a) 
Natural Fiftory ; : 
af 
Semper-vive, which will putout Branches, two or three years: But itis true, | 
that commonly they wrapthe Root ina cloth befmeared with Oyl ; and} 
| renew it once in a half year. The like is reported by fome of the An-] 
cients of the ftalks of Lillies. The caufe is, for that thefe Plants have al 
| ftrong denfe, and fucculent moifture, which isnotaptto exhale ; and fo} 
| is able, from the oldftore, without drawing help fromthe Earth, to fuffice | 
the fprouting of the Plan: : And this fprouting is chiefly in the late Spring,| 
| or early Summer ; which are the times of putting forth. We {ce alfo,} 
that ftumps of Trees, lying out of the Ground, will put forth Sproutsto 
atime. But it is a noble tryal, and of very great confequence, to try} 
| whether thefe things, in the fprouting, doencreafe weight ; which muft be} 
tryed, by weighing them before they be hanged up ; and afterwards again, | 
whenthey are fprouted. For ifithey increafe not in weight, then it is no| ~ 
more but this, Thatwhat they fend forthin the fprout, they leefe in fome } 
other part; but if they gather weight, then it is Wagnale Nature: Forit 
fheweth, that ~4é may be made fo to becondenfed, asto beconverted in- | 
toadenfe Body; whereasthe race and period of ‘all things, here above the | — 
| Earth, isto extenuate and curn things to be more pneumatical, and rare; } 
| and not to be retrograde, from pneumatical to that which isdenfe. | It 
thewethalfo, that 4r can nourifh ; which is another great matter of con-| — 
fequence. Note, that to try this, the Experiment of the Semper-vive, muft 
be made without oyling the cloth; for elfe, itmay be, the Plant receiveth} — 
ce 
nourifhment from the Oyl, 
7 
Wap? t 
Fe and Air do notmingle, except itbe in an inftant; or inthe Vital,| 
en Spirits of vegetables, and living Creatures. In Gunpowder, the force of 7 
Solitary, it hath been afcribed to rarefaction of the earthly fubftance into Flame.| 
pidge ne And thus far itistrue; and then (forfoorth) it isbecome another Element; | — 
Flame and | theform: whereof occupicthmore place; and fo, of Neceflity, followeth | — 
Air, 2nd the 
great force 
thereof. 
a Dilatation: And therefore, left two Bodies fhould be in one place, 
there mutt needs alfo follow an Expulfion of the Pellet, or blowing up 
of the Minc.. But thefeare crude and ignorant {peculations: For Flame, 
if there were nothingelfe, exceptt were in a very great quantity, willbe | 
fuftocate withany hard body, fuch asa Pellet is, orthe Bariclof aGun; | 
fo as the flame would not expeljthe hard body , but the hard body would kill | é 
the flame, and notfufter it to kindle, or {pred. But thecaufeof thisfo po-| ~ 
tent a motion is the Nitre (which we call otherwife Salt-/erer) which} 
| having in ita notablecrude andwindy Spirit, firft by the heat of the Fir . 
fuddenly dilateth it felf ; (and we know that fimple Air, being preterna-| 
turally attenuated by heat, willmake it{elf room, and break, and blow) } 
up that which refifteth it.) And fecondly, when the Nitre hathdilated it} — 
felf, itbloweth abroad the flame asaninw ard Bellows. And therefore we|} 
fee that Brimftone, Pitch , € ampbire, Wildfire, and divers other inflamat 
matters; though they burn cruelly, and are hard to quench, yet they. 
no fuch fiery wind, as Gunpowder doth: And onthe other fice, wele 
Quick-filver (whichis a moft crude and watry Body) heated, and pe 
hath the like force with Gunpowder... As for living Creatures. it is cer 
their Viral Spirits are a fubftance compounded of an airy and flamy n 
ter; andthough Airand Flame, being free, vill not well mingle 
bound in by a Body that hath fome fixing,they will. For that you may be 
| in thofe two Bodies (which are their Aliments) Water and Oyl; 
likewife will not well mingle of themfelves, but in the Bodies 
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