Sceptical Chymist/The Second Part
THE
SCEPTICAL CHYMIST.
The Second Part.
THe Second Consideration I Desire to have Notice Taken of, is This, That it is not so Sure, as Both Chymists and Aristotelians are wont to Think it, that every Seemingly Similar or Distinct Substance that is Separated from a Body by the Help of the Fire, was Pre-existent in it as a Principle or Element of it.
That I may not make this Paradox a Greater then I needs must, I will First Briefly Explain what the Proposition means, before I proceed to Argue for it.
And I suppose You will easily Believe 104That I do not mean that any thing is separable from a Body by Fire, that was not Materially pre-existent in it ; for it Far Exceeds the power of Meerly Naturall Agents, and Consequently of the Fire, to produce anew, so Much as one Atome of Matter, which they can but Modifie and Alter, not Create; which is so Obvious a Truth, that almost all Sects of Philosophers have Deny’d the Power of producing Matter to Second Causes ; and the Epicureans and some Others have Done the Like, in Reference to their Gods themselves.
Nor does the Proposition peremptorily Deny but that some Things Obtain’d by the Fire from a Mixt Body, may have been more then barely Materially pre-existent in it, since there are Concretes, which before they be Expos’d to the Fire afford us several Documents of their abounding, some with Salt, and Others with Sulphur. For it will serve the present Turn, if it appear that diverse things Obtain’d from a Mixt Body expos’d to the Fire, were not its Ingredients Before : for if this be made to appear it, will be Rationall e105nough to suspect that Chymists may Decieve themselves, and Others, in concluding Resolutely and Universally, those Substances to be the Elementary Ingredients of Bodies barely separated by the Fire, of which it yet may be Doubted Whether there be such or No ; at least till some other Argument then that drawn from the Analysis be Brought to resolve the Doubt.
That then which I Mean by the Proposition I am Explaining, is, That it may without Absurdity be Doubted whether or no the Differing Substances Obtainable from a Concrete Dissipated by the Fire were so Exsistent in it in that Forme (at least as to their minute Parts) wherein we find them when the Analysis is over, that the Fire did only Dis-joyne and Extricate the Corpuscles of one Principle from those of the other wherewith before they were Blended.
Having thus Explain’d my Proposition, I shall endeavour to do two things, to prove it ; The first of which is to shew that such Substances as Chymists call Principles May be produc’d De novo (as they speak.) And the other is to 106make it probable that by the Fire we may Actually obtain from some Mixt Bodies such Substances as were not in the Newly Expounded sence, pre-existent in them.
To begin then with the First of these, I Consider that if it be as true as ’tis probable, that Compounded Bodies Differ from One Another but in the Various Textures Resulting from the Bigness, Shape, Motion, and contrivance of their smal parts, It will not be Irrationall to conceive that one and the same parcel of the Universal Matter may by Various Alterations and Contextures be brought to Deserve the Name, somtimes of a Sulphureous, and sometimes of a Terrene, or Aqueous Body. And this I could more largely Explicate, but that our Friend Mr. Boyle has promis’d us something about Qualities, wherein the Theme I now willingly Resign him, Will I Question not be Studiously Enquired into. Wherefore what I shall now advance in favour of what I have lately Deliver’d shall be Deduc’d from Experiments made Divers Years since. The first of which would have been much more 107considerable, but that by some intervening Accidents I was Necessitated to lose the best time of the year, for a trial of the Nature of that I design’d ; it being about he middle of May before I was able to begin an Experiment which should have then been two moneths old ; but such as it was, it will not perhaps be impertinent to Give You this Narrative of it. At the time newly Mention’d, I caus’d My Gardiner ( being by Urgent Occasions Hinder’d from being present myself ) to dig out a convenient quantity of good Earth, and dry it well in an Oven, to weigh it, to put it in an Earthen pot almost level with the Surface of the ground, and to set in it a selected seed he had before received from me, for that purpose, of Squash, which is an Indian kind of Pompion, that Growes apace ; this seed I Ordered Him to Water only with Rain or Spring Water. I did not ( when my Occasions permitted me to visit it ) without delight behold how fast it Grew, though unseasonably sown ; but the Hastning Winter Hinder’d it from attaining any thing neer its due and Wonted magnitude; ( for I found 108the same Autumn, in my Garden, some of those plants, by Measure, as big about as my Middle) and made me order the having it taken Up ; Which about the Middle of October was carefully Done by the same Gardiner, who a while after sent me this account of it ; I have Weighed the Pompion with the Stalk and Leaves, all which Weighed three pound wanting a quarter ; Then I took the Earth, baked it as formerly, and found it just as much as I did at First, which made me think I had not dry’d it Sufficiently: then I put it into the Oven twice More, after the Bread was Drawn, and Weighed it the Second time, but found it Shrink little or nothing.
But to deal Candidly with You, Eleutherius, I must not conceal from You the Event of another Experiment of this Kind made this present Summer, wherein the Earth seems to have been much more Wasted ; as may appear by the following account, Lately sent me by the same Gardiner, in these Words. To give You an Account of your Cucumbers, I have Gain’d two Indifferent Fair Ones, the Weight of them is ten Pound and a Halfe, the Branches with the 109Roots Weighed four Pounds wanting two Ounces ; and when I had weighed them I took the Earth, and bak’d it in several small Earthen Dishes in an Oven ; and when I had so done, I found the Earth wanted a Pound and a halfe of what it was formerly ; yet I was not satisfi’d, doubting the Earth was not dry : I put it into an Oven the Second Time, ( after the Bread was drawn ) and after I had taken it out and weighed it, I found it to be the Same Weight : So I Suppose there was no Moisture left in the Earth. Neither do I think that the Pound and Halfe that was wanting was Drawn away by the Cucumber but a great Part of it in the Ordering was in Dust ( and the like ) wasted : ( the Cucumbers are kept by themselves, lest You should send for them. ) But yet in this Tryal, Eleutherius, it appears that though some of the Earth, or rather the dissoluble Salt harbour’d in it, were wasted, the main Body of the Plant consisted of Transmuted Water. And I might add, that a year after I caus’d the formerly mentioned Experiment, touching large Pompions, to be reiterated, with so good success, that if my memory does not much mis-inform me, it did not only much surpass any 110that I made before, but seem’d strangely to conclude what I am pleading for ; though ( by reason I have unhappily lost the particular Account my Gardiner writ me up of the Circumstances ) I dare not insist upon them. The like Experiment may be as conveniently try’d with the seeds of any Plant, whose growth is hasty, and its size Bulky. If Tobacco will in These Cold Climates Grow well in Earth undung’d, it would not be amiss to make a Tryal with it; for ’tis an annual Plant, that arises where it prospers, sometimes as high as a Tall Man ; and I have had leaves of it in my Garden neer a Foot and a Halfe broad. But the next time I Try this Experiment, it shall be with several seeds of the same sort, in the same pot of Earth, that so the event may be the more Conspicuous. But because every Body has not Conveniency of time and place for this Experiment neither, I made in my Chamber, some shorter and more Expeditions Tryals. I took a Top of Spearmint, about an Inch Long, and put it into a good Vial full of Spring water, so as the upper part of the Mint was above the neck of the Glass, and 111the lower part Immers’d in the Water ; within a few Dayes this Mint began to shoot forth Roots into the Water, and to display its Leaves, and aspire upwards ; and in a short time it had numerous Roots and Leaves, and these very strong and fragrant of the Odour of the Mint : but the Heat of my Chamber, as I suppose, kill’d the Plant when it was grown to have a pretty thick Stalk, which with the various and ramified Roots, which it shot into the Water as if it had been Earth, presented in its Transparent Flower-pot a Spectacle not unpleasant to behold. The like I try’d with sweet Marjoram, and I found the Experiment succeed also, though somewhat more slowly, with Balme and Peniroyal, to name now no other Plants. And one of these Vegetables, cherish’d only by Water, having obtain’d a competent Growth, I did, for Tryals sake, cause to be Distill’d in a small Retort, and thereby obtain’d some Phlegme, a little Empyreumaticall Spirit, a small Quantity of adust Oyl, and a Caput mortuum ; which appearing to be a Coal concluded it to consist of Salt and Earth : but 112the Quantity of it was so small that I forbore to Calcine it. The Water I us’d to nourish this Plant was not shifted nor renewed ; and I chose Spring-water rather than Rain-water, because the latter is more discernably a kinde of πανσπερμια, which, though it be granted to be freed from grosser Mixtures, seems yet to Contain in it, besides the Steams of several Bodies wandering in the Air, which may be suppos’d to impregnate it, a certain Spirituous Substance, which may be Extracted out of it, and is by some mistaken for the Spirit of the World Corporify’d, upon what Grounds, and with what Probability, I may elsewhere perchance, but must not now, Discourse to you.
But perhaps I might have sav’d a great part of my Labour. For I finde that Helmont (an Author more considerable for his Experiments than many Learned men are pleas’d to think him) having had an Opportunity to prosecute an Experiment much of the same nature with those I have been now speaking of, for five Years together, obtain’d at the end of that time so notable a Quantity of Transmuted Water, 113that I should scarce Think it fit to have his Experiment, and Mine Mention’d together, were it not that the Length of Time Requisite to this may deterr the Curiosity of some, and exceed the leasure of Others ; and partly, that so Paradoxical a Truth as that which these Experiments seem to hold forth, needs to be Confirm’d by more Witnesses then one, especially since the Extravagancies and Untruths to be met with in Helmonts Treatise of the Magnetick Cure of Wounds, have made his Testimonies suspected in his other Writings, though as to some of the Unlikely matters of Fact he delivers in them, I might safely undertake to be his Compurgator. But that Experiment of his which I was mentioning to You, he sayes, was this. He took 200 pound of Earth dry’d in an Oven, and having put it into an Earthen Vessel and moisten’d it with Raine water he planted in it the Trunk of a Willow tree of five pound Weight ; this he Water’d, as need required, with Rain or with Distill’d Water ; and to keep the Neighbouring Earth from getting into the Vessell, he employ’d a plate of Iron tinn’d over and per114forated with many holes. Five years being efflux’d, he took out the Tree and weighed it, and (with computing the leaves that fell during four Autumnes) he found it to weigh 169 pound, and about three Ounces. And Having again Dry’d the Earth it grew in, he found it want of its Former Weight of 200 Pound, about a couple only of Ounces; so that 164 pound of the Roots, Wood, and Bark, which Constituted the Tree, seem to have Sprung from the Water. And though it appears not that Helmont had the Curiosity to make any Analysis of this Plant, yet what I lately told You I did to One of the Vegetables I nourish’d with Water only, will I suppose keep You from Doubting that if he had Distill’d this Tree, it would have afforded him the like Distinct Substances as another Vegetable of the same kind. I need not Subjoyne that I had it also in my thoughts to try how Experiments to the same purpose with those I related to You would succeed in other Bodies then Vegetables, because importunate Avocations having hitherto hinder’d me from putting my Design in Practise, I 115can yet speak but Confecturally of the Success : but the best is, that the Experiments already made and mention’d to you need not the Assistance of new Ones, to Verifie as much as my present task makes it concern me to prove by Experiments of this Nature.
One would suspect ( sayes Eleutherius after his long silence ) by what You have been discoursing, that You are not far from Helmonts Opinion about the Origination of Compound Bodies, and perhaps too dislike not the Arguments which he imployes to prove it.
What Helmontian Opinion, and what Arguments do you mean (askes Carneades.)
What You have been Newly Discoursing ( replies Eleutherius ) tells us, that You cannot but know that this bold and Acute Spagyrist scruples not to Assert that all mixt Bodies spring from one Element ; and that Vegetables, Animals, Marchasites, Stones, Metalls, &c. are Materially but simple Water disguis’d into these Various Formes, by the plastick or Formative Virtue of their seeds. And as for his Reasons you may find divers of them scatter’d up and 116down his writings ; the considerabl’st of which seem to be these three ; The Ultimate Reduction of mixt Bodies into Insipid Water, the Vicissitude of the supposed Elements, and the production of perfectly mixt Bodies out of simple Water. And first he affirmes that the Sal circulatus Paracelsi, or his Liquor Alkahest, does adequately resolve Plants, Animals, and Mineralls into one Liquor or more, according to their several internall Disparities of Parts ( without Caput Mortuum, or the Destruction of their seminal Virtues ; ) and that the Alkahest being abstracted from these Liquors in the same weight and Virtue wherewith it Dissolv’d them, the Liquors may by frequent Cohobations from chalke or some other idoneous matter, be Totally depriv’d of their seminal Endowments, and return at last to their first matter, Insipid Water ; some other wayes he proposes here and there, to divest some particular Bodies of their borrow’d shapes, and make them remigrate to their first Simplicity. The second Topick whence Helmont drawes his Arguments, to prove Water to be the Material cause of Mixt Bodies, I told 117You was this, that the other suppos’d Elements may be transmuted into one another. But the Experiments by him here and there produc’d on this Occasion, are so uneasie to be made and to be judg’d of, that I shall not insist on them ; not to mention, that if they were granted to be true, his Inference from them is somewhat disputable ; and therefore I shall pass on to tell You, That as, in his First Argument, our Paradoxical Author endeavours to prove Water the Sole Element of Mixt Bodies, by their Ultimate Resolution, when by his Alkahest, or some other conquering Agent, the Seeds have been Destroy’d, which Disguis’d them, or when by time those seeds are Weari’d or Exantlated or unable to Act their Parts upon the Stage of the Universe any Longer : So in His Third Argument he Endeavours to evince the same Conclusion, by the constitution of Bodies which he asserts to be nothing but Water Subdu’d by Seminal Virtues. Of this he gives here and there in his Writings several Instances, as to Plants and Animals ; but divers of them being Difficult either to be try’d or to be Understood, and others of them being 118not altogether Unobnoxious to Exceptions, I think you have singl’d out the Principal and less Questionable Experiment when you lately mention’d that of the Willow Tree. And having thus, Continues Eleutherius, to Answer your Question, given you a Summary Account of what I am Confident You know better then I do, I shall be very glad to receive Your Sence of it, if the giving it me will not too much Divert You from the Prosecution of your Discourse.
That If ( replies Carneades ) was not needlessly annex’d : for thorowly to examine such an Hypothesis and such Arguments would require so many Considerations, and Consequently so much time, that I should not now have the Liesure to perfect such a Digression, and much less to finish my Principle Discourse. Yet thus much I shall tell You at present, that you need not fear my rejecting this Opinion for its Novelty ; since, however the Helmontians may in complement to their Master pretend it to be a new Discovery, Yet though the Arguments be for the most part his, the Opinion it self is very Antient : For Di119ogenes Laertius and divers other Authors speak of Thales, as the first among the Graecians that made disquisitions upon nature. And of this Thales, I Remember, Tully* De Natura Deorum. informes us, that he taught all things were at first made of Water. And it seems by Plutarch and Justin Martyr, that the Opinion was Ancienter then he : For they tell us that he us’d to defend his Tenet by the Testimony of Homer. And a Greek Author, (the Scholiast of Apollonius) upon these Words
'Εξ ιλιου εβλαϛησε χθων αυτη,Argonaut. 4.
The Earth of Slime was made,
Affirms (out of Zeno) that the Chaos, whereof all things were made, was, according to Hesiod, Water; which, settling first, became Slime, and then condens’d into solid Earth. And the same Opinion about the Generation of Slime seems to have been entertain’d by Orpheus, out of whom one of the AntientsAthenagoras. cites this Testimony,
'Εκ του ὑδατος ιλυι κατιϛη.
Of Water Slime was made.
120It seems also by what is delivered in StraboUniversarum rerum primordia diverta esse, faciendi autem mundi initium aquam. Strabo. Geograp. lib. 15. circa medium. out of another Author, concerning the Indians, That they likewise held that all things had differing Beginnings, but that of which the World was made, was Water. And the like Opinion has been by some of the Antients ascrib’d to the Phœnicians, from whom Thales himself is conceiv’d to have borrow’d it ; as probably the Greeks did much of their Theologie, and, as I am apt to think, of their Philosophy too ; since the Devising of the Atomical Hypothesis commonly ascrib’d to Lucippus and his Disciple Democritus, is by Learned Men attributed to one Moschus a Phoenician. And possibly the Opinion is yet antienter than so ; For ’tis known that the Phoenicians borrow’d most of their Learning from the Hebrews. And among those that acknowledge the Books of Moses, many have been inclin’d to think Water to have been the Primitive and Universal Matter, by perusing the Beginning of Genesis, where the Waters seem to be mention’d as the Material Cause, not only of Sublunary Compounded Bodies, but of all those that make up the Universe ; whose Component Parts did orderly, as 121it were, emerge out of that vast Abysse, by the Operation of the Spirit of God, who is said to have been moving Himself as hatching Females do ( as the Original םרחפת, MeracephetDeuter. 32. 11. is said to Import, and as it seems to signifie in one of the two other places, wherein alone I have met with it in the Hebrew Bible )Jerem. 23. 9. upon the Face of the Waters ; which being, as may be suppos’d, Divinely Impregnated with the seeds of all things, were by that productive Incubation qualify’d to produce them. But you, I presume, Expect that I should Discourse of this Matter like a Naturalist, not a Philologer. Wherefore I shall add, to Countenance Helmont’s Opinion, That whereas he gives not, that I remember, any Instance of any Mineral Body, nor scarce of any Animal, generated of Water, a French Chymist, Monsieur de Rochas, has presented his Readers an Experiment, which if it were punctually such as he has deliver’d it, is very Notable. He then, Discoursing of the Generation of things according to certain Chymical and Metaphorical Notions ( which I confess are not to me Intelligible ) sets down, among divers Speculations not 122pertinent to our Subject, the following Narrative, which I shall repeat to you the sence of in English, with as little variation from the Literal sence of the French words, as my memory will enable me. Having ( sayes he ) discern’d such great Wonders by the Natural Operation of Water, I would know what may be done with it by Art Imitating Nature. Wherefore I took Water which I well knew not to be compounded, nor to be mix’d with any other thing than that Spirit of Life ( whereof he had spoken before ; ) and with a Heat Artificial, Continual and Proportionate, I prepar’d and dispos’d it by the above mention’d Graduations of Coagulation, Congelation, and Fixation, untill it was turn’d into Earth, which Earth produc’d Animals, Vegetables and Minerals. I tell not what Animals, Vegetables and Minerals, for that is reserv’d for another Occasion : but the Animals did Move of themselves, Eat, &c. — and by the true Anatomie I made of them, I found that they were compos’d of much Sulphur, little Mercury, and less Salt. — The Minerals began to grow and encrease by converting into their own Nature one part of the Earth thereunto dispos’d ; they were solid and 123heavy. And by this truly Demonstrative Science, namely Chymistry, I found that they were compos’d of much Salt, little Sulphur, and less Mercury.
But ( sayes Carneades ) I have some Suspitions concerning this strange Relation, which make me unwilling to Declare an Opinion of it, unless I were satisfied concerning divers Material Circumstances that our Author has left unmentioned ; though as for the Generation of Living Creatures, both Vegetable and Sensitive, it needs not seem Incredible, since we finde that our common water ( which indeed is often Impregnated with Variety of Seminal Principles and Rudiments ) being long kept in a quiet place will putrifie and stink, and then perhaps too produce Moss and little Worms, or other Insects, according to the nature of the Seeds that were lurking in it. I must likewise desire you to take Notice, that as Helmont gives us no Instance of the Production of Minerals out of Water, so the main Argument that he employ’s to prove that they and other Bodies may be resolv’d into water, is drawn from the Operations of his Alkahest, and consequently cannot 124be satisfactorily Examin’d by You and Me.
Yet certainly ( sayes Eleutherius ) You cannot but have somewhat wonder’d as well as I, to observe how great a share of Water goes to the making up of Divers Bodies, whose Disguises promise nothing neere so much. The Distillation of Eeles, though it yielded me some Oyle, and Spirit, and Volatile Salt, besides the Caput mortuum, yet were all these so disproportionate to the Phlegm that came from them ( and in which at first they boyl’d as in a Pot of Water ) that they seem’d to have bin nothing but coagulated Phlegm, which does likewise strangely abound in Vipers, though they are esteem’d very hot in Operation, and will in a Convenient Aire survive some dayes the loss of their Heads and Hearts, so vigorous is their Vivacity. Mans Bloud it self as Spirituous, and as Elaborate a Liquor as ’tis reputed, does so abound in Phlegm, that, the other Day, Distilling some of it on purpose to try the Experiment ( as I had formerly done in Deers Bloud ) out of about seven Ounces and a half of pure Bloud we drew neere six Ounces of Phlegm, before any of the 125more operative Principles began to arise, and Invite us to change the Receiver. And to satisfie my self that some of these Animall Phlegms were void enough of Spirit to deserve that Name, I would not content my self to taste them only, but fruitlesly pour’d on them acid Liquors, to try if they contain’d any Volatile Salt or Spirit, which ( had there been any there ) would probably have discover’d it self by making an Ebullition with the affused Liquor. And now I mention Corrosive Spirits, I am minded to Informe you, That though they seem to be nothing else but Fluid Salts, yet they abound in Water, as you may Observe, if either you Entangle, and so Fix their Saline Part, by making them Corrode some idoneous Body, or else if you mortifie it with a contrary Salt; as I have very manifestly Observ’d in the making a Medecine somewhat like Helmont’s Balsamus Samech, with Distill’d Vinager instead of Spirit of Wine, wherewith he prepares it : For you would scarce Beleeve ( what I have lately Observ’d ) that of that acid Spirit, the Salt of Tartar, from which it is Distill’d, will by mortifying and re126taining the acid Salt turn into worthless Phlegm neere twenty times its weight, before it be so fully Impregnated as to rob no more Distill’d Vinager of its Salt. And though Spirit of Wine Exquisitely rectify’d seem of all Liquors to be the most free from Water, it being so Igneous that it will Flame all away without leaving the least Drop behinde it, yet even this Fiery Liquor is by Helmont not improbably affirm’d, in case what he relates be True, to be Materially Water, under a Sulphureous Disguise : For, according to him, in the making that excellent Medecine, Paracelsus his Balsamus Samech, ( which is nothing but Sal Tartari dulcify’d by Distilling from it Spirit of Wine till the Salt be sufficiently glutted with its Sulphur, and suffer the Liquor to be drawn off, as strong as it was pour’d on ) when the Salt of Tartar from which it is Distill’d hath retain’d, or depriv’d it of the Sulphureous parts of the Spirit of Wine, the rest, which is incomparably the greater part of the Liquor, will remigrate into Phlegm. I added that Clause [ In case what he Relates be True ] because I have not as yet sufficiently try’d it my 127self. But not only something of Experiment keeps me from thinking it, as many Chymists do, absurd, ( though I have, as well as they, in vain try’d it with ordinary Salt of Tartar : ) but besides that Helmont often Relates it, and draws Consequences from it ; A Person noted for his Sobernesse and Skill in Spagyrical Preparations, having been askt by me, Whether the Experiment might not be made to succeed, if the Salt and Spirit were prepar’d according to a way suitable to my Principles, he affirm’d to me, that he had that way I propos’d made Helmont’s Experiment succeed very well, without adding any thing to the Salt and Spirit. But our way is neither short nor Easie.
I have indeed ( sayes Carneades ) sometimes wonder’d to see how much Phlegme may be obtain’d from Bodies by the Fire. But concerning that Phlegme I may anon have Occasion to note something, which I therefore shall not now anticipate. But to return to the Opinion of Thales, and of Helmont, I consider, that supposing the Alkahest could reduce all Bodies into water, yet whether that water, because insipid, must be Ele128mentary, may not groundlesly be doubted ; For I remember the Candid and Eloquent Petrus Laurembergius in his Notes upon Sala’s Aphorismes affirmes, that he saw an insipid Menstruum that was a powerfull Dissolvent, and ( if my Memory do not much mis-informe me ) could dissolve Gold. And the water which may be Drawn from Quicksilver without Addition, though it be almost Tastless, You will I believe think of a differing Nature from simple Water, especially if you Digest in it Appropriated Mineralls. To which I shall add but this, that this Consideration may be further extended. For I see no Necessity to conceive that the Water mention’d in the Beginning of Genesis, as the Universal Matter, was simple and Elementary Water ; since though we should Suppose it to have been an Agitated Congeries or Heap consisting of a great Variety of Seminal Principles and Rudiments, and of other Corpuscles fit to be subdu’d and Fashion’d by them, it might yet be a Body Fluid like Water, in case the Corpuscles it was made up of, were by their Creator made small enough, and put into such an actuall 129Motion as might make them Glide along one another. And as we now say, the Sea consists of Water, notwithstanding the Saline, Terrestrial, and other Bodies mingl’d with it, ) such a Liquor may well enough be called Water, because that was the greatest of the known Bodies whereunto it was like ; Though, that a Body may be Fluid enough to appear a Liquor, and yet contain Corpuscles of a very differing Nature, You will easily believe, if You but expose a good Quantity of Vitriol in a strong Vessel to a Competent Fire. For although it contains both Aqueous, Earthy, Saline, Sulphureous, and Metalline Corpuscles, yet the whole Mass will at first be Fluid like water, and boyle like a seething pot.
I might easily ( Continues Carneades ) enlarge my self on such Considerations, if I were Now Oblig’d to give You my Judgment of the Thalesian, and Helmontian, Hypothesis. But Whether or no we conclude that all things were at first Generated of Water, I may Deduce from what I have try’d Concerning the Growth of Vegetables, nourish’d with water, all that I now propos’d to my Self 130or need at present to prove, namely that Salt, Spirit, Earth, and ev’n Oyl (though that be thought of all Bodies the most opposite to Water) may be produc’d out of Water ; and consequently that a Chymical Principle as well as a Peripatetick Element, may ( in some cases ) be Generated anew, or obtain’d from such a parcel of Matter as was not endow’d with the form of such a principle or Element before.
And having thus, Eleutherius, Evinc’d that ’tis possible that such Substances as those that Chymists are wont to call their Tria Prima, may be Generated, anew : I must next Endeavour to make it Probable, that the Operation of the Fire does Actually ( sometimes ) not only divide Compounded Bodies into smal Parts, but Compound those Parts after a new Manner ; whence Consequently, for ought we Know, there may Emerge as well Saline and Sulphureous Substances, as Bodies of other Textures. And perhaps it will assist us in our Enquiry after the Effects of the Operations of the Fire upon other Bodies, to Consider a little, what it does to those Mixtures which being Productions of the Art of Man, We best know the Com131position of. You may then be pleas’d to take Notice that though Sope is made up by the Sope-Boylers of Oyle or Grease, and Salt, and Water Diligently Incorporated together, yet if You expose the Mass they Constitute to a Graduall Fire in a Retort, You shall then indeed make a Separation, but not of the same Substances that were United into Sope, but of others of a Distant and yet not an Elementary Nature, and especially of an Oyle very sharp and Fætid, and of a very Differing Quality from that which was Employ’d to make the Sope : fo if you Mingle in a due Proportion, Sal Armoniack with Quick-Lime, and Distill them by Degrees of Fire, You shall not Divide the Sal Armoniack from the Quick-Lime, though the one be a Volatile, and the other a Fix’d Substance, but that which will ascend will be a Spirit much more Fugitive, Penetrant, and stinking, then Sal Armoniack ; and there will remain with the Quick-Lime all or very near all the Sea Salt that concurr’d to make up the Sal Armoniack; concerning which Sea Salt I shall, to satisfie You how well it was United to the 132Lime, informe You, that I have by making the Fire at length very Vehement, caus’d both the Ingredients to melt in the Retort it self into one Mass and such Masses are apt to Relent in the Moist Air. If it be here Objected, that these Instances are taken from factitious Concretes which are more Compounded then those which Nature produces; I shall reply, that besides that I have Mention’d them as much to Illustrate what I propos’d, as to prove it, it will be Difficult to Evince that Nature her self does not make Decompound Bodies, I mean mingle together such mixt Bodies as are already Compounded of Elementary, or rather of more simple ones. For Vitriol ( for Instance ) though I have sometimes taken it out of Minerall Earths, where Nature had without any assistance of Art prepar’d it to my Hand, is really, though Chymists are pleas’d to reckon it among Salts, a De-compounded Body Consisting ( as I shall have occasion to declare anon ) of a Terrestriall Substance, of a Metal, and also of at least one Saline Body, of a peculiar and not Elementary Nature. And we see also in Animals, that their 133blood may be compos’d of Divers very Differing Mixt Bodies, since we find it observ’d that divers Sea-Fowle tast rank of the Fish on which they ordinarily feed ; and Hipocrates himself Observes, that a Child may be purg’d by the Milke of the Nurse, if she have taken Elaterium ; which argues that the purging Corpuscles of the Medicament Concurr to make up the Milke of the Nurse; and that white Liquor is generally by Physitians suppos’d to be but blanch’d and alter’d Blood. And I remember I have observ’d, not farr from the Alps, that at a certain time of the Year the Butter of that Country was very Offensive to strangers, by reason of the rank tast of a certain Herb, whereon the Cows were then wont plentifully to feed. But ( proceeds Carneades ) to give you Instances of another kind, to shew that things may be obtain’d by the Fire from a Mixt Body that were not Pre-existent in it, let Me Remind You, that from many Vegetables there may without any Addition be Obtain’d Glass, a Body, which I presume You will not say was Pre-existent in it, but produc’d by the Fire. To which I shall 134add but this one Example more, namely that by a certain Artificial way of handling Quicksilver, You may without Addition separate from it at least a 5th.> or 4th. part of a clear Liquor, which with an Ordinary Peripatetick would pass for Water, and which a Vulgar Chymist would not scruple to call Phlegme, and which, for ought I have yet seen or heard, is not reducible into Mercury again, and Consequently is more then a Disguise of it. Now besides that divers Chymists will not allow Mercury to have any or at least any Considerable Quantity of either of the Ignoble Ingredients, Earth and Water ; Besides this, I say, the great Ponderousness of Quicksilver makes it very unlikely that it can have so much Water in it as may be thus obtain’d from it, since Mercury weighs 12 or 14 times as much as water of the same Bulk. Nay for a further Confirmation of this Argument, I will add this Strange Relation, that two Friends of mine, the one a Physitian, and the other a Mathematician, and both of them Persons of unsuspected Credit, have Solemnly assured me, that after many Tryals they made, to reduce 135Mercury into Water, in Order to a Philosophicall Work, upon Gold ( which yet, by the way, I know prov’d Unsuccesfull ) they did once by divers Cohobations reduce a pound of Quicksilver into almost a pound of Water, and this without the Addition of any other Substance, but only by pressing the Mercury by a Skillfully Manag’d Fire in purposely contriv’d Vessels. But of these Experiments our Friend ( sayes Carneades, pointing at the Register of this Dialogue ) will perhaps give You a more Particular Account then it is necessary for me to do : Since what I have now said may sufficiently evince, that the Fire may sometimes as well alter Bodies as divide them, and by it we may obtain from a Mixt Body what was not Pre-existent in it. And how are we sure that in no other Body what we call Phlegme is barely separated, not Produc’d by the Action of the Fire : Since so many other Mixt Bodies are of a much less Constant, and more alterable Nature, then Mercury, by many Tricks it is wont to put upon Chymists, and by the Experiments I told You of, about an hour 136since, Appears to be. But because I shall ere long have Occasion to resume into Consideration the Power of the Fire to produce new Concretes, I shall no longer insist on this Argument at present ; only I must mind You, that if You will not dis-believe Helmonts Relations, You must confess that the Tria Prima are neither ingenerable nor incorruptible Substances ; since by his Alkahest some of them may be produc’d of Bodies that were before of another Denomination ; and by the same powerfull Menstruum all of them may be reduc’d into insipid Water.
Here Carneades was about to pass on to his Third Consideration, when Eleutherius being desirous to hear what he could say to clear his second General Consideration from being repugnant to what he seem’d to think the true Theory of Mistion, prevented him by telling him, I somewhat wonder, Carneades, that You, who are in so many Points unsatisfied with the Peripatetick Opinion touching the Elements and Mixt Bodies, should also seem averse to that Notion touching the manner of Mistion, wherein the Chymists ( though perhaps with137out knowing that they do so ) agree with most of the Antient Philosophers that preceded Aristotle, and that for Reasons so considerable, that divers Modern Naturalists and Physitians, in other things unfavourable enough to the Spagyrists, do in this case side with them against the common Opinion of the Schools. If you should ask me ( continues Eleutherius ) what Reasons I mean ? I should partly by the Writings of Sennertus and other learned Men, and partly by my own Thoughts, be supply’d with more, then ’twere at present proper for me to Insist largely on. And therefore I shall mention only, and that briefly, three or four. Of these, I shall take the First from the state of the Controversie itself, and the genuine Notion of Mistion, which though much intricated by the Schoolmen, I take in short to be this, Aristotle, at least as many of his Interpreters expound him, and as indeed he Teaches in some places, where he professedly Dissents from the Antients, declares Mistion to be such a mutual Penetration, and perfect Union of the mingl’d Elements, that there is no Portion of the mixt Body, how Minute soever, which does not 138contain All, and Every of the Four Elements, or in which, if you please, all the Elements are not. And I remember, that he reprehends the Mistion taught by the Ancients, as too sleight or gross, for this Reason, that Bodies mixt according to their Hypothesis, though they appear so to humane Eyes, would not appear such to the acute Eyes of a Lynx, whose perfecter Sight would discerne the Elements, if they were no otherwise mingled, than as his Predecessors would have it, to be but Blended, not United ; whereas the Antients, though they did not all Agree about what kind of Bodies were Mixt, yet they did almost unanimously hold, that in a compounded Bodie, though the Miscibilia, whether Elements, Principles, or whatever they pleas’d to call them, were associated in such small Parts, and with so much Exactness, that there was no sensible Part of the Mass but seem’d to be of the same Nature with the rest, and with the whole; Yet as to the Atomes, or other Insensible Parcels of Matter, whereof each of the Miscibilia consisted, they retain’d each of them its own Nature, being but by Apposition or Juxta-Position uni139ted with the rest into one Bodie. So that although by virtue of this composition the mixt Body did perhaps obtain Divers new Qualities, yet still the Ingredients that Compounded it, retaining their own Nature, were by the Destruction of the Compositum separable from each other, the minute Parts disingag’d from those of a differing Nature, and associated with those of their own sort returning to be again, Fire, Earth, or Water, as they were before they chanc’d to be Ingredients of that Compositum. This may be explain’d ( Continues Eleutherius, ) by a piece of Cloath made of white and black threds interwoven, wherein though the whole piece appear neither white nor black, but of a resulting Colour, that is gray, yet each of the white and black threds that compose it, remains what it was before, as would appear if the threds were pull’d asunder, and sorted each Colour by it self. This ( pursues Eleutherius ) being, as I understand it, the State of the Controversie, and the Aristotelians after their Master Commonly Defining, that Mistion is Miscibilium alteratorum Unio, that seems to comport much 140better with the Opinion of the Chymists, then with that of their Adversaries, since according to that as the newly mention’d Example declares, there is but a Juxta-position of separable Corpuscles, retaining each its own Nature, whereas according to the Aristotelians, when what they are pleas’d to call a mixt Body results from the Concourse of the Elements, the Miscibilia cannot so properly be said to be Alter’d, as Destroy’d, since there is no Part in the mixt Body, how small soever, that can be call’d either Fir, or Air, or Water, or Earth.
Nor indeed can I well understand, how Bodies can be mingl’d other wayes then as I have declar’d, or at least how they can be mingl’d, as our Peripateticks would have it. For whereas Aristotle tells us, that if a Drop of Wine be put into ten thousand Measures of Water, the Wine being Overpower’d by so Vast a Quantity of Water will be turn’d into it, he speaks to my Apprehension, very improbably ; For though One should add to that Quantity of Water as many Drops of Wine as would a Thousand times exceed it all, 141yet by his Rule the whole Liquor should not be a Crama, a Mixture of Wine and Water, wherein the Wine would be Predominant, but Water only ; Since the Wine being added but by a Drop at a time would still Fall into nothing but Water, and Consequently would be turn’d into it. And if this would hold in Metals too, ’twere a rare secret for Goldsmiths, and Refiners ; For by melting a Mass of Gold, or Silver, and by but casting into it Lead or Antimony, Grain after Grain, they might at pleasure, within a reasonable Compass of time, turn what Quantity they desire, of the Ignoble into the Noble Metalls. And indeed since a Pint of wine, and a pint of water, amount to about a Quart of Liquor, it seems manifest to sense, that these Bodies doe not Totally Penetrate one another, as one would have it ; but that each retains its own Dimensions ; and Consequently, that they are by being Mingl’d only divided into minute Bodies, that do but touch one another with their Surfaces, as do the Grains, of Wheat, Rye, Barley, &c. in a heap of severall sorts of Corn : And unless we say, that as 142when one measure of wheat, for Instance, is Blended with a hundred measures of Barley, there happens only a Juxta-position and Superficial Contact betwixt the Grains of wheat, and as many or thereabouts of the Grains of Barley. So when a Drop of wine is mingl’d with a great deal of water, there is but an Apposition of so many Vinous Corpuscles to a Correspondent Number of Aqueous ones ; Unless I say this be said, I see not how that Absurdity will be avoyded, whereunto the Stoical Notion of mistion ( namely by συνχυσις, or Confusion ) was Liable, according to which the least Body may be co-extended with the greatest : Since in a mixt Body wherein before the Elements were Mingl’d there was, for Instance, but one pound of water to ten thousand of Earth, yet according to them there must not be the least part of that Compound, that Consisted not as well of Earth, as water. But I insist, Perhaps, too long ( sayes Eleutherius ) upon the proofs afforded me by the Nature of Mistion : Wherefore I will but name Two or Three other Arguments ; whereof the first shall be, 143that according to Aristotle himself, the motion of a mixt Body followes the Nature of the Predominant Element, as those wherein the Earth prevails, tend towards the Centre of heavy Bodies. And since many things make it Evident, that in divers Mixt Bodies the Elementary Qualities are as well Active, though not altogether so much so as in the Elements themselves, it seems not reasonable to deny the actual Existence of the Elements in those Bodies wherein they Operate.
To which I shall add this Convincing Argument, that Experience manifests, and Aristotle Confesses it, that the Miscibilia may be again separated from a mixt Body, as is Obvious in the Chymical Resolutions of Plants and Animalls, which could not be unless they did actually retain their formes in it : For since, according to Aristotle, and I think according to truth, there is but one common Mass of all things, which he has been pleas’d to call Materia Prima ; And since tis not therefore the Matter but the Forme that Constitutes and Discriminates Things, to say that the Elements remain not in a Mixt Bo144dy, according to their Formes, but according to their Matter, is not to say that they remain there at all; Since although those Portions of Matter were Earth and water, &c. before they concurr’d, yet the resulting Body being once Constituted, may as well be said to be simple as any of the Elements, the Matter being confessedly of the same Nature in all Bodies, and the Elementary Formes being according to this Hypothesis perish’d and abolish’d.
And lastly, and if we will Consult Chymical Experiments, we shall find the Advantages of the Chymical Doctrine above the Peripatetick Title little less then Palpable. For in that Operation that Refiners call Quartation, which they employ to purifie Gold, although three parts of Silver be so exquisitely mingl’d by Fusion with a fourth Part of Gold ( whence the Operation is Denominated ) that the resulting Mass acquires severall new Qualities, by virtue of the Composition, and that there is scarce any sensible part of it that is not Compos’d of both the metalls ; Yet if You cast this mixture into Aqua Fortis, the Silver will be dissolv’d in the 145Menstruum, and the Gold like a dark or black Powder will fall to the Bottom of it, and either Body may be again reduc’d into such a Metal as it was before, which shews : that it retain’d its Nature, notwithstanding its being mixt per Minima with the other : We likewise see, that though one part of pure Silver be mingled with eight or ten Parts, or more, of Lead, yet the Fire will upon the Cuppel easily and perfectly separate them again. And that which I would have you peculiarly Consider on this Occasion is, that not only in Chymicall Anatomies there is a Separation made of the Elementary Ingredients, but that some Mixt Bodies afford a very much greater Quantity of this or that Element or Principle than of another ; as we see, that Turpentine and Amber yield much more Oyl and Sulphur than they do Water, whereas Wine, which is confess’d to be a perfectly mixt Bodie, yields but a little Inflamable Spirit, or Sulphur, and not much more Earth ; but affords a vast proportion of Phlegm or water : which could not be, if as the Peripateticks suppose, every, even of the minutest Particles, were of the same 146nature with the whole, and consequently did contain both Earth and Water, and Aire, and Fire ; Wherefore as to what Aristotle principally, and almost only Objects, that unless his Opinion be admitted, there would be no true and perfect Mistion, but onely Aggregates or Heaps of contiguous Corpuscles, which, though the Eye of Man cannot discerne, yet the Eye of a Lynx might perceive not to be of the same Nature with one another and with their Totum, as the Nature of Mistion requires, if he do not beg the Question, and make Mistion to consist in what other Naturalists deny to be requisite to it, yet He at least objects That as a great Inconvenience which I cannot take for such, till he have brought as Considerable Arguments as I have propos’d to prove the contrary, to evince that Nature makes other Mistions than such as I have allowed, wherein the Miscibilia are reduc’d into minute Parts, and United as farr as sense can discerne : which if You will not grant to be sufficient for a true Mistion, he must have the same Quarrel with Nature her self, as with his Adversaries.
147Wherefore ( Continues Eleutherius ) I cannot but somewhat marvail that Carneades should oppose the Doctrine of the Chymist in a Particular, wherein they do as well agree with his old Mistress, Nature, as dissent from his old Adversary, Aristotle.
I must not ( replies Carneades ) engage my self at present to examine thorowly the Controversies concerning Mistion : And if there were no third thing, but that I were reduc’d to embrace absolutely and unreservedly either the Opinion of Aristotle, or that of the Philosophers that went before him, I should look upon the latter, which the Chymists have adopted, as the more defensible Opinion : But because differing in the Opinions about the Elements from both Parties, I think I can take a middle Course, and Discourse to you of Mistion after a way that does neither perfectly agree, nor perfectly disagree with either, as I will not peremptorily define, whether there be not Cases wherein some Phaenomena of Mistion seem to favour the Opinion that the Chymists Patrons borrow’d of the Antients, I shall only endeavour to shew You that there 148are some cases which may keep the Doubt, which makes up my second General Consideration from being unreasonable.
I shall then freely acknowledge to You ( sayes Carneades ) that I am not over well satisfi’d with the Doctrine that is ascribed to Aristotle, concerning Mistion, especially since it teaches that the four Elements may again be separated from the mixt Body ; whereas if they continu’d not in it, it would not be so much a Separation as a Production. And I think the Ancient Philosophers that Preceded Aristotle, and Chymists who have since receiv’d the same Opinion, do speak of this matter more intelligibly, if not more probably, then the Peripateticks : but though they speak Congruously enough, to their believing, that there are a certain Number of Primogeneal Bodies, by whose Concourse all those we call Mixts are Generated, and which in the Destruction of mixt Bodies do barely part company, and recede from one another, just such as they were when they came together ; yet I, who meet with very few Opinions that I can entirely Acquiesce in, 149must confess to You that I am inclin’d to differ not only from the Aristotelians, but from the old Philosophers and the Chymists, about the Nature of Mistion : And if You will give me leave, I shall Briefly propose to you my present Notion of it, provided you will look upon it, not so much as an Assertion as an Hypothesis ; in talking of which I do not now pretend to propose and debate the whole Doctrine of Mistion, but to shew that ’tis not Improbable, that sometimes mingl’d substances may be so strictly united, that it doth not by the usuall Operations of the Fire, by which Chymists are wont to suppose themselves to have made the Analyses of mixt Bodies, sufficiently appear, that in such Bodies the Miscibilia that concurr’d to make them up do each of them retain its own peculiar Nature : and by the Spagyrists Fires may be more easily extricated and Recover’d, than Alter’d, either by a Change of Texture in the Parts of the same Ingredient, or by an Association with some parts of another Ingredient more strict than was that of the parts of this or that Miscibile among themselves. At these words Eleu. 150having press’d him to do what he propos’d, and promis’d to do what he desir’d ;
I consider then ( resumes Carneades ) that, not to mention those improper Kinds of mistion, wherein Homogeneous Bodies are Joyn’d, as when Water is mingl’d with water, or two Vessels full of the same kind of Wine with one another, the mistion I am now to Discourse of seems, Generally speaking, to be but an Union per Minima of any two or more Bodies of differing Denominations ; as when Ashes and Sand are Colliquated into Glass or Antimony, and Iron into Regulus Martis, or Wine and Water are mingl’d, and Sugar is dissolv’d in the Mixture. Now in this general notion of Mistion it does not appear clearly comprehended, that the Miscibilia or Ingredients do in their small Parts so retain their Nature and remain distinct in the Compound, that they may thence by the Fire be again taken asunder : For though I deny not that in some Mistions of certain permanent Bodies this Recovery of the same Ingredients may be made, yet I am not convinc’d that it will hold in all or even in most, or that it is necessarily deducible from Chy151micall Experiments, and the true Notion of Mistion. To explain this a little, I assume, that Bodies may be mingl’d, and that very durably, that are not Elementary or resolv’d into Elements or Principles that they may be mingl’d ; as is evident in the Regulus of Colliquated Antimony, and Iron newly mention’d ; and in Gold Coyne, which lasts so many ages ; wherein generally the Gold is alloy’d by the mixture of a quantity, greater or lesser, ( in our Mints they use about a 12th. part ) of either silver, or Copper, or both. Next, I consider, that there being but one Universal matter of things, as ’tis known that the Aristotelians themselves acknowledge, who call it Materia Prima (about which nevertheless I like not all their Opinions,) the Portions of this matter seem to differ from One Another, but in certain Qualities or Accidents, fewer or more ; upon whose Account the Corporeal Substance they belong to receives its Denomination, and is referr’d to this or that particular sort of Bodies ; so that if it come to lose, or be depriv’d of those Qualities, though it ceases not to be a body, yet it ceases 152from being that kind of Body as a Plant, or Animal ; or Red, Green, Sweet, Sowre, or the like. I consider that it very often happens that the small parts of Bodies cohere together but by immediate Contact and Rest ; and that however, there are few Bodies whose minute Parts stick so close together, to what cause soever their Combination be ascrib’d, but that it is possible to meet with some other Body, whose small Parts may get between them, and so dis-joyn them ; or may be fitted to cohere more strongly with some of them, then those some do with the rest ; or at least may be combin’d so closely with them, as that neither the Fire, nor the other usual Instruments of Chymical Anatomies will separate them. These things being promis’d, I will not peremptorily deny, but that there may be some Clusters of Particles, wherein the Particles are so minute, and the Coherence so strict, or both, that when Bodies of Differing Denominations, and consisting of such durable Clusters, happen to be mingl’d, though the Compound Body made up of them may be very Differing from either of 153the Ingredients, yet each of the little Masses or Clusters may so retain its own Nature, as to be again separable, such as it was before. As when Gold and Silver being melted together in a Due Proportion ( for in every Proportion, the Refiners will tell You that the Experiment will not succeed ) Aqua Fortis will dissolve the Silver, and leave the Gold untoucht ; by which means, as you lately noted, both the Metalls may be recover’d from the mixed Mass. But ( Continues Carneades ) there are other Clusters wherein the Particles stick not so close together, but that they may meet with Corpuscles of another Denomination, which are dispos’d to be more closely United with some of them, then they were among themselves. And in such case, two thus combining Corpuscles losing that Shape, or Size, or Motion, or other Accident, upon whose Account they were endow’d with such a Determinate Quality or Nature, each of them really ceases to be a Corpuscle of the same Denomination it was before ; and from the Coalition of these there may emerge a new Body, as really one, as either of the Corpuscles was before 154they were mingl’d, or, if you please, Confounded : Since this Concretion is really endow’d with its own Distinct qualities, and can no more by the Fire, or any other known way of Analysis, be divided again into the Corpuscles that at first concurr’d to make it, than either of them could by the same means be subdivided into other Particles. But ( sayes Eleutherius ) to make this more intelligible by particular examples ; If you dissolve Copper in Aqua Fortis, or Spirit of Nitre, (f or I remember not which I us’d, nor do I think it much Material ) You may by Crystalizing the Solution Obtain a goodly Vitriol ; which though by Virtue of the Composition it have manifestly diverse Qualities, not to be met with in either of the Ingredients, yet it seems that the Nitrous Spirits, or at least many of them, may in this Compounded Mass retain their former Nature ; for having for tryal sake Distill’d this Vitrioll Spirit, there came over store of Red Fumes, which by that Colour, by their peculiar stinke, and by their Sourness, manifested themselves to be, Nitrous Spirits ; and that the remaining Calx continu’d Copper, 155I suppose you’l easily beleeve. But if you dissolve Minium, which is but Lead Powder’d by the Fire, in good Spirit of Vinager, and Crystalize the Solution, you shall not only have a Saccharine Salt exceedingly differing from both its Ingredients ; but the Union of some Parts of the Menstruum with some of those of the Metal is so strict, that the Spirit of Vinager seems to be, as such, destroy’d, since the Saline Corpuscles have quite lost that acidity, upon whose Account the Liquor was call’d Spirit of Vinager ; nor can any such Acid Parts as were put to the Minium be Separated by any known way from the Saccharum Saturni resulting from them both ; for not only there is no Sowrness at all, but an admirable Sweetness to be tasted in the Concretion ; and not only I found not that Spirit of Wine, which otherwise will immediately hiss when mingl’d with strong Spirit of Vinager, would hiss being pour’d upon Saccharum Saturni, wherein yet the Acid Salt of Vinager, did it Survive, may seem to be concentrated ; but upon the Distillation of Saccharum Saturni by its Self I found indeed a Liquor very Pe156netrant, but not at all Acid, and differing as well in smell and other Qualities, as in tast, from the Spirit of Vinager ; which likewise seem’d to have left some of its Parts very firmly united to the Caput Mortuum, which though of a Leaden Nature was in smell, Colour, &c. differing from Minium ; which brings into my mind, that though two Powders, the one Blew, and the other Yellow, may appear a Green mixture, without either of them losing its own Colour, as a good Microscope has sometimes inform’d me ; yet having mingl’d Minium and Sal Armoniack in a requisite Proportion, and expos’d them in a Glass Vessel to the Fire, the whole Mass became White, and the Red Corpuscles were destroy’d ; for though the Calcin’d Lead was separable from the Salt, yet you’l easily beleeve it did not part from it in the Forme of a Red Powder, such as was the Minium, when it was put to the Sal Armoniack. I leave it also to be consider’d, whether in Blood, and divers other Bodies, it be probable, that each of the Corpuscles that concurr to make a Compound Body doth, though some of them in 157some Cases may, retain its own Nature in it, so that Chymsts may Extricate each sort of them from all the others, wherewith it concurr’d to make a Body of one Denomination.
I know there may be a Distinction betwixt Matter Immanent, when the material Parts remain and retain their own Nature in the things materiated, as some of the Schoolmen speak, ( in which sence Wood, Stones and Lime are the matter of a House, ) and Transient, which in the materiated thing is so alter’d, as to receive a new Forme, without being capable of re-admitting again the Old. In which sence the Friends of this Distinction say, that Chyle is the matter of Blood, and Blood that of a Humane Body, of all whose Parts ’tis presum’d to be the Aliment. I know also that it may be said, that of material Principles, some are common to all mixt Bodies, as Aristotles four Elements, or the Chymists Tria Prima ; others Peculiar, which belong to this or that sort of Bodies ; as Butter and a kind of whey may be said to be the Proper Principles of Cream : and I deny not, but that these Distinctions may in some 158Cases be of Use ; but partly by what I have said already, and partly by what I am to say, You may easily enough guess in what sence I admit them, and discerne that in such a sence they will either illustrate some of my Opinions, or at least will not overthrow any of them.
To prosecute then what I was saying before, I will add to this purpose, That since the Major part of Chymists Credit, what those they call Philosophers affirme of their Stone, I may represent to them, that though when Common Gold and Lead are mingled Together, the Lead may be sever’d almost un-alter’d from the Gold ; yet if instead of Gold a Tantillum of the Red Elixir be mingled with the Saturn, their Union will be so indissoluble in the perfect Gold that will be produc’d by it, that there is no known, nor perhaps no possible way of separating the diffus’d Elixir from the fixed Lead, but they both Constitute a most permanent Body, wherein the Saturne seems to have quite lost its Properties that made it be call’d Lead, and to have been rather transmuted by the Elixir, then barely associated to it. So that it seems not al159wayes necessary, that the Bodies that are put together per minima, should each retain its own Nature ; So as when the Mass it Self is dissipated by the Fire, to be more dispos’d to re-appear in its Pristine Forme, then in any new one, which by a stricter association of its Parts with those of some of the other Ingredients of the Compositum, then with one another, it may have acquired.
And if it be objected, that unless the Hypothesis I oppose be admitted, in such Cases as I have proposed there would not be an Union but a Destruction of mingled Bodies, which seems all one as to say, that of such Bodies there is no mistion at all ; I answer, that though the Substances that are mingl’d remain, only their Accidents are Destroy’d, and though we may with tollerable Congruity call them Miscibilia, because they are Distinct Bodies before they are put together, however afterwards they are so Confounded that I should rather call them Concretions, or Resulting Bodies, than mixt ones ; and though, perhaps, some other and better Account may be propos’d, upon which the name 160of mistion may remain ; yet if what I have said be thought Reason, I shall not wrangle about Words, though I think it fitter to alter a Terme of Art, then reject a new Truth, because it suits not with it. If it be also Objected that this Notion of mine, concerning mixtion, though it may be allow’d, when Bodies already Compounded are put to be mingl’d, yet it is not applicable to those mixtions that are immediately made of the Elements, or Principles themselves ; I Answer in the first place, that I here Consider the Nature of mixtion somewhat more Generally, then the Chymists, who yet cannot deny that there are oftentimes Mixtures, and those very durable ones, made of Bodies that are not Elementary. And in the next place, that though it may be probably pretended that in those Mixtures that are made immediately of the Bodies that are call’d Principles or Elements, the mingl’d Ingredients may better retain their own Nature in the Compounded Mass, and be more easily separated from thence ; yet, besides that it may be doubted, whether there be any such Primary Bodies, I see not why the 161reason I alleadg’d, of the destructibility of the Ingredients of Bodies in General, may not sometimes be Applicable to Salt Sulphur or Mercury ; ’till it be shewn upon what account we are to believe them Priviledged. And however, ( if you please but to recall to mind, to what purpose I told you at First, I meant to speak of Mistion at this Time ) you will perhaps allow that what I have hitherto Discoursed about it may not only give some Light to the Nature of it in general ( especially when I shall have an Opportunity to Declare to you my thoughts on that subject more fully ) but may on some Occasions also be Serviceable to me in the Insuing Part of this Discourse.
But, to look back Now to that part of our Discourse, whence this Excursion concerning Mistion has so long diverted us, though we there Deduc’d, from the differing Substances obtained from a Plant nourished only with Water, and from some other things, that it was not necessary that nature should alwaies compound a Body at first of all such differing bodies as the fire could afterwards make it afford ; yet this is not all that may be collected from those Experi162ments. For from them there seems also Deducible something that Subverts an other Foundation of the Chymical Doctrine. For since that ( as we have seen ) out of fair Water alone, not only Spirit, but Oyle, and Salt, and Earth may be Produced ; It will follow that Salt and Sulphur are not Primogeneal Bodies, and principles, since they are every Day made out of plain Water by the Texture which the Seed or Seminal principle of plants puts it into. And this would not perhaps seem so strange, if through pride, or negligence, We were not Wont to Overlook the Obvious and Familiar Workings of Nature ; For if We consider what slight Qualities they are that serve to denominate one of the Tria Prima, We shall find that Nature do’s frequently enough work as great Alterations in divers parcells of matter : For to be readily dissoluble in water, is enough to make the body that is so, passe for a Salt. And yet I see not why from a new shufling and Disposition of the Component Particles of a body, it should be much harder for Nature to compose a body dissoluble in 163Water, of a portion of Water that was not so before, then of the Liquid substance of an Egg, which will easily mix with Water, to produce by the bare warmth of a hatching Hen, Membrans, Feathers, Tendons, and other parts, that are not dissoluble in Water as that Liquid Substance was : Nor is the Hardness and Brittleness of Salt more difficult for Nature to introduce into such a yielding body as Water, then it is for her to make the Bones of a Chick out of the tender Substance of the Liquors of an Egg. But instead of prosecuting this consideration, as I easily might, I will proceed, as soon as I have taken notice of an objection that lies in my Way. For I easily foresee it will be alledged, that the above mentioned Examples are all taken from Plants, and Animals, in whom the Matter is Fashioned by the Plastick power of the seed, or something analogous thereunto. Whereas the Fire do’s not act like any of the Seminal Principles, but destroyes them all, when they come within its Reach. But to this I shall need at present to make but this easy Answer, That whether it be a Seminal Principle, or any other which 164fashions that Matter after those various manners I have mentioned to You, yet ’tis Evident, that either by the Plastick principle Alone, or that and Heat Together, or by some Other cause capable to contex the matter, it is yet possible that the matter may be Anew contriv’d into such Bodies. And ’tis only for the Possibility of this that I am now contending.