ihQiturdll hijlory: 
That if the Bodyto be prererued beof Bulke, as a Corps is, thin the 1tody 
thatlnclofeth u 3 imift haue aVertiTe to draw forth^and drieth cMoiJlure 
of the Inward Body • Forelfethe/’wm/.i#/^ will play within, though 
nothing iflue forth.I rememberdoth relate,that there were found, 
at a time, two Coffins of Lead, in a Tombe j whereof the one contained 
the Body of King Numa • it being fome foure hundred yeares after his 
Death: And the other,his Bookes ofSacredRites and Ceremonies ,and the 
Discipline ofthe Pontifes$ And that in the Coffin that had the Bodie,there 
| wasNothing(at all)to be fcen,but a little light Cinders about the Sides • 
But in the Cojfin that had the Bookes, they were found as frefh ,as if they 
1 had beene but newly Written^ing written in Parchment, and couered 
ouer with watch- Candles of wax,three or foure fold.By this it feemeth, 
that the Romans , in Ntuna's time, were not fo good Embalmers, as the 
Egyptians were •, Which was the Caufi that the Body was vtterly con- 
fumed.But I find in Plutarch , and Others, that when Augujlus Ctfar 
v iii ted the Sepulchre of Alexander the Great, in Alexandria ,he found the 
Body to keepe his Dimenfion • But withall, that, notwithftanding all the 
Embalming which no doubt was of the beft,) the Body was fo Tender, 
as Cdtfiar touching but the Nofe of it, defaced it. Which makethmee 
finde it very ftrange, that the^& typtian Mummies fhould be reported to 
be asHard as Stone-Pitch : For'l finde no difference but one •, Which 
indeed may be very Materiall; Namely, that the Ancient AS,typtian 
Mummies ,were ihrowded in aNumberof Folds of Linnen , befmeared 
withGummesjn manner ofseare-cloth-yVhich it doth not appearc was 
pra&ifed vpon the Body of Alexander. 
Experiment 
Solitary tou¬ 
ching the W- 
bimdance of Ni¬ 
tre in ccrtaine 
Sea-Sbearet. 
772 
Experiment 
Solitary tou¬ 
ching Bodies 
that are borne 
' vp by Water. 
773 
Experiment 
Solitary tou¬ 
ching Futll, 
that confumtb 
latle t or nothing. 
774 
XT Eare the Cajlle of Catie, and by the Wells of Ajfan, i 
1N Idumea , a great Part of the Way, you would rhink< 
intheLW of 
rhinke the Sea were 
neare hand, though it be a good diftance off: And it is Nothing, but 
the Shining of the Nitre , vpon the Sea Sands 5 Such Abundance of Nitre 
the Shores there doe put forth. 
T He Dead-Sea,which Vomiteth vp Bitumen, is of that Crafitude,as 
LiuingBodiesboondWaod and Foot, call into it, haue been borne 
vp,and not funke. Which fheweth,that all Sinking into water , is but an 
O uer-weight of the Body, put into the water , in refpeft of the water: So 
that you may make *m<rfoftrong, andheauy, of Quick-Silver, (per¬ 
haps, )or the like, as may beare vp Iron: Ofwhich I fee no Vie,but Im- 
pofture. We fee alfo, that all Metalls,except Cold, for the famereafon, 
fwimme vpon guick-filuer. 
I T is reported,that at the Foot of a Hi//, neare the Marc mortuum, there 
is a Blacke Stone , (whereof Pilgrims make Fircs,)which burneth like a 
Coale , and diminifheth not 5( But onely waxeth Brighter and Whiter. 
That it fhould doe fo,is not ftrangejFor we fee Iron Red Hot burnerh, 
and confumeth not:But the flrangeneffe is, that it fhould continue any 
time 
