addition; I thought fit to make a few trials with it, whofe event MEDICINE. juftify'd my conjectures. For, having put fome of it, well rectify'd, into a glafs egg with a flender neck, it did not then afford any volatile falt in a dry form; (tho' afterwards, by another trial, we at length obtained a little) and having continued the trial fomewhat obftinately, we found the spirit, by the action of the fire, to have become muddy.

Having mixed another portion of it with highly rectified ardent fpirit, and kept them all night in the cold, no coagulation enfued; nor could we perceive any, after it had been kept, for feveral hours, in a moderate heat. But the mixture acquired a yellow colour, and let fall a pretty deal of darkish powder.

We put to another parcel of our fpirit, fome good fpirit of falt ; but tho' they fmoak'd much at their meeting, yet we obferved no noife, nor bubbles, upon their mixture. And having united another portion with oil of vitriol; tho' there was produced a very great fmoke, and an intense degree of heat, yet there was no vifible ebullition, nor any noife, or bubbles produced, but the colour of the oil of vitriol was very much heightened; the mixture growing almost red. From thefe and the like phenomena we may gather, that our alkalizate spirit of blood differs, in feveral particulars, from the fimple; and may, probably, be very confiderable, both as a medicineand a menftruum.

We took two ounces of tartar, calcined to whitenefs by an equal weight of kindled nitre, and mingled this alkali with two ounces of dry'd human blood, in powder. This mixture being diftilled in a retort, in a fand furnace, made it appear by its productions, that quicklime, on these occafions, a&ts differently upon the blood from other alkalies. For the diftillation wherein lime was employed, afforded us a fpirit, that, before rectification, was very strong, and unaccompanied with dry falt, but the calcination of nitre and tartar, afforded us, at the very firft diftillation, a fpirit lefs ftrong, but fo much volatile falt as covered almoft all the infide of the receiver; and tho' the strong faline fpirit of blood, made with quick-lime, would not make an effervefcence with acid fpirits, yet this volatile falt readily did, upon the affufion of fpirit of falt.

Befides the fixt alkaline addition, with which I diftilled dry'd human blood, I added to it that very acid one, oil of vitriol; for I had found: by trial, that this liquor being mixed with other bodies, particularly fome belonging to the animal kingdom, did, in an odd manner, unite its own fubftance with them, and notably diverfify the products of the diftillation. We put, therefore, upon three ounces of powder'd human blood, an equal weight of oil of vitriol, and left them for fome time together, to try if by the action of this corrofive menftruum, a heat would not be excited; and, accordingly, we found, that after a while, the mixture grew fenfibly warm.. Then we removed.

the

MEDICINE. the retort into a fand-furnace; and diftilling by degrees of fire, we had a spirit which was preceded by a pretty deal of phlegmy liquor, of an odd fulphureous fmell, but furprizingly ftrong and lafting. It seemed remarkable, that, notwithstanding the great acidity of oil of vitriol, and the fixing power it exercifes on many bodies, wherewith it is committed to diftillation, our experiment afforded us a confiderable quantity of volatile matter, in the form of a white falt; but the smell and taft of it were very uncommon.

Whether bu

By what I have yet tried, I am not much encouraged to expect a man blood may vinous, or ardent fpirit from human blood, tho' that be the usual afford,by diftil product of fermentation in liquors; and the lefs, because I am not lation, a fpirit, fure that there is any fermentation, truly and properly fo called, in nous, before the human blood, either within or out of the body; having never found phlegm. any thing in the blood or urine, which convinced me, that either of them would afford an ardent fpirit.

urinous or vi

I once kept human blood for a year together, in a glass, hermetically closed, with a defign to try, whether any fpirits would first afcend; but when the blood came to be expofed to the air, the scent of it was fo offenfive, that we were obliged to have it haftily thrown away. Another time, having caused fome fheeps blood to be digested, in a large vial hermetically fealed; after it had long continued in the digeftive furnace, it, upon a fudden, broke with a furprizing noise, and blew off the long neck of the vial. Two or three like mifchances I had, in attempts made on human blood. But this ill fuccefs did not hinder me from attempting fomething of the like kind; and looking upon the ferum of the blood, as the likelieft part of it to concur to a proper fermentation, we put to fome ounces of it, about a fourth part of raifins well bruifed, and kept them in a glafs, whereof a confiderable part was left empty; and having clofed the vessel, we fet it in a warm room; and within a few days the raifins began to emerge, and afterwards continued to float; and there was produced a confiderable quantity of permanent and fpringy air. Which phenomena feemed plainly to argue, that there had been fome degree of fermentation produced in the mixture; yet when we came to diftil the ferum, thus alter'd, tho' it did not fmell as if it had putrefied, yet the liquor that firft afcended, even with a gentle heat, did not taft or smell like a vinous fpirit; tho' it differed from meer phlegm. I, likewife, tried, with the ferous part of the blood, whether it would by digeftion, or putrefaction, be fo opened, as, when distill'd, to let the fpirit afcend before the phlegm; and having kept a quantity of this ferum above four times as long as is fufficient to make urine, in diftillation, part with its fpirit before its phlegm, we diftill'd it with a very gentle fire, that few or none befides the fugitive parts, might at firft afcend. But we found the liquor that came over, to have but little ftrength, either as to fmell or taft; nor did it readily turn fyrup of violets green, tho' after fome hours ftanding together,

it would; yet as a volatile alkali, it prefently turned a ftrong folution, MEDICINE. made of common fublimate in fair water, into a white, opake, and

almoft milky liquor.

What has hitherto occurred to me, inclines me to think, that the Whether fpifpirit of human blood is totally compos'd of volatile falt and phlegm, rit of human tho' not, perhaps, pure and unmixed; for when the fpirit, volatile blood be any thing but the falt, and oil, are feparated from it by diftillation and fublimation, as volatile falt far as is ufual in chymical preparations of volatile alkalies, the re- and phlegm tmaining liquor, which paffes for phlegm, will yet be impregnated with nited. fome particles of oil, and fometimes a few of volatile falt, that are too minute to be diftinguishable by the naked eye. But whether frequent rectifications may fo accurately feparate thefe heterogeneous parts, as perfectly to free the aqueous ones from them, and thereby reduce the phlegm to fimple, or elementary water, I leave undetermined. And the rather, because, by frequent diftillations, fome particles of the fire may, poffibly, from time to time, fubitantially be affociated with those of the liquor; and even in the firft diftillation of human blood, the fire may have either feparated, or produced a liquor, that, tho' almoft ftrengthlefs, and not juftly referable to any of the received principles, or ingredients, oil, falt, and earth, is not yet phlegm, truly fo call'd, but a neutral liquor, which woods, and many other bodies, afford by diftillation, that is neither acid, nor alkalizate, nor true phlegm.

But as a compofition may be difcovered, perhaps better by producing, than by refolving it; we diffolved in diftill'd water as much volatile falt of human blood, as the liquor would take up; and then having carefully distilled it in a conveniently fhaped veffel, with a regulated degree of heat, the diftillation afforded us a liquor, that, by its fmell, taft, and operations, appeared to be a good brisk fpirit of human blood. And this experiment was repeated with the like fuccefs.

to which thus

'Tis well known, that of late, faline fpirits obtained by diftillation, The Species of have been obferved to be of two forts; the faline fpirits that afcend Saline bodies, in diftillation, are fome of them acid in taft; as fpirit of nitre, fpirit fpirit is refer of vitriol, &c. and fome have tafts like common falt, or like lixiviate able. falts; but their difference is greater in their operations than their tafts; for being put together, there will prefently enfue a manifeft conflict between them, and ufually the one will precipitate the bodies that the other hath diffolved. 'Tis neceffary to add, that among the falts called alkalies, fome are fix'd in confiderable degrees of fire, and others not; for which reafon many modern chymifts and phy ficians, who take acid and alkali for the true principles of mix'd bodies, call the one fix'd, and the other volatile alkalies. And fince the names fix'd alkalies, and volatile, are now much in requeft, I fhall fometimes use them in the vulgar acceptation.

VOL. III.

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This

MEDICINE.

This being premis'd, I fay, the fpirit of human blood is to be referred to that fpecies of faline bodies; becaufe tho' the fpirit of blood be a liquor, yet its more efficacious operations feem totally to depend upon the fugitive falt wherewith it abounds. We know, that lome volatile falts, which rife even in a dry form, may not be of an alkalizate, but acid nature; and not only Helmont and his difciples, but a great part of the modern chymifts and phyficians, alfo, afcribe digeftion to an acid ferment, or menftruum in the ftomach; whence it should feem, that acid corpufcles may pafs into the mafs of blood, and impregnate it. But notwithstanding this, the fpirit of human blood is manifeftly referable to that clais, which many call volatile alkalies (and I often term urinous fpirits); for I find fpirit of blood. capable of effecting thofe things, the performance of which has been look'd on, almoft ever fince I propofed them, as the touch-ftone to know volatile alkalies, and diftinguish them from the other forts of faline bodies; for it will make a great conflict with acid fpirits, as fpirit of falt, Aqua fortis, &c. it immediately turns fyrup of violets. into a fair green; 'twill precipitate a folution of fublimate, in common water, into a white powder; and, in fhort, produce thofe other effects that may be expected from true volatile alkalies.

If, indeed, I were fure, digeftion was performed by an acid ferment or juice, whencefoever the ftomach is furnifh'd with it, I fhould fufpec that fome acid particles may be mixed with the blood. But that would not hinder me from referring the fpirit of human blood to volatile alkalies; because fo few acid particles would be either deftroy'd by the alkalizate ones, that fo abound in the fpirit; or at least these would be fo very predominant, as might well allow us to give their denomination to the mixture. Thus, if a few drops of fpirit of vinegar were mixed with fome pints of ftale urine, they would either be. deprived of their acidity, by fome corpufcles of a contrary nature, that they meet with in the liquor; or be fo obfcured and overpowered by the fugitive falts it abounds with, that the acid parti-.. cles would not hinder the fpirituous liquor, drawn from the mixture by diftillation, to be justly, referable to the clafs of volatile urinous falts. It feems hard to determine, whether there be any difference betwixt differs from the fpirit of human blood, and other volatile alkalies; because two Spirit of urine, bodies may agree in many qualities, and, perhaps, in all the most obvious; and yet on fome third body, or in fome cafes, manifest distinct powers, and have their peculiar operations.

Whether it

and other vo latile alkalies.

But there may be a great difference between volatile falts and fpirits, as they are ordinarily prepared for medicinal ufes, and as by: repeated rectifications, and other ways of depuration, they may be brought to a greater fimplicity or purity. And whether the fpirit of human blood, and other liquors abounding, like it, in volatile alkalies, reduced to as great a purity, as they can, by art, be brought to, would be altogether alike in their nature and qualitics, or no;

yet,

yet, if we confider them in that ftate, wherein they are thought pure MEDICINE enough for medicinal ufes, and, accordingly, are employed by phyficians and chymifts; there is, very probably, fome difference between the fpirit of human blood, and other volatile alkalies; and particularly thofe afforded by urine, and by hartfhorn. For tho', to me, the bad smells of all thefe liquors, feem to be much alike, yet feveral ladies, and thofe of very different ages, affirm, they find a manifest difference between these fmells, and abhor the odour of fpirit of blood, tho' they will, with pleasure, long hold their nofes over the fpirit of hartfhorn, and even that of fal-armoniac; and affirm themselves to be much refreshed by it. And tho' with fpirit of urine, or fal-armoniac, joined in a due proportion with fpirit of falt, I have ufually been able to make a falt, that fhoots into the peculiar figure of fal-armoniac; a figure very different from that of fea-falt, nitre, &c. yet I have feldom, if ever, obtained a falt of that fhape, by the mixture of the fpirit of human blood, with that of common falt; for tho' their faline corpufcles, upon the evaporation of the fuperfluous moisture, would coagulate together, yet the concretion feem'd confufed; and either all, or a great part of it, was deftitute of that neat and diftin&t fhape, Í had feveral times obferved in concretions, made by the mixture of the fpirit of fea-falt with urinous fpirits. And as to the medicinal virtues of fpirit of blood, Helmont tells us, there is a confiderable difference between the fpirit of human blood, and that of urine; fince, according to him, the spirit of human blood cures epilepfies; a thing the fpirit of urine will not do.

man blood, ac

'Tis not easy to determine the exact proportion of that liquor, which, The quantity when by diftillation obtained from human blood, the chymifts call, of Spirit conits fpirit, with regard to the other principles, or ingredients, whereof tained in bu the blood confifts. For fome mens blood may be much more phlegmy companied or ferous, than that of others; which it felf may be more or lefs fpi- with its ferum rituous, according to the complexion, age, fex, &c. of the perfon. or dry'd. But twelve ounces of healthy human blood, afforded us feven ounces and an half of phlegm; and, confequently, about four ounces and an half of dry matter. And having committed to diftillation, in a retort, and a fand furnace, feven ounces of well dry'd blood, we obtained about feven drams of fpirit; to which, tho' it were not rectified, that name may well be given, because it was fo very rich in fpirituous and faline parts, that it left in the receiver, and in the containing vial, a large quantity of volatile falt undiffolved; which a phlegmy liquor would not have done and if fpirit of blood be only falt and phlegm united, we may well fuppofe, that human blood yields a far greater proportion of fpirit than this; fince from the feven ounces of our dry'd blood, we obtained about five drams of volatile falt; which, if we had, by diftillation, united with a fit quantity of phlegm, would, probably, have afforded us near two ounces more, of a liquor deferving the name of fpirit.

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I found,