Fol. 3.

ON MOYSAIC PHILOSOPHY.

As for the water vessel, you have that also depicted in the said figure, in proportion to the glass or the tube of the Matrass A matrass is a long-necked glass flask used in chemistry and alchemy. or the neck descending into its bottom.

And now, with the tube of the Matrass or glass thus divided into parts, you ought to prepare and arrange the glass in this manner, so that it is made magnetic and attractive by cold, and expulsive or dilating by heat: I would have you, therefore, take the orifice of the matrass in your hands and extend its head—whether it be round or oval—over a fire until it becomes very hot. For the heat of the fire will rarefy the air enclosed in the glass, and cause a good portion of that same rarefied air to fly out from the orifice of the glass; and it will remain in that state as long as the glass stays at that degree of heat. At that instant, if you suddenly place the nose of the tube into the water of the instrument's vessel, you will perceive that as the Matrass cools, so also the water will gradually ascend upward into the neck of the glass. It should also be observed that the hotter the glass was made, the higher the water will rise into the neck of the glass as cold approaches. The reason for this is that the more the air is rarefied in the glass by the power of heat, the smaller the proportion of air will be, and consequently a greater or lesser proportion of water will be raised into the neck of the glass, according to the greater or lesser dominion of cold in the external air. For the air remaining in the glass after its thinning will be condensed by intense cold, and by that condensation it will seize and lift up as much water as the previous air breathed out during its expansion from the surface of the water. By this it clearly appears that those who think heat was the occasion for the upward attraction of the water have been deceived, since it is plain by this ocular demonstration that it is the act of heat which drives it downward; on the contrary, it is established that cold is the cause of the water's ascent. Nevertheless, some impostors, to make the matter seem more wonderful, proclaim that the liquor or spirit is secret and moved by them alone, which, being enclosed in the glass, causes the water sometimes to rise into the glass and sometimes to descend by some arcane property. To better cover this cunning, they are accustomed to tint the enclosed water with verdigris original: "viridi aëre" - a green pigment or similar substances. As for the accidental part of this machine, it can be prepared and manufactured in various ways, or in whatever form or figure pleases us: however, I have depicted here my own method of manufacturing the same.

CHAPTER IIII.

Both the property of this instrument and its use are considered either universally or particularly. For its general property is either to contract and condense—namely, when the enclosed air is animated by external cold—or to dilate and rarefy, specifically when the enclosed air is excited by external heat. And therefore, through its contracting and dilating nature, we can discern the condition of the air of the universal world without qualification. By this observation, it is very easy to perceive that there is nothing in the whole empire of nature that can either be rarefied or thinned except by the mediation and act of heat (whether it be visible or invisible), which is the effect of light; just as, on the other hand, nothing can be contracted or condensed without cold, the origin of which is darkness. The particular properties of this instrument, along with their uses, are these: First, this machine reveals the temperament of the external air or the universal Element in heat and cold. For the higher the water climbs in the neck or tube of the Matrass, the more strongly it proves the dominion of cold in the air. So much so that in this way we can daily judge the increase or decrease of cold in the air, and consequently, through the descent of the water in the tube, it will be easy to know the proportion of heat in the air or the World Spirit original: "Spiritu mundano".

IF the water, which was raised high enough in the neck or tube of the glass or instrument, should suddenly sink by several degrees; it will be an indubitable sign of rain or a shower immediately following.

If the raised water subsides within the space of one night, it proves that not much rain will come.

If the South Wind original: "Auster" or the East Wind original: "Eurus" blows immediately after the North Wind original: "Aquilonem" or the West Wind original: "Favonium", the water will be observed to fall by several degrees. But if the North Wind original: "Boreas" or a cold western wind blows after the South Wind original: "Notum" or the East Wind original: "subsolanum", then the water will be manifestly exalted.

If the water reaches the 1st degree in the neck of the Matrass, it will prove the air to be of a moderate temperament in heat and cold, not otherwise than the air behaves while the Sun passes through the vernal equinox.

But if the water ascends higher, then it proves the air is turning toward a cold northern disposition by as many degrees as...