Workdiary 21 ('Promiscuous Experiments, Observations & Notes')

Hearing that an Excellent Astronomer of my acquaintance had oftentimes measurd the hight of Clouds, I enquird of <him>, what hights he had observd them to have, & was answerd that though he had measur'd 18 or 20, ev'n of white Clouds in fair weather, yet he scarce observ'd any <one> to be higher then tree quarters of a Mile, & few of them he found to exceed half a mile.

Twenty shillings & somewhat above {ounce} {half} of Sterling Alloy being refind with a pound of Lead, (which weighs neer 4 times as much) weighd after the Operation ended but 4 ounces wanting a drachm.

A very Learned & fully credible acquaintance of mine informd me divers years agoe (,& lately averrd the same thing to me, that in a place in Wiltshire which he namd he saw a Cyons of an Apletree grafted upon a Willow which bore very faire fuite, but when he came to tast of the Apple, thô it seemd ripe enough yet it was almost insipid, & the litle Tast it had it seemed to have borrowd from the sap of the stock not well assimilated or alterd: This Experiment is the more considerable bec: it dos not only show upon how unpromiseing stocks a Graft may prosper but that by Incision a Tree may be made to bare fruite that naturally bares none at all, at least if we may beleive husbandmen & others, who affirme that here in England the Willow=tree bares a kind of Blossomes but noe fruite, & something If I (misremember not,) to <the> same purpose is observd by virgil of the same Tree in Italy.

About 3 months before the late great Plague began in London (in the year 1665) there came to Dr. M. a Patient of his to desire his advice for her Husband, & the Dr. haveing enquird what aild him, she answerd that his cheef Distemper was [BP 27, p. 7]a swelling in his Groine, & upon that occasion added that her husband assurd her of his being confident that the next Summer the Plague would be very rife in London, for which Prædiction he gave this reason that in the last great Plague he fell sick of that Desease; & he then had a Pestilentiall Tumor, soe in 2 other Plagues that since happen'd though much inferior to that great one, each of them had a riseing in his Body to be its forerunner, & now haveing <a> great tumor in the forementiond place he doubted not but it would be follow'd by a rageing Pestilence, which accordingly ensu'd. Haveing heard much talk of something of this nature by the Dr. I enquir'd of him how much of it was true, & receivd for answer the foregoeing narrative.

The Spirit of <Blood> being put to Spirit of Salt they made a great hissing & ebullition & disarm'd one another produceing a compounded Liquor not unlike in tast to weak Sal Armoniack, & such a Salt I intended & little doubted but to obtain the Sublimation of this Mixture, had one who knew not what it was & likewise had throwne it away, the same Spirit being mixt with Spirit of Nitre or Aq. Fortis made the like Ebullition as with Spirit of Salt, & produc'd a Liquor of a Compounded tast.

The same Spirit mixt in a small Proportion of syrup of violetts immediatly turnd it into a deep red or Crimson Colour.

The same Spirit being dropt upon a <Little> solution of Sublimate, instantly made the Mixture milk-white.

The same Spirit being dropt upon fileings of crude Copper & lay'd upon a peece of white paper, quickly wrought upon part of them, & made a solution of a fine blue colour.

A strong Solution of Coined Silver (looking of a greenish blue because of the Copper) did, being mixt with a strong Solution of Sublimate, immediatly afford a copious white Præcipitate over which a greenish blue Liquor, but somewhat more faintly colourd, did swim.

The same Lunary Solution being præcipitated with Spirit of Sal Armoniack made with an Alkaly, took up more Spirit then one would imagine to strike it all downe, & afforded a white Præcipitate, from whence I seperated by Filtration a Liquor betwixt blue and green.

The same Solution mixt with cleer deliqueated Oyle of Tartar, seem'd at first to grow white at the top, & then let fall a white Powder, but afterwards it let fall a copious Brick-colourd Powder, over which swamme a blue green [BP 27, p. 8]Liquor, but in the Operation the Bubbles that were raisd, were numerous, great & viscuous to our wonder.

The same Solution turnd Syrup of Violets into a durty Colour, which though retaining to red, seemd a kind of Murrey, & by a farther addition of Copper dissolvd in an Armoniack Spirit was was turnd into a durty green.

I measurd with a Pendulum that vibrates seconds the distance of time betweene the Apparition of severall successive flashes of Lightning & the Arrivall of the thundering noise at my Ears The numbers of double vibrations were as follows. 5. 4. 2 1/2. 6. 16. 20. 23 1/2. 6. 5. 8. 7. 11 1/2. 9 1/2

sea salt being distilld with an æquall weight of oyle of {vitriol} diluted with about its weight of common water, not only yeilded a yellowish spirit that rise almost from the beginning without flegme & was very strong, but filld the Receiver with an opacous whitenes producd by fumes of the same colour that come driveing into it, thô the fire was not strong as when the decripitated salt is distilld with the Caput mortuum igne nudo.

wee tooke {ounce} ii{half} (for that happend to be the weight) of the Leane part of a roasted shoulder of mutton & haveing minced it with a knife we put to it in a wide mouthd glasse about halfe its weight of strong <{oil}> of {vitriol} which soone began to make it very hot & after a while to dissolve it into a darke purplish Liquor then with a gentle fire abstracting what flegme will come over in a Low body & head, (which was a pretty proportion of Liquor) we distilld the rest in a Retort placed in a sand furnace by degrees of fire makeing <it> at length strong , < fire> both above & below, a few howers after the beginning of the distillation the Receiver, (which was not great) was filld with white fumes that made it looke as if it had been full of milk, & besides about a spoonefull of Liquor there was beyond that Liquor a pretty deale of a [BP 27, p. 9]a substance white as new formd snow, which to preserve we causd that Receiver to be taken off & another to be put on, which also became full of white fumes but not soe white as the former, & there sublimd to the neck of the Retort a pretty deale of white {sulphur}reous salt that lined all the inside of it, but were in some places discolourd as if it had been by some particles of oyle, when this last Receiver was taken off thô the Retort & it had been a good while before removd from the furnace the {sulphur}reous smell was soe strong that the youth that separated them complaind they had like to have struck him downe. The Liquor also & snowy substance of the first Receiver when we causd it to be powerd out into a Violl had exceeding penetrant Sulphureous smell, when the youth that powerd it out affirmed that it also smoaked, the Caput mortuum was very light & apt to fall into powder at the least touch. many part of it were shining like polishd Jet or the fattish kind of soote, & were as black as either. whereas that which came over into the first Receiver continued of a milky whitenes.

An Eminent mathematician & great virtuoso gave me divers years since an Account of an Ignis fatuus he had observd, which he lately repeated to me to this purpose That one night in Autumne soone after it had begun to grow darke as he was riding along the highway the weather being then calme notwithstanding the small raine that then fell he saw on one side of the way at the distance of about a Carabine [BP 27, p. 10]shot a Body which by <one that> he showd me & compare it to, might be in his Eye as big as a sheepe but of a rounder forme. this Body was Luminous but had only a very faint Light & seemd to have litle or noe weight since it came swimming along by him in the aire not much above the ground to which yet it did not fall, but after it had continued this motion a pretty while in a Line almost Parallel to the highway he travelld in, it was at length stop'd by a riseing ground or Banck against which it seemd to dash itselfe in peices. For he observd & was near enough to doe it, that a little before the extinction of the fire it seemd to be scatterd into many small parts, which had some resemblance to sparkes but were much bigger & soe much lesse vivid that their Pale Light seemd to be rather a great whitenes then a brisk light, & upon this Extinction he plainely perceivd a strong stincking smell that was somewhat Sulphureous but smelld more ranckly of a moras or boggy Ground newly turnd up.

The Anonymous Spirit I describd in my Scepticall Chymist being put upon noe great Quantity (for I ghessd it to be lesse then two Ounces) of Salt of Potashes dry but not warme, producd the smell when I applyd my nose to the vessell that was almost like the smell of spirit of Sal Armoniack but soe exceeding subtle & strong that it offended me very much. upon the mixture of the salt & the Liquor, there was also producd an intense heat, which made it some what uneasy for me to hold the glasse in my hand, but this heat lasted not long, the spirit that came over in this rectification, was much stronger at first & more flegmatick afterwards.

The same spirit being put upon a small Quantity of Salt of Potashes & soe likewise upon Salt of {tartar} did upon the former (&, as I remember, upon the latter,) colour itselfe in the Cold, <& that> in few howers with a reddish colour somewhat muddy like that of claret=wine that <but> yet a litle too new, in each of these Tryalls the Liquor pourd on the salt dissolvd but a part of it, whether because the proportion of the Liquor was not great enough, which seemd the most probable or for some other Reason. <The Tincture of the Liquor upon alcalys thô they stood in the upon cold did in some days clear up & looke like good Claret wine.>

The same spirit digested upon crude corall powderd tingd itselfe much more slowly thereon for it was about two day before it could obtaine a pale yellow but within a weeke or 10 days it came to have a pretty red (almost like Corrall themselves) but not a deepe one.

A Rootlesse sprig put in about the End of [September] did in distilld raine water within the space of about 8 days acquire Roots & thô dryd in Lining & paper before t'was weighd the second time was found to have in Addition [BP 27, p. 12]to its first weight amounting to a 7th part of it. Another sprig put in at the same time (into distilld Rainewater) & weighing somewhat lesse then 19 graines within a fortnight was found to have growne much in length, & to have spread its roots, & to weigh 24 gr: or somewhat better. Soe that in that time it acquird above a 4th part of it first weight.

<Common> Water <was> made somewhat warme soe as to make the spirit of wine rise in a seald weather Glasse, & then powderd Sal Armoniack <was> likewise a litle warmd, soe as being put upon the Ball of the weather glasse to impell it up more nimbly then the water had done; & yet this salt & the weather glasse being presently removd into the water did (in lesse then a minute by my ghesse) begin to grow colder then the water was, when before I warmd it, I kept the Thermoscope a while in it to reduce the tincted spirit to the temper of it. And as this Refrigeration began this Early, notwithstanding the precedent warmth both of the water & salt soe it increasd very fast as appeard by the hasty subsiding of the Spirit of wine in the weather glasse.

About the latter End of September a <fine> spunge that had been kept some time in the Roome I lay in was put to the exact weight of halfe a drachm in an ordinary paire of Gold scales, & being removd presently after (which was a little before bedtime) into a Roome without a Chenmy (but divided from <the> former only by a narrow Entry <)> the Ballance began manifestly to loose its Equilibrium before I went to bed, & the next day about noone the Spunge appeard to have gaind between 2 or 3 graines of Additionall weight. when the scales were removd out of [BP 27, p. 13]this cold Roome into the other, the spunge would soone begin to grow sensibly lighter, & being reducd to an æquilibrium when I went to Bed would in the next day in the forenoone appear to have lost a graine or a graine & a halfe of the weight it had over night.

I remember that to satisfie some scrupulous Inquirers that the white powder or Calx I make out of refind Gold by dissolveing it in the Menstruum I call peracutum need not be <(> as it might be suspected to be <)> anything of {antimony}iall latitant in the menstruum I divers times made an Aq. Regia by mixing spirit of salt with aq. fortis, & <yet> by dissolveing water Gold <in> this Menstruum I had noe inconsiderable proportion of such a white powder as is above mentiond, thô not soe much as I usually obtaine by the help of the Menstruum peracutum. my proportion of the 2 Liquors <was> not still the same, but I remember the last Menstruum I made consistd of 2 parts of Aq. fortis & one of strong spirit of salt; in neither of which Ingredients any thing of {antimony}ii can be suspected.

Divers Apple grafts that had blossome buds upon them, being grafted in the Spring, bore good ripe fruit at the usuall season of the Summer in the same year.

An acquaintance of mine haveing inocculated the Buds of Apples after midsummer (for they may be later inocculated then the Buds of Apricocks, Peaches, & other stone fruit) within two or 3 days after the middle of July in the following year, gather'd pretty store of good Apples upon the shoots they had produc'd within that time.

Take <Apples> & haveing warily pounded them soe as not to break the <kernells> put them into a vessell that has a spigot about a hands bredth or more from the bottome, & covering the Vessell let the masht Fruit lye there for about 3 days or somewhat more, then takeing out the spigot, draw out leisurely the juice that will freely run out, & to make it come the cleerer poure it on once more & let it run out the 2d time carefully tying the Spigot soe as the Liquor may have convenient Liberty to issue [BP 27, p. 14]out, soe it may not run too fast for fear of running thick & muddy, to prevent which the top also may be coverd with Sack-cloth or hair Cloath, that only the cleer Liquor may passe through which being suffer'd to stand a while & settle, must with the addition of a fift part of Honey be carefully bottld up. And within 2 or 3 weeks 'twill be fit by destillation to yeeld its Spirit.

The remaining part of the masht fruit may be more strongly pressd & orderd after the wonted Maner.

Some cleer Oyle of Wax destill'd with the Addition of sand being mixd with good Oyle of Vitrioll there presently subsided to the bottome a somewhat turbid & almost Balsome-like substance.

A drachme of fine Spunge in one intire peice being counterpoizd overnight & removd into the Roome formerly mentiond thô that night the weather cleard up, & the next day were very faire; yet before the Spunge was growne between 2 or 3 gr. heavyer then when t'was counterpoizd overnight, & about 3 days after I found that it had in all increasd its weight by 4 gr: & somewhat Better.

I tooke strong spirit of salt & with it made of a solution of filings of Copper. Solutions thus made I remember I have observd to have a Blewish, wrinkled filme <somewhat like seems to that what they call a mother in Liquors> at the Top of them after they had stood for some time in the glasse, which I have not taken notise of in the solution of any other metall, & scarce in that <of> Copper made with any other Menstruum this solution being a litle diluted with faire water was of a pale blew & by affusion of an Alkaly presently grew more opacous & obtaind a richer colour, but still not exceeding that of the best Turcois'. But if insteed of an Alcalizate Liquor, I dropd into the diluted solution <an> urinous spirit t'would immediately turne it into a Lovely & almost ultramarine blew, which a litle oyle of vitrioll <which> would <presently> deprive both of its newly acquird & of its former colours

upon the 18th of oct: between 10 & 11 at night the wind being then high & [South West] & the weather rainy but not much, I observd though it had been a hard frost in the morning continueing to freeze a pretty while after Sun riseing, & though the most part of the day had been faire & clear; yet the {mercury} in the Baroscope was fallen to 28 & but a litle more then a quarter, & the next morning between 11 & 12 or thereabouts, the weather being not soe windy but <farre> more rainy, I found the Quicksylver to be sunck beneath 28 very near (if not full) an 1/8th. About 5 or 6 in the afternoon the Quicksilver was faln yet lower almost to 1/4 of an Inche or 3/16 beneath 28. The next day between 10 & 11 at night, the <weather> haveing in the mean time, turn'd to be cold & fair yet something windy, the Quicksilver was risen to 28 & about 7/8, and the day after between 10 & 11 in the forenoon it was risen to 29 & 3/8, soe that in one day it rise at least an Inch, & the next half as much.

The Anonymous spirit above mentiond number the     tho made by drawing the Liquor off from minium, (not Corrall,) being powerd upon fine salt of Potashes did not near soe soone as the other acquire any considerable colour; (which I was somewhat inclinable to impute to it haveing too scant a proportion of the Alchaly. but being digested about a weeke or ten days it acquird by degrees a Tincture which made it when t'was warme looke like Claret wine if not of a deeper colour.

<We tooke> Halfe an ounce of <very> strong spirit of nitre (made with two parts & a halfe of beaten Tobacco pipes to one of Salt Petre) & as much common oyle or spirit of Turpentine, & putting the latter into a somewhat small Retort we pourd to it, a litle of the former, which presently as we might well expect made a furious Commotion in the oyle: soe that there <furiously> issued out at the mouth of the Retort a very copious & opacous fume almost of an Orange colour, a litle more of the spirit of nitre being put in the like effect ensued againe. But after more of the Acid spirit had been warily put to the oyle two or 3 times those hasty & feirce sallys & as it wre explosions of the mixture ceased but yet when all the spirit of nitre was put in, & a Receiver was joyned thô not luted to the Retort the mixture did for a considerable while continue boyling with store of Bubbles & litle waves thô both the vessells were held in the cold Aire: The Retort being too hot to be conveniently indurd in ones naked hand, & the copious & reddish fumes that ascended (which yet had a stinck differing enough from that of Spirit of nitre) condensing in the neck of the Retort into store of drops that fell thence into the Receiver. That part of the mixture that would not thus come over was distilld the ordinary way, & afforded besides a spirit & an oyle distinct from each other, & both of a high yellow & copious Caput mortuum here & there adornd with very fine & vivid colours but for the most part black, & fixd enough to be brought to Ignition like a coale.

To convince some strangers we tooke a new glasse Bolthead with a neck not long, & filld it soe far with common water that being hermetically seald the Liquor reachd within three Inches of the Top, as near as we could ghesse by measuring with a ruler & makeing an Estimate of the sharp End made soe for the conveniency of sealing up the glasse, which sharp end we ghessd to be about a 1/4 of an Inch in length, then applying snow & salt to the lower part of the Bolthead, we readily drove out the water further & further into the neck till at length it was got up to the Basis of the sharpe and Conicall End where the glasse was seald; & then just as I was lookeing upon it the glasse flew with noise about my Ears being broken into many peices, which argued the Compression of the aire to have been very great. And Dr wallis who was present & measurd it from time to time desird me to register the Experiment with his Estimate of the Compression. which was that the aire was reducd into the 40th part of its former extension.

This night after 10 of the clock I took a Pipe exhausted of aire, where in the night before a peice of shining fish had been hermetically seald up. this included body neither another nor I could discerne in a pretty darke place, though it shone[BP 27, p. 18]just before it was <perfectly clos'd up>. & haveing carryd this Pipe into a darker place then before, I looked upon it a pretty while without being able to discerne any thing at all of Light, whereupon breakeing off the <clos'd> End, to <let in closed end> the aire, which rushd in with a noise immediately part of the Included fish, did manifestly though not vividly shine: As it has since done in the very place where I could not perceive it yesternight.

We seald up an Eft in a glasse with a long neck whose obtuse End was about the bignes of a large Orange, we kept him there about 48 howers during all which time he continued alive, but appeard some what swelld in his Belly. his under Chap moveing very the first night but not the day & night following. By <opening the Receiver> at length under water, we perceived that about halfe the aire had been drawne out. As soone as the water was impelld into the glasse the Animal that was very dull & torpid before, seemd by very nimble & Extravagant motions to be strangely revivd.

This morning I weighd the mint above mentiond, which on the 26 of Sept. weighd 19 graines & 1/2. & this day (being first carefully dryd with a Linen cloath) it weight 30 gr: - soe that in lesse then 2 months notwithstanding the cold weather 'tis increasd above 1/2 of its former weight, besides a rotten string which I lost this morning in the Operation.

Accordinge to your directions I caused Cutler to set a Cowcumber in earth in a box, and now the Cowcumber is ripe and weighed 23 {pound}, and the stemme and leaves of it 10 {pound}. The earth that it was set in was 80 {pound} when it was dried, and now the earth beinge dryed againe wee find it wasted 4 {pound} for it weighs but 76 {pound}. The Cowcumber is laid up safe but the stemme and leaves throwne away

A <Stone> taken out of a <humane> bladder (sent <me> by Mr Hollier) weighed <{ounce} iii{half}, and halfe a drachme, and somewhat more>

Weighinge Jan: 8th {ounce} i <of {oil} {vitriol}li> and againe weighinge March 7th. followinge {ounce} i + {drachm} v + gr. x. so the weight encreas'd {drachm} v + gr 10; and againe Nov: 24th - it weigh'd {ounce} ii + {drachm} i{half} + gr. 7 +.

An Onion not Sprouted weighing {drachm} ii & gr: 12 was layd up in the Springe and taken out with 4 blades the longest whereof was about 5 inches It weighed {drachm} ii & gr: iii May 14.

The same time an other weighinge {drachm} i{half} & gr: iii{half} was taken out weighinge {drachm} i{half} & gr: vii May 14;

A 3d put up the same <time> weighing {drachm} i{half} & {scruple} i May the 14 weighed {drachm} i{half} & gr: xiiii And upon June the     it weighed the same haveinge not sprouted forth above an inch.

The yellow mettall (made of coagulated {mercury}) when it was put into the Cimenting pott weighed {ounce} ii + {drachm} iiii two scruples and halfe: and when it was taken out it weighed one ounce wantinge ten graines.

I saw a rose bush that had an ordinary Stocke and it beares Damaske roses white roses Rosa Mudi's and yellow roses. The white were full blowne, the red leaves of the Rosa Mundi began to appeare betwixt the green. The yellow were not yet blowne but there was great store of them.

I saw also a Currant Bush grafted upon a Goosberry-Stocke which was 2 or 3 dayes since casually broken but the Plant was yet faire and verdant covered with large Currant leaves as if it would have prosper'd well if no accident had hindred it.

25 leaves of Gold, each leafe beinge 3 inches square that is containinge 9 square inches, beinge weigh't in the longest paire of scales, weighed 4 graines and almost 13/20 of a graine.

Put in oyle of Vitrioll {ounce} viii & {mercury} {ounce} ii & taken out of a snow white Calx {ounce} iii & {drachm} ii besides what stucke to the broken Glasse & of the Oyle of Vitrioll {ounce} vi.

Wee weighed in good scales 24 Ounces (Troy weight) of Tin, which was either almost all or quite all Block Tin, This was calcin'd per se (within about two houres & a halfe in an Iron Pot to gray Ashes, which I saw carefully weighed, <in the same scales,> & I obtain'd as I expected halfe an Ounce wantinge 8 graines increase of weight, which 8 graines might perhaps have been made up by the dust that stucke to the Papers to the Pot & to the Rake the Mettall was stirr'd with; besides that there remain'd some bitts of Tin that could not be calcin'd (whatever the reason were) with the rest.

Wee tooke Colcotar of Veneriall Vitrioll carefully dulcified, & leavinge it in my Study in the Months of January & Feb: by weigheinge it carefully before an Ounce of it was exposd to the Ayr & after it had continued their some weekes wee found <it> to have increas'd in weight 4 graines & about a quarter besides some little dust that stucke to the Glasse.

About the 14th or 15th of Feb: tho the (Southerly) wind had continued for about a day or more exceedinge high & blusteringe yet I observ'd the [Quicksilver] in the Baroscope to stand at 29 & but a little beneathe 3 eights, but this day the same Wind havinge continued (tho not uninteruptedly) 3 or 4 dayes longer, with a little raine, the [quicksilver] wont 3 eights of 29 inches.

Dr S assur'd mee that at Jamaica hee had knowne the bitings of Scorpions cur'd only by washinge the part bitten with fresh Urine.

Hee likewise told mee that hee saw divers both Crochodiles & alligators open their mouths exceedinge wide, & that hee thought hee saw the Alligators move the nether Jaw a little downwards, but was sure that hee saw the Crochodiles move only the[BP 27, p. 21]Upper Jaw. Hee told mee hee found it true which is affirm'd of the Musky sent <of the glandules> of the Alligators (which sometimes perfum'd the Ayre a good way of; that hee observ'd certaine kernalls uncut out of their Bodys to be the cheife receptachles of the odour, & that put[ting] his finger into a certaine <part> in the Alligators Body it came out str[ong]ly perfum'd. Hee said their Eggs were not so big as those of a Goose.

Hee told mee hee saw Hoggs poyson'd by drinkinge the juce of Mandioc[a]

Hee told mee hee saw divers Mangrave Trees (q whether Mansenilla) [in] Jamaica & that tho they are so poysonous that if the Raine that falles from of them drop upon Mens Bodys it blisters their skins, & the sap & odour of the trees newly cut downe is offensive or hurtfull, yet when the Timber is saw'd into boards, & after a little seasoninge employ'd within doares its steames <are> neither offensive to the smell nor unwholesome.

Hee told mee that the Clouds & Raines in that part of Jamaica hee liv'd in did so confine themselves to their trachts that hee himselfe had a Plantation was barren for want of Raine tho another Plantation that was but within Musket shot of it was to his great Vexation regularly supplied with Raine enough.

Hee told mee that at the Barbados, & divers other places where they have no mountaines they have none of those Brizes that blow the night from the land as they constantly have at Jamaica, & [on]Countreys furnishd with hills; tho they have in both sorts of Countreys the Sea-Brizes that raine in the day time.

Hee told mee that the Dogwood by whose Narcotick smell they fox fish being made into boards & dried looseth all its stinke.

Hee told that neare the Point (as they call it) at Jamaica the Soyle being all Rocky but of a soft sandy Rocke if you digge anywhere a Well whether it be nearer (as within Musket shot) or further of from the Sea it would be quickly full of water a little brackish, but not salt whereas the sea-water before it be thus percullated is very briny.

Hee told mee that hee observ'd that divers Nigros that had burnes that were not considerable, <had> yet afterwards their skin white in their burn'd places & even in those where there appear'd no scarre.

Hee told mee that hee knew a Nigro woman brought to Bed at Jamaica, whose new borne Child hee found to be in colour so like that of a Spaniard that hee reproach'd her with haveinge had a Bastard, which the Woman denyinge told him that the Child would be blacke enough within foure or five dayes, which accordingly came to passe.

Hee told mee that hee <often> observ'd in one longe Alley a row of Trees (in a certaine place at Jamaica. which he nam'd to mee) that some trees of the same kind had a ripe fruit on them whilst others had but very green fruit, & others againe had yet nothing but blossomes.

Hee told mee that hee had observ'd at Jamaica a sort of wood which <being> cut at one time of the yeare would dye very well & was usefull but if cut at another time of the yeare would afford no tincture at all, and if cut at a third season the cloths to be died would indeed come forth ting'd, but with all be spoyld as if they had been dipp'd in melted Rosin or some other Gum.

A greate Italian Virtuoso of the Lincean Academy told mee that the Prince Leopoldo haveing tryed the Electricall virtue of many Gemms observed that Diamonds cut flat or table wise had a very much fainter virtue than uncut Diamonds that were Angularly shap'd as nature had produc'd them. & in confirmation of what I told him about the uncertaine operation I had found in Diamonds hee added that his Prince <had> a large table Diamond that was very rich but had soe very faint an attraction that it was next to none at all. but when relateing this as a wonder to Signior Cassini, that famous Mathematician seem'd diffident of it, the Prince to convince him drew off from his finger the ring (wherewith hee had made noe triall in about a yeare before) but was amazed to find it then to have a very briske attractive virtue.

Hee alsoe told mee that Signior Redi (he that writ de Vipere) affirm'd to him that not only our poison of Tobacco would kill vipers if they were wounded by haveing a silke dipt in it drawne through any part of theire body, but that Sal Gemmæ or Nitre put into theire mouths was venemous to them but nothing neere soe much as Sugar of Lead.

2 pound & one halfe of English vitrioll <being> weigh'd when it was well dry'd & thereby partly made white was mix'd with a pound & twelve ounces of Salt peter, which in a bad earth'n retort haveing afforded by distillation, 16 ounces of Spirite that <always> filld the [BP 27, p. 23]upper part of the pottle with red fumes, the remaining caput mortuum was laide aside in order to a further Experiment.

In a paire of Scales of 11 7/9 Inches in length from one end of the beame to the other; there was put the 512 part of a graine, which turn'd them to either End readily, & very Notably; that piece of fine Venice Paper that made that weight, was carefully with a pair of Sicers cut into two parts, as equally as his Eye & hand that cut them enabl'd him to do, & as to sense equall enough. one of these small peices of paper which amounted to 1/1024 being put into one of the scales swayd the ballance very sensibly to that side makeing an Angle that we ghest to be about 7 degrees, & being remov'd into the other scale it had the like Effect. And least it should be objected that the lately mention'd 1/512 part of a graine was not exactly divided, & that this part of it was the heavier, we tooke the other halfe, & put it first into one scale & then <into the> other with the like successe.

The content of the brass measure fill'd with Raine water weigh'd 7 {pound} haberdupoise & 12 {ounce} & {drachm} i Troy.

The whole content is 216 square Inches.

The weight of the Raine water that fill'd the same 216 Square Inches, was 7 {pound} haberdupoise & 11 {ounce} & {drachm} 7 Troy

The weight of a Mercurial Cylinder of 50 2/3 Inches long & 7/10 of an Inch in Diameter was 139 {ounce} 7 {drachm} Troy weight.

A brasse Cylinder purposely made for Experiments of 3 Inches precisely in length & one Inch in Diameter being counterpois'd in good scales conteind 10 drachmes & 15 graines - of common water; which being powrd out, the {mercury} that fill'd the same Cylinder amounted to 17 ounces one drachme & 45 graines (both liquors being weigh'd with Troy weights).

Monsier El L.J. confirm'd to mee, what hee had formerly told mee that upon the highest Mountaine of the Pyreneans, calld Le Pic De Midi hee ascended at the end of August or the beginning of September (in the morning) to the very top, where hee & his company spread a Tent & stayd till the evening. hee says hee found the Aire temperate where the Sun did not beate, but on that side of theire bodys whereon the Sun shone the heate was exceeding great, & was offensive even to them that sat in the Tent of Oyl'd Cloath, if they sate too neare the sunny side of the Tent, they sometimes had wind at this Top of the hill which they found to blow coole enough <(& found it very cold when they return'd to the bottom)>. This Hill is soe high that it may bee seen from Montauban which is 27 Leagues distant.

(I tooke a strong solution of Watergold & with it turn'd fresh Syrup of Violets <to> a much fairer red than acid Menstruums are wont to doe, but an Alcali or <a> volatile Salt would not turne this red Liquor into a greene but only to a kind of yellow.)

When I ask'd <whether> the aire in those places where the sun did not beate was considerably cold, he told mee that the exersise they had been put to in ascending the Top of the hill (for the most part of the way they rid up) kept them from being very competent Judges of that, but they found the wind [BP 27, p. 24] <which was then northerly;> though weake yet very cooleing. & the North side of the mountaine was ev'n then coverd with snow & scarce at all passible. I also enquir'd of him, whether hee found the aire at Top as fit for respiration as common aire; <which> hee told mee they did not, but were faine to breath shorter & oftner than usual. & because I suspected that might come from theire motion, I ask'd whether they obs: it to cease when they came down to the bottom of the hill, which he told mee they plainly did, besides that they stayd many houres at the Top, too long to continue out of breath.

A Learn'd friend of mine being displeas'd with beare that was brought him to table, went down with the Buttler into the Cellar & caus'd him to tap two fresh barrels <that> chanct to be plac'd in a corner, & finding it sowre & wholly unfit to drink, hee orderd the Butler to send back those barrels to the Bruer, which being forgotten to bee donn, my friend comeing againe into the Cellar at Christmas found the two barrels still there. for which haveing chid the Butler, (who Excus'd himselfe by saying the Bruer had not come seasonably to fetch them away, by which meanes & the darknesse of the place they were forgotten,) <he> order'd them to be tap'd againe to see what change had been produc'd in the Liquor since hee had tasted it at Mid=summer, but was surpris'd to find it turn'd againe to very good beere, which was well drunke off.

Ten graines of beaten Antimony being carefully weigh'd in good Scales, were for a good while together calcin'd with an ordinary double convex Burning Glasse, & emitted store of fumes. After which wee found that some part of the Antimony was here & there turn'd white, & a not inconsiderable portion of it was melted downe into Lump, a good part of which was (as appear'd when wee broke it) Vitrifi'd though I could not perceive the Glasse to be transparent. That which remain'd in the Scale where the Calcination was perform'd amounted but <to> about 7 graines & yet a pretty deale of the antimony appear'd still Crude & to have beene either not at all or very little Calcin'd.

Upon one ounce of Oyle of Vitrioll there was pour'd one pound & one ounce of Spirit of Urine, before the Ebullition & noise ceas'd, & upon as much of Aqua Fortis, but seven of Spirit of Urine.

It hath pleased God to suffer me to be afflicted with a Sad Infirmity in my eyes, that without his mercy in the use of good meanes threat'ns blindnesse. my distemper is of 7 yeares continuance, & first invaded me by much writeing & reading, which caus'd the similitude of a perfect Raine=bow to appear about a Candle, or flame or window, & vanish'd not till sleep took it away.

An Ingenious Gentleman of my acquaintance who often gives & takes Sulphur Auratum Diaphoreticum from <gr. ii> to <4 grs.> pro Dosæ, assures me that if he take it or give it with sweet wine (as Sack,) whereof a good glasse is to be drunk after the powder, he has not found it to vomit but only to purge

Haveing dissolv'd a sufficient Quantity of Sal Armoniacke in as little water as I could, we put to it as much Oyle of Vitriol as the Salt weigh'd, & destilling the mixture in sand (with a pretty strong fire) till 'twas very dry we obtain'd a Spirit of Salt, yellowish enough in Colour to passe allmost for oyle of Salt, & a very fusible Cap. Mortuum exceeding acid upon the Toung. This being destill'd with about 2 parts 1/2 of powder'd tobacco pipes in an Iron case, afforded a Spirit exceeding strongly scented & a pretty quantity of volatile Salt, which adhær'd (but not in Christalls) to the necke of the Retort, & was not very sharp upon the toung, but tasted very strong of Sulphur.

Instead of Sal Armoniacke wee added to the formerly nam'd liquor, as much Spirit of fermented Urine as would satiate it, & having drawne off all that would come over in our digestive furnace (which gives a greater heat than ordinary ones) we found it to be very little better than a nauseous flame; the remaining white salt was by the mistake of the Laborant mingl'd with above 3 parts of beaten tobacco pipes, & the destillation was perform'd as before by putting the retort in an iron case: the spirit that came over was very strong in its kind both in tast & smell; but seem'd not acid, but of the nature of Spirit of Sal Armoniack, save that it was also sulphureous. there sublim'd up into the neck if the Retort a good proportion of volatile Salt exceeding Sulphureous.

Of The simple Spirit of Venus {ounce} i was put upon {ounce} iii of the Coagulum (of whose Ingredients the proportion was that of 1. to 2.) & though much had been allready dissolv'd by long standing, yet it did not soe easily dissolve the remaines as one would expect. The mixture being distill'd in a tall head & Body, there came over about an ounce & a halfe, as I guess'd, of a somewhat odd Spirit subtle enough afterwards came the rest of the Liquor which though much weaker was somewhat harsh in tast. There sublim'd also & partly remain'd, about a dramme or 2 of salt finely figur'd &c.

An excellent Physitian of my acquaintance, being discours'd with by me about some that I knew, who could (though not constantly) see in the darke, affirm'd to me that he had knowne divers children doe soe, & particularly that, haveing guess'd by the eys of a Boy about 5 year old or lesse (who he say'd had eyes almost like a Ferret) that he was one of that number, he ask'd his parents whether they had observ'd any such thing in him, & they answer'd that it had been severall times wonder'd at, that he should in the night call for things at a distance, & stretch forth his hands towards them as if hee saw them, when noe body else in the roome could perceive any such thing, though when light was brought in, they found the child was not mistaken.

A Learned Dr of my acquaintance had an Apricock Tree that bore fruite for Divers yeares; the Stock on which the Cyons was grafted being a Plumme. This spring it likewise bore Apricock leaves & blossoms as before; but the weather proveing extraordinary unseasonable, all the leaves fell off, & the Tree continu'd for a while as if it had been dead. After which the weather comeing to be seasonable againe, the Tree put forth both shutes & leaves that were perfectly of a Plum & not of an Apricock & a while after, the leaves fell off & the Tree seem'd to be quite dead.

The same Person caus'd some Miscelto to be gatherd from a large Oake (which it had it growing very plentifully at the top & moderately in 3 other places). In one of the peices which he gatherd the Miscelto grows at the end of a twig of the Oake soe as to make one entire body with it by continueing of it.

Dr St told me that in Jamaica water kept in a glasse in the sun stanck not, but setting glasses stopd close with a Corke, in two days stanck; (the glasse was set upon the ground) in the shade.

The same affirmed <to> me that from a litle after they went out of England till they came to Barbados they generally drank stincking water & found no harme by it.

The same told me that the Liver of a shark (which he takes to be the true Lamia) is yellow, and runs all to oyle; that 'tis two stones of this fish that doe such wonders against the stone; they lye in the skuff (as he calls it) & are soft at first thô hard afterwards. This fish has no Bones but gristles, & his Blood is felt to be actually warme, whereas that of the Tortoise is as cold as he felt any water in the Indies.

He also told me that Sir [Charles Lyttelton] Governor of <the> Island keepes his water in nitrous Jarrs, in which water will not stinck; & yet it will breed wormes, notwithstanding which the Jarrs will keepe the Liquor very coole & there will be a sweat on the outside as high as the Liquor reaches (he kept one 2 years that was but a quarter of an Inch thick & yet keepes as coole as in snow, & makes not the water tast of Petre, thô the Jarr doe.

He had on three or 4 severall Bookes that were never wet shell fishes (calld in Ireland knives or sheaths) & had perfect fishes in them; they stuck fast to the Leather Covers, & were (shell & all) about 1/2 Inch long.

(1st. The Artificer told me that the skins they put betweene their Leaves of Gold, (which skins are thinner then fine Venice Paper) are made of the Guts of an oxe, or rather, (for I askd of which of them, of the only Intestinum Rectum, (which they draw to a Breadth, & stretch & dry upon Ladders exposd [BP 27, p. 28]to the sun & aire to dry) after which they beat out as much of the Fat as they can, (haveing before perfum'd the Gut to preserve It) & so shave it & otherwise order, that they have only this most thinne membrane freed from all adhærencys, & this they say dos not only divid their Leaves of Gold, but preserve them from being broken by the violence wherewith they are beaten. To preserve these fine skins themselvs, & make them very sleeke, they rub them (with a hares foot) with a certaine very fine snow white meale, which they call Brien, but could not tell me what it was or whence it came; yet <haveing> examin'd it I conclude it to be an English Talk reducd to an Impalbable Powder.

2d I askd how many Leaves they could beat out of one Ounce of Gold, but finding they had never taken notice of It, I inquird how much Gold they usd to such a Number of Leaves, as they reckon by, & I was answerd that at the most they tooke four penny weight sometimes 3 suffi'cd of water Gold ( <that is a 5th part of an Ounce of that metall> well refind) to obtaine 64 such Leaves as they showd me, which being pretty square I <estimated> the Area of them one with another at     square Inches.

3d They commonly likewise use <> pennyweight (if I misremember not) of refind sylver to obtaine 64 Leaves of sylver, which I estimated to containe one with another an Area of     Inches.

4th They reckon a Booke of Gold Leaves to containe 25 or 26, & usually beat with an exceeding heavy hammer 8 of these Bookes in one volume at one Beating upon a great Marble Anvil On which the volum being layd, the hammer rebounds so strongly, that the Labour of beating is not near so great as one would think, being cheifely after the 2 or 3 first stroakes to guide the hammer aright, which I observd haveing purposely[BP 27, p. 29]causd a Booke to be beaten whilst I stoode by.

5th They usually beat the Plate of Gold they imploy for the first Booke till it have spread so farr as to cover the Superficies of the 2 skins t'wixt which it lyes, then they cut it into 4 Squares one of which they put between the skinns againe, till it have attaind the foremention'd Breadth, then they cut that also in 4 Squares & proceede as formerly, & the like they doe once more; so that in all the Gold is beaten the skins 4 times successively whereas Sylver is but 3 times

6th They sometimes lay a thin peice of Gold Plate upon one of Sylver exactly congruous to it, & by beating them together betwixt the skins, they make them so that at length <of> the leaves produc'd the upper part was Gold, & the other Sylver, tho in gilded Pills, of divers Apothecarys the Gold only is seene, by which Artifice halfe the Price is sav'd.

7th I noted also that if a Leafe chancd to be torn or not to have sylver enough, they would carelessely enough tear a peice of a somewhat convenient seize from some other foliated Gold & <haveing> put it to the Deficient Leafe, they would by beating so unite the parts as to make them passe for one intire Leafe.

8th To keepe the Gold & Sylver from sticking to the leaves, wherein they are at last put for sale they rub the Paper of those Bookes with red oakes reduc'd to an impalbable Powder, of which afterward they rub of all that is not well lodg'd in the Pores of the Paper.)

[A Chymist that purposely visited the Mines in Hungary & Transylvania, being askd whethere ever he had observ'd on the Trees growing near the Golden Mines, either any Gold in the Bodies or Rootes of the Trees, or any Gilding on either side [BP 27, p. 30]of the Leaves answerd me noe, sayin that, he only observ'd in the Bodies of some Trees, a certaine Substance, that was more Stiptick than Vitriol, & tasted exceeding like it, & in short was found to be perfectly of a Vitriolate Nature, & judg'd to be Vitriol a little disguisd to the Eye.

He answerd me that he had there observ'd Ghûr in Mines of {gold} Sylver, Copper & Iron, & that the consistence was thicker & more cohærent than Creame & not unlike to a Jelly, but the Colour varyed much according to the severall Mettals; & particularly, the Ghûr of Gold was of a darke yellow]

<[> The forementiond Visiter of the Hungarian & other Mines, being askd by me about the Heat & Cold he found in the deepest of them answerd <to my severall Questions> First that as he descended he felt it cold till he came to such a depth as he had scarce attaind in a Quartar of an howers descent. 2dly That the cold he felt seemd to him considerable (except. very near the Orifice of the Grove) especially when he got to a good depth. 3ly That after he had passd that cold Region he began by degrees to come into a warmer one, which increasd in heat, as he went deeper & deeper, so that in the deeper veines he found the workemen digging with only a slight Garment over them, & the Subterraneall heat was much greater then that of the free Aire on the Top of the Grove thô it were then summer, nor was it by any stifeling steames or want of free Respiration that they felt this heat. And as to those steames that <(about which)> I inquir'd whether they observd them to be foreruners of stormes, He answerd me that the miners told [BP 27, p. 31] <him> that even lesser damps were some Impediments to their Respiration, but when the thick & copious damps chancd to rise out of the Earth they were faine for fear of being stifeld to hasten out to the free Aire, & stay there till the Damp were gone, & <if> these damps were copious & thick enough, they would confidently & almost certainely foretell, that within a short time, there would be rainy or stormy weather even <when> the sky was clear & cloudles. <]> He answerd me that as to the venomous Cave that is sayd to be on one side of the Groove in the deepe Gold mine near Cremnetz, they call it, the Cave of the Dead, & give it other like names, & affirme that thô it be almost full of native Gold, yet the Corrosive smell is so strong & noxious, that men have not dared to dig out that rich metall being deterred by the ill fate of divers that venturd to worke in it. He adds that he himselfe thô he passd by it in great hast, could not avoid the being offended with the smell.

He confirmd <to> me upon his owne Experience what I had been informd about the soft Vitrioll, that is there to be found, for in the deeper part of the mine he gatherd a peice of Vitriol, which was there soft, thô when he brought into the aire, it harden, & had divers golden streakes in It.

< An ingenious visiter> He likewise answerd me, that 'twas very usuall to have among the mines fiery meteors, that seeme to run like a Cat ('twas his comparison) along the surface of the Ground & he saw some of them which agreed well with what a Learned Cornish Physitian told <me> of large fiery meteors often seene in the Country, to shoot them directly against some <particular> spot of ground [BP 27, p. 32]where they disappear, & some curious mine seekers give mony to show them the Place where they vanhish in, which I think may be no great Prodigality since probably these fires come from fat or Sulphureous inflammable Exhalations issueing from some Mine, & kindled in the Aire at a distance from the Place of their Egresse: betweene which, the once <in the ferst> flaming <part of a n the> meteor there is as it were a Line of fewell, & the flame moveing that way which its fewell determines, will at length come to that place over the mine whence its Exhalations issue & being hinderd <by> the ground from goeing any further must there vanish, & thereby intimate, where a veine lyes hid under the ground.

He also answerd me as to the pretended Transmutation of Iron into Copper, by a Spring near Cremnitz, that he had been there, & observd what passd, but that the bigger peices of Iron, as for Instance a horse shoe being left there for some weekes, is not taken out whole as t'was put in, but is reduc'd to a kind of Mudd which being melted proves good Copper which I take to be præcipitated out of the Vitriolated water by the Iron, which at the same time was dissolvd by that Liquor, of this Copper he had some with him.

[N. N. a Person of great Experience in mineralls & stones, assures me that where he lives they make a Lime with marble that needs so violent a fire to be calcind; that the flints that are often found among the marble [BP 27, p. 33]are found often perfectly vitrifyd into Lumps of Apparent glasse, which his Associate who was present told me, he obserd to be greene, almost like a Dimme Emerald.

An Eminent Professor of Mathematicks affirmed <to> me that chancing one day in the heat of Summer, with another mathematician of my Acquaintance (,& who I remember was by, when this was told me) to passe by a large Dung-hill that was then in Lincolns Inn feilds, when they <came to> a certaine distance from <it> they were both <of them> surprizd to meet with a very strong smell of Musk, (occasiond probably by the Putrefaction,) which each was for a while shy of takeing notice of, for fear his companion should have laught at him for It, but when they came much nearer the Dunghill, that pleasing smell was succeeded by a stinck proper <to such to a p heap of Excrements>].

I askd the same Person whether he had in the mines he visited ever met with any of that odd substance (whose very Existence is much questiond by by the diffident) which by Chymicall writers is calld Lac Lunæ, to which he answerd, that he had at least once met with it, in the Cliffs of the minerall Rocks; at a good distance under ground that it was white almost like Cerusse but soft, as if it had been a <white>(Minerall) Ghûr.

He also answerd me about the Ladders & other wooden workes imployd in the deepe Hungarian mines, that those that were in the upper part of the Grooves any thing near the Aire, would by the fretting Exhalations be rendred [BP 27, p. 34]unserviceable in not many months whereas those peices of Timber &c that were imployd in the Lower part of the mine would hold good for 2 or 3 times as long

Haveing seene a peice of the vitriol that was taken out of a Golden Mine in Hungary & observd it to be of a fine Colour betwixt greene & Blew, I moistned it with a litle spittle, & for Tryalls sake rubd it upon the cleane Blade of a Penknife, & had my Curiosity somewhat satisfyd by finding that it superficially tingd it, not with a Cuprious but a Golden Colour.

I also discoursd with him about the Tradition taken notice of by our Verulam that mineralls are very much lighter in the Bowells of the Earth or in their proper veines then they are above ground & hereupon he told me that haveing gone to Visit a great Mine of Sal Gem, in Transylvania. he found it the generall Beleife of the workemen & observd himselfe that great Lumps of this fossill salt, might with ease be managd & lifted up in the mine which when it came to the aire, seemd to be 3 or 4 times as ponderous, which supposing the truth of the matter of fact, may perhaps be in part answerd by the moist Vapours of the aire, which the salt long kept from it plentifully imbibes, & by retaining them much increases the weight of the masse, & perhaps this change observd in <fossile> salt, may have been too farr <extended> by others & have contributed to the Birth or growth of the Tradition, which extends this property to all kinds of mineralls in generall.

(Meeting with an Inquisitive Traveller, who had <passd> thro that part of Swizerland where the Lake commonly calld Pilots is, I askd him if he had visited that Lake, & found that there is any truth in the Tradition that goes of It, viz. that if a stone, or a peice of wood &c be cast into it, there will presently be excited horrible noises & furious stormes which have obleigd the Magistrates of the Country to forbid upon strict Penaltys that any such things should be done & place guards <at certaine fit places> to warne <& awe> Passengers, from doeing, to which he answerd that [BP 27, p. 35]he travelled along that Lake & found the above mentiond Tradition unquestiond among the Inhabitants, & met with severall of the guards that were set there to secure the Tranquillity of the Lake; & was not only by those guards assurd of the truth of the Tradition, but had it confirmd to him upon his owne knowledge, by one of the considerablest men of Zurick. (The like property a Learned Germaine Physitian affirmd to me to belong to a River to be met with in <a> famous great Cave that is seated in one of the Borders of the vast Hyrcinian Forest <in> Bohemia)

I asked him also about the Petrifying springs he met with, to which answerd, that (in a certaine place in Transylvania, <whose Name occurrs not to me> he was brought to a water wherein the Petrifick faculty was so strong, that it would in 24 howers turne fruites (for in <wood &> other Bodys it wrought but not so well) into perfect stone, as an Instance of which he showd me an Acorne that retaind its shape, [& for ought I could ghesse was not much increasd in Bulk,] which he himselfe layd in that water, & after 24 howers tooke out againe, throughly petrifyd.]

Inquiring of a famous Sea Commander who had been upon the African Coast <to> what depth he was wont to sinck his Bottles, to preserve his wine any thing coole in that excessively hot Climate, he answerd me that in the daytime he kept it <in a> tolerable <temper> soe as to be drinkable, by keepeing it in the Bottom of the shipe, & in sand, but in the morning he had it coole enough by sincking his Bottles over night into the sea, & letting them hang all night at 20 or 30 fathome deepe under water whence I conclude that at least in that depth, the sea is cold even in that torrid Region.

Meeting with one of our English Admiralls <that is a virtuoso, & has> that had commanded many of the men of warr in the streights, <&> elswhre, I inquird of him whether he had mett with or taken notise of any of those strange meteors, that our seamen conmmonly call spouts, he replyd <To satisfie my Queries about particulars:)> that besdes those he had seene afar of he once <saw one> so near at hand, that part of the water to a good quantity fell upon his ship. 2dly the Quantity of water that falls in one of these spouts is soe great, & may amount to so many Tun of water that if the Bulk of it should fall directly upon a ship: (As onely the edges of It did upon his) it would be capable of foundering & so, sincking the vessell, 3ly: That a litle before the fall he perceivd a Wind; perhaps made by Aire which the falling water drove before it 4ly that he saw the rising of one of this spouts out of the sea; which seemd to him to be afarr off, & to looke blackish, & not much [BP 27, p. 37]bigger at first then a mans Thumb, but as it ascended upwards the higher we went the bigger it grew, till at length when he had followed it with his Eye till t'was out of sight it soone after reappeard in forme of a great darke cloud, upon which the seamen presently according to their wont made hast to take in their sayles, which they had scarce time to doe before the Cataract was pourd upon them 5ly That sometimes as farr as he could observe the rising of the spout, which not accompanyd with any or at lest with any vehement, or peculiar wind, as a whirle wind. 6th but after the falling of the spout, the weather was tempestious & some rainy for 2 or 3 howers 7th. that from the time he first descryed the rising steames to the falling of the water upon his ship he Estimated, that there had Effluxd between an hower or two or thereabouts. 8ly he added that he had not only seene this meteor in the Mediterranean, where 'tis observd to be not very frequent, but in the channel itselfe, but he found It more formidable then in the streights, & to be attended with furioser stormes.

{Recipe} the Inner Barke of holly & boyle it well till it be somewhat soft & tender, then in the spring make a Bed of young Ferne, & upon it make a layer of your boild rind of holly, & cover it with another Layer of young Ferne, let these rot together for about 12 days or a fortnight, & when the Barke is well [BP 27, p. 38]rotted take it out & beat it well in running water so that all the Splinters & other hard & useles parts, may by degrees be washd of, till there remaind nothing but pure Birdlime, which if you will employ in Winter, take (to prevent its freezing) a fit quantity of Goose grease, & haveing melted it, draw the Limd twiggs thro it or anoint them carefully all over with it.

A convenient proportion of Borax melted with the Ingredients of glasse, will much serve to toughen It, as <to omit other Arguments> I am informd by an Experiencd master of a Glasse house.

In the Tube with very fine minium I could discerne the water to have ascended by degrees about 38 Inches. But it seemd to me afterwards to have ascended 41 Inches or more thô I did not take notice of the Ascent by the differing colours of the Wet & dry Powders as I did at the height first mentiond.

The last time I made the Saline Talke I made but one dissolution of the solid Ingredient with the Liquid & the well figurd talke being put into a <pretty> good heat with a large Proportion of Alcool of wine did readily dissolve in it, all but a very litle black Fæces, without discolouring the Liquor.

My sister in Leze hath a Monky which hath livd with her these 16 years & was judgd 7 or 8 years old at that time, & smelt so strong of musk as he was not company for all sorts of women, of a brindled colour, his haire short & glossy, no tayll, now he is decrepit, & when a certaine old woman comes thither that is a great Tobacconist, he never leaves plucking her by the Coat to smoake him with Tobacco, which he Catches to him with his hand, & after he drivells much, & he is importunate with her to catch him Spiders. what Pins or mony or loose things he finds about the house he brings to his mistresse; not taught, if any finds him in her absence he tells it three days after by signes to the party. He hath lost his smell of musk.

Enquiring of an eminent & inquisitive person that had spent some time upon the Coasts of Africa, whether he had been present at the fishing of Corrall, & learning from his answer that he had seen it not far from Algiers; I askt him whether he had himselfe observ'd the Corral to be soft & not Red when 'twas newly brought from the bottom of the Sea; to which he reply'd that he had found it soft & flexible & that as for the colour it was for the most part very pale, but with an Eye of Red; the Bark being worse colourd, than the Substance it coverd was; but when this Bark was taken off, & the other part expos'd to the Air the expected redness of the Corral disclos'd it selfe.

When I demanded whether he had observ'd that any milky Sap ascended to nourish the stony Plant, & whether he had seen any thing like Berries upon it, he ingeniously confessd to me he had not been soe curious as purposely to make enquiry into those particulars, but that he remembred that haveing broken some of the large peices of Corral he took notice that the more internall Substance was much paler then the other, & very whitish, & that at the extream parts of some branches or spriggs he observ'd little blackish Knobbs which he did not then know what to make of. And when I enquir'd what depth the Sea was of in this place, he answer'd that 'twas nine or ten fathom.

This Noble Man being himselfe practisd in <sea> diveing, I enquird of him whether he found upon the African Coast to be much colder not a good depth than nearer the Surface, whereto he answer'd me, that thô he had seldom div'd above three or four fathom deep, yet at that depth he found it soe much colder than nearer the top of the Water, that he could not well endure the coldness of it.

And when I further askt him whether when he was lett down to the Bottom of the Sea in a great diveing Bell (as he told me he had been) he felt it very cold, thô the water could not come in immediately to touch him, he replyd, that when the Bell came first to the ground, he found the Air in it very cold, thô after he had staid a while there, his Breath & the Steams of his Body made him very hot.

To my Question how long he had observ'd the Moores that were professd Divers to be able to continue under water, & how long he himselfe could hold his breath, he answer'd me, that the most expert he had observ'd, could continue under Water [BP 27, p. 41]about six or seven Minutes, but for his own part, he could not continue without breathing soe much as one full Minute; & when I desir'd him to try by a Minute Watch the tryall made whilst I lookt on confirm'd him in his Opinion.

And to satisfy me about another Question, he told me that the deeper the Bell descended into the Sea, the more the Surface of the Water swell'd into the Bell, but that even when it rested at the Bottom, the Water was not risen in it more than between halfe a foote & a foote above the Brim.

An ingenious Scotch Gentleman being ask'd by me about the Oaks & other Trees that are found under ground in his Countrey answer'd , that he had seen a great tree taken up two or three yards beneath the surface of the ground, whose branches were so rotted off that there remain'd only the manifest signs of those places in the Body of the Tree whence they had been put forth: but thô the Trunk it selfe appear'd plainly by the grain to have been that of an Oak, yet it was grown black as Ebony; so that this Gentleman caus'd a Table to be made of it, which he has yet in his house.

The same Gentleman together with another Virtuoso, his Countryman, told me that he had visited a Well of Spring Water, formerly calld St. Katherines Well, now the Oily Well because of the quantity of oyl that is dayly brought by the Springing Water. He sayes this Liquor is not transparent; That 'tis within a League of Edinburg that <it> yeilds oftentimes about two English Quarts in a morning: & that it has continu'd to yeild oyl beyond the Memory of Man.

At Newmarket they commonly allow a pound loss of weight for the decrement accrueing from the Perspiration that is made by the Rider in running the 4 mile Race. And whatever is said of greater swiftness Mr Eliot assures me that neither he, nor those he run against, would either run it under 7 minutes or thereabouts. He also assur'd me that when the other day a famous match was run, he lost.

A virtuosa of my acquaintance that is very curious both in breeding & ordering of Silkworms, had lately the curiosity to measure some of the Silk that was drawn out as slender as she could, & found 350 yards weighd but two graines & an halfe.

The eminentest Person of one of our cheife Plantations being ask'd by me concerning the vast bigness ascrib'd to the Silk-Cotton Tree, assur'd me that he himselfe had the trunk of one of his owne trees built a Bark of 12 Tun, & made use of it for tradeing.

D T assures me that he hes this summer gathered some of his prolifick corne & bot from on grain he hes 9 stalks & they one with another 11 ears and one with another he reckons that one Grain hes borne a thousand tho not sown at a seasonable tyme

The loadstone weigh'd {ounce} i. gr. 35 + 6/8

The wooden cup weigh'd {ounce} ii {drachm} v{half} & gr. iii

At night the day being rainy it weigh'd gr: v:

Clear day it weigh'd 6 gr: less after a clear & fair night 2 gr. less

wet weigh'd 2 gr. more.

the wooden cup was found to have encreas'd in weight 13 gr. the weather rainy & foggy

[Caput Mortuum] of verdegreas weigh'd {ounce} iii {drachm} v & gr: v & then expos'd to the air

[Caput Mortuum] of Dantzick {vitriol} weigh'd {ounce} iiii gr. 10.

A peic of loadston weigh'd {ounce} i {drachm} ii + 3/4 gr.

the horn'd end drew the south

being heated red hot in a crucible t'was found to have lost gr: 41 1/4

The Turn'd ball of iron being Just 1 inch in diameter weigh'd {ounce} ii + {drachm} i gr: i{half}.

By the <Relation of> Coll: Linch who often saw the plants that bear the Piment a growing in Jamaica thos trees are much lyk our Birch growing streight & furnish'd with a Skin instead of a rough bark

The same informs me that the trees which are in that Island which yeeld Benjamin ar scarce so big as our Cherry trees.

He lykwayes inform'd me that it was true what I heard that the winds which blow at night from the shore towards the sea doe usually begin about 8 or 9 a clock at night & continue blowing from the shore to about 3 or 4 or somewhat longer (in the morning). He added that these winds do sometimes intermit & that they reach but a little way into the sea as about a league or two but that is enought to keep off ships from landing in the night unknown to the inhabitants.

He lykwayes affirms he never found the tydes other than inconsiderable upon the coast of the Island but that ther is a notable current that sets sometime one way & sometimes the quite contrarie (if I remember aright sometimes eastward sometimes westward) which he sayes he found it to doe very irregularle

Sir [William Strode] confirm'd to me what I had heard of his park <which abounds in mineralls> viz that divers minerall steams doe rise in particular tracts of ground whilst the ambient air was clear & that oftentimes Minerall exhalations wold afford him variety of scints & sometimes very pleasant & odoriferous ones this was afterwards confirm'd to me upon his own observation by an Ingenious Gentleman that lives in his house.

The same Gentleman answered me that as to fires proceeding from minerall exhalations they wer sometimes to be seen in that place & that particularlie he had at a tyme he nam'd me seen one so larg that it enlighten'd the air round about it at a considerable distance <so> that he could a good way off discern small plants growing neer the place where the blaz appear'd

Both this Gentleman & Sir [William Godolphin] affirmd to me upon their observation that In the Moors of thos parts (they namd dartmoor) they find Tin oar free from marchasites (& other lyk unwelcom minerals) which in other parts of the countrie to the greif of the diggers accompany & incumber <the> veins & may be observ'd in some veins that reach to the very Confines of the moor (beyond which) They are more free from Marchasites &c

Coll: [Lynch] answer'd me that in Jamaica they observ the Iron & steel instruments to be very apt to rust & particularlie the swords to rust in their scabbards & that this happens more in the sea coast than in places more remot from it

He also answer'd me that at Jamaica the Easterly winds are more coole then other except the Northerly which are yet cooler than <these> were

Sir [William Strode] & his son answer'd me that in their Tin <Mines> (distant about 4 mile from the sea they observ the water to rise notably & continue higher than ordinarie befor the comeing of strong easterly winds insomuch that they can foretell an easterly wind for divers hours & sometimes for a day or better before the wind manifestly arives at the neighbouring part of the sea.

An Ingenious person that is a great fowler answer'd me, that they often observ'd wild Ducks & Mallards wold smell the powder a great way off when the wind blew from him to them and the lyk he took notice of when he went a shooting to kill pheasants.

This same person inform'd me that the ducks <of> a great decoy wherin he had <an interest> the decoy ducks will distinguish by smell the men that constantly look to them from other men & will usually suffer him to approach them when they will fly away from others and this thô the stranger came not in sight of them & the lyk they wold doe if the decoy-man himself had a stranger with him in the places wher he was wont to hide himself.

Monsieur     Lately return'd from the east inform'd me that being < Judea> at the foot of mount Sina he found it excessively Cold but being come toward the top wher the night before there had fallen great store of Snow he found the snow to reach to his midleg & the air to be so excessively cold, that the day Chancing to be a festivall & a priest that was in their company having oblig'd them to stay till he had said mass; not only the water but the wine they employed was in part turn'd into ice

The same person answer'd me that he reckon'd up about 23 cedars in mount Lebanus tho the mountain aboundes in trees of differing Kinds as pines & mulberry trees. he saies also that the Cedars afford a wel scented gum and that the soil seems to be meerly earth from the top to the bottom

He answered me that he observ'd it <to> rain both at Alexandria & 3 or 4 times at Grand Cairo & elswher that the drops wer great & the rain not considerably differing from that of other hot countries. And that at Alexandria they drink their waters out of great cisterns into which it is convey'd from the overflowing nile But that is not drunk but in case of necessity the first year the inhabitants of [BP 27, p. 52]any note Keeping 2 Cisterns the on of newly supplyed water the other of water of the forgoeing year that is wel setled of which latter water they doe drink & find it sweet uncorrupted & pleasant

He answer'd me that in the soil of Ægypt he observ'd both by pits dug to discover mummies & the great wide cleffs made in the ground by the excessive heat of the sun that the earth or mould reacht but about 12 or 15 foot And underneath that <there> was a great quantity of meer stone and he told me that in all Ægypt he saw or heard of but 2 fountains one whereof is near Grand Cairo in the garden wher the balsom trees grew adding that all the wells he saw in Ægypt had salt water in them

He confirm'd me in what I had heard that the southside of the pyramids of Ægypt was very much decay'd & eaten out by the operation of the south winds. and added that the beasts he & his company rode on appear'd to him no bigger than Turkicocks & some not far distant flocks of black goats appear'd indistinctly lyk great spots or plashaes <upon> the soil from the top of the pyramid which top tho from the neighbouring parts every way it seem'd but lyk an apex or sharp point he found by measure to be a square of 18 foot every way

He answer'd me that the air of Ægypt was so pure that it very rarely appear'd darkned with vapours but yet the aer sometimes terrible thunders & lightnings but from clouds without rain & I guessed that the crepuscular steams wer not in that countrie as elswher by what he answer'd me about the riseing of the sun there it scarce appear'd to be day till on could sie one inch of the riseing suns body above the horizon and then suddenly it wold be broad day

He told me that the balsam trees wer slit long wayes (not athwart) & not with a mettallin Knife which they said was hurtfull to the tree but a sharp stone

He answer'd me That the springs of Mara [BP 27, p. 53]mention'd in Exodus ar yet severall of them in being & that he found fyve of them Springing from the top of sandie hillocks not neer a quarter of a mile distant from the red sea notwithstanding which vicinity he could plainly find the tast to be not salt but bitter.

The Cisterns of Alexandria ar built of brick lin'd with <a peculiar> exceeding <close> Cement from that town to the straits of Gibraltar he affirms ther is not on port that deservs the name of a haven unless as 2 or 3 ar help by artificiall molds.

An Ingenious Gentleman that was engaged in the enterprise of Gigery (in Africa) related to me that as the french wer casting up a work in a <burieing> place wherin a superstitious conceit of the moors had brought a great number of bodies to be interred they found many of the carcasses not turned to mummy but consum'd & others half putrified which may be the more strang that among the rest they met with the body of a man very tall & furnish'd with a great & exceeding long gray beard which was dryed up in so unusuall a manner that the relator having bought it of the souldiers sent it into france for a rarity had divers tymes occasion to weigh it to satisfie himself & the curious & found it to weigh beard & all but six pound

(Remember the straw of flax used in Ægypt)

(and what [Isaac] Vossius affirmed that in all Holland ther ar but about 700000 souls.)

A very skilfull fowler <that livs within a league or 2 of the sea> being askt by me whether he did not observ a differenc in the tast of waterfowl when they fed upon seafish & when they did not told me that in some sort of fowle (particularlie if I remember aright in pewets) he observ'd very manifestly that at certain tyms at which they most frequented the sea & fed only upon seafih their flesh tasted very rank & relish'd <strongly> of the fish tho at othertymes it did not so.

Asking an observing inhabitant on the seashore what birds had the cheif præsentiments of stormy weather he answer'd me that he constantly took notice that befor an approaching storm the stone lofors wold be so shy that he could scarce ever unless by chance come near enough to them with his gun to have a shot at them ( <and> the same wildenes he found them in, during actually storms) insomuch [BP 27, p. 54]that he could surely foretell the approach of the storm for half a day or a day before it came tho the weather wer clear & calm. At othertyms thes fowl wer tame enough to let themselvs be easily shot at.

Mr Touching confirmed <to> me, upon his own observation lately made, that returning out of the East Indies, he could not see the Northern pole star, till he was come to about 6 degrees of North latitude, and then the star seem'd to the observer of it, allmost in the Horizon.

He likewise assured me, that Sir Will. Langhearn had heedfully taken notice, that the Lilly of their Compass which looked toward the north Pole when they went from London, did when they had carryed it beyond the Æquinoctiall continue in the southern Hemispher to looke towards our North pole

He also answered me, that at his passing in the sight of the Cape of good hope in october last, he found the variation of the compass to be 7 degrees westward, and was told by a chirurgeon, that was then in their Company, and had been divers times at the Indies before, that he some years since, observ'd the Variation there to be but 5 degrees. He f

He further answerd me, that they usually observed, that when they sailed so as to keepe in the same latitude, they usually found very little or no variation of the declination. But when they saild towards either of the poles they were wont to find the variation much to vary. He added that at St. Helena, when they lately came from thence, they found the declination of the needle to be betwee 50 minutes and a degree westward.

An ingenious Person Monsieur     answer'd me that the springs of Mara mention'd in Exodus are yet severall of them in Being, and that he found five of them Springing from the top of Sandy Hillocks, not near a quarter of a mile distant from the red sea notwithstanding which vicinity he could plainly find the Tast to be not salt but bitter.

An Ingenious Gentleman that was ingag'd in the enterprize of Gigery (in Africa) related to me that as the French were casting up a work in a burying place, wherein a superstitious conceit of the Moors had brought a great Number of Bodys to be interr'd they found many of the Carcases not turn'd to Mummy, but consum'd, & others half putrify'd, which may be the more strange that among the rest they met with the body of a Man very tall, & furnisht with a great & exceeding long gray Beard which was dry'd up in so unusual a manner, that the Relator having bought it of the Soldiers sent it into France for a Rarity, had diverse times occasion to weigh it to satisfy himself and the curious, and found it to weigh Beard and all, but six {pound}

Remember the Straw of Flax us'd in Ægypt, and what [Isaac] Vossius affirm'd that in all Holland, there are but about 700000 souls

The Lord hath this Summer wrought a strange work amongst us at Water town.

There is a great Pond where on a sudden, all the Fish dyed, & thrust themselves out of the water to dye on the shore, there was no less then 20 Cart-load of Fish round about the Pond, One Eele was got out alive, & being cast into the water she hastn'd and riggled out to dye upon the shore. The cattel refus'd to drink of the water for 3 days, but after 3 days dranke of it again.

We weigh'd the Nest of a Humming Bird, sent out of New England, & found that it with 2 Eggs of the same Bird (which held against the Candle were transparent except at one End) amounted but to 34 [grains] whereof One of the Eggs weigh'd 5 gr, & a half; the other 3 gr; & a half, and consequently both 9 Gr; & a half.

Camphire, notwithstanding its whitenes, subtilty of Parts & suppos'd Homogeneity, did when kindled and suffer'd to flame away under a Glass-bell, afford a Soot (in a moderate quantity) which stuck all over to the inside of the Glass, & was at least as black as the ordinary sort of Soot. This I try'd more then once, & one time if not oftner by lighting the Candle, with burning {spirit of wine} to obviate a foreseen Scruple.

A Learned Traveller that diligently visited the Hungarian mines, inform'd me that in one of the Gold Mines he had met with pretty store of a certain unctuous substance, that was of a consistence betwixt jelly and soft sope and that he found it sticking by the sides of the groves, and gatherd a quantity of it, with design to make experiments upon it, but the contry being then full of robbers was forced to leave it behind him. And when I ask'd at what depth he found this stuff, he replyed, at a very considerable depth and pretty near the bottom of the Mine.

He likewise answerd me that the Emperors Chamargafus <that> had the oversight of the golden mine, assured him, that from thence he had often times sent to his Imperial Majesty grapes gatherd from Vines growing on some Earth abounding with particles of gold, in which grapes are found divers little grains or Corpuscles of gold, that <probably> had with the alimental juice passed from the Earth thorough the Vine into the grapes, which, my Relator says, was confirm'd to him at Vienna.

Demanding of an observing person, not long since returnd from the Indies, at what distance he could perceive by the colour of the water, that they begun to draw neare to some great scope of Land, he replyed, that haveing saild long in a darke blew seas they discoverd the Colour of the water <to> appear as it were muddy, about a 100 leags off the Lisard Point.

The same person answerd me that <in> the deepest soundings he had seen tryall made of, they reached ground at 150 fathom and found it to be (what the seamen call) Ozy ground

He also confirmed to me what I told him I had red in Oviedo, about the populous and uninhabited tracts of the sea (if I may so call them) affirming that sometimes especially between the tropicks they would allmost dayly meet multitudes of fishes in scolles, and in other tracts of the sea, they might sail 100 leagues, or perhaps 8 or 10 days together, and scarse meete, with a scolle of fish not to say any fish at all, as if the sea had unfrequented deserts as well as the Earth.

A Learned man answerd me, that in the Hungarian golden Mines, he had more then once seen {mercury} drop down without any application of fire, and that 'twas an usuall thing in these mines to meet here and there with running <Mercury> which they call Virgin Quicksylver. He added that a neare kinsman of his, who was master of a Mine assured him, that he has divers times found, this Mercureus Virgeneus, in little Cavitys <upon> the surface of the Earth, under which the Mine lyes. But as for sulphur my Relator remembers not that he met with any (under that form) in the Hungarian Mines of gold or Copper.

A credible Traveller into the East Indies informed me, that crossing the torrid zone, they could very often in the night though it were not very dark, perceive divers fishes so plainly, that about a fathom or better under water, <that by> the light their bodyes gave the marriners that he saild with would often strike them at a fathom under the surface of the sea. He added that of these fishes the most shineing that he saw were the Dolphins, thô Albacores and some other sorts were also visible by their own light at a good distance under water.

The same person assured me that he found the Thames water to putrify 2 several times, (after which time it cast down store of feces) in the voyage to the East Indies, but as much of the same water as they brought from the East Indies kept good and did not putrify at all.

He also answerd me that he observed the sea to shine as well beyond as on this side of the Æquator,

And That when thy sailed over a sea whose depth made it seem black, if a vessell came passing anything swift by them , the furrow <or ridge> she made with her keel and perhaps her neighboring parts, seemd to be of a fine blew.

He further answerd me that he observd the Colour of the sea to be differing enof in devers parts of the great ocean.

Take on pound of rosen and about quarter as much of Bees-wax melt these together in a Large pott that the mixture may not run over. When you begin to boile them the will Swell exceedingly with very great bubels but you must keep the mixture stiring till these vanish and Leave the melted mixture Like oyle or sum such uneforme Liquor then mixe with it by degrees as much very finly poudrd litharge as conveniently, [as] you can, and keep it continually stiring till it groe to stif to be stired any longer

Take shulled snales prick them well with a penknife at the small ends put them in a bagg and with the Liquor that will straine thorough desolve in a requisit degree of heat as much [ichchrocollo] as conveniently you can and use the mixture before it gro cold

Camphire notwithstanding whitness & subtlelear parts. and suppose it homogeneily, did being kindled and suffered to flame a way under a glass-Bell afford a soot (in a modirate quantety) which stuck all over to the inside of the Glass; and was at least as black as the ordenary sort of soot. The I have tryed more then once.

Remember the Application of ball and socket, for the making of percussions and waves under water.

In the fireing of Aurum fullminans in a large and round bolthead I observed that usually the flash that seemed to expand itself so to fill the whole cavity of the Globe with a very vivid light <which> was præceeded by or accompanied with Loude Crack, made by the going off, of the pouder; but sometimes there was a greater noyse or crack to be taken notice of, when no flash at all appeared, (on the otherside) I observed three times or oftener that strong flashes were produced when there was scearse any sound at all remarkable; though once or twice the sound was audible <but> exceeding faint.

An eminent observer of mines answered me that in Germeny (the did to his knowledge) from Kobolt dug out of the grounde seperate by a strong sublimation trew white arsenick and that out of the remaines they collected pritty store of Tin Glass) (or Bismith) <which> was dispersed amonge the rest of the mineral from which they sometimes also obtained a smal proportion of trew silver, he added that with this Caput Mortuum fluxed for a dew time the conveniant quantity of Potashes, or of calcin'd or finly pulverisd pibble stones they made the blew smalt that is wont to be brought us from Holland.

A mach    ion of my acquintans affirmed to me that with <a> Large paperkite ( not unlike those that boyes play with) he had rased to a great hight a body of too and thirty poundewight.

An inquisitive visiter of mines answered me that he had founde some that were propperly mines of steele rather then of iron, (of which mettles he had several times <seene> the Latter turned into the former

A Learned man of my acquintans whose hair is naturally black & curled; assured me that having had occation to spende some years in climents more northardly <then that of> InLande he founde that when he comed his hair in dry and frosti weather it would frequently emit sparks of fire which when he lisen'd attentively were accompanied with Little cracks but he tooke notis <that> when the weader was open and his hair by the moistture <of> aire or by the effluviums of his head was moist and limber no such thing will happen.

An ounce of weater being included in a pritty Large Æolipy emit a viscible wind or streame of vapours for about a quater of an hour recned by a minit-wach

A Learned eye-witness asured me that in (a Germaine) Mine whose Oer contained Lead accompanied with coper and some silver, he observed that the great furness wherein the Ore was melted would in process of time have sides Lin'd with a kinde of Mineral fulega which they mined used to take out whilst the furness was yet very hot. by which meanes he obtaind a great-many Large drops of spelter the sides a great deal of the same mineral which though not melted by furness as these Large drops had bin, were afterwards by fution redused to spelter,

An Ingenear of my acquintans that took much paines in pleasure in making wine fountains haveing caused a Large and very thick glass bottle (he holding about a gallon) & striveing to forse <in> more and more are with his seringe at Length compressed it so much that presently after he had left off seringing, the bottle flew in peices with a great noise Like that of a Gunn, and threw <about> the thick peices with such violens as much indanigerd, another virtuosoe (well Knowne to me) [BP 27, p. 65] as well as the Ingeneer <who> himself related to me the adventure.

A Learned traveler boarne in Holland and for the most part resideing there assured me <upon> his one observation that in some of the shoers where formerly the Large <tracts> of Lande the sea had quit it consisted of meere sande moveable to and fro by the winds there is now firme grounde which is also made verdant enough and this by meanes of the plentefull groth of that plante which the Latins call Spartum (in inglish     whose intangled roots binde the sande, and make sike firme

My Lord Bruckarde observes in his exact clock that the <long> Pendolome that makes a part of it has its motions sensably varied by very cold weather induring which the clock goes slower then at other times.

A Learned eye witness affirmed to me that in Pressia he severall times Gemes of differing tincktures which were as fair and naturall as to color as those that are brought up from Æst Indies & that in Hardness the much exceeded the fectitious Gemes that are made at Paris and else where.

Remember the mixture of one pound of tinn with four of the other mettle,

Enquireing of an eminent maker of tellescops, whether he had not observed a sensable differens in working very thick peeces of Glass, in case the edge of the Glass were <wrought> upon as if it had bin the flat part of the Glass, he answerd me that sometimes in working a peices of Glass of an inch thick or more he observed that by making the thik edge of the Glass plate to be the flat or broadest parte of the Glass produced; it would make the object lookt on thorow it appeare straingely confused though the Glass plate were very clean and free from vaines.

[Robert Moray] Asured me that in making the experiment of measuring the depth of the sea without a Line the Ball of woode would ascende from the bottome of the water <to> the top in equall spacis of time whether (the water having no streame Like motion) the emerging body ascended perpendicularly or it hapned to be by the tyde or it used to move oblightly and rise perhaps twenty paces distent from the perpendicular Line according to which it was sonke.

By a Letter brought yesterday to my hands promised Mr Eliot an ancient Minester in new England I finde that none of the Indeans were ever observed to have had the stone before one old man that he names who died of it the Last year, and in another place he mentioneth by name another Indean yet alive whom he takes notis of as being the second person of the natives that hath bin troubled with that disease

The Hen-eggs that were hatched <by my friend N. N.> were brought to have all the requisit parts and even feathers themselves in aboute thre weeks, the chikins were less then ordonary and none of them was founde able to breake the shell

The fur of the Animal called Racool is to be founde frequently enough in new Englande is affermd to me by considerable persons; whereof some have Lived there; and others trade theither to be much more affectuall against obstinate aches or the like paines then skines of beavers themselves.

Having put some quicksilver into the bottom of a Glass vial I put a rod of Tinn into the same vial soe as that the bottom of rode was covered by the stagnate quicksilver and the whole rod was keept almost perpendicular to the surfis of <the> Liquor - all this being let alone in a quiet place the Tinn rod [BP 27, p. 67]apeared to somwhat sweled and discolored for Little space above the serfis of the mercure, but afterwards this amalgamation as well as filteration appeared to have bin caried onto the hight of several fingers breaths above the mercure by changes that were desernable in the Tinn and espetial by the brittleness it had aquired.

A Gentle-woman (whose husband is A Dr of phisick) that by the delicateness of her complection seemes Likely to have <exquisite> sensores hath severall times affirmed to me that she can easily peceive by sence <partly of smelling partly of seeying> when any person comes into the Roome comes newly from being abroade in the snow.

Asking an Ingeneer that had been seaven yards under water in a Leaderne case furnished with two flexable pipes that reached above the surfes of <the> water wethe he cold hear those noises that were made else where then at or very neer Orifises of the pipes he replyed that he cold not And enquireing farther whether he could heare men speake at the Orifis of one of the pipes whilst the were blowing doune Air at the other to inable him to respire, he replyed that if noe Air were blowing doune he colde very plainly & distinctly hear what was spoaken to him at the Orifis of the othe pipe but could not at all heare a man speake distinctly whilst the bellowes were plyed which phæmonina seemes manifestly to proceede fron hence that the Air which was impelled in by the bellowes returing <with> the motion brisk enough up the other pipe hindred the sounde of the words that was poaken at the Orifis of that pipe [BP 27, p. 68]and being regularly propagated to the bottom of it.

An intelligent Gentleman that lives in Kent, and is well acquainted with Romney Marsh answers me that the wholl scope of Land amounts to about 20000 acres, that it was formerly Sea, but appears to have been before that forest or well woodded Land, on which score they often digg up bodys of trees and meet some times with foundations that seeme to have been so, to large houses and other buildings.

An Ingeneer that dealt much in the Lead Mines of Darbeshire answer'd me that the damps there happen'd very uncertainly as to time, and that frequently you may smell the stinke of them, and sometimes see the thin fumes, ascending at the mouth of the Grove.

An eminent Virtuoso that is master of a salt worke in Cheshier assures me, that after great shower of raine the workmen observe the water not only to rise in the pitts, which may be between 30 or 40 foot deepe, but to be more richly inpregnated with salt, which they cannot give a reason of, but wonder to find by experience, that thô the water would rise after the rains from which the orefices of the pitts are well shelter'd about 2 or 3 foot yet the same quantity of this water would yield more salt, than if no rain had fall.

The gentleman mentiond No 395 assures me he observed that in some places of a runing arch that the sea has of its own accord forsaken the Land for mor a mile from the boundaries that kept it out.

The Virtuoso mention'd no 97 answerd me that some of the salt wiches in cheshire have afforded salt ever since the Conquest and that mention is made of them in the famous Doomsday booke

An Ingenious Master of a glass house answerd me that out of 100 weight of sand and a convenient proportion of Barellia or fixt salt, he made account be usually had betwixt 6 and 7 score pound of good glasse

We weighed the nest of a Humming-bird sent out of New England, and found that it with two egges of the same bird (which held against the Candle were transparent except at one end) amounted but to 34 graines, whereof one of the egges weighed 5 gr. and an half; the other 3 gr. and an half and (consequently) both 9 gr. and an half.

The Lord hath this summer wrought a strange worke amongst us at Water town.

Their is a great pond where on a sudden all the fish dyed and thrust themselves out of the water to dye on the shore, their was no less then 20 cartload of fish round about the pond; one eale was gott out alive and being cast into the water she hastned and wrigled out to dye upon the shore: the cattle refused to drinke of the water for 3 dayes, but after 3 dayes dranke of it again.

An excellent Anatomist of my Acquaintance affirms to me, that in divers human bodyes of full growen persons he had found the foramen ovale open, being only covered on one side with a thin membran, that hung over it like a curtain, which did more then cover the orifice, and opened out of the right ventricle into the left but not the contrary way: These holes he sometimes observed and particularly malefactors some time since hanged, to be so large that he could without violence put thorow it the top of his little finger.

Camphier notwithstanding its whiteness subtilty of partes and supposed homogeniety, did when kindled and sufferd to flame away under a glass bell, afford a soot (in a moderat [BP 27, p. 70][BP 27, p. 71]Quantitie) which stuck all over to the inside of the glass and was at least as black as the ordinary sort of soot. This I try'd more then once and one time if not oftner by lighting the candle with burning spirit of wine, to obviat a foreseen scruple.

A Domestick of mine, that was no undiligent observer, travelling in a faire night, being willing to stretch his legs before he came to his Inn, tooke notice that <very often> when his horse by whom he walked on foote chanced to tread upon dewy grass, their was made an apparition of light.

To shew that 'tis not so necessary as generally it is held, that light should coexist penetrative (as the Schooles speake) with a diaphanous body, because their is no visible part of that body can be perceivd not to be illuminated we tooke a single grain weight of a pigment (which was not metalline nor minerall) and with it brought about 2 thousand times its weight of a menstruum (which had indeed a power to dissolve and open it, but was) as cleare and colourless as rock water, to that degree of redness that it rather exceeded then fell short of the colour of good claret wine; so <that> there was no discernible part of the whole liquor that was not deeply tinged by a pigment that amounted not to the two thousand part of it, (either in weight or bulk (for it was in specie heavier then the menstruum)

Mr Smithweck answerd me, that with one of his peculiar sort of burning glasses, which was but 6 inches in Diameter he could burn by the help of the beames of a fire that <was> at 9 or 10 foot distance from the speculum And he further answerd me that with the same burning glasse, he could in a north window, (where the sun never directly shines) collect light enough to produce a manifestly sensible <(though not a great)> degree of heat.

A thick piece of verry well colourd Corall, of above half an ounce in weight, being Hydrostatically examind appear'd to be in proportion to water of the same bulke as 2, 6 tenths to 1

Haveing caus'd an Eolopil with a long Angular neck to be made of glass and haveing made some spoonfulls of waters that were convay'd in to it, to boyle with the heat of sand, the vapors came out in cloudy streames as in ordinary eolipils of Metal, but not so strongly and uninterruptedly (probably <by> reason of the length and shape of the neck) but thô, we held the boyling water against the light yet we <did> not perceive, that the ascending vapors did appear under that form <or> or darkend the cavity of the glass either in the globulous part or even in the remoter parts of the neck. But as soon as ever these vapors issued into the Aire they appear'd darke like a mist.

We tooke a glass pipe as cylindrical as we could get, and of about 6 10th of an inch in diameter this being Hermetically seald at one end, we powred into it a foot of water, placeing a mark for the surface of each, and then powrring out that water into a glass by its self, we put in to it a foot of clean sifted wood ashes, with out pressing them down or much shakeing them. Then haveing restord by degrees to the pipe the foot of water, that had bin powred out of it (in to a glass by it self) we gave it time to soak to the verry bottom of the ashes (which it did not in less then 24 howers). And lastly haveing measurd the heigth of the water and ashes together, we found it to amount to above 21 inches and a quarter, so that their was not above a 4th part of the water receivd into the interstricia of the corpuscles of the Ashes.

The whales rib bone I measurd in Essea was <in length> about 17 foot 3 inches and in thickness (that is in compass) 3 foot 5 inches 3/4

(Taken out of the same notebooke with the former measure. {Recipe} Brandee 2 quarters, good sea salt 2 pound, of the oyle till it volatilize one pound, distill them together, &c.)

An eminent Sea Commander being asked <by> me, what was the greatest expedition he bin able to make in a ship of war, he told me he had some years since, run in 2 watches (or 8 houres) 18 leages and a half, that is 7 mile one with an other dureing that time - but he added that the wind was so high, that this hast was not committed with out damage to the rigging of the <frigget> and some danger of their being cast away. <on which occasion a publique minister and a virtuoso affirm'd to me that in one of his majesties light vessells he had, but twas in a storm, saild 17 leagues in one watch that is 4 howrs and continued at that rate of celerity till he had run 40 leagues adding the circumstances of time place and person.>

A Person of Qualitie and witt, who had his arm shott off 5 or 6 years agoe being askd by me whether he found <now and then> paines as it were in the hand he had lost especially upon change of the weather not only answerd me that he did so, but added, that haveing formerly been run thorow the hand near the root of his thumb, which hurt tho heald up, did very often trouble him with a dull pain, he did at the time that he was takeing to me, thinke he felt that verry pain in the same part of the hand that had been shott off, he further told me, that for some yeares he fancied that he could bend and clutch the lost hand as when he had it on, but of late that hand seemd to him verry stiff and unwilded, so that he imagind he could now only a little bend the back part

An antient Divine that spent divers years in America as a planter, being askd of me what increase he found of macez when 'twas manur'd with the heads of cod fish (a piece of husbandy usd in some parts of England) told me that he and his Domesticks, were wont to set the graines of mace single in distinct holes purposely made in little hillocks, consisting of partly of earth and partly of pieces of cods heads and that to make the grain he expected to be the larger and better nourished, he sufferd but 3 stalks to remain of those that shott up out of one seed, each of which would usually beare 5 or 6 eares a piece: of which eares <most> would contain one hunderd graines or more, many 150 and others near 200.

Mr Being askd divers questions by me about particulars that I thought he might have observd in the place of his abode, upon the score of his course of life return'd me divers answers, whereof the Summe insues

Num I That the Pales (as they call 'um) or earthy parts, that they wash off, from the Metalline of their powderd tinn Oar make excellent manure for Oarchards (which prosper much neare and over the tinn'd Mines) and being siften over seedes, præserve them excellently from worms as well as fertilizes them. This his own tryalls assurd him of

II That in his fathers tinn'd moine the windes turninge East, he usually for some howres foretold by [BP 27, p. 76]the copiousness and troubledness of the water in a large spring belongeing to the moine, and somewhat before the change of the wind to the opposite side, the same spring runs less plentifully but more clear.

III That in the Decoy belongeing to his house, the Ducks would not swimm about freely if a stranger came neare them: though they could not see them. Though they would not at all be frighted, if any of the persons imploy'd about the Decoy approachd much nearer to 'um: which argued their being able to winde 'um at a considerable distance.

IV That divers animals especially Hares ,and some Deare, would goe to feede earlier then ordinary, in case the insueing night were to be stormy, thô at the time of their goeing out their were no appearance of foull weather, but a most manifest præsage, he said, was a wildness of a sort of <fowells> he calld     which constantly præsag'd the approach of foul weather, how faire soever the weather there was, whereas after the bad weather was past, these birds would be verry tame.

V That in hunteing the scent would not lye at all well against rainy weather but would lye excellently after a little rain.

VI That the scent of an otter will lye two dayes or more upon the brinke of the water, where he has <passd> and that the water dogs will pursue him under water by the scent when they can't possibly see him.

These things he delivers upon his own observation, adding that when a hare not accidentally or upon being frighted but voluntarily betakes himself in the morning to a brake, or otherwise lyes close in some covert place, 'tis a certain sign that there will be rain or ill weather that day

Mr      being by me discours'd with about what he had observd of the saltness of the sea in his East Indian voyages, assurd me, that he had for tryalls sake fill'd a bottle containing 2 quarts with sea water as he saild under the Æquinoctical, and having carefully weighd it, they again filld it with sea water <as they saild> off from the Cape of Good hope, and compareing the weights of both water, he scarse found in that Quantity any sensible difference between them.

Mr H answerd me, that in the Northern partes of China he had seen to be sold at moderate rates considerable numbers of Emmarads that were good thô but of the smaller size, that he suppos'd there might be greate ones also found if they were lookd after.

An ingenious Gentleman, that spent divers years in the East Indies being talk'd with by me about barnacles told me that he had observ'd many of them, not only sticking to the sides of the ships, and after a long voyage they began to be foul but also adhæring to those great sea weedes jointed like Kanes, that they some times meet (especially near the hight of the cape of Good Hope) in sailing betwixt Europe and the East Indies, and thô he told me he had sometimes [BP 27, p. 78]found a pritty number of them upon one of those single large Kanes, that when I desird him to tell me ingeniously, whether among all those barnacles of severall sizes, (which by their shells seeme to be a sort of muscles) he had found any that he could judge really to be birds, he frankly confessd he had not, thô some resemblance did usually deceive the less <critical> spectators.

A Gentleman

Inquireing of a Traveller that spent some years in China, whether he had seen <them> apply their Varnish to the wood and whether they apply'd it hot and had the materials of it growing in their own Country he answerd me, that he saw them apply it considerably warm in the Cold wood, and laid it on with a kind of <stick or> stick-like Pencill, and that <the gumm> that he saw us'd, to make the Varnish, was as far as he could judge proper to that Country. nor could I learn by him, that they us'd Spr. either of wine or any such fermented liquor to dissolve it.

A Gentleman that liv'd a good while in the Island of Formosa, and had been upon the Coast of China and Japan, being ask'd what Truth there was in the relation made about Petrifying Crabs in the Isle Hainan, answerd me, that he had not been there, but that in Formosa he had often seen, a sort of Crabs of a verry like kind, which, when freshly drawen out of the water, had the consistency of other Crabs, but if they were laid to dry for some time, (as 3 or 4 dayes) especially in the Sun, their flesh (as some call the edible part) would grow as hard as wood, to use his own reiterated expression, and all together uneatable; though if before they were let alone in the Aire they were seasonably boyld, they would be dress'd and eat salt like other Crabs.

Doctor [Browne] who in February visited the <famous gold> Mines of Kremnitz, answerd me, that at that season, not only the ground over the Mines, was like the rest of the Country coverd with Ice or snow, but that mouths of some of the verry groubes themselvs were allmost choack'd up by the driven snow.

He added that he found it at that time cold in goeing down <at first> but when he came to a pretty depth the cold remitted, and then it began to be warm, so that he could guess that the warmth increasd the lower he descended, but yet he did not judge the greatest heate to exceed that of the surface of the Earth in the midst of summer. He said that that cave where naturall Vitrioll was generated (which I gues to be the same that is mention'd by Morinus) was considerably warm

He also answerd me, that he did not learn from the Miners, whether <or no> the Oares of gold &c did really grow or were generated in tract of time by being exposd to the Air or upon any other account.

But the Grand overseer who was Lord over [BP 27, p. 80][BP 27, p. 81]part of the soil, told him that <he thought> the whole mountain to abound with particles of Gold, and therefore was wont when the diggers had allmost exhausted the vein to cast in store of earth, and dug up other neighbouring places: which being kept there as in a conservatory would afterwards afford Gold as the Mine had done before.

He told me that he saw verry good Gold oare and such as they accounted the best, that did not betray itself by shineing particles, but seem'd to be <a kind of> white marble full of blackish spotts.

A Gentleman that had travelled very much in the Eastern parts of the world being ask'd by me what Country produc'd the largest Elephants, he reply'd that the greatest by far that ever he saw, was one rod upon by the king of Tonquin (whose kingdome lyes not verry far from the <borders> of China; for he affirm'd this Elephant to have teeth of 18 Cubits long, and when, because he spoke to me in a language he was not master of, I ask'd him whether he did not mistake the measure, he returnd answer by pointing at his elbow and the remoter part of his hand, and saying by the Cubit he meant That. which by reason of the lowness of his stature seem'd to be somewhat shorter then the Cubit of an ordinary man: so that the whole may be guessd to be about 25 foot.

[Caput Mortuum] of Dantzick {vitriol} weigh'd {ounce} iv gr. x.

A Peice of Loadstone weigh'd {ounce} i + {drachm} ii + gr; 3/4 The Horn'd End drew the South, being heated red hot in a Crucible 'twas found to have lost gr. 41 1/4.

The turn'd Ball of Iron being just one Inch in Diameter weigh'd {ounce} ii + {drachm}. i gr: i1/2.

Dr. [Clarke] formerly Phisitian to the Hospitall at Smithfeild used to give against the kings evill a decoction of Jacobea made with faire water (to which it gives a high tincture) for a very long time together, and if there were neede for a whole yeare.

The variation of our pills is made by takeing but halfe as much of the Nitrous, as of the other Cristalls, and keeping the Mixture in a gentle fusion, 'till by incessantly stirring it, it will melt noe more in that heate, but bee reduced to a kind of grosse calxe or powder, whereof about three graines may bee the dose.

If the preparition of the pills be not varyed eight graines of the pillulæ ex duobus may bee mingled with the weight of our pills for one dose.

The Mettall may alsoe bee præpar'd by Cementing it for sixe or seaven dayes with our Tartarum Vitriolatum, which will soe open it, as to make it dissoluble in water, when the cementing powder is wiped from it.

The same Mettall may alsoe be cemented with our fixed Nitre; made by the helpe of oyle of Vitrioll.

Take four partes of Silver and one of Mercury, and haveing dissolved together in good spirit of Nitre or aquafortis, abstract the solution fully ad siccitatem that it may bee powderd, then take up a little of the powder with a peice of lint or cotten, and haveing laid it upon the parte to bee wrought upon, bind on with a swatheing band, and if you thinke fitt, you may alsoe secure it before hand with a plaister of Diapalma or the like and twill begin to operate early

Remember the use of Taragon for the plauge.

In the devoureing Menstruum there is both salt of Tartar acid salts, and urinous ones. Butt 'twas by digesting them upon the Minerall that makes Helmonts Mettallum Anonimum, that the salts were reduced into permanent liquor the Minerall remaineing unfusible, and unsublimable.

Take Tassapha and keep it fusion tenn or twelve houres then beat it to powder in a warme mortar; and poure on it waxe oyle and Arna a sufficient quantity lett them boyle together till the colour please you, abstract gently what will come over cleare and untinctured, then shift the receiver, and drive over the rest, with a briske fire (haveing a care of fulminations) unless you think fitt before distillation to putt some of the extract into a cold place.

This distilld' liquor being digested with our præpared Copper will, from the calxe draw a fine blew Tincture easily made volatile leaveing the rest a mettalline substance of more difficult fusion then before and deprived of its native colour.

Take of the Republican body sixe ounces, and of the flegmatique spirit one quarte, cohobate them together (in an alembick) sixe or seaven times, abstracting the liquor each time not soe farr as ad siccitatem, last of all distill with a very gentle fire and when the flegme begins to come change the receiver, and receive that by it selfe, and continue the distillation ad siccitatem, lastly dry the remaineing matter very well, and abstract once from it the spirit above reserved.

Remember the grinding of Salt of Tartar with Alchool in the open aire.

Paracelsus his plaister and emplaistrum de mineo æquall parts, melt them well together into a mass whereof make plaisters to bee applyed to the parte affected, and to bee kept on as long as there is neede.

Take two partes of water Silver, and twelve of good quicksilver, heate these aparte, and mixe them in a well warmed Mortar, take alsoe halfe an ounce of Japan Copper, and amalgamate it with two ounces of Mercury. lastly take halfe an ounce of Regulus of Antimony (without mars) and rub it as well as you can with an ounce of good quicksilver. mingle these three mixtures very carefully together; digest them for 3 months in a fitt heate, and give of the præcipitate     graines for the Lues Hungarica &c

One that was in Cylon confirmed to me <both> that there grow very good Rubyes there as well as in Pegu (where he had alsoe been) and that the Iland produces many Saphyres, of which he had seene severall faire ones) as likewise that in the places where they find the most Rubies, among many of them they diverse times meet also with Saphirs.

The same person answered me that nere Bagdat he had seene the people cross the river upon leatherne baggs (made for the most part of buffe skins) filld with wind and to bee emptyed at pleasure, and that he saw some of them soe bigg that a country man and his wife would goe to markett upon one of them, the man sitting astride on the narrower part, and the woman sitting as on a side saddle on the other,

The same person confirmed to me that they yett build on the parts nere Bagdat not with mortar, but with the Bitumen that is copiously afforded by certaine wells or springs within a few miles of that Citty, which wells he visited.

He alsoe told me that <the> sweete corrosive fruit is ananas.

Mr. Gr. informes me that in the Darby-Sheire mines, when they meet with Lime stone, (which is a very hard stone) they are able with their boarers by the help of punching to worke through about a yard a day, especially in case the mine lye low, that the weight of a good parte of the Boarer facilitate the Operations if they meet with ordinary stone they can peirce about 2 yards in a day, but if they meet with a black stone, they call Churk, they find it soe hard, that they can hardly find the way through halfe a yard in a day.

N. N. confirmed to me that with Respublica Assidorum it will sometimes dissolve crude gold, whereas the same Menstruum being highly rectifyed will not all touch it.

<I ask'd> My Lord of Sandwich when <he> gave me <his last> visit, whether the sea did ebb & flow regularly at the mouth of the streights as elswhere notwithstanding the Common opinion that would have the water flow in out of the Ocean without returning. He answerd that at Tangier he observd them to ebb as well as flow, but both irregularly enough.

I also inquird of his Lordship whether he had not observd [BP 27, p. 88]the bottom of the sea to be very unæquall in neighbouring places: to which he replyd that he had found it exceedingly soe, And to satisfy me that he spoke not upon meere Conjecture, he told me that sayling once with his Fleet evn in our Channell he perceivd the water to make <a> rippleing noise (as <the seamen> call it) as the <Thames> dos under London Bridge, so that he was affraid they were falling upon some great shoale, wherefore forewarning the ships to avoid the danger, he had the Curiosity to goe himselfe in a shallop to the place, & found by sounding, that there was no true shoale, the water being 12 or 14 fathome deepe, & goeing on a litle further, <he> cast out the Plumet againe, & found it about 30 Fathom, he added that he made divers such observations, but tooke notice of such rippling waters only when the Tide was ebbing, & that in a deepe sea meeting with the like appearance in the upper part of the water, & thinking it improbable that <there should> be any shoale there, he orderd the Depth to sounded, & found it to exceed 30 Fathom, & after he had passd on a very litle further he found the sea soe deepe that he could not Fathom it with his ordinary Line.

Haveing inquird of a great Traveller, that had <assisted> at the Pearll Fishing in the East Indys, whether he had not learnd by his conversation with the Divers, that stormes reach not to the bottom of the sea, if it be of any considerable depth, he answerd, that he had seen the Divers take the water, when the sea was so very rough, that scarce any vessells would hazard themselves out of Port. That those returning Divers told him, that at the Bottom, they had found no disturbance of the water at all. This minded me to ask the same question of my Lord of Sandwich, who replyd that he had lately been at a place, where the sea was often tempestuous enough & that they found by a sure marke, that the storme did <not> reach with any Efficacy, 4 fathom, beneath the surface of the water.

I also inquird of his Lordship & a couple of Gentlemen that accompanyd him whether if it be true which is reported of the Purety of the Aire at Madrid, that thô they have no houses of office, but every night throw out their Excrements into the streets, yet by the morning there remaines [BP 27, p. 89]no more smell of them. To which I was answerd that t'was true the Excrements were so disposd of, but that madrid is the stinknest Towne they ever came into, yet that <t'> was difficult to discern in the morning, any pecular smell, of what had been cast in to the street by night, but they joyntly affirmd that the place where the Embassadors numerous family resorted to make water in, did not smell of pisse, & that they often observd the dogs & Cats that lay dead in the streets, were devoid of stench; & his Lordship supposd that evn the stinck of a Dead Mule would in few howers vanish.

A person that curiously visited the pearle fishing at ,Manar; being asked by me whether the divers <die> at the bottom of the sea (which is there deep enough) find the water cold or hot, answered me that they found it warmer then at the top, and I therupon asked whether it was not in the winter, he told me that it was in our summer indeed but in theire winter. He likewise told me that he there saw a Diver whoe could stay underwater nere 3 quarters of an hour without takeing any oyle in his mouth, or useing any other help, and that there were 3 or 4 others at least, that by the help of oyle would stay halfe an hour under water.

He alsoe confirmed to me what I had beene told, that the Dutch fort at Batavia (where he was a prisoner) was built of stones fetcht up from the bottome of the sea by Divers whoe loosed and if they were too unweildy tyed roapes about them, and those that attended in boates drew them up, He alsoe told me that he often saw a Portugall porte, (not far as I remember from the Aguada) which was in great parte built with stone soe fetcht up, the Divers driveing in kinde of wedges into the clefts of the rocks (which there are not hard till they come to the aire) and fastning to them the end of roape whose other ends are fastned to Engines by helpe of which the seamen in theire boates teare the rocks.

The same person answered me that he had in the Molluccas seene Cabells for anchors made of canes, much like our Japan canes, each of which the inhabitants split into four parts, and then twisted them as they could, and Sir Jer: Smith alsoe told me that he had seene Cabells made [BP 27, p. 90]of canes , but had not time to me how they were made.

An ingenious Traveller in confirmation of my opinion that fishes may heare under water, Related to me that a few weeks agoe at a place here in England which he named, a gent. whome he went to visit at his countrey house, showed him this Experiment. he had a Belconi which was almost over a fair pond well stocked with Carpes from this place he hollowed to the fishes many of which came presently as nere as they could, and he haveing throwne them some bread they eat it and departed, but because it might well be expected that the fishes came not because they heard him but because they sawe him he appeared againe upon the Belconi without makeing any noise, whereupon twenty or thirty approached as neare as they could, and when noe more came, he began to hollow as before which brought in great numbers from all parts of the pond, and for further sasitisfaction he shutt the doore of the Belconi and the windows of the roome, and then withdrew quite out of sight, leaveing the Relator to looke out at a little peeping hole, and last of all hollowing to the fish as before but somewhat louder, they flocked in troops to the wonted place from all parts of the pond.

That Excellent Anatomist Dr. [Lower] tells me that when he disects a dogg that is not cleane bodyed, and the next urine he makes (and <often> the next to that) smells very rank like doggs piss.

A famous Turner complaineing to me of the weakness of his eyes, which makes him think of quitting his profession, answered me that he finds them very much more offended when he turnes silver then when he turnes Ebony lignum Vitæ or other bodys.

One that had been long enough in Congo, being asked by me, about the Mermaides that are said to be found in the great river there, answered, that he could never see any taken alive, but that in the great river Quanza if I mistake not the Name, he had diverse times seene of them at a distance, and sometimes soe neare, as to have musketts fired at them (though in rain) and that he had seene one of them which had beene alive but the day before, and found that from the Navell upwards it resembled a woman (but with small, round and firme brests) and from the Navell downewards is was like a very large Salmon, or some such other scaled fish.

Dr [Terne] answered me that he had tryed diverse lime trees that a good Zone of the barke being taken of very cleare neare the bottome of severall branches, those branches did not thereupon decay or wither but continued to flourish for a great while (I think 2 or 3 year) that he observed them and perhaps longer afterwards.

Hee answerd me about the Runing of Sapp and told me that in wallnutt trees which run about 2 monthes in the spring) he observed the runing to cease about four a clock in the afternoon on the North side of the tree, and at about five on South.

On the same tree hee successfully inocculates on the rootes the earth that covered them being removed. butt he answered that in all his various travells in hott Countryes he never sawe it raine froggs.

A Traveller that lived at Goar answered me that he had diverse times observed there that the raine which fell in great drops (like Nutmeggs or Wallnutts) would in a very shorte time, as in a quarter or halfe an houre breed store of wormes, <or> other insects, some of which he observed at that time to have [gott] haire upon them.

The same confirmed to me that when they pass't the line all the lice dye and he told me he observed when he passt in a great Portugall Carracke, which had aboard it not onely store of seamen and Passengers but of land souldiers too, which soe pestered the ship that they were extreamely lowsie till they came under or neare the line, wher in a shorte time all their lice dyed. He told me too that there was a very manifest change made in the consistence of theire bisket, that most of their meate and even their salt fish was much impaired soe that they were scarce able to eat it, and that theire Pilate whoe had been 23 times In the Indies assured them he observed when they came to the Æquinoctiall, that fresh water would not there bee att all troubled or stinking but cleare and sweet as if it were <butt newly> putt into the caske.

This same person told me that he saw a peice of Ordinanc That the Portugalls tooke when they took Macao, that was above twenty foot long and had an inscription in Chinas characters intimateing that it would carry 2 miles or leagues, he alsoe answered me that he being at Macao he was convinced by sufficient proofes that the Chinesess had the use of printing and of gunns very many hundred yeares, before wee had it in Europe, and as for the use of the sea compass he told me that being in Pegu he inquired of a Portugall that was overseer of the kings Maritime affaires, whoe assurd him that he had found by theire Records of the Customes paid to the ancient possessors of Pegu, that the Chinesess had traded thither by sea at least eight hundred yeares before.

Being asked whether at Mozambique which is thought the hottest place in the knowne <world> he had never observed the houses to bee sett on fire with the meere heat of the sun. He answered me that [BP 27, p. 92]In the 3 monthes he stayd there he saw noe such thing himselfe but the Inhabitants affirmed it not to bee very unfrequent and as he passed too and froe showed him diverse houses that had been soe burnt, which was the less strange, because the houses are not built of ordinary stone whereof they have none there, but fetcht from another place he named where the stone is mingled with a substance, much of the nature of Sulphur Vivum; and he added tho he himselfe had diverse times seene the stones soe heated in hollow places, that musketts bullets being expose there to the direct beames of the sun were in noe very long time melted. He said farther that much of the excessive heat at Mozambique proceeded from the soile, which is exceeding bare and dry consisting of white sand, that is not covered with grass nor shaded with trees; and when I asked if that whiteness did not much offend the eyes, he answerd it did; and that many souldiers of the Garrison if they continued there above seaven or eight yeare they lost their sight.

Asking him likewise about the trees that are said to beare fruit on one side at such a season, and on the other about halfe a yeare after, he told me that he saw severall of them at Goa, but that they were made by Insistions (cheifly of Bonans) made of plants that naturally beare fruit at a very distant season from that of the stock.

He told me that the Hurricanes about Goa are observd to come usually but at two seasons, about the begining of March, and the fourth of October.

I asked him about the subtilty of Brasilian dew, and its power to rust Mettalls, <about> which he told me that it was certainely very great and would not onely rust knifes and such Instruments but likewise money, which he assured me he <had> particularly observed, adding that in severall places the Portagalls in severall places kept their great gunns cased over that the dew might not fall upon them, and by its corrisiveness soe rust them as to bee apt after a while to break in the dichardge, and when I asked and demanded whether he tasted the dew to observe the saltness of it he replyed that he had not, but that he had in diverse places observed that it left the grass &c. that it had rested on covered over with a pure white salt as if it had beene a hoare frost.

Dr. C: confirmed to mee by his owne observation, that in Russia the hares grow in winter not soe properly greay as white, and in summer turne to theire naturall colour, which is somewhat lighter then that of our haires but this is to bee understood, in case these animals be putt to live abroad in the winter, when the snow keeps them from other food then barkes of trees, (which makes it somewhat doubtfull to mee, whether the penury of Aliment does not contribute to this change) for if they bee kept in the house they will indeed change theire colour (to a kind of greay) but nothing neare soe much as in the fields. but what is said of foxes in Russia he confirmed it not, for those Animals which the English for want of a proper name call foxes, have a distinct name given them by the Russians, and are indeed though like a foxe especially in bigness, yett different much from them in the shape of theire heads, and live like Amphibia sometimes <on the> land, and sometimes <on the> water.

He alsoe confirmed to me that at Arch-angell (where he was more then once) they aver'd to him that in winter time a Northerly wind (which comes from the sea) produceth a kind of thawe, soe as to make the eves drop, though a North-East wind rather confirmes the frost, but on the contrary a southerly wind blows over a thousand or twelve hundred mile of froze <land Region> does rather encrease the frost then bring a thawe.

Hee tells me that at Musco they can brew beere well in winter, and that he and others had fresh herrings plase, and smelts conveyed to them above a thousand mile without being at all impaired by haveing them packt up in snow prest pretty hard about them.

The province where the worst muske-catt is found is called Caberdine,

He confirmed to me that Caviar is made in Muscovey of the spawne of common Sturgeon, and alsoe of that fish which is either Sturgeon or very nere akin to it that they call Balugâ. this spawne, they putt some salt to, and [BP 27, p. 94]Place it on boards that by shelveing, that the oyley part may little by little dreine away from the rest. toward the latter end they putt salt to it, both for the better sequestration of what oyle may bee remaineing, and to give a greater durableness, and relish to the Caviar:

Hee answerd me that an eye wittness had informed him, that Sperma Ceti is found in a peculiar sorte of whales.

Iseing-glass is made of the filmes or skins (which some fishermen call souns) that are found in the belly (or Abdomen) of the Sturgeon and the Pralugâ, which filmes are first softned by being soaked and boyled for a competent time in water, and then are rowled up one upon another.

Hee confirmed to me from his owne observation, that it is usuall in Russia for both men and women to goe naked out of the hott bath and wash themselves in the rivers or other cold waters, or else wallow in snow, and that in winter.

Dr. [Lower] assured me that a Phisitian came lately to advise with doctor Willis about a patient of his a Gentlewoman, whoe <as well> for a pretty while before she married, and afterwards, (at what time this consultation was held about her was much troubl'd to find that when she shifted, her smock would seeme to bee of a light fire, almost like flame of <spirit of> wine, and if shee shooke her cloathes though not soe neare her body as her linen, they would send forth multitudes of sparkeles, and in some places seeme to have a flame.

Hee alsoe told me another Lady whome he named to me, and is now married to <a> brother of my Lord [Petre] that has beene this good while, and is yett troubled with the like distemper, but she was for a good while, if shee bee not still somewhat distracted.

Hee alsoe told me of a Student (whose name I remember not) whoe when he was in a sweet, had often-times by his Chamber fellow, from whome the Dr. had the relation, a flame like an ignis lambens play upon the extant parte of his body which was cheifely manifest, when the Relator chanced to open a little of the curtaine [BP 27, p. 95](and looked upon him in the darke) to enquire how he did

The Portugais answered me that upon the coasts of the East Indies he had seene black Corrall pulled up haveing little white flowers or blossomes growing on the Twiggs, and some of these had very small yellow leaves within them, but that he had never seene the like <on> red Corrall.

Hee likewise told me that he saw presented <at Goa> to Don P. M. then Vice-roy of the Portugall Indies, a Mass of good Amber-greese weighing nere five hundred pound that had beene cast upon upon the shore at Mosambique

Hee confirmed to me as an eye wittness what Olearius relates of the grapes of Astrachan, of which this P.P sayes that chanceing to bee there in harvest he saw many clusters halfe a yard long and proportionably great, and that they make excellent wine.

Hee likewise told mee that sayleing upon the Caspian sea, he could not observe it to have any sensible ebb and flow, though sometimes strong winds blowing one way upon the river Volga (doe occasion some imitation of the Tide) and that he observed not that sea to be any nere soe salt as others, with whome he could not learne in those partes that it had any communciation; Hee told me further that by reason of the shortness and nearness of the waves it is farr more dangerous to saile upon the Caspian sea then the greate Ocean, and that he heard not of any that had cruzed it over from side to side, but had onely coasted it along.

The same person answerd me; that he was in those Bitumenous springs or wells in Babilonia or Asyria that are mentioned in Genesis, and by my late french traveller, and that he observed them to the time he was there to cast forth Bitumen plentifully

Dr. C: answered mee that they have sometimes earquakes even in Muscovey, and that they had one not long since and he was there, but such as was accompanied with noe irruption or subterraneall fire that was taken notice of.

Alsoe, that although in those partes of Russia where he had beene, and as he was informed by diverse others, the hills was but small, yett in Siberia, they have great, and very high mountaines.

He likewise confirmed to mee, that being in Russia in the winter, when the frost was very hard, and the East, or North-East wind blew cold, if he turn'd his face toward the wind, and walked against, (which at other times he was wont, and tooke a delight to doe) he found himselfe unable to fetch his breath and almost stifl'd, as if the aire were very thick or rather a great stiffness brought upon the Organ of respiration, whereby he was unable to move them as at other times, soe that he was faine to turne his head from the wind, that he might be able to fetch his breath,

P. P. confirmed to me that in the I'le of Sylon there growes a <low> herbe (which he described to mee) whereof the inhabitants make use, When they have a mind to take any Phisick, and he added that <haveing> made tryall of it on himselfe he found, that after he had held it about a quarter of an hour or less in his naked hand, it wrought with him downewards six or seven times with little or noe gripeing.

Monsieur V informed mee upon occasion (of a like Phænomenon I related to him) that he had oftentimes from Mismis looked at Sun-sett and cast his eyes upon the famous mountaine from whence the winds proceed and which stands just East from the Citty and that the hill being naturally whiteish, appeared at that greate distance as bright as the moone does in a cleare sky.

Hee alsoe told mee, that though he had not visited that greate caven in the hill, out of whose wide mouth there almost constantly blows a considerable gale of wind, yett 'twas the generall <tradition> and affirmed to him by the men of the place, that, the wind blowing at some seasons soe boysterously, that it would blow downe the corne, and sometimes the trees, of all the neighbouring feilds that stood in its way, the country people to prevent such mischeifs walled up the mouth of the cave, after which, <those, and other neighbouring grounds became barren, which though at first imputed to chance, but by its continuance induced them to remove the walls. upon which the land returned to its wonted fertility.>

He told me upon occasion of the [Tuofio] whereof I spoke to him that on some parts on the coast of Angola where he stayd long, they had no fresh water, but made use of sea water, which they pourd commonly over night into great Cisternes of a certaine greyish & spongy stone (which they did not find in those places but brought from else-where, thro which the water slowly straining left its saltnes behind, & was as well very potable & not unwholesome, as very clear. And whereas I doubted that salt water may not be of the same kind as the water in the open sea, he told me that afterwards sayling thence to Goa in a Galion the Capt. carryed one of those Cisternes along with him, & by it <obtaind> fresh water out of the sea water from time to time, of which water the Relator usually drunk but he confessd to me that in processe of time (as perhaps in some years) the stone will be so choakd as to be spoild.

When I askd him about the difference of seasons at the same time in the same mountaine, he told me that he passd over one of them by name     on the one side of which it was excessively hot near the Top, or ridge, as well thô not quite so much as in the Lower Regions on that side of the mountaine. But within a mile or two of the other side of the ridg he found winter weather as to Cold & stormynes, & yet there was snow as well on the otherside as on this

He told me also that on the high mountaine in the Island of <Ceylon>, notwithstanding the heat of the Country there was snow, & the like he saw on the Tops of the Mountaines of Congo, thô in the lower parts of the Country they never have that he heard of, either Ice, snow, or haile.

He told that it was true what I had learnd from the Governors son of Brasile, of the great Mountaines of water that sometimes appear on the Coasts when the winds are calme, for he says he observd them particularly 2 or 3 severall times not far from the fort St. Antonio near the great Bay affirming that <thô> the winds were then still yet the waves went so very high, as if they had been near the Cap of good hope, so that the fishermen durst not venture abroad to fish for fear of being over set.

He confirmd to mee upon his owne observation what had been long since told me by Mr S. (who also visited the same mines) in the Mogulls Country, that the Diamonds were not found in veines, but often times in loose stones (as also in fragments of the Rock) which stones were many of them not unlike pibble-stones, & being broken had some of them Diamonds within them.

He answer'd me that he livd a good while at Mecassar but never saw the Experiment of the <poison> upon men, but divers times he had seene that a knife being annointed with it a peice of bread cut with that knife throwne to a Dog or other animal would kill him in about 2 howers but he added that they had in the Island a good Antidote against that poison

The same eye wittness confirmed to me what had beene told me by another of the way used in China and the the East, of mending <broken> vessells of <Porcellane>, by sticthing the peices together with very slender wyer which they doe soe neatly, that it can scarce be perceaved, and the vessell becomes serviceable as before

He likewise confirmed to me the truth of the artificiall way of hatching chickens & he told me that <he> saw it practised alsoe in the East Indies and particularly at Goa.

He alsoe informed me more circumstantially of what I had heard concerneing one use of the <Cinnamon> tree in Cylon, telling me that before the fruite (which is almost like a double akorne) be ripe, they breake it of with a little of the twigg it grew on, and fitt to the remaineing part; a vessell shaped almost like a cage into which a viscuos liquor that would else have served for the aliment of the fruite is continually though slowly dischardged and does there [BP 27, p. 99]by degrees concrescere into a gummous or resinuous substance almost like soft wax, very odiriferous, of which alone with weikes they make perfumed candles for theire Temples and theire greate men, that burne very pleasently but smell yett better.

He likewise confirmed to me, that at the Maldivian Ilands (where for a while he lived) it is noe wonder to see a ship with the provision and merchandize to be all furnished by a <Coco> tree. for he sayes that the plankes of the ship are sawed out of the body of the timber, and are sewed together by a kind of packthred made of the huske of the fruite. of which alsoe they make theire cordage, the masts are made of the trees themselves, and the sayles of the leaves sowed together, the two parts of the fruite serve them for meate and drinke; <and the shells for cupps> the same fruite, and the oyle obtainable by expression from it makes parte of their merchandize, the other parte of it being a kind of brandy which they call Nympa, which they distill from the juce afforded by the wounded tree, suffered for awhile to ferment.

He answered mee that as for Unicornes he never <saw> any or mett with any body that had seene any in all his travells through Asia, Affrica, and America, but had <often> seene <and sometimes> killd a certaine <animal> <bigness and> shape like to a Mule, but cloven footed like an Ox, which had in the forehead a single horne, about a foot and a halfe long often times somewhat shorter, but sometimes <neere> two foot long which horne is straight, (save in very old animalls somewhat crooked) very large towards the basis, this horne they esteeme much as an Antidote; and the flesh of the animal which they call Macarse they esteme very good meate

He affirmes that it is not true what is reported of the greate rarity of the white Elephant, and that besides those he saw in Pegu, he saw divers others, one in one place, and <one> another, and particularly he saw a couple at Goar: and he added that as farr as could enquire all that he saw if not all others of that colour came from the Iland of Cylon.

He answerd me that he had often at the Iland called of Goates killed the Animal that beares the Bezoar, and that he is shaped very like a wild goate, and has the stone in its Stomach. which to the beast itselfe <seemes> a disease or a signe of one, for those that have the Stone are very leane, and are deprived of theire haire insomuch that the hunters will not shoot at any but those that are plump <and hairy> as takeing it for granted they have yett noe Bezoor Stones. He positively confirmes [BP 27, p. 100]what I had beene told that those very Animals will not breed such stones without they be fedd with a peculiar sorte of herbe wherewith the Iland abounds whose leafe grows flatt to the ground and are not soe broad as plantine leafes, but resemble most those of Dandilion.

He confirmes that Camphire is gumm of a tree pretty large whereof the best is found in Borneo, where he often saw it growing and where they obtaine it by circular incisions made onely in the knotts, into which they insert broad leaves, for the Camphire which which comes out somewhat liquid, and would otherwise fall of <to> stick to

He alsoe confirmed to me that an oyle smelling almost like Camphire is obtain'd in Cylon from the greene and succulent roote of the Cinamon tree.

The fresh <Thames> water that was carryed to our Ilands from the Downes began to putrify in the caske in about tenn days (if the time be not misremembred) after a while it stunck like Carrion, and lookt almost black, but if the bung were opn'd and it were continually and strongly stirred about with a stick for 5 or 6 houres and then suffered tor rest a while, there præcipitate store of darke coloured fæces to the bottome, and the water will loose all its muddiness and stink, and continue sweet and cleare.

In the same voyage it was observed, that the water carryed in great earthen jarrs did putrify as well as in barrells, which barrells were washt with salt water to make the fresh water keep the longer.

And at Jamaika Dr. [Stubbe] himselfe told mee that in a great bolt (with a long neck) that held about a gallon, the water when it is keept in the hott sun will not putrify, but would if it were kept in the shade:

The same person observed in the same bolt head, that about seven a clock in the morneing when men are ready to faint away for weakness and heate, the water the water was not wont to rise at all in the stem, but about noone, when the fresh winds cooled the aire and made mens bodys strong and lively the water would rise <an inch> an inch, and a halfe sometimes 2 inches, in all these observations the bolt head was kept stopt with a corke.

The same Dr. told me that in one place of the Iland the ships used to furnish themselves with water that will not putrify, that the white wood growing there breeds noe wormes in the water, that the dews alone fertilize many sandy grounds where noe raine falls, and that Lancetts &c. being once exposed to the aire though not used but wiped before they be putt up will contract a rust.

An Ingenious Acquaintance of mine haveing in the Company of a friend to a Neighbour of his in the Countrey, stayd there till it was a pretty while within night; & then he & his friend tooke their leave to walk over the fields, being well acquainted with the way, thô the night was darke. As they were walkeing into a close out of an open place my Acquaintance perceivd <it> very lightsome about him, & imagin'd it to be from the moon which he supposd to gave got from some cloud that hid it before he began to take notice to his friend of the lightsomness of the night but others thinkeing he had jested answer'd him accordingly; & my Acquaintance wonderring at the answer askt him if he did not see such a stile which they were <to> pass over; & his Brothers House which they were goeing to, & stood a pretty distance off on the top of an hillock? upon which the other affirmd he was soe far from seeing either of those things that he could scarce see the path that was under his feet; my Acquaintance turnd back to see whether the Moon did not shine clearly out, but finding nothing in the Sky that was not agreeable to the darkness of the night which his companion asserted he imputed it to something in his Eyes the Light seeming to shine about him which <did not a little surprise his friend & soe as it did not a litt> put him into noe small fright where 'twas great enough to make him see his way & the objects on either side of it, as [BP 27, p. 102][BP 27, p. 103]well as in a clear Moon shine night < He> (for that I particularly askt) till it had brought him to his Brothers House where the light of the Candles & the Discourse this occasion'd kept <him> from takeing notice how long it lasted. I askt him whether he had never <seen> the like apparition since nor before? to the latter part of which question he answerd me negatively; but as to the other part he told me, that once some years before the Accident I have been relateing, as he was rideing in a dark night, he was suddenly amazd to see the way at a pretty distance very plain before him, & even the small stones that chanced to ly here & there in it; whilst one that was along with him could scarce discern a step of his Way, & would not beleive what this Relatour told him, till by clear proofe, he was forc'd to acknowledge it I askt him whether this provd not a Presage of some great Distemper in his Eyes or Body? to which he reply'd that it did not, thô when it first happen'd to him it did not a little terrify him

<J. N. observd> by Tryalls that the seeds of Angelico & those of Coriander kept in a dry place did when the first was 7 or 8 years old, & the other 11 or 12 year old, tast more [BP 27, p. 104]strongly & bitingly on the Tongue, then if they had been gatherd but the same year I tasted them. And Dr. N confirmd me in what I writ in the thirteenth Treatise by assuring me that if the seeds of Angelica & divers other Plants of that species were buryed under Ground 1/2 a foot or a foot, they would not Rot there, but if the Earth they lye in being turnd up, they were exposd to the Aire, as near as seeds use to be when they are sowne, they would Germinate & be fit to produce Plants of their owne kind, as if the seed were not a year old.

Remember the use of Meum      frequently imployd in Scotland with wonderfull Effect to restore & fatten the over wrought & wasted Cattle. Remember also the use of virga Aurea dryd to brew beer with instead of hops

Dr [Collins] confirmd to me from the Relation of an Intelligent Friend of his imployd by the Zaar into Siberia that in some places of that Province the Ground is frozen all the year long as appears in that any time in the summer they dig halfe a yard or 2 foot deepe, notwithstanding which the surface of the ground being thawd in the long summer days they sow & reape Corne very well upon these frozen Lands

He likewise confirmd to <me> that in the year 1664 or, 63. during the long days of summer the season happening to be extraordinarily dry great scopes of Land were set on fire & miserably wasted by the bare heat of the Sun: & he added that the very last year he found the like to have happend in Norway, particularly in a place calld by us Bear Haven; where haveing seene the Ruine of divers wood houses burnd, & inquiring into the Cause he was answerd that the weather haveing been very dry & hot, not only the grasse & such like vegetables were scortch'd up, but those wooden houses among others were set on fire, which was confirmd to him by the Governor of the Place, & countenancd by this Circumstance, that he saw the Country coverd with a fresh & verdent Livery of new-grasse, brought up instead of that which was burnd by some Raines that fell a while before.

He told me also that in Cyberia they have musk animals whose musk he bought at Mosco for about 10 or 11 pound sterl. Rushian pound (which is somewhat above 14 {ounce}) but that in another Province nam'd     where the difference is not so much in the structure of the Animal, as in the goodnes of the soyle & food, they make Musk which they bought for five pound sterl. or lesse in the Pound. He also saw brought from those quarters good Porcellane & Thè, which the bringers affirmed they had fetchd from Catay

He answerd me that he had observd very great Thunders in Rushia, & seene odd Effects of them, & that he had seene divers falling starrs there, & store of great haile which coverd the feild in Summer time, but fell not that he remembers in any other season.

He told me that at the place calld the step upon the edge of the great wildernes he observd <great lumps of saltpetre> near the surface of the Earth, where the Raines had made Gutters that flashd well in the fire & made good Gunpowder of which powder he had pretty store [BP 27, p. 106]& in the houses of some Persons of Quality there abouts, he saw intire Lumps about the bignes of a mans head, which he had not liberty to make tryalls with, but by the solidity & christalline clearnes, tooke it to be rather sal Gem, these Peices were sayd to be dug up about 1/2 a yard or 2 foot beneath the surface of the Ground.

He confirmd to me what he had some years since told me in a Letter that one night which was exceeding cold & clear being awakend out of <his> sleepe by a shok, that had like to have overturnd his sled, he lookd out & saw more starrs by farr then <ever he> had seene in England, or the neighbouring parts of Europe, & particularly that he saw many about the 7 starrs or the Pleiades, & divers others he had not seene before in severall other parts of the sky. He further told me that these starrs seemd farr more beautyfull & bright then was usuall insomuch that he doubts not, that if it had not been for the snow, some of them would have been able to cast a discernable shadow. For confirmation he says <that> the Phænomena were not only taken notice of by him, but by others that traveld with him, & that though he often gaz'd at the sky time that time he never could see <there> near so many starrs nor so bright,

He confirmd to me that a German Chymist refiner to the Zaar affirmd to him that being in Ptermia a Bore brought him about {pound} i of oar which upon Tryall he found to be richer then Sylver, then that of any sylver mine yet known. but when he inquird after this Bore the fellow suspecting some danger would never come at him any more

They give the Odorr to the Rushia Leather with a certaine Tarr, which they make with the barke of Birch-tree, which they imploy as for other uses so to fix the colour in the Leather.

In the Sea of Manar there grows at the bottom great store of Trees bearing leaves allmost like the Laurall tree, & bearing also a certaine fruit. And near Mosambick there grows at the bottom of the sea store of Trees that beare a certaine fruite like small Nuts but round, & some of one colour & some of another.

The <famous> Maldivian Nut. grows under water upon a sort of Cocoe Trees. it has noe distinct shell & kernell when 'tis tak'n out of the water but is soe soft that it may be easily cut with a knife, & is eat'n like other of their fruits but in about a weeke grows solid and soe hard as to require good steele tooles to worke upon it; & if you please to boyle it it will then within some hours acquire that extraordinary hardnesse.

The Tree that bears the leavs of Thee is propagated by cuttings of Branches, as also by laying the growing Branches underground the Leaves are gather'd twice a year & are dry'd very slowly & at length in a stove, but are never expos'd to the sun. The flowers are much more esteem'd than the leavs The Tree grows wild in the Mountaines as well as in gardens; & when 'tis old bears a kind of berry.

There is a Plant almost like Burrage <& call'd Badera, of> whose leavs well beat'n they doe by expression draw an Oyle.

In Cochin in the river of Mangate there is a bird in bignesse & colour not unlike a blacke bird, which during the 4 months of continuall raine in those parts lives <or sleepes> in the water of the River like a fish <thô it be still a Bird, as swallow ar sayd to do>. Macedo affirms <to me> that he has seen them tak'n with nets, & at other times hath seen the same birds upon Trees & has kill'd them there & found noe heat in them. Adding that the Jewes who first told him of it refus'd to eat them in the rainy months because they were Fishes without fins & scales, & consequently unclean, & that in those months the Portugalls eat them on Fish days.

An ey witnesse told me that he had oft'n made use of Sura or sugar made of the Juice of Palme Trees, tis somewhat browne but sweet like our Sugar, & when the Sweetmeats that are made with it were eat'n warme you cold not distinguish them from the same kind of sweet meats made with ordinary sugar, but if they were kept till they were cold they had somewhat a differing tast. the same liquor that lets fall this sura ferments in a [BP 27, p. 108]few hours & grows Vinous, & if it be kept till night turns to strong Vinegar, which he says was the only Vinegar he & others us'd in those Parts.

The Snakes Stones are plentifully found at the Island of Bedez near Goah. Those that are best are tak'n out of the snakes heads; when those beasts being caught in Springes or Gins have their head opn'd being yet alive; The Stones found in dead Serpents (which are the most numerous being oft'n of litle or noe virtue. This man saw many Tryalls of their Efficacy & made some upon himselfe being casually bitt'n; The pain was quickly tak'n off, but the swelling & other Symptoma requir'd the application of the stone for divers hours. He puts it not in milk 'till be tak'n off for good & all. It alsoe cures the biteing of mad Apes which are Venemous like those of the Serpents.

{Recipe} aq. Ceras. nigr. Borrag. Citri {ana} {ounce} iii aq. Cinnam. hord. {ounce} i [margaritae praeparatae] {drachm} ii Sacch. Christ {drachm} x M. F. Julapium.

{Recipe} Conserv. Ros. rubr. {ounce} {half} (vel {drachm} vi) syr. violar. {ounce}i, contandantur simul & per setaceum traiiciantur. dein ad. Syr. de Mecurio {ounce} i, seminum Papav. albi aq. Lactricæ irrorat. contus. & deinde trajectorum {drachm} iii, ol. nuc. Mosch. per Express. parati gr vi

{Recipe} the differing salts of the Caput mortuum of {aqua fortis}.

{Recipe} the separation of parts in the Essence of Violets made in Languedock

{Recipe} the Juice of 2, 3, 4 Oranges to be given at a time cold, or at most Lukewarme, in small Beere or ale for a good continuance &c.

An Acquaintance of mine answerd me that upon the coast of Brasil <in> the Rio de San Francesce, he had met with many torpedo's, & thô he dust not touch any of them (,out of an excessive fearfulnes) because in that place at some times of the year some of them are observd to be Venemous yet when he pulld back the lines that held the hookes at which they hung, he presently found his hand & Arme benum'd, & grow both very weeke & Affected with such a pricking paine as if a multitude of litle Ants ( <as> he expressd it) were got within his Arme. <Another> who had often fishd for them in the coast of Affrick told me that when he & others did (which was there way of takeing them) strike them with speares at a pretty depth under water, the hand & Arme that held the speare, would presently be affected with a weeknes, & with a pricking paine like that of an Arme asleep; but the paine was not great nor accompanyd with much coldnes. nor was the weaknes such as hinderd him to pull up the fish with the spear.

An Eye witnes told me that the Diamond of Don Phillippo Mascanni, Governor of Goa, weighd 32 gr. & did actually shine in the darke (& not by Reflection) as himselfe had observd by the great Light it would cast on Paper near it, & the Governor haveing dropd it when he livd with him in a magazine, & missing it when he was returnd thence to [BP 27, p. 110]supper, sent his servant to seeke it, with direction not to enter in with a Light, but to find it out in the darke by its owne; which he accordingly did. The same person answerd me that he divers times saw the famous diamond of the King of Pegu, which was far bigger then that former & of much more value, & by which the Relator saw in a darke roome soe great a light cast upon Paper, that if it had been written upon he could have read the writinge.

One that livd in Guiny <confirmd to> me that oyle of Cacoes is made by expression like that of Almonds, but then the Coco's must be somewhat old, else they yeild milke insteed of oyle. & that the Palme oyle that come from Guiny is made by boyling of a peculiar kind of small coco that are too dry & hard to be eaten

One that was in hot weather <(but in March)> for 12 or 14 days becalmd in the Bay of Bisky (soe famous for stormes answer'd me that the sea for want of motion, & by reason of the heat began to stinck so much, that he thinks, if the calme had continued much longer the stanch would have poisond him: <and> They were freed from it as soone as the wind began to agitate the water & <had> breake the superficies, which also drove away store of <Sea> Tortoises, & <a also sort of> fish <(whose English name I know not)> that lay basking before on the Top of the water.

Fresh water will putrifie in Earthen Jarrs & stinck almost like Carryon, but being once recoverd, will not in those Vessells putrifie againe.

The most usuall Cask for our fresh water is Oake, but much the best for long voyages is made with chesnut tree.

An acquaintance of mine saw divers peices of corrall brought up out of the sea of a hard & stony consistence, when they just gatherd, & of a red but pale colour, but this heighthen'd in the aire to deeper red, divers of these peices had barke of the same colour upon them, but there was not perceivd any thing of milke or fruite.

About 10 at night in June the <sea> water beateing against the beach at or neare     seemd to sparkle tho the weather were calme enough & without haveing any regard to the wind. The Light was so great the observeing Relator told me that he stoopd to take up some Luminous parts upon the seaside thinking they had been glowormes & if touchd the wetted stones with his stick they seeme to strike fire, & his urine falling into the sea water sparkld so much as made him brag he could pisse fire.

Remember the solid salt at a certaine seasons of the year, as also the Amber found on divers sea shores. Two parts of Aq. fortis or spirit of nitre abstracted with a strong fire at last (else the best will be left behind) from one part of decripitated salt was the menstruum I usd to get the flores of antimony, of which I had not above {ounce} i out of {pound} i, the remaining substance may be for 1/4 or 1/2 hower well ignited in a Crucible (after haveing been diligently dulcifyd with Ablutions with faire water) to drive away what fugitive saline Particles <may> have remaind. The <{ounce} i of> flores is to be sublimd once per se to free it from the fæculent Part.

{Recipe} two parts of Brick dust to one of the dry Salt made to run afterwards per deliquium, mingle these together & with a naked fire distill Gently first the flegme, & then without changing the Receiver, drive with a strong fire the spirit into the flegme.

There is upon the coast of Africk a certaine kind of shell fish bigger then a mans fist, & furnishd on the outside with prickles almost like an hedgehog. the meat at a certaine season lookes like yolkes of Eggs & tasts more like them then like fish (& is therefore by the seamen calld the Eggfish) but if it be opend at other seasons as has been purposely dryd, the meat is of dirty grey colour & of a quite differing tast.

A Freind of mine that had many Eggs to hatch in a peculiar kind of digestive Furnace, found above halfe a score or a dozen to have attained in the shell not only all their Limbs, but Feathers too, though this were in February. But these Chickens were much smaller than Eggs hatcht by Hens are wont to produce, & none of them were able to make its way out of the shell; nor was taken out thence alive.

Asking a great Traveller in both Indies whether he had not observed in Fishes either with or without shells that there were sensible changes produced in them at the New or full Moon. He answered me that there were, and more particularly not very farr from Goa, there was a Fish somewhat bigger than a Salmon, & there called Serres which at the New moone was of soe flaccid & Mankish a Tast, that neither others nor he could endure to eat it; which yet at or neare the full Moone was in request for good Meat, & on the contrary there were other Fishes which were only in season at or about the New Moone.

Talking to the same Person of the little Fish that staines Purple, he told me that at     in the East Indies he had seen such a fish wherewith the Natives used to staine their Callicoes of a fine Violett.

Inquireing of him whether in Brasiel the Air had not a great Influence upon colours of Flowers he told me it had, and even upon Blacks insomuch that a kind of black Taffity which is the usuall Wear of the better Sort will after it hath been worne a very few Dayes degenerate into an Ironish colour, yet he answered that in the Shops where it is carefully kept from the Air it is of a good Black. Nor is it only upon the colours of Stuffs but of Animalls too that he sayes the Brasilian Air has an operation For he sayes that at a place 50 Leagues beyond Parigua there is a Region where White People doe in a very short Time grow Basannez thô a little way out of that Particular Region, as for Instance beyond it they quickly recover their wonted Colour.

At Magoti Javana in the midst of the Island Dr. [Stubbe] affirmes to me that the raine in two hour time will settle about the Seames of Cloths, & turn into small Maggots, thô it doe soe noe where else in the Island, & yet this is an healthy place being a Tract of about 12 or 14 miles of ground.

The same Dr. told me that when he lay in his Hamack about 3 or 4 foot from the Ground thô he had much clothes under him he felt it cold beneath & hot above.

He inform'd me that a Turky would lay about 200 Eggs in a Night, they lay them in the Sun & cover them, & the Sun Hatches them, as it alsoe doth those of the Aligators

Being askt by me whether he found any sensible & peculiar operation of the new or full Moone upon the Sea or Fishes at Jamaica, he answered me that he observd those they call Sea Eggs to be manifestly & indeed almost incredibly fuller at one Season of the Moon, (but at the New <or Full> he could not certainly remember) than at the other . Soe he had alsoe seen Crabs at one differing Season of the year, & Oysters Green & well tasted at one time of the Moone (he thinks 'twas the Full) & at the other very luscious & not greene, Experto crede.

Enquireing of an eminent Navigator whether he had <not observed> in great Calms the Sea it selfe to ferment & stink? He answered me that he had been once for some weekes together becalm'd in the long Reach as the Seamen call it & that he observ'd the Sea to be very frothy as if it had been Working & to exhale a very ill sented Vapour.

I learn'd further from him on this occasion that he had divers times found long Calms to have been more fatall to his Seamen than he could have apprehended looseing considerable numbers of them before he had time (to use his owne Expression) to looke about him. And he told me that some times he observ'd them to dy not of any precedent manifest disease or Weaknesse [BP 27, p. 115]but as they were eating their meat they were suddenly surpriz'd with a Faintnesse that quietly ended in Death.

A noble & inquisitive Person <assur'd> me that some years since being upon the borders of Catalonia there happend a very terrible thunder to shelter themselves from which 3 Mule keepers 2 of which belonged to his father & one to himselfe being abroad on the feilds to look to their Lords mules betook themselves (to <avoid> the storm) <to> the shelter of a great tree upon which soon after the thunder falling one of them was strook dead without <appearing ne to> have <any> visible hurt upon the outside of his Body <an> other seem'd to be killd too but the third being more frighted than harm'd soon after escaped away to the neighbouring Camp to bring the news to the Relatour who attended his father (then cheife Commander of the Forces there) to the place where among other odd things which I must not stay to sett down, the <noble> Relatour <found> one of the two Men that < no> had been <suppos'd> to be dead ( <which> the other of them really was) to have been but stun'd & wounded the thunder seemeing to have made a great gash in the hinder part of his head & struck him dumb, which he continued to be many moneths after his wound was heald: <The> other odd observation for whose sake I cheifely sett down this story, was this that the Relatour & others lookeing up did easily perceive where the thunder Bolt had made its way thorow the branches of the great Tree & lookeing downwards they perceived an hole in the ground which they guessd it had made whereupon finding by thrusting down a Pike into it that it was deep, they tooke a care to have the ground digg'd along the Ductus of that hole & by that time they had dugg about 9 or 10 foot they came to a stone which had the marks of <that which> men call a Thunder Bolt <for> besides the Circumstances that inducd them to digg it up I enquird [BP 27, p. 116]particularly whether there were near about it any other Stones of the like kind & whether it <were heavy &> had a Sulphureous smell to the first of which Questions I was answerd that they found noe Stone in that place anything like it & to the other it was replyed that the Stone was very ponderous & did rankly stink of Brimstone.

An eminent Canary Merchant that livd long in those Isles related to <me> that sayleing <about> the year 1640 a good many Leagues off the Island Tercera (one of the Azores) the Captain of the Ship told him that they were then just over the Place were 2 or 3 year before there had happend soe terrible <& lasting> an eruption of fire from the Bottom of the Sea (which the Merchant answerd me he tooke to be there above 150 fathom deep) that besides the great numbers of fish that it killd many of which were taken up dead & as it were parboild, it had thrown up soe vast a quantity of Pumice & other Stones that overtopping the surface of the Sea they constituted a rocky Island, which continued there a pretty while but afterwards was overwhelmed by the Sea & seen noe more.

The same Person resideing in the Isle of Tenerifee (one of the Canaries) (famous for the hight of its Pico) when the neigbouring Island of Palma was on fire being askt of me among many other questions how long that Conflagration lasted answer'd that it was near 14 Weeks before 'twas quite extinguisht.

(And on the occasion of Vulcans he told me that in the Island of St Nigoet, (in the Azores) he had in goeing 3 or 4 leagues met with 6 or 7 Vulcanian mouthes at which from time to time smoake & Ashes were puffed out)

He likewise answer'd me that he had attempted to ascend up to the Top of the Pike, but could scarce get up above halfe way being by the sharpness of the Air put into great fits of Vomiting. In the makeing <of> their <true> Canary Wine at Tenneriffe he answerd me that <to> that whence they hope to make the richest Wine they adde by sprinkling either halfe a pound or a pound at the most of gesso to as many Grapes as they think will yeild a <But of Wine. He alsoe told me that when if when the wine was not fully setled but was about a moneth old the Pipe runnd I unskilfully roul'd thô but the but the length of a Hall within a Ring we then were in it would make such a soe rude a Commotion as when the bung came to be opened to throw violently out a Gallon or two of Wine into the unwary Openers face or else if it were kept too close stopt it would divers often times beat out the very bottom of the Vessel by which means very many a Pipe of Wine hath been lost of both which cases he told me he was an Eye witness.>

A Person of Quality to whom I am near allyed related to me that to make a tryall whether a young Bloud-hound were well instructed, as the Huntsmen call it made, <he> caused one of his Servants who had not killd or soe much as toucht any Dear to walk to a Countrey Town four Mile off & then to a Market Town 3 miles distant from thence which done this Noble-man did a <competent> while after put the Bloud-hound upon the Sent of a man & causd him to be followd by a Servant or two the Master himselfe thinkeing it alsoe fit to goe after them to see the event which was <that> the Dog without ever seeing the Man he was to pursue followed him by the sent to both the above mention'd Places notwithstanding the Multitude of Market People that went along in the same way & of Travellers that had occasion to cross it And when the Bloud-hound came to the cheife Market-Town he passed through the Streets without takeing <notice> of any of the People there & left not till he had gone to the house where the man he sought rested himselfe & found him in an upper room to the wonder of those that had follow'd him. The Particulars of this Narrative the Nobelmans wife a Person of great veracity that happen'd to be with him when the tryall was made confirm'd to me.

Enquireing of a studious Person that was Keeper of a Red Deer Park, & vers'd in makeing Blood-Hounds <in> how long <time after Man or a> Deer had passd by a grassy place one of those Doggs would be able to follow him by the Sent, he told me that it would be 6 or 7 hours (whereupon a ingenious Gentleman that chancd to be present & liv'd near that Park assured us both that he had old Doggs of soe good a Sent, that if a Buck had the Day before pass'd into a Wood they will when they come where the Sent lyes, though at such a distance of time after it presently find the Sent & run directly to that part of the Wood where the Buck is) he alsoe told me that thô <in> an old Blood-Hound will not soe easily fix upon the sent of a single Deer, that presently hides himselfe in a whole herd yet [BP 27, p. 118]if the Deer be chasd a little till it be heated the Dogg will goe nigh to single him out thô the whole herd also be chasd. The above nam'd Gentleman then affirm'd that he could easily distinguish whether his Hounds were in chase of an Hare or of a Fox by their way of running & by their holding up their noses higher than ordinary when they pursue a Fox, whose scent is more strong.

They both answer'd me that in frosty Weather the Scent Lyes butt a little, & that a little rain makes it ly better but that excesive rain drownes it quite. They alsoe both told me that good Spaniels as Faulconers generally affirm will <manifestly> take notice of the Places where Partridges have Lain the day after they have been gone from thence.

Two very sober persons that have, especially one of them, often try'd it, affirm'd to me (in answer to a question of mine) that they find the Spots made in Linnen by the Juyces of fruit particularly that of red Currans in straining baggs will best wash out (nay scarce otherwise) at the time of the year when those Fruits are in Season the ensueing year.

I saw a Crab totally petrefy'd Solid spunge growing <like> a Tree <upon> a white Stone & hollow Spunge (i.e.) <> with a great Cylindricall Cavity growing alsoe like a Tree which was in great part rooted upon an oyster shell. I saw likewise a Sharks Tooth perfectly the same as to Shape with the Glosso Petra of Shereness & some that were brought from Malta. I saw likewise an empty shell of a Helmetts Stone, & compar'd it with another almost of the same bigness that was turn'd, together with what fill'd it, into Flint. I saw alsoe a fair black Corall Tree some long Gourds & crooked that are quite hollow within, & of a Cylindricall Shape when open at both ends the Indians use them for Trumpetts & if stopt for Vessells to carry Water in I saw likewise the Bill of a very large Bird that had a double Beak whereof the uppermost was somewhat shorter than the other but very capacious, <which> when the Bird was alive used to be kept full of Water I saw likewise the Egg of a     -way which was somewhat less than that of an Ostrich, but curiously speckled with multitudes of small specks. I saw also the Leggs of those two great Birds, & the Ant Bear, as they call it together with the heads of a common Buffalo & an African one which latter was towards the roots broader flatter & furrowed

An Eminent Person complained to me that haveing in his Youth taken a churlish Vomit of Crocus Metallorum in White Wine it left soe deep an impression upon him, that though he were a robustrous Person & a Traveller yet for 20 nay 30 years after he could not endure to drink White Wine which now at length he is reconcild to.

Lookeing upon a parcell of <rough> Diamonds which an Acquaintance of mine received lately from East India there were some of them that lookt like ordinary Pebble Stones or very great Gravell without regular Shape 2 or 3 of them seemeing to have been formed in too strait & irregular a mold or to have been broken oftimes when they were taken from the Rock or Stone they grew in Among these there were some as clear & colourless as Chrystall another there was about the bigness of my rough Diamond that was shaped like it but had <divers> parts of it here & there that lookt of a reddish yellow but the fairest Diamond was one that had a very yellow water & was bigger than an Hasell nutt weighing as <the Owner> told me eleven Carects <For> this Stone seem'd to be made up of 2 Pyramids whose Bazes met in the middle each Pyramid consisting of 4 Triangular Sides <whose Angles> met regularly in an Apexe that seemd to be perpendicular to the midd'st of the Imaginary Plain that served for Bazes to both Pyramidall Bodies

Enquireing of Major Toms about the Animalls in New England he told me he had severall times observd one peculiar for ought he knows to that Countrey they call it a Skonke 'tis something lesse than an Hare of the Size & Shape of a large Rabbet the Colour Pyebald & the Tail like that of a Fox this Animall makes Burroughs but they are not [BP 27, p. 120]deep nor much windeing into which if it be pursued by other Animalls, Nature has given it the Defence of a certain Liquor of soe stinking a <sent> that this diligent Person <assurd> me that neither he nor any of his Family could for 3 Weekes endure the approach of a Dog that had been perfumed with it.

Captaine Pride told me, that being in the Red Sea where he sometimes traded he learnd that there were <somewhat> near the Mouth of that Sea divers great bancks of a certain white Stone growing in branches like Corrall, (but very much bigger than the largest colourd Corrall) which makes seamen call those places the Banks of white Corrall. These he sayes being fetcht up by Divers are carried to Batavia because being burnt they make a strong & excellent Lime made use of for the cheife Buildings of that <famous> Place where he has been & near which ( nor within many Leagues <distance from it>) he sayes they have not yet been able to find any Stones fit to build with

The E of W shewing me the other day his little Pond where his Horses are wont to be watred, affirmd to me (as did alsoe my Sister) that haveing a few years since put into it a single Male & a single Female Carp & finding them at 3 years end to have greatly multiplyd, he did out of curiosity cause all the Water to pass out of the Pond, & the Fishes to be taken up that he may know their number; which amounted to above 4000 besides those many that got out with the Water at the Sluce when that was opened.

The same Person likewise informs me that haveing some few years since causd a Salt Marsh now about 9 score Acres to be draind & sow'd with Barley, it has yeilded him one Acre with another about 9 or 10 Seam as they here call it that is 80 or 90 Bushells upon an Acre.

Makeing severall Inquirys of an observing Sea Captain ( <N> Parricke) Captain of an East India Ship newly returnd from the South Sea I had in Substance these Answers.

That he had divers times seen toward the South Pole the Clouds that some few Navigators mention to be there & to move about the Pole in 24 hours. <That> He began to discover that plainly <when he was in> about 18 degrees, (as I remember,) of South Latitude. <That> they were white, in number three (thô two of them be not very distinct from each other) the greatest being far from the South Pole, the other not many degrees remoter than that Starr which of the conspicuoust ones they reckon to be nearest to the Pole thô it be about 11 degrees distant from it / He sayes some call them the Magellanik Clouds, for my part I should guess that if they were lookt on through a good Telescope they would be found Constellations of small & singly inconspicuous Starrs, like those of the Galaxy the Belt of Orion &c.

He answerd me that that part of the Milky way which <is to be seen> not upon our Horizon (for he says, the Galaxy is a Circle) he hath severall times observd in the Southern Hemisphe[re] two or three places that lookt like Clouds, & mov about regularly with the white part of the Circle 24 hours. But these are not black but blew & seem to be but perforations thorow the milky way (ie) parts of the Azure Sky, that are sufferd to be seen by the discontinuations of the parts of the Galaxy.

He observd noe dipping of the magnetick Needle towards the Southern Pole, nor any vareing about to the Points.

He answerd me that in the vast Ocean betwixt the Cape of Good Hope & India (especially Bantam) he found the needle to vary often & sometimes many degrees (& this far from any Shore) [BP 27, p. 122]insomuch that they differd 16 or 17 degrees of what it was in someone other.

He told me that in the Venetian Gulph which he much practisd, he often found the Needle to vary 1, 2, or 3 degrees in sayling but a few hours, & then perhaps it would return to its former Declination, & this Extravagancy he observd to happen more than once in a days time.

He answer'd me that in the South Sea he likewise observd the Sea to shine very much, & especially with Westerly Winds as in our Hemisphere he observd it to doe most with Southerly Winds. Some times it would shine, not only in the way of the Ship, or where the Water was broken, but at a great distance off in calm Weather upon the least breath of Wind that would but curl the water

He further answerd me that takeing it up oftentimes in the hollow'd Palm of this Hand it would there continue to shine, & thô at other times the Water would not shine ev'n in the Ships way where it was broken by the Prow.

He told me that the greatest Thunders he had ever met with in the South Sea, or elsewhere he heard upon the Coast of Sumatra, where the Lightnings would be soe numerous that the whole Sky seem'd to be fire, & where he saw many great fiery Balls, (as it were) passing to & fro through the Air, but could never perceive that any Thunder Stones fell.

He told me that the changes of the Air were very great & very frequent passing the Line, & that the greatest depth of the Sea he found by sounding was a good way off the Cape of Good Hope he had sometimes <an> 100 & sometimes 120 fathom, beyond which depth <of the sea> he made noe Tryalls.

The 2 Capt. P's confirmd to me what had been long since told me about Butter, For the eldest told <me> that near the Line & in other parts of the Indies in very hot weather, even our English Butter would [BP 27, p. 123]be fluid, & was wont to be taken up with Ladles, & the younger affirmd to me that tho the English at Bantam are able by some Artifices to keepe the Butter in almost as firme a Consistence as in Europe; yet the Common Natives that are not carefull to keepe their Butter coole, & doe not Salt It, have their Butter always fluid & take it up with Spoones or Ladles.

Beyond the Cape of good Hope sailing in the south seas <old> Capt. Pr. made Tryalls of the motion of the upper part of the water above the Lower, where sometimes casting out a large & heavy Plummet he let it downe to severall depths short of 50 fathom, without any sensible operation upon the motion of the Boat or shallop <he> stood in to make the Tryall, But when he let downe the Plummet lower to about a 100 fathom or more, then he found that tho the Plummet reachd not to the Bottom of the Water yet upon the score of the standing water beneath the superior water would make the boat turne towards the Tide or Currant as if it lay at Anchor & the water would run by the side of the Boat at the rate of about 3 mile an hower.

The young Capt. Pa. answerd me that in the southerne hemisphære, the starrs of that nothorne Constellation, which they calld the great Bear, did appear to him manifestly lesse, then in the Northern hemisphære & that the Sun did often rise from the sea ovall, but presently recoverd his roundnes as soone as he was but a very litle way above the Horizon.

Capt Pr. answerd me, that he had seene that Part of the Cape of good hope which they call the Table Land, near 50 miles of in a moone shiny night & that comeing near enough to it in a ship, he tooke the measure of it, & found it to be a mile in perpendicular height above the surface of the sea which he tooke for his Basis, He added that he could see the Island S. Helena from the Topmast of a ship, when he was faine to sayle 65 mile before he could make any part of it bare South of him.

Capt. Petr: answerd me that he had himselfe observd the Thames water brought back from the Indies to emit upon the first opening of the Tap (the Cask haveing been very close & tight) a certain vapour which by the flame of a Candle would be kindled & burn for a little while like Spirit of Wine, And he further answerd me that he had made the like observation in other Water besides Thames Water. The Cask was made of well seasond Oak.

Capt. Pa. answer'd me that they kept their Beer drinkable whilst they sayld through the Torrid Zone by burying the Cask pretty deep in the Ballast of the ship.

He also answer'd me that he had seen that fiery meteor the Mariners call Corpo Santo, & the Meteorologists Helena, fasten'd itselfe as it were to the Top Mast of the Ship & continued there for a good while without doeing any harm thô it appeard much bigger than the flame of a Candle & seemd to burn all the while.

Capt. Pe. told me that <foot> Beefe well sav'd & salted & press'd freed from the superfluous Pickle would as he had try'd, keep good for two year ev'n in East-Indian Voyages.

Inquiring of that old navigator Capt. Proud whether < & ho> he had taken the Variation of the Compasse <at the Cape of good hope> <& whether, if at all, he had taken it more than once. To which> he answerd, that he had often done it, whereupon asking him what he found the Variation to be, & whether he had observd any change of <It> in his severall Voyages, he replyd that when he was a young seaman he observd the variation to be about 2 degrees Westward, and afterward during many years that he sayld to & fro t'wixt East India & Europe, he found the Variation to increase by degrees, & whereas he had learnd from Antient Writings & the Tradition of old seamen, that before his time, they had found no Variation at all, he about 15 year agoe (which was the last time he tooke It) found it by accurate Instruments to be 6 degrees, & about 48 minutes. So that during the time that he practisd the seas about the Cape of good hope, the variation <still> Westward had decreasd near 5 degrees.

And when I askd him about the greatest Declination of the neddle in the southerne Hemisphære, which I had learnd by other Inquiriys to be about the Island Mauritius, he Answerd me that he had severall times observd it, sometimes at sea, & sometimes at shoare, <at> a lesser Island, depending upon that, & found <the needle> in no long tract of time, to vary a degree or better from its first declination; so that in i voyage he found it 24 & in another 25 degrees westward.

And when I askd him, whether he did not observe a quicker <change> of the Declination in the same climates then in others, he replyd that somewhat near the Line he usually observed, that the Variation [BP 27, p. 126]alterd near a Degre in sayling about 100 Leagues, whereas near the Tropick <or without it> he was wont to sayle litle lesse than 200 Leagues to find the declination vary a degree.

Meeting with a Sea-Capt. [Parrick]) that is newly come home from some lesse frequented parts of the East Indys & haveing Inquird of him, whether he had taken the Variation of the Compas, at the Cape of good hope <he told me he had done it both goeing & comeing &> it once, five degrees & a half, & another six degrees.

And when I inquird of him about the Variation of the Compasse at Mauritius Island, he told me that he found there the greatest Declination in the southern hemisphare, the needle declining 23 or 24 degrees (for he had not probably his Journalls with him <to determine whether>,) to the Westward.

Haveing also learnd of him, that he had been at newfound-Land, & observd the variation of the Compasse there <I askd him what it was, & he told me th> that he found <it> to be westward, & to amount to no lesse then 23 degrees.

I know an eminent Physitian who though he be a robustious man & a great Traveller has yet such an <horrour> at the sight of a Toad that if at any time he lookes attentively upon one (that is anything near him) it sets him a Vomiting as if he had taken an Emetick

There is now a Lawyer at Bristoll whose name is Mr     who as the foremention'd Dr. his particular freind <told> shews me has soe great an Antipathy to a Breast of Mutton that he is very sick at ready to swound at the sight of it, & yet if it be <carvd> into Bones, he cannot only endure it, but (as the Dr has seen him doe) [BP 27, p. 127]eat of it.

In Muscovy they make a kind of Tarr of the Birch Tree much after the same manner that else where they make it of the Firr tree.

This Day about 3 a Clock in the Afternoon we tryed the Prince of Tuscanys broad Concave. Within less than a Minute it <would> make the Pales of the Garden 'twas in to smoak copiously & sometimes it produced an Actuall Flame of noe very small size. Holding a Shilling to the Point of Concourse it would discolour it & neal it a little but it would well neal the brass Wier by which the Shilling was held. It would very readily melt an Indian Mettall (Teutinagg) that was held to it. It gave a blew Colour to a peice of Brass or Copper of about the thickness of a Shilling & made it much more flexible than before but would not at all melt it nor a Plate of like thickness of the other newly named Mettall. It readily melte a Sheet of leafe Gold, but not soe readily a Sheet of Leafe Silver. I had nothing but a String where with to measure the distance betwixt the Focus & the Glass, which I found to be about 11 foot (an Inch or two more or less)

With the other great Mettalline Concave we tryed between 3 & 4 a Clock that this Speculum would not melt a Queen Elizabeths Sixpence but only made it Smoake & neal it a little & discolourd it on both sides but it presently melted down the edge of a Groat & the Beam being cast upon a good & not overworn Groat, melted a round hole in the middle of it in less than halfe a minutes by my Minute-Watch. It alsoe melted down though not suddenly a peice of the Specular mettall consisting of 5 parts of one Ingredient to two of the other which was the White. In These operations the Brass Wier that held the expos'd Bodies was soe neal'd as to be very flexible though the other part of the same Wier to which the Beams reached not continued very stiffe.

I caused also a small English Loadstone [BP 27, p. 128]uncappt (being about the bigness of an Hazell Nutt) to be tyed with Wier & exposed to the point of Concourse where it emitted a pretty store of Smoake & continued to send forth some Smoake for a considerable while & at length began, though not to drop <drop> yet to melt in one place where a fluxed matter remaind afterward upon the Stone

Note First that the Artificer confess'd to me that the Princes Speculum was soe little Concave that it would not send forth an Image but soe confusd, that 'twas not worth lookeing after 2dly that haveing causd a Body to be tyed with a peice of Wier the other End whereof was held by a pare of Players that the observer might not burn his Fingers by the Heat of the Sun Beams upon the Body to be burnt the heat being communicated but by the slender Wier to the Players did yet convey soe much heat to them that for a pretty while after I could not hold the Players between my Fingers.

I tooke a Gloworme & haveing with a paire of scissers clipd off the Luminous Tayle, I found it continued to shine almost if not quite as well as before, I also squeezd out the yellow & Juicy matter that remaind in the other part of the Glo-wormes Body, which matter, was also Luminous, tho somewhat les then the Tayle. I was when these Tryalls were made a bed, when after I had within the drawne Curtains contemplated them <for a while the Luminous Juice> was put into a glasse of faire water, where it continued to shine as before, & <upon> the tayle of the Insect, was dropd a litle spirit of Sal Armmoniack <which> presently made it shine farr more vividly then before. This Luminousnes it retained for a good while till I fell asleep, & when as soone as I awaked the next morning I had them brought to my bed that I might looke upon them within the Curtaines, before the day Light had indisposd my Eyes to discern such faint <Lights> I found that the yellow matter underwater, had not lost its shining, & the Tayle moistned with the saline spirit showne very vividly in that degree of Light & after I was up & ready, I saw it shine, not in spight of the daylight,

Dr. G. brought me the following account. He was calld to a man that had been long sick of a flux of Blood at the Hæmorrhoids, which in process of time brought him to great weakness; & this was accompanyed with a very frequent procidentiâ Ani, which would sometimes happen to him 5 or 6 times in a day) which <would> soe torment him that he would wish for death to ease him. When the Dr came to him his Intestinum Rectum was swell'd, & lookt soe ill as pityed him & frighted him together. But when he had anointe'd the part with our Balsom of Sulphur made with express'd oyle & continu'd for divers days the application as well to the outside of the Gutt, when the prolapses requird it, as <well as> to the orifices & neighbouring parts of the Hæmorrhaidall Veins, the Tumor, & Pain, & flux of Blood in a short time did by degrees cease & left the Patient recoverd, as he still continues.

This Dr was also call'd to a Woman that was much troubled with a <swelling> in her mouth, & with an odd Distemper in the Coutrys where he practises Suffolk and Norfolk, the common People call it Figgit, which, when they are abed causes such a tingling & troublesom itching in severall parts of their Body as <forces the Patients out of their Beds &> & often drives them to keep their Beds <again>. Of both these Inconveniences the Dr affirms that he cured a great many by the use of Ens Veneris.

The Same Physitian <Dr G> related to me that being call'd to a young woman that seemd to be almost ready to dy of a violent but not ancient Æsthma he gave her upon my recommendation 20 drops of Sp: Sanguinis humani which restord her her freedom of breathing almost like a charm (to use his expression) And when long after it happend that she fell into another Fit, he being again sent for did by the like dose of the same Spirit free her from it almost in a trice.

He also told me that he found <very> good Effects of the Millipedes I commended for the sharp humors of the Eyes

Haveing had occasion to buy some Bezoar Stones I had the opportunity of <viewing> at a Curious Druggists a great number of them which were newly brought in severall parcells directly out of the East Indies; & had a great appearance of being right or genuine. And I generally observd them whose figures were less irregular, to be either oblong or almost Cylindricall, or somewhat near an ovall shape or that of a Rabbets Kidney And all the kinds did as far as I could judge agree in this, that their outer coats were darker colour'd than those of American Bezoar Stones use to be; & that they were not only smooth but as it were polish'd And lastly, that in those which were broken either by chance or design, the stone appear'd to consist of Coats or Rinds embraceing one another, almost as in an Onion, which Coats in most Stones, but not in all, were of the same colour, & in very many of them the inner Coats seem'd smoothe <or> polisht as well as the Outer. Awhile [BP 27, p. 131]after haveing the opportunity of breakeing & causeing to be broken, whilst I was present another parcell of Eastern Bezoar Stones that seemd to be true, I was confirmd in my former observations, & particularly tooke notice of these 2 things. The one, that in the middle of almost every Stone there was a kind of kernell, that was sometimes loose from the environing part of the Stone, & sometimes also smooth & as it were polisht like the outside of the Shell; of which sort I keep one by me, that is part in the shell, & part out of it. The other thing that I tooke notice of was, that sometimes these kernells <or> rather these internall Substances were not of any matter homogeneous to the Stone, but quite of another nature; as I remember that in an oblong one that I broke I found a straite long & slender peice of stick about which the Stone was concreted; & the like texture I observd in divers other stones that were broken

An eminent Physitian affirm'd to me that <in Spain> at St John de Luz in Biscay he had seen live Batts as bigg as Hens, one of which sort I saw that was brought from the East-Indies but dead)

The same curious Person told me that he saw at     the Skin of a true Unicorn; and when I inquird about the shape &c he answer'd, that the Animalls Shape Bignes, & Hair was much like a large Goat, & that in the middest of the forehead about 2 or 3 fingers above the Eyes it had an Horn about 2 foot long or better but differing in shape from the Horns <(or teeth of seamonsters)> that are wont to pass for those of Unicorns. For this Horn at the bottom [BP 27, p. 132] <was> nubbed round about like a Staggs Horn & was divided by divers transverse circles parallel to each other like the points of a Cane; of which those <nearer> the root were still nearer one another; & the remotest from the root was the longest of all the Horn.

I know a Lady very curious about Physicall things who has more than once had a Distemper which (whether Critically or Symptomatically) producd in the Habit of the Body divers odd tumors, some of which would break & run, & others not) <were she> cured , ( as herselfe assurd me) only by first applying to the Tumors Plates of Lead of the thickness of ordinary Sheat-lead; which would take them down by degrees in no very long time: & upon the Sores made with those that were broken, she afterwards apply'd, instead of Plates of Lead Plates of Gold by which alone they were all heal'd up

Inquiring of an Intelligent Gentleman that was imployd to the River of Gambra, & sayld up 700 miles in it, in a Frigat of 80 Tun whether he had observd that in the sea even of those hot Climates wine may be preservd coole he told me that it might, & that by the meanes I hinted to him, which was, to let downe when the ship came to an Anchor in the Evening severall Bottles full of wine <(they usd that of Madera)> exactly stopt, to ten, 12, or 14 fathoms depth, whence being the next morning drawne up they found the Wine coole and fresh <(as if the vessells had been drawne up out of a well),> provided it were presently drunk for if that Circumstance were omitted the heat of the Aire <& of> the upper part of the water would quickly warme the Liquor. Butter also <might> be made in Guiny provided the Arts of keeping creame coole were usd, but this Butter tho for about 2 howers it may keepe its consistence within which time our English were wont to eat it, yet soone after t'would melt.

Beyond the Cape of Good Hope into the South Seas, made Tryalls of the motion of the upper part of the Water above the Lower, where sometimes casting out a large & heavy Plummet, he let it down to severall depths short of 50 fathom, without any sensible operation upon the motion of the Boat or Shallop, he stood in to make the Tryall; but when he let down the Plummet lower to about a 100 fathom or more, then he found that thô the Plummet reachd not to the Bottom of the Water, yet upon the score of the standing Water beneath, the Superior Water would make the Boat turn towards the Tide or Current as if it lay at Anchor & the Water would run by the side of the Boat at the rate of about 3 mile an hour.

The same Person confirmd to me That if the Raine that fell in Guiny upon our mens woollen Cloaths, were not timely washd off, it would quickly breed wormes or maggots there.

He answerd me that in Guiny he never saw nor heard of any Golden Mine, found in that Country, all the Gold the natives get there being taken out of the Sand (,which uses to be finer then ordinary sand, & is often of a blewish colour) but above the Cataracts of the Rivers he presumes there may be Golden Mines whence this graine Gold may be washd

He also answerd me that he had never seene, or heard of any Snow or Ice in Guiny but that in some parts of Barbary wherein the Plaines & vallys he found the heat scarce supportable he could see the Tops of the mountaines coverd with snow, in which state they continud all the year.

He furthar answerd me that tho not in Guiny, yet in some parts of Barbary he found the sand where it lay constantly exposd to the sun <so> very hot, that he was once or twice faine to run near a quarter of a mile to a shelterd place [because] if he did but walke the heat of the sand would scorch his feet quite thro the soles of his shoes.

The same gentleman answerd me that he had divers of his Nigro slaves, severall time brought to bed when he was by, & that he sufficiently observd that within 24 howers or lesse after they came into the world, the Infant were as black as their Parents

An eminent French Physitian related to me <upon> an occasion of my Paradoxes about Flame & some Questions I made him about them, that in a mountain <calld in French)>      & in Latine Montilium, in the Province of Dauphine; as he was undressing himselfe at night he perceivd many Sparks, & sometimes as if Flashes of Fire proceed first from his cloathes & then from his shirt as he pull'd them off; at which being somewhat surprisd, <he took> more notice of it afterwards for severall nights. But thô this Phenomena were exhibited; yet when he went to another place it ceasd; which made him apt to ascribe it to some subtill peculiarity of the Air in that hill, as well as in his own Body.

The same Curious Person informd me; that whilst he was in the same Country going one night <in the Summer> by a Gibbet at which a man was hanging he perceivd the Head & neck to be the subjects of a thin light Flame like an Ignis Lambens seemd to & fro about there as the fat Exhalations gave occasion.

An Ingenious Physitian born & bred in hot Countrys, & skilld in diveing answerd me that he observd as especially when once he divd for a Diamond ring he had let fall in the depth of 2 o 3 fathom, that thô at the bottom of the water he felt no sensible weight of the incumbent water; yet if he went leasurely in with his leggs first, he should at the beginning find a sensible Compression against his Abdomen & Breast, & if he entred the water [BP 27, p. 137]slowly with his head foremost, he could plainly observe when his Body came <to be> first under water, a compression of his Thorax seemd to him to begin from about the Claviculæ & send downwards.

An Ingenious Physitian that lookt to <in> the Southern parts of France those that were infected with the Plague answerd me that, among other Patients that he had under his hands, there was a young Friar very corpulent, whose Body being laid out upon a table in a room whose windows were left wide open, this Relator comeing in 7 or 8 hours after plainly perceivd to his wonder a thin faint flame that seem'd to feed upon the exhalations of that Fat & youthfull <Corps>, as it were & Ignis lambens, that almost totally cover'd that part of it that touchd not the table. This gave the Physitian, a Person very learned & inquisitive in curiositys, to observe the duration of that Flame, which from the time he first saw it lasted near 4 hours; & when I enquird about the season of the year & day, he answerd me that 'twas in vintage time, & former part of the night; & that he observd not the like Phænomena in any of those numerous patients which that plague swept away.

A Physitian that had liv'd in Piedmont affirm'd to me with great asseveration, that in the Castle where he resided, there were a great pair of Staggs horns (connected by part of the Skull) which had been taken out of an old Idolaters Temple; where they had been suspended many ages before, this head was hung up freely in the Air in a room where the wind could not come at it (as the Relator answerd me [BP 27, p. 138]that he diligently markt) where for a long time it had been by the Residers in that Castle taken notice to turn the Horns directly against the Wind from what part soever of the Sky that happend to blow. And he assured me that for above a year he livd in that Castle; he constantly observd the like strange Property in these Horns to show the Change of the Wind & the Quarter wherein it sat at the time of the observation. And he further said that in some very ancient heads in that Country a resembling Quality, thô not altogether so conspicous as this, had been taken notice of by the Inhabitants.

Meeting with another Physitian that had the curiosity to visit the ruder part of Piedmont <where store of Mines had lately been discoverd> I enquird of him whether he had observd that the tender trees growing over the Mines were more solid & ponderous than others; whereupon he told me that he remembred that the Peasants therabouts did complain to him that such trees especially the Ilex or Oak that affords Cork, were so exceeding compact & hard that when they came to hew or cleave them their ordinary Instruments as Wedges, Hatchets &c if they were but of the usuall temper, would be presently blunted & have their edges turn'd or broken off.

Mr. [Strode] answered me that in his Fathers Tin-mines in Devonshire he made a while since above an hundred weight of Tin of one Stone or peice of Shod that by clear proofes he found to have been brought down by the Waters from one of the neighbouring Hills abounding with Tin Oar. The same person assured me that even in his Fathers park there are peices of Shod (or loose Tin oar) bigger then 40 horses can draw, which may by training, (as they speak) or traceing them up to their first place, be made appear to have been remov'd by the Waters. He likewise answers me that the [BP 27, p. 139]loose or adventitious Earth where they find their Shod, in the lower ground is usually about 12 foot deep before they they come to the fast Earth, as they call that which was never mov'd by the Waters, in which the Mines both of Tin & Lead stone are.

He also answerd me, that which seemd strange, that on the <very> Top of the Hill whence much of this Shod comes, there is near 12 foot deep of the like loose Earth that is found in the lower ground And when I enquird whether there were no neighbouring whence that Earth may have been brought? he reply'd that this was a round Hill of itself divided by environing vales from all the other Hills.

He further told me that in 2 days with but 2 men he train'd a Loadstone Mine, from whence my magnets came, a mile & an halfe from the place where he discover'd the first tokens of it.

An Intelligent Gentleman that staid an year in Guiny related to me that he & his Company found a great heat & moisture of the Air to dispose Bodies so to putrefaction that he observ'd the white sugar to be sometimes full of Maggots, & found that divers Druggs Salves & other Medicinall Things that were brought with him <had> quite lost their Vertues And some of them especially oyntments were verminous. And he added that in the Island St Jago (one of those of Cabo verde) where they make store of Sweet meats with Sugar brought them from Madera, he often observd the Inhabitants for divers mornings consecutively to expose their Sweet-meats upon Tables to the Heat of the Sun to dry up the Superfluous Moisture which in strange abundance they had contracted the preceding night, which otherwise would quickly spoil the Sweet-meats & bring them to putrefy.

He told me that in the River of Gambra he had observd it to lighten sometimes with horrid Claps of Thunder for 48 hours together & that so fast that there seldom interceeded a minute between 2 flashes of Lightning.

He answerd me that he observd the Sea to shine at least in the Ships way as well upon the Coast of Africk, as elsewhere

He also answerd me that notwithstanding the excessive heat of the Climate, he was divers times about 4 of the Clock in the morning, reduc'd to be ready to tremble <for> Cold as he lay in his Hamack, for about an hour together (Dureing his stay in Africk he never observ'd Earthquake or Thunderbolt)

He answerd me: that <had> he divers times seen Spouts both in the Mediterranean & upon the Coast of Africk; & that on this Coast he once observ'd a great Spout which past pretty near his ship that seemd to be so well poisd in the Air that it wav'd to & fro like one of the highest Streamers of a Ship; it exhibited Variety of Colours almost like a Rainbow, & made them wonder at it in regard the Sky was then very cloudless & clear. The Wind carried this Spout a pretty way off from my Relators Ship, & then it fell & pourd out many Tun of water, as he was assurd by a friend of his, very near whom it fell into the Sea.

He further answerd me that he observd divers of the Criolians, thô generated of Portugall Fathers upon Negresses to be as black as the African Blacks themselves.

<An Intelligent> Gentleman <that liv'd in Africk> being askt <by> me how far off he was able to see the top of the Pic of Teneriff at Sea, replyd, that by the Estimate of the Capt. of the Ship it was near 50 Leages; & yet it appeard to him so high above some clouds & so near that he was fain to cast his head up to see it

He < An Intelligent> further answerd me that being at the very top, which he estimated to contain about halfe < or> an Acre <or> an Acre of ground, he observd that besides the mouth of the chimney, if it may be so calld, at which Smoake & Flowers of Brimstone &c came forth; there was a Pit or deeper Cavity with a very dark-colourd, & almost black Liquor in it, which he concluded must be either a Spring, or some stagnant Water occasiond by Rains. And he answerd me, agreeably to what other had told me before, that the Shadow of the Mountain when he was at the Top, seemd toward the further end of it, not to rest [BP 27, p. 141]upon the Surface of the Sea, but to be thrown (as it were,) a great way into the Air.

He told me he found it very cold in ascending the Mountain; & on that occasion added, that passing into Italy by the Mount Cenis, one of the famousest of the Alps; thô it were in August, & the weather very clear, yet he felt at the top a wind so cold that he could scarce possibly endure it and seemd to him the coldest that in all his various Travells he had ever felt; & yet some of the Mountains seemd much higher, being then coverd with Snow.

Talkeing with a Physitian that livd upon the Sea Coast of Biscay about some Suspitions I had concerning Plantes growing at the Bottom of the Sea, he told me, that what I said might well be for haveing been at the opening of a vast Whale; which had been taken at St. Jaine de Luz, & was so great that the Body besides the Tongue afterwards yeilded 68 Hoggsheads (he called them Tonnesaux) of oyl, he observd in the Stomach & Bowells of this whale divers barrells of Plantes, that seemd to have been newly cropt off from some waterish Meaddow, or such like place on shoar; and particularly he observd <among the weeds> great store of Sedges & Plantane Leaves.

A curious Physitian of my acquaintance that liv'd a while at Rochell related to me that heareing of some shineing Fishes that were wont to be seen <about> a place <in> the sea not very far off, he & some other Inquisitive Men caus'd themselves to be landed upon a certain sandy bank, which the sea did not quit cover which was near the above mentiond place. And this was purposely done in a dark but not stormy night; the success was, that he had the pleasure to see there a great number of Fishes playing up & down, that seem'd like so many Bodies moveing in the midest of the water, shineing [BP 27, p. 142]not with the head or tail onely but the whole Body, as if they were so many liveing Carbuncles: To my question about the bignes of those fishes, he answerd, that they were about the size of those Sardinees which I had seen in the Ligustick Sea, & of which our Anchovies are made. < And> to my scruple whether the sea itselfe were not thereto dispos'd to shine so that the luminous appartition might be producd by the motion of the fishes in the water, as oftentimes that part of the sea shines, which the prow of a Ship or Boat cutts in its passage, he reply'd, that the sea it selfe did not <then> shine, but the Fishes did so <whether> they were swimming up & down or rested for some time in a place.

It has been observ'd by Soapboilers & others, that the plant, which men call French Furzes, being burnt to ashes, yeilds a copious Salt, & a stronger Lee than any plant they know of; without excepting Fern or Bean-stalks.

There grows upon the Tin-mines in Devonshire, especially where they run under plashy & marish places, a certain plant which they call Osmund Royall; & it prospers so well there, as to grow up to the hight of a Mans Shoulders.

The cheife at of the English Factory at Hispahan assur'd me, that he had there seen it both freeze & Snow severely enough, & answerd me that they make their Winter provision of Ice against the Sommer by keeping great quantities of water in <very> large Vessells like Cisterns, so defended by situation & otherwise, that the water freezes from time to time in frosty weather, & the Ice dos not considerably thaw between one fit of frosty Weather & another.

A Virtuoso that learnt of me the Aeriall way of preserveing Juyces assur'd me that by the help of it, thô I only twice [BP 27, p. 143]season'd the bottle, he has kept the Juyce of Balm for a whole 12-moneth very sweet & good; & by a single seasoning wherein Linnen was employed he preserv'd another Body for above 3 moneths so as to make even an induration of it.

A Learned & Sober Gentleman affirm'd to me, that for a few years ago distilling a certain Vegetable Liquor that had before been very long digested, & the Distillation being made very slowly with a very mild heat, he after a while perceivd <that> between the Head & the Body there were grown divers small but perfect Mushrooms; which he not only saw himselfe, but shew'd to a Learned Gentleman whom he knew to be a great friend of mine, (in one of whose furnaces the Digestion & Distillation were made,) whom I have not since seen to enquire what he had observ'd about this odd Acident.

The same Person upon my telling him what had happen'd to me in distilling one time Sp: of Saffron, & afterward other things, related to me, that he also sometimes had had a multitude of as it were Spiders threds confusedly drawn cross his Receiver, (& that he had observd the like in a by-groove of a mine in Piedmont) & that he was the Receiver was clean from any such thing when 'twas luted on.

The Viceroy of Norway related to me, that in that Countrey they divers times see great Flames that appear'd to be twice as big as the chamber <next to that> I ly in at London (where his Excellency & I then where) to fly in the Air from place to place, & perhaps from one hill to another, the Country people call them flying Dragons, & take them for signs that there are mines in the places they appear in.

The same illustrious Person answerd me that ther are Silver Mines in Norwey which they now work to about 60 thousand Crowns a year profit; adding that for some years the Silver afforded a [BP 27, p. 144]considerable proportion of Gold which of late it has not yeilded, either because the vein degenerates, or because of the unskilfullness of the Persons now employd to work it. He says further that the he lately presented the Queens Almoner with a large Lump or Mass of Silver, that nature herselfe had made good & malleable, in that Norwegian Mine, Near which or about the Oar he answer'd me that they find Metalline granatts.

He also answer'd me that he had seen very clear & convincing Proofes that the Virgula divinatoria will in some of the Mines mens hands incline very strangely to subjacent Mines & Metalls; insomuch that he has seen it bend down so forcibly as to break in the Holder's hands; & that ev'n in his excellencies owne hands these rods would alter sensibly, thô not so strongly.

My Brother Orery being enquird of by me about the Firr trees that are in divers parts of Ireland found in moorish lands, related to me that there is a Turbery <(or> place where they dig up Turfe <)> or <Peat> in a peice of land of his situate in the county of Kerry wherein it appears by the records of the Mannor that there has been Turfe diggd near there 500 years, & that when they digge Turfe to <as or greate a> depth as they can thrust a pike to, & at the bottom of that Cavity can perceive no wood, within a year or two the cavvity will be again filld with Turfe wherein which is stranger, they often meet with Firr-trees: insomuch that a few years since rideing that way a hawkeing & perceiveing an unusuall number of men & horses at the Turbery, he turn'd aside to see what they were doing & found that they were drawing off a <strait> tree which [BP 27, p. 145]prov'd to <be> five or six & fifety foot long, & which was concluded to be a Firr tree by the length, straitness, grain, Inflammability, & also by the inspection of the roots which in divers of the trees there taken up (some of which are found in a perpendicular posture as if they were growing) are found unconsumd.

He further told me that in a peice of land of his not very distant from this Turbery there is a gutt, as they call it, or narrow lift of land that bears Turfe thô it ly almost at the top of a hill, which thô but low is parted by vales from the neighbouring higher hills; <in> this elevated peice of ground they dugg up some years ago a compleat Iron Anchor of a small Vessell, which Anchor he saw (it being brought him as Lord of the Soile & Governor of the Countrey.) When I <enquird> how far this hill was from the Sea, he answerd that 'twas 4 Irish Miles (which amount to 6 English Miles) And when I further ask'd how high the place was above the Levell of the ground or water, he, (who is versd <& much delights> in practicall Geometry) reply'd that 'tis at least 80 foot in a perpendicular height.

An ancient Master & Worker of Tin Mines answer'd me, that haveing had divers heaps of refuse Stuffe throwne by, as is usuall; because the Workmen had separated from it so much Tin that 'twas not worth putting into the Furnace, these heaps after about 20 year, haveing lain all the while expos'd to the open air, were (I dispute not whether by Maturation, Impregnation, or both) so improv'd that Workmen that neglected them before, were very desirous they should then be wrought, which they were to good advantage; by reason of the Tin they [BP 27, p. 146]had obtain'd by lying in the Air.

Old Sir W. S. affirm'd to me in the presence of persons well acquainted with the place he spoke of, that near him there was a vast quantity laid up in heaps of the refuse of what, haveing been dugg out of the Tin Mines, had been wrought till there was not Tin enough left to be worth workeing; & that some years ago an ancient & experienc'd Tinner <whom he namd, as being yet alive> purchas'd these rejected heaps, which he knew partly by memory, & partly by Tradition, to have lain in the Air about 80 year, & to his great profit found the workeing of them to be more beneficiall than the workeing of good new Tin Oar.

Another Gentleman <an> ingenious & diligent observer of Tin Mines assur'd me, that he had not long since observd that in some veins, <belonging to a near relation of his> where the Skillfull Workmen had carefully diggd out the Oar about 8 or 10 years before there was generated in the inside of the Veins, where the air had access, fresh particles of Tin so copious, that they seemd to line the Cavitys made in the Earth; & were judged & found by the Tin-men to be worth the workeing over again; & his Discourse seem'd to confirm much my Conjecture, that a Minerall lying still in the vein where it grew will in a much shorter time affor'd fresh metall in those places <where> the air has access to it, than if it were diggd out of the Mine before 'twere expos'd to the air.

Mr R. G. assur'd me, that being a while since at Tangiers he saw divers large stones of true Emmery that had been dug up hardly since the English came thither

An Engineer much employd about the deep Lead Mines in Darbyshire answer'd me that they find the <Springs in the> Mines to be the most penurious of Water in the former part of November, if not to the end of the moneth, thô considerable rains have fallen <in> the preceding Autumn; the water of those Rains being soe soakt up by the Earth, that <usually> till about the beginning of December, it dos not sensibly reach to the supply of the Springs; which from that time forwards are wont to increase apace.

Inquireing of some Persons addicted to Horse-raceing what they had observd about the decrement of the Weight of Men by the insensible Perspiration & Sweat causd by the vehement motion of their Horses & themselves in rideing races? I was answerd that usually <in their Country> the Riders were bound to weigh either of themselves, or with what they were to carry about them 10 Stone a peice before they got an horseback; (and least they should cast off some weight by the way) they were to weigh near as much at the end of the Race. But experience haveing shewn, that <ev'n> those that proceeded bonâ fide, lost much of their weight by the way, thô, to prevent fraud the Rider was weighed in a Ballance, before he got on horseback, yet after he was weighed he was allow'd to drink a quart of Liquor (i.e.) near about two pound because 'twas presumd he would loose that weight by the way. And therefore when he came to the end of the Race if he weighed within an ounce or two of his former weight, they accounted [BP 27, p. 148]that he had <not> fraudulently cast away any thing to make himselfe lighter. The length of the Race where this Custom was observd, was reckon'd 4 miles, & fleet Horses use to run it in about 8 minutes.

On this occasion an <observeing> Gentleman assur'd me that he not long since knew a Jocky who with his ordinary Boots & rideing Clothes weighed not above 10 Stone; but had his Body of a loose & flaggy Texture <who> when rideing a Heat, as they call it, over this 4 mile Race & weighing himselfe before he began and as soon as he had ended it, would loose two pound & an halfe of his weight.

Talking to Father M. of the little Irish <fish> that staines purple he told me that at     in the East Indies he had seen such a fish, wherewith the Natives us'd to stain there <Callicoes> of a fine violet.

At Magoti Javana in the midst of the Island Dr. [Stubbe] affirm's to me that the rain in two howers time will settle about the Seams of cloaths, and turn into small maggotts, tho it doe so no where els in the Island, and this is a healthy place being a tract about 12 or 14 of ground.

He inform'd me that a Sea Turtle would lay about 200 eggs in a night, they lay them in the sun and cover them, as it does also those of the Alligators.

I ask'd an ingenious man that had been at Mosambique, whether he did not find the Sea in that hot place exceedingly hott, to which he answerd me that comming thither in a great Caract, when he came back from the town to the Ship, he observ'd two hand breadths [BP 27, p. 149]of the vessell to be above the ordinary part to which it us'd to sinke, in so much that he tooke notice of it to the Captain, as fearing that part of the Loading had by stealth <been> carryed to shoar: but the Pilat who had made 23 or 24 voyages to the Indies assured him, that what he had observ'd about the ship was not unusuall in that place where the tast it self discoverd the water exceeding salt.

Hee told me that the Divers (who were allmost all Negros not Indians) <though> they went downe with a rope ti'd to each of them to be drawne up againe by, yet they did not sinck themselves by weights, but swamme to the bottom with their heads downwards & that this solemne pearle Fishing is usually perform'd about the month of August.

Hee told me that in some places they Dive about 30 braccia (as <they> call the measure about 5 foot long;) in some places, 40 50 or 60. & in some 150 or 200 braccia: but in some places they were not able by their fathoming lines to reach any bottom.

Hee told me that they oftn met divers great Fishes, in the depths but were seldom much harm'd by any but those they call Tuberones (perhaps our Sharks), that would sometimes bite off an Arme or a Leg or a great gobbet of flesh.

That the deeper the places were that afforded the pearles, the better qualify'd (for the most part) those jewels were; nor were the Divers permitted by the King's Officers, though yet they would doe it by stealth, to seeke for pearles beyond such a depth, beyond which the Fishing was reserv'd for the King.

That the Fish wherein they found the pearles is a kind of Oyster (but larger than ours) whereof the Relatour did eate many. they lay them in heaps to op'n & putrifye: & then takeing out the Pulpy part, they crush & rubb it between their hands to find out the pearls.

Hee told me that the Divers did not, ev'n at the greatest depths, complaine of the weight of the water above them.

That Hee observ'd some of them by his watch to continue under the water 1/4 of an houre & many of them to endure halfe that time or some of them us'd only a kind of whistle, but very <much larger than an ordinary one to help them to some respiration, but others us'd noting at all.>

That the Divers when they were at the bottom of the sea at a great depth could not see before them near 1/2 yard, but were environ'd with much darknesse, which reduc'd them to find out the Fish by groaping not by sight.

When I ask'd him <whether> they found not the bottom of the sea very unev'n, hee answer'd that they did, insomuch that, the soile being for the most part very stony, they found divers rocks (some of them worthy to be call'd litle Hills) some very steepe & others that seeme to consist of many vast stones with store of Sand about them. [BP 27, p. 152]as some of the divers found by groaping along for Fish.

When I ask'd him whether they did not find it cold at the bottome of the Sea, hee reply'd that they complain'd very much of the great cold they felt there, especially if they had gone very deep; & that hee saw divers of them come shivering out of the water with soe much sense of cold that notwithstanding the heat of the climate, there was usually a fire kept to warme themselves at before they were to Dive againe. And some <of those told him that when they had occasion to dive deepe neare the disemboging of rivers they found it much colder than in those parts of the Sea that were remote from fresh water.>

When I ask'd him whether the sea water were not salter at the bottom than at the top he answer'd it was, <&> that not only the Divers found it soe by the tast but, that they oft'n times brought up with the oysters certaine stony Lumps to which the Fishes were joyn'd, which were very salt (as he found by the tast); being divers of them cover'd with a thick crust of somewhat a darker colour than French Bay Salt, & soe strongly saline that severall of the Fishermen & other poore people imploy'd it to salt their Fish with.

When I ask'd him whether the Divers could at the bottom of the Sea perceive any operation of the rough winds that blow'd at the top or of the Currents; He told me that as to the winds they cold not, but the motion of the Currents were sometimes soe sensible at a great depth under water, that the Divers were faine to take hold of great stones or shelter themselves among them to avoid being carry'd away or very much disturb'd in the worke of the Currents.

When I ask'd him whether it were not very easy to draw up the Divers from the bottom, he reply'd that 'twas soe very easy that sometimes for curiosity sake at one pull of the rope rais'd a Diver that was near the bottom, about 4 or 5 Fathom (as he found by the laxity of the remaineing rope.

Hee answerd me also that 'twas true that at the Fort of Batavia (where he had been a Prisoner) most of the Stones (some of which were very exceeding large) had by reason of the penury of such materialls on the shore been fetch from the bottom of the Sea by the help of Divers, who there fastn'd them to the ropes by which they were drawn up.

On this occasion I remember that Speakeing with one that liv'd at Goah, I ask'd him whether 'twere true that Fresh water was fetchd thence from the bottom of the Sea by Divers; to which he answer'd that he had severall times been present when the Divers brought up fresh water near Goah, but that it did not come (as some have written) from a fresh Spring riseing at the bottom of the Sea, but, according to his opinion, from a river of fresh water that runs impetuously enough into the sea near the Iland, & by two wheeling Tides is cover'd with Salt water, whence he observd that near the surface the Liquor was very Salt [BP 27, p. 153]& afterwards lesse & lesse brackish; & when the Divers came to a considerable depth beneath the surface the water would be found Fresh.

I askd an Ingenious man that had been at Mosambique whether he did not find the sea in that hot place exceedingly salt, To which he answerd me that coming thither in a great Caract, when he came <back> from the Towne to the ship he observd 2 handbreadths of the vessell to be above the ordinary part to which it usd to sink in so much that he tooke notice of it to the Capt. as fearing that part of the Loading had by stealth carryd to shoar, but the Pilot who had made 23 or 24 voyages to the Indies, assurd him that what he had observd about the ship was <not> unusuall in that place, where the Tast itselfe discoverd the water to be exceeding salt.

He likewise answerd me that the soyle of Mosambique, being for the most part where 'tis not shaded with trees, very sandy, he found the Sun which was almost in the zenith to heat the ground so much, that he was not able to stand still for sometime, but was faine to keepe walking to avoid burning the soales of his feet.

A person that was in the cheife Island of the Manilla's(whence the road take their name,) told me that on the mountaine which <is> almost in the midst of the Isle, he observd store of snow in the upper part, notwithstanding the Excessive heat of the plaine.

The same person answerd me that he had severall <times> seene great Quantity of water amounting sometimes to very many Tuns, & let fall againe in many places in the sea, where they made a horrid noise.

He likewise answerd that he had divers times in great stormes seene those those fiery metoors [BP 27, p. 154]that seamen talke of, but that when <men> endeavord to come near them they seeme to shun them or flye before them, & did at all seeme to to burne the whole Tackle of the Ship to which they seeme to stick.

The same person answerd that in those East Indian Sees he observd the water to shine or, <as they call it> burne, cheifely if not only when a strong south wind Blew.

A Traveller that was at the Maldivian Islands told me that even in those parts they reckon them to have been about 11000, & so much is expressd in the title the King gives himself but not one halfe of them is inhabited, & 'tis in some of these suncken & submarine Islands, that the Maldivian nuts <seemes to> grow

He also told me that he saw the way of bouying up ships, practiced there, the ship being unloaded by pumping, as soone as part of it came to be raisd above water

A person that was at the Corrall fishing between Sardinia & Corsica answerd me that the red Corrall was for the most part < saltish softish> under water & when newly taken out of the water lesse soft then to yeild to the Pressure made of it between the fingers but yet much of the softnes of a Greene & slender Branch, soe that he cut divers trees of Corral with his knife & perceivd them to be foraminous almost like a lime & moist, thô after some howers those Pores would no longer appear, but the Corrall would grow red & hard. But as for the Black Corral (of which there is litle near Sardinia in Comparison of what is in the East indies, he observ'd that to be when freshly gatherd so soft, that by chrushing it between ones fingers one might have a strong Impression of it, but <being boyld in water they would soone acquire the hardnes they that are sold, have.>

The learned Mr G inform'd me, that he has a house in Suffolke within six miles of the Sea, & though the house be but 4 score years old yet the Iron barrs of the Windows that looke towards the sea are swell'd & (as he calls it) rotten, being brittle & easy to be crumbled into powder; & when I ask'd him whether the winds that came from the sea to those windows were not Southerne, he answer'd affirmatively. And to confirme what I was saying of the operation I had observ'd of sea salt upon Iron, he told me that haveing had occasion to cause many barrs of Iron to be laide in a place on the neighbouring shore aboute the High watermarke a great storme chanc'd to increase the tide soe farr as to drench these bars for some hours, after which remaining in the aire they were very much impar'd, great thick flakes being easy to be struck off from them when they came to be hammer'd. Hee also confest to mee, that he never found that frequent ignitions would any thing neare soe considerably harden Iron, as fewer if it were also very well hammer'd & weilded togather, which confirmes what the Spring maker told me, that he was wont to weild togather his Venetian Steele 4 or 5 time & forge it out as often, to bring to be fit to make Springs of. Hee likewise confess'd to mee, that he was faine sometimes to cast in cinders of Iron to bring some sorts of Oare to fusion & that of (Swedish) Iron, the bullet Iron which is much the softest, is much fitter to be harden'd into steele than the other harder oare, which rarely or difficultly makes good Steele. Hee told me that 30 load of his Mine (each load being about 12 bushells) & 20 load of Coale (each of them near 80 bushells) usually gives 7 Tun of cast Iron, which will make about 5 Tun of barr Iron, whereof if they have one Tun out of 2700 or 2800 weight of cast Iron, they think 'tis well, the rest being spued out in the hammering, in the forme of an Excrement which they call hamslaw

Mr G. confirm'd to me, that those whose trade it is to fell wood about March, (or if the Spring be early the later end of Feb:) observe that if the wind blow north when they cut downe the wood, they find the sap to be falling towards the roote of the tree, & he added that this observation holds [BP 27, p. 156]though perhaps but the day before (the south wind blowing the sap did rise.

>Dr C. who was then present assur'd me that in an old large Oake that had been sawn assunder, he & a friend of his togather did reckon 200 & odd circles one within another; which they cold crearly distinguish besides those that had a confusd appearance.

Mr H. confirm'd to me what I had long since learn'd, that some sorts of sand will be dissolv'd in a greater proportion than others by Alcalys.

Also that some salts make glasse much more or lesse britle than others, as that Borellia makes it more tough than the Salt of common ashes; & that the Salt of Tartar makes it yet more tough than that

When I ask'd him whether he had <not> observ'd that glasses, though as well neal'd as is ordinary; would sometimes of themselves break with noise long after; he answer'd me affirmatively; adding that particularly one time haveing occasion to lay by for about half a year or longer a numerous parcell of glasses, when he came to take them out he found that about a 4th part of the whole Batch was broken of themselves; & that <in> most or all of them <the> cracks proceeded from some seeming stone or great graine <of> sand (which yet indeed was not sand but some part of the Salt that had not obtain'd a Sufficient comminution)

Col. G. affirm'd to me that he had measur'd a Palmetta Tree that he found to be about 200 foot long, & Hee judg'd divers of those that he saw growin to be about 260 or 250 foot high.

Hee affirm'd to me that hee had lost near 100 {pound} worth of Cattel (whereof one was a Horse & 8 or 10 Cows amongst them) by the crude juice mandioca, though he gave his beasts, & particularly Hogs, the shaveings & substance of the root itselfe without hurting them. The poison kill'd his Cattel very speedily, though Hogs &c be very desirous of It though not soe much as of the root itselfe. Of the Casavy bread after 'tis bak'd he puts one pound to a Gallon of Water, & keeping the liquor not boyling [BP 27, p. 157]but scalding hot for about 12 hours, he afterwards draws it out, into barrels casting in a little sugar to helpe the working. Within about a fortnight or somewhat more 'tis ready to drink. But if instead of one pound to a Gallon of water you put two pound the liquor will be too heady.

Hee likewise told me that he had divers times observ'd in the sea goeing between England and the Barbadoes, the fall but seldom the riseing of what they call sucking spouts; & that particularly he observ'd one from which he was about a mile distant, which fell in the sea in the visible forme of water not discontinu'd like raine but pouring down like a præcipita[te] river, & makeing in its fall a terrible noise like that of a Cataract.

Hee also told me that Hee & his Wife had at the Barbadoes in the daytime & the sun shineing out clear observ'd a fire to run Swiftly along the skie & make a fiery tract, which to them seem'd from end to end about a mile long.

Hee likewise told me that the thunder clouds there seem'd to him to be much lower & blacker than with us: but that traceing those fulmina that had done much mischeife, he could not find any thunder stone or other permanent substance, he added that often times, he could not looke up any where into the skie in the night time without seeing falling Stars.

Hee also told me that he saw the pic of Teneriffe about 50 leagues off at sea but he could discover only at that distance the upper part which appear'd though at that distance of a great height.

He told that Montjac did run out of a hill in Barbadoes sometimes accompany'd with water & sometimes weeping out by its selfe; & that in the summer it haveing been occasionally fir'd 7 or 8 year agoe the hill continues burning, as he thinks, to this time, at least he saw it burning before he came out of the Island; it sometimes in the night appears to flame but in the day time very seldom seems to doe more than smoake.

Father     Confirm'd to me that in the ships wherewith he set Sayle from Lisborne towards Goah they put into great Casks furnish'd with good Earth the roots of Vines newly prun'd, & that they soe well flourish'd by the way And particularly these that were in the ship he set saile in, <that they did> did when they came to the Cape of good hope, afford them good rype grapes of which he himselfe did there eat; adding that the <same vines being planted in the Indies would never bear any grapes, but were fruitfull in exceeding large leavs.>

Hee told me that in Pegue they use to take their rubies out of the Sand in the Rivers with certaine long hollow Canes or poles with a contrivance at the End to take up Rubies, Sand, & all, & that the water in those rivers at Pegue that he saw was soe very clear that both others & hee could from the top of the water discerne rubies lying at the bottom at a very considerable depth.

Colonel G. Told me that one year with another there comes out of the Barbadoes [2]00 Ships or thereabouts of 100 Tunne apiece lad'n with Sugar, which amounts to 20000 Tun of Sugar.

Black Lead is found at Boradell in Cumberland neare Cheswick & the river Darwinne, & near the great mountaine Schidda.

He told me alsoe that <ordinarily> in the Barbadoes they have but about 2 foot in depth of Earth, whereof usually but on foot or a litle more is good mold.

Major H. told me that some times in Wales in Leadmines that hold Silver they find great Shods (as they call them) amounting to divers Tuns of Oare, which sometimes have noe particular coats of sparre but of clay & are usually somewhat near & beneath the veins sometimes with & sometimes without any manifest connection to them or between them selves; & sometimes with strings as 'twere that passe frome one shod to another, & the miner think that there was an extravasation &c.

To about 100 {pound} weight of the other ingredients take about 8 {pound} of borax, & you need not calcine your metall into Frittæ alsoe about 1/20 of borax to ordinary Fritta will make the salts take up a far greater proportion of sand, than if the borax were an other Salt, & the product will be very clear & gentle.

Take about {ounce} i or a litle more of Borellio to 1 {pound} of Lead Oare, when you are to use it in the glasse Furnace.

Sandiver, though but in a moderate Quantity being melted downe with Lead oare makes the metall somewhat britle.

Remember the Steele to be temper'd with the juice of branca Ursina.

Remember the Observation of the Portugal Governour who told the English Unguie (from whom I had it) that in some places (as I remember) near Angola they imploy women to dive for pearles & other things, because the ravenous Fishes there are observ'd never to bite them, though they devour their Negro husbands, who yet are oft'n times noe blacker than they.

He also answer'd me that he had seen very clear and convincing Proofs, that the Virgula Divinatoria will in some of the Myne Mens hands incline very strangely to subjacent Mynes & Metals, insomuch that he has seen it bend down so forcibly as to break in the Holder's hands and that even in his Excellencys own hands these Rods would alter sensibly, thô not so strongly.