he be Occult yet by Mechanical necessity he must needs be Acid as I have evidenced in Oyl Suet Milk c. otherwise nothing at all in the Universe would be Coagulated For the things which have been spoken says my Doctor none of them can be seen with the Eye i. e. none can understand my Writings De Arte. unless he be versed in this Chymical and Salt-fusory Art Wherefore Hippocrates found out those things which by a grateful consent The book of Nature is to be read but Paper ones are not to be rejected are subject to the Empire of Art and Nature On this Foot he places the unmovable Foundations of Learning and from these he hath deduced all Mechanical Progresses and Explications of Causes so firmly that if all Paper Books with their Authors were lost yet by this Method out of the Great Book of Nature they may be all again retrieved Hence it appears how many Fables have been ascribed to this worthy Man which he never so much as dream'd of yea many things published under his name suit not with his Profound Wisdom so that if he were alive again he would be ashamed to own them The permixture and alteration which I have demonstrated in fixed Alcalyes with Acids the same also * L. 1. of Diet. my Hippocrates would have to be understood of the Volatile Alcalyes of Animals for the Volatile Alcaly of any Animal whatsoever being saturated with the Acid Spirit of Variol assumes the nature of Vitriol but not having the Colcothar of Iron it is precipitated by juice of Galls into a bottom of a Purple Colour like to White Vitriol of which above Out of what hath been spoken 't is as clear as Noon-day that the Spirit is the Vehicle and lodging place of the Soul and the Bond joyning Soul and Body which I shall also shew by the following Experiments For the same Volatile Alcaly of what Animal soever with Spirit of Nitre is made natural Nitre conceiving Flame and is melted in the fire like ordinary Nitre The same Alcaly I say with Vinegar is made Tartar which is wholly Distilled into a Salt liquor as I have shewed in Mindererus his Water the same may be said of other Acid Juices for as fixed Alcalyes are vacuous and empty bodies so are also the Volatile ones of all Animals whose preparations the Reformer indeed teaches which yet is very inane and empty as all Alcalyes are Hence my Hippocrates moved to a smiling laughter pleasantly says L. 1. of Diet. They know not what they do but they obey their destined fate Wherefore the Alcaly of Vipers being a vacuous and empty body is saturated by the Reformer as empty with great labour and cost with the Acid Spirit of Salt Pharm f. 486. and what else I pray but Common Salt can issue from it Behold the Cheat and Imposture which the Reformer hath at last found out with so much labour of which triumphing before the victory he thus scribbles Whosoever thou art never think there is any other way of Fixing having spoken this by and by heâ—recants Pharm f. 486. saying with a low voice If yet there be any Man who hath greater Experience in these Operations I give him occasion for the Publick good that what he hath Experimented herein he would not suffer to die with him Alas poor Man why not but go too Let us comply with his desires he hath made a fair Oration and no doubt deserves a Statue from the Common-Wealth of Physick Append. in Animadu fol. 75. for having so politely distinguished the Acid from the Salt for the benefit of Apothecaries CHAP. XXII A Childish Opinion Discovered I Will briefly now run over the Acids In Append. f. 52. which the Reformer teaches as contrary to Salts which Doctrine yet with many others I find to be false and full of Ignorance Fire both Internal and External Explains the Book of Nature as the ordinary professor of the Creator as shall be demonstrated by Fire keeping to the Terms usually received for Fire is here the publick Professor and just Judge Logick hath no such way of distinguishing for That only handles true Sciences already found out and propounds Methodically and clearly and profitably to treat of what is to be known in every knowable thing But I have before distinguished the Tastes or Sapors of Salts as much as was necessary for the understanding of this present Compendium Let there be made a Powder of Nitre The Calcining of Gold the day way and Common Salt Ana four Ounces and two Ounces of Allum to which add Simple Water as much as is sufficient for the solution of the Salts which act not undissolved and you will obtain a Salt Liquor to which add two Drachms at least of Leaf-Gold mingle the Gold with the Salts and boil them in a glazen pot to Siccity towards the end encrease the fire till it affords a smell like That of Aqua Fortis so the saltness of the mixture erodes the Gold Dissolve the white Mass in a pot with Common Water let the Solution rest in the Glass Vessel till the Faeces of the Salt do subside when it is clear pour it out by inclination to this clear solution instil by drops some fixed resolved Alcaly Ex. Gra. Liquor of Tartar which presently absorbs the more subtil Acid Spirits and the Gold presently falls of a Purple colour In this Operation the Salt hinders not the Acid Spirits as the Reformer teaches but the Alcaly of Tartar consuming the Acids destroys the Compositum The same way but with great force distilled water of Nitre and Allum in which Common Salt hath been dissolved Galcining of Gold the morst way dissolves Gold for if the Salt were not dissolved in water it would not corrode the Gold Wherefore Salt doth not destroy the Acid Aqua Fortis neither in the dry nor moist way but adds Vigor to it like to Sal Armoniack Hence Basilius What is found in the Eagle is also to be met with in me Hence it appears that Gold is not dissolved but by Salts but why the Acid Spirit of Salt doth dissolve It I have elsewhere shewed viz. by corroding the Spirits it returns to That which it natively and originally was viz. into Salt CHAP. XXIII Obscure things made manifest I Will shew another Experiment very pleasing to the Eye manifesting that Salts are not contrary to Acids Take three pound of dryed Vitriol Tincture of Gold two pound of Nitre fix ounces of the Flowers of Common Sulphur and five pound and a half of Common Salt and Powder of Bricks as much as is sufficient least the Salts should be melted with the Sulphur Let there be six pound of this last powder mingle the small powders exactly and distil the water at least out of Sand put Gold Money into this water without rectification premised and in a few hours hours in a warm place you will see the water
this they washed and again extinguished until the Bean-ashes had destroyed all the Alcaly and had left an impalpable Powder This is the Powder of Flints as That before melted with Alcaly and precipitated with Acid which the Reformer thinks cannot be safely given at Mouth so much as to Country people though he commends it to Queens as I have said to procure Milk In this Preparation which the Reformer out of his sloth and ignorance calls sleight The true preparation and knowledge of Simples requires almost a mans whole life lies hid the profound knowledge of Natural things as will appear by degrees and the taking of it is not at all to be feared as the Reformer falsly teacheth But ignorant persons are of necessity subject to great fears CHAP. VI. Rumor sine Capite A Report without ground THere is a way reported and practised of drawing out the Diuretick Vertue from Calcined Flint by the destruction of the Alcaly that is by a rule contrary to the Alcaly with Acid Spirits after this manner into Spirit of Salt they put by piece-meal unslaked Lime the Spirit is presently absorbed by the Alcaly of the Lime with great force and vehement ebullition they draw forth the insipid Phlegm and dissolve the Lime saturated with the Acid Salt they melt it with a gentle fire in a Crucible straining it into a cold Mortar when it is cold they beat it to Powder it then emitting fiery sparks from which with hot water they elicite the saltness this they purifie and coagulate and again suffer it of its own accord to run into a salt liquor not unprofitable But there are some Sophisters and Impostors who give forth that this Liquor is distilled in a Lembick for they mix the foresaid Liquor with Calcined and Powdered Flints in a fourfold proportion and distil it with an open fire into an Acid Spirit which by a wrong name they call Spiritus Calcis Basilii Now let us see to what Original or Parent we may ascribe the foresaid distilled Spirit First of all the Spirit of Salt was absorbed and swallowed up by the vitrifying Alcaly and most constant in the fire Further the Acid part of the Flint was separated by the water and cast off under the covert of the Faces Thirdly the fix'd Alcaly of the Flint or Lime drinks up the Acid Spirit of the Salt and a Salt is made of the volatile Acid and most fixed Alcaly Fourthly they mix this Salt with the Calcined Flints i. e. with the unslaked Lime which abounds more with Alcaly than Acid as I have shewed in Glass and Soap And though this Mixture be urged with the strongest fire what else can it distil forth than a volatile Acid that is the same Spirit of Salt which the Alcaly had absorbed and drunk up Famous and Learned men have commended this Spirit in the Gout and Stone as a singular Remedy but the success hath not answered But Basilius ill interpreted and understood wrote not to Impostors and therefore he is wrongfully accused by them for a Cheat Rightly therefore doth the Comoedian commend us If thou be wise make thy self ignorant of what thou knowest An Addition to this Examen By this Method after you are once instructed in this Hippocratical Learning which I hold forth in this short Tract you may in every Process Nature as to Physick hath nothing occult in this sublunary Globe but by this method an Hippocratist may discover it as well Chymical as Medicinal by ingenuity and discourse discern prove and separate Truth from Falshood without any expence or loss of time so as no longer to be gulled by Deceivers and Cheats yea by the same method you may in your Operations and in writing of Books travel on perpetually the right way without wandering in this Natural Chymical True and Ancient Philosophy through all the three Kingdoms Animal Mineral and Vegetable as you will confess in the Progress CHAP. VII Qui bene distinguit beue docet To distinguish well is to teach well FOr our clearer light and understanding it will be worth the while before I proceed to demonstrate to the Eye the difference of Alcalyes and to shew what the contrariety or the absorbing and imbibing of Acids is There are as I have said several degrees and Species of fix'd Salt Alcaly as of Tartar which hath a singular priviledge of Lime-trees of Hazel of all sorts of Oaks and those which in the Forrests of Norway Lituania and Muscovy are burnt out of green wood into to Pot-ashes Also all hot and Oily Herbs as Rosemary Laevender Rue c. all of them in a word are contrary to and destroyers of Acids whose difference the following Experiments shew Dissolve an ounce and half of sublimate Mercury which by the * Hip. l. 2. de Diaâ—t mixture is changed from Acid and Alcaly into Salt into fifty ounces of common water distilled into a part of this clear solution infuse by drops yet somewhat quickly the fixed Alcaly of Tartar which is the Liquor of Tartar resolved of its own accord this in a moment divides the Compositum absorbing the Acid and the Mercury presently goes to the bottom of a colour obscurely red From the Calcined Faeces or Lees of Vinegar The wonderful difference of fix'd Alcaely there is drawn forth with water Alcaly of Tartar which though produced out of the same Vine with Wine yet it precipitates aâ— Mercury sparkling and splendent But when the same Alcaly is Calcined by Art to a redness then the same Mercury falls down like pounded Cinnabar The Tartar being burnt up if you add the Calx and draw forth the Alcaly with simple water then the falling Mercury glisters like Gold but extracted out of the Herb Kaly it precipitates a Mercury much more dark coloured than the former The Lye or Lixivium which Soap-boilers call Magistra which consists of the Calx and Alcaly of Oaks yields Mercury darkly yellow There is an Alcaly brought out of Spain 't is not certain whether a simple or compounded one which yet precipitates Mercury of a Tawney yellow colour But when the same Mercury is precipitated with Alcalyes of Cephalick Herbs as of Rosemary Lavender c. these indeed are Alcalyes but not of Ashes as the former but much more volatile These I say cast Mercury red and shining So Celandine hath a wonderful Alcaly so that its fisth Essence which yet I take to be the Gift of Heaven i. e. the Alcalized Liquor of this Spiritual Salt is praised He which hath not tasted the relish of Sales shall never attain to the desired Ferment of Ferments says the Author of the Rosary not without a Mystery by Paracelsus and Lully â— and it casts a most red Mercury I once carelesly neglected the small Vessel in which 't was put and caused it not to be washed and about a Month after at the top of the Liquor there appeared a Golden Flower not unlike the Flower of Celandine
Alcaly of Galls or with some Oil the hidden Acidity of which enters into the Galls being placed in a pot in a slow Fire of Ashes leave them there till you see the Galls become Blacker but not so as to be reduced to Coals then their Alcaly will be more fit for Colouring and an Ounce of such burnt Galls doth more than a pound of others yea it colours of it self because the Acidity of the Fat by the Fire hath acted upon its Alcaly Very many Vegetables do abound with the like Volatile and Occult Alcaly Rinds of Pomgranates as the greater Housleek Sage Rinds of Pomgranates all which do spend and absume the Acid of the Vitriol and cause the Colcotar to be much less black A certain Prince of great Renown an Enquirer into the Mysteries of Nature wondered much when he heard that a certain Gentlewoman of the Nursery in his Court had taken by Mouth Rinds of Pomgranates which are universally judged to be Adstringent which yet provoked the Courses in her which had been stopped some Months To whom when I declared the copious Alcaly wherewith these Rinds do abound and that the stopping of the Menstrua did arise from that Morbous Acidity which the Alcaly of the Rinds had absorbed it ceased his wonderment But you must note that Artificial Vitriol of an Azure colour Things thorowly mixed and divided are altered Hip. l. 1. de Diat which is falsly called Cyprus Vitriol doth not become black with Galls though they be burnt but with Rinds of Pomgranates it tinges obscurely Yellow Now it is made of the spangles or thin flakes of Copper by Spirit of Sulphur or of common Vitriol both which in a cold place are Coagulated into somewhat long-angular little stones hardly dissolvable and unfit for Distillation because it wholly wants that Cupreous Sulphur This with Urine waxeth Green and with the Alcaly of Urine is cast into an Azure bottom which by Fusion returns to Copper So also Verdigrease as proceeding from ripe Copper and Vinegar doth not wax black with Galls Distilled Aerugo yields Vinegar but becomes of a light red or Spadiceous colour and by the Reformers leave I know and have experimented that nothing but Vinegar will be distilled from thence because the remaining Caput Mortuum after Distillation by the fire of Fusion is reduced to pure Copper of which more hereafter Whence it appears that burnt Brass with tosted Galls produceth not a black tincture as Alexius of Piedmont promises with which process the Women of this Country do wonderfully vexe themselves that therewith they may black their hair for as far as this composition tingeth any thing it ownes that Vertue to the tosted Galls Alexius his Secret the burnt Brass contributing nothing thereunto But Cyprus Vitriol is truly Hermaphroditical richly furnished with natural Acidity and Cupreous Sulphur The Metaphor of Mars companying with Venus doth not unfiâ—ly suit here for which reason it is always moist and never of it self conctetes into small stones wherefore it very easily grows black with Galls which is a sign that it partakes of the Nature of Venus and Mars for Vitriol of Venus without Mars doth not grow black with Galls as I have shewed For Iron and Copper are of affinity one to another as Male and Female This Secret sayes Basilius you may take notice of but conceal for it is of great use This Vitriol De Vitriels dissolved in water is of a Tawney colour if burnt Brass be dissolved in it or flakes of Copper or Iron then it concretes into little stones and becomes vendible but inferior to that which is Medicineable The White Vitriol which comes from Gosloria and that also from Carinthia White Vitriol doth participate indeed of Mars and Venus but are not rich in natural Acidity for which reason they very slowly wax black with Galls a drop of this Solution mixed with Galls and falling on Paper makes a Party-coloured Iris after it is dry But Romane Vitriol which abounds with Iron Roman Vitriol though poor in Spirit yet it colours quickly because of the Iron So Artificial Vitriol which is made of the fileings of Iron Vitriolâ—m Martis artislciale with Spirit of Vitriol or Sulphur doth tinge most readily and therefore Dyers for want of Sweet Vitriol do add fileings of Iron to the Humid and by consequent the sharp which it doth Corrode and so the Vitriol is Dulcified So also Crocus Martis which is made of artificial Vitriol burnt in a covered Crucible till it be red being dissolved with Spirit of Salt and digested with Spirit of Wine Câ—ocus Martis Solutus acquires a golden colour and becomes a noble Medicine One drop alone of this Solution in half an ounce of the Decoction or Extract of Galls becomes perfectly black pour out this black and wash the vessel with clean water and the Ablution will be of the colour of an Amtihyst A drop of the former on Paper after it is dryed of its own accord represents divers colours as a Peacocks tail curious to the eyes of the beholders Whilest I was busied heretofore about these curious experiments I perceived my fingers to be tingedwith a Purple colour as it happens from Gold dissolved in Aqua Regia and the tincture endured for some days This Basilius calls Sanguis Veneris Martis The blood of Venus and Mars and commands us not without reason to observe it accurately and to conceal it Gold corroded by Aqua Regia and coagulated into the shape of Vitriol Gold doth tinge the fingers as I have said of a Purple colour and with the infusion of Galls the liquor becomes like yellow Amber with which if with a liberal hand you dawb over Paper after it is dryed it shines as Varnish Silver corroded in Aqua Fortis Silver of Nitre and Alome with an infusion of Galls doth not change its nature if you write on Paper with this mixture after two days every black letter is as it were compassed with a Silver and shining list which cannot be without Alcaly Hence this rare Man may understand why the Ancients Metaphorically called Gold the Male and Silver the Female A drop of this Solution if with a large hand it drop on Paper after the silver lift it draws and makes another of a Chesnut colour a pleasant Spectacle as if it were so painted on purpose So also Tinn and Lead being reduced into Salt or Vitriol Leed Tiau with the juice of Galls as also with Alcaly of any sort yields a white bottom i. e. the Alcaly of the Galls drinks up the Acid and the Metal goes to bottom but not so in Gold nor Silver nor Copper c. Quick silver dissolved by Acid things Mercury and re-coagulated with the aforesaid juice of Galls waxeth but slowly Yellow imitating Gold which is to be observed Wherefore of the seven Metals being dissolved by Acids Iron and Silver with Galls do
Tartar fell to the bottom as a Cadaver But the Acidity spread through the Liquor hath dominion over it and doth defend it and is called Wine the Acidity whereof is grateful to the Palate because of the Alcaly with which it is joyned and tempers the Acid till at length the Acidity weary of the Alcaly or excited again by Heat strives to overcome the Alcaly and so a new and insensible fight begins and the Wine foures more and is called by a common name Vinegar from which if the Acidity be separated in a Limbeck Without Art there is not found a pure Acid in Nature unmited with Alcaly and on the contrary Hippoc. l. 1. de Diat Aust 1. Phys and the bottom burnt by fire then the Alcaly is found out of that Tartarous bottom though it seem impossible to some to find Alcaly in so great an Acidity yet it is true and it is That which the Philosopher means when he says That it is impossible there should be any matter under which there should not be some form Pour or superadde Distilled Acid on this Alcaly and evocate the watery flegme having the smell of Aqua Ardeus or hot water then from the Acid and the Alcaly you shall have a re-generated Tartar which out of a Retort yields a fat Oyl and a bitter Water full of â—olatile Alcaly out of the Phlegme through a Phyal of a long Neck So the Rector by degrees vanishes from our External senses into nothing that Man cannot find out the work which God operates Fâ—cl 3.11 evocate the Fat burning watery part which we call Aqua vitae the other part is elementary water the Fat re-assumes the Alcaly out of which again extract the Elementary Water and repeat this operation and the whole substance of Wine passes into Water and Elementary Earth void of all taste and smell Hence it appears that the Juice of Grapes hath preserved the Alcaly and the Acid in which the Rector doth inhabit in various hazards and several alterations even unto its last annihilation CHAP. XIX An untrodden Path discovered THat which I have spoken in the precedent Chapter concerning the Juice of Grapes the same is also to be understood of the Juice of all Vegetables for in them all there is Acid and Alcaly more or less as Hippocrates and Experience also shew but with this difference that in those Vegetables which we call Cold the Alcaly doth predominate and they are not fermentable unless by the help of an outward Acid or being excited by heat but in those which are hot the Acid prevails and therefore they are easily fermentable as in the Progress will appear Also the Alcaly of some Vegetables is nearer to fix'd and therefore it joynes in with Acid Minerals All things are corrupted mutually by themselves the greter by the less and the less by the greater Hipp. L. 1. de Diaet as I have shewed in Galls in the greater Housleak in Rinds of Pomgranates c. The Alcalyes of others are much more delicate so that Acid Minerals do presently absume them in as much as they are nutritive and fit for the digestion of Animals which consists in a milder Acidity of which sort are Winter-green Sanicle Bettony Fole-foot c. Which therefore are called Vulnerary Herbs whose Alcaly restrains and hinders the injust Acidity vising in the Stomach as it lessens it also in wonuds because all Acidity out of the Stomach is hurtful morbous and accompanies putrefaction which the Vulgar call heat from the effect for it causes a Feavour and putrefies Wounds many skilful Chyrurgeons have taken notice of that Acidity in wounded men as the beginner of heat and putrefaction and have therefore forbade them the use of Wine and not without cause least the subtle and evaporable Acidity of the Wine should encrease the Disease I say the Alcaly of these is not discovered with Acid Minerals Nature delights in its like nature but because they themselves are Nutritive therefore the said Alcaly associates it self with its similary Nutritives and with gentler Acids than Minerals As for Example Dissolve a drachm of Sal Saturni made with Distilled Vinegar for that resists not the Digestion of Animals in about three Ounces of Distilled Water which hath no Volatile Alcaly of Rosemary Lavender Rue c. Suffer the Lees to settle This Solution being sweet in taste contains Occult Lead drop the clear Juice of the foresaid Vulnerary Herbs into this clear Solution and it presently grows as white as Milk which is a sign that the Alcaly of the Herbs absorbs the Acid from the Lead which falls by degrees For as fixed Alcaly praecipitates Mercury and Alcaly nearer to fixed praecipitates Vitriol as I have shewed before so also here a milder Alcaly requires a milder Examen Paracelsus first observed That hidden Alcaly of Herbs and it is probable that by the like Examen he took notice of their several minute degrees he had taken notice that in wounds putrefaction came from Acidity and from thence arose feavorish heats and corruptions of Wounds he also first prescribed Vulnerary Potions and did happily restrain the said Acidity and putrefaction Paracelsus his Analytick knowledge of Bodies and called the Herbs Vulnerary And though John Taugaultius a French Man and Gabriel Fallopias an Italian both famous Physicians and excellent Chyrurgeons do condemn and endeavour to explode Vulnerary Potions in the Cure of Wounds affirming that by their heat they inflame and extenuate the Blood and excite its eruption from the Wound yet though simple Vulnenary Medidicaments are not known to every Chyrurgeon and and are prescribed without distinction and knowledge of their degrees for all cannot attain this pitch of Science nevertheless Experience shews Ulcers of the Feet or Thighs and Wounds are Cured by Potions why may they not do the same in the Lungs that the aforesaid Potions are useful with which also Paracelsus cured the Ulcers of the Lungs as Histories witness and also the Hectick Feavor as I have also experimented which is an universal and inept Acidity and that of the solid parts which in one word we call Heat and which the aforesaid Alcalys do more readily absorb and consume than Milk as I have shewed in its place and the cure it self demonstrates Therefore Vulnerary Potions are not to be rejected but used with good Success in the curing of Wounds Many of the accuratest sort of Chyrurgeons The brevity of this Compendium will not allowme to discourse of Specifick Acid. Yet see ch 21. and Physicians have taken notice that Acidâ—ty is the cause of Heat and Pain as also that burnt Harts-horn absumes in it self Vinegar and other Acids of all sorts whence it comes to pass that it is given with good success in Feavors in a great dose from half an ounce to an ounce in any cooling water containing Volatile Alcaly For as they have observed to their great joy that the said burnt Harts-horn absorbs and
the Blood so the Velatile Alcaly of the Blood catches also it 's Proper Acidity which is Volatile too and in the Regiment of Fire they are both fixed into a Salt as will more clearly appear in the progress But least a New Truth should procure me New Envy I think it worth my Labour before I go on to demonstrate that Hippocrates was not ignorant of the Foundations of this Salt For he in his Golden Books of Diet hath these words Lib. 1. Priacip All living creatures as well as man are constituted of two things different in Vertue but agreeing in Vse Fire and Water both of these together are sufficient both for all other things and for themselves but each of them apart is neither sufficient for it self nor any other thing c. Thus he My Master and Philosopher hath brought these two Faculties on the Stage Fire and Water in whose Bowels all * When I had recourse to natural principles then I knew Art to be true says Avicen I will shew those things which no man yet hath assayed to explain Hippoc. ibid. things are contained which are necessary to perfect generation and transmutation A while after he adds that this is no culinary fire for he says men thresh wash and grind Corn and being baked in a hot Oven they use it with a sirong fire it is not made up in its Body but with a soft and gentle one what this soft fire in all things is will appear in the progress CHAP. XIII The occult Acid is made Manifest IN a sound Stomach there is lodged a Volatile and never failing Acid The Fire says Hippocrates is not sufficient for it self Honco the appetiâ—e of Alimental things for they are Alcalys as will appear in the Progress by the help of which Aliments which are all full of Volatile Alealy â—none exocpted as I shall shew hereaster are transmutedo and runed into Chyle or Juice first Sourish and afterwards by little and little into Salt i. e. mature whether the Stomach hath this Acid of it self or elsewhere it is not my present Enquiry though a certain Writer intimates the sormer 't is sufficient for me plainly to demonstrate that there is such an Acidity first by Authority then by experience Hippocrates says In long loosness of the Intestines L. 6. Apho. 1. if Acid belching supervene which was not before 't is good The meaning is that Acidity returning to the Stomach it changes the food into Chyle or Vital Juice then necessarily Health returns Hence all seasonings and sauces for Meat to sharpen our appetite are Acid as Juice of Lemon Pomgranate Orange Verjuice Tartar Unripe Grapes and the like all which notwithstanding differ much among themselves of which to avoid Prolixity I will not now dispute See Chap. 10. To recover this Maidity when it is lost in Diseases Acid Juices differ from one another the Ancients appointeâ— Apiâ— Sirrups of Vinegar and Sugar of Vinegar mixed with Water and the like that by their means the Weak Stomach might be resreshed and the Aliment though taken in a small quantity might not immediately putrify which yet is taken notice of by few especially of those who persuade themselves that Putrefaction and Chylification are the same things There was a certain man of the nâ—â—â— Sect and in his own accompt no mean Person who forbad Juice of Lemmon upon pain of death to one 〈◊〉 of a Feaver who exceedingly desired sharp things as iâ— it were too crude but he prescribed simple Syrrup of Vinegar I could not but admire that he should allow Vinegar boiled with Sugar for an alterative but not Juice of Lemmous in his Meat He Answered with a loud Voice that Julip of Vinegar was made of Water and Sugar Our Hippocrates speaks of such a Physician L. 1. de Diat If he doth not know the constitution from the beginning and that which predominates in the Body be can never prescribe that which is good for a sick man Now this Acidty being oppressed by a long Disease returns to the Stomach either of its own accord or by the Skill of an ingenlous Physician But that we may have some knowledge of this Acidity by Experience Let an healthy Man drink a draught of Milk fasting and let him presently vomit it up again and he shall perceive the Acidity with his Tongue and shall see the Milk vomited up half curdled as if Vinegar had been poured on it almost the like Acidity is commonly found in Nature He which is ignorant of the principles of Nature hath no true root whereon to ground his Curative intention Geber by an helping hand which in a Glass turns all the Aliment in four or fire hours space by the help of a gentle heat from 〈◊〉 Acid Salt into a Lacteous Chyle a pleasant spectacle 〈◊〉 behold which I can ocularly demonstrate to any who desire to see it but in this place for some reasons I forbear By the help of this obscure though grateful Acidity the Viperine Alcdly is compacted and gathered together for its proper uses But no Sapor doth curdle and coagulate Milk but that which is Acid Now it 〈◊〉 pâ—â—â—ormed three manner of ways 1. In the Healthy Stomach of all living Animals Milk is not simply coagulated by the Acid but in the very coagulation it is necessarily impressed with the the Vital Vertue of the very Animals which though it consists in the Acid yet it differs from every other Acid and then it is chylified and received for nourishment An Admirable thing So in a Dog iâ— assumes the Nature of the Dog c. the handling 〈◊〉 which Hippocratical Doctrine Acidity is the Vital Organ and the bond of the Rector with the body it may suffice to hint this once for all being not proper for this place I do only point at it 2. In the Stomach of Sick Animals the Milk is indeed sowred but not impressed with a Vital Character wherefore the Acidity becomes putrefactive which nourisheth not but increaseth the Disease Hence my Hippocrates in some Feavors not in all C. 5. Apho. 65. as some would have it forbids the use of Milk 3. Milk is coagulated by manifest Acids and by all of them either of the Mineral sort and Class as are Acid Fountains Vitriol in substance Spirit of Vitriol of Sulphur of Salt of Nitre or it is coagulated in one only part of the Animal i. e. the Stomach Diven Coagulations of Milk and in no other which is a sign that the perceptible Acidity is not admitted into the other parts but if it creep into them by chance it becomes the oâ—use of Diseases and Death wherefore Acidity lodges at least in all Healthy Stomachs which because it generally coagulates Milk it is called by Dioscorides What Coagulum is Coagulum and commonly in Italy Conaglio yea the Stomach of all Birds have the above-said Acidity so strong and in so great quantity that unless they
but because he found it so Writ by others at length he adds That the Vitriol must be warily Calcined lest it be deprived of its Acid Spirlt He thinks he hath advised some great matter here as also by telling us That the Sublimation must be twice or thrice repeated with new powders of Salt and Vitriol But why and to what purpose this repeated Sublimation with new Powders for Mercury being once saturated with the Acid Spirits what needs any Reiteration of the labour especially if it be true as it is most true in Nature That all things are governed by certain Numbers Weights and Measures according to that of the Poet. Est Modus in rebus sunt certi denique fines Quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum i. e. A mean and certain Limits all things bound Beyond or this side which the right 's not found So that the nature of Mercury once saturated with Acid Spirits hath absorbed and imbibed as much as it can bear and as much as it wants from its first Subllmation and though it be re-sublimated afterwards and hundred times either by it self or with new powders yet it stil remains the same Sublimated Mercury So that to reiterate the labour is to make havock of the Powders and to lose time This is that which the wise Man says in the Proverbs Chap. 20. v. 10. Ealse Weights and deceitful Ballances are an abomination to the Lord. I know the way of Sublimating Mercury is coveted by many because they fear That which is Sold up and down is mix'd with Arsenick which as a dangerous Drugg ought not to be added to Mercury in its Sublimation by reason of subtil Poyson which it breaths forth in Sublimating and choaks the Operators I can shew that 't is a subtil Poyson by the danger I have experimently found in it my self For heretofore Arsenick when by the perswasion of Johannes Agricola I essay'd to sublimate Arsenick so often that at length it might remain fixed in the bottom of the Vessel for at that time out of my eager desire after Knowledge I feared neither Smoaks Vapours nor any other danger After many Sublimations when I opened the Vessel I suck'd in a breath so sweet so grateful and benign to the Palate that I even admired it as having never felt the like before but after half an hour I perceived my stomach to be contracted and to ake with a convulsion of all my Members I breathed with difficulty I pissed Blood with incredible Heat suddenly after I was taken with the Collick and wholly cramped for the space of an hour and half being recovered by Milk and Oyl I was indifferent well yet a slow Feavor like a Hectick stuck by me all the Winter which I cured by Decoction of Vulnerary Herbs and eating the tops or buds of Cole-worts and Colly-flowers boiled tender in Water and seasoned with juice of Oranges Oyl and a little Salt yea I did so covet this meat that I could scarce restrain my Appetite till Supper and Meat-time and by these Remedies I grew perfectly well But in spight of the danger there are some who can burn pure Tinn into Powder Geber de Argent c. 18. and Basil de Propriet which by no Vulgar Art can be again reduced to Tinn as other Metals yet with Arsenick it is made Scoria part of which by a singular Skill 7 Metals De fove becomes pure Silver Sigismund Wan a Citizen of Wondsied in Voitland knew and practised this Art of Separation to his great benefit Tinn yields Silver for in the year 1464 he built and endowed a Famous Hospital there which as Gasper Bruschius relates is this day to be seen with the Epitaph of the Citizen aforesaid Now that Silver may be made out of Tinn with Arsenick * 2 Vol. Theatri Chym. fol. 39. Clavius proves in his Apology against Ernstus to whom I refer you So much for Arsenick for the sake of the Curious I now return to Mercury whence I digressed which is sublimated in this proportion Take of Mercury or Quick-silver 280 pound so much one bundle weighs as it is brought out of Hydria in Sheep-skins of Mercry Sublimated twenty pound of Common Salt and Salt-Peter ana 200 l. of the reserved Caput Mortuum fifty pound of Vitriol Rubified 400 l. All these must be severally reduced to Powder under a Mill-stone which is to grind them turning round and standing upright The mixture is made after this sort The common sublimation of Mercury The Quick Mercury and the Sublimate must first be mingled with a part of the Common Salt and of the Salt-petre and although the Salts be dry yet by this Mixture they become moist so the Mercury in being mixed with the said Powders dies then add the other part of the Salts proceeding to mix them with an Iron Instrument till the Mercury appear no where quick This Mixture is very moist to which if you have a mind to add Rubified Vitriol which is very dry it consumes the Humidity in a moment and they become altogether as hard as stone wherefore instead of the aforesaid Vitriol you must add the Caput Mortuum either reserved from the first Sublimation or from Aqua Fortis 't is all one so the Mixture becomes moderately dry which then you must agitate through a Sieve afterwards you may conveniently mix the fifted Powder with the Rubified Vitriol Thus the Mixture is made with which fill sixteen great Glass Vessels let the fourth part of them be empty place them on Stillatories and you will sublimate Mercury out of the Ashes but not with an open fire as the Reformer dreams in four little Furnaces each of which may hold four Vessels set Limbecks to the Vessels at least loosly with their Receivers Let the fire be slow for twenty four hours in that time the Salts will dissolve the Mercury and in the Operation it smells like Aqua Fortis which hurts the Lungs yea it almost strangles those that suck it in as the smell of the Vault at Puteoli near Naples doth a Dog after twenty four hours the smell ceases and then the Mercury begins to be Sublimated gather up the Aqua Fortis which is fortified by the other Powders and serves for the precipitation of Mercury continue that heat till you see the Mercury seperated at top from its Caput Mortuum in form of a Cake which commonly happens about the fifth day if you have not erred in the Operation When all is cooled by reason of the great weight of the Sublimate the Glass Vessels will break of their own accord you must gather up the pieces by themselves for they have some Sublimate which you may scrape off wherewith at another time running Mercury may be mortified Take heed of the Ashes lest it falls through the chinks upon the Cakes which they curiously take off with both hands and lay aside they call them loaves of which every one will weigh about
Proud-flesh mix the Precipitate Mercury of Vigo which is commonly sweet in Taste with Fat 's and Oyntments not that the Corrosive Vertue may be destroyed but that it may not sall off So then if the precipitate of Vigo being sweet and insipid to the Taste mixed with Oyntment cats up the flesh surely This Caustick and corroding one of the Roformer doth exulcerate and in the place where it ought to asswage Pains it raiseth new ones This is the Artifice which our Reformer instructs us in to whom I may well apply that of Plautus Ibo ad medicum atque ibi me Toxico morti dabo I will to the Physician hye That by his Poyson I may dye But Sublimate Mercury doth revive when its corrodeing faculty is taken from it This Antimony doth and also Alcalyes This Antimony simple Aqua Fortis doth not dissolve by reason of the Sulphur mix'd with it Butter of Attimony as I have shewed above but Salt being added it presently acts upon it and separates its Sulphur that it swims atop like Pitch This in the moist way So also in the dry way mingle Antimony with Mercury sublimate which I have demonstrated to be Salt Mers Vitae and presently the Saline Spirits desert the Mercury and corrode the Regulus of Antimony but when the Spirits are driven out of the Retort they run down Saturated with the dissolved Regulus in the form of Butter which if it be washed with cold water the powder of Antimony falls small rare light and very white Powder of Algerotti unfitly called Mercurius vitae But when this Ablution is made with hot water then it turns Yellowish and is called Pulvis Algerotti But the same Butter if it be dissolved in Spirit of Nitre which again by reason of its similitude with Sulphur doth again corrode Sulphurous and dissolved Antimony and is abstracted by Cohobation and afterwards applied to the Fire then after its manner it remains constant or fixed and begins to be called Bezoar Minerale Bezear Minerale a Cure for great Diseases But the Mercury being freed from the Corrosive representing Metalline Alcaly is saturated by the Acidity of the Sulphur of Antimony which is also Metalline Cinnâ—bar of Antimony and they both constitute an Occult Salt thing which by the encrease of the fire is elevated into Cinnabar and this again with a lighter Alcaly is reduceable into running Quick-silver as I have shewed in its place So that Gold is not dissolved without Salt in Acids as neither is Antimony nor Mercury it self wherefore Salt doth not destroy Acids nor on the contrary Laborious Minerva hath discovered This Mystery which few hitherto have been able to attain unto In fine Salt if it were at any enmity either Occult or Open with Acids it would surely be made manifest in the Butter of Antimony alone which is so sensible a thing that if but one drop of water fall into it presently the Acid Spirits do associate themselves with the water and the dissolved Antimony grows white but cast common Salt either natural or artificial or other salt things and that in quantity into the said Butter and it will not be moved nor troubled at all so far is it from being destroyed thereby CHAP. XXVI Dicta cum Factis componit Words and Deeds compared BUt if any Acid be destroyed that comes not to pass by reason of the Salts I hive shewed that Alcaly is in water and now that Acidity is in fire though by a rude Example yet it may suffice for our Chymists as I have said but the Alcalizates or those of affinity with them and It is changed into another nature according to the difference of the Acid as for example The Reformer teaches how to prepare Crocus Martis which he calls Aperitive with Acids I approve his way in it He also teaches to prepare another Crocus which he calls Astringent in Flame only not considering that the flame of fire is also Acid so that This latter Crocus must needs be like the former you may call it Astringent or Aperitive Crocus according to the effect it works All inflamable things communicate Acidity to the flame as Wood Shrubs Herbs c. The Reformer braggs that this inflamable Acidity is the Acid spirit of Sal Armoniack In Append. f. 73. and in this place he plainly is ignorant of it It may seem to many that I speak a Paradox when I say that the flame of the fire is Acid I am so far from Recanting it that I further affirm Fire comes nearest to the nature of Salt consisting of Alcaly and Acid Nature alike in every thing for which cause it is biting sharp acetous subtilly cutting piercing pure incorruptible incombustible Proâ—erties of Fire and Salt and is that which preserves from Corruption Now as in Salt I have separated the Acid part so I shall shew by this Experiment following that it is separable also in Flame Lead with Acid dry Wood is burnt into Minium but 100 l. Lead made Mâ—â—ium of Lead after it is turned to Minium makes 110 l. I demand how the Minium gets 10 l. in weight certainly nothing had been added to it but the flame only The flame therefore assumed a body in the Lead and this body which encreased the Lead from the flame is of an Acid taste as the following experiment proves Distil out of a Glass Retort with an open sire some of the self same Wood with which you burnt the Lead and there will extil a Liquor of an Acid raste which That Volatile Alâ—aly is distilled from Soot is known to all out of the Retort in form and manner of flame embraces the Lead and is mixed with it and fixed into Alcaly Melt again the Minium into Lead and there will be only 100 l. as before so that the ten pound gained was neither Minium nor Lead but the Acid expelled from the Wood. But This not being of the nature of Lead is not Colliquated with it and because it is not sufficient for it self singly as Hippocrates says in the reducing the Lead it flies into Element as I have shewed before concerning Salt of Tartar Oyl Vinegar c. This artificial Alcaly out of Lead being turned into Minium with fire and vegetable Acid or the same Lead with Mineral Acid Lead made Litarge made Litarge if you boil it with Oyl and Fat then the Alcaly acts upon the Ocoult Acid of the Fat after the manner of the Alcalyes and the Acid again upon the Alcaly and so they are coagulated in a Neutral thing Thus is made the Emplaister Plaisters of Lead most Ancient Prepared by Chymical Art Triapharmacum as also That of Cerusse and others of the like sort as I have shewn in Sope the cause of whose inspissation was hitherto unknown to the Reformer as appears by his Epistle to me to wit That the Oyl of Tartar with the Alcaly was inspissated like Pitch as
alone Dissolve then at least one Drachm of Red Powdered Corral Spirit of Venus dissolves Coral in This Vinegar which they proclaim to be the praised Spirit of Venus dry the Solution in a Bath In like manner dissolve another Drachm of pounded Corals in Vinegar simply Distilled Vinegar dissolves Coral which likewise Exsiccate in Balneo Diligently gather up those Powders and weigh them severally in a Ballance and you shall find the dissolved and dryed Corals to be increased half a Drachm as well by the Spirit of Venus which They count as Alcahest as by the Vinegar Vulgarly Distilled So that the Corals have imbibed as much Acid Salt from the counterfeit Spirit of Venus as from the Distilled Vinegar Whence it again appears Spirit of Venus is Vinegar not Alcahest That This shews it self to be Vinegar because it is so indeed and not the Liquor Alcahest as the lofty Doctors would impose upon rude and ignorant people Again They urge That this praised Spirit of Venus doth dissolve Pearls without bubbles and leaves the cortices untouched Truly this may seem a wonder to Men altogether unskilful in the Art of Physick and who never learned the Rudiments thereof but methinks it should seem a trivial and sleight thing to the Deans and the rest of the Approvers For what ordinary or mean Physician can be ignorant that Vinegar simply Distilled doth perform the same thing though in a longer tract of time if you cast whole Pears into It Spirit of Venus is 〈◊〉 Vinegar and therefore your spirit of Venus which you account as Alcahest will not cease to be distilled Vinegar But why the skins or pellicles of Pearls are not dissolved by either of the Vinegars the reason is Their fatness and unitive glew the feat of the Child of the Sun which is proper and familiar to all Crustaceous Creatures to Fishes and the Membranes of Animals The counterfeit Son of Venus however extolled by vain Approvers doth never touch this Glew in stones of Crabbs Pearls c. it hath no access to them it is Leprous in comparison of them and therefore is not admitted to the Princely-Seat unknown to Ideots But why Vinegar doth corrode the Medulla of Pearls of the afore-said stones and Corals c. The cause is That Nature hath put least part of Acid into most things as I have shewed in the second Chapter which least part unless it be multiplied by Art or Nature is easily suppressed by the more powerful I will give an Example in the afore-said dissolved and dried Corals in which there is the least portion of Natural Acid which being oppressed by the counterfeit Spirit of Venus is made subject to It hence they are encreased in weight Again Dissolve these dried Corals in some water either Distilled or common clear water let the Solution rest that the Turbid may subside which they improperly call Faces which nevertheless you must separate and drop into the clear Solution a little of the spirit of Vitriol of Sulphur which overcoming the counterfeit Spirit of Venus not by its Acidity but the Nobleness of its Soul cast out the Vinegar which they call Spirit of Venus from its seat and place and doth assume the possession of the Region of the Spirit of Vitriol and with the Corals represents the form of curdled Milk but the Counterfeit Spirit of Venus being now expelled by the more Noble is diluted and sticks to the supernatant water and is mingled with it Wash both these Coagulums as much as you may and dry them severally in brown Paper and you shall have Magistery of Corals equal in weight as well from the counterfeit Spirit of Venus Spirit of Venus is distilled vinegar as from the Vinegar simply distilled because it is the same But take that water so washed from the Corals in which as I have said the counterfeit Spirit of Venus or some simple distilled Vinegar was diluted if you have otherwise warily poured on the Spirit of Vitriol for if you have carelesly and without judgment powred on more than the Coral will imbibe it will not swim atop but I suppose the affusion was skilfully made and instill into it Alcaly of Tartar till the Motion of Ebullition cease exhale the abounding Water in a Glass Vessel placed in Sand and you shall find regenerated Tartar as I have shewed above from the Counterfeit Spirit of Venus or Vinegar simply distilled imbibed in Alcaly of Tartar for it is the same by this infallible Argument That in the Corals dissolved and dryed in a Bath there remained only half a Drachm of Acid Salt from the feigned Spirit of Venus That Acid Salt being separated from the Corals by Spirit of Vitriol cannot be alone wherefore it guards it self again in Elementary Water as in his Mothers lap and diffuses it self in her and becomes again Counterfeit Spirit of Venus And unless Elementary water did contain Occult Alcaly in its belly Acid Salt could not inhabit in it because that alone it is not sufficient for it self as Hippocrates hath taught us De Diaeta Simple distilled Vinegar performes also the same thing so that it now appears even to the most unskilful-in Physick that this most celebrated Spirit of Venus here and every where is nothing else and savours of nothing else but Distilled Vinegar whatsoever Bugbears its Adorers would fright us with And although Crollius Beguinus and other Writers of the Elements of Chymistry in express words do call it Solvent Vinegar from whom the process of this Vinegar is stoln word for word as my Hippoc. Chym. shews Chap. 29. Yet This poyson of Ignorance hath infected not only Austria but almost all upper Germany witness these unskilful Approvers and their soolish Partizans with their Rythmes It would be no woder if as the Romans of old so Magistrates now would eject out of their Cities and Common-wealths such Harlotry Collegiates and such a Nest of Bablers who do scrible of things unknown even to themselves to their Neighbours hurt Low Germany is yet free from this Contagion so is Italy and France and for the future I hope by this Antidote they will be preserved Now Why Vinegar distilled from Verdigrease Vinegar from Eruga why more Acid than Simple in a small quantity doth more powerfully dissolve Corals than That which is distilled the vulgar way I have shewed the reason before viz. that it happens because Vinegar distilled the common way is as yet diluted with much Water but the Elementary Water is evaporate from That which is distilled from Aerugo by gradual Exhalation no otherwise than in the distillation of Green and Humid Vitriol for then the Acid Salt being long in the Liquor would be very weak but when the humid which they call Phlegm hath by degrees exhaled and evaporated before distillation the Acid Salt must needs be more powerful and strong in a lesser quantity of water for Light by how much more contracted by so much the more
is turned to rust Hippocrates took notice of this Volatile Acid of Iron hence he teaches in his Tract De Diata that when it is quenched in Water it acquires Strength because the Light Alcaly in the Water is a True Comforter of the Light Acid in the Iron and Cutlers do strengthen It with the Alcaly of Animals which is also Volatile as Hippocrates Chymic shews Chap. 19. For this cause Aristotle the 4. Meteorol not without Reason makes a difference betwixt Iron and all other Metals Gold says he Silver Brass Tyn Lead Quick-silver belong to Water but Iron to the earth and Galen says 4. de Facult Simplic Medicament That Iron is a terreous and crass Body c. So that the Acid degenerating or dying of its own accord Rust is natural Crocus Martis or being separated by the stronger there remains only the terreous principle as Hippoc. Chymic shews of Alcaly of Tartar Chap. 10. which by the Ancients and by Practicers of Physick as Dioscorides witnesseth is called Rust This Rubigo is also prepared by Art out of the dust or fileings of Iron when the sharpest Vinegar is poured on it and it is dried in the Sun and again afterwards dipped in Vinegar and dried then it must be washed with common water and dried and so kept powdered and small And as Vinegar so also all sorts of Acids Gold rurns Iron into Crocus or Rubige do turn Iron into Rubigo yea Gold it self doth occultly and presently turn that Acid into Rust as I have shewed Chap. 2. Hence we see the Cause why Gold cannot be conglutinated with Iron unless it first assumes a Cupreous Nature as Hippoc. Chymic boldly shews Chap. 28. concerning the Golden Nail for the Truth offends none A Golden Nail but those that hate it The Lord Anbert a Noble man of France in his Natural and Moral History of the American Islands proves by Eye Witnesses that the Vnicorn is not a four-footed Animal The Unicorn but a Fish that hath an Horn growing in his Forehead yet he grievously offended not the Lovers of Truth but those only who made a Monopoly of those Hornes so I never read that Moralists or Politicians did envy the Truth though Hoarse Grass-hoppers chirp against it and the Cuckows subscribe and approve their Note He that is affraid of the Truth is not perfect for an Adept or one compleatly Wise should fear nothing For which Cause I was always willing that my Hippoc. Chymic Hippoc Chymic a Truth-speaking Book should speak the Truth out and not conceal it not fearing any thing nor respecting either the friendship or hatred of any Sect but that it should give things their proper Names not being solicitous either to offend or please in imitation of Thucydides who perceiving the Writings of Herodotus to be in great esteem I had rather sayes he displease by speaking the truth than please by relating Fables because by displeasing I gain but by pleasing I hurt But I return whence I digressed This most ancient Rust of Iron The invention of Crocus Martis that it might be more pleasant to the Eye the Curious began to burn it in an acute Flame into a small Powder and from its fair redness they call it Crocus Martis But use age and experience being our daily Instructors they observed That This is a long and tedious way of turning Iron into Rust by the aspersion of Viner gar therefore they burnt the dust or Filings of Iron in an acute Flame the acidity whereof being set on fire they found they could make more of this light and rare red Powder in a day than they could do with Vinegar in a month so that they rejected the long and tedious and took to the quicker way of operation This Powder they called Crocus Martis from its redness So that Filings or Scobs of Iron or its Natural or Artificial Rust either with Vinegar eroded and afterward reverberated in the Flame Crocus Martis curiously prepared doth open and astringe or else without Vinegar by Flame simply or with Vinegar from Aerugo or False Spirit of Venus being converted into a red Powder or Liquor for it is all one and taken by the Mouth have a strengthening Vertue so that They are good for the Stomack and for a Loose Liver for Dysentericks and Lientericks and all moist or praehumid Diseases for Womens Flux for the Gonorrhaea or incontinency of Urine and all solutive Distempers And the same Iron performs also contrary operations for it opens great praehumid Livers and their Obstructions it promotes Womens Terms so that it hath restored some Girles I say not all who were discoloured by paleness to their Health and Beauty and therefore both Philosophers and Phisicians do unanimously teach that Iron of it self doth both open and bind Experience also shews as much which is and ought to be accounted the Best School-mistriss to us all It wants not therefore the suspicion of fraud or ignorance when men shall passionately yet weakly affirm That Iron from its single preparation is either astringent or aperitive They should live and die in their ignorance for me unless sick persons were in danger to be ruined thereby Learn therefore not from Me who have alwayes undervalued vain applause but from the Giver of all good for frequent experience and the company of dexterous Philosophers and true Practicioners are more to be believed than either an handful of Calumniators or a multitude of such who are ignorant of the Instruments of Physick Now they who commend Iron in all Diseases What Diseases Crocus Mart is is not good for and do prescribe it in every Dropsie in the Schirrhus of the Liver in an inveterate Jaundice especially joyned with a Eeavor in Hypochondriack Melancholy or in Diseases of the Stomach They do it not without the extream Peril of the Patient 'T is true Iron is very good for great Livers loosned with moisture and tumid but when they are hardened to a Schirrhus it is so far from dissolving it that it rather confirms it and by consuming its Acid producer drives it to a Lapideous hardness so that Iron either For what it is Filed or any other way turned to Rubigo hath been always commended by sure Evperiments for great and swoln Livers but never for dissolving a Schirrhus So Ferreous and Acid Waters are good to attenuate the Spleen and to open all Obstructions of the lower part of the Belly arising from Morbous Acid as yet fluid as Hippoc. Chymic shews by clear Experiments Chap. 16. viz. by consuming the Acid humour by corroborating the Fibra's and by contracting Them when loose that so the inbred heat might arise more strong in the corroborated member and may digest that which remains so that they who commend Iron in the dry and acid Diseases of the Liver or Milt and do there either fraudulently or ignorantly call it Aperitive cannot escape the brand either of Ignorants or Impostors For Iron