still to be nearer of kin to Talck than to meer Earth. And I remember too, that a candid Mineralist, famous for his Skill in trying of Oars, requesting me one day to procure him a certain _American_ Mineral Earth of a _Virtuoso_, who he thought would not refuse me; I enquir'd of him why he seem'd so greedy of it: he confess'd to me that this Gentleman having brought that Earth to the publick Say-Masters; and they upon their being unable by any means to bring it to fusion or make it fly away, he (the Relator) had procur'd a little of it; and having try'd it with a peculiar Flux separated from it neer a third part of pure Gold; so great mistakes may be committed in hastily concluding things to be Uselesse Earth. Next, it may be suppos'd, That as in the Resolution of Bodies by the Fire some of the dissipated Parts may, by their various occursion occasion'd by the heat, be brought to stick together so closely as to constitute Corpuscles too heavy for the Fire to carry away; the aggregate of which Corpuscles is wont to be call'd Ashes or Earrh [Errata: Earth]; So other Agents may resolve the Concrete into Minute Parts, after so differing a manner as not to produce any _Caput mortuum_, or dry and heavy Body. As you may remember _Helmont_ above inform'd us, that with his great Dissolvent he divided a Coal into two liquid and volatile Bodies, aequiponderant to the Coal, without any dry or fixt Residence at all. And indeed, I see not why it should be necessary that all Agents that resolve Bodies into portions of differingly qualifi'd matter must work on them the same way, and divide them into just such parts, both for nature and Number, as the Fire dissipates them into. For since, as I noted before, the Bulk and shape of the small Parts of bodies, together with their Fitness and Unfitness to be easily put into Motion, may make the liquors or other substances such Corpuscles compose, as much to differ from each other as do some of the Chymical principles: Why may not something happen in this case, not unlike what is usuall in the grosser divisions of bodies by Mechanical Instruments? Where we see that some Tools reduce Wood, for Instance, into darts [Errata: parts] of several shapes, bignesse, and other qualities, as Hatchets and Wedges divide it into grosser parts; some more long and slender, as splinters; and some more thick and irregular, as chips; but all of considerable bulk; but Files and Saws makes a Comminution of it into Dust; which, as all the others, is of the more solid sort of parts; whereas others divide it into long and broad, but thin and flexible parts, as do _Planes_: And of this kind of parts it self there is also a variety according to the Difference of the Tools employ'd to work on the Wood; the shavings made by the _plane_ being in some things differing from those shives or thin and flexible pieces of wood that are obtain'd by _Borers_, and these from some others obtainable by other Tools. Some Chymical Examples