ticulars, many of them quaint enough; as the making of artificial Earth-quakes, the authorizing new Revelations, or Pretenfions of Prophets, working fham Miracles; converting of debauched Perfons by means of Phofphorus; and making ftrange Alterations of Colours in chemical Liquors, by proper preparation of the Glaffes, In the Art of Cookery, which depends much on Salt, In Cookery. as the great Prefervative of Meats from Putrifaction, &c. In the Art of Wines, or making ar- In the Art tificial Liquors of most of the common kinds of of Wines. Fruits, to vye with that made from the Juice of the Grape. In the Art of Brewing, which is fo In Brewnear of kin to Chemistry, that Bafil Valentine ing. has given the whole Doctrine of Alchemy, under a Description of the Process of Brewing. The laft Üfe of Chemistry which the Author alledges, is in Alchemy, or the Search of certain In AlcheSecrets of wonderful ufe in the Affairs of Life; my. the principal of these are the Philofopher's Stone, either for making Gold or Silver; the Exaltation of the Virtue of this Stone, fo as to make it turn Gold back again to the Philofopher's Stone: an univerfal Ferment, that is, a Body which if added to any other natural Body, will render it the moft perfect of its kind; for inftance, if applied to the Body of a Man, will become an univerfal Medicine, changing all his Humours so as to render him perfectly healthy, and preserve him fo till Life is totally worn away; or if apply'd to a Plant, will make it fruitful to an incredible degree. Another Secret is the making precious Stones perfectly like the native ones; the laft is to ripen the bafer and imperfect Metals into Gold, by continuing the Coction and Depuration, which Nature had left unfinished. The Inftru ments of Chemistry P. 124. Fire. The Author proceeds hence to the Inftruments of Chemistry, which are principally fix, viz. Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Menftruums; and laftly, the chemical Furniture of Veffels, Furnaces, and Lutes: each whereof makes the subject of a particular Chapter. Fire is a Body of fo wonderful a nature, that many of the Antients reputed it as a God. A Criterion Criterion of this is in the firft place neceffary to of Fire. enable us to distinguish where it is, and where not; as alfo in what Degree and Quantity it is found in any occafion. Heat ufually paffes for fuch a Criterion, but is infufficient: for that depending on the Temperature of our Bodies, which is various, it is liable to reprefent the Degree of Fire greater, or lefs than it is.-Light is no lefs fallacious; fince we often find it without any fenfible Heat, and on the contrary an intenfe Heat without Light.-The Author fixes on RaRarefac refaction, as the proper infeparable Characteristic of Fire, which in all the Species of it, whether folar, culinary, or fubterraneous, fwells and dilates all the Bodies it is applied to. tion. This he illuftrates by Experiments made in Iron, Air, Spirit of Wine, Rain-water, Oil of Turpentine, and Quickfilver; all which gradually expand upon the Application or Increase of Heat, and shrink again as the Fire diminishes, or is withdrawn. He adds, that the fame holds in all other Bodies wherein the Experiment ever has been tried, whether Solids or Fluids, hard or foft Bodies, light or heavy ones, without exception; and hence draws feveral Corollaries, as, That the Expanfion always keeps pace with the reception of the Fire; That not only the Air and other Fluids, but all the Parts even of the hardeft Bodies, must be kept in continual motion by this . this Action of Fire: That the fame Bodies become bigger in hot Countries than in cold; and that Heat loofens and weakens, and Cold, on the contrary, contracts and ftrengthens all Bodies: That Fluids are lighter near the Equator, and heavier towards the Poles; which he fuggefts may be one caufe of the flat spheroidal figure of the Earth, &c. From the whole he Fire what. ventures to define Fire, as that otherwise un"known Principle which has the power of penetrating, and hereby dilating all Bodies "both folid and fluid." Fuel, After the like Method of Experiment, and Properties Corollary, the Author proceeds to a detail of the of Fire and Properties and Phænomena of Fire and Fuel. We fhall not follow him minutely thro' all the maze of particulars; but in lieu thereof give the Sum, and Result thereof, under the following heads. -Bodies. 1. That pure, fimple and elementary Fire be- p. 358. ing mixed with any Body in nature hitherto ob- Rarefies ferved, whether folid, fluid, or compounded of both, rarefies and extends the fame in all its Dimenfions. 2. That this Power of Rarefaction is peculiar to Fire, and not known to agree to any other Body hitherto obferved; particularly that Effervefcences, Fermentations, and unusual Rarefactions of Bodies prove nothing contrary hereto. 3. That Fire, as diftinguish'd by fuch its Pro- Is prefent perty, is always prefent and in all places, in the every denfeft and clofeft Body, as well as the moft perfect Vacuum. where. 4. That Fire is equally distributed thro' all Equally. places and times, fo long as there is no particular Caufe to collect it into one place more than another. 5. That collects Attrition 5. That the firft and chief collecting Cause of Fire, is the Attrition of Bodies one upon another. 6. That Fire naturally moves every way, and thus expands of its own accord. Fire. Expansion. Directed 7. But in the mean while it may be fo deterinto a Pa- min'd, as that this motion or expanfion may be rallelifm. directed into a Parallelifm, or even into converging Lines and that this latter is the usual way wherein Fire is collected. Sun, its Of fice. Reflection, 8. That the Sun is the chief cause which directs Fire, of itself indeterminate, into a Parallelifm; and hence the great ufe of that Luminary in the Universe. 9. That Reflection and Refraction are the caufes which make the Rays of Fire converge, or gather into a lefs Space, called the Focus. Whence arifes a third manner of collecting Fire. Collifion of 10. The fwift Collifion of a cold Flint against Flint and a cold Steel, even in the coldest Place and SeaSteel. fon, will immediately produce an intense Heat: which is the fourth manner of collecting Fire. 12. That the Matter of Fire therefore does not come in any manner from the Sun. 13. That Fire will remain for some time in Bodies it is united to. 14. And that the time of its continuance in any Body, is proportionable to the Density thereof. 15. That there is no Body yet known, which can always retain the Fire it has once conceived. 16. That the Fire defcrib'd by these fifteen tary Fire. Characters, is that which all allow for elementary Fire. Elemen Culinary Fire. 17. But befide this, there is another vulgar Fire, which confumes and diffipates combuftible Bodies, and is fuppos'd to be fed thereby, and to convert combuftible Bodies into Fire Fire itfelf. This is fuppos'd to be then generated or produced, when a Fire being kindled, is committed, in the open Air, to a Fuel proper to preferve it: which makes the fourth and most ordinary manner of collecting Fire. 18. That there is but one Matter found in all Fuel. nature fit to fupport this Fire, and to be utterly confum'd thereby, fo as nothing fhall arife from Alcohol. it befides pure Flame; and this matter is perfect- what, ly rectified Spirit of Wine, called pure Alcobol. 19. But that other matters befide pure Alcobol being mixed with the Fuel of Fire, and coming to be moved and agitated together with the other Pabulum, by the Fire, may increase the power thereof. 20. That in kindling Fire, therefore, there is no new Fire produced, nor any Fire destroyed upon extinguishing it: that Fire is incapable of being chang'd, and in all probability is without gravity, notwithstanding all that Boyle and Homberg have faid to the contrary, whose Experiments the Author rehearses and opposes, by contrary ones of his own. 21. This elementary Fire may be increased in a given place to a prodigious degree, fo as to produce very extraordinary Effects on Bodies, either dioptrically or catoptrically, and especially if both be joined together. 22. Elementary Fire collected after any of thefe manners in a certain place, may be preferved therein, by means of a proper Pabulum, which is Alcohol alone, or Oil from any of the three Kingdoms; but the Fire collected and fuf- Increase of tained in fuch place, may also be immensely in- Fire. creased by increafing the weight of the Atmofphere, fupplying a large quantity of oily Fuel, intimately mixed with a due Proportion of other heaviest |