of the glass and then joyn them as before as exactly as we can the same may be applied to China-dishes Ivory Amber and such other brittle bodies EXPERIM. VI. July 1. I filled two glass-pots the one with one ounce of shavings of Harts horn and two ounces of water the other with an ounce of Whitings bones and two ounces of water Having continued the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 7 seconds with the inward pressure twelve times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air I took off the fire presently and the Vessels being cooled I found a very strong gelly in the Pot with Harts-horn I gave some of it to a person that makes such Gellies pretty often and she said that there must be something more in this than in hers because this had both smell and taste pretty strong but in hers there was neither of them I think this difference did proceed only from the Spirits and volatile Salts that are kept in by means of the Engine fastned with Screws and that fly away in the ordinary boiling and from thence it is very probable that this new gelly hath much more virtue in it The Harts-horn also was all very soft but in the ordinary way it is brought but to a powder that feels hard between the fingers In the other Pot the fish-bones were quite soft but the liquor would not congeal yet being dryed there was found some glue remaining but in small quantity and not so strong as that of Beef bones EXPERIM. VII July 2. I filled two glass-pots the one with half an ounce of Harts-horn and two ounces and half of water the other with bones and water in the same proportion as five to one and the bones were shaved as well as the Harts-horn Having augmented the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 5 seconds with ten pressures I took it off quickly the next day I opened the Vessels and found that in the pot with bones the liquor was but little thicker than water in the other there was a good gelly but not so strong as that in the foregoing Experiment I heated it again and as soon as it was melted I filtrated it and squeezed it as well as I could and I set the remainder a drying that remainder being dryed after a weeks time was found to weigh 2 ¾ drams so that all the congealing parts drawn from the Harts-horn did weigh but 1 ¼ dram and that had been enough to congeal 2 ½ ounces of liquor which is 16 times as much weight the liquor that had been filtrated did in a short time turn to a gelly much stronger than Harts-horn gelly uses to be therefore I believe I may be confident that a certain quantity of Harts-horn will congeal five times its weight of water and it may be by practising there will be found some degree of heat that will make more but though we could do no more yet this would be a considerable thing since in the ordinary ways the quantity of gelly is less by half and not so good and it requires much more fire and time and fresh water which is of consequence at Sea For although I must needs have water to make gelly after my way that water is not lost since it remains all in the gelly but if you make it after the ordinary way above three quarters of the water will evaporate away EXPERIM. VIII Having found by the last Experiment that Harts-horn doth yield so much gelly more than the bones do I had a mind to try whether the reason of it was not because the degree of heat was fit for Harts-horn but not strong enough for bones Therefore I repeated the same Experiment with the same circumstances but at this time I increased the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 4 seconds and the Vessels being cooled I found the gelly of Harts-horn pretty good still but the liquor upon the bones was not very thick yet I found some gelly after I had poured out gently the over-swimming liquor but that liquor weighed above an ounce so I thought that truly the bones do not contain so much congealing parts as Harts-horn doth Having filtrated and squeezed the matters of both my Pots I kept the remainders of them asunder each in a glass well stopt for fear they should dry and about two weeks after I found them fermented and of the same smell and taste as Parmezan Cheese and very fit to be eaten with bread When I had shewn such Harts-horn to the Royal Society they judged that in all likelihood being in that condition it would yield more Spirits and more easily than usually it doth The bones were in all things very like the Harts-horn and some time after worms were generated in them which did not happen to the Harts-horn so that it being usual to see worms generated in good rather than in bad Cheese it seems that in this the bones have some advantage above the Harts-horn as well as the Harts-horn is to be preferred to them for the quantity of gelly it yields Having found some difference both for the quantity and for the readiness in drawing Gellies from several Bodies as also for the strength of that kind of glue I believe there might be found a difference in several other Proprieties of them and seeing our bodies are but congealed liquors it is likely that if people would go on with this tryal and draw Gellies from several parts of the same Animal and from several Animals of the same kind but of different ages and from several kinds of Animals that live a great deal longer one than the other as from Harts and Rabbets and then if they would compare all the several proprieties of these Gellies with one another it is likely I say that it would be a great help towards making a better Theory than hitherto we have about the causes of the lastingness of our life and such a Theory would it may be prove of more consequence than many people are apt to believe From all the Experiments contained in this Chapter I think it very likely that if people would be perswaded to lay by Bones Gristles Tendons Feet and other parts of Animals that are solid enough to be kept without Salt whereof people throw away more than would be necessary to supply all the Ships that England hath at Sea the Ships might always be furnisht with better and cheaper Victuals than they use to have And I may say that such Victuals would take up less room too because they have a great deal more nourishment in them in proportion to their weight This is plain in Harts-horn which will make five times its weight of gelly which is accounted to be of a great nourishment and yet afterwards it will turn to a substance very like Cheese which cannot be eaten in great quantity EXPERIM. IX June 20. I boiled two Macquerels in the same manner as hath been described
the same rule the effect will be found always very near the same at least I can assure you that I have missed very often when I went to work at a venture but since I have found out ways thus to rule me I have always succeeded very well unless by some mischance Yet it is to be noted that if we would put into the pot much less meat than it can hold the pressure in this could not be made so great as in the Engine and indeed I had sometimes pots broken by the ambient water pressing upon them harder than they could bear the weight hanging from the rod LM could not give me any notice of the pressure in the pot therefore it will be better to put in too much than too little meat or if you please to do all exactly and lose nothing you may follow the directions given Chap. 2. Exper. 12. Because it would be a hard matter at Sea to make use of the contrivance described afore to know the quantity of pressure for that the motions of the Ship would shake the weights and open the valve P you must instead of that leave your Balneum Mariae empty enough that the intended heat may just make the intended inward pressure For Example if you will make ten pressures in your Engine with a degree of heat that may dry up the drop of water in 5 seconds you are to put in your Engine but ⅞ of the water it can hold and give but the said degree of heat and you may be sure that the inward pressure will be about ten times as great as the ordinary pressure of the Air as you may see Chap. 2. Exper. 16. By that means you may instead of the Iron rod and of the weight fasten the little valve P with a Screw and that will be very easie if the little pipe HH be cast with small Appendices as the Cylinder AA only things need not be strong here because the aperture is but little It will not be requisite to know all the several quantities of Water necessary to make all the several degrees of pressure with all the several degrees of heat but for ordinary use it will be enough to keep always the same quantity of water in the Engine and find by experience what degree of heat will be necessary for every operation with such a quantity of water I wish I had been able to do things as well as I have described them here then I could precisely say what quantity of coals or wood is necessary for every operation but my affairs being always uncertain I have built no Furnaces but have always set my Engine in a Chimney-corner and put the fire in the said corner between the Chimney and the Engine So it is very likely I have not kept the fire so well as might be done in a good Furnace nevertheless I will venture to give an account of several things I have already done with this Engine because that will be a good help still to find more easily the quantity of fire fit for other Engines to be made hereafter I believe also that the proportion between two several operations will be the same in all Engines I have found for Example that the quantity of coals necessary to boil Mutton is by 2 7 lesser than the quantity necessary to boil Beef So when you have found by experience what quantity is necessary to boil Beef in any Engine you must take less by 2 7 when you will boil Mutton in the same Engine and so proportionably for other Operations But before I come to give an account of the Experiments I think it will not be improper to say that after I had made the first Balneum Mariae shut by Screws I had a mind to make another shut without any Screws by the help of a great oval Valve applied inwardly but that may be taken quite out because of its oval shape which hath been described for the Wind-gun in the Honourable Mr. Boyle's Book about Physico-mechanical Experiments printed this year 1680. That Balneum Mariae is 6 inches over and 18 inches deep so that I can put in a pot that will hold 9 or 10 pounds of meat together but because the great Valve was not made strong enough to keep its figure exactly paper cannot make it tite I did always make use of leather for that purpose and because leather melts in such hot water it cannot hold long and the inward pressure drives it away and the water gets loose Nevertheless when I have met with good strong leather of an equal thickness I have been able sometimes to soften the biggest bone of a Leg of Beef without spoiling the meat but sometimes also when the leather was not good the meat was spoiled and the bones could not be softned therefore I use that Engine but seldom however if such could be made that would hold with paper alone without leather this latter way might be better than the first because the springs of the Iron hold not long so that we must look to fasten the Screws from time to time but in this latter Engine you might be sure that the greater the inward pressure is the harder would the valve be shut nevertheless I would advise you rather to shut the Balneum Mariae with Screws till the Work-men be more skilful in the making such valves Thus much for the Description of the Engine and the ways how to use it safely I shall now come to the Experiments from whence you may know some of its Proprieties and Uses but because some of the Experiments gave occasion to some Physical Observations I thought it would not be amiss to relate them though they had no connexion with the subject in hand I have therefore distinguished them by the Character that they may be left by those who care not for such things CHAP. II. Experiments for Cooks EXPERIMENT I. JVne 2. having filled my Pot with a piece of a Breast of Mutton and weighed seven ounces of Coals I lighted the fire the heat came to such a degree as to dry up a drop of water in 3 seconds time and the inward pressure was about nine times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air I let the fire go out of it self and the Vessels being cooled I found the remaining coal to weigh about half an ounce so that there had been but 6½ ounces consumed nevertheless the meat being taken out was found to have contracted an empyreumatical taste and the juyce of it did not turn to a Gelly so strong as when the meat is not over-done EXPERIM. II. June 4. I repeated the same Experiment and I took but 6½ ounces of coals but by blowing I made such a heat that a drop of water would evaporate in less than 2 seconds the remaining coals did not weigh full half an ounce and the inward pressure was a little greater than in the former Experiment Now although the quantity of coals had been
reckon this as a Propriety of this Engine That the more briskly we press the fire the more effect it produceth with the same quantity of coals This Experiment put me in mind to make another that might manifestly shew that the inward pressure is a great help to advance coction therefore I took two little Vessels very like one another and well fastned by Screws one of them was well soddered every where but the other had a little hole left in its cover for the vapors to get out These Vessels being filled with water and meat after the same manner and put together in the same Bath of Sand and left there in an equal heat for three quarters of an hour I took them off both together and found that the meat that had been exactly shut up was rather over than under done but the other was a great deal too raw therefore we may reckon this also amongst the Proprieties of this Engine That the greater the inward pressure is the greater effect is produced by the same heat and in the same time EXPERIM. VII Having found some difference between Beef and Mutton the one being harder to be boiled than the other I had a mind to see whether there would not be some difference also between flesh of the same kind but of different ages therefore June 4. I took Lamb and filled two Glasses with it and put some water into one of them Now since five ounces of coals have been enough to boil Mutton I took but four ounces and half for the Lamb thinking it would be more easie to be boiled I prest the fire as briskly as I could but a drop of water would not dry away in less than 11 or 12 seconds the inward pressure was eight times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air the heat was but so little which may be because the greater share of the coals had been once already kindled the fire being gone out by little and little I found but one dram of coals that had not been consumed In the Glass without water the bones were softned at some of the ends only but in the Glass with water the bones were all very soft yet the meat was much less savoury than in the other Vessel This Experiment caused me to think 1. That the bones of young beasts require almost as much fire as those of old ones to be boiled 2. That water is a dissolver fit to soften bones but that it impairs the taste EXPERIM. VIII Propriety That I might know pretty near what difference may be found as to the perfection of the Operation when the fire goes out of it self or when it is all taken off and quenched as soon as the heat is come to the intended degree July 5. I filled again two glass-pots with Lamb as before and having kindled a great deal of coals I prest the fire till a drop of water would dry away in 3 seconds and presently I took off all the fire I found the bones in the Pot without water a little softer than in the former Experiment and in the Pot with water I found them all very soft but the meat was not at all spoiled So I think it is near the same to press the fire with 4 ½ ounces of coals so as to dry away a drop of water in 10 seconds and then let the fire go out of it self or to press the fire with-six or seven ounces of coals and then take it all off as soon as a drop of water drys away in 3 seconds therefore the same proportion may be observed in other Operations For Example If I were to make an Operation that might be performed with a quantity of coals that could make the Engine hot enough to dry a drop of water in 20 seconds leaving afterwards the fire to go out of it self and if I would save time I should make a good fire that the heat might quickly come to dry a drop of water in 6 seconds and presently take away all the fire and so in all other Operations keeping still the proportion as 10 to 3 yet I confess this Rule is not demonstrated neither doth the matter in hand require such a Mathematical exactness When I say nothing of the inward pressure as in this Rule it is to be understood that it ought to be always equal EXPERIM. IX July 11. I took a Rabbet and having filled with it two Glass-pots and put some water in one and none in the other I kindled five ounces of coals and having prest the fire till a drop of water would dry away in 4 seconds I let the fire go out of it self The Vessels being cooled I found the Rabbets bones well softned in the Pot with water but in the other they were all very hard yet the flesh having been well seasoned it was as tender and savoury as any Pasty can be but in the Pot with water it relished not so well by a great deal By this Experiment I saw that Rabbets bones are harder than those of Mutton and I was more fully satisfied that water helps much the softning of bones EXPERIM. X. Propriety I took another Rabbet and having shut it up as in the former Experiment I kindled five ounces and half of coals but the paper in the joynt of it having been spoiled the inward pressure was not as strong again as the ordinary pressure of the Air because the water could get out and for that reason also the heat could not well be kept for notwithstanding the quantity of coals in this Experiment was greater the drop of water was twenty times longer evaporating than in the former Experiment So that we may reckon this for a Propriety of this Engine That the greater the inward pressure is the less quantity of coals is required to give a certain degree of heat The Rabbet was very tender but the bones were not at all softned no not in the Glass where I had put water but some that had been boiled the day before and put again to be made more ready were found very well softned By this Experiment I saw that although some boiled bones do not seem to be softned at all yet they have got a great preparation towards that though it doth not appear to sense EXPERIM. XI July 13. I took an old male and tame Rabbet which is ordinarily but a pitiful sort of meat I seasoned it and put it into two Glass-pots I kindled six ounces of coals and prest the fire till the drop of water would evaporate in less than 4 seconds the inward pressure was about six times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air. The fire being gone out of it self I found the Rabbet very ready and the bones softned and it was as savoury as young Rabbets use to be the Juyce of it turned to a good Gelly so that I think this to be the quantity of fire most fit to boil Rabbets EXPERIM. XII Proprieties August 12. I put
Pigeons into two little Glass-pots weighing them one after another before I inclosed them in their frame I prest the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 5 seconds and the inward pressure was ten times as strong as the ordinary pressure of the Air. The Vessels being cooled I found both the covers sticking pretty fast to their Pots so that it was apparent that the Air within the said Pots was rarified and that something had got out of them I weighed them one after the other being well dried as I had done before the boiling and I found that one of them wherein I had put by weight an eighth part less of meat than the Vessel could contain of water was exactly the same weight as before and the bones were very tender and the Juyce a strong Gelly without Empyreume The other Pot wherein I had put a greater weight of meat than it could hold of water was grown heavier and the Juyce in it was not so well congealed as in the other It is very like that the great quantity of meat being too much rarified in this Pot had opened the cover so as to admit some of the water from the Balneum Mariae which had increased the weight and diluted the Gelly but in the first Pot the rarefaction of the meat was able only to drive out a little Air without any sensible opening of the cover From this Experiment I think we may conclude that one Propriety of this Engine is That if we boil Pigeons so as to make the drop of water dry away in 5 seconds with an inward pressure ten times as strong as the ordinary pressure of the Air the weight of the meat in the Pot must be but 〈◊〉 of that which the Pot can hold seven pounds of meat for example in a Pot that can hold eight pounds of water for by that means the pressure in the Pot is as strong as in the Engine and yet nothing is lost In the sixteenth Experiment you may see that the water being taken in the same weight would do the same effect so that some people would think that all other bodies should be also taken in the same weight because those that would take up less room upon the score of their specifick gravity will by the same reason expand themselves so much the more but this would be a great mistake for I have tryed Chap. 6. Exper. 3. that Spirit of Wine though of a lesser specifick gravity than Vinegar will nevertheless rarifie a great deal more by heat Therefore if we will be very exact not to lose any thing and to have the intended pressure in the Pot we must find by experience how far and how powerfully other bodies will rarifie as in this Experiment I have found it for Pigeons to fill afterwards the Pot accordingly At the same time I had in another Engine some of the same Pigeons a boiling the heat was such that it dryed a drop of water in 3 seconds but the inward pressure was but five times as strong as the ordinary pressure of the Air. The Vessels being cooled I found the bones not quite so soft as in the other Engine though they had been in a greater heat yet they were almost all fit to be eaten This Experiment makes me believe that we may reckon this amongst the Proprieties of this Engine That it is almost the same thing to have the drop of water dry away in 3 seconds and five pressures as to have it dry away in 5 seconds and ten pressures in the Engine So people may find out by experience in any other case what quantity of pressure may do instead of a certain quantity of heat and if one had an exact Thermometer as I have said in Chap. 2. one might perhaps draw from thence great lights for other things I say besides that this Experiment shews that good Balnea Mariae fitted to hold great pressures would save a great deal of fire for we have seen Exper. 10. that the greater the inward pressure is the less coals will serve to bring the Engine to a certain heat and now we see that such a degree of heat raised with less coals may produce a greater effect than if we had been forced to bestow more coals for it where this pressure is wanting FISH EXPERIM. XIII June 15. I took a Macquerel and put it in a Glass-pot with green Goosberries I included the Pot in the Engine and with four ounces and two drams of coals I brought the heat to dry away the drop of water in 10 seconds and the inward pressure was seven times as strong as the ordinary pressure of the Air. The fire being gone out by little and little I found that the remaining coals weighed about two drams the fish was very ready and firm though the bones were so soft as not to be felt in eating the fish before it was boiled did weigh nine ounces and after boiling not above seven so that I had two ounces of good Juyce which would have been thrown away if the fish had been boiled after the ordinary way and moreover the taste was a great deal better the volatile Salts not having got away or been dissolved in water the Goose-berries had a very good taste and nothing of burning EXPERIM. XIV June 19. I made the same tryal with a Pike and I gave the fire as in the former Experiment the fish was found very ready and its flesh firm and the bones soft though they seemed somewhat harder than those of the Macquerel A Gentleman having tasted of this inquired whether it was the dissolving of the bones that made the fish so savoury this perswaded me that my thinking such fish better than ordinary was not out of preoccupation The Juyce of the Pike came to a strong Gelly which did not happen to that of the Macquerel I cannot tell whether this difference proceeded from the nature of the fish or from the temperature of the Air. EXPERIM. XV. June 20. I took a great Eel and having shut it up as I use I kindled four ounces and half of coals so that the drop of water did dry away in 6 seconds and the inward pressure was seven times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air the fire being gone out of it self the Eel was found very ready so was the skin and bones and all without Empyreume but its flesh was not so firm as that of other fishes the juyce did not congeal which I think did proceed from the excess of fire rather than from the nature of this fish since its skin seems very fit to make Gelly All these Experiments make me believe that all fishes may be made ready almost with the same degree of heat PULSES EXPERIM. XVI July 2. I put Beans in a Glass-pot some of which were raw and the other had been boiled already with Harts-horn I poured a little water into the pot to see the difference between those Beans that would
Cochenille would give all its tincture without being grinded therefore he put three grains of Cochenille very entire into a glass pot with three ounces and half of water and at the same time he put into another pot some coarse Cochenille that is sold eight times cheaper than the other and therefore he put eight times greater quantity of it in proportion to the water Having increased the fire as in the former tryal with rubia tinctorum we found in the first glass that one of the grains of Cochenille had been quite dissolved and that the two remaining had lost all their colour and were turned black the liquor was of a fine red colour but in the second pot the tincture was stronger and deeper From this Experiment it appears that by the help of this Engine one may save all the labour of grinding the Cochenille and all the wasting of it and perhaps coarse Cochenille will give much more tincture than usually it doth I made a tryal with these Liquors to know whether the Pneumatick Engine would help Tinctures to penetrate better into the cloth I put a piece of cloth into one of the liquors and having set it so in Vacuo I saw according to my expectation that a great many bubbles of Air got out of the cloth so that I was in great hopes that the tincture getting into the place of that Air would penetrate every where yet having let in the Air again and exprest the humidity from the cloth I found that all the colour was gone too from whence I concluded that it is not enough to have the colour insinuate between the hairs of the cloth but that it must get into the hairs themselves and this cannot be done unless all the little particles every hair is made of be rarified and expanded by heat which is much more powerful for that than any Tacuum can be EXPERIM. IV. August 18. I put two pieces of cloth into two glass pots to one of them I added some tincture of coarse Cochenille and to the other Juvce of Prunes distilled after the manner described Chap. 6. Exper. 3. I prest the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 42 seconds with an inward pressure six times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air then I took off the sire quickly for fear the cloth should be spoiled the Vessels being cooled I found both the pieces of cloth good still and well dy'd the Juyce of Prunes having penetrated as well as the tincture of Cochenille but the tincture of it was of a deeper red and nearer to a brown colour the Juyce it self was much altered for it was Violet before it was grown also much more liquid and watry From this Experiment it appears that this Engine keeping things for a great while in a great heat without damage and hindring the most subtile parts from getting away as usually they do may be sit to insinuate into cloth such liquors as are reckoned to be too thick and glutinous as the Juyce of Plums is because for dying there is no need of good taste Mr. Mayre thinks there would be no need of an inward pot and so I believe the aperture of the outward Engine might be left lesser than the cavity as you may see Fig. 6. Yet if they would dye cloth in it the aperture HH should be left wide enough to convey the cloth into the cavity AA and this Engine should also hang in Aequilibrio by its Appendices CC for the conveniency of filling and emptying the same CHAP. VIII Experiments upon barder Bodies as Amber Ivory c. IHave made other Experiments upon harder bodies as Amber Ivory Cow's horn Tortoise-shells but because I have found nothing yet that may be brought to use I will not be tedious in relating the Particulars of those Experiments therefore I shall only set down some few observations which they afforded 1. Amber could never be melted whatever degree of heat I made use of though I filled the Engine with Pitch and Sand instead of water and I prest the cover with eight Screws instead of two I could indeed separate several substances from it as Balsam Fumes and Terrestreities but that cannot be called melted Amber since it hath-lost several proprieties belonging to Amber for if we dissolve these substances with Spirit of Turpentine they cannot be brought to any considerable hardness by evaporating the Spirit and an indifferent heat will soften them again 2. Mr. Boyle having given me some Copal Gum to try what it would do I found indeed that it could be melted without being much altered but when I would apply the same to facilitate the melting of Amber I found that it would not do I would for the same purpose make use of Gum Tragacanth Mastich and Rosin but it was all in vain so that I believe one may be sure that the melting of Amber requires a stronger and quicker heat than this Engine can give 3. Though Cows horn seems to be a more glutinous matter than bones are I could never make any gelly or glue with it though I have put the same over and over again in the Engine upon the fire even four times successively 4. I could never make Ivory soft and glutinous though I have boiled it several ways and in several Menstruums as Grease Oyl Beer and Water I could draw a fine and transparent Gelly from it but the body remained brittle 5. Tortoise-shell cannot be softned by boiling in Oyl but in Spirit of Wine it swells and hath a great many cavities like a Sponge 6. Cows horn and Tortoise-shell having been with water exposed to a heat that drys away the drop of water in 3 seconds with an inward pressure twelve times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air they come to be so soft that they do not grow hard again but in three or four days time and this perhaps might be of some use and give more conveniency to work those Materials than when they are heated only after the ordinary way but I must confess that they will afterwards be more brittle than before and I have seen once two pieces of Tortoise-shell that had been by boiling so well glued to one another that after they were hardned again they would rather break in other places than be separated CHAP. IX A Calculation of the price that a good big Engi ne may come to and of the profit it may afford BEcause people are loth to meddle with new Inventions lest the expence should be greater than the profit to be got by them I will subjoyn here a calculation of the price which a good Engine may come to and of the profit that may be got by it I have been at an Iron-mongers house and there I caused a cast Iron Pipe to be weighed This being six inches in Diameter and two foot long and without doubt strong enough to endure an inward pressure twenty times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air
This Pipe I say did weigh but 57 pounds so that such another Pipe 12 inches in Diameter and as strong proportionably to its bigness will weight but about 228 pounds But let a covered Vessel weigh 250 yet it will not come to 48 shillings seeing the Merchants can with good profit afford such Metal at two pence half penny a pound Now if the cover and the Vessel were ground to one another and that in a Country where Work-men are cheap the grinding will scarce come to two shillings Then the Iron pieces DD with four Screws lest two should not do enough and the Iron rod LM may be afforded much under five shillings especially if made in the Country and in numbers Five shillings would also be a great deal too much for setting the Pipe HH and sitting a Valve to it The inward Pot GG of cast Iron or glass or stone-pot might also be got under 20 shillings strong enough and big enough to hold 80 pounds of water I confess it would be a hard matter to make a Glass so big but instead of one they may make three or four to be set in the same Frame one above the other So that we may be sure that a Merchant may with good profit afford such Engines ready in good condition at 4 l. sterling apiece Now such an Engine is able to make above 50 pounds of the Gelly at a time and may do the same quantity at least twice in 24 hours for I have tryed that my great Engine which is 6 inches in diameter may in less than an hours time be heated enough to make Gelly of Bones therefore one may make 100 pounds of Gelly every day Now in Paris where people constantly keep Gelly ready to sell the price of it is 20 pence a pound but in London where they make none unless it be bespoken Apothecaries use to sell it at 2 shillings a pound therefore it would be a very good thing for the Publick if any one would sell Gellies for a groat a pound yet at that price the aforesaid Engine would make Gelly for above 33 shillings every day The fire will not come to six pence and the bones with some Harts-horn might be got cheap enough too since it is not necessary to shave them for this Engine and a little Sugar serves for Gellies yet let the expence come to 13 shillings a day there will be still 20 shillings profit for the Owner of the Engine and so in four days time he will be fully requited for his first expence and one man alone may at the same time keep five or six such Engines at work for several uses whereof some perhaps will prove more profitable than the making of Gellies Therefore we must not question but those that will set upon such things may make their own profit very well and at the same time do a great service to the Publick I have not therefore thought it right in a thing of so general use that a man by virtue of a Patent should hinder other people from working that may perhaps have more skill in doing things good and cheap and I have instructed Mr. Mayor a Founder in Old Bedlam how to make these Engines of cast Brass so that any body may see them and buy them of him POSTSCRIPT DOctor Edm. King Fellow of the Royal Society having got one of these Engines for a greater security and conveniency caused the rod LM to be fitted in L with a Joynt so that it must always fall upon the Pipe HH and there is no danger that the Valve P may slip off and spoil the Operation he hath also caused a Brick Furnace to be built on purpose so that I have lately tryed whether by that means the expence of coals would be less than in my Chimney-corner see pag. 6. but I have found contrary to my expectation that the expence is much greater in his Furnance the reason of which probably is because in his Furnace the coals did not at all touch the Engine but remained at a little distance below as in ordinary Sand-Furnaces the coals do not touch the Pot but in my Chimney the coals touch the Engine almost all along and thereby may the better heat it It is therefore likely that it would be better to build Furnaces so as to have the coals touch the Engine all along one side It would be better also to have them made of Iron plates because a Brick Furnace requires much fire to be throughly heated unless it be kept at work constantly Mean while the Doctor hath made several Experiments with his Engine having this conveniency that there is no need of blowing the fire Besides many good dishes of Meat and Fish he hath prepared several Medicines and found that in this Engine the Operation may be performed in less than the tenth part of the time that is required in his other Furnaces and yet some of them are much stronger than ordinary We have seen that Harts-horn in Winter time being boiled with twelve times as much water will turn it all to a Gelly so do the bones with above four times as much water which is at least as much again as I had found in Summer time Vpon this occasion I will mention two other Particulars which do not succeed in cold as in hot weather The first is the Fermentation of Bones spoken of Chap. 3. Exp. 8. which is not so well performed in Winter The second is the quantity of fire required in such Operations for I have found by my Engine that Mutton may be very well drest and the bones softned with five ounces of coals in Summer time but in Winter the same effect cannot be produced with less than six ounces and half We have seen that it is not necessary to put in the Engine all the water to be congealed but putting equal weight of bones and water after the Operation your water being mingled with three times as much fresh water will turn it all to a Gelly so the Gelly to be made with an Engine and therefore the profit to be got by it is much greater than I have said Chap. 9. I have found that an old Hat very bad and loosely made being imbibed with Gelly of Bones is become very firm and stiff so that it is likely if such Liquor should be used in making Hats they would be extraordinary good The Doctor 's Engine having already given occasion to these Experiments I doubt not but when the thing is made common a great many more Uses of it will be found in a short time FINIS
upon Land too Gellies being every where good for several diseases it will be very convenient to be able to make easily for one penny more than we could buy for a shilling EXPERIM. II. I filled again a Glass-pot with water and some of the hardest bones of a Leg of Beef in another Glass-pot I put the bones of a Breast of Mutton that had been boiled already but not softned Having shut them both in the same Frame so that one was no more constrained than the other and having inclosed them in Balneo Mariae I prest the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 9 seconds but then it fell out that the little Valve P not holding because I had put leather to it all the water from the Balneum Mariae got out with so much violence that I was surprised at it yet this lasted about a minute because the aperture was but little No question but at the same time the water in the Pots did expand it self too and run over for I found them much emptied yet they did differ from one another because the liquor with Mutton-bones turned to a strong Gelly though the bones were not softned but in some extreme parts and that Gelly did weigh but 〈◊〉 less than the water I had put to it in the other Pot the bones were not softned at all the liquor would never congeal only it was a little thicker and there had been above ¾ of it spilt though this Pot had its brims a great deal higher than the other This Experiment made me believe 1. That it would be better still to provide Mutton-bones than Beef-bones 2. That it would be to no purpose to undertake after the ordinary way to make Beef-bones gelly because it requireth such a great heat and so much water would be lost by evaporation 3. That Gelly is of a contexture much more difficult to be evaporated than ordinary water EXPERIM. III. June 23. I put the same Beef-bones into the same Pot with new water and the weight of the water was as much again as that of the bones in the other Pot I put Gristles with double their weight of water too Having increased the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 3 seconds and the inward pressure ten times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air I kept the fire so for four or five minutes more and then I took it off and the Vessels being cooled I found the bones pretty brittle but the liquor was not thick enough to be called Gelly yet I believe if that which had been spent in the former boiling had been there still the Gelly had been strong enough The Grisles in the other Pot were almost quite melted down and were turned to a strong Gelly from the bottom of the Pot to the middle of it but above that the liquor was no thicker than in the other Pot. This Experiment made me think 1. That one pound of Beef-bones might afford about two pounds of Gelly 2. That it would be better to provide Grisles because they are wholly glutinous and will dissolve in water but because water is not so heavy the Grisles will sink and stay in the bottom and imbibe just as much water as is necessary to make a Gelly 3. That it is the Cement that unites the parts of the bones which is dissolved in the water to make it a Gelly since after that the bones remain brittle EXPERIM. IV. June 29. I put more bones into two little Glass-pots than was necessary to congeal the water they were in one was with Beef-bones the other with Mutton-bones I increased the fire till the drop of water did dry away in 3 seconds with the inward pressure ten times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air. I kept the fire to that degree about a quarter of an hour and then took off but part of it leaving the rest to keep the heat yet longer The Vessels being cooled I found very good Broth without Empyreume in both the pots but it did not turn to gelly which I think could not proceed but from too much boiling since in the former Experiments with less bones and less heat I had got a strong Gelly From this Experiment it appears that the degree of heat is much to be observed to make a great quantity of Gelly and that it is not enough to keep it from burning for it might for all that be much over-done Now that degree of heat which is best of all cannot be found but by several Experiments EXPERIM. V. June 29. I put Beef-bones into one of the little Glass-pots with an equal weight of water into the other I put as much Ivory as I could with water to fill up the chinks I blew up the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 6 seconds with the inward pressure twelve times as great as the ordinary pressure of the Air then I took off the fire as fast as I could and the Vessels being cooled I found that the Pot with Ivory had been broken because the Ivory that was crowded in it swelling by humidity and heat had been stronger than the Pot the Ivory was grown brittle In the other Pot the bones were not softned yet but in some Apophyses the liquor was not congealed neither except in the bottom but the next day being a little cooler I found it turned all to a Gelly and I poured it upon several glass Plates that it might dry the next day July 1. though it had been evaporating 24 hours I found it melted again because as I think the weather was a little warmer I used it to glue a broken glass which did since that time hold very well and can be washed as well as if it had never been broken From this Experiment I judged 1. That the heat had been too weak as in the foregoing it had been too strong and so to bring the bones to a good gelly the fire should be augmented as in Exper. 1. or thereabout 2. I was more fully perswaded that it is the glue of the bones which is dissolved to make gelly 3. I found that very few glutinous parts are sufficient to congeal much water for though this had been congealed in Summer-time in a Garret yet when it was dryed I had so small a quantity of glue remaining that I was surprised at it 4. I found that a very little heat is enough to hinder these congelations and therefore in all appearance the quantity of gelly would be much greater in Winter than in Summer-time from the same quantity of Materials 5. That such Congelations are very differing from those that are made meerly by cold since the Ice swims at the top but Gelly sinks to the bottom of the water To use the glue here spoken of it must be kept clean and when we have occasion to use it we must dissolve some of it with three or four drops of clean water to wet the brims
Chap. 2. Exper. 13. so that their bones were soft then I left one dry in the open Air and having kept it for eight days though in very hot weather it was not corrupted at all but another piece which I kept in the sauce was corrupted before three days I had a mind to try afterwards whether an ordinary boiling would have the same effect and to that end June 26. I boiled a Macquerel after the ordinary way and having set it to dry as I had done with the other I found that it would stink in less than four days From this Experiment I believe it appears that this Engine would be useful to dry Victuals so as to keep them without Salt and without losing their juyce and it may be such Victuals will prove much more wholesom than salt Victuals that are so much used at Sea EXPERIM. X. This Engine being so useful to hinder the wasting of fresh water by evaporation I thought it might also in some cases make Sea-water serve instead of fresh water Having therefore dissolved one dram of Salt in forty drams of water which I have heard from Mr. Boyle to be much the same proportion of Salt as is in Sea-water I took an ounce of dry Pease and having put them in a glass-pot with double their weight of the said salt water I included them in the Engine I blew up the fire till the drop of water would evaporate in 4 seconds with an inward pressure ten times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air. The Vessels being cooled I found that the Pease had imbibed all the water and were very well softned and Dr. King having tasted the same found them very savoury and not too much salted it is very likely that Beans and all other Pulse will do the same I think therefore that in supplying a Ship with Victuals we may reckon that the Pulse will change double their weight of Sea-water into fresh water or at least make it serve for nourishment as well as if it had been fresh and this may diminish very much the quantity of fresh water Ships must be incumbred with If people should use Sea-water to boil Pease in after the ordinary way it would come to pass that the evaporation wasting but the watry parts would make the Pease exceeding salt and besides that they could never be well softned I did also try whether Sea-water could be used to make Gellies therefore I put some of the same salt water into a pot with an equal weight of Mutton-bones and having increased the fire as I use to make Mutton-bones gelly I found a very strong gelly indeed but it was too salt by a great deal the quantity of congealing parts being so little that it cannot much contemperate the saltness of the water I think therefore that Sea-water should be mingled with double its weight of fresh water to make gelly withal CHAP. IV. Experiments for Confectioners EXPERIM. I. JVne 27. I put Cherries into two Pots in one of them there was water enough to cover the Fruit to the other I added nothing at all having forced the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 40 seconds with the inward pressure 3 times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air I found the Cherries very well boiled and those had much juyce where I had added no water those with water had much more liquor but their taste was more waterish The next day I put some of these Cherries to dry in the open Air and I put some also to boil again with Goose-berries to see whether a new boiling would spoil them I blew up the sire till the drop of water would dry away in 10 seconds with the inward pressure eight times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air and after that I did not find the Cherries at all altered but were still as big and as entire as before they had been boiled I put some of these also to dry in the open Air. The next day I found that all these Cherries would dry very well and not corrupt but those that had been boiled but once without water were bigger than all the rest and those that had been boiled twice were very wrinkled and grown smaller than the others that had been as long again a drying This Experiment shews that some Fruit may without danger remain a great while upon the fire in this Engine after they have been boiled enough and that makes them to be not so fit to corrupt as they were before therefore I believe if those who are skilful that way would make a Syrup to keep such Fruit in without drying they might have Sweet-meats which not having been boiled in Sugar would keep much better the taste of the Fruit but I think the Syrup should be thicker than usual because the moisture of the Fruit is apt in a little time to mingle with it and make it more liquid Experience must teach us what degree of heat will be the best to preserve Fruit without much altering its taste EXPERIM. II. July 6. I put into a pot sive ounces of Goose-berries and having continued the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 15 seconds I presently put it out The Vessels being cooled I found that the Goose-berries had yielded an ounce and half of liquor pretty thick I put some of these Goose-berries to dry in the open Air and they did dry very well and not corrupt This Experiment made me the more apt to believe that Sweet-meats might be so ordered as to keep much of the taste of the Fruit and I believe at the same time one might have a great conveniency to make clear Cakes because the juyce sit for that purpose is all kept in this Engine and may be drawn a great deal sooner than after the ordinary ways EXPERIM. III. July 22. Three weeks ago I shut up ripe Goose-berries in a great glass and put to them water satiated with Sugar to sill up the interstices to day seeing these Goose-berries ferment apace and make abundance of bubbles I put some of them in a glass-pot with some of their liquor and having inclosed it in the Engine I continued the fire till the drop of water did dry away in 6 seconds with an inward pressure five times stronger than the ordinary pressure of the Air. I took off the fire and the Vessels being cooled I found the Goose-berries very well boiled soft and of a good taste though the Fermentation had made them hard and unpleasant to the palate I included at the same time another pot full with fresh Goose-berries to which I added one part of Sugar to five parts of Fruit I found them also very ready and of a very pleasing taste but much more sweet than those that had been fermented After I had left these two glass-pots for ten days together well covered but not above â…“ full I saw no Fermentation in them but the Fruit grew a little musty
drawn a very little tincture from the Antimony though the heat had been much stronger and longer than in the former Experiment for the tincture of Salt of Tartar A while after when I would empty the pot I found that the Antimony was come into a lump as if it had been melted and that the upper part was red and the bottom blackish so that it seems the tincture had been drawn and then precipitated We did also take notice of a great difference between Spirit of Wine and distilled Vinegar for in Exper. 1. the heat had given such a great strength to the Spirit of Wine to expand it self that most of it had run over from the pot which was thereby above half emptied but on the contrary the Spirit of Vinegar had been so little able to expand it self that the pressure in the Engine being equal if not stronger than that in the pot this was not at all emptied but still full to 1 â— though the heat had been stronger than upon the Spirit of Wine and the pressure in the Engine had been equal in both Experiments EXPERIM. III. August 9. I put some Rosemary into a long glass pot but it was held up by a Wyre-Diaphragme so that it was distant from the bottom by a third part of the length of the pot I kindled the fire towards the top of the Engine that the bottom remaining cold the vapors of the Rosemary might condense in the bottom of the pot I continued the fire till the drop of water upon the cover would evaporate in 6 seconds but the bottom was almost cold Afterwards I found that the Rosemary had yielded some red water and pretty fragrant about the weight of a dram and besides that two or three drops of essential Oyl of a very sweet smell and of a contexture somewhat like Butter being thicker than Oyl useth to be This way of distilling is to be preferred to the ordinary ways 1. Because there is no danger of losing any thing 2. Because the vapors may descend more easily than get up So that being put in motion by the gentle heat of the Balneum Mariae and presently falling down by their heaviness they can preserve their own nature much better than when being exposed to a fire less kind they must receive from it a motion strong enough to raise them to a considerable height which can hardly be done without altering their nature 3. In ordinary Distillations there sticks always some Oyl to the head which doth not come into the receiver but here there is no such danger since there is no head the receiver serving for both doth immediately receive all the vapors that are freed from the subject The Diaphragma I made use of for these Distillations is exprest Fig. 3. BB. Is the Diaphragma made out of Wyres AAAAAA Are three little feet to keep it up at some distance from the bottom CC. Is another Wyre fastned to the Centre of the Diaphragma and reaching to the top of the Glass that after the Operation is made we may draw out the Diaphragma with the matters above it and leave the distilled Liquor alone in the Glass We might also order our Vessels to be cast after a Circular shape as in Fig. 4. for setting one end in the and the other end in cold water all the vapors would condense there and the volatile Salts might stick in the middle as in ordinary Distillations We might also order our Vessels as in Fig. 5. where the Pot GG hath its aperture II out of the Engine AA so that the said Pot might be quite silled with the matter to be distilled for applying a deep cover BB to the aperture II the vapors will all descend and be condensed in the said cover The Pot must be strongly soddered to the Engine at the aperture SS to keep in the water contained in the space TTTT between the Pot and the Engine The little Pipe HH must be shut with a Screw instead of weight as you see in the Figure There should be some kind of Iron box fastned to the Engine AA to keep fire to it Lastly The whole thing ought to hang almost in Aequilibrio by the Appendices CC upon the two Pillars RRRR that it might easily be turned upside down By that way we may save the trouble of opening the Balneum Mariae and so there will be no necessity to let it cool at all because we may look into the Pot at any time and put new materials into it without giving any way to the water in the space TTTT to fly out And besides the cover BB may be made of glass and so we can observe the progress of the distillation We may also for Operations that require to be made in great quantities tye four or sive such Engines together in a great Iron ring and place the sire in the middle of them so that the same sire will heat them all at the same time By this means perhaps Bread may be baked very cheap and very good with Sea-coals And such an Engine though never so great may easily be filled and emptied by turning it upside down because it hangs in Aequilibrio but I confess I have not yet tryed it so far EXPERIM. IV. August 10. I took three ounces of Cinamon and having set them in the same manner as the Rosemary lately spoken of I continued the sire till the drop of water would dry away in a minutes time but I found afterwards that almost nothing was drawn out of the Cinamon I put the same Cinamon in again and I continued the fire till the drop of water would dry away in 2 seconds upon the cover but the bottom of the Engine was laid in cold water which I did renew from time to time so that the said bottom got very little heat that time I got about five drams of a whitish liquor with some small drops of Oyl swimming at the top there was also some Oyl sticking to the sides of the glass and being separated with a Knife did also swim at the top of the liquor It is somewhat probable that the Oyl drawn after that way is not so heavy as that which is brought hither from the East-Indies and so mingling with the Phlegm it makes it whitish and that Phlegm having Oyl mixt with it is so fragrant that it doth aromatize there being allowed a greater quantity than of pure Oyl EXPERIM. V. August 12. I put Aniseeds into a glass pot and some leaves of Rosemary into another then I poured water into both of them to swim over the matter I had a mind to know whether the essential Oyl would not be extracted as the Gelly is extracted from bones I thought that the particles of water insinuating between the parts of the Plants would give occasion to the particles of Oyl to get loose and that these would afterwards gather at the top of the water I continued the fire till a drop of water would