firmnefs from that fubftance which thefe notes difcourfo 
of 5 but however let us fuppofe that Ker\rmgius was fo 
luc\y^ as to produce one exadly like a true Polypus in ail 
circumftances, yet it argues not that all thele concre- 
tions muft needs be form'd all on a fudden 5 it gives in- 
deed fome light into the nature of t\iQ\tCaufe, but it does 
not follow that this caufe muft always work its efFed in 
an infiant, but a longer or ftiorter time will be requir'd, 
as the caufe is more or lej^ active. In the mean timej do 
not deny that ftrange coagulations have fuddenly hap- 
ned, and Anatomy has often made fuch difcoveries in 
cafes of fudden death yet even thefe generally are not 
to be lookt on as produils after ieath, but rather the 
quick inevitable melTengers and immediate forerunners 
of it j fuch are thofe concretions that upon diffedtion 
have been found in the heart and blood- velTels ot perfons 
kill'd by fudden frights, as alio in thofe that have been 
quickly difpatcht by an uaexpe6led fit of an Apoplexy, 
a Cardiacal Syncopey or a fujfocating Catarrh ; where the 
coagulative Spirit like lightning ftrikes through the whole 
mafs of blood, and either fixes it and makes it unapc 
for the generation of frefli Spirits, or elfe, if a grofsfi- 
militude may illuftrate fo abftrufe a matter, (like what 
happens to the invifible fteams of Spirit of Salt Armo- 
niac, which will be condensd^ grow turbid and vifib-e at 
the approach ot the vapour of Spirit of Salt or Nitre) 
the animal Spirits themfelves are clouded, alter'd from 
their natures^ extinguifh'd and quite deftroy'd by a mix- 
tureoi the forreign preternatural halitus. 'Tis not im- 
probable that by one or both of thefe methods the peJH" 
leniial Effluvia of an infeded^Air, the Arfenical Exha- 
lation of a damp, 2iXiAt\\Q nitro-fulphureous fteam ("much 
like the fcent of Spirit of Nitre) arifing from burning 
charcoal do often ad fuch fudden and fatal Tragedies. 
For if we refled on the membranous fubftance of the 
Lungs, the infinite nuniberof Veficles they are compos d 
of, 
