothecs requires that we fliould allow him
feveral things, which he doth aflume, not prove: As Firft,
That Matter is Eternal, a. That from Eternity it was actu¬
ally divided, and that into fuch infenfibly fmall parts, as may
deferve the name of Atoms; whereas it may be fuppof'd,
that Matter, though Eternal, was at firft one coherent Mafs,
it belonging to Matter to be divifible, but not fo of neceftity,
jo be actually divided. 3. That the number of thefe Atoms
is really infinite. 4. That thefe Atoms have an inane Infini¬
tum (as the Epicureans fpeak) to move in. 5. Thac thefe
Atoms are endowed with an almoft infinite variety of deter¬
minate Figures, fome being round, others cubical, others
hooked, others conical, &c. whereas not to mention before¬
hand what we mayelfewhere objeCi, befides againft this Af-
fumption, heihews not why, nor how this Atomecame to be
Spherical rather then ConicaI,and another Hooked rather then
Pyramidal: But thefe AfTuroptions I mfift not on, becaufe of
two


(77)
two others much more confiderable, which our Author is fain
to take for granted in his Hyfoihefis: For 6'y> Hefuppofes his
Eternal Atoms to have from Eternity been their own Movers,
whereas it is plain that Motion is no way neceffary to the El-
fence of Matter, which feems to con lift in extenfion: For
Matter is no lefs Matter, when it refts, then when it is in mo¬
tion 5 and we daily fee many parcels of Matter pafs from the
ftateof motion to that of reft, and from this to that, com¬
municating their motion to Matter that lay ftill before, and
thereby looling it themfelves. Nor has any Man, that I
know, fatisfadforily made out how Matter can move it felf:
And indeed, in the Bodies which we here below converfe with -
.al, we fcarcefinde that any thing is mov'd but by fomething
eli'e 5 and even in thefe motions of Animals that feem fponta-
neous, the Will or Appetite doth not produce the motion of
the Animal, but guide and determine that of the Spirits,
which by the Nerves move the Mufcles, and fo the whole
Body, as may appear by the wearinefs and unweildinefs of
Animals, when by much motion the Spirits are fpent. And
accordingly I finde that Anaxagoras, though he believed, as
Ariflotle did after him, that Matter was Eternal, yet he dif-
cern'd that the notion of Matter not neceflarily including mo¬
tion, there was a neceflity of taking in a , as he ftiles
God, to fetthis fluggifh Matter a moving. And I remem¬
ber Cdrifotlchimfelf, in one place of his Metaphy licks,
fputing againft lome of the antienter Philofophers, askes, pbyftii>.
jguonamque modemovebuntur ft nulla erit act it caufa ? non enim
iffa materia (eiffam movebit "mw* rerum
But though ellewhere I have met With Paflages of his near of
kin to this, yet he feems not to exprefs his Opinion uniform¬
ly and clearly enough to engage me to define it or make a
Weapon of it: And therefore I fhall rather proceed to take
notice, That according to the Epicurean , not onely
the motion, but the determination of that motion is fuppofed.
For Eficurus will have his Atoms move downwards, and that
not
II.
cap. 6,


f7*V -
not in paralel Lines, left they fhould never meet toconftitute
the World, but according to Lines fomewhat inclining to¬
wards one another 5 fo that there muftbe not onely motion,
but gravity in Atoms, before there be any Centre of gravity
for them to move towards •, and they muft move rather down¬
wards then upwards, or fide-ways, and in fuch Lines as nothing
is produc'd capable of confining them to. Which are Affum-
ptions fo bold and precarious, that [ finde fome, even of his
Admirers, to be afham'd of them: Which will fave me the la¬
bor of arguing againft them, and . allow me to take notice in
the 7h place, That this Epicurean Do&rme fuppofes that a
fufficient number of Atoms, and their motion downwards be¬
ing granted, there will need nothing but their fortuitous con-#
courfe in their fall, to give a Being to allthofe Bodys that*
make up the World. Indeed, that the various coalitions of
Atoms,or at leaft fmall Particles of Matter, might have con.
ftituted the World, had not been perhaps a very abfurd Opb
nion for a Philofopher, if he had, as Reafon requires, fuppof d
that the great Mafs of lazy Matter was Created by God at the
Beginning, and by Him put into a fwifi and various motion,
whereby it was adually divided into fmall Parts of feveral Si¬
zes and Figures, whofe motion and croflings of each other
werefoguidetjby God, as toconftitute, by their" occurfions
and coalitions, the great inanimate part > of the Univerfe, and
the feminal Principles of animated Concietions. And there¬
in Vat: veo- fore I wonder not much that the OHtlefian Thales (the firft
rm, lib. i°» of the Grecian Philofophers (as Cicero informs us) that in¬
quired into thefe matters) fhould hold that Opinion which
%ullj expreffes in thefe Words: quam dixit c(Je imtium re-
rum^Deurn autem earn Mtntem qu<£ ex aqua cuncljo, finxerat: And
that of Jnaxagoras, the fame Author fhould give us this ac-
idcmWUtm. count, Omninmrerum defcripionem & modum mentis infinite
vi ac ratione ratione defignari.ft confici voluit: For though
thefe great Men exceedingly err'd, in thinking it neceftary that
God fhould be provided of a pre-exiftent, and by him not
crea-
\



(79)
created Matter to make the World of, yet at leaft they dif-
cern'd and acknowledged the neceflity of a Wife and Powerful
Agent to difpofe and fafhion this rude Matter, and contrive it
into fo goodly a Structure, as we behold, without imagining
with Epicurus, that chance fhould turn a Chaos into a World,
And really it is much more unlikely, that fo many admirable
Creatures that conftitute this one exquifite and ftupendous
Fabrickof the World fhould be made by the cafual conflu¬
ence of falling Atoms, juftling or knocking one another in
the immenfe vacuity, then that in a Printers Working-houfe
a multitude of fmall Letters, being thrown upon the Ground,
fhould fall difpof'd into fuch an order, as clearly to exhibit the
Hiftory of the Creation of the World, defcrib'd in the 3 or 4
firft Chapters of Genefis, of which Hiftory, it may be doubt¬
ed whether chance may ever be able to difpofe the fallen Let¬
ters into the Words of one Line. I ignore not that fometimes
odde Figures, and almoft Pictures may be met with, and may
feem cafually produc'd in Stones, and divers other inanimate
Bodies: And I am fo far from denying this, that I may
cllewhere have opportunity to fliew You, that I have
been no carelefie Obferver of fuch Varieties.
• But firft, even in divers Minerals, as we may fee in
Nitre, Chrvftal, and feveral others, the Figures that are ad¬
mired are not produc'd by chance, but by fomething analo¬
gous to feminal Principles, as may appear by their uniform
regularity in the fame fort of Concretions, and by the pra¬
ctice of fomeof the skilfulleft of the Salt-peter Men, who
when they have drawn as much Nicre as they can out of the
Nitrous Earth, caft not the Earth away, but preferve it in
heaps for fix or feven Years; at the end of which time, they
findeit impregnated with new Salt-peter, produced chiefly
by the feminal Principle of Nitre implanted in that Earth. To
prove that Metalline Bodies were not all made at the begin¬
ning of the World, but have fome of them a Power, though
flowly to propagate their Nature when they meet with a dif-
Writteo
/


Simpl:  In¬
dia nafcenli.
lib. x. cap. 47.
(8o>
pofed Matter •, you may finde many notable Teftlmonies and
Relations in a little Book of Phyftco-Chymical Queftions,
Written by J>o: Conradus Gerhardus, a Germane Do&or, and
moftof them recited (together vvithfome of his own) by
the Learned Sennertus: But left you fliould fufped the Nar¬
ratives of thefe Authors, as fomewhat partial to their Fel¬
low Chymifts Opinions, I'fliall here annex that memorable
Relation which I finde Recorded by Linfchoten, and Garcias
ab Horto, a pair of unfufpeded Writers in this cafe concerning
Diamonds, whereby it may appear that the feminal Principles
of thofe precious Stones, as of Plants, are lodg'd in the
Bowels of the Mine they grow in: Diamonds (fays thefirft,
in that Chapter of his Travels where he treats of thofe Jew¬
els) are diggd like Goldxwtof Mines, where they digged one year
the length of a Man into the Ground; within three or four years
after there are found Diamonds again in the fame place, which
grow there*, fometimes they finde Diamonds of 400 or 800
Grains. Adamantes (fays the latter) qui alttfsime in terra
vifceribus, wultiff, annis perfici debebant infummo ferefologe-
nerantur & duorum aut trium annorum fpatio perficiuntur: Nam
ft in tpfafodina hoc anno ad cubiti altitudtnem fodias Adamantes
repertes. Pojl bicnniumrurfus rllic excavato ibidem, invenies
Adamantes♦ And next, howinconfiderable, alafs, are thefe
fuppofed Produdions of Chance, incomparifonof theela-
borate Contrivances of Nature in Animals/' fince in the Body
of Man, for inftance,of fo many hundred Parts it is made up of,
there is fcarce any that can be either left out, or made other -
wi fe then as it is, or placed elfewhere then where it is, without
an apparent detriment to that curious Engine •, fome ofwhofe
parts, as the Eye, and the valves of the Veins, would be fo
unfic for any thing elfe, and are fo fitted for the ufes that are
made of them, that 'tis fo far from being likely that fuch skil¬
ful Contrivances fliould be made by any Being not intelligent,
That they require a more then ordinary Intelligence to com •
prebend how skilfully they are made.
As


(§ u
As for the account that Lucretius out of Epicurus, * Tanta er^o qui vj<feat,& raiia
gives us ofthefirft Production of Men, in I know
not what Wombs adhering to the Ground, and nulla ratione divlna, feci ex ato-
which much more becomes him as a Poet, then as "Vs fubtlhbus.cx sUiS concreta
I,, .. . T nII I ntanta nwacula > Nonne
a Philolopher, I mail not here watte tune to ma- prod;gio fnuu eft,autnatum cf-
nifeft itsunlikeiynefs, that witty Father * Lactan- Homines qui ha;c dicerct, ut
tins having already done that copioufly for me.
And indeed it feems lo pure a Fi&ion, that were it & tor ejus fu'.t , vei Epicuium
not chat the Hypothecs he took upon him to main -in qu^ni vank*s on;1?'ls de Lu"
ti r 1 it- i r cipPi iontc pronuxit,/w.z,WP.ii
tain, could fearce afford him any lefs extravagant
account of the Original of Animals , The unfuitablenefs of
this Romance, to thofe excellent Notions with which he has
enriched divers other parts of his Works, would make me
apt to fiifpedt, that when he writ this part of his Poem, he
was in one of the Fits of that Phreniie, which feme, even of
his Admirers, fuppofe him to have been put into by a Philtre
given him by his either Wife, or Mrs Lucillia^ in the Inter¬
vals of which, they fay, that he writ his Books.
And here let us further confider, That as confidently as
many Atomifts, and other Naturalifts, prefume to know the
true and genuine Caufes of the Things they attempt to expli¬
cate, yet very often the utmoft they can attain to in their Ex¬
plications, is,That the explicated Phenomena May be produe'd
after fuch a Manner as they deliver, but not that they really
Are fo: For as an Artificer can fet all the Wheels of a Clock a
going, as well with Springs as tvith Weights, and may with
violence difchargea Bullet out of the Barrel of a Gun, not
onely by means of Gunpowder 5 but of comprefPd Air, and
even of a Spring. So the fame Effe&s may be produe'd by
divers Caufes different from one another •, and it will often¬
times be very difficult, if notimpoflible for our dimReafons
to difcern furely which of thofe feveral ways, whereby it is
poffible for Nature to produce the fame Ph&noirena fhe has re¬
ally madeufe of to exhibit them. And fure, he that in a skil¬
ful Watch-makers Shop (hall obferve how many feveral ways
M Watches


(Sz)
Watches and Clocks may be contriv'd, and yet all of them
flievv the fame things, and ffiall confider how apt an ordinary
Man, that had never feen theinfide but of one fort of Watches,
would be, to think that all the (a are contriv'd after the fame
manner, as that whole Fabrick he has already taken notice of;
fuchaPerfon, I fay, willfcarce be backward to think that
fo admirable an Engineer as Nature, by many pieces of her
Workmanfhip, appears to be, can, by very various and dif¬
fering Contrivances, perform the fame things 5 and that it is
a very eafie miftake for Men to conclude, that becaufe an Fi¬
fe ft may be produc'd by fuch determinate Caufes, it muft be
fo, or actually is fo. And as confident as thofe we fpeak of
ufe to be, of knowing the true and adequate Caufes of Things,
yet Epicurushimfelf, as appears by ancient Teftimony, and
by his own Writings, was more modefl, not onely contenting
himfelf, on many occafions, to propofe feveral poffible ways
whereby a Phenomenon may be accounted for, but fometimes
feeming to diflike the fo pitching upon any one Explication,
as to exclude and rejed all others: And fome Modern Philo¬
sophers that much favor his Dodrine, do likewife imitate his
Example, in pretending to affign not precifely the true, buc
poffible Caufes of the Phenomenon they endeavor to explain.
And I remember, that i^driflotle himfelf (what ever confi¬
dence he fometimes teems to exprefs) does in his firft Book
of Meteors ingeniouttyconfefs, that concerning many of Na¬
tures Phenomena, he thinks it lufficient that they May be fo
perform'd as he explicates them. But granting that we did
never fo certainly know in the general that thefe Phenomena of
Nature muft proceed from the Magnitudes, Figures, Moti¬
ons, and thence refulting Qualities of Atoms, yet we may be
very much to feek as to the particular Caufes of this or that
particular EfBd or Event: For it is one thing to be able to
ffiew it poffible for fuch and fuch Effeds to proceed from the
Various Magnitudes, Shapes, Motions, and Concretions of
Atoms, and anther thing to be able to declare whatprecife,
and


tw
mm
(8$ j
and determinate Figures, Sizes, and Motions of Atoms, will
fuffke to make out the propof'd , without incon¬
gruity to any others to be met with in Nature; As it is one
thing for a Man ignorant of the Mechanicks to make itpkufi-
ble, that the motions of the fam'd Clock at are
perfbrm'd by the means of certain Wheels, Springs, and
Weights, &c. and another to be able to defcribe diftin&ly,
the Magnitude, Figures, Proportions, Motions, and (in ihort)
the whole Contrivance either of that admirable Engine, or
fome other capable to perform the fame things.
Nay, a Lover of difputing would proceed farther, and que-
ftion that way of reafoning, which even the eminenteft Ato-
mifts are wont to employ to demonftrate that they explicate
things aright.
For the grand Argument by which they ufe to confirm the
truth of their Explications, is, That either the
muft be explicated after the manner by them fpecified, or elfe
it cannot at all be explicated intelligibly: In what fenfe we
difallownot, but rather approve this kinde of Ratiocination,
we may elfewhere tell you. But that which is in this place more
fit.to be reprefented, is, That this way of arguing feemsnot
in our prefent cafe fo Cogent, as they that are wont to imploy
it think it to be: For befides that, it is bold to affirm and
hard to prove that, what they cannot yet explicate by their
Principles, cannot poffibly be explicated by any other Men,
or any other Philofophy 5 befides this, I fay, that which
they would reduce their Adverfaries to, as an Abfurdity, feems
not to deferve that name: For fuppofing the Argument to be
conclufive, That either the propofd Explication muft be al-
low'd,orMen can give none atall that is intelligible, Ifeenot
what abfurdity it were to admit of the confequence: For who
has demonftrated to us, That Men muft be able to explicate
all Natures Phenomena^ efpecially fince divers of them are fo
abftrufe, that even the Learned'ft Atomifls fcruple not to ac¬
knowledge their being unable to give an account of them.
Ma And


(*4)
And how will it be prov'd that the Omnifcient God, or that
admirable Contriver, Nature, can exhibit Phenomena by no
wayes, but fuch as are explicable by the dim Reaion of
Man I fay. Explicable rather then Intelligible^ becaufe there
maybe things, which though we might underftand well e-
noueh, if God, or fome more intelligent Being then our own,
did make it h's Work to inform us of them, yet we ihould ne¬
ver oi our felves finde out thofe Truths. As an ordinary
Watch-maker may be able to underftand the curioufeft Con¬
trivance of the skilfulleft Artificer, if this Man take care to
explain his Engine to him, but would never have underftood it
if he had not been taught. Whereas to explicate the Nature
and Caufes of the Phenomena we are fpeakrng of, we muft not
onely be able to underftand, but to inveftigate them.
And whereas it is peremptorily infifted on by fome Epicu¬
reans, who thereby pretend to demonftrate the excellency and
certainty of their Explications, that according to them, Na¬
ture is declar'd to produce things in the way that is moft facile
and agreeable to our Reafon: It may be replyed,That what we
are to enquire after, is, how Things have been, or are re¬
ally produced, not whether or no the manner of their
Produdionbefuch, as may the moft eafily be underftood by
us: Forif all things were, as thofe we reafon withal maintain,
cafually produced, there is no reafon to imagine that Chance
conficered what manner of their Produdion would be the moft
eafily intelligible to us. And if God be allowed to be, asin-
deedhe is, the Author of the Univerfe, how will it appear
that He, whofe Knowledge infinitely tranfeends ours, and who
may be fuppofd to operate according to the Didatesof his
own immenfe Wifdom, fhould, in his Creating of things, have
refpedto the meafure andeafe of Humane Underftandings,
and not rather,if of any,of Angelical Intelleds/o that whether
it be to God, or to Chance, that we afcribe the Produdion of
things, that way may often be fitteft or likelyeft for Nature to
work by, which is not eafieft for us to underftand.
And


And as for the way of arguing, fo often imploy'd (efpecial-
ly againft the Truth we now contend for) and fomuch rely'd
on by many Modern Philofophers, namely, That they can¬
not clearly conceive fuch orfuch a thing propofid, and there¬
fore think it fit to berejedled =, I (hall readily agree with them
in the not being forward to aflent to any thing, efpecially in
Philofophy, that cannot well be conceived by knowing and
confidering Men: But there is fo much difference among
Men, as to their faculty of framing didindt Notions of thngs,
and through Mens partiality or lazynefs, many a particular
Perfon is fo much more apt, then thefe Men feem to be aware
of, to think, or at lead, to pretend, that he cannot conceive,
what he has no minde to aff'ent to, that a Man had need be wa¬
ry how he rejedts Opinions, that are impugn'd onely by this
way of Ratiocination, by which, I hope, it will not be ex-
pedted that wefhould be more prevail'd with, then that Sedi of
Philofophers that imploys it moil And among thofe that
refolve the Phenomena of Nature into the Mechanical Powers
of Things, or the various Figures, Sizes and Motions of the
parts of Matter 5 I meet with fome, as the Epicureans, who
tell us, They cannot frame a Notion of an Incorporeal Sub-
ftance 01 Spirit, nor conceive how, if the Soul were fuch, it
could adt upon the Body: And yet others that feem no lefs
fpeculative, feriouflyand folemnly profeffe, That they can
conceive a clear and didindl Notion of a Spirit, which they be -
lieve the humane Soul, that regulates at lead, if not produ¬
ces divers Motions of the Body,to be •, denying on the other
lide, That it can be clearly conceiv'd, either that any thing
that is onely material can think, or that there can poffibiy be
any Vacuum (that is, Place without any Body) in the Qniverfe^
both which the Epicureans profefs themfelves not onely to
conceiveasPoflible, but to believe as True.
And thus much, Pyrophilw^ it may fuffice to have faid in
relation to thofe who would rejedf God from having any thing
to do, either in the Produdtion or Government of the World,
upon


(26
upon this ground, that they, if you will believe them, can ex¬
plicate the Original and Phenomena of it without him % but 'tis
not all, nor the greateft part of the Favorers of the Atomical
Philofophy, that prefume fo much of themfelves, and dero¬
gate fo much from God: To fay therefore fomethingto the
more moderate and judicious of that Perfwalion, we will can¬
didly propofeon their behalf themoft plaufible Objedion we
can forefee againft the Truth we have been all this while plead¬
ing for. They may then thus argue againft us, That though
the Acomifts cannot fufficiently demonftrate from what Natu¬
ral Caufes every particular Effed proceeds, and fatisfadorily
explicate alter what determinate manner each particular Pheno¬
menon is produc'd * yet it may fuffice to take away the neceffi-
tyof having recourfeto a Deity, that they can make out in
general, That all the things that appear in the World, may,
and muft be perform'd by meerly corporeal Agents s or ifyou
pleafe, That all Natures Phenomena, may be produc'd by the
parcels of the great Mafs of Univerfal Matter, varioufly
lliap'd, conneded, and mov'd. Asa Man that fees afcrew'd
Gun (hot off, though he may not be able to defcribe the nu m-
ber, bignefs, lhape and coaptation of all the Pieces of the
Lock, S tock, and Barrel, yet he may readily conceive that the
Effeds of the Gun, how wonderful foever they may feem,
may be perform'd by certain pieces of Steel or Iron, and fome
parcels of Wood, of Gun-powder, and of Lead, all falhion'd
and put together according to the exigency of the Engine, and
will not doubt, but that they are produc'd by the power of
fome fuch Mechanical Contrivance ot things purely Corpo¬
real, without the afliftance of fpiritual or fupernatural A*
gents.
In anfwer to this Objedion, I muft firft profefs to you,
That I make a great doubt whether there be not fome -
menu in Nature, which the Atomifts cannot fatisfadorily ex¬
plain by any Figuration, Motion, or Connedion of material
Particles whatfoever: For fome Faculties and Operations of
the


ttagtoj
win
(87)
the reafonable Soul in Man, are of fo peculiar and tranfcendent
akinde, that as I have not yet found them folidly explicated
by corporeal Principles, fo Iexped not to fee them inhafte
made out by fuch. And if a fpiritual Subftance be admitted
to enter theCompofition of a Man, and to ad by and upon
his Body; befides that, one of the-chief and fundamental
Dodrines of the Epicureans (namely, That there is nothing in
the Univerfe but Corpus and Inane) will thereby be fubverted;
it will appear that an Incorporeal and Intelligent Being may
work upon Matter, which would argue, at leaft a poffibility
that there may be a fpiritual Deity, and that he may intermed¬
dle with, and have an influence upon the Operations of things
Corporeal: But to infift no longer on this, let us give a fur¬
ther and dire# Anfwer to the propof'd Objection,by reprefen-
ting,That although as things are now eftablilhed in theWorld,
an Atomift were able to explain the Phenomena we meet with,
by fuppofing the parts of Matter to be of fuch Sizes, and fuch
Shapes, and to be mov'd after fuch a manner as is agreeable to
theNature of the particular Phenomenon to be thereby exhi¬
bited, yet it would not thence neceflarily follow, That at the
firft produdion of the World, there was no need of amoft
powerful and intelligent Being to difpofe that chaos, or con-
fuf'd heap of numberlefs Atoms into theWorld, to eftablifh
theuniverfal and confpiringHarmonic of things; andefpeci-
ally to conned thofe Atoms into thofe various feminal Con¬
textures, upon which moft of the more abftrufe Operations,
and elaborate Produdions of Nature appear to depend: For
many things may be perform'd by Matter varicufly figur'd
and mov'd, which yet would never be perform'd by it, if it had
been ftillleft to it felf without being, at firft at leaft, faihion'd
after fuch a manner, and put into fuch a Motion by an Intelli¬
gent Agent. As the Quill that a Philofopher writes with, be¬
ing dipt in Ink, and then mov'd after fuch and fuch a manner up¬
on White Paper, all which are Corporeal things, may very
well


(88 j
well trace an excellent and rational Difcourfe* but the Quill
would never have beenmov'd after the requisite raanner up¬
on the Paper, had not its motion been guided and regulated by
the Underftanding of the Writer: Or rather, yet once more
to refume our former Example of the Strasbourgh Clock,
though a skilful Artift, admitted to examine and confident,
both without and within, may very well difcern that iuch
Wheels, Springs, Weights, and other Pieces of which the
Engine confifts, being fet together in fuch a coaptation, are
fuflicientco produce fuch and fuch Motions, and fuch other
Effedis as that Clock is celebrated for,yet the more he difcerns
the aptnefs and fuificiency of the parts to produce the Effedts
emergent from them, the lefs he will be apt to fufpedl that fo
curious an Engine was produc'd by any cafual concurrence of
the Parts in confifts of, and not rather by the skill of an intel¬
ligent and ingenious Contriver j or that the Wheels, and o~
ther parts, were of this or that Size, or this or that determi¬
nate Shape, for any other reafon, then becaufe it pleaPd the
Artificer to make them fo •, though the reafon that mov'd the
Artificer to employ fuch Figures and Quantities, fooner then
others, may well be fuppof d to have been, that the Nature of
his Defign made him think them very proper and commodi¬
ous for its accomplifhment, if not better then any other fuit-
ed to the feveral Exigencies of it.
If an Epicurean iliould be told, that a Man, -after having
been for fome days really dead, became alive again, I think it
will not be doubted, but that he would rejedt iuch a Relation
as impoflible, and therefore too manifeftly falfe to be belie¬
ved by any Man in his Wits: And yet, according to his Prin¬
ciples, the Man, as well Soul as Body, confuted onely of
divers Particles of the Univerfai Matter, by various Motions
brought together, and difpoPd after a certain manner: And
confequently, he rnuft ground his perfwafion that 'cisimpoffi-
ble to redintegrate the Engine once fpoii'd by death,upon this,
That


(*9)
That as Chance cannot with the leaft probablity be prefum'd
to have produc'd fuch a ftrange Effed •, fo according to him,
there can be no Caufe aflign'd, knowing and powerful enough,
to rally and bring together again the disbanded and fcattered
parcels of Matter (or fubftitute other equivalent ones) that
together with the remaining Carcafe, compof'd the dead Man,
fo to reunite them to the reft •, and laftly, fo to place and put
into Motion both the one and the other, as were requifiteto
make a living Man once more refult from them. I know that
this Example reaches not all the Circumftances of theCon-
troverfie we have been debating •, but yet, if I miftake not, it
will ferve the turn for which 1 propofe it: For, not now to in-
fift upon this inference from it, That a confidering Man may
confidently rejed a thing that is not abfolutely impofllble,
provided it be highly incredible^ not toinfifton this, I fry,
the thing I aim at in the mention of it, is onely to drew,
That fuch things may poflibly be efftded by Matter and
Motion, as no wife Man will believe to have been produc'd
by a bare Agitation of the Particles of Matter, not guided
by the fuperintendency of a Powerful and Knowing Di-
re&or.
Now that the Atoms, or Particles of Matter of which the
World confifts, made no agreement with each other to con¬
vene and fettle in the manner requifite to ccnftitute thellni-
verfe, Lucretius does not fo properly confefs, as affirm, in that
fore-cited Paflage where he judicioufly tells us, That
Tic
Cerli mi], confiliis ,
Or dine fequaque, at que fag mente locarunt:
Necquos quaque darentMot us pepigcre frofecio.
And the thing it felf is manifeft enough, from the Nature
of Atoms confelTedly inanimate and devoid of underftand-
rng.
So that although vve fliould grant, , the poffible
N Emer-


( 9° )
Emergency of the innumerable Eftedls we admire in the
World, ft om the various Properties and Coalitions of Atoms,
yet ftill you fee the formerly mention'd difficulty (touching the
Refulting of All things from Matter left to it felf) would re¬
cur ; and it would as well be incredible that an innumerable
multitude of infenfible Particles , as that a leffer number
of bigger Parcels of Matter, llaould either confpire to confti-
tute, or fortuitoufly juftle themfelves into fo admirableand
harmonious aFabrick as the Univerfe, or as the Body ofMan;
and confequently it is not credible that they ffiould conftitute
either, unlefs as their motions were (at leaft, in order to their
feminal Contextures and primary Coalitions) regulated and
guided by an intelligent Contriver and Orderer of things. And
I Ihould fo little think it a Difparagement to have but fo much
laid of any Hypotbefis of mine, that I fuppofe I may affirm it,
without offending either the moftfober, or the generality of
the Atomical Philofophers, to whom, and to their Dodlrine,
my Writings will manifeft me to be no otherwife affedted then
1 ought.
ESSAY


CpO
1
ESSAY V.
lybereinthe Difcourje interrupted by the late
Digression, is refumed and .
IT remains now, Pyroph: that we at length return into'the
way from whence the foregoing Digreffion has, I fear,too
lorig diverted us, and that to profecute and finilli our Dif-
courfe, we take it up where we left it and were tempted to di-
grefs, namely, at the end of the III betwixt which,
and the beginning of this V, all that has been interpof'd may
belook'dupon but as a long Parenthefis.
In the third place then I confider, That whether or no it be
true which our Antagonifts fuggeft, that there at e feme things
in Nature which tempt Philofophers more then they doe the
Vulgar, to doubt or deny a God-, yet certainly there are di¬
vers things in Nature that do much conduce to the evincing of
a Deity, which Naturalifts either alone difcern, or at leaft dif-
cern them better then other Men: For belides the abftrufe
Properties of particular Bodies, not difcovet'd by any buc
thofe that make particular Enquiries into thofe Bodies, there
are many things in Nature, which to a fupei facial Obferver
feem to have no relation to one another whereas to a know¬
ing Naturalift, that is able to difcern their fecret Correfpon-
dencies and Alliances, thefe things which feem to be altoge¬
ther Irrelative each to other, appear To Proportionate and fo
Harmonious both betwixt themfelves, and in reference to the
Univerfe they are parts of, that they reprefent to him a very
differing and incomparably better Profpedt then to another
N i Man


C 9* )
Man: As he that looks upon a Pidture made up of fcat-
ter'd and deform'd pieces, beholding them united into one
Face, by a Cylindrical Looking-glafs aptly plac'd, difcerns
the skill of the Artift that drew it, better then he that looks
onely on the fingle parts of that Picture, or upon the whole
Pidture, without the uniting Cylinder. Which brings into my
minde, That whereas in the Sacred Story of the Creation,
when mention is made of Gods having confider'd the Works
of each of the firft fix Days, at the end of it, it is faid of the
Work of every Day, That God (except of
the fecond Day, becaufe the reparation of the Waters was but
fmperfedtly made on that day, and compleated in the next, on
which it is therefore twice faid, fan that it was good)
whereas, I fay, when God look'dupon his Works in particu¬
lar, it is onely faid, That he fan that ahoy were $ when
He is introduc'd at the clofe of the Creation, as looking upon,
and furveying his Creatures in their Harmony, and entire Sy-
flem, it is emphatically faid, That he fan every thing that he
had made, and behold it was ver-j good. And be in¬
deed the Author of the Book De CM undo ad ,
which pafl'es for his, and is faid to have been Written by him
towards the end of his Life, it would not be unworthy our
Obfervation to take notice, how he that in his other Wri.
tings is wont to talk of Gods Intereft in the Creatures darkly,
ana hefitantly enough,is wrought upon by the Contemplation
of the Univerfe, as it is an orderly Aggregate or Syflem of
the Works of Mature, to make Expreifions of the Divine
Architect, which are not unworthy of though being
meerly humane they cannot be worthy of God. Amongft
many I fhall fingle out fome 5 and I hope, you will
excufe me, if in this Efjay, and fome of the precedent ones, I
do contrary to my cuftom, employ pretty ftore of Paflages
taken out of other Authors. For firft, the nature of my De-
fign makes it requifite forme to fhew what Opinion the Hea¬
then Philosophers had of the Study of Phyfiology, and what
Power


lbilem.
(9V
Power their Contemplation of Nature had to engage them to
Ads of Religion. And next, fince divers of the-fame Paf-
fages wherein they had fee down their Opinions, contained alfo
the Grounds and Reafons of them, whereby they have antici¬
pated much of what we fhould fay upon the fame fubjedls, I
was unwilling to deprive you of their pertinent Ratiocinations,
or rob them of the Glory of what they had well Written.
And this neceflary Apology premif'd, let us proceed to confi-
der his Paffages 5 and firft, Re(lat (fays he) ut {umrnatim de AnfkdeMuw
^ r j'/T' ri ' r i J a. j. m. ■ doy Ctio.Gi
CaujA dijjeramus^ qua cuntt arum ipfa rerum vim habet tulricem
& continent em, quemadmodnm catera perftrinximus : Elagitii
eniminftar e(Jet, cum de mundo dicere inftituerim, trattain (i
minus exquifitofortafie, at certequifat e(Je pofsit ad formulam
dottrina crafsiorem, tntattam pracipuam mundi partem princi-
pemq,praterirc. And a little after, Etenim (fays he) cuntta-
rum qua rernm natura complettitur, cum fervat or eft Dens 5 turn
vero quacunque in hoc mundo quoquomodo pcrficiuntur eorum
omnium idem eft Genitor. Non ftc tamcn ip fe ut opiftcis in morem,
animalifft lafsitudinem fentientis labore afftci pofsitjtt qui eafa-
cult ate ut at ur^ qua nulh cedat difficult ati^ cujus ipje vi facili¬
tate omnia in pot eft ate continet, nec minus etiam qua longius ab
ipfovidentur efje fummota: To which purpofe he elfewhere
lays, Auguftius decentiuffc exiftimandum eft, Deum fummo in
loco it a efje collocatum : Numtnis uttamen ejus vis per univerfum
mundum perttngens, turn Solem, Lunamfa moveat, turn Caelum
omne circumagat, fimulcf caufam prabeai eorum qua in Terra
funt falutis at if incolumitatis : And in the fame Book he adds ,Ut CaP*
vero{umatim loquamur quod in navi Gubernator eftyquod inCur-
ru agitator,quod in^horopracentor,quod deniif lex in Civitate^&
dux in exerctiuyhocDeus eft in mudo.Nifi fthattcnus intercft^quod
labor^ motus multiplex illos exercet^& cur a angunt van a, cum
huic illaborata fuccedunt onta, omnis mole ft/a expertia,And cer¬
tainly he that is a ftranger to Anatomy, lhall never be able to
difcern in the circulation of the blood,the motion of the Chyle,
and the contrivance of all the parts of a humane Body, thofe
~ Proofs
todem Cap*


(94)
Proofs, as.wellas Effects, of an Omnifcient orAr-»
tift, which a curious Aaatomift will difcover in that elaborate
and matchlefs Engine: as I remember,! had occafion not long
fince to take notice of in the fhape of that ftrange Mufcle (the
obturator rnternus) which fomecall from its Figure Marfttpi alls,
ferving to the motion of the Thigh. For this Mufcle feems fo
made^ as if Nature had defign'd in it, tomanifeft, That (he is
skill'd in the Mechanicks, not onely as a Mathematician that
underftands the powers of Diftance,Weight, Proportion., Mo¬
tion and Figure-, but as an Artificer, or Handy-crafts man,
who knows by dextrous Contrivances to fiarnifti the more en-
danger'd parts of his Work, with what is more ufeful to make
it iafting: There being (to omit other Obfervables, belonging
to that Mufcle) a deep notch made in the Caxendix, to fhorten
the way betwixt the two extremities of the Mufcle, and make
it bear upon the Bone with a blunter Angle. And becaufe the
Tendon is long, left, notwithftanding the former provifion, it
fliouldbeapt to fret out upon the edge of the Bone, Nature
has provided for it a Mufculous piece of Flefh, wherein it is as
it were (heath'd, that fo it might not immediately bear, and
grate upon the Bone juft as our Artificers ufe to fow Cafes of
Leather upon thofe parts of filken Strings, which being to
grate upon harder Bodies, were other wife endangered to be
fretted out by Attrition.
And a like skrifulnefs of Nature in the Mechanical Contri¬
vance of the Parts, is more obvioufly difcernable in the Stru¬
cture of that admirable Engine, by which fuch variety of other
Engines are made, the Hand: where (not to mention the Liga*
mentum-latum, or Wrift-band, that keeps the Tendons that
move under it from inconveniently ftarting up upon the Con¬
traction of the refpedtive Mufcles) the wonderful perforations
that are made through the Tendons of the Mufculi per for at, by
thofe of the lMnfcuU perforates, for the more commodious
motion ofthe Joy ntsof the Fingers, may confpicuoufiy ma-
iiifeft the Mechanical Dexterity of Nature-, as it may her Huf-
banding


(95)
banding (if T mayfofpeak) of her Work, That in a Twita-,
whil'ft it lies in the Womb, becaufe the Lungs are nottobe
difplay'd as afterwards, and fa the Blood needs not circulate
thorow Them from the right Ventricle of the Heart,into the
left, fortheufeof Refpiration, as it muft in grown Animals,
fhe contrives a nearer way$ and by certain fliort Pipes, pecu -
liar to fuch young Creatures, Are more commodioufly per¬
forms in them the Circulation of the Blood, proportion'd to
their prefent condition 5 and afterwards, when the Animal is
brought out of the Womb into the open Air, and put upon
the conftant exercife of his Lungs, thefe temporary Conduit-
pipes little by little vanilh. Socareful isNaturenotto do things
in vain.
And therefore I do not much wonder, that Galen, though
I remember he fomewhere (unprovokedly and caufelefly e-
noughj derides (JHofes, and feems not over-much inclin'dto
make Religious acknowledgements 5 yet when he comes to
tonfider particularly theexquifite Strudtureof a humane Bo¬
dy, fhould break forthinto very elevated, and even pathetical
Celebrations of God, and tell- us, That in his Books, De
ttfu Partium, he compof'd Hymns to the Creators praife. And
certainly, he that fhali fee a skilful Anatomift dextroufly dif-
fedl that admirable part of Man, the Eye, and fhall confider
the curious Contrivance of the feveral Coats, Humors, and
other Parts it confifts of, with all their adaptations and ufes,
would be eafily perfwaded, That a good Anatomift has much
ftronger Invitations to believe, and admire an Omnifcient Au¬
thor of Nature, then he that never faw a Diflediion, efpeci-
ally if he fhould fee how all of thefe concur to make op one
Optical Inftrument to convey the Species of the vifible object
to the Optick Nerve, and lb to the Brain; as I have, with
pleafure confider'a it, in the recent Eye of a Cat (for with
keeping, it will grow flaccid) cut cleanly off, where the Op-
tick Nerve enters the Sclerolu, and is going to expand it feif
into the Retina-, for holding this Eye at a convenient diftance
betwixt
Galen:
. lib.
De nffo
Varum*


(9&).
betwixt yours and a Candle, you may fee the Image of a
Flame lively expreft upon that part of the back fide of the
Eye at which the Optick Nerve enters the above-mention'd
Sclerotis: Some thing of this kinde we have alfo (hown our
Friends with the eyes of dead Men , carefully fever'd from
their heads; and with the (dexteroufly taken out) Chriftalline
humor of a Humane Eye, we have often read, as with a
Lens or Magnifying glafs. And to alfiftyouin fopleafinga
fpeculation, as that of the Eye, we flialladde, That by rea-
fon Ox Eyes are much larger, and much eafier to be had then
humane ones, we are wont to make much ufe of them, and to
difcemfome things better in their Coats, we immerfe them
for a little while in boy ling Water, and to be able to confider
the form and bignefs of the Vitreous and Cryftalline humors,
better then the fluidity of the one, and the foftnefs of theo-
ther are wont to allow Anatomifts to do; we have fometimes,
by a way hereafter to be fet down, fpeedily frozen Eyes, and
thereby have turn'd the Vitreous humor into very numerous
and Diaphanous Films (as it were of Ice, and the Cryftalline
into a firm Subftance, but (which perhaps you will wonder at)
not Tranfparent. An eye thus frozen, may be cutalong that
which Optical Writers call the Optical Axis,and then it affords
an inftruftive Profpedt, which we have not been able to obtain
any other way. But becaufe, notwithftanding this Expedient
in the Eyes of Men, and the generality of Terreftrial Animals,
the Opacoufntfs of the Sclerotis hinders the Pictures that out¬
ward Objedts (unlefs they be lucid ones) make with in the Eye
to be clearly difcern'd. We think our felves obliged to that ex¬
cellent Mathematician of your Acquaintance, , who,
upon fome Difcourfe we had with him concerning this Subjedl,
lately advif'd us to make ufe of the Eyes of white Rabbets
(for if thofe Animals be of another colour, he fays, their
Eyes will not prove fo fit for our purpofe) For having held
fome of thefe Eyes at a convenient diftance betwixt my Eyes
and the Window, I found them to be fo traiifpareiit. That the
rayes


VJ2
rayes proceeding from the Panes of Glafs, Iron Bars, &c. of
the Window, pafling through the Cryftalline humor, and in
their paffage refraded, did on the Retina exhibit in an inverted
Pofture, according to the Optical Laws, the contraded, but
lively Pictures of thofe external Objeds; and thofe Pidures,
byreafonof the tranfparency of the Sclerctis^ became vifible
through it to my attentive Eyes: As in a darken'd Room the
fhadows of Objeds without it, projeded on a fine (heet of
Paper, may, by reafon of the thinnefs of-the Paper, befeen
thorow it by thofe that ftand behinde it. By Candle-light we
could fee little in the bottom of thefeeyes, but lucid Objeds,
iuch as the flame of the Candle, which appear'd tremulous,
though inverted •, but by Day-light we could manifeftiy dif-
cern in them both the motions of very neighboring Objeds,
and the more vivid of their colours.
And really, Vyrofhilus^ it feems to me no.t onely highly dis¬
honorable for a Reafonable Soul to live in fo Divinely built a
Manfion, as the Body iherefidesin, altogether unacquainted
with the exquifite Strudure of it but I am confident, it is
a great obftacle to ourrendring God thePraifes due to him, for
his having fo excellently lodg'd us, that we are fo ignorant of
the curious Workmsnfhip of the Manfionsour Souls live in
for not onely the Pfalmift, from the confideration of the Di¬
vine Art difplay'd by God, in the moulding and fafhioning his
Body in the Womb, takes a juftoccafion to celebrate his Ma¬
ker, I will prdife thee (fays he) becaufe I am fearfully
derfully made, marvellous art thy , and that my Soul know- j.
eth right well: My fubfiance was not hid from , when I was ,
made in fecret, andeurioujly wrought (with as much curiofiry as
Tapftry or Embrodery, as the Hebrew Rukkamti feems to im¬
port) In the loweft farts of the Ear, thine eyes did fee my
fiance, yet being unpcrfccl; and thy Book all my members
were written, which in continuance were fwhen as yet
there were none of them. Buc even from himfelf
Anatomical Reflections have been able to extort Expreffions
O of
16.


fpS)
of Devotion: Cum igitnr (fay she) quod in omnibus- re Ete fit,
Galen depUc: omrres ad artem refermlp quod mtern inuno, out dnobu* non ad
H'p: & TLxt: art em, fed for tun am \ merito ex noflri flrueinra corporis licet ad-
rnirari fummam artem0 aquitatem* & vim natura^qua nos con-
ftruxit. Con flat fiquidem corpus nof rum ex ofsibus plurtbus
quam ducentis, adfwgnla effaveropervenit nuirknswna, 5 fl¬
out admufcnlos : cum hac etiam arteria, & Nert'i $ pariafy add-
mufsimfuntr & animo fimilia in dcxtra anirnantis parte fita^ iis
qua in altera funt •, Os ofsiy Mnf cuius mufculo, Vena vena^Arte-
riaarteria, ac Nervus nervo•, idfc except is vifceribus, atque
nonnullis particulis qua habere propriam defcriptionem videntnr.
Duplices itacf corporis noflri partes, omnino inter fe funt ftmilesy
dr magnitudine <& conformation^ ficuti & oonfiflentia quam vo-
co juxta molhtiem, duritiemff differentia. fhiemadmodttin igi-
turde Humanis cffetfibus judiciumfadmits^ ex navi fumma arte
conflruEla cognofcentes ptritiam artificis7 it a etiam de Divinis
facert convenit,* ccrporiffy noflri opificem admirari , quicumf
tandem is Deorumexiftat, etiam fi cam non vidimus.
Perhaps it may betruly faid yet further. That although in
humane Bodies, many Wonders, ss we have lately mention'^
have been difcover'd to us by Anatomy, yet Anatomy it -fell
has not difc-overd to us all the Wonders to be met with in a
humane Body, nor will deted them, till Anacomifb be skili'd
in fome other things over and above that of dexteroufly Dif-
feding: For it feems very probable, that the excellent contri¬
vance of fome parts will never be fully apprehended, without
a competent knowledge of the Nature of thofe Juices that
are to pais thorow them, and fome of them receive their be¬
ginning or fome alteration in them •, And the Nature of thefe
Juices will fcarce be exadly known, without fome skill in di¬
vers parts of Phyfiology, and efpecially in Chymiftry. Be-
fides, thereafon of the Origination, Shape, Bulk, Length,
Progjrefs, and Infedion of each particular Mufcle, can hardly
be well accounted for, without fome skill in the Principles of
Mechanicks,. and in the nature and properties of Leavers, Pub
leys,


(99)
leys ^&c. Moreover, there is a certain Harmonious Propor¬
tion betwixt the parts of a humane Body, in reference both
to the whole, and to one another, which is not wont to be
heeded by Anatomifts, but much taken notice of by Statuaries
and Painters: For they reckon, that when a Mans Arms are
difplay'd, the diftance betwixt his middle Fingers is equal to
the height of his Body ^ fo they reckon fometimes feven,
fometimes eight lengths of the Head, to the length of the
Body, and four times the length of the Nofe to that of the
Head, as three times the fame length to that of the Face:
And divers fuch Obfervations we have met with among them,
which we fhall not now infifCon, but rather tell you, That
without fome skill in Opticks, it will be hard for an Anato-
mift to (hew the Wifdomof God in making the Cryftalline
humor of the Eyes of Men, onelyof afomewhat convex or
lenticular form, rather then as thofe of Fillies of an almoft
perfectly Spherical one. Nor do I remember that in Anato¬
my Schools I have heard any account given of this difference,
which yet tends much to manifeft the Wifdom of the Author
of Nature, who has fo excellently fuited the Eyes of xAnimals
to the feveral parts of theUniverfe hedefign'd them to inha¬
bit. For Men, and other Terreftriai Animals living in the
Air, the Beams of Light, reflected from vifible Objeds, and
falling over the Come a and the Aqueous humor, do neceflarily
fuffer a Retradion there, as coming from the Air, which is a
thinner Medium into a thicker, and fo there needs the lefs of
further Refradion to be made by the Cryftalline humor, and
confequently its Figure needs to be but moderately convex^
whereas Fifhes living conftantlyin the Water, the Medium,
through which they Tee things, is almoft of a like thicknefs
with the Cornea and Aqueous humor •, fo that there being little
or no Refradion made in their Eyes but by the Cryftalline it
felf, it was neceftary that that fhould be exceedingly convex,
that it might make a very great Refradion, and thereby unite
the Beams nearer ac hand 5 which if the Cryftalline were lefs
O 2 convex,


(too)
convex, would tend to a point of Concourfe beyond the Re^
tin a, and confequently paint on it but a languid and confufid
Picture of the Objedl they fhould reprefent.
As for Paracelfus, certainly he is injurious to Man, if fas
fome eminent Chymifts expound him) he calls Man a Micro-
cofm, becaufe his Body is really made up of all the feveral
kindes of Creatures the Macrocofm or greater World conlifts
ijL 3. Beufu of,and fo is but a Model or Epitomy of theUniverfe : For (to
omit that the Antients fas Galen informs us) gave the Title of
Microcofms to Animals in general)'tis the Glory and Preroga¬
tive of Man , that Cod was pleaC'd to make him not after the
Worlds Image, but His own. On which occafion, give me
leave to tell you, That however, the confederation of the dig¬
nity confeiTd on us in the Image of God, fin whatever that
Image berefolv'd toconfift) {hould, methinks, be fome en¬
gagement to us to look upon our felves as belonging unto
God 5 As our Saviour, from the Image of Cafar flampt upon
a Coyn, pronounc'd it fit to render unto Cafar the things of
Cafar, and to God, thofe of God.
In the fourth place , I confider that the univerfal*experience
of all Ages manifefls, That the contemplation of the World
has been much more prevalent to make thofe that have addidt-
ed themfelves to it, Believers, then Denyers of a Deity : For
'tis very apparent that the old Philofophers, for the moft part,
acknowledged a God, and as evident it is by their want of re¬
velation, by many Pafiages in their Writings, and by divers
other things not now to be infilled on, That the confideration
of the works of Nature, was the chief thing that fnduc'dthem
to acknowledges Divine Author of them. This Truth I could
eafiiymake out, were I at leifure totranfcribe Teftimonies,
which, becaufe I am not, I fhall content my felfto mention to
you one, which may well ferve for many, it being a Confeffion
made by Ariftotlc, or whatever other Learned Philofopher it
was, who writ the Book DeMundo^ That Gods being the Ar¬
chitect and Upholder of the World, was the general belief of


BglDgi
(101;
the Ages that preceded his: Fetustfayshe) fermo eft a majoribus
prodittts^ inter omnes homines, univerfa turn ex Deo turn per Dcu
conftitutarfuifje, atc^coagmentata^nullamq^ naturam fatisinftru-
Ft am ad[alutem e(]epojje^qua citra Dei prajidiumjua ipfa demum
tuteUpermifja fit: And as for both the Opinion of that emi¬
nent A uthor himfelf, and the Grounds of it, he fpeaks of God
and the Creation almoft in the terms of S "Paul: Prands (fays
he) h*c etiam de Deo Jentienda nobis funt, illoquidem^fivim fpe-
ffes)Vdkntifsimo,fidecorem^ForrnofifstmO) ftvitam Immortali
denife ft virtutem Praftantifsimo.£)uapropter cum fit inronfpica-
bilis natura omni interituripfis nihtlominus ipfe cernitur ah o-
peribus, atfc ea quidem qu* acre quoquornodo affeFto^ qua in terra,
qua in aqua^ea certe Dei opera ejje merito dixerimus; Dei inquam
opera, eum imperio fummo Mundum, acpro poteftate obtinentts9
Ex quo deo ut inquit Empedocles Phjficus.
Omnia quotquot erunt, quot funt prafentia, quotfo
Ortafucre antehac flirpes, homineffcferafc
Inde etiam volucres, pifceffc humor is Alumni.
And thofe few Philofophers (if ever there have been any at
all)that have been really Atheifts, are no ways confiderable for
their number, in refpedl of thofe that haveafferted a Deity-, and
their Paradoxes have been lookt upon as fo Irrational, that as
foon as they have been propof'd, they have beea difdainfully
rejedted and condemn'd by all the reft of Man-kinde, who
have look'd upon the Patrons of them as Monfters rather then
Philofophers. And if there be, at this day, any Nations (as
Navigators infofm us there are in Br aft/, and fome other parts
of the Indies) that worfliip no God, thevconfift not of Na-
turalifts, but Bruit, and Irrational Barbarians, who may be
fuppof d rather to ignore the Being of God, then deny it 5 and
who at leaft are little lefs ftrangers tothe Myfteries of Nature,
then to the Author of it. And if it be a Truth that there
are
Libro de Mutt-
doj Cap. 6,
Alibi eodem
Cap,
dr


(*o»)
are really fuch Atheiftical People, it may ferve to recommend
tous the Study of Phyfiology, by (hewing us, That with¬
out the help of any fiich innate'belief, or perfwafion of a God,
as is fuppof'dconnatural to Man, Reafon exercifd upon the
Objects the Creation prefents us with,is fufficient to convince
Philofophers of a Deity and indeed fuch a care has God ta¬
ken, to make his Being eonfoicuous in his Creatures, that they
I all feem loudly and unanimoufly to fpeak to their attentive
c ^ Confiderers, in the Pfalmtfts Language, Know ye that the Lord,
he is God: 'tis he that hath made us, and not we our [elves : And
Judg. V. 20. as it is Laid, That the Stars in their courfes fought againfl Si/era,
foit may be truly faid, That not onely the Stars, but all the
reft of the Creatures do in their courfes fight againft the Athe-
ifts, by fupplying an tinprejudic'd Confiderer of them with
" Weapons fit to over- throw his impious Error. To which pur-
pofe, I remember ^Ariflotle^ in his Book OVLundo^ makes
ufeof a pretty Simile to declare the confpicuoufnefs of the
c ^ 6 Creator in his Creatures: Fama efi (fays he) Phtdiam ilium (la-
tuariurn, quum Minervam illam quae efl in Arce, coagmentaret,
in medio ejus fcutofaciem [nam cxprefsiffe^ oculoffa fallenti ar-
tificio it a devinxiffe fmulachro, eximereut inde tpfam [iquis cu-
peret^ mini me pofjet^ aliter quidem certe^quam ut ipfum folveret
fmulachrum, epuffa cjufmodi compatible confunderet t, fiance*
andern rationsm Dew hahet in Mundo utpote qui univerforum co-
atmentattonem coharentem cohibeat & coarffet, incolumita-
~tem fa Univer fit at is confervet $ Nifiquatenus non medio ille loco
in Terra fcilicct, ubi Turbtda Regioefl, fed in excelfo f itusefl,
pur us ipfe in piiro loco.
But to declare how Atheifts may be reduced either to con-
fefsa fir ft Caufe, or to offer violence to their own Faculties,
by denying things as certain as thofe, which 'tis apparent that
(in other cafes) themfelves firmly aftent to, would require a
Difcourfe too large to be proper to be profecutedhere-, and
therefore if I have not, in another Treatife, an opportunity of
infifting onthatfubjedy I muft content my felf to refer you


C*°?)
for further fatisfadion on it, to the Writers of Natural Theo¬
logy.
Nor does Phy fiology barely conduce to make Men believe
the exiftence of a Deity, but admire and celebrate the Perfe¬
ctions of it: And the nobleft Worfhipfrom that greater part
of the World, to which Goddidnotvouchfafe any explicits
and particular Revelation of his Will, hath been paid Him,
by thofe whom the beauty of this goodly Temple of the Uni-
verfe, tranfported with a rational Wonder at the Wifdom,
Power, and Goodnefs of the Divine Architect. And this
kinde of Devotion being commonly proportionate to the dif-
coveries of Nature that begot it, it needs notfeem ftrange,
that divers of the beft Philofophers amongft the Heathens,
fiiould.be the greateft Celebrators of God: And 'twas there¬
fore perhaps not without caufe that the Indian Gymnofophiftsr
the Ferfian CMagi, the Egyptian Sacrificers, and the old Gauls
frruides, were to thur Peoples both Philofophers and Priefts;
and that itidiversCiviliz'd Nations, Philofopby and Prieft-
hood were fo ally'd, that thofe whofeProfeffionlliould give
them moft intereft in the definition of Man, made a more ftriCt
profefllon of celebrating and praifing God. I might eafily,
with divers Inftances, manifeft how great a Veneration the
Study of the Creatures has given Philofophers, for thofe At¬
tributes of God that are ftamp'd upon them, and confpicuous
in them: But my willingnefs to haften to the more Experi¬
mental part of what I have to fay concerning the ufefulnefs of
Phyfiology, makes me content ray felf to prefent you with a
couple, or akafh of Authorities, for proof of what has been
alledg'd-, the firft (hall be of Galen, in his third Book Deufu
Tartium, where treating of the Skin that inverts the fole of the
Foot: Cut em ipfam (fays h t)non lax am, ant Jubtilem, aut mol-
krn, fed conflrittam^ &mediocfitcr duram, fenftlemfe utnon
facile pateretur fubdidit pedi fapientifsimus Conditor nojler: Cui
comment arios hos4 ceu bymnes quo [dam compono, & in eo pieta-
temefte exiftimanS) non fi Tauronm mt'wQcu ci plurimus quif*


(104)
pam [acrificarit , &caftas aliacf [excenta unguent a (uffamiga*
rit: Sed ft noverim ipfe primus deinde expofnerim alii* qu&narn
fttipftus Sapientia, qua Virtus, qua Providentta^ qua Bonitus 5
ignorantia quorum fumma Impietas eft, non fid [acrificio abfti-
neas. £hiod enim cnltu convenienti exornavit omnia, nullify
bona inviderit idperfeff/fsima Bonitatis Jpecimen efie ftatuo, In-
venifie autem quo patfo omnia adornarentur fumma Sapientia eft^
at effect fie omnia qua voluit Virtutis efi in viola. T o which II-
luftrious Paflage he annexes much more, worthy of Galens
Pen, and your perufal.
To this let me adde, in the fecond place, that of Hermes
Trifmegiftus^ almoftat the very beginning of .his firftBook,
Englifhed by Dr. Bverard: He that fhall learn* and fludy the
things that are, and how they are ordered and governed, and
by whom, and for what canfe^ or to what end, will acknowledge
thanks to the Work man, as to a good Father, an excellent Nurfe
and a faithful Steward •, and he that gives Thanks fhall be Pious
or Religious, and he that is Religious fhall know both where the
Truth is, and what it is * and learning that± he will be yet more
and more Religious: T o which I cannot but adde a refembling
Paflage of that great Hermetical Philofopher (as his Followers
r love to call him,) Paracelfus: Oppido (fay she) admirabilis, in
nerdl Tmft.i. fuis Operibus, Dens eft ^ a quorum contemplatione nec interdiu^
nccnottu defifiendum, fed jugiter illorum indagationi vacandum
eft, Hoc enim eft ambulare in Viis Dei. All which bears witnefs
to, and may, in exchange, receive Authority from that re¬
markable paflage of that Great and Solid Philofopher, Sir
mi ^dvan • of" Janets Bacon ^ who fcruples not fomewhere to affirm, "That
Learning,'Lib, it is an aiTured Truth, and a concluiion of Experience, That
l- a little or fuperficial tafte of Philofophy, may, perchance,
incline the minde of a Man to Atheifm, but a full Draught
thereof, brings the Minde back again to Religion. For ia
the entrance of Philofophy, when the Second Caufes, which
are next unto the Senfes, do offer themfelves to the Minde
of Man, and the Minde it felf cleaves unto them, and dwells
* ~ ~ there,


(I0?)
there, aforgetfulnefs oftheHigheft Caufe may creep in: But
when a Man pafleth further, and beholds the Dependency,
Continuation, and Confederacy of Caufcs, and the Works
of Providence, then according to the Allegory of the Poets,
he will eafily believe that the higheft Link of Natures Chain
muftneedsbetyedtothe foot of fpupiteri Chair ^ or (to (peak
our Chancellors thoughts more Scripturally) That Phyfiolo-
gy, like Jacobs Vifion, difcovers tous^ Ladder, whofe topGzn,2s
reaches up tc the foot-(tool of the Throne of God: To which he
defervedly addes, Let no UVlan, upon a weak conceit of [obriety,
or til-apply ed moderation, think or maintain that a CM an can
fearchtoo far, or he too wellftudiedin the Book of Gods Word, or
in the Book of Gods Works, Divinity, or Philofophy: But rather
let Men awake themfelves, and chearfully endeavor and purfue
anerAlefsprogrefs or proficiency in both ^ onely let them beware
left they apply Knowledge to Swelling not to Charity 5 to Often-
tation, not to Ufe: ^And again, Thai they do not unwtfely min¬
gle and confound thefe diftincf Learnings of Theology and Pbtlo-
fophy, and their (emcral Waters together.
In the fifth place,, PyrophiluI confider, that when the Di¬
vines we are anfwering fuppofe Phyfiology likely to render a
Man an Atheift, they do it (as hath above been noted already)
upon this Ground, That Natural Philofophy may enable him
to explicate both the regular Phenomena, and the aberrations
of Nature, without having recourfe to a firft Caufe or God.
But though this fuppofal were as great a Truth, as we have en¬
deavored to make it a Miftake, yet I fee not why aStudier of
Phyfiology, though never fogreat a Proficient in it, may not
rationally be an utter Enemy to Atheifm: For the Contem¬
plation of the Creatures, is but one of the ways of coming to
beconvinc'dthatthereisaGod; and therefore, though Reli¬
gion were unable to make ufe of the Argument drawn from the
Works of Nature, to prove theexiftence of a Deity, yet has
fhe other Arguments enough befides, to keep any Confiderate
P and


and Impartial Man from growing an Atheift. And here give
meleave, for the fake of thefe Divines, toobferve, That
though the Devils be Spirits, not onely extreamly knowing in
the Properties of Things (by their hidden skill in Phyfiology,
by which they teach Magicians, and their other Clients, to
do divers of the ftrange things for which they are admired) But
alfo unmeafureably proud, and willing to pervert their know^
ledge to the cherifhing of Atheifm ^ yet St. tfames informs us,
Jam. u,i£>. That they themjelves believe there is a God, and tremble at him
which argues, either that skill in Natural Phiiofophy does not
neceflarily lead to Atheifm,or that there are other Arguments,
beiides thofe drawn from Science, fufficient to convince the
moft refradary of theexiftenceof a Deity.
But not to infift on any thing of this nature, nor fo much as
to mention what proofs the confideration of our own Minds,'
and their in-bred Notions, may afford us of a Deity, I fhall
content my felf tominde you, That the feyeral Patefadtions
which God has been pleaf d to make of himfelf, to Man efpe-
cially, thofe made by feafonably accomplifW Prophefies, and
by Miracles, do not onely demonftrate the Being, but the Pro¬
vidence, and divers of the Attributes of God. And indeed,
methinks, the Divines we reafon with may well allow thefe
Patefadiions to be capable of evincing the exiftence of a God,
lince they are fufficient, and, for ought I know, the beft Argu¬
ments we have to convince a rational Man of the truth of the
Chriftian Religion. For the Miracles of Ghrift (efpecially his
Refurredion) and thofe of his Difciples, by being Works al¬
together fupernatural, overthrow Atheifm ^ and being owned
to be done in Gods Name, and to authorize a Dodirine afcrib d
to his Infpiration ^ his Goodnefs, and his Wifdom, permit us
not to believe that he would fuffer fuch numerous, great, and
uncontrouled Miracles, to be let as his Seals to a Lie, and de¬
lude Men little lefs then inevitably into the belief of a Dodirine
not true. And as for the Miracles themfelves (efpecially that


( 1 °7 )
of ChriftsRefurreftioh, fomuch, andfo defervedly infifted
on by Peter to the Jews, and Paul to the Gentiles) the truth
of them is fo afcertain'd to us by many of the folemnift, and
moft authentick W3ys of Atteftation, whereby the certainty
of Matters of Fad is capable of being fatisfa&orily made out,
that 'tis hard to (hew how thefe Teftimonies can be deny'd,
without denying fome acknowledge Principle of Reafon, or
fome other received Notion, which thefe Contradictors Opi¬
nions or Practice manifeft them to look upon as a truth. And
upon this account, fo much might be faid to evince the reafon-
ablenefsof aflenting to the Chriftian Religion, andtofhew,
that as much may be faid for it, as need be faid for any Reli¬
gion, and much more then can be faid for any other •, that it
need be no wonder, that, as Learned Men as ever the VVorld
admir'd, have not been many of them Embracer?, but fome
of them Champions of it. But* having more fully, in ano¬
ther Treatife, difcourfd of this fubjeCl, I (hall content my
felf to make this Inference from what has been alledg'd, that
fince the moft Judfcious Propugners of Chriftianity have
held and found, that, upon the fcore of Gods miraculous Re¬
velations of himfelf, rational Men might be brought to be¬
lieve the abftrufer Articles of the Chriftian Religion, thofe
Revelations cannot but be fufficient to convince them of fo
fundamental and refulgent a Truth (which all the others fup-
pofe) as that of the exiftence of God.
In the fixth and laft place, I will here adde (on this occafi-
on) that an infight into Phyfiological Principles, may very
mnch affift a Man toanfwer the Objections of Atheifts, againft
the Being of a Deity, and the Exceptions they make to the
Arguments brought to prove that there is one : For though it
has long been the cuftom of fuch Men, to talk as if themfelves,
and thofe of their minde, were not alone thebeft, but almoft
theonely Naturalifts and to perplex others with pretending,
that, whereas it is not conceiveable how there can be a God,
P2 all


7 ■■■
all things are by the Principles of the Atomical Philofophy,
madeclear and facil. Though this, I fay, have long been uf'd
among the Oppofers of a Deity, yet he that not regarding
their confidence, (hall attentively confider the very firft Prin¬
ciples of things, may plainly enough difcern, that of the
Arguments wherewith Natural Philofophy has furniffi'd A-
theifts, thofe that are indeed confiderable, are far fewer then
one would readily think • and that the difficulty of concei¬
ving the Eternity, Self-exiftence, and fome other Attributes
of God (though that afford them their grand Objedfion)
proceeds not fo much from any abfurdity belonging to the
Notion of a Deity, as fuch:, as from the difficulty which our
dim humane Intelledls finde to conceive the Nature of thofe
firft Things (whatever we fuppofe them) which, to be the
Caufes of all others, muft be themfelves without caufe:
Tor he that (hall attentively confider, what the Atomifts
themfelves may be compell'd to allow concerning the Eterni¬
ty of Matter, the Origineof local Motion (which plainly be¬
longs nQt to the Nature of Body) the" Infinity or Bound-
Jefnefs of fpace, the Divifiblenefs or non-Divifibility of each
Corporeal Subftance into infinite Material Parts, may clearly
perceive that the Atomift, by denying that there is a God,
cannot free his Underftanding from fuch puzling Difficulties
as he pretends to be theReafonsof his Denyal. Forinftead
of one God, hemuftconfefs an infinite number of Atoms
to be Eternal, Self-exiftent, Immortal, Self-moving, and
muft make Suppofitions, incumbred with Difficulties enough
to him that has competently accuftomed his Thoughts to
leave Second Caufes beneath them, and contemplate thofe
Caufes that have none. But I am unwilling to fwell this Eftay,
by infifting on fuch Confiderations as thefe, efpecially fince
you may finde them more aptly deduc'd in other Papers, fome
of which treat of the Truth of Chriftian Religion, and o-
thers are defign'd for the Illuftration of fome things in this


& the tare-going E(lays.For [ muft confefs to
that by reafon of the fundry Avocations, I have been fo di¬
verted from propofing fome of theReafonsI have employ'd,
to their beft advantage, that I my felf, at another time, could
have both mention'd them with leffer difadvantage, and have
added divers others: And therefore I have not onely had
thoughts of enlarging upon fome Paflages of our paft Dif-
courfe, but I longfince made a Collediion (though it be not
now in my power; of Obfervations, and Experiments to elu¬
cidate a Point in one of thofe Difcourfes, whereby may be
enervated one of the three chief Phyfxological Reafonings,that
I have met with among the Atheifts.
Upon confiderationof all the Premifes, IcoukCs,Pyropbi-
lus, that I am enclined to think there may, perhaps, be
more caufe to apprehend, that the delightfulnefs of the
Study of Phifiology lhould too much confine your Thoughts
and Joys to the Creatures, then that your Proficiency in
it fliould bring you to dif-believe the Creator: For I
have obferv'd it to be a fault, incident enough to Ingeni¬
ous Perfons, to let their mindes be fo taken up, and, as it
were, charm'd with that aimoft infinite variety of pleafing
Objedts, which Nature prefents to their Contemplation,
that they too much dif-relifh other Pleafures and Employ¬
ments, and are too apt to undervalue even thofe wherewith
the improv'd Opportunities of ferving God, or holding
Communion with Him, are capable of Blefling the Pious
Soul,
But ,Pyroph:though comparatively to Fame,and Miftreffes,
and Baggs, and Bottles,and thofe other tranfient, unfatisfadfo-
ry, (in a wordy1 deluding Objects, on which the greateft part
of miftaken Mortals, fo fondly dote , the entertaining of our
Nobleft Faculties, with Objedts fuited to them, and pro¬
per both to gratifie our C.uriofity, and to enrich our
"• ~ ' Under-


underfhndings, with variety of acceptable and ufeful Moti¬
ons, affords a fatisfadion that very well deferves thechoice
and preference of a rational Creature: Yet certainly, Pyrophi-
//**, as God is infinitely better then all the things that he has
made, fo the Knowledge of Him is much better then the
knowledge of them - and he that has placd fo much deiight-
fulnefs in a Knowledge,- wherein he allows his very Enemies
to become very great Proficients, has fure referv'd much
Higher, and more contenting Pleafures to fweeten and endear
thole Difclofures of Himfelf, which He vouchfafes to none
but thofe that love Him, and are lov'd by Him.
And therefore, Pyrophilus^ though I will allow you to ex¬
pert from the Contemplation of Nature a greater fatisfadion,
then from any thing you need decline for it, yet I would not
have you exped from it any fuch fatisfadion as you may entire¬
ly acquiefs in, for nothing but the enjoyment of Him that
made the Soul for Himfelf can fatisfie it, the Creatures being
as well uncapable to afford us a compleat Felicity by our Intel-
ledual Speculations of them, as by our fenfual Fruitions of
them For though the knowledge of Nature be preferrable by
odds to thofe other Idols which we have mentioned, as inferior
to it, yet we here attain that knowledge, but very imperfed-
ly, and our acquifitions of it coft us (o dear, and the Pleafures
of them is fo allay'd with the difquieting Curiofitythey are
wont to excite, that the wifeft of Men, and greateft of Philo-
fophers among the Antients, fcruplesnot, upon his own ex-
Ecckf. 1.13. perience, to call the addidingof ones hurt to jeekand fearch
out by Wtfdom, concerning all things that are done under the
Heaven, a [ore travel given ly God to the fons of Men, to be ex-
erctpd (or, as the Original hath it, to affiitf themfelves) there¬
with: And the fame experienced Writer elfewhere tells us,
£cckf. 1.18. 'That he that encreafes knowledge, encreafes [orrow. And 'twas
perhaps for this reafon that K^dam was fortifd out of Para-
dice, and afterwards by God brought into it, to intimate,That #
Felicity '
x


kty
z King* cap.' *1
(ni)
Felicity is not a thing that Man can acquire for himfelf, but
muff receive as a free gift from the liberal Hand of God: And
as the Children of'the Prophets fought tranflated Eliasv/nh
very great diligence, but with nofuccefs, lo do we as Fruit-
lefly as Induftrioufly, feek after perfed Happinefs here, both
they and we, milling of what we feek for the fame reafon; be-
caufe we feek for that on Earth, which is not to be found but in
Heaven: And this I forewarn you of, , not at all
todifcourageyoufrom theftudy of Phyfiology, but to keep
you from meeting with that great Difcouragement of finding
in it mucfl lefs of fatisfadion then you expeded, and over-
great expedation from it, being one of the difadvantagioufeft
Circumftances with which it is polfible for any thing to be en¬
joyed.
But at length, Pyrophilns, though late, I begin to difcern in¬
to how tedious a digreflion my zeal for Natural Philofophy,
and for you, has mif-ledme, and how it has drawn from my
Pen lome Pafiages, which may feem to relilli more of the
Preacher, then the Naturalift; yet I might alledge divers
things to juftifie, or, at leaft, extenuate what I have done:
Asfirft, That if in making this Excurfion I have err'd, I have
not done fo without the Authority of great Examples •, for
not onely Seneca, doth frequently both feafon his Natural Spe¬
culations with Moral Documents and Refledions, and owns,
that he purpofely does fo, where he fays, , cm- Seneca ma
ntbtiftj, fermombus alt quid falutare mifcendam cfl^
occulta Natura,&c. but even Pliny (as far as he was from be¬
ing guilty of over much Devotion) does from divers Palfages
in his Natural Hiftory, allow Jaimfeif to takeoccafion to in¬
veigh againft the Luxury, Exceffes, and other Epidemical Vi¬
ces of his time. And I might next reprefent, that perhaps the
endeavoring to manifeft, that the knowledge of the Creatures
fhould, and how it may be referr'd to the Creators Glory, is
not altogether impertinent to the defign I have of promoting
r:~- ■ 7 ' Phyfio-
Quafl: lib.
cap. 59 ,


Phyfiology, for it feems confonaat both to Co 1s Goodnefs,
and that repeated Axiome in the Gofpei, which tells us, That
he that improves his Talents to good ufes7 fhall be intruded with
more, That the imploying the little Knowledge I have in the
ferviceot Him I owe it to, may invite Him to en reafe that
little, and make it lefs defpicable. And perhaps it is not the
leaft caufe of our ignorance, in Natural Phiiofophy it feif,
that when we ftudy the Great Book of Nature, czWdThe
Univerfe, weconlult, peradventure, almoft all other Expo-
fitors to underftand its Myfteries, without making any addrefs
for inftru&ion to the.Author, who yet is juftly ftil'din the
Jam. i. 17. Scripture, That Father of Lights (in the plural Number) from
whom defcends every good and every perfeU Gift ,not onely thofe
fupernatural Graces, that relate to another World, but thofe
• intelledual Endowments, that qualifie Men for the profperous
Contemplation of this: And therefore in the Evangelical
Ifa.i8.2^16. he js faid, to inftrud even the Plough man, and
teach him the skill and underftanding he difplays in his own
Profeffion. And though I dare not affirm, with fome of the
Helmontians zndParacelfians^ that God dilclofes to Men the
Great Myftery of Chymiftry by Good Angels, or byNo-
dlurnai Vilions, as he once taught facob^ to make Lambs and
Gen, 31. Kids come into the World fpeckled, and ringTlreaked •, yet
perfwaded I am, that the favor of God does (much more then
mod Men are aware oi) vouchfafe to promote fome Mens
Proficiency in the ftudy of Nature, partly by protedhng their
attempts from thofe unlucky Accidents which often make In¬
genuous and Induftrious endeavors mifcarry and partly by
making them dear and acceptable to the Pofleffors of Seciets,
by whofe Friendly Communication they may often learn that
in a few Moments, which coft the imparters many a Years toyl
and ftudy •, and partly too, or rather principally, by direding
them to thofe happy and pregnant Hints, which an ordinary
skill and induftry may fo improve as to do fuch things, and
make


(lll)
makefuchdifcoveries by virtue of them, as both others, and
the perfon himfelf, whofe knowledge is thus encreafed, would
fcarce have imagin'd to be poffible: And in eflc&, the chiefeft
of the Secrets that have been communicated to me, the Own¬
ers have acknowledged to me to have been 3ttain'd, rather, as
they were pleafd to fpeak, by accidental Hints, then accurate
Enquiries: confeflions of this nature I have divers times met
within the Writings of the more Ingenious of the Chymifts,
and of other Naturalifts,and by one of thefe accidental Hints,
of late, the acute and lucky Pecquet was dire&edto findethe
newly difcovered Lattea Thoracic*, as before him Afelliw
found without feeking, as himfelf confetfeth,the Latfea Me-
fenterica ; and by an accident too (as himfelf hath told me) did
our indufirious Anatomift, Dv. foltve^ firft light nponthofe
yet more frefhly dete&ed Veflels, which afterwards the Inge¬
nuous Bartholin/&r, without being informed of them, or feek¬
ing for them, h ith met with, and acquainted the World w ith,
under the name of Fa fa Lymphatic* • and the two great In¬
ventions of the later Ages, Gunpowder, and the Loadftones
refpedi unto the Poles,are fuppof d to be due rather to Chance,
then any extraordinary skill in Philofophical Principles (which
indeed would fcarce have made any Man dream ot fuch extra¬
vagant Properties, as thofe of Magnetick Bodies) As if God
defign'd to keep Philofophers humble, and (though he allow
regular Induftry, fufficient encouragement, yet; to remain
Himfelf difpenferof the chief Myfteriesof Nature.
To what hath been reprefented, Pyrophtlus, I might adde
muchmoreroexcufemyExcurfions, if I were not content to
be beholden to you foraPardon, and to invite you to grant it
me, Ifhallpromifeyou to be very careful not to repeat the
like offence 5 and whereas moft Chymical Writers take occa-
fion


(ii4)
fion from almoft every Difcovery or Procefs they acquaint us
with, to digrefs and wander into tedious, and too otten dull
and impertinent Theological Reflections or Sermons. I have
troubledyou with almoft all that 1 have to fay (to you) of
Theological at once, and I have endeavored to fprinkle it as
far as the fubjeCt would allow me, with fome Paflages Expe¬
rimental. And indeed I fhould not at all have engag'd my felf
into fo long a Difcourfe of the not onely Innocency, but Ufe-
'fulnefs of the knowledge of Nature, in reference to Religion,
but that I could not acquiefs in what I bad met with on that
fubjeChnany of the Writers I have peruf'd, Divines being
commonly too unacquainted with Nature, to be able to ma¬
nage it Phyfiologically enough, and Naturalifts commonly
efteeming it no part of their work to treat of it at all. And
therefore 1 fcruple not to confefs freely to you, Pyrofhilus^
that, as I (hall think my felf richly rewarded for all the eniuing
Eflays, if the paft Difcourfe but prove fo happy as to bring
you to value, and to make the Religious ufe of the Creatures
recommended to you in it: Sol had rather any of my Papers
fhould be pafPd by unperufed, then thofe parts of thefe Eflays
that treat of that ufe. And indeed 'tis none of the leaft of Sa¬
tisfactions, I hope, to derive from my Phyfical Compofures,
that by premifing before them the now almoft finiftfd Dif¬
courfe, I have done my hearty endeavor to manifeft and recom¬
mend the true ufe of all the Difcoveriesof Nature, which ei¬
ther my Enquiries, or your own, may afford you. And in¬
deed for my parr, Pyrofhilus^ I efteem the Dotffrine I have
been pleading for of that importance, that I am perfwaded,
That he that could bring Philofophical Devotion into there-
queft it Merits., (hould contribute as much to the folemnizing
of Gods Praifes, as the BenefaClor of Chorifters and Foun¬
ders of Chauntf ies, and not much lefs then Davids fo cele¬
brated


C *15)
brateddefignationandfettlementof that Religious Levitical
Mufick, inftituted for the folemn Celebration of God.
For the fenfible Reprefentations of Gods Attributes to be
met with in the Creatures, occurring almoft every where to
our obfervation, would very affiduoufly folicit us to admire
Him, did we but arightly dilcern Him in them : And the Im-
preffions made on the Mindeby thefe Reprefentations, pro¬
ceeding not from a bare (and perhaps languid) whether Belief
or Notion of the Perfedions exprefi'd in them, but from an
adual and operative intuition of them, would excite an admi¬
ration (with the Devotion fpringing thence) by fo much the
moreintenfe, by how much (it would be) more rational. And
fure, Pyofhilw, iomuch admirable Workmanlhip as God
hath difplay'd in the Univerfe, was never meant for Eyes that
wilfully clofe themfelves, and affront it with thenot judging
it worthy the (peculating. Beafts inhabit and enjoy the World:
Man, if he will do more, muftftudy, and (if Imayfofpeak)
Spiritualize it: 'Tis the firft ad of Religion, and equally ob¬
liging in all Religions: 'Tisthe duty of Man, as Man * and
the Homage we pay for the Pnviledge of Reafon: Which was
given us, not onely to refer our felves, but the other Crea¬
tures, that want it, to the Creators Glory. Which makes me
fometimes angry with them who fo bufie themfelves in the
Duties 3nd Imployments of their fecond and fuperinduc'd
Relations, that they will never finde the leilure todifcharge
that Primitive and Natural Obligation, who are more con-
cern'd as Citizens of any place, then of the World . and both
worfhip God fo bately as Catholick or Proteftants, Anaba-
ptifts or Socinians, and live fo wholy as Lords or Councel-
lors, Londoners or Parifians,that they will never finde thelei-
fure, or confider not that it concerns them to worfhip and live
as Men. Andthenegled of this Philofophical Worfhip of
Q.Z God,


(116)
God, for which we are pleading, feems to be culpable in Men
proportionably to their being qualified, and comply with that
invitation of thePfalmift, to fing Praifes to God with under*
/landing, or (the Expreflion in the Original being fomewhat
ambiguous) to fwgto him a learn d Canticle, as he elfewhere
'fpeaks. to praife him accordingto his excellent Greatnefs. For
Knowledge being a gift of God, intruded to us to glorifie
the Giver with it, the Greatnefs of it rauft aggravate the neg-
le&of imploying it gratefully •, and the fublimeft Knowledge
here attainable will not deftroy, but onely heighten and enoble
our admiration, and will prove the Incenfe (or more fpiritual
and acceptable part, of that Sacrifice of Praife ffor thofere-
fledions which their Nature makes onely adfs of Reafon, their
End may make ads of Piety) where:n the Intelligent Admi¬
rer offers up the whole World in Eucharifts to its Maker. For
admiration (I do not fay aftoniihment or furprize) being an ac¬
knowledgement of the Obje&s tranfcending our Knowledge,
the learneder the tranfcendent Faculty is, the greater is the ad¬
mired Objedls tranfcendency acknowledge: And certainly,
Gods Wifdom is much lefs glorifi'dby the vulgar afionifh-
ment of an unlettered Starer (vvhofe ignorance may be as well
fufpedfed for his Wonder, as the excellency of theObjedi)
then from their learned Hymns, whofe induftrious Curiofity
hath brought their underftandings to a proflrate Veneration of
of what their Reafon, not Ignorance, hath taught them not
to be perfe&ly comprehenfible by them.
And as fuchPerfons have fuch piercing Eyes, that wherea
tranfient or unlearned glance fcarce obferves any thing, they
can difcern an adorable Wifdom, being able (as I may fo
fpeak) to read the Stenography of Gods omnifcient hand ; fo
their skilful Fingers know how to choofe> and how to touch
thofe Strings that may found fweeteft to the Praife*of their
Maker


(117)
Maker. And on the open'd Body of the fame Animal, a
skilful Anatomift will make reflexions, as much more to the
honor of its Creator, then an ordinary Butcher can-, as the
Mufickmadeon a Lute, by arare Lutanift, will be preferable
to thenoife made on the fame Inftrument by a Stranger unto
Melody. And give me leave to tell you, thac
fuch a reafonable Worfliip "of God (to ufeRoB1
St. Paul's Expreflion, though in another fenfe) is perhaps a v° *u'1"
much nobler way of adoring him, then thofe that are not qua¬
lified to prailife it, are aware of, and is not improper even for
Chriftians to exercife: Tor,Pyropbiluf,	would be confidered,
That as God hath not by becoming (as the Scripture more T;m i I;
then once fliles him) our Saviour laid by his firft Relation to Tit. 1.10.
us as our Creator (whence St. Peter exhorts, even the fuffer-
ing Chriftians of his time, to commit their Souls to God un-1 4''9,
der the notion of a Faithful Creator) fo neither hath he given
up bis right to thofe Intelligent Adorations from us, which
become us upon the account of being his rational Creatures 5
neither are fuch performances made lefs acceptable to him by
the filial relation into which Chrift hath brought us to him,
that Glorious relation as well endearing to him our fervices as
our perfons.
And let me adde, Pyrophilus, that not onely Galen (as we
have feen already) tells us, That the difcerning ones felf, and
difcovering to others the Perfe&ions of God difplay'd in the
Creatures, is a more acceptable a<ft of Religion, then the
burning of Sacrifices or Perfumes upon his Altars •, and not
onely Trifmegiftusforbidding Afclepius to burn Incenfe, tells vermes
him, That the Thanks and Praifesof Men, are the
eenfe that can be offered up to God: But God himfelf (in his
written Word) is pleaf'd to fay, That he that facrifueth Praife
(for


f"i8)
(for fo'tis in the Original) And the Scripture
confonantly mentions as a very acceptable part of Religious
Hebr.ij. Wodhip, th e Sacrifice of Praife, Lips:
if. By offering up of which, we make that true ufe of the Crea¬
tures, of fo referring them to their Creators Glory, that
(to conclude this Difcourfe by Crowning it (as it werel with
Rom. ii. that excellent Cfrcle mention'd by the Apoftle) As
are of him, and Through him, fo they may be To him: to
whom be Glory for ever Amen.
THE


(i»9)
The Citations
P. Seneca de otio Sap.Cap. 32.
Xf Acure, confcious co her Self of her own Beauty and
Artifice, hath given us a curious fearching Wit, and to
fo excellent and great fhews, begat us to be Spedators-,other-
wife, fhe would have loft the Fruit of her Self, if to a de¬
fect and folitude ihefhould have let forth fo magnificent, fo
famous, fo finely drawn, fo fair and many ways beautiful
Pieces. That you may know fhe would not only have them
feen,but lopk'd upon, take notice of the place fhe hath given
us: For fhe hath not onely made Man of an upright Stature,
but being fo made, for better Contemplation, that he might
follow with his Eye the courfe of che Stars, from the Rifing
to the Setting, and carry about his Looks, together with his
whole Body, fhe hath both given him a tall Head, and placed
that upon a flexible Neck:Then fire fhews fix Conftellations
by Day, and fix by Night •, She hath laid open every part of
her Self, that by thofe things which fire hath offered to the
Eyes of Man, fhe might breed a defire of knowing the reft.
Yet neither do we fee all her Works, nor thofe that we fee,
do we fee in thofe Proportions which they truly have:But our
Sight, by fearching, does open a way unto it felf, and lay the
grounds of Truth,that fo Inquiry may pafs from things that
are plain to things that are obfcure, and finde fomewhat more
Ancient even then the World it felf. See Sen. de Vita Beat a,
Cap. 32.
' Pag. What does he that contemplates the Nature of
the Univerie, of honor unto God? This,that his great Works
are not without a Witnefs,
p. 28*


C i*°)
P• 28, Sen. 2 *de Ira. cap. 27.
4 Wearenoc the caufe of the feafons and returns of Sum-
€ mer and Winter to the World: Thefe have their own Laws,
c accommodated to the Exercife of Divine Beings: Wear-
e rogate too much honor to our felves, if we efteem our
€ feives worthy that fuch vaft Bodies fliould fulfil fuch Motions
c for our fakes.
lb. Latfanttus de Ira Dei, cap. 13.
c True is the Opinion of the Stoicks, that fay, How that
c for our fakes the Wofld was made for all things that are, and
c the World doth by ic felf generate, are accommodated to the
' Advantage of Man.
* •
lb. Seneca de Benef. cap. 23.
c The Gods were not carelefs or unconcern'd in the making
e of Man, for whom they made fo many other Creatures: For
' Nature defign'd us, and drew us out in Idea before fire made
'us.
lb. Cicero 2. De Nat. Deorum.
' And for whofe fake then was the World made ? For thofe
' Beings that have Reafon and Intelligence -viz. Gods and
'Men, thenwhomno Being is more excellent.
P. 43. Pifoin Medtcha Brafil: Lib. 1.
• It is obfervable, That fo many excellent Trees, Shrubs,
'and an innumerable company of Herbs, fome few excepted,
' fliould all appear fo unlike the Vegetables of the Antiently
'known World, both in Figure, Leaf and Fruits: And the
' fame Obfervation is made of Birds, Beafts and Fifhes; and of
'Infers both Flying and Creeping, which are monftroully
47.


( 121 )
'numerous, and of unfpeakableBeauty in Colour, fomc
* known to us, and fome unknown.
L
P.47. Pifo, ib. " You can fcarce determine, whether in
{C thefe Countries there are found mote Poifons or Anti-
" dotes: The Leaves, Flowers, and Fruits of the Herbs
"Tangarack and Juquer, the two moft potent Venoms of
<c Brafil, each of thefe hath its proper Root for an oppo-
"fite Antidote-The Barb arum apply the Fat and Heads
"of Vipers, and the whole Bodies of thofe Infe&s, prepa¬
red according to Art, that ftung or ftruck anyPerfon, and
"that with boldnefs, and happy fuccefs, to the Wounds made
«c by them, andfo by the effe&s do attempt to prove, That
" in every Venom its own Antidote is contained.
P.49. Pifo, ib.
£< From the Root Mandihoca, that abounds with a very
potent Poifon, there is made not onely excellent Aliment,
" but even Antidote too.
P- 50. Ex Augujlino.
"You ought not to ufe your Eyes as a Bruit, onely to take
"notice of Provifions for your Belly, and not for your
"Minde: Ufe them as a Man: Pry up into Heaven: See the
"things made, and enquire the Maker: Look upon thofe
"things you can fee, and feek after Him whom you can-
" not fee,and believe on Him you cannot fee, becaufe of thofe
u things you fee: And be not like the Horfe and Mule, &c.
P. 7J. Epicurus in Epiji: ad Herod:in Laertio.
"Astothe Meteors, youougbt not to believe that there
c< is either Motion, or Change, or Ecclipfe, or the rife or
R fetting


( 12Z)
"fetting of them, becaafe of any fuperior Prefident, which
* doth, or hath fo difpofed of it, and himfelf poffefles all the
c while Happinefs and Immortal Life: Wherefore you muft
'think, that when the World was made, thofe implications
'and foldings of Atoms happen'd, which caufed this necefli-
cty, that thefe Bodies fbould pafs through thefe Motions.
c There are infinite Worlds, fomelike this, fome unlike it:
1 For fince Atoms are infinite fas I newly (hewed from the in*
* finitenefsof the Spaces; fome in one, others in others, di-
f ftant parts of thefe Spaces far from us, varioufly concur to
c the making of infinite Worlds.
T. 7J. Lucretius, Lib. y,
But how at fir ft, when Matter thus was whirled)
JUavn, Earthy and Sea^ the high and lower World,
The Sun and Moon, and all were made, 1'le fhew:
Lor jure the fir [I rude Atoms never knew
By fage Intelligence, andConncelgrave,
L'appoint the places that all Beings have:
Nor will I think, that all the Motions here
Order d at firfi by fixt Agreements were,
But th*Elements that long had beat about,
Been buffeted^ now in) now carryed out:
Screw'dinto every hole, and trfd to take,
With anything, in anyplace to make
Somewhat at la ft-) after much time and coyL
CM ot ions and Meetings) and a world of toy I
Made up thts unto. And thus being joyn'd:
And thus in kinds Embraces firmly twin d,
And link'd together) they alone did frame,
Heav'n, Earth and Sea, and th' Creatures in the fame1


(I*})
p. 77. Arijlot: Mctapb: 12. c. 6,
' How (hall things be mov'd if there be no a&ual caufe :
e For Matter cannot move it felf, but requires to be mov'd by
a Tctfonit' thing-creating Power.
p. 78. Cictronu de 7hal
' He faid, Water was the Principle of all things, but God
was that Intelligence, that made all things out of Water:
Ejufdemde Anaxagora:The delineation and manner of all
things he thought to be defign'dand made by the power and
reafon of an infinite Intelligence,
P. 80. Carcias ab Horto, L. 1. [imp: c. 47.
* Diamonds, which ought to be brought to perfection in the
'deepeft Bowels of the Earth, and in a long trad of Time,
"arealmoftat the top of the Ground, and in three or four
' Years fpace made perfedf: For if you dig this Year but the
' depth of a Cubit, you will finie Diamonds* and after two
" Year dig there, you will finde Diamonds again.
p. 93, Arifl: de Mnndo. cap. 6.
1 It remains that we fpeak briefly concerning that Caufe,
whofe Power prefetves andfupports all things, in like man¬
ner, as we have compendioufly handled other matters: For
it would feem criminal to paft over the chief part of the
World untouch'd, having defign'd to difcourfe of the Uni-
verfein a Treatife, which, if lei's accurate, yet certainly may
be fufticient for a rough platform of DoClrine.
Ibid.
( For God is both the Preferver of all things contain'd in
11 2 'the


(i^4)
' the Univerfe, and likewife the Producer of every thing
' whatioever which is any wife made in this World: Yet not
'foastobefenfible of labor, after the mannerof a Work-
'man, or a Creature, which is fubjed to wearinefs- for he is
'indued with a power which is inferior to no difficulty, and
1 whereby he contains all things under his authority, even
' fuch as ieem moft diftant from him.
' Tis more magnificent and agreeable to conceive God, fo
'refident in the Higheft Pbce, that neverthelefs his Divine
'Energy being diff'uf'd throughout the whole World, moves
' both the Sun and Moon, turns round the whole Globe of
' Heaven, and affords the caufes of Safety and Prefervation
of fuch things as are upon the Earth.
' But to fum up all in brief ^ what the Pilot is in a Ship 5
' what the Driver in a Chariot •, what the chief Singer is in a
* Dance: finally, what Magiftracy is in a Commonwealth,
'and the General in an Army, That is God in the World r
' Unleis there be this difference, That much toil and manifold
' cares perplex them •, but all things are perform'd by God
' without labor or trouble.
P. 98. Galen, de Place Hipp: & Plat: Lib. 7.
' Whereas therefore (faith he) all Men afcribethat to Art,
which is made aright in all refpedfs •, but that which is fo only
'in one or two, not to Art, but Fortune: The ftru&ureof
our Body gives us caufe to admire the excellent Art, exadt-
nefs and power of Nature which fram'd us. For our Body
confifts of above Two hundred Bones*, to each of which
tends a Vein for conveying of nourilhment fin like manner
astotheMufcles)whichis accompanied with an Artery and
a Nerve , and the parts are exadily pairs, and thofe plac'd
in the right fide of an Animal, are wholly alike to thofe in
' the


( *25)
'the other, Bone to Bone, MufcletoMufcle, Vein to Vein,
'Artery to Artery, and Nerve to Nerve; excepting onely
'theBowels, and fome other parts, which feern to have ape-
' cuiiar conftrudfion. So that the parts of our Body are
'double, and altogether alike among themfelves, both in
' greatnefs and iliape, as alfo in confidence, which I place in
* the diverfity of foftnefs and hardnefs. As therefore we ufe
'to judge of things made by Men, acknowledging the skill
' of a JVork-man, by the building of a Ship with extraordi-
'nary Art; fo alfo it behoveth to do in thofe of God, and to
' admire the Framer of our Body, whofoever of the Gods he
' were, although we do not fee Him.
P. 101. Arijl: de MandOj
'Tis an ancient Tradition (faith he) diffuf'd amongft all
'Mankindefrom our Anceftors, That all things were made
' and produc'd of God, and by God; and that no Nature can
* be fuf ficiently furnifh'd for its own fafety, which is left with.
' out the fupport of God, to its own protedf ion.
P- Estd:
•Thus therefore we ought to conceive of God j If we con-
* fider His Power, He is Omnipotent •, if His Shape, moft
'Beautiful; if His Life, Immortal; and finally, ifHisVir-
' tue, moft Excellent. Wherefore though undifcernable by
'any corruptible Nature, yet He is perceiv'd by fuch, in
'His Works; and indeed thofe things which are pro-
'duc'd in the Air, by any mutation whatfoever; in the
' Earth, or in the Water, we ought defervedly to term the
4 Works of God; which God is theabfolate and foveraign
'Lord of the World, and out of whom (as faith Empedocles
' the NsturaliftJ
AH


(**6)
All things beginning have, which tr Jhall be,
Are prefnt or to come, Plants, Men and Beafls,
And Fowl, and Fifb the off - fpring of the Sea•
Pag. 102. ^>7/?: Mundo, Cap, 6*
4 Tis reported, That when Phidias, the excellent Statuary,
made the Image of Minerva, which is in the Caftle at a-
thens, he contrived his own Pidture in the middle%of her
Shield, and faftned the Eyes of it to the Statue by fo cunning
Workmanfhip, that if any one were minded to take it away,
he could not doit without breaking the Statue, and diforder-
ing the connexion of the Work. After the fame manner is
God in the World, retaining and upholding the coherence
of all things, and preferving the lafety of the Univerfe:
Onely, He is not in the midft of it (namely the Earth,)
which is a turbulent Region, but in the higheft place, which
is futable to His Purity.
P. 103,104. GalendeUfupartium.
c Our mod wife Creator hath plac'd under the Foot a skin,
not loofe, or thin, or foft, but clofe, and of indifferent
hardnefs and fenfe, to the end it might not eafily fuffer injury;
To Him Icompofethefe Commentaries as certain Hymns,
efteeming Piety not to confift in Sacrificing many Hecatombs
of Oxen to Him, or burning Cafiia, and a thoufand other
Perfumes i but in this, firft to know my felf, and then to
declare toothers, what His Wifdom, Power, Providence
and Goodnefs is: the ignorance of which, not the abftaining
from Sacrifice, is the greateft Impiety. For I account it an
s evidence of moft perfedf goodnefs, that He hath furnifh'd all
: things with convenient ornament, and deny'd*His benefits
4 to


>
* to none. Now, to have devif'd how all things might be
1 handfomly fram'd, is the part of higheft Wifciom • but to
'havemade all things which he would, of infuperable Power.
P. 104. Par ace I fxsde Tract.
Stsii; ' God is very, admirable in His Works; from the Contem-
itlt,; 'plauonof which we ought nottodefift Night or Day, but
'continually be imploy'd in the inquifition of them. For this
iocifc is to ivalk in the ivajs of God.
fcii.ii
idifult
Cost;
coka
Univsi


—
■ . , ' ■
-
- 1
'
• *
-


The I N D E X to the Firft part.
CJHe rcafon why the Author en¬
deavours to pofjefie Pyrophi-
lus with the true value of Experi¬
mental Philofophy. I
That Experimental Philofophy;
is conducive to the improving of
mans Under/landing, and to the
inereafing of mans power. 2
Arguments to prove that Mans
Curiofity for Knowledge is much j
thereby gratified. ibid.
relation of the tranfport &
furprifal of a Maid born hhnd^when
being about 18. years old fhe obtei-
ned the fir ft fight of the various ob-
jetfsthis worldprefentedher with, 3
That the kncwledgof the inward
1Archttetfure and contrivances of
Nature is more delight full then the
fight of the outward (hapes. 4
Examples and In fiances of the
-prevalence fthe plea fur e that ari-
fes from the attainment of Know¬
ledge 4
That theknowledg of the mofl cu¬
rious Artificial works is not more
delight full then the knowledg of
Natural. 5. That the delight here¬
in is altogether in off en five, 6
In fiances of the E fie em diverfe
ancient Philofophershadfor it,6, 7
S
How this fiudy confifis with Reli¬
gion* 8
I The abfurdity of not imploying
humane faculties on the contempla-
tion ofthofe obieffs to which they
are fitted, 9. Illufirated by the ft-
militude of a Spider in a Palace,
taking notice of nothing befides her
own Cobweb. 10
The opinions that Seth, A bra-
ham, Solomon, Ovid had of man's
fitnefefor the fiudy of Afironomy,
and other Phyfiology . 11
Why Providence might deprive
us ^/Solomons Phyfiology. 11
of the delight that may arifie from
the variety of obietts which Nature
produceth. 12
That there be above 6000 Subietfs
of the Vegetable Kingdom. ib.
of an excellent Jamaica Pepper
newly brought over. ib.
How many Treatifes are already
made of Antimony, which yet hath
not been perfectly dfcovered. 13
of a real Mercury of Antimony.
14. and a re all combufitble Sul¬
phur 0/Antimony that burns'like
ordinary Rnmfione. 14
A new Tinciure of Antimonial
Glafitviih tbc entire procef to draw
it'


The INDEX.
14 ! of the Hints of Natural Philofo-
of Gilbertu§, Cabeus, rfWKir- phy in the Hi [lory of the Creation,
cher, who [ucceflively writ the Ex- and other references to it in other
pcriments of the Loadflone- 15 places. 30 31
of fomcnew Experiments hither•
So undifcoverd of that Stone. ib.
That admirable /peculations may
strife from the mofl defpicable pro¬
ductions of Nature. 16,17
What ever God has thought rvor•
thy of making, man Jheuld not think
unworthy of knowing. 18,19
Of the Dominion and Power that
Phyftology gives theprojperous flu-
diersofit. 20,21
'That the Knowledg of Nature ex¬
cites and cherijhes Devotion. 2 2
The Ends of God's Creation, his
ttwn Glory. 23,24
That Man s Good is a fecond End,
proved by Scripture. 25. The
fame proved by Eeafon and Autho¬
rity. 26,27,28
How the Sun [Shemefli] is the
great mini ft er of the Univerfe. 27,
That accommodation and delight
which the Creatures might afford
Man is much impaired by the want
i)f Natural Philofophie. 29
That the in fir uCt ions to our Intel¬
lectual part are more confiderable
then the accommodations we have
from Nature to our Animalpart.ib.
How God's Power is confptcuous
in the Creatures. 32,33,34. How
God's wifdome is confptcuous in
them. 54
Particular obfervations of the
ftruCture of Humane Body. 35;
of the eyes and feet of Moles. 3 6
Of the Silk-worme. 37. That it
worketh by InftinCt and not by Imi¬
tation. 37, 38
of the vaflneffe of the Elephant,
ana its difproportion to the
and fuch like Mites. 39 A0
Of the vaflneffe of the whale, and
its difproportion to the fmall Worms
or Fijhes lately dtfeovered in Vi-
neger. 41,42
How God's Goodnefl is confptcu-
ous in his Creatures, by his provi4
(1ion of accommodations for them att^
but cfpe daily for his Favorite,Man.
43>44>4J
of the unknown and new deteCled
Properties and Vertues of diverfe
Concretes. 45
of the Peruvian Bark, commonly
called the Jefuits Powder , and
other Concretes ohf for their
unknown Properties, 4
of


The IN
Of the ufe of diverfe noxious
Concretes, and that they contein
their own Antidotes• 47348
Of that excellent Weft Indian
root Mandihoca. 48
How we are by the Creatures in-
ftrulled to Devotion. 4°^ 55 *
That their Opinion who would
deterre men from the fcrutiny of
Nature tends to defeat God of much
cfthat Glory CM an fhould afcribe
unto him. 5 3,54,5 J
That Philofophers of all Religi¬
ons have confidered the World under
the notion of God's Temple. 5 6
That in this Temple Man muft be
the Prieft. 57,58
The contemplation of Gods mercy
ought not fo to ingroft our thoughts 5
as to make us neglett the Glory of
his Power and Wifdome. 59
That the Jludy of Phyfiology is
not apt to make men Atheifts. 60.
Provd further from the ancient
Inftitutionofthe Sabbath, 61
That Phyfiology cannot explicate
by fecondcaufes all the Phenome¬
na of Nature, fo as to exclude the
frft. 63. Provd by the Inftance
of the unknown nature ^/Mercury,
&c. <54
That fome of the Peripatetick
Sell are guilty of this endeavour .55
DEX.
That their Hypothefts is very full of
miftakes. 66
That thefe excluders of the Deity
make but imperfeCl explications of
the Phenomena of Nature-ib. And
do not explainethe Scale of Caufes
to the lafi Caufe. 67
Inftances of things wherein their
account is not fatisfatfory: 68. as
1. In the particulars, the caufes of
which they afttgn Occult Qualities.
ib. 2. when ehey afiign Nature's
abhorrency of Vacuity to be the caufe
that Water doth afcend in Sufifion.
ib. whereas the contrary is proved
in the Suit ion of Quick filver• 69
3. When they afjign the caufes of
the Purgationes Menftrue. 69,70
And when in other cafes they afcribe
to irrational Creatures fuch actions
as in men are the production of
Reafon and Choice. 70
The Author s conceit concerning
God's Creation of the parts of the
World, and fo placing them, that
they(by the affi fiance of his ordinary
concourfe) muft needs exhibit thefe
Phenomena. 71. Illuftrated by
the Clock at Strasburg. ib.
How far fuch borrowed & Meta¬
phorical Phrafes, which Cuftom has
authorized3 may be ufed9 7 2
Quick filver being heavier then
1 ftones


The I N
Stones, they [wim thereon3 yet finck
in lighter liquors. 7 2
Tto /A* Jnflances of the ACtions
cf divers Creatures resembling Rea-
[on commend the wifedom of God.
73>74
DefeCts in the Explication of
Nature by the Epicureans, who de¬
ny the concurrence of God, 75,76,
77,78
Tto *j&f figures in Nitre,Chry-
ftal, and divers Minerals are pro-
totfd £7 chance, to £y
51? to Analogous to feminal princi-
19
7hat the Generation of Animals
is much leffe to be accounted the
production of Chance. 80
That the Hypothefes#/ Philo-
fophy only /hew that an effect may
be produced by fuch a caufe5 not that
it muft. 81
That to a perfect Knorvledg there
muft not only appear the poffiblefout
the definite and real5 not only the
generafbut the particular caufies. 82
Some defects in the waies of Rea¬
soning ufed by the moft eminent
Atomifts. 83,84,85
The moft plaufible argument of
the Oppofers of a Deity confidered.
86,87,88389
That there are fome things in
D E X.
Nature which conduce much to the
evincing of a Deity, rvhich are only
known to Naturalifts. 91 , Ex*
plain d by the compart [on of the
Uniting fcatteryd pieces of Paint
into one face by a Cylindrical Loo•
king Glaft. 92
The Teftimony of the Author of
the Book^ L)e Mundo afcribcd to
Ariftotle introduced. ib.
of the admirable contrivance of
the Make of the Mufculus Marfu-
pialis. 94. and of the parts of the
Hand. ib.
The contrivance for the Circu¬
lation of the B loud in a Foetus be¬
fore the ufe of Re fpir at ion. 9;
Galen's Speech, That his Boohs
De Ufu Partium were as Hymns to
the Creator, ib.
The Fabrick, of the Eye confide¬
red. ib.
Some Experimental Obfervati*
ens of the Eye^and the ufe of its parts
in order to Vifton. 96
The way to prepare the Eyes of
Animals for the better making
Obfervations on them. ib.
Some particulars wherein the
Eyes of white Rabbets are better
then others for lobfervation. 9 7
That it is difhonourable for the
Soule to be unacquainted with the
exqutfite


The INDEX.
exquifitl flrttffure of the Body fating
its own Manfion. 97* Proved out
of Inflances in the Pfalmift and
Galen. it>.
Why the anterior fart of Fifhes
Eyes ought to he more Spherical then
thofe of men. 99
That God made Man not after
the Worlds Imagefiut his Own. 100
That the Image of God on us
fbould engage us to efleem our felves
us belonging to God. lb.
Arguments from Authority, and
the Experience of all Ages^lhat the
Contemplation of the World has
additfed CM an to the Reverence of
God. 100
That thofe People who worflrip not
God, are not Naturaltfts hut Bar¬
barians, and that their ^Atheifme
doth continue for want of the Con¬
templation of the World. i o 1
LA comparifon of the Image of
God 0)0 the Creature, to that of Phi¬
dias on Minerva's Shield. 102
The noble(I worfbip that has been
paid to God from fueh who have not
had particular Revelation of bis
wilL has arofe from the Jpeculation
of Gods Wifdom, Power, and Good-
nefjein thefabrick of the Creature.
103. TheTeflimonies of Galen,
HermeSjParacelfus,L.Bacon. 104
That Religion has other Argu¬
ments be fides thofe drawn from the
works of Nature, enough to keep any
considering man from Athei[m.ic6
That the Dificulty of conceiving
the Eternity, Self Exifence^ and
other Attributes of one God\ is left
then to conceive infinite5 eternal,
ft if exifient, and felf moving i^A-
tomes. 108
As God is infinitely bettter then
all his Creatures, fo the Knowledg
of him is better then the Knowledg
of his Creatures. no
The Imperfetfion and Difquiet
that there is in humane Science•
110,1 II
Bow the Favour of God conduces
to promote mens Proficiency in the
fluay of Nature. 112
The Reafon of the Authors fo
longDifcourfe on this Subjett* 114
Beafis inhabit and enjoy the
World, 'tis Cuban's duty to Spiritu¬
alize it. 11 f
That it being the prime Duty of
Man to give God the Honour of his
Creatures,it is to be preferr'd before
fecondary Duties. ib.'
That the different greatneffe in
the Knowledg make a life difference
in the Honour given to the Creator:
117
God


The INDEX.
God, by becoming our
ha* not laid a fide the Relation of a
Creator. u
That be, who [,
honourcth Cod. ib.'
TheConclufion. nl
ERRATA in the Firft Part.
Pag.t4fM.11. lege contemplationemfa&um. p.6i.Lz$. I. cfrri f]i<rta>e K^^.p. £9.
1.7.1, his private lnterefts. 1.28. of the Air againft the Suckers cheft. p. 73g z. have
Reafon. I. $4. Souls. And. p.7 3. of Animals, p.77./. 5. principally in Hxtcnfion.
p. 75.1. 4. any Centrum gravium, p. 79. /. 24. are not unqueftionably produced by
chance but perhaps, p.81.1.6. dele *. /. 11. Animals; the. p.8f./.i $. Ratiocination.
By. /.i7.moft. p^j.l.ult.1. Things or their Motions. p.88./.if. Parts it. p.94. /. $t,
Mufculi perfomi. p.98./. 8.[unt & omnino. I. 33. lnfertion of. p. 99.1.17. perfe&ly
Spherical one as to the Anterior part which is obverted to the outward Objects, p. 107.
1,1 y. Not onely.


OF TH E
VSEF VLN ESSE
OF
Natural! Philofcphy
The Second Part.
Of its Vfefulnejl topromote the Empire of
Man oyer things Corporeal,
oxford,
Printed by He n: Ha ll Printer to the Univerjfity, for Ri c: Da vi s.
In the year of our Lord, 1663.





of the
VSEFVLNESSE
o f
Naturall Philolophy.
The Second Parr.
The firft Section.
Of it's Vfefulnefs to PHYSICK^





(?)
a® i2 % «$ ^ *£%!&£*&
ESSAY I.
Containing fome Particulars tending to
(hewthe Ufefulnefsof Jfatiral
Philofophy to the .
logicalpart of
Fcer having, in the former part of this Treatife,
Pyropbilus, thus largely en Jeavored to manifelt
toyouthe advantagioufnefs of Natural Philo-
fophy to the minde of Man, we fhall now pro¬
ceed to fpeak of its Ufefulnds, both to his Bo¬
dy and Fortune. For I muft ingenioufly conhfs to you, Py*
rofhilw, That I fliould not have neer fo high a value as I now
cherifhlor Phyfiology, it I thought it could onely teach a
Man to difcourfeof Nature, but not at all to matter Her-,
and ferved onely, with pleafing Speculations, to entertain his
Underftanding without at all increafing his Power. And
though I prefume not to judge of other Mens knowledge,
yet, for my own particular, I fhall not dare to think my feif
a true Naturalift, till my skill can make my Garden yield bet¬
ter Herbs and Flowers, or my Orchard better Fruit, or my
a 2 Fields


(A)
Fields better Corn, or my Dairy better Cheefe then theirs
that are ftrangers to Phyfiology. And certainly, ,
if we ferioufly intend to convince the diftruftful World of the
real ufefulnefs of Natural Philofophy, we muff take fome
fuchcourfe, as that Mtleftan7bales did, who was by the And -
ents reckoned among the very firft of their Naturalifts, and
their feven celebrated Wife-men: Of this Tbales it is re.
ported, That being upbraidingly demanded what advantage
the Profeffors of Aftrology could derive from the knowledge
of it \he Aftrologically torefeeing what Year it would prove
for Olives, before any wonted figns of it did appear to Huf-
bandmen, Ingrofled, by giving earneft, the greater part of
the Olives, which the next Seafon fliould afford to and
Miletm-, And being thereby inabled, when moft Men want¬
ed Oyl, to fell his at his own rates, he made advantage enough
of his skill, to let his Friends fee, That Philofophers may
have the acquifition of Wealth more in their power then in
their aim.
Me thinks, it fhould be a difparagement to a Philofopher,
when he defcends toconfider Husbandry, not to be able, with
all his Science, to improve the precepts of an Art, refulting
from the lame and unlearned Obfervations and Practice of
fach illiterate Perfons as Gardeners, Plow-men, and Milk¬
maids. And indeed, Pfrofbilus, though it be but too evi¬
dent, that the barren Philofophy, wont to be taught in the
Schools, have hitherto been found of very littleufein hu¬
mane Life-, yet if the true Principles of that fertil Science
werethorowly known, confider'd and apply'd, 'tis fcarceima¬
ginable, how univerfal and advantagioas a change they would
make in the World: For in Man's knowledge of the nature
of the Creatures, does principally confift his Empire over
them, (his Knowledge and his Power having generally the
fame limits) And as the Nerves, that move the whole
Body,


(5 )
Body, and by it, that great variety of Engines imployedby
Man on his manifold occafions, proceed from the Brain •, fo
all the operations, by which we alter Nature and produce fuch
changes in the Creatures, flow from our knowledge of them.
Theological inquiries excepted, there is no Imployment
wherein Mankinde is fo much and fo generally concern'd, as
'tis in the ftudy of Natural Philofophy. And thofe great
Tran factions which make fuch a noife in the World, and efta-
blifli Monarchies or ruine Empires, reach not to fo many Per-
fons with their influence, as do the Theories of Phyfio-
logy.
To manifeft this Truth, we need but confider, what chan¬
ges in the Face of things have been made by two Difcoveries,
trivial enough •, the one being but of the inclination of the
Needle, touched by the Load-ftone, to point toward the
Pole •, the other being but a cafual Difcovery of the fuppofed
antipathy between Salt-Peter and Brimftone: For without
the knowledge of the former, thofe vaft Regions of me-
rica, and all the Treafuresof Gold, Silver, and Precious
Stones, and much more Precious Simples they fend us, would
have probably continued undetected •, And the latter, giving
an occafional rife to the invention of Gunpowder, has quite
alter'dthe condition of Martial Affairs over the World, both
by Sea and Land. And certainly, true Natural Philofophy
is fo far from being a barren fpeculative Knowledge, that Phy-
fick, Husbandry, and very many Trades (as thofe of Tan¬
ners, Dyers, Brewers, Founders, ire.) are but Corollaries
or Applications of fome few Theorems of it.
If I had not a great refpeCt for the Great Hippocrates, I
fhould venter to fay, That fome of thofe rigid Laws of Draco
(whofe feverity made Men fay, That they were written in
Blood; have, perhaps, coft fewer Perfons their Lives, then
that one Aphorifm of Hippocrates, which teaching. That a
a 3 teeming


fy 1*4 ti OV H
£/.H£<9P H# 70
ZufyvOr.
(6)
tetmingWotnan be let Blood, fie will mifcarry, has for divers
Ages prevail'd with great numbers of Phyfitians, to fuffer
multitudes of their Female Patients to die under their hands,
who might propably have been refcued by a difcieet Phleboto¬
my, which experience has affin ed us (whatever theclofe of
* Hippo- * c^e Aphorifm fays to the contrary) to have been fometimes
Apho 31. not onely fafely, but ufefully. employed, even when the In-
lib. 5. b> fant is grown pretty big. But my refpedf tor fo great a Per-
fon as Hippocrates, makes me contert it flaould be thought,
jhat till of late, Phyfitians have for the moft part miftaken
their Dictators meaning in this Aphorifm, provided it be
granted me, That through this mifbke numbers of teeming
Women have been fuftered to perifh, who might probably,
by the feafonable lofs of fome of their Blood, have prevent¬
ed that of their Lives.
And if an Error, which occafion'd onely a fault of omifli-
on, hath been fo prejudicial to Man-kinde, Iluppofe you will
readily grant that thofe Errors of Phyfitians, that are apt to
produce faults of commiffion, and raih attempts, may prove
much moie hurtful. And fo much I finde to be acknowledge
by Galen, in that honeft and excellent Paflageof his, in his
Comment upon the Aphorifms, where having mention d the
danger of trying conclufions upon Men, by reafonof the no-
blenefsof theSubjcdf-, and having added, That the Phyfi¬
tians Art is not like that of a Potter, a Carpenter, or the like,
where a Man may freely try what he pleafes to gratifie his cu-
riofity, or fatisfiehimfelf about his Norions, becaufe that if
he fpoils (for inftance, the Wood he works on, no Body is in-
danger'd by his mifcarrnge: He thus concludes, In corpere
ant em Humane ea tent are, cftu non funt experienttum comproba-
ta periculo non-vac at 5 cum temerartx exfericnti& finis fit t ottos
Ant mantis internecio.
And indeed, fince the Phyfuian borrows his Principles of
ths
Cowmen.f". w
Aphj i» lib, 1


(7)
the Naturalift, I cannot but fomewhat admire to fee divers
Perfons, who are by themfelves and others thought fuch wife
Men, think the ftudy of Natural Philofophy of fmall con¬
cernment: for when by their Policy or good Fortune they
have acquired never fo much Wealth or Power, and all other
tranfitory Goods, and are bleft with Children to inherit them,
if the Principles of Natural Philofophy be mif- laid, we often- '
times fee the ignorance or the miftake of a Do&or, deprive
them of all at once, and fhew how dangerous it is to be fol-
licitous of the means of attaining the accommodations of
Life, with the contempt of that Knowledge which in very
many cafes is humanely necellary to the prefetvation of Life
it felf.
But, Pyrophilut, though our unintended prolixity in the
former part of our Difcourfe concerning the Ufefulnefs of
Phyfiology, oblige us to the greater brevity in this latter
part of it; yet to fliew you, That of the two things, which
you may remember we told you Pythagoras pronounc'd moft
God like in Man (The Knowledge , and the Doing of
Good)Phyfiology as well qualifies us for the latter, as it in-
riches us with the former. It will not be amifs a little more
particularly {though as fuccindily as fo copious a Subjedt will
permit) to confider the probability there is that no fmall Im¬
provement may be made by Mens proficiency in Experimen ¬
tal Knowledge of thofe Arts which are the chiefeft Inftru-
ments of Man's dominion over the Creatures. ThefeArts
(to divide them not accurately, but popularly) do ferve either
to relieve Man's necelfities, as Phyfick and Husbandry ; or
for his accomodation, as the Trades of Shoo-makers, Diers,
Tanners, &c. or for his delight, as the Trades of Painters,
Confedhoners, Perfumers, &c.to all which Arts, and many
others ally'd to them, Phdofophical Experiments and Ob-
fervations,


(«)
fervations, may, by a knowing Naturalift, be made to ex¬
tend a meliorating Influence.
If I Ihoald, Pyrophiluf, fay this, without offering any
thing at all by way of Proof that I fay it notinconfideratly,
You would, I fear, believe, that I deliver it too flightly for a
Matter of that moment: And if, on the other fide, I lhould
in this Difcourfe prefent to you all the Particulars that I think
I could, without Impei tinency, employ to countenance what
Ihavefaid, itwouldfwellthisTreatifetoaVolumn, and de¬
fraud divers of my other Effays. And therefore I hold it not
unfit to choofe a middle way, and fet down, on this occafion,
either onely or chiefly thofe things which do the moft readily
occur to me, and do not fo properly belong to the reft of my
phyfiological papers. And to avoid Confufion, I fhall, ac¬
cording to the Divifion newly propof'd, employ oneSedlion
of this Second part of the prefent Treatife, in fetting down
fuch things as relate to the Improvement of Phyfick: And in
the ether Sedfion, deliver fuch particulars as concern thofe o*
ther ufeful Arts that depend upon Natural philofophy. But
in regard that f as I have already intimated) the following Dif¬
courfe is to confift chiefly of thofe things that belong not to
any of my other Effays, You will not, I prefume, expedt
that I fhould handle any fubjedf fully or Methodically on this
occafion: Which warning-1 efpecially intend forthatpartof
theenluing Difcourfe that relates to phyfick. For you will
eafily believe, that I am far from pretending to be a Dodfor
in that Faculty: And accordingly, in this and the four follow¬
ing Effays, 1 mall onely throw together divers fuch particulars
as not belonging to my Writings, would, perhaps beloft, if
I did not lay hold on this Opportunity for their prefervation,
of which they are not altogether judged unworthy fay fome
knowing Men, vvhofe Encouragements, to mention them to
yau, have difl'waded me from wholly palling by, in this Dif¬
courfe,


(9)
courfe Matters properly Medical, whatfcruples foeverlhad
to venture at (peaking of them, Efpecially fince I have not
nowtheConveniency to furnifh thefe Effays with divers Par¬
ticulars (by fome thought not inconfiderable) which I may,
perhaps be invited to adde to them hereafter,if I finde by your
Reception of thefe that the others are like to be welcome.
Tofay fomethingthenof Phyfick, and tofuppofethefit-
nefsof the nowreceiv'd divifion of it into five Parts: The
Phyfiological (the Phy fitian taking that in a drifter fenfe then
Philosophers, and then we do every where, fave in this EfiTay)
Pathological, Semeiotical, Hygieinal and Therapeutical, let
us btiefiy take notice how each of thefe is indebted to, or ca¬
pable of being improved by experience Naturalids. And in¬
deed, fuch is the affinity between Natural Philofophy and
Phyfick, or the dependance of this on that, that we need not
wonder at the judicious Obfervation of Ariftotle, where he
thus writes, Natural}tm fere plurimis & CWedtcorum^ quifenfii
magis Philofopbice artempofequuntur , illi qutdem fintunt adu
ta, qua de Medictna ^ hi vero ex its qua de Natura, •,tncifiunt
qua de Medicina. But we muff indance thefe things more par¬
ticularly: Andfirftfor Phyfiology, 'tis apparent, That the
Phyfitian takes much of his Doftrine in that part of his Art
from the Naturalift; And to mention now no other parts of
Phy fiology,in its firifter acception, the experience of our own
age may fuffice to manifed,what light the Anatomical doftrine
of Mans Body may receive from Experiments made on other
iubjefts. For fince it were too barbarous, and too great a vi¬
olation of the Laws, not onely of Divinity but Humanity,
to difleft humane Bodies alive, as did Heropbilus an i Erafiflra-
tw, who (as I finde in fome of the Ancients,) obtain'd of
Kings the Bodies of Malefaftors for that purpofe, and fcru
pled not to dedroy Man to know him And fince, neverthe-
lefs divers things in Anatomy, as particularly the motion of
b the


( io)
the Blood and Chyle cannot bedifcover'd in a dead differed
Body (where the cold has thut up and obliterated many Paf-
fages) that may be Teen in one open'd alive ; itmuftbevery
advantagious to a Phyfitians Anatomical knowledge, to fee
the Diiledions of Dogs, Swine, and other live Creatures,
made by an inquifitive Naturalift: Confohantly whereunto
we may remember, that the difcoveries of the milky Veffels
in the Mefentery by Afellim, of thofe in the Thorax by
Pecquet, and of the Vafa Limfhatica by were firft
made in Brute Bodies, though afterwards found to hold in
humane ones. Nor is it a fmall convenience to the Anato-
mift, that he may in the Bodies of Bruits make divers inftru-
diive Experiments, that he dares not venture on in thofe of
Men •, as for inftance, that late noble, and by many not yet
credited Experiment of taking out the Spleen of a Dog with¬
out killing him: For that this Experiment may bevery ufeful,
we may elfewhere have occafion to drew. And that it is poifi-
ble to befafely made ("though many, Iconfefs, have but un-
profperoufly attempted it, and it hath been lately pronounced
impoflible in Print) our felves can witnefs. And becaufe I have
not yet met with any Author that profefles himfelf not to re¬
late this Experiment (of the exemption of a Dogs Spleen)
upon the credit of others, but as an eye-witnefs 5 I am con¬
tent to allure you, That that dextrous DiiTe&or, Dr
fof whom we formerly made mention) did the laft Year, at
my requeft, take out the Spleen of a yong Setting-dog I
brought him: And that it might not be pretended, the Expe¬
riment was unfaithfully or favorably made, I did part of it my
felf, and held the Spleen (which was the largeft in proportion
to his Body that ever I faw) in my Hand, whil'ft hecutalfun-
der the Veflels, reaching to io, that I might be fure there was
not the leaft part of the Spleenleftunextirpated, and yet this
Puppy, in lefs then a Fortnight, grew not onely well, but as
iportive


OO
fportive and as wanton as befone: which I need not take pains
to make you believe, fince you often faw him at your Mo¬
thers Houfe, whence at length he was ftol'n. And though I
remember the famous Emperick Fiorouanti, in one of his Ita¬
lian Books, mentions his having been prevailed with by the
importunity of a Lady (whom he calls MarullaGreca) much
afflicted with Splenetick diftempers> to rid her of her Spleen ^
andaddes, That fheout-liv'dthelofsof it divers Years. Yet
hethatconfidersthefituationof that part, and the conflder-
ablenefsof the Vefiels belonging to it inhumane Bodies, will
probably be apt to think, that though his relation may be
credited, his venturoufnefs ought not to be imitated. The
Experiment alfo of detaining Frogs under Water for very
many hours (fometimes amounting to fome days) without
fuffocation, may, to him that knows that Frogs have Lungs
and Breath as well as other Terreftrial Animals, appear a con-
flderable difcovery, in order to the determining the Nature of
Refpiration. Be/ides, the fcrupuloufnefs of the Parents or
Friends of the deceafed Perfons, deprives us oftentimes of
the Opportunities of Anatomizing the Bodies of Men, and
much more thofe of Women, whereas thofe of Beafts are
almoft always and every where to be met with. And'twas,
perhaps, upon fome fuch account, that Ariftotle faid that the
external parts of the Body were beft known in Men, the inter¬
nal in Beafts, Sum enim (fays* he, fpeaking of the inward
parts) homtnum imprimis incerta at % incognita : quamobrem
ad cater orum animatium partes quarum fimiles funt human a re~
ferentes eas contemplaridebemus* And qucftionlefs in many
of them, the frame of the parts is fo like, that of thofe an-
fwerableinMen, that he that is but moderately skill'd in An-
dratomy (as fome of the Moderns call the Difledtion of Mans
Body, to diftinguifli it from Zootomy, as they name the Dif-
fedtions of the Bodies of other Animais) may, with due dili-
b 2 gence
ib.


f«o
gence and induftry; not defpicably, improve his Anatomical
knowledge. In confirmation of which truth, give me leave
to obfervetoyou, That though Galen hath left to us fo ma¬
ny, and by Phyfitians fomuch magnified Anatomical Trea¬
ties, yet not onely divers of thofe Modern Phyfitians, that
would eclipfe his Glory, deny him to have learn'd the skill he
pretends to, out of theinfpedion of the DifTedted Bodies of
Men or Women, or fomuch as to ever have feen a humane
Anatomy. But Ifindeeven among his Admirers, Phyfiti¬
ans that acknowledge that his Knives were much more con-
verfant with the Bodies of Apes,, and other Bruits, then with
thofe of Men, which in his time thofe Authors fay 'twas
thought little lefs then Irreligious, if not Barbarous, to man¬
gle which is the lefs to be wondred at, becaufeeven in this
our Age, that great People of the Mufcovites, though a
Chriftian and European Nation,hath deny'd Phyfitians the ufe
of Anatomy and Skeletons-, the former, as an inhumane
thing s the latter, as fit for little but Witchcraft, as we are
^ inform'd by the applauded Writer oUariut, Secretary to the
KZTovk Embafly lately fent by that Learned Prince, the prefent Duke
& 'de Per- of Holjleine, into Mofcovia and Perfia. And of this , the
fame Author gives us the inftance of one Quirin, an excellent
German Chyrurgion, who, for having been found with a
Skeleton, had much adoe to fcape' with his Life, and was com¬
manded to go out of the Kingdom, leaving behinde him his
Skeleton, which was alfo dragg'd about, and afterwards
burnt.
Tothefe things we may adde, Pyrophilua, that the dili¬
gence of Zootomifts may much contribute to illuftrate the
Dodtrineof Andratomy, and both inform Phyfitians of the
true ufe of the parts of a humane Body, and help to decide
divers Anatomical Controverfies. For as in general 'tis fcarce
• pofiibleto learn the true Nature of any Creature, from the
con-


(*1)
confi deration of the Tingle Creature it felf: fo particularly of di¬
vers parts of a humane Body 'tis very difficult to learn the true
ufe, without confulting the Bodies of other Animals, where¬
in the part inquired after is by Nature either wholly left out as
needlefs, or wherein its differing bignefs,or fituation,or figure,
or connexion with, and relation to other parts, may render
its ufe more confpicuous, or at leaft more difcernable.
This Truth may befomewhat illuftrated by the following
Obfervations, which at prefent offer themfelves to my
thoughts upon this occafion.
The Lungs of Vipers, and other Creatures (whofe Hearts
and whofe Blood, even whir ft it circulates, we have always
found, as tofenfe, actually cold) may give us juft occafion to
inquire a little more wanly whether the great ufe of Refpira-
tion be to cool the Heart.
The fuddain falling and continuing together,which we may
obferve in that part at leaft of a Dogs Lungs, that is on the
fame fide with the Wound, upon making a large Wound in
his Cheft, though the Lungs remain untouched, is a confider-
able Experiment, in order to the difcovery. of the principal
Organ of Refpiration.
If you dexteroufly take out the Hearts of Vipers, and of
fome fmaller Fifties, whofe coldnefs makes them beat much
more unfrequently and leifurely, then thofe of warm Ani¬
mals , the contraction and relaxation of the Fibres of the
Heart may be diftin&ly obferved, in order to the deciding or
reconciling theControverfie about the caufe and manner of
the Hearts motion, betwixt thofe Learned modern Anato-
ntftfts, that contend, fonie of them, for Dr. Harvey's Opi¬
nion ^ and others, for that of the Cartefians.
Towards fatisfying my felf in which difficulty, I remem¬
ber, I have fometimes taken the Heart of a Flownder, and
having cut it tranfverfly into two parts,, and prtiPd our, and
with*


(*4)
with aLinnenclothwip'doff the Blood contain'd in each of
them, Iobferv'd, thatforaconfiderable fpace of time, the
fever'd and bloodlefs parts held on their former contra&ion
and relaxation. And once I remember that I obferved, not
without Wonder, That the fever'd portions of a Flownders
Heart, didnotonely, after their Blood was drain'd, move as
before, but the whole Heart, obferv'd for a pretty while, fuch
a fucceflion of motion in its divided and exfanguious pieces,as
I had taken notice of in them whil'ft they were coherent, and
as you may with pleafure both fee and feel in the intire Heart
of the fame Fifh.
Some of the other Controverfies agitated among Anato-
mifts and Philofophers, concerning the ufe of the Heart, and
concerning the principal feat of Life and Senfe, may alio re¬
ceive light from fome fuch Experiments, that we made in the
Bodies of Bruits, as we could not of Men.
And the firft of thefe that we fhall mention, fliall be an Ex¬
periment that we remember our felves formerly to have made
upon Frogs: For having open'd one of them alive, and care¬
fully cut out his Heart, without clofing up the Orifice of the
Wound (which we had made wider then was neceffary) the
Frog notwithftanding leaped up and down the Room as be¬
fore, dragging his Entrals (that hung out) after him; and
whenherefted, would upon a pundure leap again, and being
put into the Water, would fwim, whil'ft I felt his Heart beat¬
ing betwixt my Fingers. The Hearts of others of them were
takenoutatanlncifion, no greater then was requifite for that
purpofe; when we had ftitched or pin'dupthe Wound, we
obferv'd them to leap more frequently and vigoroufly then
the former: They would, as before they were hurt, clofe and
open their Eye lids upon occafion: Being put intoaVefiel
not full of Water, they would as orderly difplay their fore
and hinder Legs in the manner requifite to fwimming, as if


(*5)
they wanted none of their parts, efpecially not their Hearts;
they would reft themfelves fometimes upon the furface of the
Water, fometimes at the bottom of it, and fometimes alfo
they would nimbly leap, firftoutof the Veffel, and then a-
bout the Room, furviving the exiedtion of their Hearts;
fome about an hour, and fome longer. And that which was
further remarkable in this Expetiment, was, that we could,
by gently prefling their Breft and Belly with our Fingers,
make them almoft at pleafure make fuch a noife, as to the By-
ftanders made them feein to croak; but how this Experiment
will be reconcil'd to the Doftrine afci ib'd to Mr. Hobs, or to
to that of tht ^yirifiotelians, who tell us, That their Mafter
taught, the Heart to be the feat of Senfe (whence alfo though
erroneoufly, he made it the original of the Nerves let thofe
that are pleaf'd to concern themfelves to maintain all his Opi¬
nions, confider.
And whereas Frogs, though they can move thus long with¬
out the Heart, yet they cannot at all bear the exemption or
fpoiling of the Brain ; we will adde what we have obferv'd,
even in hot Animals,whofe Life is conceived to be much more
fuddenly diffipable, and the motion of each part much more
dependent upon the influence of the Brain: Weopen'd then
anEgge, wherein the Chick was notonely perfectly formed,
but well furnifhed with Feathers, and having taken him out of
the Membrane that involved him, and the Liquors he fwam
in, and laid him on his Back on a flat piece of Glafs, we clip'd
away, with a pair of Sciffers, the Head and the Breft-bone;
whereby the Heart became expofed to view, but remain'd
faftnedto the Headlefs Trunk: and the Chick lying in this
pofture, the Heart continued to beat above a full hour, and the
Ears feem'd to retain their motion a pretty while after the
Heart it felf had loft his; the motion of none of the other
Parts appearing many moments to furvive the lofs of the
Head:


(i6)
Head: and which is moft confiderable, the feemingly dead
Heart was divers times excited to new, though quickly cea-
fing motion, upon the pun&ure of a Pin, or the point of a
Pen-knife. And to evince that this was no cafual thing, the
next Day we dealt with the Chick of another Egge, taken
from the fame Hen, after the above recited manner ^ and when
the motion of the Heart and Ears began to ceafe, we excited
it again, by placing the Glafs over the warm fteam of a Veflel
full of hot Water, bringing ftill new Water from off the Fire
to continue the heat, when we percei-v'd the former Water to
begin to cool •, and by this means we kept the Heart beating
for an hour and anilalf by meafure. Andat another time,for
further fatisfadlion, we did, by thefe and fome other littlein-
duftries, keep the Heart of a fomewhat elder Chick, though
expofed to the open Air, in motion, after we had carefully
dipt off the Head and Neck, for the fpace of (if our memory
do not much mif inform us) two hours and an half by mea¬
fure. Upon what conje&ures we expe&ed fo lafting a motion
in the Heart of a Chick, after it had loft the Head, and con-
fequently the Brain, would be more tedious and lefs fit to be
mention'd in this place, then the ftrange vivacity we have
fometimes, not without wonder, obfervedin Vipers: Since
not onely their Hearts clearly fever'd from their Bodies may
beobferv'd tobeat for fome hours (for that is common with
them to divers other cold Animals) but the Body it felf may
be fometimes two or three days after the Skin, Heart, Head,
and all the Entrals are feparated from it, feen to move in a
twining or wrigling manner: Nay (what is much more) may
appear to be manireftly fenfible of pun&ures, being put into
afrefh and vivid motion, when it lay ftill before, upon the be¬
ing pricked, efpecially on the Spine or Marrow with a Pin or
Needle.
And though Tortoifes be in the Indies many of them very
large


(l7
large Animals, yet that great Traveller, Vincent le Blanc, in
his French Voyages, giving a very particular account of thole
Tortoyfes, which the Eaft Indian King of Pegu (who was
much delighted with them) did, with great curiofity, cherifh
in his Ponds, adds this memorable Paflage as an Eye-witnefs
of what he relates: When the King hath a minde to eat of them,
the j cut of their he ads, and five days after they are prepar'd$
and yet after thofe five days they are alive, at rve have often ex-
pericncd. Now although I will not fay, that thefe Experi¬
ments prove, that either 'tis in the Membranes that fenfation
refides (though I have fometimes doubted whether the
Nerves themfelves be not fofenfible, chiefly as they are in¬
verted with Membranes) or that the Brain may not be confi ¬
ned to the Head, but may reach into the reft of the Body, af¬
ter another manner then is wont to be taught: Yet it may be
fafely afiirm'd,that fuch Experiments as thefe may be of great
concernment, in reference to the common Do&rine of the
neceffltyof unceafing influence from the Brain, being fo re-
quifite to Senfe and Motion, efpecially if to the lately men-
tion'd Particulars we adde on this occafion what we have ob-
ferv'dof the Butter-flies, into which Silk-worms have been
Metamorphofed $ namely, That they may not onely, like
common Flys, and divers other winged Infedls, furvive a
pretty while the lofs of their Heads, but m'jy fometimes be
capable of Procreation after having loft them: as I not long
fincetryed (though not perhaps without fuch a Reludlancy
as i^friftotle would haveblam'd in a Naturalift ) by cutting off
the Heads of fuch Butter-flies of either Sex. Quamvis enim
Mas cut prius amputatum e(l caput nequaquam adduci pojjet
(quacunfc Infeffi tlltus e(l [alacitas) ut Fammam comprimeret:
Be cell at a tamen F&mina mar em alacriter admifit. Et licet pofi
h or as aliquot coitu infiimptas it a requierit immota nt mortuam
per mult as boras cogitarem $ non folum quia omnem penitus mo+
c turn


08}
tumpcrdiderat^ & in Thorace fat Is magnum apparebat for amen^
quod a parte ahqua Corporis fimul cum capite a trunco difrupti
faffium vidthatur s, <verum etiam quoniam eodem per man fit (la-
tuidfcper plnres horas^ ultra tempos quo, pofl coiltonem cum
Mare bujus generis Ammalcnla folent ordtri prolificationem.
Tandem vercpofquantpam dm de Vita ejus aefperatum efet^Ova
f<ztare tarn confcrtim ccepit ut <vel cxtguo temp oris intervallo eo*
rumplura tn manu mea deponeret. An vero Proltfica fint fu*
tnra nondum ccmperi.
Their Opinion thatafcribe therednefs of the Blood to the
colour of the Liver, through which it pafTes, is not difcoun-
tenanced by the Livers of Men: But in Hen-eggs,, about the
third or fourth day after incubation (for we-have found the
circumdances of time much to vary) you may obferve the
Puntfum[aliens, <or Heart, to be ever and anon full of confpi-
cuoufly red Blood , before the naked Eyes can fo much as dif-
cern a Liver, at lead before they can difcover in it any rednefs5
a yellownefs being all I could obferve in the Parenchyma of
the Livers of divers Chickens perfectly torm'd, and furniflfd
with Feathers, though not great enough to make their way
'out of the Shell. And in divers great Fifties I have found the
Veflelsof the Liver full of very red Blood, though theP^-
renchyma or fubftance of it were white, or at lead did not at
all participate much lefs impart a fanguine colour.
The Do&rine fo unanimoudy delivered by Phyfitiansand
Chirurgions, concerning the irreparable lofs of the Limb of
an Animal, once violently fevered from the Body, will appear
unfit to be admitted, without fome reduction by what may
be experienced in Lizards, in Lobders and Crgw-fifhes, and
perhaps in fome other living, Creatures. For of Lizardsit
hath been often obferv'd in hot Countreys,and even in France,
that their Tails being druck off will grow again. And the
like hath been of old obferv'd by Pliny, and the experienced
Bonn us


( *9)
Bontm delivers it upon his own knowledge in thefe words:
Hoc in domeftic is me is non [em el anim advent dnm filjcli met lu-
fitabitndt bacillo eaudasiis decutiebant, quasi amen pofl diem u-
mm aut alteram ad folttumpabulum revertentes vidt, caudafy
its paulatim reaccrefcere*
That the Claws hkewife of Lobfters being torn off, ano¬
ther will fometimes grow in the room of it, is not onely faid
by Fifher-men, but hath been affirmed to me by very credible
perfons, one of which affined me, that he himfelf had
obferved it very often. And lam the more apt to believe
it, becaufe the like is to be met with among Craw-fillies,
which are fo like Lobfters, that by many they are taken
(though not confiderately enough) to be but a fmaller kinds
of them. For I remember, that going to look upon a Repofi-
tory where a multitude of them was kept,and caufing divers of
the faireft to be drawn up,* that I might take theftony com
cretions, commonly called oculi Cancrorum^ out of their Heads
1 obferv'd one large Fifh that had one of his Claws proporti¬
onable to the bulk of his Body, but the other fo fliort and
little, that the greater feem'd to be four or five times as big as
j.t^whereupori its good fhape and frefh colour,feeming to argue
it to be but yong and.growing, invited me to ask one of them
that had the overfightof the Fifh, whether he had formerly
feenany Claws torn off to grow again 5 he affirmed*to me.
That in that fort of Fifh it was very ufual.
I could alfo tell you how fruidefly I have indeavored to dif-
cover that ftomachicai Acidity,to which many of our Modern
Phylitiansarepleaf'd toalcribcthe firft digeftionof the Nu¬
triment of Animals, in the purpofely difledied Stomachs of
ravenous Sea-fifhes, in whofe Stomachs, though our tafte
could not perceive any fenfible acidity, yet we found in one
of them a couple of Fifties, each of them about a Foot long,
whereof the one, which feem'd to have been but newly de-
c 2 voured.


( ZO)
voured, hath fuffered little or no alteration in the great Fifties
Stomach-, but the other had all its outfide, fave the Head,
uniformly wafted to a pretty depth, beneath the former fur-
face of the Body, and look'd as if it had been not boil'd, or
wrought upon by any confiderableheat, but uniformly corro¬
ded, like a piece of Silver Coyn kept a while in Ac/ua-fortis,
according to the criminal tricks of Adulterators of Money.
Yet I am loth, till I have perfected what I defigain order
to that enquiry, either to imbrace or rejedi the Opinion Ifinde
fo general among the Moderns, concerning the Solution of
Meat in the Stomach by fomething of Acid. And I remem¬
ber, that when I was confidering what might be alleadg'd
for, as well as againft that Opinion, I devif'd this Experi¬
ment, among others, in favor of it: I provided a Liquor,
with which I drench'd a piece of the Wing of a rofted Pullet,
having fitft well cruflied it between my Fingers, to make
fome amends for the omifGon of chewing it; and having a
little incorporated the Liquor and the mufculous Flefh, they
immediately changed colour, and in about an hour, grew to
be a kinde of Gelly, in colour and confidence not unlike
QuinceMannalade: This mixture, by the next Moi n:ng,did,
aslexpe&ed, turn to a deep Blood red, or fometimes rather
a lovely purple Liquor, though all this while there had been
no external heat imployed to promote the adfion of the
CMenftruum. And the like Experiment I tryed alfowith a
piece of- Mutton, with Bread, and a piece of Veal, and o-
ther edible things, which at that time occur'd to me, and
found the operation of the Liquor almoft uniform, though
itfeenvdtoa&mofteftedfually upon Flefli. And to gratifie
in fome meafure your curiofity, Pjropbilu*, lam content to
tell you, that the Menftruum was drawn from Vitriol, and
that with the bare Oyl of it I have (though I could not with
AqnafortH) perform d no lefs then what I have yet mention'd;


(it)
but leaft this Ihouldbe thought a digreffion, let k fuffice to
have, on this occafion, mentioned thus much upon the by.
To what we lately took notice of concerning the Heart,
may be added, That on the Sea-coaft of Ireland, I obferv'd
a fort of Filhes, about the bignefsof Mackrels, whofe Hearts
were of an inverted Figure, compar'dto thofeof other Ani¬
mals, the bafis or broad end of the Heart being neareft the
Tail, and theaccuminated part or apex being coherent to the
great Artery, and refpe&itig the Head.
To all thefe trifling Oblervations, divers more confiderable
ones might be added, but they may be more feafonably infill¬
ed onelfewhere •, and thofe already mention'd, may fuffice to
let you fee, That the Naturalift by his Zootomy, may be ve¬
ry ferviceable to the Phyfitian in his Anatomical Inquiries.
Norisitonely by the difle&ion of various Animals, that
the Naturalift may promote the Aaatomifts knowledge, but
perhaps alfo he may do it by deviling ways to make the dead
Bodies of Men, and other Animals, keep longer then natu¬
rally they would do: For linceexperience teaches us, That
Men finde it very ealie to forget the originations, windings,
branchings, infertions, and other citcumftances of particular
Veftels, and other parts of the Body, as well as thofe that
ftudy Botanicks, are wont to complain of their eafie forget¬
ting, the lhapes, differences, and alterations of fmaller Plants,
it cannot but be a great help to the Student of Anatomy, to
be able to preferve the parts of humane Bodies, and thofeof
other Animals, efpecially ftich Monfters as are of a very lin¬
gular or inftru&ive Fabrick,fo long that he may have recourfe
to them at pleafure, and contemplate each of them fo often
and fo confiderately, till he have taken fufficient notice of tbe
lhape, fituation, connexion, &c. of theVcflel, Bone, or o-
therpart, and firmly imprelPd an Idea of it upon his memo¬
ry. We finde our {elves much help'd to retain in our memo¬
ry.


(22)
ry, the figures and differences of Vegetables,by thofe Books
which fome curious Botanifts make, wherein the Plants them-
felves, artificially dry'd, are difplay'd upon, and faftned to
Leaves of white Paper ^ if it were not for one of thofe Books,
wherein I have in onevaft Volumn almoft all the Plants of
one of the chief Phyfick-gardens in , I Ihould every
Year forget, by the end of Winter, to know again mod of
the fmaller Plants I had learn'd to take notice of in the Spring.
And by the way 'tis obfervable, how long Plants, by being
carefully indeed, but barely dryed in the fhade betwixt Sheets
of Paper, which help to foak up the fuperfluous moifture,
may bepreferv'd. For 1 have divers Years had an Herbal,
wherein feveral of the Flowers, and other Plants, retain their
native yellow and blue, &c. (but fomewhat faint) 'hough by
the date it appear'd to be 22 or 23 Years old. Ar.dl am apt
to think, that it would be very polfible for Anatomiftsalfo to
preferve the Bodies they contemplate for a confiderable time:
For experience hath inform'd us in good number of fuch Ani¬
mals, that Butter flies, and divers other flying Infe&s, may
have their fhape and colours prefer v'd, I know not how long,
by running them through in fome convenient part with Pins,
and therewith flicking them to the infide of large Boxes. And
on this occafion, I remember, that having fometimes reflect¬
ed upon the Lading of Spiders, Flys, and other fmall living
Creatures, that having been cafually enclofd in Amber whil'ft
it was foft,are ever preferv'd entire and uncorrupted, I thought
it not amifs to try whether fome Subftance, like Amber (at
leaft as to the newly mention'd ufe of it J might noteafily be
prepar'd by Art: And hereupon I quickly found, that by ta-.
king good clear Venice Turpentine, and gently evaporating
away about a third part of it (fometimes more, fometimes
lefs, according to the exigency of my particular purpofe) I
could make a reddifh Gum, diaphanous and.without Bubbles,
which


(*%)
whichwould melt with a very gentle heat, and eafily (being
fuffer'd to cool) become again fo hard as to be brittle. This
refinous Subftancefhould be melted with as little heat as is
poflible (and therefore fhould be firft pouder'd) that the tex¬
ture of the Vegetable or'Animal Bodies to be cafed over with
it, might receive thelefs alteration: And when it is brought
to therequifite degree of fluidity, then the Body to be pre-
ferv'd (being, if that be needful, Buck through with a Pin)
muftbegently plung'd into it, andprefently taken out and
fuffer'd leifurely to cool, being turned, from time to time, this
way or that way, if there be occafion, that the inverting Mat¬
ter may be every where of an equal thicknefs upon it. And
if at the firft time the Cafe be not thick enough, it may again,
when it is cold, be immerCd into the liquid Matter (as Chand¬
lers are wont to thicken their Candles, by dipping them fre¬
quently into melted Tallow J of which fomevvill every way
adhere to it. And though thefe Cafes be inferior to Amber,
in regard of their being more apt to be fulli'd by duft, or other-
wife-, yet that inconvenience may be eafily remedy'd, by
keeping themfhut up in Glafles or Boxes, at thofe times when
one hath not occafion to confiderthem: And their clearnefs
(efpecially if they be thin) and their fmooth furfaces, together
with their exadly keeping out the Air from the Bodv they
enclofe, may, perhaps, makefo cheap and eafie an Experi¬
ment a not unwelcome trifle, efpecially confidering how eafily
Jcis capable of Improvement.
But to return to the Prefervation of more bulky Bodies,
'tis a known thing, to the Collectors of Rarities, that the
external idea of Fifties, Crocodiles, Birds, and even Horfes,
may be preferv'd for many Years, by taking out the more cor¬
ruptible parts,-and fluffing their preparkl Skins with any con-
venient Matter. And that the internal membranous parts of
Bodies may be long and eafily kept from putrefaction, is not
unknown


( *4)
unknown to many Anatomifts. And not to mention what
wehavetry'd of this fort, we have feen the Veins, Arteries,
and Nerves of a humane Body, laid out in their natural fitua-
tion upon three Boards, by the pains and skill of an accurate
Anatomift of Padua. And elfewhere, vidimus atfc
omnia mulieris genitalia, together with the Bladder, all dil-
plaid upon a Board, preferv'd for many Years fo entire, and
in a fituation fo near the Natural, that this Scheme was far
more inftrudiive, then the raoft accurate Printed one could
poffibly be. We have likewife known the fleih of Vipers,
kept not onely fweet, but efficacious, for divers Years, by
the fmoak of a peculiar Powder, chiefly confifting of Aroma-
tick Ingredients, and of which, you, , may com¬
mand the Compolition.
We have alfo feen the Skeleton of a Monky, made, byan
excellent French Chyrurgion of our acquaintance, whereon
the Tendons and Fibres of the Mufcles were fo preferv'd, that
it was look'd upon as a rarity, very ufeful to fhew their Origi¬
nations and Infertions, and to explain the motions of the
Limbs:And perhaps there may be fome way to keep the Arte¬
ries & the Veins too, when they are empty'd of Blood,plump,
and unapt to fhrink over-much, by filling them betimes with
fome fuch fubftance,as,though fluid enough when it is injected
to run into the Branches of the Veffels, will afterwards quick¬
ly grow hard. Such may be the liquid Plaifter of burnt Ala-
bafter, formerly mention'd, or Ifing-glafs fteeped two days
in Water, and then boild up, till a drop of it in the cold will
readily turn into aftill Gelly. Or elfe Saccarum which,
if it be diflolv'd often enough in Spirit of Vinager, and the
Liquor be each time drawn off again, we have obferv'd ta be
apt to melt with the leaft heat, and afterwards to grow quickly
into a fomewhat brittle confiftence again. But I muff notin-
iifl on thefe Fancies, but rather adde, That I have known an
/


(*5)
Embrio^ therein the parts have been very perfectly delineated
and diftinguifhable, preferv'd unputrifTd for feveral Years ;
and I think it ftill continues fo, by being feafonably and arti¬
ficially embalm'd with Oyl (if I much mif-remember not) of
Spikes. And I have elfewhere feen a large Embrio, which af¬
ter having been preferv'd many Years, by means of another
Liquor (whofe compofition I do as yet but griefs at) did,
when I faw it, appear with fuch an admirable Entirenefs,
Plumpnefs, and Frefhntfs, as if it were but newly dead: And
that which concurs to make me hope that fome nobler way
may be yet founJ out, for, the prefervation of dead Bodies, is>
that I am not convinc'd that nothing can powerfully refill Pu¬
trefaction in fuch Bodies, but things that are either faline and
corrofive, or elfehot •, nor that the Embalming Subftances
cannot be effectually apply'd, without ripping open the Body
to be preferv'dby them. ¥oy fofephus Accfla, afober Wri¬
ter, relates, That in certain American Mountains, Men, and
the Beads they ride on, fometimes are kill'd with the WinJs5
which yet preferve them from putrefaction,without any other
help. So infenfiblea quantity of Matter, fuch as it may be,
may, without Incifion made into the Body, both pervade it,
and as it were Embalm it. I know alfo a very experienc'd and
fober Gentleman, who is much talk'd cff for curing of Can¬
cers in Womens Breads, by the outward Application of an
Indolent Powder 5 fome of which he alfo g ave me, but I have
not yet had the opportunity to make tryalof it: And I fhall
anon tell you, that I have feen a Liquor, which without being
at all either acid or caudick5 is in fome Bodies far mote effe¬
ctual againft Putrefaction, then any of the corrofive Spirits of
Nitre, Vitriol, Salt,e£v. andthenanyof the other faline Li¬
quors that are yet inufe. We have alfo tryd a way of pre-
fervingFlefh with Musk, whofe effeCts feem'dnoc defpicable
to us5 but mud not here be infided on.
d
Nor


(26)
Nor were it amifs that diligent Tryal were made what
ufe might be made of Spirit of Wine, for the Prefervation
of a humane Body: For this Liquor being very limpid, and
notgreafy, leaves a clear profpedt of the Bodies immeri'd in
it j and though it do not fret them, as Brine, and other fharp
things commonly employ'd to preferve Flefh are wont to do,
yet it hath a notable Balfamick Faculty, and powerfully re-
lifts Putrefadion, not onely in living Bodies (in which,
though but outwardly apply'd, it hath been found of late one
of the potenteft Remedies againft Gangrens) but alfo in dead
ones. And I remember that I have fometimes preferv'd in it
fome very foft parts of a Body for many Moneths (and per¬
haps I might had done it for divers Years, had I had opportu¬
nity) without finding that the confidence orfhape was loft,
muchlefs, that they were either putrifi'd or dry'dup: We
have alfo, by mixing with it Spirit of Wine, very long pre¬
ferv'd a good quantity of Blood,fo fweetand fluid, that 'twas
wondered at by thofe that faw the Experiment. Nay, we
have for curiofity fake, with this Spirit, preferv'd from fur«
ther ftinking, a portion of Fifh, fo ftale, that it (liin'd very vi¬
vidly in the dark •, in which Experiment, we alfoaim'datdif-
covering whether this refplendent quality of the decaying Fifh
would be either cherifh'd, or impair'd by the Spirit of Wine
(whofe operations in this tryal we elfewhere inform you of)
and it would be no very difficult matter for us to improve, by
fomeeafie way, this Balfamical Virtue of Spirit of Wine, in
cafe you fhall think it worth while; But not to anticipate what
I may more properly mention to you elfewhere, I fhall at pre-
fent fay no more touching the Confervation of Bodies, fince
probably by all thefe, and fome other Particulars, we may be
induc'd to hope fo well of humane Induftry, as not to difpair,
that in time fome fuch way of preferving the Bodies of Men,
and other Animals, will be found out, as may very much


(27)
Facilitate, and Advance too, Anatomicall Knowledg. Nei¬
ther is it only by advancing This, that the Naturalift may
promote the Phyfiologicall Part of Phyfick: for fince the
Bodyconfifts not only offirme and confident Parts, as the
Bones, Mufcles, Heart, Liver, &c. but of fluid ones, as the
Blood, Serum, Gall* and other Juices, And fince confe-
quently to the compleat Knowledge of the ufe of all the Parts
we lhould inveftigace, not only the Structure of the Solid
ones, but the Nature of the Fluid ones, the Naturalift may
do much more then hath yet been done,towards the perfecting
of this Kowledge, not only by better explicating what it is
in generall makes Bodies either Confiftent or Fluid, but by
examining particularly , and efpecially in a Pyrotechnicail
way, the Nature of the feverall Juices of the Body, and by
illuftrating the Alterations that thofe Juices,and the Aliments
they are made of, receive in the Stomach, Heart, Liver, Kid¬
neys, and other Vtfcera.For although a humane Body
being the moft admirable Corporeall Piece of Workmanfliip
of the Omniicient Architect, it is fcarce to be hop'd, but thac
even among the things that happen ordinarily and regular¬
ly in it, there will be many which we fliall icarce be able to
reach with our Underflanding, much lefle to imitate with pur
Hands. Yet paradventure, if Chymicall Experiments, and
Mechanicall Contrivances, wereinduftrioufly,and judicioufly,
afi'ociated by a Naturalift profoundly skill'd in both, and who
would make it his Bulinefte to explain the Phenomena, of a
Humane Body, not only many more of them then at firft one
would think, might be made more intelligible then as yet
they have been; but diverfeof them (efpecially thofe relating
to the motions of the Limbs and Blood) might be by artifi¬
cial! Engines (confifting as the Patterne not only of Solid but
Liquid and Spirituous Parts) not ill reprefented to our very
Senfes: fince a humane Body it felfefeems to be but an En-


f*8)
gine, wherein almoft, if not more then alrnoft, all the Anions
common to Men, with other Animals, are performed Mecha¬
nically. But of the difference of thefe living Engines from
others, I may elfewhere have a fitter opportunity to difcourfe
to You. For at prefent, Pyro:I have employ'd fo much of
the little time my Occafions will allow me to fpend upon the
Treatife I am now writing, in making out to you the Ufeful-
neffe of Naturall Philofophy, to the Phyfiologicall Part of
Phyfick, that I muft riofonly not profecute this Subjeft, but
muff both haften to mention, and to mention the more cur¬
sorily its ferviceablenefTe to the four remaining Parts of the
Phyfitians Art.
ESSAY JI.


(29)
P3&
cfb
ESSAY II.
Offering fome Particulars relating to the
Pathologic all Part
ANDto fay fomething in the next pla ce of Pathology that
** the Naturalifts knowledge may affift the Phyfitianto dis¬
cover the nature andcaufes of feverall Difeafes, may appear
by the light of thisConfideration, that, though divers Para-
celfians (taught, as they tell us, by their Mafter) do but erroni-
oufly fuppofe, that Man is fo properly a Microcofme, that of
all the forts of Creatures whereof the Macrocofme or Uni-
verfe is made up, he really confifts-, yet certaine it is that
there are many Productions, Operations, and Changes of
things, which being as well to be met with in the great, as in
the little world, anddiverfe of them difclofing their natures
more difcernably in the former, then in the latter- the know¬
ledge of the nature of thofe things as they are difcoverable^
of mans body, may well be fuppofd capable of illuftrating
many things/# man's body, which receiving fome Modifica¬
tions there from the nature of the SubjeCt they belong to,
paiTe under the notion of the Caufes or Symptomes of Difea¬
fes. If I were now, Pyrophilus, to difcourfe to you at large
of this SubjeCl, I think I could convince you of the truth of
what I havepropofed. And certainly, unleffe aPhyfitian be,
(which yet I fear every one is not) fo much a Naturaliff, as to
know how Heat, and Cold, and Fluidity, and Compa&nefle,
d 3 and


O)
and Fermentation, and Putrefaction, and Vifcofity, and Coa¬
gulation, and Diflolution, and fuch like Qualities, are gene-
raced and deftroyed in the generality of Bodies, he will be of¬
ten very mnch to feek, when he is to inveftigace the caufes of
preternaturall Accidents in men's bodies, whereof a great
many depend upon the Prefence, or Change, or Vanifliing of
fome or other of the enumerated Qualities, in fome of the
Fluid or Solid Subftances that conftitute the body. And
that the Explications of askilfull Naturaiift may adde much
to what has hitherto commonly been taught concerning the
Nature and Origine of thofe Qualities, inPhifitians Schools,
a little comparing of the vulgar Dodrine, with thofe various
Phenomena, to be met with among Naturall things, that
ought to be, and yet ieem not to be, explicable by it, will ea-
fily manifeft to you. And queftionleffe 'tis a great advantage
to have been taught by variety of Experiments in other bo¬
dies, the Differing waies whereby Nature lometimes produ¬
ces the fame effeds. For fince we know very little a priori,
the obfervation of many fuch effeds, manifefting, that nature
doth adually produce them fo and fo, fuggefts to us feverall
wayes of explicating the fame Phenomenon, fome of which
we fhould perhaps never elfe have dream'd of. Which ought
to be efteem'd no fmall Advantage to the Phyfitian-, fince he
that knows but one or few of Natures wayes ot working, and
confequcntly, is likely to ignore divers of thofe whereby che
propofd Difeafe (or Symptomeof it) may be produc'd, muff
fome times conclude, that precifely fuch or fuch a thing is the
determinate Caufe of it, and apply his Method of relieving
his Patient accordingly-, which often proves very prejudicial!
to the poor Patient, who dearly paies for his Phyfitians not
knowing, That the Quality that occafions the Diftemper,
may be as probably, if not more rationally, deduc'd from an
other Origine, then from that which isprefum'd. This will
fcarce


(?o
fcarcebedoubtedby him that knowes how much more likely
Explications then thofe applauded fomeagesfince, of divers
things that happen as well within as without the body, have
been given by later Naturalifts, both Philofophers and Phy-
fitians: and how much the Theory of the Stone, and many
other difeafes, that has been given us by thofe many Phyfiti¬
ans, that would needs deduce all the Phenomena of difeafes
from Heat, Cold, and other Elementary Qualities, is Inferi-
our to the Account given us of them by thofe ingenious Mo¬
derns, that have apply'd to the advancement of Pathologie,
that Circulation of the Blood, the Motion of the Chile by
the Milky vefiels to the Heart, the confideration of the effects
deducible from the Pores of greater bodies, and the motion
and figuration of their minute parts, together with fotrie of
the moreknpwn Chymicall Experiments: though both of
thofe/ and of the other helps mention'd juft before them>
I fear men have hitherto been far enough from making the
beft ufe, which I hope it will dayly more and more appear
they are capable of being put to. He that has not had the cu-
riofity to enquire out and confider the feverall waies , where-
by Stones may be generated out of the body, not only muft
be unable fatisfadforily to explicate how they come to be
produe'd in the Kidnies and in the Bladder, but will, perhaps^
icarcekeep himfelfefrom imbracing fuch errors, becaufe au¬
thored by the fuffrage of eminent Phyfitians, as the know¬
ledge lam recommending would eafily protedf them from.
For we find diverfe famous, and, otherwife, learned Dodtors,
who (probably becaufe they had not taken notice of any o-
ther way of hardning a matter once foft into a ft onelike con-
fiftencej have believed and taught that the Stone of the Kid-
neyes is produe'd there by flime baked by the heat and drineffe
ofthe Part-, as a portion of foft Clay may, by externall heat,
be turn'd into a Brick or Tile. And accordingly they have
for


(!*)
for cure, thought it fufficient to make ufeof ftore of Reme¬
dies to moiften and cool the Kidneys-, which, though in fome
bodies this be very convenient, are yet far inferiour in effica¬
cy to thofe Nobler medicines, that by fpecifick qualities and
properties are averfe to fuch coagulations as produce the
Stone. But (not to mention what aPhyfitian skilTd in A-
natomy would objedt againft this Theory from the nature of
the part affefted) 'tis not unlike, the imbraces of this Hypo¬
thecs would not have acquiefc'd in it, if they had feen thofe
putrefactions out of the bodies of men, which we elfewhere
mention'd- For thefe would have inform'd them, that a Li.
quor abounding with petrefcent part% may not only turn
Wood (as I have obferv'd in a petrifying Spring) into a kind
of Stone, and may give to Cheefeand MolTe without fpoi-
ling their priftine appearance a ftrong hardnefte and weight*
but may alro produce large and finely flhap'd Chriftalline
bodies (though thofe I try'd were much lelTe hard then
Chryftall)in the bofome of the cold water, which brings into
my mind, that I have diverfe times produc'd a body of an al-
moftftony hardnetle in leffethenhalfe an hour, even in the
midft of the water, by tying up in a rag, about the quantity
of a nutmeg, of well and recently calcin'd Alabaftre, which
being thus tyJd up and thrown into the botome ofabafon
full of water, did there fpeedily harden into a Lapideous Con¬
cretion, And that even in the bodies of Animals themfelves
fuch concretions may be generated much otherwife then the
Hypothefis we have been fpeaking of fuppofes, may appear
by what happens to Craw.filhes, which though cold animals,
and Hviug in the waters, have generated at certain feafons in
their heads Concretions, which for their hard and pulveriza-
ble confiftence, divers Authors call lap'tdes Cdncrornm,
though in the Shops they are often but abufively ftyled
Oculi cancrorunh, And fuch ftrong concretions are affirmed
* to


C 3?)
to be generated inthefe Fifhes every Year, which I the left
fcrupledat, becaufe I have not found them at all times in the
Head of the Fifh. And befides, thefeand many more Con¬
cretions, that had they been obferv'd by the Phyfmans we
have been fpeaking of, might eafiiy have kept them from ac-
quiefcing in, and maintaining their improbable explication of
themannerof the Stones nativity: There is yet another kind
of Coagulation, which may both be added to the former,
and perhaps alfo ferve to recommend the ufe of Chymical
Experiments, in inveftigating the Caufts of Difeafes: This
is made by the mixture of exquifitely dephlegm'd Spirit of
fermented humane Urine, with ns exaftly reft died Spirit of
Wine-, forupon theconfufionof thole two volatile Liquors
in a juft proportion, they will both of them, as alter Lulltus
Experience hath informed us, faddmly coagulate into a white
Mais, which Helmont calls off a alba, and by which, he en¬
deavors to declare the procreation of the Duelech: for fup-
pofing himfelf to have found in humane Urine a potential
slquavtt*) or Vinous Spirit, capable of being excired by a
putrid Ferment, and coagulahle by the voLtile Salt of theHtinmtde
fame Urine, if there were any volatil Earth lurking in the^^M-
Liquors, That being apprehended by the uniting Spirits, and °
coagulated with them both •, heiuppofeth there may emerge
from the union ot thofe three Bodies fuch an anomalous Con¬
cretion, as he, after Paracelfu^ calls Duelech.
Andthatalubtile Terrtftrious Subftance may lurkundif-
cerned, even in limpid Liquors, may appear, not onely in
Wine, which rejefts andfaftens to the fides of the conteining
Veflel, a Tartar, abounding in Terrtftrious Fcculency-, and
in common Urine of healthy Men, which, though clear at its
firftemiffion into the Urinal, does, after a little reft there, let
fall an Hjpoflaffs^ or Sediment, which, if diftili'd before fer»
mentation, leaves in the bottom ot theCucurbite an Earthy
e Sub-


r?4)
Subft mce, and commonly fome Gravel: but even in rectified
Spirit of Urine it felf, I have had opportunity to obferve,
That after very long keeping, there hath fpontaneoufly preci¬
pitated a Feculency, copious enough in proportion to the Li¬
quor that afforded it. Nay, in an other parcel of Spirit of
Urine, that hath been kept much longer then that already
mention'd, we obferv'd the other day, that not onely there
was a Terreftrial refidence fallen to the bottom of theGlafs,
but to the fides of it as far as the Liquor reach'd, there ad¬
hered a great multitude of fmall Concretions; which,as far as
appeared by looking on them through the Cryftal Viol, to
whofe infides they were fattened, were no other then little
grains of Gravel, fuch as are often found flicking to the fides
of Urinals, employed by calculous perfons.
To which we might adde an Experiment of ours, whereby
tveare wontalmoft in a moment, by barely mixing together
a couple of Liquors, both of them diftill'd and tranfparenr,
and yet not both of them falin'd to thick them very notably
and permanently, infomuch that they feem not to precipitate
each other ^ yet having once, for curiofity fake, diftill'dthem
withaprety ftrongFire, Iobtahfd a great quantity (as Ire-
member, a fourth of the whole mixture J of a blackilh Mafs,
that was not onely coagulated and dry, but even brittle: But
of the coagulation of diftill'd Liquors, fuch as even Chy mitts
themfelves are not wont to look upon as at all difpof'd to co¬
agulation, I may elfewhere have a better opportunity to en¬
tertain you, and therefore I (hall forbear to do it now.
And by this way, Pyrophilw^ doth Helmont, if I under-
ttand him aright, attempt to make out the generation of the
Stone in humane Bodys: In which Theory, though fome
difficulties do yet keep me from acquiefcing, yet, befides that
perhaps what you will meet with by and by (about the diftilla-
tion of the Duelecb) may make you the lefs wonder at this


(15)
explication. Befides this, I fay, granting that none of the
enumerated way s of Petrefcency (if I may fo fpeakj deferves
tobelook'd upon as fatisfadory 5 yet to give lo much as an
account, not very abfurd, of a Difeafefo anomalous and ab-
ftiufe, and hitherto fo unluckily explicated by Phyfitians, is
perhaps more difficult, then it were to give (atleaft) a
ble account of divers other Diftempers.
And poffibly it may be fafely enough affirmed, That not
onely Phyfiology, in its full extent, but that Hand-maid to
it, which is calla Chymiftry, may not a little contribute to
clear up the nature of both of the digeftions, and of thofe
deficiencies or aberrations in them, which produce a great part
of Difeafes 5 efpeciallyif we allow what, as well Phyfitians,
as Spagyrifts agree in (whether warily enough or not, Ifhall
not now difpute) viz.That whatever is feparable from Bo¬
dies by the Fire, was, as a Conftituent Element (or Principle)
pre-exiftent in them.
Perhaps I need not minde you, *, that 'tis ufual
with the meerly Galenical Doctors themfelves, to explicate
the nature of Catarrhs, by comparing the Stomach to a
feething Pot, and the Head to an Alembick, where the amend¬
ing Vapors, being, by the coldnefs of the Brain, condenf'd
intoaLiquor, fometimes diftil upon the Lungs, andfome-
timesfall upon other weakned parts * in which explication,
though for divers reafons I cannot acquiefce, yet it may luffice
to fhew you how little fcruple many Learned Men, not like to
be partial in the Cafe, would make of emploving Chymical
Operations to illuftrate the Dodtrine of Difeafes. And in¬
deed, fince the Liquors contain'd in the Body abound, divers
of them, with faline or fulphureous parts, he that hath been
by Chymiftry taught the nature of the feveral forts of Salts
and Sulphurs, and both beheld and confidered their various
adtions one upon ariother, and upon other Bodies, feems to
e have


<i6 )
haveaconfiderablehelp todifconrie grbundedly of the Chan¬
ges and Operations of the humors, and other Juices contein'd
intheBody, which he hath not that hath never had Vulcan for
his Inftru&er. He that findes that there may be acid Juices
in the Stomach, and elfewhere fas is frequently evident in the
fhaip Liquors which many Stomachs caft up) and that there
are alfo Sulphureous Saks in the Body(as is apparent in Blood
and Urine, which abound with iuch.) He that knows that the
Serum that fwims upon the Blood out of the Body, is by a
gentle heat immediatly coagulable into a thick whitifh Sub-
ftance, not unlike a Cuftard^ and that Chymically analiz'd
Blood yields ftore of volatile and fulphureous, but (as far as
our tryals have hitherto informed us) no acid faltnefs.
He that knows tfyat thefe animal Salts and Spirits maybe
fo powerful, that we have been able with Spirit of Urine, or
of Harts-horn, to make a red Solution of Flowers of Sulphur,
and that with Spirit of Urine (though drawn without violence
of Fire) we have fas we elfewhere more particularly declare)
difiolved both in a very gentle heat, and in a very fhortcime,
theun-open dBody of crude Copper, fo as to make thereof
a Solution of a rich, deep, and ev'n opacous Blew: And that
we have done almoft the like with unredtified Spirit of Mans
Blood.
He that hath, as we have done, examin'd by Fire
(efpecially produc'd by the help of a Burning-glafs) that
limpid Liquor that is to be found in the Limphatick Veffels,
and hath taken notice of thatodde confidence, fmell,crackling,
and other qualities difcernable in it by heat.
He that obferves bow acid Liquors loofe their acidity, by
working upon fome Bodies •, as when Spirit of Viniger grows
almoft infipid upon the coral it hath corroded, and how thofe
faline Liquors, by working upon certain Bodies, degenerate
into Salts of another nature., as we have fomecimes obferv'd
in


(37)
in Oyl of Vitriol, working upon the fourth part of its weight
of Quick-filver, and how the contrariety of acid and fulphu-
reous Salts makes xhem fometimes difarm, fometimes, after
fome ebullition, precipitate each other * and fometimes unite
into a third fubftance, of a differing nature from either of thofe
from whofe coalition it refu!ts,as we fee in Tartar it Vitriolatu ^
and, as I have obferv'd, in a Salt, I fometimes make to emerge
from a due proportion of Oyl of Vitriol and Spirit of Urine,
freed, alter conjunction, from their aqueous moifture: And
He, in a word, that hath carefully analiz'd and made tryals on
many parts, both of the Macrocofm and Microcofm, and
heedfully applyed his Experiments made on the former, to
theiiluftrationof the changes obfervablein the latter, fhall
be likely to explicate divers particulars in Pathology, more
intelligibly then he that is a ftranger to Chymiftry.
And though I am very unwilling to meddle with Medical
Controverfies, and am apt to think,that Chymiffs are wont to
fpeak fomewhat too flightingly of the humors of the humane
Body, and allow them too little afhare in the production of
Difeafes •, yet (to skip other reafons) the ftrange ffories re¬
lated by Skenkius^ and other eminent Phyfltians, of thecor-
rofivenefsof fome Juices, which, rejected by Urine or Vo¬
mits , have been able to boyi on Brafs, fret Linnen, and
ftain Silver ^ together with fome odde Obfervations of this
nature, our felves have had opportunity to make, do very
much incline us to believe, That the generality of former
Phyfitians have afcrib'd too much to the Humors, under the
notion of their being hot and dry, cold and moift, or. endow¬
ed with fuch other Elementary Qualities, and have .taken a
great deal too little notice of the faline (if I may fo fpeak)
and Sulphureous Properties of things. And in this Opinion
lam not a little confirmed by the authority of Hippocrates
hhnfelf, bothinother paffages, and efpecially where he fays,
Non


r*8)
Non caliduniy frigidum, hnmidwiy aut ficcum^ efjfe quod mag*
nam agendt, vim habet, verum amarum & (atfum & dulce
& acidum & infipidum &acerbum^ &c. are the things which,
though inoffenlive to the Body, whilft they duly allay each
other, prove hurtful to it, and diftemper it, when any of
them comes to fever it felf from the reft, and grow predomi¬
nant, And indeed, if the Juices of the Body were more
Chymically examind, efpecially by a Naturalift that knows
the ways of making fix'd Bodies volatile, and volatile fix'd,
and knows the power of the open Air in promoting the for.
mer of thofe Operations ^ it is not improbable, that both
many things relating to the nature of the Humors, and to the
ways of ivveetning, acuating, and otherwife altering them
may be detected, and the importance of fuch Difcoveries may
be difcern'd.
And perhaps it would adde to the ufefulnefte of fuch an exami¬
nation, if it were extended to the noxious Juices in diftem-
per'd bodies: fuch as the rotten Phlegme fpit up by thofe5
whofe Lungs are difaffeded* theflimy excretions voided in
the Lyantery, and the liquor that diftends the abdomen in the
Dropfy and Cd [cites: concerning which (to tell you that u-
pon the by) I found that it was of a differing nature from ei¬
ther Water or Urine. For a paracentetic being made in the
abdomen of one dangeroufly fick of this fort of Dropfie, I
found that the Liquor would keep a pretty while without pu¬
trefaction, (nor did the Patient s body, when I afterwards faw
it open'd, fmellalinoft atall3 though theinfide of the abdo¬
men lookt well neer as black, as if it had been fphacelated:)
and having fteam'd away fomeofit, whilft it was pretty frefh,
over afomewhat flow fire- it tuft coagulated into afubftance
like Whites of Eggs, and, by a little farther evaporation,
turn'd to fuch a glutinous fubftance, as tradefmen are wont to
call Size-, and being kept longer on the fire grew to be hard


( ?9)
like fifhglew, but more brittle, and t ran (parent enough, but
with a little tindlureofa greenifh yellow 5 and fome of the
forementioned liquor being diftill'd in a Retorr, did towards
the end of the operation Co darken the vtffell with a thick
blackifh oyle, as hindred me from difcerning what elfe perhaps
I might have feen And I fuppofe it may prove a ufefuil in-
ftance to the former purpofe, if I fomewhat circumftantially
annex here what occurr'd to me, when I was accidentally con-
fidering of the Calculus humanus.
Having therefore obtein'd of a skiifull Lithotomift of my
acquaintance divers Stones, which he had cut out of mens
bladders, Ichofe a couple of them (which were whitilh al-
moft, of equall bignefle, and figure, which was neer ovall, and
which together weighed about two ounces and an halfe, thefe
with the help of a ftrong knife I carefully open'd, to find whe¬
ther or no either of them confifted of an entire anduniforme
matter, (as moil other ftones, and even Come calculi humani
do) and I found that each of them was made up of feverall
(hells, as it were, fucceffively involving one another, like the
linds of an Onion, and fuch fhels, but more foft, and more of a
colour; we likewife obfervedin a great (tone taken a while
linee out of an Oxe's Gall, and lent us for a prefent-, and
though all of thefe were of an almoft fiony hardneffe, yet
that hardnefie was not equall in them all; and in one of the
ftones we obferved one of the rinds (to make ufe offthat ex -
predion) to be of a differing colour both frm that which lm-
mediatly imbraced it, and from that which it immediately
imbrae'd: fome of thefe rinds equalled in thicknefle the
length of a barley corne, and others were fomewhat thinner.
Though they did clofely imbrace one another, yet they were
adlually feparable, as well as vifibly diftinguifhable. And
proceeding very warily in the breaking one of thefe ftones,
we found that in the center of it,there Jay a fmall and foft ovall
ftone


f4<0
ftone, as it were the kernell ofthofe conglomerated ilielis;
and this kernell layfo loofe, that with a little induftry and
patience we picked it out of- the fhell, and key t it by us as a ra¬
rity. This done, being defirous to know whither Chymicall
tortures would force thefe Concreats to a further confeffion
of their nature, we caufed them to befinely powdred, and put
into a fmall but ftrongly coated glafle Retort, whercunto lu-
ting a much larger Retort .for a Receiver, we found that thefe
two ounces and haife of powder, being diftilledfoi fomehuurs
in a naked fire, afforded us great ftore of vol tile Salt (partly
grey and partly white) which almoft coverd the infideof the
Receiver, and a pretty quantity of reddith fpiric, which in the
Receiver it felfe foon coagulated into Salt, and hawing fevered
our veffels, we found in the neck of the Receiver a very little
darkifh oyle, but in the neck of the Retort a greater quantity
of the fame aduft Oyl, incorporated with a pretty quantity of
volatile Salt, whofe fmell did readily recall to my minde chit
peculiar kindeof flink which I hadfometimes taken noticeof
in the volatile Salt of unfermented Urine nor were thetafte
of thefe two Salts unlike. The caput mortuum confifledof
a fine, light, cole-black Powder, not unlike the fintftfortof
Soot} and by weighing but of fix Drachmes, it informed us,
that above two thirds of the diftiU'd calculi bumant had been,
as being volatile, forced from the Terr eftiial Parts, evenina
cloleVeffel, wherein the caput mortuum, though it were left
infipid enough, yet retained (link enough to make us think,
it ftillconteined pretty ftore of heavy Oyl; as indeed, having
put it into a Crucible, and kept it a.competent while in a
ftronger fire, we found it reduced to about two Drachmes of
abr trie Mafs of infipid white Calx, which did not flack, or
fall aiunder like Lime when it is call into Water.
To


<"4*)
To this Example of the ufefulnefleof Chymiftry, to dif-
cover the unobferv'd, and otherwife fcarce discoverable diffe¬
rence of the calculus human us from other ftones; we m3y ven¬
ture to adde, That though fome Par ace![tans do take too much
liberty, when they crudely tell us, that there are arfenicall,
vitriolate,aluminous, and other minerall fubftances, generated
in humane bodies, yet if they had more warily propof'd their
Dodtrine, it would not perhaps appear fo abfurd, as they are
wont to think it, who confidering only the nature of the Ali¬
ments men ufually feed upon, cannot conceive that fuch being
but either Animals or Vegetables, can by fo gentle a heat as
that of man's body, (by which they fuppofe all the changes of
the Aliments muft be effedled,) be Exalted to an energie like
that of fuch bodies as are compof'd of adlive Minerall fubftan¬
ces, and have fome of them perchance acquir'd a violence of
operation from the fire. But we fee that Concretions, fo like
Stones, (which belong to the Minerall Kmgdome J as to paffe
generally for fuch, maybe produc'din the bodies not only of
men but of fucking children, vthofe Aliment is fluid Milk:
and it leems a miftake to imagine (how many foever do fo)
that Heat muft needs be the Efficient of all the changes the
matter of our Aliments may happentoundergoeina humane
body: where there are Streiners, and Solvents, and new Mi¬
xtions, and perhaps Ferments, and diverfe other powerful!
Agents, which by fucceflively working upon the affum'd
matter, may fo faihion and qualifie it, as, in fome cafes, to
bring the more difpof'd part of it to be not unlike even foflile
Salts, or other minerall fubftances. A very eminent perfon
was lately complaining tome, that in the fitsofadiftemper,
which almoft as muchpuzzls her Phyfitiansas her felfe, (he
fometimes vomits up fomething fo fharp and fretting, that,
after it hath burnt her throat in its paflage, almoft like fcalding
water, it doth not only Staine the Silver veftels that receiv'd
i it,


(4*)
it, but alfo work upon them, as if it were aCorrofive Men-
ftruum. And there dyed a while lince a very intelligent per-
fon, much imploy'din publick affaires, who complain'd to
me, that in the fits of the ftrangediftemper he labor'd under,
he divers times obferv'd, that, that part of his pillow which
his breath paffed along, would by the ftrange fuliginous
Steams, which that carried off with it, be blackcover, asifit
had been held in fome f®oty fmoak or other.
Wemayalfo confider, that the Rain-water, which in its
pafiage through a Vine, or an Apricok- tree, or the like plants,
is turn'd into a fweet fruit-, in its palfage through thofe plants
that bear Lemmons and Barberries, is tranfmuted into a liquor
flrarp enough to corrode, not only Pearles buc Corall,
cancrorum, and other hard Concrets, as fpirir of Vitrioli
would do- And writers of unfufpedied credit, affirme, that
an Indian fruit, (whole name I cannnot readily call to mini)
will fpeedily corrode and waft the very fteel knives 'tis cut
with, if its Juice be left long upon them: and we fee that fome
forts even of our Apples and Peares, will quickly black the
blades of Knives on which the Jaice is fuffer'd to continue.
And leaft what I frefhly mention'd about Limmon trees,
fhould bequeftion'd, I will here adde, that I remember alfo
that I have made not only fome other hot and ftrongly tafted
Herbs, but even a Ranunculus it felfe, to grow and increafe
notably in weight as well as bulk, though I fed it but with
fair water: and allowd it nothing elt'e to fhoot its roots into.
Wherefore fince this plant isreckon'd amongft thofe, that ei¬
ther are poilonous, or want but little of being fo; and fince
its operation is fo violent, that this fort of Vegetables,is taken
notice of from the experience of Country people, to be able
by outward application to draw blifters, and fince neverthe-
lefle that which this plant, without any heat difcernableby the
touch, tranfmutes into fo virulent a fubftance, is but fo una-
dtive


(41)
<flive a body as water- why may not fuch aliments,as may have
in them divers parts of a far more operative nature, be in a
humane body, by an unufuall concourfe of Caufes and Cir-
camftances, foalter'dand exalted, as to approach in operati¬
ons fefpecially upon the more tender parts) to thofe of folfile
Salts or other Minerals? So that a Chymift might upon fuch
an account, without any great abfurdity, teach fame parcels
of morbifick matter to be of an Arfenicall, or a Vitriolate, or
an Antimoniall nature, efpecially fince we fee that fometimes
Cancers, Ulcers, and fliarp Juices generated in the body, doe
by their vitiating and wafting the invaded parts, but too much
emulate the pernitious operations ofArfnick, and of fretting
Salts: and the infufion of Antimonie doth fcarce more ftimu-
late nature to disburthen her felfe both upwards aud down¬
wards , ihen doth fometimes an humor, fuch as that 	tiich
caufes the Cholera morbus, and perhaps more violent difbafes.
And that fuch degenerations of Innocent aliments ihouid
fometimes happen in difcompofd bodies, you will perhaps
think theleffe ftrange, if you duly perpend what I lately men'
tion'd,ofthe tranfrnutation of Water into hot and veficatory
fubftances*, and if thereto I annex, that from a Angle pound
of fo common and temperate an Aliment as Bread, lean by
an eafie way,(and that without addition,) obteine many ounces
oizmenftruum^ which (as cryall has inform'd) will worke
more powerfully upon bodies, more compad: then fome hard
mineralls, or perhaps GlatTe it felfe: then a wary Chymift
would expedfc to fee Aquafortis doe. Thefe things 1 have
mention'd, Pyrophilus, to intimate fome of the Reafons, why
I think Chymicall Experiments may be ufefully apply'd,to il-
luftrate fome things in Pathologie, either by imitating out of
the body, the produdionof fome forts of morbifick matter,
or by fuch refolutions of that which is generated in the body,
as may conduce to the difcovery of its nature. And not that
f z I


(44^
Ithink, as Spagvriftsdo, the experiments or notions of vul¬
gar Chymifts fufficient to explicate the whole dodtrine either
ofDigefhon or of Difeafes: for it would be very difficult for
them to make out the manner of Nutrition, or io much as
how they that feed only on Vegetables, ffiould (topropofe
the difficulty in their own Terms) have their Blood and Urine
copioufly enrich'd with a volatile fulphureous Salt, of which
fort, plants are not wont to yeild any in diftillation. And much
more difficult would it be for them by principles peculiar to
Chymiits to make out the propagation of Hereditary difeafes:
or how madneffe,& fome other diftempers,that do not vifibly
vitiate the organes of thofe fun&ions that they pervert, ffiould
not only prove hereditary, but lurk very many yeares in the
inheriting perfon's body, before they begin to difclofe thern-
felves: and fometimes too, be tranfmitted from the Grand¬
father to the Grand-child, and Iskip immediately the interve¬
ning Son. And therefore I fay again, that I pretend not that
Vulgar Chymiftry will enable a Phyfitian to explicate all or
moft of the Pathologicall Phenomena, but that True Chymi-
{fry mayaffifthimto explicatediverfe of them, which can
fcarce be folidly explicated without it. And let me adde, that
he that throughly underftands the nature of Ferments and
fermentations, ffiall probably be much better able then he
that ignores them, to give a fair account of divers phenomena
offeverall difeafes (as well Feavers as others) which will per¬
haps be never throughly underftood, without an infightinto
thedodtrine of Fermentation ■,in order to which, for that and
other reafons, I defign'd my Hiftoricall notes touching that
fubjedt.
Yet lamnotfure, but there may be effervefcences, (and
perhaps periodical! ones) in the Blood and other Juices of the
body without Fermentation properly fo call'd. For there
may be divers other waies of begetting a pmernaturall heat
in


(45)
in the Blood. We often fee that in Cough?, when the flegme
isrottten (as they fpeak) that is, when its former vifcous tex¬
ture is alter'd, it does no longer ftick faft to theveffels of the
Lungs, to which it obftinately adhered before. And fo at cer¬
tain times other humors in the body, either by growing more
fluid thcmfelves, or by fome change in the Blood, whereby it
becomes fitter todiffolve fuch humors, mayfwimmein, and
be circulated with, the mafTeof blood, and thereby occafion
prseternaturall heats: either by their indifpofition to be well^
and incorporated therewith: or by altering its texture: or di-
flurbing the wonted motion of its minute parts: or byoppo-
flag its due Rarefa&ion as it pafleth through the Heart: or by
obftrudling the more (lender VefTels, and fo hindering the free
Circulation of the Blood through them-, perhaps alio caufing
fome Extravafation, as we fee that wounds &bru fes are atten¬
ded with fome inflammation,more or lefle,of the part affediedv)
or by fome other of the waies not now to be declared. And
tryall hath taught me, that there are Liquors, in which the
bare admixture of Milk,Oyle, or other Liquors, nay or of cold
water, will prefently occafion a notable heat; and I fometimes
imploy a menftruum^ in which nothing but a little flefli being
put, though no vilible Ebullition enfue, there will in a few
minuts, be excited a Heat, intenfe enough to be troublefome
to him that holds the Glafle. And yet it feems not neceffary
that this fhould be afcrib'd to a true fermentation, which may
rather proceed from the perturb'd motion of the Corpufcles
of the menftruum, which being by the adventitious liquor or
other body put out of their wonted motion, and into an inor*
dinate one, there is product in the menftruum a brisk confufd
Agitation of the fmall parts that compofe ic^ and in fuch an
agitation, (from what caufe foever it proceeds,) the nature
of Heat feems mainly to confift. But to difpatch, I fcarce
doubt, but that if in the hiftory of difeafes, there were better
i 3 notice


notice taken of thofe Phenomena, that agree not with the opi¬
nions already in requeft, as well as of thofe that are thought
confonant to them-, and if alfo Chymicall tryals were skilfully
varied and judicioufly applyedtothe illuftrating of Patholo-
gicall Phenomena, the former might be made conducing to
the better explication of the latter: efpecially if the jbufinefle
were mannag'd by a Naturalift well veif d both in Chymicall
Experiments, and in Anatomy, and the hiflory of Difeafes,
without being too much addidfed either to the Chymift's no¬
tions, or the receiv'd opinions of Phyfitians.
And as the Naturalifbmay thus illuftrate Pathologie as a
Chymift,fomay hedo thelikeasaZoologer-, for either the
true knowledge of Anatomy muff be much lefle ufefull to
Phyfitians then they have hitherto beleived, or elfe the difco-
veries made by recent Anatomifts of the Jfelltan, Pecquettan,
and Bartholiman veflels, by either overthrowing the receiv'd
dodtrine of Digeftions, (from whofe aberrations many difeafes
fpring) or atleaft by making diverfe difcoveries in relation to
the economy of Digeftions unknown to the Ancients, moft
probably contribute much to the clearing up of diverfe Pa-
thologicall difficulties in the explication of fome difeafes^ be*
fides, that the very liberty of making thofe Experiments in
liveBeafts, which are not to be made but in living creatures,
nor are allowable to be made in living men, may enable a Zo-
ologift, by giving us a clearer account of divers parts of the
body, to determine divers Patbologicall difficulties fpringing
from either our ignorance or miftakes of the ufe of thofe
parts, as by the formerly mentiond Experiment of the exie-
dtion of a live dogge's Spleen, and a watchfull obfervation of
all the difeafes upon that Account, befalling him and other
Dogs fo ferv d-,much light perhaps may be given to the doftiin
of the ufe of the Spleen, together with the difeafes fuppofed
to depend on that part, which I fear is hitherto (to the no
fmall


(47)
fmall prejudiced! the Sick) by fewPhyfitians throughly un-
derftood, and by many unhappily enough miftaken.
And here we mayreprelent unto you, Pyr: that not only
the dilfedfions of found Beafts mayaffiftthe Phyfitian to dis¬
cover the likeparts ofa humane body, but the difledtions of
morbid beafts may fometimes illuftrate the dodlrine of the
caufes and feats of difeafes. For that this part of Pathology
has been very much improved by the diligence of modem
Phyfitians, by differing the bodies of men kill'd by Difeafes,
wemightbejuftlyaccufedofwant ofcuriofity, or gratitude,
if we did not thankfully acknowledge* For indeed much of that
improvement of Phyfick, (for which the Ancients, if they
werenow alive, might envy our newjPhyfitiansimay, in my
poor opinion, be afcribed to their induftrious fcrutiny of the
Seat and Effe&sof the peccant matter of Difeafes in the bo¬
dies of thole that have been deftroyed by them.
And that the inftrudfions deducible fromfuch obfervations
may be either increafed or illuftrated by the like obfervations
made in the bodies of Beafts, we have been inclined to think,
partly by the having Chymically analyz'd fas they phrafe it)
the blood of divers Bruits, as Sheep, Deer, &c. and found its
Fhlegme, Spirit, Salt, audOyle, very like that of humane
bloud; and partly by our having obferv'd in the bodies of fe-
verall Bruits, (not excepting Fifties) Wormes,Impofthumes,
and the like, fome of which feem'd manifeftly to fpring from
fuch caufes,as are wont to produce refembling diftempers in
men: and if the acute Helmonthad been a more diligent ftiffe-
dlor of Beafts, he would perchance have efcaped the Error he
after others run into (and into which his Authority hath temp¬
ted others to run) when he affirm'd, that the Stone was adi-
feafe peculiar to men, for, that in the bodies of Beafts, efpeci-
ally very Old ones, Stones are fometimes to be found, not
only feverall Butchers have afiur'd me, but you may gather
partly


(4R)
partly from that taken out of anOxes Gall, which I have
formerly mention cl3 which was about the bigneffe of a Wall-
nut) but principally from what I elfewhere deliver'd on pur-
pofe to difprove that fond aflertion: and greater leafure may,
upon another occafion, invite us to mention fome patho-
logicall Obfervations made in difeafed Beads, by which, (were
we not willing to haften,) we might now perhaps much con-
firme what we have propofd touching the poflibility of illu-
ftrating,by fuch Obfervations,the nature of fome of theDifea-
fes incident to humane bodies.
And here we may alfo confider that there are diverfe Ex¬
plications of particular Difeafes , or troublefome Accidents
propof'd by Phyfitians, efpecially fince the Difcovery of the
Bloods Circulation, wherein the ComprefTion, Obflrudlion,
or Irritation of fome Nerve, or the Diftenfion offomeVeine
by too much Bloud, or fome Hinderance of the free Paffage
of the Bloud through this or that particular VefTell, is aflignd
for the caufe of this or that Difeafe or Symptome. Now in
diverfe of thefe cafes the Liberty lately mention'd, that a
skilfull Diffedor may take in Beads, to open the Body or
Limbs, to make Ligatures drong or weak on the vefTells, or
other inward parts, as occafion fhall require, to leave them
there as long as hepleafeth:to prick, or apply fliarp liquors to
any nervous or membranous part, and whenever he thinkes
convenient, codified the Animall again, to obferve what
change his Experiment hath produced there: fuch a Liberty, I
fay f which is not to be taken in humane bodies, may in fome
cafes either confirme or confute the Theories propofd, and fo
put an endtodiveife Pathologicall Controverfies, and per¬
haps too occafion the Difcovery of the true and genuine cau-
fes of the phenomena difputed of, or of others really as ab-
firufe.
To this let me adde, that there is a whole clafiis of difeafes •
to


( 57 )
to be nret within Phyfitians Books, which proceed not ori¬
ginally from any internal diftemper.of the Patient, but are
produced by fome exterior Poyfon, and are therefore wont
to be called by Do&ors, Morki a veneno orti, to the more a-
curate knowledge of divers of which Difeafes, Experiments
made on Bruits may not a little conduce: For though I deny
not that fome things may be Poyfons to Man, that are not
fo to fome Beafts ^ and on the contrary (as we have more then
once given to a
Dog, without much
harming
him, fuch a
^quantity of Opium ^ as would probably have fufficd to have
kill'd feveral Men) yet the greater number of Poyfons be¬
ing fuch both to Man and Bruits, the liberty of exhibiting
them, when, and in what manner we pleafe, tothele (which
we dare not do to him) allows us great opportunities of ob-
ferving their manner of operation and inveftigating their Na¬
ture, as our felves have tryed, and that fometimes with un¬
expected events (as when lately a Cat ran mad, fo that her
Keeper was fain to kill her) upon a large dofe of Opium which
we cauf'd to be given her.
And on this occafion I fhall not fcruple to tranfcribean Ob-
fervation out of a Dhcourfe, I fome years fince writ to a
Fiiend, about'the turning Poyfons into Medicines, becaufe
that Treatife, I arn like, for certain reafons, to fupprefs:
The words, as I there finde them, arethele,
Before I take leave of Vipers (or Adders, as fome will have,
thofe that here in England commonly pafs for Vipers} it will mt
be impertinent to tell you, 1 hat it may be ]uflly doubted, whether
they be to be reckon d amongft poyfonous Creatures, in fuch a
fenfe as thofe other venomous Creatures, who have in them a
conftant, and^ if I may fo [peak, grofs and tangible Poyfon ;
for it may be fuppofd^ that the venom of Vipers conft/Is chtffly
in the rage and fury wherewith they bite, and not in any part of
the Bodyy which hath at all times a mortal property : Thus the
g mad-


("58)
tnadnefs of a Dog makes his teeth Poyfonous, which before were
notfo: And Authors of good repute fupplj us within/lances of
hurts in themfelves, free from danger, that have been made fa¬
tal by a Venom created by the fiercenefs of the imaged (though
not otberwife poyfonous) Creatures that infltfled them. And
Baccius, if I mtflake not, in his Treattfe De Venenis, tells us
a memorable Story (whereof he affirms bimfelf to have been an
eye-witnefs) of a Man who was kilVd within three days, by a
(light hurt received in his left handy from an imaged Dung-hill
Cock e And that no farts of the Viper have any con flant inherent
Poyfon in them, I have been induced to fufpeff upon this Expe¬
rimentThat differing fome live Vipers, there came in acci¬
dentally a (trange Dog, to whom I gave the Head, Tail, and
Gall (which are the parts fuppofed to contain the Poyfon) of one
of t hem) and the Head and Gall of another, wrapt up in meat*,
after whichy I locked the little Dog up in my own Chamber, and
watched him,but foud not that he was fick,or offcrd to vomit at alf
but onely lap3d up greedily fome drink which he efpyd in the Room-y
nor was he alone very jocund, for divers hours that I k^pt him
in, but liked his entertainment (o well, that he would afterwardsy
when he met me in the Street, leave thofe that kept him to fawn
on and follow me. And having fwee related this Experiment
toaninqufitive Friend of mine, he afjuredme, That to fatisfe
himfelf further in this particular, he gave to a'Dog a dozen
Heads anh Galls of Vipers, without finding them to produce in
him any mifchitvous fymptome: To which IJhail adde, That the
old Man,you know,f hat makes Viper Wine, does it as himfelf tells
me) by leaving the whole Vipers, tf they be not very great, per'
haps for fome moneths,without taking out the Galls, or feparating
any other part from them in tht Wine, till it hath dijjolvedas
much of them as it can.
And though it may feem fomewhat improper, whil'Jl we are
difcourfwg of Poyfons, toinffion a remedy againfl them j yet
the


( 59 )
the mention of Vipers recalling into my mindt a memorable Ex*
ferment which I tryed again ft the biting of Vipers, J Jhall choofe
rather to decline the dilates of Method, then thoft of Charity,
which forbids me to fupprefs a remedy that may pofsibly refcue
from fudden death, a Perfon or other fit to live, or unprepared to
dye j becaufe it does not ftriffly belong to the Theme whereto it is
referred. The remedy then is this, That as foon as ever a Man is
b titen (for if the Poyfon ha ve had time enough to d/ffufe it felf,
andgamthe Mafs of Blocd, I doubt the Experiment will fcarce
fucceed) a hot Iron be held as near the place as the Patient can
poftiblyindure, till tt have, as they [peak, drawn out all the Ve*
nom : which Eye-wttneffes afture me (for I have not yet feen that
my felf) will fometimes adhere like ayellowift [pot to the fur face
of the Iron- But being upon competent grounds fat is fed of the
Experiment, toconvinoe a phyfitian that miftru/hd it, / lafl
Summer hired a Man (who doubted tt as little as 1) to [uffer him*
felf to be bitten by a Viper $ and having in the Phyfit tans houfe
and prefence, picked out of a good number ef them one of the
blaekeft I could finde (thofeof that colour being fuppofedthemoft
mifchievous) and commanded the fellow to provoke and anger it
(which to my wonder he did, a pretty while before the Be aft would
faflenonhim) At lengthy being by his very rude handling tho-
rowly exafperated, it hit him with great fury, as it feem d, for
immediately his hand began to fwell, and the injured part was
grown tumid before we could take from the Fire, whtch was hard
by, a knife that lay heating there and having apply3d it as near
as he could [uffer it, for about ten or twelve minutes, we found
that the [welling, though it decreafed not, did not fpread; and
the Man glad of his money, without further Ceremony, went am
bout his affairs, and told mefmce, That though the tumor conti¬
nued a while, he had no other inconvenience attending tt, and
hath divers times got money by repeating the Experiment though
g 2 other-


(6 o)
ether wife,by the cafnal bitings of he hath been much
dtjlrejl, arid his Wife almofl kill d.
But, Pyrophilw, to return to the Experiments of Poyfons
made on Beafts, we could wifh Phyfuians were more diligent
to maketryalsof them, notonelyby giving Beafts poyfons
at the mouth, but alfo by making external applications of
them, efpecially in thofe parts where the VelTels that convey
Blood more approach the furface of the Body, and alio by
dexteroufly wounding determinate Veins with Inftruments
diptin Poyfons (efpecially rooiftor liquid ones) that being
carried by the circulated Blood to the Heart and Head, it may
be found whether their ftrength be that way more uninfringed,
and their operation more fpeedy (or otherwife differing) then
it they were taken in at the mouth. Fori remember fober
Travellers have fhew'd trie fome Indian Poyfons, whofe no¬
xious efficacy they affirm'd to be by great intervals of time,
differingly mortal, according as the flight hurt made by the
points of Arrows, infedted with them, did open a capillary,
or larger Vein, and were infiidted on a part moreorlefs diftant
from the Heart 5 but having not yet made any tryal of this
my felt, I dare not build upon it. Yet I finde that the for-
f'ojage demerly commended oleartue, in his Travels into and
Mojco- Perfia,takes notice of a venomous Infedt in Perfidy which the
Natives call Encureck, and which he (how juftly I know not)
pag-3 34 ma^es to a kinde of T aran, becaufe it is, as that Crea¬
ture, in fhape almoft like a Spider, and fpeckled, though of
twice the bignefsofaThumb: This Infedt (fays he) inftead of
flinging or biting, lets his Venom fall in form of a drop of
Water, which ithmediately produces infufterabie pains in the
part to which it faftens, and fuddenly penetrating, as far as to
the Stomach, fends up vapors to the Head, which fends again
(toufehisexpreflion; fo profound a fleep to all the Patients
limbs,


(61 )
limbsj that it is impoffible to awaken him, but by one onely
Remedy, which is to crufh one of thefe Creatures upon the
hurt, whence he abftradts all the Poifon, Some horrid and
unufual fymptomes of this Venom, which yet agree notfo
well with thofe that are wont to be produc'd in perfons bitten
by "tarantula's^ our Author proceeds to mention ; and fur-
nifhes us with a proof of what we were lately faying, when
we told you that fome things were poyfonous to Men, which
were not to fome Beafts: by adding, as an admirable Angu¬
larity, that the Sheep of thofe parts do not onely eat thefe
fatal Infe&s, but leek for them. I knowalfo, by fad expe¬
rience in my felf, what an outward application even of Can-
tharides can do •, for having occafion to have a large blifter
drawn on my Neck, the Chirurgion I employed, unknown to
me, made ufe of Canthuridcs, among other Ingredients of
his veficating Plaifter, which a few hours after I had taken it,
waken'd me with excefllve torment, to which it put me about
the neck of my Bladder, fothatl apprehended it might pro¬
ceed from fome Stone unable to get out •, of which fudden and
fenfible pain, after I had a while in vain conjedlur'd what might
bethecaufe, I at length fufpedled that which was indeed the
true one*, and having lent for the Chirurgion, he confefPdto
me, upon my demand, that he had put fome Canth<trides in
his Plaifter, not thinking it would have had fuch an operation:
whereupon I foonreliev'd my felf, by drinking new Milk ve¬
ry well fweetned with Suger candy.
Toflfcript,
li-l I


(<Si)
Tojlfcript.
npO enable you, Pyrophilus, to gratifie thofe inquifitive
Perfons that have heard fome, and yet but an imperfect
Report, of a much noif'd Experiment, that was fome Years
agoe devif'a at Oxford, and fince try'd in other places before
very Illuftrious Spe&ators •, I am content to take the occafion
afforded me, by what was in the foregoing EfTay lately men-
tion'd concerning the Application of Poyfons, to inform you,
That a pretty while after the writing of that Eflay, I hap-
pen'd to have fome Difcourfe about matters of the like Na¬
ture, with thofe excellent Mathematicians, Dr. I.
and Mr. Chriftopher Wren •, at which the latter of thofe Vir¬
tue ft told us, That he thought he could eafily contrive a way
to convey any liquid Poifon immediately into the Mafsof
Blood. Whereupon, our knowledge of his extraordinary
Sagacity, making us very defirous totrywhat hepropofd, I
provided a large Dog, on which he made his Experiment in
the prefence, and with the a (lift a nee of fome eminent Phyfi-
tians, and other learned Men: His way (which is much better
learn'd by fight, then relation) was briefly this: Firft, to
make a fmall and opportune Incifion over that part of the
hind-leg, where the larger Veilels that carry the Blood, are
moft eafie to be taken hold of: Then to make a Ligature up¬
on thofe Veflels, and to apply a certain fraall Plate of Brals
(of above half an Inch long, and about a quarter of an Inch
broad, whofefides were bending inwards) almoftof thefliape
and bignefs of the Nail of a Mans Thumb, but fomewhat
longer. This Plate had four little holes in the fides, near the
corners, that by threads pafPd thorow them, it might be well
faften'd


(6% )
fattened to theVeflcl: And in the fame little Plate there was
alfoleft an Aperture, or fomewhat large Slit, parallel to the
fides of it, and almoft as long as the Plate, that the Vein
might be there expof'd to the Lancet, and kept from ftarting
» afide. This Plate being well fattenJd on,he made a Slit along
the Vein, from the Ligature towards the Heart, great enough
to put in at it the flender Pipe of a Syringe: By which I had
propof'd to have injedled a warm folution of opium in Sack,
that the effect of our Experiment might be the more quick
and manifeft. And accordingly our dexterous Experimenter
having furmounted the difficulties which the tortur'd Dogs
violent ftruglings interpof'd, convey'd a fmall Dofe of the
Solution or Tindture into the opened Veflel, whereby, get¬
ting into the mafs of Blood (Tome quantity of which, 'tis
hard to avoid fhedding in the operation) it was quickly, by
thecircular motion of That, carry'd to the Brain, and other
patts of the Body. So that we had fcarce unty'd the Dog
(whofe four feet ir. had been requifiteto fatten very ftrongly
to the four Coiners of the Table J before the opium began to
difclofe its Narcotick Quality, and almoft afioon as he was
upon his feet, he began to nod with his head, and faulter and
reel in his pace, andprefently after appeared fo ftupifi'd, that
there were Wagers offer'd his Life could not be fav'd. But I,
that was willing toreferve him for further obfervation, cauf'd
him to be whipp'd up and down the Neighboring Garden,
whereby being kept awake, and in motion, after iome time
he began to come to himfelf again ^ and being led home, and
carefully tended, he notonely recovei'J, but began to grow
fat fo maniieftly that 'twas admir'd: But I could not long ob-
ferve how it far'd with him. For this Experiment, and feme
other tryals I made upon him, having made him famous, he
was foon after ftoin away from me. Succeeding attempts in¬
formed us, that the Plate was not neceffary, if the Finger were


(^4^
skilfully employ'd to fupport theVefiel to be opened; and
that a (lender Quill# fafttn'd to a Bladder, containing the mat¬
ter to be injedled, was fomewhat more convenient then a Sy¬
ringe 5 as alfo that this notwithftanding, unlefs the Dog were
pretty big, and lean, that the Veffels might be large enough •
and eafily acceffible, the Experiment would not well fucceed:
The Inventor of it afterwards pradtic'd it in the prefence of
thatmoft Learned Noble-man, the Marquefs of Dorche(lery
and found that a moderate Dofe of the infufion of Crocus
Metallorum did not much move the Dog, to whom it was gi¬
ven : but once that he injedled a large Dofe ('about two
Ounces or more) it wrought fo foon, and fo violently upon a
frefli one, that within a few hours after he vomited up Life and
all, upon the Straw whereon they had laid him. I afterwards
wifh'd, that not onely fome vehemently working Drugs, but
their appropriated Antidotes (or elfe powerful liquid Cordi¬
als) and alfo fome altering Medicines, might be in a plentiful
Dofeinjedted. And in Diureticks, a very ingenious Anato-
nitft and Phyfitian told me, he try'die with very goodfuccefs.
Ilikewife propof'd, That if it could be done, without either
too much danger or cruelty, tryai might be made upon fome
humane Bodies, efpecially thole of Malefactors. And fome
Moneths after a foreign Atnbaflador, a curious Perfon, at
that time refiding in London, did me the Honor to vifit me,
and inform'd me,That he had cauf d tryal to be made,w.th infu¬
fion of Crocus Metallorum, upon an inferior Domeftick of his
that deferv'd to have beenhangd^but that the fellow,as foonas
ever the Injection began to be made, did (either really or craf¬
tily) fall into a Swoon*, whereby, being unwilling to profe-
cute fo hazardous an Experiment, they defifted, without fee¬
ing any other EffeCt of it, fave that it was told theAmbafla-
dor, that it wrought once downward with him, which yet
might, perhaps, be occafion'd for fear or anguiih: But the
nyals


f«5)
tryals of a very dexterous Phyfitian of my acquaintance in
humane Bodies, will, perhaps, when I fhall have received a
more circumftantial account of them, be not unwelcome to
you- And in Dogs, you may poflibly from our own Obfer-
vations, receive a further Account of an Experiment, of
which, T now chiefly defign'd but to relate to you the Rife and
firft Attempts.
h ESSAY III.


(66)
ESSAY 1U.
(Containing fome T articul relating to the
SemioticalTart of Thyfich^
THe Semiotkal part of the Phyfitians Art, feems ca¬
pable of the leaft improvement by Natural Philofo-
phy. In which yet, fir ft the Naturalift may, by illu-
ftrating the Anatomical and Pathological parts, aflift the Phy-
fitian to make more certain conje&ures from the figns he dif-
coversof theconftitutionanddiftempersof his Patient. For
you will eafily believe that ceteris he that better
knows the nature of the parts and juices of the Body, will be
better able to conjecture at the events of Difeafes, then he
that is lefs skill'd in them. And The Naturalift by
improving the Therapeutical, may, ac leaft, much change and
alter the Prognofticks of the duration, ferocity and event of
Difeafes. For, Pyropbilus,it would be conlidered, that the
Predictions hitherto current in Authors, and commonly made
by Phyfitians, fuppofe the ufeof the received Remedies, and
the dogmatical method of Phyfick 5 but if there were difco-
vered fuch generous and commanding Medicines,as,by power¬
fully nflifting Nature, or nimbly profcribing the Morbifick
Matter that doth either produce or (though produe'd by
them j cherifh Sicknefles, might enable Nature to hinder the
Difeafe from continuing its courfe, and afting almoft all the
Scenes


(6?)'
Scenes of its Tragedy in the Body. Phyfitians need not, in
acute Difeafes, wait fo often for a crips toinftrudl their Prog-
nofticks, and the threatning Symptomes of Chronical Di-
ftempers would often prove falfe Prophets.
Toilluftratethisbut witha no t ignoble inftance, give me
leave to tell you, That when that Peruvian Bark, that now
begins to be fomewhat taken notice of, under the name of
The Jefuits Powder, had fearce been fo much as heard of in this
part of Europe, I went to vifit a Firtuofo, who had been for
fomeMoneths afflidted with a Quartan Ague, fo violent and
flubborn, that it had fruftrated the skill, and almoft tyred
theindeavors of themoft eminent Dodlors of this Nation;
of one of which, who was then accidentally with his Learned
Patient, I enquired how my Friend did, and was anfwered,
That he hoped he would recover when the Seafon would give
him leave-, but in the Winter he knew noQuartanes cured.
Yet the Gentleman acquainting me with his having procured
fome of the merican Bark againft Agues, which we men¬
tioned in a former Eflay, and I (after having tafted and confi-
deredit) having incouraged him, as I have others, to make
Tryalofit^ as the ftrange EfFedfs I have obfetv'd of it, hath
divers times invited me to do: The candid and learned Do-
dor, notonelyoppofd not my Perfwafions, but added his
own to them. And my Friend taking two Dofes of this Pow¬
dered Bark, though it were at the unhopefulleft Seafon of the
Year (the Winter Soltfice)and though he fcarce found any fen-
fible operation (unlefs a little by fweatj of the Peruvian Me-
dicine, had by thefiift Dofe his Fit very much leffen'd, and
by the fecond quite remov d. And though through fome irre¬
gularities of Dyet (to which that keen Appetite, like that of
recovering Perfons, which I have obfenrd this Powder to be
wont to produce, tempted him) he did, as I then foretold him
he would, after miffing eight or ten Fits, relapfe- yet by the
h 2 re-


(6$)
repeated ufe of the fame Remedy, he again recover'd, and
hath continu'd fo ever fince. Having alio lately petfwaded
the ufe of the fame Medicine, in the fame Diieafe, to one of
the greateft Ladies in this Nation, fhe told me the other day,
That it immediately, and in unlikely weather, freed her from
thofe "Fits, from whence (he defpair'd to be deliver'd till the
Spring, Having likewife fent fome of it to a couple of Gen -
tlemen, fick of the like Malady, I had word brought me;
That the one had miff'd his Fits for a Moneth, though in the
midft of Winter •, and the other was by the firft Dofecur'd,
and continues fo. And divers eminent Phyfitians, to whom
I have commended this Specifick, haveufd it withfuch fuc-
cefs, that one of the fevered: of them, though he had for¬
merly defpif'd it, confetTd to me, that in a fliort time he try'd
it upon eight or nine feveral Perfons, without finding it to rail
in any, though one of them efpecially, were, before he was
call'd, judg'd irrecoverable •, the obftinace Quartan being
complicated with other almoft as dangerous Diftempers.
And I confefs, I fomewhat wonder that Men have not the Cu-
riofity to try the efficacy of this powerful Bark, in cither Dif-
eafes then Agues: Ic being highly probable, That a Medi¬
cine, capable to prevail fo ftrongly againft foobffinate a Dif-
eafe, as a Quartan (wherein moft commonly divers of the
confiderabler parts of the Body are much affe&ed) cannot be
ulelefs to feveral other Diftempers. I deny not that thofe
that have taken this Powder, have divers of them, after ha¬
ving miff'd fix or feven Fits, relapfed into them (as it likewife
happen'd to one of the Gentlemen I fent it toj yet (as I have
eltewhere told you) it is much, and more then any common
Remedy does to ftop the Fits fo long. Nor is it a fmall mat¬
ter to be able to give the Patient fo much breathing time, and
allow the Phyfiti3n the opportunity of imploying other Re¬
medies. And the Relapfes we fpeak of are commonly cur'd
bF


(69)
by the fame Powder: And we hive known them prevented,
when the Medicine hath been adminiftred, not by unskilful
Perfons, but by a prudent Phyfitian who knows how to aflift
it, by opening and gently purging Phyfick. Wherefore that
which Iftiould the moft gladly befatisfied of, about this Re¬
medy, is, whether or no it do indeed either profcribe the Mor-
bifick Matter, or fo alter its Texture as to make it harmlefs*
orelfe, whether it dothfecretly leave fuch noxious Imprefft-
ons upon the Spleen, Guts, or fome other important Part,
as may ffiorten Life, by producing in procefsof time, either
the Scurvy, or the Dropfie, or fome other formidable Dif-
eafe. But becaufe the Refolution of this Doubt muft be a
work of time, we muft at prefent refer it to future Obferva-
tions, And therefore fliall now fubjoyn, that if the famous
Riverius have not, in his learned Obfervations, flatter'd his^,
own Febrtfugnm^ whatever be refolv'd touching th:s Indian obfirZZ
Bark,there will not want a fafe Remedy which may allow Phy-
fitians to make more cheerful Predictions about thelaftingnefs
and event of Quartains, then have hitherto been ufual.
How painful and ftubborn^Difeafe, the Kings Evil is wont
to prove, isfcarcemore known, then that 'tis feldom cur'd
without a tedious courle of Phyfick: And yet, by the Herb
mencion'dinoneof the former Effays, the yong Gentleman
there fpoken of, was cur'd in a fliort time, and with little or
no pain or trouble- And that thele are not the onely Difeafes
in which.Oblervations, tending to our prefent purpofe, may
be made, the following part of this Treatife will afford you
opportunity to obferve.
I might adde, Pyropbilm, that I was lately vifited by an
ancient Chymift, ennobled by divers eminent cures, who pro-
mifes to me an Experiment of making very unufual, and yet
rational Predictions in fome abftrufe Difeafes, by a peculiar
way of examining the Patients Urine. But becaufe fome
Chy-


(7°)
Chymifts have written extravagantly enough upon a like fub-
jed and becaufe I have not yet made or feen the Experiment
of itmyfelf, I dare not yet give this new method of foretel¬
ling, for an inftance of the Ufefulnefs of Natural Philolophy
to the Semiotical part of Phyfick. Though I dare not deny
but by precipitations, and fome other ways not yet vulgarly
pradiced of examining the Urine, made by the fame Patient
at feveral times, before, in, and after fome notable alteration
in his Body, divers things (efpecially in Feavors, and other a-
cute Difeafes) relating to the ftate of it, may be difcover'd,
efpecially if thereto be added a skilful and feafonable Chy-
mical Examen of the other Excrements, and vitiated Sub-
ftances of the Patients Body.
You will perchance exped, Pyrof hiltcs, that onthisocca-
fionllhould handle that controverfie which is fo hotly agita¬
ted, betwixt tht Paracelfians and their Adverfaries, concern¬
ing the curablenefs of all Difeafes: But, for ought I can per¬
ceive, the difference betwixt the more fober Men of both par¬
ties, is more about Words thenThings, and might be redu¬
ced to a much lefs diftance, if Men could but calmly confider,
That'tis one thing to difpute, Whether all Difeafes he curable •
and another 5 Whether all Perfor/s be recoverable: For a Dif-
eafe may be call'd incurable, either in its own Nature, or by
accident, that is, either becaufe fuch a Difeafeis not to be
cur'd in any Patient, or that it is fo circumflantiated in this or
that Patient, as not to be naturally curable in him. Now
this diftindion, duly confider d, may conduce much to recon¬
cile the two Opinions, if not the Parties that maintain them:
For neither would a fober paracelfian affirm (though Pard¬
ee! fas himfelf doth fomewhere feem to do fo) That every
Difeaie is curable in every Patient • there being fome Palfies,
Gouts, or Blindneffes, or the like, fo obftinate, that (efpe¬
cially if they are born with a Man, or inherited from his Pa¬
rents,)


(yt)
rents) the tone of fome neceflary or confiderable part of the
Body, being thereby rather aboliflhed, then barely vitiated,
it were a folly to promife recovery to fuch a Patient. And
on the other fide,a moderate Galenift, that is not unacquainted
with the Difcoveries which thefe latter Ages have made,of the
power of Nature and Art, will not be forward to pronounce
(as others do, and as the Paracelfians tax the Galenifts too in-
difcriminately for doing) That the Gout (for inftance) the
Dropfie, the dead Palfie, the Stone, are Difeafes univer-
fally incurable: Since, in the Writings of Erajlus, and in the
Observations of Scbenkitu, and others, there are Inftances
recorded offome Cures performed of the Dropfie, and one
or two more of thofe ftubborn Difeafes, even by Galenical
Remedies.
But, Pyropbilus, though we cannot but difapprove the
vain-glorious Boafts of Paracelftts himfelf, and fome of his
Followers, who, for all-that, lived no longer then other Men $
Yet I think Man-kinde owes fomething to the Chymifts, for
having put fome Men in hope of doing greater Cures, then
have been formerly afpir'd to, or even thought poffible, and
thereby ingage them to make Tryals and Attempts in order
thereunto. For not onely before Men were awaken'd and ex¬
cited by the many Promifes, and fome great Cures of \JLr-
Yioldut de 'villa nova, Paracelfu*, Rulandus, Sever inus and
Helmont• Many Phyfitians were wont to be too forward, to
pronounceMen, troubled with fuch and fuch Difeafes, incu¬
rable, and rather detradf from Nature and Art, then confefs
that thofe two could do what ordinary Phyfick could not.
But even now, I fear there are but too many, who though
they will not openly affirm, that fuch and fuch Difeafes are
abfolutely incurable > yet if a particular Patient, troubled
with any of them, be prefented, they will be very apt to un¬
dervalue


(7^
dervalue (at leaft, if not) deride thofe that fliall attempt and
hope to Cure him.
And I am apt to think, that many a Patient hath beenfuf-
fered to die, whofe Lite mightiiave been faved, it Phylitians
would have but thought it poflible to fave it. And therefore
I think it were no ill piece of fervice to Mankinde, if a fevere
Colledton were made of the Cures of luch Perfons as have
recovered after having been judg'd irrecoverable by the Do-
dors : That Men might no longer excufe their own Ignorance
by the impotency of Nature, and bear the World in hand, as
if the Art of Phyfick, and their skill, were of the fame ex¬
tent. And the Cures that feem performed by Nature her
felf, need not be left out of fuch a Colledion: F or ftill they
fhew what is poflible to be done by Natural means, to evacu¬
ate the Morbifick matter, or alter its Nature (how dangerous
foever it is grown) Or how far the tone of a part or ftrength
of the Body maybe vitiated or impaired, and yet be capable
of fome reftitution. And fuch an obfervation I receiv'd from
our moft experienced Harvj, when, having conrulted him a-
bout my weak Eyes, he told me, among other things (as a
very remarkable one) that he had once a Patient (whofe
Name and Profeflion he told me, but I remember not) that
had a confirmed Cataradmhis Eye, and yet upon the ufe of
Phyfick, to which he could notafcribe fo wonderful an effed,
that Catarad was perfectly diflipated, and the Eye reftored to
its wonted Fundion. Which brings into my minde another
Obfervation, imparted to me, a while fince, by that excellent
and experienced Lithotomift, Mr. Hollyer, who told me, that
among the many Patients fent to be cured in a great Hofpital
(of which he is one of the Chirurgions) there wasa Maid of
about eighteen Years of age, who, without the lofsof mo¬
tion, had fo loft the fenfe of feeling in the external parts of


( 71)
her Body, "that when he had, for tryal fake, pinn'd her Hand¬
kerchief to her bare Neck, (lie went up and down with it fo
pinn'd* without having any fenfe of what he had done to
her. He added, That this Maid having remained a great
while in the Hofpital without being cured, Dr.Harvey, out
of Curiofity, vifited her fometimes h and fufpedting her
ftrange Diftemper to be chiefly Uterine, and curable onely by
Hymeneal Exercifes, he advifed her Parents (whofenther not
thither out of poverty) to take her home, and provide her a
Husband, by whom,inefte<5t, (he was according to his Prog -
noftick, and to many Mens wonder, cur'd of that ftrange
Difeafe. That in acute Sickneftes, Perfons given over by
the Phyfitians, may recover, the more judicious, even of thofe
Galenijls that are of a difpondent temper, will not deny. For
not onely CeIfus gives us this fober admonition, Neque igno~
rare aportet in acutis morb 'ts fallaces magisnotas efie & (dutis
& mortis $ But even Hypocrates himfelf, who was fo skilful
inPrognofticks, confefles, that Morborum acutorum non in
toturn cert a funt priWunciationes neque (alutis neque mortis:
Whence the French have a Proverbial faying, that ll vaut
mteux eflre condamne par les Medecins, que par le Prevofi des
Marefchaux, as if in Englifhwe (houldfay, Jt is better to be
condemned to die by the Doff or, then by the ^<udge. And even
in Chronical Difeafes, where Events are wont much better to
anfwer Phyfitians Predi&icns, there are fometimes fuch
Cures performed, as may encourage humane Induftry, and
keep a lick Mans friends from forfaking the Cure of. him, till
Life it felf have unqueftionably forfaken him. For not onely
it hath been not unfrequently feen, that divers Perfons, who
have been given over by fome Phyfitians, have been cur'dby
others, perchance rather more lucky then more skilful: But
thofe that have been given over, and that too (fometimes ra¬
ther upon the believ'd incurablenefs of the Difeafe, then the
i perfonal


("74)
perfonal Condition of the Patient) even by judicious and ex¬
perienced Phyfitians, if fuch as are acquainted but with the
ordinary Remedies, have beenrecover'dby theufeof extra¬
ordinarily powerful, and efpecially, Chymical Phyfick. Of
fuch Cures I have fometimes met with a few, which, becaufe
I may elfewhere relate, I lhall now onely mention, on this oc-
cafion, what I have heard concerning the cures of Cancers,
performed by Dr. Haberfeld,one of the principal Phyfitians
of Bohemia. And among other relations, of this kinde, made,
me by credible Perfons, I cannot omit one, that was, Of a
certain Englifh Woman, of fixty and odde Years of age, who
had long lain in an Hofpital in Z, fickof a Cancer in the
Breft, and by this Dodtorwas, with one fingle inward Re¬
medy, perfectly cured in the fpace of three Weeks. For this
relation was made me by perfons of very ftridt veracity; the
ones Dodtor of Phyfick, who Was an Eye-vvitnefs of the
Cure; the other a Childe of Cornelius , who not
onely faw the Cure, but knew the Woman before, and ouc
of Charity brought her to him that heal'd her. The fame
Perfons likewife inform'd me, That the Chymical Liquor the
Dodfor conftantly made ufe of, does, in the Dofe, of about a
fpoonful or two, work fuddenly and nimbly enough by Vo¬
mit, but hath very quickly ended its operation, fo that with¬
in an hour, or lefs, after the Patient hath taken it, he is com¬
monly well again, and very hungry. And they having
prefented me fame fpoonfuls of this Liquor, I finde the
taftetobe ofFenfive enough, and not unlike that of Vitriol,
which, by the tafte and emetick operation, I guefstobe, at
leaft, its principal Ingredient, however it be prepared. The
fa r,e Perfons allured me, that having obtain'd of i. Haber-
feld a good quantity of his Specifick, they had been fin Eng*
land, as well as elfewhere) partly Eye-witneffes, and partly
Performers of wonderful Cures by the help of it alone, under
God,


( 75)
God, in the Kings Evil. Infomuch that an eminent Gentle¬
man of this Nation, now alive and healthy, hath been cured
by it, when the Kings Evil had brought his Arm to that pafs,
that the Chirurgions had appointed a time to cut it off. And
with the fame Liquor, onely taken inwardly, they profefs
themfelves to have feen and done divers Cures of inveterate
external Ulcers, whofe proud Fleih, upon the taking of it, is
wont to fall off, and then the Ulcer begins to heal atthebot- .
torn-, but of the recent effects of this Liquor, wemayelfe-
where, perhaps, further entertain you. That Suffufions or
Cataracts, may, by a manual operation, be cured even in a
Patient that was born with them, I formerly told you^ when
I related the Cure done by my Ingenious Acquaintance, Mr.
Stepkins, on a Gentlewoman of about eighteen Years of age,
that brought a couple of Cataradts with her into the World.
And I remember I was fomevvhile fince in the company of an¬
other Woman, who told me, She was brought to Bed of five
Children fif I much miftake not the number) fucceffively-
of which, flie faw not any in a long while after, by reafon of a * .
couple of Suffufions, that had many Years blinded her- and
yet now, by the heipof a Dutch Oculift of my Acquaint¬
ance, flie fees, and reads well, and hath freely enjoyed the re-
ftored ufe of her Eyes for fome Years already.
But thefe are rather Chirurgical, then Medicinal Cures,
and therefore wefliallfubjoyn the Mention of a very memo¬
rable Obfervation of the Learned Petronius, which being col¬
lated with that a little above recited, from Dr. FJa>vey, they Alrlxand.
may ferve to keep each other from pafling for incredible: gui- Trajan pe.
aam (fays our Author) qui anteqnam Morbo Galltco afficeretur, tro^eu^
alterooculo c&cw erat, Juffufione denftfiima (valgus Gatara-GgL^co^ Cm
clam vocat) oculum oc cup ante, Flydrargyri inunffiione a Morbo i. apud
Gallico, & a[ujfufione, quod maximc mirum eft^ evaftt. Ncfc ^e0^!^r,
a rattorn alttnum eft inunttione ilia Cataractas pofie dtfjolvi^cum lm
fre- ' .
1 2


(76)
frequens Experientia doceat praduros tumores ex pituita crafia
& concrete genitos, illitu Hydrargyri potenter dtfjolvi.
I need not tell you what fad Prognofticks Phyfitians are
wont to make of Dropfies, efpecialty of that fort which they
call A [cites: And indeed the Event does but too frequently
juftifie their Predictions, when none but ordinary Remedies
are employad. But I remember, that being acquainted with
an Ingenious Perfon that was very happily cured of a Dropfie,
and inquiring who it was that had perform'd the C ure^ I was in-
formad,that that,and a multitude of the like had been wrought
by a Germane Phyfitian, of whom, and of his Remedy, I
had heard much Commendation in Holland, where be liv'd :
And though on divers occafionsl found him amodeftMan -
and accordingly, when I ask'd him concerning his Cures of
the Dropfie, he anfwered me, That he neither did, nor would
undertake to cure fo formidable a Difeaie^ yet he fcrupled not
to tell me, That as far as he had hitherto try'd, he had one Re¬
medy which had not fail'd him, though he had try'd it upon
perfons of differing Ages, Sexes, and Completions. But
of this Specifick more hereafter. For, n prefent, I muft pto-
ceed to take notice, that as incurable a Difeafe as the radicated
Gout is thought to be (efpecially in Patients not very tem¬
perate,) and as tedious a courfe of Phyfick as one would ex*
pedlto berequifiteto the Cure of it, in cafe it can be cur'd^
Yet I have been feveral times vifited by anhoneft Merchant of
Am(lerdan\ who was there noted for his Wealth, and his
skill in Arte tintforia : This Man, ten or twelve Years ago,
had been for a long timelo tormented with the Gout, both in
Hands and Feet, that his Fits would fometimesvex and con¬
fine him for a great part of the Year* and not leave him with¬
out hard Knots, as unwelcome Pledges of their Return: But
once, that he was tortur'd to a degree that made h rn much pi-
ty'd. one came and inform d him of an Emperick, who had
receiv'd


(77)
receiv'd from a great Chymift who had lodg'd in his Houfe, a
Secret, with which he had already throughly cur'd many, in a
ffiorttime: Whereupon fending for this Perfon, and offering
him any thing for fome relief 5 the other refuf'd to take above
ten Crowns, which, as it feems, was the ufual rate for the
Cure:, and would not receive that neither, till the reality of
it had been evinc'd by the Patients continuing above fix
Moneths well: And accordingly, with a very few Dofes of a
certain Powder and Tindiure, the Merchant was quickly free'd,
rot onely from his Pains, but from his Gouty Topby: And
though he indulge himfelf the drinking of Rhenifh Wine
very freely, yet he never had a Fit fince, as himfelf affur'd
me one Morning, wherein, forExercife fake, he walk'dfive
or fix Miles to give me a Vific 5 adding, That the Man that
cur'd him, dying fuddenly , never could difcover what the
Secret was, wherewith fo many had been freed from a Difeaie
that does fo often mock the skill of the greateft Dcdfors.
I might, perhaps, if I had leifure, relate to you fome o-
ther ftrange Stones, which may invite you to think, That as
the Naturalifts skill in Chymiftry, and other Arts retaining to
Phyfiology, may much affift him todifcover more generous
Remedies then are yet ufual 5 fo the Knowledge of fuch Re¬
medies may, in divers cafes, make a happy Change in the
Rules of Prognofticating what will prove the Courfe and E-
vent of a Sicknefs. But I fhallnot, atprefenr, particularly
confider any more then one Difeafe, namely, The Stone in
the Bladder. For whereas it is by moft, even of the judici¬
ous Phy fitians, unanimoufly pronounc'd incurable by Phyfick,
in what Perfon foever, if itdefervethenameof a Stone, and
be too big to be voided whole, the Remedilefnefs of this D f-
eafemay be juftly queftion'd. I remember the famous Mo-
nardes, treating o£ the Seed of a Peruvian Plant, which they
call Chalehoos, tells us, That it is highly efteemed by the In*
habitants


(7s)
habitants of the Country it grows in, and affirmed not onely
to bediuretick, and to bring away Gravel, but to break the
Stone in the Bladder it felf, if it be not too muchhardned:
Ejttffc ret (adds he) tarn mult a proferunt exempla ut admira-
tionem mihi pariat: He tells us indeed, that he is of opinion
that nothing but Sedtion can cure the Stone of the Bladder.
Aiunttamen (faith he) tilt us femen (of the Calchoos)/r;//^,
ex aqua, alt qua ad earn rem idoned fumptum, calculum in lutum
dijjolvere, quod excrctum denito concrefitt & in lapideam duri-
tiem convtrtitur. dole[centem u-tdt cui hoc obtigtfe fcio} is
cum vefica calculo torqucretur, idfy a Lithotomis qui calculum
deprehenderant intellextff'em, & ex Symptomatic qua patiebatur
agnofcerem-j hominem^veric initio, ad fontem>qui a Petro nomen
habet, ablegavt^ ubi cum duos menfec bafijjet a calculo liberates
redit & lutum omne quod paulatim ejecerat denuoin lapidum
fragment a concrttum in chart a fecum retulit. Which palTage I
wonder fuch a Writer fhould immediately annex, totheDe*
clarationof an Opinion that muft appear confuted by it, toa
Reader that confiders not fo much what is thought^ as what is
proved.
The very learned and experienced Dr. Gerard Boot, of whofe
skill, you, Pjrophilus, have found very good effeds in your
Self, and who was one of the two Profeffors that writ the
Philofophia naturalis reformat4, had a very famous Remedy
(which (now he is dead) I intend, God willing, to communi¬
cate) againft the Stone^ and with it he told me that he had ve¬
ry often cured that Difeafe in the Kidneys: but for the Stone
in the Bladder, he thought it impofllble to be diffolved, which
ciicumftances I recite, that you may the more readily believe
what he told me a little before his death, namely, That he had
cured lately one Mr. Moulin of a real Stone in the Bladder $
adding, That he could not brag of being the Inventor of that
Remedy he had imployed, having but lately learned it of a
Country


<79 )
Country Gentleman, whom going to vifit laft Summer, he
faw a Load of Perficaria, or Ar[mart, brought to him by lome
of the Country People * and defiring to know what he inten- -
ded to do with fo vaft a quantity of it, the Gentleman reply -
ed, That he yearly ufed as much, having by the Water of it,
made by bare diftillation in a common Rofe-water Still, cured
fo many of the Stone, even in the Bladder, that he wssufu-
ally follicited by Patients, numerous enough, to exhauft all
the Liquor which he yearly prepared.
What we, Pyrophilm, have obfei ved concerning this ex¬
cellent Liquor, of which we ufe to prefcribe a draught every
morning for fome Moneths together, we may elfewhere have
occafion to relate. But now we (hall go on to tell you, that
being fome Years fince in Ireland, I met with an ancient Ern-
perick, who was very famous in thofe parts, for cutting of the
Stone of the Bladder, and for curing fore Eyes: This Man
having given (in the Parts where I then was, and whileft I was
there,) fome good proof of his skill, I fentfor him to me,
upon the account of a fufpition I long had of the Stone in
the Bladder, which, upon fearch, he affured me I was free
from, and fo (God be praifedj I have afterwards found it. He
was more a Traveller then a Scholar, and yet finding him, to
my wonder, very modeft and fober, I inqnired of him. Whe¬
ther he had never anywhere met with a Remedy that could
diffolve the Stone in the Bladder, offering him much more for
a Cure of that kinde, then he would require as a Lithoto mift:
He anfwered me, That he could cure no Man of a confirmed
Stone, but by the help of his Knife ; but if the Stone confi-
fted of a lump of Gravel not very firmly cemented together,
he had, by a certain inward Remedy he ufed, and a dexterous
way of crufhing the Stone from without with his Fingers, fo
broaken the Stone, partly by crumbling it, and partly by
diffolving the Cement, as to make it voidable by Urine. And
he


(M
he added, That he had formerly cured a Citizen of Cork, of
agood large Stone of the Bladder (for where I then was, he
gave proof of his skill, in telling before-hand thofe he was
to cut, the bignefs and fhape of the Stones that troubled
them.)
Palling afterwards by Cork, I fent an intelligent Servant to
inquire after this Citizen, but he being cafuiily abfent, his
Wife fent me, by my Man, a Relation very agreeable to that
which he had made me: The Receipt I purchased of him, and,
though it feem not very artificial, yet I fuppofe you will not
quarrel with me for annexing fo experience a one, to the end
of this Effay- But becaufe this Remedy needed the afliftance
of a manual operation, We (hall further proceed to tell you,
■7>e nth: That (ardan, as he is quoted by Belmont (for I have not now
c.j.nm: his Works by me) relates, That in his time there rambled a
I4' Man over Lombardy, who did commonly, and in a few days,
by a certain Liquor which he adminiftred to his Patients, fafe-
ly, fpeedily, and certainly, cure thofe that were troubled
with the Stone in the Bladder: Adding (faith Heimont) his
Judgement, That he doubted not of this Mans being in Hell,
for having, when he dyed, envyed Mortals fo excellent an
Art.
Iinfift not on the Teftimony that the fame Belmont gives
to Paraceifits of his curing the Stone, though he often handle
him very feverely in other places of his Writings, becaufe that
the Epitaph of Paracelfns (out of which he labors to prove
his having cured the Scone; makes no exprefs mention of it.
Norfhall I enumerate thofe Paffages from whence the fame
Belmont's Followers collect, That hehimfelf was able to cure
that Difeafe, by the refolution of Paracelfus his Ludus •, but
this experience hath evinc'd to me, that a much (lighter pre¬
paration of that Stone, then was mention'd by Paracelfu* and
Belmont^hath been able to do more in thatDileafe then a wary
Man


(8i)
admired; and not I alone, but our Ingenious Friend Dr. C.
("who had been imployed into feveral parts of , by a
rich and curious Prince, to purchafe Rarities) agreed with this
Chymift, to give Two hundred Crowns for a Pint of this
Cblcnfiruum and confefTed to me withal, Thathefaw him,
with this Liquor, not onely diflolve common Sulphur, and
bring it over the Helm, but reduce Antimony into fweet
Chryftals; with a few of which it was, that he (I mean Dr. C.)
to the wonder of many, did, without Purge or Vomit, cure
our good Friend Sir C. C. of a very radicated and defperate
Difeafe, as the reftored Patient foon after told me. And to
the fecond part of this Objection it may be anfwered, That if
we knew and confidered well, how many of the operations of
Natural Bodies depend upon the fuitablenefs and difference of
the Figures of their Parts, and the Pores intercepted between
them, the number of impoffibilities would not, perhaps, be
thought fo great, as by many Learned Men it is.
That it is very poffible for a Body to have an tff'ed upon an¬
other determinate Body, without being able to operate, in
like manner, upon a multitude of other Bodies, which may
feem more eafie to be wrought on by it ^ may appear by the
Load-ftone, which will draw and work onely upon Iron, and
(which is but refined Iron) Steel,but not upon wood or flraws,
or any of thofe innumerable Concrets that are lighter, and
of a more open texture then the heavy and folid Body which
it attracts. And to give you an inftance that comes nearer to
our cafe, Quick-filver, that will not corrode our skin, norfo
much as tafte fharp upon our tongue, will yet readily diflolve
thatmoftcompatft Body of Gold, which even
that can infinuate it felf into all other Mettals, and corrode
them, will not meddle with ^ though the fame Quick filver
will not diffolve Iron, which yet Aqua fort is will very nimbly
k a fret


(^4)
fret afunder. So that although I dare not confidently believe
all that I have found averr'd even by eminent and learned Chy-
tnids, of their having made or feen Liquors, which, without
appearing any way lharp to the Tongue, would difiolveGold
and Silver, and other hard compad Bodies ^ becaufe I have
not yet, myfelf, feen anyfevereand fatisiadory tryal made
to evince the efficacy of infipid Difiolvents: yet5 by reafon
of divers things I have read and heard, and of fome things
too I have feen, I dare not peremptorily deny the poffibility
of fuch Menftruums. And who knows, but that in Nature
there may be found, or by Art there may be prepared, fome
Liquor, whofe parts may have fuch a futablenefs to the
Pores of a humane Calculus, as thofe of Quick filver have to
the Pores of Gold, and yet may as little work upon thereft
of the Body, as we have obferved the fame Quick-filver to
do upon Iron (which yet is a much more porous and open Me¬
tal ) even when it hath been diftill'd in Iron Veffels ? And as
to that part of the Objedion wherein the (Length of it chief¬
ly lies, let me tell you, Pyroplrilus, that Ihavefometimes,for
curiofity fake, taken an Egge, and fteep'd it in drong Vineger
for fome days, and by taking it out, and (hewing that the
(hell was fo eaten away, that the Egge could be fqueez'd in¬
to unufual Forms, but the thin skin that involves the white
continu'd altogether unfretted , I convinc'd an Ingenious
Man, that the operations of Diflolvents are fo determin'd by
the various textures of the Bodies on which they are imploy'd,
that a Liquor, which is capable to corrode a more hard and fo-
lid Body, may be unable to fret in the lead, an other more
foft and thin, if of a texture indifpofd to admit the fmall
parts of the Menjlruum. And I mud confefs to you, Pyre
philta, That one thing, among others, which hath made me
backward to affirm with many Learned Men, that there can be
no


(*s)
no potent Diffolvent that is not corrofive enough to fret in
pieces the parts of a humane Body, hath been a Story, which
I divers years fince chanc'd to meet with in the Learned Sen-
nertus's Paralipomena3 where, though he relates it to another
purpofe, yet it is fo pertinent to our prefent defign, and in it
felf fo lingular, not to fay matchlefs, that I cannot forbear to
mention it hereon this occalion. He tells us then, That in
the end of the Year, 1632. Johannes Nefterm^ an eminent fochihsn-
Phyfitian, and his great Friend, inform'd him, That there /*.
liv'd at that time in the Neighborhood, and belonging to a
Noble Man of thofe Parts, a certain lorainer, whom he al-
fo call'd Claudius, fomewhatlow and flender, and about 58
Years of age: Hie (faith hej nihilfastidumy nihil inundum
abhorret 5 Vitra-, Lapides, Ligna) Carhones, o[fa^ Leporinos,
& aliorum animalium pedes cumpilis^ Itneos, laneoffo pannos ,
viva animalia & pi fees adhuc faltentes, into etiam Metalla, pa¬
tinas & orbes flanneos aentibus confringere &vorare (apifiime
vifus ejl. For at prater ea lutum fevum & candelus fehaceas^ in -
tegras teflas cochlearum, animahum fiercer4, cum primis hu-
hulum calidum adhuc, prout e matre venit: pot at ah or urn Uri-
nas cum Vino & cerevtfia mixtas, Vox at fcenum^Jlramen^ fli-
pulas & nuper duos mures viventes adhuc dtgluttvit, quitpftus
ventriculum ad femihoram uffy creberrimts morfibus I an etna*
runt5 & ul brevibus compleffar, quicquid Hit a Nobtlibus devo-
randum offertnr, vilifiimd mercede propofita, diclum acfattum,
ingurgitate it a ut intra paucos dies integrum vitulum crudum
& incottum cum coriOe & pi lis fe eflaturum promt fent. T ejl is
inier alios quamplurimos tpfe ego fume quippe qui, &c. To this,
and the following part of the Letter, Sennertus addes, That
not having, during fome Years, heard any thing concerning
this Claudius, he fent about four Years after to the fame Phy-
fitian5 Dr. Nejlerus, to enquire what was become of him •, and


x
(86)
that the Do&or fent him back a Letter of the Minifter of the
Church of that place, by way of confhmationof all the for¬
merly mention'd particulars, and anfwered himfelf, That the
Lor miner whom he had long hop'd todift'eft, was yet alive,
and did yet devour all the things mention'd in his former Let¬
ter j but not fo frequently as before, his Teeth being grown
fomewhat blunter by age, that he was no longer able to break
Bones and Mettals. Some other examples of this nature,
though none fo lirange, we havealfo met with in Writers of
good credit, and efpecially that of the Giafs-eater, recorded
by Columbus in his excellent Anatomical Obfervations 5 of
which alfo Sennertus makes mention, as we fliall fee by and by,
and with which we may elfewhere entertain you to another pur-
pofe. And not long agoe there was here in England a private
Souldier (who,for ought I know,is yet alive) very famous for
digefting of Stones: And a very inquilitive Man, that gave
me the accurateft account I have met with concerning him,
allures me, That he knew him familiarly, and had thecuriofi-
ty to keep in his company for 24 hours together to watch him,
andnotonelyobferv'd that he eat nothing in that time, fave
Stones (or Fragments of them) ofa pretty bignefs, but that
his grofler Excrement confifted chiefly of a fandy Subftance,
as it the devoured Stones had been in his Body diffolved and
crumbled into Sand. But let us not omit, that to the fecond
Epiftle above-mentioned, Scnnertus addes this Refledion, not
impertinent to our purpofe: Caufam (fays he) hujus <voraci~
tatu,etiam in cadavere, invenire proculdubio erit difficillimum*
Peftet quidem ad illud, quod in cadavere Eazari Vitrtvoracis ob-
fervavit Columbus, quidam confugere \ efr ftatuere quart am il-
lam nervorum con)ugattomm, qungujlus gratia inhominibusa
naturaprodubla eft, neqf ad Palatum, neq, ad Linguamperten-
dtrc. Vcrum hoc modo faltem guftus aboliti caufa reddereM^
non-


(E7)
ncndum vtro caufa daretur, cur res tam miras afjumere fine
ventriculi Ufione, imo concoquere potuerit. Qua proculdubio
in tAaQvyxf&Qt* & peculiars conflitutione ventricals &inte(ti-
norum qu&renda efjet: qua tamen oculis invefligari non potejl
fed faltem ex effeffu patet. And indeed this memorable Story
feems to argue, not onely what we have already alledg'd it to
prove, but alfo that a cjMenflruum^ not fo corrofive as to fret
the Body, may diffolve Stones, Metals, and other compadt
Subftances. And fince one Liquor, prepar'd by Nature one¬
ly, could in this Mans StomackdilTolve that great variety of
Bodies above enumerated, why fhould it be thought that the
Alkaheft, or fome other Menflrnum wherein Nature is skil¬
fully aflifted, and to theutmoft highten'dby Art, fhould not
be able to diflolve Concretes of very differing Textures. For
though Chymifts muft acknowledge that fuch common Men-
flruums as will diffolve one Body, will not oftentimes meddle
with another • as Aqua fortis will diflolve Silver, and not
GoW, and if by Salarmoniack you turn it into K^dqua Regis,
it will indeed diffolve Gold, but then it will not Silver : Yet
fince that may be fuppofd to proceed rather from our want of
skill to prepare the moft potent Menflruum, then from theim-
poflibility of one Menflruums diffolving great variety of Bo¬
dies •, Why may not Nature and Art afford a Menflruum5
whofe variety of Parts, and Figures, and (perhaps alfo) Mo¬
tion, may giveitingrefs into Bodies of very differing Tex¬
tures ? as in our former Inftance, though Aqua Regalis will
diflolve Gold, not Silver ^ and Aquafortis Silver, but not
Gold i yet Quick-diver will diffolve both, and Copper, Tin,
and Lead to boot.
It I were not at prefent under fome reftraint, I might tell
you, fome things, that you would, perhaps, think no weak
Confirmations of the paft Difcourfe: And however, fince I
have


(88)
have obferv'd it to be the main thing, that keeps judicious
Men from Peeking, or fo much as hoping for nobler DifTol-
vents, that they are fcarce to be perfwaaed there can be confi-
derably piercing Menjlruums^ that are not proportionably cor-
rofive: I will here acquaint you with a Liquor, that may, I
prefume, affift you to undeceive fome of them. We take then
ordinary houfhold brown Bread (I like that of Rye, but I have
divers times uf'd that of Wheat) and when it is cut into flices,
and fomewhat dry'd, we alrnoft fill a glafs Retort with it, and
placing that in a (and Furnace, by degrees of Fire, we draw
off what will be made to come over, without much difficul¬
ty : The Oyl, as ufelefs to our purpofe, being by a Tunnel,
or a Filter, fever'd from the reft of the Liquor, wealfo, by
a gentle heat, free the Spirit from fome of its Phlegm, which
yet fometimes we finde no great neceffity to do. And yet this
Spirit, which you will eafily believe is no fuch Corrofive as
Aquafortis, or other diftill d Liquors of Mineral Salts, will
work upon the hardeft forts of Bodies, and perform things
that Chymifts counted of the judicioufeft, would not have us
expedtfrom them oft fliarpand corrofive Menftruums now in
ufe. For with this we have,in a fhorc time,and that in the cold,
drawn Tindlures (wcfl is done by thefolution of the finer parts
o f the Concrete) not only from crude Corals, and fome of the
more open Minerals, but likewife from very hard Stones, fuch
as Blood ftone, and Granates (even unpowder d) Nay, and
though Ruby's feem to be the hardeft Bodies yet known,
fave Diamonds (for I have learned from thofe that cut preci¬
ous Stones, that they can giinde other Gems with the Pow¬
der of Rubies, but not theie with any Powder, fave their own,
and that of Diamonds) yet have, eventhefe, afforded me in
the cold, a not ignoble Tindture. And not to anticipate
what I may elfewhere have occafion to tell you concerning
the


the efficacy of this c Menftruum,which is the fame that I
have intimated, without naming it, inthelaft, and another
of the former Eflays. I (hall now onely adde, That an ex¬
pert Chymift afi'ures me, he hath, but tells me not how,
done greater matters with it, or the like; and chat to fatisfie
mytelf that thefe high Tinctures, proceeded not from the
Handing or digeftion of the Menftruum (as we elfewhere ob-
ferve concerning fome other Liquors J I not onely tryed,
that from fome Minerals it will draw a much higher Tin&ure
then from others, and from fome fcarce any at all, but that
it would, if kept by it ielf, for many Moneths continue
clear and limpid. What further ufel have made, or think
others may make of thisodde Mcn/lruum, lmuftnot, as I
faidat prefent, exprefs; but returning to what I was dif-
courfing concerning the cure of the Stone, annex, Thatbe-
fides what hath been obje&edagainft the poffibility of ma¬
lting a Liquor, which, without being highly corrofive, can
be able to work upon Stone; It may indeed be alfo alledg'd
againft the hopes we feem to countenance, that what hath
cured the Stone in one Mans Bladder, may be unable to do
the like in anothers: But firft, the truth of that hath not
been proved; and next, we highly value thofe Specificks
that can remove Agues,Fluxes, and the like Difeafes,though
fcarce any of them do alike fucceed in all Patients, efpeci-
ally fo as to fecure them, during their whole lives, from ever
relapfing into the like Difeafe; and be/ides all this, it will
be no fmall matter to finde that the Difeafe, in its own na¬
ture, is not incurable; and it would recompence Mens In-
duftry'to be able to free, even a few Patients, from fo pain -
ful and ftubborn a Difeafe. Which I have rather then any o-
ther, chofen to infill upon, becaufe it is fo generally believed
not to he curable by inward Remedies in any Perfon what¬
ever. 1 But
1


(90)
But! have entertained you fo long on this fubjed, that I
muftreferve, for fome other opportunity, what I h ive to
fay to you concerning the Dropfie, and fome other Difeafes,
common! v put into the Catalogue of the incurable ones, and
therefore fhall now onely tell you in general, That as on the
one fide I think the Arguments which Helmont and others
draw ft om the Providence of God, for the curablenefs ot all
Difeafes are not very cogent, and fomewhat irreverent (For
God being not oblig'd any more to continue Life or Health
to finful Man then to Beafts that never offended Him, we
ought humbly to thank Him, if He hath, among His Crea¬
tures, difperf'd Remedies for every Difeafe, but hath no
right to accufe Him if He have not) fo on the other fide, I
am not much convinc'd by the grand Argument alleadg'd a-
gainft Paracelfui, and the Chymifts, that hold all Difeafes
to be in their own Nature curable 5 namely, That they
themfelves, many of them (no nor even their very Mafter)
lived not to the Age attain'd by many Strangers toChy-
miftry.
For this, That many of them (not deftroy'd by War, or
outward accidents) died young enough, and confequently by
Sicknefs; and that Paracelfus himfelf out-liv'd not the
47th Year of his age, is a muchftronger Objedfion againft
the Men, then againft their Opinion ; for it infers indeed
plaufibly, that they had not fuch Remedies as they boafted
of (fince probably, had they had any fuch, they would have
cured themfelves with them) but concludes not that no fuch
Remedies can be prepar'd by any other. And this you will
be the lefs apt to think irrational, if youconfider, how much
more learned, fober and experienc'd, it is poflible for many
a Man to be, then Paracclftts appears to have been: For he
feemsnot by his Writings to have been any great Logician
or


C9i )
or Reafoner ? he manifeftly defpif'd many parts of Learning,
ufeful to a Phyfitianj he lived not many Years, and (pent
divers of thofe few which he lived; in an unfetled and difad-
vantagious courfe of life ; and yet this attain'd to
fome fuch Remedies, as both in his own, and after times,
have made him a very confiderable Perfon, in fpight of all
his indifcretions and deficiencies. And among his other Re.
medies, his famous Laudanum did fuch wonders, that Opo-
rintts himfelf, in that fhort account, which feems to be ra¬
ther a Satyr then a Narrative of his Life, hath this Paffige
of it: T>e Laudano (faith he) fuo ( pilulas injlar
muriumftercorts, quas impartfempernumero,in
turn morborum difficult ate, tanquam facram medicinam
exhibebat)itagloriebatur, ut non affirmare ejus [eli¬
tes ufufee mortuis vivos redderepofie 5 idque aliquottes dum
pud ipfum fui, re ipfa declaravit. So fignala Teftimony
coming from one whom the Paracelfians call his fugitive Ser¬
vant, hired by his Enemies to {lander him, under pretence
of writing his Life, deferves not to be flighted: and though
it manifeftly contains an Hyperbole, yet I do the lefs wonder
at the Hyperbole, by reafon of thofe ftrange things which
your Mother, and divers other of your Friends, can tell
you, they have feen performed in England by
Laudanum opiatum (though much inferior to that of Para-
celfus.) And I remember, that a Friend of yours and mine,
that is a great enemy to all kiudes of Chymical Remedies,
and was beforealfotoChymiftry, having begg'd of me a lit¬
tle Bottle of it, which I had obtain'd from a Friend of the
younger Helmont's, to whom he communicated thePrepara-
tion, gave me awhile after, an account of fuch Cures that had
been performed, with that fmall quantity, uponalmoft dy¬
ing Perfons, as I think it not difcreet for me, that was not
1 2 an


(92)
an Eye-witnefs of them, to relate. And I remember too,
that the fame Friend of young being, at the per-
fwafionof one Woman whom he had cured of a dangerous
Confumpcion, eall'd to another that was thought to be
dying of an came to advife with me whither he
fliould meddle with fo defperate a Patient ; telling me, That
flae had been many Years fick of that ftubborn Difeafe,which,
in procefs of time, pcflingintoanOr/^/wd, had at laft put
her, by want of fleep (from which the violence of her fick-
nefs had very long kept her; into a Feaver, and fo defperate
a condition, that it was fcarceexpedfed fhe fliould live till the
next morning. But I, reprefenting to him that her condi¬
tion being avowedly defperate, he mightexercife his Chari¬
ty without danger to his Reputation; and perfwading him to
try Helmont's Laudanum,together with the Spirit of Man's
Blood (which we elfewhereteach you to prepare) he gave her
that Night a Dofe of thofe Remedies, which made her both
fleep and breath pretty freely; and a Week after, he coming
to vifit me, told me, he had cafually met his Patient well and
Hc/woai in abroad in the Streets. But thefe are trifles to the Cures
jhf- TsMch which Ilclmont relates to have been performed by our Irijh
fiVentidcs Butler^ for he tells us, That this Man, by flightly plunging
Sutler, a little Stone, he had, into Almond Milk or Oyl, imbued
thofe Liquors with fuch a fanative efficacy, that a Spoon-full
of the former cured (and that without acquainting him with
what was. given him) a F Frier (a very famous
Preacher) of a very dangerous Erjfip
hour; and one drop of the latter,being apply'd in his prefence,
to the Head of an old Laundrefs, that had been fixteen Years
troubled with an intolerable , the Woman was
prefently cured, and remained fo, to his knowledge, for di¬
vers Y ears. He adds almoft as If range a Cure done in one


(9 3 )
Night, upon a Maid of his Wife's, by anointing the part
aftedfed with four drops of that Oyl: He further tells us, That
the Matter of theGlafs-houfeat Antwerp, being troubled
and made unweildy with too much fat, begg'd fome relief of
Butler •, who, having given him a little fragment of his lit¬
tle Stone, with order to lick it nimbly with the tip of his
Tongue once every Morning, I fawi faith Helmont) within
3 vveeeks, the compafs of his watte ieftned by a fpan, without
any prejudice to his health. And to thefe, Pyr: he adds fome
other Narratives, which, though I confefs I know not well
how to believe, yet there are Circumftances which keep me
from daring to rejeft them: Forfirft, as he well obferves,
that which was moft ftupendous in this Remedy, was but the
fmalnefsof the quantity. Next, a Gentleman in France,
being not long fince reported to have a fragment of this
Stone, and to have cured feveral Perions (and efpecially one
very dignified,) of inveterate Difeafes, by leting them lick
it ^ my Noble Friend Sir Kenelm Vtgby^ then in France^ was
folemnly requetted from hence to inquire into the truth of
that Report, and anfwered, That he could not, upon exami¬
nation, finde it other then true. Befides, Helmont not onely
relates thefe CuresasanEye witnefs of them, but tellsus^
how upon an occafion that he mentions,he once fufpedfed the
efficacy of the Oyl,and that, without expedting that it fbould
do any thing, he anointed it on the right arm and the ancles
of his own Wife, who had for fome Moneths been torment¬
ed with great pains in the former, and very great tumors in
the latter of thofe parts $ and thatalmoftina trice, motion
was reftored to her arm, and all the oedema of her legs and
feet vanifhed ^ adding, That at the time of his writing {he
liv'd healthfully, and had done fo fince that recovery, during
nineteen Years: And this Story, {he3long after her Husbands
death,


(94)
death, conflrm'd to our ingenious Friend Dr. who is ac¬
quainted with her, and much extolls her: Thefe Gircum-
fiances, may be aflifted by two more very confiderable ones;
the one is, That Helmont is the more to be credited in thefe
Relations, becaufe mentioning Cures not perform'd by him-
felf, but by another, 3nd that by Remedies unknown to him,
he feems by thefe Narrations, out of loyalty to truth, to e-
clipfe his own Reputation: And the other is, that in a memo¬
rable Story which we may elfewhere relate to you (it being
not here proper to infert fo long a one)you'l finde an eminent
and ftrange teftimony given to Butler's Secrets, by our fa¬
mous Country man, Dr. Wiggins, whofe confeflion you will
not doubt, if y ou confider how rare a Phyfitian and Chymift
he was, how familiarly he lived in the fame Houfe with But¬
ler 5 and how ftudioufly, at laft, they endeavored to take a-
way each others Life.
But whatever be to be thought, Pyr: of s Rela<
tion, we may well enough make this reflediion on the other
things that have been delivered concerning formidable Dif-
eafes, that lince the power of Nature and Skill may reach
much farther then many diftruftf ul (not to fay lazy) men have
imagin'd, it will not be charitable to rely too much upon the
Prognofticks, even of famous Writers, when they tell us,
That fuch and fuch Difeafes, or Patients in fuch and fuch
conditions cannot poflibly be cured. But rather to follow
the fober councel of Celfus oportet (faith he) ubi n n
oe - refpondet, nontanti put are , & expe-
ana, lib.j.rtrt Windatque aliud. And this great Phylitians authority I
«p. therefore make the mod ufe of in the enfuing Efl'ays, becaufe
he is accounted very judicious by the Lord , ando.
ther Writers that are unqueftionably fo themfelves.
ESSAY


(95 )
ESSAY IV. •
Trefentingfome things relating to the
Hygieinal Tart of Thyfick,
THat the Dietetical part ofPhyfick, , may,
as well as the others, be improved by Natural Phi-
lo ophy, were notuneafy to manifeft, it my halte
would permit it: For 'tis known, that Drinks make
averyconficierablepart (fomttimes, perchance, amounting
almoft to the one halt of oui Aliments) and moll Drinks,
as Wine, Beer, Ale, Mead, &c. confift of fermented Li¬
quors: Now as on the one fiae the ignorance ol the Do-
ftrineof Fermentation, and of the wholefomeway of both
preferving Liquors and making them pleafant, doth que-
flionlefs occafion more then a few Difeafes, which in divers
places may be obfcrved evidently to proceed from the un-
wholfome quality of either ill made, or fophifticated Drinks;
fo on the other fide, thediftindl knowledge ot the true na-
tuieand particular phenomena of Fermentation, would en¬
able Men to prepare a great variety of Drinks, not onely as
harmlefs, but as beneficial, as pleafant.
How much preparation may do to corredt and meliorate
both hard and liquid Aliments, is notably inftanced by the
account that we receive from both the French and Englifli
that inhabit the Barbados. St. Ch and other
Iflands,


O)
Iflands, who folemnly inform us (what is attefted alfo by
Pifo, and other Learned Travellers that write of it) that
the Plant CMandioca (whofe prepar'd Root makes
and which we have alfo feen flourifhing here in Europe) to
which the Indians^ are fo much beholden, is a rank Poy fori.
And though I (hall not too refolutely affirm it, tobeaPoy-
fon properly fo called 5 yet in confirmation of its being very
noxious, I lliall tell you, That having purpofely enquired
of a very intelligent Gentleman, who commanded an Ar¬
my of Europeans in America, what experience he had feen
of the qualities of this Plant, he told me, That between
thirty and forty of his Soldiers, having on a time (whil'ft
they were unacquainted with the Countrey) either through
ignorance or curiofity, eaten of it unprepared, it coft moft
of them their Lives. And yet this pernicious Root, which
fome Herbarifts call Tticca) by the rude Indians ordering,
comes to afford them bothalmoft all their Bread, and no
fmall part of their Drink: For this Root being grated, and
carefully freed from its moifture, by being included in Bags,
and very ftrongly prefled till all the Juice be fqueezedout;
it is afterwards dryed in the Sun, and fomade into the Meal
of which they make their Bread: And this very Root,
though (as wefaid) it be poifonous, they caufe their old,
and almoft toothlefs Women, for the better breaking and
Hiftory of macerating ir, to chew and fpit out into Water. This Juice
the Bub*- will, in a few hours, work and purge it felf of thepoyfon-
i 011s quality, affording them a Drink which they efteem very
3 2. ' whollome, and at the Barbados call Perino, and account it to
be the likeft in tafte to our Englifh Beer, of any of thofe
many Drinks that are ufed in that Ifland.
This nafty way of preparing Drink, , mfy
feem if range to you, as it did to me when I fir ft heard of it 5


($7)
. but befides the confenting relations both of French and Eng-
lifh concerning it, it may be confirmed by the ftrange after-
tionof Gulielmu* Pifo^ in his new and curious Median* Bra-
filienfis, where, having fpoken of feveral of the Brazilian
Wines, he tells us, That they make Liquors of feveral
Plants, befides the Root of Mandioca, after the fame nafty dt
manner. Idem fit (faith he) ex Mandicca, Patata, Milioy Mufcovic
lurcico, Oryza & alits, qua a vetulis maflicantur, maflicata& ds Fer'
multacum falira exfpuuntury hie liquor mox vafis reconditurjC^'m
donee ferveat, facefquc ejiciat.
In Mufcovia it felf, notwithftanding the tinskilfulnefs of
that rude People, olearitu informs us, That the Embafla-
dors, to whom he was Secretary, were prefenced at one
time with two and twenty feveral forts of Drink. And at a
Country Houfe here in England (where I was, by a very In¬
genious Gentleman that isMafter of it, prefented with di¬
vers rare Drinks of his own making) I was aflur'd that he
had lately, at one time in his Houfe, at leaft the former men¬
tioned number of various Drinks, and might eafily have
had a greater, if he had pleafed.
And on this occafion, I am not willing to pretermit what
is pradlifed in fome of our American Plantations, as I am in*
formed by the Pra&ifers themfelves, where, finding it very
difficult to make good Mault of Maiz, or Indian Corn (by
reatonof hinderances not tobedifcourfed of in few words)
they brew very good Drink of it , by firft bringing the
Grain to Bread 5 in which operation, the Grain being both
reduced into fmall parts., t'nd already fomewhat fermented, is
difpofedtocommunicate eafily its difl'olubleand Spirituous
parts to the Water it is boy led in: To which I fhall adde,
That I have to think, that the Art of Malting may be much
improved by new & skilfully contriv'd Furnaces,and a ratio¬
nal management of the Grain. m Nor


(&)
Nor are we alone defe&ive in the knowledge of ferment¬
ing Drinks, but even in that of the Materials of which Drinks
may be prepar'd.
Inthatvaft Region of China, which is inriched with fo
fertil a Soil, and comprizeth fuch variety of Geographical
parallels, they make not (as Semedoinforms us J their Wine
of Grapes, but of Barley 5 and in the Northern parts, of
Rice, where they make it alfoof Apples; but in the Sou¬
thern parts, of Rice onely: yet not of ordinary Rice, but
of a certain kinde peculiar to them, which ferves onely to
make this Liquor, being ufed in divers manners. And of
f the Wine there drank, even by the vulgar, our Author
ckina^pttr. gives us this character: The Wine ufed by the common Peo-
i.ca<i. x. pie, although it will make them drunk, is not veryftfong
or lading-, 'tis made at all times of the Year, but thebeft
onely in the Winter: It hath a colour very pleafing to the
fight, nor is the fmell lefs pleafing to the fent, or the favor
thereof to the tafte; take altogether, it is a vehement occa-
fion that there never wants Drunkards, And of the In¬
habitants of the Kingdom of I remember alio, Py.
Litifcho- rophilm, that Linfchoten,in his defcription of thofe Iflands,
aZs Np?ook te'k us> That they drink Wine of Rice, wherewith they
i?chap drink themfelves drunk.
We have herein England, attheHoufe of our experien¬
ced Mint-mafter, Dr. Gordon, tafted a Wine, which he made
of that fort of Cherrys which are commonly call'd
that was, when we drank of it, about a Year and a haif old,
but it was fomewhat fower, and needed Suger; And there¬
fore I ihall rather take notice to you of my having fince drunk
Wine made of the Juice of good, but not of extraordinary
Kentifli Cherrys, which, with the help of a 7ant ilium of
Suger added in the Fermentation, kept fo well, that though


(99)
it were above a Year old when I tafted ir, I found it a ftrong
and pleafant Wine, not inferior to many Wines that are
brought us from foreign parts. But this is nothing ro what
isaverr'd upon his own experience, by a Learned Divine (to
whom you, Pyrophilua, and I, am related) who affirms him-
felf to have made out of fome fort of wilde Apples and
Pears, by bare Fermentation, fuch Liquors, as though at firft
fomewhat harfh, will not onely keep divers years; but at
the end of two or three, attain fuch ftrength, and fo pleafing-
Iy pungent a tafte, that they may compare even with choice
out-landifh Wines, and excel thofe that are not of the very
beft forts of them.
But till we have in another Eftay an opportunity of pre-
fenting youfomethingoutof theObfervations of
the newly mention'd Divine, and our own, concerning Fer •
merited Liquors, we fhall content our felves to manifeft our
want of curiofity about the materials of which Drinks may
be prepar'd, by this, That the Drinks of one whole Coun¬
try, are oftentimes unknown to the Inhabitants of another:
That the Wine made of Rice, which we lately mention'd to
be of frequent ufe in the Kingdoms of China and Japan, is
of little or none in Europe, I need not prove to you. I have
been in divers places where Beer and Ale, which are here the
common Drinks, ate greater rarities, then the medicated Li¬
quors fold onely in Apothecaries Shops. In divers parts of
Cltufcovie,and fome other Northern Regions, the common
Drink is Hydromel, made of Water fermented with Honey:
And indeed, if a due proportion betwixt thofe two be ob-
ferved, and the Fermentation be skilfully ordered, there may
be that way, as experience hath afl'ur'd us, prepar'd fuch a Li¬
quor, both for clearnefs, ftrength, and wholfomenefs, asfew
that have not tafted fuch a one, would readily believe.
m 2 The
m. I


„ 1 ... (I
C 100)
The French and Englifh Inhabitants of the Canibal Iflands,
make, by Fermentation, aWine of the dregs collected in
fb. 4. the boiling of Suger. A like to which tells us, That
cap. 1. . they make in Braftl, and commonly call Gawp*, which,
though made by the mixture of Water, the Inhabitants are
very greedy of; and when it is old, finde it ftrong enough to
make them drunk. And how alfo in thefe colder Countrys,
a good Winemay be made of onely Suger and Water, we
may elfewhere have occafion to teach you.
i;i). 4. And in Brafil they likewife, as the fame Author informs
Cap. 6. us, make a Wine (unknown to rnoft othet Regions of the
WorldJ of the Fruit of Acaju, which yet, upon his experi¬
ence, he much commends; telling us, That it is ftrong e-
nough to inebriate, and may, he doubts not, be kept good
many Years.; and that though it be aftringent, yecbothin
himfelf and others he found it diuretical.
In the Barbados they have many Drinks unknown to us;
fuchas &r e Peri no,the Plantane-drink, , Punch, and
the rare Wine of Pines, by fome commended more then the
Poets do their Nedhr; fome of which we therefore make
not, becaufe the Vegetables whereof they are produc'd,
grow not in thefe colder Climats: But others alfo they
have , which we have not, though they are made of
Plants to be met with in our Soil; as for inftance, the drink
they call <JI4obbie,made of Potato's fermented with Water,
which, being fit to drink in a very few days, and eafie to make
as ftrong almoft as the maker pleaiech, would be of excellent
ufe, if it were but as whalfome as it is accounted plea-
fant.
In the Turki/h Dominions, where Wine, properly fo call'd,
is forbidden by Mahomet's Law, the Jews and Chriftians
keep, in their Taverns, a Vinous Liquor made of ferment-
ed


( *01)
ed Raifons, after a manner, which (when we (hall elfevvhere
acquaint you with it) you will eafily difcern to be capable of
much improvement from the knowledge of Fermentation*
And indeed, by the bare fermenting of Raifons and Water
in a due proportion, without the help of Barm, Leaven,
Tartar, or other additament to fet them a working, we have
divers times, in a few days, prepared a good Vinous Liquor,
which having for tryals lake diftilled, it afforded us greater
ftore, then we expected, of inflammable Spirit, like that of
other Wine.
But I have fometimes wondered, that Men had no more
curiofity to try what Drinks may be made of the Juices ob¬
tainable , by wounding or cutting oft the parts of feveral
Trees, and fome other Vegetables: For that in the Eaft
dies , their Sura is made of the Liquor dropping from their
wounded Coco Trees, we have not lone fince out of Ltnfcoiert
informed you. And fober Eye-witnefles have aflured us,
That in thofe Countrys they have but too often feen the Sea.
men drunk, by the ufe or Liquors weeping out of thelnci-
fions of wounded Vegetables, and afterwards fermented.
And that even in Europe, the Alimental Liquor, drawn
by Trees from the Earth, may receive great alterations from
them before it be quite aflimulated by them, may be gather¬
ed from the practice of the Calab and ; who,
betwixt March and November, do by Jncifions obtain from
the common Afli Tree, and the (which many Botanifts
would have to be but a wilde Afh) a fweet Juice, fo like to
the Manna, adhearing in that Seafon to the Leaves o'f thofe
kinde of Trees, that the Natives call it in their Language,
Manna del corpo, or Trunk -manna 5 and leaft we fliould think
they draw all this fweetnefs from the Soil of that particular
part of Italy where they grow3 you may be fatisfied by the
Learned


( 102)
Learned Chryfojlomu* Magntnmin hisTreatife I Anna,
that it is to be met with in feveral other places. And he adds,
That in the Dukedom of U, where he profefleth Phy.
fick, there is no other Manna ufed then that which is (as he
Dc Minimafpeaksj Vcl e franco expreffum (which he fomewhere calls
cap. 18. Manna Truncinum) ant in ramis con ere turn; and that
yet it is fafely and profperoufly ufed.
I had communicated to me, as a rarity, a fecretof the
King of Bolands, which is faid to do wonders in many Dif-
eafes, and confifts onely in the ufe of the Liquor which drops
about the beginning of the Spring,from the bar'd and wound¬
ed Roots of the Walnut-tree: but becaufel have not yet
made tryal of it my felf, I fhall pafs on to obferve to you,
that in fome Northern Countries, and even in fome parts of
England, bordering upon Scotlanthe almoftinfipid Liquor
that weeps in March, or the beginning of out of
the tranfverfly wounded Branches (not Trunks) of the
Birch-tree, is wont to be ufed by Perfons of Quality as a pre¬
servative from the Stone; again ft which cruel Difeafe, Hel-
mont highly extols a Drink made of this Liquor and femtn
dauci, and Beccabunga, and I think not without caufe. For
not to mention all the commendations that have been gi¬
ven me of it by fome that ufe it, I have feen fuch ftrange re •
lief, frequently given among others, to a Kinf.man of mine,
to whom hardly any other Remedy (though he tryed a fcarce
imaginable variety) was able to give eafe (and in whofe dif¬
fered Bladder, after another Difeafe had kill'd him, a Stone
of many Ounces was found) I ufually every Spring take
care to provide a quantity of this Water, with which alone,
without the other Ingredients mentioned by , my
Kinf-man ufed to be relieved as long as he could keep it,
which you may do thelonger, by pouring upon the top of
it


( i°3 J
it a quantity of Sallet Oyl, to defend it from the Air; and
perhaps alfo by Diftillation: By which daft named) way, I
know an Ingenious Man that is wont to preferve it for his
ownufe, and fays, he findes it not thereby impair'd in virtue.
But the moft effectual way that ever I yet practiced,
lm, to preferve both this and other Liquors and Juices, is
dexteroufly andSufficiently to impregnate them with Fume
of Sulphur, which muft be at divers, and often times as it
were, incorporated with the Liquor by due agitation? the
manual Operation.belonging to this Experiment,I may here¬
after have occafion to defcribe more fully, together with the
particular Effedls of it in feveral Bodies. And therefore it
may here fuffice to tell you, that if you pra&ice it carefully,
you will, perhaps, think your felf oblig'd to thank me for
the difcovery of it, though a heedful Reader may finde it,
not obfcuvely, hinted in Helmont'% Writings.
I might here annex the great commendation which I have
found given to this Birch-water, by eminent Writers againft
thehotdiftempersof the Liver, and divers other affedions; cmfaU
and efpecialiy how Freitagius commends it very much to di-
lute Winewith: andadds, Etc eft dulcactda faporis,
fittm fcd.it vifcerum & (anguinis ferv
(Hones refer at, calculum pellit. nuodam.
But I fuppofe you will think it high time for me to proceed
to another i'ubjed ? and indeed I fhould not have fpentfo
much time in difcourfing of Drinks, but that I am apt to
think, that if there were greater variety of them made, and
if they were more skilfully ordered, they might, by refrefh-
ing the Spirits, and infenfibly altering the mafs of Blood,
prevent and cure (without weskning or much troubling the
Patient) almoft as many Difeafes as the ufe of our common,
unwholefome, and fophifticated Wines is wow to produce.


( 104)
For in Fermentation, the Sulphurous Chymifts call
them J theAftive, arid the Spirituous parts of Vegetables,
are much better loofened, and more intirely feparated from
the groflerand clogging parts, in moft Mixts, then they are
by the vulgar ways of Diftiliation, wherein the Concrete is
not open'd by previous Fermentation, And thefe nobler
parts being incorporated with our Aliments, are with them
received freely, and without refiftance carryed into the mals
of the Blood, and therewith, by circulation, conveyed to
the whole Body where their Operation is requilite. And
I remember, that difcourfing one day with an eminently
learned and experienced Phyfitian, of the Antinephricical
virtue of our common vvilde Garret feed, fermented in fmall
Ale •, he fmilingly told me, that he found its efficacy but too
great: For having prefcrib'dit to lomeof his rich Patients,
who were wont frequently to have recourfe to him in their
Nephritical diftempers,after the ufe of this drink for a pretty
while, hefeldomheardof them any more. And for your
encouragement, Pjrophilu^s^ to make tryals of this nature,
we will adde, That though the Seed it felf be not over-well
tafted, yet being fermented in a due proportion with the Li¬
quor (we ufedan Ounce and half of the Seed, to a Gallon of
the Ale) the Drink compof d of both tafted pleafantly 3 almoft
like Lemmon beer.
And that you may the lefe wonder at the efficacy of fer¬
mented Liquors, it is worth confidering, what virtue is afcri-
bed to the bare deco&ion of that Herb, which thz French
and we call Thi^ ovTe, which is much magnified here ^ and
as far as my little experience in my felf, and others (of which
more hereafterj reaches, not altogether without caufe: But
among the Chinefes and the faponians, it is the common
Drink of Perfons of Quality, by whom it is fo highly praiM,


( I05 )
that the experienced Tulp'ms, in the new Edition of his Ob- ob/: lh.^:
fj®Ik fervations, tells us, That one pound of the Japonical
Witt (as the Natives call it J is not unfrequently fold for one hun-
fltktfi dred pounds of Silver; which is not to be wondred at, if
they juftly afcribe to it, that in thofe Countrys Men are not
Wtt!; fubjed: to the Stone, or the Gout, and if but one half of
the Virtues he there attributes to it, be for the moft part to
toil# be found in it.
our I might, when I told you of the variety of Materials not
ife'l ufed among us, have added one ftrange Drink, which a Chy-
iest rurgion, that a while fince lived at
lintfti: Indies, told^jpe, he faw much ufed thereabouts: They make
teliii it of the raw Flefli of Goats, Capons, and the like, which,
ij\u together with Rice and UHolojJo {or black courfeSuger)
iPo they put into a quantity of Water, and diftil it in an Alim-
liniil bick till the Liquor be ftronger then Brandy (as they call
fi»: common weak Spirit of Wine or of Lees of Vinous Li-
ijldji quorsj And this Rack (as the extravagant Liquor is call'd)
lisia is often drunk in hot weather, and found very comfortable:
t0,[i. thofe that ufe it, prizing it much, as fuppofing it draws a nu-
jlitg tritive and cherifliing virtue from the Flefli; as indeed, if
Gii any quantity of the nobler parts of that, do concur to the
u(; conftituting of the Liquor, it may probably be, at leaft to
divers Bodies, very wholfome in that Country, where they
findeftrong Drinks neceflary to recruit their Spirits, exhau-
jfled by the exceflive heat of the Climate. As I remember,
i;,. the experienced Bontius, in his Mcdicina , tells us,
. That the Merchants travelling through the fcorching Deferts """
, of Arabia, Perjia, or Turkey,finde it beft to quench their
•" third by a draughttof the Spirit of Wine, or elfe of the
ftrongeft Perfian or Spanifh Wine.
And of the great ufe, if not neceflity of either Brandy,
'til n or


(I0«)
or fuch other ftrong and Spirituous Drinks in thehotCIimats
of the Indies, divers intelligent Perfons of our own Country,
have, upon their own experience, fufficiently fatisfied us.
Nor, Pyropbilm, is Natural Philofophy able onely to im¬
prove our Drinks, but the reft of our Aliments alfo: For
not to mention, that Experience hath aflur'd us, that by skil¬
fully contriv'd Ovens (wherein the heat plays every way a-
bout the Bread, without yet fuff'ering any of the fmoke or
fleams of the Fire to come at it, and wherein what degree of
heat you pleafe may be continu'd from fitftto la ft; better
Bread may be bak'd, then in our common Ovens, where the
Bread refts upon the Harth, and the heat is continually decay¬
ing. Not to mention this, I fay, Phyfiologiecaninableus
to confer a very grateful tafte on very many of the things we
eat, barely by a skilful and moderate untying and exciting
the formerly clogg'd Spirits, and other fapid parts contain'd
in them. It can teach us to make better Bread then is com¬
monly eaten:And by difcoverfng to us a better Art of Cook-
ry, then Apitius and his Succeffors have left us, andbyfub-
ftituting innocently fapid things, inftead of thofe unwhol-
fome ones, their delicioufnefs endears to Men -7 It can teach
us to gratifie Mens Palates, without offending their healths:
8c in preferving of freih Meats,Fruits, &beyond their wont¬
ed feafons of duration, the Naturalifts skill may perform
much more then you will readily believe.'
And yet to incline you not to be too diffident in this parti¬
cular, let me inform you, That much hath been already per¬
formed, as to the prefervation of Aliments, even by thofe
that have not troubled themfelves to make Philosophical en¬
quiries after the Caufes and Remedies of Putrefa&ion in Bo¬
dies, but onely have been taught by obvious and daily Obfer-
vations, that the Air doth much contribute to the corruption


(io8)
known to fome ingenious Perfons in London :One of the
raoft noted of whom, upon my conjecturing how it may be
perform'd, confefi'd to me, that I had hit upon the way in
general: But the mod fatisfadtory account I could get of it,
was from an Englifh Man, that, lately pra&ifed Phyfick in
the Eafi Indies, who, finding I was no ftranger to what I
asked him about,told me freely,that he had feen both Goats -
fielh, and Hens, fo well preferved by this way, that though
it were put up in the Eafi indies awhile before he came thence,
yet he eat of it, and found it good and wholfome, between
the Illands of Cape Verd(as the Sea men call them) and Eng¬
land 5 fo that this Meat continued fweet above fix Moneths,
notwithftanding the heat and clofenefs of the Ship, theex-
ceflive heat they met with in their Paffage under the Line,
and confequently through the Torrid Zone: and that the way
was onely this, That the Meat being well roafted, and cut in
pieces, was carefully and conveniently ranged in a very clofe
Cask, into which, afterwards, there was poured as much
Butter melted, skimmed, and decanted from the groffer and
ranker Parts, as would fill up all the intervals left between
the feveral pieces of Flelh, and fwim about them all, and
thereby keep out the Air from approaching them 5 and then
the Cask, being exactly clofed, was ftow'd up in a conveni¬
ent place in the Ship, and kept unopen'd till the Meat was to
be eaten. And it muft not be omitted, that the Relator
and others that had the care of making Provifion for the
Voyage, were fain, inftead of Butter made of Cows Milk
(which could not be had where they took in their Ladings to
make ufe of that made of Goats, or Ews Milk, which is not
(as the Indians make ic) fogood, and to whofe ranknefs he
afcribed that which he had obferved in fome of the Meat bu¬
ried in it,which he thought might have been prefer ved longer,


tsaoiBSmecs-
•y- ^
C109)
and better taped (for wholfome and incorrupt he faid it was) in
our European Butter, whofe power to preferve Meat bury'd
in it, after due Codfion, hath been confirmed to me upon
their own obfervat on, by an experienc'd Officer of the Eng*
liffi Fleet, that had the over-fight of the Provifions, and by
others that had opportunity to obferve it,
But how much the Naturalifts skill may advance the Die-
tetical part of Phyfick, by enabling Men to make Aliments
much laftinger then naturally they are, I muft not here la¬
bor to convince you by other inftances, that I may not anti¬
cipate what we have elfewhereto acquaint you with, from o-
ther Mens Experiments, and our own, about the conferva -
tion of Bodies, Onely I ffiall at prefent tell you in general,
That I hope there will be ways found out to preferve even
raw Fleffi it felf (for of the keeping of roafted, we have juft
now given you an inftance) with things that do notfo much
fret it, nor give it fo corrofive a quality, when eaten, as our
common Salt doth. For not to mention what feveral curious
Perfons have pradtifed, of faltingNeats Tongues with Salt¬
peter, which though done onely to make them look red,
ffiews that a Body, not corrofive like common Salt, may pre¬
ferve Fleffi: I have, for tryal fake, kept an entire Puppy of
pretty bignefs, untainted for many Weeks (and that in the
midft of Summer) and that without flaying, drying (by Fire
or otherwife) or fo much as exenterating him, or cleanfing
him, or doing any thing towards the preferving of him, fave
the keeping him immerfed in a well ftopt Vefiel, under Spi¬
rit of Wine (from whofe tafle, I prefume, Meat may be ea-
iily freed by Water) and there feemed fmall caufeto doubt,
that the onely thing that hindred me from keeping him much
longer, was the want of time to purfue the Experiment, and
take notice of its iuccefs: For I remember, I have the fame
way


( I so)
waykeptafoft Subftance, taken raw from an Ox or Cow,
for many Moneths (if I miftake not, eighteen or twenty)
and found no putrefa&ion or ill fent in the immerfed fab.
fiance, which, for ought I know, might have been prefer-
ved divers Years together the fame way, or at leaft, by an ea-
fie improvement of this method, of which, as I lately inti¬
mated, I intend you hereafter an account.
And I fh all farther adde on this occafion, That if we re-
fled upon Suger, which is (at leaft in thefe Weftern Regi.
ons) but an almoft recent difcovery, and confider how many
Bodies are with it, by Confedionersand others, not onely
preferv'd, but rendred exceeding grateful to the tafte; that
fingle inftance may fuffice to make us think it probable, that
expedients yet unthought of, may, by an infight into Na¬
ture, be found out, for the prefervation of Bodies 5 efpeci-
ally, if our ingenious Friend, Mr. W. would fhew us, how
out of divers other Concreats, befides the Suger Cane, a
Subftance not unlike Suger (though of different tafte, ac¬
cording to the nature of the Vegetable that affords it may,
by a peculiar induftry, be prepar'd: which, that you may not
x Lmfcotm Voyages, chap. think unfeazable , let me mention to
When they defire to have no Cecils,or you (for perhaps he hath not yet taken
fhe^cutX BioiiSf the notice of it) what, even have
and binde a round Pot, with a narrow done of this nature. And nrft, let me
month (by them called fail to the inform you of what we are told by
Tree«and then ltop the lame dole, round ^ ri * • ~ l..-. t\ : 1
about with Pot earth , To that neither Llttfchotcn COnCemin& tu3t Drink 5
wind nor Air can enter in, or come which in the Bafl Indies, they call Sura,
SS r1 of droppiDS ?ora
Sara; and is very pleafant Drink, like the BfoffomS, U13t they CUt 3W3y from
fweet winy, and fomewlrat better. the in Palm Tree which bears the
Two Nut. For of this Sura,he tells us, Thatamongft o-
thet things,they make Suger (which is called fagra) which is
made


(hi)
made by boiling that Liquor, and fetting it in the Sun, where
it congeals to Suger.
And though I muft not conceal from you, that our Au¬
thor adds,that it is not much efteemed by realon of its brown
colour, and for that (to ufe his words) they have fo great
quantity and abundance of white Suger throughout
yet the latter reafon, of the cheapnefs of fagra, feems to be
the principal. For probably* if other Suger were fcarce, the
melioration of this would be attempted; and 'tis very like¬
ly, That if a skilful Naturalift had the ordering of that fweet
Juice, of which the Indians make their fagray he might very
well make of it a Suger of no fmall ufe* and fuch a Suger
would be very convenient in many cafes, and to many Per-
fons, for its being different from the common Suger, though
it (hould not be better. Garcillatfalfo (a much applauded
Writer concerning the Weft Indies) treating of the Fruits of 'ft L"a-
a Peruvian Tree, call'd by fome Mo, and by others Mulli
eonficiunt (faith he) ex eo potum confricando blan
nus in aqua cah da donee dulcor omnis defricetur: Percolant
banc aquam (eruantque dies tres quatuorve donee fubftdeat.
pot as eft limpidifsimw, &c. Aquaeadem cocta
optimum mel: And of the fame Plant, Petrus de Cieca hath
this confirming Paffage, Exhujus fructu cuni aqua
frocofturamodo, (it autvinum (ivepotio admodum bonaaut -
eetum aut mel. And that there is a great affinity betwixt fuch
Vegetable Hony's and Suger, efpeciallyif the Juices be or¬
dered withadelign of turning them rather into Suger then
Honey, you may eafily gather from the next and more me¬
morable inftance which we are to mention, and which is af.
forded us by the diligent Defcriber of the Brafilian Plants*
who treating of the Caraguata, or Erva Babofa (or as fome
Would have it, Herbainnominata caule portulaca) hath thefe
words


(
words to our prefent purpofe: Porro (faith he)
vac id a. petrofd floloncs, em an at ex
tantd copid ut ex una folummodo planta ( ci)
ter dum50. aut p lures arob.t eff e que liquore fit vinum,
ace turn, me I & faccharum : liquor per fe dulcis coquendo
redditur multo fuavior & fpifsior, it aut tandem in faccharum
congelafcat.
Since the writing of thefe laft Lines, being vifitedbyan
ancient virtuofo, Governor to a confiderable Colony in the
Northern America, and inquiring of him, among other par¬
ticularities touching his Country, fomething in relation to
the thoughts I had about the making of feveral kindes of
Suger, he affur'dme, upon his own experience, that there is
in fome parts of New England^akinde of Tree, fo like our
Wallnut-trees, that it is there fo called, whofe Juice that
weeps out of its Incifions, &c. if it be permitted flowly to
exhale away the fuperfluous moifture, doth congeal into a
fweet and faccharine fubftance •, and the like was confirmed
to me, upon his own knowledge, by the Agent of the great
and populous Colony of the Mafatbufets. And very lately
demanding of a very eminent and skilful Planter, why, li¬
ving in a part of America, too cold to bare Sugar-Canes, he
did not try to make Sugar of that very fweet Liquor, which
the Stalks of Maiz,, by many called Indian Wheat, affords,
when their Juice is expreffed; he promifed me he would make
tryalofit: Adding, That he fhould do it very hopefully,
becaule that though he had never been folicitous to bring this
Juice into a faccharine form, yet haviBg feveral times, for
tryal fake, boild it up to Syrup, and employed it to fweeten
Tarts, and other things, the Guefts could not perceive that
they were otherwife fweetned then with Sugar. And he
farther


( "3 )
farther added, That both he and others, had, in
land) made fuch a Syrrup with the Juice of Water Me¬
lons.
Nor, Pyropbilus, is it onely by teaching Men to improve
the wholefomnefs and tafts of the Aliments, or to keep them
long fmcorrupted, that the Naturalift may contribute to the
preservation of Man's health: For from the ingenious at¬
tempts of Sanfforites, in his Medici we may be
invited to hope, that there may be ways, as yet unthoughe
of, to inveftigate the wholefomnefs or infalubrity of Ali¬
ments; as he, by the weight of Bodies, after having fed on
fuch and fuch Meats, findes that S wines Flelh, Melons, and
fome other things that he names fin the third Section) do
much hinder infenfible Perfpiration, and confequently are
unwholfome;though,as I take it,it were not amifs,that before
fuch Obfervations be fram'd into general and eftabliih'd A-
phorifms, they were carefully made in Bodies of differing
Ages, Sexes and Complexions, and with variety of Cir-
cumftances: But then again, preluming thefe Maximes to
be judicioufly fram'd, the fame Statica makes it
hopeful, that there maybe unthought-of Methods found,
whereby, by ways different from thofe formerly ufed by
Phyfitians, a Man may be much aflifted in the whole man¬
ner of ordering himfelf, fo as to preferve health, and to
forefeeand prevent the approach of many Diftempers. And
perhaps by fuch unthought-of ways, divers Paradoxes of
concernment to Mans health may be made out,as the diligent
Sanctorius to that Obfervation propofed in thefe words Semel s
aut bis in men ft facto exceffu in cibo & die
fenfibiliternon evacuet,minus (olito (in the
following Aphorifm)addeth this important Corollary: Vt cites
uniformis caret benepcioillorttmqui
O cedant


( ll4
eedunt: expuitrix enim a copia excitat tantum -
rat us, quantum fine (latica nemo crederet. And indeed, ex¬
perience hath informed us, that the promoting or fuppreffing
of infenfible tranfpiration, by which, in a day, the Body
may difcharge it felf of four or five pound of excrementiti-
ous Matter, hath a much greater power to advantage or pre¬
judice health, then is wont to be taken notice of; lo that we
fee that the Staticks,which,though long known,were thought
ufelefs to Phyfick, may afford feveral important dire&ions
in reference to the prefervationof Mans health; to which
there are like wife other ways whereby the Naturalift may
contribute. For he may alfo devife means , whereby to
judge of the qualities of Aliments, efpecially Drinks in their
refpe&ive kindes; and likewife of the temperature of the
Air in this or that place affign'd, we (hall, in one of the fol¬
lowing Effays, defcribe to you a fmall flight Inftrument, by
the help of which, one that is acquainted with this or that
particular fort of Wine, may give a near guefs whether it be
embafed with Water or not. And whereas in moft hot
Countrys, where Water being the common Drink, 'tis of
great concernments to Mans health to be able to make a good
eftimate of the falubrity of it; And whereas Phyfitians are
wont to think Water cater is paribus, the better and purer the
lighter it is, this Inftrument prefently manifefts, without a-
ny trouble of weighing in Scales, what among any Waters
propof'd is the heavieft, and which the lighteft, and what
difference there is of gravity betwixt them: And this difpa-
rity may fometimes be fo great, that I remember fome of
our Englifh Navigators tell us, That upon bringing home a
fott of Water out of Africa into , they found, by
the common way of ponderation, ihejfrican Water in the
fame bulk, to be about four O unces in the pound lighter then


("5 )
th eE»glt(h. And as the thicknefs or Iightnefs of Waters may
be thus prefently difcerned by this Hjdroftatical way, fo 'tis
poflible, by fome Chymical Experiments, eafily enough to
difcover fome other qualities, wherein Waters, that are
thought to be of the fame nature, differ from each other j as
we finde that very many Pump-waters will not bear Soap, as
Rain-waters, and the generality of Spring-waters will do:
fome Water will not well dye Scarlet, or fome other particu¬
lar colour, becaufethey are fecretly imbued with fome kinde
of faline Subftance, that hath an operation it fhould not have
upon the Ingredients imployed by the Dyer. And I have
fometimes difcovered a latent Sea-falt in Water,where others
fufpeded no fuch matter,by pouring into it a folution of good
Silver, made in Aqus fort is: For as common Salt, as well as
the Spirit of it, will precipitate the Metal out of fuch a folu¬
tion, in the form of a white Calx, fo it feem'd rational to
conceive, that in cafe the Water Ifufpedfed had been imbued
in its palfage through the Earth with a faline quality, though
not confpicuous enough to betaken notice of by the tafte 5
thefe faline Corpufcksd ftufed through the Water, would,
though faintly, a& their parts upon the diffolved Silver, and
accordingly I found, that upon the mixtures of iuch Waters,
and the Metalline folution, there would immediately be pro¬
duced a kinde of whitenefs ( from fome parts of the Metal
precipitated by the Salt:) to avoid which, I have often been
faintoufe, in places where I met with fuch Waters, either
Rain-water, or that which is freed from its common Salt, by
a flow Diftillation.
And as for the temperature of the Air, which is acknow¬
ledged to be of exceeding great confequence, both as to
health, and as to the prolongation of life; and which is poffr-
blyyetof greater moment to both then moll Men imagine,
O 2 the


(ii<5)
the skilful Naturalifts fagacity, if it were employed to that
purpofe, might probably finde divers ways of difcovering the
qualities, and confequently the falubrity and unheal thfulnefs
of the Air in particular places. For the diligent
(in the fecond Sedfion of his M Static a) teacheth us
how to eftimate the healthfulnefs and infalubrity of the Air,
by the weight of thofe Mens Bodies that live in it. And be-
fides this (nice) way, we fee, that by the late Invention of
Weather-Glafles, 'tis eafieto difcern which of two Neigh-
boring Houfes, and which of two rooms in the fame Houfe is-
the colder. And I remember, I have fometimes bethought
my felf of a flight way (to be mention'd in one of the follow¬
ing Effays ) by the help of which, it is not hard to deter¬
mine in which of two places propofed, the Air is ceteris pari¬
bus, the dryer or the moifter 5 And to give alfo fome guefs,
both how much at the fame time the Air of one place exceeds
that of the other, and how the temperature of the Air chan-
gethinthe fame place at feveral times, either of thofe quali¬
ties. And that the differing operations of feveral Airs, upon
certain forts of Flefh hung in them, upon fome fading co¬
lours, upon Bodies fubject to gather ruft, or to be tarnifh'd}
and in a word, upon divers other fubjedis, may be more con-
fiderable then Men-feem yet to have taken notice of, Ifhall
think it fufficientto have intimated in this place, being deli*
rous tohaftento the following Eflay (wherewith I am to con¬
clude, what I have to offer to you concerning PhyfickJ that
I may have the more time to employ on it.
ESSAY


(i»7)
ESSAY V.
Tropofingfome Tarticular s wherein
tural Thilofophy may be u/eful to the
Therapeutical part of
ANd now, Pyrophilus, the method that we formerly
prefcrib'd to our felves (a little after the beginning of
the firft Efiay; requires, that we confider awhile the
Therapeutical part of Phyfick, which is indeed that, whofe
improvement would be the moft beneficial to Mankinde •, and
therefore I cannot here forbear to Willi, That divers Learned
Phyfitians were more concern'd, then they feem to be, to
advance the Curative part of their Profeflion 5 without
which, three at leaft of the four others may prove indeed de¬
lightful and beneficial to the Phyfitian, but will be of very
little ufe to the Patient, whofe relief is yet the principal end
of Phyfick: whereuntothe Phy, Pathological, and
Semiotical parts of that Art ought to be referred. There
was, awhile fince, a witty Dodior, who being asked by an
Acquaintance of mine (himfelf an eminent Phyfitian, and
who related this unto me) why he would not give fuch a Pa¬
tient more Generous Remedies, feeing he grew fo much worfe
under the ufe of thofe common Languid ones, to which he had
been confin'd, that he could not at the lafl but dye with them
in.


( n8)
in his Mouth? briskly anfwered, htm die if be
he. die (ecundum artem. I hope there are very few of this
Man's temper, but it were to be wifhed, that there were few¬
er Learned Men that think a Phyfitian hath done enough,
when he hath learnedly difcourfed of the feat and nature of
theDifeafe, foretold the event of it, and methodically im-
ployed a company of fafe, but languid Remedies, which he
had often before found almoft as unable the Patient,
as unlikely to kill him. For by fuch an unprofitable way of
proceeding, to which fomelazyor opinionated Pra&izers of
Phyfick (I fay [ome, for I mean not all) have, under pre¬
tence of its being fafe, confined themfelves; they have ren-
dred their whole Profeffion too obnoxious to the Cavils of
fuch Empericks, as he that (as the Lord reports) was
wont to fay, Your European Phyfitians are indeed Learned
Men, but they know not the particular Cures of Difeafes ;
and (unreverendly enough) to compare our Phyfitians to Bi-
fhops, who had the Keys of binding and loo ft rig, and nothing
elfe: Which brings into myminde, what Monfieur Do Bd-
facrelates fin his witty French Difcourfe of the Court) of a
Phyfitian of Millain, that he knew at Padua, who being con¬
tent with a Pofleffion of his Science, and (ashefaid) The en¬
joyment of the Truth, did notonely not particularly enquire
into the Cure of Difeafes, butboafted, That he had kill'd a
Man with thefaireft Method in the World: Emorto (faid he)
canonicamente,e contuttigliordini. And fuch Scoffs and
Stories are readily enough entertain'd by the major part of
Men, who fend for Phyfitians, not fomuch to know what
ails them, as to be eaf'd of it; and had not rather been me¬
thodically kill'd, then Empirically cured. And it doth in¬
deed a little leffen even my efteem of the great s
skill, to finde mentioned in his Writings fo many of his Pa¬
tients,


(1*9)
trents, of whom he concludes, that they dyed: And I had
much rather, that the Phyfitian of any Friend of mine, ffiould
keep his Patient by powerful Medicines from dying, then tell
me punctually when he lhall die, or fhew me in the opened
Carcafe why it may befuppofed he lived no longer. But,
Pyropbilas, my concern for Mankinde, and for the reputation
of many excellent Phyfitians, whofe Profeffion fuffers much
by the want of either Induftry or Charity, in fuch as we have
been fpeaking of, hath diverted me longer then I thought,
from telling you, ThatI fuppofeitwillnot bevery difficult
to perfwade y ou, that this fo ufeful Therapeutical part of Phy-
fick is alfo capable of being much improved by a knowing
Naturalift, efpecially if he be an intelligent and expert Chy-
mift, as in this Efl'ay we will fuppofe him.
CHAP. I.
COme Paracelfian would, perhaps, fet forth, how much
^ more eafie to be taken Chymically prepared Medicines are
wont to be, then thofe loathfome and clogging Galenical Po¬
tions Bolus's, ejrc. which are not onely odious to the Takers,
but (which is much worfe^ are to many fo offenfive, that ei¬
ther the Patients cannot get them down, or the incenfed Sto-
mack returns them, by Vomit, before they have flayed long
enough in the Body to do anymore then diflemperit. But
I ffiall not much infill on this, becaufe I think wholefomnefs
to be much more confiderablein a Remedy then pleafantnefs:
though, I confefs, I could wiffi that Phyfitians were more
careful to keep Patients from being almoft as much troubled
by Phyfick, as by the Difeafe, and to cure according to the
eldPrefcription, not ontly«Vi» andtuto, but jucunde too:
Efpecially


(120)
fifpecially confidering that, as we were laying, the'loathfotrt'
nefs of fome Medicines maketh the Scomack rejedf them, be¬
fore they can have performed their Operations. And it is,I pre-
fume, on this account as much as on any other, that at Oxford
Learned & Practical Phyfitians, of your Acquaintance, make
very frequent ufe (on Patients not Feverilh) of the reftn of
Jalap, barely drawn with Spirit of Wine; finceaswehave
tryedfix, eight or ten, or more Grains, of this almoftinfi-
pid Refin, being cleanly prepared, according to Art, and
with a little Gum-tragacantb, and half its weight of powdred
Cinamon, or fome fuch thing, made up, may be taken in the
Morning, in form of Pills, inftead of a Potion 5 and is wont
to evacuate plentifully enough, and yet gripe the Patient
much lefs then common Purges. But, aslfaid, I (hall not
infill on this. I might better commend the ufefulnefs of
Chymiflry to the Therapeutical part of Phyfick, from hence,
That it is probable, that even emptying Medicines may, by
the Spagjrifs Art, be fo prepared, as not onely to be lefs of¬
fend ve then common Purges or Vomits in the taking, but to
be lefs painful in the working: As I have often obferved,both
in my felf and others, that upon the taking of the clear, and
not loathfome Mineral Waters of , though the Medi¬
cine wrought with me ten or twelve times in a Morning, yet
it did not either pain me, or make me fick, or diforder me for
the remaining part of the day, any thing near fo much as a
common Pill or Potion that had wrought but once or twice
would have done. And I (lull elfewhere (God permitting)
teach you a preparation of Silver, whereof about three or
four Grains being made up (with any proper Conferve) into
a little Pill, is wont to make a copious evacuation of Serum
efpecially (in Bodies that abound with it) without making
the Patient almoft at all fick, or gaping him: Infomuch that
I know


( *21
I know fome Perfons,both Phyfitians and others,with whom
though this Medicine work frequently in a day, and though
(which is ftranger) once taking of it will with fome Perfons
work fo for two or three, or more days fucceffively, yet
they fcruple not to go abroad and follow their bufinefs?
and fome that take it, tell me, That when it works not
with them ( as for the moft part, when it hath freed the
Body from iuperfluous Serum, it will ceafe, and in fome
Bodies will fcarce purge at all, it neither puts them to
pain, nor makes them fickj
And now I am fpeaking of the painlefs ways of relieving
the lick, I lhalladde, That there is another way, whereby
'tis to be hop'd, many Patients may be refcuedfrom a great
deal of pain, and that is by finding out Medicaments, that
may in feveral Diftempers, that are thought to belong pe¬
culiarly to the Chirurg ions hand, excufe the need of Burn¬
ing, Cutting.Tr epaning, and other as well painful as terrible
manual Operations of Chirurgery. Belmont tells us, That Helmont9
he knew a Country Fellow, who cur'd all frelh Wounds by km-
a Drink made (as I remember) of burnt Ttlia. I have in-seeaifo4'
form'd you in another EflTay, of the Cure I obferved to be the fame
made of the exulcerated Tumors oi one fick of the Kings
Evil, by the ufe of Beer, altered by a little Plant, thatqum<ilCat
did not at all difturb the Taker. If we may believe, Hel-Arcma.
wont's and Par ace Ifus's Pracipitats Diaphoretics , taken
at the Mouth, doth cure, to ufe his own Words, Carcino- Febr. cap.
ma,Lupum & quodlthst ^£flhiomennm cacoethes ulcus, five ex- l4*
ternum five internum. And if there be any truth in what
hath been affirm'd to me by feveral Eye-witnefles, as well
Phyfitians as others , concerning the Weapon Salve, and
Powder of Sympathy3 we may well conclude. That Nature
may perform divers Cures, for which the help of Chiiur-
P . gery


(122)
gery is wont to be implor'd, with much lefs pain to the Pa¬
tient, then the Chirurgion is wont to put him to. Iknowa
very ingenious Man, that is Famous as well for his Writings
as for a Remedy, wherewith he undertaketh to cure conftant-
• ly the exulcerated Cancers of WomensBieafts, without any
confiderable pain: But having not yet had opportunity to
maketryalof that which I have lying by me, I (hall onely
tell you, he aflures me, That his Medicine is indolent, and
mortifies the ulcerous parts as far as they are corrupted, with¬
out difordering the Party troubled with them •, which I the
lefsdoubt, becaufe, that (to adde thus much on this occa-
fion) partly by the colour, &c. of his Powder, and partly
by his own confeflion to me, it feems to be a dulcification of
Arfenick, firft fixt with N, and then carefully freed from
its corroiivenefs, by very frequent Diftillations of freih Spi¬
rit of Wine. I ihall ere long have occafion to teach you a
Drink, whereby exulcerated (but not Cancerous) Breafts
have been very happily cured. The learned in
his late Qbfervations) mentions the cure of fome hurts in the
Head, done without Trepaning, in cafes where that for¬
midable and tedious Operationis wont to be thought necefi'a-
ry. As for the terrible way of flopping the violent Bleed¬
ing in great Wounds, by feeringthe Orifices of theVeflels
with hot Irons, it would be little needed, if we knew fuch
Remedies as that which the in his
curious Letter to c JMonardesfrom mentions in this
'Aptd Ms.PaiTage, whichl finde among his other Obfervations: Anno
■sard:de (faith he) 15 J 8. in urbe D. j-acobi cin chyle,
Medic.pag.qui dam lndi captivi fur as f , & eas aft as pra -
84. " me edcrunt & (quod mirabile diffu) cujufdam Plant a folia
neribus imponentes, ilico fangui . I knew a rich
Man, extreamly corpulent, who having long had a flrange
Rinde


0>5)
/
kindeof Fiftulain his Breaft, and having travelled from one
Country to another, to confult with the ableft Chirurgions,
was atlength brought to that pafs, that at a Confult they re-
folved, by opening his Breaft, to try if they could track the
winding Fi/lula,and fave his Life: And as the Inftruments,
for this fad operation, lay upon the Table, another famous
Chirurgion cafually coming into the Houfe, told the Patient
that he had an art of curing Fs without cutting them
open, and without any confiderable pain or trouble: Where-
upon the rich Man offering him what he pleafed for the Cure,
the Chirurgion quickly perform'd his Promife, as the Pati¬
ent himfelf, who fhew'd me his Breaft, confefPd tome, 3nd
that by the ufe of an almoft indolent Remedy, which he pur-
chaf'dof the Chirurgion, and which by his favor came to my
hands: And that even very ill-condition'd may be
cured without Chirurgical Operations, by Medicines taken
at the Mouth, I fhall ere long have occafion to lhew you by a
notable Example.
In the mean time I fhall adde, That a Man, whomlfup-
pofe you have often feen, having a while fince received fuch a
kick of a Horfe, as made the Dodor and Chirurgion that
tended him, to conclude the part gangrenated, and the Pati¬
ents condition, by the acceflion of a violent Feaver, fodefpe-
rate, that they defired to meddle with him no longer 5 a large
Dofisof Sir Walter Rawleigh'sCordial, fent him by an ex¬
cellent Lady you are nearly related to, not onely freed him
from his Feaver, and the Delirium that attended it, but, to
the wonder of all that obferved it, reftored the Limb that was
concluded gangrenated to its former foundnefs.
And to bring credit to all thefe Relations, I fliall crown
them with that memorable Paffage of , of as
great things that he faw done by the illiterate Indians them-
p 2 felves:


(124)
felves: CMemini (faith he) in caftris membra militumglobus
lis fclopetorum iEta$mm ab Europais chirurgis, tarn Lufi-
tanis ejuam Batavis, Amputanda, barbaros recentibus gummi
fttccis & half amis a ferro & igne liberate ^rfelicit er reftituiffv.
Oculatus itidcm teftis fum in Nofocomtis reliffa ulcer a & gan*
grenas ab illis vel folo [uccoTabaci curata.
But, Pyrophilus, That the making of divers Helps to Re¬
covery lefs diftateful, or lefs painful to the Patients, is not
the onely, nor perhaps the greatefl fervice that Chymiftry
may do him that attempts the Cure of Difeafes, 1 fliall now
indeavor to manifeft in fome Particulars.
CHAP. II..
r A Nd firjly The skilful Naturalift , efpecially if a good
^ Chymift, may much afiift the Phyfitian to difcover the
Qualities of Medicines, whether fimple or compound That
the Experiments of the Spagyrifts may much contribute to
the examining thofe many things themfelves prepare, you
will) I prefume, eafily grant: That alfo divers Mineral Wa¬
ters are of the nobler fort of Medicines, is fufficiently con-
fefled on all hands $ and 'tis known too, that the Induftry of
Chymifts hath produced forne good directions towards the
difcovery of the Minerals predominant in divers Medicinal
Springs: But lam much miftaken, if they have not leftmuch
for others to do,hich may be eafily done. And I fcarce doubt,
but that by the various ways that might be propofd, of try¬
ing what fuch Waters hold, and what faline or other Quali-
ties are predominant in them, not onely the nature of thofe
Medicinal Waters that are already ufed, might be more
throughly underftood 5 but undetected Properties, might in
many other s that are now not taken notice of, be difcovered5


(<*5 )
of fome of which ways of examining Mineral Waters, I may
elfewhere give you an intimation. And I have made feveral
tryals that have, Iconfefs, much inclin'd me to think, that
the fault is rather in us, then either in Natureor Chymiftry,
that Men do not, by the help of Chymical Experiments, dif-
cover more of the nature of divers Medicaments, then hi¬
therto they feem to have fo much as aim'd at: For though
the abftrufe Endowments of Specificks will not, I fear, be
learn'd in hafte, otherwife then by particular Tryals and Ob-
fervations •, yet many Simples have other Qualities, which
feem chiefly to refide, though not in an Elementary Salt or
Sulphur, yet in a part of the Matter thatfeems of kin to a
Salt or Sulphur: fuch as fowernefs, faltnefs, a cauftick or a
healing faculty, abfterfivenefs, and the like, uponwhofe ac¬
count fuch Remedies feem chiefly to work in a multitude of
cafes. And towards the Inveftigation of * fuch Qualities, a
Chymift may oftentimes do much, without making all his
Tryals in humane Bodies. But though, to illuftrate this
matter, 1 have fometimes made feveral Experiments, yet not
having now my Notes and Obfervations at hand, I fhall one-
ly mention a few things as they offer themfelves to my me¬
mory, referving the more diftindi handling of this fubjedt to
another opportunity: And the rather, becaufe that tillfuch
Phenomena have been morediligently obferv'd, and reduc'd
to their diftindt forts, I would have them look'd upon but as
hints to further Enquiries, not as fufficient Authority to
ground general Rules on.
There are fome Plants, vvhofe Juices, efpecially when the
fuperfluous moifture is exhal'd or abftradfed, will, fome by
the afliftance of a gentle Heat and Filtration, and fome, even
of themfelves, in time (which 1 remember hath in fome fuc-
culent Plants amounted but to a very few hours; coagulate
in


(i 16)
in part into a kinde of Salt, which, if you pleafe, you may
call Effential: And by this Nitro-Tartareous Salt (asitfeems
to be) thofe Vegetables, whofe Juice affords it (fuch as are,
if I luiftake not their names, , Barrage, ,
c?c.) may be difcriminated from thofe many others, from
whence it is not (at leaft by the fame way) to be obtain'd.
And poflibly alfo thefeSalcs ni3y, to a heedful Surveyor of
them, appear to differ enough from each other infliape, tafte,
or other obvious Qualities, to deferve to be forted into dif¬
fering kinds.
If likewife we compare the Effential Salts and Spirits of
thefe Plants, with thofe of Scurvy -grafs, , and
other Vegetables that are counted K^intifcorbutical, and a-
bound in Volatile and Saline parts: And if we alfo examine
other Plants, by divers Chyrnical Operations, and obferve
not onely their difpofednefs or indifpofition to yield Spirits or
Oylsby Fermentation, or without it 5 but thofe other Parti¬
culars wherein they will appear to agree with, or differ from
each other: there is little doubt but fuch Try als will make
them difcover, to a confidering Naturaliff, much of their Na¬
ture and Properties, and efpecially of fuch as depend chiefly
upon the plenty or paucity of the faline, unduous, fowre, fpi-
rituousjlazy, tenacious or volatile Parts.
It may bealfoobferv'd, that thelnfufion or Decodion of
fome Plants, as of Brazil, Senna, &c. will be heighten'd in¬
to a redifh colour, by putting Salts, as of
or of Pot-afhes, in the Water that extrads their Tindures:
Whereas acid Spirits, at leaft fome of them, will much im¬
pair, if not deftroy their colour -, as a little Aquafortis will
immediately turn a red Tindure of ,made in fairWa-
ter, into a pale yellow: Whereas on the other fide, I have
obferv'd, thatafmall quantity of aftrong Solution of Pot-


(**7)
sfhes, drop'dintoanlnfufionof red Rofe-leaves, hath pre-
fently turn'd it into a muddy colour, that feem'd to partake
of green and blew, but was dark and dirty; whereas a little
Aquafortis, or good Spirit of Salt pour'd into the fame Am¬
ple Solution, did immediately turn it into a fine red, and fo
it would do to the muddy Mixture lately mention'd, if it
were put to it in a far greater quantity. I obferv'd alfo, that
with a very ftrong (thoughclear and well filtrated) Lixivium
of Pot-alhes, I could precipitate fome parts of thelnfufion
or Decodion of red llofes, "which grofl'er parts, when the
Mixture was filtrated through Cap-paper, remain'd like a
dirty coloured (though fomewhat greenifh; Mud in the Filtre ;
the fluidand finer part of the Mixturepalling through, in the
form of a Liquor high coloured, almoft like Mufcacline.
And on this occafion, 1 remember, thatas Galls, a*very
ftiptick Vegetable excrefcence, will yield a Decodlion, with
which, sad Copper is, the common Ink is made 5 fo divers o-
ther Plants, of notably aftringent parts, may be employed
to the like ufe: For, by eaftiog Vitriol into a Decodtion ei¬
ther of Oaken Bark, or red Rofes, or even a bare Infufion of
either Log-wood, or Sumach,to name now no other Plants
of the like nature, I have prefently made a Mixture that
might make a Ihift to ferve for Writing Ink 5 but whether all
ftiptick Plants, or they onely, will with vitriol make an Ink,
I refer to further Enquiry: And as a Solution of , and
the Decodfionof the above- mention'd Plants, do precipitate
each other to make Ink; fo I remember I have try'd, that by
dilfolving theCryftals of pure Silver (made the common way
with Aquafortis,or Spirit of Nitre) in a good quantity of
fair Water, that the Liquor having no colour of its own, the
colours it produceth in other Bodies may be the better ob¬
ferv'd, I found that I could with this Liquor precipitate out •
of


(it8)
of the Infufions alone of feveral Vegetables, Subftances dif-
feringly colour'd, according to their refpe&ive difpofitions:
And fo I have found, with lefs coft, that Sac els arum ,
which feems to be a kinde of Vitriol of Lead, whilft it lyes
dillolved in the fame Spirit of Vinager which extra&ed it
from the Metal, being put to the bare Infufion of Log-wood,
Lignum Nephriticum, red Rofes (to name thofe I now remem -
bei I made tryal of )they will precipitate each other.
I might farther adde, That I have try'd that fulphureous
Salts, fuch as Oyl of Tartar^ made , being
drop'd into the exprefled Juices of divers Vegetables, will,
in a moment, turn them into a lovely Green, though the Ve¬
getables were of colours differing from that, and from one an-
other (as I remember one of thofe Vegetables, in which I
expedled, and found that change, was of a fine Carnation,)
And I could tell you, that though it be difputed whether
Qiiick-lime have any Salt difl'oluble in Water, and of what
fort it is, the Examen of that Queftion may be much fur¬
thered, by.trying, as I have done, that the Water of Quick-
Lime, well made, will precipitate a Solution of fublimate
made in fair Water, and will prefently turn Syrup of Violets
(which is Blew) if well mix'd with it, into a fair Green. Ex¬
periments I fay of this nature I might eafily annex, but ha¬
ving already fet down divers of them in what I have written
concerning colours, I fhall refer you thither: And now onely
adde this Obfervation, that the Inveftigation of divers Me¬
dical Qualities, even of Animal Subftances, may be much
affifted by the Naturalift, efpecially a Chymift; as we
elfewhere have by the Diftillation of the htm an us
fliewq, how much it differs from the Stones that are found in
the Earth. And if you take thofe hard Concretions, found
atcercainiimes in the Heads ef Craw-Fifhes, that are wont
to


( !*9)
to be call'd Lapides Cancrortm^ and commit fome of them
to Diftillation, and infufe fome in Vinager, and others in old
Rhenifli Wine, or ftrong White-Wine, you will probably
difcover fome thing of peculiar in the nature of this Con¬
crete, of which I may poflibly elfewhere make further men¬
tion to you: And not onely fo, but in fome Animal Sub-
ftances, you may, by fit Experiments, difcover notable
Changes to be made, and their Qualities to be much heigh-
ten'djWhen the Eye fcarce perceiveth any C hange at all, as I
have purpofely obferv'd, in keeping Urine in ciofe Glafles,
and a moderate heat for many Weeks: For at the end of that
time, the Virtues that depend upon its volatile Salt will be
fo heighten'd, that whereas upon putting Spirit of Salt to
frtih Urine, the two Liquors readily and quietly mix'd,drop-
ing the fame Spirit upon digefted Urine,there would prefent¬
ly enfue a Hilfing and Ebullition, and the volatile and acid
Salts would, after awhile, concoagulate into athirdSub-
ftance, fomewhatof the nature of And
whereas the Syrup of Violets, formerly mention'd, being
diflolv'd in a little freih Urine, feem'd to be but diluted there¬
by 5 a few drops of the fermented Urine, temper'd with it,
did prefently turn it into a deep Green: And the fame dige¬
fted Urine being drop'd upon a Solution of Sublimate made
in lair Water, prefently turn'd it white, by precipitating
the dilfolved Mercury. With what (various) fuccefs we
have hkewife made upon fome other parts of a humane Bo¬
dy, as well confident as fluid, fomeTryals, analogous to
what we have recited of Urine, I may perchance
take notice to you: But of fuch kinde of Obfervations I
muft give you but this Hint at
q
CHAP.


(13°)
CHAP. III.
C Econdly :By thefe and other ways of inveftigating the
^ Medicinal Qualities of Bodies, the Naturalift may be en¬
abled to adde much to the Materia Medica: And that two fe-
veral ways.
For, he may by his feveral ways of tryal, and by his Chy-
mical preparations difcover, that divers Bodies, especially of
a Mineral nature, that are as yet not at all employed by Phy-
litians, at leaft internally, may be brought into ufe by them ;
and that others that are naturally fo dangerous, as to be uf'J
but in very few, and for the moil part extream cafes, may
with fafety be more freely employ'd. Some Modern Chy -
mifts (as particularly Glauberus) have of late prepar'd Reme¬
dies not unufeful out of Zinckor Shelter. And I have alrea¬
dy mention'd unto you an excellent Medical ufe of Silver,
of which, prepared fas is there intimated) I have now this
to adde, That fince I began to write of it to you, I met with
a confiderable Perfon, who aflures me, That Ihe her felf was
by the ufe of it, in a fhort time, cured of the Dropiie,
though, by reafon of her having a Body very corpulent, and
full of humors, (he have been thought more then ordinarily
in danger of that ftubborn Difeafe. I have fometimes won¬
dered, that there hath been fo little care taken by Phy fitians,
and even by Chymifts, to inveftigate the Qualities of Mine¬
ral Earths, and thofe other refembling Bodies, that are, or
maybe, plentifully enough digg'd up in moft Countries,
though not the felf-fame in all; for however Men are pleaf'd
to pafs them (lightly over, as if they were but Elementary
Earth, a little ftain'd, or otherwifelightly altered: I have
ieen great variety of them* that have been digg'd fometimes
within


( mO
within the compafs of a little fpot of Ground: and the dif¬
ferences of divers of them, both as to colour, tafte, confl¬
uence, and other Qualities, have been too great, not to
make me fufped: they were of very differing natures. And
the true Bolus Armenus, and the Terra Lemnia, which is now
brought us from the Iflmd that gives it that name (mark'd
with a Seal, which makes many call it Terr a figillata9 though
that name be for the fame reafon apply'd to the Terra Silefia«
ca, and other Medical Earths) have been fo efteemed, both
by Ancient and Modern Phyfitians, as well againft Malig¬
nant Difeafes, and the Plague it feif, as againft divers other
Diftempers that 'tis the more ftrange, that(fince the great-
eft part of thofe two Earths, that are now brought into our
Country*, have not, as the more skilful complain, the true
marks of the genuine Earths, whole names they bear) Phy¬
fitians have not been more careful to try whether their own
Countrys could not furnifh them with the like, or as good,
efpecially in regard fome of the few attempts of that nature,
that hwe of late times been made, may give them much in-
couragement. For, not to believe the boafts of the Silefian
Johannes Montanus (who paffeth for the Inventor of the
Terra Sigillata Silefiaca Strtgomenfts) in the Writing he pub-
lifhed of the vertues of it, That 't.s Gold prepared and tranf-
muted, by provident Nature, into an admirable Medicine $
I finde that Learned Phyfitians prefer it before the Lemnian
Earth, that is now brought from Turkj: And the experi¬
enced Sennertus gives it this commendation, Bxperimentis epitome
(faith he) mult is jam probatum efl, ejus infignes ejje vires con- fckntix
trapeflem, febres maligna*^ venenatorum animaltum morfus^
iiarrhoean^ djfenteriam : What he adds, that the Chymifts
name it Axungia folis^ brings into my minde (what I fliall
hereafter have occafion to mention more p articularly to you)
q 2 ^ that
natuvaliSf
ih, z. c. i


(U *)
that I had.'once brought mea certain Earth, by a Gentleman
that digg'd it up in this, or fome neighboring Country,
which, though it feem'd but a Mineral Earth, did really
afford, to a very expert tryer of Metals of my acquaintance,
a not defpicable proportion of Gold. They have alfo found
in Hungary, an Earth, which they call Bolus ,
which is affirmed by Crato (in ) to melt in the
Mouth like Butter, and to have all the other proofs of the
true Bolus Armenus, and therefore is, by that Judicious Phy-
fitian, preferred before the Modern , even that
which was brought out of Turky to the Emperor himfelf;
and he relates, not onely its having fucceeded very well a-
gainft Catarrhs, but his having experimentally found it of
great efficacy in the Plague, that reign'd in his time at Vienna.
To which I ihall adde, That avery Learned and Succefsful
Englifli Dodfor, now dead, did, fome Years fince during a
great Plague that then rag'd in the City where he liv'd, finde
a vein of red Earth, not very farfrom that Town, and pre-
fcrib'd it with very good fuccefs in Peftilential Feavers, as I
was inform'd by an Ingenious Friend of his, that uffdto ad-
minifter it, and fhevv'd me the place where he digg'd it.
I remember alfo, the experiene'd Chymift Johannes
cola, in his Notes uponwhac delivers of
gillata, afcer having much commended the
divers Difeafes, and equall'd it to the beft of Turky, where
he had travelled, relates one ftrange thing of it, with many
Circumftances, and in a way as if he fpoke upon his own
tryal, namely, That the Spirit of Terra by which
I think he means the Strigonienfis, doth, though (lowly, dif-
folve Gold as well as an Aq. Re, and that into a red Solu¬
tion; whence in two or three days, the Gold will fall of it
felf into a very fine and fubtil Powder. And the fame Au¬
thor


thor tells us, That he hath feen another Earth digg'datthe
Rheinflran, not far from Wefterrvaldwhich was more in¬
clinable to white then to yellow, which is preferable to the
Sileftan, and gives more Salt then it, and diffolves Silver
better then other t Menflruums•, fince, as he faith, the Silver
may thereby be eafily made potable, and be prepar'd into a
very ufeful Medicine for the Difeafes of the Head. And
for my part, I do not much wonder at the efficay of thefe
Earths, when I confider, that divers of them are probably
imbu'd, as well as dy'd, with Mineral Fumes; or tindied
with Mineral Juices, wherein Metals or Minerals may lie, as
the Chymifts fpeak, infolutis % in which form,
having never endured the Fire, many of their ufefulleft parts
are more loofe and volatile, and divers of their Vertueslefs
lock'dup, and more difpof'd to be communicative of them-
felves, then they are wont to be, in a more fixed or coagu¬
lated ftate, or when they have loft many of their finer parts
by the violence of the Fire.
Befides, there are feveral Mineral Bodies, which though
perhaps they may not be of themfelves fit for the Phy fitians
ufe, may, by addition of fome other convenient Body, or
by fequeftration of the more noxious parts, or by fome fuch
other Chymical Preparation, as may alter the Texture of
fuch Minerals, be rendred fit to encreafe the
As I have known, that by a preparation of Jlrfenick, with
Salt Peter, whereby fome of the more volatile and noxious
parts are driven away, and the remaining Body fomewhat
fixed and corrected by the Alcali of the it hath, by
a farther dulcification with Spirit of Wine, or Vinegar, been
prepared into a kinde of Bal[amum fu, which wonder¬
fully cured a Phyfitian of my acquaintance, as he himfelf
con-


(154)
confeffd to me, of dangerous Venereal Ulcers (divers of
which penetrated even to the CM eat m Urinaria) which had
reduc'd him to great extremity.
And though Bifmutum have not, that I know, till very
lately been ufed, unlefs outwardly, and efpecially for a Cof.
metick (hereafter to be taught you) yet the Induftrious Chy.
lApud Samuel Clcffeus, by calcination and addition of Spirit
shrode- of Vinegar, and Cremor Tartaric makes two Medicines of
?Zma' which he highly extols in the Dropfie* and (to referve
cop: lib. 3. for another place, what I have tryed upon Tin-glafsJ a very
cap. 18. expert Chy mift of my acquaintance, doth, by preparing it
L,•', 4 with common Sublimate (carry'd up, by which I remember
it hath afforded a very prettily figur'd Body,) make it into a
white Powder (like Mercuric vita) which he allures me
he findes, in the Dofeof a few Grains, to purge very gent¬
ly, without being at all (as Mercuriw vita is wont to prove,
violently enough) emetick.
2. But theNaturalift mayadde to the CMateria Medica,
not onely by inveftigating the Qualities of unheeded Bodies,
but alfo by gaining admittance for divers, that, though well
enough known, are foreborn to beui'd upon the account of
their being of a Poifonous nature-, for by digeftion with
powerful Menftruums, and fome other skilful ways of Pre¬
paration, the Philofophical Spagyrift may focorred divers
noxious, nay poifonous Concrets, unfit in their crude fim-
plicity for the Phyfitians ufe, at leaft in any confiderable
quantity, as to make them ufeful and effedual Remedies.
Belmont, who though frequently extravagant in his Theory
of Phy lick, doth often make no bad eftimate of the power of
Remedies, after having told us, That he ador'd and admir'd
the Clemency and Wifdom of God, for creating Poyfons5
gives this account of his fo doing: Nam venena (faith hej
nolmt


mc: &
difpenf:
Modern,
turner o 4^
(r?5)
noluit nobis effe venena aut nocua. Nec enim mortem fecit, nec Heimonr
Medicamentum exterminii in terra: fed potius ut parvo nojlri in Phar-
fludio, mutarentur in gran di a amor is fui pignora, in ufur am
mortalium, contra futurorum morborum favitzem. In.illis
nempe latitat [ubftdium^ quod benigniora & familiar ia fimpli-
cza recufant alias. Ad majores & heroicos medentum u(us ve¬
nena tam horrida fervantur. And though I would not for¬
bid you, Pyrophilus, to think there is forae Hyperbole in the
jEncomiums he here and elfewhere gives Poyfonous Simples 5
yet when I confider, what great things are oftentimes per¬
formed by i^Antimonj, Mercury and Opium, even in thofe
not over-skilful ways of preparing them, that are divers of
them vulgarly uPd by Chymifts, efpecially when the prepa¬
rations are (which doth feldom happen) rightly and faithful¬
ly made: I can fcarce think it very unlikely, that thofe adtive
Simples may, by a more skilful way of ordering and correit-
ing them, be brought to afford us very noble Remedies, And
the fame Examples may in part prevent the main Objection
that I can forefee in this cafe, which is, That whatever cor¬
rects Poyfons, muftj with their virulency, deftroy their acti¬
vity 5 for the above-named Simples, though fo prepared as
to be Medicines fafe enough, have yet activity enough left
them to let them be very operative, their energy being, by
preparation, not onely in part moderated, but in part fo
over ruled, as to work after a more innocent manner as in
Bezoardicum CMinerale, skilfully prepared (for it very fel¬
dom is fo) the laxative and emetick virulency of the Anti-
mony, is changed into a diaphoretick, refolving and deoppi*
lative power* which probably made the experienced Riverius
(though counted a Galenifi) fo particularly recommend this
Medicine to Phyfitians, which, if I be not miftaken, may
well be praif'd without being flattered: And fielmont fup-
plies


(If
Heimm p]ies me with an eafie Experiment to our prefent purpofe,by
JZa%.telling us, That JfArum, which when crude, doth, as is
ga/o. Nu- well known, provoke Vomits, by a flight preparation (pre-
mero 4 6.{gntjy t0 |,e niention'd) is fo altered, that its virulency is
"7* changed, to ufe his expreffion, in , diureticum tar-
darumfebriumremedium-, which I the rather take notice of,
becaufe I finde, upon enquiry purpofely made of fome In¬
genious Phyfitians of my acquaintance, that upon try al, they
commend this preparation of s, and confeis, that by
it the Afarum loofeth its emetick, and acquires a diuretical
Quality.
Now that all other Animal and Vegetable Poyfons may
be corrected, without loofing their force with their virulen-
udmoht cy, is the affirmation of Helmont concerning s and
^ his Sal arc ttlat urn {ma jits.) And as for Vegetables, he elfe-
where tells us, That the Lapis Cancrorum refolv'd in for mam,
Helmont deas he fpeaks, Priftina laciis, habet remedium contra
ff"'1-''' mention multorum vegetabilium laxante And
cap. 3 j. I remember that I knew two Phyfitians, the one of which
affirmed to me, his having feen tryal made (by the help of a
noble Menftruum) of what Helmont here teacheth, and found
it true? theotheraperfonfevere, and apt enough to diflent
from Helmont, aflur'd me, That with the volatile Salt of
Tartar, he had feen Vegetable Poyfons, and particularly
Napellus, fo correded by a light digeftion with it, that it loft
all its Poyfonous Qualitiesffor proof of which,he freely offer-
ed me, to take himfelf as much of that fatal Herb as would
kill three or four Men ( but at that time, and in that place, I
could not get any of the Plant to make the Experiment
with.) And though I ffiall fay nothing now concerning Hel-
mont's Sal Circulatum, yet as to the volatilization of the Salt
of Tartar, what I have feen, fcarce permits me to doubt that


0?7)
it is poflible. And it I could now clearly acquaint you with
my reafons, you would, perchance, not wonder to finde me
inclinable to think, that t'ome fuch Methods (perhaps a Men-
ftruum) may be found to correft poifonous Simples, without
rendring them ineffe&ual: And though it muft be fome very
powerful corredh've, whether Salt or Liquor, that (hall be
able to correct any ftore of differing Poy fons 5 yet 'tis not ir¬
rational to think, that divers particular Concretes may be
prepar'd without any fuch abftrufe or general corre&ive, fome
by one way of handling it, and fome by another; And in
fuch cafes, skill, in the natures of particular Bodies to be
mannag'd, or lucky hits, may fupply the place of a meliora¬
ting Diffolvent, of which Helmtnt affords me a confiderable
inftance, where he teacheth (in the place lately quoted) That flwmacop.
theemetick property ot ^Afarum may be taken away, and
the Plant turn'd into a noble diuretick, onely by boiling it
awhile in common Water. And whereas a wary Man would
be apt to fufpeft, that this change is made but by the avolati-
on of fome fubtile parts, driven away by the heat of the boil¬
ing Water, I finde that our Author affirms, that though it
beboil'd with the like degree of Fire in Wine, inftead of
Water, it will not fo loofe its violence. I have known white
Hdlcbor, opium, and fome other noxious Bodies, fo pre¬
pared, as to be given not onely harmlefly, but fuccefsfully
in fuch quantities, as were they not skilfully conedied, would
makethem pernicious. We daily fee, that the violent erne-
tick and cathartick properties of Antimony, mayfingly, by
calcination with Salt peter, be deftroyed.. And (which is
though a known,yet a notable Experiment among Chym.fts)
Mercury fublimate may be deprived of its deadly corrofive-
nefs, and prepar'd into a Medicine inoffenfive even to Chil¬
dren, by bare refublimations with freih Ctylerciiry. And to
r give


0?8)
give you one inftanCe more of what the knowledge of the ef¬
fects of Chymical Operations, and of the difpolition of a
particular Body, may enable a Man to do, in changing the
pernicious nature of it; I ftnll adde, that the violently vo¬
mitive Flowers of Antimony, which our wonted, though
fumptuous and fpecious Cordials are fo unable to tame, I can
fhewyou (which perhaps you will think ftrange) fo corredt-
ed, without the addition of any thing befides beat and skill,
that in a treble Dofe, to that wherein they are wont to be fu-
rioufly emetick, we have not found them to work otherwife
then gently by fweat: But fome more Particulars applicable
to our prefent pupofe, you will meet with by and by.
CHAP. IV.
TUir&ly, And now, Fyrcphilus, that I am fpeaking of the
fervice that the Naturalift may do Phyfick, I muff not
pretermit that he may afliftthe Phyfitian to make bis Cures
lefs chargeable: For though to cure cheaply, be not proper¬
ly, and in ftri&nefs, any part of the end of the Art of Phy¬
fick, which confiders Mens Health, and not their Purfe; yet
it ought in Charity, if not alfoin Equity, to be the endea¬
vor of the Phyfitian, efpecially when he dealeth with Patients
that are not rich. For not now to fay any thing of the Fees
of Phyfiti3ns, which in fome places are not very moderate,
'tis certain that the Bills of Apothecaries, efpecially in Chro¬
nical Difeafes, do often prove fo chargeable, that even when
the Remedies fucceed, by that time a poor Patient is recover¬
ed, he is undone, and pays for the prolongation of his Life,
that which fiiould have been his lively-hood: Whence it
comes to pafs, that the more neceflitous fort of People are
either fain to languifh unrelieved, for want of being able to
purchafe


(x?p)
purchafe health at the Apothecary's rates ? or are deterred
from applying themfelves to the Phyfitian, till their Difeafes
have taken too deep toot to be eafily, if atall, eradicated:
And this oftentimes, not more through the fault of the Apo¬
thecary, then of the Dodor, who in his Prefciptions might,
for the moll part, eafily dired things that would be much
more cheap, without being much lefs efficacious.
Now there are feveral Particulars, wherein it may be hop'd,
that the Naturalift may affift the charitable Phy fician to leilen
the charge of his Patients.
And firft, He may perfwade the Phyfitian to decline that
more frequent, then commendable cuftom, of fluffing each
Recife with a multitude of Ingredients: 'Tis not that lap-
prove the practice of fome Chy mifts, who too freely cenfure
the comppundingof Simples-, for I know, at fome times,
a complicated Diftemper requires in its Remedy more Quali¬
ties, then are, perhaps, to be met with in any of the known
Simples that the Phyfitian hath at command (though one and
the fame Simples may fometimes anfwer divers Indications 5
as a Plant that is hot and dry, may ferve for a Diftemper that
is cold and m 01ft:) And I know too,, thac in fome cafes to
that Ingredient,that is as it were the Bafis of the Medicine, o-
ther things muft be added either to corred its noxious Quali¬
ties, or to allay its vehemence, or to ferve for a Vehicle to
convey it to the Part affeded, or to make it eafier to be taken
by the Patient, or to preferve it from corruption, or for fame
fuchlike reafon. But yet I think Phyfitians may well be
more fparing, as to the number of the things prefcnbed, then
moft of them ufe to be, both to fave charges to their Pat.ents -
(upon which account it is that I here mention it) and for o-
therconfiderations. For the addition of needlefs Ingredi¬
ents adding to the bulk of the Medicine, makes it but the
r 2 mote


(!4o)
more troublefom to be taken, and the more apt to clog the
Stomack: And oftentimes the Efficacy of the more ufeful In¬
gredients, as well as their Quantity in each Dofe, is much a-
bated, by their being yok'd with thofe that are iefs appropri¬
ated, or lefs operative. Befides, it feems a great impediment
to the further difcovery of the Vertues of Simples, to con¬
found fo many of them in Compofitions: For, in a mixture
of a great number of Ingredients, 'tis fo hard to know what
is the operation of each, or any of them, that I fear there
will fcarce in a long time be any great progrefs made in the
difcovery of the vertues of fimple Drugs, till they either be
oftner imployed fingly, or be but few of them employed in
one Remedy. And befides all this, whereas when one of
thefe Mixtures is adminiftred, the Phy fitian expedts but fuch
operations as are fuitable to the Quality which he conceives
will be predominant in the whole Compound; feveral of the
Ingredients may have particular Qualities that he dreams not
of, which working upon a Body, that the Phyfitianconfi-
ders as fubjedf onely to the Sicknefs he endeavors to cure,
may therein excite divers latent Seeds of other Diftempers,
and make new and unexpected commotions in the Body. On
which occafion I remember, that whereas Par (ley is averyu-
fual Ingredient of aperitive and diuretick Decodtions and A*
pozems, a famous and learned Oculift tells me, he hath very
often obferv'd, That when he hath unawares, or for tryal-
fake employ'd Parfley, either inwardly, or even outwardly
to thofe that were troubled with great Diftempers in their
Eyes, he found the Medicines wherein that Herb was but one
Ingredient among many, to caufe either great pain or inflam¬
mation in the Eyes. In confirmation of which, I fliall adde,
that awhile after having a flight Diftemper in my Eyes, I one
day found it upon a fuddain ftrangely encreafed, without be-


C140
ing able to imagine whence thefe new Symptoms proceeded 5
till at length, recalling to minde all I had done that day, I
remembred, that at Dinner I had eaten Sawce wherein there
was a pretty deal of Parlley, mixt with other things. And
whereas in divers of thefe Compofitions fame noxious Ingre¬
dients are allow'd, upon a fuppolition that their ill Qualities
will be loft, by their being, as it were, tempered with the
reft though this may fometimes happen, yet it would be
confidered, that in Treacle (efpecially at one age of it ) the
Opium doth not, confidering the fmall proportion of it to
the reft of the Ingredients, loofemuch, if any of its power,
by being mingled with fixty odde other Drugs, which Com-
pofition poffibly ow'smuch of its venue to thatlittleo/ww-'
And perhaps onereafon why thofe that accuftom themfelves
to be ever and anon taking Phyfick, though they often efcape
dangerous Difeafes (by preventing the accumulation of hu¬
mors, and taking their Sickneft'es at the beginning) are yet
almoft ever troubled with one Diftemper or other, may be,
That by the multiplicity of Medicines they take intatheir
Bodies, divers things are excited to diforder them, which o-
therwife would have lain quiet. I am not ignorant that it may
bealledg'd,That in compounded Medicines, as Treacle & Mi'
thrtdatejiow many foever the Ingredients be, they do fo clog
& temper oneanothers activity in the compofition, that there
refults from them all, one or more Qualities fit for the Phyfi-
tians turn, and which is the thing he confiders and makes ufe
of. And l-confefs,that in fome cafes this Allegation doth not
want its weight: For I confider, that a dccodtion of Galls,
and a folution of Cefperas, though neither of them apart be
blackifti, will, upon their mixture, turn to Ink: And that
when Brimftone, Salt-Peter, and Coals are well mingled
together in a due proportion, they make Gun*Powder, a
mixture^


(*4')
mixture, that hath Qualities much more a&ive then any of
the fever'd Ingredients. But I fear,that when a multitude of
Simples are heap'd together into one compound Medicine,
though there may refult a new crafts , yet 'tis very hard for
the Phyfitians to know before- hand what that will be ; and it
may fometimes prove rather hurtful then good, or at leaft by
the coalition the vertues of the chief Ingredients, may be
rather impaired then improved: As we fee that crude
cnry, crude Nitre, and crude Salt, may be either of them
fafely enough taken into the Body in a good quantity; where¬
as of fublimate, confifting of thofe three Ingredients, a few
Grains may be rank Poyfon. As for thofe fam'd Compofi-
tions of Mithridatc, T,reacle, and the like, though I cannot
well, for the mention'd Reafons, commend the skill of thofe
that firftdevifed them, and though I think that when one or
two Simples may anfwer the fame Indications, they may for
the fame Reafons be more fafely employed; Yet I would by
no means difcommend the ufe of thofe Mixtures , becaufe
long experience hath manifefted them to be good Medicines
in feveral cafes. But 'tis one thing to employ one of thefe
Compofitions, when tryal hath evinced it to be a lucky one,
and another thing to think it fit to rely on a huddle of Ingre¬
dients, before any tryal hath manifefted what kinde of Com¬
pound they will conftitute, And, in a word, though I had
not the refpedf I have for c jMattkioland other famous Do-
dfors that devifed the Compofitions, whereinto Ingredients
are thrown by fcores, if not by hundreds, yet however I
fhould not reje<ft an effe&ual Remedy, becaufe I thought that
it proved fo rather by chance, then any skill in the Contri¬
ver : And I think a vyife Man may ufe a Remedy, that fcarce
any but a Fool would have devif'd.
Another


f'4?)
Another thing, upon whofe account the Naturalid (whom
we here fuppofe an expert Chymid) may affid a Phyfitian to
leifen the expenfivenefs of his Prefcriptions, is by (hewing,
That in very many Compofitions, feveralof the Ingredients,
and*oftentimes the mod chargeable, whether they be proper
or no for the Difeafe, are unfit for the way of management
prefcrib'd, and consequently ought to be left out. I need
not tell you, that fince Chymidry began to flourilh amongft
us, very many of the Medicines prepared in Apothecaries
Shops, and commonly the mod chargeable, are didill'd Wa¬
ters, Spirits, and other Liquors: And he that (hall furvey
the Books and Bills of Phyfitians, (hall finde, that (very few
perhaps excepted) the mod ufual Prefcription is to take fuch
and fuch Ingredients (for the mod part numerous enough)
and pouring on them either Water or Wine, if any Liquor at
all, todidilthemin fiafoeo,rarely in A(hes or Sand. But I
confefs I have not without wonder, and fomething of indig¬
nation,feen in the Prefcriptions of Phyfitians, otherwife emi¬
nently Learned Men, and even in the publick Difpenfatories,
I know not how many things ordered to be didill'd, witho-
thers, in Balneo, which in that degree of heat will yield either
nothing at all, as the fragments of Precious Stones, Leaves
of Gold, prepared Pearl, &c. Or if they do yield any thing
(for that hath not been yet, that I know of, evinced) do pro¬
bably yield but a little naufeous Phlegm, or at lead (ome
few loofe parts, far lefs efficacious then thofe that require a
dronger heat to drive them up: fuch are Sugar, Rayfins,and
other fweet Fruit, Bread, Harts-horn, Flcffi prepar'd by
Cottion, &c. which though wont to be thrown away with
the Caput OWortuum, oftentimes there retain their pridine
Texture and Nature, or at lead are almod as much more
confiderable, then that which they yielded in Didillationas a
boyl'd


( 144 )
boyl'd Capon is, then the Liquor that flicks to the Cover of
the Pot. And though as to fome of thefe Ingredients it may
bethought that they may yield even in Come of their
ufeful parts, yet this can, with any probability, be fuppof'd
but of fome of fuch Ingredients: And even as to them it is
but fuppof'd that they may yield Something in fo milde a heat,
.and how that Something will be qualified, is but prefum'd:
at leaft, by the Analogy of the Experiments vulgarly made,
there feems fo fmall caufe to exfped, that thefe morefix'd
Ingredients will adde half fo much to the vertueof the Me.
dicines, as they will to the coft 5 efpecially fince though it
could be prov'd, or were probable, that fix'd Snbftances may
communicate their vertues to Wine or Water, yet it would
not follow that thofe impregnated Liquors,diftilled in ,
will carry thofe vertues with themover the Helm. All which
I have more largely prov'd in another Difcourfe, where I (hew
both that the nobler parts of many Ingredients wont to be
diftill'd in Balneo, do commonly remain in the Caput Mor-
tuum , and that'tis very unfafe to conclude always the Ver¬
tues of diftill'd Liquors from thofe of theConcrecs that af¬
forded them.
But there is another way of putting unfit Ingredients in-
to Medicines , by confounding thofe in one Compofi-
tion, which, though perhaps they might apart be properly
enough employed, do, when mixed, deftroy or lock up
the Vertues of one another ^ and of this fault, even famous
Chymifts themfelves are but too often guilty. I know not
how many Procefles I have met with, wherein faline Sub-
ftances, of contrary natures, are prefcrib'd to be mingled, as
if becaufe they were all of them faline, they muft be fit to
be afl'ociated ; whereas 'tis evident to any Man, thatconfi-
ders as well as employs the Operations of Chymiftry, that
there


f'45)
there arefcarce any Bodies in the World betwixt which there
is a greater contrariety, then betwixt acid Salts: and as well
thofe that the Chymifts call volatile, as the Spirits and Salts
of Harts-horn, Blood, Flefh and the like, as thofe others
which are made of Incineration, as Salt of and of all
burnt Vegetables. So that oftentimes it happens, that by an
unskilful Mixture, two good Ingredients are ipoil d ; as when
Vinegar, Juice of Lemmons, Juice of Barberies, and the
like,are prefcrib'd to be diftill'd with other Ingredients,where,
of the Salt of Wormwood or fome other Plant makes
one, for then the acid and alcalizate Salts, working upon one
another, grow more fix'd, and yield in Balnea but a Flegtr,:
and fo Spirit of Urine, which is highly volatile, and Spirit
of Salt, which is alfo a diftill'd Liquor, being mingled toge¬
ther, will, by their mutual Operation, conftitute a new thing,
whichinfucha heat as that of a Bath, will yield a Flegm,
leaving behinde the nobler and adive Parts concoagulated in¬
to a far more fix'd Subftance, much of the nature of Sal
y^Armoniack. And indeed where Salts, efpecially a&ive
ones, are made Ingredients of Mixtures, unlefs they be skil¬
fully and judicioully compounded, it often happens that they
fpoilone another, and degenerate into a new thing, if they
donot alfo fpoil the whole Compofition, and of divers ufe-
ful Ingredients compofe one bad Medicine.
CHAP. V.
A Nother way by which the Naturalift fskill'd in Chymi-
* ftry) may helptoleflenthechargeablenefs of Cures, is
by (hewing, that as to divers coftly Ingredients, wont to be
employ'din Phyfick, there hath not yet been fufficient proof
given of their having any Medical Vertues at all, or that at
f leaft


('4<0
leaft as they are wont to be exhibited, either crude, or but
ilightly prepared in juleps, Electuaries, &c. there is not any
fufficient evidence to perfwade us, thac their efficacy is as
much greater, then that of many cheap Ingredients, as their
price is. I am not altogether of their minde, that abfolute-
ly reject the internal ufe of Leaf-Gold, Rubies, Sapphyrs,
Emerauds, and other Gems, as things that are unconquerable
by the heat of the Stomack : For as there are rich Patients
that may, without much inconvenience, go to the price of
the deareft Medicines ; fo I think the Stomack adits not on
Medicines barely upon the account of its heat, but is endow'd
with a fubtle difl'olvent (whence fo ever it hath it) by which it
may perform divers things not to be done by fo languid a
heat. And I have, with Liquors of differing forts, eafily
drawn from Vegetable Subftances, and perhaps unredfified,
fometimes diflolv'd, and fometimes drawn Tin&ures from,
Gems, and that in the cold. But though for thefe and other
Confiderations, Idonotyetacquiefs in their Reafons, that
laugh at the adminiftration of crude Gems, as ridiculous;
yet neither am I altogether of their Adverfary's minde. For
though I deny not that the Glafs of which looketh
likeakindeof Gem or Ruby, will eafily enough impart to
Liquors an emetick Quality 5 yet I know too, there is great
odds betwixt Ruby's and other Gems (which will endure vio¬
lent Fires, and remain undiffolved in divers ftrongly corro-<
five Liquors) and the Glafs of Antimony, which is a Body
fo far lefs compadt and fix'd, that Spirit of Vinegar it felf will
work upon it, and a ftrong Fire will, in no longtime, diffi-
pate it into fmoke. But that which I chiefly confider on this
occafion, is, That 'tis one thing to make it prthat 'tis
possible Gold, Ruby's, Sapphyrs, &c. may be wrought upon
by a humane Stomack j and another thing, to fhew both that
they


( J47
they are wont to be fo, and that they art adtually endow'cf
with thofe particular and fpecifick Vercues that are afcrib'd
to them: Nay, and (over and above) that thefe Vertuesare
fuch, and fo eminent, that they confiderably furpafs thofe of
cheaper Simples, And I think, that in Prefcriptions made
for the poorer fort of Patients, aPhyfitian may wellfubfti-
tue cheaper Ingredients in the place of thefe precious ones,
whofeVertues are not half fo unqueftionable as their Dear-
nefs.
What ftrange Excellency there may be in the Aurum Po-
tahile, made by a true Adeptw, or by a Poffeffbr of the Li¬
quor Alcahtft, I (hall not now difpute, not knowing what
powerful and radical Diflolvents the profound skill of fuch
Men (if any fuch there be) may furnifh them with, to open
the Body of Gold. But as for theattempts and practices of
the generality of Chymical Phyfitians to make Gold potable,
befides that, their attempts to make their Solutions volatile,
fucceed fo feldom, that even Learned Phyfitians, and Chy-
mifts, have pronounced the thing it felf unfeafible •, Icon-
fefs, I (hould much doubt whether fuch a potable Gold
would have the prodigious Vertues its Encomiafts afcribeto
it, andexpedt fromit: For Ifindenot that thofe I have yet
met with, deliver thefe ftrange things upon particular Expe¬
riments duly made, but partly upon the Authority of Chy¬
mical Books, many of which were never written by thofe
whofe Names they bear. And others, I fear, commend
Aurum Potabile, prepared after another-guefs manner then
that we arenowfpeakingof, partly upon a prefumption that
if it be made volatile, it muft be ftrangely unlock'd, and ex¬
alted to a meerSpiritual Nature; and partly upon rational
Conjectures (as they think them) drawn from the noblenefs
and precioufnefs of Gold, But for my part, though I have
f 2 long


(H*)
long fince bethought my felf of a way, whereby I can, ba
fhort time, and a moderate Fire, make my bring
over era:e Gold, in quantity fufficient to make the Liquor
lookatthefirftorfecondDiftillation, of a high golden co¬
lour 5 yet finding that I could, by an eafie Air, quickly re¬
cover out of this volatile Liquor, a corporal and malleable
Gold, I dare not brag that myTindfure (as an Alchymift
would call it) muft needs do ftrange feats, becaufe there is fo
noble a Mettal brought over in it. And if this or other pre¬
parations of Auram Potabile prove good Medicines, it would
be further enquired, whether the Vertues may not in great
part be rather attributed to the then the Gold
(that requiring a very fubtile Liquor to volatilize itj or to
the aflociation of the Corpufcles of the Gold, with the fa-
line Particles of th eOWenftruuw,into a new Concrete,, dif¬
fering enough from Gold,though never fo well open'd. And
asfor the noblenefsandpretioufnefsof this Metal, Thatde-
pends upon the Eftimation of Men, whence in the
Indians that abounded with it, had not fuch a great value for
iti And in divers Countries,at this day,it is poftponed to Iron
or to Copper, and hath rather a Political (if I may fo fpeak)
then a Natural Vertue. Nor will it follow, that becaufe it is
the fixedft and pretioufeft of Metals, that therefore it muft be
anadmirable MedicineFor we fee that Diamonds, though
they be the hardeft of Bodies, and ve"y fix'd ones, and in
much greater efteem, ceteris paribus, then Gold, are yetfo
far from being accounted highly Medicinal.that they are com¬
monly (though, perhaps, not fo defervedly) reckon'd among
Poyfons. But I fee I have digreff'd, That which I chiefly
aim'dat, being to inculcate, that whether Gold and Gems,
and the like pretious Ingredients, may be good Medicines or
ao3'twere a good work to fubftitute cheap ones for the poorer


(149)
fort of Patients $ and that Phyfitians are much to blamed
who prize Simples, as Diugftersdo, according as they are
brought from remote Countries, and are hard to be come by,
and cannot imagine that what doth not coft much Money in
the Shops, can do much good in the Body •, as if God had
made Provifion onely for the Rich, or thofe People that have
Commerce with China or the India's: whereas indeed it may
oftentimes happen, that what the Chymifts call their Caput
UVLortuum, and perhaps throw away as anufelefs Terra Dam-
nata> may have as great Vertues as thofe nobler Parts, as
they call them, which they have extra&ed from it 5 and a
defpifed Simple, nay, even an Excrement or anlnfedt, may
in fame cafes prove nobler Remedies, then thofe that Men
call and think very noble Bodies, not to fay then, I know not
how many Extradfs and Quintefcences.
I fhall not trouble you with many Inftances to prove this
Do&rine, having more fully difcourfed of it in one part of unpromi-
another *Treatife: But yet fomelnftances I fuppofe you wilt Me(ii
hereexpedf, and therefore I {hall prefent you with a few of ones'
thofe that at prefent come into my minde.
When the Diftiilation of Aquafortis is finiflied, the Caput
Mortnum, as defet ving that name, is wont, by common Di-
ftillers, to be thrown away •, and I have feen whole heaps of
it thrown by, asufelefs, by thofe that make ^Aquafortis in
quantity to fell it: And yet this defpifed Subftance doth, in
common Water itfelf, yield a Salt, which being onely de¬
purated by frequent Solutions and Filtrations, is that fa¬
mous Panacea Duplicate, or Arcanum Duplicatum , which
that great Virtuofo and knowing Chymift, The Duke of
Holflein, whofe name it alfo bearech, thought worth pur cha¬
fing at the rate of Five hundred Dollars 5 and of which the
Princes experienced Phyfician thus writes to the Induftrious
Schroder9


('5°)
vb.re,in cop. Schroder^ CM ille experiment is falls hu]us JBfficaciam^AuU
lib<3.c.i3. nofira comprobavit tn melancholicis affefftbusffebribusquibuf-
c tin que continuis & tntermittentibus, calculoJcorbuTo,&c,<guin
& jomnu conciliate frxfertim in Melancholicis non feme! not a-
<vimus. Vofts a fcrup: I. ad fcrup: 2. Libras aliquod quotannis
abfumimus* Andanother very skilful Phyfuian that frequented
that Excellent Princes Court,confirm'd to me the fameMedi-
cin's diuretick and deoppilative Vertues:(But upon my own
Experience I can fay little of it, having cafually loft a great
quantity I caufd to be prepar'd to make tryal with, before I
had opportunity to employ it.)
But whereas in the Caput Mortuum of Aquafortis there re¬
mains pretty ftore of ealily foluble Salt j In the Caput Mor¬
tuum of Vitriol, when notonely all the Oylis forc'd away
by the Fire, but all the fix'd Salt is exadily feparated by
Water,There feems to remain nothing but a worthlefs Terra
Damnata: And yet 'tis of this, th ;t, as I fhall teach you ere
long, I make tho feColcotharine Flowers, which are poflibly a
nobler Medicine then either the Oyl, the Spirit, or the Salt
of Vitriol.
As for the Bezoar-flone^ which is fo often prefcrib'dby
Phyfitians, and fo dearly paid for by Patients, the experi-
enc'dBontius, a very competent Witnefs in this cafe (and
whofe account of the manner of its generation, agrees the
beft of any I have feen with that I received from an Intelli¬
gent Perfon, that was employ'd into Pcrfia by the late King)
hath in one place a Paftage concerning it { and elfewhere writes
fuch things of the Stone cut out ot a Mans Bladder (though
that, whifft crude, be defpifd as a thing viieand ufelefsin
mt'ms u Phyfick) as may be juftly applicable to our pretent purpofe :
Garcia ab Caterum (faith he, fpeaking of the Bezoarftone) quantum
orta. ad hyperbolic as hu\ut lapidis virtutes & facilitates portentofas
non


Ci?»)
nenttntos in eo mille experientiis edoclus invent: Andelfe-
where fpeaking of thofe contemptible and excrementitious
Stones that are found in humane Bladders: (faith a „
he) de his lapidibus addo ne videar eos & 45,'
rnonere ut vel cum periculopluresm or tales Hoccerte Ga&tA
compertum habeo lapidem in veftca hominis repertum urinam
Cr Iudoresprobe ciere quod tempore pefiis qua
Anno 1624 & 1 <52.5 Ley dam patriam me am & rcliquas Hol-
landia Civitates miferandum in modum ,
lapidis Befoartici nos exhibuijjememini& (dufitn
dicere) melius & excellentius tnveniffe,
Soot is generally look'd upon as fo vile a thing, that we
are fain to hireMen to carry it away; and yet, as I elfewhere
ffiew that 'tis a Body of no ignoble Nature, fo Imufthere
tell you, that'tis no unufeful oneinPhyfick. And not to
mention that Riverius commends it crude, to the quantity of
aDrachme, in Plurifies: Ihavetry'd, with the Spirit of it
well drawn, fome things, that make me look upon it as a
confiderable Liquor. And I know by their own confeffions,
that fome Medicines, even of eminent Phyfitians, that pafs
under other Names, have the Spirit of Soot for their prin¬
cipal Ingredient. I knew, a not unlearned Emperick, who
was exceedingly cry'd up for the Cures he did, efpecially in
difficult Diftempers of the Brain, by a certain Remedy,
which he call'd fometimes his Aurum Potabile, and fometimes
his Pnnacxn ; and having obtain'd from' this Man, in ex¬
change of aChymical Secret of mine he was greedy of, the
way of making this fo celebrated Medicine, I found that the
main thing in it was the Spirit of Soot, drawn after a fome-
whatunufual, but not excellent manner; in which Spirit,
Flowers of Sulphur were, by a certain way, brought to be
diflolv'd, and fwim in little drops that look'd of a golden co¬
lour, * Yo®i


(I?*)
You will eafily grant, Pyrophilu, that there are not any
Medicines to be taken into the Body, more cheap and con¬
temptible then the Excrements of Men and Horfes, and then
Infedts: And yet that even thefe want not confiderable Me¬
dical Vertues, we elfewhere (hew. And (not to meddle with
fuch nafty things as the groffer fort of humane Excrements,
though they outwardly apply'd, either in Powder or other,
wife, do fometimes perform ftrange things) the Juice of
Horfe-dung, efpecially of Stone-horfes, being ftrongly ex-
prefl'd (after the Dung hath been awhile fteeped in Ale, or
fome other convenient Liquor, to facilitate the obtaining
the Juice and to afford it a Vehicle) doth oftentimes fo pow¬
erfully relieve thofe that are troubled with the ftoppage of
Urine, with Winde, Stitches, and even with Obftrudtions
of the Spleen and Liver, that You, Pyropbilus, and I, know
a great Lady, who though very neat, and very curious of her
Health, and wont to have the attendance of the skilfulleft
Phyfitians, fcruples not, upon occafion, to ufe as I have
known her do, in Silver Veflels, this homely Remedy, and
prefer it to divers rich Cordials, and even to what fome
Chymiftsarepleaf'd to call Ejj or Elixirs: And with
the fame Remedy very many poor People were cur'd of the
Plague it felf, when it lately fwept away fo many thoufands
in Ireland (and the Dodtors with the Patients) as I was a(-
fur'd by a Perfon who cur'd fo many, as to invite men to fe-
cure themfelves that alfiftance, by refufing the Party the li¬
berty to leave the Town. But (to adde that upon the by)
this Perfon, in exchange of a Secret of mine, confefl'd to
me, That the Arcanum, which had cur'd fuch numbers, and
to which the Juice of Horfe-dung was a was
onely a good Dofe of the Powder of fully ripe Ivy-berries,
which did ufually, as alfo the Horfe-dung, work plentifully


( *5? ) "
by Sweat, and which I prefently remembred to be one of
thofe few things that Helmont+ commends againft the
Plague.
The Medical Vertues of Mans Urine, both inwardly gi¬
ven, and outwardly applv'd, would require rather a whole
Book, then a part of an Eflay to enumerate and infift on :
But referring you to what an induftrious Chymift hath alrea¬
dy colle&ed touching that fubjedt, I fhall now onely adde,
That I knew ancient Gentlewoman, who being almoft hope-
lefs to recover of divers Chronical Diftempers (andfome
too of thefeabftrufe enough J was at length advifed, inftead
of more coftly Phyfick, to make her Morning-draughts of
her own Water •, by the ufe of which fhe ftrangely recover-
ed, and is, for ought I know, ftill well. And the fame Re¬
medy is not difdain'd by a Perfon of great Quality and Beau¬
ty, that You know •, and that too, after fhe hath travelled as
far as the Spaw for Her healths fake. And I remember on
thisoccafion, that palling once through one of the remoter
Parts of England^ I was vifited by an Emperick, a well-
wifher to Chymiftry, but a Novice in it, who prefling me,
to communicate to him fomeeafie and cheap Preparation5thac
he might make ufe of among the C mntrey People ^ I dire*
died him to Diftil, with a gentle heat, a Spirit out of Urine,
putrifiedfor fix or feven Weeks on a Dung-hill, or fomea-
nalogous heat, but in well clofd Glaffes, or other glaz'd
Veflels-, and having redified this Spirit once or twice, that
it might be rich in volatile Salt, to give ten, twenty, or
thirty drops of it in any convenient Liquor for the Plurifie,
for moft kindeof Coughs, and divers other Diftempers, as
a Succdaneum to the Eftence of Harts horn: And awhile af¬
ter this Emperick return'dme great thanks for what I had
taught him5 and I found by him and others, that he had
t cured


(*5.4)
cured fo many with it, especially of Plurifies (a Difeafe fre¬
quent and dangerous enough in that Country) that this flight
and feemingly defpicable Remedy had already made him be
cry'd up for a Do&or, and was like to help him to a comfort¬
able Subfiftence.
Great ftore of healthy Mens Blood is wont to be thrown
away, as altogether ufelefs, by Chirurgions and Barbers,
that let Men Blood (as is ufual in the Spring and Fall) for
prevention of Difeafes 5 and yet from a Man's Blood skil¬
fully prepared, though without addition of any thing, fave
Spirit of Wine to keep it at firft from putrifying, may be
eafily obtain'd a Spirit, and volatile Salt, that have much the
fameVertues, withthofeof the newly mention'd Spirit of
Urine, but more noble (as far as Icanguefs) then either
that, or even Spirit of Harts horn, as having perform'd in
Confumptions, Afthma's, and other obftinate cafes, fuch
things as I, as well as others, could not but admire. But in
this place, mentioning humane Blood onely I
{hall pretermit what I have obferved about the preparation of
it yet leaving you a liberty to call for my Obfervations up¬
on a Medicine, which is perhaps nobler, then the moftcoftiy
and elaborate Chymical "Remedies that are wont to be fold
in Shops, and which hath been almoft alone excepted out of
the Cenfure made by a Learned Modern Writer, of the Me¬
dicines found out by Chymiftry.
I (hall adde but one Inftance more, of the efficacy that
may be found in the moft obvious and abjedi Creatures 5
and this Inftance is afforded me, by thofe vile In feds com¬
monly called in Englifh, Wood-lice, or Sows, and in La-
tine Millepedes , which I have often both recommended to
others, and taken my felf: What their Vertue is againft the
Stone, the World hath been informed by Lmretnbergius,


( *55)
who hath publifhed a Narrative, how by the ufe of them he
was cured, even of the Stone in the Bladder j and he was in¬
vited to ufe them by credible information, that others had
been cured of chat Difeafe, by the fame Remedy. And of
late Years, in England, an Emperick being much reforted
to, for the relief he gave in that tormenting Sicknefs, a Phy-
fitian, famous tor his Learned Writings, wondering at what
was done, was very curious (as himfelf afterwards told me)
to finde out the Emperick's fecret, and at length was fo indu-
ftrious as to difcover, That'twas a flight preparation of Mil¬
lepedes. But my having found them in my felf very diure-
tical and apertive, is not that which chiefly recommends them
to me 5 For I knew, and liv'd in the fame Houfe with a pious
Gentlewoman, much better skili'd in Phyfick, then her Sex
promifed, who having loft the ufe of one Eye by a Cataraft,
and being threatned by the Oculifts with the fpeedy lofsof
the other, efpecially in regard of her being very aged and
corpulent, (he neverthelefs did, for fome Years, to my won¬
der, employ her Eye to read and work with, without finding,
as fhe told me, any decay in it, or any encreafing danger of a
fuffufion: And fhe allured me, that her Medicine was to
bruife firft five cJMiliepedes, then ten, then fifteen, then
twenty, (daily encreafing the number by five, till it had
reach'd, if Imiftake not, fifty or fixty) in White-wine (or
Small-alej and to drink upon an empty Stomack, the ftrong-
lyexprelPd Liquor-, And whenldefired to know how flie
came by this Specifick, (lie anfwered me, That having made
enquiries among all chofe, both Oculifts and others, that fhe
thought might afllft her againft fo fid a Diftemper, llie wa$
advifed to the ufe of Millepedes, by a Woman, that not
onely much magnified their vertue in fuch cafes as hers, but
allured her (if I much mif remember not) that fhe her felf
t 2 had


0,5<S>
had been cured by them, of no lefs then an incipient fuffufion
in one or both of her Eyes.
[Since the writing of the former part of this Page, relating
what I newly told you to a very Ingenious Phyfitian, he af-
fures m'e, That being fome Years iince in he there
met with a Woman who was cured, as her fe'if confefled to
him, of a real Cataradi, by the juice of begin¬
ning with that of three at a time, and fo encreafing to nine at
once, and then gradually leflening the Dofe by one Infed
each day, till (he were come back to three at a time; after
which, flie gradually increafd the Dofe as before: And he
adds, That this Woman wasadvifed to this Medicine by an
Emperick, that was faid to have performed divers Cures
with the fameMedicine,^
[What ftrange things thefe fame Millepedes have done in
the fore, and even exulcerated Breafts of Women (provi¬
ded they be not cancrousj though they be given without pre¬
paration onely, to the number of three firff, and fo on to
nine at once (which number may perhaps be ufefally encrea-
fedj ftamp'd with ahttle White- wine or Beer, that the Li¬
quor ftrain'd out may be drunk in a draught of Beer, Morning
and Evening; during which time, Linnen clothes dipp'd in
White-wine, and apply'd warm, are to be kept upon the
Bread, I may elfewhere have a fitter opportunity to relate.
I (hall now onely fubjoyn, as a further proof of the great
Vertue that may be even in vile and coftlefs Infeds, and that
without any elaborate or ChymicalPreparation, this memo,
rable Story; That after all the tryals I had made about thefe
Millepedes, I met with a yong Lady, who by divers ftrange-
ly winding ando'oftinate Fifiula's, that had made them (elves
Orifices in many places of her Body, was not onely lam'd,
but fo confum'd and weakned, that (lie was fcarce able to turn
her


C *57>
her felf in her bed; and this, notwithftanding the utmoft en¬
deavors of the eminentefl Chirurgions, both Englifh and
Foreigners, that could be procured: But when both the
hopes of her Friends, and thofe that endeavored to cure her,
were loft, fhewas in afliort rime not alone freed from her Fi-
ftulasy but recovered to a thriving condition of Body, by the
frequent ufeofan internal Medicine,which,as both her Parents
and the Perfon that taught it them informed me, was onelya
Drink (to be taken twice or thrice a day) made of a fmall
proportion of a couple of Herbs (very common, and not
much more likely to do Wonders in this cafe, then Worm¬
wood and Mint) and of Three hundred of thefe Millepedes
well beaten (when their Heads are pull'd of) in a Mortar, and
tunn'd up with the Herbs, and fufpended in four Gallons of
fmall Ale, during its fermentation. The wonderful efficacy
of this Medicine in this and many other cafes, which by oc-
cafion of this Cure were related to me, being almoft wholly
afcrib'dto Millepedes^ by the Illuftrious Imparter of it5
whofe leave 1 have not yet, by naming him, to difclofe, that
this is the Secret He makes ufe of. 3
CHAP. VI.
A Nother way there is whereby the Naturalift mayaflifl:
* * thePhyfitian to make the Therapeutical part of Phyfick
lefschargeable, and that is, by fhewing thofe thatarewonc
to employ moft Chymical Remedies, that much of the coft
and labor in many cafes might be fpared. I am not altogether
of their minde, thatindifcriminatly cry downChymical Pre^
parations as exceffively dear: For of many of thofe that feem
very dear> when bought by the Pound or the Ounce, a Dole
may be cheap enough j as if forinftance* an Ounce of preci¬
pitate


(">$)
prtate of Gold and Mercury coft ten times its weight of Sil¬
ver, under which rate I have bought it ofhoneft Men, that
makeitthemfelves, yet that Ounce containing 480 Grains,
(of which three or four may be a Dofe) a taking of this dear
Powder, may coft far lefs then a Dofe of many Galenical
Medicines, where the quantity that is taken at once, makes
up what is wanting in the coftlinefs of the Ingredients. But
though this be the cafe of [owe Chymical Remedies, yet we
muft not deny, that many others are chargeable, and though
perhaps not more fo then many Galenical ones employ'd for
the fame purpofes: Yet if thole be dearer then they need be,
that grievance ought to be redreff'd in Chymical Medicines,
how juftly foever the fame thing may be imputed to Galeni¬
cal ones.
Now there are two Particulars, wherein theChymiffs,
and thofe Phyfitians that imitate them,are wont to be blame-
able in reference to this matter •, The one, their employing
Chymical Preparations on all occafions, even where Simples
or (light Compofitions might ferve the turn: and the other
is, Their making many of their Preparations more laborious,
and confequently more chargeable then needs.
As for the firft of thefe: 'Tis known there are divers Chy-
mifts, and others that pra&ife Phylick, who fo dote upon
the Productions of their Furnaces, that they will fcarcegoa-
bouc to cure a cut Finger, with lefs then fome Spagyrical
OylorBalfam: And inflight Diftempers have recourfe to
Chymical, and perhaps to Mineral Remedies, which being,
for the moft parr, fuch as vehemently alter the Body, efpe-
dally by heating and drying it, they do often more harm then
good, when employed in cafes that need not fuch adlive Me¬
dicines. And methinks thofe that pradife, as if Nature
prefented us nothing worth the accepting, unlefs it be cook'd


(*5 9)
and perfected by Vulcan, might confider , That Paracelfus
himfelf oftentimes employeth Simples for the cure even of
formidable Difeafes. And though for particular Reafons I be
incl nable enough to think, that fuch fearching and command¬
ing Remedies, as may befo much of kin to the Univerfal
Medicine, as to cure great numbers of differing Difeafes, will
be hardly obtain'd without the help of Chymical Prepara¬
tions, and thofe perhaps of Minerals: Yet as tomoft parti¬
cular Difeafes, eipecially when not yet atriv'd to a deplora¬
ble height, I am apt to think, that either Simples, or cheap,
or unelaborate Galenical Mixtures, may furnifh us with Spe-
cificks, that may perform much more then Chymifts are
wont to think, and poffibly be preferable to many of their
coftly CMagifteries, Jjhtnt-efjences and Elixirs. Helmont Heimonf,
himfelf, a Perlon more knowing and experienced in his Art, viZnfar
thenalmoft any of the Chymifts, fcruplesnot to make this mwi
ingenious Confeffion: Credo (faith he) fimplicia in fua [im¬
plicit ate c(Je fufpcientia^pro fan at i one omnium morborum: And
elfewhere he truly affirms, That there may be fometimes
greater Vertue in a Simple, fuch as Nature affords it us, then
in any thing that the Fire can feparate from it. And certain¬
ly the fpecifick Properties of divers, if not moft Simples,
are confounded and loft by thofe Preparations, wherein that
Texture, which is the foundation of thofe Properties, is ei¬
ther deftroyed by the Fire, or changed by the taking away of
fomeoi the Parts-, or the adding of fome other Subftance
to it, with which compounded, it may conftitute a new thing.
The more Judicious of tffie Chymifts themfelves do feveral
of them now acknowledge, that the bare reducing of Pearls
to fine Powder, affords a Medicine much richer in the Ver-
tuesof the Pearls, then theeMagiflery, prepared bydiffol-
ving them in acid Spirits, and precipitating them with Oyl


'(l«0)
of ftrtdr^ and afterwards fcrupuloufly edulcorating them,
And one may eafily obferve, that by making the cMagiftery
of Harts horn the fame way, the Vertuesfeem to be more
lock'd up then they were in the crude Horn, which may eafi¬
ly enough impart its Vertue in the Body, fince fair Water
will reduce a good part of it into a Jelly-, whereas the CM a.
gifiery remains a fix'd Powder, not eafily diff'oluble, even in
acid Mcnflruums and, which thrown upon hot Iron, will
fcarce fend forth that (linking Smoak, which argues the avo-
lation of the faline and fulphureous Parts. I never knew any
of the vulgar Chymifts Effences or Elixirs half fo powerful a
Remedy to ftanch Blood, as a (light Mixture of two
Drachmes of Hyofciamum, or Henbane-feed, and the like
weight of white Poppey-feeds, beaten up with an Ounce of
Conferveof red llofes, into a ftiff Ele&uary; with which,
given in the quantity of a Nutmeg , or Wall-nut, I have
fnatch'd fome, as it were, out of the Jaws of Death-, and
with which an eminent Phyfitian, now dead, affirm'd. That
he, and the Inventor of the Remedy, had very frequently
cured profufe bleedings at the Nofe, and in Women, at other
Parts befides* Nor did I ever fee, to give an inftanceina
refembling Difeafe, fuch wonderful Eft'eds againft fpitting
and vomiting of Blood, of the mod elaborate Chymical
Preparations, as Ihaveof a flightSyrrup, mideonely of a
convenient quantity of fine Sugar, and the ftrongly expreff'd
Juice of twelvehandfullsof Plantain-leaves, and fix Ounces
of frefh Cumfrev roots, well beaten together; with which
Syrrup, befides what I have try'd my felf, two eminent Phy-
ficians perform'd in that Difeafe unufual Cures, though (for
reafons elfewhere mentioned) 1 forbear to name them, other-
wife then by celling you, That one of them is that Ingenious
and Friendly DrT. C. to whofe skill both You and I owe fo
much. •- But


(i6z)
feveral fticceflive Operations: Bat if you flhould ask why
fuch a thing fhould be, for inftance, rather precipitated, then
exhal'd ad ficcitatem, or why fuch and fuch an Operation is to
be uf'd after fuch another, rather then before it; nay, per¬
haps, if one Ihould demand why fome of thofe Operations
fhouldbeufed at a!!, the Devifers of thofe unskilful Pro-
cefles would poflibly afToon be able to finifh their Operati¬
ons, as to give a latisfadiory anfwer. Nay, fometimes they
lengthen their Proceffes by Operations, fo injudicioufly pre-
fcrib'd, that they crofs one another ; And the Chymift vc-x«
eth himfelf, and the Matter he works upon, to leave it at
laft no better, if-not a worfe, Medicine then he found it; of
this we have already given an inftance in the common
gifieries.
But I lately met with another Example of it, in the Wri¬
tings of a Famous, Modern Chymift, where to purifiethe
fix'd Salts of Vegetables,to the height, after I know not how
many Solutions, Filtrations and Coagulations (which alone
would abundantly ferve the turn J he prefcribes the diflolving
them in Aquafortis; after which, he faith, they will become
very pure and chryftalline, and not fo eafily refoluble in the
Air: Of which I make no doubt, for divers Years before I
met with this Procefs, I have, with the fix'd Salts of more
then one kinde of Vegetable, by joyning them with Aqua
fortis, and after awhile exhaling the fuperfluous moifture,
made good inflammable Salt peter •, by which you may eafily
guefs,how judicioufty the folution in Aqua fortis is prefcrib'd
onely as a further depuration, and how fit fuch Authors are
to be credited, when they afcribe to thefe Chryftalline Salts
the feveral Vertues, (& thofe improved too)of the refpe<ftive
Vegetables, from which the i^ilcalies were obcain'd. And
indeed, as to thofe exadt Depurations, which fome Chytpifts


(1^3)
fo ftriftly require in all their Preparations, though their Pro¬
cess be oftentimes hereby made incredibly tedious, 1 will
willingly allow, nay I affert, that in fome cafes, and efpeci-
ally in the making of powerful , which by their
a&ivenefs and penetrancy, are to unlock other Bodies, Chy-
mifts do rather erre in making their Depurations lefs exqui-
lite then they fhould, then on the other hand: Yet in many
other cafes, fuch exadt refining and fubtiliation of a Reme¬
dy, is not fo necefl'ary as they imagine •, and fometimes too,
may do more harm then good, by fequeftring thofe parts of
a Simple, as fdices,which concurr'd with the finer parts to
that determinate Texture, whereon the fpecifick Vertues of
it did principally depend; but of this more elfewhere. And
therefore I lhall here prefent you with two or there In fiances,
tofhewyou, That Remedies, at lead as noble as fuch vul¬
gar Chymical ones as are more tedious and coftly, may be
prepar'd in a (hot ter time, and cheap enough to be fit for the
ufe of the Poor.
And to comply, Pyropbilus, with your curiofity, to know
the Preparations of thofe Chymical Medicines, that I do the
mod familiarly employ, the three following Indanccs (hall
be of fuch, namely, The FI ores , The
mum fulphuris crsflum, and, The , that
you may fee what flight and eafie Preparations afford the Re¬
medies, whofe Effedts you have fo often heard of, if notal-
fo feen.
The fird of thefe, is the fame Powder, which pafTeth un¬
der the name of Ens Veneris, which appellation we gave it
not out of a belief, that it equals the Vertues alcrib'd by
Helmont, to what he calls the true Ignis , but partly
to difguife it a little, and partly upon the account of the oc¬
casion whereon it was fird found out, which was, That an
u 2 Indu-


0*5)
Bodies It may be enrreaPd to twenty or thirty, without dan¬
ger) in diftilld Water, or fmall Beer, or other convenient
Vehicles: It may be given at any time upon an empty Sto-
mack, but I mo ft commonly give it at Bed- time. It works,
when it works fenfibly, by Sweat, and fomewhat by Urine.
That it is a potent Specifick for the Rickets, I think I fcarce
need tell Ton, Pyroph: whofe excellent Mother and Aunt, to-
getherwith fome Phyfitians, to whom Ialfogaveit ready
prepar'd, have cur'd perhaps a hundred, or more Children,
of that Difeafe, divers of whom were look'd upon as in a
defperate condition. I give it alfo in Feavors, and other Di-
ftempers, to procure lleep, which it ufnally doth where'tis
wanting: In the Head achelikewife, in which, if the Dif¬
eafe be inveterate, the Remedy muft be long continued;
with the like admonition it hath done Wonders,
one CMenftum objiinata: In the Worms it hath fometimes
done ftrange things; and for provoking of Appetite, I re¬
member not that I have either taken or given it without fue*
cefs: And though I feldom take (for I often give more) a-
bove two or three Grains of it at a time, yet in that fmall
Dofe it ufually proves Diaphoretical to me the next Morn¬
ing.
But the Experiments we have had of the feveral Vertues
and Efficacy of this Medicine, would be here too tedious to
recite ^ and therefore I (hall now pafs them by, though, if
yourequireit, Khali not be backward to fet you down, by
way of obfervations, mod of the cafes wherein I or my
Friends have given it, and of the principal Cures that have
been performed by it: In the mean time, becaufe this exalt¬
ed Colcothar, being given in fo fmall a Dofe, may prove, if
it be rightly and dexteroufly prepar'd, what faith of
his imitationof Butlers Drif, Cd Medicine for the Poor, and


( ,66)
yet requires more care, not to fay skill, to Prepare it well,
then upon the bare reading of the Procefs you will imagin, I
fhall to gratify your Charity annex to the end of this Eflay,
(for to infert them here would make too prolix a Digreflion)
as many of the Particulars relating to the Preparation of it as
I can readily meet with among my loofe Notes, And leaft
you fhould think me a Mountebanck for want of knowing
inwhatfenfe it is, that I commend this and the other parti¬
cular Medicins, Ifhall likewife to thofe Obfervations fub-
joyn a Declaration of my meaning in fuch particulars, and
of the fenfe, wherein I defire you fhould underftand what
you meet with in the Praife of Remedies either in this EiTay
or any other of my Writings, which I hope it will be fuf-
ficient to give you this Advertifment of once for all.
The next Medicine I am to mention to you is the
mum Sulphur is which being made but with grofs Oyls drawn
byExpreifion may.becalled Crajjuw to diftinguiili it from
the common and thinner Balfom of Sulphur, thatis made
with the Diftil'd Oyl or Spirit of Turpentine.
This Balfom is made in an Houre or lei's, without a Fur¬
nace, onely by taking to one part of good Flower of Brim-
ftone, foure or five times as much (in weight) of good
exprefied Oyl, either of Olives or Nuts, or Poppey-feeds,
and boyling the former in the latter in a Pipkin half fill'd
with both, till it be perfedily Diflolv'd into a Blood.red
Balfom. But as eafy as this Preparation feems (and indeed
is) to them that have often madeit, it willnotatfirft be
fo eafie to make it right ? For the Fire which ought to be of
well kindled Coals, muftbe kept pretty quick, and yet not
over-quick, leaft the Oyl boyle over, or doe not well Dif-
folve the Flowers of Sulphur, but turn then.} with its felt
into a Clotted and almoft Liver-coloufd Maffe: Aud to a-
void


(»*7)
void thefe Iticonveniencies, and the aduftion of the Matter,
fpeciall care muft be had to keep it conftantly ftirring, not
only whil'ft the Pot is over the Fire, bat after it is taken off,
till it be quite Cold. You may if you think fit Difl'olve
thb fimple Baliom in Chymicall Oyl of Anny- feeds, or a-
ny other Efiential Oyl like to advance its Efficacy in this
or that particular Diftemper: But thofe Oyls being gene¬
rally very hot, I moft commonly Prefcribe the Balipm with¬
out thofe Additions, efpeciaily if long Digeftion Ijave fom-
whatlefTened the Gffenfivenefs ofthefmell, which though
no peculiar fault of this Preparation being common to Sul¬
phureous Medicins is yet the chief Inconvenience of it. I
will not too refolutly affirme that this is the very Balfamum
Sh!pbn>-is Rulandi of which that Author relates fuch won¬
derful things in his Centuries-, but if it benotthe fame,
tisfolikeit, and fo good, that I doubt not but by perufing
thofe Centuries, you may find divers ufes of it, that I have
not made tryall off: And in Coughs, old Strains, Bruifes,
Aches, (and fometimes the Incipcent fits of the Gout it
felf) and efpeciaily Tumors, fome of your friends can in¬
form you, that it doth much greater things then moft Men
would expedi from fo flight and eafy a Preparation 5 And
indeed greater then I have feen done by very coftly and com¬
mended Balfoms and Oyntments, fold in Apothecaries
Shops: And in thofe Obfervations, I lately told you you
mightcommand, you will find that this Balfom outwardly
applyed, hath cared fuch obftinate Tumours, as Men either
knew not what to make off, or what to doe with them, of
which skilful Phyfitians, to whom I gave it to make tryai
oft in difficult cafes, can bear me witnefs; Though it ought
fufficiently to endear this Balfam to us both, that it was the
Meanes of refcuing your Fair and Veruious Sifter F: from
a


(,«8)
a dangerous Confumption. In outward Applications it is
to be well warm'd, and to be chaft'd into the part affedfed,
whichfhould be afterwards kept very warme, orelfe Lint
dipped in it may be kept upon the place. Inwardly fome
drops of it may be given at any time, when the Stomach is
not full; either rol'd up with Sugar, or mingl'd with any
convenient Vehicle. But as for the Particulars that concern
the Preparation of this Balfam, you will find, thofe I can
readily meet with among my loofe Papers, annex'd with
the Notes concerning Ens Veneris to the end of this
Effay.
And therefore I flaall now proceed to mention the third
Medicine, which you have ofcen heard off, under the name
of Efjence of Harts-horn $ but which is indeed onely the
Simple, but well Purify'd and Dephlegm'd Spirit of it.
And though Men are pleafed to imagin by the Efifedts this
Remedy often produces that I have fome Myfterious or ela¬
borate way of Preparing it, yet to deal ingenuoufly with
you, the chief thing I have done to bring it into credit, is
the teaching fome Phyficians and Apothecaries afafeandea-
fy way of making it: For whereas before thofe that went
about to Diftil it, commonly ufed, as the Apothecaries are
wont to doe in what they make of the fame Matter, Sha¬
vings or Rafpings of Harts-horn, and Diftil'd it with a
ftrong and naked Fire, the fugitive and fubtle Spirits were
wont to come over in that plenty, and with thit impetuoli-
ty, as to break the Gaffes to pieces, whereby Apothecaries
and even Chymifts were difcouraged from drawing the Spi¬
rit, and they not having it in their Shops, its Vertues re¬
mained unknown : Whereupon confidering that ifit were
onely broken on an Anvil into pieces of about the bignets
of oneslitie finger, befides that this way of comminution
would


(1 6)
would be far Iefs chargeable then Rafping, the fumes would
not be driven out fo fa ft, and confidering too, that a violent
Fire was requifice,not to Diftil the fubtle Spirit, but to drive
over the GrolTe and heavy £>yl ; I thought it was neediefs
to take paines to force that over, which not being that I
obferv'd ) ufed in Phyfick, would but coft me further pa-'ns
to feperate it again: And therefore, trying to Diftil Harts¬
horn, in naked Retorts, placed but in Sand, I found I could
Diftil two or three pound at a time, and obtain from each of
them,almoft, if not quite, all the Spirits and Vola.ile Salt,
which I afterwards feparated from the redifla and lighter
Oyl, and freed them from Phlegm and Feculencies by a
couple of Redtifications, made in tall Glades, and with ve¬
ry gentle heats: (commonly of a Lamp Furnace) The
Dofe may be from eight, or ten Drops of the Spirit, or
Graines of the Salt, to fix times the quantity of either, in
warm Beer, or any Vehicle that is not acid, except Milk.
Finding it to be a Medicine of an attenuating, refolving, and
Diaphoretical Nature, and one that much refifts Malignity,
Putrefadfion, and acid Humours (whence beingmingl'd
with Sp rit of Vinager, and the like foure Juyces, it de-
ftroyes their acidity.) I diredf it (
in Feavers, Coughs, Pleurifies. Obftrudiions of the
Spleen, Liver, or Womb, and principally in Affedfions of
the Brain, as Stoppages of the Head, Feaverifh
and even inPhrenittde. And fince I wrote a good part of
thisEflay, I had an Experiment of it in a Child, who being,
by many violent Convulfion fits, reduced to a defperate
condition, was recovered by one Dofe of five or fix Drops
of this Spirit, that Ifentit. 'Tis true that I have another
Medicine, that is more elaborate and coftly, and more pro¬
perly bears the name of EflentCcrvi, which I
x more


(>7°)
more value then this? But I cannot communicate that,
without prejudicing a third Perfon, and an excellent Chy-
mift who makes a great advantage of it. But this I can tell
you,- that mod of the Cures, for which my Preparation of
Harts-horn hath had the good fortune to be efteem'd, have
been performed with the above defcrib'd Simple Spirit and
Salt, with which fome skilful Phyfitians, and other Inge¬
nious Perfons, who had it from me, have within thefe few
Years fav'dfo many Lives, that I am enclined to think, I
have done no ufelefs piece of Service, in bringing fo happy
a Medicine into Requeft, efpecially with thofe that have
skill and oppertunity to make better ufe of it then I, But,
Pyrophiius, I find I have detained you fo long with fo pro-:
lix a Mention, of the three above defcrib'd Remedies, that I
fliould think it requifite, to make you afolemn Apologie;
but that I hope your Charity will as well invite you to Par¬
don the fault, as mine induc'd me to commit it.
CHAP. VII.
A Fourth way of leflening the Charges of Cures, may
** be this; That whereas the dearnefs of very many Me-
dicins proceeds from the, Chargeablenefs of thofe Chymi-
cal Operations, whereby they are wont to be Prepai'd, 'tis
to be hoped that a greater meafure of skill in Phyfiology,
and other Experimental Learning, will fuggeft cheaper and
better ways of doing many things in Chymiftry, then are,
as yet,ufually pra&if'd.
And thofe thrifty Expedients,I conceive,may be of feveral
kinds, of which I (hall at prefent mention, and that but tran-
fiently, three or four.
And firft,I doubt not but Chymifts may be taught to
make


(J71 )
make better Furnaces, forfeveral purpofes, then thofe that
have been hitherto moll uf'd among them : For profefl'd
Chymifts, having been for the moft part unacquainted e-
nough with many other parts of Learning, and particularly
with the Mechanicks, their contrivances of Furnaces and
Veffels have been far enough from being as good as know¬
ledge in Mechanicks and dexterity in contrivances might,
and,I doubt not, hereafter wiifr fupply them with; whether
as to the favingof Fuel, or to the making the utmoft ufe
of the Heat afforded by the Fuel they do employ, or as to
the intending heat to the height, or as to the regulating of
heat at pleafure.
'Tis fomewhat wondei/ul, as well as pleafant, to fee how
many Veffels may be duly heated by one Fire (perhaps no
greater then common diftillers employ to heat oneVefiel)
if the Furnace be fo contriv'd, as that the Flame may be forc'd
topafsin very crooked and winding Channels, towards the
Vent or Vents, and the heat may be skilfully conveyed to
the feveral parts of the Furnace, according to the Exigency
of the work it is to do: And as for the intention of heat, I
remember I have had odde effedfs of it, by the contrivance
of a certain Furnace, that held but very few Coles, and to
which I uf d no Bellows. But though by this way I could
vitrifie fometimes the very Crucibles, and thought polfibly
1 could, with a flight alteration, melt down the fides of the
Furnace.themfelves ; yet a Difciple of , and
a very credible Perfon, affur'd me, That he knew a way of
Furnaces that was yet fitter to bring heat to the
Degree; and thct he himfelf, the Relator, could, by the
meer force of Fire in his Furnace, bring Venetian Talk to
flow; which is more, I confefs, then ever I have been able
to do either in mine, orthofeof the Glafs-houfe. But Ex-
x 2 perience


( i7*)
perience hath afTured me, 'tis eafie to make a Furnace give
that heat as expeditioufly enough, and in other refpeds very
conveniently to Cupel both Gold and Silver, without the
leaft help of Bellows: That alfo Furnaces may be fo ordered,
as that the heat may be better regulated, then That in our or¬
dinary ones.T may elfwhere fhew you caufe to believe: And
in the meane time I fhall only tell you, that I look upon the
skill ofintending and remitting heat at pleafure, and efpeci-
ally the being able to keep a gentle heat long and equal as a
thing of much greater momenc, both as to Phyfick and Phi-
lofophy, then Chymifls are wont to think (the powerful
efFedsofconftantandtemporate heats, being as yet known
to few fave thofe that have made tr-yal of them) And with
Lamp Furnaces, well ordered, divers things may be done in
imitation of nature •, fome friends of mine having, as feveral
of them allure me, in fuch Furnaces, brought Hens egges to
manifeft Animation. That alfo Furnaces may be fo built, as
to fave much of the Laborants wonted attendance on them,
may appeare by the obvious invention of Athanors or Fur¬
naces with Towers, wherein the Fire is for many Hours,
( perhaps for twenty-roure or forty-eight) fupply'd witha
competent proportion of Coales, without being able to
burne much fafter then it Ihould: And that in many cafes
the labour of Blowing maybe well fpar'd, and the annoy¬
ance of Mineral fumes in great part avoyded, by 3n eafie
contrivance, is evident by thofe Furnaces which are blown by
the help of a Pipe, drawing the Air, as they commonly
ipeak, either at the top, as in Glau fourth Furnace, or at
the bottom, as for want of room upwards, I have fometimes
tryed: To which may be added, that the calling of the Mat¬
ters to be prepar'd upon quick Coals, as Glauber prefcribes
in that which he calls his firft Furnace, is in fome cafes a


(l7i)
cheap and expeditious way of preparing fome Minerals I
though his method of making Spirit of Salt in that Furnace
would not fucceed, according to his promife with me, and
fome of my acquaintance. And there are other more com¬
modious Contrivances, by cafting fome things upon the
naked Fire, which invites me to expefl, That there will be
feveral good Expedients of employing the Fire to Chymical
operations, that are not yet made ufe of, nor, perhaps, fo
much as dream'd of.
And as Furnaces, fo the Veflels that more immediately
contain the Thing to be prepar'd, are queftionlefs capable of
being made more durable, and of being better contriv'd,
then commonly, they are. Good ufe may be made of thofe
Earthen Retoi ts, that are commonly call'd s fecond
Furnaces, in cafe they be made of Earth that will well en¬
dure ftrong Fires; and in cafe there be a better way to keep
in the Fumes, then that hepropofesof melted Lead, which
I hive therefore often declin'd for another, as having found
it lyable to fuch inconveniences as I elfewhere declare.
But for Materials that are cheap, and to be diftill'd in quan¬
tity, as Woods, Harts-horn, &e. the way is not to be de-
♦fpif'd, and is, as we may elfewhere have occafion to iliew,
capable of improvement; though "in many cafes this kinde
of Veifel is inferior to thofe tubulated Retorts, that were of
old in ufe, and mentioned by , and from
which Glauber probably defum'd that which we have been
fpeakingof. The utility of the way of fealing Glafles her¬
metically, and of the Invention that now begins to be in re-
queft of flopping the Bottles, that contain corrofive and
fubtle Liquors with Glafs floppies, ground fit to their
Necks, infteadof Corks, together with fome other things,
not now to be mentioned, keep me that I fcarce doubt but
*hat


074)
that if we could prevail with the Glafs* men and the Potters,
to make Veftels of Glafs and Earth exaCily, according to
directions, many things in Chymiftry might be done better
and cheaper then they now are $and fomethings may be then
done, that with the forms of Veftels now in ufe cannot be
done at all. And if that be true which we finde related in
Pliny, and with fome other Circumftances in Dion Cafsius,
of a more ingenious then fortunate Man, who, about his
time, was put to death for having made malleable Glafs, as
the truth of that Story, if granted, would fhew the retriving
that Invention, a thing not to be delpair'd of: So he that
could, now Chymiftry is fo cultivated, finde again the way
of making Glafs malleable, vvpuld be, in my Opinion, a
very great Benefactor to Man-kinde, and would enable the
VirTuofi, as well as the Chymifts, to make feveral Experi¬
ments, which at prefent are fcarce practicable-, and fome Chy- *
mifts would perhaps think the attempt more hopeful, if 1
tell them firft, that I remember Raymund Lully exprefly
reckons it among three or four of the principal Vertues he
afcribes to the Philofophers Stone, that it makes Glafs mal¬
leable 5 and then, that an expert Chymift ferioufly affirm'd
tome, that met with an Adepts, who, among other*
ftrange things, fhew'd him a piece of Glafs, which the Re¬
lator found, would endure and yield to the Hammer: But
what my own Opinion is concerning this matter, and what
are the (uncommon) Inducements 1 have to be of it, I muft
not here declare.
And on this occafion, I remember I have feen ankiftru-
ment-ofTin, or Pewter, for the drawing of Spirit of Wine
(which you know is one of the chargeabieft things that be¬
long to Chymiftry) fo contriv'd, that whereas in the ordi¬
nary way much time, and many rectifications, are requifite
to


(*75>
to dephlegm Spirit of Wine ; one diflillation in this Veffel
will bring it over from Wine it felf, fo pure and flegmlefs,
as to burn all away. And I remember, that the ancient
French Chymift, in whofe Laboratory I firft fawone of thefe
Inftruments, told me, That 'twas invented, not by any great
Alchymift or Mathematician, but by a needy Chy-
rurgion. And now I fpeak of Spirit of Wine, I ihall adde;
That as the charges of Chymiftry would be very muchlefs-
ned, if fuch ardent Spirits could be had in plenty, and cheap;
fo I think it not improbable, that in divers places there may
be found, byPerfons well skil'd in the Nature of Fermen¬
tation, other Vegetable Subftances far cheaper then Wine 5
from which an inflammable, and faline Sulphureous Spirit,
of the like vertue, for difl'olving refinous Bodies, drawing
Tinctures, c/c. may becopioufly obtain'd: For not only,
'tis known, tharSydar, Perry, and other Juycesof Fruits
will afford fuch a Spirit; and that moft Graine , not very
undluous, as Barley, Wheat, &c. will do the like; but
other Berries that grow wild, as thofe of Elder, will yield a
Vinous Liquor. And in the Barbuda's they make a kind of
Wine, even of Roots, (I mean their c which they
make of Potatos; as Ihavealfo, for curiofity fake, made
Bread of the fame Roots) nay, even from fome forts of
Leaves,fuch a Liquor may be obtain'd: For I have obferved
Rofes well fermented, to yield a good Spirit very ftrongly
tailed, as well as inflammable. And as to the Preparing of
pureSpiritof Wine it felf, I know wayes (andoneofthem
cheap) that may exceedingly fliorten the time, and pains
ofdephlegmingit; but that being to be done otherwife,
then by any peculiar contrivance of Furnaces or GlafTes,
I referve it for a fitter place, in one of the following Effays.
And as more expedient and thrifty wayes, then the vulgar
ones.


('70
oftes, of making Chymicall Furnaces and Veflels, maybe
devif'd i fo 'tis to be hoped that a skilful Naturalift may
find cheaper waies of heating the Chymifts Furnaces, or Di.
(tilling in his Veffels (either by finding combuftible Materi¬
als, not formerly in ufe in the places where we work, or by
making thofe already imployed fitter for ufe) by bringing
them, by fome cheap alterations, either to give a greater, or
a more durable heat, or to be lefs offenfive by their fmoak
or fmells •, or elfe by difcovering fome cheap way of doing,
in fome cafes, without Fire, what was wont to be done
fey it.
We fee that in fome places^ efpedally here in ,
where Char-coale was only burnt in Furnaces, Pitcoaleis
fubftituted in its room-, and at this Day there are feveralof
thofe that make ^qua-For lis,in great quantities, thatDi-
ftil it with fuch Coales, which coft nothing neer fo much as
thofe made of Wood. And experience hath inform'd me,
that even in other forts of Furnaces, the fame Fuel may be
imploy'd, provided the Barres of the Grates be let wider a-
funder, and a little Char-coale be mingled with it for the
better kindling 5 and fince of late Years Pit coale have been
found infeveral places among us, where they were not for¬
merly known to be, it feems not improbable, that many
other Countries may afford Chymifts, and the reft of their
Inhabitants the like advantage, if learch were duely made, by
boring of the ground, by the obfervations of the Waters,
and theSteames of places fufpedfed, and by other waies of
inquiry that a skilful man might diredt 5 But becaufethe a-
bundant Smoak of Pit-coale,ufes to be very offenfive, and
the fmaller Coales eafily run through the Grates, and
becaufe of other inconveniences, there hath been a way found
out of charring thefe Coales, and thereby reducing them in¬
to


r«77)
to coherent MafTes, of a convenient bignefs and fhape, and
more dry and apt -to kindle 5 and thefe though, quantity for
quantity, their price be little infer iour to that of Char-coale.
Yet thofe that confume great proportions of Coales, tell me
theyfinde them almoft as cheap again, in regard they will
not only laft much longer, but give (efpecially near ac
hand) a far more intenfe heat: And therefore it muft be a
very ufeful thing to Chymifts, to fhew a way of charring
Sea-coales, without the help of thofe'Pots, which make
them of the price they now beare. And that it is not only
poffible, but very eafy, I could quickly fhew you, if it would
not prejudice an mduftrious Laborant, whofe profeffion
being, to make Chymicall Medicines in quantity, obliges
him to keep great and conftant Fires, and did put him upon
rinding away of charring Sea-coale, wherein it is in about
three houres orlefs, without Pots or Veffels, brought to
Char-coale^ of which having, for ciiiiofity fake, made him
take out fome pieces, and cook them in my prefence, I found
them upon breaking to appeare well charr'd, and much
thereof in fhew not unlike a Marchafite. And that which was
very convenient in this Contrivance was, that whil'ft the
Pit coale was charring, it afforded him a veiy intenfe heat to
melt or calcine the Minerals, he had occafion to expofe to
it: And heconfeft to me, that by this Method, he laved
three parts in foure of the Charges the keeping fuch great and
conftant Fires, with common Char-coale, would coft him.
In Hollandlikewife, they have a way of chairing Peat,
(which is a combuftible Turfe, that they dig under Ground )
and a skilful Diftiller, that much employ'd it, commends it
to me,as a very good Fuel,even for Chymical Fires ^ which
I therefore mention, becaufe the way ol charring Peat,Is not
yet brought intofeveral Countries, where Peat is dig'd up:
y And.


e^sv
And probably, it would be found in divers Regions, where
'tis yet unknown, if due fearch were m ade for it. To which
I may adde, that 'tis not unlike, that fome Countries may
afford fuch combuftible Materials, fit for Chymical Furna¬
ces, as have not, as yet, been fo much as nam'd by Mi-
neralift's ? as I remember I have feen, and had, a fort of
Coales, fome of which look'd like Marchafites, that burn'd
clear with a good Flame, and had this convenient quality,
for the Chymift's ufe, that they were not apt, like the com¬
mon Pit-coales, to flop the Grates with their Sinders, but
burnt to whitiih Aflres almoft like Char coale made of
Wood-, and yet gave fo great a heat, that an Induftrious
Chymift of my acquaintance, who kept many things con-
ftantly at work, found it worth while to have them brought
hini, above a daies journey, on Horfes backs.
But 'tis not impoflible, that when Men grow better Na-
turalift's, they may find waies, of exciting heat, enough
for many Chymicall operations, without the help of Fire;
and consequently, without the confumption of Fuel. We
find that by the attrition of hard Bodies, confiderable de¬
grees of heat may be produc'd, not only,in combuftible Ma¬
terials, as Wood, andthe-like, (which would therefore be
improper, to be here infifted on) But in others alfo, and
particularly, in Iron and Steel, one may by attrition foon
produce a fmart heat, as you may quickly try, by nimbly
Filing a piece of Iron, with a rough File; or fwiftly rubbing,
though but for a few minutes, a thin piece of Steel againft a
Board. And whether fome contrivance may not be" found,
by the help of cheap Engines mov'd by Water, or otherwife,
to produce a durable heat in Iron Vefiels, fit to digeft in, we
may elfewhere have further occafion to confider; But this is
known, that from fome fucculent Plants, a Liquor may be
drawn,


( *79)
drawn, only by expofing them in Glafles, purpofely con¬
trived to the Beames of the Sun. And there is nothing
more common, then for Chymifts to make their Digeftions
by the warmth of Horf-dung, whereby they mighc alfo fas
fome Analogous tryals incline me to think ) conveniently
enough, Diftil fome fermented Liquors; efpecially, if the
way were improv'd by the skilful addition of Quick-lime,
and feafonabie afperfions of Water. And I doubt not but
many cheap Materials might, by a few tryals, be found,
wheieby portable digefting Furnaces, without Fire, (ifI
may fo call them) might be made, without the ill fmell and
naftinefs, which difcommends the ufe of Horf-dung. For
nor only we tee, by what happens in the Spontaneous hea¬
ting of Malt, and fome other familiar fubftances, that pro¬
bably molt fort of Graines, and Berries, fit for Fermentation
may be brought to yeeld, for a good while, a beat great e-
nough tOputrifie, ordigeftwith: But I have, feveral Years
agoe, by many trials found; that I could, by invironing
Glafles with refufe Hay well prefT'd down and equally wet¬
ted throughout, produce for divers daies fucb a heate, as
made me decline the employing of Horf-dung; and yet
(which is the chiefe thing for which I mention this ) the
quantity of Hay was fofmall, that in all my trials I found
not, that the Hay did of it felf, though keptelofe enough,
take Fire-, as elfe is ufuall in Ricks of Hay not fufficieotly
dried, where the quantity, and confequently the weight,
that prefTes the lowermoft parts clofe together, is confide-
rable.
But further, in divers operations, where an a<5faal Fire is
requifite, it may be hop'd that Knowing Men, may difcover
waies offavingmuchofthe Fire, and making Skill perform
agreat part of the wanted office of heat. To obtain the
y 2 Spirit .


(180)
irC
Spirit offrefh Urine, youmuft Diftil away neamine parts
of ten, which will be but Flegm, before the Spirit or Vo¬
latile Salt will (and that fcarce,without a pretty ftrong heat)
regularly rife. And there are feveral Chymift's that, to this
day, make ufe of no better way ofDiftiling Urine-, But he
that knows, how Putrefaction opens many Bodies, may ea-
filyfave himfelfthe expenceoffo much Fire: -For if you
let Urine ftand well ftop'd, for eight or ten Weeks, the Sa¬
line and Spirituous parts will fo extricate themfelves.that the
Spirits that before ftaied behind the Flegm, will now, even
with the gentleft heat, rife up firft, and leave the Flegm be¬
hind. And on this occafion I lhall teach you, what I do
not know to have been mention'd by any Writer ? namely,
That even of frefli Urine, without Digeftion or Putrefa&ion,
lean, by a very cheap and eafie way, make a fubtleand pe¬
netrant Spirit, afcend, firft, even in a gentle heatAnd I
am wont to do it only by pouring Urine, how frefh foever,
upon Quick-lime, till it twim fome Fingers breadth above
it,and then diftilling it affoon as I pleafe. But I did not find,
upon many trials, that this Spirit, though even wicbout
Rectification very ftrong and lubtle, would Coagulate Spi¬
rit of Wine, like that of putrified and fermented Urine?
though, perhaps, for divers other purpofes it may be more
powerful.
And here I fhall adyertife You, that whereas I juft now
took notice, that there was a pretty ftrong Fire requiiiteto
force up the Salt of unfermenced Urine, out of that part,
which after the abft taction of the Phlegm, remains of the
confiftance of Honey ? trial hath infdhn'd me, That the vo¬
latile Salt may out of the thick Liquor be obtain'd, better
and more pure, with eafe, and with a, fcarce credibly, fmal
heat; barely, by tempering the Urinous extra# with a con¬
venient


(>Si)
veruent quantity of good Wood Afhes,whereby (for a reafon
elfwheretobe confider'd ) the volatile part, of the Salt of
Urine, is fo free'd from the groffer Subftance, that with
ftrange facility it will afcend, fine and white, to the top of
very tall Glades. But of the differing Preparation of Urine,,
more perhaps elfwhere. I now proceed to tell you, that I
think it not unlikely, that even Bodies, which are more
grofs and fluggifli, may by the affufion of fuch Menjlruums,
as humane Induftrie may find out, be far more eafily,either,
volatilized or unlockt, then common Chymifts-are wont to
think. Fori know a Liquor, not very rare among Chy-
mift's, by whofe help I have, often enough, diftill'dSpirit of
Nitre, ( whofe diftillation requires much about the fame vi¬
olence of Fire, with that of ^dqua-Fortis) even ina mode¬
rate he t of Sand, and without a naked Fire. This Spirit may
eafily enough be brought over, even ina Head and Body-
and, for a Wager, I could obtain a little of it without any
Fire or outward heat at all. And I remember,alfo,That hav¬
ing once dtgefted a certain Menftruvm, for a very fhort time,
uponcrude Antimony> and abftradied it, in a very gentle heat,'
of Sand* the Liquor, not only, brought over feme of the
Antimony in the form of red Flowers, fwiming itijft, and u-
nited other parts of the Mineral, with it felf, in the tranf-
parent Liquor, but the gentle heat railed to the top of the
Retort, divers little Maffes of a fubftance, that were very
tranfparent, like cumber, which were inflammable, and
. fmelt, and burnt blew, juft like common Sulphur 5 And yet
the cJMenfiruum^ which was eafily again recoverable from
tht Antimony, was no ftrong Corrofive, rafting, before it
was pour'd on, not much uniike good Vinager.
But befides all the wayes, 'above mentioned, of faving the
Chymift, either. Time, or Fire, or Labour 5 Idifpairno&
ih3R
H
it lira


(18*)
that divers others, yet unthoughton, will be in time found
out by thelndultry of skilful Mem taking notice of the
nature of things, and applying them to Chymical ufes-, as
we fee,that by Amalgamations with Mercury, the calcination
of Gold,and Silver, may be much ealyer perform'd, then by
a long violence of Fire. A^d, (if it be true, what Helmont,.
and Paracelfa, tell us of their immortal Liquor Alkabefi)
Medicines far nobler, and otherwife more difficult to make,
then thofe hitherto in ufe among the Chymift's, may be
Prepaid with greater eafe,*and expedition, and with far lefs
expenfe of Fire, then the nature of the Mettals, and other
• Concretes, to be open'dbyit, would let a vulgar Chymift
fufpedf. However, I fee no great caufe to doubt that there
may be cJWenftrnum s found that will much facilitate difficult-
Operations, fince not to mention again the Liquor, I late¬
ly told you, would work fuch a change on Nitre (and, I
might have added, on fome other compact Bodies) 'tis ve¬
ry like, there may be Cbfenftrnum's found, that will not
befofpoyhi by a fing!eOperation,made with them, as our
vulgar faline Spirits are wont to be. For I have try'd that
a CMenftruum, made by the bare diftillation of good Ver-
digreafe, #111 not only draw, as I have formerly told you,
a Tindture of Glafs of Antimony, or perform fome other like
Operation for once, but being drawn off from the diffolvedr
body, or the extraction, will again ferve, more then once,
for the like Operation upon frtfh Materials.
The fifth, and laft way, Pyrofhilus, that I intend to men- •
tion, of feffening Chymical expenfes 5 is, That the Nacura-
lifts may probably find out wayes of preferving fome Chy¬
mical Medicics, either longer or better, then thofe wayes
that are ufual. But of this pre'fervation of Bodies, being
like, as I formerly intimated, to have elfewhere further oc-
cafion


OS?)
cafion to Treat; I fit all now only fay, That the purined
Juyces, liquid Ex trails, Robs, and other foft Medicaments,
made of Plants, may be Conferv'd far cheaper, afvvel as bet¬
ter, then with Sugar (which clogs moft Mens Stomacks,
and otherwife difagrees with many Conftitutions) in cafe
Helmont fay true, where he tells us, That for a fmall piece of
Money, he can, for I know not how long, preferve whole
Barrels of Liquor. And a way he intimates, of fuming li¬
quors with Sulphur, I have allready told you, is a very
good way of keeping them ifticorrupted ? provided, that
(though he prescribes it not J they be fix or feven feveral
times (feldomer or oftner, according to the quantity or
nature of the Liquor) well impregnated with that embalm¬
ing Smoak ; to which purpofe it is convenient to have two
Veflels, to.poure from one to the other, that whil'ft the Li¬
quor is flaaking in the one, the other may be well fill'd with
Smoak; whereto I (hall only fubjoyn this fectet, which a
friend of mine, pra&ifes in preferving the fumigated Juyces
of Herbs (as, I elfwhere inform you, I do to preferve other
things) with a*fuccefs that I have fomewhat wondredat;
which confift's, in adding to the thick Liquor, to be pre.
ferved, a due, but fmall, proportion of the white
lum, (which I often elfwhere mention) made of the pure
Spirits of Wine and Urine.
But I have made this excurfion too prolix, and therefore I
fhall only adde as a general admonition, that we are not, by
the common practice of Vulgar Chymift's, toeftimate what
Knowing Naturalift's,«skili'd in Mechanical contrivances,
may be able in time to do, towards the making of Chymi-
cal Remedies, as well more cheap as more effectual; and,
indeed, to make them more effectual, is the beft way to
make them more cheap.


(«S4)
For, Pyrophilus, after all the wayes, that I have rnen-
tion'd, whereby the charges, of thz Therapeutical part of
Phyfick, may 'beleflhed •, Imuft advertifeyou, both, That
I make no doubt but there may be divers others found, which
either through want of skill or leafure I have pretermitted,
and that I have not yet named the principal of all 5 which is,
That the deep infight into Natural Phiiofophy may qua-
lifie him that hath it by feveral wayes, and efpecially by
difcovering the true Caufes and Seats of Difeafes, to find out
fuch generous and effectual Remedies, (whether Specificks,
or more Univerfal Arcana ) as by quickly freeing the Pa¬
tient frQm his Difeafe, may exempt him from needing,either,
much Phyfick from the Apothecary, or many chargeable
vifites from the Doctor of Chirurgeon, Thus the rich
Merchant I mention'd in one of the former Eflayes to have
been freed, by aSpecifick, from the Gout 5 and'the young
Eady,cur'd other Fiftulas, bytheinfufionof ^Millepedes 5
might well, in the ordinary way, have fpent, even fuppo-
fing them thrifty, a hundred times more, upon Phy fitians
and Phyfick, then the potent and nimble Remedies, where¬
by they were fo happily recovered, coft them.
£ To which I ffiall adde, by way ofConfirmation,bothof
this and of what 1 lately told you • concerning the Efficacy
that may be, even, in flightly Prepared Simples, what I
came to learn, fince the writing of the former part of this
Eflfay, namely, that a young Lady, who (though of great
Birth, is yet of far greater Beauty andvertue, whomlpre-
fume I need not name to you) having been long troubled
with an almoft hereditary Epileptical Diftemper, and after
having been ivearied bycourfts of Phyfick prefcrib'd her,
by the famouteft Docftors that could be procur'd, without
at all mending, but rather growing worie, fo that fome-
tiines


Os5)
times She would have, in one day, eight or ten of fuch dif-
malFits, as You 3ndlh3ve feen her in; was cur'd onely
by the Powder of true CMtfJeltoe of the Oake5 given as
much as would lie upon a Sixpence, early in the morning, in
black Cherry Water, or even inBeeref for fome days near
the full Moon. And I am affur'd, partly, by the Patient
her felf, and, partly, by thofe that gave her the Medicine,
That though it had fcarce any other fenlible Operation upon
her, and did not make her fickiih, efpecially, when ihe flept
upon it; Yet, after the firft day {he took it, Ihe never had
but one Fit. And this Remedy, an ancient Gentleman,
who, being cafually prefent when flie fuddenly fell down as
dead, gave it her, profeff'd himfelf to have conftantly
cur'd that Difeafe with it, when he could procure the right
Simple, which is here exceeding fcarce. And what further
Experiment fome Friends of Yours have fuccesfully made,
of its Vertue, I may elfwhere have occafion to relate. ]
To which I {hall only adde, That one of the Skilfullefl
Methodift's I ever knew, having had much adoe to pre"
ferve a young Coufin of Yours from a very dangerous
Cough, by a long courfe of Phyfick; the party, at the be¬
ginning of the next Winter, falling into a Relapfe more
threatning then the firft Difeafe, wasrefcued from it in two
or three days, by not many more takings of a Specifick fent
her, made of nothing elfe but Hartf-horn prepar'd as I late¬
ly taught You. And if fuch flight Medicines, confifting,
each or them, but of a fingle Simple, not elaborately prepa.
r'd, may fometimes {for I fay not alwaies) perform fuch
fpeedy cures even in Chronical Diftempers, what may not
be hoped from the Arcana majo
danum,io praifed by Opcrinus\imk\i-, and Butlers Driff, fo
extold by Helmont) when the skilful^eft Preparations, of
z the


(i8«)
the nobleft Simples, fliall come to be known by Learned
and Judicious Men, intelligent in the Th(orf of Phyfick,
and efpecially verPd in the Hiftory of Difeafes ? And though
Riverius were none of the greateft Naturalifts, or, at leaft,
Chymifts, Yet if in his Obfervation, and elfwhere, he flat¬
ter not his own Febrifugum•, how many Patients did that
one Specifick, refcue from Quartanes, that would elfe pro¬
bably have prov'd as Chargeable as Tedious ?
But, Pyrophilus, having fayed fo much, that I fear you
have thought ittedions, to fhew that aNaturalift, skill'd
inChymiftry and the Mechanicks, may aflift the Phyfitian
to make his cures lefs Chargeable •, 'tis high time, that after
fo longanexcurfion, I proceed to confider in what other
particulars he may be a benefadtor to the Phy fitians Art.
CHAP. VIII,
"Clftly, then, that the Naturalifts skill may improve the
Pharmaceutical Preparations of Simples, by fcveral
wayes partly touch'd already, and partly to be, either, ad¬
ded or further treated of 5 the great variety of new Remedies,
wherewith the Laboratories of Chym fts havefuin (bed the
fhops of Apothecaries, may convincingly inform you. To
which I muft take the liberty to adde (and chat upon ferious
Confiueration) That the Chym Preparations, hitherto
common in Dtfpenfatories, are,as to the Generality cf them,
far enough from being the moj} Dextrous, or Noble, that can
hedevifd: For our Vulgar Chymtftry to which our Shops
owe their venal Spagyrical Remedies) is as yet very incom-
pleat, affording us rather a Colledion, of loofe and fcatter'd
(and many of them butcafual) Experiments, then an Arc
duely fuperftru&ed upon Principles and Notions, emergent
from


(.88;
by Chymifts flatteringly enough,call'd 3 whole
Pound of Cordial Conferves, or Liquors, will not fowell
moderate its evacuating force, as the keeping it continually
flirting in a flattilh and well glaz'd earthen Veflel, placed o-
ver aChafingdiflaof Coales till it emit no more fumes, but
grow of a grayilhColour: which lam very credibly informed
to be the Preparation of McrC'Vilt often mention'd
and commended by the famous Practitioner River ins, in his
Obfervations. A not unlike,but far more fudden,Correction
of that active Powder,I elfwhere teach. And as - for thofe O-
perative Minerals, Jjtuickfelver and though long
Experience of their churlifh and untraClable Nature have
made many, of the waryer Phyfitians and Chymifts fhy to
meddle with either of them Angle: Yet thefe Concretes,
which feem fo Incorrigible, may,by being barely (in the gra¬
dual Diftillation, ot Butter of fublim'dup to¬
gether into a Cinnabtr,and then that fix or (even
times refublim'd/><?>•/c, be united into a Medicine, that not
only is not wont to work, either upwards or downwards, but
of which I have known fafely taken, even in fubftance, to
the Dofeof many Grains 5 and a few Drachmes, of which,
infuf'd in a Pound or two of Wine, hath made it of that in-
offenfive Efficacy (taken, in the quantity of a Spoonful or
two, daily upon an empty ftomachj That, if it ftill fucceed
afwell as we have obferv'd it two or three times to do, we
may think that our havingthus acquainted You with the Ver-
tue of this one unlikely Remedie, (though we have alfo met
withit, even, in Pi inted Books) may make you amends for
all the reft of this ted ous Difcourfe. I once knew a flight
( but altogether new and tedious, afwell as Philofophical)
Preparation, of Salt of Tartar CorreCl and Tame fuch
Poifons, as ten times the quantity of the higheft Vulgar An¬
tidotes.,


(19°)
See his caufe, not only, BafilhsValentim, but other skilful Per-
fmphlihf°nse highly extol itforfeveral Difeafes.
4Minimi. And let me adde, Pyropbilus, ( and be pleaf'd to mark
well what I tell you ) That by bare reiterated Digeftions,
and Fermentations, there may be Prepar'd, out of many
Vegetables, Saline and Sulphureous Elfences (whofeBulk
is exceeding (mail, tn proportion to the Concrets whence
they are Extraded) which will keep many Years, as I can
fhewyoufomeabovethree Yearsold, and contain more of
the Crafts (if I may fo call it) of the Simple, then the
vulgar Vegetable Waters, Spirits, Extrads or Salts, hi¬
therto extant in Laboratories and Shops. But there is fo
great a length ofTime required, to the Preparation of thefe
Efficacious Juyces, That my ambulatory condition of
Life, hath not allowed me tofurnilhmy felf with many of
them.
And, Pjrofhilus, ifYou will not dif believe a Perfon for
whom You have fojuft an efteem, asYouhavefor that In¬
genious, and Experienc'd, L. F, who was the
French Kings Chymift, when You knew him at Paris 5 I
can, prefent You with a yet Nobler inftance, toperfwade
You; That, if skill be not wanting, afingleHerb, with¬
out any violence of Fire, may, by other wayes then are in
ufe among Chymifts, be eafily enough broughc to afford
Medicines, endovv'd with forne Nobler Vertues, then any
of the moft compounded, coftly, and elaborate Medicines,
whether Minerals or others, that are to be met with among
Vulgar Chymifts. This Efficacious part of the Plant,
whence 'tis obtain'd, Parace call's the Primum Ens of
the Plant that yeilds it <But though, indeed, I have found
the way of Preparing it much plainer, and better deliver'd,
then is ufual in his Writings, at the end of his Book De Re.
ntvatione


(ipO
vovathne & Reftauratlone % Yet I freely acknowledge J
That, I fhould fcarce have thought it worth the Trial, if it
had not been for what the Experienc'd C hymift, above men-
tion'di affirmed to me, upon his own Obfervations, con¬
cerning it, partly, becaufe I am not wont to be forward fo
much as to try long Procefles upon s credit, and
partly, becaufe what he call's Solutum feem'd to me
fomewhat ambiguous; fince, in the fame Page teaching
to draw the Ens Primumoi Gold and he makes
not ufe of Sea-fait, but of (a Salt of an incomparably high¬
er Nature) hisSd/ Citeulatum; and in the Procefl'e imme¬
diacy preceeding ours, to make the Ens Primumoi Eme¬
ralds, he Prefcribes the Calcining them in Sale Soluto,
which agrees far better with his Sal Circulatum then with a-
ny Solution of Sea fait, which feems very unlikely to be
able to Calcine and, as he fayes it muft, diffolve Eme¬
ralds. But the way, that our French Chymifl told me he-
ul'd, was in fubftance this: Gather, in a convenient feafon
and time of Day, Baulm for inftance, or fome other fit
Herb, ( for experience hath taught, both him and me, that
all Herbs are not fit, by this way, to be reduc'd into Li¬
quors; and having beaten it well, in a marble Morter, to
a foft mafb, plac'd in a Bolt head hermetically feal'd, to
Digeft forty dayesina Dunghill or fome analogous heat}
then, opening the VeiTel, takeout the Matter, which will
be far more Liquid then before, from which, having fepa-
rated the groifer parts, You muft Digeft it in a gentle Barh,
that the yet remaining grofler parts may fubfide; to which,
being filtrated, You muft, according to him, (for I nd
not that Paracel/usrequites it) joyn the fixed Salt, of the
groffer parts above mention'd, dry'd andcalcin'd. To
this, Prepar'd Liquor, You muft adde equal parts of the
Liquor


( '9*)
Liquorofgood Sea-fait well purifi'd, and then melted, and
fuffered to run Per Deliquium : This Liquor, being alfo
feal'dup in a convenient Glafs, muff be expof'd to the Sun
for about fix Weeks; at the end of which time there will
fwim at the top of it, the Primum of the Plant in a Li¬
quid form, tranfparent, and either green or red, or, per¬
haps, of fome other Colour according to the Nature of the
Plant. And though Paracelfw prefcribes but Celandine,
andBaulm, tobeufid, Yet having enquir'd of our Chymift,
he told me, he had made fuch of
and, as I remember, of one or two other Herbs. But that
which makes me thus, particularly, take notice of thefe kind
of Medicines, is, That not only Paracelfus afcribes to the
PrimumEnsofBaulm, (orCelandine) thepowerof reno-
vatingthem that ufe fo much of it in good Wine as will
give it a Tin&ure, early every Morning; till, firft of all,
the Nailes of their Fingers, then thofe of their Toes, after¬
wards their Hair, and Teeth, fall off, and, laftly, the Skin
bedri'dand exchang'dfor anew one: But Your ingenious
acquaintance aflured me feveral times, and once, in the pre-
fenceofa famous Phyfitian, and another , to whom
he appeal'd, as knowing the truth of what he fayed; That
an intimate Friend of his, whom he nimedto me, having,
after the above mentioned manner, Prepared the Primum
Ens of Baulm, to fatiffie himfelf the better of its effects,
made the Trial upon himfelf, and tookofit, according to
the Prefcription, for about a Fortnight; Long before
which his Nailes, both of Hands and Feet, began to loofen
themfelves from the Skin, (but without any pain) which
at length falling off, of their own accord, this Gentleman
keeps yet by him in a Box for a rarity, but would not purfue
the Trial any further, being fatiffied with what he had found,


()
2nd being in no need of fuch Phyfick* But having given of
the fame Medicated Wine, for ten or rvvelve Dayes, to
a Woman that ferv'd in his houfe, and was neer feventy years
of Age, without letting her know, what heexpe&ed it fhould
do, Her Purgationes CMenftrua came upon her again in a
fufficiently great quantity, to fright her fo much, that he
durft profecute the Experiment no further-And when I ask'd,
why he made no triall upon Beads? It was anfwer'd, that
though he had but little of the Medicine, yet he put apart
an old Hen, and moiftning her food with fome drops of it
for a Week, about the fixth day (he began to moult her
Feathers by degrees, till Ihe became ftark naked* but before
a fortnight was paft, (he began to regain others, which when
they were come to their full growth, appear'd fairer, and bet¬
ter colour'd then the firft * And he added, That befides
that, her creft was rais'd , Ihe alfo laid more Egges, then (he
was wont* And as to the Prmum Ens of the greater Scro-
pbulariay by therelater himfelf, though he afcrib'd not to it
any renovating power, as to that of Balm or Celandine, yet
he allured me, he had found it enobled, by other great and ex¬
traordinary Vertues. But of this kind of Preparation, I
might ere now, poflibly, have been able to give You a better
account, if in my trials about them, I had not met with fome
unhappy accidents, which I hope my next attempts will eT-
cape: which if they do, I may poffibly, with an account of
them,fend You one of fome attempts to prepare the like Me¬
dicines another and fhorter way, together with a confedera¬
tion, whether ParaceJ(us and others defervedly call fuch ac¬
cidents as the abovemention'd change ofNailes Hair, and
even of Teeth a reall renovation or rejuveneflence.3
'Tis likewife a way of preparation, diilering enough from
thofe that are common among Chymifts, which Helment fas
a a he


Z ZZ ^
C«94^
in trafta- ^aies out commiferation to the fick) delivers,where he
culo cui ti- teaches that which he calls the Via Media of making the E-
tul.feqvun- itxlr j>roprietatis~ of which he gives us this commendation:
tur g)u<e- ^ ,* . ' ^ D . /i t
damimper- Hoc mcdicamwe tam guar tan dm ^qu am continu am Jtatim ab•
fcftiora. f{olvi. ^Adio ut qui nociu fufceperat facrcfanffum viaticum ?
$ olei extremamunZtionem, me in frandio corrAvam circa
lectumhabuerit. And though many think,that he has rather
fraudulently, then rightly fet the procefs down; yet expe¬
rience has invited me to abfolve him in this particular.
(Though I muft tell You, that becaufe a Languid heat is
not fufficient to make a Spirituous liquor afcend and circu¬
late as he requires^ 'tis not every Chymift, that will, efpeci-
ally in his Gi ft trials, avoid the breaking of the Glalfes, or at
leaft the burning oi the materialls, to which accidents this
preparation is very obnoxious, if it be not as well watchfully
as skilfully made.J And though for my part, I have fcarce
us'd this Elixerbut as a Cordial; yet I know fome very ex •
pert Phyfitians, that have given it with great fuccefle in di¬
vers difficult cafes, and particularly a Friend of the younger
Belmonts gives it fo fuccesfully, that partly his Patients, and
partly others that have try'd it, have fometimes taken of
him,at a great rate, whole Pounds in a Year or too- and yet
1 know by hisownconfeffion, that, befides the skill he em¬
ployes in making it dexteroufly, he adds nothing but one In¬
gredient, to which I confefs, I am not apt to afcribeany con-
fiderable part of the efficacy of the Medicine; which, when
made, he fometimes perfumes by cohobations with Musk,
and Amber.
And Pyrophilu*, that you may not wonder, that I, who
think much of HelmentsTheory fcarce intelligible, and take
great exceptions at many things in his writings, fliould yet
now and then commend Medicines upon his Authority, I
muft


( '95)
mull here confeffe to you once for all,that (alwaies excepting
his extravagant p"see, Be magnetica vulnerum curatione, )
I have not feen caufe to difregard many things he delivers,
as matters of fad, provided they be rightly underftood-, ha^
ving not found him forward to praife Remedies without
caufe, though he feem to do it fometimes without meafure,
and having more then once, either known, or even had,confi-
derable effedls of Medicines he commends, which one of the
happieft Pradfitioners I have met with, and one not lavilh
in extoiling Chymicall Remedies has folemly afliir'd me,
he has generally, though not alwaies, found more then ordi¬
narily effectual And upon occafion of this odde prepara*
tion of the Elixir Prcfrietatis, I fhall adde that, Since Expe¬
rience Ihewes us, by what is daily done in Chymicall Labo¬
ratories, that upon the operation of the fire upon feveral
Concretes, fubftances otNature oftentimes very differing
both from the body that afforded them, and from one ano¬
ther, may beobtain'd; as the Oyles, and fixe Salts,even of
cold Plants or Hot: Since alfo, by the mixture of adtive
Bodies new Concretes, endow'd with new qualities, may be
produced ; as we fee that Saccharum Saturm emergeth from
the conjunction of Lead, with the Acid Salt,diftiird Vinegar;
and Since too the fame Concrete, according to the differing
manners, after which 'tis handled, may acquire differing
Qualities, as is clear in the various Medicines, afforded us by
Quickfilver, and by Antimony, according as each of them is
ordered-, I cannot but think,that if Chymiftry did no more
then aflift us, by the refolution of bodies, to extricate
their more adiive parts, and, partly by fuch refolutions,
and partly by aflbciating bodies together , to alter
the former texture of Natures Productions, or prefenc
iis with new Concretes of new Textures ; by this
a a 2 very


( »9<S)
very means, if men want not Curiofity, andlnduftry to vary
and profecute experiments, there mull; neceflarily arifefuch
a ftore of new and a^ive Medicines, that in all probability,
many of them will be found endow'd withfuch Vertues,as
have not been,at leaft in that degree, met with in the ufuall
Medicines, whether fimple or compound, to be bought in
Apothecary fhops-, and confequently, even without any no¬
table difcovery,or improvement of Principles, Chy mills,
(even as matters now ftand with them) may confidera-
bly adde to the Pharmaceutical part of Phyfick. But if the
Operations of Chymiftry were ferioufly enquir'd into, and
throughly underftood, I make little doubt, but by a skilfull
application of them, and efpecially by a of them, in a
rationall and orderly way,fucceeding one another, there may
be found out a great many preparations of Remedies, both
very differing from the common ones, and far more noble
then they. And to make this feem probable, I need but re¬
peat fome of the examples formerly mention'd-, To which
I fhall adde now, that Experience has inform'd me there is a ,
way, whereby firmer confiftenc fubftances, belonging to the
bodies of Animals, may without the addition of any extra¬
neous matter, and without any violence of heat,be reduced
almoft totally into Liquor, and if I much mifremember not,
thefe Liquors without any violence of heat, afford their Spi¬
rituous and Saline parts, in a very gentle heat, and that before
their Flegme. And I muff peculiarly inculcate this,That if
we had but a few potenc Menftruums, to diflolve and unlock
bodies with, I fcarce know what might not be done in Chy¬
miftry. But when I fpeak of noble Menftruums, I mean
not fuch as work like the generality of Corrofives, and
the like Acid or Saline Liquors, which work but upon few
Itinds of bodies, and fooa coagulate, or exantlate themfelves


( I97)
byworking5andtherebybecomeunfit for future operations*
but I mean fuch as either are feparable with all their efficacy
from the diflolv'd Body? as is faidof the Aikahtft, or fuch
Saline or other piercing Liquors, as not being precifely either
Acid, Urinous, or Alcalizate can refolve a great variety of
Concretes, without haveing their Vertue, I fay not impair'd,
but deftroy'd thereby* and unlock Minerall bodies, far more
then vulgar Mcnftruums, fas for inftance by volatilizing
them, or elfe making them irreducible, or working the like
grand changes in them:) and if it be not quite feparatedfrom
the diflolved Body, is yet fo friendly to Humane Nature, as
to be free from either fretting, or other fuch dangerous and
offenfive Qualities, and rather to be of it felf a powerfull Me¬
dicine. I fhould therefore exhort both You, and fuch other in¬
genious perfons,as wifh the advancement ofChymiftry, and
Phyfick, (I might poffibly adde Natural Philofophy too)
to apply their Chymical attempts, chiefly to the finding out
of Noble Menftruums, for by being poflefior but of one of
thefe, a Man may be able to doe a great number of things,
that otherwife are not to be performed* As one of our or¬
dinary Goldfmiths, by the bare knowledg he hath of Aqua¬
fortis, can make many ufeful Experiments, about Silver,and
Gold,that before that Menfiruum was found out, all the Men
of his profeffion in the World, were never able in many ages
to compafs. Nor do I much wonder at that advife, which
Belmont gives thofe that aime at the improvement of Phy¬
fick, in thefe Words: Quod fi ad ijiud ignis arcanum non
pertingatzs (he was fpeakingofa prodigious, not to fay incre¬
dible Liquor) difcitefaltem, falem Tartar* reddere volatilcm,
ut hujus medio veflras folutiones perficiatis. Qui etfifua foluta,
an at ice bomogenea defer at, digejlus in nobis: illorum tamen
aliquot vires mutuatus efty quos intra defert^flurmorurn mor-
bo/urn
Helm, dt
febr. eap.fl
num. *6»
i1!
I | i
lil
III
1! Ml
mm
ill!


(*99)
Helm de ^0Yum %*tr*ces'» F°r concerning this Salt, he not only elfe-
febr.cap. where faies: Dicam fatten? fro ingenuis, quod Spiritus Satis
17. vcrf. <j;artari, fi unicornis, argent urn, hydrargyrum^ lap ides cancro-
rum, net aliquod e fimplicibus dijjolvertt, nedumfebrim, fed
& plures affatim morbos fanet, &c. But inanothet place he
gives us, together with fome account of its way of working,
this great and comprehenfive commendation of it. CMi*
Helm de rum fa/jc ,^she, quantum fat Tartaric vet unicum, volatile
fchohr. fattum, non pr^fliterit: Nam omnem e venis amurcam deter-
Humorifla. git obflruentium contumaciam , difpergitque apofiematum
Tao^m- fufcePta conciltabula, De hoc falls (& non olei) fpiritu^verum
mm 89. efiillud Paracelfi, quod quocunfc non attigerit vtxaliuspoten-
tior perveniet. Thefe paflages I fliould not think worth
tranferibing and laying together, but that I find that befides
the concurrent Teftimonies of Helm&nt, Paracelfus, and Ba^
filius in prafe of this Salt, the generality of the more inquifi-
tiveChymifts, without excepting the more fober and judi¬
cious, do, by the various and painfull, though fruitleffe, at¬
tempts they have made to Volatilize Salt of Tartar, confpire
in acknowledging it a thing highly worth labouring for; nor
do I for my part lee (whatever lome fay to the contrary, and
however I have indeed found it more difficult, then perhaps
a Novice in Chymiftry would think) it fhould beimpoflible,
for I have more then once with eafe enough, made Gold it
felf volatile, though it be confelTed to be the fixeft body in
the WoTd, and confequently more fixe then Salt of Tartar,
which in an open VefTel, may be in time made to Hie away
by a vehement fire-, And I have likewife by an unufual
Method, that I have elfwhere deliver'd, more then once ob¬
tain^ from a mixture of crude Tartar, and two or three Mi¬
neral bodies good ftore of true Volatile Salt, which 1
could fee no juit caufe not to think afforded by the Tartar.
But


Os>8)
Bat I confefl'e this may be rather a volatile Salt of Tartar,
then Salt (that is Alcali)of Tartar made volatile, ana there¬
fore thejprincipal thing I mention it for, is to ihew you, that
Tartar it felf, by an unufual way of management, may be
brought to afford an unufuall kind of Salt. But this I can tell
You, that an ingenious acquaintance of mine, whom not-
withftanding my wonted diftrufts of Chymifts,I durft credit,
affirm'd tome, that he had himfelf feena true and real
7*artari volatile made of Alcali of Tartar,and had feen ftrange
things done with it, infomuch that he believ'd mod of the
things,that Helmont delivers of it. For my part I am inclin'd
tothink, that Salt of Tartar may be made volatile, (whether
in the form of a Sublimate or a Liquor J by more wayes then
one, though not all of them neer equally good: and whereas
one of the beft (if not the very beft) of the wayes of volatili¬
zing it, feems to do it principally with Spirit of Wine, and
the great difficulty of that wayconfifts in bringing this Spi¬
rit to afi'ociate with the fait: I have feen Salt of Tartar of
my own, brought to that paffe, which great Virtuofi have
long in vain attempted to bring it unto, namely, to flow rea¬
dily upon a red hot Iron, and alfo to take fire, and burn with
a confpicuous flame, befides that when it had been dry'd by a
fmartfire to drive away any parts that did not firmly adhere
to it, it would yet readily diffolve in high re&ify'd Spirit of
Wine, which you know Salt of Tartar will not otherwife
do; not to mention the change of its Alcahzate tafte, and o-
ther leffer alterations; but what I can further fay of this mat¬
ter, I muff not declare in this place.
And Pyo. That You may not be as many other Virtuofi,
difcourag'd from labouring for noble Menftruums, by the
confident perfwafion of many, who believe
Guntherus Bill]chim (whom I deny not to have,been Learned
Men-,
x


(20b)
Men, but do not take to have been great Matters of Chy-
micall Arcana,) fit to determine with Authority, what can,
and what cannot be done by Chymiftry, leaft I fay You
iliouldbe, by fuch mens inconfiderate feveritie, brought to
defpair of ever feeing any noble Menftruum, that is not
fliarpe to the tafte, nor of any of the three peculiar kinds of
Saline Liquor. (Acid as Aquafortis Urinous, as the Spirits
of Blood,Urine, and other Animal fubftances, nor Alcalizate,
•as Oyle of Tartar Per deliqnium ) I ihall aflure you, that to
my own knowledg there is in the World a kind of Men*
ftruum, that confifts of a pure Chryft lline fubftance, that
is made by the fire, and as truely Saline as Sale of Tartar it
felf, which ftrange Salt, though well purified,and readily dif-
foluble, as well in dephiegmed Spirit of Wine, as common
Water, and though it be totably volatile (whence you may
guefle of how Saline a nature it is) and alfo be either way
reducible to a noble Menftruum, does really taft fweet. I
mean not in the Chymical fenfe, by want of fowernefs (as
when they fay that the Calces of corroded and precipitated
things are dulcify'd by frequent ablutions) but by a pofitive
fweetnefle. And whereas the vulgar Saline Menftruums,
(which alone feem to have been known to Sala and Silljchius)
are fo fpecificated, if I may foexprefsit, that what an Acid
Menftruum difl'oives, an Alcalizate, or an Urinous will pre-
cipitate,c^ e converfo s And whichfoevtr you choofe of thefe
three forts of Menftruums, one of the other two will difarm,
and deftroy it. I found by trial, not only that a Red
Tin&ure of Glafs of Antimony, being drawn with a Men¬
ftruum that was but a degree to this Liquor, I could not
precipitate it like our common Tin&ures, either with Spirit
cf Urine, or an Alcalizate Solution. But that (which is for
moreconfiderable) though it would readily mix with Acid
Spirits


■=
( 201 )
sofCa;. Spirits, as OyleofVitriol, with Volatile and Urinous Spi"
Ati» rits, as Spirits of Urine it felf, and with Alkalizate Solutions;
Ufii yet would neither of thefe three make any Ebullition at all
bionjtit with it,or feem to work at all upon it. But of fuch Matters
tint is t no more at prefent.]
(011,1; yOuwill perhaps expe^Pyrtf^/'/w, that, Treating of the
lioll advantages that may accrew to the Therapeutical part
hst^k ofPhyfick, from a more accurate knowledg of Natural Phi-
ilii lofophy; I ihould tell you with the Chymifts, that Chymi-
m firy it felf, and much more Phyfiology in its full extent, is
;;3a not only capable of improving the Pharmaceutical part or
tjjB Preparation of Remedies-, (for, that we have confefTed alrea-
!Ht! dy) but alfo ofaffording us a new and much better
j(B | medendi, or skill of ufing the Helps, that Nature or Art hath
lists provided ag3inft Difeales. And indeed the Phyfitians Art
is fo difficult, and a man muft know fo many things to be,
though not tolerably, yet perfectly skilldinit, that it may
itita without difparagement to Phyfitians, be thought yet capable
of being improved, if not of being reformed. Hippocrates
begins his Aphorifmes with a complaint, that Life is fliort,
w!p but the Art long. And Paracelfns himfelf, though he fay
after his boafting manner, Ars efl , vita ubi
autem donum finis (as he fpeaks) efl, ibi ars efl brevis,vita ve-
rum longa ft arti conferatur: Yet expounding the fame
ivords a little above, he faith, Itaque Hippocrates meritode
(o conc/ueritur: nam & affectis ipflits ide Ars medico,
conflflit in Philo[ophia,\A flronomia ,& ,
ATM /luii « 4 —/ . ^ A A fl A ^ A /T a AA ^ ^ m M Jt a 14- A i Si *s\ A
.arkni.
til! Sfi
'Alii
CHAP. IX.


Paracelfitt
in his Pre-
his
la,
or Cbivw
gia Minor*
f 205)
fick wherehe fares,Wt># Titulus, non
rum pentta^ nec mult or um Librorum lectifi bac non pa-
rum exornant) in Medico confideranda, fed rerum ac face to his
Myfteriorum cognitio^ qua una facile vices h!
agit. Rhetor is quidem eft difert'e pofie loqui ac
quejudiceminfuamfenttntiam trahere. Medici autem
Muumgener4, caufas ac cj* iis ixfuper faga-
citateac induftria Pharmaca applxare^at
genie ac rations velcunttis mederi: But though,
after the acknowledgments made by fach great men of the
almoft infuperable difficulty of their Art, you would per¬
haps think it no great preemption, ifamanfhould attempt
to innovate in any part of it, and confequently even in the
Mtthodui medendi; Y et Pyrophilus, lam much too young,
too unlearned, and too unexperienced, to dare to be dogma-
ticall in a matter of fo great moment. And the Phy ficians are
a fort of men,to whofe Learned Writings on almoft all fub-
je&s, the Commonwealth of Learning is fo much beholden,
that I would not willingly diflent from them, about thofe
notions in their own profeflion, wherein they feem generally
to agree; And do very much dilapprove the indifcreec
pra&ife of our common Chymifts and Helmontians, that
bitterly and indifcriminately raile at the Methodifts inftead
ofcandidly acquiefcing in thofe manifeft Truths, their Ob-
fervations have enricht us with, and civilly, and modeftly
(hewing them their Errors where they have been miftaken.
And yet, Pyrophtlus, Since divers of the eminenteft Metho •
difts themfelves have more then once ingenioufly acknow¬
ledged to me, and ferioufly deplored with me, the incom-
pleatnefTe of their Art, (which perhaps made (that Learned
Prince) the Late King tell them, that they were at beft but
good gudfersj and fince about divers particular difeafeswe
bb 2 have


( 204 )
have obferved , the Method of fome of the moft reputed
Dodtors in England (which yet, I think,is at this day as well
ftored with Learned Men of that profeflion, as any part of
Europe) not only very differing,but repugnant to each other}
I fuppofe we may without difrefpedf to their profeifion, dif-
fent from the moft of them about thofe cafes, about which
they are reduced to difagree fo much among themfelves.
And it would be worth an impartial difquilition, whether,
lince the Metbedus mcdendi ought to be grounded on and
accommodated to the Dodtrine oi Dit'eales, the new Anato¬
mical difcoveries formerly mention'd, and others not yet
publifh'd do not by innovating diveis things in Pithologj, re¬
quire fome alterations & amendments in the tJUethodus
dendt ? But in this particular, I dare yet affirme nothing,
and therefore fhall proceed toobferve to you, th .tthe unu-
fualefficacies of n v remedies, may probably make the Me¬
thod of curing more compendious, becaufe(as I lately alfo in¬
timated) one Medicine may be fo richly Qualified, asto an-
fwer feveral intentions, which in the common way, require
diverfity of Helps 3nd Remedies. Thus, for inftance in the
Cure of the Kings-Evil, by the received Method, the Phyfi.
tian muff propofe to himfelf feveral fcopes ( fuited to feve¬
ral indications) and profecute them fucceffiveiy with diftindt
and appropriated Remedies. But Ihave;as I formerly alfo
told you to another purpofe; known a (ingle Specifique Sim¬
ple, given only in (mall Beer,in not very many daies, without
any feafible Evacuation, waft the peccant humor, appeafe
the pains (which before were very great) and difcufiethe
unbroken Tumours, and heal the broken ones. Thus, ac¬
cording to the known Method, the great Remedy in Plu-
rifies is copious Blood letting, which is ftiictly preferred
even to Aged per Ions and teeming Women, by thefamou-
feft
4


(*°5 )
feftofour Practitioners, and,! confefs,not irrationally, where
the Phyfician is furnifht but with vulgar Remedies: and yet
by fome Belmontian Medicines, we have known Plurifies
cured even in young men, without Phlebotomy, and our
felves fome while fince made a fuccesful trial of that Nature
in a young Gentleman not unknown to you, which I men¬
tion not, .withBetmonts to rejedfc or :fo much as to difpa-
rage Phlebotomy in this difeafe ( for fo it be moderate and fea-
fonable Experienceihewes it frequently proves ufeful) nor
as if we had obferved all Hcbionu boafted Remedies (though
for the moft part good opes,) to be conftantly fuccesful-, but
to give you an inftance of the truth , of what I was faying be¬
fore, That new and more generous Remedies may fo far
alter the received Meihodus Medendi, as to make divers of
its prelcriptions unneceflary. Of this truth, Pyropbtlus^z ne¬
ther inftancemigbebe afforded us by the Rickets, anew and
abftrufe DiiVaft, at leaft as is fuppofed, and fometirr.es fo-
ftubborn, that one of the famoufefl Phyficians in Europe,
(whom I think I need not name) hath not been able ot late to
cure it in fcveral of his own Children. And yet I fuppofe
you may have heard that Excellent Perfon your Mother,
feverai times mention, her having performed divers cures
(forae ot them improbable enough) of th;s Difeafe,barely
by that flight preparation of Colcothar,lately taught you,and
prefented Her by us •, And by which ( we having made and
distributed, at Her define, a c onsiderable quantity of it) feve¬
rai other Perfops have freed Children from that disfiguring
Sicknefs: Of which, but few Moneths fince, your little
Coufin £>. being fick almoft pafthope, was a while fince
brought out of danger, by Gods blefling upon fome of the
fame Remedy, wherewith we prefented her Mother, toge- <j
therwith our perfwafionsto try itonherownChild, as foe
had


i
( 20
had fticcesfully done on the Children of clivers others. And
yet this Remedie (to adde that upon the By, in favour of
fomethtng to be faid anon) works almoft infenfibly,fave that
in many bodies it is,efpecially at firft, diaphoretique.And this
property ofihat Remedie minds me to adde, that it would
not be amifs for Phyficians, to confider whether or no
(However, Bleeding, Purging, Vomiting, Iffues, Glitters,
Scarifications, and thofe other painful wayesof Evacuation
be not (however Chy mitts are too bitterly and unrefervedly
wont to rejedf them) to be altogether condemned and laid
afide,yet) there may not in fome particular difeafes and bo¬
dies be found more gentle, and yet eft e<3ual waies of difchar -
ging Nature of that which offends her, then thofe painful
and debilitating ones, which we have mentioned (without the
ufe of one of the chief of which namely Phlebotomy we fee
that almoft all kind of Difeafes are cured in Children.) The
contributing to render the waies of Cure lefs painful and
weakning, would gratifie fo great a part of thofe who may
need Phyfick, that 1 hope you will eafily pardon my (pen¬
ding fome Pages to that purpofe. I confider then, that of¬
tentimes the peccant matter, though very offenfive by its
qualities, is much lefler then is fuppofed, in quantity, and
might, if we were but Matters of Specifique Remedies, ei¬
ther be breathed out by infenfible tranfpiration, or carried off
by Sweat or Urine, without tormenting, or weakning the
Patient, by thofe other copious Evacuations of groffer Mat¬
ter, which are afwaies troublefome and painful enough,
though not alwaies effedfual: N3y that even in Chirurgery
it felf, if thofe that pra&ife it were as knowing as Nature has
been bountiful!, there would not be fo often a neceffity as
'tis commonly fuppofed there is of mutilating or tormen¬
ting the Patient to recover him. You cannot doubt, un-


( 2°7)
Jefi Yon will dente what Culittmus es, upon Ks
own Obfervation, of the Cares done by the illiterate Indian
Empericks. The pafi'age You have feen already; But to it
he adds fo notable and ingenious an acknowledgment, that
I cannot but honour him for it, and be willing to make way
for the Credibility of a good part of what we are hereafter
to deliver, inthisdifcourfe, by premifing it. Immo con¬
tinues he ) ex venenatorum fmgorum
tfu, folo pot i* infufi recent is radicis inftanti is¬
let/to vindicates, me alii (que Galtni Nep hand par urn -
dore fuffu/is, pofl tot alexipbarmacorum & An-
ti dot ahum irritos conatus. Its ut poftea qufmodi collegat
barb-ares fitbinde mihi adjungi gaff us fim, non adeo
noftratiumvaletudinem ad tactum arteria moderari
diclii mod is cenfilii copiam prabere » Thus farre
he: Which premif'd,let us proceed to confider, more parti¬
cularly , Come of thelefs painful wayesof freeing men from
Difeafes.
CHAP. X.
•"T~ Hat great C ures may be done by bare outward A pplica- Francifcm Ber-
A tions, You will fcarce deny, if you dif-believe not the n'us,c0D^1lr"
Relations which are made us,by Learned Men^concerning the Bu^wvlus ,"s
Efficacy of the Lapis Nepbriticus, only, bound upon the »/»tomnend
Pulfes of the Wrift's (chiefly that of the left Hand ) againft ^
that ftuborn and anomulous Dileafe the Stent: And that
which gives the more credit to thefe Relations is, That not njtbatcumair
only the Judicious (a) AnfeImusBoetius d: feems to prize
it, bur the Famous Monardes profeffeth Himfelf not to write (a) De t»-
byHear-fay, of the great Vertues of this Indian Stone, but
to have made tryal of it Himfelf upon perfons of very high ' ' ''
Quality:


(208)
0)NiT Quality: And that which is related by (b) Cbtonardesh
aTfimp^ind: much lefs ftrange, then thofe almoft incredible things which
Hiftor; Cap: are with many chcumftances delivered of that Stone, by the
^o'^eNe- Learned Chymift (c) Untzerus. And although it muff be
phrit: lib* t* acknowledged, That fome Stones, that go under that name,
, tap. i4. where have been ineffectually applied in Nephritick Diftempers,
ten obfermtiolt ^et c^e accurate Johannes de Laet Himfelf, furniffieth us
wbich he caiu with an Anfwer to that Obje&ion, informing us that many
nrl^ nauaL c^°^e Nephritick Stones ( which differ much in Colour,
ix de Lap-Ne- though the bed are wont to be greenifh) although not at all
phtitico. Counterfeited, or Sophiiticated, are of little or no Vertue.
But that yet there are fome others of them which can fcarce
be d ftinguifhed from the former, but by tryal upon Nephri-
tick perfons, which are of wonderful Efficacy, as he Him¬
felf hath more then oncetryedin his own Wife, Garcias
abort a (lib: i. cap: 53.) mentions a Stone, found in Bala-
De Gem: & g**-> ca^ \*Alaqueca; of which he tells us, That though it
Lapidibus hb4 be cheap, Hujust amen virtus (toufehisown words) re-
1 .cap. 1liquarum Gemmarum facultates exuperat, quippe qui fangui*
nem undtquaqueflucntem illicofiftat. cJMonardes (cap: 35.)
relates the great Vercues ofa Stone againfi Hydericall Suffo¬
cations, and concludes, Cum uteri Suffocationem imminen-
tem pratfentiunt, adhibito Upide fubtto levantur, & ft eum
perpetuo geflant ( Hjfterici ) nunquam fimili morbo corri- ,
piurtiur, exempla hujufmodi fatiunt ut his rebus fidem adhi-
beam. The fame Author in the next Chapter, treating of
the Lapis Sanguinarily or Blood Stone, found in new Spam,
( having told us, that the Indians do mod confidently be¬
lieve, that if the Flefhof any Bleeding part be touched with
this Stone, the Bleeding will thereby be danched ) adds this
memorable Obfervation of his own, Vidimus nonnullos ha*
morrbcidum fluxu afffoffos remediumfenfijfe'5 annulos ex hoc


( 209 )
lapiie confeffos in digito continue geftando $ nec non & Men*
ftmum fluxum fifli. And of the formerly mentioned Lapis
Porcinws, the Experienced Bontius (having mentioned how
the Indians give the Wine wherein it hath been fteeped, a-
gainft the Difeafe called Cholera; which is as much and as
juftly feared, by the Iflanders of $ava, as the Plague is in
Holland) adds this memorable paflage, Pragnantibustamen
hie lapis non bene datur 5 nam abortum prove care adeo certum
eft > utfeemin<& Malaice mihi rctulerint ut ft quando Menftrua
torum purgario non bene procedat, ft faltem hunc lapidem mants
geftent juvamentum fe inde [entire. And the relations ?
Pyophilus, that I may in another place prefentYou with,
concerning the wonderful Stone, formerly mentioned, with
which your Grandfather performed fuch eminent Cures,
( particularly of the Stone in the Lord of Falkland, then
Deputy of Ireland, and others, to whofe Backs it was ap-
plyed ) will, I fuppofe, make You the more readily give
credit to the Relations of the Authors we have newly men-
tion'd. What Monardes mentions of the Vertue of the La-
pis Sanguinaris, to Cure Hemorrhoidal Fluxes, puts me in
mind of a yet much ftranger thing, which Helmont affirmes, Hdm.de
namely, That he could make a Mettal, of which, if a Ring cor'caP$u
were worn, the pain of the Hemorrhoids would betaken a-
.way, in the little time requifite to recite the Lords prayer;
and within twenty four Hours the Hemorrhoids themfelves,
as well internal as external, how protuberant fo ever, would
vanifli, and the reftagnant Blood would (as he fpeaks) be
received again into favour, and be reftored to a good condi¬
tion. The fame Ring he alfo commends in the fuftocation
and irregular motion of the Womb,and divers other Difeafe^:
But if Paracelfus be in any cafe ro be credited in an unlikely
matter. We may think, by his very folemnProtefhtions,
c c that


( 21 O )
that he fpeaks upon his own experience •, That he had a Ring
made of a Metalline fubftance, by him called Elettrum^
(which, by his defcription, feems to be a mixture of all the
Mectals joyn'd together under certain Confteliations) which
was of far greater Vertue then this of Helmont •, For, hoc loco
paracelf/m C fayeshe) non poffum non indicare admirandas quafdam vi*
Archidox res virtutefque elettri noflri, quas fieri his noftris oculis
Magic, hb. yidimus^ adeoque cum bona ventatis confcientia prof erre .	-
teflarique po(]umus. Vidimus enim hujus generis tnnulos,
quos qui induit, hunc nec fpafmus convulfit, nec Paralyfn
cdrripuit, nec dolor ullus tor fit, fimiliter nec apoplexiay nec
epilepfia invafit. Etfiannulus hujufmodi Epileptics digito
annulari,etiam in paroxyfmo favif/imodnfertus fait/emit te rite
ilico pAroxifmo, dger a lapfu ilico refurrexit. &c. But
PeGpcrat.t0 take notice of fome other outward Remedies. To our
eiiirurg p. prefent Theme belongs that noble Cure, performed by the
i. cap.j i. famous and experienced Fabritius ah Aquapendente*, who
tells us, That he Cured a man of a Scirrhtis Lienis, and a
Dropfy, by the long ufe of Sponges, moiftned with ftrong
common Lime Water, and then exprefled and worne upon
the Spleen 5 notwithftanding the Mufcles of the K^ibdomeny
and all the other parts that ly betwixt the applyed Spong
and the part affedted. And to this we may adde, theftrange
Cures mention'd by Kircherus , and confirmed to me, by a
Learned Eye witnefs, to be frequently performed of very
dangerous DiTeafes, in that Cave, neer Rome, where the
Patients being expofed ftark naked, and tyed Hand and
Foot, upon Beds of Straw 5 and being by the Sulphureous
vapour of the place and fometimes their own fear, caft in¬
to a fweat, are lick'd well by a great number of peculiar
kind of Serpents that inhabit that Grotta. Moreover, We
oftentimes fee Agues Cured by Amulets and Applications
to


(ill)
to the Wrifts. Andlmyfelf was, about two Years fincej
ftrangely Cured of a violent Quotidian,which all the won¬
ted Method of Phyfick had not fomuch as abated, by ap¬
plying to my Wrifts a mixture of two handfuls of Bay- Salt,
twohandfulsof the frefheft Englifh Hops, and a quarter of
a Pound of blew Currants very diligently beaten into a brit¬
tle Mafs, without she addition of any thing moift, and fo
fpread upon Linen Cloth and eyed about the Wrifts. And
with the fame Remedies (which yet we have obferved fome-
times to fail) have divers others been cured, both of
Quotidian and Tertian Agues: Nay an Eminent Phyfitian
gave me, lately, thanks for the great Effedls he had found
ofit, even in continual Feavers.
And here, Pyrophilus, I fliall not fcruple to acquaint
You, with my having fometimes wifhed, That Phy-
fitians had been a little more curious to make Obferva-
tionsandTryalsof thediftindf Operations of various Bodies
outwardly applyed. For I confider that, in fomeof them,
the fubtle Corpufcles, (which feem to infinuate themfelves
into the Pores of the Body, and into the Mafs of Blood,
with little or no alteration) have much the like Operations
with the Body whence they exhale, taken mat the Mouth.
As we fee in fome Preparations of which have like
Vertues, inwardly given and outwardly applyed-, and more
manifeftly in Cantharicles, which 1 have found, by ex¬
ternal application, to work ftrangly upon the Bladder,as that
they excoriated it when takeninto the Body; & yet more ma¬
nifeftly in Jgnick-(ilver, which by inundtion may be made
as well to Salivate, as if it were fwallow'd down. And an
eminent Phyfitian lately complain'd to me, That w a (hi rig
a Childs fcabby Head with a Decodtion of Tobacco, to
kill and dry up the Scabs, the Boy was made thereby both
c c 2 fick


(212)
fick and drunk: And Learned Men aflure us, That, by fotne
Catbarticks outwardly applyed, thofe may be purg'd that
will notfwallow Phyfick. But other Medicines there are,
which, before they get into the Mafs of Blood, are much
alter'd 5 either in ftraining through the Flefh and Membranes
of the Body, or in the Digeftions they pafs through in the
Stomack,and elfewhere: And thefe may have very differing
Effedts, inwardly given and outwardly applyed 5 as, in the
formerly mention'd inftance of Hops, Currans and Sale,
neither any of the Ingredients inwardly given, nor the mix¬
ture hath been (that I know of) noted for any Febrifugal
Vertues. So likewife Turpentine and Soot that inward¬
ly taken are good for quite other Difeafes, ( as Plurifies,
and Obftrudfions of the Kidneys) outwardly applyed are
the main Ingredients of Pericarpiums, extoll'd againft Agues,
And Millc-fohum or Yarrow, belides the Vertues it hath
inwardly againft Difeafes of quite other Natures, being
worn in a little Bag upon the tip of the Stomack, was (as
Himfelf confeff'd to me) the Secret, againft Agues, of a
great Lord, who was very curious of Receipts and would
i'ometimes purchafe them at very great Rates; And a very
famous Phyfitian, of my acquaintance, didfince inform me,
That he had ufed it with ftrange fuccefs. I know alio a ve¬
ry happy Phyfitian,who allures me, That he hath very often
cured, both in himfelf and others, the Chilblains when
they come to be broken, by barely ftrowing on the fore
parts the fine powder of Quinces thinly flic'd and dryed„
And who knows what unexpected Operations divers other
Bodies may have, when outwardly applyed, if various Trials
of that Nature were skilfully made; efpecially, fince we
fee that (for reafons elfewhere to be confidered) fome Bo¬
dies feem to have quite contrary Operations, when out¬
wardly


(2'3 )
wardly applyed and inwardly taken. For we Tee ttiat Spirit
of Wine does, in feveral cafes, allay the inflammation of the
external parts, which given inwardly, would quickly inflame
the body. And our often commended Ptfo, fpeaking of
a choife Remedy for thofe Diftempers of the Eyes, thac
ufed to trouble Men in Brafil,addes, idem quoq, fr aflat ma-
nip ahera^ ex radice Mandthoca, qua licet pot a venenofa babea-
tur fas we formerly noted out of his and other Teftimonies)
oculis tamen prodeft, vifumq* cmendat. And if the Simples,
to be outwardly applied, be skilfully prepaid, That may
much vary and improve their operations. As we fee thac
Vitriol, which is made of Copper, or Iron corroded by, and
Coagulated with Acid Salts, hath outwardly divers Vertues
which crude Copper has not, either outwardly or inwardly.
And Gold Diffolved in Aqua Regis, and precipitated with
Oyle of Tartar, is inwardly, as far as I can difcover, gently
Purgative ^ yet the fame Aurum fulminans being calcin'd
with twice or thrice it's weight of Flowers of Brimftone,
till the Flores be burnt away, is known to be much com¬
mended by Chymifts, and others, for a Diaphoretick. But
though,as to any outward Vertues of the fame Powder,
Phyfitians and Chymifts are wont to be filent, yet pro¬
bably it may have very great ones, as well as quite differing
from thofe it has, being taken at the Mouth. For I know
aPerfon, that being grievoufly tormented with exulcerated
Bamorrhoides, a very expert Chymift of my acquaintance,
not knowing what elfe to do, applied to the part affected,
anOyntment confiding onely of Aarttm fulminans prepa¬
red and fixed by a flight and familiar way (which you may
command) and made up with a little Oyle offweet Almonds.,
into a requifite confidence-, and though prefently upon the
application of the Remedy, the pain for a quarter of an
Hour?


(214)
Houre hugely increafed, yet foon after it abated, and the
Hemorrhoids the next day were clofed, and the day after
went away * Nor has the Patient ever fince (that is, for
fome Y ears J been troubled with any thing of Relapfe. And
the fame Phyficianafturesme, that with the like Remedy
he has found a ftrange efteft in Venereal Ulcers. And per¬
haps to this may be referred what h3s been found by fome
friends of mine,that Phlegm of Vitriol,aod£<i«i(w»*» ,
which not only inwardly given are faid much to cool the
Blood, but outwardly applied are good for Burns and hot
Humours, do yet potently difcuffe cold Tucnours. But leaft
you fliould fay, that this diverfity may proceed (at leaft in
part) from the Corpufcles of differing Natures, that may be
imagined in the forementioned Medicines; I fliall return
to what I was difcourfing of before, and take notice of the
Efficacy of fome other external Remedies.
HSince the beginning of this Essay, I faw a lufty and
very fprightful Boy, Child to a Famous Chymical Writer,
who, as his Father aftui'd me and others, being by fome Ene¬
mies of this Phyfitians, when he was yet an Infant, fo be-
witcht that he conftantly lay in miferable torment, and ftill
refufing the Breaft, was reduc'd by pain and want of food to a
defperate condition, the experienc'd Relater of the Scory,
remembring that Helmontattributes to the El eel urn Mine-
rale immaturum Paracelft the Vertue of relieving thofe
whofe diftempers come from Witchcraft, did according to
helmonts prescription hang a piece of this Noble Mineral
about the Infants Neck, fo that it might touch the Pit of
the Stomack, whereupon prefently the Child, that could
not reft in I know not how many Daies and Nights before,
fell for a while afleep, and waking well, cry'd for the Teat,
which he greedily fuck'd, from thenceforth haftily recove-


( 215)
ring, to the great wonder, both of his Parents, and feveral
others that were aftonifh'd at fo great and quick a change.
And though I am not forward to impute all thofe Difeafes
to Witchcraft, which even Learned Men Father upon it;
yet its confiderable in our prefent cafe, that whatfoever were
the caufe of the Difeafe, the Diflem per was very gre2t and
almoft hopelefs, and the cure fuddenly perform'd by an out¬
ward application, and that of a Mineral^ in which compared
fort of Bodies, the finer parts are thought to be more lock'd
up.]
Among the proofs of the efficacy of appended Remedies,
we muft not pretermic the memorable Examples, that are
deliver'd by the Judicious BoetiusBoot, concerning the im'kL
Vertues of that fort of $afpertwhich is blood red throughout &
the whole Body of the Stone, not being mingled with any1^10''
Colour: 1eflari po(jum (faies he J alias &
geminis t ant as vires, quant as valgus , non tribuo
vixje tfafpidis viribus, obfervafe.
mcnjlrucrum it a laborafjet per aliquot dies, ut mode ft [I I
pofjet, fpafpidem rubram impolitam& rudem femori alltgari
jujli. Alius (in eadem Bomo) cum in pede vulneratus effet,
nec fanguinis fluxus cobiberi pofiet, admoto ,
imp edit us fu it, licet vulnus non tegeretur- To thefe he ad-
joynes a much more memorable Example, of a Maid he cur'd
at Prague, who had been for fix Years fick of an Hemorrhagy
fo vehement, that there fcarce ever pafs'd a Week, in which
fhe did not feveral times Bleed, neither could fhe be reliev'd
by any Remedies, though fhe had long us'd them, till fhe
was quite tired with them; wherefore our Author fetting
them all afide, lent hera^/prr, of whofe Vertues in fuch
cafes he had made good trial, to hang about her Neck, which
when fixe did,the flux of Blood prefently ceas'd, and fhe after¬
wards


(n6)
wards for curiofity fake,oftentimes laying afide theStone,and
as often as fhe needed it,applying it again.obferv'djThat where¬
as the flux of Blood did not prefently return upon theab-
fence of the afper, but after divers Weeks, yet upon the
hanging it on again it would prefently be ftopt, fo that Are
could not afcribe the relief to any thing but the StoRe, by
which our Author tells us, that at length (he was quite cur'd:
And fpeaking of the praifes given by others to Green
per fpeckled with Red, he concludes,
expertusfum,refero.But amongft the Operations ofout¬
wardly appended Medicines, I have fcarce met with a ftran-
ger then that which the Experienc'd ah Heer, men-
i« obferva.tions in the fourteenth of thofe Obfervations which he truely
ptdo'rm'r Rare, namely,That a Woman, who had by an unskilful
Mid-wife the Bladder Lacerated , and thereby been fubjeft
to a perpetual Incontinentia Vriru, and had been reduc'd
conftantly to wear a Silver Pipe, was perfectly help'd, by
wearing, as a Gypfie had taught her, a little Bag hung about
her Neck, containing the Powder made of a live Toad,
burnt in a New Pot: Which relation I the rather mention,
not only becaufe the Author having try'd the Remedy upon
a Merchant, to whom an unskilful Lythotomift had left the
like Difeafe, found it prefently to fucceed ; But becaufe
having been very defirous to have further trial made of fo
odd a Remedy, by a curious Phyfitian, he lately gave ma
this Account of it, that though in one or two it had fail'd,
yet having given fome of the powder to an inquifitive Per-
fon,known to us both, he afibr'd him it had fucceeded in two
or three.fandthe Difeafe is too unfrequent,to give occafionto
have the Remedy often tried) And the Phyfitian adds, that
one of thofe Patiens tels him, the Phyfitian) That though
her infirmity were occafion'd by a Laceratio yet the
Remedy


( 2I7 )
yet the Remedy helps her as long as (lie wears it about her?
in cafe (he renew the Powder, when the Vertue of it begins
to decay: but chat (which is remarkable to our prefenc pur-
pofe) if fhe leaves it off awhile, fhe findes the Difeafe re¬
turn. The fame Henricus ab Bctr% among his frefhly com¬
mended Obfer various, hath another of a little Lady, whom
he concludes to have been caff into the llrange and terrible
Diftemper, which he there particularly Records, by Witch*
craft. Upon fo feverean examination of the Symptoms made
byhimfelf, in his own Houfe, that if, notwithftanding his
folemn Profeflions of veracity, he mif-relate them not, I
cannot wonder he fliould confidently impute fo prodigious a
Difeafe to fome fupernatural caufe. But though the O bfer-
vation, with its various Circumftances, be very well worth
your perufing * yet that, for which I here take notice of it,
is, what he adds about the end of it, concerning his having
cured her, after he had in defpair of her Recovery fenther
back to her Parents, by an outward Medicine, namely, an
Ointment which he found extoll'd againft Pains produc'd by
Witchcraft, in a Dutch Book of Carrichers: (where alfo
I rememberl met with it letdown a little differently from
what he delivers ) Of which wonderful Ointment, the Ingre¬
dient that he found fo extreamly difficult to procure, namely,
The Mifleltoe of Hazel, being in England not fo rare, but
that I have more then once got it, and found it, as he inti¬
mates, very green, and (what he mentions not j extreamly
bitter, I could wifli that thofethat have the opportunity
would make tryal. For befides what Carrichter delivers, and
our Author relates of it, a Learned Phyfitian did highly
commend it to the Judicious Gr-egorius Horfiw. And though,
if we allow it to cure be witch'd Patients, the vertue that may
be in external Remedies, will be made fo much the more
dd con-


( 2*8)
confpicuous; yet fuppofing the Difeafes to be, though
ftrange, yet but natural, we cannot but allow that there
may be a wonderful efficacy in an outward Remedy, finceit
was able, onely by anointing the Joints, and thofe pained
partswithit, to cure a radicated Difeafe, attended with fuch
wonderful and horrid Symptoms. And after this it may
feem but little, what elfe would appear a ftrange thing,
mmnt, de which Helmont affirms of a Plaifter he had, wherewith he
perj.Cfin'cm,4' tells us, That he fafely cur'd hundreds of even *
Autumnal, without relapfe: elfevvhere he faith, That he
made this Plaifter, for by the Circumftances I prefume he
means no other, of a few abjlerfive *
'Cap, 17. a and adds, That it never fail'd him, but onely that in fat Per-
fons it fucceeded more (lowly. And yet in thefe, and the
like ways of curing Difeafes, though approv'd, if not alfo
commended, by eminent Phyfitians both Ancient and Mo¬
dern, thereisnofenfible evacuation made of peccant Hu.
mors, which perhaps materially remain in the Body, and
may, by the Effluvia of thefe Remedies, be deprived of
their former Qualities, and made fo far obfequious to nature,
that (lie is able, if need be, to eafe her felf of them by Sweat,
Urine, or undifcerned tranfpiration.
And that the peccant Humors remaining for awhile mate¬
rially in the Body, the Difeafe may fometimes be removed,
may appear by the C ures which we fee now and then per¬
formed of Agues by fuddain frights; by which no difcernable
evacuation is made of Humors, though probably fomecon-
fiderable change be thereby produced in the temper of the
mafsof Blood, 01 in the Texture of the Morbifick Matter:
(as Phyfitians call it,) As feems probable both from divers
other things mention'd here and there in this Eflay, and par¬
ticularly from the lately recited Paffage of , where


(219)
he takes notice of the rectifying of the peccant, and, by Na¬
ture, rejedfed Blood, without any fenfible evacuation upon
the wearing of His Ring. I knew a Gentleman, aftrong
and a refolute Man, who had been long a Souldier, and at¬
tained the higheft fort ot Military Employments 5 notvvith-
Handing which, he was ftrangely fearful of Rats, and could
not endure the fight of them: This Gentleman, having been
long troubled withanobftinate ghtartan, and travelled with
it into feveral Countries, without being able to finde any
Cure for it, coming at length accidentally and fuddenly into
a place where a great Rat was in a corner, whence he could
not flie from the Gentleman, he furioufly leap'd upon him
(yet without biting him) and thereby put him into a fright, obferv. .£
which freed him from the Ague that had fo long importuned 4s.
him. And the experienced Salmath tells us a pleafant Ob-
fervation, of one who was cured even of the Gout by a fright.
For this Man having his Feet and Hands covered with a
Poultis, made of Turneps, Flower and Milk, and being
left in his Chair in a low Room, was, whil'ft his Servants
were all gone into the Garden, affaulted by a Sow, who find¬
ing the Door open, and invited by the fmell of theCata-
plafm, came to devour it; and ftriving todofo, flung the
fickManand the Chair to the Ground, and put him into
fuch a fright, that our Author tells us, That that very Day
his Pains decreafed, and continued leffening by degrees, till
at length they wholly left him, without ever returning to
trouble him again. There are divers Inftances that difcover
what great changes may be produced in the Body, without
taking in any thing vifibly at the Mouth. And on the other
fide a good Air alone doth often, in Confumptions and o-
ther Difeatej perform what hath in vain been expedied from
the ufe of emptying Phyfick. It were to be wiihed ch3t we
dd 2 had,
r


( 220 )
had, among our European Phyfitians, the Phyfick Books
of thofe of china; For though our Dodors are much more
Learned Men then theirs, yet probably their Writings and
their Pradife may teach us fomething that is new, and fome¬
thing making for our prefent purpofe. For the famous Je-
i "'' (aiteSemedoinforms us, That the Books of our Phyfitians
chap.ii. '' having not yet been brought to , they are in fir lifted in
their Art by abundance of their own Writers; and that
£ though in their pradife they do not let Blood (as th<- Learn¬
ed Farenitcstells us, That neither do the Doctors)
orfet Cupping-gbftes, though they ufe no Syrrups, nor
Potions, nor any Iflues, butareone'y Herbarifts, ufingno-
thing but Herbs, Roots, Fruits, Seeds, d*'c. yet Phyfick
chndTmcdh- (co ul~e our Authors Words) very good condition
crembabempe- China, (as Almeidaalfo tells us, That the Phyfitians are
much efteemed in Japan) And of t'ne skill of fome of the
fiLapopmmt, chinefesin that Art, he gives us in the fame Chapter fome
dicente Maif.e, confiderable Inftances. And though, as we faid it is very
tbyZ%bama- likely that their Dodors are much inferior, in point of Learn-
ta fuavU &o- ingtoours,yetitisconfiderable, thatinfovaft, fociviliz'd,
■ an^° Poalous a Countrey, Phyfick can be pradifed with
reputation, without the ufe of thofe Evacuations which are
tiichnt, Mag- here fo frequently made by Phlebotomy,Potions and Iflues.
dTahitemvi™ Nor fhould we onely exped fome improvement to the The-
dcre ejt ex Epi rapeutica!part of Phyfick, from the Writings off) ingeni-
fiota Almeida Gas pe0ple as the chinefesbut probably the knowledge of
Bernfvareni-' Phyfitians might be not inconfiderably increafed, it Men
as, in Defcript.- were a little more curious to take notice of the Obfervations
an<^ Experiments, fuggefted partly by the pradife of Mid-
wives, Barbers, old Women, Empericks, and the reft of
that illiterate crue, that prefume to meddle with Phyfick a-
mong our felves; and partly by the Indians and other barba¬
rous,


(zzI )
roits Nations, without excepting the People of fuch part of
Europe it felf, where the generality of Men is fo illiterate and
poor, as to live without Phyfitians. For where Phyfick is
pra&ifed by Petfons that never ftudyed the Art of it in>
Schools or Books, many things are wont to be raflily done,
which though perhaps prejudicial, or even fatal to thofe on
whom they were tryed, may afford very good Hints to a
Learned and Judicious Obferver: Befides, where the Practi¬
tioners of Phyfick are altogether illiterate, there oftentimes
Specificks-, may be beft met with. For fuch Perfons, being
wont, for want of skill in Phyfick, and particularly the Arc
of mixing Simples, and in that of varying their Remedies
according to Circumftances, do almolt wholly rely upon*
Specificks;whofe Vei tues, from their p radii fe, may be fome-
times better gathered,then from that of skilful Phyfitians, in
regard that thofe Empericks(befides,that they alfift not with
any skill in the Methods medendi the vertues of their Reme¬
dies )are wont, for the Reafons newly mention'd, to try obfti-
nately,and to the uttermoft, the effedts of their few fpecificks.
And the nature oi their Medicines may be the better known,,
in regard they are not wont to blend them , as Learned Men
but too often do, with many other Ingredients, whofe Mix¬
ture, as we formerly noted, either alters their nature, or
makes it difficult to determine (as Galen himfelf ma like
cafe confeffeth, Nam ut verum hac dtffictlis (juotj{
' res eft & rara invent* cum poft remedta adhibit a dtgro -
t ant i quod en Us in caufa fuijfe dicitur ut melius ptjnfve ha*
beat) whether the effedt be to be afcribed to what is given for
the fpecifick, or to fome other of the Ingredients^ or to the
whole Compound as fuch. The experienced Bontius, in his
excellent little Traff De Mtdicina , doth more then
once confefs. That, it is very undefervedly chat the -
Gal: in Apborl
Hipp. Comment?
RM!
iMiMi
ans


Voyages chap,
34-
(in)
ztb. i. Dialog ^ look upon the JEajl Indians as Barbarians, And even of
thofe among them, that are ignorant of other things , he
hath this Pafiage, Hinc etiam fit quod homines c&ttris rebus
idiot & tam exalt am herb arum & Jlirpiurn nancifcantur [cten*
tiam ut fi vet Botfifiimtts Parvius, noflri &vi Botanicorum
princepse tnortuis rcfurgens hue veniret, miraretur feabbifce
borninihus bar bar is deceri poffe, And L 'tnfchoten in his Voy •
ages, fpeakingof chat Famous Mart of the Eaft Indies, thd
City of Goo, where the Viceroy and the Arch-Billiop reflded,
and hehimfelf lived : ThefeHeathenifhPhyfitians (.faith he,
mentioning thofe of Goa) do not onely cure their own Nati¬
on and Country-men, but even the Portugals alfo 5 for even
the Viceroy himfelfi the Arch B fhop, and all the Monks
and Fryers, do put more truft in them then in their own
Country-men, whereby they get great (lore of Money, and
are much honored and esteemed. I have not now the leifure
to acquaint you with what I might alledge, to confirm this
truth out or the pra&ifesof the illiterate Natives of fome
not yet fufficiently civiliz'd parts of Ireland , and the In¬
habitants of fome other places where Phyfitians have not yet
fetled: But I {hall minde you of the Confeffionof Celfus,
where fpeaking of Phyfick, H<ecnunquam(ti	hhe) noneft:
Preface, Lib. 1. Modern etiam imperitifsim* gentes herbas aliafy prompt* in
auxilium vulnerum morborumtfo noverunt. And 1 wifh that
other Learned Men would imitate the commendable example
not onely of Profper Alpinm^ who Writ a Treatife Be Me*
dicind z/Egjptiorum 5 and of tfacobus Bontius^ in his tMcdi-
cina Indorum, but of Gulielmus Pifo, who hath lately pre-
fentedche World with the rude ways of curing, ufed by the
Brafilians themfelves, in his new and curious Books Be Me-
ditina Bra fiLienfi, in the beginning of the iecond of which,
he much confirms what we have been delivering, in the enfu •
ing


ing Pafiage: Jguemadwodum multa in tam craffa Barbaric
cruda vel corrupta arteqs Hippocrattca indigna reperiuntur % (ic Cap: i / * **
etiav* non pauca utiltfsima antiquitatem reaoleniia: qua vel
iruditifsimos medicos ad urn as medicin a fubjiciunt, obfervanda
cccurnnt. jguippectim mult arum Artium rudimentavel ab ipfis
jnimantibm brut is (quibus benigna mater Natura arteinfita
imprimis curandis morbis deflitut noluit) ad nos redundare fa-
tendum fit j £)uis dubitet ab bis mortalibus, licet remotifsimis a
do^maticd & rationale mcdendi arte, non plurima nebilifsima at
fecreta remedia atfc antidota, mcdendi morbos vcteribus in¬
cognitos quotidie ad pofleros derivari ? quibus paulatim ad ma*
nurn tradttis & tandem qua ft in fuccu m & fanguinem a rationa -
libus converfis doctorum fcboU dr libri fuperbiunt ? And to
this agrees very well that grave faying of our experienced
Harvey to the very Learned Dodtor Ent: Nulla gens tam Gcorgi Bull
Barbara eft qua non aut fortuit)). aut inevitabih quadam ne-
r. L i- j r j • . Exerat Harvei
ce fsit ate coatfa, auquiain u\um communem admvenerit quod de Gen: /ink
Nationes alias humaniores latuit, Nor fhould we difdain the mU
Remedies of fuch illiterate People, onely becaufe of their
being unacquainted with our Theory of Phyfick. For though
I will not fay, as the old Empericks wittily enough did in
thatPaffage of Celfus, Kequirere etiamy ratio idem doceat
quod experientia, an aliud? Si idem fupervacuum e(Je, fi aliud
etiam contrarium. But left we fhould, by too great reliance
on the Galenical, or other ancient Opinion^, negledl ufefui
Remedies, becaufe prefented by Perfons that ignore them,
and perhaps too, hold Opinions contrary to them, I fhall
leave you to confider what is in the Perfon of the fame Em-
pericalSedt, reprefented by Celfus, where having fpokenof
the darknefs of the caufes of Things, and the uncertainty of
the Theorems of Phyfick: ^Ac nihil ift as cogitationes (faith
hej ad (JM-cdicinam pertincre^ eo quo% difcij quod qui diver fa



(224)
'Cclji prafatlont dehis fenferini ad eandem tamen [anitatem homines perduxe-
wl Lib, i, rint, ]denimfeciffe, quia non ab objcuris caufis nefo a natura*
libns aZHonibtis^qua apud cos diver fa erant\ fed ab Experiment
tis, prout cuiforefpondeanty rnedcndi via* traxerint, nc inter
initia quidem ab iflis quaflionibus deduct am cfje medicinam fed
ab Experiments, &c. For though this Sentence afcribes too
little to reafon, yet there is fomething in it that deferves to
beconfidered: Especially fince we obfervenot that the late
Anatomical Difcoveries of the motion of the Chyle and Lim-
phatick Liquor, by formerly unknown ways, in newly de¬
tected Veffels, hath yet made Men cure Difeafes much bet¬
ter then before.Not that I think that Anatomical and Patho¬
logical Difcoveries will not, in procefs of time (when the
Hijloria fatfi fhall be fully and indifputably made out, and
the Theories thereby fuggefted, clearly eftablifh'd) highly
conduce to the improvement of the Therapeutical part of
Phyfick-, but yet this Obfervation may make it the more
reafonable to beware of relying fo much upon the yet difpu-
table Opinions of Phyfitians, as to defpife all PraCffes,
though ufually fuccefsfui, that agree not with them: For of
fuch our Author fpeakswell, In omnibus ejufmodi cogitation
nibus in utrawfy partem dtfjeri pc(fe, itafy ingenium &facun*
■diam vincere: morbos ant em non eloquent ia fed remedtis cu-
rari •, qua ft quis elinguis ufu difcreta bene no/it, hunc aliquan*
to ma] or em wedicnm futurum quam (/, fine ufu7 linguam fuam
excoherit• And Paracelfus fpoke well too, if he fpoke tru¬
ly, when in one of his Prefaces, fpeaking to thofe whom he
invited to hear him expound his Books of Phyfick and Chy-
rurgery at Bafil^ lllos tamen (faith he of the formerly men¬
tioned Books) non aliorum more ex Hipp cerate autGaleno,
nut quibuflibet emendicatus5 fed quos fumma rerum doffirina,
expertentia at% labore affequut usjum, promde fi qu:dprobatu-
rue


( 22 5 )
rns experimental ac ratio, auEtorum loco, fuffragantur?
Ic would, Pyropbilus, I fear, be tedious to trouble you
here with all that I have met with in good Authors applicable
to my prefent fubjedf, and the Defign I have been profecu-
ting in favor of external Remedies: But yet one Paflage
there is, which doth fo notably confirm what we have deli¬
ver'd, as well touching the Efficacy offimpie Medicines,
as the great cures that may,in divers cafes,be perform'dby
outward Applications, that I muft not here omit the men¬
tioning of it,as I find it in the Epiftle Written out of Peru to
the inquifitive CMonardes, in thefe words: In urbe Pofto,
ubi aliquot annis vixi, omnis generis morbos Indus quidam narHqut'erfiatl
curabat folo cujufdam Plant a fucco artubus & parti ajfetta iniibdiodefm«
Mite. zs£gros detnde (Iragulis egregie tegebat ad [udorem pro mmUaOcci*
vocandum : Sudor c partibus illitis emanans, merus fanguis dentaii indict
trat, quem line is pannis abflergebat, atque ita in curatione per-
gebat^donec fatis [udafie putaret, optimis interea cibis eos alens•
Eo Re medio multi morbi deplorati curabantur, imo agri \uni~
ores & robufliores ab ejus ufu fieri videbantur^ fednefcpretioy
nefoprectbus^ nefc minis unquam efficerepotuimus^ut earn plan-
tam nobis demonftraret.
CHAP. XL
TZlltyPyrephilus, befides fuch external Medicines as work
after the manner of thofe I have heretofore mention'd,
We may poffibly without abfurdity, provided we doit with¬
out credulity , enquire, Whether there may not be a fort
of others that operate, in a more wonderful and extraordinary
way.? And it would not perhaps be altogether unworthy the
Experiment, to try whether or no, there may not fometimes
be performed ? fuch cures as are wont to pafs, either for
e e Fabulous


( )
Fabulous or Magical; forae of them being to be done with¬
out exhibiting, or applying any thing immediatly to the Pa¬
tient, and others by fome fuch unknown wayes as thofe
which Chymifts call, either Magnetifm, or Tranfplantation:
fuch as are the cures reported to be perform'd by the Wea¬
pon -falve, and Sympathetick Powder, and fuch as is that
cure of the Yellow Jaundice C mention'd with fome variation
by Paracclfus) wherein feven or nine cakes (for itmuft,for-
footh,be an odde number) are made up with the newly emit¬
ted and warm Urine of the Patient, and the Allies of Alh-
wood,and buried foi fome daies in a Dunghil. For it is not
only by the eafie and fuperftitious vulgar, that the poflibility
of performing fuch cures, by tranfplantation, or fome other
Magnetical way fas they are pleased to call it) hath been be¬
lieved; For within the compafle of my own (lender rea¬
ding, I find that divers Eminent Phyficians,have both made
ufe of, and commended Magnetical Remedies.
What is to be thought of the Sympathetick Powder;
Iconfeffelam as yet in doubt, but however I lhall take this
occafionto inform you, That a very honeft Gentleman,
whom his Pen has made known to a great part of the Lear¬
ned Men, and Virtuofi in Europe, complaining often to me,
that though he were much troubled with, that fad difeafe,
the Stone in the Bladder, yet he was more inceffantly tor¬
mented with an Ulcer he had in the fame part (all the fear-
ching Medicines that he took to diffolve, as he hop'd, the
Stone, exafperating the Ulcer:) I one day advis'dhimto
make trial of the Powder of Sympathy, upon fome of the
Ulcerous Matter he voided with his Urine; the Remedy
being fuch, as if it had a Magnetick Virtue, might do him
good, and if it had none, could not prejudice him; a while
after, 1 receiv'd both from him in a Letter, and from his
Phyfitiaa


(»?)
Phyfician very great thanks for theadvice^ the Patient ha¬
ving fince the ufe of the Powder, been eas'd of the diftindfc
pain he was put to by the Ulcer, and this relief lafted, if
I mifretnember not, above a Year, and how much longer
I know not. But I fhall not infift either upon this, or upon
the Teftimonies and Relations of Paracelfus, Helmont, Go-
cknius^Burgravim^nor even the modern Roman Do&orSrr-
vius, nor any of the other Authors that do profeffedly take
upon them the defence of the Weapon-Salve, by reafon of
what we have el fewhere to Write to you, by way of Exami¬
nation of that Salve, and the Sympathetick Poivder, though
I deny not in fome Trials, I have found them unavailable;
Yet befides what I have newly related, I have feen fometimes
fomething follow upon the ufe of the Symathetick Powder,
that did incline me to think, that fometimes it might work
Cures, But I (hall alleadg fomething of more unfufpe&ed
credit, and firft Dominic w Panarola now Profeffor ofPhy-
fick at Pome in his newly divulged Fafiiculus Arcanorum
prefents us two inftances to our prefent purpofe, in thefe
words. «JM.tr a (fay's he) quotidze reperiuntur in Medicine a
ad confirmationem operis quod tiottifiimus Pbyftcus, Petrus
Servius (the fame we lately mentioned)complevit de unguent o
armario, (ciendum efl, quod petia fanguine zmbuta fub cineri-
bus calidis pofitamenfes fijlit experimento pluries comprobata:
quin ctiam Mag/fter mens Petrus Ca/lellus whofe name his late
Anatomy ofthe Civet Cat, and other Writings have made
Famous) ajebat fe expertum fuzfie Hemtrrihoides^ ft tangan*
tur tuberojaradice Chondrilla, ficcari, (ichondrilla ficcetur;
corruwpivero(i corrumpatur:quapropter fub Camino cxficcan•
dapomtur^ po(l hujufmodi taffum CbondrilU tuberoja. The
Learned Salmuth in his Obfervations hirniihes us with an
Example of a moil violent pain of the Arme, removed by
ee 2 Tranf-


(228)
Tranfplantation: They did beat up Red Corals with Oaken
leaves, and having kept them on the part afte6ied,till fuppu-
ration •, they did in the Morning put this mixture into an
Hole bored with an Auger in the Root of an Oak, re-
fpe&ing the Eaft , and flopt up this Hole with a Peg, made
of the fame Tree, from thenceforth the pain did altogether
ceafe, and when they took out the Amulet, immediately the
torments returned fliarper then before. A great and excel¬
lent Lady (a near Kinfvvoman, Pyrophilm^oi yours and mine)
and very far from credulous, confeff'd to me, as did her fer-
vants alfo, that with the above mentioned Remedie of Allies
and Urine, (lie was not only once cured of the Yellow Jaun¬
dice, by a Friend of hers that had obferved, that (lie had been
fruitlefly vexed by a Tedious courfe ofPhyfick, prelcribed
by the famoufeft Dodior then in Englandbut that after¬
wards relapfing into that fame Difeafefhe had cured her felf
by the fame Remedy. I remember, that being fome years
iince brought almoft tothebrinkof the Grave by a fuddain
effufion of Blood within my Body, from which without a
fignal mercy of God, I fhould not have recovered, among
other men skilled in Phyfick that came toaflift me, in that
danger, I was vifited by a Galenift of much repute, whofe
pale looks inviting me to enquire what it was that ailed him,
he anfvvered me, That he had not long before been defpe-
rately fick of an obftinate Marafmw, which notwithftanding
all the Remedies he could ufe, did daily fo confume him,
that he appeared but a Skeleton, whereupon having found
the uneffe&ualnefs of ordinary Remedies, and being hopc-
lefs of being relieved by them, he refolved to try a Sympa-
thetick Medicine, which I remember my felf to have met
with in Hartman. He took then an Egge, and having boi¬
led it hard in his own war me Urine, he with a Bodkin perfo-


( i2S>)
rated the fhell in many places, and then buried it in an Ant-
hil, where it was left to be devour'd by the Emmets, and
as they wafted the Egge, he found his diftemper to leffen,
and his ftrength to encreafe, infomuch that he now conceived
his Difeafe to have quite left him.
The Experienc'd Riverius in his laft Obfervations (new¬
ly publifli'd fince bis Death) has two notable Examples to . ,
our prefent purpofe. For (4) firft.he tells us,that the el deft
Daughter of a great Officer in France, was fo tormented with obfer- 6j
a Paronychia for four daies together, that the pain made
her pafle the night fleeplefs-, whereupon having by
his order, put her Finger into a Cats Eare, within two houres
ffie was delivered from her Pain, and her whole hand, which
before was Tumid,unfwell'd again; except the Finger, which
it felf was out of Pain.(£) The other cafe was of a Counfellors
Wife, who by the fame Remedy was cured of a iji
(which had for four daies vex'd her) in a much fborter time
then the other, namely within a quarter of anHoure. But
that which chiefly makes thefe ftories pertinent to our pre¬
fent occafion, is this notable Circumftance,that in both thefe
cafes, the Cat was fo manifeftly put to pain, that
thoughc it had attracted to it felfe the morbifick matter
from which it freed the Patient; F^,r in the former of thefe
two cafes, the Cat loudly complain'd of the pain he felt, and
in the other,was, in that ihort time the cure was in perfor¬
ming, put to fo much pain in his Eare, that two men were
hardly able to hold him faft, he ftruggl'd fo forcibly. And
thefe two reiati ns of Rivenua,may, though there be fome
difparity in the cafes, give fome countenance to what might
otherwife be diftrufted in the Obfervations of the Induftri-
cus (c) Petrus Bore Hue,where he faies, Podagra mire leva-
her, Rcatelli cumpodagrieo recumbant,morbum (turn contra- ikfic".
/ Cent.
>hunt obferv.z^


(*5°)
* S<"ps y"rsbunt adeo ut vix incedere que ant •, ts£ger
essay misvifit. Which perhaps he may have been induced to write
mitten, i ligb- by the ftory that goes of,that odde Chymift,/?e)'frf Fludd's
'otfermion^of having tranfplanted the Gout of one of his Patients, by ma-
the induftrioM king him often deep, with a Dog that was fond of him, who
Barthoiinus 3 thereby became afterwards fubje£t to fuch periodical fits
of the Gout, as the Mafter had been troubled with.
Century, and
the ^ 3 Obfer-
vaticri of his
[And fince I begun this Chapter, and met with thefe Ob-
ho^wblcbfU-fervat>ons, difcourfing of this matter with a judicious per-
ces giving in- fon, wellskill'dinPhyfick, and whom his learned Writings
fiances of the have made Eminent, He told me, that he had not very ma-
ofDijeafshT nyMonths fince, feen a Cure by Tranfplantation, perform'd
mentions,befides on the Son of one that was wont to make Chymic'al
^Examples dcti- Veflels for me: and becaufe the Obfervation is confiderable,
vefdbyusJJ'- that there might beno miftake in it, he was pleas'd to fet it
vers others-, for me down in writing (attefted with his annexed name) which
tingt'nfenou enab'es me t0 Pre^nt it you in his own words, namely: N- N,
to the aiiedged of Ar. Potter, had a Sonne, who was long fick of the Kings
^ufilfthlfeOh £yi'' which fwell'dmuch, andbroek into fores at lift, which
•fovacion/rff/i" he could by no ordinary means heale. The old Man had
veriitgjometbing then a Dog, which took an ufe of licking thefoares, which
as upon his own
knowlcdgCwh'tch
he docs not in the
refl of the ha (I an*
cesi) that much
confirmcs what
we have menti¬
on3 d concerning
Vludd.We fhall
annex it in his
the Dog continued fo long, till he wafted the very kernels
of the Ulcers that were knit in with the Veins, and perfe&ly
cur'd the fore, but had the fwelling tranfplanted to him-
felf, fothat he had hereupon a great fwelling, that aiofe and
continued on his Throat. The Lad was hereby freed , and
fo continu'd to be till 1660, and for ought I know, is fo this
day. Tlv's I faw being there at that time to view the
Steiio Miiefio Clayes,and befpeak Retorts of the old man. *]
Avi noftri materni, quern jam alit in aedibus fuis Avunculus meus fufpiciendus . Jacobin Vinci
K'WS *¥hy{ P.P. & Academic noitra? fenior,evidentius hxc patuit trahendi facukas. Colico dolore
torquebatur Avunculus, Canis ventri impofitus quum incaluiilet, urgebat exitum, vomuit vehcmcnter
et Tormina colica une.;U rem lerunt. Ancilla cjtrfdem in dolore dentium eundem cancm ge« sap-
pofuir,fenftque leva men,fed canis dolerum impatiencia bine inde cuiftare et latrare. Idem expertus
ell fcriba in Colli Tumore. And


( *3 0
And to confirm the credibility,as well as increafe the num¬
ber of our magnetical waies of cure; I fhall adde, That
Sr Francis Bacon himfelf Records, with great folemnity, his x;
own having been freed, not only from very many new warts, ExM7>
but from one almoft as old as he,by a piece of Lard, with the
skin on it, which after having rub'd upon them, wasexpofed
out of a Southern Window to putrifie- And therefore,
though the vanity and fuperftition ofmoft of the Authors
that fpeak of Magnetick Remedies, and the impertinent cir-
cumftances, that are ufually prefcribed, as neceffary to their
effe&ualnefs, do generally, and juftly enough, make fober
men defpife, or at leaft fufpedi fuch unlikely waies of cure?
yet ia confideration of the inftances lately produced (to
which we may perhaps elfewhere adde fome others) and
becaufe divers men, as well Phyfitians as others, haveferi-
oufly allured me of their having been fome of them eye-
witnelTes, and others p rformers of fuch cures; I am apt to
think it fit, that, a fevere indeed, but yet further trial be made
of Phyfical Experiments of this kind. And I cannot but
commend the curiofity of Dr Harvey, who,as rigid a Natura-
lift as he is, fcrupled not often to try the Experiment men¬
tioned by Helmonty of curing fome Tumors or Excrefcen-
cies, by holding on them for a pretty while (that the cold
may throughly penetrate) the Hand of a man dead ofalin-
gring difeafe-, which Experiment, the Doiftor was not long
fince, pleafed to tell me, he had fometimes try'd fruitlefly,,
but often with good fuccefie. Nor doth the grand Oo-
jedtion agiinft fuch Experiments, namely, that fuch or
fuchaperfon, having once made trial of them, found them
oat fucceed, feem at all to me, alone, of weight enough to
make fuch Experiments, or thofe other improbable ones
formerly mentioned, totally reje&ed: Becaufe,that if they
really


really do fometimes fucceed, though fometimes they chance
to fail, yet that poffibility of their fucceeding may fuffi.i-
ently evince, that there arereally'in Nature Medicines that
vvorke after that extraordinary manner. And I fee no rea-
fon, why it fhould be more required of thofe Medicines, that
work at a diftance from the Patient for at leaft are not taken
at the Mouth, or injedfed otherwhere) only by fubtle Efflu¬
via, that they fhould alwaies cure, then it is exacted of vulgar
Remedies, from which we might reafonably expeft more
conftant effe&s, becaufe of their being either inwardly given,
or more immediately or at leaft more durably applied to the
Patient, And if Rubarb be, juftly affirmed to be an ex¬
cellent medicine in Loofenefies, though we daily in Ireland
fee many fwept away of thofe difeafes, in fpight of the ufeof
Rubarb and Mirabolans, with other aftringent Remedies to
boot: And if quikfilver be,not un eafonably.by moftofour
Phyfitians efteemed, and employed as an effectual Reme¬
dy againft Venereal Difeafes, becaufe it fometimes removes
them; though Eerndius, Montanut, and many other Learned
Authors tell us, as they fay upon their own experience, that
(though it often palliate thofe diftempers) it very fefdome
cures them; Nay, and if Diaphoreticks are ftill efteemed
fuch by the generality of Phyfitians, though few Sudonficks
will caufe fweat in all bodies, and fcarce any in lome bodies,
I fee not, why thefe Remedies, that work, as it were,by Ema¬
nation, may not deferve the name of Medicines, if they fome¬
times unqueftionably fucceed , though they Ihould not
alwaies prove fuccesful ones; Nor why "they fhould,notwith-
ftanding theit fometimes not fucceeding be laid afide, efpeci-
ally fince thefe fympathetical wayes of cure are moft of them
fo fafe and innocent, that, though, if they be real, they may
domucbgood, if they prove fidtions they can do no harme,
(unlefle


(*31
(tinleffe by accident, as in cafe the Patient fhould To (ingly
rely on them, as to negle<ft(which he need not) all other helps
to recover.)
CHAP. XII.
"DUt you will now perhaps demand, Pyrophiltu, how the
Naturalift, as fuch, can contribute to the Credit or Ad¬
vancement of the mentioned ways of curing Difeafes, with¬
out the wonted weakning and painful Evacuations.'' In an-
fwer to this Queftion, I muft put you in minde, That it
would be no new thing for Naturalifts, not profefledly Phy-
fitians, to treat of this fubjed:; and that the Naturalift
may afford good Hints to the Praditioner of Phyfick, both
upon divers other accounts already touch'd upon, and by
trying on Bruits variety of hitherto untryed Medicaments or
Remedies, and by fuggefting to him both the Events of fuch
Tryals, and alio what hath been already obferved about the
cures of the Difeafes incident to Beafts. For though (as
we formerly told you) there are fome things that are not e-
qually Poyfonous, as others not equally Safe, to Man and
to fome Bruits 5 yet there are other Beafts, efpecially Dogs
and Monkeys, whole Bodies are, by many Poyfons, affed-
ed almoft like thofe of Men: And finee according to the old
Rule, Periculum faciendum eft in vili , many things
may be very well tryed on fuch Creatures, that we dare not
at firft venture to try on Men. We may give Dogs Poyfons,
onely to try the Vertue of our Antidotes 5 and we may give
them Wounds, to make tryal of the efficacy of the Weapon-
falve and Sympathetick Powder : Since divers of my
Friends (as J have intimated above) aflure me, That they
have fome of them feen, and others performed cures of
Horfes, lam'd by pricking, by flicking the Nails that hurt
f f them


them into the Weapon- falve-, which for that very life, a-
mong others, fome of them are wont to carry about them
in Silver Boxes. When Oxen, and fuch-like Cattle, are
troubled with that Difeafe which makes them continually
turn about in one place (and is therefore called The turning
Evil, or Sturdy) a common Remedy here in England^as Gra-
fiers that make ufe of it inform me, is to caft down and tye
faft the fick Beaft, and then to open his Skull a good way (or,
if need be, take off a round piece of it over the place fup-
pofed to be affedied) and at the open place to take out a lit-
tie Bag or Bladder which is ufually found to lye near the
Membranes of the Brain, and to be full of Water and Blood,
and then leifurely to heal up the hurt: And this cure is much
commended, as both common and eafie, by our experienced
tJMarkham. In Goates likewife, that are much fubjed to
Way to get the Dropfie, the Husband-man ventures to flit, and let out
Weaithjtoflfci, the Water under the Shoulder. And divers hazardous Ope¬
rations in Chirurgery, fuch as are Arteriotomy, the Exfe-
dlion of the Spleen and other parts, were,or fliould have been
firft attempted upon Bruits, and then pradiifedon humane
Bodies. And in imitation of thefe, his likely that divers o-
ther Experiments, of good ufe in Chirurgery, may bedif-
covered for the relief of Man, without Endangering him in
profecuting fuch Difcoveries. And to fay nothing of the
known pra&ice of fplaying Swine and Bitches ^ In the Neigh¬
borhood of a Country Houfe of mine, in the Weft of Eng*
land, and probably in divers other parts, fome experienced
Shepheards have an odde way of caftrating male Sheep, efpe-
cially Lambs, when they are grown fo old that'tis thought
dangerous to geld them the common way. A Servant of
mine that deals much in Cattle, and had lately divers Sheep
fwigg'd (as they call it J after this manner,tells me that is thus
done: The Beaft, on whom the Operation is to be perform¬
ed,


(2?5) "
ed, being held by a ftrong Man with his Belly upwards, an¬
other ftrong Man draws a firing, as firmly as he can ( tying
it wich a knot or two,to prevent its yielding or flapping offja-
bout the Tefticles, as it he meant by drawing that ftring, to
cut them off; and then anointing the part with a little^frefh
Butter, or fome fuch like thing, he lets the Ram goe to
feed; which for the moll part (nocwithftanding the anguiili
of this LigatureJ he will begin to do in a fliort time: And
within two or three days, the Tefticles being, by the ftridfc
Ligature, denyed the Nutriment and Spirits that were
wont to be conveyed to them will grow fo rotten as either,
together with the firing,to fall offjor be very eafily pull'd off,
fometime ftinking very rankly likeCarrion.Ani even among
thofe things that are already pra&ifed by Farriers, Shepherds
and Graziers there are many fuch things as we have newly
mentioned, which may ferve either to enrich or illuftrate the
way of curing humine Bodies: Their ignorance andcredu-
loufnefs, together with the liberty and meanefs of thofe
Creatures they phyfick, gives them leave to venture on any
thing, having made them try upon Horfesand Cattle, many
fuch things as Phyficians dare not try ^upon Men and Wo¬
men, And among thofe many extravagant things, fome, as
it oftens happen*, have fueceeded fo profperoufly, as to de-
ferve to be confidered by the skilfulleft Phyficians; Some of
whom might, without difparagement to their Profeifion, do
it anufeful piece of fervice, if they would be pleafed to
colledl and digeft all the approved Experiments and Practices
of the Farriers, Graziers, Butchers, and the like, which the
Ancients did not defpife, but-honored with the Tides of
Hipputrica and Veterinaria: And among which, if I had
Fiture, divers things may betaken notice of, which might
ferve to illuftrate the cMtthodus medendi.As to give you but
1f 2 one


(**0
oneInftance which lately occurred to me, The Ufefulnefsof
letting Blood in fome cafes, Which is fo feverely condemned
by many Cbymifts, and the efficacy of a fmall, if feafonable,
Evacuation, which can fcarce be conceiv'd to do more then
alter the conrfe of the Blood, may be illuflrated by the
Staggers in Horfes, and the Cure of it. For I have feen a
Coach-horfe, ready to drop down dead of his Difeafeupon
the High-way, by having his Gums rubb'd with the Coach-
whip till the Blood appear'd, relieved almoft in a moment i'o
much, that though he were not well able to ftand before, yet
he was immediatly able to go on,and draw the Coach with his
fellows.
CHAP. XIII'
"THHe next thing wearetoobfervetoyou, and
on which its nature and importance will engage us
fomewhat long to infift, is this, That the Handling of Phy-
fical matters was Antiently thought to belong to the Natu-
ralift; as we are clearly informed by the judicious in
that memorable Pafi'age, where fpeaking of the Origin of
, . Phyfick, Primo{hieshe)metIendi
Cclfiis in Trie' ,/ ' ,, ' ' ' . .
fatme lik.i. batur•,ut & morborum curatto & rerum
fub iifdem Author i line nata fit: Scilicet his banc requi~
rentthus, qui corporum fuorum rob or a, cogitatione
nofturnaefc <vigilia, minuerant He adds, that many of the
ProfefTors of Philofophy were skilful in Phyfick, efpecially
Pythagoras,Empedocles, and and that Hippocrates
( whom fome think to be the difciple of this laft nam'd ) was
the firft who feverd Phyfick from Philofophy , and made it
a diftindt Difcipline, And this Apologie for the enfuing dif-
courfe being thus premifed to it, I fhall further Anfwer,
that '


f2?7)
that I (hould perhaps be obliged to exceed the limits of
an Essay, if I Ihould in this Difcourfe infill on every
thing, upon whofe account the Naturalift may aflift the Phy-
fitian, if he be barely a Medic m to cure Difeafes, which that
you may the more readily believe, I lhall Seled and profe-
cute fome of thefe things in the remaining part of this
Es SAY.
And firft I lhall reprefent to you on this fubjed, That
the account upon which Phyfitians are* wont to rejed, if not,
deride the ufe of fuch Specificks, as feem to work after a
fecret and unknown manner, and not by vifibly Evacuating
peccant humours (or by other fuppofedly manifeft qualities)
being generally this, That they fee not how the promis'd
Efteds can well be produced by Bodies, that mud work after
fo peculiar and undifcerned a manner; This being,! fay,the
great thing that .hinders Phyfitians from endeavouring to
find, or, fo much as, being willing to make ufe of Remedies
of this fort, the Naturalills may do much towards the remo¬
val of this Impediment, by (hewing out of fuch things as
may be met with or performed within the Macrocoline,
That fuch, or at lealt as llrange operations as are afcrib'd to
thefe Specificks, are not without Example in Nature; and
confequently ought not to be rejeded, barely as being impo-
jfible. And indeed the Phyfiologie, wherewith Phyfitians
as well as others are wont to be imbu'd in the Schools, has
done many of them no fmall DilTervice by,acculloming them
to erode apprenhenfions of Natures vvayes of working.
Whence it comes to pafTe, that not a few ev'n Learned
Dodors will never exped, that any great matter Ihould be
performed in Difeafes, by fuch Remedies as are neither ob¬
vious to the fence, nor Evacuate any grofle, or at lead fen-
fible matter. Whereas, very great alterations may be
wrought


(*4°)
found to do the like-, as may appear by the odorable fteames
ofrub'd Brimftone, and Amber, by the Corpufcles, which
performe the Magnetick Operations, by the Emetick Qua¬
lity imparted to Liquors by the Glaffe of Antimony, and by
Crocus <J[tetallorum barely infus'd in them, without fenfibiy
loofing any thing, either of their bulk or weight \ and by the
vertueof killing Wormes, wherewith Wine, and even Wa¬
ter has been, not only by Belmont, but by divers other Phy-
fitiansobferved to be enrich'd, after a Quantity of guickfil-
wrhas been forfome Houres (hakenin it, though without
any fenfible deperdition of the fubftance of the cMercury.
And indeed I have fomewhat wondred that many Learned
moderne Phyfitians, either out of an affe&ed Severity, or
perhaps Animofity againft Chymifts, overlook or even de¬
ride all operations of this Nature; Sincel remember Galen
himfelf,not only continues the like Doftrine, by his Reafons
and Authority, but delivers a very ftrang Example ot it5
facuitatibtit1' f°r3under the Tltle ot clychyftda, Treating of Peony, He thus
Ltbro.6. Difcourfes, Eft praterea omnino reftccatorta: Ea propter
haud defperaverim earn ex collo pueris fufpenfam merito Com-
tialem morbum fanare• Equidem *vtdi puellum quandoyue
cffo totis menftbus morbo Comitialt liberum, ac pofteafortuna
cum quod a collofujpenfum erat decidtftet^protinu* denuo con-
vulfione correptum^ rurfufque fufpenfo in locum jilt us alio^in -
culpatepoftea egtfle^ Porro vifum eft mihi fatius cfjerurfum id
coflo detrahcre, certioris experientta gratia: id cum feci([emy
acpuer iterum efjet convulfus, magnam recentis radicts partem
ex collo ejus Jufpendimus, ac deinceps prorfum [anus cffetfus eft
puer, nec poftea convul[us eft. Rationabile itaque erat, aut
partes quafpiam a radice dejluentes, ac deinde per infpi-
rationem attract as, affeffos it a locos curare , aut Aerem
h radice affidue mutari & alterari• Nam hoc patfo
Succus


(24< )
Suecus Cyrenatcus collumellam plegmone affetfam fuvat &
iMehnthion frictum palam Catarrhos (5* Coryza* deftccat?
Si quis id in caiidum Unteurn3 varum, liget afftdue^ caicrem
ex to per infpirationem in nares attrahat. £>uin ettam ft plu-
nbiu maxime marina purpura, collo viper a in]eEiU^
illis v'tperam prafcces, eaque pofiea cujufpiam collo obvincia<r,
mirifice profueris turn Partfthmiis turn omnibus iis qua in
coMo expullulant. Nay, that fuch invifible Bodies, by pi-
fling thorough grofler ones, and thereby changing the Moti¬
on and nexu* or Jfunfture of their parts, may produce lafting
alterations in their Textures (though it be a Paradox J feems
not to me at all impoffible. For we find the moft fluid
Body of Quickfilver has been fometimes, (I fay fometimes)
and therefore may, without fenfibleincreafe of Bulke,be coa¬
gulated by a Metalline Exhalation fo, as to be cut like Lead,
and to retain that folidity, 'till by fome Art or other it be
reduc'd to its priftine Fluidnefte. You may beinclin'd to
think, that the hard and folid Body of Iron has a permanent
alteration made in its Texture, if you hold a Needle during
a competent time neer the Pole of a Vigorous Loadftone
without touching it.For the Magnetical Effluviaizs may very
probably be conceiv'd) will fo difpofe the parts of the neareft
extream of the Needle, as that they (hall admit the fteames
that come from one of the Poles of the Load-ftone, and not
thofe that come from the other: whereas by skilfully holding
it to the contrary Pole of the fame Stone, the internal
Pores, and consequently the Texture of the Needle, will
prefently be quite otherwife difpofed in reference to the
Magnetical Effluvia as we more fully declare in another
Essay, where we (hall, I fuppofe, alfo perfwade you,
that the Effe&s of the Load-ftone are performed by
£ubxil Bodies iffuing from, or parting through x. What


(241)
We have in a former difcourfe told you concerning
our having at pleafure changed the Poles of a Load-ftone,
by help of the Magnetica Effluvia of the Earth, may let you
fee that in Stones,alfo fuch alterations are poflible to be made.
And in the next Essay fave one, we (hall give you another
Inftance,pertinent to our prefent purpofe. For if you heat a
llender piece of Steel (as a graver,or the like; red hot, and
fufler it to cool leifurely in the Air, it will continue flexi¬
ble enough, and of fo foft a Texture, that youmayeafily
make impreffions on it, with any hardned Steel: But if,inftead
of cooling it thus (lowly,you knock it into fuch a dry Body,
as we fhall there name to you, it will immediately grow fa
hard,as to be brittle. Which alteration,whether it be refolved
to proceed from the particular Effluvia of the Body, into
which it is knocked, or barely from the ingrefle of the Cor-
pufcles of Cold-, (if any fuch there be) it will be however an
Inftance not unfit for our purpofe. And thofe Pyrophilus,
thatareconverfantinGlafs houfes, may eafily obferve, that
Glafs acquires a more or lefle brittle Texture, according as
(to fpeak in the Glafs- mens language) it is baked. For if after
Glafles are blown, they be quickly carried into the open
Air, they are wont to be much more fubjedl to break, then
thofe, that after they are fafhioned are placed in a kind of very
long Oven ( which is wont to be built over nhe Furnace,
wherein the materials, whereof the Glafs is made are kept in
Fufion) and are by flow degrees refrigerated, and not kill after
fome houres expofedtothe open Air: For whether this
difference of Brittlenefs, and confequently of Texture, be
afcribed to the interrupted Tranfcurfion of fome Etherial
matter,through the Pores of the Glaife, or to the infinuations
of the Atoms of the Cold, or to this, that the Particles of
she GMe agitated by the heat3 were furpriz'd by the Cold,
before


(«44)
piercing Air , yet when he approached to the top of the
Mountain,he was (notwithftanding all his Provifion; furpri-
z'd with fuch fits, and pangs, of driving and calling, as he
thought he fhould C3ft up his Heart too; having after meat,
Phlegme,and Choler, both yellow and green5in the end with
over driving cad up Blood; and continued thus fick for three
or four houres, 'till he had palled into a more temperate Air
then that of the top of the Mountain; which runn's about
500 Leagues, and has every where, though not equjlly this
difcompofing property, having operated upon fomeofhis
companions, as well downwards as upwards. A greater
proof of the power of Steams upon the Body may be taken
from the propagation of Infectious Difeafes, which being
conveyed by infenfible Effluvia, from a fick into a healthy
Body,are able to diforder the whole OEconomy ofit, and a&
thofe fad Tragedies, which Phyfitians do fo often unfuccef-
fully indeavour to hinder. But you will ceafe to doubt, thac
Cprpufcles, though fo fmall as to be below the fenfe, fhould
be able to performe great matters upon humane Bodies;
if you confider what alterations may be therein produced
by the bare adt ions of the parts upon one another. This may
appear by the effedtsof feveral Paffions of the mind, which
are ofcen excited by the bare, if attentive, thoughts of abfent
things. In obflinate grief and Melancholy,there is that altera¬
tion made in the difpofition of the Heart, and perhaps fome
other parts by wh ch the Blood is to Circulate, that the
lively motion of that liquor is thereby difturbed, and ob-
lirudtions andother noteafily remov'd diftempers areocca-
fion'd.The bare remembrance of a loathfome Potion,does of¬
tentimes produce in me(and I doubt not,but the like thought
may have the like Operation in many others ) a Horror,
attended with a very fenfible Commotion of divers parts of
"


C245 )
my Body, efpecially with a kind of convulfive motion, in
or about the Stomack. And what power the Paffions have
to alter and determine the courfe of the Blood, may appear
yet more manifeftly in modeft and bafhful perfons, efpecially
Women, when meerly upon the remembrance or thought
of an unchaft, or undecent. thing, mentioned before them,
the motion of the Blood will be fo determin'd, as to paffe
fuddenly and plentifully enough into the Cheeks (and fome-
times other parts) to make them immediatly wear that livery
ofVertue (asanOldPhilofopher ftyl'dit) which we call a
Blufli. And even by joy, if great and Hidden, I not long fince
favv in perfons of both Sexes, not only the Cheeks and Fore¬
head,but it left (as to the Lady) even the Neck and Shoulders
Died of that Colour. And that Paffions, may not only alter
the Motion of the Juyces of the Body, but likewife make
fome reparation and evacuation of them, may appear in grief,
which is wont efpecially in Women to make all the Commo¬
tions requifite to weeping : whereby oftentimes a confidera-
ble quantity of Briny Liquor, is excluded at the Eyes, under
the forme of Tears, by which divers (efpecially Hyfterical)
Perfons are wont to find themfelves much refrefhed, though
with fome it fares otherwifein teeming Women. Alfo that
vehement defire we call Longing, may well befuppofedto
produce great alterations in the Body of the Mother, which
leaves fuch ftrange and laftmg impreffions upon that of the
Infant-, fince 'tis the Mother only, and not at all the Infant
shat conceives thofe importunate defires.
CHAP.


<*4<S)
CHAP. XIV.
THere are many Inftances to be met with is Phyfitians
Books, to (hew that Imagination is able foto alter the
Imagining perfon's Body, as to work fuch a difpofition in
the Spirits, Blood and Humors of it, as to produce the de¬
terminate Difeafe that is exceflively feared. And I remem¬
ber, that foon after the laft Fair Lady R. Died of the Small
Pox, I chanced to meet one ofher Sifters with her Mask on
amongft fome other Perfons of High Quality, and won-
dring to fee her fit Maskt in fuch Company, her Husband
(who was prefent) told me, That his Wife having been hap¬
pily brought to Bed fome while before her Sifter fell fick;
he had carefully kept the knowledg of her ficknefle from
his Wife; leaft the kindnefle that was betwixt them two
might prejudice her in the condition (he was in, but that
after, a while a Lady unawares making mention in her hea¬
ring ofher Sifters ficknefs, (lie immediatly fancied, That
(lie (hould have it too, and accordingly fell fick of that dif-
figuring Difeafe, whofe Marks obliged her for a while to
wcare a Mask. Nor is it in Women only, but even in Men,
that conceit may produce fuch real and lading effedls. For
many authentick Hiftories record examples of thofe in
whom exceflfive Grief or Fear has made fuch a change in the
Colour of their Hair in a Night, as Nature would other-
wife have fcarce made in divers Years. And I remember,
that being about four or fix Years fince, in the County of
Cork, there was an JrifhCaptain a man of middle Age and
Stature, who coming with fome of his followers to render
himfelf to your Uncle Broghill, who then commanded the
Engliih Forces in thofe parts upon a publick profer of par-


(H7)
don to the Irifh that would then lay down Arms, he was ca-
fuallyin a fufpicious Place, met with by a party of the
lijh and intercepted. And my Brother being then abfent,
uponadefigne,he was fo apprehenfive of being put to Death,
by the inferiour officers, before your Uncles returne, than
' that Anxiety of mind quickly changed the Colour of his
Hair after a peculiar manner: of which I being then at that
Cafiie of your Unkles whereunto he was brought) had quick-
ly notice given me, and had the Curiofity to examine this
Captain, ana-found that the Hair of his Head, had not (as in
the inftances I had met with in Hiftories) uniformely chan¬
ged its Colour, but that here and there certain peculiar Tufts
and locks of it, whofe Bafes might be about an inch in Dia¬
meter were thus fuddenly turned White all over: the reft of
his Hair f of which you know the Irifh ufe to weare good
ftore) retaining its former Reddifh Colour.
[You will miftake my defign Pyrophilus, if you conclude
from what I have faid, concerning the Power of Effluvia, to
work upon the Body chat I am either fo much an Flelmontt-
an as to condemne the Ufe of all thofe Remedies that make
fuchmore groffe Evacuations (if I may fo call them) as are
made by Vomit,Seige,and the like^or that I would have you,
or am my felf fo credulous, as to believe all the Vertues that
are, evn by Eminent Writers afcribed to the Remedies
called Specificks:For (to mention here but this) we have ob-
ferved, that the hopes built upon evn excellent Specificks,
unleffe they be of fuch a refolving and abfterflve Nature, as
to be able to make way for themfelves into the Recedes of
the Body are oftentimes difappointed , where fome Emetick
or Cathartick Remedy has not been firft us'd to free the
Stomack and Guts from thofe vifcous Humours, which ob-
ftrudling the firft paffages much enervate the Vertue of the
Remedy^


(248)
Remedy, if they do not altogether deny it accefle to the
innermoft parts of the Body. That then which I aim at,
is firft to keep you from being prejudiced by the Confidence
of fome Learned Dodors, who laugh at the very name of
Specificks, and will not allow any Difeafe to be curable, but
by vifible Evacuations of ftore of what they cell peccanc
Matter-, And next to give you caufe to think that fuch Spe-
cificks, as men of judgment and credit do recommend upon
their own Experience ought not to be rejeded without
Trial, upon the bare account of their not being either Lax¬
ative or Vomitive, Sudorifick, or Diuretical-, Nay, nor fo
much as for this, that they are not endow'd with any Emi¬
nent Degree ofany manifeft Quality, fuch as Heat, Cold,
Drinefl'e, Odor, Taft, Aftridion and the like-, nor able per¬
chance to work any confiderable alteration in a healthy Hu¬
man Body. For I confider the Body of a living man,
not as a rude heap of Limbs and Liquors, but as an Engine
confifting of feveral parts fo fet together, that there is a
ftrange and confpiring communication betwixt them , by
vertue whereof, a very weak and inconfiderable Impreffion
of adventitious matter upon fome one part may be able to
work on fome other diftant part, or perhaps on the whole
Engine, a change far exceeding what the fame adventitious
Body could do upon a Body not focontriv'd. The faint
motion of a mans little Finger upon a fmall piece oflron
that were no part of a Engine, would produce no confidera¬
ble Effed $ but when a Musket is ready to be Shot off, then
fuch a Motion being applied to the Trigger by vertue of the
contrivance of the Engine, the Spring is immediatly let loofe
the Cock falls down, and knocks the flint ag3inft the Steel,
opens the Pan, ftrikes Fire upon the Powder in it, which by
the Touch-hole Fires the Powder in the Barrel and that


( 2 49 )
with great noife throw's out the ponderous Leaden Bullet
with violence enough to kill a Man at Seven or . Eight hun¬
dred Foot diftance. And that alio the Engine of a Hu¬
mane Body is lb fram'd, as to be capable of receiving great
alterations from feemingly flight Impreflions of outward
Objedts, upon the bare account of its particular contrivance,
may appear by feveral inftances befide thofe which may be¬
long to this Argument in the foregoing part of this E s-
s a r. When a man goes fuddenly out into the Sun, it
often happens, that thofe beames which light upon his Head,
and would not in fo Ihort a time have any difcernable eftedl
on the leaft Hair of it, do allmoft in a moment produce that
ftrange and violent motion in the head and almoft all the
Body, which we call Sneezing. Men that from the top of
fome Pinacle or other high and fteep place do look down to
thebottomeofitareatfirft very apt by the bare profped,
(which yet convey's nothing into theBody but thofe images,
if yet there intervene corporeal ones in fenfation of vifible
Objedts that enter at theEye)to become fo giddy, that they
are reduced to turne away their Eyes from the Praecipice
for fear of not being able to Hand upon their Leggs, And
many that look'd fixedly upon a Whirle poole, or upon a
very fwift ftream have had luch a Vertiginous Motion there¬
by imprefled on their Spirits, that they have been unable to
keep their Bodies upright, but have fallen into the Water
they gazed on. And it is no lefl'e remarkable, that when
a man is fomewhatdifcompos'd at Sea, and yet not enough
to Vomit freely^ the Seamen are wont to advife him to
lookfrom the fide of the Ship upon the Water, which fee-
ming fwiftiy to pafle by the Veflel, has upon the gazer the
operation of a rapid ftream, and by making him giddy ha-
fteus and facilitates his Vomiting, as I have fometimes tried
h h upon


(>5 o)
upon my felf when I had a mind for healths fake to be put
into a fit of Sea fickneffe. Ifaperfonbe very Ticklifh and
you but gently ftroke the Sole of his Foot with the top
of a Feather, that languid Jmprefiion on the bottomeofthe
foot {hall, whet her he will or no, put all thofe Mufcles and
other parts into motion, which are requifite to make that
noife, and to exhibite that fliape of the Face (fo farre diftant
from the feet) which we call Laughing-, and fo the gentle
Motio'ii of a ftraw tickling the Noftrils is able to excite
Sneezing. Moft men may obferve in themfelves, that there
are fome fuchnoifes as thofe made by the grating of an un-
greaf'd Cart wheele upon the tree, or the tearing of
courfe Paper which are capable of letting the Teeth on edge,
which yet cannot be done without exciting a peculiar Mo¬
tion in feveral parts of the Head. 1 had a fe; vant,who fome-
times complained to me of a much more remarkable and
unfrequent diforder, namely, that when he was put to whet a
Knife, that ftridulous .Motion of the Air was wont to make
his Gummes bleed. Henricas Hetr fin his Twenty ninth
Obfervation )_ Records a Story of a Lady, to whom he was
fent for, who upon the hearing of the found of a Bell, or any
loud noife,though Singing, would fall into fits of Sounding,
which was fcarce diftinguifhable from Death; and we may
confirm that this difpofition depended upon the Texture of
her Body in reference to Material founds by whathefub-
joyns, that having well purg'd her, and given her for two
Months the Sf aa-waters, and other appropi iate Remedies he
throughly cur'd her. And it often enough happens, that
when a YVoman is in a Fit of the another Hyfterical
perfon Handing by, is by teafonofa peculiar Difpofition of
ber Body, foon infedled with the like ftrange difcompofure.


And to fhew you, that a diftemper'd Body Is both an Engine j
and alfo an Engine difpofed to receive alterations from fuch
Jmpreffions as will make none on a found body, let me put
you in mind thatthofe fubtile Steames that wander through
the Air before confiderable changes of Weather difclofe
themfelves, are wont to be painfully felt by many fickly Per-
fons and more conftantly by men that have had great Bruifes
or Wounds in the parts that have been fo hurt; though nei¬
ther are healthy men at all incommodated thereby , nor do
thofe themfelves that have been hurt, feel any thing in thofe
found parts, whofe Tone or Texture has not been alter'd or
enfeebrd by outward violence. I have known feveral alfo
(and the thing is obvious) whofe body's and Humours are fo
fram'd and conftituted, that if (as men commonly fpeak)
they ride backward in a Coach, that Motion will make them
giddy, and force them to Vomit. And it is very ordinary
for Hvfterical Women to fall into fuch Fits as counterfeit
Epilepfies^ Convulfions, and I know not what violent din
ftempers by theBare fmell of Musk and Amber , and other
ftrong perfumes, whofe fteamesareyet fo farre from having
great, much leiTe fuch Effedts in other Humane body's, that
almoftallmen, and the generality ev'n of healthy Women
are not affedied by them, unlefswich fome innocent delight.
And that even on men Odours ( how minute and invifible
bodies foever) may fometimes have very great power, may
be gathered from the ftory told us by ZacuAm Lucitanm, of m vr.&ud.
aFifherman, who having fpent all his life at Sea, and being
grown Old there, and coming to gaze upon a folemne re¬
ception, made in a Maritine Town, to Sebajlian King of For-
tugaly was'by the perfumes plentifully Burnt, to welcome
the King immediatly cad: upon the ground thereby into a Fit
which two Phyficians judg'd Apople&ical, and Phvfick'd
hh i him


(25*)
him accordingly 'till three daies after the Kings chiefePhy-
fician Thomas a Vega guelfing at the caufe of bis difeafe
commanded him to beremov'dto the Sea fide and cover'd
with Sea Weeds, where within four Houresthe Maritime
Air and fteames began to open his Eyes, and made him
knowthofe that were about him,and within not many Dayes
reftor'd him to health. We may alfo conje&ure how much
the alteration produced in the Body by ficknefs may difpofe
it to receive ftrong Impreflions from things that would not
otherwife much afledf it,by this, That even a man in perfect
health , and who is wont to Drink cold without the leaft
harme, may, when he has much heated himfelf by exercife
be caft by a draught of cold Drink into fuch fudden, formi¬
dable, and dangerous diftempers as, did not daily Experience
convince us, we fhould fcarce think polfibie to be produc'd
in a Body, free from Morbid Humours by fo familiar a
thing as a cup of fmall bear or water; infomuch that
nim relates a Story of one, who after too vehement exercife
Drinking a GlafTe of very cold Water fell into a fwoun, that
was quickly fucceeded by Death. And yet, to adde that
on this occafion, in Bodies otherwife difpos'd a large draught
of cold Water, Drunk even without thirft, may very much
relieve the Drincker, and prevent great Fits of the Mother,
and partly of the Spleen, efpecially upon fuddain frights, to
which purpofes I know fome Hyfterical Ladies that find in
this Remedy, as themfelves afture me more advantage then
one would eafily imagine.
And (further) to fhew you that the Engine we 3re
(peaking of is alterable, as well for the better as for the
worfe, by fuch Motions of outward Bodies as in them¬
felves confider'd, are languid, or at leaft may feem defpica*
ble in reference to ficknefs or recovery; Let me call upon
you


(*H)
you to confider a few, not unobvious things, which
mayalfoferve to confirme fome part of what has hitherto
been deliver'd.
[The true Motfe growing upon a Humane Skuli, though
I do not find Experience warrant ail the ftrange things fome
Chymical Writers attribute to it for the ftanching of Blood,
yet I deny not, but in fome Bodies it does it wonderfulle-
nough. And I very well know an Eminent Virtuofo who
has affur'd me, as his PhyfitiaSi likewife has done, that he
finds the Eff'e&s of this Mofs fo confiderable upon himfelf,
that after having been let Blood, his Arm falling to Bleed
again, and he apprehending the confequences of it, his Phy-
fitian, who cbanc'd to be prefent.put a little of the abovemen-
tion'd Mode into his hand, which barely held there, did, to
the Patients wonder, ftanch his Blood, and gave him the
cui iofity to lay it out of his hand, to try whether that MofTe
were the caufe of the Bloods fo oddly flopping its courfe,
whereupon his Arm after a little while, beginning to Bleed
afrtili, he took the Moffe again into his hand, and thereby
prefently ftanch'd his Bleeding the fecond time: and if I mif-
remember not,he added, that he repeated theExperimentonce
more with the like fuccefle. The fmoak of burnt feathers, or
Tobacco blown upon the face of an Hyfterical Woman,does
oftentimes almoft as fuddenly recover them out of Fits of the
Mother, as the odour of perfumes did caft them thereinto-3
And now I fpeak of Cuies performable by fumes, it
brings into my mind, that a friend of yours and mine, and
a Perfon of great Veracity profefles to have ftrangly cur'd
Dy(enteries by away unufual enough,which is to make the
Patient fit over a Chair or Stool clofe on the fides, and per¬
forated below, fo that the kj!nus and the neighbouring parts
may be expos'd to the fumes of Ginger, which rouft be
thrown.


(*54)
thrown upon a Pan of Embers,-plac'd juft under the Patient,
who is to continue in that pofture, and to receive the Fume
as long as he can endure it without too much fainting. And
when I mention'd one of the Cu es that was thus perform'd,
to one that is look'd upon as a Matter ofChymicai Arcane
3gainft Difeafes-, he preferr'd before it (as he faies upon ex¬
perience) the fhavings of Harts horn us'd after the fame
manner, and the Remedy fcems not irrational. But if in this
diftemper, the A&ual heat applied to the abovemention'd
parts of the Body concurre not to the Efred, we may too,
warrantably enough, adde that Cures may be perform'd by
far more minute corpufeles then thofe of fmoke, infinuating
themfelves fiom without into the Body.. For I know a very'
dextrous Goldfmith, who, when he over heats himfelf, as he
often unawares does at hammering of Plate, is fubjed to fall
into Gripings of the Belly, which lead to Fluxes 5 but his ufu-
al and ready Cure is, attbon as conveniently he can, to heat
his Anvil, and fit upon it for a great while together, heating
it hot again if there be need. But to return to our Medici¬
nal Smoaks, 'tis known that fome find more good againft
the Fits of the Colick, by Glyfters of the Smoak of Tobacco,
then by any other Phyfick they take-, fo that I know wealthy
perfons, that relying upon the benefit they find by this Re¬
medy, have left off fending for their Phyfitians to eafe them
of the Colick. And indeed, when Iconfider what an odde
Concrete, even common Soot is, and that many Concretes
by being refolv'd into Smoak, may be either more or other-
wife unlocked, then they would be by the Stomack of a
Man (fo that I may elfewhere entertain you of the great
heightning of fome Emetick and Cathartick Simples in
their operation,by their being reduc'd into Smoak,) and that
alio probably the Operation of fome Fumes and Odours
- * may


may be much chang'd and improv'd by their not getting into
the Body by the Mouth,bat other parts; I am inclinable to
think that there might be made further ufe of them, if Phy-
fitians pleas'd, then hitherto has been. For I have made
fuch trial of the Vertue of Sulphureous Smoak, to preferve
fome Liquors^ as I was much pleas'd with. And not only •
racelftts, but Helmont highly extol, as a grand Speciiickin
fits of the Mother, the Smoak of the Warts that grow upon
the Legs of Horfes, conveigh'd to the parts fuppos'd to be
primarily affeded. And I remember, that lately I met
with a Gentleman curious and intelligent, who, as himfelf
allur'd me, was by the Scurvy and ill conditional Ulcers, and
other obftinate diftempers brought fo low, that he was fcarce
ableto turn himfelf freely in his Bed, and thereupon refolv'd
againft^taking any more Phyfick, partly out of defpair of re¬
covery, and partly out of vvearinelle of the tedious courfes of
Phyfick the Dodfors had in vain made him pafle thorow:
But that fome of his Friends bringing him a certain Surgeon,
whom they affirm'd to have ftrangly cur'd many defperate
diftempers, by wayes very unufual and not troublefome to
the Patient, this Gentleman was content to put himfelf into
his Hands, the Surgeon promifing that he wouid not give
him any other Phyfick, but now and then a Cup of Sack by
way of Cordial; his way of Cure being to fumigate the Pa¬
tient very well every Morning with a certain Smoak, which
that Gentleman thinks, by what he took notice of, in the
Powder that yeeldedit, to have been fome Vegetable fub-
ftance. And with this Remedy in a (hort time he grew per-
fedtly well, and came home a while fince in very good health
from a Voyage, which theconfufions of his own Country in¬
vited him to make as far as the E a (I-Indies. This Surgeon,
whole name I cannot hit upon, dying fuddenly, his fecrec
(which


(25 6)
(which was tryTd upon divers others befides this Gentleman)
is for ought we yet know, dead with him.
[But as for the efficacy that may be found in appropriated
Fumes and Steams. We have more then once by barely un-
ftopping and holding under her Nofe a fmal Phial of highly
reftified Spirit ofSaLArmoniack,or even of Harts horn almoft
prefently recover'd aYoung Beauty I need not name to You.
out of ftrange Fits that were wont to take her more fuddenly
then thofeof the Falling Sicknefle, and were look'd upon as
Epileptical, though perchance they were not meerly fo. To
which I (hall adde, that a Lady that both You Pyropbilusjni
I know and love very well, though fhe have been long fubjeft:
to violent and tedious Fits of the Head-ach, and though that
diftemper have fince been much increas'd by a great con-
cuffion of her Head^occafion'd by the overturning of a Coach,
yet (he is wont prefently to be relieved , barely by holding
her Head a pretty while over a ftrong decodlion of Thee, and
breathing in the Steams of it.]
And now I am difcourfing of Cures made by Steams, or
other feemingly flight means, I muft not pretermit a thing
fo remarkable, that if it were more generally known in Eu¬
rope^ I fliould think it fomewhat ftrange to find it fo little
refledied on by Phyfitians; and that is the conftant and
almoft fuddain ceafing of the Plague, how raging foever,in
the almoft incredibly populous City of Grand Cayro in^-
gypt towards the latter end of <fune^about which time in moft
Countries in our Hemifphere it is wont to fpread fafteftand
be moft rife. The truth of this is attefted by fo many Tra¬
vellers of feveral Nations, that 'twere injurious to doubt of
it, and not only the Dexterous Mr R. whom y^u well know,
.and who lived at Cayro has confir'mdto me the truth of it.


(it*)
(if you duly refledl on it) you will, I fuppofe, difcern, that
it much credits and elucidates a great part of what hath been
delivered in divers of the foregoing Leaves, concerning the
poflibility of Natures doing great matters againft Difeafes,
without the help of grofs and fenfible Evacuations.
CHAP. XV.
ANd fince we have reprefented a humane Body as an En¬
gine, we (hall adde, That it may be altered both for the
better and for the worfe, by fuchbare motions or impulfes
of external Bodies, as a<5t but in a grofs and confefledly Me¬
chanical manner: For'tis known, that out of fuch fpeedily
killing, unlefs feafonably remedy'd Diftempers, as Fits of
S wounding, Patients of either Sex are often recovered with¬
out any inward Medicine, by being barely pinch'd in feveral
places. I, that halve endured great and dangerous Sicknefles,
have fcarce ever found any fo violent for the time, as that
wch the bare motion and fmell of a Ship and Sea Air hath
put me into, efpecially in rough weather, till I was fomewhat
accuftomed to Navigation? and yet this violent and weak-
ning Sicknefs, as it was not produced by any peccant Humor
in the Body, fo it was quickly removed by the Air, and
Qgiet of the Shore, without the help of Phyfick. And the
like may be obferved more fuddenly in the newly mentioned
Inftances of thofein whom, as the bare agitation of a Coach
will produce fuch violent Fits of Vomiting and fuch Faint-
nefs, that I have known fome of them apprehend they
Ihould prefently die 5 fb the bare cefl'ation of thatdifcompo-
fing motion foon relieved them. We fee in our Stables,
what operation, the currying of them carefully, hath upon
our


(*59)
our Horfes, And Helmont fomewhere tells us, That him-
felf, as I remember, could by the Milk of an Afs, tell whe>
ther flie had been that day diligently curryed or no and fo
confiderable an alteration in Milk Ihould, me-thinks, ftrong-
ly argue, that a great one in the Blood or other Juice, of
which the Blood is elaborated, and confequently in divers
of the principal parts of the Body mud have preceded it.
But to prefer our confideratron from the Bodies of Beaftsto
thofe of Men, 'tis remarkable what P/p confefleth, theilli- •
terate Braplian Empericks are able to perform with Fricti¬
ons, even as unskilfully as they order them: ,
faith he, turn tuenda (anitatis ergo, cum inpleriff fa-
Hindis, f 'ciionc(f uncttcne frequenti t'i-li
infrigidtoribus, & chronic is, hanc in a
fhta. rem-.didlubenter advent imitantur, & par , ex lc-
gibus art is htc & piur.t medendi Empirtcoram genera •
rantur. And as Galen himfelf highly extols a skilful Appli¬
cation of Cupping glades in the Colick-, foin they
finde that the like Remedy is ftrangely fuocefsful: For Cbo-
lera ftcca, faith our candid Pifo in another place, eifdem fere
Remediis (of which he had been fpeaking) maxime
fi regioni hepatis cornea cucurbitula . be quibus
mertto hoc teftor, quod Galenus de fuis cucurbitulis, in
Colico ajfeffuincantamenti in far operari tradtdit.
Wefballadae, for further confirmation, that not with-
danding all the horrid Symptomes that are wont to enfue
upon the biting of thai Poyfonous Spider, the Tarantula,
that lading and formidable Difeafe, which often mocks all
other Remedies, is by nothing fo fuccefsfully oppof'd, as by
Mufick. Some determinate tune or other which proves fuit-
able to the particular Nature of the Patients Body, or that


(it o)
of the Poyfon producing there fuch a motion, or determina¬
tion of fome former motion of the Spirits, or the Humors,
or both; as by conducting the Spirits into the Nerves and
Mufcles infer vient to the motion of the Limbs, doth make
the Patient leap and dance till he have put himfelf into a
Sweat, that breaths out much of the virulent Matter which
hath been probably fitted for expulfion, by fome change
wrought in its Texture or Motion, orthofe of the Blood,
by the Mufick- For if Sweat and Exercife, as fuch, were all
that relieved him, why might not , or leaping
without Mufick, excufe the Need of ? which yec is
'M'lfurg.lib,9. fo great, that Kircber informs us, Thac the <^Apultan Ma-
t*e- 4, giftratesare wont to give Stipends, at the publick charge,
to fuch to relieve the Poor by their playing. And not onely
He hath a memorable Story of R Pant arm, a
tine Nobleman, whofe Difeafe being not known to proceed
from the biting of a Spider, could by no Remedies be cured 5
he was at length, even upon the point of death, fuddenly re-
l ev'd, and by degrees reftored to perfeCt health by theufe
of Mufick: But Epiphani in his accurate
Obfervations concerning thofe bitten with the ,
together with eMath'tolus, and other Authors bear witnefs
thereunto, by refembling Narratives. Now that a Sound
(not barely as a found, but as fo modified) tn3y powerfully
operate upon the Blood an d Spirits, I, who am very Mufi-
cally given, have divers times obferv'd in my felf, upon the
hearing of certain Notes. And it might be made probable,
both by that which we have formerly faidot the effeCt of
skreaking upon the Teeth and Gums, and by the Dancing
Fit, into which not every Mufical Sound, though never fo
loud, but fome determinate Tune is wont to put the bitten
Patient.


(261)
Patienf. Bat it may be more manifeflly prov'd, by the fol-.
lowing teftimonyof our inquifitive Jefuite, wherein he af
firms, That the Spiders themfelves may, as well asthok foe ma eum
they have bitten, be made to Dance by Tunes, fuited
their peculiar Conftitutions. t ad pauperum re-
medium (olati-
umque coadufti curare confuevermt, M euros patientium cert'm faciliufqm accelerandos, pri-
riio ex infeUis quarere folent ubi, quo loco, aut campo, aut cujus colons Tarantula erat, a quo morfus ip-
fis fit infliftus. Quo fatlo indie at um locum protinus% ubi frequences numeio atque omnis generis Tarantula
return texendorum laboribws incumbunt, accedere folent dMedici citharadi, varidque tentare barmonwum
genera : ad quo mirum dittu^ nunc has nunc illas faltare non fecus <*c duorum polychordorum aqucXiter
concinnatorum, per fori atione ilia chorda? quo [miles fibi fuerint to/to, & aqualitcr ten/a moventur, veliquis
mmotisfita ut pro fjmilitudine & conditione Tarantuhrum nunc bos nunc illas faltare comperiuntXum ve-
ro ejus colons Tarantulam qua a patiente indicata fuerat injaltum prontmpcre viderint, pro certiffimo pg-
no babent^modnhm fe habere verum & certumbumori vencnofo t« tu^vti^opt©- proportionatum, & act
cuundu aptiJfimu,quo fi utantur infallibiT.m euro ejfe&u [e confequi off ever unt.~\ Kircher: Mufurg; hb.$%
part. i. cap. 4.
And this I the lefs wonder at, becaufe Ferdi-
nanduahimfelf, not onely tells us of a Man of 94 Years of tfifionsii
age, and fo weak that he could not go, unlefs fupportedby
his Staff, who did, upon the hearing of Mufick after he was
bitten, immediately fall a dancing and capering like a Kid;
and affirms,That the Tarantula's themfelves may be brought VUeSmmi
to leap and dance at the found of Lutes, fmall Drums, Bag-
pipes, Fiddles, &c. but challenges thofe that believe him "'1 '"
not to come and cry, promifing them an Ocular Convi&ion;
and adds what is very memorable and pleafant, That not
onely Men, in whom much may be afcribed to fancy, but
other Animals being bitten may likewife, by Mufick, bere-
due'd to leap or dance: for he faith, He faw aWafp, which
being bitten by a Tarantula whil'ft a Lucanift chanc'd to be
by j theMufician playing on his Inftrument, gave them the
fportof feeing both theWafpand Spider begin to dance :
annexing, That a bitten Cock did do the like.
» CHAP;


\*6i)
CHAP. XVI.
T Might alfo, Pyrophilus, confirm what I told you, when I
■* faid, That Sicknefs may produce fuch an alteration in the
Fabrick of the Body, as to make it capable to be very much
affedfed, as well for the better as for the worfe, by fuch
things that would not fcarce at all affedl it if it were found,
from the confideration of thofe many and ftrange
or Peculiarities, to be met with in fome Perfons in Sicknefs
and in Health. For though many of thefe differences be¬
tween healthy Men, are not likely to be greater then may be
obferv'd between the fame Man when well, and himfelf as
theOeconomy of his Body maybedif-compof'd by fome
Diftemper •, yet we often fee, that fome Perfons have the
Engine of their Body fo fram'd, that it is wonderfully dif-
ordered by fuch things as either work not at all on others, or
work otherwife on them: as it is common enough for Men
to be hugely difturb'd, and fome of them to fall into Fits of
trembling or fwooning, upon the fight or hearing of a Cat.
And to fuch anaffedlion I know a very eminent Commander
obnoxious, Your late Unkle, the laft Earl of , a
very gallant Noble Man, and who did his Country great
Service in the Irifh Wars, had the like apprehenfion for
T anfey.I cannot fee a Spider near me, without feeling a no¬
table commotion in my Blood, though I never received
harm from that fort of Creature, and have no fuch abhor¬
ring againft Vipers, Toads, or other venomous Animals.
You know an excellent Lady (marryed to a Great Perfon
that hath more then once govern'd Ireland) whofe Antipa¬
thy to Hony , which is much talked of in that Country,
hath difplay'd it felf upon feveral occafions: ncJtwithftand-


ing which, her experienc'd Phyfitian imagining that there
might be fomething of conceipt in her Averfion, took an
opportunity to fatisfie himfelf, by mixing a little Hony,
with other Ingredients, of a Remedy which he applyed to
a very flight and inconfiderable cut or fcratch, which fhe
chanced to get on her Foot 5 but he foon repented of his
Curiofity, upon the ftrange and unexpe&ed diforder which
his (in other cafes innocent,) Medicine produe'd, and which
ceafing upon the removal of that, and application of other
ordinary Remedies, fatisfiedhim, That thofe Symptomes
were to be imputed to the Hony, and not the bare hurt. The
fame excellent Lady, I remember, complained to me, That
when fhe was troubled with Coughs, all the Vulgar, Pero¬
ral and Pulmoniack Remedies did her no good, fothat fhe
could find relief in nothing but either the Fume of powdred
Amber, taken with convenient Hearbs in a Pipe, or that
BalfmumSulphur is which we have already taught you in this
Ellay.
[I know a Perfon of Quality, tall and ftrongly made, who
lately asked my Opinion, Whether, when he had need 06
Vomit, he fhould continue tomakeufeof Cauphy, in re¬
gard it wrought fo violently with him : This gave me the
occafion, as well as curiofity, of enquiring particularly both
of Himfelf and his Lady, concerning this odde Operation
of Cauphy upon him •, and I was told, That an ordinary
Wine-glafs full of the ulual warm decodfion of Cauphy 9
boyl'd in common Water, was wont, within about two
hours, to prove emetick with him, and before Noon did
give him eight, ten, orfometimes twelve Vomits, with fo
much violence, that he was lefs aftedted by the infufion of
Crocus meullorum, or other ufual emeticks, and therefore
was deliberating whether he fhould not change Cauphy for
forae


(2*4)
fome of them, though finding its Operation very certain, he
had for fome Years accuftomedhimfelf to take that Vomit:
And that which is alfo remarkable in this matter, is, that he
tells me, That fcarce any Vomit is more troublefome to
him to take, then that above-mentioned is grown of late, fo
that even the odour of Cauphy, as he paffeth by Cauphy-
houfes in the Street, doth make him fick; and yet that
Simple is to mod Men fo far from being Vomitive, that it is
by eminent Phyfitians, and in fome cafes not without C3ufe,
much extoll'd as a ftrengthner of the Stomack. And this
very Gentleman, himfelf, ufed it a pretty while againft the
Fumes that offended his Head, without finding any Vomi¬
tive Quality at all in it.3
The Books of fober and learned Phyfitians, afford us Ex¬
amples of divers fuch, and of much more ftrange Peculiari¬
ties, and likewife of fuch Perfons who having defires of cer¬
tain things very extravagant, and evenabfur'd (ordinarily
not onely improper, but hurtful to their Diftempers) have
been cured by the ufe of them, of very dangerous and fome-
times hopelefs Difeafes: Of which kinde of Cures I may
alfo elfewhere tell you what I have obferved, and fome cre¬
dit may be brought to fuch Relations, by what we ordinari¬
ly fee more greedily devoured (without much harm) by
longing Women, and Maids troubled with the Green-
licknefs.
But now, Pyrophilus, fince the Engine of an humane
Body thus appears to be fofram'd, that it is capable of re¬
ceiving great alterations from fuch unlikely things as thofe
wehave been mentioning, Whyfhould wehaftily conclude
againft the efficacy of Specificks, taken into the Body, up¬
on the bare account of their not operating by any obvious
quality, if they be recommended unto us, upon their own ex¬
perience!


(•»«<)
tumid place with common Oyl, wherein ftore of Scorpions
have been drown'd and fteep'd. And a refembling Example
of the Antidotal Vertue, wherewith Nature hath enrich'd
fome Bodies, is given us by the above-commended Pi(o, in
lib. 4. r.;p.4S. his CMcdicin.i Brajtlienfis, where (treating of the Antidotal
Efficacy o f the famous B Herb , eaten upon
an empty Stomack) he adds this memorable Story? That
hehimfelf faw a Braftltan,who having caught an over-grown
Author, life"! Toad, and fwell'd with Poyfon (fuch a one as call
vnderthe Title Cururu)which ufeth to be as big again as the European
UmiH. Toad, and defperately venomous (which perhaps our Toads
are not) he prefently killed him, by dropping on his back
the Juice of the Flowers and Leaves of that admirable Plant.
And you may remember, that the fame Author formerly
told us, in eft'edf, that as great and falutary changes may be
produced even in humane Bodies, where he relates, That he
had known thofe that had eaten feveral forts of Poyfon,
Snatch d, in a trice, from imminent death, by onely drinking
fome of thelnfufion of the Root he calls Jaborandi •, and
this, after I know not how many
acal Antidotes had been fruitlefly adminiftred.
You will perchance tell me, , that thefe three
or four laft Inftances are of Poy fonous Diftempers and their
Antidotes?not of ordinary Difeafes, and their Specifick Re¬
medies.But to th's I have a double Anfwer.-and Firft,Many of
thofe Diftempers that proceed from Poyfon,are really Difea.
fes, and both call'd by that Name, and treated of,as fuch,by
Phyfitians. And indeed they may well look upon them but as
Difeafes, exafperated by a virulent Malignity, which yet
appears to be not always eafiiy diftinguifhable from that of
Difeafes that proceed not from Poyfon,by this,That other-
ysife the Phyfitians of Princes and great Men, if after having
con-


(t6j)
confidered all the inward Parts of their dif-bowell'd Patients,"
could not fo often doubt and difpute, as they do, whether
or no Poyfon were acceflary to their death. And (who
learn'd divers of their deteftable Secrets from the Brafihans)
relates, That fome of them are fo skilful in the curfed Art
of tempering and allaying their Poy fons, that they will often
hinder them from difclofing their deleterial Nature forfo
long a time, that the fubtle Murtherers do as unfufpedledly
as fatally, execute their Malice or Revenge. Thefe Difeafes
indeed are wont to differ in this from Surfeits, and other re-
fembling ordinary Difeafes 5 that in the one, the venomous
matter that produceth the Difeafe, is at firft much more
fmall, then in the other the morbifick Matter is wont to be.
But the activity of this little quantity of hoftile Matter doth
make it fo pernicious, that the Diforders it produceth in the
Body, being much greater then that of ordinary Sickneffes
is; the cure of fuch Diftempers is the fitter to manifeft how
powerfully Nature may be fuccour'd, by Remedies that work
not by firft or fecond Qualities, fince fuch are able to deliver
Her from Difeafes heightned by a peculiar and venomous
malignity.
To this firft I (hall fubjoyn my next, which is, That di¬
vers Paftages of the former Difcourfe (efpecially what we
have related concerning the cure of Agues, of the Rickets,
and of the Kings-Evil) may fatisfieyou, That even ofordi-
nary Difeafes (fome at ieaft) may be as well cured by Speci-
ficks, as thofe produced by Poyfon are by Antidotes.
You may alfo fay, Pyrophilus, But what a recommend¬
ed Spccifick do not onely feem unable to produce the
Effect, but have Qualities, which according to our Notions of
the nature of the,l)ifsafe) feem likely toconfpire with it and in-
creafe it t
k k 2 I Anfwer,


(i6S)
I An fiver ,
Firft, That though it is better for a Patient to be cured by
a rafhly and unskilfully given Medicine, then to die under
theufeof the moft skilfully adminiftred Phyfick; yet that
the Phyfitianwholoofethhis Patient, after having done all
that his Art prefcribed to favehim, deferves more commen¬
dation then he that luckily chanceth to cure his Patient by
an irrational courfe. And therefore in fuch a cafe as you put,
PyrophiltiSy I think the Phyfitian ought to be very well fa-
tisfied of the matter of Faft, before he venture to try fuch
a Remedy ,efpecially if more ordinary and unfufpedted means
have not been imployed and found ineffectual 5 for it is not
one lucky Cure that ought to recommend to a wary Phyfi¬
tian the ufe of a Remedy, whofe dangerous Quality feems
obvious, whereas its vertue muft be credited upon Re¬
port-
But then fecondly, If the Phyfitian be duly fatisfiedof
the efficacy of the Remedy, upon a competent number and
variety of Patients, I fuppofe he may, without rafhnefs,
make ufe of fuch Remedies at leaft, where ordinary Medi¬
cines have been already fruitlefly try'd.
CHAP. XVIII.
' j 'Hat you may ceafe to wonder at my daring to fay this,
I Pjrophtliu, I muft offer to you three or four Parti¬
culars.
And firft, it is manifeft to thofe that are inquifitive, That
the true Nature and Caufesof feveral Difeafes, are much
lefs certain, and much more difputed of among the Do¬
lors themfelves, then thofe that are not inquifitive ima¬
gine : Nor is the method of curing divers particular Dif-
* eafes


(27°)
and keeping them from thofe effedlual Courfes, whereby
they may potently alter the Engine of the Body ? and by
redtifying the Motion and Texture of its Parts, both confi¬
dent and fluid, may bring Nature to their bent, andaccu-
ftorn Her to fuch convenient Courfes of the Blood and o-
ther Juices, and fuch fit times and ways of evacuating (what
is noxious or fuperfluous &c.) as may prevent or cure
divers ftubborn Difeafes, more happily then the vulgar Me-
thodifts are wont to do.
And indeed, it is fcarce to be expedled, that till men have
a better Knowledg of the Principles of Natural Philofophy,
without which 'tis hard to arrive at a more comprehenfive
Theory of the various poflible caufes of Difeafes, and of the
contrivance and ufes of the parts of the Body, the Method
which fuppofes this Knowledg fhould be other then in ma¬
ny things defe&ive, and in forne erroneous, as I am apt to
think, the vulgar Method may be fliewn to be as to fome
particular Difeafes. Of this I may perhaps elfewhere ac¬
quaint you more particularly with my fufpicions, and there¬
fore I fliall now only mention the laft Obfervation of this
kind I met with, which was in a Gentleman, You and I very
well know, who being for fome Months much troubled
with a difficulty of breathing, and having been unfuccesfully
treated for it by very Eminent Phyfitians,we at laft fufpedled,
that 'twas not the Lungs, but the Nerves that ferv'd to
move the Diaphragme and other Organs of refpiration, upon
whofe diftemper this fuppos'd Aflhma depended, and accor¬
dingly by a taking or two of a Volatile Salt of ours, which
is very friendly to the genus Ner-vofum, he was quickly
freed from his trouble fome diftemper, which afterwards
he was fully perfwaded did not proceed from any fluffing
up of the Lungs. To be fhort, how much efteem foever
we


(*70
we have for Method, yet fince that it felfand the Theories
whereon men ground it, are, as to divers particular Difeafes,
fo hotly difputedof; even among Eminent Phyfitians, that
in many cafes a man may difcerne more probability of the
fuccefTe of the Remedy, then of the truth of the received
Notion of the Difeafe $ In fuch abftrufe cafes me-thinks it
were not amifs to reflect upon that reafoning of the auncient
Empericks (though on a fomewhat differing occafionj which
is thus fomewhere exprefs'd by Celfus: con'
filio medicum non egcre, & irra'ionabile Animal banc art em
pofjeprojlare, fed hoc latentium rerumcon ad rem non
■fert:ncrc$guia non inter fit ^quid morbumfaciat,fed quid to Hate
And as the controverted Method in the abovemention'd
Difeafes is not yet eftablifh'd or agreed on in the Schools
themfelyes, fo divers of thofe that are wholly ftrangersto
thofe Schools, do yet by the help of Experience and good
Specificks, and the Method their Mother-wit does,according
to emergencies,prompt them to take, perform fuch confide-
rable cures, that Pifo flicks not to give this Teftimonyto
the utterly Unlearned Braftlian Empericks. , faies >
he, feniores & exercitatiores eximii funt , faciltif
negotio omnis generis medicaminaex in
qrnfitu conficiunt. tanta f agacitateinterne cr externe
alios adhi'oere videos, procipue in morbis veneno utquis
illorum manibus tutius & fe curt us fe , quam medicafiris
nofiris fciolis, qui fecreta quodam in umbra nata atq; edit,
cata crepant perpetuo, & ob bos Rationales dici volunt.
Secondly, There are divers Medicines, which though
they want notfome one quality or other proper to encreafe
the Difeafe againft which they are adminiftr'd, are yet con¬
fidently us'd by the moft judicious Dodlors, becaufethat
they are alfoinrich'd with other qualities, whereby they may
do*



Cap. 2.
(*7* )
do much more good then their noxious quality can do harm*
as in a Malignant Feaver, though the diftemper be Hot, and
though Treacle and fome other Antidotal Sudorificks be hoc
alfo,yet they areufefuliy adminillred in fuch Difeafes,becaufe
the reliefe they bring the patient by oppugning'the Maligni¬
ty of the peccant matter,and perhaps by eafing him of fome of
it by fweat, is more confiderable then the harm they can do
him 5 by encreafing for a while his Heat.
The very experienced Bontius, Chief Phyfitian to the
Dutch Plantation in the Eafl Indies. in his Methodic medcnii
Indie a, Treating of the Spafmus, which (though here unfre-
quenc) he reckons among the Endemial Difeafes of the
commends the Ufe of Quercetanus's Laudanum,ol Phi*
Ionium, and principally of an Extrafl of Opium and Safron,
which he defcribes and much Extols ^ and leaft h'*s#Readers
Ihould fcruple at fo ftrange a prefcription, he adds this me¬
morable paffage to our prefent purpofe, Fort aft is (faies he)
S dolus qui [pi am negabit his rernediis ^propter vim ftupefaffi-
vam ac narcoticum nervifque inimicam,e[[e utendnm. Speciofa
quidem hac prima fronte videntnr fed tamen vana f tint. Nam
fr&tcrquam quod calidifsima hujus Clirnatis temperies nonre-
qnirat, certiftimum eft in tali necefsitate : fine his digram eva¬
der e nonpcfJe.Adde quod nos tarn rite Opium hie prdparawut ut
vel infanti innoxie detur: & fane ut verbo abfolvam) ft Opia-
ta hie nobis deeffent in morbis calidis hie grafjantibus fruftra
remedia adhiberemm quod etfi imperitis durum,ex progreffuta
men me nihil temere dixifjepatebtt*
Thedrincking freely, efpecially if the Drink be cold Wa¬
ter, is ufually f and in moft cafes, nor without much reafon;)
ftri&ly forbidden, as very hurtful for the Dropfie, and yet
thofe that frequent the Spaa, tell us of great cures perform'd
by pouring in plenty of Waters into the Patients already
di-


I
(27i)
diftended Belly •, and I know a Perfon of great Quality, and
Vertue, who being by an obftinate Dropfy, befides a com¬
plication of other formidable difeafes, brought to a defperate
condition, was advis'd to Driak Tunbridg Waters, when I
happndtobe there, by hervery skilful Phyfitian: Who told
me, chat the Dodors having done all their Art could direct
them unto in vain, (lie would be cur'd by Death, if (lie were
not by thefe Waters-,from whence (the weather proving very
feafonable for that fort of Phyfick ) fhe returned in fo pro*
fperous a condition of recovery, as exaded both his and my
wonder.That the Decodion of fo heating a Simple as Guaja-
cum^ would be lookt upon by the generality of Phyfitians,
both Gale fit(Is and Chjmifts, as a dangerous Medicine in Pthi-
fical and other confumptions, you will eafily grant: and yet
fomeeminent Phyfitians, and (particularly Spaniards) tell us
of wonderful cures they have perform'd in defperate Ulcers
of the Lungs by the long ufe of this Decodion, notwithftan-
ding its manifeftly and troublefomely heating Quality • And
I know a Phyfitian eminently learn'd, and much more a Me-
thodift, then a Chymift, who affuresme, thathehas made
trial of this unlikely way of curing Confumptions with a
fucceffe that has much recommended thefe Paradoxical Spa¬
niards to him. 'Tis alfo believed, and not without caufe,
by Phyfitians, that CMercury is wont to prove a great enemy
to the Genus nervofum, and often produces Palfeys, and other
diftempers of the Brain and Nerves: and yet oheof theex-
adeft and happieft Methodifts I know, has confefs'd to me,
that Mercurial preparations are thofe which he ufes the
moft fucceffully in Paraljtical and the like diftempers of
what Phyfitians call the Genus nervo[um. And on mis oc-
cafion, I remember, that a Gentlewoman being confined
to her Bed by:a Dead Palfey, that had feis'd on one fide of
11 her
r- •


(*75)
fible} that they may work more powerfully on it then the
other Parts of the fame Concrete, of which the Eye judgeth
it altogether to confift.
This I have made out to fome ingenious Men,by {hewing,
that though Sallet Oyl be generally reputed to confift of
Fat and llmftuous Particles, and therefore to be a great re-
fifter of Corrofion-, yet it containes in it fiiarp and piercing
parts, which meeting with a difpofed fubjedf, do more pow¬
erfully operate then the more purely Oleaginous ones. As
we endeavoured to evince by keeping for a fhort while in a
gentle warmth, fome pure Oyl-Olive, upon a quantity of
Filings of ev'n crude Copper: For from them the Liquor
extracted an high Tin&ure betwixt Green and Blew, like
that which fuch Filings would have given to Diftill'dVine-
ger, which according to Chymifts Notions obtains that
Colour, by making with its Acid andCorrofiveSalta real
folution of fome part of the Copper, as may appear by the
recoverablenefie of the metal out of it. Another proof
or two of the Acrimony of fome of the parts of Oyl we may
elfwhere give you. But now we fliall rather confirme our
Anfwer to your Queftion, by two or three Examples of
Cures performed by unlikely Remedies.
I went once to vifit an Ingenious whom I
found Sick on his Bed, and having by theSymptomesofhis
Difeafe,difcern'd it to be a Pleur I talk'd with him of fea-
fonably opening a Veine, but he was refoiv'd againft it, and
told me he would cure himfelf by a remedy, which at firft
feems as likely to encreafe fuch a difeafe as Phlebotomy is
to cure it, namely by theufeofHelmonts Laudanum Opt-
alum which in effedf did in three or four daies cure him, and
fincehe without Blood letting cur'd fome others with it;
which I the leffe wonder at, becaufe of my having obferv'd
11 2 that


(»7<0
that Opium (with which unskilful men feldome tamper with-
oat danger) if duely corredted and prepared proves fome-
times a great refolver, and commonly a great Sudorifick in-
fomuch, that I have known it make a perfon copioufly fweat,
who often complain'd to me, that other Diaphortticks had
no fuch operation on him,
I have oftentimes feen Coughs ftrangly abated by the
ufe of a Remedy, which I have not long fince told you, how
I prepare: and with which (I remember) in a pretty Child yoa
{Pyrophtltu) know,and who is now very well, I was fo happy
as to reprelTe in a few Houres a violent Cough, that threat-
ned her with Speedy Death, and yet this Medicine has fo „
eminent a faltnefie, that the Tongue can fcarce fuffer it-, and
how much the ufe of Salt things is by many Phyfirians con-
dem'd in Coughs (and indeed in many cafes not without Rea-
fon) I need not tell You. And with exceedingly piercing
Eflence or Spirit of Mans Blood, I have known, notwith-
ftanding its being very Saline, and its manifeftly heating the
Patient, efpecially for the firft Four or Five daies, ftrange
things perform'd even in a deplorable and hereditary Con¬
sumption. This Pyrophiltubrings into my mind, Some¬
thing,that, it may be,you will think odde, which is,that having
had occafion to advife for a perfon of high quality, with a
very ancient Gaienift, that in his own Country was look'd
upon as alrnoft an Oracle, and particularly in reference to
Phthifical Confumptions, which was there a vulgar Difeafe,
He confefTed to me,that though his having fallen into it him-
felf, made him very folicitous to find a cure for it; and
though he had in his long and various pradiife, made trial of
great variety of Methods and Remedies for the cure of that
Difeafe, yet that with which he cur d himfelf, and afterwards
the generality of his chief Patiens was principally Sulphur
melted


( *7 )
melted, and mingled,in a certain proportion to make re fit to
be taken,in a Pipe, with beaten Amber or a Cephalick Herb.
The particular circumftances of his Method, I cannot now fee
you down, not having by me the Paper wherein they were
Noted , but if I miftake not the Herb, with which he
mingl'd the Brimftone or Flower of Sulphur was Coltsfoot
orBetony; and I well remember, that what helook'dupon
as the chief and fpecifick Remedy in his way of curing, was
the fmoak of the Sulphur•, the other ingredients being added,
not fo much for their being proper enough for the Difeafe, as
their helping to fill the Pipe, and thereby to allay the pun¬
gency, wherewith the Smoak, if afforded by a Pipe fill'd with
Brimftone alone,would be qualify'd. But yet this Sulphu¬
reous Smoak is fo predominant in the Remedy, thatheus'd
to have a Syrrup in readinefs to relieve thofe, whom the A-
crimony of the Fumes fhould make very fore, and perhaps
blifter on the one fide of their Mouthes,or Throats,which ac¬
cident he p'.ovidedfor, by that cooling and healing Syrrupi
without being thereby difcourag'd from profecuting the
cure with the fame Remedy; wherewith a perfon very Curi¬
ous and Rich, has folemnly affur'd me, that himfelf has cur'd
divers Confumptions, and particularly in a Lady, even in
health very Lean, that henam'dtome, as being one I then
knew. Now we know that Phyfitians generally,and in moft
cafes juftly,forbid Acid things to thofe that have exulcerated
or tender Lungs, and how highly Acid and piercing the
Smoak of Sulphur is, the Chymifts can beft tell, you, who
by catching it and condenling it in Glafie3 fhap'd almoft
like Bells obtain from it that very corrofive Liquor, which
readily diffolves Iron, being the very fame chat is commonly
call'd oleum Sulphur is per campanam, and yet it feems that
either the Theory of Confumptions is milunderftood, ot


(*78>
that the drying quality of the Sulphureous fteam, and its
great power to refill putrefadlion, and as it were embalm the
Lungs and feafon the Blood are confiderable enough to ac¬
count for the Harm which its Acidity may do.
Ecles are fo commonly eaten by Pcrfons of both Sexes
without being taken notice of for Quality, except their
Crudity, that one would fcarce believe fuch a {linking and
odious Medicine as that of their Livers and Galls dried
flowly in an Oven fhould be more proper for any thing, then
to make the taker Vomit 5 and yet in divers places
fpeaks of this Medicine as if it had kept multitudes of Wo¬
men from dying of hard Labour. And fince him ,
in his New Obfervations highly extols it. And 1 knew a
very famous Emperick, who had very few other Secrets, and
fcarce any one fo great to get Reputation and Mony by.
And I remember alfo, That fome years fince I had occafion
to give it to the Wife of a very ingenious Phy fitian,of whom
the Midwives and her Husband almolt defpair'd, and (as (lie
afterwards told me her felf) each Dofe made her throwes
(which before had left her) returne, and at length (he was
fafely delivered fhe fcarce knew how. But I found double
the Dofe prefcrib'd by Helmont,requifite to beufedatl3ft;
and that the quantity of a Walnut of the Powder of thefe
Livers given in Rhenifh or White-wine, and when the Sto-
mack was mod empty, was no more then fuch a cafe re¬
quired.
Scorpions being Venomous Creatures, to fuffbeate and
infufe them in Oyl might feem the way to make it Poyfo-
nous, if experience did not allure us, that this Oyl is fo far
from being fuch, that it Cures the invenom'd bitings of
Scorpions, which effedt now that Phyfitians find it upon trial
to be true, they confefle to be rational, and afcribe it, how


( *79)
juftly I now examine not to the attraction of the Poyfon re¬
ceived into the Body, by that which is outwardly applied to
the hurt. And Pifo informes us that amongft the
whofe country is fo much infeftedwith Venomous Crea¬
tures 'tis the moft general Cure to draw out the Poyfon»by
applying to the hurt the beaten Body of the Beaft that gave
it. As likewife in Italy,they account the crufhing of the
very Scorpion that has bit a Man upon the bitten place for
a molfcfpeedy and effe&ual Remedy. And I remember that
here in England the Old man, whom you have feen going
about with Vipers,Toads,&c. to fell, tol'dme that when
he was dangeroully bitten by a Viper and all fwel'd by the
Poyfon of it a great part of his cure was the outward ap¬
plication of Venomous Creatures ftamp'd 'till they were
brought to aConfiftence fit for that purpofe.
That Fluxes are the general and Endemical Difeafes in
Ireland, I need not tell you; and yet I remember, that ha¬
ving occafion to confult the ancienteft and moft experiene'd
Phyfitian of that Nation Dr F.about the cure of it, he
alfur'd me, that though during his very long Practice he
had found divers Remedies very profperous, fomeon one
fort of Patients, and fome on another; yet the Medicine he
moft relied on, was this. To take unfalted Butter, and
boil it gently'till a pretty pare were confum'd, Skimming
it diligently from time to time, whil'ft it ftands over the
fire, and of this Butter melted, to give now and then acon-
fiderable quantity, according as the Patient is able to bareicr
A Remedy which at the firft propofal may feem more likely
to put a man into a Flux then to cure him of one. And
yet the fame Remedy which he fuppos'd to benefit by mi¬
tigating the fharp humours and preferving the Entrals from
their Corrofion was afterwards much commended to me by
another


(2§0)
another antient Iripi Phyfitian, who was efteemed among
the Doctors the next in Eminency to him that I have na¬
med.
C A P. XIX.
"I Should not here, Pjrophjlus, adde any thing to what I have
* all ready faid above in favour of the ufe of even odde
Specificks, but that finding at every turn, that the-main
thing, which does (really or in pretence) prevail with ma¬
ny Learned Phyfitians (efpecially in a famous Univerfity
You have vifited abroad) to rejed Specificks, is, That they
cannot clearly conceive the diftind manner of the Specificks
working,and think it utterly improbable,thac fuch a Medicine
which muft pafle through Digeftions in the Body, and be
whirl'd about with the Mafs of Blood to all the parts, (hould,
negleding the reft, flaew it felf Friendly to the Brain, for in-
ftance,or the Kidnies, and fall upon this or that Juyce or Hu¬
mor,rather then any other. But to this Objection which I
have propos'd as plaufibleas lean readily make it, I fliallac
prefent buc briefly offer,according to what has been hitherto
difcours'd,thefe two things.
And Firft, I would demand of thefe Objedors a clear and
fatisfadory, or at leaft an intelligible explication of the man¬
ner of working of divers other Medicaments that do not
pafle for Specificks, as how Rhubarb Purges Choler, and
Htllebor Melancholly rather then other Humours, howfome
Medicines that have endur'd a ftrong fire, as kAntimonwm
Diapboreticum, and Bczoardicum well made, are
yet oftentimes flrongly Sudoririck; why the infufion ©fov¬
ea* Metallorum or of Glafle of Antimony, though it acquire
bo pungent, or fo much as manifeft taft, whereby to velicate
the


(i8.)
the Palat or the Tongue, are yet violently both Vomitive
and Cathartick; And how Mercury which is innoxioufly
given in many cafes Crude to Women in labour and others,
does eafily acquire, befides many other more abftrufe Me¬
dicinal Qualities, not only an Emetick and Purgative, but
a Salivating faculty. For I confeffe, that to me,even many of
the vulgar Operations of common Drugs feem not to have
been hitherto intelligibly explain'd by Phyfitians, who are
yet, for ought I have obferv'd, to feek for an account of the
manner, how Diureticks, how Sudorificks, how Sarcoticks,
and how many other familiar forts of Medicines, which thofe
that confider them but flightly are wont to think they un¬
derhand throughly, perform their operations. Nay, I much
queftion, whether the generality of Phyfitians can yet give
us a fatisfadory account, why any fort of Medicine purges
in general:And he that in particular will (hew me,where either
the Peripatetick or Galenical Schools, have intelligibly made
out,why Rhubarb dotsparticularly purge Choler, and Senna
more peculiarly Phlegm, Eritmpolio. For
I fee not how from thofe narrow and barren Principles of the
four Elements, the four Humours , the four firft Qualities
(and the like;) Efteds, far lefte abftrufe then the Operations
of Purging Medicines, can fatisfadorily be deduc'd. Nor can
I find, that any thing makes thofe Phyfitians, that are unac¬
quainted with the Philofophy that explains things by the
Motions, Sizes, and Figures of little Bodies, imagine they
underftand the account upon which fome Medicines are Pur¬
gative, others Emetick, &c. And fome Purgative in fome
Bodies, Vomitive in other, and both Purgative and Vomi¬
tive in molt; but becaufe they never attentively enquire
into it.
m m But


(j82)
But (which is the next thing I have to reprefent) if we
duely make ufe of thole fertile and comprehenfive Principles
ofPhilofophy, the Motions, Shapes, Magnitudes and Tex¬
tiles of the Minute parts of Matter, it will not perhaps be
more difficult tofliew, at leaft in general, that Specificks may
havefucb Operations, as are by the judicious and experienc'd
afcrib'd to them, then it will be for thofe that acquiefce in the
vulgar. Principles of Philofophy and Phyfick, to render the
true Reafons of the tnoft obvious and familiar operations of
Medicines. And though the fame Objedlion thatisurg'd
to prove,That a Specifick cannot befriend the Kidnies, for
Example, or the Throat, rather then any other parts of
the Body, lies againft the noxioufnefs of Poyfons to this or
that determinate part * Yet experience manifefts that fome
Poyfons do refped fome particular part of the Body,
without equally ( if at all fenfibly ) offending the reft:
as we fee that Camhartdes in a certain Dofe are noxi¬
ous to the Kidnies and Bladder, Quickfilver to the
Throat , and the glanduls thereabouts, Strammoneum,
to the Brain , and opium to the Animal Spirits and
Genus Nervofum. And if You call to mind, what we have
formerly deduc'd to make it out, That a Humane Body is
an Engine, and that Medicines operate in it as finding it fo;
we need not think it fo ftrange, that there being many Strai¬
ners, if I may fo call them, of differing Textures, fuch as the
Liver,Spleen, and Kidnies, and perhaps divers local Ferments
refiding in particular parts, and a Mafs of Blood continually
dreaming through all the parts of the Body, a Medicine may
be quickly by the Blood carried from anyone part to any
other, and the Blood, or any Humour mingl'd with it, may
be as eafily carried to the Medicine,in what parts foeverit be,


OS,)
and the Remedy thus admitted into the Maffe of Blood, may
in its pailage through the Strainers, be fo alter'd, either by
leaving fome of its parts there, or by having them alter'd by
the abovemention'd Ferments, or by being aflociated with
fome other Corpufcles, it may meet within its palTage-,where¬
by the Size, or Figure, or Motion of its fmall parts may be
chang'd, or in a word it may by fome of thofe many other
waies, which might, if this Essay were not too Prolix
already, be propos'd, and deduc'd, receive fo great an Altera¬
tion, in reference either to fome or other of the Strainers,
or other firmer parts of the Body, or to the diftemper'd
Blood, or fome other fluid and peccant matter, that it needs
not feem impoffible, That by that time the Medicine (crum-
bl'd as it were into Minute Corpufcles) arrives at the
or humour to be wrought upon, it may have a notable Ope¬
ration there. I mean Part as mil as Humour, becaufe the
Motion, Size, or Shape of the Medicinal Corpufcles in the
Blood, though not by fenfediftinguiihable from the reft of
the Liquor they help to compofe, may be fo conveniently
qualify'd,as to ihape,bulk,and motion, as to reftore the Strai¬
ners to their right Tone or Texture, as well as the Blood to
its free and Natural courfe, by refolving and carrying away
with them fuch tenacious matter, as ftuft'd, or choak'd up the
Render pailages of the Strainer, or at le3ft Scraitned its
pores,or vitiated their Figure; And the fame Sanative Cor¬
pufcles may perchance bealfo fitted to ftickto, and thereby
to ftrengthen fuch Fibres of the Strainers, or fuch other fir¬
mer parts of the Body, as may need congruous Corpufcles
to fill up their little unfupply'd Cavities.
Meats that are Salt,and Tartareous, whilft they are whir¬
led about in the Mafs of Blood,may by the other part of that
Vital Liquor be fo diluted and kept afunderfo,as not to be of-
m m 2 fenfive


(2S4)
fenfive to any part: When they come to be feparated by the
larencbyma of the Kidnies, from the fweet^r parts of the
Blood, that did before temper and allay them, they eafily, by
their Saline pungency, offend the tender Ureters and Mem¬
branous Bladders of thofe that are troubl'd with the Stone or
Strangurie. And perchance 'tis upon fome fuch account,
that Cantbarides are more noxious to the Bladder then to
other parts of the Body. And as Salt meat thus grovves
peculiarly offenfive to the Reins and Bladder*, fo a Spednek,
difpos'd to be diffolv'd,after a peculiar manner, may, in the
Body, either preferve or acquire, as to its Minute parts, a
friendly congruity to the Pores of the Kidnies, Liver, or
other Strainers equally, when diftemper'd; as I formerly
obferv'd to You , that New-milk fweetned with Sugar-
candy, though it be not wont fenfibly to affedl sny other
part of the Body •, nor would have fenfibly affedted the Kid¬
nies themfelves, had they not been diforder'd, yet after the
troublefome operation of Cantbari, it had a very friendly
effedl upon the diftemper'd Parts ; Thus a Specifick,
for one Difeafe, may be refolved in the Body into Mi¬
nute particles of fuch Figure and Motion, that being fit to
ftick to other Corpufcles of peccant matter, which, by their
vehement agitation, or other offenfive qualities difcompofe
the Body and make it Feavourifh, may allay their vehement
Motion, and by altering them, as tobignefsandfhape,give
them new and innocent qualities, inftead of thofe noxious
ones they had before.
Another Specifick may diffolve the Grofs and Slimy
Humours that obftrudf the narrow pafiages of the Veins 5
as I have obferv'd that Spirit of Harts-horn, which power¬
fully opens other obftrudlions; and refolves fluffing Phlegm
in the Lungs, will alfo,though more flowly, refolve prepar d
Flowers


(**5)
VlowttsofSulpbur, crude Copper, and divers other Bodies-
and alfo it may, by mortifying the Acid Spirit that often¬
times caufes coagulations in the Blood, reftore that Vital
Liquor to its Fluidity and free Circulation, and thereby re¬
move divers formidable Difeafes, which feem to proceed
from the Coagulation, or Ropineffe of the Bloody and on the
other fide,the Minute parts of fome Specificks, againft a con¬
trary Difeafe, may fomewhat thicken and fix the two thin
and agitated parts of the Blood, or of fome peccant matter
in it, by alfociating themfelves therewith: as the nimble
parts of puie Spirits of Wine, and thofe of high redlify'd
Spirit of Urine, will concoagulate into Corpufcles,bigger and
far lefs Agile. And the fame Spirit of Wine it felf, with
another Liquor I make, will prefently concoagulate into a
kind of foft, but not fluid Subftance. Nor is it fo hard to
conceive,that a Specifick may work upon a determinate Pare
or Humour,and let the others alone: as if you put,for inftance,
an Egge into ftrong Vinegar, the Liquor will operate upon
and difl'olve all the hard fhell. and yet leave the tender skin
untouch'd; And if you caft Coral into the common recti¬
fy'd Spirit of Tartar,the far greater part of the Liquor,
though ftrong aftd fpirituous, will remain unalter'd thereby,
and may be, integris viribtu, ab ftrafted from it^ but the Co¬
ral will prefently find out, or rather be found out by Acid or
Acetuous Particles, and by incorporating it felf with them,,
take away their fharpnefs: as in fome cafes Coral has been
obferv'd to do to Sower Humours a bounding in Humane
Bodies, thofe Humours being eafily, by the Circulating
Blood, brought (in their paffage) to the Coral, whilft it per¬
haps remains in the Stomack or Guts. And though the
Circulation of the Blood be fufficient to bring,little by little,
she Acid Particles of that Liquor in its paffage through


(,8«)
the Veflels to work upon Coral •, yet in other Medicines the
Operation may be more-nimble: The Remedy quickly diftu-
fing it felf through the Mafs of Blood, to feek, as it were,
anddeftroy the Acid parts, which it meets with blended with
the reft of the Liquor 5 as Spirit of Urine being inftead of
Coral put into the above mention'd Spirit of Tartar will not
(that I have obferv'd) fallen it felf to the Spirituous nor the
Phlegmatick parts of the Liquor, but only to the Acid ones,
which it will Mortifie or deprive of their Sowernefs by con-
coagulating with them. And I fee not why it Ihould be
more inconceivable that a Specifick Ihould have a peculiar
Vertue to free the Body from this or that peccant Humour,
and a benign congruity to the diftemper'd Spleen or Liver,
then that fome Cathartick Ihould purge Eledlively, and fome
Antidotes have peculiar Vertues againft fuch Poylons,whofe
Malignity particularly invades the Brain or Kidnies, or fome
other determinate part: the former of which the Phyfitians,
we reafon with, fcruple not to teach* and the latter of which
is taught us not by them only , but by Experience
too.
[Of the credibility of Specificks, and of the Efficacy even
of fome unlikely ones, we might eafily enough prefent You
with more Proofs and Examples: But thefe may poffibly
be fufficient for our prefent purpofe* efpecially if you duely
confider, that as Phylick has ow'd its beginning to Expe¬
rience, fo thofe that pradtife it mull enlarge and redlifie their
Principles, according to the new difcoveries, which are made
from time to time of the Operations and Power of the pro-
dudlions, whether of Nature or of Art. This confideration
I thought to infill upon in my own Exprelfions but fin¬
ding lately the fame Notion which 1 had, to have been long •
fince that of the ancient Empericks, I will fumme up what
I


m
(**7)
I meant to fay in their words, as I find them wittily deliver'd
by Celfuo, in that excellent Preface, where having fpokenin
their Senfe of the Origin of Phyfick, He continues Me-
dicinam ortam, fubinde aliorum interim
ciofa difcementem a falutaribuc. Refertis rc~
mediis, bom nes de rationibtts eerum pojl
K jtioncm, M edict r, am cjje invent arrived poft invent am Medici'
nam,Rationem efje quafttqm. And leaft the miftaken name
of Emperick Ihould make you undervalue fo ufeful a Con-
fideration, which not the nature of their Se&, but that of the
thing, fuggefted to them; I (hall adde in favour of what we
have deliver'd concerning experienced, though othervvife un¬
likely Remedies, that 'tis a fentence afcrib'd to
(and in my opinion, one of the beft that is afcrib'd to him,)
Ubires con flat y ft opinio adverfetur , rationem
non rem ignorandam. 3
And certainly Pyrcphilus, though there be fcarce any fort
of men, whofe credulity may do the World more mifchief
then that of Phyfitians; yet perhaps, neither nature nor man¬
kind is much beholden to thole, that too rigidly,or narrowly,
circumfcribe, or confine the operations of Nature, and will
not fo much as allow themfelves or others to try whether
it be pofiible for Nature excited and manag'd by Art to
performe divers things which they never yet faw done, or
work by divers waies, differing from any, which by the com¬
mon Principles that are yet taught in the Schools y they are
able to give a fatisfa&ory account of.
To the many things which you may be'pleafed to apply to
this purpofe, out of the precedent Difcourfe, divers others
may be added, if without tiring you, they may be now infi¬
lled on. It would fcarce have been believtd fome ages
fince, by thofe that knew no other then Vegetable Purges
and


(z9o)
Verum in ]uvenibu4& Us qui
nuget:£>uap r opt ercaute & non adult ion bus :
The warrantablenefs of which caution, and confequently the
ftrange efficacy of ofteocolla, was, I remember, confirm'd
tome not long fince by a skilful Phyfitianvvho hath particu¬
larly ftudyed its nature; and related to me, That fome Years
fince his Mother, having by a fall broken her Leg near the
Knee, had too fuddenly, by the over- much ufe of this Stone,
a Callus produced in the part much bigger then he expedted
or defired.
Hethat, before the falivating Property of cJtfwwy was
difcovered, fliould have told Phyfitians of the defpondent
temper of thefe, we are now difcourfing with, that befides
the known ways of disburdening Nature (namely by Vo¬
mit, Siege, Urine, Sweat, and infenfible Tranfpiration)
there were a fort of Remedies, that would make very large
Evacuations by Spittle, and thereby cure divers ffubborn
Difeafes that had been found refradlory to all ordinary Reme¬
dies, would certainly have been more likely to be derided,
then believed by them 5 fince no known Remedy, befides
Mercury, hath been, that I remember, obferved to work re-
gulaily by SalivatiojuJfor though Cerufs of Antimony have
been obferved to miree Men, of fome Conftitutions, apt
to fpit much, yet it works that way coo languidly, to deferve
the name of a Salivating Remedy; and probably oweth the
quality it hath of enclining to fpit, to the Mercurial part of
the Antimony, wherewith the it is made of abounds)
and therefore the greater their experience of the Effects of
Medicinal Operations fhould be fuppofed to be, the greater
indifpofition it would give them to credit fo unallyed a
Truth. And yet the reality of this Fluxing Property of
Quick- filver is long fince grown paft queftion, and hath
been


(29 0
been found fo ufeful in the cure of the moft radicated and o'o-
ftinate Venereal Difternpers, that I fomewhat wonder thofe
Phyfitians, that fcruple not to employ as boifterous ways of
Cure, have not yet applyed it to the extirpation of fome o-
ther Difeafes 5 as Ulcers of the Kidnies, Confumptions,
and even Palfies, &c. wherein I am apt to think, it may be
as effectual as in thofe produced by Luft, and much more ef¬
fectual then vulgar Remedies, provided that the exceeding
troublefome way of working of falivating Medicines be bet¬
ter corrected then it is wont to be, in the ordinary Medicines
employed to produce Salivation, which they do with fuch
tormenting Symptomes, that they are fcarcely fupportable.
But if purified Quick-filver be dexteroufly precipitated by
a long and competent digeftion, with a due proportion of
refined Gold, Experience hath informed us, that the faliva¬
ting Operation of it may be performed with much lefs unea-
finefs to the Patient- And that fuch Mercurial Medicines,
wherein the Quick-filver is well corrected by Gold, may
produce more then ordinary effeCts, we have been enclined
to believe, by the tryals which we procured by Learned Phy¬
fitians to be made in other then Venereal Difeafes, of a gent¬
ly working precipitate of Gold and of which we
may elfewhere fee you down the Procefs.
[And now I am upon the Difcourfe of the peculiar Ope¬
rations of Mercury, and of unufual ways of Evacuation,
I am tempted to fubjoynan odde Story, which may afford
notable hints to a fpeculative Man, as it was related to me
both in private, and before Illuftrious Witneffes, by the
formerly commended Chymiff of the French King: He told
me then awhile fince, that there is yet living a Perfon of
Quality, by name (JWonfieur de well known by
the Command he hath or had of a Regiment of in
n n 2 France,


(2?Z)
trance, who, many Years ago following the Wars in the
Low Countries,fell into a violent Diftemper ot his Eyes,
which, in fpight of what Phyfitians and Chimrgions could
do, did in a few Moneths fo increafe, that he loft the ufe of
both his Eyes, and languiih'd long in a confirm'd Blindnefs;
which continued till he heard of a certain Emperick at
sterdam, commonly known by the name of Adrian
maker (for-indeed he was a Glafier) who being cry'd up for
prodigious Cures he had done with a certain Powder, this
Colonel reforted to him,and the Emperick having difcourf'd
withhim, undertook his Recovery, if he would undergo the
torment of the Cure; which the Colonel having under¬
taken to do, the Chirurgion made him fnuff up into each
Noftril, about a Grain of a certain Mercurial Powder, which,
in a ftrangely violent manner, quickly wrought with him al-
moft all imaginable ways, as by Vomit, Siege, Sweat, U-
rine, Spitting and Tears, within ten or twelve hours that
this Operation lafted, making his Head alfo to fwell very
much: But within three or four days after this fingle taking
of the Draftick Medicine had done working, he began to re¬
cover fome degree of Sight, and within a Fortnight attain¬
ed to fuch aone, thathehimfelf affur'd the Relater, He ne¬
ver was foSharp-fighted before his Blindnefs, And the Re-
later allured me, that he had taken pleafure to obferve, That
this Gentleman, who is his familiar Acquaintance, would
difcern Objedls farther and clearer then moft other Men.
He added, That Monsieur de Vattevilletold the Relater, he
had purchaf'd the way of making this Powder of the Empe¬
rick, and had given it to an eminent Chirurgion, one Benoefl
{an Acquaintance of the RelatersJ by whom he had been
cured ofaMusket-ihot that had broken his Thigh-bone,when
sheother Chirurgions wouldhave proceeded to amputation;


(*95)
of differing Diftempers, which by unskilful Phyfitians have
been adjudged diftind and primary Difeafes, and have been,
as fuch, unfuccefsfully dealt with by them, may really be but
difguifed Symptomes of the diftempers of the Mother or
Genus Nervoftim; and may,by Remedies reputed
rical, be happily removed. To which purpofe I might tell
you, Pyro. That I, not long fince, knew a Pra<ftitioner,that
with great fuccefs ufed the fame Remedies (which were chief¬
ly Volatile and Refolving Salts) inDropfies, and in (not,
Symptomatical, but ) Efiential Feavers. And our felves
have lately made fome Experiments of not much unlike na¬
ture, with a preparation of Harts-horn, of equal uie in Fea¬
vers and Coughs, both of them primary. I might on this
occafion recur to divers of the Remedies formerly mentioned
in feveral places of this Eflay 5 fince divers of them have been
found effectual againft Difeafes, which , according to our
common Theory , feem to be little of kin one to another .*
And by telling you what I have obferved concerning the va¬
rious operations of Helmont's Laudanum, of our Ens ,
and even of a Medicine devi fed by a Woman,the Lady Rents
Powder, I might illuftrate'what I have lately delivered:
But it is high time for me to pafs on to another Subjed 5
and therefore 1 fhall rather defire you , in general, to confi-
der-, whether or no feveral Differing Difeafes, and ev'n fome
commonly fuppofed to be of contrary natures, be not yearly
cured by the Spaa waters in Germany.
And to aflift you in this Enquiry, I fhall addrefs you to
therare observations of the famous and experiene'd He micas
ab Heer,and to his Spadacrene•, in the 8<h Chapter of which
he reckons among the Difeafes which thofe Waters cure,
Catarrhs, and the Diftempers, which ( according to him
fpring from thence ; asthePalfie, Trembling of the Joints,


( *97 )
though we be not bounc! tobeliete (nor doth he affirm it)
that the Spaa-waters do universally cureaii the afore-mert-
tion'd Diftempers yn it is very much, and makes much
for our prelent purpofe, that they fhould in fo many Pati¬
ents cure moft of thefe Diftempers, andleffen, if not cure,
the reft. And we may fomewhat the better credit him, be-
caufe even where he reckons up the Vertuesof the Spaa, he
denys it fome, which other Phyfitians afcribe to it- And it
is very confiderable, what he fubjoyns in thefe words: Pan-
cifsmos enim vel nullos Spada IncoLts Capitis doloribru, Car-
dialgia , Calculo, obflruttionibm renum, Hepatis, Ltenis,
CMefaraicarum, labor antes invenies , Ififericos, Hydropi-
cos5 Podagricos> Scabiofos, Epilepticos , quod fciam, nullos.
But that which I moft defire you to take notice of, is, That
befides all the above- mentioned Difeafes, I finde that he
afcribes to thefe Waters the Vertuesof curing fuch as are
counted of a contrary nature, and are thought to require con¬
trary Remedies; For befides that, he exprefly affirms, in the
beginning of the eighth Chapter, That thefe Waters being
endow'd with the Vei tries both of hot and cold Minerals,
* they cure both hot and cold affedh'ons, in the fame Patients,
and in differing Bodies, and that contrary Eftedls are per¬
formed by them: He hath, after fome Pages, this paftage,
which may go for an Illuftnous Proof of what he had affei t-
ed: Inter cotter a (faith he, fpeaking of the Spaa- Waters)
Men{thus movcndis imprimis tdonca, quod milltes experientia
corner obavit. Et tamen nimium e or urn fluxttm quovis alio
medicamentofelicius fijlit.
Thefe Teftimonies, Pyrophilus, of our experience Au¬
thor, would perh&tf obtain the more credit with You, if You
had feen what I lattfy had the opportunity to obferve in a hot
and dry Seafon, at our own Tunbridge- Waters in Kent, when
oo I was


I was there to drink them. And therefore I (hall again invite
You not onely toconfider, Whether one potent Remedy,
fuch as it may be, may not be able to cure variety of Dif-
eafes,and fome fuppof'd to be of contrary natures ? But whe¬
ther or no divers Perfons, on whom the received Methodus
mcdendi hath been long and fruitlefly employ'd, be not by
their tyred and defpondent Phyfitians themfelves fent thi-.
ther, and there cur'd of their abftrufe and obftinate Difeafes,
by Remedies prepar'd by Nature without the affiftance of
Art ? For if you duly refledl on this confpicuous Obferva-
tion, andconfider how much it is poflible for Art to melio¬
rate and improvemoft (efpecialiy Mineral) Remedies,afFord-
ed us by Nature, you would probably dare to hope, That
Medicines might be prepared of greater Efficacy, and appli¬
cable to more Difeafes, then they who think the more recei¬
ved Theory of Difeafes (from which yet very eminent Phy¬
fitians, in divers Particulars, fciuplenotto recede) incapa¬
ble of being rectified •, and that judge of all Remedies by
them, that are publickly Venal in Apothecaries Shops, will
allow themL Ives fo much as to hope.
If now You demand, Pyrophilus, if I think that every
Particular which hath contributed to fwell.this Difcourfe in¬
to a bulk fo difproportionate to that which the Title of an
Effay promifed, do diredlly belong to the Art of Phyfick?
I (hall leave it to the Judicious Cel jus (whom Learned Men
have (filed The Roman Hippocratesj to anfwer for me, and he
will tell you, That guanquam mull a fintad ipfas artes non
perttnentia, tamen ens adjuvant excitanao artificis ingenium.
I fuppofe I need not remind Yon, Pirophilus, that it was not
my defign, in what hath been reprefcntecLjto fubvert thofe
Principles of the Methodns medendi, from which no fober
Phyfitians themfelves recede, and in which they unani-
moufly


(*99)
moufly acquiefs: And that I much lefs intend to counte¬
nance thofe venturous Empericks, who, without any com¬
petent knowledge of Anatomy, Botanicks, and the Hifto*
ry of Difeafes, think Receipts or ProcefTes alone-can enable
them to cute the Sicknefies they know not, and who would
perfwade Men to lay by, as needlefs, a Profeflion, of whofe
Ufefulnefs to Mankinde we may elfewhere have occafion to
difcourfe. No, Pjrophilus, without peremptorily affert-
ing any thing, I have but barely reprefented the Notions I
have mention'd concerning the Mcthodus medendi^ as things
probable enough to deferve to be impartially considered 5
That in cafe they prove fit to be declin d, they may appear
to have been rejected not by our fupercilioufnefs or lazinefs,
but (after a fair tuyal) by our experience: And in cafe they
feem fit to be approved, they may prove additional Inftan-
ces of the Ufefulnefs of Natural Philofofhj to Phyfick, Which
Ufefulnefs, Pjrophilus, if I have in any confiderable meafure
been fo happy as to make out, I (hall not think the time (and
much lefs the pains) I have beftow'd upon that Theme, mif-
fpent. For, ImuftccaJefstoyou, Pjrophilus> that to me
it feems, that few things ought more to endear to us the
Study of Natural Philofophy, then that (according to the Ju¬
dicious Sentence of our Ce/fus, Rerum Nature contemplation
faith he, quamvisnon faciat Medicum, aptioremtamen Ate*
dicing reddtt) a deeper infight into Nature may enable Men
toapplythe Phyfiological Difcoveries made by it (though
fome more immediately, and fome lefs dire&ly} to the Ad¬
vancement and Improvement of Phyfick.
And I well enough know, Pjrophilus, t&at if inftead of
Writing this HfTay to fuchan one as You, I fliould Write it
to the more critical and feverer fort of Readers, they would
be apt to think both that it is impertinent for me, who do not
002 pro-


(?oo)
profefs to be a Phyfitian, to treat prolixly of Matters Medi¬
cinal-, and that it may appear fomewhat below me, in a
Book, whofe Title feems to promife you Philofophical
Matters, toinfertl know not how many Receipts: But I
lhall not fcrupie to tell fuch a Perfon as Pyrophilus, That
fincemy Method requir'd that I fhould fayfomething to
you of th^Therapeutical part of Phyfick,I thought thatChri-
ftianity and Humanity it felf, obliged me not to conceal thofe
things,wch how defpicable foever they may feem toafpecula-
tive Philofopher, are yet fuch, as, befides that fome of them
may perhaps afford improveable Hints touching the Natuie
of Remedies, if not alfo of Difeafes* Experience hath en¬
couraged me to hope, that others may prove ufeful to the
lick. And as for theinferting of Receipts, even in Books
of Philofophical Subjects, I have not done it altogether
without example. Eornotonely Pliny ^ a Perfon of great
Dignity as well as Parts, and Friend to one of thegreateft
Roman Emperors, hath left us in a Book, where he handles
mai>y Philofophical .Matters, ftoreof particular Receipts 5
but our great Chancellor, The LotfrVerulam, hath no't dif-
dain'd to Record fome. And as for that Induftrious Bene¬
factor to Experimental Knowledge, the Learned and Pious
Merffennns, his Charity made him much more fearful to neg-
leCt the doing what good he could to others, then to venture
tolelTenhis Reputation by an Indecorum, that in a Mathe¬
matical Book, and in a Chapter of Arithmetical Combi¬
nations, he brings in not onely a Remedy againft the Ery*
fipelas, but even a Medicine for Corns, where he tells us,
That they may b<£ taken* away, by applying and daily renew¬
ing for ten days, or a fortnight, the middle Stalk that grows
between the Blade and the Root (for that I fuppofe he means
by the unufual Word Thallum) of Garlick, bruif'd. Nor is
it


(?01)
it without Examples 5 though fomewhat contrary to my
Cuftom in my other Writings, that in this, and the four
precedent Eftays, I have frequently enough alledged the
Teftimoniesof othetj, and divers times fet down ProcefTes
or Receipts, not of my own devifing. For even among pro-
fefled and learned Phyfitians, fcarceany thing is more com¬
mon, then on Subjects farlefsof kin to Paradoxes, then
moft of thofe I have been difcourfing of, to make ufe of the
Tcftimonies and Obfervations of other approved Writers,
to confirm what they teach. And not now to mention the
voluminous Books of Schenkius and Scolziu^s^ that famous
and e^erienc'd Pradiitioner.Ri verim himfelf, hath not been
afhamed to publifh together a good number of Receipts,
given him by others, under the very Title of ob[er<vatione$
jig. communicate: And Henricus ab Beer, hath, among his Ob-
[ervationes opfido rare, civers Receipts that came from
tj Mountebancks, and even Gypfies. And therefore I hope
ii that you, who know that it ts not after every Body that I
would fo much as relate an Obfervation, or mention a Medi¬
cine, as thinking them probable, will eafily excufe one that
t hath much fewer Opportunities then a profefPd Phyfitian to
i try Remedies himfelf 5 if treating of Subjects not fo fami¬
liar, I choofe to countenance what I deliver by theTefti-
moniesof skilful Men,'and if I fcruple not to prefervein
theft Papers feme not defpicable Remedies, as well of abler
Men as of my own, that otherwiie would probably be loft.
But of this Practife I may elfewhere have occafion to give
you a more full Apology, by (hewing how much it may con -
dace to the enriching and advancement of Phyfick an Arr>
with whofe praifes I could long entertain You, if I were at
leifure (and durft allow my felfj to exhauft common places.
And yet give me leave to tell you, That Man is fo noble
a Creature.,


()
moft extenfive ACts of Charity, and fuch, as by which a
Man may really more oblige Mankinde, and relieve more
diftrefied Perfons, then if he built an Hofpital. Which per¬
haps you will not think rafhly faid, if you pleafe but to con-
fider, how many the knowledge of the Salivating, and other
aCtive Properties of Mercury, and of its enmity to putrefa¬
ction and Diftempers fpringing thence, have cur'd of feveral
Dife3les, and confequently how many more Patients, then
haverecover'd in the greateft Hofpital in the world, areob-
]ig'd:to Carpus and thofe others, who ever they wer , that
were the firft difcoverers of the medical efficacy of Quick (li¬
ver, And for my own particular, Pyropthough my Youth
and Condition forbid me the practice of Phy fick,and though
my unhappy Conftitutionof Body, kept divers Remedies
from doing me the fame good they are wont to do others;
yet having mote then once, prepar'd, and fometimes occafi-
onally had opportunity to admtnifler,Medicines, which God
hath been fo far pleas'd to blels on others, as to make them
Relieve feveral Patients, and fe'em (at leaft) to have fnatch'd
fomeofthem almoftout of the jaws of death; I efteemmy
felf by thofe fuccelTes alone fufficiently recompenc'd for any
toil and charge my Enquiries into Nature may have colt me.
And though I ignore not, that 'tis a much more fafhionable
and celebrated PraCtice in young Gentlemen,to kill men,then
to cure them •, And that, miftaken Mortals think it the no-
bleft Exercife of vertue to deftroy the nobleft Workman-
ihipof Nature, ("and indeed in fome few cafes the requifite-
nefsand danger of oejlrttchve valour may make its Actions
become a vertuous Patriot) yet when I confider the Cha¬
racter, given of our great Matter and Exemplar, in that Serf- 10_ 3g;
pture, which fays, That he went about doing good, and Healing 4- 24.
all manner if Stcknefs5 and all maner among the pco-
pie,
I
II
jL


( i °4 )
pfe, Icaftnotbut think fuch an Imployment worthy of the
very nobl- ft of his Difciples. And I confefs, that, if it
w< re allow'd me to envy creatures fo much above us, as are
the Celeftial Spirits, I (hould much more envy that welcome
Angels Charitable imployment, who at fee times diffused a
John 5.14. healing vertue through the troubled waters of then
- 19,3 5' that dreadful Angels fatal imployment, who in one night de-
ftroy'd above a hundred and tourfcore thoufand fighting
men. But, of the DefireableneCs of the skill and willingnefs
to cure the fick, and relieve not only thofe that langoifli
in Hotpitals, but thofe that are rich enough to build them,
having elfewhere purpofely difcourfed, Imuft now trouble
you no longer on this Theme,but Implore Your much need¬
ed pardon for my having been (beyond my fiift intentions)
fo troublefome to You already.
' \
A N



A N
APPENDIX
TO THE
FIRST SECTION
OF THE
Second Part.





U*7)
i
ojfdyertifements touching the following
APPENDIX.
I Scarce doubt, but it will be exfpe&ed that I (hould annex
to the foregoing Treatife, thofe Receipts and Precedes,
which feem to behf reand there promis'dinit ^ But I
defire it may be confidered, that fome PalTages, which an un-
attentive Reader may have miftaken for abfolute Promifes,
are indeed but Profers conditionally made to a particular
Perfon^ and fo not engaging me, till the condition (which
was his defiring the things mention'd to him) be on his pare
performed. And as for the other things, which every Rea¬
der may fuppofe to be promised Him, I have at hand this
general excufe, that at leaft I promis'd nothing to the Pub-
lick*, whatever promifes I may have made in the foregoing
Essayes, having together with them been addrefs'd to a
private Friend. And I have two or three fpecial Reafons to
infift on this Ekcufe, for divers of my choicer Books and Pa-
pers.having not long fince unhappily mifcarried through the
negligence of fome Men, or the Fraud of others, it is not
now poflible for me to retrieve fome of the things I was
Matter of, when I promis'd them. And then to revife care¬
fully all the Papers that remain in my hands of Affinity with
thepaft Treatiies, would t3ke up more time then is allowed
me by other Studies and Employments, which I think of
greater moment, or at leaft wherein I am much more con*
eern'd, then to give this Book at prefent a full or accurate
APPENDIX.
P p 2 But


(*o8)
But though T might upon thefe and other Reafons wholy
excufe my felf from the trouble of adding any Appendix-, yet
becaufe the communicating of good Medicines, is a work of
Charity, and thofe unpoltfh'd and immethodical Notes that
may perchance diiparage an Author, may yet relieve many a
Patient, 1 am willing to do what my occafions will permit,
and finding among my Papers manyloofe Sheets, con¬
cerning Spirit of Harts-horn, Blood, &c. written divers
years finceto a Friend, I choofe rather to publifh them juft
as I find them with Pjrofhilus s name, employ din conveni¬
ent places, and to adde fome unpromis'd Receipts, tnftead of
thofe that are loft, then be altogether wanting, to what may
beexpedted from me. I know that what I deliver concerning
fome of the following Preparations may by feverer Criticks
be thought fomewhat unaccurate, and I confefs I am of that
mind my felf. But meeting with thefe Cohesions in loofe
Sheets among my old Papers, I muft either publifh them as
I find them, 01 take the pains to Polifh and Contract them,
which would require more time, then I can at prefent afford
them. And much lefs can I ftay to fubjoyn the Hiftories of
the particular cures perform'd by the Medicines, whofe pre¬
parations I fet down, though divers of them would not per¬
haps appear inconfiderable. But if I find by the entertain*
merit of thefe Papers, that it will be worth while to revi 'e
or enlarge them, I may,God permitting, be invited to do it,
and either fupply the things, that are here deficient out of
After-ohfervationsj or Papers now out of the way, or make
amends for their omiffion in fubftituting better things.
It will not at all furprize rne if fome Readers think me too
prolix in delivering the preparations of Harts-horn, Ens
Veneris &c with fuch particular and circumftantial Obfer-
yutjons. But my defign being to gratifie and aflift thofe
that


(3°9)
th^t would mike and ufe the Remedies I recommend: The
N Experience I hive had, of the difficulties moft men find in
the preparing things by the Direction of Chymiea! Pre¬
cedes not very exprefly fet down, makes me apt to hope,
that (I fav not the great Phyficians or Chymifts, who may
if they pleafe, leave them unperus'd ; but) thofe for whom I
principally intend my Directions will think my having made
them fo particular a very excufable fault. And I make the
lefle difficulty to fuffer fuch things as perhaps I judgtobe
in comparifon of others, but trifles to pafle abroad, becaufe
finding of late Years, that many Perfons of Quality of either
Sex, whofcarce read any other then Englifh Books, have
fas I hope) out of Charity or Curiofity or both, begun to
addiCt themfelves to Chymiftry, and venture to be tampe¬
ring with Spigirical Remedies, it may not be unfeafonable
to fupply them with fome Preparations, that may both fave
them time and charges, and put them upon the ufe of Reme¬
dies, which without being languid, are, if any thing dilcreetly
given, fafe and innocent, and wherein a little Error, either in
the making or the adminiftring will be far lefle prejudicial
to the fick, then if it were committed in the more vu!gar
(oftentimes, either f3lfly or obfcurely pref:rib'd)preparations
they are wont to make of Acid Saks, Mercury, Antimony,
and other Minerals, whofe Activity for the moft part makes
them need to be skilfully prepar'd,ani judicioufly g;vem
To


(3'o)
*
To the Eightieth Page.
The Irifh Lithotomifts Receipt , for the Stone in
the Bladder.
D Ec. ^Aquar. UMelon. Citrullor^ Filipendula^ Fetro[elini
fyr- e 5 radicibucfyr. de B'i[antiis, Oxymeht
comp.unc,j.mi[ce,quart am mixti partem [umac mane\unuc$
poftea per otfo horac a cibo &potu abfiineas, aliam[umaspar*
tem eodem die pofl coenam cum leffum intrare valuer is•, deni¬
es frquenti die reliqua fumantur partes ut prima^tertio vero die.
Rec. Eletf.lentt. dragm. Hi. [yr.Rojat.folut. dragm.ij. pulp.
Tamarind, dragm.]. mtfceantur ac in feri laftis uhc.iij. difjol-
vanturitotum biba* mane quatuorhoris ante juc^quarto die (umas
mane fequentis pulv> dragm.]. mixti infequentts Apozematis
fine• Hi]. &olei Amygd dulc.unc.fem.
Rec. Cinerum vttri Scorpionum pulveris> Lapid.Spongi*,
&lap. ?udaici,Aeori,[em Ithea. Millii(olisfaxtfragii ana
dragm.i. fern laffuca, 4 (cm. frigid majorum ana dragm. fern.
Trokifcor. Alkekengijrad. pimpinella ana dragm.ii\ fat pulvis
[ub tilts.
. Apozema.
Rec. Parietart£y rad Alth. ana Aij [em. petrofelini^GIjchyr-
rhizaana uncfem. halicacabiyunc.j. Coqu in aq.pluvtafxt. 2,
&vinialbi\]imifextj. ad me diet at is confumpttonem^ &coU'
tura meile hybernico dulcoretur.
Turn quarto tllo die pafferculum Trogloditem [ale anteacon*
ditnm edas una cum cana^ Et poft coenam lumbi, ptibes ,
&tota renum regio oleic e gran is Citri & (corpion. liniantur,
*/■/? poft bile efet praditfa olea per meatum urinar. in vtfl¬
eam in)iciantur, //^ deinde pulvere3 Apozemate5 Troglodite &
Oleic


(
clets omnl die utere, donee arenttU aut lap, fragment a una cum
cxpulfis apparuerint.
Loco cinerum vitrt fumi pofiunt cineres Camini & vires
cinerum fcorpionum [uppiere potefl pulvis lumbricor. terrefir.
probe in vino lotorum & poflea exficcatorum.
* NB. |[ As tar as I could conjediure by the Difcourfel
had with the owner of the Receipt, by Allies of Glafs he
meanes the fuperfluous Saline fubftance, which the Glafle-
men are wont to call Sandiver^ but becaufe he did not ex¬
plain himfelffo clearly ,and we know not yet a way ofBurning
Glafs to Alhes, I think it will be moft advifable to fubftitute
the Wood Alhes, which in the Receipt it felf towards the
dofe of it are appointed for a Succedaneum.]
To the One Hundred and Twentieth Page;
['Where theVertues of the Pilule Luna-res are toucht at. ]
'T'He great benefit that has redounded to many patients,
from theufe of the Silver Pils, here briefly mentioned ,
and commended, invites me to communicate as a confide-
rable thing, thepreparationofthem, of which I do not pre¬
tend to be the Invented having divers years frnce, learnt it
by di'fcourfing with a very Ancient and experience Chy-
mift, whofe name that I do not mention, will perhaps feem
fomewhat ftrange to thofe Readers that have obftrv'd me
not m be backward in acknowledging my Benefa&ors in
point of Experiments, and therefore I hold it not amirs to
take this opportunity of declaring once for al'I, that twere
oftentimes more prejudicial then grateful to one that makes
an advantage by the Pra&ife of* Phyfick, to annex in his life
- time



(?*4)
ther with the corroded Silver, which they precipitate as long
as there is any of thefe Saline Spirits left in the Menflruum,
which after this may be decanted clear; and though you had
put a little more Silver then needed to it, it neither does
harm,nor is loft,the Jqua fortis preferving none unprecipita-
ted, but what there w'ere no more Saline Spirits to work
upon, fo that the fuperfluous Silver put in is already diflolv'd
to Your hand.
jdly, The dry Mixture obtain'd from the Solutions of
Chryltals of Nitre and Chryftals of Silver, muft be often
ftirr'd, and kept longer in the Sand, before all the offenfive
Spirits will be driven away* then till Experience had inform'd
me, I did imagine.
Fourthly, If the Chryftals of Silver be confiderably
Blew or Green, 'tis a fign the Silver was not fufficiently
purg'd from Copper, elfe the Mixture we have been fpea-
kingof, will look of a White, good enough. Andpoflibly
'twas by reafon of the not being careful co take fufficiently
Refin'd Silver, and of the not knowing how to improve the
Chryftals of Silver, by the addition of thofe of , and
efpecially how to free them from the (linking and Corro-
live Spirits of Aqua-fort is,that it is come to pafs, that though
there be in fome Chymical Writers, Precedes not very un¬
like this, yet the Chryftals of Silver have been cenfur'd
and laid afide as not ahvaies fafe even by thofe, who otherwife
much magnifie the Efficacy of thofe they us'd.
Fifthly, When You are about to make up this Mixture
with the Cram of Bread into a Mafs, and fo into Pills, 'twill
not be amifs to difpatch that work at once, for ufually it
leaves an ugly Blacknefs on the Fingers, that cannot under
divers daies be gotten Qif.
Sixthly,
mm


C?"5)
Sixthly, In taking of the Pills care muftbehad,that they
be fufficiently lapp'd « p either in a Wafer wetted with
Milk, or thePulpofaRoafted Apple, or fome fuch thing,
that they may not touch the Palat, or the Throat, becaule
of the extreme and difgufting bicternefs, which is to be met
within the Chiyfials of Silver, and which is not the leaft
thing, that with nicer Perfons doesBlemifh thefe Pills.
Seventhly, The Dofe is fomewhat uncertain $ becaufe
they work much according to the Conftitution of the Qjdy,
and efpecially according as it abounds with Serous Humours*
Wherefore 'tis advifeable to make the Pills of the fize of
very fmall Peafe, of which one given at Bedtime, is a fuffici-
ent Dofe for fome Bodies, others will require two'* and in
fome we muft afcend to threes and if the Patient be Hydro-
pical,ot beotherwife muchmolefted with ferous Humours,
it is obfervable that fometimes one Dofe will work two
Daies,or four Daies, (maybe five or fix J fuccelfively , but
yet moderately and ufually, without weakening the Patient,
in proportion to iuch copious Evacuations.
Eighthlv, Befides the Diopfie, wherein we have men¬
tion d this Remedy as a Specifick, it often proves very avai¬
lable in other Cafes, wherein Men are troubled with Serous
Humours. But the firft diftempers, which I heard it Mag¬
nified for,were thole of the Head, and Genw Nervorum * and
a great Firtuofooi my acquaintance that inherits aDitpofi-
tion to the Palfie, hasfeveral times told me, that if when he
begins to find himfelf difordered, he take a Dofe of thefe
Pills,he is thereby conftantly reliev'd. But of the particu¬
lar Cafes, wherein we have had opportunity to take notice of
their Effedts, we have not now, but may perchance another
time have leifure to entertain You.
* Q.q 2 Laftly,


tj'O.
Laftly, That skilful and fuccesful Chymift Dr N.N. who
doth much both ufe and efteem this Remedy, being defir'd
by me to let me know, if he had any Obje&ionsagainft ic,
informes me, that when he hath given thefe Pills oftentimes,
and without intervalls, though they did not either Salivate or
Vomit, or much weaken the Patient, yet they would at laft
be attended with a kind of Incipient Leucophlegmatia, which
he eafily prevents by intermitting for a while the ufe of the
Pi% after every fecond or third time that he adminifters
theffi, and giving, when he exfpe&s it to be requifite, fome
Crocus art is, Extra# of Juniper, or other Aftringent or
Hepatick Medicines to corroborate the Vifcera and preferve
their Tone.
To the One Hundred Twenty third Page.
( Where mention is made of the Cure of one concluded
to have a Gangrene,by an tmvardMedicine.)
'"PHe Curemention'd in this place, having been perform'd
1 * by that Medicine, which from the Name of that Great
Commander, as well as Virtuofo, who was the Author of it,
paiTes under the Name of Sl Walter Rawleighs Cordial, and
this being but one of many remarkable (and fome of them
ftupendousj Cures which have been wrought by it from
time to time, efpecially of late that it hath been more us'd, I
am indue'd to annex here the yet unpublifh'd Receipt5partly,
becaufe there are divers Receipts that are each pretended to
be the true, magnify'd by their feveral PoffeiTors-, And I
had the liberty of looking it out in a Receipt Book, prefer-
ved by the Authors Son$ and partly becaufe, though I will
not affirm, that a skillulier or more prj^ifing Compofitiom


(1*7
of the fame Ingredients could not have been devifed; Yet
the following Receipt has been abundantly recommended by
Experience. And I remember, that but a while fince, a
Perfonof Note having fent to me, to defire a taking of this
Cordial for a certain Knight, who after all that Skilful Phy-
fitians could do, had long lain a dying •, I the other day
chanc'd to meet this Knight at White , well, lively, and
with a Face whofe Ruddinefs argued a perfed Recovery, and
yet he is not very farre from feventy Years of Age, and had
before he grew fo ill, long confli&ed with a tedious Ague,
and feaver, which had reduc'd him to that Extremity, when
the Cordial was brought, that, as himfelf told me, he neither
was fenfible when they gave it him, nor had known what he
did, or what was done unto him, during the fpace of feveral
dayes before'.
Sr Walter Rawleighs Cordial, after SrR. K. his may.
(fet down Ver batim as I received it.)
'"T'Ake Burrage-Flowers, Rofemary-Flowers, Marigold-
Flowers, Red Jaiy- Flowers, Rofa-Solis, Elder flowers
of each,one Pottle after they are dried in the Shade-
Take alfo of Scordium, Carduus, Angelica, Baulm,Mint,
Marjoram,Setwall, Betony ana four handfulls, after they are
dry'd in the Shade.
• Take alfo of the Rinds ofSaffafras o{\Tu%m,Lignum Aloes,
4»4,four ounces beaten toPowder,ofKermes,Cubebs,Carda-
moms,Zedoaty,4»4,one ounce, of Saffron half an ounce-Juni¬
per Berries, Tormentil Roots, Round Birthvvort Roots, of
each one ounce, of Gentian Roots half an ounce.
Draw the Tindiure or Extradf of thefe with Spirit of
Wine in Balneo^ad faveall the Ingredients after you have
taken


(V9)
Let it boyl without intermilfion twenty four Houres,
by which time the Vinegar will become red; fo, when 'tis
cold,pour off the Vinegar into a Glafs-Bafon, or a Bell-
Glafs, and vapor away all the Vinegar in , and gather
the Coral, being perfectly dry, for your Ufe. You may
ltrike down Your Pearl with Oyl of Vitriol, and Oybof
Sulphur requal parts, which is accounted the belt way to pre¬
pare the Pearl. But S' R.K. did ufe to prepare his Pearl
by juyce of Limmons.
[The Dofis for a Man is about the bignefTe of a fmall
Halil-nut, but where prevention onely isaim'dat, orfome
fuch ufe as the diflipating the Fumes of the Spleen, as they
call it, the bignefs of an ordinary Peafe, may fuffice-, fo in ur¬
gent Cafes the Dole may be increas'd to the quantity of a
Nutmeg. It is ufually given by it ielf upon an empty Sto-
mack (the Patient being kept Warm after it to promote
Sweat )in Feavers, Want of Spirits, violent Fluxes, and fe-
veral other diftempers, where Diaphoreticks and Antidotes
are proper, and (efpecially) where potent Cordials are re*
quir'dj
QTo the One Hundred Twenty third Page;
Where a Receipt that cur'd Fiftula's is mencion'd.]
/
Water for a Fiftula5 and all manner of Wounds5 and
fwellwgs^ or oldlilcers, Cankers, Tetters, Boils, or
Scabbs in any place , or Green Wounds*
TAke ofBole-Armoniack four ounces, of Camphire one
ounce, of White Vitriol four ounces; Boyl the Cam*
phire and the Vitriol together in a little Black Earthen
Pot till they become thin, ftirring them together till they
become


(?*l)
of making a fmall pliable Tent that may accommodated
felt co the crooked Figure of the Cavity of many Fiftula's;
For methinks I remember > that the Chirurgion preferib'd the
conveying his Medicine by the means of fuch a flexible tent a
great way into the cavity, if not to the bottom of the Fiftula,
which was thereby to be cleanfed.]
To the One Hundred fifty firfl Page.
Where Soot is mentioned.
\ ' '
COot, Pjrophilns, is a Production of the Fire, whofe Na*
^ ture is almoft as Singular, as is the manner of its being
product, for it is (if I may fo call it) a kind of volatile Ex¬
tra# of the Wood it proceeds from, made inftead of a Men-
ftrutim by the Fire, which haftily diflipating the parts of the
Body it ads on, hath time enough to fever it into fmaller
Particles, buc not leifure and aptitude to reduce it into fuch
differing fubftartces as pafs for Chymical or Peripatetick
Elements, but haftiiy carries up the more volatile parts,
which being not yet fuffi iently free'd from the more fixe
ones, take them up along with them in their fudden flight,
and fo the Aqueous, Spirituous, Saline, Oleaginous and
Terreftrial parts afcending confufedly together, do fatten
themfelves to the fides of the Chimney in tint loofeand
irregular Form of Concretion,which we call Soor: An enquiry
into whofe Nature, as it may be confider'd in the Survey of
the diftindions of Salts, mutt beelfewhere Iook'd for- Our
mentioning it at prefent, being only to take occafion to cell
You, that as ill lcented and defpis'd a Body as it is, Hartman,
(one of the moft experienced and happy of Chymical Wri¬
ters) fcruples not to reckon the Spirit and Oyle otic among
r r the


theNobleft Confortantiafuch as prcpar'd Pearl,Coral, Am-
bergreefe, and other eminent Cherifhers of Nature, His
preparation is for fubftanee this? Take of the beft Soot
(fuch as adheres to the lower part of the Chimney, and
/bines almoft like Jet; what quantity you pleafe, and with it
fill up to the Neck a very well coated Glal's Retort, or an
Earthen one,and luting on a capacious Receiver diftil the mat¬
ter in an open fire intended by degrees, whereby you will-
drive over the Phlegm, the whitifii Spirits, and the Oyl
firft of a Yellow Colour, and then of a Red, feparate the
Phlegme, and for a while digeft the Spirit and Oyle toge¬
ther , on which afterwards put half the quantity of Spirit of
Wine, and Diftil them feveral times, whereby you will ob¬
tain together with the Spirit of Wine, the Spirit of Soot,
U.irtm.vrax. anc* a'(o a vei7 depurated Oyl, fmelling like Camphire.
£hjm. p. 12! Our of the Calcin'd Caput mortuum after the common way
extradia Salt, which Hartm commends as a moft excellent
curer of exulcerated Cancers5 This Salt, faith He, is drawn
with Vinegar, in which Liquor in a Cold moid place, it is a-
gain Diffolv'd, and therewith the Cancerous Ulcers being
once or twice anointed, the venenofity will be vifibly drawn
out like a Vapour, and then the foremention'd Oyl being
lightly fprinkl'd upon the place will breed on it a kind of
Cruftlikeaskin, which Spontaneoufly coming off in five
or fix Days, will by its falling off, argue the Conlolidation
of the Ulcer. What this fo extoll'd Remedy will perform
I know not, having never made trial of it,nor thinking it very
likely, that a bare Alcalizate Salt fhould have fuch
Vertues, nor is it requisite I fhould infi ft on it, being here to
difcourfe to You of the diftill'd Liquors of Soot, in profe-
cution of which defign, let me tell You, that pre-
fcribss the adminiftringof the Spirit from fix to ten Grains,


C$*3)
of the Oyl from'two to three drops in Wine, or any other
convenient Vehicle, and concerning theOylheadds, Thac if
three Drops of it be given in Vinegar to an almoft gafping
Man, he will be thereby wonderfully refefh'd, and as it were
reviv'd, to which he annexeththis Prognoftick, that if the
Remedy produceth Copious Sweats, it will recover the Ta¬
ker-, but if not, he will Die.
That this fpirit of Soot defcrib'd by Hartman may be a
very good Medicine I am very apt to think ; but becaufe 'tis
not a meer fpirit ofSoot, but a mixt one of Spirit ofWine,
and fpirit of Soot, we have rather chofen to proceed with
the Soot (of Wood) without addition, both as to the diftil-
lation of it, and the ordering of the Diftill'd Liquors, after
the manners to be mention'd ere long,when we fhall acquaint
You with our preparations of Blood and Harts-horn, which
if Youpleafeto apply to Soot, You may fave Your felf,and
me, the labour of Repetitions. Yet it may be not amifs
to advertife You here of two things: the one, that if You
employ very good and fat Soot, and fill up the Retort with
it to the Neck; You muft be very careful to encreafe
the Fire orderly, and but by moderate Degrees, or elfeyou
may chance to make the matter Boil over out of the Retort
into the Receiver, as it lately happen'd to us, when having
warily order'd the Fire for feveral Houres we thought our
felves paft any fuch danger; And the other, that as to the
Medicinal Vertues of the fpirit, and fait of Soot, I fliall not
now particularize them,partly that I may fave time,and part¬
ly becaufe they may be well enough gather'd from their affi¬
nity to the Volatile falts and fpirits of animal fubfHnces
hereafter to be treat'd of, and from wh3t I fhall have occafion
to fay, of the perfuming of the fait of Soot towards the dofe
of this APPENDIX.
r r 2 To


(1*5)
(he means fure, that which is proper to the Spagyrifts)
Materiam ex qua difpofitiones, Conte, Proprieties,
grefjum drjigntflcationesLotii addifcere $
Yet perhaps the Hyperbole is not altogether fo extravagant
as moft Readers will think it. And I remember,that a while
ago, conferring with the Publick Minifter of a Foreign
Prince, who is a very inquifitive and experienc'd Perfon, He
freely told me, that though he had Travelled very much,
and divers times not in a private Capacity, yet the greateft
Chymift that ever he could make acquaintance with, us'd to
tell him.th; t Salt of Urine was fo precious a thing, that'twas
pitty it (liould be us'd in ordinary Difeafes; But wh3t his
Reafons were for valuing it fo much, he would not declare,
and therefore I (hall lay no great weight upon his Teftimo-
ny. And yet I muft not at this time particularly declare,
upon what account it is that I fo value the volatile Salt of
Urine,of whofe Vertues (whilft 'tis Angle) I fhall onely in a
word obferve to you now (what is pertinent to the occafion
of my mentioning it at prefent,) namely, that when'tis
wellprepar'd [according to the my plainly though but
iery briefly couch'd already*3 it differs fo little in fmell, tail, *P'I53»
volatility, penetrancy and lome other manifeft Qualities ,
from the Salt of Harts- horn, and that of Mans Blood; that
fuch effedls, though perhaps fomewhat lefs powerful may
be not improbably exfpebted from it as are produe'd by
the other.
To


t length be encreafed till it be ftrong e-
nough to give the bottom of the Retort a red heat. There
will firft come over (after perhaps a little Phlegm)
Spirit, either accompanied or clofely followed by a
copious volatile Salt , faftning it felfe to the fides
and top of the Receiver 5 and much about the fame time
there will alfo come over an Oyl, or two, or more (for I have
not obferved the oleaginous part to come conftantly and re¬
gularly after the fame manner) the Receiver being taken off,
all that it contains may be poured together into a convenient
Vial, tobethereindigeftedforaMoneth, if you pleafe: or
otherwife without that previous digeftion, you may wafh
down the volatile Salt, adhering to the fides of the Recei¬
ver, with the Spirit and Oyl well lhaken about it, and pour
altogether into a large Glafs Funnel well lined with Cap-
paper, fit ft moiftned with the Spirit or fair Water, through
which the Spirit and as much of the volatile Salt, as it and
the Phlegm candiflblve, will pafs firft, leaving the Oyl be¬
hind them in the Paper, which muft be feafonably fet afide,
orelfe the Oyl alfo, though more (lowly, will pafs through
the Filtre: The Phlegm, Salt and Spirit, muft be rectified
with a very gentle heat,fo often, till the Phlegm be perfe<3>
ly feparated, and they leave no faces: The Oyl alfo may be
redtified two or three times from its own Caput
calcin'd, orelfe from Salt of Tartar to deprive it of its
muddinefs.The Diftempers wherein this Arcanum or Spirit
of Man's Blood is proper, are divers, butcheifely Aftmah's,
Epilepfies, acute Feavers, Plurifies and Confumptions. But
to comply with my prefent hafte, I (hall advertife You in the
general, as to the ufe of this and the other Remedies to be
(ubfequently mention'd, that for Them I muft refer you to
the particular Narratives, which Khali fcarce, if You fea¬
fonably
,
1


(?*8)
fonably defire them, refafe You: And in thS mean time, be?
caufe thefe volatile Remedies are near enough of kin to each
other, I (liffiadde tothisfirft Procefs (which is at leaft one
of the nobleft of them) fome Obfervations of a more gene-
ral nature, that they being applicable to divers other Prepa¬
rations, we may both of us avoid the trouble of needlefs
Repetitions,
Obfervations.
r. I ignore not that there are extant in Burgravius, Bc«
guinus, and divers other Chymical Authors, very pompous
andpromifing ProcefTes of the EfTence of Mans Blood, to
which they afcribe fuch ftupendous Faculties as I (houldnoc
onely wonder to finde true, but admire that they can hope
the Reader fhould believe them fo. But of thefe Preparati¬
ons, fome being, as that of Burgravius in his Bioljchnium,
very myftical and unlikely-, and others, like Beguinus his
JJ. E> Sanguinis humanly exceedingly laborious and notfo
clear, I have never put my felf to the trouble of making
them, but (hall be very forward to acknowledge their excel¬
lency, if any Man (hall vouchfafe me an Experimental Con¬
viction of it. For though I think the prefent Preparation of
Blood no bad one, yet I am far fronv daring to affirm there
cannot be a better.
2. He that intends to have any confiderable quantity of
this Spirit and Salt, muft provide himfelt of a large pro¬
portion of Blood, or elfe he is like to fall far ffiort of his ex¬
pectation ^ becaufe as full of Spirits as Blood is fuppofed
to be, it yieldscommonly (at leaft thebeft I have hitherto
met with) no lefs then two thirds, or more, of Phlegm, be-
fides a nor defpicable quantity of terreftrial and unfervice-
alle Matter. 3. It


3. It is requifite, both that the Retort wherein the dryed
Blood is diftilled be pretty large and ftrong, and that the
Fitc be very carefully and gradually adminiffred, leaft either
the copious Fumes break the too narrow Vefiels, or the
Matter too haftily urged boil over into the neck of the Re •
tort or the Receiver; both which dangers this Advercife-
mentmay help you to avoid at a cheaper rate, then I, who
have not been forewarn'd of them but by unwelcome Ex¬
perience.
4. There is a Friend of mine, an excellent Chymift,
whole rare Cures firft gave me a value for Remedies made of
Blood, whoufeth fas himfelf aflurethmej to mingle with
the Spirit that other Liquor, drawn over at firft in' a Head
and Body, and twice or thrice redified by it felf. But that
Liquor confifting almoft totally of the Spirit of Wine, and
the not over grateful Phlegm of the Blood, though there
may perhaps bepafTed intoitfomeof the more fugitive Par¬
ticles of the volatile Salt: Yet they being fo few as are fcarce
difcernable, this Liquor feems fitter tube made a Vehicle,
then an affociate of our Spirit, and perhaps too is not in all
cafes the moil proper Vehicle in which it may be adminiftred:
(though if it were not for the Spirit of Wine, I Ihould fome-
what fufpedt that the Phlegm, though fo deftitute of the
more adfive Ingredients, as to be fit to be kept feparated
from them, may not it felf be quite devoid of fpecifick Ver¬
mes.) But my efteem of the Artift I have mentioned, doth
make me think it fit to acquaint You with his Pradfife, not-
withftanding that hitherto his authority be the chief thing
that recommends it to me.
5, Divers ways may be propof'd of purifying this Spi it
and Sale we are difcourfing of, but having try'd feveral, that
which I now ufe is this that follows: I put the Salt,Phlegm,
ff and


(3?2>
miniftred our Medicine ^that I may not conceal from you
that Circumftance) in Bulfamus Samech, made with fpiritof
Vinegar inftead of fpirit of Wine-, the remaining part of
this yellow mingled Oyl I keep yet by me, to make further
tryals with it. And that fuch Oyls may not be loft, I have
been attempting (for I am yet upon my tryals) feveralways
to make them ferviceable. Some of them that are of a more
pure and defecated nature, I have (which is not unworthy
your noting) found capable of readily uniting with Spirit of
Wine, with which they may be allayed at pleafure: In others
I have feparated the finer and more volatile p3rt, by drawing
them over with a very gentle heat in a Retort half full of
Water, which will carry over the lighter part of the Oyl
with it into the Receiver, wherein the Oyl will fwim upon
it, and may be afterwards fever'd from it by a Separating
Glafs, or any other convenient way (but I fear that this me¬
thod, though it finely clarifie Oyls, may rob them of the
beft part of the Efficacy they may perchance derive from the
latent admixtion of fomewhatof the volatile Salt:) at the
bottom of the Retort there will remain a dark and thick fub-
ftance, whofe nature I have not yet had opportunity to en¬
quire into. Out of forne Oyls (drawn from unprepared Ma¬
terials) which would not difl'olve in fpirit of Wine, I have,
by digeftion with fpirit of Wine, drawn much of the fcenc
andtafte-, the fpirit probably imbibing fome of the finer
parts of the Oyl, orelfe afTociating to it feif forae volatile
fait that yet lay lurking in it: For fometimes I have obser¬
ved Oyls, after long keeping, to let fall a volatile fait undif-
cerned in them before. Having alfo fometimes mingled the
heavier and lighter Oyls of the fame Body with dephlegma-
ted fpirit of Wine, and in a low Retort drawn over what will
life in a very gentle heat (inferiour to that of a Balmum) I
have


Un)
have found the Spirit of Wine to carry over with it fo many
of the more fubtle and a&ive parts of the Oyl, that it was
more richly impregnated therewith, then you will be apt to
expedt. But of what ufe this oleaginous Spirit may be in
Phyfick, I have noc yet had time to confult Experience,
which 1 hope will, ere long, teach me better ways of impro¬
ving the rejedied Oyls we have been fpeaking of, then are
thofe almoft obvious ones hitherto mentioned, wherein I am
very far from acquiefcing 5 efpecially, fince I cannot buc
fufpedt that fuch active Parts of fuch Concretes, would be
found very capable of a great Improvement, if we were as
skilful to give it them.
7. The Terreftrial Subftance that remains after the Li¬
quors are drawn of, if the Blood have been duely prepared,
affords but fo inconfiderable a quantity of fix'd Salt, that
unlefs the Cafut mortuum be exceeding copious, the
will hardly be worth extradling : Befidesthat, if it could be
obtain'din a not dcfpicable quantity, I ibould, whatever
is pretended, very much doubt whether it would be endow¬
ed with very extraordinary Vertues, the violence of the Fire
ufually depriving fix'd Salts of the fpecifick Qualities of
their Concretes: and even in the firft Salt of Serpents them-
felves, I have not difcerned other, Then the wonted Pro¬
perties of AlkxlizateSalts.
8. Becaufe you may fometimes not have the leifure to
wait fix Weeks for the Preparation of Blood-, and becaufe
oftentimes the occafion of ufing the Medicines we have been
defcribing, m3y be fo hafty and urgent, that unlefs fome
fpeedycourfe to relieve them be taken before the Phyfick
can be prepared, the Patients will be dead. I think it not
amifs, Fyrofhilus, to advertife You, That though without
any previous Preparation of Blood you fhould immediately
diitil


(m)
diftil it, provided an orderly gradation of heat be carefully
obferved, it will yield youareddiih Spirit, and (befides an
Oylor two) a volatile Salt 5 which being rectified, arefo
little inferiour, in any Properties difcernable by the fmell or
tafte, to the Salt and Spirit of predigtfted Blood, that 'tis
very probable their Efficacy will emulate, though not alto¬
gether equal that of the morelaborioufly prepared.
p. And becaule it is difficult to get the Blood of healthy
Men, and perhaps not fo fafe to ufe that of unfound Per-
fons; and becaufe many have a ftrong Avet fion, and fome
an Infuperable, though groundlefs abhorrency, from Medi¬
cines made of Mans Blood, I have thought it not amifs to
try whether that of fome other Animals prepared the fame
way, might not afford us as hopeful Medicines: And becaufe
the Blood of Deerischiefly (and perhaps notcauflely)com¬
mended by Authors, we have handled it according to the
foregoing Procefs, and thereby obtained of it a Spirit, and
Salt, andOyl, whofe penetrancy, and other refemblances,
makes us hope that they may prove good , in
the defedf of thofe Analogous Remedies (drawn from hu¬
mane Materials^ which we have been treating of.
And to this let me, Pyrophilus, on this occafion, annex
this Advertifement, That though in thefe Papers, and what
I have further written of Preparations of this nature ; I name
not any great number of Concretes, as having drawn their
volatile Salts and Spirits, yet I have endeavored in thefe Dif-
courfestogiveYouinthe Inftances I infift on, fo much va¬
riety of Examples, that either by the Procefles therein fet
down, or by Analogy to them, You may, I fuppofe, be
diredted with the help of a few tryals, to obtain the volatile
Salts and Spirits of moft Concretes that belong to the Ani¬
mal Kingdom, and that are capable of affording any. For


the more fugitive Particles to afcend to the upper parts of
the Glafs, and there faften themfelves in the form of a Salt;
by whoferecefs, the debilitated Liquor was difabled from
drawing the Tindure fo powerfully as was expeded, where¬
fore we were reduc'd to make our Extradions in fhort neck'd
Glafs-Eggs or Vials exquifitely ftop'd (which mayalfobe
plac'd ftooping in the Sand) and when we perceiv'd much to
be lodg'd in the necks of the Veftels, by barely inverting
them, the hot Liquor foon reimbib'd the Salt, and was fie
to be plac'd again in Sand ; fo that notwithftanding this dif¬
ficulty, we were able by this means, in no long time, to im¬
pregnate the Spirit of Urine, or of Harts horn (for I do
not perfedly remember which it wasj with the Tindure of
Elowers of Sulphur, which may probably prove a noble Me¬
dicine in divers affedions of the Lungs, fince in them thefe
volatile Liquors alone have been found very tffedual. And
1 remember, I have fometimes made a much fhorter and
more odde Preparation (which at anytime You may com¬
mand^ of Crude Sulphur, whereby in not many hours I
have, by the means of Salts, brought over fuchafulphure-
ous Liquor or Tmdure, as even in the Receiver was of a red
Colour, as well as of a ftrongly fulphureous Scent.
[To the Page 164, 165, &c. where Ens Veneris
is treated of. 3
BUt before I enter upon Particulars, I think it will not be
amifsto tell You how this Preparation firft occui'd to
Us, becaufe by that Information, Your happyer Genius may
peradventure hereafter be prompted to improve this Reme¬
dy, or to devifeone more approaching to the Nature and
Excellency of that which we endeavorbut with very im-
perfed


(3 37)
perfedi fuccefs to light on, or equal, by our Ens Veneris^
I muft then tell You,that an Induftrious Chymift (of our Ac¬
quaintance) and I, chancing to Read one day together that
oddeTreatifeof Helmonty which he calls Butler, when we
had attentively perus'd what he delivers of the Nature as
well as fcarce credible Vertues of the Lapis Butleri he there
mentions,we fell into very ferious Thoughts, what might be
the matter of fo admirable a Medicine, and the hopefulleft
manner of preparing that matter. And having freely pro¬
posed to one another our Conjectures, and examind them
by what is deliver'd by Helment, concerning the Preparation
of Butlers Stone, or fome emulous Remedy we at length
concurr'd in concluding that either the Lapis Butleri (as our
Author calls it) or at leaftfome Medicine of an approaching
Efficacy might, (if Belwont didnot mif-infoirm us) bepre-
par'd bydeftroying (as far as we could by calcination) the
body of Copper,and then fubliming it with Sal t^irmoniack.
And becaufe the Body of Venus feems leffelock'd up in
good Vitriol, then in its metalline form, we concluded that
it was beft to calcine rather the Vitriol, then the Copper it
felf,and, having freed the Colcothar from its feparable Salts,
fo to force it up with Sal^Armoniack. But the PerfonI
difcours'd with, feeming fomewhat diffident of this Procefs
by his unwillingnefs to attempt it, I defir'd and eafily per-
fwaded him at leaft to put himfelf to the trouble of trying ic
with therequifites to the work which I undertook to provide,
being at that time unable to profecuteit my felffor want of
a fit furnace in the Place where 1 then chanc'd to lodge. And
though at firft we did not hit upon the beft and raoft com¬
pendious way, yet during the Sublimation, he being fuddenly
furpris'd, as both himfelf and his Domefticks two daies after
told me, with a fit of ficknefs, attended with very horrid and
t t feemingly
ii i
ill
lit
■
I ill
11
in


(US)
feemingly Peftilential Symptomes, was rcdac'd to take fome
of this Medicine out of the VefTels before the due time, and
upon the ufe of it found as he told me an almoft immediate
Ceftation of thofe dreadful! fymproms, but not of the Pale-
neffe they had produced. This firft profperous Experiment,
emboldned us to give our Remedy the Title of Vrimum ens
Veneris, which,for brevities fake,is wont to be cali'd Ens Ve¬
neris* though I am far from thinking, that it is thcadmirable
Medicine to which Htlmont gives that name, atleaftifhis
Ens Veneris did really deferve halfthepraifesby.him afcrib'd
to it. But fuch as Ours is, I (hall now fas time and my yet
incompleat Trials will permit) acquaint you with that Pro-
cefs of it, which(among fome others)we are moft wont to em¬
ployes the moft eafie, fimple,and genuine,
T ake then of the beft Hungarian^ or if you cannot proare
that of the beft Dantzick, or other good Venereal Vitriol,
what quantity you pleafe, Calcine itia a ftrong fire, till it be
of a dark Red, Dulcifieitbv fuch frequent affufions of hot
Water, that at length the Water that hath paiVd through ir,
appear full as taftlefs, as when it was pour'd on ir. Let this
thus exquifitely dulcified Colcothar , when it is thorowly
dry, be very diligently ground with about an equal weight
of good Sal Arrncniack,) and let this mixture be putintoa
Glafs Retort, and either in as ftrong a heat as can conveni¬
ently be given in Sand,or eis in a naked fire, force up as much
of it as you can totheTopor Neck of the Retort, and this
Sublimation being ended, out of the broken Retort (laying
tht Caput CMortuum afide) take all the Sublimate, and grind
it well again, that if in any part the Sal appear
fublim'd by it felf, it may be reincorporated with the colco-
tbar, Refublime this Mixture perfe in a Glafs Retort as be¬
forehand if you pleafe you may once more elevate this fecond
Sublimate,
/


(319)
Sublimate, but we have riot found That allwayes needful.
And for the better under (landing of this Procefs, be pleas'd
to take notice of the following Particulars.
Firft, We have alwaies preferred fuch Vitriol as abounds
with Copper, before our common Englifh Vitriol, about
the making of which, thofe that keep the Copperas work
at Detford are wont, as themfelves have upon the place in-
form'd me, to ufe good ftore of Iron to increafe the quantity
of their Vitriol.
Secondly, If You be unwilling to loofe the Phlegm,
Spirit and Oyl of that Vitriol with which You defign to
make Ens Veneris, You may diftill them away in an earthen
Retort,or one of Glafs well coated. But though it be well
known that tbediftillation of Oyl of Vitriol requires a very
intenfe and lafting Fire ( fotteic unleffe you have need of the
Liquors, the beft way will be without any Ceremony to cal¬
cine the Vitriol in a naked Fire and open^ yet afterwards it
will be for the mo ft part requifite farther to calcine the Caput
Mortuum in an open VelFel. For you rtiuft take notice,
that unlefs the Vitriol be very throughly cakrn'd, it will be
very troublefome for youtoduicifieit, and fomefimes we
have obferv'd that the Caput Mortuum which look'dRccf,
and feem'd indifferently well calcin'd, hath been, almoft like
Crude Vitriol diffolv'd in the fair Water which was potir'd
on it to dulcifie it. The weight of the cqlx in reference to
the Vitriol,of which it was made, we cannot eafiiy determine,
but we have fometimes found it neceflky to reduce the Vi¬
triol to lefle, perhaps much leiFe then half its weight to make
it fit for Dulcification.
Thirdly, The Water that.hath been pour'd on the firft
and fecoivi lime to edulcorate, checakm'd Vitriol, maybe
filtrated and fteatned away, tilt it come almcft to the con-
11 2 fiftence


(?4°)
fiftence of a Syrrup or Honey, and then may be put into a
cold place to fhoot $ for after this manner we have fome¬
times had many very regularly figur'd Chryflals or Graines
ofSaltj I fay fometimes, becaufe fometimes alfo you may
find it neceffary to abftra&all the Water, to obtain the Whi-
tifh Salt of Vitriol, which we have known us'das a good Vo¬
mit, and which Angelas Sala none of the leaft fober of the
Ghymical Writers doth highly extoll as an excellent Eme-
tick in his Ternary of Vomitive Remedies, where hedifcour-
feth at large of the Vertues ofit,andthe way of adminiftring
it. And of this Salt, asGhymiftsare pleas'd to call it, we
havehadout of calcin'd Coffers a very great quantity, and
have fometimes obferv\i it to have been almoft as deeply
coloured as the Vitriol it felf was before Calcination.
Fourthly, We feveral times tryed to fublime dulcified
Colcothar with Sal ^ydrmoniack , in Retorts and Urinals
plac'd in Sand, but whether by reafon of the fixednefs of the
Colcothar, or becaufe the Furnace we were fain to ufe,though
no very bad one, was none of the beft, wenever could that
way obtain any confiderable Quantity ofthedefir'd Subli¬
mate, and that which did afcend was but of a taint colour:
wherefore, unleffe you have an extraordinary good Sand Fur¬
nace, if you will make ufe of Glalfe Veffels, which is the
cleanlieft way, You will find it expedient tofublime Your
Colcothar in coate^ Retorts with an open Fire, except you
have the Dexteritie to fublime in a naked Fire with Glafs,
Retorts uncoated,which we have divers times feen perform'd
by heating the bottome of the Retort by degrees, and then
placing it upon Embers, with Coales round about it, but to
be kindled at a diftance from it $ for if this courfe be watch¬
fully follow'd, the Retort will be fowell neal'd, before it be
reduc'd to endure any intenfe degree of heat, that after a
while


( ?4i)
while You may fafely lay thorowly kindled Coales J not
onely round about it,but upon the top ofit,(which needs not
to be done, till towards the end of the Operation)and thereby
drive moft of the Sublimate into one lump,and into the Neck
of the Retort. And by this way you may fublime without
any Furnace upon a bare Hearth, but if you defiretogive a
more intenfe heat, you may lay firft fomewarm afhesin an
ordinary Iron pot, and having with them , and a few fmali
Coals well kindlJd, neal'd your Retort, you may afterwards
profecute the Sublimation in the fame Pot, which being once
throughly heated it felf by the Fire, will afterwards confide-
rably increafe the heat of it.
Fifthly, Though it be moft commonly requifite to re-
fublime the Sublimate, that comes the firft time up, that the
Salt and Colcothar may be more exquifitly mix'd, yet as
far as wecanguefle'by fome trials, it will not be expedient
to refublime it above once (or at moft) twice. For in thofe
Trials we have round the Ens Veneris oftener refublim'd of
a paler colour, then that which was refublimed but once. And
(NB.) perhaps, by further fublimations, the Salt inftead of
being more intimately united with the Colcothar, may be
almoft totally tever'd from it, according to what we elfwhere
in other cafes declare.
Sixthly, Of thefe Sublimates, that which hath-che higheft
Colour, feems to be the beft, as being moft •enrich'd with the
Colcothar, from whence the rednefle proceeds. But at the
firft Sublimation I have often obferv'd a pretty part of the
Sal Armomack to come up firft white by it felf, especially if
it had not been very diligently mix'd with the Colcothar.
But at the fecond fublimation the Ingredients (which we
have fometimes almoft totally fore'd up without leaving a
Cafut Cfylortuum in the bottom of the Retort) will be more
, accuratly
s


/
(?4?)
coloured Liquor, very richly impregnated (as we elfewhere
manifeft on another Occa(ion) with the fomewhat opened
body of Copper, from whence if half thofe praifes be true,
which even the be ft Chymifts are pleas'd to give to Cop-
per y it may be very well concluded to have derived no fmall
Vertuesagainft Ulcers, and divers other Affe&ions, which
we are not here to itifift on.
Eleventhly , We have fometimes doubted whether or
no our Ens Veneris did really contain any thing of Cupreous
or Colcotbarhe in it, partly, becaufe of the fixednefs or flug-
giftinefle of Cokotbary and of the Copper therein contained;
and partly becaufe, that if Sal Armoniack be two or three
times fublim'd by its felf, its Flowers frequently enough will
afcend Yellow, like the paler fort of Ens Veneris* But firft,
that Sal Armoniack is capable of carrying up even fix'd and
fluggifli Bodies feem'd probable to us,partly upon our incor¬
porating and fubliming it with finely powder'd Coralls
(from which, though but very little of it afcended, yet fome
of that little was no lefle red, then the Coralls themfelves
before their being beaten) and partly upon our fubliming it
from Copper, both Crude and Calcin'd, fince of either of
thofe Bodies it carry'd up a little with it, as appeared by the
Blew Colour of fome parts of the Sublimates,
And fecondly, that the reddifhneffe of our Ens Veneris
proceeded partly, if not altogether from the Colcothar,
feem'd probable to us, not onely by the taft, and fome other
Properties ofit, bur aifo by this, that having knowingly
committed the firft fublimate to a Fire too weak to refublime
it-, and having after fome Hours, taken the Vefiel out of the
Sand, we found that the Fire, which we fuppos'd was not
ftrong enough to carry up the whole Matter, had rais'd the
Sal Armoniack to the upper part of the Urinal in Flowers,


(144)
that were either White, or but of a pale Yellow; whereas
the remaining part of the Mixture, that lay in good quantity
in the bottomeof the Veffel, was of a deep Red, and a frag¬
ment of it of about the bignefs of a large Peafe , being caff
upon glowing Coales, and nimbly blown with a pair of Bel-
lowes, colour'd the Flame with a fomewhat greenifti blew
like that, but more faint, which we elfwhere have obferv'd
to proceed from the well opened body of Copper.
But thofe Trials I confefs would rather increafe my
Doubts then leffen them, becaufe in our Veneris the Co¬
lour is not Blew, but Reddifh, if I did not confider, that
Colcothar is a body that confifts offome other matter be-
fides common Copper (as it is alfo far more difficult to re¬
duce, though but in part, into a mettal then is vulgar calcin'd
Copper) and confequently when Corpufcles of differing
Natures are by the Sal Armeniack elevated together, that
which is not Metalline,may with the affiftance of the Fires O •
peration alter the Nature of what is, and thereby produce a
Colour differing from Blew. But to difpatch what ever fur¬
ther Trials ffiall inform us, touching thisQueftion, whether
or no any true and reducible Copper do make an Ingredient
in our £«* Veneris, yet there being in Colcothar other parts
as well as thofe, thatbyFufion you may reduce into a pure
Mettal, and our Remedy feeming by its Somniferous pro¬
perty to partake of them, it will not be neceff'ary to the gi¬
ving our Medicine a Right to the Appellation I com¬
monly choofe of F lores Colc , that in it there is
fomething of the Colcothar carry'd up, though poffibly the
quantity be but fmall, and not all reducible into a Metalline
form,but perhaps cheQueftion is not worth a longer Debate,
it being fufficient ro excufe the name, and recommend the
thing tofuch aPerfon as You, that C Icothar is employ'd
in


(145)
in the making of if, and that the thing prepar'd is a noble Me¬
dicine, and hath fome of the great Vertues afcrib'd to Vitriol;
whether that Mineral be an ingredient of it or no.
The Dofis of £»* Veneris may be very much vary'd; To
little Children, we give fometimesone, fometimes two, and
fometimes three Grains for many nights together, as we find
them able, without inconvenience, to bear the Operation.
To perfons of ripe Years we commonly adminifter four, five,
or fix Grains at a time.But one,to whom we have given quan¬
tities of it to ly by him, tells us, That he hath taken to above
thirty Grains at once without any inconvenience. We are wont
to give it in two or three Spoonfuls of Sack,or other Wine,if
the Conftitution of the Patient,or the Nature of the Difeafe
do not forbid it, and in fuch cafes we give it in any Cordial
Liquor, that is temperate, or any other convenient Vehicle.
To Children it may be given in Beer, or Ale, or clear
Poffet-drink, but not in Milk. If the Patient hath fupp'd
at a feafonable Hour, we commonly adminifter it, when he
is going to deep. It works for the moil part by fweac
and a little by Urine, but more by fvveat at the beginning,
then after the body is us'd to it, yet to fome bodies it proves
foSudorifick,that two Grains or lefle of it, have often made
me fweat. That it hath once prov'd Emetick I have heard,
but never obferv'd it my felf to provoke Vomits.
As for the Medicall ufe of Ens , divers great Phy-
fitians will perhaps think it were not defpicable, though it
were no other then oftentimes to prove afafe and moderatly
fomniferous Medicine in Feavers, without having anything
in hoi opium, whofe Narcotick power they find as difficult
to correft, as it oftentimes proves dangerous, when being not
well corrected, it is adminiftred without very great Circum-
fpe&ion. But- **************
u u To


Cm6)
To the i66u, x 67^,168\i6?h, and 170th Page.
[Finding among my loofeNotesJogether with thofe that doe im*
mediatly concerne the Preparations of Sulphur and Harts-
. horn (deliver d in thefe Pages ) fome other Particulars that
may alfo ferve , either to afford fome light to Readers Itjje
skill din Chymifiry, or contribute fomervhat or other towards
therelief of fome Patients, J am content to let thofe Papers
goe together, as I long fince addrefl'd them to a Friend.]
HArts-horn, Pyrophilus, is a Heteroclite Body in Na¬
ture, which hath hut few refemblers in the univerfe,
for it grow's to a confiderable bulk like a Vegetable, and is
(unlike raoft other Homes of Animals) at certain fet Periods
of time, deciduous^ and though it be of a Bony fubftance,
yet that middle part of it which differs from the reft in Co¬
lour, does (at leaft in grown Homes ) much morerefemble
the pith of fome Plants then the Marrow of Bones: and
yet this Plant-Animal (ill may fo call it) does, when skilful¬
ly expos'd to the Fire, afford the fame differing fubftances,
with the Blood, Fleih, and other parts of Animals. 'Tis no
wonder therefore, if Phyfitians and Chymifts have hoped to
find extraordinary Vertues in fo extraordinary a Subjedt,
of which we (hall parte by the Ufual Preparations as not fo
pertinent to our prefent defign, infinuating only in the gene-
rail,That though even the more Vulgar Preparations, as well
as that which Phyfitians have been pleafed to call Philofo-
phical, afford us Medcines not defpicable*, yet thefe are much
inferiour to thofe Remedies wherewith dexterous Diltilla-
tions are capable of prefenting us 5 and certainly if we allow
oftheChymical Theory, (whofe Truth in thefe Papers I
queftion


( 347
queftionnot) Harts-horn being generally acknowledged to
be endued with properties very friendly to our Nature, and
even thofe wayes of preparing it wherein the nobler and
more adtive parts are not truly freed from thofe cumber-
fomeones that fetter them, and hinder them to difplay their
powerful energies, proving yet oftentimes not unavailable;
The Spirit and Salcof Harts- horn would be in more requeft,
were not Men deterred from making tryals of it, partly by
the over-apprehended unpleafantnefs of the fmell, and part¬
ly by the difficulties commonly met with in its diflillation 5
the latter of whichDeterrements hath fo frighted even Chy-
mifts from diftilling this Cordial Subftance, that we have
very rarely feen any, either Spirit or Salt of Harts-horn,
fave what our felves have been reduced to prepare.
There are three ways propofed by the Authors I have met
with, to diftil Harts-horn: The one in coated Glafs Retorts;
the other in Earthen ones; and the third in Glaubers fecond
Philofophical Furnace.
In thefirftofthefeways, fome very skilful Diftillers that
have often pradfifed it, have fo complained of their frequent
breaking their VefTels by the copioufnefs and impetuofity of
of the Fumes that rufh out of the Matter, when it once be¬
gins to be preft with a confiderable heat, that I confefs to
You ingenioufly, Pyropbilus, they have hitherto frighted
me from making tryal of th3t way, though I fee no very
great reafon why, by a flow and regular gradation of the Fire,
the mifchances incident to this way of diftillation may not
(at leaft moft commonly) be avoided.
# To diftil the Matter we difcourfe of in Earthen Retorts,
is a fafer way then the former, if the Earth be clofe and good,
and have been fufficiently bak'd; as we findein the right
Hajsian Retorts, wherein we have known the Operation
u u 2 pro-


(?4*0
proceed very profperoufly, though a confiderable quantity
of the Matter hath been diftill'd at once; but the Retorts
made of Earth that is fpongyor any other ways unfit, or in
whofe baking Fuel hath been fp3red, are commonly (as Ex¬
perience hath informed us )improper for this fervice, where¬
in they are eafily broken: Befides that, it is much to be fear¬
ed that all Retorts made of Earth, except it be extraordinari¬
ly compact and baked, are apt to imbibe the more fubtle and
more penetrant parts of Harts-horn, and other volatile Sub-
fiances diftill'd in them •, which we have obferved in fome,
wherein the Matter hath rranfudated quite through the fub-
flanceof the Retort, and been manifeftly difcernable on the
put-fide of it.
The third way ofdiftilling Harts-horn, is performed by the
Inftrument defcribed by Glauber, in his fecond Philofophical
Furnace: But neither is this way without its Inconvenienciesj
for befides that, if the Earth whereof the Veflel to be em¬
ployed is made, be not of very good and well baked Earth,
it will be apt to crack, in fo violent a Fire as is requifite in this
way of Diftillation, or elfe it will imbibe part of thefineft
Spirit it fhould tranfmit into the Receiver: And befides that,
it is difficult to work long this way, without letting fome of
the adlive part of the Spirit efcape between the wide Orifice
of the Retort and the Cover: Befides thefe Inconveniencies,
I fay, it is to be feared that the Matter being to be caft imme-
diately into the Veflel, made red hot before-hand, it will re¬
ceive a ftronger Empyreuma or Impreffion of the Fire, then
it would do in the ordinary way of Diftillation, wherein the
Fire being orderly and fucceffively increaf*d,much of theSpiric
and Salt comes over into the Receiver, before that laft degr'ee
of Fire is adminiftred; which is requifite chiefly to force over
the more fluggiih and heavy Oyl, which therefore fto fpeak
con-


( 34
congruouflytothemoftreceiv'd Theory of Dift illation) fa¬
vors much more of the Fire, and is grown almoft infamous
for its aduftion.
But notwithftanding thefe Inconveniencies, ,
we have found thefe Retorts of Glauber's not unferviceable,
when We have had occafion to Diftil confiderable Quantities
of fuch Materials, as were not fo precious, as to make the
lofs of a part of what they were to afford us confiderable.
And this Advertifement may take place, efpecially if you
take along with you, what we have declar'd, touching the
Ways we fubftitute to avoid as much as may be, the newly
objedfed Inconveniencies. But having in other Papers taken
notice particularly enough of the Ways we mean, I ihall for¬
bear to mention them in this place, though one of them may
eafily be made applicable, as Experience hath affur'd us, even
to ordinary Retorts j for'tis not difficult to apply to Thefe,
the perforated Receivers, which being almoft of thelhapeof
Pears, open at both ends, by holes of about two or three
Inches Diameter (according to the capacity of the Veffel)
may be with great facility taken afunder and made clean; and
may, by the convenient Infercion of their Extremities inco
one another, be eafily luted together (in a level two, three,
or as many of them, as neceffity ihall require; and then provi¬
ded there be applyed to the remoter extremity of thelaftof
them, fome convenient Veflel open but at one end, the Re¬
ceivers will very feldom break:The Fumes that come over too
copioufly to be contain'd in one of them, palling freely thence
into the fecond or the thirdffor we very rarely exceed three in
all) which will be manifeftly cool, and fo, fpeedily turn into
Liquor, the Fumes it receives, w'nii'ft the firft Recipient is
perhaps hotter then the Hand can endure: But of thefe Me¬
chanical Contrivances, elfewhere.
Now


T/atl.
p.i9o.
(550)
"Now whereas Glauber prefcribes to mingle with the Di-
ftill'd Liquors of Harts horn re&ified Spirit of Wine, to
walh out the volatile Salt, and diredts the Dilidling again of
both thofe Spirits (of Wine and Harts-hornj together; his
method of proceeding may be juftly queftion'd: For firft,
dephlegm'd Spirit of Wine will not fo readily, in the way he
fuppofeth, dilTolve the volatile Salt of Harts-horn; And
next, the Spirit this way drawn is not a fimple Spirit of
Harts-horn,but a compounded Liquor of the Spirit of Harts¬
horn, and that of Wine; the latter of which may poflibly,
in divers cafes, rather impair then improve the vertue of the
former. For Spirit of Harts-horn, byreafonof its opening
and refolving, as well as Cordial Vertues, is fafely and fuc-
cefsfully given in Feavers, wherein it is not obferved to in¬
flame the Blood, whereas Spirit of Wine in fuch cafes is
counted dangerous. And this brings into my thoughts a ve¬
ry queftion&ble Preparation of theExperienc'd and Ingenious
Hartman,who much extolls, for the Worms in the Stomach,
Spirit of Harts-horn in general, but efpecially that which he
is pleafed to call Effenfificated(that is, as himfelf expounds
it) with which its own fix'd Salt, extracted with fome conve¬
nient Water, and its volatile duely depurated, have been dif-
folved and united. For firft, The fix'd Salt of Harts-horn
hath been perhaps never yet prepared by any Man; and if
Harts-horn doth yield a fix'd Salt (as I dare not abfolutely
deny, but that out of many Pounds a few Grains may be ex¬
tracted ) it may well be doubted whether that Salt be endow¬
ed with fpecifical Vertues: And next, The Spirit of Harts¬
horn, if it be well dephlegm'd, will not (for ought I could
everfinde,) dilfolve its own Salt, uniefs afliftedby the Ex¬
ternal warmth of the Ambient Air; Infomuch that I ufually
keep the Spirit and Salt in the fame Vial, where they remain
unmix'd;


0*0
unmix'd; and the Spirit that will diffolve any of its owne Salt
I account not fufficiently dephlegm'd, but to have yet an A-
queous alloy whereby the Salt is imbibed. And I remember
that having once exquifitely re&ified fome Spirit of Hartf-
horne, and clofed it up in a Vial!, after divers months it let
fall a confiderable quantity of Volatile Salt, fo far was it from
being able, without the help of fome peculiar way, to have
diffblved more,had I caft more into it.I deny not that the Spi¬
rit ofHartf-horn m3y, by the mediation of heat, be brought to
rake in fome of the Salt of the fame Body, but of what ufe this
violent Impregnation of the liquor can be,unleffe it be quick¬
ly adminiftred, I do not yet underftand, having often feen the
Spirit let fall againe in the cold, the volatile Salt it had diffol¬
ved by the affiftance of heat.
And having thus, Pyophiltts, laid before you the difficul¬
ties we have met with in the above-mentioned waies of ma¬
king of Spirit ofHartf-horne propofed by Authors (neither
of which we would yet have you altogether rejeiff) I muft
acquaint you with our having attempted a fourth way, which
when the matter to be diftilled is not very much, I choofe
rather to pra&ife then any of the other, as hitherto feeming
more fafe and free from inconveniences. Takethen(for In-
ftance) two pounds of Hartf home broken on an Anvill into
pieces, each of about the bigneff'e of ones finger ( for if it be
rafped there is danger that it fhould emit its fumes too plenti¬
fully at once) and put it into a ftrong glafle Retort uncoated,
big enough to containe atleaft twice as much matter-, Set this
in Sand,aud fit to it a pretty large and ftrong (either fingle or
double ) Receiver 5 then give a flow fire for three,foure,or
fix houres, to fend away firft the Phlegme,and more fugitive
parts of the Spirit 5 thenencreafing the fire, but warily, and
gradually for divers houres, drive over the Spirit (which is





( 35^
method of nature in Salts to make the bigger Concretions of
the fame figures with the fmaller graines, as we obferve in
Nitre, Rock-allum,&c. And the graines of the Salt of Hartf-
horne, though I have attentively enough confider'd their
fliapes, 1 remember not ever to have obfervedofa figure like
that of the homes they came from- but it is the nature of
volatile Salts to faften themfelves to the Receiver in various
figures, according as the degree of fire that urges them up, and
other concurrent circumftances do chance to exa&; and con-
fonantly hereunto we have often obferved the volatile Salt of
the fame Hartf-borne to be very varioufly figured in the fame
Receiver: and I remember that not long fince fubliming
fome volatile Salt of Urine, it adher'd to the upper part of the
veflell in figures, much liker Hartf-homes, then ever I had
feene theit volatile Salt make up; fo that unlelle wee will
merrily fay, that the man whofe urine was diftill'd.had homes
given him by his wife, wee muff acknowledge that nature
feemes to give her felfe liberty to play in the Configuration of
volatile Salts,and that cafualities have no unufuall influence on
them ? or to fpeake more properly, that the various degree of
Fire,the differing copioufnefs of theFumes,and many other in¬
tervening accidents do keep thofe Configurations from being
conftantly regular; and I remember that a while fince filtring
through Cap paper a Tindlure of glafle of Antimony, made
with Spirit of Vinegar and Spirit of Wine, almoft according
to Bafi/ius i the matter which remained in the paper (which
was placed in a glafle funnell, and was of the fame lhape) did
of it felfe, when it began to grow dry, cleave into the figures
of trees, whofe trunkes, greater boughs, and fmaller branches,
were both for their fhape,and proportion,as lively reprefented
as if they had been drawne by the curious penfill of fome
skilfull Painter •, which paper I fhewed to fome perfons
x x a that


™-—™
(??£)
that beheld it not without wonder, and for ought I know I
am yet able to fhew it you* nor is this the only inftance I
could give you if need were, if I had not trifled too long all-
ready to manifeft at prefent, that,now and then,Chance may
make Nature feem to emulate Art.
But as long as I have dwelt, Pyropbihs^on this Subjedl be¬
fore I pafle to another5 I mull not forget to advercife you5
that in cafe Stags Horns cannot be procured for the prepa¬
ration of the above mention'd Remedies, you may without
much difadvantage fubftitute Bucks horns in their ftead;
for almoft all the trialls we have had opportunity to make
of the Medicines we have been lately difcourfing of, have
been made with Remedies whereto Buck-homes afforded
Matenalls.
I had almoft forgot, Pyrcphilus, to tell you, That to keep
the re&ify'd Spirit of Harts-horn, Blood, or the like, is more
uneafie, then any thing but trial would make one think- and
yet to keep the Volatile Salt is more difficult, then to pre¬
serve the Spirit; for more then once, when I have kept thefe
fugitive animal Salts by themfelves, they have penetrated the
Corks, and fcarce left me in the well ftopp'd Glafles any
footfteps of their having been there, and therefore thofe Chy-
mifts that are not ftrangers to thefe Salts, have taken much
pains to no great purpofe to keep them from Avolatioo3fome
of the recenteft and ingenioufeft are wont, that they may mo¬
derate their uncurb'd wildnefs, to pour on them as much of
fome fuch Acid Spirit, as that of Salt of Vitriol as will
produce any manifeft conflict with the Volatile Salt, never
confidering,that as this courfe dothindeed deveft them of their
fugacity, fo it doth in effedl deveft them of a great part of their
Nature, and confequently of their peculiar Vertues.For I have
alfwhere lhewn; that the Saline Gorpufcles, obteinableby the
Eire


(858)
phiflicall fplrit, much of the obtained Liquor camming from the
Diftillable Concretes thatmufl according to fitch be
mingled with the Sal-Armoniack, of which
inftances, ev'n out of modern and
The Spirit of Salt-Armoniack, hath tuch won¬
ders afcribed to it by Chymifts, that, if I fliould conclude
thefe Papers touching Spirits of an Urinous nature, without
faying fomething to you of that, you might think I had left
the confiderableft of them unmentioned 5 but as I the rather
acquaint you with the little I know of it, becaufe, though I
have met with divers Authors that extoll it, I have fcarce met
with any that teaches intelligibly,and candidly how to prepare
it, which perhaps moft of them did not know themfelves, fo
I hope you will exad an accurate account of it the leffe rigid¬
ly , becaufe I can prefent to you but little on that Subjed,
befides the few Obfervations wherewith my own Cunofity
has fupplyed me; having fcarce ever (to my knowledge,)
feen any Spirit of Sal-Armoniack lave what my own Fur¬
naces have afforded me, and therefore without prefuming to
fet down folemne procefles about a fubjed, wherein I have
found a fmall variation of Circumftances hinder the opera¬
tions made on it from producing uniform effeds, I (hall con¬
tent my felf to give you as true an information as my memory
will afford me of a few of my proceedings with this nice Salt,
and the fuccefl'es of them: only premifing in a Word, that by
Sal x^Armontack I here mean the Faditious and Venal, confi¬
ding of Urine,Soot,and Sea-falt.
And firfl, accordng to the way propofed by Glauber (in the
fecond part of his Philofophicall Furnaces) we diftdled it out
of an open retortfwith a Cover to clap on and take off as oc-
cafion requires)with a mixture of Lapis , and once
we,that way, obtained a quantity of Liquor, which feem'd ex¬
ceeding


(m
ceedingftrong, but before we could make any trials with it,
the Viall that contained it having bin accidentally broken,
we loft the opportunity of fatisfying our felves of the efficacy
of it: and having not long fince attempted to make fuch a
Spirit the fame way, there came over indeed a Liquor which
feem'd to be the Spirit of Sal ■ Armani ack, but when we
came to Redfify it in a gentle heat, the greater part of it to our
wonder, coagulated in the Retort, whereinto it was put to be
diftill'd, into a perfeft Sal-Armoniack, a pretty quantity of
which I yet keep by me) and thereby betray'd the above men¬
tioned Liquor to have been little elfe then the Sal-
it felf, forced over by the violence of the Fire, without having
fuffer'd any reparation ofits Ingredients.Nor is it by us alone,
that the Procefs fet down by Glauber, hath been unprofpe-
roully attempted, and yet perhaps it might have conftantly
enough fucceeded with him, and the difference of the Lapis
Calaminaris (in which we have obferv'd much difparity accor¬
ding to the places it comes from)may have produced the com¬
plained of variety of Succefies.
We alfo attempted to diftill a Spirit from
(to pretermit divers other trials) by mixing it with equall
parts of Salt of Tartar^ but in this experiment we met with
variety of fuccefs, for having exquifitely incorporated the
two Salts by the help of a little fair Water, we have divers
times had the upper part of the receiver ( carefully luted on
to a fomevvhat large retort) all candy'd over on the infide;
with Volatile Salts offeverallihapes, and the Liquor after¬
wards forc'd over hath fometimes remained long enough in
the forme of a very fubtle and penetrant fpirit, 3nd fometimes
again,it hath in the very receiver almoft totally coagulated it
felf into a lump of Chryftalline Salt; and when we had mixt
the Salt of Tartar, zadSal-Armoniack, without any Water
or


($6o)
or other moifture at all,our fucceffes have been very like thofe
above mentioned* Upon this occafion I dare not omit ac¬
quainting you with an Experiment, which yet i learn't not
upon this occafion, Take of pure Salt of Tai tar and of good
Sal- i^Armoniack equal parts (let them be both very dry, or
elfe you may loofe your labour)and grind them very accurate¬
ly together, though you be deterred from continuing that
toyl, by a very fubtle and fetid Urinous fleam , wont to ex¬
hale from the mixture ; thefe Salts being thus exquifitely
incorporated, you muft pur them into a large Glafs Retort,
to which you may fit a Receiver to catch a fetid Liquor that
fometimes we have obferved to come over:, then admini-
ftring by degrees a very ftrong Fire, the top and Neck of the
Retort,will be lined with a pure white Sublimate, which feems
to partake as well ( though nothing neer fo much) of
the Salt ofTartar as of the Sal-Armoniack and of it's Qualities,
and yet to differ from either-, and though this Sublimate
be far enough from being the true Volatile Salt of Tartar
fo highly extolled by paraeelfus and Helrnom^ yet it is no ig¬
noble Medicine in obftrudlions, and fome other diftempers:
And I remember one of the moft expert Chymiils I know,
having made trial of fome Iprefented him, told me he found
fuch effe&sofit, as made him divers times very preffingand
follicitous for more. The Fetid Liquor that will come over
we have found fometimes to be very little, and at other
times much more copious , without being able to difcern
clearly whence the diiparity proceeded ^ and the Cafut CMor-
tuum remaining in the Retort, by Solution, Filtration, and
Coagulation, affords a pure Salt of greater Diureticall effica¬
cy, then almoft any I have hitherto met withall; Another
way by which we attempted to obtain a Spirit of Sal-Armo-
mact, was by accurately mixing two parts of it, with three
or


f?«i)
a very ftrange fubtlety: Which Obfervation concording with
divers others makes mee apt to doubt, whether or no this fo
celebrated Spirit of Salt-Armoniack be really much,if at all,
other then therefolved Salt of Urine, and Soot, of which that
body confifts, fomewhac fubtiliated by the fire, and freed
from the clogging Society of the Sea-falt, to which they
were formerly affociated and united; though I confeffe it
feemeth not improbable,by the great Energy which may be
obferved in this Spirit, when it is dextroufly drawne, that the
entire Concrete,and the Quick-lime,may afford it fomething
that it could not receive from either of the Ingredients,
whence the Mixture did refult, as we fee in which
diffolves crude gold, though neither the Salt-Armoniack,nor
the Peter, nor the Vitrioll alone affords, by theufuall wayes,
Spirit capable of producing that effed. The great vertues,
and ufesofSalt-Armoniack, efpecially in Phyfick, I cannot
nowftay to treat of, but you will find them 'largely enough
fet downe by Glauber; whofe Encomiums nevertheleffe.muft
not be all adopted by mee, who in this place mention the
Spirit of Sal-Armoniack, but as a Medicine that is neer of
kin, and may ferve for a Succedaneum to the Spirits of Hartt
home, Urine, Blood,&c.
But although the laft mentioned way, Pjrofhilue, be the
leaft imperfed one we have hitherto met with, of diftilling
Salt-Armoniack, yet becaufe you may fometimes need a
Spirituous liquor impregnated with the adiveft parts of that
noble concrete when you want either Retorts to diftill in, or
Furnaces capable of giving ftrong fires, I dare not omit to in¬
form you, that, we have fometimes drawne over fuch a liquor
of Salt- Armoniack after the following manner. Diffolve pure
Salt -Armoniack in a fmall quantity of faire water, then in a
Cucurbit put fuch a quantity of ftrong Quick-lime powder'd,
as


(■?«!>
sstnay fill up a fifth or fixth part of the veffell, and waterit
very well by degrees with the former Solution of the Salt-
Armoniack,and immediately clap an Alembick on the Cucur¬
bit, and fallen a Receiver to the Alembick, doling the joynts
very acurately, and from this mixture, by the gentle heat of a
Bath or a Lamp, you may obtainea Liquor that fmels much
like Spirit of Urine, and feemes to be much of the fame na¬
ture ; and this volatile liquor being once or twice re&ffied
fer /#,with a very mild heat, growes exceeding fugitive and
penetrant, and workes by Sweat, and a little, perhaps, by
Urinej and I remember that when I firll made it,having been
induced by fome Analogicall Experiments, 1 had formerly
made,to give it to one that had a patient troubled with an ex-
treamly violent Cough, I had an account quickly brought me,
that he not flowly , but wonderfully mended upon the very
firll or fecond Dole 5 and indeed the tryalls that have hitherto
been made of it,make mee hope that it will prove little inferi-
our in efficacy to the other above mentioned more collly
Spirits, fcarce any of which being preparable by fo fafe, and
compendious a way, if this Medicine emulate them in vertue,
the Eafineffe of the preparation (wherein little time needs be
fpent, and leffe danger of breaking veflels incurr'd) will much
endear it to me. But,Pyrop/&i/«a,becaufe I would affill You to
make variety of Experiments about Volatile Salts,and becaufe
diverfe tryals may be more conveniently made, when the Sa¬
line Corpufcles are in a dry form, then when they are in that
of a Liquor; I will take this occafion to mention to You a
way by whofe Intervention a change on the fixt body em-
ploy'd about the newly mentioned Experiment, hath fome-
times afforded mee llore of volatile Salt. This way was only
to mingle exquifitly a quantity of Sal-Armoniack,with about
thrice its weight of flrong Wood-afhes. For the Spirit that
yy a we
ill


we this way drave out of a Retort plac'd inSand,did quickly in
the Receiver Coagulate into a Salt •, and this Method was
again experimented with like fuccerte. And the Salt thus
made we found fo extreamly fubtile and volatile,that it feem'd
to be much of the fame Nature with that of Urine, and ifit
be indeed, (as probably'tis) onely the Volatile Salts of the
Urine,and perhaps alfo of the Soot, whereof the
mackconfifts, this may parte for a more compendious way of
obtaining fuch Salts, then others that are hitherto wont to
bepradtis'd amongft Chymifts. But I will not undertake
that this way of obtaining rather Salt then Spirit rtull con*
ftantly fucceed, Yetifyoufinditdonot, I (hall not perchance
refufe You a better way. But if you could devife a Method
(which poffibly is not unattainable) of bringing over into a
Spirit,not the bare Urinous and fuliginous Ingredients of
\yirmoniack but the whole Body, it may be,you would have
a Menftruum that would make good, if not furpafs even
Renames'and Glaubers Elogies of the Spirit of
mack.
The affinity betwixt Volatile Salts and Sulphurs, doth,
Tyrophilus, as well as your Curiofity invite me to acquaint
you, with fome of the Trials we have made about the Pre¬
parations of Sulphureous Fetid Liquors, which I am the more
inclined to do, becaufe, though I find mention made of fome
of them in Chymical Books, yet they are there delivered
with fo little Incouragement, amongft many other proceffts
of which it appears not that the prefcribers made trial, that
when I had diftilled fome of thofe Sulphurs, divers expert
Chymifts were very defirous to have a fight of them to fatisfy
themfelves that fuch Liquors could be fo pr. pared. The
way of making the common Balfam , or Ruby of ,
is too well known to need to be long infilled on. Onely, be-
caufe


(}65)
caafe there is fome little variety ufed by feveralin the prepa¬
ration, it will not perhaps be amifs to inform you that we
are wont to make it by mixing about three parts of Oyl of
Turpentine, with two of good Flower of Brimftone, and let¬
ting them in a ftrong Urinal (lightly ftopt in an heat of Sand,
only great enough to make the Liquor with a little crackling
noife (whencefoever that proceeds) work upon the Sulphur»
till it be all perfectly refolved into a Bloud-red Balfam
which will be performed in fi x, eight,or ten Houres,according
to the quantity of the Ingredients to be united; this Balfam
which is indeed in fome cafes no defpicable Remedie, is by
vulgar Chymifts, according to their cuftome very highly
extolled, and fometimes employed in Diftempers andCon-
ftitutions, wherein inftead of performing the wonders by them
expedted, its Heat doth more harm, then its drying and Bal-
famick properties do good: but yet apparent it will be, by
what we (hall fay anon, that by this preparation, the Body
of the Sulphur is fomewhat opened, and therefore fas we (aid )
in fome cafes the Ruby of Sulphur may prove no intffe&ual
Remedie, which may probably be improved if it be prepared
by bare Digeftion in a very gentle heat, by which coui fe we
have profperoufly prepar'd it, though not in fo (hort a time,
when we made it not in order to fome other Medicine.
To Volatilize the Sulphur thus Refolved we took the Bal¬
fam made the former way in a few Houres, and putting it its
a Retort,either"with, or without fair Water, which is fuppofed
to help to carry up the fuperfluous Oyl, we placed the Veflel
in a Sand Turnace, and with a gentle heat drawing off as much
of the Oyl of Turpentine as would in that heat come over,
we (hifted the Receiver, and carefully luted on the new one;
and laftly, giving Fire by degrees, we forced over a Liquor of
adeepanddarkiih Red, extreamly penetrant, but of a fmell
yy 3" fe


<J«8)
the truth of what we formerly faid, when we told you, that
the body of the Sulphur was opened by Solution in Oleagi¬
nous Liquors ,for out of the common thickned Balfam, as
you may be informed by this proceffe, well Redtfied Spirit of
Wine will, in a lhort time,extradablood red Tindure,where¬
as by long digeftionof Spirit of Wine alone upon pure, but
undilTolved,flowresof Brimftone, we could not difcerne any
change of colour in the Menftruum ; though I dare not deny
the poflibility of what fome Authors affirme, who write,
that Spirit of Wine very excellently Dephlegm'd, will in
time, of it felfe draw a Tindure horn flowers of ,
which Tindure they yet pretend not to make of a higher
then a Lemmon colour. And by the way let mee tell you,
that our red tindure formerly mentioned is(if it be well made)
fo ftrong of the Sulphur , that probably it would make a very
penetrant, and effeduall outward remedy in Aches, and divers
other cold diftempers of the nervous parts; for it hath been
already found, that good Spirit of Wine alone is one of the
powerfulleft Fomentations in divers cafes of that nature; (info-
much that it hath been fometimes found to arrefl the fpreading
Mortification of Gangrenes;) and therefore being fo richly
impregnated with Sulphur: which is even without the affi-
ftance of fo fubtle a vehicle very available in many diflaffe-
dions of the GenusNervofum ; 'tis probable that the skilfull
affociation of two fuch adive remedies may produce confide-
rable Effeds.
*********»#***
Take of pure flowers of Sulphur one part, of the beft Oyl-
Olive foure or five parts, mixe them well together in a ftrong
earthen pot,able to contain a much greater quantity of the in¬
gredients then is to be put in it:fet this veflel over a moderate
fire


C?6p)
fire of Charcoales, throughly kindled , till the Oyl though
flowly, have perfedily diflolved all the Flowers of
which will (if you worke it well) be perform'd in about halfe
an houre, or an houre, (according to the quantity of your Ma¬
terials;) But youmuft have a great care, during the whole
Operation, firft,that the Oyl catch not fire,whereby it would
not only be loll it felfe, but perhaps endanger the firing of
the houfe; and next that the Mixture be kept nimbly, and
conllantly flirring from the firft beginning of the Oyl's acti¬
on on the Sulphur, till the Solution be f lly made; and the
Pot (.having been taken off the fire 1 be grown cold again.
The chiefe Signes whereby you may perceive, that, you
have not erred in the Operations are, Firft, if the Sulphur be
per ft <511 y diflolved in the Oyl , which you mull often try
before you take it from the fire, by taking up with the
tip of a flick a drop or two of the Liquor yet in Prepa¬
ration, and letting it coole on whice paper, or on your
naile , whereby you may difcerne, when the Solution is per-
fe&ly made by the deep Rednefs,and Tranfparency of the Li¬
quor, and by its containing no more in it any undiffolved
Powers of theBrimftone; Next by the Confiftency of the
Balfam which ought to be neither too Liquid ( as you
will find tt if it hath not ftaid its due time on the fire ) nor too
thick (as it is apt to become ifyouremove itnot feafonably
from the fire;) but of the confidence of fomewhat thin Hony;
and laftly, by the fmell which ought to be ftrong of the
phur, but not of the fire; for though the Sulphureous Stink
is,in this Remedy,to be expe&ed, that Empyreumaticall one,
which proceeds from burning (and by skilfull noftrils may
be eahly difcerned,) is very poflible to be avoided.
The Dofis of this Balfam , when it is to be inwardly ufed,
may be from two to fifteen, or twenty drops, according as
z z the
i
n
I


(*7°)
the greatneffe ofthediftemper, and chiefly the ftrength, and
Conftitution of the Patient fhall require and bear. It may be
given upon a fading Stomack, either alone, or brought to the
ConfiftenceofPills,orofa.Ba/#* with powdered Sugar, Li¬
quorice, &c. or elfe diffolved in any convenient Vehicle,
wherewith its Oleaginous nature will permit it to mingle.
Outwardly it may be adminiftred either by bare Inundtion of
the part affedted, or elfe by incorporating it with any other
convenient Oyntment, or Playfter: after which we are wont
to prefcribe to have an application made to the part of two or
three little Bags fill'd with Sand, as warmeas the Patient can
eafily endure it, andfliifted as foon as either of them begins
to cool, that by this meanes, the Pores being open'd, the
Vertueof the Balfam, by being made more penetrant, may
reach the farther.
I have been thus particular, f, in the mention of
this Remedy,becaufe though it feera but a flight and triviall
Preparation, yet Experience hath given us better opinion of
it, then I feare the flightnefie of the Preparation will as
yet allow You. And indeed its Vertues, I am apt to thinke
more then I have yet had occafion to obferve, and therefore
muft referre you to Rulandus his Centuries, where they are
often mentioned: but outwardly in Straines, old Aches,
Bruifes, and the like, it is wont to be very eftedtuall •, in the
beginning of Fits of the Gout it hath feverall times (though
not conftantly) been profperoufly applyed both to M' B-B:
and divers other perfons , and fometimes it hath been found
not ineffedfuall even in the Sciatica it felfe. And as for Paraly-
ticall diftempers, I have had by a skilfull Phy fitian an account
fent me of fcarce credible things which it hath therein perfor¬
med.- to which I fhall onely adde, that a while fince I had
great thankes returned mee on the behalfe of a faire young
Lady
7


( 575 )
attempt the making of fome remedies of it, that might alfo be
externally applicable 5 andin profecution of this defigne, we
found that by boyling foure or five fingers heightof good
Oyl of Turpentine upon very finely powdered Antimony,
put with the Liquor into a ftrong Glalfe Urinall, placed in
Sand, the Oyl after [omehoures would grow exceeding high
Tindled; and being gently in in great part abftrafted, would
leave behind it a body of a Balfamick confidence, and a deep
rednefie; which may, I prefume, be applyed torefolve,and
difcuffe hard Tumours, and remedy divers other outward
Evils, with more effedi then the fimple Balfam of common
Sulphur formerly defcribed. And from this Antimoniall Bal¬
fam abftra&ed to a differ confidence, we found that Spirit of
Wine would draw a Tin&ure, which I likewife fuppofe might
prove a very powerfull Fomentation 5 though the Spirit we
ufed f perhaps becaufe it was not fufficiently Dephlegmated )
did not in a few dayes attaine to more then a very pale red¬
nefie .•) but this Tindure being llowly freed from the mod
part of the Spirit of Wine, became of the confidence of fome-
what liquid Hony, and of a deeper colour, thereby affording
us a purer Balfam ; which we have not yet, (being hindred by
fome accidents J attempted to bring over the Helm'. Nor
did we here defift, but by divers tryals found that the Anti¬
moniall Balfam, above mentioned, being put into a Retort,
placed in Sand, and prefled by degrees of fire, would at length
emitt Steams,which would condenfe in the neck of the Re¬
tort,and fall thence into the Receiver in fanguine drops: this
volatile red Balfam ( efpecially if by this volatilization the
Antimony have loft its Emetick property) we cannot but
think endowed with more then ordinary Vertues, outward
and perhaps inward too; confidering the great penetrancy
of the Liquor, and the Energy of the Minerall, with whofe
z z 3 : fubtle


(574)
fubtle parts it is richly impregnated, if it confift not mainly
of them. But we are yet in profecution of this Preparation,
and therefore till we have feen how far we are like to improve
this Remedy, We fhall forbear any further mention of it efpe-
cially fince we have already in this very Paper,given you as we
fuppofe, fufficient proofe, that We are more follicitous for
your Satisfaction and proficiency, then for our owne Repu¬
tation, (of being a fevere Critick in eftimating of Medicines)
For otherwife we (hould not have been fo indifcreet, as to ac¬
quaint you with any Preparation,of whofe medicall Vertues we
have not yet made much tryall, whilft we are not deftitute of
other remedies, whofe efficacy hath been manifefted to us by
Experience. But we have often obferved, that divers ufefull
Chymicall Preparations are mentioned fo obfcurelf, and un¬
intelligibly by the Authors that write of them,orelfe are with¬
out any particular,or encouraging note of DiftinCtion mention¬
ed amongftacrowd of other ProcelTes, fome of which have
perhaps already been found to be falfe, or triviall, and others of
which may berationally enough diftrufted 5 that moft Phyfi-
tians, and Chymifts themfelves,are deterred from attempting
to prepare thofe remedies, not fo much becaufe they feem un¬
likely to prove confiderable,as becaufe they are afraid that the
Procefles are falfe, or fraudulently fet downe, and confe-
quently, thai concretes of fuch a Confidence, Colour, Scent,
and other obvious qualities,as are afcrib'd to the Remedies
propofed, are not preparable by the publifh't DireCtions.-
And that you might fee, Pyrophilus, what difcouragementsl
have met with even from Artifts themfelves to keep mee
from trufting to Printed Chymicall proeefl'es, I thinke it not
amiffe to mention here a memorable paflage of the famous,
and experienced Alexander Van Suchen , who is reported to
to have gotten more by the practice of Chymicall Phyfick
» V-i nn


(375)
then anv of the Contemporary profeflburs of it ? for he to¬
wards trie end of his Booke ofthefecrets of Antimony (of
which he clearly difclofeth not any in that Treatife, jgives this
account of his Crypticall way ofwriting 5 -
clatu nullum Recipe propofuerim id factum eft, quod vos
feducere nolo, Recipe entm ilia feducunt fed
nequedTheophrafto ullttm Recipe , quod ad Me¬
dic in am, quin occult urnfeufum & in quo
erit, vel abundet•,& hoc non fit fine . Wherefore
make account,that befides that (tub changes of the qualities,of
BodieSjmay afford much light to Naturalifts, hedothChy-
mifts noufelefs piece of fervice, that acquaints them with the
fuccefs of the nobler fort of proceffes mentioned in Authors,
though he fhould give them little or no account of the Vertues
of the Remedies p repared by thofe Proceffes; but this I hope
is not altogether our cafe, for befides that our Obfervations
are likely to fave You much trouble, and perhaps fome mif*
takes, and mif adventures, befides that f I fay ^ we have
had oportunity to obferve fuch eminent effedts of feverall of
the volatile Liquors defcribed in thefe Papers, as may juftly
give us promifingiExpe&ations of the Properties of the reft,
which are in their obvious qualities fo neer of kin to them.
And this fort of Medicines having been found fometimes to do
wonders, and generally to be fafe (which of a few of the
known operative, and not Specifick Medicines can be truly
affirmed) I not apt to thinke, that he that fiiall bring thefe
Remedies in fpight of their ill Scent, into the good opinion
of Phyfitians,may make no inconfiderable number of Patients
beholden to him.
I fhould not, Pyrophilus,proceed to make You repent Your
Curiofity to know my thoughts of the Urinous, and Sulphu¬
reous Remedies it hath hitherto made me treat of,were it not,
that


(37<S)
that there yet remaines fomething to be faid, without which,
all that hath been faid, willfcarce fignify very much towards
the tffe&uall recommending of thofe medicines to Your
efteem and praftife.
For I do not ignore, Pyrophiltts, that not only the Ge¬
nerality of the Galenicall Phyfitians» but divers of the
more eminent, and judicious of the Chymifls themfelves,
have been pleaf'd to condemne the internall ufe of Liquors
driven through a Retort , by the violence of fire, upon
the fcores of their being offenfively Empyreumaticall, and
Stinking •, among which fort of Liquors I cannot expe<ft,that
our Spirits of Blood, Hartf-home, Src. will efcape the being
reckon'd. But forafmuch as the prosperous Effedfs I have had
oportunity to fee, of divers Remedies of that Natnre, have
given mee for them rather an efteem, then either adetefta-
tion or contempt; I fuppofe it may prove no unfeafonable
piece of Juftice to the Spirit of Blood, and the other Noble,
though fetid Remedies I have been fetting you down; nor
no unferviceable piece of Charity to Men, it in this place,and
once for all,I fpend fome lines in endeavouring to refcue thefe
criminated Medicines from the great Prejudice they fufter
under, and from a reputation, which whilft it renders them
more odious then even their fmell can do > is likely to make
men deny themfelves the benefit of them.
I might here on this Occafion call in Queftion, whether not
only Galenifts, but even many Chymifts themfelves, be not
fomewhat more afraid, then they need be, of what they call
Empyreuma. But I will fufpend a while that Queftion, and at
prefent contefs to You, that I have fometimes doubted
whether or no that ftink which is generally call'd by the new¬
ly mention'd name, do alwayes, andneceffarily proceed from
the Impreifions of a violent fire. For to make a pure Spirit,
and


($77)
and Salt of Urine, there needs nothing, but to let it in a well
ftopt veflel putrifie for a competent time ( as we elfewhere
teach) in a Dunghill, or any refembling warmth, (and that it
felfe,perhaps, is not necefiary to ics Putrefa&ion;) and then to
draw off an eight or tenth part of the Liquor that firft afcends
by the gentle heat of a Bath. By which, or by the yet milder
warmth of a Lamp-furnace, it may be fufficiently rectified,
and brought to yield, befides the Spirit, good ftore of Salt.
And finee the Spirit thus made differs fo little in Smell or
Tail from thofe of Blood and Hartf-home, that moft mens
Nofes are not criticall enough to diflinguifh them, (and We
have fometimes taken pleafure to make Chymifts themfelves
to miftake the one of thofe Liquors for the other.) It feems
worth confidering, whether or no the fetid and urinous Taft
and Smell, which in thefe Spirits is faid to be Empyreumati-
call, and to proceed from the Ad uftion of the fire, be not the
Genuine Taft and Odour of the Spirituous and Saline particles
ofthe mixed Bodies themfelves, which they would manifeft if
they werecopioufly extricated,(to fpeakin theKings language)
feparated from the other Principles or Ingredients & aflbciated
into one Body, though without the violence of the Fire. For
to diftill the Spirit of putrified Urine, wherein the like Smell
and Taft are eminent, there needs (. as we faid ) no greater
heat, thenthat ofa Lamp-furnace, or of Horfdung, (fince in
the latter ofthefe only, Urine too long kept, and but negli¬
gently ftopt, hath been oblerv'd to have loft its volatile Salt
and Spirit, before it was taken out of the Horfdung. And
fuch a Heat feems not great enough to imprefs an
upon fuch a Liquor. For we fee that moft things dift.ll'din
the geater heat of a Bath, are commended by Phy fitians and
Chymifts , for their beeing free from Empyreume, And
tvhat Activity may be acquired by the fubtle parts of a mixed
aaa Body
m\
11
;<


(?7S )
Body , by the convening (if I may fo fpeak) of fuch Spiritu¬
ous Particles difengag'd from thofe other parts which clogg'd
or imprifon'd them, without any Empyreumaticall Imprefli-
on, from any violent externall Heat, may appear by the Chy-
micall Oyles of Spices. For though though they be ufually
drawn by Chymifts and Apothecaries, by the help of Water
in Limbecks; and though they have by us been drawn after
another manner (which we may elfwhere teach You ) with a
much gentler heat (fometimes not not exceeding that of an
ordinary Balneum ) yet thefe well Dephlegm'd Liquors re¬
taining fo well the Genuine Tafteand Smell of the Concretes
they were drawn from,that they pafs unaccufd ofEmpyreume,
are fome of them much ft longer and hotter then the Spirit or
Salt of Mans Blood, or of Hartf-horn: As may appear efpeci-
ally by the Oyl of Cinnamom, which if pure, is more pene¬
trant and fretting, then any thing but tryall could eafily have
perfwaded mee. And left you fliould objed, that the Fire doth
confiderably contribute to the ftrength of thefe Liquors,
otherwife then by difengaging the Particles they confift of
from theunadive parts of the Concrete, and aflembling them
together, I muftadvertife You, that I have obferVd little lefs
Heat & Penetrancy then in diverfe of thefe, in fome Liquors
feparated without theaffiftance of Diftillation: As for Inftance,
in the purer fort of the true Peruvian Balfam , and in another
kind of natural Balfam, almoftofan Amber colour, which be¬
longed to an Eaftern Prince) who carried it up and down
with him as a Jewel) whofe Domefticks at his death fold it,
whereby I came to procure fome of it, and found caufe to
wonder at its ftrength both upon the tongue, and in its O-
peration. But granting, Pyrephilue,that the Volatile Reme¬
dies treated of in thefe Papers , may have their oftenfive
Smell and Tafte imputed to the Fire, yet perhaps Pbyfitians
would


(?8o)
And no lefs do divers learned DoCtors efteem, and employ
the Empyreumaticall Oyl of Amber:Though(to norefo much
by the way)That be in divers cafes far inferiour to the Vola¬
tile Salt, "which (if the fire be skilfully adminiftred) may at
the fame time, and by the fame Operation be obtained. This
Salt, befides the Efficacy afcribed to it in the Convulfions of
Children, having been lately found by Experience to be an
excellent Medicine againft the Epilepfies, even of well grown
Perfons,being adminiftred in th ;Doie of not above a Scruple,"
or halfe a Drachm,in a due Quantity of Peiony water, or fome
other proper Vehicle,
AndonthisoccafionYou mayatfo bepleafed to take no¬
tice, that foliated Gold, is ordinarily and without Scruple em¬
ployed by Phyfitians, not only to cover Pils,but as a main In¬
gredient (though how properly I define not) of feverallof
their richeft Cordiall Compofitions extant in Difpenfato-
ries; and yet to how great a fire Gold is wont tobeexpofed
before it be melted out of the Oare (wherein 'tis ufurlly (at
leaft as far as we have obferv'd) blended with other Metals,
and Minerals) and to Purifie it upon theCupell either with
Lead or Antimony : he that is unacquainted with the Opera¬
tions of Mineralifts, and the Art of Refiners,will not eafily
imagine. And, Pyrofhilut,tofatisfie You yet farther, that the
ftrong Impreffion of Fire in the Medicines, doth not ahvaies
make them fo noxious as they are commonly reputed; let
mee defire you to take notice, that there is fcarce any Medi¬
cament more generally given, and applauded, even by Me¬
thodical! Phyfitiansthen Steel, which is often adminiftred in
Subftance, made up with other Ingredients, into the Form,
either of Pills, or Electuaries. And yet we have wondred to fee
what great Fires, and violent Blafts of huge Bello ws moved
by Water-engines, are ufed to melt Iron firftouc of the
Stone,.


(?S,)
Stone; and if it be to be farther refined into Steel (much of
that us'd in Phyfick being fadiitious) a new violence of the
Fire is requifite: And though after all this to make aflrin-
gent Crocus Martis per fe (which is accounted one of the beft
preparations of it) they are wont to keep c (as the Chy-
mifts fpeak) amidft reverberated flames, or in fome glafs-
mans Furnace for many houres, yea fometimes for divers
dayesj Yet this Medicine is with more fuccefle then Scruple
daily adminiftred by learned Phyfitians?in Dyfenteries,Fluxes,
and other diftempers where aftridtion is required. And 'tis
fomewhat Strange to mee,that the having been expof'd to no
greater a Fire then is requifite to diftill Spirit'of Blood, or of
Hartf-horn, fhould be much urg'd againft thofe Medicines,
by thofe that fcruple not to commend , and do almoft daily
and oftentimes fuccesfully,prefcribe the lixiviatSalts ofPlants,
and particularly of Wormwood, though thefe are not rightly
made,but by the expofing the Concretes even to the violence
of an incinerating lire. And as for the unpleafantnefs of the
Smells of our Spirits of Blood, Hartf-horn, befidesthar,
to very many Perfons there is no Odour fo loathfome, as that
6fa Potion. We find that the Galenifts themfelves fcruple
not in the Fits of the Mother (which yet very rarely prove •
mortall) toreprefs (as Men are wont to fuppofe ) the unruly
Fumes by the Smell of Ca{loreum, ^fja. and even the
Empyreumaticall Odour of the burnt feathers of Partriges:
nor do they decline to ufe thefe homely , and ungratefull Re¬
medies to Patients of tendered Sex, and higheft Quality,
and indeed in dangerous cafes I have known fair Ladies com
tent to th nke it fitter to take down an ill Scented Medicine,
then venture the having their own bodies in few daies redue'd
to worfe Perfumes. And certainly we may juftly fay of
Health, as no lefs then an Emperour faid of the gain brought


(38*)
him in by Urin, That it Smells well from whit it
comes.
But, Pyrophiltes, if Your Noftrils were fonice, that they
muft needs be comply'd1 with, though with thehazzard of im¬
pairing the Vertues of the Salts they are offended with, I
Could propofe an Effe&uall Expedient to gratifie them-, and
being now invited by fo preffing an Occafion, I fhall not
fcruple to annex fomething of it,and tell Y ou, that if we may
judge of the Vertues of the Spirit and Salt ot Soot ( which I
am wont to make without addition) by their fenfible Quali¬
ties : they muft be much of kin to thofe of the Spirit of Hartf-
horn, ana of Urine; (though thefe be animall SubftancesJ
And therefore having elfwhere more particularly, and by di¬
vers Experiments declared the affinity between thefe Salts in
divers regards-, it will not,I prefume, be look'd upon as an un-
ufefull or unfeafonable Hint , if I give You a fummary,
though but imperfedf, Account of what I remember my felfe
to have done, in order to the freeing of the Volatile Salt of
Soot, from that very offenfive Smell, which may poffibly
make many, even of thofe that need them, abominate thofe
Medicines, how Piercing and Noble foever, which it Ble-
miffieth. The Procefs is as followeth.
Take a Quantity of well Deflegm'd Spirit ofWine pro¬
portionate to the Quantity of Salt, whofe Odour Youdefire
to corredt - into this Spirit drop as much Oyl of Rhodium, or
of any other Odoriferous Chymicall Oyl, as will fuffice to
make the Liquor as ftrongly Scented as Youdefire it: ffiake
the Oyl, and Spirit well together, and if they were both well
made, the latter will imbibe the former, and fometimes be
thereby turn'd into a whitifia Subftance} with which if it fmell
not ftrong enough of the Oyl, Y ou may by Agitation incor¬
porate more Oyl, and if You judge the mixture too ftrong al¬
ready,


(3*4)
would have the fublim'd Salt to participate more or lefle.of
their Odour,and other Qualities.
3. Great diligence muftbe us'd inclofing the top of the
Glafs, becaufe of the great fugacity, and fubtilty of the Salt,
whofeAvolation is to be prevented: But then much greater
care is to be had,that the Heat be not too ftoong.but as equal
as may be, and much inferiour to the Moderate heatofan
ordinary Chymicall Balneum. For 'tis fcarce Credible how ea.
fily this unruly Salt will be excited either to make an efcape
at the mouth of the Glafs, or to break it in pieces. And I re¬
member among fuch other Accidents which have befallen us in
the Preparation of this Odoriferous Salt, that having once fee
fome of it to fublime from a perfum'd Chymicall Oyl,though
though we adminiftred fo gentle a heat, that we thought the
VefTel out of all danger of being broken, or found open: Yet
in a fhort time the fugitive Salt did with a great noife blow
out the Cork that was waxed to the top of the Veflel, leaving
in the bottom not a limpid Oyl, but a Liquor of a red colour,
and a Balfamick Confiflence. But if the Glafs be wide e-
nough to allow thefe fumes competent Roome,and if the
heat be warily adminiftred, the Sublimation may be well e-
nough perform'd.
Of the Medicinall Qualitiy of this Aromaticall Salt, Fjro-
philu*, we have not yet had opportunity to make tryall, but
lomeefteem may be made of them by calling to mind the
Vertuesofthe Ample Salt of Soot, and confidering the Na¬
ture of the Liquors,from which in this Our Preparation it hath
been Sublim'd, The Principall, if not the only thing, that
feems tobefear'd, is, that the Salt of Soot being it felfe hot,
and Chymicall Oyles being for the raoft part eminently fo
too , out Salt may prove unfitfor Men of HotandCholerick
Complexions, and in fuch diftempers , as proceed from Ex-
cefle


(?8 6
the Methodifts themfelves make no difficulty,in Pills and
other Medicines, to ufe the Chymical Oyl,either of Cloves,
or of Nutmegs,, or even of Cinnamon. And fome of our emi-
nenteft Engliih Dodtors, as I lately noted, have not fcrupled
oflate Years, to ufe the ftrong and fetid Chymical Oylesof
Amber and of Guajacum (and the latter of thefe in large
Dofes) whereas in our Preparation, onely the fineft and moft
Aromatick parts of the Oyls, feem to be affociated with the
fuliginous Salt, fincethe Oyl remaining after the Sublima¬
tion , has been obferv'd to be thick and ropy almoft like a
Syrrup.
But whether or no this Aromatick Salt be a fafe Medicine
in all Hot Bodies and Difeafes, it feems very probable, that
it will prove a very powerful Remedy in thofe Diftempers
for which it it proper. For firft, whereas Spagyrifts have
with much ftudy, but without much fuccefs, endeavour'd to
emak Oyls capable of being mixt with other Liquors, by de-
privin g them of their oleaginous form , in which Helmont
himfelf complains that they are offenfive*, we have by our
Preparation their fineft parts affociated with the penetrant
and volatile Sale: by whofe affifhnce they are not only fit to
communicate their Vertues to Liquors, but affifted to pene¬
trate exceedingly^ and perchance alfo, thereby to obtain fuch
anaccefie to the innermoft parts of the Body, as is feldome
allowed to Vegetable Medicines* Secondly, We may have
by this Preparation one of the moft noble and volatile Salts
of the World, not onely free'd from its ftink, but imbffd with
the Odour, and perhaps divers of the Vertues of what Chymi¬
cal Oyls we pleafe. And fince thefe Chymical Oyls are
by Chy mifts and Naturaiifts thought to contain the moft no¬
ble and adtive parts of the Vegetables whence they have been
deftili'd 5 And fince alfo the Salt of Soot fublim'd from
* * thenv


OpO
that if a patient mifcarry after theufe of the Remedies, the
fault muft neceflarily belong to the exhibited Medicine.For
oftentimes Nature will in fpight of Remedies make a Mf
tajlafis of the peccant matter, and fo empair the Condition
of the patient; and much oftner before death, the Conflidfof
ftruggling Nature, and the conquering Difeafe doth manifeft
it felt in horrid and dreadful Symptomes, which fome envious
origtiorant Doctors ( for the more learned are wont to be
more equitable, and leffe partial) injurioufly impute to the
Chymical Remedy , given before the appearing of thofe
Symptomes, never confidering that the like Accidents are
wont to attend dangerous Difeafes, and dying perfons, where
Galenicals Remedies onely, and no Chymical ones at all have
been adminiftred. And that divers of the mod eminent, and
Methodical ofour Modern Phyfitians fcruplenot to ufe fre¬
quently both Crocus CUetallorum, Merc. , and fome
other Chymical Remedies, and to impute the mifcarriages
of the Patients that ufe them to their Difeafes, though not
many years, fince all the frightful Symptomes accompanying
the dying perfons to whom they had been exhibited, were
confidently imputed to thofe Medicines. To which let me
adde, Pyrcphilus, that oftentimes it may be very juft to prize
an Empirical Remedy more then a Galenical, though the
Methodift and the Empirick have each of them by his re-
fpedfive Remedies, performed cures of divers patients in the
fame Difeafe*, partlybecaufe Empirical Chymifts are feldome
reforted to but in defperate cafes, or till Nature be almoft
fpent, either by the violence of the Difeafe, or the unprofpe-
rous operation of the Medicines employed to remove it; and
partly,becaufe the Methodift helps his Remedies by premi-
fing the wonted Evacuations ("by Vomit, Seige, or by Phle¬
botomy ) by varying them according to Emergent Circum-
ftancesj


(592)
ftances, by skilfully and feafonably adminiftring them, and
by ftridt rules of Diet-, whereas the Empirick oftentimes ufeth
but a fingle Remedy, and ufually without premifing gene¬
ral Evacuations, exhibits it not to the greateft Advantage in
relation to time, and other circumftances, and is much more
indulgent to his patient in point of Diet: So that when an Em¬
pirick , and a rational Phyfitian do both in feveral patients
Cure for inftance the fame Plurifie, the Difeafe may be very
often judged to have been removed in one of the Patients
chiefly by the Phyfitian, and in the other by the Reme-
dy.
In the third place, Pyropbilus, I muft advertife You, that
though I mention more Chymical remedies then Galenical,
yet it is not out of any partial fondnefle of the former, and
much lefle from any undervaluation of the latter, but partly,
becaufe Chymical procefles being wont to be more unfaith¬
fully, orobfcurely fet down by Authors then Galenical Re¬
ceipts, I thought it might fave You fome labour to receive
from me a frequenter account of thofe,then thefe; and ,
becaufe in many Chymical preparations, divers confiderable
Changes being to be wrought upon the Concretes to be pre¬
pared by them, there is oftentime fo much of Philofophy
to be learn'd by fuch Procefles, that the fuccefie of them may
proveinftrudive to you, though it fhould acquaint you with
their Truth only, as they are Chymical preparations, and not
as they are Medicinal Receipts. But otherwife I love to look
upon both Chymical and Galenical Remedies, with an im¬
partial eye, and think that neither the former ought to be de-
fpifed for the latter, nor the latter for the former^ for as Chy¬
mical Remedies have commonly the advantages of being
more durable, lefle clogging by their quantity, and lefle nau-
feated by Patients; fo Galenical Remedies have when they
are


!( 3 94 )
who are of fo defpondent and rather partial an Humour, that
if a Chymical Remedie or a Specifick do not prefently per¬
form the hop'd-for Cure, though they find that even upon
their difadvantageous manner of adminiftring it, it doth
good; yet they will quickly defift from the Ufe o it: And be¬
came it doth not do Wonders, they will not fcrupieto affirm
that they have tried it and found it do nothing; whereas they
are wont to continue their ownCourfesof Phyfick rvithout
difcouragement, though it be ufually fome weeks before the
Patient find any good by them, and oftentimes fas numbers
of the printed Observations of Phyfitians as well as daily Ex¬
perience teftify) the patient is by the tedious Courfeof Phy-
fick he has gone through very little better'd, if not much im-
pair'd. Which I [pszk^Pjrophilus,not with an Intention to dis¬
parage Phyfitians in general, the mod learned and ingenious
of them, being free enough from the Partiality I here take no¬
tice of, but to keep good Remedies from being difparaged
by the envious or unskilful trials of bad Adminifters: And
though indeed fome Chymifts are fo vain-glorious or un¬
wary , as to promife that the Operation of their Remedies
Should be as well fuddain, as effectual; yet if the Medicines
themfelves be found availeable, although not fwiftlyfo, that
flownefle ought to make us but condemne the Boaftings of
the man, not reje& the ufe of the Remedies.
And in the laft place, Pjrofhilus,I muft Advertife you,not
to expedl that every one of the Remedies I commend fhould
be Phyfick andPhyfitiantoo; I mean, that it fhould of it
felf Suffice to performe the Cures of thofe Diieafes againft
which it is commended. For Medicines are but Lftruments
in the hand of the Phyfitian, and though they be never fo
well edg'd and temper'd require a skilful hand to mannage
them} and therefore I cannot but admire and disapprove their
boldneffe


<?96)
where Nature's motions are to be diligently watcht, and fe-
conded, may do a patient as much harm as the orderly and
skilful adminiftration of them can do him good. And that he
that has nothing but one good receipt for a Diftemper, and
knowes not how to vary it by adding, omitting, or fubfticu-
ting other parts of the Materia Medic a y as urgent occafion (hall
require, may oftentimes find himfelf reduced either to fufter
his Patient to languifh helplefs, or to venture by curing him
of one Difeafe to caft him into another. For fometimes the
Patients conftitution makes the Medicine prefcribed by the
Receipt unfit to beadminiftred^ and fometimes too, theDi-
feafe for which the Receipt is proper, is in the Patient com¬
plicated with fome other Diftemper which may be as much
encreafed by the Specifick, as the other Difeafe may be lefs-
ned. I know for inftance fome eminent men that are wont
to Cure very ftubborn Venereal diftempers, by a Chymical
preparation ( which fome of themfelves have been pleafed to
difclofe tome,) of the Indian Plants, Sarfaparillay Guaiacum,
&c. But if thefe men met with Patients, fuch as thofe which
Eujlachius Radius mentions himfelf to have often met with,
who upon theufe of theleaft quantity of Guaiacumy though
corredied with cold ingredients, were wont to be prefently
affe&ed with fuch fharpnefTe of Urine, and Inflammation of
the parts, to which Urine relates,as hazarded their lives 5 they
would be reduced , as well as our Author confefieth himfelf
to have been, to have recourfe to Mercurial or other Reme¬
dies. To which we may adde, that the ufe of Sarfapari/Ia,
and Guajacum is generally forbidden by the warier fort of
Phyfirians, in thofe Patients, whofe Venerial Diftempers are
complicated with heat or Inflammation of the Kidnies or
Livers. And fometimes alfo it happens, that the very outward
forme of the Medicine prefcribed by the Receipt is not fit,
or


(m)
or perhaps poflible to be adminiftred. For not to mention that
divers Patients can retain no purgative Phyfick exhibited in
theform of a Potion; and fome others areas apt to Vomit up
whatever is given them in the form of Piils, not to infift on
this I f3y,I (hall content my felfto relate to You a memorable
Cafe that hapnedawhile fincetoa Phyfitian of my acquain¬
tance. He was called to alufty young Woman, who upon an
accidental but violent Cold was fuddenly taken with fuch a
Conftri&ion of the Parts infervient to Speech and Deglu¬
tition, as made her altogether unable either to fpeak or fwal-
low any thing at all; and having thus continued fomedaiesin
fpieht of Glyfters or other Remedies prefcribed by a very
Learned Phyfitian,and in fpight of Endeavours to excite Vo¬
miting, by making Her hold emetick things in her Mouth;
the poor Woman was in great danger (when my acquaintance
came to her; of perifhing for hunger: what in this cafe could be
expedted from the beft Remedies that muft neceffariiy be ta¬
ken in at the Mouth ? Wherefore the Phyfitian finding her
yet ftrong enough, and without Feaver, and yet her cafe al-
moft defperate, did as judicioufly as luckily prefcribe a Gly-
fter, wherein to ordinary Ingredients were added (as himfelf
a very few daies after told me ) about four ounces of the In-
fufionof Crocus Metallorum,with an advife that itfhouldbe
keptinaslongaspoflibly She could, and by this Medicine,
Nature being fufficiently irritated, there quickly followed
upon it fome violent Vomitings, and upon them a liberty
both of Swallowing and Speaking. CAnd fince this a young
Gentleman and Fellow-traveller of mine, had the Organs of
deglutition 10 ftrangely weakned without any manifeft caufe,
that though he were able to make me a Vifit, and acquaint
me with his Cafe, yet he was very apprehenfive, he fhould in
a very few Dayes be ftarv'd, and being unable to fwallow
Remedies,


(m)
Hefpeaks, by a kind of propriety, refped the Cure of par¬
ticular Difeafes,He addes, (feverely enough,) tcThat thePhy-
c{ fitians havefruftrated and taken away the fruit ofTraditions,
iC and approved Experience by their <JMagi[lralities>\ adding
cc and taking out,and changing Ingredients of Receipts at their
«0 pleafure, and almoft alter the manner of Apothecaries, put-
Cc ting in Quid pro quo, commanding fo prefumptuoufly over
the Medicine, as the Medicine can no longer command the
Difeafe. Thus f3rre our Judicious Author: But I will ra¬
ther choofe to exprelTe to You my fenfe on This whole Sub¬
ject of Receipts, in the Words of that Experiencd Phyfitian
to three Emperors, Johannes Crato: De morbi Natura ffayes
He) caufa, locoque affeclo Medicus diligenter cogitet^ atquein
eo plus quam in cert is medicament or urn miripcis for mis fttum
futet: Median am tamen expert am cum ratione adhibit am plus
njalere quam ea qua interdum fubito a Doffiffimo etiam Medico
magnaratione exhtbitaexcogitatur^non dubito:Atque hac in parte
Rationales etiam CMedicos Empeirtcis cedere debere de fenten-
tia Hippocrates flatuo. Onely I muft adde by way of Explana¬
tion, That this Sentence is to be underftood to exprefl'e my
fenfe, when the Medicines ufed are not very extraordinary,
but fuch as Crato employ'd, and has left us in his Writings:
for there may polfiblybefucheffedualSpecificks, and fuch
powerful and commanding Remedies, that the Efficacy of
the Medicine may (at leaft in fome particular Difeafes) excufe
and repair much want of skill in the Prefcriber.
If the Teftimony of Helmont concerning the Arcana of
Paraceljus be confiderable, even in a Trad (where cither out
of Emulation or Judgment, .he endeavours fomewhac dode- ueinrnth.At*
preciate both them and their Author; much greater things lT&.7t7?
might be boldly affirmed of fome Arcana^ for Fateor Lubens?
(faieshe3 fpeakiog of Paraceljus) Meexejnsfcriptis profectjje
mltum*


(400)
multum^ illumque potuifte^ per Remedia adunitatis Symbolum
adfendentiaifanareLepram)Afthma, Eabem^ Paralyftn, Epilep-
fiam.Calculum^Hydropem, Podagram, Cancrum^atque ejufmodi
vulgo incurabiles morbos : attamen Paracelfum futfie ignarum
radicis vit£ long£> tarn ex e\ws fcriptis & medic ami nib us quam
ex obitu collegi, &c. And in the fame Trad juft before He
comes to enumerate Paracelfus's Arcana. Concede, faith he,
Belmont, m Un?vtrfales aliquot Medicine. qua fub unifono Natur& lonae
Arcan.ParacclJ. .n ' > A n i n r U / i a s
p*g<M79°> gr*tt\ptmO) tnnjibiliter poft  vmctum ewcunt hojtem, cum
egregta Organorum depuratione, Concedo pariter appropria-
t/ts aliquot quo universalis amplitudinem in (peciftcis morborim
diretfionibus amulantur. And among thofe Arcana themfelves
that is ranck'd but in the fecond place, of which he gives this
Characters: Sequitur dein CMercurim Vii£^Sttbit proles intc-
gri^qua omnem morbi nervum penitus abforbet.
And becaufe another Arcanum does not fo powerfully
renovate,as that laft mention'd, and two more-, He allowes to
thofe three others the precedencies of that whereof He yet
faith : Jguarto loco eft Mercurius Diaphoreticus, melle dulcior
& ad ignem ftxusy folis Borizontts omnes proprieties bubet:
perftcit enim quicquid Medicus & Cbirurgus poffwt opt are fa-
nendo. But becaufe, that any Medicines fliouid be qualify'd
to deferve fuch fuperlative Encomiums, may feemathing
fitter to be wifh'd then credited, I would not diiTwade You
till the ChymiftsCures have made good their Matters brags,
to be altogether of our Authors Mind, who fomewhere pro-
feffes: Se morbum non dinguere, ft Remcdiis (fure he fpeaks of
fuch Remedies as he thought he had)/// [urnma bomtrts. But
yet you may perchance afcribe much more even to Reme¬
dies far inferiour to the Arcana CM a] or a, in the cafes wherein
they are mod proper, then many are willing to believe. Info-
much that I have fooietimes obferv'd with wonder, that an
Excellent


(4°i)
Which he was pleas'd to call Ammo.
And to thefe Domeftick Inftances ( which I might eafily
accumulate) of the efteem eminent Phyfitians have made of
Receipts, I might adde very many Forreign ones. Nay Galen
himfelf, whohasfocopiouily treated of the Materia
and the Compofttien of Medicaments,though he were fuffici-
cntly expert at drawing up Receipts, doth yet in his Book
Dc Cotnpofitione Medtcarnenterum, and elfewhere tranfcribe,
and fometimes commend (and mention his having us'd) divers
of the Compofitions of Auncienter Phyfitians, and efpecially
magnifies Andromachus His Treacle.
I might, Pyropb:here mindYou,That we fee that Chymifiry,
as Incompleatas it yet is, has been able fo much to improve
the preparations of Remedies, as to afford us fome, which are
fo Innocent as well as Efficacious, that in the Difeafesthey
principally refpedf, they require not, as of Neceffity, neer fo
much of Theorical skill, as others do in the Adminifter^ I
might likewife take notice, That Experiencealfo teacheth,
efpecially by what we fee perform'd by the Spaa, and fome
other Mineral Waters, that one Medicine may be fo richly
endow'd, as to be more Effectual againfl feveral differing Di-
feafes,then even the better fort of other Remedies againft any
one particular Difeafe.
I might further reprefent as fome thing that makes yet
more to my prefent purpofe, that though every Body can
advife his fick Friends to an Air that is famoufly healthfal,
if there be any within a convenient Diftance from them 5
Yet there are fome Aires fo eminently good, and that not
upon the Account of any one Predominant Quality that
makes them oppofite to a Difeafe fpringing from its contrary,
but from a hidden Temperature, or certain friendly Effluvia,
that they alone often cure Variety of Difeafes in Perfons
of


(4°?)
of differing Ages and Complexions: as Navigators obferve
in the Ifle of Sc Helen where the Spaniards and fome other
Europeans in their paflage to the Indses, often leave without
Phyfitians great numbers of Sick, whom they find for the
moft partrecover'd at their return. And that fometimes ev'n
the acuteft Difeafes may by the Sanative Steams that inrich,
the Air be cur'd almoft in a trice is alfur'd by thofe that have
liv'd in grand Cairo,who have affirm'd to me,what the Learned
Profper Aipinus,who (o long pra&is'd Phyfick there, afl'ures
Us, That upon Nilus's beginning to over flow, though in the
Heat of Summer,there enfueth a fuddain Recovery of thofe
multitudes of Perfons of differing Ages, Temperatures,
Sexes, &c, which there happen at that time to ly Sick of
the Plague. Thefe things I fay, Pjrophilas,and more I might
adde, to what You may find difpers'd here and there in the
E s s a y e s which this Paper acccompanies towards the
inferring that we fhould not haftily conclude it that
there May be found fuch Medicines as may be more then
particular and Specifick Remedies without requiring the Gi¬
ver be a great phyfitian. But to draw at length to a Con-
clufion, I (h3ll rather Summe up my prefent thoughts of
this Matter Thus.
Ordinary Receipts without an Ordinary Meafure of skill
in Phyfick are not rafhly to be rely'd on, efpecially in Acute
Difeafes % where by giving Medicines otherwife innocent
enough, to loofe the opportunities of adminiftring proper
ones may be wry prejudicial, and where fometimes rhe feve-
ralfeafons of the Difeafe do require fuch differing Remedies
it they be but Ordinary ones, that a Medicine proper enough
for the Difeafe at one feafon of it may do M ilchief at another:
But if indeed there be Noble and Extraordinary , that
work rather by ftrengthning and reftoring Nature, and Re-
ddd 2 folving,


(4o 6)
Cataradt. Nor is it irrational that Catara&s fhouldbedif-
folv'd by futh anointings when Ex perience teacheth, That
hard Tumors dogg'd together of pituitous Matter are pow¬
erfully diffolved by Mercurial Inundions.
EjufqueSiC- And they urge many Inftances
of it even to my admiration.
Ibid. Jjunt &c. Yet they fay that the Seed of the
ground and taken in any proper Water doth diflolve the ftone
into a very Durt, which being voided doth harden again into
a ftony fubftance. I faw a Young Man to whom (upon my
knowledge this accident befell. When he was tormented with
the Stone in the Bladder, which I underftood both by the Li-
thotomift who felt it,and by theSymptomes which hefuffered;
I fenthim to a Fountain, which takes its name from S( Peter
when he had ftaid there two Moneths he retum'dFree from the
Stone, and brought home with him all the Durt which he had
voided by degrees, in a Paper, coagulated as it were into frag¬
ments of Stone.
Adpag. 85. Hie &c. He loaths nothing thatflinks, oris
othervvife unpleafant, He hath been often feen to chew and
fwallow Glafle, Stones,Wood,Bones, the Feet of Hares, and
other Animals, together with the Hair, Linnen and Woollen
cloath,Fiihes and other Animals alive, Nay,even Mettais, and
Difhes,and Globes of Tin. Befides, which he devours Sew¬
er, and Tallow Candels, the Shels of Cockles,and the Dungs
of Animals, efpecially of Oxen, even Hot, affoon as it is voi¬
ded. He drinks the Urin of others mixt with wine or Beer:
He eats Hay, Straw, Stubble, and lately hefwallow'd down
two living Mice, which for half an Hour continued biteing at
the bottome of his Stomack; and to be (liort, Whati'oever is
offet'd him by any Noble Perfons, it goes down with him
without more adoe upon the fmalleft reward, infomuch that
within


(4°7>
within a few Daies he hath promifed to eat a whole Calfe
Raw, together with the Skin and Hair; Among divers others
I my felfam a Witnefle of the Truth of thefe &c.
^ Caufam Sec- T o find in the rcas the caufe
of this Vocacity will be queftionleffe very difficult: Some one
perchance would referre it to that which Columbus obferv'd in
the Carkafle of Lazarus the Glaffe -eater, and refolve that the
fourth conjugation ofNerves which nature ordain'd for tailing,
come neither to the Palate nor the Tongue:But fo there would
onely be rendred the caufe ofhis want ofTaft, and not why
he fhould be able to take fuch uncouth things without offence
to his Stomach and digeft them, which without doubt ought
to be the particular and lingular conftitution ofhis Stomach
and Guts, which yet may not appear to the Eye by the Ef-
ft<ffs»
Ad fag. $i. De Laudano Se Of his Laudanum (that
Name he gave to little Pills, which in the extremity of Difea-
fes he adminiifred as a molt Divine Medicine allwaies giving
them in an odde Number,} he fcrupled not to affirm that by
that Medicine he could put life into thofe who were as good
as Dead; and that while I was with him he made good in fome
Experiments.
Ad fag. 94. Ofortet ubi Sec. Where a Medicine anfwers
not we ought not fo much to efteem the Author as the Pa¬
tient,and to try fomewhat farther and farther.
Ad Pag-9"j. idem fit See. The fame is made of
Potato's,Turkifh Mullet,Rice, and other things which be¬
ing chew'd by old Women, and Spit together with much
Spittle, This Liquor is ftrait put up into Veffels, and there
kept until it ferments and caft down a Sediment.
(_Ad fag. 105. HocefiSec. This Btrcbrvater hathafweet
Sharpnelle and very pleafant Taft, it allaies Thirft, and the
drinefle


(412)
but a prime knowledg of Matters and Myfteryes which alone
may ftand in the fteed of all the reft-, It is the part of a Rheto¬
rician to fpeak eloquently,to be able to perfwade and to draw
the Judg to his own party. It is the part of a Phyfitian to know
the feveral forts of Difeafes, their Caufes and Symptomes,
and then which skill and induftry to apply Medicines and to
make Cures of them all, according to their feveral Natures
and Fafhions.
Addepig.207. Imo&c.Nay, I faw divers,as it was in an in-
ftant, redeem'd from death who had been poifon'd by the ea¬
ting of Venomous Muftirooms and other unwholfome things,
onely by drinking a Recent Infufion of the Root
whileft my felf and other of G Difciples blufli't to fee
the ineffectual endeavours of all our c Trea¬
cles and other Antidotes: So that afterwards I fuffred my felf
to be joyn'd in Confutation with thofe barbarous Collegues,
not fo much to be arbiters of the condition of our men by
their Pulfe, as to give their affiftance and Councel in the fore-
mention'd way (wz. J the prefcribing of proper Medicines.
Ad pag.ioZ. Hujas &c. The Vertue of this Stone is much
above that of any other gems, for it ftops the Flux of Blood
in any part. —When the Women perceive a fit of the Mo¬
ther coming upon them, by applying this Stone they are im¬
mediately eafed, and if they aliwaies weare it, they are never
troubled with thofe Fits more.Ofthis they make faith,by ma¬
ny Inftances.
lb. Vidimus &c. We have feen fome that were troubled
with the Flux of the Hamorrheides who found Remedy by
wearing Rings made of that Stone continually on their Fin¬
gers, and the Monthly Flux is ftai'd by the fame way.
Ad fag. * 09. P ragnantibus&c. This Stone is not proper
for thofe who are with Child, for it is fo fure to caufe Abor¬
tion


(4'4)
prov'd. And my Mafter PetrusCaflellus affirmes that He
found by Experience, that the Hemorrhoid* if they were
touch'd with the tuberous Root of Chondrilla, did dry away
if fo&hondr ilia dry'd,and did Run to Corruption if the Chon¬
drilla, was corrupted. And therefore after fuch, touching of
the Hemorrhoids the chondrilla was ufually put to dry in
the Chymny.
Adpag.229. Podagra &c. The Gout is ftrangly eas'd if
Puppies lie with the perfon that hath the Gout, for they con-
trad the Difeafe fo as not to be able to gd, but the Patient
thereby finds Eafe.
Ad fag. 22,6.1'rimo, &c. At the firft,Phyfick was account¬
ed part of Philofophy, fothat the Cure of Difeafes, and
the Contemplation of Nature, did both arife under the fame
Authors. Thofe being moft fet upon Medical Enquiries,
which had made their Bodies infirm by difquietmg thought-
fulnefsand nodurnal Watchings.
Adpa%. 204. Ejl, SiC. Befidesit is altogether drying, and
therefore I fhould not defpair that it,being hung about Chil-
drens Necks, might cure the Falling-ficknefs in them. I
truly faw a Lad, that fometimes would be eight whole
Moneths free from the Falling-ficknefs, and then, when by
chance this fell from off his Neck, he became immediately
furprized with a Fit; and again, hanging another Root in its
place, he would continue well: Therefore, for Experiment
lake, I thought good to take it again from his Neck, which
when I had done, and found that the Lad fell into his former
Convulfions, we took a great piece of a green Root, and
hung it about his Neck, and from that time He continued well
and felt no more Convulfions. It was therefore moft proba¬
ble, either that certain parts did exhale from the Root, and
were drawn into the Body by Infpiration, which did fo work
upon


(4l6)
by Phyfitians, Res non Naturales, appeareth then, befides
the Air-, to,which we may refer this change from Difeafe to
Healthinefs, and therefore we muft refer this change to the
change of the Air.
Ad fag.2 52- The Inhabitants do ftrange things, both in
preferving Healthand curing Difeafes, by Fridlion and Un-
<ftion, ufingthefirft in cold and Chronical, the latter ina-
cute Difeafes. And Strangers who arrive there, are, as they
ought, willing to imitate their ways of Phyfick, and by
Rules of Art to prefide and moderate thefe ways of Empirical
Healing.
lb, Cholera Sicca is Cured by the fame Remedies,efpecially
if their Horny Cupping-glaflfe be'apply'djto the Region of the
Liver, of which I muft atteft the fame thing that Galen doth of
Cupping-glaffes;which he affirm'dto Work as'Miraculoufly
as if their Operation had depended on Enchantment.
Adpag.2*ji. Neque&c. Nor dothhe fay thataPhyfitian
needs nothing of Counfel or Deliberation, or that an irratio-
nall Man may profefle this Art. But that thofe Conje&ures
of hidden things are nothing to the purpofe. Bee; ufe it mat¬
ters not what caufeth the Difeafe but what removes it.
lb- Interim &c. In the mean time the Brafilian Eotanifts
make all forts of Medicines of Simples they find every where
in the Woods; which they make with fo great Sagacity, and
apply them both internally, and externally, efpecially to Di¬
feafes that Spring from Venome that a man may more fecure-
ly give himfelf over to their hands then to our unskilful
Phy fitians, who brag much of Secrets they have learn't in pri¬
vate,and for the knowledg of thefe will be called Rationals in
Phyfick.
Ad fag. 272. Fortaffis, &c. Perchance fome Sciolift in
Phyfick m3y affirm that thefe things may not be ufed by rea-
fon


(4f7)
fon of the Narcotickand Stupefadive property. Bat thefe
pretenfes are as vain in efFed as fpecious at firft fight: for be-
fides that the hot temper of this Country requires it 5 It is
fure,that without thefe Remedies there can be no Cure. Adde
that here we prepare Opium fo well that you may give it to an
Infant. And truly, ifinHot Difeafes we had no Opiats we
fhould in effed find that the ufe of all other Medicaments
would prove altogether vain and fruitleffe.
Adpag.iSj. St, medicinam &c. Such was the Origin of
Phy fick, by the Recovery of fome and the Death of others it
firft made diftindion between things Soverain to heal, and
things which were Improper, and Deadly. And thus the Re¬
medies being found out, Men began to difpute of the Reafons
of them. Nor was the Art of Medicine found out by the
light of Reafon, but Medicine being found, the Reafon began
to be enquired into.
lb. Ubi res &c. Where the Matter is certain, if it be againft
the common Opinion, the Reafon muft be fought, and not
the Matter of fad fcrupled.
Adpdg* 297. Pauctpmos &c. You will find very few of
thoft who dwell at the Spaa, who are troubled with the Head-
ach, Stone, Obftrudionsof the Kidnies, Liver, Spleen, or
Mefariaick Veines, none at all who were troubled with the
Jaundice,Drop(ie,Gout,Itch5 or Falling ficknefle.
lb. Inter cetera &c. Among other Qualities it moveth
the Monethly Evacuation as hath been prov'd by a thoufand
trials. And yet it flops the immoderate Flux of them more
happily then any other Medicine.
Ad paging. RerumScc. The Contemplation of Nature,
though it makethnot a Phyfician, yet it fits him to learn Phy-
fick.
FINIS.
fff


The INDEX to the Second Part.
The Second Tart
Ofthe Ufefulnefs of Natural
Philolophy.
SECT. I. Of its Ufefulnefs to
Physick,
JESS AT I.
Containing fome Particulars ten¬
ding to fliew the Ufefulnefs of
Natural Philofophy to the Phy-
fiological part ot Phylick.
Jf he advantage of the Knowledg of | How the Phyfiological part of
Naturetowards the increafing the Pbyfick is advantaged by the Know-
Power of Man, and its life as to \ledg of Natural Philosophy. ib.
Health of the Body and Goods of I That the Anatomical DoH 'ine
Fortune. pag. 3 of Man's body receives light from
That in Man's Knowledg ofthe Experiments made on other Crea-
Nature of Creatures confifls his tares, ib. Proved by divers Jn-
Empire over thern. 4 fiances, as of the finding the Lade-
that Aphorifm (that if teeming
Women be let bloud they will
mifcarry) hath been to Femal pa«
tients. 6
The interefl of this Knowledg to
the Happinefi and Life f Man. 7
The enumeration of thofe Arts
to which this Knowledg is profitable.
ib.;
The Method or way intended for
theenfuing Dtfcourfe. 8
The Divifion ofPhyfick into five
parts. 9
That the Difcovery of America
is owed to the Knowledg ofthe Load
(tones Polarity. 5
That the Martial affairs all over
the World were altered by the Know
ledg ofthe Nature of-Brimftone and
Saltpeter. lb
How prejudicial the mifiake of \Hours, fometimes Dales
ftf 2
als and Lymphs-duds fir ft in
Bruit Bodies. 10
The Experiment of taking out
the Spleen in Dogs. ib. The fame
thing done by Fioravanti in a Wo¬
man. 11
The Refpiration of Frogs divers
under
water^


The INDEX.
That the Naturalifls Knowledg
may afftft the Phyfittan to difcover
the Nature and Caufes ofDifeafes.
09, Prov'd by generall Reafon. 30
By particular In fiance of the Caufe
cfthe Stone in the Kidmes, 31
The caufe of that Dtfeafe illuflrated
by the Petrifaction ofVVood^Cheefe,
Mofs, Water, &c. 3 2
The Origin of Helrnont's Offa
alba, WParacelfus his Duelech
by the mixture of Spirit of V Vine,
and Spirit of Urine^ an example of
the Generation of the Stone, 3 3
That a terreflrious Subflance
way lurk^undifcern d in limpid Li-
quors. 34
The V[e of Chymiflry in explai¬
ning the Nature of,and aberrations
in, our Dige(lions, 3 5 proved by
a Catalogue of confiderable obser¬
vations. 36
That Salt and Sulphur have more
influence in thecaufation of Difea-
fes then thefrfl Qualities of Heat,
Cold, &c. 37
obfervations made upon the Li¬
quor that dtfiends the Abdomen in
the'Dropfy. 38
obfervations on the Calculus
Bumanus. 39
Of the changes that may reafon a-
bly be thought to happen to our ali- ,
ments within the Body, 43. lllu-
flrated by the Example offutces out
of the Body% 42543
Difference between vulgar and
true chymtflry, 44
The Ufe of the Knowledg of Fer¬
mentation. 44
Of Periodical Fjfervences in the
Blood without Fermentation.44,45
Of the ufe of Zoology to the Know-
ledg of Difeafes. 46
Helmonti Error refuted, that
the Stone is a Difeafe peculiar to
Man. 47
That the Venom of Vipers or Ad¬
ders confifls chiefly in the Rage and
Fury wherewith they bite^andnot in
any part of the Body that hath at all
times a mortal property• 5 7
A certain Cure for the Biting of
Vipers. 59
Of external Application of Poi-
fons and letting them into the Veins
ofBeafls. 60^61
« Poftcript.
Experiments of conveying Li*
quid Poifons immediately into the
UHafl of Blood, 2,63
ESSAY III.
Containing Tome particulars rela*
ting to the Semiotical Part
of Phyfick.
That the Improvement of the
3 The-


The I N D E X.
Therapeutical would alter the Prog
nojlicks in the Semeiotical part of
Phyfick. 66. An Infiance to that
purpofe in the Peruvian Bark.6j^6S
and in Riverius's Febrifugum,<iW
a New Cure of the Kings Evill. 69
That though no DifeafeJhould be
Examples ofthofe who coulddi•
geft Metals andGlaft. 85,86587
The Defcriptionsof a Menftru-
um prepard from common Bread\
able to draw Tinffures from preti-
out Stones5 Minerals, &c. 88
Helmont'* Arguments from the
incurable, yet every Difeafe is not | Providence of God cenfured. 90
curable in every Patient. 70 The Argument that Paracelfus
That the Hope of doing greater outlivd not the 47th, Tear of his
Cures then ordinary^ hath engaged Age anfwered. po
Artifts to make pro fitable Trials. 71 The efficacy of Paracelfus his
Examples of fome unexpectedjLaudanum. pi
and ft range Cures. 72573
Examples of the Cures of Can¬
cers. 74
An Example of a Cure of one
that was born with a Cataratt in
the Eye, 75. and other Examples
of Cat ar apt s ftrangely cured. lb.
Butler'* great Remedies. 91%
9l,9*c
ESSAY IV-
Prefenting fome things relating
to the Hygieinal Part of Phy*
fick.
That the Knowledg of Per mem
Examples of the Cure of the! tation is ufefut to make our Drincks
Drop fie and Gout. 76,77 wholefome for Aliment. P5
Examples of the Cure of the Stone. I How much Simples may be alter d
78. iheufeofVtxficdxiaforthat by Preparation^ exemplified by the
Cure. 7 9- In fiances in other Mem Indians, making Caffavy out of the
dicines for the fame Difeafe. 80. poifonous Plant Mandioca. p6.0^f
The Ufe and Succeff ^/Millepedes, unhandfome wayes of their making
81. The Argument concerning Drinckfrom the fame Root. ib.
the Incurablenefs of: he Stone an-1 of making Drink from forts of
fwered, 82. That there may be a courfe Bread. 97
Liquor able to dijjolve the Stone
that may not be corrofive to any other
part. 83,84
The Drinks in ufe in China. p8
of C berry-wine. lb.
of Excellent Ciders. 99
/


The INDEX
Schyrrhus Lienis by the external
application of Spunges dipt in
Lime water. 21 o
of ffrange Cures perform d neer
Rome in the Serpentine Grotta.ib.
of the Operations of Sulphur
Cantharides and Quickfilver, and
Tobacco externally applied. 211
Inftances in divers Medicines
which have differing effeffs inward¬
ly given, and outwardly applied.
212,213
That preparation may much im¬
prove Simples which are outwardly
applied1 ib, Inflances in divers
preparations of Gold. ib.
An Oyntment made of Aurum
fulminans for the H^morrhoides
and V enereal Ulcers. ib.
The Cure of a Per [on efleemd
bewitcht by an appended Mineral.
214
Of the power of fafper to (lanch
Blood. 215
The Incontinentia Urina? Cured
by the powder of a Toad burnt alive
and hung about the neck. 216
Effetfs afcribed to Witchcraft
cured Perappenfa. 2J7
Paracelfus cured Quartans by a
flaifler. 218
Difeafes Cured by Frights. 219
Phyfick now in China in a good
condition, without Phlebotomy,"
Potions, or IiTues. 2:0
Where prattitioners of Phyfick
are illiteratejhereSpecificks maybe
beft met with. 221
The ufefulneffe of the kncwledg
of the Medicines of Barbarous Na¬
tions. 221^222,223
A Comparifon of this Empirick
part of Phyfick with the Rational•
224
Chap.XI.
Of other Extraordinary Medi¬
cines which work by Magnet if me,
Tranfplantation & c. 225
The Cure of an Vlcer in the Blad¬
der by the Sympathetick Powder.
22 6
The effects of the Weapon-falve
and other MagneticalR t me dies. 227
228
Obfervations of the Tranfplan«
tationof Difeafes. 229,230,231
The fometimes not [uccetding of
Magnetical Medicines no fufficient
caufe to abandon their Vfe. 232
Chap.XII.
Jnflances of divers Cures upon
Bruits, and how thcfe are appiiable
tomen. 233,234,235
Chap.XIII.
That the handling of Pbyfical
Matters was anciently thought to
'belong


ERRATA Of the Second Tart.
Pag. 4. lin.28. Read hath hitherto.p.7.]. 19. God like.p.i7,\.t$.peYadventUYe. p.ji2
\.xi.Chyle. p.ii.l.S.Smbracers. P.34.I.18.Saline, p^y.l.i. deferve. p.%6.l.n .analyfed*
]. $0. Vmegci. p. tfX.io.Uentevy.l.*3. paracenteps p.^.l.zo. Onion. And I, i6.f(orn
that, p.40.1.5. Concretes. p. 4 $.1.26./<>//., then p.4f«I.io. well incorporated, p.46.1.19,
Ancients muft.p.7\.\.i6.oportet.\. 17.Hippocrates, p.97x9x1m faliva. p.ifO.Kf. aliquot,
pti$i.\.\*tantas.\*7. ciere.Quod. p. 153.1.9. an antient. p. 17iJ. 11. temperate, p.194.
1.1 jMixir.p.ioo.l.penult.& fnrre. p.202.1.1 i.habuit Medicina. p.206,1. ult. kimffou,
p. 207.I. if*ancmalous.p. 214.1.24.e/ftow.p.2i^.l.penult. Tatients.p. 227.1. n.compvo-
bato. p.269.1.2j.there are divers, p.iyoJ.antcp.fw^/flj^p.i/i.kii.dele
I.17
FINIS.