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Glass, and many other Things of the likeNature belonging to the mineral Kingdom jthese are all, or in Part, made use of intheir present Mixtures, according to thedifferent Fancy of the Preparer, with-out Regard to any exact Quantities ofeach; and, indeed, they are so candid, as tofreely own, that they are far short of be-ing arrived at any tolerable Perfection in.this Art.

Being thus acquainted with the Ingre-dients of which this Worm-pitch was com-posed, I took no small Pains thoroughly toweigh and consider the Nature of thisAffair as far as I was able: First I examinedthe Bottoms of some Ships that had beenpitched, and were eaten into by the Worms ;when I easily perceived that the Salt-waterhad dissolved all the mineral Ingredientsthat were mixed with the Pitch, by whichMeans the Parts of the whole Mixturewere disunited, and an Opening made tothe Wood, so that the Worms could im-mediately come at it without any Ob-struction ; hence it appears, that the Pitchrequires such a Mixture as is indesolvable,whose Parts will not be dissolved or dividedby that grand Menstruum the Sea-water:After mature Consideration of this Matter,I bent my Thoughts on *Tale, as wellknowing no Methods have beeri yet foundout, either with Fire or Water, or any

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