felf from the dreadful Apprehenfions, that either by the fame Chance, or by an unavoidable Concurrence of ignorant, but neceflary, Causes, the World may to morrow, or fooner, be deprived of Fire, and he himself condemned to perpetual Darkness, and to a most miferable Condition?

SECT. XVI. The great Quantity of Fire in the World.

Now if one of thofe Philofophers, who unhappily doubts of the greatest Truths, be forced to acknowledge by what has been faid above, that hardly any Living Creature can fubfift without the ufe of Fire; let him go on and observe, what great Abundance of it is to be found every where; and how being at hand in almost all Substances, it does as it were, offer itfelf to the Service of all Men, and is found ready without their taking hardly any trouble about it.

To fhew that this is true, it will not be necef fary to fearch for Demonftrations, nor a long Chain of Arguments in the Depths of Philofophy. We know well enough, that it is to be met with in a manner every where ; as in almost all Plants, efpecially fuch as confift of Wood, and which com pose whole Forefts, in the moft part of Animals in their Bones, in their Flefh, in their Blood, all which being dryed, will burn ; Minein fo many rals, in Fenny Grounds, in Coals, in Brimftone, in Salt-petre, yea even in Stone itself; all which Mankind are wont to make use of after so many Ways, when either their Profit or Pleafure require it.

SECT.

that et

Didable C SECT. XVII. The Wifdom of him that reftrains the

Caules,

deprived

petual D

on?

who

Power of Fire.

Now if all this cannot induce an obdurate Atheist to acknowledge either Wisdom or Design in the Creator, or Goodness in the gracious Giver Fire of this Fire, let him contemplate the vaft Quantity thereof that is found in the World, and the terrible Powers of the fame: And then let him tell us, whether he cannot therein difcover both the Wisdom and Power of him who preferves the Earth from being deftroyed by Fire; fince fo raging a Matter that is to be met with in fuch great Plenty every where, is after fo wonderful a manner bridled and restrained from exerting its Consuming Faculties, and yet fo readily offers itfelf to the Service of every one that wants it.

here

all

That this is not a vain Imagination, is as clear as the Day; because there is not only a Quantity of Fire fufficient for all Purposes throughout the World, but even fo much of it, that no Body could think thereof without Horror, if he were not affured that there were not an over-ruling Power that holds the fame in his Hand.

SECT. XVIII. An Hiftorical Account of Fire in
the Earth.

MOREOVER, if we look upon the Earth, how can we avoid being alarmed, when we find fo many Parts of it filled with Fire! In our Watry Holland, and even in the drained Meers and Fenns, Experience has frequently taught us, that the Vapours exhaling from the Pits and Wells of the Peafants, having been accidentally fet on fire by a Candle, have miferably confumed both Men and Houses.

But

enough known, that these Effects (fcarce to be believed by fuch as had never feen them) are only produced thereby.

It was with Amazement that I read the Experiment of Mr. De Stair; having omitted to make the fame my felf, because the Glaffes belonging to the Air-Pump, and which are wanted for that purpose, cannot be fo eafily procured in this Place: He fays, in his Phyfiolog. Expl. XIX. §. 121. that upon heating Red-Lead in a Glafs, from whence the Air was exhaufted, by the Rays of the Sun collected in a Burning-Glafs, the Glafed Veffel, in which the faid Red-Lead was contained, burst in Pieces with a great Noife. Now he that knows, First, that this Red-Lead confifts only of the Ashes of burnt Lead, upon which a continual Flame has long acted; and, Secondly, that the faid LeadAfhes become heavier by the Operation of the Flame, and therefore is impregnated with a great many Fire-Particles, that join themselves to it (fince there comes out a greater quantity of RedLead than there was of the common Lead put into the Fire) can he judge otherwife, than that thefe Fire-Particles being excited and put into Motion by the Fire of the Burning-Glafs, dilated themselves, and thereby burft the Glafs? From this Experiment, fince the Glafs was firft emptied of Air; and from the first Experiment of Water, it feems that it may be inferr'd, that it is not always neceffary to call to our Affiftance the Force of the Air, which is prefent in Mines or in Guns, in order to understand the rarefying Force of the kindled Gun-Powder, fince here the whole feems to be afcribed to the Particles of Fire

The fame feems to be confirmed by the additional Experiments of Sir Ifaac Newton's Treatife of Optics, p. 354. where it is faid, that upon diftilling a Spirit from Oil of Copperas and Salt

Petre,

Petre, and pouring the eighth Part of an Ounce therereof upon half as much Oil of Carraways, in a Place from whence the Air was exhausted, the Mixture presently took Fire, and burft in Pieces a Glafs that contained it, of fix Inches Breadth, and eight Inches Heighth, juft like kindled Gun-Powder: This can by no means be ascribed to the Air, because the Glafs was emptied of it; wherefore the rarefying Power of the Fire must be confider'd as the Caufe thereof.

SECT. XIII, and XIV. The Sixth Reason, and an
Experiment.

FROM what has been faid above, about RedLead, it seems, that one might infer, that as Air and Water are confolidated with Plants and Living Creatures, and help to compose the Bodies thereof, the Particles of Fire are in the fame manner to be found in the Structure and Compofition of many things, without any actual Burning, as Water may be in hard Horns, Bones and Wood, without rendring the fame Soft or Moift. This the Chymifts can witnefs, who have frequently diftilled fuch Bodies, without mixing any Liquid Matter with them.

They who have ever feen how eafily many Things burn, and how with a touch of the leaft Spark of Fire, they are in an inftant turned almost all of it into a dreadful and deftroying Flame, will perhaps infift upon no other Proofs, to be convinced, that there are lodged in Wood, Turf, Bones, Oil and Gun-Powder, a vaft Number of Fire-Particles, which as foon as kindled, do all of them operate; whereas without being kindled, they remain Quiet and without Motion.

But for a plainer Proof, how probable it is, that Fire itfelf may contribute to the Formation of fo

lid

lid Bodies, the Naturalift know, that there has been lately in the foregoing Age, a certain Subftance difclofed to the World, to which they give the Name of Phosphorus: This appears to be a folid hard Body, that may be handled; but put it into warm Water, and it will affume any Form, and retain it after 'tis Cold. So that the Makers thereof ufe this Method, to collect a great many Imall Balls, in which Shape it oftentimes comes over firft, into one great Piece. Now, that this Matter, if not wholly, yet for the most part con fifts of a ftill Fire, is plain from hence that if you let it lye for Years together in cold Water (as a great Quantity thereof in my Cuftody has lain fo above ten Years) it will not burn; but being ta ken out of the Water, the Warmth of a Man's Hand will presently produce a Light in it, and a Flame too, tho' not fenfible, and if you fpread a little of it upon the Skin of your Hand, it will feem as if a little Flame rofe from it, but with out burning: But if you encrease the Warmth of this Phofphorus a little more, it will presently exert its Heat, and be changed into a confuming and unextinguishable Fire, burning till nothing hardly remains of it, excepting, as fome fay, a little Sower Liquor. I never burnt it in a great Quantity, but have found by Experience, that the Warmth of the Sun will kindle it; and that when one rubs it hard upon a Cloth, the fame will take Fire; as likewife, that when fome Body had fmear'd his Face oyer with it, that he might shine in the dark, and afterwards moving fo much as to get a kind of a Sweat, it burnt all the Hair off his Head, and had like to have occafion'd much greater Mifchief. But we fhall fpeak more largely hereafter concerning this Phosphorus.

But that befides all this, Fire joins and fixes itfelf to many Bodies, has been plainly enough