_The manifold and various sorts of food, whether prepared of Flesh or
Fish, if brought to the Table not seasoned with Salt, are not grateful
to the Palate; in as much as they neither exhibit a pleasant relish,
nor conduce to the health of the Body. Every man will readily assent to
the truth of this trite and vulgar Maxim, if he shall consider with an
accurate mind, that among all the Seasonings and Sauces of food, Salt
holdeth the chiefest place, and that there is no other equal to it, so
that among so many, there is no one to be preferr’d to it._
_Therefore what great and excellent Treasures, admirable Virtues, and
most worthy Endowments, in which, by diligent search, and inquisition
the minds of men may be occupied, are contained therein, I have
determined in this present Treatise to enquire into, and declare;
inasmuch as for the space of fifteen or sixteen years, I have
endeavoured nothing more, than that by all my Labours I might serve
the Divine Glory, and the publick good. For by my first endeavours
I published a Work, treating of =Philosophical Furnaces= in five
parts, and I discovered five Furnaces, adapted to the various modes
of Distillation; I also shewed the way of preparing (by an artificial
manner) excellent Medicines which drive away various and divers
Diseases afflicting the Humane Body, which profitable and artificial
Inventions, no man before me hath revealed._
_Next follows my =Mineral Work=, shewing the Original, and emendation
of Metals and Minerals: To which succeedeth my =Pharmacopœia
Spagyrica=, in three parts, treating of Vegetables, and by what means
efficacious Medicines may be prepared of them._
_Next after these, was my Work of =the Admirable Nature and Properties
of Salt-petre=, in which is solidly demonstrated, that that Miracle
of all sorts, is the true Universal Solvent of Philosophers, which is
subservient to the use of all men, high and low, rich and poor. That
little Treatise I have called by the name of =Miraculum Mundi=, which I
have augmented by an Explication and Continuation, and fenced it with a
defence and Apology, against the wicked Insults of Envy and Scorn. In
all these I have set before the Eyes of this blind World, the Divine
Miracles and Misteries of Nature._
_After this, came out another Treatise, under the Title of the
=Prosperity of= Germany, in four Books, the two latter of which are
not yet Printed, but shall be published in a short time, if God shall
prolong my life, which contain very profitable Precepts of the Oeconomy
and Administration of things familiar._
_Then another little piece, called, =The Consolation of Sailers=;
teaching how they may defend and preserve themselves in all long
Voyages, as to the =East-Indies= and other parts, against Hunger,
Thirst, and other incommodities of that kind, to which they are wont to
be Obnoxious._
_Moreover, =A Treatise of Tartar, Vinegar, and Spirit of Wine=, shewing
their easie attainment and preparation._
_To these I have adjoined, =a Treatise of= Aurum Potabile, and
another of true =Aurum Potabile=, or the =Universal Medicine=, and
other Apologetical Writings, in which I have not only set forth the
perfidious unfaithfulness of men, but have also revealed many excellent
Sciences, that by all these Writings I might illustrate the Divine
Glory, and contribute to the benefit and profit of my Neighbour, by
giving him as it were wholsom and excellent food, whereby both his Body
and mind may be equally refreshed._
_And although the said Meats be wholsome, of a good Savour, and contain
their own Salt; nevertheless, it seems to me necessary, to salt them
as it were afresh, and to season them with a certain Sauce, that they
may be tasted with so much the greater appetite and pleasure. And I
have so much the more a mind to do this, as I more studiously endeavour
to observe that precept of the ancient Doctors, that no Meat should
be brought to the Table without Salt. For it was a received custom in
former time in well ordered Families, to set the Salt first upon the
Table before any other Dish, and not to take it away till all other
Dishes were first removed: The which indicates, that Salt is a most
profitable thing, and an highly necessary gift of God, therefore of
right claimeth the precedency of other Meats in setting upon the Table,
and of remaining there, till they are again removed. But that this most
Noble and Divine Gift, may the better be understood by the ignorant,
and may be made more known than hitherto it hath been, I cannot pass
by, but I must indulge my self, as my time will allow, in a few words,
and as it were by the bye, to shadow out, and depict its great and
admirable efficacy, for the profit of Mankind. But here I shall speak
but of few things, and that very compendiously, the studious of Divine
Wonders may find the rest in the Writings of other pious and diligent
Men, if he hath a desire to know more._
_As for the Original of Salt, which is drawn out of the Ocean, as
an Universal Storehouse, Writers are divided into divers parts and
Opinions. Some think that those Salt Fountains, which in many, and
various places of the Earth break forth from their Springs, and by the
help of boiling, yield their Salt, do not take their beginning from
the Ocean, but from a Salt peculiarly generated, and brought forth
in many places of the Terrene Globe, like Metals. And they establish
their Opinion by this Argument; That the Water of those Fountains
much exceedeth, oftentimes, that of the Sea in saltness; and on the
contrary, the Sea Water being brought by long and tedious Passages
through the Earth, necessarily looseth its saltness, and therefore
leaving its Salt, it ought to come forth plainly sweet, or insipid.
This reason, at the first sight, seemeth so agreeable to truth, that
one can hardly think the matter to be otherwise. But most Springs of
sweet Water, in their first rise were Salt, which penetrating the
passages of the Earth, have deposited their Salt in the same, to
nourish the Earth, and that they might come forth sweet for the daily
use of Man. Whence they have given rise to so many, and such various
Rivers, which again return in that Universal Store-house the Sea, or
Ocean, by which incessant and Reciprocal Flux, they are impregnated
with Salt, and Communicate the same to the Earth, that it may never
labour under a want of due nourishment, but may render Minerals,
Stones, Trees, Grass, Beasts, and even Men also, partakers of the
same perpetually, and so may serve as well for the Sustentation,
Propagation, and Conservation of Irrational, as Rational Animals, the
which no man of a sound mind can deny, except he will also deny the
Circulation of the Blood in the Body of Man, or =Microcosm=, which
is plainly unknown to not a few, and will say, that the blood in the
little Toe, or little Finger, or left Ear, or other places, doth not
arise from the Liver, the Universal Fountain of Blood, but that it is
particularly generated and produced by the Vital Spirit, in those very
parts, which savoureth not a little of Absurdity._
_Seeing therefore, that the constant Circulation of the Blood in the
=Microcosm=, can be in no wise deny’d, why should not also such a
Circulation in the =Macrocosm= be admitted as true? For as the Blood
of the Human Body arising from the Liver, diffuseth it self through
all the Passages and Veins of the Body, as well small as great, and
Conserveth the life of the whole, nourisheth all the parts, and
augmenteth the good juices, which are changed into Flesh, Bones, Skin,
and Hairs in the Members themselves, and leaving the unprofitable
Phlegm to be expelled by the Pores of the skin: So also is it with the
Nutriment and Universal Aliment of the great World, while the Salt
water without intermission, of the great Sea, or Ocean, encompassing
the whole Globe of the Earth, by many small and great passages or
Veins, passeth through all the parts of the Earth, and nourisheth and
sustaineth them with its Salt, that Minerals, Metals, Stones, Sand,
Clay, Shrubs, Trees, and Grass may be nourished and grow, and in
growing take their encrease. The rest of the Water being freed from
all saltness, is exterminated as a superfluity in the Superficies,
and being diffused into various Springs, as well small as great, is
expelled, no otherwise than the superfluous sweat of the Blood in the
=Microcosm=, by innumerable passages and pores. But that in many places
of the Earth, the Water doth not leave its salt, but carrieth it along
with it self, that may very well come to pass for divers reasons. For
first, the most excellent Governour, by His Divine Providence, hath
most wisely ordained and appointed, that a salt water of this kind,
which men could in no wise be without, should break forth out of the
Earth, and it is thus effected: The Sea-water every where passing
through the passages and clefts of the Earth, in some places is dried
up by the Central fire, and coagulated into hard and great pieces,
which being digged up by men, and dissolved by the help of Water, and
freed from its fæces, is boiled up in fit Vessels, and reduced into a
pure =Salt=._
_But if it happeneth that other Water passing through those passages,
findeth pieces of Salt of this kind, it dissolveth so much of the same
as it can carry along with it, and afterwards is boiled into Salt after
various manners, according to the greater or lesser quantity of Salt it
hath carried along with it._
_But that one Salt Fountain is richer in Salt than another, the cause
of the difference is in the Water, which passing by, doth more or less
associate it self with the Salt, and so is made stronger or weaker._
_These few things are sufficient for the refelling of their Opinion,
who assert, that Saline Fountains do not draw their original from the
Sea, but are generated and produced in a peculiar manner in the Earth,
by the help of the Stars._
_But if this should seem credible, nevertheless it would seem more
credible, that the Sun and Stars casting their Rays and Influences
into the Ocean or Seas, should there generate Salt, which afterwards
penetrating through the pervious passages of the Earth, should convey
due nourishment to the same._
_This reason may also be assigned of the greater or lesser quantity of
Salt in Fountains or Salt-springs, that those passages which receive
salt water from the Sea, differ in scituation of place, and are also
differently disposed or allotted by the sea-water it self, which being
various and manifold (in respect of saltness) differs much in one place
from another._
_For by how much the nearer the Sea-water is to the =North=, it
contains so much the less salt, so that oftentimes it scarcely holds
the tenth or twelfth part of Salt. But the nearer it is to the =South=
or the =East=, it is inriched with so much the more salt. For this
reason, in many places of the =East= and =West Indies=, the sea
aboundeth and swelleth with so great a force of salt, that when it is
stirred up by the vehement impetuosity of Tempests, it casts out with
its surges a copious spume or frothy scum upon the shore, which being
afterwards dried by the Rays of the Sun, the Inhabitants are wont to
use for the salting of Flesh and Fish. Experience teacheth, that in
places of this sort, four pounds of Sea-water yield one pound of salt,
and the fertility of those Lands also indicates the great quantity of
salt, which without any cultivation or human labour, both Winter and
Summer inrich the Inhabitants with most excellent Fruits. But those
Regions scituated near the Arctick Pole, or North, do not enjoy so
great a fertility, because they want the greater and more penetrating
Beams of the Sun, and do not exhibit so great a quantity of Salt, which
is the cause of all fertility, and therefore those Regions are denied
so large and spontaneous a fruitfulness._
_But that Salt which the Unskilful have been accustomed to have in
little or no regard, may be had in greater honour, I neither could or
would any longer pass by its due Name in silence, and therefore I have
called it the greatest Treasure, and most ample Riches of the World._
_Moreover, that I may prove and demonstrate, that this common abject
salt, known to every man, (in which the life, conservation, growth, and
propagation of all the Creatures consisteth, and which is the beginning
and end of all things) doth deserve this title, and that a greater
Treasure is not found in the Earth; it will be necessary to do this,
that I make manifest the infallible Verity of the Mysteries of GOD and
Nature._
_But I desire of the unprejudiced Reader, that he will not be offended
at the vileness of abject and contemptible salt, nor think that I,
in giving this Title to it, and calling it the greatest Treasure and
chiefest Riches of the whole World, have exceeded or given it too great
honour. For so great and honourable a Title doth of right belong to
it, and should as yet be insignized with a greater, if a greater by
me could be attributed. And I easily perswade my self, that if those
who are captivated by the hunger of Gold, shall see this Book, and
read the Title, they will conceive no other thing in their minds, than
the description of the great Universal it self, or the revelation of
great Riches and massy Treasures, which they will hope to find in this
Treatise, never dreaming that poor abject and contemptible salt should
be set before them, and therefore will say, What is all this noise
about a handful of Salt? Who could have thought that =Glauber= would
have dared to have given such a Title to Salt? But I earnestly require
of thee, my Friend, that thou wouldst patiently read those things which
in this Writing I have put before thine eyes, concerning Salt, and that
thou wouldst accurately examine them, that thou maist apprehend me to
have written the pure and sincere truth. If they exceed the capacity
of thy mind, and thou hast not hitherto learned or understood the same
from the Books of others, I would have thee to understand that all men
have not knowledge of all things, and that the Omnipotent GOD hath left
many =Sciences= to Posterity, which he hath hitherto concealed from
the proud and haughty. Read over and over the true Writings of the
ancient Philosophers, that thou maist know, and throughly know, that
those men who have searched the most intimate Penetrals of Nature, had
salt in great estimation, to have industriously concealed its Mysteries
and =Arcanums= from the ingrateful World, which now in these last
times are brought to light, for thee and all others, to be received as
incomparable Gifts, with a grateful mind._
_Therefore Reader bend thine Ears, and open thine Eyes, overgrown with
blindness and darkness, attend to those good things which I shall
discourse to thee of salt; if thou wilt make trial, and will search
them throughly by an accurate examination, whether they agree with God,
Nature and Truth, I doubt not, but thy mind will be enlightened with
a great light, and thou wilt become as a man renovated; but if with a
proud mind thou shalt refuse to learn and understand those things, or
scoff or mock at them, thou shalt be reckoned amongst the number of
Fools, and perpetually abide in the same, although =Aristotle= himself,
and all the Professors and Doctors should sit upon thy long Ass-ears,
and thou with the same shouldst endeavour as an Ass with a sack to
cover thy foolish Pride and proud folly. It is much better for a man
to know many things, and measure or estimate himself in his own way
or manner, than to know nothing, and bear himself out with the vain
pride of his own ignorance. I have never seen any man endowed with
true knowledge, who hath preferred himself to others; on the contrary,
I have found very many, who being stirred up by envy, hatred, and
inhumane malice, do nothing sooner or more readily, than insult and
make a mockery at pious men, to whom the Divine Bounty hath granted
his Gifts, and as it were, devour them with their Wolf-like Teeth,
which diabolical wickedness the Divine Justice in its own time will not
suffer to escape unpunished._
_Thus much I was willing to say to the proud Caviller; now therefore
attend to those things which I shall speak concerning Salt._
A
TREATISE
OF THE
Nature of Salts, &c.