BEfore I enter into this Discourse, I am neces­sitated to remove an Objection, lest I stum­ble on the Threshold: Says my honoured Patient, Last Year you perswaded me, that Scar­brough Water was to be preferred before Knaisbrough; this Year you are of a contrary opinion, and [Page 14]therefore I know not how to trust you. I answer, first excusively, you may note hereby, that I am not pertinacious; conviction of an er­rour will work in me conversion to the truth: Again, I did commend to you no worse thing than that which I took my self; 'twere to be wished that all Physicians were bound with this Girdle. Secondly, directly, for your particular trou­ble, Gravel, and Stone in the Kid­neys, I did prefer the Nitre at Scar­brough before the Vitriol of Knais­brough: Appello Coronam, if that be not a more noble principle than this; yet must it be understood on­ly caeteris paribus. Here my mi­stake was incurable, until I got op­portunity to sift Scarbrough Water in the Fire, the best Microscope could not have shown me what lay in the bowels of it, only Spagyrick Anatomy made the Dirt appear to [Page 15]open view. For satisfaction to o­thers, who may censure my wan­dring from Knaisbrough to rise from wavering in opinion, take this plain Narrative.

Anno Domini 1666. the famous fortunate Chyrurgeon Mr. Thomas Holiard of London (may this man be blessed in his deed) cut me for the Stone, which weighed four Ounces and a half; Six weeks after, I was able to take Journey; the Doctor there (my friend) told me his doubt, that Vitrioline Waters were too sharp for me to drink, be­cause of my green wound so lately healed: notwithstanding I resolv'd for Knaisbrough, remembring Mr. Stones case which his Father related to me long since, which was this; after his Son was cut, a large Stone taken out of his Bladder, the wound did not perfectly heal, (notwith­standing he had all the help that [Page 16] London could afford) for about three Months time, at last Sir Theod. Mayrne did advise him to Knais­brough Water, he had not drunk it fifteen days till he was perfectly healed; for which great Cure done by it, he did frequent that Spaw for many years after: this Water I mixed with white Wine, which brought away by Urine abundance of mucous matter. Helmont the Prince of Reason sets down the cause hereof in these words; ubi custodes malè se habent, continuò plo­rant partem proprii alimenti quod sibi assimilare debebat: I was glad to see that this Spaw cleansed the Bladder from that glutenous stuff, which (if let alone) would un­doubtedly have laid a foundation for another Stone. Sandy Gravel (which few or none are exempted from) falling amongst it, and mix­ing with it, must in continuance [Page 17]gather to a hard substance, too great to pass away. I wish all those that shall receive like mercy with me, would use the like means to pre­vent a relapse of that formidable Disease the Stone.

Anno Dom. 1667. I returned thi­ther again, the season proved wet, during which time, the Spaw prov­ed very weak of the mineral, this discouraged me from drinking much of it: I then blamed the great Ditch about the Fountain, as the cause of impoverishing the Spaw of its principle, for I judge it was as rational to pare an Ap­ple, and to peel the Bark off a Tree, and hereby not indemnifie them, as to cut away the surface of the earth about a mineral Foun­tain; standing water abiding all Winter in these deep Trenches, by sinking down through the softned earth, makes passage into the cur­rent [Page 18]of the Spaw; then every showre of Rain in the Summer will find the same crevices and clifts to descend into it: If this may suffice to get this fault mended, I shall be glad.

Anno 1668. being mostly con­cern'd to look well to my self a­gainst the threatnings of my for­mer distemper, I visited Scarbrough during mine abode there.

First, I took notice what Doctor Witty says, pag. 151. that after he had exhaled the water from the body of the minerals, it would not unite with other waters, but lie all at the bot­tom undissolved. By this trial of his, I was certain that in that bo­dy of Minerals there must be other things containd than his 4 or 5 prin­ciples; for Allom, Nitre, Salt, and Vi­triol of Iron, are amicable to water, and without any force dissolvable in it, neither may it be supposed that [Page 19]the fire in exhaling the Water can alter the texture of Salts, so as to hinder their dissolution; for the more Salts are calcined, the more speedily do they imbibe the Wa­ter, as thirsting for it, as Ice doth, therefore easily melt in Water, be­cause it proceeded from it, for the same reason Salts must do so like­wise. If any one doubt of this, let him try the Lord Blay's Experi­ment, that learned Frenchman, viz. calcine Sea-Salt, deliquiate it, then distill all that will come over, re­peat this process, and you will find that all the Salt is turned into Wa­ter, as devoid of all saltness, as is distilled Rain Water.

Next thing I observed was these words of his, pag. 13. Nor can the principles be separated further than I have already expressed, namely, by putting Gall to the Water, notwith­standing many ingenious Gentlemen [Page 20]have endeavoured it: I wish those he means had applied their wits a­bout the usefulness of Experimen­tal Philosophy, as the Honoura­ble Boyle has done, and then their endeavours would have succeeded here, and to higher purposes than the separating the principles of Scarbrough Spaw; where the diffi­culty lay that obstructed the sepa­ration, I cannot apprehend, for fire alone is an instrument sufficient to effect it. This substance (if I may so call it) being as subtile as the light, must penetrate through the centre of every pore of the mixed Water, and because of its property to ascend upward, it doth incessant­ly disquiet the lodge of heterogeneals: during this restless Motion, like things do occur with like, and their Nature is to unite: after this manner (as I conceive) it comes to pass that ignis segregat heterogenea, con­gregat [Page 21]homogenea: by no other ar­tifice did I extract out of the Spaw Water a pure nitroaluminous Salt, and a large quantity of feces apart, both which I then shewed to the Honourable Lord Faulconbridge, who can remember what I said then to his Lordship of it. At this time I could not be certain but that much of the Sand which settled to the bottom in the Preparation, came through the carelesness of the Porter that brought me the Water, and therefore I could not come to a positive determination by this Experiment; only I wrote to Mr. Simpson, wishing him to forbear publishing any thing concerning Scarbrough Spaw, till he had spoke with me, because I had made a tryal what was contained in it; his answer was, my advice came too late, for his Book was in the Press, so far was I from having a hand in [Page 22]the framing his Book, as Dr. Witty was made to believe by the report of others.

This Year 1669. I returned thi­ther, and though I dropt Oleum Salis tinctured with Gold in every other Glass, hoping thereby to cleanse off the sordes of the Spaw, yet after a fortnights drinking, it gave me a fit of the Stone, which from the time Mr. Holiard cured me, I had not felt before. I brought the Water home with me, that I might be sure that nothing extrane­ous to the Spaw might interrupt a critical Analysis thereof; the pro­duct confirmed my first Experi­ment, which I made at Scarbrough; all the materials that can be found in it, are three, first Raments of Stone, secondly a Nitroalumi­nous Salt, and thirdly, a gleeb of Allom: their proportions are thus, of the Stone-powder, one Ounce [Page 23]and three Drams; of the Nitroalu­minous Salt, one Ounce and six Drams; of the Blew-Clay, which is the gleeb of Allom, three Drams; the active principles, and the caput mortuum are equal; so that if Dr. Witty's tryal be true, that five Quarts of Water give one Ounce of the body of Mineral (as he calls it) you take half an Ounce of Stone and Clay into your Bowels, every such quantity you drink.

Here you see a cause (as I ob­served before) why this Body of Minerals would not dissolve in Water, namely, the Stone and Clay by the heat of the Fire (while he exhal'd the Water dry from them) become more compacted to­gether with the Salts, than when they were in the Fountain; where­as when these Salts are separated from their dross, they melt as ea­sily as Snow in Water.

You will say, how comes it a­bout, that there is so much Filth in Scarbrough Water, as you speak of? For answer, take notice, Dr. Witty tells you, that the Spaw, which is a quick Spring, cometh out at the foot of an exceeding high Clift, all the Stone and Earth that maketh up this Mountain is big belly'd with Nitre, Allom-Stone here and there mingled in it; after the Spring has run through this high Hill, the Spaw is brought forth, which is fair and clear to look to; I cannot but compare it to an Harlot, of whom it is said, She eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness. This hungry esurine Water, after she has devoured Stone in a large quantity, as if that were not sufficient for to grate her Teeth upon, she hath swallowed both Cup and Liquor of the Allom. Because I have dealt with her, as [Page 25] Aesop dealt with the Boy that had eaten the Figs, made her vomit them up again; whosoever is an­gry with me for doing so, I must bear it. If any of her friends think I do bely her, let them for their sa­tisfaction first answer this Query.

From what cause is it, after you have drunk a Month of it, then, if not before, it takes a Resty, Jadish fit, will neither go backward nor forward? A Noble Lord com­plained to me that the Water dealt thus with him: his Lordship ha­ving drunk it with success about a Month, it then swell'd him at sto­mack two or three last days, and would neither work by Urine nor Stool, though he took his usual Physick with it, as formerly, the Scotch Pill, which is an Extract of Aloes: I advis'd him to take one Dram and half of the pure Essence with the Spaw Water; by the help [Page 26]of this, and the said Pill, he had plentiful Evacuations in that After­noon: thus being quitted of his oppression, he meddled no farther with the Water. This Dr. Witty hath carefully observed, and there­fore adviseth thus, pag. 211.

If any man finds, that after bene­fit once had by the Waters, he begins to decline again in his health, as that his appetite or concoction decay, or the Waters pass not so well as former­ly, but cause distention, either in the Belly or the Veins, and so bring on a difficulty of breathing, or pain in the head, or the like, it is then time wholly to desist, and to proceed no farther.

This is honestly spoken, but is this the manner of other Waters, when they are fitly suited to a Chronical Distemper, and the Pa­tient find once benefit by them, do they produce in him afterwards [Page 27]such evils as these? or rather, the longer they are drunk till the Cure be wrought, the nearer the Patient is carried to his desired end. Is there not therefore a sting in the tail of Scarbrough-Water? are not the Stone-feces plaistered upon the inner Coat of the Bowels, disturb­ing their peristaltick Motion, and obstructing the attraction of the lacteal Veins, the cause of all those evils?

This Query thus answered, for further satisfaction proceed after this manner.

First, Take a large quantity of the clear Spaw Water, in case you fear any Sand may be taken up with it, put all through a Woolen Cloth, boil it till half be consumed, clear off that Liquor, then see how much Sand you find at the bottom; which is nothing else but part of the ni­trous [Page 28]Rock, which the Water has dissolv'd, exhale that Liquor low­er to the thickness of Oyl, then pour it forth into a wooden Vessel; set it by in the cold, and the Nitre and Allom settles into crystals: when that Liquor will cast forth no more of these, then exhale the li­quor dry, put Water to it, and fil­ter it, and you will find more Stone-Powder in the Paper; exhale this Water perfectly dry, then burn it in a Crucible, dissolve it with Wa­ter, and filter it, there will you have the blew Clay; which is no­thing else but the gleeb of the Al­lom: If you please to proceed fur­ther, dissolve the first Crystals, ex­hale, and filter, so often till the Crystals be pure and white, so will be separated more sandy Clay. By all this that I have said and proved to those that will trust [Page 29]their own eyes, I affirm this as my Position (viz.)

The Nature of Scarbrough Spaw is petrifying.

First, I shall prove it by the Au­thority (which to Dr. Witty is in­star omnium) of Kircher, lib. 8. p. 46. Quaeritur quid propriè sit suc­cus lapidificus; dico esse Saxum nitro­sum, aquâ eliquat [...]; his whole Chap­ter, de Origine Succi petrifici, doth make manifest this truth, as if it were written with the Sun­beams.

Secondly, by Experiment, I made it visible that the Spaw is mostly nothing else, but the nitrous Stone melted in Water, besides the Allom-stone that is imbibed in it; There is a famous petrifying Water at the Bridge-end of Knaisbrough West-ward, known by the name [Page 30]of Dropping-well, a Stillicidium of a nitrous Rock. I sent for a Quart of this Water (which was very clear) and distill'd it in a Glass Retort, which gave a Dram, want­ing ten Grains) of pure white Ni­tre and Stone: by this 'tis observa­ble, that Scarbrough Spaw, because of the Allom juice joined with the Nitre, has corroded and imbibed more Stone than this notorious petrifying Water at Knaisbrough.

I would not be here mis-under­stood, as if I did from hence infer, that Scarbrough Spaw is more pe­trifying than this Water, which will set a stony Crust upon a Loaf, or piece of Wood, after it has lain in it a few hours: this manifest to­ken of petrifaction Scarbrough Wa­ter is not charged with. The rea­son of the difference I apprehend to be thus, viz. the alkali of the Al­lom in Scarbrough Water hath in [Page 31]part imbib'd the acidity of the Ni­tre, and therefore it cannot so pe­netrate the Wood put in it, as to leave a crust of Stone upon its su­perficies, which the other Water having Nitre alone in it will do. That Allom is an Alkali Salt, is plain from its saponary property, this the Dyers have experienced: Again, when Allom is put in a Cru­cible over the fire, it burns to a light porous Cinder, Vacua esse alcalium corpora demonstravit Tachenius. Ni­tre on the contrary doth flux in the Fire into a hard compact body, whereby it is evident, that in Nitre the acid hath the predominium, in Allom the Alcali; and therefore Scarbrough Water cannot manifest its petrifying property by putting Wood into it, and crusting it over as the other Water doth: yet he that will affirm, that Scarbrough Water hath no such occult quality [Page 32]in it, must first prove that it carries no Stone Powder in the Bowels of it; which is manifestly false.

Thirdly, By the Aporrhoea Spiri­tus lapidifici, there are found on the Clift neer the Spaw, Muscle­shells, and such like things petrified to a stony substance; one of these was shown to Dr. Witty, this year, but he accused the Sea for petrify­ing it; if so, what befel Lot's Wife judicially, is not so great a miracle, as that it is not our lot naturally to be turned into Pillars of Salt, that eat so much of Sea-Salt daily; a­gain, when the Earth of the Cliff falleth down by dashes of Rain up­on the Sands, as soon as the watery moisture is exhaled from it, it doth petrifie. Dr. Witty tells you of a lump of Earth thus petrified that will load two Carts, which because it was of a redish Colour, and hard, he mistook it for Iron.

Fourthly, by the effects the Spaw produceth, primarily in those that are inclinable to the Stone: I wish Scarbrough Spaw had given me no just occasion to complain of it in this particular; besides what hap­pened to me there, (as I said) I was no sooner come home from thence, but another sharp fit tormented me for two days; that I am not alone in this accusation, may be gather­ed from Dr. Witty's Book; if such complainings as these had not been vulgarly spoken, I suppose, so wise a man as he would not have start­ed this Objection against the Spaw, pag. 150. Another (says he) never had a sit of the Stone till drinking of these Waters, though few of his Fa­mily have escaped that Disease: is not this a shrewd sign of its petrify­ing nature? his Parenthesis doth not invalidate it, for, multae sunt in po­tentia, quae nunquàm reducuntur in [Page 34]actum; but take his answer to this Objection; Even just so a Light is brought into a dark Room, by which a Thief is discovered, therefore Light is ill for a Thief; by the same conse­quence that Scarbrough Spaw is ill for the Stone. An Objection of this weight must not be answered so lightly, we that have been afflicted with this Distemper cannot be af­fected with ginglings when they tend to our mischief: But to an­swer, The Thief is in the Spaw, the Water was not such a dark Room where the Thief has lain hid so long, but if a Light had been brought in by a Chymist, this Thief might have been discovered before this time, and then Nephri­tick men would have been aware of it. I grant, by reason of abun­dance of Nitre in the Water, it will force out stony Gravel in the Kid­neys, when any is there; but I am [Page 35]certain also because, of the plenty of Stone filings that are in it, the Water will occasion the breeding of Stones in the Kidneys, where, pro tempore; there are none; ask those that have quitted themselves of the Stones they voided by drinking the Water, if after they returned home, fits have not come on them more frequently and sharply than before they drank of Scarbrough-Spaw. I protest to the world, both as to my self, Relations, and Pa­tients, I have found it so: to shew the disserence betwixt Scarbrough and Knaisbrough Water (as to this petrifying property) I shall men­tion a remarkable Observation of Mr. Henry Proctor of Farnly, I had the relation of it from his own mouth when we were together; this Gentleman was brought very low in an Hectick Fever, and sadly troubled with shortness of breath, [Page 36]he consulted with Dr. Henry Poor for Cure, but found no Remedy; he then applied himself to Dr. Neal, who prepared his body, and ad­vised him to drink Knaisbrough Water, which caused him cough up several Stones daily till he was per­fectly cured. He does enjoy his health very well ever since, using those Waters once a year; after­ward he married, and now is Fa­ther of two Children; if this Pa­tient had been sent to Scarbrough-Spaw, what had become of him let others judge; as the Disease of the Stone doth immediately proceed from a petrisick spirit, the cause sine quâ non, so Jaundise and the Gout have their [...] from it, hence it doth follow, that, secondarily these two Distempers are dange­rously exalted (in bodies that are inclinable to them) by drinking this Spaw: for evidence of this [Page 37]truth, I shall give instances: First, the Lord Erwin went from his House at Temple-Newsam to Scarbrough (upon what other account than to divert himself there with the company of his friends, I know not) after he had drunk the Water, and was re­turned home, presently the Jaun­dise seizes on him, of which Dis­ease he shortly died, though Dr. Taylor used all means for his reme­dy; now this I say, all sweet Spaws in the World have a property com­mon to them, that they are of a de­opilating nature, and though they may not suit to every Disease, yet for the removing of grand Obstru­ctions (the cause of most Diseases) they are generally the best, and mostly the last advice of all Physicians; what reason then can be given why this Honourable Lord by drinking Scarbrough Spaw Water had not the Obstructions of [Page 38]his Gall opened, but contrarily brought into this irrecoverable Disease that kill'd him? I say what reason else, if not this, Scarbrough Water did petrifie that Sulphurous Saline humour in the Vesica bilaria into Stones, too great to pass through the porus? Dr. Witty blamed his too liberal drinking of wine with it (as he said to my self this year) but what harm could that do more than to increase Cho­ler, which humour unpetrified is most easily purged away of all o­thers? That Stones do as usually concrete in the Gall, as in the Kid­neys, in men as well as in beasts, who doth question? I was present many years since at a Physick Lecture in London, when the Professor in the Discourse of the Jaundise brought forth three or four little Stones of Gall wrapt up in his Hand­kerchif, to shew them to the other [Page 39]Doctors there, relating that a Gen­tlewoman of the City afflicted with that Disease, after many fruitless attempts made by him for her Cure, at last was put to it to give her a Dose of sharp working Physick, which quitted her of those Stones, whereby she forthwith recovered: if any object, that suppose the Gall be petrified, yet it cannot cause death in so short a time as this Lord took his Disease, and died in it.

For answer, let him consult Hel­mont with Syloius, and there is e­nough to satisfie him, that the se­cond fermentation made by the suc­cus pancreaticus, and the Gall, are as necessary for the preservation of life, as the first fermentation is, that's in the Stomack; though in an Oxe Gall there is often found a great Stone, notwithstanding the beast keeps health and liking till the Butcher slaughter him, yet [Page 40]then there is abundance of liquid choler besides in his Vesica bilaria, sufficient to perform fermentation; I shall mention but two other in­stances of this year in our Town. An Alderman whose Father some years since died of the Jaundice, but himself was never troubled with it, till after his coming from Scarbrough Water, then did the Symptoms of this Disease appear, only it did not manifest it self ei­ther by Ʋrine, or by Colour of his body, which gave me a great cause of suspicion that the water had petrified the Gall; with Chalibeat, and other Icterical drinks, by slow degrees he recovered.

A Merchant's Wife with Child, for company of her Husband, came to Scarbrough: Dr. Witty in his Book approving the Water safe for such, she desired to drink of it, upon her return home, a tormenting [Page 41]pain seized on her right side, for mitigation of this extream dolour, and prevention of a Fea­ver, Phlebotomy was thrice or­dered, then an Antimonial Vomit, yet so obdurated was the Gall, by the petrifying property of Scar­brough Water, as I suspected, that none other sign appeared of the Jaundice, but a return of her pain three or four times over, at length a ternary spirit of Wine, Nitre, and Mercury elixerated dissolved the congealed Choler, and then did the Disease shine forth in its saffron colour; after three recidivations she was pluckt out of the Jaws of death, beyond the hopes of all her friends, and is now well deliver­ed of a lusty Boy: Let it be here observed that I practise according to conscience, and let those She-Tatlers, who when they have done mumbling over their Beads, come [Page 42]to a Feast, and there mutter hard speeches against me for dealing so severely with this Patient, take notice that it is my principle, when I see my duty, to pursue it to the hazard of my credit with such as them: and though I be singular in this point from the most of my Bre­thren, whose wisdom it is to secure themselves from an evil report, by doing nothing in a doubtful case; yet I have not so learned Christ. The Maxim is true, quod unicum est, non deliberandum est, and the resolution is Christian, Let us quit our selves like men of Art and Inte­grity, and let the Lord do what seem­eth him good. Pardon this digressi­on, Reader.

Dr. Witty gives an instance, pag. 180. of a Knight and his Lady in Lincolnshire, by drinking the Wa­ter at home for the Scurvy, both of them took the Jaundice, which [Page 43]they recovered not from, till Christ­mas following; he blames the di­stance of place from the Fountain for this fault of the Water; but all that can be charged upon drink­ing at a distance, is, that it may di­minish the good, and increase the bad qualities of the Water which are innate.

The Gouts inveterate malice is known to arise from a petrifying property of its acid Spirit, hence 'tis said, Tollere nodosam, nescit me­dicina podagram. If losers may have leave to speak, I shall men­tion how Scarbrough water dealt with me as to this Distemper, which all my life long I never felt the least touch on before: no sooner was an usual Stone slipped into the Bladder, from the left Kidney (of which I have spoke) but immedi­ately ictu oculi, a Thunder-bolt from the right Kidney darted into [Page 44]the joint of the great Toe, which caused me to go limping a fort­night after: Thus have my Reins tryed what is that water of Scar­brough Spaw. That I am not alone neither in this accusation, hear Dr. Witty, pag. 149. Others drinking without due preparation as was ne­cessary (peradventure to save some petty charge) have fallen into the Gout, the water contracting heat for want of speedy passage, being thrown by nature upon the weak Joints, have hence inferred that these Waters cause the Gout. Answer, These Gentle­men without peradventure may be supposed to have neglected that which is judged necessary for them to do before they drink Water, yet I do aver, no Spaw in the world has less need of preparatives, and more need of Purgers than this of Scarbrough: it was never observed by me, that any at the first morn­ing [Page 45]draught of this Water, wanted a speedy passage by the back door. Though I cannot approve of his Notion touching the [...], how and wherefore the water causeth the Gout, yet in the [...], that it does so in Bodies inclinable to that Dis­ease, we are both agreed. Thus having proved by all manner of Arguments both à priori and à po­steriori, that Scarbrough water is petrifying, and have manifested that Knaisbrough Spaw (which partakes of the Vitriol of Iron) by a fa­mous Instance is quite otherwise; it now remains, only that I make out Scarbrough water has no Vitrio­line Spirit in it. In this under­taking, I shall approve my self a greater friend to Scarbrough than Dr. Witty, who maintains the con­trary, for if in this water the esu­rine Spirit of Vitriol be joined with the Volatile Spirit of Nitre, of [Page 46]which this Spaw doth chiefly par­take; how then doth it differ from Aqua Fortis, that deadly corrosive water, which is nothing else, but these two acid spirits inseparably united together? if he say these two are not all, there is Allom and Salt also, this makes the Water worse, for a Spirit from all these will make an Aqua Regia, which doth corrode Gold it self, the hard­est of all Metals to dissolve. If it be said these corrosive Spirits are extorted by stress of fire from their bodies, which extraordinary heat will not be granted to be in the bowels of the Earth. I answer, this possibly may excuse à tanto, but not à toto: for first, the prolifick Seminals of all things generated in the Earth, doth come to their pro­per matrixes in a vapour. If any question this, let him try Platt's Ex­periment, put bituminous and com­bustible [Page 47]substances into two Glass Retorts, filling their necks, the one with lean Earth, the other with peet-earth, set them in an open fire, and by gradual heat the Vapours that ascend will petrifie, the one Earth into Stone, and the other Earth into a plain coal. Secondly, this Vapour, if it be of ill quality, hath the same pernicious effects up­on our bodies, as those that are sublimed by Art in the fire. This truth the Miners do sadly experi­ence, the Sulphurous Vapours that are in every Coal-pit, will soon stifle any that goes into it before it be purged by air conveyed to it. Thirdly, this Vapour Nature can no more cause to ascend upward (which it doth perpetually) without heat, than Art can sublime without fire. Suppono (says Kir­cher) omnes vapores nihil aliud quàm tenuissima, subtilissima ac [Page 48]insensibilia corpuscula esse, quae calore exaltata ingentis in terreno mundo mutationis causa sunt.

Wherefore, I say, though we know that Nitre and Vitriol distill'd divisim, are both of them severally good, and of daily practice; yet we experience also, that distill'd conjunctim, they send forth the most deadly corrosive Vapour, which by the coldness of the Receiver is con­densed to a Spirit; there can be no doubt, but if both these (as Dr. Witty would have it) be joined in Scarbrough water, it must be highly corrosive, though not to such a degree as Aqua Fortis is, twenty drops whereof will kill a Cat; not­withstanding I shall examine his proofs for this Vitriol of Iron, as I find them in his Book, pag. 9. he says, a small quantity of Gall be­ing put into the Spaw Water, doth turn it into a dark Claret Colour, [Page 49]ergo, there is Vitriol in it; this is a non sequitur, for thus will the Gall turn a Coal-water, if it has gotten any touch of the Spirit of Sulphur to sharpen it, for dissolution of the black Mine that it passeth through: but we will suppose there is no Coal-Mine about Scarbrough, there­fore, I say, it is only the Allom-Stone in the Spaw that gives the tincture by the Gall; let experience prove it, take any Allom-stone un­hurnt, powder it, adde Spring-wa­ter sharpened with the Spirit of Ni­tre that it may dissolve it, and sil­ter it, so will you have (to appea­rance) a water as clear as the Spaw, put Powder of Gall thereto, and it gives you the same tincture. I am witness that the Chymical Apothe­cary of York did pick out of the Hill near the Spaw, an Allom-stone that was not hardened in the air, but made soft in the Nitre which [Page 50]abounds there, and after he mixed only Spring water with it, and added the Gall to it, it gave as high a Claret colour, as the Spaw it self doth.

The Reason of these Experi­ments is plainly thus; the acid wa­ter dissolves the black Coal, or the blew Stone, and hides the colour of them in its pores, because eve­ry Atome of the continens must be outward to the contentum. The Gall being put in and stirred a­mongst it, by its Alcaly imbibing the acidity of the water, what is included therein is extruded to­wards the bottom, where, what is precipitated appears in its own co­lour, the Spirit of Salts adding lustre thereto.

I will not mention here, how Dr. Witty commends this black se­diment for Physical use, pag. 10. Against this Experiment of Allom [Page 51]Stone giving its tincture by the Gall, let be observed how Dr. Wit­ty mistakes in his tryals; says he in his answer to Mr. Simpson, pag. 91. I have tryed the Allom Mine, having broken it to powder, and infused it in Spring water some hours, and it received no tincture from the Gall. Good reason, for he did but infuse it, not dissolve it; can it be ex­pected that the Gall should preci­pitate the Allom Stone from the water, whilst it came not into it, but only lay at the bottom undis­solv'd? what can simple water ex­tract out of a hard Slate? no more than a Feather can strike fire out of a Flint Stone: Nay more (saith he) I calcin'd that very Stone, and then dissolved it in Spring water, and yet it received no tincture from the Gall. Answer. No marvel nei­ther, because the calcin'd Stone of Allom is white; its blewness, which [Page 52]gives the tincture, disappears by the sire; even as red Coral calcin'd in a Crucible turns white of Colour. Further, to let the Reader know that he will spare for no pains to give satisfaction, pag. 92. he sends to two ingenious Gentlemen at Whitby, where is a water that breaks out of the middle of a Mine, to try if that would receive tincture from Gall, and they did both assure him it did not; besides they sent a Glass-bottle of the same water to York, where he tryed it himself, and it did not change at all. Why? what's the matter? he is answered out of his own mouth, Nay, saith he, I do aver with them that it is like ordinary Spring-water, (in truth it is none other, the La­bourers drink of it, to quench their thirst) having taken no vapour, odour, or Sapour from the Mine; yet he doth confidently conclude from this tryal that it is not from Allom [Page 53]that this Water at Scarbrough takes its incture. Such another Errand as this to Whitby, he makes to Barn­sley upon the edge of Darby-shire, to try if a Spring of fresh Water that runs out of Iron-stone, would change colour with Gall: and it did not, neither there, nor at York. What can be inferred from hence, but that this Water which ran from the Iron-stone was no more con­cerned with the Iron, than that at Whitby was with the Allom; nay, à potiori, if a Mineral Salt of Al­lom whiles crude, and imbodied in its Gleeb, doth not always im­part to the Spring that runs through it, either Odour, Sapour, or Va­pour, as he hath said before, much less will the Metal of Iron-stone do it. If his friend that for a further tryal made a hole in the bottom Stone, to see if the Water that stood in it would tinge by Gall, [Page 54]had sent him a Bottle of any Wa­ter that came from the Iron-stone, whilst it was in solutis principiis, I do affirm that Water would re­ceive tincture from Gall; such a Water we have at Hunwick, where great quantity of Iron-stone is dig­ged up, and it receives tincture from Gall as highly as Scarbrough doth. Dr. Witty, pag. 94. is fram­ing an Argument ab inductione thus. The tincture by Gall is not from Al­lom, nor from Iron, ergo, 'tis from Vitriol: Answer, I am loth to see my Brother in the pinfold, yet must I say, if it be from the Vitriol, it is because of the Iron that is in it, for no other Vitriol but ferrugineum will do it: hence it will follow, if not from Iron, then 'tis not from Vitriol, ergo, 'tis from Allom that Scarbrough Water tinges by Gall.

His second proof, pag. 11.

Sir John Anderton observed that [Page 55]the Water carried in an Oaken Vessel, in the bottom whereof was found a yellowish sediment, which he sent to the Doctor, he saw it like crocus Martis, and tasted it of a stiptick quality, and therefore 'tis supposed by him to be the Chalybe­ate part of the Minerals. Answer, Quaecun (que) volumus, facilè credimus. The sharp Water agitated against the Oaken Vessel, in carrying cor­rodes the inner parts of it, which powder setling to the bottom, with some seces of the Spaw Water pro­duceth a settlement of the colour of Oak, which if he had dried, and then burnt in a Crucible, the flame thereof would have shown him, that it was Wood and not Iron. If different things were not some­times like one another, none could be deceived. Pag. 12. The water at 40 Miles distance will not cruddle Milk as it doth at Scarbrough, and [Page 56]that it doth not receive such a deep tincture from the Gall, nor is it found to have such a pleasant acidity as at the Fountain: which certainly must proceed from a loss of the Vitrioline Spirits, of which it doth eminently participate. Answer, Who questi­ons that Allom will not cruddle Milk as well as Vitriol? the more subtile any acid Liquor put to Milk is, the more perfectly doth it sepa­rate the thick parts from the thin; 'twill follow therefore that the wa­ter hath lost some of its subtile Spi­rits, by carrying, but none of the Vitriol which it never had. The tincture from the Gall I have mani­fested to proceed from the Unburnt Allom Stone, whereof this is a plain proof; put the Spaw Water into Glass Bottles at the Fountain, let them be carried abroad and left a few days, and the Allom Stone will settle of it self without any [Page 57]mixture of Gall, to the bottom, in a blackish Powder, which can­not be any thing of Chalybs, for two Reasons; First, because the Vitrioline Spirit, and Iron are too great friends (being once met to­gether) to be so easily separated. Any that have prepared Vitriolum Martis, he hath learned this Note by it. Secondly, when the Vitrio­line Water doth settle its Colcothar without adding Gall to it, it is al­ways of a yellow Colour. This may be seen in the Stone Bason and Spout of Knaisbrough Spaw, where the Water passing continually in the open air over it, hath precipi­tated Crocus Martis, as I may call it thereupon. The like may be observed in every runner near the Fountain head of any Vitrio­line or Chalybeate water whatsoe­ver. His Argument for Iron, pag. 14. The Earth that falls from the [Page 58]Bank turns to Iron-stone, as hard as Iron it self, and fusible being put in­to a Smiths Forge, as I have some­times found upon tryal: There is a piece of the Cliff within one hundred paces of the Spaw, thus converted in a very sew years to an Iron Stone, as much as would load three or four Carts: Answer, I here require the Smith to make Horse-shoe Nails of it, and then I shall yield to Dr. Witty, thus much, that within a hundred Paces of the Spaw West­ward there is Iron-stone. To me it doth appear to be a reddish Earth dissolved with the Nitroalu­minous Salt, and petrified in the Sun and Air to a hard lump, which will flux in the Fire, answerable to the Nature of that Salt that is in it. Another Argument for Iron (which for manners sake I leave last) is that the Water colours the Excrements black: he should have said blew, for [Page 59]when he looks back again, they will appear of the same colour that Allom Stone is of. In his Answer to Mr. Simpson, pag. 42. I knew (saith he) Vitriol to be in the water from its eminent acidity. Answer. This is a non sequitur, for acidity is appropriated to the Spirit of Ni­tre, as well as to the Spirit of Vitri­ol. Pag. 43. Another token of Vi­triol is, that Vitrioline vapour which any one of an indifferent smell may observe, which is something likely of Ink, though more pure. Answer. Take this Experiment to know what smell Scarbrough Spaw is of, (viz.) Take oily Water (after all the Christals are settled from it mentioned before) exhaled per­fectly dry; adde hot water to it, then stir it, and if it do not stink as bad, or worse than the Allom-pans at Whitby, I will forfeit my Nose: why then says Dr. Witty 'tis a more [Page 60]pure smell than that of Ink. Dul­cis odor lucri ex re quâlibet. Pag. 44. Six score paces from the Spring a Vitrioline Salt, of a dark yellow colour, sweats out of the Cliff. An­swer. The Nitre spires out of the Cliff all along Westward from the Spaw, of a white Colour, this he confesseth to be none other than Nitre; at a further distance it changeth Colour to a dark yellow, as the Earth doth out of which it sweats: Let him hear Kircher con­firming this truth, Capite de nitro; Quod si subindè nitrum variis colo­ribus imbutum reperiatur, id nil tamèn diversum à nitro, arguit cùm omnem colorem à colore terrae ex qua extractum fuit, trahat, si ex rubro, rubrum; si ab albo, album, & sic de caeteris, pag. 304. l. 6. Page 67. The black sediment precipitated by the Gall, I Calcin'd (says Dr. Witty) and it became of a dark brown co­lour, [Page 61]and is none other than Scoria of Iron (he calcin'd likewise the whole Body of Minerals) and there are in it here and there flakes of Iron, broad and thin, like those that flie off from the Smiths hammer. Answer. This calcin'd Sediment, and calcin'd Body are all one Experiment; for the Gall precipitates the gross parts whatsoever they be: no marvel then if it became as hard as a Cinder, which had so much Stone in it as I have proved; for those flakes of Iron that are discovered in the Body of Minerals, I confess I am not so in­genious, I never yet undertook his method in searching what different parts were in this compound Wa­ter, to calcine the whole Body of Minerals together, as that only expedient way; yet I calcin'd the Stone Powder, where most likely it should be intermixed, and there they are not. I calcin'd also the [Page 62] Clay, neither are any Iron flakes there, wherefore it must be sup­posed, like as he smelt the Vitriol, so he saw the Iron flakes, idest, some­thing like them.

The right improvement of this Water consists in three indications.

First to resist (if it were possible) the petrifying property; but this being to the Water proprium quarto nodo, small help can be had against it.

Secondly, To hinder that the Stone Powder, and feces of the Al­lom fix not in the Bowels.

Thirdly, To prevent in tender constitutions that the duplicated Salt corrode not the Entrails, cau­sing thereby a Dysentery, which (says Dr. Witty, pag. 150.) rarely happens.

All the harm that Scarbrough wa­ter is guilty of, proceeds from one of these causes.

In his Answer to Mr. Simpson, I read thus, pag. 238. And though Mr. Simpson has design'd causlesly to rob me of the honour and reputation (if there be any in it) of my discovery of Scarbrough Spaw, with its useful­ness to my Country, yet if he have any thing to make out in point of Art, I shall never go about to eclipse it, but thank him to boot.

As he is a man of his word, I ex­pect thus much from him.