Two Medico-Philosophical Discourses: On Fermentation

A decorative horizontal row consisting of twenty-one fleurons, which are ornamental symbols shaped like stylized flowers or crosses, precedes the title.

List of Subjects original: Elenchus rerum

Chapter I.

On the principles of natural things. page 1.

Where the term fermentation is derived from. p. 1. Bodies suited for fermenting consist of heterogeneous consisting of diverse or different parts particles. p. 2. It is otherwise for those things that ferment less. in the same place original: ibid.; referring to the same page. The principles of natural things are of three kinds. p. 3. namely, the four elements of the Peripatetics followers of Aristotle who believed all matter was composed of earth, air, fire, and water, the atomic bodies of the Epicureans followers of Epicurus who proposed that the world is made of indivisible atoms, and the Spirit, Salt, Sulfur, Water, and Earth of the Chemists.

Chapter II.

Description of the Chemical principles, and their properties and qualities. p. 5.

What Spirits are, and in which subjects they are found. in the same place. Their three states: namely, depression, exaltation, and deflection. p. 6. What sulfur is. in the same place. Its particles in subjects are either fixed or dissolved. p. 7. These are in a triple state: for they are either depressed and wrapped in other things, or raised to exaltation, or fleeting and ready for eruption. in the same place. The triple manner of their departure and eruption: 1. Gentle, proceeding gradually and without commotion; 2. Faster, with a foul smell original: foetore and a tendency toward rot original: putredinem; 3. Very rapid, with the destruction of the subject or fire. p. 8. What salt is. in the same place. In subjects, it is either fixed or dissolved. p. 9. The three types of dissolved salt: melting, volatilization, and flowing original: fluoris. p. 10. Salt brings stability to things and resists burning. p. 11. What water and earth contribute to a mixture. p. 12. Water is the vehicle for Spirit and sulfur; it bestows the proper consistency upon things. in the same place.