When Spirit of Vitriol poured upon common Salt or Salt-petre makes an Ebullition with the Salt, and unites with it, and in Distillation the Spirit of the common Salt or Salt-petre comes over much easier than it would do before, and the acid part of the Spirit of Vitriol stays behind; does not this argue that the fix'd Alcaly of the Salt attracts the acid Spirit of the Vitriol more strongly than its own Spirit, and not being able to hold them both, lets go its own? And when Oil of Vitriol is drawn off from its weight of Nitre, and from both the Ingredients a compound Spirit of Nitre is distilled, and two parts of this Spirit are poured on one part of Oil of Cloves or Carraway Seeds, or of any ponderous Oil of vegetable or animal Substances, or Oil of Turpentine thicken'd with a little Balsam of Sulphur, and the Liquors grow so very hot in mixing, as presently to send up a burning Flame; does not this very great and sudden Heat argue that the two Liquors mix with violence, and that their Parts in mixing run towards one another with an accelerated Motion, and clash with the greatest Force? And is it not for the same reason that well rectified Spirit of Wine poured on the same compound Spirit flashes; and that the Pulvis fulminans, composed of Sulphur, Nitre, and Salt of Tartar, goes off with a more sudden and violent Explosion than Gun-powder, the acid Spirits of the Sulphur and Nitre rushing towards one another, and towards the Salt of Tartar, with so great a violence, as by the shock to turn the whole at once into Vapour and Flame? Where the Dissolution is slow, it makes a slow Ebullition and a gentle Heat; and where it is quicker, it makes a greater Ebullition with more heat; and where it is done at once, the Ebullition is contracted into a sudden Blast or violent Explosion, with a heat equal to that of Fire and Flame. So when a Drachm of the above-mention'd compound Spirit of Nitre was poured upon half a Drachm of Oil of Carraway Seeds in vacuo, the Mixture immediately made a flash like Gun-powder, and burst the exhausted Receiver, which was a Glass six Inches wide, and eight Inches deep. And even the gross Body of Sulphur powder'd, and with an equal weight of Iron Filings and a little Water made into Paste, acts upon the Iron, and in five or six hours grows too hot to be touch'd, and emits a Flame. And by these Experiments compared with the great quantity of Sulphur with which the Earth abounds, and the warmth of the interior Parts of the Earth, and hot Springs, and burning Mountains, and with Damps, mineral Coruscations, Earthquakes, hot suffocating Exhalations, Hurricanes, and Spouts; we may learn that sulphureous Steams abound in the Bowels of the Earth and ferment with Minerals, and sometimes take fire with a sudden Coruscation and Explosion; and if pent up in subterraneous Caverns, burst the Caverns with a great shaking of the Earth, as in springing of a Mine. And then the Vapour generated by the Explosion, expiring through the Pores of the Earth, feels hot and suffocates, and makes Tempests and Hurricanes, and sometimes causes the Land to slide, or the Sea to boil, and carries up the Water thereof in Drops, which by their weight fall down again in Spouts. Also some sulphureous Steams, at all times when the Earth is dry, ascending into the Air, ferment there with nitrous Acids, and sometimes taking fire cause Lightning and Thunder, and fiery Meteors. For the Air abounds with acid Vapours fit to promote Fermentations, as appears by the rusting of Iron and Copper in it, the kindling of Fire by blowing, and the beating of the Heart by means of Respiration. Now the above-mention'd Motions are so great and violent as to shew that in Fermentations the Particles of Bodies which almost rest, are put into new Motions by a very potent Principle, which acts upon them only when they approach one another, and causes them to meet and clash with great violence, and grow hot with the motion, and dash one another into pieces, and vanish into Air, and Vapour, and Flame.
When Salt of Tartar per deliquium, being poured into the Solution of any Metal, precipitates the Metal and makes it fall down to the bottom of the Liquor in the form of Mud: Does not this argue that the acid Particles are attracted more strongly by the Salt of Tartar than by the Metal, and by the stronger Attraction go from the Metal to the Salt of Tartar? And so when a Solution of Iron in Aqua fortis dissolves the Lapis Calaminaris, and lets go the Iron, or a Solution of Copper dissolves Iron immersed in it and lets go the Copper, or a Solution of Silver dissolves Copper and lets go the Silver, or a Solution of Mercury in Aqua fortis being poured upon Iron, Copper, Tin, or Lead, dissolves the Metal and lets go the Mercury; does not this argue that the acid Particles of the Aqua fortis are attracted more strongly by the Lapis Calaminaris than by Iron, and more strongly by Iron than by Copper, and more strongly by Copper than by Silver, and more strongly by Iron, Copper, Tin, and Lead, than by Mercury? And is it not for the same reason that Iron requires more Aqua fortis to dissolve it than Copper, and Copper more than the other Metals; and that of all Metals, Iron is dissolved most easily, and is most apt to rust; and next after Iron, Copper?
When Oil of Vitriol is mix'd with a little Water, or is run per deliquium, and in Distillation the Water ascends difficultly, and brings over with it some part of the Oil of Vitriol in the form of Spirit of Vitriol, and this Spirit being poured upon Iron, Copper, or Salt of Tartar, unites with the Body and lets go the Water; doth not this shew that the acid Spirit is attracted by the Water, and more attracted by the fix'd Body than by the Water, and therefore lets go the Water to close with the fix'd Body? And is it not for the same reason that the Water and acid Spirits which are mix'd together in Vinegar, Aqua fortis, and Spirit of Salt, cohere and rise together in Distillation; but if the Menstruum be poured on Salt of Tartar, or on Lead, or Iron, or any fix'd Body which it can dissolve, the Acid by a stronger Attraction adheres to the Body, and lets go the Water? And is it not also from a mutual Attraction that the Spirits of Soot and Sea-Salt unite and compose the Particles of Sal-armoniac, which are less volatile than before, because grosser and freer from Water; and that the Particles of Sal-armoniac in Sublimation carry up the Particles of Antimony, which will not sublime alone; and that the Particles of Mercury uniting with the acid Particles of Spirit of Salt compose Mercury sublimate, and with the Particles of Sulphur, compose Cinnaber; and that the Particles of Spirit of Wine and Spirit of Urine well rectified unite, and letting go the Water which dissolved them, compose a consistent Body; and that in subliming Cinnaber from Salt of Tartar, or from quick Lime, the Sulphur by a stronger Attraction of the Salt or Lime lets go the Mercury, and stays with the fix'd Body; and that when Mercury sublimate is sublimed from Antimony, or from Regulus of Antimony, the Spirit of Salt lets go the Mercury, and unites with the antimonial metal which attracts it more strongly, and stays with it till the Heat be great enough to make them both ascend together, and then carries up the Metal with it in the form of a very fusible Salt, called Butter of Antimony, although the Spirit of Salt alone be almost as volatile as Water, and the Antimony alone as fix'd as Lead?