The Sceptical Chymist Part 3

I consider then (resumes _Carneades_) that, not to mention those improper Kinds of mistion, wherein _h.o.m.ogeneous_ Bodies are Joyn'd, as when Water is mingl'd with water, or two Vessels full of the same kind of Wine with one another, the mistion I am now to Discourse of seems, Generally speaking, to be but an Union _per Minima_ of any two or more Bodies of differing Denominations; as when Ashes and Sand are Colliquated into Gla.s.s or Antimony, and Iron into _Regulus Martis_, or Wine and Water are mingl'd, and Sugar is dissolv'd in the Mixture. Now in this general notion of Mistion it does not appear clearly comprehended, that the _Miscibilia_ or Ingredients do in their small Parts so retain their Nature and remain distinct in the Compound, that they may thence by the Fire be again taken asunder: For though I deny not that in some Mistions of certain permanent Bodies this Recovery of the same Ingredients may be made, yet I am not convinc'd that it will hold in all or even in most, or that it is necessarily deducible from Chymicall Experiments, and the true Notion of Mistion. To explain this a little, I a.s.sume, that Bodies may be mingl'd, and that very durably, that are not Elementary or resolv'd [Errata: nor have been resolved] into Elements or Principles that they may be mingl'd; as is evident in the _Regulus_ of Colliquated Antimony, and Iron newly mention'd; and in Gold Coyne, which lasts so many ages; wherein generally the Gold is alloy'd by the mixture of a quant.i.ty, greater or lesser, (in our Mints they use about a 12th. part) of either silver, or Copper, or both. Next, I consider, that there being but one Universal matter of things, as 'tis known that the _Aristotelians_ themselves acknowledge, who call it _Materia Prima_ (about which nevertheless I like not all their Opinions,) the Portions of this matter seem to differ from One Another, but in certain Qualities or Accidents, fewer or more; upon whose Account the Corporeal Substance they belong to receives its Denomination, and is referr'd to this or that particular sort of Bodies; so that if it come to lose, or be depriv'd of those Qualities, though it ceases not to be a body, yet it ceases from being that kind of Body as a Plant, or Animal; or Red, Green, Sweet, Sowre, or the like. I consider that it very often happens that the small parts of Bodies cohere together but by immediate Contact and Rest; and that however, there are few Bodies whose minute Parts stick so close together, to what cause soever their Combination be ascrib'd, but that it is possible to meet with some other Body, whose small Parts may get between them, and so dis-joyn them; or may be fitted to cohere more strongly with some of them, then those some do with the rest; or at least may be combin'd so closely with them, as that neither the Fire, nor the other usual Instruments of Chymical Anatomies will separate them. These things being promis'd, I will not peremptorily deny, but that there may be some Cl.u.s.ters of Particles, wherein the Particles are so minute, and the Coherence so strict, or both, that when Bodies of Differing Denominations, and consisting of such durable Cl.u.s.ters, happen to be mingl'd, though the Compound Body made up of them may be very Differing from either of the Ingredients, yet each of the little Ma.s.ses or Cl.u.s.ters may so retain its own Nature, as to be again separable, such as it was before. As when Gold and Silver being melted together in a Due Proportion (for in every Proportion, the Refiners will tell You that the Experiment will not succeed) _Aqua Fortis_ will dissolve the Silver, and leave the Gold untoucht; by which means, as you lately noted, both the Metalls may be recover'd from the mixed Ma.s.s. But (Continues _Carneades_) there are other Cl.u.s.ters wherein the Particles stick not so close together, but that they may meet with Corpuscles of another Denomination, which are dispos'd to be more closely United with some of them, then they were among themselves. And in such case, two thus combining Corpuscles losing that Shape, or Size, or Motion, or other Accident, upon whose Account they were endow'd with such a Determinate Quality or Nature, each of them really ceases to be a Corpuscle of the same Denomination it was before; and from the Coalition of these there may emerge a new Body, as really one, as either of the Corpuscles was before they were mingl'd, or, if you please, Confounded: Since this Concretion is really endow'd with its own Distinct qualities, and can no more by the Fire, or any other known way of _a.n.a.lysis_, be divided again into the Corpuscles that at first concurr'd to make it, than either of them could by the same means be subdivided into other Particles. But (sayes _Eleutherius_) to make this more intelligible by particular examples; If you dissolve Copper in _Aqua Fortis_, or Spirit of Nitre, (for I remember not which I us'd, nor do I think it much Material) You may by Crystalizing the Solution Obtain a goodly Vitriol; which though by Virtue of the Composition it have manifestly diverse Qualities, not to be met with in either of the Ingredients, yet it seems that the Nitrous Spirits, or at least many of them, may in this Compounded Ma.s.s retain their former Nature; for having for tryal sake Distill'd this Vitrioll Spirit, there came over store of Red Fumes, which by that Colour, by their peculiar stinke, and by their Sourness, manifested themselves to be, Nitrous Spirits; and that the remaining Calx continu'd Copper, I suppose you'l easily beleeve. But if you dissolve _Minium_, which is but Lead Powder'd by the Fire, in good Spirit of Vinager, and Crystalize the Solution, you shall not only have a Saccharine Salt exceedingly differing from both its Ingredients; but the Union of some Parts of the _Menstruum_ with some of those of the Metal is so strict, that the Spirit of Vinager seems to be, as such, destroy'd, since the Saline Corpuscles have quite lost that acidity, upon whose Account the Liquor was call'd Spirit of Vinager; nor can any such Acid Parts as were put to the _Minium_ be Separated by any known way from the _Saccharum Saturni_ resulting from them both; for not only there is no Sowrness at all, but an admirable Sweetness to be tasted in the Concretion; and not only I found not that Spirit of Wine, which otherwise will immediately hiss when mingl'd with strong Spirit of Vinager, would hiss being pour'd upon _Saccharum Saturni_, wherein yet the Acid Salt of Vinager, did it Survive, may seem to be concentrated; but upon the Distillation of _Saccharum Saturni_ by its Self I found indeed a Liquor very Penetrant, but not at all Acid, and differing as well in smell and other Qualities, as in tast, from the Spirit of Vinager; which likewise seem'd to have left some of its Parts very firmly united to the _Caput Mortuum_, which though of a Leaden Nature was in smell, Colour, &c. differing from _Minium_; which brings into my mind, that though two Powders, the one Blew, and the other Yellow, may appear a Green mixture, without either of them losing its own Colour, as a good Microscope has sometimes inform'd me; yet having mingl'd _Minium_ and _Sal Armoniack_ in a requisite Proportion, and expos'd them in a Gla.s.s Vessel to the Fire, the whole Ma.s.s became White, and the Red Corpuscles were destroy'd; for though the Calcin'd Lead was separable from the Salt, yet you'l easily beleeve it did not part from it in the Forme of a Red Powder, such as was the _Minium_, when it was put to the _Sal Armoniack_. I leave it also to be consider'd, whether in Blood, and divers other Bodies, it be probable, that each of the Corpuscles that concurr to make a Compound Body doth, though some of them in some Cases may, retain its own Nature in it, so that Chymsts [Transcriber's Note: Chymists] may Extricate each sort of them from all the others, wherewith it concurr'd to make a Body of one Denomination.

I know there may be a Distinction betwixt Matter _Immanent_, when the material Parts remain and retain their own Nature in the things materiated, as some of the Schoolmen speak, (in which sence Wood, Stones and Lime are the matter of a House,) and _Transient_, which in the materiated thing is so alter'd, as to receive a new Forme, without being capable of re-admitting again the Old. In which sence the Friends of this Distinction say, that _Chyle_ is the matter of Blood, and Blood that of a Humane Body, of all whose Parts 'tis presum'd to be the Aliment. I know also that it may be said, that of material Principles, some are _common_ to all mixt Bodies, as _Aristotles_ four Elements, or the Chymists _Tria Prima_; others _Peculiar_, which belong to this or that sort of Bodies; as b.u.t.ter and a kind of whey may be said to be the Proper Principles of Cream: and I deny not, but that these Distinctions may in some Cases be of Use; but partly by what I have said already, and partly by what I am to say, You may easily enough guess in what sence I admit them, and discerne that in such a sence they will either ill.u.s.trate some of my Opinions, or at least will not overthrow any of them.

To prosecute then what I was saying before, I will add to this purpose, That since the Major part of Chymists Credit, what those they call Philosophers affirme of their Stone, I may represent to them, that though when Common Gold and Lead are mingled Together, the Lead may be sever'd almost un-alter'd from the Gold; yet if instead of Gold a _Tantillum_ of the Red _Elixir_ be mingled with the Saturn, their Union will be so indissoluble in the perfect Gold that will be produc'd by it, that there is no known, nor perhaps no possible way of separating the diffus'd _Elixir_ from the fixed Lead, but they both Const.i.tute a most permanent Body, wherein the Saturne seems to have quite lost its Properties that made it be call'd Lead, and to have been rather trans.m.u.ted by the _Elixir_, then barely a.s.sociated to it.

So that it seems not alwayes necessary, that the Bodies that are put together _per minima_, should each retain its own Nature; So as when the Ma.s.s it Self is dissipated by the Fire, to be more dispos'd to re-appear in its Pristine Forme, then in any new one, which by a stricter a.s.sociation of its Parts with those of some of the other Ingredients of the _Compositum_, then with one another, it may have acquired.

And if it be objected, that unless the _Hypothesis_ I oppose be admitted, in such Cases as I have proposed there would not be an Union but a Destruction of mingled Bodies, which seems all one as to say, that of such Bodies there is no mistion at all; I answer, that _though_ the Substances that are mingl'd remain, only their Accidents are Destroy'd, and _though_ we may with tollerable Congruity call them _Miscibilia_, because they are Distinct Bodies before they are put together, however afterwards they are so Confounded that I should rather call them Concretions, or Resulting Bodies, than mixt ones; and _though_, perhaps, some other and better Account may be propos'd, upon which the name of mistion may remain; yet if what I have said be thought Reason, I shall not wrangle about Words, though I think it fitter to alter a Terme of Art, then reject a new Truth, because it suits not with it. If it be also Objected that this Notion of mine, concerning mixtion, though it may be allow'd, when Bodies already Compounded are put to be mingl'd, yet it is not applicable to those mixtions that are immediately made of the Elements, or Principles themselves; I Answer in the first place, that I here Consider the Nature of mixtion somewhat more Generally, then the Chymists, who yet cannot deny that there are oftentimes Mixtures, and those very durable ones, made of Bodies that are not Elementary. And in the next place, that though it may be probably pretended that in those Mixtures that are made immediately of the Bodies that are call'd Principles or Elements, the mingl'd Ingredients may better retain their own Nature in the Compounded Ma.s.s, and be more easily separated from thence; yet, besides that it may be doubted, whether there be any such Primary Bodies, I see not why the reason I alleadg'd, of the destructibility of the Ingredients of Bodies in General, may not sometimes be Applicable to Salt Sulphur or Mercury; 'till it be shewn upon what account we are to believe them Priviledged. And however, (if you please but to recall to mind, to what purpose I told you at First, I meant to speak of Mistion at this Time) you will perhaps allow that what I have hitherto Discoursed about it may not only give some Light to the Nature of it in general (especially when I shall have an Opportunity to Declare to you my thoughts on that subject more fully) but may on some Occasions also be Serviceable to me in the Insuing Part of this Discourse.

But, to look back Now to that part of our Discourse, whence this Excursion concerning Mistion has so long diverted us, though we there Deduc'd, from the differing Substances obtained from a Plant nourished only with Water, and from some other things, that it was not necessary that nature should alwaies compound a Body at first of all such differing bodies as the fire could afterwards make it afford; yet this is not all that may be collected from those Experiments. For from them there seems also Deducible something that Subverts an other Foundation of the Chymical Doctrine. For since that (as we have seen) out of fair Water alone, not only Spirit, but Oyle, and Salt, and Earth may be Produced; It will follow that Salt and Sulphur are not Primogeneal Bodies, and principles, since they are every Day made out of plain Water by the Texture which the Seed or Seminal principle of plants puts it into. And this would not perhaps seem so strange, if through pride, or negligence, We were not Wont to Overlook the Obvious and Familiar Workings of Nature; For if We consider what slight Qualities they are that serve to denominate one of the _Tria Prima_, We shall find that Nature do's frequently enough work as great Alterations in divers parcells of matter: For to be readily dissoluble in water, is enough to make the body that is so, pa.s.se for a Salt. And yet I see not why from a new shufling and Disposition of the Component Particles of a body, it should be much harder for Nature to compose a body dissoluble in Water, of a portion of Water that was not so before, then of the Liquid substance of an Egg, which will easily mix with Water, to produce by the bare warmth of a hatching Hen, Membrans, Feathers, Tendons, and other parts, that are not dissoluble in Water as that Liquid Substance was: Nor is the Hardness and Brittleness of Salt more difficult for Nature to introduce into such a yielding body as Water, then it is for her to make the Bones of a Chick out of the tender Substance of the Liquors of an Egg. But instead of prosecuting this consideration, as I easily might, I will proceed, as soon as I have taken notice of an objection that lies in my Way. For I easily foresee it will be alledged, that the above mentioned Examples are all taken from Plants, and Animals, in whom the Matter is Fas.h.i.+oned by the Plastick power of the seed, or something a.n.a.logous thereunto. Whereas the Fire do's not act like any of the Seminal Principles, but destroyes them all, when they come within its Reach. But to this I shall need at present to make but this easy Answer, That whether it be a Seminal Principle, or any other which fas.h.i.+ons that Matter after those various manners I have mentioned to You, yet 'tis Evident, that either by the Plastick principle Alone, or that and Heat Together, or by some Other cause capable to contex the matter, it is yet possible that the matter may be Anew contriv'd into such Bodies. And 'tis only for the Possibility of this that I am now contending.

THE

SCEPTICAL CHYMIST.

_The Third Part._

What I have hitherto Discours'd, _Eleutherius_, (sayes his Friend to Him) has, I presume, shew'n You, that a Considering Man may very well question the Truth of those very Suppositions which Chymists as well as Peripateticks, without proving, take for granted; and upon which Depends the Validity of the Inferences they draw from their Experiments. Wherefore having dis.p.a.ch't that, which though a Chymist Perhaps will not, yet I do, look upon as the most Important, as well as Difficult, part of my Task, it will now be Seasonable for me to proceed to the Consideration of the Experiments themselves, wherein they are wont so much to Triumph and Glory. And these will the rather deserve a serious Examination, because those that Alledge them are wont to do it with so much Confidence and Ostentation, that they have hitherto impos'd upon almost all Persons, without excepting Philosophers and Physitians themselves, who have read their Books, or heard them talk. For some learned Men have been content rather to beleeve what they so boldly Affirm, then be at the trouble and charge, to try whether or no it be True. Others again, who have Curiosity enough to Examine the Truth of what is Averr'd, want Skill and Opportunity to do what they Desire. And the Generality even of Learned Men, seeing the Chymists (not contenting themselves with the Schools to amuse the World with empty words) Actually Perform'd divers strange things, and, among those Resolve Compound Bodies into several Substances not known by former Philosophers to be contain'd in them: Men I say, seeing these Things, and Hearing with what Confidence Chymists Averr the Substances Obtain'd from Compound Bodies by the Fire to be the True Elements, or, (as they speak) Hypostaticall Principles of them, are forward to think it but Just as well as Modest, that according to the _Logicians_ Rule, the Skilfull _Artists_ should be Credited in their own Art; Especially when those things whose Nature they so Confidently take upon them to teach others are not only Productions of their own Skill, but such as others Know not else what to make of.

But though (Continues _Carneades_) the Chymists have been able upon some or other of the mention'd Acounts, not only to Delight but Amaze, and almost to bewitch even Learned Men; yet such as You and I, who are not unpractis'd in the Trade, must not suffer our Selves to be impos'd upon by hard Names, or bold a.s.sertions; nor to be dazl'd by that Light which should but a.s.sist us to discern things the more clearly. It is one thing to be able to help Nature to produce things, and another thing to Understand well the Nature of the things produc'd. As we see, that many Persons that can beget Children, are for all that as Ignorant of the Number and Nature of the parts, especially the internal ones, that Const.i.tute a Childs Body, as they that never were Parents. Nor do I Doubt, but you'l excuse me, if as I thank the Chymists for the things their _a.n.a.lysis_ shews me, so I take the Liberty to consider how many, and what they are, without being astonish'd at them; as if, whosoever hath Skill enough to shew men some new thing of his own making, had the Right to make them believe whatsoever he pleases to tell them concerning it.

Wherefore I will now proceed to my Third General Consideration, which is, That it does not appear, that _Three_ is precisely and Universally the Number of the Distinct Substances or Elements, whereinto mixt Bodies are resoluble by the Fire; I mean that 'tis not prov'd by Chymists, that all the Compound Bodies, which are granted to be perfectly mixt, are upon their Chymical _a.n.a.lysis_ divisible each of them into just Three Distinct Substances, neither more nor less, which are wont to be lookt upon as Elementary, or may as well be reputed so as those that are so reputed. Which last Clause I subjoyne, to prevent your Objecting, that some of the Substances I may have occasion to mention by and by, are not perfectly h.o.m.ogeneous, nor Consequently worthy of the name of Principles. For that which I am now to consider, is, into how many Differing Substances, that may plausibly pa.s.s for the Elementary Ingredients of a mix'd Body, it may be a.n.a.lyz'd by the Fire; but whether each of these be un-compounded, I reserve to examine, when I shall come to the next General Consideration; where I hope to evince, that the Substances which the Chymists not only allow, but a.s.sert to be the Component Principles of the Body resolv'd into them, are not wont to be uncompounded.

Now there are two Kind of Arguments (pursues _Carneades_) which may be brought to make my Third Proposition seem probable; one sort of them being of a more Speculative Nature, and the other drawn from Experience. To begin then with the first of these.

But as _Carneades_ was going to do as he had said, _Eleutherius_ interrupted him, by saying with a somewhat smiling countenance;

If you have no mind I should think, that the Proverb, _That Good Wits have bad Memories_, is Rational and Applicable to You, You must not Forget now you are upon the Speculative Considerations, that may relate to the Number of the Elements; that your Self did not long since Deliver and Concede some Propositions in Favour of the Chymical Doctrine, which I may without disparagement to you think it uneasie, even for _Carneades_ to answer.

I have not, replies he, Forgot the Concessions you mean; but I hope too, that you have not forgot neither with what Cautions they were made, when I had not yet a.s.sumed the Person I am now sustaining. But however, I shall to content You, so discourse of my Third general consideration, as to let You see, That I am not Unmindful of the things you would have me remember.

To talk then again according to such principles as I then made use of, I shall represent, that if it be granted rational to suppose, as I then did, that the Elements consisted at first of certain small and primary Coalitions of the minute Particles of matter into Corpuscles very numerous, and very like each other, It will not be absurd to conceive, that such primary Cl.u.s.ters may be of far more sorts then three or five; and consequently, that we need not suppose, that in each of the compound Bodies we are treating of there should be found just three sorts of such primitive Coalitions, as we are speaking of.

And if according to this Notion we allow a considerable number of differing Elements, I may add, that it seems very possible, that to the const.i.tution of one sort of mixt Bodies two kinds of Elementary ones may suffice (as I lately Exemplify'd to you, in that most durable Concrete, Gla.s.s,) another sort of Mixts may be compos'd of three Elements, another of four, another of five, and another perhaps of many more. So that according to this Notion, there can be no determinate number a.s.sign'd, as that of the Elements; of all sorts of compound Bodies whatsoever, it being very probable that some Concretes consist of fewer, some of more Elements. Nay, it does not seem Impossible, according to these Principles, but that there may be two sorts of Mixts, whereof the one may not have any of all the same Elements as the other consists of; as we oftentimes see two words, whereof the one has not any one of the Letters to be met with in the other; or as we often meet with diverse Electuaries, in which no Ingredient (except Sugar) is common to any two of them. I will not here debate whether there may not be a mult.i.tude of these Corpuscles, which by reason of their being primary and simple, might be called Elementary, if several sorts of them should convene to compose any Body, which are as yet free, and neither as yet contex'd and entangl'd with primary Corpuscles of other kinds, but remains liable to be subdu'd and fas.h.i.+on'd by Seminal Principles, or the like powerful and Trans.m.u.ting Agent, by whom they may be so connected among themselves, or with the parts of one of the bodies, as to make the compound Bodies, whose Ingredients they are, resoluble into more, or other Elements then those that Chymists have hitherto taken notice of.

To all which I may add, that since it appears, by what I observ'd to you of the permanency of Gold and Silver, that even Corpuscles that are not of an Elementary but compounded Nature, may be of so durable a Texture, as to remain indissoluble in the ordinary _a.n.a.lysis_ that Chymists make of Bodies by the Fire; 'Tis not impossible but that, though there were but three Elements, yet there may be a greater number of Bodies, which the wonted wayes of Anatomy will not discover to be no Elementary Bodies.

But, sayes _Carneades_, having thus far, in compliance to you, talk't conjecturally of the number of the Elements, 'tis now time to consider, not of how many Elements it is possible that Nature may compound mix'd Bodies, but (at least as farr as the ordinary Experiments of Chymists will informe us) of how many she doth make them up.

I say then, that it does not by these sufficiently appear to me, that there is any one determinate number of Elements to be uniformly met with in all the several sorts of Bodies allow'd to be perfectly mixt.

And for the more distinct proof of this Proposition, I shall in the first place Represent, That there are divers Bodies, which I could never see by fire divided into so many as three Elementary substances.

I would fain (as I said lately to _Philoponus_) see that fixt and n.o.ble Metal we call Gold separated into Salt, Sulphur and Mercury: and if any man will submit to a competent forfeiture in case of failing, I shall willingly in case of prosperous successe pay both for the Materials and the charges of such an Experiment. 'Tis not, that after what I have try'd my self I dare peremptorily deny, that there may out of Gold be extracted a certain substance, which I cannot hinder Chymists from calling its Tincture or Sulphur; and which leaves the remaining Body depriv'd of its wonted colour. Nor am I sure, that there cannot be drawn out of the same Metal a real quick and running Mercury. But for the Salt of Gold, I never could either see it, or be satisfied that there was ever such a thing separated, _in rerum natura_, by the relation of any credible eye witnesse. And for the several Processes that Promise that effect, the materials that must be wrought upon are somewhat too pretious and costly to be wasted upon so groundlesse adventures, of which not only the successe is doubtful, but the very possibility is not yet demonstrated. Yet that which most deterres me from such tryalls, is not their chargeablenesse, but their unsatisfactorinesse, though they should succeed. For the Extraction of this golden Salt being in Chymists Processes prescribed to be effected by corrosive _Menstruums_, or the Intervention of other Saline Bodies, it will remain doubtful to a wary person, whether the Emergent Salt be that of the Gold it self; or of the Saline Bodies or Spirits employ'd to prepare it; For that such disguises of Metals do often impose upon Artists, I am sure _Eleutherius_ is not so much a stranger to Chymistry as to ignore. I would likewise willingly see the three principles separated from the pure sort of Virgin-Sand, from _Osteocolla_, from refined Silver, from Quicksilver, freed from its advent.i.tious Sulphur, from _Venetian_ Talk [Transcriber's Note: Talck], which by long detention in an extreme _Reverberium_, I could but divide into smaller Particles, (not the const.i.tuent principles,) Nay, which, when I caused it to be kept, I know not how long, in a Gla.s.se-house fire, came out in the Figure it's Lumps had when put in, though alter'd to an almost _Amethystine_ colour; and from divers other Bodies, which it were now unnecessary to enumerate. For though I dare not absolutely affirme it to be impossible to a.n.a.lyze these Bodies into their _Tria Prima_; yet because, neither my own Experiments, nor any competent Testimony hath hitherto either taught me how such an _a.n.a.lysis_ may be made, or satisfy'd me, that it hath been so, I must take the Liberty to refrain from believing it, till the Chymists prove it, or give us intelligible and practicable Processes to performe what they pretend. For whilst they affect that _aenigmatical_ obscurity with which they are wont to puzzle the Readers of their divulg'd Processes concerning the a.n.a.lyticall Preparation of Gold or Mercury, they leave wary persons much unsatisfyed whether or no the differing Substances, they promise to produce, be truly the Hypostatical Principles, or only some intermixtures of the divided Bodies with those employ'd to work upon them, as is Evident in the seeming Crystalls of Silver, and those of Mercury; which though by some inconsiderately supposed to be the Salts of those Metalls, are plainly but mixtures of the Metalline Bodies, with the Saline parts of _Aqua fortis_ or other corrosive Liquors; as is evident by their being reducible into Silver or Quicksilver, as they were before.

I cannot but Confesse (saith _Eleutherius_) that though Chymists may upon probable grounds affirm themselves Able to obtain their _Tria Prima_, from Animals and Vegetables, yet I have often wondred that they should so confidently pretend also to resolve all Metalline and other Mineral bodies into Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury. For 'tis a saying almost Proverbial, among those Chymists themselves that are accounted Philosophers; and our famous Countryman _Roger Bacon_ has particularly adopted it; that _Facilius est aurum facere quam destruere_. And I fear, with You, that Gold is not the only Mineral from which Chymists are wont fruitlessly to attempt the separating of their three Principles. I know indeed (continues _Eleutherius_) that the Learned _Sennertus_, even in that book where he takes not upon him to play the Advocate for the Chymists, but the Umpier betwixt them and the Peripateticks, expresses himself roundly, thus;[11] _Salem omnibus inesse (mixtis scilicet) & ex iis fieri posse omnibus in resolutionibus Chymicis versatis notissimum est._ And in the next Page, _Quod de sale dixi_, saies he, _Idem de Sulphure dici potest_: but by his favour I must see very good proofs, before I believe such general a.s.sertions, how boldly soever made; and he that would convince me of their truth, must first teach me some true and practicable way of separating Salt and Sulphur from Gold, Silver, and those many different sort of Stones, that a violent Fire does not bring to Lime, but to Fusion; and not only I, for my own part, never saw any of those newly nam'd Bodies so resolved; but _Helmont_, who was much better vers'd in the Chymical Anatomizing of Bodies then either _Sennertus_ or _I_, has somewhere this resolute pa.s.sage;[12] _Scio_ (saies he) _ex arena, silicibus & saxis, non Calcariis, nunquam Sulphur aut Mercurium trahi posse_; Nay _Querceta.n.u.s_ himself, though the grand stickler for the _Tria Prima_, has this Confession of the Irresolubleness of Diamonds;[13] _Adamas_ (saith he) _omnium factus Lapidum solidissimus ac durissimus ex arctissima videlicet trium principiorum unione ac Cohaerentia, quae nulla arte separationis in solutionem principiorum suorum spiritualium disjungi potest._ And indeed, pursues _Eleutherius_, I was not only glad, but somewhat surprized to find you inclined to Admit that there may be a Sulphur and a running Mercury drawn from Gold; for unlesse you do (as your expression seem'd to intimate) take the word Sulphur in a very loose sence, I must doubt whether our Chymists can separate a Sulphur from Gold: For when I saw you make the experiment that I suppose invited you to speak as you did, I did not judge the golden Tincture to be the true principle of Sulphur extracted from the body, but an aggregate of some such highly colour'd parts of the Gold, as a Chymist would have called a _Sulphur incombustible_, which in plain English seems to be little better than to call it a Sulphur and no Sulphur. And as for Metalline Mercuries, I had not _wondred_ at it, though you had expressed much more severity in speaking of them: For I remember that having once met an old and famous Artist, who had long been (and still is) Chymist to a great Monarch, the repute he had of a very honest man invited me to desire him to tell me ingenuously whether or no, among his many labours, he had ever really extracted a true and running Mercury out of Metalls; to which question he freely replyed, that he had never separated a true Mercury from any Metal; nor had ever seen it really done by any man else. And though Gold is, of all Metalls, That, whose Mercury Chymists have most endeavoured to extract, and which they do the most brag they have extracted; yet the Experienced _Angelus Sala_, in his _Spagyrical_ account of the seven _Terrestrial_ Planets (that is the seven metalls) affords us this memorable Testimony, to, our present purpose; _Quanquam_ (saies he) _&c.

experientia tamen (quam stultorum Magistrum [Errata: Magistram]

vocamus) certe Comprobavit, Mercurium auri adeo fixum, maturum, & arcte c.u.m reliquis ejusdem corporis substantiis conjungi, ut nullo modo retrogredi possit._ To which he sub-joynes, that he himself had seen much Labour spent upon that Design, but could never see any such Mercury produc'd thereby. And I easily beleeve what he annexes; _that he had often seen Detected many tricks and Impostures of Cheating_ Alchymists. For, the most part of those that are fond of such _Charlatans_, being unskilfull or Credulous, or both, 'tis very easie for such as have some Skill, much craft, more boldness, and no Conscience, to impose upon them; and therefore, though many profess'd _Alchymists_, and divers Persons of Quality have told me that they have made or seen the Mercury of Gold, or of this or that other Metal; yet I have been still apt to fear that either these persons have had a Design to deceive others; or have not had Skill and circ.u.mspection enough to keep themselves from being deceived.

[Footnote 11: Sennert. lib. de cons. & dissens. pag. 147.]

[Footnote 12: Helmon. pag. 409.]

[Footnote 13: Quercet. apud Billich. in Thessalo redivivo. pag. 99.]

You recall to my mind (sayes _Carneades_) a certain Experiment I once devis'd, innocently to deceive some persons, and let them and others see how little is to be built upon the affirmation of those that are either unskillfull or unwary, when they tell us they have seen _Alchymists_ make the Mercury of this or that Metal; and to make this the more evident, I made my Experiment much more Slight, Short and Simple, than the Chymists usuall processes to Extract Metalline Mercuries; which Operations being commonly more Elaborate and Intricate, and requiring a much more longer time, give the _Alchymists_ a greater opportunity to Cozen, and Consequently are more Obnoxious to the Spectators suspicion. And that wherein I endeavour'd to make my Experiment look the more like a True _a.n.a.lysis_, was, that I not only pretended as well as others to extract a Mercury from the Metal I wrought upon, but likewise to separate a large proportion of manifest and inflamable Sulphur. I take then, of the filings of Copper, about a Drachme or two, of common sublimate, powder'd, the like Weight, and _Sal Armoniack_ near about as much as of Sublimate; these three being well mingl'd together I put into a small Vial with a long neck, or, which I find better, into a Gla.s.s Urinall, which (having first stopped it with Cotton) to avoid the Noxious Fumes, I approach by degrees to a competent Fire of well kindled coals, or (which looks better, but more endangers the Gla.s.s) to the Flame of a candle; and after a while the bottom of the Gla.s.s being held Just upon the Kindled Coals, or in the flame, You may in about a quarter of an Hour, or perchance in halfe that time, perceive in the Bottom of the Gla.s.s some running Mercury; and if then You take away the Gla.s.s and break it, You shall find a Parcel of Quicksilver, Perhaps altogether, and perhaps part of it in the pores of the Solid Ma.s.s; You shall find too, that the remaining Lump being held to the Flame of the Candle will readily burn with a greenish Flame, and after a little while (perchance presently) will in the Air Acquire a Greenish Blew, which being the Colour that is ascrib'd to Copper, when its Body is unlocked, 'Tis easie to perswade Men that this is the True Sulphur of _Venus_, especially since not only the Salts may be Suppos'd partly to be Flown away, and partly to be Sublim'd to the upper part of the Gla.s.s, whose inside (will Commonly appear Whitened by them) but the Metal seems to be quite Destroy'd, the Copper no longer appearing in a Metalline Forme, but almost in that of a Resinous Lump; whereas indeed the Case is only this, That the Saline parts of the Sublimate, together with the _Sal Armoniack_, being excited and actuated by the Vehement heat, fall upon the Copper, (which is a Metal they can more easily corrode, than silver) whereby the small parts of the Mercury being freed from the Salts that kept them asunder, and being by the heat tumbled up and down after many Occursions, they Convene into a Conspicuous Ma.s.s of Liquor; and as for the Salts, some of the more Volatile of them Subliming to the upper part of the Gla.s.s, the others Corrode the Copper, and uniting themselves with it do strangely alter and Disguise its Metallick Form, and compose with it a new kind of Concrete inflamable like Sulphur; concerning which I shall not now say any thing, since I can Referr You to the Diligent Observations which I remember Mr. _Boyle_ has made concerning this Odde kind of Verdigrease. But Continues _Carneades_ smiling, you know I was not cut out for a Mountebank, and therefore I will hasten to resume the person of a Sceptick, and take up my discourse where You diverted me from prosecuting it.

In the next place, then, I consider, that, as there are some Bodies which yield not so many as the three Principles; so there are many others, that in their Resolution Exhibite more principles than three; and that therefore the Ternary Number is not that of the Universal and Adequate Principles of Bodies. If you allow of the Discourse I ately [Errata: lately] made You, touching the primary a.s.sociations of the small Particles of matter, You will scarce think it improbable, that of such Elementary Corpuscles there may be more sorts then either three, or four, or five. And if you will grant, what will scarce be deny'd, that Corpuscles of a compounded Nature may in all the wonted Examples of Chymists pa.s.s for Elementary, I see not, why you should think it impossible, that as _Aqua Fortis_, or _Aqua Regis_ will make a Separation of colliquated Silver and Gold, though the Fire cannot; so there may be some Agent found out so subtile and so powerfull, at least in respect of those particular compounded Corpuscles, as to be able to resolve them into those more simple ones, whereof they consist, and consequently encrease the number of the Distinct Substances, whereinto the mixt Body has been hitherto thought resoluble. And if that be true, which I recited to you a while ago out of _Helmont_ concerning the Operations of the _Alkahest_, which divides Bodies into other Distinct Substances, both as to number and Nature, then the Fire does; it will not a little countenance my Conjecture. But confining our selves to such wayes of a.n.a.lyzing mix'd Bodies, as are already not unknown to Chymists, it may without Absurdity be Question'd, whether besides those grosser Elements of Bodies, which they call Salt Sulphur and Mercury, there may not be Ingredients of a more Subtile Nature, which being extreamly little, and not being in themselves Visible, may escape unheeded at the Junctures of the Destillatory Vessels, though never so carefully Luted. For let me observe to you one thing, which though not taken notice of by Chymists, may be a notion of good Use in divers Cases to a Naturalist, that we may well suspect, that there may be severall Sorts of Bodies, which are not Immediate Objects of any one of our senses; since we See, that not only those little Corpuscles that issue out of the Loadstone, and perform the Wonders for which it is justly admired; But the _Effluviums_ of Amber, Jet, and other Electricall Concretes, though by their effects upon the particular Bodies dispos'd to receive their Action, they seem to fall under the Cognizance of our Sight, yet do they not as Electrical immediately Affect any of our senses, as do the bodies, whether minute or greater, that we See, Feel, Taste, &c. But, continues _Carneades_, because you may expect I should, as the Chymists do, consider only the sensible Ingredients of Mixt Bodies, let us now see, what Experience will, even as to these, suggest to us.

It seems then questionable enough, whether from Grapes variously order'd there may not be drawn more distinct Substances by the help of the Fire, then from most other mixt Bodies. For the Grapes themselves being dryed into Raysins and distill'd, will (besides _Alcali_, Phlegm, and Earth) yield a considerable quant.i.ty of an Empyreumatical Oyle, and a Spirit of a very different nature from that of Wine. Also the unfermented Juice of Grapes affords other distil'd Liquors then Wine doth. The Juice of Grapes after fermentation will yield a _Spiritus Ardens_; which if competently rectifyed will all burn away without leaving any thing remaining. The same fermented Juice degenerating into Vinager, yields an acid and corroding Spirit. The same Juice turn'd [Errata: tunned] up, armes it self with Tartar; out of which may be separated, as out of other Bodies, Phlegme, Spirit, Oyle, Salt and Earth: not to mention what Substances may be drawn from the Vine it self, probably differing from those which are separated from Tartar, which is a body by it self, that has few resemblers in the World. And I will further consider that what force soever you will allow this instance, to evince that there are some Bodies that yield more Elements then others, it can scarce be deny'd but that the Major part of bodies that are divisible into Elements, yield more then three. For, besides those which the Chymists are pleased to name Hypostatical, most bodies contain two others, Phlegme and Earth, which concurring as well as the rest to the const.i.tution of Mixts, and being as generally, if not more, found in their _a.n.a.lysis_, I see no sufficient cause why they should be excluded from the number of Elements. Nor will it suffice to object, as the _Paracelsians_ are wont to do, that the _Tria prima_ are the most useful Elements, and the Earth and Water but worthlesse and unactive; for Elements being call'd so in relation to the const.i.tuting of mixt Bodies, it should be upon the account of its Ingrediency, not of its use, that any thing should be affirmed or denyed to be an Element: and as for the pretended uselessness of Earth and Water, it would be consider'd that usefulnesse, or the want of it, denotes only a Respect or Relation to us; and therefore the presence, or absence of it, alters not the Intrinsick nature of the thing. The hurtful Teeth of Vipers are for ought I know useless to us, and yet are not to be deny'd to be parts of their Bodies; and it were hard to shew of what greater Use to Us, then Phlegme and Earth, are those Undiscern'd Stars, which our New _Telescopes_ discover to Us, in many Blanched places of the Sky; and yet we cannot but acknowledge them Const.i.tuent and Considerably great parts of the Universe. Besides that whether or no the Phlegme and Earth be immediately Useful, but necessary to const.i.tute the Body whence they are separated; and consequently, if the mixt Body be not Useless to us, those const.i.tuent parts, without which it could not have been That mixt Body, may be said not to be Unuseful to Us: and though the Earth and Water be not so conspicuously Operative (after separation) as the other three more active Principles, yet in this case it will not be amiss to remember the lucky Fable of _Menemius Aggrippa_, of the dangerous Sedition of the Hands and Legs, and other more busie parts of the Body, against the seemingly unactive Stomack.

And to this case also we may not unfitly apply that Reasoning of an Apostle, to another purpose; _If the Ear shall say, because I Am not the Eye, I am not of the Body; Is it therefore not of the Body? If the whole Body were Eye, where were the Hearing? If the whole were for hearing, where the smelling?_ In a word, since Earth and water appear, as clearly and as generally as the other Principles upon the resolution of Bodies, to be the Ingredients whereof they are made up; and since they are useful, if not immediately to us, or rather to Physitians, to the Bodies they const.i.tute, and so though in somewhat a remoter way, are serviceable to us; to exclude them out of the number of Elements, is not to imitate Nature.

[Transcriber's Note: See the printer's note (beginning "The Authors constant Absence") at the end of the book for material that the printer inadvertently omitted from this page.]

But, pursues _Carneades_, though I think it Evident, that Earth and Phlegme are to be reckon'd among the Elements of most Animal and Vegetable Bodies, yet 'tis not upon that Account alone, that I think divers Bodies resoluble into more Substances then three. For there are two Experiments, that I have sometimes made to shew, that at least some Mixts are divisible into more Distinct Substances then five. The one of these Experiments, though 'twill be more seasonable for me to mention it fully anon, yet in the mean time, I shall tell you thus much of it, That out of two Distill'd Liquors, which pa.s.s for Elements of the Bodies whence they are drawn, I can without Addition make a true Yellow and Inflamable Sulphur, notwithstanding that the two Liquors remain afterwards Distinct. Of the other Experiment, which perhaps will not be altogether unworthy your Notice, I must now give you this particular Account. I had long observ'd, that by the Destillation of divers Woods, both in Ordinary, and some unusuall sorts of Vessels, the Copious Spirit that came over, had besides a strong tast, to be met with in the Empyreumaticall Spirits of many other Bodies, an Acidity almost like that of Vinager: Wherefore I suspected, that though the sowrish Liquor Distill'd, for Instance, from Box-Wood, be lookt upon by Chymists as barely the Spirit of it, and therefore as one single Element or Principle; yet it does really consist of two Differing Substances, and may be divisible into them; and consequently, that such Woods and other Mixts as abound with such a Vinager, may be said to consist of one Element or Principle, more then the Chymists as yet are Aware of; Wherefore bethinking my self, how the separation of these two Spirits might be made, I Quickly found, that there were several wayes of Compa.s.sing it. But that of them which I shall at present mention, was this, Having Destill'd a Quant.i.ty of Box-Wood _per se_, and slowly rectify'd the sowrish Spirit, the better to free it both from Oyle and Phlegme, I cast into this Rectify'd Liquor a convenient Quant.i.ty of Powder'd Coral, expecting that the Acid part of the Liquor would Corrode the Coral, and being a.s.sociated with it would be so retain'd by it, that the other part of the Liquor, which was not of an acid Nature, nor fit to fasten upon the Corals, would be permitted to ascend alone. Nor was I deceiv'd in my Expectation; For having gently abstracted the Liquor from the Coralls, there came over a Spirit of a Strong smell, and of a tast very piercing, but without any sourness; and which was in diverse qualities manifestly different, not only from a Spirit of Vinager, but from some Spirit of the same Wood, that I purposely kept by me without depriving it of its acid Ingredient. And to satisfy you, that these two Substances were of a very differing Nature, I might informe you of several Tryals that I made, but must not name some of them, because I cannot do so without making some unseasonable discoveries. Yet this I shall tell you at present, that the sowre Spirit of _Box_, not only would, as I just now related, dissolve Corals, which the other would not fasten on, but being pour'd upon Salt of Tartar would immediately boile and hiss, whereas the other would lye quietly upon it. The acid Spirit pour'd upon _Minium_ made a Sugar of Lead, which I did not find the other to do; some drops of this penetrant spirit being mingl'd with some drops of the blew Syrup of Violets seem'd rather to dilute then otherwise alter the colour; whereas the Acid Spirit turn'd the syrup of a reddish colour, and would probably have made it of as pure a red as Acid Salts are wont to do, had not its operation been hindered by the mixture of the other Spirit. A few drops of the compound Spirit being Shaken into a pretty quant.i.ty of the infusion of _Lignum Nephritic.u.m_, presently destroyed all the blewish colour, whereas the other Spirit would not take it away. To all which it might be added, that having for tryals sake pour'd fair water upon the Corals that remained in the bottom of the gla.s.s wherein I had rectifyed the double spirit (if I may so call it) that was first drawn from the Box, I found according to my expectation that the Acid Spirit had really dissolved the Corals, and had coagulated with them. For by the affusion of fair Water, I Obtain'd a Solution, which (to note that singularity upon the bye) was red, whence the Water being evaporated, there remained a soluble Substance much like the Ordinary Salt of Coral, as Chymists are pleas'd to call that Magistery of Corals, which they make by dissolving them in common spirit of Vinager, and abstracting the _Menstruum ad Siccitatem_. I know not whether I should subjoine, on this occasion, that the simple spirit of Box, if Chymists will have it therefore Saline because it has a strong tast, will furnish us with a new kind of Saline Bodies, differing from those hitherto taken notice of. For whereas of the three chief sorts of Salts, the Acid, the Alcalizate, and the Sulphureous, there is none that seems to be friends with both the other two, as I may, e're it be long, have occasion to shew; I did not find but that the simple spirit of Box did agree very well (at least as farr as I had occasion to try it) both with the Acid and the other Salts. For though it would lye very quiet with salt of Tartar, Spirit of Urine, or other bodies, whose Salts were either of an Alcalizate or fugitive Nature; yet did not the mingling of Oyle of Vitriol it self produce any hissing or Effervescence, which you know is wont to ensue upon the Affusion of that highly Acid Liquor upon either of the Bodies newly mentioned.

I think my self, sayes _Eleutherius_, beholden to you, for this Experiment; not only because I forsee you will make it helpful to you in the Enquiry you are now upon, but because it teaches us a Method, whereby we may prepare a numerous sort of new spirits, which though more simple then any that are thought Elementary, are manifestly endow'd with peculiar and powerfull qualities, some of which may probably be of considerable use in Physick, as well alone, as a.s.sociated with other things; as one may hopefully guess by the redness of that Solution your sour Spirit made of Corals, and by some other circ.u.mstances of your Narrative. And suppose (pursues _Eleutherius_) that you are not so confin'd, for the separation of the Acid parts of these compound Spirits from the other, to employ Corals; but that you may as well make use of any Alcalizate Salt, or of Pearls, or Crabs eyes, or any other Body, upon which common Spirit of Vinager will easily work, and, to speak in an _Helmontian_ Phrase, Exantlate it self.

I have not yet tryed, sayes _Carneades_, of what use the mention'd liquors may be in Physick, either as Medicines or as _Menstruums_: But I could mention now (and may another time) divers of the tryals that I made to satisfy my self of the difference of these two Liquors. But that, as I allow your thinking what you newly told me about Corals, I presume you will allow me, from what I have said already, to deduce this Corollary; That there are divers compound bodies, which may be resolv'd into four such differing Substances, as may as well merit the name of Principles, as those to which the Chymists freely give it. For since they scruple not to reckon that which I call the compound Spirit of Box, for the spirit, or as others would have it, the Mercury of that Wood, I see not, why the Acid liquor, and the other, should not each of them, especially that last named, be lookt upon as more worthy to be called an Elementary Principle; since it must needs be of a more simple nature then the Liquor, which was found to be divisible into that, and the Acid Spirit. And this further use (continues _Carneades_) may be made of our experiment to my present purpose, that it may give us a rise to suspect, that since a Liquor reputed by the Chymists to be, without dispute, h.o.m.ogeneous, is by so slight a way divisible into two distinct and more simple Ingredients, some more skilful or happier Experimenter then I may find a way either further to divide one of these Spirits, or to resolve some or other, if not all, of those other Ingredients of mixt Bodies, that have hitherto pa.s.s'd among Chymists for their Elements or Principles.

THE

SCEPTICAL CHYMIST.

_The Fourth Part._

And thus much (sayes _Carneades_) may suffice to be said of the _Number_ of the Distinct substances separable from mixt Bodies by the Fire: Wherefore I now proceed to consider the _nature_ of them, and shew you, That though they seem _h.o.m.ogeneous_ Bodies, yet have they not the purity and simplicity that is requisite to Elements. And I should immediately proceed to the proof of my a.s.sertion, but that the Confidence wherewith Chymists are wont to call each of the Substances we speak of by the name of Sulphur or Mercury, or the other of the Hypostaticall Principles, and the intollerabln [Errata: intolerable]

Ambiguity they allow themselves ie [Errata: in] their Writings and Expressions, makes it necessary for me in Order to the Keeping you either from mistaking me, or thinking I mistake the Controversie, to take Notice to you and complain of the unreasonable Liberty they give themselves of playing with Names at pleasure. And indeed if I were oblig'd in this Dispute, to have such regard to the Phraseology of each particular Chymist, as not to Write any thing which this or that Author may not pretend, not to contradict this or that sence, which he may give as Occasion serves to his Ambiguous Expressions, I should scarce know how to dispute, nor which way to turn myself. For I find that even Eminent Writers, (such as _Raymund Lully_, _Paracelsus_ and others) do so abuse the termes they employ, that as they will now and then give divers things, one name; so they will oftentimes give one thing, many Names; and some of them (perhaps) such, as do much more properly signifie some Distinct Body of another kind; nay even in Technical Words or Termes of Art, they refrain not from this Confounding Liberty; but will, as I have Observ'd, call the same Substance, sometimes the Sulphur, and Sometimes the Mercury of a Body.

And now I speak of Mercury, I cannot but take Notice, that the Descriptions they give us of that Principle or Ingredient of mixt Bodies, are so intricate, that even those that have Endeavour'd to Pollish and Ill.u.s.trate the Notions of the Chymists, are fain to confess that they know not what to make of it, either by Ingenuous Acknowledgments, or Descriptions that are not Intelligible.

I must confess (sayes _Eleutherius_) I have, in the reading of _Paracelsus_ and other Chymical Authors, been troubled to find, that such hard Words and Equivocal Expressions, as You justly complain of, do even when they treat of Principles, seem to be studiously affected by those Writers; whether to make themselves to be admir'd by their Readers, and their Art appear more Venerable and Mysterious, or, (as they would have us think) to conceal from them a Knowledge themselves judge inestimable.

But whatever (sayes _Carneades_) these Men may promise themselves from a Canting way of delivering the Principles of Nature, they will find the Major part of Knowing Men so vain, as when they understand not what they read, to conclude, that it is rather the Writers fault then their own. And those that are so ambitious to be admir'd by the Vulgar, that rather then go without the Admiration of the Ignorant they will expose themselves to the contempt of the Learned, those shall, by my consent, freely enjoy their Option. As for the Mystical Writers scrupling to Communicate their Knowledge, they might less to their own Disparagement, and to the trouble of their Readers, have conceal'd it by writing no Books, then by Writing bad ones. If _Themistius_ were here, he would not stick to say, that Chymists write thus darkly, not because they think their Notions too precious to be explain'd, but because they fear that if they were explain'd, men would discern, that they are farr from being precious. And indeed, I fear that the chief Reason why Chymists have written so obscurely of their three Principles, may be, That not having Clear and Distinct Notions of them themselves, they cannot write otherwise then Confusedly of what they but Confusedly Apprehend: Not to say that divers of them, being Conscious to the Invalidity of their Doctrine, might well enough discerne that they could scarce keep themselves from being confuted, but by keeping themselves from being clearly understood. But though much may be said to Excuse the Chymists when they write Darkly, and aenigmatically, about the Preparation of their _Elixir_, and Some few other grand _Arcana_, the divulging of which they may upon Grounds Plausible enough esteem unfit; yet when they pretend to teach the General Principles of Natural Philosophers, this Equivocall Way of Writing is not to be endur'd. For in such Speculative Enquiries, where the naked Knowledge of the Truth is the thing Princ.i.p.ally aim'd at, what does he teach me worth thanks that does not, if he can, make his Notion intelligible to me, but by Mystical Termes, and Ambiguous Phrases darkens what he should clear up; and makes me add the Trouble of guessing at the sence of what he Equivocally expresses, to that of examining the Truth of what he seems to deliver. And if the matter of the Philosophers Stone, and the manner of preparing it, be such Mysteries as they would have the World believe them, they may Write Intelligibly and Clearly of the Principles of mixt Bodies in General, without Discovering what they call the Great Work. But for my part (Continues _Carneades_) what my Indignation at this Un-philosophical way of teaching Principles has now extorted from me, is meant chiefly to excuse my self, if I shall hereafter oppose any Particular Opinion or a.s.sertion, that some Follower of _Paracelsus_ or any Eminent Artist may pretend not to be his Masters. For, as I told you long since, I am not Oblig'd to examine private mens writings, (which were a Labour as endless as unprofitable) being only engag'd to examine those Opinions about the _Tria Prima_, which I find those Chymists I have met with to agree in most: And I Doubt not but my Arguments against their Doctrine will be in great part easily enough applicable ev'n to those private Opinions, which they do not so directly and expresly oppose. And indeed, that which I am now entering upon being the Consideration of the things themselves whereinto _Spagyrists_ resolve mixt Bodies by the Fire, If I can shew that these are not of an Elementary Nature, it will be no great matter what names these or those Chymists have been pleased to give them. And I question not that to a Wise man, and consequently to _Eleutherius_, it will be lesse considerable to know, what Men Have thought of Things, then what they Should have thought.

In the fourth and last place, then, I consider, that as generally as Chymists are wont to appeal to Experience, and as confidently as they use to instance the several substances separated by the Fire from a Mixt Body, as a sufficient proof of their being its component Elements: Yet those differing Substances are many of them farr enough from Elementary simplicity, and may be yet look'd upon as mixt Bodies, most of them also retaining, somewhat at least, if not very much, of the Nature of those Concretes whence they were forc'd.

I am glad (sayes _Eleutherius_) to see the Vanity or Envy of the canting Chymists thus discover'd and chastis'd; and I could wish, that Learned Men would conspire together to make these deluding Writers sensible, that they must no longe [Transcriber's Note: longer] hope with Impunity to abuse the World. For whilst such Men are quietly permitted to publish Books with promising t.i.tles, and therein to a.s.sert what they please, and contradict others, and ev'n themselves as they please, with as little danger of being confuted as of being understood, they are encourag'd to get themselves a name, at the cost of the Readers, by finding that intelligent Men are wont for the reason newly mention'd, to let their Books and Them alone: And the ignorant and credulous (of which the number is still much greater then that of the other) are forward to admire most what they least understand. But if Judicious men skill'd in Chymical affaires shall once agree to write clearly and plainly of them, and thereby keep men from being stunn'd, as it were, or imposd upon by dark or empty Words; 'tis to be hop'd that these men finding that they can no longer write impertinently and absurdly, without being laugh'd at for doing so, will be reduc'd either to write nothing, or Books that may teach us something, and not rob men, as formerly, of invaluable Time; and so ceasing to trouble the World with Riddles or Impertinencies, we shall either by their Books receive an Advantage, or by their silence escape an Inconvenience.

But after all this is said (continues _Eleutherius_) it may be represented in favour of the Chymists, that, in one regard the Liberty they take in using names, if it be excusable at any time, may be more so when they speak of the substances whereinto their _a.n.a.lysis_ resolves mixt Bodies: Since as Parents have the Right to name their own Children, it has ever been allow'd to the Authors of new Inventions, to Impose Names upon them. And therefore the subjects we speak of being so the Productions of the Chymist's Art, as not to be otherwise, but by it, obtainable; it seems but equitable to give the Artists leave to name them as they please: considering also that none are so fit and likely to teach us what those Bodies are, as they to whom we ow'd them.

I told You already (sayes _Carneades_) that there is great Difference betwixt the being able to make Experiments, and the being able to give a Philosophical Account of them. And I will not now add, that many a Mine-digger may meet, whilst he follows his work, with a Gemm or a Mineral which he knowes not what to make of, till he shews it a Jeweller or a Mineralist to be inform'd what it is. But that which I would rather have here observ'd, is, That the Chymists I am now in debate with have given up the Liberty You challeng'd for them, of using Names at Pleasure, and confin'd Themselves by their Descriptions, though but such as they are, of their Principles; so that although they might freely have call'd any thing their _a.n.a.lysis_ presents them with, either Sulphur, or Mercury, or Gas, or Blas, or what they pleas'd; yet when they have told me that Sulphur (for instance) is a Primogeneal and simple Body, Inflamable, Odorous, &c.

they must give me leave to dis-believe them, if they tell me that a Body that is either compounded or uninflamable is such a Sulphur; and to think they play with words, when they teach that Gold and some other Minerals abound with an Incombustible Sulphur, which is as proper an Expression, as a Sun-s.h.i.+ne Night, or Fluid Ice.