Royal Society. 289 
The heads of old garlick to 52 pounds were dried in a furnace 
and burnt, from the afhes there was harcily any lalt t?o be gather- 
ed : Thirty pounds of wheat flower burnt in a furnace with a little 
fulphur, and burnt a-new in a potter's oven, gave 8 ounces of very 
black afhes, which being baked again for 8 days, continually in 
a brick furnace after the lee was made, there could not be a 
grain of fait drawn from it 5 the like happened in 10 ounces of 
aflies made from a Stare and a half of bran, burnt firll: in the 
furnace with fulphur, and afterwards baked in a potter's oven, 
and in one of bricks. 16. All falts whatever, drawn from the 
afhes of vegetables, taken by the mouth, have a purging faculty, 
and in a great mealiire more than what is by Ibme believed to be 
in common lalt, which taken by the - mouth has little or none at 
all, or if it have any, the proportion betwixt that of common lalt 
and vegetables, is but as 2 to 8. 17. This folutive faculty is of 
equal energy in all the lalts, in fuch a manner that the lalt of 
Sumachy peel of pomegranates, myrtle-berries or maftick, purges 
as much as the lalt of Rhubarb, Sena^ T'urbith^ Mechoacan^ and 
all other fach like purgative drugs. 18. The dole to be uled is 
the fame in all the falts, vizi. from two drachms and a half to half 
an ounce, didblved in fix ounces of common water and broth: 
S. Redi had obferved by an infinite number of experiments, that 
half an ounce is wont to purge three pounds and a half, or four 
pounds, or thereabouts, of matter, more or lels, according to the 
complexions, and according to the fullnefs of the bodies it ope- 
rates upon. 19. In purging, he found no difference betwixt thefe 
falts that have fharp points, and thole that are obtufe and blunt, 
or cubical ^ he had made frequent trials on divers perfons, cau- 
fing the like cubical llones of cucumbers, ginger, colewort, and 
liquorifh to be picked out, and he has leen, that they wrquoht 
with the fame energy as the mpft acute hexagonal flones of the 
fait of pepper, carnation-roiesj mechoacan, coleworts, cucum- 
bers, ^c. 20. From the above oblervations, tho' you cannot 
eftablifh a certain rule, you may neverthelels conje6^ure, not 
without Ibme reafon, firft, that the falts drawn from the afhes of 
herbs, flowers, fruits, '^c. do not retain that virtue and faculty 
which phyficians believe the herbs, flowers, fruits, ^c. to be 
endowed with 5 fecondly, you may very nearly be certain of the 
proportion of afhes arifing from each fpecies of vegetables, and 
of the quantity of fait which is afterwards to be drawn from 
them. 21. You may alio obferve, that fome vegetables which 
are inlipid and cold, as endive, pompion, and roles, have 
yielded much more fait than others of a ftronger favour, more 
Vol. III. O o aps- 
