to please the Learned I intend to shew a greater Use thereof in Medicine by the Explication of Diseases and their Symptoms and the Remidies we may obtain therefrom with the manner how they act Errata Pag. 7. l. 4. read but they p. 9. l. 10. r. Harts-horn p. 13. l. 8. different ib. l. 9 -gulations p. 14. l. 3. a salt ib. l. 5. disssolve it p. 50. l. 13. absorbed p. 56. l. 17. it self p. 59. l. 9. leaves p. 63. l. 20. Retine p. 64. l. 22. Retine p. 65. l. 16. dele of p. 68. l. 11 Retine p. 72. l. 2. and. ib. l. 20. hath p. 79 l. 14. or one p. 99. l. 19. with p. 101. l. 21. dele the. p. 105 l. 21. dele the. p. 106 l. 10. it p. 115. l. 1. become p. 127. l. 15. you have p. 139. l. 16. add one p. 165. l. 3. be as CHYMICAL DISCEPTATIONS Or SOME DISCOURSES UPON Acid and Alkali EUBULUS DEar Pyrophilus We shall at last arrive at the End of our Errors and Draw from the Fountain of Nature it self Those Necessary Lights which can make us Philosophers PYROPH What say you Eubulus EUB. I say nothing but what I can convince you of by evident Reason and certain Experiments PYR. How have you discovered the Truth EUB. The Reading good Authors and the Converse which I for some time have had with learned Men have quite demolished all my Prejudices and made me Examine things with as much Freedom and Impartiality as I had before of Antipathy I have constantly observed That Authority eveâ— to this present time hath been an Invincible Enemy both to Physick and Medicine and the very Rock upon which all the Famous Men of the past Ages have rely'd and is indeed at this day the Cause of so many Sects and different Opinions which we see in the Schools Whereas Reason and Experience are the only True KEYS which can give Admittance inâ—o either of these Sciences for â—o be a Philosopher it is absoâ—utely necessary to banish Auâ—hority and to follow Reason â—nd Experience I am not â—ble sufficiently to admire the â—rosperous Success and Exactâ—ess of the Anatomists and Chyâ—ists of our Age The first â—aving discovered to us in the Body Parts Humours and Uses â—nknown to the Antients and â—he Last have withdrawn us â—rom that erroneous Darkness wherein the Four Elements and â—heir First and Occult Qualities had plunged us giving us Principles as clear as those were obscure PYR. I have alwaies told you That Anatomy and Chymistry were great Assistants to Physick and Medicine and that they enlighten us much where we attain it only by their Experiments EBU. I do not design to Entertain you here with the New Discoveries of Anatomists upon Humane Bodies I shall only speak of those which Chymists have made us take Notice of in the Dissolution of Mixts Know that for this Effect They acknowledg two sorts of Principles of which some they call Active Principles and others they stile Passive Principles The Active Prinâ—iples are the Causes of all the Actions and all the different Motions which are done in Nature The Passive Princiâ—les on the contrary are not â—apable of any Action but serve only as Matrixes to the active Principles for them therein to make their Productions PYR. VVe cannot desire an exacter Distinction of Principles but how many have you of either EUB. There is some Controversy amongst Chymists about the Number of Active Principles Some will have Three which they call Salt Sulphur and Mercury pretending that these are the last Bodies they find in the Resolution of Mixts By Mercury they understand the most subtile most penetrating and most aetherial Substance in the Mixt. By Sulphur all that which is therein oleagenous and inflamable and By Salt and that is dissolved in Water and coagulated by Fire they say The Mercury or Spirit is the Soul of Bodies That it gives Motion and Life to Animals That it makes Plants grow brings forth blowers and ripens Fruits also that it renders Stones and Mettals perfect That the Sulphur or Oil Causes the Diversity of Colours and Odors the Beauty and Deformity of Bodies and That the Salt is the cause of the Tastes Weight Solidity and hardness of Mixts Others acknowledg that there are Salt Sulphur and Mercury in all Bodies they demonstrate also by several Experiments That these Three Substances are composed of Two others a great deal more simple viz. of Acid and Alkali Salts and that Salt Sulphur and Mercury are no other but these Two Salts at liberty or intangl'd In effect you shall observe That there are Two sorts of Salts there are some Simples which are not compounded of any other Substance and some Compounds as are all the compound Mineral Salts and essential Salts of Plants which are composed of simple Salts and passive Principles notwithstanding in such sort as the Acid which is the first of these simple Salts predominates therein And these Salts are called Salts because they are dissolved by Moisture and coagulated by Driness The simple Salts are either Alkali or Acid the Alkali Salts are either Fixed or Volatile the Acid Salts are alwaies in a Liquor therefore called Acid Spirits nevertheless these Acid Spirits are no other but Acid Salts dissolved in a little water The Alkali Salt on the contrary is almost alwaies in a Body it is as I said but even now either fixed or volatile the fixed Alkali Salt is never elevated by the action of Fire as Salt of Tartar and all those Salts which are drawn from Plants by Incineration which we call Lixiviate Salts as those of Scordium Tamarisk c. The Volatile Alkali Salt on the contrary is elevated with the least heat of fire and is drawn chiefly from Animals as the Volatile Salt of Vipers Harts c. There are Three Sorts of Mercury or Spirit an Acid Spirit as that of Niter Allum Vitriol c. A sharp or biting Spirit as that of Harts-horn Urine Vipers c. and a burning Spirit as that of Wine Beer Cyder c. The Acid Spirit is an Acid Salt dissolved in a little Flegm The sharp biting Spirit is an Alkali volatile likewise dissolved in a little Flegm and the burning Spirit is a Sulphur and a Sulphur is an enveloped Acid. All Chymists in effect agree That there are two passive Principles viz. Water and Earth or Flegm and Caput Mort. The Water serves as a Menstruum and Dissolvant to the Acid and Alkali Salts and it is extracted by Distillation from those Bodies which contain it The Earth serves as a Bond to these Two Salts it is extracted commonly after the Extraction of the Lixivious Salt. It is to be noted That according to the different Mixture of these Four sorts of Substances and the different Rangings of their Parts there are made different Productions in Nature sometimes of Animals sometimes of Vegetables and sometimes of Minerals PYR What do you mean by Acid Salt and Alkali Salt EUB.
Salts namely an Acid Salt and an Alkali That there are Three sorts of Spirits or Mercuries an Acid spirit a sharp biting spirit and a burning spirit that the Acid spirit was an Acid Salt dissolv'd in a little flegm the sharp spirit a volatile Alkali dissolved also in a little flegm and the burning spirit a Sulphur and Sulphur an inveloped Acid I have now no more to do but to bring you some Experiments to convince you of this Truth I. EXPERIMENT Which proves that Acià Spirits are no other than Acid Salis dissolved in some flegm An Acid Spirit ferments it self with all Alkali's and makes thereof Salts of the same nature with those from which it was drawn as the Spirit of Niter c. II. EXPERIMENT A sharp Spirit is a Volatile Alkali dissolved in some Flegm All sharp spirits ferment themselves with Acids and precipitates Vitriol of Mars dissolved in water as the volatile spirit of sal-Armoniack c. III. EXPERIMENT Which proves that burning spirits are Sulphurs Plants give a great deal of Oil and a little spirit before they are fermented and they give on the contrary a great deal of spirit and a very little Oil after they are fermented because the parts thereof unloose themselves and dis-intangle themselves one from the other in the time of Fermentation and remain bound and intangled one in the other before the Fermentation was made which clearly shews that a burning spirit is a vegetable sulphur but much less intangled than the other sulphurs of Vegetables IV. EXPERIMENT Which proves the same Experience shews us That burning spirits exposed to the air for some time are changed into Oils of the same nature as those of the Plants from which they were drawn V. EXPERIMENT Which demonstrates that burning Spirits are envelloped Acids There is drawn from salt of Saturn a burning spirit of the same nature as spirit of Wine this spirit cannot come but from the Acid of the distilled Vinegar which entred into the Composition of the salt of Saturn whose parts are bound and intangled one in the other VI. EXPERIMENT Which proves that Oyles of Vegetables are envelloped Acids Oyl corrodes Copper and turns it into Verdigrise there are none but Acids which can produce this Effect and therefore consequently Oil ought to be Acid. VII EXPERIMENT Which proves the same Fire is an Oyl whose parts are unwrapped and in a most Violent Agitation and Motion fire is Acid since it renders Corals Salt Oyl which is the matter thereof ought then to be Acid. VIII EXPERIMENT Which proves the same Soap does furnish us still with a most convincing Proof That Oils of Vegetables are enveloped Acids Soap is made with three parts of Alkali and two of Oil which two matters are mingled together and then boiled and there comes therefrom a salt body which is Soap you know that saltness comes from the mixture of Acid with Alkali and that consequently seing soap is salt the Soap ought not only to have Alkali in it but also Acid the Acid cannot be communicated to it but by the Oil which was put thereto which Acid unwraps it self in the Alkali which was joined thereto it must be therefore that Oil is an envelloped Acid. PYR. It may be also Tha◠the Fire communicated this saltness to the soap as it did to the Corals for you have already told me That when one reverberates them in a violent fire for some daies and nights they become intirely Salt and ferment no more with Acids EUB. The same thing cannot be said of soap as of Corals because one must reverberate the Coral six daies and nights to render them salt and the saltness of Soap is communicated to it in a short time even as soon as the Acid of the Oil is dis-enveloped and absrobed by the Alkali which was put thereto likewise the soap augments not in weight on the fire as the Corals do they augmenting a fifth part IX EXPERIMENT Which proves that the Fat 's and Suets of Animals are envelloped Acids Soap is made with the suet of Animals after the same manner as it is with the Oils of Vegetables It must be therefore that the Fat 's and Suets of Animals may be envelloped Acids as the Oils of Vegetables are X. EXPERIMENT Which proves the same The flame of Fat 's and Suets is Acid it destroies Iron and reduces it into Scoria's c. Grease's and Suets ought then to be Acids XI EXPERIMENT Which proves that the Sulphurs of Minerals and Metals are envelloped Acids Sulphur of Antimony elevates Mercury into Cinnabar as we observed in the Composition of its Butter How should the Sulphur of Antimony elevate Mercury which is an Alkali into Cinnabar if it were not Acid It follows therefore that the Sulphur of Antimony is acid Common Sulphur elevates Mercury into Cinnaber and it may be made use of for the position of Soap as well as the Oils of Vegetables and Fat 's of Animals In a word the Sulphur of Gold is acid since it produceth the same Effects as Acids do for it calcines Iron which cannot be calcin'd but by Acids c. The Sulphurs of Minerals and Metals are then envelloped Acids PYR. In Truth These Principles are most sensible and palpable EUB. This is not yet enough to have discovered thus much to you concerning Acid Salt Alkali Salt in particular but 't is needful that I press the thing more home and that I make you know what these II Salts are capable to do when they are once united These two Salts are in regard one of the other as the Soul is in regard of the Body and the Body in respect of the Soul The the Acid Salt is the Soul which animates and vivifies the Body and the Alkali Salt is the Body which receiveth the Soul and unites it self so intimately therewith that this Soul can be nothing without this Body nor this Body without this Soul. When they are once intimately united as we observe in common Salt it is impossible to separate them one from the other and though these two Salts seem at first sight to have an Antipathy one against the other by the Fermentation which they make when they meet Nevertheless they embrace and unite in such wise together that very far from destroying themselves they are coagulated and make no more but one and the same Body And it may be said thereof as the Incomparable Hypocrates hath said in his Book of DIET speaking of Fire and Water that though these two Elements differ in Quality nevertheless they agree in use That they are sufficient for all Bodies and for themselves but neither the one nor the other separated can be sufficient neither for any other body nor for it self Constituuntur saith he tum Animantia tum alia omnia tum homo ipse ex duobus differentibus quidem facultate Concordibus vero commodis usu haec ambo simul sufficientia sunt tum aliis omnibus tum mutuo
the Composition of Lac Virginis The Smell is an affection of the olfactory Nerves and the Tast is also one of the papillous Nerves of the Tongue as colours are of the Retain There is so great a Relation between the Taste and Smell that those things which are agreeable to the Smell are also almost alwayes to the Taste Whence it comes That the most part of Animals smell their Aliments before they tast them and they do not eat them except they find them agreeable to their Smell as we may take notice of it in Apes All the Difference between these two Senses is That the Particles which cause us to Smell are a great deal more subtile and thin than those which cause us to Taste As there are no Colors which we do not behold but by the different mixtures of Acids with Alkali's so there is also no Savour nor Odors which we do not perceive according to the divers Mixture of these two Salts 1. EXPERIMENT Which proves that Odours come from Acid and Alkali OIl of Roses drawn by Distillation which is an envelloped Acid mixt with a sufficient great quantity of water hath almost no odour but mingled with Salt of Tartar which is a powerful Alkali it makes a fluid Composition some drops of which being mingled with a quantity of water makes the water one of the most delectable odours in the World. 2. EXPERIMENT Which proves the same SUlphurs of Minerals which are envellopod Acids being to be dissolved by Fire or some other Dissolvant cast forth an odour as stinking as that of the Oil of Roses drawn by Distillation but mixt with some Alkali it 's pleasant 3. EXPERIMENT Which proves that the Difference of Tasts comes from the Diversity of Acids and Alkali's EXperience shews us That Saltness comes from the Mixture of Acids with Alkali's Soap which is salt gives us a familiar example thereof It is made with pure Alkali's and Oil which is an enveloped Acid. 4. EXPERIMENT Which proves that the Diversity of Savours depends upon the different Mixture and particular nature of Acids 〈◊〉 Alkali's SIlver reduced into Cristals by spirit of Niter which is a powerful Acid become of an extream bitter Tast Lead on the contrary dissolved in distilled Vinegar and reduced into salt acquires the sweetness of sugar c. I could bring several other Experiments to prove that the diversity of Odors and Savours depends upon the different Mixture of Acid and Alkali But tho' I have discoursed you thereof elsewhere I shall yet bring you one more sufficiently familiar which is that of Wine Wine having another Tast and another Smell before it is fermented than it has when it is fermenting or after it is Fermented for it changes by little and little its green Taste into a plesanter and becomes at last sour and loseth its temperament of Wine and all these changes happens to it according 〈◊〉 the Acids and Alkalies which are found therein are more or less intangled and 〈◊〉 as one of them is more or less exalted and there is almost no odor or savor through which it doth not pass before it grows four There remains no more but that I speak two words of the passive Principles The Water is the first of these Principles it serves as I have already told you as a Vehicle to the Acid and Alkali salts it serves also to dissolve them and put them in Motion because Salts act not except they are dissolved Salia non agunt nisi dissoluta Water causes the Destruction of Mixts when it is found therein in too great a quantity as it compacts them and strictly unites their parts when it is found therein in a lesser quantity and it fills up the empty spaces which it meets with therein The Earth or Caput Mort. on the contrary being extreamly porous and light makes a great many vacancies in Bodies wherein it is found but on the other hand it hinders that those bodies be not destroy'd by the abundance of flegm It is unnecessary to bring you a great many Experiments to prove that Water and Earth are found in all Bodies and That they are Principles thereto but without any action I believe you are sufficiently convinced thereof and have several times observ'd That there is no Body from which we cannot draw some Flegm by Distillation and which leave not some Earth after Calcination and though we work never so much on Water and Earth it is Impossi to draw any other thing therefrom but water and Earth You are not ignorant also That rotten wood which hath no Acid and Alkali Salts and which hath nothing but some Flegm and Earth hath no more any action PYR. I could wish you would a little longer explain what you mean by the words Fermentation and Precipitation whereof you make use so often EUBUL By the Word Fermentation I mean an Internal Motion of all the parts of Bodies which are fermented in such Manner that they take no more the same place nor scituation as they had before and that they change consequently or at least alter very much the nature of the bodies which are fermented as for the difference of Effervescence in which there is made only a simple Motion of the integral parts of Mixts by the force of some exteriour Agent as Fire the which parts re-take afterwards the same scituation which thy occupied before unless their natures and qualities be in any wise changed There are several sorts of fermentations in Nature some are made with Effervescence as that which happens upon the mixture of Oil of Vitriol with Oil of Tartar and others are made without Effervescence as it happens in an Eg which a Hen hatcheth and in common Water when one casts thereinto some Drops of well-deflegm'd Spirit of Vitriol and this Fermentation is known only by the Heat which we feel at that instant There are some which are made without Heat as that which is made of Vitriol dissolved in water with Oil of Tartar There are some which are made with Fires and Flames as the Fermentation which is made of Calx Vive in the time it is sprinkled with a little Vinegar and others which are without Fire or flame as are the ordinary Fermentations There are still some sensible and insensible sensible as the Fermentation of Spirit of Niter with Oil of Tartar and insensible as that of Wine which sours PYR. Whence comes it that there are so many sorts of Fermentations EUB. Either Bodies are fermented of themselves as Wine or they are fermented by means of a Ferment as Dough with Leven either the Acid Salts and Alkali Salts are Exalted or else they are Intangled one in the other and in the Passive principles one of them is exalted and the other Intangled or one of them is in a great quantity and the other in a small quantity If the Acid Salts and Alkali Salts are each as powerful as the other the Fermentation cannot be made without Heat and
produce this Effect Acids assisting to make this Coagulation as Country-women observe Therefore consequently there may be Alkali in Iron We see likewise by another familiar Experiment That there is Acid in Iron for if one puts a bit of iron into Sauce wherein there is some Gall as in that of a Carp the Gall of which one has broke all the Volatile Alkali which causes the bitterness of the Gall joins it self to the Iron and the Sauce remains sweet How should this be that this Volatile Alkali doth join it self to the Iron if there was not Acid in the Iron seeing Alkali cannot produce such an Effect it follows therefore That there is Acid in Iron PYR. He afterwards demands the Reason Why Mercury which dissolves Gold so readily it being a hard and solid Body and reduces it into an Amalgama acts not at all upon filings of Iron though this is a Metal so open that Liquors weak enough work upon it EUB. Two things contribute to this Effect The first is That there is a great deal more Sulphur in Gold than in Iron and consequently Mercury which abounds in Alkali can rather work on Gold than on Iron The second is That the Sulphur of Iron is intangled in a great quantity of Earth which hinders the Action of the Mercury which has not parts sufficiently subtile nor sufficiently penetrating to dis-intantangle it as the Spirits of Niter and sal Armoniack do whose parts are so thin and so agitated that they dis-intangle the parts of the Iron one from the other and makes a Dis-union of its Sulphur and Alkali it is not so of Gold whose Sulphur is only intangled in its Mercury and which hath only a very little Earth which is not strong enough to intangle the parts of the Sulphur and Mercury of Gold. PYR. The same thing happens which he pursues to the same End In the Precipitation which is made of Corals and Peals dissolved in distilled Vinegar with Oil of Tartar made per deliquium Chymists attribute this Precipitation to the Alkali of Tartar which absorbs the Acid spirits of the Dissolvant and nevertheless we see That Acids precipitate them as well as Alkali's EUB. I do not wonder That Acids precipitate equally with Alkali's Corals and Pearls dissolved in distilled Vinegar Yet that does not at all destroy the Reason That they are wont to render when it is made with Alkali's for there are as you know Two sorts of Dissolutions in Nature either an Acid dissolves an Alkali or else an Alkali dissolves an Acid if it is an Alkali which holds an Acid in Dissolution the Precipitation cannot be made but by an Acid for then the Alkali which held it in Dissolution quits it to join it self to the new Acid that is cast thereto If on the contrary 't is an Acid which holds an Alkali in Dissolution either the Alkali dissolved by this Acid is mixed intimately with its dissolvant in such manner that the dissolvant fills exactly all the pores of the dissolved body as it happens in Vitriol of Mars or the dissolvant do's not penetrate the Body but superficially and do's not throughly fill the pores thereof as we observe in Mercury dissolv'd in Aqua fort and in Coral and Pearls dissolved in distilled Vinegar If it happens that the Acid spirit penetrates intimately the Boto which it is joined and that those points be of the same figure and grossness as the Pores of that Body the Precipitation cannot be made but by an Alkali which charges it self with the Acid which held that Body in dissolution and makes it at that instant to quit its hold The which Acids cannot do because that not finding therein any Vacuity they cannot work upon it If the Dissolvant is not mingled per minima with the dissolved Bodys an their points are not of a figure proportionated to those of the pores of the Body the Precipitation thereof may be made by Acids and Alkali's by Alkali's after the same manner as I told you but now and by Acids because the points of these Acids work upon those of the Dissolvant causing them to quit their hold for the Body being no longer agitated nor detained by those points it falls by its own weight to the bottom of the Vessel which contains it Thus when Oil of Tartar precipitates Corals and Pearls dissolved in distilled Vinegar they have Reason to say that this Precipitation is done Because the Alkali of Tartar has blunted and charged it self with the points of the distilled Vinegar which held the Coral and Pearls in Dissolution altho Acids precipitate also this Dissolution PYR. Our Author saith Chapter the Third That the Admirers of Acid and Alkali seem to have assign'd arbitrarily certain Extents and Employments to each of these Principles as for Example That an Acid doth in quality of an Acid such and such Operations and the Alkali's in their quality the like also and That from thence depends all the Phaenomena's of Nature and That they ought not to promote in publishing Propositions of this Importance without good and sufficient Proofs thereof EUB. Does not Experience teach us That Acids of whatsoevâ—r Nature they be coagulate Blood Milk c. That they ferment with all Alkali's and never with other Acids That they constitute the Essence of all Bodies that they are the pointed Bodies which fills up the Vacuities of Alkali's and which are the absolute Masters thereof That Alkali's on the contrary dissolve Blood and Milk coagulated by Acids That they hinder them also from being coagulated and that their parts are not dis-united one from the other For Example sake If one mingle som volatile Spirit of Sal Armoniack with new Milk or with Blood so soon as it comes out of the Vein it conserves them in their Consistence for a great while and hinders them from being corrupted Alkali's whiten Linnen and Stuffs they ferment well all Acids and never with other Alkali's These are the little Bodies full of holes and wholly vacuous in a word They precipitate Vitriol of Mars dissolv'd in Water which Salts nor Acids can never precipitate You thus see plainly That they assign not in vain these nor several other Effects to Acid's and Alkali's seeing Experience teacheth you That they are alwaies and at all times the Cause thereof PYR. He affirms also That the Division of Salts into Acid and Alkali is purely arbitrary and That they may divide them otherwise Acids and Alkali's having not only in a great many things some agreement but also salts of one and the same Denomination being visibly different in several chief points as Alkali's whereof some are fixed others volatile and some thereof give a Precipitation of corrosive Sublimate dissolved in water of a tawny colour as salt of Tartar others a white colour as spirit of Urine Harts-horn c. Finally some act very slowly on filings of Copper as Oil of Tartar made per deliquium and others dissolve it with readiness as spirit
of Urine c. he adds also That there is no less Difference between Acids some dissolve Bodies which others cannot dissolve as Aqua Fortis which dissolves Silver Mercury c. and touches not Gold and as Aqua Regis which dissolves Gold and touches neither Silver nor the other Metals Spirit of Vinegar well deflegm'd dissolves Lead in the Cold and reduces it into minute parts which Spirit of common Salt cannot do and he concludes this Chap demanding whether Acid and Alkali have the Simplicity that a Philosopher requires in Principles and in Smiling at the Definition that they are Wont to give That Acid is an Enemy to Alkali and Alkali to Acid. EUB. The Division of simple Salts into Acid and Alkali is as Just and Exact as can be wish'd Acids and Alkali's having not any agreement in Virtue and Property and the one never produceth the Effects of the other as Mr. Boyle would have it as for Example Alkali's are Bodies vacuous and full of holes which precipitate Vitriol of Mars dissolved in Water which whiten Linnen and Stuffs which make a Dissolution of Milk and Blood coagalated by Acids c. Acids on the contrary are pointed Bodys which fill up the little holes they meet with in Alkali's which foul Linnen and Stuffs which coagulate Blood and Milk c. in a word which have not any of the Properties of Alkali's And though Salts of one and the same Denomination differ in some things yet nevertheless they all agree in Nature and use for we see That Alkali's whether fixed or volatile are Bodys full of holes That they all precipitate Vitriol of Mars That Acids on the contrary are pointed Bodies c. so that when some Alkali's precipitate corrosive Sublimate dissolved in water into a tawny coloured Powder and some others into a white powder that does not prove That they have a different Nature one from the other but that comes from the Diversity of their Pores some having them more conformable to the Acid which had sublimed the Mercury and others less and they blunt after this manner more or less the points of those Acids whence comes the Diversity of colours of the precipitate It is not also the Diversity of Natures that makes that Volatile Alkali's dissolves Copper more readily than fixed Alkali's do but only the greater agitation of their parts all Acids work on Silver and the other Metals but more or less according to the greater or lesser Relation their points have with the pores of those Metals These Acids never work on Gold which cannot be dissolved but by salt Menstruums as I have said else-where And whatsoever Mr. Boyle says of spirit of Salt which he cites for a most powerful Acid is Salt and not a pure Acid notwithstanding the Acid seems to predominate therein and That is the Reason why spirit of Salt works neither on silver nor the other Metals These two Salts have the Simplicity that a Philosopher requires in Principles because they are composed of Particles of one and the same Nature and can never be resolv'd into any other Substances In respect of the Definition which Mr. Boyle relates of Acid and Alkali he has Reason to blame it because he doth in no wise explain the Nature of these Principles no more than if one should say That that which dissolves a Body dissolvable by an Acid ought to be an Acid That all which precipitates a body dissolv'd by an Acid ought to be an Alkali but Mr. Boyle cannot say the same thing of the Definition which I have already so many times repeated concerning Acid and Alkali That the Acid is a Salt composed of small pointed parts which ferment with Alkali's makes the Essence of all Bodies The Alkali on the contrary is a vacuous Salt which ferments with Acids and precipitates Vitriol of Mars dissolved in water This Definition explains clearly their Nature Kind and Difference for these two Principles agree in that they are Salts and they differ in that one of them is pointed and the other porous and unequal and that one fills the Pores of the other and is its absolute Master PYR. This Famous English-Man will not allow Chap. 4. That the Fermentation or Heat and Ebulition which is caused when these Two Salts are mingled together is a sure Token to know Acid and Alkali For he pretends That these Effects depend principally on the Mechanick Disposition and Construction of Parts and That 't is sufficient to produce heat when the parts of a Body are agitated with vehemence on all sides and for the Ebulition That the Bodies which are mingled intercept the parts of the air or the warm Vapours in the time that they are excited and That there happens often in this mixture Heat without Ebulition and Ebulition without Heat He relates some Experiments of both For he saith When Oil of Vitriol which is a powerful Acid or Salt of Tartar which is a powerful Alkali are mingled with Water which is neither Acid nor Alkali There is at that time a considerable heat excited without any Ebulition and That on the contrary in the Mixture which is made of spirit of verdigriss made per se which is an Acid with salt of Tartar there is made a great Ebulition and gross Froth without any remarkable heat EUB. It is very true That the Heat and Ebulition which happens in Fermentation depends upon the Mechanick disposition and Construction of the parts of Bodys which are Fermented But this Construction or Disposition likewise depends wholly upon the different nature of Acids and Alkali's and their divers mixtures one with the other as I have already caused you to observe where I spoke of Fermentation and its Differences which would be needless here to repeat as for the oil of Vitriol and Salt of Tartar which heat water when they are dissolved therein you shall observe That there is in Oil of vitriol a metallick part of Iron or Copper according to the Nature of the Vitriol which was elevated in the Distillation by the Acid of that Salt as Experience sufficiently teacheth us This oil coming to be dissolved in the water there is then made a separation of the Metallick part from the Acid which had elevated it and an action of that Acid upon the Alkali of the water which is powerful enough since it hardens red hot Iron and hinders it from going into scoria's when it is squenched therein for there is none but Alkali's which can produce this effect then there is made on all sides an agitation of their parts with sufficient Vehemence whence comes the heat which happens in this mixture In regard of that which results from the mixture of salt of Tartar with water you shall understand that salt of Tartar does hot heat water but when it is too much or too little calcined when it is too much calcined it is charged with an Acid from the fire which coming to be dissolved in water it separates
qualities thereof The Effects which are attributed to qualities and are called OCCULT draw no less their Original from Acid and Alkali than the manifest Qualities which I shall shew you when I speak of some Effects of the Load-stone The most considerable whereof is That whereby it draweth Iron You shall take notice therefore That Iron is an imperfect Load stone which hath Pores of the same figure with those of the Load-stone and which are filled with the same Particles as those wherewith the Load-stone is filled We see likewise That Iron exposed to the air a long time becomes Load-stone since it acquires the qualitys thereof as the Crosses which are upon Churches these in Succession of time become Load-stones and produce the same Effect as the Load-stone You shall likewise take notice That there are a great many more Pores in the Load-stone than there is in Iron and That the force of the Load-stone consists in the small pointed Bodyes that fill these pores Iron becoming Load-stone in the air furnisheth us with a most convincing Proof thereof for Experience teacheth us That all porous Bodies are charged in the air with an Acid of their own nature as the earth from whence Salt-petar has been drawn which is therein charged with a new Salt-petar which is acid c. Lastly you shall observe That there goes out continually from the Loadstone a multitude of these little pointed bodies and at the same time there enters thereinto others which retake their place because the air is wholly filled therewith This being granted it is sufficiently easy to render a reason for the attraction of Iron by the Load-stone The attoms which go out continually from the Load-stone insinuate themselves into the Pores of the Iron and fills them These Corpuscles cannot go out from the Load-stone but at the same time they agitate the air with violence this agitated air throws the Iron against the Load-stone or the Load-stone against the Iron according as the one of these Bodies resists it and after this manner the Load-stone attracts Iron and Iron the Load-stone You see plainly That this Virtue which did formerly silence all the Philosophers is explained by our Hypothesis and that after a manner so natural that it is easy to judge That all the other Phenomena's of the Load-stone ought as certainly to be produced according to our Principles PYR. Mr. Boyle in Conclusion Makes an Objection which to me seems sufficiently strong he demands How in the Dissolution of Metals their Parts are sustained by the Dissolvant though the Mettal be in equal bulk nine times heavier than the water and if it be Gold nine times heavier than the liquor which hinders it from sinking and always a great deal heavier in particular than the Salts which compose the Dissolvant can render the water in which they are mingled EUB. It is easy to comprehend how the parts of Metals dissolved in Acid spirits sharp Spirits and salt Mestruums are sustained by these Dissovants It is because their parts are continually agitated by those of those Liquors whose motion is sufficiently strong an sufficiently rapid to carry them with them and to hinder them from precipitating PYR. I did not believe That you were able without seeking some other Principles than these which you have established to satisfy the Objections of the illustrious Mr. Boyle But you raised all the Difficulties thereof with so much Force that they have only served to give a greater illustration to your Principles and to shew the extent thereof and their Conformity to Reason and Experience NOW seeing a Genius so delicate and which knows Nature so exactly as that Learned Man has not been able to give them any Attaint I doubt not but day by day they will be confirmed as we make new Discoveries therein and that they will remain firm and steadfast against all that can be employ'd to shake and destroy them A REPLY TO A LETTER OF Mr. S. touching the Nature of Acid Alkali SIR NOne can doubt but there is much Honour to be acquired by Publishing the New Discoveries which are made in Physick and Medicine but I must also confess That it is not Advantageous to write when we are moved thereto only by Envy to censure the Works of others without considering Whether the things that we write are indeed what they seem to be in the Imagination This is the Difference that there is between the manner whereof Mr. Houppeville hath faithfully communicated to us the Observations which he had made upon the Corps of a Woman and that whereof you freely attack him without being in any wise obliged thereto Yet I am less surprised at it than at your proceeding concerning the Faculty of Caen which you treat after the sharpest and violentest manner in the World which cannot proceed but from a Spirit very little inclined to speak well of any one and all the abuses which can be made against a Faculty whose Reputation is so well established and hath so just a Title cannot but return with Disgrace upon their Author since no Body will ever balance the Authority of a particular person who aims to be known only by the Faults which he endeavours to discover in others with that of a Society whose Doctrine and Exactness have rendred it so famous and which without speaking of those which adorn their places so worthily at present hath produced Men most Famous in their time such as were Cahagnese Dalechamp Schroder and several other Famous Doctors whose Names will last as long as the SCIENCE to which they have applyed themselves and all the ill Treatments which Envy and Jealousy can borrow of Railery and supposition will but increase the true Esteem we ought to have for it Likewise there are some persons whose Judgments are so little conformable to the Rules of Reason that a man may be esteem'd by displeasing them I know not whether the Praises which you give to the celebrated Faculty of Montpelier whereof you call your self Doctor be not more prejudicial than advantageous to it and the manner by which you Depick'd it a Slave to the Opinions of the Ancients and an enemy to the new Anatomick and Chymick Discoveries where you say It cannot Deceive nor be Deceived Pag 3. 4. because it does not receive any Novelties if the contrary was not known it would be thought blind and incapable to be inlightned by those Lights which the Exactness of the Anatomists and Works of the Chymists of our time have discovered to us I know well That the Lightness to change Opinions and the too great Aptness to receive Novelties is a Fault but not greater than wilfully to retain an old Errour and refuse one's Consent and Belief to a Truth but lately found out Truth is not of any Age it is not subject to Years but it is in it self Eternal and 't is only the Observation we make thereof that is of such a year A Geographer could not handsomly deny That
the Regeneration of compound Mineral Salts and the Essential Salts of Plants for it is most certain That Acids are not the destroyers of Bodyes nor Alkali's their Authors since all Alkali's are determined by Acids to make Bodyes of the same Nature with those from which they were drawn and if it happens sometimes That Acids destroy some Bodies as common Sulphur doth Iron that happens because there is little Alkali to be found in those Bodyes and the Acid being intangled therein in a great deal of Earth it may easily be disintangled therefrom by another Acid the which intirely destroys the Composition but that happens not in those Bodyes where the Acid is fixed and united intimately with its Alkali as it is in Gold Silver c. You bring us Tartar of Wine for the first of all Acids and you prove it after so convincing a manner â—â—g 93. That the same Reasoning may be applyed in all its force to all the other Tartars of Vegetables It is the first say you in its generation and Action it is the first in its generation because it is produc'd such by nature for it is in Grapes together with the Alkali of wine and so long as Nature governs them they have not any motion of alteration one against the other c. but as soon as Nature doth cease to govern them they ferment themselves one with the other into Wine c. May not the same thing be said of all the other Vegetables They have all their Acid and Alkali produced such by Nature they are not dis-united but when Nature ceases to govern them they are fermented in their Juices as the Alkali and Acid of Grapes are in Wine You are not contented to assure us That Tartar is the first of Acids but also That its Acid consists in its Salt and That that which is distilled therefrom is the Volatile Alkali of Wine which this Acid had absorbed The Anatomy of Tartar will perhaps make you be of another Opinion for there is drawn therefrom first a Flegm by Distillation Secondly an Acid Spirit which ferments with all Alkali's Thirdly a stinking Oil and lastly a fixed Salt which is separated from its Caput Mort. by Lixiviation which ferments with all Acids and precipitates Vitriol of Mars dissolved in Water The Acid spirit of Tartar is of the same Nature with that of Vinegar as may be seen by this Experiment â„ž some Salt of Tartar and pour thereupon good Vinegar until it will take in no more and there will be made a regenerated Tartar like to that of Wine whose sourness is gone You may perceive then by this That that Spirit which is drawn from Tartar is not the volatile Alkali of Wine which the Tartar had absorbed as you teach us but it is on the contrary the volatile Acid of Wine which causeth it in time to degenerate into Vinegar The black and stinking Oil which went forth after the Flegm and Spirit is an enveloped Acid as are all the Oils of Vegetables In a word The Salt that is drawn from Tartar is as powerful an Alkali as any there is in Nature which as I said even now ferments with all Acids ' and does precipitate Vitriol of Mars dissolved in Water It seems also you have acknowledged this Truth when you said That Oil of Tartar made per deliquium which is no other thing but fixed Salt of Tartar dissolved in some Flegm did ferment with the Spirits of Salt Vitriol Pag. 97. Sulphur and Niter and did precipitate after the Fermentation some Matter from those Bodies Oil of Tartar is therefore an Alkali since it ferments with Acid Spirits for as you grant there is none but Alkali's which can ferment with Acids and it is false that you assure us That this Oil is Acid for if it was Acid it would ferment with Alkali's and never with Acids the which is contrary to what we see Pag. 98 99 100. The Reason which you render of the Effervescence which happens in the Dissolution of Metals in Aqua fort is a Subject as little satisfactory for you say That it is not the Aqua fort that causes this Dissolution and Effervescence but rather a volatile sulphurous Spirit which animates the Aqua Fort. to the Dissolution of the Mettal since that being evaporated or separated therefrom by the Acid of Salt of Tartar the rest of the Water acts no more for assuredly continue you it is this imperfect or to speak more properly embrionated Sulphur which symbolizeth with the Sulphur of a Mettal and more or less with one than with another whence come the Diversity of Aqua fortis and that one acts upon one Mettal and not upon another c. This Sulphur is impatient for a union with a Sulphur more perfect than it self therefore it searches through the Mercury and striving to be united with it per minima it divides it c. Experience fully destroyes the appearances of this Reasoning for it is most certain That Acids as Spirit of Niter dissolves imperfect Metals which have more Mercury than Sulphur as Silver Lead c. and as for Gold which hath a great deal more Sulphur than Mercury it cannot be dissolv'd but in salt Menstruums as Spirit of Sea-salt I have explained all these different Effects so clearly in the preceeding Discourses of this Book That the repetition thereof would be both useless and troublesom And as to the Hindrance that Oil of Tartar brings to those Dissolutions which you attribute to its Acidity it is not at all probable since I have formerly shewn That it was an Alkali and the true Reason of it is That the Oil of Tartar being a powerful Alkali absorbs the Acids which held the Metals in Dissolution and the Metals being no longer agitated or stir'd by their points are precipitated into a powder to the bottom of the Vessel Truly I see as little Justice in your Definition of Alkali You argue it to be a thing made Salt by Cremation Pag. 102. as though it was not a Salt before and this Definition doth in no wise explain the Nature of Alkali but only agrees with fixed Alkali yet it is certain that some are Volatile which are elevated sublimed with the least Heat as your self acknowledgeth pâ— 94.95 where you speak of Tartar You say It retains the volatile Alkali of Wine which causeth it to break the Vessels by its combating with the Acidity of the Tartar when it is distilled alone by Retort The Recipient being very exactly luted the fire too much prest But I have moreover sufficiently formerly proved That Alkali as well as Acid was actually in all Bodies and that to be Alkali it is not necessary that a Body be made salt by Cremation Moreover the Doctrine which you promote contradicts it self Pag 104 105. for if the Alkali was no other as you would have it than only the Sulphur of the Mixt retained in a portion of water under the