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ITowever,_ Bafis Valentine, Paracelfus,VanHeIniont, 

 Bentivoglio, and others have maintained, on his prin- 

 ciples, that Water is the elemental matter or ftamen 

 ot all things, and that it fufHces for the produftion 

 of all things; which Helmont: 



from the following experiment. 



endeavours to prove 



He burnt a quantity of earth in a potter's vefTel, till 

 fuch time as all the oil it contained was quite con- 

 fumed ; then mixing it with Water, he drew out all 

 the fait. The earth thus prepared, he put into an 

 earthen pot, fuch as is ufed by gardeners, and took 

 care that nothing but rain Water'could enter into the 

 fame ; and yet a -Willow being planted in this earth, 

 grew up to a confiderable height; whence he con- 

 cluded, that Water was the only nutriment of the ve- 

 getable kind, as vegetables are of the animal. 

 The fame thing Mr. Boyle likewife argued from a 

 fimilar experiment, and the whole is countenanced by 

 Sir Ifaac Newton, whoobferves, that Water ftandino- 

 a few days in^the open air, yields a tindture, which"^ 

 like that of male,' by (landing longer, yields a fedi- 

 ment and a fpirit ; but before putrefaftion, is fit nou- 

 rilhment for animals and vegetables. ' 

 But Dr. Woodward endeavours to (hew, that they 

 were both miftaken; proving, that Water contains in 

 it divers extraneous corpufcles, and that fome of thefe 

 are the proper matter of nutrition ; Water being 

 found to afford fo much the lefs nourilhment, the 

 , more it is purified. Thus Mint planted in Water pu- 

 rified by dillillation, will not grow fo faft, as if put in 

 Water not diftilled ; and if the Water be diftilled 

 three or four times over, the plant will fcarce grow 

 at all, or receive any nourifhment from it. 

 So that Water as fuch, is not the proper nutriment 

 of vegetables^ but only the vehicle thereof ; which 

 contains the nutritious particles, and carries them along 

 with it through all the parts of the plants 5 fo that a 

 Water plant, e. g, a Water Crefs, being put in a 

 glafs veffel full of Water, will be found to contain 

 the more fait and oil. ' .- .. 



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In effeft, Water nourifhes the lefs, the more it is 



purged of its faponaceous falts, in its pure ftate it may 



.. fuffice to extend or fwell the parts, but affords no new 



vegetable matter. 





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Of the fluidity of Water, 



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Water, fays Dr. Boerhaave, is fluid, but the fluidity 

 is not natural thereto ; for naturally, it is of the crys- 

 talline kind ; and accordingly, wherever a certain 

 degree of fire is wanting, there we fee Water be- 

 come ice. That this ice is the proper effe6l of the 

 want of heat, and not of any additional fpicula intro- 

 duced into the Water, as Mariotte and others con- 

 tend, is evident enough, were it only hence, that on 

 this fuppofition, it could not penetrate the fubflance ' 

 of all bodies, as we find it does, and even that of 



metals. - - ; 



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This Water in its flate of folution, never remains at 

 refl ; its parts are in perpetual motion, as was firft 

 difcovered by the French with the help of micro- 

 fcopes ; and is farther confirmed by this, that if a 

 little Saffron be fufpended in the middle of a veflfel 

 full of Water, the Saffron colour will in a little time, 

 form as it were, a kind of atmolphere around, and at 

 length be diffufed through the whole Water. Now 

 this could no way beeff^eded without a motion of the 

 ■watery particles among each other. Add, that if 

 ' you caft a quantity of the drieft fait, in the coldeft 

 weather into Water, it will foqn be diflTolved ; which 

 • argues the continual motion of the particles of that 

 clement. 



He adds, that he had more than once filled 

 wide vefTel with Water, and narrowly watched with a 

 good microfcope, but could never perceive it without 



fome fort of undulatory motion. 

 Water fcarce ever continues two moments exactly of 

 the fame weight ; but is always varying more or lefs, 

 by reafon of the air and fire contained in it. Thus 

 if you lay a piece of pure limpid ice in a nice balance. 



a large 



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you will find it continue in equilibrio. The expari- 

 lion of Water, in boiling, Ihews what cfteft the dit:. 

 ferent degree that fire has on the gravity of Water 

 This uncertainty makes it difficult to fix the fpecific 

 gravity of Water, in order to fettle its degree of pu- 

 rity ; but this we may fay in the general, that tlie 

 purcft Water we can procure is, that which weighs 

 880 times as much as air. . . 



However, neither have we any tolerable fl:andard for 

 air; for Water being fo miich heavier than air, the 

 more Water is contained in air, the heavier of courfe 

 mufl it be ; as in effedl, the principal part of the 



weight of the atmofphere, feems to arife from the 

 Water. 



pf all Waters, the purcfl is that which falls in rain ■ 

 in a cold feafon, and a ftill day ; and this we muft 

 be content to take for elementary Water'. . The rain 

 Water in fummer, or when the attnofphere is in com- 



. motion it is certain, muft contain infinite kinds of 



; heterogeneous matter. Thus if you gather the Wa- 

 ter that falls after a thunder clap in afultry fummer's 

 day, and let it fland and fettle, you will find a real 

 fait flicking at the bottom ;'but in winter, efpecially 

 when it freezes, the exhalations are but few, fo that 

 the rain falls witfhout-much adulteration ; and hence, 

 what is thus gathered in the morning, is found of" 

 good ufe for taking aways fpots in the face ; and that 

 gathered from fnow, againfl inflammations in the 

 eye. Yet this rain Water, with all its purity, may be 

 filtred and diftilled a thoufand times, and it will ftill 

 leave fome fseces behind it ; fo that to procure the 

 purefl Water poffible, a man muft look for it in a 

 fpacious plain in the winter time, when the earth is 

 covered with fnow, and its pores locked up with froft. 

 The next in point of purity is fpring Water. This, 

 according to Dr. Halley, is collefted from the air it- 

 felf; which, being faturated with Water, and coming 

 to be condenfed by the evening's cold, is driven 

 againft th^ cold tops of mountains, where, being far- 

 ther condenfed and colledted, it gleets down or diftils, 

 as much as in an alembici . • ' ' 



Spring Water becomes the better by running; for 

 during all its courfe, it is depofiting what heteroge- 

 neous matters it contained ; but while the river drives 

 on its Waters in an uninterrupted ftream, all its falts^ 



; yith all the vegetable and animal matters drained into 

 it, either from exhajations^qr from the ground ic 

 wafhes gradually, either fink ""to the bottom, or are 



-driven to the Ihpre*^^ ""' "'''^ ' 



■ But what Water del 



mountains, is generally pretty free froln heterogene^ 

 Gus bodies. 





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Of the foluthe power of Water » 



Water confidered as a menftruum, diffolvefs, 

 I. All falts ; as fugar, borax, &c. which air onl/ 

 diffolves by virtue of the Water it contains ; which 

 fire only liquifies, and earth leaves untouched, fo that 

 Water alone is the proper menftruum of falts* 

 The parricles of falts, as has been obferVed, can in- 

 finuate themfelves into the interftices between the par- 

 ticles of Water ; but when thofe interftices'are filled 

 with any fait, the fame Water will not any longer 

 diflTolve the fatne fait ; but a fait of another kind ic 

 will, by reafon its particles being of a different form^ 

 will enter and occupy the vacancies left by the for- 

 mer. And thus again, it will diffolve a third or 

 fourth fait, &c. So when Water has imbibed its fill 

 which I of common fait, it will ftill diffolve nitre ; and when 



faturated with heat, will .diflblve fal armoniac ; and 



fo on. 



2. It diffolves all faline bodies ; it being the confti- 

 tuent quality of a faline body, to be uninflammable 

 and diflbluble in Water. Hence Water may diflblve 

 all bodies, even the heavieit and moft compad, as 

 metals, inafmuch as thefe are capable of being reduced 

 into a faline form ; for thefe may be fo intimately dif- 

 folved by Water, as to be fuftained therein. 



3. It diffolves all faponaceous bodies, i. e- all alka- 



14 Q • • linous 



