REFLEXIONS Concerning the VIRTUES OF
TAR WATER.
WHEREIN Is proved by EXPERIENCE, that its present PREPARATION is not founded upon PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES; and that, as now Prepared, it may probably occasion more DISEASES than it can possibly cure.
WITH HINTS for its IMPROVEMENT, so as to make it a most efficacious and pleasant Medicine.
By
H. JACKSON,
Chemist.
Homines ad Deos nulla Re propius accedunt, quam Salutem Hominibus dando.
TULL.
LONDON:
Printed for J. ROBINSON, at the
Golden Lion
in
Ludgate-street.
1744. (Price Four Pence.)
REFLEXIONS Concerning the VIRTUES OF
TAR WATER,
&c.
T AR WATER,
as it is lately ordered by the Bishop of
Cloyne,
being at present almost as universal in its Use as it is proved to be in its Properties, by this learned Author; I hope it will not be thought presumptuous in me to undertake to prove why, and in what Manner, it may be improv'd in its excellent Qualifications, by a particular Management in its Preparation, since nothing but the general Good of Mankind is hereby aimed at. And tho' the learned Bishop has given Directions to prepare it in a very simple Manner, probably with the Intention that it might be equally serviceable to the Poor and Rich, yet I think few Reasons can be assign'd, why the Rich may not be supplied with a mose neat and certainly a more efficacious Remedy; especially, since the Price, even then, will not much exceed the present Rate, as I shall endeavour to prove.
Norway
Tar, as it is now imported, is unquestionably the best for this most noble Medicine, as being endowed with the most fragrant and subtile Parts, beyond other Tars, which is evident by its Smell, and by its Taste, as being least acrimonious; and it has been proved by several ingenious Chemists, that it partakes least of that heating sulphurous Property, which abounds in all these Balsams, either more or less.
Common Tar, or Tar from hot Climates, is not so well Saturated with this fine volatile aromatic Flavour. This, perhaps, in some Measure, may be owing to the Influence of the Sun, which exhales all the finest Parts, except those that are closely connected, and suppress'd by the viscid Juices of the Trees; whereas in colder Regions, the Pores of the Trees are more close and compact, and by that means these subtile Parts are more detain'd and lock'd up in their proper Cells, from whence proceeds the siner Flavour. But notwithstanding this, the best
Norway
Tar, as it is now imported, is so loaded with heterogeneous Matter, such as Sticks, Straws, Flies, Sand, and various other Bodies which cannot be defined, and which cannot subside in the Barrel by Reason of its Consistence or Thickness, (it being defign'd more for the Use of Ships than Medicine) that a Method ought to be considered which Way to refine it, like other natural Balsams, without damaging its natural Properties. This none but the chemic Art can well effect, so that it is needless to deliver the Process, since none but Chemists can perform it with Success; and that they can do at a trifling Expence. By this Method it is so contriv'd, that the pungent Taste of the Water is greatly lessen'd, and it is not so apt to regurgitate upon weak Stomachs; which frequently happens to the fair Sex, and renders them incapable of retaining it, for whose particular Maladies it is peculiarly excellent, as is unquestionably prov'd by the Author of
Siris,
Sect. 51, 99, 101, and 118.
The next Thing I shall take notice of is the Water. Our Author has not expresly informed us what Sort to make use of; so that we might use any Sort indifferently, was it not that our own Reason is sufficient to convince us what Sort to prefer; but lest the injudicious Part of Mankind may not comprehend what is meant, I shall endeavour to prove what Water ought to be preferred in compounding this most valuable Medicine.
Our Author tells us in Sect. 110 of his
Siris,
that
Tar Water
ought to be taken for some considerable Time in chronic Cases, such as the Gravel, Gout, Scurvy,
&c.
And that he has known very great Advantages procured thereby, which did not begin to appear till it had been taken two or three Months; which Circumstance in all Alteratives ought to be, but seldom is, regarded: now, as such a long Time must be allowed to compleat the Cure of a chronic Distemper, it follows, that a large Quantity of Water must be drank during this Time, perhaps the Quantity of twenty or thirty Gallons, or it may be three Times as much, before it be entirely forborn. But admit, that in painful Distempers, as the Gout and Rheumatism, it shou'd only procure Ease, during the taking it, and a Relapse shou'd ensue upon omitting it, as it may justly be suspected sometimes to fall short of a perfect Cure in the Gout or Scurvy; then it naturally follows, that a Patient wou'd continue taking it, perhaps for Years, or, so long as he perceived any good Effect by its Use. Now as there is thus sometimes a Necessity for drinking so great a Quantity of Water, it may justly be disputed whether the Cure might not be of worse Consequence to the Patient than the Disease; I mean, by employing an improper Water in making the Medicine: For most Waters are widely different in their Properties, according to the various Sources from whence they arise; as for Instance, Well-Waters chiefly are impregnated with mineral or metalline Particles, and River-Waters, which I suppose are chiefly used in
London
for this Medicine, abound with divers heterogeneous Particles, according to the various Soils they glide upon; and there is no Water at all so pure, but is loaded either more or less, with something foreign to itself: If any one disputes the Truth of this, let him but inspect the Infide of one of the Lady's Tea-kettles, and that will certainly convince him, or look into one of the leaden Pipes which conveys this Water for Kitchen Use, even if it has been laid but for three Months, and he will find the Inside lined with a stony Concrete: Then, without any cavilling or entering into any abstruse Mathematical Demonstration in this Point, I shall leave every one to judge what must be the Consequence of drinking so much of this crude Water, which must be done in the common Method of making
Tar Water.
But that I may not be thought singular in my Opinion, I shall just beg leave to subjoin some Quotations from Authors of established Reputation for Learning and Genius, to confirm what I have already advanced, and then propose a Method how to avoid this Evil at a small Expence.
Most Naturalists tell us of surprizing Instances of some Waters, which are of such a petrifying Nature, that in Rivulets wherein Water-mills have been fixed, the Periphery which catches the Water in small Boxes has been petrified to such a Degree, that the Owners have been obliged to clear it frequently with proper Instruments, in order to facilitate the Motion of the Wheel: such an Instance as this I have seen, and whoever inspects the Water-works of
London
Bridge, will find something to the same Purpose.
Dr.
Mead
has furnished us with some Hints of this Kind, in his last Essay on Poisons. At
Paris,
it has been remarked, that the River
Seine
is so full of stony Corpuscles, that the Inhabitants there are more subject to the Stone and Gravel, than at other Places.
Now let us suppose, what is very possible, that Waters may be impregnated with Metallic Particles of some Ore or other; then these, according to their various Gravitations, the Capacities of the Canals or Vessels, and such like Circumstances, (when they come to circulate in the human Body) must attract and be attracted by other Particles, which are already deposited either in the Kidneys, Bladder, or other secretory Passages, and cannot but form, and, as it were, cement a stony Substance, which, 'tis greatly to be feared, will defeat all the Efforts and sovereign dissolving Properties of
Tar Water
itself; nay, much stronger Medicines; of which the once famed Mrs.
Stephens
's are an Instance.
The Consideration of what has been said, and the Idea, which may be conceived of the infinite Number of small Ducts or secretory Vessels, through which this Liquor must be strained, ought to give us convincing Demonstrations, why it is as likely to procure Obstructions, as to remove them, and, consequently, lay the very Foundation for all Chronic Deseases, which, in my Opinion, must and do proceed from one and the same Cause.
Dr.
Lister
observes, that Waters which pass through a clayish Bottom, must partake of metallic Particles, because Clay is a mineral Glebe; and that these Particles are not to be master'd, that is, they cannot be digested in the human Body; and therefore he concludes, they cannot but cause calculous Concretions in the Kidneys, Bladder, and Joints. If this be the Case, we need not wonder why insensible Perspiration is obstructed by them; and thus says the great
Sanctorius
in
Sect.
2.
Aphor.
2. that heavy Water converts the Matter of Transpiration into an Ichor, which being retain'd, inchuces a Cachexy, which the learn'd Author of
Tar Water
says, (
Sect.
93.) is of the same Kind with the Scurvy, proceeds from the same Causes, and is attended with like Symptoms; which are so manifold and various, that the Scurvy may be looked on as a general Cachexy infecting the whole Habit, and vitiating all the Digestions.
From hence proceed Pains in the Limbs, livid Pustules and Ulcers in the Body, with great Inflammation from the Acrimony of the obstructed Ichor, or perspirable Matter. Hysterical Maladies are occasioned by the same Means; for the said
Sanctorius
observes, in
Sect,
3.
Aphor.
13. that the Wind, so inseparable from those Cases, is nothing else than the Fluid of Perspiration crude and unfinished: And a late very learned Author gives us the History of a Lady, his Relation, who was very much afflicted with frequent Returns of violent Cholic Pains, till she was advis'd by the noble
Van Helmont,
not to drink, as she then did, Beer brew'd with Wellwater, and soon after her Health was so far owing to that Management, that an Error in it, was unavoidably followed with the usual Complaint.
It may be objected, that all Persons are not alike subject to the Stone and Gravel, and that when Water is mix'd with the oily and acid Particles of the Ballam, it may, in some measure, relax the Vessels, and by that means give Liberty to the obstructed Matter to recover its Circulation or Secretion; but it must be considered that most Constitutions are more or less subject to Gravel, as appears upon Dissections, and by a sandy Sediment deposited in the Urine at various Times; it must be consider'd too, whether the attractive Force of these stony Particles, or the relaxing or attenuating Properties of
Tar Water
predominate; which I should imagine (considering the Narrowness of the Vessels or Ducts,
&c.
thro' which it must pass, whereby consequently the Particles are brought more within the Sphere of one anothers Attraction) must be yielded to the former; especially since it is a known Law in Mechanics, that in all Bodies or Particles of Matter, the attractive Force is as their Solidities, and Points in Contact, and that the attractive Force is infinitely greater at the Point of Contact, or extremely near it, than at any determined Distance. Besides, it is allowed that this Balsam contains an Acid, which incorporates with Water; and there must be a Sulphur because there is an Acid, for
Homberg
says, the Acid is always join'd to Sulphur,
Vide Siris,
Sect. 129, and Sir
Isaac Newton
says, that whatever attracts and is attracted strongly, is an Acid,
ib. Sect.
130. The last Author has also proved, that Acids which lay suppress'd in sulphurous Bodies, attract earthy ones more strongly than their own; from whence he accounts for Fermentation,
&c.
which may be seen fully explain'd, as it is printed in the second Volume of Dr.
Harris
's
Lexicon Technicum.
From hence it follows, that when these acid Particles meet with earthy ones, which abound in Water, they cannot but attract them; and when these Particles so attracted, do, by any Motion or Impulse meet with other Particles of a homogeneal Nature with themselves, which they cannot fail to do, either in the Bladder, Kidneys, or other Vessels in the Body, then it is that they attract each other most strongly, and so form Obstructions in this or that Vessel or Duct, which makes least Resistance, in spite of all the Intermediation of the Oil in
Tar Water,
which bears but a small Proportion to the acid or attractive Force.
But to return to our Subject, Water is of so constant a Service in preparing our Diet as well as Medicine, that it may be justly said to be the Vehicle of all our Nourishment, so that we cannot be too inquisitive into its Nature and Difference, nor too nice in our Choice of it; and as it is the only Menstruum of so noble a Medicine as
Tar Water,
it cannot be amiss to try and prove, if by our Art we can divest it of all its noxious Qualities, since we can find none without, and by that Means make it approach nearer to a Principle; when it will be fittest to join and cohere with the most subtile Parts of that excellent Balsam called
Tar.
This must be resolved into the noble Art of Chemistry, the experimental Part of which can only convince us, that Waters may be purified so as to partake little, or, perhaps, nothing, of that noxious Quality so obvious in them; and I have been convinced of this, by frequent Repetitions of various Processes perform'd with various Glasses within these two Months past, which would take up too much Room to insert in this Place. What is here said may occasion various Objections, especially from those at present concerned in the common Preparation of
Tar Water;
but I dare venture to affim, if the Question was put to any Chemist, nay to those who have only acquired a superficial Knowledge in Physick, it would not be disputed, but Waters may be purified by various Means to a great Degree, though they might still fall short of that Perfection which cannot be perform'd effectually, without the Addition of a second Principle, which has been successfully discover'd after a tedious Course of Experiments: For Distillation of Water alone, will not answer the Purpose; since after it has been distilled two or three Times, it will still continue to form a stony Concrete in the Inside of any Vessel it is boiled or even simmered in; and it is very easy to imagine what Consequences a continued Quantity may produce, when strained through the fine capillary Vessels in a human Body; which, as our great Author observes in Sect. 54, of his
Siris,
are said to be so small, that one Grain of Sand would cover the Mouths of more than a hundred Thousand.
It was observed before, and it may be justly repeated, that none but a Chemist can so dexterously prepare this Water, so as to free it from what is foreign to itself, consequently no Person can better prognosticate what Effects may proceed from its Use; for as our learned Bishop observes from
Socrates,
Sect. 253, You and the Cook may judge of a Dish on the Table equally well, but while the Dish is making, the Cook can better foretel what will ensue from this or that Manner of composing it; consequently the Chemist can judge best what will ensue from this or that manner of making a Medicine. People addicted to censure, may give out that self Interest is the only Motive that has induced me to publish this Pamphlet, because the Method of refining the two Principles is not recited; to which I answer, that the Chemic Province is too much invaded already by Empiries and Impostors, and those who are dissatisfied in this Point, are left to their own Option, either to continue drinking common
Tar Water,
or else apply to a Chemist for the other, since it is, at the same Time with this Book, published, where the genuine may be had at an easy Expence.
And though the Preference of this Medicine may be imagined from the Reasons already given, yet I am far from disparaging, or assuming the least Merit due to, our original and illustrious Author the Bishop of
Cloyne;
his excellent Treatise certainly deserves the greatest Applause and Homage from every Rank, and from Persons of Genius; and it would be folly in me to think him in the least ignorant, either of theoretical or experimental Part of Chemistry; what he has done may be more plausibly accounted for, from the Satisfaction he enjoyed in discovering a Medicine so universal, and easy in its Purchase to Rich and Poor; yet no Reasons can be assigned why we may not exercise our Faculties in meliorating that Medicine, and prove it more universal both by Reason and practical Experience.
I shall now conclude with making some Remarks upon the Manner of preparing this most noble Medicine, which when rightly managed, will justly deserve all the Encomiums conferred upon it. Its present Preparation is the most improper that can be, which, in some measure, the Bishop himself has proved by his own Philosophy, in several Parts of his Treatise; for by his ordering it to be stirred with a Ladle, or flat Stick, one may suspect that he and most others hitherto have prepared it in an open Vessel, which must be inconsistent with all manner of Philosophy. He lays great stress upon its Volatility, its subtile Oil or Acid, and its oily volatile vegetable Salt, which he says are the very Flower of its specific Qualities; this makes it appear more strange, that a Medicine endowed with such fine volatile Parts, should be made in an open Vessel, unless we intended to evaporate, o
rob it of this Volatility: For he has taught us, in
Sect.
46. that all the finest and purest Parts of any Volatile very easily ascend first: Where then must all these fine volatile, oily, and subtile acid Parts, as he calls them, go to, in a Vessel uncovered? It ought to be our chiefest Care to preserve them. What is the Worth of the once greatly fancied Spirits of Scurvigrass, after they have stood forty eight Hours in an open Vessel?
Sal Armoniac
and Salts of Tartar, perhaps, have less Volatility, than either
Tar
or
Water,
when single, yet upon the least mixing them one with the other, there immediately arises a Volatility, which affects the Nose so strongly, as not to be endured. But tho' this will greatly admit of a Comparison,
et it does not exactly solve the present Problem: For, Tar being impregnated with such subtile Parts, which are suppressed from flying off by Reason of the Viscidity of its component Parts, yet when it comes to be divided, and, as it were, fluxed with such a Fluid as Water, then all its volatile Parts are disengaged, and set loose from their Imprisonment, and cannot fail to escape according to their different Degrees of Purity; especially if the Water be refined, for it is then rendred much fitter for Infusion, because its Parts, which before were gross and heavy, being now made small, and, as it were, volatile, it is fitted to inlinuate itself into the most remote Abscesses, and there adjoin itself to the most subtile parts of the Subject, which before were so closely shut up in these narrow Cells, as to debar the Entrance of more crude aqueous Particles: Much in the Manner as Spirits of Wine will dissolve a resinous Substance sooner than Water; for the spirituous Particles being more subtile and exceedingly smaller than those of Water, they can more readily enter into the Interstices of the Resin, and easily disjoin its Parts, which are too closely united for the gross Corpuscles of Water to enter.
Hence it is manifest, that purified Water is not only incomparably better adapted to enter into the Stage of Circulation in human Bodies, but likewise more appropriated to extract a Tincture from Vegetables or their Balsams; which is the sole Aim of our present Business.
FINIS.