■ t 



W A 



r 



tan hardly be funk under Water ; and indeed, to make 

 air fink, there muft be a weight added to it that ftiall 

 exceed the weight of the Water as much, and fome- 

 thing more, than that of the Water exceeds that of 

 the air- 

 Hence it comes to pafs, that Water eafily fupports 

 wood, and vaft Ihips fraught with the heavieft cargo ; 

 for the weight alone will never fink them> unlefs the 

 goods and veflel together fhould make up a weight 

 which excbeds that of Water j artd as fak Water is 

 heavier than frefli, it bears a greater weight. 

 Thofe things which are heavier th^n Water, as ftones, 

 metals, &c. when they are thrown into it, go ftrait 

 dowh to the bottom ; and as their weight is greater, 

 by fo much the quicker-, while other bodies, which 

 are of the fame weight with the Water, neither float on 

 the furface, nor fink quite down, but remain fufpcnded 

 between the top and bottom, as is feeri in the carcafes 

 of animals. 



.fv* ! 



i. .t' 



6. Water is infipid, and Without fmell; The reafon is, 

 becaufe its flexible parts flip gently oVer the tongu^, 

 and are not fharp ehough to prick the nerves, and af- 

 fe& the tifl:e ; but this is to be underfl;ood of pure Wa- 

 ter, void of all kind of fait, fuch as diftilled Water is, 

 and next, that of rain ; for the moft wholefome foun- 

 tain Water commonly derives a faltnefs from the earth; 

 though in this place arc not meant medicinal fountain 

 Waters, the tafte of which is more acute, but fuch 

 Water as 5s ufually drank. 

 And that it is without fmell ; the purer any Water is, 

 the lefs fmell it has -, for the reafon why the particles 

 do riot prick the tongue, is the reafon why they do 

 not affe-d: the fmell. The flexibility and fmoothnefs 

 of Water is fuch, that they cannot pierce the olfaftory 



. Derves •, for fome fountain Water has indeed fome 

 . fmell, but then it is a fign that it is not pure. " • • 



7. Water is fubjeft to putrify, according as the place 

 is where it is kept. Wat^r will" grow thick and ftink- 

 ing by heat and reft, as we find it doe^ in ponds and 



' marflies, and in felofe veflTels -, but here it ought to be 

 remembered, that this is what was fpoken of before, 

 as fuch Water is not pure, for unmixed Water carinot 

 putrify. This is proved, 

 Firfl:, by diftilled Water, which may be kept very 



:^; long without putrefaction. 



^ Secondly, in rain Water, which is caughrin clean 

 veflTels, and prefently flopped pg clofe, and buried un- 



* der ground, whith is Ictpt many years in countries 



where they v^aht fountains. This Ihews that the galife 

 of putrefaction is not in the Water itfelf, but in other 

 things that are mingled with it ; becaufe piirc' Water, 

 fuch as is diftilled, or comes from the clouds, keeps 

 fweet for a great while j but then thofe veflels in 

 which fuch Water is kept, rhuft be fo well flopped, 



• that the leaft fly may not get into them j and they 

 muft be made of fuch ftuff as will not corrupt, fuch 

 as glafs or clay. -.>:-:. 



But as for ftanding Water, in ponds or marftiesj that 

 is corrupted two ways : -'. 

 I, By the nature of the foil, which (^teri abolfiids with 

 noifome fulphur, whereby the Water is impregnated, 



- .and comes to fmell in warm weather, as it does at Am- 



fterdam, not only in the canals, but wherever "^the 



'•oround is opened" for the foundations of houfes. 



This putrefaction is owing to the foil, -^^^^ "'^•- *''^ ^^'^ 



- .:Water. ■ -■ — . ■- '- --":::■ v^ : ■ , .■ 



' ifi.' By the nafty things that are thrown into it, or bo- 

 dies 6f infeCts which die in it, as alfo by the eggs of 

 ' flics, which are dropped about wKerever they go, and 

 breed worms. Water is corrupted in wooden veflels, 



leFpecially at fea, by the fulphureous parts of the wood, 

 and by uncleanly things, as flies, eggs, &c. '■'^"': 



. Water penetrates the pores of thofe bodies, whofe 

 pores kre wide enough to receive its particles 5 thus 

 it enters the pores of fugar and faks, fo as to Feparate 



.and quite' diflblve their particles'; but it cannot get 

 into the pores of ftaiies, or but a very litde way ; fo 



- rfiat it only wets their furface, witliout diluting them ; 

 hangs on the outfide of them, becaufe they are rough, 

 and becaufe the extremities of their pores are open a 



^- f * 



A '-- » ♦ f 



and not to the 



• W. A ■ 



little way. But fuch bodies, when they are wet, af8 

 foon dried in the air, becaufe the motion of the dry 

 particles carries off the fofc and fmooth ones of the 

 Water. . .. . ' ,. ..' . . ■; 



It is obfetvable^ that if bodies; rubbed over with oil 

 or fat, be dipped in water, they get very little wet^ 

 becaufe the roughncfs of their furtace, whereon the 

 Water fliould hang, is fmoothed, and made even by 

 the fat, and the mouths of the pores are clofed up^ 

 fo that there is nothing left for the watery particles td 

 hold by, and therefore they muft needs Aide off". 

 Moft liquors are formed by the cohefion of particles 

 of different figures/ magnitudes, gravities, and at- 

 tractive powers, fwimming in pure Water, or an aque-. 

 ous fluid, which feems to be the common bafis of 

 all. And the only reafon why there are fo many 

 forts of Water differing from one another by different 

 propernes, is, that -the corpufcles of falts and mine- 

 rals, with which that element is impregnated^ are 



equally various. , •' ; : 



Wine is onty Water impregnated with particles of 

 Grapes, and beer is Water impregnated with particles 

 of Barley, &c.'A11 foirits feem to be Water faturated 



* r - • 1 ■ 



> t ;, 



J ' 



with falin^ and fulphureous particles. 

 And all liquors are more or lefs fluid, , according to 

 the greater or fmaller cohefion of the particles, which 

 fwim in the aqueous fluid ; and there is hardly any 

 fluid without any cohefion of particles, not even pure 

 Water itfelf, as will appear from the bubbles, which, 

 will fometimes ftand on the furface of it as well as on 

 that of fpirits, and other liquors. \ 



Water contributes much to the growth of bodies, in 

 that it both renders and keeps the aCtive principles 

 fluid, fo that they are capable of being conveyed by 



^ f^->M' < -- -J' 4 



_ k 



> I 



■ - 



I f 



circuliition into the pores, -^-i •';* 

 The learned Dr. Halley has demonftrated^ that if ari 

 atom of Water be expanded into a flaell or Bubble, 

 whofe diameter fliall be ten times as great as before^ 

 fuch an atom would be fuperficially lighter than the 

 air, and will rife fo long as that flatus, or warm fpirit,- 

 which at firft fcparatcd or raifed it from the mafs of 

 Water, ftiall continue to dlftend it to the fame decree ; 

 but when that warmth declines, and the air grows > 

 cooler, and wifhal fpecifically lighter, thefe vapours 

 will ftop atd certain region of the air, or elfe defcend. 

 Therefore, if it fliould be fuppofed, that the whole 

 earth were covered with Water, afid that the fun 

 fliould make his diurnal courfe round it, ^s now he 

 does, he is of opiniorii'thaf th^ air would be impreg- 

 nated with a certain quantity of aqueous vapours, 

 which it would retain in it, like falts difiblred in Wa- 

 ter 5 and that the fun in the day time warming the air, 

 that part of the atmofphere would fuftain a greater 

 propoftioh of vap5Ufs'^(as warm weather will hold 

 more fait in it diflTolved than cold) which by the ab- 

 fence of the vapours at night would be difcharged in- 

 to dem v" ' ; , •"■"- -■•' . ■ -' 



And in this cafe he concludes^ there could riot be any 

 diverfity of weather, other than' pei*iodically every 

 year alike'; the mixture of all terreftrial, falifie, and 

 heterogeneous vapours here being excluded, wiiich he 



judges to be, when varioufly compounded, and driven 

 by winds, which are the Caufes of thefe various feafons 

 and changes of weather which we now find. ■ a 

 But, inftead of fuppdfihg an earth to be covered all 

 over with Water, you fuppofc the fea interfpcrfed 

 about wide arid Ipacious traCks of land, and alfo di- 

 vided by high ridges 'of m6urita!hs\ fuch as the Alps^ 

 the Appenine, and, the Pyrenean, in Europe-, the 

 Caucafus, the Imaus, and the Taurus, in Afia ; the 

 Mount Atlas, arid the rtibuhtains of the Mooil, iri 

 •'Africa; the Arides and Apalachian mountains, in Ame- 

 rica; each of which furpaflTes the ufual height, to 

 which the aqueous vapTours do of themfelves afc^nd, 

 and on the tops of which the air is fo cold and rare- 

 fied, as to retain but a fmall part of thefe vapours, 

 which are brought thither by the winds. "''■' - :-.-^'' 

 Then the vapours thus raifed from the fea, and carried 

 by the winds over the low lands to thofe ridges of 



mountains, arc^there cottipelled by the "ftearfis of the 



air. 



