CENTURY IV. 181 



Experiment solitary touching preserving of rose- 

 leaves both in colour and smell. 



365. Take damask roses, and pull them, then 

 dry them upon the top of an house, upon a lead or 

 terras, in the hot sun, in a clear day, between the 

 hours only of twelve and two, or thereabouts. Then 

 put them into a sweet dry earthen bottle, or a glass, 

 with narrow mouths, stuffing them close together, 

 but without bruising : stop the bottle or glass close, 

 and these roses will retain not only their smell per 

 fect, but their colour fresh, for a year at least. Note, 

 that nothing doth so much destroy any plant, or 

 other body, either by putrefaction or arefaction, as 

 the adventitious moisture which hangeth loose in the 

 body, if it be not drawn out. For it betrayeth and 

 tolleth forth the innate and radical moisture along 

 with it when itself goeth forth. And therefore in 

 living creatures, moderate sweat doth preserve the 

 juice of the body. Note, that these roses, when you 

 take them from the drying, have little or no smell ; 

 so that the smell is a second smell, that issueth out 

 of the flower afterwards. 



Experiments in consort touching the continuance of 

 flame. 



366. The continuance of flame, according unto 

 the diversity of the body inflamed, and other cir 

 cumstances, is worthy the inquiry ; chiefly, for that 

 though flame be almost of a momentary lasting, yet 

 it receiveth the more, and the less: we will first 



