Observations on the first Book.
HAving now dispatched what was neces¬sary to be premised, we come to the text it's self, Polverine or Rochetta, are the same thing, and are nothing more than ashes extracted from the same plant, but differing in good¬ness, as appears by our Author in several pla¬ces. The name of the latter is wholly unknown to our Glass-houses, and hath now no distinction at Moran it's self. The name of Polverine still is kept, and 'tis given to all ashes which come from the Levant to make Glasses with. The reason then of their different names seems to be, that the Polverine was that which was brought in small powder, and the other in hard pieces or stones, and therefore named Ro- chetta. And indeed the workmen observe that the harder and bigger lumps yield a whiter and stronger salt than that which comes over in small pieces or powder. And whether this Obfervations on the firft Book. 251 this proceeds from the different forts of this kind of plant , or the feafuns of their growth gathering and burning, or from foine fopbifti- Cat ion from other falts mixed therewith , or rather from Sea fait water, or other moyfture which much endammavetb them, I determine not. But certain it is, that to make the ftrong- eft fait, and fuch as will come into hard and fiony lumps, they make a Lee of their firft burnt afbes} and therewith water the herbs to be next burnt, and fo water the herbs with new Lees at every burning, and this will make a moft ftrong pot afhes for Soap-boylers ,and Dyers. Which way whether it hath been praP.ifed to make Ro¬chetta, and now omitted I cannot affirm.
Comes from the Levant and Syria. Syria is part of the Levant. Now thefe aftces are brought from Alexandria and Tripoly.
A certain herb. This herb he names in hif Epiftle Kali, and ’tis fo call'd by moft Au¬thors, but with fome fmall variation, as Kalli, and Kallu,£y Alpinus, in 1. dc plant.Egypr. by fome Cali, Alkali by Gcfner, Soda by Lobel, Salicornia by Dodon, SaHoIa , by Dodon Gallicc , and Hift. Lugd. Antbyl- Jis, by Camer.Cordus, Fuch?. <w^Lufita- nus, the two latter whereof confidently aftertit to be the Ancbyllis of Diofc. both which Ma¬th iolus- /thiolus hath fully refuted in his apologie a- gainft Lufitanus, who faw this plant grow at Tergeftum in Mauritania, and laft/y , An- tylloides, by Thalius. Soda, Salicornia, and Salfola wanifeflly derive their name a Sale from Salt, wherewith they all exceedingly a- bound. Of the Antiquity of knowledge, and names of this plant with us* thus our learned Countrey-man Dr. Turner in his Herbal. As I remember it hath no name in Englifh , and though it be very plenteous in many places of England, yet I could never meet with any man that knew it • But left this herb fhould be without a name* it may be called Salt-Wurt, becaufe it is fait in taft* and Glals-weed, be¬caufe the afhes of it ferve to make glafs with. Parkir.fon faith* that ’tis call'd by the inha-bitants of our Sea-coaft * Fros-Srafs , and perhaps beeaufe thofe animals feed thereon*beingavery juicy* fubflantial, and not of an unpleafant faltifb taft. Gafpar Bauhin in his Pinax makes ten forts thereof* whofe names and defcriptions we omit* as too long for this place. I fhall onely mention thofe three wherewith the Alexandrians , and other E- -gyptiair« their Polverine for Glafs* and Soap* as Alpinus chap. 42. delivers them. The firft is Kili genicujatum, the fecond fort Kali Kali fecunda fpecics , and Anthyllis qub bufdain, by Alpin. but by Columna Kali Florid, rcpens Ncapolitanum, who foTmd it at Naples, and figures, and defcribes it, and faith 'tis ufed to make Glafs. The third fort more peculiar to Egypt is call'd by the fame Author Kali Egyptiacum foliis valde Ion- gis hirfutis. And befides thefe three, 1 have feen, and have by me a fourth, taken from their Polverine bags call'd Kali fpinofum by the Herbarifls. The firfi and laft of thefe (be¬fides the minus and minimum ) our river Thames, and Sea-toads affords in great plenty, but in no Countrey more Northerly than Eng¬land,^ ours will not make afhes for Cryftall, or any other fort of Glafs, as an experiment made at the Glafs-houfc taught me, for ours being put upon an Iron heated red hot fmoaked all away, leaving little or no afhes at all there¬on: But the Kalics brought from the Levant, put on the fame Iron, foon converted almoft all of them into a very faltifb afhes of a dark aft) their proper colour, thefe in burning con-trolled tbemfelves like worms, flame long, and make a white and very ftrong fait. OwrKali when gathered appears to the taft very brae lift) and fait, and will being laid in moifture, con¬tract it felf into a fmall climenfion, which a Con-/ Confectioner whom I know found to his lofs, who bought thereof inftead of Samphire, For having wafhed it, and put it to vineger to. pickle, found very little of his Sampirc re¬maining , for the Fineger had well near de¬voured it all. This great difference of plants in refpeX of the countrey may be manifeftjy per¬ceived in many other plants as well as in thefe Kaltes. As in Tobaccoes aripng from the fame feed, and in Canary and Rheniih wines from the fame flock, in the Hemlocks of Greece, and thofe of other countries, and in multitude of other examples, and this reafon differenceth Polverine and Barillia. Thefe Kalics though natural denizens of the water, and fiourifhing naturally neer fait lakes , yet . are planted on land in Spain and Egypr, which doubtlefs contributes much in thofe hot regions (efpecially in Egypt where no rain falls, but the Countrey if onely watered once a year, by the riftng of the river Nile, leaving much fatnefs and foil behind it ) to the quantity, ftrength, and fixednefs of the fait. Now thefe Kalies about midfummer, when in their full ftrength, are cut down and dryed in the Sun, and then burned, being laid in cocks or piles, either upon the ground, or upon Iron grates, the afhes whereof fall thence into
Obfervations on the firft Book. 2 55 a pit where they grow into a hard mafs or flone, & are gathered and laid tip for ufe,& are call d Sodc as Lobel a ffirms. When thefe plants were firft taken notice of is uncertain. The firfi that took notice of them, and gave them their name, were the Arabians, as alfo to their fait, as appears by their addition Al which if purely Arabick. Amongft them I find it mentioned by Serapio and Avicen the Phy¬ficians, who both commend it for the Stone, Ul¬cers, and difeafes of the eyes. Lobel thinks that we owe the plant, name, and way to make the Salt to the latter Grecians or Arabian Philofophers Chymifts that wrought in Glafs. Advcrf. pag. 169. But as to the Grecians, and their knowledge of it* I cannot confent* be¬caufe 'tis not mentioned by any of the Greek Phyficians or other writers , befides it hath not yet attained any name in that language, and therefore doubtlefs the Arabians of latter times have conveyed the knowledge thereof to us.
CHAP. Chap. 1. *pO know the quantities and * ftrength of the Sab. The be# and readieft to know this, if that pra- tttfed by the Soap-boylers , in their Ef- fay-glallcs. They diftolve their Soap-afhcs in fair water, and Filtre the Lee, and weigh it again, and fo by meafwring the quan¬tity of the Lee , and comparing it with the weight of the water and ajhes before they were diftolved,they find how much Salt fuch a quantity of afhes contains.
Brafs Coppers. Our Author everywhere forbids the ufe of Brafs and Copper, unlefs where Green, or Blew colours are to be made. And certainly thefe ftrong Lees will fret oft fome part of the Copper, of elfe the moifture of the air and Lee will turn part of it into Verdigrea*. And therefore here they ufe one¬ly Boylers lined on the infide with V.C3.d, fuch as the Alume and Copperas makers employ to extratt their Salts in.
Tartar of red wine Calcin’d. Tartar call d by our Author Greppola and Grumi di borti, which are indeed the Lees, and are to be diftinguifbed from the Tartar it's felf, this (licking to the fides of t^e veftel in thick and hard lumps, and (as Helmont saith) is never to be found in the region of the Lees, whereas they on the contrary are always found at the bottom of the vessel, moist and in small pieces onely. Tartar of red wine best for this use, because it contains a stronger Salt, and more in quantity than that of white wine.
'Tis calcin'd, to burn off all Heterogeneous bodys mixt therewith, and to make the Salt whiter, and for the speedier dissolution of it in the water, and better extraction of the Salt from the Polverine, whose body is opened by the Tartar, as Alume or Vitriol open the body of Salt-peter, in making Aqua-fortis or Spirit of Nitre, which otherwise without such like addition would not rise. And for the same cause the Tartar must be dissolved in the water before the Polverine is put into the boyler. They Calcine their Tartar in an Oven, neer the Leer, in the space of six hours, and that to whiteness too, finding that this hath a better effect, than a meaner calcination hath. What advantage the drawing off the hu¬midity of the Tartar gives, a secret way u¬
sed by some Chymists doth demonstrate. To make their Crystals and Cream of Tartar, larger, and whiter, they powder it grosly, and then Calcine, or rather dry it throughly in an 15 S Obfervations on the firft Book.
Oven, in tin pans. And thus they make them much better, than they can be made without this drying, or Calcination.
The Salt finks to the bottom of the boyler, and if taken out with a feummer , from which drain all the moyfture, and let it run into the loyler• when the faces of the Lees have fet- led to the bottom of the tubs , they draw them oft with a Siphon.
Chap. 2. ' I”'Arfo. The fecond material, and that winch gives corp- pence and body, and firmnefs to Glafs, if fand or fiones. As Iron gives to Eng- lifli Copperas , and Copper to Hun¬garian, Dintzick, and Ronan Vitriol, which other wife would run into water in moi ft places and feafons. Concerning thefe fiones, A I K. 1. io. faith, They muft be fuch as will mt It, and of them , thofe which are white, and tranlparcnt are bc-ft. where¬fore ( ryftals challenge precedency, For of thefe broken, Plin. faith, Authors affirm, that Glafs is made in India, fo excellently tran- fparent, that no other may be compared with it. The next place, they give to thofe ftoncs, which though inferior to Cryftall in hardnefs, yet are white and tranfparcnr, as that is. The third place is given to those which are white, but not transparent. Next
to Tarso our Author commends Quocoli, ren- dred Pibles, which Ferant. Imperatus, 1. 24. c. 16. thus describes, The Glass stone is like in appearance to white Marble, par¬taking of transparency, differing from it in hardness, which it hath as much as flint, whence 'tis that being struck, it sparkles, and put into the fire, turns no: to Lime. This stone most commonly partakes of a light Green, like the Serpentine stone. 'Tis found in 'its natural place clad and mixed with veins of crusted Talk; when 'tis first put into fire it loseth it's transparency, and becomes white, and lighter, and afterwards it turns in¬to Glass. 'Tis wrought by the Glass-men, as a material of Glass under the name of Cuogolo. Because they gather them in the bottom or rivers, and torrents,in the form of round pibles or shards. And those are they our Author saith are used at Muran. 'Tis without controuersie that all white and transparent stones, such as will not become lime, serve well for Glass; but our Authors axiom is not wholly true, for neither the stones from New-castle, mention¬ed in the Glass furnaces, nor fire-stones, nor ranee stones, and many other which strike fire S 2 with/ with a fteel,or horfe fljoes, and Coaches wheels, will not ferve to this purpofe. Flmts indeed have all the properties, and when calcined, powdered, and fercecl into a moft impalpable powder,mak e incomparable pure, and white Cry. fall Metall. But the great charge in prepa¬ring them hath deterred the owners of our Glafs-houfes from farther ufe of them.
Sand is made ufe of where fit ftones can¬not be had, and according to our Authors flo- ry, were firft ufed -* it muft be white, and fmall, an dwell wajhed before ufed, which is all the preparation of it. Such if ufually found in mouths and fides ol Rivers ; for Cryftall re¬quires a fine foft and white fand , but Green- Glafs, that which if harder, and more gritty. And there is great variety in this material, for fome foon melts, and mtxeth with the afhes, and becomes Glafs. J oft ph. I.2.C. 9. ofthe wars ofthe Jews relates ftrange things of Sand, which is briefly thus. Neer Ptolcmais a city of Galilee, runs the river Bclus, ariftng 'from mount Carmel between Ptolcmais and Tyrus. Neer this fmall river is the Sepulchre of Me in non, having neer it a fpace almoft of 100 cubits moft worthy of admiration. For there's a valley round in fijew, fending forth Sand/Sand for Glafs , which when many (hips cam¬ming together have exhaufied, the fame place if presently (Hied again. For the winds as it were on purpofe, bring from the circumjacent fides of the mountains this Sand. And the place where the metall if,prefently changeth into Glafs what it hath received. And this feems more (Irange to me, that the Sands converted into Glafs, whatfoever part thereof if thrown into the skirts of that place is again changed into common fand. Tacit. 1. 5. Hill.
Be Ius runs into the Jev.-.fh Sea , alout whefe mouth Sands are gathered ( Liplius reads it Collect a? not Conjcdlx ) which having Nitre mixed with them are boild into Glafs. That fbore if ffnml, but unexhauflible by them that fetch it'.) The fame thing witnefs Strabo 1. i2. Piin. 1.6. Agric. defofs. All Authors that write of Glafs,mention thofe places whence the Sand if fetched. Our Glafs houfes in Lon¬don have a very fine white Sand ( the very fame that’s ufed for Sand-boxes and flouring) from Maid-ftonc in Kent, and for Green- glafies, a coarfer from Woolwich. The for¬mer will not mix with ordinary green metall. Both thefe cofi but little befides their bring¬ing by water.
Cardani. 5. de varict. adds Manganefe, call'd by him Syderea,4î a third ingredient in¬to Glafs. Conftat ( faith he ) Vitrum ex tri- L us,/o wit, of fiones or fand,of the fait of Cali, and Sydercà; lut the fmall quantity of Man¬ganefe added to the metall, can contribute little to a pot of metall. Befides ttf not nfed in all forts of Glafs.
Chap. 3. ÇftHews but the common way of U fbymifts, by folution filtration, and coagulation to make fixed Salts.
Chap. 5. A 4 lift be cur, 8ic. All plants £ have their time to be cut or gathered, that >ƒ, when they are in their full growth and ftrength. The left time if a little le fore they are in full four , and that to all pn>pofes,to which the leaves or flalks are nfed* and alfo in Cbymiftry to extraX the oyls of Ve- gei A les, and Spirits, which then are produced alifioft in double quantity more than at other times, but for Salts when the herbs are infeed, as Fern/>'4/ this time. Tis a Vulgar error, zGir hern other edppillary herbs have no
feed, which they haz e in great quantity on the back lides of their leaves, in form of duft, of a brown colour. Nay, Moffes alfo abound in feed,as 'tis moft evident in an undefcribed kind of Chama peuce / keep in my hortolicco, all whofe branches, and betwixt each leaf thereof are multitudes of round and brown/fh feeds. How much alfo the feafons of the year difference Vegetables, the Button-mold-ma-kers can inform you, in thofe woods they make molds of, who find that Pear-tree cut in Sum¬mer works tougheft , but HollyWinter, Box works harde ft about Elder, but mellow tn the Summer, Hawthorn works mellow about Oftober, and Service tough in the Sum¬mer.
Chap. 6. dues an account of other
f plants* which yield a Salt fit for Glafs. In one word, whatfoever Vege¬tables afford quantity of Akalazirc falts ( for fo the Chymifts call fuch as will per- flft in, and bear a ftrong fire * without flying away, and vanishing in the air, and are fo de¬nominated from Alkali , that is Salt drawn from Kali ) are good to make Glafs. Some whereof this Chapter enumerates. Kelp ft named from Kali, and pot afhes are ufed for Cryftallinc metall. Kelp is principally made of that Sea-plant we call Sea-thongs or S 4 Laces,
Laces, and from it's ufe by Joan. Bauh. lib, 39. c. 2. de Hift. plant. Alga anguftifolia vitrariorum , which being kept moift a little after gathering, will fhew afterwards , though long kept,it's white fait on the fur face of it's leaves. Math, in Diofc. calls it Algam vulgarcm Venctorum,Hv commonSez- wrack of the Venetians, not onely for the reafon be¬fore, but alfo becaufe the Venetians wrapt up their Glafles therein, which they fent to forem parts. I bis wrack when the Sea is tempefiuous, fcopulis illifa refunditur Alga,4f Virg. is thrown and flattered upon the Rocks, in great abundance , and alfo on the floar, which the country people in the fummer rake together, and dry it as they do hay, by expo ft ng it to the Sun Wind, andfo turning it as occafton flrves till 'tis fit to burn, and make thefe afhes call'd K< Ip, ufed as well to make Alume as Glafs. Nor is this particular wrack'alone uflcl, though very much abounding in all our Seas , but alfo all other Algas, fucus Sc quercus marina, and other Sea-plants, all which abound in Salt. Pot-aibcs come from Poland /WRuflia, and N< w-England, and are the afhes for the moft parts oh Firs and Pines. For Green-glaJJes in Eng’andjHtfJJ buy all forts of afhes conf ufed one frith another, of perfons who go up and down the Coun-O Countrey to moft parts of England to buy them. But the left and ftrongeft of all Englifh a foes, are made of the common nay Thtftle, though all thiflles ferve well to this purpofe. Next to Thiflles are Hop-ftrings, that is, the ftem and branches of Hops t cut after the fours are ga¬thered , thefe two are of late invention. Bramble-bufh yields the befl Salt among trees, and Gcnifta Spinofa, and Hawthorn next that , and Kali Spincfum amongfl the Sea-plants. So that it feems that thofe plants which are thorny and prickly aford in their kind the befl and me ft Salt. Next to the fore-mentioned are all litter herbs, as Hops, Worm-wood, Carduus benedi&us, Cen¬tauries , Gentians, Southernwood , Tan- fey, Woad , &c. could ftore of their a* foes be procured at fmall charges-, add to f/vp Tobacco, which affords abundance of Salt,the ferns being gathered and burnt, and might turn to great profit, though fome damage to the foil. A Merchant told me, he offered to King Charles the firft, that he would ereX and maintain at his own charges Churches , and endow each thereof with 100 per annum, one¬ly for the flalks of all the Tobacco which grew inViroynia, and did demonff rate to me the great profit would arife to him by this Pa¬
tent./tent. In the next place follow all Legumi¬nous plants, such as bear Peas, Beans, &c. which have some affinity with the other tribe, especially Lupins, Fetches, Cicers, and Len¬tils, the last whereof being lately sown plenti¬
fully in Oxford-shire for their catel, have been found by experience good to this effect. Add amongst the milky plants, all the sorts of Tithymals or Spurges, and Fig-tree, which have a Blistering faculty in them, and the Vine-branches, and Sow-thistles, which are
somewhat prickly and downy flower'd, wherein they agree with thistles, and have a milky juice, as Tithymals have. Now concerning these fixed Salts, observe, that those are best, which are freest from earth, sticks, and all other Heteregeneous bodies, and are in the hardest and whitest lumps, and to the tast most sharp. Secondly, the best ashes being most full of pure and unmixt Salt soonest run in the Calcar. Thirdly, That ashes made with Vegetables, when in their full growth, and of the mos flourishing branches of them,are best. For from hence the Chymists seem to derive their name of Cineres clavellati,from Clavo Clavolati. Whereof Varro 1. I.de re rust. c. 40. thus. In oleagineis seminibus vi- dendum, ut sit de tenero ramo ex utraque parte i parte arquabiliter prarcifum, quos alii cla- 4 volas alii taleas appellant ac faciunt circi- t ter pcdales. sphere he expounds Clavola by 4 tender branches. Nonu« reads /f Clavula,dtfaf i defines them the cutting of wood. Certain it it i dw Clavola or Clavula comes from Clava 1 which is our Club in Englifh. Fourthly, t Thefe Salts muß le kept dry, for moyflute, and 4 wet much endamage them. Laftly, fome of thefe I afhes make whiter Glafs than others. Oak t afhes partaking of a Vitriolic nature make 1 Glafs of a darker colour , and Afh-trcc , and 1 Hawthorn, communicating in their Salts with 1 Niter, render a more whiter metall than the 1 former. [ Agricola thus of the Salts make Glafs, J The firft place muft be given to Salr-pctcr, the fecond to white and tranfparent Foffil Salt, the j third place to the Salt of the afhes of Anthyl- j lis or other Salt herbs • fome there are who give 1 precedency to the afhes of Anthyllis or Kali, j and not to Salt of Nitre. But thofe which want t make Glafs of two parts of the afhes 0/ com- 1 non Oak, or the Ilex or Scarier-oak,or Ccr- ! rus the Bitter-oak, or for want of them with I the afhes of Beech or Fir, with one part of 1 pawl or fand and they add a little Salt ex¬tracted/tracted from Sea Salt-water, and a little Man¬ganese, but these ashes make a Glass less white and transparent. Now these ashes are to be made of old trees, whose trunk when grown to six foot high is hollowed, and fire being put in¬to the cavity, the whole tree is burnt down and turn'd to ashes. This is done in the winter, when the snows have long continued, or in the Summer when it snoweth not. For rains at o¬ther seasons of the year make the ashes foul, by mixing earth with them. Wherefore in the winter they make ashes of those trees cut into schides and burnt within doors. So far Agric.
But time and experience have worn out the use of Salt-peter, and Fossil Salts, which have gi¬ven the priority to Polverine, being too soft and gentle, whereas Glass requires Lixivial, and fixed Salts, that have a Caustical, and strong tast, and but little Unctuosity, whereof
Nitre and Fossil Salt have store, and there¬fore run most of them into Sandever, unto which Nitre comes somewhat neer in tast and fattiness. But Agric. and other Authors seem to mistake Pliny, who puts Nitre for those Akalizate Salts, for so lib. 31. cap. 10.
Quercu cremata nunquam multum nitrum factitatum est, never much Nitre was made of Oak / Oak burnt. Virgil alfo feems to ufe the word in the fame fenfe , i Georg. (rentes
Semina vidi equidem multos medicare fe- Et nitro prius, Sc nigra perfundcre amurca.
I have feen many would anoint their grain With Nitre firft, then lees of oil would fpread.
This kind of good Husbandry he expreßeth before when he faith, Arida tantum Ne iaturarc fimo pingui pudeat fola ; neve Effetos cinerem immundum jadare per (agros.
Nor with rich dung fpare hungry grounds to feed, And unclean afhes on poor Champains fpread.
As Mr. Ogilby well renders them. Now thefe latter verfes manifeftly prove that falts enrich the foil, and therefore it feems that Nitre in the former verfes muft ftgnitie either fait extraXed from afhes, or afhes themfelves wherein the falts lye. And to the fame purpofe are thofe verfes in the fame Book.
To burn dry stable, on the barren fields, In crackling flames, oft handsome profit yields.
From which burning nothing but salt is pro¬duced, whose nature 'tis to destroy the weeds, which being a long time and strongly rooted in the earth, would draw away from the new sow¬ed and tender corn all the nourishment, and thereby render the ground barren, and the seed unprofitable, besides the use of ashes and salt, to destroy worms,which otherwise might eat up the grain. But the coldness of Nitre, as my Lord Bacon affirms,is an enemy to all sorts of grain; Besides learned Cæsalpin. lib. 3. cap. 23. de metall. Calls the ashes of Kali a kind of Nitre. Aid here unto,that in the Western parts of England, these Algas whereof Kalp or Kelp is made, serve the Husbandmen to stercorate their land, which is practised also by the inha¬bitants of the Mediterranean,as Ferantes Im- peratus relates. And though Nitre may be ex¬tracted from Sea-water, and some Vegeta¬bles, yet 'twould run almost all of it into San-dever, being put into the Furnaces.
Chap.
Obfervations on the firft Book. 271
Chap. 7. O Alt of Lime. ’77; not here ufed-* that which is fometimes found on old walls,&tbence call'd Parctonium, 7] is much ftronger than the Ordinary fait of r lime, a large piece whereof J have amongft my j Cimelia^ry Diaphanous, very like in figure t. to Alucnc, and of a ftrong Saline taft. Ferine. </ Imperatus commends the Lime made of the J Pifccscruftacci and reftacci, are Oyfttrs , and Crabs or Lobftcrs, to extraft a good falc - for glafs. And upon experience I have found ft that a lime of them ( ufed in Holland by the plaifterers ) affords plenty of a ftrong fait : J But this fait, though it make a very white glafs, J yet 'twill not be fo tranfparcnt as that of Kali, J and moft thereof will run in the pots into , Sandevcr.
/
j Chap. 8. J~^Rit, feems to be derived from J Frittare to Fry. For tisno-. thing elfe but fait or afhes fryed or baked to- . gftberwitb fand, and fo the Englifh call the : whole quantity baked at a time in the Calcar * batch. And fecondly, the Frit melted runs itto lumps like Fritters call'd in Italian Frit- tcllc or little Frits. 'Twas by fome anciently o»//WHarnmonitrum,rf#^ by others more a- greeable to Etymologie Ammonitrum, com¬pounded. of , sand,and , Nitre. For so Pliny, lib. 36. cap. 26. Fine sand from the Vulturnian sea is mixt with the weight or measure of three parts of Nitre, and being melted 'tis carried to other Furnaces. There a mass is made which is call'd Ammonitrum, and this being reboil'd makes pure and White glass; and Cæsalp. more expresly, Ex arena & nitro fit massa quam Plin trum appellat, hodie Fritta dicitur,of sand and Nitre a mass is made which Pliny calls Hammonitrum, but at this day 'tis called Frit. This making of Frit serves to mix and in¬corporate the materials well together, and to e¬
vaporate whatsoever superfluous Humidity they contain in them. Green-glass Frit com¬
pounded of grosser materials requires 10 or 12 hours baking more or less, according to the goodness, softness of the sand, and ashes.
We have three forts of Frits. First of Crystall for Crystall metall made with salt of Polverine and sand. The second and Or¬dinary Frit is made of the bare ashes of Pol¬
verine or Barillia without extracting the salt from them, this makes ordinary white or Cry¬stalline metall. Thirdly, FriC for Green-glasses, Obfervations on the firft Book« 273 glafles, made of common afjjes without any pre¬paration of them, or elfe of Cobbets ground to a fine powder , and a hard fand fetched from \Vooll-wich its Kent.
The materials muft be finely powdered, wafh- ed and ferced, and then mixed , and equally compounded together, and then the fire of the calcar will exatt'y mix them in the fmatlefipar¬ticles and minuteft atoms. For otherwife the Sand and Salt •, will in the melting pot eafily feparate the one from the other, which they are apt enough to do were they not often ftirred with the Rake.
Pounded in ftone Mortars. This following way now in ufe if much more expedite, they now grind their afhes which is in hard lumps, their Manganefe, Zaffer, Collets calcined, Clay and Salts, in a Horfe-Mill, the ftone whereof is or 10 inches thick , and 7 or 8 foot Diameter, and turns on a floor, where the materials to be ground are put, and are both of hard Marble. This grinding difpatcheth more in one day than 20 men can do in si Mortar.
We ufe no cctfting of water on the Frit, nor wetting it with Lees, but work it off in the pci T with- within few days, if need requires it,though the latter of thefe two muft needs conduce much to the puritie of [Glafs.
I Chap. 9. T He quantity of the Mangane fe, See. the reafon whereof is le- caufe the coleus to be pur in are of various goodnefs, fome higher, and others lighter, espe¬cially the difference of Manganefe and Zaffcr, j; fo great, that fome thereof is good for little, other very rich,fome of a middle nature, and to know their difference in goodnefs , there s no way Found out but tryall tn the furnace, neither ! in our Glafs houfes, nor in pottery where they have very great ufe of both. Befides,the me- ! tails of the fame materials , and oF the fame preparation,change the quantity oF the colours, in feveral pots, wherefore the Conciator j always puts in all his colours,not by weight,nor meafure, but by little and little at a time , and ' rfo# at each time mixeth them well with the * metall, and taketh out a proof, and by his eye J alone fudgeth whether the colour be high enough, and when too low adds more of them till he at¬tain the defired colour.
jj|l| " ■ ■ * ■ v I
The furnace muft have dry Sc ftrong wood. Our Author every where commends Oak, for that that makes a ftrong and durable fire with a good flame. Ferant. Imper. 1. 14. c. 16. faith, that the Glafs-men m working-glafs, becaufe they would have a fubftantial and gallant rather than d great flame, ufe the trunks of aft), which afcending direttly > and freight, comes to the Vortex of the furnace > and communicates it s force to the pots within. A<[b indeed affords a mo# pleafant ftre, but foon decays, and therefore unlefs a continual fap¬ply be made, the metall will not be kept melted, nor fit to work. Camer. in borto defervedly commends Juniper as a mo# Lifting and ftrong, and fweet fire, could plenty thereof be had. I know not therefore what Pliny means, who I.36. c. 24. faith, levibus vitrum aridifque lignis coquitur. Glafs is boil'd with light and dry wood. Nor why Plutarch fhould fay, that Ta¬marisk if (itteft to form Glafs: for certainly fa great a fire as Glafs requires cannot be made with fuch woods. One eftecl of the fire men-tioned by the Arabian phyftcians, and from them by others,/ may not omit, viz. the burning of Glafs mixt with fponge,which being calcind they commend to break the ftone in the Kyd- ncys and Bladder, and for outwards Ulcers, But the ways to burn it, taught by them, are wholly unfit, and 'tis moft certain that the
T 2 long-«J longeft and ftrongeft fires, will onely keep it in fufion, but never reduce it to a powder.
Caftcth forth Sandevcr,fal Alkali, call'd by the French, Suin de verre, that if the fat of Glafs, and by contraction in Englifh San¬devcr. ’7& a very white fait* and inclining neer efi to a nitrous taft, and eafily difiolveth in the air, or any moi ft place. Our Conciators never caft the metall into water, to feparate this fait from it, but take it out with a ladle* for it fwims on the top of the metall. This muft be feparated and all feummed off , or elfe 'twill make the Glafs unfit for working, very brittle, and no way plyable. The beft metall will yield in a pot of two hundred weight a quarter or half a hundred of Sand ever. 7he weaker the fait or afhes are tie greater quantity of Sandevcr they yield, fome four or five parts more than others do. For green glafjes when the afhes are bad they are com¬pel l‘d to fill the pot four or five times with more frefh afhes, by reafon of the quantity of Sandcvc r that is in them, before the pot will be filled with metall. rrhiffi any of tt remains in the pot, they may not caft in any cold water to hinder the boylino over of the metall, for if • they fhould,the furnace and pots would be blown
Obfervations on the firft Book. 277 up together. Sandever ferveth to make metalls run, and a little thereof put into Antimony and Salt-petcr, for making Crocus Mctallo- mm,encreafeth the quantity of the Croclis, and 'twill therewith feparate better from the Scoria. 'Tis fold into F rance, and there ufed to powder their meat, and to eat, inftead of com¬mon fait-, a folution hereof beftowed ongarden- walks deftroys both weeds and vermin.
Necks of the Glafs, are alfo calTd Col¬lets, which they always break of their iron rods ( whereunto they (lick ) before they take new metall out of the pot, and thefe they throw into a place ordained for that purpofe, which they grind, and put to the metall, and make thereof the pured green Glafs onely, though the produtt of the pneft Virgin metall.
Chap. 10. /*“?f Alcine it well. The Glafs m:‘ft continue twenty four hours or more, nay, two or three days in a ftrong fire, the longer the better, for this refines the Glafs, and takes away all Blebs and Blifters from it.
278 Obfervations on the firft Book. Chap. IT. T1 Artar in great lumps. Be-A caufe this comes from the ftrongeft trines,and hath fuffered no damage by fait water, or any other, which diflolve it into fmall pieces, and draw from it fome of it's ftrength. They calcine it in a place made for the purpofe neer the Leer of the furnace,on ei¬ther fide of the utmoft working holes,in fix hours time, and that to whitenefs*t too , which worketh all the effects in Glafs with us, better than a lower calcination doth.
Chap. 12. r J After and Manganefe, have f no other preparation here than bare grinding them in the mill to a fine powder , and forcing them in the fame forces wherewith they ferce their Polverine, and 0- ther materials, what Z after z.f 7 cannot find in any Author, few there are that mention it.
Cardan. 1.5. de fubtil. calls it an earth. Eft aliaetiim terra qux fic vitrum tingit Ccc- ruleiccloris quam Zapheram quidam ap- pcllanr. There's another earth which colours Glafs Blew, feme call it Zaffcr. But fince him Cafaipinui, 1.2. c. 55. reckons it among fiones. Alius eft lapis vitrum tingens colorc cocruko Sr fi piufculum ad cl a ur iaficit ni- gredintj Zafteram vocant.'Hic ex cintreo ten-tendit ad purpureum pc-ndcrolus & fria- bilis eft ; per te non funditur, fed cum vitro flliit aquæ modo. There s another ftone co¬louring Glafs Blew, and too much colours it Bldek, they call it Zaffer. It enclines from an Afh to a Purple colour, 'tis heavy and brittle, it melts not of its felf, but with Glafs it runs like water. Aldrovand. in Mufæo follows both,and in one place calls it an earth*in ano¬ther a (lone. Feranr. Imperat. 1 26. c. 8. likens it to the Load-ftone and Manganefe. But 'tis not an earth,for it mixeth not with wa¬ter,nor will it be compounded with it. Neither is there any flone fo brittle as Zaffer, for with your fingers you may eafily crumble it into a fandy gritty fubftance* which appears fo to the teeth. And certainly were it either of thefe or any natural colour it could not but have been taken notice of by fome writer on thefe fub- jefls* being a thing fo commonly ufed, and fo much thereof fpent in Glafs and Pottery. It fcapt the knowledge of the diligent kvyiccda., who no where mentions it, and ful. Scaligrr who faw a Book concerning Glafs, replies no¬thing to Cardan concerning it. So thw it feems to me to be an artificial thing of late invention, and made by fome metal-men in Germanic ( from whence ai of it comes ) and T 4 bept
2$o Obfcrvations on the firft Book. kept by them as a fecrct. And. if J might con- jedure at it, 1 ftjould think that twere a compo- fition of Brafs and Sand, and perhaps feme Lapis Calaminaris added thereunto. The Blew colour it gives, inducetb me to think, that tis from Brafs, as the colour of Mangancle is from Iron: for certainly nothing can give a tindure to Glafs, but what is metalline, and all metalls do give a tindure thereunto. Lapis Lazuli a very hard ftone lofeth it's colour in the pre, and fo do other pretious ftones. Tis true, Antimony gives Glafs a colour, but 'tis by reafon of it's Metalline part Hzr Regulus onely. Much lefs will any fort ef earths bear the ftrong heat of their furnaces. For though Scots-othrc and India-red, may be both cal-cin'd into good colours for the ufes they are emploi'd for , yet in the Glafs furnaces they wholly lofe them. It remains then that nothing but what's mettalline muft produce this colour, and if metalline what can it elfe be but Brafs > For though filver be faid to afford this colour, yet that proceeds from the allay of Copper wherewith 'tis mixed. For purely thrice refined Silver gives no tindure at all to the parting prater. A fecond ingredient into Zaffer ts find,your tongue and teeth may eafily di flo¬wer it * but if you put it into Aqua fort is you Obfervations cn the firft Book. 2S1 (hall manifefily fee'feme white and transparent gravel, very like the pon der of our tranfparent Pebles, or perhaps the forementioned qcocoli aefcribecl by lmpcratus, and fome other like our common fand, of a Brcwnifb colour, which will eafily vitrifie. And thirdly, the reafon I fuppofe that Lapis Calaminaris may be ad- mixt therewith,is,becaufe neither Aqua-fortis nor fpirit of Vitriol, poured cn the Zaffcr, have any operation fenfible thereupon,either as to raifing bubles,folution, or tinXure. Both which experiments I tryed with ordinary Aqua-fortis and fpirit of Vitriol, and could not perceive the leaft bulle arife, nor fmadefi motion of thefe liquours, nor any tinXure in either , nor hi fi¬fing noife, which hapnelh in the Solution of me¬talline bodies. But that the Lapis Calaminaris hinders the Solution & confequences thereof will be manifeft by an experiment we fhall pre- fently produce. Befides this ebullition may be hindered by the admixture of fome Rofin or Gum, on which thefe liquours have no efjeX. With what preparation of Brafs or Copper,//;;/ is made,I cannot determine, whether from the Ore or feme preparation delivered by Authors, or what other way, a few experiments might de- teft this fecret, and unty this knot, whereunto I fhall leave the Reader, kflfily, trhofoever fhall con- consider the weight,value,and colour, now chan¬
ged from the Purplish of the Authors to a Brown (for so is all that I have seen) will not with much difficulty be perswaded to be of my conceit. 'Tis call'd Zaffer from the Saphyre-stone, with whom it communicates in it's Blew colour.
Chap. 13. Anganese (so call'd from M it's likeness in colour and weight to the Magnes or Load-stone) is the most universal material used in Glass, not onely to purge off the natural Greenish Blewish colour so call'd by Virgil 4. Georg.
Eam circum Milefia vellera Nymphæ, Carpebant hyali saturo fucata colore.
whereon the Commentator, Vitreo viridi Nymphis apto.
which is in all Glass, and therefore may be call'd the Soap thereof; but also to tinge it, which it doth with a Red, Black, Purple or Mur¬ray colour; nay'tis the most universal ingredi¬ent into all colours, as this present work demon-strateth. Concerning it Cæsalp. 1. 2. c. 55. more largely and very well in these words. Hoc genus Magnetis hodie vulgo Manganese vo- catur, Obfervations bn the firft Book. 2 8 ? ] catur,ab Alberto Magnefia, addi folet ad confcétionem vitri, quoniam in fc Iiquo- 1 rem vitri quoque ut magnes ferrimi tra- ’ here crcditur. Lapis eft niger, Magneti 1 fmilissquoutuntur vitrearii. Si cnim mo- ’ dicum cjus vitro admifeeatur, illud purgar ab alicniscoloribus, Sc clarius reddir, fi ve¬rb am pi ÌLI?, colore purpureo. Afferturex Germania,foditur quoque in Italia in mon- tibus Viterbii Sc alibi. Mcmini: & Plin. fpeudomagnetis. Ii.quitcnim in Cantabria non file magnes verus taute continua fed fparsà, nefcio an vitro fundendo perindc utilis, nondum cnim expertus eft quifquam; ferri inquit inficit acicm u: Magnus. This kind of Load-ftone if now call'd Manganefe, Albertus Magnefia, tir added in the ma¬king of Glafs, becaufe 'tis thought that it draws into it felf the liquore of Glafs as the Load- ftone doth Iron, '1 is a Black ft one like the Load-ftone, the Glafs-men ufe it. For if a lit¬tle thereof be mixed therewith it purgetb it from improper colours, and makes it dearer, but if too much it colours it Purple. 'Tis brought feem Germanic, tis alfo dug in Italy in the mountains of Vitcrbiuni and elfe where. Pli¬
ny alfo mentions the Pfeudo-magncs. He faith in Cantabria not the true I-cad-ft one in a conti/ continual, but scattered rock, I know not whe¬ther it be as good to run-glass, for no body ye hath made tryal of it, it colours (saith he) Iron as the Load-stone doth. Cardan. 1. 5. de sub- tilitat. calls it Syderea (upon what ground I know not) and mistakes the colour, putting Blew for Red. Whereunto Scal, exerc. 104. 23, re¬plies, Manganese is unknown to me, yet in a Manuscript of blowing Glass belonging to Pan- theus a Venetian 'twas written, that Glass was coloured Purple therewith. Believe the Author as you, please. I remember when I wa a Boy and lived at Ladroni, there was dug u at the Solodonian-mountains (if I mistake not) I know not what, which they said was car ried to Venice, wherewith Glass was refined to that whiteness, and purity that it kept the name of Crystalline. I seem to rememb was that of Iron. Secundus my Master taught me that Glass by the admixture of an Iron co¬lour grew white by reason of the strange Co- hæsion of both substances, whose pans being compounded, the colours also entred one into another, and that the Manganese of an Iron nature did exhale, being impatient of the fire, and carried away with it the foulness of the Glass, no otherwise than Lees wherewith linnen is cleansed. A. judgement not unlike this opi¬nion/nion 1 find in Arift. where he fbeweth the force of Origanum to purge wine. But this Iron fubflance exhales not, if it le mixed with me¬talls, becaufe then ’tis baked with left fire ora left time. And this is all we have delivered concerning this Manganefe. Now in thefe dif- courfes, two things are olfervatle, the attracti-on, and purgation. As for the former,attraXion of the liquour of Glafs, there’s no ground fo? it, no more than the bare name imports, which wai impofed ex placito : For if you apply never fo great a quantity of Manganefe to the fmallefi particle of broken or melted Glafs, it ffirs it not. And then if they mean by the liquour of Glafs the Sandever part thereof, ’tis certain the greenifo colour remains in the metall after that is wholly feummed off, and that Manga- nelc then put in refines it. But if they mean by liquour of Glafs onely liquid Glafs, then ’tis onely gratis didum, no argument, no experi¬ment being brought to prove it. As for that of purifying 'tis as manifeft as the attraXion is ob- feure. Though the modus be very doubtful. Scaligcr and his Mafier Sccundus think ’tis by the way of exhalation, and perhaps, Plin. Sc Cadalp. mean by their attraXion,this purgation, but then they tell us not what becomes of them both. They muff be feparated from the metall by preci/. precipitation or exhalation,but the former can¬not be, for then the metall being ftir'cl twodd return to it's former colour* or 'twould be found in the bottom of the pot in the form 0*' powder, as in other precipitations 'tis conftantly ufual. And the exhalation if as incredible fince there appears no lofs of weight after this refining, be¬fides, how can the fixed bodies of Manganefe x arife in exhalation being invifcaied with the tenacious fubftance of Glafs I and what ftrange choice can there be fuppofed 7» rfce Manganefe, that it jbould cull out the G> eener part onely of the metall to be carried away with it into the air, and in infenfible vapors tool The reafon feems to mo to be onely a change in the figure and minute ft parts ofthe metall, for the fire ma¬le ing the Manganefe run, mixeth it with the fmalleft atoms of the metall throughout, which byboyling, and various agitation and revolu¬tion of them frames tbofe atomical figures which are apt to reficcl moft of the light which falls upon it, and is the fame we call White, Multitude of infiances might be given to illu- ftrate this doRrine of the production of colours by mere tranfwttation of parts , but we [ball content ourfelves with thofe onely which by ad¬mixture of colourate bodies become white. Take then Tcrebinthine which is of a yel-' lowijb colour, or Oleum Capevx of a blackijh * colour, or tinge oil of Turpentine with Ver-I
degreas (in which' twill eafily diftolve ) into as full a Green as the natural colour of Glafs * ' and flake either of thefe very well together, ' with the yolks of Eggs, and they all make a • very clear and white colour. Or elfe take a \ ftrong lixiviumof the Soap-boilers, and mix 1 it by agitation with the Greenifl oyl of Elder, J and you flail therewith make that meSicine ' Pbyficians call Lac. Virginis, you may do the fame with any other oyl, and the faid Lee. Here you have the colour of a Teliowifl Red-lee destroy the green of the Oyl. Again Oyl of Tartar poured on the green water made with the folution of the Pyrites in rain water, gives a white colour, nay the faid Oyl poured on Green or Blew Copperas diftolved in common water, efteds the like, though the colour will not be al¬together fo white as in the former, unlefs you add a great quantity of oyl of- Tartar, which itoftances fufficiently refute the way of exhala¬tion, and manifeftly convince that this purging of Glafs, is wrought onely by a various texture, and pofition of the parts oi the metall, made by this new acceflion of Manganefe. Nay, what other reafon can be aflgned, but this change, why Salt and Sand both mo# white, flould pro-
283 Observations on the first Book. dnce a coloured metal? or why Zaffer and Manganese should produce a Black?
That Manganese consists of much Iron seems
beyond contradiction, which may be evinced by these experiments. 1 poured Aqua-fortis up¬on some powder of it, and in a narrow mouth'd Glass, the water rose up in great bubles,and im-mediately boiled over the Glass,and in a Glass, with a wider mouth it rose less,and a strong,and most piercing fume there from, offended much my Nose-thrils. And Spirit of Vitriol poured on it boild a little, but sparkled more, th became so hot that I could not hold it in my hand, and that which seems peculiar to the Manganese, fair water poured thereon encrea-
sed the decaying heat very much. The tincture of this stone was of a deep claret colour. All which agree throughout with the same Spirits poured on Iron; and certainly the colours of the Manganese, come from the Iron that it con¬
tains. Red is common to them both, and a Pur¬ple is but a deeper Red with an eye of Blew,and the same colour some preparations of Crocus Martis have, and as black is made with Zaffer and Manganese,so rich Blacks in silks are made of slip, that is the powder which the Shear- grinders grind from shears and other edge tools mixed with Sand from the Grind-stone, and Obfervations on the firft Book. 28« and doubtlefs would be of ufe in the colour pots ofthe furnace did they know it* and would they ufe it. Secondly* this Manganefe makes the metall rife much* and boil as all Iron or Steel alone,or Crocus Martis, or any other prepara¬tion, or completion thereof, which quality is alfo common to Copper, Brafs and Lead. O'ferve here*that wherefoever any of thefe are put into the pot our Author commands that it be done leaf urely and by little and little* and that feme vacuity be left in the pot* for fear you lofe your metall which will run into the fire and ajbes* and thereby you lofe the time and charge, for all this commonly goes together with him.
Our Author here commends Manganefe of Piemonr,/<7r the beft in the world, and there¬fore wherever he mentions the one, he fubjoyn? the other. But fome few years fince, the induftry of our nation hath found in our own countrey at Mendip-hills (famous for Lead) in Sptner- let-fhire, good as any ufed at Moran» wherever the Lead Ore-Afen find it* they cer¬tainly conclude that Lead. Ore lies under it. They call it Pottern-Ore, becaufe the Potters fpend fuch great quantities of it* this being the onely materiall wherewith they colour their ware Black, as they do Blew with Zaffer. They V count• 54 * -Hr dnce a coloured metal? or why Zaffer and Manganese should produce a Black?
That Manganese consists of much Iron seems beyond contradiction, which may be evinced by these experiments. 1 poured Aqua-fortis up¬
on some powder of it, and in a narrow mouthed Glass, the water rose up in great bubles,and im¬mediately boiled over the Glass,and in a Glass, with a wider mouth it rose less,and a strong,and most piercing fume there from, offended much my Nose-thrils. And Spirit of Vitriol poured on it boild a little, but sparkled more, the glass became so hot that I could not hold it in my hand, and that which seems peculiar to the Manganese, fair water poured thereon encrea-sed the decaying heat very much. The tincture of this stone was of a deep claret colour. All which agree throughout with the same Spirits poured on Iron; and certainly the colours of the Manganese, come from the Iron that it con¬tains. Red is common to them both, and a Pur¬ple is but a deeper Red with an eye of Blew,and the same colour some preparations or Crocus Martis have, and as black is made with Zaffer and Manganese,so rich Blacks in silks are made of slip, that is the powder which the Shear- grinders grind from shears and other edge tools mixed with Sand from the Grind-stone, and
Obfcrvations on the firft Book. and doubtlefs would be of ufe in the colour pot? of the furnace did they know it, and would they ufe it. Secondly, this Mingancfc makes the metall rife much, and boil as all Iron or Steel alone,or Crocus Martis, or any other prepara¬tion, or compofition thereof, which quality is alfo common to Copper, Brafs and Lead. Obferve here,that wherefoevec any of thefe are put into the pot our Author commands that it be donfi leaf urely and by little and little, and that feme vacuity be left in the pot, for fear you lofe your metall which will run into the fire and afhes, and thereby you lofe the time and charge, for all this commonly goes together with him.
Our Author here commends Manganefe of Piemont,for the beft in the world, and there¬fore wherever he mentions the one, he fubioyn? the other. Put fome few years fince, the induftry of our nation hath found in our own countrey at Mendip-hdh ( famous for Lead) in Somer- iet-fhire, ,4* good as any ufed at Moran«. wherever the Lead-Ore-Men find it, they cer¬tainly conclude that Lead Ore lies under it. They call it Pottern-Ore, becaufe the Potters fpend fuch great quantities of it, this being the onely materiall wherewith they colour their ware Black, as they do Blew with Zaffer. They V countAk. Jt* count that the Left , which hath no glittering fparkle s in it, and is of a Blackifb colour* hut powdered of a dark Lead colour , ’tis very hard ponderous, the deeper the colour, the deep¬er it colours the metal m the Furnace, 'tis to Le put into the melting pot together with the Fritt.
Chap. "I ) E rretto of Spa in, commonly call'd 14, ’5- JL 2CSUftuni, or burnt Brafs, and 'ttf made Latin, by Caefalp. 1. 3. c. 5. where he thus faith, Optimum a?s uftuna tonficic- battir in JSgyprt Memphide deinde in Cy- pro, cujus nota? funt, ut fit rubrum & at- tritu colorem Cinnabaris imitctur, nana ni¬grum, plulquam dccet exuftum cft. Hodie in Hifpania confieitur, appellant auttin Ferrettum , fed nigrum eft, tnficit nigre- dine, ideò ucuntur ad capillum denigran¬doti). The beft burnt Brafs was made at Mem¬phis- in E^yot, afterwards in Cyprus the marks whereof are that it be Red, and that by bruì png it imitate the colour of Cinnalxr, for that which if Hack if too much burnt. 'Tis now made in Spain, tbn call it Ferrettum, W tir Black and colours Black, therefore they ufe to colour therew th their hairs Black. But if it be calcin'd to a mediocrity it appears Red*& 'tis of of the fame colour when powdered, and hence it feems to have it's name Ferre rum a ferreo colorc, for Crocus Martis appeared) to the eye Red, though much lighter than Ferretto doth. By the former difeourf■ of Cxfalp that fome Countries afforded better Ferretto than others , as Caftile Soap, and Venice Glafles are the be ft, but we find no fuel) difference in the feveral climates, that we need fetch any thereof from Spain.
The two moft eminent and fingular colours^ both in themfelves, and in relation to animals * and to this Art of Glafs, are Blew and Green 5 in themfelves, as partaking much of light, a& is feen in the Triangular-GlafleS, and they are alfo moft delightful and agreeable to the fight, and eyes of animals as neither widening nor contracting the Pupil too much, both which are dolorous and offenfive ; and in the Art of Glafs, in Pafts, Enamels, Glafs of Lead by reafon of their great conformity and neerneff to many fort of- gems, challenge a great (bare of ufe, befides the many gradations of them nfed fimply of themfelves, or elfe blended and mix¬ed one with the other. Blew is a (imple colour in all Arts converfant about it, but Green in the curious Art of dying is a compounded co-
V 1 lour /lour of Blew the Ground, and Yellow ftper-in- diced, or contrary-wife wrought. But mother Arts this colour is fimple , and both arife from the fame materiall Copper or Brafs by various ordering and preparing them. 'Tis a firange and great myfiery to fee how fmall and undi- fcerxable a nicety ( though the fame mat eri alls be ufed ) makes the one and the other colour, as if daily difcovered by the refiners in making their Vcrdiurs, who fometimes with the fame materials, and quantities of them for th/fr Aqua-fortis, and with the fame Copper¬plates j and Whiting make a very fair Blew Verb iter, otberwhiles a fairer or more dirty- \ green. Whereof they can a (fign no reafon, nor can they hit on a certain rule to make confiantly theirVctditer of a fair Blew , to their great difproyt, the Blew being of manifold greater Value than the Green. New although the genuine and natural colour of Brafs and Copper, is the true Sea green, mixed of both colours, yet the former inclines more to a Blew than the latter, and the diftolvents have a great fi;are in this bufinefs. For Vcrdigreas made of Copper-plates buried in the earth with Grapes, makes a Green, but Copperas made with Copper, and the liquour of the Pyrites diftolved with rain water, yields a Blew/ Blew in Dantzick and Hungarian, and. Ro¬man Vitriol, f/zc onely difference of thefe pro¬ceeding from the refutation of the materials into finer & minuter Particles,and various tex¬ture of the Atomical parts of the materials dijjolved. Now the reafon why Brafs makes a better Blew than Copper, feems to be this9 that the Lapis Calaminaris the onely thin? that differenceth them.takes in. a/.dincorporates with it’s felf that acidity which naturally Cam¬per contains , which as it appears in the ma¬king «ƒ* Verdigreas turns it to a Green, be¬ing exalted by the acidity of the Grapes. And t'.ds feems alfo to be the caufe, why French- wine-grapes, which have more acidity in them than Spa nil h- wine-grapes have (though the climate of Spain be more fui table than that of France ) are five (I to work this effect. The force alfo of Variolate juyces may b* feen in our Englifh Copperas, and Vitriol of Mars, made of Spirit of Vitriol and Steel, both which change the natural Tellowifo colour of Iron into a Green, and Lapis Armenus a Blew (lone ground with Vineger, or the tinXure thereof drawn. The effeX of Calaminaris in drinking in the acidity of the Vitriol do the fame, an ingredient into Aqua-fortis is clearly matifefled, by a pretty and lucid expe-V 3 rimenti/ rime nt* was once fix wed me by my neighbour a Refiner , who bought fume Copper-plates to draw down his filver from Aqua-fort is where¬in twas diffolved, but thefe Copper-plates would not wholy precipitate the fatd filver, but left ten pound thereof in thirty remaining unpreci pi tat c d in the wa ter. 7 he reafin where¬of was found to be, becaufe the Copper for thofe places had Ieen melted in a pot, wherein BraG before had fvffered Fufion. 7 he Cop- per-fmith, hereupon remelted the faid plates in new pots , and with a ftrong fire, burnt off (as they ufually do ) the fours of the Lapis Calaminaris, which are volattl and fly about the work.houfe , colouring the Cloaths, hairs* i and Beards of the Work-men, as white as thofe of Afeal-men, or A fillers. New when thefe flours had been well feparated, and the Cop¬per-plates freed totally from them, they drew down the filver wholly from the Aqua-fortis. Nuw in this experiment the Lapis Calamina- ris, imbibed part of the acidity from the Cop¬peras and fo the Plates being lefs corroded, and confequently too little thereof received in¬to dx parting water, left room for the filver to 7emain, and to be fupported by the faid water which is the reafon o f all precipitation, for the new adventent metall coming into the place of the the filver, forceth it to defeend upon the Bouie and Plates in the form of a white powder. But that this eft eft followed from the imbibition of the acidity from the Aaua-fortis feems mani¬fest, becaufe Aqua-for tis-vinegcr, or Hr Spi¬rit, or any other acid quyce, poured thereon be¬comes more fweet, and heavy, as they do with Coral, Crabs-eyes, ( as they are faljly call'd) thejbells of fifties or Lapis Lynus, and whi-ting wherewith #* the water from the Copper¬plates VcrditA is made, likewife do. nd hence it proceeded too that the water made with thefe Plates, acquired the moft jingular sky- colottr the faid Refiner had ever feen. And to this purpofe / remember, that from Brafs dif- folved in common Aqua-fortis, with an addi¬tion of Crabs-eyes, a moft fair Sky colour pro-ceeded thence.
Of all metalls Copper ts the moft plyable to the Hammer, drawing into wire, gives mal¬leability to filver and gold tn coins, and is of no hard folution in the fire, is foon corroded with any acid Spirits or Salts , and without great, difficult j is refolved into a powder with the fire. Five preparations or reduction to powder our Author gives , Firfi, a calcination of Cop¬per , c. 14. of Brafs, c. 21. with Sulphur, V 4 then t<y6 Obfervations on the firft Book, f/zczz with Vitriol, c. 15. Thirdly, a fimple calcination offrra.fr by fire, c. 20. of fcales of Brafs, c. 24. Fourthly, fcales thrice cal¬cin'd, c. 25,28. Fifthly, the making of Vi¬triol of Venus, c. 31, 132, 133. All which are fo well known to the meaneft Chynrfts I fhall need to fay little of them, efpecially h: - ving given fo large an account, how the two prime • colours, Blew, and Green are thence educed. But above all thefe preparations, that of Vitriol of Copper the pre-feminence, and next to that being prepared the fame way with it, the calcination with Sulphur, and efpecially with Sulphur vi- vum in a clear and ftrong fire makes a bet¬ter colour than any of the other c a1 ci nati¬ons mentioned by our Author. For though Originally Brimitone and Copperas are made of the fame Mirtafite, and produce Spirits undiftinguifoable each from other, yet Sulphur fooner and better penetrated) into the body of the metall, being more vehemently dri¬ven in by the moft acute and (harp points of the fame, and fo confequently divide more fubtilly the fmalleft particles thereof. Befides the flame thjfipdteth and carries oft the Spirit of the Sulphur, which of it s own nature is apt to blacken, and make all colours more djrty. Fcras 'tis well known Copperas with gals or any other astringent vegetable make Ink, and the Black for dyers. But if you list; to try Vi¬triol, you must not use English Copperas made with Iron, but that which is made with Copper, Because experience teacheth the Re¬finers that Aqua-fortis, made with it will carry 'its foulness through all their mediate solutions even to the Verditer 'its self which 'twill make infallibly of a dirty Green colour. Where¬
fore they make their Aqua-fortis of Dan- zick Copperas onely.
Whosoever then would extract a good colour with Aqua-fortis (which way our Author u-seth not though he doth in making Crocus Martis) should make it with Salt-peter and Alume instead of Vitriol as 'tis hereafter made for Calcidonies, chap. 38. or with Hungarian or Roman Vitriol especially the last which makes the strongest water, being most impregnated with Copper, and coming neerest to Vitriol of Venus, for with these waters rise some small atoms of Copper (as 'tis ma¬nifest by holding a knife over the fumes of suc
Aqua-fortis boyling) which will colour it of a perfect Copper colour. And if you dissolve in this Aqua-fortis the best Copper, and then precipitate it with fpel tar ( which I haze fome¬times done with the refiners double water im¬pregnated with Coppc r ) you flail have a moft excellent Blew, which may be of good ufe for the colouring of Glafs, for I doubt rot but the ftrong fire of the furna'es will wholly diflipate the ffeltar being of a Sulpburious nature, or con¬vert it tr Glafs, for upon the di folution there¬of with Aqua f rtis it flooteih into Green Cryftalls, however the Qctpp r will remain to give it's tinfiime to the.Glafs, and that this way of precipitation if much better theft by drawing of the Spirit with heat tis apparent by this, that the finer and purer parts of the Cop pi r rife with the water as tn the experi¬ment of the Knife, and by many others to be met with in the writings of the Chvniifts. One experiment, more I flail add to extrail the tin¬dure from Copper. I took Copper calcin d and Vcrdigreas of each an ounce and fill’d two Glafs bottles with the juyce and leaves of garden Scurvigrafs, which abounds in volatile Salt, and clofed thefe Glafies well, and firft for a month, fet them in a Sellar , and afterwards upon Leads in the Sun, during the Summer moneths, then J firained the liquor per char- tam cmporeticam , and had from the for¬mer a fair Skie, from the latter a pure Sea
Green./. Green. And this 1 the rather relate, Lee an ft I haze not met with any experiment in this na¬ture with volatile Salts, and 'tis very probable that other plants full of the fame Salt* efpeci¬ally having ftme clammy juyce in them, ftch as Onions, Garlich, Leeks, and Molyes have* might fijew fome rare efteR upon Copper, for their leaves have either a deep Green, or elfe a Green mixt with Blew. The whole tribe of Acids alfo are difioluents of Copper, and all forts of fixed falts, all which have acidity in them. And no doubt great variety might be met withall in diverfity of menflruums, and procejjes of extrafling theft tmflureS.
Orr Author c. 20. tells you Brafs is made of Copper rfW Lapis Ca'aminaris, / fhall here deliver tf e procefs fince 1 find it no where fully delivered, Lapis Calammaris is found in Sommerfetfhirc, and the North cf Wale?, and though ftme of it hath I een brought from Dantzick , yet ’tis not of the ftme goodnefs with ours of England. This flone before ufed muff have the following preparation, ft muft be firft calcin’d in a furnace like the Calcar with a fmall hole on one fide to put fire in, which may be either of foal or wood* but woodtis beft, becaufe it maketb the greateft flame, and con- feqnently. fequently the befit reverberation. The time of Calcination is about five hours, in which face they often rake it about with a great Iron rake, It requireth good judgement to calcine it welti for when 'tis not fufjiciently calcin’d ’twill not mix with the Copper, and when too much, ’twill make t too brittle , and in both cafes gives not the true tinfture to Copper. The fign of its juft calcination is, when tis in a white and very fine powder. Alrnojl half of the Calamic ( as the workmen call it 1 is wafted and flies away in flour, which (licks to the mouth of the Fnrnace of divers colours of little ufe with them, though I could eafily prove thefe flours tobe the true pompholix of the ancients, and to be nfed in the ointment, that hath it's denomination thence. 'Tis an excellent dryer, andapplyed to electing Nerves, and Tendons, without pain,it foon exiccateth them. This pow¬
der I communicated to the eternal glory of our nation,and Anatomy, o* an excellent Chirur- gian}and never to be by me forgotten the in- comp arable Dr. Harvey,a man moft curious in all natural things, who confefted he thought this to be the faid Pompholix, and with moft hap-py fuccefs frequently ufed it. Now when the Calami* if well calcind, they grind and ferce it to a very fine powder , and therewith mix well Charcoal
Charcoal finely ground to a powder, this mixture they put into the bottom of a pot, an upon it a Copper-plate, to wit, seven pound of this mixture, to five pound of Copper, which is their usual proportion. These pots are made of Nonsuch-clay, which must be first calcin'd if they make pots of it alone, but usually they grind their broken pots with an equall quantity of the clay, and therewith make them, which blaesitn g well wrought and annealed, will commonly 12 or 14 days.
The furnace wherein they melt their Cop¬per and Calamie is about six or seven foot deep under ground, the earth being circularly raised by degrees from the plain of the work¬house to the hole, whereby the materials and fire are put into the furnace, which is the center of the raised earth, and in a perpendicular to the bottom, and area of the furnace. The diameter whereof at the bottom is three or four foot wide, growing gradually narrower and narrower in the form of a cone to the said hole which con¬tains afoot in diameter, wide enough to put in and take out their pots and fire. This hole hath an Iron cover with a small hole in it, where¬
with they regulate their fires. At the. bottom of this furnace, they have a long pipe or hollow place/place by which they How their fire with bellows. At firft they mak e a very gentle fire, encreafing it by degrees, till they fee the Copper melted, down* and well mixed with the CaJamic, which is ufually done tn the fpace of twelve hours* for every twelve hours* they caft their plates at five in the morning and evening ; and then they take their pots out of the furnace ( which are ufually eight or ten in number) with a long pair of tongues * and fet them in a hot place A little time till the metal grows a little cooler, yet fiill melted* and then pour it out of all the pots together into a mould of flone * which pro¬duced) a plate of Brafs three foot long , and a foot and a half wide weighing betwixt 60 and 80 pound. The mould is made of two fionejt which feem to me to be of that fort, which are calld Calcarti, for they have many fmall ftji- ning particles in them like Spars, which con¬tinue after long ttfe of thefe flones* whofe co¬lour is thereby changed {rom a Gray to a red- dtfb Copper colour* onely the fpots remaining. Thefe flones have formerly been brought from Holland, but have beeh fometimes fince found’ in the mount anous parts of Cornwall, and are as big as a reafonable gravefione , and of the fame figure. They muft be annealed fome hours before they caft their plates on them, elfe the metall /metall will fly, and besides endanger their breaking. They must have many pair of them in readiness, because after three days casting they become weary (as they call it) and must be new coated with coal and tallow. 'Tis to be observed that the mixture of the Calamie and Coal, must be always put under the Copper¬plates, for then the Caiamie being raised by the mix Charcoal and heat of the. furnace easily penetrateth and mixeth by little and little with the Copper melted, and so both unite into one mass, making the compound call'd Brass. whereas the Caiamie would most of it sty away should it be put above the Copper-plates. And though the interposition of the Copper hinder it's ascent, yet much thereof slyes away and sticks to the sides of the furnace, and ac¬cording to the diversity of the superior or in-ferior part of the furnace where 'tis found and difference in figure and colour receives va¬rious names, of Capnitis, Botrytis, Placitis, Onychitis, Ostracitis, so call'd by Plin. 1. 34. c. 10. All which contain some Copper in them easily discoverable by the affusion of Aqua-fortis on them or by long lying exposed to the open air, nay, you shall see in them some-times a Greenish Blewish colour, when they are taken out of the furnace, The encrease of weight
304 Obfcrvationson the firft Book. weight by the Calamic is f om 38 to 40 pound in the hundred, fo tl.at 60 pound of Copper wdcj with Calamic 100 pound of Braft. O'ferve alfo that the fire muft not le too (Irong, or muft the pots continue too long in the furnace after fufion of the Copper left the Calamic fv away, and that the coals lying at the bottom of the pot, and which were mixed with the Calamic are rot totally tinned to afoes, but oftentimes come out untouched, and unalte ed, though the pots have continued red hot for many hours together, which is needful becaufe Copper with the Calamic require longer time to be melted then Copper alone doth. As to the eape parting of the Calamie from the metall, we fhall to what hath been formerly find, add this, that when they draw this Brafs into Wire, at each new drawing they muft anneal it elfe 'twill break, and yet they muft nit heat it to above a Cherry red, for if they do they bum of the Calamie to their great lofs. which is eafily done in Brafs drawn into fmall threads.
Chap. 16, | ^Eltver feveral wayes of 17,18,19. JLz making Crocus Martis, all which and many more are delivered by Chymical Authors. They may be reduced to 3° ? thefe heads* i. A fimple reverberation without admixture* and fuch 1 have feen made of Iron Bars wherewith fome furnaces are fupported and built* and the beft, and deepell colour I ever faw was made this way in a furnace wherein Aqua-fortis was conftantly diftid'd the whole bars turnine by little and little into this Crocus, and was brufhed off in a consider¬able quantity. The fecond way is a calcination or reverberation with Brimftone * Salt* Urine, rfneger. Thirdly* by folution in Aqua-fortis, Aqua-regis, Spirit of Salt and Nitre, and then by exhaling the waters you fhall have a very Red powder. The folution of Iron in Spirit of Vitriol, or of Sulphur make the Vi¬triolum Martis, not much differing from our Englifh Copperas in goodnefs but onely in ftrength, either as to dying* or Medicines* which being calcin'd makes a Colcothar, nctf unlike that of common Vitriol, which though it may ferve Painters for a deceitful colour, yet 'twill not ferve the Glafs furnaces* for all Colcothar contains in ic much terriftriety which would make the Glafs foul and obfeure* this feems to be the reafon* why our A ithor u- feth not Vitriol here* as he doth before with Copper.
I flail fay no more concerning the tindure of Mars, but that whatfoever of Acid or bi¬ting juyces work upon Copper, Hv fame have alfo their effect upon it. And though all the ways produce a red, yet fome of thofe reds are lighter and more tranfparent, than others, and fo may ferue for feveral colours, and various admixtures with other Metalline colours, to advance or moderate them, for Crocus Martis made with Kineger complies with Greens, chap. 32, 34, 35. and in the Emerald colour of Glafs of Lead , chap. 65. and for the fame colour in pafls 'tis ufed indifferently with Vcrdigreas, chap. 77, 78, 79. and in Blacks, chap. 101. but for a fair Red, QCQ- cus Martis ma e with Sulphur, chap. 128. but for more fair colours Crocus Martis made with Aqua-fortis, chap. 43. But fo as the beft colour from Brafs is of Vitriol of Venus the primefl and ligbteft colour from Iron or Steel, is that which is made with Aqua-regis, which proceeds partly from the mixture of fal Armoniac, and partly from a finer folution of it.
And thus having paft over the prime ma¬terials, and preparations for colonrs in Glafs, the/the reft of the work confifttng principally in the due mixture of the faid colours with the cir- cumffances, which our Author hath fully done, we [ball be very brief in what follows, and fhall onely deliver here one preparation come to my knowledge, whilft a fecret cf great value, but now commonly enough known to the furna.es-, and ’tis this. Take of Antimony and Salt¬peter well ground and mixed, of each twelve pound, together with 200 weight of- the com¬mon materials for glafs wherewith this mix¬ture of Antionomy and Peter muft be alfo well united, and then calcin'd in the calcar and made into a Frit, or which if all one make Regulus of Antimony with Crude Antimo¬ny and Peter, the manner every Chvmift: knows, which being mixed with the metall afford a very white Enamel, and ferves with other mixtures for various colours.
Chap. 29. T)Orr. 1. 6. c. 5. To colour I the Blew Gemm which the common people call Aqua-marina ( ami our Jewellers Egmarine ) a kind of Sap:lire. Beat burnt Brafs into a moft fine and impalpable • powder, otherwife a courfer gemm will be made thereof, and let it be mixed with Glafs. The » quantity cannot be determined, for they a^e X a made made deeper or lighter, for one pound of metall one drachm of burnt ftvafcwill fuffice,i Chap. 32. 1 ^Or the Emerald colour Porta, I. c. 5. tlus, when you have coloured that Egmarine you fhall eafily turn it to an Emerald, by adding half Crocus Martis to the calcin'd Brafs, to wit, if at firft we put in a fourth part of Brafs, we now add an eighth part of Crocus, and as much calcin'd Brafs. Obferve that they boil together fix hours after the colours are put in the fluff, that the jewels may grow clear which became cloudy by putting in the colours. Brfs is heavy, and when 'tis mixed with the metall, every moment ’twill fink to the bottom of the pot* and make the gemm more dilute, wherefore you muft very often ftir it. Let the fire decreafe by little and little till the furnace grow cold, let the pots be taken out of the furnace, and being broken they afford you counterfeit jewels.