Two Medico-Philosophical Discourses: On Fermentation

striving to fly away. There are also other particles present that are thick, earthy, and more fixed. These ensnare the subtle particles and hold them back by their entanglement as they try to fly off. The motion of fermentation primarily depends on the struggle and mutual resistance of these twin offspring within the same womb. Willis uses the metaphor of "twin offspring" to describe the volatile and fixed parts of a substance fighting for dominance within the "womb" of the matter. On the contrary, those things which ferment less are mostly composed of similar particles, sharing the same shape and conformation. When these are joined together, they lie quiet without tumult or swelling and enjoy a deep peace. If must must; unfermented or fermenting grape juice or new beer is placed in vessels with a narrow opening, they boil up so violently that the vessel is often in danger of bursting. But if you enclose the liquids of those same things after they have been distilled separately and set apart, no motion or swelling orgasm; used here in the archaic sense of a chemical swelling or excitement follows.

Therefore, distilled waters, burning spirits original: spiritus ardentes; high-proof alcohols or flammable liquids, oils, fixed salts of herbs, and many simpler preparations made by chemists Chymics; early modern practitioners of chemistry and alchemy persist for a very long time without any alteration or fermentation. Perhaps some particles evaporate, but the rest do not riot. Meanwhile, the juice and blood of vegetables or animals, as well as any liquids that are thickened or composed of many parts, ferment quickly and thereafter undergo various cycles of changes. Spirit of wine original: Spiritus vini; strong alcohol or ethanol enclosed tightly in a vial shows no signs of effervescence. But if a little oil of turpentine original: olei Terebinthinæ is added to this spirit, the particles of the liquid leap out so much that I have seen a glass sealed hermetically hermetically; an airtight seal, named after the mythical alchemist Hermes Trismegistus broken by it. Any distilled water of herbs, if kept simple in glass, remains uncorrupted for a long time. But if you add sugar or syrup to it, it soon turns sour and is ruined. Therefore, so that the fermentation of bodies may be properly explained, it is necessary to inquire what kind and of what nature those particles or substances are from which mixtures are composed. Most natural motions depend on the combination and mutual struggle of these particles.