A compendious body of chymistry, which will serve as a guide and introduction both for understanding the authors which have treated of the theory of this science in general: and for making the way plain and easie to perform, according to art and method, all operations, which teach the practise of this art, upon animals, vegetables, and minerals, without losing any of the essential vertues contained in them. By N. le Fèbure apothecary in ordinary, and chymical distiller to the King of France, and at present to his Majesty of Great-Britain.

To make the Spirit, Oyl, and Volatile Salt of Mans Bones and Skull.

THe preparation of the Skull, shall not differ from that of the Bones; wherefore we will not lose time in making two several descriptions, the one and the other being thus wrought.

Take the Bones of a Man extingnished by violent death, which neither have been buryed under ground, nor boyled, nor put in Quick-lime, and saw them in pieces of a convenient size to be put in a Retort well luted, and being filled not above the two third part: put it in a close Reverberatory Furnace with open fire; and having exactly luted and fitted a Recipient to it, cover the Re∣verberatory, leaving only a hole of about the bigness of an inch and a half diameter, to be as a Register for ruling the fire, which ought to be moderately graduated, untill all the white steams be over; then change your Recipient, or empty the matter con∣tained in the first, and lute it again exactly, continuing and in∣creasing the fire, untill you drive out the Oyl with a Volatile Salt and the remainder of the Spirit, which work must be thus pursued, untill the Recipient begins to clear of it self, which will happen in the space of twelve hours, from the beginning of your Operation. But you must note, that the dust coming out of the sawing of the Bones, must be preserved, or some other provided by scraping or filing, to be used in rectifying of the Spirit, Oyl, or Volatile Salt. You must also calcine and reverberate with open

fire to whiteness, between bricks, the pieces or lump remain∣ing in your Retort, that they may serve in a manner to stay and fix the Volatile Salt, which otherwise, by reason of its subtile nature, cannot be preserved: as we shall declare, when we come to speak of the distillation and rectification of the Extract of Harts-horn.

I cannot here bury under silence an experiment wherein I was an Eye-witness, in the person of a Cornet, who had received a Musket-shot in the thigh, neer unto the knee, and who after the wound healed, had both his leg and knee so strangely put out of their natural posture and situation, that his heel did almost stick unto the buttock, which made him uncapable of the function of his employment. But their Surgeon major, who was a High Ger∣man, did undertake the restoring of his knee to its natural motion; which to effect, he administred unto him every day, for the space of six weeks, ʒ i. of the powder of a thigh or leg-bone of a man, who some yeers before had been dissected, in his ordinary Broths; by which he did recover not only the bending of his knee, but made him capable, before the six weeks ended, to Fence, play at Tennis, ride on Horse back, and perform all other exercises. Whence you may note, that so rare a Cure could not proceed but from the volatile, spiritual and penetrating Salt, which this reme∣dy did contain, since the material part of the bone could never pass so far as the last digestions. I have quoted this history, to no other purpose then to perswade the better, and lay more open to the understanding, the effects of those remedies which are ex∣tracted from the skull and bones of Man, by distillation, sepa∣rating artificially the pure parts from impurity. The Spirit and Volatile Salt of Mans skull is given against Epilepsie, in water of Lime-tree flowers, Lilly-Convally, or Piony: that of bones is also successefully administred, to restore contracted and dryed Limbs; provided you rub them also with Balsom of Modern Mummy: The Oyl of skull and bones is only applyable out∣wardly, to cleanse and heal filthy and corroding Ulcers, provided you mix a little powder of Colchotar, and every other day plye the patient with vulnerary and purgative potions. The Dosis of the Spirit is from three drops to ten, and of the Volatile Salt fixed from four grains to eight.