A Treatife of BODIES. Chap. 15. 



or even the hammer with beating,breaketh gold afunder: fork 

 is nehher the chifcll, nor the hammer that doth that effect im- 

 mediately; but they make thofe parts they touch, cut the others 

 that they are forced upon. In fuch fort as I remember happened 

 to a gentleman that flood by me (in a tea-fight I was in) 

 with a coat of mail upon his body, when a bullet coming againft 

 a bony part in him, made a great wound, and fluttered all the 

 bones near where it (truck: and yet the coat of mail was whole: 

 it fccmeth the little links of the mail yielding to the bullets force 

 made their way into the flefh and to the bone. 



But now it is time to come to the other two inftruments of 

 feparation of bodies, fire and water; and to examine how they 

 ch=1icn f an'd dilfolve compounds. Of thefc two; the way of working of fire, 

 chiefcft iiiftru- i s tnc cafieft and moft apparant to be difcerned. We may rea- 

 su compounded dily obftrve how it proceedeth, if we but fet a piece of wood on 

 bodici. fi rc . -, n vvhich it maketh little holes as if with bodkins it pierced 



it. So that the manner of its operation in common being plain, 

 we need but reflefl a little upon the fcverall particular degrees 

 of it. Some bodies it feemcth not to touch; as clothes made of 

 Asbeftus; which are onely purifyed by it. Others, it melicth, 

 but confumeth not; as gold. Others it turneth into powder fud- 

 dainlydiffolving their body ; as lead, and fuch metalls as are 

 calcined by pure fire. Others again, it feparateth into a greater 

 number of differing parts ; as into fpirks, waters, oyls, falts, 

 earth and glafle: of which rank are all vegetables. And laftly, 

 others itconverteth into pure fire, as ftroug waters, or Aqua- 

 vites ( called aqua: ardentesj and fomc pure oyls: for the (moke 

 that is made by their fetting on fire, and peradventure their falc 

 is fo little as is (carce difccrnable. Thefe arc in fumme the divifi- 

 ons which fire maketh upon bodies, according to the nature of 

 them,and to the due application ofit unto themrfor by the help & 

 mediation of other things,it may peradventure work other effects 

 4. Now to examine a little in particular, how the fame fire, in 



The rcafon why differing fubjc&s, produceth fuch different effects: Limns ttt 



fomc bodies arc . . . D _ . ' . . r _ . . , 



ner aiffolvcd h*c dttre^cttt & h*c ttt ccra liqttcjctt , Un9 code me/He tgnt - t 



by fiic. -\Y C vv jii con fi t l cr t j ie nature of every one of the fubjecls apart 



by it fclf. Firfr, for the Asbeflus : it is clear, that it is of a very 



dry fubftancc ; fo that to look upon it, when it is broken into 



very little picccsi they feem to be little bundles of (hort hairs, 



the 



