p V DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Treasure %oom ftf-t^; u> 4&» £!&» **&* *&> «&> *tfr> «&> *if*> *&► THE PUBLISHER T O T H E READER THe Philofophy and Ori- gine of Gems as well as theire Ufefulncfs and Vir- tues will, I am perfwaded be found , upon the attentive per- ufalofthis Ejfay it feif, fo ra- tionally and warily deliver'd therein, that there will need nothing to be faid in the praife of the Compofure thereof I dare venture , notwithftanding A 2 the fl^ffe' The Publijher the Noble Author's modefty , to prefent it to the moft Critical tafte, without hanging out a Bufli to it. All I have to fay in the pub- lifting thereof , (hall be the fame , that was alledged by the Englifh Interpreter of the Learn- ed Stenos Prodromus to an in- tended Dijfertation of his , con- cerning Solids naturally contain- ed within Solids , printed the laft year by Mofes Pitt in Little Britain i where in the Englifh Preface occurr paflages to this " That the Honourable Au- thor of this Effay , before he ic would fee or hear any thing * of that Prodromus of Steno, v " did* upon occafion folemnly as for the Opacens " Gems , and other Medical Cl Stones, as Blood-ftoneS) Jafpers, «*» «#> «&» «&» THE PREFACE. TH^ /£e Scarcity , /^e Lujire and the Precioufnefs of Gems have made them in all ages to he tec* korid among thefineU and choi- cest of Natures VroduUions , is generally granted. But whether the Books , that have been divulged of them, be anjwer- able to the Noblenefe of the Subjeff, feems not to me fe unquejlionable; For, as for the Origine of Gems 3 to fay with Ari- ftotle towards the clofe of his\ third #00^0/ Meteors , that a dry Exhalation, %n& divaSvpueunsi (whether) fiery or firing, ( cKTrvfiou, ) ma\es, among other fojfils, the fever al k^nds of unfufible Stones : or to tell us , according to the more received VoSrine , that Gems are ptade of Earth and The Preface. and Water finely incorporated & harden d by cold 5 This, 1 fay* n to put us off with too remote and indefinite generalities, and to found an explication upon Principles, which are partly precarious and partly in- fit ffkient , and perhaps ,alfe untrue m And as to the Hiftory of Gems , that has been fo fabuloufly deliver d , that especially among the Moderns , many learned men, Vhilofophers and vhyfttians, have, fonttk fake of fo many improbable and fometimes impojfible Virtues, that have been afitfb'd to Gems , been indue* d to deny them any Virtues at al/. 'Tis true , that I am not altogether fo fever e , and that the ejieem, that I find made by Learned men of the inquisitive Emperor Kudolfus's fhyfitian Boetius de Boot, makes me difcrim- note him and two or three modern An- thers , that in Books, profefiedly made on other &nbje&s,have written incidentally of feme Gems, from fitch notorioufly fabulous Writers as Mizaldus, Albertus Magnus, (if his namebenot injur* d by the imputa- tion of a fpurious Book,) Baptifta Porta, Kirannides ( and feme others that I Jor- bear to name, ) from whofe Learning one would The Preface. would expeU more wariness and Judge- ment. But though^ for reafons e/jewhere mention d , 1 do not unrefervedly thinly, that Pretious Stones , efpecially Opacous ones, can have no medical Virtues at all ^ yet when I confiderd , how difficult it was to ajfigne any thing that is pojfibk and intelligible, ( which I do not take a j(ub* ftaatial form to be,) whence their Virtues may probably be derived , without giving feme fitch account of the Origine of Gems themfelves , as was not to be expeSed from the Followers of the Peripatetic, that h^ the Received, Vhilofophy 5 I could not but wifh, that fomething were attempt- ed on that SubjeS according to the Prin- ciples of the Corpulcularian. Thefe things made me the lefs back? ward to complj with the Curiofity of my friends, which put me upon the following Difeourfe, wherein 1 was content to try, what, without ranfacking the Authors that had profejfedly written de Gemmis , the consideration of the Subject to be treated of, my natural propenfity to tafy notice of Natures produ&ions,and the tryals where- to thefe Conjiderations and Obfervations lead The Preface. lead me 5 would fuggeU to my Ten. Whether my Conjectures and Ratioci- nations be as new to others as to thofe I chiefly wrote for , 'tis not my part to de- termine : Only > I defign d to f kit my Dif courfe to the Phenomena of Nature, without being follicitous with whom I dif egrce-d or complyed. And therefore, though it fJjould happen 3 that fome Con* jeUures of mine foould unknown to me^ be coincident with the opinion of fome Clajjic Writer about Gems 3 yet Iprefume, the whole fubfequent Hypothefis and the Arguments 'th 'founded upon , will appear to have been fuggefled to me by the nature of the thing it felf and my way ofconfi- dering it : not to mention, that fometimes one may meet with a good particular Con- je&ure in an Author , that undcrflands not the importance of it himfelf, and knows not how to make ufe of it . but builds it on fome fuch fabulous Relation fir erroneous Principle 3 as is apt to dif credit it with wary Readers , unlefs they be fuch , to whom its complyance with the Opinions , they have on better grounds already entertain d, happen to recommend The Preface. recommend it. I know^ it may be thought ftraftge that I have been fo very [paring in the Citation of thofe Authors 3 that have writ whole Booths about Gems $ but I have this to fay for my felf \ that I had neither them 3 nor fo much as my own Papers about the Origine of Minerals at hand , when I writ the following Fjfay d Which 1 was the lefs troubled at upon two difiinU accounts 5 the fifft^ becaufe I re- member d y that fever al paffages 3 that I had met with about the Virtues of Gems ^ cited out of divers of thofe Authors , were fuch as I J/jould have much fcrupled to vouch ; fo me of them being fuch as I knew to be falfe $ others^ that I fjrewdly fofpe&ed not to be true 5 and others , that appear d to me altogether incredible : And the fecond , be'caufe 3 to forbear tranfcri- bing^ what my friends might probably have met with in Authors already 3 would besi comlpy^ both with their Defires^ which was to know my particular thoughts 5 and with my defign^ which was partly to fee ^ how far I could ma\e out thofe thoughts by my own Arguments and Obfervations y ajfified only by fome very few hijiorical The Preface. pajfages , that I lighted on in Writers not Clajjic 5 and partly 9 to take this occafion to profecute divers matters of Faff rela- ting to thefubjeS I was treating of, which probably would otherwife have been quite loff. And I doubted not, but if this fir ft draught of my Conceptions were by my Friends thought worthy of being inlar* ged 9 it would not be difficult for me 9 when I Jhould come at my Books and Tapers again, to inrich this TraS with many Hijiories borrowed from famous Writers 5 if that flmtld be thought ne- cefjary by perfons , that were pojfibly lefs diffident of me than of them. In JJjort 5 i" proposed thk pifcourfe but as a Con* je&ural Hypothefis , wherein I at- tempted to derive the Origine of Gems and one of the main Causes , ( I do not fay , the only Caufe ) of their gualL ties and Virtues , from Principles lefs re- mote , and more intelligible than thofe of the Peripateticks 5 and having deliver d divers Obfervations and Experiments of my own about the Phenomena of Gems, to explicate feme of them by intelligible Trinciples, and illujirate others by refem- bling The Preface.- bling things that may be really obfervd in nature or eaftly perform d by Art. Which way of handling my SubjeS permitted me to hope , that, whether or no I fhould be thought a lucky ConjeQurer about the SubjeS I attempted , / fhould, at leaji in fome meafure, prove a BenefaQor to what is perhaps preferable even to lucky Con- jeHures themfelves 9 the Natural and Experimental Hijiory of fitch Noble Sub- je8s as GEMS. * ERRATA. PAgt % I, line 3. read moft of Gems , p. f j. /. 7. r. yet I (hall, p. 108. /. *o. r. fented Steams, p.146. 1. i8.r. in clofe Veflels, p. i58./. i8.r. Obfer- vatioH, to which fome, p. 1 6 4, /.8 . r. in Air and Water, p. 17*. 1. 2. r. of kin to Metals , p. 178. I. 8. r. h*- morrhagy, p. 179. /. 17. r.moifiened, p. 180./. 8; r. Bolus's. > <*» «&» <** «*» £$* «*!*♦* P CW3 C\JO Ctfp Cvp evpCjpCjp C** mrw2+ WZ» *0^* *^3B** *^S*» VJB«I*W AN ESSAY the ORIGINE and VIRTUES G E°M S. Sect. I. T Hough it will oot perchance prove very difficult to propofe to you my Conjefture about the Caufes of the Vertues of Vrechus Stones 5 yet I fear it will not be eafy for me to acquaint you fully with the Grounds of it. For unlefs I fliould tranfcribe for you my whole Difcourfe of the Origins of Mi- nerals in General ( of which you know Stones make a part ) I cannot well lay B before 2 m Cflfav about tlje ©tfsitie before you all the Confiderationjs-, by which I have been indue' d to take uP the Conjecture or Hypothecs I am ahou* to propound : and confequetKfy I can- not well comply with your curiofity about Gems , without either omitting feveral things which might much coun- tenance the following Difcourfe, or propofing (without amply proving them, ) feme things, that I confefs fcera not cleer , nor fome of them fo much as probable, by their own Light. But finceyou will have it fo 5 I will, rather thandifobey you, prefent you in one Dilcourfe feveral things concerning Ctms^ whereof fome belong to others of my little Tracts about the Origins of Minerals from Fluid or at leaft Soft Todies 5 tho fome indeed were more directly written concerning Gems : not- withftanding that they were delivered not as an entireTraft about that fubject, but as Corollaries that might be drawn from, and applications that might be made of, what had been in a more general way difcours'd about the origi- nation of Stones and other Minerals- And And therefore prefuming that you will fuppofe with me in this Difcourfe fome few particular that , I think , I have elfewhere made probable , and might perhaps do fo from fome of the Phe- nomena mentioned in this Writing it fe]f, I would immediately addrefs my felf to the fubjeft of it , if I did not think a previous Admonition* very requifite. For, I muft at the very entrance of this Difcourfe defire you to take notice, that when 1 propofe my Conjectures about the Virtues of Gems^ I do not fuppofe the truth of all, or fb much as the tenth part of thofe wonderful pro- perties, that Men have been pleafed to afcribe to them. For not only fome of the Writers of Natural Magick, buC men of note, who fhould be more cau- tious and fober, have delivered in their Writings many things concerning Gems % which are fo unfit to be credired , and fome of them perhaps fo impoffible to be true, that I hope the Believers of them will among the Votaries to Philo- , fophy be as great rarities, as Gems thera- felves are among stones. And thofe B 2 that 4 3n flgffap about tlje ©jigtee that can admit fuch unlikely Fables > will be as much defpis'd by the Judici- ous, as Jewels can be priz'd by the Rich. For my part, I never faw any great feats perform'd by thofe hard and coftly Stones, (as Diamonds ^ Rubies^ Sapkires^) that are wont to be worn in Rings. But yet becaufe Phyfitians have for fo many Ages thought fit to receive the frag- ments of pretious Stones into feme of their moft celebrated cordial Compofi- tions 5 becaufe alfo divers eminent Men of that profeffion, fome of them fa- mous Writers, and fome Virtnofi of my own acquaintance^ have by their Wri- tings, or by word of Mouth, inform'd me of very confiderable effctts of fome Gems^ (efpecially ChrijialJ upon their own particular Obfervations : And laftly, becaufe that ( as I (hall fhew a- non,) I find noimpoffibility that at leaft fomecoltly and Jefs hard, ( though in- deed more valuable) Gems, may have confiderable operations upon humane Bodies, fome few of which I have had opportunity to be conyine'd of, I will HGt anDmtrtuegof gems. 5 s not indifcriminately rejefl: all the Medi- cinal VirtueSj that Tradition and the Writers about pretious Stones have afcribed to thofe Noble Minerals : Con- tenting my fclf to declare in a word , thatfufpefting moft of them to be fa- bulous, my Gonjeftures aim only at giving one of the Caufes of thofe Vir- tues afcrib'd to Gems which Experience warrants to be real and true. Having thus explaind in what fenfe my Conjefture about the Virtues of pretious Stones is to be underftood $ it follows that I propofe the Conjefture or Hypothefis it felf 5 the fubftance of which may be comprizcl inthefe Two particulars : Firft, That many of thefe Gems, and Medical Stones, either were once fluid Bodies, as the Tranfparent ones? or in part made up of fuch fub-~ ftances as were once fluid : And fecond- Iy, That many of the real Virtues of fuch Stones may be probably deriv'd from the mixture of Metalline and other Mineral fubftances, which (though un- fufpe&edly,) are ufually incorporated with them : And the Greatttefs of, the B 3 Vari- 6 %n <£ffav about t^e £>n$we Variety and Efficacy of thofe Virtues may be attributed to feme happy Con- current Circumftances of that Commix- ture. The fir ft of thefe heads relates properly to the Origine of Gems. The fecond, partly to that, and partly to the kinds and degrees of their Virtues, But that any Gems, efpecially the hardeft forts of them, fhould have a la- ter Begining, then that of the Earth it felf, will probably be thought to relifh pf ^Paradox 3 and I doubt not, it will pafs with many for a great one, that fomeof thefe hardeft of folid Bodies fhould have been once fluid ones or Liquors ; Wherefore I (hall endeavour to Countenance this Hypothefis by the following Confederations. 1. And firft the Diaphaneity of Dia- monds , Rubies 3 Ssphires , and many other Gems agrees very well with this Conjecture, and thereby feems to fa- vour it. For 'tis not Co likely, that Bo* dies that were never fluid fhould have that arrangement of their Conftituept parts, that is requifite to tranfparency, as thofe that ivere once in a Liquid Form anUtattttuetfof gems. 7 Form 3 during which it was eafie for the Beams of Light to make themfelves paf- jfages every way, and difpofe the folid Corpufcles after the manner requifite to the Conftitution of a tranfparent Body. Therefore we fee, \\\zt Silver in A cjit a Forlk^ or Lead in Spirit of P imager ^ ha- ving by that folution had their particles redue'd into a fluid Form, thofe parti- cles , though before Opacous, are fo difpos'd of as to make not only a Dia- phanous folution, but, if one pleafes , transparent Chriftals. And what Chy- mifts ufually try with thofe Metals, I have had the Curiofity to try withfeve- ral Stones, which I may hereafter have occafion to name to you. But this Ar- gument I bring rather to confirm than evince my Conjecture. y Secondly , The Origine affign'd to Gems may be alfo countenane'd by the External figuration of divers of them. For we plainly fee, that the Corpufcles of Nitre, Allom , Vitriol , and even Common Salt, being fuffer'd to coagu- late in the Liquors they fwam in before, will convene into Chriftals of curious B 4 and s %n QUffap about tye £># Qttte and determinate (hapes. And the like I have try'd in feveral metalline Bodies diflblv'd in feveral Menftruums. But unleft a Concreting (lone, or other like Body be either furrouncjed with, or in good part contiguous to a Fluid, 'tis not eafie to conceive how it (hould acquire a Curious Angular and determinate fliape. For Concrefcent Bodies, as I may (b (peak, if they have not room enough in an Ambient Fluid for the moft congruous ranging of their parts, cannot caft themfelves into fine and Re- gular (hapes, fuch as I (hall prefently (how that divers Gems feems to affeft 5 but the Matter they confifl of muft con- form to the Figures of the Cavity that contains it, and which in this cafe has not fo much the Nature of a Womb 3 as of a Mold. And fo we fee that Salt- Petre, and divers other Salts, if the Water, they were difliolv'd in, be much too far boyl'd away before they are fuf- fer'd to (hoot, will, if the Liquor fill the Glafs, (bmetimes coagulate into a Mate, fafhion d like the infide of the contai- ning VeileK or if a pretty quantity of Liquor anfcflJittuegof gems. 9 Liquor remains after the coagulation , that part of the nitrous Mafs, that was reduc'd to be concreted next the daft, will have the fhape of the fnternal fur- face of it, whatever that be 5 buttbofe Chriftals that are contiguous to the re- maining Liquor, having a Fluid Ambi- ent to fhoot in, will have thofe parts of their Bodies, that are contiguous to the Liquor , curioufly form'd into fuch Prifmatical fhapes as are proper to Ni- tre. To apply this now to Gems 5 That divers kinds of them have Geometrical and determinate (hapes> though it be not vulgarly obferv'd^ becaufe we are wont to fee them when they are cut, if not alfo fet in Rings and Jewels 3 yet I have often had the opportunity to take notice of it, by having had the curiofity to look upon many of them rough as Nature has produc d them,and the good fortune to take divers of them out of their Wombs. For I remember, I have taken a good number of Indian Gr&naX$ put of a Lump of heterogeneous Mat- ter, whofe diftinft Cavities like fo many Cells x o m e%ay about tlje €> jtgtne Cells , contained ftones , on fome of whofe furfaces you might fee Triangles, Parallelograms p dv. And being once near the Rock, whence thofe Stones are chiefly fetch'd that are commonly caird BriilolJiweS) I remember, I rid thither and procur da Workman or two to dig me up a Number of them, divers of which I found to be curioufly and determinarely fhap'd, much like fome Chriftals of Nitre that I have taken pleafure to compare with them. And the |ike figuration I have alfo obferv'd in divers Cormjh Diamonds p and in a fair and large one, which one that knew not what it was : found growing with many leffer in Ireland , and prefented me. And to let you fee, that 'tis not only in thefe fofter Gems that this cu- rious figuration is to be met with, I fliall add, that I found. among many Stones, f had and took to be Rubies (and thofe the jewellers will tell you are ex- ceeding hard) a confiderable number, whofp fh3pes 3 though not the fame with thofe of the Comfy and Irifi Stones 5 were yet fine and Geometrical. And the anU suittueg of g e m s. i r the like 1 have obferved even in thofe hardeft of Bodies, Diamonds them- felves; of which remembring that in my Collection of Minerals I had a pretty large one that was rough, I perceivd that the Surface of it confifteth of fe- veral Triangular Planes, which were not exaftly flat, but had as it were fmal- ler Triangles within them, that for the raoft part met at a point, and did feem to conftitute, as it were 3 a very obtufe fblid Angle : Inqourag'd by this, I ex- amin'd feveral other rough Diamonds , and found the moft of them to have Angular and determinate fhapes, not unlike that newly mention'd. And ha- ving thereupon confulted an expert Jeweller, that was alio a Traveller, though he could not name to me the fhapes of the uncut Diamonds, he had met with 5 yet he told me, he generally found them to be fhap'd like that I fliew'd him 5 infomuch that fuch a fhape was a mark, by which he ufually judg'd a Stone to be a right Diamond , if he had not the opportunity to exa- mine it by thehardnefi. And 12 3Jt!<£ffap about tyfff>?tgiue And this I (hall add in favour of the Comparifon, 1 lately intimated betwixt the coagulation of Petre and that of Gems , that having once made an odd Menftruum, wherein I was able to diflblve fome pretious ftones, there (hot in the liquor,Chriftals pretty large, and fo rranfparent and well fhap'd , that they might well have pafs'd for Chriftals of Nitre 5 and yet, if I much mifremember not , they were infipid. And I have divers times taken notice in fuch (tones, as the Briftol Diamonds, That though that part, which may be look'd upon as the upper part of the ftone, were curiouOy (hap'd , having fix fmooth fides, which at the top were as it were cut off doping (b as to make fix triangles , that terminated like thofe of a Vyramid in a Vertex 3 yet that which may be look'd upon as the root or lower part of the ftone , was much left tranfparent ( if not opacous ) and devoid of any regular figuration } of which the reafbn feems to be , that this being {he part whereby the ftone ad- her 'd to its womb, it was fully 'd by the anD WittutHol gems. i 3 the muddinefs of it 3 and reduc'd to conform it felf to whatever fhape the contiguous part of the Cavity chanc'd to be of 5 whereasthe upper part of the ftone was not only form 'd of the clea- rer part of the Lapidefcent Juice be- fore the waterifli vehicle was exhal'd , but had room and opportunity to (hoot into the curious figure belonging to its Nature, And this is much more con- fpicuous, where many of thefe Chriftals grow as it were in Clufters out of one Mineral Cakeer Lump $ as I have feen not only in thofe foft but yet tranfpa- rent Concretions which ibme of the Jater Mineralifts ( for the ancient feem fcarce to have known them) call fluores, and particularly in a very fine mineral lump 3 that I had once the honour to have fhew'd me by a great Prince 3 and no lefs great a Virtuofo, to whom it was then newly prefented. For this mafs confided of two flat Parallel Cakes, that feem'd compos'd of a dirty kind of Criftalline fobftance, and out of each Cake there grew towards the other a great Num- ber of ftones, fome of which by their cobar- i 4 3n€(rap about ttjeflD?igme cohsefion kept the two cakes together 3 and mcft of thele ftonej, having each of them a little void fpace about it 3 wherein it had room to (hoot regularly , were Gf( metrically fhap'd, and, which locAVi very prettily, were colour'd like a (German) Awethyil< And I have my felf a pretty large (tone, taken up here in England by a Gentleman of my Ac- quaintance 3 which confifts (as it were) of four parts : The lowermoft is a thin and broad flake of coarfe ftone, only adorn'd here and there with very mi- nute glittering particles , as if they were, ( as probably they may be ) of a Metalline Nature 5 over this is fpread another thin white, butopacous, bed, which is fo inclos'd between the firft nam'd bed , and the two others , that without defacing the ftone I cannot well examine it : The third confifts of a congeries of minute Criftals exceeding- ly thick fet , which therefore look whi- tifh, having little or notinfture of their owns and this part no more then either of the former, is not much thicker than af Barly Corn. The fourth and upper- rnoft attf> Sflitttteg ot gems, i 5 moft part, which yet feemsin great part to be the fame Chriftals, which as they grfcw higher and fpread , acquire a deeper colour, is made op of a great Number of AmethyUs^ fome paler, and fome highly tinfted, which are of very differing figures, and bignefles , accon ding ( as one may ghefs ) as they had conveniency to (hoot , thefe at one end s of the ftone lying in a flat bed ( as it were) and fcarce exceeding a Barly Corn in length $ whereas thofi at the other end (hoot up to a good height into figur'd Criftals,fome of them as big as the top of my little finger,and thofc are the moft deeply colour'd, being alfo of a good hardnefs , fince I found that they would eafily grave lines upon Clafi. I remember alfo, that going to vifit a famous Quarry , that was not very far from a Spring which had fomewhat of a petrefcent faculty in it, I caus'd divers folid pieces of rough and opacous ftone& to be broken , out of hope I had to find in them fome finer juice coagu- lated into fome finer fubftances; and accor- 16 3Jtt<» about t^£>?igtttt accordingly I found, that in divers places , the folid and maffy ftone had cavities in it, within which, all about the fides , there grew Concretions , which by being tranfparent like Chri- ftal, and very curioufly fhap'd,feem*d to have been feme finer Lapidefcent juice , that by a kind of percolation through the fubftance, that grofler ftone was made of, had at length ar- riv'd at thofe Cavities , and upon the evaporation of the fuperfluous and aqueous parts, or by their being foak'd up by the neighbouring ftone, had opportunity to (hoot into thefe fine Chriftals, which were fo numerous as quite to overlay the fides of the Cavi- ties , as I can Ihow you in fome large Clufters of them that I brought from thence. And iaquiring of an ancient Digger, whether he had not fbmetimes met with greater quantity of them ? he told me, that he had, and prefented me a great Lump or mafs made up of a Numerous Congeries of foft Chriftals j ( but nothing fo colourlefs as thefe other newly mentioned ) fticking to one another , anDWirtuegof gems. x 7 another, but not any of them to any part of the Rock : So that they feem'd to have been haftily coagulated in fome cleft or Cavity, as it were in a Mould, where meeting & mingling before Con- cretionwith fome loofe particles of Clay, the mafi may thereby be difcolourd. Our Argument drawn from the figu- ration of tranfparent Stones may be much ftrengthened by the coalition I have fometimes obferved, of two or more of fuch Stones, and the congruity in the fhape of fome of them to the figures of thofe parts of the others, that were contiguous to them and feem'd to have been form'd after them. But though this Vhenometjon be confiderable tothefcopeof my Difcourfe, yet per- ceiving that I (hall have occafion to infift on it hereafter, I fhall not do it now. Thirdly 3 Nor i6 it only the external fi- guration of thefe Gems, but the internal Texture that favours our Hypothefis $ fome of them feeming much to imitate in their Coagulation feveral of thofc fubftances, which I have obferv'd to C have i8 ^rttfffap about H)e£>ji$tne have once been fluid. That common Salt may be made up of fmall faline Particles, that by a Convenient Juxta- Pofition may be aflbciated into great Lumps, divers of which are cubically Arap'd, is anobfervation caGe enough to be made. And that fuch Coalitions of particles may conftifute iblid and con- fiderably hard Bodyes, I have try'd by breaking fome of the larger Cubes of Sal Gem, and the Lumps of the Ifle of JlUyo.Salt , whereof the firft is fojjile , the other marine, and both Natural. I have likewife found by Tryal , that , though Silver difl'olv'd in Aqua-fortis appears ufually to (hoot, if it be taken notice of, into flat and exceeding thin flakes 5 yet 'tis very pofEblefo to order the coagulation , that many of thele thin Piates (hall in their Convention have their flat fides fb plac'd over one another, as to make up pretty large and thick Chriftals, whofe very outfides will be finely fhap'd as being fome peculiar kind of Vitriol. Nor are thefe the onely fiind Bodies, which I have reduc'd to coagulate into Conventions, of fuch a flaky flaky Texture $ wherefore 1 began to fufpeft that divers tranfparent Minerals may have the like $ and in (bme Dia- phanous kinds of Talk , whofe outfides were Mathematically figur d , I found Encouragement to try , whether ev'n (bme Gems themfelves, notwithftanding their hardnefs, might not have fuch afi Internal figuration. Nor was I deterr'd by confidering, that 'tis taken for gran- ted., that Gems are of an uniform Tex- ture , and that there muft be a ftrange thinnefs in the Plates that make up tranfparent (tones , (idee no fuch thing has been noted by the moft curious Eye, but men have taken it for granted, that the Texture of all Gems is Unit- form , without any grain or fibres , no more than there is in Gold. But as to the thinnefs of the Plates, I remember, I have feveral times taken pleafure to hold a peice of good Mufcovia-glafs againft the Light, when it was of fuch a thinnefs , that the fpe&ators , though provok'd to look with curious Eyes , could fcarce fee the Plate it (elf, and would by no means be brought to C 2 think 20 %n Cffay about ttjc 2??tgi«e think that it was poffible to fplit it, till I did actually doit 5 and fometimes I then fubdivfcied it beyond ev'n my own Expectation. But to examine this Con- jecture , I took fome ftones that had Geometrical figures on part of their Surfaces^and which I had other grounds to think to have been once fluid fub- ftances, and having diligently furveyed lome of them, which feem'd likelieft to give me fatisfaftion 3 I manifeftly e- nough perceived, not only with my affi- fted, but with my naked Eyes., divers parallel Commifliires 5 which feem'd plainly to be made by the contiguous Edges of little thin Plates of (tone, that appear'd to lye one over another, almoft like the Leaves of a Book that is a little open'd. I remember that holding a large and rough Grizolette (as Artificers call hard Gem?, of a blewifh colour v brought them from East India) againft the Light and curioufiy obferving it, I have fome- times plainly difecrn'd agrain 3 as they call it, in the Stone, and was anfwered by a skilful Artift that us*d to make Seal* anU wiittutg of gems. 21 Seals of them, that fuch Stones would ufually fplit according to the Ductus of their Grain. I will not urge, that in fotne other Precious Stone's, that were cut and PoliuVd, as particularly the Hyacinth^ and ev % n the Saphire. hy obverting them feveral wayes to the Light, I have been able to obferve , as it were, CommiiTures, which were fo fine, as not to hinder, or call in Queftion the Intircnefs of the Stone, for the La- pidaries purpofe. This I fay I forbear infilling on, becaufe the Th&nomenon is far lefs considerable than what I have feveral times obferv'd in New Engliilt Granatf, wherein, efpecially when they are broken, the Edges and Commiflures of the thin Plates or Flakes, whereof they conlifted 3 were very eafily difcer- nable. And to try whether this ob- (ervation would hold even in the har- deft Stones, I had recourfeto a pretty big Diamond unwrought, which being plac'd in a Microfcope, fhew'd me the CommiiTures of the Flakes I look'd for, whofe Edges were not fo exaftly dif- pos'd into a plain, but that fome of \ hem C 3 were 1 2 ate etttiv about tije ©jigine were very fenfibly extant like little Ridges, but broad at the Top above the level of the reft. And thefe Pa- rallel flakes together with their Com- miflures, I could in a fomewhat large Diamond plainly enough difcern even with my unaffifted Eyes. And for fur- ther fat isfa&ioa, I went to a couple of Per(bns 3 whereof the one was an Emi- nent Jewel I errand the other an Artifi- cer, whoft Trade was to cut and polifli Diamonds, and they both affur'd me upon their repeated and conftant Ex- perience 3 and as a known thing in their Art, that 'twas almoft Impoffible , (though not to break, yet) to jplit Dia- monds, or cleave them, fmoothly crofi the Grain, f if I may fo fpeak, J hut not very difficult to do it at one ftroke with a Steeled Tool, when once they had found out from what part of the Stone, and towards what part the fplitting In- ftrument was to be impeli'd : By which 'tis evident that Diamonds themfelves have a grain, or a flaky Contexture not unlike the fijjility, as the Schools call it, JO Wood 5 which you will eafily grant to finUtmtturgof GEMS. 23 to confift of affimilated water or Jui- ces 5 which having been once fluid Bo- dies, were fit to have their Particles fo rang'd or difpos'd, as to conftitute a Body far more eafie to be cleft accor. ding to the DuSus of the Fibres for Planesjthap othervvife.And I remember that having, as 1 thought, obferv'd in a rough Diamondjwhich I purpofely exa- min'd^that the Flakes whole Edges were terminated in one plain/were far enough from being parallel to thofe whofe Ed- ges compos'd another plain, (" I (peak of Phyfical planes of the fame Stone, J I imagin'd that if this Diamond were to be cleft, it would not be fmoothly fplk into two peices, becauie the Ccmrpi£ fures did probably make Angles in the Body of the Stone , and accordingly I learned of the ancienteft of the/e Diamond Cutters , that iometimes he met with Stones , that eluded all his skill, and would by no means be fplit like^thers into two parts, but, before they were cleft quite through, would break in pieces 5 which was a defeft in f fcc Stopc he could not certainly forefee, C 4 fcmt 24 3n QEffa? about ttje ®tt%m but was fain to learn from the unwel- come Event. Fourthly, It feems not unprobable , that the Colours of divers Gems f for I do not fay of all ) are adventitious 3 and were imparted to them, either by fome colour'd Mineral Juice, or fotne tinging Mineral exhalation, whif ft the Gem or Medical Stone was either in Sohttis Principii s , or of a Texture open enough to be penetrable by Mineral Fumes. Which Arguments confidera- blenefs makes me hold it unfit to be lightly touched in this place 3 though I cannot difcourfe any thing fully of it in few words, becaufe it not only fwgefts divers obfervations and other particu- lars , but requires alfo the mention of fome of the chief of them 5 which there- fore I fhall now fubjoin. 1. And thefirftfhall be. That many Gems, not to fay almoft all of them , have been obfervd to be deprived of their Colour, if having fallen , or been put into the Fire they have lay n too long there .* Infcmuch that I have found it affirm'd upon the Teftimony of ant) SBittmg of g e ms. 25 of the Learned and Experienced Boe* tins de Boot , that all Gems will loofe their colour in the Fire except Bohe- mian Granats. How far this may be true I have not had opportunity tho- roughly to examine. But I well re- member that having purpofely expos'd divers Gems to the fire, though that were but moderate, and had a Crucible interposal between it and them , fome of themfeem'dto have their Tinfture much impair'd , and others quite de- ftroy'd. But I muft be fo free as to admonifh you, that if thefe Tryals be not warily made, they may eafily im- pofeuponus^ especially if we do not confider the nature and caufe of White- nefs. For any Diaphanous Body, as far as I have yet obferv'd, being divided into a multitude of very minute parts 9 and confequently acquiring a multitude of diftinft fuperficies^which do briskly reflefl: the Light every way outwards , will appear to have a white colour that will be more or left vivid as the par- tides are more or lefi numerous, mi- nute, and otherwife fitted to fcatter the inci* 26 nn admonifhes his Reader, that there are one kind of Rubies, that are Natuf ally white > (and not triade fo by Art) which he proves by the degrees of hardnefs pe- culiar to Rubies. And the fame Author dfewhere tells us of Bertl/s, Topaxes $ and Ameihjfts, that are white. And it D feeffis, 34 3fn dBCfa^ aboutt^e SD^igtne feems, by what he fays not far from that place, that the Italian Jewellers did not look upon the Tin&ures of Gems as any thing near fo Eflential to them, as they arc commonly reputed, fince they reckon Topazes and SappiVes^ whereof one is Blew and the other Yellow, but both extreamly hard in comparifon of other Gems than Diamonds (and perhaps Rubies, ) to be of the fame fpecies. The Degree of hardnefsof Rubies and Saphires is oftentimes fo equal, that I knew an expert Englifi Jeweller, who for that only Reafon (for he knew not whence the difference of Colours might proceed) took Rubies and Saphires to be of the fame kind of Stone. And that Gems, referr'd by Lapi- daries to the fame kind, may be very differingly ting'd, is a truth, whereof I have feen notable Inftances in Dia- monds themfelves $ which I therefore prefer to other Inftances s becaufe the extream hardneis of Diamonds is fuch as keeps Jewellers from miftaking any other Stone for a true Diamond, if they are permitted to put them on their ra- pidly totoWiitt\M$f&GEMs. 35 j)idly mov'd Wheels employ 'd to cut them. Now of true Diamonds I have feen fome, that were Yellowifb, others that were more Yellow, and among the reft, one that was fo perfe&ly Yellow , that I at firft took it for a fair Topaz , though it Were a Diamond valued at near three pound weight of Gold : I have alfo feen Diamonds and thofe rough , as they came dire&ly out of the Indies^ and were foon after bough* by Traders in Diamonds for fuch, which were either Blewifti or Greenifti. And I particularly contemplated one Stone, whichj if its fhape and other things had not con vine 'd me of the contrary, was fo Green, that I (hould have taken it for an Emerald, I remember I had once occafion tp buy a confiderable number of fmall Rubies 9 divers of which were very cu- rioufly (hap'd,and coming to look upon the whole parcel more leafurely than my haft would permit me when I bought it, I found in a great number of other Stones one, and but one, that wag devoid of any Colour 5 but in other D 2 re* 3 6 m €ffap about $e £#spe refpe&s was fo like the teft, as invited me to conclude that it would have enr creas'd their number, buphatnit 1 was coagulated and harden'd before the Mineral Pigment had tjngd it of tfhe fame Colour with thereft; In which guefs I was confirmed, when, having met with a Gentleman, who had been in the chief Places of the Eajl Indies , where Rubies are found, and particu- larly at the River of SUm^ or ?egu y near which he liv'd a good while, and where he frequently faw Rubies taken out of the bottom of the Water , and fometimes took them out himfelf 5 I learn'dof him by enquiry, that fie had there feen feveral Stones, each of which was partly a Ruby and partly colour- lefs : And fometimes in the fame Stone there would be two portions of one fort, and the third, though lying be- twixt them , of another : Which has frequently obliged the Jewellers con- siderably to leflen the bulk of fuch Stones by cutting off the untin&ed part. And, if my memory do not much deceive me, I faw in a great and curious Princes anuqjtrtuegof gems. 37 Princes Cabinet, among other rarities , a Ring, in which wasfet a Stone of a moderate bigneft, whereof onely one half, or thereabouts, was well tindred, the other being colourlefs. In Gems that are Iefs preeious 3 and not fp tranfpa- rent,efpecially in Agats and in Opacous Gems, I could eafily give a multitude of Inftances of the differingly tindied parts of the fame entire Stone. And I ufuaily wear in a Ring a fmall Sardonix that was once a great Princes, wherein there are three Portions one within a- pother, the uppermoft. Black, the mid- dlemolt of a kind of Ghefnut colour , the other of a Blew, almolt like a Tur- quois, each of which portions is exaftly of a fine Oval figure> and each of the two uttermoftis thoroughout of a very uniform Breadth as well as colour , and exa&ly parallel to the other. But 'twould not be here fo proper as 'twill be hereafter, to multiply Inftances of Opacous Gems : Wherefore ( having mentioned only the Sajrdonix, becaufe 'tis not alwaie*s Opacous,) I fhall add concerning Tranfparent ones, That D 3 Jewel- g8 an Cffa? about t^e©?igme Jewellers reckon among Saphires not only that fort of Azure Gems which ofually pais for fuch, but alfo another fort of Stones 3 becaule of their Saphi- rine degree of haidnefs, though for their want of Tin&ure they call them white (Saphires.) 6. The Sixth and laft Circumftancc belonging to the foregoing Argument or Confederation is this D That feme- times one may find Gems that are partly tinfted and partly not : As if the tinge- ing Pigment mixing with one part of the matter whereof the Stone confided whilft it was Liquid or foft , were not copious enough to difFufe it felf to the Whole, nor to give an equally intenfe Colour to all that portion that it tinges. *Tis true that in fbme cafes the Diffu- fion may be ftopp'd by the Petrefcent Juices coagulating firft in another part than that with which the Tinfture was mix'd. And perhaps* in fome other Cafe*, the different Colours may have belonged to differing portions of mat* ter, coagulating upon oragainft each other, at differing times, yet fo as to feem aoDtajtrtuesfoC gems. 39 feem one intire Stone, as I may have hereafter occafion to declare. Yet fince> which foever of thefe explications be admittcdj it will, if it belong not to this place, at leaft confirm our main Hj- pothefis (of the Origipe of Gems from fluid or foft materials : ) I (hall return to what I was faying about Gems 3 part- ly tinfted and partly colourlefi. And having onely intimated upon the by, that in fome hard Semidiaphanous Stones, European and Eaji Indian^ I have obierved a very unequal and irregular diffufion of the Tin&ure : I (hall add to the things, that may be gather s d in favour of the propos'd Conjefture from fbme of the things before (as alfo fince) related, thefe two Particulars. The one, That I have (as I think I elfewhere mentiooed) feen in Itdy* a- mong Rarities, a large piece of Chri- ftal about the bignefs of my two fills , whereof the Pyramidal part was of a Tranfparent Green, the Vertex being richly ting'd like an Emerald 3 but the further the colour fpred froqa the Ver* Ux^ the fainter and paler it gr$w 3 fo D 4 that 40 3fti Cffa? about tye flDjtgwe that, before it came neer the Bafe , it was quite fpent , if I may fo fpeak , leaving the bigger part of the Stone mnfpa rent, but colourlefs,like ordinary Chriftal. And by this perhaps we may explain an Expreffion of Jofephtis Acofta^ where he fayes , that Emeralds grow in Stones like unto Chriftals , and that hehadfeen them in the fame Stone fa- fhioned like a Vein x, And they fee nt^Adz he, by little and little to thicken and re* fine. And in the fame place this Lear- ned Author has a memorable obferva- tion, that may confirm both what I have juft now related, and what we mentio- ned a little above^about colourlefs Gents: 1 have fee n^ fayes he, feme that were half White and half Green 5 others all White^ and feme Green and very perfeff. And this is the firft Particular I was to men- tion. TheOther is afforded ,rpe by the way Ihaveus'dand elfewhere defcrib'd, of giving to pieces of Rock Chriftal paf- fably good Tin&ures by Mineral Fumes. And fuppofing the thus coloured pieces to be asintire Stones as the beholders have ant) tattttueg of gems. have generally believed them, the in- fiance will be pertinent to our purpofe in fpite of an d&je&ion. For though the Colours thus given are not wont to pervade them very deep, and have their penetration affifted by no faint degree of heat 3 yet 'tis to be confider*d on the other fide, that theft pieces of Ghryftal had attain d their full hardnefi, and after their colouration, are cut and polifh'd like other Chryftals : Whereas the Gems that our Conje&ure means, are fuppos'd to have been ting'd under ground when they were yet fluid, or at lead foft. Thfit there are fometunes generated in the Bowels of the Earth Mineral Exhalations capable of apply- c , , 102 themfelves to the Of Subterranetl ° , • • r/r^&c. Stones they meet with there, I have in another Difcourfe fufficiently declar'd. That alfo fome hard and ftony fubftances have been a&ually tinged with fuch Mineral Steams, I (hall , in the fubfe- quent part of this Difcourfe, have oc- cafion to take notice. And I remember too, that even in fo hard a Gem as a Saphire, 42 %n e$&v about tye 4);igtne Saphire,I haveobfervd the efficacy of thejfe Subterraneal Fumes ^ having d*» vers times feen one of thofe Stones , wherein a fine Seal was cut, which con- tinued fo oddly ting'd notwithftanding what had been taken off to reduce it to an exquifite fhape, that having inquired of a skilful Perfon of my acquaintance by whom it had been Ingraven, he both aflur'd me that he had found it of the full hardnefs of a Saphire, and confefs'd to me, that the Mineral Fumes had (b oddly ting'd it, that in his opinion it might, by the Looks, pafs (rather) for a Chalcedenian. And now. Sir, I fear I may need your pardon for having been (b prolix in Difcoqrfing of one of the Particulars belonging to our Argument 5 to excufe which, I have no other Apology to nuke, but that I hope what hath been delivered, will fcarce feem impertinent , and that I might eafily have made it more tedious, if, to decline doing fo, I had not purpofely made fome omif- fions. Having then fai4 thus much about our anUtflwtuetfof gems. 4? cut fourth Confideration, 1 proceed now to add in the fifth place, on the be- half of the Hypothefis hitherto fa- vour'd, an Argument which I prefume you will not think inconfiderable 5 Namely, that Solid Gems may include Heterogeneous matter in them. Seve- ral Ioftances of this fort in opacpus Stones, I elfewhere recite upon my own Obfervation $ but in tranfparent ones they are very great Rarities $ and therefore it will not , I prefume , be thought ftrange , if 1 mention but a few. Firft then on this occafion I remem- ber, that a very ingenious and qualify 'd Lady, who had accompany 'd her Huf- band in an Erabaffy to a great Monarch, aflur'd me, that (he brought thence a- mong feveral Rich Prefents and other Rarities,(fome whereof (he (hew'd me,) a piece of Ghriftal , in the midd'ft of which there was a drop of Water , which by its motion might be very eafi- ly obferv'd, efpecially when the Chry- ftal was made to change its pofture. And, if my memory deceive me not , I have 44 3iti Cffai? about tye 2D?tgCne I have in fome pieces of Rock-Chryftal taken notice of things that feem to ar- gue, that fomewhat or other was in- tercepted within the Body of the Stone. A curious perfon, that traded much and was very skilful in Indian- Gems 3 f>articu!'ar]y Grifokts s which he got rom the Indies, and whereof he fhew'd me the largeft I have yet feen, being ask'd by me,whether he had ever found in them any Heterogeneous fubftance, which fomething, I had obferv'd, made me fufpeft that fome of them might harbour notwithftanding their hardne% he ayerr'd to me, that among divers rough ones > that were brought from the Indies , he had with wonder feen one that was about the bignefs of a Filbcrd, in the Solid fubftance whereof there was a Cavity with a certain Li- quor in it $ which by changing the po- fture of the Stone might be made to move to and fro in the Cavity : And when the drop was fettled, it was of the bigrreft of a round Pearl that he fhew'd me, which wanted fomewhat of a mo- derate anfc tawtoeg of g e m s. 4S derate fize for a Necpk-Iace. And when he had anfwer'd the Quefiions I pro* pos'd him to clear my Doubts, 'he ad- ded, that this Rarity made the Stone, which was otherwife of a /mall Value, pnYd at an hundred Pound. And I have my felf feena monftrous Gem, if I may fo call it, and little left a Rarity then the former* that an acquaintance of mine had bought, (as I afterwards learnt, ) from this Relatourj whofe Narrative about the Grifolet , I think the more Credible, becaufe , that ha- ving had thecuriofity to break a Stone, that was,brought as a Rarity from the Eatf -Indies, where Gems are often har- boured in fuch Stones, I found in the So- lid fubftanceof it (which was To hard as toftrikefirelikea Flint , and in its little flakes was at leaft Semediapha- nous) a Cavity wherein were coagula- ted very minute but polilh'd and Chry- ftalline Stones \ which feem'd to have their points inwards, which argued', that there had been fbme Liquor, in which thefe glittering particles had (hot, though in procefs of time the remaining and 4* anCffap about rtje^ntgitte and incoagulable part of it may have been imbibed by the Ambient Matter if not have efcap d thorough, it, by Vir- tue of fome peculiar congfuity of it with the Pores of the Stone. Which need not be thought impoffible , fince experience has allured us, that fome folid Stones and even Gems may be (though flowly) penetrated or have their Tex- ture altered by common Water. Nor are thefe the only Heterogeneous fub* ftances I found included in this Stone. And if, as Amber is reckon'd among Gems , and is fometimes of a greater hardnefi than one would expeS, Co I could reckon it among true Stones, 'twere eafie for me to borrow thence a great confirmation of what I have been laying } and how ever it will afford me an Illustration of it. For, not to men- tion many things, of what I elfewhere recite my felf to have feen in Amber, I have now by me a fine piece of clear and Solid Amber, (prefentcd me by a Perfon no lefs extraordinary than it ) in which is included a large intire fly , in fhape and fize much like a Grafs* hop- per, atflJ tMMKjS f&GEMS* 47 per> but varioufly and curiouflj co- loured, with his Wings difplayed. To thefe Obfervations I (hall add only this. That I have had my felf, and fbewn to others, one of that fort of pale Amethyfls , that lome call white Amethyfts ; which had been cut to be fet in a Ring, or turn'd into a Sefl, and was like that fort of Gems fo han), that I could readily cut Glaft with it 5 and yet in the Body of this Stone there ap- peared to be a considerable nutfiber of things that look'd juft as if they had been hairs, fome of them lying parallel , and others inclining to one another 5 and having contemplated them as well by Day-light as Candle-light, artd in di- vers pofitions in reference to the Light and the Eye, fome of them (eem*d at times to be of a lovely reddiOi Colour, but reflecting the Light, as if th£y were well fill'd either with Air or Water : But for the moft part they did, as I was faying, feem to be hairs of a Brownifli Colour, which made the Stone not a little wonder'd at even by curious and skilful Men. I leave you to judge , Whether 43 In Cffap about ttjcOagine Whether 'twill be fit here to add, that I have fometimes fuipe&ed , that even in Diamonds themfeives there may pof- fibly be found intercepted, or mingled with a pure Lapidefcent fubftance, lome Particles of Heterogeneous Matter. And that in this fufpition I was fomewhat confirm'd^x by the odd Clouds I had obferv'd in an extraordinary Diamond, and by forae Hydroftatica), and other Obfervations I made about thofe Stones$ (fome of which I found heavier than either Chryftal or white Marble,)/? by tny having purpdfely demanded of an ancient Cutter of Diamonds of great Practice and Experience, whether he obferv'd not a fenfible difference of weight among Diamonds of the fame place: For to this he reply'd,, that he had 5 elpecially in thofe that , were cloudy or foul : Infomuch that (hewing me a Diamond that feem'd to me to be about the bignefsof two ordinary peafe or lefs , he affirmed that he fometimes found in Diamonds of that bignefi,ibout a Carrat (which is by common efrJmati- on four Grains) difference in point of weight. The tuOi qfttttteg tA gems. 49 Sixthly, The laft Argument I (hall imploy to (hew, That the Matter of di- vers Gems may have once been fluid, may be taken from the Proofs you will meet with Cm the following part of this Trad) of the Second Member of our Hypothefis. For if it (hall ap- pear, thai feveral even of the tranfpa- rent Gems have metalline or other ex- traneous Mineral Bodies mingled with them, per minima^ it will be very agre- able to reafon to fuppofe, that fuch a mixture was made, when the mingled Bodies were in a fluid form $ fince , befide that one may well ask, how elfe the Metalline Corpufcles came to be convey 'd into fuch compaft and hard Bodies as Gems, 'tis very eafie to con. ceive, if our Hypothefis be admitted, and very hard ocherwife to apprehend, how among Bodies that differ toto ge- nere? as Metals and Stones, there (hould be made mixtures fo exquifite as many of thefe appear to be, partly by the Uniform Coloration of the Gem, and partly by the Diaphaneity retain'd not- withltandingthibdifperfion of Mineral E Pig. Pigments through the whole Mafs 5 and in many Inftances alfo by the Curious Figuration that we have lately been difcourfing of. Tofi'fcript. To all the foregoing Cir- cumftances, 1 can now add fomething y that I met with, fince I thought to con- clude with the Laft of them, and that tends highly to the Confirmation of our Hypothefis. In a Traft that makes part of a ftnall Book frefhly Publilh'd in French, principally to acquaint Men with the waies of eitimating Gems ac- cording to the Rates of Modern Jewel- lers, the Anonymus, but Curious Au- thor, takes occafion, to give v$ 3 from the Mouth, as he affirms, of the Famous late Travellers he converscl with in di- vers places, (and whole Relations are indeed the recenttft I have feen in Print) an account of the Number, and Names of the places, where Diamonds and Rubies are found in the Indies, ad- ding fome Circumftances and Particu- larities about the Qualities of the Soil in thofe places that i have not elfewhere met with. This Author then Ipeaking of UttiiWlitiMfiOtGEMS. st fcf the firft of thofe three Diamond- Mines^ which he makes to be the only ones in the EaU-lndies^ having told us that the Stones are there found ibme in the ground and (bine in the Rock, fab- joyns,that thofe that are drawn from the Rock, or the neighbouring parts, have ordinarily a good Water ; but for thofe which are drawn out of j^sifyi^e the Ground, their Wa- fabu noh ou rcug* ter partakes of the Co- ** rmt l * terr /> u lour or Sou wherein they aura qutiqj? u * are found. So that if Pa s« * the Earth be clean and fomewhat San- dy, the Diamonds will be of a good Water 5 but if it be fat or black , or of another colour, they will have fome tin&ure of it. Nay he immediately annexes, that if there be fome black or red Sand among the Earth,the Diamond will alfo have fome grain of it. And elfewhere mentioning the Second Mine of "Diamonds^ which the Natives call Gems, he admonifhes his Reader., that in this , as in the Mine of Vifapour, ( which is that formerly mentioned ) the Stones partake of the Quality of the Soil where D 7 they 5 2 M tffifoi? about tlje Ojtgine they are found 5 fo that if that be bog- gy or moift, the ftone will incline to Blacknefs , and if it be reddifh, 'twill have an Eye of that Colour. Elfewhere he tells us , that of late Years there were found in the Kingdom of Gokcnda, ftore of Diamonds, which were brought to the Naiabe, or firft Minifter of State, who forbad the making any PW 18. 19. r . r O J further fearch after them, finding not one in the whole number to have a good Water, all of them being Black or Yellow. But by the p *& 57- W ay,whereas this Author affirms it as a clear Truth 3 that as Gold is the heavieft and mod precious of Metals , fo Diamonds are the hardeft, and hea- viest of all Stones, he muft ^xcufe me if I declare, that what he afferts agrees not with my experience, who having try'd the weight of an uncut Diamond Hydroftatically, have taken fucb a courfe to eftimate irs fpecifick Gravity 9 as I find not to have been yet taken by any other 5 and which you will eafily grant to be more exaft than any other of the kcowo wayes can be. The an& Virtues of gems. 5 ? The Argument that hath detain'd us all" this while, comprifed fo great a vari- ety of Matter, and may, I hope , per- form (b great a part of my task in this Difcourfe, that, though I (hall not much apologize for having dwelt fo long up- on it, yet I (hould think my felf obli- ged to make fome amends for my paft prolixity by being fuccinft in the re- maining part of this Treat ife, and there- fore, having left off with an intimated promifeto (hew more fully, that divers Gems contain Metalline or other Mi- neral fubftances in them, I (hould inv mediately conneft thofe Arguments to what hath been lately faid, but that [ think it altogether requifite, to make way for what is to follow, by firft ta- king notice of a main Obje&ion , that may be urged againft the Do&rine we have been propofing. This is taken from the Figuration of (brae Gems (and efpecially the Prifma- tical one of Chriftal ) and feems the more fit to be urg'd againft us, becaufe we our felves have , in the Second of the above-recited Arguments, given fe- veral 54 5Bn flBdai? about t^e fi>jigine veral Inftances of it. For it feems fcarce poffible, that fo curious a (hape fhould be fo Uniformly produc'd in fuch a multitude of Chriftals, great and fmall, unlefs there were fome femioal and plaftick power to fafhion the mat- ter after fo regular and Geometrical a manner. But he that (hall attentively confider, what I elfewhere fay concerning f the Figuration of Salts and of Metal- line and other Magifteries diflblv'd by D and concoagulated with Salts 9 may be ve*y much affifted to difcover the Invalidity of this Objeftion. But yet,becaufe Iconfefi 'tis very fpeci- ous, if not important 3 I am content here to confider it a little more parti- cularly. To this plaufible Obje&ion then , I have two or three things to anfwer $ Firft, That there is no abiurdity to con- ceive, that if there be a Seminal and plaftick power in Mineral Bodies^ it may be harboured in Liquid Principles, as well as otherwhere. For we fee that the Seed of Anima!s 3 which oftentimes. mtiWlittUtg Of GEMS, 55 as in Elephants, Rhinocerots, &c. pro- duces hard and (olid Bones, Teeth, and Horns, is at firft but a Liquid fubftance 5 and the Formative power in fome Trees and their Fruits does convert the Ali- mental Juice into Woods, Shells, and other Bodies very Solid and ponde- rous. But Secondly, I elfe where fhew, thatev'nin the Figures m . ~ .. /-ah »r' • i i See the Onmnc Ot Allom, Vitriol, and of Forms and Qua- other Salts, that are fo &'** now putojh d curioufly and Geometri- hth Mthou cally fhapd, there is no neceffity to fly to a diftinfl: Architeftonick principle $ but that thole Bodies themfelves may receive their fhapes from the Coalition of fiich fingly invifible Gorpulcles , as by the Motion of the Fluid , wherein they did fwim, and by divers affiftant Circumftances, are determined to (lick together rather in that manner than in another. That this may be apply'd alfo to other Bodies, I fhall need to ftievv in this place by no other Inftance than that of the Salt, that (in this or fome other paper)Iformerfy told you I made E 4 a* 5 6 3n cellar about tlje ®tf gine of common Salt, only by the help of Oyl of Sulphur or of Vitriol and Water. For though it be manifefeftly a faftitious Body compounded of Salt and Sulphur, and fuch a Body that therein the Sea- Salt, whereof 'twas chiefly made, has bad its own Nature deffroy'd 5 yet by reafon of the Figure of the refultant Corpufcles, and their fitnefi to convene when diflblv'd in Water, into curioufly fhap'd Bodies, this factitious Salt, when I have rightly prepar'd it, did fundry times fhoot into long Ghriftals with points like Diamonds, that did emulate native Chriftal as well in the regularnefs of the fhape,asin the tranfparency of the fubftance- And to make it the more evident , That 'twas partly the Figure, that happen'd to refult froiji the operation of theOyl of Vitriol up- on the Sea-Salt, and partly other Cir- cumftances, that determined the (hape of the Chriftals $ I (hall add, that ufu- ally, when the Quality or proportion of the Oyl of Vitriol was other than it fhould have been , or an errour was committed in fome (important) Gircum- ftance an^ittucgpE GEMS. 57 fiance or other of the Operation, the Saline Concretions 5 though they did notfhootat all like Cubes, as the Sea- Salt, which they were made of, would alone have done } yet they did not Ihoot any thing at all like Rock-Chri- ftal, as did thofe formerly mentioned $ and for all tins did,by reafon of the cu- rious Shapes of the Corpufcles , they confifted of, fhoot into Chriftals for the moft part finely Figur'd $ though fotne- times of one fhape and fometimes of a- nother. And that you may not have any fu(pitionas if the regular Figure, which Sea-Salt is naturally of, is any way neceffary tofuch figurations, I will add an Experiment that I devis'd to (hew. That even out of a petrefcent Juice fuch curioufly figur'd Bodies may be made. I took then fome Stony sti- rU) elfewhere mention'd to have been found in Caves or Grottoes where pe- trefcent Liquors coagulated before they have time to fall down, and having dif- folv'd them in Spirit of Verdigreafe , I put the clear Solution to evaporate in a Digeftive Furnace after the ordinary man- 5 8 sen etov about tye £>jtgme manner 3 by which means , though I made the Experiment more than once , 1 had rather a coagulated Mafi than any thing like Chriftals. Whereby you may learn the truth of what I was fay- ing, That a Concourfe of divers cir- cumftances may be requifite to deter- mine the figuration of confident Bodies, made out of fluid ones : fincehere, for want of time for making occurfions enough for the Particles to concrete in after the moft convenient manner, the Experiment fucceeded not : Wherefore it being agreeable to my notions, that ibme forts of Bodies may require a lon- ger time to make fuch a Convention in, than others, I allow'd many daies to a- nother folution of Stiriz made in the iame Menftruum 5 after which there (hot, as I defir'd, about the fides and bottom of the Glafs a number of di- ftinft Chriftals, long, tranfparent, and curioully (hap d, moft of which, 1 think, I can yet fhew you. Perhaps 'twill be faid , that the pe- trefcent juice, when broken, does of- tentimes appear to abound, within, with anusaittuegof gems. S9 with fiirid or narrow ftreaks like thofe of Antimony, and that I my (elf obferve fome Gems to be made up of thin flakes or plates ; which internal figuration (eems to be much more difficult to be accounted for without a Plaftick Form , than the External. I will not reply to this, that,for ought I know 3 divers known Salts would, when broken, appear to be Geometri- cally figur'd ev'n in the leffer CorpuP- cles as well as they are evidently fo in their entire bulk, if we had eyes quick enough to difcern the Shapes of the minuter as well as of the bigger Bodies. And we have great Inducements to think, that whether or no Carte fins do rightly make the invifible particles , of which the (malleft vifible Grains of Sea- Salt are made up, to belong and rigid likefKcks} the minute vifible concre- tions, of which the bigger Grains of Salt confift, are as well as themfelves of a Cubical figure $ I will not, I fay, infill on this reply, but proceed to alledge, That there are divers Bodies fo luckily ihap'djthvppon % (low Coalition, they will 6o 7h tfffap about tlje ©jtgtne will convene into a multitude of raant- feft Concretions $ Tome of which will confift of ftreaks, and others be made up of Flakes^ as in theSal-armoniack, commonly fold in the Shops ( for I Ipeak not of the native, that is laid to come from Armenia , ) though it be avowedly a Fa&itious Body , you may often obferve, upon breaking the big- ger Mattes, great multitudes of ftreaks, like thofe we may ufually obferve in the broken ' ftirU of petrifying Water. And I have more than once feen , and alfo made, artificial Concretions (of whofe preparation I elfewhere fpeak^) feme of which confided of Salts alone, and others of Salts and Minerals, as Stones or Antimony, which look very like Talk, being white Bodies, made tip of a multitude of very (lender ftrea- ky Particles lying long'wayes one upon another, as in that Mineral. And as I have taken out of Earth many Con- cretions, which as. they, were for the moft part outwardly fbap'd like Rhom- bus's or Lozenges, were composed of a multitude of flat and extreamly thin plates , atrt) mitmHt&GEMs. 6 1 plates 5 fo I have fometimes taken plea- fure to imitate fuch Concretions) by Art. And though a Solution of Silver in purify *d Aqua Forth does ufually af- ford only a great company of final!, thin and feemingly fimple Flakes, like Scales of Fi(h 5 becaufe Men have not any defign like ours in procuring the Concretions yet having diflblv'd a good quantity of the Metal together 3 and fuffer'd it to (hoot leafurely and with due Circumftances 3 I have obtaind fundry Chriftals, which both were Geo- metrically figured without 3 and confi- ded of a multitude of exceeding thin Flakes orderly flicking to one another. And I remember. That whilft the Ob- jeftion , 1 am anfwering 3 was in my thoughts , I pitch'd upon a yet more pregnant Experiment for the clearing of it. For confidering, how Tin- Glajs j though a compafl: and ponderous Body 3 does naturally confift of a multitude of fhining poliflVd Flakes 5 (which may be eafiiy perceiv'd and di- ftinguifti'd by breaking a Lump of it into three or four pieces $ ) I found by tryal 62 3n QEffap about tlje 4D?igine tryalwhat Iexpefted, That though a mafs of this Mineral were beaten to Powder, yet if it were melted and fuffer'd to cool of it felf, the difpofition of the Component Particles would determine them to ftick to one another in broad and fhining Flakes, whereof many will be incumbent one upon ano* ther, and fome crofs to one another at various Angles,accordingasthe matter happened in its feveral Portions to be diverfly refrigerated. And (ame Faftitious Bodies may afford us the like Inftances, as I have obferv'd in fome mixtures of Copper, Iron, and crther Minerals 5 and very confpicuoufly in good Regains Martis Stellatus^ whofe Internal Configuration may be fotind by breaking it 5 by which way I have obferv'd with pleafure, That the Regains abounded with flat and fhining Flakes of analmoft fpecular Polifh. If it be urg'd, to confirm the former Objedtion, That fome Lapidefcent Jui- ces, ev'n of thofe we mention'd in thefe Difcourfes, do concrete even whilft Men are looking on j and yet our Stony Stints ant> Mrtueg of g e m s. 63 Stirid, often mentioned (which proba- bly may* be alfo haftily Coagulated ) have in (bme places a Streaky and in other places an Angular Configuration of parts 5 I anfwer Firft, That I have feen divers of that kind of Concretions, which as far as the eye took notice uf, were mads up of parts confufedly jum- bled together. And next. That (to confider now thofe whole Texture is more uniform) I have found by Tryals, that, if there be a due difpofition in the component Corpufcles of Bodies to fuch Configurations , they may be brought to concrete accordingly in a far (horter time, than almoft any, that have not try'd, would expeft, not to lay, believe. Having lometimes for Guriofity'sfake warm'd fix or levenOun- ces of Aqua Fortify glutted with fine Silver, 'till the mixture was all brought into a tranfparent Liquor 3 and having then put the clear but ftrong CIals 3 that cojnain'd it, into cold Water , that the Menftruum might be the more haftily Refrigerated, I obferv'd. That when once the difiolv'd Metal began to (hoot, the 64 atn<£ttay about tlje £>?tgine the Coagulation into figur'd Chriftals proceeded fo fafi: , that a naked Eye could fee the progrefs of it. And ha- ving fbmetimes put a quantity of Salt and Snow, or of fome other ftrongly Refrigerating mixture, into a conveni- ent Glafs, and wetted the outfide with a ftrong Solution of Sal Armoniack or fome Urinous Spirit, though in Jefs than a Minute of an Hour it would be Coa- gulated} yet the Salt, into which it (hot, had ufually a curious and deter- minate Figure according to the Nature of the Liquor that afforded it 5 as I have often fhew'n the Curious. Perhaps you will fay, that thefe In- ftances are taken from Saline Bodies, which are for the moft part difpos'd to convene in fraooth Surfaces, and angu- lar Shapes, and eafie enough to be wrought on by the External cold 5 and it may yet feem ftrange to Philofophers themfelves, what in feme Cafes muft have happen'd, if our Hypoihefis be admitted , namely., that external Cir- cumftances and Accidents, fuch as the Figure of a Mold or Womb, the cold- nefi ana wittum of gems. 6s fiefs of the Ambient, &c fhould vifi- bly, and fometimes not a little, diver- fify even the internal figuration of clofe and Iblid Minerals and Gems, without excluding all thofe that are fuppofed to be of a quicker Concretion. Wherefore to clear this difficulty , it may not be a mifs to fiibjoin an Experi- ment, that I devifed to (hew, that if the Corpufcles of a Body be fo fhap'd as to be fitted by their coalition, to conftitute fmooth (and if I may fo fpeak) glofly Planes, though they be varioufly fhuftled and difcompofed as to their Priftine order, yet if they be but a little while kept in a ftate of flui- dity, that they may the fitlier place themfelves or be placed by other Agents, they will presently be brought to con- vene into fmooth and (hining Planes, and the Situation of thofe Planes , in reference to one another, will be more Uniform and Regular, than almoft any one would expeft in a Concretion fo haftily made 5 notwithftanding which, their internal contexture will be much diverfified by circumftances, as part;* F cularly 66 2l!n QDffaF about t^c £> jigitie c ularly the figure of the VeflTel or Mold wherein the fluid Matter concretes. Confidering then , that ( according to what I noted already ) if we break Timi-Glafs (taken for the Bifmnth of the Ancient Mineralifts) as 'tis wont to be fold in Lumps in the Shops , it will difcover a great many fmooth and bright Planes, (larger, or lefier, according to the bigneis of the Lump, ) which fometimes meet, and fbmetimes crofe one another at very differing Angles : confidering this(I fay) I thought it pro- bable, that a Body, that had already been melted, and was apt to convene into fuch Planes, notonely would do fo upon another fufion, hut might have the order and bignefs of thofe Planes , diverfified by the Figure and capa- city of the Veflel, I fhould think fit for my purpofe. Wherefore having bea- ten a fufficient quantity of it to powder, andj, when 'twas well melted, caft it in- to a good pair of Iron-Molds, whofe Cavity was an Inch in Diameter , we had a Bullet, which, being warily bro- ken, did, as we expefted , feem to be 3 as and sattttieg of g e ms. 6 7 as it were, made up of a Multitude of little Alining Planes, fo (baped and plac'd, that they feem'd orderly to de- creafe more and more as they were fur- ther and further removed from the Su' perficies of the Globe 5 And they were fo rank'd, that they feem'd to confift of a multitude of thefe rows of Planes reaching every way, almoft like fb many radious's of a Sphere from the Centre or middle part, to the Circumference : Whereas if we melt Tinn-Glafs in a Crucible and let it cool there, the Mat- ter being taken out and broken, will ap- pear indeed full of fmooth Planes , but (as was lately intimated) very irre- gularly and confufedly aflbciated or plac'd. I will not now flay to enquire, whe- ther the orderly compofitiop of the Planes in our Bullet (which fome curi- ous Perfons, that I fhew'd it to, lock'd on, as a not unpleafant fighr, ) may be deriv'd from this, that the Matter was coold firft on the outfide , by the con- tad of the cold Iron Mold, and the neighborhood of the Ambient Air, and F 2 that 6B Unedav about ttyOjigwe that the coagulation being once thus begun, the parts of the remaining fluid, as they happen'd to pafs by this already coold Matter, with a motion, which, by i eafon of their removal from the Fire , was now flacken d , they were eafily fattened againft the already ftable parts, (as may be illuftrated by the concretion of diflblv'd Nitre and Allom, both a- bout the inje&ed fticks, and the Grains that firft concrete againft the fides of the Veffel, ) and the refrigeration ftiU reaching further inward?, till it came laft of all to the middle of the Globe y that being the remoteft part from the refrigerating Agents, the appofition was fucceffively and orderly made, till the whole Matter was concreted. But, (as I was faying ) I muft not now ftay to inquire^ whether the figuration of our Bullet may be explain'd after this or fome fuch way : or whether we are not to take in fome fubtle or all pervading matter, or fome other Catholique A- gent ? For though fuch points may be well worth difcufEng, and we may poffibly eJfcwhere fay (bmething of them 5 anU*i*ittue$o£ gems. 69 them 3 yet here it may fuffice to fay a that we have varied the foregoing Try- al by calling Bullets of fome other Bo- dies, (and particularly the fimple Kr- gulus of Antimony) wherein it fuccee- ded well enough, though the produc'd contexture were not fo Uniform as in Ti?m*Glafs. And I alfo try'd, that ha- ving caft melted Sulphur it felf into a GlobousBody of about five or fix In- ches in Diameter,and warily broken it , though one would think it an unlikely Mineral to make any other than a con- fus'd Concretion, it prefented me great Fibres almoft like little ftrawes, whole number and (in great part) orderly fi- tuation afforded me a much lefs unfit Inftance for ray prefent purpofe than one would have lightly expe&ed. But what I came from faying, may ferve to make out what I propounded to my felf} which having named already I need not here repeat. But one thing more there is, that may be pertinent on this occafion, namely , That I have broken divers Marchafices of a peculiar fort, that were either of F 3 a 7o m fitttw about t^e 0?isine a roundifb, or of an almoft Cylindrical "Figure, to obferve their internal Stru- cture and Qualifications - whereupon 5 I found in more than one of them ( for I remember not that I did in all )a great many rowes of little Planes or gliftering Corpufcles j reaching from the inner- moft parts to the External Surface, and in thofe that were fomewhat Cylindri- callyfhap'dontheoutfide} thefe ranks of Gold-colour'd particles in the feve- ral Planesof the broken Mineral, feem'd like Semi-Diameters ifhuing out from a row of Phyfical Points, conceived to be plac'd on an imaginary Line, lying al- moft like the Axis of a Cylinder be- tween the oppofite ends, (though I do not well remember how near it reached to them : ) As if the Cavities of the Chalk or Clay, wherein thefe Marcha- fites were found, had made the Soil like a Mold, wherein the Matter of the Mar- chafite being detained whil'ft 'twas in a Fiuid form, did afterwards concrete much after the manner that the Bullets of Tinn-Glafs, Regulus^ ;tgine or both 5 and fometimes too in the very number as well as Situation of their Solid Angles or Corners : about which I hope to recover fome Notes. And fo I have done with the firji part of my Anfwer to the above mention d Objeftion, whereby it may appear, that there is no fucb regular and con- front Uniformity in the Shapes of Gems, but that their Real Likenefs may be reconcird to our Hypothefis. But now in the Second part of my An- fwer, I (hall endeavour to (hew, that the Figuration of Gems may not only con- fitt with our Conje&ures , but confirm them. For, I have more than once ta- ken notice in the CormJJj Diamonds I have been mentioning, that fometimes a fmall Stone of the fame kind, has made up, as it were, one Body with a greater 5 fo as that the lefler Stone did not only adhere clofely to the other, but was, if I may fo fpeake, Set or Bedded in it. So that when the Separation was made y there remain'd in the greater Stone a Cavity, whofe Figure did curioufly an- fwer that of as much of the fmaller Stone , atft mttu&QlGEMs. 77 Stone, as chanc'd to be harbour'd there. And, as fbmetimes I obferv'd, that there was fuch an adnafcency , ("if you will pardon the Word, ) of a Letter Stone to a much Greater 5 fo at other times , I met with the like of a Greater to a much Lefler, with a Gavity in the Let ftr , anfwerable to that part of the Greater that had been lodg'd in it. Which 3 for ought I know, allows us with high probability to conje|tgme the trouble (for a trouble 'tisj to weigh them in the Air and in the Water , and fo difcover,whether I conje&ur'd aright. And if its Specifick Gravity did much exceed that of Criftal , I thought it a probable Argument, that there might be fome Metalline or Mineral Corpufcles mingled with the ftony Ones of the GemSj and that alfo it may probably derive its Tinfture thence. I will not tell you, that I then found many forts of tranfparent Stones mnvh heavier than Criftal : For , befides that the Tryals were trGublefbme enough to make, I chane'd to fall upon them in a place, where I had not any Store and variety of Gems to examine. But one Inftance among thoie that occurr'd to mo, I fhall here let down, becaufe being fo notable, it may fuftice to (hew, that, as to jome Gems at leaft, my opinion of their ha- ving an Adventitious Gravity, and con- sequently Ingredient, is very probable. I had fome American Granats^ which I had a great and peculiar Realon to be- lieve had been once Liquid Bodies, and therefore thought them the more wor- thy anD Wlittueft of g e ms. 8 3 thy to be examin'd 5 and finding their Colour to be fo deep, that they were almoft opacous,and judging by my hand, that they were much heavier than pieces of Criftal of the fame Bulk would be , I weigh'd them in a pair of nice Scales in the Air and in the Water, and found them, as I expe&ed, to be almoft four times as heavy as Water of the fame Bulk, and confequently heavier by about a third part than pieces of Criftal, e- qualling them in bignefi , would be. Whence (b great an acceffion of pon- deroufnefi proceeded , I (hall tell you , when I come to my next Argument , to which I (hall advance,as foon as I have noted, that though, when colour'd Gems have a greater Gravity than Criftal, 'tis a probable Argument, that they have feme Metalline Pigment or other Mine- ral fubftance mingled with them 5 yet if fuch Gems have no fuch furplufage of weight, it will not follow that their Co- lour cannot proceed from any Mineral Tin&ure 3 (ince'tis not unreafonable to conceive, that a Mineral Subftance may be prefent in a Liquor ("fuch as the G 2 Lapi- 84 ain (Bffa? about tye © jCgitte Lapidefcent Juice, 3 that we fuppofe Gems to be made of, even when it adds no manifeft weight to the Body that harbours it 3 fince I have ob(erv'd(what is odd, ) That a Mineral Water , which byitsTaft, itsEffe&s, and the Colour it would ftrike,appear'd to be richly im- pregnated with lron 3 being carefully by file examin d Hydroftaticaliy,did appear very little, (if at all^ fenfibly heavier than Common Water. The third and laft Argument, I (ball now make ufe of, is taken from hence 5 That out ofdivers Medicinal Stones,and ev'n out of (brae fine Gems, real and Corporeal Metals, or other Mineral fub- ftances, may be extrafted. Of this Argument I (hall at prefent fay the lefs, becaufe the further profe- cution of it will be more proper in the Second Part of this Difcourfe, where I (ball be cblig'd to handle it with refe- rence to opacous Gems, in which its force will beft appear. And therefore I (hall defire you to take notice, when you arrive at that Part of the fubfequent Difcourfe* of thofe particulars, that may atflmtrtttegof gems. 85 may ferve to ftrengthen the newly pro- pos'd Argument : And if it be ob- je&ed,that the Bodies>there treated of, are opacous Stones, not Gems, I have thefe things to anfwer. Firft 3 that divers Stones , that are reckoned amongft precious ones, are opacous too 5 as the Turquois^ the Onyx , the Sardonix^ &c. not to mention di- vers others, as Cats-Eyes 7 Of ales y &C. which are as it were Semi- opacous. Be- fides I much queftion, whether Diapha- neity be absolutely neceffary to the Effence, though it be to the Beauty, of thofe precious Stones , wherein 'tis ufaally found. And I might here make it probable by difcourfe , that tranfpa- rency and opacity oftentimes depend but upon the manner of the Pigments 9 difperfion thorough the ftony matter of the Gem, and the convenient or incon- venient fituation of the pores in refe- rence to the beams of Light. But wa- ving this fpeculative Argument, I (hall rather take notice, that feveral precious Stones, and even Diamonds themfelves , have fbmetimes great clouds, which wake u %n eti&v about tije £>?tgtne make them in thofe parts almoftf if not qgite ) opacous, without being thereby hinder M from being true Diamonds or Gems, of this or that kind, to which their bardneis, colour, &c. makes thera appertain : And not to mention Corne- lians, Agats^ and fome other Stones that wc may obferve to be (fas the tinging Corpufcles happen to be in a due or an over- great proportion mix'd with thepetrelcent matter, and to be Uni- formly or inconveniently mingled with itj fome of them tranfparent and fome of them fcmrdiaphanous; Ihavefeen worn in a Ring a sardomx it ftlf that was tranfpaient, as unlikely a Gem as that is to be fo. And as for Granats % though you know, that both of them are Diaphanous 3 yet I have had fome figur'd ones, that feem'd quite opacous : and I have others by me of feveral Countreys, f where of one very remar- kable for its large fize and Geometri- cal fhape 5 ) that are in fome places Dia- phanous, but as to the main bulk of their Bodies appear at kaft almofi: as dark as ordinary Stones. I anfcftttttuegof gems. 8 7 I further add, that I little doubt, but that experiments , i not unlike thofc ? I (hall hereafter tell you 3 I try'd to ob- tain Mineral or Metalline fubftances from Loadftones, native Cinaber, Blood-ftones , &c m mjght fuccecd ia feveral other of the more ponderous Gems, if it were not that the Glafly Na • ture, or exceeding compaftnefs of many of them 3 makes the Mineral Corpufcles, that are harbour'd in the ftony and in- fbluble parts, to be inacceffible to our Common Mettftruums. And when the Metalline and Mineral ingredient is very abundant, and the Tin&ure of the ftony parts not fo very clofe, I queftion not, but even from tranfparent Gems the adventitious Ingredient may, in part at leaft, be diflblv'd. And to fatiifie you about this matter, I (hall now inform you , that having by the ponderoufhels of the lately mention'd kind of Granats been indue d to conclude them impreg- nated with fomewhat Metalline, and for thatreafon to think it fit to try^whether I could feparate it from them., or other- wife difcovcr it in them } I kept fome of G 4 them 8§ m €m about tye tiDtfgiiie them (in a cruciblej) for a competent time in the fire, and found , that they had exchang'd their Colour D for one not unlike that of unbrightned Iron , and having reduc'd them to very fine powder, and digtfted fome acid Men- ftruums and particularly reftifi'd Spirit of Salt upon them, they afforded me a rich Tinfture : Encourag d by which 3 I hop'd, that, without their being pre- vioufly burntjthey would in Aqua Regis afford a Tinfture, and accordingly J obtain' d from crude Granats, (only reduc'd to very fine powder) a rich So- lution, which though in colour it ibrne- what emulated a Solution of Gold , yet partly by the Colour of the burn'd Gra- nats and partly by theTaft of this So- lution, I fuppos'd, that another Metal was likelier than Gold to be the pre- dominant Mineral } and having gently evaporated part of that Menftruum, I obtaig'd from fome of the reft certain Criltals, whofe (hape 5 by reaio:? of their fmallnefs and diforderJy coagulation, I could not well determin 5 and touching y/ith the Tip of my little Finger the unpoa^ ftttDtaatttuegoE gems. 89 ufccoagulated portion of the Liquor •> this part of a drop, being put to a great many drops of the Iofufion of Gall, did fo immediately turn it into a fub- ftance that feem'd full as black, if not blacker than Ink;, as you would, I think 3 have been fomewhatfurpriz'd to behold. Which tryal I made to examin the conjeftures I had, that one Mineral (for perhaps 'twas not the only, that help'd to conftitute thefe Granats, was of a Martial nature 5 which, if it were 3 I fuppos'd it would, like other Bodies that participate of Iron, afford with Galls an Inky colour. I tryed alfo with a parcel of fmall and red tranfpa- rent Stones, which fome gheffed to be Granats 5 others, more probably , K«- bicS) that being finely powder'd, they would in an appropriated Menstruum , (made extraordinary ftrong) give a Co- lour like that cf diffo.lv'd Gold. And that there were really fome parts of the Gem diflblved in the Menjiruum , ap- peared not only by the above mentioned colour, but by thefetwo indications: The one^ that having put fome of this Liquor 90 in Cffaj? about tlje ®ii$w Liquor tofomeof the lame folution of Galls, 1 juft now fpoke of, it produced indeed, at the very firft, a dark Colour, but not neer fo black as that of the Cravat s^ and in a trice let fall a copious precipitate that was almoft white : The other , that I was able to precipitate from it, by an urinous Spirit, a reddilh fubftance, which being fuffer'd to dry in Air , feem'd to grow into Bodies, in fhape not unlike Mofs , and here and there fmall Mufhrons, all of them pret- tily colour'd. And from certain Granxts . that were in feme places opacous,as well as in others Diaphanous, I obtain'd a Solution from whence the fuperfluous Liquor being abftra&ed, the refidue , which was deeply coloured, did in the cold afford me a kind of faline concre- tions, which yet were not large enough to inab'e one to determin their Fi- gures. And on this occafion I hold it not un- fit to intimate, that perhaps, if Men had euriofity enough to make tryals , there would be other tranfparent Minerals found capable of being wrought en by ap- ant) vflittuejg of g e ms. 9l appropriated Menilruums. For, I do not think, that every feemingly glafly contexture of a Mineral makes it unfit to be wrought on : For though the clear Spar, which in moft of our Weftern Lead-Mines in England is found next to the Metalline Veins, be at lead: Semi- diaphanous, and be of fo glafly a contex- ture, that it ufually breaks into fmooth and glofly Superficies, and looks like a T4/4,and alfo for the moft part is made up of and prefently reducible into Geo- metrically figur'd Bodies, fhap'd like Rhombus's or Rhomboides 5 yet lome other. Tryals, that I have made with this spar inducing me to fufpecl, that 'twas not indeed a T^l^ but a Body of a much more open Texture, 1 found, I could diflblve it infeveral Liquors, and particularly in good Spirit of Salt, which would prefently work upon it 5 evenwhilftit was in Lumps, and that without the afliftance of Heat , which Obfervation may perhaps give lome incouragement to fuch a curiofity as yours. But by what I have faid of the uie- fulntfs ?2 3n eaaj? about t^e © jigme fulnefi of Menfiruums^ I would not have you think, that they are the only Inftruments, wherewith (bmething Me- talline may be obatin'd from fome Gems : For in an other Paper of mine (to which fuch tryals more properly belong) you may find an account of fome attempts of that kind by fufions and appropria- ted additaments. And however fuch Tryals may fucceed with you that aim ztppurating from a Gem a Metalline or Mineral Body of a determinate Spe- cies-^l can teach you an eafie way,where- by I have ("by the help of fufionj more rttan once mamfefied in the General , that there may be fobftances, partaking of a Metalline nature, in fome kinds e- ven of tranfparent Gemy. And partly by the fame way , and partly by fome others, I have been able to determin probably enough , in fome cafes, that the Mineral fubltance is predominant in it. And here, before I difmifs the firft part of our Eflay, I think I may poffibly fomewhat illuftrateour Hypothesis , if I briefly mention to you an experiment, anti mittueiS of g e m s. 93 I remember I once made to that pur- pofe. And it was this: I reducd to powder fome of thofe £**>**, that I have often fpoken of, of water petrified , as it were , fpontaneoufly : I alio confi- der'd with my felf, that I had found Spirit of Verdigreas , ( which I make without the tedious preparations , that Bafilius and others prefcribe, by barely diftilling without additaments good French Verdigreas ,and rectifying the ob- tained liquor) I had> (Hay) found this Menjirnum to be not only ( as I elle- where obferve ) a good folvent for many Bodies, but alfo to be diftillable from many of them , without leaving near fo much of it felf behind, as other Saline Solvents are wont to do : Confi- dering this, I fay, I diflblved the ftony Jlirite'm this Liquor,and having foffer ci fome of it to evaporate away, and put the reft into a cool place, I obtained, as I expe&ed 3 ftore of fmall but fioely figur'd and tranfparent Criftals , that (hot much after the fafhion of thofe of the purer fort of Nitre. With fome part alio of the ftony lolution I mixed, in a conve- nient 3to Cffap about tty ® jtgtne nient proportion, a high colour'd folu- tion of Copper, made likewife in Spirit of Verdigreas $ and theie two fblutions being made with the fame Menftruum , and warily enough put together , did not precipitate one another, but affor- ded me, upon the evaporation of the fuperfluous moifture , among divers Criftals that were tranfparent and co- lourlefs., fome that were richly adorned with a greenifh blew Tin&ure of the diflblved Metal. What tryals I made by this way, little varied , to imitate nature by aflbciating into tranfparent Bodies ftony and metalline Subftances , I cannot now give you a full account of 5 fince I neither have by me the Notes, I fet down about thofe tryals, nor think it fit to make this firft part of our Di£ courfe more prolix, than I now perceive it tobealready. ect. anU Sfltttuejet of gems. 95 «&> «£» *vi> «tfe» *&> <&> «£*- Sect. II. Containing a Conje&ure about the Caufes of the Virtues of GEMS. WHat has been hitherto deli- vered in the firft part of our Difcourfe , will, I fuppofe, make it allowable for me to be more fuccinft in the Second. I fhall now therefore proceed to thofe other confiderations, which, being affifted by what has been already faid, may 3 1 hope 3 fuftice, to keep our conje&ure about the Caufe of the Virtues of Gems from feeming unreafonable. And my firft Obfervation (hall be , that not only there is in the Earth a great number and variety of Minerals, alrea- $6 m€ftty about t^£)?tgttie dy known by particular Names 3 but probably there are very many others that are not yet known to us. The former part of this propofition will not be doubted by thofe, that con- sider, how great a multitude of Metal* line Ores, Marchafites of feveral forts, Antimonies , Tinn d-glafs , Fluores , Talks of various Kinds, Spars, Sul- phurs, Salts, Bitumens , &c* are men- tiond partly by Chymifts , and other Mineralifts , and partly by thofe that have given us accounts of Muf&ums and other colle&ions of natural Rarities 3 infomuch that of only one Kind of Foffils, the diligence of fome modern Writers hath reckoned up between two hundred and two hundred and fifty 3 befides Animal Stones., as Lapis Bezoar , Lapis Manaii, Oculus Cancri^ Lapis for- cinus^ &c. And as for the Second Part of our propofition or obfervaticn , you will fcarce deny it,though you confider with me but thefe two things. The firft is the fmall and inconfidera- ble proportion , that the perpendicular depths, atifc suittuetf ot gems. 9 7 depth , that the generality of Mines bears 3 to the Seraidiameter of the Earth, reckoned to be above 3 500 Miles, (b that, though oar Globe were inha- bited by fbme hundreds of millions of men more than now it is, and they had curiofity enough to dig Mines every where , and confequently there were Millions of inquifitive and laborious men more than really there arc, their Spades and Pickaxes would , except here and there, penetrate fo little a way into the Earth, that a vaft multitude of Foffils might, by lying deeper in the bowels of it, continue undifcover'd. And to this Firft Obfervation I (hall fubjoin this Second , that, as far as I have obferved, almoft every Region affords Minerals of its own , differing from thofe that are taken notice of in other Regions. And in particular Country es, as in fome Shires ofEttgJat9d % a curious and heedful Eye may, I doubt not, obferve fe-veral that are not taken notice of by the inhabitants themielves, efpecially if well-made borers were diligently and skilfully iroploy'd to H pierce 1 02 Zn Cffap about t$e Qjigine pierce the ground, and bring up Sim- ples of divers Foffils that lye hidden under it. But having elfewhere dif- courfed of this matter, I fhall here only tell you, in general, that in fome parts of Eifgtmd^ where I had more oppor- tunity than in others , to exercifc fome Curiofity about Minerals, I met fome- times in a fmall compafs of ground , with a much greater variety than I ex- pefted, and feveral of them undefcrib'd, that I know of , by any Writer } of which fort I have received divers others from feveral parts both of the old world and the new. In the next place I confider, that Na- ture has furnifhed the Earth with Afe*- jirunms and others Liquors of feveral forts, and indowed it with divers quali- ties. This I have already manifefted in the difcourfe of fubterraneal Men- ftruums, whereto Ifhali therefore refer you^only taking notice in this place 3 that whereas water is abundantly to be met wiih under ground, and for the moft part very copiouOy in Mines, by which ic is capable to be yarioufly im- preg- anD mittm^ of gems. 103 pregnated 5 this liquor it (elf, efpecially being thus alrer'd , may in fome cafes aft the part of no defpicable Menfiruum^ and on fome occafions other wife con- cur to the production of Mineral Bo- dies. I further obferve, that the fubterrane- al Liquors, upon one account or other , (for we need not now particularly de- termin it) are qualified to work either as Corrofive Menftruums 9 or as other Solvents, upon many of the Medicinal Earths and other Minerals they meet with under ground : which Minerals 9 having never been expofed to our fires > have their Texture more open , and their parts more foluble than thofe, that have been melted by the violent heats of our furnaces. And that even Common water will fuffice to diflblve, and impregnate it felf both with the Saline and oftentimes with Metalline parts, that it meets with in its paffage 3 is obvious enough in the differing tafts and other qualities of liquors, that all paft for common water, whereof fume is found better and fome H 2 worfe ioo m Cffav about tye £>2istne worfe than others , to Brue , fbme to wafh Linnen, fome to Dye Scarlet, or other determinate Colours 5 iome to temper Steel, and fome for other ufe. But ethers unqueftionably more emi- nent inftances, are given us by the Mi- neral Springs, whether iherms or Aci- diil.^ as Authors diftinguifh thofe that are actually hot , (as at Bath) and thofe that are Saline and for the moft part fbwrilh (like thofe at ^unbrtdge and the Tor \-JIjire Span? 5) of which two forts good (lore are enumerated by Phyfiti- ans and Geographers 5 and of which a far greater number would be difco- ver'd, if men wanted neither skill nor diligence. And here I (hall defire you to take notice, that, though common water do the moft readily diflblve the Salts more properly fo called , though not altogether pure , it meets with in the bowels of the Earth, as we fee it happens in thofe Salt-Springs that come not from the Sea 5 yet there are alfo many others fubterraneal Bodies, which upon thefcore of their abounding with Saline particles, will be diffoJved by water. ant) Wit tueg of g e m s. i i water, though they be of a compoun- ded nature , and contain very differing fiibftances 5 as 'tis plain in thofe waters of Hungary and other Regions , which by the evaporation of their fuper- fluous moifture, will yield Vitriol , a Mineral not only compounded but decompounded 3 as containing in it a Saline, a Sulphureous, a Metaline and an Earthly part, (which it felf I have found to be none of the fimpleft Bo- dies 5 ) every one of which may be made diftinftly to appear. Laftly, I confider, that the Petrific Juice or Spirit coming to be in a fuffi- cient proportion mingled vviththefe im- pregnated waters, fo as to coagulate them , and concoagulate with them 5 from their coalition may refult thofe precious Stones that we call tranfparent Gems. For 'tis certain, that Bodies, that were a while before in the form of waters, may coagulate into ttony Jtirid , of whofe odoroufnefs and reducible- nefs into lime, I have already given an account in my difcourfes of Lapidef- cent Juices 5 of which you may com- H 3' mand 9§ M pteg about tty ©?igme mand a fight. And that even Diamonds themfelves, the hardeftof Gems., were once fluid Jubilances , the firft part of this Difcourfe has, I hope, evinced. To which I fhall now add, that pro- curing feme petrified Bodies to be brought me from a place in England 5 which I could not be admitted to 3 I founds that the Petrific Juice or Spirit D that abounded in the Earth of that fpot of ground, was fo penetrating, and fo operative, that it made fome of the vegetable fubftances, that were found in it 3 in their priftine fhape 3 and 3 for ought I could perceive , bignels , hard enough to cut Glafs as well as grave on Iron. And 'twas among thefe rarities (if I much mif-rememhtr not ) that I pick'd up a (moderately) tranfparent Body ( which I think I have yet by me ) that 5 by the (hnpe and other Circum- ftances I judg'd to have been a diapha* aous Gum 3 belonging to one of the pie* ces of petrified wood 3 that had been brought me D and was hardened to a de- gree that made it capable of fcratching plafs. And And now to bring home thefe things fomy prefent fubjeft, I conceive, that fome(at leaft,) of the Heal Virtues of divers Gems may be derived from this , That whilft they were in a fluid form 9 (pr at leaft not yet Hard'ned,) the Pe- trelcent fubftance was mingled with fome mineral folution or tin&ure, or with fome other impregnated liquor, and that thefe were afterwards Concoa- gulated j or united and hardened, into one Gem, as a Diamond 9 a Saphir , a Granat, an Onyx, a Blood-ftone,d^. And as divers of the Virtues of Gems may be in a general way dedue'd from the commixture of thefeMineral Corpu- feles 5 fb the greatnefs of thofe Virtues and the variety of thofe properties in particular, may be afcribed to the pe- culiar nature of the impregnating H- quorSj to the diverfityof them, and to the greater and lefler proportions 3 wherein they are mixt with the PetreP- cent juice. To render this cony Bare (for T pro- pofe it as no other,) thus fummarily and briefly expreis'd* the more probable 5 H 4 'twill 104 3n tfav about tye SDjtgine 'twill be fit to recall to mind the Argu- ment.^ whereby we have already fbewn, both that Gems were once fluid or foft Bodise, and that divers of them were not Ample concretions of a Petrefcent liquor, but confifted alfo of other Mi- neral adventitious Corpufcles : Which may appear, partly by the feparablenefs of fiich fubftances from fome Gems 3 (as we exemplified in GranatsJ partly by the fpccific gravity of others , and partly by the differing tin&ures( where- of one at leaft may well be fuppoied adventitious, ) to be met with in Gems of the hmejpecjes, as Rubies, Saphire, Granats and even ( the hardeft itones, that we yet know of, ) Dia- monds themfelves 5 of which ( as is be- fore noted ) I have feen fome Yellow ("and that to a great degree, ) fome of other colours , but not fo vivid , and fome Green, almoft like Emeraulds. Now jincc there may be in Gems, and in fome of t hem abundantly fuch adven- titious Corpufcles 5 and fwcc there is caiift to think, that fome may be indow- pd with divers properties and Medical Virtues 3 anD t&trttwg of g e m s. i 05 Virtues 5 fince alfo there is a great dif- ference among thefe impregnating par- ticles and probably of a greater va- riety of them 5 than is known to us$ fince laftly divers Gems are not fparingly but richly impregnated with thefe innobling Corpufcles , I fee no fufficient reafon> why fomeof the Virtues of divers Gems are not more likely to proceed thence, than from thofe unintelligible and pre- carious fubjlantial Fortns^ to which they are wont to be referred. But becaufe there are fome difficul- ties, that the objections of others or my own thoughts have fuggefted againft our Hjpothefif $ though I neither have time, nor do think it very neceflary, to difcourfe amply of them : Yet to clear the way for what I am afterwards to re- prefent, I (hall (though I can but briefly do it J (ay fomething to each , that may perhaps appear no inefficient anfwer ; efpecially after I have declared 3 as I here do once for all, that I fpeak of the True and Medical Virtues that belong to Gems , and that 3 as to thofe Magical and other Extravagant properties, that either 1 10 %\\ CHap about fye £>#gine either notorioudy fabulous 5 or other credulous Writers have made bold to deliver 5 I am fo far from pretending to afford them an Explication , that I do not allow them the leaft degree of Aflenr. This premis'd 3 let us confider the chief difficulties themfelves $ among which I doubt not but it will be cbjeft- ed, That k is not credible, that the Mi- neral Subftances,wherewith ouxHypathe* fis would have Gems to be impregnated, ftiould have any Medical operation at all on the human body, in regard that they are Co locked up that they can commu- nicate nothing to it, efpecially being indigeftable and unconquerable by fo fmaU a heat as that of the Stomach and other parts- of the Body. But to this fpecious Objefiion I have feveral things to return by WAy of An- fwer. And firft of all } had there yet never been any aftual Tryal made, whereby to know , whether a Gem be capable of having any Medical Virtues, I confefs I ftiould find probability e- nough in the Obje&ion to fufpend my Judgement anD tjUtttueg of gems. Ir f Judgement, till experience fhould de- termine the Queftion. But fince upon ihe very credible Teftimony of eminent Phyfitians and Patients theml< Ives of my own acquaintance 3 I find much lefs caufe to disbelieve , than to ailent to fome matters of Fa& about the opera* tions of Gems$ and fince fuch matters of Faft do ftrongly argue in the gene* ralj that a Precious Stone may have Medical Virtues , I think > the Obje- ction, as 'tis proposed in general is iuf- ficiently enervated by fuch particular inftances, and ought not to keep us from believing upon Experience the poffibility of the thing denyed 3 efpe- cially fince there are other things be- sides 5 that may be alledg'd in favour of our Hypothecs. For it may be confider'd in the next place, that vigorous Load (tones emit copious and very plentiful Effluvia^ and yet, befideg that ordinary Magnets are ufually a very hard fort of Stones, I have met with fome Load-ftones much harder than ordinary ones , and poffibly than divers Gems. And 'tis farther ic8 m oBUai? about tty ©itginc farther confiderable , that there are Load-ftones 3 (Tome of which I can (hew you, ) which do not only work upon Iron and other Magnetical Bodies , but have a manifeft and inconvenient ope- ration upon Human Bodies P by being worn in mens Pockets or long held in their Hands 5 as thofe, that have refent- ed fuch operations themfelves, and ob- ferved them in others., have complaind to me 5 which I might confirm by fome analogous obfervations, if I had time to relate them. But now I proceed to obferve, that among tranfparent Pebles , fome of which., you know 3 are by being barely well Cut and Set 3 made to counterfeit Diamonds 5 I have found feveral , that may be brought in a trice to emit co- pious and even ftrongly fented ftreams. And if you allow the opinion of the ge- nerality of Modern Philofophers , who afcribe Eleftrical attractions to the Ef- fluvia of bodies excited by rubbing, you will, I prefume, allow me to infer ., that very light alterations may fuffice to pro- cure E-xpirations even from tranfparent Gems : enD^wtuejfof gems. 109 Gems : Many of which are Eleftrica], and fo are the hardcft of them , Dia- monds themftlves 5 one of which I keep by me , that upon a little friflion at- tracts , vigorously enough to be Mau- ri er'd at by the Spe&ators. And as to that part of the Objeftion I am anfwering, which contends, that Gems are not to be digefted or con- quered by the heat of the Stomach , I will not ftay to examine, whether and how far the digeftion of things in the Stomach be to be afcribed to Heat, con- tenting my felf to fay at prefent , that, to make the Obje&ion valid , it fhould be firft proved , that fuch Bodies can- not have any operation upon the human body as pafs thorough it , without any fenfible change of bulk, figure, See. as Gems that are fwallowed down are fuppofed to do. For, we know , that fome Chymifts make Bullets of the Re- gulus of Antimony ( which we alfo have made, and obferv'd fbmethingodd a- bout them ) which they, call YiluU per- pettier , becaufe when they have per- formed their operation in the Bodys and io7 3tt QgflTay about tye 4>#giiie and have been ejtfted with the Excre- ments, they are by fbme more thrifty than cleanly perfons y wafhed and em- ploy *d again and again to the former purpt »fes. Nor do we know , what A- nalogie there may be between fome Juice* in the Body, and foraeofthe Mi- neral Tub ft an ces that impregnate Gems with their Virtues. For , though the Oculus mundi be reckon'd by Claffic Authors among the rare Gems , ( as indeed good ones may be juftly accounted Rarities , ) yet if one of the beft fort be but a while kept in a.mmort Water, it will,as Experience allures me, receive an alteration obvi- ous to the Eye. I might here alledge t he concurrent Authority of many, and the common Pra&ice of moft Phyfiti- ans, who in their publick Diipenfatories a* well as private Prefcriptions, ordain the Fiagmenrs of precious Stones to be taken inwardly, upon the icore of the Cordi-dand orher Virtues theyafcribe to rhem. But 1 fhall rather make ufe of kfsqueftion'd Arguments, and with- out iniilting on the manifeft operation, that atfl) vUittueje? of g e m $ j 6 that the Juices of the Body have not only on the Chalibeat preparations^ where the Metil is prefum'd to be o- pen'd, but upon crude Steel it (elf ^ or urging' the Examples of Lazarus Vitri* Vorax^ or the devourers of Stones 5 as be- ing rare Momfaeao-icw, I (hall proceed to acquaint you, that with a faint Liquor, diftilTd from a Vegetable fubftance , as temperately qualified and as plentifully eaten as Bread , I have obtain'd , and that without Heat, from divers hard Bodies , and amonglt them from a tran- fparent fort of Gems , a manifell Tin- fture. And whether fome Juices of the Body , affifted by the Natural Heat of it, may nor, in reference to fome Gems, fervefor extra&ing Mevfiruums ,though it may well be , more then either I or the Objeftors certainly know , yet the Inftance, I come from alledging, fa- vours our Hypothecs more than theirs. And even the Natural Heat of a hu- man Stomach, nay perhaps the outward parts of the Body, may be able, though not todigeft precious Stones,yet to foii- cite out Ibrae of their Virtues 5 fince I am n2 $ti Cffa? about tye £>?tgfoe atn fare it makes a fenfible alteration in* the hardeft fort of them. For I have a Diamond, whofe Ele&rical faculty may be excited not only by rubbing , but, without it, by a languid degree of ad- ventitious heat. And I have had in my keeping a Diamond , which by Water 5 made a little more than Luke* warm, I could bring to fhine in the dark. 0bje3. If it be further alledged, that, though fome Virtues may be conceded to Gems upon the account of the Mi- nerals that impregnate them, yet it will be no way likely, that their Virtues (hould be fo Various and Great, as even the modefter fort of Authors pretend. If this, I fay, be alledged, I (hall readily acknowledge, that I do not think others or ray felf obliged to believe all the ftrange things , that even fome Learned Writers do fometimes afcribe to Gems : And if any man will think, that fome of them are fabulous, and more of them Hyperbolical , he may fooner find me his Aflbciate than his Adverfary in that point. For the Rarity of tranfparent Gems, their Luftre : and the great Value, which anfcSBfetuetfof gems. h 3 which their Sea rcenefs and mens Folly lets upon them , imboldens fome tofay^ and inclines others to believe, that fuck rare and noble Productions of Nature muftbe endowed with proportionable, and confequently with extraordinary Qualities. But this being freely granted , I an- fwer to the Objection $ Firft, that 'tis not improbable, that there may be in the Earth 3 much greater Variety of Minerals diffoluble by the fubterraneal Menftruums, and capable of concoagu- lation with Petrefcent Juices, then Au- thors have yet taken notice of: To which conjefture divers fubterraneal productions , that I have met with, doe ftrongly incline me. And from the number and various mixtures of thefe may proceed not only a great Variety of operative particles in precious Stones* but a high degree of Energy in fome of them. And next I confider , that the Effi- cacy of thole Mineral Tinftures or So- lutions, that are already known toug and may be concoagulated with the I Petrefcent ii4 2B« Cflap about rtje £>#gine Petrefcent Juice , may be reafonably prefum'd to be much greater in fome Gems , whereof they became Ingredi- ents, whirft they were (as Chymifts fpeak ) infolntis principiis ; than may be expedted in our Shops or Laborato- ries from the vulgar Solutions of the fame Metals or Minerals 3 after they have by vehement Fires been reduced into Gold or Silver, or Lead , or Antimony, 8cc. For, whereas in thefe vehement Fufions, requifite to bring Metalline or other Ores into fuch fubftances, the vo- latile andfpirituous parts are wont to be driven away, and the remaining Body becomes more hard and compaft , and has his Virtues as it were locked up ; In the ftate of Fluidity thofefubtleand efficacious parts are preferved, and uni- ted to the other Ingredients of the Gems 3 whence fome Emanations of them may be eafily enough drawn out : As in the inftance I not long fince mentioned, of the eafie edu&ion of ftrongly fented Steams from Pibbles (o hard, that I found them more difpofed to ftrike Fire, than Flints themfelves, that are ufed atrtHHittuegof gems. n s ufed in Guns. And from the greater or lefi plenty , and natural a&ivity of the impregnating particles in this or that Gem , may problably be deduced the difference in Colour of fome,and in Virtue of other Stones of the fame de- nomination: Of which we have in a Learned Writer or two, emi- nent Examples given us, of £gjg£ the great Virtue or fome, and the inefficacy of other , that Expe- rience has discovered 9 among thofe Stones that go under the Title of Lapis Nephriticus. For, though they be not properly tranfparent Gems , yet the A- nalogy betwixt them and thole that are, feems fufficient to warrant the mention- ing of them on this occafion. And here we may fubjoin two things, in favour of both the foregoing anfwers: the Firjl that for ought we know, the Petrefcent Juices themfelves may have all that is requifite to make them inch, and yet have diftinft Natures,and be in- dowed with peculiar qualities, ab(h act- ing from thofe which they acquire upon th^fcore of their coalitions with adven- I 2 ticieus 1 1 6 m Cffa? about tlje flDzCguie titious Liquors. This I cannot ftay to make probable by the differences I have obferved in Petiefcent fluids, and there- fore I haften to the Second. The next thing which I would repre- fenr,is, that having obferved Petrific Liquors or Spirits to pervade and give a high degree of hardnefs to bodies, that chanced to lie within their reach,though one would have thought them fuffictent- Jy indifpos'd to receive fuch an indura- tion , I fee no abfurdity infuppofing, that fometimes fuch a Liquor may in- vade, permeate and fubdue tranfparent Minerals, abounding in Saline, Sulphu- reous, and Bituminous particles , which conlequently being duly excited , may be made to emit their more fubile and more active parts. And as 1 have caufe to think, that fubterraneal Fires and Alcnjiwums do divers times make va- rious compofitions and decompofitions in the Earth, ( as 'twere not hard for me to (hew, if I had leifure, ) fo 'tis not impoffible, but that the Spirit, we have been fpeaking of, fupervening, may n ingle it felf with fuch Bodies and pe- trifi* anH tmrtue^ of gems. n 7 trifie them together with it lelf into Gems. On which occafion, 1 remember, that I have had Salt, made by nature in the bowels of the Earth , juft like that which Chymifts compound by Art on the (urface of it. And I have fome- times made by an eafie operation and a moderate degree of Fire a certain corn- pofition of volatile particles of Salt and Sulphurs (fome of which I have yet by me) which after diftillation did in a fluid Medium (hoot into Cryftals tranfpa- rent , and mbre curioufly figured than I have feen divers natural Gems to be. So that, if either beneath or upon the furface of the Earth, fuch kind of fub- ftance happen to be pervaded and fub- dued, by a clear petrifying Liquor $ we may well prefume that the refulting concretions may be indued with Qua- lities , as well uncommon for the Kind, as confiderable for the degree. Obje&ion. If it be yet objected , that it is very unlikely , that Gems fhould part with any Efiluvia or portions of themfelves, fince they lofe not of their weight , and fome of them are very I 3 little 1 18 m €Uy about tye ©tfstne little heavier than Cryftal it felf , and confeqnently are not like to have much adventitious fubftance to part with : I might leave the anfweringof one part of the Objection to Phyfitians and Chy- mifts , who teach 5 that the Antimonial Glafs and Cup imbue Wine and other Liquors with a ftrong emetic quality without any fenfible lofi of weight. But having el fe where fpoken of thofe things 3 I fhall rather here demand, whether the Cbjedors have tryed the truth of what their Argument fuppofes by any way fufficiently accurate? For I much doubt , that that has neither been attempted 3 nor would be found eafie to be performed. And till du% tryal be made 3 let me reprefent 3 that though they will not allow common Water to be a Mcnjlruum fit to draw any thing with from fuch a Body as Mercury 3 which is wont to mock the Cbymifts Aqua Forth and Aqua Regis 5 yet both Belmont and others inform us* that Mercury kept for a day or two in common Water, or boiled a while in it, though it be taken out without any (en- anti mittueg oIgems. u 9 fenfible diminution of weight or bulk, will have imbued a considerable quan- tity of Water with a Virtue of killing Worms 5 for which purpofe 'tis much ufed , and often with good fuccefs in a great Hofpital in London , as the Chief Phyfitian of it (a very judicious and experienced man, ) has more than once informed me. And as for the lightnefs,that is object- ed againft fome Gems 5 befides that it mayfafelybe granted, that ceteris pa- ribus fiich may have fewer or more lan- guid Virtues than others of the fame kind 5 it may alfo be anfwered, that the adventitious fubftance that impregnates the Petrefcent Juice, may be of fo fmall Ipecific gravity, as not to make the Gem at all heavier in Jpecie than Gryftal it felf. For this , ( as we have formerly obferved, ) being about two times and a half heavier than common Water of the lame bulk , I have hydroftatically found, that divers Salts and fome other Mineral fubftances are of lefi fpecific gravity } and confequently , if they were concoagulated with the Petrefcent I 4 Juice 120 3tn €ffap about Hje SDjttgiue Juice that hardens into Cryftal, need not increafe the ponderoufhefs of it, and yet may imbue it with confiderable Vertues: Nor is it neceflary (to add that in tranfitu on this occafion) that, not to alter even the colourlefnefs of Cryftal or the colour of another Gem, the adventitious fubftance fliould be purely Saline : For I have divers times made Bodies, which, though tranfpa- rent and colourleft like Cryftal , and fometimes curioufly and regularly fi- gur'd 3 were yet of a compounded Na- ture , and particularly abounded with an eafily feparableand ftrongly fented Sulphur. But to give yet a farther and more direft anfwer to the Objedion $ : I (hall add, that though, when a Gem has much more fpecific gravity then Cry- ftal , or will fuffer an adventitious Mi- neral to befeparated from it, 'tis a very probable Argument, that the Petrefcent Juice is that Body compounded with an adventitious fubftance 5 yet it will not neceflarily follow , that, when neither of thefe Signes appear , the Gem is ?tgme all 9 heavier in fpecie than other Water, which was brought as common Water to be compared with it , and examind with the fame Scales and after the fame manner. And now, if you recall to mind what I have elfewhere faid partly of the Atmofphers of folid Bodies 3 and partly of the great Efficacy of Effluviums 5 I hope y you will not think it abfurd to conjefture , both that fome precious Stones may have Medical Virtues , and that divers of thefe may be afcribed to the Mineral fubftances , whereof they participate or confift} and efpecially to thole 3 which are beft fitted to exert their powers by the copious Effluxions of their more agile and fubtle parts. And by this time it may be feafonable to tell you 3 that though what I have hitherto difcours'd do chiefly belong to tranfparent Gems 5 yet divers of the things already deliver'd may 5 with no great alteration, be applied to opacous Gems: of which I (hall fjpeak much more briefly 3 not only for the reafon juft now given, but becaufe, if we have (hewn arto 3atttue$ of o e m s. i 2? (hewn ( as I hope we have ) that even Diaphanous Gems may be indowed with Virtues by the Mineral fubftances they contain or are in part made up of 5 the Arguments will hold more ftrongly as to opacous Gems : both becaufe thefe are for the mod part much lefs ' hard than the others , and becaufe 'tis far more eafie to (hew by their fpecific gravity , and the compoundednefs of divers of them, that the dark ones, than *tis that the clear ones, may partly , and fometimes plentifully, confift of Mineral fubftances, imbodyed with , and bard- ned by Petrefcent Juices or Petrific Spirits. In favour of this Do&rine , I (hall endeavour in the firft place to (hew, that what has been deliver d is pojjibk 3 and afterwards fet down (bme particulars to make it very frobable. The firft part of my Talk might be eafily performed , or perhaps would i>e needlefs , if I were (ure , you had no need to be told of any thing I have written about Lapidefcent Juices. But for greater fecurity I (haH in this place briefly i2 4 m<&&&v about tlje©?igitie briefly intimate , that among the Kinds of thole Liquors, I have obferved a fort that is of fo fine a fubftance, and yet of fo Petrifying a Virtue , that it will pe- netrate and petrifie Bodies of very dif- fering Kindes, and yet fcarce, if at all, vifibly incieafe their bulk, or change their (hape or colour. To which pur- pofe , I remember , that I have feen di- vers Animal and Vegetable fiibftances fo petrified , as fcarce at all to be ta- ken notice of, by their appearance , to have been alter/ d by the operation of the Petrefcent Liquor. I have with pleafure feen a thin Gream-Cheefe turnd into Stone,wbere the Size, Shape, and Colour even of the Wrinkles, and the blewifh Mold ( which it feems it began to have when the Liquor invaded it ) were fo well preferv'd , that an hungry man would not have fcrupled to have fallen upon it for a good Bit. And as for the hardnefs, that this Petrefcent Juice can give to the Body that it pene- trates , I (hall now only remind you of what I lately told you: That I have had, ( and I think yet have in another place) a pretty anDtajitttiegof gems. 125 a pretty quantity of Wood petrified in England , which retaining its former figure 9 and grain , and fcarce at all vi- sibly increase! in bulk, was fo very hard, that I could make Impreffions with it upon Iron, and Glafi it felf , and make it ftrike Fire like an excellent Flint, To which I (hall hereadd,that the ftony parts did not fuffer the Wood > which they had penetrated , to be reducedin the Fire, either to Afhes or Charcoal. And I have by me a lump of Mineral Subftances , wherein a Petrefcent Li- quor , that fills the large intervalls be- tween them, is tranfparent enough, and harder than moft Stones , as far as we could guefs by fome tryal of it made by a skilful Ingraver of Gems. And to thefe inftances might be ad- ded many others, if it did not by thefe few fufficiently appear , that Petrifick Agents may infinuate themfelves into the pores of various Bodies., and turn them intoStone 3 without otherwife deftroying their pnftine Nature, or fo much as the ; though very rarely , in dia- phanous ones. For, according to our Hypotheps , it may be faid, that a por- tion of matter , imbued with one of the Tin&ures of the parti- colour' d Gem, was firft form'd, and afterwards , fome Petrefcent Juice , endowed with ano- ther colour , came to fettle contiguouf- ly to it 3 and fo by accretion made up one Stone with ir. I might illuftrate this by telling you , that tfiough Fire do make a far greater agitation of Bo- dies melted by it, than need be fup- pofed in cold Petrefcent Liquors, yet I have miUmittaegofoEMs. i 3S have found in making Artificial Gems, that by fome mifchance or error in the operation , the Mineral pigment has richly tinged one part of the tranfpa- rent mafs, without at all imparting that colour to the very next part to it, fo that if I (hould fhew one of thofe I I have yet by me , you would judge it to confift of two differing Gems fub- tlely glewed or faften d together , un- lefs you (hould in vain try as others have done , to difcover by the Eye or otherwife fome naked commiiiure, which may keep thofe fo differingly colour'd Bodies from making up one intire mafs. But let us leave thefe Artificial Gems, and add to what I was faying about our Natural Ones, that the Union of parts in thefe Refulting Stones ( if I may fo call them ) I was fpeaking of before, might be the more perfeft, if the fuper- vening matter found not the firft form'd Stone to have attain'd to its full indu- ration : Though , for ought I know, even in this cafe , the apportion may be fo clofe, and the two matters fo near of K 4 kin i 3 * aitifiSffai? about tye 2D jigfoe kin 3 that both may pals for one Stone, and be polifh'd both together without any blemifhing difcontinuity of furface at thofe parts, where one would expefl: commiflures. For I have by me a Jump, wherein there plainly appear Stones of colours very different from each other, that were once diftinft and incoherent , but by fome petrefcent Liquor have had all their intervals fo exqui- sitely filled up, that neither the touch nor the Artificers Tool , the lump be- ing now fa wen afunder, difcovered any Commiflures 5 but the whole Mais bears an uniform Polifh , and is harder than divers Gems that are worn in Rings, readily enough ftriking Fire with a Steel. And to confirm this the more, I fhall add, that in a place where a pry- ing perfon of my acquaintance lighted on this portion of petrified matter , he found not only other lumps, but divers loofe Stones ? that feem'd altogether of the lame nature with thole, that by the fupervention of the Petrefcent Liquor were united into ftony mafles. I have alfo had a curious dgat fo form'd , that it ant) B]ewifh,&c.) I might here add, that I have found fhining Marchafites^ not only in other folid Stones, but in Marbles 5 asalfo Flints themfelves, in- * clofed in great mafles of Marble , and likewife anU t&irtueg of g e m s. i 39 likewife Wood $ in ftrong Stones im- ployd to build a Wall , and Shells (at leaft as was judg'd by their fliapes and fizes5)in a great mafs of Stone that I met with almoll on the top of a Hill remote from the Sea , together with divers other fuch Vh¬nena^ which I think* may probably be accounted for by our Hypothecs and fcarce without it. But being willing to difpatch this Difcourfe, and unwilling to intrench upon the Difcourfe of the EffeSs of the Tetrefcent Juice , ( to which the confideration of thefe and divers other vh^nomena , to be met with about the Generation of Stones and petrified Bodies, efpecially in Wombs or Molds , more properly belongs 5 ) I (hall in this place only point back to one Obfervation, and anfwer one Obje8ion$ becaufe both of them are pertinent to our prefent Difcourfe. The Obfervation is this : That even in tranfparent Gems 3 and which is more , of the fclf fame species 3 I have fometimes taken notice of fuch an Aggeneration or Accretion of Stones to one another , as argues their having been 140 m<£&av about t^e£>?iguie been producd at feveral times. For proof of this, I need no more thanre- vage, 7 6, ferr you to what I have not 77, &7*- longfince, related about thofe Cornifo Diamonds D wherein fometimes a leffer Stone, though Geometrically fhap'd, was found in good part inclos'd in a greater , as well as in part alfo extant above it. Whence I argued, that the production of this aggregate of two Cryftalline Bodies was not made all at once , but fucceffively D and that the leffer was firff form'd, which I fhall now confirm by this Consideration. That if the greater Stone had been firft harden'd D the matter of the leffer muft only have exteriourly (tuck to it, and been as it were imboft upon it, but could not have made it felf in the fub- ftance of the greater a Bed or Mold, efpecially of fuch a Geometrical figure as it felf had not yet received. And though this fucceflive Genera- tion of the parts of ( feemingly ) intire Gems may appear to you fomewhat new and ftrange, yet that its fitnefsand requifitenefs to explain the foregoing ?h&nomemi anU^itttKgof gems. i 4 i Th&nomenA and others , to be hereafter mentioned 3 may the more recommend it to you 5 I (hall add 3 that perhaps you may be aflifted to conceive , if not in- vited to admit it by a Mechanical illu- ftration. For we fee in divers Chymical Solutions , as of Salts and other Bodies, that ihert: are certain ftages or periods of coagulation 5 fo that., when fuch a qudntpy of (he fuperfluous moiftureis exhal d ? especially upon any confide- rable rt irigeration or other favourable circumstance 5 thofe particles that are moft difpos'd to coagulation will con- vene and (hoot into Cryftals 3 after which no more will do fo 3 till a farther and more confiderable evaporation of the water or other Mertjirnum be made, upon which will enfue a new Cryftalli- zation of the parts. And I can (hew you the produ&ions of a metalline , but uncommon Solution , that I lb made in an appropriated Liquor 3 that the firft (hooting afforded me a Layer or Bed of curioufly figur'd Cryftals, and the fol- l@wing 3 another Layer of fine Cryftalline Bodies, that have faftend therafelves to i42 %n<&tttiy about tye flDjigtae to the f rmer , but differ notably from them both in (bape and pofture. And in this Experiment 3 the diffolv'd Body was but one, as the menjimum but one $ but if there be adiverfity of nature in the Liquors that make up a wenfiruum^ or in the Bodies that are diffolved in it $ fome of the Corpufcles may convene either a part with thofe of the fame Na- ture, or mingled with thofe of a differ- ing Nature } but yet at the fame time and Co make up Cryftals of a compoun- ded Nature , and fbme of them may convene with homogeneous particles, but at differing times $ and fo mifs of fuch uniformity as might elfe appear in their concretions. Which may be illu- ftrated by what I have elfewhere re- lated concerning the Crystallizations of Salt-Peter and Sea-Salt, diflblv'd together in ordinary watery where iiioft commonly grains of Salt of refus- ing figures are produc d } and alio a coafiderable part of theSea-falt coagu- lates in the form of imperfeft Cubes about the bottom, before the. nitrous Corpufcles (hoot into Cryftals of their own atfoWfotuegof gems. i 43 own(almoftprifmatical) Chape. And t might further add , that it matters not, whether the fuperfluous water be waft- ed by Exhalation 9 or by being drained by a body fit to foak it up 5 as We have had occafion to obferve in accelerating the Cryftallization of fome Bodies , where I was not willing to imploy the heat of the fire, by placing, underneath the Solution, dry a Earth, or fome other porous and (baking body. With fome Analogy to fuch inftances as theft 9 we may conceive, that where there are Petrefcent Liquors , mingled with common water , there may, by di- vers accidents, and particularly an hot Summer , a fufficient difcharge be made of the fuperfluous moifture , to make the more difpoied parts of the Petre- fcent Liquor to coagulate , and after- wards the coagulation may be fulpend- ed 3 either by the (upervening of a cold- er feafon, as Winter 3 or even in Sum- mer it felf , by a plentiful rain , or the effeft of it , a Land-flood, which might check the progrels of coalitions by o- vermuch diluteing the Liquor, that might i 4 4 3to Cllap about t^e Otfgtne might elfe have turn'd into Stone. Not to mention 3 that trial hath aflured me 3 that there are Bodies, and thofe of very differing kinds 3 which will in tract of time, efpecially if their coalition be fur- ther *d by cold weather 3 coagulate 3 after they have long remained in a fluidform, though the water or other fnenftruHrn^ by being inclos'd in ftopt Glaffes 3 be kept from wafting. And fince the Earth harbors differing kinds of thefe Liquors (as I have elfewhere (hewn) and di- vers of them may be copioufly impreg- nated 3 fome of them with one fort of Mineral , and fome with another 5 we may conceive 3 that they may have di- ftind" periods for their refpe&ive coali- tions j and yet may ftick clofe to one another 3 in regard thar 3 though in our Chymical Crystallizations the Artifts are wont to take out of the veffel what (hoots the firft time 3 before thfcy make a fre(h exhalation of the water for a new Cryftaliization 3 and by this means have the coagulated Bodies 3 that they ob- tain at one time 3 more uniformly fhap'dj yet in the hollow Receptacle^ that the Earth an&«ue$of gems. 145 Earth affords to Petrefcent Liquors, the Veffels continuing the fame from firft ttf laft, the Uniformity of the Bodies pro- duc'd by coalitions made at feveral times muft be left regular , and the ma- nifejl accretions or aggregates of coa- lefcent Bodies muft in all likelihood be more frequent. And accordingly ha- ving fuffer'd the exhaling of fome Li- quors to be continued in the fame Vef- fel 3 I had coalitions of very differing Bodies at the bottom. What I was not long fince laying, makes me remember, that in order to a fatisfaftion (which the Event gave me) of the conje&uresl had about thefuc- ceffive concretions of fome folid Fire- ftones , that were not fufpefted to be other than intire and uniform mafles., I caus'd two or three that I thought likely and of very different fizes and (hapes,and brought from diftant places, to be warily broken:Which Tryal gave me thepleafure of obferving , that the inter nalTexture of theleaft of theft Mi- nerals, which was almoft fphcrical, was very differing from that of the more L internal \\6 3n Cffav about tlje £D;tgtne internal part of the fubftance of the Stone. And that in the other and greateft Mineral there was a little glo- bulous Stone, that manifeftly was not of the fame piece with the invironing raafs 3 differing from it not only in Texture, but here and there by a difcernable Commiffure : though in mod places their Adhsfion was fo drift 3 that we could not make any feparation of the two Minerals by the help of this Com- miffure. The greateft part of this double Fire-ftone 1 keep by me 3 and (hall fay nothing of what I further ob* ferv'd in it 3 having mention d what I faid already but upon the by. I might add 3 that in fome Circum- ftances, even in thofe Veffels 3 and therefore without any manifeft exha- lation of the water or other MefTJiruHm^ and fometimes where the diffolv'd Bo- dy was homogeneous;, I have in procefs of time had coagulations 3 where the laft form'd Cryftals feenVd plainly to have been generated by way of accre- tion to the fitft. Difficulty. Having now done with my atlD Witttttg Of G EM S. 147 my Obfervation 9 I (hall endeavour to clear a grand Difficulty , which I fore- fee may be objeHed againft our Hypo- thefts , namely. That thefe Aggeneraiions C if I may fo call them ) of Medicinal and other Stones are fometimes found in places, where there are no petrifying Springs,and perhaps no Springs or other Waters at all, nay little or nothing but Quarries or other maffes of Stone. But to this I anfwer, Fir(i 9 that if we admit of the Relations, that I elfewhere mention out of approved Authors con- cerning Men and Beafts turn'd into Stone by a petrifying Spirit , that fud- denly invaded them , it will not be ab- solutely neceflary that there fhould be any Petrefcent Springs or other like water to produce fuch Minerals , as we are now difcourfing of. Secondly , for ought has yet been (hewn vb the contrary, we may fuppofe that Rain-water does fometimes bring along with it fuch petrifying particles as may ferve our turn. In confirmation whereof I (hall add 3 that having of a learned and judicious perfon inquired L 2 after 148 8n €ffay about tlje ©tfgine after divers particulars relating to a fa- mous Bath , by hirn vifited in Hungary^ whofe Water abounds very much with Petrefcent particles, over which there is very high Building ere<3ed,I learned by hisanfwers, among other remarkable things 3 that to the Roof or upper part of this tall Stru&ure there were fatten- ed many long ftony concretions, ( like thofe wont to be imploy'd to adorn Grottfs 3 ) which he affirmed to be from time to time generated there, nor, as I at firft fufpefred , by the dafhing up of any drops of water 5 ( which he averr'd could not reach any thing near (b high.,) but by the copious petrific fleams, that being there checked in their afcenr,did a according to their natural propenfity, coagulate into Stone, Whether this Relation may warrant me toguefs, that in fome places Stones may be generated, without the help either of Rain or Springs , by the atcent of Petrific par- ticles in the form of exhalations from fome lower parts of the Earth, which exhalations, fuffering the lighter fleams that accompanied them to exhale, may operate ant) Slit tue£ of g e ms. 149 operate upon feme difpofed materials that they find in their way, and turn them into Stone : whether, 1 fay, this narrative may well fuggeft this conje- cture, I fhall not now ftay to examine, though the Earthy and fometimes Sul- phureous fediments that have been ob* ferv'd at the bottom of Rainwaters, fuffer'd to fettle in clean veflels, may feem to favour it , and though alfo I might illuftrate it by what I obferv'd in a Bottle of diftill'd Liquor, whereof no part would naturally afcend in a dry form : for having kept this Viol well ftop'd in a fafc and quiet place for a year or two, I obferv'd that the amend- ing fleams had quite pervaded the Cork , and had formed at the top of it numerous whiti(h/?*r/*, lender , but of a length that furprized me. Thirdly^ there is no neceflitie, that in all foils, where petrific waters are to be met with , there fhould be petrifying Springs, at leaft above ground. For I have caufed to be digg'd ftore of fi- gur'd and tranfparent Stones in a cer- tain Earth, that lay upon the upper part L 3 of 150 3n CUap about tye ©jigiiie of a Rock, and (eem'd to be a very dr,y Soil : Perhaps you will allow me to tell you, that I have by pouring a fblii- tion of Rony Jiiria, made with Spirit of Verdigreafe , on a convenient quantitie of Bolus Armenus D and fuffering the loft mixture to remain in a Glals in the open Air , till the fuperfluous moifture was exhal'd^ I have 3 Ifay,by this means imitated in a little, what I have been now relating , and found fmall but un- fing'd and figur'd Cryftals difperfed through the little Cavities of the Red Earth. But 'twill be more considerable to our prefent purpfe to add, that the faireftand hardeft petrifyingWood,that I ever had or tryed,was taken up by an Ingenious perion I imployed in a Plot of Sandy ground , where he could not find any petrifying or fo much as any other Spring. To which I know not whether I (hould add, that fuppofing the ground to have been once moiften- ed with a Lapidefcent Liquor, whether brought thither by Springs, or any other way, one may in our tiypothefis well enough account for this difficult Ph^ine to be forfaken by the moifture that ac- companied thofe particles, and was ne- ceflary to their due application to the cafual rudiments (which pafs tor Roots) in imitation whereof I have more than once obtained both from faline and ftony Solutions 3 dry tufts of prettily figur'd , and diaphanous or white 3 but very (lender, (iiri* , ( if I may fo call them ) that feemed to grow out of the folid Glafs, and made men wonder how they came thither 3 no Water or other Liquor appearing near them. Fourthly, It may very well happen, that the Petrelcent Liquor may be (b mingled and dilated with ordinary wa- ter , as not to be diftinguifhed from it by the generality of men, nor to be Capable of difclofing it-felf by its ef- fects, till either by the copious exha- lation of the common water, or by foroe peculiar advantages, it has to operate upon Bodies, it has opportunity to dis- cover it felf. On which occafion I (hall add, that there is a Lake in the North of Ireland, wherein I could never hear but that Fifties lived as well as in other Lakes, anl> suittueg of g e u s. i 53 Lakes, and yet there are fome Rocks near the bottom of it 3 to which there faften themfelves divers mafles and o- ther pieces of a finely figured fubftance, and tranfparent as Gryftal 5 of which an eminent perfon, the chief Owner of the Lake, prefented me with fome, and promifed me more. Now if we fup- pofe, that either by Springs of Petre- fcent water , or by Rains , or by fub- terraneal fleams, or otherwife, waters, refting in any hollow place , though upon the top of Rocks and Moun- tains , (hall be fufficiently impregnated with Petrific particles 5 and that after- wards in procefs of time the meerly aqueous parts (hall be, by degrees , by the heat of the Sun , the foaking of the grounds , the winds , or the continual aftion of the Air, brought to exhale away in the form of Vapors, the Petrific particles, which are not (b volatile, will turn the Soil beneath them and on the fides of them , as far as the Sphere of their a&ivity reaches, into Stone harder or fofter , of this or that kind , accord- ing to the particular nature of the Pe- trefcent 154 30n QHfe? about fl&e ©jigtne trefcent Liquors, and the Structure and other dipofitions of the Soil they in- vade : In which Soil, if there chance to be lodged Bodies heterogeneous to it , whether vegetable fubftances,as Roots, pieces of Wood, Gums, &c. or the whole Bodies of Animals , as Toads, Frogs , Serpents, Fifhes, &c. or their parrs, as Shells, Bones, &c. or Minerals of an open Texture, as Boles, unripe Ores 5 or elfe Gems or Stones of an- other kind already form'd, any of thefe things or any other that fhall chance to be lodged there , muft be found either petrified or inclofed in Stone, when this changed and harden- ed Soil (hall come to be broken up. Nor is it at all neceffary, that this petre- fadHon of the extraneous Bodies, and of the Soil or Bed , be made at once : For, it may well be made fucceffively at fe- veral times, according asfomepartsof the Petrefcent Juice happen to be more copious and penetrant,and confequently more fit jto be foaked in further than other. For , as the poroufnefs happens to be greater in one part of the Soil than auD tflittue$ tit gems, i 5 5 than in another 5 or as the Texture and difpofition of particular Bodies, lodged in the Earth, gives advantage to the Pe- trifle particles to work on fome of them fopner, or in a differing manner than in others $ fo the Induration of the per- vaded matters may be very unequal- ly made in point of time , as well as in other circumftances. So that ( to omit many other things explicable by it ) we may^ from what hath been already de- liver'd , conceive, how it may happen, that Medical Stones of very differing Colours, Confiftencies , and Operations ( of which I have feveral by me , that I had from the fame Mineral mafs, ) may be generated and feem intire Bodies, though ( as in fome that I found, ) the difference is great, that fo one part of the Medical Stone is dark,heavy, and o- pacous,and the other much lighter,tran- fparent, and quite otherwife colour'd. And upon the lame Principle may be explained , what I lately mentioned to you about the finding of Diamonds in- clofed in loofe Stones and even in Rocks 3 of which we have credible Teftimony. 1 5 6 m €tt*v about tye d);tgtne Teftimony ; which feems not more ftrange to me than a Stone, which I have by me , which being a kind of Pible, contains in it a perfe&Iy fhap'd Serpent 3 coild up, but without a head, which appears to have been formed be- fore the Stone , in regard that in the upper and lower parts of the folid Stone there are cavities left , which together make up one Cavitie , juft of the fize and fhape of the contained body $ to which as it was eafie for the matter of the Stone, whilft 'twas yet a foft body, to accommodate it felfexa&ly, lb 'tis fcarfe conceivable, how, if the Pible had been firft form'd , the inclofed am- tnaljixx were one, or the matter where- of the feeming animal afterwards was formed, (hould not only get in, but find a cavity fb curioufly fhap'd and fo fitted to its bulk. And that this variety was produced at feveral times, might be further argued from this, that the feem- ing Serpent is plainly of another and clearer kind of Stone than that of the Mold, that incompaffes it 5 and of the - Mold it felf, one part, contiguous to the included atfttfowtueg of g e ms. i 57 included body, is whitifh, and abounds in (hining grains or (lakes ; in both which, it differs from the other and far greater part. And now it will be time to haften to the Fifth confideration, which is, that for ought we know , in thofe very pla- ces , where now there is nothing to be feen but loofe Stones, and perhaps beds of Stone themfelves , that in thofe very places C" I fay) there may in times paft have been Petrefcent Liquors, whether ftagnant or running. For, I * elfewhere (hew, (to an * In f an E *" i r x i t*. i *»'* of an Ex- other purpole) that Earth- periment urged quakes , Inundations of ^r the Mag- Seas and Rivers , finkings Jf^™ ° r e of ground, incroachments of the Land on the Water, fiery Erup- tions and other fuch Accidents, ( fome related by Authentick Authors, and others happening in our own times , in places, fome of which I had the curiofi- tietofee,) have among other odd ef- fects been able to dry or choak up Pools and Lakes , and to (top and quite divert the coiufe not only of Springs, but I5& StnCffa? about tJje^tgtne but of Rivers 3 fo as to leave no foot- fteps of them , where they plentifully flow'd before. Upon the (core of which tranfpofitions of notable quanti- ties of terreftrial matter and other great changes of the ftru&ureand di£ pofition of the Soil in divers places , it may well be fufpefted 3 that the ftony Wombs or Molds 3 wherein the above mentioned Bodies were found 3 were heretofore at fometime or other , of a muddy or earthy Nature 3 and were re- ceptacles of Petrefcent Liquors j which at feveral times turn'd the whole mafs of the Soil into Stone 3 before the Springs or other Waters 3 containing the Petri- fic Liquors or Spirits 3 were quite con- fumed j or had their courfe altogether diverted. But though I could fay much more to confirm and apply this 3 and the preceding confederations, yet ha- ving fpent ib much of my time already, I (hall not only leave all that unfaid 3 but 5 to make fome amends for having ftaid fo long in clearing this difficulty, I (hall do little more than name the two remaining Arguments. ArgMl fmnwittuetfof gems. i 59 Arg III. It agrees very well with what we were formerly faying ( in the firft Argument^ about the great fpecific gravity of fuch as the newly mentioned Stones, in comparifon of that of white Marble or tranfparent Pibles, that it (hould be poffible, out of thofe Mine- rals to extraft fome of that fubftance, whether Metalline or of kin to ir 5 upon whofe account I told you I iuppofed them to be (b ponderous. And accord- ingly we have by appropriated Men- firuums obtained , from the foremen- tioned Bodies , ( and not from thofe only,) Solutions or Tinftures 3 which, befides that , by their colour or tafte, they difcover themfelves , did , upon their being dropt upon a Solution of Galls or fome other convenient Liquor, or upon their being examin d by other proper ways , produce fuch changes of colour or fuch determinate ?h&nomzna % as argued them to abound with Metal- line or Mineral particles 3 ( which, for the moft part of them I obferv'd to be of a Vitriolate nature* ) fo I found, that the Solution of a Bhod-fiom 7 which tafted irfo 3ta m&v about tye Djtgine tafted very rough upon the Tongue, would with the infufion of Galls make an Inky mixture , and the like would alio be made with Load- ftone, Emery, Marchafites, &c. open'd with corrofive MenfiruuMs. But the Solution of Lapis CaUminaris , which was of a golden colour, did not operate like the reft on the infufion of Galls 5 but yet by its taft , as well as colour , fufficiently difcovered it felf to have copioufly impregnated the Menfiruum. And now the mention of Lapis CaUminaris minds me to take thence an inftance of what I lately intimated, that there may be other ways , befides that of diflblutions in proper MenjlrunMs , to fhew , that fome Medicinal Stones participate of Metalline and Mineral fubftances. For it is by melting Lapis Calawinaris with Copper 3 and keeping them together for a competent while in fufion, that Brafs is made 5 wherein the red colour of the Copper is changed into a golden one, and the abfolute weight ( for I fpeak not of the fpecific gravity ) confidently iocreafed. Nor is aofc^rrtuegof gems. t6t is this the only Mineral Stone , from which I have, by a way quite differing from thofe I have yet mentioned, name- ly with running Mercury > obtained a Metalline fubftance. And though na- tive Cinaber , ufed by eminent Phyfi- tians both inwardly and outwardly , be looked upon by the Vulgar as only a red Stones yet 'tis known, in the Quick-Silver Mines of Ttiuii , and fome other places where it abounds, that it is a Mercurial Ore, whence by vehe- ment fires they diftill running Mercury, which we by moderate ones have fome- times done. But here perhaps it may not be im- proper to tell you , that though, before any admonition given men of the ex- pediency of examining ftones Hydrolta- tically, I could not receive from others, yet I made againft my felf the following Obje&ion, That there are fome Stones, to which ufeful Qualities are afcribed, which are either not at all heavier m fpeac than is requifite for a Stone , as fuch, tobe^ or fo little heavier , that 'tis no way likely, that Metals or any M fush itf 2 m Cflfoy about tye 4Djt without being the left, but rather in fome cafes the more operative and communicative of their Virtues 3 yet in divers ftony concretions , the adven- titious ingredients may be fpecifically lighter than the genuine matter of the Stone, aofc Virtues? of gems. 163 Stone 5 as may be eafily gathered from Ibme paflages of the foregoing Dif- courfe. For, not here to urge , that divers Bodies, that pais for Stones , do abound in particles of Salt , which may be much lefs heavy than pure Stone of the like bulk, I ^ave obferv'd, that fbme other hard Foffils abound with a kind of Bitumen^ which , when by di- ftillation brought to an Oyl , is much lefs heavie than a Stone of the fame bulk. And, as I remember, I have had fome portions of fuch Oil , that would fwim even upon common water: and left this (hould be afcribed to the fubtiliza- tion, the Bitumen received from the fire, I will add, that, having Hydro- ftatically weighed a piece of good Afphaltum , we found it to be to water of the lame bulk, but as i and fomewhat lefs than to to I. Which was within a Tenth of the proportion to water of a ftony, though a bituminous, Foffile, commonly call'd in England Scotch- Coal. And becaufe Sulphur as well as Bitumen , is very apt, ( and indeed more apt than before tryal I expe&ed) M 2 by 1 64 an cMay about fyeSDjigine by even a moderate heat or attrition to diffufe its fleams 5 ( ufually ranck fented enough 5 ) I (hall add , that there are Variety of hard Stones 3 which abound in Sulphur : ( witnefi that in fome places they obtain their common Briwjiom by fublimation thence ) and yet having weigh'd a Role of Brimftone in Fire and Water 3 I found it to be but a fra- ction fcarce worth mentioning above double its weight to the Liquor 5 which fhews it to be much lighter in fpede than Cryftal it felf. An improvement of this firft Anfwer may fui nidi me with the fecond. For hence we may argue 3 that 'tis not im- poffible 3 that the principal virtue of a light Medical Stone (hould be due to ibme mixture of a Metalline or the like ponderous iubftance 5 fince, if fome of the ingredients 5 that are plentifully mix'd with the true (tony matter, be of the lighter fort, though there Jbe alfo fome Metalline or other heavie Mineral particles mingled with the fame matter, yet the fpecific Levity of the one , in comparifon of this matter^ may com- penfate anHtmtttttejBiof gems, i£ S penfate the fpecific Gravity of the o- ther 5 and they may all compofe a Stone, either lefs, or not more, ponderous than white Marble. On which occafion, 1 re- member, not only that I found a black- ifh Eajl-Indian Flint , and likewife a Black EngUJI) one, to have to water not full the proportion of 2 rS to one , but that one of the firft pieces of black Marble that I examined Hydrcftatical- Jy 3 was found 3 notwithftanding the darknefi of its colour, to be to water of the fame bulk fcarce any thing more than 2 io to 1. which you may remem- ber was the proportion I found between white Marble & water, unlefs we fhould fay, that this blacknefs of colour pro- ceeded, not fo much from any grofs Bi- tuminous matter, imbodied with that of the Stone, but from fome Mineral fmoak that had pervaded it. And this puts me in mind of fpeaking fomething in this place about what might properly enough have been difcourfed of long ago. Wherefore I (hall fubjoin in the Third place 5 that it feems not impoffible, M 3 that i£6 %x\ @ffay about tlje SDtfguie that the matter which Medical Stones are made of D may, before it comes to be hardened 9 derive various colours and be imbued with Virtues by fubterrra- neal Exhalations and other (teams. This I fear you will think (bmewhat ftrange 3 and therefore I (hall briefly en- deavour to confirm it by the mention of two or three particulars. That then many places of the lower part of the Earth emit copious exhala- tions into the upper , and even into the Air it felf 5 I prefume you will granr 3 and I have elfewhere proved it. That ahb fuch fubterraneal fleams will eafily mingle with Liquors 3 and imbue them with their own Qualities D may be in- ferred from the Experiment of mixing the Cas ( as the Udmontians call ic ) or the fcarce coagulable fumes of kindled and extinquifiied Brimftone, with Wine 3 which is thereby long preferved. And I have elfewhere mentioned , how I have incorporated this Smoak with other Liquors 5 wherein I obferved its operations o be notable. That beneath the furface of the Earth anU wiitti\t$ of gems. i6 7 Earth there may be fulphureous and other fleams , that may be plentifully mix'd with water , and there in likeli- hood with Lapidefcent Li- quors, I have alfo manife- ^JJ^ fted in another * Dicourfe. That Qufck-filver may be in part re fblved into Fumes by lefs fires than many of thofe that burn under ground, will be readily acknowledged by Chy- mifts and Gilders, and is obvious in the Fumigations imployed in the Cure of the Lues Venerea. And that Mercury may in the bowels of the Earth be fo difguifed , and well mixed with ftony matter, as to fuffer the whole- concre- tion to pafsfor Stone, may be obferved in fbme kind of native Cinaber. That Sal Armoniac, of which in fome places there is to be dug up ftore, will, with a moderate fire, be made to afcend in form of exhalations 3 is vulgarly known , as to the factitious Salt of that name , and I have found it to hold in the native. That common Sal Aimo- niac 5 Sulphur, Mercury and Tin will be fublimed into a Gold-like fublhnce,that M 4 par- x68 m QBffav about flje ©?igine participates of moft, if not of all the Ingredients., may appear by the account I have elfewhere given of the way , I us'd in making Aurum Muficum : And that even Gold it felf , the heavieft and fixeft of the bodies we know, may by no great proportion of Additament,and that with but a moderate fire, be made to afcend in the form of Fumes or even of Flame , I have feveral times tryed, by wayes elfewhere deliver'd. And that Mineral Exhalations may be met with in the bowels of the Earth, is wit- nefled by the Relations of divers Cre- dible perfbns , converfant about Mine- rah 9 that affirm themfelves to teftifie what they write upon their own Ob- iervation to which 3 fbme things that I had feenmy felf did the more incline me to give credit. And this, copious afcenfion of Mineral fumes and even of Metalline ones, may be much confirmed not only by what is written by profefc fed Chymifts, but by the Learned and cuxiousjobannes Kent man >m s ,who,in the pfeful Catalogue of the Mifnian Foffils he had collected, amongft the Fjr?t£ or fire- atfoWitttKjSoE GEMS. i6 9 fire-ftones,reckons one, whofe title is P;/- tnicofus^ & ab exhalatione ardenti nigra colore tin&ur-flxA another, whofe infcrip- tion is Colork argent?^ qui ab exhalatione virofa colore cinereo efl tin&us. The fame may be further confirmed by what I have fome where met with as related in termink by the Learned Cab£us 9 that he found in the Territory of Modena. To bring this home to our purpofe, fince there are Mineral Exhalations of very differing kinds, diiperfed in divers places under ground, and fince there are feveral volatile Minerals, as Arfenic, Orpiment, Sandarach, &c. that are very actively hurtful 5 there may be others indowed with Medicinal Qua- lities, and the Exhalations offuch Mi- nerals either alone or mix'd with Pe- trefcent Liquors , pervadiog duly dif- pofed Earths and Bolufles , and other fluid, foft, or open fubftances , before their induration, may endow them with Medicinal and other Qualities. Nay,when I recall to mind the old Phe- nomena that I have partly obferved, and partly received from credible tcftimony, about 170 %n Cttap about ttye ©jigfae about the coalitions-jmixtures, tin&ures, and the emanations, as 'twere, of thofe Tin&ures, in metalline, ftony, and other foffile concretions 3 I dare not perem- ptorily deny , but that, even after fub- terraneal bodies have obtained aconfi- derabJe degree of induration 3 and per- haps great enough to make them pals for ftony ones , there may be fubterra- fleal fteams fubtle enough to penetrate, tinge 3 and otherwife impregnate them. Which you would think the left impof- fible , if you refleft upon what I juft now related out oiKentman^ and efpe- dally if I had time to add here, what I remember > I elfewhere deliver about my tryals to tinge native Cryftal with differing colours by the fumes of vola- tile Minerals. And that a very final! proportion of a Metalline fubftance, re- folved into minute particles, may fuffice to impart a tinfture to a greater quan- tity of other matter duly difpofed, may appear by thofe factitious Gems 3 where- in with three or four grains of a skilful- ly calcin'd Metal, or fome fuch Mineral pigment , we may give the colour of a natural ant) tflttttteg (Age ms. 17 i natural Gem to a whole Ounce or more of vitrified matter. And I remember, that in fubtiler fluids D I have made the inftance by yaft odds more confpicuous, having ting'd with one grain or left of a prepared Metal (as Gold or Copper) as much fucceffively generated phlegm, as 3 if it could have been all prefer ved, would have amounted to a buiky lump of deeply coloured matter. But your allowing the hefitancy I have exprefled in this laft Paragraph , is not neceffary to my prefent purpofe^where- fore I (ball not borrow any thing to countenance it from another Paper., but pais on to what remains. Arg. IV. The laft thing 3 that I fhall reprefent to fhew 5 that the Virtues of opacous Gems and Medicinal ftones may bemoreeafily, than thofe of trans- parent ones 3 accounted for in our Hypo- thecs^ is this D That the main Ingredients, whereof many fuch opacous Stones con- fift, were complete Mineral bodies be- fore they became Stones 5 fome of them having been Medicinal Bolufles D or the like Earths $ fome , Earths abounding with i 7 2 ahtcffai? abound fiDjtgtne with Metalline or Mineral Juices, fime 9 Ores of Metals , or Minerals of kin to, Metals, and fome^in fine bodies of other forts or natures differing from thefeand one another. For, all thefe feveral kinds of foffils may , by the fupervening and pervafion of Petrific Spirits , be turn d into Stone 3 and confequently retain many of the Virtues, they wefre indow- ed with by the Mineral Corpufcles, that had copioufly, either under the form of Liquors, or Exhalations;, im- pregnated them , whilft they were yet Earths, or other bodies of a more open or Penetrable Texture. I might illuftrate this by the way I elfewhere mention, whereby I made fuch mixtures even of Stony and Metalline Ingredients, that notwithstanding their coalition were tranfparent, though you will grant that to be more difficult, than to compound fuch concretions when one is allowed to make them opacous. But here I muft obviate an objeftion, which I forefee may be made againft our prefent Fourth Argument , untp which even what I have been now fay- ing anH Hittueg of gems. 1?3 ing may afford a rife. For fince it feemsby our Do&rine, that Gems may be but Magijieries find confequently but fuch compofitions , as though made in the bowels of the Earth D might be. made or imitated by humane skill 3 it may feem very improbable to many, that bodies fo near of kin to Artificial ones, (hould be endowed with fuch pe- culiar and fome of them with iuch ftrange Virtues as are afcribed to divers Gems 3 and are thought to be capable of flowing only from certain Subftantial forms and thole very noble ones too. To this I might reply , that I admit not any fuch imaginary Beings as the Peripatetic Forms , which I fear they will never be able to demonftrate. But to avoid unneceflary difputes , I will rather anfwer in fhort , that fuch com- pofitions as are call'd Artificial, may, for all that D be indowed with great Virtues > and fuch as are call'd Specific^ witnefs the Virtues of many Chymical Preparations , even of thofe that are ufed by Phyfitians of all forts. And left you (hould think., I need to fly to Ohymiftry i74 *i Cffap about tye ©jigim Chyraiftry , of which fome Learned Men are pleafed to have a great diftaft 3 I will name a couple of inftances out of Galen himfelf} The one is the Allies of Crafifh 5 to which, notwithftanding the ideftru&ion that has been made of the priftine Body by fire, he gives a greater commendation againft the 3 asftrange, as fatal poyfon infus'd by the biting of a mad Dog 3 than he does either to the Fifli it felfunburnd, or to any medi- cine of Natures own providing } and I hope you will grant a Virtue of that kind and degree to be fpecific enough. My other Inftance (hall be taken from Treacle 3 which though allowedly a fa&itious body, and confifting of I know not how many Ingredients (huffied together, was yet in the dayes of Galen ( to whom a Book is attributed about it) and ever fince has been the fa- moufeft Antidote in thefe parts of the world , and has been celebrated not only for its Alexipharmacal Virtues, which alone are fufficient to intitle it to fpecific ones 3 but for divers others which are generally afcribed to it, fome indeed ant) tiflittwg ol gems. i 75 indeed upon the (core of Manifeft, but others alfb upon that of Occult Qua- lities. The objedion being thus difpatch'd, we may return to our Medicinal Stones about which I (hall venture to add, that according to our way of Explicating the produ&ion of them, a not impo£ fible Solution may be offend of this difficult ?h but to an other. And on this occafion I fhall add, that I know a Gentleman ( a profefled Scholar ) who to the Eye feems to be of a Complexion extraordinarily San- guin : This perfbn was for a long time fo troubled with exceffive bleedings at theNofe, that, notwithstanding all the Remedies he could procure in an Aca- demy of Phyfick , where he lived 3 he was divers times brought to Death's door , till at length his Cafe growing very famous D there was fent him by an antient Gentlewoman a Blood- ftone, about the bignefs of a Pigeons Egg, with an affurance that it had done fcarce credible Cures in his Difeafe) by being worn about the Patients Neck. Upon the ufe of this Stone he quickly recovered his Healthy and had long in- joyed it when I conversed with him, but yet (b P that when he left it off any confiderable time , his diftemper would return. And when I feem'd to fufpeft N thae 178 m flftlav about tye flDjfgtne that imagination might have an intereft in the efficacy of this Remedy , he an- fwer'd, that he was very well fatified of the negative 5 and particularly upon this tryal , that he had, by the hands of a third perfon that liv'd not far off, and whom he nam'd to me , ftop'd a H$- rnorrogie in a neighbouring Gentle- woman , whom the violence of the Di- ftemper kept from knowing that any thing had been applyed to her , till a pretty while after the Blood was ftan- ched. I (hall not here mention other Inftances, though very remarkable, of the efficacy of this Stone 3 which I had both from the Gentleman himfelf, and an intimate Friend of his, who is a very Learned Man and a Phyfitian 5 becaufe I have faid enough to make it feafonable for me to tell you, that notwithstanding all the odd operations of this Stone, when I came to look upon it , 'twas fo differing in Colour and Texture from what I expe&ed , that I fhould have taken it much rather for a Gem of fome other /pedes than a Blood-ftone. To confirm fome of the Particulars com- anD iBtttueg of gems. i 79 comprized in this our Fourth Argu- ment , and (hew the variety and fome- times great plenty of Mineral and other fubterraneal matters 9 that may concur to the compofition of Bodies that pafs for Stones, I (hall obferve, that the fubtilty and penetrancy of fome Li* quors 3 if duly confider'd D may evince it to be poffible, that fuch Bodies fhould be petrified by them and with them , as may in part confift of Animal and Ve- getable fubftances 3 as in petrified Skulls 3 Bones , and pieces of wood : And we fee 3 that foft Stone 3 which is plentifully found near Naples, and com- monly call'd the Lapis Lyncitrius, being rubb*d a little and moftened with wa- ter 3 and then expos'd to the Sun in a due feafon of the year j willjinavery (hort time 3 ( as Eye-witnefles have af- fured me 3 ) produce Mufhroms fit to be eaten , as if even the feminal Principles and Rudiments of Vegetables may be fo preferved in a petrified Earth , as to be able to difclofe themfelves when they find an opportunity. To which agrees well 3 what an eminent perfon, N 2 Matter 180 Zn Cffay about tye ®ti%im Mafter of fome of thefe Stones, informs me 3 That they now and then find them of a vail hignefs 9 as if whole mafles of Earth , pregnant with the prolific Prin- ciples of Mufhroms,were.,by fome fuper- vening but not very potently hardening Petrefcent Liquor, turn d into Stone. And not only there may be Bolfu- fes , feal'd Earths, and fuch like foffils, that are commonly known to be Me- dicinal, harden d into Stone by petri- fying Agents^ but alfo other Earths, fubjedt to be petrified, may have Medi- cinal and fubtle particles of fuch a kind in them, asfcarce any body would ex- pe&. But to omit Inftances, belonging to another Paper , I have vifited a cer- tain Clay-pit in a waft piece of ground, in which at a condfierable depth from the furfaceofthe Earth there lay a bed of Clay , which by diftillation yielded fome acquaintances of mine a Salt fo volatile and ftrong, and fo differing from other fubterraneal Salts , that my Examens did not difcover the manifeft gualities of it without fome wonder 5 and the owners of it ( perfons curious and and Mtt\it$ oIgems. 182 and rich ) did themfelves ufe it as well as give it in Phy fie , and cryed it up for an excellent Cordial , and a great open- ing and Diaphoretic Medicine. That fublimable Salts, Sulphurs , Bi- tumens , ( Bodies that communicate enough of their Virtues, ) may be met with in the bowels of the Earth} I have elfewhere (hewn : And that fuch fubftances may be found in bodies that pafs for Stones , I have been induced to think by the Chymical Examen, that I purpofely made of fome fuch concre- tions , particularly of that folid and heavie one, that is commonly call'd Scotch-Coal^ from whence I obtained by diftillation, (wherein I (bmewhat won- der 'd, other mens Guriofity did not , as far as I knew , prevent me 5 ) a good proportion of Oil or liquid Bitumen^vA no fmall number of Saline particles ^that feem'd to be of an uncommon nature. That Metalline particles may con- curr to make up a Body , that pat fes for a Medicinal Stone, may ap- pear by native Sulphur which is it felf a compounded body 9 befides a good 183 3Bn effa? about tljc ©aigtne a good proportion of Mineral Earth* I had thoughts not to make an end of this Difcourfe, without mention- ing to you fbme attempts > that I partly defign'd, and partly made , to illuftrate fbme paflages of it by purpofely con- triv'd Experiments;, whereof fbme were unprofperoufly and others not altoge- ther unfuccefsfully try'd. But not ha- ving the Minutes of them by me , and not daring to truft my fingle memory in Experiments fo nice , and (b long fince made, as thofe were , I (hall here put an end to your trouble, efpecially fince at length I perceive, that the forgetful- nefs of my firft intended brevity has milled me fo far beyond the bounds of it into Excurfions , whereinto the un- forefeen connexion of things unawar's engag'd me 3 that I ftand in need both of your pardon and my own : Of jours , for having exercis'd your Patience with a prolix Difcourfe 5 and of my own^ for having receded from my Cu- dome 3 by contributing to that proli- xity , and by expatiating upon Conje- ctures 5 to which, the more I conform to anU