associated with it; so Allom which may be of so near a kin to Vitriol, that
in some places of _England_ (as we are assur'd by good Authority the same
stone will sometimes afford both) seems manifestly to contain a peculiar
kind of Acid Spirit, generated in the Bowels of the Earth, and some kind of
stony matter dissolv'd by it. And though in making our ordinary Allom, the
Workmen use the Ashes of a Sea Weed (vulgarly call'd Kelp) and Urine: yet
those that should know, inform us, that, here in _England_, there is
besides the factitious Allom, Allom made by Nature Without the help of
those Additaments. Now (_Pyrophilus_) when I consider'd this composition of
Allom, and that Alcalizate Salts are wont to Præcipitate what acid Salts
have dissolv'd, I could not but be prone to suspect that the Curdled
Matter, which is call'd the Magistery of Vegetables, may have in it no
inconsiderable proportion of a stony substance Præcipitated out of the
Allom by the _Lixivium_, wherein the Vegetable had been decocted, and to
shew you, that there is no necessity, that all the curdl'd substance must
belong to the Vegetable, I shall add, that I took a strong Solution of
Allom, and having Filtred it, by pouring in a convenient Quantity of a
strong Solution of Potashes, I presently, as I expected, turn'd the mixture
into a kind of white Curds, which being put to Filtre, the Paper retain'd a
stony _Calx_, copious enough, very White, and which seem'd to be of a
Mineral Nature, both by some other signes, and this, that little Bits of it
being put upon a live Coal, which was Gently Blown whilst they were on it,
they did neither melt nor fly away, and you may keep a Quantity of this
White substance for a good while, (nay for ought I can guess for a very
long one) in a red hot Crucible without losing or spoiling it; nor did hot
Water wherein I purposely kept another parcel of such _Calx_, seem to do
any more than wash away the looser adhering Salts from the stony substance,
which therefore seem'd unlikely to be separable by ablutions (though
reiterated) from the Præcipitated parts of the Vegetable, whose Lake is
intended. And to shew you, that there is likewise in Allom a Body, with