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.

Of the preparation of Nitrous, Juicy Plants, how to extract the Juice thereof, the Liquor, Water, Extract, Essential Nitro-tantareous Salt, and the Fixed Salt.

TAke a good quantity of any of the Plants above mentioned, which you must by parcels beat in a stone, wooden or Mar∣ble Mortar, untill they be reduced to a kind of Pap, that is to say, untill the parts of the Plants be sufficiently disunited and confounded together, so that expressing the same in a Hair-bag, Tammy, or Linnen Cloth thinly woven, you may extract all the Juice, which being thus extracted, you may run again through a closer strainer, and then let it settle, untill in a manner it be depurated by it self; after which you must softly pour by incli∣nation, this Juice so depurated in Cucurbites, or Bodies of glass, fitted for Limbecks, and place in B. M. in case you desire a good Extract and but a weak Water, because the heat of the said B. M. is not strong enough to elevate the essential Nitrous Salt of the Plant, which causes it to remain with the thick Juice, properly called Extract, when reduced to a thicker consistency, in the bottom of the Glass. But if you desire a long lasting Wa∣ter, and animated with its spiritualized Salt, you must then place your Cucurbites in Sand, because this degree of heat is capable to elevate and volatilize the, purest and most subtile portion of the Salt, and raise it towards the latter end of the distillation, with the last aqueous vapours: nevertheless, great heed must be taken, that the heat towards the end be not too violent, and that the residence in the bottom of the Cucurbit become not totally dry, of cleave to the Glass in danger of burning. But before you come to the end of your Operation, have a special care that your Juice may be exactly defecated, for there are two Separations performed, when by the heat of B. M. or sand the separation of the radical substance of the Juice of the Plant is made, from the feces or sediment which falls in the bottom of the Glass, and the skimm which rises above; wherefore this Juice so depurated must run through a strainer of Cloth, com∣monly cal'd a Bag, or Manica Hippocratis in the Shops: after which, the Juice being so separated of all its Heterogeneities,

and of the forain mixture of terrestreity, the distillation in B. M. or Sand must be continued, according to the intention of the Artist, untill this Juice be reduced to a consistency of Syrup, which is to be put in a fresh Cellar, or some other cool place, untill the Nitro-tartareous Essential Salt be reduced to Crystal, and separated from the viscosity of the inspissated Juice, which must be drawn again by a soft effusion by inclination, then put a second time in B. M. or Sand, to evaporate it to the consistency of an Extract, which shall yet contain great store of Salt, in case the first Operation was in B. M. and will be usefull to the ma∣king of Opiats, according to the indication which the learned and skilfull Physician or the Artist himself will take, when they intend to make use of it in any disease, according to the nature o•• vertue of the Plant whereupon the work is performed. And thus much for necessary Observations, concerning the purification of the Liquor of Juicy Plants, distillation of their Water, and the manner of making their essential Salt and Extract.

We come now to the preparation of the fixed Salt; to this end you must dry the Cake, or remaining part of the Plant after the expression of the Juice, then calcine and burn it well, untill all be reduced to whitish gray ashes, whereof you must with river or rain-water make a Lye, which must be filtrated through gray Paper not much stiffened, that the stiffening or glue may not hinder your Liquor to run swiftly and easily thorough. After the first Lie, impregnated with the Salt of the Ashes of the Plant, hath been filtrated, you must pour new water upon the Ashes, to extract the remainder of the Salt, untill the water comes off as insipid and voyd of taste as it was powred first; which is a manifest and evident sign, that no portion of Salt remains in the Ashes, which seem to be no more then an useless Earth, or as some do call it, the Caput Mortuum of the Plant upon which you have wrought: but I will prove the contrary nevertheless, by the following relation of what happened to me at Sedan, after I had wrought upon a parcel of Fennel: For, being posses∣sed of an opinion, as others are, that these Ashes devested of their Salt were totally unusefull, I caused them to be thrown away in a back-yard, where for the most part, Dung and other Immundicities were cast; but the next year by what happened

unto me, I knew I was deceived; for great store of Fennel grew in that yard, whereof, after it had attained to its perfection, I drew great store of distilled Oyl; by which experiment I was taught with that excellent Philosopher and Physitian Van Hel∣mont, that the Median Life of things is not so easily destroyed as it is imagined, and that according to this Axiom of Philoso∣phy, Formae rerum non pereunt; because both the Art and Artist do but follow from far our Mother Nature; and this is sufficient to convince us, that we apprehend not the least of her wayes or contrivances, much less any of those which she uses towards the attaining her own ends. But let us return to our purpose after this digression; which, because it is in its proper place, I thought more fitting to make here: After then you have gathered toge∣ther all the Lyes well filtrated, you must evaporate them in Jugg∣mettle dishes upon sand, untill they thicken to a skin, or in∣crustate by reason of the Salt, which then abounds; then must you begin with a Spatula to stirr and agitate softly the Liquor, untill the Salt be wholly dryed, which then being put in a Cru∣cible, reverberate in a Wind-furnace between kindled hot burn∣ing Coals, untill it growes glowing red on all sides, taking never∣theless exact heed that it melt not; this done, take off the Cru∣cible from the fire, let it cool, and then dissolve the Salt in the Extracted Water of the Plant which hath yielded the said Salt, that you may once more filtrate it, purifie it, and restore that portion of Volatile Salt which ascended in the distillation; after which, you must put this dissolution in a Glass Cucurbit covered with its head or Limbeck, and draw off again the Water from that Salt upon Sand, untill it begins to contract a skinne, then cease the fire, and put the Vessel in some cool place, to cause the Salt to Crystallize, and thus continue drawing off the Water upon Sand, and causing the Salt to shoot in Crystals, untill it be all drawn away, and so shall you have a pure and cleanly Salt, fit for use when you have occasion: but the chief use of it, is to put part thereof in the Water extracted from the Plant, to ren∣der it thereby not only more active and efficacious, but also to make it more durable, fitting for keeping several yeers, without any loss of its vertue. The proportion may be of ʒ ii. upon eve∣ry pint of distilled Water. The general use and faculty of the

fixed Salts of Plants made by calcination, evaporation, reverbe∣ration, depuration and crystallization, is moderately to loose the Belly, draw away Urines, and take off all obstructions from the lower parts of the body: the other particular vertues may be taken or assigned, according to the nature of the Plant from whence they were extracted.

And as we have declared the manner of purifying fixt Salts, so must we do also in shewing the way, of drawing off and sepa∣rating a certain viscous and coloured sliminess, which is found even amongst the Estential Nitro-tartareous Salts, in their first Crystallization. It is thus performed; You must dissolve them in clean, common Water, and percolate three or four times upon a portion of the Ashes of the Plant whence they were ex∣tracted; which is done upon two intentional ends: For, the the Artist must not work blindly, or without being capable to give an account, wherefore he doth, or doth not such a thing: The first intention is, that the Essential Salt which is not yet purified, and for the most part is found mingled with the Extract, without having been capable to take the Idea or Character of Salt, by reason of the hinderance caused by the clamminess of Inspissated Juyces, takes in his way as it passes through the Ashes the fixed Salt of its own Body, which imprints upon it its own saline Idea, and so causes it easily to crystallize, after the superfluous Liquor is vapoured away: The second intention is, that the Ashes may preserve the thick and clammy body of the Extract in themselves, and so the Water, impregnated with the essential and fixt Salt of the Ashes, may pass cleanlier and purer by the re-iterated Percolation. This being ended, you must slowly and gently vapour away your Water in a Dish of Jugg∣mettle in Sand; not till the skin begins to cover it, as we have spoken when we treated of the Fixed Salts, but evaporating away the two thirds, or the three parts of the Liquor, which must be softly and without shaking the bottom gently powred in a clean Earthen Dish, so as if by the action of heat any small Atoms or Corpuscles should happen to settle and make a sediment in the bottom, they should not mix with the clear Liquor, to hin∣der the purity of Crystallization in the Salt. The water which shal swim above the Crystals, must be drawn off, and the Evapo∣ration

re-iterated, untill half of the Liquor be consumed away: and so continue till you have got all your Salt turn'd to Crystals. And if so be this way of Purification doth not satisfie the Artist, and that the Crystals want the cleanliness and transparency de∣sired; he shall put them in a Crucible made of the least porous Earth which is to be found, and let him melt his Salt in a Wind-furnace, that the fire of Fusion may consume all what may hin∣der the Crystallization to be done with the requisite cleanliness and transparency: this Salt being so melted, must be poured in a very clean brass Mortar, warmed a little before, that the too violent heat of the melted Salt should not cleave or split it; when it is cooled, dissolve it in a sufficient quantity of the Water distilled from the Hearb whereof the Salt is extracted; but the quantity of Water must not exceed that of the Salt; other∣wise the third part or half must be drawn again by Distillation, or Evaporation; whi••h being done, the Vessel must be placed in a cold Room, and the Crystals will become fair and transparent, with sharp ends and sides much like unto the figure of Salt-peter, and about the same taste: Thus you must continue to evaporate and crystallize, untill the Water yields no more Salt. This Essential Salt must be dried between two Papers, then be put in a well stopt Glass-bottle to preserve for use: It hath the vertue to preserve as well the Water of the distilled Plant as the fixed Salt; and moreover, makes it diuretical, aperitive, and cooling, much better then the Mineral common Crystal made with Salt∣peter. It may be given in Broths, or the ordinary drink of the Patient, according to the judgement and discretion of the Pru∣dent and Learned Physician. The dosis is from ten grains to a Scruple.