PROSPERITY

OF GERMANY

PART THREE.

On the Preparation of Saltpeter.

In the first part of Prosperitas Germanica Prosperity of Germany, I presented the method by which wood, which otherwise everywhere in the forests is for the most part consumed by rot and provides no utility to any mortal, can be concentrated and changed into the best Nitrum saltpeter. Since that task must be accomplished with the help of a certain press, artificially and peculiarly constructed for this purpose, we have also given a proper description of it in the continuation of the Miraculum Mundi Miracle of the World. But the Circulatory Vessels, through which the lye of the wood is excited by the air and ignited, have not yet been described; to accomplish this in this third part is what we have proposed to ourselves. Therefore, the shape and use of them are as follows.

Let there be two capsules original: "Capsulæ" of the same magnitude and capacity, fashioned from planks, just as Figure A shows; these should be placed in such a way that from one of the ends a vessel can be set under them to receive, if neces-