CENTURY IV. 177 



But these two ways of version of water into oil, 

 namely, by mixture and by assimilation, are by many 

 passages and percolations, and by long continuance 

 of soft heats, and by circuits of time. 



357. The third is the inception of putrefac 

 tion ; as in water corrupted ; and the mothers of 

 waters distilled ; botli which have a kind of fatness 

 or oil. 



358. The fourth is in the dulcoration of some 

 metals, as &quot; saccharum Saturni, c.&quot; 



359. The intention of version of water into a 

 more oily substance is by digestion; for oil is almost 

 nothing else but water digested, and this digestion 

 is principally by heat, which heat must be either out 

 ward or inward : again, it may be by provocation or 

 excitation, which is caused by the mingling of bodies 

 already oily or digested ; for they will somewhat 

 communicate their nature with the rest. Digestion 

 also is strongly effected by direct assimilation of 

 bodies crude into bodies digested, as in plants and 

 living creatures, whose nourishment is far more 

 crude than their bodies : but this digestion is by a 

 great compass, as hath been said. As for the more 

 full handling of these two principles, whereof this is 

 but a taste, the inquiry of which is one of the pro- 

 foundest inquiries of nature, we leave it to the title 

 of version of bodies, and likewise to the title of the 

 first congregations of matter ; which, like a general 

 assembly of estates, doth give law to all bodies. 



Experiment solitary touching chameleons. 



360. A chameleon is a creature about the bigness 

 VOL. iv. N 



