W A 



uir, to moiinL with it up to chcir tops^ wlicrc the 



Water prefcndy precipitates, gleeting down l)y the 

 crannies ot cl;ic ilones ; and parr of the v^apours enter- 

 iiig into ehc caverns of the hills, the Water thereof 

 leathers, as in an alcnibic, in the bafons of itones-, and 



i 



ihci'e being once full, the overplus of tlie Water runs 

 down at the loweft place of the bafon, and breaking 

 out by the fides of the hills, form fingle fprings, 

 many of wliich run down by the vallies or guts be- 

 tween th.e ridges of the hills, and, after uniting, form 

 little rivulets or brooks ; and many of thefe meeting 

 aizain, fcrm larf^^e rivers. 



.Whctlier Water be originally a fluid ? It is a point 

 that has been controverted among philofophers, whe- 

 ther fluidity be the natural ftate of Water, or rather the 

 effeft of violence. 



Sometimes wc find it appear in a fluid form, and 

 fomecimes in a folid one; and as the former is the 

 niore ufual in our warmer climate, we are apt to con- 

 clude fluidity to be its proper fl:ate, and fuppofe the 

 other to proceed from the extraneous adion of cold. 

 But the learned Boerhaave aflTerts the contrary, and 

 maintains, that Water is of the crvfl:alline kind : be- 

 caufe wherever a certain degree of fire (heat) is want- 



p it in fufion, it readily grows into a hard 

 glebe, which we call ice. 



Mr. Boyle is much of the fame opinion; he obferves, 

 that ice is commonly reputed to be Water, brought 

 into a preternatural ftate by cold. But with regard to 

 the nature of things, and fetting afide our arbitrary 



W A 



leaving it to reft in veff^s perfedtly clofccl, It conce-v^ 

 ed a certain kind oi weedy matter, ioniewliat like th» 

 (lamina of plants, or the little tufo of a mucilape"- 

 and yet it is related that Scliotus iaw Water in Ker- 

 cher's Mufeum, that had been kept in a veffel her- 

 metically fealed upwards of fifty years ; and yet it 

 ftill remained clear and pure, and ilood to the fam'-' 

 height in the veffel as at the firll, \Yithout the lealt 



fign of fediment. 



ing to 1 



1 



W 



terhaturally thawed by heat. If it be urged, that ice 

 left to itlelf will, upon the freezing agents being re- 

 moved, return to Water, it may be anfwered. That, 

 not to mention the fnow and ice that lie all the fum- 

 mer long on the Alps, and other high mountains, even 



n the torrid zone,, we have been aflTured, that in feme 

 ,^ parts of Siberia th? furface of the ground continues 

 -.. more montjis of the year frozen, by the natural tem- 

 /:. peratureof the climate, than it has beeri thawed by the 

 ; heat of the fun ; and a.lij:.tle_ fecJov/ jhe furface^Qf ,the 



; I ground,.th?. WAt^r,whicii^^^ the 



i-.vcayiues there, conpnues in a ftate of ice all the year 

 I-:: round 1 fo that when, in the heat of fummer, the fields 

 .hare covered v/ith Corn, if you dig three orfourieet 



r . 



'•^ — 



:!ecp, you Ihall find ice, and a frozen foil. 



** -— 



**r-*-> 



Water 



r.i.had alone and pure, it would have all the requifites I Mr 



Dr. Boerhaave adds, That he is convinced nobody 

 ever faw a drop of pure Water ; that the utmoft of 

 Its purity known, only amounts to its being free 

 from this and that fort of matter ; and that it can ne- 

 ver, for in.lante, be quite deprived of its fair, fince 

 air will always accompany it, and that has always fait. 

 Water feems to be diffufed every where, and to be 

 prefent in all fpace where there is matter. There is 

 not a body in all nature but will yield Water. It is 

 alio afferted, that even fire itfelf is not without Water 

 A fingle grain of the moft fiery fait, which in a mo- 

 ment's time will penetrate through a man's hand, 

 readily imbibes half its weight of Water, and melts 

 even in the drieft air imaginable. Thus fait of tar- 

 tar, placed near the hotteft fire, will attraft or im- 

 bibe Water, and by that means increafe confiderably 

 its weight in a fmall time. So in the drieft fummer's 

 day, a pewter veffel with ice in it, brought up from 

 fome cold fubterraneous place, into the hotteft room, 

 will immediately be covered with little drops of Wa- 

 ter gathered from the contiguous air, and condenfed 

 by the coldnefs of the ice. 



Even dry bodies afford a plenteous ftock of Water. 



Dr. Boerhaave fays, oil of vitriol, being expofed a 



long time to a violent fire, to feparate all the Water 



from it as much as poffible, did afterwards, by only 



ftanding a few minutes, contrad frefti Water fo faft, 



, , as foon to afford it as plenteoufly as at firft. 



.^.: And that hartfhorn that had been kept for forty years, 



,.,-andwas as hard and dry as any metal, fo that if 



,,. ftruck againft a flint, it would yield fparks of fire ; 



, yet this very hartfhorn being put into a glafs veflcl, 



;: and diftilled, afforded him one eighth of its quantity 



of Water. He adds : we have knowil bones dead 



V .-4"e4Awejltyrfive years/ and Tftiis become almoft as 



'- "^4 as4ron, which yet, by diftillation, afforded half 



^jf^their weight of Water ; and the hardeft ftones gro,ind 



%and diftilled, always difcover a portion thereof. 



>;■ of an element, and be as fimple as fire ; but there 

 ^:-has been no expedient hitherto found out for making 



diftillation, found that eels yielded 



^ ' 



it fuch* 



' ( 



Rain Vv'ater, which feems' to be the pureft of all thofe 

 ■ -we khow,,of, is replete with infinite exhalations of all 

 b!;kinds, which it imbibes from the air, fo that though it 

 -'^ be filtered and diftilled ever fo often, yet there ftill re- 





The pureft of all Waters we can any way iarrive at, is 



rr„that .diftj 



'^^ 



f 



r'-pi^iching night, in fom.e very high place, taking none 

 btf.but the outer, or fuperficial part^^thereof *:By a num- 

 :.:: b^r of repeated, dift illations thereof, the greatpft part 



b§r.f3eiies,rnay,befeparated from it; 



,^e cppt^pt to .call oyre. Water. 



X 



h 



Mr. Bpyltj indeed relates, that a 

 !l-til]ing,aquandty of Watery hu^ found at 



hdilength, that he,had got fixjeriths of the qu^antity. in 

 -inearth: whence he concludes, thattne whole Water,, 

 r-qby the further profecuting jhejoperatipn, might be 

 :;;L<:onverted into earth. ^ 



fome oil, fpirit, and volatile /alt, befides the caput 



mortuum ; yet all thefe were fo difproportionate to 



, the Water, that they feemed ,to have been nothing 



, but that coagulated. , . .o , • = ,' ; -■ - ./■,;; 



': The fame author, from human blood itfelf, as fpiri- 



^ tuous and elaborate a liquor as it is reputed, did, by 



,; diftillation, outof feven ounces and a half, drav? near 



r^ fix of phlegm, before ever any other of the principles 



began to rife. , ' " , . . . .r . ;, . ^ - 



-i.-Vipers, though they are efteemed hot in operation, 

 and will, in a convenient air, furvive for fome days* 

 ,i the lols of their heads and hearts, yet it is furprifing 

 ,[ how great' & ftiare of Water they yield by diftillation^ 

 ,; Some have been of the opinion, that Water was the 

 :,, common matter of all bodies. .- r And Thales, with 

 , . fome other philofophers, have held, that all things 



^* r^^ BAf^ w^^ >4 ^^ d-« .^^ ^ V A / .^ ^ ..m. dA 1__.T V 44''# « 



. 4 



Water 



Mofes 



of the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the 



'^ '. 



! * I 





Ih 



[But It ihould be confidered, that as the Water cannot 



pe removed or poured into a yeffel, without the mix- 



-.:.,-jture of fome duft with it^ fo neither can the luting of 



c; the velfel be diftilled without lofing fornething every 



■ .time; therefore Dr. Boerliaave rather concludes. That 



•-* 



2": 



w 



be duft floating; in the air, and the inftru- 



ments employed in the operation. 



tk 



.1 V 



'••-• fc^ 



-» ' -^ 



* ' 



.0 Wate 



; But Mr. Boyle does not conceive the Water 

 mentioned bv Mofes, as the univerfal matter. • 



.f^ 



Water : fince thou 



Water 



four 



pofe it to have been an agitated congeries, confifting 

 j of a great variety of feminar principles, and of other 



corpufcles fit to be fubdued and faftiioned by them, 

 ;. it yet might be a body fluid like Water, in cafe the 

 - corpufcles it was made up of were, by their Creator, 

 -,i made fmall enough, and put into fuch an aftual mo- 



•■ >♦ 



another. - 



th 



I -I 





- 



.- t • 



-*J 



K -^ 



----•*. f 



j:fi 





%* ^ - if J^. ''\ 



' ■ 



*^» * 



i' 



' i 



_ I 



However. 



/ 



