TheInftru- In the fame manner he determines the Inftrument for it.ment ment to be employ'd therein; and upon the

whole concludes, that fuch a gentle Action of the Fire, as is always fpontaneously present in the Univerfe, being applied to the liquid, and moft moveable, Part of a Vegetable Matter, fo as to caufe little Alteration, and a flight Separation, must be the first or leading Operation required.

Vegetables NEXT follows an Account of the different confidered Parts of Vegetables, as divided into Solids with Re- and Fluids, or Veffels and Juices; in order to gard to their Veffels lay a Foundation for a due Understanding of and Fuices. the first Operation, and the whole Art of Che

miftry as the Effects thereof upon Vegetable Subjects, he conceives, may be hence clearly perceived; and the Learner inftructed what kind of Separation to expect from chemical Analyfes, or Refolutions f

CorollaAND the Doctrine thus deliver'd is afterwards ries from the Doc fummed up in a few Corollaries, as he calls trine of them; with a direct View to the regular conVegetables.ducting of Proceffes. The Amount is this:

(1.) That there are great Diversities in the Juices of Vegetables; fome of them being much more eafily feparable by Heat than others; fo that too great a degree thereof will often confound or blend them together. (2.) That, confequently, the Chemical Operations upon Vegetables, must be differently fuited, or performed upon different Parts thereof, according to the Intention. (3.) That as Vegetables contain Juices of different Colours, in their different Parts, the Ways of extracting these Juices must be differently fuited. (4.) That the fame is to be obferved with regard to their Odours; which alfo refide in particu

Pag. 6.

f Pag. 7-?.

lar

lar Parts. (5.) That the fame is alfo to be obferved with regard to their Taftes. (6.) That the Seasons wherein Plants chiefly abound with the Juices or Parts required, must be carefully obferved; as alfo the Soils wherein they grow and profper best. (7.) That Plants in the Spring abound with thin, aqueous and faline Juices, and afterwards more with Oil; fo that the fame Operation will procure different Subftances from them at different Seafons. (8.) That Chemistry, practifed in the exacteft Manner, can fcarce obtain the Virtues of Vegetables, pure, and perfect; because the Operation conftantly mixes the Parts first separated, with thofe that come after.

AND thus the preliminary Matters being difpatched, we are led to the firft Set of Proceffes, viz. thofe upon Vegetables; the Author having firft recapitulated, and again enforced, the Geometrical Manner he is fo fond of, and refovles to proceed in a.

THIS Geometrical Manner we must however obferve, regards no more than the Order wherein the Proceffes are placed, one after another; fo as to form a kind of continued Chain, whereof the Proceffes are the feveral Links, (tho' frequently broken ;) but for the Order obferved in defcribing the Proceffes themselves, it appears no more Geometrical than that of many other Chemical Writers of Proceffes; and is perhaps loofer than that of Le Fevre, Barchufen, &c.

BUT to give the better Idea of the Manner, and Conduct of the Author, it may be proper to fingle out fome one Process, by way of Example:

Pag. 9-125

A 3

Pag, 12, 13.

The first Process at large.

ample and none feems more advantageous for him, than the firft Process upon Vegetables; which is defignedly fundamental, opens the Scene, leads to the reft, and is one of the most curious Proceffes of the whole Number.

PROCESS I.

"The Distilled Water exhaling, in the Form of Vapour, from the Plant Rosemary, by the "Summer's Sun.

66

APPARATUS.

"I. TAKE Rosemary, fresh gather'd, in its Prime, in the Morning, with the Dew still hanging upon it, whole, not bruised, and "not having its diftinct Parts mixed by Con"tufion; but fo contained in its different Vef"fels, as Nature had diftributed them in the "Plant itself, without any other foreign Thing "mixed therewith, except the Dew that sticks ❝ to it ".

"2. LAY it upon the broad, clean, round "Plate, within the little cylindrical Furnace, "described in Table XVII. Fig. 2. fitted to "the height of two or three Inches; lay it on "gently, without fqueezing; and then cover "the little Furnace with the large conical Still"head, made of Pewter; and apply a Glass Re"ceiver to the Nose.

3. WITH a bright, glowing Coal, that yields no Smoke, raise an equable Heat in the "Furnace, not exceeding eighty-five Degrees 66 upon Fahrenheit's Thermometer; to be kept

up

This Period fhews us fomething of the Author's faulty Manner of delivering his Proceffes, wherein he ufually runs in o Tautology, a needlefs Repetition of Circum ftances, and Particulars no way effential.

86 up fo long as any Liquor drops from the "Still-head, into the Receiver. Then taking "away the Plant, a fresh Parcel may be a"gain fucceffively treated in the fame man"ner, till a fufficient quantity of this Water "is obtained.

"4. LET the procured Liquor ftand at reft, "in a clean Glafs, exactly stopped, for fome Days, in a cold Place; when becoming "limpid, it will have the Smell and Taste of "the Plant.

.

The NATURE, and USES, of this WATER.

"In this Liquor are contained, 1. the Li66 quor of Dew, which confifts of its own Parts. "See Part I. p. 469, 470, 471. that are dif*ficultly separated from the Plant; but stick "to it even in drying. Again this Dew, which "applies itself externally, contains the liquid "Parts of Plants, which being digested by the

Heat of the preceding Day, and exhaling in the Night, are detained, and with it conftitute one external Fluid, that is often clam"my; as may appear chiefly in Wax, Manna and Honey.

"2. In this Liquor is contained the aqueous "Moisture exhaling from the little Veffels of "the Plant examined; which Moisture again confifts, for the greateft part, of fim"ple Water; as appears when it has stood long in an open Veffel where the Smell and "Tafte vanish, and leave an infipid Water be"hind. Another Part of this Water is the "fubtile volatile Subftance, which gives the "particular Smell and Tafte to the Plant; for this the Senfes difcover in the Water ;

"and it is in great measure loft to the Rose"mary remaining after the Operation. 3. It "feems alfo to contain Seeds, or other Corpuf"cles, from whence, at a certain Time, a "kind of light, and whitifh Weed, or mo

thery Matter, ufually grows in this Water, and hangs fufpended in the midst thereof; "daily encreafing, and extending its Bulk; tho "it did not appear at firft. I have kept these Waters, in feparate Veffels, unmov'd, and "close stopped, and found, that after a Year, "it began to grow, and then daily increased "more and more, till at laft the whole Liquor became ropy with this Mucilage, and grew "thick and cloudy. Therefore this Water " contains the elementary Water of the Plant, "and the governing Spirit, which is fmall

in Bulk, but rich in Virtue; and exhibits the "Smell, and thence the diftinct Taste of the "Plant. Whence this exhaling Water is the "Vehicle of that Spirit which exhibits the particular Virtue of the Plant, in an ex

tremely small, fubtile, highly volatile, and "therefore eafily feparable Substance; leaving the Body of the Plant exhaufted in this re

fpect. And hence, therefore, proceeds the "Virtue of thefe Waters in Medicine; which "principally depends upon this Governing Spi"rit. For this being in many Plants endow'd "with a fharp Mobility, affects the Nerves, "raises the Spirits, and thence helps their In

activity. But befides this common Princi"ple of Action, it has another that is peculiar, fingular, and wonderfully efficacious. This "Paracelfus, in his Language, calls the ap"propriated

Spiritus Rector. Exprimit. Acri Mobilitate.