that they have without Difficulty granted me my Request and willed that I should cause one of these Clocks to be carried into their Assembly to expound the Invention thereof unto them and then the Application to Longitudes Which I did with great Approbation I have published this Week That the same Clocks will be exposed to Sale with necessary Instruction to use them at Sea and thus I have opened the way The Objection was made me here which had also been made by you against the Exactness of the Pendulums to wit though they agreed together they might both fail because the Air at one Time would be more thick than at another But I answered That this Difference if there be any is not at all felt by the Pendulums seeing the Observations made from Day to Day and continually from Winter to Summer always shewed that they agreed with the Sun As to the printing the Figure of my Clock I shall defer it as yet for some Time yet it shall appear nevertheless with all its Demonstrations and a Treatise of Pendulums which I have written some Days past and which is of a very subtle Speculation The Publick is obliged for the Communication of these two Letters to the unparallel'd Mr. Chaplain who adding to his other fine Knowledges that of the most Curious Philosophy kept a Correspondence in all Europe to be advertised of the New Discoveries which are made therein An Extract of an English Iournal MR. Boyle has communicated a Letter to the Royal Society by which he is advertised of a Monster born at Limmington in Hampshire A Butcher having killed a Cow found she was big with a Calf which began to be Hairy Its Hind-Legs had no Joynts and its Feet were divided like the Claws of a Dog His Tongue was triple and after the manner that Cerberus's is described one in the middle of its Mouth and two others on the Sides Between the Fore and Hind Feet there was a great Stone upon which it was laid This Stone weighed twenty Pounds and an half its Colour was greyish like to a Cut Stone which is commonly called the Grison the Superficies thereof was unequal and full of little Cavities when it was broken they perceived small Grains of Stone of an oval Figure and its Colour was mixed with Yellow and Black Veins which were all over it Dr. Haughtein of Salisbury keeps very carefully this Stone of which he hath sent a Part to Mr. Boyle who hath shewen it to the Royal Society An Extract of an English Iournal MR. Moray hath told the Royal Society That Brimstone and Vitriol are taken from the same Minerals and that it hath some resemblance of the Lead-mine which often separate by rubbing when they meet together Sometimes the Mine is digged fifteen or twenty Fathoms or more according as the Vein leads the Work-men or the Subterranean Waters permit them When Men are minded to make Brimstone it is broken by little bits which are put into little Pots of Earth five Foot long of a Pyramidal Figure the two parts whereof must be disposed after a leaning manner and are plac'd one upon another There are eight underneath and seven above ordered so that there is an emptiness betwixt thro' which the Fire passeth which by this means toucheth them all The Brimstone which is melted thro' the violence of the Fire droppeth and coming out by the lesser end of the Pot falls into a Trough of Lead which is common to all of them and thro' which there continually runs a little Brook of cold Water carried thither by Pipes to congeal the liquefied Brimstone which is commonly four Hours melting When that is done the Ashes are drawn out with an Hook of Iron they are carried in an Iron Wheel Barrow without the Place and are broken to bits and covered with other Lye-Ashes which are dry to keep them the warmer which is done so long as they yield Brimstone When Persons are minded to make Copperas or Vitriol they take a quantity of these Ashes which are put into a square Hole made in the Ground about four Foot deep and eight Foot in bigness which is every where covered with Boards of Wood well joyned together After that they throw Water upon it till it swims and so it 's commonly lest twenty four Hours or else until an Egg swims on the top of it which is a mark that the Water is strong enough So when they are minded to boyl it they make it run thro' Pipes into Kettles and add thereto one half of the Mother Water as they call it which is that which remains when the Vitriol is made These Kettles are of Lead and are four Foot and an half high six Foot in length and three Foot broad and they lay 'em on Iron Grates and boyl this Liquor in the Kettles with a great Cole Fire for twenty four Hours or more according as the Grounds are stronger or weaker When the Water is well consumed the Fire is taken from under it they let it cool a little and draw it from the Kettles by holes which are on the sides and by wooden Pipes whereby they make it pass into Recipients which are three Foot deep and four long where they leave it fourteen or fifteen days and longer if it may be necessary until the Vitriol is separated from the Water becoming clear and hard The Water which remaineth when the Vitriol is drawn off is that which is called the Mother Water and the Lye-Ashes which remained at the bottom of this boared Hole are the Faeces which the Water leaves when the Vitriol is made An Extract of an English Iournal 'T Was attempted a long while ago to take the Whales which are in the American Sea near to Bermudas but the Attempt was altogether given over as Fruitless because of the Fury and extraordinary Swiftness of these Fishes But it was begun again sometime since with more Success as a very able Mariner told us who was present at the taking of some of 'em The last time he was at Sea two old Females were taken and three young Males One of these old Whales was eighty eight Foot in length from the Head to the Tail it 's Tail was twenty three Foot in bigness the Fins twenty six Foot in length and it's Gills three Foot it had great Beards hanging under the Nose unto the Navel and towards the end of the back Parts a Crest upon its Back within it was full of Fat like the leaf of an Hog The other was about sixty Foot in length one of the young Ones was thirty three Foot and each of the two others about twenty five and twenty seven Foot in length The Fish is of a very sharp Figure behind much like the ridge of an House near the side of it's Head are several little Lumps its Back is extreamly black and its Belly white He saith that the Swiftness of these Fishes is incredible And that having hooked one it dragged the
were formed coming to stretch pressed and pushed it out that the little Channel had remained a long while without freezing because the Water which continually passed through it kept it open That when the Ice had at last stopp'd this Passage the Bubbles whose number always increased was at last too much press'd and by the Strife they made to extend themselves had broke the Ice That it was also this same Strife which had made the Ice above to part from that beneath and that the whiteness of the Ice which was last formed happened because there were many of these Bubbles mixed with it If it be asked Whence these Bubbles come he answers That they are formed of an Aerial Matter with which the Water is all full as is seen by Experiment of the Void for if there is a Glass full of Water put into a Recipient there are seen many such Bubbles come out of the Water when the Air is pumped And the same thing happeneth when there is Water put to boyl on the Fire It will perhaps be said That in boyling Water these Bubbles come from the Fire But Mr. Mariotte hath seen several of these Bubbles stay more than six Weeks at the Bottom of a Dish filled with Water without any notable diminishing in bulk although the Dish was no more on the Fire but exposed to a pretty cold Air whence he concludes That these Bubbles are not Particles of the Fire It might also be doubted whether they come from the Matter of the Vessel or from the Air which is contained in these Pores This Doubt which seems pretty well grounded gave him an occasion of making a curious Experiment He poured Oyl into a little Vessel and with the Head of a Pin he put softly a Drop of Water over this Oyl Having afterwards put the Vessel on the Fire he saw no Bubbles come from the Oyl but he saw a great many come from the Drop of Water When the Oyl was more warmed the Drop of Water fell to the Bottom and Bubbles continued to come from it But what is wonderful a little after there fell out a kind of Fulmination and at the same instant the Top of the Oyl was all covered with Bubbles whereof some were bigger than the whole Drop of Water This Experiment made him to judge That the Matter of which the Bubbles were formed was contained in the Water and that it changeth into Air when the Water is frozen or boyled or that the Air about it is pumped out in making the Experiment in the Void It remains to know how the Bubbles are formed why they swell and how the Ropes are made which appear at the beginning of Freezing which he also easily expounds according to the same Principles He saith There is a great likelihood that the fluidity of the watry Liquors comes from that their Parts are continually agitated by the Motion of this Aerial Matter and that this Motion is maintained by Heat whence it followeth that when there happeneth a great Cold this Motion becomes so weak that it can no longer agitate the Parts of the Water so that they stick to the Vessel and then they joyn to one another and thence comes these Ropes and Bars of Ice which are seen to appear when the Water begins to freeze Then the Aerial Matter is disingaged from the Water which freezeth and as the Spirits of new Wine being separated from the Gross Matters of the Wine put themselves into Motion and make the Wine come out by the Bung-Hole or Break the Barrel if they have not Passage given them so this Aerial Matter in dilating makes the Water come out by the little Hole which remains open and where this Hole is stopped it breaks the Ice which keeps it too pressed To shew that there is no other Cause of this Rupture Mr. Mariotte made the following Experiment EXPERIMENT IV. He put fresh cold Water into the Vessel which he had made use of in the two first Experiments and when the Water was altogether frozen above so that there remained no Channel he pierced the Ice with a big Pin there came immediately out a Spout of Water more than two Inches high which took away the Pin which remained in the Hole He continued to pierce the Ice from Time to Time until the water was altogether frozen and after that he left it exposed to a very cold Air two Days and two Nights successively but the Ice burst not though other Ice which had not been pierced burst just by it EXPERIMENT V. He was minded to see if there needed many of these Bubbles to break the Ice and for that end having set another Water to freeze in the same Vessel he pierced the Ice from Time to Time When the Water was frozen almost all over he drew the whole Ice out of the Vessel having heated it a little and left it exposed to the Air without piercing it any more A quarter of an Hour afterwards he heard it break and found it separated into two Parts almost equal in each of which there was a Cavity of about an Inch diameter which was the Space occupied by the Bubbles and the rest of the Water which remained unfrozen The Ice was above the Fingers thick all round about and yet the Bubbles which were formed of the little Water which remained did nevertheless break it EXPERIMENT VI. Many Persons have endeavoured to make Burning-Glasses of Ice but it is hard to succeed because Ice is commonly imperfectly Transparent Mr. Mariotte having judged by the precedent Experiments That if the Aerial Matter was exhausted which is in the Water before it was exposed to the Frost one might have very pure Ice and he was minded to make a Trial of it Wherefore he boyled some clean Water upon the Fire for about the Space of half an Hour to make the Aerial Matter evaporate and then exposed it to a very cold Air. Very near this hot Water he put as much cold into another Vessel to compare them together The cold Water begun to freeze before the hot Water had as much as cool'd and there were formed a great many Bubbles The hot Water also freezed at last but the Ice was two Inches thick on all Sides afore any Bubles were formed so that it was perfectly transparent He put a bit of this Ice into a little Concave Spherick Vessel and having set this Vessel near the Fire he made the Ice on one Side to melt by little and little until it had taken a Convex Spherick Figure He did as much on the other side turning the Ice often and pouring the Water on it from Time to Time according as the Ice melted When the Ice had a Convex Figure pretty uniform he took it by the two Edges with a Glove that the heat of his Hand might not so soon melt it and he exposed it to the Sun This Experiment had the Success he expected for in a very short Time by the Heap of this
Child and Baptize him in the name of a Proselyte 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is a Proselyte from that very moment but he assureth us of another thing elsewhere which is not so conformable to the use of Christians to wit if a Woman with Child was Baptized and received into the number of Proselytes it was thought needless to Baptize the Child As to the Pots of Cana the Water of which Iesus Christ changed into Wine Lightfoot takes occasion from thence to enumerate all the Vessels of the Hebrews whereof mention is made in Scripture and tells what they severally contain'd The third part of the Harmony of the Gospels comprehends the space of one year which passed from the first Passover that our Saviour celebrated after his Baptism to the second As to these words of Jesus Christ in St. Iohn If any man be not born a second time he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Lightfoot makes a long digression touching the sense of these words the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven He immediately remarks that the Jews in the Thalmud take them in a very extraordinary sense that is to say for the rigorous observation of their Ceremonies and particularly that of the Tradition of Phylacteries Rabbin Gamaliel being Married did upon the very night of his Nuptials rehearse what was written upon his Phylacteries upon which says the Thalmud his Disciples spoke thus to him Have you not taught us that a Bridegroom is not obliged to mention his Phylacteries and that he answered them far be it from me to be so complaisant to you as to quit one only hour the yoak of the Kingdom After that Lightfoot sheweth that thereby in our Saviours time was understood the State of the Jewish Church under the Messia In fine he largely sheweth the different signification these words had in the Mouth of the Carnal Jews and in our Saviours Upon Iohn 3.23 And John Baptized at Enon near Salim our Author makes sundry remarks upon Enon and Salim he believes these places were in Galilee Afterwards he examines these 2 Questions to wit what Ceremonies the Iews used in their Baptism and how far St. John the Baptist hath imitated them When a Proselyte was received he was immediately asked if it was not through some humane consideration that he would embrace Iudaism as through fear desire of Riches or love to some fair Israelitish Woman If he answered it was not then the difficulty of observing the Law was represented to him and the Punishment it inflicted upon Transgressours But for fear of discouraging him he was also told of the rewards promised in the Law they declared to him that tho Israel was seen miserable in this World yet God had prepared for it a felicity that he kept concealed and which they should enjoy in observing the Law that if God did not render Israel happy in this Life it was to the end only to keep it from Pride but that the other Nations should everlastingly perish how happy soever they for the present seemed to be They added that if he Repented that he had offered himself to be received into the number of the Proselytes he was permitted to withdraw If he still declared he was in the same Mind they Circumcised him and when he was cured he was brought to some Water wherein he presently entered up to the Neck Whilst he kept himself in this posture the three inferiour Iudges of the place rehearsed to him divers Precepts of the Law after which he plunged himself over Head and Ears and came out a very little while after If 't was a Woman that was to be baptized she was by Women put into the Water the Iudges held themselves at a sufficient distance from the place where she plunged her self and she turned her back as soon as ever she came out of the Water In expounding St. Luke 4.14 Lightfoot makes an ample digression concerning the Synagogues wherein he treateth of their antiquity and establishment of the Synagogues after the Captivity of the days in which men went to them of the conductors of the Synagogues and of their Preachers He believeth that in this the Christian Churches have imitated sundry customs of the Jews and that is it which others have evinced in whole Treatises A passage of the same Evangelist viz. C. 5.17 gives our Author an occasion to insert in his Harmony a small Treatise of the different conditions that were found amongst the Jews of the divers Orders of their Doctors of the fundaments of their Religion in the time of our Saviour of the different Sects and particularly of the Sadduces and Pharisees But all this is only an Abridgment of some parts of a greater work that our Author proposed to himself to make as may be seen in Section 1. of the Collection of the remarkable things concerning his Life For the better understanding of divers passages both of the Old and New Testaments we must of necessity have some idea of the manner of the structure of the Temple at Ierusalem and of its different parts Therefore Lightfoot hath undertaken to give us an exact description of this sumptuous Building particularly such as it was in the time of our Saviour We see a Draught of it at the beginning of this Treatise that the Author himself had traced As this Treatise had not been Printed till now but in English the Latin version made of it will appear a work altogether now to those that understand not the English Tongue This same reason besides the delight it may be to all men to know how this Temple was made whereof the Scriptures speak so advantageously engageth us to give a small description thereof according to the Ideas of our Author The Top of the Hill of Moriah whereon the Temple was Builded was at the first somewhat narrow but by little and little it was made larger partly in filling up the Valleys which were about it and in environing it with a strong Wall Under the second Temple it made a perfect square of 750 foot Diameter and of 3000 in circuit The Wall that environed it on all parts appeared to those that were in the midst of it thirty seven foot and an half high excepting over against the Eastern Gate where it was but nine foot high for a reason that Lightfoot produces On the outside this Wall was prodigiously high raising it self from the bottom of Valleys which Moriah was environed withal On the side of the Eastern Gate it was 600 foot high It was of white stones triangular of 30 foot broad and of nine high so solid a structure that this Wall remained till the destruction of the second Temple In the beginning of the side of the East to consider the exteriour circumference of this magnificent Building one might see the principal Gate of this circumference which was called the Gate of Susan The entrance was in heighth 30 foot and breadth fifteen but the Ornaments of the
Invisible Fluid which is called the Spirits and partly perhaps by little Particles which are suddenly loosened from the rest or by a Portion of Air enclosed in our Body or by some kinds of Ferments all which things cease to act with Life and cannot be discovered by the means of Anatomy 5. A Physician ought not to apply himself so much to the Disquisition of the Ends of the Author of Nature as to neglect examining the manner whereby Natural Effects do happen and the Causes which produce them more immediately In effect the one is not incompatible with the other as nothing hinders us from knowing by what Springs and Wheels a Watch playeth when we have learned for what Design it was made A Physician who would not be unworthy of this Name ought to add the first of these Knowledges to the second The Book whereof we have given an Extract though full of Matter being little enough Mr. Boyle hath added fourteen Curious Observations about divers Infirmities of the Eyes It hath been already observed That he insisted much upon this part of the Animals to prove that their Bodies were form'd designedly so that these Remarks may serve only to confirm what he hath said There is but one Power and one Wisdom so great as is that of God which could have included so many things in so little an Organ And we have an occasion still to admire his Providence in that this Organ being composed of so many Parts and so easie to be spoiled It nevertheless is found to remain in the greatest part of Mankind in the same state from their Birth to their Death The Observations which Mr. Boyle gives us here are so much the more remarkable because he hath seen most of those Persons whose Unhappiness he relates This is the last which was translated Word for Word Men it may be may be persuaded That those who perceive Objects in a Light much less than it ought to be for others to discern it may rather be accounted to have an excellent Sight than to have infirm Eyes But although this Delicacy of the Organs of the Sight may be looked upon as a Perfection in Bats and Owls which cannot take hold of their Prey but in the Twilight yet in regard to Man who ought principally to act in full Day or in a Light almost equivalent we may be sensible of the Bounty of the Author of Nature in that he hath given him Eyes so qualified as they commonly are if he had the Coat or Membrane too tender it would be an Imperfection or at least a great Inconveniency as appears by the following Observation In the Army of Charles the First King of England there was an Ingenious Gentleman who was Major of a Regiment and being forced by the Victory of the Usurper to go seek his Fortune out of the Kingdom hazarded himself at Madrid to render his Prince a Service of very great Consequence after such a manner as was judged in Spain to be altogether void of Prudence he was seized and put into a Dungeon where there were no Windows but only a Hole in the Wall by which they gave the Prisoner his Victuals after which they shut it although perhaps not very exactly This Gentleman remained some Weeks without seeing any thing whatever and in a very deep Melancholy But after that it seemed to him as if he saw a weak Light which afterwards augmented from Day to Day so that he could discover his Bed or any thing of a like Bigness At last he came to discern Objects so little that he saw Rats which came to eat the Crumbs of his Bread that fell on the Ground and distinctly observed their Motions He related several other effects of his Sight in this obscure Place Which shews that this proceeded chiefly from his Organs which became tender staying so long a Time in such a dark Place as it was But his Affairs being changed and having recovered his Liberty he durst not immediately expose himself to a full Sight fearing left a too sudden Brightness should make him lose his Sight but thought he should accustome his Eyes thereto by little and little I add here continueth Mr. Boyle this strange History with much the less Difficulty because I have it from the very Mouth of this Gentleman He told me besides other Particulars which I dare not to mention here because I have not those Memorandums I took of 'm to refresh my Memory An Extract of a Letter written from London about the Description of a Ship built after a new Form by Sir William Petti AS all Men expected the Success of Sir William Petti's Enterprize of Building a Ship after a new Make so there ran a multitude of People to the Thames-Side to see this Ship Launched being empty when it was tryed It drew Water but seven Foot and an half They were going to name it Gemini because it was composed of two small Ships but at last it was called the Experiment because of the uncertainty of the Event it would produce To apprehend its Structure we must imagine two little Ships joyned together by a Plat-form so that between the two there may be a Space almost as large as the two Ships together through which the Water has an entire Liberty to pass The Keel of each Vessel is eighty Foot long The bigness with the Platform is only thirty two Foot The height from the Keel unto the Platform is fourteen Foot If this Ship is used in War it will carry fifty Pieces of Cannon two hundred Men and three Months Provision If it be used as a Merchant Ship it will carry three hundred Tuns The Advantages which are expected from this Ship are First That it will be swifter than those hitherto used 1. Because it will carry twice or thrice as many Sails as others do 2. Having no Ballast it will be lighter and consequently swifter Secondly They pretend that this Ship will be surer than others 1. Because the Figure of its Sides with the Water which runs between the two Ships will keep it from running aground 2. And having no Ballast it cannot sink what Breaches soever it may meet with especially if it be assisted by some Pieces of Cannon 3. It s Keel being supported by a great many streight Planks will defend it if it should touch the Ground with all its Weight 4. Because it will not carry its Noses under the Water and that its Mast will be sooner Break in the Tempest Thirdly They say this Ship is still more commodious than others 1. In that the Water passing with its full Force to the Rudder along its direct Sides it will make the Ship turn more speedily than others do whose Rudder receives only the broken Water by the Sides of those Ships which are rounder 2. This Ship not being so round as others will toss less in a Tempest and as it will not Rise or Fall but very little so they may make use even in
Vessel wherein he was six or seven Leagues in three quarters of an Hour When these Whales are Wounded they make a horrid Cry to which all the rest that are within Hearing immediately swim thither but without hurting any Body He struck one of them one day which by estimation was more than one hundred Foot in length He believes that these Fish are like those which are called Iubartes they have no Teeth and are of a greater length than the Whales of Greenland but not so thick They feed on the Herbs which grow in the bottom of the Sea which is apparent by the opening of their great Sack or Stomach in one of which there have been found two or three Hampers full of green Stuff like to Herbs He thinks seven or eight Tuns of Oyl may be drawn from the biggest of these Whales tho' all those he took afforded him but eleven Tuns But he believes the Reason was because he had not a Skilful Cooper to hoop them well The young Ones give but little and it is more like Jelly than Oyl That of the old Ones is curdled and yet burns very well That which is drawn from the Fat is as clear as Whey but that which is drawn from the interlarded Leanness becomes hard as Tallow and sparkles in burning As to that which is made of the Leaf it is like the Fat of an Hog This Oyl he says hath a marvelous Quality for tho' it is boyling hot one may dip ones Hand in it without being burned It is Soveraign for Wounds and several other sorts of Evils being applied to the afflicted part Upon what he first said That the catching of these Whales lasts from the beginning of March unto the end of May he was asked where they might be the rest of the time seeing they were not in the Sea To which he replyed That the common Opinion was that they withdrew into the Weedy Caves of the Gulph of Florida because it hath been observed that upon their Fins and Tails there were quantities of Viscosities upon which there grew Shells and there has been seen upon 'em Shells bigger than Oysters many of which have been ranged upon the Palisadoes of the Governour of Bermudas An Extract of an English Iournal A new Invention which they use in Virginia to kill Bell-Serpents THere are in several Places of America a kind of Serpents most dangerous which is called the Bell-Snake because with the End of their Tail they make a Noise very like that which Bells do when they are moved This Animal is very big about five Feet long and of Brown Colour mixed with Yellow It hath a forked Tongue and long sharp Teeth and moves with as much Swiftness that it seems to Fly As there was Discourse in the Royal Society of this kind of Serpents Captain Silas Taylor gave there the Relation of the manner how they are killed in Virginia and afterwards gave it in by Writing attested by two Persons worthy of Credit in whose Presence the Experience had been made These are their own Words The wild Pouliot or the Dictam of Virginia is about a Foot high the Leaves are like unto those of the Pouliot and little blue Knots at the Places where the Branches are joyned to the Trunk and though the Leaves are of a Red Colour inclining to Green the Water which is distilled thence is of a fine Yellow and is like Brandy When these Leaves are opened and put upon the Tongue they seem very hot and pricking They take of these Leaves which they tie to the End of a splitted Stick and some one puts it very near the Nose of the Bell-Serpent which useth all its Endeavours to draw away from it but the Smell as it is believed kills it in less than half an Hour This Experiment was made in Iuly 1651. at which Time it is thought the Venom of these Animals is in its greatest Strength This Gentleman also assured the Royal Society That where ever the wild Pouliot groweth or the Dictam of Virginia there are no Bell-Serpents to be seen An Extract of an English Iournal about a remarkable Spring which is near Paderborn in Germany NEar the City of Paderborn there is a Spring or Source which is called Methorne whence there comes three different Brooks There are chiefly two which though they are not distant from one another above about a Foot and a half yet have very contrary Qualities for the Water of the one is Clear but blewish Blood-warm and Boyling which seems to partake of an Armoniac Salt of Oker of Iron of Vitriol of Alum of Brimstone of Niter and Arsnick which they usefully make Use of against the Epilepsie the Pains of the Spleen and Worms The other has a Water as cold as Ice Muddy Whitish more Heavy and of a Stronger Taste than the former and imbibes much of Arsnick Salt Iron Nitre and a little of Armoniac Salt Alum and Vitriol and it is said That all Birds that drink on'â— do dye suddenly Which gave an Occasion to a curious Person to make Trial thereof by himself upon Hens to which he gave of this Water to drink after they had been fed He remarked That all those which after having fed upon Barly Oats or Crumbs of Bread drank thereof did immediately stagger and fall being attacked with strange Convulsions in which they dyed a little after and became Stiff almost like Sticks But those which he made to swallow a little Common Salt immediately after they had drunk lived a little longer Others which he made to swallow Vinegar lived almost seven or eight Days being very much incommoded thereby and about that Time dyed He had the Curiosity of opening all those which dyed and found that they all had the Entrals and Lungs withdrawn and gathered together Notwithstanding it is certain that several Persons have been cured of the Worms in taking a little of this Water which they mixed with other common Water for though most of them became thereby Sick yet none of them dâ—ed and they have been delivered from Worms after having voided a great Quantity of them As to the third Brook which is a little below the others about twenty Paces from them it hath a Water Greenish Clear of an Acid Taste and agreeable enough It is not as Light as the first nor so Heavy as the second but it seems to keep a medium betwixt both which makes those who have examined it to believe That this Brook is formed and comes from the Mixture of the others which come to joyn together This is principally known in that if they mix an equal Quantity of the Water of these two first Brooks and if there is a little Well-water put thereto shaking them altogether it falls out that after they settle there is a Water which hath the same Taste and the same Colour as that of the third Brook An Extract of an English Iournal An Opinion of the Astronomers of England upon the Contestation
happened betwixt two Learned Men about an Observation made of the First of the Two last Comets THere happened a Difference betwixt these two Famous Philosophers Mr. Hevelius and Mr. Auzout upon the Subject of the Observation made by the former upon the 18th of February 1665. and afterwards some famous Astronomers of England considering the Importance of this Dispute resolved to examine it we have thought that those who have heard it spoken of would not be displeased to know what they have done and remarked on this Subject Having then compared the Printed Writings of these two Gentlemen with one another and consulted carefully the Observations which have been made here with Prospectives by some of the most Learned Astronomers amongst them who have exactly observed the Position of this Comet with the Telescopick Stars which are in its way they have unanimously concluded That whatever this Appearance was which Mr. Hevelius hath seen near the first Star of the Ram of the Truth of which Appearance they would not doubt the aforesaid Comet hath not approached near this Star which is in the Left-Ear of the Ram by which Mr. Hevelius supposeth it hath passed but that it took its Course near the shining Star which is in its Left-Horn according to the Tables of Bayerus And whereas the Observations which have been made by very Judicious French Italian and German Astronomers which are come to the Knowledg of the English do entirely agree with that of theirs they doubt not but a Consent so unanimous meeting between so many Persons concerning what we have said and the Dispute being a Question of Fact wherein Authority Number and Reputation ought to prevail Mr. Hevelius whose Knowledg and Sincerity are known of all Men joyneth to them and is of their Opinion An Extract of an English Iournal concerning a Mine of Mercury which is in Frioul and the manner of making Wind by the Falling of the Water THE Mines of Mercury which are in Frioul are situated a Day and a half 's Journey or thereabouts from Coritia drawing towards the North. The Mine wherein we entred which is the Richest and Greatest of all is more than six hundred Foot in Depth It is descended into with much Pains by Ladders placed perpendicularly But there is one of the Descents where there are from Space to Space Boards laid across to rest upon them When we were at the Bottom we saw the Mine which is dug out with Picks because it is for the most part as hard as a Stone It is of the Colour of Livers or of Crocus metallorum In these Mines is a soft Earth in which the Mercury is all by little parcels There are besides round Stones found in them like Flint of different Bigness and resembling little Balls of Hair which I have often seen taken out of the Bellies of Oxen in England This is the manner how Mercury is got They take the Earth which hath been dug from the bottom of the Mine and brought up in Baskets which is put into Sacks whose Bottom is made of Wyer so disposed that one may put his Finger betwixt two Thence they carry it into a Brook of running Water where it is washed until nothing more can pass through the Sack The Earth which passeth not is put apart in a Heap and that which hath passed through the Sack is put into the Hole whence a second Man draweth it and puts it into another Sack and from that into ten or twelve others which are more bruised the one than the other It happens often that there is Mercury at the bottom of the first Hole whence the second Man draweth his Earth but in any Place where the Iron Wyers of the Sacks are nearest one to another they find Mercury in a greater Quantity The Earth is laid in a Heap which was set aside and they begin again the same Operation The fine and thin Earth which remaineth after that and from which the Mercury can no more be separated by means of the Water is put into Retorts of Iron proper for the luting of the Recipients in which the Violence of the Fire pusheth on the Mercury The Officer who had the Conduct thereof deluted several of 'em in our Presence to shew them to us and I observed in all that there immediately issued out perfect Mercury very fluently and afterwards a black Dust which being wetted with Water appeared to be nothing else but Mercury like the other They piled up the Caput Mortuum and began again the Operation until they can get no more Mercury from it The Water which imbibes the Qualities of the Mercury cures the Itch and Ulcers This is the manner they draw what they call Common Mercury for that which they call Virgin is found either perfect in the Mines or drawn by Lotions and Washings of the Earth The Virgin Mercury is much more esteemed than the other I asked some of the Officers of the Mine What Vertue it had in particular they told me That when Gold was mingled with Virgin Mercury this Mixture being put over the Fire the Mercury volatilizes the Gold which common Mercury doth not Common Mercury is in far greater Quantity than Virgin Mercury for we saw by the Account these Officers had given the Emperour That of 695334 Pounds of Mercury which was drawn out of these Mines in the Years 1661 1662 1663 there were 667666 of Common Mercury and only 27668 of Virgin Mercury The Machines which are used in these Mines are admirable the Wheels are the greatest that I ever saw in my Life and are all moved by the Force of the Water which for little Cost is brought from a Mountain that is three Miles from thence The Water which is drawn from the Mine by the means of fifty two Pumps twenty six on each Side is employed to move other Wheels which serve for different Uses The Workmen are paid but one Iules a Day and stay not long at this Work For although there is none who is more than six Hours under Ground they become all Paralytick and dye Hectical some sooner and some later We saw there a Man who wrought at these Mines but six Months so full of Mercury that immediately after he had put a bit of Brass into his Mouth or that he had rubbed it betwixt his Fingers it became as white as Silver and as if he had rubbed it with Mercury it self He was so very Paralytick that he could not carry to his Mouth a Glass half full of Wine without spilling it I have learned since That at Venice those who work behind Loâ—king-Glasses are also subject to the Palsie â— did not observe that these Men had black Teeth and it may be we unjustly accuse Mercury of spoiling the Teeth when it is given in Venereal Distempers It is true I did not make this Observation upon the Place but as black Teeth are very rare in that Country if they had been so I should undoubtedly have remarked it I am
it the best I could in the Night to my great Microscope and then to another that was less but I could not find any Light by the means of these Instruments neither in this Bit nor in any of the Drops of Water which shined before and which I had put into Glasses The tenth of May I examined a little Bit of this Fish with my great Telescope at the brightest Beams of the Sun which shined most of the preceeding Night but we remarked nothing considerable It s Surface seemed whitish and dry with deep Inequalities and the rest as well as I thought they saw a Vapor rather obscure than luminous which raised from this Fish after the manner of small Dust and small Sparkles which were almost imperceptible notwithstanding we are very certain of having seen them for we reckoned them and we all agreed in their Number their Order and their Place yet I am not so assured of this Vapour whereof I have spoken but that I am afraid the Light of the Sun deceived us and that this Vapour was the Dust of the Air. Having made Trial in the Day with a great Microscope upon this Bit we examined it at Night but it gave no more Light whether it was looked upon with Glasses or otherwise Seeing it was dry I thought that by wetting it with Spittle and handling it I could make it shine a little which also happened but this Lustre lasted not long and besides there were seen some small Sparkles which disappeared immediately We perceived them with our Eyes without making Use of Spectacles The Fishes as yet had no ill Smell and had not lost their Savour according to the Judgment even of the most delicate Palates therefore I caused two to be kept to make other Experiments two or three Days afterwards when they should begin to be corrupted hoping to find more Light therein but I found nothing of what I expected neither in stirring the Water nor in drawing out the Fishes An Extract of an English Iournal containing divers Experiments about Petrification THough there hath been already much written of the manner how Stones are formed notwithstanding we have not as yet a perfect History therefore the Curious ought to apply themselves to this matter to perfect it and to discover the Cause of this Transmutation for besides other Advantages which might be drawn from this Knowledg it would be of great Use to hinder a Stone from generating in Human Body or to dissolve it when it is formed To this End there has already been given in divers Places of the English Journal several Relations touching this Matter as the History of a Monstrous Calf which was found in the Belly of its Dam laid upon a great Stone which weighed more than twenty Pounds As also that a certain sandy Earth in England converts into a Stone such Wood as is put therein although there is no petrifying Spring in it There is also mention made of two Stones which were found in the left Ventricle of the Earl of Belcarras one of which was of the bigness of an Almond and the other was one Inch broad and two in length Mr. Boyle relates in his Essay of Firmness several such Histories upon which he makes very curious Reflections There are also several other Examples in the Micrography of Mr. Hook and in the Book of Helmont entituled De Lithiasi where among other things he relates what Pareus saith of a Child petrified that was to be seen formerly at Paris and which served for a Whetting Stone to him that kept it There might several other Histories be added still more surprizing if they were suspected as that of an entire Company of Men and of a Company of Beasts which according to the Relation of Aventius and Purchas were converted into a Stone and what Acosta speaks of a Company of Spanish Cavaliers to whom a like Accident happened Dr. Beale tells us upon this Subject That there was an Inspection about the Time of Easter into the Matrix of a Woman whence a Stone was drawn which she carried for eight or nine Years with unsufferable Torments of which she was since entirely well cured He assures That he hath seen the Stone and that having then weighed it in excellent Ballances he found it weighed near four Ounces but that its Weight is since a great deal diminished and is become very Light for a Stone of the Bigness He adds That it is of a whitish Colour a little clearer than that of Ashes He believes it is not much different from that which Scaliger speaketh of and after him Mr. Boyle in his Essay of Firmness which being exposed to the Air became like Plaister as much in Consistence as Colour It hath no considerable unevennesses and its Figure is almost Oval but one of the Ends is not so much like a Hen's Egg as the other which is bigger and more obtuse than that of a Goose-Egg This Stone is now given to the Royal Society with the Certificate of the Chirurgeon who made the Operation and of several credible Persons who were present thereat Micrographia or some Philosophical Descriptions of minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Enquiries thereupon by R. Hook Fellow of the Royal Society in Fol. Lond. ONE of the greatest Obstacles which is in the Progress of Natural Science is that the Ancients being entirely taken up to perfect Reason have neglected the Knowledg of the Senses having rather chosen to guess the most part of things than to see them Notwithstanding as the Soul knoweth nothing but by the Interposition of the Organs of the Body the Operations of the Senses serve not less to acquire a perfect Knowledg of Nature than those of the Mind and they are even more necessary that the Wisdom of God being infinitly above the Reach of our Imagination it is more easie to know what it hath done than to imagine what he hath been willing to make To remedy this Defect the Moderns having endeavoured to perfect the Operation of the Senses particularly that of Sight which is the most necessary of all as it is the noblest have invented two kinds of Glasses the Telescope to draw near the Objects which are invisible because of their Distance and the Microscope to magnifie those which are imperceptible because of their Smalness And with these two Instruments they have discovered more things in a few Years than the Ancients had done with all their Reasons for the Course of many Ages By this means all Nature has appeared New unto us For the Telescope hath shewed us in the Firmament new Motions new Stars and new Meteors And the Microscope hath discovered unto us upon the Earth a little World altogether new and hath made us perceive in each thing an infinity of small Creatures which are not less admirable than all those which have been known hitherto The Ingenious Mr. Hook having made several curious Observations with both the one and the other of these
this Glass over those wherein nothing but Glass is employed are first That the Concave Looking-Glass though of a Spherick Figure gathereth much better the parallell'd Beams towards one Point than our Spherick Glasses do as this may be Geometrically demonstrated Whence it followeth that of two Glasses of the same length whereof the one shall be of this new manner and the other an objective Glass as usual the first bearing a greater opening may unite much more Beams coming from the Objects though the little Looking Glass hindreth some of them and yet it may be made to magnifie much more than the other So that with the half or the third part of the length of the old Glasses or perhaps less the usual Effect may be had The second Advantage is That by this Invention an unseparable Inconveniency of the objective Glasses is avoided which is the Inclination of both their Surfaces to one another For though this Inclination is little yet it hinders the Beams which pass towards the sides of the Glass and it would hinder still more if we should make use of Hyperbolick or Elliptick Glasses which would require greater Overtures I reckon for a third Advantage That by the Reflection of a Metalline Looking Glass there are no Beams lost as in the Glasses which reflect a notable quantity thereof by each of their Surfaces and besides that do not intercept one part by the obscurity of their Matter And this Matter being also so difficult to meet with the Goodness which is requisite for long Glasses because for the most part it is not altogether homogenious is a fourth Advantage of this Catroptick Glass that in the Metal there needed no other Goodness but that of the Surface Those who have seen Mr. Newton's Glass do observe that there is a little difficulty to order it towards the Objects But this may be easily remedied by fastning thereto a Glass which may be exactly parallel to it by which the Object may first be sought for It is true that for this there needeth a second Observator if the Catropick Glass is big because that he that looketh at it ought to be at the end which is raised on high But this Incommodity is inconsiderable considering the usefulness of the Invention If instead of Spherick Looking Glasses there could be had parabolick ones exactly formed and polished these Glasses would have the effect which were hoped for from the Ecliptick or Hyperbolick Glasses and I believe it much easier to succeed in Looking Glasses Experiments about Freezing of Water made by Mr. Mariotte of the Royal Academy of Sciences AS the Royal Academy make every Winter Observations of the Cold Mr. Mariotte to contribute to the Design of the Assembly hath applied himself to examine how Ice is formed and for that end he hath made several curious Experiments whose principal ones I shall relate EXPERIMENT I. He put common Water into a Vessel of Brass which was about 8 Inches broad and 6 high and having exposed it to the Air during a hard Frost some time after he perceived that long Shreds of Ice begun to form some whereof did go from the Top to the Bottom others ran across some more fastened to the Bottom and Sides of the Vessel and others crossed in divers Places Afterwards he saw these Shreds to widen into very thin Blades and having softly poured out the Water by stooping the Vessel that so he might the better see the Blades of Ice which were formed at the Bottom he found that they all had the Breadth of about three Lines and that they were separated from one another by equal Intervals whose Breadth was also about three Lines EXPERIMENT II. The same Vessel having been filled again with new fresh Water and exposed to the Frost there formed immediately Ropes and Blades of Ice as before and afterwards the Blades of Ice which were at the bottom grew large by little and little and composed a continued Ice which covered all the Bottom of the Vessel The Blades of Ice which were on the Top of the Water were also joyned together but there was about the middle of the Surface of the Water a little Place which froze not and the Ice was more than an Inch thick when this little Place not frozen The Water went out by little and little through this Hole and freez'd round it according as it was spread so that the Hole became still narrower and there was was made round about it a Rising of Ice about an Inch high which formed a little Channel Finally the Hole being quite stopped the Ice some time after broke with a Noise before all the Water which was in the middle was frozen EXPERIMENT III. To find out what made the Water come but by this little Channel and what broke the Ice Mr. Mariotte took a great Glass of a Conick Figure and having filled it up with Water within three or four Lines of the Brim he carefully considered the Progress of the Congelation After that small Ropes were formed and then small Bars of Ice whereof some were cut like Parsley Leaves and others dented as a Saw several small Bubbles of Air began to appear at the Bottom and at the Sides of the Glass and magnified by little and little Some of these stayed engaged in the Ice others were loosed and raised up to the Top. The more the Water freezed the more Bubbles were formed yet the Water came still forth by the little Channel and as it freezed so it spread The Ice in fine became so high round about the small Channel that on one Side it passed the Brims of the Glass so that the Water ran over it Then he made another Channel with a Pin at the other Side where the Ice was less thick and the Water immediately went that way This Channel was renewed from Time to Time and the first Hole by which the Water passed no more was entirely shut up Afterwards the Water stopped also the second Channel which was no more renewed and yet there were Bubbles that were formed in the Water which was not as yet frozen and raised unto the Top of the Water Some time after the second Hole was stopped he heard the Ice crack and found that it was cleft at the Top at two Places that about two thirds of the heighth of the Glass the Ice above was entirely separated from that which was under by a Space of about two Lines and that in the midst of the Ice there was a little Water which was not yet frozen He remarked also That in all this Ice there was an infinite Number of little Bubbles which ended in a Point and which extended almost all towards the middle of the Glass and that at the Place which the Water had frozen last the Ice was whitish and a little transparent almost as Snow By these Experiments we judged That the reason why the Water included in the Ice raised and spreaded at the Top was That the Bubbles which
like all others of Levin of Wine of Beer c. by the Spirits that agitate it and throw it up He says that the Motion and Agitation of these Spirits ought to have its Periods even independently of all exterior Causes as we see in Critical Days and in all sorts of Fermentations So Winds blow by Gusts and the Surges of the Sea are unequal the tenth being more violent than the others And by that he gives a Reason why Lakes have not a Flux and Reflux the Water being very pure and by consequence have not these Spirits that agitate it from time to time and why Tides are greater in some places than others is more difficult to conceive in his Opinion than the Reason why Vines thrive more in some places than in others The Moon according to his Judgment may determine these Spirits and contribute to their Agitation from whence it comes that the Periods of the Tides agree so exactly with those of this Planet And he pretends 't is as probable as to say That the Moon concurs to the Effects which cause Melancholy in Lunaticks by the Temperament that it produces in the Air which is dispersed every where but he does not think that the Moon excites these Spirits precisely by its Heat for we see that an extraordinary Heat often hinders these Fermentations It may be adds he that it mingles some Spirits with the Light which are devolved with those of the Sea Thus we see 't is not Cold only which produces Ice upon the Water but that certain Vapours mingling themselves therewith assist in the Coagulation An Extract of an English Iournal containing Remarks upon Mr. Plot 's History of Oxfordshire THE Remarks upon Oxfordshire are only the Inventions which many Learned Men of that Province have at divers times made known to the Publick The First is An Instrument invented by Sir Christopher Wren to know the Changing of the Weather which therefore is called the Weather-Clock This Instrument serves also to discover the Cause of the Good or Bad Air and to prevent the mischievous Accidents which proceed from the last The Second is Another Instrument invented by the same Person to know exactly the Quantity of Rain which falls in a Years Time in such a Space of Earth as shall be determined The Third is A Striking Clock invented by Mr. Iohn Iones the Motion whereof is caused by the Air of a Pair of Bellows and this Air has the same Effect as the best Spring in the World The Fourth is A way how to prevent Stacks of Hay from taking Fire and Rats and Mice Eating of Corn. The Fifth is A Mill which Grinds Corn Breaks Stones and does other things all at the same Time The Sixth and Last is Also a Mill which at the same Time makes Cyder and Mustard Grinds Corn and passes Meal through four different Shutters altogether or separately by the Labour of one Man and an Horse An Extract of an English Iournal containing many Experiments made with Phosphorus prepared by Dr. Slare of the Royal Society THere are two Sorts of Phosphorus the Liquid and the Solid which are not materially different being both drawn from the Body of Man That which is Liquid is a Substance mixed with a Liquor which although burning when it is in a Solid Mass cannot spoil nor even heat a Hand how delicate soever it may be when it is washed therewith If this Phosphorus be stopt very close it preserves not its Light much longer nevertheless in one of those Experiments that I have made I observed for five or six different and successive Times a kind of Darting although the Vial was close-stop'd which made me conclude The Experiment was the same with the shining Phosphorus of Dr. Esholt its Darting bearing some Resemblance to Lightning The Solid Phosphorus is not materially different from the Liquid as I have already said being made chiefly of Urine I am convinced one might do as much with the Blood if it could be had as easily and in as great a Quantity since Urine is only the Serum of the Blood passed by the Reins The Substance of this Phosphorus may be made as Transparent as any Rosinous Body and melts in hot Water like Wax When it is covered all over in Water it ceaseth to shine but as soon as any little part thereof escapes and gains the Air it shines again although the Vial was sealed Hermetically I have kept it without Water many Days in a very large Vial and although it always shined its Brightness or Weight diminished not at all or so little that it was not discernable The Pieces of this solid Phosphorus are some of 'em much more inflamable than others Some of 'em one may take in ones Hand without Danger but others that take Fire and burn as soon as ever they are touched if the Hand be never so little warm We have seen a Piece weighing about two Drachms which taking Fire in a Chamber where there was no Candle and distant from us light like a Faggot and burnt the Carpit and Table whereon it was laid This Sort of Phosphorus ought to be managed only by Men of Experience and Wisdom With that which is not so inflamable one may make Characters upon a blank Paper which in the Dark appear like Rays of Light but if it comes near the Fire these same Characters as soon as they are warm change Dark and continue so for as long a Time as good Ink will This Light is very diffusive of it self I have made with this new manner of Pencil above an hundred Characters without wasting a twentieth part of it Half a Grain laid upon my Hand communicated its Brightness to the utmost extent of it and so continued all Night the Hand shining also the next Day A Grain of this Substance exposed to the open Air flamed for seven or eight Days so that during the Day shutting the Windows of my Closet I cou'd always perceive it stiring and when I look'd very earnestly I could see a whitish Flame come out of it into the circumambient Air. After all the Matter was consumed there remained no Cinders but only a little Moisture which had an acid Taste but having left off to consume the more gross Portion there was found much more Moisture which had the Taste of the Oil of Sulphur This made me remember That the greatest part of my Friends who saw this Experiment called it a Sulphurous Flame Indeed it seemed that in all its Proprieties it had more relation to Sulphur than Saline Concretes chiefly because of its inflammability and because it did not destroy itself nor dissolve in Water An Extract of an English Iournal containing the manner how with many singular Experiments of Preserving Fish Butter Flesh Fowls Fruits and Roots in a very good Estate and for a long Time THis is done only by the means of Salt upon which he observes 1. That refined Salt is the best of all to salt Fish
place of the Pleura there was white purulent Matter about the breadth of a Crown shut up between the Pleura and the Sides which gave them occasion to suppose that the corrupted Humour had penetrated the Pleura and produced in the Branches of the Lungs the Irritation that had caused this little dry Cough The two following Matters served also as Proofs to Mr. Boyle The first is That a Person that had the Dropsy attributed his Sickness to a Schirrus in the Spleen having been counsell'd by a Surgeon to whom he complain'd to apply upon it a Sponge dip'd in Lime-Water and afterwards squees'd out was cured in a little time by this means And the second That Mercury has been found in the Bones of some of those that have been cured of the Venereal Distemper by the Frications of Quick-Silver and even in the Teeth which a certain Person had caused to be drawn out after he had used some of the same Remedy A Treatise of the Loadstone divided into two Parts The first containing Experiments and the second the Reasons that may be given for it By M. D. At Amsterdam in Twelves 1687. AS the Effects of the Loadstone were discover'd before the Reasons thereof were sought after so the Author of this Treatise believ'd he ought first to relate the most considerable Experiments that have been made concerning the Vertue of the Loadstone and afterwards proposes the most probable means that may be made use of to explain these Effects He had no design to give us a new Hypothesis for this nor to shew us any new Properties in the Loadstone but only to relate with as much clearness and brevity as he could the most curious and likely Arguments that have been hitherto Written by all the Philosophers that have treated on it Indeed we have not yet seen any Treatise upon this Matter so short compleat and clear all at once After some Reflections upon the Names that the Greeks Latins Germans Italians Spaniards English and French have given to the Loadstone it is observed altho' it is to be found where-ever there are Iron Mines yet it is not every where of the same Colour He saw some which had the Colour of Iron before it is forg'd some reddish and some that were blackish but 't was very rare to find any which had much Power The Ancients had some Knowledg of it and agreed that it joyn'd it self to the Iron but were entirely ignorant of the Propriety it had of turning towards the Pole because they never spoke a word of this Propriety and often made mention of the first He affirms also that the Inventer of the Needle was one Iohn Goia de Melphi a Citizen of the Kingdom of Naples near Salern that he lived about the year 1300. Others attribute the Invention thereof to the Chinese from whom Paul Venetian a famous Voyager that lived in the year 1260. brought it into Europe This is what is known concerning the Original of the Compass he afterwards passes to the propriety of the Loadstone which shall be related here in brief 1. The Loadstone's uniting it self to the Iron which is falsly call'd its Vertue of attracting the Iron since this Union is made by a true Impulsion and that properly speaking there is no Attraction as the Author proves But that is not true that Ptolomy said that there were Isles in the Indies where Vessels which have in some Parts been joyned together with Nails have stop'd because of the great quantity of the Stone of Hercules a Name that is given to the Loadstone in Greek that is there to be found The Author reprehends Gonzales d'Oviedo Olaus Magnus with many others that have said something like it 2. The Loadstone can keep Iron or Steel suspended at a certain distance altho' it never touches it It s false however that the Mosque wherein Mahomet's Body is kept is incrusted with a Loadstone and that his Tomb is suspended in the middle as some fabulous Voyagers have related Whereas on the contrary this Tomb is placed upon a piece of Earth in the middle of this Mosque The Author believes what gave Birth to this Fable was this that in the same Mosque there is a great Loadstone fasten'd to one of the sides of the Wall to which hangs a piece of Silver across that 's kept there by a Chain of Steel 3. That the Vnion of the Iron to the Loadstone is reciprocal and that one may as properly say that the Iron unites it self to the Loadstone as that one piece of Loadstone unites it self to another He proves it by divers Experiments that he makes very clear and sensible by Figures which he has taken care to give as often as he relates any Experiment 4. The Loadstone always presents one side to the North and the other side to the South It seems this Property of the Loadstone had not been discovered only by chance leaving it floating upon the Water in a little Gondula Having thus observed the Poles of the Loadstone he confirms himself in his Thought by throwing upon it the Filings of Steel which are otherwise dispos'd towards these places than others and by other Experiments whereof the Author relates some 5. The Poles of the Loadstone are ordinarily unequal in respect to their Power and also very often diametrically opposite altho' it sometimes happens that they are situated irregularly enough 6. The Loadstone communicates its Vertue to Iron that it is rubbed with altho' removed from it to a certain distance The Author shews what Method must be taken to touch a piece of Iron well with the Loadstone 7. The Loadstone does not only communicate to Iron its Property of drawing other Iron but also gives it Poles which direct it towards those of the World as is clearly seen by the Compass Upon which he observes that these Poles differ from those of the Loadstone that is that the point of the Needle which should be touched on that side of the Loadstone which they call the North as the Loadstone does but towards the South and so the other on the contrary 8. When a Loadstone is cut in two Parts following its Axis when they joyn it together again one part turns almost perfectly to a Situation opposite to what it did before it was cut and when it is cut perpendicularly to the Axis new Poles are made in the Faces of the Section 9. Having presented to the Poles of one Loadstone the Poles of another Loadstone they joyn themselves together offering the opposite Pole it seems to shun it this happens also in respect to Needles touched with the Loadstone 10. A Needle being in Aequilibrio before it be touched it loses this Property after having been touched by the Loadstone Of this side of the Line the Point which respects the Northern Pole is inclined towards the Earth and the contrary happens as soon as it is passed the Line Which obliges Pilots to add to that side which
appears to be the lightest a little Wax to render the Needle in Aequilibrio and for the augmenting or diminishing the weight of the Wax as they are nearer or more distant from the Line where the Needle hath no need of Wax to keep it in Aequilibrio The Author gives some Methods to find out how many degrees the Needle is inclined and observes that in Countries that are 49 or 50 degrees of Elevation the Needle is enclin'd to the Horison about 70 Degrees 11. The Power of the Loadstone may be augmented or diminished by divers means which the Author observes but if it is entirely lost it cannot be re-established 12. In fine altho' the Needle always turns one of its ends towards the North 't is observed that they often decline in some degrees towards the East or the West 'T was above a hundred years that it declined six degrees towards the East sixty years after its Declination was hardly one degree of the same side Mr. De la Hire of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Royal Professor in the Mathematicks observed at Paris towards the end of the year 1684. that it declined four Degrees ten Minutes North-West Now it declines there but a little more than one Degree 2. These are the Experiments which he relates concerning the Loadstone here follow the chief Generals by which he explains all these Effects 1. That the Earth is made after such a manner that out of its Poles continually issues a very subtle Matter both impalpable and invisible which circulates within and about it self till it re-enters by the opposite Pole to that which it went out of and passes by parallel Pores ito its Axis 2. That the Pores by which this Matter passes are furnished with certain Particles like small Hairs which are so disposed as easily permits this Matter to pass over after a certain manner but which stands upright and stops the Pores if the Matter presents it self to pass over after a contrary manner 3. That each Loadstone hath two Poles like the Earth and is disposed after the same manner as it is Those who have any knowledg of the manner whereby the Cartesians apply their Supposition of an effluvious Matter to the effects of the Loadstone may without any trouble apply the Principle of the Author to the Phoenomena's that have any relation thereto and those who are not sufficiently acquainted with this Matter to be able of ' emselves to make an Application of this Principle may in less than two hours time read all that the Author hath said of it As the Chapters of the second part answer to that of the first so Things are there more at large explain'd than in the first with an addition of divers new Experiments concerning the same things For Example there is in the XIII Chapter the particular manner of arming the Loadstone that is the furnishing each of its Poles with a little plate of Iron to augment the force thereof From this place also may be learnt something of the Configuration of the insensible parts of Iron and Steel The Author observes that when the Iron is forged the little parts whereof it is composed dispose themselves at length and range themselves like little Needles all of the same manner the length of the Iron and that they must take the Armour of the Loadstone in such a manner that the length of its little parts answer to the extremity of the Armour which must lift up the other Iron that they shall present unto it The Author having made one after this manner and taken an other and applyed it directly contrary that is in which the little parts were travers'd found that the first rais'd up a fourth part heavier than the other He also observed that a Blade of Iron which is not soak'd in Water breaks very difficultly and when it is broken the place where it breaks look'd upon with a Microscope appears like the small points of Needles which pierce the Hand with the least touch The other on the contrary adds the Author is easily broke and the broken place resembles little Balls or Cubes and is not sharp at all He afterwards gives Philosophical Reasons thereof which is best read in the Original As the declination and varation of the Loadstone can only be perceived by the means of a Meridional Line so the Author hath in the XV Chapter given six different manners of tracing it The first is to cut a Body of a Tree that has been much exposed to the Wind and the Sun horizontally and to observe in what place the Excentrick Circles are closest and the place where they are the most distant one from the other The last notes the South and the first the North. But as one cannot always rely upon this Experiment so he only relates it by the by and says also that those who concern themselves with Agriculture ought to observe it and that when they transplant a Tree care must be taken to place it in the same Situation as it was in before in respect to the North and South The three following ways of finding out the Meridional Line are done by the Points of the Shadow The fifth manner is practised by two Shadows of a Threed raised perpendiculy and taken with two equal Lights from the Sun And in fine he shews how the Meridional Line may be found by two equal Heights of two Stars He finishes this Work by the Description of some Curious Machines made with the Loadstone and those who desire to know more thereof he sends them to Bettinus Kirker Schotus and some others that have treated of this Matter I shall say no more of this Book only that the Author endeavoured to proportion it to the Capacity of all sorts of Persons He has not taken it for granted that every one that reads his Book should be a Physician or Geometer on the contrary he has endeavoured to render himself Intelligible to those even that are Ignorant both of Physick and Geometry 100. An Extract of an English Iournal containing an Estimation of the quantity of Vapours that the Heat of the Sun exhales from the Sea By Edmond Halley THE quantity of Vapours that the Earth is charged with is very considerable since the Rains and Snows fall sometimes in so great an abundance that 't is observed that this Water descending from the Intervals which the Particles of the Air leave among themselves make a very sensible part of the Weight of the Atmosphere But no Person that I know of has examined to the purpose the proportion that is between the Sea and these Vapours which are the original not only of Rains but also of Fountains This Search is nevertheless one of the most necessary of that part of Philosophy that treats of Meteors and deserves to be examined by the Royal Society I believe none will be sorry to know the manner how I essay'd to determine the quantity of Vapours which are exhaled by Heat
'T was thus I took a Vessel full of Water the depth of four Inches the Diameter whereof was seven inches 2 10 in which I placed a Thermometer Afterwards by the means of a Chaâ—ing-Dish full of hot Coals I brought the Water to the same degree of Heat as we feel in the hottest Summer as appeared by the Thermometer That being done I ty'd this Vessel without taking any thing out of it to one end of the Beam of a Ballance and put on the other side Weights exactly of the same heaviness It was easy to preserve the same Degree of Heat in the Water by the Chafing Dish of Coals either drawing it nearer or putting it at a farther distance I soon observed that the Weight of the Water sensibly diminished and in about 2 Hours space 233 Grains of Water was evaporated altho' no Fume was observ'd to ascend and the Water appear'd not hot to the touch This quantity of Water evaporating in so small a time seems very considerable for it follows from thence that in 24 Hours it wou'd evaporate six Ounces of Water from so small a Surface which was a Circle of 8 Inches Diameter To draw an exact Computation from this Experiment and to determine the greatness of the quantity of the Water that is thus evaporated I made use of the Experiment that Doctor Bernard affirmed to have been made at Oxford It is That the quantity of Water of the bigness of a Cubic Foot weighs 76 Pounds of Troy weight This number being divided by 1728. which is the Number of the Cubic Inches contain'd in this Foot gives 253 Grains and â…“ or one ½ Ounce 13 Grains â…“ for the weight of a Cubic Inch of Water The weight then of 233 Grains is 233 253 or 35 parts of a Cubic Inch divided into 38. Now the Area of a Circle the Diameter whereof is 7 Inches 2 10 contains 49 Inches square by which dividing the quantity of the evaporated Water viz. 35 38 of an Inch the Quotient is 38 1862 or 1 5.3 from whence it appears the quantity of this Water is the 53 part of an Inch but for the facility of the Calculation we will suppose it is but the 60 part If then the Water as hot as the Air is in Summer exhales the 60 part of an Inch in two Hours from the Surface described in twelve Hours it will exhale the 10 part a sufficient quantity to furnish all Rains Fountains and Dews This Calculation may even suppose the Sea without its diminishing or overflowing like the Caspian Sea which is always of an equal height and supposing also the Current which they say is always in the Streights of Gibralter altho' the Mediterranean Sea receives a great number of considerable Rivers To make an estimation of the quantity of Water which is exhaled by Vapours from the Sea I believe one need only consider it during the time the Sun is up for as for the Night as much Water falls in Dews or even more than it draws up in Vapours during that time It is true that the Summer days are above 12 Hours but this length of the day is counter-ballanced by the weakness of the action of the Sun when it is up and before the Water is hot Thus if I suppose that if it raises every day in Vapours 1 10 of an Inch the Extent already observed from the Sea this Supposition cannot be rejected According to this Hypothesis 10 Inches square from the Surface of the Water will furnish every day in Vapours a Cubic Inch of Water each Foot the square whereof produces half a Pint 4 Feet square Gallon a Mile square 6914 Tuns and a Degree square supposing it to be 60 English Miles will exhale in Vapours 33 Millions of Tuns If we give to the Mediterranean 40 Degrees in length and 4 Degrees in breadth in respect to those Places that are broader and those that are narrower the least without doubt that can be given will be a 160 Degrees square and by consequence all the Mediterranean Sea in a Summers day will emit in Vapours 5280 Millions of Tuns This quantity of Vapours altho' very great is however the least that can be supposed according to the Experiment that I have related It is true there is another thing that one cannot reduce to certain Rules it is the Winds which from the Surface of the Water take more Particles than the Heat of the Sun evaporates as may be easily conceived if we do but reflect on the Winds which sometimes blow It is very difficult to make a true estimation of the quantity of Water that the Mediterranean Sea receives from the Rivers that fall into it unless one had some way to measure the Mouths of the Rivers and their Rapidity All that can be done in this Affair is rather to give 'em a greater quantity of Water than indeed they have than to take from them that is to suppose 'em greater than they are according to all appearance and afterwards to compare the quantity of Water that the Thames carries into the Sea with that of those Rivers which we shall calculate The Mediterranean Sea receives these nine considerable Rivers the Eber the Rhone Tyber the Po the Danube the Nester the Boristhenus the Tanais and the Nile others being neither so celebrated nor so large Wee 'l suppose that each of these nine Rivers have ten times as much Water as the Thames not that there are any that have really ten times as much but to comprehend in our Calculation other Rivers that are less which discharge themselves into the Mediterranean the bigness of which we can no otherwise make any estimation of To measure the Water of the Thames I take it at Kingston Bridg where the Reflux never happens and where the Water always runs downwards The breadth of it is 100 Yards and its depth 3 supposing it every where equal in which computation I am certain I give it rather more Extent than it really has The Water is then in this place 300 Yards square that multiplied by 48 thousand is I believe the quantity of Water that is drawn up admitting 2000 each Hour or 84480 Yards give 25344000 Yards of Water which will be drain'd in a day that is 2030000 Tuns each day I am persuaded that by what I have added more to the Channel of this River than it really hath I have sufficiently compensated by comprehending therein the Rivers of Brent Lea Wandal and of Darwent which are of some Consideration and which discharge themselves into the Thames below Kingston Bridg. Now if every one of these nine Rivers had ten times more Water than the Thames it wou'd it follow that from each River wou'd every day run into the Sea 203 Millions of Tuns and that the whole will be but 1827 Millions of Tuns which is but a little more than the third part of what I have shewn is evaporated out of the Mediterranean Sea in 12 Hours time The
they had not strong Reasons of doubting that they were a good Warrant of Justice or Unjustice The Objection that is founded upon the Supposition that it is the Devil who holds Witches Suspended upon the Surface of the Water is miserable for it is against all the light of a good Reason that the Devil should employ his Forces to betray Creatures which are the most devoted unto him and to make Judges Triumph over his Subjects who have a Design to send them into the fire It is say they because God forceth there Proud Spirits to Act against their proper interest But besides that they say this without forming a distinct Idea of the manner wherewith these Spirits may be forced to produce certain Actions Who seeth but a constraint of this nature ought not to hinder Magistrates to verifie by the Experience of Water if a Woman be a Witch seeing that whether God Acteth therein by his immediate Vertue or forces the Devils to work this Prodigie it is still his wise and admirable Providence which would make use of this means to teach Judges what they know not These Two Objections which are the best of all being ruined it seems that the only means to refute this practice is to make the foundation of these Proofs suspicious of falshood but as the Author strives only against those that agree with him in the fact there is nothing to be feared on that side We must do him this justice that he is not of those who have precipitately recourse to the Essay of Immersion he will have men recourse to it but upon very probable Indices of Sorcerie and he gives thereupon very good Counsels to the Judges chiefly exhorting them to take heed that the Hangman acquit himself faithfully of his duty for without it there would happen great abuses in this matter because the persons which are cast into the water being sometimes very innocent do not swim and then the Hangman ought to be active to draw them out for fear they should be drowned But if he is too hasty he may save the guilty because there are Witches which being immediately descended a little under water would soon come up again of themselves and would manifest thereby their crime whilest they pass for innocent if the Hangman doth not give them time to come up again It may also be that a Woman which weigheth not much may have motions which swell up some Muscels to form a perfect Equilibrium betwixt her weight and that of the water The Emotion and Tonick movement of the Muscels would perhaps soon cease and then this Woman would sink and would justifie herself But if she be judged according to the effect of the Equilibrium where she is in at the first Moment she is lost with all her Innocence There are then many things to be observed and apparently it is one of the best difficulties that may be made against this proof The Author hath heard say that there are certain Countries where the Women who are suspected of Witchcraft are weighed in a Ballance and saith they have experienced that Witches of the greatest and thickest Stature weigh no more than about 15 pounds He brings several proofs of his sentiment which are good enough considering the quality of the matter This is not the less convincing that the Judges must not be refused this Essay of the Immersion seeing it is so difficult to assure themselves of the truth by the Testimony of the Accomplices for saith he a Witch that accuseth another Grounds very often but upon that She imagineth to have seen her at the Caterwauling or meeting of Witches And what assurance can one take upon such imagination which might have been deluded by the evil Spirit as the Author shews in the fourth Chapter Besides it being known by the Deposition of several of these Wretches that Witches of quality walk nor dance at that Assignation but in a mask whence it followeth that they are known but by their Mien and Stature and other signs very suspicious A strange thing is that in the Books of Pagans where so much is spoken of Witchcrafts no Women are found which are thought to go to the Assignation Is not it because the Devil changes customs and manners according to the diversity of times and places The Author answers very largely to the objections of his Adversaries but sometimes he saith things which have not the least solidity as when he supposes that the Water of all the Elements is subject to the Devils power and where uncertain facts may be best discovered because of the Exorcisms and Consecrations whereof Water is commonly the Subject in the Administration of Baptism He finisheth his Book with a very devout Oration which he believes the Judges ought to make to God before they make use of the Proof The Author of the Treatises is called Herman Neuwalds he refutes a Letter which is seen here and which was written at Langow in the County of Lippa the 4 th October 1583 by Adolphus Scribanius who assures that a few days before he had seen Women accused of Witchcraft cast three times into the Water in presence of a multitude of People which sunk no more than a bit of Wood. He cites divers Authors which have spoken of this proof and after having expounded this Phenomen in supposing that as soon as a person makes agreement with the Devil he is so possessed with him that he contracts a great lightness by the habitation of a Being so light and volatil as he concludes he is that the use of this proof is very lawful The Treatise which refutes this Letter is curious enough many things are related there touching the Origin Practice and Abrogation of the proofs by a hot Iron by cold Water hot Water c. In it also are related several Traditions of the Common People which regard the mark of Wizards the Feast of Loup-Garous of Livonia and divers superstitious means or Magick to discover Wizards and to Divine The pretended lightness communicated to Witches by the Volatility of the Spirit which possesseth their body And tho' it 's maintained against the Physician Wier that these Women are worthy the utmost punishment yet the Tryal of Immersion is not approved of any other besides him It were to be desired that now there are great Philosophers in the World some one would give a good Treatise upon Witchcrafts It 's supposed as a constant Principle that as soon as Wizards and Magicians have been seized by the Authority of Justice the Devil cannot do the least thing for their deliverance and yet in other occasions he makes a hundred Actions more difficult than the breaking open a door They are constrained to admit of a hundred other silly qualities Men should profoundly reason upon all this And seeing this Age is the true time of Systems something should be found out touching the Commerce which may be betwixt the Devil and Man There is no Philosophy more proper
undoubtly his In the time of Dionysius of Alexandria who lived about the middle of the Third Age one Nepos Bishop of Egypt writing of a Book to maintain the Reign of a Thousand Years where he proves his opinion by the Apocalypse Dionysius undertook to refute him And to Answer to the Testimony of the Apocalypse that his Adversary quoted he says that some have slighted this Books thinking it the Heretick Cerinthus's who admitted no other Beatitude than what consisted in Corporeal Enjoyments But as for himself he says he durst not entirely reject it because it was esteemed by many Christians yet that he was perswaded that it had a hidden sense which cou'd not be comprehended by any one That it was the Book of some Author inspired by the Holy Ghost tho' not St. Iohn the Evangelist but another that bore his Name as he endeavours to prove by the difference of the Stile and thoughts Denis without doubt went too far upon this matter as well as in the Letter that he writ to the Bishops of Pentapolis when to refute the Error of Sabellius who confounded the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity this slipt from him That the Son is the work of the Father and that he was to the Father as a Vineyard is to it's Vinekeeper or a Ship to its Ship-wright and that he was not before he was made That happen'd to Dionysius adds our Author that does almost to all those that dispute against an Error viz. to speak after such a manner as favours the opposite Errors Baronius thinks that a Letter that Turrian published under the Name of Dionysius and which is inserted in the first Volume of the last Councils P. 850. is certainly his But Mr. Du Pin believes it a Supposititious Work because the Author of this Letter approves of the Word Consubstantial and says that the Fathers have thus call'd the Son of God Whereas it is certain that Dionysius and the Synod of Antioch received not this term and that in his time they cou'd not say that the Fathers commonly made use of it There remains nothing else of this Bishops but a letter to Basilides printed in the first Book of the Councils Besides many Fragments of Methodius Bishop of Olimpius or Patarus in Lycia that Father Combefix has taken from the Ancients or Collections of divers Manuscripts we have now his Feast of the Virgins compleat which we ow to Possinus the Jesuit 'T is a Dialogue of many Virgins each of which make a Discourse in praise of Virginity nevertheless without blaming Matrimony a Moderation very rare to the Ancients says Mr. Du Pin This Work is composed of Ten Discourses full of Allegories and places of Scripture and treats on divers matters as occasion serves In the Second to prove that God is not the Author of Aulteries altho' he Forms the Children that are produced by so wicked an Act he brings some natural instances In the Eighth Discourse this Father speaking against the Fatum of the Stoicks proves that Men are free and that they are not necessitated to do good or evil by the Influences of the Stars At the end of this Dialogue the Author speaks very Orthodoxly of the Holy Trinity if we may believe Mr. Du Pin. We have only some Scattered pieces of Methodius's Treatise against Origen taken from Saint Epiphanius and Father Sirmond Our Author doubts whether the passage that Iohn Damascenus relates in the Third Prayer to Images are Methodius's or no. He affirms there that the Christians made Images of Gold to represent the Angels for the Glory of God If this is our Bishops says Mr. Du Pin it must be that he meant something else than what Damascenus did and that by the Word Angels Principalities and Powers he must understand the Kings of the Earth He adds to the Authors of the Three First Ages Arnobius Lactantius Commodianus and Iulius Firmicus Maternus altho they pass'd the greatest part of their lives in the Fourth Age because they imitated the First Fathers in disputing more against the Heathans than Hereticks He praises Lactantius very much and confesses that in his Book of the Persecucutions he seems to Note that St. Peter came not to Rome till the beginning of Nero's Empire Afterwards he gives an account of the Councils held in the Three First Ages of the Church and affirms that there are none more ancient than those that were held in Victors time about the end of the Second Age upon the Celebration of Easter and that they held no Councils to condemn the First Hereticks the Disciples of Simon Carpocratus the Basilidians and Gnosticks because the Christianâ— abhorr'd all their Errors He rejects all the Decretals attributed to the First Popes And believes 't was Riculphus and Benet his Successor that counterfeited them in the Ninth Age. He ends this Volume with an abridgment of the Doctrin Disciplin and Morals of the Church in the Three First Ages He Makes no Notes upon this Abridgment because he takes it for granted that he has proved all he says there in the Body of his Work Nevertheless we have not observ'd says the Abridger upon the reading of it by what reasons Mr. Du Pin in his Treatise maintains the following Proposition which he advances in his short account 1. That altho' all the Fathers agreed not that Children were born subâ—ect to sin and deserving damnation yet the Church was of the contrary opinion 2. That they Celebrated the Sacrifice of the Mass in memory of the Dead 3. That they pray'd to Saints and Martyrs and believed that they besought God for the Living There are others also better maintain'd and of great consequence in relation to the differences that now separate the Christians 1. That the Ancients spoke of the Virgin Mary with much respect that they went not so far upon the subject as they have done since that for the Generality they did not believe she continued a Virgin after our Blessed Saviour was born that they spoke not of her Assumption and that there 's a passage of St. Ireneus which is not favourable to her Immaculate Conception 2. That the Scripture contains the chief Articles of our Faith and that all Christians may read it 3. That the Elements of the Eucharist were ordinary Bread and Wine mingled with Water That they divided the consecrated Bread into little bits that the Deacons distributed it to those present who received it in their hands and that they also gave them consecrated Wine That in some Churches this Distribution was reserved to the Priests but in others each Person drew near to the Table and took his Portion of the Eucharist 4. That in these Three First Ages the Unction of the Sick which St. Iames speaks of was not mentioned 5. That Priests were forbid to intermix their Civil and Spiritual Affairs 6. That the Priests were permitted to retain their Wives that were Espoused before Ordination but not to Marry afterwards Tho' Deacons