within the Land That they have no great Root so that a Man would think it impossible for them to have any fast hold within the Earth and yet they stand so fast and grow so high that it makes one afraid to see a Man climb up to the top of them The Question â—eing put to Sir Philiberto Vernatti late Resident in Iava Major whether there be a Tree in Mexico that yields Water Wine Vinegar Oyl Milk Honey Wax Thread and Needles His Answer was The COCO-Tree yields all this and more The Nut while it is Green hath very good Water in it the Flower being cut drops out great Quantity of Liquor called Sury or Taywack which drank fresh hath the force and almost the taste of Wine grown four is very good Vinegar and distill'd makes very good Brandy or Areck The Nut grated and mingled with Water tasteth like Milk pressed yields very good Oyl Bees swarm in these Trees as well as in others Thread and Needles are made of the Leaves and tough Twigs SPRAT's Hist. of the ROYAL SOCIETY Pag. 170. The COCO is one of the most useful Trees in the World Of the Husk or outmost fibrous cover of the Nut all manner of Ropes and Cables are made throughout India Of the Shells the Indians make Ladles Wine-Bottles and many forts of Vessels The inmost Cover next the Kernel while it contains only Liquor they eat with Salt as a very pleasant Food The said Liquor is commonly us'd as a clear sweet and cool Drink Sometimes they cut away the Blossom of the young Nut and binding a convenient Vessel to the place thereby obtain a sweet and pleasant Liquor which they call Sura This standing an hour in the Sun becomes good Vinegar used throughout India The same Distill'd I suppose after Fermentation yieldeth a pretty strong Brandy called Fulo and is the first running The second is called Vraca the only Wine of India Of the same Sura being boil'd and set in the Sun they also make a fort of Brown Sugar which they call Iagra From the Kernel it self when fresh and well stamped they press out a Milk which they always mix and eat with their Rice-Meats Of the Kernel dried called Copra and stamped they make Oyl both to eat and to burn Of the Leaves of the Tree called Olas they make the Sails of their Ships As also Covers for their Houses and Tents and Summer-Hats Of the Wood they make Ships without Nails sewing the several parts together with the Cords made of the Huk of the Nut. GREW's Musaeum REG. SOCIET Pag. 199 200. Observations concerning the CACAO-Tree and its NVT of which CHOCOLATE is made OF these Trees there are several sorts which grow to a reasonable height The Bodies of the largest do usually arrive in bulk although not in tallness to the largeness of our English Plum-Trees They are in every part smooth and the Boughs and Branches thereof extend themselves on every side to the proportion of a well-spread Tree much resembling our HeartCherry-Tree but at its full growth 't is dilated to a greater breadth in compass and is something loftier there is little difference in the Leaves these being pointed but smoother on the Eâ—â—â—s and of a white kind of Pulp that 's agreeable to the Palate By the turning and Sweating their little Strings are broken and the Pulp is imbibed and mingled with the substance of the Nut. After this they are put to dry 3 or 4 Weeks in the Sun and then they become of a Reddish dark Colour as you see and so are Cured What is remarkable in this Fruit is that the Codds grow only out of the Body or great Limbs and Boughs and that at the same time and in the same place there are Blossoms Young and Ripe Fruit. This Tree requires to be shelter'd from the Sun while 't is Young and always from the North-East Winds and to have a fat moist low Soil which makes them to be Planted commonly by Rivers and between Mountains So that 't is ill living where there are good CACAO-Walks In a Years time the Plant comes to be 4 Foot high and hath a Leaf six times as big as an Old Tree which as the Plant grows bigger falls off and lesser come in their place which is another extraordinary Quality of this Tree The Trees are commonly Planted at 12 Foot distance and at 3 years old where the Ground is good and the Plant prosperous it begins to bear a little and then they cut down all or some of the Shade and so the Fruit increases till the 10 th or 12 th Year and then the Tree is supposed to be in its prime How long it may continue so none with us in Iamaica can guess but it 's certain the Root generally shoots out Suckers that supply the place of the old Stock when dead or cut down unless when any ill Quality of the Ground or Air kill both See this Accurate Account of the CACAO Tree given by a very Intelligent Person residing in Jamaica which you may find in the PHILOS TRANS ACT. Numb 93. These Kernels being well pounded as Almonds in a Mortar and mixed with a certain proportion of Sugar and Spices according as the Trader thinks or finds it best for Sale are commonly made up in Cakes or Rowles which are brought over hither from Spain and other parts But those that would have a good Quantity for their own private use had much better procure the NUTS themselves as fresh and new as may be and so prepare and Compound them to their own Constitution and Taste And for those that drink it without any Medicinal respect at Coffee-Houses there is no doubt but that of Almonds finely beaten and mixed with a due proportion of Sugar and Spices may be made as pleasant a Drink as the best CHAWCALATE GREW's Mus. REG. SOC Pag. 205. Dr. Stubbes in the last part of his Observations relating to Iamaica see the Philos. Transact Numb 37. takes notice of the Censure of Simon Paula in his Herbal Pag. 383. against CHOCOLATA and says He cannot forgive him for it being of Opinion that that Liquor if it were well made and taken in a right way is the best Diet for Hypochondriacs and Chronical Distempers for the Scurvy Gout and Stone and Women Lying-in and Children New-Born to prevent Convulsions and purge the Meconium out and many other Distempers that infest Europe but that 't is now rather used for Luxury than Physick and so compounded as to destroy the Stomach and to increase Hypochondriacal Diseases and that we now so Cook it as if it were to be transform'd into a Caudle or Custard The Native Indians seldom or never use any Compounds desiring rather to preserve their Healths than to gratifie and please their Palars until the Spaniards coming amongst them made several Mixtures and Compounds which instead of making CHOCOLATE better as they supposed have made it much worse And many of the English especially those that
have wrought the same effect and thâ—t â—f thâ—y would keep the Stone-Horse with that Drink he would in a short time be as tame and quiet as the King her Husband OLEARIVS in the Ambassadors Travels pag. 240. There goes a Story how true I know not that the Vertue of COFFEE was at first discover'd by a Prior of a Convent who observing that the Goats which fed in that part of Arabiâ— where these Trees grow us'd to live with little or no Sleep and that 〈◊〉 the day time they â—eâ—e mighty bâ—isk and frisking â—he said â—rior did from thence conclâ—â—e that this must necessarily proceed from the Goats licking up the Berries that fell from these Trees Whereupon to satisfy his Curiosity He try'd the Experiment upon another sort of Beast viz. a Sleepy Heavy-Headed Monk whom the Prior did often ply with this sort of Drink on whom as the Story goes it had in a short time such a wonderful effect that it quite alter'd his Constitution and that he afterwards became more quick brisk and airy than generally that sort of Cattle are The Goodness of COFFEE chiefly consists in an exact way of Parching and managing the Berries for if these are parch'd to a higher or lower degree than they ought the COFFEE is stark naught and good for nothing Dr. Bernier affirms that there were but two Men in the whole City of Cairo that rightly understood the Art and Mystery of Parching and ordering these Berries IOH. RAII Hist. Plant. Vol. 2. pag. 1692. That Learned Boâ—anist Mr. Ray in the place last quoted tells us that the Arabians are very industrious in destroying the Vegetative Force of the Seed that so thereby they might prevent its growing in any other Countrey Nor indeed are they to be blam'd for so doing since from this one Commodity of COFFEE there accrues to their Country such an immense Treasure from almost all the other parts of the World in which respect as the Learned Ray wittily observes Arabia may bâ— said to be not only Felix but â—â—licissimâ— Observations concerning OPIVM OPIUM is a Tear which flows from the wounded Heads of the Poppy being ripe Some do promiscâ—â—usly use it with MECONIUM but very improperly for OPIUM is a Drop or Tear MECONIUM the gross expressed Juice from the whole Plant however they are both of one Quality OPIUM is the finer Gum and the stronger MECONIUM is the courser and weaker yet the more malign OPIUM is of three sorts 1. Black and hard from Syria and Aden 2. Yellower and softer from Cambaia 3. Whiter from Cairo or Thebes which last commonly called Thebian-OPIUM is the best being heavy thick strong scented like Poppy bitter and sharp inflamable almost of the Colour of Aloes and easy to dissolve in Water The Counterâ—eit when washed colours the Water like Saffron The OPIUM which is spent in Europe comes from Aden or Cairo but that which is sold in the Indies comes out of the Province of Gualor in Indostan and is nothing but the Juice which is got out of POPPY by an Incision made therein when it begins to grow ripe All the Eastern Nations are great Lovers of it insomuch that the young People who are not permitted the use of it and the meauer sort who are not able to buy it will boil the POPPY it self and eat of the Broth which is made thereof And whereas the POPPY among them is called Pust they thence call those Pusty who make use of that Broath instead of OPIUM The Persians affirm that they were the first who made use of it and that all other Nations did it in Imitation of their Grandees who took it at first to provoke Sleep They take every Day a small Pill of it about the bigness of a Pea not so much in order to Sleeping as that it should work the same effect as Wine does which infuses Courage and great Hopes into those who otherwise would not discover much of either The Caffees or Messengers who travel into the Country take of it to hearten themselves but the Indians make use of it for the most part that they may be the better fitted for the Enjoyments of Wâ—men No doubt but it is a Poyson which kills if a Man do not accustom himself thereto by little and little and when he hath so accâ—â—â—omâ—d â—imself he must continue the frequent use of it or he dies on the other side It so weakens their Bâ—ains who take it continually that they run â—he hazard of losing the use of their Reason anâ—â—he principal Functions of their Understanding and become in a manner stupid if they recover not themselves by the same Remedy MANDELSLO's Trav. into the Indies pag. 67. OPIUM is commonly used among the Persians they make Pills of it of the bigness of a Pea and take two or three of them at a time Those who are accustomed thereto will take about an Ounce at a time There are some who take of it only once in two or three Days which makes them Sleepy and a little disturbs their Brains so as that they are as if they were a little entred in Drink There is abundance of it made in Persia especially at Ispahan and it is thus ordered The POPPY being yet green they cleave the Head of it out of which there comes a white Liquor which being expos'd to the Air grows blâ—ck and their Apothecaries and Dâ—uggiâ—â—s trade very much in it All 〈…〉 East they use this Dâ—ug the 〈◊〉 and Indians as wâ—ll as the 〈◊〉 insomuch that Bellen sâ—y◠〈…〉 Observations that if a Turk 〈◊〉 but a Pâ—nny he will spend a Farthing oâ— it in OPIUM that he saw above â—itty Camels loaden with it going from Natolia into Turky Persia and the Indies and that a Ianizary who had taken a whole Ounce of OPIUM one Day took the next Day two and was never the worse for it save that it wrought the same effect in him as Wine does in such as take too much of it and that he stagger'd a little It hath also this Quality common with Wine that it does infuse Courage into those who have not much And therefore the Turks never fail to take of it before they enter upon any great Design The Women do not ordinarily take any but those who are not able to bâ—ar with their untoward and imperious Husbands and prefer Death bâ—fore the Slavery they live in do sometimes make use of OPIUM whereof they take a good Qâ—antity and drinking cold Water upon it they by a gentle and insensiâ—lâ— Dâ—ath depart this World OLEAâ—â—â—S's Trav. of the Ambassâ—dors c. pâ—â— 2â—9 Dr. Bernier in his History of the late Revolution of the Empire of Mogol says that the Ragipous or the Souldiers of that Kingdom are great takers of OPIUM that he has oftentimes wonder'd to see them take such great Quaâ—tity that they accustom themselâ—es to it from their Youth that on the Day of Bâ—ttel they double the Dose this Drug animating or rather inebriating them
Foot long Black and ugly kept by a Frenchman who when he came to handle them they would not endure him but ran and hid in their Hole then would he take his Cittern and play upon it They hearing his Musick came all crawling to his Feet and began to climb up him till he gave over playing then away they ran Sir HENR BLOUNT's Voyage into the Levant Pag. 58 59. That which is mentioned by Sir Henry Blount about the Effect of Musick upon SERPENTS at Grand Cairo may be not only confirm'd but exceeded by a strange Relation that I had from a Person of unsuspected Credit Which Narrative having appear'd to me so considerable as well to deserve a place among my Adversaria I shall subjoyn that part of it which concerns our present Subject in the Words wherein I find it set down Sir I.C. A very candid and judicious Traveller favouring me yesterday with a Visit told me among other remarkable Things relating to the East-Indies which Countries He had curiously visited that He with divers European Merchants had seen and that if I mistake not several times an Indian who by many was thought to be a Magician that kept tame SERPENTS of a great Bulk And that when the Owner of them plaid upon a Musical Instrument these SERPENTS would raise themselves upright into the Air leaving upon the Ground but 3 or 4 Inches of their Tail upon which they lean'd for their Support He added that at the same time that they erected their Bodies they also stretcht and lengthen'd them in a strange and frightful manner and whilest they were thus slender they were taller than He or any Man of ordinary Stature But that which appear'd to Him the most Wonderful and Surprizing was that they manifestly seem'd to be very much affected with the Musick they heard insomuch that some parts of the Tune would make them move to and fro with a surprising agility and some other Parts of it would cast them into a Posture wherein they seem'd to be half asleep and as it were to melt away with Pleasure ROB. BOTTLE of the Insalubrity and Salubrity of the Air pag. 135 136 137. The VIPER saith Sir Thomas Brown from the Experience of Credible Persons in Case of fear receiveth her Young Ones into her Mouth which being over they return thence again BROWN's Pseudod Epidem The chief Use of VIPERS is for the making of Treacle and for that purpose the young Feamales are the best being taken in the Spring after they have been a while ouâ— of their Dens The Indians in some places eat SNAKES very greedily Observations concerning TORTOISES DR Grew saith That the Sea-Tortoise differs from the Land-Tortoise chiefly in having a more rude and softer Shell and Feet rather like the Finns of a Fish as proper to Swim with Rondeletius affirms That he Squirts the Water out at his Nostrils in the same manner as the Dolphin doth at his Spout Trapham in his Discourse of Iamaica Cap. 4. says That in Generation the Embraces of the Male and Female do continue for a whole Lunary Month. They abound in the Caribee and Lucayick Islands and in Iamaica as also in the Red-Sea I remember that in a place called the Camanas which lyeth to the Lew-Ward of Jamaica the Sea TORTOISE of which there are Five Sorts or TURTLES as some call them those Triple-Hearted Amphibious Creatures for they have each of them three distinct Hearts being entangled in a Sain or Net which was usually set for the taking of them or else being turned on their Backs on Land for then they cannot turn themselves on their Feet again did always Sigh Sob shed Tears and mightily seem to Lament as being most sensible of their Destruction and that they were in their Enemies hands WILL. HUGHES's Pref. to The American Physician Sir Philiberto Vernatti late Resident in Iava Major saith That he had seen in those parts some SeaTORTOISES of Four Foot broad in Oval Form very low Legg'd but of that strength that a Man might stand on one That the manner of catching them was to turn them with a Fork upon their Backs SPRAT's Hist. of the ROYAL SOCIETY pag. 170. All the TORTOISES from the Caribes to the Bay of Mexico and Honduras repair in Summer to the Cayman Islands to lay their Eggs and to hatch there They Coot for Fourteen Days together then lay in one Night some Three Hundred Eggs with White and Yolk but no Shells Then they Coot again and lay in the Sand and so thrice Then the Male is reduced to a kind of Gelly within and blind and is so carried home by the Female Their Fat is Green but not offensive to the Stomach though you eat it as Broth Stew'd Your Urine looks of a Yellowish-Green and Oily after eating it Dr. STVBBES's Observ. Sailing from England to the Caribe-Islands in PHILOS TRANSACT Numb 27. â—â—â—ing an Hour or Two's stay at â—e Caymans I examin'd that Assertion of Mr. Lygans that a TORTOISE hath Three Hearts and I found it false For although the resemblance of the Two Auricles be such as also their Bodies or Flesh as to deceive the unwary Observer yet is there but One Heart triangular and fleshy the other Two are only the Auricles yet of the same Shape and Body The Two Auricles move at a several time from the Heart and they are distanc'd from the Heart about an Inch and the passage fleshy as I remember and narrow by which the Blood is insus'd into the Heart This Heart hath but One Ventricle yet are Three several Columns of Flesh and receptacles in it such as are not in the Auricles The TORTOISES Bite much more than they Swallow so that the Sea is cover'd with the Grass where they feed at the bottom Once in about half an Hour they come up and fetch one Breath like a Sigâ— and then sink down again And if out of the Water they Breath somewhat oftner If you hurt them on Shore as they lie on their Backs the Tears will trickle from their Eyes You may keep them out of the Water Twenty Days and more and yet they will be so Fat as to be very good Meat provided you give them twice a Day about half a Pint of Salt-Water The Fat that is about their Guts is Yellow though that of the Body be Green The Head being cut off dies instantly and if you take out the Heart the motion continues not long But any quantity of the Flesh will move if pricked and also of it self for many Hours after it is cut into Quarters and the very Joynts of the Bones of the Shoulders and Legs answering our Omo-Plate and Thigh yet within the Shell have their motion and even though you prick only the Fat of it Buâ— if you place these parts of the TORTOISE in the Sun they presently die The Legs die as soon in a manner as cut off STVBBES's Enlargement of the former Observ. PHILOS TRANSACT Numb 36. Trapham in
know not the Nature of the CACAO do now imitate them For in Iamaica as well as other places when they make it into Lumps Balls Cakes c. they add to the CACAO Paste Chille or Red Pepper Achiote sweet Pepper commonly known by the Name of IamaicaPepper or some or one of them as also such other Ingredients as the place affordeth or as most pleases them that make it or else as the more skillful Persons may think it to agree with this or that Individual Person adding thereto as much Sugar only as will sweeten it First of all drying and beating every Ingredient apart and then at the last mixing them together as it is wrought up into a Mass. HUGHES's American Phisician Iosephus Acosta says that in several places in the West-Indies The CACAW-NUT is so much esteem'd that the Kernels are us'd instead of Money and commonly given to the Poor as Alms And that the Indians are wont to Treat Noble Men with CHACAWLATE as they pass through their Country IOS ACOST Hist. Lib. 4. Cap. 22. Observations concerning THEE or TEA THEE is a Shrub growing in most parts of China and Iapan it arises generally to the height and bigness of our Garden-Rose and Currant-Trees the Roots are Fibrous and spread into many little Filaments near the surface of the Earth the Flowers are like those of Rosa Sylvestris the Seeds round and black which being sow'd come to perfection in three Years time and then yield yearly a Crop but these are little valued the great and only Virtue of this Plant being supposed to consist only in the Leaves of which there are five sorts both as to bigness and valued for the largest at bottom are sold for about one Penny half Penny the Pound but the smallest at the top for Fifty nay sometimes one Hâ—ndred and Fifty Crowâ—s the Pound IOH. NIC. PECâ—LIN De potu THEâ—E This Plant saith the Learned Pechlin abounds with a brisk volatile Salt which he adjudges very agreeable to our Northern Constitutions whose Blood is naturally very heavy and sluggish it carries also with it a sine thinner sort of Oyl but so admirably well tempar'd that as this hinders the Spirit from Evaporating so that corrects the Inflammability of this from whence results the very agreeable latter Aâ—tringent All which together as they rectifie the Ferment of the Blood and at the same time strengthen and confirm the tone of the Parts contribute so much to the assisting of Nature in her Operations as to prevent if not to Cure most Chronical Distempers Because the discreet Choice of a proper Vehicle for this great Panacea may be very material the Learned Author therefore thinks good to shew his dislike of Milk in that it very much obstructs its more lively and quicker parts as always leaving behind it much acidity which how prejudicial to Hypochondriacal Persons is sufficiently obvious He dislikes the Custom they use in Iapan of drinking the Leaves powder'd supposing that it may dry the Body too much In short He concludes warm-warm-Water to be the most Natural and Effectuâ—l Vehicle as being pure and voâ—d of all Saline or other ways pernicious Particles and being more ready to be impregnated with the Virtue hereof which when Armed with this powerful Vegetable Nature easily admits into its obscure Channels and dark Recesses He approves well enough of the use of Sugar as it serves not only to qualifie the bitter taste by its sweetness which at the same time is corrected by the Heat but as being good also for the Kindnies and Lungs He thinks the difference of Constitutions too great to be insisted on and therefore only says this viz. That those of a dryer Habit may take it more diluted because their Salts may more easily be carried off And for the Moister and Hydropical Temper He supposes this Water if more strongly impregnated may make way for the Evacuation of the other As to the Times of taking it He says the more empty the Stomach the passage will be the more easy and therefore in such the more effectual He condemns the use of it after Meals because the Volatiâ—e part flies off before the Meat is any ways digested after which the Concoction is difficulty perform'd because the Ferment as well as the Volatility of the Chyle is suppressed by the Astringent Quality which in those Circumstances oft proves a thing of very pernicious Consequence To conclude our Author notwithstanding all his Encomium's of this Exotick can be content to think we might receive as much benefit from some Plants of our own Growth were People industrious to search after them such as Veronica Lingua Cervina Marrhubium Hepatica Cichoreum and some others which he names PECâ—LIN Ibidem The Physicians of Tunquin in India do mightily admire the Herb TEA which comes from China and Iapan which latter Country produces the best It is brought to them in Tin Pots close stopp'd to keep out the Air. When they would use it they boil a Quantity of Water according to the proportion they intend to use and when the Water seeths they throw a small Quantity into it allowing as much as they can nip between their Thumb and Fore-Finger to a Glass This they prescribe to be drank as hot as they can endure it as being an excellent Remedy against the Head-ach for the Gravel and for those that are subject to the Griping of the Guts but then they order a little Ginger to be put into the Water when it boyls At Goa Batavia and in all the Indian Factories there are none of the Euiâ—â—â—â—â—ns who do not spend above four or five Leaves a day and they are careful to preserve the boil'd Leaf for an Evening Sallad with Sugar Vinegar and Oyl That is accounted the best TEA which colours the Water greenest but that which makes the Water look red is little valued In Iapan the King and great Lords who drink TEA drink only the Flower which is much more wholsome and of a taste much more pleasing But the Price is much different for one of our ordinary â—eâ—â—-Giasses is there worth a French Crown TAVERN of the Kingdom of Tunqin Chap. X. In Iapan there is a Plant called TSIA it is a kind of THE or TEA but the Plant is much more delicate and more highly esteem'd than that of THE' Persons of Quality keep it very carefully in Earthen Pots well stopp'd that it may not take Windâ— but the Iapponneses prepare it quite otherwise than is done in Europe For instead of infusing it into warm Water they beat it as small as Powder and take of it as much as will lye on the point of a Knife and put it into a Dish of Porcelane or Earth full of seething Water in which they slir it till the Water be all green and then drink it as hot as they can endure it It is excellent good after a Debauch it being certain there is not any thing that allays the Vapours and settles the
Metals Transl. by the Earl of SANDWICH Chap. 8. Iohannes Alphonsus Borellus in his Historia Meteorologia Incendii Aetnoei Ann. 1669. takes particular notice of the great abundance of SAL ARMONIAC that was found in all the holes and vents of the Ground and in the Clefts of Stones And of this SALT He affirms that there had been sublimed for he makes it factitious so great Store that many thousands of Pounds might be gather'd adding that even a whole Year after the Extinction of the Fire in the Mouths of AETNA there were found remaining dâ—vers vents about Catania exhaling store of Smoak which had the like SAL ARMONIAC flicking to the sides and edges of the Stones At this day we have little knowledge of the true NITRE which was anciently made of the Water of the River Nilus although Albertus Magnus saith that in Goselaria there was a Mountain that contained a very rich Mine of Copper and that the Water which issued out at the bottom of it being dried became NITRE We know little also of Aphronitrum which is but as it were the froth of NITRE NITRE is bitterer than Salt but less Salt SALT PETER is the Mean between them two and consists of very dry and subtile parts it grows on the Walls of old Houses and in Stables Cow-Houses Hog-Sties and Dove-Coats it will grow again in the same Earth it was taken out of if that Earth be thrown in heaps and not stirr'd and taken care of or if ordinary Earth be cast up into heaps and water'd with Brackish Water after some Years it will give a great encrease as profitable as Crops of Corn. The use of it in making GunPowder and Aqua Fortis is very well known It is us'd also in the melting of Metals Ibidem Whether the NITRE of the Ancients be of the same Species with the SALT which is commonly known by the name of SALT PETER is variously disputed by very learned Authors amongst the Modern Physicians On the Negative side are Mathiolus and Bellonius the latter of which had the advantage by the opportunity of his Travels in Egypt to have often seen and handled them both and is so positive as to pronounce that in all Christendom there is not one Grain of NITRE to be found unless it be brought from other parts although at the time of his being in Grand Caire which was about the Year 1550 it was so common there as he says that ten Pounds of it would not cost a Moidin Among those that hold the Affirmative the most eminent are Cardan and Longius and it seems the general Vote of Learned Men hath been most favourable to that Opinion by reason that in all Latin Relations and Prescriptions the word NITRUM or HALINITRUM is most commonly used for SALT PETER I have often enquired amongst our London Drugsters for Egyptian NITRE and if I had been so fortunate as to have â—ound any I doubt not but I should have been able to have put an end to that Question by a Demonstration that is by turning the greatest part of it into SALT PETER However the Observations I have made in my own private Experiments and in the Practice of SALT PETER-Men and Refiners of SALT PETER seem to give me sufficient ground to suspect that the confidence of those who hold them to be several SALTS proceedeth chiefly from their being unacquainted with the various 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of SALT PETER in the making and refining of it And also their comparing double refin'd SALT PETER oâ— which Gunpowder is made with the NITRUM and APHRONITRUM describ'd by Pliny in the one and thirtieth Book of his Natural History which indeed is the only tolerable account of that SALT that hath been handed to us from Antiquitâ— where he tells us that APHRONITRUM was Colore penè purpureo and Egyptian NITRE Fuscum Lapidosum HENSHAW of the making of SALT PETER See SPRAT's Hist. of the R. S. pag. 260 261. NITRE is often adulterated by being mixed with common SALT but you may try it by burning for being fir'd upon a red hot Tile or Stone if all fly away it is pure but if any thing remain it is common SALT The Lord Bacon saith that NITRE is a kind of cool Spice in that it bites the Tongue and Palat with Cold just as Spices do with Heat and that NITRE is the only Vegetable which aboundeth with Spirit and yet is Cold. He further tells us that Cattle which drink of NITROUS Water do manifestly grow fat which saith he is a sign of its cold Quality BAC Hist. of LIFE and DEATH It is affirm'd by several that Gunpowder which consisteth principally of NITRE being taken in Drink doth conduce to Valour and therefore 't is often us'd by Mariners and Soldiers just before they are to fight even as the Turks do Opium The greater Part of Africa hath no other SALT but such as is digged out of Quarries and Mines after the manner of Marble or Free Stone being of a White Red and Gray Colour Barbary aboundeth with SALT and Nâ—midia is indifferently furnish'd therewith But the Land of Negros and especially the inner part of Ethiopia is so destitute thereof that a Pound of SALT is there sold for half a Ducat And the People of that Country use not to set SALT upon their Tables but holding a crumb of SALT in their hands they â—ick the same at every morsel of Meat which they put in their Mouths In certain Lakes of Barbary all the Summer time there is fair and white SALT congeal'd or kern'd as namely in divers places near the City of Fez PVRCH. Pilgr Vol. II. pag. 849. The Learned and Ingenious Dr. Brown in his Travels pag. 112. saith That near the City of Eperies in upper Hungary there is a SALT-Mine of great note being an hundred and fourscore Fathoms deep in which are pieces of Salt found of ten thousand Pounds weight The Principal SALT-Mines are in Poland and Calabria In the lesser Poland says Comer in his Description of that Country are some pieces of SALT as big as huge Stones so hard that Houses and even whole Towns are built with them In the Philosophical Transactions we have a Relation concerning the SAL-GEMME Mines in Poland lying within a Mile of Cracovia which Relation was communicâ—ted to Mr. Oldenburg by a curious Gentleman in Germany who some Years since descended himself into those Mines to the depth of 200 Fathoms and was led about in them for the space of three Hours He saith that out of these Mines they dig and cut out three sorts of SALT One is common course and black the Second somewhat siner and whiter the Third very white and clear like Crystal He says the course and black SALT is cut out in great pieces roundish and three Polonian Ells long and one Ell thick which câ—sts from fifty to seventy Polonian Florins In the mean time the Inhabitants of Cracow have a Priviledge whereby a certain
number of Pieces is to be deliver'd to them at the rate of eight such Florins the Piece The great Pieces lie at Cracow about the Streets before the doors of the Citizens as also in the Countrey in the small Towns and Villages and before the â—orts and Houses of the Nobility where the Cattle passing to and fro lick of those SALT Stones which afterwards by Mills and other Engines are ground and beaten small for use These SALT-Works belong to the King of Poland who appoints and maintains the Officers of them and 't is one of his best ROYAL REVENUES amounting to a very considerable Sum. There are no less than a thousand Men that are constantly employ'd in these Mines and he saith There was then a Provision of SALT valued at two Millions He farther says There are in these Works three Horses that stay always below having their Stable and other Necessaries there the Horses after they have been a while under Ground grow blind from the sharpness of the SALT and that all the Three which then Labour'd there were quite blind PHILOS TRANSACT Numb 61. pag. 1099 c. In Iamaica they have a very pretty and easie way for the producing of good SALT which is thus Near the Sea-side they dig a low place as it were a Lough or Pond and pave it very even and with a Sluce let in some of the Sea-water an Inch two Inches or three Inches deep or more and there letting it remain the Sun in a short time turneth it into SALT And if they have occasion to use it quickly they let in the less but if they have a good Stock that they can stay longer then they let in the more for the more is let in the longer will it be e're it become SALT which being done they sweep it up and keep it for use and so let in more And thus are they well provided with SALT to Powder their Beef Pork c. which will not keep sweet otherwiâ—e many hours after it is kill'd HVGHES's American Physitian pag. 35. According to the Quality of the Earth or Ground of the Marish the SALT is made more or less white The Reddish Earth maketh the SALT more Gray the Blueish more white Besides if you let run in a little more Water than you ought the SALT becomes thence more White but then it yields not so much Generally all the Marishes require a fat Earth neither Spungy nor Sandy Unless it rain much the Rain-water does little hurt to the Marish and although it rain a day or a night they do not let the Water which is in the Marish run out the heat of the Sun sufficiently exhaling such Rain-Water Only if it have rain'd very plentifully that day no SALT is drawn for the three or four next following days But if it rain five or six days the People are then necessitated to empty all the Water of the Beds by a peculiar Channel conveighing it into the Sea which Channel cannot be opened but when 't is low Water But 't is very seldom that it rains so long as to constrain them to empty those Beds 'T is Obvious that the hottest Years make the most SALT where yet it is to be noted that besides the heat of the Sun the Winds contribute much to it in regard that less SALT is made in calm than in Windy Weather The West and North-West Winds are the best for this Purpose In the Beds of the Marish where the SALT is made the Water must not be above an Inch and an half deep Each of these Beds is fifteen Foot long and fourteen Foot broad Chiefly care is to be taken that the Earth at the bottom of the Beds mingle not with the SALT This Account was communicated to Mr. Oldenburg by a French Dr. of Physick residing in the Isle of Rhe where Salt is made in a great Quantity As you may finâ— in the PHILOS TRANSACT Numb 51. pag. 1025. SALT is that which gives Ligature Weight and Constitution to things and is the most manifest Substance in all Artificial Composts 'T is SALT which Fertilizes and Renders Egypt so Luxuriously Fruitful after the Inundations of Nile and the Nitrous Grounds of Iamaica and other places which cause so stupendious a growth of Plants and Trees In a Word SALT may be said to have a Dominion almost Monarchical in the great Work of Vegetation being so absolute an Ingredient in all our Dungs and Composts To Conclude you know who have Dignified SALT with the Prerogative of being Nam'd Element-Earth the Vigour and Close of all Things yea the first and last of Elementated Bodies What shall I say Quid Divinum the Original of all Fecundity nor can I say less since there was nor Sacrifice nor Discourse acceptable without it EVELâ—N's Discourse of Earth in several places Pag. 312 313 314. Fol. See an Account of the SALT Springs at Nantwich in Châ—shire by Dr. William Iackson in the PHILOS TRANSACT Numb 53. And of the SALT Waters of Droytwich in Worcester-shire by Dr. Tho. Rastell in the PHILOS TRANSACT Numb 142. And of the SALT Springs in Staffordshire by Dr. Rob. Plot in his Description of that County Observations concerning GOLD THE most perfect of all Inanimate Bodies and the most esteem'd of all Mettals is GOLD universally known and covered by all People It is made of the same Matter aâ—d in the sâ—me Manner as other Mettals are but of parts so pure and perfect and so well compacted together by Decoction that its substance is as it were incorruptible being out of the Power of any of the Elements to be Corrupted or Destroy'd The Fire that consumes all other Mettals only makes GOLD more pure The Air and Water diminish not its Lustre nor can Earth make it Rust or Waste By the Nobleness of its Substance it hath most deservedly obtain'd that Estimation which the World gives it and the Natural Virtue which flows from the admirable Equality of its Composition is the best Medicine against Melancholly and the greatest Cordial to the Hearts of Men which perpetually run after this Avaritious Mettal as the Needle doth after the Loadstone The Virtue ascrib'd to Aurum Potabile to preserve a Body perpetually in Youthfulness without Infirmity together with the Receit of making thereof depends upon the Credit of those Authors who have written concerning the same ALBARO ALONSO BARBA of Mettals Translat by the Earl of Sandwich Chap. 26. GOLD hath the least Variety of Regular Figure in the Ore of any Mettal Because more solid and therefore less wanton than the rest 'T is a rare Specimen mention'd by Georgius de Sepibus which he calls Aurum Ramescens The Ductility of GOLD is admirable One Grain in Leaves is extended to above Fifty Inches Square And one Ounce employ'd in Guilding small Hair-Wyre will be extended to almost an Hundred Miles in lenght as Mr. Boyle hath observ'd The Uses of GOLD for Vessels Coins Armour Garments c. are infinite
The Luxury of Galienus the Emperour taught him to Powder his Hair with the Dust of GOLD Some Painters saith Ambrosinus hang Plated GOLD over Vinegar whereby is produc'd a pure Blue as Ceruss out of Lead which they prefer before the Vltramarine One principal Use of GOLD in Medicinâ— is for the Correction oâ— Mercurial Medicines The Original Use of Leaf-GOLD in Electuaries and divers other Preparations was not only for better Grace but from the Opinion of its adding Virtue to them And Plates of GOLD anciently have been us'd especially for Children as an Amulet Which I take to be the true Reason why the Kings of England hang a peice of GOLD upon those they Touch GREW's Musâ—eum REG. SOC Pag. 323. There goes a Tradition among Learned Men that the Leaves of Vines that grow in some places of Hungary whose Mines afford GOLD are as it were Guilt on the lower side by ascending Exhalations of a GOLDEN Nature Whether this be true or no I shall not take upon me to determine But I remember that having made Enquiry about the Truth of it of a very lâ—genious Traveller whose Curiosity led him to visit heedfully those famous Mines He told me that he did not remember He had observ'd what is Reported about the Leaves of the Vine But He knew very well that at Tockay a place that affords the famousest Wine of Hungary and indeed the best I have drunk very many of the Kernels of the Grapes would appear Guilt over as it were with Leaf-GOLD ROB. BOTLE of the Insalubrity vnd Salubrity of the Air. pag. 44 45. At Chremnitz a small Town in Hungary there is a GOLD-MINE in which they have Work'd these Nine Hundred and Fiftyâ—Years the Mine is about Nine or Ten English Miles in length and theâ—◠〈◊〉 one Cuniculus or Horizâ—ntal passâ—ge which is Eight Hundred 〈◊〉 long called the Erbstall The dâ—pth of it is above One Hundred and Seventy Fathoms They do not use Ladders to descend into this Mine but are let down at the end of a Cable unto which is fastned a Sling or Seat of Leather the Leather being broad and divided ordinarily into Two or Three parts so that it is to be shifted or chang'd as you find Convenience and affords no uneasie Seat even to such as are not us'd to it And in this manner whosoever entreth the Mine is let down Through one of the Schachts or perpendicular Pits of which there are Six 1. That of Rodolphus 2. Queen Anne 3. Ferdinand 4. Matthias 5. Windschacht and 6. Leopold I went down by the Pit of the Emperour Rodlophus gently descending by the turning about of a large Wheel to which the Cable is fastned One Hundred and Eight Fathoms deep into the Earth and after many Hours being in the Mine was drawn out again by Leopold's Pit strait up above One Hundred and Fifty Fathoms a height surpassing that of the Pyramids by a Third part At the bottom of which Pit I was not Discourag'd to find my self so deep in the Earth for considering I was yet above Three Thousand Miles from the Center I thought my self but in a Well It is built on all sides with Firr-Trees one laying upon another on Four sides from the bottom to the top The Work towards One Two or Three of the Clock as they speak for the Miners direct themselves under-ground by a Compass not of Thirty Two Points such as is used at Sea but by one of Twenty Four which they divide as we do the Hours of the Day into Twice Twelve Of the GOLD-Ore some is White some Black some of it Red and some Yellow That with Black Spots in White is esteem'd the best as also the Ore which lyeth next to the Black Veins There have been Pieces of Virgin GOLD found in this Mine Where they Pound the GOLD-Ore they lay a Foundation Three Yards deep of Wood upon which they place the Ore over which there are Four and Twenty Beams armed at the bottom with Iron which break and grind the Ore it being cover'd all the while with Water These Beams are mov'd by Four Wheels one Wheel to Six Beams the Water which cometh out from the pounded Ore is let into little Pits or Chests commonly Seven or Eight one after another and afterwards into a large Pit of almost half an Acre of Ground and then after setling let out The GOLD-Ore in Powder or Pounded is called Slich of which that is the Richest which is nearest to the Beams where it is first Pounded They Work thus Day and Night continually The Candles which they make use of are of Firre or some Resinous Wood. They wash the Slich so long as perhaps in an Hundred Pound Weight there may be half an Ounce or an Ounce of GOLD and Silver the greatest part ordinarily GOLD Two Thirds generally To this Slich they add Limestone and Slacken and Melt them together in the Melting Furnace The first Melting produceth a Substance called Lech this Lech they burn with Charcole to make it lighter to open its Body and render it porous and then it is called Rost. To the Rost they add Sand as they see occasion and Melt it again in the Melting Furnace then let it out into the Pan and proceed as in the Melting of Silver BROWN's Trav. in Hungaria c. Pag. 98 c. The Lord Bacon commends the Wit of the Chineses who despair of Making of GOLD but at the same time are mad upon the Making of SILVER For certain it is saith that Noble Philosopher that it is more difficult to make GOLD which is the most Ponderous and Materiate amongst Mettals of other Mettals less Ponderous and less Materiate than Viâ Versâ to make SILVER of Lead or Quick-Silver Both which are more Ponderous than SILVER So that They need rather a further Degree of Fixation than any Condensation BAC Nat. Hist. The Polite and Ingenious Dr. Sprat now Bishop of Rochester speaking of the Modern Chymists who search after Riches by Transmutations and the great Elixir saith That their Success has been as small as their Design was extravagant and that their Writers involve them in such Darkness that He scarcely knows which was the greatest Task to understand their meaning or to Effect it These Men saith He are so earnest in the Chase of the Philosopher's Stone that they are scarce capable of any other Thoughts So that if an Experiment lye never so little out of their Road it is free from their Discovery As I have heard of some Creatures in Africk which still going a violent pace straight on and not being able to turn themselves can never get any Prey but what they meet just in their way This Secret they prosecute so impetuously that they believe they see some Footsteps of it in every Line of Moses Solomon or Virgil. The Truth is they are downright Enthusiasts about it And seeing we cast Enthusiasm out of Divinity it self we shall hardly sure be perswaded to admit