( 245 ) 



Moreover, I prepared a glafs tube, in which no liquor had ever 

 been, and taking one half of this fubltance, called natural light, out 

 of the water, I wrapped it in blotting paper to dry up any part of 

 the water which might adhere to it. Being thus dried, I put. it 

 into the glafs tube, with intent to clofe the orifice by heat, fird 

 uling the necellary precaution that the glafs might remain cold, ex- 

 cepting the bare end, which I clofed by applying it to the flame of 

 a candle. 



Having thus clofed the glafs, I examined the fubftance I had put 

 into it, and faw an incredible number of globules ifluing from it, 

 producing round about it an appearance of vapour or fmoke, and 

 at length forming a collection of watery and oily matter, which 

 gathered about the particle in fuch quantity, that, after an hour's 

 time, they impeded my view of the globules which were expelled : 

 whereupon by llrongly Ihaking the glafs, I removed the particle into 

 a freflr place, and then, again examining it, I faw the globules 

 expelled from it in as great numbers as before, and after three 

 hours, they formed fuch a colledion of moillure, as again to inter- 

 cept my view of the globules as they were expelled. 



I brought the glafs, containing this fubliance, near to the heat 

 of the candle, and immediately placed it before the microfcope ; 

 and then I faw, not only a great number of globules expelled from 

 it, but alfo many globules expelled from that part which had been 

 converted into a liquid ; and in fome places I faw that the heat had 

 changed the liquid into hard or folid corpufcles, to \vhich, by reafon 

 of their minutenefs, I could not alhgn any determinate fliape, and 

 which, to the naked eye, reprefented a white appearance. 



I again brought the glafs to the candle, and expofed it to a greater 

 degree of heat, imagining that when, in this clofed glafs, I had 

 driven the liquid from one place, I fhould find it colledcd in another, 

 but in this I was mifiaken, for all the moifiure was changed into 

 rigid corpufcles, and though, on the next and following days, 1 



