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as ye vapours that seperate from water and at last these fumes, being of exceeding subtile parts, do by a very great change into flames.

Air, mercury, and water in wch there plenty of salt dissolved, do not freeze or grow hard by cold any more than spirit of niter spirit of vitriel or other aqua fortes, but these remaining always liquid and running, these aqua fortes are also elevated into vapours by heat.

Mercury, water, oyl, wine, spirit of wine and other liquors are dilated by heat, and condensed by a moderate cold, yet without appearance of any air that should mix with it or any bubles seperate from it. Put oyl into a long and narrow necked bottle, and warm it moderately; it will by little and little rise into ye neck and when it is cold will descend down into ye body without ye appearance of ye coming in or going out of any air, and if ye same bottle being full of moderately hot oyl is reversed and stoped with ones finger, and you then dip ye top in cold water as far as halt ye neck, ye oyl cooling quit ye neck wch it occupied, and ye water will mount thither; but if you moderately heat ye bottle, ye oyl will redescend and chase away ye water without ye appearance of it forming of any bubles of air, this effect is very sensable in spirit of wine where with they fill glass thermometer sealed hermetically; for when it is very cold, ye spirit of wine will descend down to ye ball and of wine [[strikethrough]] will descend down [[/strikethrough]] and in a great heat will mount to ye top of ye pipe, also it be more than two feet high. I have seen thermometers full of mercury instead of spirit of wine, wch would produce much ye same affects.

Mercury is not elevated into vapours but by a great heat.  I keept during two years a small bottle which had in it a pound of mercury, in a closet where ye sun might shine during ye summer;  and at ye end of that time I found sensablely ye same weights; but if you put in a sufficient great fire, it will all elevate into invizable vapours, which being received in an alembic, return into runing and liquid mercury as before ye evaporation.

There is observable in water a certain kind of viscousness wch fastens ye parts one to another and to other bodys as to wood and clean glass so that a drop of water sufficiently thick remains hanging to ye glass or wood without falling.

And although one cannot well say in what this viscousness consists it is certain that these effects are constant, for two drops of water seperated, joyn together as soon as they come a little to touch, nad make but one drop.  Ye same thing happens to two drops of mercury, to two drops of oyl placed neatly on water when they approach one another; one may fet ye same that ye small bubles of air wch are in ye bottom of a dish full of water when it hath been upon ye fire, will join to that wch is next to it with a pin or other instrument you push one against another.  I once saw a small peice of mercury about an inch thick, [[?rout]] along a table of polished stone, it met with a small hole in ye table where some of ye mercury went in, and ye rest continueing to run was just seperating from that little wch was in ye hole, that which should joyn them not being above two lines large; but that viscousness which tied together ye parts of ye stopped mercury and that wch was past by made it again approach that part wch was in ye hole, and all ye mercury stop'd above and round about.  In some measure to explain this viscositie, one may say that some of these matters are in perpetuall motion and that those of such a kind have certain figures proper to tie and hook one with another, and that they as soon as they touch one another are by reason of their motion go embarrased and hooked.  One may guess at another cause to wit, that ye air haveing a elastick power may reduce fluid bodys into ye least space that they occupy wch is a sphericall figure, but it might as well reduce into a globe a drop of water and a drop of mercury alone, and that same cause will not act in a wind pump when one hath pumped ye air wch is under ye recipient, for that which remains hath not any considerable elasticity and never ye less ye drops of air and mercury form together and become round in that extremity rarified air after ye same manner in common air.  In these doubts you may be content to know by experience that fluid bodys are naturelly disposed to joyn together as soon they touch, and you may if you please call this a motion