Part 24
And this seems to be the reason, why _Aqua fortis_, and other _saline_ liquors, if they come to touch the sensitive parts, as in a cut of the skin, or the like, do so violently and intollerably _excruciate_ and torment the Patient. And ’tis not unlikely, but the Inventors of that Diabolical practice of poisoning the points of Arrows and Ponyards, might receive their first hint from some such Instance in natural contrivances, as this of the Nettle: for the ground why such poison’d weapons kill so infallibly as they do, seems no other then this of our Nettle’s stinging; for the Ponyard or Dart makes a passage or entrance into the sensitive or vital parts of the body, whereby the contagious substance comes to be dissolv’d by, and mix’d with the fluid parts or humours of the body, and by that means spreads it self by degrees into the whole liquid part of the body, in the same manner, as a few grains of Salt, put into a great quantity of Water, will by degrees diffuse it self over the whole.
And this I take to be the reason of killing of Toads, Frogs, Effs, and several Fishes, by strewing Salt on their backs (which Experiment was shewn to the _Royal Society_ by a very ingenious Gentleman, and a worthy Member of it) for those creatures having always a continual exsudation, as it were, of slimy and watry parts, sweating out of the pores of their skin, the _saline_ particles, by that means obtain a _vehicle_, which conveys them into the internal and vital parts of the body.
This seems also to be the reason why bathing in Mineral waters are such soveraign remedies for multitudes of distempers, especially chronical; for the liquid & warm _vehicles_ of the Mineral particles, which are known to be in very considerable quantities in those healing baths, by the body’s long stay in them, do by degrees steep and insinuate themselves into the pores and parts of the skin, and thereby those Mineral particles have their ways and passages open’d to penetrate into the inner parts, and mingle themselves with the _stagnant_ juices of the several parts; besides, many of those offensive parts which were united with those _stagnant_ juices, and which were contrary to the natural constitution of the parts, and so become irksome and painfull to the body, but could not be discharged, because Nature had made no provision for such accidental mischiefs, are, by means of this soaking, and filling the pores of the skin with a liquor, afforded a passage through that liquor that fills the pores into the ambient fluid, and thereby the body comes to be discharged.
So that ’tis very evident, there may be a good as well as an evil application of this Principle. And the ingenious Invention of that Excellent person, Doctor _Wren_ of injecting liquors into the veins of an Animal, seems to be reducible to this head: I cannot stay, nor is this a fit place, to mention the several Experiments made of this kind by the most incomparable Mr. _Boyle_, the multitudes made by the lately mention’d _Physician_ Doctor _Clark_, the History whereof, as he has been pleas’d to communicate to the _Royal Society_, so he may perhaps be prevail’d with to make publique himself: But I shall rather hint, that certainly, if this Principle were well consider’d, there might, besides the further improving of Bathing and Syringing into the veins, be thought on several ways, whereby several obstinate distempers of a humane body, such as the Gout, Dropsie, Stone, &c. might be master’d, and expell’d; and good men might make as good a use of it, as evil men have made a perverse and Diabolical.
And that the filling of the pores of the skin with some fluid _vehicle_, is of no small efficacy towards the preparing a passage for several kinds of penetrant juices, and other dissoluble bodies, to insinuate themselves within the skin, and into the sensitive parts of the body, may be, I think, prov’d by an Instance given us by _Bellonius_, in the 26. _Chapter_ of the second Book of his _Observations_, which containing a very remarkable Story I have here transcrib’d: _Cum Chamæleonis nigri radices_ (says he) _apud Pagum quendam Livadochorio nuncupatum erui curaremus, plurimi Græci & Turcæ spectatum venerunt quid erueremus, eas vero frustulatim secabamus, & filo trajiciebamus ut facilius exsiccari possent. Turcæ in eo negotio occupatos nos videntes, similiter eas radices tractare & secare voluerunt: at cum summus esset æstus, & omnes sudore maderent, quicunque eam radicem manibus tractaverant sudoremque absterserant, aut faciem digitis scalpserant, tantam pruriginem iis locis quos attigerant postea senserunt, ut aduri viderentur. Chamæleonis enim nigri radix ea virtute pollet, ut cuti applicata ipsam adeo inflammet, ut nec squillæ, nec urticæ ullæ centesima parte ita adurent: At prurigo non adeo celeriter sese prodit. Post unam aut alteram porro horam, singuli variis faciei locis cutem adeo inflammatam habere cæpimus ut tota sanguinea videretur, atque quo magis eam confricabamus, tanto magis excitabatur prurigo. Fonti assidebamus sub platano, atque initio pro ludicro habebamus & ridebamus: at tandem illi plurimum indignati sunt, & nisi asseverassemus nunquam expertos tali virtute eam plantam pollere, haud dubie male nos multassent, Attamen nostra excusatio fuit ab illis facilitus accepta, cum eodem incommodo nos affectos conspicerent. Mirum sane quod in tantillo radice tam ingentem efficaciam nostro malo experti sumus._
By which observation of his, it seems manifest, that their being all cover’d with sweat who gather’d and cut this root of the black _Chameleon_ Thistle, was the great reason why they suffer’d that inconvenience, for it seems the like circumstance had not been before that noted, nor do I find any mention of such a property belonging to this Vegetable in any of the Herbals I have at present by me.
I could give very many Observations which I have made of this kind, whereby I have found that the best way to get a body to be insinuated into the substance or insensible pores of another, is first, to find a fluid _vehicle_ that has some congruity, both to the body to be insinuated, and to the body into whose pores you would have the other convey’d. And in this Principle lies the great mystery of staining several sorts of bodies, as Marble, Woods, Bones, &c. and of Dying Silks, Cloaths, Wools, Feathers, &c. But these being digressions, I shall proceed to:
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Observ. XXVI. _Of _Cowage_, and the itching operation of some bodies._
There is a certain Down of a Plant, brought from the _East-Indies_, call’d commonly, though very improperly, _Cow-itch_, the reason of which mistake is manifest enough from the description of it, which Mr. _Parkinson_ sets down in his _Herbal_, Tribe XI. Chap. 2. _Phasiolus siliqua hirsuta; The hairy Kidney-bean, called in _Zurratte_ where it grows, Couhage: We have had_ (says he) _another of this kind brought us out of the _East-Indies_, which being planted was in shew like the former, but came not to perfection, the unkindly season not suffering it to shew the flower; but of the Cods that were brought, some were smaller, shorter, and rounder then the Garden kind; others much longer, and many growing together, as it were in clusters, and cover’d all over with a brown short hairiness, so fine, that if any of it be rubb’d, or fall on the back of ones hand, or other tender parts of the skin, it will cause a kind of itching, but not strong, nor long induring, but passing quickly away, without either danger or harm; the Beans were smaller then ordinary, and of a black shining colour._
Having one of these Cods given me by a Sea-Captain, who had frequented those parts, I found it to be a small Cod, about three Inches long, much like a short Cod of _French Beans_, which had six Beans in it, the whole surface of it was cover’d over with a very thick and shining brown Down or Hair, which was very fine, and for its bigness stiff; taking some of this Down, and rubbing it on the back of my hand, I found very little or no trouble, only I was sensible that several of these little downy parts with rubbing did penetrate, and were sunk, or stuck pretty deep into my skin. After I had thus rubb’d it for a pretty while, I felt very little or no pain, in so much that I doubted, whether it were the true Couhage; but whil’st I was considering; I found the Down begin to make my hand itch, and in some places to smart again, much like the stinging of a Flea or Gnat, and this continued a pretty while, so that by degrees I found my skin to be swell’d with little red pustules, and to look as if it had been itchie. But suffering it without rubbing or scratching, the itching tickling pain quickly grew languid, and within an hour I felt nothing at all, and the little _protuberancies_ were vanish’d.
The cause of which odd _Phænomenon_, I suppose to be much the same with that of the stinging of a Nettle, for by the _Microscope_, I discover’d this Down to consist of a multitude of small and slender conical bodies, much resembling Needles or Bodkins, such as are represented by AB. CD. EF. of the first Figure of the XVI. _Scheme_; that their ends AAA, were very sharp, and the substance of them stiff and hard, much like the substance of several kinds of Thorns and crooks growing on Trees. And though they appear’d very cleer and transparent, yet I could not perceive whether they were hollow or not, but to me they appear’d like solid transparent bodies, without any cavity in them; whether, though they might not be a kind of Cane, fill’d with some transparent liquor which was hardned (because the Cod which I had was very dry) I was not able to examine.
Now, being such stiff, sharp bodies, it is easie to conceive, how with rubbing they might easily be thrust into the tender parts of the skin, and there, by reason of their exceeding fineness and driness, not create any considerable trouble or pain, till by remaining in those places moistned with the humours of the body, some caustick part sticking on them, or residing within them might be dissolv’d and mix’d with the ambient juices of that place, and thereby those _fibres_ and tender parts adjoyning become affected, and as it were corroded by it; whence, while that action lasts, the pains created are pretty sharp and pungent, though small, which is the essential property of an itching one.
That the pain also caused by the stinging of a Flea, a Gnat, a Flie, a Wasp, and the like, proceeds much from the very same cause, I elsewhere in their proper places endeavour to manifest. The stinging also of shred Hors-hair, which in meriment is often strew’d between the sheets of a Bed, seems to proceed from the same cause.
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Observ. XXVII. _Of the _Beard_ of a wilde _Oat_, and the use that may be made of it for exhibiting always to the Eye the temperature of the Air, as to driness and moisture._
This Beard of a wild _Oat_, is a body of a very curious structure, though to the naked Eye it appears very slight, and inconsiderable, it being only a small black or brown Beard or Bristle, which grows out of the side of the inner Husk that covers the Grain of a wild _Oat_; the whole length of it, when put in Water, so that it may extend it self to its full length, is not above an Inch and a half, and for the most part somewhat shorter, but when the Grain is ripe, and very dry, which is usually in the Moneths of _July_, and _August_, this Beard is bent somewhat below the middle, namely, about ⅖ from the bottom of it, almost to a right Angle, and the under part of it is wreath’d lik a With; the substance of it is very brittle when dry, and it will very easily be broken from the husk on which it grows.
If you take one of these Grains, and wet the Beard in Water, you will presently see the small bended top to turn and move round, as if it were sensible; and by degrees, if it be continued wet enough, the joint or knee will streighten it self; and if it be suffer’d to dry again, it will by degrees move round another way, and at length bend again into its former posture.
If it be view’d with an ordinary single _Microscope_, it will appear like a small wreath’d Sprig, with two clefts; and if wet as before, and then look’d on with this _Microscope_, it will appear to unwreath it self, and by degrees, to streighten its knee, and the two clefts will become streight, and almost on opposite sides of the small cylindrical body.
If it be continued to be look’d on a little longer with a _Microscope_, it will within a little while begin to wreath it self again, and soon after return to its former posture, bending it self again neer the middle, into a kind of knee or angle.
Several of those bodies I examin’d with larger _Microscopes_, and there found them much of the make of those two long wreath’d cylinders delineated in the second Figure of the 15. _Scheme_, which two cylinders represent the wreathed part broken into two pieces, whereof the end AB is to be suppos’d to have join’d to the end CD, so that EACF does represent the whole wreath’d part of the Beard, and EG a small piece of the upper part of the Beard which is beyond the knee, which as I had not room to insert, so was it not very considerable, either for its form, or any known property; but the under or wreathed part is notable for both: As to its form, it appear’d, if it were look’d on side-ways, almost like a Willow, or a small tapering rod of _Hazel_, the lower or bigger half of which onely, is twisted round several times, in some three, in others more, in others less, according to the bigness and maturity of the Grain on which it grew, and according to the driness and moisture of the ambient Air, as I shall shew more at large by and by.
The whole outward Superficies of this Cylindrical body is curiously adorned or fluted with little channels, and interjacent ridges, or little _protuberances_ between them, which run the whole length of the Beard, and are streight where the Beard is not twisted, and wreath’d where it is, just after the same manner: each of those sides is beset pretty thick with small Bristes or Thorns, somewhat in form resembling that of _Porcupines_ Quills, such as _aaaaa_ in the Figure; all whose points are directed like so many Turn-pikes towards the small end or top of the Beard, which is the reason, why, if you endeavour to draw the Beard between your fingers the contrary way, you will find it to stick, and grate, as it were, against the skin.
The proportion of these small conical bodies _aaaaa_ to that whereon they grow, the Figure will sufficiently shew, as also their manner of growing, their thickness, and nearness to each other, as, that towards the root or bottom of the Beard, they are more thin, and much shorter, insomuch that there is usually left between the top of the one, and the bottom of that next above it, more then the length of one of them, and that towards the top of the Beard they grow more thick and close (though there be fewer ridges) so that the root, and almost half the upper are hid by the tops of those next below them.
I could not perceive any _transverse_ pores, unless the whole wreath’d part were separated and cleft, in those little channels, by the wreathing into so many little strings as there were ridges, which was very difficult to determine; but there were in the wreathed part two very conspicuous channels or clefts, which were continued from the bottom F to the elbow EH or all along the part which was wreath’d, which seem’d to divide the wreath’d Cylinder into two parts, a bigger and a less; the bigger was that which was at the _convex_ side of the knee, namely, on the side A, and was wreath’d by OOOOO; this, as it seem’d the broader, so did it also the longer, the other PPPPP, which was usually purs’d or wrinckled in the bending of the knee, as about E, seem’d both the shorter and narrower, so that at first I thought the wreathing and unwreathing of the Beard might have been caus’d by the shrinking or swelling of that part; but upon further examination, I found that the clefts, KK, LL, were stuft up with a kind of Spongie substance, which, for the most part, was very conspicuous neer the knee, as in the cleft KK, when the Beard was dry; upon the discovery of which, I began to think, that it was upon the swelling of this porous pith upon the access of moisture or water that the Beard, being made longer in the midst, was streightned, and by the shrinking or subsiding of the parts of that Spongie substance together, when the water or moisture was exhal’d or dried, the pith or middle parts growing shorter, the whole became twisted.
But this I cannot be positive in, for upon cutting the wreath’d part in many places transversly, I was not so well satisfy’d with the shape and manner of the pores of the pith; for looking on these transverse Sections with a very good _Microscope_, I found that the ends of those transverse Sections appear’d much of the manner of the third Figure of the 15. _scheme_ ABCFE, and the middle of pith CC, seem’d very full of pores indeed, but all of them seem’d to run the long-ways.
This Figure plainly enough shews in what manner those clefts, K and L divided the wreath’d Cylinder into two unequal parts, and also of what kind of substance the whole body consists; for by cutting the same Beard in many places, with transverse Sections, I found much the same appearance with this express’d; so that those pores seem to run, as in most other such Cany bodies, the whole length of it.
The clefts of this body KK, and LL, seem’d (as is also express’d in the Figure) to wind very oddly in the inner part of the wreath, and in some parts of them, they seem’d stuffed, as it were, with that Spongie substance, which I just now described.
This so oddly constituted Vegetable substance, is first (that I have met with) taken notice of by _Baptista Porta_, in his _Natural Magick_, as a thing known to children and Juglers, and it has been call’d by some of those last named persons, the better to cover their cheat, the Legg of an _Arabian Spider_, or the Legg of an inchanted _Egyptian fly_, and has been used by them to make a small Index, Cross, or the like, to move round upon the wetting of it with a drop of Water, and muttering certain words.
But the use that has been made of it, for the discovery of the various constitutions of the Air, as to driness and moistness, is incomparably beyond any other, for this it does to admiration: The manner of contriving it so, as to perform this great effect, is onely thus:
Provide a good large Box of Ivory, about four Inches over, and of what depth you shall judge convenient (according to your intention of making use of one, two, three, or more of these small Beards, ordered in the manner which I shall by and by describe) let all the sides of this Box be turned of Basket-work (which here in _London_ is easily enough procur’d) full of holes, in the manner almost of a Lettice, the bigger, or more the holes are, the better, that so the Air may have the more free passage to the inclosed Beard, and may the more easily pass through the Instrument; it will be better yet, though not altogether so handsom, if insteed of the Basket-work on the sides of the Box, the bottom and top of the Box be join’d together onely with three or four small Pillars, after the manner represented in the 4. Figure of the 15. _Scheme_. Or, if you intend to make use of many of these small Beards join’d together, you may have a small long Case of Ivory, whose sides are turn’d of Basket-work, full of holes, which may be screw’d on to the underside of a broad Plate of Ivory, on the other side of which is to be made the divided Ring or Circle, to which divisions the pointing of the Hand or Index, which is moved by the conjoin’d Beard, may shew all the _Minute_ variations of the Air.
There may be multitudes of other ways for contriving this small Instrument, so as to produce this effect, which any one may, according to his peculiar use, and the exigency of his present occasion, easily enough contrive and take, on which I shall not therefore insist. The whole manner of making any one of them is thus: Having your Box or frame AABB, fitly adapted for the free passage of the Air through it, in the midst of the bottom BBB, you must have a very small hole C, into which the lower end of the Beard is to be fix’d, the upper end of which Beard ab, is to pass through a small hole of a Plate, or top AA, if you make use onely of a single one, and on the top of it e, is to be fix’d a small and very light _Index_ fg, made of a very thin sliver of a Reed or Cane; but if you make use of two or more Beards, they must be fix’d and bound together, either with a very fine piece of Silk, or with a very small touch of hard Wax, or Glew, which is better, and the _Index_ fg, is to be fix’d on the top of the second, third, or fourth in the same manner as on the single one.
Now, because that in every of these contrivances, the _Index_ fg, will with some temperatures of Air, move two, three, or more times round, which without some other contrivance then this, will be difficult to distinguish, therefore I thought of this Expedient: The _Index_ or _Hand_ fg, being rais’d a pretty way above the surface of the Plate AA, fix in at a little distance from the middle of it a small Pin h, so as almost to touch the surface of the Plate AA, and then in any convenient place of the surface of the Plate, fix a small Pin, on which put on a small piece of Paper, or thin Pastboard, Vellom, or Parchment, made of a convenient cize, and shap’d in the manner of that in the Figure express’d by ik, so that having a convenient number of teeth every turn or return of the Pin h, may move this small indented Circle, a tooth forward or backwards, by which means the teeth of the Circle, being mark’d, it will be thereby very easie to know certainly, how much variation any change of weather will make upon the small wreath’d body. In the making of this Secundary Circle of Vellom, or the like, great care is to be had, that it be made exceeding light, and to move very easily, for otherwise a small variation will spoil the whole operation. The Box may be made of Brass, Silver, Iron, or any other substance, if care be taken to make it open enough, to let the Air have a sufficiently free access to the Beard. The _Index_ also may be various ways contrived, so as to shew both the number of the revolutions it makes, and the _Minute_ divisions of each revolution.
I have made several trials and Instruments for discovering the driness and moisture of the Air with this little wreath’d body, and find it to vary exceeding sensibly with the least change in the constitution of the Air, as to driness and moisture, so that with one breathing upon it, I have made it untwist a whole bout, and the _Index_ or _Hand_ has shew’d or pointed to various divisions on the upper Face or Ring of the Instrument, according as it was carried neerer and neerer to the fire, or as the heat of the Sun increased upon it.
Other trials I have made with Gut-strings, but find them nothing neer so sensible, though they also may be so contriv’d as to exhibit the changes of the Air, as to driness and moisture, both by their stretching and shrinking in length, and also by their wreathing and unwreathing themselves; but these are nothing neer so exact or so tender, for their varying property will in a little time change very much. But there are several other Vegetable substances that are much more sensible then even this Beard of a wilde _Oat_; such I have found the Beard of the seed of Musk-grass, or _Geranium moschatum_, and those of other kinds of _Cranes-bil_ seeds, and the like. But always the smaller the wreathing substance be, the more sensible is it of the mutations of the Air, a conjecture at the reason of which I shall by and by add.