Aphorism 10
Aphorism 20
Aphorism 30
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| LIBER SECUNDUS APHORISMORUM, DE INTERPRETATIONE NATURAE, SIVE DE REGNO HOMINIS. | |
| Super datum corpus novam naturam sive novas naturas generare et superinducere, opus et intentio est humanae potentiae. Datae autem naturae Formam, sive differentiam veram, sive naturam naturantem, sive fontem emanationis (ista enim vocabula habemus, quae ad indicationem rei proxime accedunt) invenire, opus et intentio est humanae scientiae. Atque his operibus primariis subordinantur alia opera duo secundaria et inferioris notae ; priori, transformatio corporum concretorum de alio in aliud, intra terminos Possibilis ; posteriori, inventio in omni generatione et motu latentis processus, continuati ab efficiente manifesto et materia manifesta usque ad Formam inditam ; et inventio similiter latentis schematismi corporum quiescentium et non in motu. | On a given body, to generate and superinduce a new nature or new natures is the work and aim of human power. Of a given nature to discover the form, or true specific difference, or nature-engendering nature, or source of emanation (for these are the terms which come nearest to a description of the thing), is the work and aim of human knowledge. Subordinate to these primary works are two others that are secondary and of inferior mark: to the former, the transformation of concrete bodies, so far as this is possible; to the latter, the discovery, in every case of generation and motion, of the latent process carried on from the manifest efficient and the manifest material to the form which is engendered; and in like manner the discovery of the latent configuration of bodies at rest and not in motion. |
| II. | II |
| Quam infeliciter se habeat scientia humana, quae in usu est, etiam ex illis liquet quae vulgo asseruntur. Recte ponitur ; Vere scire, esse per causas scire. Etiam non male constituuntur causae quatuor ; Materia, Forma, Efficiens, et Finis. At ex his causa finalis tantum abest ut prosit, ut etiam scientias corrumpat, nisi in hominis actionibus. Formae inventio habetur pro desperata. Efficiens vero, et materia (quales quaeruntur et recipiuntur, remotae scilicet, absque latenti processu ad formam) res perfunctoriae sunt, et superficiales, et nihili fere ad scientiam veram et activam. Neque tamen obliti sumus nos superius notasse et correxisse errorem mentis humanae, in deferendo formis primas essentiae. Licet enim in natura nihil vere existat praeter corpora individua, edentia actus puros individuos ex lege ; in doctrinis tamen, illa ipsa lex, ejusque inquisitio et inventio atque explicatio, pro fundamento est tam ad sciendum, quam ad operandum. Eam autem legem, ejusque paragraphos, formarum nomine intelligimus ; praesertim cum hoc vocabulum invaluerit, et familiariter occurrat. | In what an ill condition human knowledge is at the present time is apparent even from the commonly received maxims. It is a correct position that "true knowledge is knowledge by causes." And causes again are not improperly distributed into four kinds: the material, the formal, the efficient, and the final. But of these the final cause rather corrupts than advances the sciences, except such as have to do with human action. The discovery of the formal is despaired of. The efficient and the material (as they are investigated and received, that is, as remote causes, without reference to the latent process leading to the form) are but slight and superficial, and contribute little, if anything, to true and active science. Nor have I forgotten that in a former passage I noted and corrected as an error of the human mind the opinion that forms give existence. For though in nature nothing really exists besides individual bodies, performing pure individual acts according to a fixed law, yet in philosophy this very law, and the investigation, discovery, and explanation of it, is the foundation as well of knowledge as of operation. And it is this law with its clauses that I mean when I speak of forms, a name which I the rather adopt because it has grown into use and become familiar. |
| III. | III |
| Qui causam alicujus naturae (veluti albedinis aut caloris) in certis tantum subjectis novit ; ejus scientia imperfecta est : et qui effectum super certas tantum materias (inter eas, quae sunt susceptibiles) inducere potest ; ejus potentia pariter imperfecta est. At qui efficientem et materialem causam tantummodo novit (quae causae fluxae sunt, et nihil aliud quam vehicula et causae formam deferentes in aliquibus), is ad nova inventa, in materia aliquatenus simili et praeparata, pervenire potest ; sed rerum terminos altius fixos non movet. At qui formas novit, is naturae unitatem in materiis dissimillimis complectitur ; itaque quae adhuc facta non sunt, qualia nec naturae vicissitudines, neque experimentales industriae, neque casus ipse, in actum unquam perduxissent, neque cogitationem humanam subitura fuissent, detegere et producere potest. Quare ex formarum inventione sequitur contemplatio vera, et operatio libera. | If a man be acquainted with the cause of any nature (as whiteness or heat) in certain subjects only, his knowledge is imperfect; and if he be able to superinduce an effect on certain substances only (of those susceptible of such effect), his power is in like manner imperfect. Now if a man's knowledge be confined to the efficient and material causes (which are unstable causes, and merely vehicles, or causes which convey the form in certain cases) he may arrive at new discoveries in reference to substances in some degree similar to one another, and selected beforehand; but he does not touch the deeper boundaries of things. But whosoever is acquainted with forms embraces the unity of nature in substances the most unlike, and is able therefore to detect and bring to light things never yet done, and such as neither the vicissitudes of nature, nor industry in experimenting, nor accident itself, would ever have brought into act, and which would never have occurred to the thought of man. From the discovery of forms therefore results truth in speculation and freedom in operation. |
| IV. | IV |
| Licet viae ad potentiam atque ad scientiam humanam conjunctissimae sint et fere eaedem, tamen propter perniciosam et inveteratam consuetudinem versandi in abstractis, tutius omnino est ordiri et excitare scientias ab iis fundamentis quae in ordine sunt ad partem activam, atque ut illa ipsa partem contemplativam signet et determinet. Videndum itaque est, ad aliquam naturam super corpus datum generandam et superinducendam, quale quis praeceptum aut qualem quis directionem aut deductionem maxime optaret ; idque sermone simplici et minime abstruso. Exempli gratia ; si quis argento cupiat superinducere flavum colorem auri aut augmentum ponderis (servatis legibus materiae), aut lapidi alicui non diaphano diaphaneitatem, aut vitro tenacitatem, aut corpori alicui non vegetabili vegetationem ; videndum (inquam) est, quale quis praeceptum aut deductionem potissimum sibi dari exoptet. Atque primo, exoptabit aliquis proculdubio sibi monstrari aliquid hujusmodi, quod opere non frustret neque experimento fallat. Secundo, exoptabit quis aliquid sibi praescribi, quod ipsum non astringat et coerceat ad media quaedam et modos quosdam operandi particulares. Fortasse enim destituetur, nec habebit facultatem et commoditatem talia media comparandi et procurandi. Quod si sint et alia media et alii modi (praeter illud praeceptum) progignendae talis naturae, ea fortasse ex iis erunt quae sunt in operantis potestate ; a quibus nihilominus per angustias praecepti excludetur, nec fructum capiet. Tertio, optabit aliquid sibi monstrari, quod non sit aeque difficile ac illa ipsa operatio de qua inquiritur, sed propius accedat ad praxin. Itaque de praecepto vero et perfecto operandi, pronuntiatum erit tale ; ut sit certum, liberum, et disponens sive in ordine ad actionem. Atque hoc ipsum idem est cum inventione formae verae. Etenim forma naturae alicujus talis est ut, ea posita, natura data infallibiliter sequatur. Itaque adest perpetuo, quando natura illa adest, atque eam universaliter affirmat, atque inest omni. Eadem forma talis est ut, ea amota, natura data infallibiliter fugiat. Itaque abest perpetuo, quando natura illa abest, eamque perpetuo abnegat, atque inest soli. Postremo, forma vera talis est, ut naturam datam ex fonte aliquo essentiae deducat quae inest pluribus, et notior est naturae (ut loquuntur) quam ipsa forma. Itaque de axiomate vero et perfecto sciendi pronuntiatum et praeceptum tale est ; ut inveniatur natura alia, quae sit cum natura data convertibilis, et tamen sit limitatio naturae notioris, instar generis veri. Ista autem duo pronuntiata, activum et contemplativum, res eadem sunt ; et quod in operando utilissimum, id in sciendo verissimum. | Although the roads to human power and to human knowledge lie close together and are nearly the same, nevertheless, on account of the pernicious and inveterate habit of dwelling on abstractions it is safer to begin and raise the sciences from those foundations which have relation to practice, and to let the active part itself be as the seal which prints and determines the contemplative counterpart. We must therefore consider, if a man wanted to generate and superinduce any nature upon a given body, what kind of rule or direction or guidance he would most wish for, and express the same in the simplest and least abstruse language. For instance, if a man wishes to superinduce upon silver that yellow color of gold or an increase of weight (observing the laws of matter), or transparency on an opaque stone, or tenacity on glass, or vegetation on some substance that is not vegetable — we must consider, I say, what kind of rule or guidance he would most desire. And in the first place, he will undoubtedly wish to be directed to something which will not deceive him in the result nor fail him in the trial. Secondly, he will wish for such a rule as shall not tie him down to certain means and particular modes of operation. For perhaps he may not have those means, nor be able conveniently to procure them. And if there be other means and other methods for producing the required nature (besides the one prescribed) these may perhaps be within his reach; and yet he shall be excluded by the narrowness of the rule, and get no good from them. Thirdly, he will desire something to be shown him, which is not as difficult as the thing proposed to be done, but comes nearer to practice. For a true and perfect rule of operation, then, the direction will be that it be certain, free, and disposing or leading to action. And this is the same thing with the discovery of the true form. For the form of a nature is such, that given the form, the nature infallibly follows. Therefore it is always present when the nature is present, and universally implies it, and is constantly inherent in it. Again, the form is such that if it be taken away the nature infallibly vanishes. Therefore it is always absent when the nature is absent, and implies its absence, and inheres in nothing else. Lastly, the true form is such that it deduces the given nature from some source of being which is inherent in more natures, and which is better known in the natural order of things than the form itself. For a true and perfect axiom of knowledge, then, the direction and precept will be, that another nature be discovered which is convertible with the given nature and yet is a limitation of a more general nature, as of a true and real genus. Now these two directions, the one active the other contemplative, are one and the same thing; and what in operation is most useful, that in knowledge is most true. |
| V. | V |
| At praeceptum sive axioma de transformatione corporum duplicis est generis. Primum intuetur corpus, ut turmam sive conjugationem naturarum simplicium : ut in auro haec conveniunt ; quod sit flavum ; quod sit ponderosum, ad pondus tale ; quod sit malleabile aut ductile, ad extensionem talem ; quod non fiat volatile, nec deperdat de quanto suo per ignem ; quod fluat fluore tali ; quod separetur et solvatur modis talibus ; et similiter de caeteris naturis, quae in auro concurrunt. Itaque hujusmodi axioma rem deducit ex formis naturarum simplicium. Nam qui formas et modos novit superinducendi flavi, ponderis, ductilis, fixi, fluoris, solutionum, et sic de reliquis, et eorum graduationes et modos, videbit et curabit ut ista conjungi possint in aliquo corpore, unde sequatur transformatio in aurum. Atque hoc genus operandi pertinet ad actionem primariam. Eadem enim est ratio generandi naturam unam aliquam simplicem, et plures ; nisi quod arctetur magis restringatur homo in operando, si plures requirantur, propter difficultatem tot naturas coadunandi ; quae non facile conveniunt, nisi per vias naturae tritas et ordinarias. Utcunque tamen dicendum est, quod iste modus operandi (qui naturas intuetur simplices, licet in corpore concreto) procedat ex iis, quae in natura sunt constantia et aeterna et catholica, et latas praebeat potentiae humanae vias, quales (ut nunc sunt res) cogitatio humana vix capere aut repraesentare possit. At secundum genus axiomatis (quod a latentis processus inventione pendet) non per naturas simplices procedit, sed per concreta corpora, quemadmodum in natura inveniuntur, cursu ordinario. Exempli gratia ; in casu ubi fit inquisitio, ex quibus initiis, et quo modo, et quo processu, aurum aut aliud quodvis metallum aut lapis generetur, a primis menstruis aut rudimentis suis usque ad mineram perfectam ; aut similiter, quo processu herbae generentur, a primis concretionibus succorum in terra, aut a seminibus, usque ad plantam formatam, cum universa illa successione motus, et diversis et continuatis naturae nixibus ; similiter, de generatione ordinatim explicata animalium, ab initu ad partum ; et similiter de corporibus aliis. Enimvero neque ad generationes corporum tantum spectat haec inquisitio, sed etiam ad alios motus et opificia naturae. Exempli gratia ; in casu ubi fit inquisitio de universa serie et continuatis actionibus alimentandi, a prima receptione alimenti ad assimilationem perfectam ; aut similiter de motu voluntario in animalibus, a prima impressione imaginationis et continuatis nixibus spiritus usque ad flexiones et motus artuum ; aut de explicato motu linguae et labiorum et instrumentorum reliquorum usque ad editionem vocum articulatarum. Nam haec quoque spectant ad naturas concretas, sive collegiatas et in fabrica ; et intuentur veluti consuetudines naturae particulares et speciales, non leges fundamentales et communes, quae constituunt formas. Veruntamen omnino fatendum est, rationem istam videri expeditiorem et magis sitam in propinquo, et spem injicere magis, quam illam primariam. At pars Operativa similiter, quae huic parti Contemplativae respondet, operationem extendit et promovet ab iis quae ordinario in natura inveniuntur ad quaedam proxima, aut a proximis non admodum remota ; sed altiores et radicales operationes super naturam pendent utique ab axiomatibus primariis. Quinetiam ubi non datur homini facultas operandi, sed tantum sciendi, ut in coelestibus (neque enim ceditur homini operari in coelestia, aut ea immutare aut transformare), tamen inquisitio facti ipsius sive veritatis rei, non minus quam cognitio causarum et consensuum, ad primaria illa et catholica axiomata de naturis simplicibus (veluti de natura rotationis spontaneae, attractionis sive virtutis magneticae, et aliorum complurium quae magis communia sunt quam ipsa coelestia) refertur. Neque enim speret aliquis terminare quaestionem, utrum in motu diurno revera terra aut coelum rotet, nisi naturam rotationis spontaneae prius comprehenderit. | The rule or axiom for the transformation of bodies is of two kinds. The first regards a body as a troop or collection of simple natures. In gold, for example, the following properties meet. It is yellow in color, heavy up to a certain weight, malleable or ductile to a certain degree of extension; it is not volatile and loses none of its substance by the action of fire; it turns into a liquid with a certain degree of fluidity; it is separated and dissolved by particular means; and so on for the other natures which meet in gold. This kind of axiom, therefore, deduces the thing from the forms of simple natures. For he who knows the forms of yellow, weight, ductility, fixity, fluidity, solution, and so on, and the methods for superinducing them and their gradations and modes, will make it his care to have them joined together in some body, whence may follow the transformation of that body into gold. And this kind of operation pertains to the first kind of action. For the principle of generating some one simple nature is the same as that of generating many; only that a man is more fettered and tied down in operation, if more are required, by reason of the difficulty of combining into one so many natures which do not readily meet, except in the beaten and ordinary paths of nature. It must be said, however, that this mode of operation (which looks to simple natures though in a compound body) proceeds from what in nature is constant and eternal and universal, and opens broad roads to human power, such as (in the present state of things) human thought can scarcely comprehend or anticipate. The second kind of axiom, which is concerned with the discovery of the latent process, proceeds not by simple natures, but by compound bodies, as they are found in nature in its ordinary course. As, for instance, when inquiry is made from what beginnings, and by what method and by what process, gold or any other metal or stone is generated, from its first menstrua and rudiments up to the perfect mineral; or in like manner, by what process herbs are generated, from the first concretion of juices in the ground or from seeds up to the formed plant, with all the successive motions and diverse and continued efforts of nature. So also in the inquiry concerning the process of development in the generation of animals, from coition to birth; and in like manner of other bodies. It is not however only to the generations of bodies that this investigation extends, but also to other motions and operations of nature. As, for instance, when inquiry is made concerning the whole course and continued action of nutrition, from the first reception of the food to its complete assimilation; or again, concerning the voluntary motion of animals from the first impression on the imagination and the continued efforts of the spirit up to the bendings and movements of the limbs; or concerning the motion of the tongue and lips and other instruments, and the changes through which it passes till it comes to the utterance of articulate sounds. For these inquiries also relate to natures concrete or combined into one structure, and have regard to what may be called particular and special habits of nature, not to her fundamental and universal laws which constitute forms. And yet it must be confessed that this plan appears to be readier and to lie nearer at hand and to give more ground for hope than the primary one. In like manner the operative which answers to this speculative part, starting from the ordinary incidents of nature, extends its operation to things immediately adjoining, or at least not far removed. But as for any profound and radical operations on nature, they depend entirely on the primary axioms. And in those things too where man has no means of operating, but only of knowing, as in the heavenly bodies (for these he cannot operate upon or change or transform), the investigation of the fact itself or truth of the thing, no less than the knowledge of the causes and consents, must come from those primary and catholic axioms concerning simple natures, such as the nature of spontaneous rotation, of attraction or magnetism, and of many others which are of a more general form than the heavenly bodies themselves. For let no one hope to decide the question whether it is the earth or heaven that really revolves in the diurnal motion until he has first comprehended the nature of spontaneous rotation. |
| VI. | VI |
| Latens autem Processus, de quo loquimur, longe alia res est quam animis hominum (qualiter nunc obsidentur) facile possit occurrere. Neque enim intelligimus mensuras quasdam, aut signa, aut scalas processus in corporibus spectabiles ; sed plane processum continuatum, qui maxima ex parte sensum fugit. Exempli gratia ; in omni generatione et transformatione corporum, inquirendum quid deperdatur et evolet, quid maneat, quid accedat ; quid dilatetur, quid contrahatur ; quid uniatur, quid separetur ; quid continuetur, quid abscindatur ; quid impellat, quid impediat ; quid dominetur, quid succumbat ; et alia complura. Neque hic rursus, haec tantum in generatione aut transformatione corporum quaerenda sunt ; sed et in omnibus aliis alterationibus et motibus similiter inquirendum quid antecedat, quid succedat ; quid sit incitatius, quid remissius ; quid motum praebeat, quid regat ; et hujusmodi. Ista vero omnia scientiis (quae nunc pinguissima Minerva et prorsus inhabili contexuntur) incognita sunt et intacta. Cum enim omnis actio naturalis per minima transigatur, aut saltem per illa quae sunt minora quam ut sensum feriant, nemo se naturam regere aut vertere posse speret, nisi illa debito modo comprehenderit et notaverit. | But this latent process of which I speak is quite another thing than men, preoccupied as their minds now are, will easily conceive. For what I understand by it is not certain measures or signs or successive steps of process in bodies, which can be seen; but a process perfectly continuous, which for the most part escapes the sense. For instance: in all generation and transformation of bodies, we must inquire what is lost and escapes; what remains, what is added; what is expanded, what contracted; what is united, what separated; what is continued, what cut off; what propels, what hinders; what predominates, what yields; and a variety of other particulars. Again, not only in the generation or transformation of bodies are these points to be ascertained, but also in all other alterations and motions it should in like manner be inquired what goes before, what comes after; what is quicker, what more tardy; what produces, what governs motion; and like points; all which nevertheless in the present state of the sciences (the texture of which is as rude as possible and good for nothing) are unknown and unhandled. For seeing that every natural action depends on things infinitely small, or at least too small to strike the sense, no one can hope to govern or change nature until he has duly comprehended and observed them. |
| VII. | VII |
| Similiter, inquisitio et inventio latentis schematismi in corporibus res nova est, non minus quam inventio latentis processus et formae. Versamur enim plane adhuc in atriis naturae, neque ad interiora paramus aditum. At nemo corpus datum nova natura dotare vel in novum corpus foeliciter et apposite transmutare potest, nisi corporis alterandi aut transformandi bonam habuerit notitiam. In modos enim vanos incurret, aut saltem difficiles et perversos, nec pro corporis natura in quod operatur. Itaque ad hoc etiam via plane est aperienda et munienda. Atque in anatomia corporum organicorum (qualia sunt hominis et animalium) opera sane recte et utiliter insumitur, et videtur res subtilis et scrutinium naturae bonum. At hoc genus anatomiae spectabile est, et sensui subjectum, et in corporibus tantum organicis locum habet. Verum hoc ipsum obvium quiddam est, et in promptu situm, prae anatomia vera schematismi latentis in corporibus quae habentur pro similaribus : praesertim in rebus specificatis et earum partibus, ut ferri, lapidis ; et partibus similaribus plantae, animalis, veluti radicis, folii, floris, carnis, sanguinis, ossis, etc. At etiam in hoc genere non prorsus cessavit industria humana ; hoc ipsum enim innuit separatio corporum similarium per distillationes et alios solutionum modos, ut dissimilaritas compositi per congregationem partium homogenearum appareat. Quod etiam ex usu est, et facit ad id quod quaerimus ; licet saepius res fallax sit ; quia complures naturae separationi imputantur et attribuuntur, ac si prius substitissent in composito, quas revera ignis et calor et alii modi apertionum de novo indunt et superinducunt. Sed et haec quoque parva pars est operis, ad inveniendum schematismum verum in composito ; qui schematismus res est longe subtilior et accuratior, et ab operibus ignis potius confunditur quam eruitur et elucescit. Itaque facienda est corporum separatio et solutio ; non per ignem certe, sed per rationem et inductionem veram, cum experimentis auxiliaribus ; et per comparationem ad alia corpora, et reductionem ad naturas simplices et earum formas, quae in composito conveniunt et complicantur ; et transeundum plane a Vulcano ad Minervam, si in animo sit veras corporum texturas et schematismos (unde omnis occulta atque, ut vocant, specifica proprietas et virtus in rebus pendet ; unde etiam omnis potentis alterationis et transformationis norma educitur) in lucem protrahere. Exempli gratia ; inquirendum, quid sit in omni corpore spiritus, quid essentiae tangibilis ; atque ille ipse spiritus, utrum sit copiosus et turgeat, an jejunus et paucus ; tenuis, aut crassior ; magis aereus, aut igneus ; acris, aut deses ; exilis, aut robustus ; in progressu, aut in regressu ; abscissus, aut continuatus ; consentiens cum externis et ambientibus, aut dissentiens ; etc. Et similiter, essentia tangibilis (quae non pauciores recipit differentias, quam spiritus) atque ejus villi, et fibrae, et omnimoda textura ; rursus autem collocatio spiritus per corpoream molem, ejusque pori, meatus, venae, et cellulae, et rudimenta, sive tentamenta corporis organici, sub eandem inquisitionem cadunt. Sed et in his quoque, atque adeo in omni latentis schematismi inventione, lux vera et clara ab axiomatibus primariis immittitur, quae certe caliginem omnem et subtilitatem discutit. | In like manner the investigation and discovery of the latent configuration in bodies is a new thing, no less than the discovery of the latent process and of the form. For as yet we are but lingering in the outer courts of nature, nor are we preparing ourselves a way into her inner chambers. Yet no one can endow a given body with a new nature, or successfully and aptly transmute it into a new body, unless he has attained a competent knowledge of the body so to be altered or transformed. Otherwise he will run into methods which, if not useless, are at any rate difficult and perverse and unsuitable to the nature of the body on which he is operating. It is clear therefore that to this also a way must be opened and laid out. And it is true that upon the anatomy of organized bodies (as of man and animals) some pains have been well bestowed and with good effect; and a subtle thing it seems to be, and a good scrutiny of nature. Yet this kind of anatomy is subject to sight and sense, and has place only in organized bodies. And besides it is a thing obvious and easy, when compared with the true anatomy of the latent configuration in bodies which are thought to be of uniform structure, especially in things and their parts that have a specific character, as iron, stone; and again in parts of uniform structure in plants and animals, as the root, the leaf, the flower, flesh, blood, and bones. But even in this kind, human industry has not been altogether wanting; for this is the very thing aimed at in the separation of bodies of uniform structure by means of distillations and other modes of analysis; that the complex structure of the compound may be made apparent by bringing together its several homogeneous parts. And this is of use too, and conduces to the object we are seeking, although too often fallacious in its results, because many natures which are in fact newly brought out and superinduced by fire and heat and other modes of solution are taken to be the effect of separation merely, and to have subsisted in the compound before. And after all, this is but a small part of the work of discovering the true configuration in the compound body; which configuration is a thing far more subtle and exact, and such as the operation of fire rather confounds than brings out and makes distinct. Therefore a separation and solution of bodies must be effected, not by fire indeed, but by reasoning and true induction, with experiments to aid; and by a comparison with other bodies, and a reduction to simple natures and their forms, which meet and mix in the compound. In a word, we must pass from Vulcan to Minerva if we intend to bring to light the true textures and configurations of bodies on which all the occult and, as they are called, specific properties and virtues in things depend, and from which, too, the rule of every powerful alteration and transformation is derived. For example, we must inquire what amount of spirit there is in every body, what of tangible essence; and of the spirit, whether it be copious and turgid, or meager and scarce; whether it be fine or coarse, akin to air or to fire, brisk or sluggish, weak or strong, progressive or retrograde, interrupted or continuous, agreeing with external and surrounding objects or disagreeing, etc. In like manner we must inquire into the tangible essence (which admits of no fewer differences than the spirit), into its coats, its fibers, its kinds of texture. Moreover, the disposition of the spirit throughout the corporeal frame, with its pores, passages, veins and cells, and the rudiments or first essays of the organized body, falls under the same investigation. But on these inquiries also, and I may say on all the discovery of the latent configuration, a true and clear light is shed by the primary axioms which entirely dispels darkness and subtlety. |
| VIII. | VIII |
| Neque propterea res deducetur ad atomum, quae praesupponit vacuum et materiam non fluxam (quorum utrumque falsum est) sed ad particulas veras, quales inveniuntur. Neque rursus est, quod exhorreat quispiam istam subtilitatem, ut inexplicabilem ; sed contra, quo magis vergit inquisitio ad naturas simplices, eo magis omnia erunt sita in plano et perspicuo ; translato negotio a multiplici in simplex, et ab incommensurabili ad commensurabile, et a surdo ad computabile, et ab infinito et vago ad definitum et certum ; ut fit in elementis literarum, et tonis concentuum. Optime autem cedit inquisitio naturalis, quando physicum terminatur in mathematico. At rursus multitudinem aut fractiones nemo reformidet. In rebus enim, quae per numeros transiguntur, tam facile quis posuerit aut cogitaverit millenarium, quam unum ; aut millesimam partem unius, quam unum integrum. | Nor shall we thus be led to the doctrine of atoms, which implies the hypothesis of a vacuum and that of the unchangeableness of matter (both false assumptions); we shall be led only to real particles, such as really exist. Nor again is there any reason to be alarmed at the subtlety of the investigation, as if it could not be disentangled. On the contrary, the nearer it approaches to simple natures, the easier and plainer will everything become, the business being transferred from the complicated to the simple; from the incommensurable to the commensurable; from surds to rational quantities; from the infinite and vague to the finite and certain; as in the case of the letters of the alphabet and the notes of music. And inquiries into nature have the best result when they begin with physics and end in mathematics. Again, let no one be afraid of high numbers or minute fractions. For in dealing with numbers it is as easy to set down or conceive a thousand as one, or the thousandth part of an integer as an integer itself. |
| IX. | IX |
| Ex duobus generibus axiomatum, quae superius posita sunt, oritur vera divisio philosophiae et scientiarum ; translatis vocabulis receptis (quae ad indicationem rei proxime accedunt) ad sensum nostrum. Videlicet, ut inquisitio formarum, quae sunt (ratione certe, et sua lege) aeternae et immobiles, constituat metaphysicam ; inquisitio vero efficientis, et materiae, et latentis processus, et latentis schematismi (quae omnia cursum naturae communem et ordinarium, non leges fundamentales et aeternas respiciunt) constituat physicam : atque his subordinentur similiter practicae duae ; physicae mechanica ; metaphysicae (perpurgato nomine) magia, propter latas ejus vias et majus imperium in naturam. | From the two kinds of axioms which have been spoken of arises a just division of philosophy and the sciences, taking the received terms (which come nearest to express the thing) in a sense agreeable to my own views. Thus, let the investigation of forms, which are (in the eye of reason at least, and in their essential law) eternal and immutable, constitute Metaphysics; and let the investigation of the efficient cause, and of matter, and of the latent process, and the latent configuration (all of which have reference to the common and ordinary course of nature, not to her eternal and fundamental laws) constitute Physics. And to these let there be subordinate two practical divisions: to Physics, Mechanics; to Metaphysics, what (in a purer sense of the word) I call Magic, on account of the broadness of the ways it moves in, and its greater command over nature. |
| X. | X |
| Posito itaque doctrinae scopo, pergendum ad praecepta ; idque ordine minime perverso aut perturbato. Atque indicia de interpretatione naturae complectuntur partes in genere duas ; primam, de educendis aut excitandis axiomatibus ab experientia ; secundam, de deducendis aut derivandis experimentis novis ab axiomatibus. Prior autem trifariam dividitur : in tres nempe ministrationes ; ministrationem ad sensum, ministrationem ad memoriam, et ministrationem ad mentem sive rationem. Primo enim paranda est historia naturalis et experimentalis, sufficiens et bona ; quod fundamentum rei est : neque enim fingendum, aut excogitandum, sed inveniendum, quid natura faciat aut ferat. Historia vero naturalis et experimentalis tam varia est et sparsa, ut intellectum confundat et disgreget, nisi sistatur et compareat ordine idoneo. Itaque formandae sunt tabulae et coordinationes instantiarum, tali modo et instructione ut in eas agere possit intellectus. Id quoque licet fiat, tamen intellectus sibi permissus, et sponte movens, incompetens est et inhabilis ad opificium axiomatum, nisi regatur et muniatur. Itaque tertio, adhibenda est inductio legitima et vera, quae ipsa clavis est interpretationis. Incipiendum autem est a fine, et retro pergendum ad reliqua. | Having thus set up the mark of knowledge, we must go on to precepts, and that in the most direct and obvious order. Now my directions for the interpretation of nature embrace two generic divisions: the one how to educe and form axioms from experience; the other how to deduce and derive new experiments from axioms. The former again is divided into three ministrations: a ministration to the sense, a ministration to the memory, and a ministration to the mind or reason. For first of all we must prepare a natural and experimental history, sufficient and good; and this is the foundation of all, for we are not to imagine or suppose, but to discover, what nature does or may be made to do. But natural and experimental history is so various and diffuse that it confounds and distracts the understanding, unless it be ranged and presented to view in a suitable order. We must therefore form tables and arrangements of instances, in such a method and order that the understanding may be able to deal with them. And even when this is done, still the understanding, if left to itself and its own spontaneous movements, is incompetent and unfit to form axioms, unless it be directed and guarded. Therefore in the third place we must use induction, true and legitimate induction, which is the very key of interpretation. But of this, which is the last, I must speak first, and then go back to the other ministrations. |
| XI. | XI |
| Inquisitio formarum sic procedit ; super naturam datam primo facienda est comparentia ad intellectum omnium instantiarum notarum, quae in eadem natura conveniunt, per materias licet dissimillimas. Atque hujusmodi collectio facienda est historice, absque contemplatione praefestina, aut subtilitate aliqua majore. Exempli gratia ; in inquisitione de forma calidi. | The investigation of forms proceeds thus: a nature being given, we must first of all have a muster or presentation before the understanding of all known instances which agree in the same nature, though in substances the most unlike. And such collection must be made in the manner of a history, without premature speculation, or any great amount of subtlety. For example, let the investigation be into the form of heat. |
| Instantiae convenientes in natura calidi. 1. Radii solis, praesertim aestate et meridie. 2. Radii solis, reflexi et constipati, ut inter montes, aut per parientes, et maxime omnium in speculis comburentibus. 3. Meteora ignita. 4. Fulmina comburentia. 5. Eructationes flammarum ex cavis montium, etc. 6. Flamma omnis. 7. Ignita solida. 8. Balnea calida naturalia. 9. Liquida ferventia, aut calefacta. 10. Vapores et fumi ferventes, atque aer ipse, qui fortissimum et furentem suscipit calorem, si concludatur ; ut in reverberatoriis. 11. Tempestates aliquae sudae per ipsam constitutionem aeris, non habita ratione temporis anni. 12. Aer conclusus et subterraneus in cavernis nonnullis, praesertim hyeme. 13. Omnia villosa, ut lana, pelles animalium, et plumagines, habent nonnihil teporis. 14. Corpora omnia, tam solida, quam liquida, et tam densa, quam tenuia (qualis est ipse aer), igni ad tempus approximata. 15. Scintillae ex silice et chalybe per fortem percussionem. 16. Omne corpus fortiter attritum, ut lapis, lignum, pannus, etc. ; adeo ut temones et axes rotarum aliquando flammam concipiant : et mos excitandi ignis apud Indos occidentales fuerit per attritionem. 17. Herbae virides et humidae simul conclusae et contrusae, ut rosae, pisae in corbibus ; adeo ut foenum, si repositum fuerit madidum, saepe concipiat flammam. 18. Calx viva, aqua aspersa. 19. Ferrum, cum primo dissolvitur per aquas fortes in vitro, idque absque ulla admotione ad ignem : et stannum similiter, etc. sed non adeo intense. 20. Animalia, praesertim et perpetuo per interiora ; licet in insectis calor ob parvitatem corporis non deprehendatur ad tactum. 21. Fimus equinus, et hujusmodi excrementa animalium recentia. 22. Oleum forte sulphuris et vitrioli exequitur opera caloris, in linteo adurendo. 23. Oleum origani, et hujusmodi, exequitur opera caloris in adurendis ossibus dentium. 24. Spiritus vini fortis et bene rectificatus exequitur opera caloris ; adeo ut si albumen ovi in eum injiciatur, concrescat et albescat, fere in modum albuminis cocti ; panis injectus torrefiat et incrustetur, ad modum panis tosti. 25. Aromata, et herbae calidae, ut dracunculus, nasturtium vetus, etc. licet ad manum non sint calida (nec integra, nec pulveres eorum), tamen ad linguam et palatum parum masticata percipiuntur calida, et quasi adurentia. 26. Acetum forte, et omnia acida, in membro ubi non sit epidermis, ut in oculo, lingua, aut aliqua alia parte vulnerata, et cute detecta, dolorem cient, non multum discrepantem ab eo, qui inducitur a calido. 27. Etiam frigora acria et intensa inducunt sensum quendam ustionis ; Nam Boreae penetrabile frigus adurit. 28. Alia. Hanc tabulam essentiae et praesentiae appellare consuevimus. | Instances Agreeing in the Nature of Heat 1. The rays of the sun, especially in summer and at noon. 2. The rays of the sun reflected and condensed, as between mountains, or on walls, and most of all in burning glasses and mirrors. 3. Fiery meteors. 4. Burning thunderbolts. 5. Eruptions of flame from the cavities of mountains. 6. All flame. 7. Ignited solids. 8. Natural warm baths. 9. Liquids boiling or heated. 10. Hot vapors and fumes, and the air itself, which conceives the most powerful and glowing heat if confined, as in reverbatory furnaces. 11. Certain seasons that are fine and cloudless by the constitution of the air itself, without regard to the time of year. 12. Air confined and underground in some caverns, especially in winter. 13. All villous substances, as wool, skins of animals, and down of birds, have heat. 14. All bodies, whether solid or liquid, whether dense or rare (as the air itself is), held for a time near the fire. 15. Sparks struck from flint and steel by strong percussion. 16. All bodies rubbed violently, as stone, wood, cloth, etc., insomuch that poles and axles of wheels sometimes catch fire; and the way they kindled fire in the West Indies was by attrition. 17. Green and moist vegetables confined and bruised together, as roses packed in baskets; insomuch that hay, if damp, when stacked, often catches fire. 18. Quicklime sprinkled with water. 19. Iron, when first dissolved by strong waters in glass, and that without being put near the fire. And in like manner tin, etc., but not with equal intensity. 20. Animals, especially and at all times internally; though in insects the heat is not perceptible to the touch by reason of the smallness of their size. 21. Horse dung and like excrements of animals, when fresh. 22. Strong oil of sulphur and of vitriol has the effect of heat in burning linen. 23. Oil of marjoram and similar oils have the effect of heat in burning the bones of the teeth. 24. Strong and well rectified spirit of wine has the effect of heat, insomuch that the white of an egg being put into it hardens and whitens almost as if it were boiled, and bread thrown in becomes dry and crusted like toast. 25. Aromatic and hot herbs, as dracunculus, nasturtium vetus, etc., although not warm to the hand (either whole or in powder), yet to the tongue and palate, being a little masticated, they feel hot and burning. 26. Strong vinegar, and all acids, on all parts of the body where there is no epidermis, as the eye, tongue, or on any part when wounded and laid bare of the skin, produce a pain but little differing from that which is created by heat. 27. Even keen and intense cold produces a kind of sensation of burning: "Nec Boreć penetrabile frigus adurit." 1 28. Other instances. This table I call the Table of Essence and Presence. l Nor burns the sharp cold of the northern blast. |
| XII. | XII |
| Secundo, facienda est comparentia ad intellectum instantiarum, quae natura data privantur : quia forma (ut dictum est) non minus abesse debet, ubi natura data abest, quam adesse, ubi adest. Hoc vero infinitum esset in omnibus. Itaque subjungenda sunt negativa affirmativis, et privationes inspiciendae tantum in illis subjectis quae sunt maxime cognata illis alteris, in quibus natura data inest et comparet. Hanc tabulam declinationis, sive absentiae in proximo, appellare consuevimus | Secondly, we must make a presentation to the understanding of instances in which the given nature is wanting; because the form, as stated above, ought no less to be absent when the given nature is absent, than present when it is present. But to note all these would be endless. The negatives should therefore be subjoined to the affirmatives, and the absence of the given nature inquired of in those subjects only that are most akin to the others in which it is present and forthcoming. This I call the Table of Deviation, or of Absence in Proximity. |
| Instantiae in proximo, quae privantur natura Calidi. | Instances in Proximity where the Nature of Heat is Absent |
| Ad Instantiam primam affirmativam, Instantia prima negativa vel subjunctiva. 1. Lunae et stellarum et cometarum radii non inveniuntur calidi ad tactum : quinetiam observari solent acerrima frigora in pleniluniis. At stellae fixae majores, quando sol eas subit aut iis approximatur, existimantur fervores solis augere et intendere ; ut fit cum sol sistitur in Leone, et diebus canicularibus. | Answering to the first affirmative instance. 1. The rays of the moon and of stars and comets are not found to be hot to the touch; indeed the severest colds are observed to be at the full moons. The larger fixed stars, however, when passed or approached by the sun, are supposed to increase and give intensity to the heat of the sun, as is the case when the sun is in the sign Leo, and in the dog days. |
| Ad 2am 2a. 2. Radii solis in media (quam vocant) regione aeris non calefaciunt ; cujus ratio vulgo non male redditur ; quia regio illa nec satis appropinquat ad corpus solis, unde radii emanant, nec etiam ad terram, unde reflectuntur. Atque hoc liquet ex fastigiis montium (nisi sint praealti), ubi nives perpetuo durant. Sed contra notatum est a nonnullis, quod in cacumine Picus de Tenariph, atque etiam in Andis Peruviae, ipsa fastigia montium nive destituta sint ; nivibus jacentibus tantum inferius in ascensu. Atque insuper aer illis ipsis verticibus montium deprehenditur minime frigidus, sed tenuis tantum et acer ; adeo ut in Andis pungat et vulneret oculos per nimiam acrimoniam, atque etiam pungat os ventriculi, et inducat vomitum. Atque ab antiquis notatum est, in vertice Olympi tantam fuisse aeris tenuitatem, ut necesse fuerit illis qui eo ascenderant secum deferre spongias aceto et aqua madefactas, easque ad os et nares subinde apponere, quia aer ob tenuitatem non sufficiebat respirationi : in quo vertice etiam relatum est, tantam fuisse serenitatem et tranquillitatem a pluviis et nivibus et ventis, ut sacrificantibus literae descriptae digito in cineribus sacrificiorum super aram Jovis, manerent in annum proximum absque ulla perturbatione. Atque etiam hodie ascendentes ad verticem Picus de Tenariph eo vadunt noctu et non interdiu ; et paulo post ortum solis monentur et excitantur a ducibus suis ut festinent descendere, propter periculum (ut videtur) a tenuitate aeris, ne solvat spiritus et suffocet. | To the 2nd. 2. The rays of the sun in what is called the middle region of the air do not give heat; for which there is commonly assigned not a bad reason, viz., that that region is neither near enough to the body of the sun from which the rays emanate, nor to the earth from which they are reflected. And this appears from the fact that on the tops of mountains, unless they are very high, there is perpetual snow. On the other hand, it has been observed that on the Peak of Tenerife, and among the Andes of Peru, the very tops of the mountains are free from snow, which lies only somewhat lower down. Moreover, the air itself at the very top is found to be by no means cold, but only rare and keen; insomuch that on the Andes it pricks and hurts the eyes by its excessive keenness, and also irritates the mouth of the stomach, producing vomiting. And it was observed by the ancients that on the top of Olympus the rarity of the air was such that those who ascended it had to carry sponges with them dipped in vinegar and water, and to apply them from time to time to the mouth and nose, the air being from its rarity not sufficient to support respiration; and it was further stated that on this summit the air was so serene, and so free from rain and snow and wind, that letters traced by the finger in the ashes of the sacrifices on the altar of Jupiter remained there still the next year without being at all disturbed. And at this day travelers ascending to the top of the Peak of Tenerife make the ascent by night and not by day, and soon after the rising of the sun are warned and urged by their guides to come down without delay, on account of the danger they run lest the animal spirits should swoon and be suffocated by the tenuity of the air. |
| Ad 2am 3a. Reflexio radiorum solis, in regionibus prope circulos polares, admodum debilis et inefficax invenitur in calore : adeo ut Belgae, qui hybernarunt in Nova Zembla, cum expectarent navis suae liberationem et deobstructionem a glaciali mole (quae eam obsederat) per initia mensis Julii spe sua frustrati sint, et coacti scaphae se committere. Itaque radii solis directi videntur parum posse, etiam super terram planam ; nec reflexi etiam, nisi multiplicentur et uniantur, quod fit cum sol magis vergit ad perpendiculum, quia tum incidentia radiorum facit angulos acutiores, ut lineae radiorum sint magis in propinquo : ubi contra in magnis obliquitatibus solis anguli sint valde obtusi, et proinde lineae radiorum magis distantes. Sed interim notandum est, multas esse posse operationes radiorum solis, atque etiam ex natura calidi, quae non sunt proportionatae ad tactum nostrum : adeo ut respectu nostri non operentur usque ad calefactionem, sed respectu aliorum nonnullorum corporum exequantur opera calidi. | To the 2nd. 3. The reflection of the rays of the sun in regions near the polar circles is found to be very weak and ineffective in producing heat, insomuch that the Dutch who wintered in Nova Zembla and expected their ship to be freed from the obstructions of the mass of ice which hemmed her in by the beginning of July, were disappointed in their expectation and obliged to take to their boat. Thus the direct rays of the sun seem to have but little power, even on the level ground; nor have the reflex much, unless they are multiplied and combined, which is the case when the sun tends more to the perpendicular, for then the incident rays make acuter angles, so that the lines of the rays are nearer each other; whereas on the contrary, when the sun shines very obliquely, the angles are very obtuse, and thus the lines of rays are at a greater distance from each other. Meanwhile, it should be observed that there may be many operations of the sun, and those too depending on the nature of heat, which are not proportioned to our touch, so that in respect to us their action does not go so far as to produce sensible warmth, but in respect to some other bodies they have the effect of heat. |
| Ad 2am 4a. Fiat hujusmodi experimentum. Accipiatur speculum fabricatum contra ac fit in speculis comburentibus, et interponatur inter manum et radios solis ; et fiat observatio, utrum minuat calorem solis, quemadmodum speculum comburens eundem auget et intendit. Manifestum est enim, quoad radios opticos, prout fabricatur speculum in densitate inaequali respectu medii et laterum, ita apparere simulachra magis diffusa aut magis contracta. Itaque idem videndum in calore. | To the 2nd 4. Try the following experiment. Take a glass fashioned in a contrary manner to a common burning glass and, placing it between your hand and the rays of the sun, observe whether it diminishes the heat of the sun, as a burning glass increases and strengthens it. For it is evident in the case of optical rays that according as the glass is made thicker or thinner in the middle as compared with the sides, so do the objects seen through it appear more spread or more contracted. Observe therefore whether the same is the case with heat. |
| Ad 2am 5a. Fiat experimentum diligenter, utrum per specula comburentia fortissima et optime fabricata radii lunae possint excipi et colligi in aliquem vel minimum gradum teporis. Is vero gradus teporis si fortasse nimis subtilis et debilis fuerit, ut ad tactum percipi et deprehendi non possit, confugiendum erit ad vitra illa quae indicant constitutionem aeris calidam aut frigidam ; ita ut radii lunae per speculum comburens incidant et jaciantur in summitatem vitri hujusmodi ; atque tum notetur, si fiat depressio aquae per teporem. | 5. Let the experiment be carefully tried, whether by means of the most powerful and best constructed burning glasses, the rays of the moon can be so caught and collected as to produce even the last degree of warmth. But should this degree of warmth prove too subtle and weak to be perceived and apprehended by the touch, recourse must be had to those glasses which indicate the state of the atmosphere in respect to heat and cold. Thus, let the rays of the moon fall through a burning glass on the top of a glass of this kind, and then observe whether there ensues a sinking of the water through warmth. |
| Ad 2am 6a. Practicetur etiam vitrum comburens super calidum, quod non sit radiosum aut luminosum ; ut ferri et lapidis calefacti sed non igniti, aut aquae ferventis, aut similium ; et notetur utrum fiat augmentum et intentio calidi, ut in radiis solis. | To the 2nd. 6. Let a burning glass also be tried with a heat that does not emit rays or light, as that of iron or stone heated but not ignited, boiling water, and the like; and observe whether there ensue an increase of the heat, as in the case of the sun's rays. |
| Ad 2am 7a. Practicetur etiam speculum comburens in flamma communi. | To the 2nd. 7. Let a burning glass also be tried with common flame. |
| Ad 3am 8a. Cometarum (si et illos numerare inter meteora libuerit) non deprehenditur constans aut manifestus effectus in augendis ardoribus anni, licet siccitates saepius inde sequi notatae sint. Quinetiam trabes et columnae lucidae et chasmata et similia apparent saepius temporibus hybernis quam aestivis ; et maxime per intensissima frigora, sed conjuncta cum siccitatibus. Fulmina tamen et coruscationes et tonitrua raro eveniunt hyeme, sed sub tempus magnorum fervorum. At stellae (quas vocant) cadentes existimantur vulgo magis constare ex viscosa aliqua materia splendida et accensa, quam esse naturae igneae fortioris. Sed de hoc inquiratur ulterius. | To the 2nd. 8. Comets (if we are to reckon these too among meteors) are not found to exert a constant or manifest effect in increasing the heat of the season, though it is observed that they are often followed by droughts. Moreover bright beams and pillars and openings in the heavens appear more frequently in winter than in summertime, and chiefly during the intensest cold, but always accompanied by dry weather. Lightning, however, and coruscations and thunder seldom occur in the winter, but about the time of great heat. Falling stars, as they are called, are commonly supposed to consist rather of some bright and lighted viscous substance, than to be of any strong fiery nature. But on this point let further inquiry be made. |
| Ad 4am 9a. Sunt quaedam coruscationes quae praebent lumen sed non urunt; eae vero semper fiunt sine tonitru. | To the 3rd. 9. There are certain coruscations which give light but do not burn. And these always come without thunder. |
| Ad 5am 10a. Eructationes et eruptiones flammarum inveniuntur non minus in regionibus frigidis quam calidis ; ut in Islandia et Groenlandia : quemadmodum et arbores per regiones frigidas magis sunt quandoque inflammabiles et magis piceae ac resinosae quam per regiones calidas ; ut fit in abiete, pinu, et reliquis : verum in quali situ et natura soli hujusmodi eruptiones fieri soleant, ut possimus affirmativae subjungere negativam, non satis quaesitum est. | To the 4th. 10. Eructations and eruptions of flame are found no less in cold than in warm countries, as in Iceland and Greenland. In cold countries, too, the trees are in many cases more inflammable and more pitchy and resinous than in warm; as the fir, pine, and others. The situations however and the nature of the soil in which eruptions of this kind usually occur have not been carefully enough ascertained to enable us to subjoin a negative to this affirmative instance. |
| Ad 6am 11a. Omnis flamma perpetuo est calida magis aut minus, neque omnino subjungitur negativa : et tamen referunt ignem fatuum (quem vocant), qui etiam aliquando impingitur in parietem, non multum habere caloris ; fortasse instar flammae spiritus vini, quae clemens et lenis est. Sed adhuc lenior videtur ea flamma quae in nonnullis historiis fidis et gravibus invenitur apparuisse circa capita et comas puerorum et virginum ; quae nullo modo comas adurebat, sed molliter circum eas trepidabat. Atque certissimum est, circa equum in itinere sudantem noctu et suda tempestate apparuisse quandoque coruscationem quandam absque manifesto calore. Atque paucis abhinc annis, notissimum est et pro miraculo quasi habitum gremiale cujusdam puellae paulo motum aut fricatum coruscasse ; quod fortasse factum est ob alumen aut sales quibus gremiale tinctum erat paulo crassius haerentia et incrustata, et ex fricatione fracta. Atque certissimum est saccharum omne, sive conditum (ut vocant) sive simplex, modo sit durius, in tenebris fractum aut cultello scalptum coruscare. Similiter aqua marina et salsa noctu interdum invenitur, remis fortiter percussa, coruscare. Atque etiam in tempestatibus spuma maris fortiter agitata noctu coruscat ; quam coruscationem Hispani pulmonem marinum vocant. De illa flamma autem quam antiqui nautae vocabant Castorem et Pollucem, et moderni Focum Sancti Ermi, qualem calorem habeat non satis quaesitum est. | To the 5th. 11. All flame is in all cases more or less warm; nor is there any negative to be subjoined. And yet they say that the ignis fatuus (as it is called), which sometimes even settles on a wall, has not much heat, perhaps as much as the flame of spirit of wine, which is mild and soft. But still milder must that flame be which, according to certain grave and trustworthy histories has been seen shining about the head and locks of boys and girls, without at all burning the hair, but softly playing round it. It is also most certain that about a horse, when sweating on the road, there is sometimes seen at night, and in clear weather, a sort of luminous appearance without any manifest heat. And it is a well-known fact, and looked upon as a sort of miracle, that a few years ago a girl's stomacher, on being slightly shaken or rubbed, emitted sparks, which was caused perhaps by some alum or salts used in the dye, that stood somewhat thick and formed a crust, and were broken by the friction. It is also most certain that all sugar, whether refined or raw, provided only it be somewhat hard, sparkles when broken or scraped with a knife in the dark. In like manner sea and salt water is sometimes found to sparkle by night when struck violently by oars. And in storms, too, at nighttime, the foam of the sea when violently agitated emits sparks, and this sparkling the Spaniards call Sea Lung. With regard to the heat of the flame which was called by ancient sailors Castor and Pollux, and by moderns St. Elmo's Fire, no sufficient investigation thereof has been made. |
| Ad 7am 12a. Omne ignitum ita ut vertatur in ruborem igneum etiam sine flamma perpetuo calidum est, neque huic affirmativae subjungitur negativa ; sed quod in proximo est videtur esse lignum putre, quod splendet noctu neque tamen deprehenditur calidum ; et squamae piscium putrescentes, quae etiam splendent noctu, nec inveniuntur ad tactum calidae ; neque etiam corpus cicindelae aut muscae (quam vocant luciolam) calidum ad tactum deprehenditur. | To the 6th. 12. Every body ignited so as to turn to a fiery red, even if unaccompanied by flame, is always hot; neither is there any negative to be subjoined to this affirmative. But that which comes nearest seems to be rotten wood, which shines by night and yet is not found to be hot; and the putrefying scales of fish, which also shine in the dark and yet are not warm to the touch; nor, again, is the body of the glowworm, or of the fly called Luciola, found to be warm to the touch. |
| Ad 8am 13a. De balneis calidis, in quo situ et natura soli emanare soleant, non satis quaesitum est ; itaque non subjungitur negativa. | To the 7th. 13. In what situation and kind of soil warm baths usually spring has not been sufficiently examined; and therefore no negative is subjoined. |
| Ad 9am 14a Liquidis ferventibus subjungitur negativa ipsius liquidi in natura sua. Nullum enim invenitur liquidum tangibile quod sit in natura sua et maneat constanter calidum, sed superinducitur ad tempus tantum calor, ut natura ascititia : adeo ut quae potestate et operatione sunt maxime calida, ut spiritus vini, olea aromatum chymica, etiam olea vitrioli et sulphuris, et similia, quae paulo post adurunt, ad primum tactum sint frigida. Aqua autem balneorum naturalium excepta in vas aliquod et separata a fontibus suis defervescit perinde ac aqua igne calefacta. At verum est corpora oleosa ad tactum paulo minus esse frigida quam aquea ; ut oleum minus quam aqua, sericum minus quam linteum. Verum hoc pertinet ad Tabulam Graduum de Frigido. | To the 8th. 14. To warm liquids I subjoin the negative instance of liquid itself in its natural state. For we find no tangible liquid which is warm in its own nature and remains so constantly; but the warmth is of an adventitious nature, superinduced only for the time being, so that the liquids which in power and operation are hottest, as spirit of wine, chemical oil of spices, oil of vitriol and sulphur, and the like, which burn after a while, are at first cold to the touch. The water of natural warm baths, on the other hand, if received into a vessel and separated from its springs, cools just like water that has been heated on a fire. But it is true that oily substances are less cold to the touch than watery, oil being less cold than water, and silk than linen. But this belongs to the Table of Degrees of Cold. |
| Ad 10am 15a. Similiter vapori fervido subjungitur negativa naturae ipsius vaporis, qualis apud nos invenitur. Etenim exhalationes ex oleosis, licet facile inflammabiles, tamen non inveniuntur calidae, nisi a corpore calido recenter exhalaverint. | To the 9th. 15. In like manner to hot vapor I subjoin as a negative the nature of vapor itself, such as we find it with us. For exhalations from oily substances, though easily inflammable, are yet not found to be warm unless newly exhaled from the warm body. |
| Ad 10am 16a. Similiter aeri ipsi ferventi subjungitur negativa naturae aeris ipsius. Neque enim invenitur apud nos aer calidus ; nisi fuerit aut conclusus, aut attritus, aut manifeste calefactus a sole, igne, aut aliquo alio corpore calido. | To the 10th. 16. In like manner I subjoin as a negative to hot air the nature of air itself. For we do not find here any air that is warm, unless it has either been confined, or compressed, or manifestly warmed by the sun, fire, or some other warm substance. |
| Ad 11am 17a. Subjungitur negativa tempestatum frigidarum magis quam pro ratione temporis anni, quae eveniunt apud nos flante Euro et Borea ; quemadmodum et contrariae tempestates eveniunt flante Austro et Zephyro. Etaim inclinatio ad pluviam (praesertim temporibus hyemalibus) comitatur tempestatem tepidam ; at gelu contra frigidam. | To the 11th. 17. I here subjoin the negative of colder weather than is suitable to the season of the year, which we find occurs during east and north winds; just as we have weather of the opposite kind with the south and west winds. So a tendency to rain, especially in wintertime, accompanies warm weather; while frost accompanies cold. |
| Ad 12am 18a. Subjungitur negativa aeris conclusi in cavernis tempore aestivo. At de aere concluso omnino diligentius inquirendum. Primo enim non absque causa in dubitationem venit, qualis sit natura aeris quatenus ad calidum et frigidum in natura sua propria. Recipit enim aer calidum manifesto ex impressione coelestium ; frigidum autem fortasse ab expiratione terrae ; et rursus in media (quam vocant) regione aeris a vaporibus frigidis et nivibus : ut nullum judicium fieri possit de aeris natura per aerem qui foras est et sub dio, sed verius foret judicium per aerem conclusum. Atqui opus est etiam ut aer concludatur in tali vasi et materia quae nec ipsa imbuat aerem calido vel frigido ex vi propria, nec facile admittat vim aeris extranei. Fiat itaque experimentum per ollam figularem multiplici corio obductam ad muniendam ipsam ab aere extraneo, facta mora per tres aut quatuor dies in vase bene occluso ; deprehensio autem fit post apertionem vasis vel per manum vel per vitrum graduum ordine applicatum. | To the 12th. 18. Here I subjoin the negative of air confined in caverns during the summer. But the subject of air in confinement should by all means be more diligently examined. For in the first place it may well be a matter of doubt what is the nature of air in itself with regard to heat and cold. For air manifestly receives warmth from the influence of the heavenly bodies, and cold perhaps from the exhalations of the earth; and, again, in the middle region of air, as it is called, from cold vapors and snow. So that no opinion can be formed as to the nature of air from the examination of air that is at large and exposed, but a truer judgment might be made by examining it when confined. It is, however, necessary for the air to be confined in a vessel of such material as will not itself communicate warmth or cold to the air by its own nature, nor readily admit the influence of the outer atmosphere. Let the experiment therefore be made in an earthen jar wrapped round with many folds of leather to protect it from the outward air, and let the vessel remain tightly closed for three or four days; then open the vessel and test the degree of heat or cold by applying either the hand or a graduated glass. |
| Ad 13am 19a. Subest similiter dubitatio, utrum tepor in lana et pellibus et plumis et hujusmodi fiat ex quodam exili calore inhaerente, quatenus excernuntur ab animalibus ; aut etiam ob pinguedinem quandam et oleositatem, quae sit naturae congruae cum tepore ; vel plane ob conclusionem et fractionem aeris, ut in articulo praecedente dictum est. Videtur enim omnis aer abscissus a continuitate aeris forinseci habere nonnihil teporis. Itaque fiat experimentum in fibrosis quae fiunt ex lino ; non ex lana aut plumis aut serico, quae excernuntur ab animatis. Notandum est etiam, omnes pulveres (ubi manifesto includitur aer) minus esse frigidos quam corpora integra ipsorum ; quemadmodum etiam existimamus omnem spumam (utpote quae aerem contineat) minus esse frigidam quam liquorem ipsum. | To the 13th. 19. In like manner a doubt suggests itself whether the warmth in wool, skins, feathers, and the like, proceeds from a faint degree of heat inherent in them, as being excretions from animals; or from a certain fat and oiliness, which is of a nature akin to warmth; or simply, as surmised in the preceding article, from the confinement and separation of the air. For all air that is cut off from connection with the outer air seems to have some warmth. Try the experiment therefore with fibrous substances made of linen; not of wool, feathers, or silk, which are excretions from animals. It should also be observed that all powders (in which there is manifestly air enclosed) are less cold than the whole substances they are made from; as likewise I suppose that all froth (as that which contains air) is less cold than the liquor it comes from. |
| Ad 14am 20a. Huic non subjungitur negativa. Nihil enim reperitur apud nos sive tangibile sive spiritale, quod admotum igni non excipiat calorem. In eo tamen differunt, quod alia excipiant calorem citius, ut aer, oleum, et aqua ; alia tardius, ut lapis et metalla. Verum hoc pertinet ad Tabulam Graduum. | To the 14th. 20. To this no negative is subjoined. For there is nothing found among us, either tangible or spirituous, which does not contract warmth when put near fire. There is this difference however, that some substances contract warmth more quickly, as air, oil, and water; others more slowly, as stone and metal. But this belongs to the Table of Degrees. |
| Ad 15am 21a. Huic Instantiae non subjungitur negativa alia, quam ut bene notetur non excitari scintillas ex silice et chalybe aut alia aliqua substantia dura nisi ubi excutiuntur minutiae aliquae ex ipsa substantia lapidis vel metalli, neque aerem attritum unquam per se generare scintillas, ut vulgo putant ; quin et ipsae illae scintillae ex pondere corporis igniti magis vergunt deorsum quam sursum, et in extinctione redeunt in quandam fuliginem corpoream. | To the 15th. 21. To this instance I subjoin no negative, except that I would have it well observed that sparks are produced from flint and steel, or any other hard substance, only when certain minute particles are struck off from the substance of the stone or metal; and that the attrition of the air does not of itself ever produce sparks, as is commonly supposed. And the sparks themselves, too, owing to the weight of the ignited body, tend rather downwards than upwards; and on going out become a tangible sooty substance. |
| Ad 16am 22a. Existimamus huic instantiae non subjungi negativam. Nullum enim invenitur apud nos corpus tangibile, quod non ex attritione manifesto calescat ; adeo ut veteres somniarent non inesse coelestibus aliam viam aut virtutem calefaciendi nisi ex attritione aeris per rotationem rapidam et incitatam. Verum in hoc genere ulterius inquirendum est, utrum corpora quae emittuntur ex machinis (qualia sunt pilae ex tormentis) non ex ipsa percussione contrahant aliquem gradum caloris ; adeo ut postquam deciderint inveniantur nonnihil calida. At aer motus magis infrigidat quam calefacit ; ut in ventis et follibus et flatu oris contracti. Verum hujusmodi motus non est tam rapidus ut excitet calorem, et fit secundum totum, non per particulas ; ut mirum non sit, si non generet calorem. | To the 16th. 22. There is no negative, I think, to be subjoined to this instance. For we find among us no tangible body which does not manifestly gain warmth by attrition; insomuch that the ancients fancied that the heavenly bodies had no other means or power of producing warmth than by the attrition of the air in their rapid and hurried revolution. But on this subject we must further inquire whether bodies discharged from engines, as balls from cannon, do not acquire some degree of heat from the very percussion, so as to be found somewhat warm when they fall. Air in motion, however, rather chills than warms, as appears from wind, bellows, and blowing with the mouth contracted. But motion of this kind is not so rapid as to excite heat, and is the motion of a mass, and not of particles; so that it is no wonder if it does not generate heat. |
| Ad 17am 23a. Circa hanc instantiam facienda est inquisitio diligentior. Videntur enim herbae et vegetabilia viridia et humida aliquid habere in se occulti caloris. Ille vero calor tam tenuis est ut in singulis non percipiatur ad tactum ; verum postquam illa adunata sint et conclusa, ut spiritus ipsorum non expiret in aerem sed se invicem foveat, tum vero oritur calor manifestus, et nonnunquam flamma in materia congrua. | To the 17th. 23. On this instance should be made more diligent inquiry. For herbs and vegetables, when green and moist seem to contain some latent heat, though so slight that it is not perceptible to the touch when they are single, but only when they are collected and shut up together, so that their spirits may not breathe out into the air, but may mutually cherish each other; whereupon there arises a palpable heat, and sometimes flame in suitable matter. |
| Ad 18am 24a. Etiam circa hanc instantiam diligentior facienda est inquisitio. Videtur enim calx viva aqua aspersa concipere calorem vel propter unionem caloris qui antea distrahebatur (ut ante dictum est de herbis conclusis), vel ob irritationem ex exasperationem spiritus ignei ab aqua, ut fiat quidam conflictus et antiperistasis. Utra vero res sit in causa facilius apparebit, si loco aquae immittatur oleum ; oleum enim aeque ac aqua valebit ad unionem spiritus inclusi, sed non ad irritationem. Etiam faciendum est experimentum latius tam in cineribus et calcibus diversorum corporum, quam per immissionem diversorum liquorum. | To the 18th. 24. On this instance too should be made more diligent inquiry. For quicklime sprinkled with water seems to contract heat either by the concentration of heat before dispersed, as in the above-mentioned case of confined herbs, or because the igneous spirit is irritated and exasperated by the water so as to cause a conflict and reaction. Which of these two is the real cause will more readily appear if oil be poured on instead of water, for oil will serve equally well with water to concentrate the enclosed spirit, but not to irritate it. We should also extend the experiment both by employing the ashes and rusts of different bodies, and by pouring in different liquids. |
| Ad 19am 25a. Huic instantiae subjungitur negativa aliorum metallorum, quae sunt magis mollia et fluxa. Etenim bracteolae auri, solutae in liquorem per aquam regis, nullum dant calorem ad tactum in dissolutione ; neque similiter plumbum in aqua forti ; neque etiam argentum vivum (ut memini) ; sed argentum ipsum parum excitat caloris, atque etiam cuprum (ut memini), sed magis manifesto stannum, atque omnium maxime ferrum et chalybs, quae non solum fortem excitant calorem in dissolutione, sed etiam violentam ebullitionem. Itaque videtur calor fieri per conflictum, cum aquae fortes penetrant et fodiunt et divellunt partes corporis, et corpora ipsa resistunt. Ubi vero corpora facilius cedunt, vix excitatur calor. | To the 19th. 25. To this instance is subjoined the negative of other metals which are softer and more fusible. For gold leaf dissolved by aqua regia gives no heat to the touch; no more does lead dissolved in aqua fortis; neither again does quicksilver (as I remember); but silver itself does, and copper too (as I remember); tin still more manifestly; and most of all iron and steel, which not only excite a strong heat in dissolution but also a violent ebullition. It appears therefore that the heat is produced by conflict, the strong waters penetrating, digging into, and tearing asunder the parts of the substance, while the substance itself resists. But where the substances yield more easily, there is hardly any heat excited. |
| Ad 20am 26a. Calori animalium nulla subjungitur negativa, nisi insectorum (ut dictum est) ob parvitatem corporis. Etenim in piscibus collatis ad animalia terrestria magis notatur gradus caloris quam privatio. In vegetabilibus autem et plantis nullus percipitur gradus caloris ad tactum, neque in lachrymis ipsorum, neque in medullis recenter apertis. At in animalibus magna reperitur diversitas caloris, tum in partibus ipsorum (alius est enim calor circa cor, alius in cerebro, alius circa externa), tum in accidentibus eorum, ut in exercitatione vehementi et febribus. | To the 20th. 26. To the heat of animals no negative is subjoined, except that of insects (as above-mentioned) on account of their small size. For in fishes, as compared with land animals, it is rather a low degree than an absence of heat that is noted. But in vegetables and plants there is no degree of heat perceptible to the touch, either in their exudations or in their pith when freshly exposed. In animals, however, is found a great diversity of heat, both in their parts (there being different degrees of heat about the heart, in the brain, and on the skin) and in their accidents, as violent exercise and fevers. |
| Ad 21am 27a. Huic instantiae vix subjungitur negativa. Quinetiam excrementa animalium non recentia manifeste habent calorem potentialem, ut cernitur in impinguatione soli. | To the 21st. 27. To this instance it is hard to subjoin a negative. Indeed the excrements of animals when no longer fresh have manifestly a potential heat, as is seen in the enriching of soil. |
| Ad 22am et 23am 28a. Liquores (sive aquae vocentur sive olea) qui habent magnam et intensam acrimoniam exequuntur opera caloris in divulsione corporum, atque adustione post aliquam moram ; sed tamen ad ipsum tactum manus non sunt calidi ab initio. Operantur autem secundum analogiam et poros corporis cui adjunguntur. Aqua enim regis aurum solvit, argentum minime ; at contra aqua fortis argentum solvit, aurum minime ; neutrum autem solvit vitrum. Et sic de caeteris. | To the 24th. 28. Liquids, whether waters or oils, which possess a great and intense acridity, act like heat in tearing asunder bodies and burning them after some time; yet to the touch they are not hot at first. But their operation is relative and according to the porosity of the body to which they are applied. For aqua regia dissolves gold but not silver; aqua fortis, on the contrary, dissolves silver, but not gold; neither dissolves glass, and so on with others. |
| Ad 24am 29a. Fiat experimentum spiritus vini in lignis, ac etiam in butyro aut cera aut pice ; si forte per calorem suum ea aliquatenus liquefaciat. Etenim instantia 24a ostendit potestatem ejus imitativam caloris in incrustationibus. Itaque fiat similiter experimentum in liquefactionibus. Fiat etiam experimentum per vitrum graduum sive calendare quod concavum sit in summitate sua per exterius ; et immittatur in illud concavum exterius spiritus vini bene rectificatus, cum operculo, ut melius contineat calorem suum ; et notetur utrum per calorem suum faciat aquam descendere. | To the 22nd and 23rd. 29. Let trial be made of spirit of wine on wood, and also on butter, wax, or pitch; and observe whether by its heat it in any degree melts them. For the twenty-fourth instance exhibits a power in it that resembles heat in producing incrustation. In like manner therefore try its power in producing liquefaction. Let trial also be made with a graduated or calendar glass, hollow at the top; pour into the hollow spirit of wine well rectified, cover it up that the spirit may better retain its heat, and observe whether by its heat it makes the water sink. |
| Ad 25am 30a. Aromata, et herbae acres ad palatum, multo magis sumptae interius, percipiuntur calida. Videndum itaque in quibus aliis materiis exequantur opera caloris. Atque referunt nautae, cum cumuli et massae aromatum diu conclusae subito aperiuntur, periculum instare illis, qui eas primo agitant et extrahunt, a febribus et inflammationibus spiritus. Similiter fieri poterit experimentum, utrum pulveres hujusmodi aromatum aut herbarum non arefaciant laridum et carnem suspensam super ipsos, veluti fumus ignis. | To the 25th. 30. Spices and acrid herbs strike hot on the palate, and much hotter on the stomach. Observe therefore on what other substances they produce the effects of heat. Sailors tell us that when large parcels and masses of spices are, after being long kept close, suddenly opened, those who first stir and take them out run the risk of fever and inflammation. It can also be tried whether such spices and herbs when pounded would not dry bacon and meat hung over them, as smoke does. |
| Ad 26am 31a. Acrimonia sive penetratio inest tam frigidis, qualia sunt acetum et oleum vitrioli, quam calidis, qualia sunt oleum origani et similia. Itaque similiter et in animatis cient dolorem et in non animatis divellunt partes et consumunt. Neque huic instantiae subjungitur negativa. Atque in animatis nullus reperitur dolor, nisi cum quodam sensu caloris. | To the 26th. 31. There is an acridity or pungency both in cold things, as vinegar and oil of vitriol, and in hot, as oil of marjoram and the like. Both alike therefore cause pain in animate substances, and tear asunder and consume the parts in such as are inanimate. To this instance again there is no negative subjoined. Moreover we find no pain in animals, save with a certain sensation of heat. |
| Ad 27am 32a. Communes sunt complures actiones et calidi et frigidi, licet diversa admodum ratione. Nam et nives puerorum manus videntur paulo post urere ; et frigora tuentur carnes a putrefactione, non minus quam ignis ; et calores contrahunt corpora in minus, quod faciunt et frigida. Verum haec et similia opportunius est referre ad Inquisitionem de Frigido. | To the 27th. 32. There are many actions common both to heat and cold, though in a very different manner. For boys find that snow after a while seems to burn their hands; and cold preserves meat from putrefaction, no less than fire; and heat contracts bodies, which cold does also. But these and similar instances may more conveniently be referred to the inquiry concerning cold. |
| XIII. | XIII |
| Tertio facienda est comparentia ad intellectum instantiarum in quibus natura, de qua fit inquisitio, inest secundum magis et minus ; sive facta comparatione incrementi et decrementi in eodem subjecto, sive facta comparatione ad invicem in subjectis diversis. Cum enim forma rei sit ipsissima res ; neque differat res a forma, aliter quam differunt apparens et existens, aut exterius et interius, aut in ordine ad hominem et in ordine ad universum ; omnino sequitur ut non recipiatur aliqua natura pro vera forma, nisi perpetuo decrescat quando natura ipsa decrescit, et similiter perpetuo augeatur quando natura ipsa augetur. Hanc itaque tabulam Tabulam Graduum sive Tabulam Comparativae appellare consuevimus. | Thirdly, we must make a presentation to the understanding of instances in which the nature under inquiry is found in different degrees, more or less; which must be done by making a comparison either of its increase and decrease in the same subject, or of its amount in different subjects, as compared one with another. For since the form of a thing is the very thing itself, and the thing differs from the form no otherwise than as the apparent differs from the real, or the external from the internal, or the thing in reference to man from the thing in reference to the universe, it necessarily follows that no nature can be taken as the true form, unless it always decrease when the nature in question decreases, and in like manner always increase when the nature in question increases. This Table therefore I call the Table of Degrees or the Table of Comparison. |
| Tabula Graduum sive Comparativae in Calido. | Table of Degrees or Comparison in Heat |
| Primo itaque dicemus de iis quae nullum prorsus gradum caloris habent ad tactum, sed videntur habere potentialem tantum quendam calorem, sive dispositionem et praeparationem ad calidum. Postea demum descendemus ad ea quae sunt actu sive ad tactum calida, eorumque fortitudines et gradus. | I will therefore first speak of those substances which contain no degree at all of heat perceptible to the touch, but seem to have a certain potential heat only, or disposition and preparation for hotness. After that I shall proceed to substances which are hot actually, and to the touch, and to their intensities and degrees. |
| 1. In corporibus solidis et tangibilibus non invenitur aliquid quod in natura sua calidum sit originaliter. Non enim lapis aliquis, non metallum, non suphur, non fossile aliquod, non lignum, non aqua, non cadaver animalis, inveniuntur calida. Aquae autem calidae in balneis videntur calefieri per accidens, sive per flammam aut ignem subterraneum, qualis ex Aetna et montibus aliis compluribus evomitur, sive ex conflictu corporum, quemadmodum calor fit in ferri et stanni dissolutionibus. Itaque gradus caloris in inanimatis, quatenus ad tactum humanum, nullus est ; veruntamen illa gradu frigoris differunt ; non enim aeque frigidum est lignum ac metallum. Sed hoc pertinet ad Tabulam Graduum in Frigido. | 1. In solid and tangible bodies we find nothing which is in its nature originally hot. For no stone, metal, sulphur, fossil, wood, water, or carcass of animal is found to be hot. And the hot water in baths seems to be heated by external causes; whether it be by flame or subterraneous fire, such as is thrown up from Etna and many other mountains, or by the conflict of bodies, as heat is caused in the dissolution of iron and tin. There is therefore no degree of heat palpable to the touch in animate substances; but they differ in degree of cold, wood not being equally cold with metal. But this belongs to the Table of Degrees in Cold. |
| 2. Attamen quoad potentiales calores et praeparationes ad flammam, complura inveniuntur inanimata admodum disposita, ut sulphur, naphtha, petrelaeum. | 2. As far, however, as potential heat and aptitude for flame is concerned, there are many inanimate substances found strongly disposed thereto, as sulphur, naphtha, rock oil. |
| 3. Quae antea incaluerunt, ut fimus equinus ex animali, aut calx, aut fortasse cinis aut fuligo ex igne, reliquias latentes quasdam caloris prioris retinent. Itaque fiunt quaedam distillationes et separationes corporum per sepulturam in fimo equino ; atque excitatur calor in calce per aspersionem aquae ; ut jam dictum est. | 3. Substances once hot, as horse dung from animal heat, and lime or perhaps ashes and soot from fire, retain some latent remains of their former heat. Hence certain distillations and resolutions of bodies are made by burying them in horse dung, and heat is excited in lime by sprinkling it with water, as already mentioned. |
| 4. Inter vegetabilia non invenitur aliqua planta sive pars plantae (veluti lachryma aut medulla) quae sit ad tactum humanum calida. Sed tamen (ut superius dictum est) herbae virides conclusae calescunt ; atque ad interiorem tactum, veluti ad palatum aut ad stomachum aut etiam ad exteriores partes, post aliquam moram (ut in emplastris et unguentis) alia vegetabilia inveniuntur calida, alia frigida. | 4. In the vegetable creation we find no plant or part of plant (as gum or pitch) which is warm to the human touch. But yet, as stated above, green herbs gain warmth by being shut up; and to the internal touch, as the palate or stomach, and even to external parts, after a little time, as in plasters and ointments, some vegetables are perceptibly warm and others cold. |
| 5. Non invenitur in partibus animalium, postquam fuerint mortuae aut separatae, aliquid calidum ad tactum humanum. Nam neque fimus equinus ipse, nisi fuerit conclusus et sepultus, calorem retinet. Sed tamen omnis fimus habere videtur calorem potentialem, ut in agrorum impinguatione. Et similiter, cadavera animalium hujusmodi habent latentem et potentialem calorem ; adeo ut in coemeteriis, ubi quotidie fiunt sepulturae, terra calorem quendam occultum colligat, qui cadaver aliquod recenter impositum consumit longe citius quam terra pura. Atque apud orientales traditur inveniri textile quoddam tenue et molle, factum ex avium plumagine, quod vi innata butyrum solvat et liquefaciat in ipso leviter involutum. | 5. In the parts of animals after death or separation from the body, we find nothing warm to the human touch. Not even horse dung, unless enclosed and buried, retains its heat. But yet all dung seems to have a potential heat, as is seen in the fattening of the land. In like manner carcasses of animals have some such latent and potential heat, insomuch that in burying grounds, where burials take place daily, the earth collects a certain hidden heat which consumes a body newly laid in it much more speedily than pure earth. We are told too that in the East there is discovered a fine soft texture, made of the down of birds, which by an innate force dissolves and melts butter when lightly wrapped in it. |
| 6. Quae impinguant agros, ut fimi omnis generis, creta, arena maris, sal, et similia, dispositionem nonnullam habent ad calidum. | 6. Substances which fatten the soil, as dung of all kinds, chalk, sea sand, salt, and the like, have some disposition to heat. |
| 7. Omnis putrefactio in se rudimenta quaedam exilis caloris habet, licet non hucusque ut ad tactum percipiatur. Nam nec ea ipsa quae putrefacta solvuntur in animalcula, ut caro, caseus, ad tactum percipiuntur calida ; neque lignum putre, quod noctu splendet, deprehenditur ad tactum calidum. Calor autem in putridis quandoque se prodit per odores tetros et fortes. | 7. All putrefaction contains in itself certain elements of a slight heat, though not so much as to be perceived by the touch. For not even those substances which on putrefaction turn to animalculae, as flesh, cheese, etc., feel warm to the touch; no more does rotten wood, which shines in the dark. Heat, however, in putrid substances sometimes betrays itself by foul and powerful odors. |
| 8. Primus itaque caloris gradus, ex iis quae ad tactum humanum percipiuntur calida, videtur esse calor animalium, qui bene magnam habet graduum latitudinem. Nam infimus gradus (ut in insectis) vix ad tactum deprenditur ; summus autem gradus vix attingit ad gradum caloris radiorum solis in regionibus et temporibus maxime ferventibus, neque ita acris est quin tolerari possit a manu. Et tamen referunt de Constantio, aliisque nonnullis qui constitutionis et habitus corporis admodum sicci fuerunt, quod acutissimis febribus correpti ita incaluerint ut manum admotam aliquantulum urere visi sint. | 8. The first degree of heat therefore among those substances which feel hot to the touch, seems to be the heat of animals, which has a pretty great extent in its degrees. For the lowest, as in insects, is hardly perceptible to the touch, but the highest scarcely equals the sun's heat in the hottest countries and seasons, nor is it too great to be borne by the hand. It is said, however, of Constantius, and some others of a very dry constitution and habit of body, that in violent fevers they became so hot as somewhat to burn the hand that touched them. |
| 9. Animalia, ex motu et exercitatione, ex vino et epulis, ex venere, ex febribus ardentibus, et ex dolore, augentur calore. | 9. Animals increase in heat by motion and exercise, wine, feasting, venus, burning fevers, and pain. |
| 10. Animalia, in accessibus febrium intermittentium, a principio frigore et horrore corripiuntur, sed paulo post majorem in modum incalescunt ; quod etiam faciunt a principio in causonibus et febribus pestilentialibus. | 10. When attacked by intermittent fevers, animals are at first seized with cold and shivering, but soon after they become exceedingly hot, which is their condition from the first in burning and pestilential fevers. |
| 11. Inquiratur ulterius de calore comparato in diversis animalibus, veluti piscibus, quadrupedibus, serpentibus, avibus ; atque etiam secundum species ipsorum, ut in leone, milvio, homine ; nam ex vulgari opinione, pisces per interiora minus calidi sunt, aves autem maxime calidae ; praesertim columbae, accipitres, struthiones. | 11. Let further inquiry be made into the different degrees of heat in different animals, as in fishes, quadrupeds, serpents, birds; and also according to their species, as in the lion, the kite, the man; for in common opinion fish are the least hot internally, and birds the hottest, especially doves, hawks, and sparrows. |
| 12. Inquiratur ulterius de calore comparato in eodem animali, secundum partes et membra ejus diversa. Nam lac, sanguis, sperma, ova, inveniuntur gradu modico tepida, et minus calida quam ipsa caro exterior in animali quando movetur aut agitatur. Qualis vero gradus sit caloris in cerebro, stomacho, corde, et reliquis, similiter adhuc non est quaesitum. | 12. Let further inquiry be made into the different degrees of heat in the different parts and limbs of the same animal. For milk, blood, seed, eggs, are found to be hot only in a moderate degree, and less hot than the outer flesh of the animal when in motion or agitated. But what the degree of heat is in the brain, stomach, heart, etc., has not yet been in like manner inquired. |
| 13. Animalia omnia, per hyemem et tempestates frigidas, secundum exterius frigent ; sed per interiora etiam magis esse calida existimantur. | 13. All animals in winter and cold weather are cold externally, but internally they are thought to be even hotter. |
| 14. Calor coelestium, etiam in regione calidissima atque temporibus anni et diei calidissimis, non eum gradum caloris obtinet, qui vel lignum aridissimum vel stramen vel etiam linteum ustum incendat aut adurat, nisi per specula comburentia roboretur ; sed tamen e rebus humidis vaporem excitare potest. | 14. The heat of the heavenly bodies, even in the hottest countries, and at the hottest times of the year and day, is never sufficiently strong to set on fire or burn the driest wood or straw, or even tinder, unless strengthened by burning glasses or mirrors. It is, however, able to extract vapor from moist substances. |
| 15. Ex traditione astronomorum ponuntur stellae aliae magis, aliae minus calidae. Inter planetas enim post solem ponitur Mars calidissimus, deinde Jupiter, deinde Venus ; ponuntur autem tanquam frigidi Luna et deinde omnium maxime Saturnus. Inter fixas autem ponitur calidissimus Sirius, deinde Cor Leonis, sive Regulus, deinde Canicula, etc. | 15. By the tradition of astronomers some stars are hotter than others. Of planets, Mars is accounted the hottest after the sun; then comes Jupiter, and then Venus. Others, again, are set down as cold: the moon, for instance, and above all Saturn. Of fixed stars, Sirius is said to be the hottest, then Cor Leonis or Regulus, then Canicula, and so on. |
| 16. Sol magis calefacit, quo magis vergit ad perpendiculum sive Zenith, quod etiam credendum est de aliis planetis, pro modulo suo caloris ; exempli gratia, Jovem magis apud nos calefacere, cum positus sit sub Cancro aut Leone quam sub Capricorno aut Aquario. | 16. The sun gives greater heat the nearer he approaches to the perpendicular or zenith; and this is probably true of the other planets also, according to the proportion of their heat. Jupiter, for instance, is hotter, probably, to us when under Cancer or Leo than under Capricorn or Aquarius. |
| 17. Credendum est solem ipsum et planetas reliquos magis calefacere in perigaeis suis, propter propinquitatem ad terram, quam in apogaeis. Quod si eveniat ut in aliqua regione sol sit simul in perigaeo et propius ad perpendiculum, necesse est ut magis calefaciat quam in regione ubi sol sit similiter in perigaeo sed magis ad obliquum. Adeo ut comparatio exaltationis planetarum notari debeat, prout ex perpendiculo aut obliquitate participet, secundum regionum varietatem. | 17. We must also believe that the sun and other planets give more heat in perigee, from their proximity to the earth, than they do in apogee. But if it happens that in some region the sun is at the same time in perigee and near the perpendicular, his heat must of necessity be greater than in a region where he is also in perigee, but shining more obliquely. And therefore the altitude of the planets in their exaltation in different regions ought to be noted, with respect to perpendicularity or obliquity. |
| 18. Sol etiam, et similiter reliqui planetae calefacere magis existimantur cum sint in proximo ad stellas fixas majores ; veluti cum sol ponitur in Leone, magis vicinus fit Cordi Leonis, Caudae Leonis, et Spicae Virginis, et Sirio, et Caniculae, quam cum ponitur in Cancro, ubi tamen magis sistitur ad perpendiculum. Atque credendum est partes coeli majorem infundere calorem (licet ad tactum minime perceptibilem) quo magis ornatae sint stellis, praesertim majoribus. | 18. The sun and other planets are supposed to give greater heat when nearer to the larger fixed stars. Thus when the sun is in Leo he is nearer Cor Leonis, Cauda Leonis, Spica Virginis, Sirius and Canicula, than when he is in Cancer, in which sign, however, he is nearer to the perpendicular. And it must be supposed that those parts of the heavens shed the greatest heat (though it be not at all perceptible to the touch) which are the most adorned with stars, especially of a larger size. |
| 19. Omnino calor coelestium augetur tribus modis ; videlicet ex perpendiculo, ex propinquitate sive perigaeo, et ex conjunctione sive consortio stellarum. | 19. Altogether, the heat of the heavenly bodies is increased in three ways: first, by perpendicularity; secondly, by proximity or perigee; thirdly, by the conjunction or combination of stars. |
| 20. Magnum omnino invenitur intervallum inter calorem animalium ac etiam radiorum coelestium (prout ad nos deferuntur), atque flammam, licet lenissimam, atque etiam ignita omnia, atque insuper liquores, aut aerem ipsum majorem in modum ab igne calefactum. Etenim flamma spiritus vini, praesertim rara nec constipata, tamen potis est stramen aut linteum aut papyrum incendere ; quod nunquam faciet calor animalis vel solis, absque speculis comburentibus. | 20. The heat of animals, and of the rays of the heavenly bodies also (as they reach us), is found to differ by a wide interval from flame, though of the mildest kind, and from all ignited bodies; and from liquids also, and air itself when highly heated by fire. For the flame of spirit of wine, though scattered and not condensed, is yet sufficient to set paper, straw, or linen on fire, which the heat of animals will never do, or of the sun without a burning glass or mirror. |
| 21. Flammae autem et ignitorum plurimi sunt gradus in fortitudine et debilitate caloris. Verum de his nulla est facta diligens inquisitio ; ut necesse sit ista leviter transmittere. Videtur autem ex flammis illa ex spiritu vini esse mollissima ; nisi forte ignis fatuus, aut flammae seu coruscationes ex sudoribus animalium, sint molliores. Hanc sequi opinamur flammam ex vegetabilibus levibus et porosis, ut stramine, scirpis, et foliis arefactis, a quibus non multum differre flammam ex pilis aut plumis. Hanc sequitur fortasse flamma ex lignis, praesertim iis quae non multum habent ex resina aut pice ; ita tamen ut flamma ex lignis quae parva sunt mole (quae vulgo colligantur in fasciculos) lenior sit quam quae fit ex truncis arborum et radicibus. Id quod vulgo experiri licet in fornacibus quae ferrum excoquunt, in quibus ignis ex fasciculis et ramis arborum non est admodum utilis. Hanc sequitur (ut arbitramur) flamma ex oleo et sevo et cera, et hujusmodi oleosis et pinguibus, quae sunt sine magna acrimonia. Fortissimus autem calor reperitur in pice et resina ; atque adhuc magis in sulphure et caphura, et naphtha et petrelaeo et salibus (postquam materia cruda eruperit), et in horum compositionibus, veluti pulvere tormentario, igne Graeco (quem vulgo ignem ferum vocant), et diversis ejus generibus, quae tam obstinatum habent calorem ut ab aquis non facile exstinguantur. | 21. There are, however, many degrees of strength and weakness in the heat of flame and ignited bodies. But as they have never been diligently inquired into, we must pass them lightly over. It appears, however, that of all flame that of spirit of wine is the softest, unless perhaps ignis fatuus be softer, and the flames or sparklings arising from the sweat of animals. Next to this, as I suppose, comes flame from light and porous vegetable matter, as straw, reeds, and dried leaves, from which the flame from hairs or feathers does not much differ. Next perhaps comes flame from wood, especially such as contains but little rosin or pitch; with this distinction, however, that the flame from small pieces of wood (such as are commonly tied up in fagots) is milder than the flame from trunks and roots of trees. And this you may try any day in furnaces for smelting iron, in which a fire made with fagots and boughs of trees is of no great use. After this I think comes flame from oil, tallow, wax, and such like fat and oily substances, which have no great acrimony. But the most violent heat is found in pitch and rosin; and yet more in sulphur, camphor, naphtha, rock oil, and salts (after the crude matter is discharged), and in their compounds, as gunpowder, Greek fire (commonly called wildfire), and its different kinds, which have so stubborn a heat that they are not easily extinguished by water. |
| 22. Existimamus etiam flammam, quae resultat ex nonnullis metallis imperfectis, esse valde robustam et acrem. Verum de istis omnibus inquiratur ulterius. | 22. I think also that the flame which results from some imperfect metals is very strong and eager. But on these points let further inquiry be made. |
| 23. Videtur autem flamma fulminum potentiorum has omnes flammas superare ; adeo ut ferrum ipsum perfectum aliquando colliquaverit in guttas, quod flammae illae alterae facere non possunt. | 23. The flame of powerful lightning seems to exceed in strength all the former, for it has even been known to melt wrought iron into drops, which those other flames cannot do. |
| 24. In ignitis autem diversi sunt etiam gradus caloris, de quibus etiam non facta est diligens inquisitio. Calorem maxime debilem existimamus esse ex linteo usto, quali ad flammae excitationem uti solemus ; et similiter ex ligno illo spongioso aut funiculis arefactis qui ad tormentorum accensionem adhibentur. Post hunc sequitur carbo ignitus ex lignis et anthracibus, atque etiam ex lateribus ignitis, et similibus. Ignitorum autem vehementissime calida existimamus esse metalla ignita, ut ferrum et cuprum et caetera. Verum de his etiam facienda est ulterior inquisitio. | 24. In ignited bodies too there are different degrees of heat, though these again have not yet been diligently examined. The weakest heat of all, I think, is that from tinder, such as we use to kindle flame with; and in like manner that of touchwood or tow, which is used in firing cannon. After this comes ignited wood or coal, and also bricks and the like heated to ignition. But of all ignited substances, the hottest, as I take it, are ignited metals, as iron, copper, etc. But these require further investigation. |
| 25. Inveniuntur ex ignitis nonnulla longe calidiora quam nonnullae ex flammis. Multo enim calidius est et magis adurens ferrum ignitum quam flamma spiritus vini. | 25. Some ignited bodies are found to be much hotter than some flames. Ignited iron, for instance, is much hotter and more consuming than flame of spirit of wine. |
| 26. Inveniuntur etiam ex illis quae ignita non sunt sed tantum ab igne calefacta, sicut aquae ferventes et aer conclusus in reverberatoriis, nonnulla quae superant calore multa ex flammis ipsis et ignitis. | 26. Of substances also which are not ignited but only heated by fire, as boiling water and air confined in furnaces, some are found to exceed in heat many flames and ignited substances. |
| 27. Motus auget calorem ; ut videre est in follibus et flatu ; adeo ut duriora ex metallis non solvantur aut liquefiant per ignem mortuum aut quietum, nisi flatu excitetur. | 27. Motion increases heat, as you may see in bellows and by blowing; insomuch that the harder metals are not dissolved or melted by a dead or quiet fire, till it be made intense by blowing. |
| 28. Fiat experimentum per specula comburentia, in quibus (ut memini) hoc fit ; ut si speculum ponatur (exempli gratia) ad distantiam spithamae ab objecto combustibili, non tantopere incendat aut adurat quam si positum fuerit speculum (exempli gratia) ad distantiam semi spithamae, et gradatim et lente trahatur ad distantiam spithamae. Conus tamen et unio radiorum eadem sunt, sed ipse motus auget operationem caloris. | 28. Let trial be made with burning glasses, which (as I remember) act thus. If you place a burning glass at the distance of (say) a span from a combustible body, it will not burn or consume it so easily as if it were first placed at the distance of (say) half a span, and then moved gradually and slowly to the distance of the whole span. And yet the cone and union of rays are the same; but the motion itself increases the operation of the heat. |
| 29. Existimantur incendia illa, quae fiunt flante vento forti, majores progressus facere adversus ventum quam secundum ventum ; quia scilicet flamma resilit motu perniciore, vento remittente, quam procedit, vento impellente. | 29. Fires which break out during a strong wind are thought to make greater progress against than with it; because the flame recoils more violently when the wind gives way than it advances while the wind is driving it on. |
| 30. Flamma non emicat aut generatur, nisi detur aliquid concavi in quo flamma movere possit et ludere ; praeterquam in flammis flatuosis pulveris tormentarii, et similibus, ubi compressio et incarceratio flammae auget ejus furorem. | 30. Flame does not burst out, nor is it generated, unless some hollow space be allowed it to move and play in; except the explosive flame of gunpowder and the like, where compression and imprisonment increase its fury. |
| 31. Incus per malleum calefit admodum ; adeo ut si incus fuerit laminae tenuioris, existimemus illam per fortes et continuos ictus mallei posse rubescere, ut ferum ignitum ; sed de hoc fiat experimentum. | 31. An anvil grows very hot under the hammer, insomuch that if it were made of a thin plate it might, I suppose, with strong and continuous blows of the hammer, grow red like ignited iron. But let this be tried by experiment. |
| 32. At in ignitis quae sunt porosa, ita ut detur spatium ad exercendum motum ignis, si cohibeatur hujusmodi motus per compressionem fortem, statim extinguitur ignis ; veluti cum linteum ustum aut filum ardens candelae aut lampadis aut etiam carbo aut pruna ardens comprimitur per pressorium aut pedis conculcationem aut hujusmodi, statim cessant operationes ignis. | 32. But in ignited substances which are porous, so as to give the fire room to move, if this motion be checked by strong compression, the fire is immediately extinguished. For instance, when tinder, or the burning wick of a candle or lamp, or even live charcoal or coal, is pressed down with an extinguisher, or with the foot, or any similar instrument, the operation of the fire instantly ceases. |
| 33. Approximatio ad corpus calidum auget calorem, pro gradu approximationis ; quod etiam fit in lumine : nam quo proprius collocatur objectum ad lumen eo magis est visibile. | 33. Approximation to a hot body increases heat in proportion to the degree of approximation. And this is the case also with light; for the nearer an object is brought to the light, the more visible it becomes. |
| 34. Unio calorum diversorum auget calorem, nisi facta sit commistio corporum. Nam focus magnus et focus parvus in eodem loco nonnihil invicem augent calorem ; at aqua tepida immissa in aquam ferventem refrigerat. | 34. The union of different heats increases heat, unless the hot substances be mixed together. For a large fire and a small fire in the same room increase one another's heat; but warm water plunged into boiling water cools it. |
| 35. Mora corporis calidi auget calorem. Etenim calor perpetuo transiens et emanans commiscetur cum calore praeinexistente, adeo ut multiplicet calorem. Nam focus non aeque calefacit cubiculum per moram semihorae ac si idem focus duret per horam integram. At hoc non facit lumen ; etenim lampas aut candela in aliquo loco posita non magis illuminat per moram diuturnam quam statim ab initio. | 35. The continued application of a hot body increases heat, because heat perpetually passing and emanating from it mingles with the previously existing heat, and so multiplies the heat. For a fire does not warm a room as well in half an hour as it does if continued through the whole hour. But this is not the case with light; for a lamp or candle gives no more light after it has been long lighted than it did at first. |
| 36. Irritatio per frigidum ambiens auget calorem ; ut in focis videre est per gelu acre. Quod existimamus fieri non tantum per conclusionem et contractionem caloris, quae est species unionis, sed per exasperationem ; veluti cum aer aut baculum violenter comprimitur aut flectitur, non ad punctum loci prioris resilit, sed ulterius in contrarium. Itaque fiat diligens experimentum per baculum vel simile aliquid immissum in flammam, utrum ad latera flammae non uratur citius quam in medio flammae. | 36. Irritation by surrounding cold increases heat, as you may see in fires during a sharp frost. And this I think is owing not merely to the confinement and contraction of the heat, which is a kind of union, but also to irritation. Thus, when air or a stick is violently compressed or bent, it recoils not merely to the point it was forced from, but beyond it on the other side. Let trial therefore be carefully made by putting a stick or some such thing into flame, and observing whether it is not burnt more quickly at the sides than in the middle of the flame. |
| 37. Gradus autem in susceptione caloris sunt complures. Atque primo omnium notandum est, quam parvus et exilis calor etiam ea corpora, quae caloris minime omnium sunt susceptiva, immutet tamen et nonnihil calefaciat. Nam ipse calor manus globulum plumbi aut alicujus metalli paulisper detentum nonnihil calefacit. Adeo facile et in omnibus transmittitur et excitatur calor, corpore nullo modo ad apparentiam immutato. | 37. There are many degrees in susceptibility of heat. And first of all it is to be observed how slight and faint a heat changes and somewhat warms even those bodies which are least of all susceptible of heat. Even the heat of the hand communicates some heat to a ball of lead or any metal, if held in it a little while. So readily and so universally is heat transmitted and excited, the body remaining to all appearance unchanged. |
| 38. Facillime omnium corporum apud nos et excipit et remittit calorem aer ; quod optime cernitur in vitris calendaribus. Eorum confectio est talis : accipiatur vitrum ventre concavo, collo tenui et oblongo ; resupinetur et demittatur hujusmodi vitrum, ore deorsum verso, ventre sursum, in aliud vasculum vitreum ubi sit aqua, tangendo fundum vasculi illius recipientis extremo ore vitri immissi, et incumbat paullulum vitri immissi collum ad os vitri recipientis, ita ut stare possit ; quod ut commodius fiat, apponatur parum cerae ad os vitri recipientis ; ita tamen ut non penitus obturetur os ejus, ne ob defectum aeris succedentis impediatur motus de quo jam dicetur, qui est admodum facilis et delicatus. | 38. Of all substances that we are acquainted with, the one which most readily receives and loses heat is air; as is best seen in calendar glasses [air thermoscopes], which are made thus. Take a glass with a hollow belly, a thin and oblong neck; turn it upside down and lower it, with the mouth downwards and the belly upwards, into another glass vessel containing water; and let the mouth of the inserted vessel touch the bottom of the receiving vessel and its neck lean slightly against the mouth of the other, so that it can stand. And that this may be done more conveniently, apply a little wax to the mouth of the receiving glass, but not so as to seal its mouth quite up, in order that the motion, of which we are going to speak, and which is very facile and delicate, may not be impeded by want of a supply of air. |
| Oportet autem ut vitrum demissum, antequam inseratur in alterum, calefiat ad ignem a parte superiori, ventre scilicet. Postquam autem fuerit vitrum illud collocatum, ut diximus, recipiet et contrahet se aer (qui dilatatus erat per calefactionem), post moram sufficientem pro extinctione illius ascititii caloris, ad talem extensionem sive dimensionem qualis erit aeris ambientis aut communis tunc temporis quando immittitur vitrum, atque attrahet aquam in sursum ad hujusmodi mensuram. Debet autem appendi charta angusta et oblonga, et gradibus (quot libuerit) interstincta. Videbis autem, prout tempestas diei incalescit aut frigescit, aerem se contrahere in angustius per frigidum et extendere se in latius per calidum ; id quod conspicietur per aquam ascendentem quando contrahitur aer, et descendentem sive depressum quando dilatatur aer. Sensus autem aeris, quatenus ad calidum et frigidum, tam subtilis est et exquisitus ut facultatem tactus humani multum superet ; adeo ut solis radius aliquis, aut calor anhelitus, multo magis calor manus, super vitri summitatem positus, statim deprimat aquam manifesto. Attamen existimamus spiritum animalium magis adhuc exquisitum sensum habere calidi et frigidi, nisi quod a mole corporea impediatur et hebetetur. | The lowered glass, before being inserted into the other, must be heated before a fire in its upper part, that is its belly. Now when it is placed in the position I have described, the air which was dilated by the heat will, after a lapse of time sufficient to allow for the extinction of that adventitious heat, withdraw and contract itself to the same extension or dimension as that of the surrounding air at the time of the immersion of the glass, and will draw the water upwards to a corresponding height. To the side of the glass there should be affixed a strip of paper, narrow and oblong, and marked with as many degrees as you choose. You will then see, according as the day is warm or cold, that the air contracts under the action of cold, and expands under the action of heat; as will be seen by the water rising when the air contracts, and sinking when it dilates. But the air's sense of heat and cold is so subtle and exquisite as far to exceed the perception of the human touch, insomuch that a ray of sunshine, or the heat of the breath, much more the heat of one's hand placed on the top of the glass, will cause the water immediately to sink in a perceptible degree. And yet I think that animal spirits have a sense of heat and cold more exquisite still, were it not that it is impeded and deadened by the grossness of the body. |
| 39. Post aerem, existimamus corpora esse maxime sensitiva caloris ea quae a frigore recenter immutata sint et compressa, qualia sunt nix et glacies ; ea enim leni aliquo tepore solvi incipiunt et colliquari. Post illa sequitur fortasse argentum vivum. Post illud sequuntur corpora pinguia, ut oleum butyrum, et similia ; deinde lignum ; deinde aqua ; postremo lapides et metalla, quae non facile calefiunt, praesertim interius. Illa tamen calorem semel susceptum diutissime retinent ; ita ut later aut lapis aut ferrum ignitum in pelvim aquae frigidae immissum et demersum, per quartam partem horae (plus minus) retineat calorem, ita ut tangi non possit. | 39. Next to air, I take those bodies to be most sensitive to heat which have been recently changed and compressed by cold, as snow and ice; for they begin to dissolve and melt with any gentle heat. Next to them, perhaps, comes quicksilver. After that follow greasy substances, as oil, butter, and the like; then comes wood; then water; and lastly stones and metals, which are slow to heat, especially in the inside. These, however, when once they have acquired heat retain it very long; in so much that an ignited brick, stone, or piece of iron, when plunged into a basin of water, will remain for a quarter of an hour, or thereabouts, so hot that you cannot touch it. |
| 40. Quo minor est corporis moles, eo citius per corpus calidum approximatum incalescit ; id quod demonstrat omnem calorem apud nos esse corpori tangibili quodammodo adversum. | 40. The less the mass of a body, the sooner is it heated by the approach of a hot body; which shows that all heat of which we have experience is in some sort opposed to tangible matter. |
| 41. Calidum, quatenus ad sensum et tactum humanum, res varia est et respectiva : adeo ut aqua tepida, si manus frigore occupetur, sentiatur esse calida ; sin manus incaluerit, frigida. | 41. Heat, as far as regards the sense and touch of man, is a thing various and relative; insomuch that tepid water feels hot if the hand be cold, but cold if the hand be hot. |
| XIV. | XIV |
| Quam inopes simus historiae quivis facile advertet, cum in tabulis superioribus, praeterquam quod loco historiae probatae et instantiarum certarum nonnunquam traditiones et relationes inseramus (semper tamen adjecta dubiae fidei et auctoritatis nota), saepenumero etiam hisce verbis, fiat experimentum, vel inquiratur ulterius, uti cogamur. | How poor we are in history anyone may see from the foregoing tables, where I not only insert sometimes mere traditions and reports (though never without a note of doubtful credit and authority) in place of history proved and instances certain, but am also frequently forced to use the words "Let trial be made," or "Let it be further inquired." |
| XV. | XV |
| Atque opus et officium harum trium tabularum Comparentiam instantiarum ad intellectum vocare consuevimus. Facta autem comparentia, in opere ponenda est ipsa inductio. Invenienda est enim, super comparentiam omnium et singularum instantiarum, natura talis, quae cum natura data perpetuo adsit, absit, atque crescat, et decrescat ; sitque (ut superius dictum est) limitatio naturae magis communis. Hoc si mens jam ab initio facere tentet affirmative (quod sibi permissa semper facere solet), occurrent phantasmata et opinabilia et notionalia male terminata et axiomata quotidie emendanda ; nisi libeat (scholarum more) pugnare pro falsis. Ea tamen proculdubio erunt meliora aut praviora pro facultate et robore intellectus qui operatur. At omnino Deo (formarum inditori et opifici) aut fortasse angelis et intelligentiis competit formas per affirmationem immediate nosse, atque ab initio contemplationis. Sed certe supra hominem est ; cui tantum conceditur, procedere primo per negativas, et postremo loco desinere in affirmativas, post omnimodam exclusionem. | The work and office of these three tables I call the Presentation of Instances to the Understanding. Which presentation having been made, induction itself must be set at work; for the problem is, upon a review of the instances, all and each, to find such a nature as is always present or absent with the given nature, and always increases and decreases with it; and which is, as I have said, a particular case of a more general nature. Now if the mind attempt this affirmatively from the first, as when left to itself it is always wont to do, the result will be fancies and guesses and notions ill defined, and axioms that must be mended every day, unless like the schoolmen we have a mind to fight for what is false; though doubtless these will be better or worse according to the faculties and strength of the understanding which is at work. To God, truly, the Giver and Architect of Forms, and it may be to the angels and higher intelligences, it belongs to have an affirmative knowledge of forms immediately, and from the first contemplation. But this assuredly is more than man can do, to whom it is granted only to proceed at first by negatives, and at last to end in affirmatives after exclusion has been exhausted. |
| XVI. | XVI |
| Itaque naturae facienda est prorsus solutio et separatio ; non per ignem certe, sed per mentem, tanquam ignem divinum. Est itaque inductionis verae opus primum (quatenus ad inveniendas formas) rejectio sive exclusiva naturarum singularum, quae non inveniuntur in aliqua instantia, ubi natura data adest ; aut inveniuntur in aliqua instantia, ubi natura data abest ; aut inveniuntur in aliqua instantia crescere, cum natura data decrescat ; aut decrescere, cum natura data crescat. Tum vero post rejectionem et exclusivam debitis modis factam, secundo loco (tanquam in fundo) manebit (abeuntibus in fumum opinionibus volatilibus) forma affirmativa, solida, et vera, et bene terminata. Atque hoc breve dictu est, sed per multas ambages ad hoc pervenitur. Nos autem nihil fortasse ex iis, quae ad hoc faciunt, praetermittemus. | We must make, therefore, a complete solution and separation of nature, not indeed by fire, but by the mind, which is a kind of divine fire. The first work, therefore, of true induction (as far as regards the discovery of forms) is the rejection or exclusion of the several natures which are not found in some instance where the given nature is present, or are found in some instance where the given nature is absent, or are found to increase in some instance when the given nature decreases, or to decrease when the given nature increases. Then indeed after the rejection and exclusion has been duly made, there will remain at the bottom, all light opinions vanishing into smoke, a form affirmative, solid, and true and well defined. This is quickly said; but the way to come at it is winding and intricate. I will endeavor, however, not to overlook any of the points which may help us toward it. |
| XVII. | XVII |
| Cavendum autem est, et monendum quasi perpetuo, ne, cum tantae partes formis videantur a nobis tribui, trahantur ea, quae dicimus, ad formas eas, quibus hominum contemplationes et cogitationes hactenus assueverunt. Primo enim, de formis copulatis, quae sunt (ut diximus) naturarum simplicium conjugia ex cursu communi universi, ut leonis, aquilae, rosae, auri, et hujusmodi, impraesentiarum non loquimur. Tempus enim erit de iis tractandi, cum ventum fuerit ad latentes processus, et latentes schematismos, eorumque inventionem, prout reperiuntur in substantiis (quas vocant) seu naturis concretis. Rursus vero, non intelligantur ea quae dicimus (etiam quatenus ad naturas simplices) de formis et ideis abstractis, aut in materia non determinatis, aut male determinatis. Nos enim, quum de formis loquimur, nil aliud intelligimus quam leges illas et determinationes actus puri, quae naturam aliquam simplicem ordinant et constituunt, ut calorem, lumen, pondus, in omnimoda materia et subjecto susceptibili. Itaque eadem res est forma calidi aut forma luminis, et lex calidi sive lex luminis ; neque vero a rebus ipsis et parte operativa unquam nos abstrahimus aut recedimus. Quare cum dicimus (exempli gratia) in inquisitione formae caloris, Rejice tenuitatem, aut Tenuitas non est ex forma caloris ; idem est ac si dicamus, Potest homo superinducere calorem in corpus densum, aut contra, Potest homo auferre aut arcere calorem a corpore tenui. | But when I assign so prominent a part to forms, I cannot too often warn and admonish men against applying what I say to those forms to which their thoughts and contemplations have hitherto been accustomed. For in the first place I do not at present speak of compound forms, which are, as I have remarked, combinations of simple natures according to the common course of the universe: as of the lion, eagle, rose, gold, and the like. It will be time to treat of these when we come to the latent processes and latent configurations, and the discovery of them, as they are found in what are called substances or natures concrete. And even in the case of simple natures I would not be understood to speak of abstract forms and ideas, either not defined in matter at all, or ill defined. For when I speak of forms, I mean nothing more than those laws and determinations of absolute actuality which govern and constitute any simple nature, as heat, light, weight, in every kind of matter and subject that is susceptible of them. Thus the form of heat or the form of light is the same thing as the law of heat or the law of light. Nor indeed do I ever allow myself to be drawn away from things themselves and the operative part. And therefore when I say (for instance) in the investigation of the form of heat, "reject rarity," or "rarity does not belong to the form of heat," it is the same as if I said, "It is possible to superinduce heat on a dense body"; or, "It is possible to take away or keep out heat from a rare body." |
| Quod si cuiquam videantur etiam formae nostrae habere nonnihil abstracti, quod misceant et conjungant heterogenea (videntur enim valde esse heterogenea calor coelestium, et ignis ; rubor fixus in rosa aut similibus, et apparens in iride aut radiis opalii aut adamantis ; mors ex summersione, ex crematione, ex punctura gladii, ex apoplexia, ex atrophia ; et tamen conveniunt ista in natura calidi, ruboris, mortis), is se habere intellectum norit consuetudine et integralitate rerum et opinionibus captum et detentum. Certissimum enim est ista, utcunque heterogenea et aliena, coire in formam sive legem eam, quae ordinat calorem, aut ruborem, aut mortem ; nec emancipari posse potentiam humanam et liberari a naturae cursu communi, et expandi et exaltari ad efficientia nova et modos operandi novos, nisi per revelationem et inventionem hujusmodi formarum ; et tamen post istam unionem naturae, quae est res maxime principalis, de naturae divisionibus et venis, tam ordinariis quam interioribus et verioribus, suo loco postea dicetur. | But if anyone conceive that my forms too are of a somewhat abstract nature, because they mix and combine things heterogeneous (for the heat of heavenly bodies and the heat of fire seem to be very heterogeneous; so do the fixed red of the rose or the like, and the apparent red in the rainbow, the opal, or the diamond; so again do the different kinds of death: death by drowning, by hanging, by stabbing, by apoplexy, by atrophy; and yet they agree severally in the nature of heat, redness, death); if anyone, I say, be of this opinion, he may be assured that his mind is held in captivity by custom, by the gross appearance of things, and by men's opinions. For it is most certain that these things, however heterogeneous and alien from each other, agree in the form or law which governs heat, redness and death; and that the power of man cannot possibly be emancipated and freed from the common course of nature, and expanded and exalted to new efficients and new modes of operation, except by the revelation and discovery of forms of this kind. And yet, when I have spoken of this union of nature, which is the point of most importance, I shall proceed to the divisions and veins of nature, as well the ordinary as those that are more inward and exact, and speak of them in their place. |
| XVIII. | XVIII |
| Jam vero proponendum est exemplum exclusionis sive rejectionis naturarum, quae per tabulas comparentiae reperiuntur non esse ex forma calidi ; illud interim monendo, non solum sufficere singulas tabulas ad rejectionem alicujus naturae, sed etiam unamquamque ex instantiis singularibus in illis contentis. Manifestum enim est ex iis, quae dicta sunt, omnem instantiam contradictoriam destruere opinabile de forma. Sed nihilominus quandoque perspicuitatis causa, et ut usus tabularum clarius demonstretur, exclusivam duplicamus aut repetimus. | I must now give an example of the exclusion or rejection of natures which by the Tables of Presentation are found not to belong to the form of heat; observing in the meantime that not only each table suffices for the rejection of any nature, but even any one of the particular instances contained in any of the tables. For it is manifest from what has been said that any one contradictory instance overthrows a conjecture as to the form. But nevertheless for clearness' sake and that the use of the tables may be more plainly shown, I sometimes double or multiply an exclusion. |
| Exemplum exclusivae, sive rejectionis naturarum a forma calidi. | An Example of Exclusion, or Rejection of Natures from the Form of Heat |
| 1. Per radios solis, rejice naturam elementarem. | 1. On account of the rays of the sun, reject the nature of the elements. |
| 2. Per ignem communem, et maxime per ignes subterraneos (qui remotissimi sunt, et plurimum intercluduntur a radiis coelestibus), rejice naturam coelestem. | 2. On account of common fire, and chiefly subterraneous fires (which are the most remote and most completely separate from the rays of heavenly bodies), reject the nature of heavenly bodies. |
| 3. Per calefactionem omnigenum corporum (hoc est, mineralium, vegetabilium, partium exteriorum animalium, aquae, olei, aeris, et reliquorum) ex approximatione sola ad ignem aut aliud corpus calidum, rejice omnem varietatem sive subtiliorem texturam corporum. | 3. On account of the warmth acquired by all kinds of bodies (minerals, vegetables, skin of animals, water, oil, air, and the rest) by mere approach to a fire, or other hot body, reject the distinctive or more subtle texture of bodies. |
| 4. Per ferrum et metalla ignita, quae calefaciunt alia corpora, nec tamen omnino pondere aut substantia minuuntur, rejice inditionem sive mixturam substantiae alterius calidi. | 4. On account of ignited iron and other metals, which communicate heat to other bodies and yet lose none of their weight or substance, reject the communication or admixture of the substance of another hot body. |
| 5. Per aquam ferventem atque aerem, atque etiam per metalla et alia solida calefacta, sed non usque ad ignitionem sive ruborem, rejice lucem et lumen. | 5. On account of boiling water and air, and also on account of metals and other solids that receive heat but not to ignition or red heat, reject light or brightness. |
| 6. Per radios lunae et aliarum stellarum (excepto sole), rejice etiam lucem et lumen. | 6. On account of the rays of the moon and other heavenly bodies, with the exception of the sun, also reject light and brightness. |
| 7. Per comparativam ferri igniti et flammae spiritus vini (ex quibus ferrum ignitum plus habet calidi et minus lucidi, flamma autem spiritus vini plus lucidi et minus calidi), rejice etiam lucem et lumen. | 7. By a comparison of ignited iron and the flame of spirit of wine (of which ignited iron has more heat and less brightness, while the flame of spirit of wine has more brightness and less heat), also reject light and brightness. |
| 8. Per aurum et alia metalla ignita, quae densissimi sunt corporis secundum totum, rejice tenuitatem. | 8. On account of ignited gold and other metals, which are of the greatest density as a whole, reject rarity. |
| 9. Per aerem, qui invenitur ut plurimum frigidus, et tamen manet tenuis, rejice etiam tenuitatem. | 9. On account of air, which is found for the most part cold and yet remains rare, also reject rarity. |
| 10. Per ferrum ignitum, quod non intumescit mole, sed manet intra eandem dimensionem visibilem, rejice motum localem aut expansivum secundum totum. | 10. On account of ignited iron, which does not swell in bulk, but keeps within the same visible dimensions, reject local or expansive motion of the body as a whole. |
| 11. Per dilatationem aeris in vitris calendariis et similibus, qui movetur localiter et expansive manifesto, neque tamen colligit manifestum augmentum caloris, rejice etiam motum localem aut expansivum secundum totum. | 11. On account of the dilation of air in calendar glasses and the like, wherein the air evidently moves locally and expansively and yet acquires no manifest increase of heat, also reject local or expansive motion of the body as a whole. |
| 12. Per facilem tepefactionem omnium corporum, absque aliqua destructione aut alteratione notabili, rejice naturam destructivam aut inditionem violentam alicujus naturae novae. | 12. On account of the ease with which all bodies are heated, without any destruction or observable alteration, reject a destructive nature, or the violent communication of any new nature. |
| 13. Per consensum et conformitatem operum similium quae eduntur a calore et a frigore, rejice motum tam expansivum quam contractivum secundum totum. | 13. On account of the agreement and conformity of the similar effects which are wrought by heat and cold, reject motion of the body as a whole, whether expansive or contractive. |
| 14. Per accensionem caloris ex attritione corporum, rejice naturam principialem. Naturam principialem vocamus eam, quae positiva reperitur in natura, nec causatur a natura praecedente. | 14. On account of heat being kindled by the attrition of bodies, reject a principial nature. By principial nature I mean that which exists in the nature of things positively, and not as the effect of any antecedent nature. |
| Sunt et aliae naturae : neque enim tabulas conficimus perfectas, sed exempla tantum. | There are other natures beside these; for these tables are not perfect, but meant only for examples. |
| Omnes et singulae naturae praedictae non sunt ex forma calidi. Atque ab omnibus naturis praedictis liberatur homo in operatione super calidum. | All and each of the above-mentioned natures do not belong to the form of heat. And from all of them man is freed in his operations of heat. |
| XIX. | XIX |
| Atque in exclusiva jacta sunt fundamenta inductionis verae, quae tamen non perficitur donec sistatur in affirmativa. Neque vero ipsa exclusiva ullo modo perfecta est, neque adeo esse potest sub initiis. Est enim exclusiva (ut plane liquet) rejectio naturarum simplicium. Quod si non habeamus adhuc bonas et veras notiones naturarum simplicium, quomodo rectificari potest exclusiva? At nonnullae ex supradictis (veluti notio naturae elementaris, notio naturae coelestis, notio tenuitatis) sunt notiones vagae, nec bene terminatae. Itaque nos, qui nec ignari sumus nec obliti quantum opus aggrediamur (viz. ut faciamus intellectum humanum rebus et naturae parem), nullo modo acquiescimus in his, quae adhuc praecepimus : sed et rem in ulterius provehimus, et fortiora auxilia in usum intellectus machinamur et ministramus ; quae nunc subjungemus. Et certe in interpretatione naturae animus omnino taliter est praeparandus et formandus, ut et sustineat se in gradibus debitis certitudinis, et tamen cogitet (praesertim sub initiis) ea quae adsunt multum pendere ex iis quae supersunt. | In the process of exclusion are laid the foundations of true induction, which however is not completed till it arrives at an affirmative. Nor is the exclusive part itself at all complete, nor indeed can it possibly be so at first. For exclusion is evidently the rejection of simple natures; and if we do not yet possess sound and true notions of simple natures, how can the process of exclusion be made accurate? Now some of the above-mentioned notions (as that of the nature of the elements, of the nature of heavenly bodies, of rarity) are vague and ill defined. I, therefore, well knowing and nowise forgetting how great a work I am about (viz., that of rendering the human understanding a match for things and nature), do not rest satisfied with the precepts I have laid down, but proceed further to devise and supply more powerful aids for the use of the understanding; which I shall now subjoin. And assuredly in the interpretation of nature the mind should by all means be so prepared and disposed that while it rests and finds footing in due stages and degrees of certainty, it may remember withal (especially at the beginning) that what it has before it depends in great measure upon what remains behind. |
| XX. | XX |
| Attamen quia citius emergit veritas ex errore quam ex confusione, utile putamus, ut fiat permissio intellectui, post tres tabulas comparentiae primae (quales posuimus) factas et pensitatas, accingendi se et tentandi opus interpretationis naturae in affirmativa ; tam ex instantiis tabularum, quam ex iis quae alias occurrent. Quod genus tentamenti, permissionem intellectus, sive interpretationem inchoatam, sive vindemiationem primam appellare consuevimus. | And yet since truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion, I think it expedient that the understanding should have permission, after the three Tables of First Presentation (such as I have exhibited) have been made and weighed, to make an essay of the Interpretation of Nature in the affirmative way, on the strength both of the instances given in the tables, and of any others it may meet with elsewhere. Which kind of essay I call the Indulgence of the Understanding, or the Commencement of Interpretation, or the First Vintage. |
| Vindemiatio prima de forma calidi. | First Vintage Concerning the Form of Heat |
| Animadvertendum autem est, formam rei inesse (ut ex iis quae dicta sunt plane liquet) instantiis universis et singulis, in quibus res ipsa inest ; aliter enim forma non esset : itaque nulla plane dari potest instantia contradictoria. Attamen longe magis conspicua invenitur forma et evidens in aliquibus instantiis, quam in aliis ; in iis videlicet, ubi minus cohibita est natura formae et impedita et redacta in ordinem per naturas alias. Hujusmodi autem instantias, elucescentias vel instantias ostensivas appellare consuevimus. Pergendum itaque est ad vindemiationem ipsam primam de forma calidi. | It is to be observed that the form of a thing is to be found (as plainly appears from what has been said) in each and all the instances in which the thing itself is to be found; otherwise it would not be the form. It follows therefore that there can be no contradictory instance. At the same time the form is found much more conspicuous and evident in some instances than in others, namely in those wherein the nature of the form is less restrained and obstructed and kept within bounds by other natures. Instances of this kind I call Shining or Striking Instances. Let us now therefore proceed to the first vintage concerning the form of heat. |
| Per universas et singulas instantias, natura cujus limitatio est calor videtur esse motus. Hoc autem maxime ostenditur in flamma, quae perpetuo movetur ; et in liquoribus ferventibus aut bullientibus, qui etiam perpetuo moventur. Atque ostenditur etiam in incitatione sive incremento caloris facto per motum ; ut in follibus, et ventis ; de quo vide Instant. 29. Tab. 3. Atque similiter in aliis modis motus, de quibus vide Instant. 28. et 31. Tab. 3. Rursus ostenditur in extinctione ignis et caloris per omnem fortem compressionem, quae fraenat et cessare facit motum ; de qua vide Instant. 30. et 32. Tab. 3. Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod omne corpus destruitur aut saltem insigniter alteratur ab omni igne et calore forti ac vehementi ; unde liquido constat, fieri a calore tumultum et perturbationem et motum acrem in partibus internis corporis, qui sensim vergit ad dissolutionem. | From a survey of the instances, all and each, the nature of which heat is a particular case, appears to be motion. This is displayed most conspicuously in flame, which is always in motion, and in boiling or simmering liquids, which also are in perpetual motion. It is also shown in the excitement or increase of heat caused by motion, as in bellows and blasts; on which see Tab. 3. Inst. 29.; and again in other kinds of motion, on which see Tab. 3. Inst. 28. and 31. Again it is shown in the extinction of fire and heat by any strong compression, which checks and stops the motion; on which see Tab. 3. Inst. 30. and 32. It is shown also by this, that all bodies are destroyed, or at any rate notably altered, by all strong and vehement fire and heat; whence it is quite clear that heat causes a tumult and confusion and violent motion in the internal parts of a body, which perceptibly tend to its dissolution. |
| Intelligatur hoc quod diximus de motu (nempe, ut sit instar generis ad calorem), non quod calor generet motum, aut quod motus generet calorem (licet et haec in aliquibus vera sint), sed quod ipsissimus calor, sive quid ipsum caloris, sit motus et nihil aliud ; limitatus tamen per differentias quas mox subjungemus, postquam nonnullas cautiones adjecerimus ad evitandum aequivocum. Calidum ad sensum res respectiva est, et in ordine ad hominem non ad universum ; et ponitur recte ut effectus caloris tantum in spiritum animalem. Quin etiam in seipso res varia est, cum idem corpus (prout sensus praedisponitur) inducat perceptionem tam calidi quam frigidi ; ut patet per Instant. 41. Tab. 3. Neque vero communicatio caloris, sive natura ejus transitiva per quam corpus admotum corpori calido incalescit, confundi debet cum forma calidi. Aliud enim est calidum, aliud calefactivum. Nam per motum attritionis inducitur calor absque aliquo calido praecedente, unde excluditur calefactivum a forma calidi. Atque etiam ubi calidum efficitur per approximationem calidi, hoc ipsum non fit ex forma calidi, sed omnino pendet a natura altiore et magis communi ; viz. ex natura assimilationis sive multiplicationis sui ; de qua facienda est separatim inquisitio. At notio ignis plebeia est, et nihil valet : composita enim est ex concursu qui fit calidi et lucidi in aliquo corpore ; ut in flamma communi, et corporibus accensis usque ad ruborem. Remoto itaque omni aequivoco, veniendum jam tandem est ad differentias veras, quae limitant motum et constituunt eum in formam calidi. | When I say of motion that it is as the genus of which heat is a species, I would be understood to mean not that heat generates motion or that motion generates heat (though both are true in certain cases), but that heat itself, its essence and quiddity, is motion and nothing else; limited however by the specific differences which I will presently subjoin, as soon as I have added a few cautions for the sake of avoiding ambiguity. Sensible heat is a relative notion, and has relation to man, not to the universe, and is correctly defined as merely the effect of heat on the animal spirits. Moreover, in itself it is variable, since the same body, according as the senses are predisposed, induces a perception of cold as well as of heat. This is clear from Inst. 41. Tab. 3. Nor again must the communication of heat, or its transitive nature, by means of which a body becomes hot when a hot body is applied to it, be confounded with the form of heat. For heat is one thing, heating another. Heat is produced by the motion of attrition without any preceding heat, an instance which excludes heating from the form of heat. And even when heat is produced by the approach of a hot body, this does not proceed from the form of heat, but depends entirely on a higher and more general nature, viz., on the nature of assimilation or self-multiplication, a subject which requires a separate inquiry. Again, our notion of fire is popular, and of no use, being made up of the combination in any body of heat and brightness, as in common flame and bodies heated to redness. Having thus removed all ambiguity, I come at length to the true specific differences which limit motion and constitute it the form of heat. |
| Prima igitur differentia ea est, quod calor sit motus expansivus, per quem corpus nititur ad dilatationem sui, et recipiendi se in majorem sphaeram sive dimensionem quam prius occupaverat. Haec autem differentia maxime ostenditur in flamma ; ubi fumus sive halitus pinguis manifesto dilatatur et aperit se in flammam. Ostenditur etiam in omni liquore fervente, qui manifesto intumescit, insurgit, et emittit bullas ; atque urget processum expandendi se, donec vertatur in corpus longe magis extensum et dilatatum quam sit ipse liquor ; viz. in vaporem aut fumum aut aerem. Ostenditur etiam in omni ligno et combustibili ; ubi fit aliquando exudatio, at semper evaporatio. Ostenditur etiam in colliquatione metallorum, quae (cum sint corporis compactissimi) non facile intumescunt et se dilatant ; sed tamen spiritus eorum, postquam fuerit in se dilatatus, et majorem adeo dilatationem concupierit, trudit plane et agit partes crassiores in liquidum. Quod si etiam calor fortius intendatur, solvit et vertit multum ex iis in volatile. Ostenditur etiam in ferro aut lapidibus ; quae licet non liquefiant aut fundantur, tamen emolliuntur. Quod etiam fit in baculis ligni ; quae calefacta paululum in cineribus calidis fiunt flexibilia. Optime autem cernitur iste motus in aere, qui per exiguum calorem se dilatat continuo et manifesto ; ut per Instant. 38. Tab. 3. Ostenditur etiam in natura contraria frigidi. Frigus enim omne corpus contrahit et cogit in angustius ; adeo ut per intensa frigora clavi excidant ex parietibus, aera dissiliant, vitrum etiam calefactum et subito positum in frigido dissiliat et frangatur. Similiter aer per levem infrigidationem recipit se in angustius ; ut per Instant. 38. Tab. 3. Verum de his fusius dicetur in inquisitione de Frigido. Neque mirum est si calidum et frigidum edant complures actiones communes (de quo vide Instant. 32. Tab. 2), cum inveniantur duae ex sequentibus differentiis (de quibus mox dicemus) quae competunt utrique naturae ; licet in hac differentia (de qua nunc loquimur) actiones sint ex diametro oppositae. Calidum enim dat motum expansivum et dilatantem, Frigidum autem dat motum contractivum et coeuntem. Secunda differentia est modificatio prioris ; haec videlicet, quod calor sit motus expansivus sive versus circumferentiam ; hac lege tamen, ut una feratur corpus sursum. Dubium enim non est quin sint motus complures mixti. Exempli gratia ; sagitta aut spiculum simul et progrediendo rotat, et rotando progreditur. Similiter et motus caloris simul est et expansivus et latio in sursum. Haec vero differentia ostenditur in forcipe, aut bacillo ferreo immisso in ignem : quia si immittatur perpendiculariter tenendo manum superius, cito manum adurit ; sin ex latere aut inferius, omnino tardius. Conspicua etiam est in distillationibus per descensorium ; quibus utuntur homines ad flores delicatiores, quorum odores facile evanescunt. Nam hoc reperit industria, ut collocent ignem non subter sed supra, ut adurat minus. Neque enim flamma tantum vergit sursum, sed etiam omne calidum. Fiat autem experimentum hujus rei in contraria natura frigidi : viz. utrum frigus non contrahat corpus descendendo deorsum, quemadmodum calidum dilatat corpus ascendendo sursum. Itaque adhibeantur duo bacilla ferrea, vel duo tubi vitrei, quoad caetera pares, et calefiant nonnihil ; et ponatur spongia cum aqua frigida, vel nix, subter unam, et similiter super alteram. Existimamus enim celeriorem fore refrigerationem ad extremitates in eo bacillo ubi nix ponitur supra quam in eo ubi nix ponitur subter : contra ac fit in calido. | The first difference then is this. Heat is an expansive motion whereby a body strives to dilate and stretch itself to a larger sphere or dimension than it had previously occupied. This difference is most observable in flame, where the smoke or thick vapor manifestly dilates and expands itself into flame. It is shown also in all boiling liquid which manifestly swells, rises, and bubbles, and carries on the process of self-expansion till it turns into a body far more extended and dilated than the liquid itself, namely, into vapor, smoke, or air. It appears likewise in all wood and combustibles, from which there generally arises exudation and always evaporation. It is shown also in the melting of metals which, being of the compactest texture, do not readily swell and dilate, but yet their spirit being dilated in itself, and thereupon conceiving an appetite for further dilation, forces and agitates the grosser parts into a liquid state. And if the heat be greatly increased it dissolves and turns much of their substance to a volatile state. It is shown also in iron or stones which, though not melted or dissolved, are yet softened. This is the case also with sticks, which when slightly heated in hot ashes become flexible. But this kind of motion is best seen in air, which continuously and manifestly dilates with a slight heat, as appears in Inst. 38. Tab. 3. It is shown also in the opposite nature of cold. For cold contracts all bodies and makes them shrink, insomuch that in intense frosts nails fall out from walls, brazen vessels crack, and heated glass, on being suddenly placed in the cold, cracks and breaks. In like manner air is contracted by a slight chill, as in Inst. 38. Tab. 3. But on these points I shall speak more at length in the inquiry concerning Cold. Nor is it surprising that heat and cold should exhibit many actions in common (for which see Inst. 32. Tab. 2.), when we find two of the following specific differences (of which I shall speak presently) suiting nature; though in this specific difference (of which I am now speaking) their actions are diametrically opposite. For heat gives an expansive and dilating, cold a contractive and condensing motion. The second difference is a modification of the former, namely, that heat is a motion expansive or toward the circumference, but with this condition, that the body has at the same time a motion upward. For there is no doubt that there are many mixed motions. For instance, an arrow or dart turns as it goes forward, and goes forward as it turns. And in like manner the motion of heat is at once a motion of expansion and a motion upward. This difference is shown by putting a pair of tongs or a poker in the fire. If you put it in perpendicularly and hold it by the top, it soon burns your hand; if at the side or from below, not nearly so soon. It is also observable in distillations per descensorium, which men use for delicate flowers that soon lose their scent. For human industry has discovered the plan of placing the fire not below but above, that it may burn the less. For not only flame tends upward, but also all heat. But let trial be made of this in the opposite nature of cold, viz., whether cold does not contract a body downward as heat dilates a body upward. Take therefore two iron rods, or two glass tubes, exactly alike; warm them a little and place a sponge steeped in cold water or snow at the bottom of the one, and the same at the top of the other. For I think that the extremities of the rod which has the snow at the top will cool sooner than the extremities of the other which has the snow at the bottom; just as the opposite is the case with heat. |
| Tertia differentia ea est ; ut calor sit motus, non expansivus uniformiter secundum totum, sed expansivus per particulas minores corporis ; et simul cohibitus et repulsus et reverberatus, adeo ut induat motum alternativum et perpetuo trepidantem et tentantem et nitentem et ex repercussione irritatum ; unde furor ille ignis et caloris ortum habet. Ista vero differentia ostenditur maxime in flamma et liquoribus bullientibus ; quae perpetuo trepidant, et in parvis portionibus tument, et rursus subsidunt. Ostenditur etiam in iis corporibus, quae sunt tam durae compagis ut calefacta ut ignita non intumescant aut dilatentur mole ; ut ferrum ignitum, in quo calor est acerrimus. Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod per frigidissimas tempestates focus ardeat acerrime. Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod cum extenditur aer in vitro calendari absque impedimento aut repulsione, uniformiter scilicet et aequaliter, non percipiatur calor. Etiam in ventis conclusis, licet erumpant vi maxima, tamen non percipitur calor insignis ; quia scilicet motus fit secundum totum, absque motu alternante in particulis. Atque ad hoc fiat experimentum, utrum flamma non urat acrius versus latera quam in medio flammae. Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod omnis ustio transigatur per minutos poros corporis quod uritur ; adeo ut ustio subruat et penetret et fodicet et stimulet, perinde ac si essent infinitae cuspides acus. Itaque ex hoc illud etiam fit, quod omnes aquae fortes (si proportionatae sint ad corpus in quod agunt) edant opera ignis, ex natura sua corrodente et pungente. Atque ista differentia (de qua nunc dicimus) communis est cum natura frigidi ; in quo cohibetur motus contractivus per renitentiam expandendi ; quemadmodum in calido cohibetur motus expansivus per renitentiam contrahendi. Itaque sive partes corporis penetrent versus interius sive penetrent versus exterius, similis est ratio ; licet impar admodum sit fortitudo ; quia non habemus hic apud nos in superficie terrae aliquid quod sit impense frigidum. Vide Instant. 27. Tab. 9. | The third specific difference is this: that heat is a motion of expansion, not uniformly of the whole body together, but in the smaller parts of it; and at the same time checked, repelled, and beaten back, so that the body acquires a motion alternative, perpetually quivering, striving and struggling, and irritated by repercussion, whence springs the fury of fire and heat. This specific difference is most displayed in flame and boiling liquids, which are perpetually quivering and swelling in small portions, and again subsiding. It is also shown in those bodies which are so compact that when heated or ignited they do not swell or expand in bulk, as ignited iron, in which the heat is very sharp. It is shown also in this, that a fire burns most briskly in the coldest weather. Again, it is shown in this, that when the air is extended in a calendar glass without impediment or repulsion — that is to say, uniformly and equably — there is no perceptible heat. Also when wind escapes from confinement, although it burst forth with the greatest violence, there is no very great heat perceptible; because the motion is of the whole, without a motion alternating in the particles. And with a view to this, let trial be made whether flame does not burn more sharply toward the sides than in the middle of the flame. It is also shown in this, that all burning acts on minute pores of the body burnt; so that burning undermines, penetrates, pricks, and stings the body like the points of an infinite number of needles. It is also an effect of this, that all strong waters (if suited to the body on which they are acting) act as fire does, in consequence of their corroding and pungent nature. And this specific difference (of which I am now speaking) is common also to the nature of cold. For in cold the contractive motion is checked by a resisting tendency to expand, just as in heat the expansive motion is checked by a resisting tendency to contract. Thus, whether the particles of a body work inward or outward, the mode of action is the same though the degree of strength be very different; because we have not here on the surface of the earth anything that is intensely cold. See Inst. 27. Tab. [1]. |
| Quarta differentia est modificatio prioris : haec scilicet, quod motus ille stimulationis aut penetrationis debeat esse nonnihil rapidus et minime lentus ; atque fiat etiam per particulas, licet minutas ; tamen non ad extremam subtilitatem, sed quasi majusculas. Ostenditur haec differentia in comparatione operum quae edit ignis cum iis quae edit tempus sive aetas. Aetas enim sive tempus arefacit, consumit, subruit, et incinerat, non minus quam ignis ; vel potius longe subtilius : sed quia motus ejusmodi est lentus admodum et per particulas valde exiles, non percipitur calor. | The fourth specific difference is a modification of the last: it is, that the preceding motion of stimulation or penetration must be somewhat rapid and not sluggish, and must proceed by particles, minute indeed, yet not the finest of all, but a degree larger. This difference is shown by a comparison of the effects of fire with the effects of time or age. Age or time dries, consumes, undermines and reduces to ashes, no less than fire; indeed, with an action far more subtle; but because such motion is very sluggish, and acts on particles very small, the heat is not perceived. |
| Ostenditur etiam in comparatione dissolutionum ferri et auri. Aurum enim dissolvitur absque calore excitato ; ferrum autem cum vehementi excitatione caloris, licet simili fere intervallo quoad tempus. Quia scilicet in auro, ingressus aquae separationis est clemens et subtiliter insinuans, et cessio partium auri facilis ; at in ferro, ingressus est asper et cum conflictu, et partes ferri habent obstinationem majorem. Ostenditur etiam aliquatenus in gangraenis nonnullis et mortificationibus carnium ; quae non excitant magnum calorem aut dolorem, ob subtilitatem putrefactionis. | It is also shown by comparing the dissolution of iron and gold. Gold is dissolved without any heat being excited, while the dissolution of iron is accompanied by a violent heat, though it takes place in about the same time. The reason is that in gold the separating acid enters gently and works with subtlety, and the parts of the gold yield easily; whereas in iron the entrance is rough and with conflict, and the parts of the iron have greater obstinacy. It is shown also to some degree in some gangrenes and mortifications, which do not excite great heat or pain on account of the subtle nature of putrefaction. |
| Atque haec sit Prima Vindemiatio, sive Interpretatio inchoata de Forma Calidi, facta per Permissionem Intellectus. Ex Vindemiatione autem ista Prima, forma sive definitio vera caloris (ejus qui est in ordine ad universum, non relativus tantummodo ad sensum) talis est, brevi verborum complexu : Calor est motus expansivus, cohibitus, et nitens per partes minores. Modificatur autem expansio : ut expandendo in ambitum, nonnihil tamen inclinet versus superiora. Modificatur autem et nixus ille per partes ; ut non sit omnino segnis, sed incitatus et cum impetu nonnullo. Quod vero ad Operativam attinet, eadem res est. Nam designatio est talis : Si in aliquo corpore naturali poteris excitare motum ad se dilatandum aut expandendum ; eumque motum ita reprimere et in se vertere, ut dilatatio illa non procedat aequaliter, sed partim obtineat, partim retrudatur ; proculdubio generabis calidum : non habita ratione, sive corpus illud sit elementare (ut loquuntur), sive imbutum a coelestibus ; sive luminosum, sive opacum ; sive tenue, sive densum ; sive localiter expansum, sive intra claustra dimensionis primae contentum ; sive vergens ad dissolutionem, sive manens in statu ; sive animal, sive vegetabile, sive minerale, sive aqua, sive oleum, sive aer, aut aliqua alia substantia quaecunque susceptiva motus praedicti. Calidum autem ad sensum res eadem est ; sed cum analogia, qualis competit sensui. Nunc vero ad ulteriora auxilia procedendum est. | Let this then be the First Vintage or Commencement of Interpretation concerning the form of heat, made by way of indulgence to the understanding. Now from this our First Vintage it follows that the form or true definition of heat (heat, that is, in relation to the universe, not simply in relation to man) is, in few words, as follows: Heat is a motion, expansive, restrained, and acting in its strife upon the smaller particles of bodies. But the expansion is thus modified: while it expands all ways, it has at the same time an inclination upward. And the struggle in the particles is modified also; it is not sluggish, but hurried and with violence. Viewed with reference to operation it is the same thing. For the direction is this: If in any natural body you can excite a dilating or expanding motion, and can so repress this motion and turn it back upon itself that the dilation shall not proceed equably, but have its way in one part and be counteracted in another, you will undoubtedly generate heat; without taking into account whether the body be elementary (as it is called) or subject to celestial influence; whether it be luminous or opaque; rare or dense; locally expanded or confined within the bounds of its first dimension; verging to dissolution or remaining in its original state; animal, vegetable, or mineral, water, oil or air, or any other substance whatever susceptible of the above-mentioned motion. Sensible heat is the same thing; only it must be considered with reference to the sense. Let us now proceed to further aids. |
| XXI. | XXI |
| Post Tabulas comparentiae primae et rejectionem sive exclusivam, nec non vindemiationem primam factam secundum eas, pergendum est ad reliqua auxilia intellectus circa interpretationem naturae et inductionem veram ac perfectam. In quibus proponendis, ubi opus erit tabulis, procedemus super calidum et frigidum ; ubi autem opus erit tantum exemplis paucioribus, procedemus per alia omnia : ut nec confundatur inquisitio, et tamen doctrina versetur minus in angusto. Dicemus itaque primo loco, de Praerogativis Instantiarum : secundo, de Adminiculis Inductionis : tertio, de Rectificatione Inductionis : quarto, de Variatione Inquisitionis pro Natura Subjecti : quinto, de Praerogativis Naturarum quatenus ad inquisitionem, sive de eo quod inquirendum est prius et posterius : sexto, de Terminis Inquisitionis, sive de synopsi omnium naturarum in universo : septimo, de Deductione ad Praxin, sive de eo quod est in ordine ad Hominem : octavo, de Parascevis ad Inquisitionem : postremo autem, de Scala Ascensoria et Descensoria Axiomatum. | The Tables of First Presentation and the Rejection or process of Exclusion being completed, and also the First Vintage being made thereupon, we are to proceed to the other helps of the understanding in the Interpretation of Nature and true and perfect Induction. In propounding which, I mean, when Tables are necessary, to proceed upon the Instances of Heat and Cold; but when a smaller number of examples will suffice, I shall proceed at large; so that the inquiry may be kept clear, and yet more room be left for the exposition of the system. I propose to treat, then, in the first place, of Prerogative Instances; secondly, of the Supports of Induction; thirdly, of the Rectification of Induction; fourthly, of Varying the Investigation according to the nature of the Subject; fifthly, of Prerogative Natures with respect to Investigation, or of what should be inquired first and what last; sixthly, of the Limits of Investigation, or a synopsis of all natures in the universe; seventhly, of the Application to Practice, or of things in their relation to man; eighthly, of Preparations for Investigation; and lastly, of the Ascending and Descending Scale of Axioms. |
| XXII. | XXII |
| Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, primo proponemus Instantias Solitarias. Eae autem sunt solitariae, quae exhibent naturam de qua fit inquisitio in talibus subjectis, quae nil habent commune cum aliis subjectis, praeter illam ipsam naturam ; aut rursus quae non exhibent naturam de qua fit inquisitio in talibus subjectis, quae sunt similia per omnia cum aliis subjectis, praeterquam in illa ipsa natura. Manifestum enim est quod hujusmodi instantiae tollant ambages, atque accelerent et roborent exclusivam ; adeo ut paucae ex illis sint instar multarum. Exempli gratia : si fiat inquisitio de natura Coloris, Instantiae Solitariae sunt prismata, gemmae chrystallinae, quae reddunt colores non solum in se sed exterius supra parietam, item rores, etc. Istae enim nil habent commune cum coloribus fixis in floribus, gemmis coloratis, metallis, lignis, etc., praeter ipsum colorem. Unde facile colligitur, quod color nil aliud sit quam modificatio imaginis lucis immissae et receptae : in priore genere, per gradus diversos incidentiae ; in posteriore, per texturas et schematismos varios corporis. Istae autem Instantiae sunt Solitariae quatenus ad similitudinem. Rursus in eadem inquisitione, venae distinctae albi et nigri in marmoribus, et variegationes colorum in floribus ejusdem speciei, sunt Instantiae Solitariae. Album enim et nigrum marmoris, et maculae albi et purpurei in floribus garyophylli, conveniunt fere in omnibus praeter ipsum colorem. Unde facile colligitur, colorem non multum rei habere cum naturis alicujus corporis intrinsecis, sed tantum situm esse in positura partium crassiori et quasi mechanica. Istae autem Instantiae sunt Solitariae, quatenus ad discrepantiam. Utrunque autem genus Instantias Solitarias appellare consuevimus ; aut Ferinas, sumpto vocabulo ab astronomis. | Among Prerogative Instances I will place first Solitary Instances. Those are solitary instances which exhibit the nature under investigation in subjects which have nothing in common with other subjects except that nature; or, again, which do not exhibit the nature under investigation in subjects which resemble other subjects in every respect in not having that nature. For it is clear that such instances make the way short, and accelerate and strengthen the process of exclusion, so that a few of them are as good as many. For instance, if we are inquiring into the nature of color, prisms, crystals, which show colors not only in themselves but externally on a wall, dews, etc., are solitary instances. For they have nothing in common with the colors fixed in flowers, colored stones, metals, woods, etc., except the color. From which we easily gather that color is nothing more than a modification of the image of light received upon the object, resulting in the former case from the different degrees of incidence, in the latter from the various textures and configurations of the body. These instances are solitary in respect to resemblance. Again, in the same investigation, the distinct veins of white and black in marble, and the variegation of color in flowers of the same species, are solitary instances. For the black and white streaks in marble, or the spots of pink and white in a pink, agree in everything almost except the color. From which we easily gather that color has little to do with the intrinsic nature of a body, but simply depends on the coarser and as it were mechanical arrangement of the parts. These instances are solitary in respect to difference. Both kinds I call solitary instances, or ferine, to borrow a term from astronomers. |
| XXIII. | XXIII |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus secundo loco Instantias Migrantes. Eae sunt, in quibus natura inquisita migrat ad generationem, cum prius non existeret ; aut contra migrat ad corruptionem, cum prius existeret. Itaque in utraque antistrophe, instantiae tales sunt semper geminae ; vel potius una instantia in motu sive transitu, producta ad periodum adversam. At hujusmodi instantiae non solum accelerant et roborant exclusivam, sed etiam compellunt affirmativam sive formam ipsam in angustum. Necesse est enim ut forma rei sit quippiam, quod per hujusmodi migrationem indatur, aut contra per hujusmodi migrationem tollatur et destruatur. Atque licet omnis exclusio promoveat affirmativam, tamen hoc magis directe fit in subjecto eodem quam in diversis. Forma autem (ut ex omnibus quae dicta sunt manifesto liquet) prodens se in uno ducit ad omnia. Quo autem simplicior fuerit migratio, eo magis habenda est instantia in pretio. Praeterea Instantiae Migrantes magni sunt usus ad partem operativam ; quia cum proponant formam copulatam cum efficiente aut privante, perspicue designant praxin in aliquibus ; unde facilis etiam est transitus ad proxima. Subest tamen in illis nonnihil periculi, quod indiget cautione ; hoc videlicet, ne formam nimis retrahant ad efficientem, et intellectum perfundant vel saltem perstringant falsa opinione de forma ex intuitu efficientis. Efficiens vero semper ponitur nil aliud esse quam vehiculum sive deferens formae. Verum huic rei, per exclusivam legitime factam, facile adhibetur remedium. Proponendum itaque est jam exemplum instantiae migrantis. Sit natura inquisita Candor sive Albedo : instantia migrans ad generationem est vitrum integrum et vitrum pulverizatum. Similiter, aqua simplex et aqua agitata in spumam. Vitrum enim integrum et aqua simplex diaphana sunt, non alba ; at vitrum pulverizatum et aqua in spuma, alba, non diaphana. Itaque quaerendum quid acciderit ex ista migratione vitro aut aquae. Manifestum enim est formam albedinis deferri et invehi per istam contusionem vitri et agitationem aquae. Nihil autem reperitur accessisse, praeter comminutionem partium vitri et aquae, et aeris insertionem. Neque vero parum profectum est ad inveniendam formam albedinis, quod corpora duo per se diaphana, sed secundum magis et minus (aer scilicet et aqua, aut aer et vitrum), simul posita per minutas portiones exhibeant albedinem, per refractionem inaequalem radiorum lucis. Verum hac in re proponendum est etiam exemplum periculi et cautionis, de quibus diximus. Nimirum facile hic occurret intellectui ab hujusmodi efficientibus depravato, quod ad formam albedinis aer semper requiratur, aut quod albedo generetur tantum per corpora diaphana ; quae omnino falsa sunt, et per multas exclusiones convicta. Quin potius apparebit (misso aere et hujusmodi) corpora omnino aequalia (secundum portiones opticas) dare diaphanum ; corpora vero inaequalia per texturam simplicem, dare album ; corpora inaequalia secundum texturam compositam, sed ordinatam, dare reliquos colores, praeter nigrum ; corpora vero inaequalia per texturam compositam, sed omnino inordinatam et confusam, dare nigrum. Itaque de instantia migrante ad generationem in natura inquisita albedinis, propositum est jam exemplum. Instantia autem migrans ad corruptionem in eadem natura albedinis, est spuma dissoluta, aut nix dissoluta. Exuit enim albedinem et induit diaphanum aqua, postquam fit integrale sine aere. Neque vero illud ullo modo praetermittendum est, quod sub Instantiis Migrantibus comprehendi debeant non tantum illae quae migrant ad generationem et privationem, sed etiam illae quae migrant ad majorationem et minorationem ; cum illae etiam tendant ad inveniendam formam, ut per definitionem formae superius factam et tabulam graduum manifesto liquet. Itaque papyrus, quae sicca cum fuerit alba est, at madefacta (excluso aere et recepta aqua) minus alba est et magis vergit ad diaphanum, similem habet rationem cum instantiis supradictis. | Among Prerogative Instances I will next place Migratory Instances. They are those in which the nature in question is in the process of being produced when it did not previously exist, or on the other hand of disappearing when it existed before. And therefore, in either transition, such instances are always twofold, or rather it is one instance in motion or passage, continued till it reaches the opposite state. Such instances not only accelerate and strengthen the exclusive process, but also drive the affirmative or form itself into a narrow compass. For the form of a thing must necessarily be something which in the course of this migration is communicated, or on the other hand which in the course of this migration is removed and destroyed. And though every exclusion promotes the affirmative, yet this is done more decidedly when it occurs in the same than in different subjects. And the betrayal of the form in a single instance leads the way (as is evident from all that has been said) to the discovery of it in all. And the simpler the migration, the more must the instance be valued. Besides, migratory instances are of great use with a view to operation, because in exhibiting the form in connection with that which causes it to be or not to be, they supply a clear direction for practice in some cases; whence the passage is easy to the cases that lie next. There is, however, in these instances a danger which requires caution; viz., lest they lead us to connect the form too much with the efficient, and so possess the understanding, or at least touch it, with a false opinion concerning the form, drawn from a view of the efficient/But the efficient is always understood to be merely the vehicle that carries the form. This is a danger, however, easily remedied by the process of exclusion legitimately conducted. I must now give an example of a migratory instance. Let the nature to be investigated be whiteness. An instance migrating to production or existence is glass whole and pounded. Again, simple water and water agitated into froth. For glass and water in their simple state are transparent, not white, whereas pounded glass and water in froth are white, not transparent. We must therefore inquire what has happened to the glass or water from this migration. For it is obvious that the form of whiteness is communicated and conveyed by that pounding of the glass and that agitation of the water. We find, however, that nothing has been added except the breaking up of the glass and water into small parts, and the introduction of air. But we have made no slight advance to the discovery of the form of whiteness when we know that two bodies, both transparent but in a greater or less degree (viz., air and water, or air and glass), do when mingled in small portions together exhibit whiteness, through the unequal refraction of the rays of light. But an example must at the same time be given of the danger and caution to which I alluded. For at this point it might readily suggest itself to an understanding led astray by efficient causes of this kind, that air is always required for the form of whiteness, or that whiteness is generated by transparent bodies only — notions entirely false, and refuted by numerous exclusions. Whereas it will be found that (setting air and the like aside) bodies entirely even in the particles which affect vision are transparent, bodies simply uneven are white; bodies uneven and in a compound yet regular texture are all colors except black; while bodies uneven and in a compound, irregular, and confused texture are black. Here then I have given an example of an instance migrating to production or existence in the proposed nature of whiteness. An instance migrating to destruction in the same nature of whiteness is froth or snow in dissolution. For the water puts off whiteness and puts on transparency on returning to its integral state without air. Nor must I by any means omit to mention that under migratory instances are to be included not only those which are passing toward production and destruction, but also those which are passing toward increase and decrease; since these also help to discover the form, as is clear from the above definition of form and the Table of Degrees. The paper, which is white when dry, but when wetted (that is, when air is excluded and water introduced) is less white and approaches nearer to the transparent, is analogous to the above given instances. |
| XXIV. | XXIV |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum, tertio loco ponemus Instantias Ostensivas, de quibus in vindemiatione prima de Calido mentionem fecimus ; quas etiam Elucescentias, sive Instantias Liberatas et Praedominantes, appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt, quae ostendunt naturam inquisitam nudam et substantivam, atque etiam in exaltatione sua aut summo gradu potentiae suae ; emancipatam scilicet, et liberatam ab impedimentis, vel saltem per fortitudinem suae virtutis dominantem super ipsa, eaque supprimentem et coercentem. Cum enim omne corpus suscipiat multas naturarum formas copulatas et in concreto, fit ut alia aliam retundat, deprimat, frangat, et liget ; unde obscurantur formae singulae. Inveniuntur autem subjecta nonnulla in quibus natura inquisita prae aliis est in suo vigore, vel per absentiam impedimenti vel per praedominantiam virtutis. Hujusmodi autem instantiae sunt maxime ostensivae formae. Verum et in his ipsis instantiis adhibenda est cautio, et cohibedus impetus intellectus. Quicquid enim ostentat formam, eamque trudit, ut videatur occurrere intellectui, pro suspecto habendum est, et recurrendum ad exclusivam severam et diligentem. Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Calidum. Instantia Ostensiva motus expansionis, quae (ut superius dictum est) portio est praecipua formae calidi, est vitrum calendare aeris. Etenim flamma, licet manifesto exhibeat expansionem, tamen propter momentaneam extinctionem non ostendit progressum expansionis. Aqua autem fervens, propter facilem transitionem aquae in vaporem et aerem, non tam bene ostendit expansionem aquae in corpore suo. Rursus ferrum ignitum, et similia, tantum abest ut progressum ostendant, ut contra per retusionem et fractionem spiritus per partes compactas et crassas (quae domant et fraenant expansionem) ipsa expansio non sit omnino conspicua ad sensum. At vitrum calendare clare ostendit expansionem in aere, et conspicuam et progredientem et durantem, neque transeuntem. Rursus, exempli gratia, sit natura inquisita Pondus. Instantia Ostensiva ponderis est argentum vivum. Omnia enim superat pondere magno intervallo, praeter aurum ; quod non multo gravius est. At praestantior instantia est ad indicandam formam ponderis argentum vivum quam aurum ; quia aurum solidum est et consistens, quod genus referri videtur ad densum ; at argentum vivum liquidum est et turgens spiritu, et tamen multis partibus exuperat gravitate diamantem, et ea quae putantur solidissima. Ex quo ostenditur formam gravis sive ponderosi dominari simpliciter in copia materiae, et non in arcta compage. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the third place Striking Instances, of which I have made mention in the First Vintage Concerning Heat, and which I also call Shining Instances, or Instances Freed and Predominant. They are those which exhibit the nature in question naked and standing by itself, and also in its exaltation or highest degree of power; as being disenthralled and freed from all impediments, or at any rate by virtue of its strength dominant over, suppressing and coercing them. For since every body contains in itself many forms of natures united together in a concrete state, the result is that they severally crush, depress, break, and enthrall one another, and thus the individual forms are obscured. But certain subjects are found wherein the required nature appears more in its vigor than in others, either through the absence of impediments or the predominance of its own virtue. And instances of this kind strikingly display the form. At the same time in these instances also we must use caution, and check the hurry of the understanding. For whatever displays the form too conspicuously and seems to force it on the notice of the understanding should be held suspect, and recourse be had to a rigid and careful exclusion. To take an example: let the nature inquired into be heat. A striking instance of the motion of expansion, which (as stated above) is the main element in the form of heat, is a calendar glass of air. For flame, though it manifestly exhibits expansion, still, as susceptible of momentary extinction, does not display the progress of expansion. Boiling water, too, on account of the easy transition of water to vapor or air, does not so well exhibit the expansion of water in its own body. Again, ignited iron and like bodies are so far from displaying the progress of expansion that in consequence of their spirit being crushed and broken by the coarse and compact particles which curb and subdue it, the expansion itself is not at all conspicuous to the senses. But a calendar glass strikingly displays expansion in air, at once conspicuous, progressive, permanent, and without transition. To take another example: let the nature inquired into be weight. A striking instance of weight is quicksilver. For it far surpasses in weight all substances but gold, and gold itself is not much heavier. But quicksilver is a better instance for indicating the form of weight than gold, because gold is solid and consistent, characteristics which seem related to density; whereas quicksilver is liquid and teeming with spirit, and yet is heavier by many degrees than the diamond and other bodies that are esteemed the most solid. From which it is obvious that the form of heaviness or weight depends simply on quantity of matter and not on compactness of frame. |
| XXV. | XXV |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus quarto loco Instantias Clandestinas, quas etiam Instantias Crepusculi appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt veluti oppositae instantiis ostensivis. Exhibent enim naturam inquisitam in infirma virtute, et tanquam in incunabulis et rudimentis suis ; tentantem et tanquam primo experientem, sed sub contraria natura latentem et subactam. Sunt autem hujusmodi instantiae magni omnino momenti ad inveniendas formas ; quia sicut ostensivae ducunt facile ad differentias, ita clandestinae ducunt optime ad genera ; id est, ad naturas illas communes, quarum naturae inquisitae nihil aliud sunt quam limitationes. Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Consistens, sive se determinans ; cujus contrarium est Liquidum, sive fluens. Instantiae clandestinae sunt illae quae exhibent gradum nonnullum debilem et infimum consistentis in fluido ; veluti bulla aquae, quae est tanquam pellicula quaedam consistens et determinata, facta ex corpore aquae. Similiter stillicidia, quae, si adfuerit aqua quae succedat, producunt se in filum admodum tenue, ne discontinuetur aqua ; at si non detur talis copia aquae quae succedere possit, cadit aqua in guttis rotundis, quae est figura quae optime aquam sustinet contra discontinuationem. At in ipso temporis articulo, cum desinit filum aquae et incipit descensus in guttis, resilit ipsa aqua sursum ad evitandam discontinuationem. Quin in metallis, quae cum funduntur sunt liquida sed magis tenacia, recipiunt se saepe guttae liquefactae sursum, atque ita haerent. Simile quoddam est instantia speculorum puerilium, quae solent facere pueruli in scirpis ex saliva, ubi cernitur etiam pellicula consistens aquae. At multo melius se ostendit hoc ipsum in altero illo ludicro puerili, quando capiunt aquam, per saponem factam paulo tenaciorem, atque inflant eam per calamum cavum, atque inde formant aquam tanquam in castellum bullarum ; quae per interpositionem aeris inducit consistentiam eo usque ut se projici nonnihil patiatur absque discontinuatione. Optime autem cernitur hoc in spuma et nive, quae talem induunt consistentiam ut fere secari possint ; cum tamen sint corpora formata ex aere et aqua, quae utraque sunt liquida. Quae omnia non obscure innuunt Liquidum et Consistens esse notiones tantum plebeias, et ad sensum ; inesse autem revera omnibus corporibus fugam et evitationem se discontinuandi ; eam vero in corporibus homogeneis (qualia sunt liquida) esse debilem et infirmam, in corporibus vero, quae sunt composita ex heterogeneis, magis esse vividam et fortem ; propterea quod admotio heterogenei constringit corpora, at subintratio homogenei solvit et relaxat. Similiter, exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Attractio, sive Coitio Corporum. Instantia circa formam ejus ostensiva maxime insignis est magnes. Contraria autem natura attrahenti est non attrahens, licet in substantia simili. Veluti ferrum, quod non attrahit ferrum, quemadmodum nec plumbum plumbum, nec lignum lignum, nec aquam aqua. Instantia autem clandestina est magnes ferro armatus, vel potius ferrum in magnete armato. Nam ita fert natura, ut magnes armatus in distantia aliqua non trahat ferrum fortius quam magnes non armatus. Verum si admoveatur ferrum, ita ut tangat ferrum in magnete armato, tunc magnes armatus longe majus pondus ferri sustinet quam magnes simplex et inermis, propter similitudinem substantiae ferri versus ferrum ; quae operatio erat omnino clandestina et latens in ferro, antequam magnes accessisset. Itaque manifestum est formam coitionis esse quippiam quod in magnete sit vividum et robustum, in ferro debile et latens. Itidem notatum est sagittas parvas ligneas absque cuspide ferrea, emissas ex sclopetis grandibus, altius penetrare in materiam ligneam (puta latera navium, ut similia), quam easdem sagittas ferro acuminatas, propter similitudinem substantiae ligni ad lignum, licet hoc ante in ligno latuerit. Itidem, licet aer aerem aut aqua aquam manifesto non trahat in corporibus integris, tamen bulla approximata bullae facilius dissolvit bullam quam si bulla illa altera abesset, ob appetitum coitionis aquae cum aqua et aeris cum aere Atque hujusmodi Instantiae Clandestinae (quae sunt usus nobilissimi, ut dictum est) in portionibus corporum parvis et subtilibus maxime se dant conspiciendas. Quia massae rerum majores sequuntur formas magis catholicas et generales ; ut suo loco dicetur. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the fourth place Clandestine Instances, which I also call Instances of the Twilight, and which are pretty nearly the opposites of Striking Instances. For they exhibit the nature under investigation in its lowest degree of power, and as it were in its cradle and rudiments; striving indeed and making a sort of first attempt, but buried under and subdued by a contrary nature. Such instances, however, are of very great service for the discovery of forms; because as striking instances lead easily to specific differences, so are clandestine instances the best guides to genera, that is, to those common natures whereof the natures proposed are nothing more than particular cases. For example, let the nature proposed be consistency, or the nature of that which determines its own figure, opposed to which is fluidity. Those are clandestine instances which exhibit some feeble and low degree of consistency in a fluid: as a bubble of water, which is a sort of consistent pellicle of determined figure, made of the body of the water. Of a similar kind are the droppings from a house, which if there be water to follow, lengthen themselves out into a very thin thread to preserve the continuity of the water; but if there be not water enough to follow, then they fall in round drops, which is the figure that best preserves the water from a solution of continuity. But at the very moment of time when the thread of water ceases and the descent in drops begins, the water itself recoils upward to avoid discontinuation. Again in metals, which in fusion are liquid but more tenacious, the molten drops often fly to the top and stick there. A somewhat similar instance is that of children's looking glasses, which little boys make on rushes with spittle, where also there is seen a consistent pellicle of water. This, however, is much better shown in that other childish sport when they take water, made a little more tenacious by soap, and blow it through a hollow reed, and so shape the water into a sort of castle of bubbles which by the interposition of the air become so consistent as to admit of being thrown some distance without discontinuation. But best of all is it seen in frost and snow, which assume such a consistency that they can be almost cut with a knife, although they are formed out of air and water, both fluids. All which facts not obscurely intimate that consistent and fluid are only vulgar notions, and relative to the sense; and that in fact there is inherent in all bodies a disposition to shun and escape discontinuation; but that it is faint and feeble in homogeneous bodies (as fluids), more lively and strong in bodies compounded of heterogeneous matter; the reason being that the approach of heterogeneous matter binds bodies together, while the insinuation of homogeneous matter dissolves and relaxes them. To take another instance, let the proposed nature be the attraction or coming together of bodies. In the investigation of its form the most remarkable striking instance is the magnet. But there is a contrary nature to the attractive; namely, the nonattractive, which exists in a similar substance. Thus there is iron which does not attract iron, just as lead does not attract lead, nor wood wood, nor water water. Now a clandestine instance is a magnet armed with iron, or rather the iron in an armed magnet. For it is a fact in nature that an armed magnet at some distance off does not attract iron more powerfully than an unarmed magnet. But if the iron be brought so near as to touch the iron in the armed magnet, then the armed magnet supports a far greater weight of iron than a simple and unarmed magnet, on account of the similarity of substance between the pieces of iron; an operation altogether clandestine and latent in the iron before the magnet was applied. Hence it is manifest that the form of coition is something which is lively and strong in the magnet, feeble and latent in iron. Again, it has been observed that small wooden arrows without an iron point, discharged from large engines, pierce deeper into wooden material (say the sides of ships, or the like) than the same arrows tipped with iron, on account of the similarity of substance between the two pieces of wood; although this property had previously been latent in the wood. In like manner, although air does not manifestly attract air or water water in entire bodies, yet a bubble is more easily dissolved on the approach of another bubble than if that other bubble were away, by reason of the appetite of coition between water and water, and between air and air. Such clandestine instances (which, as I have said, are of the most signal use) exhibit themselves most conspicuously in small and subtle portions of bodies; the reason being that larger masses follow more general forms, as shall be shown in the proper place. |
| XXVI | XXVI |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus quinto loco Instantias Constitutivas, quas etiam Manipulares appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt quae constituunt unam speciem naturae inquisitae tanquam Formam Minorem. Cum enim formae legitimae (quae sunt semper convertibiles cum naturis inquisitis) lateant in profundo nec facile inveniantur, postulat res et infirmitas humani intellectus ut formae particulares, quae sunt congregativae Manipulorum quorundam instantiarum (neutiquam vero omnium) in notionem aliquam communem, non negligantur, verum diligentius notentur. Quicquid enim unit naturam, licet modis imperfectis, ad inventionem formarum viam sternit. Itaque instantiae, quae ad hoc utiles sunt non sunt contemnendae potestatis, sed habent nonnullam praerogativam. Verum in his diligens est adhibenda cautio, ne intellectus humanus, postquam complures ex istis formis particularibus adinvenerit atque inde partitiones sive divisiones naturae inquisitae confecerit, in illis omnino acquiescat, atque ad inventionem legitimam Formae Magnae se non accingat, sed praesupponat naturam velut a radicibus esse multiplicem et divisam, atque ulteriorem naturae unionem, tanquam rem supervacuae subtilitatis et vergentem ad merum abstractum, fastidiat et rejiciat. Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Memoria, sive Excitans et Adjuvans memoriam. Instantiae constitutivae sunt, ordo sive distributio, quae manifesto juvat memoriam ; item Loci in memoria artificiali, qui aut possunt esse loci secundum proprium sensum, veluti janua, angulus, fenestra, et similia, aut possunt esse personae familiares et notae, aut possunt esse quidvis ad placitum (modo in ordine certo ponantur), veluti animalia, herbae ; etiam verba, literae, characteres, personae historicae, et caetera ; licet nonnulla ex his magis apta sint et commoda, alia minus. Hujusmodi autem Loci memoriam insigniter juvant, eamque longe supra vires naturales exaltant. Item carmina facilius haerent et discuntur memoriter quam prosa. Atque ex isto manipulo trium instantiarum, videlicet ordinis, locorum artificialis memoriae, et versuum, constituitur species una auxilii ad Memoriam. Species autem illa Abscissio Infiniti recte vocari possit. Cum enim quis aliquid reminisci aut revocare in memoriam nititur, si nullam praenotionem habeat aut perceptionem ejus quod quaerit, quaerit certe et molitur et hac illac discurrit, tanquam in infinito. Quod si certam aliquam praenotionem habeat, statim abscinditur infinitum, et fit discursus memoriae magis in vicino. In tribus autem illis instantiis quae superius dictae sunt, praenotio perspicua est et certa. In prima videlicet, debet esse aliquid quod congruat cum ordine ; in secunda debet esse imago quae relationem aliquam habeat sive convenientiam ad illa loca certa ; in tertia, debent esse verba quae cadant in versum. Atque ita abscinditur infinitum. Aliae autem instantiae dabunt hanc alteram speciem ; ut quicquid deducat intellectuale ad feriendum sensum (quae ratio etiam praecipue viget in artificiali memoria) juvet memoriam. Aliae instantiae dabunt hanc alteram speciem ; ut quae faciunt impressionem in affectu forti, incutientia scilicet metum, admirationem, pudorem, delectationem, juvent memoriam. Aliae instantiae dabunt hanc alteram speciem ; ut quae maxime imprimuntur a mente pura et minus praeoccupata ante vel post, veluti quae discuntur in pueritia aut quae commentamur ante somnum, etiam primae quaeque rerum vices, magis haereant in memoria. Aliae instantiae dabunt hanc alteram speciem ; ut multitudo circumstantiarum sive ansarum juvet memoriam, veluti scriptio per partes non continuatas, lectio, sive recitatio voce alta. Aliae denique instantiae dabunt hanc alteram speciem ; ut quae expectantur et attentionem excitant melius haereant, quam quae praetervolant. Itaque si scriptum aliquod vicies perlegeris, non tam facile illud memoriter disces quam si illud legas decies, tentando interim illud recitare, et ubi deficit memoria inspiciendo librum. Ita ut sint veluti sex Formae Minores eorum quae juvant Memoriam ; videlicet abscissio infiniti ; deductio intellectualis ad sensibile ; impressio in affectu forti ; impressio in mente pura ; multitudo ansarum ; praeexpectatio. Similiter, exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Gustus, sive Gustatio. Instantiae quae sequuntur sunt Constitutivae : videlicet, quod qui non olfaciunt, sed sensu eo a natura destituti sunt, non percipiant aut gustu distinguant cibum rancidum aut putridum, neque similiter alliatum aut rosatum, aut hujusmodi. Rursus, illi, qui per accidens nares habent per descensum rheumatis obstructas, non discernunt aut percipiunt aliquid putridum aut rancidum aut aqua rosacea inspersum. Rursus, qui afficiuntur hujusmodi rheumate, si in ipso momento, cum aliquid foetidum aut odoratum habent in ore sive palato, emungant fortiter, in ipso instanti manifestam perceptionem habent rancidi vel odorati. Quae instantiae dabunt et constituent hanc speciem, vel partem potius gustus ; ut sensus gustationis ex parte nihil aliud sit quam olfactus interior, transiens et descendens a narium meatibus superioribus in os et palatum. At contra, salsum et dulce et acre et acidum et austerum et amarum, et similia, haec (inquam) omnia aeque sentiunt illi in quibus olfactus deest aut obturatur, ac quisquam alius ; ut manifestum sit sensum gustus esse compositum quiddam ex olfactu interiori et tactu quodam exquisito ; de quo nunc non est dicendi locus. Similiter, exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Communicatio Qualitatis absque Commistione Substantiae. Instantia Lucis dabit vel constituet unam speciem communicationis ; Calor vero et Magnes alteram. Communicatio enim lucis est tanquam momentanea, et statim perit, amota luce originali. At calidum et virtus magnetica, postquam tramissa fuerint vel potius excitata in alio corpore, haerent et manent ad tempus non parvum, amoto primo movente. Denique magna est omnino praerogativa instantiarum constitutivarum, ut quae plurimum faciant et ad definitiones (praesertim particulares) et ad divisiones sive partitiones naturarum ; de quo non male dixit Plato, Quod habendus sit tanquam pro Deo, qui definire et dividere bene sciat. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the fifth place Constitutive Instances, which I also call Manipular. They are those which constitute a single species of the proposed nature, a sort of Lesser Form. For since the genuine forms (which are always convertible with the proposed natures) lie deep and are hard to find, it is required by the circumstances of the case and the infirmity of the human understanding that particular forms, which collect together certain groups of instances (though not all) into some common notion, be not neglected, but rather be diligently observed. For whatever unites nature, though imperfectly, paves the way to the discovery of forms. Instances, therefore, which are useful in this regard are of no despicable power, but have a certain prerogative. But great caution must here be employed lest the human understanding, after having discovered many of those particular forms and thereupon established partitions or divisions of the nature in question, be content to rest therein, and instead of proceeding to the legitimate discovery of the great form, take it for granted that the nature from its very roots is manifold and divided, and so reject and put aside any further union of the nature, as a thing of superfluous subtlety and verging on mere abstraction. For example, let the proposed nature be memory, or that which excites and aids the memory. Constitutive instances are: order or distribution, which clearly aids the memory; also topics or "places" in artificial memory; which may either be places in the proper sense of the word, as a door, angle, window, and the like; or familiar and known persons; or any other things at pleasure (provided they be placed in a certain order), as animals, vegetables; words, too, letters, characters, historical persons, and the like; although some of these are more suitable and convenient than others. Such artificial places help the memory wonderfully, and exalt it far above its natural powers. Again, verse is learned and remembered more easily than prose. From this group of three instances, viz., order, artificial places, and verse, one species of aid to the memory is constituted. And this species may with propriety be called the cutting off of infinity. For when we try to recollect or call a thing to mind, if we have no prenotion or perception of what we are seeking, we seek and toil and wander here and there, as if in infinite space. Whereas, if we have any sure prenotion, infinity is at once cut off, and the memory has not so far to range. Now in the three foregoing instances the prenotion is clear and certain. In the first it must be something which suits the order; in the second it must be an image which bears some relation or conformity to the places fixed; in the third, it must be words that fall into the verse; and thus infinity is cut off. Other instances, again, will give us this second species: that whatever brings the intellectual conception into contact with the sense (which is indeed the method most used in mnemonics) assists the memory. Other instances will give us this third species: that things which make their impression by way of a strong affection, as by inspiring fear, admiration, shame, delight, assist the memory. Other instances will give us this fourth species: that things which are chiefly imprinted when the mind is clear and not occupied with anything else either before or after, as what is learned in childhood, or what we think of before going to sleep, also things that happen for the first time, dwell longest in the memory. Other instances will give us this fifth species: that a multitude of circumstances or points to take hold of aids the memory; as writing with breaks and divisions, reading or reciting aloud. Lastly, other instances will give us this sixth species: that things which are waited for and raise the attention dwell longer in the memory than what flies quickly by. Thus, if you read anything over twenty times, you will not learn it by heart so easily as if you were to read it only ten, trying to repeat it between whiles, and when memory failed, looking at the book. It appears, then, that there are six lesser forms of aids to the memory; viz.: the cutting off of infinity; the reduction of the intellectual to the sensible; impression made on the mind in a state of strong emotion; impression made on the mind disengaged; multitude of points to take hold of; expectation beforehand. To take another example, let the proposed nature be taste or tasting. The following instances are Constitutive. Persons who are by nature without the sense of smell cannot perceive or distinguish by taste food that is rancid or putrid, nor food that is seasoned with garlic, or with roses, or the like. Again, persons whose nostrils are accidentally obstructed by a catarrh cannot distinguish or perceive anything putrid or rancid or sprinkled with rosewater. Again, persons thus affected with catarrh, if while they have something fetid or perfumed in their mouth or palate they blow their nose violently, immediately perceive the rancidity or the perfume. These instances, then, will give and constitute this species, or rather division, of taste: that the sense of taste is in part nothing else than an internal smell, passing and descending from the upper passages of the nose to the mouth and palate. On the other hand the tastes of salt, sweet, sour, acid, rough, bitter, and the like, are as perceptible to those in whom the sense of smell is wanting or stopped as to anyone else; so that it is clear that the sense of taste is a sort of compound of an internal smell and a delicate power of touch — of which this is not the place to speak. To take another example, let the proposed nature be the communication of quality without admixture of substance. The instance of light will give or constitute one species of communication; heat and the magnet another. For the communication of light is momentaneous, and ceases at once on the removal of the original light. But heat and the virtue of the magnet, after they have been transmitted to or rather excited in a body, lodge and remain there for a considerable time after the removal of the source of motion. Very great, in short, is the prerogative of constitutive instances; for they are of much use in the forming of definitions (especially particular definitions) and in the division and partition of natures; with regard to which it was not ill said by Plato, "That he is to be held as a god who knows well how to define and to divide." |
| XXVII. | XXVII |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus sexto loco Instantias Conformes, sive Proportionatas ; quas etiam Parallelas, sive Similitudines Physicas, appellare consuevimus. Eae vero sunt, quae ostendunt similitudines et conjugationes rerum, non in formis minoribus (quod faciunt instantiae constitutivae) sed plane in concreto. Itaque sunt tanquam primi et infimi gradus ad unionem naturae. Neque constituunt aliquod axioma statim ab initio, sed indicant et observant tantum quendam consensum corporum. Attamen licet non multum promoveant ad inveniendas formas, nihilominus magna cum utilitate revelant partium universi fabricam, et in membris ejus exercent veluti anatomiam quandam ; atque proinde veluti manu ducunt interdum ad axiomata sublimia et nobilia, praesertim illa quae ad mundi configurationem pertinent, potius quam ad naturas et formas simplices. Exempli gratia ; Instantiae Conformes sunt quae sequuntur : speculum, et oculus ; et similiter fabrica auris, et loca reddentia echo. Ex qua conformitate, praeter ipsam observationem similitudinis, quae ad multa utilis est, proclive est insuper colligere et formare illud axioma ; videlicet, organa sensuum et corpora quae pariunt reflexiones ad sensus esse similis naturae. Rursus ex hoc ipso admonitus intellectus non aegre insurgit ad axioma quoddam altius et nobilius. Hoc nimirum ; nihil interesse inter consensus sive sympathias corporum sensu praeditorum, et inanimatorum sine sensu, nisi quod in illis accedat spiritus animalis ad corpus ita dispositum, in his autem absit. Adeo ut quot sint consensus in corporibus inanimatis, tot possint esse sensus in animalibus, si essent perforationes in corpore animato ad discursum spiritus animalis in membrum rite dispositum, tanquam in organum idoneum. Et rursus, quot sint sensus in animalibus, tot sint proculdubio motus in corpore inanimato ubi spiritus animalis abfuerit ; licet necesse sit multo plures esse motus in corporibus inanimatis quam sensus in animatis, propter paucitatem organorum sensus. Atque hujus rei ostendit se exemplum valde manifestum in doloribus. Etenim quum sint plura genera doloris in animalibus, et tanquam varii illius characteres (veluti alius est dolor ustionis, alius frigoris intensi, alius puncturae, alius compressionis, alius extensionis, et similium), certissimum est omnia illa, quoad motum, inesse corporibus inanimatis ; veluti ligno aut lapidi, cum uritur, aut per gelu constringitur, aut pungitur, aut scinditur, aut flectitur, aut tunditur, et sic de aliis ; licet non subintrent sensus, propter absentiam spiritus animalis. Item instantiae conformes (quod mirum fortasse dictu) sunt radices et rami plantarum. Omne enim vegetabile intumescit, et extrudit partes in circumferentiam, tam sursum quam deorsum. Neque alia est differentia radicum et ramorum, quam quod radix includatur in terra, et rami exponantur aeri et soli. Si quis enim accipiat ramum tenerum et vegetum arboris, atque illum reflectat in aliquam terrae particulam, licet non cohaereat ipsi solo, gignit statim non ramum, sed radicem. Atque vice versa, si terra ponatur superius, atque ita obstruatur lapide aut aliqua dura substantia, ut planta cohibeatur nec possit frondescere sursum, edet ramos in aerem deorsum. Item instantiae conformes sunt gummi arborum, et pleraeque gemmae rupium. Utraque enim nil aliud sunt quam exudationes et percolationes succorum : in primo genere scilicet, succorum ex arboribus ; in secundo, ex saxis ; unde gignitur claritudo et splendor in utrisque, per percolationem nimirum tenuem et accuratam. Nam inde fit etiam, quod pili animalium non sint tam pulchri et tam vividi coloris quam avium plumae complures : quia succi non tam delicate percolantur per cutem quam per calamum. Item instantiae conformes sunt scrotum in animalibus masculis, et matrix in femellis. Adeo ut nobilis illa fabrica per quam sexus differunt (quatenus ad animalia terrestria), nil aliud videatur esse, quam secundum exterius et interius ; vi scilicet majore caloris genitalia in sexu masculo protrudente in exterius, ubi in femellis nimis debilis est calor quam ut hoc facere possit ; unde accidit quod contineantur interius. Item instantiae conformes sunt pinnae piscium, et pedes quadrupedum, aut pedes et alae volucrum ; quibus addidit Aristoteles quatuor volumina in motu serpentum. Adeo ut in fabrica universi motus viventium plerunque videatur expediri per quaterniones artuum sive flexionum. Item dentes in animalibus terrestribus, et rostra in avibus, sunt instantiae conformes ; unde manifestum est, in omnibus animalibus perfectis fluere duram quandam substantiam versus os. Item non absurda est similitudo et conformitas illa, ut homo sit tanquam planta inversa. Nam radix nervorum et facultatum animalium est caput ; partes autem seminales sunt infirmae, non computatis extremitatibus tibiarum et brachiorum. At in planta, radix (quae instar capitis est) regulariter infimo loco collocatur ; semina autem supremo. Denique illud omnino praecipiendum est et saepius monendum ; ut diligentia hominum in inquisitione et congerie Naturalis Historiae deinceps mutetur plane, et vertatur in contrarium ejus quod nunc in usu est. Magna enim hucusque atque adeo curiosa fuit hominum industria in notanda rerum varietate atque explicandis accuratis animalium, herbarum, et fossilium differentiis ; quarum pleraeque magis sunt lusus naturae quam seriae alicujus utilitatis versus scientias. Faciunt certe hujusmodi res ad delectationem, atque etiam quandoque ad praxin ; verum ad introspiciendam naturam parum aut nihil. Itaque convertenda plane est opera ad inquirendas et notandas rerum similitudines et analoga, tam in integralibus quam partibus. Illae enim sunt quae naturam uniunt, et constituere scientias incipiunt. Verum in his omnino est adhibenda cautio gravis et severa ; ut accipiantur pro instantiis conformibus et proportionatis illae, quae denotant similitudines (ut ab initio diximus) physicas ; id est, reales et substantiales et immersas in natura, non fortuitas et ad speciem ; multo minus superstitiosas aut curiosas, quales naturalis magiae scriptores (homines levissimi, et in rebus tam seriis quales nunc agimus vix nominandi) ubique ostentant ; magna cum vanitate et desipientia, inanes similitudines et sympathias rerum describentes atque etiam quandoque affingentes. Verum his missis, etiam in ipsa configuratione mundi in majoribus non sunt negligendae instantiae conformes ; veluti Africa, et regio Peruviana cum continente se porrigente usque ad Fretum Magellanicum. Utraque enim regio habet similes isthmos et similia promontoria, quod non temere accidit. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the sixth place Instances Conformable, or of Analogy; which I also call Parallels, or Physical Resemblances. They are those which represent the resemblances and conjugations of things, not in lesser forms (as constitutive instances do) but merely in the concrete. Hence they may be called the first and lowest steps toward the union of nature. Nor do they constitute any axiom immediately from the beginning, but simply point out and mark a certain agreement in bodies. But although they are of little use for the discovery of forms, they nevertheless are very serviceable in revealing the fabric of the parts of the universe, and anatomizing its members; from which they often lead us along to sublime and noble axioms, especially those which relate to the configuration of the world rather than to simple forms and natures. For example, these following are instances of conformity: a looking glass and the eye; and again, the construction of the ear and places returning an echo. From which conformity, to say nothing of the mere observation of the resemblance which is in many respects useful, it is easy to gather and form this axiom — that the organs of the senses, and bodies which produce reflections to the senses, are of a like nature. Again, upon this hint the understanding easily rises to a higher and nobler axiom, which is this: that there is no difference between the consents or sympathies of bodies endowed with sensation and those of inanimate bodies without sensation, except that in the former an animal spirit is added to the body so disposed, but is wanting in the latter. Whence it follows that there might be as many senses in animals as there are sympathies between inanimate bodies, if there were perforations in the animate body allowing the animal spirit to pass freely into a member rightly disposed, as into a fit organ. Again, as many as are the senses in animals, so many without doubt are the motions in an inanimate body where animal spirit is wanting; though necessarily there are many more motions in inanimate bodies than there are senses in animate, on account of the paucity of organs of sense. And of this a manifest example is exhibited in pain. For though there are many kinds and varieties of pain in animals (as the pain of burning, for one, of intense cold for another; again, of pricking, squeezing, stretching, and the like), it is yet most certain that all of them, as far as the motion is concerned, exist in inanimate substances; for example, in wood or stone, when it is burned or frozen or pricked or cut or bent or stretched, and so on, though they do not enter the senses for want of the animal spirit. Again, the roots and branches of plants (which may seem strange) are conformable instances. For all vegetable matter swells and pushes out its parts to the surface, as well upward as downward. Nor is there any other difference between roots and branches than that the root is buried in the ground, while the branches are exposed to the air and sun. For if you take a tender and flourishing branch of a tree, and bend it down into a clod of earth, although it does not cohere with the ground itself, it presently produces not a branch but a root. And vice versa, if earth be placed at the top, and so kept down with a stone or any hard substance as to check the plant and prevent it from shooting upward, it will put forth branches into the air downward. Again, the gums of trees, and most rock gems, are conformable instances. For both of these are nothing else than exudations and filterings of juices, the former from trees, the latter from rocks; whence is produced the splendor and clearness in each, that is, by the fine and delicate filtering. Hence, too, it is that the hairs of animals are not generally so beautiful and of so vivid a color as the feathers of birds, viz., because the juices do not filter so finely through skin as through quills. Again, the scrotum in males and the matrix in females are conformable instances. So that the great organic difference between the sexes (in land animals at least) appears to be nothing more than that the one organization is external and the other internal. That is to say, the greater force of heat in the male thrusts the genitals outward; whereas in the female the heat is too feeble to effect this, and thus they are contained within. The fins of fish, again, and the feet of quadrupeds, or the feet and wings of birds, are conformable instances; to which Aristotle has added the four folds in the motions of serpents. Whence it appears that in the structure of the universe the motions of living creatures are generally effected by a quaternion of limbs or of bendings. Again, the teeth of land animals and the beaks of birds are conformable instances; from which it is manifest that in all perfect animals there is a determination of some hard substance to the mouth. Nor is that an absurd similitude of conformity which has been remarked between man and a plant inverted. For the root of the nerves and faculties in animals is the head, while the seminal parts are the lowest — the extremities of the legs and arms not reckoned. In a plant, on the other hand, the root (which answers to the head) is regularly placed in the lowest part, and the seeds in the highest. To conclude, it cannot too often be recommended and enjoined that men's diligence in investigating and amassing natural history be henceforward entirely changed and turned into the direction opposite to that now in use. For hitherto men have used great and indeed overcurious diligence in observing the variety of things, and explaining the exact specific differences of animals, herbs, and fossils; most of which are rather sports of nature than of any serious use toward science. Such things indeed serve to delight, and sometimes even give help in practice; but for getting insight into nature they are of little service or none. Men's labor therefore should be turned to the investigation and observation of the resemblances and analogies of things, as well in wholes as in parts. For these it is that detect the unity of nature, and lay a foundation for the constitution of sciences. But here must be added a strict and earnest caution, that those only are to be taken for conformable and analogous instances which indicate (as I said at the beginning) physical resemblances, that is, real and substantial resemblances; resemblances grounded in nature, not accidental or merely apparent; much less superstitious or curious resemblances, such as the writers on natural magic (very frivolous persons, hardly to be named in connection with such serious matters as we are now about) are everywhere parading — similitudes and sympathies of things that have no reality, which they describe and sometimes invent with great vanity and folly. But to leave these. The very configuration of the world itself in its greater parts presents conformable instances which are not to be neglected. Take, for example, Africa and the region of Peru with the continent stretching to the Straits of Magellan, in each of which tracts there are similar isthmuses and similar promontories, which can hardly be by accident. |
| Item Novus et Vetus Orbis ; in eo quod utrique orbes versus septentriones lati sunt et exporrecti, versus austrum autem angusti et acuminati. Item instantiae conformes nobilissimae sunt frigora intensa in media (quam vocant) aeris regione, et ignes acerrimi qui saepe reperiuntur erumpentes ex locis subterraneis ; quae duae res sunt ultimitates et extrema ; naturae scilicet frigidi versus ambitum coeli, et naturae calidi versus viscera terrae ; per antiperistasin, sive rejectionem naturae contrariae. Postremo autem in axiomatibus scientiarum notatu digna est conformitas instantiarum. Veluti tropus rhetoricae, qui dicitur Praeter Expectatum, conformis est tropo musicae, qui vocatur Declinatio Cadentiae. Similiter, postulatum mathematicum, ut quae eidem tertio aequalia sunt etiam inter se sint aequalia, conforme est cum fabrica syllogismi in logica, qui unit ea quae conveniunt in medio. Denique multum utilis est in quamplurimis sagacitas quaedam in conquirendis et indagandis conformitatibus et similitudinibus physicis. | Again, there is the Old and New World, both of which are broad and extended towards the north, narrow and pointed towards the south. We have also most remarkable instances of conformity in the intense cold existing in what is called the middle region of the air and the violent fires which are often found bursting forth from beneath the ground, which two things are ultimities and extremes; that is to say, the extreme of the nature of cold toward the circumference of the sky, of heat toward the bowels of the earth, by antiperistasis or the rejection of the contrary nature. Lastly, the conformity of instances in the axioms of science is deserving of notice. Thus the rhetorical trope of deceiving expectation is conformable with the musical trope of avoiding or sliding from the close or cadence; the mathematical postulate that if two things are equal to the same thing they are equal to one another is conformable with the rule of the syllogism in logic which unites propositions agreeing in a middle term. In fine, a certain sagacity in investigating and hunting out physical conformities and similitudes is of very great use in very many cases. |
| XXVIII. | XXVIII |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus septimo loco Instantias Monodicas ; quas etiam Irregulares sive Heteroclitas (sumpto vocabulo a grammaticis) appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt, quae ostendunt corpora in concreto, quae videntur esse extravagantia et quasi abrupta in natura, et minime convenire cum aliis rebus ejusdem generis. Etenim instantiae conformes sunt similes alterius, at instantiae monodicae sunt sui similes. Usus vero instantiarum monodicarum est talis qualis est instantiarum clandestinarum : viz. ad evehendam et uniendam naturam ad invenienda genera sive communes naturas, limitandas postea per differentias veras. Neque enim desistendum ab inquisitione donec proprietates et qualitates, quae inveniuntur in hujusmodi rebus quae possunt censeri pro miraculis naturae, reducantur et comprehendantur sub aliqua forma sive lege certa : ut irregularitas sive singularitas omnis reperiatur pendere ab aliqua forma communi ; miraculum vero illud sit tandem solummodo in differentiis accuratis et gradu et concursu raro, et non in ipsa specie : ubi nunc contemplationes hominum non procedant ultra quam ut ponant hujusmodi res pro secretis et magnalibus naturae, et tanquam incausabilibus, et pro exceptionibus regularum generalium. Exempla instantiarum monodicarum sunt, sol et luna, inter astra ; magnes, inter lapides ; argentum vivum, inter metalla ; elephas, inter quadrupedes ; sensus veneris, inter genera tactus ; odor venaticus in canibus, inter genera olfactus. Etiam S litera apud grammaticos, habetur pro monodica ; ob facilem compositionem quam sustinet cum consonantibus, aliquando duplicibus, aliquando triplicibus ; quod nulla alia litera facit. Plurimi autem faciendae sunt hujusmodi instantiae ; quia acuunt et vivificant inquisitionem, et medentur intellectui depravato a consuetudine et ab iis quae fiunt plerunque. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the seventh place Singular Instances, which I also call Irregular or Heteroclite, to borrow a term from grammarians. They are such as exhibit bodies in the concrete, which seem to be out of the course and broken off from the order of nature, and not agreeing with other bodies of the same kind. For conformable instances are like each other; singular instances are like themselves alone. The use of singular instances is the same as that of clandestine, namely, to raise and unite nature for the purpose of discovering kinds of common natures, to be afterward limited by true specific differences. For we are not to give up the investigation until the properties and qualities found in such things as may be taken for miracles of nature be reduced and comprehended under some form or fixed law, so that all the irregularity or singularity shall be found to depend on some common form, and the miracle shall turn out to be only in the exact specific differences, and the degree, and the rare concurrence, not in the species itself. Whereas now the thoughts of men go no further than to pronounce such things the secrets and mighty works of nature, things as it were causeless, and exceptions to general rules. Examples of singular instances are the sun and moon among stars; the magnet among stones; quicksilver among metals; the elephant among quadrupeds; the venereal sense among kinds of touch; the scent of hounds among kinds of smell. So among grammarians the letter S is held singular, on account of its easy combination with consonants, sometimes with two, sometimes even with three, which property no other letter has. Such instances must be regarded as most valuable, because they sharpen and quicken investigation and help to cure the understanding depraved by custom and the common course of things. |
| XXIX. | XXIX |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco octavo Instantias Deviantes ; errores scilicet naturae, et vaga, ac monstra : ubi natura declinat et deflectit a cursu ordinario. Differunt enim errores naturae ab instantiis monodicis in hoc ; quod monodicae sint miracula specierum, at errores sint miracula individuorum. Similis autem fere sunt usus ; quia rectificant intellectum adversus consueta, et revelant formas communes. Neque enim in his etiam desistendum ab inquisitione donec inveniatur causa hujusmodi declinationis. Veruntamen causa illa non exurgit ad formam aliquam proprie, sed tantum ad latentem processum ad formam. Qui enim vias naturae noverit, is deviationes etiam facilius observabit. At rursus, qui deviationes noverit, is accuratius vias describet. Atque in illo differunt etiam ab instantiis monodicis, quod multo magis instruant praxin et operativam. Nam novas species generare arduum admodum foret ; at species notas variare, et inde rara multa ac inusitata producere, minus arduum. Facilis autem transitus est a miraculis naturae ad miracula artis. Si enim deprehendatur semel natura in variatione sua, ejusque ratio manifesta fuerit, expeditum erit eo deducere naturam per artem quo per casum aberraverit. Neque solum eo, sed et aliorsum ; cum errores ex una parte monstrent et aperiant viam ad errores et deflexiones undequaque. Hic vero exemplis non est opus, propter eorundem copiam. Facienda enim est congeries sive historia naturalis particularis omnium monstrorum et partuum naturae prodigiosorum ; omnis denique novitatis et raritatis et inconsueti in natura. Hoc vero faciendum est cum severissimo delectu, ut constet fides. Maxime autem habenda sunt pro suspectis quae pendent quomodocunque a religione, ut prodigia Livii : nec minus, quae inveniuntur in scriptoribus magiae naturalis, aut etiam alchymiae, et hujusmodi hominibus ; qui tanquam proci sunt et amatores fabularum. Sed depromenda sunt illa ex gravi et fida historia, et auditionibus certis. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the eighth place Deviating Instances, that is, errors, vagaries, and prodigies of nature, wherein nature deviates and turns aside from her ordinary course. Errors of nature differ from singular instances in this, that the latter are prodigies of species, the former of individuals. Their use is pretty nearly the same, for they correct the erroneous impressions suggested to the understanding by ordinary phenomena, and reveal common forms. For in these also we are not to desist from inquiry until the cause of the deviation is discovered. This cause, however, does not rise properly to any form, but simply to the latent process that leads to the form. For he that knows the ways of nature will more easily observe her deviations; and on the other hand he that knows her deviations will more accurately describe her ways. They differ in this also from singular instances, that they give much more help to practice and the operative part. For to produce new species would be very difficult, but to vary known species and thereby produce many rare and unusual results is less difficult. Now it is an easy passage from miracles of nature to miracles of art. For if nature be once detected in her deviation, and the reason thereof made evident, there will be little difficulty in leading her back by art to the point whither she strayed by accident; and that not only in one case, but also in others. For errors on one side point out and open the way to errors and deflections on all sides. Under this head there is no need of examples, they are so plentiful. For we have to make a collection or particular natural history of all prodigies and monstrous births of nature; of everything in short that is in nature new, rare, and unusual. This must be done, however, with the strictest scrutiny, that fidelity may be ensured. Now those things are to be chiefly suspected which depend in any way on religion, as the prodigies of Livy, and those not less which are found in writers on natural magic or alchemy, and men of that sort, who are a kind of suitors and lovers of fables. But whatever is admitted must be drawn from grave and credible history and trustworthy reports. |
| XXX. | XXX |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco nono Instantias Limitaneas ; quas etiam Participia vocare consuevimus. Eae vero sunt, quae exhibent species corporum tales, quae videntur esse compositae ex speciebus duabus, vel rudimenta inter speciem unam et alteram. Hae vero instantiae inter instantias monodicas sive heteroclitas recte numerari possunt : sunt enim in universitate rerum rarae et extraordinariae. Sed tamen ob dignitatem seorsim tractandae et ponendae sunt ; optime enim indicant compositionem et fabricam rerum, et innuunt causas numeri et qualitatis specierum ordinariarum in universo, et deducunt intellectum ab eo quod est, ad id quod esse potest. Harum exempla sunt : muscus, inter putredinem et plantam ; cometae nonnulli, inter stellas et meteora ignita ; pisces volantes, inter aves et pisces ; vespertiliones, inter aves et quadrupedes ; etiam Simia quam similis turpissima bestia nobis ; et partus animalium biformes et commisti ex speciebus diversis ; et similia. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the ninth place Bordering Instances, which I also call Participles. They are those which exhibit species of bodies that seem to be composed of two species, or to be rudiments between one species and another. These instances might with propriety be reckoned among singular or heteroclite instances, for in the whole extent of nature they are of rare and extraordinary occurrence. But nevertheless for their worth's sake they should be ranked and treated separately, for they are of excellent use in indicating the composition and structure of things, and suggesting the causes of the number and quality of the ordinary species in the universe, and carrying on the understanding from that which is to that which may be. Examples of these are: moss, which holds a place between putrescence and a plant; some comets, between stars and fiery meteors; flying fish, between birds and fish; bats, between birds and quadrupeds; also the ape, between man and beast — Simia quam similis turpissima bestia nobis; likewise the biformed births of animals, mixed of different species, and the like. |
| XXXI. | XXXI. |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus decimo loco Instantias Potestatis, sive Fascium (sumpto vocabulo ab insignibus imperii), quas etiam Ingenia, sive Manus Hominis appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt opera maxime nobilia et perfecta, et tanquam ultima in unaquaque arte. Cum enim hoc agatur praecipue ut natura pareat rebus et commodis humanis ; consentaneum est prorsus, ut opera, quae jampridem in potestate hominis fuerunt (quasi provinciae antea occupatae et subactae), notentur et numerentur ; praesertim ea quae sunt maxime enucleata et perfecta : propterea quod ab istis proclivior et magis in propinquo sit transitus ad nova et hactenus non inventa. Si quis enim ab horum contemplatione attenta propositum acriter et strenue urgere velit, fiet certe ut aut producat illa paulo longius, aut deflectat illa ad aliquid quod finitimum est, aut etiam applicet et transferat illa ad usum aliquem nobiliorem. Neque hic finis. Verum quemadmodum ab operibus naturae raris et inconsuetis erigitur intellectus et elevatur ad inquirendas et inveniendas formas, quae etiam illorum sunt capaces, ita etiam in operibus artis egregiis et admirandis hoc usu-venit ; idque multo magis ; quia modus efficiendi et operandi hujusmodi miracula artis manifestus ut plurimum est, cum plerunque in miraculis naturae sit magis obscurus. Attamen in his ipsis cautio est adhibenda vel maxime, ne deprimant scilicet intellectum et eum quasi humo affigant. Periculum enim est, ne per hujusmodi opera artis, quae videntur velut summitates quaedam et fastigia industriae humanae, reddatur intellectus attonitus et ligatus et quasi maleficiatus quoad illa, ita ut cum aliis consuescere non possit, sed cogitet nihil ejus generis fieri posse nisi eadem via qua illa effecta sunt, accedente tantummode diligentia majore et praeparatione magis accurata. Contra, illud ponendum est pro certo : vias et modos efficiendi res et opera, quae adhuc reperta sunt et notata, res esse plerunque pauperculas ; atque omnem potentiam majorem pendere et ordine derivari a fontibus formarum, quarum nulla adhuc inventa est. Itaque (ut alibi diximus) qui de machinis et arietibus, quales erant apud veteres, cogitasset, licet hoc fecisset obnixe atque aetatem in eo consumpsisset, nunquam tamen incidisset in inventum tormentorum igneorum operantium per pulverem pyrium. Neque rursus, qui in lanificiis et serico vegetabili observationem suam et meditationem collocasset, unquam per ea reperisset naturam vermis aut serici bombycini. Quocirca omnia inventa, quae censeri possunt magis nobilia (si animum advertas), in lucem prodiere, nullo modo per pusillas enucleationes et extensiones artium, sed omnino per casum. Nihil autem repraesentat aut anticipat casum (cujus mos est ut tantum per longa saecula operetur), praeter inventionem formarum. Exempla autem hujusmodi instantiarum particularia nihil opus est adducere, propter copiam eorundem. Nam hoc omnino agendum ; ut visitentur et penitus introspiciantur omnes artes mechanicae, atque liberales etiam (quatenus ad opera), atque inde facienda est congeries sive historia particularis, tanquam magnalium et operum magistralium et maxime perfectorum in unaquaque ipsarum, una cum modis effectionis sive operationis. Neque tamen astringimus diligentiam, quae adhibenda est in hujusmodi collecta, ad ea quae censentur pro magisteriis et arcanis alicujus artis tantum, atque movent admirationem. Admiratio enim proles est raritatis ; siquidem rara, licet in genere sint ex vulgatis naturis, tamen admirationem pariunt. At contra, quae revera admirationi esse debent propter discrepantiam quae inest illis in specie collatis ad alias species, tamen si in usu familiari praesto sint leviter notantur. Debent autem notari monodica artis, non minus quam monodica naturae ; de quibus antea diximus. Atque quemadmodum in monodicis naturae posuimus solem, lunam, magnetem, et similia, quae re vulgatissima sunt sed natura tamen fere singulari : idem et de monodicis artis faciendum est. Exempli gratia ; instantia monodica artis est papyrus ; res admodum vulgata. At si diligenter animum advertas, materiae artificiales aut plane textiles sunt per fila directa et transversa ; qualia sunt pannus sericus, aut laneus, et linteus, et hujusmodi : aut coagmentantur ex succis concretis ; qualia sunt later, aut argilla figularis, aut vitrum, aut esmalta, aut porcellana, et similia ; quae si bene uniantur splendent, sin minus, indurantur certe, sed non splendent. Attamen omnia talia, quae fiunt ex succis concretis, sunt fragilia, nec ullo modo haerentia et tenacia. At contra, papyrus est corpus tenax, quod scindi et lacerari possit ; ita ut imitetur et fere aemuletur pellem sive membranam alicujus animalis, aut folium alicujus vegetabilis, et hujusmodi opificia naturae. Nam neque fragilis est, ut vitrum ; neque textilis, ut pannus ; sed habet fibras certe, non fila distincta, omnino ad modum materiarum naturalium : ut inter artificiales materias vix inveniatur simile aliquod, sed sit plane monodicum. Atque praeferenda sane sunt in artificialibus ea quae maxime accedunt ad imitationem naturae, aut e contrario eam potenter regunt et invertunt. Rursus, inter ingenia et manus hominis, non prorsus contemnenda sunt praestigiae et jocularia. Nonnulla enim ex istis, licet sint usu levia et ludicra, tamen informatione valida esse possunt. Postremo, neque omnino omittenda sunt superstitiosa, et (prout vocabulum sensu vulgari accipitur) magica. Licet enim hujusmodi res sint in immensum obrutae grandi mole mendaciorum et fabularum, tamen inspiciendum paulisper si forte subsit et lateat in aliquibus earum aliqua operatio naturalis ; ut in fascino, et fortificatione imaginationis, et consensu rerum ad distans, et transmissione impressionum a spiritu ad spiritum non minus quam a corpore ad corpus, et similibus. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the tenth place Instances of Power, or of the Fasces (to borrow a term from the badges of empire); which I also call Instances of the Wit, or Hands of Man. These are the noblest and most consummate works in each art, exhibiting the ultimate perfection of it. For since our main object is to make nature serve the business and conveniences of man, it is altogether agreeable to that object that the works which are already in man's power should (like so many provinces formerly occupied and subdued) be noted and enumerated, especially such as are the most complete and perfect; because starting from them we shall find an easier and nearer passage to new works hitherto unattempted. For if from an attentive contemplation of these a man pushes on his work with zeal and activity, he will infallibly either advance them a little further, or turn them aside to something in their neighborhood, or even apply and transfer them to some more noble use. Nor is this all. But as by rare and extraordinary works of nature the understanding is excited and raised to the investigation and discovery of forms capable of including them, so also is this done by excellent and wonderful works of art, and that in a much greater degree, because the method of creating and constructing such miracles of art is in most cases plain, whereas in the miracles of nature it is generally obscure. But with these also we must use the utmost caution lest they depress the understanding and fasten it as it were to the ground. For there is danger lest the contemplation of such works of art, which appear to be the very* summits and crowning points of human industry, may so astonish and bind and bewitch the understanding with regard to them, that it shall be incapable of dealing with any other, but shall think that nothing can be done in that kind except by the same way in which these were done — only with the use of greater diligence and more accurate preparation. Whereas on the contrary this is certain: that the ways and means of achieving the effects and works hitherto discovered and observed are for the most part very poor things, and that all power of a high order depends on forms and is derived in order from the sources thereof; not one of which has yet been discovered. And therefore (as I have said elsewhere) if a man had been thinking of the war engines and battering-rams of the ancients, though he had done it with all his might and spent his whole life in it, yet he would never have lighted on the discovery of cannon acting by means of gunpowder. Nor again, if he had fixed his observation and thought on the manufacture of wool and cotton, would he ever by such means have discovered the nature of the silkworm or of silk. Hence it is that all the discoveries which can take rank among the nobler of their kind have (if you observe) been brought to light, not by small elaborations and extensions of arts, but entirely by accident. Now there is nothing which can forestall or anticipate accident (which commonly acts only at long intervals) except the discovery of forms. Particular examples of such instances it is unnecessary to adduce, for there is such an abundance of them. For what we have to do is simply this: to seek out and thoroughly inspect all mechanical arts, and all liberal too (as far as they deal with works), and make therefrom a collection or particular history of the great and masterly and most perfect works in every one of them, together with the mode of their production or operation. And yet I do not tie down the diligence that should be used in such a collection to those works only which are esteemed the masterpieces and mysteries of any art, and which excite wonder. For wonder is the child of rarity; and if a thing be rare, though in kind it be no way extraordinary, yet it is wondered at. While on the other hand things which really call for wonder on account of the difference in species which they exhibit as compared with other species, yet if we have them by us in common use, are but slightly noticed. Now the singularities of art deserve to be noticed no less than those of nature, of which I have already spoken. And as among the singularities of nature I placed the sun, the moon, the magnet, and the like — things in fact most familiar, but in nature almost unique — so also must we do with the singularities of art. For example, a singular instance of art is paper, a thing exceedingly common. Now if you observe them with attention, you will find that artificial materials are either woven in upright and transverse threads, as silk, woolen or linen cloth, and the like; or cemented of concreted juices, as brick, earthenware, glass, enamel, porcelain, etc., which are bright if well united, but if not, are hard indeed but not bright. But all things that are made of concrete juices are brittle, and no way cohesive or tenacious. On the contrary, paper is a tenacious substance that may be cut or torn; so that it imitates and almost rivals the skin or membrane of an animal, the leaf of a vegetable, and the like pieces of nature's workmanship. For it is neither brittle like glass, nor woven as cloth; but is in fibers, not distinct threads, just like natural materials; so that among artificial materials you will hardly find anything similar; but it is altogether singular. And certainly among things artificial those are to be preferred which either come nearest to an imitation of nature, or on the contrary overrule and turn her back. Again, as instances of the wit and hand of man, we must not altogether contemn juggling and conjuring tricks. For some of them, though in use trivial and ludicrous, yet in regard to the information they give may be of much value. Lastly, matters of superstition and magic (in the common acceptation of the word) must not be entirely omitted. For although such things lie buried deep beneath a mass of falsehood and fable, yet they should be looked into a little. For it may be that in some of them some natural operation lies at the bottom, as in fascination, strengthening of the imagination, sympathy of things at a distance, transmission of impressions from spirit to spirit no less than from body to body, and the like. |
| XXXII. | XXXII. |
| Ex iis, quae ante dicta sunt, patet quod quinque illa instantiarum genera de quibus diximus (viz. instantiarum conformium, instantiarum monodicarum, instantiarum deviantium, instantiarum limitanearum, instantiarum potestatis) non debeant reservari, donec inquiratur natura aliqua certa (quemadmodum instantiae reliquae, quas primo loco proposuimus, nec non plurimae ex iis quae sequentur, reservari debent) ; sed statim jam ab initio facienda est earum collectio, tanquam historia quaedam particularis ; eo quod digerant ea quae ingrediuntur intellectum, et corrigant pravam complexionem intellectus ipsius, quem omnino necesse est imbui et infici et demum perverti ac distorqueri ab incursibus quotidianis et consuetis. Itaque adhibendae sunt eae instantiae tanquam praeparativum aliquod, ad rectificandum et expurgandum intellectum. Quicquid enim abducit intellectum a consuetis, aequat et complanat aream ejus ad recipiendum lumen siccum et purum notionum verarum. Quin etiam hujusmodi instantiae sternunt et praestruunt viam ad operativam ; ut suo loco dicemus, quando de Deductionibus ad Praxin sermo erit. | From what has been said it is clear that the five classes of instances last mentioned (namely, Instances Conformable, Singular, Deviating, Bordering, and of Power) ought not to be reserved until some certain nature be in question (as the other instances which I have placed first, and most of those that are to follow should), but a collection of them must be begun at once, as a sort of particular history; because they serve to digest the matters that enter the understanding, and to correct the ill complexion of the understanding itself, which cannot but be tinged and infected, and at length perverted and distorted, by daily and habitual impression. These instances therefore should be employed as a sort of preparative for setting right and purging the understanding. For whatever withdraws the understanding from the things to which it is accustomed, smooths and levels its surface for the reception of the dry and pure light of true ideas. Moreover such instances pave and prepare the way for the operative part, as will be shown in the proper place, when I come to speak of deductions leading to Practice. |
| XXXIII. | XXXIII |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus loco undecimo Instantias Comitatus, atque Hostiles ; quas etiam Instantias Propositionum Fixarum appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt instantiae, quae exhibent aliquod corpus sive concretum tale, in quo natura inquisita perpetuo sequatur tanquam comes quidam individuus : aut contra, in quo natura inquisita perpetuo fugiat atque ex comitatu excludatur, ut hostis et inimicus. Nam ex hujusmodi instantiis formantur propositiones certae et universales, aut affirmativae aut negativae ; in quibus subjectum erit tale corpus in concreto, praedicatum vero natura ipsa inquisita. Etenim propositiones particulares omnino fixae non sunt, ubi scilicet natura inquisita reperitur in aliquo concreto fluxa et mobilis, viz. accedens sive acquisita, aut rursus recedens sive deposita. Quocirca particulares propositiones non habent praerogativam aliquam majorem, nisi tantum in casu migrationis ; de quo antea dictum est. Et nihilominus, etiam particulares illae propositiones comparatae et collatae cum universalibus multum juvant ; ut suo loco dicetur. Neque tamen, etiam in universalibus istis propositionibus exactam aut absolutam affirmationem vel abnegationem requirimus. Sufficit enim ad id quod agitur, etiamsi exceptionem nonnullam singularem aut raram patiantur. Usus autem instantiarum comitatus est ad angustiandam affirmativam formae. Quemadmodum enim in instantiis migrantibus angustiatur affirmativa formae ; viz. ut necessario poni debeat forma rei esse aliquid quod per actum illum migrationis inditur aut destruitur ; ita etiam in instantiis comitatus angustiatur affirmativa formae ; ut necessario poni debeat forma rei esse aliquid quod talem concretionem corporis subingrediatur, aut contra ab eadem abhorreat ; ut qui bene norit constitutionem aut schematismum hujusmodi corporis non longe abfuerit ab extrahenda in lucem forma naturae inquisitae. Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Calidum. Instantia comitatus est flamma. Etenim in aqua, aere, lapide, metallo, et aliis quamplurimis, calor est mobilis, et accedere potest et recedere : at omnis flamma est calida, ita ut calor in concretione flammae perpetuo sequatur. At instantia hostilis calidi nulla reperitur apud nos. Nam de visceribus terrae nihil constat ad sensum ; sed eorum corporum quae nobis nota sunt nulla prorsus est concretio quae non est susceptibilis caloris. At rursus, sit natura inquisita Consistens. Instantia hostilis est aer. Etenim metallum potest fluere, potest consistere ; similiter vitrum ; etiam aqua potest consistere, cum conglaciatur : at impossibile est ut aer unquam consistat, aut exuat fluorem. Verum de instantiis hujusmodi propositionum fixarum supersunt duo monita, quae utilia sunt ad id quod agitur. Primum, ut si defuerit plane universalis affirmativa aut negativa, illud ipsum diligenter notetur tanquam non-ens ; sicut fecimus de calido, ubi universalis negativa (quatenus ad entia quae ad nostram notitiam pervenerint) in rerum natura deest. Similiter, si natura inquisita sit aeternum aut incorruptibile, deest affirmativa universalis hic apud nos. Neque enim praedicari potest Aeternum aut Incorruptibile de aliquo corpore eorum quae infra coelestia sunt, aut supra interiora terrae. Alterum monitum est, ut propositionibus universalibus, tam affirmativis quam negativis, de aliquo concreto, subjungantur simul ea concreta quae proxime videntur accedere ad id quod est ex non-entibus : ut in calore, flammae mollissimae et minimum adurentes ; in incorruptibili, aurum, quod proxime accedit. Omnia enim ista indicant terminos naturae inter ens et non-ens ; et faciunt ad circumscriptiones formarum, ne gliscant et vagentur extra conditiones materiae. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the eleventh place Instances of Companionship and of Enmity, which I also call Instances of Fixed Propositions. They are those which exhibit a body or concrete substance in which the nature inquired into constantly attends, as an inseparable companion; or in which on the contrary it constantly retreats, and is excluded from companionship as an enemy and foe. For from such instances are formed certain and universal propositions, either affirmative or negative, in which the subject will be a body in concrete, and the predicate the nature itself that is in question. For particular propositions are in no case fixed. I mean propositions in which the nature in question is found in any concrete body to be fleeting and movable, that is to say accruing or acquired, or on the other hand departing or put away. Wherefore particular propositions have no prerogative above others, save only in the case of migration, of which I have already spoken. Nevertheless even these particular propositions being prepared and collated with universal propositions are of great use, as shall be shown in the proper place. Nor even in the universal propositions do we require exact or absolute affirmation or negation. For it is sufficient for the purpose in hand even if they admit of some rare and singular exception. The use of instances of companionship is to bring the affirmative of the form within narrow limits. For if by migratory instances the affirmative of the form is narrowed to this, that the form of the thing must needs be something which by the act of migration is communicated or destroyed; so in instances of companionship, the affirmative of the form is narrowed to this, that the form of the thing must needs be something which enters as an element into such a concretion of body, or contrariwise which refuses to enter; so that he who well knows the constitution or configuration of such a body will not be far from bringing to light the form of the nature under inquiry. For example, let the nature in question be heat. An instance of companionship is flame. For in water, air, stone, metal, and most other substances, heat is variable, and may come and go, but all flame is hot, so that heat is always in attendance on the concretion of flame. But no hostile instance of heat is to be found here. For the senses know nothing of the bowels of the earth, and of all the bodies which we do know there is not a single concretion that is not susceptible to heat. But to take another instance: let the nature in question be consistency. A hostile instance is air. For metal can be fluid and can also be consistent; and so can glass; water also can be consistent, when it is frozen; but it is impossible that air should ever be consistent, or put off its fluidity. But with regard to such instances of fixed propositions I have two admonitions to give, which may help the business in hand. The first is that, if a universal affirmative or negative be wanting, that very thing be carefully noted as a thing that is not; as we have done in the case of heat, where a universal negative (as far as the essences that have come under our knowledge are concerned) is not to be found in the nature of things. In like manner, if the nature in question be eternity or incorruptibility, no universal affirmative is to be found here. For eternity or incorruptibility cannot be predicated of any of the bodies lying below the heavens and above the bowels of the earth. The other admonition is that to universal propositions, affirmative or negative, concerning any concrete body, there be subjoined those concretes which seem to approach most nearly to that which is not; as in heat, the gentlest and least burning flames; in incorruptibility, gold which comes nearest to it. For all such indicate the limits of nature between that which is and that which is not, and help to circumscribe forms and prevent them from escaping and straying beyond the conditions of matter. |
| XXXIV. | XXXIV |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco duodecimo ipsas illas Instantias Subjunctivas, de quibus in superiori aphorismo diximus : quas etiam Instantias Ultimitatis sive Termini appellare consuevimus. Neque enim hujusmodi instantiae utiles sunt tantum, quatenus subjunguntur propositionibus fixis ; verum etiam per se, et in proprietate sua. Indicant enim non obscure veras sectiones naturae, et mensuras rerum, et illud Quousque natura quid faciat et ferat, et deinde transitus naturae ad aliud. Talia sunt, aurum, in pondere ; ferrum, in duritie ; cete, in quantitate animalium ; canis, in odore ; inflammatio pulveris pyrii, in expansione celeri ; et alia id genus. Nec minus exhibenda sunt ea quae sunt ultima gradu infimo, quam quae supremo ; ut spiritus vini, in pondere ; sericum, in mollitie ; vermiculi cutis, in quantitate animalium ; et caetera. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the twelfth place those Subjunctive Instances mentioned in the last aphorism, which I otherwise call Instances of Ultimity or Limit. For such instances are not only useful when subjoined to fixed propositions, but also by themselves and in their own properties. For they point out not obscurely the real divisions of nature and measures of things, and how far in any case nature may act or be acted upon, and then the passages of nature into something else. Of this kind are gold in weight; iron in hardness; the whale in animal bulk; the dog in scent; the combustion of gunpowder in rapid expansion; and the like. Nor should extremes in the lowest degree be less noticed than extremes in the highest; such as spirit of wine in weight; silk in softness; the worms of the skin in animal bulk; and the like. |
| XXXV. | XXXV |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco decimo tertio Instantias Foederis sive Unionis. Eae sunt, quae confundunt et adunant naturas, quae existimantur esse heterogeneae, et pro talibus notantur et signantur per divisiones receptas. At instantiae foederis ostendunt operationes et effectus, quae deputantur alicui ex illis heterogeneis ut propria, competere etiam aliis ex heterogeneis ; ut convincatur ista heterogenia (quae in opinione est) vera non esse aut essentialis, sed nil aliud esse quam modificatio naturae communis. Optimi itaque sunt usus ad elevandum et evehendum intellectum a differentiis ad genera ; et ad tollendum larvas et simulachra rerum, prout occurrunt et prodeunt personatae in substantiis concretis. Exempli gratia : sit natura inquisita Calidum. Omnino videtur esse divisio solennis et authentica, quod sint tria genera caloris ; viz. calor coelestium, calor animalium, et calor ignis ; quodque isti calores (praesertim unus ex illis comparatus ad reliquos duos) sint ipsa essentia et specie, sive natura specifica, differentes et plane heterogenei : quandoquidem calor coelestium et animalium generet et foveat, at calor ignis contra corrumpat et destruat. Est itaque instantia foederis experimentum illud satis vulgatum, cum recipitur ramus aliquis vitis intra domum ubi sit focus assiduus, ex quo maturescunt uvae etiam mense integro citius quam foras ; ita ut maturatio fructus etiam pendentis super arborem fieri possit, scilicet ab igne, cum hoc ipsum videatur esse opus proprium solis. Itaque ab hoc initio facile insurgit intellectus, repudiata heterogenia essentiali, ad inquirendum quae sint differentiae illae quae revera reperiuntur inter calorem solis et ignis, ex quibus fit ut eorum operationes sint tam dissimiles, utcunque illi ipsi participent ex natura communi. Quae differentiae reperientur quatuor : viz. primo, quod calor solis respectu caloris ignis sit gradu longe clementior et lenior ; secundo, quod sit (praesertim ut defertur ad nos per aerem) qualitate multo humidior ; tertio (quod caput rei est), quod sit summe inaequalis, atque accedens et auctus, et deinceps recedens et diminutus ; id quod maxime confert ad generationem corporum. Recte enim asseruit Aristoteles causam principalem generationum et corruptionum, quae fiunt hic apud nos in superficie terrae, esse viam obliquam solis per zodiacum ; unde calor solis, partim per vicissitudines diei et noctis, partim per successiones aestatis et hyemis, evadit miris modis inaequalis. Neque tamen desinit ille vir id quod ab eo recte inventum fuit statim corrumpere et depravare. Nam ut arbiter scilicet naturae (quod illi in more est) valde magistraliter assignat causam generationis accessui solis, causam autem corruptionis recessui ; cum utraque res (accessus videlicet solis et recessus) non respective, sed quasi indifferenter, praebeat causam tam generationi quam corruptioni ; quandoquidem inaequalitas caloris generationi et corruptioni rerum, aequalitas conservationi tantum ministret. Est et quarta differentia inter calorem solis et ignis, magni prorsus momenti : viz. quod sol operationes suas insinuet per longa temporis spatia, ubi operationes ignis (urgente hominum impatientia) per breviora intervalla ad exitum perducantur. Quod si quis id sedulo agat, ut calorem ignis attemperet et reducat ad gradum moderatiorem et leniorem (quod multis modis facile fit), deinde etiam inspergat et admisceat nonnullam humiditatem, maxime autem si imitetur calorem solis in inaequalitate, postremo si moram patienter toleret (non certe eam quae sit proportionata operibus solis, sed largiorem quam homines adhibere solent in operibus ignis), is facile missam faciet heterogeniam illam caloris, et vel tentabit vel exaequabit vel in aliquibus vincet opera solis, per calorem ignis. Similis instantia foederis est resuscitatio papilionum ex frigore stupentium et tanquam emortuarum, per exiguum teporem ignis ; ut facile cernas non magis negatum esse igni vivificare animantia quam maturare vegetabilia. Etiam inventum illud celebre Fracastorii de sartagine acriter calefacta, qua circundant medici capita apoplecticorum desperatorum, expandit manifeste spiritus animales ab humoribus et obstructionibus cerebri compressos et quasi extinctos, illosque ad motum excitat, non aliter quam ignis operatur in aquam aut aerem, et tamen per consequens vivificat. Etiam ova aliquando excluduntur per calorem ignis, id quod prorsus imitatur calorem animalem ; et complura ejusmodi ; ut nemo dubitare possit quin calor ignis in multis subjectis modificari possit ad imaginem caloris coelestium et animalium. Similiter sint naturae inquisitae Motus et Quies. Videtur esse divisio solennis atque ex intima philosophia, quod corpora naturalia vel rotent, vel ferantur recta, vel stent sive quiescant. Aut enim est motus sine termino, aut statio in termino, aut latio ad terminum. At motus ille perennis rotationis videtur esse coelestium proprius ; statio sive quies videtur competere globo ipsi terrae ; at corpora caetera (gravia quae vocant et levia, extra loca scilicet connaturalitatis suae sita) feruntur recta ad massas sive congregationes similium ; levia sursum, versus ambitum coeli ; gravia deorsum, versus terram. Atque ista pulchra dictu sunt. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the thirteenth place Instances of Alliance or Union. They are those which mingle and unite natures supposed to be heterogeneous, and marked and set down as such in the received divisions. Instances of alliance show that operations and effects attributed to some one heterogeneous nature as peculiar to it may belong also to other heterogeneous natures; that this supposed heterogeneity is proved to be not real or essential, but only a modification of a common nature. They are therefore of most excellent use in raising and elevating the understanding from specific differences to genera, and in dispelling phantoms and false images of things, which in concrete substances come before us in disguise. For example, let the nature in question be heat. We are told (and it seems to be a division quite received and authorized) that there are three kinds of heat: the heat of heavenly bodies, the heat of animals, and the heat of fire; and that these heats (especially one of them as compared with the other two) are in their very essence and species — that is to say, in their specific nature — distinct and heterogeneous, since the heat of heavenly bodies and of animals generates and cherishes, while the heat of fire wastes and destroys. We have, therefore, an instance of alliance in that common case, when the branch of a vine is brought within a house where a fire is constantly kept up, and the grapes ripen on it a whole month sooner than they do out of doors; so that the ripening of fruit, even while it hangs on the tree, may be brought about by fire, though such ripening would seem to be the proper work of the sun. From this beginning, therefore, the understanding, rejecting the notion of essential heterogeneity, easily rises to inquire what are in reality those points of difference between the heat of the sun and of fire which cause their operations to be so dissimilar, however they may themselves partake of a common nature. These differences will be found to be four. The first is that the heat of the sun compared with the heat of fire is far milder and softer in degree; the second is that in quality (at least as it reaches us through the air) it is far moister; the third (and this is the main point) is that it is exceedingly unequal, now approaching and increased, now receding and diminished; which thing chiefly contributes to the generation of bodies. For Aristotle was right in asserting that the principal cause of the generations and corruptions which are going on here on the surface of the earth is the oblique course of the sun through the zodiac; whence the heat of the sun, partly by the alternation of day and night, partly by the succession of summer and winter, becomes strangely unequal. And yet this great man must go on at once to corrupt and deprave what he has rightly discovered. For laying down the law to nature (as his way is), he very dictatorially assigns as the cause of generation the approach of the sun, and as the cause of corruption his retreat; whereas both together (the approach of the sun and his retreat), not respectively, but as it were indifferently, afford a cause both for generation and production; since inequality of heat ministers to generation and corruption, equality to conservation only. There is also a fourth specific difference between the heat of the sun and of fire, and one of very great moment; viz., that the sun operates by gentle action through long spaces of time, whereas the operations of fire, urged on by the impatience of man, are made to finish their work in shorter periods. But if anyone were to set to work diligently to temper the heat of fire and reduce it to a milder and more moderate degree, as is easily done in many ways, and were then to sprinkle and intermix a little moisture; and if above all he were to imitate the heat of the sun in its inequality; and lastly if he could submit to a slow procedure, not indeed corresponding to the operations of the sun, but yet slower than men generally adopt in working with fire; he would speedily get rid of the notion of different kinds of heat, and would attempt to imitate, if not equal or in some cases even surpass the works of the sun by the heat of fire. We have a similar instance of alliance in the revival of butterflies stupefied and half dead with cold, by slightly warming them at a fire. So that you may easily see that fire is no more without the power of giving life to animals than of ripening vegetables. Thus also Fracastorius' celebrated invention of the heated pan with which doctors cover the heads of apoplectic patients who are given over, manifestly expands the animal spirits, compressed and all but extinguished by the humors and obstructions of the brain, and exciting them to motion, just as fire acts on air or water, by consequence quickens and gives them life. Eggs also are sometimes hatched by the heat of fire, which thus exactly imitates animal heat. And there are many instances of the same kind, so that no one can doubt that the heat of fire may in many subjects be modified so as to resemble the heat of heavenly bodies and of animals. Again, let the natures in question be motion and rest. It appears to be a received division and drawn from the depths of philosophy, that natural bodies either move in circle, or move straight forward, or remain at rest. For there is either motion without limit, or rest at a limit, or progress toward a limit. Now, that perpetual motion of rotation seems to be proper to the heavenly bodies, station or rest seems to belong to the globe of the earth, while other bodies (which they call heavy or light, being indeed placed out of the region to which they naturally belong) are carried toward the masses or congregations of their likes; light bodies upward toward the circumference of the heaven, heavy bodies downward towards the earth. And this is pretty talk. |
| At instantia foederis est cometa aliquis humilior ; qui cum sit longe infra coelum, tamen rotat. Atque commentum Aristotelis de alligatione sive sequacitate cometae ad astrum aliquod jampridem explosum est ; non tantum quia ratio ejus non est probabilis, sed propter experientiam manifestam discursus et irregularis motus cometarum per varia loca coeli. At rursus alia instantia foederis circa hoc subjectum est motus aeris ; qui intra tropicos (ubi circuli rotationis sunt majores) videtur et ipse rotare ab oriente in occidentem. Et alia rursus instantia foret fluxus et refluxus maris, si modo aquae ipsae deprehendantur ferri motu rotationis (licet tardo et evanido) ab oriente in occidentem ; ita tamen ut bis in die repercutiantur. Itaque, si haec ita se habeant, manifestum est motum istum rotationis non terminari in coelestibus, sed communicari aeri et aquae. Etiam ista proprietas levium, nimirum ut ferantur sursum, vacillat nonnihil. Atque in hoc sumi potest pro instantia foederis bulla aquae. Si enim aer fuerit subter aquam, ascendit rapide versus superficiem aquae, per motum illum plagae (quam vocat Democritus), per quam aqua descendens percutit et attollit aerem sursum ; non autem per contentionem aut nixum aeris ipsius. Atqui ubi ad superficiem ipsam aquae ventum fuerit, tum cohibetur aer ab ulteriore ascensu, per levem resistentiam quam reperit in aqua non statim tolerante se discontinuari : ita ut exilis admodum sit appetitus aeris ad superiora. Similiter sit natura inquisita Pondus. Est plane divisio recepta, ut densa et solida ferantur versus centrum terrae, rara autem et tenuia versus ambitum coeli ; tanquam ad loca sua propria. Atque loca quod attinet, (licet in scholis hujusmodi res valeant) plane inepta et puerilis cogitatio est, locum aliquid posse. Itaque nugantur philosophi cum dicant quod, si perforata esset terra, corpora gravia se sisterent quando ventum esset ad centrum. Esset enim certe virtuosum plane et efficax genus nihili, aut puncti mathematici, quod aut alia afficeret, aut rursus quod alia appeterent : corpus enim non nisi a corpore patitur. Verum iste appetitus ascendendi et descendendi aut est in schematismo corporis quod movetur, aut in sympathia sive consensu cum alio corpore. Quod si inveniatur aliquod corpus densum et solidum, quod nihilominus non feratur ad terram, confunditur hujusmodi divisio. At si recipiatur opinio Gilberti, quod magnetica vis terrae ad alliciendum gravia non extendatur ultra orbem virtutis suae (quae operatur semper ad distantiam certam, et non ultra), hocque per aliquam instantiam verificetur ; ea demum erit instantia foederis circa hoc subjectum. Neque tamen occurrit impraesentiarum aliqua instantia super hoc certa et manifesta. Proxime videntur accedere cataractae coeli, quae in navigationibus per Oceanum Atlanticum versus Indias utrasque saepe conspiciuntur. Tanta enim videtur esse vis et moles aquarum quae per hujusmodi cataractas subito effunditur, ut videatur collectio aquarum fuisse ante facta, atque in his locis haesisse et mansisse ; et postea potius per causam violentam dejecta et detrusa esse, quam naturali motu gravitatis cecidisse ; adeo ut conjici possit, corpoream molem densam atque compactam in magna distantia a terra fore pensilem tanquam terram ipsam, nec casuram nisi dejiciatur. Verum de hoc nil certi affirmamus. Interim in hoc et in multis aliis facile apparebit, quam inopes simus historiae naturalis ; cum loco instantiarum certarum nonnunquam suppositiones afferre pro exemplis cogamur. Similiter sit natura inquisita Discursus Ingenii. Videtur omnino divisio vera, rationis humanae et solertiae brutorum. Attamen sunt nonnullae instantiae actionum quae eduntur a brutis, per quas videntur etiam bruta quasi syllogizare : ut memoriae proditum est de corvo, qui per magnas siccitates fere enectus siti conspexit aquam in trunco cavo arboris ; atque cum non daretur ei intrare propter angustias, non cessavit jacere multos lapillos, per quos surgeret et ascenderet aqua ut bibere posset ; quod postea cessit in proverbium. Similiter sit natura inquisita Visibile. Videtur omnino esse divisio vera et certa, lucis, quae est visibile originale et primam copiam facit visui, et coloris, qui est visibile secundarium et sine luce non cernitur, ita ut videatur nil aliud esse quam imago aut modificatio lucis. Attamen ex utraque parte circa hoc videntur esse instantiae foederis ; scilicet, nix in magna quantitate, et flamma sulphuris ; in quarum altera videtur esse color primulum lucens, in altera lux vergens ad colorem. | But we have an instance of alliance in one of the lower comets, which though far below the heaven, nevertheless revolve. And Aristotle's fiction of a comet being tied to or following some particular star has long been exploded, not only because the reason for it is not probable, but because we have manifest experience of the discursive and irregular motion of comets through various parts of the sky. Again, another instance of alliance on this subject is the motion of air, which within the tropics, where the circles of rotation are larger, seems itself also to revolve from east to west. Again, another instance would be the ebb and flow of the sea, if it be found that the waters themselves are carried in a motion of rotation (however slow and evanescent) from east to west, though subject to the condition of being driven back twice in the day. For if things be so, it is manifest that that motion of rotation is not limited to heavenly bodies, but is shared also by air and water. Even that property of light substances, viz., that they tend upward, is somewhat at fault. And on this point a bubble of water may be taken as an instance of alliance. For if there be air under the water it rapidly ascends to the surface by that motion of percussion (as Democritus calls it) by which the descending water strikes and raises the air upward; not by any effort or struggle of the air itself. And when it is come to the surface of the water, then the air is stopped from further ascent by a slight resistance it meets with in the water, which does not immediately allow itself to be separated; so that the desire of air to ascend must be very slight. Again, let the nature in question be weight. It is quite a received division that dense and solid bodies move toward the center of the earth, rare and light toward the circumference of the heaven, as to their proper places. Now as for this notion of places, though such things prevail in the schools, it is very silly and childish to suppose that place has any power. Therefore philosophers do but trifle when they say that if the earth were bored through, heavy bodies would stop on reaching the center. Certainly it would be a wonderful and efficacious sort of nothing, or mathematical point, which could act on bodies, or for which bodies could have desire, for bodies are not acted on except by bodies. But this desire of ascending and descending depends either on the configuration of the body moved or on its sympathy or consent with some other body. Now if there be found any body which, being dense and solid, does not move to the earth, there is an end of this division. But if Gilbert's opinion be received, that the earth's magnetic power of attracting heavy bodies does not extend beyond the orb of its virtue (which acts always to a certain distance and no more), and if this opinion be verified by a single instance, in that we shall have got at last an instance of alliance on the subject of weight. But at present there does not occur any instance on this subject certain and manifest. What seems to come nearest to one is that of the waterspouts, often seen in the voyage over the Atlantic Ocean toward either of the Indies. For so great is the quantity and mass of water suddenly discharged by these waterspouts that they seem to have been collections of water made before, and to have remained hanging in these places, and afterward to have been rather thrown down by some violent cause, than to have fallen by the natural motion of gravity. So that it may be conjectured that a dense and compact mass, at a great distance from the earth, would hang like the earth itself and not fall unless thrust down. But on this point I affirm nothing certain. Meanwhile in this and many other cases it will easily be seen how poor we are in natural history, when in place of certain instances I am sometimes compelled to adduce as examples bare suppositions. Again, let the nature in question be discourse of reason. The distinction between human reason and the sagacity of brutes appears to be a perfectly correct one. Yet there are certain instances of actions performed by animals, by which it seems that brutes too have some power of syllogizing; as in the old story of the crow which, in a time of great drought being half dead with thirst, saw some water in the hollow trunk of a tree, and finding it too narrow to get in, proceeded to drop in a number of pebbles till the water rose high enough for it to drink; and this afterward passed into a proverb. Again, let the nature in question be visibility. It appears to be a very correct and safe division which regards light as primarily visible, and affording the power of seeing; while color is secondarily visible, and cannot be seen without light, so that it appears to be nothing more than an image or modification of light. And yet there appear to be instances of alliance on either side, namely, snow in great quantities, and the flame of sulphur; in one of which there appears to be a color primarily giving light, in the other a light verging on color. |
| XXXVI. | XXXVI |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco decimo quarto Instantias Crucis ; translato vocabulo a Crucibus, quae erectae in biviis indicant et signant viarum separationes. Has etiam Instantias Decisorias et Judiciales, et in casibus nonnullis Instantias Oraculi et Mandati, appellare consuevimus. Earum ratio talis est. Cum in inquisitione naturae alicujus intellectus ponitur tanquam in aequilibrio, ut incertus sit utri naturarum e duabus, vel quandoque pluribus, causa naturae inquisitae attribui aut assignari debeat, propter complurium naturarum concursum frequentem et ordinarium, instantiae crucis ostendunt consortium unius ex naturis (quoad naturam inquisitam) fidum et indissolubile, alterius autem varium et separabile ; unde terminatur quaestio, et recipitur natura illa prior pro causa, missa altera et repudiata. Itaque hujusmodi instantiae sunt maximae lucis, et quasi magnae authoritatis ; ita ut curriculum interpretationis quandoque in illas desinat, et per illas perficiatur. Interdum autem Instantiae Crucis illae occurrunt et inveniuntur inter jampridem notatas ; at ut plurimum novae sunt, et de industria atque ex composito quaesitae et applicatae, et diligentia sedula et acri tandem erutae. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the fourteenth place Instances of the Fingerpost, borrowing the term from the fingerposts which are set up where roads part, to indicate the several directions. These I also call Decisive and Judicial, and in some cases, Oracular and Commanding Instances. I explain them thus. When in the investigation of any nature the understanding is so balanced as to be uncertain to which of two or more natures the cause of the nature in question should be assigned on account of the frequent and ordinary concurrence of many natures, instances of the fingerpost show the union of one of the natures with the nature in question to be sure and indissoluble, of the other to be varied and separable; and thus the question is decided, and the former nature is admitted as the cause, while the latter is dismissed and rejected. Such instances afford very great light and are of high authority, the course of interpretation sometimes ending in them and being completed. Sometimes these instances of the fingerpost meet us accidentally among those already noticed, but for the most part they are new, and are expressly and designedly sought for and applied, and discovered only by earnest and active diligence. |
| 1. Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Fluxus et Refluxus Maris, ille bis repetitus in die atque sexhorarius in accessibus et recessibus singulis, cum differentia nonnulla quae coincidit in motum lunae. Bivium circa hanc naturam tale est. Necesse prorsus est ut iste motus efficiatur, vel ab aquarum progressu et regressu, in modum aquae in pelvi agitatae, quae quando latus unum pelvis alluit, deserit alterum ; vel a sublatione et subsidentia aquarum e profundo, in modum aquae ebullientis et rursus subsidentis. Utri vero causae fluxus et refluxus ille assignari debeat, oritur dubitatio. Quod si recipiatur prior assertio, necesse est ut cum sit fluxus in mari ex una parte, fiat sub idem tempus alicubi in mari refluxus ex alia. Itaque ad hoc reducitur inquisitio. Atqui observavit Acosta, cum aliis nonnullis (diligenti facta inquisitione), quod ad litora Floridae et ad litora adversa Hispaniae et Africae, fiant fluxus maris ad eadem tempora, et refluxus itidem ad eadem tempora ; non contra, quod cum fluxus fit ad littora Floridae, fiat refluxus ad littora Hispaniae et Africae. Attamen adhuc diligentius attendenti, non per hoc evincitur motus attolens, et abnegatur motus in progressu. Fieri enim potest, quod sit motus aquarum in progressu, et nihilominus inundet adversa littora ejusdem alvei simul ; si aquae scilicet illae contrudantur et compellantur aliunde, quemadmodum fit in fluviis, qui fluunt et refluunt ad utrumque littus horis iisdem, cum tamen iste motus liquido sit motus in progressu, nempe aquarum ingredientium ostia fluminum ex mari. Itaque simili modo fieri potest, ut aquae venientes magna mole ab Oceano Orientali Indico compellantur et trudantur in alveum Maris Atlantici, et propterea inundent utrumque latus simul. Quaerendum itaque est, an sit alius alveus per quem aquae possint iisdem temporibus minui et refluere. Atque praesto est Mare Australe, Mari Atlantico neutiquam minus, sed potius magis latum et extensum, quod ad hoc sufficere possit. Itaque jam tandem perventum est ad instantiam crucis circa hoc subjectum. Ea talis est : si pro certo inveniatur, quod cum fit fluxus ad littora adversa tam Floridae quam Hispaniae in Mari Atlantico, fiat simul fluxus ad littora Peruviae et juxta dorsum Chinae in Mari Australi ; tum certe per hanc instantiam decisoriam abjudicanda est assertio quod fluxus et refluxus maris, de quo inquiritur, fiat per motum progressivum : neque enim relinquitur aliud mare aut locus, ubi possit ad eadem tempora fieri regressus aut refluxus. Commodissime autem hoc sciri possit, si inquiratur ab incolis Panamae et Limae (ubi uterque Oceanus, Atlanticus et Australis, per parvum Isthmum separantur), utrum ad contrarias Isthmi partes fiat simul fluxus et refluxus maris, an e contra. Verum haec decisio sive abjudicatio certa videtur, posito quod terra stet immobilis. Quod si terra rotet, fieri fortasse potest ut ex inaequali rotatione (quatenus ad celeritatem sive incitationem) terrae et aquarum maris, sequatur compulsio violenta aquarum in cumulum sursum, quae sit fluxus : et relaxatio earundem (postquam amplius cumulari non sustinuerint) in deorsum, quae sit refluxus. Verum de hoc facienda est inquisitio separatim. Attamen etiam hoc supposito, illud aeque manet fixum, quod necesse sit fieri alicubi refluxum maris ad eadem tempora quibus fiunt fluxus in aliis partibus. Similiter, sit natura inquisita posterior ille motus ex duobus quos supposuimus, videlicet motus maris se attollens et rursus subsidens ; si forte ita acciderit ut (diligenti facto examine) rejiciatur motus alter, de quo diximus, progressivus. Tum vero erit trivium circa hanc naturam tale. Necesse est ut motus iste, per quem aquae in fluxibus et refluxibus se attollunt et rursus relabuntur, absque aliqua accessione aquarum aliarum quae advolvuntur, fiat per unum ex his tribus modis ; vel quod ista aquarum copia emanet ex interioribus terrae et rursus in illa se recipiat ; vel quod non sit aliqua amplior moles aquarum, sed quod eaedem aquae (non aucto quanto suo) extendantur sive rarefiant, ita ut majorem locum et dimensionem occupent, et rursus se contrahant ; vel quod nec copia accedat major nec extensio amplior, sed eaedem aquae (prout sunt tam copia quam densitate aut raritate) per vim aliquam magneticam desuper eas attrahentem et evocantem, et per consensum, se attollant et deinde se remittant. Itaque reducatur (si placet) jam inquisitio (missis duobus illis motibus prioribus) ad hunc ultimum ; et inquiratur si fiat aliqua talis sublatio per consensum sive vim magneticam. Atqui primo manifestum est universas aquas, prout ponuntur in fossa sive cavo maris, non posse simul attolli, quia defuerit quod succedat in fundo ; adeo ut si foret in aquis aliquis hujusmodi appetitus se attollendi, ille ipse tamen a nexu rerum, sive (ut vulgo loquuntur) ne detur vacuum, fractus foret et cohibitus. Relinquitur, ut attollantur aquae ex aliqua parte, et per hoc minuantur et cedant ex alia. Enimvero rursus necessario sequetur ut vis illa magnetica, cum super totum operari non possit, circa medium operetur intensissime ; ita ut aquas in medio attollat, illae vero sublatae latera per successionem deserant et destituant. Itaque jam tandem perventum est ad instantiam crucis circa hoc subjectum. Ea talis est : si inveniatur quod in refluxibus maris aquarum superficies in mari sit arcuata magis et rotunda, attollentibus se scilicet aquis in medio maris et deficientibus circa latera, quae sunt litora ; et in fluxibus eadem superficies sit magis plana et aequa, redeuntibus scilicet aquis ad priorem suam positionem ; tum certe per hanc instantiam decisoriam potest recipi sublatio per vim magneticam, aliter prorsus abjudicanda est. Hoc vero in fretis per lineas nauticas non difficile est experiri ; videlicet utrum in refluxibus versus medium maris, mare non sit magis altum sive profundum quam in fluxibus. Notandum autem est, si hoc ita sit, fieri (contra ac creditur) ut attollant se aquae in refluxibus, demittant se tantum in fluxibus, ita ut littora vestiant et inundent. | For example, let the nature in question be the ebb and flow of the sea; each of which is repeated twice a day, and takes six hours each time, subject to some slight difference which coincides with the motion of the moon. The following will be a case of the parting of the roads. This motion must necessarily be caused either by the advance and retreat of the waters, as water shaken in a basin leaves one side when it washes the other; or else by a lifting up of the waters from the bottom and falling again, as water in boiling rises and falls. The question is to which of these two causes the ebb and flow should be assigned. Now, if we take the first, it follows that when there is a flood on one side of the sea, there must be at the same time an ebb somewhere on the other. To this point therefore the inquiry is brought. Now it has been observed by Acosta and others, after careful research, that on the shores of Florida and the opposite shores of Spain and Africa the floods take place at the same times, and the ebbs take place at the same times also; and not that there is an ebb from the shores of Spain and Africa when there is a flood on the shores of Florida. And yet if you look at it more closely, this does not prove the case in favor of the rising and against the progressive motion. For waters may move in progression, and yet rise upon the opposite shores of the same channel at the same time, as when they are thrust together and driven on from some other quarter. For so it is with rivers, which rise and fall on both banks at the same hours. And yet that motion is clearly one of progression, namely, of the waters entering the mouth of the rivers from the sea. It may therefore happen in a like manner that waters coming in a vast mass from the East Indian Ocean are driven together and pushed into the channel of the Atlantic, and on that account flood both sides at once. We must inquire therefore whether there be any other channel in which the water can be retreating and ebbing at that same time; and we have the South Sea, a sea at least as wide, indeed wider and larger than the Atlantic, which is sufficient for the purpose. At length then, we have come to an instance of the fingerpost in this case, and it is this. If we find for certain that when there is a flood on the opposite coasts of Florida and Spain in the Atlantic, there is also a flood on the coasts of Peru and the back of China in the South Sea, then indeed on the authority of this decisive instance we must reject the assertion that the ebb and flow of the sea, which is the thing inquired into, takes place by a progressive motion; for there is no sea or place left in which the retreat or ebbing can be going on at the same time. And this may be most conveniently ascertained by asking the inhabitants of Panama and Lima (where the two oceans, the Atlantic and Pacific, are separated by a small isthmus) whether the ebb and flow of the sea takes place on the opposite sides of the isthmus at the same time; or contrariwise, when it is ebbing on one side it is flowing on the other. Now this decision or rejection appears to be certain, if we take it for granted that the earth is immovable. But if the earth revolves, it is perhaps possible that in consequence of the unequal rotation (in point of speed) of the earth and waters of the sea, the waters are violently driven upwards into a heap, which is the flood, and (when they can bear no more piling) released and let down again, which is the ebb. But on this inquiry should be made separately. Still, even on this hypothesis, our position remains equally fixed, that there must of necessity be an ebb of the sea going on in some parts at the same time that a flood is going on in others. Again, let the nature in question be the latter of the two motions we have supposed, namely, the rising and sinking motion, if on careful examination we reject the former motion of which I spoke — the progressive. With regard to this nature the road branches into three. For the motion by which the waters rise in the flood and sink in the ebb without any accession of other waters rolling in, must necessarily be brought about in one of these three ways. Either there is an accession of water poured out from the interior of the earth, and again retreating into it; or there is no accession to the mass of water, but the same waters (without increase of quantity) are extended or rarefied so as to occupy a greater space and dimension, and again contract themselves; or there is no increase either of supply or of extension, but the same waters (the same in quantity as in density) are raised by some magnetic force attracting them from above, and by consent therewith, and then fall back again. Let us now dismiss the two former causes of motion and reduce our inquiry to the last; that is to say, let us inquire whether any such raising by consent or magnetic force may happen. Now in the first place it is evident that the waters, as they lie in the trench or hollow of the sea, cannot all be raised at once for want of something to take their place at the bottom; so that even if there were in water any such desire to rise, it would be barred and checked by the cohesion of things, or (as it is commonly called) the abhorrence of a vacuum. It remains that the waters must be raised in one part, and thereby be diminished and retreat in another. Again, it will follow of necessity that the magnetic force, since it cannot act upon the whole, will act with the greatest intensity on the middle, so as to raise up the water in the middle; upon which the rest must follow and fall away from the sides. Thus at length we come to an instance of the fingerpost on this subject. For if we find that in the ebb of the sea the surface of the water is more arched and round, the waters rising in the middle of the sea and falling away from the sides, that is, the shores; and that in the flood the same surface is more even and level, the waters returning to their former position; then indeed on the authority of this decisive instance the raising by magnetic force may be admitted; otherwise it must be utterly rejected. And this would not be difficult to ascertain by trial in straits with sounding lines, viz., whether during ebbs the sea be not higher or deeper toward the middle than during floods. It is to be observed however that, if this be the case, the waters must (contrary to the common opinion) rise in ebbs and sink in floods, so as to clothe and wash the shores. |
| 2. Similiter, sit natura inquisita Motus Rotationis spontaneus ; et speciatim, utrum Motus Diurnus, per quem sol et stellae ad conspectum nostrum oriuntur et occidunt, sit motus rotationis verus in coelestibus, aut motus apparens in coelestibus, verus in terra. Poterit esse instantia crucis super hoc subjectum talis. Si inveniatur motus aliquis in oceano ab oriente in occidentem, licet admodum languidus et enervatus ; si idem motus reperiatur paulo incitatior in aere, praesertim intra tropicos, ubi propter majores circulos est magis perceptibilis ; si idem motus reperiatur in humilioribus cometis, jam factus vivus et validus ; si idem motus reperiatur in planetis, ita tamen dispensatus et graduatus ut quo proprius absit a terra sit tardior, quo longius celerior, atque in coelo demum stellato sit velocissimus : tum certe recipi debet motus diurnus pro vero in coelis, et abnegandus est motus terrae ; quia manifestum erit, motum ab oriente in occidentem esse plane cosmicum et ex consensu universi, qui in summitatibus coeli maxime rapidus gradatim labascat, et tandem desinat et extinguatur in immobili, videlicet terra. Similiter, sit natura inquisita Motus Rotationis ille alter apud astronomos decantatus, renitens et contrarius Motui Diurno, videlicet ab occidente in orientem ; quem veteres astronomi attribuunt planetis, etiam coelo stellato, at Copernicus et ejus sectatores terrae quoque ; et quaeratur utrum inveniatur in rerum natura aliquis talis motus, an potius res conficta sit et supposita, ad compendia et commoditates calculationum, et ad pulchrum illud, scilicet de expediendis motibus coelestibus per circulos perfectos. Neutiquam enim evincitur iste motus esse in supernis verus et realis, nec per defectum restitutionis planetae in motu diurno ad idem punctum coeli stellati, nec per diversam politatem zodiaci, habito respectu ad polos mundi ; quae duo nobis hunc motum pepererunt. Primum enim phaenomenon per anteversionem et derelictionem optime salvatur ; secundum per lineas spirales ; adeo ut inaequalitas restitutionis et declinatio ad tropicos possint esse potius modificationes motus unici illius diurni, quam motus renitentes aut circa diversos polos. Et certissimum est, si paulisper pro plebeiis nos geramus (missis astronomorum et scholae commentis, quibus illud in more est ut sensui in multis immerito vim faciant, et obscuriora malint), talem esse motum istum ad sensum, qualem diximus ; cujus imaginem per fila ferrea (veluti in machina) aliquando repraesentari fecimus. Verum instantia crucis super hoc subjectum poterit esse talis. Si inveniatur in aliqua historia fide digna, fuisse cometam aliquem vel sublimiorem vel humiliorem qui non rotaverit cum consensu manifesto (licet admodum irregulariter) motus diurni, sed potius rotaverit in contrarium coeli ; tum certe hucusque judicandum est posse esse in natura aliquem talem motum. Sin nihil hujusmodi inveniatur, habendus est pro suspecto, et ad alias instantias crucis circa hoc confugiendum. | Again, let the nature investigated be the spontaneous motion of rotation, and in particular whether the diurnal motion whereby to our eyes the sun and stars rise and set, be a real motion of rotation in the heavenly bodies, or a motion apparent in the heavenly bodies, and real in the earth. We may here take for an instance of the fingerpost the following. If there be found in the ocean any motion from east to west, however weak and languid; if the same motion be found a little quicker in the air, especially within the tropics, where because of the larger circles it is more perceptible; if the same motion be found in the lower comets, but now lively and vigorous; if the same motion be found in planets, but so distributed and graduated that the nearer a planet is to the earth its motion is slower, the further a planet is distant from the earth its motion is quicker, and quickest of all in the starry sphere; then indeed we should receive the diurnal motion as real in the heavens, and deny such motion to the earth. Because it will be manifest that motion from east to west is perfectly cosmical, and by consent of the universe, being most rapid in the highest parts of the heavens, and gradually falling off, and finally stopping and becoming extinct in the immovable — that is, the earth. Again, let the nature in question be that other motion of rotation so much talked of by philosophers, the resistant and contrary motion to the diurnal, viz., from west to east, which old philosophers attribute to the planets, also to the starry sphere, but Copernicus and his followers to the earth as well. And let us inquire whether any such motion be found in nature, or whether it be not rather a thing invented and supposed for the abbreviation and convenience of calculation, and for the sake of that pretty notion of explaining celestial motions by perfect circles. For this motion in the heavens is by no means proved to be true and real, either by the failing of a planet to return in its diurnal motion to the same point of the starry sphere, or by this, that the poles of the zodiac differ from the poles of the world; to which two things we owe this idea of motion. For the first phenomenon is well accounted for by supposing that the fixed stars outrun the planets and leave them behind; the second, by supposing a motion in spiral lines; so that the inequality of return and the declination to the tropics may rather be modifications of the one diurnal motion than motions contrary or round different poles. And most certain it is, if one may but play the plain man for a moment (dismissing the fancies of astronomers and schoolmen, whose way it is to overrule the senses, often without reason, and to prefer what is obscure), that this motion does actually appear to the sense such as I have described; for I once had a machine made with iron wires to represent it. The following would be an instance of the fingerpost on this subject. If it be found in any history worthy of credit that there has been any comet, whether high or low, which has not revolved in manifest agreement (however irregular) with the diurnal motion, but has revolved in the opposite direction, then certainly we may set down thus much as established, that there may be in nature some such motion. But if nothing of the kind can be found, it must be regarded as questionable, and recourse be had to other instances of the fingerpost about it. |
| 3. Similiter, sit natura inquisita Pondus sive Grave. Bivium circa hanc naturam tale est. Necesse est ut gravia et ponderosa vel tendant ex natura sua ad centrum terrae, per proprium schematismum ; vel ut a massa corporea ipsius terrae, tanquam a congregatione corporum connaturalium, attrahantur et rapiantur, et ad eam per consensum ferantur. At posterius hoc si in causa sit, sequitur ut quo propius gravia appropinquant ad terram, eo fortius et majore cum impetu ferantur ad eam ; quo longius ab ea absint, debilius et tardius (ut fit in attractionibus magneticis) ; idque fieri intra spatium certum ; adeo ut si elongata fuerint a terra tali distantia ut virtus terrae in ea agere non possit, pensilia mansura sint, ut et ipsa terra, nec omnino decasura. Itaque talis circa hanc rem poterit esse instantia crucis. Sumatur horologium ex iis quae moventur per pondera plumbea, et aliud ex iis quae moventur per compressionem laminae ferreae ; atque vere probentur, ne alterum altero velocius sit aut tardius ; deinde ponatur horologium illud movens per pondera super fastigium alicujus templi altissimi, altero illo infra detento ; et notetur diligenter si horologium in alto situm tardius moveatur quam solebat, propter diminutam virtutem ponderum. Idem fiat experimentum in profundis minerarum alte sub terra depressarum, utrum horologium hujusmodi non moveatur velocius quam solebat, propter auctam virtutem ponderum. Quod si inveniatur virtus ponderum minui in sublimi, aggravari in subterraneis, recipiatur pro causa ponderis attractio a massa corporea terrae. | Again, let the nature in question be weight or heaviness. Here the road will branch into two, thus. It must needs be that heavy and weighty bodies either tend of their own nature to the center of the earth, by reason of their proper configuration; or else that they are attracted by the mass and body of earth itself as by the congregation of kindred substances, and move to it by sympathy. If the latter of these be the cause, it follows that the nearer heavy bodies approach to the earth, the more rapid and violent is their motion to it; and that the further they are from the earth, the feebler and more tardy is their motion (as is the case with magnetic attraction); and that this action is confined to certain limits. So that if they were removed to such a distance from the earth that the earth's virtue could not act upon them, they would remain suspended like the earth itself, and not fall at all. With regard to this, then, the following would be an instance of the fingerpost. Take a clock moved by leaden weights, and another moved by the compression of an iron spring. Let them be exactly adjusted, that one go not faster or slower than the other. Then place the clock moving by weights on the top of a very high steeple, keeping the other down below, and observe carefully whether the clock on the steeple goes more slowly than it did on account of the diminished virtue of its weights. Repeat the experiment in the bottom of a mine, sunk to a great depth below the ground; that is, observe whether the clock so placed does not go faster than it did on account of the increased virtue of its weights. If the virtue of the weights is found to be diminished on the steeple and increased in the mine, we may take the attraction of the mass of the earth as the cause of weight. |
| 4. Similiter, sit natura inquisita Verticitas Acus Ferreae, tactae magnete. Circa hanc naturam tale erit bivium. Necesse est ut tactus magnetis vel ex se indat ferro verticitatem ad septentriones et austrum ; vel ut excitet ferrum tantummodo et habilitet, motus autem ipse indatur ex praesentia terrae ; ut Gilbertus opinatur, et tanto conatu probare nititur. Itaque huc spectant ea, quae ille perspicaci industria conquisivit. Nimirum quod clavus ferreus, qui diu duravit in situ versus septentriones et austrum, colligat mora diutina verticitatem, absque tactu magnetis : ac si terra ipsa, quae ob distantiam debiliter operatur (namque superficies aut extima incrustatio terrae virtutis magneticae, ut ille vult, expers est), per moram tamen longam magnetis tactum suppleret, et ferrum exciret, deinde excitum conformaret et verteret. Rursus, quod ferrum ignitum et cadens, si in extinctione sua exporrigatur inter septentriones et austrum, colligat quoque verticitatem absque tactu magnetis : ac si partes ferri in motu positae per ignitionem, et postea se recipientes, in ipso articulo extinctionis suae magis essent susceptivae et quasi sensitivae virtutis manantis a terra quam alias, et inde fierent tanquam excitae. Verum haec, licet bene observata, tamen non evincunt prorsus quod ille asserit. Instantia crucis autem circa hoc subjectum poterit esse talis. Capiatur terrella ex magnete, et notentur poli ejus ; et ponantur poli terrellae versus orientem et occasum, non versus septentriones et austrum, atque ita jaceant ; deinde superponatur acus ferrea intacta, et permittatur ita manere ad dies sex aut septem. Acus vero (nam de hoc non dubitatur) dum manet super magnetem, relictis polis mundi, se vertet ad polos magnetis ; itaque quamdiu ita manet, vertitur scilicet ad orientem et occidentem mundi. Quod si inveniatur acus illa, remota a magnete et posita super versorium, statim se applicare ad septentriones et austrum, vel etiam paulatim se eo recipere, tum recipienda est pro causa, praesentia terrae ; sin aut vertatur (ut prius) in orientem et occidentem, aut perdat verticitatem, habenda est illa causa pro suspecta, et ulterius inquirendum est. | Again, let the nature investigated be the polarity of the iron needle when touched with the magnet. With regard to this nature the road will branch into two, thus. Either the touch of the magnet of itself invests the iron with polarity to the north and south; or it simply excites and prepares the iron, while the actual motion is communicated by the presence of the earth, as Gilbert thinks, and labors so strenuously to prove. To this point therefore tend the observations which he has collected with great sagacity and industry. One is, that an iron nail which has lain for a long time in a direction between north and south gathers polarity without the touch of the magnet by its long continuance in this position; as if the earth itself, which on account of the distance acts but feebly (the surface or outer crust of the earth being destitute, as he insists, of magnetic power), were yet able by this long continuance to supply the touch of the magnet and excite the iron, and then shape and turn it when excited. Another is, that if iron that has been heated white-hot be, while cooling, laid lengthwise between north and south, it also acquires polarity without the touch of the magnet; as if the parts of the iron, set in motion by ignition and afterwards recovering themselves, were at the very moment of cooling more susceptible and sensitive to the virtue emanating from the earth than at other times, and thus became excited by it. But these things, though well observed, do not quite prove what he asserts. Now with regard to this question an instance of the fingerpost would be the following. Take a magnetic globe and mark its poles; and set the poles of the globe toward the east and west, not toward the north and south, and let them remain so. Then place at the top an untouched iron needle, and allow it to remain in this position for six or seven days. The needle while over the magnet (for on this point there is no dispute) will leave the poles of the earth and turn toward the poles of the magnet; and therefore, as long as it remains thus, it points east and west. Now if it be found that the needle, on being removed from the magnet and placed on a pivot, either starts off at once to the north and south, or gradually turns in that direction, then the presence of the earth must be admitted as the cause; but if it either points as before east and west, or loses its polarity, this cause must be regarded as questionable, and further inquiry must be made. |
| 5. Similiter, sit natura inquisita Corporea Substantia Lunae : an sit tenuis, flammea, sive aerea, ut plurimi ex priscis philosophis opinati sunt ; an solida et densa, ut Gilbertus et multi moderni, cum nonnullis ex antiquis, tenent. Rationes posterioris istius opinionis fundantur in hoc maxime, quod luna radios solis reflectat ; neque videtur fieri reflexio lucis nisi a solidis. Itaque instantiae crucis circa hoc subjectum eae esse poterint (si modo aliquae sint) quae demonstrent reflexionem a corpore tenui, qualis est flamma, modo sit crassitiei sufficientis. Certe causa crepusculi, inter alias, est reflexio radiorum solis a superiore parte aeris. Etiam quandoque reflecti videmus radios solis temporibus vespertinis serenis a fimbriis nubium roscidarum, non minori splendore, sed potius illustriori et magis glorioso, quam qui redditur a corpore lunae ; neque tamen constat eas nubes coaluisse in corpus densum aquae. Etiam videmus aerem tenebrosum pone fenestras noctu reflectere lucem candelae, non minus quam corpus densum. Tentandum etiam foret experimentum immissionis radiorum solis per foramen super flammam aliquam subfuscam et caeruleam. Sane radii aperti solis, incidentes in flammas obscuriores, videntur eas quasi mortificare, ut conspiciantur magis instar fumi albi quam flammae. Atque haec impraesentiarum occurrunt, quae sint ex natura instantiarum crucis circa hanc rem ; et meliora fortasse reperiri possunt. Sed notandum semper est, reflexionem a flamma non esse expectandam, nisi a flamma alicujus profunditatis ; nam aliter vergit ad diaphanum. Hoc autem pro certo ponendum, lucem semper in corpore aequali aut excipi et transmitti, aut resilire. | Again, let the nature in question be the corporeal substance of the moon; that is, let us inquire whether it be rare, consisting of flame or air, as most of the old philosophers opined, or dense and solid, as Gilbert and many moderns, with some ancients, maintain. The reasons for the latter opinion rest chiefly on this, that the moon reflects the rays of the sun; nor does light seem to be reflected except by solid bodies. Therefore instances of the fingerpost on this question will (if any) be those which prove that reflection may take place from a rare body, as flame, provided it be of sufficient denseness. Certainly, one cause of twilight, among others, is the reflection of the rays of the sun from the upper part of the air. Likewise we occasionally see rays of the sun in fine evenings reflected from the fringes of dewy clouds with a splendor not inferior to that reflected from the body of the moon, but brighter and more gorgeous; and yet there is no proof that these clouds have coalesced into a dense body of water. Also we observe that the dark air behind a window at night reflects the light of a candle, just as a dense body would. We should also try the experiment of allowing the sun's rays to shine through a hole on some dusky bluish flame. For indeed the open rays of the sun, falling on the duller kinds of flame, appear to deaden them so that they seem more like white smoke than flame. These are what occur to me at present as instances of the fingerpost with reference to this question, and better may perhaps be found. But it should always be observed that reflection from flame is not to be expected, except from a flame of some depth, for otherwise it borders on transparency. This however may be set down as certain — that light on an even body is always either received and transmitted or reflected. |
| 6. Similiter, sit natura inquisita Motus Missilium, veluti spiculorum, sagittarum, globulorum, per aerem. Hunc motum Schola (more suo) valde negligenter expedit ; satis habens, si eum nomine motus violenti a naturali (quem vocant) distinguat ; et quod ad primam percussionem sive impulsionem attinet, per illud, (quod duo corpora non possint esse in uno loco, ne fiat penetratio dimensionum,) sibi satisfaciat ; et de processu continuato istius motus nihil curet. At circa hanc naturam bivium est tale : aut iste motus fit ab aere vehente et pone corpus emissum se colligente, instar fluvii erga scapham aut venti erga paleas ; aut a partibus ipsius corporis non sustinentibus impressionem, sed ad eandem laxandam per successionem se promoventibus. Atque priorem illum recipit Fracastorius, et fere omnes qui de hoc motu paulo subtilius inquisiverunt : neque dubium est, quin sint aeris partes in hac re nonnullae ; sed alter motus proculdubio verus est, ut ex infinitis constat experimentis. Sed inter caeteras, poterit esse circa hoc subjectum instantia crucis talis ; quod lamina, aut filum ferri paulo contumacius, vel etiam calamus sive penna in medio divisa, adducta et curvata inter pollicem et digitum exiliant. Manifestum enim est, hoc non posse imputari aeri se pone corpus colligenti, quia fons motus est in medio laminae vel calami, non in extremis. | Again, let the nature in question be the motion of projectiles (darts, arrows, balls, etc.) through the air. This motion the schoolmen, as their way is, explain in a very careless manner, thinking it enough to call it a violent motion as distinguished from what they call a natural motion; and to account for the first percussion or impulse by the axiom that two bodies cannot occupy the same place on account of the impenetrability of matter, and not troubling themselves at all how the motion proceeds afterward. But with reference to this inquiry the road branches into two in this way. Either this motion is caused by the air carrying the projected body and collecting behind it, as the stream in the case of a boat, or the wind in that of straws; or it is caused by the parts of the body itself not enduring the impression, but pushing forward in succession to relieve themselves from it. The former of these explanations is adopted by Fracastorius and almost all who have entered into the investigation with any subtlety, and there is no doubt that the air has something to do with it. But the other notion is undoubtedly the true one, as is shown by countless experiments. Among others the following would be an instance of the fingerpost on this subject: that a thin iron plate or stiffish iron wire, or even a reed or pen split in half, when pressed into a curve between the finger and thumb, leaps away. For it is obvious that this motion cannot be imputed to the air gathering behind the body, because the source of motion is in the middle of the plate or reed, not in the extremities. |
| 7. Similiter sit natura inquisita motus ille rapidus et potens Expansionis Pulveris Pyrii in flammam ; unde tantae moles subvertuntur, tanta pondera emittuntur, quanta in cuniculis majoribus et bombardis videmus. Bivium circa hanc naturam tale est. Aut excitatur iste motus a mero corporis appetitu se dilatandi, postquam fuerit inflammatum ; aut ab appetitu mixto spiritus crudi, qui rapide fugit ignem, et ex eo circumfuso, tanquam ex carcere, violenter erumpit. Schola autem et vulgaris opinio tantum versatur circa priorem illum appetitum. Putant enim homines se pulchre philosophari, si asserant flammam ex forma elementi necessitate quadam donari locum ampliorem occupandi quam idem corpus expleverat cum subiret formam pulveris, atque inde sequi motum istum. Interim minime advertunt, licet hoc verum sit, posito quod flamma generetur, tamen posse impediri flammae generationem a tanta mole, quae illam comprimere et suffocare queat ; ut non deducatur res ad istam necessitatem de qua loquuntur. Nam quod necesse sit fieri expansionem, atque inde sequi emissionem aut remotionem corporis quod obstat, si generetur flamma, recte putant. Sed ista necessitas plane evitatur, si moles illa solida flammam supprimat antequam generetur. Atque videmus flammam, praesertim in prima generatione, mollem esse et lenem, et requirere cavum in quo experiri et ludere possit. Itaque tanta violentia huic rei per se assignari non potest. Sed illud verum ; generationem hujusmodi flammarum flatulentarum, et veluti ventorum igneorum, fieri ex conflictu duorum corporum, eorumque naturae inter se plane contrariae ; alterius admodum inflammabilis, quae natura viget in sulphure ; alterius flammam exhorrentis, qualis est spiritus crudus qui est in nitro ; adeo ut fiat conflictus mirabilis, inflammante se sulphure quantum potest (nam tertium corpus, nimirum carbo salicis, nil aliud fere praestat, quam ut illa duo corpora incorporet et commode uniat), et erumpente spiritu nitri quantum potest, et una se dilatante (nam hoc faciunt et aer, et omnia cruda, et aqua, ut a calore dilatentur), et per istam fugam et eruptionem interim flammam sulphuris, tanquam follibus occultis, undequaque exufflante. Poterant autem esse instantiae crucis circa hoc subjectum duorum generum. Alterum eorum corporum quae maxime sunt inflammabilia, qualia sunt sulphur, caphura, naphtha, et hujusmodi, cum eorum misturis ; quae citius et facilius concipiunt flammam quam pulvis pyrius, si non impediantur : ex quo liquet appetitum inflammandi per se effectum illum stupendum non operari. Alterum eorum quae flammam fugiunt et exhorrent, qualia sunt sales omnes. Videmus enim, si jaciantur in ignem, spiritum aqueum erumpere cum fragore antequam flamma concipiatur ; quod etiam leniter fit in foliis paulo contumacioribus, parte aquea erumpente antequam oleosa concipiat flammam. Sed maxime cernitur hoc in argento vivo, quod non male dicitur aqua mineralis. Hoc enim, absque inflammatione, per eruptionem et expansionem simplicem vires pulveris pyrii fere adaequat ; quod etiam admixtum pulveri pyrio ejus vires multiplicare dicitur. | Again, let the nature in question be the rapid and powerful motion of the expansion of gunpowder into flame, by which such vast masses are upheaved, such great weights discharged, as we see in mines and mortars. With respect to this nature the road branches into two in this way. The motion is excited either by the mere desire of the body to expand when set on fire, or partly by that and partly by the desire of the crude spirit in the body, which flies rapidly away from the fire and bursts violently from its embrace as from a prison house. The schoolmen and common opinion deal only with the former desire. For men fancy themselves very fine philosophers when they assert that the flame is endowed by its elementary form with a necessity of occupying a larger space than the body had filled when in the form of powder, and that hence the motion ensues. Meanwhile, they forget to notice that although this be true on the supposition that flame is generated, it is yet possible for the generation of flame to be hindered by a mass of matter sufficient to suppress and choke it; so that the case is not reduced to the necessity they insist on. For that expansion must necessarily take place, and that there must needs follow thereon a discharge or removal of the opposing body, if flame be generated, they rightly judge. But this necessity is altogether avoided if the solid mass suppress the flame before it be generated. And we see that flame, especially in its first generation, is soft and gentle, and requires a hollow space wherein to play and try its strength. Such violence therefore cannot be attributed to flame by itself. But the fact is that the generation of these windy flames, or fiery winds as they may be called, arises from a conflict of two bodies of exactly opposite natures; the one being highly inflammable, which is the nature of sulphur, the other abhorring flame, as the crude spirit in niter. So that there ensues a strange conflict, the sulphur kindling into flame with all its might (for the third body, the willow charcoal, does no more than incorporate and combine the other two), while the spirit of the niter bursts forth with all its might and at the same time dilates itself (as air, water, and all crude bodies do when affected by heat), and by thus flying and bursting out fans meanwhile the flame of the sulphur on all sides as with hidden bellows. On this subject we may have instances of the fingerpost of two kinds. The first, of those bodies which are most highly inflammable, as sulphur, camphor, naphtha and the like, with their compounds, which catch fire more quickly and easily than gunpowder if not impeded (from which it appears that the desire of bursting into flame does not produce by itself that stupendous effect); the other, of those bodies which shun and abhor flame, as all salts. For we find that if salts are thrown into the fire their aqueous spirit bursts out with a crackling noise before flame is caught; which is the case also, though in a milder degree, with the stiffer kinds of leaves, the aqueous part escaping before the oily catches fire. But this is best seen in quicksilver, which is not inaptly called mineral water. For quicksilver, without bursting into flame, by mere eruption and expansion almost equals the force of gunpowder, and is also said, when mixed with gunpowder, to increase its strength. |
| 8. Similiter sit natura inquisita, Transitoria Natura Flammae, et Extinctio ejus Momentanea. Non enim videtur natura flammea hic apud nos figi et consistere, sed singulis quasi momentis generari, et statim extingui. Manifestum enim est in flammis, quae hic continuantur et durant, istam durationem non esse ejusdem flammae in individuo, sed fieri per successionem novae flammae seriatim generatae, minime autem manere eandem flammam numero ; id quod facile perspicitur ex hoc, quod, subtracto alimento sive fomite flammae, flamma statim pereat. Bivium autem circa hanc naturam tale est. Momentanea ista natura aut fit remittente se causa quae eam primo genuit, ut in lumine, sonis, et motibus (quos vocant) violentis ; aut quod flamma in natura sua possit hic apud nos manere, sed a contrariis naturis circumfusis vim patiatur et destruatur. Itaque poterit esse circa hoc subjectum instantia crucis talis. Videmus flammas in incendiis majoribus, quam alte in sursum ascendant. Quanto enim basis flammae est latior, tanto vertex sublimior. Itaque videtur principium extinctionis fieri circa latera, ubi ab aere flamma comprimitur et male habetur. At meditullia flammae, quae aer non contingit sed alia flamma undique circumdat, eadem numero manent, neque extinguuntur donec paulatim angustientur ab aere per latera circumfuso. Itaque omnis flamma pyramidalis est basi circa fomitem largior, vertice autem (inimicante aere, nec suppeditante fomite) acutior. At fumus angustior circa basin ascendendo dilatatur, et fit tanquam pyramis inversa ; quia scilicet aer fumum recipit, flammam (neque enim quispiam somniet aerem esse flammam accensam, cum sint corpora plane heterogenea) comprimit. Accuratior autem poterit esse instantia crucis ad hanc rem accommodata, si res forte manifestari possit per flammas bicolores. Capiatur igitur situla parva ex metallo, et in ea figatur parva candela cerea accensa ; ponatur situla in patera, et circumfundatur spiritus vini in modica quantitate, quae ad labra situlae non attingat ; tum accende spiritum vini. At spiritus ille vini exhibebit flammam magis scilicet caeruleam, lychnus candelae autem magis flavam. Notetur itaque utrum flamma lychni (quam facile est per colorem a flamma spiritus vini distinguere ; neque enim flammae, ut liquores, statim commiscentur) maneat pyramidalis, an potius magis tendat ad formam globosam, cum nihil inveniatur quod eam destruat aut comprimat. At hoc posterius si fiat, manere flammam eandem numero, quamdiu intra aliam flammam concludatur nec vim inimicam aeris experiatur, pro certo ponendum est. Atque de instantiis crucis haec dicta sint. Longiores autem in iis tractandis ad hunc finem fuimus, ut homines paulatim discant et assuefiant de natura judicare per instantias crucis et experimenta lucifera, et non per rationes probabiles. | Again, let the nature in question be the transitory nature of flame and its instantaneous extinction. For the nature of flame appears to have no fixed consistency here with us, to be every moment generated and every moment extinguished; for it is clear that in flames which continue and last, the continuance we see is not of the same individual flame, but is caused by a succession of new flame regularly generated. Nor does the flame remain numerically identical, as is easily seen from this, that if the food or fuel of flame be taken away, the flame instantly goes out. With reference to this nature the roads branch into two, thus: the instantaneous nature proceeds either from a cessation of the cause which at first produced the flame, as in light, sound, and the motion called "violent"; or from this, that the flame, though able by its own nature to remain with us, suffers violence and is destroyed by the contrary natures that surround it. On this subject therefore we may take the following as an instance of the fingerpost. We see in large fires how high the flames ascend, for the broader the base of the flame, the higher is its vertex. Thus extinction appears to commence at the sides, where the flame is compressed and troubled by the air. But the heart of the flame, which is not touched by the air but surrounded by other flame on all sides, remains numerically identical; nor is it extinguished until gradually compressed by the surrounding air. Thus all flame is in the form of a pyramid, being broader at the base where the fuel is, but sharp at the vertex, where the air is antagonistic and fuel is wanting. But smoke is narrow at the base and grows broader as it ascends, like an inverted pyramid; the reason being that the air admits smoke and compresses flame. For let no one dream that lighted flame is air, when in fact they are substances quite heterogeneous. But we may have an instance of the fingerpost more nicely adapted to this purpose, if the thing can be made manifest with bicolored lights. Fix a lighted wax taper in a small metal stand; place the stand in the middle of a bowl, and pour round it spirit of wine, but not enough to reach the top of the stand. Then set fire to the spirit of wine. The spirit of wine will yield a bluish, the taper a yellow flame. Observe therefore whether the flame of the taper (which is easily distinguished by its color from the flame of the spirit of wine, since flames do not mix at once, as liquids do) remains in a conical or rather tends to a globular form, now that there is nothing to destroy or compress it. If the latter is found to be the case, it may be set down as certain that flame remains numerically identical as long as it is enclosed within other flame and feels not the antagonistic action of the air. Let this suffice for instances of the fingerpost. I have dwelt on them at some length to the end that men may gradually learn and accustom themselves to judge of nature by instances of the fingerpost and experiments of light, and not by probable reasonings. |
| XXXVII. | XXXVII |
| Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus loco decimo quinto Instantias Divortii ; quae indicant separationes naturarum earum quae ut plurimum occurrunt. Differunt autem ab instantiis quae subjunguntur instantiis comitatus ; quia illae indicant separationes naturae alicujus ab aliquo concreto cum quo illa familiariter consuescit, hae vero separationes naturae alicujus ab altera natura. Differunt etiam ab instantiis crucis ; quia nihil determinant, sed monent tantum de separabilitate unius naturae ab altera. Usus autem earum est ad prodendas falsas formas, et dissipandas leves contemplationes ex rebus obviis orientes ; adeo ut veluti plumbum et pondera intellectui addant. Exempli gratia : sint naturae inquisitae quatuor naturae illae, quas Contubernales vult esse Telesius, et tanquam ex eadem camera ; viz. calidum, lucidum, tenue, mobile sive promptum ad motum. At plurimae inveniuntur instantiae divortii inter ipsas. Aer enim tenuis est et habilis ad motum, non calidus aut lucidus ; luna lucida, absque calore ; aqua fervens calida, absque lumine ; motus acus ferreae super versorium pernix et agilis, et tamen in corpore frigido, denso, opaco ; et complura id genus. Similiter sint naturae inquisitae Natura Corporea et Actio Naturalis. Videtur enim non inveniri actio naturalis, nisi subsistens in aliquo corpore. Attamen possit fortasse esse circa hanc rem instantia nonnulla divortii. Ea est actio magnetica, per quam ferrum fertur ad magnetem, gravia ad globum terrae. Addi etiam possint aliae nonnullae operationes ad distans. Actio siquidem hujusmodi et in tempore fit, per momenta non in puncto temporis, et in loco, per gradus et spatia. Est itaque aliquod momentum temporis, et aliquod intervallum loci, in quibus ista virtus sive actio haeret in medio inter duo illa corpora quae motum cient. Reducitur itaque contemplatio ad hoc ; utrum illa corpora quae sunt termini motus disponant vel alterent corpora media, ut per successionem et tactum verum labatur virtus a termino ad terminum, et interim subsistat in corpore medio ; an horum nihil sit, praeter corpora et virtutem et spatia? Atque in radiis opticis et sonis et calore et aliis nonnullis operantibus ad distans, probabile est media corpora disponi et alterari : eo magis, quod requiratur medium qualificatum ad deferendam operationem talem. At magnetica illa sive coitiva virtus admittit media tanquam adiaphora, nec impeditur virtus in omnigeno medio. Quod si nil rei habeat virtus illa aut actio cum corpore medio, sequitur quod sit virtus aut actio naturalis ad tempus nonnullum et in loco nonnullo subsistens sine corpore ; cum neque subsistat in corporibus terminantibus, nec in mediis. Quare actio magnetica poterit esse instantia divortii circa naturam corpoream et actionem naturalem. Cui hoc adjici potest tanquam corollarium aut lucrum non praetermittendum : viz. quod etiam secundum sensum philosophanti sumi possit probatio quod sint entia et substantiae separatae et incorporeae. Si enim virtus et actio naturalis, emanans a corpore, subsistere possit aliquo tempore et aliquo loco omnino sine corpore ; prope est ut possit etiam emanare in origine sua a substantia incorporea. Videtur enim non minus requiri natura corporea ad actionem naturalem sustentandam et devehendam, quam ad excitandam aut generandum. | Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the fifteenth place Instances of Divorce, which indicate the separation of natures of most familiar occurrence. They differ from the instances subjoined to the instances of companionship, in that the latter indicate the separation of a nature from some concrete substance with which it is ordinarily in conjunction, while these instances indicate the separation of one nature from another. They differ from instances of the fingerpost, in that they determine nothing, but simply notify the separability of one nature from another. Their use is to detect false forms and to dissipate slight theories suggested by what lies on the surface, and so serve as ballast to the understanding. For example, let the natures investigated be those four natures which Telesius accounts as messmates and chamber fellows, namely: heat, brightness, rarity, mobility or promptness to motion. We find, however, many instances of divorce between them. For air is rare and mobile, not hot or bright; the moon is bright without heat; boiling water is hot without light; the motion of an iron needle on a pivot is quick and nimble, and yet the body is cold, dense, and opaque; and there are many more of the kind. Again, let the natures investigated be corporeal nature and natural action. For it seems that natural action is not found except as subsisting in some body. Yet in this case also we shall perhaps be able to find some instance of divorce; such, for example, as magnetic action, by which iron is drawn to the magnet, heavy bodies to the globe of the earth. There may also be added some other operations performed at a distance. For such action takes place both in time, occupying moments not a mere instant of time, and in space, passing through degrees and distances. There is therefore some moment of time, and some distance of space, in which the virtue or action remains suspended between the two bodies which produce the motion. The question therefore is brought to this: whether the bodies which are the limits of the motion dispose or alter the intermediate bodies, so that by a succession of actual contacts the virtue passes from limit to limit, meanwhile subsisting in the intermediate body; or whether there is no such thing, but only the bodies, the virtue, and the distances. In rays of light, indeed, and sounds, and heat, and certain other things acting at a distance, it is probable that the intermediate bodies are disposed and altered, the more so because they require a medium qualified for carrying on the operation. But that magnetic or attractive virtue admits of media without distinction, nor is the virtue impeded in any kind of medium. And if the virtue or action has nothing to do with the intermediate body, it follows that there is a natural virtue or action subsisting for a certain time and in a certain space without a body, since it neither subsists in the limiting nor in the intermediate bodies. And therefore magnetic action may be an instance of divorce between corporeal nature and natural action. To which may be appended as a corollary or advantage not to be omitted that here is a proof furnished by merely human philosophy of the existence of essences and substances separate from matter and incorporeal. For allow that natural virtue and action, emanating from a body, can exist for a certain time and in a certain space altogether without a body, and you are not far from allowing that it can also emanate originally from an incorporeal substance. For corporeal nature appears to be no less requisite for sustaining and conveying natural action than for exciting or generating it. |
THE LOGIC MUSEUM
Copyright (html only) C E.D.Buckner 2007.