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CONTEMPLATION XIX.

Of WATER.

SECT. I. Without Water every thing would dye with

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OW let the Philofopher that pretends ftill to doubt of all these most important Truths, pass on with us to the Contemplation of W AER; and without using any farther Preamble, we may venture to fay, that he will at leaft agree with us, without the neceffity of fupporting this Truth by many Experiments, that in cafe there had been no fuch thing as Water in the World, he, and all Mankind, and most of the other Living Creatures, even in the midst of a Superfluity of Air, and other Food, would certainly perifh in a very small compafs of time; fince Thirst, if it be not extinguifhed, is no lefs fatal than Hunger itfelf, and all Men and Beafts too, a few of the laft only excepted, if there be any Truth in Experience, are unable to fubfift without Drink.

SECT. II. Convictions from thence.

THIS being laid down, if it be by Chance that Water is found out, which itfelf is the only Drink, or at least the principal Ingredient of all other Drinks, it is likewife unquestionably by the fame Chance that a Man, or any other Animal, lives a Year, or a much less time, after his Birth. And E e 2

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fince the moft obdurate Atheist must acknowledge that all Living Creatures whatever, are of fuch Stru &ture, and have the Parts of their Bodies fo difpo fed, in relation to Water, that they are able to take and use it themselves; that they are even excited thereto by Thirst when they want it; that they can only be refreshed by Water, whether they drink it Pure, or whether they make use of other Liquors, fuch as Wine, Beer, Cyder, and the like, of all which, it is the Foundation; and that therefore, it would not be fufficient for them to have the use of all other Liquid Matters: Infomuch, that if the whole Sea, and all Rivers, were made of Spirits entirely feparated from their Water, or of other Liquors, in which there were not a fufficient mixture of Water, they would ftill all perish with Thirft. Can it then be thought, that it is owing to mere Chance, that all Creatures have the Faculty of fupporting their Lives, by Water, and likewife that Water has by the fame Chance acquired the Properties that are neceffary for that Purpose ?

SECT. III. Without Water every living Creature would likewife dye of Hunger.

To this we may likewife add, that without Water the Earth would not be render'd Fruitful, nor any Tree or Plant would be able to spring out of it; fo that the Condition of the World would be ftill very miserable, if all the Men and other Creatures in it, could fubfift without Water; fince every living thing would foon be deprived of its Meat as well as Drink; the Consequence of which would be certain Death.

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SECT. IV. Experiments proving that Plants confift for the most part of nothing but Water.

LET no Body imagine that we go too far in extolling the Ufes of Water: That famous Expe riment of Van Helmont does plainly fhew how much Water contributes to the growth of every thing. He took two hundred Pound Weight of Earth, firft drying it thoroughly in an Oven, and then pouring Rain Water upon it, and having planted in it the Twig of a Willow, that weighed five Pounds, he found at the end of five Years, that the faid Twig was grown to a Tree, weighing 169 Pounds three Ounces, without counting all the Leaves that had fallen in four Autumns; but that the faid Earth being dried again as before, was fcarce vifibly diminished, or at moft, had not loft above two Ounces of its Subftance. And yet nothing more was done to it, than pouring upon it Diftilled or Rain Water; for which Reafon likewife, the Pot was cover'd with a thin Plate full of Holes, to prevent, as far as poffible, either the, Encreafe or Dimunition of the Earth by Winds, &c.

The like Experiments may be feen in Mr. Boyle's Sceptical Chymift, Part II. where without any Dir minution of Earth in one Year, at least without any that was worth fpeaking of, you will read of a Pumkin of a very great Weight, which was pro¬ duced only with Spring or Rain Water on w The fame Author does likewife mention other, made upon little Plants of Mint, Purflin, &c. which I have often repeated with Pleasure and Wonder, by putting them into little Glafs Phials, where I could obferve them fpreading out their Roots, putting forth their Leaves, and becoming Larger and Longers The faid Mr. Boyle fays, that having diftilled them VOL. II. Ee 3

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in a little Retort, tho' they were produced by nothing but Water, yet like other Plants of the fame kind, that fpring from the Earth, they yielded a little Water, a tinking Spirit, and an Oil, the Remainder being nothing but a Caput Mortuum, or dead Coal.

How many Trees grow in Norway (as Travellers that have been there relate) in Places where there is very little Earth, and hardly any thing befides barren Rocks? Whence comes all that Wood (which no Body will eafily afcribe to the Rocks themselves) but from the Rain Water with which they are moiften'd? A like Inftance occurs to me whilft I am writing this, of an Elder Tree, which fprang out of a little Cavity between two Stones of a Wall from whence the Mortar was fallen, and which in the space of two or three Months, from a little Pant, as it appeared at firft, fhot out feveral Branches longer than a Man's Arm; and yet, when it was pulled up, in order to difcover the Communication between its Roots and the Earth, none could be found. Now, whether this was occafioned by the Seed of neighbouring Elder Trees, brought by the Wind, and drop into this Cavity, I fhall not determine; it is fufficient for my Purpofe, that it grew thus without any Appearance of Earth.

From whence have all thofe juicy Fruits, as Grapes, Cherries, Goosberries, Currants, and a thoufand others, their agreeable Liquors, if it were not from Water; which by the Concurrence of other Particles, acquires fo many various Taftes, and, as we have hinted above, produces fo many pleafant Drinks and Wines.

That this is true, the Chymifts know full well, who by diftilling not only thefe juicy Subftances, but likewife all other Plants,from the hardest Woods of Trees to the meaneft Shrubs (to fay nothing

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here of all the Parts of Animals that are nourish'd by those Plants) even from Horns, Bones, Ivory, and other Matters, without the addition of any Liquid; do plainly fhew by the Liquors coming out of them, and which the moft ignorant Perfon cannot fufpect to be in them, how great a fhare Water has in the Compofition of the aforefaid Things.

To pafs by here what fome famous Chymifts themselves have pretended, that the Foundation even of Metals and Minerals is Water only; which therefore, (if one may believe 'em,) as well as Living Creatures and Plants, may be reduced to an Equilibrating Water, by the help of their Renowned Alcaheft. But we don't infift upon this, because if for many Reasons it is not to be judged uncertain, yet it is ftill very dark and obfcure. However, this is at leaft an undoubted Truth, that neither Plants, and confequently, neither Man nor Beaft, that ufes the fame for Food, can be preferv'd without Water, and that all Food does for the moft part confift of Water.

SECT. V. We do not here enquire, whether Water be a Simple or Compound Body.

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I Do not here difpute, whether Water is to be confider'd as a fimple Subftance, the Parts of which are all of the fame Figure; and which, as it happens in Ice and Snow, joining themselves together, may compofe the folid Bodies of Plants; or, whether it is to be affirmed, that Water is a mixed Fluid, in which all forts of Particles, proper for the Compofition of Plants, are to be found, which, after the Evaporation of their Waters remain in the Plants, and contribute to the Augmentation of their Size and Weight, as has been attempted to be proved by Dr. Woodward, Phil. Tranfactions,

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