Dean of Durham's Counsel and Directions Divine and Moral in Letters of Advice to a Young Gentleman soon after his Admission into a Colledge in Oxford Arch-bishop Stern's Logick The Pope's Bull concerning the Damnation Excommunication c. of Queen Elizaheth with Observations and Animadversions thereon By Thomas Lord Bishop of Lincoln There is also Printed with it the Popes Bull for the Damnation and Excommunication of King Henry the Eighth The Catholick Balance or a Discourse determining the Controversies concerning 1. The Catholick Doctrines 2. The Primacy of St. Peter and the Bishop of Rome 3. The Subjection and Authority of the Church in a Christian State According to the Suffrages of the primest Antiquity Written with most Impartial Sincerity at the Request of a Private Gentleman ΦΑΡΜΑΚΟ-ΒΑΣΑÎΟΣ OR THE Touch-stone of Medicines c. VOL. II. Containing Four PARTS Part the Third Of the Tastes and Virtues of Minerals and the similitude of their Principles to those of Vegetables Part the Fourth Of the Tastes and Virtues of Animal Medicines and the Origine of Animal Humors Part the Fifth Containing the Classes of Specificks distinguished by their Tastes and the Humors which they Correct Part the Sixth Contains a new Method for distinguishing Plants into Classes by their Tastes and Smells In the Appendix The Animal Medicines are reduced into a Scheme by their Tastes The Minerals are also digested under their several Tastes and many Observations are added which were omitted in the preceding Parts TO THE Right Honourable WILLIAM Lord Digby Baron Digby OF Geashil in IRELAND My Lord I Designed the subject of this Essay at Coleshil-Hall in Warwick-shire whilst I attended there as a Physician And therefore I humbly apply my self to your Lordship for the Patronage of it The great Favours I have received from your Honourable Family oblige me to make this Dedication but especially your Lordship's curiosity in reading the Philosophy of this Age and your Ingenious Studies which have given your Lordship the advantage of judging of a greater Subject I am much obliged to many Gentlemen of your Country who have Tasted many Plants with me and I desire to make this Tract more acceptable to them by this Dedication of it to your Lordship whom they justly Honour and Esteem for your Zealous concern for the Preservation of our Church and State. I will give your Lordship this short account of the design of this ensuing Book I shall assert that Minerals Animals and Vegetables have Water Earth Oyl and Acids for their Principles Of these they are compounded and into these they are ultimately resolved Generation being the mixture of Principles and Corruption the separation of them This Opinion agrees with and illustrates the Antient Hypothesis That all Bodies are compounded of Moist Dry Hot and Cool Principles The Humidity depends on the Water the dryness on the Earth the Oyl is Inflammable and the Matter of Fire in Vegetables In Minerals the Oyly Sulphur burns in Animals the Oyly Fat is Inflammable The Oyls Fat 's and Sulphurs are the same Oyly Principle but they differ by their several States Mixtures and Digestions The Acid Principle produces Coldness in Animal Humors according to Hippocrates's Observation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And it is observable that Nitre which is Acid tastes very Cool and the Sulphureous Acid which abounds in the Air is esteemed the Principle of Cold. The Oyly Principle is the Hot Principle in Animals as Hippocrates affirms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because the Ancients observed these Qualities to abound in Earth Water Fire and Air they called these Elements and supposed all Bodies to be compounded of them Those Constitutions they called Dry in which Earth abounds those Moist in which Water prevails the Oyl high digested makes the Constitution Hot and a great Acidity renders the Constitution Cold. Galen describes Choler as Bitter Acrid and Detergent Phlegm as Crude Slimy and Cool The Atra bilis is described as Acid which Galen says is evacuated into the Stomach and there becomes Styptick Hippocrates affirms the Atra bilis to be Viscid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that by Atra bilis the Ancient Physicians understood the Slimy Acid of the Spleen which when the Spleen is obstructed is carried by the Arteries of the Stomach into its Cavity where this Slime and Acidity abounding produce the Flatus Hypochondriacus and this Acidity descending into the Guts turns the Choler it there meets into a black Colour from whence it has the name of Atra bilis From the taste of these Humors Bitter Acrid Choler Acid Lympha and Viscid Slime the Famous Sylvius deduces his Notions of all Diseases as the Ancients did from Choler Phlegm and Atra bilis But I will in this Treatise present your Lordship with a larger Scheme of Animal Humors I shall endeavour in this Tract to explain the Virtues of Mineral and Animal Medicines by their Tastes and Smells as I have done that of Vegetables Though Galen did exactly describe the Tastes of Vegetables yet he was wholly perplexed about Minerals and the same is the general fault of the Chymists who attribute wonderful Effects to their Gold Medicines but observe no Taste though the sweet Stypticity is evident in Tincture of Gold from whence it has its Vertue That Vegetables Minerals and Animals have the same kind of Taste at first may seem strange but we must consider that Vegetables receive their Juices from Minerals to prove this I need only instance in Hepatica Terrestris which smells of a Petroleum and Minerals have their Acid Sweet Slimy and Bitter Tastes Out of these the Juices for Vegetables is prepared by Fermentation and the dissolving Power of the Sulphur-Acid in the Air If this Nourishment be ill prepared it keeps its Mineral Nature and petrefies Plants hence Stoney parts are observed in Oaks whilst growing and Coral smells Earthy and Sulphureous like a Flint if two pieces be rubbed together I must farther observe that Animals have their Sweet Bitter Salt and Acrid Tastes from Vegetables which by Putrefaction acquire an Animal Nature yielding Urinous Spirits and all Vegetables become fit Nourishment for Animals by their Fermentation in the Stomach Many Marine Plants such as Sponge have a middle state of Principles betwixt Vegetables and Animals and therefore yield a Volatile Salt like Animals and Fixt like Vegetables I will give one Instance from the greatest of our English Physicians Dr. Willis to shew his Opinion of the usefulness of a Rational from the taste of an Empyrical Medicine in the Chincough from whence he framed his Methodical and Rational Cure of it He examined the Virtue of Cup-moss by the Taste and says Virtutis astrictoriae est atque particulas nonnihil acres salis volatilis copiam redolentes in se continet unde conjectari licebit usum ejus esse sanguinem figere serique fluxiones sedare ac insuper succum nerveum volatilizando diathesin spasmodicam tollere The Virtues of Medicines were first known by the Tastes
fixt in the Silver so that in the Spirit of Vitriol mixt with the Oyl of Tartar some Authors have observed a Bitter The Oyly Acid in Saccharum Saturni has a Smoothness of Parts produced by the fixing of the Acids in the Lead and the Bitterness in the Crystals of Silver come from a Rough Texture of the Compounded Parts resembling the Texture of Bitters The Acid in the Composition of Saccharum Saturni makes it cooling CHAP. VII Of Minerals and Mineral Earths and Stones FLowres of Sulphur taste Dry Sub-acid Fl. Sulphuris and smell strongly Fetid There is a great Acid in Sulphur and an Oyly Part By the Acid it cures the Itch corrodes Minerals and fixes Volatile Salts By the Oyly Part it is a Balsamick Pectoral and cures the Acid stagnating Lympha Oyl of Turpentine and Oyl of Vitriol mixt and distill'd yield a Sulphur vivum And being the Bitumens and Petroleum are so like Turpentine in Taste and Smell I thence argue That there is a great Agreeableness in Sulphur and Turpentine which last seems to be only the Oyly Part of Sulphur depriv'd of much of its Acidity and therefore less coagulate by it Which Opinion I shall farther confirm by observing that Turpentine is compos'd of the same Principles as Sulphur of an Oyly Part and an Acid and besides has a great deal of Water to make it fluid Sulphur easily mixes with the Oyl of Turpentine both are Inflammable have the same Physical Vertues and are the Causes of all Smells the One in Minerals and the Other in Vegetables Ettmullerus says Anthrax distill'd yields an Oyl like Petroleum therefore out of Sulphur Turpentine-Bitumens are produc'd And I have instanc'd above that out of Turpentine Sulphur may be produc'd Which are convincing Experiments that Turpentine and Sulphur have the same Oyl and Acid only in different States and Mixtures From hence it is evident that Chymists speak not much amiss when they call the Oyl of Vegetables their Sulphur but I do not think it proper to explain the Nature of Vegetables by Mineral Principles though Galen calls all Bitter Plants Nitrose because they resemble the Bitterness of Nitre and not for having any Nitre in them For the same reason I might call Acerb Tastes Aluminous because they resemble that Taste but none will allow that any Alum is in the Plants of that Taste I will give an Instance of Sulphur's Fertility in producing all the Salts in the Earth as well as the Acids in Vegetables which I have above intimated the Sulphur-Acid being one Part of the Composition of Mineral-Salts Vitriol is known to be the Product of the Fumes of Sulphur which corrode Iron into an imperfect Vitriol But the perfect Vitriol is only made in the Air out of a Pyrites Spirit of Sulphur put upon Iron produces a Vitriol and so does the melting of Brimstone with it and likewise the mixing of Flowre of Brimstone with Filings of Iron and sprinkling them with Water this put into fair Water with Galls turns Purple Alum is produc'd from the Acid Fumes of Sulphur dissolving some Stony Matter for Spirit of Sulphur will with Chalk constitute an Alum and Alum-Stones are full of Sulphur as Dr. Lyster informs us and where there is most Vitriol and Sulphur bred Alum abounds most Sea-Salt is compounded of an Alcalizate Body or Vitrious Earth and a Sulphureous Acid Hence Flowres of Sulphur are sometimes gather'd in the Neck of the Retort in distillation of Spirit of Salt as Ettmullerus intimates Spirit of Salt being re-affus'd upon an Alkaly becomes perfect Sea-Salt again and shoots into Cubes after the distillation of Sal-Ammoniack with Salt of Tartar. All Sulphureous Waters have a Sea-Salt in them which is an Argument of the Acidity of Sea-Salts being the same as Sulphur-Acid which coagulates with a Stony Matter into a Fixt Salt. Sea-Salt will be fused in a strong Fire by reason of the Alkaly Nitre consists of a very Sulphureous Acid which in Places impregnated with the Vrines or Dungs of Animals has a Volatile Salt for its Alkaly In Old Walls and Stony Places Nitre has some of the Stone or Lime for the Alkaly In the Springs of the Earth the Sulphureous Acid fixes on Sea-Salt whence after the burning of Nitre a Sea-Salt remains Cinnabar corrects Acids by the Sulphur Cinnabaris Nativa and Quick-silver of which it is made It smells Sulphureous and tastes Gritty The Acid of the Sulphur fixes the Mercury which happens also in the making of all Amalgamas in which the Quick-silver is fixt by the Sulphur of the Metal Cinnabar is given inwardly for all Distempers depending on Acids and outwardly dries Vlcers and cicatrizes Antimony is compounded of much Sulphureous Antimonium Acid and Vitreous Earth Antimonial Medicines have either Sulphur-Flowres in them of which the Tincture plainly smells or else an Acid in them most manifest in the Clyssus from a mixture of both the Flowres and Acid of Antimony the Vomitory Faculty arises For Sulphur in Minerals answers the Resin in Vegetables having both an Oyly Pungency and both may be produc'd from the Oyl of Turpentine and Oyl of Vitriol Verdegrease is very Corrosive good for Aerugo stopping Putrefaction in Vlcers and for cleansing them and is produc'd from the Acid of Grapes corroding and giving a Green Colour The Vrine added in the Preparation gives a Blue Colour and helps the Dissolution of Copper Ettmuller Lapis Lazuli Armenus They partake Lapis Lazuli Armenus of the Nature of Copper and very little of Silver by which they are purging The Sulphur-Acid in Copper being offensive to an Animal Body and most of the Preparations of Silver which are purging have their Vertue from Copper mixt with it Lapis Lazuli besides the Copper contains some Gold. Ettmuller says They have their Earthy Part from Marble and are found in Copper-Mines and Gold-Mines Tutia and Pompholyx are the Products Tutia Pompholyx of Copper and very drying in Vlcers They are the Soot of Copper Lapis Medicamentosus is of a Salt Astringent Lapis Medicamentosus Taste by which it cleanses and heals Vlcers The Pumice-Stone burnt and quenched Pumex in Vinegar is a good Dentrifice The vertue of Stones that have neither Taste nor Smell are only absorbent of Acids and drying in Vlcers But Pumice yields a Green Tincture with Spirit of Vinegar and therefore contains Copper Lime-Water tastes Saltish and is of a Calx mixt nature partly Alkaline because it gives a Volatility to Sal-Ammoniack which is a Salso-Acid and it precipitates Minerals dissolved by Acids But it has also an Acidity and coagulates Oyls into Butter So Oyl of Roses grows Thick and Butyrose if mixt with Lime-Water Spirit of Salt distilled from Lime yields a Volatile Vrinous Salt like Spirit of Vrine which shews the little difference betwixt Volatile and Fixt Salts and that an Acid is an Ingredient of both sorts An excellent and useful Salt may be drawn from the
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-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-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
I hope it will be consider'd how disingenuous it is in some Physicians who cause their Patients to Swallow what they dare not Taste Themselves The Corrosive and Narcotick Plants may be warily Tasted and though some of Them will by being Tasted get into the Stomach yet a little can do no Harm It is true that Gesner Poyson'd himself but it was by taking Two Drachms of Doronicum-Root and not by tasting of it only I cannot believe I have receiv'd any Prejudice by Tasting though I have oft blister'd my Mouth and disorder'd my Stomach I hope the Candid Reader will pardon those Faults which have happen'd in these Papers by my Distance from the Press and the many long and frequent Interruptions I have had by a Country-Practice and ill Health which have hindred the making of some Corrections that should have been made both in the Style and Method of the following Book In Opus Elaboratissimum eruditi admodum Viri Joannis Floyeri Equitis Aurati Doctoris Medici MYstica Naturae panduntur multa fapore Detergens virtus discutiénsque patent Tincturam Roseam Lapathúmque Sisymbria Myrtum Communi sensu Styptica Lingua sapit Sparsus Odor verè referens Arcana Medendi Quidni tantus erit quantus ipse sapor Quale Rosae spirant inter sua Lilia mixtae Thus Aloe Muscus Galbana tale docent Hoc lege quod crebro tibi fert Floyerus ab usu Cum dulci miscens utile puncta tulit Niltulit insipidum si Sal sapit omnia Odori Nil tulit ingratum spirat ubique Rosas J. GROENEVELT M. D. NAturam solitis Medicina aggressa querelis Dic ait ô Genitrix quae tua Nata rogat Ignotae valeant Plantae quid mille per oras Ac Animal quantum prosit in Arte mea Quid juvet ac noceat caecis Minerale Latebris Pulsum quaeque tuo nunc geris ima sinu An miris variata modis nisi ludis in Orbe Si solum casus deteget ista modo Respondet Natura Meo deprompta recessu Cuncta patent debitis excutienda modis Praestet quanta Frutex Animal Minerale docebit Vel sapor ac nares quae ferit aura levis Excolit ecce tuam Floyer Industrius Artem It quâ ad summa viâ quo fuit orta modo Haec Sagacissimo Authori gratulabundus accinit Christophorus Crelle M. D. Medicorum Londin Collega A Phytological Essay c. The First Part. Of Tastes in general CHAP. I. The Division of Tastes into Simple and Compound THE Organ of Taste is curiously described by Malpighius to be certain Nervous Papillae placed upon the Tongue and about the Mouth and Throat which are affected differently in every sort of Taste Dr. Willis affirms That Gustatus is Quaedam quasi tactus species depending on the different Figures of Bodies which by the different Texture and Motion produce diverse Affections Alterations or Modes of Tastes on the Organ As Soft Hard Moist Dry Smooth and Rough Grateful as Sweetness Ungrateful as Bitterness Greetiness and Unctuousness Cool Hot or Temperate Sharp Corroding Salt Slimy or Astringent Contracting the Lips and Choaking Vesicating Exuleerating Pungent Penetrant Aromatick Fetid or Abominable Nauseous Detergent Burning in the Throat Pricking in the Mouth by rough Leaves And divers other Modes might be added to these According to this Consideration no Plant has any Simple Taste but produces different Modes Neither have the most Simple Principles of Plants one Simple Mode or Affection but two or more depending on their Motion and Texture Acids have a different and less Agitation of Parts than the Organ and therefore they taste Cool and by their Angular Figure or Edges they are Pungent Water cools and moistens by the Globular Figure of its Particles and by their less Agitation than the Organ of an Animal Oyl of Plants is of a congruous Temper or Heat and by the ramose or viscous Parts is slimy and of a smooth Taste Earthy Plants are greety hard and dry in Taste from the Solidity and unequal Particles of Earth In distinguishing of Simple and Compounded Tastes of Plants I do chiefly consider the different Textures and Motion of the Original Principles as producing Simple Tastes and not the different Modes of Taste Therefore because these Four Earth Water Acid and Oyl are the Original Principles of Plants out of which some other Compositions are immediately made as Salts Gums Turpentines and Mucilages c. and because these have a determinate Texture and Motion whereby they produce some certain Modes of Taste I think fit to call these Four Tastes viz. Watry Earthy Oyly and Acid The only Simple Tastes in Plants And where any Taste depends on diverse Principles that Taste is justly esteem'd Compound having a certain Texture and Motion resulting from the Composition of the different Textures and Agitation of the Principles which produce a different Taste in Composition from the Taste of any Principle Compound Tastes consider'd as particular Textures of Plants arising from some of the Four Principles of Plants are 1. Bitter which is compounded of Oyl Acid and Earth having an unequal Texture detergent unpleasant Compar'd by Dr. Willis to the Head of a Teasle or Brush 2. Astringents are compounded of Acid and Earth having a roughness in Texture contracting and exasperating 3. Mucilaginous is compounded chiefly of Oyl Acid and Water and of a smooth Texture cooling and moistening 4. Tungent is compounded of an Oyly-Acid and with some Earth united by Fermentation into Volatile Salts or by Fusion in the Fire into Fixt Salts both of which taste Salt Pungent Penetrant Drying from their long sharp-pointed Figures 5. Sweet is compounded of a Rarefy'd and well-digested Oyl and Acid whereby it is of a smooth Texture grateful and easily convertible into Bitter having the same Principles by the Alteration of the Texture only Note I do not find any Saltness naturally and considerable in Plants but only externally from the Sea-Water And therefore do not reckon That a Taste amongst Plants because the Natural Salt of Plants tastes only Pungent Diverse Tastes are compounded of a Simple Taste and a Compound As 1. Acrid is compounded of a little Oyl and a great deal of Salt being Hot Pungent and Burning 2. Acerbs are compounded of Acid and Astringent being partly of Angular and partly of a rough Figure Tastes arising from Compounded Tastes mixed are 1. Nauseous which is compounded of Bitter-sweet or Bitter-slimy and of a Texture deterging and smoothing 2. Austeres are compounded of Bitterish and Astringent and are of a very rough Texture 3. Nitrose is compounded of Cool and Bitter Plants of this Taste are Watry Slimy and Bitterish as Beets Tastes compounded of other Compound Tastes and a particular Smell are 1. Aromaticks which are compounded of Acrids Bitterish or Sweet with a Fragrant Smell 2. Fetid Tastes are compounded of Bitter Acrid or Mucilaginous Tastes with a Fetid Smell 3. Cress-Tastes are compounded of a Bitterish and Acrid Taste and a
are Arodyne Mucilages with Astringency have their Taste from the different parts of Plants as in Plantane-Seeds the Husk is Astringent the Pulpy part of the Seed Mucilaginous CHAP. IV. Concerning Acid in Plants THE Third Principle our Senses discover in Plants is Acid perceivable by Taste and Smell in Sorrel c. This seems to affect the Taste with a cool Sharpness not unlike the Spirit of Sulphur and is probably supplied Vide Sulph from the Mineral Kingdom This Acid has not the Bitterishness of Nitre nor the Saltness of common Salt nor a Vitriolate Relish from any Mineral but is pure cool Acid. The Crystals of Tartar are sowre Vide Tartar amongst Salts Crystals of Wood-Sorrel are also sowre like Tartar The Essential Salts of Plants differ not from Tartar. Vinegar is more Spirituous than the former being a Winy Subacid Liquor The Acid is obvious in the most bitter Plants as in Extracts of Worm-wood and Horehound and in all Extracts In the Plant they are not perceived because of the Strength of the Bitterness that affects the Palat most though the Acids temper the Bitter and the Bitter the Acid. Acids are never alter'd in the Plant so as to lose their Nature though they undergo divers Mixtures but when they are reduc'd into Volatile Salts by being compounded with Oyl and Earth Acids mixt with much Water are the purest Acids Acids mixt with a little Water and much Earth produce an Astringent Taste Acids with Water and Earth more loosly mixt produce a rough Taste as in Sloes which is a greater degree of Astringency And in this Taste the Acid and Earth are in equal quantity The Fourth Acid Composition is Acid Oleose as in Terebinthinates and these always have an Astringency joyn'd to the Bitterness which arises from the Oyl and Acid in Turpentine Dr. Grew asserts That many stillatitious Oyls digested with any strong Acid will acquire a bitter Taste And therefore Myrrhe Gentian and all bitter Gums distilled yield Acid Liquors I shall hereafter deduce the Bitterness of Plants immediately from Turpentine but remotely from the mixture of Oyl and Acid. Acid-Acrid as in Rosa Solis In these the Volatile and Acid combine And since Rosa Solis is accounted a Caustick 't is probable other Caustick Plants may have the same mixture These are proper for Treacle-Water to cool by their Acid and sweat with their hot Parts or to provoke Vrine Mixed Salts and hot Herbs tempered by the mixture of Acid are profitable in Fevers Acid sweet such as in all Ripe Fruits as Cherries ripe Grapes these make the Acid more easie to the Stomach and less fretting as in Spiritus Salis Dulcis These excite Appetite and cool the Blood. Acid and Bitter these promote Vrine as in Alkakengi-berries and Quicky-berries and have an Anti-Febrile vertue from Acid and Bitter as in Bezoardick mixtures which are Bitter-Acid The Effects of Acids in the Body are to coagulate and fix Choler and the Volatile Salts in the Blood by uniting with the Salt and rendring them like common Sal Ammoniack and so Acids become Diuretick as also by dissolving the gritty Matter of the Stone and mixing with it by coagulating the Serum of the Blood as Serum Sanguinis turns white by the mixture of the Spirit of Nitre and by thickning its Consistence which is a less degree of Coagulation Acids hinder the rarefaction of the Blood and its Extravasation as also all Heats and Sweats Cholerick Loosenesses and Thirsts Rough Astringents do the same thing but more weakly having the Acid obtunded by the Earthy Parts but by that they are more proper for Loosenesses and Fevers Acids do also excite the Appetite by stimulating and hinder the over-quick Fermentation of the Chyle and separation of its Spirituous parts in Windy Exhalations And for that reason we mix Vinegar with Hot Meats and Herbs and eat cool Fruits after Meat Vinegar is the best Antidote against any Poyson from Acrid Herbs CHAP. V. Concerning Astringents ASTRINGENTS are Either Watry-Astringents in which Water is most plentiful which are convenient in hot Diseases with Fluxes of Blood or Stools as Plantane Knot-Grass I distill'd the Roots of Flaggs in an open Fire and had a great deal of Acid and very little Fetid Oyl and much Caput mortuum This was like the distill'd Liquor of Woods Bitter-Astringents where the Astringency is mitigated by the Bitterness which depends on a crude Turpentine These by their Bitterness make the Astringent Faculty more agreeable to the Stomach and Blood By their Bitterness they help and preserve the mixture of the Blood and by their Astringency which is an Acid in potentia precipitate some Feverish parts which are separated from the mixture of the Blood so Jesuits Powder works and Tormentil-Roots have been us'd for the same purpose and so may the Barks of That taste 'T is manifest that upon giving the Jesuits Powder a sharpness of Vrine is sometimes observable and when it succeeds the Water which at first look'd like Strong Beer high colour'd and reddish turns after a while muddy the separable Feverish Sediment is precipitated and the top of the Vrine is thin and clear by the separation of Parts So that after the use of the Jesuits Powder whose Vertues are evident to the Taste being bitter Astringent the prevailing Bitterness preserves the mixture of the Blood and the Astringency separates some easily-separable Parts which not continuing in their right equal Mixture with the rest of the Blood cause the Fever as being Heterogeneous and raise a Fermentative Commotion for their Segregation And it is usual with Practisers to guess and assert the Alterations in the Blood to correspond to those observable in the Water It may be our Country cannot afford such an exact Mixture of Bitter and Astringent as in the Jesuits Bark but I believe it does It may be we cannot mix Bitter and Astringent Tastes in the same Proportion as Nature has done in the Cortex However it 's evident that these Qualities of Bitter-Astringent are in the Cortex and we cannot imagine any other so probable to work those Effects which it does for Tormentil-Root and Cinquefoyl have been tryed and approv'd in putting off Agues Sweetish Astringents or the Fern-Tastes which have a slight Bitterness also These Ferns are good Vulneraries stop Fluxes and abate the Fermentation of the Blood in Hypochondriack Scurveys by their Crudity and Astringency So Chalybeats as Vitriol of Mars taste sweet Astringent the Sweetness is most perceptible in the Polypody-Root In the Female Fern the Mucilage is great the Astringency is evident in the Male and in Lonchitis but in the Leaves of Osmunda the Mucilage in the Root the Astringency Bitterness and Orris Smell Maiden-Hair is Sweet-Astringent which seems to me the true Character of a Fern-Taste though some Varieties are observable as I have noted The Aromatick-Astringent must be consider'd amongst the Aromaticks CHAP. VI. Concerning Bitterness in Plants THe Fourth Principle our Senses
is very nauseously Sweet and Manna Gummy It is the Gum of a Tree and by the very sweet Gummosity it is Purging It also contains a very Acid Spirit by which it is injurious to the Hypochondriacal and good for the Cholerick Acids are given with it to abate the luscious Sweetness Honey By the Sweetness it is Diuretick Mel. and Pectoral It is partly Vegetable and has an Animal Digestion In Distillation it yields an Acid Spirit by which it is offensive to the Hypochondriacal Honey contains also an Oyly Spirit by which it is Vinous in Liquors after Fermentation and by the Acid outwardly cleanses Vlcers It seems to partake of the Nature both of Watry and Turpentine Gums Sugar is a Salt very Sweet and Oleous Saccharum and therefore inflammable It melts without Water at the Fire mixes with Oyl and by Fermentation yields a burning Brandy Spirit Therefore the use of it is very inflaming to the Blood by the Oyly Part and by the Acid corrosive which it yields in a strong Fire It is like the Acid of Tartar as all Essential Salts be which are more or less mixt with the Oyl of the Vegetable From this great Quantity of Oyl mixt with the Acid the Sweetness arises And because Sugar is dissolvible in Water as the Gums be and may easily be turn'd into a Gummy Consistence as happens in boyling of Sugar with Acids I think it fit to place it here amongst Gums whose Taste it resembles more than the Tartarous Salt of Vegetables CHAP. II. Of Fetid Gums FEtid Gums were originally Milky Liquors They are strongly Bitter or Bitter-Acrid and have a Mucilage whereby they soften and a Volatile Oyly Salt whereby they discuss By an Acid the Mucilage is coagulated into a Watry Gum and the Oyly Volatile Salt which gives the Foetor is coagulated into something of a Resin whence the Gum is dissolvible into a Milky Liquor by Water and the Oyly Salt is best extracted by Spirit of Wine Tartariz'd These Gums are frequently dissolv'd in Wine or Vinegar and put into discussing Emollient Plasters but the Vinegar abates their Acrimony Opopanax is from the Root of Panax Opopanax and tastes Gummy very Acrid and Bitter and smells like Garlick It is Emollient and discussive outwardly inwardly it is Carminative loosening the Belly Pectoral and Diuretick Sagapenum smells Rank and tastes Biting Sagapenum like Garlick and is of the Nature of Opopanax Bdellium is Biting very Bitter and Bdellium Gummy and of the same Vertue with the former Opium is very Bitter Acrid and Gummose Opium and of a Poppy-Smell It is Inflammable and Resinous and is the greatest Opiate It is Diuretick Venereal Diaphoretick and sometimes it vomits and purges Euphorbium is very Burning and Exulcerating Euphorbium in Taste and of a Fetid piercing Smell not to be us'd inwardly but externally in drawing Plasters and for Carious Bones The Acrimony may be corrected by Acids It is said to be a Tithymal and all Tithymals have the same Vertue Euphorbium is the Gum of a Milky Plant purging violently and sneezing strongly Gum-Ivy is of an offensive Smell and Gum. Hederae very Biting and Exulcerating in Taste Camphore is a Gum out of a Tree like Camphora Poplar It has a strong Smell and tastes Bitterish Acrid Hot and Pungent It is an Antihysterick inwardly and outwardly it opens the Pores in Inflammations and so cools It is us'd as an Alexipharmack It dissolves in Spirit of Wine or Oyl having a great deal of Oyl and Volatile Salt in it A good Tincture is made of it with the Spirit of Wine Tartariz'd Assa Foetida is the most offensive Fetid Assa Foetida like Garlick and very nauseously Bitter It is therefore the greatest Antihysterick Galbanum is very Fetid and smells like Galbanum Garlick It is very Gummy Bitter and Sub-Acrid and therefore very Emollient and Discussing and inwardly Antihysterick It burns like Resin and is Soft and Gummy like Wax Gum-Ammoniack is a Gum of a Ferula Ammoniacum It smells strong and but little like Castor It is very Gummy and Bitter by which it opens all Obstructions cures the Asthma and Fits of the Mother and by the Gumminess and Bitterness is Laxative and Carminative Outwardly by the same it discusses and softens Scirrhous Tumors Soot I place it here because it has Fuligo a Smoaky Fetidness of Burnt Wood and an Oyl and an Acid in it by which it is manifestly Bitter and Acrid It is very Sudorifick inwardly and seems a State of Vegetable Principles betwixt Bitter and Salt. A great Quantity of Earth rises with the Oyly Acid Particles by a stricter Union whereof a Volatile Salt is produced from Soot in Distillation I could not find much Difference in the Taste of Soot of Wood from that of Coals The Last is more Fetid and Saltish the First more Acid. Wood distilled yields a Fetid Oyl and Smoaky Acid The same separated by a Fire from Wood carries Earthy Ashes with it and constitutes Soot which is not very Bitter The Soot of Coal and Wood being almost the same I suppose the Oyl and Acid in the Principles of Vegetables and Minerals are nearly related CHAP. III. Of Turpentine Gum-Resins REsins melt with Heat burn with a Flame and will be easily dried to Powder They dissolve in Oyl or Spirit of Wine They generally taste Brittle and smell of Turpentine or else are more Aromatick or Fetid And some have a Gum joyn'd to the Resin and are call'd Gum Resins Resins are Oyls and Volatile Salts coagulated by an Acid which all Resins yield in Distillation They are Acid-Oleous Liquors at first being originally Turpentines Dr. Grew Fine Frankincense tastes Gummy Hot Olibanum and Bitterish and smells of Turpentine It stops Rheums by the Gumminess and is Diuretick by the Turpentine-Smell and by the Heat dries much and provokes Sweat in a Peripneumonia Mastich has a Turpentine-Smell and Mastiche tastes Hot Gummy and Brittle It is us'd as an Astringent By the Gumminess it stops Rheums The Mastich-Wood is Bitterish and Styptick This is a Terebinthinate-Tree Common Resin tastes Brittle and is of a Resina Turpentine-Smell Resin Mastich and Olibanum have no quantity of a Fixt Salt but yield a Salso-Acrid Spirit or Salt as Succinum Colophonia is Resin of the Firr-Tree boiled Colophonia Resins digest by their moderate Heat and agglutinate by their Gumminess Gum-Juniper is a Gum-Resin of a sort Gum Juniperi of Cedar and smells strong of Turpentine Pitch is of the Nature of Resin Pix CHAP. IV. Of Gum-Resins MYrrh is of a very bitter Taste Myrrha Gummy and Resinous It dissolves best in Spirit of Wine It agglutinates and cleanses in Vlcers Inwardly it is an Vterine Pectoral and Antifebrifick It is the best cleansing Vterine given to half a Scruple Amber tastes Brittle and Resinous and Succinum
such a particular Fermentation to the Juyce of the Stock as to alter it into the nature of the Graft and if the Seed be a perfect Plant there may lodge such an Original Juyce in each part of the Plant as may change the nature of the same Juyce in the several parts So in Chelidonium minus the Acrimony is very manifest in the Stalk but neither in the Leaves or Root but I rather believe that if the Juyce of a Plant is the same in the whole Plant different alterations of the same Juyce may happen by a higher degree of Fermentation So the Roots of Wormwood are Sweet-Aromatick The Leaves very Bitter-Aromatick The Bark of Ash is Bitter-Rough The Flowers have also an Acrid These Alterations happen by a higher degree of Fermentation in the same Juyce So Fermented Liquors acquire a Ripeness by long keeping and by the difference of Vessels in which they are kept Upon this account the Juyce in Roots is kept more cool But in the Leaves the Stalks more exposed to the Agitation of the Air and Heat of the Sun whence will arise a difference of Tastes and Digestion It is most probable that the difference of the Digestion happens not only by Original different Juyces in Plantulâ Seminali but also by the difference of Vessels which seems very evident in Seeds and Fruits where without an addition of a Ferment the same Fruit becomes Sweet Sub-acid and Slimy which at first was Acid and very Rough. And Nuts become Sweet and Oyly which were at first Austere The Root of Vines tastes Bitterish and Rough The Leaves Acerb The Ripe Grape Sweet Sub-acid and Slimy The Seed Austere as the Root So that these different Tastes shew the Alterations which happen in the Juyce of the Vine From Austere it comes to an Acerbity in the Leaves and from thence to a Sweet Sub-acid in Grapes but the Stone or Seed returns to the Austerity of the Root Wine is made out of the Sweet Sub-Acid Vinum Juyce of the Grape And the same is the nature of all the Juyces of Berries of the same Taste The Acid is evident to the Sense and an Oyl produces the Sweetness This is the Taste of New-Drink Metheglin and Sugar dissolved in Water and most other Liquors usually Fermented and this Sweetness is a certain sign of an Oyl and Acid for these may be distilled out of Honey Sugar New-Wine and Beer by a strong Fire And there is no other eminent Principles in Sweet Tastes but these Therefore from them the Fermentation of these Liquors must be deduced The Acid of Fermenting Liquors cannot produce the heat of the Liquor by acting on the Earthy parts because they are already mixt with the Acid and kept fluid by it otherwise the Earth would wholly precipitate But this Heat proceeds from the Effervescence made betwixt the Oyl and Acid which will cause a considerable Heat as is manifest by the Artificial mixture mentioned All Fluids have an Internal Agitation of parts which produces their Fluidity which being supposed and also a contrariety of particular Figures betwixt Oyl and Acids the first being Ramose and the last Angular It may easily be conceived that a difference of Motion will be natural to these two Principles which two Motions meeting give a disturbance to their natural Tendencies and from thence proceeds the Effervescence which is always promoted by some external Heat as of the Sun or else the Liquors are boyled before Fermentation as in Metheglin Beer and some Wines The effect of a great deal of Acid upon Oyl is to coagulate it but a smaller quantity Fermented with it expands opens and rarefies the Oyl This is evidently done in the Butter of Antimony where the Acids of Sublimate open the close Texture of the Sulphur and gives it the form of Butter The same is the effect of Fermentation the Acid acts on the Oyl by degrees and mixes with it and because their mixture happens in a Fluid the Water is also intermixt with them and thereby the Oyl is dissolved in the Liquor and produces a Winy Spirit which diluted in much Water is called a Wine and if it be distilled from it a Brandy Spirit which is Inflammable like Oyl If the greatest quantity of Oyl be evaporated out of Wine a Vinegar is produced by the remaining and prevailing Acid which has its Pungency from some Oyly parts which are still mixt with the Tartar of Vinegar and which will yield a burning Spirit if Vinegar be distilled from Saccharum Saturni The Agitation which happens from the Effervescence of these two Principles in Fermentation shakes all the parts of the Liquor Fermenting whereby the most Feculent parts in Wine and the greater Farinaceous parts in Beer subside but the more light rise to the top of the Liquor in an Effervescence These Heterogeneous parts being separated the remaining Liquor is clear and consists of a Winy Juyce in which the Oyl is most prevalent and has also an Acid mixed with it And in Beer the Farinaceous parts are much rarefied having their Oyl very much loosened and sharpened by the Acid and from hence proceeds the quickness and briskness of Liquors Dr. Willis in his Pharmaceutice mentions a way of distilling an Oyl from Spirit of Wine by means of a strong Spirit of Vitriol Therefore Acids help the Separation of Oyls from the mixture in Plants For this end we put Tartar or Salt into the Vesica with Seeds which are to be distilled for the separation of the Oyl is thereby promoted The Oyl of Wines is sufficiently proved by Dr. Willis's Experiment and the Acid by Tartar but it 's not improbable that some Salt is also produced by this mixture of Oyl and Acid with a little Earth Which is most clearly proved by the Salts which are described by Mr. Lewenhock in many sorts of Wine which as I remember differ not much from the Salts of Vinegar The Oyl Acid an the Volatile Salt united in Spirit of Wine are much of the nature of a dissolved Resin having the same Principles and therefore easily Extract Resins and Oyls of Vegetables and turn Milky if put to a Watry Vehicle By the means of an Acid in the Spirit of Wine Spirit of Sal Ammoniack coagulates with Spirit of Wine into an Offa Alba. A Slimy Oyl such as is in the Yelk of an Egg makes distilled Oyls to dissolve easily in Watry Liquors and therefore there is found a Mucilage or Gumminess attending most Vegetable Oyls whereby the Oyls are mixed with their Juyces Sugar is an Oyly Acid like Tartar with this a distilled Oyl easily mixes and is by this means dissolved in Water The Spirit of Vegetable Liquors Fermented and Distilled is nothing but an Oyl rarefied and loosened from the mixture of the Juyce by means of the Acid and by their mixture also some Volatile Salt is produced therefore these Spirits are Inflammable like Resins and they are no Simple Principles but compounded of others
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-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
rellish of Cloves 3. Myrtus with bitterish astringent sub-acrid Berries Myrtus Brabantica with a Myrtle-smell and Myrtle-leaves but more Bitter It has the Juli of Willow the Seeds are observed to smell like Stoechas 4. Salix odorata with Willow-leaves the Leaves when young are very Fragrant and if long rubbed they smell like Laurel Vitex must be placed with sweet Gaul A Fragrant and a Terebinthinate Smell are observed in the Blossoms of many Trees The Juice of the Plant being kept close all Winter becomes more Vinous Odoriferous and higher Digested like the Juice of Grapes and other Liquors bottled up and therefore the Blossoms of Trees have an odoriferous Smell which depends on the Oyl of Plants well digested Most Aromatick Trees are of this Class as Benzoinum is the Resin of a Tree with Citron-leaves Tacamahac is Bitterish Aromatick this and Caranna are of the Laurel-Aromaticks 5. Thea is a Bacciferous Frutex the Berries Bitter-sweet the Leaves Bitterish Aromatick and Sub-acrid whereby they are Cephalick the Berries are nauseous and very hot V. With fragrant Fruit whose Pills are Bitterish or Sweet Aromatick and the Pulp Acid. 1. Malus Citria whose Pill is Sweetish Aromatick and the Pulp sweet Acids 2. Malus Limonia is more Acid in the Fruit and more Bitter and Acrid in the Pill than Citrons 3. Malus Aurantia has a Pill of the greatest Bitterness but of the same Aromatick Acrid as the former 4. Malus Granata has either Sweet Vinous or Acid Fruit with a Pill having some Stypticity and the Leaves have a mixt Smell of Fetid and Aromatick VI. With Oyly Nuts Sweet or Bitter Amygdalus amara or dulcis Almonds have a Watry Gum and the sweet Almonds have some Bitterness Palma Indica nucifera the Coker-Nut tastes Bitterish Sweet Oyly and a little Fetid the Fruit yields Oyl Vinegar Milk and Sugar VII With sweet Nuts and acrid Barks 1. Juglans whose Leaves smell and look like Laurel 2. Ilex glandifera whose Bark tastes Bitterish Acrid and Astringent the Leaves are of a Laurel-greenness and the Acorn is Sweet Some of this Tree was sent to me by my Ingenious Friend Mr. George Anthrobus of Tameworth who has tasted many Plants with me VIII With Barks of a Bitter Acrid Laurel-Taste with Berries 1. Agrifolium whose Red Berries taste Sweet Bitterish Sub-acrid Slimy and the Leaf has a Laurel-Bitterness This is our English Laurel 2. Viscus which tastes like the Laurel-Bitters and it grows out of other Trees the Berries are Slimy and Acrid IX Plants of a Laurel taste Acrid Clematis daphnoides whose Root is Bitter-Acrid And this clasps about other Plants Pyrola is said to be Bitter-Astringent X. With Acrid Gums or Milk. 1. Guaiacum has Laurel-leaves it is said to be somewhat Fetid but the Gum tastes Acrid and smells somewhat Sweet in Burning The Bark of Guaiacum seems to resemble the Bitterness of Box. 2. Draco arbor is a Laurel-Acrid the Gum tastes Acrid as well as Gummy by which it is good for those Haemorrhages which come from Obstructions It dissolves in Water and Oyl and melts at the Fire as Resins do 3. Rhus Virginiana has any Acrid Milk the Milk dries into a Gum It seems a Laurel-Bitter Acrid XI With a strong Foetor in the Leaves 1. Buxus which is a Laurel-Bitter and Bacciferous The Foetor makes it a Narcotick 2. Hedera arborea whose Leaves smell Oyly Fetid and the Berries are Sweet Acrid Aromatick Slimy and Bitter the Berries are Diuretick Sudorifick and Purgative Coffee the Berries are Bitterish Nauseous the Skin of them Sub-acid and Rough the Kernel Bitterish and Hot the Leaves are perpetuo virentes by this description of Mr. Ray's it appears to be a Laurel-Bitter the Acrimony hinders Sleep and makes Coffee Diuretick Quaere Whether Ivy-Berries or Juniper-Berries would not make good Coffee XII With a crude Smell in the Leaves Oleander with long Laurel-Leaves and a Nauseous Taste This is Siliquose and referible to Apocynum XIII With a large Watry Pulpy Fruit whose Kernel is of a Peach-Bitter Taste as also the Bark of the Tree Persica Nucipersica these have a Vinous Taste a little Bitterish XIV With Juli of a Laurel-Bitter Taste Populus alba nigra Lybica alba foliis minoribus Salix folio Amygdalino The Catkins of the Asp taste like the Bark Populus Lybica is fragrant in the Buds if rubbed The Buds of Poplar have a yellow fat resinous Juice from whence they have their Vertue Quinquina is described by Mr. Ray to have the Leaves Prunorum rubrorum the Flower of Tunicae the fresh Bark is a little Purging like the Bark of Cherries Peaches Almonds which purge and resemble the Taste of Quinquina The Chelsy-Tree is not the Quinquina because it tastes Terebinthinate and not of the Laurel-Bitter like Quinquina And in this I have Mr. Wats's concurrent Opinion XV. With Bitter Acrid Seeds in Keys Fraxinus XVI With an Oyly Fruit Ripe Olives are Black Acrid Bitter and Nauseous the Leaves of Olives are Bitter Acrid the Oyl is the Mucilaginous Juice observable in Laurel-Bitters the Amurca is Bitterish II. Smoaky Bitters 1. Watry Bitters Smoaky Sub-acrid and Milky Dandelion whose Roots taste Sub-acrid and therefore like Choler by the Bitter and Acrimony Sonchus Cichoreum Endivia Scorzonera whose Roots dryed taste Slimy and very Acrid by which they sweat I could not taste it in the fresh Roots Tragopogon belongs to the same Class 2. Smoaky Bitter Astringents Hieraceum vulgare Pilosella Chondrilla Pulmonaria Gallorum Lampsana 3. Bitter Slimy and Smoaky Carduus vulgaris Mariae benedictus lanceatus Dipsacus Bardana Carthamus Branca ursina The Roots of Burdock have a Bitterness like Soot which I call a Smoaky-Bitter the Leaves are much bitterer 4. Bitter Astringent Sub-acrid Smoaky Jacea Stoebe Cyanus Serratula Scabiosa succisa 5. Bitter Sweet Astringent Smoaky with Slimy Leaves a little Fragrant like Parsnep Bellis major it tastes Bitterish besides the Sweet and therefore of the same Class as Jacobaea Jacobaea Centaurium majus Erigerum majus Tomentosum Tussilago 6. Bitter Acrid with a mixt Smell of Aromatick and unpleasant as Carlina III. Wormwood-Bitters or Aromatick-Bitters Sub-acrid Astringent of a Sea-Wormwood Smell or mixt unpleasant Smell Absinthium commune Romanum Seriphium Santonicum Gnaphalium Polium montanum Tanacetum Millefolium Ageratum Ptarmica Chamaemelum Buphthalmum Cotula which is Fetid Artemisia Matricaria Abrotanum mas foemina By the resemblance of Smell and Taste Millefoil Chamomel Bupthalmum Cotula are Wormwoods Tansie smells not unlike Matricaria And Balsamita smells like Tansie with a Balsam Smell and it has a Wormwood Bitter Acrid Astringent Taste IV. Madder-Bitters being Bitter Sub-acrid Astringent Gallium Mollugo Asperula which is very Fragrant and Gallium has some Sweetness Aparine Cruciata Rubia Anchusa Celandine seems to be a Madder by its Bitterness and colour of the Root but it has too much Acrid Rubia colours the Urine Red as Gerard observed all colouring Plants have Oleose Acrid Particles which act
Vessels of Plants should become fit Vessels for Animals for the Plant-Anatomists have described those Vessels of Plants to be as curiously wrought as any in Animals And we observe the Vessels of Plants and Animals shoot into Mould upon Putrefaction which therefore alters both Vessels and the Juices in Plants And if Mould which is described like a Plant can grow out of Animals we cannot believe it unreasonable to assert That Animals should grow out of Plants from whence they are constantly nourished Malpighius gives an Instance of Plants growing out of the dried Serum taken out of Hydropical Tumors Minimae Plantulae quasi pulmonariae vel coralloides eleganter attolluntur De struct gland conglobat pag. 15. We find that a Plant of a different nature may grow out of another Plant without a Seed as is evident in Misletoe Mosses Mushroms Hypocystis Orobanche why may not an Insect of another Species grow out of the living and dead Bodies of the Erucas without the insertion of an Egg The Worms in Animals are very different from all the other Insects in the World. It is impossible that Insects should insert their Eggs into the Horns Guts Liver and Bones of Animals in which Insects have been observed I have taken the broad Worm out of the Guts of the Embryo upon the dissection of a Cow with Calf I am sure it is highly improbable that any Insects Egg should be conveyed thither The Ingenious Dr. Tyson has observed a difference betwixt the long Worm in Animals and the ordinary Earth-worm and therefore they are not of the same nature Insects are not only superficially changed but many also of their Internal parts are changed also they alter their Diet for the Eruca and Papilio have different Food and Actions These changes from one Species of Insects to another shew the change from the Fibrous parts of a Plant to the first Lineaments of an Insect not to be improbable The Tastes and Smells of some Insects 1. Insects of a slimy Taste as Snails the Slime of Snails supplies the Milky Slime being like the Saliva The threds of Spiders and Silkworms is bred of a slimy viscid Humor which is used to stop Bleeding as viscid Gums be Frogs have a cool Slime for Oyntments and their slimy Spawn yields a cool Water which may be given to cool the glandulous Juice of the Womb. I have taken an hundred of Grass-snails in a Morning and swallowed them whole in May after they are mixed in a Napkin Other Snails are better boyled in Milk for Hecticks for distillation destroys their Slime 2. An Acid Odor is observed in Ants and an Acid Spirit is distilled from them 3. An Acrid Taste may be observed by chewing live Millepedes with a savor of the rotten Wood on which they feed This Acrid passes by Vrine and makes them Diuretick and also Hepatick and Cephalick The dryed Millepedes are Fetid and thereby discuss Scrophulous Tumors 4. There is a bitter Astringency in the Kermes which is the Nest or Gall of the Insect The Insect is supposed to be Fragrant and Acrid from whence its Cordial Vertue may depend And its Antifebrile Vertue from the taste of Galls which resemble the taste of the Cortex Peruvianus and therefore the Cortex of the Ilex coccifera ought to be tryed for the Jesuits-Bark it grows in Italy Spain and France and is described as having green Leaves like the Laurel-Bitters Coccus Polonicus grows on the Roots of Polygonum It contains a Worm which turns into a Fly and that leaves a Skin which smells of Musk It is used for Convulsions Bonetus The Syrup of Kermes has a Fragrancy from the Juice of Apples and Rose-water 5. The Cimices smell Fetid The Insects bred in the Body of the Willow are said bircum olere 6. A corrosive Taste is in Cantharides Their Acrid Salt affects the Kidnies and Bladder and they offend the Nose by pounding as Acrids do And if they be ground to Powder they turn Syrup of Violets green 7. Of a Salt Taste This is observed in the Venomous sting of a Bee And the Venome of a Scorpion is Guttula aquae candidae as Redi informs us The same corrosive Acrid or salt Ferment is in all Venoms A burning Coal applyed to the Bite or Sting immediately prevents all Mischief And Volatile Salts most successfully prevent the coagulations of the Blood by poysonous Bites A TABLE of Mineral Tastes I. Gritty Tastes of Earth Stones Minerals and their hot Calces II. Styptick fat greasie Earths III. Vitriolick Tastes 1. Acerb Aluminous of Alum and Quick-silver 2. Sweet Vitriolick in Steel Gold Tin and Lead Vitriols 3. Bitter Vitriolick in Silver-Crystals 4. Nauseous Brass-savored Vitriols in Copper IV. Bituminous bitterish Tastes either Fetid Aromatick or Terebinthinate V. Fetid sulphureous Tastes VI. Acid Tastes of Spirit of Sulphur Vitriol Salt Nitre VII Salt Tastes Volatile or Fixed or Vitriolated or Ammoniack VIII Marine Salso-acids as Sal Gemmae or else Nitrose cool Salts IX Caustick burning Tastes and Styptick The First CLASS The Tastes and Smells of Earths WE call those Mineral Earths which dissolve or soften by Water and taste and smell Earthy 1. Earths of a sandy or gritty Taste such as common Earth and of a smell of Mould This common Earth is produced from the minute Particles of Stones worn off by Rain the current of Springs Rivers and the Sea where Sandiness most abounds or else by the Airs motion or the sulphureous Acid in it arising from the hot central parts of the Earth With this the common Earth seems to be Impregnate and not to be the pure Element of Earth which I suppose to be like Glass or Ashes since most Bodies are reducible by Fire into one of them And that solid part in Minerals which is Alkalizate and serments with Acids seems to me the true Element of Earth and this also yields the Alkalizate parts both to Plants and Animals I distilled in an Earthen Retort and an open Fire some common dry Earth and sifted it clean from Vegetables It was taken half a Foot or more deep under the green Turf It yielded a great deal of Water and I observed a burnt Smell of Smoak I mixed Syrup of Violets with the Water and it turned it green From this Experiment I suppose I may conclude That the common Earth contains Water and some Oyl and Volatile Salt is made out of it By the Fire the Caput mortuum turned white like burnt Ashes All gritty Earths ferment with Acids as Chalk 2. Earths of a Styptick Taste sticking to the Tongue and feeling Unctuous with a sulphureous Earthy Smell These are Metallick Earths taken from Mines and their Vitriolick Stypticity is from the Metal Bole has its Stypticity and colour from Iron because it yields a green Tincture with Spirit of Salt and is Aluminous by mixing with Spirit of Nitre Terra sigillata contains some Particles of Gold and ferments with Acids but Bole does not it becomes Aluminous