Of Artificial Fires,

of Qyl, that it should never go forthibut this failed,when the Medes burnt that Ter»-ple. Of the lame fort was that fire, God appointed by (JMoses io the Scriptures. Thefire shall always burn upon mine Altar, which the Priest shall always keep lighted,putting under wood day by day. Wherefore, the fire was not perpetual in the setn-psos ©f the gods of the Gentiles. Yet I read that about the Town AtesteneerPa-dttlfc tfiere was found an earthen Pitcher , in which there was another little Pitchesaod.in that there was found a little light still burning, which by the hands «f someignt^rant fellows, pouring it rudely forrh, was broken,-and so the flameyy axput.YUt. And in our time, about the year^oo. in theisland Nests,.*^.standsin Maples, there was a Marble Sepulchre of some Roman found j, pp d,,) b$t : beingopened, a Yial ^ras found within it, in which there was a Candle : when this yvasbroken, and it came to the light, it went out: it was shut in ,Wpfp theSaviour. Seme others 1 have heard of, by report of my friends, that were found andseen with their eyes. Whence I collect this may be done, and was done by our An-cestors. Let us fee if we can do the fame. Some fay that Oyl of Metals may last long,and almost perpetually. Bur this is false: for Oyl of Metals will not burn. Othersfay, Oyl of Juniper from the wood will last long , because the coles of that woodmay be kept a whole year alive under ashes. But this is most falie, because I kepta cole under ashes,and it would r ot last two,nor yet one day;and theOyl of the woodburns most vehemently , and is sooner wasted then common Oyl. Some boast theyhave drawn Oyl stem the incombustible stone, thinking that flame cannot con somethat: for a wick made thereof, will never be burnt; and yet burns always,if you putOyl abvay^ to jt: Jhitdf that be tme, that die wick is n$t consigned by fire,vet thatfolsom not that Oyl ext n&t B fttim it , thobM’fifirn 1 llWffys aLULHft'MHst?: Abdno man vet was evene"efc tb drtw Qyl from KiemR»e'StiflanlsIkE*©-thers think that Oyl drawn from common Salt, will last always; for if you cast SaltintoOvl, it makes the Oyl in the Lamp last twice as long, and not be Consumed,which I affirm to be true; therefore if Oyl be distilled from it, it will bus n alwaysand never waste. Yet this follows not that Oyl drawn from Salt will burn continu-ally; and Oyl distilled stem it will burn n* more than a stone of Aqua f$rtis, thatparts Gold and Silver, of which kind it is. But it is an ignorant thing to imagine,that an Oyl may be made that shall burn always, and never consume. Whereforesome other thing must be thought on. Seme fay (and they do not think foolishly)that fire in a Vial doth not always burn ; but in the Vial there is some compositionlaid up, that so soon as it comes to the Air, presently takes fire, and seems ro burnonely at that time, yet it never burned before. This may be true: for as I oftenhave laboured in Chymical matters, a glass well stopr, and forgot by me after thethings were burnt in it; and being so left for many moneths, I may fay, many years:at last, being opened, hath been seen to flame, and burn, and smoke. What I hadburnt I bad forgot, hut they might be the same things, that I heard of by my friend,that had the fame chance: for when he had boil’d Litharge, Tartar, quick Lime, andCianaber in Vinegar, until it was all evaporated; and then covering and luting theVessel well, he set it into a vehement fire , and when it was enough, he set it bv tillit was cold: after feme moneths, when he went to open it to fee his work, aflamesuddenly flew out of the Vessel, and set fire on some things, when as be thought ofno such matter: and the fame hath happened to many more. Moreover, when Iboiled Liofeed Oyl for the Press, when the flames tockwiihin, 1 covered the potwith clothes to put it out: after some time I opened the Vessel, the Oyl at the Aircoming to it flamed again, and took fire. But experience is against this opinion: Forwho saw a C an die shut up close in a glals Vial, and to keep its flaming quality, and togive light ? For the Ancients thought that the souls of the dead did always rest in thegrave, as the ashes do ; and that they might not lye in the dark , they endcavovredall they could to fend cut this light, that their fouls might enjoy light continually.Therefore we must thirk on another experiment, and make trial of k. Bur this mustbe held for a rare and firm principle in Natures (hop,that the cause of wonders is be-cause there can he no vacuum z and the frame of the work will sooner break asunder,and all things run to nothing, then there can be any such thing: Wherefore if a

flame