[An Account of Some Books]

Martini Lister & S. R. Lond. De Fontibus Medicatis Angliae. Exercitatio nova & prior. Eboraci. 1682. in 8°. The most rational way (in the Opinion of this curious and judicious Author) certainly to know what the Saline Content, to be found in the several Waters in England, are, is to Crystallize them. This Cristallization is to be done with great care and Accurateness, not at once in a Lump, as it seems most have been satisfied with; But after many Experiments, Ab- lutions, Dissolutions and Shootings till you have the whole Mass of Salt fairly and singly cristallized. Then to compare these Crystals, with the Crystals of all the known fossile Salts; to which end these known Salts also are to be exactly described from their fairest Crystals: All which he hath carefully done, described, and figured. But if it shall be asked why so many figures of the Salt of Nitrum Calcarium, and but one of the rest: this answered, not that he judges these different species, but only he gives most of the Varieties, in which it is wont to shoot; not but that all the rest of the kinds of the figured Salts give as great a variety of Crystals, but he thought them well enough known, that he might spare himself the trouble and that it would be sufficient to give the Compleate it. Now amongst the Saline Contents of all the Medicinal Waters which he hath either tried or read of, he finds only two; viz. The Crystals of a certain niter of an uncommon figure and of common Salt; and these two only; not questioning, but that there may be Waters in England which naturally hold others, but he hath not been so happy as to meet with them; no not in those ve- ry waters, in which some of our own writers so boldly assert them to be contained. As for the Earthy Contents, he finds them also to be two only; viz. Brown Ore (which is a term of Painters to distinguish it from Yellow Ore) this being a sort of Iron Ore, and Lime-stone. Now to demonstrate this as to matter of fact: that these Earths were such and no other, he hath at large described all the several sorts of Iron Ore, which he hath met with in England, and the true way to know them by the Loadstone. And in this History he hath shewn that the Pyrites is but one in England, and that meer Iron Ore, under what name or figure or disguise soever it comes before us. In like manner he hath given the true Notion and Character of Lime-stone, which also he might have at large described according to the several species he hath by him, which possibly he may do when more at leisure. Now how these Earthy Contents and Salts come to be mix't in the Water, and what relation they have one to the other, you shall thus understand. All Iron Ore, but more especially the Pyrites (which is everywhere and in all places of England plentifully to be found, at least sparim and in lumps or Glebe, and some places in Beds) Also all Limestone (which is the great body of most of the Mountains and Rocks in England) if moistened and wet, as they must be where they are cleft, and give way to the soak and subterraneous current of Springs; both these he says, moistened, naturally shoot there Salts. Now the Salt of the Pyrites or Iron Ore is Green Vitriol; and the Salt of Lime-stone is the Nitre by him described. That these Salts are shot not instantly, and as in their Crystallization, or by Coagulation, or Corrosion; but by a leisurely and natural growth or Germination analogous to that of Plants or Animals. That therefore the life of these growing Salts is in like manner halituous and naturally Warm, and may if copious ous and straightened in their Exit become hot, tho not actually inflamed; whence the Thermae or Hot Baths. That the shooting of these Salts under Water must necessarily be imperfect, because it was thrown off before their full growth, and that therefore no mature Vitriol has yet been found in any English Spring, that he knows of. That from the shooting of these Salts arises a Vapour of the whole bodie of the Stone, in like manner as Wood or Plants are known to steam out their whole and entire Rosin into the Air. That therefore these Vapours only Petrifie; because they easily penetrate as Spirits; and also at the same time lodge themselves where they penetrate, as entire Substances. In handling of these matters, there are some other particulars, which are new, and for which you are referred to the Book itself: As the notion of the Pyrites; The Crystals of Rock Niter exactly described and figured; that all Lead ore is naturally Silver ore; Way of distilling the Sea Water into a potable & fresh liquor by Sea Plants &c. Joh. The former account of this work being general and modest, most of it what the Author himself gives in his Preface to the Book not then published, and a promise having been made of a more particular Relation of the Contents of it, as it well deserves; to cancel that Obligation (tho not made by this Publisher) the former account is here enlarged, as follows. First, He gives an exact Description of the Muscles, which within its tendinous or Nervous membranes contains several small bundles of Fibers, which constitute an Hexagonal, Square, or Triangular Prism. The Fibers themselves in each Prism being Parallel, and variously connected to each other. The Microscopical appearance of a single Fibre representing a Cylinder, not hollow like a Reed, but full of a spongy pith like Elder. He gives an account of the several Species of Muscles, from the position of their Fibers, and asserts their proper action to be Contraction, adding a modest but solid censure of Steno's structure of a Muscle, and manner of its operation. He confutes the common opinion, That Nature with a very small force lifts up the greatest weights; the contrary being demonstrated, That the power does a 100, or 1000 times exceed the weight of the limbs that are lifted up by it: and this is the chief Subject of His first part. To prove which He premises this Proposition; That the flexive motion of a joint is Spherical or Circular, or made on a Conical superficies, about an imaginary center. And lays down this general Rule to distinguish them by, viz. viz. Whencesoever the motion of a bone may be made about one fixed point, that motion will be Spherical; but when the motion must be about two Poles, or an Axis, that is necessarily on a plain Circular Superficies, or a Conical one. To shew the strength and Momentum of a Muscle, He premises some propositions about the Vertes, which he applies to most of the chief Muscles of the body. He gives us likewise an account of the wonderful structure of the Back-bone, to the Cartilages of which he attributes a greater force than to all the Muscles that contract it, as is evident from this proposition; That if a Porter carry on his back a weight of 120 pound, the power Nature exercises by the Cartilages of the Vertebrae, and the Musculi extensores of the back is equal to the force of 25585 pound: that of the Muscles alone he computes to be 6404 pound, and observes that the Retention of a joint stretched out is not from the Tonical action of Antagonist Muscles. Hence he goes on to deliver the various postures of an Animal, which he does by assigning his Center of Gravity in all his possible positions. As in a Man stretched out at length, the Center is between the Nates and Pubis. That a man cannot well stand one on Heel, or the tip of a Toe, because in these cases the Line of direction falls without his Basis, &c. That the Birds have two feet, yet they neither walk nor stand the same way as a Man; which depends on the different structure of their joints. For First they differ in the number of the Bones. 2. In the Form. 3. In the distribution and make of their Muscles. 4. In the Joints themselves. He demonstrates the manner how a Bird when sleeping sits firm on a twig, tho the Muscles are then inactive; namely by a strong constriction of its Claws, and consequently a firm comprehension of that Twig, necessarily and Mechanically resulting from the gravity of the Bird, and the shortness of the Tendons of those Muscles that contract the Claws. That That Quadrupeds cannot stand in their natural prone position on one or two feet, because the Center of Gravity and its line of propension cannot fall in either, or between both. The reason why in ascending or descending Stairs in the dark, when we expect one more than there is, the extended foot is dashed with violence against the Pavement, viz. In the first case, the Center of Gravity and Line of Propension, are carryed forward beyond the foot that's fixt, so that the suspended foot, not meeting with the support expected, a motion downward is necessarily caused by the gravity of the body, according to that line, which is not a step, but a fall. In the second case, the Muscles of one leg are contracted, and lengthned in the other, but both these motions being checked by the unlookt-for resistance of the Pavement, the like sensation is caused with what we feel when we stamp on the ground. He shews the Art of Seating upon Ice, as also how progression in Quadrupeds is performed, and likewise Leaping, in which the vis motiva is to the weight of the body as 2900 is to 1. That in Leaping according to a line inclined to the Horizon, at oblique angles, the line described by the center of gravity shall be a Curve Parabola, as being compounded of the straight uniform motion forward, and the accelerated descent of the Heavy body. Next he gives an exact account of flying, the main stress of which is in the largeness of the muscles that move the wings, the Potentia of which exceeds the weight of the bird 10000 times; with many more curious particulars about their several ways of flying. Hence, he concludes the impossibility of the Artificial flying in Men, for neither can their pectoral muscles be enlarged, nor the weight of their bodys be diminished, tho attempted by an exceeding thin and large, exhausted receiver of Metall; for it must contain a space equall to its own weight and that of a man fastned to it, which would amount mount to at least 2000 Cubick feet, besides many other absurditys. He describes the action of swimming, and how fishes change their specified gravity on occasion, by the compression and dilatation of the Air contained in their Air-Bladders, performed by the many and strong muscles about their bellies. He assigns the reason why man does not Swim by Instinct as well as other Animals to be chiefly on the account of the gravity of the head too much exceeding the proportion of that of the rest of the body. The several ways to live and move under Water were described before as the Bell, the leathern Cylinder &c. but that which he seems most to insist on, is of a Brass or Copper Vesica about two foot diameter to contain the Divers head, this to be fastened to a Goats skin habit fitted exactly to the shape of the body. He contrives a Circulation for the Air by pipes within the Vesica: and bestows on him an Air-pump by his side, by which he may make himself heavier or lighter, in imitation of the engines Nature has given to Fish for that use. By this means he avoids the objections the others are liable to, particularly that of the Air, the moisture by which it is clogged with in expiration, and by it made unfit for the same use again, being here taken from it by its Circulation through the pipes, to the sides of which it adheres, and leaves the air as untainted as before. He concludes the book with a description of the diving Ship. The motion of which he conceives would be much facilitated by one single oar in the Poop, which should be flexible, & made with a spring, from the vibration of which the ship should be impelled as Fishes are by their Tails. In the second part he compleats the Doctrine so well begun in the first, and lays down the Mechanical Mode and immediate cause by which the contraction of the muscles is performed. In the First place he shews why a Muscle cannot be moved any any of the different ways of motion in other things. That it is not contracted by the simple traction of its Fibres, as weights are drawn up by Ropes, because the length of the muscle would no more be shortened than the length of the rope is, the contrary of which is evident to sense. Neither are the Fibres bent like a bow, nor do they act by the removing any impediment by command of the Animal faculty, because such force being internal, there would be required almost as much pains to Rest, as there is to Motion. They are not likewise hardened by the bare Rest of their parts, nor contracted by drying, as we see Hair, Skins, Leather &c are by the Air. Neither are they wrinkled into folds as Reptiles are in their progression; the corrugation of which He demonstrates to be not the cause, but the Effect of the contraction of their internal muscles. After all he concludes that the muscles are contracted from the inflation of their Fibres by adventitious bodies, as it were by wedges. And having refused an Incorporal natural faculty for the immediate mover, as also any aërial Substance, and rejected the blood filling the pores of the muscles, together with the manner by which moistened Ropes are contracted, He concludes That the Ebullition, caused in the Muscles by the concurrence of the blood and Succus Nervosus, is the immediate cause of their tumescence and contraction, which he confirms and illustrates by arguments and Experiments. He proceeds to give an account of the internal motions of the fluids of the body, as of the Circulation of the blood, and how it is continued, though it seems to be interrupted and broken in the Heart. He demonstrates the manner how it is moved forward in the Veins; especially by the help of the Valves, which he observes to be not single membranes, but small hollow bladders, whose convex ends respect the capillary extremity of the veins, and their Orifices open towards the heart. He relates likewise the muscular structure of the Heart, and how it differs from other muscles by the wonderful texture. texture of its fibres, whose Prismatical columns are not separated from the membranes and tendinous fibres, neither is their disposition direct and parallel, but curve and spiral; and that too in a way far different from Vesalius' his wicker-baskets. And at last concludes that the moving facultie of the Heart doth exceed the resistance of the whole blood in the Arteries, and of the ligaments that hinder their dilatation, which is greater than the force of a weight of 180000. He ascribes Respiration wholly to the muscles that enlarge the Thorax, (viz. The Intercoftalls and the Diaphragme) together with the weight and elasticity of the Air. The manner, by drawing up the circumference of the Ribs towards the Throat, by directions that make acute Angles with the Planes of the Ribs. Remarkable is the structure of the Thorax in the Tortois, which hath no divided ribs, but one continued bony arch, and no Diaphragme; and instead of Lungs, two long bladders containing also the blood vessels. These baggs are not alternately filled and emptied, but constantly remain full of Air, which is not renewed in them but partially, by the external muscles that stick to the Skin which when inactive make an hollow Sinus, but contracted a Plain. The use he assigns to respiration, besides the dissolving of the grumous concretions of the blood by dividing it into minute Particles, is the mixing the Air with the blood, which neither increases the fluidity of it, nor causes any effervescence in the Heart by its Elasticity or Nitrous nature, but supposing the particles of the Air to be spiral flexible machines, they must be compressed by the weight of the Ambient viscera and vessels. But the fluid and solid parts of Animals being moved a Thousand different ways, these springs conceive a motion like that of a Pendulum, which gives a tremulous motion to the blood, and continues it till the death of the animal, that being its vital Motion. The Nutrition of Plants he explains by imagining an an engine so contrived by various tubes terminating in due places of a table, that any figure may be delineated by the bare injection of Liquors, without any other art. In his use of the Liver he asserts the circulation of the bile in the Abdomen, and explains the manner of it; as also the motion of the Succus Nerveus and the Semen; which is not so properly a Circulation, as a Flux and Reflux of it, because he assigns the same vessels for the ascent and descent between the Testes and the Brain. He confutes the Vulgar errors about the Torpedo and Porcupines, and gives his own experience that the first acts only by a Tremulous motion strongly impressed on the hand that toucheth it, especially in that part of the Thorax toward the back-bone where there is a concourse of abundance of Nerves and Muscles. And adds this circumstance, that when with his finger extended He obliquely toucht the Thorax of the Fish, he suffered nothing; but if with his finger bended he received perpendicularly the vibrations of it, then he was affected. That the Porcupine does not shoot out its Spicula, but by keeping them erect doth shake and brandish them by the help of its Muscular outward Skin, and the semi-lunar Muscles with which the inner Skin is accompanied, which erect and shake the roots of those Spicula. Lastly he treats of the Causes and Cures of Feavours and their differing Paroxysms, which being wholly Medical we leave to the Knowledge and Experience of the Physician. OXFORD, Printed by LEONARD LICHFIELD, Printer to the University, and are to be sold by Hen. Rogers at the Sign of the Bible in Westminster Hall, Sam. Smith at the Princes-Armes in St. Pauls Church-yard, and by Hen. Clements Bookseller in Oxford. 1683.