John Bate

“ How to sodder upon Silver, Brasse, or Iron. There are two kindes of Sodder, to wit, hard Sodder, and soft Sodder. The soft Sodder runneth sooner then the hard: wherefore if a thing be to be sodered in two places, which cannot at one time well be performed, then the first must be sodered with hard soder, and the second with soft: for if the first be done with soft, it will unsoder againe before the other be sodered. Note, that if you would not have your soder to runne over any one part of the peece to be sodered, you must rub over that part with chalke that you would not have it runne upon. ”

“ It hath been an old saying amongst Philosophers, and experience doth prove it to be true, Non datur vacuum, that is to say, Nature will not admit of any vacuity, or emptinesse. For some one or other of the Elements, but especially Ayre, and Water doe insert themselves into all manner of concavities, or hollownesses, in, or upon the earth, whether they are such as are formed either by Art or Nature. For the one it is so obvious, and manifest, as that it needs not any proofe at all. ”

“ To make Copper or Brasse have the colour of silver. Take Sal Armoniacke, allum, and salt, of each a like quantity, and with a little filings of silver, let all be mixt together, then put them into the fire, that they may be hot, and when they shall cease to smoke, then with the same powder moystned with spittle, rub your Copper or Brasse.
How to make glew to hold things together as fast as stone. Take of the powder of tile sheard, two pound, unflakt lyme, foure pound, oyle of Lynseed, a sufficient quantity to temper the whole mixure ”

“ It is possible for one to be a good Painter, and yet not to be able to draw well with the pen, because there is not required in a Painter such a curious and exact carriage of the hand: but it is impossible for one ever to Grave or Etch well, except he can draw well with the pen. ”

“ How to make white letters in a blacke Feild. Take the yelke of a new layd egge, and grinde it upon a marble with faire water, so as you may write with it: having ground it on this wise, then with a penne dipt into it, draw what letters you will upon paper, or parchment, and when they are through drie, blacke all the paper over with inke; and when it is drie, you may with a knife scrape all the letters of that you wrote with the yelke of the egge, and they will shew faire and white. ”

“ How to make fire Boxes. You must make the coffins for fire Boxes of paste-board, rowled upon a Former, of what bignesse you list; then binde them about with packthread, and glew over the cords; also glew bottoms unto them, which must be pierced with a bodkin to prime them at. In these boxes you may put golden rayne, starres, serpents, petrars, fiends, devils. The tops of these fire boxes must bee covered with paper as the compound Rockets. Note that you must strew gunpowder dust a pretty thicknesse on the bottome of the fire-boxes, and prime the hole at the bottome with prepared stouple. ”

“ The compounded are such, whose ingredients do exceed the number of one. Vegetables are rootes, juces, berries, and such like things as grow out of the earth. Minerals are such as are dig'd out of the earth, as earth, and stones, &c. All which follow in order, as well their preparations, as description. First note that every colour to be ground, ought first to be ground with the gall of a neat: then let them dry of themselves in a cold place, afterwards grinde them with gumme water for your use. ”

“ To make Ice that will melt in fire, but not dissolve in Water. Take strong water made with saltpeter, allum, and oyle of tartar, of each, one pound. Infuse them together, then put into them a little aqua ardens, and it will presently coagulate them, and turne them into ice.
A cement as hard as stone. Take powder of Loadstone, and of flints, a like quantity of either, and with whites of egges, and gumme dragant, make paste, and in a few dayes it will grow as hard as a stone. ”

“ The flying Dragon is somewhat troublesome to compose; it must be made eyther of dry and light wood, or crooked-lane plates, or of thin whalebones covered with Muscovie glasse, and painted over. In the body thereof, there must bee a voyde cane to passe the rope through; unto the bottome of this cane must bee bound one or two large Rockets, according as the bignesse and weight of the Dragon shall require; the body must bee filled with divers petrars, that may consume it, and a sparkling receipt must be so disposed upon it, that being fired, it may burne both at the mouth and at the tayle thereof ”

“ If you make a little hole in the top of an egge, and let out all the meat, and fill the shell with the following powder, and stop the hole with wax, and cast it into a running water, it will break out into a fire. ”

“ Take an ounce of Brasill, twelve ounces of beere, wine, or vinegar, put it in a new pot, let it stand a night; and in the morning set it on the fire, and let it seethe till halfe be consumed: then put into it two peny worth of allum beaten together, and as much beaten gum-Arabicke: stirre them well together, and let them seethe againe; if you desire to have it somewhat darke, then scrape a little chalke into it when it seetheth: let it not seethe over the pot: when it is cold straine it through a cloth, and put it into a glass well stopt. ”

“ You must take a peece of linnen cloth of a yard or more in length; it must bee cut after the forme of a pane of glasse; fasten two light stickes crosse the same, to make it stand at breadth; then smeare it over with linseed oyle, and liquid varnish tempered together, or else wet it with oyle of peter, and unto the longest corner fasten a match prepared with saltpeter water (as I have taught before) upon which you may fasten divers crackers, or Saucissons; betwixt every of which, binde a knot of paper shavings, which will make it flie the better ”

“ How to harden Leather, so as the same shall last much longer in succurs of Pumps, then it doth unprepared. Lay such Leather as is well tanned to soake in water, wherein there hath beene store of iron filings a long time, or else in the water that hath lien a long time under a grindstone, into the which such yron as hath beene from time to time ground away, hath fallen and there setled. ”

“ How to make Rockets for the water. The diameter of hollownesse of the mould for Rockets that swim on the water, must be one inch, and eight inches long: let the breech enter into the body of the Rocket one inch, and it must have no broach at all in it. Let the diameter of the thicknesse of the rowler bee three quarters of an inch, the rammer must be a thought lesser; then ram it full of the composition of Rockets for the water ”

“ If the picture that you intend to draw be a printed one, then first fasten it next unto the Deske with waxe, paste, or such like: upon it fasten a sheet of faire paper: If it be in the day-time place the backe of it towards the Sunne; if it be in the night that you worke, place a lampe behinde it, and so you shall see perfectly every (even the least) stroake of the picture, which with your penne you may draw as acurately as any Limmer whatsoever. If it be a solid peece, then place it behinde the Deske, betweene the light and the Deske: then fasten a sheet of cleane white paper upon the Deske ”

“ A Weather-glasse is a structure of, at the least, two glasses, sometimes of three, foure, or more, as occasion serueth, inclosing a quantity of water, and a portion of ayre proportionable, by whose condensation or rarifaction the included water is subject unto a continuall motion, either upward or downward ”

“ Take gunpowder dust, foure ounces, camphire, and sulphur, or brimstone in powder, of each one ounce, make them into a soft pap with oyle of tiles, then binde unto it a large Rocket for the water, which Rocket must be armed (as afore) that the water may not hurt it: then ballast it with a wyre, hauing at each end a piece of lead of weight sufficient, and it is done. ”

“ Beate the whitest Fish glew with a hammer, till it begin to waxe cleere, then cut the same into very small pieces, suffering the same to dissolve on a gentle fire, in a leaded pan, with a few drops of aqua vitæ, then let some other that standeth by, hold both the pieces that are to bee cemented, over a chafingdish of coles, till they be warme: and during their heat, lay on the dissolved glew with a fine pensill; then binde the glasse with wyre or threed, and let it rest till it be cold. ”

“ Let there be an altar having a pipe comming out of it, and entring the body of a hollow ball, let there come out of the same ball a crane, whose lower end make to hang ouer a bucket fastned to a rope, and hanging ouer a pulley, of which rope the other end must bee wound about two spindles, hauing two doores fastned unto them, and at the end of the same rope let there bee a waight fastned. ”

“ A Forcer is a plug of wood exactly turned and leathered about; the end that goeth into the barrell, is semicircularly concaue.
A Clacke is a peece of Leather nayled ouer any hole, hauing a peece of lead to make it lie close, so that the ayre or water in any vessell may thereby bee kept from going out. ”

“ A wheele which being turned about, it casteth water out at the spindle. Let A, B, be a tub hauing in the bottom a brasse barrell, with a hole open quite through one side of it: let D, E, F, be a wheele, whose spindle must bee also hollow, and haue a hole through one side of it, so that being put into the hollow barrell, both the holes may be equall together. ”

“ The socket must have a loope at the bottome, whereunto you must hang a weight of such heavinesse, that it may draw the body of the glasse under water. The necke of this glasse must bee open, and stand above the water; also about the necke must bee fastened a good broad peece of wood; round about which (but on that side of it that is next unto the water) must be placed divers peeces of looking glasses; so the light of the candle in the glasse body will bee multiplied according unto the number of them. ”

“ First beat it as smooth as you can with a hammer, then rub it smooth with a pumice stone that is void of gravell, (least it race it, & so cause you as much more labour to get them out) burnish it after with a burnishing iron, having first dropped a drop or two of sallet oyle on it: then rub it over with a cole, prepared as is after taught, and lastly with a peece of beaver hat dipt in sallet oyle, rub it very well for an houre: thus you may polish it exactly.
How to prepare your Coales. ”

“ Note that if you fill the said vessell halfe-full of water, and blow into the hole of the pipe, at the side, your breath will lift up the clack, and enter the vessell, but when it is in, it will presse down the clack: blow into it oftentimes, so shall there bee a great deale of ayre in the vessell, which will presse so hard upon the water, that if you turne the cock at the top, the water in the vessell will spin out a good while. ”

“ Swevels are nothing else but Rockets, having in stead of a rod (to ballast them) a little cane bound fast unto them, where through the rope passeth. Note that you must be carefull to have your line strong, even & smooth, and it must be rubd over with sope that it may not burn. If you would have your Rockets to returne againe, then binde two Rockets together, with the breech of one towards the mouth of the other, and let the stouple that primeth the one, enter the breech of the other ”

“ Take a wine pint of stilled water of Planten, as much white wine; put therein two ounces of Roch allum, a dramme of Verdigrease, a dramme of Mercurie sublimed: boyle all these together, and keepe them in a thicke glasse being stoped with waxe very close that the strength go not out; this will cleanse and mundifie old sores: It will also heale a Fistula if you use a siering, so that the water may come to the bottome of the sore.
The Medicine of medicines proved for the Stone. Take a quantity of eg-shels, wash them cleane; those are the best whereout chickens are come ”

“ Fill the boxes with water when you occupy it, also put fire upon the altar, and the dragon will hisse, and the water in the two boxes being wrought upon by the heat of the fire comming thorow the pipes, will drop into the fire. ”

“ Colours are either simple or compounded, meerely tinctures of vegetables, or substances of minerals, or both: the simple colours are such as of themselves, being tempered with the water or oyle, doe give a colour. ”