n--
W 1
/
^^
//^o
1^
?
DUKE
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
Treasure %oom
k
«•
>N
/ / ;^
/
. /
' J
OF THE
VSEFVLNESSE
OF
Natural Pliilofophy,
The Second Tome.
V
Imprimatur
T, Me\»s
Ftce-Qan, off, 24. 1^7©;
SOME
CONSIDERATIONS
touching the
VSEFVLNESSE
Of Experimental
Naturall Philofophy,
^ropos'd in a familiar difcourfe to a friend by ypay of Invitation to thejludj of it.
THE SECOND TOME,
Containing the later Section Of the Second Part.
Sy the Honorable ^0 BE (IIT (BOYLE Efq^ Felloe of the ^OYAL SOCIETY.
OXFORD
Printed by He/try Ball , Printer to the University tovRic. Davis. i6ju
THE TV'BLISHE'R
TO
7 HE %,EAT)E%_.
Hercas the Preface of the Noble Author to this Second Tome of the Ufefullncfle of Experimental Phi* lofophy , written with defigne it fliotild come forth a Year or two before the laft, it is fit that fomething be now added about the preftnt Publication.
Firft ^ iflnquirybemade, why the Essays^ that now come abroad, are not accompanied with ihofe others ^ that according to the forts of the tides, fliould precede fbmc of them • He re* prefcnts , That it was not thought fit , that thofe that are now publifh'd, having no neccffary de- pendance on the reft , and being fufficicntly intelligible wichout them , ftiould ftay for Dif-
T 5 ^9^?^^^^
5nnfe3B
To thi Reader ^
couifeSj that are not at prefent ready, and per- haps will not (uddenly befo, partly ^ in regard they confift of no fmal number of loofe Papers , which byreafon of fome , yet inruperable,ob. ftacles ( ofwhich want of health is none of the leaft} he cannot convcnicmly feck ouCjrange,and compleat; sLndfartlj^ becaufe hecannoc^mthe place where He is now detained, be mafter of di- vers uncommon Minerals , and fome Chymi- cal produdlions, whofe Defcriptions through haft he omitted , bccau/e he had them at hand in the place, where thofe Essays were writ* ten^and prefumed^ He could at leifure fill up thofe Vacancies he left for fuch Defcriptions.
Secondly^ as to the Essays tfaem(elves,which, for the Rcafons juft now mention'd ^ come not abroad with the reft, though the Excellent Au- thor hath of late years conftantly refufcd to pro- mife any thing to the Publick, yet that the ^kea^ der may the better Judge of the Scope and De« fignc of rhewholetreaci(e,Hewill not deny him an Intimation of what Subje<5ls thofe Essays relate unto , by telling him , That one of them, treateth of the Ufefulnefle of Chymiftry ( not to (Phyfick, but ) to the Etnpire of Man over the Inferiour Works of Nature: Another^ ofthe Ad- vantages that a Naturahft's Country ntiay derive
from
To tie ^eaJer.
from his Guriofity: Mother, of the mutual A f- fiftance that the Speculative and Pradical part of Phyfiology may arford each other: After which, comes a Difcourfe containing inducements to hope for much greater things from Experimental Philofophy , than men have hitherto obtained.
La[lly,As to what the Author takech notice of, about the Coincidence of fome Experiments ^that may be mentioned as well by Others as by Him ; tis very poffil^^, that the fame things may, by the fame, or other, ways^cometo the knowledge of different perfonsBefides, that I have heard Him mention with fome complaint,thar,when divers years fince he writ feveral Difcourles ( whereof (bme belonged to the Ufefutnefs of Experimental Thilofophy, ) for the Ufe of a private Friend, not forthePrefTe, he was not fo fhye, ashad been re- qui(ite,of [l)e'n>inj^ divers Experiments, and of im- parting others in difcourfe, to Inqiiifitive men, whether Englifhor Forrciners, that came to vifit him ; divers of which things he afterwards found in print/ometimes indeed with, but for the mofl part without, mention of his Name.So that fome- timeshis unwilUngneffeto difoblige fuch Writers, and to contend about fuch matters, made him ei' thcr wholly o;w/7 fome of the particulars he after- wards intended to publifh , or even to crojje out
levcrat
To the ^idJeh
feveralpaffageSjthat hehad already writtcS^vvhcre he would, without much inconvenience (for that did not al wales happen) either quite leave ihetn outjOr fubftitute others(thoughlefsproper)in their flead. Headdedalfojthat fometimes obftrvino- his Notions and Experiments to be adfcribed to other Writers^ and fomewhat wondring at it, he found indeed fuch Writers to have mentioned fuch things, but in £^f//(?«J that came abroad after the publication ofour Author's Writings,from w hence fuch things might with the greater likelihood be prefumed to have been borrowed, both becaufe fome of the Writers had coverfd with /;/w,and he could not find them in the Fir/l Edition of fuch Books. Butthefe unfair proceedings being the faults but of afeipj^c faid, he was far from inipu* ting them to the Generality of thofe^that have men- tion'd;» ( vAzhich divers of thofe have very civilly done J his Experiments,or writings in theirs.
The Particulars being thus taken notice of, the Curious Reader ought not to be any longer de- tained from convcrfing with the Author himfclf in this InftrmSive Treatifc. fare* well.
•r
The Preamble,
Have, in the Preface^ and Bo^j of the f of mer and already puhlijh'd Part of this Treatife, taken notice of fo many of the things 5 that cone erne the whole work in General ^ that I prefume it mil not* here be necefary to detein the Reader with any other Particulars , than thofe , that voill be offer'dhj way of Anfwers to [ome J^efiions , that are like to be as k'd about the Publication of this Prefcnt Tome,
%^nd in the firft place, Jf it be demanded ^ why this -Lat' ter part did not more clofely follow the former , 1 have this to n^nfwer , That the' Papers it confi/led of chanc'd to be fo unfortunately di[pos'd of ^ during the late Publick Confufions^ that for a great while I was not the MAfter ofthem^ and in the mean while wa^^ fometimes upon one occafton , and [ome- times upon another^ engag'd to n^enture abroad the Hiftoryof Colours, the Hiftory ot Cold ( with the Preliminary and JLdditionall Travis ) Hydroftacicall Paradoxes , and the Crigine of Formes aod Qualities ; the Publication of which Treatifes, be fides that offome Anonymous Papers, as it took up much of the time 1 had to [pare for the Prefc', fo it may^ I {^^pofe^ keep it from being thought ftrange^ that I did not trow
vi-
The Preamble;
hie my felfe and others rvith this Book al[o. And indeed^ this having been {as the [cope and divers FajSages ofitfufficientlj intimate)one of the firfl J wrote to the Gentleman I call PyrO' philuSj 1 had afterwards occafton^ while (iit was out of the waj^ to make ufe offo many of the Experiments and obferva* tions^ that belongd to it, that fearing I had thereby too much robbed and disfgurd it to leave it any way ft for Publick view , I had the greater Temptation to negle^ the looking after it »
But if it be further demanded ^ why then^ ft^ce it was not ready to come out more early ^ I did not condemn it not to come cut at all ? I have two things to returne by waj of Anfwer.
The firfi is , That fome Eminent Virtuoft^ to whom I owe a peculiar Refpe^^ were pleas'dto challenge the Edition of this Tome , as if I had made my felfe a Debter to the Publick for the Second Fart of this work ^ by having [uffer'd what I wrote to a private Friend to be divulg'd in the firfi. Efpecially ftnce the Publick had given that fo very favourable an Entertain- went •, as be fides other things^ the Early reprinting of it mA • nifefled, . * ;
The other part of my Anfwer , and that which made the former Conftderatien prevalent ^is , that I was overcome either by the Reafons, or by the Authority, oftbofe Ingenious Perfons, ihat were pleased to think , that this 'work would not prove unferviceable to Mankind^ to who fe good ^ both as a Man , and Chriflian^ I have been long Ambitious to contribute^aswell upon the account of the Great Author and Divine Redeemer of CM en 5 as of that common Nature whereof ail men partake. What the Utilities of this work were conceived to be^ the Re a' der will find dtlclofed at the end of this Preface. To which I will therefore reftrre him for an Account of them ^ and now only take notice , that as to one of the fcruples 1 had againfl the Publication^ 3^amely^ That 1 hadplunde/d this prefent Trea- tife of divers Particulars^ whertwith I had accommodated
fom^
The Preamble,
lome ofmf ether Writings, 1 could not well reje^ thU Anjrver^ 7hat in [o many years as had pajSed fmee the writing of this ■ Book^ 1 had not been fo negligent a Commtr[er with the works of Nature^ and Art, as not to be able to make fome amendi for what I had taken away^and eafily fub/iitute other Experiments, and obfervations , to fttpply the vacancies left by thoje I had transferred to other Di/courfes.
And as to another of my fcruples about venturing abroad this Tome^ namelf^ that it mufi come forth fo late^ if itfhould come forth at ally it was anfwered ^ That it could (car ce come forth wore [eafonably to recommend the whole Defigne of the Royal Society , whofe generous aimes being to promote the knowledge of Nature^ and make it ufefull to humane Life* 7hisTreatife may procure them fome number of t^jStftants in a worke, whofe Faflneffe and Djfftculty w/ll need very ma- nyt if mens Curio ftty and mduflrj can by this Treatife {or any to the like Furpofe) be well excited by a C envision of the re all and wide ^if parity betwtxt true Natural Phylofophy , & that €f the Peripatetkk Scholes ^ and that in cultivating the for' fner, they will not meet with a field that will afford them no- thing, but (the wonted Production of the Latter) the Thornes and Thi files of acute indeed, but ufelejfe, and oftentimes trou- hie fome ^ Subtlety es'^ but that they may expert a Soyle that may by a due Culture be brought to afford them bsth Curious FloW' ers to gratifie their Curioftty , and delight their fenfes , and Excellent Fruites^ and other (ubfiantiall Productions to an* fwer the Neceffities and furnifh the Accommodations of Hu- mane Life,
And I will not deny, that I have had the fortune to be looked upon, as not the unfitteft Per (on in the World to offer (omething in this kind. For thofe that are meer Scholars, though never fo Learned and Criticall , are not wont to be acquainted enough with Nature andTrades , to be able tofuggefi thofe Inflances , that are the tnofi proper t9 manife(i that , which men are to be
a convinced
'T
The Preimblc.
convinced of. The meer Chymifts^ beftdes that their Curlofttj Is xvont to be too much confind to let them be fitteft for fuch d work, have the j/l fortune to be diftrufied by the Generality of wen, not Credulous^ which is a great unhappinefje in this aafe^ becaufe that though their Experiments wen never fo true (as divers of them are) yet skill in their Art being requtftte to make them , mens diffidence of the Propofers , joyned with the difficulty of examining the things y wtll not allow them , either to Believe what is propofed, or to Try it. And as for the New fhilofophers {oi they call them) though^ if they were to write but for Philofophicall Readers, I know fever J of them , that would que flionlefje do it rarely well-^ yet the generality of thofe Readers to whom we would give good JmpreJItons of the fludy of Nature , being fuch a^ will probably be more wrought upon by the Variety of ExAmples^and Eafy Experiments than by the deepeft pfotions^ and the neatefi Hypothe[es , fuch a TreatifeiorthskM, as that which follows^ containing many Trail ices of Artificers and other P articular s^ that are either of eafy Tryalor immediate Ufe , may perhaps by that Variety gra- tifie^ and per fwade a greater number of differing forts ofRea^ ders^ thanafarre more Learned and Elaborate Piece, that might be welcomer to more intelligent and Philofophicall Perufers.
jf it be askt by Some that knew me ^ Whence it copies , that the Second part of the UfefallneJ? of Experiment all Thilofophy bang written ( as very credible Perfons that faw it can witnef ) about the year 16^^, there may be met with inthe following Treattfe feme Experimens of my ewne^that they know were fince made^ andjome ( though few) Citati" ens out of Books puhlilht fmce that time ? If J fay this be afkt , the Anfwer is intimated a little above 5 For have* ing transferred to other Tracts many pa(fa^es that belonged to thofe I new publifh , / was obligd to repair e the injury I had done them , by fupplying them with fuch Particulars as
offered
The Preamble'
effer^d themfelves to my mentor j when I ha/lily reviewed this Tome , without fcrupuloufly minding the times , when the FarticuUrs infer ted did fir jl occurre. And if this s^dver- tifement heapply'd tofome other fif my Writings , that ei' ther the importunity of Friends , or jome unwelcome Acci- dents ^ engag'd me to fuhlijh out of their due time, and not in their intended order , it maj keep men from thinktng , that when I fifft wrote them , / had read over , or at lea ft feen^ ( which indeed I neither dtd nor could ) every Book of a recenter Date 9 of which upon occafion I mentions Paffage or two , and ihofe perhaps as they are cited by other Authors ^we being here in En gland but (lender ly and verj jlowlj furnifht with modern forrein Books.
t^llthefeinferted pa f ages the Reader fhould find included in Parathefes( as the Printers call thefe markes [_ '])by which he will yet be able to dtfiingutjh (everallofthem ^ thought new find.that [ome others by the negligence of the Tranfcnbers or of the Pref or of Both have btn omitted^ which Advertife- went 1 feare may have need to he extended to fome other prin" ted TraSfs of mine, wherein Paraihefes are to be met with.
Bating thefe few additional! pa(fages ^ the infutng Booke comes forth without taking notice cf what changes or dtfco- veries have happened tn the Common wealth of Letters, ftnce the time it was written in. On which account, if fome few of thofe many particulars delivered there fhould chance to be cO' incident , with what [ome other man bath written , I would neither on the one fide be thought a Plagiary my felf ^ nor on the other fide deny any man^to whom it may be due , the honour of the earliefi Publication^though , to fhun needle fs Contro- vcrfies, J am fomewhat fhye of naming this or that Perfon^as the firft Propofer orinventourof an experiment iWhicb ( efpeci' ally if theperfons or things be not con fider able ) is often diffi- cult enough to difcover^witnefs the contefts that havebin^and
V*
Tlie Preamble.
yet cvpttifjue, ahout the fir/i Inventors of Common wedther* gUffes^the J [cent ion cf water in (lender Pipes, theglafs drops that fly in pieces ^the meafuring of time hj a Pendulum which is more fir ange ^ the art of Printing it felf if it be ask*d why I did not for be are to make ufe of fome PraBifes of trades- men and other known^ and perhaps feeminglj triviall, Expe* riments. ihefe things may be reply ed ,
1. Thatftnce on divers occafions itw/ts requifttCy that my difcourfe fhould tend rather to convince than barely to inform my reader , it was proper , that Ijhould imploy at leafl Some inflances , whofe truth W45 generally enough known , or eaf-j to he known ( bj making inquiry among Artificers ) even by [uch as out of laflnefs , or want of Sktll^ or accommodation cannot conveniently makethemfelves the tryals.
2. But yet , I have taken care^ that thefe jhouldnot be the only , nor yet the moft numerous tn Fiances^ I make ufe of: it being in this Tome^ as weUasin my other Phyfiologicall wri» tings , my main buftrnfje , to take aH jufl occaftons to con' tribute oi much^ as without tndifcretion lean ^ tothehiflory i>f Nature and Arts^
3 . As to the Practices and ebfervations of Trade fmen^ the two conftderations already alledged , may both of them be extended to the giving of an account of the mention I make of them, of the truth of df vers of the Experiments I alledge of theirs , one may be eaftly fatiffyed by inquiring gf Artificers About it , and the particular or more circumstantial accounts J give of fome of their experiments, I was induc'd to fet down by my dcfne to contribute toward an experimental Hiflory* Tor I have f^undbj long and unwelcome experience^ thu very few Trade fmen will and can give a man a clear and full ac count of their own PraBices 5 partly out of Envy , partly out of want of skill to deliver a relation intelligiblely enough^ and partly {to which I may add chieily )becaufe they omttt generally^ toexprefseitheratalhratlcafi clearly fome im^
portant
The Preamble.
tortdfit clrcttfnflancey which becaufe long ufe hath made very familiar to them , they frefume alfo to be known to othersiand yet theowiffton of (uchcircuwparices ^ doth often rtnder the K^ccounts they give of fuch practices J fo darke and fo defec* tive^ that 1 if their experiments be any thing intricate or dtf* fcult (forif^hcj be Simple and eafy\ they are not [o liable to produce mi flakes ) I feldom thinke my fulf fure of their truth ^ andthat I [ufficiently comprehend them , till I hxve ^jtithertryedthem at home ^ or caufedthe Artificers to make theminmyprefence.
7 hey that have given themfelves the trouble ofendeavcur^ • ingto make the experiments of Tradesmen ^ tobemet rvnh in the writings of Cardan J Weckar ^ and Baptifla Porta for injlance^ and have thereby difcovered ( what ts not ufuilly ob- vious upon atranfient reading ) how lamely and darkely^i not to a^d unintelltgiblely ) feveraU things are written , will probably afford me their j^ffent^ having found upon tryal the in fir u6i ions of fuch learned and ingenious mtn , to be often obfcure and infuffieient for praBicc.
But here I mujlgive the reader notice ^that ai UHechanical Artes for the mofl part advance from time to time towards perfe^ion , fo the Pra6iices of Artificers rnay vary in differ, ing times , as well as in differing places , as I have often had cccafionto obferve. And therefore I would neither have him condemn other writers or Relators t for delivering accounts of the experiments of Craftsmen differing from thofe I have gi- ven ^ nor condemn me^^ for havtng contented my [elf to fet dcwnfuch Pr apices faithfully ^ as I learn' t them from the be ji Artificers ( efpecially thofe of London) 1 had opportunity te converfe with .
But here perhaps it will be demanded by way of obje^ion , whether I doe not injure Tradefmen by discovering fo plainly thofe things^ which our Laws call the My fieries of their Arts* Toaquejlionythatway perhaps by [ome be cUmeroufly prtffed^
The Preambled
mtonlj upoff me^ hut much more upon Some ingenious men of cur Nation^ ivhofe pens have bin more hold than mine in dt[' cloftng Craftesmens Secrets ^*twill he reijuifite to return feve^ rail things hy rvay of anfwer^ hut that fuch Readers as are not troubled with the Scrttple, may not he fo with the Apology^ theywiU find this printed in another charaSfer ^ fo that t if theypleafe^ they maypa^ it over unread,
Pitft then> It may be reprefented, that I never divulge aU the Secrets and pracSlices neceflary to the exercife of any one Trade , contenting my felf to dehver here and there upon occafion fome few particular Experiments, that make for my prefent purpofe: So thatjor much more than I al- low my felf to doe, I can plead the example, not only of other writers , that have publiflied Books to teach the whole Myftery of this, or that trade, ss the Priefl /^»/^- fiio Neri hath diligently done in his IfuMzn Arte Fetraria, and fome Englifh , as well as forreign, Virtuofi have done onotherSubjed^s; But alfo fome of the Artificers them- felves, as the famous Gold-fmith and Jeweller Benvenuto Cellini in his much efteemed Italian Trads of the Lapida- ries and Goldfmiths Trades. Thus alfo the famous Mine- ralift Georgius ^gricola publifhed in Latin a whole Volume of themore pra(5lical part oi Mineralogie, wherein he largely and particularly defcnbes Experiments, tooles,and other things that belong to the Callings of Mein men* To which I might add divers other Treatifes , fome of them French, others Italian, ^ which, though I could not procure them, I have feene among curious colledions of books ) that have bin publiflied about Severall Artes by the Artificers themfelves. And 'tis notorious, that in En* glifh, as well as in divers forrein languages, we have Books of the Artes of Gunnery, Diilillacion, Painting, Gardening . "~ ^ &o
^
The Preamble.
&C. divulg'd by perfons , that Profeded thofc Callings.' Secondly, it is not the Cuftome ofTradefmen to buy Books, elpecially fuch as are not intended for fuch Rea- ders , and treat ( for the mod part ) of things cither be- yond their reach or wherein they feem not likely to be con- cerned 5 And as for Gentlemen and Scholars, though fomeof them may, to fatiffy their curiofity , make afe\f tryalls , yet their doing fo will fcarce in the Icaft be preju- dicial to Tradefmen. Since ( to omitt other Arguments ) it will not be worth while for 3 Viituofo to be at the charge and trouble of buying tooles, and procuring other necei- fary accommodations to fell a few produdions of his skill, though he fhould not fcruple to defcend to fuch a Pradice. For ilhe make but a fmall number of Expifriments, their cffe^s will coft him more than the like may be bought for, of thofe that make them in great Quantities, and whom their trade obligeth to be loliicitous to buy their inftruments and materialls at the bed hand , and fell them to the beft profit. Befides that moft of the workes of Artificers , are chiefly recommended to the more curious fort of buyers by a certain politenefTe , and other orna-» ments ( comprifed by many under the name of Finijhing: ) which require either an inllrutied and dexterous hand, or ac leafl fome little peculiar diredions , which I did not ali- wayes thinke my felf oblig'd to mention , in a treatife defigned to affift my friend to become a Philofopher,noc a traderman,and publifh'd to help the Reader to gain know- ledge not to get mony.
Thirdly, to publifh an Experiment or two , or in fome cafes a much greater number belonging to a Trade , is not fufiicient to rob a Tradefman ofhisProfefiion. For, befides that moft trades confi It of Severall parts , and are each of them made up of divers Pradices ( that common- ly are moce than aiew^ Thofe nuoierous MechanicallArts^
*♦ that
The PrcamWe;
that are called handicrafts, require C as their very namear- gueth a Manuall dexterity ) not to be learnt from Bookes^ but to bcobtaind by imitation and ufe. And to thele con* fiderations Iflialladdthis more important one, that Me- chanicall profelTions are wont to be as it were made up of two parts, which, for diftin(5lion fake, I take leave to call the Art and the Craft 5 by the former whereof I mean the fkill ot making fuch or fuch things , which are the ge* nuine Produ(5lions of the Art, (as when a Taylor maketh afuit, or a cloak, ) and by the latter I mean the refult of i^! thofe informations and Experiments, by which the Arti- •V ficer learns to make the utmoft profit , that he can, of the . >-. Productions of his Art. And this Oeconomical Prudence * IS a thing very diftin(a from the Art it felf , and yet is of- ten the moft beneficial thing to the Artificer, informing him how to chufe his materialls and eftimate their good- nefleand worth, in what places, and at what times,the beft and cheapeft are to be had , where, and when, and to what perfons the things may be moft profitably vented . In ihort, the Craft is that which teacheth him how both to buy his materialls and tooles , and to fell what he makes with them to the moft advantage.
Fourthly , it may often prove more advantageous than
prejudicial! to Tradefmen themfelves, that many of their
pradices (hould be known to Experimental! Philofophers*.
*neZifayheve This I fuppofe that Ihave fufficiently prooved in fome,and
M Imfof especially in ^ one ot the following Eflayes.
ihe Utility o/"//;f Yet I fhall now reprefent, that though fome little incon-
Naturdtds in- yeuience may happen to iome Tradefmen by the difclof-
(ignmtoua es, -^^^ iome of thtir Experiments to practical! Naturalifts>
yet that may be more than com pen fated, partly, by what
may be contributed to the perfc<5iing of fuch experiments
themfelvcsj and, partly by the diffufcd Knowledge and fa-
gacity
The Preamble.
gacity of Philofophers, and by thofenewInventionjjWhich may probably be expe(5led from fuch perfons, efpecially if they be furm'flied with Variety of hints from the pradi- ces already in ufe. For thefe Inventions of ingenious heads doe, when once grown into requeft, fet many Mechanical hands a worke , and fupply Tradefmen with new meanes of getting a livelyhood oreveninriching themfelves. As to the difcipline fubordinated to the pure Mathematicks, this is very Evident J for thofe fpeculative Sciences have ( though not Immediatly ) produced their trades that make Quadrants, Sectors, Aftrolabes , Globes, Maps, Lutes, Vialls, Organs, and other Geometrical, Aftronomical , Geographical, and Mufical inftruments ; and not to inflance thofe many Trades, that fubfift by making fuch things as Mechanicians, proceeding upon Geometrical Propofitions, have bin the Authors ofj we know that whether the excel! ec Galileo was or was not ihe fir ft finder out of TelercopeS5yec he improved them fo much , and by his difcoveries in the heavens, did (o recommend their ufefullnefle to the curi- ous 9 that many Artificers in divers parts of Europe have thought fit to take up the Trade of making profpciftive glaffes. And fince his death, feverall others have had pro- fitable worke laid out for them , by the newer diredions of fome Englifh Gentlemen, deeply fkill'd in Dioptricks,and happy ac Mechanical contrivances; info much that now we have feverall (hops , that furnifti not only our own Vir* tuofi, but thofe of forrein Countryes with excellent Micro- fcopes and Tclefcopes, of which latter fort 1 lately bought one ( but I confefTe the only one that the maker of it, or any man, that I hear of, hath perfeded of that bignelle ) which is of threefcore foot in length , and v\hich the Inge* nious Artift , that made it M' Reeves, prized conftsntly atnolelTe than an hundred poundsCEngliili mony) I know
** 2 not.
The Preamble.
not , whether or no f (hould add, that poflibly fome parti- cular experiments ofmine have not bin hitherto unprofi- table to ieverall Tradefmen : But this 1 mayiafely affirm , that a great deal ofmony hath bin gained by Tradefmen, both in England and elfwhere upon the account of the fear- let Dye , invented in our time by Cornelius Drebbell , who was not bred a Dyer nor other Tradefman. And that wedaylyfee the (hops of clockmakers and watchmakers more and more furniflied with thefe ufefull inftrumcnts , Tendulum Clocks, as they are now called , which , but very hv9 years agoe , were brought into requeft , by that moft ingenious Gentleman, who dilcovcrd the new Planet about Saturn.
I have handled the Suhjcd of the foregoing Arguments Tnuck more particularly^ than I would have done, had not my fen bin draw*n on , hj a Hope that the things 1 have repre^ fented majfurmjh Apologies to many inquifttive men , who may he thereby enbolden'd to carry Philofophical materialls from thefhops to the Scholes, and divulge the experiments of Artificers^ both to the improvement of trades themfelves y and to the^XQuinriching of the Htjiory of K^rtes and Na*, ture.
if it he farther demanded , whether I have furni/hed thefe Bfjajes with the chief efl things I could have afforded them , J rnusi confefe , that I have not , for though I had lying by me Sever all Experiments andohfervations^ lefinconftderable th^n many of thoje ihave made ufe of^ which would have bin -pertinent enough to the Subje^s hers treated of^ yet 1 pur- pof^lj forbore to imploy them in thefe tra^s,becaufe I would not dt fraud thofe others , to which they were more proper ^d* fome'of them neceffary. For J freely declare, that my defigne inthi^ prefent tome was not to fur mf}) it as well O'S l could ^
but
The PfcamblcJ
ht to preferve , a^itt a repoptorj , fever al fcatterd Expert- ments dnd Remarks ^ which 1 could heH [pare from the other Treatifes 1 haddeftgnd ^ which might othcrrvtje probably be loB 5 bftt jet I jhaQ. not denj^ that 1 did not careleffly draw up fome of the following Tra5is ^ but that lendeavourd to write themh fuch <J[iethodi , that they might contain fever aU di' flin£i he ads ^ andthofe 4ts cowprehenftve as I could ea(ilj make them , that both the young and hope full Gentleman 1 call Tyrophilus,and I my felf might conveniently refer fuch other f radices and experiments ( efpecially thoje of Trade fmen ) as fhould hereafter occurr tous^and appear to belong to tlofe heads. And I d/d theltffe defpair of his giving a kind rC' ceftion to thtfe dtfcourjes , beeaufe / could expe^ fo little af' finance in m^j undertakings having never met with any hooke^ great or fmall, written upon the fubje^ I was to treat
jf hereupon it be obje^ed^ that by my own confesfton , di' vers of the particulars admitted in to this Booke are but flighty and fome of them allreadj known , / Jhaii reprefent , that as fome of the Experiments fpoken of are but flight j fo there are others , that ^osfibly dtfcerning Headers will not thinke to be alltogether fuch ^ and that 'twas fit ( for reafons already mention'd inthis very preface ) that llhould notfor- bearto imploy^ asprooffesto convince others t things either known or eafy to be made fo , efpecially fince I commonly ufe them to fome purpofe or other ^ whereto they have not been ap- plyed , and my defign in the publication of thefe tnfles being chafiy to invite the generality of Readers^ though of different inclinations s ^alities , &c. to addict themfetves to the flu' dy of experimental Phtlofophy. The variety and eafmefS / have aym'd at in the experiments J have fet down , mayjor ought I know s be more proper ^than if I had confin'd my (elf to the mention of a few choife and Elaborate experiments , which fom€ Readers would think impertinent to their fiudyes^
and
The Preamble.
m^ others judge too difficult for them to put inprd^iice. It appear' dfjot unfit , that a hook , tphofe title rvas like to procure it very different fortes of Readers , jhould be for the mosi; part written in a popular way ^ divers perfons^ efpecially thofe of A higher ^alitj , by a trifle that hath the luck to gratify their curio ftty , may be more fucce^ fully invited tort' ii/J) andesieem experimental learning , than by a deep notion^ or a weighty experiment. And there are others that will ea- fier be brought to value and try experiments , by meeting with fowe few^ though but [light ones, that happen d to fmt with their humour or calling, or to accommodate them on Some particular occaftons , than they would by many others , much more luciferous, or otherwife i important. And though twere to be wifhed^ that mens Kindneffe to Practical Philofophy were grounded on the be B motives, yet this 'Treatife will not all* together mi f the Aim of its Publication, if even upon the foremention'd Slighter Accounts^ it engages Readers to make as well (ts rellifh experiments 5 for the pleafantmjS ^variety , ufefullnef and other indearing £lualities of fuch an imploy- ment, will probably invite moH of themto a further progrefi , whereby many ufefull Phenomena and obfervations are Itke to accrew towhat is allready known of the HtH or y of Nature and Arts, Andtf this \h all come topaf, it will keep him from complaining of Labor lofi , who in ventering upon Juch aworkeas now comes forth ^was knowingly to poHpone the ap- petite of fame to the Defire of doing fome (ervtce to mankind; to which end he takes ont\if thedtreitcH wayes to be the con- tributing fome what to the Advancement of Experimental Fhilcfophy .
Jt remaines , that i add fomething more , which posftbly may not a little befriend both thefe last mention d Anfwers, and (ever all others contain d in this preface , for , when all the former demands occur* d to my thoughts , as likely to be madijome by one fort of Readers^ and fome b^ another % thofe
Virtuoft^
The Preamble.
yirtuoft^ that were (ollieitous for the Publication of the [e Pa- fers , avert not backward to urge the utilityes , which thcj fancied would thence accriwto the fublique. And I cannot very well deny ^th at ^ a^ meanly as I thinke of a Treatife to rvhofe fir It Tome I dtd not , till the fecond Edition, (when I could conceal it no longer) let my name be frefxt , yet fuch a worke as this for kind well performed, may be a very ufe- full one » And even of this following book , fuch ^ it is^ it vpos fnggelled , thdt the ufes would not prove dffpicabte^ ia regard that beftde thofe^ that are common to It with the for^ merly publifhed Tome , fuch as the improvement of the minds of men , and y efpecially ) the afjiHing them to under fl and the Workes of God, and thereby engage them to admire, praife and thanke him for them* Bt fides thefe ( I f^j) there may be other ufes of the following Tome, which ^ to avoid increafmg a frolixitj that I feare is already too greats I jhall rather name thandijcourfeof^ contenting my felf briefly to intimate, that 'twas concetv'd the peculiar ufes of this prefent Tome mtght be fuch as thefe,
I. Jt may afford Materialls for the Uiflory of Nature, which that it may the more plentifully do^ I have purpofely on feve- rail occaftons added a greater number of Inflances , than were abfolutely neceffary , for the making out of what I in* tended to declare or prove.
I I. It may afford fome InflruBiovs , Advices^ and Hints to promote the FraSiicall or Operative part of Nat ur all Phi'-
' Vfephy in divers particulars , wherein Men have been either not able^ or not (oUcitou^ to aQiH the Curious*
III. Jt may enable Gentlemen and Scholars to converfe with Tradefmen and benefit themfelves ( and perhaps the Tradefmen too ) by that converfation 5 or at leafl , it will qualify them to afk queflions of UMen that converfe with Things 5 and fometimes to exchange Experiments with them*
IV. It may (erve to beget a Confederacy and an Union
between
The Preambled
hetrufsen farts of LeArning , who[e fof^effors have hitherto kept their reJpeStlve Skills jlrangerste one another •, ani:( by that means maj bring great Varitty of obfervations and Ex^ feriments of differing kinds into the Notice of one man , or cfthe fame perfons 5 ivhich hew advantagiou^ it may prove towards the Increafe of knowledge 9 our lUuflriotts Verulam has fomewhere taught us.
V. It may contribute to the refcuing Naturall Hilofophy from that unhappy Imputation of Barrennefs , which it has folong lain under, and which has been, and fliil ts^ fopreju^ dtcioll to it. And to effe^ this Re [cue, it wtU in fome mea* fure enable thofe that deftre it to employ thofe praiticall Ar* guments^that are proper to convince many that are not to b^ convinc'd by any other fort of Proofes,
VI. K^nd which is the main of ally it may ferve by Poft" five Confiderations , and Dire0ions, to rouze %p the Gene- rality of thofe ^that are any thing Inquifttive, and both loud* Ij excite aud fomewhat ajftft the Curio fity of mankind; from livhich alone maj be expected a greater progrefi in Ufefull Learning J and Confequently greater Advantages to men, than in the prefect ft ate of Humane Affairs will be eaftly imagind.
O F T H E
VSEFVLNESSE
O F
Experimental Philofophy .
The SECOND f4%T.
%
The SECOWD Section.
Of Its Vfcfulnefle to the Empire of Man over inferior Creatures.
?I>
ESSAY I.
Containing fome general (^on/t derations about the Means J whereby Experimental Thilofofhy may be-^ come ufe/ul to Humane Life,
Hitherto, my Dear TjrofhUus, I have attempted to fatis- fieYou of the Ufefulncffe of Experimental- Natural Philofophy to Phyfick: it followes, that I proceed to en- deavour to fhew you, that it may be alfo very fervjceable to Husbandry, in all its fubordinate parts, and to thofe other ProfefTions that ferve to provide Man with Food or Ray- ment,or do otherwife minifter to the Neceilities or Accom- modations of Life . as the Trades of Brewing, Baking, Fifhing, Fowling, Building, and the reft not needful here to be enumerated. For though the Humane Body, in refpet^: ofthe Rational Soul, (which is the Inventrefs and Seat of Sciences) be one of the Corporeal things, over which the Empire of Knowledg is to be eftabhfh'di yet taking Man as a Creature made up of Body and Soul, the Advancement of his Empire feemstoconfiftmore properly in the Inlarge- mcnt of his Power over the other Creatures; Phyfick feem- ing rather to defend him againft Revolts and lQfurre(5tions at home, than to increafe his Power, and extend the Limits of his Empire abroad.
But, Pjrofhilus, I hope You do not exped^, that 1 fhonld now iftpfl on each, or fo much as on any of the above menti- oned Trades, by whofe intervention tis, that Man esercifes his Dominion over external Bodies. For fuch a work would
A 2 reauire
2 How Experimental Thitofophy
rcqnire little Icffe than an Age, and much more than aVo* lumn; and befides (that it is vaftly difproportionate, both to my flenderftock of Mechanical skill, and to the little leafure I have to conclude this Section in^ I could not ac- quaint you with all that I could pertinently enough deliver about thefe matters, without too much defrauding fome o- ther Trcatifes that I defign You: and therefore I hope youl be content, if, in the remaining part of this Tra(5l, I doe fjot finely prefent you a not defpicable number of Confiderati- ons proper to manifeft That^ and to intimate Hcrv Experi- mental Fbilofophie may be of great Ufe to the promoting of Mechanical Arts and Trades, ?«nlluftrate and confirm all, or mofl of thofe C onfiderations by particular Inflances, de» riv'd from Obfervations and Experience.
This I (hall, God affifting, endeavour to do in the follow* ing EfTays. But before I defcend to particulars , it will be expedient inihis place to premife fome general Confiderati- ons relating to the influence of Experimental Fbilofophie upon Trades,and two or three Advertifemenxs,tha£ concern the enfuing Difcourfes.
tBE /. SECT 10 IT.
"pirfl then, to make it probable, that a true infight into ^ Natural Philofophie may be capable of affordmg fome reformation, or other kind of improvement to Trades, I fliall defire You to confider. That being, for the generality of them, converfant about fome few particular produ<5tions of Nature, fuch Men as are throughly skill'd in her general Laws, and acquainted with a vaft number of her Produdi- ons, and vers'd in the waycs of applying Nature and Arc jointly to feveral purpofes, according to the feveral Exi- gencies of things, fuch fagacious perfons (I fay) will, in all kkelihood, be able fome way oi: other, to meliorate the In- ventions
i
ISaj hecome ufefulto Humane Life. z
vcntions of illiterate Tradefmen. As the Husbandman's skill, for inftance, confifting chiefly in the Obfcrvations of the Nature ofa few Plants and Animals, their relation to fuch and fuch Soils and kinds of Culture, and the Operati- ons of Stars and Meteors upon them, which are Subjeds that properly enough fail within the cognifance of the Na« turalift, it cannot feen:3 improbable, that He that has ferionf- ly and induftrioufly enquired into the Nature of Generati- on, Nutrition, and Accretion, both in Plants and Animals, and knows how to vary an ufeful Experiment, when once found out, fo as to remedy the inconvenicncies, or fupply the deficiencies, or improve theadvantagioufnclTe, or tranf- lateandapply theufeof it, and (in fumme; He that can knowingly and dexteroofly manage, what his own and other mens Obfervations have afforded him, will be able to culti- vate the ordinary Husbandman's skill with as much improve* ment, as that confus'd skill enables the Husbandman to cul* civace his Ground*
THE 11. SECTION^
nro carry on the foregoing Confiderations a little farther, *• I will adde, That it may as well conduce much to the minifefting how much Trades are fubordinate to Natural Philofophie, as to the improvement of Trades thcmfelves, that it be attentively coniider'd, what things each particular Trade is, as it were, made up of. As, for Example, the chief things in the Refiners Trade are, T^ know the wayes of making, and the Operations of Lyiqua fortis upon Silver, Gold, and Copperj to know how to purge that CMenflruum^ that it may diflblve no Gold, nor precipitate any of the Sil- ver it diflblvesj to know what proportion there ought to be dillolv'd in it; to know with what quantity of Water to weaken the Solution, mihovfhng Copper- plates need lye
ia
4 Holi> Uxpermental fhttofoplj
10 ic, to precipitate all the Silver cut of it; to know how Lead is to be coUiqnated wiih them, and what froportion of it is necefTary and fufficicnt to carry ofF with it (when tis blown off upon the Teft^ the bafer Mctalsj to know how to make Gupples of feveral forts and fizes, and upon them to draw off the Lead or Antimony from the Silver or Gold, and difcern when the Metal is fufficiently refin'd; to know what proportion of Gold and Silver is reqaifite for the mak- ing of ir4^^r- (7<?/^5 as they call it 5 (becaufeit is feparated from^ Silver by Jqua fortisj which difTolves this Metal, and leaves the other in a finepowder;) Thefe things, to which many others are fubfervient, belong to the Refiners Trade, which, though underftood by few, feems to be a very nar- row and fimple Trade, in comparifon of a hundred others, whofe Operations are far more numerous and complicated. Now if all Trades were judicioufly refolv'd (if I may fo fpeak^ into the feveral parts they confift of, it would, I que- fiion nor, manifeftly appear, that the mofl,if not all of them, are in many particulars but CoroUArks d^dnc't^ from fome particular Phyfical Obfervations, or bat Applications of them to the ufes of Humane life.
And if this be fo, you will not, I prefume, think it unlike- ly, that by a farther difcovery of the Nature of thofe parti- cular Bodies wherewith the Trade is converfant, and a folid knowledg of rhofc Laws of Nature, and thofe Operations of Bodies upon one another, which it imployeSj fome, if not moft, of thofe parts, whereof the Trade may be conceived to be made up, may be reform'd or better'd, which is enough to make the Philofopher an Improver of the Trade, which he may become upon fuch unobvious accounts, that perhaps it may not unreafonably be hop'd, that even the Chymifi's Charcoal may be made by a good Naturalift equivalent to an excellent Corapoft for Land. For if it be true, as well as tis probable, not onely that the Food of thofe Animals (as
Oxen,
May Become ujeful to Humane Life. j
Oxen, Sheep, ^c^ which the Husbandman deals wich^ fprings out of the Ground; but that the Plants, which afford them this food, are themfelves nourifh'd by a certain vege- tative Salt they find in the Ground; and that this Sale being by frequent Seminations exhaufted, the Soil grows barren, till either by the Air,<?r the fteams of the fubterraneous parts, cr the fpontaneous Maturation of the Saline Rudiments contained in the Ground, or by adventitious Manure, or by all or diverfe of thefe together, it be re- impregnated with a new vital Saltnefle: if thefe things be true, I fay, then thofe Chymical ExperimentSjthat conduce to difcover to us what kind of Salt that is, and to what other Salts it is allied or op- pofite, as tis to feveral Acid ones, may probably afford ve- ry ufeful Diredions to the Husbandman towards the melio- rating of his Land, both for Corn, Trees, Grafs,. and confc- quently Cartel. And having had the Cuhofity to diflillfome Earths, fomeDun^s, and fome J''"\T'f-:'irt^'''% Seeds, and obierve the Salts abounding m the Li- qiumcunj.mYam,iicetpkrmy quors yeildedby thera, fof which we haveelfe- '^^^^^ Nnrofts admixtam, in whereoccafion to fpeak; we found caafe to wifli, ZtfZt ^t -,'-« that Experiments ot that nature , in relation to diiquidzegctabiie^coiiigcretU' the im provemcnt of Husbandry , might be indu- '""^"'^ '"i''""' ^'^""''^ ftrioufly profecuted by Naturalifts. He that has obferv'd thofe many particulars in Husbandry,which might invite that great Naturalift Sr, F* Bscon fwho yet mentions very few of them j to pronounce that Nitre is, as it were, the life of ^'^^' "'^- ^^"^^ Vegetablesj he that obfervcs how conducive that fertilizing ^" ^^' ^"^^ Dung of Pigeons is, both to make Earth fruitful to the Hus. bandman, and to impregnate it with Nitrous Salt for the Salt-perre man; and he that knows that moil fat Earths, fa defended from the Rain and Sun, that the one may not draw up, nor the other wafb down the Embrionated Saltnefle of them, will after a time abound in Nitrous Salt, if they are not permitted to fpend any in producing of Vegetables;
fucb
g How Exl-)ermental Thilofo^hy
fach a one, I fay, will perchance be apt to think, that En- quiries into the Nature of Salt-petre may be of great con- cernment to Husbandry. And to give you, Fyroph, fome Inducements to expe(5t thacChymiftry may be very ufeful in fuch kind of Enquiries, 1 fhill here mention to You a- couple of my bxpcriments relating to Nitre.
The firft is that, whereby I endeavour'd to giveaninqui- fitive Perfon hopes, that Materials which feem'd unlikely, might, by due changes, and without much Art, be turo'd into Salt' petre. The Experiment was this, I caus'd lome Earthtobedigg'dup jufl underneath the C|ay-floor of a Pigeon- houfe, fuch Earths being believ'd to abound the moft with Nitre, that needs onely to have its Particles brought together and united to compofe Salt- petre; a pret^ ty quantity of this Earth being put into a Retort, and di- ftill'd with a good fire ex K^rctta^zfi'ovded me though little or no Oyl, yet a pretty quantity of a reddifh Liquor,which, in (lead of being , as others would have expeded, of an acid Nature like Spirit of Nitre, was fit for my purpofe, by flrongly participating of the Nature of Volatile Saltsj as appeared, not onely in that I could without re^ifying it, turn Syrupof Violets with it immediately green, and precipitate a Solution of Sublimate into a Milky fubftance: but becaufe there came over with the Spirit into the lower part of the Receiver, a Salt in a dry form, which not onely was in Taft not unlike other volatile Salts, but was fo far from being of an acid Nature, that with an acid Men(lruum it readily fell to hide, and made an Ebullition. So that it feems (which in an Enquiry about Nitre is very confiderable,) that a Salt, very repugnant to Acids, may, by the Operation of the Earth and Air, be fo altered, as afterwards* by a flight ma- nagement to afford Salt-petre, whofe Spirit is highly acid. But of this Experiment I may hereafter make farther men- cion*
The
Itay hecome u/efulto Humane Li/em 7
The other> (which we elfewhere have oaafion more par- ticularly to cake notice of with Refle(5^ions on it) is briefly this. We cook Pot-afhes, which you know contains buc the Sale of burnt Vegetables-, and on thofe, firft dilTolv'd in a little fair Wacer^ we dropt Jcj: fortis (whofe Saline part confifts indeed of licde eife than the Spirits of Nitre,) till ail Ebullition and Hiffing betwixt It and the refolv'd Pot-afhes were perfectly ceas'd; and having filtrated this Liquor, and fet ic in an open VelTel in a gentle heat to evaporate, it did within two or three dayes after, (and foracrimes, for we made it more than once, even in a few hours, J being removed to a cold place, afford us very pure Ghryftals of Salt-pecre, as both their fhape,and flafliing (on live Coals) into a blew halituous flame, informed us< And fince I have had occafion to mention thellfeof Salt^petrein Husbandry, I fhall noc forbear to adde. That che knowledge which the Naturalift, asadifcerningChymifl, may give the Husbandman of the natures and di{lin<^ions of Saline Bodies, may be of no mean ufe to him, by affifting him to difcern and obferve the confiderableft differences of the various SaltnefTes to be found m Soiles, and what fort of SaltnefTe each particular Seed or Plant moft affeds. For by this means, noc onely ma^ ny Grounds might be made ufeful, which are thought bar- ren, onely by reafon of our not knowing for what Plants the Saltnefl'e predominant in them may be proper; but the fame Ground may yeild much frequenter Crops than commonly ic doth,when it vi fucceffively fow'd onely with one fort of S^td, by the due alteration of Plants delighting in the feve- ral forts of Salts,to be met with in that Ground-,which often- times, by being impoverifh'd, or rather freed from one fore of Salt, doth but the more plentifully feed thofe Plants thac delight in another: which in fome places we have obferv'd that Husbandmen Teem to have taken notice of already, by fowiog (infields too remote from their Dwellings to have
B Compofl
8 Hvw Experimental fhilofo[/hy
Compoft brought to themj Turnips, to fit the Ground for Wheat, and ferve for a Manure, though in this method fome other Circuno fiances maypoflibly concurr with the nature of Turnip- feed, to the preparation of the Ground for Wheat. And I am prone to think, that there is fcarce any Ground or Soile, (except perhaps meer SandJ that might not, even without much Culture, be made fertile,or at leaft kept from being altogether barren, if we were on the one handskiirdin thewayes of difcerning the Nature of the Ground ; and on the other hand acquainted with , and provided of, all the varietiy of Seeds and Plants that Na- ture has ( though not all in one Countrey ) afforded us. For there arc divers Soiles, which here in England^ or in other Regions, are, as ufelefTe, left quite uncultivac* ed 5 which , Seeds or Plants , that abound in other Countries ," and would probably be made to grow in thefe, would make ferviceable to the Husbandman. Many fteepand abrupt portions of Ground flome of them very large) expos'd to the Southern Sun,are left altogether waff, notonely in En^Und, but in divers hot Climates, where the planting of Grapes for Wine is not yet in ufc^ though fuch pieces of Land in Fra/ice and Kaly^ and fas I have obferv'd) even in the Rhctian Alpes» nourifh excellent Vineyards.
I know an ancient and Landed Gentleman, who commu- nicated to me upon his own knowledg an experienc'd wjy of making Wheat grow and profper well on meer Clay, where there was no Grain at all did thrive: which though 1 have not hitherto hal opportunity to try, yet upon the credit of a Perlbn fu fober and qualified, I fcruple not to mention it here, becaufe the Art confiflmg mainly in the Imbibition of the Seed for a determinate time in a certain cxprefs'd Oyl that is not dear^ it may make it probabIe,that without altera ingthewhole Soile by Manures, a flight, but convenient change made in the Seed it felf^ may ferve to make ibem He
for
May hecome u/eful to Humane Life^ 9
for one another. And ( to adde that upon the by) to fliew that the particular dilpofitions of fome forts of Seeds may enable them to make the Ground they arc fow'd in, much more produ(5tive than it would otherwjfe be, I (hall relate to you, that being not long fince in the Gompany of a Learned and Curious TravelJer,! faw, among forae Rarities of a quite other nature, an Ear or two of Corn, not ranch unlike our common Wheat, at which being fomewhat furprized, I askt him what peculiarity had procured that Grain admiflion among fuch Rarities? To which he replied. That in the warmer Region where he begg'd it of a Virtuofo^ one of chofe Grains would afford fovaft a multitude, as he wasalmoft a- iham'd to name, and I am more than almoft afraid to repeat: but before I went out of the houfe, an Englifh Gentleman, that had a more than ufual Curiofity for fuch kind of Trials, aflbr'd me. that having obtained fome Grains of that Corn, and carefully fow'd it in fome Land of his own, not far from the place we were m, he had out of a fingle Grain feveral Hundreds? though not near fo many of them, as the other Traveller, who yet was a very fober and judicious man,relat- ed to have been produced in a better Climate and Soile. Of this ftrangly prolifick Wheat,the Gentleman readily grant- ed me a promife of a (ufficient quantity to make a Trial, whereof, when I (hall have received it from a Servant of mine in the Countrey, You may command the Succefs. And this brought into my mind what I read in the Learned Tefu- » . ., ^ . , , ite Acepa^ who aftirms, that in divers parts of America^ asheispuMiiiic where tis known that our European Wheat profpers not^the >y ^unbx[. JndiAn {ox^^% many Engli^ have ftil'd it, Virginian) Wheat they call CMa/z docsfo Wonderfully thrive, that although the Stalk bear often more than one Clufter, and the Grain be bigj yet in fome Glufters he has reckoned feaven hundred grains: to which he addes, That it is not grange in thofe coun- tri(s tfi gather three hundred {Faneques^ cr) meafuresfor one
B 2 fown
to Hotp Experimental fhtlofophy
(orvn. Which paflages,erpecially the former, fpeak of an Tu- creafe that fcems fo Jittle Credible, that I ftiould on that ac- count forbear to mention it, were it not that in Europe^ and even in England^ I my felf have reckoned fuch a multitude of Grains upon one of the very numerous Ears producd by the famefingle Grain, that 1 found my lelfvery inclineable to abrdve Acofta, and continue to look upon him as one of the beft Writers of the Natural Hl^ork oi \^7nerfca.
We now proceed to take notice, that in fome Eaflern Countries, a fort of Rice (a Grain that makes the chief and moft ufual food of the Natives over almoft all thofe parts) profpers very well upon Land fo drencht with Waters, that Seeds- men, to fcatter the R ice^ do rather Wade than Walk. But this it felf ("which, for the main, wasconfi'm'd tome by Eye-witDefres)isIelI'eftrange, and doesleffe illuftrioufly confirm what 1 was propofing, than what the inquifitive Je- fuite Martini u^ z^xm^ to be thepradiceof fome (as well great as fmall; Countries in China^ where, in divers pbces • that are all the year under water, and would by our Europe' an Husbandmen be thought capababie of no other ufe,than that of Ponds or Lakes, the Chinen[es caft a certain Seed fo well appropriated to the place that is to receive it^ that though it fals not immediately on the Land but on the Wa- ter, cCothatonewouldthink they were not about to fowa Field, but bait a Pond for Fiflies)yet this Seedpbeing adapt- ed to the Soile it meets with at the bottom of the water, does fo well profper and ihoot up to the top, that in its pro- per Seafon the furface of the Water looks as frefh and ver- dent as a fruitful Meadow, and yeilds as rich a Crop. But for fear of digreffing,, I Avail, Pyrophiius^ proceed to tell you, that perh.psalfo Chymiftryjcfpecialiy in conjunflion with Hydroft^ticks,ra3y prove ferviceable to the ingenious Hus- bandman, by aCTifting him to difcover the kinds and degrees oiSaltoeiTes^thatareinieveral other Bodies that he much
dedl&
}/iay hecome ufefulto Humane Life. i i
deals with* I remember I have met with things farprizing enough, in examining fome forts of Earths by Diftillation, and by feveral Chymical Inftruments of Difcovery^ but though I have likewife had the Curiofity to diftill Dungs and Grain, and Fruits, and fome other Subjedls, wherewith the Husbandman is conver fan t, to obfcrve what kinds of Saline and other Liquors, and in what proportion, and of what ftrength, they could afford me; yet not having any Notes by me of the particular Trials, I fliall content my felf to have given you this hint of a new fort of Experiments in Husbandry, and fhall onely adde, as to Salts, That fince the fertilizing power of Dungs feems to refide in the Sali- no-fulphurcous part of them, (and the like I have by Chy- mical if rials found in Lime-, J a prcdical infighc into the dif- ferences and differing Operations of Salts (about which I elfewhere entertain you; may probably very much affift the Husbandman to examine the feveral Dungs, and other Compofts, (the knowledg of which is of great moment in his Art,; and to multiply, compound, and apply them skil- fully.
And as Chymiftrie, that is converfant about Fire-, foevet> Hydroftaticks and Hydraulicks, that teach us to make En- gines and Contrivances fbr the lifting up, and for the con- veying of Water, may in divers places be of no fmall ufe to the Husbandman. For not to mention what is done in fome more known parts of the Eaft, of the like nature with what I am going to mention, Martinitis informs us, That in one Province of cto^f whofe Name I remember not j they are fo curious to water their Fields of Rice, that they have upon the River excellent Mills fo made, as that great quan- tities of Water are continually r^is'd in Buckets, or other convenient VefTels, faflned to vaft Wheels driven by the ftrearo^ which watering- Mils (to add that notable Inftance upon the by) arc not (as our Eur of can Mills arc wont to be)
6xt
t 'i HOI0 Experimental fhito/ophy
fixt to one place, but built npon VefTels, with which they may remove theMill$,how great focverjrom place to place, as occafion requires. Nor is this Eaftcrn way of raifing Water by Wheels, (o as that it may be conveyed by conve- nient Channels to places many foot higher than the River, or other Receptacle of the Water that is to be diftributed, the onely way whereby the Hydraulift and Mechanician may aflift the Husbandman, fince he may confiderably do it by the Art of Libellation, or condu(5ling of Water upon the Ground. For the Improvement that may be made of Land by water, in Soils fit for that wdj of Culture^ may be far more confiderable than is yet wont to be taken notice of, fas indeed this Husbandry it felf is in many Countries both elfe where, and in England^ as yet unpradis'd. j 1 have had fomeLandsofmy own much better 'd bv being skilfully overflown, fo that when I obferv'd the difference, the Te- nant, though (by of acknowledging the utmoft Advantage, confefl to me, that he thought it yeilded him double the former Income. And a Gentleman of Quality of my Ac- quaintance! whofe Improvements I went lately to view, fhew'd me a Scope of Ground, which at his firff coming to that wild place (four or 5 years agoe) was boggifh,and which yet he had turn'd into a good dry Soyl, by onely trenching it here and there with fliallow Trenches of not a Foot deep, and overflowing it (by the means of thofe Trenches, and conveniently plac'd Dams) as evenly as he could 5* ^3 or 7 times a Year, betwixt the beginning of October, and about the middle of April with the Water of a neighbouring Spring, which was no way cnrich'd by Land-flouds, arifing but in a very barren and uncultivated place, far from the neighbourhood of Grounds capable of enriching it. and yet this Spring drain'd away (if I may fo fpeak) that Ancient Hydropical Diftemper of the Land, and turn'd it, as I found hy Trial, into a good compa(ft Soile, on which flore of
Mowers
May he come ujeful to Humane Life. i j
Mowers were (whenlfawit) imploy'd in making of Hay, which this Medowycilded plentifully enough to be worth 20 times its former value. Nor is this the iingle Confide- rablelnftaoce we have met with, of the Improvement that may be made of divers kinds of Land, onely by skilfully o- ver flowing them with common waters^
But, Pjroph, I may hereafter have fo many occafions to mention particulars relating to Agriculture, that I fhould prefently difmifle them in this Efl'ay, were it not that I am by my having nam'd Husbandry to you, put in mind to im- ploy It as an Inftance to confirm this Obfervation, That the morecomprehenfivc aTradeis , the more likely it is that it will be capable of being meliorated by Natural Phi- lofophie. For fuch Trades, as are of great extent, are ob- lig'd to deal with a confiderable number of Natures Pro- du(5tions, and to make ufe of divers of her Operations, and confcquently muft comprehend the more particulars>where- in the ManuMure or ProftlTion may be reform'd , and o- therwi^eadvantag'dbyaknowingand dexterous Naturalift. Thus the Husbandman's Corn makes it fit for him to have a competent skill /"» the whole Art of Tillage, the keeping of Cattle great and fmall, the ordering of Dairies,^/ Wood, £?/ Flax 4»^ Hemp, /?/ Hops, <?/ the Kitchen-garden, cf 2a Orchyard,<j/Bees, &c. befides that the particular Prociu(5fi- onsof fomeof thefe, as Honey, Cydar, &c. require fome skill, and are capable of much Improvement-, fo that airong fo great a variety of things wherewith the Husbandman has to deal, it can fcarce be otherwife than that there will be fe- veral things,wherein the Naturalift's higher and more reach- ing Knowledg and Experience will be ferviceable to him* And whereas in the Prefervation both of Cattle from Difea- fes, and ofthe Fruits of the Earth from Putrefadion, lieth one of the mod beneficial and difficult parts of the Husband- mans skill, he may tbereiobe much aflifledby an expert
Nft-
1 4 How V^xperlmental fhilofofhy
Nataraliftj whonotonely, by being able to accelerate Pa- trefa(5lion in divers Bodies, may teach the Hasbandman to furnifh himlelf with great variety of Compofts and Ma- nures, to relieve and enrich his Ground with what ever pe- c^iliar fort ot Salt he obferves to be deficient^ but alfo may teach him how to preferve many of his Seeds, and Flowers, and Fruits, beyond their wonted duration: as I know fome perfons, to whom I recommended Methods of this kind, that ufe to preferve Qginces, for Inftance, a great part of the Year, by aftrong Liquor (or Pickle) made of nothing but Water, and what (for the moft part refofe fluff) may bcea- fily obtained from the Qainces ihemfelves. This way pre- fented us Fruit at almoft the Years end 5 and a while fince I could have fliewn You (and,for ought 1 know, can do fo yet) Cherries well ihap'd, and fucculent enough, of above a Year old, prefer v'd without Salt or Sugar, by being kept in a fpi- rit of Wine fitted for that ufe, and fully impregnated before their immerfion with the Tin(5lure of the skins of other Cherries of the fame kind. The vaft Benefit that the Hoi' landers derive from the befl way of Salting or Pickling of Herrings, and the advantageous ufe that is made by others of fo powdering Beef, and ordering other Fleih, that twill laft good to the /»^/>x,and is fometimes brought uncorrupc- ed into thefe parts again, may perfwadcus ofthe Benefit that may accrue to the Husbandman, by the Difcovery of the wayes of keeping the Produ(ftions of the Earth from Corruption 5 efpecially if his skill be extended to weak Wines, Cidar, Perry, and other Liquors, which are wont to be made in great Quantities, and yet apt to decay at home, and unfit to be tranfported far abroad. And the ufe of Sugar CO ftrengthen vinous Liquors, and make them durables and , without the help of Salt or any fliarp thing, to preferve great variety of Fruits, and of the juices of Herbs, may en- courage us CO think, that there may be very differing wayes
Cand
yiay hecome u/eful to Humane L't/em i 5
fand fome of them feemingly oppofite)to make many things cutlaft their Natural periods of Duration.
But my Trials and Obfervations (whether about the con- fervingot Fruits, Flowers, and Fleih, or of other things of this fort) belonging more properly to another Difcourfe (of the Prefervaticn of Bodies)l (hall now mention no more of them>but pafTe on to tell you, that very much prejudice, which often happens to the poor Husbandman Cand fome- times even to his utter ruine) by thofe either ftabborn or contagious Difeafes, Cfuch as the Rot in Sheep , and the Glaundersin Horfes,} that make havock of his Cattel^may in great meafure be prevented by the inftru^iiions of a know- ing Naturalift, efpecially if he be an expert Phyfitian too« For, as many Difeafes, fo many Cures ate analogous ia Men and Beafts, and the Remedies prove frequently more fuccefsful in thefe than in them , as well for divers other Reafons, as bccaufe the Bodies of many Brutes are more a- ble to bear the Operation of ftrong Remedies-, and yet the unaccnftomednefs of almoft all of them to Phyfick, makes them more rehevable than Men by any (not improper) Re- medies. I will not now relate that I have in fome Countries found Medicines that have been ufefully tried againft Difea- fes in Men, cry 'd up for their efficacy againft their analogous ones in Horfesj nor with what difference in the Dofe thefe may be purg'd by feveral of the fame Catharticks, efpecial- ly Aloes, that are employed for the Purgation of humane Bodies. I (hall rather inform you, that #^ in thefe, Sale is Cyouknow) reputed a great refifter ot Corruption, and an Enemy to Worms , (with a fort of which the Livers and neighbouring VelTels of Sheep have been obferv'd to beintefted*,) \o by the bare ufe o{{SfAnifh) Salt, of which each Sheep, being firft made to bleed a little under the Eye, was made to take down a fmall handfuU two or three times (with fome dayes of Interval,) without being fuffer'd for
C fome
1 6 How Eoc[>ertmental Thilofo[/hy
fome hours to drink any thing after it: by this Remedy.I fay, given at the time of the Year when there is danger, that the Sheep will begin to be botcht, many Flocks have for divers Years been prefer ved by a rich intelligent Gentleman of my Acquaintance , that is a great Sheep- mafter, and has there- by (and that alfo lately) preferv'd his Flocks in a moift Countrey, when moft of his Neighbours loft theirs. I might here mention to you, Pyr. the Virtues of crude Anti- mony, to cure the foulnelTe of Blood,3nd even the Leprofy in Swine*, tf/ Quick filver, to cure the Worms in Horfesj cf Talviarius his famous Remedy,which he folemnly affirms to be a conftant one againft the Bitings of a mad Dog in Gat- tle 5 and cf a more parable one for Men alfo, whofe fuccefle I almoft admir'd in a neer Relation of Yours and Minej of the ufe of the AntimonialGup for feveral SicknefTes in Horf- cs and Sheep, which ^if I mif- remember not)was fuccesful- ly tried by one to whom I recommended it-, and ^/another Antimonial Medicine, which (though much commended to me by a Firtuofo that took it himfelfj a Gentleman of my Acquaintance refidcnt in the Countrey, who prepares it, zt furcsme,thathe ufes it with ftrange fuccefle to fatten his Horfes, (made lean by occafion of, SicknefTe,) with whom 3 et it works not, either as an Eth^plk, or a Purge. And I could here prefent you divers other Receipts much priz'd for their having (as well as the newly "Vhention d Remedies) fre- quently been found effectual againft the fame Difeafes both in Humane Bodies and in Brutes , if I did not think it lefle proper to make in this place a Veterinarian Excurfion, than to tell You, that, if You have any Curioficy for them, You may command them.
I might adde, if I had leifure, fome Reafons why I defpair not that in time the Husbandman may, by the Affiftance of the Naturalift, be able to advance his Profeffion by a The- rapeutical part^ which may extend Qoconety to the Animal
Produ-
May hecome u/tftd to Humane Life^ 17
produ(3:ions of the Ground, and to the Vegetable cnesj but fin a large reception of the Termj to the Diftempers of the G oun i it felf. For if the Caufes of the Barrennefs of Soils in general, and of their Indifpofition to cherifli particular Plants or Animals, were by the Philofopher's fagacity dif- cover'd , I fee not why many of thofe DefecSls may not be remov'd by rational Applications, and proper wayes of curej as well as wee fee Inconveniences remedied m many other inanimate Bodies,without excepting the clofc and ftubborn Metalline ones themfelves*
And perhaps alfo^that by a way of management fuggefted by the knowlcdg ofCaofes, the barrennefle of a Soil may be cured, or its Fertility much promoted by methods, that do nothing neer fo much require Coft as Skill. Some in- genious Husbandmen have of late proclaim'd themfelves much fatisfied with a way of corre^ing two of the barren'ft forts of Land, not by rich Mannres or other coftly cultures, but by skilfully mixing the Sand and Clay themfelves in a due proportion, according to the Ufe the Husbandman de- figns to make of it. And whereas one of the beft modern Writers of Agriculture reports, as he may, for a ftrange thing, that he had feen feven or eight and thirty Ears of Bar- ley that fprung from one Grain; I remember, that an Inge- nious Gentleman, to fatisfie fome Curious perfons what might be done in that kind, Jow'd Corn upon a piece of Land, very neer the place of my abode, which profper'd fo ftrangely, that one Root that I took particular notice of, though perhaps not the fruitfulleft in the field , produced fix- ty and oddc Ears of Corn, and yet, which was the ftrangeft, this wonderful Increafe depended upon a Philofophical Ob- fervationj nothing extraordinary having been done, either totheLandjOrfomuchastotheSeed; as I had opportuni- ty to know, both by the informations of obferving men, and by the confeflion of the Gentleman himfelf, who was
C 2 pleas 'd
i8 How Experimental fhllofophy
plea$'dto make choice of metointruft his Secret with, that in cafe he dyed before me, the publick might not loofe it. Upon which account he alfo confided to me another Speci- men of his skill. He once prefented your Excellent Mother a company of feveral forts of choice Apples, among which there was one fort excellently tafted, but very fmall; the following Year he prefented her another Basket of the like Fmit, but finding no fmalloncs among them, ihe took oc- cafion to ask him, What was become of the Tree that pro- duced thofe delicious little Apples, that made part of his former Prefent.? to which he replied, that he had brought feveral of its produdliOBS among the other Fruits ftie was looking on^ and thereupon fhew'd her fome that came from the fame Tree, and appeared by the peculiar Rellifli to be of the fame fort, though exceedingly differing in Bulk, that neither your Mother, nor I, had any fufpicion that the fame Tree bore them. Upon which occafion be readily gratified my Curiofity by acquainting me with his way, which de- pended almoft onely upon a Phyfical Obfervationj all that he added being not any rich Comport, but fome defpis'd Leavesofa very cheap and common Vegetable. But Hus- bandry is too large a fubjed for me to profecute in thisplace^ sod therefore I (liall here difmilTe it.
7'HB Til, SECTION.
n^He next thing I fhill obferve to You, Pyroph, is, that ^ tis not onely to the Trades th it minifter to the necelli- tics of Mankind, but to thofealfo thatferve for Man's ac- Gommodation or delight, that Experimental Philofophie may bring Improvements 5 forthefe Arcs alfo do for the moff part confift in the knowledg and application of fome of Natures Produiflions and courfes, whofe being referred ta the accommodation or delight of Men, rather than to any or
ther
May become ufefulto HnmaneLife, "jip
other purpofc, does prodace nothing that is truely Phyfical in the things fo referr'd, which thereby acquire onely fuch a kind of refpc(5l to M^n, as that which the Mecaphyficians call an Extrinfecal DenominAtions and we fee that the iame things, without varying their Nature, are ferviceable to men in very differing capacities: as Wine ferves one that is dry to quench his Third, ferves a fainting per fon to revive bis Spirits, and the Drunkard to inebriate him 5 the fame fpiri t of Wine that ferves the Phyfician to make Tin(5lure$ and Extra(5ls for the recovery of Health, may ferve the La- dies to difTolve Benjamin into a tini^ed Liquor, that diluted with fair Water, may be us'das a Cofmetick, which I have received many thanks for? and the fame Spirit skilfully in> ployed upon Ingredients to be nam'd to you ere long, is of cxcclientufefor making of divers fine Varnifhes made with rectify 'd fpiritof Wine-, nay the newly mentioned Solution of Benjamin may it felf be applied to all thofe differing ufes 5 for of it fell it is a pretty and odoriferous Varnifli,and I have us'd it Cihough not often, for want of opportunity j with very good fuccefs againft a fort of Tetters, which Icaus'd frequently to be bath'd with it. What happy applications Kn^wledg and Skill may make even of anpromifing things, to thefurnifliing men with Delights, is me thinks very evi- dent in Mufical Inflruments, (as Lutes, Viols,&c.) For who would think (if Experience d^id^ not affure us of it j that with a few pieces of Wood /oin'd together, and the Guts of Cats or Lambs wrcath'd or twifted into Strings, the skilful Mu- fitian, by the help of Mathematicks and Exercife, fhoold be able to charm the Ear with thegreateft, as wellas mofl in- nocentjDclights, the Senfe belonging to the Organ is capa* ble of, and which fometimes does not onely flcafe^ but rA- *vijh the tranfported Hearers, But though, Pjro^hilust as I was lately faying, Pbyficks may not onely be very improv- iag to thofe Arts and froteffions that fervc to provide man-
witU
1 6 Holo F xperhmntal fhil^fcph^
with the Nectflaries or Accommodations of Life, hut alfo to thofe that fervc chitflv co furnifh him with Plt.^^ures and Delights^ as might be inft^nc'dm Experiments of Colour- ing, Pertum'ng, making Sweet- meats of ail Sorts, embel- liihing the Face with Cofnleticks, and divers othtrs of the like voluptuous nature: and though I mayelfewhere have occafion , when I come to treat of Colours, Odors, Tafts, and other Qualities, to acquiintyou with fomt Receipts and Experiments of this kind, yet now I do not onely want lei- fure to mention them, but am defirous that Natural Philo- fophy fliould engage You to Court her, rather by Her gra- tifying andenamouring your Realon, than by Her bribing andinveaglingyour Senfes.
THE IF. SECTION.
nr Hough what has been reprefented about theUfefuInefle "*• of Experimental Philofophy to Trades, does chiefly belong to thofe, wherein Natures Produdions are Imployed to Humane Ufes, by thofe Operations wherein Nature her Self, rather than the Artificer, feems to have the chief hand, as the Trades of Brewing, Baking, Gardening,Tanning,5;c. ye 1 1 would not exclude thofe very Trades wherein the Ar- tificer feems to be the main Agent, and in whofe ultimate Pfodudions the chief thing, that is wont to be confider'd,is the adventitious Shape or Form, which the Artificer, as an intelligent and voluntary Agent, does, by the help of his Tools, give the Matter he works on, as in the Trades of the Smith, the Mafon, the Cutler fwhen diftini^from that of the Sword- maker,) the Watch-maker, and other Handi- crafts. For though thefe confift rather in the Manual dex- terity of Men, than the skilful ordering of the Produdlions of Nature, by their material Operations upon one another; yet to many, if not all, even of thefe, the Naturalift may fomeway or other be a Benefai^or* For
May lecome ujeful to Humane Life. 2 1
For tbere are divers of thefe Manual Trades, that, efpe- cially as they are exercis'd in Gities and greater Towns, confift of feveral parts , and have need of feveral other Trades to prepare Materials for them, and difpofe them to receive the laft Form which the Artificer is to give them, to fie them for Sale. And we may in many cafes obferve, that though this Artificer, that gives the Matter this laft Form, does it chiefly with his Hands and his Tools^ yec thofe other Tradefmen, to whom he is beholding for his Materials, do fome or other of them, to prepare and quali- fie them for his Ufe, need (ome Obfervations of the condi- tions of the Body they deal with, or muft imploy fome Phyfica! Operations, wherein they may be much affifted by the knowing Naturalifl, who may alfo teach the manual O- perator hlmfelf how to make choice of his Materials, and examine the goodnefl'e of thofe that fubordinate Work- men (hall bring him. Thus though Stone- cutting be a Trade, that feems to confift almoft wholly in giving, with proper Tools, to Marble, Free-ftone, and other Materials, the Shape which the Artificer defignesj yet,if I had leifure, 1 could eafily fliew You, that even in this Trade there are many particulars, wherein Experimental Philofophie might be helpful to the Artificer. For wayes , hitherto unus*dj_ may be found out (as I have partly tried j to examine the nature and goodneffe of the Marble, Alabafter, and other ftones which the Mechanicks deal with. A competent know., ledg of the Sap that is to be found in Stones imploy*d for Building, is of fo much importance, that the experienc'd M"^ Workmen have confeft to me. That the fame fort of Stone, and taken out of the fame Qiiarry, if digg'datoneSeafon, will moulder away In a very few Winters; whereas digg'd at another Seafon, it will brave the Weather for very many Years, not to fay. Ages: (but of my Obfervations of this kind more elfewhere.; The Cements alfo, and Stoppings
2 1 How 'Expirimen'tal ^hilofo^lj
(zs they call them) which are of good ufe in this Trade^ may be eafily better'd by the Naturalift that is vers'd in fuch Mixtures. And I remember I had occaiion to teach a Hne Cement for the rejoyning of the broken Limbs of Statues to their Bodies, to an inquifitive Artificer, who by fucb like helps did in other cafes fo well counterfeit Marble with a Cement^that even where there wasoccafion to fill up great Cavities with it, the work would palTe for entire; the Ad- dicamenrs being not diftinguifhc from the Natural Marble. Want of Curiofity alfo keeps our Stonecutters here in j?»^/4»^ unacquainted with the ways of working upon Por- phiry , which they will not undertake either to poliili or to cut. Nor is England the onely Countrey where the Art of working uponPorphiry f which appears to have been in great ufe amoogfl the Ramans) is unknown, though at Rome there are fome tew that do with great Gain exercife it. And though I know not precifely what tis they imploy, yet I prefume it may be Powder of Emery: for with That and Water, and Steel- fa ws, I have herein England cmkd a Por- phireftonetobecut. And the mention of Porphire puts meinmindof telling You, that by an Art I have, white Marble may be fo ftain'd, and that durably, with Spots great or fmall, and red or brown, as it pleaseth the Artificer, as I may hereafter have occafion more fully to relate. Twonld be too long to difcourfe to you here of Artificial Marble, and divers other things that Stone-cutters affirm to belong to their Trade, wherein you will fcarce doubt,but that it may be capable of improvement. Wherefore I fhall onely adde, that whereas this Profeffion does much require very good Steel- tools, and they vnuft have thefe from Smiths, and o- thcrs that deal in Iron, if thefe Mens Trade were better'd by the Naturalift, they might be able to afford the Stone- cutter the better tempetM Tools: and that even the Smiths Craft, though it fcems to be raeerly a Manual Art, is yet
ca-
\tay hecome ufeful to Humane h'tfe^ i j
capable of much melioration by the knowlei^gof Nature, were not difficult to manifeft, if t were proper here to infift on the Proofs of it; yet thus much I (hall here take notice of to confirm this IV. Obfervation, That not onely the Phi- lofopher may, as a Mineralift and a Mechanician, improve the wayes of making Iron and Steel, before they come to the Smiths handjbut likewifemay devife better Expedient? , than are among us inufejfor the ordering of Iron and Steel, when it comes to be formed into Weapons and Tools. The Sword- blades, and other Arms, that are made at Damafco , are very famous every where, and Cas far as fome Trials have informed us) juftly for their excellency in cutting even Iron. And yet it feems to be onely the skill of the Artificers in or- dering it, that gives the Swords and other Inftruments made at Darf>afco, fo great a preheminence above others. For though the goodnefle of them have been prefum'd to pro- ceed from that of the Iron- mines, and Steel, peculiar to the Region of that City i yet the judicious 5^/7^;;//^ , having made particular Enquiry at his being there, informs us o- a^^'//'"'!-? ' "^' therwife, and tels us, that Iron and Steel, being brought thi- cap.l\, ' * *" ther from other parts, (the Countrey having no Mines of it j receives there from the skill of the Workmen its Temper and Perfc6lion. And I fee not why I may not reafonably fuppofe, that in the tempering of Steel, tis not onely the goodnefle of the Mo^ ^d the determinate degree of Hear, though thefe be thewflfly things Artificers are wont to look after, that give the b^ftT^nper; but that much may de- pend upon the Nature of the Liquors , or other Bodies, wherein the hot Steel is plung;*d, and upon other wayes of ordering it, if thofe be skilfully chofen and imployed- I have had a Graver fo well teraper'd, (but by whom I know notj that all the known wayes us'd by me and others, f who wondered, as wellasi, attheunfuecesfulnelle of our Endea- vours, j could not deprive it of its Temper, as they would
D have
14 H^ Experimental Thllofoifhy
have done any Gravers that we make here 5 and twas after* wards affirm'd to me, that it was made of Steel temper'd at D4mafc0-
I may elfewhere tell You, Fyophilus^ both of a way I have tried, of hardening Gravers, without quenching them in any Liquor or Tallow, or any other Un(5tuous Body-, and that having perfwadedan Ingenious Artificer to try an un- pradlic'd way ot tempering Gravers, hefoon after brought meonetofeethegoodnefleofit, which , by being plung'd in a certain cheap Mixture , (wherewith I may hereafter ac* quaint You) had been harden'd and temper'd at once: which though moft Artificers would think fcarce poilible, yet up- on the Authority of Trial, I (hall venture to deliver what fome may think as ftrange, namely. That though Ignition andExtindion in cold Water, be the common and known way to harden Steel (Gravers,) yet by that way, onely ob« ferving precifely a Nick of Time,Steel may be made ftrang» ly Soil* But of this more elfewhere. 1 (lull now adde. That having enquir'd of one of the Curioufeft, and moft obferving Makers of Steel-Tools , whether he did not find a difference in the imploying of Pump-vvater,or River- water in giving them their Temper, he fatisfied me that he did fo-, and obferv'd the former to be fitter for fome forts of Tools, and the later for others. There may be divers o- iher Particulars, wherein Iron and Steel may be improved by theNaturalift. The firft may be this: that the Metal berendcr'd fo fof t, as to be, by the helpofftrong Moulds, put into Shapes. This an Eminent and credible Artificer af- fur'd me, he hud often feen his Mafter do to Iron, with con- fiderable profit. Or eUe it may be made fufible like an o- ther Metal, as I remember I have (fometimes with acert^n Plux' powder, which I composed, it I much forget not, of Tartar, Sulphur, and Arfenick) made it run, even with a Charcoal fire, into 3 M^ffe exceeding hard, and very polifh-
able.
]^ay lecome u/eful to Humane Life^ 2 5
able. A third way may be this: That it be fo ordered, as to be preferv'd very long from Ruft, which an Ancient Firtu- efo, who had purchased the Secret of a rare Artirt, for a great Prince, and ufed to (hew his Friends Steel fo prepar'd, af- far'd me was done chiefly by tempering it in Water well impregnated with the Bark of a certain Tree. In a word. there may be divers other wayes whereby Iron or Steel themfelves, or their Trader that imploy them, may be me- liorated; andtoadde, that on this occafion there are many and very differing accounts, upon which a Trade or Profeflfi- on may be benefitted by the Experimental Philofopher: tor he may either find out variety of Materials wherewith to perform the things defired by the Traderman,ffr he may ren- der thofe Materials that are already in ufe, better conditi- on'd; <>r he may di fcover and reform the unheeded Errors and Miftakes to be met with in the Trade; or he may devife more eafie and compendious wayes of producing the Effe<5l that is required; ^rhe may improve fome of the auxiliary TradeSjOf which the Trade fpoken of has need or ufe; cr he may inflru^ the Artificer to choofe, and examine , and prefeive his Materials and Tools, better than is ufual , er can make the ultimate Produ(aions of his Trade fooner, or cheaper, or eafier, or better conditioned, or applicable to more Ufes, or more durable, than they are commonly made. Nor are thefe all the particulars that might here be enume- rated to the fame purpofe, if this I V^ Confideration had not detain'd us coo long already.
THE r. SECTION.
'T'He Naturalift may increafe the Power and Goods of "■• Mankind upon the account of Trades, not onely by meliorating thofe that are already found out, but by intro- ducing new ones, partly fuch as are in ao abfoloce fenfe mi9'
D a Ij
26 How Experimental ^hilofophy
/y invented^ and partly fuch as are unknervn in thofe places, into which he brings rhem into requeft. For twere injuri- ous both to Nature and to Man, to imagine that the Riches of the one, and the Induftry of the other are fo exhaufted, but that they may be brought to afford new kinds of Em- ployments to the hands of Tradefmen , if Philofophical Heads were ftudioufly imployed to make Difcoveries of them. And here I confider^that in many cafes a Trade dif- fers from an Experiment, not fo much in the Nature of the thing, as in its having had the luck to be applied to Humane Ufes, or ^7 a Company of Artificers made their BafinelTe, in order to their Profic; which arc things Extrinfecal, and Accidental to the Experiment it felf. To illuftrate this by an Example, the fljfliing Explofion made by a mixture of Nitre, Brimftone, and Charcoal, whilft it part not further than the Laboratory of the Monk , to whom the Invention is imputed, wasbutanExperimen-. ; hut when once the great(thoughunhappy)Ufe that might be made of it, was taken notice of, and Mechanical people refolv'd to make ic their Profeffion and buflnelTe to make Improvements and Applications of it 5 this (ingle Experiment gave Birth to more than one Trade: As namely, thofe of Powder- makers. Founders of Ordinance, Gunners (both for Artillery and Mortar- pieces,) Gun-fmiths-, under which name are com- priz'd feveral forts of Artificers, as the makers of Muskets, imall Piftols, common Barrels, fcrew'd Barrels, and other varieties not here to be infifted on.
The Difcovery of the Magnetical Needles property to refpedthe Poles, has given occafion to the Art of making Sea- Compa{Tes,as they call them, which in London is grown to be a particular and diflin(5l Trade. And divers other Ex- amples may be given to the fame purpofe, efpecially where Mechanical Tools and Contrivances cooperate with the Difcovery of Natures Produi^ion. So that oftentimes a
very
i^fay lecome ufefulto HumaneLtfe, ij
very few Mathematical Speculations , or as kvt Phyfical Obfervations, being promoted by the contrivance of In- ftruments and the pra^ice of Handi- crafts men, are turn'd into Trades; as we fee that a few Dioptrical Theories light- ing into Mechanical hands, have introduc'd into the World the Manifadures of SpetStaclcmakers, and of the makers of ihofe excellent Engines, Tclefcopesand Microfcopes.
The ob(erving,that though Quick-filver will Amalgame with Gold (and thereby feem to be deftroyed, (which made Tltn-j think it an Enemy to Metals,) yet it may be feparated from the Gold again without diminution of that noble Me- tal ) has brought forth the Trade of Guilders, whofe Art con- fifts chitfly in mixing,by the help of a competent heat, good Gold with five, fix, or feven times its weight of Quick- fil- ver, till the mixture come of fuch a confidence that they may fpread it as they pleafe upon the Silver or Copper to be guilt. For having by this means overlaid it evenly with Gold, they can eafily with fire force away the Mercury? and with a liquor impregnated with Nitre, Vcrdigreafe, Sal Ar- tnoniack, and other Saline Bodies , which they call a Co- lourifh, reftore its luftre to the remaining Gold, which the/ after make bright by polifhing.
The almoft obvious and trivial Obfervation made hf fome fagacious perfon (whoever it was) that a Spring was a Phy ficaUcontinual and durable Power or Force, and the Co- rollarie he thence dtdwdd^thatthis Force^ skilfuUj applied^ tnight be eqttivAUnt to the Weights that were thought nea (J ary to wove the wheels of Clocks: thefe Reflexions, 1 fay, join'd with a Mechanical Contrivance, prodac'd thofeufeful little Engines, Watches, that now afford a plentiful Livelihood to fo many dexterous Artificers; which though Cuftome has made familiar to «^, yet were unknown to the Ancients, and highly priz'd and admir'd in China it felf, when firft (ia thelaft Centurj) brought thither. The Difcovcry of the
virtue.
iS Hof^ V.^permental fhilofophy
v\xt\XQO^K^qttdfortis todiflblve Silver and Copper with- out working upon Gold, added to the Obfervation, That Lead melted with either of the two noble Metals, and thea iorc*d from them by Fire, will carry away with it any of the bafer Metals that may have been mixt with them 5 Cthefe two particulars, I fay j have begot in later Ages the Art of the Refiners we now have.
Mens having obferv'd the Operations of fome Lixivioms, Claies,and a few other familiar things upon the Juice of the Sugar-Cane, hasnotonely occafion'd the adding of the Culture of thofe Reeds to the other parts of Husbandry left us by the Ancients; but has produc'd the feveral Trades of Sugar- boilers, or makers of Sugar, Refiners of Sugar, and Gonfe(5liOners: not to mention the great addition the con- creted Juice of the Sugar- Cane brings to the Apothecaries Profeffion, upon the fcoreof Syrups, Confer ves, Eledua- ries, and other Saccharine Medicines. Nay, a very flight manual Contrivance or Operation, if it light fortunately, may fupply men with a Trade, as in the Art of Printing. To which I (hall onely adde, that in china, and fome other Eaft- ern parts,the lucky Trial that fome made to bore very fm jII Holes through Porcellaneox China Cups, and employ very flender Wire in ffead of Thread or Silk , has given being to the vulgar Trade of thofe people that go up and down in thofe Countries, as Tinkers do with us, getting their Live- lihood by fewing together the pieces of crackt or broken PorceUane Veflels: as I have been informed by more than one credible Perfon that liv'd in the Eaft,3nd had Experience of the ufe of Cups fo mended, though fiU'd with Liquors as hot, as they are wont in the Eafl to drink their Coftee and
The mention frefhiy made of China, brings into my mind. That whereas the knowledg of fome Gums and Liquors in that Countrey, afforded them thufe ufeful^ as well as mod:
beaatifuU
May heeome ujeful to Humane Life. j 9
beautiful, Varniflies, which we call by the name of the King- dom that fupplics us with them5and which do both there,& inJJ^f i^jimploy multitudes of TradefmenJ am credibly in- form'd, that the Art of making the like Varniih'd Wares, is now begun to be a Trade at tariSy and I doubt not but ic will ere long be fo in London too. For though fome Ac- counts, that were given me by Virtuoftoi that Varnifli, were fuch, that the Trials of them did very ill anfwer ExpeiSati- on-, yet having read in Linfchotens Voiages, that in China, and fafan they make this excellent Varnifli of Gum Lucca^ I found by fome Trials, that I was able to imitate one of the beft forts of it, by dilTolving the Gum in high rciSified Spi- rit of Wine, and then giving it a Colour, and laying it on itt ^^^ ,/-,; .^pp. j,, fuch a manner as I may have ere long a fitter occafion to in- iht v. Bjj'ay, form You.
And without much impropriety , I might alleadg the Art of cultivating and gathering Sugar-Canes , and of ordering their JuicCjas a recent Inftance of the tranfplant- ing of Arts and Manifadlures. For, as I am inform'd by ve* ry credible Relations, there are not yet very many years ef- flux'd, (ince, in our memory, a Forreigner accidentally bringing fome Sugar-Canes, as Rarities, from Braftlinio EfsropCi and happening to touch at the Barbadocs^ an Englifli Planter that was Curious, obtained from him a few of them, together with fome Hints of the way of cultivating and ufc- ing them. Which , by the Curiofity and Induftry of the Effglifh Colony there, were in a fhort time Co well improved, that that fmaltlfland became, and is dill, the chief Store- houfe that furniflies, not onely England^ but Europe with Sugars. And this Inftance I the rather mention, becaufe ic is alfo a very notable one, tofliew, how many Hands, the lntroda(5tioa of one Phyfico- Mechanical Art may fet on work; (ince I have had particular opportunity to learn by Enquiry, tbatthe Negrosst or, as they call them, Blacks ^ liv- ing
20 »JJow Experimental fhllofo^hj
ing as Slaves upon that fpot of Ground, and imploy'd al- moft totally about the planting of Sugar-Ganes and mak- ing of Sugar, amount at lead: to between five and twenty and thirty thou fandperfons. And that you may fee how Lucriferous in that place this fo recent Art of making Su-: gar is, not onely to private men, but to thepublickj I ihall adde, that by divers intelligent and iober perfons interefted in the Barhadoes (and partly by other wayes j I have been inform'd, That there is, one Year with another, from that little HI and, which is reckon'd to be (liort of thirty Miles in. length, (and fo I found it,by meafuring iz on one of the lair- eft and recenteft Maps,; fhipt oft for £;?^/4;z^ (efpecially,) ten thoufand Tun of Sugar, each Tun being eftimated at two thoufand Pound weight , which amounts to twenty Millions of Pouncis of that Commodity; which though it may feem fcarce credible, yet one of the Antient Magiftrates of thatlfland lately afTur'd me, that forae Years it affords a much greater quantity.
I fhall notfortifie what I have hitherto difcours'd with Particulars, that will elfe where more properly fall in-, it be- ing lufficient for my prefent purpofe, that the Inftances al-^ ready mention'd may render it probable, That the Expert' ?n^ntal philefofher may not omlj Improve Trades y but Mut^ tiply them^ till I have occafion in the Lift Eftay of this Book, to make it out more fully. Nor do I defpair, that among other wayes whereby Trades will be increased, one may be the retrieving fome of thofe that were anciently pra(5tic'd, and fince loftj of which we have a Catalogue in the Learned Tancirollus. For as tis the skilful Diver's work, not onely to gather Pearls and Coral that grew at the bottom of the Sea, and ft ill lay conceal'd tberej but alfo to recover fhip- wrack'd Goods, that lay buried in the Seas that fwallowcd them up: fo tis the work of the Experimental Philofopher, aoc onely to ^iv^ into the deep RccefTes of Nature , and
thence
May hecome ujeful to Humane Life. 5 f
thence fetch up her hidden Richesj but to recover to the ufe of Man thofe loft Inventions, that have been fwallowcd up by the Injuries of Time,8nd lain buried in Oblivion. This I do not fay altogether groundlefly, though for feme Rea- fons I here decline mentioning the things that induc'd me to fay it.
THE ri. SECTION.
^O what has been hitherto faid, I fliall venture to adde, ■* not onely that the fagacious Philofopher may better moftofthe Trades that are already in ufe, and adde to the number of Mechanical ImpIoymentS; but that I am apt to think it might without much Hjperbok be affirmed, that there is not any one ProfelTionor Condition of Men fpcr- haps (carce any fingle Perfon of Mankind) that may not be fome way or other advantag'd or accommodated, if all the Truths difcoverable by Natural Philofophie, and the Ap- plications that might be made of them, were known to the Perfons concern'd in them- So that befic'es thofe Dif«ove« ries that are compil'd or formed into Trades, there are, and may be, found, a multitude of loofe particulars, whereby the Naturalift may much gratifie and aflift men^ according to the exigency of particular occafions. The nature of the thing ivill fcarce permit me to illuftrate fo unlikely an Aflertion, without imploying inftanccs in themfcives trifling, if not defpicable-, of which I will therefore give you but a few,be- caufe it they were not pertinent to my prefenc purpofe, they would be fitter to divert, than inform, You,
I had, not long fince, the honour to be known to a very great Court -Lady, who was much troubled, that having frequent occafion to write Letters, (he could fcarce handle a Pen without blacking her Fingers with Ink-, I fmilingly un- dertook to make her write without Ink ^ which I my felf was formerly wont to doe, by firft preparing my Paper with
E a
ji How E^perhnentaWhilofoi/hy
a Powder made of Copperas, flightly calcin'd upon a Firc- fliovel till it grow friable, and Galls, and Gum-Arabick finely pulveriz'd, and exquifitely incorporated with the Vi- triol in a certain proportion; which though a few Trials will better teach than Rules, Cbecaufe according to the Goodnefs and Calcination of the Vitriol, the proportion of the other Ingredients muft fomctimes be varied,) yet to afTift you in your firft GuefTes, I fhall tell You, that (for the mod part) I ufcd ray felf 5 parts of calcin'd Vitriol, 2 parts of Galls, and I part of Gum- Arabick, and mixt them not before! was ready to im ploy themj for this Powder being with a Hares foot, or any other convenient thing, carefully rubb'd into the Paper, and theloofer Duft (truck off, doth,without difcolouring it, fo fill its Pores with an Inky mixture, that as foon as it is written upon with a clean Pen, dipt in water. Beer, or fuch other Liquors, the Aqueous part of the Li- quor difTolving the vitriolate Salt, and the adhering particles of the Galls, makes a legible BlacknefTe immediately difco- ver it felf on the Paper. This mention of Writing brings into my mind, that fcveral times having bad occafion to make a Word or two, that was but lately written, look as if it had been written long before, I performed it, by lightly moiftening the Words I would have to look old, with Oyl of Tartar per deliquium allay 'd with more or lefTe fair Wa- ter, according as I defir'd the Ink (hould appear leffe or more decayed: which Experiments may be often ufeful in Manu- fcripfs, to keep the recent interlineations, or other Additi. onSjfrom betraying themfelvesby their freflinefs not to have been written at the fame time with the reft of the Manu- fcript.
And the Defignlhad in making ufe of the lately menti- oned Powder of Galls and Copperas, puts me in mind of a-j nother way of writing without Ink, (and too without dan- ger of blacking ones Fingers or Linnen J which I remember '"■- •" ■ "" "'■ I
May hecome u/eful to Humane L//^. 5 5
I have pra6iisM fometimcs with one Powder, and fometimes with another* For confidering that common Silver being rubb'd upon Bodies, whofe Surfaces are a little rough, and even upon coloured Cloath the Metal would leave a Black- neileon it,twas eafie to conclude, That it the furface of the white Paper were afperated by a multitude of irregular Grains of a Powder as white as it, wolild retain a Blacknefle wherever a blunt Silver Bodkin (hould be drawn over the grating Particles: and accordingly I found, that either ex- quifitely calcin'd Harts.horn, or clean Tobacco-pipes, cr Cwhlch is better than that) Mutton- bones (taken between the Knuckles, and j burnt to a perfect WhitcnefTe, being finely powder'd and fear f'dj and well lubb'd upon Paper, would make it fie to be written upon with the point of a Sil- ver Table- book pin, or Bodkin of Silver Cwhich Metal is not abfolucely necefTary in this cafe,) as well as that which is called Mathematical Paper, (if the being prepared with one, or other of thefe Powders do not make it the fame.)
And now I am upon the mention of fuch Preparations of Paper, I remember , that I was once in a place where I could get . no white Leaves > to fupply a fine Table- book that I had much ufe for •, nor could I hear of any Tradefman in the whole Countrcy, that knew the way of making fo much as ordinary Table-books: wherefore I be- thought my felf of trying to make fomething by way o(fuC' cedamum, which fucceeded at the firft attempt. And though there may be better wayes to make white Table- books, yec perhaps you will find none more fimpleandeafiei the two onely Ingredients we had in iu being to be had at every A- pothecaries Shop. I onely take Ccrufs, rubb'd to very fine Powder, fwhich is done in a trice) and temper it Op with fair Water glutted with clear Gum- Arabick. With this mix- ture (being brought to the confiftence of a fomewhat thick Salve/ I rub over the Paper I prepare, putring on more or
E 2 klTe
'ij4 How Experimental fhilofophy
leffe according as I would have it laft., and having fufFer'd ic to dry (which it will quickly do) it may, if there be occafi- on, be prelently us'd with the point of a Silver-pin, which will make the Letters appear very confpicuous upon a Mix- ture, that does not at all impair the Whiteneffe of the Paper; and what was thus written I could, with Spittle or Water, blot out three or four times fucceffively without fpoiling the Pjper. Which queftionlelfe had been much better pre- pared,if divers Couches of the mixture had been laid on and fuffered each to dry, and if after wards the Paper had been fmoothed by being fcrap'd with a Knife, and poliQit.
A very ingenious Artificer, who had contriv'd an Inftru- ment ufeful to others, and profitable to himfelf, whereof an abfolutely necelfary part was a Giafs fiU'd with fair Water, and exadly ftopt, complained to me, that though his Inftru^ ment did exceeding well in all buc Frofty weather, yet then it was apt to be fpoil'd by the freezing of the included Li- quor , which too often broke the Glafs. Whereupon I taught him to remedy it, by fubftituting in ftead of Water good fpirit of Wine, which has not in our Climate been ob- lerv'd to freeze^ or rather (becaufe in his bigger Glafl'cs that Liquor would be chargeable) either Sea-water ftrengthned with a little Salt, or elfe common Spring- water with a twen- tieth, or at moft a tenth part part of Salt difTolv'd in it. For though this Brine look Cifwell madejas clear as common Water, yet I have not obferv'd , that the fliarpeft of our Engliih Winters would make it freez-
To a Perfon of Quality, that was very Curious of the way of writing fecretly, I undertook to teach an eafie way (which after 1 knew it , I found alfo in an old printed Book) of fend- ing a written Meilage, without putting it into the power of the Bearer to betray itj which 1 could eafily have performed my felf, if the mefiage were to be delivered in a (hort time, and not too far off, by writing on his Back, or other conve- nient
3/<yi lecome ufefulto HtimaneLife, j 5
nlent part of his Body, with a clean Pen dipt in my own U- rine, f there being feme Urines with which I have found, to my wonder, that the Experiment would not fucceedj For if he that receives the Meflage rubs but a little of the black fubftance remaining of Paper after it is burnt, thofe Sable parts adhering to thofe other of the Liquor, that lurk yec in the pores of the Skin Cwhence if the Mcffenger went faft, and very far, the Sweat would probably diflodg them) do denigrate all that was written, and make it legible enough, fometimes as I have tried after many hours.
I remember too, that intending one Summer to make fome abode at a houfe I had in the Countrcy, I fent for from London^ among other things, a quantity o\ Djmask Table* Linnen^ with which he that fent it mejinconfiL^eratcly packc up a great pot of a certain Confedion, which for fome pur- pofes I had caus'd to be made of the Pulp of Sloes, which, by agitation of the Horfe it was carried on, being brought to ferment, and run out of the broken Pot , ftain'd all the new Damask from the top to the bottom. At which an old Domeftick of mine (whom you remember very wellj Teem- ing much troubled bccaufe he had fent for it, to convince him that Experimental Philofophy was not altogether ufe- lelTe, I fteept the ftain'd Linnen, for fome convenient hours, in new Milk, and afterwards caufing it to be throughly and diligently wafli'd in the like Liquor, the Damask came forth unftain'd, and almoft as white as It.. What Urine, if duely Cand long enough^ imployed, may do to take Stains (even of Ink j out of Linnen » is but to be hinted in this places where I might adde, that with y?r(7;?g fpirit of Salt, where- with I moiften'd,as often as was needful, the fpotted places (fiift wetted with fair Water,")! have out of new Linnen ta- ken fpots of Ink (efpecially frefli ones^ of very differing fizes, without leaving Cafterihe Linnen was well wafhtouc in fair Water) any of thofe yellow Stains which many call Iron-MoUs^ "" '"^ Some
J 6 Ho'%> V.xp~enmintal fhitofophy
Some Ingenious Perfons, that deal much In Lixivmms and Brines, complaining the other day»that befides that they could not fometimes eafily come at an Egg, to try, by its finking or floating, the ftrength of the Saline Liquors they would examine, there needed a good quantity of the Liquor tomakefucha Trial in? I allow'd their complaint to be juft, and the rather, becaufe lobferve, for nicer Eftimates of the ftrength of Liquors, the Trial by Eggs is uncertain enough, in regard that even the fame Egg will, as I have found, by being kept grow lighter, whence ftale Eggs have ufually agreat Cavity fthat feems fill'd onely with Air) at the bigger end; and f told them, to omit the more Artifi- cial, but more difficult, wayes of examining fuch Liquors, I fometimes us'd a way, whereby I could try the ftrength of the Lixiviums made with Chymical Salts, though I had not above a Thimbleful of the Liquor , and this with a Body that will not eafily waft like an Egg, (and therefore may be kept.; For I fubftituted, in ftead of the Egg, a fmall piece of Amber, about the bignefte of a Pea, which in a very ftrong Solution of Lixiviate Salt, will , as I let them fee, fwim on the top, but fink in a weak one* And as you may take a piece of Amber lefte or bigger than a Pea, as beft fits your occafions, and need not beat all fcrupulous about the figure, ('provided the Amber be once well duckt in the Li- quorO fo it is fome convenience that two pieces of Amber, whereof the one is far more reddi(h,and the other paler, will be, as far as I have tryed, of fome what differing Specifick Gravities, fo that the one will flote in fome Liquors, where- in the other will fink.
I remember I was once in a Countrey, where I had a great mind to try fome things with Damzick Vitriol, or fome o- ther blew Copperas, but by reafon of the Wars could not poffibly procure any, though there were in that Countrey a place, where Green Vitriol was made by the help of Iron;
wtieretore
May hcome ufeful to Humane Life. g y
wherefore getting fome of that Liquor which the Raia had wafh'd from the Copperas ftones, I did, by putting into it a convenient quantity of Copper reduc*d into fmail parts, make the newly mentioned Liquor ferve for a Menftruam to work upon the Metal, and by exhaling the Solucion to a dew confiftence, I obtain'd the Blew Venereal Vitriol I de- [ired. And the like, I doubt not, may be done with fuch of thofecommon Green Vitriols made of Iron, wherein the Saline part is not too much fatiated with the Martial.
An ingenious and well known Perfon , that is a great Dealer in Cider, coming to vifit me, and exprcfling a gieac defire to be able to make fome that would be ftronger, and thereby likelier to keep longer than the ordinary way, I ex nmfore dire<fled him to an unufual courfejfor which he after- wards came to give me lolemn Thanks. The way was to take the ftraincd Juice of Apples, and in lo or 12 Gallons thereof to deep for 24 hours (more or le(re)about two Bu(h* els of the fame kind of Apples grofly bruifed-, the Apples being lightly exprefT'd, the Intulion was (with frefli) repeat- ed once more, (care being to be taken , that the Infufion be not made too ftrong and thick, which may hinder the feafon- able Clarificacion of the Liquor.)
It was not perhaps difficult to mend this Prefcription,' but I give you the Account of it, as I received it from him, becaufe he afTur'd me that none of his many Trials had fur- niftied him with Cyder fo well Bodied » and fo much ap- plauded. The Cautions that belong to this Pra^ice , and the various Applications that may.be made of this way of making Vinous Liquors of Fruits, without AdditionsCfo much as of Water,; bylnfufion, and the varyings of the Experiment according to particular Cafes, I muft not here flay to mention.
It was not long (ince, that accidentally Rummaging in a dark place, where I had not of a loDg time been^ and where
UQ-
28 FJowTjy:}irim'cntalfhilofcpJ?j
unknown to mc forae Chymical Glafles, negligently ftopt; and not written on, had been put; one of them falling down made two or three great Stains in the confpicuoufeft part of a new Suit 1 had then onj and would have oblig'd me to leave it off, but that judging by the nature of the Stain that twas made with fome acid Spirit, I trycd, by fmeiling to them, whether among the other Bottles one or other had not fome Urinous or otherlike Spirit-, and lighting on a Liquor^which though I knew not what it was, I guefs'd by the Stink to a- bound with volatile Salt, I bath'd the ftain'd parts well with it, and inatricereftor*d them to their former Colour. And by a like way I have prefently remedied the Difcolorations made by fome (harper and fretting Liquors, of dy'd Gar- ments of other forts and Materials, which thofe Biemifhes would elfe have rendred altogether unfit for wearing.
Another time difcourfing with a States-man of the wayes whereby well- meaning Perfons may be injur'd and defara'd> I undertook, that out of a Parchment- writing with his hand annext, I would take out all that was written above his Name, without fpoiling or disfiguring the Parchment, on which I would afterward write what I pleafedjand whereby I might make People believe that he had acknowledged un- der his Hand fuch things, as never came into his Thoughts. And to fatisfie him of the pofTibility of this, I did in a few Minucs take oft from the Parchment all that was written on it. Without defacing the Parchment. Some attempt to free Paper from what is written upon it with ^^quafortiSy but that by difcolouring the Paper, makes men apt to lufpecS fome intended Deceit. And for the true way of performing fuch an Effedl, and divers others of the like nature, which / have fomerimes for Curiofity profperoufly experimented, I think it much fitter to be conceal'd than communicated, becaufeif fuch Secrets fhould fall into the hands of perfons incin d to mif- apply them, they might very much difturb
Humane
Mtiy hecome nfeful to Humane L't/e* j p
Humane Society. And therefore it is better n:ien fliould want the light afforded thcra by fucb Experiments, than be brought into the danger of fuch Mifchiefs, as they may be made to fufter by the mif-imployraent of Tuch Dilco- veries.
I remember, that notion^ fince, a Virtuofo happening to have made aSjlutionotGold, wherewith he thought to mzk^ i^ur urn fu(mi nans ^ thought hehadcaufe to fufpedl that It had been enbas'd with Copper, and therefore would not be fo fit for his work; whereupon I confider'd with my felf, that a good Urinous Spirit being imployed in ftead of theufualMenftruum (OylofTartari; as it would precipi- tate Gold out of l^^«4 /Je-^^, fo it would readily diffolve Copper, I conje(aured,[hat by the afFufion of fuch a Liquor I might both difcover whether the Solution fwhofe colour didnot3tailaccufeit)contain'd any Copper, and if it did free the Gold in great part from the bafer Metal; and indeed I found, that after the Urinous Spirit had precipitated the Gold into a fine C^/at, the fupernatant Liquor was highly ting'd with Blew, that betray'd the Alloy of Copper, thac did not before appear.
I hope you think., Pjropbilus^ that tis becaufe thefe In- (lances are more pertment to my Defign , than many others (that might have been fubftitutedj in themfelves more va- luable, that I have mention'd fuch inconfiderable ones; and I (hall not repent the naming of fuch Indances, if they have let yoa fee, that even mean Experiments are not to be de- fpifed, but that the mcaneft may be fometimesnotonely ufeful, but more proper to convince Sinngers to Natural Philofophieof the manifold Ufes of ir,than Experiments of a higher and abftrufer nature. For as in a Ship wrack, it may more advantage the diftrelTcd Pilot to know the fupport- ing nature of a Bladder fiU'd with Wind, though ntherwife but a defpicable and aiery thing, than to know the abftrufeft
F properties
46 Horn ETCpermentalfhilofophy
properties of the Magoctick Needle; fo in fome cafes the more obvious and flight Experiments may be moch more welcome and ferviceable to us , than others at other times much more confiderable. So true is that of the Wife man That every thing is beautiful in its Seafon;
For ray part, lam very apt to hope, that Natural Phi- lofophy will prove mere and more ferviceable, both to (ingle Perfons in their particular Occafions, and to Trades them- felves in General: as by other wayes, fo efpecially by mak. ing a further fearch into, and thereby dete^ing new Quali- ties, or difcovering unheeded Ufcs, of the Produ(5lions of Nature, and of Art that are already known.
I will not here take notice of what may be further hoped for in the detc<5tionof the Medical Virtues of thingSjbecaufe I treat of that Subje(5l in a more proper place: and as for the Mechanical Ufes (if I may fo call them j and Applications of the works and Laws of Nature, though \\ti\\ii gazes upon the feemingly great variety of Produdions to be met with among Tradefmen, and in the Shops of Artificers, may be tempted to think, that Art has curioufly pryedinto, and imployed, almofl all the Materials that Nature could afford it; jet he that fball more narrowly and feverely confider them, may eafily difcern, that Tradefmen have really dealt with but very few of Natures Productions, in comparifon of thofe they have left unimployed; and that for the moff part they have, in the things they daily converfe with, fcarce made ufe of any other, th^ the more obvious Qualities of them; befides fome few more lurking Properties , which cither Chance, or a lucky Sagacity, rather than Inquifitive- nelTe or Skill, difcover'd to them. And indeed this great variety of Produdions we have mentioned, proceeds more from a Manual dexterity of Diverfifying a fmall number of known things into differing lliapes, than, either from the Plenty of Natural or Artificial Produdlions they work up- on.
May hecome u/eful to Humane Life. 4 1
bn$ ^r any diligent or accarate Search made into the Quali- ties of thole Produ(ftions. But becaufe to a Conlidering inan, itcaonocbut be Obvious enough, that the Ufes of the things they deal iOjand much more thofc of other Concretes, which they are not engag'd to obferve, have not been hi- therto fufficicntly enquired into; I (hall content my felf to add, That if men were but fenHble enough of their own Intereft,and in order thereunto would keep their Eyes heed- fully open, partly upon the Properties of thing$,and partly upon the Applications that may be made of thofe Proper- ties to this or that ufe in humane life, they might not onely difcover new Qualities in things, ('fome of which might oc- cafion new Trades,) but make fuch Ufes of them, as the Difcoverersthcmfelves would never before hand have fu- fpe(5led or imaginU* whereof 1 may, God permitting, give you elfewbere divers In^laoces.
VTHE ril. SECTION.
A Fter the foregoing general Gonfiderations ^about the Ufefulnefle of Natural Philofophy to the Empire of Man over things Corporeal,) which I thought fie to take notice of in this /• Bf[ajy it remains , Fjrofh. that I alio add a word or two about tbo[e that are to f ollotv.
And firft you muft not expect that I (faould MethodicaL ly enumerate* and particularly difcourfe to you of all the Grounds and Motives I may have of looking for great Ad«; vantages to accrue to Mankind, by Mens future progreiTes in thcdifcovery of Nature. To entertain You with Con- fideratiOQSf which perchance you would jadgbut Specula, tive and remote Conceipts, would exceed myleifure, and perhaps be unwelcome to You: and therefore I chooie to confine my felf to the ioiifling on thofe Grounds of Expe- ^atioo, which I can render probable by Examples and In- ~ " F a ftanccs
1
At H'ow^%j^ertm€ntalfhilofopl)y \
ftances of what is already actually atcain'd to, or at leaft ve- ry likely fin no long timej to be fo. And this Advertife- ment I thought neccfTary to premife, partly indeed that you may not think that I have overlooked all the particulars per- tinent to my Subje(5t that I ihall leave unmention'd, hue much more that you might not furpc(a,that there are no o- ther Inducements to hope much from Experimental Philo- fophie, than thofe you will find treated of in the following EfTayes. And this one thing in particular I dare not for* bear to give you notice of, that for the freihly iuiimated reafon , you will there find omitted one of the principal Grounds of hoping great matters from improv'd Phyfiolo- gie,namely, thatby the fagacity and freedom of the Lord* reruiam^ and other Lights of this Age, confidsring men are pretty well enabled both to make Difcoveries, and difcern a poffibility of removing all the Impediments and other cau- jfes of Barrenefs that have hitherto kept Phy ficks from be- ing confiderably ufefal to Mankind; fuch as ntanj faUe and fruitlefle Do(5lrines of the Schools; r;?'^ prejudices by which men have been hitherto impos'd on about Subftantial Forms, the unpafl'able bounds of Nature, the effential diffe- rence betwixt Natural and Artificial things See. a too plau- iibledefpondency; ^wantof belief that Phy ficks much con- cern'd their Interefts^ want of Encouragement; n'tf^^ of Na- tural Hiftoryj »v4»/of Curio fity; n^^;?/ of a method of En- quiring-, want of a Method of Experimenting; jr4»/ of a Phy- fical Legick'^ want of Mathetnaticks, and Mechanlcks; want of afi"ociated Endeavours; to all which but too many other particulars might be added.
2. You will not think it ftrange, that in the following Tr3<5ls much of the Ufcfulnefle, for which 1 would recom- mend Phyficks, fuppoles futu< e Proficiency in them, if you confider the nature of my Defign 5 which i^ nbt to make an Mlogittm of Natural Philofophy imperfe(^ as it 'jet is^ but to
{hew
l^ay hecome ufefulto HamaneLife, 4}
fliew that as it maj bi^ and probably wiU be, improVd, ic may afford confiderable advantages to Mankind. And fince, as I long agoe intimated to you, my purpofc in this Book is to invite you, and aflift you to invite other Ingenious men to a farther ftudy of Nature, tis very agreeable to my Defign to reprefent the greateft Benefits I make it promife You, as EflPe(5ts and Recompences of your future Attain- ments; and I fhould allowably enough difcharge my pare inthisTreatifejiflfliouldnot do any more fwhich yet I hope I (hall do) than give you Reafonable inducements to entertain high Expe(5tations of the Fruits, that may be ga- thered from Natural Philofophie, if it be induftrioufly and skilfully cultivated: and the very rendring fuch an Expe- dation probable, I take to be a good ftep towards the at- tainment of the things expedcd 5 many of which would qutflionkfife be obtain'd, if men were throughly perfwaded that they are moft worthy to be endeavotir'd, and very po{fi- bleto becompafs'd. And therefore I wonder not, thacfo Judicious a Friend to Philofophie and Mankind ss Sir Francis Bacon , fhould in fcverai places reprefent mens Opinions of thcImpofTibility of doing Great matters of the nature of thofe things we are fpeaking of, as One of the chief O bftacles to the advancement of real and ufef ul Learn- ing: and I the rather infift on the things that may height- en your Expediations, notonelj becaufe many prudent and Learned men, who have been bred in the Philofophie of the Schools, are apt tojudg of all Philofophie by that which for fo many Ages has been barren, as to ufeful Produ(fli- ons, (though fruitful enough in Controverfies, ) but be- caule I have met with fome morofe Authors, and others as defpondent perfons, who becaufe they have unfuccesfully attempted to perform fome things according to the Pre- fcriptionsof fome unfaithful Writers of Natural Philofo- phie,fall prefently to believe themfelves, andtoperfwade others, That nothing Conijderable is pow (at lead wiibou&
44 Ho'?i;f V^xperimtntal^hilofoply
almoft infupcrable difficulties) to be perform'd by Natural Philolophie it felfjcfpecially whilft men amufe themff Ivcs a* bout Speculations and Trials chat feem not to tend dire(5tly to Pra(^icei our Anceftors having had the luck to light upon all thQprtfitahle Inventions, which skill in Phyfiologie is a- ble to fupply Mankind with. But (to take notice fir ft of what was laft fuggeftedj / make no doubt but that many Experiments, whereby men are not prefently enabled to do what they could not before, may yet be very ufeful to mens interefts by difcoveriag or illuftrating the Nature or Cauf- es of things. For though that famous Diftin<^ion, intro- duc'd by the Lord FeruUm, whereby Experiments are fort- ed into Luciferoui and FruiiiferouSi may be (if rightly un- derftood) of commendable Ufe; yet it would muchmiflead thofe that fhould fo underftand it, as if Frudiferous Expe- riments did fo meerly advantage our interefts, as not to pro- mote our Knowledg5 or the Experiments called Lucife- rous, did fo barely enrich our Underftandings, as to be no other waies ufeful. For though fome Experiments may be fitly enough call'd Luciferous, and others Fi u<$liferous, be- caufe the more obvious and immediate EfFe(5t of the One is todifcover to us Phyfiological Truths, and of the other to enable us to perform fomething of life to the Poffeffourj yet certainly there are few Frudliferous Experiments, which may not readily become Luciferous to the attentive Gonfi- dercr of them. For by being able to produce unufual EfFeds, they either hint to us the Caufes of them,or at leaft acquaint us with fome of the Properties or Qualities of the things concurring to the produdion of fuch Effeds. And on the other fide thofe Experiments, whofe more obvious ufe is to deted to us the Nature or Caufes of things, may be, though lelTe diredly, and in fomewhat a remoter way , exceedingly Frudiferous. For fince, as / have formerly obferv'd, man's Power over theCreatures confiftsin his Koowledg of them;
wh^it-
May Become ujeful to Humane Life. 45
whatever doci inaeafe his Knowlcdg, does proportionate- ly increafe his Power. And perhaps I fboold not much Hyperbolize, iflfhoDld venture to fay, that there is fcarce any confiderable Phyfical Truth, which is not, as it were, teeming with profitable Inventions,and may not by humane Skill and induftry be made the fruitful Mother of divers things nfeful, either to Mankind in general, or at leaft to the particular Difcoverer and dexterous Applyer of that Truth* To countenance this Opinion of Mine, I have al- ready given you fome inftances, and referve more for the la ft EflayesofthisTreatife i efpecially having obferv'd it to have been a fault, which though prejudicial enough to the intereft of Mankind, is very incident to the more fober and fevere fort of PhiIofophers,and perhaps more toThem,than toOchers, to conclude every thing to be Impoflible, orac leaft unfit to be attempted, that cannot be perform'd by the already known Qualities of Things and Wayes of applying them: without confidering, That as many Simples ot excel- lent Virtues grow in WildernefTes, and not by the High- wayes fide, fo diverfe admirable Properties of things may be found, out of the cuftomary progr efie or beaten Rodes (if I may fo fpeakj of Nature. And that Philofophers are oftentimes deceived, when they think they have made a true and perfe(Si Analjfis of the poffible wayes,whereby fuch and fuch EfFedls may be produc'd. For Nature by her Sub- tlety oftentimes tranfcends and illudes the greateft fubtle- tie of humane Ratiocinations. And asfhe may have quite other wayes of working, than we are aware of, fo the know- ledg of fome peculiar and conceal'd property of a Thing, may enable them that are acquainted withit,to perform that with eafe, which by the known Qualities of things, is either not at all to be perform'd, or not without great Difficulty. This feeming Paradox you may find in due place con- firmed; aod in the mean while to return to thole Learned
'46 How 'Exfermetital fhllofophj
men, who having attempted fome things, and poffibJy.per- form'd a few in Natural Philofophy, would keep the world from expe(5ling any great matters from it, I fhall venture to fay of them, That^e^ the Jewiih Spies though they brought Kumh. 13 and their Countrcymenoutof the Land of Canaan feme kw of *'*' the goodly Fruits of that Soyl, yet bringing them withall a
difcouraging account of the difficulties they were like to meet with m conquering it, did the Ifradites more harm by their Defpondency, than Good by their FruitS; fo divers of the Authors we are fpeaking of, though they may have prefented us with fome acceptable Fruits of their Enquiry into Experimental Learning,yet by bringing up an ill report concerning the fludie of it, and thereby deterring irrefolute Perfons from addiding themfelves ferioufly to it,they have more pre/udic'd them by their Defpondency, thm advan* tag'd them by their Experiments. And though I dare nor, a Chymift would not, fcruple to purfue the Simile, and tell you, that as onely thofe two of the Spies, Caieb and Jofhua^ who made no doubt but that they fliould conquer the tcrtile f though never fo well fortified) Land of Canaan* did really ijl'j'so?^'* ' polTefs it, all their difanimated Brethren wandring and dy- ing in the WildernclTej fo none but thofe Generous At- tempters, that dare boldly venture upon the Difficulties that furround the knowledg of Nature, are like profperoufly to overcome them, and poflefle what they contend for.
But I muft leave this Digreilion to proceed to the laft Advertifemf nt I am to give you, which is, that I know you may (pofTibly) expedthati fliould fay fomethingto Yon diftini^ly of the chief Means by which the Naturalift may probably advance Trades, and affift Man, by the bleffingof the Author of Nature, to recover part of his loft Empire over the works of Nature. And I confeffe, I have more than once had thoughts of a kind of Projed (if I may fo call k) for the Advance of Experimental Fhilofopby, confifting
of
Maji become u/e/ull to Humane Lifel 47
of fuch Heads as thcfe; A Profpcdl of what probably M A Y be atiain'd to in Phyficks (both as to Theory and PradiceJ A fummary account of What I S attain'd alrea- dy, r^flmperfedtnefte of our prefent attainments. Whaf Helps men now enjoy. T/;^ Incompetency of our prcfent Helps. 7/^f Hindrances and the Caufes of them. And The Means and Helps that M A Y be employU To which other Heads might in cafe of need be added. But notwith- ftanding the expc(5tations yoii may have, that I (liould han- dle fuch fubje»5ts , and the Thoughts I have had about them-,I purpofely wav'd the treating of them by themfelves in the enfuing ES S A Y E S , partly^ becaufe thefe unela- borate Difcourfes are notdcfign'd for a juft Treatife on the Subjeds handled in them, containing but fuch loofe Experi- ments and Obfervaiions, as could without too much impo- verifhingQiher Papers, be put together on this occafion 5 and p4rilj^ becaufe I have in efFcdi bin careful to mention feveral of thofe things, that you might exped to find fe- perately created of $ but knowing that a far lelTe difcern^ ing eye than yours may eafily , if there be occafion, diftin- guifh them, I thought it more convenient to interweave them with the other parts of the following Difcourfe , (ince every propofition of a probable way to Improve Philofo- phie 5 is alfo a ground of expe<5^ing thofe advantages thac may behop'd for from Philofophie Improved.
ifH^ffff
I
Of the V S E F U L N E S S E of
MATHEMATICKS
TO
Natural Philofophy.
Of the rfefukes of U AT HEM \r I CKS. to Natural Philosophi e,
oil jhatthe Empire of Man rfjaj be promoted bj the Naturalift's ski/i in Mathemaiicks, (as well Pure^ as LMlxt*)
IF it were not allowable for any but thofe that are through- ly skill'd in the abftrufer Myfteries of the Mathema- ticks, to difcourfe of thofe Difciplines; the Title of this Efl'ay would I fear (Pjrophilus) make you think me guiU ty of Prefumption, fince you may perchance remember, that when you were converfant about thofe Studies, Iconfefs'd to you, that the great Authority ot fome famous Modern Naturalifts had, for a while, diverted me from making any great Progrefs in thofe Sciences, by their rtfolute denying them to be ufeful to Phyfiologie. But as I do not pretend to have taken that pains, which elfe I might have done, to become a Speculative Geometrician-, fo I confider, thac without iinderftanding as much of the abftruferpartof Ge- ometriie, as Archimedes^ or JpoHomtss^ one may underftand enough to be alTifted by it in the Contemplation of Na- ture; and that one needs not know the profoundeft Myfte- ries of it, to be able to difcern its Qfefulnes. And therefore I ihall venture to propound fomething to you concerning this laft nam'd Subjed, efpecially fince otherwife you may be influenc'd, as I once was, by the great Authority of thofe Modern Philofophers, who would have theiufeof Mathe- •OMticks, as Difciphnes that confider onely Abflradled Quantity and Figure, to be rather hurtful than advantageous to a Naturglifl:, the Objedof whofe Studies ought to be
^ 1 Matcter.
2 Of the Vfefuhes ofMathemaiicks
Matter. But though thele endeavour to keep men from thinking the Mathematicks tobeofany great Ufe toward jnakingaManagood Naturalift, by alledging the extrava- gant Opinions that Kepler himfelf, who was Mathematician to three Emperours, and feme other Modern Aftronomers , have broach'd or maintain'd concerning matters Phyfiolo- gical 5 yet Iconfefl'e, that after I began, by refle(fting up- on divers of my Experiments, efpecially Mechanical, to di- fcernhow ufeful Mathematicks may be made to Phyficksj 1 have often wiih'd that I had imploy'd about the Specula- tive part of Geometrie, and the cultivating of the Specious Algebra 1 had been taught very young, a good part of that Time and Induftry that I fpent about Surveying and Forti- fication, fof which I remember I once wrot an entire Trea- tifc) and other Pradlick parts of Mathematicks. And indeed 1 think, that a Competent Knowledg in Mathematicks (for a Profound one is not always necelTary) may be fofervice- able to thofe that would become Philofophers, thatlfliall not fcruple to mention it as another thing which may increafe your Expedation from Phyfiologie, That thofe who pafs for Naturalifts have, for the mofi part, been very little, or not at all, vers'd in the Mathematicks, if not alfo Jealous of them. And I the lefs fcruple to write to you on this Sab- je<5l, becaufe I do not know that others have prevented me: For though the Learned cUvhs ^^nd fome other Expofitors oi Euclid^ have faid much of the Ufefulnes of Geometric to other Mathematical Difciplines, and though not a little has been faid in the praife of Mathematicks in general; yet tis left free for me to difcourfe to you of ( what is the Subjed of this EfTay) the Utility of Mathematicks in reference to Modern Phyficks, and therein not onely to the Notions of the Corpufcular Philofophie, but even to Pra(5tical and Ex* perimental Knowledg. Now there are are feveral Scores^ upou which skill in Ma- thematicks
To Natural fhilofophte. j
thiematicks may be ufef ul to the Experimental Philofopher. For there are fome general Advantages , which Mathema^ ticks may bring to the Minds of men, to whatever Study they apply themfelves, and confcquently to the Students of Natural Philofophie; namely, that thefe Difciplines are wont to make men accurate, and very attentive to the Em- ployment they are about , keeping their Thoughts from wandring, and inuring them to Patience of going through with tedious and intricate Demonftratioos 5 befides, that they much improve Reafon, by accuftoming the mind to deduce fucceffive Gonfequences, and judgof them without eafily acquiefcing in any thing but Demonftration.
And indeed the Operations of Symbolical Arithmetick Cor the modern Algebra) feem to me to afford men one of the cleared Exercifes of Reafon that I ever yet met with, nothing being there to be perform'd without ftrii^ and watchful Ratiocination, and the whole method and progrefs of thit appearing at once upon the Pdper when the Operati- on is finifli'd, an i affording the Analyft iUdmg ^ and, as it /were, vifible Ratiocination.
But, Pyrophilus, I may not infifl: on thefe, or the like ge- neral Ufes of pure Mathematicks, (ince there are divers o- rhers, which more immediately lefped Natural Philofophic
And to (hew this the better, give me leave to premife to the following Particulars a couple of Obfervations.
The Uril Is^Thzt the Fhdnomena^ which the Mathemati- cian concurs to exhibit, do really belong to the Cognizance oUheNituralift. For when Matter comes once to be en- dow'd with Qualities, the Confideration how it came by them, is a Quellion rather about the Agent or Efficient, than the nature of the Body it felf. So the Image or Pidure, thataman fees ot his Face in a Looking- Glafs, though that be an Artificial Body, fals as well under the Speculation of the Naiuraliftj as when the like Pi(5iurc is prefented him by
" ' " calm
4 0] the ufefulnes of Mathematkh
calm and clear Water. And the Rain Bo^ s that are often artificially madefn Grotto's, by difperfing the water of Fountains into Drops and Showers, have a juft Titlttohis Contemplation, as well as the Rain-bow that is formed in the Clouds. And the Eccho's that are admir'din fome of thofe Grotto's, purpofely and artificially contriv'd to afford rare ones, do as well belong to his cognizance, as thofe that Nature makes in ruder Dens,and other Cavities of Hills and Mountains. And indeed moft of thofe P^<e»<7/wf;?4 require Cfor the main) the fame Solutions, whether the skill of man do or do not intervene to exhibit them.
The fecond Confideration, which I am often oblig'd to repeat, is this^ That fince Man's power over the Creatutes <Jepends chiefly upon his Knowledg of them,whatever ferves to increafe confiderably his Knowledg, is likely either diredi- ly orinits confequenccs to addetohis Power 5 which two Advertifements being thus given you, Pyrcphilus ^l now 2d- vance to the particulars, whofe mention they made me fu- fpend.
I. And firfl-, thefe Difciplines teach men the Nature and Properties of Figures, both upon Surfaces and Solids, and the Relations (for they can fcarce be properly called Pro* fortions) betwixt the Surface and Solidity of the fame Bo- »<iy. Tis true, that Matter^ or Body, is the fubjed of the Naturalift's Speculations; but if it be alfo true, that mofV, ifnotallthe Operations of the parcels of that Matter (that is, of Natural Bodies) one upon another, depend upon thofe ModificationSjWhich their Local Motion receives from their Magnitude and their Figure, as the chief Mechanichal AfFe- dions of the parts of Matter^ it can fcarce be denied, that the knowledg of what Figures are, (for inftance) more or lefs ca- pacious, and advantag'd or difadvantag'd, for Motion or for Reft, or for penetrating or refifling Penetration, or for the being taden'd to another 6cc. muft be of conliderable Ufe
To t(atural fhilofopUe. 5
ia explicating many of the phanomena of Nature-, and lis Ibfficiently known, how much of the Do<5trine of Figures may belearn'dfrom Geometricians, who treating exprefly and copioujfly of Triangles, Circles, Supfaces Elliptical, Pa- rabolical, Hyperbolical, and other plain Figures; as alfo of Spheres jCones, Cylinders, and efpecially Prifmes, Py ra- ni ids,. Cubes, and regular Bodies, intimate alio- the Methods of judging of the Figures of other Bodies, that are either composed of them, or may, by reafon of fome An^ogie, be referr'd to them,
Th^re are divers Properties as well of Planes and Solid figures, and ibcir Habitudes to each other ; as of fuch Lines as are defcrib'd by Motions, or wherein Motions may be made the knowledg whereof maf be of good ufe not onely to the Speculative Naturaliff , but the Pra»fli<:al.
To know the Proportion that K^rchimedes hasdemon- firatedio be between a Sphere and a Cylinder, and either of thofe to a Cone fo and foqualified; or to know, that a Tri- angular Pyramid is the third part of aPrifme, having the fame Bafc and Height; and in a word, to know the Propor- tions between Geometrical Bodies, may fometimes be of good ufe, in cafes where we can procure the one, and not the other,, or at lea ft not fo well as the other. Of this an Inflance is given us by the Ingenious Marinus chctaldus, (as I find hi on cited by a late Mathematician) who tels us, that Ghetal- <j/«j finding it very difficult to procure an cxa<5l Metalline Spherc,^ wherewith to examine the proportion in point of weight between heavy Bodies of the fame Balk, found that yet be could get a Cylinder of Tin to be tura'd true 5 and having therewith made his Experiments or Obfervati- ons^ twaseafie for him, knowing out of his ^rchlmfdes^ that the proportion of a Cylinder, whofe Bafis is equal to one of. the great Circles of a Sphere, and whofe Height is equal to the DiaiBcwr of that Sphere^ is. to thai Sphere in]
rat hue
6 Of the V/efulnes of Mathematicks
ratfone fefcjjuiakera^ as they fpeak, i.e, has the fame propor^ tion that three has to two? it was, I fay, eafie for him, who had often had oCafion to weigh his Cylinder exaiSly, by lubtradlinga third part of the whole weight, to find in the remainder the defir'd weight of a Sphere of Tin, whofe Dia- meter was equal to that of the Bafis, or to the height of the 'Avchimed. pro. Cylinder: which weight ofa Sphere of a known Diameter ^j['oll\f'l^: being once obtain'd, he deduc'd from them the weights of Ciiinciro.^ ""' the Other Spheres he had occafion to imploy, about the con. ffru(5tion of thofe Tables, which have been much madeufe of by divers fucceeding Mathematicians. And what Appli- cations I have made of the fame ArchimedeafiXhtotQm^l may elfewhere inform you.
It being alfo taken for granted by divers Modern Geo- metricians and Engineers, that the Excellent CahUo, and his not degenerate ViCci^k^Torriceliius, had demonftrated the Line which a Heavy body,proje(i^ed, and even the Bullet, fliot out of a Cannon, defcribes, to be Parabolical; it may be of moment in the practice of Gunnery, and in reference to divers Experiments to be made with other pro/e^ed Bo- dies, to be well vers'd in the nature of the Parabola and Pa- rabolical Lines, which are alfo thought to be capable of do- ing Wonders in Burning- glaflcs, in cafe thefe Metalline Specula can be brought to a Parabolical Figure^one of whofe remarkable properties is, That all the Beams that, being pa- rallel to the Axis^hW upon the Internal Superficies, arc re- fle<5tedto one point ov focus ^ where confequently, if the Burning- glafs be any thing large, the Heat muft be very intenfe,efpecially in comparifonof a Spherical Burning-glafs ofthefamebignefs.
And as for delightful and Recreative Experiments, you will eaiiJy allow me, that there are abundance of Catoptrical ones of;thatlort,which depend upon the figure of Spherical, Cylindrical^ and oiher foxt$ ci Kefle^^ing Glafies.
^"- "'^^ ""- '^ -^ ail
To J^atural Thilo/ophle. y
7, I might here tell you, P;;'<?^^/7«/, that pure Mathe- maticks themfelves, fetting afide the alfiftance they are wont to give to mixt Matheaiaticks, may be of ufe to Hu- mane Life, and to the Experimental Naturaiift; of which I fliall give you, as a Specimen, this notable Example.
The properties of Arithmetical and Geometrical Pro- gre(fions in Numbers, fecm to have very lirtle to do with the Pra^ice of weighing out things in Shops and Ware- houles. And yet by the knowledg of the Double Pro- grcflion, beginning from au Unite, (as Arithmeticians call that, wherein the Consequent isftiU double to the Antece- dent) as 1.2.4.8. a great deal of Cumber, and fometimes of Charge, may be fav'd. For with 3 Weights you may weigh all the Pounds, that are from i to 7 inclufively 5 with 4 Weights, allihofe that exceed not 15 pound ; upon which obfervation is grounded the Divifion of fome Boxes or Sets of Weights, ufd by our Goldfmiths. And if you would, as is very ufuaU put Weights ("when there isoccafion^ in both Scales, to help the thing to beweigh'd to bring the Bal- lance to an ty£quilihium, then the Triple ProgreCTion (i. e* where the Numbers increafe in a triple proportion, as i. 3. p.} has a much more notable property for our purpofe-, by confidering which, thelnduflrious Stifelif^ concluded, than by 3 Weights, you may weigh any number of Pounds from One to 13 inclufively^ with 4 Weights, any number of pounds from i £040 inclufively-, with 5 Weights, any num. ber of pounds not exceeding Sixfcore and One; and with but 6 Weights,any number of pounds from i to 3^4. But the method of ordering fo few Weights to ferve fomanv purpofes, is beft found out by Symbolical Arithsnetick, or Algebra, by which I have taken pleafure to work fo fine a Problem J which,becaufe tis applicable not onely to Pounds,
B buc
8 Of the Vfefulnes ofMathematich
hut to the parts of pounds, and thofe of differing Denomi- nations, it may beof fo great Ufe to you, if ever yon bufie your felf about Statical Experiments, that I (hall to the end of this ElTay annex a Table, to fliew, what Weights are to be taken in every pofTible cafe, which I found ready calcula- ted to my hand by the Ingenious FrancifcmaSchooten^ Pro- fedbr ot Mathematicks at Li'jden.
To the former Inftance, of the Ufe that an Experimenter may make of pure Mathematicks, I might, if it could be fuf- ficiently delivered in few words, adde the method of com- puting the Combinations, that may be made of any number of things proposed, which fome Mathematicians call Keguh C9mhinAmia„ For though I remember not to have found this Method fully handled in any one Author, even among the modern Algebricians-, yet, as it is delivered by fome A- rithmeticians, it is by no means to be defpis'd, but, as it may be managed by Symbolical Arithmetick, it will, if I miflake not, want nothing, but the being skilfully applied by the Naturalift, to be on certain occafions very (erviceable to him.
3. We may take notice in the next place, that Mathe- maticks may much help the Naturalift, both to frame //y- p(?/^^J«, and judg of thofe that arepropos'd to him, efpeci- ally fuch as relate to Mathematical fubje<5ts in conjun^ion with others.
What wretched Theories the Ignorance of Mathematicks has made Naturalifts, otherwife very confiderable in their way, frame and propofe, may be evidently fhewn in the Ac- counts that Eficurus^ and his Paraphraft LucretiuSt give of the Sun, and other Celeftial B jdies. And indeed what fatif- faftory Account can be given of the varying Lengths and Viciifitudes of Dayesand Nights, and the Eclypfes of the
Sua
To T^aUiYalfhikfophle, 9
San and Moon, ihe Stations and Retrogradations obferv'd in Planets, and othai familiar Coelcftial P^-r ;7tf;»f»<«,without fuppofing thei'e great Mundan Bodies to have fuch Scituati- ons in refped to one another, and to move in fuch Lines, (or at leaft be made to appear to move in them by the mo- tion of the Earth in fuch a pofition, and in fuch Lines/*;) nay how without the knowledg of the Doctrine of the Sphere will the Naturalift be able to make any fober and well grounded Judgment in that grand and noble Problem, which is the true Sjfteme of the World f which is indeavour'd to be folv'd after fuch differing manners by the Ptolomaaris and Peripateticks, by i)[itT'jchomartsznd by the Copernicuns (bothlcffe and more modern.)
That ('then) the knowledg of Celeftial Bodies is not well to be attain'd, nor confequendy the Theories , proposed of them, to be intelligently judg'd of, without Arithmetick and Geometrie, (thofe Wings, on which the Aftronomei* foars as high as Heaven^) he muft be very little acquainted vyith Aftronomie, and particularly with the various, and,too often, intricate Theories of Planets ,that can doubt. And truly, when Iconfider the aftonifliing diftanccand immenfi- ty of the Celeftial Bodies, and thofe almoft numberles fix'd Stars (each of them perhaps much vafter than the whole Earth,) which in a clear Night I take pleafure to gaze ac through the better fort of Telefcopes, both in the Milky way, and in other parts of the Sky, that feem not fo much as whitifli to our Eyes; I cannot but highly prize a Science, that acquaints us, that what we know of fo much of the Uni- verfe as the Globe we inhabit and call the World , is but a Point to ir, taking up a little more room in it, than a Phyfical Center in the Sphere-
Thellfefulnesalfoof pure Mathematicks to Geographic is likewife evidentj andfure inquifitivc men ought not to
B 2 delpife
lo Of the Vfefulnci ofMathemaiich
defpifc this and the former part of Learning, wichoat which,* as I was lately faying, they cannot know fo much as whether the Earth we live upon, moves or (lands ftillf
There are alfo divers Phenomena of Nature^ that arc nei- ther Aftronomical, nor Geographical, where the Ufefolnes of Mathematicks is manifcft enough. For as to the Phanfi' pitnA of that Senfe, to which the Naturalift is moft behol- ding, Sights what a pittiful Account is e;iven of them by thofe iJJfriy?<>ff//4»j, Phyficians, and other Writers, with- out excepting many good Anatomifts, that have been Gran- gers to Mathematicks, in comparifon of what has been done fnot to mention Buclid^K^lhaz^n^ and riteliu^) by KepUr, Schcincr^ Hcnigon^ and fome other modern Mathematici. an<-
And tis evident to thofe that are acquainted with Dio- ptricks, thst without fome koowledg not onely of the pro- perties of Convex Bodies, and of the Laws of Refraction from and towards the Perpendicular, (as the Mafters of O- pticks fpeak) but alfo of the properties of LineSjas Circular, Parabolical, Hyperbolical, &c. and Figures, as Ellipfes, Circles, Parabola's, Hyperbola*s,&c. tisalmoft impoflible, cither well to explicate moft of the Phenomena of that no- bleft of our Senfes, Sight it felf, or to make a well grounded judgmentol others Explications of them. He that is al* together a Stranger to this part of Mathematicks , will fcarce be able to conceive the Reafon of the admirable Fa- brick of the Eye, and how the Chryftalline Humor does by its Convex Figure (like a Lenticular Glafs j refrad and con- verge the Beams, (or at leaft the Pencils) that proceed from the vifible Objes^, that they may paint the more lively pi- cture of it upon the iff /i^4 at the bottom of the Eye: nor will he undeiftand why, by reafon of the Decuffation of the
Beams
To 2{atural fh'tlofophie. 1 1
Beams within the Eye, this Figure muft be made inverted, though we apprehend the Obje^s themfelvcs in fl right po- fturej norwhy fmallObjeds, plac'd near the Eye, where they are feen under a wide Angle, appear as big, as very much greater that are feen at a greater diftancefrcim it. And much lefs will he be able to underftand the reafon of thofe many Delufive Apparitions, exhibite#by Concave, Con- vex, Conicaljand Cylindrical GlafTeS; the Catoptricks, or DeBrine of Reflex vifton^ belonging yet more to the Mathe- maticks than Dioprricks do.
4. And ftnce that from the Magnitudes of divers Bodies, oroffeveralpartsof the fame Body, and fo liktwife from their degrees of Celerity in their Motion , there will arile a certain Refpe(5i, which if they be but two, Geometricians call a Ratio, and if more than two , a Froforthnt (though thefe Terms are oftentimes confounded, and promifcuoufly imploy'd by Authors:) and (mce Proportion is fo frequently to be met with in the Works of Him, who by an Eminent, though Apocryphal Writer, is truly faid to have made all things in Number tWeight, and Meafure^ and ftnce the Do- ctrine of Proportion, as fuch, belongs to the Mathematician as the Noblefl part of thofe Sciences he treats .ofj I think it may fafely enough be affirm'd, that he that is not fo much as indifferently skill'd in Mathematicks, can hardly be more than indifferently skill'd in the fundamental principles of Phyfiologie. Nor perhaps would it be rafti to fay, that the Fifth Book of £»f///s Elements, where the Dodrine of Proportions is chiefly delivered, may prove moreinffrui^ive to the Naturalift, than the Fifth Book of Arijlotle'i Phy- ficks. And therefore I do not fo much wonder, that Plato fhould over the Gate of his School place an Infcription, (iAU *>»!*»' jy^T®" f*«'7w,) forbidding the Entrance to perfons unac- quainted
I » 0/ the Ufefulnes of Mathematicks
quainted with Geometric, as unfit to judgof what was there taught.
Nay this, though you may think it ftrange, is very true, that there are fome confiderable Phdnomena of Nature, which are fc^far from being Explicable by their Caufes, thac men cannot fo much as underftand what is Meant by them, without fome knowing of the Dodlrine of Proportions. As, for Inftance, when the Teacher of Opticks tell us, that the Increments of Light are in duflicata ratione diftamiarufn, [ecundum quas a Corforibus recedttnt^ a quibus fritnum (ffici^ untur. He that knows nothing of Proportions, cannot tell fo much as what they mean by this Theorem, much jefs whether or no it be true. And fo, when the fame Propofi- . tion is by the diligent 3/^f/^;;;?/^appIy'd alfo to Sounds, a ^'"'^'"'^''^•^^■•^ 'common Reader would not at all underftand him, if be did '^^^***' not adde by way of Explanation, that if, for Inftance, the Noifeofa peece of Ordinance be heard a League off, that Noifewillbe four times ftronger, if it be heard but at the diftance Of half a League. Nor will this Example it felf give fuch a Reader, as wefpeak of, a clear underftanding of ihe proposed Theorem. But a confiderabler Inftance in this kind may be afforded us by the noble Difcovery of the Mo- derm, efpecially GaliUo^ who obferve, that when a heavy Body defcends through the Air, the Spaces paft through, from the beginning to tlie end of the Motion, are among themfelves in a (not double but) dupUc4teKziio of the Mo- ments or equal Divifions of Time fpent in the full; which requires the knowledg of what a D«^/i^4/tf Proportion is, to be wellunderftood: But it may in fome fort be explain'd, (and fonoblea Phznomemn muftnoc be here orr^ittedj by {<tying^ that GaliUo affirms himfelf to have obferv'd, that a Brafs Balle; of i oo pound will; in the fpace of one Minute
of
To Natural fhilofophie. i }
of an Hour, defcendan hundred Florentine Cobits, f which
fome reckon to be i8o Feet of ours J and confequently,
faith Merfennus^ four Cubits in one Second, or (ixtieth part
of a Minute; znd by aMng, that the Bullet falls in fucha
Eatic^ that the acceleration of the Motion is made according
to theprogreflionofodd Numbers, beginning from an U-
nitej or One 5 fo that if in the firft moment of time the
Weight fall down one Fathom , in the 2*^ moment it muft
defcend three Fathom-, in the 3*^, 5 Fathom*, in the 4^^ 75 in
the 5'\ Nine; in the 6^^^ Eleven; and fo onward. Whence
Merfennus gives this Rule,to know how far the Weight will
descend in a determinate time afifign'd; and by knowing how
far it has delcended, to calculate how long it was in falling. Meffen. h^-"
KeguU generalise fays he, hdc c(t. Si dentur tempora^<ir qua- ^'^'^ff^' r'uUiu
ranturf^atia^quadreriturtemforadj'hAhebunturrationesffa'i^
tiorum. Si dentur fpatia^ (^ quarantur tern for a^ invefligetur
latus fpatiorumj & dahitur ratio temporum.
Divers other Inftances might be produced, to manifeft the requifitenes andadvantagioufnes of feme knowledg in Mathematicks to a Speculative Naturalift: But I fhali con- tent my ielfto name one more>i^;z. that the grand Theorem or Rule of the Staticks, That in theSallance^ox refembling Inftruments the Proportion betwixt the equivalent Weights^ and their diftancesfrom the fuUimentum or Prep, is reciprocal, (Cothat tis ufnal with Butchers, and other Tradefmen, to weigh in theStatera,commonly call'd the Stvliards,io or 20 pound weight, for Inftance, hung neer the Fulcim.ent, with one pound weight, plac'd on the other fide of the Beam, ac I o or 20 times diftance from it,) and many other Theorems, that ferve to explicate the properties of the grand Inftru- ment of Nature, Motion, (efpecially as produced or modi- fy*d by Weight, or equivalent Force varioufly adapted ,
and
1 4 Of the V/efulnesofliathematkks
and apply'dj cannot well be underftood without an Infight into GeometriCjand efpecially the Dofii me of Proportions; and how much the knowledg of the Principles and Theo- rems of theMechanicks may aflift the Naturalift both to ex- plicate many of Natures Phxnomena^ and to try Experi- ments, and work great Changes onherProduiSions , men will then more readily confefs, when they (hall better difcera how many of her works are but Engines, and do operate ac- cordingly.
5. And give me leave^ Pyrgphilus, to adde in this place, that the Do(5trine of Proportions, as it is the Soul of the Mathematicks themfelves, fo it may be of voO: (though per- haps yet unheeded) Ufe in Phyfiologie tooj not onely as it helps the Naturalift(as we have newly feen it does)to under- Hand divers Fhdfjtmena of Nature , but as it may inable him to perform divers things, which he could not perform without itj of which, though I may have occafion to give you hereafter in other papers feveral Examples, yetlSiall now mention two or three for Illuftration fake.
That the Pendulum is the accurateft Inftrument that we yet have of meafuring iliort fpdces of Time, I prefume you do not doubt: and I need not tell you, that he who would know what Length a Pendulum muft be of, to meafure by its Swing fome determinate fpace of Time, as, for Inftance, a half Second , (ov half the fixtieth part of a Minute,^ muft find it out by Trial and Obfervation, if he be not unacquain- ted with the Dodrine of Proportions: but in cafe he is vers'd in that, as well as in the P^^»tfw^^4 of Pendulums, he may from the length of one Pendulum, that exactly meafures a known part of Time, without making particular Tryals and Obfervations, deduce the length of Pendulums that will ferve to meafure other Divifions of Time. For Inftance,
that
Yb t^aturd fhilo/ophie. i 5
that diligent Obferver Merjennus affurcs u$, that he found by frequent Tryals, thataflender String with a Piftol or Muskec Bullet at the end of it, whofe Length comprehend- ing the Bullet was 3 Foot and a half, (elfewhere he mentions 3 Foot and a 27'^) vibrates Second (Minutesrj This now being taken for granted, and it being a receiv'd Theorem concerning Pendulums alike in all things biu Length, 7hat the Lengths are in Duplicate Proportion to the times in which their Vibrations are re[pe£iivelj perform'd , or are as the Squares of the Vibrations thej performe inth^ fame time, and confequently, the times are inSubduplicate Proportion to the lengths of the Pendulums*, if a man would (as I was fay- ing) have a Pendulum thatiliall vibrate Half- feconds, he muft not take, as one unacquainted with thefe things would be apt to do, a Pendulum of a Foot and v , which is 7 the length of that which vibrates a whole Second, for fuch a Pendulum would prove much too long for his purpofe, nor need he by multiply 'd obfervations laborioufly find ouc how much it is too long, (which oftentimes for want of a Standard he cannot do,) but fince the proportion between a Second and 7 a Second is double, and the proportion be- twixt the length of the Strings, that are to vibrate thefe two differing fpaces of time, muft be Duplicate of the pro- portion of the times themfelves, it follows, that the length of the Strings muft be as 4 to one, (which is the Duplicate of the proportion of 2 toi,j and fo the length of the fhor- ter String muft be but a 4 of that of the longer.
This, if it were needful, might be confirm'd by a Pro- bleme of the LeaxntdRicciolo'syWhQxcci 1 il:ali here give you an Example, becaufe I may hereafter have occafion to (hew you the farther ufe of it. Let us then fuppofe,to avoid fra- i^ion$> that g Pendulum that vibrates Seconds, is 3 entire
C Foot
1 6 Of the Vfeftdnes ofMathematicks
Foot long, fas indeed fome modern Mathematicians tell as it is and as it may well be according to the.meafures us'd in fome places.) If then you multiply 3600 the Square of the Vibrations, (which are 60, j that yoar 5 foot Pendulum makes in a Second, by the length oif the Pendulum, which is 36 Inches, and divide the Produdi' viz. i2p6ooj byplnch- esjthe 4'^ part of the length of the former Pendulum; and if laftly, of the Quotient (14400) you extra<^ the Square root, you fhall find it to be 1 20,th3t gives you the number of Vi- brations that will be made in a Second by a Pendulum of 9 Inches long, and this Root being/20, which is thedonble of of 60, you may fee, that to make a Pendulum, that fhall vi- brate Half- Seconds, it muft be but '- as long as tbi?t which vibrstes whole Seconds. And if I thought you were like to think thefe Rules as ft range , as a perfon wholly unac- quainted with the nature of Pendulums, and the Dodrine of Proportions may do^ I would invite you toconfult Expe- rience, as 1 have purpofely done in difiering Pendulums, that divide a Minute into Seconds, Hilf feconds, and Quarter- Seconds*, fince though your Tryals iliould not be very nice- ly made, they may fuffice to perfwade you, that the above mention'd Rules are either accurately true, or at ieaft true for the main, and therefore true enough to be very ufefal ia many occurrences.
To the above mentioned Inftances afforded by Pendu- lums I ftiall here adde but one raore,tbat comprehends many thoufandsj for the Art of compofingof that great variety of Harmonious Tunes, that makes Mufick fo delightful to us, depends upon the Dovflrine of Proportions. And he that being well skill'd in thar, knows how to apply it to the Notes or Words proposed, according to theObfervations which Experience has afforded, of the gratef ulncfs of fuch
and
To l^atural ^lilo/ophle. i y
and fuch Confonancies &c. may oat of his own head com- pofe a ftrange variety of new and plea/ing Tunes, which are fo m^ny Exercifes that mm makes of the power his Skill gives him over the Bodies of which his Mufical laftraments coafifh and over ihufe which they affed.
6* I know not, Pyrcphilus^ whether I may not reckon a- mongftthe Advantages chat Machematicks may afford the Naturalift, That they will in many cafes fuggeft to him di- vers new Experiments, whereby to vary thofe wherein the Figures of Bodies, the Lines of Motion, as alfo Numbers, Proportions, and the like Affediions, which the Mathema- tician is wont to treat of, may come into confideration. For tis very likely, that thofe fuggefted Experiments, which ei- ther would not be thought on,or could not be skilfully pro- posed, by a perfon not vers'd in Mathemacicks, may, either ioimediatelyjOr upon the fcore of the Applications that may be made of them,prove fcrviceable to men:(of which I hope ^^^ ^j^^ j^ in one of the following Eflays, to give you fome Inftances.) Epy.
I care not to mention to you, how great a variety of Try als and Obfervations, about the beft way of Levelling great Guns,and the differing Diftances to which they will carry at fuch and fuch Elevations, and the Lines defcrib'd by the motion of the Bullet, acd oiher particulars belonging to the Art of Gunnery, have been proposed and try'd, upon the Hints fuggefted by Geometrie's Mathematical Difciples fe- fpccially,) and others, becaufe many Good men wjfluhefe fatal Arts had been leflTe underftood. And therefore I flull rather put you in mind of the great variety of Ph^nomena^ whichpureMathematickshave help'd men todifcoverand derive from thefe familiar Obfervaiions^ That a Beam of * Light, paffing through differing ^Mediums, is not conti- nued in a ftieight Line, but broken or reh'a(5ted-, and, That in
C 2 fuch
1 8 Of the Vfefuhes ofMathematicks
Ibch and fuch conjun6lures of Circumftances the San or Moon will fufFer an Eclypfe, that will obfcurefuch apart of the Body, and laft fronn fuch a time to fuch a time: from which Obfervations of Eclypfes divers very confiderable things have been deduc'd by Mathematicians, not onely as to Aftronomy, buc alfo Geographie,Navigationjand Chro- nologic, And he that confiders what the Dodrine of Pro- portions, and of Concords (or, as our Muficians call them, Cord?,) and Difcords, has contributed to the great number of Mulical Inftruments, that have been sexually made, and delightfuilv? pradis'd, and that it may afford the N.turalifl; divers Hints applicable toother purpofes, (which I (hall hereafter have occafion to intimate,) He, I fay, thatcond- ders thefe things, efpecially if he be alfo acquainted with In- genious, pleafaiit, and fomeofthem ufeful, Experiments, that have been or may be deriv'd from the Obfervations, That when a Beam of Light falls upon a Bodyjand rebounds from it, the Angle of Incidence is equal to chat of Rtfle<fti. OH; That if the Superficies of the Body be Curve, the An- gle is to be eflimated as if it fell upon a Tangent to that Su- perficies? Thatif the Beam penetrate the Body, and come to it through a thinner medium^ tis refra(5led towards the Perpendicular, if through a thicker w?^/«w, from the Per- pendicularj He, as I was faying, that lliall confider Thefe things, and withall what a great variety of Propofitions, as well Problems as Theorems, have been deduc'd by Mathe- maticians by the help of thefe few Obfervations, and of as fewPropofitions touching the place of the ObjeCi feenby the help of Specular and Dioptrical GlaflcSjWill eafily grant, what by fo many Inftances I have been endeavouring to prove.
7. I come now to the Conlideration, wherewith I fliall
concludfi
To 2{aturalfhilofophie, ip
conclude this Eflay, viz. That divers Difclplines that are reckoned araongft the mixt Mathematicks, are chiefly Pra* dical, and may affift the Naturalift in making Experiments and Obfervations, which he either could not make, or could not make fo accurately without them: As may appear,^ 4r/- ly hy the Art of Dialling, which teaches how to meafure Time, and tends chiefly to pradicej fartlf by the Art of Per- fpedive, which is of great ufe to reprefent Solids and Di- ftances upon a fmall and plain Saperficies,and is very fervice- able to the Limners Art^ wherein if Schollars and Travel- lers were more generally converfant, the Hiflory of Nature would be far better adorn'd with lively reprefentations of PL'ncs, Animals, Mtteors, &c. and alib^yfeveral parts of the Art of Navigation, and particularly that which they call Hiflriodromia, or the Dodrine of the Lines by which Pilots make their Ships to fail. Now if in thefe, and divers other Inftances that may be given, it muft be acknowledged, that mixt Mathematicks may be ferviceable to the Naturahftj and affift him to promote the Empire of Man-, it ought not to be denied, that pure Mathematicks themfelves, as vulgar Arithmetick, Gtometrie, and Algebra^ may be of Ufe to the Naturaliftjfiacetis from thofe Speculative parts of the Mathematicks, that not onely thefe other more Pradlical Dt. fciplines are derived-, but a greater number ot thofe Difci- plines that are called mixt Mathematicks, may, according to what I elfewhere obferve, be hoped for^ For as Sounds and pure Mathematicks makeup Mufick, and Water with the fame Sciences make Hydroftaticksj/^^jas T elfwherenote, by a further Application of the fame parts of Knowledg to tf/^f;- Sabje(5ls, (and in fome cafes even to the /^zw^, J thofe Difciplines that are call'd Mixt Mathematicks, may be ad- vanc'dprob:iblyasto Number, as well as certainly as to
Ufefolncs
K^t-
20 Oliht ufefuhes of Mathematkks
Ufefulneflcs and Variety of Experiments. Nor is it onely in thofc pars of Learoingjthat I have now particularly nam'd, that ufeful Applications may be made of the Theorems and Problems of pure Mathematicks, fince upon thefe fublime Sciences do alfo in great part depend thofe other Mathema- tical Difciplines, which are wont (by a Sfnecdocbe) to be call'd Mechanical>aad which tis now time that I pafib on to conlider.
MiMAkMi^^^M
^^'*j.
ffffffffffffffffifffff
D3
o
r
m
V
O n
s: to
>
o
r
Of the VSEFULNESSB of
MECHANICAL Difciplines
TO
Natural Philofophy.
Of the Vfeffdna of Mechanical Vi/ciplines to- Natural Philosophie,
SHEWING 7hj.l the Powir of Man ntay be much promoted by the Naturs- l/fl's skill in Mechamcks,
TO prevent the dcnger of Stumbling ( as they fpeak) attheThrcflijld, Iflull begin this Difcourle with advertifing you, ihu I do not here take the Term Kji^tech Attic ks in that ftricter and more proper fenfe, wherein tis wont to be taken, when tis us*d onelv to fignifie the Do- drine about the Moving Powers ( as the Beam, the Leaver, the Screws, and the Wedg,) and of tra'Ping Engines to mul- tiply Forcej but I here nndeiftand the word Mechanicks in 3 largerfenfe , for thofe Difciplines that confift of the Appli- cations of pure Mathematicks to produce or modifie Moti- on in inf(irior Bodies: fo that in this fenfe they comprife not onely the vulgar Staticks, but divers other Dii'c'plines Tuch as theCentrobarricks, Hydraulicks, Pneuiiaticks, Hydro- flaticks, Balifticks, &c. the Etymologic of whofe n.'mes may inform you about what Subjeds they areconverfanr.
Now that thefe Arts (if you will allow them that name) may be of great Ufe to the Experimental Philofopher, and alTift him to enlarge the Empire of Man. may bemacie pro- bable by this general Conlideration, That divers of thofe things which in the former EfTay have been evinced to m.ike the Mathcmaticks uieful'to the Naturalilf, may be applied mutatis mutandis to the Mechanicks alfo. Befides that thefe Difciplines have fome Advantages peculiar tothemlelves. But the truth of what is thus repreftTited in general Tern's,
A a will
% Ofth P^fefuhm of Mechanical
will poflfibly be better difcern*(j, and more perfwafive, if we defcend to fome Particulars,
I. Firft (then] the PhAnomena afforded us by thcfe Arts,' ought to be lookt upon as really belonging to the Hiftory of Nature in its full and due extent. And therefore as they fall under the Cognizance ot the Naturalift, and challenge his Speculation^ fo it may well be fuppos'djthat being through- ly underftood, they cannot but much contribute to the Ad- vancement of his Kncfwledg, and confequently of his Pow- er, which we have often obferv'd to be grounded upon his Knowledg, and proportionate to ir. When (for inftance) we fee a piece ot W ood,duckt under water, emerge again and float, even Vulgar Nacuralifts think that \t belongs to them toconfider therealonof this Emerfion nnd Floating, which they endeavour to render from the Pofitive Levity, which they fancy to be (upon the account of the Air and Fire; in- herent in the Wood, though fome Woods,that will fwim in water, being put into Oyl or high re(5lified ffiiit of Wine may fink.
But I fee not why it fliould not belong to Philofophers to confider and inveftigate the ReafoUjWhy one part of float- ing Wood appears above the Water, whilft the other keeps beneath it, and why the extant part is equal to the immerf'd, or either greater or lelTer than it in fuch a determinate pro- portion, and ^^'hy the fame Wood will fink deeper in fome waters than in others, (as in a River than in the Sea,) as on the other fide fome Woods will fink lower than others in the fame Water. For if thefe things be duely exammd, as they may by the help of Hydroftaticks , not onely the Caufeot thefe and the \\kft Phenomena, will be difcovereJ; but by the Applications of that Difcovery aneafie way may be devis-d to mcafure a^d eftimate the differing ftrength of feveral Salt Springs, and alfo of divers kinds of Lixiviums, and Brinesj to which may be added divers oiher Pra<!^ical
Corollaries
Dlfdflms to Natural Thih/ophie j
Corollaries from the fame Difcoveries, which I /hall here- after have occafion to particularize.
1 1. The Mechanical Difciplines help me to devife and judg of fuch Hjfothefes , as relate to thofeSubjeds wherein the Notions and Theorems of Mechanicks either ought necefla- rily to be confider'd, or may ufefully be fo.
Of this we have InftanceSjnotonely in thofe Engines that are Artificial, and are lookt upon as purely Mechanical, as the Screw, the Crsne, the Ballancej &c. but in many familiar Fhdnomcna^ in which the Theorems of Mechanicks are not wont to be taken notice of to have an Intereft: As in the carrying a Pike or Musket on one's {lioulder,iA; the force of Scroaks with a longer or fliorter Sword or other inftrument, the taking up and the holding a Pike or Sword at Armes- length, and the power that a Rudder has to fteer a Ship- in rowing with Boats, in breaking of Sticks againft ones Knee, and in a multitude of other familiar Inftances, of which the Natuialill's skill in Mechanicks will enable him to give a far more clear and loliJ Ac ounr, than the Ancient School- men or the Learned'ftPhyfiti^ns thdt are unacquainted with the Nature and Properties of the Center of Giavity, and the feveral kinds of Leavers, the Wedge, ^c»
III. Nay there are feveral Do<5trines about Phyfical things, that cannot be well explicated, and fome of them ooc perhaps fo much :s underftood without Mechanicks.
That which emboldens me to propofe a thing that feems fo Paradoxical is, That there are many P/;;?f»w^;?4 of Na- ture, whereof though the Phyfical Cauies belong to the Confiderationofthe Naturalift, and may be rendered by him*, yet he cannot rightly & skilfully give them without taking in the Caufes Statical, Hydroflatical &c. Ciflmay fo name them j of thorei')^.f»tfW!if«4, i. e. fuch Inftances aS' depend upon the knowledg of Mechanical Prindplcs and Difciplines.
Of
4 Of the Vfefuhti ofMechmcat
Of This we have an obvious Example in that familiar Obfervation, thit we p^Jrtly touchc upon juft now about the fwimming and finking oi: Wood in water. For if it be de- manded, why Wood does rather fwim upon water then (ink to the bottom of it, a School- Philofopher would anfwer, th3t Wood abounds with Air,which being an Element very much lighter than Water, keeps it aloft upon the furrace of ihu Liquor. But this Anfwer will fcarce fatisfie a Natu- ralift,vers*d in Hydroftaticks. For not now to Queftion whu is taken lor granted, that there is a po(i civs Levity, and th3t the Air is endow'd with that Quality, Experience lliews us^ that though when Wood is not heavier than fo much 'W3ter,as is equal to it in Bulkjit will fwim*, yet in cafe it be heavier than fo much water it will fink. As we fee in divers Woods , and particularly in Guakaum^ which 1 therefore the rather name> becaureChymiftsobfervethatil: it be burnt, it leaves f^r kfle A(hes f and fuch are fuppos'd to contain the Terreftrial and heavy parts) behind it, th^n many Woo Js that we know Will float in water. And though Stones and Iron be upon the fcore of their weight, believ'd to be bodies that have little Air in them, yet if the Liquor into which they are put be heavier, bulk for bulk,th3n they, they will not fink but float, and if forcibly depreft, they will emerge, as you may try when you pleafe, by putting Stones or lion or the like ponderous Body upon Quick- filver, or melted Lead ; fo that we need not here confider whether Air be or be not predominant in a propos'd Body, when we would know whether it will or will not fink in an aRign'd Liquor.
And though we fliould admit the Air, whether included in the Pores, or lookt upon as an Elementary Principle to be the Caufeofits being lighter than an equal bulk of Liquor, yet the Air would be but the remote Caufe of its fwim- ming, its immediate Caule being that the floating Body is
lighter
Difciplines to Natural Vhilofophk, 5
lighter than an equal Bulk of the Liquor, and therefore the fame Body without acquiring or loofing Air, may fwim ia one kind of water, and fink in another. As in the cafe of hea- vy Bodies, as Loaden Ships, that having profperoufly fail'd over the Sea , are recorded to have funk as foon as^ they come into Harbour, i. e. into a more frefli watery and an Egge that will fink in common water, will fwiminaftrong Brine. Nay a Body may (as I and others have tryed) be fo pois'd in water, that if the Liquor be a little warmer then " when the Body was pois'd in it, the Body will fink-, as twill emerge again upon the Refrigeration of ir.
And i{ this general Anfwer of the Lightnes of the Air will not give fo good an account as Hydroftatical principles, why a piece ot Wood will float or fink, it will much lefs give fo fatisfa(5tory an Account, why differing Woods in the fame Water,or the fame piece of Wood in differing water5,will fink joft fo fir and no farther,whereas by Hydroftatical principles the phAnomenofi is eafie to be accounted for,according to that Theorem of ^^rchimedes, ■uf^^' ^ i-^^j^Par, That Solids lighter ub. x. ?rof, iJ than the Liquor ihey aie put into, will fink in it fo farjas that as much of the Liquor as is equal in Bulk to the demerfed part, be equal in weight to the whole floating Body.- whence ihefe Corolhriesarederiv'd, That a floating Body has the fame proportion in weight to as much Liquor as is equal to it in Bulk, as the immf r f'd part of the Body has to the whole Body. Andlikewife; That as much Liquor as is equal in Bulk to the whole BoSy, has the fame proportion in weight to the faid Body, as the whole Body has to that part of it felf which is beneath the fui face of the Liquor. And as thefe Corollaries deter mine, the Proportion between tbeimmers'd and extant part of the floating Body • fo (to (he<v you that thefe Theories lead to 9nCt\ct) they fuggeft the way of making a fmalland light Inftrument, elfewhere defcrib'd, to tneafore by a floating Body the di£^ering Gravities of feveral " "" ' Liquors
6 Of the Vfefulnes ofMechantcal
Liquors in reference to one another, as well as to the Body it felf. And upon the fame Grounds the Learn'd Stevinus fliews, That it you know what part of a floating Body is ira- mers'dina Liquor, whofe Specifick Gravity is alio known, as it eafily may be, you may prefently find the weight pf the ^whole Solid Body, let it be never fo much too great to be weigh'd in Ballances or Scatera's, yea though it were avaft Ship it felf^ as fuppofing that that part of fuch a VefTdjthic lies under water (hould be loooooCubick foot, and that a Cubick foot of Water weighs 70^, (which though it be not the weight we have obferv'd a Foot of Water EnsliHi-mea- fure to amount to, \ et that alters not the general iRule,; by multiplying loowooby 70 the Producl will be 700000^ for the weight pf the whole Ship , with all that's contain'd in it, as Ballaft, Ordinance, &c. or refts or Leans upon it. If I (hould ask ameer School- Philofopher, why Sucking- Pumps will not ra'fe Water higher than 40 Foot, ( though it be commonly piefum'd they will raife it to any height,) or why in an inverted Siphon of Glafs if you pour Water and Quick- (liver in a fufficieniQuantity^the Surface of the water in one Leg of tiie Siphon will not be in a Level with the Sur- face of the Quick- filver in the other, but 13 or 14 times as highabovethebottomof the Siphon: or why, if a piece of Iron, and a piece of Marble or a Flint &c. be equiponderant in the Air, if the Scales be let down into the water, the Me- tal will appear far heavier than the Stoi^. If, Ifay,Iihould askameer Naturalift both thefe or the like Qucftion? , I doubt I fliould much more perplex him, than he would fa- tisfieme. And twereeafie to adde a multitude of Examples, whereof a good Account will fcarce be given by a Naturalift that is unacquainted with Mechanicks, and may eafily be af- (ign'dby onethat is skill'd in them. But referring the Schoolmen to k^riftotle's Mechanical Queftions, to fhew £feen:i the NecefTity andUfefulnesof Mechanicai Knowledg,
^. "^ ' ""'" ~"" to
Difciplines to l^latunl fhilojophie] y
to give the Solution of fundry Phinomem that freqaently occur, I will onely adde an Example or two to make good the mod Paradoxical part of what I was faying- namely, that there are divers Phyfico- Mechanical phanomenay which are not to be, I fay not explicated, but fo much as well un* derftoodjWithout the kno.vledg of Mechanical Difciplines. There is a confiderable Theorem in Hydroftaticks, which is th aught to have been fir ft tak^n notice of by Merfenntis^ and in a late Writer is thus expreft: Vdocitates motus aqu^ defcendentis (^ fffiuentU per Tubos aqualium foraminum^ fed in£qualium altitudinum^ h^bent [ubdi4pltcatam rationem alti" tudmum* Of which the Corollary is, That the Tubes are In a duplicate ration to that of the velocities of the Wa- ter that fubfides in, and runs out of them^ fo ihat to make one Tube at a Circular Hole of the fame Diameter run out in the fame time twice as much Water as another, the grea- ter ought to be not onely twice but four times as long as the fliorter. And of the fame proportion (my Tryals about which 1 may elfe where acquaint you with) divers other Pra- dical Applications may be made, which muft not be here infifted on.
IV. As I formerly faid of the Mathematicks, fo I now fayoftheMechanicks, that they may affift the Naturalift to multiply Experiments by thofe Enquiries that they will fuggeft, and thofe Inferences and Applications whereto they may lead us.
Of this we have a noble Inftancein the great variety of Tryals, which Enquirers, verf'd in Hydroftaticksand other Mechanical Difciplines, have upon the fcorc of their being fo Qualified, been either prompted , or at leaft affifted to make, about the famous Qyickfilver- Experiment devis'd by TorriceUiu6, about which though fo much has been done already, yet almoft every year brings forth new phanih
• B Anothei:
8 Of the Ufefulnes of Mechanical
Another Example to our prefent purpofe we may take from the great Number of new Propoficions that the Dili- gent Merfenntu has given us in his Balifticks , about the Force and Effe<5^s of Bows, and the like Springy Bodies, But ayetmorenoblelnftanceis given us by the moft Inge- nious Gain. 0^ who, as we may learn from the already menti- oned/"r^/^c^ Writer, that has given us an account of Gali* Ido's new Thoughts in that Language, h ?s pablifli'd (o many Propofitions Cof which he (ets down 19 or 20, with the De- monftrarionsj about the refiftance of Bodies to be broken , and the Weights requifite to break them, and the Lengths at which they may be broken by their own Weight, that he has reduced them into the Form, and given them the Title of a new Arc.
To all which I (hall need to adde no more, than that he who knows and confiders what a variety ofUfeful Propofi- tions have been or may be Mechanically deduc*d from the Obfervation of s^rchimedes , That a Solid Body weighs lefs in Water than in the Air by the weight of Water equal in Bulk to that Body, will eafily difpence with me for not adding any farther Inftances on this Occafion.
And the mention of this Hydroftatical Propoficion of Archimedes falls in the more properly in this place, becaufe it will warrant me to tell you , that divers Mechanical The. orems are not onely fertile in other Theorems, but in uief ul Applications too, of which I may hereafter have Occafion to give you fome Examples, by acquainting you with the Ufes I have made of the lately mentioned Propofitioo of Archimedes, and fome Corollaries, that partly by others^ and partly by us, have been inferr u from it.
V. Bcfidesthe Utilities that may be afcrib'd to the Mechanicks in common with the more Speculative Mathe* matical Dikiplines, they have fome fas I formerly intima- ted) that are more peculiarly their own^ fince they may be of
' " ^ great
Difcipltnes to Natural Thilo/ophie. 9
great Ufe to theNaturalift in making of fnch Inftrumcnts and Tools, as for many of his Obfervations, Tryals, and o- ther purpofes, he may either abfolately need, or advantage- oufly imploy*
Ofchiswehavean Example in the Mariner's Compafs, astiscall'd; which is fo neceflary to thofe remote Navigati- ons, whereto Natural Philofophy and Mankind owes fo much. For though Baptifta Porta does, as well as other Authors, afcribe the Invention of the Dire(5tive Faculty of the Magnetick Needle to one of his Countreymen {Amal- ^j^^^^ ^-y fhi, in the Kingdom of Naples^) ytt be confefTes, that for 7. aip. ji/ ' w;mt of the knowledg of making fuch Sea-CompalTes as we now ufe, this Lucky Inventor was fain to make ufe of a piece of Wood or StraWj to keep the Needle a float, and then im- bue it with a Magnetick vertue? which was a Shift fubjed to great and manifeft inconveniences. And indeed, notwith- ftanding the knowledg of the Verticity of Magnetical Nee- dles, if by that of the Properties of the Center of Gravity, or fome Pra(5lices deriv'd thence, fome men vcrs'd in Mecha- nicks had not dev^s'd a way fo to poife the Needle,th3t not- withftanding the Roling and Tolling of the Ship,it will con- tinue Horizontal enough to direcJl the Pilot; what would become of him in thofc StormSj when he has moil need of a faithful Guide?
By the help of the Centrobarrical Dodrine Mechanicks have been enabled to make thofe Diping Needles, whofe phenomena are very odde, and though, as far as I have tryd,' they yet feem uncertain enough-, yet it may very pofTibly happen^that farther Obfervations may redncethem to fome Theory, whence Prasftical Inferences may be deduc'd.
And you will the more eafily believe, that the Mechani- cal Applications of Centrobarrical Notions may be of im- mediate Ufe, if we confider. That by virtue of them di^^ers Writers,aDd others of \infufpe(aed Credit affure us,ihat they
B 2 have
to Of ty. Vfefuhm of Mechanical
have made a kind of Lamp fo pois'd, that one may role it up and down like a Bowl, withouc overturning the Vcffel that contains the Oyl, or extinguifliing the Flame.
From the knowledgthat comprefs'd Air has a Spring, whereby it refifts farther Compreflion, and a flight Contri- vance to make Ufe of this Pneumatical Principle, an Ac- quaintance of mine made a flight Engine, which afterwards I found mentioned in a printed Book, by which he was a great Gainer, going, when he was well fatisfied for his pains and hazard, to the Bottom of the Sea , and by the help of this Engine flaying there fometimes for divers Hours, till he had fetcht up valuable things out of funk Ships, and tyed Gables about their Guns, that they might atcervvards be Buoy'd up.
But there might be given fo many Examples of Inflru- nients and Tools, that are ufeful CO theNaturalift, and for which yet he ought to thank the Mechanicks, that twcrete* diousto enumerate them, cfpeciiUy fince the Shops of Ma- thematical Inftrument makers and other Tradefmen , may fupply you with enough of them, to verifiewhac this Para- graph would pcrfwade.
VI. I ftiall conclude the Confiderations I defign'dfor this Eflay by this, That as theKnowledg of the Theorems of Mechanicks, and the Praj^lices which have been thence derived, may very much aflift the Naturalift to make good Mechanical Contrivances , according to the Exigences of his feveral Purpofes-, fo one good Mechanical Contrivance may be equivalent to, and may perhaps adually produce, many good Experiments.
The former part of this Propofition will not,! think, re- quire much Proof. For a man rauft be but a dull Nacuralifl:, that fliall know the Properties of the Center of Gravity, of Leavers, Ballances, Screws, Wedges, and other Inftruments for incfeafing Force ^ and by frequenting the Shops and
Work'houfes
Difdflines to KaturaX Thilofophie. 1 1
Work-houfes of Mechanicians , flull have Teen variety of Engines and Inftruments to compafs difterenc things, it he do not from the Survey and Confideration of all thefCjgrow more able by compounding, varying,and otherwife improve- ing them, to devife fuch Means and Expedients, as he would not elfe have thought on, to make fome Trials that he could not make before, and to make ethers more accurately, pr more eafily, or fome way or other better.
And as to the fecond part of our Propoficion, namely, that one good Mechanical Contrivance may be as confidera- ble as many particular Experiments, by enabling ihs Natu- ralift to produceeither Numerous, or Noble ones, or both, it may be minifefted by feveral Examples.
And I fliall begin with fo familiar a one, as That afforded by Valves, or Trap- doors. For as (light and obvious as the Invention of them feems, yet not onely we owe to theoi a greatvarietyof Pumps and Bellows for Oeconomical ufes, but they mike very confiderable parts of feveral ocher En- gines, and m^y, asfome Trials haveinform'dus, be applied about feveral new Experiments, efpecially if they be made of Brafs, and yet fo (mail, that like fome of thofe I have had made by skilful Workmen , (who , when I firftdire(Sed them, told me, that they could not be made,) they maybe us'd not onely in fmallGlafs- pipes, but in Syringes them^ (elves.
By the help of f mall Valves , and the knowledg of the Spring of comprels'd Air, have been made thofe Wind* Guns, which may be imploy'd not onely to weigh the Air, (whoie Weight we found them to evince, but not deter- mine,) but to kill Deer, and other Gime, without making a great Noife, that would fright away the reft.
U\ did aoz^Pyropljilf£s^ forefee,that in the following EC* fays of this Treitife Ifliall have occ^fion to mention Corns other Inftances of the Service that Mathematical ma Mecho-
mcd
1 1 Of the J^fefulnes ofMechmcal
nical Difciplines may do the Naturalift, I fhould here adde divers particulars, which I had rather you Ihould, when you meet with them, refer hither, and therefore I ihall conclude what I intended now to fay about thefe Difciplines, by two or three fhort Inftances, that relate to what I have already faid concerning them.
The Firfl; is, that twas not my Defign to treat of the U- tility of the Mathematicks and Mechanicks in an abfolute way: For then I mufl have faid much to their Advantage which I have omitted, becaufe it would have too much fweli'd thefe Eflays, and not have been pertinent enough to them. And therefore I thought it fufficient for me to touch upon thofe things,on whofe account thefe Difciplines may be made ufeful to the Naturalift, by alTifting him either to frame Theories, or to make Obfervations and Experi- ments) fome fatleaft)of which, dirc6^1y, or in their Appli- cations, either are already, or are like to prove, Prad^ical and Ufeful. And it feems to me very probable, that the Notions and Fra6tices of thefe Difciplines, that have been too much hitherto refJrain'd by raeer Mathematicians and Mechaniti- ans to the Stars, the Earth, the Water, and fome tew other confpicuous parts of Nature, may be very well extended by a Philofopher to fundry other Produ<aions, as well of Na- ture, as of Art. As s^rchimedes deduc'd Hydroftaticks from the Application he made of vulgar Staticks,to Bodies weighed in Air and Water, or in Water onelyt and the In- genious rf>r//V^///^, and others, have of late apply'dthe Principles of Hydroftaticks to that ponderous Body (which the Chymifts reckon among Metals j Mercury.
My next Advertifment is, that mentioning Mechanical Inftances, not fo much to acquaint you fully with the things themfelves, as to make the Medium's to infer what I would prove, I have taken the Mechanical Propofitions that I im- ploy 'd, as they are delivered by the /\rtifts themfelves, with.
ouc
Dlfcipl'mes to Katural Vhilofophte. i j
out warranting that their Proportions will hold true in Ma- thematical ftric^nes. For though I have made Tryals my feif of feveral things of this naturCjyet having often obferv'd how difficult it is to find a Mathematical preafenes in Phyfi- cal and Mechanical things, I think itnotamifs to intimate thus much to you, though I may clfewhcre have a fitter op- portunity to make it out, that fo greit an exadlnefs is in ma- ny cafes not neceffary to make the Rules that want it, ufe- ful in Pr3<5tice. '
The Concluding Intimation I mean to give you, is, That I have not hitherto mention'd a Seivice, that Mathematicks and Mechanitks may often do the Naturalift, which is not fie to be filently pietermitted, and it is , That by Lineal Schemes, Pidures, and Inftruments, they may much aflift the fmagmation to conceive many things, and thereby the Underftanding to judg of them, and deduce new Contrivan- ces from them.
That I do not groundlcfly fay this, yoa will grant, if yoa confiderhow difficult (not to H^y impolTible) it were to go through with a long Geometrical Demonftracion, without the help of a vifible Scheme, to affift both the Fancy and the Memory; and how difficult it is to give Beginners 2nldea of the Grounds oi Colmographie and Geographic, without Material Schemes and Globts, your own very recent Experience, as wei! as that of others, vvill,! prefume, inbrm you. As it alfo may, how ureful.not to fay how neceffary, Pidures, and in fome cafes, Models, are wont co be, when Engines,Houfes,Ship<, and oiher StrUL*lurcs are to be judg'd of, that they may be approv'd, or improved: buc I {hall fa- ther take notice, that not onely Mechanical, Mathematical, and Anatomical things, need Schemes and Pi(5^ures/tore- prefent them clearly ro our Conceptions; but m.any things that are looked upon as more purely Phyfical, may, in my Opinion, bemuchilluftratcdthe fame way. Of which if
DCS
14 Of the Ffefuhes ofMechanlcal
Des Cartes has, as fome fay, been the Introducer, I think he dcfetves our Thanks for ic. For as Plato faid, God docs al- ways Geomctrize-, fo in many cafes it may be as truly faid, That Nature does play thfrj/lechaoitian, not onely in Ani- mals, but in Plants and tfifir parts, and divers other Bodies; in the Explication of which GurioaSi and oftentimes invifi- ble Contrivances of Hers, Pi<5lures, that reprefeut them well to the Eye, and, it twcre needful!, in Dimenfions much greater than Natural, may very much farther the framing of right lilaas of chem in the Mind.
iiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiii^i^^ii
fffffffffffffffffffff^f,^.
«fe
That the gOOVS OF MJ.XKJ^^'D
may be much cncrcafed
bythc NATU R A LIST'S
Infight into T^AV E S.
1
w
That the G0ods »f Mankind may be much encreafed by the Naturalifi's Inftght into Trades.
TO make out what is propof'd in the Title of this Difcourfe, I lliall endeavour to fliew two things. The One; That an Infight into Trades may Im- prove the Naturalift's Knowledge. And the Other, That the Naturalift, as well by the skill thus obtam'd, as by the other parts of his knowledge, may be enabled to Improve Trades .
The LSe6iim»
ANd firft, it feems to me to be none of the leaft prcju- dicesjthat either the haughtinefs and negligence, which moft men are naturally prone to,or that wherewith cheymay have been infe<5ted by the Supercilioufnefs and La2inefs,too frequent in Schools , have done to the Progrefs of Natural Philofophy, and the true Intereft of Mankind, that Lear- ned and Ingenious Men have been kept fuch ftrangers to the Shops and PratliCes of Tradefmen. For there are di- vers confiderations that perfwade me.that an Infpe<^ion into thefe may aot a little conduce, both to the Increafe of the Naturalift's knowledge, and ro the Melioration of thofe Mechanical Arts.
I. And,I confider in the firft place, that the Phienomcna afforded by Trades, are Cmoft of them ) a Part of the Hifto- ry of Nature, and therefore may both challenge he Natu* ralift's Curiofity, and adde to his knowledge. Nor will it fuffice to juftifie Learned Men in the neglect and contempt of this Part of Natural Hiftory,that the Men^frora whomi
A a ■ iC;
2 The Goods of Mankind may he much encreafed
it maft be learn'd, are illiterate Mechanicks,and the things that are exhibited are works of Art and not of Nature. For the Firft part of the Apologie is indeed Childifh, and too unworthy of a Philofopher to be worthy of a folemne An- fwer. And as for the Later part , I defire, that you would confider whatwcclfwhere exprefTely Difcourfe againft the onreafonable difFerencCjthat the generalityof learned Men have feem*d to fancy betwixt all Natural things and fa^iti- ous one«. For befides that many of thofe Pfodu6lions,that are call'd Artificiall,do differ from thofe,that are confelledly Natural, not in Effence, but in Efficients 5 there are very many things made by Tradefraen, wherein Nature appears manifeftly to do the main parts of the Work: as in Mault- ingjBrewing, Baking, making of RaifonSjCurrans and other Dried Fruitsj as alfo Hydrome],Vinegar,Lime5&c. and the Tradefman does but bring vifible Bodies together after a grofTe manner, and then leaves themtoa<5l one upon ano- ther, according to their refpcciive Natures 5 As in making of green for courfe) Glalle,the Artificer puts together Sjnd and Afhes, and the colliquation and union is performed by theadlionof ihefire upon each Body, and by as natural a way as the fame fire, when it refolves wood into Afhes,2nd Smoak unites Volatile Salt, Oyle, Earth and Flegme into Soot; and fcarce any man will think, that when a Pear is grafted upon a white Thorne, the fruit it bears is not a Na- tural one, though it be produced by a Coalition of two Bo- dies of diftant Natures put together by the induflry of Man, aid would not have been produc'd without the Manual and Artificial Operation of the Gardener.
II. Butmany of the Phsenomcna of Trades are not only parts of the Hiftory of Nature, but fomeofthcmmay be reckoned .among its more noble and ufefull Parts. For they ihew us Nature in mothn^ and that too when (he is ( as ic were)pat oucof her Comie^^by the ftreogth or skill of
Maa
hy the i^aturaltU's Infight intoTrades . 5
Mani which I have formerly noted to be the moft inftru- dtive conditionjWhercin we can behold her. And as 'tis ma- niteft that thcfe Obfervations tend dire<5^1y to Pradife, fo, if I miftake not, they may afiPord a great deal of light to di- vers Theories, efpecially by affording inllances, wherein we fee by what means things may be effecfled by Art , and confequently by Nature that works Mechanically.
III. The Phienomena afforded by Trades are therefore the fitter to be tranflated into the Hiflory of Nature by PhilofopherSjbecaufe they, whofeprofeflion 'tis to manage thofe things, being generally but Shop- keepers, and their fervants being for the moft part but Apprentices and Boyes, they neither of them know themfelves how to defcribe ia writing their own Pradices, and record the Accidents they meet with : fo that either Learned men muft obferve and Regifter thefe things, or we muft,to the no fmall Prejudice of Philofophy, fuffer the Hiftory of Nature to wantfo confiderable an Acccflion, as the Shops and Work.houfes of Crafts- men might affbrd it; which accefTion would be much the more copious, if the Experiment of Trades were made by a Naturalift, who would doubtlefs fo manage them, as to make them farr more Inftrudive and better fitted for thedefigne of a Natural Hiftory, than the fame Experiment would be,if they were related but by an illite- rate Tradefman,thoDgh never fo honeft.
And, Fjrofhilus^ to invite you, as you defigne a further Progrefs in Natural Phylofophy ,to difdain as little as I do, to converfe with Tradefmen in their Workhoufcs and Shops ; give me leave to tell you^ihac as he defervcs not the knowledge of Nature, that fcornes to converfe even with mean Perfons, that have the opportunity to be very convcrfant with Her 5 fo oftentimes from thofe, that have neither fine Language nor finedoaths coamurebim with, the Naturalift may obtain iDformatioos^tbac may be very
A3 nfcfttll
4 ^/^^ Goods vf Mankind may he much encrea fed ufefuli to his defign , and that upon feveral fcorcs.
For firfti Tradefmen are ufually more diligent about the particular things they h!?ndle, than other Experimen- ters are wont to be 5 becjuie thefe, if they want diligence, loofe nothing , but what that very want of it keeps them from taking not'ce of, or ^t rroft the fatisfj(5lionof an un- necclTary curiofit) 5 whireas Tradefmen have another gbelTe concern in the mari.igement of what they imploy themfelves about, for their livelyhood depends upon it; And as , ij- they be carelefs, others more diligent will get away their Guftomfi So^ if they do any thing extraordini- rily well, the chiekft and for fometime, the whole Benefic u^illaccrew to themfelves, and by improving their Profef- fion they better their Income.
Secondly, As it is Proverbially faid, that Neceffiryis the mother of Inventions, fo Experience daily (hews, that the want of a Subfiftence, or of Tools and Accommodati- ons, makes Craftf-men very Induftrious and inventive, and puts them upon im ploying fuch things to ferve their prefenc turnes, as nothing but neceflity would have made even a knowing man to have thought on. By which means, they difcover new ufes and Applications of things, and confe- quently new Attributes of them 5 which are not wont to be taken notice of by others,and fome oi which,! confefs, I have hot look'd upon without wonder.
Thirdly, I have feverall times obferv'd Trades deal with things unknown to Claflical writers , and unuf'd, fave in their Shops, And thefe are not only fa(51:itious, but divers of them Natural-, as Manganefe fby fome calfd Magnefca*,) &Zafora Cif atleaft it be what many repute it j Emery, Tripoli,&c. and of both forts there are fome, that are ex- ceeding ufefulU as of thofe formerly mention'd, the two fir ft are to GlafTe-menand Potters; and the two Later to a number of other Tradef-menj and as among Artificial
^Cpncrctcs,
hy the KaturAlHis Infight into TraJesl 5
Concretes, Soaders are of ncccffary ufe to Gold- fmiths. Lock ♦fmith$5Copper-fmiihs5Brafiers,Pewterer$5Tin- men, Glafiers, &c. Amels to Gold-fmiths, Glafs-mcn, &c.Lake$ of feveral forts to Painters, Hcraulds,&c. and Putty to Amel founders, Potters,Stone-cutters,Gold-fmiths,Glars- grinders, and divers other Profeffions . I fhall adde, that ev'nof thofe natural things,cf which feme mention is made in famous Books, one may learn many things in Shops, not to be met with there,both as to the differing kinds of things, and as to the marks of their goodnefs, and as to other Par- ticulars conducive to the knowledge of thofe fubjedts. And I freely confefs to you, Pjrophilm ^ihzt I learn'd more of the Kinds, Diftin(5tions, P«Dpcrties, and confequently of the Nature of Stones,by converfing with two or three Mafons, and Stone- cutters, than ever I did from Plinj or Arifotle^ and his Commentators.
Fourthly,Youiliall often find,that Tradef-men,being un- acquainted with Books,& with the Theories & Opinions of the Schools,examine the Goodnefs & other Qualities of the things they deal with, by Mechanical waies,which their own fagacity or cafual Experiments made them light upon. And though thcfe , having litle or no affinity with thofe that a Book- man would have taught them, will appear to him cxtravagant-5 yet being fuch, as, if they really ferve the Crafts- man's turn, muft be true and u(eful, their being extravagant will but make them the more new and Inftru- ^ive, and confequently the more fie to be admitted into the Hiftory of Nature.
Fifthly, The Obfervations that Tradef-mencanfupply us with , though they are notj probably at any one time fo accurately made by them, as they would be by a Learn- ed man 5 yet that defed is recompenfed by their being more frequently repeated, and more aflfiduoufly* made, than moft of the&xpcckneats wherewith mea of Letters have f • " ' '" " * furnifhed
6 The Goods of Mankind may he mtich encrea/ed
forniihed Natursl Hiftory : fo that thofe CircumftaoceSy which are not heeded by the Artificer at one time , may ol> trude upon his obfervation at another, and by reiterating the fame Proccfles fo often, it can fcarce be doubted, buc that divers Phaenomcna will offer themfelves, even to an unattentive Eye , that would not have been all of them taken notice of by a more heedful Experimenter^ that had perform'd the Operation but once or twice. Buc this will be further confirmed in the next Paragraph.
Sixthly, There are Tradefmen, that do often obferve in the things they deal about , divers Gircumftances unob- ferved by others , both relating to the Nature of the things they manage , and to the Operations performable upon them.
Of the particularsjwherein the Obfervations of Trades- men (for the Utility of many of their Pradifes is not que- ilioned ) may help us to invedigate the Nature of Bodies, I could name more than my prcfent haft allows me to mention , and I (hall , as a Specimen, take a little notice, fir(t,offomeof the Remarks they have to diflioguifh and eftimate what they call the Good^efs and Badnefs of the things they deal with 5 and then of fome few of their Ob- fervations, that depend upon the Influence, that Time and Seafon have on the Things they handle, and upon the Ar- tificers Operations on them. For (to begin with the fird) although they commonly mean by fuch termes (of Good- neis and Badnefs ) no more, than the fitnefs, or unfitnefs of fuch things to yeild a good price, and in order thereunto for the purpofes they are to beimployed about in their par- ticular Trades-, yet this fitnefs or unfitnefs is wont to con- fiif in, or to fuppofe, Qualities, that may relate to divers other things, and be apply 'd to many other purpofes^ For fome of the Tradefmen's Criteria difcovcrto us a variety 2od a difierence of kinds in Bodies oi the ffine Dcaomina-
hy the ISlaturalifts infght into TfaJesl 7
tion •, as from the Potters, rhs Tobacco-pipe- makers, and the Glaffemen, we may learn a confiderable variety pi Clays 5 and from Stone- cutters and M^fons no lelTe variety ofStonesuntak'n notice otby ClalTKk Authors. So from Carp.-^nters, Joyners, and Turners we may leain, that fome woods, as Oake, are fit to endure both wet and dry wea- ther; others will endure well within doores, but not expos'd to the weather; others will hold out well above ground, hue not underwater; 3nd others on the contrary will laft better under water, than in the Aire.
And as the Diflinguifliing markes we were fpeaking of may informe us of the difi^:renccs and kinds of Bodies ; fo ihey may likewife on other Accounts give us notice of di- vers of their Qualities. Thus we find by the GTifl'e men and SoapeBoyltrs, that fome Allies, as thofe of Kely, Besn- H'Aksc^c, do much more abound in S^lt, than other fome; and yet fome of thofe forts of Afhes make cieerer, or other- wife better glMfe, than the reft do. We m^y likewife Jearne of the Mjulfters the differing Impreflions, tint the Barly receives according to the fewel, whether Straw, Wood, Furs, e^^- that makes the Fire wherewith 'tis dry'd. And I remember, I have known an Ingenious M?ul(ier much advantag'd by a way hehadot foprep.iring Mault, asific hadnot been dry'd With Wood,(uru illy the cheapeff,butnot the befl,fewel for that purpofe) whereas indeed it was a Se- cret conftfting onely in the choice and feafoning of foch a kind of Wood, that ev'n the folid parts of it cleft, burnt: almoff like ftraw with a deer flame, fo ftrangely fiee from Smoake, that I could not behold it without fome won- der.
The other fort of Inftruftivc obfervations to be learnM of Tradefmen confifls of thofe, that are made about the Operation, that continuance of time, or change of feafon and leather, may have upon certain Bodies , and wayes of haa-
B dliog
8 That the Goods of mankind may he much encreas'd
dling them. For naturalifts, ufually contenting themfelves to make their Experiments but once or twice , when their leifure beft ferves, or their occafions mod require, have not the fame opportunity to difcern what influence the temper, which the Aire then is put into , either by the feafon or the weather or both , may have on the Event of the Tryall 5 whereas TradeCmen , by long and fometimes unwelcome Experience,are taught fuch and fuch things will be beft done at fuch feaions of the year , or in fuch kind of weather ^ which if they be not in fome cafes obferv'd , either the thing willnotfuccced, or the Trades- man will be damnify 'd by hisTryal.
Thus we fee, that Tanners make choice of that part of the fpring , when the Bark abounds with the rifeing iapp,to take it oft from the Trees ; becaufe at all feafons it will not be fo good nor come off I'o eafily. Thus Joy ners think not Wains-coat fufficiently (eafon'd till it be fo many years old^ And in feveral Countrys, Batchers obferve , that though a young Bullock may be very good meat , if fpent foon after 'tis kill*d 5 yet if powder'd, to be long kept,before the beaft be 4 or 5 year old, the fait will too much fret it, and make it little worth. And I look upon it as one of the Advantages the NaturaJift may derive from Trades-mensObfervations ^ That the fame things being fucceffively dealt with by the Father and the Son, the Mafter and the Apprentice, they fometimes make fane more long winded Obfervations, than the Philofopher has opportunity to do. As for inftance , thofe that make Mortars of Ligmm vita^ and will make them good, will keep it in the houfe 20 years, or perhaps more, to feafon fas they call it) before they will Imploy ir» And Experienced Mafons tell us (and as farre as I have ob- ferv'd truly enough) that as there are fome forts of Lime and Stone, that will decay in few years-, fo there are others, that will aot attaine their full hardnefie in jq or 40 , or a much
lODgeE
hy the T^dtutaUfts Inf^k into Trader, 9
longer time. Of which I may elfwhere give yoa fome Inftances.
To the fix foregoing particulars, one more may be added to the fame purpofe with the reft , and it is ; That by frequenting the workehoufes and fhops of Crafts- men, a Naturalift may often learn other thingSjbefides the truth and falfity of what they relate, concerning the Hiftory of the Arts they make Profeflion of. For though a Trades- man, being for the moft part unlearned andaimeingonely at ma- king or performing thofe Particular things, which when done, are to bring profit, ufually overlooke thofe Phaeno - mena, that make not to his Purpofe? yet Nature, {'who minds as little his Defigne, as he do's thofe works of Hers, that conduce not to it) is by fome Agents and Operations, that he imploys tocompaflehis Ends, engag'd to do feve- rall things that have a conne(5lion which thofe the Artificer Profecutes, or elfe doe depend upon them : fo that the Na- turalift may oftentimes obferve in Shops divers confiderable Phtenomena, that the Trades- man regards notj becaufe they neither further , nor hinder him in his work , and will be look'd upon by him as impertinent to the Hiftory of his ProfefTion, in cafe he (hould be put upon delivering it. And yet iome of thcfe occurring Pha?nomena being pro- duced by nature , when (he is as 'twere vex'd by Art , and roughly handled by ways unufual , and fometimes extrava^ gant enough, may difcover to a heedful and rational man, divers Luciferous things not to be met within Books, or probably not fo much as dreamt of by the Authors of them. Sundry Examples of this I (hall have occafion to difperfe in the following E S S A Y and other Trads,that are defign'd you in this Second Volume of our prefent Treatile.
B 2 The
• I o The Goods of Mankind may he much encreafed
The II. SECTION.
T Will now therefore proceed to fliew, that as the Natura- -* lift may fas we have leen)derive much knowledge from an [nfpedlion into Trades i (o by virtue of the knowledge thus acquired , as well as by that , which he