MicrRocGRAPHTA. 139 
as high as thefe raggs, is vifible to one that will obferve the fhuff of 4! 
burning Candle with a Afcrofcope, where he may fee an Ebullition of 
bubbling of the Oy], as high as the fnuff looks black. = 00 
Next,that it does fteam away thore then burn I could tell you of the 
dim burning of a Candle, the longer the fnuff be which arifes from thé 
abundance of vapours out of the higher parts of it. 
And, thirdly, that in' the middle of the flame of the Candle, ‘neet the 
top of the {nuff, the fire or diffolving’ principles nothing ‘néer fo ftrong, 
asneer the bottom and out edges of the flame; which may be obferv'd by’ 
the burning ‘afunder of a thread, that will firft break in thofé parts that: 
the edges of the flame touch, and not in the middle. 791 S143 1dOH 
AndT could add feveral Obfervables that [have taken notice of in the 
flame ofa Lamp actuated with Bellows, and very many others that con- 
firm mein my opinion, but that it is not fo much to my prefent purpofe, 
which is onely to confider this concreet in the {nuff of a Candle; fo farr’ 
as it has any refemblance of a Mufhrom, to the confideration of Which, 
that | may return, I fay, we may allo obferve: OT me 
_ Inthe firft place, that the droppings or trillings of Lapidefcent waters 
in Vaults under ground,feem to conttitute a kind of petrify'd body, form’d 
almoft like fome kind of Mufhroms inverted,in fo much that I have feen 
fomeknobb’d a little at the lower end, though for the moft part, indeed’ 
they are otherwife fhap’d,and taper’d towards the end; the generation of 
which feemsto be from tio other reafon but this; that the water by foak~’ 
ing through the earth and Lime (for T'ghef that fubftance toadd mich — 
tot petrifying quality) does fo impregnate it ‘felf with ftony ‘particles, 
that hanging in drops in the roof of the Vault, by reafon that the’ 
foaking of the water is but flow, it becomes expos'd to the Air, and there-' 
by the outward part of the drop by degrees grows hard, by reafonthat’ 
the ‘water gradually evaporating the {tony particles neer the outfides of 
the drop’begin to touch, and by degtées, to dry and growclofér toge+! 
fakiae b at Ss conftitute a cruft or noi Set 5 and this’ 
oaking by degrees, being more and more fupply'd, the drop grows 
longer a Ringer and “ae fides ‘harden thicker and thicker into a 
Quill or Cane, and at length, that hollow or pith becomes almoft ftop’d 
tip, and folid: afterwards the foaking of the pefrifying water, finding no 
longer a paflage throvigh the middle, burfts out, and trickles down the 
outfide, and as the water evaporates, leaves’ new fupetinduc’d fhells, 
which mote and’ more fwell the bulk’ of thof' Téeicles ; and becaufe of 
the great fupply from the Vault, of petrifying water, thole bodies grow. 
bigger and bigger next to the Vault, and taper or fharpen towards the 
point; for the accefs frot the arch of the Vault being but very flow,and 
confequéntly the water being fpread very thinly over the fur Ice of the’ 
Iceicle, the water begins to fettle before it can teach to the bottom, or’ 
corner end of it; Whence, if you break one of thefe, you would almoft’ 
imagine it a ftick of Wood perrify'd, it having (0 pretty a refemblance of 
pith and grain, and if ‘you look on the outfide of a piece, or of one’ 
whole, ‘you would tial tio lef, both from its vegetable roundnefs coe 
T taperin 
aor or 
