Century I. 



and Living Creatures, they will. It is no marvell therefore, that a fmall 

 Quantity of Spirits, in the Cels of the Brain, and Cannals of the Sinews, 

 are able to move a whole Body ,( which is of fo great Mafs) both with 

 fo great Force, as in Wreftling, Leaping ^ And with fo great Swiftnefs, as 

 in playing Divifion upon the Lute. Such is the force of. thefe two Natures, 

 Air and Flame when they incorporate. 



""pAke a fmall Wax Candle, and put it in a Socket, of Brafs, or Iron 5 Experiment 

 * Then let it upright in a Porringer full of Sprit of Wine, heated : Then Soiitary,tou. 

 fet both the Candle ,and Sprit of Wine, on fire, and you fhall fee the Flame of c ^s*tJe'ol 

 the Candle? open it felf, and become four or five times bigger than other- Flame. 

 wife it would have been and appear in Figure Globular, and not in Pyra- , . 3 1 

 mis. You fhall fee alfo, that the Inward Flame of the Candle keepeth Co- j 

 lour, and doth not wax any whit blew towards the Colour of the Outward 

 Flame of the Spirit of Wine. This is a Noble Inflance ,\\hemn two things are 

 mort remarkable, The one, that one Flame within another quencheth not, 

 but is a fixed Body, and continued! as Air, or Water do. And therefore 

 Flame would ftill afcend upwards in one greatnefs, if it were not quenched 

 on the Sides : And the greater the Flame is at the Bortome,the higher is the 

 Rife. The other,that Flame doth not mingle with Flame, as Air doth with 

 Air ,ov Water With Water, but only remaineth contiguous-, As;it cometh 

 to pafs betwixt Confifting Bodies. It appeareth alfo, that the forme of a 

 Pyramis in Flame, which we ufually fee, is meerly by Accident, and that 

 the Air about,by quenching the Sides of the Flame, crufheth it, and exte- 

 nuateth it into that Forme For of it felf it would be Round : And there- 

 fore Smoak isiti the Figure of a Pyramis Reverfed $ For the air quencheth 

 the Flame ,and receiveth the Smoak. Note alfo,that the Flame of the Candle 

 within the Flame of the Spirit of Wine, is troubled And doth not only open 

 and move upwards, but moveth waving, and to and fro : As if Flame of his 

 own Nature (if it were not quenched) would rowl and turn, as welJ as 

 move upwards. By all which it fhould feem, that the Coeleftiall Bodies, 

 ( moft of thcm)are true Fires or Flames, as ihtStoicks held ; More fine(per- 

 haps)and Rarifled,than our Flame is. For they are all Globular,and Deter- 

 nate, They have Rotation, And they have the Colour and Splendour of 

 Flame £ So that Flame above is Durable,and Coniiftent,and in his Natural! 

 place • But with us,it is a Stranger, and Momentany, and Impure Like 

 Vulcan that halted with his Fall. 



TAke an Arrow, and hold it in Flame, . for the fpace of ten pulfes •, And 

 when it cometh forth, you fhall find thole Parts of the Arrow, which 

 were one the Outfides of the Flame,xx\oit burned, blacked,and turned almoft 

 into a Coal whereas that in the Midft of the Flame, will be, as if the Fire 

 had fcaice touched it. This is an Inflame of great confequence for the dif- 

 covery of the N ature of Flame •, And iheweth mamfeftly , that Flame bur- 

 netii more violently towards the Sides, than in the Midft : And, which is 

 more, that Heat or Fin is not violent or furious, but where it is checked and 

 pent. And therefore the Pertpateticks (howfoever their opinion of an Ele- 

 ment of Fire above the Air is juftly exploded) in that Point they acquit 

 themfelves well : For being oppofed,that if there were a Sphere of Fire, that 

 incompafTed the Earth fo near hand, it were impoffible but all things 

 lliould be burnt up, They anfwer,that the pure Elemental/ Fire, in his own I 

 place,and not irritate,is but of a Moderate Heat. 



It 



Experiment 

 Solitary,tou- 

 ching the Dif- 

 ferent force of 

 Flame in the 

 Midft and on 

 the Sides . 



32 



