8 



D^aturatl Hiftory ; 



Experiment 

 Solitary, cou 

 ching the 



Force tnereo: 



3° 



Semper-vive, which will put out Branches, two or three yeares : But it is 

 true, that commonly they wrap the Root in a Cloth befmeared with Oyl ; 

 and renue it once in half a Year. The like is reported by fqme of the An- 

 cients y of the Stalks of Lillies. The Caufe is j For that thefe Plants have a 

 Strong, Denfe, and Succulent Moifture, which is not apt to exhale And 

 fo is able, from the old ftore, without drawing help from the Earth, to fuf- 

 fice the fprouting of the Plant : And this Sprouting is chiefly in the late 

 Spring, or early Summer ^ which are the Times of Putting forth. We fee 

 alio, that Stumps of T rets, lying out of the ground, will put forth Sprouts 

 for a Time. But it is a Noble Trhll, and of very great Confequence, to trie 

 whether thefe things, in the Sprouting, do encreafe Weight, which muft be 

 tried, by weighing them before they be hang'd up ; And afterwards again, 

 when they are fprouted. For if they encreafe not in Weight ; Then it is no 

 more but this ; That what they fend forth in the Sprout, they leefe in fome 

 other Part : But if they gather Weight, then it is ' Magnate Nature - 7 For it 

 fheweth, that Air may be made fo to be Condenfed, as to be converted in- 

 to a Denfe Body $ whereas the Race and Period of all things, here above the 

 Earth, is to extenuate and turn things to be more Pneumatic all, and Rare •, 

 And not to be Retrograde, from Pneumatic all to that which is Denje. It 

 fheweth alfo that Air can Nourijh • which is another great Matter oi- Con- 

 fequence. Note, that to trie this,the Experiment or the Semper-vive ,muft 

 be made without Oyling the Cloth ; For elfe, it may be, the Plant receiveth 

 Nourifbment from the Oyl. 



FLame and Air do not Mingle, except it be in an Infant , Or in the vi- 

 tall Spirits of Vegetables ,and living Creatures. In Gunpowder, the Force of 

 c'ommi 'xme of it hath been afcribed, to Rarefaction of the Earthy Sublhnce into Flame ; 

 ^^^jl Andthusfarre itis true .* And then (forfooth) it is become another Ele- 

 reat f\ ment j the Forme whereof occupieth more place ; And fo, of Neceflity, 

 followeth a Dilatation : And therefore,ldt two Bodies ihould be in one place, 

 there mult needs alfo follow an Expulficn of the pellet . Or blowing up 

 of the Mine. But thefe are Crude and Ignorant Speculations. For Flame, 

 if there were nothing elfe except it were in a very great quantity , will be fur- 

 focate with any hard Body, fuch as a Pellet is • Or the Ban eU of a Gun ( 

 So as the Flame would not expell the hard Body ^ But the hard Body would 

 kill the Flame, 2nd not fuifer it to kktdle,or ipread. But the Caufe of this fo 

 potent a Motion, is the Nitre, (which we call otherwife Salt-Petre) which 

 having in it a notable Crude and windy Spirit, firffc by the Heat of the Fire 

 fuddenly dilatethit felf-, (and we know that fimple Air, being preterna- 

 turally attenuated by Heat, will make it felf Room, and break, and blow 

 up that which refifteth it.) And fecondly, when the Nitre hath dilated it 

 felf,it bloweth abroad the Flame as an inward Bellow es. And therefore we 

 fee that Brimfione, PitchjCamphire, Wild- f re, and divers other Inflammable 

 Matters,though they burn cruelly ,and are hard to quench , Yet they make 

 no fuch fiery wind, as Gunpowder doth r And on the other fide, we fee that 

 £uick-fil<ver ,{ which is a moil Crude and Watry Body) heated, and pent 

 in,hath the like force with Gunpowder. As for living Creatures, it is certain, 

 their Vitall Spirits are a Subftance Compounded of an Airy and Flamy Mat- 

 ter And though Air and Flame being free, will not well mingle ^ yet bound 

 in by a Body that hath fome fixing, they will. For that you may beft fee in. 

 thofe two Bodies, (which are their Aliments) Water, and Oyl ; For they 

 likewife will not well mingle of themfelves, but in the Bodies of Plants, 

 . and 



