observed that they not only took Plants and put them in the Earth prepared as he recites it but likewise the Seeds of Cucumbers and Pompions which acquired their due Magnitude and yet the Earth was not diminished in Weight these Experiments indeed considering the minuteness of the Seeds of those Fruits with the largeness of their Size when grown to perfection and yet no decrease of the Earth might give them very pregnant Reasons for their Conjectures but these I shall examine in their place The other Hypothesis is that of the Ancients which Dr. Woodward asserts for the confirmation of which the Dr. has offer'd the following Experiments Common Spear-Mint was set in spring Water the Plant weighed when put in Iuly 20 th just 27 Grains when taken forth October 5 th 42 Gr. so that in the space of 79 Days it had gained in Weight 15 Gr. the whole Water expended during the 79 Days amounted to 2558 Gr. and consequently the Weight of the Water taken up was 170 8 â—5 as much as the Plant had got in Weight Common Spear-Mint was set in Rain-Water the Mint weighed when put in 28 Gr. ¼ when taken out Gr. 45 ¼ having gained in 79 Days Gr. ½ the Dispendium of the Water Gr. 3004 which was 171 23 35 as much as the Plant had received in Weight Common Spear-Mint was set in Thames Water the Plant when put in weighed Gr. 28 when taken forth Gr. 54 so that in 77 Days it had gained 26 Gr. the Water expended amounted to Gr. 2493 which was 92 21 26 times as much as the additional weight of the Mint Solanum or Night-shade was set in Spring-Water the Plant weighed when put in Gr. 49 when taken out 106 having gained in 77 Days 57 Gr. the Water expended during the said time was 3708 Gr. which was 65 3 7 times as much as the Augment of the Plant this Specimen had several Buds upon it when first set in the Water these in some Days became fair and Flowers which were at length succeeded by Berries Lathyris Sea-Cataputia Gerhardi was set in spring Water it weighed when put in Gr. 98 when taken forth Gr. 101 â—â—â— the additional Weight for this whole 77 Days being Gr. 3 〈…〉 the Quantity of Water spent upon it during the Time was Gr. 2501 which is 714 4 7 times as much as the Plant was augmented It is to be noted that the Orifices of these Glasses were covered with Parchment perforated with an Hole adapted to the Stem of the Plant. Mint was set in Hyde-Parke Conduit Water which weighed when put in 127 Gr. when taken forth 255 Gr. the whole Quantity of Water expended upon this Plant amounted to 14190 Gr. the Plant had run up two Foot in height and had shot one considerable collateral Branch to the Fibrillae of the Roots adhered a terrestial Matter Mint was set in Hyde-Parke Conduit Water in which was dissolved an Ounce and half of common Garden-Earth the Mint weighed when put in 76 Gr. when taken out 244 Gr. Water expended was Gr. 10731. Mint was set in Hyde-Parke Water with the same Quantity of Garden-mould as the former the Mint weighed when put in 92 Gr. when taken out 376 Gr. the Water expended was 14950 Gr. the Earth in both these Glasses was very sensibly and considerably wasted it left a green Substance here as above Mint was set in Hyde-Park Water distilled off in a great Still the Mint weighed when put in 114 Gr. when taken out 155 Gr. Water dispended was 8803 Gr. this Plant was pretty kindly had two small collateral Branches and several Roots with terrestrial Matter adhereing to them the Water was pretty thick had many and numerous terrestrial Particles swimming in it and some Sediment at the bottom of the Glass this Glass had none of the green Matter abovemention'd in it the residue of the Water remaining in the Still was very turbid high colour'd and reddish like ordinary Beer the Mint weighed when put into this Water 31 Gr. Water expended 4344 Gr. This Plant was very lively and had sent out six collateral Branches and several Roots I took Hyde-Park Conduit Water in which was dissolv'd a Dram of Nitre the Mint set in this suddenly began to wither and decay and died in a few days as likewise did two more Sprigs that were set in it successively In another Glass I dissolv'd an Ounce of Garden-mould and a Dram of Nitre and in a third half an Ounce of Wood-Ashes and a Dram of Nitre but the Plants in these succeeded no better than in the former In other Glasses were dissolv'd several sorts of Earths Clays Marles and variety of Manures Mint was set in distill'd Waters and other Experiments I made of several kinds in order to get Light and Information what hastned or retarded what promoted and impeded Vegetation but these do not belong to the Head that I am now upon In Hyde-Park Conduit Water I fix'd a glass Tube about 10 Inches long the Bore about one sixth of an Inch in diameter fill'd with very fine and white Sand which I kept from falling down out of the Tube into the Vial by tying a thin piece of Silk over that end of the Tube which was downwards upon the Immersion of the lower end of it the Water by little and little ascended to the upper Orifice of the Tube and yet in all the 56 Days it stood thus a very inconsiderable quantity of Water had gone off viz. scarce 20 Grains tho' the Sand continued moist to the very top to the last the Water imparted a green Tincture to the Sand quite to the top of the Tube and in the Vial it had precipitated a greenish Sediment mix'd with black to the bottom and sides of the Tube as far as it was immers'd in Water adher'd pretty much of the green Substance describ'd above From these Experiments the Dr. draws these Corollaries That Earth and not Water is the Matter that constitutes Vegetables that Improvements by Nitrons and Alcalizates are only by the saline Particles attenuating the earthly ones and preparing them to be carried up by the Water and dispos'd of into the substance of the Plant that Water serves only as a Vehicle to the terrestrial Matter which forms Vegetables and does not it self make any addition to them Now if I mistake not if we must make Earth a meer simple Body and that to be the Matter only that is converted into the substance of the Plant this Hypothesis will labour under more Difficulties than the former if according to the Doctor 's Notion the saline Particles contribute no farther than in preparing this Mould for we may undoubtedly assure our selves that the Manchinello in the West-Indies that irresistable and deceiving Poyson must needs consist of more Bodies than Earth alone otherwise how comes its Fruit to be so fatal that not only the Eating of it is present Death but the very eating of the Creatures that have fed upon it produces
that it is not in the least subject to shake The other end of this Screw is by another little Screw whose small point fills the Center or hole made in the end of the longer Screw for this purpose render'd so fixt or steady in the Box that there appears not the least danger of shaking upon the Head of this Screw without the springing Plate is put on a small Index ee and above that an handle mm to turn the Screw round as often as there shall be occasion without at all endangering the displacing of the Index it being put on very stiff upon a Cylindrical part of the Head and the handle upon a square the Screw hath that third of it which is next the Plate bigger than the other two thirds of it by at least as much as the depth of the small Screw made on it the thread of the Screw of the bigger third is as small again as that of the Screw of the other two thirds to the grosser Screw is adapted a Socket f fastned to a long Bar or Bolt gg upon which is fastned the moveable sight h either a Thread nearer or a Thread farther of from the fixt sight i the kk which will not admit of any shaking There are Sixty of these Threads and answerable thereto are made Sixty divisions on the edge of the Bolt or Ruler gg and a small Index l fix'd to the Box aaa denotes how many Threads the edges of the two sights h and i are distant and the Index ee shews on the circular plate what part of a Revolution there is more every Revolution as was said before being divided into an hundred parts at the same time that the movable sight h is moved forwards or backwards or more Threads of the courser Screw is the plate pp in Fig. 2 so as the middle betwixt the sights may lie in the Axis of the Glass however the Screw be turned the midst betwixt the sights will always be in the Axis and the sights will equally either open from it or shut towards it Figure 2. Represents the moveable cover containing the Screws to be by the Bookseller cut off by the pricked line xxx from the Paper and to be fitly placed on Figure 1 according to the pricked line yyy answering thereto that by the taking off as it were or folding up of this cover the inward Contrivance of the Screws and sights may appear And because it is conceived by some Ingenious Men that it will be more convenient instead of the edges of the two sights h i to employ two sights fitted with hairs therefore is added Figure 3 Representing the two sights r s so fitted with Threads t u that they may be conveniently used in the place of the solid edges of the sights h i The fourth Figure represents how the Screws are to be put on The Table A. D. is divided into three lengths of which as in ordinary ones B. C. is to lengthen or Contract as the object requires But A. B. is here added that at A. you may put such Eye Glasses as shall be thought most convenient and to set them still at the distance most proper for them Indexes or Pointers which here are supposed to be at B. which length also alters also in respect of divers Persons Eyes E. is a Screw by which the great Table can be fix'd so as by the help of the Figures any smaller part of it can immediately be found measuring only or knowing the Divisions on B. C. the distance of the object Glasses from the Pointers F. is the Angular piece of Wood that lies on the upperScrew of the rest this rest is represented by Figure the 5th As for a description of the uses of this ingeniously contrived and very curious Engine the Reader may understand it by the preceding Letter To this may be annexed another Letter of the same ingenious Gentleman containing Observations on the quantity of Rain falling Monthly for several Years successively which is as follows Ian. 9th 1693 4 I Have now completed this last Years Observations which I was very desirous shou'd accompany the others I now send you and I hope you will be pleased upon that score to pardon my delay in obeying your Commands I wish they had been more exactly made and shou'd have been so had they been intended for any thing but my own satisfaction and enabling me to give some Conjecture at the Proportion of Rain that falls in this Country with that at London and in other parts of this Kingdom but in this I have not yet attained my desired end not having heard of the like made in any part of England tho' a Friend or two had promised to undertake and afford me an Account of their Observations but it may be they did not think it worth their while or that it wou'd prove more troublesome than I found it For I only fixed a round Tunnel of 12 inches Diameter to a leaden Pipe which could admit of no Water but what came through the Tunnel by reason of a part soder'd to the Tunnel it self which went over the Pipe and served also to fix it to it as well as to keep out any wet that in stormy Weather might beat against the under part of the Tunnel which was so placed that there was no building near it that wou'd give occasion to suspect that it did not receive its due Proportion of Rain that fell through the Pipe some nine Yards perpendicularly and then was bent into a Window near my Chamber under which convenient Vessels were placed to receive what fell into the Tunnel which I measured by a Cylindrical Glass at a certain mark containing just a pound or twelve Ounces Troy and had marks for small parts also I preferr'd this way of finding the Contents of my Vessel for measuring the Water before any other of gaging of small Cubical or Cylindrical ones where an inconsiderable and almost indiscernible Error in the dimensions will prove much greater in the content whereas in the other way provided the Cylinder it self be small or like a very small Neck at the marked place for a pound one may easily come to as great exactness as may be wished by the help of this Cylindrical Glass I thus kept my account of what Rain fell and generally twice or thrice a Day when I took several other Observations both of the Thermometer Barometer Winds c. what Rain I found in the Receivers if not more than made what was left in the Cylindrical Glass a full pound I again left in it but if there was more than that quantity I filled it just to the pound mark which I threw away and did the like with the remaining Water as often as it wou'd allow still keeping an account of the pounds thrown away and noting also the parts of a pound remaining in the Glass by the help of which latter and the parts remaining at any time before by numbering
the Pounds and Substracting the Parts at the end for Example of one Month from the Pounds thrown away and the Parts remaining at the end of another I find the quantity of Rain fallen betwixt these two times and that so as to assure me that I erred no more in the quantity of Rain of another Year than by mistake in the differences of the parts of a Pound in the first and last Observation whereas shou'd I still Write down the Rain that falls between two Observations I might be subject to make as great a mistake in every one of them and consequently be much more uncertain of the quantity of Rain fallen in many of those added together Besides this Addition is longer in performing and giving the quantity sought than the method I make use of I have added these particulars to show you how little trouble there is in this task which therefore I hope some of your ingenious Friends may be persuaded to undertake and then by continuing my own Observations I may be farther satisfy'd than hitherto I have been with them for I have yet Learn'd as to the main point is that here we have almost just twice the quantity of Rain that falls at Paris This County and particularly that part of it where I live being generally esteemed to have much more Rain than other Parts and in a greater Proportion than I thought reasonable to be allow'd however it be yet by what I have sent you 't would be unjust without farther Observations of the like Nature in other Parts that all England shou'd be esteemed to abound as much in Rain as these parts do where by reason of the very high Grounds in Yorkshire and the Eastern Parts of Lancashire the Clouds driven hither by the South and S. W. the general Winds in this part of the World are oftener stopt and broken and fall upon us than such as come by an E. and S. E. Winds which broken by the Hills are generally spent there and little affect us and this is the reason that Lancashire has often considerably more Rain than Yorkshire The above mention'd method of estimating Rain by pounds to those of my Family gave a sufficient Idea of the Proportions of the falling Rains and the Wetness of the different Seasons though they knew not how high it wou'd raise the Water in a Cylinder Equal at the bottom to my Tunnel but to inform others of this with little trouble in the Table I have sent you the Pounds and Parts are doubled and these I have rather sent you than those of the whole Pounds since the same gives both the quantity of half Pounds and the height in inches according to the general way of estimating the quantity of Rain only with this difference that for the half Pounds only the last Figure is a decimal Fraction and the other the number of the half Pounds and for the height the two last Figures denote the Decimal Fraction of an inch and the remainder of the height in inches so near the truth that they only fall short of it one inch in 200. which defect is easily supply'd To this I need only add that the numbers on the right hand are the summs of all those in the same line that is in the first part of several numbers for Ten Years so that the last of them shews the summ both of the half Ounces that have fallen during that space of time and the height the Water wou'd have been raised in that time also To this I shall only add one Example The summ of all the Rain in the Ten first Years 41227. and therefore according to what has been said 4122 7. is the number of half Pounds that fell in Compass of the Tunnel during those Ten Years and 412 27. the height it wou'd have raised the Water during that time But if you desire to be more Critical if you add 2 06 its 200th part you will have 414 33 for the true height and 41 413 for the mean height by those Ten Years observations and 412 27 for the mean quantity of half Pounds by the same method you will have the means for the other Five viz. Of height 41 78 and 417 8 for the mean number of half Pounds which means do strangely agree and both consider'd do give for the mean by all the Fifteen Years 41 516 inches in height which is about ¼ of an inch more than double to that raised by the Water at Paris which as set down in the Memoirs for the Ingenious for February last is stated about 19 ½ French inches which make 21 English I have omitted the accounts of the Years 87 and 88 which I found faulty by reason the Person who had the charge of noting what Rain fell during my absence several times then from home did not punctually observe the usual method I had prescribed him I forgot when I mentioned my way of Gauging by weight that it was grounded upon 22 7368 Cubical inches of Rain Water being equal in weight to one pound or 12 Ounces Troy so that dividing any superficies in inches of a Vessel for receiving the Rain Water by the before mentioned number it will give you the Pounds and parts that will raise the Water upon that superficies with up-right sides just an inch and thus I found that 4 974 Pounds wou'd fill a Cylinder equal at the Bottom to my Tunnel and one inch high which you see is very near five Pounds which you will also find will only raise the Cylinder by 1 200th part but now I have detained you so long and I am afraid needlesly so that I trust to your goodness for Pardon in and what else you shall find amiss upon the score of my Eyes which oblige me to trust more to others than otherwise I shou'd I am Your Humble Servant The Table of Rain  1677 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 Sum Ianuary 472 371 043 512 053 986 238 032 110 472 3289 February 270 371 161 492 363 135 245 483 042 020 2582 March 245 250 202 413 235 237 305 087 185 572 2731 April 325 170 092 222 057 308 402 370 380 305 2631 May 313 581 105 188 069 315 353 097 201 437 2659 Iune 516 257 298 342 397 517 468 192 410 473 3870 Iuly 351 339 350 302 292 482 412 313 497 188 3526 August 485 145 835 502 425 385 582 338 398 870 4965 September 223 527 553 146 607 293 152 199 163 572 3435 October 333 644 616 570 170 427 330 425 325 293 4133 November 432 555 127 479 235 525 192 579 522 709 4355 December 400 057 439 269 423 456 037 299 548 132 3051 Sum 4365 4267 3821 4428 3326 5066 3716 3414 3781 5043 41227  1687 88 89 90 91 92 93   Sum Ianuary   333 707 197 054 218   1509 February   393 171 112 168 078   922 March   875 145 476 342
two Miles from Lancaster which Seat is now in Possession of the R t Hon ble the Lady Gerrard of Bromley from a white Marle issues a pleasant and smooth Water remarkable for its agreeable Tast and Lightness This Water is lighter by an Ounce in a Pint than any I have seen in these Parts Now all Waters containing more or less of Earthly Particles and in the various Consistencies and Quantities of those differing one from another in Gravity it may be imagin'd this Water to receive its Oily Tast and Lightness from the white Marle that being an Oily and light Body and the best Tillage this Country affords A Spring remarkable for its Perspiration is that near Stalo-Bridge in Cheshire This Water if put into a Glass Bottle closely Corked will force its way thro' the Pores of the Glass or the Water by emitting cold Effluvia upon the external Superficies of the Glass condenses the aqueous Particles of the Air and so forms that Dew or Sweat so often observable there For my part considering how difficult it is for any Menstruum whatever to penetrate the Pores of Glass nay even for Air it self as is sufficiently evidenced by the Experiments in the Air Pump I must own my assent to the latter and this may be farther illustrated by the Dews upon Bottles in Wine-Cellars which are wholly insipid and consequently cannot be spirituous Liquor that perspires through the Pores but the aqueous Particles of the Air there condensed Springs remarkable for their Coldness in these Countries we have none save One near Larbrick which is a Water extreamly Cold and of which I shall treat in its proper place this Water is the Coldest I have seen in these Parts and may no doubt answer the ends perform'd by that of St. Mungus in Yorkshire We have only One Spring that Ebbs and Flows and that is call'd Tideswell in the Peak in Derbyshire tho' nothing so Noted as that near Gigleswig in Yorkshire where I have seen the Water to ebb and flow several times in an Hour and always upon the subsiding of the Water heard a gutling Noise within the Mountain not unlike that obvious to us in pouring Liquors out of Bottles only it is much louder Conjectures about this Flux and Reflux are various some imagining it to be caused by the return of a Stone that in an Aqueduct hangs in aequilibrio as the Learned Mr. Hobbs others that a large Receptacle fill'd with Water by subterraneous Winds from the opposite part is blown over as LeGrand and others of the French Virtuosi Tho' Mr. Hobbs's Hypothesis seems to carry the greater stress of Reason along with it yet at the same time if we consider the Effects Water has upon Stone upon which it continually falls or runs over in diminishing its Superficies or over-turning those of a prodigious Bigness upon Floods or other Eruptions it will be as difficult to conceive how a Stone should be so exactly poised in an Aqueduct so long a space of time as this must needs have been so as to occasion a Flux and Reflux of the Waters as is observable in these Fountains Wherefore I shall venture to form a different Hypothesis and that it may be perform'd with all the Perspicuity so dark a matter will admit in the first place I will describe the Spring and its situation as exactly as I remember The most noted Spring of this Nature is at Gigleswig in Yorkshire as above-mention'd The Well lies at the Bottom of a Mountain of a considerable Height and is almost contiguous to a great Road betwixt Settle Lancashire and Westmorland The Diameter of the Spring as I think is about a Yard and the Perpendicular near the same dimension The Flux and Reflux is not always certain being sometimes only once again twice sometimes thrice an Hour and I think the Water upon the Flux may subside about three quarters of a Yard and then you always hear an hollow gutling Noise within the Mountain as is above recited From these Phaenomena it seems reasonable to conjecture that within the Mountain is a considerable Cavity impleted with Air from which the Aqueducts that form the Spring run and that those and their Exits are but small and it is very probable from this Cavity they do not run in direct but spiral Lines like those in a Worm used in Distillation Now when the Water that ascends out of the Earth which composes these Springs reaches this Cavity they must necessarily as it fills gradually press the Air into the spiral Aqueducts and force it forward to the end of the Aqueduct it is there then obstructed by the Water in the Well only a little Air and Water getting vent raises gradually the Spring the Duct still continues to fill higher and higher with Water till at length by its Gravity the Air is forced through and then it is the Flux happens and the hollow gutling Noise is heard occasion'd undoubtedly by the external Air rushing in and strugling with the Water to supply the Cavity of the Mountain which is now discharg'd of that Water but still impleted with Air it is now the Flux ceases and again renews as before and so it reciprocally succeeds Such spiral Aqueducts I have frequently observ'd in the Mountains in Derbyshire particularly near Tideswell where that other Spring ebbs and flows hence it seems rational the same may be here also However here is not any thing dogmatically asserted nor am I so bigotted to this Hypothesis but can easily quit it when any more reasonable is offer'd and more exactly quadrates with the Phaenomena of these Springs Now as these Aqueducts are more or less Spiral or of different Dimensions from the Sinus within the Mountain impleted with Air or as the Spring that fills the Duct with Water is but easy or rapid so its probable the Flux and Reflux becomes so uncertain for in some it flows not once in several Hours as in that call'd Tideswell the Water perhaps being sometimes diverted by other Aqueducts and reaches not the Cavity or Sinus within the Mountain this may happen by several accidents as the falling in of Earth or Pebles which for a time may divert the common course of the Spring till by a continual currency it forces its passage again Several Springs we have which are only at certain Seasons as some near the Manour in Furness these are occasion'd by Rains or an hazy Atmosphere At this Abbey are the most stately Ruins I have any where observ'd as most beautiful Pillars spacious Windows noble Arches and subterraneous Vaults Near this place is a considerable Salmon Fishing and a large Park in which are variety of Deer as Red Fallow and White and is by much the most curious Seat in these Parts It was formerly possest by Sir Thomas Preston who quitted it and as I have been inform'd is one of the Religious and amongst them one of the meanest Order But is now possest by the noble and virtuous Lady
Madam Katharine Preston Daughter and Heiress of Thomas Preston of Holker Esq Tho' this Digression be foreign to a Natural History yet I hope the Reader will pardon it since I could not well pass by so considerable a Building Some Waters we have which cast up Marine Shells as Latham Spaw did formerly but that being troublesome to the Drinkers has been prèvented by laying Mill-stones upon the Spring so that the Sand and Shells cannot boyl up so high as formerly This is one of the best sorts of Vitriolic Chalybeates and is remote from the Sea or any Salt Rivers whence therefore these Shells come may be worth our enquiry and a clear decision of that may farther illustrate those other Marine Shells found in Marle as the Echini Cochleae Torculars Whilks and Periwinkles of which I have great Numbers by me and took them my self out of firm Marle at three Fathom deep some being entire others broken but all soft and friable yet grew hard as Coral being expos'd to the Air. The Decision of this Phaenomenon in a great measure depending upon the Origin of Fountains I think it a pardonable digression if I a little expatiate on that subject before we descend to the particular Case Springs by the French Virtuosi are suppos'd to flow from the Dews Rains and Mists imbibed in the Earth and afterwards form'd into various Currents which are those we commonly call Springs Now this being a Notion inconsistent with Reason I cannot adhere to it for were this Hypothesis true it would hence follow in the various Seasons of the Year as Summer and Winter they would vary very much in their Currents as to quantity which in several Springs is not discernible Secondly Several Springs are found in Mines in the Bowels of the Earth deeper than the Dews and Rains are suppos'd to descend Thirdly Some Countries abound with Springs where Dews and Rains are never known to fall from all these it is evident continual Springs can never be imagin'd to be caused by Rains and Dews it remains therefore that they either proceed from the Ocean or a subterraneous Abyss The latter of these the Learned Dr. Woodward adheres to and could such a thing be made out his Hypothesis would be undeniable but such a thing as an Abyss being no where to be discover'd in Nature and that what Notions we have of it are only from Moses that divine Philosopher In what sence the inspired Legislator might take the Abyss we pretend not to determine whether the Ocean in general or a subterraneous collection of Waters equal to it and keeping a Communication with it as Dr. Woodward supposes Wherefore we rather assert what the great Aristotle supposes concerning Springs that they have their Rise from the Sea of this Caesar had a clear Demonstration when he Invaded this Island and Encamp'd upon the Sea Coasts where by digging in the Sands he was instantly supply'd with a sufficient quantity of fresh Water which by filtring through the Sand became sweet the saline Particles sticking in the Sand. A Phaenomenon like to this was observ'd when that great General Duke Schomberg Encamp'd upon a Plain call'd the Mels near Hile-Lake This granted then that Springs have their Rise from the Ocean it is easy to imagin how they may bring up Marine Shells and unless this be allow'd I think the Phaenomenon cannot otherwise be fairly illustrated but how this becomes a Mineral Water is from the Mineral Bass from which it springs Against this Hypothesis there remains yet one material Objection viz. If Fountains have their Rise from the Sea how comes it to pass that there are Springs upon the Tops of Mountains which are higher than the Sea since it is evident from Hydrostatick Experiments Water will not naturally rise above its level To this I answer in the first place it is no wise demonstrable that there is any Mountain higher than the highest part of the Ocean since it is suppos'd to be a Globe of equal Magnitude with the Earth Secondly Granting it were so yet it is probable those Mountains lying in the middle Region a sufficient quantity of aqueous Particles might be imbibed by the Earth to produce Springs there and yet this particular Instance does no ways invalidate the general Hypothesis in which is meant the generality of Springs and not each particular Fountain It is true subterraneous Eruptions of Waters especially after Earthquakes as at Port-Royal in Iamaica and at Kirby in Furness in Lancashire have happen'd which have drove down Houses and Rocks of that magnitude that many Teams of Oxen could not move by which it may be concluded there is a subterraneous Abyss of Waters To this I say it is not certain whether these come from the Ocean or from an Abyss and shall not therefore pretend to determine it but shall proceed to what I next propos'd and that is to treat of Mineral Waters In doing of which I begin with those impregnated with Vitriol The Vitriol Spring in the Kennel-Pits at Haigh when I first try'd it yielded an Ounce of Vitriol from a Quart of Water nay it was so highly impleted with Vitriol that any common Alkaly wou'd raise a Fermentation with it and cause a Precipitation The Vitriol it yields is White for the greatest part tho' there is some Green mix'd with it it is not now of that strength several fresh Springs having broken in which yet might easily be diverted of this the Rev d Dr. Wroe our Warden has been frequently an Eye-witness Notwithstanding this Dr. Lister with unequal'd Assurance tells the World Vitriol is not to be found in any Waters in England but that all Waters of a Vitriolic Taste are only impregnated with a Pyrites which we vulgarly call Fire-Stone Germinating in the Waters and this must be impos'd upon the World as implicitly as if it was an Article of Faith in Philosophy For any Man to oppose him he brands him strait with the Character of Mean and Impudent and such like opprobrious Epithets a Language if I mistake not unaccountable for one of his Gown and Dignity For my part what I relate is matter of Fact and the Dr. may be fully convinc'd if he pleases if not it is no fault of mine and since I cannot as firmly believe the Germination of the Pyrites in our Chalybeat Waters as they are commonly called to be like that of Mint in Bottles of Water I hope the Dr. will pardon my Infidelity till he give me better grounds for it at which he has not yet offer'd any farther than a capricious ipse dixit Adjacent to a Place call'd Humblesco-Green in a small Farm in Maudsley is a Spring impregnated with Sulphur and a Marine Salt the Water is extremely foetid tinges Silver a Copper colour by its Sulphur in Distillation a Quart of Water yields half an Ounce of sulphur Salt This Spring no question would answer all the Intentions of the sulphur Water near Knaseborough in Yorkshire either as
shoot into any regular Chrystals have a smell much like that of Natural Balsam which to me seems to be the scarlet Sulphur that precipitates in the Water by exposing it to the Air this Water has a vitriolate Taste and with Galls yields a Tincture of an Agate colour has been experimented in scorbutick Cases and answered the desired end The Hanbridge Water a small Spring which lies betwixt Burnley and Townley yields a Natron or natural Alcali as those Bourbon Waters in France cited by Monsieur Du-Closs and another alcalious Salt which like a Terebinthinate or Resinous Body will melt with a small degree of Heat it is plain the Reason why this Salt melts by Heat is only from a volatile Bitumen united with it for the Salt being long kept in a glass Vial will not melt by any moderate degree of Heat but is then purely Alcalious the Bitumen being wholly evaporated as I found in my Observations at Townley This Water at the Fountain with Galls yields a Tincture inclining to a faint Orange if kept any considerable time in Glass Bottles a perfect Citrine contains the greatest quantity of Natron of any in these parts purges by Stool and Urine and is of great Use in the Stone and Scurvy as hath been found by several Persons who in those Cases have try'd them with great success The Water near Emmet which is about two Miles distant from those fore-mention'd Waters is of a vitriolate Taste and sulphureous Smell which with a solution of Sublimate yields a white Precipitate which no other Waters in those parts will do nor any in France as the French Virtuosi have observ'd and indeed only those at Spada in Germany and if so it may be highly worth our time by frequent and strict Tryals both in Cases in Physick and Experiments in Chymistry to find out the Principles and Use of it which may perhaps save us the Expences of a tedious Fatigue to Spada At the same time I saw there a Salt prepared from a Water in Yorkshire which had exactly the smell of Hipposelinum or Horse-Parsley a Phaenomenon never yet observ'd in any Salt before this smell proceeds from a certain proportion of bituminous saline and terrene Particles for what remain'd after evaporation was of a Yellowish colour and contain'd a great deal of terrene Matter but the Salt when separated is perfect concocted Vitriol Dr. Lister may here again be satisfy'd of his Error for not only the Waters in Lancashire but those likewise in Yorkshire contain perfect concocted Vitriol Nay in the same Coal-Mines near Burnley there are Springs of perfect Vitriol and under these others that contain Natron or Aegyptian Nitre as the above-mention'd ingenious Gentleman fully demonstrated to me when I was last there Another Salt the said Richard Townley of Townley Esq shew'd me which was perfect Salt-petre prepared from a very rapid Spring a Gallon of which contain'd half an Ounce of this Salt which upon Chrystallization shoots like Salt-petre from India into long Striae and fulminates with Sulphur This Salt he had from a Gentleman that discover'd the Spring but at present conceals the Place So that what my self and others have alleged in affirming no Waters in England to contain Salt-petre is erroneous let others retract when they think convenient for my part I fairly own my Error and from repeated Observations can positively affirm there is no marine Salt but what contains more or less of Indian Nitre but the proportion is so small and the method of preparing it so tedious it wou'd not be of any farther use than to satisfy the curious Enquirer but the Advantages that may accrue from the before recited Spring may for ought I know be one of the greatest Treasures as well as Secrets in Nature The next Mineral-Waters I shall consider are those springing out of Bass and Sulphureous only of these the most Noted is One near a Place call'd Inglewhite this springs out of a Black Bass which by Calcination I found to contain Sulphur the Water has a very sulphureous Smell as strong as that near Harrigate in Yorkshire but contains little or no Salt which is the reason it is not Purgative like that but by adding the like proportion of common Salt to it viz. about a Dram to a Pint of Water that Inconvenience is remedy'd and then you have either sulphureous Baths or purging Waters for my part I shou'd rather choose to add the bitter purging Salt as being most agreeable Having now examin'd all the various Waters springing out of Bass we proceed in the next place to give Account of saline sulphureous Waters arising out of other Minerals And I shall begin first with the sulphur Water near Wigan call'd by the Inhabitants of that place the Burning-Well this is a very diverting Phaenomenon and for its Rarity is visited by most Persons whose Curiosity leads them to Natural Enquiries It is about two Miles from Wigan in a Village call'd Aucliff in the Ground of William Mollineux of that Place Esq The Well is at the Bottom of a Tree the Water Cold and without any Smell when any Person comes to see it a Man clears the Well from all its Water that done you will immediately hear a hissing Noise in a Corner of it and by holding a lighted Candle near to it the sulphureous Halitus immediately takes Fire and afterwards spreads it self upon what Water has issued in and 't is only then indeed it ought to be call'd the Burning-Well 'T is observable tho' this sulphureous Halitus continually mixes with Water yet the Water continues Cold nor will it tinge Silver wherefore I imagine this Halitus is purely sulphureous consisting only of Oily inflammable Particles without any mixture of Vitriol or if any but inconsiderable and 't is reasonable to suppose this kind of Sulphur to impregnate the Baths at Buxton 'T is plain from these and the sulphur Wells at Maudsley and those at Harrigate in Yorkshire which are all sulphureous and yet all Cold Waters that it is only by accident that sulphur Waters become hot viz. by Collision of the sulphureous Particles when in the Spiracles of the Earth they have not a free open passage they beat and dash one upon another and by that Collision grow hot as we may observe in the rubbing of the Phosphorus which immediately takes Fire likewise in new Hay and in Wheels taking Fire by Motion only For to imagine the Heat of the Baths to proceed from Fermentation in the Waters or from subterraneous Fires is no wise consistent with Experience which after all our Hypotheses must be the true Touchstone of our Reason The foregoing Instances may convince the World that sulphureous Particles grow hot without Ignition and that there are sulphureous Particles in all hot Baths is abundantly demonstrated But for a farther Illustration of this Hypothesis take this following Experiment Let some Brimstone be set on Fire in a Glass Body immediately upon its taking Flame stop
the Mouth of the Glass and the Flame expires yet by the sulphureous Fumes dashing upon each other the sides of the Glass wax warm a certain signal this must needs be that where sulphureous Particles are deny'd a passage or where they force their way through uneven Sinuosities by beating upon and encountring one another an Heat must be produced as is apparent by the Sun-beams in Convex Glasses And this is farther confirm'd by the Learned Dr. Browne in his Treatise of the Mines in Hungary in some Places of the same Mine it was extreamly Cold in others so intensely Hot that tho' his Cloaths were never so thin the Heat would be troublesome to him The Miners work all Naked and Eight Hours are as much as most can endure The Heat in these Waters cannot arise from Fermentation because no fermentation can be discover'd in them nor by any Experiments either in Distillation Precipitation or any other Method cou'd I ever observe such a Contrariety of Matter in them that one part wou'd ferment upon another so as to cause any sensible Heat From subterraneous Fires they cannot proceed because in these parts such were never known or were there any cou'd not but discover themselves since no Fires will burn without admission of Air and there must likewise be Flues and Chasms whence they vent their Smoke and foeculent parts but since none of these were ever disclos'd in these parts it is not probable the Baths should grow hot by any such cause and when the Heat of the Baths may be sufficiently explain'd by the Collision of sulphureous Particles what necessity is there we should have recourse to any such unwarrantable Hypothesis as a Fermentation in the Waters or to subterraneous Fires Those two Notions are lately espoused by Dr. Guidot and Dr. Pierce of Bathe but I am apt to think those Gentlemen rather fancy than observe the Phaenomena of Nature For I am very well satisfy'd had they made strict Enquiries into those Waters they wou'd never have troubled the World with such Chimerical Hypotheses Dr. Pierce indeed does not much trouble himself or the World with any Scrutiny into the Contents of the Baths or the Causes of the Heat of them but only gives you an Instance from Savoy which is as remote as that place to his Undertaking And as for Dr. Guidot he is so Inconsistent with himself that unless he have the Art of reconciling Contradictions I am sure his Thermae Britannicae are not to be accounted for I do not speak this as any wise arrogating a greater Genius to my self or to lessen those worthy Persons but only from the Phaenomena I have observ'd in Nature and if they please to do the same I despair not of their Pardons Having now done with the sulphureous saline Waters in the next place I shall proceed to treat of saline Ones only as those at Northwich Namptwich Middlewich Dunham in Cheshire and Barton in Lancashire Various have been the Notions concerning the Rise of these Springs some imagining they proceeded from the Sea others from subterraneous Rocks of Salt which have of late Years been discover'd and first made Useful by my self in refining that Rock to a White granulated Salt which is now practiced in many places These Springs sometimes break out in the Rock but oftner either above or under it some of them in a Quart of Water contain about seven or eight Ounces of Salt whence its plain that quatenus Salt-springs they proceed not from the Sea because a Quart of the best of that Water affords seldome above an Ounce and Half of Salt Some of these Springs will tinge with Galls but most refuse it whence its plain Dr. Lister in his usual manner is much mistaken in forcing the Pyrites upon us 'T is true from the sulphureous Smell that may be observ'd in the Fermentation betwixt this Salt and Oyl of Vitriol that there is a Sulphur contain'd in the Salt but that no wise warrants a Pyrites since that is an aggregate of different Principles viz. Ocre and Vitriol besides Sulphur which Bodies by the Dr's own Confession Salt does not contain which is the only true Notion he lays down about those Waters and that he may assume as an Observation of his own It is likewise observable that the Salt made from the Brine-springs and the Rock-salt dissolv'd in fresh Water that these Salts will shoot into different Figures whence it is evident the Brine-springs proceed not from the Rocks of Salt that are discover'd but from Rocks of Salt that lie deeper in the Bowels of the Earth Besides in different Springs I have observ'd the Figures of the Salt to differ as some in Middlewich from those at Northwich where by Chrystallization they shoot into quite contrary Figures so that the Sal Mediterraneum as the Dr. stiles it is like to lose its Character Nay Rock-salt it self will never shoot into any regular Figure at all whence it may be averr'd these Salt-springs have not their Saltness from any subterraneous Rocks of Salt yet known it follows therefore if they are not saturated either from the Sea or from subterraneous Rocks of Salt we may then form another Hypothesis and conclude them to arise from Aerial saline Particles impregnating a proper Bass and so by various Solutions and Impregnations keeping a continual Circulation and so constantly supplying us and what chiefly gives umbrage to this is the Renascence of marine Salt which is so prodigiously made out by Untzerus in his Account of those Mountains of Salt that supply Russia Persia Mesopotamia Media and those vast Countries which as he affirms every Year Vegetates and the places whence the Salt was digg'd is the Year following as full of Salt as before Phaenomena like to this may be observ'd in the Vitriol-stone near Hesse-Cassel and in those Iron-Mines belonging to the Duke of Florence as is related by Fallopius Besides the marine Salt these Springs do likewise contain the Nitrum Calcarium Its observable the Salt of some of these Springs will not easily precipitate but a little Allum and fresh Butter will effect it and then it makes a larger Grain and stronger Salt than any of the rest In the Evaporation of these Salts there is likewise observ'd a white Sand which is thrown to the Corners of the Pan and this by frequent Evaporation and Filtrations I found to be the Particles of the Bass out of which these Salt-springs arise The most noted Purging-Waters in these parts are those in a Village call'd Rougham adjacent to the remarkable Sands which are the great Road into Furnace nine Miles in breadth and at each Spring-tide entirely cover'd with Water these in calm Weather afford us very pleasant Travelling but in tempestuous Seasons no less dismal than we can suppose the wild Desarts of Arabia From the bottom of an high Rock near these the Water issues forth in a very plentiful Current it is a little brackish taken inwardly it purges both by Urine
extraordinary use in scrophulous Cases either in Powder or Decoction Spatula foetida grows in some parts but very rare Lamium album grows in several places and is a good Anti-strumatic Dulcamara grows very common and is an Anti-scorbutic good in the Jaundice and Dropsies the Bark of it is used and that in infusion Upon the Draining of Martin-Meer several unusual Plants were observable never before seen in these Parts particularly a kind of Grass which grows to a prodigious length and is as sweet as Liquorice this in a very short time fattens Sheep and other Cattle and makes them very delicious Food but then they must be slaughter'd out of it when thorowly fatten'd otherwise they are apt to grow rotten and dye Which Distemper by what I can observe in the Dissection of those Creatures is nothing but an Anasarca or Dropsy of the whole Body and in these we have the fairest opportunity of discovering the Lymphatic Vessels which if thorowly known both as to their Uses and Rise would bring Matters in Physick very near to a Demonstration and in Hydropic Cases might save the Lives of several Persons by having a clear Idea of the Cause of that Distemper in those Creatures Erysimum we have in these Parts and it is of use in Asthma's Consumptions and Dropsies Feverfew grows common a noted Anticsteric and Diuretic White Hoare-hound likewise and is an excellent Pectoral Scabios is plentiful and Tragopogon or Goats-beard of great use in Consumptive Cases Centaury and Celandine are very common and are used in the Jaundice and Intermitting Distempers Asarum grows in several places and likewise Arum or Wake Robin its Water is an Antiscorbutick and the Roots are used in Distempers of the Stomach and the Pica Virginis Enula Campana is very common as likewise Bistort Echiums and Buglosses we have both the Hispidum and Glabrum and Hieracia of several sorts particularly the Lactescens which deserves our strict Enquiry into its Vertues of which the Botanists have not taken notice Water-Plantain grows common and is much used in Arthritic Cases we have likewise the Plantago Rotundi-folio other Plantains are common which in the Autumnal Season are apt to collect a white Powder from the Air about which time Intermitting Distempers are generally Epidemical This Powder has no peculiar Taste I have given it to Dogs and Cats but never found any Effects from it Ebulum or Dwarf-Elder grows in several places and is of great use in Hydropic Cases There are several other Plants in these Counties but these being the most remarkable for their Vertues in Physick I have only given an Account of them for the benefit of the Inhabitants of these parts the other are already describ'd at large by the incomparable Dr. Morrison Mr. Ray Dr. Plackenet Dr. Sloane Dr. Robinson and Mr. Dale wherefore for a full and entire satisfaction in those Matters to those eminent and learn'd Authors refer the Reader As to fossile Plants Dr. Woodward in his Essay towards an universal Natural History seems not to give a more probable Conjecture of a total dissolution of the Strata of the Earth at the universal Deluge than by the Observations he has made upon Plants discover'd in Rocks But since this Hypothesis labours under so many unanswerable Difficulties I cannot till more pregnant Proofs are produc'd adhere to it nor can we reasonably suppose a dissolution of the Strata of the Earth and yet conceive these to be kept entire That very Instance in Coal-Mines is a demonstration against it To these I shall add another Instance I have now by me of a stony Substance of the exact resemblance and magnitude of a Cockle-shell found many Yards in Stone yet much lighter than any Cockle-shell of the same bigness which could never be perform'd by specifick Gravitation as the Dr. alledges In the next place to imagin a dissolution of most solid Rocks and Bodies of more obdurate substance this surely must be effected by some peculiar Menstruum distinct from Water and why then in the Name of common Reason should not Plants run the same risque That Menstruum that could make so severe an Impression and disunite those compact Bodies would certainly have easily reduc'd Plants to ruin That there was a Disruption of the Strata of the Earth is but reasonable to allow and likewise that various Bodies floated in that general Inundation but that these Plants are any Argument for a Dissolution or that they were the Exuviae of the Deluge is in the next place to be consider'd In the Rocks in these Parts are only found Polypody Wall-Rue Scolopendrium or Leaves of Thorns doubtless other Plants as well as these would have occur'd to our Observation had these been deposited here by Noah's Deluge Again these Leaves are never found doubled which certainly in so dismal a Confusion as the Deluge was would have happen'd had they here been deposited in that general Catastrophe My Sentiment of the whole is this That as it is observable in Chymistry that the Salts of some Plants will divaricate themselves into the figure of the Plants that these representations of Plants in Rocks are nothing but different Concretions of saline bituminous and terrene Particles and I am farther confirm'd in this Hypothesis since they as well as the Capsulae they are found in seldom fail to afford us that mixture Various Specimens we have of these in Rocks in these Counties in one particularly near Ormskirk in Lancashire in which Scolopendrium may be seen exactly delineated This was communicated to me by Mr. William Barton Apothecary in that Town and is as I remember in some Rocks near Latham belonging to the R t Hon ble William Earl of Derby to whom I am infinitely oblig'd for the Honour done me in having had the Honour to be frequently Physician to his Lordship and to that unparallel'd Youth his Son the R t Hon ble Iames L d Strange There are other Rocks in which may be observ'd Leaves of Thorns as in some Rocks near Heesham and in the Coal-Pits near Burnley in Lancashire These are all the reputed Plants that I have found remarkable in these Parts Having now fairly illustrated it to be highly improbable that these Plants shou'd be the Exuviae of the Deluge but rather Concretions of Matter or the Disports of Nature it may perhaps be expected by some that I shou'd give an account of the different Opinions concerning the Universality of the Deluge as well in respect of the Terrestrial Globe as of the total Destruction of all its Inhabitants I shall therefore give you a Scheme of the most principal amongst them The first is of the Iews who extend the Universality of the Deluge not only to all the Terrestrial Creatures but the Fish they say were suffocated by the Heat of the Rains and Waters which broke out of the deep Fountains of the Earth There are others also amongst the Jews who deny this Universality of the Deluge not only to all terrestrial
the same Effect nay even the drops of Rain that fall from its Leaves are of so poysonous a Nature as to blister and inflame the Skin Here doubtless is more than a bare Contexture of Earth and without question the most corroding sulphureous and penetrating Particles we can have any Idea of Besides were Vegetation from Earth alone I cannot see how one Plant could be distinguish'd from another wherefore to me it seems rational to infer That the Body which the Dr. calls Earth consists of as many different Bodies as that which the Chymists call Water so that from either of these two Bodies simply consider'd as such it is equally absurd to derive Vegetation but these two Bodies do indisputably consist of variety of Corpuscles e. g. Saline Terrene Aerial and Bituminous and as the Vessels in Plants by their various Orifices and Contextures admit of different proportions of these so accordingly the Plant is differently modify'd and from their different digestions and proportions receives its Form Colour Substance and Virtues And by this Hypothesis we may account for Plants physical poysonous fragrant foetid and of other kinds hence Ialop and Scamony a sort of Spurge in the West-Indies by their resinous saline Particles become purgative and if taken in too large quantities poysonous the same may be affirm'd of Laureola Aloes Spurge Senna and Agaric It is manifest from the Dissection of those Creatures to which Night-shade Nux Vomica Calculus Indicus and Water-Hemlock are given that the Poysons of these consist in acrimonious saline Particles corroding and inflaming the Stomach of which the learned Wafer gives us various Instances others by exalted Sulphurs quit from saline Particles doubtless become Fragrant Aromatic and Cordial being by their size and figure which we presume to be Spherical the more readily adapted to assist the animal Spirits by their activity When these Sulphurs become pointed with Salts 't is most likely that the Plant becomes foetid and unpleasant as the stinking Garden Orach and Herb Robert I might likewise account for the Heat Blisterings and other qualities of Herbs but those being in part done before and not properly within the Verge of this Undertaking I shall not recapitulate but to the ingenious Sr. Iohn Floyer of Lichfield on that Head refer the Curious in whose Works they may find variety of Experiments on those Subjects I must confess that the Experiments which Dr. Woodward has made relating to Vegetation are exact as well as learned he having besides the dispendium of the Water in so many Days fully demonstrated the Plant to have gain'd a considerable Weight which he affirms to have been from Earth but then as I affirm'd before the question is what he calls Earth for if by that he means a pure simple Element viz. a Body consisting only of one size and figure then from what has been hinted before it is as absurd to deduce Vegetation from that as from Water I shall only beg leave to add an Experiment or two and so conclude I took the Seeds of Nymphaea or Water-Lilly when full ripe and put them in glass Vials in which they continued twelve Months I added fresh Water to them as the other evaporated the Seeds at the bottom of both Vials stood erect and emitted a pellucid Mucilage which stood in opposite Globules near the upper end of the Seed the Water deposited a great deal of green and earthy Matter but the Seed never vegetated or sprouted at all tho' this be a Water Plant. From this Experiment it is evident that besides Earth and Water barely consider'd as such other Bodies are necessary to the Vegetation of various Plants and probably to this a fat sulphureous Ouze in which it usually grows and has Roots of an immense Magnitude some I have seen as thick as the Thigh of a Man which were taken out of the Pond at Tabley in Cheshire when it was drein'd where the remaining Earth or Mud which was black and foetid was wholly over-spread with them This Instance I think may fairly serve to illustrate the Hypothesis that I have laid down concerning the Vegetation of Plants To these may be added those extraordinary Improvements made by Chandlers Ashes consisting of oily and saline Particles as likewise the Impost of Malpighius prepared with an Infusion of Sheep's Dung Pigeon's Dung and a small quantity of Nitre of which I saw an Instance the last Year at Edgecroft in Lancashire by which from a fourth part of Seed in the most barren part of the Field I saw a very luxuriant Crop It might do well for our Gentry who inhabit their Country Seats and Husbandmen thorowly to consider this since the right application of it to a proper Soil may be of so great Advantage and who knows what this even in the most cold and barren Ground may effect which hitherto for the greatest part hath lain useless but besides what is here offer'd their Interest may be a more inciting Argument to induce them to Tryals of this Nature But can there be had a more ample Demonstration of this Hypothesis than even from Water and Earth themselves How common is it to observe Earth by being long pent up to emit sulphureous Effluvia Hence we have foetid Smells by opening of Ditches and Sluces and hence probably it is that in Consumptive cases from plowed Grounds that have for a considerable time been Pasture many persons have received Benefit which must assuredly proceed from sulphureous benign Particles loosen'd from their Cells and convey'd to the Mass of Blood which by their activity obtund the saline Particles that make the Coagulum and in short prevent the putrifaction which brings on a Phthisis or Consumption And as to Water nothing is more common than it to grow nauseously foetid by long keeping which Phaenomenon sufficiently evinces the Existence of sulphureous Particles in that Element besides some sulphureous Waters in four Days by being close stopt become extremely foetid as St. Ann's at Buxton in Derbyshire which expos'd to open Air alters not at all nor has the least ungrateful smell The reason is because those sulphureous Effluvia which have spent themselves in a free Air are now forc'd by their confinement to unite with saline Particles and thence by their Points grate upon the Organ and are foetid and offensive It is likewise to be observ'd that if these sulphureous Particles are pent up in any Aquaeduct that then by their Collision upon one another they become excessive hot hence it is that the hot Baths at Aix la Chappel in the Bishop of Leige's Country are caused by retarding the hot Spring with a Stoppel and in a little time after by giving it Vent the Waters are render'd very hot and even too intense to be endur'd This Instance farther confirms our Hypothesis concerning the Heat in Baths and by this Phaenomenon it is evident that if the same Essay was put in practice at Buxton the Bath there might be brought to any
had been no Section made at B. but the part below b. to the Body increased not at all Figure fifth represents a young Hazet cut into the Body with a deep gash and the Parts of the Body above and below cleft upwards and downwards and the Splinters a. and b. by wedges kept off from touching each other or the rest of the Body these in the following Year were observed to be in the State represented in the sixth Figure that is the Splinter a. above the gash was grown very much but the Splinter b. below stood at a stay and grew not but the rest of the Body at c. grew as if there had been no gash made Figure seventh represents a like gash made just above the lowermost knot and the part Splinter'd or Cleft and Wedged off from each other and from the Body as before but there is left a Branch upon the lower Splinter to see what will be the state there of the next Year or in October next when it is probable by the other Experiments the lower Splinter and Branch upon it will be found to have grown and increased as the Splinter in the former Experiment did above the gash though not in the same Proportion Figure eight represents four young Poplar-Trees A. B. C. D. all of equal bigness growth situation and soil as near as cou'd be found these were order'd as is represented in the 9th Figure that is A. had all its Branches and Top cut off B. had all its Branches pruned off but it was left with a small head at the Top C. had its Branches cut about half way and those of the upper half left growing D. was left growing without being at all pruned or lopped the event was expected the success was found to be thus A. in the following Year shot out many Twigs round about but the Body encreased but little in height or bigness B. shot out likewise many Twigs where it had been pruned and the top Branches and top also encreased considerably and the Body also increased much more in height and bigness than did the former A. C. increased much more in all its parts than B. But D. increased in Limbs height and bigness most of all swelling in bigness and stretching in heighth and spreading in its Boughs much more than C. and in about ten Years time was more than four times as big as A. The same worthy Person also observed that all the Poplars that has been pruned died in the Great Frost 1684. in so much that in 25 that were so order'd he observed 19 to be killed by it and remaining to be very weak and hardly able to recover and increased very little in the following Years These Poplars were about 30 Foot high and had only a small head left at the Top unlopped of about 4 or 5 Foot and were pruned the Spring before the Great Frost He observed also that divers of those that had been pruned two Summers before the Frost were killed by it but not one of those that had been pruned at all were hurt by it He took notice likewise both in Lancashire and Cheshire that Trees of 60 Foot in height that had been pruned and had only a small top left were also killed by the said Frost whereas those of the same kind and heighth which stood near to them and had not been pruned continued to flourish and suffer'd no harm thereby Several of those Branches of about an inch Diameter and Trees that had been barked round as above theSpring before the Great Frost out-lived the Violence of the same and the preceding Winter Where these prunings had been tryed upon Trees Twenty Foot high the difference of their increase was sensible the following Summer but in 7 or 8 Years time the difference is Prodigious the unpruned Trees growing several times bigger than the others that were pruned both in Body and Branches ev'n to Admiration He hath often observed also that when the top Branches wou'd shoot out and grow two Foot or more in length the lower branches wou'd not shoot above four inches and farther that in the Branches of the Scotch-Firr the joints above the Rings barked round wou'd increase and grew much bigger in three than they wou'd in five Years if the said Rings were not cut of The same reason upon discoursing some other particular enquiries about the spreading and increase of the Roots assured that he had observed a very large Pinaster about two Foot and half Diameter and of an height proportionable viz. of about 20 Yards the lowest Boughs of which were about 30 Foot above the ground did spread and flourish on every side alike though it had no Root at all towards three quarters of its Situation but only toward one quarter into which it spread its Roots very far and large divers of them reaching above 70 or 80 Foot from the Body of the Tree the Reason of which spreading was occasion'd by its being Planted just within the square Angle of the Corner of a deep thick and strong Stone Wall which was a kind of Banking or Warfing against a River that ran by it this Tree I say though it had nourishment only from one Quarter of four to its Roots yet did the same flourish and spread equally on every side Upon consideration of these and divers other Observations and Experiments Mr. Brotherton is of Opinion 1. That the sap most of it if not all ascends in the Vessels of the Lignous part of the Tree and not in the Cortical part nor between the Cortical and Lignous Parts 2. That increase and growth of a Tree in thickness is by descent of the sap and not by the ascent and if there were no descent a Tree wou'd increase but very little if at all 3. That there is a continual Circulation of the sap all the Summer Season and during such time as the sap is stirring and not a descent at Michaelmas only as some have held To me it seems very probable that the Bodies of Plants as well as those of moving Animals are nourished and increased by a double Food the one an impregnated Water and the other an impregnated Air and that without a convenient supply of these two the Vegetable cannot subsist at least not increase these do mutually mix and coalesce and parts of the Air convert to Water and parts of Water to Air as some of these latter are rarify'd and freed from their Chains and become Spiritual and Airy so others of the forementioned are clogged and setter'd and become debased To this purpose all Plants as well as Animals have a twofold kind of Roots one that Branches and spreads into the Earth and another that spreads and shoots into the Air both kinds of Roots serve to receive and carry their proper nourishment to the Body of the Plant and both serve also to convey and carry off the useless Recrements Useless I mean any farther within the Body of the Plant though useful to it
which hath a fermenting virtue and leav'ns a Past exposed to the Air and at that time saith Pliny and Le Chambre the Nitre Pits grow full of Nitre and sands Vanssebius and several say that though 500 in a day die at Grand Cairo of the Plague before the beginning of the Inundation of the Nile yet the very day after there does not one die which doubtless cou'd not proceed from any other reason than because at that time the Air was impregnated with this volatile Alkaly for at that time the Nitre Pits grow full and this dew falls This I think may sufficiently hint to us the great use of its volatile Spirit Especially in Pestilential Distempers Lastly about that time the Nile begins to o'erflow those Specimens which we had here grew heavier by being exposed to the Air Here it is to be noted that this Alkaly is not made so by Fire I cannot therefore conclude with Helmont that all Alkalies are made so by that Element The next thing to be consider'd is its seperation from the Water in Latron of which the Learned Dr. Huntington who was at Nitria gives us this account There is a Town in Aegypt called Nitria which gives name to the Nitrian desert where there is a Lake called Latron taking up an Area of six or seven Acres situate about thirty Miles West and by South from Terena a Town lower upon the Nile than Grand Cairo and about the same distance Northwest from the Pyramids From the bottom of this Lake ariseth this sort of Nitre call'd Natron to the top as they do apprehend and there by the Heat of the Sun condenseth into this kind of substance that all the Nitre comes from the bottom to the Top I dare not affirm I shall therefore premise some Phoenomena it afforded in Evaporation before I give you my conjecture about it I took an Evaporating Glass which held about four Ounces and pour'd into it two Ounces of Nitrian Water this I set upon a sand Furnace giving it Fire by degrees as soon as the Water was warm the particles of Nitre began to swim upon its surface in stragling and uneven numbers these after a while United and afterwards there arose a Salt sufficient to Colour the whole superficies of the Water I took then a thin Glass and skinn'd off this Ice but cou'd scarce take it all of before it was seconded by another and thus the Salt did rise successively in Films as long as there was any Water in the Glass these Films had the Colour and taste of the Nitre that came from Nitria and did like it ferment with an Acid And these are they which by Pliny are called Flos Salis and if I mistake not the same with that which Herodotus saith they make their Mummy with if therefore by the Languishing heat of a Digesting Furnace the the Nitrous Particles cou'd seperate themselves from the Water and over that spread themselves in an Ice it may be as probable that by the greater heat of the Sun the Nitre of Latron is seperated from the Water after the same manner and as in the Evaporation of other mineral Waters when the Water is not strong enough to hold up the Salt it is generally cover'd with a thin Film so I suppose in the Evaporation of Natron some Particles of the Water being flown away the Particles of the Sal Marine branch one into another and so incrustate upon the surface of the Water In this Hypothesis I was the farther confirm'd by this Experiment I took some of the Natron and dissolved it in Water and set it to Evaporate and I found that the Salt did not incrustate upon the Water till three parts of the Water was Evaporated it did not therefore seem probable that all the Nitre came from the bottom to the top and so condensed by the heat of the Sun but that they incrustated when the saline Particles branched one into another some of the Aqueous parts being exhaled The reason why its volatile Alkaly in Evaporation does not fly quite away is because it is held there by the Sal Marine The next thing to be consider'd is its use in Physick by Pliny it is commended in Ulcers and Inflammations Palsey in the Tongue Consumptions Cholick Haemorhagies Purulent Ears and Intermitting Fevers By Galen it is said desiccat digerit Multo autem majus ejus spuma By Agricola its prescribed in the same cases commended as a Cephalick of wonderful success in the Griping of the Guts intermitting Fevers and the Leprosy Mathiolus commends it in the same cases By Hypocrates it is commended when the Menstrua are obstructed and again saith he purgat humores albos convenit in abortionibus ubi puer haud exierit he likewise commends it in some kinds of barrenness and to this Kircher in his Mundus subteraneus alludes when he says Nili aqua in potum redit non modo saluberrimum sed faecundandis mulieribus mite opportanum and Petrus Giurius gives us this memorable story out of Caesius that when Philadelphus King of Aegypt Married his Daughter Berenice to Antiochus King of the Assyrians he Commanded his Daughter to Drink of the Water of Nile that she might make her Husband happy in a numerous Off-Spring By the Testimony therefore of Hypocrates Galen Mathiolus Diascorides Pliny and Agricola it appears to have been of great use in Physick But here it is to be noted that when Nitre is prescribed by the foremention'd Authors that Nitre which is an ingredient in Gun-Powder is not to be understood Amongst the Moderns we have this account of it Monsieur du Closs is of Opinion that most of the Mineral-Waters in France are impregnated with this sort of Nitre and that all their Cures are done by it Molenbrochius affirms a Tincture of Aphronitum to be of wonderful Efficacy in the Stone this I the rather Credit because it is said by Iunken in his Medicus the Nitre of Nitria is of so piercing a Spirit that it will not permit either Stone or Rock to be thereabout And Ten Rine in his Meditations de Veteri Medicina affirms it to be of wonderful success in the same Distempers The next thing to be consider'd is its use in Agriculture and in Treating of this I think it convenient to premise one Phaenomenon which it afforded in Evaporation when the Salts had spread themselves over the Water in an Ice those thin Plates after a while wou'd break and ascend in perpendicular lines to the top of the Glass I do say therefore that Nitre may be said to fertilize the ground after this manner It s volatile Particles being by some subterraneous Fire or else by the heat of the Sun they do quickly ascend into the small Tubes of the Plant and by their Elastick Nature carry along with them or force before them those Particles which as they differently convene constitute the different parts of the Plant. But this conjecture will be made
from the foremention'd Dane is altogether fictitious nor do I believe there are Pearls either in Brunswick or any other part of the World yet known comparable to those in East-India the Mother of Pearl of the Oysters in those Parts being much finer than any discover'd here or in the West-Indies And if so by what has been observ'd it is most certain that the Pearls must be finer also which are only the most refin'd parts of those defecated Laminae of the Shell It is true indeed there are in fresh Waters hereabout Muscles of the magnitude he mentions which are commonly call'd Horse-Muscles of these vast numbers were found in the Pond at Tabley in Cheshire when it was drein'd but not any of them contain'd Pearls nor was the Fish palatable These I think may serve for a full Answer to Sandius's Hypothesis I shall not therefore transgress longer on the Reader 's patience but only take notice of the Phosphori or flashes of Fire in the Night-time frequently observable in Muscles and Oysters and so close this Head It is observable that these Fishes abound with a great quantity of volatile Sulphur and hence it is that in Tabid Cases as in scorbutic Atrophies they are of extraordinary use for their sulphureous Particles being communicated to the Mass of Blood they afresh inspirit and restore it to its due Circulation and then the Blood distributes its nourishment to the Body which before stagnated in several Capillaries where for want of a daily supply the Body emaciated Another confirmation of their great quantity of Sulphur is their extream foetidness upon Putrefaction which is as offensive as any preparation of Sulphur whatever These granted and that Flame it self is only a due quantity of sulphureous Particles put into a particular Motion and then again considering what vast numbers of those Particles abound in those Fishes and their extraordinary Activity it is easy to imagin how those Noctilucae or flashes in the Night-time when their Particles are not scatter'd by the Beams of the Sun may frequently be observ'd in them and it is probable that if some of our Virtuosi made their Experiments upon foetid Oysters they might more easily prepare the Phosphorus than from Blood Flesh or Urine which is the common but very tedious Process The Echini are common as likewise Torculars Whilkes and Periwinkles we have likewise another Fish shap'd like the Head of a Rabbit and thence call'd the Rabbit-Fish The Pap-Fish is common so call'd from the likeness it bears to a Nipple the Country People use them for their Nipples when sore which by guarding them from fretting on their Cloaths give relief These are the most remarkable of Sea-Fishes that I have observ'd in these Parts wherefore I shall in the next place descend to River and Pond-Fish and of these the most remarkable are the Salmon Sparling or Smelt and the Char as likewise Eeles in the River Erke near Manchester And of these I shall shew the difference and their manner of Generation and so conclude this Chapter The Rivers abound with great quantities of Salmon but chiefly those into which the Sea flows daily as Ribble Lune Wire and the Mersey in these there are considerable numbers taken but the most in Ribble and the Lune Concerning the Growth of these the Opinions are various some asserting that after the Salmon leaves the Sea she makes to fresh Rivers and constantly presses forward till she gains the Shallows and in the Sands Stones and Pebbles deposites her Spawn or Eggs upon which the Male ejects a Milk which fecundates them and so the formation of the Foetus is begun which first is stiled a Salmon-Smelt the second Year a Sprod the third a Mort the fourth a Forktail the fifth a Runner and the sixth a Salmon Others assert that the Salmon comes to its Maturity in one Year and the Morts Forktails and Runners are a distinct species of Salmon and will never attain to the magnitude of a grown Salmon and that because as they alledge several of these have been put into Ponds and never arriv'd to any other pitch of greatness Now it is certain that the Salmon are always best and grow most when they immediately leave the Seas and by their continuance in fresh Waters they still decline and wax leaner when they first quit the Seas their Flesh is firm and well-tasted and at that time they have often abundance of little Insects upon them which the Fishermen call the Salmon Lowse and it is then that she is best in season The Fishermen will actly tell you by observing of these how long they have left the Seas but upon their continuance long in the Freshes they become extreamly lean and not at all palatable so that 't is probable if these Morts and Sprods which were taken into Ponds and did not encrease at all 't was because they were out of their proper Food and so consequently instead of growing did emaciate for 't is most certain when they deserted the salt Water 't was not for any Food they expected in fresh Rivers but indeed to reach the Shallows as well for the preservation as propagation of their Fry which in the Deeps would be destroy'd by other Fishes so admirable is the Conduct of Providence even in the meanest of Creatures Tho' the Rivers are frequently stemm'd and barricado'd with Weares of a considerable height yet 't is wonderful to observe how they will leap over these to gain the Shallows to deposite their Spawn since therefore the Smelt comes down from the Shallows and makes towards the salt Waters 't is probable that the fresh Rivers are disagreeable to them and since the Sprod seems to be the same Fish of another Years growth and the rest likewise gradually till they compleat the Salmon it self I am rather inclin'd to adhere to the former Opinion for why should not there in this as in other Creatures be a gradual Encrease I apprehend not any convincing Reason to the contrary nor do I believe Nature here alters her establish'd Methods in arriving to a full Growth and Maturity The next remarkable Fish is the Char and that is found in Winder-Meer in Westmoreland and no where else that I know of except in Conningston-Meer in Lancashire This Fish is not very unlike a Trout only the Flesh is much more red and when Potted 't is most delicious Meat of these great quantities are yearly sent to London from Kendall and Lancaster 'T is likewise observable that these Fishes are only found in one part of Winder-Meer the other part being destitute of them which perhaps may be occasion'd by the Pikes taken there in great quantities There is another Fish taken there not unlike the Char but something less nor is the Flesh quite so red The Water is extraordinary clear and contains several small Islands in one of which Sr. Christopher Philipson once resided and in another a Hermite a Relation of Sr. Francis Sawcole's who for some
Years subsisted only on Roots and Fish and never went to Bed but is now dead What farther may be said in relation to the Char was communicated to me by my honour'd Friend and Relation Sr. Daniel Flemming of Rydall in the County of Westmoreland Winder-Meer says he according to the English Saxon is Windal-Meer which some think to be so denominated from the great Winds frequent there others from its winding and turning in and out and others from a Person 's Name as well as that of Thurston-Meer now call'd Coningston-Water in Lancashire and that of Ulfes now stiled Uls-Water in Cumberland which are both near thereunto which makes the last Conjecture the most probable This Lough Lake or Meer is about a Mile in breadth and ten Miles in length with great variety of crooked Banks which afford an agreeable Prospect it is in several places of a great Depth and produces many kinds of Fish as the Char Salmon Pike Bass Pearch Eeles c. This Lake by some is plac'd in Lancashire but by others in Westmoreland which is the more likely since the Fishery thereof belongs to the Barony of Kendall a Town of great Trade particularly for Cottons and the most noted in that County This Meer is the largest in England and looks as if it was pav'd or flagg'd at the bottom with square Stones a sight diverting enough in Fishing Our learned Clarenceux was impos'd upon when he was inform'd that the Char was a Fish peculiar to Winder-Meer since in Coningston-Meer within five Miles a Char much fairer and more serviceable is caught The Char is a sort of Fish about a quarter long somewhat like a Trout and generally red belly'd there are three sorts the Male which is large with a red Belly but the Flesh thereof somewhat white having a soft Roe and is call'd the Milting-Char the Female Char is large but not so red-belly'd the Flesh is very red within being full of hard Roes or Spawn which our Philosophers in their Discoveries sufficiently demonstrate to be the Ova or Eggs of the Fish which are fecundated by a Milk injected on them by the Male and perfected by the kind influence of the Sun the Ova thus impregnated are buried by the Female in Slutch or Sand near the adjacent Banks and so receive Invigoration these are commonly call'd the Roving Charrs the third sort having no Roe is commonly call'd the Gelt Char. These Charrs differ from the Welsh Torgough a Fish taken in Carnarvan-shire and the Switzerland Rentel these being probably the same with the Case a sort of Fish something like the Char but spawning at a different time and caught in the River Brathy that runs into Winder-Meer The Char is not to be caught by Angling or any other Method but by Nets they keep generally in the deepest parts of the Water and are most commonly caught in the coldest Weather when the Banks are cover'd with Snow the Char never swims out of the Meer but the Case is taken in divers Rivers The River Erke is remarkable for Eeles which I think I may affirm to be the fattest in England and indeed to that degree of fatness that they almost nauseate and this a late Author a Gentleman of a considerable Estate near Manchester chiefly attributes to the Fat Grease and Oyls which by the Woke-Mills are expressed from the Woolen Cloaths and so mixed with the Water And indeed considering the number of these Mills standing upon that River and the extraordinary fatness of the Eeles I do not think the Conjecture amiss It may now be worth our time to make Enquiry into the manner of the Generation of this kind of Fish I could not in these by any Dissection I ever made observe the distinction of Male and Female which has given occasion to some to conjecture they came from the middle Region since Ponds and Pits are found frequently full of them in w ch none had ever been deposited and therefore 't is concluded that their Ova being so small as not to be discern'd by ocular Inspection they might be exhal'd with the Waters and consequently fall down with the Rains and when these happen'd to fall into Rivers and Ponds they by the influence of the Sun begin and compleat their Generation But whence arose those Ova to be thus exhal'd they must needs claim some Origin or Formation before they ascended to the middle Region there is no doubt but the Rains are oftentimes saturated with Ova of divers Species as may be seen by Putrifaction of the Water in which an infinite number of small Worms are discern'd these indeed may be small Ova wafted up by the Winds and descending with the Rains It is affirm'd in Russia and Lithuania after excessive Showers that the Ground is almost cover'd with Creatures not unlike Mice which often produce by their corrupting pestilential Fevers which in some occasion'd the like Conjecture yet this Phaenomenon may admit of another solution for why may not those Creatures be there generated and after the fall of those Rains desert their Cells or Latebrae to bask upon the surface of the Ground as we daily see here in Frogs and Worms and other Reptiles However it is the Ponds that were never stored may be supply'd other ways for it is usual for Eeles to quit the Pits and creep into the Grass and Ditches and this I have often observ'd having found Eeles in the midst of Fields remote from any Pit by which means other Ponds may be replenish'd with this kind of Fish for my part I shall not determine the Point but these being industrious Ages by the assistance of Microscopes which are daily improv'd others may give us farther satisfaction in this Matter But I cannot here omit that remarkable Experiment of the most ingenious Lewenhooke who in this Creature was the first that gave us an ocular Demonstration of the Circulation of the Blood and beyond contradiction has made it manifest that the Vein and Artery are one continued Canal shewing a Pulsation in one part of the Vessel and none in the other but that the Blood slowly creeping on the Arteries at their Extremities form a kind of Semicircle so that the strait Line being terminated the Systole of the Heart at so great a distance is not able to affect a Curve for we must imagin the Pulse to be extreamly weak at the Extremities of the Arteries for when a Vessel deviates from the direct Line of the Power it thence ceases to be affected with it and hence it is that the Veins tho' they are continued Vessels with the Arteries have no Pulsation at all What is said of this Fish generating with Vipers is trifling and ridiculous for whoever examins the Parts of these two Creatures subservient to Generation will find it wholly impossible the Male Viper containing a Penis and the Female Ova and Ovaria but in Eeles neither are discernible The next remarkable Experiment in this Fish is the long continued Systole