Natural Magic (1607) - Page 4

The existing books of Natural Magic

are these:


I	On the causes of wonderful things.
II	On the breeding of various animals.
III	On the production of new plants.
IV	On increasing household goods. Latin: supellectili. This book focuses on domestic economy, preserving food, and making useful items for the home.
V	On the transmutation of metals. An exploration of alchemy and metallurgy.
VI	On the counterfeiting of gems. Instructions on how to create imitation precious stones using glass and dyes.
VII	On the wonders of the magnet.
VIII	On marvelous remedies. A collection of medical cures and extraordinary potions.
IX	On women's cosmetics.
X	On extracting the essences of things. This chapter deals with distillation and the chemistry of oils and spirits.
XI	On the making of perfumes. original: myropœia. Derived from Greek, referring to the art of preparing scented ointments.
XII	On incendiary fires. Covering pyrotechnics, gunpowder, and "Greek fire" used in warfare.
XIII	On rare tempers of iron. Detailed instructions on metallurgy, specifically the hardening and softening of steel.
XIV	On the wondrous preparation of banquets. Includes "tricks" for the table, such as making meat appear to crawl or turning wine into water.
XV	On catching wild animals by hand. The OCR reads ferris (irons), but the context and other editions confirm the intended word is feris (wild beasts). This book covers hunting and trapping.
XVI	On invisible writing. An early treatise on cryptography and secret inks.
XVII	On mirror images. original: catoptricis imaginibus. Catoptrics is the branch of optics dealing with reflection.
XVIII	On experiments in statics. The science of weights, balances, and equilibrium.
XIX	On pneumatics. The study of air pressure and water-driven machines.
XX	Chaos. A final "catch-all" chapter for miscellaneous experiments and observations that did not fit into the previous categories.

RPJCB This margin note likely refers to the John Carter Brown Library, the institution holding the physical copy of this 1607 edition.