DUKE

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

Treasure "Room

/&>u

^s^ue^e—

TRACTS

Confiding of

OBSERVATIONS

i r

About the • S A L T N E S S of the S E A : An Account of a STATICAL HTGRO S C OPE And its USES:

Together with an APPENDIX about the FORCE of the AIR'S MOISTURE ;

A FRAGMENT about the

NATURAL and PRETERNATURAL

STATE of BODIES.

By the Honourable ROBERT BOT LE.

To all which is premis'd

A SCEPTICAL DIALOGUE

About the POSITIVE or PRIVATIVE

NATURE of COLD:

With fome Experiments of Mr. BOTVS teferrM to in that Difcourfe.

Bya Member of the R OT Ah SOCIETY.

London, printed by E.Flejber for R.Davk Bookfdlcr in Oxford,* M DC LXXIV.

.

,

AN 5"o-;.

. . ..

ADVERTISEMEMT

O F THE

PtlBLISHER.

THE Reader of the following Dialogue may eafily conclude from the beginning of it, (where the7 Ofccaiion of the Conference is let down ) that

A 2 if

42G229

An Aduertifement

if the Author had been fo minded, it might have long fince come abroad. But though, as his backwardnefs to publifh it kept it long ly- ing by, firft in His hands, and j then in Mine ; yet the Af- finity it has with fome of the enfuing Tra&s of Mr. Boyle, and fome other of his Papers, that he defign'd ( but was hinder'd ) to have added to them, engag'd me to take the

liber-

of the Vublijher.

liberty of publifhing it and them all together : Which I had fooner done than now I do, if, by fome Accidents, they had not been kept from appearing for many weeks af- ter they were quite printed off.

42G239

il1

:

nnrn niiq

A

CO

iff f ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥

OF THE

POSITIVE

O R

PRIVATIVE NATURE

C O L D.

A Sceptical Dialogue

Between

Carneadci) Themiftius, Eknthefius^ Vhilofoiius.

SECT. I.

^^H%1Q&l8S9&fy one ^e a^owe^ *° as^ Cxrrtff- *<*«» what Book it is he is read- ing with fo much attention ?

Cam. The Queftiori," Eleatbe* rifts, is very allowable, and as eafily anfwer'd, by faying, that what I was reading, is our Friend Mr. Boyle* newly publifaed Hifktry of Gold.

B Tl*

2 Of the Pvfitive^ or

Tkemiftitu» Your readinefs, Carneades, to an- fwer, encourages me alfo to ask you a Qjeftion j which (hall noc be , as probably you expect jt ffioula. How you like this new Piece ? for I know you would be too kind to/the Author, not to tell me that he has detected fqme Old Errours , and made difcovefy of Tome New Truths • but my Qieftibn ftall be about what is"*my Wonder, as well as that of divers others, who think it ftrange that a Writer that has .deliver'd fo many Effects and other Pk<t- nomnaot Co!d,-ft\6'M omit to tell us fo much as whether heafferts it to.be a Pofnive Quality, or a bare Privation of Heat ; as, fince Cardan ( in his Tygrf\hVc Sultiliikfe ) fome other Learned Men, 2 id efpecially Cartm^ hathmaincatin'd. .. Car.neades. You will not Wonder, if a Perfon that you look upon, and I confefs not injurioufly, as a Friend to Mr. Boyle, tell you, that this Author, by the many Hiftories he has preferred us, and by his not feeming to dare to determine the Contro- vert you have mention'd , fhews, that he was more follicitous to leflen his ignorance, than to pretend to knowledge : And upon the obfervation 4-kftve made of his humour in general, I prefume one principal reafonof his (ilence may be* that he has not yet com pleated the trials he had defign'd about Cold', and thinks, that in Abrtrufe Subjects, fucbas this is, 'tis not fo convenient to deliver a pofitive opinion of the Nature of it at the Begin- ning/ as to referve itiox the latter End, after the Hijftpry of the Phenomena ; when the nature of *he thing inquired into may, as it we're, fpontane- oafly Refult from the Considerations fuggeiledby the precedent matters of Fact furvey'd together.

Privative Nature of Cold. 5

Elmberiw. If fuch a wannefs were indeed the (notive of your friends filence, I fhall eafily ex- cufe it ; and perhaps think too , that the like would not mis- become Naturahfts on many o- ther occafions. And yet I do not diflike Tbcmifti- ui% queftionj for 'tis one thing to venture up* on declaring the adequate Nature of Cold, and another to determine, Whether it be a Posi- tive , or a Privative Quality } The latter at- tempt importing a much lefs venture than the for- mer.

Carneades. I will not pretend to know the ve- ry Reafons that induc'd the Author fikntly to pafs by this Controverfie ; but having been once pre- fent, when he had occafion to difcourfe of it, I then conje&ur'd , that among his Experiments of Cold , that are notyetpubhuYd, there maybe forfte uncommon ones, that may have fuggefted to him fcruples, which oblig'd him to forbear declaring himfelf, till he had clear 'd them, which thofe that are unacquainted with fuch Tryals, may probably have never thought of.

Themiftiiu* If what you call a Controverfie, were indeed worthy of that name, I fhould not un- willingly allow of your Friends filence j but the Opinion broach'd by Cardan, and adopted by Mr. Da Cartes and others, feei^s to me fo devoid, not only of reafon, but of all appearance of it, thn me thinks one that has delivet'd fuch considerable Effects of Cold, as Mr. Boyle has done, may well afcnbe to their caufe, at leaft, a Pofmve Nature ; and, without at all being guilty of boldnefs , reject ^ an Opinion, that is not only barely an Errour, buc an Extravagance, and pet haps a plain Abfurdky,

B2 C*r-

4 Of the Pofitive, or

Cameades- Poflibly the Gentleman we are fpeak- ing of, may be wary and fceptical enough to reckon among difficult things, not onely the declaring the adequate Nature of Cold, and the manner of its Operations } but the demonftrating whether it be a Pojitive Quality or not. And though I will not take upon me to know his thoughts about that fub- je&, which, perhaps, are grounded upon fome of his peculiar Experiments and Notions ; yet, for difcourfe fake , I am content to debate with Tbemi- /tins. Whether or no the Opinion he fo feverely cenfures, be not only erroneous, as, for ought ap- pears , Mr, Boyle himfelf may be found to have thought it j but alfo, as Tkemiftifa would have it , abfurd.

Themiftiiis. I readily accept of your offer ; for it cannot be an unpleafant entertainment to obferve the arts whereby one that I know will not fpeak im- pertinently, will ondeavour to make Reafon elude he cleareft Teftimonies of Senfe. And though I night prefs you with the concurrent authority of irifatle, and all the Philofophers that have liv'd etween his time, and thofe of that extravagant ''ellow Cardan ; yet I fhall rather employ, to con- vince you, the aurhority and reafons of a grand Leader among your New Philofophers, who being a gret broacher of Paradoxes, and having upon that fcore written Books exprefly againft Ari/lotle^ was not like to have fided with him, unlefs the Evidence of Truth had, as it were, rreceflitated him to do fo.

Cameades. I prefume, you mean the Learn'd and Subtle Gaffendtu^hom I am glad you have pitched upon for your Caufes Champion, not only becuife

in

Privative Nature of 'Cold. 5

in defending the common opinion, he waves the common practice of troubling his Readers with a multitude of Authorities, which to me, in fuch a cafe as this, would fignifie very little, and betakes himfelf to arguments ; but becaufe, being fo mo- dern and judicious a Writer, we may well fuppofe him/o have fumm'd up and improv'd what can be faid in behalf of the caufe he maintains. Upon which account, I iliall be excus'd from anfwering impertinent Objections againft the Opinion I de- fend, and from the trouble of ranging about among other Authors for more weighty Arguments than thofe, which the difproving of his will lliew to be unfatisfa&ory.

Them/lias* I am glad you nam'd the Author I meant, Carneades > for I apprehended you had not met with what he fayes upon this fubjec-t. : becaufe Icouldfcarce imagine, that an intelligent perfon, after having read his arguments , will doubt of a Truth he hath fo clearly evinc'd by them. But fince I perceive you have feen what he has written, I fliall, without farther preamble, propofe his Rea^ fons to you, though not in the very fame order wherein he has couch'd them.

Elemherius. But before you begin them, give me leave to ask Carneades a fhort queftion , whofe an- fwer will, I fuppofe, conduce, if not be neceflary, to the clearing of the ftate of the Controverfie be- twixt you. For 'tis one thing to deny belief to the yeceiv'd Opinion, that Cold is a Pofitive Quality, and another thing to alTert, that 'tis but a Privation of Heat} fince, .if Carneades does undertake the latter of thefetwo, he muft bring pofitive Argu- ments to prove Cold to be but a negative thing, B 3 Where^

6 OftbePofitive, or

Whereas, if he content himfelf to play a doubting parr, it may fuftice him, being in effect but a De- fendant, to fhew that the proofs brought to con- clude Cold to be a Pofitive Quality, are not Co*

gent.

Ctrniades. I acknowledge your Qjeftion, Eleu* tberiHs, to be percinent,and not unfealonable. And I prefume, you will not be furpnz'd, that a Perfon accus'd of Scepticifm anfwers it by declaring, that he undertakes not to demonftrate, that Cold muft be a Privative or Negative Quality, and thinks it fuffi- cient for his turn, to (hew that the Arguments brought to evince it to be a Pofitive one, are not concluding. And, fince you have already diverted Themiflim from beginning (o foon as he intended, 'twill not be amifs, that I continue that fufpeafion a little longer, to prevent, what I know we both hate, Veibal Controversies ; which yet may very cafily fpring from undetermin'd acceptions of Words as ambiguous as I have obferv'd Heat ( of which I now make Cold but a Privation) to be.

We may therefore confider, that the word Heat, being made ufe of to fignifie, as well the operations of tFa: quality upon other Bodies (as when the Heat of the Fire makes Water boyl, or that of the Sin rmltsWax, and hardens Clay ) as its opera- tions upon the Senfeof man, ( as when a moderate degree of Heat is faid to caufe pleafare, and an excefiive one to produce pain ; ) this Term, I fay, as Mr. B-jy/e alfo has fomewhere noted, may be em- ploy'd fomecimes in a more abfolute and irdefinite fenfe, and fometimes in a more confin'd and re- fpective fenfe i In the latter of which, 'tis ed' ma- ted

Privative Nature of Cold. 7

ted by its Relation to the Organs of Feeling of thofe men that judge of it. Upon which account, men are wont to eiteem no body Hot, but fuch an one, the agitation of whofe fmall parts is brisk e- nough to increafe orfurpafsthatofthe particles of the Organ that touches it: For if that motion be more Languid in the Object than in the Sentient, the Body is .reputed Cold j as may appear i>y this, that if the fame Perfon put one of his hands when 'cis hot,and the other when 5tiscold,into luke-warm Water, that Liquor will feel cold'tothe warrtt hand, and warm to the cold.

- Eleutherius. So that according to- this Doctrine, methinks, one may, for brevities fake, convenient- ly enough apply to your two-fold Notion of Hear, thofe exprelfions which fome School-men employ about certain Qualities, of any of which they-fay, that it may be either materially or formally conii- der'd. And by Analogy to their Do&rine, fince Heat is a Tactile Qjality, and as fuch, imports primarily a relation to the Organ oi: Touching that relation, with what depends upon it, may pals for that which is the Formate in the Qjality called Heat ; and its ErYefts and Operations upon other Bodies may fupply us with a Notion of- Heat, ma- terially taken.

Carneades. I do not alwayes quarrel, Ehutfo- rius, with Terms borrow'd from' the Schools, if they be as much more fiiort and exprefftve than others, as they are more unufual, or even barbarous. But there is another D>ftin£tion of He.it, partly ground- ed upon that already propos'd, which, becaufe it may be of ufe in our'future Difcourfe, will not be unfit to be here intimated. For we may confider,

B 4 that

8 Of the Pcfitive, or

that though, for the moft part, a hot Body is taken in.the vulgar fenfe for that wherein the degree of Heat is fenfible to our Organs of Feeling ; yet in a loofer fenfe, and which, for Diftin&ions fake, we may call Philofophical , becaufe concluded by Reafon, though not perceiv'd by fenfe, a Body may be conceiv'd not to be deftimte of Heat, even when the degree of that Quality is not great enough to be felt by the Touch > provided it can produce in fome degree thofe other Operations, which, when more intenfe, are acknowledged to proceed from manifeft Heat. For elucidation of which, we rnay alledge, That in very frofty9and yet clear,Wea- ther, the Sun may be judgd to warm the Air, when it melts Snow, and thaws Ice; though, perhaps, many men, efpecially of tender Conftitutions, feel in their Fingers and Toes much ftiffhefs and more pain, upon the account of Cold. To this I may add the common Qbfervation* if you grant the truth of it, that Snow melts much fooner upon Land newly turn'd up by the Plow, than, ceteris fArihus* in the neighbouring ground ; which argues a wairrith in that newly expos'd earth : though ac- cording to the Touch it would queftionlefs appear Cold. But we may be fmniuVd with a clearer and more pregnant Inftance, by but recalling to mind what, was juft now mention'd of the warmth of te- pid water , which was not to be felt by a hot hand, but producd there a contrary fenfation of Cold. Which Inftance I therefore fcruple not to repeat , becaufe it affords an Experiment in fa- vour of that prermYd Diltin&ion, which, I think, may alfo have this grpjnd in Reafon, that a confi- derable Heat is often requifite to be fenfible to our

hands,

Privative Nature of Cold. 9

hands, &€. which are continually irrigated with the Circulating Blood that comes very warm out of the Heart, and enlivened by Ammal Spirits, plentifully fupply'd from the Brain.

ItEletuheritis think fit to accommodate this Di- ftinftion in the Vulgar and in the Philofophical fenfe to his Heat, formally and materially taken, I leave him to his liberty* And I fhall alfo leave it to you both, Gentlemen , to accommodate to Cold, mutatis mutandis, as they fpeak , what has been faid about the diftindtions of Heat; becaufe, I fear, TbemijliHs thinks himfelf to have been too long detailed already from propofing his Arguments, whtfh he may now begin to do afToon as he pleafes.

SECT. II.

Them.T Will then,with your permiflion^begin with JL that Argument of Gaftndus, which I am able to give you in his own wards ^becaufe upon theoccafion of Mr. Boyle s book, I made a Tran- fcript of what he fayes to evince the Pofuivs Na- ture of Cold ; and having theTranfcript yet about me, 'tis eafie for me to tell you, . , 'Jij V ** that tis this : h funt frtgoru ef- fICMtnJen.i.d. fc&HS qnalei habere frivatio, qn& 6. Cap. 6, attionis efi incatax, non pnteft*

This Argument, though he begins not with k^ I choofe to mike the firft, becaufe I think it of fuch weight, that, though it were the only one he could alledge, it would ferve his turn and mine, lince 'tis drawn from the ErYeas of Cold, which, though he

men-

io . Of thePofitive^ or

mentions them but in few and general words, ex- perience (hews to be boch io manifold and fo considerable, "that if Cameades imploy an hundred times as much time ro anfwer the Argument they .afford, as I have done to recite it, he will, I think, do no more than would be neceflary, and perhaps not enough to 6e fufficient. For, Cold affects the Organs of Feeling, and fometimes caufes great pain in them, condenfes Air and Water, and breaks Bottles that are too. well ftopt, congregates both Homogeneous and Heterogeneous things, increafes Hunger, checks fermentation in Liquors, produ- ces Heat by Antipsriftafis, in deep Cellars, Mines, &c* and yet freezes Men. and Beafts to Death, difmantles whole Woods and Forrefts of their Leaves, and does ( I know not how many ) other Feats ; among which, it is not the leaft admirable, though one of the moft common, that it turns the fluid and yielding Waters of Rivers and Lakes, and fometimes of part of the Sea it felf, not too far from the fhoar, into firm and folid Ice, which is often in Northern Climates llrong enough, not only to be travell'd upon by Merchants with their Carriages, but to be fought upon by whole Armies with their trains of Artillery, From which, and other Inftances, it is manifeft, that Effects fo nu- merous and great , cannot proceed from a meer privation, or any negative thing, but require a con(iderable,-and therefore furea Poiitive, Qjality to produce them.

' Carrieades. This Ob je& ion , Themiftius , is, I confefs, a considerable one, and of more weight than any of the reft, if nor than all of them put to- gether : But, as I think it very worthy to be an-

fvyer'd,

Privative Nature of Gold. 1 1

fwer'd, fo I think it very poflible to be well an- fwer'd ; and to give you my reafons for my 10 think- ing, I fhall d,ttin£tly confider in the Atgument the two particulars which it feems to confitt of.

And firft we are. told, that if Cold be but a Pri- vation, it cannot be the object of fenfe. To clear this difficulty, which, I know,you wilhhink it very frard, if at all poffibleto do, I muft beg your leave to obferve fomething about Senfation in general ; not as defigning an entire and fokmn Difcourfe of that Subject, but becaufe the particular remark I am about to make, is neceflary to the Solution of our prefent Difficulty. I obferve then, that That, which, at leaft in fuch cafes as we are fpeaking of, produces in the mind thofe perceptions, which we call Senfations of outward Objects, is the Local Motion, caus'd by means of their Action upon the Outward Organs in fome internal part of the Brain, to which the Nerves belonging to thofe Organs cor- refpond ; and the diverfity of Senfations may be re- ferr'd to the differing modifications of thofe inter- nal motions of the Brain, either according to their greater or lefler Celerity, or other Circum(hnces,as out Friend Mr* Boyle has fomewhere exemplify 'd in the variety of Sounds; whereof fome are grave, fome ("harp, fome harmonious and pleafant , fome jarring and offenfive *, and yet all this ftrange varie- ty proceeds from the variations of thofe ftrokes or impulfes, which the Air, put into motion by fono- rous Bodies, gives to the ear.

To this it will be confonant, that as the Air, or

rather the mind by the intervention of the Air, is

d'rTeringly affected by a very gravfc'found, and a very

; acute one 5 though the formed -'proceed from the

want

1 2 Of the Pofitive^ or

want of that Celerity of motion in the undulating Air, which is to be found in the latter ; which flovv- nefs or immmution of motion, does, as fucb, parti- cipate of, or approach to, the nature of Reft : fo in the fenfory of Feeling, there may, upon the Contact of a Cold Body , be produc'd a very dif- fering perception from that which is caus'd by the contact of a Hot Body ; and this, though the thing perceiv'd, and by us call'd Coldnefs, confifts but in a Idler agitation of the parts of the cold Body, than of ihofe of the hot Body, in refpe£t of our hands or other Organs of Feeling.

And this leads me, for. the farther clearing of this matter, to reprefent to you, that fince 'tis manifeft, that Bodies in motion are wont to com- municate of their motion to thofe more flow Bo- dies they happen to act upon, and to lofe of their own motion by this communicating of it : Since this, I fay, is fo, if, for Inftance, a man take a piece of Ice in his hand , the agitation of the particles oftheSenfory will, in good part, be communicated to the Corpufclesofthelce, which, upon thatacr count, will quickly begin to thaw > and the contU guous parts of the Hand lofing of the motion they thus part with to the Ice, there neeas nothing elfe to leffen thz agitation they had before. And there needs no more than this flackning or Decrement of Agitation, tooccafion in the mind fuch a new and differing perception, as men have tacitly agreed to refer to Coldnefs.

• Eleutherim. It feems by this Difcourfe, Carne- ades, that you think, that Senfation is properly and ultimately madeira or by, the Mind, ordifcerning Faculty j wbichufrqqa the differing motions of the

inter-

Privative Nature of Cold. 1 3

internal parts of the Brain is excited and deter- mine to differing perceptions^ "to fome of which Men have given the names of Hear, Cold, or other Qualities. So that, according to you, if a confi- derable Change of Variation be made in the mod ordinary, or in the former motion or modification of motion of the parts of aSenfory, and confequent- ly of the parts that anfwer them in the Brain, new Ssnfations will be produced, whatever the caufer of this Alteration be, whether Privative or Pofi- tive.

CarneAdes* You do not mif-apprehend my thoughts, Elemherius) and what you fay gives me a rife to illuftrate this matter yet a little farther by obferving, that the Senfories may be fo accu- ftom'd to be affeded after a certain manner by thofe external Objects, whofe Operation on them is very familiar, or perhaps almoft conftant, that the Privation, or the bare Imminution of the wont- ed operation leaves the parts of the Senfory , for wane of it, in a different difpofition from what they formerly were in > which change in the fenfo- ry, if itbenottoofmall, will be attended by a per- ception of it in the mind. To declare and confirm this by an example, we may confider, that though I Darknefs be confefledly a Privation of Light, and the Degrees of it, gradual Imminution s of Light; yet the Eye, that is, the Perceptive Faculty by the Intervention of the Eye may well enough be faid to perceive both Light and Darknefs, that is, both a Pofitive thing, and the Prjvation of it. And I 'tis obvious, that the motion of a fhadow, which is J a gradual Privation ot Light, is plainly, and witfr- . out difficulty, difcoYerable by the Eye s of which

the

i4 Of the Pofitivc, or

the reafon may be eafily deduc'd from what I have been lately fayiog.; And to (hew you that there is on thefe occafiotis fuch a change . made in the Organs of Seeing, as is vifible even to By-ftanders, I (hall need but to appeal to the Experiment of making in the day time a Boy or Girl look towards an enhghten'd Window, and then towards an ob- fcure part of the Room \ for when the latter comes to be done, you will plainly perceive, that for want ef fuch a degree of Light as was wont to come in at thePupill, and ftraiten a little that perforation of the Uvea ; that round Circular Hole, or, as you know they call it, Apple of the Eye, will grow very manifeftly larger than it was before and than it will appear again, if the Eye be expos 'd to a lefs (haded Light.

This obfervation may be feconded, by what hap- pens to a man, when coming out of the Sun-fhine, where the Sun-beams much contract his Pupill to ihut out an excetfive Light that would be ofVenfive to the Organ, he comes prefently into a dark room, where he mutt continue fome time before he can fee others as well as he is feen by them, whofe Pu- pills have had time to be fo inlarged, as in that darker place to let in light enough to make Objects vifible to their Eyes, which are not fo to his, vvhofe Pupills are yet contracted by the Light they were but juft before expofed to. To this I might add divers other Phanomenst, explicable upon the fame grounds, but I (hall rather' chufe to relate to you an uncommon Accident, which happening to eyes fomewhat unufually difpofed, do's more remarka- bly difcover, what alteration Darknefs, or a priva- tion of Light, may have upon thofe Organs. I know

a

Privative Nature of 'Cold. 15

a very Learned man, who is no lefs ftudious of Ma- themiticks, and other real parts of Knowledge, than skill'd in thofe which are taught of the Schools : This VirtHofa who feem'd to me to have fomething peculiar in his eyes, confefs'd and complain'd to me> that if he come, though but out of a moderate light of the open air, into a room that is any thing dark, he does not only feel fuch an alteration as other, men are wont to do on the like occafion $ buc is fo powerfully affected by it, that be thinks, he feesflafhes of fire before his Eyes, and feels atrou- blefome difcompofurein thofe parts, that fometimes lafts an hour or two together, if he fo long continue there.

Eletitherius* I know not, Carneadcs, whether after this, you will think it any great confirmati- tion of your Opinion, that Ariftotle has fomevvhere this faying, that, OchIus cognofcit Lucent &Tene- bras.

C amende s. I thank you, Eieutberius, for fo perti- nent an Allegation , though not for my own fake, yer for theirs that will more eafily receive a Truth upon the Teftimony oiAriftotle> than that of Na- ture. And now, I hope, that Thtmifiius will con- fent, that difmitfing the Argument hitherto examin'd, we proceed to the next.

SECT. III.

.. !TA«».QInce you will have it fo , I (hall com- O ply at prefent, and the rather, becaufc not only I forefee there will be occafion to fpeak

of

1 6 Of the Pofitive, or

of it again, but becaufe you Experimental Philofo- phers, that are wont To much to cry up the Infor- mations you think you receive from Senfe, fome- timesin fpite of contrary dictates of Reafon, will, I hope, be prevailed with by the Argument I am about to propofe, which is fo manifeftly grounded upon Senfe, that without denying that we do feel what we feel, we cannot deny Cold to be a Pofi- tive Quality. For thus Gajjendus moft convin- cingly argues > Chm per hyemem immittimtts manum in /abends fluminis aquam^ quod frigus in ea ftnti* ttir non foteft dici mera privatlo, aliitdque prorfu$ e[fe applet fentiri aquam frigidam, & fentiri non calidam* Et fac eandem aqnam gelari , fentietwr hand dabie frigidior, an dices hoc ejfe nihil ' a/iud qnam minus calidam fentiri? Atqm calida jam antea non erat> qaomodo ergo potmt minks salida ef~ fici ?

Carneai. I will not fay, Tkemiflius> his Argu-

' ment is not fpecious, but you, perhaps, or at leaft

Elemheriusi will not affirm it to be more than fpe*

cious, if you pleafe to confider with me two or

three things that I have to fuggeft about it.

And firft, to fhew, Themiflius, that , whatever he was juft now intimating, Experimental Philo- fophers do not prefer the immediate Impreflions made on the Senfes to the dictates of Reafon, though they think the Teftimony of the Senfes , however fometimes fallacious, much more inform- ing than the Dictates of Ariftotle, which are often- times ( and that groundlefly) repugnant to 'hem \ I will reprefert to you, that the Organs of Senfe, confider'd precifely as fuch, do onely receive Im- j>relTions from outward Gbjecls, but not perceive

what

Privative Nature of Cold. 1 7

what is tbe caufe and manner of thefe ImprcflBoriS, the Perception properly fo called of Caufes be- longing to a fupenor Faculty, who e property it is to judge whence the alterations made in the Sen- fones do proceed, as may eafily be proved, if I had time and need to do fo, by many Inftances, wherein the Senfes do, to fpeak in the ufual phrafe, mif-inform, and, as far as in them lies, delude us, and therefore muft be rectified by Reafon. As when the Eye reprefents a ftraight Stick, that has part of it under water,asif it were crookedjand two Fingers laid crofs over one another, reprefent us a (ingle Bullet or a Button vol I'd between them, as if there were a couple : So that 'tis very poffible ( for I forbear faying 'tis true, having not yet pro- ved it, ) that though the Senfory be very manifeftly and vehemently affect: ed upon the contact of cold Water, or other cold Bodies, yet the caufe of that impreifion or affection is, and may be judged and determin'd by Reafon to be, other, than that which the Senfe may to an inconsiderate perfon fuggeft. As when a Child, or one that never heard of the thing before, firft fees a Stick, whereof one part is in the Air, and the other under Water , he will prefently, but erroneoufly, conclude that Thar komenon to be caufed by the Stick's being crooked or broken.

Next we may confider, that Senfations may in divers cafes be made, as well from alterations that may happen in the internal parts of the Body, as from thofe that are manifeftly produced in the ex- ternal Organ, by external Objects and Agents j as may appear by Hunger, Thirft, the Titillatioa of fome parts of the Body, barely upon Venereal C thoughts,

x8 OfthePofitive, or

thoughts, and ( which belongs dii e£tly to our pre- fent Argument ) the great Coldnefs that we have known Hyfterical Women complain of in their Heads and Backs, and the great and troublefome degree of Cold, which we every day obfevve upon the firft invafion of the Fits of Agues, efpecially Quartans ; which troublefome (ymptomes, that fometimes laft for feveral hours, are therefore com- monly called the Cold Fits.

And now it would be feafonable for me to call upon you to remember ( and add to what 1 have now faid) that which at the beginning of our con- ference I took notice to you of about Senfation in general > if I did not prefume that thofe things are yet frefh enough in your memory, to allow me to proceed diredtly to anfwer the Objection, which I llialldo, though not like a School-man, yet like a Natttra/ifi, by giving an account of the propofed Ph&nomenon^ without having recourfe to that Hypo- thefn which 'tis urged to evince.

I obferve then, that though in the refpe&ive fence above-mention'd, Water, wherein the Ob- jection fuppofes the hand to be plunged, be cold, in regard its parts are lefs agitated, than the Spirits and Bloud harbour'd in the Hand; yet in a Philo- fophical fence, it is not quite deftitute of Heat, fmca 'tis yet Water, not Ice, and would not be a Liquor, but by reafon of that various agitation of its minute parts, wherein fluidity, a Quality effen- tial to Liquors, confifts. Upon the fcore of this refpe&ive Coldnefs of the Water, the Hand is refrigerated ', for the Spirits and Juyces of that Organ meeting in the Water with Particles much lefs agitated than they are, communicate to them

fomc

Privative Nature of Cold. 1 9

fome part of their own Agitation, and thereby Iofe ic themfelvesL, upon which Decrement of wonted Agitation, fuch a change is made in the Senfory, and, (though not fo manifeftly ) in fome other parts of the Body, as is perceived by the Animad- verfive Faculty under the Notion of Coldnefs j Senfation, ( whatever obfcure Definitions are won: to be given of it J being indeed an Internal Per- ception of the changes that happen in the Senfo- ries*

And if now, as the Objection fuppofes, the

Water wherein the hand is plunged comes to be

more refrigerated than before, the Spirits, Blood,

and other parts of the hand, finding the Aqueous

Corpufcles more (lowly moved than formerly,

mufr, according to the Laws of Motion, (according

to which a Body that meets another much more

(lowly moved than itfelf, communicates to it more

of its motion than if 'twere lefs flowly moved, )

transfer to them a greater meafure of their own

motion, and confequently themfelves come to be

deprived of it : And upon this increafe of the

flownefs of motion in the parts of the hand, there

follows a new and proportionable perception of the

Mind, andfo, a more vehement fenfationofCold.

But though it be not to be admired, that the bare

flownefs of motion in the Objed fhould be difcern-

ablebySenfe, albeit it feems to participate of Reft,

which with you paffes for a Privation, fince the

Ear perceives when a Voice grows faint, and when

a fharp Sound degenerates into a flat one ; and we

can perceive by the hand ( abftra&ing from Heat

and Cold ) the celerity or flownefs of Bodies that

in their paffage ftrike upon it , as for inftance, of

C 2 Winds,

so OfthePofitive^ or

Winds or ftreams } yet this is not the only thing I think fit to be taken notice of on this Occafion. For, 1 confide! farther, that befides the mod con- fiftent and liable parts of the Hand , there are from the H^art and the Brain irelli blood and fpints con- tinually tranfmitted to the Hand } and the former of thefe, the Blood, is, according to the Laws of its Circulation, and after it has received a great change in the much refrigerated Hand> carried back through other parts to the Heart; whence it is in the fame Circulation dittributed to the whole Body. To which may be added, that when the great refrigeration of the Hand happens, external Agents may contribute to the Eflfcdte of it , as I fhall by and by have occafion to fhew.

If chen you pleafe to remember, that upon the turning ones eye to the dark part of a room lefs inlighten'd than the Window, though Darknefs be but a Privation, and though the Obicurity of that part be notabfolute, but confift only in a lefs de- gree of Light ; yet the action of the Spirits and other parrs of the Body is fo changed upoa occafion of the Light's acting more faintly than was ufual up- on the Organ, that the Pupill is immediately and manifeftly dilated, and in fome cafes, as in that which I me^tion'd to y ju of a Learned Man, much confiderabler Effects enfue ', you will not wonder, that, where not only the Spirits , but the Blood, ( whence thofe Spirits are generated ) that circu- lates through the whole Body, and upon whofe Difpofition all the other parts fo much depend, is very much difafte&ed, there ftiould be felt a great alteration in the Hand , which is the moft immedi- ately expos'd to the action of the cold Water.

And

Privative Nature of "Cold. 2 r

And for the Reafons newly given, it ought to be as little ftrange, that in other parts of the Body, the diforder'd and not circulacing Blood ftioulu have its wonted a&ion on them confiderably al- ter^; fince the more liable pans, and efpecially thofe external ones that are moft expos'd to the Cold, have their pores ftraiten'd, and confequent- ly their Texture fomewhat alter'd j on the fame occalion on which the wonted agitation ot the Spi- rits with the Particles that compofe the Blood, is notably leffen'd. And that fuch Caufes may pro- duce great Effects in a Humane Body, you will be more prone to admit, if you corifider the difor- ders that happen in the cold fit of an Ague, and oftentimes upon the .(hutting up of thofe excremen- titious fteams that are wont to be discharged by in- fenfible Tranfpiration * to whofe being ftop'd in the Body by the conftri&ion of the Pores, which chiefly happens through Cold, fome Learned Pby- ficians, efpecially the famous Sennertm, impute the cauie of moft Fea vers, as indeed Experience it felfdoes but too frequently (hew it tobe'guilty of many.

Philopontu* I confefs, Carneades9 you have faid fome things that I thought not on before » but yet Gatfendus's Argument feems to be fuch , that I fear 'twill bejhard to hinder many from faying, That if Cold be but a Privation of Heat, 'tis a Privation of a ftrange nature : For, it may be introduced into Bodies that were not Hot before , nay, in fome ca- fes, into fuch as are naturally Cold, and alfo by con- fluence muft have been put into a preternatural ftate to be at any time Hot.

Carneadss* This Objection, Fbilotonmy being in C 3 cffeft

22 OfthePofetive^ or

effect fo mach the fame with that of Gatfendfts, that ic differs from it but in the drefs you give it, 'twill fcarce require a peculiar and diftinct anfweri and therefore, as foon as I have reminded you of the Diftir.ftior* that we have formerly made of the' Vulgar and Philofophi:al fence of the word COLD, I fhall'need to alter but a little what I (aid before, by telling yon, that fince Fluidity confifts in the various agitation of the infenfible Cofpufcles of a Liquor, and that Heat confifts in a tumultuary, but a more vehement agitation of the infenfible parts of a Body, and fo, that Hot Water fcarce differs oiherwife than gradually, from that which is cold to Senfe; if Cold be taken in the larger andPhilofo- phical fence, it may well be faid, ttat as long as Water retains the form of Water, and fo continues to be a fluid Body, though it tray be very cold to the Touch , yet it is not absolutely or perfectly cold, and therefore is capable of a farther degree cfcoldnefs, which it receives when brought to Con- gelation : for till then it was not deftitute of thofe agile Corpufcles, that were requifite to keep it fluid ', and till then, G^ffendm himfelf mud acknow- ledge, trnt it vvas not absolutely or perfectly cold \ becaufe He, as you may remember, did in his for- mer ( but lately mention'd) Argument afcnbe the Glacation of Water to the mvafion ofthofe that he calls Corpufcles of CAd.

E'iitheriw Give me leave to add, Cametdes^ that 'tis not every Glaciation it felt that brings Li- quors to be perfectly Coid in thePhilofophical fence of that expceffion , and quite expells or fubdues all the agile Particles that were in the Water be- fore 'twas mrn'd into Ice. For, I think, that to

effect

Privative Nature of Cold. 2 3

effect this change, Ms fufficient , that fo many of thefe reftlefs Particles be deftroyed or difabled, that there remains not enough of them to keep the Water in a ftate of Fluidity, fothat the furplufage may yet continue in the frozen Liquor, and whilft they are there, perform feveral thugs, as the ma- king it evaporable in the Air, and even odorous, and by their recefs or destruction the Ice may grow yet more cold. And as this Notion fuits very well with the differing degrees of hardnefs , that we find in differing portions of Ice , fometimes* upon the account of the mi tter, (as frozen Water is harder than frozen Oyl,) and fometimes upon that of the different degrees of Cold in the fame Water or other matter, (as our Friend fomewhere obferves;) fo it maybe highly confirmed by an Experiment I faw him make, but that is not yet publiflied.

The fummof the Experiment was this •, That he firft put an Hermetically feal'd Thermofcope into a Glafs broader at the top than at the bottom, and greas'd the inlide with Tallow, that Ice might not ftrongly ftick to it. In this Glafs was put Water, more than enough to cover the ball of trns Inftru- ment ^ and that Water being warily frozen, notice was taken, whereabouts the tinfted Spirit of Wine retted in the Stemm ; after which, the Inftrument and the Ice being removed into the open Air, upon an exceeding frofty morning, the Ice was taken off from the ball, and prefently after, the tin&ed Li- quor, as the maktt of the tryal expected, fubfided a pretty way ( the length of the Inftrument consi- dered ) below the former mark} which argued chat he rightly guefs*d, that fuch a degree of Cold as is fufficient to turn Water into Ice, may not produce C \ a Bo-

24 Of the Pofitive0 ox

a Body perfectly Cold ; this Ice it felf keeping the inclos'd ball, in a fence, warm, by fencing off the Air, which, at that time, (even in our temperate Clime ) by the Effect appeai'd to be colder than t:ie very Ice. And, me thinks, it may ftrengthen Carnwdes's Difcourfe, to reprefenr, that there is ho. 'diffident caufe, why many things that are rec- koned among Privations or Negations by the Peri- pateticks themfelves, as well as Cold is by Came- ideu may not admit of degrees? as may be exem- plified by Deafnefs, Ignorance, and divers other JEhingif And co bring a cafe, not very unlike that

.'ef confederation, we may take notice of a total Eclipfe of the Moon, which you know alwayes hap-

is when (Tie is at the full. For Darknefs in the Air being acknowledged to be a Privation or Nega- tion of tighfj when the Earth interpofed between the Moon and the Sun has Eclipfed her, for iii- funce, nine digits, (as Aftronomersfpeak^) Men

lerally complain of darknefs in the air, though there remain -a coniidcrable part of the Difcm or the Hemifphere of the Moon obverted to us yet in- Iig!ren:d by the Sun j . but when the interposed Earth proceeds to cover the remaining three digits, anJTo makes the Eclipfe total, the darknefs alfo is fa id aiid efteem'd to be much increas'd : Nor would men' oih-rwile'De perfwaded, though Themijilm •ihuuld tell them, that the Air cannot have grown darker, though it were dark before, and indeed though the Air. was more arid more darkened in

portion to the increafe of the Eclipfe, yet it was never compJeatly darken 'd 'till it became to- tal. But I fear I dwell too long upon one Argu- ment.

SECT.

Privative Nature of Cold. 25 SECT. IV.

EIch* T Et me therefore, Carneades, fumm up J_> what I take to be your Do&rine , and tell thuie Gentlemen , that I think you do not look upon the Senlation of Cold asathhig effected by an intire Privation properly fo called and confi- "der'd as fuch, but that according to you that fl ;w- nefs of motion in the Particles of cold Wrer, Which the Hand finds when 'tis thruft into that Li- quor, does occafion the Spirits and the Corpufcles of the Blood to part with to thofe of the Water a confiaerable (hare of their own furplufage of agita- tion, whereby they lofe it themfelves, upon which is confequent a Perception of this change made in the Hand, which, if it be very great, is alfo fre- quently accompanied with iome fenfibie change in other parts of the Body, occafion'd chief- ly by the frequent returns of the circulating and highly refrigerated Blood to the Heart, whence 'tis difperfed to the whole Body. According to which Doctrine, the Senfation of Gold is but a perception of the Ieflen'd Agitation of the parts of the Hand either ftable or fluid, efpecially of the Blood, which alterations are in great part produced, not by the coldnefs of the Water, as Cold is a Privati- on, but fiom the new modification of the action of the Blood and Spirits upon the Nervous and Mem- branous parts, the conftriction of whole Pores con- currs to that Modification. And, if I do not mif- underftaud your Opinion , CnrneAes, methinks it may be confirmed by this which 1 have known ob-

ferved

26 OfthePofitive^ or

ferved by experienc'd Chirurgeons ? that by too ftri£t Ligatures unskilfully made, an Arm, for in. iiance, may be gangrenated ; in which cafe, all the proper and immediate effect of the Ligature is but theconftri&ion of the part, though that conftri&i- on being unufual and excefllve, it proves thcocca- fionof the mortifying of the Hand and Arm by hin- dring the free and ufual accefs of the Blood and Spirits to that Limb; upon which, by the depraved adtion of the parts of the Body one upon another, and the concurrence of external A gents, there en- foes a Mortification or Gangrene of the part, which, if due Remedies be not timely employ- ed, is communicated to other parts and kills the Man,

Carnetdes. Whatever become of your Inftarce, EleHthenws, I thank you for your readinefs to pro- pofe it in favour of my Hypothefis, which you will eafily judge not to be much concern'd in the clofe of the excellent Gaffendm his Arguments for the Pofitive Nature of Cold. For though thefe words cf his

Themfiiw. You may fave your feff the trouble of naming them now, fmce, whatever they may feem to you, I profefs I look upon them as con- taining a diitinct- Argument, which I fhall there- fore propofe in its due place hereafter*, but in the mean time, and before we leave the Argument you would have us difmifs , give me leave to remind you, Cameades, of fome part of your former Dif- courfe, and to take thence a rife to tell you, that you, who told us that we ought not to confider the Operations that Qualities have upon our own Sen- fcries only, but alio what they do to other Bodies,

will,

Privative Nature of Cold, 27

will, I hope, allow me to demand, how a Privation, or if you will, how an Imminution of Motion can produce the hundredth part of thofe ErTe&s which we daily fee produc'd by Cold in the Bodies that are about us.

Garneadcs* I thought, Tbemiftins^ I had intima- ted to you already, what might have prevented yourQneftioni butfincel fee 'tis otherwife, you fhall not find me backward to explain my felf a little more fully. I do not pretend, that either an abso- lute privation of motion in a Body, or a flownefs of motion in the parts of it, is, as fuch, the proper Efficient caufe of the ErTe&s, vulgarly but unduely afcnb'd to Cold alone i1 for, in my opinion, Cold is rather the Occafion, than the true Efficient Caufe of fuch Efte&s, which, I think, are properly to be afcribed to thofe Phyfical Agents, whofe actions or operations happen to be otherwife modified than elfe they would have been upon the occafion of that imminution or flacknefs of Agitation which they meet with in cold Bodies, by occafion of which they are both deprived themfelves of the Agitation they communicate to fuch flow Bodies, and there- by acl: no longer as, were it not for that lofs, they would, and by a natural confequence of this change, which is made in themfelves, they do alfo, though lefs notably, modifie the action of other Bodies up- on them : From which unufual alterations happen- ing in a World fo frarrTd as this of ours is, and go- verned by fuch Laws refpetting Motion and Reft as are obferved among Bodies, there muft in all pro- bability refult many new, and fome of them consi- derable, Phtnowna. For though Qaiefcent Bodies feem not to have any action which among corporeal

fub-

2 8 • Of the Pofitive^ or

fubftances feems to be perform'd only by Lc motion ; yet Bodies quiefcent themfelves may con- curr to great Effects both by determining the mo* tions of other Bodies this or that way, or by iecei- ving their motion totally or in part , and fo depri- ving the formerly moving Bodies of it : Thus the Arches of a Bridge, though immoveable themfelves, by guiding the water of the River that beats againifc tlKm, may occafion a rapid and boifterous ftream, capable to drive the greatefl Mills , and perform ;nore considerable c ttects , though the River, be- fore it met with them, ran calmly enough, as is evident at London Bridge, efpecially when the Wa- ter is near a low Ebb. And now I have mention'd Water, I will add, that though Water it felf be not a quiefcent Body, but being a Liquor has its parts in perpetual motion among themfelves ; yet fince that agitation •acceding flow in comparifonof the fwiftneis of .- Jannon-bullet, in refpeft whereof the calmfurface of the Water participates of the nature of a Quiefcent Body , Bullets tbemfelves Aliot from out of Guns elevated but little above the Level of the Water, ( upon which fcore they make but a very fiiarp angle with it; )'thefe Ballet?, I fay, do not unhequently rebound from the Surface of the Water, and confequently, even thefe fo won- derfully fwifc Bodies receive a new Determination from it.

Eleutberitu* One may add, Camsad.es> to your Inftances, that in a Tennis-Court the wall, againft which Balls are ftrongly impelPd by a Racket, con- tributes much to the mifchief that thofe Balls do often to By-ftanders in the Gallery , as the Wall, though it felf unmov'd, gives a new Determination

to

Privative Nature of Cold, 29

to the moving Ball, and by its remittance makes it rebound or reflet at an Angle equal to that of the Balls incidence. And this concurrence of the Wall to fuch Effects is the more evident, becaufe of this other circumftance ,( which aifo befriends your Opinion J that, if the impell'd Ball, inttead of hitting againft the Wall, hits againft the Net, this by yielding deprives the Ball of its Impetus* and hin- ders the reflection that would elfe enfue.

Carnead. You have, I confefs , fomewhat pre- vented me, Eleutherim't but yet not altogether : For though I was going to propoie the example of a Ball, yet 'twas in fomewhat a differing way, for I was about to propofe to Themlflim the example of a Ball, which if it be forcibly and perpendicularly thrown againft the hard Ground^ has its Determi- nation fo altered, that whereas ' moved before towards the Centre of the Eai\ ' -h imediately, with almoft the like fwiftnefs of motion, tends di- rectly upwards* And if on the other fide you throw the Ball, not againft a hard , but againft a muddy piece of ground, it will not rebound, lofe- ing its tiwn motion, by communicating it to the parts of the yielding Mudd $ as may be in fome mea- sure illuftrated by the great commotion made in a fmall Pond of Water, when a Ball ( or a round ftone) being but gently let fall upon the furface of it, has its motion thereby deaded , and transferr'd to the parts of the Liquor , which perhaps will be vifrbly agitated at the remoteft brink of the Pond. <+

Eleiitheritu* Thefe Examples may conduce much to explicate your Do&vine , Carneades, but fince Themijim himfelf was fo equitable a while agoe, ajs

to

30 OftbePofitive, or

to allow you much time to defend fuch a Paradox as yours againtt Gajfendws Argument, I fhall with your leave ( of which I doubt not ) to the Exam- ples already mention'd add this one more. Sup- pofe upon a ftream that runs through fome Town ( which is not very rare ) there were built a num- ber of differing Mills , fome for the grinding of Corn, others for the Fulling of Cloth, others for the moving of Bellows to melt Oars and Metals; others for forging of Sword-blades ; others for ma- king of Paper, and others for other ufes : And fup- pofe that an Enemy coming to befiege this Town, fhould fuccefsfully imitate Cyrus Straragem, when by fuddenly diverting the courfe of Euphrates he took Babylon ; would it not be confequent to this derivation of the Water into fome lower place, and this ceafing 01 the Stream to run in its former Channel, that the action of all thefe Mills, by which fo many differing operations were performed, muft of neceility ceafe too? though theBefiegers do not produce this change by any pofitive and direct vio- lence that they offer to the Mills, but onely by hindring them from receiving the wonted Impulfes which wererequiiiteto keep them in motion.

Carncades. I difltke not your Inftance, Eleutbe- rius, which yet will not altogether render ufelefs what I was going to fay about a Wind-mill, which will illuftrate one part of my Do&nne, for which your Water-mill does not feem to have been in- tended. And that this Example may the better do fo, I will fuppofe a Wind-mill to be built in fome low place near the bank of your ftream , which ftream we will fuppofe to be lyable, as fome others are, upon the falling of great and fudden rains up- on

Privative Nature of Cold. 3 1

on the neighbouring hills, to overflow its 6anks, in cafe the increafe of the Water be not then hindred by the Wind-mills lifting up conftantly fome parts of if, and conveying it away by Pipes or otherwife : And then let us fuppofe, what really fometimes happens, that the Wind fhould fo ceafe, that there ftiould not blow any wind itrong enough to move the fails for a great while together; will it not hence manifeftly follow, that by reafon of this ab- fence of the Wind, which abfence has the nature of a Privation or Negation of a Stream-like motion in the Air, not only there will be a ceafing of thofeT Effects and Operations whatever they were, that were wont to be perform'd within the Mill it felf, but alfo there will be a durable intermiffion of that main work of the Mill whereby it carried off fuch a quantity of Watery which work ceafing with the Wind, whilft the flowing in of the Water does not ceafe too, but continues as formerly , the ftill-in- creafing Water muft bear down or oveiflow its wonted Banks or other Boundaries, and by its un- ruly effufions drown the neighbouring parts, and produce the Diforders,that is, the new ?h*nomena7 naturally confequent to an Inundation made by fuch a quantity of Water* And if the Water conveyed away by means of the Mill through Pipes or Chan- nels were employed to water Grounds, or other particular ufes, the growth or fertility at lead of the Vegetables that Water was requisite to nou- rifti, or the other ufes to which it was neceffary, muft confequently be much, if not totally, hin-» dred.

Pbilofonw. I know not whether we may not tefer to the Subject of your Difcourfe, what may

be

32 Of the Tofitive, or

be obferv'd in Paralytic^ affections, where a little Vifcous or Narcotick Humour obftructing or other- wi(e diiaffecting one part of a Neive, "though its proper ana immediate action be only to hinder or weaken the Spirits, that were wont, in competent plenty, to pais freely along the Nerve to the Mufcles whereto it leads \ yet (he action of the other parts of the Body and the Relaxation of the Fibres do oftentimes produce a tremulous motion in the Limb?, a ,d particularly rhe Hands ; and fome- times alfo the Mouth, Neck and ether parts, are drawn awry in an odd and frightful manner.

Carncadeu Though I approve of Pbilcpin^s fancy, yet I think a more quick and notable In- jftance to the fame purpofe may be taken, from what happens to Birds, and Rats, and Cats, and fuch kind of warm Animals , in Mr. Boyle's Engine* For 06 the Air by the agitation of its parts, or that of fome Ethereal (ubftance that pervades it, enter- tains the fluidity of Water and other Aqueous Li- quors; and when that agitation is hinder'd or too much leffen^d, Water ceafes to be fluid, and upon that divers Violent Effects enfue, wont to be a- fcrib'd to Glaciation : fo the bodies of warmer Animals, having been born in the Air , and per- petually expos'd to the action of it , ( though that be feldome heeded) when being plac'd in the Re- ceiver of the Air-pump, and by the operation of that Inftrument, which withdraws the former Air and keeps out the new, the Air that was wont con- tinually to act up n them, is kept from doing fo any longer, though this ab fence, or nor touching of the Air, be but a privative or negative thing, yet by reaibn of the ftructure of the Animat \ his Spi- rits

Privative Nature of Cold, 3 3

Tits and Humours, affifted by the concourfe of more general Gaufes , are brought to act fo differingly from what they were wont to do, that the Blood and Juyces fwell, the Stomach vomits, the Animal. grows faint and ftaggers, the Limbs, and at length the whole fiody are convulfed, the Circulation is ftopp'd, and at laft the whole Animal kill'd ; and all this done in a very few minutes of an hour, without the vifible intervention of any pofitive A-

gent,

BUuthsrw. What you fay, Carneddes, Concern- ing the quick and violent Death of warm" Animals in Mr. Boyle s Engine, puts me in mind of an Ex- periment 1 faw made in that Inftruraent upon cold Animals, which, methinks, may well illuftrate the Comparifon we lately employed of a Wind-mill. For as thofe great artificial Engines lofe their Mo- tion, and the Operations depending on it, if that Stream of Air, we call the Wind,J>e held from keeping them going ; fo Infects and fome other cold Animals have their differing motions fo de- pendent upon the contact of the Air, that, as foon as ever they are deprived of it (by the Engine we are fpeaking of ) divers forts of them: will lye movelefs as if they were dead; and I have known feveral of therri that were put in together, continue in that ftate for many hours, as long as it ple*s'd our Friend to with-hold the Air ; but when once He thought fit to kt a Scream of Air enter the Receiver,thefe feemingly dead Animalvas Worm?, Bees, Flyes, &c. like fo many little Wind-mills of Nature's (or rather her great Authors ) making, were fet a moving in various manners ( as creeping, . flying, &c) fuitable to their differing Species*

D Carnt*

54 Of the Pofitive^ or

CametdesSo that to fumm up in a few words the Refult of thefe Inftances, and the reft of the paft Difcourfeon the fame Subject, it appears by what has been faid, that the Effects undefervedly afcrib'd to Cold, need not in our Hypothefis be referr'd to a Privation, but to thofe pofitive Agents or active Caufes, which by their own nature are determin'd co a£fc otherwife on, or fuffer oiherwife from, one another, in cafes, where there is a great hindrance or ceafing of wonted agitation, than where there is nor*

SECT. V.

Tbemifi ♦TT may perhaps now be time to put Car- A neades in mind, that, in what he has been difcourfing all this while , he has pro- pos'd Anfwers but to a couple of Gajfendtus Ar- guments, and left the reft untouch*d.

Carneades. I ftould readily grant , Themlftius, that I have dwelt too long upon fo few Arguments, if I did not hope, that by fully anfwering Them, and giving the Company a particular account of my Notions concerning Cold, I might very much fhorten and facilitate the remaining part of my Task, which engages me to return Anfwers to the ether Arguments you ipeak of, the grounds of fo!vingwhich,Ithink,I have already laid in the paft Difcourfe. And therefore you may go on to propofe the next Argument Q^C^jfendw^ foon as you pleafe.

Tbcz

Privative Nature o/CoId. 3 5

ThmifRns. And I (hull doit, Carneades, in that Learned Man's own words, which I well remem- ber to be thefe : Fac manum immitti _ _ . . „ /i r- j . Gaflcnd.Lfft

/» aquam nunc calidam, nunc frigidam > $t £^# ^

qnamobrem mams intra iflamy non in' tra illa'm refrigeratnr .? an quia calor minus intra, frigidam retrabitttr* manufque proinde relinquitttr calida minus ? At^ quidnam calor refugit, quod intrafrigidamreperiatnr? nonne frigns? Atfifri- gus eft tantHmprivMQ) qnidnam calor ab ilia mttuit 2 Privatio fanh nihil eft, atqne adeb nihil agcrey unde ej fis motus incntiatur^ pot eft*

Carnudes. This Objection, Themiftius] may indeed puzzle many School-Pkilofophers, butwiH eafily admit an anfwer in my Hypothefis. For that does not oblige, or fo much as tempt, me to afcribe ( as a Peripatetic^ would do, ) to a meer Quality, ( for fuch is Heat, ) both a knowledge of its danger, and a care and skill to prefer ve it fejf from its Ene- my, the Cold, by a retreat inwards. For, agree- ably to what I lately delivered, 'tis obvious for me to explicate the Phenomenon thus : When a man puts his Hand into warm Water, the agitation of the Corpufcles of that Liquor furpaffing that of the Spirits, Blood, and other parts of his Hand, cannot but excite in him a fenfe of Heat *, but when he puts the fame Hand into cold Water, the cafe ought to be much altered, not by any imaginary retreat of the Spirits, but the communication of motion by other parts to the furrounding Water , by which means there muftbe in the Hand a great leffening ofthe former agitation of its parts, the perception or fenfe of which decrement of motion is that which we call the Feeling of Cold*

D 2 Eltw

3 6 OftfiePofitive, or

Eleuthcrius* I think indeed, Cameades > that though this Argument may be confiderable againft thofe that the Learned framer of it might have is his Eye^ it is but invalid againft you. But can you as well decline the force of that other Objefifon, which Gajfendtts more infills on, andwhicHeems as dire&ly to oppofe you as any other Adverfaries of his Hypothecs ?

ThemijiiHs. I prefume, EUuthertHs, you mean that cogent Argument, which Gaffendus propofes and profecutes more fully than the reft, deducing it from the way of artificially freezing Water by a mixture of Snow and Salt, placed about the outfide of theGIais that contains the Liquor. For from this practice he rationally concludes , that fince this frigorifick mixture is through the Glafs abletofreez the Water into Ice, it may as juftly be affirm'd to act by Corpufcles of Cold, as Fire can be to^d by Calorifick Corpufcles, when kindled Coals, pla- ced on the outfide of the Glafs , make the contain- ed Water boyl. And this cogent Argument win, I hope, prove the more fatisfa&ory to Carneadesi fince 'tis not drawn from what he would call a di- sputable Peripatetick Notion , but from the fame Quiver, whence he affects to take bis Shafts, Ex- perience it felf,

Cameades* I freely acknowledge, Gentlemen, this Argument to be very plaufible ; but that it is clear and cogent, I muft not grant, till I. be better Satisfied that it is fo.

And, I fhall fcarce think it a? evident, that Ice and Salt zGt by a Pofitive Quality, as that burning Coals do fo, though Cold feems as well to be pro- duced by the former, as Beat by "the latter. For

in-

Privative Nature of Cold. 3 7

innumerable Experiments {hew, that/to, in the' Fire efpecially, is a Pofitive Qjality, confiflingin a tumultuary and vehement agitation of the minute parts of the Body that is (aid to be hot, and produ- cing alfo in the Bodies that 'tis communicated to, a local motion, which is manifeftly a pofitive thing. This is fo evident, in the heating of Bodies by- mere attrition, the fmoaking and melting of divers Bodies in the Sjn-beams ( efpecially at fit times of the day and year, ) the fudden boiling and diffipa- tion of Water }OA>crc. dropt on a red-hot iron,and many other obvious inftances, that 'twere a needlefs work to go about to prove it, efpecially Cmcc both Themiftifts's Peripateticks, and Gajfendtis himfelf, who fo often difagree about other things, agree in confefling that Heat is a Pofitive Quality.

Thmiftim. But remember, Carneades-, that the grounds on which they do fo*, are the fame, on which Gajfendus juftly builds the Proposition, that Cold alfo is a Pofitive Quality*

Carneades. I did not forget that, Themiftius ; for I was about tofubjoynto what I laft faid, that 'tis evident not onely by the confeflion of my Adverfa- ries, but by that ( which to me is much more con- iiderable) of Nature her felf, proclaiming it in the Inftances I juft now mentioned, that Heat is aP6- fitive Quality j whereas thac Cold likewife is fo, does, not appear to me by the Experiment of Arti- ficial Congelations. For, in this all that is clear in matter of fa 61 is, that Snow or beaten Ice and Salt are put about a Veflel full of Water or other Aque- ous Liquor, and that, within a while after > this Water begins to be turn'd into Ice ^ but , that this Chelation is perform'd bv fwarms of atoms of Cold, D 3 that

3 8 OfthePofitive, or

■that permeating the Glafs, invade and harden the Liquor, is not perceiv'd by Senfe, but concluded by a Ratiocination, the cogency of which I am al- lowed to examine without affronting the certainty of Senfe ; that not being concerned in the cafe. If then an intelligible way can be propofed of fair- ly explicating the Phenomenon, befides that infifted on by Gaffcnjtis, the objection drawn from this Experiment againft my Hypothecs will be invalid. And fuch an Explication Monfieur Des-Cartes iri- ., genioufly gives in bis Meteors : §hia

Cap™ Materia Subtil* ( feyes he ) f ambus

hnjas aqua, circumfufa crajjlor ant mi" nus ffibtilisj & confequenter plus virium ha bens* qukm ilia qu<z circa nivis partes harebat, iecam illius occh- par9 dum partes nivit liqnefcendo partibus Salts cir- camvQlvHntur. Facilim enim per fa if a aqua qnam per dulcls poros movetur-) & perpetuo ex corporc mo in altud tranfire nititur, ut ad ea loca perveniat in qui- hts mot ui [no mintis refiftitur : qttj iyfa materia fub- ti/Ur ex nive in aquaw penetrate ut egredienti fac csdaty & qnum non fatis validafitj ad continuandam agitationem h*)us aqud, illam c oner efc ere finit*

PbUovonus* I leave Themiflms to confider, whe- ther this Explication be without Exception; but I confefs it is not without Analogy, and that even amongft the four firft Qualities themfelves. For when we Chymifts have a mind to dry (for in- ihnce ) the Calces or Precipitates or other Pow- lers, from which we have filtrated the Liquors we employ to wafh or dulcifie them, 'tis ufual either to put the Filters, wherein thefe Powders remain almoft in the form of Mudd , oy to fpread the fluff it felf upon brown Paper or pieces of Brick or

Chalk,

Privative Nature of Cold. 39

Chalk, which much haften ~the exficcation of the things laid upon them, not by any drying Particles which they emitt into the foft fubftances, but by imbibing the fuperfluons parts of the Liquor, and thereby freeing from them the Subftances to be dry- ed. And, I remember , I have feen our Friend Mr. Boyle, by immerfing a piece of fofc crumb of bread into an a&ually cold Liquor, that would ha- ftily imbibe its Aqueous Corpufcles, and dry it in a minute or two of an hour fo as to make it feel hard.

ElcutbeniHs* Thete inftances bring into my mind another Chymical Experiment, that I have feen made by the fame Gentleman , which was ; That by putting into weak Spirit of Wine a fufficient quantity of Salt of Tartar, he quickly defleamed the Spirit without Diftillation, or fo much as Heat. And this will the better illuftrate the Cartefian. Ex- plication, becaufe 'tis manifeft by the change that will be made of the moft part of the Salt of Tartar into a Liquor that will not mix with the now de- fleamed Spirit of Wine, that the reafon of the Operation is , that the Aqueous Particles of the Phlegmatick Spirit, finding, it feems, more conve- nience or facility to continue their motion among the Fixt Corpufcles of the Salt, than the Vinous ones of the Spirit, pafs into the Alkaly and diffolve it i and thereby defert the Liquor through which they were diffufed before. And I know another Saline body, that fo unite? with Water, as not to be, by the Eye, diftinguifha^; from it, and yet is o£ fuch a Texture, that Wa it is fo much lefs difpo- fed to mingle with it tha* with Spirit of Wine it felf, that it will forfake the Body it kept in agitation, D 4 to

40 OfthePofithe^ or

to pa[s into this Spirit ; and fo leave that which it kept in the form of a Liquor before, to appear in the form of a confiftent Body j which inftance comes fbmewhat nearer than the former to the Experiment of Giaciation.

Carneades. Though what you have recited, Gen- tlemen, be not unwelcome to me, yet, I think, I can prdpofe you an Experiment fitter to dilucidate the Cartefian Explication. For, I remember, that our common Friend, having a mind to ftiew, that a fmall proportion of agile matter, invifibly diffus'd through a %ody that would be otherwife confiftenr, may bring it to , and keep it in, the ftate of Flui- dity ; devifed and fhewed me the following Expe- riment. He took Camphire broken into fmall bits, and calling a convenient quantity of it upon Aquafortis* fuffa'd it to float there, rill without Heat the Camphire -was diflplv'd into a Liquor, and it look'd and felt like an Oyl, which, though fhaken with the Aquafortis, would emerge to the top again. If this Oyl were kept well itopt, that the Spirits of the Menftruum might not evaporate, it would ( as he affiimM tryal had taught him ) con- tinue long fluid, he having fometimes kept it a year or two or more. And that 'tis the agile Spirits of the Aqua fort is tharfkeep the Camphire fluid, he has made probable- by divers things that! muft not now May to recire.And rhat the quantity of thefe agile Particles is bur fmall, I am induc'd to think by this, among other things, ; th1r,\vhen I have made a fmall parcel of but moderate >\cAafortis turn a pretty pro- portion of Camphire intiet)yl, & feparated that Oyl from ir, I could, by casing frefh Camphire on the fame Mcnftrmm* red'uce that alfo into the form of

Oyl.

Privative Nature of Cold, 41

Oyl. Now, that thefc Fluidifick Spirits ( if I may focall themj arenotfenfibly warm (no more than the Cdrtefian Materia Cceleftu) in Water, is mani- feft.to the Touch : And whereas I at firft fufpe£t* ed,that the reafon,why the pouring of this OjI into Water doth prefently reduce it intoCamphire again, might be the coldnefs of the Water ; I after thought, upon a farther information, that the reafon rather was, that the Nitrous Spirits being difpos'd topafs out of the Oyl into the Water, this Liquor readily imbib'd and diluted them, and consequently difabled fo many of them, that thofe that remain'd could not do their former work any longer : Cmct be had try- ed purpofely, that the Reduction of the Oyl into Camphire would prefently be made, though that Liquor were not pour'd into Cold Water but Hot ; fo that the agitation, that it received from the par- ticles of the Menftrmni) though not to our Touch fenfibly warm, wa§ much more efficacious, than that which it received from the Heat of the Water. 1 EUntbmus. I know not, whether befides the Inftances that have been now propofed , one may not alledge fuch an Argument alfo in favour of the Cdrtefian opinion about Cold, as would not be in- fignificant , though it fhould be made appear, that Cold may fometimes be produced by or upon the EmiflTion of Corpufcles, that in fome fence may be callM Frigorifick. For there may be Corpufcles of fuch a Nature, as to fize, ftiape, and other ao tributes, as to be fit to enter the Pores, and pierce even into the inward parts of Water, and fome other Bodies., fo as to expell the calonfick Cor- pufcles they chance to meet with, or to clog or hin- der their activity, or on fome other account confi- de-

42 OfthePofitive^ or

derably to leflen that agitation of the minute parts, by which the Fluidity of Liquors and the Warmth of other Bodies ismaintainU But , even in fuch ca- fes, though the Agent and the Actions that pro- duce Coldnefs, be Pofitive things; yet the Nature of Coldnefs itfelf may confift in a Privation. As when a man is kill'd by a bullet, his Death is effected by a Poiitive and even impetuous Action , and yet Death it felf is but a Privation of Life. If alfo in a dark Room a man caft cold Water upon a burning Coal, though the Water ad by its Poiitive Quali- ty of moifture, and, by virtue of that, extinguifh the Fire, and by that means deftroy the Light, yet the Darknefs that is confequent upon this action, is not a Pofuive thing but a Privation.

SECT. VI.

PiWop.TpHe paufe you here made , Gentlemen, A makes me think it feafonable to put the Company in mind, that it begins to grow late, and therefore to call upon Themiftius to produce what he has yet to aliedge out of Gaffendtu.

ThemiftiH*. The Philofopher you have nam'd, has indeed another Weapon to deftroy the Errour about Cold, which he confutes. And this Argu- ment like a two-edged Sword that cuts on both fides, does not only confirm what he maintains, but de- ftroy the chief objection that can be made by his Adverfaries. The Argument I fpeak of he propo- ses in theie terms : Tamttfi. vwlw vidcaMnr exfola

Privative Nature of Gold. 43

caloris abfentiafrigefcere, nihilominus nifi frigus ex- trinfecm introducatHry non tarn frofetlb frige/cere quam dec ah fc ere funt eenfenda. Efto enim lafisy lignum, aut aliquid aliud, quod nee calidum nee fri- gidttm fie, id nbi fuerh admotum igni eaiefiet fane 9 at chm deinceps calor excedet> neque frigidtim ullum circumftabiu non erit cur dicas iff urn frigefieri potim quam minks calidum fieri ^redirtve infuumfittum*

Carneades. Whether this contain not a difputc de modo loqnend'h I fhall leave the Company to judge by what I fhall return in anfwer to it. I fay then, thatitfeemstome, that there is in the Dif- courfe an Obfcurity, if not an Ambiguity, though I am confident not arTe&ed by the Candid Gaffen- dm. But to anfwer as diredly as I can ; If we fpeak only of a Coldnefs as to Senfe, I fee not, why Wa- ter or Wood or any fuch Body that is heated by the Fire, may not upon its removal thence be faid to grow Cold and not barely to decalefcere in ourPhi- lofophers fence of that word. For the Heat and Coldnefs of Water, in reference to Senfe, confirm- ing, (asllatelyftiew'd) in this, that the Parti- cles of it are more or lefs agitated than the Hand that is immerfed in it, they need nothing elfe to make the Liquor grow Cold, than fuch an imminu- tion of the brisk motion of its Corpufcles, that they ceafe to be as much agitated as thofe of our Organs of Feeling : And if this already impair'd agitation be ftill more or more leiTen'd, the Liquor will ftill grow colder and colder without the help of any Pofitive Caufe, 'till at length the agile parts, that kept it fluid, being quite expell'd or difabled, the form of the Liquoi comes to be exchanged fos that of Ice,

Phi-

44 - Of the Pofitive^ or

Phikfowu. But what fay you to that part of G of- fend tu's Argument, where he propofes an Adia- phorous Body, which, when affected with an ad- ventitious Heat, would not grow cold by the bare removal or ceffation of that Heat, unlefsit were re- frigerated by an Agent, that were pofitively and actively Cold ?

Eletttherius. I fay , Pbilopontu, this Supposition fhould not be made, and that I know of no fuch Adiaphorous Body. For fince , as I have been obh'g'd to inculcate, thofe Bodies muft be Cold as to ienfe, whofe parts are lefs agitated than thofe of our Hands, and confequently Metals, Stone, Wood, and other Solid Bodies, and alfo Water, Wine, and all other unmingled Liquors we know, being heated by the Fire, will grow cold again of them- felves, becaufe the adventitious motion ceafing by degrees, either upon the recefs of the Igneous Corpufcles, or the imparting of the extraneous agitation to the Air or other contiguous Bodies, the Stone or Water, &c. will again have fo much faint- er an agitation, rhan that of a mans Senfory, as to be by him judged Cold: And becaufe almoft all the Speeies of permanent Bodies here below that are known, have in what is call'd their Natural ftate a lefs degree of Agitation of their Infenfible Pares, than mens Organs of Feeling are wont to have, thofe Bodies may be faid co be Naturally Cold, and therefore ought not to be fuppos'd to be indifferent to Cold or Heat.

VBhpwtes But whether or no Nature do really

a'fford us an Adiaphorous Body 5 yet furely the

flinid is able to conceive one, and therefore Gaf-

fendw may be allowed tofuppofefach Bodies, and

Can

Privative Nature of Cold. 45

Carnetdes may be obligd to anfwer what he argues upon thatSuppofition.

Carneades. Tis one thing to propofe an Adia- phorous Body, as barely an intelligible or a poflible thing ; and another, to give Inftances of ir, as Gaf- fendus has done in particular Bodies, in which that indifference is not to be found. And 'tis this Jaft kind of Suppofition that I difallowed in Gafcndns's Argument.But if a Body Should be propofed as Adi- aphorous in reference to Heat or Cold, I might fay without prejudice to my Caufe, that if fuch a Body fhould be carried into a hot place, it might there grow warm *0 and if it fhould be removed back a- gain, and kept till it loft that new adventitious Heat, it might rather deca/efcere than grow cojd as* to Senfe. But the reafon is, becaufe ns not every degree of imminucion of Heat that is able to deno- minate a body Cold, but fuch a degree as reduces the parts of it to a fainter motion than is at that time in thofe of our Organs of Feeling ; and till this be done, or at leaft very near dorifc, the pro- pofed Body is ftill ( if I may (o fpeak ) in the ftate of Heat as to Senfe : Which laft words I add,- be- caufe that in reference to other Bodies it may then be notably refrigerated. As Lead that has but heat enough to keep it in Fufion, may, by the pouring on of fuch Water as to a mans hand would feel Hot, be brought to grow hard, which lofs of Fluidity is alfo the Natural Effect of Cold, though perhaps both the Metal and the Liquor be yet as to Senfe conli- derably Hot.

EleHtherius. So that, according to you, none of the kinds of Bodies that are actually known in Na- ture, are Adiaphorous as to Senfe. On which occa-

fiori

46 Of the Pofitive0 or

fion let me note by the by, that the frequent Va- riations of Senfe muft render it but an uncertain itandard of Heat and Cold : And upon fuppo- fition, that there were an Adiaphorous Body in re- ference to our fenfe * yet it would not be fo in re- ference toall other Bodies, or, in the phrafe of our Vertilam fpeaking of Heat, in or dine ad tlniver- fnm* And for what remains, the controverfie grounded on Gfiffendm's Argument feems to be rar ther Verbal than Real, and may be determined or compofed by fetling the diftind acceptions of tfee words Cold and Heat.

SECT. VIL

Phi/op »\TC 7"Herefore I wifti , that we may not VV wafte the little time that is left us upon Niceties of no greater concernment ; and I think this fliort time would be better imployed, if Cameades would be pleafed to tell us a little toore particularly, what be fuppofesto be'the thing that with-beid Mr, Boyle from delivering an opinion about the Nature of Cold.

Eleutherius. Yet' me thinks 'tis but fair, that Carneades, who has all this while been confin'd to the anfwering anothers Arguments, fhould now take his turn to propofe his own.

' Carfieadss. I find in each of your motions, Gen- tlemen, fomething fo equitable and fo expedient, that I flhall in part comply with bo:ht And rhatl

may

Privative Nature of Cold. 47

may haften to do what 'Philoponns defires, I (hall do no more than briefly point at two things that may be alledged in favour of the Hypothecs I defend • For if you reflect upon what we have already dif- courfed , we may take notice of things there , that will fcarce be well accounted for by being afcribed to Pofitive Cold, but may be far better explained agreeably to our Hftotbefis. And I muft add in the next place , that I , who fu- ftained the perfon of a Refpondent, may pretend to have fufficiently difcharged my Office , if I have (hewn the invalidity of all the Opponents Arguments y and 'tis his part who aflerts a pofi- tive thing in Nature, to make it good, whereas he that denies if, needs not alledge any other reafon why he does fo, than the Authority of that juftly received Axiom in Philofophizing, Entia nonfnnt wtthipHcanda abfquc Necefjitate. And, I hope, there will need no other Engine to demoliiTi an ill-formed and prooflefs Opinion about Cold, than an Axiom fo Solid and Efficacious* that in the Opinion of almoft ail the Modern Natu- ralifts it has been able to abolifli fuch potent and immenfe Bodies as the Primam Mobile it felf, and a fuperior Orb or two, the leaftof which con- tained that Firmament, in comparifon whereof the whole Earth is but a point. And not only fo, but the fame Axiom has banifhed the Angels and Intelligences from the Celeftial Orbs, that Ari- ftotle and his followers had afllgned them to turn about 7 or rather hath releafed thofe Noble and Happy Spirits from the drudgery to which the Philofophers of fo many ages had needlefly doom'd

them*

EltH*

48 Of the Pofitive^ or

Eleutherius. I the lefs diftruft the validity of the Axiom you alledge , becaufe I obferve it to be the ground , on which is built a great pare of the Reformation of Philofophy, that is intro- duced by the Moderns. For one of the main things that firft moved confidering men to feek for more fatisfa&ory Opinions than thofe of the Peripatetick Schools, was, that thefe obtruded a great many Tenents in Philofophy , that were not only un-proved, but unneceflary to the Explica- tion of the Phenomena of Nature j as 'twere not difficult to (hew.

But I fee Philoponui preparing to renew the motion he lately made , in which the fliortnefs of time makes me now think it feafonable to joyn with him , I being no lefs defirous than be to know, what may be the motives of your Friend's declining to declare himfelf fully about the Na- ture and Caufe of Cold.

Cameades. I have already intimated to you at the beginning of our Conference, that he is him- felf the fitteft perfon to be addreft to for fatisfy* ing this inquiry* But not to be altogether fi- lentonthisoccafion, I fhall tell you, that, as far as I can guefs, he waits till farther Tryals and Speculations have refolved him in fome points, wherein he is not yet fatisfied : For, being of a temper backward enough to acquiefce without fuf- ficient Evidence, when the inquiry is difficult and the fubjeft important ; he feems to me to be kept in fufpence , both by fome Speculative doubts, and the Phenomena of divers Experi- ments, fome of which are.not deliver'd in his Book. It would be now improper to mention the

fcrupfes

Privative Nature of Cold. 49

fcruples and hefitancies they have occafioned in him ; though of thofe, I have heard him fpeak of> I (hall name fome Inftances that occurr the moft readily. As I remember I heard him make inqui- ry* as to thofe that would have Cold produced by CorpufclesofCold; Whether, znd on what account, thofe little fragments of Matter are cold ? Whe- ther thofe frigorifick Particles, that muft in mul- titudes crowd into Water to turn it into Ice, have Gravity or Levity , or are indifferent to both? And how any of the three Anfwers that maybe made to this Inquiry, will agree to fome Phenomena that may be produced ? What Stru- cture the Cprpufcles of Cold can be of, that fhould make them frigorifick to that innumerable variety of Bodies they are faid to pervade? And whether the frigorifick faculty of thefe Corpufcles be loofableor not? As alfo whether or no they be Primitive Bodies, #and if it be faid, they are not^ whether there was not Cold in the World be- fore they were produced, and whence that Cold could 1 proceed ? And if it were faid they are Primitive Bodies, he demanded, how it came to pafs, that, by putting a certain factitious Body actually warm into Water that was alfo warm , ( both which appeared by a good fealed Weatber- ghfs, ) there fhould prefently be produced an actual Coldnefs ( difcernable by the fame Ther- mofcope?) Thefe, and I know not what other Scruples and Difficulties, fuggefted to him by his thoughts or his Experiments, were the things that I fuppofe prevaifd with a man of his temper to forbear for a while the declaring of his Sen- timents about Cold , left the Event of fome

E farther;

50 Of the Pofitive, or

farther tryal fhould (hew him caufe to retract them.

Philofontts* What you have frefhly intimated, Carneades, of Mr. Boyle % having other hefitations than thofe you have named and fuggefted by Experi- ments not publifhed in his Hiftory, does, 1 con- fefs, the more excite my Curiofity to have at leaft a tafte of thofe perplexing Phenomena.

Carneades. You may eafily guefs , Pkiioponus, by what I have told you already, that you are not to expeft a full facisfa&ion from me on this occa- sion. But yet , that your curiofity may not be fruftrated , I (ball venture to acquaint you wit-h two Phenomena, which were, I fuppofe, none of the leaft motives of his backwardnefs to declare fiimfelf. But though fome body perhaps thinks, that the grounds of folving thefe Phammena and moft of the newly recited Scruples, may be pickt out of fome things that may already have pafs'd among us in this Conference ; yet becaufe we have not now time to enter upon a difcuflion of this mat- ter, I am willing you fhould fufpend the debate, till we have occafion to meet another time h and therefore I (hall now only acquaint you with a cou- ple of Experiments, that he fet down for a Virtufo, who was to foive the two main Problems fuggefted by them. The firfi whereof was, Whence Water fhould upon Congelation acquire fo vaft a force as he found it had to lift up great Weights and burft containing Bodies; though it feem'd by feveral Circumftances , that the motion of the Water is very much diminished when 'tis changed into Ice» And the fecond Problem is thus conceived ; If, as a brisk agitation of a Bodies infetifible parts pro- duces

Privative Nature of Cold. 5 1

duces Heat, fo the Privation of that Motion is, as Cardan and the Cartefum would have it, the caufe of Cold ; whence is it, that, if certain Bodies be put together, there will be a manifeft and furious agitation of the imall parts, and yet upon this con* flift the mixture will not grow hot,but fenfibly and even confiderably Cold ? The Narratives them- felves of the Experiments are too long to be now read over to you. And therefore I ftiall leave the Paper,that contains them, among you, tobeperufed at yourleifure, between this and our next meeting, till when I muft bid you farewell : Only defiring you in the mean while to remember, that, as I have but acted a part impofed upon me in our paft Conference, fo notwithstanding any thing that I have faid in my affum'd Capacity, I referve to my felf the right of appearing as little preingaged as any of you at our next meeting*

f 1 n-i s.

2U0I : fti

btt •

I n

9 V

TWO PROBLEMS

ABOUT

COLD,

Grounded on

NEW EXPERIMENTS^

And Propofed

In a LETTER to a FRIENP,

UC I*

By the Honourable ROBERT BQtLE.

•

: i

xiv

(so*

laor

CO

To my very Learned Friend Mr. J. B.

IPrefume that you will not be furpriz'd to be told,that I fend you the inclos'd Papers, not only that I might gratifie your Cunofi- ty, but that you may by them be inabled to help me to fatisfie my own* and therefore I fhall accompany the Hiftorical Tran- fcripts I made of the following Experiments, as I found them regiftred for my own Remembrance, with fome of the doubts fuggefted to me by fome of the Phenomena that occurred. But yet I ftiall not trouble you with all the difficulties that at firft troubled me, but reduce the Exercife, I delire to give your fagacity,to the folution of two Problems- And I will begin with. propounding that firft, whicji is grounded upon the laft of the two following Pi- pers , becaufe though the Hiftorical part of that be much the longeft, yet the grounds of my Qu&re concerning it, will be much more briefly propos'd, the Experiment it felf naturally fuggefting this Pro- blem > How upon the mixture of two or three Bodies, fuch as thofe mentioned Problem, IT. in the Paper, there [honld manife/H?

E 4 en-

a Two Problems about Cold.

enfue a great and tumultuary agitation of fmall jarts, and yet even during this cunflitl^ not any fenfible Meat , but a confederals degree of Cold be fro* ducd, and that even in the internal parts of the mixture ?

The Inducements to make this Problem need not be far fetched, it being obvious enough, that, according to the Corpufcularian Philofophy, which you and I agree in, a brisk and various agitation of the minute parts of a Body is that, which makes it Hot both in reference to our Seniories, and to its operations on other Bodies. But I doubt, the rife of the Problem is much more eafle to be under- stood, than the Caufe of the Phenomenon) about which I will not ask you, Whether one may not af- fert, that Local motion is in its own nature a Gene- ncal thing, which may be fo diverfified by Cir- cumftances, that one kind of Modification or it, as kit maae in Corpufcles of feveral fizes and iliapes, raay be the caufe of Heat , and another that of Cold ? Or elfe, Whether we may fuppofe, that Cold is a pofitive thing, and operates by real Cor- pufcles of Cold, which happening to abound, and yet to be lock'd up in the Bodies whofe mixture I imploy'd, they are, by the great conflict that ditfolves the Texture of the Gaining Salts, fepa- rately put into motion and that in fuch numbers, that though really there would be a Heat produc'd by the brisk and confus'd agitation or fome of the parts , yet that Heat is not only conceal'd and check'd, but rmfter'd by the over- povenng opera- tion of the Frigorifick Corpufcles. But to ask you about this or any other particular way of folving our Phenomenon , were to forget, that my aim is to

learn

Two Problems about Cold, 3

i learn not your opinion of this or that p?"ic.:!ar Conjecture or fancy about our Problem, but in ge* neral, how it maybe beft tcfofo'd, i?.i what yoa think to be the true Cau^e of fo oad an Etfe :

Having thus difpatchd the little I had to fay about the Paper that fuggefted the feconc Problem, I will now uippofe that you have read the Phx/wmt- nA that contain the rife of the firft, to which I QuU proceed without farther Preamble> G cctbe CVe- ition or Problem, that theie naturally call tc:9 »?, H hence this vaft force of freezing W*- Pr^Um j. ter proceeds *

For, the breaking of refiilirg Bodies being to be made by a violent Local motion, and Cold, accor- ding to the Judgment even of the Modems, either conlifting in, or at leaft being accompanied with, a Privation, or a great Immi. ucion of Motion, it feems very difficult to conceive how Cold Lnoflkl make Water toexerc fo wonderr'ul a force. I twnow the Learned G^fftndtu and divers other Pfi loft* phers teach us, chat Glaciation is pexformM by the cntring of ivfarmsofCorpafcfa J,ia they call

them, mtotfu L-quo . Bat I m ..::. Whe'her

from this Hypothecs a gooclS.huc- uf cur Pc*n-;~ nenon will be denv'd, tir.ee th-.e Atoms ot Cold feem not barely as fuch to make that Expantion of the Water, which is requires in he Experiment by me reciteo.For I fee that though Water will b more and more refrigerated, accordn g as the At £r; \s colder and colder, yet till t be brought to an actual Glaciation, all the fwaUBSjof che Fngonficfc Atoms in it, are fo far from expardirg k, that they more and more c ait Apdevrr that degree

of Cold which dtftroys Fluiditv, tbopgii it expards

Water,

4 Two Problems about Cold.

Water, does not do it merely by the multitudes of the Frigorifick Corpufcles that invade the Pores of the lately fluid Body, fince pure Spirit of Wine and almoft all Chymical Oyles, though expos'd to the fame degree of Cold that turns Water into Ice, or as I have ciyed, unto a far greater than is neceffary to do fo, will be but the more condens'd by tbofe fwarms of Particles. But, which is more considera- ble, I have carefully obferv'd, that, beftdes common or expreft Oyls, Chymical Oyl of Anifeeds it felf, being frozen or concreted by an intenfe degree of Cold, will not be expanded but notably condens'd, and accordingly grow fpecifically heavier than be- fore. And this was one thing that kept me from ex- pe6ting the removal of our Difficulty from the Inge- nious Explicaiion given of Freezing by the Cartefi- <nns, when they teach, that the Eel-like particles whereof they fuppofe Water to confift, are very re- mifsly agitated, and their want of pliantnefs makes their Contexture lefs clofe> which yet feems not to agree with the lately mention'd Tryals. And though thefe Eel-like particles fhould lofe all their flexible* nefs, though in that cafe it may probably be faid, that they would take up lefs room than before, if nothing oppofe their Expanfion , yet it does not thence appear, how they foould acquire fo vaft a power to expand themfelves in fpite of Oppofition, as we have {hewn Water by Freezing does ac- quire.

I did not hope to refolve our Problem by the help of a Vulgar Suppofition, that well-ftopp'd Veflels are broken in rroity weather obfugam V'acniy fince I round that Suppofition to be erroneous by divers Experiments, fome of which are mention'd in the. Hitter/ of Cold. It

Two Problems about Cold. 5

It feetnd lefs improbable, that fome afliftance jto the folving of our difficulty might be given by two other things. Whereof the firft is, That, for ought I have yet obferv'd, no Liquor but Water, or 1 that which participates of Water by having Aqueous Particles feparable from it, will be made to fwell by Cold ; nor will Water it felf do fo upon every de- gree of Cold,but only upon fo great an one as actu- ally turns it into Ice. And the fecond is, That upon the Glaciation of Water and Aqueous Liquors, we may obferve in the Ice many bubbles greater or fmaller intercepted between the Solid parts, and fuppos'd to be full of Air, ( I fay fuppos'd , becaufe upon tryal I found them to have yielded but a fmall proportion of common Air, ) which fuppofition, if true, would perhaps invite one to fufpeft, that the Air contain'd in thefe bubbles might have an intereft in our Phenomenon ; fince I have found by tryals purpofely made, that Air congregated into Vifible though not great portions, may exercife a confide- rable Elafticity, which appear'd not whilft 'twas in- viiibly difperfed through the Water.

And if I did not fuppofe, both that you had taken notice, that there are wont to be numerous particles of fpringy Air difpers'd through the Pores of Wa- ter • and that you had confider'd, whether the want of pliantnefs occalion'd by Cold in the Aqueous Cor- pufcles, whilft they are yet agitated and brandifh'd by fome permeating matter j and whether upon the change of the Pores,that we may conceive to be made in freezing Water, either by the recefsofone fort of fubtil Corpufcles or the admitfion of another, or the clofer conftipation of the groffer parts, there may not be product in Corpufcles, that compofe

Wa-

6 Two Problems about Cold.

Water, (to fay nothing of the intermix'd Air, or the Concretions or the Coalitions occafion'd by the Cold,) a fpringinefs capable to make many little Bodies, endowed with it, exert a great force againft the fides of the Veffel, that oppofe their joynt en- deavour to expand themfelves : If,I fay, I did not believe, that thefe and the Hke fufpicions had oc- curred to you as well as to me, together with the difficulties wherewith each of them feems to be in- cumber'd, I would acquaint you with what thoughts and tryals occurr'd to me about thefe and the Tike conceits. But I not daring to think this could prove other than a needlefs work, [ muft remember, that my bufinefs in this Paper is to propofe Diffi- culties, not the wayes of folving them ; it being from your Kindnefs and Sagacity, that tjiefe are as well expected as defir'd by,

SIR,

Your, (yc.

AN ATTEMPT

To Manifeft and Meafure the

GREAT EXPANSIVE FORCE O F

Freezing Water;

... — ■■am i ■■■ . ■■ ■ ■ if i i-< M mmtrnt

By the Honourable ROBERT BOYLE.

>

(O

AN ATTEMPT

To Manifeft and Mcafure the

Great Expansive Force of

Freezing Water.

Onfidering when I writ the Hiilory of Cold, that though divers Phenomena might induce an attentive Obferver to think, that Freezing Water had an Expanfive Force, yet I had not met with any that endeavoured, or even propos'd, to meafure it, whether becaufe they re- flected not on it at all, or judg'd not the Force confiderable j I who Iook'd with other eyes upon it, thought fit to repair that omiifion, but was then fo ill furniftied with requifites for doing it fully, that I remember I complain'd of it in my Hiffory of CokL And though, even afterwards , when the time of the year was favourable, I could not pro- cure fuch Accommodations as my defign exacted; yet thinking an imperfect way of Meafuring to be better than none, I preferred to the making no at- tempt

2 An Attempt to Manifefi and

tempt at all the endeavouring to do what the leaft defective Inftruments, I could procure, would per- mi me, towards the making an eftimate by known Meamres, of the Expanfive Power of Freezing Water. For though I did not expect, I ftould be able accurately to define it ; yet I hop'd I ftiould make fuch an eftimate as to know that Force not to be, as one would think it, Faint and Contemptible, but very Great and Confiderable.

I remember on this occafion, that to manifeft the Force or Freezing Water, I caufed the Barrel of a ftiort Gun 'o have a <krew fitted to the Nofe of it, by which we might exactly flop it, as we did the Touch-hole another way $ then filling the Barrel with common Water, and doling it accurately by the help of the skrew, we laid it in a conveniently fhip d VeiTel, wherein we incompafs'd it with a Frigonfick Mixture (of Snow or Ice and Silt, ) and in a fhort time we found, as we expected, the Barrel to be buijft, part of the Ice appearing along the gaping flit that had been made in the Body of the Iron by the freezing Water, which by this Effect feem'd to emulate the juftly admir'd force of kind- led Gun- powder. But the Defign of this fhort Pa- per tending not fo much to prove, as (in fome fort) to meafure the Expanfive Force of Water 5 I fhall fubjoyn the Tranfcripts of two or three Experi- ments, made chiefly for that purpofe.

EXPERIMENT /.

[ There was taken a ftrong Cylinder of Brafs * whoi> Cavity was two inches in Diameter , into this was put a Bladder of a convenient fize, with a

quanti-

Meafure the Great Expanfive &c. 3

quantity of Water in if, that the neck of the Blad- der (which I had taken care to have oyl'd ) being ftronglytyed, the Water might not get out into the cavity of the Cylinder, nor be capable of expanding it felf fome other way than upwards. Then into this Cylinder was fitted a Plugg of Wood, turn'd on purpofe, which was fomewhat lefs in Diameter than the Cylindrical cavity, that it might rife and fall ea- fily in it. Upon the upper part of this Plugg was laid a conveniently fhap'd flat Body, upon which wjre plac'd divers weights to deprefs the Plugg, and hinder its being lifted up by the Expanfion wont to be made in Water that is made to freeze ; then a Frigorifick Mixture being afterwards apply'd to the Cylinder, it appeared within half an hour or fome- what more, by a Circle that had been purpofely trae'd on the fide of the Plugg, where 'twas almoft contiguous to the Orifice of the Cylinder, that the Water in the Bladder began to expand ic felf, and about two hours after, having occafion to fhew the Experiment to fome inqui fit ive per fons, the circle appeared to have been heav'd up in my eftimate a- bout I , if not half, of an inch, notwithstanding all the weights that endeavour'd to hinder the afcenfi- on, though thefe weights amounted to 115 pound, which were all the determinate weights we could then procure, befides a brick and fome other things that were eftimated at five pound more ; nor did I doubt that. a far greater Lgad would not have'hin- dred its Expanfion. 3

EX-

4. An Attempt to Manifeji and

EXPERIMENT II.

[ We took a Braft Cylinder, whofe Dimenfions were three inches yg in Diameter* and in depth four inches. Into this we put 4 fine bladder of a convenient fize, almoft filled with Water, and ftrongly tyed about the neck $ upon this bladder we put the wooden plugg to (lop up the Oiifice as much as was convenient, and upon the plugg we pat a piece of a flat boavd tor the weights tofhjad upon. Thefe things being prepar'd , we con- vey'd the Cylinder with all that belongM to ic, fave. the board, into a. farge wooden Bowl, where we applied to the Cylinder a good quantity of the Frigonfick Mixture, made with beaten Ice and Bay Salt; and having firft raark'd with a circular line the Edge ov Contact, where the orifice or lip of the Cylinder touch'd the Plugg, we iayed on the weights upon the b ;ard, and when by their weight they had deprefs'd the Plugg till the cover of it lean'd upon the Cylinder, we difpos'd our felves to attend the iiLe of ihe Tryal. The event whereof was this, that when the action o!f theFrigorifick Mixture had pro- clue'dfome Ice in the Water included in the Blad- der, that Liquor appeav'd to hive' dilated it felf ilrongly enough to begin to 1 aife che Plugg with the fu per incumbent weights, and by degrees they were fcy tbe growing. Ice rais'dtili the mark, diligently made on the Plugg where the edge of the 'Cylinder touci'd it, was about a tenth part of an inch a» bove the ftation it had before the Plugg had been de- prefsU Then we took out the Bladder, and found tile Cylinder of Water- Within the Bladder not to

be

Meafure the Great Expanfive, &c. 5

be wholly turn'd into Ice, but to contain fome quantuy of unfrozen Water in the parts about the Centre , which Liquor, if we had not fo loon de- fined from the Experiment ( as for certain Rea- fons we did ) might probably have rais'd the weights fomewhat higher. But as it wa?, the Ice in length was but three inches and about £, and yet fo fmall a quantity of Ice fuffic'd to raife, belides the board they lean'd on, as many weights of Lead as amount* ed to an hundred pound Avsrdupois* ~\

EXPERl MENT HU

[ The day after the above mentioned Experiment was made, to try yet farther the Expanlive force of Freezing Water, the fame was reiterated after the manner. above delivered, but with this difference, that, having procuiM more weight, when the Plugg was lifted up £ or fomewhat better (which Plugg began fenfibly to rife within half or three quarters of an hour after the Frigorifick Mixture was apply- ed, ) it was loaded with a weight of two hundred pounds, and a fifteen pound piece of Lead, and other Bodies, as Boards, &c. to lay the weights upon, which being alfo weigh'd by themfelves came to fifteen pound more, fo that the whole amounted to 2^0 pound ; and if the hundred pounds were 60th of them, as their bulk and (hape invited us to guefs, of that fort of weights which are call'd the greater Hundred, contaiamg an hundred and twelve pound a piece, twenty four pound muft be added to the famm , which would thereby be made up 25 4 pound.]

A N £'*V

EXPERIMENT

ABOUT THE

Production of Cold

BY THE CONFLICT of BODI ES?

Appearing to make an EBULLITION.

By the Honourable ROBERT SOTLE,

An Advertifeoient of the Publifher's,

*tmM Ms manifeft enough by the beginning of the following P Taper, that 'twas not intended to come abroad alone, P as indeed it was but a part of fome Writings about -■-■ Cold, defignd to inlarge the Hiftory of that Quali- ty. But yet the Author forbore, by altering it. to accommodate it to the Papers wherewith it now comes forth', becaufe in this very form it was by htm (^ k ing to ta\e a journey ") left feald up with the Learned Secret* * o\ the Royal Society in Febr. in the year 1 66\ • fmce when it didt till lately, continue in thofe fafe hands -3 the author having no need to ma\e ufe of it. Which fit cumflances are now mentioned to keepthe Reader /row won- dring, that the Author fpea\s of the Production he made of Cold by the Conflict of two Liquors, as a New Experiment and Phenomenon ; though now two or three years ago,the learned Sylvius, as he is inform d, tal^es notice in one of his Booty, of a wa) *f producing Cold by a Mixture of Spirit of Vitriol, and another Saline Spirit, But befides that the Author's way is differing enough /row Sylvius his, 'tis apparent by the time when his Experiment was left with Mr. Oldenburg, who is ready to bear witnefs to what is here faid, that he had made it at le aft fome years before the other, to which he was perfetlly a ftr anger, nor hath yet ever tryed it, came abroad. Nor fiould he eafily have tooled for the Produclion of Cold by the mixture cf the Aad Spirit of Vitrhl with every Volatile Spirit ; be- caufe he found that the Cy I of Vitriol (as that Acid Liquor is commonly, but abufivel), called) would!) j its conflit} withVri- now Spirits, produce not fold but Neat. Whether the Care and Caution fiefs, with which he made the Experiment now to be fubjoyned, may give the Diffident and Curious more fat is- fallion than a bare Affirmation would do of his having produced Cold upon a mixture of contrary Bodies, he leaves it to others to judge. Andlfballnow only add, that he fome years fince fl)ew*dfome Curious Perfons, that Cold may be made to refult from the Conflill of Bodies, whereof none isaneceffary Ingre- dient in the Experiment , from which, it may be, I have to& long detained the Reader,

(O

ANEW EXPERIMENT

ABOUT THE

Production of Cold

B Y T H E

Conflict of Bodies, appearing to make aa Ebullition.

AND now that we arc fearching after the Nature of Cold,I am put in mind that I have fometimes vvondredat a certain Experiment that is fo Ano- malous, and feems fo little of kin to the ufual phenomena of Cold, that though I do not particularly teach the way of ma- king it, becaufe I could not do it without difcover- ing fomething in Chymiftry, that cogent confedera- tions forbid me at prefent to publifh > yet I cannot forbear to relate, on this occafion, the matter of Fad, both becaufe it may afford confider able Hints to fagacious Inquirers, and becaufe it feems fo lit- tle congruous to moft Theories of the Caufes of Cold, that it may make the Framers of Theories F 4 more

2 A New Experiment about the

more wary, and help alfo to excufe my backward- nefs to propofe Jiyfotbefes about Cold in a refolute and confident way.

The Experiment is this : We took three Saline Bodies, each of them purify 'd by the Fire ; and whereas there are divers Bodies, that being mingled together acquire a Heat, which neither of them had spirt > and whereas it is faid by fome that there are a few, which being blended together make a mixture fome what colder than either of themfelves, thefe Salts of ours being put together in due propor- tion, do upon their mixture produce that, which the Eye judges to be a great Effervescence *, but though the hilling roife be loud, and though the numerous Babbles fuddenly generated will make the matter apt to overflow the Glafs, if the one be not capa- cious, and the other be not put in by little and lit- tle ; yet even whilft this feeming Ebullition lafts , the GhiZy which one would expect to find very hot, ( as ufually happens upon the mixture of the Silt of Tartar, and Spirit of Nitre, and upon the contufion of the like Saline Bodies difpos'd to pro* duce together fuch Erflorefcencies ) initead of grow.ng hot, does, if it be held in ones hand , feel much cooler than before, and that in a wonderful degree*, infomuch that ev'n in Winter the outfide of the Glafs would quickly be cover'd with great drops of Dew, which after a while would unite, and trickle down by their own weight. And this we could make to laft for a great while, by cafting m by degrees more and more of c ne of the Ingredients on the other. And befides thar, this copious Dew on the outfide of die Glafs, reach'd as high as the mix- ture within, which argued whence it proceeded ;

be*

Production of ColdL> &c. 3

befides that, puipofely looking on the bottom of the Glafs whofe outiide was concave, we found no fuch drops of Dew there, becaufe the Vapours of the Ex- ternal Air could not in any quantity have accefs to it ; which (hew'd theDew,confpicuouselLewhere, notto come from the tranfudation of the finer parts of the Mixture through the pores of the Glafs : Be- fides thefe things, I fay, I remember, that having fometimes purpofely wip'd off the Dew here and there with my Handkerchief, the dry parts of the Glafs vvould in no long time regain treiri drops of Dew. And this odd Experiment we did for the main repeac not only in the prefence of an Indu- bious Chymift, ( whofe Tryals unexpectedly gave us the Rife of the Experiment, ) but alfo alone, and at differing feafons of the year.

I (hall add, that having afterwards, about the middle of November, thought fit to vary a little, and repeat the Experiment, becaufe 1 could then make ufe of a feal'd Weather-glafs, which I had not at hand when I made the former Tryals ; I took two deep Glaffes, into the one of which I put a good quantity of fair Water , and in the other I made fuch a MiXure as I was lately mentioning ; and having by a firing, ( to prevent the altering of the temper of the included Air by the warmth of my fingers ) let down the Weather-glafs into the Wa- ter, that the Liquor fhut up in the Inftrument might be coofd by the ambient Water; after it had ftay'd there a reaibnable time, I took it out by the firing that was fattened to the upper part of ir, and letting it down into the mixture that was then bif- fing, and filling the Veffel that contain d it with multitudes of fuccetfively emerging and haftily va-

nifhing

4 M New Experiment about the

nifhing bubbles ; I perceiv'd neverthelefs, that the coldneisof the feemingiyeffervefcent mixture made the imprifon'd tindled Liquor to fubfide fo low, that from four inches and three quarters ( or there- about) at which height it flood in the carefully di- vided ftemm , when the Weather-glafs was taken out of the Water, it fell in a fhort time lower than to one inch and a half. And becaufe I forefaw that this might feem fcarce credible, efpecially if I (hould relate how fwiftly the imprifon'd Liquor fubfided at the beginning ; I {hall annex, that, for farther fatisfa&ion of others, I remov'd the Ther- mometer out of the mixture into the common Wa- ter again, where it foon reach'd to fomewhat above four inches and a half*, and not content with that, I put it a fecond time into fome of the frigefa&ive mixture before it had done foming, in which it fell, as before, fomewhat below an inch and a half, and, prefcnciy after, almoit as low as to an inch. And having once more put it back into the Glafs that contam'd the Water, the included Liquor re-af- cended to above four inches and a half, and this in ao excellent feafd Weather-glafs, whofeftemme was not in all above ten inches long, with a Ball proportionably big. And for farther confirmation, I took notice, that, whilft the mixture, by its hiding noife, and its ftrangely numerous Bubbles, feem'd to be in a ftate of Ebullition, the outfides of the Glafs that contain'd it, were, as far as the mixture reach'd, fo plentifully b^dew'd with the condens'd Vapours of che ambient Air, that their weight carried them down in little it reams which left round about the bottom of the Veflel a pretty quan- tity of Liquor, that appear d by its talk not to have

been

Production of Gold, &c. 5

been made by the tranfudation of any of the (harp and Saline Liquors that were agitated within the Glafs. There remain'd only one fcruple, which was fuggefted to me by the remembring of a circum- ftance, which however, at the. making of the for e- mention'd Tryals, I had not minded , and which poffibly moft Obfervers would have negle&ed 5 but calling to mind, that the Water, I had made ufc of toimmerfe the Weather-glafs in , was brought out of a room wherein a Fire was wont ( though not conftantly ) to be kept, whereas the Ingredi- ents of the mixture were kept, and put together in a Chamber , which, though contiguous to the for- mer, had no Chimney in it > I thought fo for great- er circumfpeclion fake, to let the Water (land all night in tnislaft-mention'd Chamber, that the Am- bient Air might have the fame Operation upon it, as upon thofe Bodies that were to be Ingredients of the mixture : And then repeating the formerly re- cited Experiment, though I thought it needlejs to fpend time to watch, as before I had done , the greateft difference in Cold betwixt the Water and the bubbling Mixture ; yet by making removes of the Weather-glafs to and fro , from one Liquor to another, it fufEciently appear'd, that the greater coldoefs, remarkable in the mixture, did not be- fore proceed in any con(iderable degree (if in any degree at all ) from the Water's not having been kept in the fame Room with it.

So that by thefe different Tryals it feems mani- feft, That the coldnefs of the mixture was not t Deception of the Senfory, fince it would bedifco- ver'd by the operation, it had, not only upon the Vapours of the Air on the outfide of the Glafs, but

upon

6 A New Experiment about the

upoa the Thermometer it felf, plac'd in the midft of the mixture, which this laft nam'd circumftance argues to have been cold throughout, and ev n in its innermost parts.

And to fhew, how much this flange coldnefs depended upon the peculiar Texture of the mixture, or the ftru dure of its component Corpufdes, and the peculiar kind of motion that was excited in the tamultuating Particles ; I (liall here fubjoyn a Relation which probably will not appear defpicz- bit $ namely , That in the firft place I took fome of the acid Liquor, the reft of which I had madeufe of to make the mixture, whereof I have been fpeak- jng j and put a convenient quantity of fair Water, which had been kept a night or two in the fame room ( wherein was no Chimney ) with it, that there rnighc be no caufe of fufpicion, that the one \nd been expos'd to a more* or lefs cold Air than the other; and yet thefe two Liquors did fcarce feniibly differ in coldnefs ; though to difcover whe- ther they did or no , 1 remov a from one to ano- ther of them a good feal'd Weather-glafs with a very (lender ftemm.

And in the next place, I took a convenient quantity of the pure Salt, 1 had fo often employ 'd, ^id call it into a G'.afs full of Water, which 1 had kept many hours in the fame room with it, and wherein i had a little before plac'd a feaPd Wea- ther-glafcjthatthe included Liquor might be brought to the temper of the Ambient Liquor ; but upon this Injection, the tincfed Liqucr of the Thermo- fcope fubfided fo little, as not to make me look up- on this Silt as being it felt extraordinarily Cold, flnce o.her obvious Salts ( that I have at other rimes

c;£

' Production of Cold, &c. 7

caft into Water to cool it a little ) and ev'n Sea- Salt Would (according to myEftimate) have re- frigerated it as much, if not more. Nor did I ob- ferve the Glafs, wherein I was wont to keep (tore of our Salt, ( though I had often occasion to handJe it ) difclofe to the touch any remarkable degree of Coldnefs; fo that the coldnefs of our hilfing mix- ture could not be attributed to that of either of the Ingredients apart, but was a Quality emerging up- on their being blended. Now when I thus made thefe Preparatory Tryals, having afterwards plac'd in the fame Window ( of the Chamber laft mentis on'd ) a couple of GlaiTes, with common Water in one, and in the other fome of that mixture , of whofe fi igefac~uve power I had very recently made Tryal ; I left them to ftand there together all night, and left ajfo ftanding by them fuch afeal'dWea- ther-glafs as I have been mentioning ; and thenexc morning, when all the vifible commotion or agita- tion of the mirute parts of the contrary Salts of the Mixture was quieted , I put the Weather- glafs firft into cne of thofe two Liquors, and then into the other , and after remov'd it back into the for- mer again, without perceiving any difference worth minding betwixt the coldnefs of the mixture and that of common Water: And with much the like fuccefs I repeated the Tryal, after the Water and the other .Liquor had ftood in the fame room ( unfurniiVd with a Chimney) frr near two dayes and nights.

And for farther confirmation, I frail add, that having inftead of the Salt, which I hitherto made ufe of, taken* fome of the Spirit, that was wont to rqflie over together with that Salt, and did fo abound

with

8 A New Experiment abmit the

with it, that a good deal of it lay undiflfelved at the bottom of rhe Liquor > having, I fay, imploy'd this faline Spirit inftead of the Salt it lelf, and having for Tryals fake mix'd with k another Spirit, dravvn in my own Laboratory for the purpofe , which to me feem'd as like, as could be made, to that whk?h I had all this while made ufe of*, I found, that the mixture of tbefe two Liquors ( chough it pfooWd far fewer Bubbles than I was wont to have ) inftead of growing Gold, grew Luke-warm, and quickly impelfd the Liquor in the Weacher-glafs, from a little above three inches, to as much above eighty and yet, befides that this laft Spirit was, a? far as I could perceive, and that after the fame manner, drawn from the fame Material? with that I had ->s'd all this while; the Smell and Ttfte, ( which are both of them peculiar and odd enough ) cOncun'd to manifeft the two Spirits to be of the feme kind,

A:*d, for farther proof, I fhaU add, that to fatisfie my felt the Wore fully, I took a parcel of the fame Liquor, [had lately ernploy'd Withfuccefs in ma- king the Frigorifick Mixture, and yet ev'n this Li- quor, which with the dry Salt would queftionlefs have produe'd a Fngefa&ive Mixture as well as the reft had done, which I had a hale before taken out of the fame Viol; this Liquor (I fay) put to a new portion of the Saline Spirit afbove-mentkm'd, though they did not produce minute Bubbles nume- rous enough to make a Fome ; yet the Mixture, in- ftead of growing very cold, #rew maniieftly Lake- warm, not only in tbe Judgment of the Touch, but by its Operation on a good feal'd Weather- glviV, carefully and for a competent while imployM tofcx-

amine

Production of Cold, &cf 9

amine the Temper of it. Whereas on the contrary, having purpofely kept fomeofthe Fngorifick Spi- rit by the Fire fide, till its temper was fo alter'd, that it nimbly enough rarified and impell'd up the Spirit cf Wine contain'd in a feal'd Weathet-glafs, immers'd in it , and having into this Liquor caft fomeof the Frigorifick Salt, ev*n whilft the Spirit of Wine was riling, and would probably haverifen a pretty while longer ^ this injected Salt, when it began to be dilTblvM , did not only give a check to the rifing Liquor, and quickly put a flop to its afcent ; bur, ( as I expected ) foon rmde it fubfide again, ti/I it fell about three inches or more (which was very much in a (Tiort Weather-glafs ) beneath the Station where the Spirit of Wine had refted, before the Liquor was fet by the Fire fide; nay, af- terwards, I try'd, That a Frigorifick Salt, being well warm'd by the Fire fide, did, with an appro- priated Liquor , that was alfo warm'd, produce a coldnefs manifcftlv perceivable by the Weather, glafs. So that in tnefe cafes a Body but moderately cold, nay actually warm, haftily reduc'done, actu- ally warm, or at leaft tepid, to a far greater degree of actual coldnefs than it felf had.

Thefe are fome of the Experiments I try'd with the Liquors and Salts, of which, upon allowable Confederations, I muft now forbear to fet down the way of preparing: But that ev'n ac prefentl may not be altogether wanting to the Curious, I de- vis'd a way of making a Succedanettm to this Expe* rimeftr, which I ftiall here willingly annex, as that, which though it be much inferiour to what I may one day be at liberty to acquaint the Reader with ; yet it will (hew the main thing intended, bymani-

ftfting,

i o A New Experiment about the

fefting, That Cold may by the mingling of Bodie? be produced, or increas'd to a degree exceeding that of either ofctjTe Bodies that compos'd the Mix- ture ; and this, though at the fame time a feeming LrTervefcence be made by the Bodies , that thus re- frigerate each other.

I took then very good Salt of Tartar, and putting to it a convenient quantity of Spirit of Vinegar, I did, whilft the mixture was hiding, ( but feem'd to the touch to have refrigerated the Glafs that con- tain'd it, ) immerfe into it the Ball of a good feal'd Thermofcope, furnifh'd with Spirit of Wine. And, though the Weather-glafs were not much above a foot long, yet the coldnefs of this Mixture made the Tinned Liquor defcend, haftily enough, two inches and almoft a half. And to (hew farther, That this Mixture was actually colder than cold Water , removing the Weather-glafs out of the Mixture into that Liquor, the tincted Spirit began to re-afcer,d , and that io nimbly , that in about three minutes ( that the Ball of the Thevmofcope ftay'd under water ) the Spirit of Wine had re- afcended about an inch and a half, if not more. And to try whether this coldnefs of the mix- ture did proceed from, or depend upon, feme Texture of the parts, that was not very perma- nent, and yet did not quite degenerate > imme- diately after the Ingredients had ceas'd to work upon one Another ; I remember, that near an hour after the Ebullition of the Spirit and Salt of Tartar W2S over, the Thermofcope being re- mov'd out of the common Water, where it had flood immers'd, into the Mixture, defc ended about half an inch 01 more* For want of Salt of Tar- tar

Production of Cold, &c. 1 1

tar I could not begin the Experiment anew, and fo am noc fure it will alwayes fucceed uniformly.* Bat yet to give my felf what farther fatisfa&ion I could, by * The Author's warU trying the fame Experiment in ne(sr v*5™*. here a- falh a my as might d.fcovcr, ^$5^ whether or no the Phtnomc- Experiment did not aU non did not depend upon , or wajes fucceed. require fome peculiar Texture in the fix d Salt that had been employ'd ; I took fome Alcaly ( made by diffolving Pot-a(hes in fait water, and reducing them by coagulation to a white Salt, ) and pouring Spirit df Vinegar to it, I found, That this mixture did not, whilft it hifs'd, grow at all colder, but rather fome what warmer* And, for farther fatisfaft ion, immerfifig into it the Ball of the newly mention'd Weather-glafs, I found, that it afcended in a ftiort time about an Inch, and, be- ing remov'd into the Water, defcended about half an inch ; and by making removes of it from one of thefe Liquors into the other two or three times more, I found, That the Spirit of Wine did rife and fall according ro what has been newly obferv'd, but its motions upwards and downwards were both lefs than before, and more flow.

FINIS.

OBSERVATIONS AND

EXPERIMENTS

ABOUT THE S A L T N E S S of the S E A.

By the Honourable ROBERT BOTLE.

ADVERTISEMENT

To the following Obfervations ( which

may alfo fetve for many Hiftorical paflages in the Author's other Writings. )

W Her cos the Author does frequently make tife of the Relations of frofeffed Seamen and other Navigators, and of Olfervathns made fipte in the Eaft, Jmdfflm) inthe Wtft-Indie«, itwitlbefit to ad- vertize the Reader.^ that he hat been very wary in ad' muting the inform it torn that he implodes ; being for- ward enough tore)* ■ , as he ha* often done,fuch ai ma- n's others wcmM gladly have received : But notwith- flanding his wonted rejection tf the particulars be far* canfe to dule/iefh 'twas Ufa for htm to he well fur- nifhid with ftch relations as he makes ufe-of \fcarce any Writer of Pfitlvf-yhic'd things having had fuch op- p r, unties of receiving fnch Authentic!?. Informations fr,m SeaCaytnns, Pilots, Planters, and other Tra- vFleruo remote parts, as were afforded him by the ad' 'o Age he tad jo be many years a member o* the Council appointed by the King of Great Britain to tmnr^e tie hUpitfs 9f ill tie Eiiglifli Colonies fh the I/}*! and Continent of America, and of being for two or three years one if that Cuurt of Committees ( as they call it ) that has the (upet intending of all the affairs of the juftly famotu Eaft-Indian Company of England.

(O

OBSERVATIONS

AND

EXPERIMENTS

ABOUT THE

S A L T N ESS of the SEA.

THE FIRST SECTION.

Chap. I.

f ft 4He Caufe of the Saltnefs of the Sea Eg appears by Arijlotie's Writings to

H have bufied theCutiofity of Na«

9 turalifts before his time *, fince

JL which,his Authority, perhaps much more than hisReafons, did for di- vers Ages make the Schools and the generality of Natuialifts of his Opinion, till towards the end of the laft Century, and the beginning of ours, fome Learned Men took the boldnefs to queftion the common Opinion $ fince when the ControYerfie has been kept oh foot, and, for ought I know, will befo, as long as 'tis argued on both fides but by Dialectical Arguments, which may be probable on G 3 both

2 Observations and Experiments

both fides, bat are not convincing on either. Where- fore I (hall here briefly deliver fome particulars about the Saltnefs of the Sea, obtained by my own tryals, where I was able 5 and where I was not, by the beft Relations I could procure , efpecially from Navigators.

Firft then, Whereas the Peripateticks do , after their Matter AriftotU, derive the Saltnefs of the Sea from the Aduftion of the Water by the Sun-beams> h has not been found that I know of, that where no Salt or Saline Body has been diiTolved in, or extract- ed by Water expos'd to the Sun or other Heat, there has been any fuch Saltnefs produc'd in it, as to juftifie the Arifkotelun Opinion. This may be gather'd, as to the Operation of the Sun, from the many Lakes and Ponds of freih Water to be met with, even in hot Countryes, where they lye expo- fed to the Aftion of the Sun. And as for other Heats, having out of Curiofity diftill'd off common Water in large Glafs Bodies and Heads till all the Liquor was abftra.dted, without finding at the Bot- tom the two or three thoufandth parr, by my guefs, of Salr, among a little white earthy iubltance that ufually remained. And though I had found a lefs inconsiderable quantity of Salt, which, I doubt not, may be met with in fome Waters, I fh'ould not have been apt to conclude it to have been generated out of the Water by the Action of the Fire, be- caufe I have by feveral Tryals purpofely made, and elfewhere msntion'd, found, that in many places, ( and I doubt not but if I had farther tryed, I fhould have fou.id the fame in more) common Water, be- fore ever it *be expofed to the Heat of the Sun or ather Fire, has in it an eafily difcoverable Saltnefs

of

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. 3

of the nature of common Salt, or Sea-Salt, which two I am not here follicitous to diftinguiflj, becaufe of the affinity of their Natures, and that in moft piaces the Salt eaten at Tables, is but Sea-Salt freed from its Earthy and other Heterogeneities, theab- fence of which makes it more white than Sea-Salt is wont to be with us. Tbefe Ufl Words I add, be- caufe credible Navigators have inform'd me, that in fome Countryes Sea-Salt without any preparation coagulates very white i of which Salt I have had, ( from divers parts) and us'd fome parcels.

But fome of the Champions of Ariflotles Opini- on are fo bold as to alledge Experience for it, vouching the Teftimony of Scaliger to prove, that the Sea taftes falter at the top than at the bottom, where the Water is affirmed to befrefh. But as for the authority of Scaliger, though I take him to be an acute Writer, yet, I confefs that, forreafons el fe where given, I do not allow it that Veneration which I find given it by very Learned Men, nor am I over prone, even as to matters of Fact , to acqui- efce in what he tells us, when lie neither fignifies that he delivers things'upon his own Experience, or declares from what credible Information from others he received them.

'Tis true, that having often obferved, that Sea- Salt diflblv'd in Water, is upon the recefs of the fuperfluous Liquor, wont to begin its concretion, not as moft other Salts do, at either the Lateral or Lower parts of the Veflfel, but at the top of the Water, I will not think it impoffible, that fometimes in very hot Climates or Weather, the Sea may tafte more fait at the top, than at fome difhnce beneath it. But confidering how great a proportion of the G 4 Salt

4 Obfervations and Experiments

Silt common Water is wont to be impregnated with before it fuffers Saline Concretions to begin , and how far fhort of that proportion the Salt contained in the Sea Water is wo:«t to be, infomuch that about Holland, a Dutch Geographer or two have not found it to amount to the proportion of one to forty, ana I in England found it to be no mure than I (hall hereafter fpecifie ; it Teems not likely

slflhn thhtt that Scaii£er's Obf'ervation was *$ wards the lax- made> an^ lt mu^ ^e vei7 unlikely terend. that it fhould generally hold, if the

Saltnefs of the Superficial parts of the Sea be compared with that of the lower parts ofit.

And yet I do not build my Opinion wholly upon this Argument of fome Modern Philofophers, That Salt being a heavier body than Water, muft neceffa- rily communicate moft Saltnei's to the lowert parts.

For though this Argument be a probable one, yet Water being a fLia body, the reftlefs agitation of whofe Corpufcles makes them and the Corpu- fcles they carry with them peipetually flu ft places, whereby the fame pans com^ to be ibmetimes at the Top, and fometimes at the Bottom. This con- federation, together with what was lately noted of the peculiar Difpofition of Diffolved Sea Salt, to be- gin its Coagulation upon the furface of the Water, may make the Argument we are considering fufp eel- ed not to be fo cogent, as at fir A fight one may think it. Which fufpicion I mighc fomewhat coun- tenance by fubjoynmg, that in divers Metals, and other tinfted Solutions, I have not ufually ob- ferv'd the upper part of the Liquor to be maniftfl- Ij deeper coloured than the lower > though be-

tween

about the Saltnefs of 'the Sea. 5

tween Metalline Bodies and their Menftrmms, he difproportion of fpeafick gravity does uiually much exceed that which I have met With, between Sea* Sale and Common Water.

CHAP, ir.

'A"T"\s urg'd out oij^infeotten by a Learned Mo- X dsrn Writer, fnat wanting rrefli Water near , Goa ( the Metropolis of the furtugals in the E#fi- Indies) they make their Slaves'fetch it, by diving from the bottom of the Sea, which feems a clear evincement of the Peripatetick opinion. But in this Obfervation I cannot acquiefce, for two Reafons : The. one, becaufe that though what is alledged as matter o\ Fa& were ftri&ly true, yet fo general a conclufion could not be fafely drawn from that par- ticular inftance, fince in other parts of the Sea the contrary has been found by Experience, as I fhall flhew ere long. And other reafons than thofe given by the Peripateticks may be rendred of what hap- pens at Go«9 which reafons may extend to the like cafes, if elfewhere they fhall happen to be met with. For it may very well be, thar Springs of freili Water may arife in feme parts of the furface of the Earth, that are cover'd with the Sea, as they I do in innumerable Vallies and other places of the Terrwftrial Surface that is not fo covered. Not to mention thole Springs that appear in divers places upon a low Ebb, cover'd with the *ea during the iFiood. The Curious HxngarUn Ve Ai^rA«du Hun- Governour that gives us an ac- gari* A^is.

count

6 Obfervations and Experiments

count of the wonderful Waters that ennoble his Countrey, relates , that in the River Vagtu that runs by the fortrefs Galgotinm, the Veins of hot Water fpring up in the bottom of the River it felf. Neqnt in Ripa tantftm, fayes he, trtiun- Pag* 65 * tnr calidjyfed etiam intra amnem^ fi fan- (turn ejus fe dibits fufodiasi c a lent an* tern immodichj &c. Nay , I have been affur'd by more than our Learned Eye-witnefs, that there is a place uponthe Neapolitan Coait, where they (and I think a Writer or two ofthofe parts) obferv'd the Water to fpring up hot beneath the Surface of the Sea, infomuch that one of my Relators thruft- ing in his hand and arm lomewhat deeper than was convenient , found' there an offenfive degree of Heat.

Befide?, ( which is my fecond conjecture ) as to the particular cafe of Goa , I had the curioluy to enquire of a great Traveller, and a man of Letters, that Iiv'd in that Cit^and the neighbouring places, and gave me a pertinent account of them, and efpe- cially of that place whence the frefh water is fetcb'd .by the Divers , which his Curioluy led him to vifit, and take fpecial notice of*, but I found by him, that the Divers do not now think it needful to fetch their frefh water fo low as from the bottom of the Sea, and that by the little depth, whence his and other mens curioluy causM it to be taken up , he judg'd it did not fo much come from any frefh wa- ter Springs vifing at the bottom of the Szz , as from a fmall River ( whofe name I do not remember ) that not far from thence runs into the Sea, with fuch a juncture of circumftances, that at the men- tion'd places, the frefh water does yet keep it felf

tole-

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. 7

tolerably diftinft, and is not yet fo far made brack- ifh, as not to continue potable-, though not very good. Which conjecture of his I could make probable, by what I have had from eminent and obferving men among our own Navigators, touching the Aiding of Waters one over another, in fome parts of the Sea, efpecially near the mouths of Ri- vers. But the difcuflion of this matter , and the particulars of the Account given me of the fcitua- tion of tr?e place where Water is div'd for near Go a, vvould require more words than they would in this place deferve, unlefs the point under de- bate were more important to our prefent pur- pofe.

I might here pretend to "a clear demonftration by experience of the contrary of what Scaliger deli- vers, by vouching the teftimony of the Learned Pa- tricitui who affirms, that being upon the Sea which takes its denomination from the Ifland of Crete ( now CandU^) he did, in the company of a Vene- tian MagiftiatejAfo^fw/^o, let down a veffel ( fur- nifh'd with a weight to fink it ) to the bottom of the Sea, where, by the help of a contrivance,it was unftopp'd, andfiird with Water there, which be- ing drawn up, was found to be not frelh but Salt. This Experiment, I fay, I could oppofe as a Demon- ftration zgimft' Scaiiger ; but though it be a very probable Argument, and more conliderable than any I have feen brought by the Peripamkks for their Opinion, yet I confefs it would be more fatisfac"tory to me, if it would not permit me to fufpeft, that in the drawing up of the VeiTel through the Salt water, though there had been Frefti water taken in at the bottom, the tafte may have been alter'd by the

fub-

8 Obfer vat ions and Experiments

fubingreifion of Salt water, which being bulk for bulk heavier than Frefh, would by its ppncerouf- nefs endeavour to fink into the amending VefleJ, and thereby more eafily expell part of the Fiefh water, and mingle with the reft. Wherefore I fhall confirm the Saltnefs of the Sea at the bottom by fome Obfervations, that are not liable to the fame Obje- ctions as that of Patricias.

ThefirftisthatofthePerfon, whom IQelfewhere mention, to be able by help of an Engine to ftay a confiderable time at rhe bottom of the Sea j for of him I learn d, among other things that I defir'd to be inform'd of touching that place, that he found the Water to have as Salt a tafte there as at the top.

The next Obfervation I obtainM by means of a great Traveller into the E*ft and Weft Indies, who having had the curiofity to vific the famous Pearl- fifhing at Manar, near the great Cafe of Comori, anfwer'd me, that he had the fame curiofity that I cxprefs'd to learn of the Divers, whether they found tht Water Salt at the bottom of the Sea whence they fetch their Peirl-fifhes ? and that be was afTur'd by them that it was fo : And the fame perfon being -asked by me about the Saltnefs of the Sea in a certain place under the Tcrrid Zone, which the relation of a Traveller inclin'd me to think to abound extraordinarily with Salt, atfirm'd to me, that not only the Divers affur'd him, that the Sea was there exceeding Salt at the bottom, but brought np feveral hard lumps of Salt from thence, whereof the Fifhermen and others were wont to make ufe tofeafon their meat, as he him- felf alio did • which yet I may afcribe not only to

the

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. 9

the plenty of Salt already diffolv'd in the Water, but to the greater indifpofition, thac fome forts of Salts, whereof this may be one, have, to be dif- folv'd in that Liquor.

To thefe I (hall add this third Obfervati-on : Meeting with an inquifitive Engineer, that had fre- quented the Sea, and had feveral opportunities to make Obiei vations of other kinds in deep Wa- teis, I defiVd him that he would take al ong with him a certain Copper Veflel of mine, furnifh'd with two Valves opening upwards, and let it down for me the next time he went to S^a ; on which occafion he told me, that ( if I pleafed ) I might favemy felfthe trouble of the intended tryal, for, with a Tin Veflel very ..little differing from that I defcribed unto him , he had had the curiofity near the Straight of Gibraltar s mouth, ( where he had occafion to ftay a good while ) to fetch up Sea- wa- ter from the depth of about forty fathom, and found it to be as fait in tafte as the Water near the Surface.

Thefe Qbfervations may fuffice to {hew, that the Sea is Salt at the bottom , in thofe places where they were made; but yet I thought it was not fit for me to scquiefce in them , but rather endeavour to fatisfie my felf, by the beft tryal I could procure to be made with my Copper Veflel , ( as more ftrong and fit than a Tinnone,) what Saltnefs is to be found in the Water at the bottom of our Seas, not only becaufe it may more concern us to know that, but chiefly becaufe, though I de- ny not, that in the fore-going Obfervations the tafte may fufficiently prove that the Sea is Salt at the bottom as well as the top , yet I thought the

tafte,

i o Obferva tions and Experiments

tafte, by reafon of the predifpofitions and other unheeded affections *cis liable unto , no certain way to judge whether the top and the bottom be as Salt one as the other. Wherefore I thought it would be more fatisfa&ory to examine the Sea- water by vtcigbt than by tafte , and in order thereunto, having delivered the above-menti- on'd Inftrument to the Engineer I lately fpake of, when he was going tq Sea , he fent me, to- gether with it, a couple of Bottles of Sea-water, taken up, the one at the top , and the other at the bottom, at fifteen fathoms deep. The colour and fmell of thefe two Waters were fomewhat differ- ing j but when I examind them Hydroftatically, by weighing a roul of Brimftone firii in one, and then in the other, I fcarce found any fenfible diffe- rence at all in their fpecifick gravities. So that if the degree of the Saltnefs of Sea-water may be fefely determined by its greater or leffer weight, then fo far forth as this fingle Experiment inform'd me, the Saltnefs is equal at the top and bot- tom of the Sea : I faid, if the degree, &c. becaufe of what I (hall hereafter take notice of about Salts of lefs fpecifick gravity than Sea-Salt.

CHAP,

about the Saltnefs oft be Sea. 1 1

CHAP. III.

i

IT follows now that I make our, what I formerly intimated, That though it were granted, that near Goa, and perhaps in tome other places , the Divers may have found the Water frefh at the bot- tom of the Sea, it would not therefore neceffarily follow, that the Sea- water, generally fpeaking, is Frefti at the bottom ; for the Obfervations lately mentioned fufficientlymanifeft the contrary : And as to thofe very few places ( if really there have been any) where the Sea-water has been found Frefti at the very bottom, I think one may afcribe the tafteof the Water to the bubbling up of Springs of Fre(h Water, at, or near enough to, thofe very places. I know this may appear a Paradox, fince it may feem altogether unlikely , that fo fmali a ftream of Water as can be afforded by a Spring, fliould be able to force ks way up in fpite of the refinance offo vaft a weight as that of the fuper- incumbent Sea- water, efpecially fince this Liquor by reafon of its Saltnefs is heavier in ftecic than Frefti Water.

But this Objection needs not oblige me to for- fake my conjecture; for whatever mc ft men believe, and even Learned men have taught, to the contrary, it matters not how great the quantity of Liquor be, which is laterally higher than the Lwer Orifice of the Pipe or Channel that gives paffage to the Liquor that is to be impell a up into it ; provided the upper furface of the Liquor in the Channel or Pipe have a Sufficient perpendicular height inreferer.ee to that

of

1 2 Obfervations and Experiments

of the ftagnant Water > for no more of all this fluid will hinder its afcent , than the weight of fuch a Pillar of the faid fluid as is V.Sxcv\numpr<).io. direftly fuperincnmbent on it. i f.4 .Statues. And Suvlnm and j have by diffc-

^^JaZ nng wayes particularly pro- €S, ved , that, according to the

Laws of the true Hydrotta- ticks , the prevalency of two Liquors that prefs againft each other, is not to be determined accor- ding to the Quantity of them, but to be adjudg'd to that which exceeds the other in (perpendicu- lar ) height*, fo that considering the Channel wherein a Spring runs into the Sea, as a long and inverted Syphon, if that part of the either neigh- bouring or more diftant fhore, whence the Spring or River takes its ourfe, be a neighbouring Hill, or Rock, or any other place considerably higher, than that part of the bottom of the Sea (or of the fhore cover' d with the furface of the Sea ) at which the Channei, which conveyes Frefli water, termi- nates, that Liquor will i flue out in fpite of the re- finance of the Ocean.

To illuftrate at once and prove this Paradox, I thought upon the following Experiment. I took a Veflel of a convenient depth* and a Syphon of a proportionable length, both of them of Glafs, that their tranfparency might permit us to fee all that palled within them. Into the larger Veffel we put a quantity of Sea-water, and into the longer leg of the Syphon, which had been for that purpofe in- verted, we poured a convenient quantity of Frefli water, which we keptftom running out at the fhort- er leg , by flopping the Orifice of the longer with

the

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. 1 3

the thumb or finger : Then this Syphon being fo plac'd in the greater Veffel, that the Onfice of the fhorcer leg was a great deal beneath the Surface of the Salt water, and the Superficies oftbe/Frefh water in the longer leg was a pretty deal higher than that of the furrounding Sale water, we unftopped the orifice of the upper leg, whereby the water in the Syphon tending to reduce it fejf to an zstq'Aih hr'mm (or equality of height ^ in both legs, the water in the upper kg being much higher and hea- vier than that in the other*, did, by fubfiding, drive away the Water in the fhorter leg, and make it fpring out at the orifice cf the (horter leg, in fpite of the breadth and fpecifick gravity of tta Salt water. And this impelling upwards of the Frefh water laft- ed as long as the furface of that water in the longer leg retained its due height above that of the fur- founding Sea water , which circumftancelexprefiy mention, becaufe there being a difference amount- ing to between a fortieth and fiftieth part betwixt the fpecifick gravity q^ our Sea water and common Frefh water, by reafon of the Salt , which makes the former the heavier, the Frefh water in the long- er leg of the Syphon ought to be between a fortieth and fiftieth part higher than the furface of the Sea- water, to rnaintain the t^quilibrUim betwixt thefe two Liquors.

To make the fore-mentioned Experiment the more vifible, 1 thought fit to perform it with Frefh' Water ting'd with Brafil or Logwood; but that it might not be objected, that thereby the fpecifick gravity of the Liquor would be altered or in- creas'd* I afterwards chofe.to make it withClaret Wine, which being a Liquor lighter than Common

H' Wa-

14 Obfer vat ions and Experiments

Water, and of a confpicuous colour, is very conve- nient for our pui poie.

And when I made this tryal , by placing the Orifice of the fhorter leg at a convenienc diftance below the furface of the: Sea-water, 'twas not un- pteafa nt to obferve, how upon the removal of the Finger that ftopp'd the Orifice of the longer leg, the quick defcent of the Wine coman'd in that leg, impell'd the colour'd Liquor in the ftiortet \t^ aaq made itfpringup, at its Orifice, into the incumbent Sea-water, in the form of little red clouds, and fometimes of very (lender Stream?. And as this fhorier leg of the S/phon was rais'd more and more towards the furface of the Water, fo there ifliied out more and more Wine at the Orifice of it $ the Liquor in the longer leg pro* portlonably fubfiding , bat yet continuing mani- festly higher than the furface of the Salt Water, than which it was inffc.e ^uch lighter.

^f But here I mi give an Advertifement to prevent a miftake; for if the Syphon be not exceeding (lender, after the VVine in the longer leg is fallen doV.i co it's due ftation, a heedful Obferver may perceive after a while, that though the Syphon be kept in the fame place, there will iff.ie out of the fhorter leg a little red ftresm, which proceeds not from the former im- puhe of the Wine in the longer leg , but from the ingrefs of the Sea-water, which being much hea- vier in facie than Wine, finks into the Cavi- ty of the "Syphon, and as if comes in on one fide, thrufts up as much Wine on the other fide of tnt fvme-' Cavity. But the red Liquor that af- cends -on this account may be difcern'd to do ^

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. 1 5

by its riling more (lowly, and after another man** ner than that which js impell'd up by the fud- den fall of the tall Cylinder of Wine in the long-

er leg.

THE SECOND SECTION.

CHAP. I.

AS to theCa/tfe of the Salcnefs of the Sea, I therein agree with the Learned Gaffendwy and fome other Modern Writers, That the Sea derives its Salcnefs from the Salt that is difiblved in it : But I take that Saltnefs to be fupplied, not only from Rocks, and other Maffes of Salt, which at the beginning were, or in fome places may yet be, found either at the bottom of the Sea? or at the hdes, where tfte Water can reach them , but al- fo (to fay nothing here of what ituy perhaps be contributed by fubterraneal Sceams ) from the Salt, which the Rains, . Rivers, and other Waters dif- folve in their paffage through divers parts of the Earth, and at length carry along with them into the Sea. For not only 'tis maniTeft enough, that feveral Countryes afford divers falc Springs, and other running Water?, that at length terminate their Courfe in the Sea, but I have fom'etimes fu- fpe&ed, that ve^'y 'frequently the Earth it felf is impregnated vfitn CorrMcles, or at lead, Rudi- ments of common Salt, though no fuch thing be vul- garly taken notice of. Which fufpicion may be H a con-

1 6 Obfervations and Experiments

confirm'd ( to omit what I hive clfewhere deli- vered on another occafion ) partly by the Obferva- tion of fome eminent Chymifts, vvho affirm them- felves to have found a not inconfiderable quantity of exceeding Saline Liquor upon the evaporation of large quantities cf fome Waters, ( for in fome others 1 could not find ic,) and principally by the quantity of common Salt that is ufually found in the refining of Saltpeter 9 though that be a Salr, which Sir Francis Bacon, and other experienc'd Writers teach, that almoft every fat Earth kepr from the Sun and Rain, and from (pending it (elfin Vege- tation, will afford.

But having on another occafion diffidently (hew-

urt^LC: w,i(h coron Salt ,n Ty V*

ums# places than are wont to be raken

notice of $ and that 'tis probable, that by maturation, or otherwife , Sale may daily grow in the Earth, it will not be necefftry to add ' in this place any thing to wbt I have faid already to prove, that our Common Terreftrial Salt being diflblved, may fuffice to make the Sea-water brack- ifh j and the rather, if we call to mind what has been formerly (aid about the poffibilit-y of Springs rifing beneath the furface of the Sea, and of Lumps of , Salt that were taken up by Divers, undiffjlved, at the Bottom of the Sea ; the Ocean may receive fup- plie's of Salt from Rocks and Springs latent in its own Bofome , and unfeen even by Philofophers. And this may be one Reafon, I conceive, (fo? I de- ryn ;t but that there may be -other s,': as the very uiuqiaj heat of the Sun,cSr.) why fome Seas are :o m.ich Salter than others, or atjeaft, why in fome

pla-

about the Szknzfe of the Sea. 1 7

places the Sea-water may be much Salter than in others.

And as we have feen, That oar common Terre- ftrial Salt may be copiou fly enough communicated to the Sea, to impregnate it with as much Saltnefs as we ob'erve it to have ; fo I do noc fee,that the diffe- rence between that Salt and Sea-falt is fo great, but that it may well be fuppos'd to be derived from thofe Changes that the Terreftual Salt may be liable to, when it comes into the Sea. For thac the Marine Salt and the Terreftrial do very well agree in the main things, may be argued from the refemblance both in (hape, tafte, &c. that may be obferved be- tween the grains thac will be produced, if weexpofe each of them inadiftinft Glafs to fuch a heat, as mayQowly carry off the fupetfluous Moiflure, and fuffer them to coagulate into Cubical or almoft Cu- bical Graines : And the leffer differences that may be met with between thefe two Salts , may well enough be fuppos'd producible by the plenty of Nitrous, Urinous, and other Saline, to which, in fome places, may be added, Bituminous bodies, thac by Land- floods and other wife are from time to time carried into the Sea, and by feveral things that hap- pen to it there, efpecially by the various agitation 'tis put into by Tides, Winds, Currents, &c. and ( vvhich I would by no means omit ) by its being in vail quantities expos'd to the Sun and Air.

H3 CHAP,

1 8 Obfervations and Experiments

CHAP. II.

WE may juftfy be the more careful to deter- mine , whether the Saltnefs of the Sea- water proceed from Common Salt diflblved in it, becaufe if it appeared to be fo, we might the more hopefully attempt to obtain by diftiliation Sweet water from Sea- water ; fiftcz, if this Liquor bemade- by the bare d;{folution of Comaion Salt in the other, 'tis probable, thit a feparation may be made of them, by fuch a heat as will eafily raife the Aque- ous parts of Sea-water, without railing the Saline, whole Dillillation requires a vehement Heat, as Chymifts well know to their colt. And fuch a me- thod of Separating Frefh water from that which was Salt, would make our Doctrine of ufe, and be very beneficial to Navigation, and consequently to Man- kind. For in long Voyages, 'tis but too common for the makers of them, to be liable to hazards and inconveniencies, for want of Fiefli and Sweetwater, whereby they are fometimes forced to drink corrupt brackifh Water, which gives them divers Difeafes, as particularly the Scurvy , and, the ufual effect of drinking Salt water, the Dropfie. And Sea-men are wont to receive fo many other incommodities by the want of FrelTi water, that, to prevent or fup- ply it, they are oftentimes forced to change their courfe, and fail fome hundreds of : miles to a Coaft, no: only out of their vv^y, butunfafe in it {tlfy and peihaps more dangerous, by being mfefted by Py- rats, or in the hands of Enemies or Savage people; by which meanes they, often lofe the benefit of

.:....»'. , their

about the Saltnefs oft he Sea . 19

their Monfwns, and much more eafily other Winds/ and frequently their Voyage. And thefe are in* conveniences, which might be in good meafure prevented, if potable, and at leaft tolerably whul- fome Water, could be obrai.'d by Diitillanon, in themidft of the Sea itfelf, to ferve the Sea-men till they could be fupplie J vvith naturally Fredi water. To make feme cryals of this , I remember J took fome Engltjh Sia-water, whence I was able to fe- paratc betwixt a thirtieth and fortieth part of dry Sale, and having diftilled it in a glafs head and bo- dy, with a moderate fire, till a confiderable portion of it was drawn ov.jr, we could not difcern any Saltnefs in it by the tafte 5 and befides 'bat I found it fpecifically lighter than fuch Water as is daily drunk by Perfons of Quality at London, I expos'd it to a more Chymical Examen, and did not by that find any thing of Sea Salt in it, though I hive at feveral times, by the fame way, manifestly difco- vered a Saltnefs in in-land Waters, thar are drunk obvioufiy for fweet Waters. If I would have em- ployed a Wronger Heat, and VefTels larger and lower, or otherwife better contriv'd for copious Diftillation, I might in a ftiorter time have obtain'd much more diftill'd Water ', but whether fuch Li- quors will be altogether fowholfome, Experience touft determine. Yet that Sea-water diftiU'd even in no very artificial way, may be fo far vvhcl- fome, as not in hafte to be fenfibly noxious, but at a pinch ufeful, at leaft for a while, maybe gathered from ( what occurrs to me fince the writing of the laft Paper) the Teftimonyof that famous Naviga- tor, Sir R. Hawkins, who commanded a Fleet in the Indies for Queen Elizabeth. For he , in the Ju- H 4. dicious

2 o Obfervations and Experiments

dicious Account he gave the World of his Voyage, wherein they were d'.ftreffed, even in the Admi* rals fhip, for want of Frefh Water, has this memo- InLib.i.page 1578. of rablepaflage ( as I find it ver- Purchafej out of Sir batim in our diligent Pur- R. Hawkins hit Voyage, chafe.)

Although our frefh water had failed pu many dayes £ before we/aw the fhore ) by reafon ofcur long Navi- gatim without touching any Land) and the e.xcefflve drinking of the Sick^and Difeafed £ which could not le excujedy) yet with An invention I had in my Ship, I eafily drew out of the Water of the Sea fufficient quan- tity of Frefh water, to fuflain my people, with little ex- fence of fewel$ for with four billets I ft ill* da hog/head of Water, and therewith dreffed meat fsr the Sicl^ and Whde. The Water fo diftilfd we found to be wholfome and nourifhihg.

And becaufe the potablenefs of Sea- water may concern the Healths and Lives of men, I fhall here add, to what I elfewhere deliver about my vvayes of examining, whether other waters participate of Salt, two or three Obfervations I made upon thofe few diflill'd Liquors, I had occafion to draw from Sea-warer. Having then upon fome of the diftiird Liquor dropt a* little oyl of Tartar per deliyxivm, I perceiv'd no clouds at all , or precipitation to be made, whereas a fmall proportion of that Liquor being dropt into the undiftiJl'd Sea-water it felf, it would prefently trouble and make it opacous, and, though but Qowly, ftnke down a considerable deal of a whiufh fuMance ( which, of what nature it is, I need not here declare j ) I found alfo, that a very fmall proportion of an Urinous Spirit, fuch as that of Sal Armoniac, would produce a whitifh and curl-* « - ■ ' .. 1 • ,i , ed

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. a i

ed fubftance ( but not a near fo copious one as the other Liquor ) in Sea-water, not yet expos'd to Diftillation, but not in the Liquor drawn from it : which argued, that there were but few or nofaline particles of Sea-falc afcended with the Water : For cKq thefe Alcalizate and Urinous Salts 'would in all likelihood have found them out, and had a vifible operation on them. And I farther remember, that when the DiftiJIation was made in Glafs Veffels, with an eafie Fire, not only the firft running, but the Liquor that came over aftei ware's, was not perceiv'd to be brackifli, but good and potable. To vvhich agrees' very well, that by a Hyarothti- cal Tryal 1 found our diliill'd Sea-water to be lighter m fpecie than commoa Conduit Water, though it exceeded that in fpecifick Levity, lefs than 'twas furp:.tfed in the lame quality by diliill'd Rain-water.

But to return to the Subject whence we have fomewhar, but, I hope, not ufelefly, digrefs'd • I know it may be objected , that if the Terre* ftrial Salts carried by Springs, Rivers, and Land- floods into the Sea, were the caufe of its falinc Tafte, thofe Wateis themfelvesmuft be made Salt by it, before they arrive at the Se?# Bit oeiides, that this Objection will not reach the Springs and Rivers of Saltwater, that in feveral places, either immediately or mediately,cifcharge themfelvesinto the Sea ; it might conclude againft him that fhould affirm this imported Saltnefs to be the only caufe of that of the Sja : But it will not be of force againft me, who take it to be only a partial caufe, that by its accelfion contributes to the degree of Saltnefs we obferve in the Sea, where this imported Said £., ...... . - may

22 Obfervations and Experiments

may joyn it felf with the Salt it finds there already, and being detained by it, contribute to the briny- hefs of the Water.

If it be urg'd, that from hence it will follow, that the Sea from time to time increafes in Saltneis, I may fufpend my anfwer till it appear by competent obfervation that ic does not • which, I think, men have not yet made tryals thac may warrant them to affert. And if the matter of fad; were certain, I think 'twere poifible to give a farther anfwer, and {hew probable waves, howfo fmall an accefTionof Salt may be difpers'd by nature, and kept from 'in- creasing too much.

B

CHAP. III.

Ut now Vs feafonable to confider , that the I tafte of Sea-water is not fuch a fimple faline taite , as Spring-water would receive from Sal Gemot, cr fome other pure Terreftrial Salt diflblved in it , but a bitterifh taite, that muft be derived from fome peculiar caufe that Authors are not wont to take notice of. ' I am not affur'd by any Obfer- vations of my own, that this recellion from a purely Saline tafte is likely to be of the very (ame kind, and to be equally, or very near equally, met with in all Seas > ( nor to add a doubt whether it be at all fenflble in fome. ) The caufe both of the bitternefs and faltnefs too of the Sea-water, is faid to be af- firmed by Learred Mr. Lidtit, to he aduft and 'bi- tuminous

about the Saltnefs of the §tz] 23

tuminous Exhalations aicending out of the Eartri into the Sea, But that there is abundance of aftoal Salt in the Sea-wacer, to give it its Saline talk and ponderoufnefs , the Salt, that the Sun does in many places copionfly feparate horn the Sal tl efs waterifh parts, fufficient'.y manifeib. But as to the bitterifh tafte, I think it no eafie matcer to give a true ac-^ count ofir, but am prone to afcnbe it partly to the operation of fome Catholick Agents upon that vaft body of the Ocean, and partly to the Alteration that the Salt receives from the mixture of fome other things, among which Bitumen may be one of the principal.

But though I have in another IV T . _, „ e n D , • r , c In the TraZf of

per (hewn, that in fome places of subterran.Mcn- the Sea there are confiderable quan- ftruums. tities of Bitumen, or Bituminous matter to be met with > yet I dare not derive the bittemefs of the Sea only from Bituminous Exhala- tions, but in good part, at leaft, in fome places, from the liquid and other F»itumen,tbit is imported by Springs and other Waters into the Sea > of which we have an eminent inftance in that which our Englifh call Barbadoes Tar, according to the relati- on I had of it from an inquifltive Gentleman, who is one of the chief Planters of the iGand, and took j^Ieafure to obferve this liquid Bitumen to be carri- ed in confiderable quantities from the Rocks into the Sea ; and I think itpoffible enough, that fome of the Springs that rife under the furface of the Sea, may carry up with them Bituminous matter, which may help to make the Saltnefs of the Sea degene- rate^ of which more perhaps elfewherej^) as I not long fince made mention of Springs , as well of hot 1 ■,'» -, .;■ •• \ : ■ ■■'• as

24 Obfervations and Experiments

as cold water, riling beneath the furface of the Sea. And this minds me to intimate here, that I have fufpe&ed, that in fome places the Sulphureous Ex- halations, and other emidions from the fubmarine parts of the Earth, may fometimes contribute to change the faline tafteof the Sea-water: For I have elfewhere related, how not only Sulphureous Steams, but fometifnes Actual Flames have broken through (rom the lower parts of the Sea to the up- permoft} and have fometimes taken pleafure to make by Art a rude imitation of that Vh&nomtnon. And partly fome Experiments of my own , and partly ibme other Inducements , have perfwaded me, that divers1 times ( for I do not fay alwayes ) Sea Salt does not obfcuiely participate of Combu- ftible Sulphur, of which I may fpeak farther on an- other occafion. But in regard that the tafte of the Sea-water is not in all parts or the Ocean uniform, it may here furfice to take notice in general, that this difference of tafte may partly be caus'd by ad- ventitious bodies of feveral kinds , of which 'els probable, that in differing place? the Sea-water does varioufly partake. And not to mention here the fragrant fmell of Violets, which has by feveral, and particularly by an Eminent Perfon, of whom I enquired about it, been obferved, in fome hot Countries, to proceed from Sea Salt *, I have di- vers other Inducements to think that it is ufually riollmpIeSalt, nor free from mixture. For by more wayes than one, and particularly by cohobating from it its own Spirit, we have obtained a dry Sub- limate, which feemed to be no Pure, but a Com- pounded Body.

And

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. 25

And now to come to that which I intimated might be one of the caufes, why the rafte of Sea- water is not the fame with thac of Common Sale diflblved in Freffi Water; I ftiall add, that I have fufpecte'i, that the various motion of the Sea, and its being expofed to the aclion of the Air and San, may contribute to give it a tafte ocher than Saline ^ which ftifpicion might be confirmed by the Obfervation I elfewhere mention of the Sea Salt, which, by barely being expos'd for many months to the Air, and fome- times perhaps put into a gentle agitation by a dige- fhve Heat, I found to have a very manifeftly differ- ing tafte from the fimple Solution of Sea Salt in Common water.

I might here endeavour the faiths* confirmation of my Difcourfe, by what I have learned by in- quiry from Navigators, about the manifeftly differ- ing Colours> and other Qualities of the differing parts of the Sea, which feem to argue, that 'tis not every where of fuch a Uniform Subftance as men vulgarly imagined, and that vaft Trails of it are imbued with ftupendious multitudes of adventitious Corpufcles, which, by feveral wayes diverfifying its parts, keep it from being a fimple Solution of Salt. But ©f this Subject I have not leifure to dif- courfe here , only becaufe 'tis generally thought, that the Sea-water is, by reafon of the Saltnefs it a- bounds witb,uncapableof Putrefaction*, I will add, That having kept a pretty quantity of Sea-water, that I had caufed to be purpofely taken up between the £«g/i/Z> and French fhores, in a good newrund- . let, in a place where the S.immer Sun beat freely upon it, it did, in a few weeks, acquire a ftrongly ftinking fmell • though, that the Experiment had

been

£(> Obfervdtions and Experiments

been more fatisfa&ory, I wifhed that it had been made in a VefTel of G.iafs or Earth, inftead of Wood. But a much better Obfervation I procut'd from a much efteemed Navigator of my acquaintance, who having failed often in the Indian and African Seas, I enquired of him, whether he had ever in thofe hoc Clirnats, where the Sea is fuppofed to be very Salt, observed it to ftink, for want of Agi- tation or otherwife : To which he anfwer'd, That once being, though it was but in March) becalmed, in a place he named to me, for 12 or i4dayes, the Sea, for want of motion, and by reafon of the Heat, began to ftink, infomuch that, he thinks, if the Calm had continued much longer , the ftench would have poyfoned him : They were freed from it as foonas the Wind began to agitate the Water, and broke the Superficies, which' alfo drove away ftoreof the Sea Tortoifes,and a fort of Fifti, whole Engiifr name I know not, that before lay basking themfelves on the top of the Water.

And to this agrees very well the notable Obfer- vation, that I fince met with, of the el'fewhere com- mended Sr R. Hawkins, who, among other confi- derable things he takes notice of m his Relations, h^s this paflage, toourprefent furchaps Pilgrims f Were "u not for the mo-

rn Sir R. Hawkins r . r * • J, , „

Obfervations. Vlng of the Sea by the force of

Winds, Tides, and Currents , it vk.hU corrupt all the world* The Experience I faw Anno 1590, lying with a Fleet about the I (lands of Azores, almofi fix months , the grcajeft fart of the time we were becalmed ; with which all the Sea became fo replenififd with fever a I forts of GeMes, and forms nf Serpents, Aiders and Snakes , oi'fcmd wonderful,

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. 27

feme green, fome blacky fome yel/ow, fome whit e> fome of divers colours , and many of them bid life ; and feme there were a yard and a half, and two yards long, which had I not feen , I could hardly have believed* And hereof are wit neffe sail the company of t hi' Ships which were then prefent, fo that hardly a man could draw a bucket of water clear of fome corruption* In which Voyage, towards the end thereof, many of every Ship fell lic^ of this Difeafe, and began to dye apace, hut that the fpeedy pajfage into our Country was a reme- dy to the craved, and a prefervative for thofe that were not touched*

THE THIRD SECTION.

CHAP, I.

AS for the various Degrees of the Sdtnefs of the Sea , Authors are wont to be filent of it, fave that fome Navigators tell us, that they obferved fome Seas to have a more, and others a lefs Saline tafte > which you will eafily believe has not afford* ed me much fatisfaft ion. And on the other fide, my want of opportunity to make Tryals my felf, will confine me to acquaint you with no more than the few following Obfervations.

1. To a Learned man that was to fail *o places of differing Latitudes in x\\tTorrid Zone, I deliver'd a Glafs Inftrumenr, el fe where described, fitted by the greater or Jeffer Emerfion of the upper part,tofnew,

accu-

28 Ohfervdtions and Experiments

accurnely enough for ufe, the greater jorlefs fpeci- fick Gravity of the Salt Water it was put to fwim in. This he put from time to time into the Sea- Water, as he failed towards the Indies, whence he wrote me word , That he found,' by the Glafs, the Searvt ater to increafe in ve eight , the nearer he came to the Line, till he arrived at a certain degree of La- titude , as he remembers, it was about the thirtieth ; after vthichy the Water feemed to retain the fame Spe^ cifick^ Gravity % till he came to the Barbadoes or Ja- maica.

2. Another ObfervationI obtainM by Inquiry of an Ingenious Perfon and a Scholar, at his return outofthe Eaft Indies, who affirm'd to me, that he, and a Gentleman of my acquaintance, took up Bottles full of Sea«water,both under the EquinoUial, and alio off the Cafe of good Hope , which lies in about 54 Degrees of Southern Latitude, and found the Warers of thefe diftant parts of the Ocean to be of the fame weight. And though it may well be doubted, whether this Obfervation, being made vyith ordinary Bottles, were fo exa$ as could be winYd, yet the Perfons being curious, and making it for their own fa ti section*, and my Relator ha- ving, in both the recited places, fill'd with the S:a- water he took up and weight, having, I fay, filfd . the fame Bottles ^ fince this Veffel held two quarts, (which muft be above four pounds of Salt-water,^* if the difparity of weight had been confderable , ft would in likelihood have been found, at leaft mani- fefHy fenfble in fueha weight of Liquor.

3. Inquiring of an obferving Perfon, that had been at Mfambi'fis , which ,>s thought to be one of the hotteft places in the World, whether he did

net

about the SAtmk of the Sea* 29

not there find the Sea to be more than ordinarily Salt* he anfwered me, that, coming thither in i great Carack, when he ca-me b j ck from the Town* to the Ship, he obfervcl near two hands breadth of the Veflfcl to be above the ordinary part, to which it ufed to fink *, inforrtuch that he took notice of it ' to the Captain, as fearing that pm of the lading had been by ftealth carried to the friore : But the ' Pilot, who had made thirteen or fourteen Voy- ages to the Indies, atfur'd him* what he had obser- ved about the Ship was not unufaal in that place, where the tafte it felf difcover'd the Water to be exceeding Salt.

Nor need we fcruple to' think, -that fome Sea- Waters may be very much more' irripregnated ' with Salt than ours ; for Water will naturally' diffolve, and retain a far greater proportion of Salt, than that which is commonly met with in the Sea. For whereas a thirty fifth, or thirtieth^ or at moft a twenty fifth part of Salt will make Water more Saline than is found in many Seas, I am* by a Friend of mine that is Mafter of a Silt-work, inform'd, that the Water of his Springs afford him a twelfth part?of good White Salt, and that another Spring not far off, yields no lefs than an eighth part. To which, (to avoid anticipation) I fhall not here add, what I dial! hereafter h$v|" occafion to fay of the fulleft impregnation of Wate#- with Common Salt.

(~ Whilft I was reviewing tbefe Papers, there- came feafonably to my hands a Letter written froin MulUtatany on the Gulf of BettgaU in the £>/?-' Indies, by an ingenious GentletriarK, SS Wilhd'm' Langborn, that is intrufted with the care of the Etif

I lijh

50 Obfervations and Experiments

lijh Fa&ories in tbofe parts; out of which Let- ter the following paffage is verbatim tranfcribed* " I did, in order to your command, caufe fome Wa- <c ter to be faved under the Line, at our firft zcc^s " to it , intending , for want of good fcales and " weights , ( being none to be come at aboard the 4 c Ship ) to have kept it until it could be weighed, *l but by the forgetfulnefs of a fervant, it was thrown " away. Off the Cape, in 37 i. 00 m. Southern Ia- €f titude, I faved fome again , and through the fame c<want ofweights, was fain to keep it until Icame " to the Line again * and then made the beft ftiift I u could for weights, and compared it With the Wa- lter there, filling the fame Bottle again to the fame *« height by a mark, and found it exactly the fame «c weight. The weight I have taken ; but accounting c* this a journey of bufinefs , left thofe notes, and " moft of the like nature , behind me • in my next <c it (hall be inferted. ]

CHAP. IL

IT remains now , that, according to my promife, I fet down what I obferved my felf concerning *he Saltnefs of our Sea between England and France ; not in comparifon with the Saltnefs of other Seas, whofe Waters I had not to compare with, but as to the proportion of Salt contained in it to the Water. And though one would think it re-> ry eafie to make tryals of this fort for a perfon not

un-

about the Saknefs of the Sea. 3 1

unacquainted with Hydroftatical practices nor un- furnilhed with Instruments, yet, I confefs, that three or four tryals that I made, not all of them the fame way, made me find it more difficult than was imagined to arrive at any thing of certainty in thii inquiry.

This you will eafily believe, if 1 annex the fub- ftancc of fome Experiments^ that, I remember, i made about the gravity of Sea Water * which I had order'd to be taken up, fome at the depth of about fifteen Fathom fomewhat near our (hoar, and fome in another place of the Channel between England and France*

The fum of the firft Experiment is this : We took a Vial, fitted with a long and {trait neck, pur- pofely made for fuch tryals, and having countet- pois'd it, filPd it to a certain height with common Conduit water: We noted the Weight of that,Liquor^ which being poured out, the Vial was fill'd to the fame height with Sea Water , taken up at the furface, and by the difference between the two weights , the Sea water appeared to be about a forty fifth part heavier than the other.

The fecond Tryal ( which was for more accurate* tiefs made Hydrofhticaiiy,) I find tegifter'd to this effe& : We carefully counterpoised in the Scales, formerly made ufe of, a piece of Sul- phur in the upper Sea water, formerly mention'd • k weigh'd^J? + 10 i gr. and being alfo weigh'd in the Sea water fetch'd from thebottorrr,gave us the Came weight §j? -h 10 \ gr. which flisw'd thofe two Waters to be of the fame Specifick Gravity: And then to compare this With the gravity of com- moti Water; we tfeigh'd the fame Sulphar in com- 12 rrbri

3 2 Obfervations and Experiments

irion Cenduit Water, and found it %fi 4- 15 * gn By which it appear'd , that the Sea-water was but about a fifty third part heavier than this Water : which is fuch a difference from the proportion found out by the former way of tfyal, that I could not well imagine what to attribute it to, unlefs the Sea- water by long (tending in a VelTel, which, though cover'd, was expos'd to the hot Sun, may both have been rarified, and have had fome feparation made of ks Saline or other heavier parts, on which fcore that portion we took up for our tryal* might appear lighter than elfe it would have done ; or unlefs, the Experiment having been made in London , where great and fudden rains and other accidents will fometimes vifibly vary the confidence of common Water, the Liquor, I then employ 'd without exa- mining it, might be more ponderous at that time than at another. To which latter fufpicionl was the more indin'd, becaufe, having afterwards weigh 'd the fame piece of Sulphur by help of the fame bal- Iance in diftill'd rain water, I found the weight of the former liquor to exceed that of the latter by a good deal lefs than a thirty fifth part • which feem'd to make it probable , that if the Water, we chancM to employ, had been free from all Saline and other heavy particles, the difference formerly mentioned betwixt this Obfervation and the fore-going would not have been near fo great as it was.

The laft way I made ufe of to examine the pro- portion betwixt Sea-water and Freili , was Chy- mical ; whereof my Regifter affords me this ac- count,

A pound ( H werdupis weight ) of the upper Sea-water, was weigh'd out, and put into a head and

body

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. 33

body to be diftill'd in a digeftive farnace ad fie «- mm% and the Diftillation being leifurely made, the bottom of the glafs was almoft cover'd with fair grains of Salt, {hot into Cubical figures, and more white than was expe&ed 5 in the reft of the coagu- lated matter we took not notice of any determinate fhape. The Salt being weigh'd amounted to |/f, Havsrdupoh, and lOgr. At which rate the pro- portion of the Salt to the Water will be that of 30 and <&fe to one, and fo will amount to near the thir- tieth part ; which was fo much greater than the for- mer wayesof tryal madeusexpeft, that I know not whether it may not be worth while to try, whether fucha flow abftra&ion as we employ of the fupei flu- ous Water, and our doing it in clofe Veflels, may not have afforded us more Salt than elfe we fhould have obtain'd*

To this Relation I find this note fubjoyn'd : Su- fpe&ing that there may have fomewhat elfe con* curr'd to our finding fo great a proportion of Sale, I fuffer'd thar, which had been weighed, to continue a while in the Scale, and foon perceiv'd, that,accor- ding to my conjecture, that fcale began manifeftly to preponderate, and that confequently fome of the unexpected weight of Salt may be due to the moi- fture of the Air, imbib'd after the Salt was taken out of the Glafs,and laid by to be weighed : Where- fore, caufing it to be very well heated and dried in a Crucible, we found it to weigh fiij. + fi. ( that is 210 gr. ) upon which account, the proportion of Salt containM in the Water was a thirty fixtbpart, and fomewhat above half of thofe parts, and to ex- prefs it in the neareft whole number , a thirty fe- venth parr*

1 3 From

34 Obfirvations and Experiments

From whence this greater proportion of Salt by Di Puliation, than ou.r other Tryals invited us to ex- pect, proceeded , Teems not To eafie to be determi- ned*, unlefs it be fuppofed ( as I have fometirnes JTulpe&ed) that the Operation, the Sea- water was expofed to in Diftillation, made fome kind of change in iff other and greater than before-hand one would have look'd for ; and that, though the grains cf Salt we gained out of the Sea-water, feem'd to be dry before vve weigh'd ir, yet the Saline Corpufdes, upon their concreting into Cubes, did fo intercept between them many fmall particles of Water, as pot to fuffet them to be driven away by a moderate warmth, and confequently fuch grains of Salt may hare upon this account been lefs pure and more ponderous than elie they would have been. And I might heie add, that I fometirnes make a certain Artificial Salt, which though being diflblv'd in Wa- tej, it will fhoot into Cryftals finely fhaped , and dry enough to be reducible into powder, yet coa- gulates W*ter enough with it to make the Water aJmoft,if not quite, as heavy again as before. And I have beenafluredby a very Learned Eye-witnefs, that there is a fort of Sea Salt, vvhich they bring to fome parts of England from the Coaft of Spain or Portugal , which being hert ailTolved, and redu- ced by Purification and Filtration to a much whiter Salt, will yield by meafure fomewhat above two Bufrtels for one. But to fatisfie the fcruples and fufpicionsl could fuggeft, would require more try- als than I have now time or opportunity to make. \0iat has been already deJiver'd, may give at leaft as fcrapulous an account of the Salmefsof our Eng- Jjfi Sea-water?, as moft other Experimenters would

have

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. 35

have thought it needful to give. And to make a determination with any certainty about the degrees of the Seas Saltnefs in general , a great number of Obfervacion?, made in different Climates and in di- ftant pares of the Ocean, would be neceffary.

CHAP. III.

I Know not whether I may be fo indulgent to my fufpicions as to wife , that Obfervations were needfully made, Whether in the fame Sea, and about the fame part of it, the Waters be alwayes equally Salt ? For, though chat be taken for granted,yet fincc we have no good Obfervations long (ince made to iilence the fufpicion, one may fufpe<§, that, at lead in many places, the Saltnefs of the Sea may conti- nually, though but very (lowly , increafe by the ac- ceflion of thofe Saline Corpufcles that are imported by Salt-Springs , and thofe which Rivers and Land- floods do from time to time rob the Earth of. And I fufpeel it to be not impoffible, that this or that part of the Sea may be fometimes extraordinarily, and perhaps fuddenly, impregnated with an additio- nal Saltnefs from Saline fleams plentifully amend- ing into it, from thofe Subterraneal Fires, about which I have made it in.the TralLs. °' elfewhere probable, that they may £SS£T» burn beneath the bottom of the Sea, and fometimes fend forth copious Exhalations into it. But it may prove the more difficult to difceri* I 4 this

$6 Obfervations and Experiments

this adventitious Saltnefs, uhlefs tbe tafte as well as ballance be employed about. if, becaufe the Salt, that produces ir, may be of fucb a Nature as to be much lighter infpecie than common Sea Salt. And the mention or this leads me to give you here the Advertifement I promifed you not long ago.

That chough the weight of Sea-water be as good a way as is yet employed (and better than fome o- thers ) to determine what Sea- water does moft a- bound in Salt ; and though it be pofTible, that in our Se%and perhaps in almoft all others, this way be not liable to any considerable uncertainty^ yet I think it not impoflible, that it may fometimes deceive us, efpeciilly in very hot Regions » becaufe I have ob- ferved, that there may be Volatile Salts, which, though by reafon of their activity they makefmart irnpreflions on the tongue, and give the water imbu- ed with them a ftrong Saline tatte, yet they add ve- ry little, and muchlefs than one would think , to its Specifick gravity : as I have tryed, by Hydroftati- cally examining Diftill'd liquors, abounding in Vo- latile and Urinous Salts, fome of which I found very little heavier than Common Water, and confe- quently nothing near fo much heavier as they would have been made,, if they had been brought to fofharp a tafte, by having nothing but common Sea Salt dif- fol ved in them : So tha",if in any particular place,by any other way, or from the Steams of the Earth be- neath, ( fome of which, I elfewhere fhew, may be very analogous to thofe afforded by SjlArmonitc^) the Sea fhould be copioufly impregnated with fuch kind oflight Salts, the Sea- water may be much more (ak to the tafte, and yet be very little heavier. Fct confirmation of which I find among my notes, that

weiah-

about the Saltnefs of the Sea. 3 7

weighing a feal'd buble of Glafs, made heavy by an included Metal , firft in Spirit of Sal Armoniac^ that tafted much ftionger than Sea-water ,it weighed 3iij -h 51 %gr. and weighing this fame body in fair Water, it weighed but Jiij + 45 | gr. fo that notwithstanding its great Saltnefs, the Spirit was Jighter than Comrnon water i though a good pare of that comparative Levity may probably be afcribed to the Liquor wherein the Saline Particles fivarm, which, by Diftillation, was grown more defecated and light than Common, though clean, Water.

But for a farther proof, we took a hard lump of Sal Armoniack, , and though we could not weigh it in Water, hecanfe that would have diflblv'd part of ir, yet by a way (I elfewftere teach) I found, that weighing in the fame Liquor this lump of Sal Armoniackt and a lump of good white Sea Salt, ( brought me as a Curiofity out of the Torrid Zone) the proportion of the latter to a bulk of the Liquor equal to it, was fomething ( though exceeding little) above that of two and a quarter to one , and the proportion of Sal Armoniac^ to as much Water as was equal likewife to it , did not above a Cen- tefm exceed that of one and ^ to one ; which falls fo fhort of the other proportion as may juft- ly feem ftrange , efpecially if it be confidered, that the factitious Sal Armoniac^ the Chymifts generally ufe, and we emplof , confifts in good part of Sea Salt, which abates much of the Compa- rative Levity it might have,if it were made up only of Urinous and Fuliginous Salts , which were ics other ingredients.

It were indifcreet for me to propofe any more fufpicions and tryals fitted to dear wem , unlefs I

kr.ev

3 8 Obfervations and Experiments

knew thofe I have already mention'd would not pad for Extravagancies j and therefore I (hould here dif- mifs the Sib;e6t of this Tract of the Saknefs of the Sea, bat that iince I have been difcourfing of the degrees of it, it will not be impertinent to add, what is the greateft meafure of Saknefs that I have brought Water to , without the help of external Heat. On this occafion I employed two differing vvayes , the one was by putting into a well-coun- terpoyfed Vial two Ounces of Common- water, and then putting into it well dryed and white com- mon Salt, and fhaking them together till the Li- quor would, w&i/ft toldy diflclve no more : This Li- quor, thus glutted with Salt, weighed n 50 grains, from which two Ounces being deducted , the overplus of weight-, arifing from the diffolved Salt,. amounted to 190 gr* fo that a parcel of Salt will without hear be diffolved in about five times its weight, or very little more, of common Water. By which proportion we made fo ftrong a brine, that divers pieces of Amber , being purpofely let fall into ir, emerged, and floated on it. The other and better way, yet more tedious , that we made ufe of, was, to let Sea- Salt run per deHqrium, (as the Chymifts fpeak ) that is, to fet it in fome moid place, till it was diffolved by thz Aqueous Va- pours that fwim in the Air. In this Liquor we weighed a piece of Sulphur, which we aifo weighed in Sea-water, wherein, finding it to weigh much more than in the former Liquor, it appeared that the Sea- water was in Specie much lighter than the other > though how much their gravities diL fer'd, I cannot find among my Nctes,nor be inform- ed by my Memory.

And

about the Saknefe of the Sea. 39

And becaufc I have not in any Author met with the proportion of Sea Salt to Water of the fame bulk, nor perceive that Hydroftaticians themfelves have yet attempted any way to investigate it, ( pro- bably deterr'd by the eafie diflblublenefsof Salt in Water ) I (hall here fubjoyn , that by the help of an Expedient I have elfewhere taught, I have exa- min'd a hard dry lump of Sea-Salt, and found its proportion in weight to common Water of the fame Dulk, to be almofi as 2 to i, ( for it exceededthe ratio of I t% to i. ) And, I remember, I found the Specifick Weight of a hard and figur'd lump of Sal Gemm ( which fort of Salt, I fuppofe to be fomewhat more pure and ponderous than Sea Salt ) to be to that of Water ( very near ) as 2 i to 1.

FINIS.

THE FOURTH SECTION

Belonging to the TaSt formerly Pub- lilVd under che Title,

Relations about the Bottom of the S E A

By the Honourable ROBERT BOTLE.

ADVERTlSEMENf

TO THE

R E A D E R.

His StttionfiuHli havibeenffiSjiyned to the Re- Jadons about the Bottom of the Sea, vhcn that Difcourfe wot printed* together with fome other Trafis at Oxford, An. 167 1, but it a* by the Negligence of himy that fbwldhave carried it to the Prejs, fevered from the reft of that Tratt, and notfeafoAably deliver d to the Printer.

CO

THE FOURTH SECTION

Belonging to cheTrS& intitul'd,

Relations about the Bottom of the SEA

■4 He prefence cf the Air is not only fo neceflary to the Life of many forts of Animals, but it hath like- wife fo great a ftroke in the growth of Vegetables, efpecially of the larger forts, that, after what I had experimented about thefe matters > (of which this is not the proper place to give an account) I thought fit to make enquiry about the Vegetation and growth of Plants of confiderable Bulk in thofe fu6« marine Regions , where if there grow any , they muft do it remote from the free contact of an ambi- ent A ir. And having not now the leifui e to repeat what Betanifis ( of vvhofe Books I am not now provided ) deliver about leffer Plants growing under Water , I (hall now onely prefent you with what information I could procure from Naviga- tors, about Trees and Fruit growing at the bottom of the Sea.

To I

a Relations about the

To what I have elfewhere had occafion to fay to their Opinion, that will not allow Coral ro be really a Stony Plant, but a Livelefs Concrete,- that is alwayes hard and brittle under Water ; I ftiall now add, that, inquiring lately of an Eminent and Inquifitive Perfon , that had fpent fome nine upon the Coaft of Africa , where be had been prefent at the fifhing of Coral, and learning from his anfwer, that he had feen it not far from Algiers.^ I ask'd him, whether he had himfclf obferv5d the Coral to be foft, and not red, when 'twas newly brought from the bottom of the Sea. To which he replied , that he had found it foft and flexi- ble; and that, as for the colour, it was for the moft part very pale , but with an eye of red, the Bark being worfe coloured than the fubftance it co- ver'd was ; but when the Bark was taken off, and the other part expofed to the Air, the expe&ed rednefs of the Coral difclos'd it felf.

When I demanded, whether he had obferved, that any inky fap afcended to nourifh the (to- ny Plant ? and whether he had feen any thing like Berries upon it .? He ingenuoufly confeiTed to me, he had not been fo curious as purpofely to make inquiry into thofe Particulars , but that he remembred, That having broken fome of the large pieces of Coral , he took notice , that the more internal Subftance was much paler than the other, and very whitifh, and that at the extream parts of fome branches or fprigs heobferv'd little black- ifh knobs, which he did not then know what to make of : And when I enquir'd, what depth the Sea was of in that place? he anfwer'd, that 'twas nine or ten fathom. But a.s to the Fruit of fome

kinds

Bottom of the Sek. 3

kinds of Coral , if I do not much mifremember^ I was, not long fmce , allured by a. Scholar tbac navigated much in the Eaft, that they divers times meet with in thofe Seas a certain for* of Coral, but not .white, which bears a fmall Fruit like a round Berry, of a pleafant colour, and efteem'd as rarities.

♦ Difcourfing with 2 perfon that made Dfoin'g his Trade, whether he fi3d not met with any Trees or Fruit in the depths of the Sea > He told me, that in a great Ship, vvhereinto he defcended, to recover thence feme fhipwrack'd G^ods, hs was furpriz'd to find in feveral places a certain fort of Fruit, that he knew not what to makfc of ; for he found them of a flimy and foft conii* ftence, about the bignefs of Apples , but not fo round in rhape, and when he brought them up incc the Air^ as he did many of them, they foon began to fhrink up like old rotten Apples, but were much harder , and more (hrivelV; And 'tis re» markable , that this happened in a cold Northern Sea.

One that made a considerable ftay abdut Ma* nary a place I have often mention'd, anfwer'd me, that he learn'd from the Divers, that in fome places thereabouts there grows at the bottom pretty ftorc of a certain fort of Trees, bearing Leaves almoft like thofe of Laurel, as alfo a certain fruit; but of what virtue, or other ufe, he had not the Curiofitjr to enquire;

I was alfo infdrm'd by an Eye-witnefs, th*t

near the famous Coaft of M>f*mbiqH'e in Afrit^

there grows at the Bottom of the Sea ftore of

Trees, that bear a certain Fruit* which he deferibe*

K to.

4 Relations about the

to be very like that, which in America they are wont to call Acayu, the Leaves alio refembhng thofe of that Tree*

B.it the* welcomed Information I could procure about Sub-marine Plants, is that which concerns the famous MaUivian Nut , or Coco , which is fo highly efteem'd in theEaft, that fome write, it is a great Prefent from one King to another , and even much extoll'd in Europe by experience Pbyfici- ans : For the Origine of this dear Drug is almoft as much controverted as the Alexitenal Virtues are extoll'd. Having then once the good fortune to meet with a man of Letters, that had refided in thofe unfrequented iGands, I found he had been as inquifitive as I could reafonably expect about thefe aHmir'd Productions of the Sea , and that he had often learn'd from the Divers* that they are real Nuts or Fruits b rn by a fort of Coco- Trees that grow at the Bottom of the Sea, and •are thence either torn off by the agitation of the Water , or gathered by the Divers* Thefe Fruits are fmaller than moft other forts of Coco's, vvhofe maturity they do not feem to arrive at. He thinks, the Species may have been very differing from what it is, and may have come from Nurs fallen into the Sea , together with the ruine of fome little Iflands undermin'd by the Waer, and fo fubmerg'd 5 of which, he told me , he faw at leaft three or four inftances during his ftay there. He told me, that whilft the Fruit was under Wa- ter, they obfevv'd no diftinft ftiell and kernell, but the entire Nut was fo foft, that it may be eafify enough cut with a knife , and was eaten like their other Fruits > but being kept about a Week

in

Bottom of the Seal 5

in the hot Air , it grows folid , and fo hard as to require good Steel Tools to work upon it. He added, that though even upon the place the fairer fort be of very great efteem , yet "not of any fuch prodigious price as is given out. And he prefented me, one about the bignefs of a large Egg, and a Fragment of another, which are both very hard ; but as for their Virtues, I can yet fay nothing upon Tryal, for want of having had fitting Opportunities.

Other Obfervations made at the Bottom of the Sea may hereafter follow.

FINIS.

Ki

•

I I A
i P A R A D	O	X
O F T H E
N A T U R	A	L
AND
Preternatural	State
of
B O D I	E	s,
Efpecially of the A I R.
By the Honourable ROBERT BQTLE.

ADVERTISEMENT.

AN^attem'vue Reorder Ml eafipy be ptrfwaded by a couple of parages in the following Papers that it is only a Fragment, But though the Author , for certain Reafon/%has for divers years fuppre fs *d the other. Djfcburjks tgatbeldigfrjln fame Tre-atifje j yfthewfo content to let this come abroad without them 5 not only bscaufe, relating chiefly to the Air, it may fitly be con" forted with thofe Papers concerning fome Qualities of the Ai^fbich h- accompanies ; but btcwfy "'tis Ikjd, it ma} prevent , or put an end to,feveral Mnnecejjary Difputes ttbotit-tty fylatural and Forcd Conftittttion of the Air ( warmly agitated among Learnt dtnen^) by [hewing them 1 9 be founded, fome upon precarious J rup~ portions y and more upon Vulgar Miflakcs.

(O

O F T H E

NATURAL

AND

Preternatural State

o F

BODIES,

Efpecially the AIR-

I Know, that not only in Living, but even in Inanimate, Bodies, of which alone I here difcourfe, men have univerfally admitted the famous Diftin&ion between the Natu- ral and Preternatural or Violent ftate of Bodies, and do daily, without the leaft fcru- pie, found upon it Hyfnhefes and Ratiocinations, as if it were moft certain, that (what they, call Nature ) had purpofely framed Rodies in fuch a determinate ftate, and were alwayes watchful that they fhould not by any external Violence be put out of it.

K 4 But

2 Of the Natural iff Preternatural

But notwithftanding fo general a confent of men in this point , I confefs, I cannot yet be fatisfied about it in the fence wherein it is wont to be taken. "I'M not that I believe , that there is no fencey in which, or in the account upon which, a Bxiy may be (aid to be in its natural ftate ; but that I think the common Diftinction of a natural and violent ftatc of Bodies has not been clearly explained, and confide- rately fetled, and both is not well grounded, and is oftentimes 4ll applyfel. For, when I confider, that whatever (late a Body be put into , or kept in, it obtains orretairsthat ftate according to the Catho- Iick Laws of Nature , I cannot think it fit to deny, th^c,in this ; fence, the Bd3y^ropos'd is in a nattt* ral ihte ; but then, upon the fame ground 'twill be hard to deny, but that thofe Bodies, which are faid to be in a violent flare , may alio be in a natural one, . iince the violence, they are prefumed tofuffer from outward Agents; is likewife exercifed no otherwife than according to the eftablilried Laws of Llniverfal Nature. 'Tis true , that when men look upon a Body as in a preternatural ftace, they have an idea of n differing from that which they had whilft they be- hev'd it to be in a natnral ftate ; But perhaps this difference arifes chiefly from hence, that they (Jo not confider the condition of the Body, as it refute from the Catholick Laws fetled among things Cor- poreal, and relates to the Univerfe, but eftimate it With reference to what they fuppofe is convenient or inconvenient for the particular Body it felf. But however it feems to me, that mens determining a. Body co be in a natural or preternatural Hate has suuch more in it, either of cafual, or of arbitrary, or both, than they are aware of. For oftentimes we

think

State of Bodies, &c. 3

think a Body to be brought into a violent ftate, not becaufe really the former was not fo, but becaufe there is a notable change made in it by fome Agent, which we alfo take notice of* whereas before the action of that Agent, if the Body were under any violence, 'twas exercis'd by ufual, but often imma- nifeft Agents , though perhaps their Compulfion were not left, but only lefs heeded. And fometimes alfo no more is to be underftood by a Bodies being fore'd from its Natural Hate , than that it has loft that,which it had immediately, or a pretty while be- fore fome notable change. Which Conjectures I fhall now endeavour to confirm, bur with great bre- vity.

I have already (hewn, that Matter being devoid of fenfe and appetite, cannot be truly and proper- ly faid to Affect one ftate or condition more than another , and confequently has no true defire to continue in any one ftate, or to recover it when once loft y and Inanimate bodies are fuch, and in fuch a ftate, not as the material parts they confift of, elect- ed or deiired to make them , but as the natural A- gents, that brought together and rang'd thofe parts, actually made them. As a piece of Wax is uncon- cern'd, whether you give it the fhapeof a Sphere,or a Cone, or a Pillar, or a Boat ; and whether, when it has that form, you change it into any other > the matter ftill retaining without willingnefs or unwil*- lingnefs, becaufe without perception, that figure or ftate which the laft action of the Agents (your fin- gers or inftruments ) determined it to , and left it in.

• But this will be belt underftood , as well as con- firmed, by particular examples. I need not tell you,

that

4 Oftbe Natural is? Preternatural .

that the moft ufual inftar.ce