Of < Difiillation> 255

It to the under-Vessel like a Cap z so chat the neck of that lower Vessel may comeinto the belly of the upper. A Pipe must run about the Bottom of the Cap, whichmast send forth a Beak; under which , there must stand another Vessel , called theReceiver , from rcceivmg the distilling water. Stop all the vents close with Staw-mortar, or rags of Linen, that the spirituous Aery matter n?«y not pass our. Thefire being put under this Stillatory, the inclosed matter will be dissolved by the heatof the fire into a dewy vapor, and alcendcth to the top; where, meeting with thecold sides of the Head, it sticketh there ; being condensed by the cold, iwelleth in-to little bubbles , bedeweth the roof and sides, then gathereth into moyst pearls,runneth down in drops, turneth into water, and by the Pipe and Nose is conveyedinto the Receiver. But both the Vessels and the Receiver must be considered jaccor-ding to the Nature of the things to be distilled. For if they be of a flatulent vaporousNature, they will require large and low Veflels, and a more capacious Receiver:for when the Heat shall have railed up the flatulent matter, and that flu de it selfflraitned in the narrow cavities, it will feck some other vent, and so tear the Vesselsin pieces, i,which will flie about with a great bounce and crack, not without enda-maging the standers by ) and beirg at liberty, will save it self stem further harm.But if the things be hot and thin, you must have Vessels with a long and smallneck. Things of a middle temper , require Veflels of a middle size : All whichthe induflrious Artificer may easily learn by the imitation of Nature, who hathgiven angry and furious Creatures, as the Lion and Bear, thick bodies, but shortnecks ; to shew, that flatulent humours would pass out of Vessels of a larger bulk,and the thicker part settle to the bottombut then, the Stag,the Estrich, the Ca-mil- Panther, gentle Creatures, and of thin Spirits, have slender bodies and longnecks; to she w that thin, subtile Spirits , muff be drawn through a much longer andnarrower passage, and be elevated higher to purifie them. There is one thing whichI must especially inform you of, which is, that there may be a threefold moysture ex-tracted out of Plants : she Nutritive, whereby they live, and all dri£d Herbs want;it differeth little from Fountain or Ditch-water: The Substantial, whereby the partsarejoyned together; and this is of a more solid Nature : And the third is the Ra-dical humor, fat and oyly, wherein the strength and venue Heth. There is anotherthing, which I cannot pass over in silence, it being one of the Principles of theArt, which I have observed in divers Experiments ; which is, that some mixt bo-dies do exhale thin and hot vapors first, and afterwards moyst and thick : on thecontrary, others exhale earthy and phlegmatick parts first, and then the hot and fiery;which being fixed in the inmost parts, are expelled at last by the force of the fire. Butbecause there can be no constant and certain Rule given for them, some I will markOnto you 1 others,your own more quick ingenuity must take the pains to observe*

C H A >, II.

Os the Extraction os Waters.

T tit Extraction of Waters, because it is common, I will dispatch in a few words.

If you would extract sweet Waters out of hot Plants, and such as are earthy,-and retain a sweet savour in their very substance; these being cast into a Stillatory,Without any Art, and a fire made under them, yield their odors : as you may drawsweet Waters out of

HofeS)Orange-flowers , Myrtle and Lavender, andfitih-ltkf,

either with Cinders, or in Balneo Maria:; but onely, observe to kindle the fire bydegrees,lest they burn. There are also in some Plants, sweet Leaves, as in Myrtle,Lavender,Citron, and such-like ; which, if you mix with the Flowers, will no wayhinder the favour of them , but add a pleasantness to the Waters: and in placeswhere Flowers cannot begotten, I have seen very sweet Waters extracted otSr ofthe Tendrils of them : especially, when they have been set abroad a iunnmg in aclose Vessel for some dayes before. These is a Water, of no contemptible sent,

drawn