Plants depends on Earthy Parts mixt with the Acid and the Roughness in the Acid of Sulphur from some Mineral Earth joyn'd with the Acid. I find it confidently affirm'd That one Acid will correct another which I believe a Mistake For Spirit of Vitriol and Nitre make a stronger Menstruum than either of them alone and so does Spirit of Salt and Nitre mixt which make an Aqua Regia So far are these from correcting one another But the ground of this Opinion I suppose is from the Effervescence caus'd by mixing of Acid Spirits which happens by reason of some Earth or Mineral joyn'd to every different sort of Acid Spirit from whence the difference of Acid Spirits is deducible Hence some Acid Spirits mixt dispossess one the other from the Earths or Minerals joyned with their Acid and from thence comes the Conflict and Effervescence For the same reason Spirit of Vitriol is mixed with Calcined Salt to seize on the Earthy part of Salt and to make the Acid of Salt loose from it and fitter for Distillation I think I have here said enough to prove that the Oyl of Vegetables is like Oyl of Turpentine and the Acid of Vegetables like Sulphur which differs nothing from Vitriol but by being Impregnated with a Mineral it becomes a vitriolate Acid. So that from the Experiments about the contrariety of Oyl and Acid above-mentioned I may conclude that there may happen the same kind of Effervescence in Vegetables which we call Fermentation When a Seed is placed in the Earth the Oyliness of it is agitated or moved by the Acid Watry Juyce soaking into it thro' its Coats by the Effervescence of both Vegetation is begun and the Coats burst and the Vessels of the Plant inlarged for receiving new Nourishment This consists of an Oyliness from the Bitumen and Sulphur and also an Acid from the same and also a Water and Earth mixt and digested together in the Pores of the Earth All which concur to produce a Nutriment for Plants This is not promiscuously admitted thro' the Glandulous Parenchyma of the Root of the Plant but it is probable that each Parenchyma has differently figured Pores for the admittance of Oyly parts chiefly or Watry parts or Earthy parts or Acid chiefly which may be very probable because Oyly parts are thought Ramose Acid Angular Watry Round and Earthy very Irregular We may very easily believe that the Seeds of Plants and their Roots have Pores suited for the admittance of one two or more of these And these are pressed into the Seed by the force of the Airs Spring when a Plant begins to swell by the rarefying of its own Juyces thro' the Effervescence of its own Oyl and Acid which is much promoted by the External Heat of the Sun or an hot Bed and the admittance of an Acid from the Earth This Fermentation is very slow and never highly raised in Earthy Acid and Mucilaginous Plants and therefore in such the Oyl Acid Earth and Water are never much separated but in sweet Tastes the Fermentation separates a little and loosens the Oyl and Acid from the Watry and Earthy Particles In Bitters the same are more separated in Aromaticks the Oyl is most rarefied in Acrids the Oyl and Acid compound a Salt with an Earthy part From these Instances we find that by Digestion the Principles of Plants are separated and now Compounded into Salts Resins Gums and Turpentines This Digestion differs not from the Effervescence betwixt Oyl and Acid which differs according to the several Oyls which are contained in the Seeds of Plants One Oyl ferments with Acid more than another and each Oyl in the Seed produces that which is most suitable to the nature of the Plant to be produced From the Rarefaction of this Juyce of Plants by the Effervescence of Oyl and Acid the rise of the Sap and the shootings of Plants may be deduced And the wonderful force mentioned by Mr. Boyle in lifting up a great Weight by Fermenting Beans and from hence Wines burst their Vessels So that the force of Fermentation equals that of Explosion If we consider the many Compound Tastes of Plants we cannot believe that they can rise from the same kind of Fermentation Some Plants taste Rough and very Acrid as Chelidonium minus Others Slimy and Acrid and Bitter as Leucoium And there is a different Taste in many parts of Plants which proceeds from the different Digestion of the Juyce in different parts So in Cherries the Taste of the Bark is Bitter Astringent The Leaf differs from it by a Sliminess In the Fruit there is a Slimy Sweet Sub-acid Taste without any Bitterness or Astringency The same difference is observable in the Odors of Plants The Leaves of Elder are Fetid but the Flowers Fragrant which is a sign of a different Digestion There are the same Varieties of Tastes and Odors in Animals tho' Choler be separated by the same sort of Glandules yet it has a Bitter Sweet Sliminess The Serum of the Blood has serose parts and Watriness and a Saltness The Semen has a thin and also a viscid part The Liquor Nervosus has an Oyly Salt dissolved in a Lympha The diversity of Tastes in Choler does not depend on different Strainers but different Digestions of Chyle and the new supply of it which flows continually into the Veins From hence it will fall out that one part is perfectly Digested and another less and therefore some part of the Choler tastes Sweet and another part Bitter and a crude Lympha is the Vehicle of both to help their separation these being mixt together give the Variety of Tastes observable in Choler The same thing happens in Plants which during their growth receive fresh Nourishment which is differently Digested and therefore gives those Varieties of Tastes observable in the same Vessels and the same Liquor as in Milks Turpentines and Fetid Gums But I cannot well understand how such Particular Liquors as Milk Gums Turpentines and Lympha's can be produced and kept in particular Vessels which are really different from the crude Juyce of the same Plants without allowing such parts in Plants as Glandules in Animals which separate the Milk Semen Spirits Choler and Lympha from the Blood. I therefore cannot think it improbable that the Parenchyma of Plants is wholly Glandulous and the Woody Fibres are Vessels some of which are Lacteals Lymphaticks Muciducts Gums or Balsam-Vessels An Animal Body is composed of Vessels and Glands The Vessels are branched into the different parts of both alike and receive a prepared Juyce from the Glandulous Parenchyma and the same may be the preparation and distribution of the Juyces in Vegetables because the same Tastes and Odors are observable in both Kingdoms And Vegetables digested by an Animal undergo the same Separation and Preparation as is manifest in Animals When one Tree is grafted on anothers Stock the Fruit is the same as the Branch Ingrafted The Juyce in the Glandules of it giving
by Acids Raddle distilled smelt a little Acid but the Phlegm which was in great quantity tasted like pure Water The Raddle lost not its colour but turned deep Purple in the Caput Mortuum Raddle is given to Ê’ss for two or three Doses in the beginning of the Small-Pox to stop and prevent Looseness and too great Putrefaction It tastes like Bole and has the same Virtue as an Antidote against Infectious Fevers 3. Earths of a bituminous fetid Taste which give a bitterness to some purging Springs as North-hall-Waters The Fires made of Boggy Earths smell Sulphureous and Fetid as in our Pea-Turfs Hence it appears that Sulphurs are lodged in Earths as well as other Minerals Bituminous Earths are of a discussing nature because Fetid 4. Aromatick Earth Samos Earth mentioned by Dr. Grew 5. Acrid Earths and sweet Earths and bitter sweet are mentioned by Kircher 6. Salt Earths may also be observed as well as Salt Springs for all Physical Waters have their Tastes from Mineral Earths I observed a white Salt on new Brick-Walls which tasted cool and saltish like Nitre This seems to come from the Burnt-Brick whose Volatile Salt is made Nitrous by the Acid of the Air. I distilled Marle and Clay but had nothing but Phlegm but they turned Syrup of Violets green which is a sign of a Volatile Salt. And Bartholin mentions an argilla flava which yields a Volatile Salt in Glass Vessels but it is lost in Earthen which caution I did not observe And Le Mort affirms That Argillae variae species praebent sal volatile mediante distillatione The Phlegm of the Marle looked Oyly and smelt very strong of a particular Smell not unpleasant From hence I suppose some Oyliness is latent in Marle as well as because it improves Sandy ground By these Experiments I found how difficult it was to resolve the common Earths into their Principles by the Fire but nature easily dissolves all her own mixtures by a gradual Fermentation by the Sulphureous Acid in the Air And the constant agitation of the Materia subtilis which flowing from the Sun gives motion to Fluids and vegetation to Plants Tho' Plants spread their Roots in common Earth yet thence neither their Oyl Acid or Earth is drawn but only from the Rain-water impregnate with the Sulphureous Acid of the Air and also saturated with the Bituminous Fumes lodged in the common Earth The bituminous Oyl and sulphureous Acid unite in the Water and are capable of the Vegetable Ferment which changes the Mineral Principles into a Vegetable State and the particular nature of each Plant. The stronger the Oyl of the Plant the higher is the Fermentation of this bituminous Nutriment of Plants and the weaker Fermentation depends upon a crude Oyl When the Nutriment of Plants which is a Mineral Juice is become of a Vegetable nature it receives no new Fermentation in any part of the Plant but in the Bladders of the Root all the alteration which happens afterward is only from its digestion by the heat of the Sun the agitation of the Plant by the Wind and the long conservation of its Juices in large Vessels as in the Bladders of Fruits and the Leaves of Trees Of the Taste and Smell of Stones STones may be observed in Animals Vegetables and Minerals I. Animal Stones of a chalky Substance and of a dry gritt in Taste and earthy Smell These ferment with Acids like Chalk and thereby become Styptick but with Spirit of Salt they acquire a saltish Taste and are Diuretick And by their unequal rough Particles they cleanse the Teeth in Dentifrices and probably rub off the Gravel in the Kidnies Crabs-Eyes is a chalky Animal Earth and smells like Chalk when powdered Egg-shells and Oyster-shells have the same chalky Substance Egg-shells burnt taste Saltish and burning like Lime and Oyster-shells burnt have a Saltness Bezoar-Stone tastes Gritty and ferments strongly with Acids Since petrified Animal Substances are dissolvable by Acids as Spirit of Nitre by this they resemble the Gypsum or Lime-stone Petrified Animals also burn into a Caput mortuum like Lime and have a little ebullition like Lime upon the effusion of Water I may hence conjecture That the Stony Particles which petrifie Animals is from the Lime-stone which joyning with the natural Vitriolick Acid of Animal Blood produces the petrifying Principle which is like Nitrum calcarium in petrifying Waters Petrified Lime-stone Icicles hang naturally on Lime-stone Rocks Petrified Animal Parts distilled as Pearls Bones Crabs-Eyes and human Stones yield Volatile Salts and Oyls and have a Lime for their Caput Mortuum which being intermixt with their Animal Principles petrified them The Calculus humanus contains little fixt Salt but much Volatile and therefore it is not bred out of Tartar but the Lime-stone Particles associated with the Ammoniac Animal Salt coagulates into a Stone which is much lighter than Minerals but heavier than Animal Bones II. Vegetable Stones petrified as the Stones in Fruits of Dates Haws Peaches c. These Stones distilled yield an Acid Spirit like the Spirit of Wood This Acid combining with the Lime-stone Earth constitutes the petrifying Principles in Vegetables The Stones of Pears ferment with Acids therefore these Vegetable Stones may imbibe the Animal Acids and become Diuretick So the Seed-cases of Gromwel ferment by Acids Malpighius has observed some Turpentine-Vessels in the Stones of Peaches whence their Diuretick Vertue may be increased Petrified Vegetables as Coral ferments with Acid and the Powder of it smells Earthy like Moss If it have any Fragrancy it may resemble that of some Mosses or is ground by the Apothecary with fragrant Waters Coral distilled yields a smoaky Acid Spirit like that of Wood and an Empyreumatick Oyl which are its Vegetable Principles and the Caput mortuum is like Lime which equalled the quantity of the Acid Spirit but it did not effervesce with Water as Lime From the distillation of petrified Animals and Vegetables it appears That their Principles are not changed by petrification but only Nitre mixt with a Lime-stone or chalky Stone by which they acquire a greater hardness and solidity And it is observed in Bonetus That Coral may be dissolved in Rubicundissimam mucilaginem by reason of its Vegetable Principles which I believe remain unaltered by petrification III. Mineral Stones These are either of the nature of Lime-stones or Flints or Metalline Stones or Bituminous I call all those Lime-stones which burn into a kind of Lime and these may be divided into Stones of a chalky Substance or those of a harder Substance as common Stone c. 1. Stones of a chalky Substance as Lapis Spongiae which smells like Chalk and dissolves with Spirit of Salt This grows in Sponges Osteocolla It looks like the inward part of a Bone Spongy and Porous and therefore the Powder of this was given to supply the petrifying Earthy part necessary for the solidity of Bones which are not far from the nature of Minerals Knitbone grows
are that very Thing by which we are nourished so without a Paradox every Vegetable may be said to be a Mineral as being nourished by something Mineral And a Treatise of Minerals may very aptly be joyn'd to One of Vegetables without any Fault in Coherence or Absurdity in Method For Vegetables receive their Earth Oyl and Acid from Minerals And I must further observe That the Soyl from which Vegetables receive their immediate Juyce is a Congeries of Mineral Bodies viz. Sand which looks like Gems in a Microscope Clay Marle Chalk Flints Lime-stone and divers other sorts of Earths in Distillation yielding an Acid Spirit which is the Product of some Sulphur in them And the same Sulphur gives an Oyly Fatness to many Earths as Marle Clay Bole c. It is observ'd that Salt-Petre abounds in all Fertile Earths and has a mineral-Mineral-Acid in it So that if it any ways conduce to the Production of Plants it must be allowed that in the Production Vegetables receive some Acid from it Sulphureous Damps are most evident in some particular Places arising from the Superficies of the Earth and Boggy Grounds have always an offensive Air which is not vitiated by the Water only but also by some Sulphureous Effluviums which upon standing Water shoot into a bluish Cream like that on standing Vitriolate Waters I cannot but mention those Bodies which have a middle State betwixt Minerals and Vegetables from whence I inferr a great Analogy betwixt their Principles and a gradual Transmutation of Mineral Principles into Vegetable Oyls Acids and Earths Water is a common Vehicle necessary for the Mixture of those Principles in both Kingdoms and it may be the Earthy Part is the same in both Vegetables are changed towards Minerals sometimes Coral grows as a Plant and afterwards has the Hardness of a Stone when full grown to which the Astringent Liquor observ'd in it conduces for from a drop of it new Coral is said to spring So in other Vegetables some Seed-Cases become Stony which lie in the middle of an Acid Pulp as in Cherries Plumbs c. Gromwel-Seed is Stony though it have no exterior Acid Pulp and the Seeds of Apples and Lemons which have an exterior Acid Pulp are not Stony Pears have a Stonyness in them Patrification in Vegetables depends on an Acerb Juyce in which the Acid and Earth are mixt in a certain Proportion for all Acids will not produce it for want of the due Proportion of Earth to them and of that particular Texture of both which is necessary for Stones So that when Coral and the Cases of Fruits become Stones there is no Change of the Principles but the Vegetable Acid and Earth acquire a new Texture The Bitumens in the Mineral Kingdom are in a middle State betwixt Minerals and Vegetables They are produc'd from Mineral Principles otherwise mixt than in Minerals and in a near Disposition to become Vegetable For the Bitumens in Minerals and Turpentines in Vegetables are very like in Smell and Taste and yield the same Chymical Principles in Distillation The Soot of Coal is of a smoaky Smell and tastes Bitter and Acrid in which it is like to the Soot of Wood and also both of them yield the same Volatile Salt and Oyl The Narcotick Quality of Sulphur Anodyn Vitrioli resembles the Fetid Narcoticks in Vegetables The Ashes of Minerals and Plants may be Vitrified alike by a strong Fire and therefore there is no great Difference betwixt them The Fixt Salts of Plants have the Nature of Mineral Salts as appears in Lime-Water which tastes salt and both are the Product of Fire for neither Minerals nor Vegetables have any Natural Fixt Salt. It is not improbable that these Fixt Salts of both Kingdoms agree in the Figure of their Crystals and both may be Cubical as Common Salt or of some Irregular Figure near to a Cube The Reason why all Minerals cannot be calcin'd into Salts as Plants be is the indissolvible Texture of their Parts which not being perfectly destroyed by the Fire they cannot thereby acquire New Mixtures as it happens in Plants for the Production of Fixt Salts But this Dissolution of Principles and Re-mixture happens in Lime in the Production of the Fixt Salt evident in Lime-Water I have mention'd the most known Bodies which have their Rise from Minerals and afterwards become Vegetables as Bitumen and those which from Vegetables become Minerals as Coral and the Stones of Fruits And I might here add the Petrification of Vegetables by petrifying Waters which contain a Nitrum Calcarium as the ingenious Dr. Lister has evidently prov'd by which Plants are petrified having the Nitrous Lime-Stone Particles closely united with their Earthy Parts I shall have a further Occasion of comparing the Nitrum Calcarium with the Tartarous Earth in Plants by both which Plants are petrified by the last Naturally and by the former Artificially and Externally Minerals are produc'd out of Juyces like Vegetables which sometimes grow into Figures resembling perfect Plants and have Branches and Joynts like them as if they had been petrified Plants but are really Natural Stones From this Likeness of Stones and Plants it is not improbable that there is a great Similitude in Principles and a propensity to change from one to the other In the Discourse about Fermentation I have more fully compared the Oyls and Acids of Minerals with Vegetables Vide. CHAP. II. Of the Similitude betwixt Mineral Principles and those of Vegetables THE Principles of Minerals are of the same Kind and Number as those of Vegetables Water is distilled from Salts and Mineral Earths and is necessary for the mixing of the other Principles Therefore Liquors are found in Mineral Stones and Stones had at first a Liquid Form. Water is the same in all Bodies but if extracted by Distillation it retains some Tincture from that particular Body from whence it is distill'd An Oyly Principle is manifest in Sulphureous Bodies as Antimony which may be reduc'd into a Butyrose Form by Distillation And all the Mineral Sulphurs may be easily extracted by Oyl of Turpentine with which they readily mix because of the Similitude of Oleous Parts The Oyliness of Mineral Sulphurs is more evident in the Distillation of Coal which yields a black Oyl Fetid like Harts-horn and as black and smoaky The Bitumens which have the Nature of Turpentine do most clearly convince us of the Oyliness of Mineral Sulphurs So that I need add no more to prove this Principle of Minerals The Third Principle of Minerals is an Acid which is acknowledg'd by all being evident in the Distillation of Sulphur and the Clyssus of Antimony This Acid adheres to the Oyly Sulphur in Minerals and locks it up thereby making it appear in a dry Form and therefore this may be compar'd to the Tartar in Vegetables which has always some Oyl in it By means of this Acid the Oyly Sulphur and the Earthy Parts are readily united in Mineral Bodies and therefore This is that
Caput Mortuum Ettmuller Quenched Lime is very cooling and drying in Vlcers though the unquenched be Caustick which proceeds from the mixt Salt of Lime The Oyly Part of the Sulphur is lost by the Fire the Acid mixes with the Earthy Parts into a mixt Salt. Flint has no Lixivial Salt in it Silex When Burnt and Quenched in White-Wine it is used as a Diuretick Flint has a Sulphureous Smell and communicates somewhat of a Sulphureous Acid to the Liquor it is quenched in Chalk has a Gritty Taste and a strong Creta Earthy Smell it corrects Acids Outwardly it corrects Acids in Vlcers and has something of the nature of Lead Crystals and Precious Stones I cannot Crystallus Lapides pretiosi find any thing in them but a Grittiness for curing Acids The Mineral Tincture is too little to have any effect and Effluviums are not to be expected from such Solids of any force Coral has a Gritty Taste and a Musky Corallium Smell when ground to Powder by the former it absorbs Acids and by the latter is Cordial which Cordial Fragrancy I believe depends upon the Milky Acrid Astringent Liquor observed in Corals Corals Calcined effervesce upon the affusion of Water like Lime They yield an Acid Phlegm in distillation and are of a middle nature betwixt Minerals and Vegetables Ettmuller says The Tincture and Salt of Coral are compounded of Coral and a Menstruum which is Acid. Pearls taste Gritty and have the same Perlae Musky Fragrancy when ground and the same Cordial Vertue as Coral They have their Origine from a Milky Liquor somewhat Saline which is bred in the Animal and as Stones in the Bladder becomes a Mineral Oyster-shells yield but a little Volatile Testae Ostrearum Salt in distillation but much Water There were some Volatile Salts which turned the Syrup of Violets Green therefore Oyster-shells have little of Animal Substance in them and are not of the nature of Bones for Shells have a Lixivial Salt in them like Lime I doubt whether the Volatile Salt obtained from them was not from some part of the Oyster sticking to the Shell Burnt Oyster-shells absorb Acids are drying in Vlcers and are good Dentrifices if burnt with Common Salt and Cure Putrid Gums The curious Observers of the Crystallization of common Salt tell us of a white Sand which settles to the bottom distinct from common Salt It may not improbably be supposed That the Shells have their Original from such like Sandy Coagulations in the Oyster that lives on Salt-Water the Water in the Shells being perfect Sea-Brine as was manifest to my Taste when I had evaporated the Liquor and therefore it is not Antiscorbutick as is supposed Such an insipid Earth Dr. Grew observed to fall out of the Lixivium of Ash-balls and the like Earth is Precipitated upon the Vitriolating of the Salt of Tartar. From such a Principle I suppose Petrisication does proceed Sponge-Stone distilled yields a Volatile Lapis Spongiae Oyl and Salt like Animals for which reason the Calcined is used for Scrophula's to absorb Acids Crabs-Eyes are of a Gritty Taste and a Oculi Cancrorum strong Chalky Smell if dissolved in Vinegar they taste Bitterish Salt and therefore are Diuretick having a latent Volatile Salt. Crabs-Claws have a strong Fetid Smell Chelae Cancrorum and act as a Gritt in absorbing Acids and by their Foetor which intimates a Volatile Oyly Salt they are a little Diaphoretick A Solution of Sea-Shells or other Stones in Spirit of Salt produces a Saltish Taste and so becomes a Diuretick All Marine things Calcin'd are like Calx viva All Alkalizate Medicines change their Taste and Nature in the Stomach The Fixt and Volatile Salts by the Animal Acid turn Sal-Ammoniack or Common Salt. Testaceous Medicines become also Saltish All Earths change to Aluminous and Astringent Tastes And Minerals especially Iron and Copper become Vitriolick in the Stomach of an Animal Marble is of the nature of Lime and Marmor yields the same Salt. Alabastre The Lixivium of it differs Alabastrum not from Aqua Calcis The Powder of Alabastre is taken against the Dysentery and a cooling Oyntment is made out of it for the Head. Blood-stone is of the nature of Iron and Lapis Haematitis may be used instead of Crocus Martis for Hemorrhages and is a good Ophthalmick Cicatrizer The Flowres of it Sublimed with Sal-Ammoniack are of an Orange Colour and Saffron Smell and therefore make an excellent Medicine Calamin-stone is of a Martial nature Lapis Calaminiaris easily absorbing Acids and cicatrizing very well it becomes Astringent by the mixture with Acid. Ochre has the nature of Iron and is a Ochra Styptick Earth in Taste because of some Copper that Ochre has mixt with it The use of it is most externally as an Astringent Bole Armenick Sealed and Lemnian Bolus Armena Terra sigillata Lemnia Earth They stick to the Tongue at first which shews their Astringency whereby they are fit for all Fluxes They taste also Fat and Mucilaginous by which they allay Sharp Acrid Salts and the Earthy Parts absorb the Acid. They have also a strong Earthy Sulphureous Smell whereby they may be also Diaphoretick in Vlcers They cicatrize and in Fevers resist Putrefaction By their Astringency and by their Mucilage they conglutinate Wounds Bole-Armenick has something of the nature of Iron and its Sulphur and yields an Acid in distillation Earth of Japan is Bitterish and Astringent Catechu whereby it stops Catarrhs in Lozenges It is a little Sweet and Perfumed and Fat like Bole and Gritty From these Tastes it seems a Composition of Juyce of Liquorish Bole and some Perfume and not a natural Earth Ettmuller says It is compounded of Sang Draconis Gum Arabick and Glycyrrhiza Marle tastes Rough and feels Oyly Marga. and has very small Sandy Parts it will not burn in the Fire nor melt It improves Ground by furnishing a Slime for Plants It is used outwardly for the Acid in Vlcers and corrects the same given inwardly to half a drachm in Sharpness and incontinency of Vrine depending on the Acidity of it Raddle It has the nature of Iron by Rubrica which it is Aperitive but most like other Earths Astringent good in Fluxes like Crocus Martis Astringens in Vlcers Cicatrizing and it cures the Acid in Humors ΦΑΡΜΑΚΟ-ΒΑΣΑÎΟΣ OR THE Touch-stone of Medicines c. The Fourth Part. OF THE Tastes and Vertues OF Animal Medicines CHAP. I. Of the Origine of Animal Humors and their Natural Tastes IT is very probable that Animal Humors and Tastes have the same Principles Mixtures and Tastes depending on them as the Juyces of Vegetables have because Animals are fed out of Vegetables and thence prepare their Humors Plants prepare their Juyces by Fermentation reducing them from the State of Mineral Mixture to a more rarified condition So Animals by their Digestions in their
The Sweet-Fetids But these Fetids will be mentioned in the following Classes 8. The Garlick-Fetids 9. The Cress-Fetids 10. The Corrosive-Fetids Venemous Plants I shall here only mention the Narcotick-Fetids which are Mucilaginous To which I will add the strong heady Opiates tho' rather Aromatick than Fetid The strong Aromaticks have a nature inclining to Fetid and something mixt of both in their smells and they are accounted something Soporiferous 1. Fetids with Mucilaginous Leaves with a mixt Smell of Aromatick and Fetid being Opiate and very heady bearing Fruit. Mala insana Syriaca Mandragoras has an Aromatick Fruit and the Bark smells Narcotick Pomum amoris Flos Africanus 2. Mucilaginous Leaves with Bitter Acrid Roots of a sweet heady offensive Smell Auricula Vrsi Primula veris. 3. Mucilaginous Bitterish Leaves with Bitter Acrid Milky Roots of a Poppy Fetid Smell Lactuca hortensis sylvestris Lactuca agnina Papaver rhoeas Papaver hortense Argemone 4. Mucilaginous Bitterish of a Solanum Fetid Smell Solanum lignosum Amomum Plinii Mirabilis Peruviana Solanum lethale Herba Paris Circaea Asclepias Tabaco Hyoscyamus 5. With a Fusty Smell like Mouse-Turds Lithospermum Cynoglossum whose Roots have a Sweet Slimy Pea-Taste Quaere Whether referible to that Class Nux Vomica smells like Opiates Fetid and is of a Bitter Slimy Taste it cause Trembling Convulsions and Shortness of Breath these Symptoms depend on the Poysoned Spirits for I find no alteration in the Stomach of a Dog poysoned by it or the Solanums Coculus Indi is very Bitter and Acrid and a Narcotick by which it offends Insects and Lice Opiates have a great Slime in the Bladders and a Bitter Acrid Fetid Gum or Milk like Opium which is their Oyly Juice and therefore by the Gummy Bitter Acrid Fetid they must be Classed and not by the Slime by reason whereof the Antients esteemed Opiates Cool tho' the Foetor and Acrimony shew them to be Hot Plants Opiates yield much Oyl by distillation â„¥ i. of Opium yields â„¥ ss of Oyl Ê’iii of Earth Ê’i of Water lbi of Poppy-Seeds yields â„¥ ix of Oyl of Water and Earth ana â„¥ iii. in a distillation in Sand as Bonetus mentions The Narcotick Faculty lies in the Foetor which depends on the Volatile Oyl which being Fetid like the Animal Spirits it acts on them and is offensive to them being too much Fetid for them it extinguishes their Lucidity as a Candle is put out by the Fumes in Mines or the Fumes of strong Liquors in Cellars or else the Mucilage passing into the Nerves with the Fetid Particles it may clog the motion of Spirits and produce a Stupor by obstructing the Nerves The Seventh CLASS Of Plants of an Acrid or Cress-Taste which are Bitterish or Sweet and Pungent Acrid ACrid Plants have a great deal of Volatile Salt Pungent from some Bitter Watry Gum in its Oyly Vessels this Gum is both Bitterish and Pungent The Bladders in Horse-radish Roots give a Sweetness which is digested into a Bitterness with Acrimony which may resemble the Gum of Bdellium which tastes Bitter Acrid and Celandine which is of this Class bleeds a Bitter Acrid Milk. Malpighius observes in the description of Onions That the Specifick Vessels being cut Ichorem quasi lac fundunt We want Cuts of this Taste more than any to describe their Milky Gum-Vessels If Plants were described according to their several Tastes by the Classes I would advise it to be done by a slice of the Stalk where the Specifick Vessels appear best because the Bladders are least for when I have doubted of the Oyly Tastes I have found them evident in the Stalk where I have perceived an Acrid which could not be tasted in the Root or Leaves as in Chelidonium minus The Oyly Balsams may be always tasted in the Seeds of Plants The Acrid Salt is tempered by the Oyl in Aromaticks but it is more Pungent in Acrids where there is less Oyl I suppose the Acrid Salt has some pointed Figure like other Volatile Salt. All Salts are compounded of Oyl Acid and Earth but this Pungency in Plants seems to be the Oyl and Acid of Plants only and because of its want of Earth or sufficient Acid does not taste Salt. This Composition of Oyl and Acid in Plants spends the Oyl of Plants and turns it into another Taste and a long Figure on which the Pungency depends and the quick pungent Smell different from the Smells of Resins and Turpentines The Pungency in Choler is the ground of the Animal Salt and if Acrid Plants as Woad be putrefied it yields a Volatile Urinous Salt The Pungency therefore in Plants is the Embryo of a Volatile Salt and may be esteemed an imperfect Salt wanting either the Acid part or Earthy to give it a Saltness as the Acid of digested Meat gives a Saltness to Cholers Acrid so by Putrefaction a Volatile Acid is produced to give a Saltness to the Pungency of Plants The Species of Acrids may be the Aromatick-Acrid the Cress-Acrid and the Corrosive but I think fit to make distinct Classes of these The Species of Cress-Acrids are 1. The Fragrant-Cresses 2. Pure Cress-Acrids 3. The Colouring-Cresses 4. The Sweetish-Cresses 5. Fetid-Cresses 6. Pepper-Cresses 7. Garlick-Cresses 8. Garlick Slimy-Acrids 9. Gummy-Acrids 1. Acrid Tastes with Mucilaginous Leaves and Fragrant Flowers and Bitter Acrid Seeds Leucoium sativum luteum Viola lunaria Hesperis Lysimachia siliquosa Thlaspi Creticum 2. With a Cress Pungent Smell without any Aromatick Erysimum Barbarea Nasturtium aquaticum hortense Cardamine Paronychia vulgaris Cochlearia Bursa pastoris Nasturtium Indicum Sinapi Draba Iberis Rapistrum Turritis Myagrum Coronopus Ruellii 3. Bitter Acrid Slimy Colouring Plants Luteola Glastum Ophioglossum Chelidonium majus the Bitterness is like the Madders but the first seem to be of the Pea-Class 4. Acrid joyned with a Sweetness in the Leaves or Roots besides the Bitterishness Rapum Rhaphanus Brassica vulgaris multiflora Vrtica has Sweet Acrid Roots Nettle-Juice tastes Bitterish like Cresses and is Diuretick like them and Acrid 5. Acrid Bitter and Fetid Eruca Sophia Chirurgorum Ruta Fraxinella which smells like Ruta upon rubbing Gerard supposes it to be called Tragium from its smell of a Goat I refer Rue to this Class by its Acrimony and similitude of Figure to the Cresses The Seeds of Fraxinella grow in Cods and by its Bitter-Acrid I have placed it here Fraxinella has a sort of Turpentine Fragrancy at first but upon rubbing a Rue-Smell Dentaria is described by Mr. Ray to be Gustu fervido Gerard describes it of an unpleasant Savor and sharp in Taste whose Flowers are shaped like Stock-Gilliflowers and the Seed contained in Corniculis like Hesperis The Coralloides is described of a Bitter and Hot Taste having Seeds like Rocket For these Reasons I take these Plants to be of this Class 6. Acrid with the Taste and Odor of Pepper Lepidium vulgare Piper sive Capsicum Indicum Jamaica-Pepper has a savour of Cloves 7. Acrid
like a Plant and branches it self in the Earth and has a chalky Pith It is esteemed a petrified Marle Dr. Grew observes That a fat putrid Substance like rotten Wood is found with it which he thinks the Mother of it Lapis Judaicus is Flinty but by rubbing it looks like Chalk It ferments with Spirit of Nitre and is of the nature of Chalk being used as a Diuretick 2. Stones of a greater hardness as Lime-stone Marble Alabaster all which burnt yield a Lime I have seen a Lime-stone finely polished which in its coloured Veins resembled Marble and is plentifully found in Hereford-shire and there Lime is made of it I burnt a piece of building Stone into Lime which is used in many places both for Stone and Lime Gypsum ustum is Styptick and dries Vlcers in the Mouth and is used for sore Horse backs Calx viva has a Styptick burning and corrosive Taste From the common Lime-stone a Sulphureous Acid may be distilled The Lime-stone is burnt half away in the Fire and an Oyl is observed to sweat out of it in burning This Sulphureous Oyly Acid unites with the Earth into a Salt and gives the Stypticity to burnt Lime These Experiments shew the natural composition of Stones that they have both Oyl and Acid in their Bodies Spirit of Vitriol makes Lime-water Bitterish by separating the Oyl from the Earthy part with which it unites From this mixture evaporated by addition of Salt of Tartar a Volatile Salt may be distilled which smells Urinous This Experiment shews the Volatility of the Salt of Lime and hence it has its Urinous Smell and some of it passes over in the distillation of Sal Ammoniac which makes it somewhat Corrosive This Volatile Earth of Lime seems to be the terrene part necessary in the composition of Salt by the addition of an Oyly Acid And this may be the Alkalizate part in all Plants The Ashes of Plants and Calx of Lime agree in their Saltness and both are used for the Improvement of Land. 2. The Second Species of Stones is of those glassy Stones which have the hardness and nature of Flints These being ground to Powder have angular edges like broken Glass whereby they cleanse and scowre the Kidnies from Sandy coagulations Sand is of the nature of Flints and seems to be the product of Sea-Salt being plentifully produced in the making of Salt. And Le Mort observes that Arenae masticatae salsum blandum gustum linguae communicant And Sand is also produced from the Animal Salts coagulated in the Kidnies Black Sand is from Iron yellow from Ocher green from Copper golden from Gold intermixt with it in its coagulation The Nitrum calcarium is the chief part of Flints which coagulates either with the Lime-stone Particles in common Sand or else with some Mineral in coloured Flints The gritty Stones used for Building is nothing but a congeries of Sand. This grows soft in the Fire but will not burn into Lime the Clay which unites the Sand is dryed by the Fire No flinty Stones will burn into Lime Lapis Nephriticus is flinty and ragged like the Stones of the Kidnies it looks Oyly without and is of a pale green colour It is a kind of Jaspis having its Tincture from Iron and all its Vertue is to be deduced thence Common Flints and common Pebbles which are Flints smell Sulphureous if knocked together and strike Fire by a brisk agitation of the Sulphureous Particles When they are burnt in the Fire and quenched in Water they crack and give a Sulphureous Taste to it The Water will not ferment by an Acid neither would it turn with Galls though the Water tasted very much of Steel Flints and Pebbles have divers Metals mixed with them as Iron Gold Silver Copper c. and sometimes divers Earths or Boles which colour the Stones Gems seem not to differ from Flints in which Diamonds are bred Crystal is the softest It is used in Powder to abate the Acid in Colicks and the poyson of Sublimate which is a corrosive Vitriol I cannot believe that Gems can be dissolved in the Stomach because Pebbles pass through the Guts of Hens undissolved and also Fruit-stones which are less hard The coloured Gems are coloured Flints Rubines Granates Hyacinth have their Tincture from Gold and likewise their Vertue Aq. Regis extracts the Tincture from Granates like that of Gold to which a Cordial Vertue is attributed because it is made like a Vitriol by dissolution by a Menstruum and that raises the Fermentation of the Blood but it is impossible that the Liquors in the Stomach should dissolve Gold and therefore they cannot extract a Tincture from these Stones The Smaragdus and Jaspis have their green colour from Iron and that Astringency and Chalybeate Faculty which is attributed to them in Bleeding and Fluxes but a little powder of Steel is more efficacious for though Iron is dissolvable by Acids yet Iron Ore such as is in the Stones cannot yield to them Saphires have their Sky-colour from Copper and are used as Vitriol in Eye-Medicines Topazes have their Vertue and Saffron-colour from Iron The Salts of precious Stones are only a composition of the Acid and the Stone Some precious Stones are said to smell fragrant when ground but I could not observe the Fragrancy in some which had been long powdered I will mention what I find in the Illustrious Kircher Geodes Misenus violae odorem refert It has the Vertue of Aetites and is a Stone of the same nature Lapis Marieburgicus moschum olet serpilli Kircher Mundus subter de lapidibus odorem Turingicus musti odorem ophites vinum olet echites lac galactites sulphuris odorem marchasitae silices succinum gagates resinae odorem The Sulphur in some precious Stones is like a Flame and shines in the dark by rubbing or warm Water as some Diamonds These are the natural Mineral Noctiluca's which like those made of Animal Humors are shining and Sulphureous This Sulphur gives the Violet Fragrancy in some Stones and thence some effects may be produced on Animal Spirits 3. Stones of a Metalline hardness and something Vitriolick from the Metals they contain All Metals are fixed in some Stony Mineral as Spar Lime-stone or such like I distilled some Iron-stone in an Earthen Retort it yielded a Phlegm which smelt Sulphureous and tasted Vitriolick Sweet and turned Syrup of Violets green This Iron-stone burnt in the Furnace was a pure Flint This I had from my Worthy Friend Mr. Humphry Jennings's Furnace in Warwick-shire near Aston Lapis haematites I distilled a red Liquor from Lapis haematites and Sal Ammoniac of an Aluminous Taste fit for Fluxes and of a Saffron Smell and therefore called Aroma Philosoph by Zwelfer The Tincture made of Vitriolum Martis and Saccharum Saturni looks of the same colour and is an extraordinary Styptick in Fluxes and is called the Tinct Antiphthisica An artificial Blood-stone is produced by the Sublimation of Vitriol
which I have observ'd viz. 1. A Slimy Oyl which is express'd from Linseed and other Mucilaginous Seeds 2. A Sweet Slimy Oyl such as is observable in Oyl of Almonds Walnuts and other Nuts and is the Product of an higher Digestion 3. A Bitter Oyl as in Liquid Turpentines or express'd Oyl of Pistache-Nuts and Seeds of St. John's wort and the Oyls of some Kernels as Bitter-Almonds and Peach-Kernels These differ from the former by having the Texture of the Oyl and Acid alter'd by which Alteration Sweet becomes Bitter through an higher Digestion 4. Aromatick-Acrid Oyls such as are express'd out of Nutmeg Mace and Anniseed In these a Volatile Pungency joyns with the Oyl and renders it Aromatick 5. A Fetid Oyl is expressible from Fetid Seeds and is evident in Leguminous Plants 6. A Coagulated Oyl in Resins or else mixt with a Gumminess in Gum-Resins None can rationally suppose Vegetables to have so many sorts of Oyls essentially different but only distinguished by the several Mixtures of the Principles by Digestion differing in one Plant from another Vegetables receive not only their Acid but also Oyl from Minerals CHAP. VII Of Wine and Fermentation FRom Water and Earth mixt and an outward Heat digesting them no Fermentation can be produced but the Water is evaporated and the Earth powder'd Therefore we must examine the other Two Principles of Vegetables and from them we may deduce all the Phaenomena of Vegetation Fermentation and also the particular Vertues produced by them It is a known Experiment That Oyl of Turpentine and Vitriol will effervesce and continue the Heat produced by that Ebullition for a long time Spirit of Nitre and Spirit of Wine also produce a great Heat From these Experiments a Contrariety betwixt Oyl and Acid is very manifest and this is not so soon over as the Ebullition betwixt Alkalies and Acids I shall endeavour to explain all the Effects above-mention'd from these Two Oyl and Acid and their Effervescence and I do wholly reject the Effervescence of Alkalies and Acids because That soon ceases by an Union of both into a Salt which is not found to happen upon Fermentation And we could never yet find that a Spirit or Salt could be separated by any gentle Distillation from New Wine or New Ale unfermented A great Acid put to Fermenting Liquors hinders the Fermentation of them And also a Fixt Salt is found to hinder their Fermentation From these Reasons mention'd I am convinced that Alkali Volatiles are no ways the Efficient Causes of Fermentation but only the Products of it by a Composition of Oyl Acid and Earth The Seeds of Plants are very full of an Oyl which differs only from the Oyl in Turpentine by a different Digestion For Turpentine has a Mucilage or Gumminess in it which chiefly appears in Mucilaginous Plants Those Trees which yield a Watry Gum have a bitterish Bark which therefore resemble Turpentines by both Tastes The Seeds of Alder have the Figure of Pine-Apples and the Leaves a Gumminess from whence I thought it had a sort of Turpentine The bitter Milks of Vegetables are only like dissolv'd Turpentine and they dry into a Gum or Resin The Laurel-Bitters such as Almonds and Peaches have a Bitterness and also a Gumminess like Turpentine And those Trees have a lasting Greenness like Turpentine-Trees as Firr and Pine. The number of plain Turpentine-Trees and Plants are very great That Plants of a sweet Taste have their Oyl from Turpentine is not improbable because we find a great Sweetness in the Taste of Ripe Ivy-Berries and Juniper-Berries which are manifestly Turpentine-Trees And the Roots of Fennil have a Balsam and taste Sweet That all Aromatick Oyls and Resins in Aromaticks are pure Turpentines I suppose is evident enough by comparing them together and for the Reasons I have mention'd in the First Part. And for the same Reason all Fetids are likewise Turpentines which are Fetid as well as Aromatick I cannot but believe that all Effluviums in Vegetables which produce a Smell have their Volatility by which they are carried from the Vegetable and act on the Sense of Smelling from some Oyliness Hence Earths are smelt by a Sulphur in them Acids have also an Oyl mixt with them as in Tartar and Vinegar Sweet Tastes smell Mellowy from an Oyl and Acid digested with Water and Earth And Terebinthinate-Smells are from Turpentine Particles evaporating And all Aromaticks and Fetids from Resins For the clearer Proof of which I shall mention what Dr. Lister writes Illustre exemplum de ligno Cedrino Bermudensi olim dedimus scilicet id apud me multos annos nec jam desinere resinam suam totâ substantiâ vaporare And I cannot believe that Salts could give any Smell but from their Oyly Part which is one of their Ingredients Therefore Vegetables affect the Sense of Smelling by Oyl joyn'd with Earth or Acid and with Acid and Earth in Salt or Resins All which act on the Organ in the Form of Effluviums And this Sense is therefore Quaedam tactus species as well as Taste And from this Likeness of Impression and also the Likeness of the Object we often find Tastes and Smells very much alike the Plant tasting as it smells I did omit this about the Nature of Smells in the First Part and therefore have here added it as not very impertinent because Smells are the Effects of Fermentation and are most observable and also deducible from Turpentines And I also forgot There to observe That many Smells are compounded as Bitter and Sweet Tastes are frequently in the same Plant joyn'd because Sweet easily become Bitter So Fetids and Aromaticks are frequently joyn'd in Smells as Galeopsis Valerian Pulegium and Nepeta have both Fetid and Aromatick Smells From whence I argue That they differ but in Degree as Sweet and Bitter do I have taken notice in the First Part That the Acid of Vegetables tastes like Acids of Sulphur and from thence it will appear that it arises in the Discourse which I shall annex about Minerals I shall here only observe That Tartar is Inflammable like Brimstone and when it is distill'd it is very Fetid and an Oyl is separated from it Such is the Composition of Sulphur and Acid. An Oyly Part is closely lock't up in it as in common Tartar. Upon the Mixture of Oyl of Sulphur per Campanam with Oyl of Turpentine a Redness was immediately precipitated as it happen'd in the Mixture of the same with Oyl of Vitriol Spirit of Salt only turn'd Yellow Sweet Spirit of Nitre did not change From these Instances it appears That an Oyliness is lodg'd in Sulphur and Tartar So that the Ingredients which compound the Acid of Sulphur and Tartar which is the Acid of Plants are very much alike as well as the Taste of both the Pungency of the Acid in Vinegar depends on the Oyl of Wine and the Pungency in Spirit of Sulphur on the Sulphur latent in the Acid The Roughness in Acerb