104 &fr. Jcffop to Mr. Ray. 



count you gave him of young Helmont. He give^ 

 this Account of their Menjiruum, of which you en- 

 quired. The Experiment was made accidentally 5 for 

 having kept it in a Glafs Vial, (part of the Relicks of 

 which he fliewed me) and going to take out fome 

 for their Ufe, they found that it was all run out, and 

 yet they could obferve neither Crack nor Hole in 

 the Glafs: Yet obferving that the Glafs was very 

 white as far as it had been filled, he not imagining 

 what might be the Reafon, endeavoured to clearife 

 it with an Iron prepared for that Purpofe : But the 

 Glafs proved fo tender, that at the firft Touch the ; 

 Iron made a Hole through it % Upon this they began 

 to confider whkt might be the Reafon of this Acci- 

 dent, for they had often made the lame Preparation, 

 and yet npt met with this EfFe£t. At length they 

 remembered that they had by chance ufed a ftronger 

 Fire than they did formerly y and therefore, upon 

 the next Occafion, after they had drawn part of it 

 with their ufual Degree of Heat, towards the latter 

 End they urged it with a ftronger Fire, and found, 

 according to their Expe£tation, that what was drawn 

 firft did not dijfolve Glafs, but the latter did. This 

 Experiment they have made four times with Sue- 

 eels, and without failing at any time. They fhewed 

 me about a Pint of their laft Extraction in a thick 

 green Glafs Bottle, and it feemeth to have diflblved it 

 about half way through. He feems to make a Doubt 

 of the Meaning of thofe Words in your ghi&re (whe- 

 ther the Menjiruum difiblve Glafs conftaritly and cer- 

 tainly 3) if you mean, as I imagine you do, you have 

 your Anfwer already. 



But if you ask whether the fame Portion of the 

 Menjiruum, which hath formerly dijfolved Glafs, will 

 again do the fame with the fame Vigour ? He an- 

 fwers, that in this Particular it doth not differ from 

 other ordinary Menjiruum 's 3 for at the fecond time it 

 Works its Effe6t more weakly, and the third time 



feare'e 



