CHAP. III.

BEfore I proceed to a closer Disquisition about the Nature of Sap, which is the same in Plants that Chile; or Blood are in Animals, the Water in the Bowels of the Earth being also the same to Plants, that Food in the Stomach is to Animals, it may be requisite to observe, that as the Earth serves to produce, and nourish Vege∣tables, as having in it a Virtue or Principle of Fertility necessary for such perfor∣mances, so 'tis also certain that of it self, and unless it be duly moistened it cannot Page  42 perform those Offices. Just as Sené, which being of a Purging Nature, does not operate of it self, but by means of a proportionate quantity of Water, or some other Liquid, wherein it is Infus'd, and to which, by that Infusion, it Communi∣cates its Vertue. But as this Purging Quality becomes altogether Ineffectual, if the proportion of Water be too great for the Quantity of the Sené, so also the Earth becomes Unfruitful, and Rots Fruit-Trees, as well as most other Plants, if it hap∣pens to be Drench'd or Cover'd with Water. It requires some, but not too much Moisture; and too much Wet is altogether as Prejudicial, as too much Drought.

Now wheresoever the Earth is too Dry, it is necessarily Barren: and therefore all the Ground we commonly call Good, is attended with all sorts of Moisture, which indeed is nothing else but real Water diffus'd through every part of the Ground. And this Water comes for the most part, either from Rain, or Snow, or Rivers, or Springs, and sometimes by Artificial Conveyances; which Water having by its Weight sunk into, and diffused it self through all parts of the Earth, it becomes, as Philosophers speak, Impregnated with the Nitre, or Fertile Salt of that Earth: Or, to use the Gard'ners Term, it becomes so far Seasoned with the Quality of that Earth, as to assume its Taste, whatsoever it be, which it Communicates to those Plants it Nourishes. The Truth of which Observation is sufficiently Evinced from Experience in Wines, and several sorts of Fruits, which receive different Tastes from the different Soils they Grow in.

One part of this Impregnated Moisture, whether its Tincture be perceiveable by Sense or not, serves to make Minerals and Fountains: And another part, as we have just now said, goes to the Production and Nourishment of a Thousand several sorts of Trees, and Plants, and Vegetables; it being in every Earth of such a Sub∣stance as may serve for the use of all sorts of Trees and Plants, and is, in effect, no∣thing else but that Water we are going to Treat of, though it immediately appear ve∣ry different both in Colour, Taste, and Consistency, as soon as ever it has, by the Action of the Roots, enter'd into the several Plants, and that it ceases to be pure and simple Water.

For whereas it was at first Liquid, before it enter'd the Roots, it becomes in time, and by degrees, in a manner perfectly Hard, and as it were Metamorphosed into the Nature either of Fruits or Leaves, of Wood or Bark, or Pith; and there makes a Body more or less Hard, according as it happens to be dispos'd of into the several Fruits, Trees, or Plants.

And hence perhaps it comes that the Simple Dew, which is sprinkled upon cer∣tain Flowers in Gardens and Meadows, becomes changed, part into Honey, part into Wax, and part into little thin Coats, as soon as the Bees have with their usual Industry Collected, and by the Instinct and Direction of Nature, Wrought and Separated it.

Now this Hardening of the Sap is not to be Ascribed to any Quality peculiar to it self, since 'tis no more than what the Skin in Fruits, and the Bark in Trees may be supposed to effect, for both of them are in all likelihood made up of the grosser parts of the Sap; and it is easie to imagine that they may have a Power of Com∣municating their own Density to the Sap, when their inward parts come to be Bathed and Drench'd in it. As for instance, When the Sap passing between the Bark and the Tree, not only Ascends, by a kind of Filtration, up to the top of the Plant, but also, if it be in a sufficient Quantity, rises even above the top, and adds something to the length of it.

This therefore must be Ascribed to the Vertue of the Bark, which in Trees makes this Sap so Hard and Durable, that it cannot be Dissolv'd, but by a long Con∣tinuance in some Corroding or Putrifying Moisture; and to the Skins, which in Fruits makes only a kind of Congelation, and such a one as is easily Dissolv'd, either by Chewing, or any sort of Heat, or by violent Bruising.

Common Salt apply'd to all the sides of a Vessel full of Liquor, and then encom∣passed with Ice, has altogether the same Vertue of Congealing the Liquor in the Vessel. And thus the Industry of Persons of Qualities Servants furnish them in the Heat of Summer with several sorts of Artificial Snows, and delightful Coolers.

But after all, there remains one very great Difficulty, How both the Skin, and the Bark themselves grow Hard, and how they afterwards encrease and enlarge themselves. This, I must confess, passes my Skill, as indeed do most other things in the whole Course of Vegetation.

Neither is this all, namely, That the Water being made Sap by the Action of the Roots, turns by degrees into a solid Body, but it also undergoes several other Chan∣ges Page  43 which are no less Wonderful than the former: For one part of it grows Stink∣ing, as when it is to make an Onion, a Leek, Wormwood, &c. Another part be∣comes Odoriferous, viz. In the formation of Jonquille Balm Jassimen, &c. 'tis ranck Poyson in Aconit and Hemlock, and an Antidote in the Antorat and Rhubarb; it becomes of a bitter Taste, and a viscous Consistency in the Branches of Stone-Fruit-Trees, and thinner, but clammy withal, in Fig-Trees and Jitimales. It is of an Oily Nature in the Indian-C•esnut, Clear and Sweet in the Mulberry, in Core-Fruit, the Sallow, and especially in the Vine wherein it becomes Wine, which may very well be look'd upon as the great Master-Piece both of Nature and Art, begun by the one, and perfected by the other.

But above all, How can a Man choose but be wonderfully astonish'd when he Considers how that which is nothing else but a sweetish, simple, and harmless Juice, when it comes first to be Lodg'd in the several Cells of the Grape, shou'd, when it is out, make so Rich, so Strong, and so Noble a Liquor.

'Tis strange indeed that this simple Juice, upon its passage out of those Natural Cells (where it first Contracted such an extream sharpness, and then by degrees be∣came Mellow by the Heat of the Sun, which manag'd the whole process of the Ri∣pening) being in a great quantity Collected and Shut up in a Vessel, shou'd pass such a wonderful Change as makes it the Delight of Mankind; for no sooner is it in the Vessel than it begins to Ferment, and to Boil up, just as if its parts were forced up by the Heat of an External Fire; and by the violence of this Natural Agitation it so Purges it self, and comes to such a Perfection, as we shou'd certainly judge Im∣possible, if we were not Convinc'd by Experience.

But besides all this we are to observe, That this Sap which in the Stocks of such Trees, for Instance, as bear Core-Fruit, is Insipid, and the very same in all sorts of such Trees, becomes of a quite different Taste in the several Fruits which each of those Trees do respectively bear. It has a Flavour in some which it has not in others; it has a Sweet and Sugarish Taste in the Bergamot-Pear and Bon-Chretien, and an Eager and Harsh one in the Franc-real and Angober, &c. And that which in the Quince-Tree naturally produces a Hard, Sharp, and Unpleasant Fruit, if it go out at one side of the Tree into a Graff of a Butter-Pear, or Ambrette, will produce a Sweet Mellow Fruit, and at the other into an Amadote, or Robin, and the great Musk, a Waterish and well Scented Fruit, the different Graffs in some Trees ma∣naging and altering the Sap that comes from the Roots, much after the same man∣ner as in Water-works the Instruments do the Water that comes from the elevated Source, the Water of each of those Artificial Fountains being Naturally alike dis∣pos'd to Represent any Figure whatsoever, of a Drinking-Glass, for instance, a Crown, Flower-de-Liz, &c. according to the Difference of the Instruments, upon the opening whereof, it being forced out by its own Weight, rises up in various forms.

After the same manner the Sap in the Stoek of a Quince-Tree, being equally dis∣pos'd to make any kind of Fruit, is by means of the Graffs determin'd to this or that sort in particular.

And the particular Alterations which the Sap undergoes by reason of the diffe∣rence of the Trees it enters, are no less Wonderful than Infinite.

The Juggler, who of Simple Water which he Drinks Vomits up so many se∣veral sorts of Water, all differing in Colour, Taste, and Smell, performs by Art what nearly resembles the Working of Nature in those Stocks whereon the slips of several Trees are Graffed.

Now of this Sap, which may properly be said to be nothing else but Water prepar'd by the Roots, some part may indeed enter into the very Body of the Tree for its Support, as I have already said; but the greatest part of it goes up, chiefly between the Bark and the Wood, either to make some new Addition in the Height or Thickness of the Tree it self, or to produce Leaves, Flowers, Fruits, &c.