156 NATURAL HISTORY. 



speedily by putting in cold water ; which as it seem- 

 eth, getteth down the whey. 



315. It is tried, that the burying of bottles of 

 drink well stopped, either in dry earth a good depth; 

 or in the bottom of a well within water ; and best 

 of all, the hanging of them in a deep well somewhat 

 above the water for some fortnight s space, is an 

 excellent means of making drink fresh and quick ; 

 for the cold doth not cause any exhaling of the 

 spirits at all, as heat doth, though it rarifieth the rest 

 that remain ; but cold maketh the spirits vigorous, 

 and irritateth them, whereby they incorporate the 

 parts of the liquor perfectly. 



316. As for the maturation of fruits, it is wrought 

 by the calling forth of the spirits of the body out 

 ward, and so spreading them more smoothly : and 

 likewise by digesting in some degree the grosser 

 parts ; and this is effected by heat, motion, attrac 

 tion, and by a rudiment of putrefaction ; for the 

 inception of putrefaction hath in it a maturation. 



317, There were taken apples, and laid in straw, 

 in hay, in flour, in chalk, in lime ; covered over with 

 onions; covered over with crabs, closed up in wax, 

 shut in a box, c. There was also an apple hanged 

 up in smoke, of all which the experiment sorted in 

 this manner. 



318. After a month s space, the apple inclosed 

 in wax was as green and fresh as at the first putting 

 in, and the kernels continued white. The cause is, 

 for that all exclusion of open air, which is ever pre 

 datory, maintained! the body in its first freshness and 



