a Canting way of delivering the Principles of Nature, they will find
the Major part of Knowing Men so vain, as when they understand not
what they read, to conclude, that it is rather the Writers fault then
their own. And those that are so ambitious to be admir'd by the
Vulgar, that rather then go without the Admiration of the Ignorant
they will expose themselves to the contempt of the Learned, those
shall, by my consent, freely enjoy their Option. As for the Mystical
Writers scrupling to Communicate their Knowledge, they might less to
their own Disparagement, and to the trouble of their Readers, have
conceal'd it by writing no Books, then by Writing bad ones. If
_Themistius_ were here, he would not stick to say, that Chymists write
thus darkly, not because they think their Notions too precious to be
explain'd, but because they fear that if they were explain'd, men
would discern, that they are farr from being precious. And indeed, I
fear that the chief Reason why Chymists have written so obscurely of
their three Principles, may be, That not having Clear and Distinct
Notions of them themselves, they cannot write otherwise then
Confusedly of what they but Confusedly Apprehend: Not to say that
divers of them, being Conscious to the Invalidity of their Doctrine,
might well enough discerne that they could scarce keep themselves from
being confuted, but by keeping themselves from being clearly
understood. But though much may be said to Excuse the Chymists when
they write Darkly, and AEnigmatically, about the Preparation of their
_Elixir_, and Some few other grand _Arcana_, the divulging of which
they may upon Grounds Plausible enough esteem unfit; yet when they
pretend to teach the General Principles of Natural Philosophers, this
Equivocall Way of Writing is not to be endur'd. For in such
Speculative Enquiries, where the naked Knowledge of the Truth is the
thing Principally aim'd at, what does he teach me worth thanks that
does not, if he can, make his Notion intelligible to me, but by
Mystical Termes, and Ambiguous Phrases darkens what he should clear
up; and makes me add the Trouble of guessing at the sence of what he
Equivocally expresses, to that of examining the Truth of what he seems
to deliver. And if the matter of the Philosophers Stone, and the
manner of preparing it, be such Mysteries as they would have the World
believe them, they may Write Intelligibly and Clearly of the
Principles of mixt Bodies in General, without Discovering what they
call the Great Work. But for my part (Continues _Carneades_) what my
Indignation at this Un-philosophical way of teaching Principles has
now extorted from me, is meant chiefly to excuse my self, if I shall
hereafter oppose any Particular Opinion or assertion, that some
Follower of _Paracelsus_ or any Eminent Artist may pretend not to be
his Masters. For, as I told you long since, I am not Oblig'd to
examine private mens writings, (which were a Labour as endless as
unprofitable) being only engag'd to examine those Opinions about the
_Tria Prima_, which I find those Chymists I have met with to agree in
most: And I Doubt not but my Arguments against their Doctrine will be
in great part easily enough applicable ev'n to those private
Opinions, which they do not so directly and expresly oppose. And
indeed, that which I am now entering upon being the Consideration of
the things themselves whereinto _Spagyrists_ resolve mixt Bodies by
the Fire, If I can shew that these are not of an Elementary Nature, it
will be no great matter what names these or those Chymists have been
pleased to give them. And I question not that to a Wise man, and
consequently to _Eleutherius_, it will be lesse considerable to know,
what Men Have thought of Things, then what they Should have thought.
In the fourth and last place, then, I consider, that as generally as
Chymists are wont to appeal to Experience, and as confidently as they
use to instance the several substances separated by the Fire from a
Mixt Body, as a sufficient proof of their being its component
Elements: Yet those differing Substances are many of them farr enough
from Elementary simplicity, and may be yet look'd upon as mixt Bodies,
most of them also retaining, somewhat at least, if not very much, of
the Nature of those Concretes whence they were forc'd.
I am glad (sayes _Eleutherius_) to see the Vanity or Envy of the
canting Chymists thus discover'd and chastis'd; and I could wish, that
Learned Men would conspire together to make these deluding Writers
sensible, that they must no longe [Transcriber's Note: longer] hope
with Impunity to abuse the World. For whilst such Men are quietly
permitted to publish Books with promising Titles, and therein to
Assert what they please, and contradict others, and ev'n themselves as
they please, with as little danger of being confuted as of being
understood, they are encourag'd to get themselves a name, at the cost
of the Readers, by finding that intelligent Men are wont for the
reason newly mention'd, to let their Books and Them alone: And the
ignorant and credulous (of which the number is still much greater then
that of the other) are forward to admire most what they least
understand. But if Judicious men skill'd in Chymical affaires shall
once agree to write clearly and plainly of them, and thereby keep men
from being stunn'd, as it were, or imposd upon by dark or empty Words;
'tis to be hop'd that these men finding that they can no longer write
impertinently and absurdly, without being laugh'd at for doing so,
will be reduc'd either to write nothing, or Books that may teach us
something, and not rob men, as formerly, of invaluable Time; and so
ceasing to trouble the World with Riddles or Impertinencies, we shall
either by their Books receive an Advantage, or by their silence escape
an Inconvenience.
But after all this is said (continues _Eleutherius_) it may be
represented in favour of the Chymists, that, in one regard the Liberty
they take in using names, if it be excusable at any time, may be more
so when they speak of the substances whereinto their _Analysis_
resolves mixt Bodies: Since as Parents have the Right to name their
own Children, it has ever been allow'd to the Authors of new
Inventions, to Impose Names upon them. And therefore the subjects we
speak of being so the Productions of the Chymist's Art, as not to be
otherwise, but by it, obtainable; it seems but equitable to give the
Artists leave to name them as they please: considering also that none
are so fit and likely to teach us what those Bodies are, as they to
whom we ow'd them.
I told You already (sayes _Carneades_) that there is great Difference
betwixt the being able to make Experiments, and the being able to give
a Philosophical Account of them. And I will not now add, that many a
Mine-digger may meet, whilst he follows his work, with a Gemm or a
Mineral which he knowes not what to make of, till he shews it a
Jeweller or a Mineralist to be inform'd what it is. But that which I
would rather have here observ'd, is, That the Chymists I am now in
debate with have given up the Liberty You challeng'd for them, of
using Names at Pleasure, and confin'd Themselves by their
Descriptions, though but such as they are, of their Principles; so
that although they might freely have call'd any thing their _Analysis_
presents them with, either Sulphur, or Mercury, or Gas, or Blas, or
what they pleas'd; yet when they have told me that Sulphur (for
instance) is a Primogeneal and simple Body, Inflamable, Odorous, &c.
they must give me leave to dis-believe them, if they tell me that a
Body that is either compounded or uninflamable is such a Sulphur; and
to think they play with words, when they teach that Gold and some
other Minerals abound with an Incombustible Sulphur, which is as
proper an Expression, as a Sun-shine Night, or Fluid Ice.
But before I descend to the Mention of Particulars belonging to my
Fourth Consideration, I think it convenient to premise a few Generals;
some of which I shall the less need to insist on at present, because I
have Touched on them already.
And first I must invite you to take notice of a certain passage in
_Helmont_;[14] which though I have not Found much heeded by his
Readers, He Himself _mentions_ as a notable thing, and I take to be a
very considerable one; for whereas the Distill'd oyle of _oyle-olive_,
though drawn _per se_ is (as I have try'd) of a very sharp and
fretting Quality, and of an odious tast, He tells us that Simple oyle
being only digested with _Paracelsus's sal circulatum_, is reduc'd
into dissimilar parts, and yields a sweet Oyle, very differing from
the oyle distill'd, from [Errata: distill'd from] sallet oyle; as also
that by the same way there may be separated from Wine a very sweet and
gentle Spirit, partaking of a far other and nobler quality then that
which is immediately drawn by distillation and call'd _Dephlegm'd Aqua
vitae_, from whose Acrimony this other spirit is exceedingly remote,
although the _sal circulatum_ that makes these _Anatomies_ be
separated from the Analyz'd Bodies, in the same weight and with the
same qualities it had before; which Affirmation of _Helmont_ if we
admit to be true, we must acknowledge that there may be a very great
disparity betwixt bodies of the same denomination (as several oyles,
or several spirits) separable from compound Bodies: For, besides the
differences I shall anon take notice of, betwixt those distill'd Oyles
that are commonly known to Chymists, it appears by this, that by means
of the _Sal Circulatum_, There may be quite another sort of Oyles
obtain'd from the same Body; and who knowes but that there may be yet
other Agents found in Nature, by whose help there may, whether by
Transmutation or otherwise, be obtain'd from the Bodies Vulgarly
call'd Mixt, Oyles or other substances, Differing from those of the
same Denomination, known either to Vulgar Chymists, or even to
_Helmont_ Himself: but for fear You should tell me, that this is but a
conjecture grounded upon another Man's Relation, whose Truth we have
not the means to Experiment, I will not Insist upon it; but leaving
You to Consider of it at leasure, I shall proceed to what is next.
[Footnote 14: _Illud notabile, in vino esse Spiritum quendam mitiorem
ulterioris & nobilioris qualitatis participem qu[=a] qui immediate per
distillationem elicitur diciturque aqua vitae dephlegmata, quod
facilius in simplici Olivarum oleo ad oculum spectatur. Quippe
distillatum oleum absque laterum aut tigularum [Errata: tegularum]
additamento, quodque oleum Philosophorum dicitur, multum dissert ab
ejus oleitate; quae elicitur prius reducto oleo simplici in partes
dissimilares sola digestione & Salis circulati Paracelsici
appositione; siquidem sal circulatum idem in pondere & quantitatibus
pristinis ab oleo segregatur postquam oleum olivarum in sui
heterogeneitates est dispositum. Dulce enim tunc Oleum Olivarum ex
oleo, prout & suavissimus vini spiritus a vino hoc pacto separantur,
longeque ab aquae vitae acrimonia distinctus._--Helmont. Aura vitalis,
pag. 725.]
Secondly, Then if that be True which was the Opinion of _Lucippus_,
_Democritus_, and other prime _Anatomists_ of old, and is in our dayes
reviv'd by no mean Philosophers; namely, That our Culinary Fire, such
as Chymists use, consists of swarmes of little Bodies swiftly moving,
which by their smallness and motion are able to permeate the sollidest
and Compactest Bodies, and even Glass it Self; If this (I say) be
True, since we see that In flints and other Concretes, the Fiery part
is Incorporated with the Grosser, it will not be Irrationall to
conjecture, that multitudes of these Fiery Corpuscles, getting in at
the Pores of the Glass, may associate themselves with the parts of the
mixt Body whereon they work, and with them Constitute new Kinds of
Compound Bodies, according as the Shape, Size, and other Affections of
the Parts of the Dissipated Body happen to dispose them, in Reference
to such Combinations; of which also there may be the greater Number;
if it be likewise granted that the Corpuscles of the Fire, though all
exceeding minute, and very swiftly moved, are not all of the same
bigness, nor Figure. And if I had not Weightier Considerations to
Discourse to you of, I could name to you, to Countenance what I have
newly said, some particular Experiments by which I have been Deduc'd
to think, that the Particles of an open Fire working upon some Bodies
may really Associate themselves therewith, and add to the Quantity.
But because I am not so sure, that when the Fire works upon Bodies
included in Glasses, it does it by a reall Trajection of the Fiery
Corpuscles themselves, through the Substance of the Glass, I will
proceed to what is next to be mention'd.
I could (sayes _Eleutherius_) help you to some Proofes, whereby I
think it may be made very probable, that when the Fire acts
immediately upon a Body, some of its Corpuscles may stick to those of
the burnt Body, as they seem to do in Quicklime, but in greater
numbers, and more permanently. But for fear of retarding Your
Progress, I shall desire you to deferr this Enquiry till another time,
and proceed as you intended.
You may then in the next place (sayes _Carneades_) observe with me,
that not only there are some Bodies, as Gold, and Silver, which do not
by the usual Examens, made by Fire, Discover themselves to be mixt;
but if (as You may Remember I formerly told You) it be a De-compound
Body that is Dissipable into several Substances, by being expos'd to
the Fire it may be resolv'd into such as are neither Elementary, nor
such as it was upon its last mixture Compounded of; but into new
Kinds of mixts. Of this I have already given You some Examples in
Sope, Sugar of Lead, and Vitrioll. Now if we shall Consider that there
are some Bodies, as well Natural, (as that I last nam'd) as
Factitious, manifestly De-compounded; That in the Bowells of the Earth
Nature may, as we see she sometimes does, make strange Mixtures; That
Animals are nourish'd with other Animals and Plants; And, that these
themselves have almost all of them their Nutriment and Growth,
_either_ from a certain Nitrous Juice Harbour'd in the Pores of the
Earth, _or_ from the Excrements of Animalls, _or_ from the putrify'd
Bodies, either of living Creatures or Vegetables, _or_ from other
Substances of a Compounded Nature; If, I say, we consider this, it may
seem probable, that there may be among the Works of Nature (not to
mention those of Art) a greater Number of De-compound Bodies, then men
take Notice of; And indeed, as I have formerly also observ'd, it does
not at all appear, that all Mixtures must be of Elementary Bodies; but
it seems farr more probable, that there are divers sorts of compound
Bodies, even in regard of all or some of their Ingredients, consider'd
Antecedently to their Mixture. For though some seem to be made up by
the immediate Coalitions of the Elements, or Principles themselves,
and therefore may be call'd _Prima Mista_, or _Mista Primaria_; yet it
seems that many other Bodies are mingl'd (if I may so speak) at the
second hand, their immediate Ingredients being not Elementary, but
these primary Mixts newly spoken of; And from divers of these
Secondary sort of Mixts may result, by a further Composition, a Third
sort, and so onwards. Nor is it improbable, that some Bodies are made
up of Mixt Bodies, not all of the same Order, but of several; as (for
Instance) a Concrete may consist of Ingredients, whereof the one may
have been a primary, the other a Secondary Mixt Body; (as I have in
Native Cinnaber, by my way of Resolving it, found both that Courser
the [Errata: delete "the"] part that seems more properly to be Oar,
and a Combustible Sulphur, and a Running Mercury:) or perhaps without
any Ingredient of this latter sort, it may be compos'd of Mixt Bodies,
some of them of the first, and some of the third Kind; And this may
perhaps be somewhat Illustrated by reflecting upon what happens in
some Chymical Preparations of those Medicines which they call their
_Bezoardicum's_. For first, they take Antimony and Iron, which may be
look'd upon as _Prima Mista_; of these they compound a Starry
_Regulus_, and to this they add according to their Intention, either
Gold, or Silver, which makes with it a new and further Composition. To
this they add Sublimate, which is it self a De-compound body,
(consisting of common Quicksilver, and divers Salts United by
Sublimation into a Crystalline Substance) and from this Sublimate, and
the other Metalline Mixtures, they draw a Liquor, which may be allow'd
to be of a yet more Compounded Nature. If it be true, as Chymists
affirm it, that by this Art some of the Gold or Silver mingl'd with
the _Regulus_ may be carry'd over the Helme with it by the Sublimate;
as indeed a Skilfull and Candid person complain'd to me a while since,
That an experienc'd Friend of His and mine, having by such a way
brought over a great Deal of Gold, in hope to do something further
with it, which might be gainfull to him, has not only miss'd of his
Aim, but is unable to recover his Volatiliz'd Gold out of the
Antimonial butter, wherewith it is strictly united.
Now (Continues _Carneades_) if a Compound body consist of Ingredients
that are not meerly Elementary; it is not hard to conceive, that the
Substances into which the Fire Dissolves it, though seemingly
Homogeneous enough, may be of a Compounded Nature, those parts of each
body that are most of Kin associating themselves into a Compound of a
new Kind. As when (for example sake) I have caus'd Vitrioll and _Sal
Armoniack_, and Salt Petre to be mingl'd and Destill'd together, the
Liquor that came over manifested it self not to be either Spirit of
Nitre, or of _Sal Armoniack_, or of Vitrioll. For none of these would
dissolve crude gold, which yet my Liquor was able readily to do; and
thereby manifested it self to be a new Compound, consisting at least
of Spirit of Nitre, and _Sal Armoniack_, (for the latter dissolv'd in
the former, will Work on Gold) which nevertheless are not by any
known way separable, and consequently would not pass for a Mixt Body,
if we our selves did not, to obtain it, put and Distill together
divers Concretes, whose Distinct Operations were known before hand.
And, to add on this Occasion the Experiment I lately promis'd You,
because it is Applicable to our present purpose, I shall Acquaint You,
that suspecting the Common Oyle of Vitrioll not to be altogether such
a simple Liquor as Chymists presume it, I mingl'd it with an equal or
a Double Quantity (for I try'd the Experiment more then once) of
common Oyle of Turpentine, such as together with the other Liquor I
bought at the Drugsters. And having carefully (for the Experiment is
Nice, and somewhat dangerous) Distill'd the Mixture in a small Glass
Retort, I obtain'd according to my Desire, (besides the two Liquors I
had put in) a pretty Quantity of a certain substance, which sticking
all about the Neck of the Retort Discover'd it self to be Sulphur, not
only by a very strong Sulphureous smell, and by the colour of
Brimstone; but also by this, That being put upon a coal, it was
immediately kindl'd, and burn'd like common Sulphur. And of this
Substance I have yet by me some little Parcells, which You may command
and examine when you please. So that from this Experiment I may deduce
either one, or both of these Propositions, That a real Sulphur may be
made by the Conjunction of two such Substances as Chymists take for
Elementary, And which did not either of them apart appear to have any
such body in it; or that Oyle of Vitrioll though a Distill'd Liquor,
and taken for part of the Saline Principle of the Concrete that yields
it, may yet be so Compounded a body as to contain, besides its Saline
part, a Sulphur like common brimstone, which would hardly be it self a
simple or un-compounded body.
I might (pursues _Carneades_) remind You, that I formerly represented
it, as possible, That as there may be more Elements then five, or six;
so the Elements of one body may be Different from those of another;
whence it would follow, that from the Resolution of De-compound body
[Errata: bodies], there may result Mixts of an altogether new kind, by
the Coalition of Elements that never perhaps conven'd before. I might,
I say, mind You of this, and add divers things to this second
Consideration; but for fear of wanting time I willingly pretermit
them, to pass on to the third, which is this, That the Fire does not
alwayes barely resolve or take asunder, but may also after a new
manner mingle and compound together the parts (whether Elementary or
not) of the Body Dissipated by it.
This is so evident, sayes _Carneades_, in some obvious Examples, that
I cannot but wonder at their Supiness that have not taken notice of
it. For when Wood being burnt in a Chimney is dissipated by the Fire
into Smoke and Ashes, that smoke composes soot, which is so far from
being any one of the principles of the Wood, that (as I noted above)
you may by a further _Analysis_ separate five or six distinct
substances from it. And as for the remaining Ashes, the Chymists
themselves teach us, that by a further degree of fire they may be
indissolubly united into glass. 'Tis true, that the _Analysis_ which
the Chymists principally build upon is made, not in the open air, but
in close Vessels; but however, the Examples lately produc'd may invite
you shrewdly to suspect, That heat may as well compound as dissipate
the Parts of mixt Bodies: and not to tell you, that I have known a
Vitrification made even in close vessels, I must remind you that the
Flowers of Antimony, and those of Sulphur, are very mix'd Bodies,
though they ascend in close vessells: And that 'twas in stopt glasses
that I brought up the whole Body of Camphire. And whereas it may be
objected, that all these Examples are of Bodies forc'd up in a dry,
not a Fluid forme, as are the Liquors wont to be obtain'd by
distillation; I answer, That besides that 'tis possible, that a Body
may be chang'd from Consistent to Fluid, or from Fluid to Consistent,
without being otherwise much altered, as may appear by the Easiness
wherewith in Winter, without any Addition or Separation of Visible
Ingredients, the same substance may be quickly harden'd into brittle
Ice, and thaw'd again into Fluid Water; Besides this, I say it would
be consider'd, that common Quick-silver it self, which the Eminentest
Chymists confess to be a mixt Body, may be Driven over the Helme in
its Pristine forme of Quicksilver, and consequently, in that of a
Liquor. And certainly 'tis possible that very compounded Bodies may
concur to Constitute Liquors; Since, not to mention that I have found
it possible, by the help of a certain _Menstruum_, to distill Gold it
self through a Retort, even with a Moderate Fire: Let us but consider
what happens in Butter of Antimony. For if that be carefully
rectify'd, it may be reduc'd into a very clear Liquor; and yet if You
cast a quantity of fair water upon it, there will quickly precipitate
a Ponderous and Vomitive Calx, which made before a considerable part
of the Liquor, and yet is indeed (though some eminent Chymists would
have it Mercurial) an Antimonial Body carryed over and kept dissolv'd
by the Salts of the Sublimate, and consequently a compounded one; as
You may find if You will have the Curiosity to Examine this White
powder by a skilful Reduction. And that You may not think that Bodies
as compounded as flowers of Brimstone cannot be brought to Concurr to
Constitute Distill'd Liquors; And also That You may not imagine with
Divers Learned Men that pretend no small skill in Chymistry, that at
least no mixt Body can be brought over the Helme, but by corrosive
Salts, I am ready to shew You, when You please, among other wayes of
bringing over Flowers of Brimstone (perhaps I might add even Mineral
Sulphurs) some, wherein I employ none but Oleaginous bodies to make
Volatile Liquors, in which not only the colour, but (which is a much
surer mark) the smell and some Operations manifest that there is
brought over a Sulphur that makes part of the Liquor.