great transpiration or evaporation of Spirits use to be killed because through attraction the Air taking the room of the Spirits which issue forth by the evaporation the pestiferous atomes which are scatter'd in the air and accompany it use to stick to their feathers skins or furs And for the same reason we see that Bread coming hot out of the Oven put upon the Bung draws to it the Must of the Cask which would spoil the Wine and that Onions and such hot bodies which perpetually exhale fiery parts as appears by the strength of their smel are quickly poison'd with infectious airs if they be exposed to them and 't is one of the signs to know whether the whole mass of the air be universally infected And one might reduce to this head the great attraction of air by calcin'd bodies and particularly by Tartar all ignited by the violent action of the fire which is crowded and encorporated among it's Salt I have observed that it attracts to it nine times more air than it self weighs For if one expose to the air a pound of Salt of Tartar well calcin'd and bâ—rnt it will â—ffâ—rd ten pound of good Oil of Tartar drawâ—â—g to it and so incorporating the circumjacent air and that is mingled with it as it befell that Oâ—l of Tartar which Monâ—ir Fâ—rrier made me wherof I spake before But methâ—nks all this is but little compared to the attraction of air by the body of a certain Nâ—n at Rome wherof Peâ—rus Servius â—râ—aâ— the Eâ—ght's Physician makes mention in a Book which he hath published touching the marvailous accidents which he observ'd in his time Had I not such a vouchy I durst not produce this History although the Nun her self confirm'd it to me and a good number of Physicians assured me of the truth thereof There was a Nun that by excesse of fasting watching and mental orisons was so â—eaâ—ed in her body that she seem'd to be all on fire and her bones dryed up and calcin'd This heat then this inâ—ernal fire drawing the air powerfully this air incorporated within her body as it uses to do in Salt of Tartar and the passages being all open it got to those parts where there is most serosity which is the bladder and thence she rendred it in water among her Urine and that in an incredible quantity for she voided during some Weeks more than two hundred pounds of Water every four and twenty hours With this notable example I will put an end to the experiments I have urged to prove and explicate the attrâ—ction made of air by hot and igâ—ited bodies which are of the nature of fire My Sixth Principle shall be that When fire or some hot body attracts the Air and that which is within the Air if it happens that within that air there be found some dispersed aâ—oms of the same nature with the body that draws them such atoms are more powerfully attracted than if they were Bodies of a different nature and they stay stick and mingle more willingly with the body which draws them The Reason hereof is the Resemblance and Sympathy they have one with the other If I should not explicate wherein this Resemblance consisted I should expose my self to the same censure and blame as that which I taxed at the beginning of my discourse in those who spake but lightly and vulgarly of the Powder of Sympathy and such marvels of Nature But when I shall have cleared that which I contend for by such a resemblance and conveniency I hope then you will rest satisfied I could make you see that there are many sorts of Resemblances which cause an Union between bodies but I will content my self to speak here only of three signal ones The first Resemblance shall be in Weight whereby bodies of the same degree of heaviness assemble together The reason wherof is evidenâ— For if one body were lighter it would occupy a higher situation than the heavier body as on the contrary if a body were more weighty it would descend lower than that which is less heavy but both having the same degree of heavâ—ness they keep company together in equilibrio As one may see by experience in this gentile example which some curious spirits use to Produce to make us understand how the Four Elements are situated one above the other according to their weight They put in a vial the spâ—rit of Wine tinctur'd with red to represent the Fire the spirit of Turpentine tinctur'd with blew for the Air the spirit of Water tinctur'd with green and represent the element of Water And to represent the Earth the Powder of some solid Metal enamell'd you see them one upon the other wâ—thout mixâ—ng and if you shake them together by a violent◠〈◊〉 you shal see a Chaos such a confusion that it wil seem there 's no particular atoms that belong to any of those bodies they are so hudled pel mel altogether But cease this agitation and you shall see presently every one of these four substances go to its natural place calling again labouring to unite all their atoms in one distinct mass that you shall see no mixture at all The second Resemblance of bodies which draw one another and unite is among them which are of the same degree of Rarity and Density The nature and effect of Quantity is to reduce to unity all things which it finds if some other stronger power as the differing substantial Form which multiplies it do not hinder And the reason is evident For the â—ssence of Quantity is Divisibility or a Capacity to be divided that is to be made Many whence may be inferr'd that Quantity it self is not-many 't is therfore of it self and in its own nature one continued extension Seeing then that the nature of Qâ—antity in general tends to Unity and Continuity the first differences of Quantity which are Rarity and Density must produce the same effect of Unity and Continuity in those bodies which participate in the same degree of them For proof whereof we find that water unites and incorporates it self strongly and easily with water oil with oil spirit of wine with spirit of wine but water and oil will hardly unite nor mercury with the spirit of wine and so other bodies of differing density and tenuity The third Resemblance of bodies which unites and keeps them strongly together is that of Figure I will not serve my self here with the ingenious conceit of a Great Personage who holds that the continuity of Bodies results from some smal hooks or clasps which keep them together and are different in bodies of a differing nature But not to extend my self too diffusively in every particularity I will say in gross as an apparent thing that every kind of body affects a particular Figure We see it plainly in the several sorts of Salt peel and stamp them separately dissolve coagulate and change them as long as you please they come again alwayes to their own natural figure
not to be feared that the continuity of the Water will break ascending this scale of chords or that it will recoil backwards for those little ladders so easy to be mounted render the ascent facile and the woolly fibres of every thrid seem to reach their hands to help them up at every step and so the facility of geting up joyn'd with the fluidness of the water and the nature of quantity which tends always to the uniting of substances and bodies which it clothes when there occurs no other predominant cause to break and divide it causes that the water keeps it self in one piece and passes above the brink of the pot After that its voâ—age is made more easie for it follows its natural tendence always downwards And if the end of the cloth hangs lower without the pot than the surface of the water within the water drops into the ground or some Vessel placed underneath as we see a chord being hung upon a pully the longest and heaviest end falls upon the ground and carries away the shortest and lightest drawing it over the pully But if the end of the cloth without the pot were horizontal with the surface of the water and hung no lower than it the water would be immoveable as the two sides of a Ballance when there 's equal weight in both the scales And if one should pour out part of the water that is in the pot so that the superficies grow lower than the end of the cloth without in that case the ascending water becoming more heavy than the descendant on the other side without the pot it would call back that which was gone out before and ready to fall and would make it thrust on and return to its former pace and enter again into the pot to mingle with the water there You see then this mystery which at first was surprizing displaid and made as familiar and natural as to see a stone fall down from the air 'T is true that to make a demonstration thereof exact and compleatly rigorous we must add other circumstances which I have done in another Discourse wherein I expressly treated of this subject But that which I now say is sufficient to give a taste how this so notable Attraction is performed The other Attraction by Fire which draws to it the ambient air with the small bodies therein is wrought thus The Fire acting according to its own nature which it to push on a continual river or exhalation of its parts from the center to the circumference carries away with it the air adjoyned and sticking to it on all sides as the water of a river trains along with it the earth of that channel or bed through which it glides For the air being humid and the fire dry they cannot do less than embrace and hug one another But there must new air come from the places circumjacent to fill the room of that which is carried away by the fire otherwise there would a vacuity happen which nature abhors This new air remains not long in the place it comes to fill but the fire which is in a continual carreer and emanation of its parts carries it presently away and draws other and so there is a peâ—petual and constant current of the air as long as the action of fire continues We daily see the experience hereof For if one makes a good fire in ones Chamber it draws the air from the door and windows which though one would shut yet there be crevices and holes for the air to enter and coming near them one shall hear a kind of whistling noise which the air makes in pressing to enter 'T is the same cause that produces the sound of the Organ and Flute And he who would stand between the crevices and the fire should find such an impetuosity of that artificial wind that he would be ready to freeze while he is ready to burn the other side next the fire And a Wax-candle held in this current of wind would melt by the flame blown against the wax and waste away in a very short time wheras if that Candle stood in a calm place that the flame might burn upward it would last much longer But if there be no passage wherby the air may enter into the Chamber one part then of the vapor of the wood which should have converted to flame and so mounted up the funnel of the Chimney descends downward against its nature to supply the defect of air within the said Chamber and fills it with smoke but at last the fire choaks and extinguishes for want of air Whence it comes to pass that the Chymists have reason to say that the air is the life of fire as well as of animals But if one puts a Bason or Vessel of water before the fire upon the hearth there will be no smoke in the Chamber although it be so close shut that the air cannot enter for the fire attracts part of the water which is a liquid substance and easie to move out of its place which aquatic parts rarifie themselves into air and therby perform the functions of the air This is more evidently seen if the Chamber be little for then the air which is there pen'd in is sooner rais'd up and carried away And by reason of this attraction they use to make great fires where there is houshold-stuff of persons that dyed of the Pestilence to dis-infect it For by this inundation of attracted air the fire as it were sweeps the walls floor and other places of the Chamber and takes away those little putrified sharp corrosive and venomous bodies which were the infection that adhered to it drawing them into the fire where they are partly burnt and partly sent up into the Chimney accompanied with the atomes of the fire and the smoke 'T is for this reason that the great Hippocrates who groped so far into the secrets of Nature dis-infected and freed from the Plague a whole Province or entire Region by causing them to make great fires every where Now this manner of attraction is made not only by simple fire but by that which partakes of it viz. by hot substances and that which is the reason and cause of the one is also the cause of the other For the Spirits or ignited parts evaporating from such a substance or hot body carry away with them the adjacent air which must necessarily be supplied by other air or some matter easily rariâ—iable into air as we have spoken of the bason and tub of water put before the fire to hnder smoke 'T is upon this foundation that Physicians ordain the application of Pigeons or Puppy's or some other hot Animals to the soles of the feet or the hand-wrists or the stomachs or navils of their Patients to extract out of their bodies the wind or ill vapours which infect them And in time of contagion or universal infection of the air Pigeons Cats Dogs with other hot Animals which have continually a
because he would think it peradventure either ineffectual or superstitious He reply'd The wonderful things which many have related to me of your way of medicament makes me nothing doubt of its efficacy and all that I have to say to you is comprehended in the Spanish Proverb Hagase el milagro y hagalo Mahoma Let the miracle be done though Mahomet do it I ask'd him then for any thing that had the blood upon it so he presently sent for his Garter wherewith his hand was first bound and as I call'd for a Bason of water as if I would wash my hands I took a handful of Powder of Vitriol which I had in my Study and presently dissolv'd it As soon as the bloody Garter was brought me I put it in the Bason observing the while what Mr. Howel did who stood talking with a Gentleman in a corner of my Chamber not regarding at all what I was doing But he started suddenly as if he had found some strange alteration in himself I ask'd him what he ail'd I know not what ails me said he but I find that I feel no more pain me-thinks a pleasing kind of freshness as it were a wet cold napkin spread it self over my hand which hath taken away the inflammation that tormented me before I reply'd since then you feel already so good an effect of my medicament I advise you to cast away all your plaisters only keep the wound clean and in a moderate temper 'twixt heat and cold After dinner I took the Garter out of the water and put it to dry before a great fire It was scarce dry but Mr. Howel's servant came running to tell me that his Master felt as much burning as ever he had done if noâ— more for the heat was such as if his hand were betwixt coales of fire I anâ—wer'd that although that had hapned at present yet he should find ease in a short time for I knew the reason of this new accident and I would provide accordingly so that his Master should be free from that inflammation it may be before he could possibly return unto him but in case he found no ease I wish'd him to come presently back again if not he might forbear coming Away he went and at the instant I put again the Garter into the water therupon he found his Master without any pain at all To be brief there was no sense of pain afterward but within five or six days the wounds were cicatriced and entirely healed King Iames required a punctual information of what had passed touching this cure and after it was done and perfected his Majesty would needs know of me how it was done having droll'd with me first which he could do with a very good grace about a Magician and a Sorcerer I answer'd That I should be always ready to perform what his Majesty should command but I most humbly desired him before I should passe further that I might tell him what the Auâ—hour of whom I had the Secret said to the great Duke of Toscany upon the like occasion It was a Religious Carmelâ—te that came from the Indies and Persia to Florence he had also been at China who having done many marvellous cures with this Powder after his arrival to Toscany the Duke said he would be very glad to learn it of him It was the father of the Great Duke who governs now The Carmelite answer'd him That it was a Secret which he had learnt in the Oriental parts and he thought there was not any who knew it in Europe but himself and that it deserv'd not to be divulged which could not be hindred if his Highness would meddle with the practice of it because he was not likely to do it with his own hands but must trust a Surgeon or some other servant so that in a short time divers other would come to know it as well as himself But a few months after I had opportunity to do an important courtesie to the said â—ryar which induced him to discover unto me his Secret and the same year he return'd to Persia that now there is no other knows this Secret in Europe but my self The King replied That I needed not apprehend any fear that 〈◊〉 would discover it for he would not trust any body in the World to make experience of this Secret but do it with his own hands therfore he would have some of the Powderâ— which I deliver'd instructing him in all the circumstances Wherupon his Majesty made sundry proofs whence he reciv'd singular satisfaction In the Intâ—rim Dr. Mayerne his first Physician watch'd to discover what was done by this Secret and at last he came to know that the King made use of Vitriol Afterwards he accosted me saying he durst not demand of me my Secret because I made some difficulty to discover it to the King himself But having learnt with what matter it was to be done he hoped I would communicate to him all the circumstances how it is to be used I answer'd him That if he had asked me before I I would frankly have told him all for in his hands there was no fear that such a secret should be prostituted and so I told him all A little after the Doctor went into France to see some fair Territories he had purchased near Geneva which was the Barony of Aubonne In this voyage he went to see the Duke of Mayerne who had been a long time his friend and protector and he taught him this Secret wherof the Duke made many experiments which if any other but a Prince had done it may be they had passed for effects of Magick and enchantments After the Dukes death who was kill'd at the siege of Montauban his Surgeon who waited on him in doing cures sold this Secret to divers persons of Quality who gave him considerable sums for it so that he became very rich therby The thing being fall'n thus into many hands remain'd not long in termes of a Secret but by degrees came to be so divulged that now there is scarce any Country Barber but knows it Behold Sirs the genealogy of the Powder of Smpathy in this part of the World with a notable History of a cure perform'd by it 'T is time now to come to the discussion how it is done It must be avowed that 't is a marvellous thing that the hurt of a wounded person should be cured by the application of a remedy put to a rag of cloth or a weapon at a great distance Yet it is not to be doubted but after a long and profound speculation of all the oeconomy and concatenation of natural causes which may be adjudged capable to produce such effects one may fall at last upon the true ones which must have subtle resorts and means to act Hitherto they have been wrap'd up in darknesse and esteem'd so inaccâ—essible that they who have undertaken to speak or write of them at least those I have seen have been contented to speak of
of Tartar twenty pound may be as easily made as two without encrease of charge he took occasion hereby to make a quantity for his own use When he brought it me the oil smelt so strong of the Rose that I complain'd of his mingling it with that water wheras I had desired him to do it purely by exposing it to the humid air for I verily thought he had dissolved the Salt of Tartar in rose-Rose-water He swore to me that he had not mingled it with any liquor but had left the Tartar calcind within his Cellar to dissolve of it self It was then the season of Roses therfore it seems that the Air being then full of the atomes which come from the Roses and being changed into water by the powerful attraction of the Salt of Tartar their smel became very sensible in the place where they were gathered together as the beams of the Sun do burn being crowded together in a burning glasse There hapned also another marvailous thing touching this Oil of Tartar which may serve to prove a proposition we have not yet touched but not to interrupt the course of the story I will tell it you by way of advance It was that as the Season of Roses passed the smel of the Rose vanish'd away from the said Oil of Tartar so that in three or four months it was quite gone But we were much surprized when the next year the said odor of Roses return'd as strong as ever and so went away again towards winter which course it still observs Which made Monsir Ferrier keep it as a singular rarity and the last Summer I found the effect in his house We have in London an unlucky and troublesome confiâ—mation of this doctrine for the air uses to be full of such atomes The fuel in that great City is commonly pit-Coal brought from Newcastle or Scotland This Coal haâ—h in it a great quantity of volatil Salt very sharp which being carried on by the Smoke uses to dissipate it self and fill the air Wherwith it so incorporates that although we do not see it yet we find the effect for it spoils Beds Tapistries and other houshold stuffs that are of any beautiful fair colour the fuliginous air tarnishing it by degrees And though one should lock up his Chamber very clean and come not thither in a good while yet at his return he will find a black kind of thin soot cover all his houshold-stuff as we see in Mâ—lls there is a white dust as also in Bakers shops which uses to whiten the walls and somtimes gets into cup-boards and chests The said coal-soot also gets abroard and fouls cloths upon hedges as they are a drying as also in the Spring time the very leavs of Trees are besooted therewith Now in regard that it is this air which the lungs draw for respiration among the Inhabitants therfore the flegme and spittle which comes from them is commonly blackâ—sh and fuliginous Moreover the acrimony of this â—oot produces another funest effect for it makes the people subject to inflammations and by degrees to ulcerations in the Lungs It is so corrosive and biting that if one put Gammons of Bacon or Beef or any other flesh within the chimney it so dries it up that it spoils it Wherfore they who have weak lungs quickly feel it whence it comes to pass that almost the one halâ— of them who dye in London dye of ptisical and pulmonical distempers spiâ—ting commonly blood from their ulcerated lungs But at the beginning of this malady the remedy is very easie It is but to send them â—o a place where the air is good Many who have means â—o pay the charge of such a journey come to Paris and they 〈◊〉 use to recover their healths in perfection The 〈◊〉 inconveniences are also though the operations be not so strong in the City of Liâ—ge where the Common People burn no other than pit-coals which they call hâ—ville Paris it self also though the air about it be excellent yet is subject to incommodities of that nature The excessivly stinking dirt and chanels of that vast City mingles a great deal of ill allay with the purity of the air stuffing it every where with corrupâ—ed atomes which yet are not so pernicious as those of London We find that the most neat and polished Silver Plate exposed to the air becomes in a short time livid and foâ—l which proceeds from no other cause than those black atomes the true colouâ— of putrefaction which stick to it I know a Person of Qâ—ality and a singular friend of mine who is lodg'd in a place where on oâ—e side a great many poor people inhabit few Carts use to pass and fewer Coaches His neighbours behind his house empty their filth and ordures in the middle of the street which uses hereby to be ful of mounts of filth to be carried away by Tombrells but when they they remove these ordures you cannot imagine what a stench what kind of infectious air is smelt thereabour every where The Servants of my said Friend when this happens use to cover their Plate and Andirons and other of their fairest houshold-stuff with Cotton or course Bays otherwise they would be all â—arnished Yet nothing hereof is seen within the air however these experiences manifestly convince that the air is stuffed with such atomes I cannot omit to add hereto another experiment which is that we find by the effects how the rays of the Moon are cold and moist 'T is without controversie that the luminous parts of those rays come from the Sun the Moon having no light at all in her as her ecclipses bear witness which happen when the Earth is just twixt her and the Sun and by such interposition hinders her to have light from his rays The beams then which come from the Moon are those of the Sun which glancing upon her reflect upon us and so bring with them the atoms of that cold and humâ—d-star participating of the â—ouâ—â—e whence they come Whence if one expose a hollow bason or glass to assemble them he shall find that wheras those of the Sun burn by such a conjuncture these clean contrary refresh and mâ—isten in a notable manner leaving an aquatick and viscuous glutining kind of sweat upon the glass One would think it a folly to talk of washing hands in a well polished Silver Bason wherin there is not a drop of water yet this may be done by the reflexion of the Moon beams only which will afford a competent humidity to do it But they who have tryed this have found their hands after they are wiped to be much moister than usually and this is an infallible way to take away Warts from the hands if it be often used Let us then conclude out of these premises and experiments that the Air is ful of atomes drawn from bodies by means of the light which reflects theron or sallying out by the interior natural heat of those bodies which drive them
to wit one year with Barley the next with Wheat the third with Beans and the fourth year they let it rest and dung it that it may recover its vigor by attraction of the vital spirit it receivs from the air and so be plow'd up again after the same degrees Now the year that the field is cover'd with Beans Passengers use to smell them at a good distance off if the wind blow accordingly and they be in flower It is a smell that hath a suavity with it but fading and afterwards is unpleasant and heady But the smell of Rosemary which comes from the coasts of Spain goes much further I have sail'd along those coasts divers times and observ'd always that the Mariners know when they are within thirty or forty leagues of the Continent I do not exactly remember the distance and they have this knowledge from the smell of the Rosemary which so abounds in the fields of Spain I have smelt it as senâ—ibly as if I had had a branch of Rosemary in my hand and this a day or two before we could discover land 't is true the wind was in our faces and came from the shore Some Naturalists write that Vultures have come two or three hundred leagus off by the smell of carrens and dead bodies left in the field after some bloody Battle and it was known that these Bâ—rds came from afar off because none used breed near They have a quick smelling and it must be that the rotten atoms of those dead Carcaffes were transported by the air so far and those Birds having once caught the scent pursue it to the very source and the nearer they come to that the stronger it is We will conclude here that which we had to say touching the great extent of those little Bodies which by the mediation of the Sun-beams and of the Light use to issue out of all Bodies that are composed of Elements which throng in the air and are carried a marvailous distance from the place and bodies where they have their origin and source the proof and explication of which things hath been the aim of my discourse hitherto Now my Lords I must if you please make you see how These small bodies that so fill and compound the Air are oftentimes drawn to a road altogether differing from that which their universal causes should make them hold and it shall be our Fifth Principlâ— One may remark within the course and oeconomy of Nature divers sorts of attractions As that of Sucking wherby I have seen leaden Bullets at the bottom of a long Barrel exactly wrought follow the air which one suck'd out of the mouth of the Gun with that impetuosity and strength that it broke his teeth The attraction of water or wine by a Scyphon is like to this for by means of that the liquor is made to pass from one Vessel into another without changing any way the colour or rising of the lees There is anoâ—her sort of attraction which is called Magnetical wherby the Loadstone draws the Iron Another Electrick when the Iet-stone draws to it Straws There is another of the Flame when the smoke of a Candle put out draws the flame of that which burns hard by and makes it descend to light that which is out There is another of Filtration when a humid body climbs up a dry Lastly when the Fire or some hot body draws the Air and that which is mixed therwith We will treat here of the two last species of Attraction I have sufficiently spoken of the rest in another place Filtration may seem to him who hath not attentively consider'd it nor examin'd by what circumstances so hidden a Secret of Nature comes to pass and to a person of a mean and limited understanding to be done by some occult virtue or property and he will perswade himself that within the Filtre or strayning instrument there is some secret Sympathy which makes Water to mount up contrary to its natural motion But he who will examine the business as it ought to be observing all that is done without omiting any circumstance will find there is nothing more natural and that it is impossible it should be otherwise And we must make the same judgment of all the profound and hidden'st mysteries of Nature if men would take the pains to discover them and search into them with judgment Behold then how Filtration is done They use to put a long toung of cloth or cotten or spongy matter within an earthen pot of Water or other liquor and leave hanging upon the brim of the pot a good part of the cloth and one shall see the water presently mount up and pass above the brink of the Vessel and drop at the lower end of the piece of cloth upon the ground or into some Vessel And the Gardners make use of this method to water their plants and flowers in Summer by soft degrees As also Apothecaries and Chymists to separate their liquors from their dregs and residences To comprehend the reason why the water ascends in that manner let us nearly observe all that is done That part of the cloth which is within the water becomes wetted viz. it receivs and imbibes the water through its spungy and dry parts at first This cloth swells in receiving the water so two bodies joyn'd together require more room than one of them would by it self Let us consider this swelling and augmented extension in the last thrid of them which touch the water viz. that on the superâ—icies which to distinguish from the rest let us mark at the two ends as by a line with A. B. and the third which immediately follows and is above it with C. D. the next with E. F. the next with G. H. and so to the end of the toung I say then that the thrid A B. dilating it self and swelling by means of the water which enters 'twixt it's fibres or strings approaches by little and little to C. D. which is yet dry because it touches not the water but when A. B. is grown so gross and swol'n by reason of the water which enters that it fills all the vacuity and distance 'twixt it and C. D. as also that it presses against C. D. by reason of it's extension which is greater than the space was betwixt them both then it wets C. D. because the thrid A. B. being compressed the exterior part of the water which was in it coming to be push'd on upon C. D. seeks there a place and enters within the thrids and wets them in the same manner as at first it 's exterior and highest part became wet C. D. being so wetted will dilate it self as A. B. did and consequently pressing against E. F. it cannot choose but work the same effect in it which before it had receiv'd by the swelling and dilatation of A. B. and so by gentle degrees every thrid wets its neighbor till the very last thrid of the cloth toung And it is
after every dissolution and coagulation The ordinary Salt forms it self alwaies in cubes of â—oursquare faces Salt-peter in forms of six faces Armoniac-salt in Hexagons as the Snow doth which is sexangular Wherto Mr. Davison attributes the pentagonary figure of every one of those Stones which were found in the Bladder of Monsir Peletier to the number of fourscore for the same immediate efficient cause the Bladder had imprinted its action both on the stones and the salt of the urine The Distillators observe that if they powre upon the dead head of some distillation the water which was distilled out of it it imbibes it and re-unites incontinently wheras if one pour on it any other water of an heterogeneous body it swims on the top and incorporates with much difficulty The reason is that the distill'd water which seems to be an homogeneous body is composed of smal bodies of discrepant figures as the Chymists plainly demonstrate and these atoms being chaced by the action of fire out of their own Chambers or beds exactly fitted to them when they come back in their antient habitations viz to the pores which are left in the dead heads they accommodate themselvs and amiably rejoin and comensurate together The same happens when it rains after a long drougth for the earth immediately drinks up the water which had been drawn up by the Sun wheras any other strange liquor would enter with some difficulty Now that there are differing poâ—es in bodies which seem to be homogeneous Monsir Gassendus affirms and undertakes to prove by the dissolution of Salts of differing natures in common water When says he you have dissolv'd in it common Salt as much as it can bear if you put in only a scruple more it will leave it entire in the bottom as if it were sand or plaister nevertheless it will dissolve a good quantity of Salt-peter and when 't is glutted with this 't wil dissolve as much of Armoniacal salt and so others of different figures So that as I have observed elsewhere we see plainly by the oeconomy of Nature that bodies of the same figure use to mingle more strongly and unite themselves with more facility Which is the reason why those thaâ— make a strong glue to piece together broken pots of Porcelain or Chrystal c. always mingle with the glue the powder of that body which they endeavour to re-accomodate and the Goldsmiths themselvs when they go about to soder together pieces of gold or silver mingle alwayes their own dust in the soder Having hitherto run through the reasons and causes why bodies of the same nature draw one to another with greater facility and force than others and why they unite with more promptitude le ts now see according to our method how experience confirms this discourse for in natural things we must have recourse en dernier ressort to experience and all reasoning that is not supported so ought to be repudiated or at least suspected to be illegitimate T is an ordinary thing when one find she ha's burnt his hand to hold it a good while as near the fire as he can and by this means the ignited atomes of the fire and of the hand mingling together and drawing one another and the stronger of the two which are those of the fire having the mastery the hand finds it self much eased of the inflammation which it suffer'd T is an usual course though a nasty one of those who have ill breaths to hold their mouths open over a Privy as long as they can and by the re-iteration of this remedy they find themselvâ—s cured at last the greater stink of the privy drawing to it and carrying away the lesse which is that of the mouth They who have been prick'd or bitten by a Viper or Scorpion hold over the bitten or prick'd place the head of a Viper or Scorpion bruised and by this means the poyson which by a kind of filtration crept on to gain the heart of the party returns back to its principles and so leavs him well recover'd In time of common contagion they use to carry about them the powder of a Toad and somtimes a living Toad or Spider shâ—t up in a bâ—x or Arsâ—ick or some other venemous substance which draws to it the contagious air that otherwise would infect the party and the same powder of a Toad draws to it the poyson of a plague sore The Farcy is avenemous and contagious humor within the body of a Horse hang a Toad about the neck of the Horse in a little bag and he will be cured infallibly the Toad which is the stronger poyson drawing to it the venome which was within the Horse Make water to evaporate out of a Stove or other room close shut if there be nothing that draws this vapor it will stick to the walls of the Stove and as it cools recondense there into water but if you put a bason or bucket of water into any part of the Stove it will attract all the vapor which fil'd the chamber and no part of the wall will be wetted If you dissolve Mercury which resolving into smoke passes into the recipient put into the head of the limbeck a little therof and all the Mercury in the limbeck will gather there and nothing will passe into the recipient If you distil the Spirit of Salt or of Vitriol or the Baume of Sulpher and leave the passage free betwixt the Spirit and the dead head whence it issued the Spirits will return to the dead head which being fixt and not able to mount up draws them to it In our Country â— and I think it is so used here they use to make provision for all the year of Venison at the season that their flesh is best and most savory which is in july and August they bake it in earthen pots or Ryecrust after they have well seasond it with salt and spices and being cold they cover it deep with fresh butter that the air may noâ— enter Nevertheless t is observ'd that after all their diligence when the lâ—vâ—ng Beasts which are of the same nature and kind are in Rut the flesh in the pot smels very rank and is very much changed having a stronger taft because of the spirits which come at thiâ— season from the living Beasts which spirits are attracted naâ—urally by the dead flesh And then one hath much to do 〈◊〉 preserve it from being quite spoil'd but the said season beâ—ng passed there is no danger or difficulty to keep it gustful all the year long The Wine Merchants in this Country and every where else where there is Wine observe that during the season that the Vines are in flower the Wine in their Cellars makes a kind of fermentation and pushes forth a little white Lee which I think they call the Mother upon the surface of the wine which continues in a kind of disorder till the flowers of the Vines be fall'n and then this agitation or fermentation
her lodging she was brought to-bed before her time of a Child who had his head sever'd from his body both the parts yet shedding fresh blood besides that which was abundantly shed in the womb as if the heads-man had done an execution also upon the tender young body within the Mothers wombe These three Examples manifestly enough prove the strength of the Imagination and many others as true I could produce which would engage me too far if I should undertake to clear the causes and unwrap the difficulties that would be found greater in them than in any of those wherwith I have entertain'd you Because those spirits had the power to cause essential changes and fearful effects upon bodies that were already brought to their perfect shapes and it may be well believ'd that in some of them there was a transmutation of one species to another and the introduction of a new Form into the subject-Matter totally differing from that which had been introduced at first at least if that which most Naturalists tell us at the animation of the Embryo in the womb be true But this digression hath been already too long To return then to the great channel and thrid of our Discourse The examples and experiments which I have already insisted on in confirmation of the reasons I have aledg'd clearly demonstrate that Bodies which draw the atomes dispersed in the air attract themselvs such as are of their own nature with a greater force and energy than other heterogeneous and strange atoms as Wine doth the vinal spirits The oyl of Tartar perfum'd in the making with Roses drew the volatil spirits of the Rose The flesh of Deer or Venison buried in crust attracts the spirits of those Beasts and so all the other wherof I have spoken The History of the Tarantula in the kingdom of Naples is very famous you know how the venome of this Animal ascending from the part that was bitten towards the head and heart of the Parâ—ies excites in their Imagination an impetuous desire to hear some melodious airs and most commonly they are delighted with differing airs Therfore when they hear an air that pleases them they begin to dance incessantly and therby fall a sweating in such abundance that a great part of the venome evaporates Besides the sound of the musick raises a movement and causes an agitation among the aereal and vaporous Spirits in the brain and about the heart and diffused up and down through the whole body proportionably to the nature and cadence of such Musick as when Timotheus transported Alexander the great with such a vehemency to what Passions he pleas'd and as when one Lute struck makes the consonant strings of the other to tremble by the motions and tremblings which it causes in the air though they be not touch'd otherwise at all We find too oftentimes that Sounds which are no other thing than Motions of the air cause the like movement in the Water as the harsh sound caus'd by rubbing hard with ones finger the brim of a 〈◊〉 full of water excites a noise a turning and boundings as if it danced according to the cadence of the Sound The harmonious Sounds also of Bells in those Countries where they use to be rung to particular tunes makes the like impressions upon the superficies of the Rivers that are nigh the Steeple as in the Air especially in the night time when there is no other movement to stop or choak the other supervenient one For the air being contiguous or rather continuous with the water and the water being susceptible of movement ther 's the like motion caused in the fluid parts of the water as began in the air And the same contract which is betwixt the agitated air and the water by this means moved to happens also to be betwixt the agitated air and the vap'rous Spirits in those bodies that have been bitten by the Tarantula which Spirits by consequence are moved by the agitated air that is to say by the Sound and that the more efficaciously the more this agitation or Sound is proportion'd to the nature and temperature of the party hurt And this intern agitation of the Spirits and vapours helps them to discharge the vaporous venom of the Tarantula which is mixt among all their humours as standing puddle Waters and corrupted airs putrified by long repose and the mixture of other noisome substanceâ— are refin'd and purifi'd by motion Now winter approâ—ching which destroys these Animals the persons are freed from this malady but at the return of that season when they use to be bitten the mischief returns and they must dance again as they did the year before The reason is that the heat of Summer revives these Beasts so that their venom becomes as malignant and furious as before and that being heated and evaporating it self and dispersing in the air the leven of the same poyson which remains in the bodies of them who have been hurt that draws it to it self wherby such a fermentation is wrought as infects the other humours and thence a kind of steam issuing and mounting to the brain uses to produce such strange effects It is also well known that where there are great dogs or Mastifs as in England if any be bitten perchance by them they commonly use to be kil'd though they be not mad for fear least the leven of the canine choler which remains within the body of the party bitten might draw to it the malignant spirits of the same dog should he afterwards chance to be mad which might come to distemper the spirits of the person And this is not only practised in England where there are such dangerous dogs but also in France according to the report of Father Cheron Provincial of the â—armelites in this Gountrey In his examen de la Theologie mystique newly imprinted and which I have lately read I will say nothing of artificial Noses made of the flesh of other men to remedy the deformity of those who by an extreme excess of cold have lost their own which new Noses putrifie as soon as those persons out of whose substance they were taken come to die as if that small parcel of flesh engrafted on the face lived by the spirits it drew from it's first root and source For though this be constantly avouch'd by considerable Authors yet I desire you to think that I offer you nothing which is not verified by solid tradition such that it were a weakness to doubt of it But it is high time that I come now to my Seventh and last Principle it is the last turn of the engine and will I hope batter down quite the gate which hindred us an entrance to the knowledge of this so marvailous a mystery and imprint such a lawful mark upon the doctrine proposed that 't will pass for current This principle is that The source of those spirits or little bodies whâ—ch attract them to it self draws likewise after them that which accompanies